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you let go and do not turn aside, in time it will again be beneficial. For in the way that one whitens silver, so your heart will be made bright.

56 The spirit of acedia drives away tears, but the spirit of sorrow crushes prayer.

57 Desiring money, you will have many cares, and clinging to it, you will mourn bitterly. 58 Let not a scorpion linger in your bosom nor an evil thought in your heart.

59 Do not spare to kill the offspring of snakes, 59 and do not give birth to the thoughts of their hearts.

60 As fire tests silver and gold, so temptations test the heart of a monk.

61 Remove pride from yourself and put vainglory far from you. For he who fails to attain glory will be grieved, but he who attains it will be proud.

62 Do not give your heart to pride and do not say before the face of God: I am strong, lest the Lord abandon your soul, and evil demons humble it. For then the enemies will terrify you through the air, and dreadful nights will come upon you.

63 Knowledge guards the way of life of a monk, but he who descends from knowledge will fall among robbers.

64 From a spiritual rock flows a river, and the active soul drinks from it.

65 A pure soul is a chosen vessel, but the impure one will be filled with bitterness. 66 Without milk a child will not be nourished, and without dispassion not

will a heart be exalted. 67 Dispassion precedes love, and love precedes knowledge. 68 Wisdom is added to knowledge, and prudence gives birth to dispassion. 69 The fear of the Lord begets prudence, and faith in Christ bestows the fear of God. 70 A fiery dart ignites the soul, but a practical man will extinguish it. 71 Knowledge turns away from clamor and blasphemy, and deceitful words flees

wisdom. 72 Honey is pleasant and the honeycomb sweet, but the knowledge of God is sweeter than both. 73 Listen, O monk, to the words of your father and do not make his counsels void.

When he sends you away, take him with you and accompany him in your thoughts. For in this way you will escape evil thoughts, and evil demons will not prevail against you. If he entrusts silver to you, you will not scatter it, and even if you work with it, you will give it back.

74 An evil steward will afflict the souls of the brethren, and a resentful one will not have mercy on them.

75 He who scatters the possessions of the monastery does injustice to God, and he who is negligent of them will not be unpunished.

76 An unjust steward will distribute badly, but the just one will give according to worth. 77 He who speaks evil of his brother will be utterly destroyed, but he who neglects

the sick will not see the light. 78 Better is a layman serving a brother in sickness than an anchorite who does not

pity his neighbor. 79 A foolish monk will neglect the tools of his craft, but the prudent one

will take care of them.

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ἀφῇς καὶ μὴ ἐκκλίνῃς ἐν καιρῷ πάλιν ἐπωφελεῖ. ὃν τρόπον γὰρ εἴ τις λευκάνοι ἄργυρον, οὕτως λαμπρυνθήσεται ἡ καρδία σου.

56 Πνεῦμα ἀκηδίας ἀπελαύνει δάκρυα, πνεῦμα δὲ λύπης συντρίβει προσευχήν.

57 Ἐπιθυμῶν χρημάτων μεριμνήσεις πολλά, καὶ ἀντεχόμενος αὐτῶν πενθήσεις πικρῶς. 58 Μὴ χρονιζέτω σκορπίος ἐν κόλπῳ σου καὶ λογισμὸς πονηρὸς ἐν καρδίᾳ σου.

59 Κτείνειν γεννήματα ὀφέων μὴ φείσῃ, 59 καὶ μὴ ὠδίνῃς λογισμοὺς καρδίας αὐτῶν.

60 Ὥσπερ ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον δοκιμάζει πῦρ, οὕτως καρδίαν μοναχοῦ πειρασμοί.

61 Περίελε σεαυτοῦ ὑπερηφανίαν καὶ κενοδοξίαν μακρὰν ποίησον ἀπό σου. ὁ γὰρ ἀποτυχὼν δόξης λυπηθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ἐπιτυχὼν ὑπερήφανος ἔσται.

62 Μὴ δῷς ὑπερηφανίᾳ σὴν καρδίαν καὶ μὴ εἴπῃς πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ· δυνατός εἰμι, ἵνα μὴ κύριος ἐγκαταλίπῃ σὴν ψυχήν, καὶ πονηροὶ δαίμονες ταπεινώσουσιν αὐτήν. τότε γάρ σε δι' ἀέρος πτοήσουσιν οἱ ἐχθροί, νύκτες δὲ φοβεραὶ διαδέξονταί σε.

63 Πολιτείαν μοναχοῦ διαφυλάττει γνῶσις, ὁ δὲ καταβαίνων ἀπὸ γνώσεως περιπεσεῖται λῃσταῖς.

64 Ἐκ πέτρας πνευματικῆς ἀπορρεῖ ποταμός, ψυχὴ δὲ πρακτικὴ πίεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ.

65 Σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς ψυχὴ καθαρά, ἡ δὲ ἀκάθαρτος πλησθήσεται πικρίας. 66 Ἄνευ γάλακτος οὐ τραφήσεται παιδίον, καὶ χωρὶς ἀπαθείας οὐχ

ὑψωθήσεται καρδία. 67 Πρὸ ἀγάπης ἡγεῖται ἀπάθεια πρὸ δὲ γνώσεως ἀγάπη. 68 Γνώσει προστίθεται σοφία, ἀπάθειαν δὲ τίκτει φρόνησις. 69 Φόβος κυρίου γεννᾷ φρόνησιν, πίστις δὲ Χριστοῦ δωρεῖται φόβον θεοῦ. 70 Βέλος πεπυρωμένον ἀνάπτει ψυχήν, ἀνὴρ δὲ πρακτικὸς κατασβέσει αὐτό. 71 Κραυγὴν καὶ βλασφημίαν ἀποστρέφεται γνῶσις, λόγους δὲ δολίους φεύγει

σοφία. 72 Ἡδὺ μέλι καὶ γλυκὺ κηρίον, γνῶσις δὲ θεοῦ γλυκυτέρα ἀμφοτέρων. 73 Ἄκουε, μοναχέ, λόγους πατρός σου καὶ μὴ ἀκύρους ποίει νουθεσίας αὐτοῦ.

Ἡνίκα ἂν ἀποστείλῃ σε, ἐπάγου αὐτὸν καὶ κατὰ διάνοιαν συνόδευε αὐτῷ. τούτῳ γὰρ τῷ τρόπῳ διαφεύξῃ λογισμοὺς κακούς, καὶ πονηροὶ δαίμονες οὐκ ἰσχύσουσι κατά σου. ἐὰν πιστεύσῃ σοι ἀργύριον, οὐ διασκορπιεῖς αὐτό, καὶ κἂν ἐπεργάσῃ, ἀποδώσεις αὐτό.

74 Πονηρὸς οἰκονόμος ἐκθλίψει ψυχὰς ἀδελφῶν, καὶ μνησίκακος οὐκ ἐλεήσει αὐτάς.

75 Ὁ διασκορπίζων τὰ ὑπάρχοντα τῆς μονῆς ἀδικεῖ θεόν, καὶ ὁ ἀμελῶν αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀτιμώρητος ἔσται.

76 Ἄδικος οἰκονόμος διαμεριεῖ κακῶς, ὁ δὲ δίκαιος πρὸς ἀξίαν δώσει. 77 Ὁ κακολογῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἐξολοθρευθήσεται, ἀμελῶν δὲ

ἀσθενοῦντος οὐκ ὄψεται φῶς. 78 Κρείσσων κοσμικὸς ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ δουλεύων ἀδελφῷ ὑπὲρ ἀναχωρητὴν μὴ

οἰκτείροντα τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ. 79 Ἄφρων μοναχὸς ἀμελήσει ὀργάνων τέχνης αὐτοῦ, ὁ δὲ φρόνιμος

ἐπιμελήσεται αὐτῶν.