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169. The muzzle of anger is timely silence; of irrational desire, moderate eating; of an unruly thought, [single-thought] prayer.

170. He who wishes to plunge into the depths below, and he who wishes to plunge into the depths above, the one for the sensible pearl, the other for the intelligible pearl, in order to draw it up, unless the one strips himself of his garment, (1441) and the other of his sensation, both will fail to attain what they seek.

171. The mind that has come to be within its own intellect, while praying, will be found conversing as a bridegroom with a bride in the bridal chamber; but he who is not permitted to enter, standing outside, groans and cries out: Who will bring me into the fortified city? or who will guide me, so that I no longer look upon vanities and false madnesses while praying.

172. Just as food without salt is considered by the throat, so also prayer practiced by the mind will be considered when it is without compunction.

173. The soul that is still pursuing prayer is like a woman in labor; but the one that has attained it, to one who has given birth and is filled with joy because of the child.

174. Of old, the Amorite dwelling on the mountain, coming out, would wound those who tried to force a passage; but now wicked forgetfulness pursues those who, before purity, attempt to ascend to the higher prayer of simplicity.

175. The demons are naturally in great enmity with pure prayer. What strikes them is not a multitude of evils [goods], as an army strikes external enemies, but the harmony of three things: mind with reason, and reason with sensation.

176. Bare prayer will be seen as bread, strengthening beginners; prayer with some contemplation, as oil, fattening; and imageless prayer, as fragrant wine, of which those who partake insatiably are ecstatic.

177. A wild ass, it is said, laughs at the noisy crowd of the city; and a unicorn cannot be bound by anyone. But the mind of nature, having become king of the principles of nature, while praying laughs at the vanity of thoughts; and it cannot be dominated by anything under sensation.

178. He who is struggling must confine his sensation to simple food; and his mind, to single-thought prayer; for thus, having become unrestrained by passions, he will come to be caught up to the Lord while praying.

179. (1444) He who brandishes a staff at dogs has enraged them against himself; and he who forces himself to pray purely, enrages demons.

180. Those who are pleasure-loving, when they pray, being material, have thoughts like frogs distracting them; those who are moderately affected have contemplations like nightingales delighting them, with the transition from one branch to another, that is, various contemplations; but for the dispassionate, there is silence and great tranquility from thoughts and concepts while praying.

181. Of old, Moses' Miriam, having seen the fall of the enemies, took up the tambourine and led those who were singing the victory songs; but now, in praise of the soul that has conquered the passions, love, which is greater in virtues, having been aroused, handling the lyre with song as a kind of contemplation—that abundance of beauty long labored for by it—does not cease, together with those around it, exulting to praise God.

182. Whenever, through the continuity of prayer, the sayings of the psalms are held fast in the heart of the one praying, then he himself also, like good soil, begins

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ρξθ΄. Θυμοῦ μέν κημός, ἡ εὔκαιρος γίνεται σιωπή· ἀλόγου δέ ἐπιθυμίας, ἡ σύμμετρος ἐδωδή. ∆υσκαθέκτου δέ λογισμοῦ, ἡ [μονολόγιστος] προσευχή.

ρο΄. Καί εἰς τόν κάτω βυθόν καί εἰς τόν ἄνω ὁ ὑποδῦναι βουλόμενος, ὁ μέν διά τόν αἰσθητόν, ὁ δέ διά τόν νοητόν μαργαρίτην, ἵνα αὐτόν ἀνιμήσηται, εἰ μή γυμνωθῇ οὗτος τῆς ἐσθῆτος, (1441) ἐκεῖνος δέ τῆς αἰσθήσεως, ἀμφότεροι τοῦ ἐπιζητουμένου διαμαρτήσονται.

ροα΄. Ὁ μέν ἔνδοθεν τῆς διανοίας αὐτοῦ γενόμενος νοῦς, ἐν τῷ εὔχεσθαι, ὡς μετά νύμφης νυμφίος ἐν τῷ νυμφῶνι διαλεγόμενος εὑρεθήσεται· ὁ δέ μή συγχωρούμενος εἰσελθεῖν, ἔξωθεν ἱστάμενος στενάζων βοᾷ· Τίς ἀπάξει με εἰς πόλιν περιοχῆς; ἤ τίς ὁδηγήσει με, ἕως τοῦ μή βλέπειν εἰς ματαιότητας καί μανίας ψευδεῖς ἐν τῷ εὔχεσθαι.

ροβ΄. Ὁποία ἡ χωρίς ἁλός τῷ φάρυγγι λογιζομένη τροφή, τοιαύτη καί ἡ ἐκτός κατανύξεως λογισθήσεται τῷ νῷ μετερχομένη εὐχή.

ρογ΄. Ἡ μέν ἔτι καταδιώκουσα ψυχή τήν εὐχήν, τῇ ὠδινούσῃ ὑπάρχει παρεμφερής· ἡ δέ καταλαβοῦσα, τῇ κυησάσῃ, καί πλήρει γενομένῃ διά τόν τόκον χαρᾶς.

ροδ΄. Πάλαι μέν ὁ Ἀμοῤῥαῖος ἐν τῷ ὄρει οἰκῶν, ἐτίτρωσκεν ἐξερχόμενος τούς παραβιαζομένους διέρχεσθαι· νυνί δέ ἡ πονηρά λήθη διώκει τούς πρό τῆς ἁγνείας ἐπί τήν ὑψηλοτέραν ἐπιχειροῦντας ἀναβαίνειν εὐχήν τῆς ἁπλότητος.

ροε΄. Τῆς καθαρᾶς εὐχῆς, ἐν ἔχθρᾳ πολλῇ πεφύκασιν εἶναι οἱ δαίμονες. Καταπλήττει δέ τούτους, οὐχί πλῆθος τῶν κακῶν [καλῶν], ὡς τούς ἔξωθεν πολεμίους τό στράτευμα· ἀλλ᾿ ἡ τριῶν συμφωνία, νοῦ πρός λόγον, καί λόγου πρός αἴσθησιν.

ροστ΄. Ἡ μέν ψιλή εὐχή, ὡς ἄρτος ὀφθήσεται ἀρχομένους στηρίζουσα· ἡ δέ μετά τινος θεωρίας, ὡς ἔλαιον πιαίνουσα· ἡ δέ ἀνείδεος, ὡς οἶνος εὐώδης, οὗ οἱ ἐμφορούμενοι ἀπλήστως ἐξίστανται.

ροζ΄. Ἄγριος μέν ὄνος, πόλεως μέν λέγεται πολυοχλίας καταγελᾷν· καί μονόκερως δέ ὑπ᾿ οὐδενός δεσμεῖσθαι δυνάμενος. Νοῦς δέ φύσεως, καί τῶν περί φύσιν βασιλεύσας λόγων, ματαιότητος μέν καταγελᾷ λογισμῶν προσευχόμενος· παρ᾿ οὐδενός δέ δύναται τῶν ὑπό τήν αἴσθησιν κατεξουσιάζεσθαι.

ροη΄. Χρή τόν ἀγωνιζόμενον, τήν μέν αἴσθησιν αὐτοῦ, εἰς τήν μονοειδή συστέλλειν τροφήν· τόν δέ νοῦν, εἰς τήν μονολόγιστον προσευχήν· οὕτως γάρ ἄσχετος γεγονώς ἐκ παθῶν, καί ἐπί τό ἁρπάζεσθαι πρός Κύριον ἥξει ἐν τῷ προσεύχεσθαι.

ροθ΄. (1444) Ῥάβδον μέν ὁ κυσίν ἐπισείων ἠγρίωσε καθ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ· δαίμονας δέ, ὁ καθαρῶς ἐκβιαζόμενος εὔχεσθαι.

ρπ΄. Οἱ μέν ἡδυπαθεῖς προσευχόμενοι, ἅτε ὑλώδεις ὄντες, ὡς βατράχους ἔχουσι τούς λογισμούς περισπῶντας αὐτούς· οἱ δέ μετριοπαθεῖς, τάς θεωρίας ὡς ἀηδόνας κατατερπούσας αὐτούς, τῇ ἀπ᾿ ἄλλων εἰς ἄλλους ἀκρέμονας, τουτέστι ποικίλας θεωρίας, μεταβάσει· σιγή δέ πρόσεστι τοῖς ἀπαθέσι καί ἠρεμία πολλή ἐκ λογισμῶν καί νοημάτων ἐν τῷ προσεύχεσθαι.

ρπα΄. Πάλαι μέν ἡ τοῦ Μωσέως Μαρία τῶν πολεμίων τήν πτῶσιν θεασαμένη, τό τύμπανον ἀραμένη, ἐξῆρχε ταῖς ᾀδούσαις τά ἐπινίκια· νυνί δέ εἰς εὐφημίαν τῆς νικησάσης τά πάθη ψυχῆς, ἡ κρείττων ἐν ἀρεταῖς ἀγάπη διεγερθεῖσα, τήν μετ᾿ ᾠδῆς κιθάραν ὥσπερ τινά θεωρίαν μεταχειριζομένη ταύτῃ πάλαι τήν πονηθεῖσαν εἰς κάλλους περιουσίαν, οὐ παύεται σύν τοῖς περί τήν αὐτήν ἀγαλλιωμένη αἰνεῖν τόν Θεόν.

ρπβ΄. Ὁπόταν διά συνεχείας τῆς κατά τήν εὐχήν κατασχεθῇ τά λόγια τῶν ψαλμῶν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ τοῦ εὐχομένου, τότε καί αὐτός γῆ καθάπερ ἀγαθή, ἄρχεται