22

For he who does not pay attention to the divinely inspired oracles, nor places a door about his lips, nor turns his ear away from vain hearing and is not mindful of the final defense and the fearful judgment seat of Christ, how we must all stand before him naked and exposed and give an account for the things we have lived, (65) how then, even if he should live for more than a hundred years in the monastic habit, will he acquire a tear and mourn fervently for himself? How will he who vies for the first places in the church's station, in the seat at the table, and is always fighting and being grieved over such things, ever be grieved for his own soul and weep bitterly before God? And he who makes excuses for sins, putting forward weakness, though he is strong and vigorous and young, in the church's station, and compares himself to the more reverent brothers who have toiled much and spent a long time in the ascetic life, saying: "Am I second to this one or that one? For that one stands leaning and stands coming and going" putting himself on the same level as 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 feel compunction in his heart and weep with his eyes? For vainglory, having given him over as a slave to acedia, no longer allows him to persevere in anything with patience; and from then on each of these men spends every gathering in sloth and negligence, constantly telling vain and old wives' tales to those who approach him and are willing to listen to him. And so, entering insensibly or rather, to speak more accurately, callously with the spiritual and God-fearing men into the divine gatherings, he departs from there unprofitably, not perceiving at all any change for the better happening to him, which is given by God through compunction to those who struggle, thinking it is enough for him not to be absent from the prescribed (66) gatherings - I mean Matins and Vespers and the chanted hours, so simply for the achievement of the virtues and the perfection of the perfected, for the stature according to Christ. For I have known some who were possessed by such a delusion and who were eager not to fall into any carnal sin by being joined with other bodies; yet who did not care at all to flee the things done in secret or meditated in the hidden places of the heart, and who supposed they would be saved without any other work, I mean prayer and silence of the lips and vigilance and self-control and spiritual poverty and humility and love, with only the attendance that happens so simply in the gatherings. But it is not so; for God does not look at the face, nor only at the outward composure of manners, nor at our cries, brothers, but at a heart that is contrite and humbled and quiet and bears the fear of God; "For on whom," he says, "will I look, but on him who is meek and quiet and trembles at my words."

And what should I say about those who approach unworthily and make requests to their superiors? And some, those who are concerned only with outward piety, so-called, or rather, those who gape only for profit and glory and present things; "Are we not worthy also, honored father," they say, "to serve the monastery and the brothers? Or is only so-and-so worthy for such-and-such a service, and does he know how to manage affairs better than we? (67) Test us, if you wish, and you will find us doing and managing the monastery's affairs better than they do," but others, those who from their very renunciation have given themselves over to negligence and sloth, putting forward bodily weakness, those who came from the world yesterday and the day before, and are full of countless evils, before they have submitted and sweated and toiled in the work of

22

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 καί γραώδη μυθεύματα. Καί οὕτως ἀναισθήτως ἤ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν ἀναλγήτως τοῖς πνευματικοῖς καί θεοσεβέσιν ἀνδράσι συνεισερχόμενος ἐν ταῖς θείαις συνάξεσιν, ἀνωφελῶς ἐκεῖθεν ἐξέρχεται, μηδεμίαν ἀλλοίωσιν ὅλως πρός τό κρεῖττον ἐπαισθανόμενος προσγινομένην αὐτῷ, τήν διά τῆς κατανύξεως τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις ἀπό Θεοῦ διδομένην, τοῦτο μᾶλλον ἀρκεῖν ἑαυτῷ οἰόμενος, τό μή ἀπολιμπάνεσθαι τῶν τετυπωμένων (66) συνάξεων - ὄρθρου λέγω καί λυχνικοῦ καί τῶν ψαλλομένων ὡρῶν , οὕτως ἁπλῶς εἰς τήν κατόρθωσιν τῶν ἀρετῶν καί τήν τελείωσιν τῶν τετελειωμένων, εἰς τήν κατά Χριστόν ἡλικίαν. Ἔγνων γάρ τινας ὑπό τῆς τοιαύτης ἀπάτης κατασχεθέντας καί σπουδήν μέν ποιουμένους ὥστε μή περιπεσεῖν εἰς ἁμαρτίαν τινά σαρκικήν μεθ᾿ ἑτέρων συναφθέντας σωμάτων· ὅπως δέ τά ἐν κρυφῇ γινόμενα ἤ καί ἐν τῷ ἀφανεῖ μελετώμενα τῆς καρδίας μή ἐκφυγεῖν τό καθόλου φροντίζοντας, καί οἰομένους σωθήσεσθαι ἄνευ τινός ἄλλης ἐργασίας, εὐχῆς λέγω καί σιωπῆς χειλέων καί ἀγρυπνίας καί ἐγκρατείας καί πτωχείας πνευματικῆς καί ταπεινώσεως καί ἀγάπης, μετά μόνης τῆς ἁπλῶς οὕτω γινομένοις ἐν ταῖς συνάξεσιν ὑπαντῆς. Ἀλλ᾿ οὐχ᾿ οὕτως ἔχει· Θεός γάρ οὐ βλέπει εἰς πρόσωπον, οὐδέ εἰς μόνην τήν ἔξωθεν καταστολήν τῶν ἠθῶν, οὐδέ εἰς τάς κραυγάς ἡμῶν, ἀδελφοί, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς καρδίαν συντετριμμένην καί τεταπεινωμένην καί ἥσυχον καί τόν φόβον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιφερομένην· "Ἐπί τίνα γάρ, φησίν, ἐπιβλέψω, ἀλλ᾿ ἤ ἐπί τόν πρᾷον καί ἥσυχον καί τρέμοντά μου τούς λόγους".

Τί δέ καί περί τῶν ἀναξίως προσερχομένων καί αἰτήσεις ποιουμένων εἰς τούς προεστῶτας αὐτῶν εἴπω; Καί οἱ μέν ὅσοι εὐλαβείας δῆθεν τῆς ἔξωθεν ἐπιμελόμενοι μόνον ἤ, μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν, ὅσοι πρός τά κέρδη καί τήν δόξαν καί τά παρόντα μόνον κεχήνασιν· "Οὐκ ἐσμέν ἄξιοι, φασί, καί ἡμεῖς, τίμιε πάτερ, διακονῆσαι τῇ μονῇ καί τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς; ἤ μόνος ὁ δεῖνα καί ὁ δεῖνα εἰς τήν δεῖνα καί δεῖνα διακονίαν ἐστίν ἄξιος, καί οἰκονομεῖν οἶδεν ἐκεῖνος κρεῖττον παρ᾿ ἡμᾶς τά πράγματα; (67) ∆οκίμασον, εἰ βούλει, καί ἡμᾶς καί εὑρήσεις ποιοῦντας καί οἰκονομοῦντας κρεῖττον ἤ ὡς ἐκεῖνοι τά τῆς μονῆς πράγματα", οἱ δέ ὅσοι τῇ ἀμελείᾳ καί ῥᾳθυμίᾳ ἐξ αὐτῆς αὐτῶν τῆς ἀποταγῆς ἐκδότους δεδώκασιν ἑαυτούς, ἀδυναμίαν σώματος προβαλλόμενοι, οἱ ἀπό τοῦ κόσμου χθές καί πρώην ἐλθόντες καί μυρίων κακῶν γέμοντες, πρό τοῦ ὑποταγῆναι καί ἱδρῶσαι καί κοπιᾶσαι αὐτούς εἰς τό ἔργον τοῦ