the adversary always hinders the mind in good things, from loving the things above by the memory of good things, but rather, by enticing the will through earthly desires, he besieges it; for this is the death and defeat of the evil one, when the mind is found to be occupied in the love and memory of God), from this, sincere love for a brother can always be established. Likewise also true simplicity and meekness and humility and integrity and goodness and prayer and the whole sequence of the holy commandments, through the one and only and first commandment, love for God, truly receives its exact fulfillment. There is need therefore of much struggle and hidden and invisible labor, and we must always make an examination of thoughts and exercise the weakened senses of our soul for the discernment of good and evil, and rekindle the weakened members of our soul through the mind's urgency and zeal towards God, always recalling the mind, so that it may become 265 one spirit with the Lord, according to the saying of Paul. And this hidden struggle and meditation on the Lord and labor night and day, we all must have in every practice of a commandment, whether praying or serving or eating or drinking or doing anything whatsoever, so that every good practice of virtue that is done may be for the glory of God and not be found to be accomplished for our own glory. For the whole sequence of the commandments is sanctified and purely accomplished by you through the unceasing memory of the Lord and fear and zeal and love for God, and thus we are outside of the evil one who defiles and stains the commandment. And thus all the precepts of the commandments will appear to us manageable and easy, as the love of God makes the commandments easy and releases their laboriousness in their observance, so that also the ease and facility of the commandments will come about through our love for God; for the whole struggle and zeal of the adversary is this, as has been said before, that he might be able to distract the mind from the memory and fear and love of the Lord, 266 using earthly enticements and turning it away from what is truly good to the things that seem to be good. For whatever good a man may do, the evil one wishes to stain and defile it and strives to mix his own sowing of vainglory or conceit or grumbling or some such things with the commandment, so that the good and fine thing being done may not be done only for God's sake and with good eagerness. But lest we seem to be saying something as from ourselves, let us present these things from the holy scriptures. For it is written that Abel offered a sacrifice to God from the fat portions and from the firstborn of the sheep; and Cain likewise offered gifts from the fruits of the earth, it says, but not from the first fruits. And God looked upon, it says, the gifts of Abel, but to the sacrifices of Cain he paid no attention; so from this we learn, that it is possible to perform a good practice negligently or contemptuously or for some other reason, and for it not to be acceptable to God; and it is possible to do it according to the will of God, zealously and soberly and for God alone [faithfully], and it is found well-pleasing before him; for also 267 the patriarch Abraham offered from the choicest spoils to the priest of God Melchizedek and thus received the blessings from him. And what does the Spirit signify through these things, revealing a higher contemplation, but that we must always [in every way] first offer to God the choice parts and the fat portions, the first parts of the whole composite of our nature, that is, the mind itself, the conscience itself, the disposition itself, our own right reason, our own loving power of the soul, the first-fruit of our whole man, the sacred sacrifice of the heart, the choicest spoils and the first of right thoughts, into his memory and meditation and

ἐναντίον ἀεὶ ἐν τοῖς καλοῖς ἐμποδίζειν τὸν νοῦν τοῦ μὴ τῇ τῶν καλῶν μνήμῃ ἐρᾶν τῶν ἄνω, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν γηίνων ἐπιθυμιῶν τὴν προαίρεσιν δελεάζοντα προσεδρεύειν· οὗτος γάρ ἐστι τοῦ πονηροῦ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ἡ ἧττα, ὅταν εἰς ἀγάπην καὶ μνήμην θεοῦ ἀσχολούμενος ὁ νοῦς εὑρίσκηται), πάντοτε ἐντεῦθεν συστῆναι δύναται καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν εἰλικρινὴς ἀγάπη. ὁμοίως καὶ ἡ ἀληθὴς ἁπλότης καὶ ἡ πραότης καὶ ἡ ταπείνωσις καὶ ἡ ἀκεραιότης καὶ ἡ ἀγαθότης καὶ ἡ εὐχὴ καὶ πᾶσα ἀκολουθία τῶν ἁγίων ἐντολῶν διὰ τῆς μιᾶς καὶ μόνης καὶ πρώτης ἐντολῆς, τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἀγάπης, ἐξ ἀληθείας τὴν ἀκριβῆ συμπλήρωσιν λαμβάνει. Ἀγῶνος οὖν πολλοῦ καὶ πόνου κρυπτοῦ καὶ ἀοράτου χρεία καὶ λογισμῶν ἔρευναν ποιεῖσθαι καὶ τὰ ἠσθενηκότα τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν αἰσθητήρια γυμνάζειν πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ δεῖ πάντοτε, καὶ ἀναζωπυρεῖν διὰ τῆς τοῦ νοῦ πρὸς θεὸν ἐπείξεως καὶ σπουδῆς τὰ ἐξητονηκότα τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν μέλη, τὸν νοῦν ἀνακαλουμένους πάντοτε, ἵνα γένηται 265 μετὰ τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἓν πνεῦμα κατὰ τὸ λόγιον Παύλου. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν κρυπτὸν ἀγῶνα καὶ μελέτην κυρίου καὶ πόνον νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας πάντας ἡμᾶς ἔχειν χρὴ εἰς πᾶσαν ἐπιτήδευσιν ἐντολῆς, ἤτοι εὐχομένων ἤτοι διακονούντων ἤτοι ἐσθιόντων ἤτοι πινόντων ἢ ὁτιοῦν ποιούντων, ἵνα πᾶν ὃ γίνεται ἀγαθὸν ἀρετῆς ἐπιτήδευμα εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ γίνηται καὶ μὴ εἰς δόξαν ἡμετέραν ἐπιτελούμενον εὑρίσκηται. ἁγιάζεται γὰρ πᾶσα ἡ τῶν ἐντολῶν ἀκολουθία καὶ καθαρῶς ὑφ' ὑμῶν ἐπιτελεῖται διὰ τῆς ἀδιαλείπτου μνήμης τοῦ κυρίου καὶ φόβου καὶ σπουδῆς καὶ ἀγάπης τῆς πρὸς θεὸν καὶ οὕτως ἐκτὸς γινόμεθα ἀπὸ τοῦ μιαίνοντος τὴν ἐντολὴν καὶ σπιλοῦντος πονηροῦ. οὕτως δὲ εὐχερῆ καὶ εὔκολα ἡμῖν πάντα τὰ τῶν ἐντολῶν φανήσεται παραγγέλματα τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγάπης ἐξευμαριζούσης τὰς ἐντολὰς καὶ τὸ ἐπίπονον αὐτῶν περὶ τὴν τήρησιν αὐτῆς ἐκλυούσης, ὥστε καὶ τῶν ἐντολῶν εὐμάρεια καὶ εὐκολία διὰ τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἡμῶν ἀγάπης γενήσεται· ὅλος γὰρ ὁ ἀγὼν καὶ ἡ σπουδὴ τοῦ ἀντικειμένου αὕτη ἐστίν, ὡς προείρηται, ἵνα δυνηθῇ τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς θεὸν μνήμης καὶ φόβου καὶ ἀγάπης κυρίου περισπάσαι, 266 δελεάσμασι γηίνοις χρώμενος καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄντως καλοῦ παρεκτρέπων εἰς τὰ δοκήσει ὄντα καλά. πᾶν γὰρ ὃ ἂν ποιῇ καλὸν ἄνθρωπος, σπιλοῦν καὶ μιαίνειν ὁ πονηρὸς βούλεται καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐπισπορὰν τῆς κενοδοξίας ἢ οἰήσεως ἢ γογγυσμοῦ ἢ τοιούτων τινῶν τῇ ἐντολῇ συμμίσγειν ἀγωνίζεται, ἵνα μὴ διὰ θεὸν μόνον καὶ προθυμίαν ἀγαθὴν τὸ γινόμενον ἀγαθὸν καὶ καλὸν γίνηται. Ἵνα δὲ μὴ δόξωμεν ὡς ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν τι λέγειν, ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων γραφῶν ταῦτα παραστήσωμεν. γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι Ἄβελ προσήνεγκε θυσίαν τῷ θεῷ ἀπὸ τῶν στεάτων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν προβάτων· καὶ Κάϊν ὁμοίως προσήνεγκε δῶρα ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν φησι τῆς γῆς, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων καρπῶν· Καὶ ἐπεῖδεν ὁ θεός, φησίν, ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις τοῦ Ἄβελ, ταῖς δὲ τοῦ Κάϊν θυσίαις οὐ προσέσχεν· ὥστε ἐκ τούτου μανθάνομεν, ὅτι ἔστι τι καλὸν ἐπιτήδευμα ποιῆσαι ἀμελῶς ἢ καταφρονητικῶς ἢ δι' ἄλλο τι, καὶ μὴ εἶναι εὐπρόσδεκτον τῷ θεῷ· καὶ ἔστι ποιῆσαι κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, σπουδαίως καὶ νηφόντως καὶ διὰ θεὸν μόνον [πιστῶς], καὶ εὐάρεστον εὑρίσκεται ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ· καὶ γὰρ 267 ὁ πατριάρχης Ἀβραὰμ ἐκ τῶν ἀκροθινίων τῷ ἱερεῖ τοῦ θεοῦ Μελχισεδὲκ προσήνεγκε καὶ οὕτως τὰς εὐλογίας ἐδέξατο παρ' αὐτοῦ. τί δὲ διὰ τούτων αἰνίττεται τὸ πνεῦμα, ὑψηλοτέραν θεωρίαν ἐμφαῖνον, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ τὰ ἄκρα καὶ τὰ στέατα, τὰ πρῶτα ὅλου τοῦ συγκρίματος τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, τουτέστιν αὐτὸν τὸν νοῦν, αὐτὴν τὴν συνείδησιν, αὐτὴν τὴν διάθεσιν, αὐτὸν τὸν ὀρθὸν ἡμῶν λογισμόν, αὐτὴν τὴν ἀγαπητικὴν ἡμῶν δύναμιν τῆς ψυχῆς, τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ ὅλου ἡμῶν ἀνθρώπου τῷ θεῷ πρότερον προσκομίζειν δεῖν πάντοτε [πάντως] τὴν τῆς καρδίας θυσίαν ἱεράν, τὰ ἀκροθίνια καὶ τὰ πρῶτα τῶν ὀρθῶν λογισμῶν, εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ μνήμην καὶ μελέτην καὶ