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to receive the crown of dispassion. And I speak of dispassion, not the cessation of sin in act, for this is called continence, but that which cuts off passionate thoughts in the mind, which Saint Paul also called the spiritual circumcision of the hidden Jew. And if anyone is discouraged by what has been said, let him remember the chosen vessel, the Apostle, who finished his race in hunger and thirst. And the adversary of truth, the demon of acedia, imitates this demon, suggesting the most extreme withdrawal to the steadfast one, calling him to the zeal of John the Baptist and of Antony, the first of the anchorites, so that, not enduring the prolonged and inhuman withdrawal, he might flee with shame, leaving the place, and so he himself might boast, saying, "I have prevailed against him." 79.1232

CHAPTER 26. Impure thoughts receive material for their increase, and

are extended along with many things; for they cross great seas in the mind, and do not refuse to travel long roads because of the great heat of passion; but those who have been somehow purified are rather more constrained than these, unable to be extended along with things because of the weakness of passion, whence also they are moved rather contrary to nature, and, according to the wise Solomon, for a time wandering outside, they also gather stubble for the lawless brick-making, so that they may be saved like a gazelle from snares, and like a bird from a trap. For it is easier to cleanse an impure soul than to recall to health one that has been cleansed and wounded again, since the demon of grief does not permit it, but always presents the idol of sin to the pupils of the eyes at the time of prayer.

CHAPTER 27. The demons do not know our hearts, as some of

men suppose; for He alone is the knower of hearts, who knows the mind of men, and who formed their hearts one by one; but from the spoken word and from such movements of the body, they know many of the movements in the heart. These things I now wished to declare clearly, but the holy priest restrained me, saying it was unworthy for such things to be made public and to be cast into profane ears; since, he says, even he who has relations with a menstruous woman, according to the law, becomes liable. But they recognize the things hidden in the heart from such signs, and from these they take occasions against us; for example, we have often rebuked some who spoke evil, not having love towards them, for which reason we have also fallen prey to the demon of resentfulness, and have immediately received evil thoughts against them, which we have previously known to happen to us. Wherefore the Holy Spirit rightly accuses us: "You sat and spoke against your brother, and against your mother's son you set a stumbling block," and you opened the door to thoughts of resentfulness, and disturbed the mind at the time of prayer, always imagining the face of your enemy, and deifying it; for whatever the mind sees at all while praying, this it is worthy to confess as God. But let us flee, beloved, the disease of slander; let us never remember evil of anyone, nor let us avert our eyes at the memory of our neighbor. For the wicked demons scrutinize all our postures, and leave nothing about us unexamined, not reclining, not sitting, not standing, not speech, not gait, not gaze; they scrutinize everything, they set everything in motion, all day long they devise deceit 79.1233 against us, so that they may slander the humble mind at the time of prayer, and extinguish its blessed light. You see

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ἀπαθείας ὑποδέξασθαι στέφανον. Ἀπάθειαν δὲ λέγω, οὐ τὴν κατάλυσιν τῆς κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτίας, αὕτη γὰρ ἐγκράτεια λέγεται, ἀλλὰ τὴν κατὰ διάνοιαν τοὺς ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμοὺς περικόπτουσαν, ἥντινα καὶ πνευματικὴν περιτομὴν τοῦ κρυπτοῦ Ἰουδαίου ὁ ἅγιος Παῦλος ὠνόμασεν. Εἰ δὲ ἀθυμεῖ τις ἐπὶ τοῖς λεχθεῖσι, μνημονευσάτω τοῦ σκεύους τῆς ἐκλογῆς, Ἀποστόλου, ἐν λιμῷ καὶ δίψει τὸν δρόμον τελέσαντος. Μιμεῖται δὲ καὶ ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀντίπαλος ὁ τῆς ἀκηδίας δαίμων τοῦτον τὸν δαίμονα, ἀκροτάτην ἀναχώρησιν τῷ καρτερικῷ ὑποβάλλων, εἰς ζῆλον προσκαλούμενος Ἰωάννου τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ, καὶ τῆς ἀπαρχῆς τῶν ἀναχωρητῶν Ἀντωνίου, ἵνα, μὴ βαστάσας τὴν χρονίαν, καὶ ἀπάνθρωπον ἀναχώρησιν, φύγῃ μετ' αἰσχύνης, τὸν τόπον καταλιπὼν, καὶ αὐτὸς λοιπὸν καυχώμενος εἴπῃ, «Ἴσχυσα πρὸς αὐτόν.» 79.1232

ΚΕΦΑΛ. Κϛʹ. Οἱ μὲν ἀκάθαρτοι λογισμοὶ εἰς αὔξησιν ὕλας εἰσδέχονται, καὶ

πολλοῖς συμπαρεκτείνονται πράγμασι· καὶ γὰρ πελάγη κατὰ διάνοιαν περῶσι μεγάλα, καὶ μακρὰς ὁδοὺς ὁδεύειν οὐ παραιτοῦνται διὰ πολλὴν τοῦ πάθους θερμότητα· οἱ δὲ ὁπωσοῦν κεκαθαρμένοι, στενώτεροι τούτων μᾶλλόν εἰσι, συμπαρεκτείνεσθαι πράγμασι μὴ δυνάμενοι διὰ τὴν τοῦ πάθους ἀσθένειαν, ὅθεν καὶ παρὰ φύσιν μᾶλλον κινοῦνται, καὶ, κατὰ τὸν σοφὸν Σολομῶντα, χρόνον τινὰ ἔξω ῥέμβοντες, καὶ καλάμην συνάγουσιν εἰς τὴν παράνομον πλινθουργίαν, ἵνα σώζωνται ὥσπερ δορκὰς ἐκ βρόχων, καὶ ὥσπερ ὄρνεον ἐκ παγίδος. Ῥᾷον γὰρ ἀκάθαρτον καθάραι ψυχὴν, ἢ καθαρθεῖσαν, καὶ πάλιν τραυματισθεῖσαν εἰς ὑγείαν αὖθις ἀνακαλέσασθαι, τοῦ δαίμονος τῆς λύπης μὴ συγχωροῦντος, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ ταῖς κόραις κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς προσευχῆς τὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας προσφέροντος εἴδωλον.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ΚΖʹ. Οὐκ ἐπίστανται τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν οἱ δαίμονες, ὥς τινες τῶν

ἀνθρώπων νομίζουσι· καὶ γὰρ μόνος ἐστὶ καρδιογνώστης, ὁ ἐπιστάμενος τὸν νοῦν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ πλάσας κατὰ μόνας τὰς καρδίας αὐτῶν· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ προφορικοῦ λόγου, καὶ τῶν τοιῶνδε κινημάτων τοῦ σώματος, τὰ πολλὰ τῶν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ κινημάτων γινώσκουσιν. Ἅπερ ἐγὼ νῦν ἐβουλόμην δηλῶσαι σαφῶς, ἐπέσχε δέ με ὁ ἅγιος ἱερεὺς, ἀνάξιον φήσας τὰ τοιαῦτα δημοσιεύεσθαι, καὶ εἰς ἀκοὰς βεβήλων ἐμβάλλεσθαι· εἴπερ, φησὶ, καὶ ὁ τῷ ἐφέδρῳ συγγινόμενος, κατὰ τὸν νόμον, ὑπεύθυνος γίνεται. Πλὴν ὅτι ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων συμβόλων ἐπιγινώσκουσι τὰ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ κρυπτόμενα, καὶ τὰς ἀφορμὰς ἐκ τούτων λαμβάνουσι καθ' ἡμῶν, πολλάκις γοῦν τινας κακολογήσαντας ἠλέγξαμεν, οὐκ ἀγαπητικῶς ἔχοντες πρὸς αὐτοὺς, διὸ καὶ τῷ τῆς μνησικακίας περιπεπτώκαμεν δαίμονι, καὶ λογισμοὺς πονηροὺς εὐθὺς εἰλήφαμεν κατ' αὐτῶν, οὕς τε πρότερον ἔγνωμεν ἡμῖν ἐπισυμβάντας. ∆ιόπερ καλῶς ἡμῖν ἐγκαλεῖ καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· «Καθήμενος κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου κατελάλεις, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς μητρός σου ἐτίθεις σκάνδαλον,» καὶ τῶν τῆς μνησικακίας λογισμῶν ἤνοιγες θύραν, καὶ τὸν νοῦν κατὰ καιρὸν τῆς προσευχῆς ἐξετάρασσες, τοῦ ἐχθροῦ σου τὸ πρόσωπον ἀεὶ φανταζόμενος, καὶ τοῦτον θεοποιῶν· ὃ γὰρ βλέπει πάντως ὁ νοῦς προσευχόμενος, τοῦτο καὶ Θεὸν ἄξιον ὁμολογεῖν. Ἀλλὰ φύγωμεν, ἀγαπητοὶ, τῆς κακηγορίας τὴν νόσον, μηδενός ποτε κακῶς μνημονεύσωμεν, μηδὲ τὰς ὄψεις διαστρέφωμεν ἐπὶ μνήμῃ τοῦ πλησίον. Πάντα γὰρ τὰ σχήματα οἱ πονηροὶ περιεργάζονται δαίμονες, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν καθ' ἡμῶν καταλιμπάνουσιν ἀνεξέταστον, οὐκ ἀνάκλισιν, οὐ καθέδραν, οὐ στάσιν, οὐ λόγον, οὐ πάροδον, οὐ βλέμμα, πάντα περιεργάζονται, πάντα κινοῦσιν, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν καθ' ἡμῶν δολιό79.1233 τητα μελετῶσιν, ἵνα τὸν ταπεινὸν κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς προσευχῆς συκοφαντήσωσι νοῦν, καὶ τὸ μακάριον αὐτοῦ κατασβέσωσι φῶς. Ὁρᾷς