549

8. You were commanded to have the body as a servant, but not indeed to be a slave to its pleasures against nature.

9. Break the bonds of the friendship toward the body, and grant nothing to the slave, except what is of all necessity.

10. Shut up the senses in the fortress of stillness, so that they may not distract the mind to their own desires.

11. The greatest weapons of one who keeps still with patience are self-control and love and prayer and reading.

12. The mind does not cease circling around pleasures, until having brought the flesh into subjection it is at leisure for contemplation.

13. Let us strive for the commandments, so that we may be freed from the passions; and for the divine doctrines, so that we may be deemed worthy of knowledge.

(1440) 14. Tranquility of soul is dispassion and knowledge; to obtain which is impossible for one who is a slave to pleasures.

15. Bring the body into subjection by taking away its pleasures, and deliver it from wicked slavery.

16. Having been created free, and called to freedom, do not endure to be a slave to unclean passions.

17. With griefs and pleasures, desires and fears, the demons bind the mind to sensible things.

18. Fear of God masters desires, and grief according to God drives away pleasure. 19. Desire for wisdom despises fear, and the reception of knowledge drives away grief. 20. These four things the Scriptures contain: the commandments, the doctrines, the threats,

the promises. 21. Temperance and labor halt desire; but love and diminishes it

sympathy. 24. To whom knowledge was given, intellectual light was given; but he who having received it dishonors it, will see darkness. 25. Keeping the commandments of God begets dispassion; and dispassion of the soul preserves knowledge. 26. Lead up sensible things to intellectual contemplation, and you will draw up the sense above

sensible things. 27. The sensible woman signifies the practical soul; with whom the mind having been united

brings forth the virtues. 28. The investigation of the words of God teaches the knowledge of God to the one seeking in truth, in

reverence and desire. 29. What the light is to those who see and to things seen, this God also is to those who understand, and

to things understood. 30. The sensible firmament signifies the firmament of faith, in which all the saints

shine like luminaries. 31. Heavenly Jerusalem is knowledge of the incorporeal beings; for in it is contemplated the

vision of peace. 32. Do not neglect practice, since knowledge is diminished; and when a famine occurs

you go down into Egypt. 33. Intellectual freedom is the release from the passions; which no one attains without

the mercy of Christ.

549

η´. Ἐκελεύσθης τό σῶμα ὑπηρέτην ἔχειν, οὐ μήν δέ ταῖς ἡδοναῖς αὐτοῦ παρά φύσιν δουλεύειν.

θ´.Ῥῆξον τά δεσμά τῆς πρός τό σῶμα φιλίας, καί μηδέν παράσχῃς τῷ δούλῳ, ὅ τι μή πᾶσα ἀνάγκη.

ι´. Ἔγκλεισον τάς αἰσθήσεις ἐν τῷ φρουρίῳ τῆς ἡσυχίας, ἵνα μή τόν νοῦν περισπῶσιν εἰς τάς ἰδίας ἀπιθυμίας.

ια´. Μέγιστα ὅπλα τοῦ μεθ᾿ ὑπομονῆς ἡσυχάζοντος, ἐγκράτεια καί ἀγάπη καί προσευχή καί ἀνάγνωσις.

ιβ´. Οὐ παύεται ὁ νοῦς περί τάς ἡδονάς κυκλεύων, ἄχρις οὗ τήν σάρκα δουλαγωγήσας θεωρίᾶ σχολάζεται.

ιγ. Ὑπέρ τῶν ἐντολῶν ἀγωνιζώμεθα, ἵνα παθῶν ἐλευθερ(ωθ)ῶμεν· ὑπέρ δέ τῶν θείων δογμάτων, ἵνα γνώσεως ἀξιωθῶμεν.

(1440) ιδ´. Ἀταραξία ψυχῆς ἀπάθεια καί γνῶσις· ἧς τυχεῖν ἀμήχανον τόν ἡδοναῖς δουλεύοντα.

ιε´. ∆ουλαγώγει τό σῶμα περιελών τάς ἡδονάς, καί ἀπάλλαξον αὐτό μοχθηρᾶς δουλείας.

ιστ´. Ἐλεύθερος κτισθείς, καί ἐπ᾿ ἐλευθερίᾳ κληθείς, μή ἀνάσχῃ δουλεύειν πάθεσιν ἀκαθάρτοις.

ιζ´. Λύπαις καί ἡδοναῖς, ἐπιθυμίαις καί φόβοις, συνδεσμοῦσι τόν νοῦν τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς οἱ δαίνομες.

ιη´. Φόβος Θεοῦ κρατεῖ ἐπιθυμιῶν, καί λύπη κατά Θεόν ἀπελαύνει τήν ἡδονήν. ιθ´. Ἐπιθυμία σοφίας καταφρονεῖ φόβου, καί ἡ δοκή γνώσεως ἀποδιώκει λύπην. κ´. Τά τέσσαρα ταῦτα αἱ Γραφαί περιέχουσι· τάς ἐντολάς, τά δόγματα, τάς ἀπειλάς,

τάς ἐπαγγελίας. κα´. Ἵστησιν τήν ἐπιθυμίαν εὐκράτεια καί κόπος· μειοῖ δέ αὐτόν ἀγάπη καί

συμπάθεια. κδ´. Ὧ ἐδόθη γνῶσις, ἐδόθη φῶς νοερόν· ὅς δέ λαβών ἀτιμάζει, ὄψεται σκότος. κε´. Τήρησις ἐντολῶν Θεοῦ, τίκτει ἀπάθειαν· ἀπάθει δέ ψυχῆς συντηρεῖ γνῶσιν. κστ´. Ἀνάγαγε τά αἰσθητά ἐπί νοητήν θεωρίαν, καί ἀνθέλκεις τήν αἴσθησιν ἐπάνω

τῶν αἰσθητῶν. κζ´. Τό αἰσθητόν γύναιον σημαίνει ψυχήν πρακτικήν· ᾗ ὁ νοῦς συγγενόμενος

ἀποτίκτει τάς ἀρετάς. κη´. Ἔρευνα λόγων Θεοῦ, διδάσκει γνῶσιν Θεοῦ τόν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ ζητοῦντα, ἐν

εὐλαβείᾳ καί πόθῳ. κθ´. Ὅπερ ἐστί τό φῶς τοῖς ὁρῶσι καί ὁρωμένοις, τοῦτο καί ὁ Θεός τοῖς νοοῦσι, καί

νουομένοις. λ´. Τό αἰσθητόν στερέωμα, τό τῆς πίστεως σημαίνειι στερέωμα, ἐν ᾧ πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι

δίκην φωστήρων λάμπουσι. λα´. 'Ἱερουσαλήμ ἐστιν ἐπουράνιος, γνῶσις τῶν ἀσωμάτων· ἐν αὐτῇ γάρ θεωρεῖται ἡ

ὅρασις τῆς εἰρήνης. λβ´. Μή ἀμέλει τῆς πράξεως, ἐπεί μειοῦται ἡ γνῶσις· καί λιμοῦ γενομένου

καταβαίνεις εἰς Αἴγυπτον. λγ´. Ἐλευθερία ἐστί νοητή, ἡ τῶν παθῶν ἀπαλλαγή· ἧς οὐδείς ἐπιτυγχάνει ἄνευ

ἐλέους Χριστοῦ.