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he has given to become children of God to those who believe in his name, so that we are no longer able to say that the acquisition of virtues is impossible for us; for the way is easy and simple. For even if it is called somewhat narrow and afflicted because of the disciplining of the body, yet still it is desirable and divine because of the hope of the good things to come for those who walk not unwisely, but understand precisely what the will of God is, and who are clothed in his panoply for the battle line against the wiles of the adversary, and are vigilant in prayer and supplication for this very thing with all patience and hope. You, therefore, as you have heard from me and were taught, and have laid a firm foundation, abound in it, growing and making progress, and fighting the good fight, having faith and a good conscience, witnessed by good works, and pursuing righteousness, piety, faith, love, patience, gentleness, taking hold of the eternal life to which you were called. And every pleasure 288 and desire of the passions may you put far from you not only in actual deed, but also in the thoughts of your mind, so that you may present your soul undefiled to God. For not only our actions, but also our thoughts, being recorded, become the cause of crowns or punishments; and we know that Christ dwells in pure hearts together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And just as smoke drives away bees, so we have learned that evil thoughts drive out from us the grace of the divine Spirit. Therefore, being diligent in this, having wiped away every passionate thought from the soul, plant the best thoughts, making yourself a temple of the Holy Spirit. For from thoughts we also come to actions in practice; and every work, proceeding from a concept and a thought, takes hold of a small beginning, then with gradual increases ends up in great things. For this reason, do not allow a bad habit to rule over you at all, but while it is still young, pull out the evil root from your heart, lest, having taken root and fixed its roots in the depth, it should require time and labor to be uprooted. For it is for this reason that the greater sins always enter into us and tyrannize our souls, because the things that seem to be lesser, such as evil thoughts, improper words, bad conversations, do not receive the appropriate correction. For just as in bodies those who have scorned small wounds have often brought upon themselves gangrene 290 and death, so also in souls, those who disregard small passions and sins, bring in the greater ones; and inasmuch as the greater ones enter them, the soul, becoming habituated, grows contemptuous. For the impious man, it says, having come into a depth of evils, is contemptuous, and henceforth just as a sow rolling in mire takes pleasure, so also that soul, buried by evil habits, does not even perceive the stench of its sins, but rather is delighted and takes pleasure in them, as if clinging to wickedness as something good; and if ever late it sobers up and comes to its senses, it is freed with much toil and sweat from those things to which it willingly enslaved itself through evil habit. For this reason, with all your strength, keep yourself far from every evil concept and thought and every passionate habit; but rather accustom yourself to virtues and be in the habit of their practice. For if you toil a little in them and are strong enough to form a habit, you will henceforth make progress without toil with the cooperation of God. For the habit of virtue, having become a quality of the soul, since it has a natural kinship to it and possesses God as a co-worker, becomes difficult to change and exceedingly secure, just as you see that courage and prudence, temperance and justice are difficult to change, being habits of the soul and qualities and activities that have penetrated deeply. For if the passions of wickedness, not being natural to us, but from outside

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δέδωκε τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, ὥστε οὐκέτι δυνάμεθα λέγειν ὅτι ἀδύνατος ἡμῖν ἡ κτῆσις τῶν ἀρετῶν· εὔκολος γὰρ ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ῥᾳδία. εἰ γὰρ καὶ στενή πως καὶ τεθλιμμένη κέκληται διὰ τὸν ὑπωπιασμὸν τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλ' ὅμως ποθεινή ἐστι καὶ θεία διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν τοῖς μὴ ἀσόφως περιπατοῦσιν, ἀλλ' ἀκριβῶς συνιοῦσι τί τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν πανοπλίαν αὐτοῦ ἀμπεχομένοις εἰς παράταξιν τῶν μεθοδειῶν τοῦ ἀντικειμένου, καὶ ἐν προσευχῇ καὶ δεήσει εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀγρυπνοῦσιν ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ καὶ ἐλπίδι. σὺ οὖν, καθὼς ἤκουσας παρ' ἐμοῦ καὶ ἐδιδάχθης, καὶ βεβαίαν κατεβάλου κρηπῖδα, ἐν αὐτῇ περισσεύου, αὐξανόμενος καὶ προκόπτων, καὶ τὴν καλὴν στρατευόμενος στρατείαν, ἔχων πίστιν καὶ ἀγαθὴν συνείδησιν δι' ἔργων ἀγαθῶν μαρτυρουμένην, καὶ διώκων δικαιοσύνην, εὐσέβειαν, πίστιν, ἀγάπην, ὑπομονήν, πραότητα, ἐπιλαβόμενος τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς εἰς ἣν ἐκλήθης. πᾶσαν δὲ ἡδονὴν 288 καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν τῶν παθῶν μὴ μόνον τῇ κατὰ πρᾶξιν ἐνεργείᾳ μακρύνῃς ἀπὸ σοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῖς κατ' ἔννοιαν ἐνθυμήσεσιν, ὡς ἂν ἀμόλυντόν σου τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ Θεῷ ὑποδείξῃς. οὐ μόνον γὰρ αἱ πράξεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ ἐνθυμήσεις ἡμῶν, ἀνάγραπτοι οὖσαι, στεφάνων ἢ τιμωριῶν πρόξενοι γίνονται· ταῖς καθαραῖς δὲ καρδίαις ἐνοικεῖν τὸν Χριστὸν ἅμα Πατρὶ καὶ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι ἐπιστάμεθα. ὡς δ' αὖ πάλιν καπνὸς μελίσσας, οὕτω τοὺς πονηροὺς λογισμοὺς ἐκδιώκειν ἡμῶν τὴν τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος χάριν μεμαθήκαμεν. διὸ ἐπιμελῶς πρὸς τοῦτο ἔχων πάντα διαλογισμὸν ἐμπαθείας ἀπαλείψας τῆς ψυχῆς, τὰς ἀρίστας ἐμφύτευσον ἐννοίας, ναὸν σεαυτὸν ποιῶν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος. ἐκ τῶν διαλογισμῶν γὰρ καὶ πρὸς τὰς κατ' ἐνέργειαν πράξεις ἐρχόμεθα· καὶ πᾶν ἔργον, ἀπὸ ἐννοίας καὶ ἐνθυμήσεως προκόπτον, μικρᾶς ἐπιλαμβάνεται ἀρχῆς, εἶτα ταῖς κατὰ μικρὸν αὐξήσεσιν εἰς μεγάλα καταλήγει. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο μηδὲ ὅλως σου κυριεῦσαι συνήθειαν ἐάσῃς κακήν, ἀλλὰ νεαρᾶς ἔτι οὔσης, ἔξελέ σου τῆς καρδίας τὴν πονηρὰν ῥίζαν, ἵνα μή, ἐμφυεῖσα καὶ ἐν τῷ βάθει τὰς ῥίζας ἐμπήξασα, χρόνου καὶ κόπου δεηθῇ τοῦ ἐκριζωθῆναι. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ἀεὶ τὰ μείζονα τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐπεισέρχεται ἡμῖν καὶ καταδυναστεύει τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν, ὅτι τὰ ἐλάττονα δοκοῦντα εἶναι, οἷον ἐνθυμήσεις πονηραί, λόγοι ἀπρεπεῖς, ὁμιλίαι κακαί, τῆς προσηκούσης οὐ τυγχάνει διορθώσεως. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς σώμασιν οἱ μικρῶν καταφρονήσαντες τραυμάτων σηπεδόνας πολλάκις καὶ θάνατον ἑαυτοῖς προεξέ 290 νησαν, οὕτω καὶ τῶν ψυχῶν, οἱ τῶν μικρῶν ὑπερορῶντες παθῶν καὶ ἁμαρτημάτων, τὰ μείζονα ἐπεισάγουσι· καθ' ὅσον δὲ τὰ μείζονα ἐπεισέρχεται αὐτοῖς, ἐν ἕξει γινομένη ἡ ψυχὴ καταφρονεῖ. Ἀσεβὴς γάρ, φησίν, ἐλθὼν εἰς βάθος κακῶν καταφρονεῖ, καὶ λοιπὸν ὥσπερ ὗς ἐγκυλινδούμενος βορβόρῳ ἥδεται, οὕτω καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη, ταῖς κακαῖς συνηθείαις καταχωσθεῖσα, οὐδὲ αἴσθησιν λαμβάνει τῆς τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων δυσωδίας, ἀλλὰ τέρπεται μᾶλλον αὐταῖς καὶ ἐνηδύνεται, ὡς ἀγαθοῦ τινος τῆς κακίας ἀντεχομένη· κἂν ὀψὲ δή ποτε ἀνανεύουσα εἰς αἴσθησιν ἔλθῃ, κόπῳ πολλῷ καὶ ἱδρῶτι ἐλευθεροῦται, οἷς ἐθελοντὶ κατεδούλευσεν ἑαυτὴν τῇ πονηρᾷ συνηθείᾳ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πάσῃ δυνάμει μάκρυνον ἑαυτὸν ἀπὸ πάσης ἐννοίας καὶ ἐνθυμήσεως πονηρᾶς καὶ πάσης ἐμπαθοῦς συνηθείας· μᾶλλον δὲ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ἔθιζε ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἐν ἕξει τῆς τούτων γενοῦ ἐργασίας. εἰ γὰρ μικρὸν κοπιάσεις ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐν ἕξει γενέσθαι ἰσχύσεις, ἀκόπως λοιπὸν τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ συνεργείᾳ προκόψεις. ἡ γὰρ ἕξις τῆς ἀρετῆς τῇ ψυχῇ ποιωθεῖσα, ὡς ἅτε φυσικὴν συγγένειαν πρὸς αὐτὴν ἔχουσα καὶ τὸν Θεὸν συνεργὸν κεκτημένη, δυσμετάβλητος γίνεται καὶ λίαν ἀσφαλεστάτη, καθὼς ὁρᾷς ὅτι ἡ ἀνδρεία καὶ φρόνησις, σωφροσύνη τε καὶ δικαιοσύνη δυσμετάβληταί εἰσιν, ἕξεις οὖσαι τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ ποιότητες καὶ ἐνέργειαι διὰ βάθους κεχωρηκυῖαι. εἰ γὰρ τὰ πάθη τῆς κακίας, οὐ φυσικὰ ἡμῖν ὄντα, ἀλλ' ἔξωθεν