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

make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires,” he did not forbid the necessary governance of life, but prohibited pleasure-loving care. Besides, abstinence from food alone is not strong enough for the perfect purity of the soul, unless the other virtues also contribute. Therefore, humility, through the obedience of work and the tiring of the body, contributes greatly to us. Abstinence from avarice is not only not having money, but not even desiring to possess it. Abstinence from anger, from grief, from vainglory, from pride leads the soul to purity. All these things bring about the universal purity of the soul. But the partial purity of the soul through temperance is especially achieved by self-control 28.876 and fasting. For it is impossible for one whose stomach is sated to fight in his mind against the spirit of fornication. Therefore, let our first struggle be to control the belly, and to enslave the body, not only through fasting, but also through vigils, and labor, and reading, and gathering the heart to the fear of Gehenna, and to the longing for the kingdom of heaven. Our second struggle is against the spirit of fornication and the desire of the flesh, which desire begins to trouble man from his earliest age. This is a great and difficult struggle, and it has a twofold wrestling; because this has become twofold, consisting in the soul and in the body. And for this reason, one must undertake a twofold wrestling against it. For bodily fasting alone is not sufficient for acquiring perfect temperance and true purity, unless there is also fervent prayer to God, and common study of the divine Scriptures, and toil and work of the hands, which are able to restrain the unstable impulses of the soul, and to recall it from shameful fantasies; but above all, humility of soul contributes, without which one will be able to overcome neither fornication nor the other passions. Primarily, therefore, one must with all vigilance guard the heart from impure thoughts. For from it proceed, according to the Lord's voice, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, and the rest. For fasting has been commanded to us not only for the affliction of the body, but also for the sobriety of the mind, so that it, being darkened by the abundance of foods, may not be unable to guard against thoughts. Therefore, one must show all diligence not only in bodily fasting, but also in attention to thoughts, and in spiritual study, without which it is impossible to ascend to the height of true purity and cleanness. It is fitting, therefore, for us to first cleanse, according to the voice of the Lord, the inside of the cup and the dish, so that the outside may also become clean. For this reason, if we are zealous, according to the Apostle, to contend lawfully, and to be crowned, having conquered the unclean spirit of fornication, let us not trust in our own power or ascetic practice, but in the help of the Lord God. For a man does not cease being warred against by this demon, until he believes in truth that not by his own zeal or labor, but by the inclination and help of God he is delivered from this sickness, and ascends to the height of purity. For the matter is above nature, and in a way becomes outside of the body, he who has trampled upon the provocations of the flesh and its pleasures. And for this reason it is impossible for a man with wings, so to speak, to fly up to this height and heavenly prize of holiness, and to become an imitator of angels; unless the grace of God should lead him up from the earth and the mire. For by no virtue 28.877 are men bound in the flesh more made like the heavenly angels, than by temperance; for through this, while still living on the earth, they have, according to the Apostle, their citizenship in heaven. But a sign that we possess this virtue, is that of not one image of shameful fantasy in sleep the soul

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σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιεῖσθε εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν,» οὐ τὴν ἀναγκαίαν τῆς ζωῆς κυβέρνησιν ἐκώλυσεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν φιλήδονον ἐπι μέλειαν ἀπηγόρευσεν. Ἄλλως τε καὶ πρὸς καθαρό τητα τελείαν τῆς ψυχῆς μόνη ἡ ἀποχὴ τῶν βρωμά των οὐκ ἰσχύει, εἰ μὴ καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ ἀρεταὶ συνδρά μωσι. Τοιγαροῦν ἡ ταπείνωσις διὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς τοῦ ἔργου καὶ τῆς τοῦ σώματος καταπονήσεως, μεγάλα ἡμῖν συμβάλλεται. Ἡ ἀποχὴ τῆς φιλαργυρίας οὐ μό νον τὸ μὴ ἔχειν χρήματα, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ ἐπιθυμεῖν κε κτῆσθαι. Πρὸς καθαρότητα τὴν ψυχὴν ὁδηγεῖ τῆς ὀργῆς ἡ ἀποχὴ, τῆς λύπης, τῆς κενοδοξίας, τῆς ὑπερ ηφανίας. Ταῦτα πάντα τὴν καθολικὴν τῆς ψυχῆς καθαρότητα ἀπεργάζεται. Τὴν δὲ διὰ σωφροσύνης μερικὴν τῆς ψυχῆς καθαρότητα ἐξαιρέτως ἐγκράτεια 28.876 καὶ νηστεία κατορθοῖ. Ἀδύνατον γὰρ τὸν τὴν γα στέρα κεκορεσμένον πολεμῆσαι κατὰ διάνοιαν τῷ πνεύματι τῆς πορνείας. Τοιγαροῦν πρῶτος ἔστω ἡμῖν ἀγὼν τὸ κρατεῖν γαστρὸς, καὶ δουλαγωγεῖν τὸ σῶμα, οὐ μόνον διὰ νηστείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι' ἀγρυπνίας, καὶ κόπου, καὶ ἀναγνώσεως, καὶ τοῦ συνάγειν τὴν καρδίαν εἰς τὸν φόβον τῆς γεέννης, καὶ εἰς τὸν πόθον τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν. ∆εύτερός ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἀγὼν κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς πορνείας καὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς σαρκὸς, ἥτις ἐπιθυμία ἀπὸ πρώτης ἡλικίας ἄρχεται παρενοχλεῖν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ. Μέγας οὗτος ὁ ἀγὼν καὶ χαλεπὸς, καὶ διπλῆν ἔχων τὴν πάλην· διότι οὗτος διπλοῦς καθέστη κεν, ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ ἐν τῷ σώματι συνιστάμενος. Καὶ τούτου χάριν διπλῆν χρὴ κατ' αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν πάλην ἀναδέξασθαι. Οὔτε γὰρ ἱκανὴ ὑπάρχει μόνη ἡ σωμα τικὴ νηστεία πρὸς κτῆσιν τῆς τελείας σωφροσύνης, καὶ ἀληθοῦς ἁγνείας, εἰ μὴ καὶ εὐχὴ πρὸς Θεὸν ἐκτε νὴς, καὶ κοινὴ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν μελέτη, καὶ κά ματος καὶ ἔργον χειρῶν, ἅπερ δύνανται τὰς ἀστάτους ὁρμὰς τῆς ψυχῆς συστέλλειν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν αἰσχρῶν φαντασιῶν ἀνακαλεῖσθαι αὐτήν· πρὸ δὲ πάντων συμ βάλλεται ταπείνωσις ψυχῆς, ἧς χωρὶς οὐδὲ πορνείας, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων παθῶν δυνήσεταί τις περιγενέσθαι. Προηγουμένως τοίνυν χρὴ πάσῃ φυλακῇ τηρεῖν τὴν καρδίαν ἀπὸ λογισμῶν ῥυπαρῶν. Ἐκ γὰρ ταύτης προ εξέρχονται, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴν, διαλογισμοὶ πονηροὶ, φόνοι, μοιχεῖαι, πορνεῖαι, καὶ τὰ λοιπά. Καὶ γὰρ ἡ νηστεία οὐ μόνον πρὸς κακουχίαν τοῦ σώματος ἡμῖν προστέτακται, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς νῆψιν τοῦ νοὸς, ἵνα μὴ, τῷ πλήθει τῶν βρωμάτων σκοτισθεὶς, ἀδυνατήσῃ πρὸς τὴν τῶν λογισμῶν παραφυλακήν. Χρὴ τοίνυν μὴ μόνον ἐν τῇ σωματικῇ νηστείᾳ τὴν πᾶσαν σπου δὴν ἐνδείκνυσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ προσοχῇ τῶν λογι σμῶν, καὶ ἐν τῇ πνευματικῇ μελέτῃ, ὧν χωρὶς ἀδύ νατον πρὸς τὸ ὕψος τῆς ἀληθοῦς ἁγνείας καὶ καθα ρότητος ἀνελθεῖν. Προσήκει τοίνυν ἡμᾶς καθαρίζειν πρότερον, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου φωνὴν, τὸ ἔνδον τοῦ ποτηρίου καὶ τῆς παροψίδος, ἵνα γένηται καὶ τὸ ἐκτὸς καθαρόν. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο, εἰ ἔστιν ἡμῖν σπουδὴ, κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον, νομίμως ἀθλῆσαι, καὶ στεφανωθῆναι, νικήσαντας τὸ ἀκάθαρτον πνεῦμα τῆς πορνείας, μὴ τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ δυνάμει ἢ ἀσκήσει θαῤῥήσωμεν, ἀλλὰ τῇ βοηθείᾳ τοῦ δεσπότου Θεοῦ. Οὐ παύεται γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος πολεμούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ δαίμονος τούτου, ἕως οὗ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ πιστεύσῃ, ὅτι οὐκ ἰδίᾳ σπουδῇ ἢ καμάτῳ, ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ ῥοπῇ καὶ βοηθείᾳ ἀπαλλάττε ται ταύτης τῆς νόσου, καὶ εἰς τὸ ὕψος τῆς ἁγνείας ἀνέρ χεται. Καὶ γὰρ ὑπὲρ φύσιν ἐστὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ τρό πον τινὰ ἔξω τοῦ σώματος γίνεται, ὁ τοὺς ἐρεθισμοὺς τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς ταύτης καταπατήσας. Καὶ τούτου χάριν ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν ἄνθρωπον τοῖς πτε ροῖς, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, πρὸς τὸ ὕψος τοῦτο καὶ οὐρά νιον βραβεῖον τῆς ἁγιωσύνης ἀναπτῆναι, καὶ μιμητὴν ἀγγέλων γενέσθαι· εἰ μὴ χάρις Θεοῦ τοῦτον ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ τοῦ βορβόρου ἀναγάγοι. Οὐδεμιᾷ γὰρ ἀρετῇ 28.877 μᾶλλον οἱ σαρκὶ συνδεδεμένοι ἄνθρωποι τοῖς οὐρα νίοις ἀγγέλοις συνομοιοῦνται, ὡς τῇ σωφροσύνῃ· διὰ ταύτης γὰρ, ἔτι ἐν τῇ γῇ διάγοντες, ἔχουσι, κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον, τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς. ∆εῖγμα δὲ τοῦ τὴν ἀρετὴν ταύτην κεκτῆσθαι ἡμᾶς, τὸ μηδὲ μιᾶς εἰκόνι αἰσχρᾶς φαντασίας ἐν τοῖς ὕπνοις τὴν ψυχὴν

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