Epistulae ad castorem

 To be observed in the daily assemblies, has been sufficiently spoken of by us. but it remains for us to relate concerning those who renounce the world

 The father, having tested by judgments, will approve. for thus he who is being formed toward virtue will be able in no way to be deceived by the enemy

 They have laid down as a rule. but among the egyptians, and especially the tabennesiotes, such silence is observed by all, when so great and numerous

 Until by his great patience he was received with his little son, against the usual rule of the coenobium. and when after many labors he entered, not o

 He had done for a man, who among them was as a novice, and not long before had left the world. he was considered the last. and they were even more ast

 Has all the desires and carnal dispositions motionless and inactive. therefore, beware lest you ever desire to take up again these things which you ha

 Hides the father third, if not by his own understanding, but he trusts everything to the father's discernment, always thirsting and longing, and glad

 The mortification of the will and from the mortification of the will the roots of pleasures wither and from these all the faults of the soul are cas

 Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires,” he did not forbid the necessary governance of life, but prohibited pleasure-loving care. bes

 To have recourse. for even if such a movement is not counted as a sin, it is nevertheless proof that the soul is sick, and has not yet been delivered

 It kindles, to be extinguished by the dew of the presence of the holy spirit. in addition to these things, our greatest weapon against this enemy is v

 From the love of god, he loves idols of men engraved in gold and the monk, darkened by these thoughts, and growing worse, is no longer able to have a

 Of laying a loose and corrupt foundation to turn others away from evangelical perfection. but since some badly interpret what is well said in scriptur

 We despise. having the condemnation of ananias and sapphira before our eyes, let us tremble to leave for ourselves anything of our old property. likew

 Be pricked to the heart ” that is, when evil thoughts arise in the heart, casting them out through anger against them, after their expulsion, as if fi

 Fleeing the desert, we pursue solitude, but whatever of our passions we bring there uncured, happen to be hidden, not removed. for indeed the desert a

 That we may believe, that neither over the just, nor over the unjust, is it permitted for us to stir up our anger. for when the spirit of anger has da

 Sorrow ...» nourishing the soul in the hope of repentance, becomes a mixed joy whence also it prepares the man to be willing and obedient for every g

 Is difficult to overcome. for in every practice it inserts itself, in posture, and appearance, and gait, and speech, and in vigils, and in fasts, and

 High, i will set my throne upon the clouds, and i will be like the most high.” but you are a man, and not god. and another prophet says: “why do you b

he had done for a man, who among them was as a novice, and not long before had left the world. He was considered the last. And they were even more astonished when they learned his name, who before this was heard of among them as great; and they asked for forgiveness, because, not knowing him, they had ranked him with the last of the novices. And having urged him much, they sent him out to his own coenobium, unwilling and lamenting, since indeed he was not permitted to fulfill the humility and subjection dear to him. So having spent a short time in his monastery, again inflamed with the desire for humility and subjection, watching for an opportunity by night, he fled, no longer to a foreign country; for having boarded a ship he came to the parts of Palestine, hoping to remain hidden there until the end. Therefore, having arrived in Palestine, he hastened to the monastery near the cave where the Lord Christ was born; in which monastery he happened to be staying at that time. And having arrived there, he was not able to remain hidden, according to the Lord's voice, which says: "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." For brothers having come from the parts of Egypt to venerate the holy places, and recognizing him, again led him away to his own coenobium, persuading him with many entreaties and lamentations. Therefore, with this holy man I lived for a short time in Egypt; and what I heard him say admonishing a brother, whom he received in my presence, I will relate to complete the account. "You know," he said, "brother, after how many days you spent before the gates of the monastery you were received today; if, therefore, you learn the reason for the difficulty, it will be able to help you on this path which you desire to enter, and to make you a faithful servant of Christ. For as to those who faithfully serve the Lord glory and honor are promised for the future, so very heavy punishments 28.865 for those who approach this profession lukewarmly and slothfully. For it is better according to the Scripture not to vow, than to vow and not to pay. And again it is said: 'Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord negligently;' for this reason we have turned away and delayed to receive you, not because we do not desire your salvation and that of all who believe in Christ, but lest, by receiving you rashly and at random, we on the one hand should suffer punishment from God for levity and for our prayers, and on the other hand make you liable for a heavier punishment, if for the present you are received easily, not having learned the weight and the strictness of the profession, and after this should prove to be remiss and slothful. For this reason, as has been said, you ought to know the reason for renunciation, what you must do. Renunciation, therefore, is nothing other than a promise of the cross and of death. Know, therefore, from this day that you are dead, and crucified to the world, and the world to you, according to the Apostle; and understand what the power of the crucifixion is; since it is no longer you who live, but He lives in you who was crucified for you. Therefore, in this type and form, in which the Lord was hung for us, it is necessary for us also to live in the coenobium, just as the blessed David also prays, beseeching from the fear of God that his flesh be nailed. For as he who has his body nailed to the wood is motionless for every action he wishes, so he who has his thought nailed by divine fear is motionless towards every carnal will. And just as one nailed to a cross no longer considers present things, nor agrees with his own wills, is not troubled by desire, is not strained by the care of possessing, is not puffed up by pride, is not inflamed by contention, nor envy, is not grieved by present dishonors, nor remembers past insults; for a little later he expects his departure from life by means of the cross; so he who has genuinely renounced the world, and been nailed as on a cross by divine fear, expecting his departure from this life each day,

6

πεποίηκεν ἀνθρώπῳ, ὃς παρ' αὐτοῖς ὡς ἀρχάριος, καὶ οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ τὸν κόσμον καταλείψας. ἔσχατος ἐνομίζετο. Ἔτι δὲ μάλιστα ἐξεπλάγησαν, ὅτε τὸ ὄνομα τούτου ἔμαθον, ὃς πρὸ τούτου μέγας παρ' αὐτοῖς ἠκούετο· καὶ συγγνώμην ᾔτουν, διότι τοῦτον ἀγνοήσαντες μετὰ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἀρχαρίων ἔταξαν. Παρακαλέσαντες δὲ αὐτὸν πολλὰ, εἰς τὸ ἴδιον κοινόβιον ἐξέπεμψαν ἄκοντα καὶ ὀδυρόμενον, ἅτε δὴ μὴ συγχωρούμενον ἐκτελέσαι τὴν αὐτῷ φίλην ταπεί νωσιν καὶ ὑποταγήν. Ποιήσας οὖν ὀλίγον χρόνον ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ μοναστηρίῳ, πάλιν πυρωθεὶς τῷ πόθῳ τῆς ταπεινώσεως καὶ ὑποταγῆς, ἐπιτηρήσας καιρὸν νυκτὸς, ἔφυγεν οὐκ ἔτι ξένην χώραν· ἀνελθὼν γὰρ εἰς πλοῖον ἦλθεν εἰς τὰ μέρη Παλαιστίνης, ἐλπίζων ἐκεῖσε εἰς τέλος διαλαθεῖν. Παραγενόμενος τοίνυν ἐν Παλαι στίνῃ ὥρμησεν εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον τὸ πλησίον τοῦ σπη λαίου ἔνθα ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς ἐτέχθη· ἐν ᾧ μοναστηρίῳ ἔτυχε τὸ τηνικαῦτα διατρίβων. Καὶ ἐκεῖσε δὲ παρα γενόμενος, οὐκ ἠδυνήθη λαθεῖν κατὰ τὴν δεσποτικὴν φωνὴν, τὴν φάσκουσαν· «Οὐ δύναται πόλις κρυβῆναι ἐπάνω ὄρους κειμένη.» Ἐλθόντες γὰρ ἀδελφοὶ ἀπὸ τῶν μερῶν τῆς Αἰγύπτου εἰς προσκύνησιν τῶν ἁγίων τόπων, καὶ ἐπιγνόντες αὐτὸν, πάλιν ἀπήγαγον εἰς τὸ ἴδιον κοινόβιον, πολλαῖς δεήσεσι καὶ ὀδυρμοῖς πεί σαντες αὐτόν. Τούτῳ τοίνυν τῷ ἁγίῳ ἀνδρὶ συνῴκησα ἐγὼ χρόνον ὀλίγον ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ· ἅπερ δὲ ἤκουσα αὐτοῦ νουθετοῦντος ἕνα ἀδελφὸν, ὃν παρουσίᾳ μου ἐδέξατο, διηγησάμενος πληρώσω τὸν λόγον. Ἔγνως, φησὶν, ἀδελφὲ, πόσας ἡμέρας πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν τῆς μονῆς διατελέσας σήμερον ἐδέχθης· ἐὰν τοίνυν μάθῃς τῆς δυσχερείας τὴν αἰτίαν, δυνήσεταί σοι ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ταύτῃ, ᾗ ἐπιθυμεῖς ἐπιβῆναι, συμβα λέσθαι, καὶ δοῦλον Χριστοῦ σε ἀπεργάσασθαι πιστόν. Ὡς γὰρ τοῖς πιστῶς δουλεύουσι τῷ ∆εσπότῃ δόξα, τιμὴ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἐπήγγελται, οὕτως τιμωρίαι 28.865 βαρύταται τοῖς χλιαρῶς καὶ ῥᾳθύμως προσερχομέ νοις ταύτῃ τῇ ἐπαγγελίᾳ. Βέλτιον γάρ ἐστι κατὰ τὴν Γραφὴν μὴ εὔξασθαι, ἢ εὔξασθαι, καὶ μὴ ἀποδοῦναι. Καὶ πάλιν εἴρηται· «Ἐπικατάρατος ὁ ποιῶν τὸ ἔργον τοῦ Κυρίου ἀμελῶς·» τούτου χάριν ἀπεστρα φόμεθά τε καὶ ἀνεβαλλόμεθα τοῦ δέξασθαι, οὐχ ὅτι τὴν σωτηρίαν σοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν εἰς Χριστὸν πιστευόντων οὐκ ἐπιθυμοῦμεν, ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ, προπε τῶς καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν ὑποδεχόμενοι, ἡμεῖς μὲν παρὰ Θεῷ κουφότητος, καὶ εὐχόμενοι, δίκην ὑφέξωμεν, σὲ δὲ ὑπεύθυνον βαρυτέρας τιμωρίας καταστήσωμεν, εἰ πρὸς τὸ παρὸν εὐχερῶς, καὶ μὴ μαθόντα τὸ βάρος καὶ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ ἐπαγγέλματος, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα χαῦνος, καὶ ῥᾴθυμος ἀποδειχθῇς. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο, καθὼς εἴρηται, τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ἀποταγῆς ὀφείλεις γνῶναι, τί σε δεῖ ποιεῖν. Ἡ ἀποταγὴ τοίνυν οὐδὲν ἄλλο καθέστηκεν εἰ μὴ σταυροῦ καὶ θανάτου ἐπαγ γελία. Γίνωσκε τοίνυν ἀπὸ τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας τεθνηκέναι σε, καὶ σταυροῦσθαι τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ τὸν κόσμον σοι, κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον· καὶ καταμάνθανε τίς ἡ δύναμις τῆς σταυρώσεως· ἐπειδὴ οὐκέτι λοιπὸν σὺ ζῇς, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος ἐν σοὶ ζῇ ὁ ὑπὲρ σοῦ σταυρω θείς. Τούτῳ τοίνυν τῷ τύπῳ καὶ τῷ σχήματι, ᾧ ὁ ∆εσπότης ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐκρεμάσθη, καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐπ άναγκές ἐστιν ἐν τῷ κοινοβίῳ διάγειν, καθὼς εὔχεται καὶ ὁ μακάριος ∆αβὶδ ἐκ τοῦ φόβου τοῦ Θεοῦ παρα καλῶν καθηλωθῆναι τὰς σάρκας αὐτοῦ. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ τὸ σῶμα προσηλωμένον ἔχων τῷ ξύλῳ ἀκίνητός ἐστι πρὸς πᾶσαν ἐνέργειαν οἵαν θέλει, οὕτως ὁ τῷ θείῳ φόβῳ καθηλωμένον τὸν λογισμὸν, ἀκίνητος ὑπάρχει πρὸς πᾶν θέλημα σαρκικόν. Καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ σταυρῷ προσηλωμένος οὐκ ἔτι τὰ παρόντα λογίζεται, οὐδὲ τοῖς ἰδίοις θελήμασι συνδιατίθεται, οὐκ ἐπιθυμίᾳ ταράττεται, οὐ φροντίδι τοῦ κτᾶσθαι κατατείνεται, οὐχ ὑπερηφανίᾳ φυσιοῦται, οὐ φιλονεικίᾳ, οὐ φθόνῳ ἐξάπτεται, οὐ περὶ τῶν παρουσῶν ἀτιμιῶν ἀλγεῖ, οὐ τὰς παρελθούσας ὕβρεις ἀναμιμνήσκεται· μικρὸν γὰρ ὕστερον τὴν ἐκ τοῦ βίου ἔξοδον ἐκδέχεται διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ· οὕτως ὁ ἀποταξάμενος γνησίως τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ τῷ θείῳ φόβῳ ὡς ἐν σταυρῷ καθηλωμέ νος, τὴν ἐκ τοῦ βίου τούτου ἔξοδον καθ' ἑκάστην προσδεχόμενος,

6