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Symeon the New Theologian: One Hundred and Fifty-Three Practical and Theological Texts
1. To have faith is to die for Christ and for His commandments; to believe that this death brings life; to regard poverty as wealth, and lowliness and humiliation as true glory and honor; to believe that by not possessing anything one possesses everything (cf. 2 Cor. 6:9-10) or, rather, that not possessing anything is to possess the 'unsearchable riches' of the knowledge of Christ (Eph. 3:8); and to look upon all visible things as dross and smoke.
2. To have faith in Christ means not only to stand aloof from the delights of this life, but also to endure patiently every temptation and test that brings upon us distress, affliction and misfortune, for as long as God wishes and until He comes to us. 'I waited patiently for the Lord and He heard me' (Ps. 40: 1).
3. Those who in any way esteem their parents above the commandments of God do not possess faith in Christ (cf Matt. 10:37). Their own conscience will certainly accuse them - if their conscience is still alive to their lack of faith. People who possess faith never transgress at any point the commandment of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
4. Faith in God engenders desire, for spiritual blessings and fear of punishment. Desire for spiritual blessings and fear of punishment induce a strict keeping of the commandments. The strict keeping of the commandments teaches us our own weakness. Awareness of our true weakness generates mindfulness of death. The person who is mindful of death will insistently strive to discover what awaits him after his exit from this present life. But he who seeks to know what is to come should first of all detach himself from the things of this world; for whoever is constrained by an attachment, however small, to these things cannot acquire full knowledge of his post-mortal state. Even should God in His mercy give him some taste of this knowledge, it will be taken away from him unless he speedily severs his worldly attachments and dedicates himself wholly to it, not willingly giving thought to anything extraneous to it.
5. The renunciation of and total separation from this world - which includes self-alienation from all material things, from the modes, attitudes and forms of this present life, as well as the denial of one's own body and will - swiftly brings great rewards whenever it is zealously accomplished.
6. If you are intent on renouncing the world, do not permit yourself the solace of dwelling in it for the time being, even if all your relatives and friends try to compel you to do so. It is the demons who provoke them in this way in order to extinguish the ardor of your heart; for even if they cannot thwart your purpose completely, they will try to slacken and enfeeble it.
7. When you are courageously impervious to all the pleasures of this life, then the demons will promote in your relatives a spurious compassion for you, making them weep and lament over you before your eyes. You will realize that it is spurious when you stick firmly to your purpose, for you will then see them becoming suddenly infuriated with you: they will no longer want to set eyes on you and will reject you as if you were an enemy.
8. When you see the pain which your parents, relatives and friends experience because of you, mock the demon who in his subtlety has provoked these feelings against you. Withdraw with fear and determination, and entreat God insistently to bring you swiftly into His haven, where He will give rest to your tired and over-burdened soul. The sea of life nourishes many forms of danger and even of utter destruction.
9. He who would hate the world must love God from the depths of his soul and always have Him in mind; nothing else leads us to abandon the world more joyfully and to turn away from it as though it were so much trash.
10. Once called, do not seek to remain in the world for any reason at all, good or bad; obey the call straight away. God rejoices at nothing so much as our promptitude; and swift obedience involving a life of frugality is better than procrastination amidst great wealth.
11. If the world and everything in it passes away, while God alone is eternal and immortal, then rejoice, since for His sake you have renounced what is corruptible. Not merely wealth and possessions, but every sensual pleasure and sinful enjoyment are corruptive. Only the commandments of God are light and life, and everyone acknowledges them as such.
12. If, brother, consumed by spiritual ardor you have entered a monastery or placed yourself under a spiritual father, do not indulge in baths, food or other bodily consolations, even if urged to do so by your spiritual father himself or by your monastic brethren. On the contrary, always be ready to fast, to endure hardship, to exercise the utmost self-control. If, however, your spiritual father insists that you should enjoy some comfort, you will obey him, not even in such a case acting according to your own will. But if he does not insist, then gladly endure what you have freely chosen to do, and your soul will benefit. By keeping to this rule, you will find that always, in every situation, you are abstinent and self-controlled, prompt to renounce your own will in all things. Moreover, you will keep alight in your heart that flame which constrains you to stand aloof from everything.
13. When the demons have done all they can to shake our resolve to live a spiritual life and to hinder us from carrying it out, and have failed in their efforts, they enter pious hypocrites and through them try to obstruct us. First, as if moved by love and compassion, they exhort us to give our bodies some relaxation, on the grounds that otherwise we will become physically exhausted and listless. Then they invite us to join in useless discussions, making us waste whole days in them. If we pay attention to these hypocrites and model ourselves on them, the demons change tactics, mocking us for falling in this way; but if we take no notice of their suggestions, and hold ourselves aloof from all, recollected and reserved, they are consumed with jealousy and do everything they can until they have driven us from the monastery. Arrogance cannot bear to see itself scorned and humility held in honor.
14. A man full of self-esteem suffers torture when he sees a humble person weeping and being doubly compensated: by God, who is moved to pity because of his tears, and by men, who are moved to give him praise that he never sought.
15. Once you have entrusted yourself wholly to your spiritual father, you will find yourself alienated from all things human, worldly or material, that might lead you astray. Without his consent you will not have any desire to concern yourself with such things; nor will you ask him to allow you anything, great or small, unless he himself on his own initiative either tells you to take it or gives it to you with his own hands.
16. Without the permission of your spiritual father, do not give alms from the money you brought with you, and do not even allow an agent acting on your behalf to distribute any of your wealth. It is better for others to regard you as poor and destitute than to distribute your wealth to those in need while you are still a novice. A person of pure faith will entrust everything to the decision of his spiritual father as if putting it into the hands of God.
17. Even if you are burning with thirst, do not ask for a drink of water until on his own initiative your spiritual father urges you to drink. Constrain yourself, force yourself in all things, prevail over yourself, saying to yourself: 'If God wills. ...' And if you deserve a drink, God will certainly reveal this to your spiritual father and he will say to you, 'Drink.' Thus you will drink with a pure conscience, even if it is not the correct moment to do so.
18. Someone with experience of spiritual grace and possessing an unadulterated faith once said, invoking God as witness of its truth: 'I resolved never to ask for anythmg to eat or drink from my spiritual father, or to take anything at all without his consent, but to wait until God prompted him to give me an order. Acting in this way, I never deviated from my aim.'
19. Whoever possesses unclouded faith in his spiritual father will, on seeing him, think that he is seeing Christ Himself; when with him or following him, he will firmly believe that he is with and following Christ. Such a person will never want to associate with anyone else, nor will he value anything in the world more than his thought of him and his love for him. For what is finer or more profitable in this world or in the next than to be with Christ? What is more gracious or beautiful than the sight of Him? If someone is privileged to enjoy His companionship, he draws from this eternal life.
20. If you truly love and pray for those who slander and maltreat you, who hate and defraud you, you will make rapid progress, for when your heart is fully aware that this is happening, your thoughts and, indeed, your whole soul with all its three powers are drawn down into the depths of humility and washed with tears. This in its turn raises your intellect to the heaven of dispassion, conferring on it the gift of contemplation. Because you have tasted such blessing, you come to regard all the things in this life as mere dross, so that you do not even take food or drink with pleasure or any frequency.
21. The spiritual contestant must not only abstain from evil actions, but must also strive to be free from hostile thoughts and notions. He should always concentrate on ideas of a soul-nourishing and spiritual nature, thus remaining detached from worldly cares.
22. A person who strips his whole body bare, but keeps his eyes covered with a cloth, cannot see the light despite his nakedness. Similarly a person detached from all things, including possessions, and even delivered from the passions themselves, will never see the spiritual light - our Lord and God, Jesus Christ - until he frees his soul's eye from worldly concerns and evil thoughts.
23. Worldly thoughts and material concerns blind the mind, or eye of the soul, like a cloth that covers the physical eyes: so long as we are not free of them, we cannot see. But once they are removed by mindfulness of death, then we clearly see the true light, that which illumines everyone who attains the spiritual world.
24. The person blind from birth will not recognize or believe the significance of what I have just written; but the person privileged with sight will bear witness that what I have said is true.
25. The person who sees with physical eyes knows when it is night and when it is day; the blind man is unaware of both. The person who has come to see with the eyes of the spirit, and who has beheld the true and quenchless light, is consciously aware when he is deprived of it should he return, out of laziness, to his former blindness; and he will not be ignorant of why this has happened. But the person blind from birth, and remaining so, knows nothing of these things from personal experience of their operation. He knows about them only from hearsay, but has never actually seen them; and if he tells others what he has heard, neither he nor his audience will know what he is talking about.
26. We cannot both sate ourselves with food and spiritually enjoy divine and noumenal blessings; the more we pander to the stomach the less can we experience such enjoyment. But to the degree that we discipline the body we are filled with spiritual nourishment and grace.
27. We should abandon all that is earthly. We should not only renounce riches and gold and other material things, but should also expel desire for such things completely from our soul. We should hate not only the body's sensual pleasure, but also its mindless impulses; and we should strive to mortify it through suffering. For it is through the body that our desires are roused and stirred into action; and so long as it is alive, our soul will inevitably be dead, slow to respond and even impervious to every divine command.
28. Just as a flame always rises no matter in what direction one turns the wood on which it bums, so the heart of an arrogant person cannot humble itself; the more one says to help him, the greater his self-inflation. Corrected or admonished, he reacts violently; and when praised or encouraged, his exultation knows no bounds.
29. A person in the habit of contradicting others becomes a two-edged sword to himself. Unwittingly he destroys his own soul and alienates it from eternal life.
30. A contentious person is like someone who deliberately gives himself over to the enemies of his king. Contentiousness is a trap whose bait is self-justification; deceived by it we swallow the hook of sin. Then our unhappy soul is caught, tongue and 'throat, by the demons. Sometimes they exalt it to the heights of pride and sometimes cast it down into the depths of sin, to be judged with those who have fallen from heaven.
31. A person who suffers bitterly when slighted or insulted should recognize from this that he still harbors the ancient serpent in his breast. If he quietly endures the insult or responds with great humility, he weakens the serpent and lessens its hold. But if he replies acrimoniously or brazenly, he gives it strength to pour its venom into his heart and to feed mercilessly on his guts. In this way the serpent becomes increasingly powerful; it destroys his soul's strength and his attempts to set himself right, compelhng him to live for sin and to be completely dead to righteousness.
32. If you want to renounce the world and to be instructed in life according to the Gospels, do not place yourself in the hands of an inexperienced master or one subject to the passions; for then you will be taught, not the ways of the Gospels, but those of the devil. Good masters impart good teaching, but the evil teach evil. Bad seed produces rotten fruit.
33. Implore God with prayers and tears to send you a guide who is dispassionate and holy. But you yourself should also study the divine writings - especially the works of the fathers that deal with the practice of the virtues - so that you can compare the teachings of your master with them; for thus you will see and observe them as in a mirror. Take to heart and keep in mind those of his teachings that agree with the divine writings, but separate out and reject those that are false and mcongruent. Otherwise you will be led astray. For in these days there are all too many deceivers and false prophets.
34. A blind person who undertakes to guide others is a deceiver plunging into the pit of destruction those who follow him. As the Lord said: 'If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit' (Matt. 15:14).
35. The person blind to the One is utterly blind to everything; but he who sees in the One contemplates all things. He abstains from the contemplation of all things and at the same time enters into the contemplation of all things while remaining outside what he contemplates. Being .in the One he sees all things; and being in all things he sees nothing. The person who sees in the One perceives through the One both himself and all men and all things; hidden in the One, he sees nothing of anything.
36. The person who has not consciously invested his intelligence and intellect with the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the heavenly one, man and God, is still but flesh and blood. He cannot perceive spiritual glory solely through his intelligence, just as those blind from birth cannot know the sun's light solely through their intelligence.
37. Whoever hears, sees and feels through his intelligence will know the meaning of what has just been said, because he already bears the image of the heavenly one (cf I Cor. 15:49) and has attained that perfect manhood which is the fullness of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:13). Such a person can also guide God's flock aright in the way of His commandments. But if someone does not understand what has been said, it is clear that the perceptive organs of his soul are neither purified nor in good health, and that it would be better for him to be led than to lead others at their peril.
38. He who looks upon his teacher and guide as if he were God cannot call him into question. If he thinks and says that he can, he should know that he deceives himself, being ignorant of the attitude of holy men towards God.
39. If you believe that your life and death are in the hands of your spiritual guide you will never contradict him. Ignorance of this engenders contentiousness, and this brings about spiritual and eternal death.
40. Before the accused receives his sentence, he is given an opportunity to speak in his own defense before the judge about what he has done; but once the facts have been established and the judge has given his verdict, the accused can say nothing, whether important or trivial, to those who execute his punishment.
41. Before a monk has entered this court and has revealed what he has in his heart, he may perhaps argue with his spiritual guide, either out of ignorance or because he thinks he can keep things about himself hidden. But after he has revealed and sincerely confessed his thoughts, he cannot argue with the man who, after God, will be his judge and master until death. For when a monk has once entered this court and laid bare the secrets of his heart, he will know from the start - if he has any understanding at all - that he deserves a thousand deaths. He will believe that through humility and obedience he can be saved from all punishment and chastisement, if indeed he has truly grasped the nature of this mystery.
42. If you keep these things indelibly in mind, your heart will never rebel when you are disciplined or admonished or criticized. But whoever falls victim to the evils of contentiousness and disbelief with respect to his spiritual father and teacher is while yet living dragged down pitifully into the depths of Hades. Being disobedient and a son of perdition he becomes the dwelling-place of Satan and all his unclean brood.
43. I exhort you, who are under obedience, to meditate on these things constantly and to make every effort not to plunge into these infernal evils of which I have spoken. Entreat God fervently each day with these words: 'God and Lord of all, master of everything that has breath and soul, who alone canst cure me, hear my prayer, abject as I am. Root out of me and destroy through the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit the serpent that dwells in me. Make me worthy, poor though I am and bereft of virtue, of falling with tears at the feet of my spiritual father. Move his holy soul to have mercy on me; and. Lord, bestow humility on my heart and give me such thoughts as befit a sinner who has resolved to repent before Thee. Do not abandon for ever a soul that has once submitted and has confessed to Thee, that has chosen and honored Thee above all me world. Thou knowest that I wish to be saved, even if my bad habits hinder me. But to Thee, Lord, are possible all things that are impossible to men' (cf Luke 18:27).
44. Those who with fear and trembling have laid a good foundation of faith and hope in the court of devotion; who have planted their feet firmly on the rock of obedience to their spiritual father; who listen to his counsel as if it came from the mouth of God; and who with humility of soul build all this on the basis of obedience - such people will succeed immediately. They will achieve that great and primary task of denying themselves. For to fulfill the will of another and not one's own entails not only the denial of one's own soul, but also mortification towards the whole world.
45. The demons rejoice when a person argues with his spiritual father, but angels marvel at him when he humbles himself to the point of death. For then he performs God's work, making himself like the Son of God who was obedient to His Father unto death, the death on the cross (cf Phil. 2:8).
46. Contrition of heart, when excessive and untimely, troubles and darkens the mind, destroying the soul's humility and pure prayer, and paining the heart. This induces a hardening to the point of total insensibility; and by means of this the demons reduce spiritual people to despair.
47. As you are a monk, such things may happen to you. If they do, you may still feel a great desire and eagerness for perfection, longing to fulfill all God's commandments and not wanting to err or sin even by uttering a single idle word (cf. Matt. 12:36), or to fall short of the saints of old in the practice of virtue, in spiritual knowledge and in contemplation. But then you may find yourself hampered by someone who sows tares of despondency. He tries to prevent you from climbing to such heights of holiness by discouraging you with various thoughts. For instance, he will tell you that it is impossible for you to be saved and to keep every single one of God's commandments while you live in this world. When this happens you should sit down in a solitary place by yourself, collect yourself, concentrate your thoughts and give good counsel to your soul, saying: 'Why, my soul, are you dejected, and why do you trouble me? Put your hope in God. for I will give thanks to Him; for my salvation lies not in my actions but in God (cf Ps. 42:5). Who will be vindicated by actions done according to the law (cf Gal. 2:16)? No living person will be vindicated before God (cf. Ps. 143:2). Yet by virtue of my faith in God I hope that in His ineffable mercy He will give me salvation. Get behind me, Satan (cf. Matt. 4:10; 16:23). I worship the Lord my God (cf. Matt. 4:10; Luke 4:8) and serve Him from my youth; for He is able to save me simply through His mercy. Go away from me. The God who created me in His image and likeness will reduce you to impotence.'
48. The only thing God requires of us is that we do not sin. But this is achieved, not by acting according to the law, but by carefully guarding the divine image in us and our supernal dignity. When we thus live in our natural state, wearing the resplendent robe of the Spirit, we dwell in God and God dwells in us. Then we are called gods by adoption and sons of God, sealed by the light of the knowledge of God (cf Ps. 4:6. LXX).
49. Bodily listlessness and torpor, which affect the soul as a result of our laziness and negligence, not only make us abandon our normal rule of prayer, but also darken the mind and fill it with despondency. Then blasphemous and cowardly thoughts arise in the heart. Indeed, the person tempted by the demon of listlessness cannot even enter his usual place of prayer; he grows sluggish, and absurd thoughts directed against the Creator of all things arise in his mind. Aware of the cause of all this and why it has happened to you, resolutely enter your normal place of prayer and, falling down before the God of love, ask with a compunctive and aching heart, full of tears, to be freed from the weight of listlessness and from your pernicious thoughts. If you knock hard and insistently, this release will soon be given to you.
50. The person who has attained purity of heart has triumphed over cowardice. The person still in the process of being purified sometimes overcomes it and sometimes is overcome by it. The person not even engaged in spiritual warfare is either completely unaware that he is the ally of his own passions and of the demons and that he is sick with pride and presumption, thinking he is something when he is not; or else he is the slave and servant of cowardice, trembling like a baby and fearing fear where, for those who fear the Lord, there is no fear (cf Ps. 14:5. LXX) nor any occasion for cowardice.
51. Whoever fears the Lord will not fear the sickly attacks of demons or the threats of evil people. Like a flame or a burning fire, he goes about day and night through dark and hidden places, and instead of fleeing from the demons he makes them flee from him, so as not to be scorched by the flaming rays of divine fire that pour from him.
52. Whoever goes in the fear of God is not afraid when surrounded by evil men, for he has the fear of God within him and wears the invincible amour of faith. This gives him strength to do all things, even those that seem to most people difficult or impossible. Like a giant among monkeys or a roaring lion among dogs and foxes, he is resolute in the Lord, unnerving his enemies with the constancy of his purpose and filling their minds with terror; for he wields God's wisdom like a rod of iron (cf. Ps. 2:9).
53. Not only the hesychast, living alone, or the monk under obedience, but also the abbot, the spiritual director of many, and even a monk charged with specific duties, need to be detached and completely free from all worldly cares. For if we are not detached, we transgress the commandment of God which says, 'Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or drink, or what you will wear; for it is the heathen who worry about all these things' (Matt. 6:25, 32). And again, 'Take care that your heart is not weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness and worldly cares' (Luke 21:34).
54. A person full of anxiety about worldly things is not free: he is dominated and enslaved by this anxiety, whether it is about himself or about others. But he who is free from such things is untroubled by worldly concerns, whether they relate to himself or to others; and this is so, even if he is a bishop, abbot or priest. However, he will not be idle, or neglect even the most insignificant and trivial details; but all he does he will do for the glory of God, accomplishing everything in his life without anxiety.
55. Do not pull down your own house because you want to build a house for your neighbor. Think how exhausting and difficult the task will be. Otherwise you may make your decision only to find that, having destroyed your own house, you lack the strength to build a house for someone else.
56. Unless you are completely detached from worldly affairs and possessions, do not voluntarily assume responsibility for such things. Otherwise you may become caught up in them and, instead of receiving the reward for your services, may find yourself accused of theft and sacrilege. But if your abbot compels you to act as a steward, be like someone who holds in his hands a flaming fire; and if you ward off the attacks of your own evil thoughts through repentance and confession, you will be kept unharmed through the prayers of your superior.
57. Unless you have become dispassionate you cannot know what dispassion is, and will not believe that a dispassionate person exists anywhere on earth. For unless someone has first denied himself, readily giving his blood for the sake of a life that is truly blessed, how can he imagine that anyone else has done this in order to attain the state of dispassion? It is the same with someone who thinks that he possesses the Holy Spirit while in fact he possesses nothing of the kind. When he hears about the workings of the Spirit in those who do possess Him, he refuses to believe that there is anyone in our generation who is energized and motivated by the Holy Spirit, or who consciously and experientially enjoys the vision of Him, in the same way as Christ's apostles and the saints from the beginning of the world. For each judges whether his neighbor's condition is virtuous or vicious according to his own state.
58. A dispassionate soul is one thing, a dispassionate body is another. For the soul, when dispassionate, sanctifies the body with its own luminosity and with the radiance of the Holy Spirit. But bodily dispassion by itself confers no benefit on the person who possesses it.
59. A person who is raised by the king from extreme poverty to wealth, who is invested by him with high office and a splendid uniform and commanded to stand in his presence, will be full of devotion for the king and will revere him as his benefactor. He will be fully aware of his splendid robes, of his high office and the wealth he has been given. Similarly, if a monk has truly withdrawn from the world and its affairs and has come to Christ, if he is fully conscious of his calling and has been raised to the heights of spiritual contemplation through the practice of the commandments, then he will look unwaveringly on God and be well aware of the change that has taken place in him. He will see the grace of the Spirit always illuminating him - the grace that is called a garment, the royal purple or, rather, that is Christ Himself, if it is indeed true that those who believe in Christ are clothed in Christ (cf Gal. 3:27).
60. Many read the Holy Scriptures and hear them read. But few can grasp their meaning and import. For some what is said in the Scriptures is impossible, for others it is altogether beyond belief. Some again interpret them wrongly: they apply things said about the present to the future, and things said about the future to the past or else to what happens daily. In this way they reveal a lack of true judgment and discernment in things both human and divine.
61. We, the faithful, should look upon all the faithful as one single being, and should consider that Christ dwells in each of them. We should have such love for each of them that we are willing to lay down our lives for him. Nor should we ever think or say that anyone is evil: we should look on everyone as good, as I have already said. Even should you see someone overwhelmed by some passion, execrate, not him, but the passions that fight against him. And if he is mastered by desires and prepossessions, have even greater compassion for him; for you too may be tempted, subject as you are to the same fluctuations of beguihng materiahty.
62. A person false through hypocrisy, or culpable because of his actions, or easily shattered by some passion, or who lapses slightly through negligence, must not be left in the company of those who are working together in harmony. On the contrary he must be excluded from their society as still corrupt and reprobate. Otherwise at some crucial moment he might break their chain of union, causing division where there should be none and distress both to those who are at the head of the chain - for they will be grieved for those who follow after them - and to those at the tail of the chain, who will suffer because they are cut off from those in front of them.
63. Earth thrown on a fire puts it out. Similarly, worldly concerns and attachment to even the smallest and most insignificant thing quell the fervor initially burning in our hearts.
64. If you are pregnant with the fear of death you will feel disgust for all food and drink and smart clothing. You will not even find pleasure in eating bread or drinking water. You will give your body only what it needs to keep alive; and you will not only renounce all self-will, but at the discretion of those to whom you are obedient you will become the servant of all.
65. The person who from fear of punishment hereafter has placed himself as a slave in the hands of his spiritual fathers will not choose, even if commanded to do so, relief for his heart's suffering or deliverance from the bonds of his fear. Nor will he listen to those who out of friendship, or flattery, or in virtue of their authority, encourage him to seek such relief and freedom. On the contrary, he will choose what increases his suffering and heightens his fear, and will look with love on whatever helps another to inflict these things on him. Moreover, he will endure as though he never expected to be released; for hope of deliverance lightens one's burden, and this is harmful for someone who is repenting fervently.
66. Fear of punishment hereafter and the suffering it engenders are beneficial to all who are starting out on the spiritual way. Whoever imagines that he can make a start without such suffering and fear, and without someone to inflict them, is not merely basing his actions on sand but thinks that he can build in the air without any foundations at all; and this of course is utterly impossible, indeed, the suffering is the source of nearly all our joy, while the fear breaks the grip of all our sins and passions, and the one who inflicts these things brings us not death but eternal life.
67. He who does not attempt to evade the suffering engendered by the fear of eternal punishment, but accepts it wholeheartedly, and even adds to it as he can, will rapidly advance into the presence of the King of kings. And as soon as he has beheld the glory of God, however obscurely, his bonds will be loosed: fear, his tormenter, will leave him, and his heart's suffering will be turned to joy. It will become a spring from which unceasing tears will flow visibly and which will fill him spiritually with peace, gentleness and inexpressible sweetness, as well as with courage and the capacity to submit to God's commandments freely and unreservedly. This is something impossible for those who are still- beginners, for it is the characteristic of such as are in the middle of their spiritual journey. As for the perfect, this spring becomes a hght within their hearts, suddenly changed and transformed as they are.
68. The person inwardly illumined by the light of the Holy Spirit cannot endure the vision of it, but falls face down on the earth and cries out in great fear and amazement, since he has seen and experienced something that is beyond nature, thought or conception. He becomes like someone suddenly inflamed with a violent fever: as though on fire and unable to endure the flames, he is beside himself, utterly incapable of controlling himself. And though he pours forth incessant tears that bring him some relief, the flame of his desire kindles all the more. Then his tears flow yet more copiously and, washed by their flow, he becomes even more radiant When, totally incandescent, he has become like light, then the saying is fulfilled, 'God is united with gods and known by them', in the sense perhaps that He is now united to those who have joined themselves to Him, and revealed to those who have come to know Him.
69. 'Let no one deceive you with vain words' (Eph. 5:6), and let us not deceive ourselves: before we have experienced inward grief and tears there is no true repentance or change of mind in us, nor is there any fear of God in our hearts, nor have we passed sentence on ourselves, nor has our soul become conscious of the coming judgment and eternal torments. Had we accused ourselves and realized these things in ourselves, we would have immediately shed tears; for without tears our hardened hearts cannot be mollified, our souls cannot acquire spiritual humility, and we cannot be humble. If we do not attain such a state we cannot be united with the Holy Spirit. And if we have not been united with the Holy Spirit through purification, we cannot have either vision or knowledge of God, or be initiated into the hidden virtues of humility.
70. Those who simulate virtue and who, because of the sheepskin of the monastic habit, appear to be one thing outwardly but are something else inwardly - steeped perhaps in iniquity, jealousy, ambition, and foul pleasures - are revered by most people as saintly and dispassionate; for in most people the soul's eye is unpurified, and so they cannot recognize these impostors by their fruits (cf Matt. 7:15-16). Those, on the other hand, who are full of devoutness, virtue and simplicity of heart, and who are truly saints, are judged by most people to be like other men; and they pass them by with disdain, counting them as nothing.
71. The garrulous and ostentatious man is thought by these people to be a spiritual master; but the quiet man, careful not to waste words, they regard as uncouth and inarticulate.
72. The arrogant, sick with diabolic pride, reject anyone inspired by the Holy Spirit as if this saintly man were himself arrogant and filled with pride; for his words strike them like blows, yet do not move them to compunction. But whoever uses his inborn talents or education to spin long phrases, and who tells lies to people about their salvation, is welcomed by them and praised to the skies; and so no one among them is able to see the situation as it is and judge it accordingly.
73. 'Blessed are the pure in heart,' says God, 'for they shall see God' (Matt. 5:8). But purity of heart cannot be realized through one virtue alone, or through two, or ten; it can only be realized through all of them together, as if they formed but a single virtue brought to perfection. Even so the virtues cannot by themselves purify the heart without the presence and inner working of the Spirit. For just as the bronzesmith demonstrates his skill through his tools, but cannot make anything without the activity of fire, so a man using the virtues as tools
can do everything, given the presence of the fire of the Spirit; but without this presence these took remain useless and ineffective, not removing the stain that befouls the soul.
74. Through holy baptism we are granted remission of our sins, are freed from the ancient curse, and are sanctified by the presence of the Holy Spirit. But we do not as yet receive the perfection of grace, as described in the words of Scripture, 'I will dwell in them, and move in them' (2 Cor. 6:16); for that is true only of those who are steadfast in faith and have demonstrated this through what they do. If after we have been baptized we gravitate towards evil and foul actions, we lose the sanctification of baptism completely. But through repentance, confession and tears we receive a corresponding remission of our former sins and, in this way, sanctification accompanied by the grace of God.
75. Through repentance the filth of our foul actions is washed away. After this, we participate in the Holy Spirit, not automatically, but according to the faith, humility and inner disposition of the repentance in which our whole soul is engaged. In addition, we must also have received complete remission of our sins from our spiritual father. For this reason it is good to repent each day, in accordance with the commandment that tells us to do this; for the words, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near' (Matt. 3:2), indicate that the act of repentance is unending.
76. The grace of the Holy Spirit is given as a pledge to souls that are betrothed to Christ; and just as without a pledge a woman cannot be sure that her union with her man will take place, so the soul will have no firm assurance that it will be joined for all eternity with its Lord and God, or be united with Him mystically and inexpressibly, or enjoy His unapproachable beauty, unless it receives the pledge of His grace and consciously possesses Him within Itself
77. Just as an engagement is not binding unless the documents of the contract bear the signatures of trustworthy witnesses, so the illumination of grace is dependent upon the practice of the commandments and the actualization of the virtues. What witnesses are to a contract, the virtues and the practice of the commandments are to spiritual betrothal: through them everyone who is going to be saved secures the consummation of the pledge.
78. It is as if the contract were written through the practice of the commandments and then signed and sealed by the virtues. Only then does Christ, the bridegroom, give His ring - the pledge of the Holy Spirit - to the soul that is His bride-to-be.
79. Before the marriage the bride-to-be receives nothing but the pledge given by her future husband; she waits until after the marriage to receive the dowry that has been agreed upon and the gifts promised with it. So the Church - the bride-to-be composed of all me faithful - and the soul of each of us first receive from Christ, the bridegroom- to-be, only the pledge of the Spirit. The eternal blessings and the kingdom of heaven are given subsequent to this earthly life, though both the Church and the individual soul have the assurance of them through the pledge they have received, in which, as in a mirror, what has been agreed is disclosed and confirmed by their Lord and God.
80. If the bridegroom-to-be is delayed abroad or kept away by other business, and puts off the marriage for a while, and if the bride-to-be, indignant, rejects his love, erasing or tearing up the document that contains the pledge, she immediately loses all right to what she expected from him. The same is true where the soul is concerned. For if a person engaged in spiritual warfare should say 'How long must I suffer?' and begin to evade the rigor of the ascetic life and, as it were, to erase or tear up the contract through neglect of the commandments and by abandoning the constant task of repentance, then at once he forfeits completely the pledge given and his hope in God.
81. Should the bride-to-be transfer her love from the man to whom she is affianced to another, sharing his bed, whether publicly or not, not only does she not receive anything of what her betrothed had promised her, but she may rightly expect the censure and punishment of the law. The same is true in our own case. If someone shifts the love he has for Christ, his betrothed, to the desire for some other thing, whether openly or in secret, and his heart is possessed by mat thing, he will become hateful and abhorrent to Christ, and unworthy of being united with Him. For it is written, 'I love them that love me' (Prov. 8:17).
82. Each of us should be able to understand from these signs whether or not he has received the pledge of the Spirit from Christ, our Lord and Betrothed. If he has received it, he should strive to retain it; and if he has not yet been privileged to receive it, he should strive through good works and actions, and through fervent repentance, to receive it, and then to keep it through the practice of the commandments and the acquisition of the virtues.
83. The roof of a house rests on its foundations and walls; correspondingly the foundations themselves are laid in the manner required for them to serve as support for the roof. A roof cannot stand without foundations, and foundations without a roof serve no living or practical purpose. Similarly, God's grace is preserved through the practice of the commandments, while the practice of the commandments is as it were the foundation for the divine gift. The grace of the Spirit will not remain with us without the practice of the commandments, nor will the practice of the commandments serve any useful purpose without the grace of God.
84. A house left without a roof through the neglect of the builder is not only useless, but brings ridicule on the builder. Similarly, a person who has laid foundations through the practice of the commandments, and has raised walls through the acquisition of the higher virtues, remains incomplete, and an object of pity to the perfect, if he does not receive the grace of the Spirit in the form of contemplation and spiritual knowledge. He will have been denied this grace for one of two reasons: either he has failed to repent; or, daunted by the serried ranks of the virtues as by a boundless forest, he may have overlooked one of them - one that may seem trivial to us, but is indispensable if the house of the virtues is to be completed, since without it that house cannot be roofed by the grace of the Spirit.
85. The Son of God, God Himself, came down to earth in order to reconcile us. His enemies, to His Father, and to unite us consciously to Himself through His holy and coessential Spirit. How, then, can someone who lacks this grace of the Spirit achieve any other form of grace? Certainly he has not been reconciled to Christ, nor has he been united to Christ through participation in the Spirit.
86. The person who participates in the Holy Spirit is freed from impassioned desires and sensual pleasures, but he is not divorced from his natural bodily needs. In virtue of his deliverance from the bonds of impassioned desire and his union with immortal tenderness and glory, he strives unflaggingly to attain the heights, to dwell there with God, and not to lose even for a moment his vision of God and his insatiable delight. But because he is fastened to the body and to corruption, he is dragged down and pulled along by them, and is turned towards earthly things. His distress at this must be as great, I imagine, as that of a sinner's soul when it is separated from the body.
87. For someone who loves the body, mortal life, sensual pleasure, and the material world, separation from them is death; but for someone who loves holiness. God. the immaterial world and virtue, true death is for the mind to be separated from them even briefly. If the eyes of a person who can see sensible light are closed for an instant or covered by someone else, he suffers and is distressed and cannot bear it, especially if he was looking at something important or unusual. But if someone is illumined by the Holy Spirit and, whether asleep or awake, sees spiritually those blessings that 'the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and man's heart has not grasped' (1 Cor. 2:9), and 'that angels long to glimpse' (1 Pet. 1:12), how much more will he suffer and be tormented if he is torn away from the vision of these things? For this will seem to him like death, a veritable exclusion from eternal life.
88. Many have called the eremitic life blessed, others, the communal or coenobitic life. Others again have described in this way leadership of the faithful, or the counseling, teaching and administration of churches. All of these are activities that provide people with nourishment in body and soul. But for my part I would not judge any one of them to be better than the others, nor would I say that one merits praise and another censure. But in every case, whatever our work or activity, it is the life led for God and according to God that is most blessed.
89. Man's material life is based upon a variety of sciences and skills, each person practicing one or another of them and making his contribution. Thus, by giving and taking from one another, men satisfy their natural bodily needs. One can see the same thing among spiritual people, where one person pursues one virtue while another follows another path. But all are moving towards a single goal.
90. The goal of all who pursue the spiritual path is to do the will of Christ, their God, to be reconciled with the Father through communion in the Spirit, and so to achieve their salvation. For only in this way is the soul's salvation attained. And if it is not attained, our labor is fatuous and our work vain. Every path of life is pointless that does not lead the person pursuing it to this consummation. 91. The person who, totally forsaking the world, retires to the mountains as though in pursuit of stillness and who then showily writes to those in the world, blessing some and praising and flattering others, is like someone who, after divorcing a foul and slatternly whore of a wife and going off to a distant land to expunge even his memory of her, then forgets why he came there and longs to write to those living with that whore, and sullied by her, even deeming them happy. If not bodily, at least in heart and in intellect he shares their passions, inasmuch as he deliberately condones their commerce with that woman.
92. Those who purify their senses and hearts from every evil desire while living in the world indeed deserve praise and are surely blessed. Correspondingly, those who dwell in mountains and caves, but who pursue human praise and blessing, deserve censure and rejection. In the eyes of God, diviner of our hearts, they are adulterers. For the person who wants his life and name and ascetic practice to be known in the world prostitutes himself in God's sight, as, according to David, the Jewish people once did (cf Ps. 106:39).
93. Whoever renounces the world and worldly things with unhesitating faith in God believes that the Lord is compassionate and merciful and that He receives those who come to Him in repentance. But he knows, too, that God honors His servants with dishonor, enriches them with the utmost poverty, and glorifies them by means of insults and scorn, making them through death participants and inheritors of eternal life. Through such trials the servant of God is impelled like a panting hart to the deathless fountain (cf. Ps. 42: 1); and through them he climbs upwards, as though up a ladder on which angels ascend and descend (cf. Gen. 28:12; John 1:51) in order to help those who are mounting. God is enthroned above, observing the strength of our intention and diligence, not because He enjoys seeing us struggle, but because He wishes, compassionate as He is, to give us our reward as if it were something He owed us.
94. The Lord never allows those who come to Him unhesitatingly to fall completely. When He sees them faltering He helps them in their efforts, stretching a hand of power down to them and drawing them up to Himself. He works with them visibly and invisibly, consciously and unconsciously, until, having climbed every step of the ladder, they draw near Him, wholly united with Him in His wholeness and forgetting all that is earthly. Whether they are there with Him in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell (cf. 2 Cor. 12:2); but they dwell with Him and enjoy His ineffable blessings.
95. It is right for us to place the yoke of Christ's commandments on our shoulders from the start; and we should not resist or hang back. On the contrary, we should walk straight ahead wholeheartedly obedient to them, making ourselves in truth the new paradise of God, until the Son comes to dwell in us with the Father through the Holy Spirit. Then, when He totally indwells us and is our master, whomever of us He commands and whatever ministry He entrusts us with, we will take it in hand and carry it out sedulously, as seems best to Him. But we must not seek this ministry prematurely, or consent to accept it when given by men; but we must persevere in the commandments of our Lord and God and await His orders. 96. If, after we have committed ourselves to some form of ministry within the Church and have performed it honorably, the Spirit should then direct us to some other ministry or work or activity, we should not resist. For God does not want us to be idle, but neither does He want us to be confined for ever to the first work in which we engaged. On the contrary. He wants us to advance, moving always towards the realization of something better, acting in accordance with His will and not our own.
97. Whoever strives to mortify his own will should' follow the will of God; and in the place of his own will he should put God's will, planting it in himself and grafting it into his heart. Moreover, he should carefully observe whether what he has planted has put down deep roots, whether what he has grafted has healed over so as to make a single tree, and whether it has grown and flowered and borne good, sweet fruit in such a way that he no longer recognizes the earth into which the seed was sown or the stock onto which the graft was made, so incomprehensible and miraculous is the life-bearing tree that has grown up.
98. If through fear of God you cut off your own will - inexplicably, for you do not know how this happens - God will give you His will. You will keep it indelibly in your heart, opening the eyes of your mind so that you recognize it; and you will be given the strength to fulfill it. The grace of the Holy Spirit operates these things: without it, nothing is accomplished.
99. If you have received the remission of all your sins, either through confession or through putting on the holy and angelic habit, this will be a great source of love, thanksgiving and humility for you. For not only have you been spared the countless punishments that you deserved, but you have been granted sonship, glory and the kingdom of heaven. Bear this in mind and continually meditate on it, taking care never to dishonor Him who honored you and has forgiven you ten thousand sins; glorify and honor Him in all you do, so that in return He will glorify you even more - you whom He has honored above all visible creation and has called His true friend.
100. As the soul is more precious than the body, so man endowed with intelligence excels the whole world. When you contemplate the grandeur of the created things with which the world is filled, do not think that they are more precious than you are; but keeping in mind the grace that has been given you, and aware of the value of your deiform soul, celebrate the God who has honored you above all visible things.
101. Let us consider how we should glorify God. We cannot glorify Him in any way other than that in which He was glorified by the Son; for in the same way as the Son glorified the Father, the Son in turn was glorified by the Father. Let us, then, diligently use these same means to glorify Him who allows us to call Him 'our Father in heaven', so that we may be glorified by Him with the glory that the Son possesses with the Father prior to the world (cf John 17:5). These means are the cross, or death to the whole world, the afflictions, the trials and the other sufferings undergone by Christ. If we endure them with great patience, we imitate Christ's sufferings; and through them we glorify our Father and God, as His sons by grace and as coheirs of Christ.
102. A soul not consciously and completely free from ties and attachments to the visible world is not able to endure serenely the calamities and ravages with which both men and demons assail it. Bound by its attachment to human concerns, it is lacerated by the loss of material things, suffers when deprived of possessions, and is full of distress when its body is afflicted.
103. A person who has delivered his soul from its ties with and desires for sensible things, and has bound it to God, will not only scorn property and possessions, accepting their loss painlessly, as if they belonged to others and were not his own; he will also endure bodily distress with joy and gratitude. In the words of St Paul, he sees the outward self perishing, but the inward self being renewed day by day (cf. 2 Cor. 4: 16). Otherwise it is impossible joyfully to bear the afflictions permitted by God, for this requires perfect knowledge and spiritual wisdom. He who lacks these things walks at all times in the darkness of ignorance and hopelessness, totally incapable of beholding the light of patience and benediction.
104. Anyone who thinks himself intelligent because of his scholarly or scientific learning will never be granted insight into divine mysteries unless he first humbles himself and becomes a fool (cf I Cor. 3:18), discarding both his presumption and the knowledge that he has acquired. But if he does this and with unhesitating faith allows himself to be led by those wise in divine matters, he will enter with them into the city of the living God. Guided and illumined by the divine Spirit, he will see and learn what others cannot ever see or learn. He will then be taught by God (cf. John 6:45).
105. Those taught by God will be regarded as fools by the disciples of such as are wise in the wisdom of this world. But in fact it is the worldly-wise that are fools, spouting an inane secular wisdom, the stupidity of which God has demonstrated (cf. I Cor. I :20) and which Scripture condemns as material, unspiritual, devilish, filled with strife and malice (cf. Jas. 3:15). Since these people are blind to the divine light, they cannot see the marvels it contains; they regard as deluded those who dwell in that light and see and teach others about what is within it. On the contrary, it is they themselves that are deluded, not having tasted the ineffable blessings of God.
106. Even now, living in our midst, there are people who are dispassionate and saintly, filled with divine light; who have so mortified whatever in them pertains to the earth (cf. Col. 3:5), freeing it from all impurity and impassioned desire, that not only do they themselves not think or act maliciously, but even when drawn in this direction by another they are unwavering in their dispassion. Those who accuse these saints of folly, and who do not believe them when in the wisdom of the Spirit they teach about divine matters, would have recognized them had they understood the sacred writings that are read and sung daily. For if they possessed a mature knowledge of the Holy Scriptures they would have believed in the blessings spoken of and bestowed on us by God. But because out of self-conceit and negligence they do not share in these blessings, in their unbelief they slander those who do share in them and who teach others about them.
107. For this reason those filled with grace and perfect in spiritual knowledge and wisdom will meet and see people living in the world only in order to benefit them in some way through reminding them of God's commandments or by doing good; there is a chance that some will listen, understand, and be persuaded. For those not led by the Spirit of God walk in darkness and do not know where they are going (cf. John 12:35) or what are the obstacles that make them stumble. Yet perhaps one day they may recover from their presumption and accept the true teaching of the Holy Spirit; learning about the will of God in all its purity and integrity, they may repent, carry out this will and receive some share in spiritual grace. But if these holy people cannot in this way benefit those living in the world, they return to their cells, lamenting the hardness of heart they have encountered; and they pray day and night for the salvation of such as are still in darkness. To those who dwell constantly with God and are more than abundantly filled with every blessing, this is the only thing that causes sadness.
108. What is the purpose of the Incarnation of the Divine Logos which is proclaimed throughout the Scriptures, about which we read and which yet we do not recognize? Surely it is that He has shared in what is ours so as to make us participants of what is His. For the Son of God became the Son of man in order to make us human beings sons of God, raising us up by grace to what He is by nature, giving us a new birth in the Holy Spirit and leading us directly into the kingdom of heaven. Or, rather. He gives us the grace to possess this kingdom within ourselves (cf . Luke 17:21), so that not merely do we hope to enter it but, being in full possession of it, we can affirm: 'Our life is hid with Christ in God' (Col. 3:3).
109. Baptism does not take away our free will or freedom of choice, but gives us the freedom no longer to be tyrannized by the devil unless we choose to be. After baptism it is in our power either to persist willingly in the practice of the commandments of Christ, into whom we were baptized, and to advance in the path of His ordinances, or to deviate from this straight way and to fall again into the hands of our enemy, the devil.
110. Whoever after baptism deliberately submits to the will of the devil and carries out his wishes, estranges himself - to adapt David's words - from the holy womb of baptism (cf. Ps. 58:3). None of us can be estranged or alienated from the nature with which we are created. We are created good by God - for God creates nothing evil - and we remain unchanging in our nature and essence as created. But we do what we choose and want, whether good or bad, of our own free will. Just as a knife does not change its nature, but remains iron whether used for good or for evil, so we, as has been said, act and do what we want without departing from our own nature.
111. To be merciful to just one person will not save you, but to scorn just one person will send you to the fire (cf.Matt. 18:10). The words, 'I was hungry' and 'I was thirsty' (Matt. 25:35), were spoken with reference not merely to a single occasion or to a single day, but to the whole of our life. Thus our Lord and God has declared that He accepts from His servants food, drink, clothing and so on, not once only but always and in all things.
112. Even though we may have been charitable to a hundred people, if there were others from whom we turned away when they asked for food and drink and we could have given it to them, we will be judged by Christ as having refused Him nourishment. For Christ, whom we nourish in the humblest of people, is in all those to whom we refused our charity.
113. He who today gives to all everything they need and tomorrow, though still in the position to act in a similar way, neglects some of his fellow beings and allows them to perish of hunger, thirst or cold, has scorned and allowed to die Him who said, 'Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these My kindred, you have done it to Me' (Matt. 25:40).
114. Christ takes on the appearance of each of the poor and assimilates Himself to all of them so that no one who believes in Him will be arrogant towards his fellow being. On the contrary, he will look on his fellow being and his neighbor as his God, regarding himself as least of all in comparison just as much with his neighbor as with his Creator, honoring his neighbor as if he were his Creator, and exhausting his all in his service, just as Christ our God poured out His blood for our salvation.
115. We who have been commanded to regard our neighbor as ourself (cf. Lev. 19:18; Luke 10:27) should do so not for one day only, but for our whole life. Similarly, we who have been told to give to all who ask (cf. Matt. 5:42) are told to do this for our whole life. And if we would like others to do good to us, we should ourselves act in the same way towards them (cf. Matt. 7:12).
116. Whoever regards his neighbor as himself cannot bear to possess more than his neighbor. On the other hand, if he has more and does not give unstintingly until he himself becomes as poor as his neighbor, he fails to fulfill the Lord's commandment. And if someone wishes to give to all who ask, but rejects one of them while he still has a penny or a scrap of bread, or if he does not act towards his neighbor as he would like other people to act towards him, he too is failing to fulfill the Lord's commandment. Similarly if you provide for even the humblest of the poor, and give him drink, and clothe him, and so on, but ignore a single person whom you know to be hungry and thirsty, you will be regarded as having ignored Christ our God when He was hungry and thirsty.
117. This may seem extremely severe, and you may well say to yourself: 'Who can do all this? Who can care and provide for everyone, and not ignore anyone?' But let us listen to what St Paul explicitly states: 'For the love of Christ impels us to pronounce this judgment: that, since one has died for all, therefore all have died' (2 Cor. 5:14).
118. Just as the more comprehensive commandments contain within themselves all the more particular commandments, so the more comprehensive virtues contain in themselves the more particular virtues. For he who sells what he has and distributes it to the poor (cf. Matt. 19:21), and who once and for all becomes poor himself, has fulfilled at once all the more particular commandments: he no longer has to give alms to the person who asks him for them, nor does he have to-refrain from rejecting the man who wishes to borrow from him (cf. Matt. 5:42). So, too, someone who prays continuously (cf. I Thess. 5:17) has in this act included everything and is no longer obliged to praise the Lord seven times a day (of. Ps. 119:164), or in the evening, in the morning, and at noonday (of. Ps. 55:17): he has already done all that we do by way of prayer and psalmody according to the regulations and at specific times and hours. Similarly, he who has acquired consciously within himself the Teacher of spiritual knowledge (cf. Ps. 94:10) has gone through all Scripture, has gained all that is to be gained from reading, and will no longer have need to resort to books. How is this? The person who is in communion with Him who inspired those who wrote the Divine Scriptures, and is initiated by Him into the undivulged secrets of the hidden mysteries, will himself be an inspired book to others - a book containing old and new mysteries and written by the hand of God; for he has accomplished all things and in God, the principle of perfection, he rests from all his labors.
119. Emission of semen in sleep may be produced by many factors. It may be due to gluttony, or self-esteem, or the envy of the demons. It may occur after long vigils when the body is sluggish and ready for sleep. It may happen because of the fear that it may happen, especially if one is a priest due to celebrate the Liturgy, or intends to receive holy communion: filled with anxious thoughts that this might happen, one falls asleep only to have it happen. This, too, is brought about by the envy of the demons. Or it may be that after seeing a lovely face during the day, one then recalls it mentally, and falls asleep full of unchaste thoughts which one fails to repel because of one's sluggishness: thus one lapses while asleep, or even while lying awake in bed. Or certain individuals - negligent, as I see it - may sit and talk, perhaps impassionately, perhaps not, about things involving the passions; then, when they go to bed, they turn those things over in their minds, drop off to sleep while thinking about them, and come under their spell during sleep. It may even happen during the conversation itself, one person being perverted by another. We should therefore always be attentive to ourselves and reflect on the prophet's words: '1 have set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand, so that I shall not be shaken' (Ps. 16:8); and we should not listen to such talk. Often even those engrossed in prayer are physically aroused, as I have stated in the text on prayer.
120. Brother, at the beginning of your renunciation of the world, try hard to implant in yourself noble virtues, so that you become useful to the community and so that the Lord may finally exalt you. Do not try to be familiar with the abbot, as we have already said elsewhere, or request any honor from him. Do not seek friendship with the senior members of the community, and do not hang about their cells; for if you do, not only will the passion of self-esteem begin to take root in you, but you will be disliked by the superior. Why this is so will be clear if you think about it. Sit peacefully in your cell, whatever it is like. If someone wants to contact you, do not spurn him on the grounds that he disturbs your devotions. Provided that you meet him with the consent of your spiritual father, you will come to no harm, even if the visitor has been sent to you by the enemy. But if you see that no good comes from the meeting, you should follow the path that is of profit to you.
121. At all times you should fear God, and every day you should examine yourself to see what good things you have done and what bad things. And you should forget what was good, lest you succumb to the passion of self- esteem. But where what was bad is concerned you should weep, confess, and pray intensely. This self-examination should take place as follows: when the day has ended and evening has come, ask yourself how, with God's help, you have passed the day. Did you judge anyone, speak harshly of anyone, or offend anyone? Did you look nnpassionately at anyone, or did you disobey your superior with regard to your duties and neglect them? Did you become angry with anyone, or occupy your mind with useless things while in church? Or, overcome by lethargy, did you leave church or depart from your rule of prayer? When you see that you are guiltless on all counts - which is impossible, for 'no one is free from stain, not even for a single day of his life' (cf. Job 14:4-5. LXX), and 'who will boast that his heart is pure?' (cf. Prov. 20:9) - then cry out to God, full of tears: 'Lord, forgive me all my sins, in thought or act, conscious or unwitting.' For we offend in many ways, and do not know it.
122. Each day you should reveal all your thoughts to your spiritual father; and you should accept with complete confidence what he says to you, as if it came from the mouth of God. Do not speak of any of this to anyone else, saying: 'When I asked my spiritual father such and such a thing, he said this or that; was that good counsel or not? And what should I do to heal myself?' Words like these display lack of trust in your spiritual father and injure the soul. Mostly they occur in the case of beginners.
123. You should look on all who are in the monastery as saints and regard only yourself as a sinner and as the least of all, thinking that on that day all will be saved and you alone will be punished. And when you are in church reflecting about these things, weep bitter tears of compunction, taking no account of those who will be shocked by this or mock such behavior. But if you see that as a result of this you are slipping into self-esteem, leave the church and weep in secret, returning as soon as you can to your place. This is particularly valuable in the case of beginners, especially during the six psalms, the psalter, the readings, and the Divine Liturgy. Be careful not to condemn anyone, but keep it in mind that all who see your distress will think that you are a great sinner and will pray for your salvation. If you think of this at all times and carry it out constantly, you will be greatly helped, attracting to yourself God's grace and becoming a participant in His divine blessings.
124. Do not visit the cell of anyone except the abbot, and this rarely. Even if you want to ask the abbot about some thought, do this in church. After the service return at once to your cell; from there go to carry out your duties. After compline, prostrate yourself before the abbot's door, ask for his prayers, and then, head down, hurry silently back to your cell. For it is better to repeat the Tnsagion prayer once with attention before going to bed than to pass a four-hour vigil in idle talk. Where there are compunction and spiritual grief, there is also divine illumination; when this is present in you, listlessness and sickness are dispelled.
125. Do not permit yourself to feel special love for anyone, in particular for a novice, even if his way of life seems excellent, and much more so if it is suspect. Generally such love, even if initially spiritual, changes into an impassioned love, and results in useless afflictions. This tends to happen especially to those engaged in spiritual warfare, as one may learn through humility and constant prayer. This is not the right occasion for me to speak about these matters in detail, but he who has understanding will understand.
126. Be a stranger to every brother in the monastery - and even more to all whom you know in the world. Love everyone equally and look on all those devoutly engaged in spiritual warfare as saints. For those who are negligent, as we ourselves are, we must pray intensely; but nevertheless, as I said above, we should regard all as saints, and should strive through inward grief to be purified of our passions, so that, illumined by grace, we may look on all as equals and attain the blessing of those who are pure in heart (cf Matt. 5:8).
127. Brother, regard perfect withdrawal from the world first as the complete mortification of your own will; in the second place regard it as detachment from and abjuration of parents, family and friends.
128. In the third place you must divest yourself of all that belongs to you and give it to the poor, in accordance with the words, 'Sell all you have and give it to the poor' (Matt. 19:21). Then you must forget all with whom you enjoyed a particular relationship of love, whether physical or spiritual.
129. You must confess all the secrets of your heart, all that you have done from your infancy until this very hour, to your spiritual father or to the abbot as if to God himself, the diviner of hearts and minds. Do this in the knowledge that John baptized with the baptism of repentance and that all came to him confessing their sins (cf Matt. 3:6). As a result of this your soul will experience great joy and your conscience will find relief, in accordance with the words of the Prophet: 'First declare your sins, so that you may be set free' (cf. Isa. 43:26).
130. Be fully persuaded that after your entry into the monastery your parents and all your friends are dead; and regard solely God and the abbot as your father and mother. Never ask anything of parents or friends on account of some bodily need. If in their concern they send you something, accept it and be grateful for their solicitude, but give whatever they send to the guest-house or to the hospital. Do this with humility; for it is not a sublime but an insignificant act.
131. Do everything good with humility, keeping in mind Him who said, 'When you have done everything, say, 'We are useless servants; we have only done what was our duty' ' (Luke 17:10).
1 32. Take care never to receive communion while you have anything against anyone, even if this is only a hostile thought. Not until you have brought about reconciliation through repentance should you communicate. But you will learn this, too, through prayer.
133. You should be ready each day to receive all kinds of afflictions, regarding them as your release from many sins; and you should thank God for them. Through them you may acquire a close and unimpeachable communion with God, in accordance with St Paul's words: 'Afflictions produce patient endurance; patient endurance, strength of character; and strength of character, hope; and hope does not disappoint' (Rom. 5:3-5). For the things that 'the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and man's heart has not grasped' ( I Cor. 2:9) - these things belong, according to the infaUible promise, to those who, with the help of God's grace, patiently endure affliction. Without God's grace we can of course do nothing.
134. Have nothing material in your cell, not even a needle, except for a rush mat, your sheepskin, your cloak, and whatever else you wear. If possible, do not have a stool there. There is much to be said on this matter; but let him who has understanding understand.
135. Again, do not ask the abbot for any appurtenances other than those prescribed; and take these only when he calls you and himself gives them to you. Resist any thought of exchanging them for others. Accept them as they are with thanksgiving, as if they had been given by God, and manage with them. It is not permitted to buy others. You should wash your outer garment twice a year if it becomes dirty; and, like some unknown beggar, you should ask your brother in all humility for something to wear until it has been washed and dried in the sun. Then you should return what you have borrowed with thanks. You should do the same with your cloak and any other clothing.
136. Perform the various duties assigned to you as well as you can; in your cell persevere in prayer with compunction, attentiveness and constant tears. You should not think that because you have worked exceptionally hard today you should reduce your prayer on account of bodily exhaustion. For however greatly you exert yourself in performing your duties, you should be aware that you have lost something of great value if you deprive yourself of prayer. For this is in fact the case.
137. You should arrive first at the church services, especially matins and the Liturgy, and leave last, unless forced to do otherwise.
138. You should be completely obedient to your abbot, from whom you received the tonsure, and should fulfill his orders uncritically until your death, even if they seem impossible to you. In this way you will imitate Him who was obedient 'to the point of death, even death on the cross' (Phil. 2:8). You should obey in everything not only the abbot, but all the brotherhood, and whoever is in charge of the various tasks that have to be done; and if you are told to do something beyond your power, make a prostration and ask forgiveness. Should this be refused, remember that 'the kingdom of heaven is entered forcibly, and those who force themselves take possession of it' (Matt. I 1 : 12); and apply force to yourself.
139. Whoever with a contrite heart prostrates himself before the entire brotherhood as a person of no account, utterly inconspicuous, a nonentity, and who lives in this way throughout his life, will receive, I declare, the gift of insight, and will foretell many things about the future with the help of God's grace. Such a person will also grieve for the faults of others; moreover, he will be undistracted by attachment to material things, since the intensity of his love for what is divine and spiritual will not permit him to stumble because of them. There is nothing marvelous about foretelling things of the future: often, indeed, it is prompted by the demons, as he who has understanding will understand. But if a person begins to hear confessions, he may perhaps be deprived of these gifts, since he will then be busied with the examination of other people's thoughts. If, on the other hand, out of great humility he stops hearing confessions and giving counsel, he may again recover his previous gift of insight But God atone has knowledge of these things; as for myself, constrained by fear I dare not speak of them.
140. You should always direct your intellect towards God, whether asleep or awake, eating or talking, engaged in your handiwork Or in any other activity. Thus you will fulfill the saying of the prophet, 'I have set the Lord always before me' (Ps. 16:8). Reckon yourself a greater sinner than anyone else. For if you persist in this state of recollectedness, illumination will enter your mind like a ray of light. And the more you aspire to such illumination, attentive and undistracted, striving and tearful, the more clearly it will shine. When it shines, it is loved; and when it is loved, it purifies; and as it purifies, it makes one godlike, enlightening one and teaching one to distinguish good from evil. But, my brother, much hard work is needed, and God's help, before this radiance indwells totally in your soul and illumines it as the moon illumines the darkness of the night. You must also pay attention to the thoughts of arrogance and presumption which attack you, and not condemn anyone when you see him doing something wrong. For when the demons see the soul freed from passions and temptations through the indwelling of grace and the resulting state of peace, they attack it through such thoughts. But help comes from God. Let your inward grief be continuous and your tears unquenchable. Yet take care not to harm yourself because of your great joy and compunction: recognize that they are the result not of your own labor but of God's grace. Otherwise they may be taken from you and, when you urgently seek them again in prayer, you will not be able to recover them. You will then know what a gift it is that you have lost. May we never, Lord, be deprived of Thy grace.
Yet if this does happen to you, my brother, cast your weakness before the Lord and, standing up, stretch forth your hands and pray, saying, 'Lord, have mercy on me a sinner, abject and weak as I am; and grant me Thy grace, not allowing me to be tested beyond my capacity. See, Lord, to what despondency and bad thoughts my sins have led me. Lord, even if I wish to I cannot measure the loss of Thy benediction,' brought about by the demons and my own presumption. I know that the demons range themselves against those who zealously fulfill Thy will. But since I daily do what they want, how is it that I am afflicted by them? I am tried constantly by my own sins. Yet now. Lord, if it is Thy will and to my benefit, let Thy grace enter Thy servant once again, so that, aware of it, I may rejoice with tears and compunction, illumined by its eternal radiance. Guard me from unclean thoughts, from everything evil, from the sins I commit daily in word or act, consciously or unwittingly. May I be given the confidence to call upon Thee freely, Lord, from amidst all the afflictions that I suffer daily at the hands of men and demons; and, cutting off my own will, may I be mindful of the blessings stored up for those that love Thee. For Thou hast said. Lord, that he who asks receives, that he who seeks finds, and that the door will be opened to whoever knocks'(cf Matt. 7 : 8). In addition to saying these and other things that God puts into your mind, persevere in prayer, not allowing yourself to grow slack through listlessness. And God in His love will not abandon you.
141. Persevere until the end in the cell initially allotted to you by your superior. If you are troubled because of its age or dilapidation, make a prostration before your superior and humbly mention the matter to him. If he hears you sympathetically, rejoice; if not, give thanks anyway, remembering our Lord who had nowhere to lay His head (cf. Matt. 8:20). For if you disturb the superior about this a second time, then a third and fourth time, insolence will result, then lack of trust, and finally disdain. So if you want to lead a quiet and peaceful life, do not ask your superior for any bodily comfort. For it was not to this that you dedicated yourself when originally making your monastic vows; but you consented to be despised and scorned by all, in accordance with our Lord's commandment, and to endure manfully. If you want to maintain your trust in and love for your superior, and to look on him as a saint, make sure of these three things: that you do not ask him for any comfort; that you do not take any liberties when speaking with him; and that you do not keep visiting him, as some do, on the grounds that he helps them. This is not perseverance, but human failing. On the other hand, I do not condemn the practice of not hiding from him any distractive thought that comes into your mind; for if you maintain this practice you will pass over the sea of life smoothly and will regard your spiritual father, whatever he may be like, as a saint. Should you approach him in church in order to question him about a distractive thought, but find that someone else has anticipated you for the same purpose, or for some other reason, and that you are therefore ignored for a short while, do not take it amiss or think anything hostile; stand by yourself with hands folded until the other person has finished and you are called forward. The fathers often act in this way, perhaps deliberately, testing us and releasing us from sins we have committed.
142. You should observe the great Lenten fast by eating every third day (not counting Saturdays and Sundays), unless there is a major feast. During the other two main fasts - before Christmas and before the Feast of the Dormition - you should eat every other day. On the remaining days of the year you should eat once only, except on Saturday and Sunday and on feast days; but do not eat to repletion.
143. Strive to become for the whole community a good example of every virtue: of humility, gentleness, active compassion, obedience even in the least of things, freedom from anger, detachment, unpossessiveness and compunction, guilelessness and unmquisitiveness, of simplicity and estrangement from the world. Visit the sick, console the distressed, and do not make your longing for prayer a pretext for turning away from anyone who asks for your help; for love is greater than prayer. Show sympathy towards all, do not be arrogant or over-familiar, do not find fault with others, or ask for anything from the abbot or from those in charge of various monastic tasks; be respectful towards all priests, attentive in prayer, frank and loving towards everyone; and do not ransack the Scriptures for the sake of glory. Prayer accompanied by tears and illumination given by grace will teach you how to accomplish all this.
Whoever it may be who seeks your assistance and asks for your guidance, with great humility and self- effacement give advice as God's grace inspires you about the different forms of holy action, using your own life as the model but referring to it as though it were that of someone else. And do not reject anyone who seeks your help with regard to some distractive thought, but listen to his sins, whatever they may be, weeping and praying for him; for this, too, is a sign of love and perfect compassion. Do not repel someone who comes to you on the grounds that you might be harmed by hearing what he has to say: with the help of God's grace, you will not be harmed in any way. So that no one else may be scandalized, you should speak in some secluded place. Being human, you may be attacked by some distractive thought; but if God's grace is present in you, such a thing will not happen to you. In any case, we are taught to seek not our own good but that of others, so that they may be saved (cf I Cor. 10:24, 33).
As we have already said, you should keep your life free from worldly concerns and possessions. You may recognize that grace is active within you when you truly feel that you are a greater shmer than all other men. How this happens, not I, but only God can say.
144. When keeping vigil you should read for two hours, pray for two hours with tears and compunction, go
through whatever you choose of your own rule of prayer, and repeat, if you wish, the twelve psalms. Psalm 119, and
the prayer of St Eustratios. Do this when the nights are long. When they are shorter,
Never go to communion without tears.
145. You should eat what is put in front of you, no matter what it is; and take wine with uncomplaining self-
restraint. If because of sickness you are having your meals by yourself, eat raw vegetables with olives. But if one of
the brethren should send you something to eat, receive it with humility and thanks, as if you were a guest, and eat
some of it, whatever it may be, sending what is left over to another brother, poor and pious. Should someone invite
you to a meal, partake of all that is put in front of you, but eat only a little, maintaining your self-control in
accordance with the commandment. Then, having stood up and bowed before him as though you were destitute and
a stranger, thank him. Saying, 'May God give you your reward, holy father.' Be careful to say nothing else, even
though it might possibly be of help.
146. If some brother, badly upset by the abbot, or the steward, or by someone else, should come to you, encourage
him in this way:
'Believe me, brother, this has happened in order to test you; for the same thing has happened to me in various ways,
and because of my
faint-heartedness I was grieved. But once I realized that these things occur in order to test us, I have endured them
gratefully. You should do the same now, and be glad for such trials.' Even if he then begins to abuse you, still do not
turn away from him, but console him in whatever way God's grace enables you to do so. We have to distinguish
between many different situations. According to your knowledge of your brother's state and his thoughts, talk to
him, and do not let him go away unhealed.
147. If one of the brethren falls ill and you visit him only after some time, first send him a message: 'Holy father,
I learnt about your illness only today, and I ask your forgiveness.' Then go and see him; and, after making a
prostration and receiving his blessing, say to him: 'How has God helped you, holy father?' Then, sitting down with
your hands folded, be silent. Even if there are others visiting him at the same time, be careful not to say anything
either about the Scriptures or about his health, especially when not asked, so that you will not be troubled
afterwards. For this is what happens generally to the more simple brethren.
148. If you are having a meal with your brethren, eat unhesitatingly of what is presented to you, whatever it may
be. If, however, you have been told not to eat fish or some other food, and it is offered to you, should the person who
gave you the order be close at hand, go to him and request him to let you partake; but should he not be present, or if
you know that he would not give his permission, and at the same time you do not wish to offend your hosts, tell him
what you have done after you have eaten, and ask his forgiveness. If you are unwilling to do either of these things, it
is better for you not to visit your brethren. For in this way you will be the gainer in two respects: you will escape the
demon of self-esteem, and at the same time spare them offence and distress. If the foods offered to you are on the
rich side, keep to your rule; yet even in this case it is better to take a little of everything. In short, when you are
invited somewhere, apply the principle laid down by St Paul: 'Eat all that is set before you without raising questions
of conscience' (cf. i Cor. 10:25).
149. If one of the brethren knocks on your door while you are praying in your cell, open it for him and sit down
and talk with him humbly, provided he proposes a topic of conversation that has some positive purpose. If he is
distraught, do what you can, through word or act, to rally him. But when he has gone, close your door and take up
your prayer again, and complete it. To comfort those who visit you is a form of reconciliation. But you should not
act in this way with regard to non-monks; in their case you should complete your prayer and then speak with them.
150. If, while you are praying, you feel frightened, or hear some noise, or if a light shines around you, or
something else happens, do not be troubled, but concentrate all the more fully on your prayer. Demonic
disturbances, alarms and excursions occur so that you will lose heart and give up your prayer; then, if this happens
regularly, you will fall into the demons' power. But if as you pray another light, beyond description, appears to you,
and your soul is filled with joy, and you feel a desire for higher things, and tears of compunction flow, know that
this is a divine visitation and succor. Should this state continue for a long time, recapture your intellect in case
something more happens to you because of the anguish of your tears, and submit it to some physical activity,
thereby humbling yourself. If it is your enemies that are trying to frighten you, take care not to abandon your prayer.
Be as the child who, frightened by some hobgoblin, dispels his terror by flying into the arms of his mother or father:
resort to God through prayer and you will find that you escape the fear which the demons provoke.
151. If, while you are sitting in your cell, one of the brothers comes to you and asks about carnal warfare, do not
turn him away. But with compunction help him, using what God's grace has given you and what you have yourself
learnt through your own experience; and then dismiss him. As he leaves, however, make a prostration before him
and say, 'Believe me, brother, I have hope that through God's love this war you wage will end; only do not give in or
relax.' When he has gone, stand up, recall his struggle and, lifting your hands with tears towards God, pray with all
your heart for your brother, saying, '0 Lord God, who do not desire the death of a sinner, act as You know how and
as will benefit this brother.' And God, who knows your brother's faith in you, and your compassion born of love, and
the genuineness of your prayer on his behalf, will diminish this warfare for him.
152. All those things, brother, help you to acquire compunction. They should be carried out with a contrite heart,
patience, and thanksgiving. They will cause you to shed tears, cleansing you of your passions, and will bring you to
the kingdom of heaven. 'For the kingdom of heaven is entered forcibly, and those who force themselves
take possession of it' (Matt. 11:12). If you can accomplish these things you will leave your former way of life
completely behind, and may even be freed from the attacks of distractive thoughts. For darkness gives way to light,
and a shadow to the sun. But should someone at the start of the spiritual path neglect these things, growing sluggish
in thought and full of curiosity, he will be deprived of grace. Then, falling a victim to evil passions, he will come to
know his own weakness and be filled with fear. Yet the person who successfully accomplishes these things should
realize that this is the result not of his own efforts but of God's grace. He should purify himself first, in accordance
with the saying, 'First purify yourself and then speak to Him who is pure.' For he who through many tears has
purified his intellect and has received the illumination of the divine light - light that would grow no less even if
everyone received it - will dwell spiritually in the age to come.
153. St Symeon the New Theologian was once asked what a priest ought to be like, and he replied as follows:
'I am not worthy to be a priest; but I know very well what someone who is to celebrate the sacred mysteries of
God should be like. In the first place, he should be chaste, not only in body but also in soul, and he should be free of
all sin. Secondly, he should be humble both in his external manner and in the inner State of his soul. Then, when he
stands before the holy altar, while gazing with his physical eyes on the holy gifts, spiritually - and with total
certainty - he should perceive the Godhead. Moreover, his heart should be consciously aware of Him who is
invisibly present and dwelling in the gifts, so that he may offer the petitions with confidence; and when, like a friend
speaking to a friend, he says, 'Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name' (Matt. 6:9), the way in which
he recites the prayer will show that he has dwelling within him the true Son of God, together with the Father and the
Holy Spirit. I have seen such priests. Forgive me, fathers and brethren.'
He also spoke the following words, as if about someone else, thereby concealing himself so as to avoid human
adulation, even though because of his love for others he felt at the same time compelled to reveal himself:
'A certain priest-monk, who had full confidence in me as his friend, once told me this: 'I have never celebrated
the Liturgy without seeing the Holy Spirit, just as I saw Him come upon me when I was ordained
and the metropolitan said the prayer while the service-book rested on my head. ' When I asked him how he saw it at
that time, and in what form, he said: 'Undifferentiated and without form, except as light. At first I was astonished,
beholding what I had never beheld before; and as I was asking myself what it might be, the light said to me, its voice
heard only by the intellect: 'Thus have I appeared to all the prophets and apostles, and to those who are now the
saints and the elect of God; for I am the Holy Spirit of God.' ' To Him be glory and power through all the ages.
Amen.'
