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is accomplished, being watchful, of course, lest the abundance of God's gifts become for you a cause of heavier condemnation, being ungratefully disposed towards the benefactor. For of whom they have committed much, he says, they will require the more of him.

QUESTION 5. Concerning undistractedness in thought. ANSWER. That

indeed one must know, that we can accomplish neither the keeping of any other commandment, nor love itself towards God, nor that towards our neighbors, if our thoughts wander from one thing to another. For it is not possible to perfect a craft or science, by moving from one to another; nor indeed to master one, without knowing what is proper to its end. For actions must be in accordance with the goal, since nothing reasonable is achieved through unfitting means. For neither is the goal of blacksmithing naturally achieved through the works of pottery, nor are athletic crowns won from zeal in flute-playing; but for each goal a proper and fitting labor is sought. So also the practice of pleasing God according to the Gospel of Christ is accomplished by us in the withdrawal from the cares of the world and in the complete alienation from distractions. Wherefore the Apostle, even though marriage is permitted and deemed worthy of a blessing, contrasted the preoccupations from it with the cares for God, as these cannot coexist with each other, saying: The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. Thus also to his disciples the Lord testified of their sincere and undistracted disposition, saying: You are not of this world. And on the contrary, he testified that it is impossible for the world to receive the knowledge of God, or to contain the Holy Spirit; for, 31.921 Righteous Father, he says, the world has not known you; and, The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive. Therefore, he who intends to truly follow God must be loosed from the bonds of attachment to this life; and this is accomplished through a complete withdrawal and forgetting of old habits. For unless we alienate ourselves, both from carnal kinship and from the communion of life, as if passing over to another world through our state, according to the one who said. For our citizenship is in heaven, it is impossible for us to achieve the goal of pleasing God, since the Lord definitively said that So every one of you who does not renounce all that he has, cannot be my disciple. And having done this, it is fitting to guard our own heart with all vigilance, so as never to cast out the thought of God, or to defile the memory of his wonders with vain fantasies; but through continuous and pure memory, to carry about the holy thought of God, impressed upon our souls like an indelible seal. For thus is love for God produced in us, at once rousing us to the working of the Lord's commandments, and again, by them being itself preserved, for duration and steadfastness. And this the Lord shows, at one time saying: If you love me, keep my commandments, and at another, that If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, and still more persuasively: As I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. From which things he teaches us, always setting the will of him who commanded as the goal of the work before us, to direct our zeal towards it, as he also says elsewhere, that I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. For just as the crafts in life, having set for themselves certain proper goals, accordingly adapt their particular activities to them; so also for our works of one standard and rule

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κατορθοῦται, φυλασσο μένοις δηλονότι, μήποτε ἡ περιουσία τῶν δωρεῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ βαρυτέρας αἰτία ὑμῖν κατακρίσεως γένηται, ἀχαρίστως πρὸς τὸν εὐεργέτην διατεθεῖσιν. Ὧ γὰρ παρέθεντο, φησὶ, πολὺ, περισσότερον ἀπαιτήσουσιν αὐτόν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Εʹ. Περὶ τοῦ κατὰ διάνοιαν ἀμετεωρίστου. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ἐκεῖνο

μέντοι γε γινώσκειν χρὴ, ὅτι οὔτε ἄλλης τινὸς ἐντολῆς τήρησιν, οὔτε αὐτὴν τὴν πρὸς Θεὸν ἀγάπην, οὔτε τὴν πρὸς τοὺς πλησίον δυνάμεθα κατ ορθῶσαι, ἄλλοτε περὶ ἄλλα ταῖς διανοίαις ἀποπλα νώμενοι. Οὔτε γὰρ τέχνην ἢ ἐπιστήμην ἀκριβῶσαι δυ νατὸν, ἄλλοτε ἐπ' ἄλλην μεταβαίνοντα· μήτε μὴν μιᾶς περιγενέσθαι, μὴ τὰ οἰκεῖα τοῦ τέλους γνω ρίσαντα. ∆εῖ γὰρ ἀκολούθους εἶναι τῷ σκοπῷ τὰς πράξεις, ὡς οὐδενὸς τῶν κατὰ λόγον διὰ τῶν ἀνοι κείων κατορθουμένου. Ἐπεὶ οὔτε τὸ χαλκευτικῆς τέλος διὰ τῶν ἔργων τῆς κεραμείας περιγενέσθαι πέφυκεν, οὔτε ἀθλητικοὶ στέφανοι ἐκ τῆς περὶ τὸ αὐλεῖν σπουδῆς κατορθοῦνται· ἀλλὰ ἑκάστῳ τέλει οἰκεῖος ὁ πόνος καὶ συναρμόζων ἐπιζητεῖται. Ὥστε καὶ ἡ ἄσκησις τῆς κατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ πρὸς Θεὸν εὐαρεστήσεως ἐν τῇ ἀναχωρήσει τῶν μεριμνῶν τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τῇ παντελεῖ ἀλλο τριώσει τῶν περισπασμῶν ἡμῖν κατορθοῦται. ∆ιόπερ ὁ Ἀπόστολος, καὶ ταῦτα συγκεχωρημένου τοῦ γά μου, καὶ εὐλογίας ἠξιωμένου, τὰς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἀσχο λίας ταῖς περὶ Θεὸν μερίμναις ἀντέθηκεν, ὡς οὐ δυναμένων τούτων ἀλλήλοις συμβῆναι, εἰπών· Ὁ ἄγαμος μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, πῶς ἀρέσει τῷ Κυρίῳ· ὁ δὲ γαμήσας μεριμνᾷ τὰ τοῦ κόσμου, πῶς ἀρέσει τῇ γυναικί. Οὕτω καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς ὁ Κύριος μετὰ τὴν εἰλικρινῆ καὶ ἀμετεώριστον διάθεσιν ἐμαρτύρει, λέγων· Ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. Καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐναντίου, τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπί γνωσιν τὸν κόσμον ἀδύνατον εἶναι δέξασθαι, μηδὲ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον χωρῆσαι διεμαρτύρατο· Πάτερ γὰρ, 31.921 φησὶ, δίκαιε, καὶ ὁ κόσμος σε οὐκ ἔγνω· καὶ, Τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας, ὃ ὁ κόσμος οὐ δύναται λαβεῖν. Λυθῆναι οὖν δεῖ τῶν δεσμῶν τῆς προσπαθείας τοῦ βίου τόν γε ἀληθινῶς τῷ Θεῷ ἀκολουθήσειν μέλλοντα· τοῦτο δὲ διὰ παντελοῦς ἀναχωρήσεως καὶ λήθης τῶν παλαιῶν ἐθῶν κατορθοῦται. Ὡς εἰ μή γε ἀποξενώσοιμεν ἑαυτοὺς, καὶ συγγενείας σαρ κικῆς, καὶ κοινωνίας βίου, οἱονεὶ πρὸς ἕτερον κόσμον διὰ τῆς σχέσεως μεταβαίνοντες, κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα. Ἡμῶν γὰρ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει, ἀμήχανον ἡμᾶς περιγενέσθαι τοῦ σκοποῦ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν εὐαρεστήσεως, τοῦ Κυρίου ὁριστικῶς εἰπόντος, ὅτι Οὕτω πᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν, ὃς οὐκ ἀποτάσσεται πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν ἑαυτοῦ, οὐ δύναται εἶναί μου μαθητής. Τοῦτο δὲ ποιήσαντας, πάσῃ φυλακῇ τηρεῖν προσήκει τὴν ἑαυτῶν καρδίαν, ὡς μήποτε τὴν περὶ Θεοῦ ἔννοιαν ἐκβαλεῖν, ἢ τὴν μνήμην τῶν θαυ μασίων αὐτοῦ φαντασίαις τῶν ματαίων καταῤῥυ παίνειν· ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς διηνεκοῦς καὶ καθαρᾶς μνή μης ἐντετυπωμένην ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν, ὥσπερ σφρα γῖδα ἀνεξάλειπτον, τὴν ὁσίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔννοιαν περι φέρειν. Οὕτω γὰρ ἡμῖν περιγίνεται ἡ πρὸς Θεὸν ἀγάπη, ἅμα τε διεγείρουσα πρὸς τὴν ἐργασίαν τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ ὑπ' αὐτῶν πάλιν αὐτὴ συντηρουμένη πρὸς τὸ διαρκὲς καὶ ἀδιάπτωτον. Καὶ τοῦτο δείκνυσιν ὁ Κύριος, ποτὲ μὲν λέγων· Ἐὰν ἀγαπᾶτέ με, τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσατε, ποτὲ δὲ, ὅτι Ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσητε, μενεῖτε ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ μου, καὶ ἔτι δυσωπητικώτερον· Καθ ὼς ἐγὼ τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Πατρός μου τετήρηκα, καὶ μένω αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ. Ἐξ ὧν παιδεύει ἡμᾶς, ἀεὶ τοῦ προκειμένου ἔργου τὸ θέλημα τοῦ προστάξαντος ὥσπερ σκοπὸν προτιθεμένους, πρὸς αὐτὸν τὰ τῆς σπουδῆς κατ ευθύνειν, καθὰ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν, ὅτι Καταβέβηκα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, οὐχ ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με Πατρός. Ὥσπερ γὰρ αἱ κατὰ τὸν βίον τέχναι, σκοπούς τινας οἰκείους ἑαυταῖς προστησάμεναι, ἀκολούθως ἐκείνοις τὰς κατὰ μέρος συναρμόζουσιν ἐνεργείας· οὕτω καὶ τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἔργοις ἑνὸς ὅρου καὶ κανόνος