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to slay the lamb and to eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs, and similar things, spiritually only.

(1013) 87. There are three more general moral states among monks. And the first is, to commit no sin in act; the second, not to let passionate thoughts linger in the soul; and the third, to contemplate dispassionately in the mind the forms of women and of those who have caused pain.

88. He is without possessions who has renounced all his belongings, and possesses nothing at all on earth except his body; and having broken even his attachment to it, has entrusted his own sustenance to God and to the pious.

89. Of those who possess things, some possess dispassionately; therefore, when deprived of them, they are not grieved; like those who accepted with joy the seizure of their belongings. But others possess with passion; for which reason, when they are about to be deprived, they become very sorrowful; like the rich man in the Gospel, who went away grieving. And if they are deprived, they grieve until death. Deprivation, therefore, tests the disposition of the dispassionate and the passionate.

90. The demons wage war against those who pray intensely, so that they may not receive simple thoughts of sensible things; and against the gnostics, so that passionate thoughts may linger in them; and against those who struggle in the active life, so that they may persuade them to sin in act; and in every way they struggle against all, so that the wretches may separate men from God.

91. Those who in this life are trained in piety by divine providence are tested by these three temptations: either by the giving of pleasant things, such as health and beauty and good children (1016) and wealth and glory, and the like; or by the infliction of painful things, such as the loss of children, and wealth and glory; or by things that cause pain to the body, such as sicknesses and tortures, and so on. And to the first the Lord says: If anyone does not renounce all his possessions, he cannot be my disciple. And to the second and third: In your patience you will possess your souls.

92. They say these four things alter the temperament of the body, and give thoughts to the mind, either passionate or dispassionate through it: namely, angels, demons, the airs, and diet. And they say that angels alter it by a word; demons, by touch; the airs, by their changes; and diet, by the qualities of foods and drinks, and by excess and deficiency; apart from the alterations that happen to it through memory and hearing and sight, when the soul is first affected by painful or joyful events that befall it. And when the soul suffers from these things, it alters the temperament of the body; but when the temperament is altered by the aforementioned things, it provides thoughts to the mind.

93. Death, properly speaking, is separation from God; and the sting of death is sin. When Adam received this, he was exiled at once from the tree of life, and from paradise, and from God; to which the death of the body necessarily followed. But life, properly speaking, is He who said: I am the life. He, having been in death, brought the one who was dead back again to life.

94. A discourse, when written, is written either for one's own remembrance, or for the benefit of others, or for both, or for the harm of some, or for display, or out of necessity.

95. A place of green grass is the practical virtue; the water of repose, the knowledge of created things.

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σφάξαι τόν ἀμνόν καί ἔδεσθαι ἄζυμα ἐπί πικρίδων, καί τά ὅμοια, πνευματικῶς μόνον.

(1013) πζ΄. Τρεῖς εἰσιν ἠθικαί καταστάσεις γενικώτεραι ἐν τοῖς μοναχοῖς. Καί πρώτη μέν, τό μηδέν ἁμαρτάνειν κατ᾿ ἐνέργειαν· δευτέρα δέ, τό μή ἐγχρονίζειν ἐν τῇ ψυχῆ τούς ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμούς· τρίτη δέ, τό τάς μορφάς τῶν γυναικῶν, καί τῶν λυπησάντων ἀπαθῶς θεωρεῖν κατά διάνοιαν.

πη΄. Ἀκτήμων ἐστίν ὁ ἀπαταξάμενος πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν αὐτῷ, καί μηδέν τό σύνολον ἐπί γῆς κεκτημένος πλήν τοῦ σώματος· καί τήν πρός αὐτό δέ σχέσιν διαῤῥήξας, τῷ Θεῷ καί τοῖς εὐσεβέσι τήν ἑαυτοῦ κατεπίστευσεν οἰκονομίαν.

πθ΄. Τῶν κτωμένων οἱ μέν ἀπαθῶς κτῶνται· διό καί στερούμενοι αὐτῶν, οὐ λυποῦνται· ὡς οἱ τήν ἁρπαγήν τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτοῖς μετά χαρᾶς προσδεξάμενοι. Οἱ δέ ἐμπαθῶς κτῶνται· διότι μέλλοντες στερεῖσθαι, περίλυποι γίνονται· ὡς ὁ ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ πλούσιος, ἀπῆλθε λυπούμενος. Εἰ δέ καί στεροῦνται, μέχρι θανάτου λυποῦνται. Τοῦ οὖν ἀπαθοῦς καί τοῦ ἐμπαθοῦς τήν διάθεσιν ἡ στέρησις ἐλέγχει.

τεσ. ἀνοικ.΄. Τούς μέν ἄκρως προσευχομένους πολεμοῦσιν οἱ δαίμονες, ἵνα τά νοήματα τῶν αἰσθητῶν πραγμάτων ψιλά μή ἀναλαμβάνωσι· τούς δέ γνωστικούς, ἵνα ἐγχρονίζωσιν ἐν αὐτοῖς οἱ ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμοί· τούς δέ περί τήν πρᾶξιν ἀγωνιζομένους, ἵνα πείσωσιν αὐτούς κατ᾿ ἐνέργειαν ἁμαρτάνειν· παντί δέ τρόπῳ πρός πάντας ἀγωνίζονται, ἵνα ἀπό τοῦ Θεοῦ οἱ δείλαιοι τούς ἀνθρώπους χωρίσωσι.

τεσ. ἀνοικ. α΄. Οἱ κατά τόν βίον τοῦτον ὑπό τῆς θείας προνοίας εἰς εὐσέβειαν ἐγγυμναζόμενοι, διά τῶν τριῶν τούτων πειρασμῶν δοκιμάζονται· οἷον, ἤ διά τῆς τῶν ἡδέων δόσεως, ὡς ἐπί ὑγείας καί κάλλους καί εὐτεκνίας (1016) καί χρημάτων καί δόξης, καί τῶν ὁμοίων· ἤ διά τῆς τῶν λυπηρῶν ἐπιφορᾶς· οἷον, στερήσεως τέκνων, καί χρημάτων καί δόξης· ἤ διά τῶν ὀδύνας ἐμποιούντων τῷ σώματι· οἷον, νοσημάτων καί βασάνων, καί τῶν ἑξῆς. Καί πρός μέν τούς πρώτους λέγει ὁ Κύριος· Εἴ τις οὐκ ἀποτάσσεται πᾶσι τῖς ὑπάρχουσιν αὐτῷ, οὐ δύναταί μου εἶναι μαθητής. Πρός δέ τούς δευτέρους καί τρίτους· Ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ ὑμῶν κτήσασθε τάς ψυχάς ὑμῶν.

τεσ. ἀνοικ. β΄. Τά τέσσαρα ταῦτά φασιν ἀλλοιῶσαι τήν κρᾶσιν τοῦ σώματος, καί διδόναι τῷ νῷ λογισμούς, εἴτε ἐμπαθεῖς δι᾿ αὐτῆς, εἴτε ἀπαθεῖς· οἷον, τούς ἀγγέλους, τούς δαίμονας, τούς ἀέρας, τήν δίαιταν. Καί τούς μέν ἀγγέλους λόγῳ φασίν ἀλλοιῶσαι· τούς δέ δαίμονας, δι᾿ ἐπαφῆς· τούς δέ ἀέρας, ταῖς μεταβολαῖς· τήν δέ δίαιταν, ταῖς τῶν βρωμάτων καί πομάτων ποιότησι, καί πλεονασμῷ καί ἐλαττώσει· πάρεξ τῶν διά μνήμης καί ἀκοῆς καί ὁράσεως συμβαινουσῶν αὐτῇ ἀλλοιώσεων, πρωτοπαθούσης τῆς ψυχῆς ἐκ τῶν συμπιπτόντων αὐτῆ λυπηρῶν ἤ χαροποιῶν. Καί ἐκ τούτων μέν πάσχουσα ἡ ψυχή, ἀλλοιοῖ τήν κρᾶσιν τοῦ σώματος· ἐκ δέ τῶν προειρημένων ἡ κρᾶσις ἀλλοιουμένη, παρέχει τῷ νῷ λογισμούς.

τεσ. ἀνοικ. γ΄. Θάνατος μέν ἐστι κυρίως ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ χωρισμός· κέντρον δέ θανάτου, ἡ ἁμαρτία· ὅ δεξάμενος ὁ Ἀδάμ, ὁμοῦ τοῦ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλου, καί τοῦ παραδείσου καί τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐξόριστος γέγονε· ᾧ ἐπηκολούθησεν ἐξ ἀνάγκης καί ὁ τοῦ σώματος θάνατος. Ζωή δέ κυρίως ἐστίν ὁ εἰπών· Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ζωή, Οὗτος ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ γενόμενος, τόν νεκρωθέντα πάλιν εἰς τήν ζωήν ἐπανήγαγεν.

τεσ. ἀνοικ. δ΄. Ὁ λόγος συγγραφόμενος, ἤ πρός τήν ἑαυτοῦ ὑπόμνησιν συγγράφεται, ἤ πρός ὠφέλειαν, ἤ καί ἄμφω, ἤ πρός βλάβην τινῶν, ἤ πρός ἐπίδειξιν, ἤ ἐξ ἀνάγκης.

τεσ. ἀνοικ. ε΄. Τόπος ἐστί χλόης ἡ πρακτική ἀρετή· ὕδωρ ἀναπαύσεως, ἡ γνῶσις τῶν γεγονότων.