Opusculum 1 († De custodia cordis)

OF MACARIUS THE GREAT, A DISCOURSE ON THE GUARDING OF THE HEART. 1. How can any chance person say, "By fasting, and living as a stranger, and giving my possessions to the poor, I am holy"? Is he holy who has not been cleansed in the inner man? 34.824 For purification is not abstinence from evils, but perfect purification according to the conscience. For enter, O man, by the intensity of your thoughts, to your mind which is a captive and slave of sin, and see the one lower than the mind and deeper than the thoughts, the serpent that creeps and lurks in the so-called storehouses of your soul, the one who killed you through the most vital members of your soul; for the heart is an incomprehensible abyss. And if you kill this one, boast to God about purity; but if not, be humbled as one in need and a sinner, praying to God for your secret faults.

2. True death is hidden within, in the heart, and the man is dead within. If, then, anyone has passed from death to life in secret, this one truly lives forever and does not die; but even if the bodies of such are dissolved for a time, yet they are sanctified and will be raised in glory; for which reason we also call the falling asleep of the saints "sleep".

3. The whole struggle of the adversary is this, that he might be able to snatch our mind away from the remembrance of and love for God, using earthly baits, and turning it aside from what is truly good to what seems, but is not truly, good. For whatever good a man does, the evil one wishes to stain and defile it, and he strives to mix his own sowing of vainglory or self-gratification with the commandment; so that the good that is done may not be done for God's sake alone according to a good intention.

4. What then? We who have not entered into the heart at all, how shall we begin? Through fasting and prayer, standing outside, we knock, as the Lord commanded, saying, "Knock and it will be opened to you." For if we abide in the word of the Lord, and in poverty, and in a humble mindset, and in all the virtues of the commandments, knocking night and day at the spiritual door of the Lord, we will be able to obtain what is sought. For through this door everyone who wishes to flee the darkness is able to obtain redemption. For there he finds the freedom of the soul, and receives back its thoughts, and acquires the heavenly king, Christ.

5. When the mind forgets spiritual and pious affliction, then it has also forgotten the commandments; and from wherever it thinks it is running, it turns aside from the straight path, and conducts itself crookedly. For this reason it encounters wild beasts. For if we did not cut short the labor of prayer and hope, we would not have sinned; for to those who are af34.825flicted concerning the soul, the Scripture says: "God is faithful, He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able." But evils will befall the uninstructed.

6. Just as the outer eyes see from afar the thorns and the cliffs, so also the foreseeing mind, being quick, foresees the arts and preparations of the opposing power, and secures the soul, being its eye.

7. There is need of much struggle and of hidden and unseen labor, to make an examination of thoughts, and to exercise the weakened senses of our soul for the discernment of both good and evil; it is always necessary to re-kindle through the mind's urging toward God the members that have been weakened in the soul; our mind being always with the Lord, that it may become one spirit according to the saying of Paul. This hidden

Opusculum 1 († De custodia cordis)

ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΦΥΛΑΚΗΣ ΚΑΡ∆ΙΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ. Αʹ. Πῶς δύναται λέγειν ὁ τυχὼν, ὅτι νηστεύων, καὶ ξενιτεύων, καὶ ψωμίζων μου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα ἅγιός εἰμι; Ἅγιός ἐστιν, οὐ καθαρθεὶς τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον; 34.824 οὐ γὰρ ἡ ἀποχὴ τῶν κακῶν ἐστιν ἡ κάθαρσις, ἀλλ' ἡ κατὰ συνείδησιν τελεία κάθαρσις. Εἴσελθε γὰρ, ὦ οὗτος, διὰ τῆς τῶν λογισμῶν σου ἐπιτάσεως πρὸς τὸν αἰχμάλωτον, καὶ δοῦλον τῆς ἁμαρτίας νοῦν σου, καὶ ἴδε τὸν κατώτερον τοῦ νοῦ καὶ βαθύτερον τῶν λογισμῶν, εἰς τὰ λεγόμενα ταμιεῖα τῆς ψυχῆς σου τὸν ἕρποντα καὶ ἐμφωλεύοντα ὄφιν, τὸν φονεύσαντά σε διὰ τῶν καιριωτέρων τῆς ψυχῆς σου μελῶν· ἄβυσσος γάρ ἐστιν ἀκατάληπτος ἡ καρδία· καὶ ἐὰν τοῦτον φονεύσῃς, καύχησαι τῷ Θεῷ περὶ καθαρότητος· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ταπεινωθεὶς ὡς ἐνδεὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ὑπὲρ τῶν κρυφίων σου δεόμενος τοῦ Θεοῦ.

Βʹ. Ὁ ἀληθινὸς θάνατος ἔνδοθεν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ κέκρυπται, καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἔσω νενέκρωται. Εἴ τις οὖν μεταβέβηκεν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωὴν ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, οὗτος ἀληθῶς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας ζῇ, καὶ οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει· ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ τὰ σώματα τῶν τοιούτων λύεται πρὸς καιρόν τινα, ἀλλ' οὖν ἡγιασμένα τέ εἰσι καὶ ἐγείρονται σὺν δόξῃ· διὸ καὶ ὕπνον λέγομεν τὴν κοίμησιν τῶν ἁγίων.

Γʹ. Ὅλος ὁ ἀγὼν τοῦ ἀντικειμένου οὗτός ἐστιν, ἵνα δυνηθῇ τὸν νοῦν ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν μνήμης καὶ ἀγάπης ἐκσπᾶσαι, δελεάσμασι γηΐνοις χρώμενος, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄντος καλοῦ παρεκτρέπων ἐπὶ τὰ δοκήσει, ἀλλ' οὐκ ὄντως καλά. Πᾶν γὰρ ὃ ἐὰν ποιῇ ἄνθρωπος καλὸν, σπιλοῦν καὶ μιαίνειν ὁ πονηρὸς βούλεται, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐπεισπορὰν τῆς κενοδοξίας ἢ ὀνήσεως τῇ ἐντολῇ συμμίγειν ἀγωνίζεται· ἵνα μὴ διὰ Θεὸν καὶ μόνον κατὰ προθυμίαν ἀγαθὴν τὸ γινόμενον ἀγαθὸν γένηται.

∆ʹ. Τί οὖν; ἡμεῖς οἱ μηδόλως εἰς τὴν καρδίαν εἰσελθόντες, πῶς ἀρξώμεθα; διὰ νηστείας καὶ προσευχῆς ἔξω ἑστῶτες κρούομεν, καθὼς ὁ Κύριος ἐκέλευσεν εἰπών· Κρούετε καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἐμμείνωμεν τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ τῇ πτωχείᾳ, καὶ τῷ ταπεινῷ φρονήματι, καὶ πάσαις παῖς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἀρεταῖς νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας κρούοντες εἰς τὴν πνευματικὴν τοῦ Κυρίου θύραν, δυνησόμεθα τυχεῖν τοῦ ζητουμένου. ∆ιὰ ταύτης γὰρ τῆς θύρας δύναται ἀπολυτρώσεως τυχεῖν πᾶς ὁ βουλόμενος φυγεῖν τοῦ σκότους. Εὑρίσκει γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ ἀπολαμβάνει τοὺς λογισμοὺς αὐτῆς, καὶ κτᾶται τὸν ἐπουράνιον βασιλέα Χριστόν.

Εʹ. Ὅταν ὁ νοῦς ἐπιλάθηται τῆς νοερᾶς καὶ εὐσεβοῦς θλίψεως, τότε καὶ τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐπελάθετο· καὶ ὅθεν ἂν δοκῇ τρέχειν, παρεκτρέπεται τῆς λείας, καὶ σκολιάζων πολιτεύεται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο συναντᾷ θηρίοις. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ τὸν τῆς εὐχῆς καὶ ἐλπίδος κόπον ἐκκόπτομεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐπλημμελήσαμεν· τοῖς γὰρ περὶ ψυχῆς θλι34.825 βομένοις λέγει ἡ Γραφή· Πιστὸς ὁ Θεὸς, οὐκ ἐάσει ὑμᾶς πειρασθῆναι ὑπὲρ ὁ δύνασθε· ἀπαιδεύτοις δὲ συναντήσαι κακά.

ςʹ. Ὥσπερ οἱ ἔξω ὀφθαλμοὶ βλέπουσι μακρόθεν τὰς ἀκάνθας, καὶ τοὺς κρημνούς· οὕτω καὶ ὁ προβλεπτικὸς νοῦς προβλέπει ταχὺς ὢν τῆς ἀντικειμένης δυνάμεως τὰς τέχνας καὶ τὰς ἐπισκευὰς, καὶ ἀσφαλίζεται τὴν ψυχὴν, ὡς ὀφθαλμὸς ὢν αὐτῆς.

Ζʹ. Ἀγῶνος πολλοῦ καὶ πόνου κροπτοῦ καὶ ἀοράτου χρεία, λογισμῶν ἔρευναν ποιεῖσθαι, καὶ τὰ ἠσθενηκότα τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν αἰσθητήρια γυμνάζειν πρὸς διάκρισιν καλοῦ τε καὶ κακοῦ· δεῖ πάντοτε καὶ ἀναζωπυρεῖν διὰ τοῦ νοὸς πρὸς Θεὸν ἐπείξεως τὰ ἐξησθενηκότα τῇ ψυχῇ μέλη· τοῦ νοῦ ἡμῶν προσκαλουμένου μετὰ τοῦ Κυρίου πάντοτε, ἵνα γένηται εἰς ἓν πνεῦμα κατὰ τὸ λόγιον Παύλου. Τοῦτον δὲ τὸν κρυπτὸν