22

choosing the humble and more dishonorable of works, not contradicting or grumbling when commanded, but eagerly accomplishing all things and always pursuing the last place and considering himself more humble than all and, simply put, doing all things with knowledge, as the divine Scriptures clearly teach us, so that, having received mercy and forgiveness for his former evils, he might find boldness before God? But he who does the opposite of all these things with the intention of a wicked soul, remained what he was even before his renunciation: wicked, not to say even worse than he was.

Thus not by nature, as some think, but by choice does every man become either humble and contrite, or hard of heart and calloused and without compunction. For when, tell me, will he be pricked in his soul and shed a tear from his eyes, who almost every day wanders here and there and takes no care for silence of the lips, nor for prayer, (64) nor for reading and quiet, but at one time conversing with those near him in the assemblies, and depriving not only himself but also those with whom he converses of benefit, and at another time slandering and reviling the devout among the brethren and sometimes even the superior? When will he acquire compunction who meddles in all the affairs of the monastery, and not only the affairs of the monastery, but also the life of each one? and at one time saying to some of the brethren: "I heard such and such yesterday," he says, and at another: "Did you learn what happened to so-and-so, the humble one?" and again: "Have you heard of so-and-so's misfortune? ". When, then, will such a one remember his own evils, so that, being in pain, he might bring forth a tear from his eyes? And he who goes out of the assembly during the reading of the divine Scriptures and sits near or far and converses with certain ones - with now he and now others putting forward unprofitable topics and speaking thus: "Have you heard," he says, "what the abbot has done to brother so-and-so? " and another: "Well, if I tell you what he has done to so-and-so, the humble one, what have you to say? "and thus he who speaks such things and worse than these, and occupies and is occupied in such idle talk, when will he come to an awareness of his own sins and weep for himself?

For he who does not pay attention to the divinely-inspired oracles, nor puts a door about his lips, nor turns his ear away from vain hearing and remembers the final defense and the fearful judgment seat of Christ, how we all must stand before Him naked and exposed and give an account for our lives, (65) how then, if he should live more than a hundred years in the monastic habit, will he acquire a tear and mourn for himself fervently? How will he who lays claim to the first places in the church standing, in the seating at table, and who always fights and is grieved over such things, ever be grieved for his own soul and weep bitterly before God? And he who makes excuses for his sins, putting forward weakness, though he is strong and vigorous and young, in the church standing, and measuring himself against the more devout brethren who have toiled much and spent a long time in the ascetic life, saying: "Am I second to so-and-so or so-and-so? for that one stands leaning and stands while going away"putting himself on a level with them, he who is perhaps unworthy even of the lowest place, when will he become aware of his own weakness, so that, groaning from his soul, he might be pricked in heart and weep with his eyes? For vainglory, having handed him over as a slave to acedia, no longer permits him to persevere in anything with patience; and from then on each of such men passes every assembly in indolence and negligence, continually speaking vain things to those who approach him and are willing to listen to him

22

εὐτελῆ καί ἀτιμότερα ἐκλεγόμενος τῶν ἔργων, μή ἀντιλέγων ἤ γογγύζων ἐπιτασσόμενος, ἀλλά προθύμως ἐπιτελῶν πάντα καί τόν ἔσχατον ἀεί μεταδιώκων τόπον καί ἑαυτόν εὐτελέστερον λογιζόμενος πάντων καί, ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, πάντα ποιῶν μετά γνώσεως, ὅσα ἡμᾶς αἱ θεῖαι Γραφαί σαφῶς ἐκδιδάσκουσιν, ἵνα τυχών ἐλέους καί συγχωρήσεως τῶν προτέρων κακῶν, εὕρῃ παρρησίαν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ; Ὁ δέ τά ἐναντία τούτων πάντων προθέσει ψυχῆς πονηρᾶς ποιῶν, ἔμεινεν ὅπερ ἦν καί πρό τοῦ ἀποτάξασθαι πονηρός, ἵνα μή λέγω καί χείρων ἤ ὅπερ ἦν.

Οὕτως οὐκ ἐκ φύσεως, ὥσπερ τινές οἴονται, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ προαιρέσεως γίνεται πᾶς ἄνθρωπος εἴτε ταπεινός καί εὐκατάνυκτος, εἴτε σκληρός τήν καρδίαν καί πεπωρωμένος καί ἀκατάνυκτος. Πότε γάρ, εἰπέ μοι, κατανυγήσεται τήν ψυχήν καί δάκρυον ἐκ ὀφθαλμῶν σταλάξει ὁ πᾶσαν ἡμέραν σχεδόν ὧδε κἀκεῖσε περιερχόμενος καί μήτε σιωπῆς χειλέων, μήτε εὐχῆς, (64) μήτε ἀναγνώσεως καί ἡσυχίας ἐπιμελούμενος, ἀλλά ποτέ μέν προσομιλῶν τοῖς πλησίον ἐν ταῖς συνάξεσι, καί οὐ μόνον ἑαυτόν ἀλλά καί οἷς προσομιλεῖ τῆς ὠφελείας ἀποστερῶν, ποτέ δέ διασύρων καί λοιδορούμενος τούς εὐλαβεῖς τῶν ἀδελφῶν καί αὐτόν ἔσθ᾿ ὅτε τόν προηγούμενον; Πότε κατάνυξιν κτήσεται ὁ πάντα περιεργαζόμενος τά τῆς μονῆς, καί οὐ μόνον τά τῆς μονῆς, ἀλλά καί ἑνός ἑκάστου τόν βίον; καί ποτέ μέν λέγων πρός τινας τῶν ἀδελφῶν· "Ἤκουσα χθές τό καί τό" φησί, ποτέ δέ· "Ἔμαθες τί τῷ δεῖνι συνέβη τῷ ταπεινῷ;" καί πάλιν· "Ἠκούσατε τοῦ δεῖνος τήν συμφοράν; ". Ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄρα πότε τῶν οἰκείων ἀναμνημονεύσει κακῶν, ἵνα καί πονέσας δάκρυον καταφέρῃ ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ; Ὁ δέ καί τῆς συνάξεως ἐξερχόμενος ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς ἀναγνώσεως τῶν θείων Γραφῶν καί ἐγγύς ἤ μακράν καθήμενος καί προσομιλῶν μετά τινων - ποτέ μέν ἐκείνου ποτέ δέ τῶν ἄλλων τάς ἀνωφελεῖς συντυχίας προβαλλομένων καί οὕτω λεγόντων· "Ἠκούσατε, φησί, τί τόν δεῖνα πεποίηκεν ἀδελφόν ὁ ἡγούμενος; " ὁ δέ· "Λοιπόν, ἐάν εἴπω ὑμῖν τί τόν δεῖνα πεποίηκεν τόν ταπεινόν, τί ἔχετε εἰπεῖν; "καί οὕτω τοιαῦτα καί χείρονα τούτων ὁ ὁμιλῶν καί ἀπασχολῶν καί ἀπασχολούμενος εἰς φλυαρίας τοιαύτας, πότε εἰς συναίσθησιν ἔλθῃ τῶν οἰκείων ἁμαρτημάτων καί ἑαυτόν ἀποκλαύσεται;

Ὁ γάρ μή προσέχων τοῖς θεοπνεύστοις λογίοις, μηδέ θύραν τιθέμενος περί τά χείλη αὐτοῦ, μηδέ ἀποστρέφων τό οὖς αὐτοῦ ἐξ ἀκοῆς ματαίας καί μεμνημένος τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀπολογίας καί τοῦ φοβεροῦ βήματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅπως γυμνοί καί τετραχηλισμένοι ὀφείλομεν παραστήσεσθαι πάντες αὐτῷ καί δοῦναι λόγον ὑπέρ τῶν βεβιωμένων ἡμῖν, (65) πῶς ἄρα, εἰ πλεῖον τῶν ἑκατόν χρόνων ἐπιζήσει ἐν τῷ μοναχικῷ σχήματι, δάκρυον κτήσεται καί πενθήσει θερμῶς ἑαυτόν; Πῶς ὁ τῶν πρωτείων ἀντιποιούμενος ἐν τῇ στάσει τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἐν τῇ καθέδρᾳ τῆς τραπέζης, καί ὑπέρ τῶν τοιούτων ἀεί μαχόμενος καί λυπούμενος, λυπηθήσεταί ποτε ὑπέρ τῆς ἰδίας ψυχῆς καί κλαύσει πικρῶς ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ; Ὁ δέ καί προφασιζόμενος προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, ἀδυναμίαν προβαλλόμενος, δυνατός ὤν καί σφριγῶν καί νέος, ἐν τῇ στάσει τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καί παραμετρῶν ἑαυτόν τοῖς πολλά κοπιάσασι καί χρονίσασι τῇ ἀσκήσει τῶν εὐλαβεστέρων ἀδελφῶν, λέγων· "Μή δεύτερός εἰμι τοῦ δεῖνος ἤ τοῦ δεῖνος ἐγώ; ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ἐπακουμβίζων ἵσταται καί ἀπερχόμενος ἵσταται"συνεξισάζων ἑαυτόν ἐκείνοις, ὁ ἴσως ἀνάξιος ὤν καί τῆς κάτω χώρας, πότε τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἀσθενείας ἐπιγνώμων γένηται, ἵνα καί στενάξας ἀπό ψυχῆς κατανυγῇ τήν καρδίαν καί δακρύσῃ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς; Ἡ γάρ κενοδοξία, δοῦλον αὐτόν τῇ ἀκηδίᾳ ἐκδοῦσα, οὐκέτι ἐν οὐδενί καρτερῆσαι ἀφίησιν αὐτόν ἐν ὑπομονῇ· καί διάγει ἔκτοτε ἕκαστος τῶν τοιούτων εἰς πᾶσαν σύναξιν ἐν ῥᾴθυμίᾳ καί ἀμελείᾳ, τοῖς πλησιάζουσιν αὐτῷ καί ἀνεχομένοις ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ προσομιλῶν συνεχῶς μάταια