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of oil, and of superfluous things, then the thoughts with praises vote for you to yield to the labors by which they exercise the body. Therefore you will rightly speak against the malicious voters, with whatever arguments oppose the overthrow of their wickedness. Which of the brethren, being praised by those within, sang of the labors against demons. “Let them be turned back immediately in shame who say to me, ‘Well done! well done!’” Do not endure the thought of those who bring a cycle of many years upon you in the solitary life, lest they hang your labors upon the times, nor be taken captive by boasting in the endurance of the desert; but in the endurance of lowliness remember that you are an unprofitable servant. Because of deep old age, someone tried to force a certain elder of the enduring solitaries to be taken from the desert. But he said to him: Cease, he says, from violence, for the malefactor has not yet been recalled from exile. And when I sought to learn the reason of this teaching from him, he said: Seek, first with labor the innate fear, and then you will find within the experienced word, which teaches man knowledge. And he himself, being asked also about fear, answered thus: He who has care for the remembrance of death is also guided to the fear of judgment. In fear, be a companion of the divine Scriptures every day; for by communion with them you will bring forth conversations of thoughts. He who by meditation treasures the divine Scriptures in his heart, easily casts out thoughts from it. In nightly reading during the vigils, as we listen to the divine words, let us not deaden our ears with sleep, nor betray the soul to the captivity of thoughts, but let us pierce our heart with the goad of the Scriptures, so that by the compunction of diligence we may cut in two the opposing negligence.

CHAPTER 21. Some, for the sake of reputation, and not the care of the soul, with the reverent

make friends, in order that they may effortlessly acquire an adornment for themselves; but he who is set on fire with love for the sake of the remembrance of heavenly things, cleanses the pleasure of earthly things from his mind. Do not dismiss the conscience that protests to you with a thought that is contemptuous and sweet-talks the fault; do not contend with the contentious, lest having warred passion with passion you be defeated by virtue; do not be lifted up with the proud thought that blows against a contrary wind. Praise is not for a tongue that speaks glibly, but glory for lips that move with stability; when you listen to words, question your mind and then, having discerned, you will give your vote; do not deceive your mind by the thoughtlessness of words, lest your Canaanite tongue be cast down a precipice. Let not a talkative spirit lead you astray, for in it lurks deceitful falsehood. He who is bitten by the insults of others 79.1121 and does not cast them back at the devil. stirs up against himself the populace of his thoughts, and provokes them still more to fashion arrows against himself, while his soul, being wounded by such things, collapses. If you should go to a foreign land for the sake of a ministry, do not prepare yourself to be hospitably received by all, counting yourself unworthy of the glory, so that you may thus put to flight the thought of slander, even if it speaks the truth. I think that, if love is not present, when you are greatly reviled or wronged, you will not bear a grudge, but you will bless. For he who bears a grudge against demons does not bear a grudge against men; but he who bears a grudge against his brother is at peace with demons. The burning of the heart is the wrath of contradiction, but the souls of those who do not bear grudges are spiritually refreshed; coals of fire belch forth sparks, so also do grudge-bearing souls belch forth evil thoughts; just as the sting of a scorpion has a most sharp pain, so also a grudge-bearing soul has a most bitter venom.

CHAPTER 22. Bear a grudge against the spirits of fornication and of vainglory, two bitter

demons opposed to each other; for the one flees from faces, but the other rejoices in faces. And

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ἐλαίου, καὶ τῶν περιττῶν, τότε οἱ λογισμοὶ τοὺς χρόνους σοι μετ' ἐγκωμίων ψηφίζουσιν ὑπενδοῦναί σε τοῖς πόνοις διὰ τὸ σῶμα γυμνάζουσι. Εἰκότως οὖν τοῖς κακογνώμοσιν ἀντιφθέγξῃ διαψηφισταῖς, ὅσα πρὸς ἀνατροπὴν τῆς ἐκείνων σκαιωρίας ἀντίκεινται. Τίς τῶν ἀδελφῶν τοὺς πόνους κατὰ δαιμόνων, ὑπὸ τῶν ἔνδον ἐπαινούμενος ἔψαλλεν. «Ἀποστραφήτωσαν παραυτίκα αἰσχυνόμενοι οἱ λέγοντές μοι· Εὖγε! εὖγε!» Μὴ τὸν λογισμὸν ἀνάσχῃ πολυετῆ σοι κύκλον ἐν τῷ μονήρει βίῳ φερόντων, ἵνα μή σου τοὺς πόνους τοῖς χρόνοις κρεμάσωσι, μηδὲ ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ τῆς ἐρημίας καυχήσει ζωγρηθῇς· ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ τῆς εὐτελίας τοῦ δοῦλος ἀχρεῖος εἶναι μνήσθητι. ∆ιὰ γῆρας βαθύ τινα τῶν καρτερικῶν μονηρεμίτην πρεσβύτην ἐκ τῆς ἐρημίας αἵρειν ἐβιάζετό τις. Ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτόν· Παῦσαι, φησὶ, βίας, οὔπω γὰρ τῆς ἐξορίας ὁ κακοῦργος ἀνακέκλημαι. Ζητοῦντος δέ μου τοῦτον τῆς διδασκαλίας λόγον μαθεῖν, ἔφη· Ζήτει, πρῶτον ἐμπόνως τὸν ἔμφυτον φόβον, καὶ τότε ἔνδον εὑρήσεις τὸν ἔμπειρον λόγον, τὸν διδάσκοντα ἄνθρωπον γνῶσιν. Ὁ δ' αὐτὸς ἐπερωθεὶς καὶ περὶ φόβου, οὕτως ἀπεκρίνατο· Ὁ μέριμναν ἔχων τοῦ θανάτου τὴν μνήμην, ὁδηγεῖται καὶ εἰς τὸν τῆς κρίσεως φόβον. Φόβῳ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν καθ' ἑκάστην συνόμιλος γίνου· τῇ γὰρ τούτων συνουσίᾳ λογισμῶν ἐξοίσεις ὁμιλίας. Ὁ μελέτῃ τὰς θείας Γραφὰς θησαυρίζων ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ, τοὺς λογισμοὺς ἐκ ταύτης ῥᾳδίως ἐκβάλλει. Ἀναγνώσει νυκτερινῇ ἐν ταῖς ἀγρυπνίαις τῶν θείων ἀκροώμενοι, μὴ τὰς ἀκοὰς τῷ ὕπνῳ νεκρώσωμεν, μηδὲ τῇ τῶν λογισμῶν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ τὴν ψυχὴν προδώσωμεν, ἀλλὰ τῷ κέντρῳ τῶν Γραφῶν τὴν καρδίαν κατανύξωμεν, ὅπως τῇ τῆς ἐπιμελείας κατανύξει τὴν ἀντίζυγον ἀμέλειαν διχοτμήσωμεν.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΑʹ. Τινὲς διὰ φήμην, καὶ οὐκ ἐπιμέλειαν ψυχῆς, τοῖς εὐλαβέσι

φιλιοῦνται, ἵνα ἑαυτοῖς κόσμον περιποιήσωσιν ἀπόνως· ὁ δὲ διὰ μνήμην τῶν ἐπουρανίων, δι' ἀγάπην πυρούμενος, τὴν ἀρέσκειαν τῶν ἐπιγείων ἐκ τῆς ἐννοίας ἐκκαθαίρεται. Τὸ διαμαρτυροῦν σοι συνειδὸς μὴ παραπέμπου λογισμῷ καταφρονοῦντι, καὶ γλυκολογοῦντι τὸ πταῖσμα, τῷ φιλονεικοῦντι μὴ συνδιατείνου, ἵνα μὴ πάθει πάθος στρατεύσας τῆς ἀρετῆς ἡττηθῇς, τῷ ὑπερηφάνῳ μὴ συνεπαίρου λογισμῷ ἀντιφυσῶντι εἰς ἀντάνεμον πνεῦμα. Οὐκ αἶνος γλώσσῃ τροχαλῶς φθεγγομένῃ, ἀλλὰ χείλεσι δόξα εὐσταθῶς κινουμένοις· ἀκροώμενος λόγων, ἐρώτα τὸν νοῦν σου καὶ τότε διακρίνας τὸ ψήφισμα δώσεις· μὴ παραλογίζου τὸν νοῦν σου ἀβουλίᾳ ῥημάτων, ἵνα μὴ κρημνησθείη ἡ χανανιτίς σου γλῶσσα. Μή σε πνεῦμα πολυῤῥῆμον πλανήσῃ, ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ φωλεύει τὸ δόλιον ψεῦδος. Ὁ ταῖς παρ' ἑτέρων λοιδορίαις 79.1121 δακνόμενος, καὶ μὴ ταύτας τῷ διαβόλῳ προσρίπτων. τὸν τῶν λογισμῶν αὐτοῦ δῆμον ἑαυτῷ ἐπεγείρει, καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὸν βέλη σκευάζειν ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐρεθίζει, ἐν τῷ τὴν ψυχὴν διὰ τῶν τοιούτων τιτρωσκομένην συμπίπτειν. Ἕνεκεν διακονίας ἐπ' ἀλλοδαπῆς ἐὰν βαδίσῃς, μὴ φιλοξενεῖσθαι παρὰ πάντων εὐτρεπίζου, ἀνάξιον σεαυτὸν τῆς δόξης καταλέγων ἵνα οὕτω τὸν τῆς λοιδορίας λογισμὸν φυγαδεύσῃς, κἂν λέγῃ τἀληθῆ. Νομίζω, ὡς, οὐκ οὔσης ἀγάπης, λοιδορούμενος τὰ μέγιστα, ἢ ἀδικούμενος, οὐ μνησικακήσεις, ἀλλ' εὐλογήσεις. Ὁ γὰρ δαίμοσι μνησικακῶν, ἀνθρώποις οὐ μνησικακεῖ· εἰρηνεύει δὲ μετὰ δαιμόνων, ὁ τῷ ἀδελφῷ μνησικακῶν. Ἐμπρησμὸς καρδίας μῆνις ἀντιλογίας, ψυχαὶ δὲ ἀμνησικάκων δροσίζονται πνευματικῶς· ἄνθρακες πυρὸς σπινθῆρας ἐρεύγονται, οὕτω καὶ μνησίκακοι ψυχαὶ λογισμοὺς πονηρούς· ὥσπερ πληγὴ σκορπίου δριμύτατον ἔχει τὸν πόνον, οὕτω καὶ μνησίκακος ψυχὴ πικρότατον ἔχει τὸν ἰόν.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΒʹ. Πνεύμασι πορνείας μνησικάκει καὶ κενοδοξίας, δυσὶ πικροῖς

δαίμοσιν ἐναντίοις ἀλλήλων· ὁ μὲν γὰρ πρόσωπα φεύγει, ὁ δὲ προσώποις χαίρει. Καὶ