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For many, being mastered by other passions, have rejected the one, but very few have been deemed worthy to receive the other with much toil and labor. It is one thing to be content with humble clothing (178) and not to desire splendid apparel, and another to be clothed in the light of God; for some, being drawn down by a myriad of other desires, have disdained the former, but only the sons of light, who have been counted worthy to become sons of the day, have put on the latter.

It is one thing to speak humbly and another to be humble-minded; and it is one thing to have humility, and another the flower of humility, and another its fruit, and the beauty of this fruit and its sweetness, and another the energies that come from it. Of these things, some are in our power, and some are not in our power; and what is in our power is to understand all things, to be mindful, to reason, to say and do all that leads us to humility; but holy humility and its other properties and gifts and its energies are a gift of God and are not among the things in our power, so that no one may boast even in this; and no one will ever be deemed worthy to obtain them, unless he has first well sown the seeds that are in his own power.

It is one thing not to be stung or angered by dishonors and insults and in temptations and tribulations, and another to take pleasure in them. It is one thing to pray for those who do such things to us, and another to forgive them, and another to love them from the soul as benefactors, and another to picture mentally the faces of each one of them and to embrace them dispassionately as genuine friends with tears of sincere love, with no trace of any unpleasantness, of course, lurking within the soul. Greater than these things we have mentioned is when, even in the very time of temptations, one possesses an equal and similar disposition unchangeably both toward those who revile and slander him to his face, and toward all others (179) who either criticize him or insult him or condemn him or spit in his face, and indeed also toward those who outwardly behave with a pretense of friendship, but secretly commit the same things against him as those mentioned, although they are not unobserved. And again, I consider it incomparably superior to these things to be in complete forgetfulness of what one might have suffered and never to remember those who caused pain or otherwise behaved insolently, whether they are absent or present, but rather to behave equally to these as to friends, without any other thought, both in conversations and in meals together. All these, then, are the works and deeds of men who walk in the light; but as many as perceive themselves to be outside of these and such things, let them not be deceived nor delude themselves, but let them know for certain that they are journeying in darkness.

And in addition to these, it is one thing to fear God and another to do His commandments, as it is written: "Fear the Lord, all you His saints," and again: "Turn away from evil and do good." It is one thing to be idle and another to be still, and another to be silent; furthermore, it is one thing to withdraw and to move from place to place, and another to be in exile. It is one thing to be sinless and another to work the commandments. And in addition to all these, it is one thing to resist and fight against the enemies, and another to completely defeat and subdue and put them to death; the former belongs to contenders and saints, if they manage to be perfected in this, but the latter belongs to the dispassionate and perfect, who, through many toils and sweats, have routed their own enemies and won a perfect victory over them and have been splendidly adorned with the life-giving mortification of the Lord.

(180) Therefore, many have given themselves over to these things, each for a different reason, but very few are those who undertake them with innate fear and love for God with unwavering faith, who alone, being helped by grace, quickly succeed in the work of virtue and toward the

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τήν μέν γάρ καί ὑπό παθῶν ἄλλων πλεῖστοι κυριευθέντες ἀπώσαντο, τήν δέ ὀλίγοι λίαν κόπῳ καί πόνῳ πολλῷ λαβεῖν ἠξιώθησαν. Ἄλλο τό εὐτελεῖ ἐσθῆτι ἀρκεῖσθαι (178) καί στολῆς λαμπρᾶς μή ἐπιθυμεῖν καί ἕτερον τό ἐνδεδῦσθαι τό φῶς τοῦ Θεοῦ· τῆς μέν γάρ ὑπό ἑτέρων μυρίων ἐπιθυμιῶν καθελκόμενοί τινες κατεφρόνησαν, τό δέ μόνοι περιβέβληνται οἱ τοῦ φωτός υἱοί καί τῆς ἡμέρας καταξιωθέντες γενέσθαι.

Ἄλλο τό ταπεινολογεῖν καί ἕτερον ταπεινοφρονεῖν· καί ἄλλο ταπείνωσις καί ἕτερον τό τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἄνθος καί ἕτερον ὁ ταύτης καρπός καί τό τοῦ καρποῦ ταύτης κάλλος καί ἡ ἡδύτης αὐτοῦ καί ἕτερον αἱ ἐκ τούτου ἐνέργειαι. Τούτων δέ τά μέν ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν, τά δέ οὐκ ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν εἰσι· καί τά μέν ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν τό πάντα νοεῖν, τό φρονεῖν, τό λογίζεσθαι, τό λέγειν καί πράττειν ὅσα πρός ταπείνωσιν ἡμᾶς φέρουσιν· ἡ δέ ἁγία ταπείνωσις καί τά λοιπά ταύτης ἰδιώματα καί χαρίσματα καί αἱ ταύτης ἐνέργειαι δῶρόν εἰσι Θεοῦ καί οὐ τῶν ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν εἰσιν, ἵνα μηδέ ἐν τούτῳ τις καυχήσηται· ὧν καί οὐδείς ποτε τυχεῖν καταξιωθήσεται, εἰ μή καλῶς τά ὅσα ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτόν εἰσι σπέρματα καταβάληται.

Ἄλλο τό μή δάκνεσθαι μηδέ ὀργίζεσθαι ἐν ἀτιμίαις καί ὕβρεσι καί ἐν πειρασμοῖς καί θλίψεσι, καί ἕτερον τό εὐδοκεῖν ἐν αὐτοῖς. Ἄλλο τό εὔχεσθαι ὑπέρ τῶν τά τοιαῦτα ποιούντων εἰς ἡμᾶς καί ἄλλο τό ἀφιέναι αὐτοῖς καί ἕτερον τό ἀγαπᾶν αὐτούς ὡς εὐεργέτας ἀπό ψυχῆς καί ἕτερον τό νοερῶς ἀνατυποῦν τά πρόσωπα ἑνός ἑκάστου αὐτῶν καί ὡς γνησίους φίλους ἀπαθῶς αὐτούς κατασπάζεσθαι ἐν δάκρυσιν ἀγάπης εἰλικρινοῦς, ἴχνους ὅλως ἀηδίας τινός δηλόνοτι μή ἐμφωλεύοντος αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ. Μεῖζον δέ τούτων ὧν εἴπομεν, ὅταν καί ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ τῶν πειρασμῶν καιρῷ τήν ἴσην κέκτηταί τις καί ὁμοίαν ἀναλλοιώτως διάθεσιν καί πρός αὐτούς τούς κατά πρόσωπον λοιδοροῦντας αὐτόν καί ἐνδιαβάλλοντας καί πρός πάντας ἄλλους (179) τούς ἤ κατακρίνοντας αὐτόν ἤ ὑβρίζοντας ἤ καταδικάζοντας ἤ ἐμπτύοντας εἰς τό πρόσωπον, ἀλλά μήν καί πρός αὐτούς τούς ἐν προσχήματι μέν φιλίας ἔξωθεν διακειμένους, λαθραίως δέ τά αὐτά τοῖς εἰρημένοις διαπραττομένους μέν κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ, μή λανθάνοντας δέ. Τούτων δέ πάλιν ὑπέρτερον ἀσυγκρίτως εἶναι ὑπείληφα τό ἐν λήθῃ παντελεῖ τῶν ὧνπερ ἄν πάθοι τις γίνεσθαι καί μήτε ἀπόντων μήτε παρόντων τῶν λυπησάντων ἤ ἄλλως ἐμπαροινησάντων μεμνῆσθαί ποτε, ἐπίσης δέ μᾶλλον τοῖς φίλοις καί τούτοις προσφέρεσθαι δίχα τινός ἄλλου διαλογισμοῦ ἔν τε ὁμιλίαις, ἔν τε συνεστιάσεσι. Ταῦτα μέν οὖν ἅπαντα ἔργα καί πράξεις τῶν ἐν φωτί περιπατούντων ἀνδρῶν εἰσι· ὅσοι δέ ἔξω τούτων καί τῶν τοιούτων ἑαυτούς εἶναι καταμανθάνουσι, μή πλανάσθωσαν μηδέ ἐξαπατάτωσαν ἑαυτούς, ἀλλά βεβαίως εἰδέτωσαν ὅτι ἐν σκότει πορεύονται.

Καί πρός τούτοις ἄλλο τό φοβεῖσθαι τόν Θεόν καί ἕτερον τό ποιεῖν τάς αὐτοῦ ἐντολάς, καθώς γέγραπται· "Φοβήθητε τόν Κύριον πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι αὐτοῦ", καί πάλιν· "Ἔκκλινον ἀπό κακοῦ καί ποίησον ἀγαθόν". Ἄλλο ἀργία καί ἕτερον ἡσυχία καί ἄλλο σιωπή· ἔτι δέ ἄλλο ἀναχώρησις καί ἡ ἐκ τόπων εἰς τόπους μετάβασις, καί ἕτερον ἡ ξενιτεία. Ἄλλο ἀναμαρτησία καί ἕτερον ἡ τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐργασία. Καί ἐπί πᾶσι τούτοις ἕτερον τό ἀνθίστασθαι καί πολεμεῖν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς καί ἄλλο τό τελείως ἡττῆσαι καί ὑποτάξαι καί θανατῶσαι αὐτούς· τό μέν πρότερον ἀγωνιστῶν ἐστι καί ἁγίων, ἐάν ἐν τούτῳ φθάσωσι τελειωθῆναι, τό δέ δεύτερον, ἀπαθῶν καί τελείων, διά κόπων δηλονότι πολλῶν καί ἱδρώτων τούς ἑαυτῶν τροπωσαμένων ἐχθρούς καί τελείαν τήν κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἀραμένων νίκην καί τήν ζωηφόρον τοῦ Κυρίου νέκρωσιν στολισαμένων λαμπρῶς.

(180) Τοιγαροῦν καί πολλοί μέν πρός ταῦτα ἑαυτούς ἄλλος δι᾿ ἄλλο τι ἐπιδεδώκασιν, ὀλίγοι δέ λίαν οἱ μετά φόβου ἐμφύτου καί ἀγάπης τῆς πρός Θεόν μετά πίστεως ἀδιστάκτου τούτοις ἐπιχειροῦντες, οἵ καί μόνοι, ὑπό τῆς χάριτος βοηθούμενοι, συντόμως κατορθοῦσι τήν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐργασίαν καί πρός τά