1

Practicus

OF EVAGRIUS THE MONK

Since you previously made known to me, while I was settled at the holy mountain in Scetis, most beloved brother Anatolius, and you asked that the symbolic habit of the monks in Egypt be explained to you; for you did not think it was random or superfluous, having such a great difference from the other habits of men; come, let us declare whatever we have learned about this from the holy Fathers. The hood is a symbol of the grace of our Savior God, which protects their ruling faculty and cherishes their infancy in Christ against those who are always trying to strike and wound them. Therefore, as many as wear this on their head in effect are chanting these words: unless the Lord builds the house and guards the city, the builder and the one trying to guard it have labored in vain. Such words produce humility, but they root out pride, the ancient evil that cast down to the earth Lucifer, who rises in the morning. But to have the hands bare shows the unhypocritical nature of their way of life; for vainglory is terrible for covering up and overshadowing the virtues, always hunting for the glory that comes from men and driving away faith. For how can you believe, he says, when you receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? For the good must be chosen not for the sake of something else, but rather for its own sake; for if this is not granted, what moves us toward the working of the good will appear to be much more honorable than what is produced, which would be among the most absurd things, to think and to say that something is better than God. And the analabos, again, which is woven cross-wise on their shoulders, is a symbol of the faith in Christ which takes up the meek and always restrains what hinders them and provides for them unhindered work. And the belt, binding their loins, drives away all impurity and gives this command: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. And they have the sheepskin, who are always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, and muzzling all the irrational passions of the body, and cutting off the vices of the soul by participation in the good; and loving poverty, but fleeing from greed as the mother of idolatry. And the staff is a tree of life to all who lay hold of it, and is safe for those who lean on it as on the Lord. And the habit is a symbol of these things, as an epitome of the realities; but these are the words which the Fathers always say to them: faith, O children, is confirmed by the fear of God, and this in turn by self-control, and this is made steadfast by patience and hope, from which is born impassibility, whose offspring is love, and love is the door to natural knowledge, which is succeeded by theology and the final blessedness. And concerning the sacred habit and the teaching of the elders, let this much be said by us for the present. But now we will speak about the practical and the gnostic life, not whatever we have seen or heard, but whatever we have learned from them to tell also to others, dividing concisely the practical matters into one hundred chapters, and the gnostic into six hundred and fifty; and concealing some things, and overshadowing others, so that we do not give what is holy to the dogs nor cast the pearls before swine. But these things will be manifest to those who have stepped into the same track as them.

1

Practicus

ΕΥΑΓΡΙΟΥ ΜΟΝΑΧΟΥ

Ἐπειδή μοι πρώην δεδήλωκας ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου ὄρους ἐν τῇ Σκίτει καθεζομένῳ, ποθεινότατε ἀδελφὲ Ἀνατόλιε, καὶ τὸ συμβολικὸν σχῆμα τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μοναχῶν σαφηνισθῆναί σοι παρεκάλεσας· οὐ γὰρ εἰκῇ οὐδὲ παρέλκον αὐτὸ νενόμικας τοσαύτην παραλλαγὴν ἔχον παρὰ τὰ λοιπὰ σχήματα τῶν ἀνθρώπων· φέρε, ὅσα παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων περὶ τούτου μεμαθήκαμεν, ἐξαγγείλωμεν. Τὸ μὲν κουκούλλιον σύμβολόν ἐστι τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Θεοῦ σκεπαζούσης αὐτῶν τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν καὶ περιθαλπούσης τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ νηπιότητα διὰ τοὺς ῥαπίζειν ἀεὶ καὶ τιτρώσκειν ἐπιχειροῦντας. Ὅσοι τοίνυν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς φέρουσι τοῦτο δυνάμει ψάλλουσι ταῦτα· ἐὰν μὴ Κύριος οἰκοδομήσῃ οἶκον καὶ φυλάξῃ πόλιν, εἰς μάτην ἐκοπίασεν ὁ οἰκοδομῶν καὶ ὁ φυλάσσειν πειρώμενος. Αἱ δὲ τοιαῦται φωναὶ ταπεινοφροσύνην μὲν ἐμποιοῦσιν, ἐκριζοῦσι δὲ ὑπερηφανίαν τὸ ἀρχαῖον κακόν, τὸ κατασεῖσαν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὸν Ἑωσφόρον τὸν πρωῒ ἀνατέλλοντα. Τὸ δὲ γεγυμνῶσθαι τὰς χεῖρας τὸ ἀνυπόκριτον τῆς πολιτείας ἐμφαίνει· δεινὴ γὰρ ἡ κενοδοξία συγκαλύψαι καὶ συσκιάσαι τὰς ἀρετάς, ἀεὶ δόξας τὰς παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων θηρεύουσα καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἀποδιώκουσα. Πῶς γὰρ δύνασθε, φησί, πιστεῦσαι, δόξαν παρὰ ἀλλήλων λαμβάνοντες, καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ μόνου Θεοῦ οὐ ζητοῦντες; ∆εῖ γὰρ τὸ ἀγαθὸν μὴ δι' ἕτερον ἀλλὰ δι' αὐτὸ μᾶλλον εἶναι αἱρετόν· εἰ γὰρ μὴ τοῦτο δοθείη, φανήσεται τὸ κινοῦν ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὴν ἐργασίαν τοῦ καλοῦ πολλῷ τιμιώτερον ὑπάρχον τοῦ γινομένου, ὅπερ τῶν ἀτοπωτάτων ἂν εἴη Θεοῦ τι κρεῖττον ἐννοεῖν τε καὶ λέγειν. Ὁ δὲ ἀνάλαβος πάλιν ὁ σταυροειδῶς τοῖς ὤμοις αὐτῶν περιπλεκόμενος σύμβολον τῆς εἰς Χριστόν ἐστι πίστεως ἀναλαμβανούσης τοὺς πραεῖς καὶ περιστελλούσης ἀεὶ τὰ κωλύοντα καὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν ἀνεμπόδιστον αὐτοῖς παρεχούσης. Ἡ δὲ ζώνη περισφίγγουσα τοὺς νεφροὺς αὐτῶν ἀπωθεῖται πᾶσαν ἀκαθαρσίαν καὶ τοῦτο παραγγέλλει· καλὸν ἀνθρώπῳ γυναικὸς μὴ ἅπτεσθαι. Τὴν δὲ μηλωτὴν ἔχουσιν οἱ πάντοτε τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματι περιφέροντες καὶ φιμοῦντες μὲν πάντα τὰ τοῦ σώματος ἄλογα πάθη, τὰς δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς κακίας μετουσίᾳ τοῦ καλοῦ περικόπτοντες· καὶ πενίαν μὲν ἀγαπῶντες, πλεονεξίαν δὲ φεύγοντες ὡς εἰδωλολατρίας μητέρα. Ἡ δὲ ῥάβδος ξύλον ζωῆς ἐστι πᾶσι τοῖς ἀντεχομένοις αὐτῆς, καὶ τοῖς ἐπερειδομένοις ἐπ' αὐτὴν ὡς ἐπὶ Κύριον ἀσφαλής. Καὶ τούτων μὲν σύμβολον ὡς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ τῶν πραγμάτων τὸ σχῆμα· τὰ δὲ ῥήματα ταῦτά ἐστιν ἃ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀεὶ λέγουσιν οἱ Πατέρες· τὴν πίστιν, ὦ τέκνα, βεβαιοῖ ὁ φόβος ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦτον πάλιν ἐγκράτεια, ταύτην δὲ ἀκλινῆ ποιοῦσιν ὑπομονὴ καὶ ἐλπίς, ἀφ' ὧν τίκτεται ἀπάθεια, ἧς ἔγγονον ἡ ἀγάπη, ἀγάπη δὲ θύρα γνώσεως φυσικῆς ἣν διαδέχεται θεολογία καὶ ἡ ἐσχάτη μακαριότης. Καὶ περὶ μὲν τοῦ σχήματος τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ τῆς διδασκαλίας τῶν γερόντων τοσαῦτα ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος εἰρήσθω. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ βίου τοῦ τε πρακτικοῦ καὶ τοῦ γνωστικοῦ νυνὶ διηγούμεθα, οὐχ ὅσα ἑωράκαμεν ἢ ἠκούσαμεν, ἀλλ' ὅσα τοῦ καὶ ἄλλοις εἰπεῖν παρ' αὐτῶν μεμαθήκαμεν, ἑκατὸν μὲν κεφαλαίοις τὰ πρακτικά, πεντήκοντα δὲ πρὸς τοῖς ἑξακοσίοις τὰ γνωστικὰ συντετμημένως διελόντες· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐπικρύψαντες, τὰ δὲ συσκιάσαντες, ἵνα μὴ δῶμεν τὰ ἅγια τοῖς κυσὶ μηδὲ βάλωμεν τοὺς μαργαρίτας ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων. Ἔσται δὲ ταῦτα ἐμφανῆ τοῖς εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ ἴχνος αὐτοῖς ἐμβεβηκόσιν.