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of the judgment of beings. And this alone is in every way comprehensible of him: his infinity, and this very knowing of nothing, is a knowing beyond the mind, as somewhere [edit. just as] the theological men have said, both Gregory and Dionysius.

The Second Hundred Chapters on Love. 1. He who genuinely loves God, he also prays without distraction in every way;

and he who prays without distraction in every way, he also genuinely loves God. But he does not pray without distraction, whose mind is nailed to anything earthly; therefore he does not love God, whose mind is bound to anything earthly.

2. The mind that lingers on a sensible object, certainly has a passion for it; such as desire, or grief, or anger, or remembrance of wrongs; and if it does not despise that object, it cannot be freed from that passion.

3. The passions, gaining mastery of the mind, bind it to material things; and having separated it from God, they make it to be occupied with them. But the love of God, having gained mastery, frees it from its bonds; persuading it to disregard not only sensible things, but also our own temporary life itself.

4. The work of the commandments is to make the concepts of things simple; and of reading and contemplation, to render the mind immaterial and formless; (985) and from this it comes to pass, to pray without distraction.

5. The practical method is not sufficient for the mind to be completely freed from the passions, so as to be able to pray without distraction, unless various spiritual contemplations also succeed it. For the one frees the mind only from incontinence and hatred; but the others release it also from forgetfulness and ignorance; and thus it will be able to pray as it ought.

6. There are two highest states of pure prayer: the one befalling those in the practical life; the other, those in the contemplative life. And the one is engendered in the soul from fear of God and good hope; the other, from divine love and the highest purity. The signs of the first measure are, in gathering the mind from all the concepts of the world, and as though God Himself stood by it, as indeed He does, to offer prayers without distraction and without disturbance; of the second, for the mind to be seized by the divine and infinite light in the very impulse of prayer, and to be conscious neither of itself nor of any other existing thing at all, except only of Him who through love is activating such an illumination in it. Then also, being moved concerning the principles of God, it receives pure and clear impressions concerning Him.

7. Whatever one loves, to this he certainly holds fast; and he despises all things that hinder him from this, so that he may not be deprived of it. And one who loves God takes care for pure prayer; and every passion that hinders him from this, he casts out of himself.

8. He who has cast off self-love, the mother of the passions, with God's help easily puts away the rest; such as anger, grief, remembrance of wrongs, and so forth; but he who is mastered by the first, is wounded by the second, even if he does not wish it. For self-love is passion for the body.

9. For these five reasons people love one another, whether in a praiseworthy or a blameworthy way. For instance, either for God's sake, as the virtuous man loves all, and as one loves a virtuous man even if he is not yet virtuous himself; or through nature, as parents love their children, and vice versa; or for vainglory, as one who is glorified loves the one glorifying; or for avarice, as one loves a rich man for what he can get; or for

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κριτικῆς τῶν ὄντων. Καί τοῦτο πάντη καταληπτόν αὐτοῦ μόνον, ἡ ἀπειρία, καί αὐτό τό μηδέν γινώσκειν, ὑπέρ νοῦν γινώσκειν, ὥς που [edit. ὥσπερ] οἱ θεολόγοι ἄνδρες εἰρήκασι, Γρηγόριός τε καί ∆ιονύσιος.

Περί ἀγάπης ἑκατοντάς δευτέρα. α΄. Ὁ γνησίως τόν Θεόν ἀγαπῶν, οὗτος καί ἀπερισπάστως πάντως προσεύχεται·

καί ὁ ἀπερισπάστως πάντως προσευχόμενος, οὗτος καί γνησίως τόν Θεόν ἀγαπᾷ. Οὐκ εὔχεται δέ ἀπερισπάστως, ὅ τινι ἐπιγείων ἔχων τόν νοῦν προσηλωμένον· οὐκ ἄρα ἀγαπᾷ τόν Θεόν, ὅ τινι τῶν ἐπιγείων ἔχων τόν νοῦν δεδεμένον.

β΄. Ὁ νοῦς πράγματι χρονίζων αἰσθητῷ, πάθος ἔχει πάντως πρός αὐτό· οἷον ἐπιθυμίας, ἤ λύπης, ἤ ὀργῆς, ἤ μνησικακίας· καί εἰ μή τοῦ πράγματος ἐκείνου καταφρονεῖ, τοῦ πάθους ἐκείνου ἐλευθεροῦσθαι οὐ δύναται.

γ΄. Τά μέν πάθη τοῦ νοῦ κρατοῦντα συνδεσμοῦσιν αὐτόν τοῖς πράγμασι τοῖς ὑλικοῖς· καί τοῦ Θεοῦ χωρίσαντα, αὐτοῖς ἐνασχολεῖσθαι ποιοῦσιν. ἡ δέ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγάπη κρατήσασα, λύει αὐτόν τῶν δεσμῶν· παραφρονεῖν πείθουσα οὐ μόνόν τῶν αἰσθητῶν πραμγάτων, ἀλλά καί αὐτῆς ἡμῶν τῆς προσκαίρου ζωῆς.

δ΄. Ἔργον τῶν ἐντολῶν,ψιλά ποιεῖν τά τῶν πραγμάτων νοήματα· ἀναγνώσεως δέ καί θεωρίας, ἄϋλον καί ἀνείδεον τόν νοῦν ἀπεργάζεσθαι· (985) ἐκ δέ τούτου συμβαίνει, τό ἀπερισπάστως προσεύχεσθαι.

ε΄. Οὐκ ἀρκεῖ πρακτική μέθοδος πρός τό τελείως τόν νοῦν παθῶν ἐλευθερωθῆναι, ὥστε δυνηθῆναι αὐτόν ἀπερισπάστως προσεύχεσθαι, εἰ μή καί διάφοροι αὐτόν διαδέξονται πνευματικαί θεωρίαι. Ἡ μέν γάρ, ἀκρασίας καί μίσους μόνον τόν νοῦν ἐλευθεροῖ· αἱ δέ, καί λήθης καί ἀγνοίας αὐτόν ἀπαλλάττουσι· καί οὕτω δυνήσεται ὡς δεῖ προσεύξασθαι.

στ΄. Τῆς καθαρᾶς προσευχῆς δύο εἰσίν ἀκρόταται καταστάσεις· ἡ μέν, τοῖς πρακτικοῖς· ἡ δέ, τοῖς θεωρητικοῖς ἐπισυμβαίνουσα. Καί ἡ μέν, ἐκ φόβου Θεοῦ καί ἐλπίδος ἀγαθῆς τῇ ψυχῇ ἐγγίνεται· ἡ δέ, ἀπό θείου ἔρωτος καί ἀκροτάτης καθάρσεως. Γνωρίσματα δέ τοῦ μέν πρώτου μέτρου, τό ἐν τῷ συναγαγεῖν τόν νοῦν ἐκ πάντων τῶν τοῦ κόσμου νοημάτων, καί ὡς αὐτῷ αὐτοῦ περισταμένου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὥσπερ καί παρέστη, ποιεῖσθαι τάς προσευχάς ἀπερισπάστως καί ἀνενοχλήτως· τοῦ δέ δευτέρου, τό ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὁρμῇ τῆς προσευχῆς ἁρπαγῆναι τόν νοῦν ὑπό τοῦ θείου καί ἀπείρου φωτός, καί μήτε ἑαυτοῦ μήτε τινός ἄλλου τῶν ὄντων τό σύνολον ἐπαισθάνεσθαι, εἰ μή μόνου τοῦ διά τῆς ἀγάπης ἐν αὐτῷ τήν τοιαύτην ἔλλαμψιν ἐνεργοῦντος. Τότε δέ καί περί τούς περί Θεοῦ λόγους κινούμενος, καθαράς καί τρανάς τάς περί αὐτοῦ λαμβάνει ἐμφάσεις.

ζ΄. Ὅ τις ἀγαπᾷ, τούτου καί ἀντέχεται πάντως· καί πάντων τῶν πρός τοῦτο ἐμποδιζόντων αὐτῷ, καταφρονεῖ, ἵνα μή αὐτοῦ στερηθῇ, καί τόν Θεόν ἀγαπῶν, ἐπιμελεῖται καθαρᾶς προσευχῆς· καί πᾶν πάθος πρός τοῦτο ἐμποδίζον αὐτῷ, ἀποβάλλει ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ.

η΄. Ὁ τήν μητέρα τῶν παθῶν ἀποβαλών φιλαυτίαν, καί τά λοιπά εὐχερῶς σύν Θεῷ ἀποτίθεται· οἷον ὁργήν, λύπην, μνησικακίαν, καί τά ἑξῆς· ὁ δέ ὑπό τοῦ πρώτου κρατούμενος, ὑπό τοῦ δευτέρου, κἄν μή θέλῃ, τιτρώσκεται. Φιλαυτία δέ ἐστι, τό πρός τό σῶμα πάθος.

θ΄. ∆ιά τάς πέντε ταύτας αἰτίας οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἀγαπῶσιν ἀλλήλους, εἴτε ἐπαινετῶς, εἴτε ψεκτῶς. Οἷον, ἤ διά τόν Θεόν, ὡς ὁ ἐνάρετος πάντας, καί ὡς ὁ τόν ἐνάρετον κἄν μήπω ἐνάρετος· ἤ διά φύσιν, ὡς οἱ γονεῖς τά τέκνα, καί ἔμπαλιν· ἤ διά κενοδοξίαν, ὡς ὁ δοξαζόμενος τόν δοξάζοντα· ἤ διά φιλαργυρίαν, ὡς ὁ πλούσιον διά λῆψιν· ἤ διά