174

denial (399) of one's own soul, but it also produces a putting to death toward the entire world.

62. Demons rejoice with one who contradicts his own father, but angels marvel at one who is humbled even to death. For such a one does the work of God, being made like the Son of God, who fulfilled obedience to His own Father even to death, and that, the death of the cross.

63. Excessive and untimely contrition of heart darkens and troubles the mind, and makes pure prayer and humility disappear from the soul, and produces heartache, and from this, infinite hardness and callosity; and through these things demons work despair in spiritual people.

64. Whenever these things happen to you, O monk, and you find much zeal and longing for perfection in your soul, so that you desire to fulfill every commandment of God and not to transgress and sin even with an idle word, and to fall short of none of the ancient saints in practice and knowledge and contemplation, and you see yourself hindered by the one who sows the tares of despondency from advancing to such a height of holiness, by his suggesting thoughts to you and saying: "It is impossible for you to be saved in the midst of the world, to keep all the commandments of God without fail," then you, having sat down alone in a corner, collect yourself and gather your thoughts and give good counsel to your soul and say: "Why are you so sorrowful, O my soul, and why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I will give praise to Him. For the salvation of my countenance is not my works, but He is my God." For who will be justified by the works of the law? For (400) no one living will be justified before You. But by faith in Him, my God, I hope to be saved freely through His ineffable mercy. "Get behind me, Satan, I worship the Lord my God and Him I serve from my youth, who is able to save me by His mercy alone. Depart, therefore, from me; God who made me in His image and likeness will bring you to nothing."

65. God seeks nothing else from us humans than not to sin, and this alone is not a work of the law but the inviolable keeping of the image and of the dignity from above, in which things, standing according to nature and wearing the brilliant tunic of the Spirit, we abide in God and He in us, being called gods by grace and sons of God, being marked by the light of the knowledge of God.

66. Acedia and heaviness of body, arising in the soul from laziness and negligence, draw it away from its usual rule, and cause darkness and despondency to the mind, so that from this, thoughts of cowardice and blasphemy surface in the heart, and the one being tempted by the demon of acedia is not even able to enter into the usual place of prayer, but even hesitates, and thinks irrational things against the Maker of all. Knowing, therefore, the cause and whence these things came upon you, eagerly enter into your usual place of prayer, and falling down before the man-loving God, pray with groaning and tears in the pain of your heart for release from the weight of acedia and from evil thoughts, and freedom from these things will be given to you quickly, who knock painstakingly and persist.

67. He who has acquired a pure heart, this one has conquered cowardice; but he who is still being purified, sometimes strikes it, (401) and sometimes is struck by it; but he who does not struggle at all, either is completely senseless and is a friend of passions and demons, who, in addition to vainglory, is sick with conceit, deceiving himself that he is something when he is nothing, or he is a slave and subject to cowardice, trembling like an infant in his mind, and fearing fear there where there is no fear nor cowardice for those who fear the Lord.

174

ἀπάρνησιν (399) τῆς ἰδίας ψυχῆς, ἀλλά καί νέκρωσιν τήν πρός τόν κόσμον ἅπαντα ἐμποιεῖ.

ξβ΄. Τῷ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ πατρί ἀντιλέγοντι συγχαίρουσι δαίμονες, τῷ δέ μέχρι ταπεινουμένῳ θανάτου θαυμάζουσιν ἄγγελοι ἔργον γάρ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ τοιοῦτος ἐργάζεται, ἐξομοιούμενος τῷ Υἱῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῷ τήν ὑπακοήν πεπληρωκότι τῷ ἰδίῳ πατρί μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δέ σταυροῦ.

ξγ΄. Ὁ πολύς καί ἄκαιρος συντριμμός τῆς καρδίας σκοτίζει καί θολεῖ τήν διάνοιαν, καί τήν μέν καθαράν εὐχήν καί ταπείνωσιν ἀπό τῆς ψυχῆς ἐξαφανίζει, πόνον δέ καρδιακόν ἐμποιεῖ, ἐντεῦθεν δέ σκληρότητα καί πώρωσιν ἄπειρον διά δέ τούτων τήν ἀπόγνωσιν τοῖς πνευματικοῖς οἱ δαίμονες πραγματεύονται.

ξδ΄. Ὁπηνίκα σοι ταῦτα ὑπαντήσωσι, μοναχέ, εὕρῃς δέ ζῆλον καί πόθον τελειότητος ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ σου πολύν, ὡς ἐπιθυμεῖν σε πᾶσαν μέν ἐντολήν πληρῶσαι τοῦ Θεοῦ καί μηδέ μέχρις ἀργοῦ λόγου παραπίπτειν καί ἁμαρτάνειν, μηδενός δέ τῶν πάλαι ἀπολειφθῆναι ἁγίων κατά πρᾶξιν καί γνῶσιν καί θεωρίαν, ὁρᾷς δέ σαυτόν κωλυόμενον παρά τοῦ ὑποσπείροντος τά τῆς ἀθυμίας ζιζάνια μή ἐλάσαι εἰς τοσοῦτον ὕψος τῆς ἁγιωσύνης ἐν τῷ ὑποβάλλειν αὐτόν ἐν σοί λογισμούς καί λέγειν «Ἀδύνατόν σοι μέσον τοῦ κόσμου σωθῆναι φυλάξαι πάσας τάς ἐντολάς ἀνελλιπῶς τοῦ Θεοῦ», τότε σύ ἐν μιᾷ καθίσας κατά μόνας γωνίᾳ, σύστειλον σεαυτόν καί ἐπισύναξόν σου τόν λογισμόν καί δός ἀγαθήν βουλήν τῇ σῇ ψυχῇ καί εἰπέ «Ἵνα τί περίλυπος εἶ, ἡ ψυχή μου, καί ἵνα τί συνταράσσεις με; Ἔλπισον ἐπί τόν Θεόν ὅτι ἐξομολογήσομαι αὐτῷ. Σωτήριον γάρ τοῦ προσώπου μου οὐχί τά ἔργα μου, ἀλλ᾿ ὁ Θεός μού ἐστι». Τίς γάρ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου δικαιωθήσεται; Οὐ (400) δικαιωθήσεται γάρ ἐνώπιόν σου πᾶς ζῶν. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ πίστεως τῆς εἰς αὐτόν τόν Θεόν μου ἐλπίζω σωθῆναι διά τῆς ἀφάτου αὐτοῦ εὐσπλαγχνίας δωρεάν «Ὕπαγε ὀπίσω μου, Σατανᾶ, Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ μου προσκυνῶ καί αὐτῷ ἐκ νεότητός μου λατρεύω, τῷ δυναμένῳ με σῶσαι ἐν μόνῳ τῷ ἐλέει αὐτοῦ. Ἀπόστηθι οὖν ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ ὁ Θεός ὁ ποιήσας με κατ᾿ εἰκόνα καί καθ᾿ ὁμοίωσιν αὐτοῦ καταργήσει σε».

ξε'. Ὁ Θεός ἐξ ἡμῶν οὐδέν ἕτερον ἐπιζητεῖ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀλλ᾿ ἤ τό μή ἁμαρτάνειν, καί μόνον τοῦτο δέ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔργον νόμου ἀλλά φυλακή ἀπαράβατος τῆς εἰκόνος καί τοῦ ἄνωθεν ἀξιώματος, ἐν οἷς, κατά φύσιν ἐστῶτες καί τόν χιτῶνα φοροῦντες λελαμπρυσμένον τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἐν τῷ Θεῷ μένομεν καί αὐτός ἐν ἡμῖν, θέσει θεοί καί υἱοί Θεοῦ χρηματίζοντες, ἐν τῷ φωτί τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ σημειούμενοι.

ξστ΄. Ἀκηδία καί βάρος τοῦ σώματος, ἐξ ὀκνηρίας καί ἀμελείας προσγενόμενα τῇ ψυχῇ, τοῦ συνήθους ἀφιστῶσι κανόνος καί σκότωσιν τῇ διανοίᾳ προξενοῦσι καί ἀθυμίαν, ὡς ἐντεῦθεν δειλίας καί βλασφημίας λογισμούς ἐπιπολάζειν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ καί μηδέ ἐν τῷ συνήθει τόπῳ τῆς προσευχῆς εἰσελθεῖν τόν ὑπό τοῦ δαίμονος τῆς ἀκηδίας πειραζόμενον δύνασθαι, ἀλλά καί ὀκνεῖν αὐτόν καί κατά τοῦ ποιητοῦ τῶν ἁπάντων ἐνθυμεῖσθαι παράλογα. Γνούς οὖν τήν αἰτίαν καί πόθεν σοι ταῦτα ἐπῆλθον, σπουδαίως εἴσελθε εἰς τόν συνήθη τόπον τῆς προσευχῆς σου, καί τῷ φιλανθρώπῳ Θεῷ προσπεσών δεήθητι μετά στεναγμοῦ καί δακρίων ἐν ὀδύνῃ καρδίας σου τήν ἀπαλλαγήν τοῦ βάρους τῆς ἀκηδίας καί τῶν πονηρῶν λογισμῶν, καί δοθήσεταί σοι ἐμπόνως κρούοντι καί ἐπιμένοντι ἡ τούτων ἐν τάχει ἐλευθερία.

ξζ΄. Ὁ καθαρά τήν καρδίαν κτησάμενος, οὗτος δειλίαν ἐνίκησεν} ὁ δέ ἀκμήν καθαιρόμενος, ποτέ μέν βάλλει αὐτήν, (401) ποτέ δέ βάλλεται ὑπ᾿ αὐτῆς} ὁ δέ μηδόλως ἀγωνιζόμενος, ἤ παντελῶς ἀναισθητεῖ καί ἐν τῷ φίλος εἶναι παθῶν καί δαιμόνων, ὅς πρός τῇ κενοδοξίᾳ καί οἴησιν νοσεῖ δολῶν εἶναί τι μηδέν ὤν, ἤ δειλίας δοῦλος ὑπάρχει καί ὑποχείριος, τρέμων ὡς τῷ φρονήματι νήπιος, καί φοβούμενος φόβον ἐκεῖ ἔνθα φόβος οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδέ δειλία τοῖς φοβουμένοις τόν Κύριον.