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to light and from captivity to the restoration of one's own fatherland. Thus also from passion to dispassion and from the slavery of the passions to the freedom of the Spirit, and from the unnatural prepossession, which the spiritual law calls captivity, to the supernatural return, from the sea and storm of life to the serene state outside the world, from the bitterness of life's cares and afflictions to the ineffable sweetness and freedom from care for any earthly thing, from the distraction and turmoil of desire for many things to the one (406) thing alone and the total relation to it and love, our human mind is accustomed to pass.

79. The passage of the mind from things seen to things unseen and its lingering from things perceptible to things beyond perception produces forgetfulness of all that is behind. This, therefore, I call true stillness and a place and space of stillness, to which one who is deemed worthy to ascend will not, like Moses who spent forty days and as many nights on the mountain, be brought down again from there, but having been assured that it is good to be there, will no longer turn back to the things below at all; but becoming from this a house of the Trinity and himself in the Trinity, as being in it in the kingdom of heaven, he will dwell, with love clearly holding him and not allowing him to fall.

80. Not only he who is in stillness or he who is in obedience, but also he who is an abbot and he who is in charge of many and he who serves, ought to be free from care, that is, undoubtedly free from all the things of life; for if we are anxious, we are found to be transgressors of God's commandment which says: "Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink or what you shall wear; for all these things the Gentiles seek"; and again: "Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life."

81. He who has his thought preoccupied with the affairs of life is not free; for he is possessed and enslaved by the care for these things, whether he is anxious for them for his own sake or for others. But he who is free from these will not be anxious in a worldly way, neither for himself nor for others, whether he happens to be a bishop or an abbot or a deacon; but he will never be idle nor will he despise any of the humblest and smallest things, but doing (407) and accomplishing all things in a manner pleasing to God, he will remain free from care in all things and in his whole life.

82. There is an idle care and a care-free action, as also on the contrary a practical freedom from care and an anxious idleness, which the Lord also indicated, the former by saying: "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working"; and again: "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life," not abolishing work, but teaching us work without anxiety; the latter by saying again: "Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature?" abolishing idle care; but concerning the practical [freedom from care] he said: "And why are you anxious about clothing or food? Do you not see the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, how the one grows and the other is fed?". Thus, by abolishing the one and confirming the other, the Lord teaches us how we ought to work with care without being anxious, and how, being free from care, to abstain from unsuitable work.

83. Do not tear down your own house in your desire to build your neighbor's; for see how hard and difficult the work is, lest in choosing this, you both demolish your own, and be entirely unable to build his up.

84. If you have not acquired perfect detachment from the things and possessions of this life, do not wish to be entrusted with the management of affairs, lest you be ensnared by them

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εἰς φῶς καί ἀπό αἰχμαλωσίας εἰς τήν τῆς οἰκείας πατρίδος ἀποκατάστασιν. Οὕτω καί ἀπό ἐμπαθείας εἰς ἀπάθειαν καί ἀπό τῆς τῶν παθῶν δουλώσεως εἰς τήν ἐλευθερίαν τοῦ Πνεύματος καί ἀπό τῆς παρά φύσιν προλήψεως, ὅπερ αἰχμαλωσίαν ὁ πνευματικός ἀποκαλεῖ νόμος, εἰς τήν ὑπέρ φύσιν ἐπάνοδον, ἀπό τοῦ βιωτικοῦ πελάγους καί κλύδωνος πρός τήν ἔξω τοῦ κόσμου γαληνιαίαν κατάστασιν, ἀπό τῆς πικρίας τῶν βιωτικῶν μεριμνῶν τε καί θλίψεων εἰς τήν ἀνεκλάλητον γλυκύτητα καί ἀμεριμνίαν γηΐνου παντός πράγματος, ἀπό τῆς περί τά πολλά ἐπιθυμίας περιστάσεώς τε καί τύρβης πρός τό ἕν (406) μόνον καί τήν ὁλικήν σχέσιν αὐτοῦ καί ἀγάπην, ὁ νοῦς ἡμῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων μεταβαίνειν εἴωθεν.

οθ'. Ἡ μετάβασις τοῦ νοός ἀπό τῶν ὁρωμένων ἐπί τά ἀόρατα καί ἡ ἀπό τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐπί τά ὑπέρ αἴσθησιν τούτου ἐμφιλοχώρησις λήθην πάντων τῶν ὄπισθεν ἐμποιεῖ. Ταύτην οὖν ἐγώ ἡσυχίαν ὄντως καί ἡσυχίας χῶρον καί τόπον ἀποκαλῶ, εἰς ὅν ὁ ἀνελθεῖν ἀξιωθείς, οὐχ ὡς ὁ Μωϋσῆς ἐπί τοῦ ὄρους τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καί νύκτας τοσαύτας ποιήσας πάλιν ἐκεῖθεν κατενεχθήσεται, ἀλλά καλόν ἐκεῖ εἶναι βεβαιωθείς οὐκέτι πρός τά κάτω καθόλου ἐπιστραφήσεται} οἶκος δέ τῆς Τριάδος ἐντεῦθεν γενόμενος καί αὐτός ἐν τῇ Τριάδι, ὡς ἐν αὐτῷ ὤν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἐγκατοικήσει, τῆς ἀγάπης δηλονότι κρατούσης αὐτόν καί μή ἐώσης πεσεῖν.

π'. Οὐχ ὁ ἡσυχάζων μόνος ἤ ὁ ὑποτασσόμενος, ἀλλά καί ὁ ἡγουμενεύων καί ὁ πολλῶν προϊστάμενος καί αὐτός ὁ διακονῶν, ἀμέριμνος ὀφείλει εἶναι, ἤγουν ἐλεύθερος ἀπό πάντων τῶν βιωτικῶν πραγμάτων ἀναμφιβόλως} εἰ γάρ μεριμνῶμεν, παραβάται τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντολῆς εὑρισκόμεθα τῆς λεγούσης} «Μή μεριμνήσητε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν τί φάγητε ἤ τί πίητε ἤ τί ἐνδύσησθε} ταῦτα γάρ πάντα, τά ἔθνη ἐπιζητεῖ»} καί πάλιν} «Βλέπετε μήποτε βαρυνθῶσιν αἱ καρδίαι ὑμῶν ἐν κραιπάλῃ καί μέθῃ καί μερίμναις βιωτικαῖς».

πα'. Ὁ ἐν τοῖς βιωτικοῖς ἔχων πράγμασι τόν λογισμόν μεριμνῶντα οὐκ ἔστιν ἐλεύθερος} ὑπό γάρ τῆς τούτων μερίμνης κατέχεται καί δεδούλωται, κἄν ὑπέρ ἑαυτοῦ μεριμνᾷ ταῦτα κἄν δι᾿ ἑτέρους. Ὁ δέ ἀπό τούτων ἐλεύθερος, οὔτε δι᾿ ἑαυτόν, οὔτε δι᾿ ἑτέρους μεριμνήσει βιωτικῶς, κἄν ἐπίσκοπος κἄν ἡγούμενος κἄν διάκονος εἶναι τύχῃ} ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ ἀργήσει ποτέ ἤ τινος καταφρονήσει τῶν εὐτελεστέρων καί σμικροτάτων, θεαρέστως δέ (407) ἅπαντα ποιῶν καί πράττων, ἀμέριμνος ἐν πᾶσι διατελέσει καί ἐν τῷ βίῳ παντί.

πβ'. Ἔστι μέριμνα ἄπρακτος καί πρᾶξις ἀμέριμνος, ὡς καί τό ἀνάπαλιν ἀμεριμνία ἔμπρακτος καί ἀργία ἐμμέριμνος, ἅς καί ὁ Κύριος ἐδήλωσεν εἰπών τήν μέν ἐν τῷ εἰπεῖν} «Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται κἀγώ ἐργάζομαι»} καί πάλιν} «Ἐργάζεσθε μή τήν βρῶσιν τήν ἀπολλυμένην, ἀλλά τήν μένουσαν εἰς ζωήν αἰώνιον», οὐκ ἀναιρῶν τό ἐργάζεσθαι, ἀλλά τήν χωρίς μερίμνης ἐργασίαν ἐκδιδάσκων ἡμᾶς} τήν δέ ἐν τῷ αὖθις εἰπεῖν} «Τίς μεριμνῶν δύναται προσθεῖναι εἰς τήν ἡλικίαν αὐτοῦ πῆχυν ἕνα;» ἀναιρῶν τήν ἄπρακτον μέριμναν} περί δέ τῆς ἐμπράκτως γινομένης ἔφη} «Καί περί ἐνδύματος ἤ τροφῆς τί μεριμνᾶτε; οὐχ ὁρᾶτε τά κρίνα τοῦ ἀγροῦ καί τά πετεινά τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πῶς τά μέν αὐξάνει, τά δέ διατρέφεται;». Οὕτω τήν μέν ἀναιρῶν, τήν δέ βεβαιῶν, ὁ Κύριος διδάσκει ἡμᾶς πῶς δεῖ μή μεριμνῶντας μεμεριμνημένως ἐργάζεσθαι, καί πῶς ἀμερίμνους ὄντας τῆς μή προσηκούσης ἐργασίας ἀπέχεσθαι.

πγ'. Μή καταλύσῃς σου τήν οἰκίαν ἐν τῷ βούλεσθαί σε τήν τοῦ πλησίον οἰκοδομῆσαι} ὅρα γάρ ὡς χαλεπόν τό ἔργον καί δύσκολον, μήποτε προαιρουμένου σου τοῦτο, καί τήν σήν καθαιρήσῃς, καί ἀνοικοδομῆσαι τήν ἐκείνου ἰσχύσῃς οὐδόλως.

πδ'. Ἐάν μή τελείαν ἀπροσπάθειαν τῶν πραγμάτων καί τῶν χρημάτων κτήσῃ τοῦ βίου, μή θελήσῃς οἰκονομίαν ἐγχειρισθῆναι πραγμάτων, ἵνα μή ἁλῷς ἐν τούτοις