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the oracles, forever and ever and ever; he made a decree, and it shall not pass away), but this has happened, O most holy one, according to the alteration of free will, which has grown careless of divine love and has given over its own desire to what is material and not wishing nor choosing to lay hold of glorious examples nor to copy from the archetypal and ancestral godlike image, but from those that are misshapen and strange and monstrous. For this reason we bear spiritual images, having something of a human part, and something of a dog, and of a leopard perhaps, and of a fish or some other of the reptiles, your holiness taking these things anagogically. Therefore, let those who babble such things out of deception either tear up with uncovered head the gospels and the testimonies of the martyrs and the ordinances of the Lord and every tablet handed down by the saints or, not doing this, having put aside their childish and irrational mindset, as truly reaching the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, let them both walk according to the divinely handed down oracles and instruct others; or, doing neither of the aforementioned, let them at least condemn their own unwillingness and profligacy. For perhaps there will be for them a time to return to their senses. But woe is me, most honored father, that being guilty of all the things spoken of and a minister of all perversion and irresponsibility, I have begun to tread upon and legislate for others. Let even the unfeeling stones weep and lament over me, who am endangered at every hour and am tearing apart the flock of Christ, unworthily handed over to me. So much was I prompted to reply to you at your command, O God-honored one. But you, being firmly established in the power of the Spirit and in the comprehension of the lawful and ancestral commandments, may you remain unmoved and unshaken and undaunted by those things introduced to you in many ways by certain people, like winds or paltry tempests, walking on the royal road of the pure way of life and shunning on either side the vain talk of men and praying unceasingly the best things for our lowliness.

9 {1To Gelasius the disciple}1

O my child, Abba Gelasius, how the primevally evil Satan has ostracized you from your coenobitic paradise, as once he did Adam from Eden, persuaded by the counsel of the serpent-minded Ammoun? And now you lodge in places which the Lord does not watch over, bearing thorns and working in the sweat of your face the passions of dishonor. For what good thing, having gone out, have you either done or are you doing? And what, rather, is not evil and to be shunned? The spiritual light of your guidance has failed you, the spark of spiritual friendship has been extinguished. Your friends and your neighbors (I speak not only of your beloved brothers, but also of the angels of God) have stood far off from you, and the demons have drawn near, seeking to destroy your previously accomplished ascetic labors. Where is your pure prayer? Where is your unwavering confession, the light-producing disclosure of thoughts, the angelic choir-standing, the God-imitating obedience, the Christ-bearing humility, that good and pleasant thing of which the psalmist David sings, your dwelling together in unity with the brothers? Since you have become bereft of all these things, my child, you have their opposites brought in against you: darkness of mind, insensibility of soul, hardness of heart, disbelief, despair, carelessness, fear of death, trembling at the final reckoning. And what need is there to list each one, that groaning and trembling like Cain you are certainly living your life? And I do not yet speak of the swarm of fleshly passions, fanning what is within you and kindling sin. Therefore, child

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τὰ λόγια, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος· πρόσταγμα ἔθετο, καὶ οὐ παρελεύσεται), ἀλλὰ τοῦτο συμβέβηκεν, ὦ ἁγιώτατε, κατὰ τὸ ἐνηλλαγμένον τῆς αὐτεξουσίου προαιρέσεως, ὀλιγωρησάσης ἐκ τοῦ θείου ἔρωτος καὶ περὶ τὰ πρόσυλα τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἔφεσιν ἐκδεδωκυίας καὶ οὐ θελούσης οὐδὲ αἱρουμένης τῶν εὐκλεῶν ἐφάψασθαι παραδειγμάτων οὐδὲ μεταγράψαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχετύπου καὶ πατρίου θεοειδοῦς εἰκόνος, ἐκ δὲ τῶν δυσμόρφων καὶ ἀλλοκότων καὶ τερατουργημένων. διὰ τοῦτο τὰ ψυχικὰ ἰνδάλματα ἐπιφέρομεν, τὸ μέν τι ἀνθρωπείου μέρους ἔχοντα, τὸ δὲ κυνός, τὸ δὲ λεοπάρδου τυχόν, τὸ δὲ ἰχθύος ἤ τινος ἄλλου τῶν ἑρπετῶν, ἀναγωγικῶς ταῦτα λαμβανούσης τῆς ὁσιότητός σου. Οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα τοιγαροῦν ἐκ φενακισμοῦ βατταρίζοντες ἢ ῥηξάτωσαν γυμνῇ τῇ κεφαλῇ τὰ εὐαγγέλια καὶ τὰ μαρτύρια καὶ τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ πᾶσαν δέλτον ἁγιοπαράδοτον ἤ, τοῦτο μὴ ποιοῦντες, τὸ νηπιῶδες φρόνημα καὶ ἀλόγιστον ἀποθέμενοι, ὡς ὄντως εἰς ἄνδρα τελοῦντες τῆς ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ τὰ θεοπαράδοτα λόγια καὶ περιπατείτωσαν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐκπαιδευέτωσαν· ἤ, μηδέτερον τῶν εἰρημένων ποιοῦντες, κἂν γοῦν τὸ ἑαυτῶν ἀθέλητον καὶ ἄσωτον κατηγορησάτωσαν. ἴσως γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἔσται καιρὸς ἀνανήψεως. Φεῦ δέ μοι, πάτερ τιμιώτατε, ὅτι ἔνοχος ὢν πάντων τῶν εἰρημένων καὶ πάσης διαστροφῆς καὶ ἀνευθύτητος ὑπουργὸς ὡς ἐπεμβαίνειν ἄλλοις ἠρξάμην καὶ νομοθετεῖν. κλαυσάτωσαν καὶ θρηνείτωσαν ἐπ' ἐμοὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ ἀναίσθητοι λίθοι, κινδυνεύοντι κατὰ πᾶσαν ὥραν καὶ ῥήσσοντι τὸ ποίμνιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀναξίως μοι παραδεδομένον. τοσαῦτά μοι προήχθη κελεύοντί σοι, ὦ θεοτίμητε, ἀνταποκριθῆναι. αὐτὸς δέ, ἐρηρεισμένος ὢν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ πνεύματος καὶ τῇ περιλήψει τῶν νομίμων καὶ πατρίων ἐντολῶν, ἀκίνητος μένοις καὶ ἄσαλος καὶ ἀκαταπτόητος ἐκ τῶν παρά τινων πολυτρόπως προσεπεισφρησάντων σοι, οἷα ἀνέμων ἢ τρικυμιῶν λογυδρίων, βαίνων ἐν τῇ βασιλικῇ ὁδῷ τῆς ἀκραιφνοῦς πολιτείας καὶ τὴν ἐφ' ἑκάτερα παρατρέχων ματαιολογίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων εὐχόμενός τε ἀδιαλείπτως ὑπὲρ τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν τὰ κράτιστα.

9 {1Γελασίῳ μαθητῇ}1

Ὦ τέκνον μου, ἀββᾶ Γελάσιε, πῶς ποτέ σε ἐξωστράκισεν ὁ ἀρχέκακος

σατανᾶς ἐκ τοῦ κοινοβιακοῦ σου παραδείσου, ὥς ποτε τὸν Ἀδὰμ ἐκ τῆς Ἐδέμ, πεισθέντα τῇ βουλῇ τοῦ ὀφιογνώμονος Ἀμμοῦν;καὶ ἄρτι αὐλίζῃ ἐν τόποις, οὓς οὐκ ἐπισκοπεῖ ὁ Κύριος, ἀκανθοφορῶν καὶ ἐργαζόμενος ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου σου τὰ πάθη τῆς ἀτιμίας. τί γὰρ καλὸν ἐξεληλυθὼς ἢ εἰργάσω ἢ ἐργάζῃ; τί δὲ οὐ μᾶλλον πονηρὸν καὶ ἀπευκτόν; ἐξέλιπέν σου τὸ νοερὸν φῶς τῆς ὁδηγίας, ἐσβέσθη ὁ σπινθὴρ τῆς πνευματικῆς φιλίας. οἱ φίλοι σου καὶ οἱ πλησίον (οὐ μόνον λέγω τοὺς ποθεινούς σου ἀδελφούς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγγέλους) ἐξ ἐναντίας σου ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἔστησαν, καὶ ἤγγισαν οἱ δαίμονες, ἐκζητοῦντες ἀπολέσαι σου τοὺς προειργασμένους ἀσκητικοὺς καμάτους. ποῦ ποτέ σου ἡ καθαρὰ προσευχή; ποῦ ποτέ σου ἡ ἀκράδαντος ὁμολογία, ἡ φωτοποιὸς ἐξαγόρευσις, ἡ ἀγγελικὴ χοροστασία, ἡ θεομίμητος ὑπακοή, ἡ χριστοφόρος ταπεινοφροσύνη, ἐκεῖνο τὸ καλὸν καὶ τερπνόν, ὃ ᾄδει ὁ ᾀσματογράφος ∆αυίδ, ἡ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ συνοίκησίς σου τῶν ἀδελφῶν; Τούτων πάντων ἐπεὶ ἔρημος γέγονας, τέκνον μου, ἔχεις ἀντεισαχθέντα σοι τὰ ἐναντία, σκοτασμὸν νοός, ἀναλγησίαν ψυχῆς, πώρωσιν καρδιακήν, δυσπιστίαν, ἀνελπιστίαν, ὀλιγωρίαν, φόβον θανάτου, τρόμον ἀπολογίας. καὶ τί δεῖ καταλέγειν ἕνα ἕκαστον, ὅτι στένων καὶ τρέμων καϊτικῶς πάντως διαβιοῖς; καὶ οὔπω λέγω τῶν σαρκικῶν παθῶν τὸν ἑσμόν, ἀναρριπίζοντά σου τὰ ἐντὸς καὶ ἀναφλέγοντα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. διὸ δή, τέκνον