Discourse 74

A question concerning the distinction of the virtues, and concerning the goal of the whole course, and concerning the greatness of love among the solitaries, and concerning spiritual knowledge: that which perfects all the saints and attains in them a divine silence through his love, that rich one who poured out upon the race of solitaries. The goal of the whole course consists in these three: repentance, purity, and perfection. And what is repentance? The leaving behind of former things, and grief over them. And what is purity in the goal? A heart compassionate toward every nature of creation. And what is perfection? The depth of humility, which is the abandonment of everything visible and invisible. Visible: all that is perceived by the senses. Invisible: every thought concerning them. That old man, when he was asked at another time, "What is repentance?" he said: "A broken heart." And "What is humility?" he said: "The suppression of the voluntary desires of death from everything." And "What is a compassionate heart?" he said: "A burning of the heart for the whole of creation, for human beings, and birds, and animals, and demons, and all that exists. So that from their remembrance and from their sight, his eyes shed tears due to the force of compassion that constrains the heart from great fervor.

The heart is too small, and cannot bear to hear or to be consoled, by the smallness of any creature's suffering or pain. And because of this, even concerning the irrational beings and concerning the enemies of truth, and even concerning his own persecutors, at every hour he offers a prayer of tears for them to be preserved and spared. Until also concerning the wandering natures, from his abundant mercy which is poured out in his heart without measure, in that likeness of the death of God. And what is that prayer? He said: Emptiness of thought from every distraction, and a heart that turns its gaze completely toward the hope of that future expectation. For that which is distinct from this is a fault, which sows in its labor as one who sows, and like one who drives a yoke of oxen and ass together. How is humility acquired? He said: By the remembrance of the commandments, and by the nearness of death, and by lowly works, and by that which at every time chooses the last place, and in everything performs a small and lowly service, and by not being stubborn, and by prescribed silence, and by not desiring to meet with the honored, and by being unknown and unregarded, and by taking one of the practices to completion in a distinct manner, and by the concealment of the persons' rank, and by that which does not desire advantages. All this, after this.

and he raises his thought above the earthly and material concerns of humanity, and above the passions, and his hand is not over everything, nor the hand of everything over him, but he is alone in his own, and solitary, and he does not take the form of a human being in the world, apart from his own nature. For it is like a prison: asceticism, poverty, and solitude, which belong to the solitary life. These are the children of humility and purifiers of the heart. Those who have attained perfection know that even if ten times a day they were delivered to the fire for the sake of love of humanity, they would not be satisfied with this. As Moses said to God: If you do not forgive the children of Israel, erase me from your book that you wrote. And as the blessed Paul said: I desire that both worlds, with their glories and their sufferings, cannot be separated from the love of Christ. I desire to be far from Christ, and the children of Israel to be brought near to the faith of life. If it is so, it is possible that they might believe in Christ through this and go to eternal life, and not be separated from the living God. And as one who rejoices in the afflictions upon your face among the peoples, and like the rest of the apostles: for the sake of the love of the life of humanity, they accept the death of every kind.

and he raises his thought above the earthly and material concerns of humanity, and above the passions, and his hand is not over everything, nor the hand of everything over him, but he is alone in his own, and solitary, a And the end of all: God, the Lord of all, because of the love of his creation, gave his Son to the death of the cross. For thus did God love the world, that he gave his only Son for it. Not that he was unable to save us by any other means, but that his excessive love might be made known in this way: that through the death of his only Son he might draw us near to him. And if he had anything more precious than him, he would have given it to us, because in him he found his delight. And because of such great love, he did not even compel our freedom by force, when he could have done so. Rather, through the love of our reason, he drew near to us. And our Lord, for the sake of his love for us, listened to his Father, and accepted to receive insult and pain upon himself with joy, as Scripture says: for the joy that was his, he bore the cross, and delivered himself up to the torment. Therefore, our Lord said on that night when he was delivered: "This is my body, which is given for the salvation of the world, for life; and this is my blood, which is shed for the forgiveness of sins." And upon their faces, no man sanctifies himself. And thus also all the saints attain this perfection when they are completed: that they become like God in the abundance of love and mercy towards the living.

and this sign requires of themselves the likeness of God: in the love of their neighbors they are perfected. Thus also the solitary fathers used to do: for the sake of that likeness they filled the life of Christ the Lord of all, taking it up in their standing with a firm resolve. Blessed are those who are not hindered: nothing at all is in his power to do a deed that is not pleasing to him, like one who benefits his neighbor. When he had this hope, that the advantage of his neighbor would be a superior work for him. And as it is said concerning the blessed Agathon: I desired to find a lion, and I gave him my body, and he took his own. Have you seen perfect love? And again, until the time when, outside of it, he would not endure that his neighbor not be benefited more than himself. As when he had a garment, and he saw a leprous brother, and his companion, and he did not let him go out of his cell until he took it. And again, as when he had a leprous brother, and he saw a man who was distressed over it, again he had no authority over it. And what does this man say? That many of them gave their bodies even to beasts and to the sword and to fire for the sake of their neighbors. No man can come to this order of love, except one who has somehow secretly perceived in his hope.

and cannot bear the love of the wicked, those who hate him in this world. When a man attains love, he puts on God with him. The signs that a man has put on God: it is not possible that anything should be found with him, but even his body becomes fitting. And if he has put on the world, or his life in this world through their compassion, those who have put on God do not leave him. For he testifies: a man who does not leave and renounce everything, even himself, cannot become a disciple to me. And not only does he leave, but he also renounces. And if he cannot become a disciple, how can he dwell in him? A question. For what reason is his service so easy and his labors light, and his work for the self contemptible? Elder. Because natural weariness is stirred up in the self, and it gives this cup to drink and makes it drunk. And from that hour, they no longer feel weariness, and they become without sensation in afflictions. And in the whole course of their discipline, it appears to them thus: as if they were walking on a level plain, without human difficulties. When the end of the difficulty of the road is not seen by them, nor that there are obstacles and heights before them. But it is a plain for them to the smooth, and a difficult place to the easy. For at all times, they look to the rock of their fathers.

to all those that are far off and invisible; and as if in their presence he acts with certainty for you, so that he may be found among them miraculously, in the hidden eye of faith. For all the passions of the soul he burns them like fire, in the furnace of those that are far off as if they were near to him. Henceforth the whole course of their thoughts is disturbed, and when they arrive they are hasty, and when they approach each one of the virtues, to serve them, it is not in a passional manner that they serve them, but in a comprehensive manner, all of them at once. In their training, they do not act by the way of the king like everyone else, but they choose for themselves short paths, those by which the mighty and the humble travel, those who humbly guide them to the air. For that hope already drives them like fire, and they cannot cease from the continuous running of their course in their joy. And what happens to them is like that which the blessed Jeremiah said: "I said to them that I would no longer remember him, nor speak his name. And it was in my heart like a burning fire, and it hid in the bones." Thus is the remembrance of God in the hearts of those who travel by the hope of birth.

paths are cut short: I have called the excellent virtues of the hidden ones, that which has no turning or mountain of many paths of conduct from that one, nor place, nor time, nor care. But it stands over it, and immediately completes it. Question: What is it that is not suffering? And the old man answered: Not suffering is not the absence of feeling evil, but the non-reception of sufferings. From the excellent simple virtues that are revealed and hidden, sufferings were dissolved for you, and they were not able to reach the soul. And also the mind was not always able to look into you, because at every time, due to its movement from the thought and contemplation of excellent minds, it is moved in the air by means of the intellect. And when suffering begins to be moved, the mind is snatched away from its direction by the intellect of something that is precise in the air, and that suffering remains idle. As also the blessed Evagrius said: that the air, by the grace of God, completes the works of virtue, and approaches knowledge; it is little perceived from the foolish motion of the soul. For his knowledge snatches him to the height, and makes him forget all that is in the world. And because of that, due to their purity, their air was cut off for him, and it became light and sharp.

Because of the thickness again, that air was refined: it dried up the body and also from the emptiness of stillness and the extension of the time that is in it. And because of this, it is easily able to do something: that the vision of that which is in the river beside it appears to it. And upon this, and also the passions in the visions: and never was there lacking to them the fullness of concepts from their thought. Apart from that: that spirit whose fruits it seeks in them. And also that habit, in the swiftness of time, became a hindrance to the remembrances from the heart, those which were the movements of the passions in the soul, and the principal power of Satan. When, however, the soul does not become mingled with the passions by means of its agitation that is in it: then the other intention of the monastery, which is written, is similar: it is not able to stand the power of their nails in its spiritual sensations. Question. What are the properties of humility? The elder says: Just as the proclamation is the dispersing one which the soul makes in the arena of its mouth, from the stone which turns it back from flying in the desire of its thoughts to go around the whole creation, so humility is the restraining one which sits in the tranquility of thoughts, and the composure of the soul within itself, and the humility of the soul is not known, and is not seen by the eye of the flesh. So the humble one is not known among the sons of men.

And like the soul within the body, it is hidden from sight and from mixture with every human being. The humility of truth does not only not wish to be seen and known among human beings, because of its hiddenness and its withdrawal from everything, but also this is its desire, if it were possible, that even itself might become hidden and silent from itself, and interior to its own interior, in the stillness and cessation of its movements together with all its sensations entirely, and as something that does not exist in creation and has not come into being, and is not at all for the whole of it, so that even it does not wish itself to be known and perceived. And the more it is hidden, concealed, and silent from the world, the more it is entirely with its Lord. The humble one is never struck by things that cause pain, nor by the tumult of passions, nor by movement and sound, nor by disturbance, desire, and the dispersals of the senses that are poured out from them, nor by speech, business, sound, and the agitation of the senses. But rather, more than anything, what is chosen for it is the solidity and withdrawal of that which is with its own self, when it is still, silent, and solitary, and casts itself with its own self upon the quiet earth that is remote from everything, and is still from the whole of creation. And in everything, smallness, order, remoteness, and poverty are beloved to it.

nor to many actions and evil deeds; but at all times it stands in simplicity and without thought, without the disturbance of the things that happen, so that his thoughts do not go out from him. For example, if he falls into many things, it is impossible for him to be without the disturbance of his movements. Many actions produce many thoughts, and many thoughts produce confusion of thoughts and diverse ideas. And then he departs from that which he was purifying from the pureness of earthly things through the tranquility of his thoughts, apart from the small necessities which are those constraints. And the intention that takes up a single thought in his tranquil movements. And then, even if he restrains his mouth from speech, the necessities do not leave him. And they come, and even to that which he is silent and makes silent. And then the door is opened to sorrows, and the power of discernment departs. Humility has fled, the door of peace is locked. And because of all these things, he wisely guards himself from many things. And at all times he is found to be swift, and calm, and humble, and tranquil. In a humble person there is no violence, nor haste, nor fear, nor hot and swift movements. But at all times he is at rest in peace. Even if heaven were joined to earth, the humble person would not be moved. Not everything that is swift is humble.

Now, as for humility: it is also swift. There is no humility without cheerfulness. But cheerfulness without humility can be found in many. This is the sign and humility of which our Lord spoke: ‘Learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and you can become meek for your own sakes.’ Humility at all times is constant, for there is nothing that disturbs its thought. Just as it is impossible to disturb a mountain, so the thought of the humble person is not disturbed, if one may say so. And moreover, not even the drunkenness of this person, who is called humble, is from this world, because it does not become agitated or disturbed by misfortunes, nor does it become elated or attached to things of joy. Rather, all its joy and true exultation are in the things of its Lord. Attached to humility, however, are cheerfulness, simplicity, and a certain cheerfulness which is itself cheerfulness.

A subdued voice: littleness of speech, simplicity of countenance, gentleness of limbs, slowness of gait, softness of gaze, tenderness of compassion, scantiness of tears, a self that is humbled, a broken heart, unperturbability of anger, non-agitation of feelings, littleness of desires, scantiness of need in everything, patience, fearlessness, courage of heart born from the hope of life-giving mysteries, the consolation of the afflicted, heavy and not light movements, thickness of thoughts, guarding of the secret, humility, meekness, silence. And more than all: that which is perpetually silent, a perpetual silence without knowledge. To the humble one, nothing is ever received that would make him confess. But the humble one, even when he is alone, is also hidden from himself. He marvels: 'Is this man truly humble?' And he thinks that even to pray to God when he approaches prayer, or to be worthy of this, or to ask anything of Him, or to know what he prays, is not fitting. But only when all his movements are still, and he is silent, does he silently incline to compassion, so that whatever desire may come forth from him before that venerable greatness.

with his face bent toward the earth; and the inner gaze of his heart is suspended upon the gate of the holy of holies of the Most High. That one whose cloud of glory darkens the eyes of the seraphim, and whose radiance terrifies the legions of their ranks, and silence is cast upon all their orders; and to the laughter of mysteries which from within the invisible he ministers, in a void without air, in a motion without sound, in perceptions without body, in a sensibility without likeness, in an essence without vision of their revelation, when the power of their motions is too weak to endure before the rays of his mysteries. And until this alone it extends: that as is your will, my Lord. These things, then, up to this point, I have sketched for you in simple words, in which there is no difficulty, for by them the understanding is attained because of the clarity of the expressions; but in subtlety it was to me, those which by their reading alone, one would lose his ways and his turnings of this world and his bodily life, and would be occupied in his thought from then on with that his true and superior world. When one reconciles himself to your love: that when you encounter these mysteries, do not go out from them without profit, and let words of death be found with you. Let them not be for you like those which happened to be for that spiritual beginning, and were wearied from within it.

Behold, the table is set, and the spiritual banquets are arrayed upon it, and all the delicacies are placed. And he invites you, O sinner, to enter and delight yourself with him. Do not be anxious any longer, lest it be said also to you, "After the voice that was because of them." What then? I say and declare to you: that one of those who are worthy, they have not tasted of their evening meal.