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What is mind. The purest and rational part of the soul, for the contemplation of beings and

preconceived things. What is thought. Activities of the soul directed accordingly towards some of the beings. What is character. A disposition of the soul acquired from habit. What is sensation. An instrument of the soul, a power of the senses perceptive of things from without. What is spirit. An unformed substance, preceding all motion. End of the blessed Maximus the monk, On the Soul. A BRIEF INTERPRETATION OF THE PRAYER 'OUR FATHER', TO A LOVER OF CHRIST. 15Γ_218 I received him, my God-protected master, through his

most praiseworthy letters arriving; 0873 the one who is indeed always present, and is utterly unable to be absent in spirit; but who nevertheless, through an abundance of virtue, associates with his servants in a God-imitating manner, and through the occasion which God has given to nature, not refusing. Therefore, having marveled at the magnitude of his condescension, I made the fear toward him mingled with longing; and out of both, fear and longing, I established one love, constituted of reverence and goodwill; so that neither fear, being stripped of longing, becomes hatred, nor longing becomes contempt, not having sound fear joined to it; but that love might be shown to be a law of inner affection, appropriating all that is naturally kindred; through goodwill, on the one hand, overcoming hatred; and through reverence, on the other, putting contempt far away; which indeed above all, I mean fear, the blessed David, having recognized as constitutive of divine love, says: The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever and ever; that is, knowing this to be different from the fear based on crimes in dread of punishment; since the one is cast out, being utterly destroyed by the presence of love, as the great evangelist John shows somewhere in his own words, saying: Love casts out fear; while the other naturally characterizes the law of true affection; preserving with reverence 15Γ_220 forever for the saints, toward both God and one another, the ordinance and manner of love utterly incorruptible.

Therefore, as I said, I also, having mixed fear with longing, toward my Master, established this law of love until this day; on the one hand, being restrained from writing by reverence, so that contempt might not find a place; but on the other, being pushed to write by goodwill, so that the complete refusal to write might not be considered hatred. But I write, being commanded to do this, not as many things as I think; For the thoughts of men are timid, according to the Scripture; but as many things as God wills, and by grace bestows for the generation of what is profitable. For the counsel of the Lord(1), says David, abides forever; thoughts

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Τί δέ νοῦς. Ψυχῆς τό καθαρώτατον καί λογικόν, εἰς θεωρίαν τῶν ὄντων καί

προκατειλημμένων. Τί φρένες. Ἐνέργειαι ψυχῆς πρός τι τῶν ὄντων ἀκολούθως φερόμεναι. Τί τρόπος. Ἕξις ψυχῆς ἐξ ἕθους πεπορισμένη. Τί αἴσθησις. Ὄργανον ψυχῆς, δύναμις αἰσθητηρίων τῶν ἔξωθεν ἀντιληπτική. Τί πνεῦμα. Οὐσία ἀσχημάτιστος, πάσης κινήσεως προηγουμένη. Τέλος τοῦ μακαρίου Μαξίμου μοναχοῦ, Περί ψυχῆς. ΕΡΜΗΝΕΙΑ ΣΥΝΤΟΜΟΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗΝ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΤΕΡ ΗΜΩΝ, ΠΡΟΣ ΕΝΑ ΦΙΛΟΧΡΙΣΤΟΝ. 15Γ_218 Αὐτόν ἐδεξάμην τόν θεοφύλακτόν μου δεσπότην διά τῶν αὐτοῦ

πανευφήμων γραμμάτων παραγινόμενον· 0873 τόν ἀεί μέν παρόντα, καί ἀπεῖναι τῷ πνεύματι παντελῶς οὐ δυνάμενον· ὅμως δέ δι᾿ ἀρετῆς περιουσίαν θεομιμήτως συγγίνεσθαι τοῖς αὐτοῦ δούλοις, καί δ᾿ ἧς ὁ Θεός δέδωκε τῇ φύσει προφάσεως, οὐκ ἀπαναινόμενον. ∆ιό θαυμάσας αὐτοῦ τό μέγεθος τῆς συγκαταβάσεως, πόθῳ σύγκρατον τόν πρός αὐτόν φόβον ἐποιησάμην· καί μίαν ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων, φόβου τε καί πόθου, ἀγάπην ἐνεστησάμην, δι᾿ αἰδοῦς καί εὐνοίας συνισταμένην· ἵνα μήτε μῖσος ὁ φόβος γίνηται τοῦ πόθου γυμνούμενος, μήτε καταφρόνησις ὁ πόθος, τόν σώφρονα φόβον συνημμένον οὐκ ἔχων· ἀλλά νόμος ἡ ἀγάπη τυγχάνουσα δειχθῇ στοργῆς ἐνδιάθετος, ἅπαν τό κατά φύσιν συγγενές οἰκειούμενος· δι᾿ εὐνοίας μέν, τό μῖσος χειρούμενος· δι᾿ αἰδοῦς δέ, πόῤῥω ποιούμενος τήν καταφρόνησιν· ὅν δή μάλιστα πάντων, φημί δέ τόν φόβον, τῆς θείας ἀγάπης συστατικόν ἐπιγνούς ∆αβίδ ὁ μακάριος, φησίν· Ὁ φόβος Κυρίου ἁγνός, διαμένων εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος· ἕτερον δηλαδή τοῦτο εἰδώς, παρά τόν ἐπ᾿ ἐγκλήμασι δέει τιμωρίας συνιστάμενον φόβον· εἴπερ ὁ μέν ἔξω γίνεται, τῇ παρουσίᾳ τῆς ἀγάπης παντελῶς ἀφανιζόμενος, ὥς που τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ λόγοις ὁ μέγας εὐαγγελιστής Ἰωάννης δείκνυται, φάσκων· Ἡ ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τόν φόβον· ὁ δέ, τόν τῆς ἀληθοῦς στοργῆς φυσικῶς χαρακτηρίζει νόμον· αἰδοῖ συντηρῶν 15Γ_220 εἰς αἰῶνα τοῖς ἁγίοις, πρός τε Θεόν καί ἀλλήλους, τόν τῆς ἀγάπης θεσμόν τε καί τρόπον παντελῶς ἀδιάφθορον.

Πόθῳ γοῦν, ὡς ἔφην, κἀγώ κεράσας τόν φόβον, πρός τόν ἐμόν ∆εσπότην, τοῦτον τῆς ἀγάπης συνεστησάμην τόν νόμον μέχρι τῆς σήμερον· αἰδοῖ μέν τοῦ γράφειν εἰργόμενος, ἵνα μή λάβῃ χώραν ἡ καταφρόνησις· εὐνοίᾳ δέ πρός τό γράφειν ὠθούμενος, ἵνα μή νομισθῇ μῖσος ἡ τελεία τοῦ γράφειν παραίτησις. Γράφω δέ, τοῦτο πράττειν κελευόμενος, οὐχ ὅσα λογίζομαι· Λογισμοί γάρ ἀνθρώπων δειλοί, κατά τήν Γραφήν· ἀλλ᾿ ὅσα βούλεται Θεός, καί χάριτι πρός τήν τοῦ συμφέροντος γένεσιν ἐπιδίδωσιν. Ἡ γάρ βουλή τοῦ Κυρίου(1), φησίν ὁ ∆αβίδ, εἰς τόν αἰῶνα μένει· λογισμοί