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It is unformed, he says, but it is its nature to be conformed to the windows through which it enters.

99 And again, another of the monks: 'For this reason I remove pleasures,' he said, 'in order to cut off the pretexts for anger; for I know that it is always fighting on behalf of pleasures and disturbing my mind and driving away knowledge.' And one of the elders used to say that love does not know how to keep stores of food or money. And the same one: 'I do not know,' he says, 'that I have been deceived twice in the same thing by demons.' 100 It is not possible to love all the brethren equally but it is possible to meet with all impassibly, being free from remembrance of wrongs and hatred; we must love the priests after the Lord, those who purify us through the holy mysteries and pray for us; and we must honor our elders as the angels; for they are the ones who anoint us for the contests and heal the bites of wild beasts. epiBut for now let so much have been said by me to you about the practical life, most desired brother Anatolius, as much as we have found, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, by gleaning in the seed-time when our grape is becoming dark; but if the sun of righteousness will shine steadily upon us and the cluster of grapes becomes ripe, then we shall also drink of its wine that gladdens the heart of man, through the prayers and intercessions of the righteous Gregory who planted me and of the present holy Fathers who water me, and by the power of Christ Jesus our Lord who gives me growth, to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

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ἀσχημάτιστον μέν ἐστι, φησί, ταῖς δὲ δι' ὧν εἰσβάλλει θυρίσι συσχηματίζεσθαι πέφυκεν.

99 Ἄλλος δὲ πάλιν τῶν μοναχῶν· διὰ τοῦτο περιαιρῶ τὰς ἡδονάς, εἶπεν, ἵνα τὰς τοῦ θυμοῦ περικόψω προφάσεις· οἶδα γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀεὶ μαχόμενον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡδονῶν καὶ ἐκταράσσοντά μου τὸν νοῦν καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν ἀποδιώκοντα. Ἔλεγε δέ τις τῶν γερόντων ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη παραθήκας βρωμάτων ἢ χρημάτων τηρεῖν οὐκ ἐπίσταται. Ὁ δ' αὐτός· οὐκ οἶδα, φησίν, εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ δὶς ὑπὸ δαιμόνων ἀπατηθείς. 100 Πάντας μὲν ἐπ' ἴσης οὐ δυνατὸν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἀγαπᾶν πᾶσι δὲ δυνατὸν ἀπαθῶς συντυγχάνειν μνησικακίας ὄντα καὶ μίσους ἐλεύθερον· τοὺς ἱερεῖς ἀγαπητέον μετὰ τὸν Κύριον τοὺς διὰ τῶν ἁγίων μυστηρίων καθαρίζοντας ἡμᾶς καὶ προσευχομένους ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν· τοὺς δὲ γέροντας ἡμῶν τιμητέον ὡς τοὺς ἀγγέλους· αὐτοὶ γάρ εἰσιν οἱ πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἡμᾶς ἀλείφοντες καὶ τὰ τῶν ἀγρίων θηρίων δήγματα θεραπεύοντες. epiἈλλὰ νῦν μέν μοι τοσαῦτα λελέχθω πρὸς σὲ περὶ πρακτικῆς, ποθεινότατε ἀδελφὲ Ἀνατόλιε, ὅσα χάριτι τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐν τῷ σπόρῳ περκαζούσης ἡμῶν τῆς σταφυλῆς ἐπιρωγολογούμενοι εὑρήκαμεν· εἰ δὲ σταθερὸς ἡμῖν ἐπιλάμψει τῆς δικαιοσύνης ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ὁ βότρυς πέπειρος γένηται, τότε καὶ τὸν οἶνον πιόμεθα αὐτοῦ τὸν εὐφραίνοντα καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου, εὐχαῖς καὶ πρεσβείαις τοῦ δικαίου Γρηγορίου τοῦ φυτεύσαντός με καὶ τῶν νῦν ὁσίων Πατέρων τῶν ποτιζόντων με, καὶ δυνάμει τῇ τοῦ αὐξάνοντός με Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.