190

to remain in them, and to endure being held fast; from which, hating the disorder of some, while desiring the stability of others, we shall call upon deep unto deep; through the great works in visible things, understanding the principles in intelligible things as far as is possible for men; and thus simply through silence, having peered into the holy of holies, we shall recognize our own worthlessness, being taught mystically through the oracles of the Spirit, how, being earth and ash, we are transformed into divine glory, by the grace of Him who was well-pleased; and that which is by nature worthless and despicable, into what blessedness it is refashioned. And so, amazed at the spectacles of the infinite, we will reap the strong bulwark of the virtues, I mean humility, God's greatest and first gift, being the fruit of true philosophy, through which, mortifying the causes of the passions, I mean the senses, together with the natural affinity of sensible things for them, we cut ourselves off completely from the world; so as to be able to gaze upon intelligible things with an untroubled eye of the soul; from which, or after which, the soul, now truly qualified by humility, and having become henceforth capable of receiving the image of a divine manifestation, divine love, taking it, makes us friends instead of slaves; bestowing the chief point of the law, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, (508) and with all your soul," and what follows, in not allowing any of our intellectual faculties to be directed manfully toward anything else at all, but toward God.

Let us strive therefore, since we have the time set before us by God, to bring into effect the purpose of the pious and Christian profession. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, the unseen tyrants and enemies, who do not organize battles in the open, but engage in wars in the secret place of the heart, let us take up the whole armor of God, as the divine apostle exhorts us, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. And having girded our loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, with which all the flaming arrows of the evil one will be quenched. Let us persevere in all prayer and supplication, and receive the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, which divides, to speak concisely, the worse things from the better, and teaches the pious the conduct befitting Christians, which is the work of perfect discernment: precision of eyes, self-control of tongue, training of body, a humble mind, purity of thoughts, annihilation of anger, as the great Basil somewhere says; the mind's flight to God, and to the temptations, for the sake of guarding what is precious, to add striving against them, being pressed into service; not to go to law when defrauded; to give love in return for hatred; to match persecutions with forbearance; for blasphemies, exhortation; to be put to death to sin; to be crucified with Christ; to transfer all love to God without relation to anything else.

I have written these things, my blessed Lord, not ignorant of the firmness of your faith in Christ, and the gravity that grows in it through the commandments; but wishing you to know what and how great a struggle I have for you, which through anxiety always burns my heart; and I urge you to watch more soberly for the champions of the heresies; lest one of them, deceiving you with the persuasive speech of falsehood, might be able to muddy the clear and life-giving stream of faith within you with the filth of their own impious doctrines, which may it never happen. For they possess a two-edged sword and a sharpened razor for a tongue, which slaughters souls, and into the precipice of Hades, and the abyss

190

ἐναπομένειν αὐτοῖς, καί ἐνεσχεθῆναι ἀνέχεσθαι· ἐξ οὗ, τῶν μέν τό ἄτακτον μισήσαντες· τῶν δέ τό βάσιμον ποθήσαντες, ἀβύσσῳ ἄβυσσον ἐπικαλεσόμεθα· διά τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὁρατοῖς μεγαλουργῶν, τούς ἐν τοῖς νοητοῖς ὡς ἐφικτόν ἀνθρώποις κατανοοῦντες λόγους· καί οὕτως ἀτεχνῶς δι᾿ ἀφθεγξίας τῷ ἀδύτῳ τῶν ἀδύτων παρακύψαντες, τό ἑαυτῶν εὐτελές ἐπιγνωσόμεθα, διδασκόμενοι μυστικῶς διά τῶν λογίων τοῦ Πνεύματος, πῶς ὄντες γῆ καί σποδός, θείας μεταποιούμεθα δόξης, τῇ τοῦ εὐδοκήσαντος χάριτι· καί τό τῇ φύσει εὐτελές καί ἀπόπτυστον, πρός ποίαν μετασκεύαζεται μακαριότητα· καί οὕτω τοῖς τοῦ ἀπείρου καταπλαγέντες θεάμασι, τό ὀσχυρόν φυλακτήριον τῶν ἀρετῶν, λέγω δή τήν ταπείνωσιν, Θεοῦ δῶρον μέγιστον καί πρῶτον, τῆς ἀληθοῦς φιλοσοφίας καρπόν οὖσαν, δρεψόμεθα δι᾿ ἧς νεκροῦντες τῶν παθῶν τά αἴτια, φημί δή τάς αἰσθήσεις, μετά τῆς πρός αὐτάς τῶν αἰσθητῶν συγγενοῦς οἰκειότητος, κόσμου παντελῶς ἑαυτούς ἀποτέμνομεν· ὥστε ἀνεπιθολώτῳ ψυχῆς ὄμματι ἐπιβάλλειν δύνασθαι τοῖς νοητοῖς· ἐξ ὧν, ἤ μεθ᾿ ἅ, τήν ψυχήν ἤδη ἀληθῶς τῇ ταπεινώσει ποιωθεῖσαν, καί λοιπόν ἱκανήν γενομένην θείας ἐμφάσεως δέξασθαι εἰκόνα, παραλαβοῦσα ἤ θεία ἀγάπη, φίλους ἡμᾶς ἀντί δούλων ἐργάζεται· τό τοῦ νόμου κεφάλαιον, τό, Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τόν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου, (508) καί ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου, καί τά ἑξῆς, χαριζομένη, ἐν τῷ μηδεμίαν τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν νοερῶν δυνάμεων πρός ἄλλο τι παντελῶς, ἤ πρός θεόν ἀῤῥενωπῶς συγχωρεῖν ἀνατείνεσθαι.

Ἀγωνισώμεθα οὖν ὡς καιρόν ἔχομεν τόν προτεθέντα ἡμῖν παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῆς εὐσεβοῦς καί Χριστιανικῆς ἐπαγγελίας σκοπόν εἰς ἔργον ἀγαγεῖν. Ὅτι δ᾿ Οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρός αἷμα καί σάρκα, ἀλλά πρός τάς ἀρχάς, πρός τάς ἐξουσίας, πρός τούς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, τούς ἀφανεῖς τυράννους καί πολεμίους, οὐκ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ συγροτοῦντας τάς μάχας, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ τῆς καρδίας τούς πολέμους συμπλέκοντας, Ἀναλάβωμεν τήν πανοπλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς ὁ θεῖος ἡμῖν παρακελεύεται ἀπόστολος, ἵνα δυνηθῶμεν ἀντιστῆναι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πονηρᾷ, καί ἅπαντα κατεργασάμενοι στῆναι· καί περιζωσάμενοι τήν ὀσφύν ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καί ἐνδυσάμενοι τόν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης, ἐν ᾧ πάντα τά βέλη τοῦ πονηροῦ τά πεπυρωμένα σβεσθήσεται. Προσκαρτερήσωμεν διά πάσης προσευχῆς καί δεήσεως, καί τήν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος δέξασθαι, ὅ ἐστι ῥῆμα Θεοῦ, τό διαιροῦν, ἵνα συνελών εἴπω, τῶν κρειττόνων τά χείρονα, καί διδάσκον τούς εὐσεβεῖν τήν πρέπουσαν Χριστανοῖς ἀγωγήν, ὅπερ τελείας ἔργον ἐστί διακρίσεως· ὀφθαλμῶν ἀκρίβειαν, γλώσσης ἐγκράτειαν· σώματος παιδαγωγίαν · φρόνημα ταπεινόν, ἐννοίας καθαρότητα· ὀργῆς ἀφανισμόν, ὥς πού φησιν ὁ μέγας Βασίλειον· νοῦ πρός Θεόν ἀνάπτησιν, καί τοῖς πειρασμοῖς, φυλακῆς χάριν τῶν τιμίων, ἀνταγωνίζεσθαι προστιθέναι ἀγγαρευομένους· μέ δικάζεσθαι ἀποστερουμένους· μίσους ἀγάπην ἀντιμετρεῖν· ἀνοχήν διωγμοῖς ἐξισοῦν· βλασφημίαις, παράκλησιν· νεκρωθῆναι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ· συσταυρωθῆναι Χριστῷ· ὅλην μεταθέσθαι πρός Θεόν ἀσχέτως τήν ἀγάπην.

Ταῦτα γέγραφα, ∆έσποτά μου εὐλογημένε, οὐκ ἀγνοῶν ὑμῶν τό στερέωμα τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ πίστεως, καί τήν ἐν αὐτῷ αὐξανομένην διά τῶν ἐντολῶν σεμνότητα· ἀλλ᾿ εἰδέναι ὑμᾶς βουλόμενος, ὁποῖον καί ὁπόσον ἔχω περί ὑμῶν ἀγῶνα, διά μερίμνης ἀεί μου ἐκκαίοντα τήν καρδίαν· καί παρατηρεῖσθαι νηφαλαιότερον παρακαλῶ τούς τῶν αἱρέσεων προμάχους· ἵνα μή τις αὐτῶν παραλογισάμενος ὑμᾶς πειθανολογίᾳ ψεύδους, τό ἐν ὑμῖν διαυγές καί ζωτικόν τῆς πίστεως νάμα τοῖς ἰδίοις τῶν ἀσεβῶν δογμάτων ἐπιθολῶσαι ῥύποις δυνηθῇ, ὅπερ μή γένοιτο. Ξίφος γάρ δίστομον καί ξυρόν ἠκονημένον τήν γλῶσσαν κέκτηνται, ψυχάς σφάζουσαν, καί εἰς πέταυρον ᾄδου, καί βάραθρον