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which is opposed to hatred; and to the desiring part, moderation and self-control; and to the flesh, food and covering, which alone are most necessary.

45. The mind acts according to nature, when it has the passions subordinate, and contemplates the principles of beings, and abides with God.

46. Just as health and sickness are considered in relation to the body of a living being, and light and darkness in relation to the eye; so are virtue and vice in relation to the soul, and knowledge and ignorance in relation to the mind.

47. The Christian philosophizes in these three things: in the commandments, in the dogmas, and in the faith. And the commandments separate the mind from the passions; the dogmas introduce it to the knowledge of beings; and the faith, to the contemplation of the holy Trinity.

48. Some of those who struggle only repel passionate thoughts; but others also cut off the passions themselves. And one repels passionate thoughts, for example, either by psalmody, or by prayer, or by raising the mind, or by some other local distraction. But he cuts off the passions by scorning those things towards which he possesses them.

49. The things towards which we possess passions are these, for example, a woman, money, gifts, and so forth. (1060) And one can scorn a woman, when even after withdrawal, he must also mortify the body through self-control; and money, when he persuades his reason to abide in complete self-sufficiency; and glory, when he loves the hidden practice of the virtues, visible to God alone; and similarly with the rest; he who scorns these things, never falls into hatred of anyone.

50. He who has renounced things, such as a wife and money, and so forth, has made the outer man a monk; but not yet also the inner. But he who has renounced their passionate thoughts, has made the inner man a monk, that is, the mind. And the outer man, one easily makes a monk, if only he wishes; but it is no small struggle to make the inner man a monk.

51. Who then is there in this generation, who has been completely freed from passionate thoughts, and been deemed worthy of pure and immaterial prayer; which is the sign of the inner monk?

52. Many passions are hidden in our souls; but they are exposed when things appear.

53. One can not be troubled by passions in the absence of things, having attained a partial dispassion; but if the things appear, immediately the passions distract the mind.

54. Do not think you have perfect dispassion when the thing is not present. But when it appears, and you remain unmoved, both toward the thing, and toward the memory of it afterwards, then know that you have stepped on its borders. Yet even so do not be contemptuous, because virtue, when it endures, puts the passions to death; but when neglected, it raises them again.

55. He who loves Christ, surely also imitates him according to his ability. For example, Christ did not cease from doing good to men; and when treated with ingratitude and blasphemed, he was long-suffering; and when beaten by them and killed, he endured, reckoning evil against no one at all. These three are the works of love for one's neighbor, without which he who says he loves Christ, or will attain His kingdom, deceives himself; For not he who says to me, He says, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. And again: He who loves me, will also keep my commandments, and so forth.

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μίσει ἀντικειμένην· τῷ δέ ἐπιθυμητικῷ, σωφροσύνην καί ἐγκράτειαν· τῷ δέ σαρκίῳ, διατροφήν καί σκεπάσματα, τά μόνα ἀναγκαιότερα.

με΄. Κατά φύσιν ὁ νοῦς ἐνεργεῖ, ὅταν τά πάθη ἔχῃ ὑποτεταγμένα, καί τούς λόγους τῶν ὄντων θεωρῇ, καί πρός τόν Θεόν διάγῃ.

μστ΄. Ὥσπερ ὑγεία καί νόσος πρός τό σῶμα θεωρεῖται τοῦ ζώου, καί φῶς καί σκότος πρός τόν ὀφθαλμόν· οὕτως ἀρετή καί κακία πρός τήν ψυχήν, καί γνῶσις καί ἀγνωσία πρός τόν νοῦν.

μζ΄. Ἐν τοῖς τρισί τούτοις ὁ Χριστιανός φιλοσοφεῖ· ἐν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς, ἐν τοῖς δόγμασι, καί ἐν τῇ πίστει. Καί αἱ μέν ἐντολαί, τῶν παθῶν τόν νοῦν χωρίζουσι· τά δέ δόγματα, εἰς τήν γνῶσιν τῶν ὄντων αὐτόν εἰσάγουσι· ἡ δέ πίστις, εἰς τήν θεωρίαν τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος.

μη΄. Οἱ μέν τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων, ἀποκρούονται μόνον τούς ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμούς· οἱ δέ καί αὐτά τά πάθη περικόπτουσι. Καί ἀποκρούεται μέν τις τούς ἐμπαθεῖς λογισμούς· οἷον, ἤ ψαλμῳδίᾳ, ἤ προσευχῇ, ἤ μετεωρισμῷ, ἤ ἄλλῳ τινί τοπικῷ περισπασμῷ. Ἐκκόπτει δέ τά πάθη, τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκείνων πειρφρονῶν, πρός ἅπερ αὐτά κέκτηται.

μθ΄. Πρός ἅπερ τά πάθη κεκτήμεθα πράγματα, εἰσί ταῦτα, οἷον, γυνή, χρήματα, δῶρα, καί τά ἑξῆς. (1060) Καί τῆς μέν γυναικός, τότε δύναταί τις περιφρονεῖν, ὅτε καί μετά τήν ἀναχώρησιν, καί τό σῶμα δεῖ δι᾿ ἐγκρατείας μαραίνει· τῶν δέ χρημάτων, ὅτε πείθει τόν λογισμόν ἐν παντί τῇ αὐταρκείᾳ στοιχῆσαι· τῆς δέ δόξης, ὅτε τήν κρυπτήν ἀγαπήσει τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐργασίαν, καί Θεῷ φαινομένην μόνῳ· καί ἐπί τῶν ἄλλων ὡσαύτως· ὁ δέ τούτων περιφρονῶν, οὐδέ εἰς μῖσός τινος ἔρχεταί ποτε.

ν΄. Ὁ μέν τοῖς πράγμασιν ἀποταξάμενος, οἷον τῇ γυναικί καί τοῖς χρήμασι, καί τοῖς ἑξῆς, τόν ἔξω ἄνθρωπον ἐποίησε μοναχόν· οὔπω δέ καί τόν ἔσω. Ὁ δέ τοῖς τούτων ἐμπαθέσι νοήμασι, τόν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, ὅ ἐστιν ὁ νοῦς. Καί τόν μέν ἔξω ἄνθρωπον, εὐκόλως τις ποιεῖ μοναχόν, μόνον ἐάν θελήσῃ· οὐκ ὀλίγος δέ ἀγών, τόν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον ποιῆσαι μοναχόν.

να΄. Τίς ἄρα ἐστίν ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ, ὁ παντάπασιν ἀπαλλαγείς ἐμπαθῶν νοημάτων, καί τῆς καθαρᾶς καί ἀΰλου καταξιωθείς προσευχῆς· ὅπερ ἐστί σημεῖον τοῦ ἔνδον μοναχοῦ;

νβ΄. Πολλά πάθη ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν κέκρυπται· τότε δέ ἐλέγχονται, ὅταν τά πράγματα ἀναφαίνωνται.

νγ΄. ∆ύναταί τις μή ὀχλεῖσθαι ὑπό παθῶν ἐν τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπουσίᾳ, μερικῆς τυχών ἀπαθείας· ἐάν δέ ἀναφανῶσι τά πράγματα, εὐθύς τά πάθη τόν νοῦν περισπῶσι.

νδ΄. Μή νόμιζε τελείαν ἔχειν ἀπάθειαν, τοῦ πράγματος μή παρόντος. Ὅταν δέ φανῇ, καί μένῃς ἀκίνητος, πρός τε τό πρᾶγμα, καί τήν μετά ταῦτα μνήμην αὐτοῦ, τότε γνῶθι σεαυτόν τῶν ὅρων αὐτῆς ἐπιβεβηκέναι. Πλήν μηδέ οὕτω καταφρονήσῃς, διότι ἀρετή μέν χρονίζουσα, νεκροῖ τά πάθη· ἀμελουμένη δέ, πάλιν ἐγείρει αὐτά.

νε΄. Ὁ ἀγαπῶν τόν Χριστόν, πάντως καί μιμεῖται αὐτόν κατά δύναμιν. Οἶον, ὁ Χριστός τούς ἀνθρώπους εὐεργετῶν οὐκ ἐπαύσατο· καί ἀχαριστούμενος καί βλασφημούμενος, ἐμακροθύμει· καί τυπτόμενος ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν καί φονευόμενος, ὑπέμενε, μηδενί τό σύνολον τό κακόν λογιζόμενος. Ταῦτα δέ τά τρία, τά ἔργα εἰσί τῆς εἰς τόν πλησίον ἀγάπης, ὧν χωρίς ὁ λέγων ἀγαπᾷν τόν Χριστόν, ἤ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ τυχεῖν, ἑαυτόν ἀπατᾷ· Οὐ γάρ ὁ λέγων μοι, φησί, Κύριε, Κύριε, οὗτος εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ὁ ποιῶν τό θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου. Καί πάλιν· Ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἐμέ, καί τάς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσει, καί τά ἑξῆς.