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

has all the desires and carnal dispositions motionless and inactive. Therefore, beware lest you ever desire to take up again these things which you have cast away by renouncing them. For according to the Lord's declaration, "He who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of heaven;" and he who descends again from the lofty manner of life to the lowly and earthly affairs of this world acts again contrary to the command of Christ, descending from the housetop and attempting to take something from the house. Beware, therefore, lest, remembering the old disposition of your parents according to the flesh, and turning back to the cares of this age, you be found unfit according to the Lord's voice in the kingdom 28.868 of heaven. Beware lest you ever raise up against yourself the pride which you trod down in the beginning with the warmth of humility, when you learn the Psalter, or something of Scripture, or also according to the voice of the Apostle, by building again what you destroyed, you prove yourself a transgressor; but rather as you have begun, and as you have confessed humility before God and angels, preserve it to the end. Likewise strive to increase the patience which you showed in the monastery, persevering for many days before the doors, and beseeching with tears. For it is truly wretched for you who ought each day to add to your first fervor, and advancing to ascend to perfection, to take away from it, and to slip back to the things below. For not he who begins what is good is blessed, but he who perseveres in it to the end. For the serpent that creeps upon the earth always watches our heel, that is, he plots against our departure, and until the end of our life he attempts to trip us up. And for this reason to have begun well will be of no benefit, nor the initial fervor in submission, if the end is not likewise. And the humility of Christ, which you have now professed before him, will not otherwise be confirmed, unless you show it to the end. Therefore, so that you may be able to acquire this perfectly, and to crush the head of the dragon, strive, when thoughts come upon you, to report them immediately from the beginning. For thus, by making public the beginnings of the destructive thoughts of the dragon, and not being ashamed to reveal them to your Father, you will crush its head. Wherefore, according to the Scripture, if you come to serve God, prepare yourself not for freedom from care, not for ease, but for temptations, for afflictions. For "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of heaven;" and, "Narrow is the gate, and afflicted is the way that leads to life, and few are they who find it." Attend, therefore, to the few good men, and from their example regulate your own life; do not attend to the slothful and the scornful, even if they are many; "For many," he says, "are called, but few are chosen," and small is the flock to which the Father was pleased to give the kingdom. For do not consider it a small sin to profess perfection, and to follow the more careless and slothful. Therefore, so that you may be able to attain to perfection, make use of this order, and ascend by these steps. The first step of virtue and the beginning of our salvation is the fear of God; through it the cleansing from sins, and the preservation of virtues, and the way to perfection is made. For when the fear of God enters the soul, it persuades it to despise all the affairs of the world, and it begets forgetfulness of relatives according to the flesh, and of the whole 28.869 world itself. And from these things humility, the chief of virtues, and the fulfillment of all good things, is achieved; for by contempt and deprivation of all things humility is produced. And humility is tested by these marks. First, if one has one's own wills put to death for oneself; and second, if not only of his own actions, but also of his thoughts nothing his own

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ἀκινήτους καὶ ἀνενεργήτους ἔχει πάσας τὰς ἐπιθυμίας καὶ τὰς σαρκικὰς διαθέσεις. Φυλάττου τοιγαροῦν μήποτε τούτων ἀναλαβεῖν ἐπιθυμήσῃς, ὧν ἀποτασσόμενος ἀποβέβληκας. Κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ἀπόφασιν τοῦ ∆εσπότου, «Ὁ βαλὼν τὴν χεῖρα ἐπ' ἄροτρον, καὶ στραφεὶς εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, οὐκ εὔθετός ἐστιν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν·» καὶ ὁ πρὸς τὰ ταπεινά τε καὶ γήϊνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου πράγματα ἀπὸ τῆς ὑψηλῆς πολιτείας καταβαίνων πάλιν παρ' ἐντολὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ πράττει, τοῦ δώμα τος καταβαίνων, καὶ ἆραί τι τῶν τοῦ οἴκου ἐπιχει ρῶν. Φυλάττου τοίνυν μὴ, τῆς τῶν κατὰ σάρκα γο νέων ἀρχαίας διαθέσεως ἀναμνησθεὶς, καὶ πρὸς τὰς φροντίδας τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐπιστραφεὶς, ἀνεύθετος εὑρεθῇς κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ 28.868 τῶν οὐρανῶν. Φυλάττου μήποτε τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν, ἣν ἀρχόμενος τῇ θέρμῃ τῆς ταπεινώσεως κατεπάτη σας, ἀνεγείρῃς καθ' ἑαυτοῦ, ὅταν τὸ ψαλτήριον μά θῃς, ἤ τι τῆς Γραφῆς, ἢ καὶ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἀποστό λου φωνὴν, ἃ κατέλυσας πάλιν οἰκοδομῶν, παραβά την σεαυτὸν ἀποδείξῃς· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ὡς ἐνήρξω, καὶ ὡμολόγησας τὴν ταπείνωσιν ἐνώπιον Θεοῦ καὶ ἀγγέ λων, ἕως τέλους διατήρησον. Ὁμοίως τὴν ὑπομονὴν, ἣν ἐπεδείξω ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ, ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν διακαρτερῶν, καὶ μετὰ δακρύων ἱκε τεύων, σπούδασον ἐπαυξῆσαι. Ἄθλιον γὰρ ὄντως ὀφείλοντά σε καθ' ἑκάστην προστιθέναι τῇ πρώτῃ θέρμῃ, καὶ εἰς τὸ τέλειον ἀναβαίνειν προκόπτοντα ὑφαιρεῖν ἀπ' αὐτῆς, καὶ πρὸς τὰ κάτω ὑπαναλύειν. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἀρχόμενος τοῦ καλοῦ μακάριος, ἀλλ' ὅστις ἕως τέλους ἐν τούτῳ διαμείνῃ. Ὁ γὰρ ἐπὶ γῆς συρό μενος ὄφις τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀεὶ τηρεῖ πτέρναν, τουτέστι τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ ἐξόδῳ ἐπιβουλεύει, καὶ ἕως τέλους τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ὑποσκελίζειν ἡμᾶς ἐπιχειρεῖ. Καὶ τούτου χάριν τὸ ἐνάρξασθαι καλῶς οὐδὲν ὠφελήσει, οὐδὲ ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς ἐν ὑποταγῇ θερμότητος, εἰ μὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος ὡσαύτως γένηται. Καὶ ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δὲ ταπείνω σις, ἣν νῦν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐπηγγείλω, οὐκ ἄλλως βε βαιωθήσεται, εἰ μὴ ἕως τέλους ταύτην ὑποδείξῃς. ∆ιὸ, ἵνα δυνηθῇς ταύτην τελείως κτήσασθαι, καὶ συντρί ψαι τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ δράκοντος, σπούδαζε, ὅταν ἐπέρ χωνταί σοι λογισμοὶ, εὐθέως ἐξ ἀρχῆς τούτους ἀπαγ γέλλειν. Οὕτως γὰρ δημοσιεύων τὰς ἀρχὰς τῶν ὀλε θρίων τοῦ δράκοντος λογισμῶν, καὶ μὴ αἰσχυνόμενος ἐκφαίνειν τῷ σῷ Πατρὶ, συντρίψεις τὴν τούτου κεφα λήν. ∆ιὸ δὴ κατὰ τὴν Γραφὴν, εἰ προσέλθῃς δουλεύειν τῷ Θεῷ, ἑτοίμασον σεαυτὸν μὴ πρὸς ἀμεριμνίας, μὴ πρὸς ἀνέσεις, ἀλλὰ πρὸς πειρασμοὺς, πρὸς θλίψεις. «∆ιὰ» γὰρ «πολλῶν θλίψεων δεῖ ἡμᾶς εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν·» καὶ, «Στενὴ ἡ πύλη, καὶ τεθλιμμένη ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἀπάγουσα εἰς τὴν ζωὴν, καὶ ὀλίγοι εἰσὶν οἱ εὑρίσκοντες αὐτήν.» Πρόσχες τοίνυν τοῖς ὀλίγοις καλοῖς, καὶ ἐκ παραδείγματος αὐτῶν κανόνιζε τὸν ἑαυτοῦ βίον· μὴ προσχῇς τοῖς ῥᾳθύμοις καὶ καταφρονηταῖς, κἂν πολλοὶ ὦσι· «Πολ λοὶ γὰρ,» φησὶ, «κλητοὶ, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοὶ,» καὶ μικρὸν τὸ ποίμνιον ᾧ ηὐδόκησεν ὁ Πατὴρ δοῦναι τὴν βασιλείαν. Μὴ μικρὸν γὰρ εἶναι νομίσῃς ἁμάρτημα ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι τελειότητα, καὶ τοῖς ἀμελεστέροις καὶ ῥᾳθύμοις ἀκολουθεῖν. Ἵνα τοίνυν δυνηθῇς ἐπιβῆναι τῇ τελειότητι, ταύτῃ κέχρησο τῇ τάξει, καὶ τούτοις ἀνάβαινε τοῖς βαθμοῖς. Πρῶτος βαθμὸς ἀρετῆς καὶ ἀρχὴ τῆς ἡμετέρας σωτηρίας ὁ φόβος ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ· διὰ τούτου καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἀποκάθαρσις, καὶ τῶν ἀρετῶν φυλακὴ, καὶ ὁδὸς ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα γίνεται. Ὅταν γὰρ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβος εἰσέλθῃ εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν, καταφρονεῖν πάν των πείθει τῶν τοῦ κόσμου πραγμάτων, καὶ λήθην τῶν κατὰ σάρκα συγγενῶν γεννᾷ, καὶ αὐτοῦ ὅλου τοῦ 28.869 κόσμου. Ἐκ δὲ τούτων ταπείνωσις κεφάλαιον τῶν ἀρετῶν, καὶ πλήρωμα πάντων τῶν καλῶν κατορθοῦ ται· καταφρονήσει γὰρ καὶ στερήσει πάντων τῶν πραγμάτων ἡ ταπείνωσις προσγίνεται. Ἡ ταπείνωσις δὲ τούτοις τοῖς γνωρίσμασι δοκιμάζεται. Πρῶτον εἰ νεκρωθέντα τις εἶχεν ἑαυτῷ τὰ ἴδια θελήματα· δεύ τερον δὲ εἰ μὴ μόνον τῶν οἰκείων πράξεων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐνθυμήσεων μηδὲν τὸν ἴδιον

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