46

unknown, which one ought neither to anathematize because of the truth nor to accept because of the delusion.” Do you see how there is a true grace, different from the truth of dogmas? For what about the truth of dogmas is questionable? There is, therefore, an active, manifest grace beyond knowledge, because of which it is not pious to speak of a delusion not yet tested. For this reason, the divine Nilus recommends asking from God for a sign in such matters, saying, “pray then fervently, so that, if the vision is from God, He may enlighten you, but if not, He may quickly drive the delusion away from you.” And indeed the fathers did not forbear to declare to us what are the signs of delusion and what are the signs of truth. “For delusion, even if it pretends to have the face of the good or clothes itself in brilliant visions, will not be able to provide a good energy; for not hatred of the world, nor contempt for men’s glory, nor desire for heavenly things, nor stability of thoughts, nor spiritual repose, nor joy, nor peace, nor humility, nor a cessation of pleasures and passions, nor an excellent disposition of soul; for these are the energies of grace, the opposites of which are the offspring of delusion.” And indeed some, from much experience and the noetic vision of it, have spoken of its properties, so that one might have proof even before the energies. “And so you will know,” he says, “from the energies whether the noetic light that has shone in your soul is by nature from God or from Satan, so that you might neither think the destroyer of delusion to be a deceiver, nor delusion to be truth.”

But the unerring light, the unchangeable, is not granted in this age; “for he who says this,” as one of the fathers said, “is of the party of the wolves.” Let them consider (p. 252) then how far from the truth they wander who, because of certain human failings, declare that those who have received grace have been deceived, not even hearing him of the Ladder say: “it is not of man, but of an angel, not to be stolen away by sins”; and again, “some through lack humble themselves and from stumbling have made their own the mother of gifts.” Dispassion, at any rate, sought among men is not angelic but human, which you will know and not be deceived to be in yourself, according to the same saint, in a multitude of unspoken light and an unutterable love of prayer; and again, “a soul freed from preconception has surely seen the divine light; but knowledge of divine dogmas, how many possess it with preconceptions?”; and again, “the weak in soul know the visitation of the Lord to them from other things, but the perfect from the presence of the Spirit”; and again, “in beginners, the assurance that their steps are according to God is the addition of humility; in the intermediate, the withdrawal of wars; but in the perfect, the addition and abundance of the divine light.”

If, then, this light is not noetic and productive of knowledge, as the fathers say, but is knowledge, then an abundance of it is a sign of God-loving perfection. The life of Solomon would have been more perfect and more God-loving than the saints from the beginning of time, not to mention the Greeks admired for their abundance of wisdom. But since this light shines, though more dimly, on some beginners at certain times, and for the perfect it becomes an addition of humility, but of a different kind from that of beginners, for this reason the same one adds, saying: “small things with the perfect are not small, but great things with the small are not completely perfect.” (p. 254) That the divine grace also appears lovingly to these, you will know clearly, if you are persuaded by the wondrous Diadochus: “for grace,” “at the beginning is accustomed to illumine the soul with its own light with much sensation; but in the midst of the struggles it mostly works unknown.” “For the Holy Spirit,” according to Nilus who speaks in the Spirit, “suffering with our weakness, visits us even when we are unclean and, if it finds only the mind praying to it with love of truth, it comes upon it and

46

ἀγνοουμένη, ἥν οὔτε ἀναθεματίζειν δεῖ διά τήν ἀλήθειαν οὔτε προσδέχεσθαι διά τήν πλάνην». Ὁρᾷς ὡς ἔστι χάρις ἀληθής, ἑτέρα παρά τήν τῶν δογμάτων ἀλήθειαν; Τί γάρ τῆς ἀληθείας τῶν δογμάτων ἀμφισβητήσιμον; Ἔστιν οὖν ὑπέρ γνώσιν ἐνεργός χάρις ἐναργής, δι᾿ ἥν καί τήν μήπω δοκιμασθεῖσαν πλάνην λέγειν οὐκ εὐλαβές. ∆ιό καί ὁ θεῖος Νεῖλος παρά Θεοῦ τήν δήλωσιν ἐπί τῶν τοιούτων ἐξαιτεῖν εἰσηγεῖται, «εὔχου», λέγων, «τηνικαῦτα συντόνως, ἵνα, εἰ μέν ἐκ Θεοῦ ἐστι τό ὅραμα, αὐτός σε φωτίσῃ, εἰ δέ μή, θᾶττον τήν πλάνην ἐκδιώξῃ ἀπό σοῦ». Καί μήν οὐδέ τοῦτο οἱ πατέρες ἠνέσχοντο μή ἐξειπεῖν ἡμῖν, τίνα τά τῆς πλάνης καί τίνα τά τῆς ἀληθείας γνωρίσματα. «Ἡ γάρ πλάνη, κἄν τό τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ πρόσωπον ὑποκρίνηται κἄν ὁράσεις λαμπράς περιβάλληται, ἐνέργειαν ἀγαθήν παρασχεῖν οὐ δυνήσεται˙ οὐ γάρ κόσμου μῖσος, οὐ περιφρόνησιν ἀνθρώπων δόξης, οὐκ ἐπιθυμίαν τῶν οὐρανίων, οὐ κατάστασιν λογισμῶν, οὐκ ἀνάπαυσιν πνευματικήν, οὐ χαράν, οὐκ εἰρήνην, οὐ ταπείνωσιν, οὐ κατάπαυσιν ἡδονῶν τε καί παθῶν, οὐ διάθεσιν ψυχῆς ἀρίστην˙ ταῦτα γάρ εἰσι τά τῆς χάριτος ἐνεργήματα, ὧν τἀναντία εἰσί τά τῆς πλάνης γεννήματα». Ἤδη δέ τινες ἐκ πολλῆς πείρας καί τῆς νοερᾶς θέας αὐτῆς εἰρήκασιν ἰδιότητας, ὡς ἄν ἔχοι τις καί πρό τῶν ἐνεργημάτων τεκμηριώσασθαι. «Καί τοίνυν εἴσῃ», φησίν, «ἐκ τῶν ἐνεργημάτων τό ἐλαμφθέν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ σου νοερόν φῶς, πότερον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἤ τοῦ σατανᾶ πέφυκεν ὄν, ἵνα μήτε τόν τῆς πλάνης ἀναιρέτην πλάνον εἶναι νομίσῃς μήτε τήν πλάνην ἀλήθειαν».

Ἀλλ᾿ οὐχί τό ἀπλανές φῶς τό ἄτρεπτον ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ χαρίζεται˙ «τοῦτο γάρ ὁ λέγων», καθάπερ τις ἔφη τῶν πατέρων, «τοῦ μέρους τῶν λύκων ἐστί». Σκοπείτωσαν (σελ. 252) δή πόσον τῆς ἀληθείας ἀποπλανῶνται οἱ ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἔν τισιν ἐλλείψεων τούς κεχαριτωμένους πεπλανημένους ἀποφαινόμενοι, μηδέ τοῦ τῆς Κλίμακος ἀκούοντες λέγοντος˙ «οὐκ ἀνθρώπου, ἀλλ᾿ ἀγγέλου τό μή κλέπτεσθαι ἐφ᾿ ἁμαρτήμασιν εἶναι»˙ καί πάλιν, «τινές ἐξ ἐλλείψεως ἑαυτούς εὐτελίζουσι καί ἐκ πταισμάτων τήν τῶν χαρισμάτων μητέρα ᾠκειώσαντο». Ἀπάθεια γοῦν ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐκ ἀγγέλων ἀλλ᾿ ἀνθρωπίνη ζητεῖται, ἥν γνώσῃ καί οὐκ ἀπατηθήσῃ ἐν σεαυτῷ οὖσαν κατά τόν αὐτόν ἅγιον ἐν πλήθει φωτός ἀρρήτου καί προσευχῆς ἔρωτι ἀμυθήτῳ˙ καί πάλιν, «ψυχή προλήψεως ἐλευθερωθεῖσα πάντως θεῖον φῶς ἐθεάσατο˙ γνῶσιν δέ δογμάτων θείων, πόσοι μετά ποληρήψεων ἔχουσι;»˙ καί πάλιν, «ἐξ ἄλλων μέν οἱ τῇ ψυχῇ ἀσθενεῖς γνωρίζουσι τήν πρός ἑαυτούς τοῦ Κυρίου ἐπίσκεψιν, οἱ δέ τέλειοι ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος παρουσίας»˙ καί πάλιν, «ἐν μέν τοῖς εἰσαγωγικοῖς πληροφορία τοῦ κατά Θεόν εἶναι αὐτῶν τά διαβήματα ἡ τῆς ταπεινώσεώς ἐστι προσθήκη˙ ἐν δέ τοῖς μέσοις, ἡ τῶν πολέμων ἀναχώρησις˙ ἐν δέ τοῖς τελείοις, ἡ τοῦ θείου φωτός προσθήκη καί περιουσία».

Εἰ τοίνυν μή νοερόν τουτί τό φῶς καί γνώσες παρεκτικόν, καθάπερ οἱ πατέρες λέγουσιν, ἀλλά γνῶσίς ἐστιν, ἡ ταύτης δέ περιουσία δεῖγμα θεοφιλοῦς τελειότητος. Σολομῶντος ὁ βίος τελεώτερός τε καί θεοφιλέστερος ἄν ἦν τῶν ἀπ᾿ αἰῶνος ἁγίων, ἵνα μή λέγω καί τῶν ἐπί σοφίας περιουσίᾳ θαυματομένων Ἑλλήνων. Ἐπεί δέ καί τῶν εἰσαγωγικῶν ἔστιν οἷς καί ὅτε, ἀλλ᾿ ἀμυδρότερον, τό τοιοῦτον ἐπιλάμπερι φῶς καί τοῖς τελείοις γίνεται προσθήκη ταπεινώσεως, ἀλλ᾿ ἑτέρα τῷ εἴδει παρά τήν τῶν εἰσαγομένων, διά τοῦτο ἐπιφέρει λέγων ὁ αὐτός˙ «τά μέν μικρά παρά τοῖς τελείοις οὐ μικρά, τά δέ μεγάλα παρά τοῖς μικροῖς οὐ πάντως τέλεια». (σελ. 254) Ὅτι δέ καί τούτοις ἡ θεία χάρις ἐπιφαίνεται φιλανθρώπως, εἴσῃ σαφῶς, εἴ πείσῃ ∆ιαδόχῳ τῷ θαυμασίῳ˙ «ἡ χάρις γάρ», «τήν ἀρχήν ἐν αἰσθήσει πολλῇ, τήν ψυχήν τῷ οἰκείῳ εἴωθε περιαυγάζειν φωτί˙ περί δέ τά μέσα τῶν ἀγώνων ἀγνώστως τά πολλά ἐνεργεῖ». «Τό γάρ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα», κατά τόν ἐν Πνεύματι λαλοῦντα Νεῖλον, «συμπάσχον τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἀσθενείᾳ, καί ἀκαθάρτοις οὖσιν ἡμῖν ἐπιφοιτᾷ καί, εἴπερ εὑρήσει τόν νοῦν μόνον φιλαλήθως αὐτῷ προσευχόμενον, ἐπιβαίνει αὐτῷ καί