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working. And for those who struggle, acedia is a test, becoming for them a cause of humility.

ογ'. (403) The demon of acedia is for the most part accustomed to wage war especially against those who have advanced in prayer or are diligent in prayer. For no other of the demons has power against such people, whether by a providential concession this one has power against them, or whether it has taken its power against us from the imbalances of the body, which I am more persuaded is the case. And what is said is of this sort: having eaten much and my stomach being weighed down and having slept to satiety, the passion took control of my mind and I was defeated; then again, having practiced self-control beyond measure, I made my mind dark and sluggish and again I fell into the same passion. And there are times when, from the mixture of the air, I know not how to say it, and from the misty thickness of the south wind, these things happen to those who struggle.

οδ'. Acedia is the death of the soul and of the mind. If God permitted it to act against us according to its power, no one who struggles would ever be saved. Nevertheless, it is our part to resist it according to our available strength, and God's part both to rouse us mystically and to show us to be openly victorious over it. But it is impossible for one who has died to rise without the help of Him who raised Himself from the dead.

οε'. Whenever the mind, stolen by conceit, delves into it and supposes that it possesses something by its own striving, at that time the grace that invisibly illumines it departs, and leaving a small void, its weakness is immediately exposed, as the passions, like wild dogs, rush upon it and seek to devour it; and when it is at a loss, having nowhere to flee and be saved, it flees through humility to the Lord who is able to save it.

οστ'. He who has gone outside of the whole world perceives himself as being in (404) an impassable desert full of wild beasts. Wherefore, seized by unspeakable fear and inexpressible trembling, he cries out to God, as Jonah, from the sea monster and the sea of life, as Daniel, from the pit of wild passions and lions, as the three youths, from the furnace of the burning fire of innate desire, as Manasseh, from the bronze-work of this clay and mortal body. And hearing him, the Lord delivers him from the abyss of ignorance and the friendship of the world, just as He did that prophet from the sea monster, so that he might no longer return to these things; He delivers him from the pit of the evil thoughts of desire, which seize and devour the souls of men, as He did Daniel; from the passionate preconceptions of fire, which burns and ravages his soul and by force pushes and drags it toward improper actions, He keeps him unburnt, refreshing his soul with the Holy Spirit, as He did those Israelites; and having preserved him un-humbled and un-fallen from this earthy and heavy and most passionate flesh, He makes him a son of light and of day and from that time already gives him a taste of immortality.

οζ'. The soul that dwells in relation to this lowliness of the body and lays claim to its pleasures and clings to the glory of men, or having disregarded these things but being sensible of the cheerfulness of this air, is completely immobile and un-eager for every virtue and commandment of God, as if weighed down and terribly fettered by the aforementioned evils. But when, having been aroused by the pains of hardship and the tears of repentance, (405) it shakes off from itself the weight of the flesh and washes away the saltiness of its earthly mindset with the streams of tears and rises above the lowliness of visible things and enjoys pure light and is deemed worthy of freedom from the tyrannizing passions, immediately

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ἐργαζόμενον. ∆οκίμιον δέ τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις ἡ ἀκηδία, πρόξενος αὐτοῖς ταπεινώσεως γινομένη.

ογ'. (403) Τοῖς προκόψασιν ἐν εὐχῇ ἤ καί ἐπιμελουμένοις εὐχῆς ὁ τῆς ἀκηδίας μάλιστα δαίμων ὡς ἐπί τό πλεῖστον πολεμεῖν εἴωθεν. Οὐδείς γάρ ἕτερος τῶν ἄλλων δαιμόνων κατά τῶν τοιούτων ἰσχύει, εἴτε κατά οἰκονομικήν παραχώρησιν τούτου κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἰσχύσαντος, εἴτε καί ἐκ τῶν τοῦ σώματος ἀνωμαλιῶν τήν καθ᾿ ἡμῶν λαβόντος ἰσχύν, ὥς γε πείθομαι μᾶλλον. Τό δέ λεγόμενόν ἐστι τοιοῦτον} πολλά φαγών καί τόν στόμαχον βαρηθείς καί εἰς κόρον ὑπνώσας, ἐκυρίευσε τοῦ νοός μου τό πάθος καί ἡττήθην} εἶτα πάλιν ὑπέρ τό μέτρον ἐγκρατευσάμενος, τόν νοῦν μου σκοτεινόν καί δυσκίνητον εἰργασάμην καί αὖθις εἰς τό αὐτό περιέπεσα πάθος. Ἔστι δ᾿ ὅτε καί ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἀέρος κράσεως, οὐκ οἶδ᾿ ὅπως εἴπω, καί τῆς ἀχλυώδους παχύτητος τοῦ νοτιαίου ἀνέμου ταῦτα συμβαίνειν τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις.

οδ'. Ἀκηδία θάνατος ψυχῆς καί νοός ἐστι. Ταύτην εἰ παρεχώρησεν ὁ Θεός καθ᾿ ἡμῶν ἐνεργῆσαι κατά τήν δύναμιν αὐτῆς, οὐδείς ἄν ἐσώθη τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων ποτέ. Ἡμέτερον δέ ὅμως ἐστί τό ἀντιστῆναι αὐτῇ κατά τό ἐνόν τῆς δυνάμεως, Θεοῦ δέ τό καί μυστικῶς ἡμᾶς διεγείρειν καί φανερῶς νικητάς ἀποδεῖξαι αὐτῆς. Ἀδύνατον δέ τινα θανόντα ἀναστῆσαι δίχα βοηθείας τοῦ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἑαυτόν ἀναστήσαντος.

οε'. Ὁπηνίκα εἰς οἴησιν κλαπείς ὁ νοῦς ἐν αὐτῇ ἐμβαθύνῃ καί εἶναί τι ἐναγωνίως ἔχων καθ᾿ ἑαυτόν ὑπολάβῃ, τηνικαῦτα ἡ ἀοράτως αὐτόν φωτίζουσα χάρις ἀφίσταται, καί βραχύ κενόν καταλείψασα, εὐθύς ἐλέγχεται αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀσθένεια, ὥσπερ α'γρίών κυνῶν ἐπιδραμόντων αὐτῷ τῶν παθῶν καί καταπιεῖν ζητούντων αὐτόν} οὗ καί ἐξαπορουμένου, μή ἔχοντος δέ ποῦ φυγεῖν καί σωθῆναι, πρός τόν δυνάμενον σῶσαι αὐτόν καταφεύγει διά ταπεινώσεως Κύριον.

οστ'. Ὁ ἔξω γεγονώς τοῦ κόσμου παντός ὡς ἐν (404) ἐρήμῳ ἀβάτῳ καί μεστῇ θηρίων ὄντα κατανοεῖ ἑαυτόν. Ὅθεν φόβῳ ἀρρήτῳ καί τρόμῳ ἀνεκδιηγήτῳ συνεχόμενος, βοᾷ πρός τόν Θεόν, ὡς μέν Ἰωνᾶς, ἐκ τοῦ κήτους καί τῆς θαλάσσης τοῦ βίου, ὡς δέ ∆ανιήλ, ἐκ τοῦ λάκκου τῶν ἀγρίων παθῶν καί λεόντων, ὡς δέ οἱ τρεῖς παῖδες, ἐκ τῆς καμίνου τοῦ ἐμφύτου τῆς ἐπιθυμίας πυρός τῆς καιομένης, ὡς δέ Μανασσῆς, ἐκ τοῦ χαλκουργήματος τοῦ πηλίνου τούτου καί θνητοῦ σώματος. Οὗ καί εἰσακούων ὁ Κύριος, ῥύεται αὐτόν ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ τῆς ἀγνοίας καί τῆς φιλίας τοῦ κόσμου, καθάπερ τόν προφήτην ἐκ τοῦ κήτους ἐκεῖνον, τοῦ μηκέτι παλινοστῆσαι πρός ταῦτα} ῥύεται αὐτόν ἐκ τοῦ λάκκου τῶν πονηρῶν λογισμῶν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, τῶν ἁρπαζόντων καί κατεσθιόντων τάς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχάς, ὡς τόν ∆ανιήλ} ἀπό τῶν ἐμπαθῶν προλήψεων τοῦ πυρός, τοῦ καταφλέγοντος καί λυμαινομένου αὐτοῦ τήν ψυχήν καί πρός πράξεις ἀτόπους βίᾳ συνωθοῦντος καί ἕλκοντος, φυλάττει αὐτόν ἀκατάφλεκτον, τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι δροσίζων αὐτοῦ τήν ψυχήν, ὡς τούς Ἰσραηλίτας ἐκείνους} καί ἀπό τῆς γεώδους ταύτης καί βαρείας καί ἐμπαθεστάτης σαρκός ἀταπείνωτον διατηρήσας καί ἄπτωτον, υἱόν φωτός καί ἡμέρας αὐτόν ἀπεργάζεται καί τῆς ἀθανασίας ἔνθεν ἤδη ἀπογεύει αὐτόν.

οζ'. Ψυχή ἡ σχετικῶς οἰκοῦσα ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει ταύτῃ τοῦ σώματος καί τῶν ἡδονῶν τούτου ἀντιποιουμένη καί τῆς δόξης τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀντεχομένη, ἤ τούτων μέν ἀλογήσασα αἰσθανομένη δέ τοῦ ἀέρος τούτου τῆς εὐθυμίας, πρός πᾶσαν ἀρετήν καί ἐντολήν Θεοῦ ἀκίνητος ὑπάρχει παντάπασι καί ἀπρόθυμος, ὡς καταβαρουμένη καί πεδουμένη δεινῶς ὑπό τῶν εἰρημένων κακῶν. Ἐπάν δέ, διεγερθεῖσα πόνοις κακοπαθείας καί δάκρυσι μετανοίας, (405) τό βάρος ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτῆς ἀποσείσηται τῆς σαρκός καί τήν ἅλμην τοῦ γεώδους φρονήματος τοῖς νάμασιν ἀποκλύσηται τῶν δακρύων καί ὑπεράνω τῆς ταπεινώσεως γένηται τῶν ὁρωμένων καί φωτός ἀπολαύσῃ καθαροῦ καί ἐλευθερίας ἀξιωθῇ τῶν τυραννούντων παθῶν, αὐτίκα