John Chrysostom, On Priesthood

and to shoot down with arrows the souls of men, this is what is full of much astonishment and perplexity. 6.3 3. That the monk enjoys greater ease than the one who presides over the Church For already some, having escaped these snares, have been captured by those far removed from them; for indeed a neglected appearance, and unkempt hair, and a squalid robe, and an unfeigned bearing, and a simple character, and plain speech, and an unaffected gait, and an unmodulated voice, and living with poverty, and being despised, and being unprotected, and solitude, first led the beholder to pity, but from that to utter ruin. And many, having escaped the former nets—those composed of gold and perfumes and garments and the other things I mentioned—have easily fallen into these so far removed from them, and have perished. When, therefore, war is fanned against the soul of the beholder both through poverty and through wealth, and through adornment and through a careless demeanor, and through manners both affected and unfeigned, and simply through all the things I have enumerated, and the engines of war surround him from every side, from where will he be able to breathe, with so many traps set around him? what refuge can he find, I do not say so as not to be completely captured—for this is not very difficult—but so as to keep his own soul undisturbed by foul thoughts? And I pass over honors, the causes of countless evils. For those coming from women damage the tone of self-control and often overthrow it, when one does not know how to be constantly vigilant against such plots; but those from men, unless one receives them with much greatness of soul, he is captured by two contrary passions, both by the slavishness of flattery and by the folly of arrogance, being compelled to submit to those who court him, and on account of the honors from them, being puffed up against his inferiors and pushed into the pit of recklessness. These things have been said by us, but how much harm they contain, one could not learn well without experience; for it is not only these things, but also many more and more perilous things that must necessarily befall one who moves about in the world. But he who loves the wilderness has exemption from all these things; and if ever an absurd thought should suggest some such thing to him, yet the fantasy is weak and can be quickly extinguished, because the fuel from outward sight is not added to the flame. And the monk fears for himself alone; but if he should be compelled to care for others, they are very few in number, and if there are more, they are still fewer than those in the churches and provide much lighter cares for themselves to their superior, not only because of their small number, but also because all are free from worldly affairs and have neither children, nor wife, nor anything else of that sort to worry about. And this has made them very obedient to their leaders, and the fact that they have a common dwelling allows one to accurately perceive and correct their failings, which is no small matter for progress in virtue. 6.4 4. That the priest is entrusted with the care of the world and other dreadful matters But of those placed under the priest, the greater part are fettered by the cares of this life, and this makes them more sluggish toward the work of spiritual things; whence it is necessary for the teacher to sow, so to speak, every day, so that at least by persistence the word of teaching may be able to take hold among the hearers. For both excessive wealth and greatness of power and sloth arising from luxury and many other things besides these choke the seeds that are sown, and often the

καὶ κατατοξεύειν τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχὰς τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ πολλῆς ἐκπλήξεως καὶ ἀπορίας μεστόν. 6.3 γʹ. Ὅτι πλείονος εὐκολίας ἀπολαύει ὁ μονάζων παρὰ τὸν Ἐκκλησίας προεστῶτα Ἤδη γάρ τινες ταῦτα ἐκφυγόντες τὰ θήρατρα, τοῖς πολὺ τούτων ἀφεστηκόσιν ἑάλωσαν· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἠμελημένη ὄψις καὶ αὐχμῶσα κόμη καὶ ῥυπῶσα στολὴ καὶ σχῆμα ἀνεπίπλαστον καὶ ἦθος ἁπλοῦν καὶ ῥῆμα ἀφελὲς καὶ βάδισις ἀνεπιτήδευτος καὶ ἀσχημάτιστος φωνὴ καὶ τὸ πενίᾳ συζῆν καὶ τὸ καταφρονεῖσθαι καὶ τὸ ἀπροστάτευτον καὶ ἡ μόνωσις πρῶτον μὲν εἰς ἔλεον τὸν ὁρῶντα, ἀπ' ἐκείνου δὲ εἰς τὸν ἔσχατον ἤγαγεν ὄλεθρον. Καὶ πολλοὶ τὰ πρότερα ἐκφυγόντες δίκτυα, τὰ διὰ τῶν χρυσίων καὶ τῶν μύρων καὶ τῶν ἱματίων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ὧν εἶπον συγκείμενα τούτοις τοῖς τοσοῦτον αὐτῶν ἀφεστηκόσιν εὐκόλως ἐνέπεσαν καὶ ἀπώλοντο. Ὅταν οὖν καὶ διὰ πενίας καὶ διὰ πλούτου καὶ διὰ καλλωπισμοῦ καὶ διὰ σχήματος εἰκῇ κειμένου καὶ διὰ τρόπων τῶν τε ἐπιτηδευτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀπλάστων καὶ ἁπάντων ἁπλῶς ὧν ἀπηριθμησάμην ὁ πόλεμος ἀναρριπίζηται τῇ τοῦ θεωμένου ψυχῇ, καὶ τὰ μηχανήματα αὐτὸν περιστοιχίζῃ πανταχόθεν, πόθεν ἀναπνεῦσαι δυνήσεται, τοσούτων κύκλῳ περικειμένων παγίδων; ποίαν κατάδυσιν εὑρεῖν, οὐ λέγω πρὸς τὸ μὴ κατὰ κράτος ἁλῶναι-τοῦτο γὰρ οὐ πάνυ χαλεπόν-, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἀτάραχον τῶν μιαρῶν λογισμῶν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φυλάξαι ψυχήν; Καὶ παρίημι τὰς τιμάς, τὰς μυρίων αἰτίας κακῶν. Αἱ μὲν γὰρ παρὰ τῶν γυναικῶν γινόμεναι τῷ τῆς σωφροσύνης λυμαίνονται τόνῳ καὶ καταβάλλουσι πολλάκις ὅταν τις μὴ διαπαντὸς ἀγρυπνεῖν εἰδῇ πρὸς τὰς τοιαύτας ἐπιβουλάς· τὰς δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἢν μὴ μετὰ πολλῆς τις δέξηται τῆς μεγαλοψυχίας, δύο ἐναντίοις ἁλίσκεται πάθεσι, τῇ τε τῆς θωπείας δουλοπρεπείᾳ καὶ τῇ τῆς ἀλαζονείας ἀνοίᾳ τοῖς μὲν θεραπεύουσιν αὐτὸν ὑποκύπτειν ἀναγκαζόμενος, διὰ δὲ τὰς παρ' ἐκείνων τιμὰς κατὰ τῶν ἐλαττόνων ἐξογκούμενος καὶ εἰς τὸ τῆς ἀπονοίας ὠθούμενος βάραθρον. Ταῦτα εἴρηται μὲν παρ' ἡμῶν, ὅσην δὲ ἔχει τὴν βλάβην, οὐκ ἄν τις ἄνευ τῆς πείρας μάθοι καλῶς· οὐ γὰρ δὴ ταῦτα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων πολλῷ πλείονα καὶ σφαλερώτερα τῷ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ στρεφομένῳ συμπίπτειν ἀνάγκη γένοιτ' ἄν. Ὁ δὲ τὴν ἐρημίαν στέργων πάντων μὲν ἔχει τὴν ἀτέλειαν· εἰ δέ ποτε αὐτῷ καὶ λογισμὸς ἄτοπος ὑπογράψειέ τι τοιοῦτον, ἀλλ' ἀσθενὴς ἡ φαντασία καὶ ταχέως σβεσθῆναι δυναμένη, διὰ τὸ μὴ προσκεῖσθαι ἔξωθεν τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς θεωρίας ὕλην τῇ φλογί. Καὶ ὁ μὲν μοναχὸς ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ μόνου δέδοικεν· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἑτέρων φροντίζειν ἀναγκασθείη, ἀλλ' εὐαριθμήτων λίαν, εἰ δὲ καὶ πλείονες εἶεν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἐλάττους τέ εἰσι καὶ τὰς ὑπὲρ ἑαυτῶν φροντίδας πολλῷ κουφοτέρας παρέχουσι τῷ προστάτῃ, οὐ διὰ τὴν ὀλιγότητα μόνον, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ πάντες τῶν κοσμικῶν εἰσιν ἀπηλλαγμένοι πραγμάτων καὶ οὔτε παῖδας, οὔτε γυναῖκα, οὔτε ἄλλο τι μεριμνᾶν ἔχουσι τοιοῦτο. Τοῦτο δὲ αὐτοὺς λίαν τε εἶναι εὐπειθεῖς τοῖς ἡγουμένοις καὶ τὸ κοινὴν τὴν οἴκησιν ἔχειν ἐποίησεν ὡς δύνασθαι αὐτῶν τὰ πταίσματα ἀκριβῶς συνορᾶν τε καὶ ἐπανορθοῦν, ὅπερ οὐ μικρὸν πρὸς ἀρετῆς ἐπίδοσιν. 6.4 δʹ. Ὅτι τῆς οἰκουμένης τὴν προστασίαν ἐμπιστεύεται ὁ ἱερεὺς καὶ ἕτερα πράγματα φρικτά Τῶν δὲ ὑπὸ τῷ ἱερεῖ τεταγμένων τὸ πλέον βιωτικαῖς πεπέδηται φροντίσι, καὶ τοῦτο αὐτοὺς ἀργοτέρους πρὸς τὴν τῶν πνευματικῶν ἐργασίαν καθίστησιν· ὅθεν ἀνάγκη τῷ διδασκάλῳ σπείρειν καθ' ἑκάστην, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἡμέραν, ἵνα τῇ γοῦν συνεχείᾳ δυνηθῇ κρατηθῆναι παρὰ τοῖς ἀκούουσι τῆς διδασκαλίας ὁ λόγος. Καὶ γὰρ πλοῦτος ὑπέρογκος καὶ δυναστείας μέγεθος καὶ ῥαθυμία ἀπὸ τρυφῆς προσγινομένη καὶ πολλὰ ἕτερα πρὸς τούτοις συμπνίγει τὰ καταβαλλόμενα σπέρματα, πολλάκις δὲ ἡ