54

to deceive him, becomes fiercer and stronger against him, unless through prayer and abstinence from idle talk, and study of the divine oracles, and patience in temptations. For if he finds him not secured with these weapons, shooting him down with his own arrows, he shows him to be unstable, and makes him a wanderer, and slothful, and idle, and makes him go around monasteries, and to care for nothing 95.1213 else, except where drinking parties are happening. Then from this he also binds him in worldly affairs, so that he may cast him out completely even from his monastic profession. The divine Apostle, writing to the Thessalonians about this most grievous disease, says these things: We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly. You yourselves know how you ought to imitate us. We did not eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. Not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example for you to follow. For even when I was with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you disorderly, working not at all. Therefore we command you in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. For the Apostle calls those who do not work disorderly. For the disorderly person is also irreverent, and rash in speech, and quick to revile, and unsuited for quiet, and a slave of acedia. He commands therefore to withdraw from him, that is, to be separated as from a pestilential disease. We did not eat anyone's bread free of charge, but working with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to anyone. The teacher of the nations, the preacher of the Gospel, the one caught up to the third heaven, the one who says the Lord has commanded that those who proclaim the Gospel should live from the Gospel, then showing more clearly the harm that is born: for from idleness comes meddling, and from meddling, disorder, and from disorder, all evil; If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For they work not only for their own needs, but they also provide for strangers, and the poor, and those in prison from their own work, believing that such good works become a holy sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And the Fathers say this, that he who works often fights with one demon, and is afflicted by it; but the idle man is taken captive by myriads of spirits. -The man afflicted with acedia hates present things, but desires things not present.

TITLE 24. -Concerning the foolish, and the senseless, and the uninstructed, and the stupid.

I have seen the foolish taking root, but immediately their habitation was consumed. Dishonored and debased, in want of every good thing, who gnawed the roots of trees from great famine. They perished because they had no wisdom. The fool has said in his heart: There is no God. 95.1216 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding. The foolish and the senseless will perish together. From the mouth of a fool is a rod of insolence. Why is there wealth in the hand of a fool? For a heartless man cannot acquire wisdom. A fool makes his anger known the same day. The fool has spread out his own wickedness. The foolishness of a man ruins his ways, and his heart blames God. The mouth of fools will announce evil things. A fool, having been scourged, does not perceive it. Luxury is not fitting for a fool. Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. But answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. Death meets the uninstructed. The uninstructed are unrestrained in tongue. A stone is heavy, and sand is hard to bear; but a fool's anger is heavier than both. The foolish, being desirous of insolence, having become impious, hated perception. A senseless man will die by a snare. A foolish and lawless man goes

54

ἀπατῆσαι, σφοδρότερος κατ' αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰσχυρότερος γίνεται, εἰ μὴ διὰ προσευχῆς καὶ ἀποχῆς ἀργολογίας, καὶ μελέτης τῶν θείων λογίων, καὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς πειρασμοῖς ὑπομονῆς. Ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ τούτοις τοῖς ὅπλοις ἠσφαλισμένον αὐτὸν εὕρῃ, κατατοξεύσας τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ βέλεσιν, ἄστατον αὐτὸν ἀναδείκνυσι, καὶ ῥεμβὸν ἀποτελεῖ, καὶ ῥᾴθυμον, καὶ ἀεργὸν, καὶ μοναστήρια περιέρχεσθαι παρασκευάζει, καὶ οὐδενὸς 95.1213 ἄλλου φροντίζειν, εἰ μή που πότοι γίνονται. Λοιπὸν ἐκ τούτου καὶ εἰς κοσμικὰ αὐτὸν πράγματα ἐνδεσμεῖ, ὡς ἂν αὐτὸν καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ μοναδικοῦ ἐπαγγέλματος τελείως ἐκβάλλῃ. Ταύτην τὴν νόσον βαρυτάτην οὖσαν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος γράφων Θεσσαλονικεῦσι, τάδε φησί· Παραγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν, ἀδελφοὶ, ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, στέλλεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ παντὸς ἀδελφοῦ ἀτάκτως περιπατοῦντος. Αὐτοὶ οἴδατε πῶς δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι ἡμᾶς. ∆ωρεὰν ἄρτον οὐκ ἐφάγομεν παρά τινος, ἀλλ' ἐν κόπῳ καὶ μόχθῳ ἐργαζόμενοι νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐπιβαρῆσαί τινα ὑμῶν. Οὐχ ὅτι οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἑαυτοὺς τύπον δῶμεν ὑμῖν εἰς τὸ μιμεῖσθαι ἡμᾶς. Καὶ γὰρ ὅτε ἤμην πρὸς ὑμᾶς, τοῦτο παρηγγέλλομεν ὑμῖν, ὅτι εἴ τις οὐ θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι, μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω. Ἠκούομεν γάρ τινας περιπατοῦντας ἐν ὑμῖν ἀτάκτως, μηδὲν ἐργαζομένους. Παραγγέλλομεν οὖν ὑμᾶς ἐν Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ, ἵνα μετὰ ἡσυχίας ἐργαζόμενοι τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἄρτον ἐσθίωσιν. Ἀτάκτους γὰρ ὁ Ἀπόστολος καλεῖ τοὺς μὴ ἐργαζομένους. Ὁ γὰρ ἄτακτος, καὶ ἀνευλαβὴς τυγχάνει, καὶ προπετὴς περὶ λόγον, καὶ εἰς λοιδορίαν πρόχειρος, καὶ εἰς ἡσυχίαν ἀνεπιτήδειος, καὶ τῆς ἀκηδίας δοῦλος. Παραγγέλλει οὖν στέλλεσθαι ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, τουτέστιν ἀφορίζεσθαι ὡς ἀπὸ λοιμικῆς νόσου. ∆ωρεὰν ἄρτον οὐκ ἐφάγομεν παρά τινος, ἀλλὰ ἐν κόπῳ καὶ μόχθῳ νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ἐργαζόμενοι, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐπιβαρῆσαί τινα. Ὁ διδάσκαλος τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὁ κῆρυξ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ὁ μετάρσιος ἕως τρίτου οὐρανοῦ, ὁ λέγων τὸν Κύριον προστεταχέναι τοῖς τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον καταγγέλλουσιν ἐκ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ζῇν, εἶτα σαφέστερον δεικνύων τὴν τικτομένην βλάβην· ἀπὸ γὰρ ἀργίας περιεργία, καὶ ἀπὸ περιεργίας ἀταξία, καὶ ἀπὸ ἀταξίας, πᾶσα κακία· Εἴ τις οὐ θέλει ἐργάζεσθαι, μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω. Οὐ μόνον γὰρ τῆς ἑαυτῶν χρείας ἕνεκεν ἐργάζονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ξένοις, καὶ πτωχοῖς, καὶ τοῖς ἐν φυλακαῖς ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου ἔργου αὐτῶν ἐπιχορηγοῦσι, πιστεύοντες τὴν τοιαύτην εὐποιΐαν θυσίαν ἁγίαν εὐπρόσδεκτον τῷ Θεῷ γίνεσθαι. Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ λέγουσιν οἱ Πατέρες, ὅτι ὁ ἐργαζόμενος ἑνὶ δαίμονι πολλάκις πολεμεῖ, καὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ θλίβεται· ὁ δὲ ἀεργὸς ὑπὸ μυρίων πνευμάτων αἰχμαλωτίζεται. -Ὁ ἀκηδιαστὴς μισεῖ μὲν τὰ παρόντα, ἐπιθυμεῖ δὲ τὰ μὴ παρόντα.

ΤΙΤΛ. Κ∆ʹ. -Περὶ ἄφρονος, καὶ ἀνοήτου, καὶ ἀπαιδεύτου, καὶ μωροῦ.

Ἑώρακα ἄφρονας ῥίζας βάλλοντας, ἀλλ' εὐθὺς ἡ δίαιτα αὐτῶν ἐβρώθη. Ἄτιμοι καὶ πεφαυλισμένοι, ἐνδεεῖς παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ, οἱ δὲ ῥίζας ξύλων ἐμασσῶντο ἀπὸ λιμοῦ μεγάλου. Ἀπώλοντο παρὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς σοφίαν. Εἶπεν ἄφρων ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ· Οὐκ ἔστι Θεός. 95.1216 Μὴ γίνεσθε ὡς ἵππος καὶ ἡμίονος, οἷς οὐκ ἔστι σύνεσις. Ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἄφρων καὶ ἄνους ἀπολοῦνται. Ἐκ στόματος ἄφρονος βακτηρία ὕβρεως. Ἵνα τί ὑπῆρχε χρήματα ἄφρονι; κτήσασθαι γὰρ σοφίαν ἀκάρδιος οὐ δύναται. Ἄφρων αὐθήμερον ἐξαγγέλλει ὀργὴν αὐτοῦ. Ὁ ἄφρων ἐξεπέτασεν ἑαυτοῦ κακίαν. Ἀφροσύνη ἀνδρὸς λυμαίνεται τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ, τὸν δὲ Θεὸν αἰτιᾶται ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ. Στόμα ἀφρόνων ἀναγγελεῖ κακά. Ἄφρων μαστιγωθεὶς οὐκ αἰσθάνεται. Οὐ συμφέρει ἄφρονι τρυφή. Μὴ ἀποκρίνου ἄφρονι πρὸς τὴν ἀφροσύνην αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ ὅμοιος γένῃ αὐτῷ. Ἀλλὰ ἀποκρίνου ἄφρονι κατὰ τὴν ἀφροσύνην αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ φαίνηται σοφὸς ἑαυτῷ. Ἀπαιδεύτοις συναντᾷ θάνατος. Οἱ ἀπαίδευτοι ἀκρατεῖς γλώσσῃ. Βαρὺς λίθος, καὶ δυσβάστακτος ἄμμος· ὀργὴ δὲ ἄφρονος βαρυτέρα ἀμφοτέρων. Οἱ ἄφρονες τῆς ὕβρεως ὄντες ἐπιθυμηταὶ, ἀσεβεῖς γενόμενοι, ἐμίσησαν αἴσθησιν. Ἄνους ὑπὸ παγίδος θανεῖται. Ἀνὴρ ἄφρων καὶ παράνομος πορεύεται