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for us and various opportunities; not only in the day but also in the very nights, and not only when we are awake but also when we are asleep, they rise up against us, sometimes with ticklings and emissions, sometimes with tastings of forbidden foods, and at other times with lanterns and torches, like sword-bearing robbers, they attack us like robbers, threatening us with death, thinking to throw us into confusion and turn us aside from the straight path. And some of them suggest to us that it is impossible to endure to the end the difficulties on the path, while others suggest that these things are useless and able to benefit in no way those who labor. Others say that there is no end to this path nor will there ever be, pointing to some of those who have not succeeded, and especially those who have spent a long time in the ascetic life and have found no benefit from their time because they did not run the course of the commandments with knowledge and a pious mind, as they seemed to, but did so with self-will and conceit, for whom, reasonably, their steps toward God are also cut short, as they grow faint and turn back and through their negligence give themselves over to the evil one to work in them what seems good to him.

(152) But why do I want to explain everything to you, my spiritual brothers, when behold, they are not inferior in number, the snares and terrible villainies of the devil who opposes us and of his wicked spirits! But leaving the majority of things to be investigated by the diligent, and having given them from these few things the starting points, I will try to show what I promised to your love. And what is this? The bond of attachment to our relatives and how the devil binds us through it, and especially those who have shown courage against the other passions and have taken up the crown, and through which the evil one unfortunately sends us to darkness and destruction.

And consider for me again precisely the power of what is being said. Understand yourself to be on the aforementioned path, either having just embarked on it or having walked on it for years, and having suffered many things from all those aforementioned beasts and robbers which we have mentioned before, but by the grace of Christ neither having been deceived by flatteries, nor stolen away to pleasure by the beauty of appearances, nor bent by fear or threats to turn aside from the straight path or to cease from going forward, nor indeed having turned back, but rather running even more vigorously. So then, as you run thus, has Satan rested from warring against you any longer, or will he ever rest? Not at all! But knowing that God has given us a commandment to deny father and mother and all carnal kinship whatsoever, and furthermore even our whole selves; and not only this but also that we made a covenant with God, (153) when we approached the monastic life, to keep this commandment along with all the others, since he was not strong enough to do anything against you from all the things that have been mentioned, what does he do? First he stirs up and renews in us the memory of our own people, then he also suggests to us things from the divine Scriptures that were said concerning others and to others, for the turbid subversion and transgression of the commandment, saying: "Honor your father, says the divine Scripture, and your mother, and you shall not overlook those of your own seed; for he who does not provide for his own, according to the divine apostle, has denied the faith," the crafty one being ignorant, as is likely, that these things were said not so that we should love our parents or relatives more than God and prefer them to His love, but that we might be taught obedience and learn that, if submission and honor are necessary towards those who begot us, how much more so towards Him, the God who made both them and us? But those of our own seed, O deceiver - for it is good to turn the argument back against him - are not our relatives but those of the household of the faith, whom, as

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ἡμῖν καί ποικίλας τάς ἀφορμάς· οὐκ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ δέ μόνον ἀλλά καί ἐν αὐταῖς ταῖς νυξί, καί οὐδέ ἐγρηγορότων μόνον ἀλλά καί καθευδόντων, ἡμῖν ἐπανίστανται, ποτέ μέν γαργαλισμοῖς καί ἐκκρίσεσι, ποτέ δέ βρωμάτων ἀπηγορευμένων γεύσεσιν, ἄλλοτε δέ καί μετά φανῶν καί λαμπάδων ὡσεί ξιφήρεις λησταί ληστρικῶς ἐπερχόμενοι θάνατον ἡμῖν ἐπισείουσιν, ἐκταράσσειν ἡμᾶς οἰόμενοι καί τῆς εὐθείας παρατρέψαι ὁδοῦ. Καί οἵ μέν αὐτῶν ἀδύνατον ἡμῖν ὑποτίθενται τό μέχρι τέλους ὑπενεγκεῖν τά ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ δυσχερῇ, οἵ δέ καί ἀνόνητα ταῦτα καί μηδέν τούς κοπιῶντας ὠφελεῖν δυνάμενα. Ἄλλοι ὅτι οὐδέ ἔστι ποτέ τέλος τῆς ὁδοῦ ταύτης οὐδέ ἔσεται λέγουσι, δεικνύοντες ἐκ τῶν μή κατορθωκότων τινάς καί μάλιστα τούς ἐγχρονίσαντας εἰς τήν ἄσκησιν καί μηδεμίαν ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου εὑρόντας ὠφέλειαν διά τό μή ἐν γνώσει καί εὐσεβεῖ λογισμῷ τρέχειν αὐτούς ἐν τῷ δοκεῖν τόν δρόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ἰδιορρυθμίᾳ καί οἰήσει τοῦτο ποιεῖν, οἷς εἰκότως καί τά κατά Θεόν αὐτῶν διαβήματα περικόπτεται, δειλαινομένοις καί ὑποστρέφουσιν εἰς τά ὀπίσω καί ἑαυτούς διά τῆς ἀμελείας τῷ πονηρῷ ἐμπαρέχουσιν εἰς τό ἐργάσασθαι εἰς αὐτούς τά δοκοῦντα αὐτῷ.

(152) Ἀλλά τί θέλω πάντα ὑμῖν ἐξηγήσασθαι τοῖς πνευματικοῖς μου ἀδελφοῖς, καί ἰδού εἰσιν ἀριθμῷ μή καθυποβαλλόμενα, τά τοῦ ἀντικειμένου ἡμῖν διαβόλου καί τῶν αὐτοῦ πονηρῶν πνευμάτων ἔνεδρά τε καί δεινά πανουργεύματα! Ἀλλά τά πλεῖστα παρά τοῖς σπουδαίοις διερευνᾶσθαι ἐάσας καί παρασχών αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν ὀλίγων τούτων τάς ἀφερμάς, ὅ ἐπηγγειλάμην ὑμῶν τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἀποδεῖξαι πειράσομαι· τί δέ ἐστι τοῦτο; Ὁ δεσμός τῆς πρός τούς συγγενεῖς ἡμῶν προσπαθείας καί ὅπως δεσμεῖ ἡμᾶς δι᾿ αὐτῆς ὁ διάβολος, καί μάλιστα τούς κατά τῶν ἄλλων παθῶν τήν ἀνδρείαν ἐπιδειξαμένους καί τόν στέφανον ἄραντας, καί δι᾿ ἧς ἡμᾶς τῷ σκότει καί τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ δυστυχῶς ὁ πονηρός παραπέμπει.

Καί σκόπει μοι πάλιν ἀκριβῶς τοῦ λεγομένου τήν δύναμιν. Κατανόησον σεαυτόν ἐν τῇ εἰρημένῃ ὁδῷ ἤ ἐπιβάντα ἀρτίως αὐτῆς ἤ ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ ἐπί χρόνους βαδίσαντα καί παρά πάντων ἐκείνων τῶν εἰρημένων θηρίων τε καί ληστῶν πολλά μέν παθόντα ἐξ ὧν προειρήκαμεν, τῇ χάριτι δέ Χριστοῦ μήτε κολακείαις ἀπατηθέντα, μήτε τῇ ὡραιότητι τῶν φαινομένων κλαπέντα πρός ἡδονήν, μήτε φόβῳ καμφθέντα ἤ ἀπειλαῖς πρός τό ἐκκλῖναι τῆς εὐθείας ὁδοῦ ἤ παύσασθαι τοῦ πρόσω βαίνειν, μήτε μήν εἰς τά ὀπίσω στραφέντα, ἀλλά μᾶλλον καί εὐτονώτερον τρέχοντα. Ἆρα οὖν οὕτως τρέχοντός σου ἠρέμησε τοῦ μηκέτι πολεμεῖν σε ὁ Σατανᾶς ἤ ποτέ ἠρεμήσει; Οὐμενοῦν οὐδαμῶς! Ἀλλ᾿ εἰδώς ὅτι ἐντολήν ἡμῖν δέδωκεν ὁ Θεός ἀπαρνήσασθαι πατέρα καί μητέρα καί πᾶσαν ἁπλῶς συγγένειαν σαρκικήν, ἔτι δέ καί ὅλους ἡμᾶς αὐτους· οὐ μόνον δέ ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι συνεθέμεθα τῷ Θεῷ, (153) ὅτε τῇ μοναδικῇ πολιτείᾳ προσήλθομεν, καί ταύτην μετά τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων φυλάξασθαι, ἐπειδή οὐκ ἴσχυσεν ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων ἁπάντων τι κατά σοῦ, τί ποιεῖ; Πρῶτον τήν τῶν ἰδίων μνήμην ἀνακινεῖ καί ἀνανεοῖ ἐν ἡμῖν, ἔπειτα καί ἀπό τῶν θείων Γραφῶν τά περί ἄλλων καί πρός ἄλλους εἰρημένα ἐπί ἀνατροπῇ θολερᾷ καί παραβάσει τῆς ἐντολῆς ἡμῖν ὑποτίθησι λέγων· "Τίμα τόν πατέρα σου, φησίν ἡ θεία Γραφή, καί τήν μητέρα, καί ἀπό τῶν οἰκείων τοῦ σπέρματός σου οὐχ ὑπερόψει· ὁ γάρ μή προϊστάμενος τῶν οἰκείων, κατά τόν θεῖον ἀπόστολον, τήν πίστιν ἤρνηται", ἀγνοῶν ὁ δόλιος, ὡς εἰκός, ὅτι ταῦτα εἴρηται οὐχ ἵνα πλέον τοῦ Θεοῦ τούς γεννήσαντας ἡμᾶς ἤ τούς συγγενεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν καί προτιμῶμεν αὐτούς τῆς ἀγάπης ἐκείνου, ἀλλ᾿ ἵνα ὑπακοήν παιδευθῶμεν καί μάθωμεν ὅτι, εἰ πρός τούς γεννήσαντας ἡμᾶς ἀναγκαία ἐστίν ἡ ὑποταγή καί τιμή, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἡ πρός αὐτόν, τόν αὐτούς καί ἡμᾶς πεποιηκότα Θεόν; Οἰκεῖοι δέ τοῦ σπέρματος ἡμῶν, ὦ ἀπατεών - καλόν γάρ πρός αὐτόν ἀντιστρέψαι τόν λόγον, οὐχ οἱ συγγενεῖς ἀλλ᾿ οἱ οἰκεῖοί εἰσι τῆς πίστεως, οὕς, ὡς