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but it was written for our admonition, but he who wishes to please God and to do the will of the Lord does not serve two masters nor does he love anyone else more than the Lord. I exhort you, therefore, to prefer nothing to the Lord nor to your soul. For what will it profit a man, if he lose his soul, says the Lord, or what will he give in exchange for his soul? For we brought nothing into the world, it is clear that we can take nothing out, but we must rise naked, clothed only in our deeds and works, whether good or evil, like a garment. And not only of works, but also of words and thoughts and so we shall stand before that fearful judgment seat. And then each one will receive from his own labors according to the just decision of the Lord, whether for rest or for punishment for ever and ever and blessed are they who weep with painful tears from the heart for then they will rejoice, blessed are they who love the Lord and their neighbor for they will be shown mercy; for he who loves his brother loves himself and he who hates his brother hates himself; for in the brother lies the inheritance of eternal good things. Therefore let us become imitators of the saints. Just as they passed in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness and through fire and sword, who also eagerly passed through every tribulation, so let us also imitate them unto death. But if you wish to live shamelessly, this is not the will of God. Pray without ceasing without anger and disputing; for every thought that separates the mind from God, even if it seems to be good, is entirely diabolical, lest I say it is of the devil. In order only to lead the mind astray from God, he even dictates commandments and good deeds from within the heart and certain other plausible and irrational fantasies, to which one ought not to pay any attention at all. For the whole struggle of the devil is to separate and lead astray the mind from God and to drag it into worldly pleasures. And the whole struggle of the soul is not to separate the mind from God, nor to combine and agree with impure thoughts, nor to pay attention to what is painted in the heart by the all-imitating and ancient painter, the devil, sometimes types, sometimes ways, sometimes faces and forms. And after all these things the devil is transformed and the wretched man, standing in one place, being deceived, thinks he is somewhere else, and seems to see certain people and to speak with faces and to arrange matters, all of which are of diabolical deception. One must therefore be on guard and guide the mind with reins and bridle it, and chastise every thought and every energy through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who takes away the sin of the world. Where the body stands, there let the mind be also, so that between God and the heart nothing else may be found like a dividing wall or a fence overshadowing the heart, but only speak to the Lord. But if it ever seizes the mind, one must not linger on the thoughts, so that the assent to the thoughts may not be reckoned to him as an act before the Lord on the day of judgment, when God will judge the secret things of men and when the thought of a man will confess to you. For it is impossible to attain the kingdom, unless one first denies his own will and does the things commanded to him by the leader without murmuring, with fear of God, as the Lord says: I have not come to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me; therefore what someone does not want, if he suffers and endures it, is reckoned to him as crucifixion and he becomes a child of the resurrection and of eternal life. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because having become approved, he will receive the unfading crown and will become a temple of the great king, Christ; and I will dwell in them and walk among them, says the Lord, and a dwelling with him

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δὲ ἐγράφη εἰς νουθεσίαν ἡμετέραν, ὁ δὲ βουλόμενος τῷ Θεῷ εὐαρεστῆσαι καὶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Κυρίου ποιῆσαι δυσὶ κυρίοις οὐ δουλεύει οὐδὲ ἀγαπᾷ ἄλλον τινὰ ὑπὲρ τὸν Κύριον. Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, μηδὲν προτιμήσητε τοῦ Κυρίου μηδὲ τῆς ψυχῆς ὑμῶν. Τί γὰρ ὠφελήσει ἄνθρωπος, ἐὰν ἀπολέσῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, λέγει Κύριος, ἢ τί δώσει ἀντάλλαγμα ὑπὲρ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ; Οὐδὲν γὰρ εἰσηνέγκαμεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, δῆλον ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐξενεγκεῖν τι δυνάμεθα, ἀλλὰ γυμνοὶ ἔχομεν ἀναστῆναι μόνας τὰς πράξεις καὶ τὰ ἔργα ἐνδεδυμένοι, εἴτε καλὰ εἴτε φαῦλα, ὥσπερ ἱμάτιον. Καὶ οὐ μόνον ἔργων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ῥημάτων καὶ ἐνθυμημάτων καὶ οὕτως ἐπὶ τῷ φοβερῷ ἐκείνῳ παραστησόμεθα βήματι. Καὶ ἕκαστος λοιπὸν τῶν ἰδίων κόπων ἔχει ἀπολαῦσαι κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου δικαίαν ἀπόφασιν εἴτε εἰς ἀνάπαυσιν εἴτε εἰς κόλασιν εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος καὶ μακάριοι οἱ κλαίοντες ἐν δάκρυσιν ὀδυνηροῖς ἀπὸ καρδίας ὅτι χαρήσονται τότε, μακάριοι οἱ ἀγαπῶντες τὸν Κύριον καὶ τὸν πλησίον ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται· ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἑαυτὸν ἀγαπᾷ καὶ ὁ μισῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἑαυτὸν μισεῖ· ἐν τῷ ἀδελφῷ γὰρ κεῖται τὰ αἰώνια ἀγαθὰ κληρονομῆσαι. Μιμηταὶ οὖν γενώμεθα τῶν ἁγίων. Καθὼς αὐτοὶ παρῆλθον ἐν πείνῃ καὶ δίψῃ, ἐν ψύχει καὶ γυμνότητι καὶ διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ξίφους, οἳ καὶ διὰ πάσης θλίψεως προθύμως παρῆλθον καὶ ἡμεῖς οὖν ἕως θανάτου μιμησώμεθα. Ἐὰν δὲ θελήσητε ἀναιδῶς ζῆσαι, τοῦτο θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν. Ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε χωρὶς ὀργῆς καὶ διαλογισμῶν· πᾶς γὰρ λογισμὸς χωρίζων τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἰ καὶ δοκεῖ ἀγαθὸς εἶναι, ὅλως διάβολός ἐστιν, ἵνα μὴ εἴπω τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστίν. Ἵνα μόνον ἀποπλανήσῃ τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί φησι καὶ ἐντολὰς καὶ εὐποιίας ὑπαγορεύει ἔσωθεν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ ἄλλας τινὰς εὐ λόγους καὶ ἀλόγους φαντασίας, αἷς οὐδὲ προσέχειν ὅλως προσήκει. Ὅλος γὰρ ὁ ἀγὼν τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστὶν ἀποχωρίσαι καὶ ἀποβουκολῆσαι τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ εἰς τὰς κοσμικὰς περισύρειν ἡδονάς. Καὶ ὅλος ὁ ἀγών ἐστι τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦ μὴ χωρίζειν τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ μηδὲ συνδυάζειν καὶ συμφωνεῖν τοῖς ἀκαθάρτοις λογισμοῖς μηδὲ προσέχειν οἷς εἰκονογραφεῖ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὁ πανταμίμητος καὶ παλαιὸς ζωγράφος διάβολος, ποτὲ μὲν τύπους, ποτὲ δὲ τρόπους, ποτὲ δὲ πρόσωπα καὶ σχήματα. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάντα ὁ διάβολος ἀπομορφοῦται καὶ ὁ ἄθλιος ἄνθρωπος ἑνὶ τόπῳ ἑστὼς νομίζει ἀλλαχοῦ ποῦ ποτε εἶναι ἀπατώμενος καὶ δοκεῖ βλέπειν τινὰς καὶ προσώποις λαλεῖν καὶ διατάσσεσθαι πράγματα ἅπερ πάντα πλάνης ἐστὶ διαβολικῆς. Χρὴ οὖν ἀσφαλίζεσθαι καὶ ἡνιοχεῖν τὸν νοῦν καὶ χαλιναγωγεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ πάντα λογισμὸν καὶ πᾶσαν ἐνέργειαν κολάζειν διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ αἴροντος τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου. Ὅπου τὸ σῶμα ἵσταται ἐκεῖ καὶ ὁ νοῦς ἔστω, ἵνα μέσον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἀναμέσον τῆς καρδίας μηδὲν ἕτερον εὑρίσκηται ἢ ὥσπερ μεσότοιχον ἢ ὡς φραγμὸς ἐπισκοτῶν τὴν καρδίαν, εἰ μὴ μόνον λάλει τῷ Κυρίῳ. Ἐὰν δὲ καί ποτε συναρπάσῃ τὸν νοῦν, οὐ χρὴ τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἐγχρονίζειν, ἵνα μὴ ἡ συγκατάθεσις τῶν λογισμῶν εἰς πρᾶξιν αὐτῷ λογισθῇ ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως, ὅτε κρινεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὰ κρυπτὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ὅτε ἐνθύμιον ἀνθρώπου ἐξομολογήσεταί σοι. Ἀδύνατον γὰρ ἐπιτυχεῖν τῆς βασιλείας, ἐὰν μὴ πρῶτον ἀρνήσηται τὸ ἑαυτοῦ θέλημα καὶ τὰ ἐπιτασσόμενα αὐτῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡγουμένου ἀγογγύστως ποιῇ μετὰ φόβου Θεοῦ, καθὼς ὁ Κύριος λέγει· οὐκ ἦλθον ποιῆσαι τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με πατρός· ὃ οὖν οὐ θέλει τις, ἐὰν πάσχῃ καὶ ὑπομένῃ, σταύρωσις αὐτῷ λογίζεται καὶ γίνεται τέκνον τῆς ἀναστάσεως καὶ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς. Μακάριος ἄνθρωπος, ὃς ὑπομένει πειρασμόν, ὅτι δόκιμος γενόμενος λήψεται τὸν ἀμαράντινον στέφανον καὶ γενήσεται ναὸς τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως Χριστοῦ· καὶ ἐνοικήσω καὶ ἐμπεριπατήσω, λέγει Κύριος, καὶ μονὴν παρ' αὐτῷ