XX.

"Wherefore a practician of virtue once spoke to me on this wise: 'After I had made divine meditation my constant habit, and through the practice of it my soul had received her right quality, I once resolved to make trial of her, and put a check upon her, not allowing her to devote herself to her wonted exercises. I felt that she was chafing and fretting, and yearning for meditation with an ungovernable desire, and was utterly unable to incline to any contrary thought. No sooner had I given her the reins than immediately she ran in hot haste to her own task, as says the Prophet, 'Like as the hart desireth the water brooks, so longeth my soul after the strong, the living God.' Wherefore from all these proofs it is evident that the acquirement of virtue is within our reach, and that we are lords over it, whether we will embrace or else the rather choose sin. They then, that are in the thraldom of wickedness, can hardly be torn away therefrom, as I have already said.

"But you, who hast been delivered therefrom, through the tender mercy of our God, and hast put on Christ by the grace of the Holy Ghost, now transfer thyself wholly to the Lord's side, and never open a door to your passions, but adorn your soul with the sweet savour and splendour of virtue, and make her a temple of the Holy Trinity, and to his contemplation see you devote all the powers of your mind. He that liveth and converseth with an earthly king is pointed out by all as a right happy man: what happiness then must be his who is privileged to converse and be in spirit with God! Behold you then his likeness alway, and converse with him. How shalt you converse with God? By drawing near him in prayer and supplication. He that prayeth with exceeding fervent desire and pure heart, his mind estranged from all that is earthly and grovelling, and standeth before God, eye to eye, and presenteth his prayers to him in fear and trembling, such an one has converse and speaketh with him face to face.

"Our good Master is present everywhere, hearkening to them that approach him in purity and truth, as says the Prophet, 'The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.' For this reason the Fathers define Prayer as 'the union of man with God,' and call it 'Angels' work,' and 'the prelude of gladness to come.' For since they lay down before all things that 'the kingdom of heaven' consisteth in nearness to and contemplation of the Holy Trinity, and since all the importunity of prayer leadeth the mind thither, prayer is rightly called 'the prelude' and, as it were, the 'fore-glimpse' of that blessedness. But not all prayer is of this nature, but only such prayer as is worthy of the name, which has God for its teacher, who gives prayer to him that prayeth; prayer which soareth above all things on earth and entreateth directly with God.

"This acquire you for thyself, and strive to advance thereto, for it is able to exalt you from earth to heaven. But without preparation and at hap-hazard you shalt not advance therein. But first purify your soul from all passion, and cleanse it like a bright and newly cleansed mirrour from every evil thought, and banish far all remembrance of injury and anger, which most of all hindereth our prayers from ascending to God-ward: and from the heart forgive all those that have trespassed against you, and with alms and charities to the poor lend wings to your prayer, and so bring it before God with fervent tears. Thus praying you shalt be able to say with blessed David, who, for all that he was king, and distraught with ten thousand cares, yet cleansed his soul from all passions, and could say unto God, 'As for iniquity, I hate and abhor it, but your law do I love. Seven times a day do I praise you, because of your righteous judgements. My soul has kept your testimonies, and loved them exceedingly. Let my complaint come before you, O Lord: give me understanding according to your word.'

"While you are calling thus, the Lord hear you: while you are yet speaking, he shall say, 'Behold I am here.' If then you attain to such prayer, blessed shalt you be; for it is impossible for a man praying and calling upon God with such purpose not to advance daily in that which is good, and soar over all the snares of the enemy. For, as says one of the Saints, 'He that has made fervent his understanding, and has lift up his soul and migrated to heaven, and has thus called upon his Master, and remembered his own sins, and spoken concerning the forgiveness of the same, and with hot tears has besought the Lover of mankind to be merciful to him: such an one, I say, by his continuance in such words and considerations, layeth aside every care of this life, and waxeth superior to human passions, and meriteth to be called an associate of God.' Than which state what can be more blessed and higher? May the Lord vouchsafe you to attain to this blessedness!

"Lo I have shown you the way of the commandments of the Lord, and have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. And now I, have fulfilled my ministry unto you. It remaineth that you gird up the loins of your mind, obedient to the Holy One that has called you, and be you thyself holy in all manner of conversation: for, 'Be ye holy: for I am holy,' says the Lord. And the chief prince of the Apostles also writeth, saying, 'If ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear; knowing that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.'

"All these things therefore store you up in your heart, and remember them unceasingly, ever keeping before your eyes the fear of God, and his terrible judgement seat, and the splendour of the righteous which they shall receive in the world to come, and the shame of sinners in the depths of darkness, and the frailty and vanity of things present, and the eternity of things hereafter; for, 'All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.' Meditate upon these things alway and the peace of God be with you, enlightening and informing you, and leading you into the way of salvation, chasing afar out of your mind every evil wish, and sealing your soul with the sign of the Cross, that no stumbling block of the evil one come nigh you, but that you mayest merit, in all fulness of virtue, to obtain the kingdom that is to come, without end or successor, and be illumined with the light of the blessed life-giving Trinity, which, in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, is glorified."

XX

Ὅθεν μοι ταύτης ἐργάτης διηγήσατό τις, ὅτι Μετὰ τὸ προσλαβέσθαι με τὴν θείαν θεωρίαν ἐν ἕξει βεβαιοτάτῃ καὶ τῇ ταύτης μελέτῃ ποιωθῆναι τὴν ψυχήν, βουληθείς ποτε ἀπόπειραν αὐτῆς ποιήσασθαι, κατέσχον τὸν νοῦν μου, μὴ συγχωρήσας τῇ κατ' ἔθος ἐπιβαλεῖν μελέτῃ: καὶ ἔγνων αὐτὸν ἀνιώμενον καὶ δυσφοροῦντα καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἀσχέτῳ ἐπειγόμενον πόθῳ, μηδόλως δὲ πρὸς ἐναντίαν τινὰ ἐνθύμησιν ἀποκλῖναι ἰσχύοντα: ἡνίκα δὲ μικρὸν ἐνέδωκα τὰς ἡνίας, ὀξυδρόμως εὐθὺς ἀνέδραμε πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐργασίαν, καθά φησιν ὁ Προφήτης: Ὃν τρόπον ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ἔλαφος ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων, οὕτως ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, τὸν ἰσχυρόν, τὸν ζῶντα. ἀποδέδεικται οὖν ἐκ πάντων τούτων, ὡς ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἡ κτῆσις τῆς ἀρετῆς, καὶ ἡμεῖς ταύτης κύριοι καθεστήκαμεν εἴτε θελήσομεν αὐτῆς ἀνθέξεσθαι, εἴτε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν προκρῖναι. οἱ μὲν οὖν δουλωθέντες τῇ κακίᾳ δυσαποσπάστως αὐτῆς ἔχουσι, καθὰ δὴ προλαβὼν εἶπον.

Σὺ δὲ λοιπὸν ἐλευθερωθεὶς ταύτης διὰ σπλάγχνα ἐλέους Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐνδεδυμένος τῇ τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος χάριτι, ὅλον σεαυτὸν μετάθες ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον, καὶ μηδόλως ἔτι τοῖς πάθεσι θύραν ἀνοίξῃς: ἀλλὰ τῇ εὐωδίᾳ καὶ λαμπρότητι τῶν ἀρετῶν κοσμήσας σου τὴν ψυχήν, ναὸν αὐτὴν ποίησον τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος, τῇ ταύτης θεωρίᾳ πάσας σου τὰς τοῦ νοὸς δυνάμεις ἀπασχολήσας. εἰ γὰρ βασιλεῖ τις ἐπιγείῳ συνδιάγων καὶ διαλεγόμενος μακαριστὸς πᾶσι δείκνυται, ὁ Θεῷ διαλέγεσθαι καὶ συνεῖναι τῷ νοῒ καταξιωθεὶς πόσης ἀπολαύσεται μακαριότητος; αὐτὸν οὖν ἐνοπτρίζου πάντοτε, καὶ αὐτῷ προσομίλει. πῶς δὲ προσομιλήσεις Θεῷ; τῇ διὰ προσευχῆς καὶ δεήσεως πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐγγύτητι. ὁ γὰρ πόθῳ θερμοτάτῳ καὶ καρδίᾳ κεκαθαρμένῃ προσευχόμενος, πάντων μὲν τῶν ὑλικῶν καὶ χαμαιζήλων μακρύνας τὸν νοῦν, ὡς ἐνώπιος δὲ ἐνωπίῳ παριστάμενος τῷ Θεῷ, φόβῳ τε καὶ τρόμῳ τὰς δεήσεις αὐτῷ προσάγων, ὁ τοιοῦτος ὁμιλεῖ αὐτῷ καὶ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον αὐτῷ διαλέγεται.

Πάρεστι γὰρ πανταχοῦ ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἡμῶν Δεσπότης ἐπακούων τῶν εἰλικρινῶς καὶ καθαρῶς προσερχομένων αὐτῷ, καθάπερ φησὶν ὁ Προφήτης: Ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου ἐπὶ δικαίους, καὶ ὦτα αὐτοῦ εἰς δέησιν αὐτῶν. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οἱ Πατέρες τὴν προσευχὴν ἕνωσιν ἀνθρώπου πρὸς Θεὸν ὁρίζονται, καὶ ἔργον ἀγγέλων ταύτην καλοῦσι, καὶ τῆς μελλούσης εὐφροσύνης προοίμιον. ἐπεὶ γὰρ βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν τὴν ἐγγύτητα καὶ θεωρίαν τῆς Ἁγίας Τριάδος πλέον πάντων τίθενται, πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἡ τῆς εὐχῆς προσεδρεία τὸν νοῦν χειραγωγεῖ, εἰκότως προοίμιον καὶ οἱονεὶ προεικόνισμα ἐκείνης τῆς μακαριότητος κέκληται αὕτη. οὐ πᾶσα δὲ εὐχὴ οὑτωσὶ καθέστηκεν, ἀλλ' ἡ τῆς προσηγορίας ταύτης ὄντως ἀξία, ἡ Θεὸν ἔχουσα διδάσκαλον, τὸν διδόντα εὐχὴν τῷ εὐχομένῳ, ἡ πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ὑπεραρθεῖσα καὶ τῷ Δεσπότῃ Θεῷ ἀμέσως ἐντυγχάνουσα.

Ταύτην σεαυτῷ περιποιοῦ, καὶ εἰς ταύτην ἀγωνίζου τὴν προκοπήν: ἱκανὴ γὰρ ὑπάρχει ἐκ γῆς εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνυψῶσαί σε. οὐκ ἀπαρασκεύως δὲ καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε προκόψεις ἐν ταύτῃ: ἀλλά, πάντων τῶν παθῶν τὴν ψυχὴν προκαθάρας, καὶ πάσης πονηρᾶς ἐνθυμήσεως ταύτην ἀποσμήξας ὡς καθαρὸν καὶ νεόσμηκτον ἔσοπτρον, πάσης τε μνησικακίας καὶ μήνιδος σεαυτὸν μακρύνας, ἥτις πλέον πάντων τὰς ἡμετέρας εὐχὰς πρὸς Θεὸν ἀνάγεσθαι κωλύει, πᾶσί τε τοῖς ἡμαρτηκόσι σοι ἀπὸ καρδίας ἀφεὶς τὰ πλημμελήματα, καὶ ἐν ἐλεημοσύναις καὶ οἰκτιρμοῖς πενήτων τὴν εὐχὴν πτερώσας, προσάγαγε τῷ Θεῷ μετὰ θερμῶν δακρύων. οὕτως εὐχόμενος δυνήσῃ εἰπεῖν ὡς ὁ μακάριος Δαυΐδ: οὗτος γὰρ βασιλεὺς ὢν καὶ μυρίαις ἑλκόμενος φροντίσι, πάντων δὲ τῶν παθῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ καθαρίσας, ἔλεγε πρὸς τὸν Θεόν: Ἀδικίαν ἐμίσησα καὶ ἐβδελυξάμην, τὸν δὲ νόμον σου ἠγάπησα: ἑπτάκις τῆς ἡμέρας ᾔνεσά σε ἐπὶ τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης: ἐφύλαξεν ἡ ψυχή μου τὰ μαρτύριά σου καὶ ἠγάπησεν αὐτὰ σφόδρα: ἐγγισάτω ἡ δέησίς μου ἐνώπιόν σου, Κύριε: κατὰ τὸ λόγιόν σου συνέτισόν με.

Οὕτως βοῶντός σου ὁ Θεὸς ἐπακούσεται: ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου, ἐρεῖ: Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι. εἰ τοιαύτην οὖν κτήσῃ εὐχήν, μακάριος ἔσῃ: ἀμήχανον γὰρ ἄνθρωπον, μετὰ τοιαύτης προθυμίας εὐχόμενον καὶ παρακαλοῦντα τὸν Θεόν, μὴ καθ' ἑκάστην προκόπτειν ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ πασῶν ὑπερίπτασθαι τῶν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ παγίδων. ὁ γὰρ διαθερμάνας αὐτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν, καθάπερ τις τῶν ἁγίων ἔφησε, Καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀναστήσας, καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἑαυτὸν μετοικίσας, καὶ οὕτω τὸν Δεσπότην τὸν ἑαυτοῦ καλέσας, καὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτημάτων ἀναμνησθείς, καὶ περὶ τῆς συγχωρήσεως τούτων διαλεχθείς, καὶ δάκρυσι θερμοτάτοις δεηθεὶς ἵλεω γενέσθαι αὐτῷ τὸν φιλάνθρωπον, ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις καὶ διαλογισμοῖς τούτοις διατριβῆς πᾶσαν ἀποτίθεται βιωτικὴν φροντίδα καὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων παθῶν ὑψηλότερος γίνεται, καὶ Θεῷ συνόμιλος ἀξιοῦται κληθῆναι: οὗπερ τί γένοιτ' ἂν μακαριώτερον ἢ ὑψηλότερον; ἀξιώσαι σε οὖν Κύριος τῆς τοιαύτης ἐπιτυχεῖν μακαριότητος.

Ἰδοὺ γάρ σοι τὴν ὁδὸν ὑπέδειξα τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ οὐδὲν ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαί σοι πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ. καὶ ἐγὼ μὲν ἤδη τὴν πρὸς σέ μου διακονίαν τετέλεκα: λοιπὸν αὐτὸς ἀναζωσάμενος τὴν ὀσφὺν τῆς διανοίας σου, κατὰ τὸν καλέσαντά σε ἅγιον, καὶ αὐτὸς ἅγιος ἐν πάσῃ ἀναστροφῇ γενοῦ: Ἅγιοι γὰρ γίνεσθε, διότι ἐγὼ ἅγιός εἰμι, λέγει Κύριος. γράφει δὲ καὶ ὁ κορυφαιότατος τῶν ἀποστόλων: Εἰ Πατέρα, φησίν, ἐπικαλεῖσθε τὸν ἀπροσωπολήπτως κρίνοντα κατὰ τὸ ἑκάστου ἔργον, ἐν φόβῳ τὸν τῆς παροικίας ὑμῶν χρόνον ἀναστράφητε, εἰδότες ὅτι οὐ φθαρτοῖς, ἀργυρίῳ ἢ χρυσίῳ, ἐλυτρώθητε ἐκ τῆς ματαίας ὑμῶν ἀναστροφῆς πατροπαραδότου, ἀλλὰ τιμίῳ αἵματι, ὡς ἀμνοῦ ἀμώμου καὶ ἀσπίλου, Χριστοῦ.

Ταῦτα οὖν πάντα ἐν καρδίᾳ τιθέμενος, μέμνησο ἀδιαλείπτως, πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχων ἀεὶ τὸν φόβον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὸ φρικῶδες αὐτοῦ κριτήριον, τὴν φαιδρότητά τε τῶν δικαίων ἣν μέλλουσιν ἐν ἐκείνῳ ἀπολαβεῖν τῷ αἰῶνι, καὶ τὴν κατήφειαν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐν τῷ σκότει τῷ βαθυτάτῳ, τὴν ἀσθένειάν τε καὶ ματαιότητα τῶν παρόντων καὶ τὸ τῶν μελλόντων ἀτελεύτητον, ὅτι Πᾶσα σὰρξ χόρτος καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου: ἐξηράνθη ὁ χόρτος καὶ τὸ ἄνθος αὐτοῦ ἐξέπεσε, τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα Κυρίου μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. ταῦτα μελέτα διὰ παντός: καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Θεοῦ εἴη μετὰ σοῦ, φωτίζουσά σε καὶ συνετίζουσα καὶ εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ἄγουσα τῆς σωτηρίας, καὶ πᾶν θέλημα πονηρὸν πόρρω διώκουσα τοῦ νοός σου, σφραγίζουσα δὲ τὴν ψυχήν σου τῷ τοῦ σταυροῦ σημείῳ, ἵνα μηδέν σοι πλησιάσῃ τῶν τοῦ πονηροῦ σκανδάλων, ἀλλ' ἀξιωθῇς ἐν πάσῃ τελειότητι τῶν ἀρετῶν τῆς μελλούσης ἐπιτυχεῖν ἀτελευτήτου καὶ ἀδιαδόχου βασιλείας, καὶ τῷ φωτὶ περιλαμφθῆναι τῆς μακαρίας καὶ ζωαρχικῆς Τριάδος, τῆς ἐν Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι δοξαζομένης.