Epistulae ad Castorem

Of the same great Athanasius, to Castor the most blessed, concerning the canonical regulations of the cenobitic communities. Since you commanded me, most blessed father Castor, to make known to you the canonical regulations of the cenobitic communities of the East, and especially of the Egyptians, of which I have been an eyewitness, I, yielding to your command, have sent you this account as briefly as possible, so that those gathered together with God in your new monastery may have a provision for virtue—the rules of the blessed men and others besides. It is necessary, then, before all things to describe prayer, the cause of all good things, both how and with what full order they perform it in the cenobitic communities especially throughout Egypt and the Thebaid. For when they gather together at the time of the assembly, as soon as the psalm is finished, they do not rush immediately to kneeling, but before bending the knees, standing for a little while with hands outstretched, they pray; and after this, falling to the ground and again praying for a little while on their knees, all rise together at the same moment; and again, spreading out their hands, they fulfill their supplications more earnestly and intently, with no one kneeling or rising from kneeling until the one who is leading their prayer kneels first or rises first.

Accordingly, as has been said, when they come together to complete the aforementioned assemblies, such silence is maintained by all that one would think no man at all was present in so great an innumerable multitude of brethren, especially at the time of the prayers, when neither spitting occurs, nor coughing is heard, nor is listlessness, nor drowsiness, nor yawning, nor groans sent up with noise. For they say that the one who performs his prayers with a cry, in levity of mind, sins doubly: first, as praying carelessly, and second, as striking the neighbor's hearing with an uneducated voice and scattering his mind, while the evil spirits also join the attack—they, whenever they see us standing for prayer, weigh down the soul with unseemly thoughts and listlessness. And for this reason they hasten to complete the psalms not with noise and disturbance, nor by the number of verses, but they take delight in the understanding of the mind, following that reasoning which says: "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind also." For they hold it more profitable to sing ten verses with understanding than the whole psalter with confusion of mind. And when the psalms and the canon have been completed, as we mentioned above, none of the brethren dares to stand even for a little while, or to converse with another.

But they do not go out from their cell, nor abandon the work they have in hand, fulfilling the apostolic command, unless perhaps some necessity arises for all to come together for some necessary task, which they fulfill with such zeal even when going out that no conversation arises among them, but each, attending to the meditation of his mind and to the psalm, fulfills what has been appointed. With great zeal they guard against any brother being left apart somewhere alone with another, and especially with a young man, or daring to stretch out his own hands and seize or embrace another. But if anyone is found transgressing this rule, he is subjected to a very heavy penalty. Concerning the canonical manner, then, of prayers and psalms, which ought to be observed in the daily assemblies, we have spoken sufficiently. It remains for us to describe those who renounce the world, in what manner they enter these cenobitic communities, and remain humble and submissive until the deepest gray hair. For such is the obedience and humility among them even to old age as would not be found even in the first year among those who renounce the world in the monasteries among us. Therefore the one who wishes to become a monk will not first be received inside the monastery until he has provided some proof and trial of his longing toward God and of his humility and patience through the greatest obedience. Having been tested in these things, then, he becomes acceptable among them, and is taught not to have anything of his own property stored up.

For they know that one who retains any of his own possessions cannot remain for long in the monastery's obedience and endure hardship to the end. For whenever any pretext or affliction stirs his mind, immediately the hope of what is laid up for him, like a stone from a sling, drives him out of the monastery. For this reason each of them is stripped of his former property, so that he is no longer permitted to wear even the very garment in which he came clothed. But when all the brothers are gathered, he is brought forward into their midst, is stripped of his own garments, and by the hands of the abba is reclothed in the garments of the monastery; so that by this figure he may recognize that, having been stripped of all worldly things, of arrogance, and of vanity, he has put on the poverty of Christ, and that he without shame counts himself among and equates himself with the body of the brotherhood. The steward of the monastery takes the garments he has taken off and keeps them, setting them apart until he gives proof of his progress, his conduct, and his endurance under various temptations. And if they find him able to persevere in these things, and continuing with all zeal and fervent warmth as he began, they number him with the rest of the brothers; but if they observe in him any fault of grumbling, or the sin of any disobedience whatever, they strip him of what he put on from the monastery, clothe him again in worldly garments, and expel him from the community.

So from this point on, by this strictness, it is not easy for one who wishes to enter as he pleases or to withdraw from the monastery, but the one who does not remain in every way in his own agreement is stripped of the monastery. When, therefore, the one received under this strictness, as we have said, has been tested and found blameless, he is not permitted immediately to mingle with the assembly of the brothers, but is handed over to the one appointed to the care of strangers, and is commanded to render every attention and service to them; and when he has served the strangers blamelessly for a whole year, having been shaped by this toward humility and patience, he is then numbered with the assembly of the brothers and is handed over to one of the elders who has this charge, that he may teach the disciple by what path, once begun, he may be able to reach the perfection of the virtues. First of all, then, he teaches him to strive to conquer his own desires and pleasures, by commanding him the opposite of his own wills. For the fathers say that one cannot otherwise bridle pleasures, or overcome anger, or grief, or acquire true humility, or simply be well perfected with brotherhood in the cenobium, unless he first put to death his own wills through obedience. And having advanced the disciple by these formings and teachings, as it were by certain elements and syllables, they accordingly teach him again not to hide his own thoughts, but immediately, whenever they come, to reveal them to his own Father, and to trust nothing concerning their discernment to his own heart.

But is that thing good or evil? The Father will prove it by his own judgments. For in this way, the one being formed toward virtue will be able to be deceived by the enemy in nothing, as one inexperienced and not yet having acquired knowledge of his methods; for the Fathers say that this is a particular device of the devil's craft, that he persuades those who are being discipled to hide their own thoughts from the Fathers out of private self-esteem, as though they were sufficient to counsel themselves on what is beneficial, or out of private vainglory being ashamed to make their own thoughts public. And so great is the submission kept among them that no one dares to go out beyond the abba, nor even beyond the cell where he sits; and they strive to carry out what is commanded by him as receiving these things from God. And sitting in their own cells, devoted to work and meditation and prayer, and attending with zeal, whenever they hear the one knocking at the door of the cell, or calling them to the common prayer or to some work, immediately leaving everything together, they rush to what has been commanded, zealously pursuing with all zeal the virtue of obedience; which they prefer not only to the work of their hands, reading, and the stillness in the cell, but also to all the virtues, and they place all things second to this. And that among other things is superfluous even to say, that no one of them possesses anything else except a colobium, and a half-cloak, and sandals, and a sheepskin, and a mat; considering it a shame to be said among them, my book, my writing tablet, or anything else of mine.

Each of them brings in daily provision to the monastery from his own work and sweat, so as not only to suffice for their own needs but also to minister to the service of strangers and the poor. Yet laboring in this way, they are not puffed up, nor do they boast, nor does any of them demand from his own work and sweat more than the need granted by the abba; he acquires no possession of any kind of material for himself, regarding himself as a sojourner and stranger to the whole world, and counting himself rather a slave and servant of the brethren than a master of any earthly thing. And if anyone breaks any vessel whatsoever, or loses it, he confesses to the abba the fault of his own negligence, and so repenting with humility he receives forgiveness. But whoever, having been called to some task or to the assembly, comes late out of contempt, or answers more harshly, or more rashly, or more carelessly, or does what was commanded with murmuring, or, preferring the reading of the work to obedience, performs the tasks commanded him more slowly, or, having been dismissed from the assembly, does not quickly run back to his work, or converses with someone without necessary need, or lays hold of another's hand with boldness, or meets with relatives without the permission and blessing of his abba, or receives a letter from someone, or attempts to write back to someone without the abba, or commits any of the like offenses, he is subjected to this penalty: when the brethren are gathered in the assembly, casting himself upon the ground and confessing, he asks forgiveness for his own fault.

But if anyone is found committing the graver faults than these, which are: contempt, contradiction with arrogance, or going out from the monastery without the abba's permission, or a meeting with a woman, or anger, or fighting, or enmity, or bearing grudges, or love of money, which is the leprosy of the soul, or the acquisition of any possession beyond what is given by the abba, or food taken without a blessing by stealthy means, and things similar to these—he is not subjected to the previously mentioned penalty, but to a more severe and greater one. And if he does not correct himself, he is cast out of the monastery. But the practice of having a reading performed in some cenobitic communities at the time of the meal is not from the rule of the Egyptians, but from the Cappadocians, who established this custom not so much for the sake of spiritual exercise as for the sake of silence from conversation. Among the Egyptians, however, and especially among the Tabennesiotes, such great silence is maintained by all when such a numerous multitude of brothers is gathered at the time of their table's assembly—a silence such as is scarcely to be found elsewhere—so that no one dares to break it except the leader of the table, who, if anyone has a need, signals it by a knock rather than by voice. And these wear their cowls down to their eyelids, so that, having wandering eyes, they may not look upon one another too curiously; but they gaze only at the table and at the thanksgiving to God who nourishes them. And there is great vigilance among them, that no one of them may receive food from outside the table.

But so that we may not seem to have passed over any of the cenobitic rules, it is necessary to mention also the regulations handed down in other regions. Throughout all Mesopotamia, then, and Palestine, and Cappadocia, and the whole East, at the time of the assembly—at the third, sixth, and ninth hour—if anyone does not arrive before the first psalm is finished, he no longer dares to enter the oratory, nor to mingle himself with those singing the psalms, but he stands waiting outside the doors for the dismissal of the brethren. And when all are coming out, he places a prostration on the ground and begs forgiveness for his own negligence. But in the night assemblies, among them pardon is granted to those who are late until the second psalm. And the brethren take turns keeping weeks, both in the kitchen and in the other duties, at the same time also resting themselves and fulfilling the law of love by serving one another. And such humility and zeal is shown by them in the service as would not be rendered by slaves to masters. And when the week is completed, on the day of the Resurrection, after the morning hymns, they hand over the vessels marked for use to others again who are entering to serve; and receiving them, they show as much care and concern for guarding them, lest any of them be broken or lost, as is fitting for one entrusted with sacred vessels dedicated to God.

For they are preparing to give an account not only in the present to the steward, but also in the future to God, if it should happen that anything of these things perishes through neglect or carelessness. And for greater assurance of what has been said, I will add to the narrative what I myself beheld with my own eyes. In the week of a certain brother, the steward, passing by, saw a few grains of lentils thrown on the ground, and he did not disregard it as a paltry and worthless matter; but after rebuking the brother entrusted with the week severely, he imposed a penalty on him, as one neglecting things dedicated to God and trampling on his own conscience. For with such faith and zeal do they take care of all things and administer all things, that even those things which appear to us cheap and worthy of contempt they guard with great attention—for instance, to move a vessel lying badly, to gather up a utensil thrown down—believing that they have a reward for these things as well from the Master himself, God. These rules of the weeks we have found to be observed throughout all the East. But among the Egyptians the change of the weeks is not carried out in this way, but the care of the kitchen is entrusted to one of the most approved of the brethren, for as long as his virtue advances and the strength of his body serves in the ministry, and neither old age nor sickness hinders him. And since our discourse has been about obedience and humility, through which we are able to ascend to the summit of virtue, I consider it necessary to add to the narrative, as an example, a few out of many achievements of the holy Fathers who shone in the cenobia.

Desiring to renounce the world, he arrived at a cenobium and waited for a long time before the doors of the monastery, until by his great endurance he was received, together with a small son of his, contrary to the usual rule of the cenobium. And when after many labors he entered, they were not only assigned to various tasks, but were also separated in their dwelling in the cell, so that by their separation from one another they might gradually be freed from their natural attachment to each other; from which, by the grace of Christ, through much discipline, the father was set free. And once, for the testing and trial of his virtue, the abba pretended to be angry with the child and gave orders to the aforementioned father to take him and throw him into the river. Then he, as though commanded by God to carry off his child, came running to the bank of the river, and hastening to fulfill the command with fervent faith and the warmth of obedience, he was prevented by the brothers, who arrived and snatched the child away. So great, then, was his faith and obedience accepted before God, that it was revealed to the abba from God that this man had performed the work of Abraham. And after a short time, the aforementioned abba of the cenobium, when he was dying, left him as his successor. We knew another brother who had renounced the world, who was also great in the world (for his father had served as a comes and happened to be rich), and he was not moderately trained in earnest readings.

He therefore, having abandoned worldly show, hastened to the monastic life; and indeed, for the testing of his faith and humility, he was commanded by the abba to carry ten baskets and sell them in his own city, and not all together but one by one; which he fulfilled with all patience and humility, placing the baskets on his shoulders and selling them one by one, not considering the cheapness of the thing, nor the splendor of his family, nor the seeming dishonor of the sale. For he strove to make himself an imitator of the humility of Christ. And we also saw another of the Fathers, Abba Pinophas, a man adorned with every virtue, who was a protobios and abba of a great cenobium which is in Egypt near the city of Panephos. This man, seeing himself glorified and honored by all both because of his manner of life and because of his old age and because of his leadership, and unable to train himself in the practices of humility as he had from the beginning through the submission so dear to him in which he was called, secretly fled from his own cenobium and withdrew alone to the farthest parts of the Thebaid; and taking up the habit of a monk and putting on worldly garments, he went to the cenobium of the Tabennesiotes, thinking that in this way he would escape notice as to who he was, because of the multitude of the brothers and because of his being far removed from the region in which his cenobium was.

And after pleading for many days he was received by the archimandrite, who handed over to him, as to an old man and one useful for nothing else, the care and oversight of the garden, together with another brother, to whom he was subject and fulfilled the humility and obedience so greatly desired by him. Nor was he content with this service alone, but whatever tasks seemed difficult to others, these he eagerly performed. Having thus continued for three years unnoticed, while his disciples sought him throughout all Egypt, he was with difficulty recognized by a certain brother who had come there; and he, having seen him and recognized the features of his face, and still doubting, tried also to hear his voice; for he did not have certainty from sight alone, seeing such a man grown old, holding a hoe, working the earth, carrying dung on his own shoulders, and putting it on the roots of the vegetables. When therefore, carefully tracing the sound of his voice, he was able to perceive who he was, throwing himself at his feet, he caused the greatest astonishment to those who saw it, that thus

He was considered last by them, as a man who was a novice among them and had not long before left the world. But they were especially amazed when they learned his name, who before this had been heard of as great among them; and they asked his forgiveness, because, not knowing him, they had ranked him with the last of the novices. And after pleading with him much, they sent him away to his own community, though he was unwilling and lamenting, inasmuch as he was not permitted to fulfill the humility and obedience that was dear to him. Having therefore spent a short time in his own monastery, again set on fire with longing for humility and obedience, watching for an opportunity at night, he fled—no longer to a foreign land; for boarding a ship he came to the regions of Palestine, hoping there to escape notice completely. Having arrived therefore in Palestine, he set out for the monastery near the cave where the Master Christ was born; in which monastery he happened at that time to be staying. And when he arrived there too, he could not escape notice, according to the Master's voice which says, "A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden." For brothers coming from the regions of Egypt to venerate the holy places, and recognizing him, again led him away to his own community, persuading him with many entreaties and lamentations. With this holy man, then, I lived for a short time in Egypt; and what I heard from him as he admonished a brother whom he received in my presence, I will relate and so complete the account. You know, brother, he said, how many days you spent before the doors of the monastery before you were received today.

If, then, you learn the cause of the difficulty, it will be able to counsel you on this way that you desire to enter, and to make you a faithful servant of Christ. For just as glory and honor for the future have been promised to those who serve the Master faithfully, so the heaviest punishments await those who approach this promise lukewarmly and carelessly. For it is better, according to the Scripture, not to vow, than to vow and not to pay. And again it is said: "Cursed is the one who does the work of the Lord negligently." For this reason we turned away and delayed accepting, not because we do not desire your salvation and that of all who believe in Christ, but so that we, by receiving you rashly and haphazardly, might not incur a charge of levity before God, and by making our vow, bring upon you a heavier punishment, if for the present you should prove easygoing, not having learned the weight and the exactness of the promise, and afterward be found slack and careless. For this reason, as has been said, you ought to know the cause of the renunciation, what you must do. The renunciation, then, is nothing other than a promise of cross and death. Know, therefore, that from this day you have died, and are crucified to the world, and the world to you, according to the Apostle; and understand thoroughly what is the power of the crucifixion, since no longer do you live, but he lives in you who was crucified for you.

In this type and form, therefore, in which the Master was hung up on our behalf, it is also necessary for us to live in the cenobium, just as the blessed David also prays, exhorting out of the fear of God that his flesh be nailed fast. For as the one who has his body nailed to the wood is unmoved toward every action of whatever sort he wishes, so the one whose reasoning is nailed fast by divine fear is unmoved toward every fleshly will. And just as the one nailed to the cross no longer considers the things present, nor is disposed together with his own wills, nor is disturbed by desire, nor is stretched taut by anxiety about acquiring, nor is puffed up by arrogance, nor inflamed by contentiousness, nor by envy, nor does he grieve over present dishonors, nor does he remember past insults—for a little later he awaits the departure from life through the cross—so the one who has genuinely renounced the world, and by divine fear is nailed fast as on a cross, receiving each day the departure from this life,

Keep all your desires and fleshly dispositions unmoved and inactive. Guard yourself, therefore, lest you ever desire to take back those things which you renounced and cast away. For according to the sentence of the Master, "He who puts his hand to the plow and turns back is not fit for the kingdom of heaven"; and he who descends from the high way of life to the lowly and earthly affairs of this world acts again contrary to the commandment of Christ, coming down from the roof and attempting to take something from the house. Guard yourself, then, lest, remembering the old disposition of the parents according to the flesh and turning back to the cares of this age, you be found unfit according to the voice of the Lord in the kingdom of heaven. Guard yourself lest you ever raise up against yourself the pride which in the beginning you trampled down by the warmth of humility, when you have learned the psalter or some part of Scripture, or, according to the voice of the Apostle, by building again the things you destroyed, you prove yourself a transgressor; but rather, as you began and confessed humility before God and angels, keep it to the end. Likewise, the endurance which you showed in the monastery, waiting many days before the doors and entreating with tears, strive to increase. For it is truly wretched that you, who ought each day to add to your first warmth and ascend to perfection by progressing, should subtract from it and slip back down. For it is not the one who begins the good work who is blessed, but the one who remains in it to the end.

For the serpent that crawls on the earth always watches our heel, that is, he plots against our departure, and until the end of our life he attempts to trip us up. And for this reason, to begin well will profit nothing, nor the beginning of fervor in submission, unless the end be likewise. And the humility of Christ, which you have now promised before him, will not otherwise be confirmed, unless you show it until the end. Therefore, so that you may be able to acquire it perfectly and crush the head of the dragon, be diligent, whenever thoughts assail you, to report them immediately from the beginning. For thus, by making public the beginnings of the destructive thoughts of the dragon, and not being ashamed to reveal them to your Father, you will crush his head. Therefore indeed, according to the Scripture, if you come forward to serve God, prepare yourself not for freedom from care, not for ease, but for temptations, for afflictions. For "through many afflictions it is necessary for us to enter into the kingdom of heaven"; and, "Narrow is the gate, and straitened the way that leads to life, and few are those who find it." Give heed, then, to the few good things, and by their example regulate your own life; do not attach yourself to the slack and the contemptuous, even if they be many; for "Many," he says, "are called, but few are chosen," and small is the flock to which the Father was well pleased to give the kingdom. For do not think it a small sin to promise perfection and to follow the more negligent and slack.

In order, then, that you may be able to advance toward perfection, use this order, and ascend by these steps. The first step of virtue and the beginning of our salvation is the fear of God; through this there comes about both purification from sins and the guarding of the virtues, and it becomes a road to perfection. For when the fear of God enters the soul, it persuades one to despise all the things of the world, and it begets forgetfulness of kinsmen according to the flesh, and of the whole world itself. From these things humility is accomplished, the head of the virtues and the fullness of all good things; for humility comes about through despising and renouncing all things. And humility is tested by these marks. First, if a man has his own will deadened in himself; second, if he hides nothing from his own Father, not only of his own deeds but even of his thoughts; third, if he trusts not in his own understanding, but in all things in the Father's discernment, always thirsting and longing, and gladly hearing his admonition; fourth, if he will serve all the Father's commandments without shame; fifth, if not only does he himself not dare to insult anyone, but he will also receive with joy the insults brought upon him by others; sixth, if he will attempt to do nothing newer than what the common canon no longer urges, nor the examples of the Fathers; seventh, if, content with every lowliness and giving thanks even for the things that have been given, he considers himself unworthy of them; eighth, if he always reckons himself lower than all, and is not rash in words;

Tenth, if he is not glib in words and ready with his tongue. For by these things and by signs like them, humility is recognized. These things, when they are accomplished in truth, quickly lead one up to the height of love, in which there is no fear of punishment, and through which all things are no longer kept with compulsion and toil, but with burning longing and desire for the good. And in order that you may be able more easily to reach this virtue, let the words of the brethren who meet with you and who possess circumspection be examples for you to imitate—not the majority, who live more carelessly and more slackly. For from imitating and emulating the saints, the greatest benefit accrues to those who wish to reach perfection. If, then, you wish to be able to follow all these things and to endure under them in the spiritual struggle of the community life until the end, let these things that David spoke be necessary for you as a guard in the company of the brethren: "But I was like a deaf man and did not hear, and like a man who does not hear, and who has no reproofs in his mouth." Therefore, as many things as you see that are alien to edification and benefit, become as a blind man; and as many things as you hear, be as a deaf and mute man, and one who has no reproofs in his mouth. And do not imitate those who are faithless and disobedient and reckless and worthless and violent, but as a deaf man and one who does not hear, let these things pass by. If anyone sends against you reproofs, or insults, or abuses, be unmoved as one silenced and mute, always repeating this verse of the psalm: "I said, I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue.

I set a guard over my mouth, when the sinner stood before me; I was mute and was humbled. Moreover, in addition to these things, practice this fourth thing before all others and guard it, which is also able to adorn the three things spoken of above. Make yourself foolish and senseless in this age, according to the Apostle's command, so that you may become wise—evidently discerning or hesitating in nothing that you are commanded, performing obedience with simplicity and faith. Counting that alone as holy of holies, and believing it to be wise and profitable: what your Father has commanded you. For having secured your heart with such a disposition, you will be able to endure to the end the yoke of Christ's subjection, and none of the devil's assaults and devices will be able to shake you from the knowledge of life. And do not expect your endurance, your humility, and your long-suffering to be accomplished by the virtue of others—for example, if no one provokes you, or despises you, or dishonors you, this is neither a proof of your virtue nor does it lie in your power; but when, being reviled, or dishonored, or despised, you bear it meekly—for this lies in your own free choice. In order, then, that we may gather all these things that we have said more at length and state something brief so that your mind may easily remember them, hear again how you may be able to advance in order to perfection. The beginning of our salvation is the fear of God; from this is born good obedience, from which is begotten subjection and contempt for the things of the world.

But from this humility is born the mortification of one's own wills; and from the mortification of the wills the roots of pleasures are withered; and from these all the defects of the soul are cast off; and by the casting off of these, the virtues increase and bear fruit; and by the increase of the virtues, purity of heart is added; and to purity of heart, apostolic perfection follows, by the grace and cooperation of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. Of the same great Athanasius, to the same Castor, on the eight reasonings of vice. Having recently composed the discourse on the ordering of the common life, again at the present time, trusting in your prayers, we have undertaken to write concerning the eight reasonings of vice: I mean gluttony and fornication, avarice and anger, grief and listlessness, vainglory and pride. First, then, we shall speak concerning the continence of the belly, which is opposed to gluttony; and concerning the manner of fastings, and the quality and quantity of foods. And these things we shall say not of ourselves, but what we have received from our holy Fathers. They, then, handed down not one rule of fasting, nor one manner of partaking of foods, nor the same measure to all, because not all have the same strength, whether on account of age, or on account of weakness, or on account of the habit of a more delicate body. But one aim they handed down to all: to flee satiety, and to turn away from the filling of the belly.

But they judged daily fasting to be more profitable and conducive to purity than fasting drawn out over three or four days, or even up to a week. For they say that one who extends his fasting immoderately beyond measure has often resorted to food, so that from this the body is at one time weakened by excessive abstinence from food and becomes more sluggish for spiritual services, and at another time, weighed down by the abundance of foods, produces listlessness and slackness in the soul. And again, the partaking of vegetables is not suitable for all, nor that of legumes for all, nor are all able to use dry bread as food; and again, he says that one who eats two pounds of bread is still hungry, while another who eats a pound, or six ounces, is satisfied. To all, then, as has been said, they have handed down one aim of self-control: not to be deceived by the filling of the belly, nor to be drawn out by the pleasure of the throat. For not only the difference of quality, but also the quantity of the abundance of foods is accustomed to kindle the fiery darts of sin; for the stomach, when filled with any kind of food whatever, gives birth to the seeds of prodigality. And again, not only drunkenness of wine, but also surfeit of water, and the excess of all foods, make it stupefied and drowsy. For the Sodomites, it was not drunkenness of wine and various foods that became the cause of destruction, but a surfeit of bread, according to the prophet. The weakness of the body is not opposed to the purity of the heart. Having therefore supplied to the body these things which weakness demands, not those which pleasure wishes.

The use of foods is taken up insofar as it serves life, not insofar as it enslaves us to the impulses of desire. The moderate and reasonable partaking of food takes care of the body's health and does not take away holiness. This is the precise boundary and rule of self-control handed down by the holy Fathers: while the appetite is still present, the one who eats should abstain from food. And the Apostle too, when he said, "Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires," did not forbid the necessary steering of life, but he forbade pleasure-loving solicitude. Moreover, for the complete purity of the soul, abstinence from foods alone is not sufficient unless the other virtues also run together with it. Therefore humility, through obedience in action and the mortification of the body, greatly contributes to us. Abstinence from the love of money is not only not having money, but not even desiring to possess it. Abstinence from anger, from grief, from vainglory, from pride, leads the soul to purity. All these things bring about the universal purity of the soul. But the partial purity of the soul that comes through chastity is accomplished especially by self-control and fasting. For it is impossible for one whose belly is full to wage war in his mind against the spirit of fornication. Therefore let our first contest be to master the belly and to enslave the body, not only through fasting, but also through vigils, and toil, and reading, and gathering the heart into the fear of Gehenna and into the longing for the kingdom of heaven.

The second struggle for us is against the spirit of fornication and the desire of the flesh, which desire begins from the first age to trouble man. Great is this struggle and difficult, and it has a double wrestling match, because it is double, consisting in the soul and in the body. And for this reason one must undertake a double wrestling match against it. For bodily fasting alone is not sufficient for the acquisition of perfect chastity and true purity, unless there is also earnest prayer to God, and common meditation on the divine Scriptures, and labor and work of the hands, which are able to restrain the unstable impulses of the soul and to recall it from shameful fantasies; but before all things, humility of soul contributes, without which one will not be able to overcome either fornication or the other passions. Therefore one must above all keep the heart with all guard from filthy thoughts. For from it proceed, according to the voice of the Lord, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, and the rest. For fasting has been commanded us not only for the affliction of the body, but also for the sobriety of the mind, lest, darkened by the abundance of foods, it be unable to keep watch over the thoughts. One must therefore show all diligence not only in bodily fasting, but also in attentiveness to thoughts and in spiritual meditation, without which it is impossible to ascend to the height of true purity and cleanliness.

It is fitting, therefore, that we first cleanse, according to the voice of the Lord, the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside also may become clean. For this reason, if we are earnest, according to the Apostle, to strive lawfully and to be crowned, having conquered the unclean spirit of fornication, let us not trust in our own power or ascetic effort, but in the help of the Lord God. For man does not cease being warred against by this demon until he truly believes that it is not by his own earnestness or toil, but by the inclination and help of God, that he is delivered from this sickness and ascends to the height of purity. For the matter is beyond nature, and in a certain way it comes to be outside the body—for one who has trampled upon the provocations of the flesh and its pleasures. And for this reason it is impossible for a man, with wings, so to speak, to fly up to this height and heavenly prize of holiness, and to become an imitator of angels, unless the grace of God raises him up from the earth and the mire. For by no virtue are men bound to the flesh more closely assimilated to the heavenly angels than by chastity; for through this, while still living on the earth, they have, according to the Apostle, their citizenship in the heavens. And a proof that we possess this virtue is that the soul is not disturbed even by the image of a single shameful fantasy in sleep

to run to. For even if such a movement is not reckoned as sin, nevertheless it is a proof that the soul is sick and has not yet been freed from the passion. And for this reason we ought to believe that the shameful fantasies that come to us in sleep are a reproof of our prior negligence and of the weakness within us, since the discharge that occurs in the relaxation of sleep makes manifest a disease hidden in the secret places of the soul. Therefore the physician of souls also placed the remedy in the secret places of the soul, where he knew the causes of the disease to be as well, saying: "He who has looked upon a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart"; not so much correcting the fornicating and meddlesome eyes as the soul established within, which makes bad use of the eyes given by God for good. For this reason the wise proverb also does not say, "Guard your eyes with all watchfulness," but, "Guard your heart with all watchfulness," assigning the healing of the guard especially to that which uses the eyes for whatever it wishes. Therefore let this be the first guard of our purification, so that, whenever by our thought a memory of a woman arises, conveyed through the devil's working—if it happens to be a mother, or a sister, or other devout women—we may quickly cast it out of our heart.

so that, while we linger for a long time in that very thought, the deceiver of evils may not roll down and hurl our mind from these persons into shameful and harmful reflections. Just as the commandment given by God to the first man also enjoins, to guard the head of the serpent, that is, the beginning of the harmful thought, through which it attempts to creep into our soul; so that we may not, by the acceptance of the head, which is the assault of the thought, then receive the rest of the serpent's body, that is, the consent to pleasure, and from this it may then carry the mind down to the unlawful act. But it is fitting, according to what is written, in the mornings to kill all the sinners of the earth, that is, by the light of knowledge to judge and to destroy utterly the sinful thoughts from the earth, which is the heart, according to the voice of the Lord; and while the sons of Babylon are still infants, that is, the evil thoughts, to dash them down and crush them against the rock, which is Christ. For if through our consent they grow to manhood, they will be stirred up not without great groaning and toil. In addition to what has been said from the divine Scripture, it is good also to call to mind a saying of the holy Fathers. It has been said, then, by Saint Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia: "I do not know a woman, and I am not a virgin" — he knew that the gift of virginity is accomplished not in the bodily abstention from a woman alone, but in the holiness and purity of the soul, and in the fear of God.

The Fathers also say this: that we cannot acquire the virtue of chastity and purity unless we first acquire true humility in the heart; nor can we be deemed worthy of true knowledge as long as the passion of fornication sits enthroned in the hidden recesses of the soul. And so that we may demonstrate this great achievement also from the Apostle, let us bring our discourse to a close by recalling one of his statements. “Pursue peace with all,” he says, “and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” That he is speaking about this is clear from what he added, saying, “Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau.” Therefore, to the extent that the achievement of purity is heavenly and angelic, to that same extent it is assailed by the heavier plots of the adversaries. And for this reason we ought to strive not only to practice bodily self-control, but also contrition of heart and frequent prayers with groanings—so that the furnace of our flesh, which the Babylonian king kindles each day with the provocations of desire

it is kindled, to be quenched by the dew of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the greatest weapon for us against this enemy is vigilance according to God. For just as purity and the guarding of the day prepare nightly holiness, so nightly vigilance according to God prepares the daily... The third struggle for us is against the spirit of love of money; this war is strange, and is recognized as outside of nature, finding its occasion for the monk from unbelief. For indeed the provocations of the other passions—I mean of anger and desire—seem to have their occasions from the body, and in a certain way are as though innate, having their beginning from birth; whence also they are conquered over a long time. But the disease of love of money, coming from outside, can more easily be cut out, if it meets with care and attention; but when neglected, it becomes more destructive than the other passions and is cast off together with them; for it is the root of all evils, according to the Apostle. Let us consider it thus. The natural motions of the body are observed not only in children, in whom there is not yet discernment of good and evil, but also in the very little ones and infants at the breast, which, having not even a trace of fleshly pleasure, nevertheless signify motion in the flesh. Likewise the sting of anger is observed in infants, when we see them stirred up against those who have grieved them.

And I say this, not condemning nature as the cause of sin—far be it!—but to show that although anger and desire, even for a good purpose, were joined to man by God the Creator, nevertheless they seem in some way to fall from the natural motions of the body into things contrary to nature through negligence. For the motion of the body for begetting children and continuing the race was given by the Creator, not for fornication; and the motion of anger has been sown in us for salvation, so as to be angry against sin, not to become savage against those of the same race. Therefore, if we use these things badly, nature is not sinful, nor should we blame the Fashioner—just as we would not blame the one who gave iron for necessary and beneficial use, if the one who received it used it for the service of murder. And we have said these things wishing to show that the passion of love of money does not have its origin in natural motions, but from wickedness alone and a corrupted will. For this disease, when at the beginning of renunciation it finds a lukewarm and faithless soul, suggests certain just and seemingly reasonable pretexts for retaining something of what one possesses; for it sketches out in the monk's mind a long old age, and weakness of body, and that the provisions given by the community are not sufficient for comfort—I do not say for one who is sick, but not even for one who is healthy—and that here care is not given to the sick according to their worth, but is utterly neglected, and that, if he does not have hidden gold, he will perish miserably.

Finally, he suggests that he is unable to remain long in the monastery because of the heaviness of the labors and the strictness of the father. And when by such thoughts he has led his mind astray, so as to hold on to even a single denarius, at that point he persuades him also to learn a craft in secret from the abba, from which he will be able to increase the silver he so eagerly desires; and thereafter he deceives the wretched man with uncertain hopes, suggesting to him the profit from the craft and the ease and freedom from care that comes from it. And in short, bound by the thought of gain, he considers none of the opposing things—not the madness of anger, if ever it happens that he falls into loss; not grief, not darkness, if he fails to obtain the profit from his work—but what the belly is to others, so gold becomes to this man. Therefore the blessed Apostle, knowing this, called it not only a root of all evils but also idolatry. Let us consider, then, to how great a wickedness this disease drags a man down, so as even to cast him into idolatry. For the lover of money, having turned away his mind

From the love of God, he loves idols of men engraved in gold; and the monk darkened by these thoughts, and growing worse, can no longer have any humility, any obedience, but is indignant, and complains of ill-treatment, and grumbles at every task, and contradicts, and with not even one scruple of piety any longer preserved, like a most stubborn horse he is carried down precipices, neither content with his daily food, and he protests that in the end he cannot endure it, and says that God is not there only, nor is his own salvation shut up in that place, but that he is found everywhere by those who seek him; and as if unless he departs from that monastery he perishes; and thus having the corrupted silver he has kept as his accomplice, as if lightened by certain wings, and meditating on his departure from the monastery, he thereafter answers proudly and harshly to all that is enjoined, and considering himself a stranger and an outsider, if he sees anything in the monastery needing correction, he neglects and despises it. And then he seeks pretexts by which he will be angered or grieved, so that he may not seem to depart lightly without cause from the [outside] of the community. Nor does he decline to do this, wishing to have an accomplice of his own defect. Thus deceived by the fire of his own money, the money-lover can never be at peace in a monastery, or live under a rule.

But when the demon, like a wolf, has snatched him away from the fold, and having separated him from the flock, has taken him ready for devouring, then he prepares him to do with great eagerness, by night and by day in his cell, the works which in the community he altogether neglected at the appointed hours; and he does not permit him to fulfill either the customs of prayers, or the manner of fastings, or the rule of vigils; but having bound him with the madness of avarice, he persuades him to place all his zeal in handiwork. Of this disease there are three forms, which the divine Scriptures and the teachings of the Fathers alike forbid. One is the one we described above, which prepares the wretched to acquire and accumulate those things which they did not possess even in the world; another is the one which makes those who have once renounced their possessions to repent, suggesting to them to seek again what they offered to God; and the third is the one which, having bound a monk by the lukewarmness of unbelief at the beginning, does not allow him to be completely freed from the things of the world, suggesting to him the fear of poverty, and unbelief in the providence of God, and showing him to be a transgressor of his own promises, which he confessed when he renounced the world. And we find the examples of these three forms hidden in the divine Scripture. For Gehazi, wishing to acquire possessions which he did not previously have, failed of the prophetic grace, which his teacher wished to leave to him as an inheritance; and instead of a blessing he inherited eternal leprosy through the prophet's curse.

And Judas, wishing to obtain money which he had previously cast aside while following Christ, not only slipped into betrayal of his Master and fell out of the choir of the apostles, but also brought his very life in the flesh to an end by a violent death. Ananias and Sapphira, having kept back some of what they had dedicated to God, are punished with death by the mouth of the apostle. And Moses the great, in Deuteronomy, mystically commands those who are about to renounce the world, and who through fear of unbelief again cling to earthly things: "If any man is fearful, and faint-hearted in his heart, he shall not go out to war; let him go and return to his own house, lest he make the hearts of his brothers tremble." Is there anything more secure or clearer than this testimony? Do we not therefore learn through these things that those who renounce the world are to renounce it completely, and thus go out to war, unless by casting down a slack and corrupt beginning they turn others away from evangelical perfection? But since some misinterpret what is well said in Scripture—"It is more blessed to give than to receive"—being forced toward their own deception and perverting the meaning of the saying through their desire for avarice, and also the teaching of the Lord which says, "If you wish to be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me"—and they judge that having power over one's own wealth is more blessed than poverty, and that giving to those in need out of the abundance of it—

Let such people know that they have not yet renounced the world, nor attained monastic perfection, so long as they are ashamed to take up poverty for Christ's sake with the Apostle, and to serve themselves and those in need by the work of their hands. But if they desire to fulfill their monastic profession in deed, and to be glorified with the Apostle by scattering their old wealth in hunger and thirst and nakedness, let them strive the good fight with Paul. For if the same Apostle had judged that possessing old wealth was more necessary for perfection, he would not have despised his former rank; for he says that he had become distinguished, and a citizen of the Romans. And those in Jerusalem also, who sold their houses and fields and laid the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, would not have done this if they had known that it was more blessed, hidden away by the apostles, to be fed by one's own money and not by one's own toil and the work of pigs. But the aforementioned Apostle teaches more clearly about this, in what he writes to the Romans as follows: "But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem." But he, being a prisoner, and often in prisons, and subjected to the hardship of travel, and hindered by this from providing for his own needs with his own hands as he was accustomed, teaches that he received these things from the brethren who came to him from Macedonia, saying:

For they supplied my need when the brothers came from Macedonia"; and to the Philippians: "Because in the beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving or receiving, except you only; because even in Thessalonica, both once and twice, you sent to me for my need." Let these men, then, according to the opinion of the money-lovers, be even more blessed than the Apostle, since he supplied their needs from his own resources. But no one, having come to the utmost folly, would dare to say this. If, then, we wish to follow the Gospel and apostolic command, and all that Church founded from the beginning upon the apostles, let us not be persuaded by our own suspicions, nor understand wrongly what has been well said; but casting off the lukewarm and faithless opinion, let us take up the exactness of the Gospel. For thus we shall be able both to follow in the footsteps of the holy Fathers, and never to depart from the knowledge of the common life, and to renounce this world in truth. It is good here also to call to mind a saying of the holy Fathers. There is current, then, a saying of Saint Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, addressed to a certain senator who had renounced the world in a lukewarm manner and had kept back some of his own money, as follows: "You have both lost the senator and not made a monk." It is necessary, then, with all zeal to cut out from our soul the root and beginning of all evils, which is the love of money.

Knowing securely that, the root remaining, the branches grow, but that virtue is difficult to set right, unless one lives in a community. For in it we also disregard the necessary needs themselves. Having before our eyes the condemnation of Ananias and Sapphira, let us shudder at leaving for ourselves anything of the old possessions. Likewise, fearing the example of Gehazi, who for his love of money was handed over to eternal leprosy, let us guard against gathering for ourselves the goods of this life, which we did not even have in the world. Moreover, considering the death of Judas by hanging, let us fear anything at all from all those things which, when we renounced them, we despised. In addition to all these things, always having before our eyes the uncertainty of death, lest at an hour we do not expect the Lord come and find our conscience stained with love of money, and say to us what was spoken in the Gospel to that rich man: "Fool, this night they demand your soul from you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" Fourth for us is the struggle against the spirit of anger, so that with God we may cut out its death-bearing venom from the depth of our soul. For when this is stored up in our heart and blinds the eye of the mind with dark disturbances, we are able neither to acquire discernment of what is beneficial, nor to find comprehension of spiritual knowledge, nor to become partakers of true life, nor will our mind become receptive of the contemplation of the divine and true light.

For," it says, "my eye was troubled from anger," and we shall not become partakers of wisdom, even if we are reckoned wise in our thoughts; since it is written, that "Anger shall lodge in the bosom of fools." But neither are we able to acquire the saving rays of discernment, even if we are thought prudent by men; for it is written, that "Anger destroys even the prudent;" nor are we strong to hold the helm of righteousness with a sober heart; for it is written, that "The anger of a man does not work the righteousness of God;" nor are we able to acquire the decorum and comeliness praised by all; since it is written: "A wrathful man is not comely." Therefore, the one who wishes to come to perfection, and desires to strive lawfully in the spiritual contest, let him be a stranger to every defect of rage and anger, and let him hear what the very vessel of election commands, saying: "Let all bitterness, and rage, and anger, and clamor, and blasphemy be taken away from us with all wickedness." But when he says "all," he has left us no excuse for anger as necessary or as reasonable. Therefore, the one who wishes to correct a brother who has done wrong, or to administer rebuke, let him strive to keep himself undisturbed, lest perhaps, wishing to heal another, he draw the disease upon himself, and that Gospel saying be spoken to him: "Physician, heal yourself;" and again: "Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the beam in your own eye? Or with what manner will you say to your brother:

Cast out the speck from your eye, you who have the beam in your own eye, covering it over? For from whatever cause the movement of anger, boiling over, blinds the eyes of the soul, and does not permit it to behold the sun of righteousness. For just as one who places gold or leaden plates over the eyes equally hinders the power of sight, and the preciousness of the gold plate makes no difference at all to the blindness; so from whatever cause the movement of anger, once kindled, darkens the power of sight of the soul. Only then do we use our temper according to nature, when we stir it against the passionate and pleasure-loving thoughts. For thus the prophet David also teaches us, saying: "Be angry, and do not sin" — that is, stir up your anger against your own passions and against wicked thoughts, and do not sin by doing the things they suggest; and the words that follow clearly make this meaning plain: "The things you say," it says, "in your hearts, upon your beds

Be pierced with compunction"; that is, when evil thoughts rise up upon the heart, casting them out through anger against them, and after their expulsion finding yourselves, as it were, in a bed of stillness, then be pierced with compunction unto repentance. And the blessed Paul agrees with these things, having used the testimony of this saying and added: "Let not the sun set upon your wrath; do not give place to the devil"; that is, do not, by provoking to anger the Sun of righteousness, Christ, in your consent to base thoughts, prepare him to set upon your hearts, lest by his departure the devil find a place in you. Concerning this sun God also speaks through the prophet: "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise, and healing shall be in his wings." But if we take the saying according to the letter, we are not permitted to keep our anger even until sunset. What then shall we say concerning those who, by the savagery and madness of their passionate disposition, not only keep their anger until the setting of this sun, but even extend it for very many days, keeping silence from one another, no longer bringing it forth in words, but by their silence toward one another kindling the venom of resentment to their own destruction, not knowing that one must abstain not only from sin in act but also from sin in thought, lest the mind, darkened by the darkness of resentment, fall away from the light of knowledge and of discernment, and be deprived of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

For this reason the Lord also in the Gospels commands us to leave the gift at the altar and to be reconciled with our brother, since it is impossible for it to be acceptable while anger and resentment remain stored up in us. And the Apostle too, when he says "pray without ceasing" and "in every place lift up holy hands without anger and disputing," teaches us this. It remains, therefore, either never to pray—and in this to be liable to the apostolic injunction—or, striving to keep the commandments, to do this without anger and resentment. And since, when brothers have often been grieved or disturbed, we disregard them, saying that they were grieved not through our fault, the physician of souls, wishing to pull out the pretexts of anger by the root from the heart, commands us to leave the gift and be reconciled to him not only if we happen to have been grieved against our brother, but also if he himself has been grieved against us, justly or unjustly, to heal him through an apology and then offer the gift. But why do we linger at length over the Gospel and apostolic injunctions, when it is possible to learn this also from the old Law, which, though it seems to contain a condescension from strictness, says these things: "Do not hate your brother in your heart"; and again: "The ways of the resentful lead to death." For here too it forbids and punishes anger not only in act but also in thought. Therefore it is fitting, following the divine laws, to strive with all our power against the spirit of anger and against the disease stored up within us.

And let us not, stirring up our anger against people, pursue desert places and solitude, as if there, where there is supposedly no one to provoke us to anger, the virtue of patience will easily be achieved in solitude. For it is from pride, and from not wanting to blame ourselves and to ascribe the causes of our anger to our own negligence, that we long for separation from our brothers. As long as, then, we ascribe the causes of our own weakness to others, it is impossible for us to attain the perfection of patience. For the chief point of our correction is accomplished not by the patience of our neighbors toward us, but by our own patience and forbearance toward our neighbor. But when, fleeing the struggle of patience, we pursue the desert and solitude, whatever of our passions we bring there unhealed remain hidden, not removed. For the desert and withdrawal, for those not yet freed from passions, not only knows how to preserve their defects but also knows how to conceal them. And it does not even allow them to perceive by which passion they are defeated; on the contrary, it subjects them to fantasies and persuades them that they have achieved both patience and humility, until the one who provokes and tests them is present.

But whenever an occasion arises that stirs and exercises them, immediately the passions lying within, which had previously escaped notice, leap out from their own starting gates like unbridled horses, and having been fed by long quiet and leisure, they drag their own rider more violently and more savagely to destruction. For the passions grow wilder in us when they are idle from the exercise that comes from people, and we destroy even the shadow of endurance and long-suffering, which we seem to possess in image only, mixed as it is with the brethren through neglect of exercise and of solitude. For just as venomous beasts in the desert, resting quietly in their own dens, then display their own madness when they seize someone approaching, so also passionate people, who keep quiet not by a disposition of virtue but by the constraint of the desert, then vomit forth the poison of the soul when they seize someone approaching and provoking them. And for this reason, those who seek perfection of gentleness with all earnestness ought not only not to be angry with people, but not even with irrational creatures, nor with inanimate things. For I remember when I was staying in the desert, I stirred up my anger against a reed because its thickness or thinness did not please me; and again against a piece of wood, when, wishing to cut it, I was not able to do so quickly; and again against a flint stone, when, as I was eager to strike fire, the spark did not leap out quickly—so much was my anger intensified that I brought it forth even against senseless and inanimate things.

If, then, we desire to obtain the blessedness of Christ, we ought to restrain not only anger in act, as has been said, but also anger in thought. For guarding the mouth and not uttering a mad word profits not so much as cleansing the heart from remembrance of wrongs and not nurturing evil thoughts. For the evangelical teaching commands us to cut out the roots of sins rather than the fruits; for when the root of wrath has been cut out of the heart, neither hatred nor envy will be brought into action; for he who hates his brother is a murderer, killing him in the disposition of hatred. God looks upon him who has been slain—whose blood, not poured out by the sword, men see, but who has been slain by the disposition of hatred. God, therefore, renders to each one crowns or punishments not only for actions but also for thoughts and for choices, as He Himself says through the prophet: "I am coming to gather their works, and their thoughts, and their intentions." And again the Apostle says: "between one another their thoughts accusing or also defending them in the day when God will judge the hidden things of men." And the Master Himself, teaching us that every anger must be put away, says in the Gospels: "that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to the judgment." For thus the accurate copies contain it; for the word "without cause" was placed there by addition; and this is clear from the preceding lemma of the Scripture.

For the Lord's purpose is that we cut off the root and the spark of anger by every means, and that we preserve in ourselves not even one pretext for anger—lest, seeming to be reasonably moved to anger, we later fall into the madness of irrational rage. And the complete cure of this disease is this: that we believe that it is not permitted to us to stir up wrath, either against the just or against the unjust. For when the spirit of anger has darkened the mind, neither the light of discernment, nor right counsel, nor the guidance of righteousness will be found in us, nor is it possible for our soul to become a temple of the Holy Spirit, when the spirit of anger is master. And as the end of all things, we ought to keep the uncertainty of death before our eyes each day, to guard ourselves from anger, and to know that neither ascetic practice, nor self-control, nor the renunciation of all matter, nor the profit of fastings and vigils will be of any use to us, if, held fast by anger and hatred, we are found guilty in the judgment. May we be delivered from it by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory unto the ages of ages. The fifth contest for us is against the spirit of grief, which darkens the soul from every spiritual contemplation and hinders it from every good work.

For when this evil spirit has seized the soul and darkened it entirely, it does not permit it to fulfill prayers with zeal, nor to persevere in the benefit of the sacred readings, nor to be gentle and easily forgiving toward the brethren; and toward all the pursuits of works, and toward the very profession of life, it implants hatred. And simply put, grief, having confounded all the soul's saving counsels and having paralyzed its vigor and endurance, renders it foolish and deranged, having bound it thereafter in the reasoning of despair. For this reason let it be our one aim to strive in the spiritual contest, and with God to conquer the spirits of wickedness, and with all guard to keep our own heart from the spirit of grief. For just as a moth eats a garment and a worm eats wood, so grief devours the soul of man, persuading it to shun every good encounter, and not allowing it to receive a word of counsel even from genuine friends, nor permitting them to impart a kind or peaceful reply; but pressing the whole soul, it fills it with bitterness and despondency; and thereafter it suggests to it to flee from men, as though they had become the cause of its disturbance; and it does not allow it to recognize that it has the disease lying not from without but from within, which is then made manifest when temptations come upon it and bring it out into the open through testing.

For a person will never be harmed by another unless he has the disease stored up within himself—that is, the causes of the passions. And for this reason God, the Creator of all and the physician of souls, who alone knows the wounds of the soul precisely, does not command us to abandon the company of men, but to cut out the causes of evil within us, knowing that the soul's health is not achieved in separation from men, but in living together with men and in exercise. When, therefore, on certain supposedly reasonable pretexts we abandon our brothers, we have not cut out the occasions of grief, but have only exchanged them for the disease stored up within, which stirs these things up through... For this reason let our whole war be against the passions within. For when these have been cast out through the cooperation of God, I do not say with men, but even with wild beasts we shall easily live together, according to what was said by the blessed Job: "The wild beasts shall be at peace with you." First of all, then, we must struggle against the spirit of grief, which casts the soul into despair, so that we may drive it away from our heart. For this spirit did not permit Cain to repent after the fratricide, nor Judas after the betrayal of the Master. Let us practice that grief alone which comes with good hope over repentance for sins committed, and which is pursued through the acquisition of the good things in heaven. Concerning which the Apostle also said, that "the grief according to God

...grief...nourishing the soul with the hope of repentance, is a joy mixed together; whence it also prepares the man to be ready and obedient for every good work, approachable, humble [One leaf is missing, that is, what is lacking against the spirit of grief, and the beginning of what is against the spirit of listlessness.]...They eat bread. Let us hear how wisely the Apostle shows us the causes of listlessness. For he calls those who do not work "disorderly," by this one word revealing much wickedness. For the idle man is also reckless in words, and ready for abuse, and henceforth unfit for stillness, and a slave of listlessness. He charges them, then, to keep away from him—that is, to separate themselves as from a pestilential disease. Then what does he say? "And not according to the tradition which they received from us," by this phrase showing that they are arrogant, having become contemptuous, and destroyers of the apostolic traditions; and again: "Freely," he says, "we did not eat bread from anyone, but in toil and labor, working night and day so as not to burden any of you." The teacher of the Gentiles, the herald of the Gospel, the one caught up to the third heaven, the one who says that the Lord commanded those who proclaim the Gospel to live from the Gospel—he worked in toil night and day so as not to burden anyone. What then shall we do, who are listless in work and pursue bodily rest—we to whom neither the proclamation of the Gospel has been entrusted, nor the care of the Churches, but only the concern of our own soul?

Then, showing more clearly the harm that is born of idleness, he adds: "Working not at all, but being busybodies." From idleness comes disorder, and from disorder every evil. And again, setting forth its remedy, he adds: "Now to such we command and exhort that with quietness working, they eat their own bread." And more reprovingly he adds, saying: "If any will not work, neither let him eat." Taught by these apostolic precepts, the holy Fathers in Egypt permit no time for monks to be idle, and especially the younger ones, knowing that through endurance in work they drive away despondency, provide their own food, and help those in need. For they work not only for their own need, but also supply from their own labor to strangers and the poor, and to those in prison, and to all who are in need, believing that their own good works become a sacrifice well-pleasing to God. And this too the Fathers say, that the one who works fights against one demon, and is often oppressed by him; but the idle man is taken captive by countless spirits. Besides these things, it is good also to call to mind a saying of Abba Moses, the most approved among the Fathers, which he uttered to me. For when I had sat for a little time in the desert, I was troubled by despondency, and going to him, I say to him, that "having been grievously troubled by despondency and having become very weak, I did not get rid of it until I departed and went to Abba Paul." And Abba Moses answered me to these things, saying:

Take courage: you have not freed yourself from it, but rather have handed yourself over to it as a captive and slave. Know, then, that it will war against you more heavily as a deserter; unless for the future you strive, through endurance and prayer and the work of your hands, to wrestle it down. Ours is the seventh contest, against the spirit of vainglory—a passion many-formed and most subtle, and not even grasped by the one who is tempted by it. For the assaults of the other passions are more manifest, and they possess, in some way, an easier battle against them, since the soul, recognizing the war, overturns it through contradiction and prayer. But the vice of vainglory, being many-formed, as has been said, is hard to struggle against. For it stands by in every pursuit—in bearing, in form, in gait, in speech, in vigils, in fastings, in prayer, in reading, in stillness, in patience. For through all these it attempts to shoot down the soldier of Christ. For whomever it cannot deceive into vainglory through costly garments, this one it attempts to tempt through cheap clothing. And whom it could not lift up through honor, this one it lifts into folly by bearing, as it were, dishonor; and whom it could not persuade to vainglory through knowledge of speech, this one it lures by silence as though he were quiet; and whom it could not make slack through costly foods, this one it softens into praise through fasting. And simply, every work, every pursuit, provides a pretext for war to this demon.

Furthermore, in addition to these things, the one who is warred against by it imagines even a lot. For I remember a certain old man, when I was staying in Scetis, who went to a certain brother's cell for the sake of a visit, and when he approached the door of the cell, he heard him speaking inside; and the old man, thinking he was meditating from Scripture, stood listening, and he perceived that he was raving under vainglory, ordaining himself a deacon, and giving dismissal to the catechumens. So when the old man heard this, at last he pushed the door and entered, and the brother, meeting him, bowed according to custom. And he thought to learn from him whether he had been at the door a long time. But the old man answered him pleasantly: "Just now," he says, "I came, when you were performing the dismissal for the catechumens." Then the brother, hearing these things, fell at the old man's feet and begged him to pray for him, that he might be delivered from such deception. I remembered this wanting to show into how great insensibility this demon brings a man. Therefore the one who wishes to contend perfectly and to crown himself with the crown of righteousness, let him strive in every way to conquer this many-formed beast, having always before his eyes what was said by the holy David: "The Lord scattered the bones of men-pleasers;" and let him do nothing looking around at praise from men, but let him seek the reward from God, and always casting away the thoughts that come into his heart and praise him, let him despise himself before God.

For in this way, with God's help, he will be able to be delivered from the demon of vainglory by the grace of our Lord Jesus, to whom be the glory unto the ages. Amen. The eighth struggle for us is against the spirit of pride; this is the most difficult of all and fiercer than all the former ones, warring especially against the perfect, and it attempts to overthrow those who have climbed to the height of the virtues; and like a destructive plague it corrupts not a part of the body but the whole. For each of the other passions, even if it disturbs the soul, yet since it wars against one virtue opposed to it and strives to conquer that one, it darkens the soul in part and disturbs it; but the passion of pride darkens the whole soul and leads it to the final fall. And so that we may understand what has been said more clearly, let us consider it thus. Gluttony hastens to corrupt self-control, fornication chastity, love of money poverty, anger gentleness, and the other forms of vice the virtues opposed to them; but the vice of pride, when it has gained mastery over the wretched soul, like some most cruel tyrant who has seized a great and lofty city, overthrows it entirely and razes it to its foundations. And the angel who fell from heaven because of pride is witness to this; he, though created by God and adorned with every virtue and wisdom, did not wish to ascribe these things to the grace of his Master, but to his own nature; whence he even supposed himself to be equal to God. And the prophet, exposing this thought of his, says: "You said in your heart: I will sit on the mountain

I will set my throne on high, and I will be like the Most High.” But you are a man, and not God. And another prophet says: “Why do you boast in evil, you mighty one?” and shortly after: “You have loved all words of destruction, and a deceitful tongue. Therefore God will destroy you utterly, he will pluck you out, and remove you from your dwelling, and your root from the land of the living. The righteous will see, and will fear, and will laugh at him, and will say: Behold the man who did not set God as his helper, and was strengthened in his own vanity.” Knowing these things, then, let us fear, and with all watchfulness let us guard our own heart from the deadly spirit of pride, saying to ourselves the words of the Apostle whenever we accomplish some virtue: “Yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me;” and the word spoken by the Lord, that “apart from me you can do nothing;” and the word of the Prophet: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain;” and again: “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” For even if someone is exceedingly boiling with eagerness and zealous in purpose, yet being bound to flesh and blood, he will not be able to reach perfection, unless in addition to all these things he hopes in the mercy of Christ and his grace. For according to the divine James, “every good gift and every perfect bestowal is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” And Paul says: “For what do you have that you did not receive?

But if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it? But you exalt yourself over gifts that belong to others as if they were your own. That salvation comes to us by the grace and mercy of God, that robber bears witness—he who received the kingdom of heaven not as a reward for virtue, but by the grace and mercy of God. Our Fathers, knowing these things, all with one mind handed down that we cannot otherwise lay a secure foundation for the perfection of virtue except through humility, which is naturally produced by faith and meekness and complete poverty, through which perfect love is achieved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father together with the Holy Spirit unto the ages. Amen.