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Home
Philokalia-St Mark The Ascetic St Mark The Ascetic 16/12/2016 12:00 πμ
Introductory Note

Little can be affirmed with confidence about the life of St Mark the Ascetic, also known as Mark the Monk or Mark the  Hermit. St Nikodimos dates him to the early fifth century, and this seems to be correct; according to another but less probable  view, he lived at the beginning of the sixth century. Like his contemporaiy St Neilos, he may have been a disciple of St John  Chrysostom, but this is not certain. As the Letter to Nicolas the Solitary indicates, Mark was living at one stage of his life as a  hermit in the desert, although we cannot be sure where this was; both Palestine and Egypt have been suggested.


[VI] 109

St. Mark the Ascetic

v (? Early 5th century)

(volume l.pp. 109-60)



Prior to this he  may have been superior of a community near Ankyra (Ankara), in Asia Minor. In addition to the three works included in the  Philokalia, Mark wrote at least six other treatises, the most important being those on baptism, on repentance, and against  Nestorios. In his spiritual teaching, which is directed particularly against the heretical Syrian movement of Messalianism, he  lays great emphasis upon the role played by baptismal grace and provides a detailed analysis of the nature of temptations.'

In addition to the Greek text provided by St Nikodimos, we have had before us the variant readings found in the earliest  Greek manuscripts of Mark's writings; we have indicated in the footnotes when we depart from the text of the printed Greek  Philokalia. In our translation of the treatises On the Spiritual Law and On Those who Think that They are Made Righteous by  Works, the numbering of sections follows that in the Greek Philokalia. In Migne, Patrologia Graeca, Ixv, the numbering is  slightly different.

In the Orthodox Church Mark is commemorated as a saint on 5 March.

' See I. Hausherr, 'L'erreur fondamentale et la logique de Messalianisme', in Orientalia Christiana Periodica, i (1935), pp. 328-60, reprinted in  I. Hausherr, Etudes de spiritualite oriental (Orientalia Christiana Analecto, 183, Rome, 1969), pp. 64-96; and Kallistos Ware, 'The Sacrament  of Baptism and the Ascetic Life in the Teaching of Mark the Monk', in Studia Patristica, x (Texte und Untersuchungen, 107, Berlin, 1970), pp.  441-52.

Contents

On the Spiritual Law - 200 Texts VOLUME 1 : Page 1 10

On Those Who Think that They are

Made Righteous by Works - 226 Texts 125

Letter to Nicolas the Solitary 147

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1. Because you have often asked what the Apostle means when he says that 'the law is spiritual' (Rom. 7:14), and  what kind of spiritual knowledge and action characterizes those who wish to observe it, we shall speak of this  as far as we can.

2. First of all, we know that God is the beginning, middle and end of everything good; and it is impossible for us  to have faith in anything good or to carry it into effect except in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

3. Everything good is given by the Lord providentially; and he who has faith that this is so will not lose what he  has been given.

4. Steadfast faith is a strong tower; and for one who has faith Christ comes to be all.

5. May He who inaugurates every good thing inaugurate all that you undertake, so that it may be done with His  blessing.

6. When reading the Holy Scriptures, he who is humble and engaged in spiritual work will apply everything to  himself and not to someone else.

7. Call upon God to open the eyes of your heart, so that you may see the value of prayer and of spiritual reading  when understood and applied.

8. If a man has some spiritual gift and feels compassion for those who do not have it, he preserves the gift because  of his compassion. But a boastful man will lose it through succumbing to the temptations of boastfulness.

9. The mouth of a humble man speaks the truth; but he who speaks against the truth is like the servant who struck  the Lord on the face (cf Mark 14:65).

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10. Do not become a disciple of one who praises himself, in case you learn pride instead of humility.

11. Do not grow conceited about your interpretations of Scripture, lest your intellect fall victim to blasphemy.

12. Do not attempt to explain something difficult with contentiousness, but in the way which the spiritual law  enjoins: with patience, prayer and unwavering hope.  

13. Blind is the man crying out and saying: 'Son of David, have mercy on me' (Luke 18:38). He prays with the body

alone, and not yet with spiritual knowledge.

14. When the man once blind received his sight and saw the Lord, he acknowledged Him no longer as Son of David  but as Son of God, and worshiped Him (cf John 9; 38).

15. Do not grow conceited if you shed tears when you pray. For it is Christ who has touched your eyes and given  you spiritual sight.

16. He who, like the blind man, casts away his garment and draws near to the Lord, becomes His disciple and a  preacher of true doctrine (cf. Mark 10:50).

17. To brood on evil makes the heart brazen; but to destroy evil through self-restraint and hope breaks the heart.

18. There is a breaking of the heart which is gentle and makes it deeply penitent, and there is a breaking which is  violent and harmful, shattering it completely.

19. Vigils, prayer and patient acceptance of what comes constitute a breaking that does not harm but benefits the  heart, provided we do not destroy the balance between them through excess. He who perseveres in them will be  helped in other ways as well; but he who is slack and negligent will suffer intolerably on leaving this life.

20. A self-indulgent heart becomes a prison and chain for the soul when it leaves this life; whereas an assiduous  heart is an open door.

21. 'The iron gate that leads into the city' is a hard heart (Acts 12 : 10); but to one who suffers hardship and affliction  the gate will open of its own accord, as it did to Peter.

22. There are many differing methods of prayer. No method is harmful; if it were, it would be not prayer but the  activity of Satan.

23. A man wanted to do evil, but first prayed as usual; and finding himself prevented by God, he was then extremely  thankful.

24. When David wanted to kill Nabal the Carmelite, but was  [VI] 112

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reminded of the divine retribution and abandoned his intention, he was extremely thankful. Again, we know what he  did when he forgot God, and how he did not stop until Nathan the Prophet reminded him (cf. 1 Sam. 25; 2 Sam. 12).

25. At the times when you remember God, increase your prayers, so that when you forget Him, the Lord may  remind you.

26. When you read Holy Scripture, perceive its hidden meanings. 'For whatever was written in past times was  written for our instruction' (Rom. 15:4).

27. Scripture speaks of faith as 'the substance of things hoped for' (Heb. 11:1), and describes as 'worthless' those  who do not know the indwelling of Jesus (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).

28. Just as a thought is made manifest through actions and words, so is our future reward through the impulses of the  heart.

29. Thus a merciful heart will receive mercy, while a merciless heart will receive the opposite.

30. The law of freedom teaches the whole truth. Many read about it in a theoretical way, but few really understand

it, and these only in the degree to which they practice the commandments.

3 1 . Do not seek the perfection of this law in human virtues, for it is not found perfect in them. Its perfection is  hidden in the Cross of Christ.

32. The law of freedom is studied by means of true knowledge, it is understood through the practice of the  commandments, and is fulfilled through the mercy of Christ.

33. When we are compelled by our conscience to accomplish all the commandments of God, then we shall  understand that the law of the Lord is faultless (cf. Ps. 19:8. LXX). It is performed through our good actions,  but cannot be perfected by men without God's mercy.

34. Those who do not consider themselves under obligation to perform all Christ's commandments study the law of

God in a literal manner, 'understanding neither what they say nor what they affirm' (1 Tim. 1 :7). Therefore they  think that they can fulfill it by their own works.

35. There are acts which appear to be good, but the motive of the person who does them is not good; and there are  other acts which appear to be bad, while the motive of the doer is good. The same is true of some statements.  This discrepancy is due sometimes to

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inexperience or ignorance, sometimes to evil intention, and sometimes to good intention.

36. When a man outwardly praises someone, while accusing and disparaging him in his heart, it is hard for the  simple to detect this. Similarly a person may be outwardly humble but inwardly arrogant. For a long time such  men present falsehood as truth, but later they are exposed and condemned.

37. One man does something apparently good, in defense of his neighbor; another, by not doing it, gains in  understanding.

38. Rebukes may be given in malice and self-defense, or out of fear of God and respect for truth.

39. Cease rebuking a man who has stopped sinning and who has repented. If you say that you are rebuking him in  God's name, first reveal the evils in yourself.  

40. God is the source of every virtue, as the sun is of dayhght.

41. When you have done something good, remember the words 'without Me you can do nothing' (John 15:5).

42. Afflictions bring blessing to man; self-esteem and sensual pleasure, evil.

43. He who suffers injustice escapes sin, finding help in proportion to his affliction.

44. The greater a man's faith that Christ will reward him, the greater his readiness to endure every injustice.

45. By praying for those who wrong us we overthrow the devil; opposing them we are wounded by him.

46. Better a human than a demonic sin. Through performing the Lord's will we overcome both.

47. Every blessing comes from the Lord providentially. But this fact escapes the notice of the ungrateful and the  idle.

48. Every vice leads in the end to forbidden pleasure; and every virtue to spiritual blessing. Each arouses what is  akin to it.

49. Censure from men afflicts the heart; but if patiently accepted it generates purity.

50. Ignorance makes us reject what is beneficial; and when it becomes brazen it strengthens the hold of evil.

5 1 . Even when nothing is going wrong, be ready for affliction; and since you will have to give an account, do not  make extortionate demands.

52. Having sinned secretly, do not try to hide. For 'all things are  

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naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we have to give an account' (Heb. 4:13).

53. Reveal yourself to the Lord in your mind. 'For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the

heart' (i Sam. 16:7).

54. Think nothing and do nothing without a purpose directed to God. For to journey without direction is wasted  effort.



55. Because God's justice is inexorable, it is hard to obtain forgiveness for sins committed with complete  deliberation.

56. Distress reminds the wise of God, but crushes those who forget Him.

57. Let all involuntary suffering teach you to remember God, and you will not lack occasion for repentance.

58. Forgetfulness as such has no power, but acquires it in proportion to our negligence.

59. Do not say; 'What can 1 do? 1 don't want to be forgetful but it happens.' For when you did remember, you  cheated over what you owed.  

60. Do good when you remember, and what you forget will be revealed to you; and do not surrender your mind to  blind forgetfulness.

6 1 . Scripture says: 'Hell and perdition are manifest to the Lord' (Prov. 15:11. LXX). This refers to ignorance of heart  and forgetful-ness.

62. Hell is ignorance, for both are dark; and perdition is forgetfulness, for both involve extinction.

63. Concern yourself with your own sins and not with those of your neighbor; then the workplace of your intellect  will not be robbed.

64. Failure to do the good that is within your power is hard to forgive. But mercy and prayer reclaim the negligent.

65. To accept an affliction for God's sake is a genuine act of holiness; for true love is tested by adversities.

66. Do not claim to have acquired virtue unless you have suffered affliction, for without affliction virtue has not  been tested.

67. Consider the outcome of every involuntary affliction, and you will find it has been the destruction of sin.

68. Neighbors are very free with advice, but our own judgment is best.  

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69. If you want spiritual health, listen to your conscience, do all it  tells you, and you will benefit.

70. God and our conscience know our secrets. Let them correct us.

70a. He who toils unwillingly grows poor in every way, while he who presses ahead in hope is doubly rich.

7 1 . Man acts so far as he can in accordance with his own wishes; but God decides the outcome in accordance with  justice.

72. If you wish not to incur guilt when men praise you, first welcome reproof for your sins.

73. Each time someone accepts humiliation for the sake of Christ's truth he will be glorified a hundredfold by other  men. But it is better always to do good for the sake of blessings in the life to come.

74. When one man helps another by word or deed, let them both recognize in this the grace of God. He who does  not understand this will come under the power of him who does.

75. Anyone who praises his neighbor out of hypocrisy will later abuse him and bring disgrace upon himself.

76. He who is ignorant of the enemy's ambush is easily slain; and" he who does not know the causes of the passions  is soon brought low.

77. Knowledge of what is good for him has been given to everyone by God; but self-indulgence leads to  negligence, and negligence to forgetfulness.

78. A man advises his neighbor according to his own understanding; but in the one who listens to such advice, God  acts in proportion to his faith.

79. I have seen unlearned men who were truly humble, and they became wiser than the wise.

80. Another unlearned man, upon hearing them praised, instead of imitating their humility, prided himself on being  unlearned and so fell into arrogance.

81. He who despises understanding and boasts of ignorance is unlearned not only in speech but also in knowledge  (cf 2 Cor. 1 1 :6).

82. Just as wisdom in speech is one thing and sound judgment another, so lack of learning in speech is one thing  and folly another.

83. Ignorance of words will do no harm to the truly devout, nor will wisdom in speaking harm the humble.

84. Do not say: 'I do not know what is right, therefore I am not  

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to blame when I fail to do it.' For if you did all the good about which you do know, what you should do next would  then become clear to you, as if you were passing through a house from one room to another. It is not helpful to know  what comes later before you have done what comes first. For knowledge without action 'puffs up', but 'love edifies',  because it 'patiently accepts all things' (1 Cor. 8:1; 13:7).

85. Understand the words of Holy Scripture by putting them into practice, and do not fill yourself with conceit by

expatiating on theoretical ideas.

86. He who neglects action and depends on theoretical knowledge holds a staff of reed instead of a double-edged  sword; and when he confronts his enemies in time of war, 'it will go into his hand, and pierce it' (2 Kgs. 18:21),  injecting its natural poison.

87. Every thought has its weight and measure in God's sight. For it is possible to think about the same thing either  passionately or objectively.

88. After fulfilling a commandment expect to be tempted: for love of Christ is tested by adversity.

89. Never belittle the significance of your thoughts, for not one escapes God's notice.

90. When you observe some thought suggesting that you seek human fame, you can be sure it will bring you  disgrace.

91. The enemy, understanding how the justice of the spiritual law is applied, seeks only the assent of our mind.  Having secured this, he will either oblige us to undergo' the labors of repentance or, if we do not repent, will  torment us with misfortunes beyond our control. Sometimes he encourages us to resist these misfortunes so as  to increase our torment, and then, at our death, he wiU point to this impatient resistance as proof of our lack of  faith.

92. Many have fought in various ways against circumstances; but without prayer and repentance no one has escaped  evil.

93. Evils reinforce each other; so do virtues, thus encouraging us to still greater efforts.

94. The devil belittles small sins; otherwise he cannot lead us into greater ones.

95. Praise from others engenders sinful desire, while their condemnation of vice, if not only heard but accepted,  engenders self-restraint.

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96. A self-indulgent monk has achieved nothing through his renunciation. For what he once did through possessions  he still does though possessing nothing.

97. Moreover, the self-controlled man, if he clings to possessions, is a brother in spirit of this kind of monk; because  they both feel inward enjoyment they have the same mother - though not the same father, since each has a  different passion.

98. Sometimes a man cuts off a passion in order to indulge himself more fully, and he is praised by those unaware of  his aim. He may even be unaware of it himself, and so his action is self-defeating.

99. All vice is caused by self-esteem and sensual pleasure; you cannot overcome passion without hating them.

100. Avarice is the root of all evil' (1 Tim. 6:10); but avarice is clearly a product of these two components.


101. The intellect is made blind by these three passions: avarice, self-esteem and sensual pleasure.

102. Scripture calls these three the daughters of the horseleech, dearly loved by their mother folly (cf. Prov. 30:15.  LXX).

103. These three passions on their own dull spiritual knowledge and faith, the foster-brothers of our nature.

104. It is because of them that wrath, anger, war, murder and all other evils have such power over mankind.

105. We must hate avarice, self-esteem and sensual pleasure, as mothers of the vices and stepmothers of the virtues.

106. Because of them we are commanded not to love 'the world' and 'the things that are in the world' (1 John 2:15j;  not so that we should hate God's creation through lack of discernment, but so that we should eliminate the  occasions for these three passions.

107. 'The soldier going to war', it is said, 'does not entangle himself in the affairs of this world' (2 Tim. 2:4). For he  who entangles himself with the passions while trying to overcome them is like a man who tries to put out a fire  with straw.  

108. If one becomes angry with one's neighbor on account of riches, fame or pleasure, one does not yet realize that  God orders all things with justice.

109. When you hear the Lord saying that if someone does not renounce all that he has he 'is not worthy of Me'  (Matt. 10:37), apply this not only to money but to all forms of vice.  

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1 10. He who does not know the truth cannot truly have faith; for by nature knowledge precedes faith.

111. Just as God assigns to everything visible what is appropriate, so He does also to human thoughts, whether we  wish it or not.

112. If some obvious sinner who does not repent has suffered nothing before his death, you may be sure that  judgment in his case will be merciless.

113. He who prays with understanding patiently accepts circumstances, whereas he who resents them has not yet  attained pure prayer.

114. When harmed, insulted or persecuted by someone, do not think of the present but wait for the future, and you  will find he has brought you much good, not only in this life but also in the life to come.

115. Just as the bitterness of absinth helps a poor appetite, so misfortunes help a bad character. For the first benefits  the physical condition, and the second leads to repentance.

1 16. If you do not want to suffer evil, do not inflict it, since the suffering of it inevitably follows its infliction. 'For  whatever a man sows he will also reap' (Gal. 6:1).

1 17. Reaping unwillingly the wickedness we deliberately sow, we should marvel at God's justice.

118. Because an interval of time elapses between sowing and reaping, we begin to think there will be no requital.

119. When you sin, blame your thought, not your action. For had your intellect not run ahead, your body would not  have followed.

120. The secret sinner is worse than those who do evil openly; and so he receives a worse punishment.

121 . The trickster who works mischief in secret is a snake 'lying in wait on the road and biting the horse's heel' (Gen.  49:17. LXX).

122. If you praise your neighbor to one man and criticize him to another, you are the slave of self-esteem and  jealousy. Through praise you try to hide your jealousy, through criticism to appear better than your neighbor.

123. Just as sheep and wolves cannot feed together, so a man cannot receive mercy if he tricks his neighbor.  

124. He who secretly mingles his own wishes with spiritual counsel is an adulterer, as the Book of Proverbs  indicates (cf. Prov. 6:32-33); and because of his stupidity he suffers pain and dishonor.

1 10. He who does not know the tmth cannot truly have faith: for by nature knowledge precedes faith.

111. Just as God assigns to everything visible what is appropriate, so He does also to human thoughts, whether we  wish it or not.

112. If some obvious sinner who does not repent has suffered nothing before his death, you may be sure that  judgment in his case will be merciless.

113. He who prays with understanding patiently accepts circumstances, whereas he who resents them has not yet  attained pure prayer.

114. When harmed, insulted or persecuted by someone, do not think of the present but wait for the future, and you  will find he has brought you much good, not only in this life but also in the life to come.

115. Just as the bitterness of absinth helps a poor appetite, so misfortunes help a bad character. For the first benefits  the physical condition, and the second leads to repentance.

116. If you do not want to suffer evil, do not inflict it, since the suffering of it inevitably follows its infliction. 'For  whatever a man sows he will also reap' (Gal. 6:1).

1 17. Reaping unwillingly the wickedness we deliberately sow, we should marvel at God's justice.

1 18. Because an interval of time elapses between sowing and reaping, we begin to think there will be no requital.

119. When you sin, blame your thought, not your action. For had your intellect not run ahead, your body would not  have followed.

120. The secret sinner is worse than those who do evil openly; and so he receives a worse punishment.

121 . The trickster who works mischief in secret is a snake 'lying in wait on the road and biting the horse's heel' (Gen.  49:17. LXX).

122. If you praise your neighbor to one man and criticize him to another, you are the slave of self-esteem and  jealousy. Through praise you try to hide your jealousy, through criticism to appear better than your neighbor.

123. Just as sheep and wolves cannot feed together, so a man cannot receive mercy if he tricks his neighbor.

124. He who secretly mingles his own wishes with spiritual counsel is an adulterer, as the Book of Proverbs  indicates (cf Prov. 6:32-33); and because of his stupidity he suffers pain and dishonor.  

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125. Just as water and fire cannot be combined, so self -justification and humility exclude one another.

126. He who seeks forgiveness of his sins loves humility, but if he condemns another he seals his own wickedness.

127. Do not leave unobliterated any fault, however small, for it may lead you on to greater sins.

128. If you wish to be saved, welcome words of truth, and never reject criticism uncritically.

129. Words of truth converted the 'progeny of vipers' and warned them 'to flee from the anger to come' (Matt. 3:7).

130. To accept words of truth is to accept the divine Word; for He says: 'He that receives you receives me' (Matt.  10:40).

131. The paralytic let down through the roof (cf Mark 2:4) signifies a sinner reproved in God's name by the faithful  and receiving forgiveness because of their faith.

132. It is better' to pray devoutly for your neighbor than to rebuke him every time he sins.

133. The truly repentant is derided by the foolish - which is a sign that God has accepted his repentance.

134. Those engaged in spiritual warfare practice self-control in everything, and do not desist until the Lord destroys  all 'seed from Babylon' (Jer. 27:16. LXX).

135. Suppose that there are twelve shameful passions. Indulging in any one of them is equivalent to indulging in  them all.

136. Sin is a blazing fire. The less fuel you give it, the faster it dies down: the more you feed it, the more it bums.

137. When elated by praise, be sure disgrace will follow; for it is said: 'Whoever exalts himself will be abased' (Luke  14:11).

138. When we have freed ourselves from every voluntary sin of the mind, we should then fight against the passions  which result from prepossession.

139. Prepossession is the involuntary presence of former sins in the memory. At the stage of active warfare we try to  prevent it from developing into a passion; after victory it is repulsed while still but a provocation.

140. A provocation is an image -free stimulation in the heart. Like a mountain-pass, the experienced take control of it  ahead of the enemy.

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already given them our assent; for a provocation does not involve us in guilt so long as it is not accompanied by  images. Some people flee away from these thoughts like 'a brand plucked out of the fire' (Zech. 3:2); but others dally  with them, and so get burnt.

142. Do not say: 'I don't want it, but it happens.' For even though you may not want the thing itself, yet you welcome  what causes it.

143. He who seeks praise is involved in passion; he who laments afflictions is attached to sensual pleasure.

144. The thoughts of a self-indulgent man vacillate, as though on scales; sometimes he laments and weeps for his  sins, and sometimes he fights and contradicts his neighbor, justifying his own sensual pleasures.

145. He who tests all things and 'holds fast that which is good' (1 Thess. 5:21) will in consequence refrain from all  evil.

146. 'A patient man abounds in understanding' (Prov. 14: 29); and so does he who listens to words of wisdom.

147. Without remembrance of God, there can be no true knowledge  but only that which is false.

148. Deeper spiritual knowledge helps the hard-hearted man: for unless he has fear, he refuses to accept the labor of  repentance.

149. Unquestioning acceptance of tradition is helpful for a gentle person, for then he will not try God's patience or  often fall into sin. 150. Do not rebuke a forceful man for arrogance, but point out to him the danger of dishonor; if he has any sense he  will accept this kind of rebuke.

151. If you hate rebuke, it shows that the passion in which you are involved is due to your own free choice. But if  you welcome rebuke, the passion is due to prepossession.

152. Do not listen to talk about other people's sins. For through such listening the form of these sins is imprinted on  you.

153. When you delight in hearing evil talk, be angry with yourself and not with the speaker. For listening in a sinful  way makes the messenger seem sinful.

154. If you come across people gossiping idly, consider yourself responsible for their talk - if not on account of  some recent fault of your own, then because of an old debt.

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155. If someone praises you hypocritically, be sure that in due course he will vilify you.

1 56. Accept present afflictions for the sake of future blessings; then you will never weaken in your struggle.

157. When someone supplies your bodily needs and you praise him as good in his own right apart from God, he will  later seem to you to be evil.

158. All good things come from God providentially, and those who bring them are the servants of what is good.

159. Accept with equanimity the intermingling of good and evil, and then God will resolve all inequity.

160. It is the uneven quality of our thoughts that produces changes m our condition. For God assigns to our  voluntary thoughts consequences which are appropriate but not necessarily of our choice.

161. The sensible derives from the intelligible, by God's decree providing what is needed.

162. From a pleasure-loving heart arise unhealthy thoughts and words; and from the smoke of a fire we recognize  the fuel.

163. Guard your mind, and you will not be harassed by temptations. But if you fail to guard it, accept patiently  whatever trial comes.

164. Pray that temptation may not come to you; but when it comes, accept it as your due and not undeserved.

165. Reject all thoughts of greed, and you will be able to see the devil's tricks.

166. He who says he knows all the devil's tricks falls unknowingly into his trap.

167. The more the intellect withdraws from bodily cares, the more clearly it sees the craftiness of the enemy.

168. A man who is carried away by his thoughts is blinded by them; and while he can see the actual working of sin,  he cannot see its causes.

169. It can happen that someone may in appearance be fulfilling a commandment but is in reality serving a passion,  and through evil thoughts he destroys the goodness of the action.

170. When you first become involved in something evil, don't say: 'It will not overpower me.' For to the extent that  you are involved you have already been overpowered by it.

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171. Everything that happens has a small beginning, and grows the more it is nourished.

172. Wickedness is an intricate net; and if someone is careless when partially entangled, he gets completely  enmeshed.

173. Do not desire to hear about the misfortunes of your enemies. For those who like listening to such things will  themselves suffer what they wish for others.

174. Do not think that every affliction is a consequence of sin. For there are some who do God's will and yet are  tested. Thus it is written that the ungodly and wicked shall be persecuted (cf. Ps. 37: 28), but also that those who  'seek to live a holy life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution' (2 Tim. 3:12).

175. At a time of affliction, expect a provocation to sensual pleasure, for because it relieves the affliction it is readily  welcomed.

176. Some call men intelligent because they have the power of discernment on the sensible plane. But the really  intelligent people are those who control their own desires.

177. Until you have eradicated evil, do not obey your heart; for it will seek more of what it already contains within  itself

178. Just as some snakes live in glens and others in houses, so there are some passions which take shape in our  thoughts while others express themselves in action. It is possible, however, for them to change from one type to  the other.

179. When you find that some thought is disturbing you deeply in yourself and is breaking the stillness of your  intellect with passion, you may be sure that it was your intellect which, taking the initiative, first activated this  thought and placed it in your heart.

180. No cloud is formed without a breath of wind: and no passion is bom without a thought.

181. If we no longer fulfill the desires of the flesh, then with the Lord's help the evils within us will easily be  eliminated.

182. Images already established in our intellect are more pernicious and stubborn than those which arise while we  are thmking. The latter precede the former and are their cause.

183. One kind of evil dwells in the heart through long-contmued prepossession; another kind attacks our thoughts  through the medium of everyday things.

184. God assesses our action according to our intention; for it is

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185. He who does not persevere in examining his conscience will not endure bodily suffering for God's sake.

186. The conscience is nature's book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God's help.

187. He who does not choose to suffer for the sake of truth will be chastened more painfully by suffering he has not  chosen.

188. He who knows God's will, and performs it according to his power, escapes more severe suffering by suffering a  little.  

189. If a man tries to overcome temptations without prayer and patient endurance, he wiU become more entangled in  them instead of driving them away.

190. The Lord is hidden in His own commandments, and He is to be found there in the measure that He is sought.

191. Do not say: 'I have fulfilled the commandments, but have not found the Lord'. For you have often found  'spiritual knowledge with righteousness', as Scripture says, 'and those who rightly seek Him shall find peace'  (Prov. 16:8. LXX).

192. Peace is deliverance from the passions, and is not found except through the action of the Holy Spirit.

193. Fulfilling a commandment is one thing, and virtue is another, although each promotes the other.

194. Fulfilling a commandment means doing what we are enjoined to do; but virtue is to do it in a manner that  conforms to the trath.

195. All material wealth is the same, but is acquired in many different ways; similarly, virtue is one, but is many-  sided in its operations.

196. If someone makes a display of wisdom and instead of applying it talks at length, he has a spurious wealth and  his labors 'come into the houses of strangers' (Prov. 5:10. LXX).

197. It is said that gold rules everything; but spiritual things are ruled by the grace of God.

198. A good conscience is found through prayer, and pure prayer through the conscience. Each by nature needs the  other.

199. Jacob made for Joseph a coat of many colors (cf Gen. 37:3), and the Lord gives knowledge of truth to the  gentle; as

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it is written, 'He will teach the gentle His ways' (Ps. 25:9. LXX).

200. Always do as much good as you can, and at a time of greater good do not turn to a lesser. For it is said that no  man who turns back 'is fit for the kingdom of heaven' (cf. Luke 9:62).
 


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1 . In the texts which follow, the beliefs of those in error will be refuted by those whose faith is well founded and  who know the truth.

2. Wishing to show that to fulfill every commandment is a duty, whereas sonship is a gift given to men through His

own Blood, the Lord said: 'When you have done all that is commanded you, say: "We are useless servants: we  have only done what was our duty" ' (Luke 17:10). Thus the kingdom of heaven is not a reward for works, but a  gift of grace prepared by the Master for his faithful servants

3. A slave does not demand his freedom as a reward: but he gives satisfaction as one who is in debt, and he receives  freedom as a gift.

4. 'Christ died on account of our sins in accordance with the Scriptures' (1 Cor. 15:3); and to those who serve Him  well He gives freedom. 'Well done, good and faithful servant,' He says, 'you have been faithful over a few  things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your Lord' (Matt. 25:21).

5. He who relies on theoretical knowledge alone is not yet a faithful servant: a faithful servant is one who expresses  his faith in Christ through obedience to His commandments.

6. He who honors the Lord does what the Lord bids. When he sins or is disobedient, he patiently accepts what comes  as something he deserves.

7. If you love true knowledge, devote yourself to the ascetic life; for mere theoretical knowledge puffs a man up (cf.

1 Cor. 8:1).

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ascetic life; and they lead us to repentance even when we are reluctant.

9. Afflictions that come to us are the result of our own sins. But if we accept them patiently through prayer, we shall  again find blessings,

1 0. Some people when praised for their virtue are delighted, and attribute this pleasurable feeling of self-esteem to  grace. Others when reproved for their sins are pained, and they mistake this beneficial pain for the action of sin.

1 1 . Those who, because of the rigor of their own ascetic practice, despise the less zealous, think that they are made  righteous by physical works. But we are even more foolish if we rely on theoretical knowledge and disparage  the ignorant.

12. Even though knowledge is true, it is still not firmly established if unaccompanied by works. For everything is  established by being put into practice.

13. Often our knowledge becomes darkened because we fail to put things into practice. For when we have totally  neglected to practice something, our memory of it will gradually disappear.

14. For this reason Scripture urges us to acquire the knowledge of God, so that through our works we may serve  Him rightly.

15. When we fulfill the commandments in our outward actions, we receive from the Lord what is appropriate; but  any real benefit we gain depends on our inward intention.  

16. If we want to do something but cannot, then before God, who knows our hearts, it is as if we have done it. This  is true whether the intended action is good or bad.

17. The intellect does many good and bad things without the body, whereas the body can do neither good nor evil  without the intellect. This is because the law of freedom applies to what happens before we act.

18. Some without fulfilling the commandments think that they possess true faith. Others fulfill the commandments  and then expect the kingdom as a reward due to them. Both are mistaken.

1 9. A master is under no obligation to reward his slaves; on the other hand, those who do not serve him well are not  given their freedom.

20. If 'Christ died on our account in accordance with the Scriptures' (Rom. 5: 8; 1 Cor. 15:3), and we do not 'live for

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21. Christ is Master by virtue of His own essence and Master by virtue of His incarnate life. For He creates man  from nothing, and through His own Blood redeems him when dead in sin: and to those who believe in Him He  has given His grace.

22. When Scripture says 'He will reward every man according to his works' (Matt. 16: 27), do not imagine that  works in themselves merit either hell or the kingdom. On the contrary, Christ rewards each man according to  whether his works are done with faith or without faith in Himself; and He is not a dealer bound by contract, but  God our Creator and Redeemer.

23. We who have received baptism offer good works, not by way of repayment, but to preserve the purity given to  

24. Every good work which we perform through our own natural powers causes us to refrain from the corresponding  sin: but without grace it cannot contribute to our sanctification.

25. The self-controlled refrain from gluttony; those who have renounced possessions, from greed; the tranquil, from  loquacity; the pure, from self-indulgence; the modest, from unchastity: the self-dependent, from avarice: the  gentle, from agitation; the humble, from self-esteem; the obedient, from quarrelling; the self-critical, from  hypocrisy. Similarly, those who pray are protected from despair: the poor, from having many possessions:  confessors of the faith, from its denial: martyrs, from idolatry. Do you see how every virtue that is performed  even to the point of death is nothing other than refraining from sin? Now to refrain from sin is a work within our  own natural powers, but not something that buys us the kingdom.

26. While man can scarcely keep what belongs to him by nature, Christ gives the grace of sonship through the Cross.

27. Certain commandments are specific, and others are comprehensive. Thus Christ enjoins us specifically to 'share  with him who has none' (Luke 3:11); and He gives us a comprehensive command to forsake all that we have (cf.  Luke 14:33).  

28. There is an energy of grace not understood by beginners, and there is also an energy of evil which resembles the  truth. It is

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advisable not to scrutinize these energies too closely, because one may be led astray, and not to condemn them out  of hand, because they may contain some truth, but we should lay everything before God in hope, for He knows what  is of value in both of them.

29. He who wants to cross the spiritual sea is long-suffering, humble, vigilant and self-controlled. If he impetuously  embarks on it without these four virtues, he agitates his heart, but cannot cross.

30. Stillness helps us by making evil inoperative.' If it also takes to itself these four virtues in prayer, it is the most  direct support in attaining dispassion.

31. The intellect cannot be still unless the body is still also: and the wall between them cannot be demolished  without stillness and prayer.

32. The flesh with its desire is opposed to the spirit, and the spirit opposed to the flesh, and those who live in the  spirit will not carry out the desire of the flesh (cf Gal. 5:15-17).

33. There is no perfect prayer unless the intellect invokes God: and when our thought cries aloud without distraction,  the Lord will listen.

34. When the intellect prays without distraction it afflicts the heart: and 'a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou  wilt not despise' (Ps. 51:17).

35. Prayer is called a virtue, but in reality it is the mother of the virtues: for it gives birth to them through union with  Christ.

36. Whatever we do without prayer and without hope in God turns out afterwards to be harmful and defective.

37. Christ's words that the 'first will be last, and the last will be first' (Matt. 19:30) refer to those who participate in  the virtues and those who participate in love. For love is the last of the virtues to be bom in the heart, but it is  the first in value, so that those bom before it turn out to be 'the last".

38. If you are listless when you pray or afflicted by various forms of evil, call to mind your death and the torments  of hell. But it is better to cleave to God through hope and prayer than to think about external things, even  though such thoughts may be helpful.

39. No single virtue by itself opens the door of our nature: but all the virtues must be linked together in the correct  sequence.  

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40. He whose mind teems with thoughts lacks seh'-control; and even when they are beneficial, hope is more so.  

41. There is a sin which is always 'unto death' (1 John 5: 16): the sin for which we do not repent. For this sin even a  saint's prayers will not be heard.

42. He who repents rightly does not imagine that it is his own effort which cancels his former sins; but through this  effort he makes his peace with God.

43. If we are under an obligation to perform daily all the good actions of which our nature is capable, what do we  have left over to give to God in repayment for our past sins?

44. However great our virtuous actions of today, they do not requite but condemn our past negligence.

45. He who suffers affliction in his intellect but relaxes physically is like one who suffers affliction in his body while  allowing his intellect to be dispersed.

46. Voluntary affliction in one of these parts of our nature benefits the other: to suffer affliction with the mind  benefits the flesh, and to suffer it with the flesh benefits the mind. When our mind and flesh are not in union,^  our state deteriorates.  

47. It is a great virtue to accept patiently whatever comes and, as the Lord enjoins, to love a neighbor who hates you.

48. The sign of sincere love is to forgive wrongs done to us. It was with such love that the Lord loved the world.

49. We cannot with all our heart forgive someone who does us wrong unless we possess real knowledge. For this  knowledge shows us that we deserve all we experience.

50. You will lose nothing of what you have renounced for the Lord's sake. For in its own time it will return to you  greatly multiplied.

51. When the intellect forgets the purpose of true devotion, then external works of virtue bring no profit.

52. If poor judgment is harmful to everyone, it is particularly so to those who live with great strictness.

53. Philosophize through your works about man's will and God's retribution. For your words are only as wise and as  profitable as your works.  

54. Those who suffer for the sake of true devotion receive help.

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This must be learnt through obeying God's law and our own conscience.

55. One man received a thought and accepted it without examination. Another received a thought and tested its truth.

Which of them acted with greater reverence?

56. Real knowledge is patiently to accept affliction and not to blame others for our own misfortunes.

57. He who does something good and expects a reward is serving not God but his own will.

58. A sinner cannot escape retribution except through repentance appropriate to his offence.

59. There are those who claim that we cannot do good unless we actively receive the grace of the Spirit.

60. Those who always by choice incline to sensual pleasures refrain from doing what lies within their power on the  grounds that they lack-help.

6 1 . Grace has been given mystically to those who have been baptized into Christ: and it becomes active within them  to the extent that they actively observe the commandments. Grace never ceases to help us secretly: but to do  good- as far as lies in our power -depends on us.

62. Initially grace arouses the conscience in a divine manner. That is how even sinners have come to repent and so to  conform to God's will.

63. Again, grace may be hidden in advice given by a neighbor. Sometimes it also accompanies our understanding  during reading, and as a natural result teaches our intellect the truth about itself. If, then, we do not hide the  talent given to us in this way, we shall enter actively into the joy of the Lord.

64. He who seeks the energies of the Spirit, before he has actively observed the commandments, is like someone  who sells himself into slavery and who, as soon as he is bought, asks to be given his freedom while still keeping  his purchase -money.

61. When you have found that external events come to you through God's justice, then in your search for the Lord  you have found 'spiritual knowledge and justice' (cf. Prov. 16:8. LXX).

66. Once you recognize that the Lord's judgments 'are in all the earth' (1 Chr. 16:14), then everything that happens to  you will teach you knowledge of God.

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67. Everyone receives what he deserves in accordance with his inner state. But only God understands the many  different ways in which this happens.  

68. When you suffer some dishonor from men, recognize at once the glory that will be given you by God. Then you  will not be saddened or upset by the dishonor; and when you receive the glory you will remain steadfast and  innocent.

69. When God allows you to be praised, do not become boastful on account of this divine providence, lest you then  fall into dishonor.

70. A seed will not grow without earth and water; and a man will not develop without voluntary suffering and divine  help.

71. Rain cannot fall without a cloud, and we cannot please God without a good conscience.

72. Do not refuse to learn, even though you may be very intelligent. For what God provides has more value than our  own intelligence.

73. When through some sensual pleasure the heart is deflected from the ascetic way, it becomes difficult to control,  like a heavy stone dislodged on steep ground.

74. Like a young calf which, in its search for grazing, finds itself on a ledge surrounded by precipices, the soul is  gradually led astray by its thoughts.

75. When the intellect, having grown to full maturity in the Lord, wrenches the soul from long-continued  prepossession, the heart suffers torments as if on the rack, since intellect and passion drag it in opposite  directions.

76. Just as sailors, in the hope of gain, gladly endure the burning heat of the sun, so those who hate wickedness  gladly accept reproof. For the former contend with the winds, the latter with passions.

77. Just as flight in winter or on the Sabbath day (cf Matt. 24: 2o) brings suffering to the flesh and defilement to the  soul, so too does resurgence of the passions in an aged body and a consecrated soul.

78. No one is as good and merciful as the Lord. But even He does not forgive the unrepentant.

79. Many of us feel remorse for our sins, yet we gladly accept their causes.

80. A mole burrowing in the earth is blind and cannot see the stars; and he who does not trust God in temporal  things will not trust Him in eternal things.

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8 1 . Real knowledge has been given to men by God as a grace preceding the fullness of grace; it teaches those who  partake of it to believe above all in the Giver.

82. When a sinful soul does not accept the afflictions that come to it, the angels say: 'We would have healed  Babylon, but she was not healed' (Jer. 51:9)

83. When an intellect forgets real knowledge, it fights with men for harmful things as though they were helpful.

84. Fire cannot last long in water, nor can a shameful thought in a heart that loves God. For every man who loves  God suffers gladly, and voluntary suffering is by nature the enemy of sensual pleasure.  

85. A passion which we aUow to grow active within us through our own choice afterwards forces itself upon us  against our wiU.

86. We have a love for the causes of involuntary thoughts, and that is why they come. In the case of voluntary  thoughts we clearly have a love not only for the causes but also for the objects with which they are concerned.

87. Presumption and boastfulness are causes of blasphemy. Avarice and self-esteem are causes of cruelty and  hypocrisy.

88. When the devil sees that our intellect has prayed from the heart, he makes a powerful attack with subtle  temptations; but he does not bother to destroy the lesser virtues by such powerful attacks.

89. When a thought lingers within a man, this indicates his attachment to it; but when it is quickly destroyed, this  signifies his opposition and hostility to it.

90. The intellect changes from one to another of three different noetic states; that according to nature, above nature,  and contrary to nature. When it enters the state according to nature, it finds that it is itself the cause of evil  thoughts, and confesses its sins to God, clearly understanding the causes of the passions. When it is in the state  contrary to nature, it forgets God's justice and fights with men, believing itself unjustly treated. But when it is  raised to the state above nature, it finds the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace and the other fruits of  which the Apostle speaks (cf. Gal. 5:22); and it knows that if it gives priority to bodily cares it cannot remain in  this state. An intellect that departs from this state falls into sin and all the terrible consequences of sin - if not  immediately, then in due time, as God's justice shall decide.  

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91. Each man's knowledge is genuine to the extent that it is confirmed by gentleness, humility and love.

92. Everyone baptized in the orthodox manner has received mystically the fullness of grace; but he becomes  conscious of this grace only to the extent that he actively observes the commandments.

93. If we fulfill Christ's commandments according to our conscience, we are spiritually refreshed to the extent that  we suffer in our heart. But each thing comes to us at the right time.

94. Pray persistently about everything, and then you will never do anything without God's help.

95. Nothing is stronger than prayer in its action, nothing more effective in winning God's favor.

96. Prayer comprises the complete fulfillment of the commandments; for there is nothing higher than love for God.

97. Undistracted prayer is a sign of love for God; but careless or distracted prayer is a sign of love for pleasure.

98. He who can without strain keep vigil, be long-suffering and pray is manifestly a partaker of the Holy Spirit. But  he who feels strain while doing these things, yet willingly endures it, also quickly receives help.

99. One commandment is higher than another; consequently one level of faith is more firmly founded than another.

100. There is faith 'that comes by hearing' (Rom. 10:17) and there is faith that 'is the substance of things hoped for'  (Heb. 11:1).  

101. It is good to help enquirers with words; but it is better to co-operate with them through prayer and the practice  of virtue. For he who through these offers himself to God, helps his neighbor through helping himself.

102. If you want with a few words to benefit one who is eager to learn, speak to him about prayer, right faith, and  the patient acceptance of what comes. For all else that is good is found through these.

103. Once we have entrusted our hope about something to God, we no longer quarrel with our neighbor over it.

104. If, as Scripture teaches, everything involuntary has its cause in what is voluntary, man has no greater enemy  than himself

105. The first among all evils is ignorance; next comes lack of faith.

106. Escape from temptation through patience and prayer. If  

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you oppose temptation without these, it only attacks you more strongly.

107. He who is gentle in God's sight is wiser than the wise; and he who is humble in heart is stronger than the  strong. For they bear the yoke of Christ with spiritual knowledge.

108. Everything we say or do without prayer afterwards turns out to be unreliable or harmful, and so shows us up  without our realizing it.

109. One alone is righteous in works, words and thoughts. But many are made righteous in faith, grace and  repentance.

1 10. One who is repentant cannot be haughty, just as one who sins deliberately cannot be humble -minded.

111. Humility consists, not in condemning our conscience, but in recognizing God's grace and compassion.

112. What a house is to the air, the spiritual intellect is to divine grace. The more you get rid of materiality, the more  the air and grace will come in of their own accord; and the more you increase materiality, the more they will go  away.

113. Materiality in the case of a house consists of furnishings and food. Materiality in the case of the intellect is self-  esteem and sensual pleasure.

114. Ample room in the heart denotes hope in God; congestion denotes bodily care.

115. The grace of the Spirit is one and unchanging, but energizes in each one of us as He wills (cf 1 Cor. 12:11).

116. When rain falls upon the earth, it gives life to the quality inherent in each plant: sweetness in the sweet,  astringency in the astringent; similarly, when grace falls upon the hearts of the faithful, it gives to each the  energies appropriate to the different virtues without itself changing.

117. To him who hungers after Christ grace is food; to him who is thirsty, a reviving drink; to him who is cold, a  garment; to him who is weary, rest; to him who prays, assurance; to him who mourns, consolation.

118. When you hear Scripture saying of the Holy Spirit that He 'rested upon each' of the Apostles (Acts 2:3), or  'came upon' the Prophet (1 Sam. 11:6), or 'energizes' (1 Cor. 12:11), or is 'grieved' (Eph. 4:30), or is 'quenched'  

(1 Thess. 5:19), oris

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'vexed (Isa. 63:10), and again, that some 'have the first fruits' (Rom. 8:23), and that others are 'filled with the Holy  Spirit' (Acts 2:4), do not suppose that the Spirit is subject to some kind of division, variation or change: but be sure  that, in the way we have described. He is unvarying, unchanging and all-powerful. Therefore in all His energies He  remains what He is, and in a divine manner He gives to each person what is needful. On those who have been  baptized He pours Himself out in His fullness like the sun. Each of us is illumined by Him to the extent to which we  hate the passions that darken us and get rid of them. But in so far as we have a love for them and dwell on them, we  remain in darkness.

119. He who hates the passions gets rid of their causes. But he who is attracted by their causes is attacked by the  passions even though he does not wish it.

120. When evil thoughts become active within us, we should blame ourselves and not ancestral sin.

121 . The roots of evil thoughts are the obvious vices, which we keep trying to justify in our words and actions.

122. We cannot entertain a passion in our mind unless we have a love for its causes.

123. For what man, who cares nothing about being put to shame, entertains thoughts of self-esteem? Or who  welcomes contempt and yet is disturbed by dishonor? And who has 'a broken and a contrite heart' (Ps. 51:17)  and yet indulges in carnal pleasure? Or who puts his trust in Christ and yet worries or quarrels about transitory  things?

124. If a man is treated with contempt by someone and yet does not react with anger in either word or thought, it  shows he has acquired real knowledge and firm faith in the Lord.

125. 'The sons of men are false, and cheat with their scales' (Ps. 62:9. LXX), but God assigns to each what is just.

126. If the criminal will not keep his gains for ever and his victim will not always suffer want, 'surely man passes  like a shadow and troubles himself in vain' (Ps. 39:6. LXX).

127. When you see someone suffering great dishonor, you may be sure that he was carried away by thoughts of self-  esteem and is now reaping, much to his disgust, the harvest from the seeds which he sowed in his heart.

128. He who enjoys bodily pleasures beyond the proper limit will pay for the excess a hundredfold in sufferings.

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129. A man exercising authority should tell his subordinate his duty; and, if disobeyed, should warn him of the evil  consequences.

130. He who suffers wrong and does not demand any reparation from the man who wronged him, trusts in Christ to  make good the loss; and he is rewarded a hundredfold in this world and inherits eternal life (cf Mark 10:30).

131. The remembrance of God is suffering of heart endured in a spirit of devotion. But he who forgets God becomes  self-indulgent and insensitive.

132. Do not say that a dispassionate man cannot suffer affliction: for even if he does not suffer on his own account,  he is under a liability to do so for his neighbor.

133. When the enemy has booked against a man many forgotten sins, he forces his debtor to recall them in memory,  taking fall advantage of 'the law of sin' (cf. Rom. 8: 2).

134. If you wish to remember God unceasingly, do not reject as undeserved what happens to you, but patiently  accept it as your due. For patient acceptance of whatever happens kindles the remembrance of God, whereas  refusal to accept weakens the spiritual purpose of the heart and so makes it forgetful.

135. If you want your sins to be 'covered' by the Lord (cf. Ps. 32:1), do not display your virtues to others. For  whatever we do with our virtues, God will also do with our sins.

136. Having hidden your virtue, do not be filled with pride, imagining you have achieved righteousness. For  righteousness is not only to hide your good actions, but also never to think forbidden thoughts.

137. Rejoice, not when you do good to someone, but when you endure without rancor the hostility that follows. For  just as night follows day, so acts of malice follow acts of kindness.

138. Acts of kindness and generosity are spoilt by self-esteem, meanness and pleasure, unless these have first been  destroyed by fear of God.

139. The mercy of God is hidden in sufferings not of our choice, and if we accept such sufferings patiently, they  bring us to repentance and deliver us from everlasting punishment.

140. Some, when they actively observe the commandments, expect this to outweigh their sins; others, who observe  the commandments without this presumption, gain the grace of Him who

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died on account of our sins. We should consider which of these is right.

141. Fear of hell and love for God's kingdom enable us patiently to accept affliction; and this they do, not by  themselves, but through Him who knows our thoughts.

142. He who believes in the blessings of the world to come abstains of his own accord from the pleasures of this  present world. But he who lacks such faith becomes pleasure-loving and insensitive.

143. Do not ask how a poor man can be self-indulgent when he lacks the material means. For it is possible to be self-  indulgent in a yet more despicable way through one's thoughts.

144. Knowledge of created beings is one thing, and knowledge of the divine truth is another. The second surpasses  the first just as the sun outshines the moon.

145. Knowledge of created beings increases the more we observe the commandments actively: but knowledge of the  truth grows the more we hope in Christ.

146. If you wish to be saved and 'to come unto the knowledge of the truth' (1 Tim. 2:4), endeavor always to  transcend sensible things, and through hope alone to cleave to God. Then you will find principalities and  powers fighting against you (cf Eph. 6:12), deflecting you against your will and provoking you to sin. But if  you prevail over them through prayer and maintain your hope, you will receive God's grace, and this will  deliver you from the wrath to come.

147. If you understand what is said in a mystical sense by St Paul, that 'we wrestle . . . against spiritual wickedness'  (Eph. 6:12), you will also understand the parable of the Lord, which He spoke 'to this end, that men ought  always to pray, and not to lose heart' (Luke 18:1).

148. The Law figuratively commands men to work for six days and on the seventh to rest (cf. Exod. 20:9-10). The  term 'work' when applied to the soul signifies acts of kindness and generosity by means of our possessions - that  is, through material things. But the soul's rest and repose is to sell everything and 'give to the poor' (Matt.  19:21), as Christ Himself said: so through its lack of possessions it will rest from its work and devote itself to  spiritual hope. Such is the rest into which Paul also exhorts us to enter, saying: 'Let us strive therefore to enter  into that rest' (Heb. 4:11).

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149. In saying this we are sot forgetting the blessings of the life to come or limiting the universal reward to the  present life. We are simply affirming that it is necessary in the first place to have the grace of the Holy Spirit  energizing the heart and so, in proportion to this energizing, to enter into the kingdom of heaven. The Lord  made this clear in saying: 'The kingdom, of heaven is within you' (cf. Luke 17:21). The Apostle, too, said the  same: 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for' (Heb. 11:1): 'Run, that you may reach your goal' (1 Cor. 9:24);  'Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith. ... Do you not know . . . that Jesus Christ is in you unless you  are worthless' (2 Cor. 13:5).

1 50. He who has come to know the truth does not oppose the afflictions that befall him, for he knows that they lead  him to the fear of God.

151. To recall past sins in detail inflicts injury on the man who hopes in God. For when such recollection brings  remorse it deprives him of hope; but if he pictures the sins to himself without remorse, they pollute him again  with the old defilement.

152. When the intellect through rejection of the passions attains to unwavering hope, then the enemy makes it  visualize its past sins on the pretext of confessing them to God. Thus he tries to rekindle passions which by  God's grace have been forgotten, and so secretly to inflict injury. Then, even though someone is illumined and  hates the passions, he will inevitably be filled with darkness and confusion at the memory of what he has done.  But if he is still befogged and self-indulgent, he will certainly dally with the enemy's provocations and entertain  them under the influence of passion, so that this recollection will prove to be a prepossession and not a  confession.  

153. If you wish to make a blameless confession to God do not go over your failings in detail, but firmly resist their  renewed attacks.

154. Trials come upon us because of our former sins, bringing what is appropriate to each offence.

1 55. The man who possesses spiritual knowledge and understands the truth confesses to God, not by recalling what  he has done, but by accepting patiently what comes.

156. If you refuse to accept suffering and dishonor, do not claim to be in a state of repentance because of your other  virtues. For self-esteem and msensitivitv can serve sin even under the cover of virtue.  

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157. Just as suffering and dishonor usually give birth to virtues, so pleasure and self-esteem usually give birth to  vices.

158. All bodily pleasure results from previous laxity, and laxity results from lack of faith.

159. He who is under the power of sin cannot by himself prevail over the will of the flesh, because he suffers  continual stimulation in all his members.

160. Those who are under the sway of passions must pray and be obedient. For even when they receive help, they  can only just manage to fight against their preposessions.

161. He who tries to conquer his own will by means of obedience and prayer is following a wise ascetic method. His  renunciation of external things indicates his inward struggle.

162. He who does not make his will agree with God is tripped up by his own schemes and falls into the hands of his  enemies.

163. When you see two evil men befriending one another, you may be sure that each is co-operating with the other's  desires.

164. The haughty and the conceited gladly agree together; for the haughty man praises the conceited man who fawns  on him in a servile manner, while the conceited man extols the haughty man who continually praises him.

165. The man who loves God benefits from both praise and blame: if commended for his good actions he grows  more zealous, and if reproved for his sins he is brought to repentance. Our outward life should accord with our  inner progress, and our prayers to God with our life.

166. It is good to hold fast to the principal commandment, and not to be anxious about particular things or to pray  for them specifically, but to seek only the kmgdom and the word of God (cf Matt. 6: 25-33). If, however, we  are still anxious about our particular needs, we should also pray for each of them. He who does or plans  anything without prayer will not succeed in the end. And this is what the Lord meant when He said; 'Without  Me you can do nothing' (John 15:5).  

167. If a man disregards the commandment about prayer, he then commits worse acts of disobedience, each one  handing him over to the next like a prisoner.

168. He who accepts present afflictions in the expectation of

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future blessings has found knowledge of the truth; and he will easily be freed from anger and remorse.  169. He who chooses maltreatment and dishonor for the sake of truth is walking on the apostolic path: he has taken  up the cross and is bound in chains (cf Matt. 16: 24: Acts 28:20). But when he tries to concentrate his attention  on the heart without accepting these two, his intellect wanders from the path and he falls into the temptations  and snares of the devil.

170. In our ascetic warfare we can neither rid ourselves of evil thoughts apart from their causes, nor of their causes  without ridding ourselves of the thoughts. For if we reject the one without the other, before long the other will  involve us in them both at once.

171. He who fights against others out of fear of hardship or reproach will either suffer more harshly through what  befalls him in this life, or will be punished mercilessly in the life to come.

172. He who wishes to be spared all misfortunes should associate God with everything through prayer: with his  intellect he should set his hope in Him, putting aside, so far as possible, all concern about things of the senses.

173. When the devil finds someone preoccupied needlessly with bodily things, he first deprives him of the hard-won  fruits of spiritual knowledge, and then cuts off his hope in God.

174. If you should ever reach the stronghold of pure prayer, do not accept the knowledge of created things which is  presented to you at that moment by the enemy, lest you lose what is greater. For it is better to shoot at him from  above with the arrows of prayer, cooped up as he is down below, then to parley with him as he offers us the  knowledge he has plundered, and tries to tear us away from this prayer which defeats him.

175. Knowledge of created things helps a man at a time of temptation and listlessness: but at a time of pure prayer it  is usually harmful.

176. If it is your task to give spiritual instruction and you are disobeyed, grieve inwardly but do not be outwardly  upset. For if you grieve, you will not share the guilt of the person who disobeys you: but if you are upset you  will be tested by the same temptations as he is.

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relevant to the needs of those present. You should discuss explicitly whatever is seemly, but refer less explicitly to  what is hard to accept.

178. If someone is not under obedience to you, do not rebuke him to his face for his faults. For that would imply you  have authority over him, and are not just giving advice.

179. What is said without explicit reference to individuals is helpful to all, for each applies it to himself according to  his own conscience.

180. He who speaks rightly should recognize that he receives the words from God. For the truth belongs not to him  who speaks, but to God who is energizing him.

181. Do not argue with people not under obedience to you when they oppose the truth; otherwise you may arouse  their hatred.

182. If you give way when someone who is under obedience to you wrongly contradicts you, you lead him astray  over the point at issue and also encourage him to repudiate his promise of obedience.

183. He who with fear of God admonishes or corrects a man who has sinned, gains the virtue that is opposite to that  sin. But he who reproaches him out of rancor and ill will becomes subject to a similar passion, according to the  spiritual law.

184. He who has learned the law properly fears the Lawgiver and, fearing Him, he turns away from every evil.

185. Do not be double-tongued, saying one thing when your conscience says another. For Scripture places such  people under a curse (cf. Ecclus. 28:13).

186. One man speaks the truth and is hated for it by the foolish: another speaks hypocritically and for this reason is  loved. But in both cases their reward is not long delayed, for at the appropriate moment the Lord renders to each  his due.

187. He who wishes to avoid future troubles should endure his present troubles gladly. For in this way, balancing the  one against the other, through small sufferings he will avoid those which are great.

188. Guard your speech from boasting and your thoughts from presumption: otherwise you may be abandoned by  God and fall into sin. For man cannot do anything good without the help of God, who sees everything.

189. God, who sees everything, rewards at their proper value not only our actions but also our voluntary thoughts  and purposes.  

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190. Involuntary thoughts arise from previous sin; voluntary ones from our free will. Thus the latter are the cause of  the former.

191. Evil thoughts which arise against our will are accompanied by remorse, and so they soon disappear; but when  they are freely chosen, they are accompanied by pleasure, and so they are hard to get rid of.

192. The self-indulgent are distressed by criticism and hardship; those who love God by praise and luxury.

193. He who does not understand God's judgments walks on a ridge like a knife-edge and is easily unbalanced by  every puff of wind. When praised, he exults; when criticized, he feels bitter. When he feasts, he makes a pig of  himself; and when he suffers hardship, he moans and groans. When he understands, he shows off; and when he  does not understand, he pretends that he does. When rich, he is boastful; and when in poverty, he plays the  hypocrite. Gorged, he grows brazen; and when he fasts, he becomes arrogant. He quarrels with those who  reprove him; and those who forgive him he regards as fools.

194. Unless a man acquires, through the grace of Christ, knowledge of the truth and fear of God, he is gravely  wounded not only by the passions but also by the things that happen to him.

195. When you want to resolve a complex problem, seek God's will in the matter, and you will find a constructive  solution.

196. When something accords with God's will, all creation aids it. But when God rejects something, creation too  opposes it.

197. He who opposes unpleasant events opposes the command of God unwittingly. But when someone accepts them  with real knowledge, he 'waits patiently for the Lord' (Ps. 27; 14).

198. When tested by some trial you should try to find out not why or through whom it came, but only how to endure  it gratefully, without distress or rancor.

199. Another man's sin does not increase our own, unless we ourselves embrace it by means of evil thoughts.

200. If it is not easy to find anyone conforming to God's will who has not been put to the test, we ought to thank  God for everything that happens to us.

201. If Peter had not failed to catch anything during the night's fishing (cf Luke 5:5), he would not have caught  anything during the day. And if Paul had not suffered physical blindness (cf Acts  

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9:8), he would not have been given spiritual sight. And if Stephen had not been slandered as a blasphemer, he would  not have seen the heavens opened and have looked on God (cf Acts 6:15; 7:56).

202. As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

203. God 'tested Abraham' (cf. Gen. 22:1-14), that is, God afflicted him for his own benefit, not in order to learn  what kind of man Abraham was - for He knew him, since He knows all things before they come into existence -  but in order to provide him with opportunities for showing perfect faith.

204. Every affliction tests our will, showing whether it is inclined to good or evil. This is why an unforeseen  affliction is called a test, because it enables a man to test his hidden desires.

205. The fear of God compels us to .fight against evil; and when we fight against evil, the grace of God destroys it.

206. Wisdom is not only to perceive the natural consequence of things, but also to accept as our due the malice of  those who wrong us. People who go no further than the first kind of wisdom become proud, whereas those who  attain the second become humble.

207. If you do not want evil thoughts to be active within you, accept humiliation of soul and affliction of the flesh;  and this not just on particular occasions, but always, everywhere and in all things.

208. He who willingly accepts chastening by affliction is not dominated by evil thoughts against his will; whereas he  who does not accept affliction is taken prisoner by evil thoughts, even though he resists them.

209. When you are wronged and your heart and feelings are hardened, do not be distressed, for this has happened  providentially; but be glad and reject the thoughts that arise within you, knowing that if they are destroyed at the  stage when they are only provocations, their evil consequences will be cut off, whereas if the thoughts persist  the evil may be expected to develop.

210. Without contrition of the heart, it is altogether impossible to rid ourselves of evil. Now the heart is made  contrite by threefold self-control: in sleep, in food and in bodily relaxation. For excess of these three things  leads to self-indulgence: and this in turn makes us accept evil thoughts, and is opposed to prayer and to  appropriate work.

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of your role and, when they contradict you, do not fail to tell them what is necessary. When they obey you, you will  be rewarded because of their virtue; but when they disobey you, you will none the less forgive them, and will  equally be rewarded by Him who said: 'Forgive and it shall be forgiven you' (cf Matt. 6:14).

212. Every event is like a bazaar. He who knows how to bargain makes a good profit, he who does not makes a loss.

213. If someone does not obey you when you have told him once, do not argue and try to compel him; but take for  yourself the profit which he has thrown away. For forbearance will benefit you more than correcting him.

214. When the evil conduct of one person begins to affect others, you should not show long-suffering; and instead of  your own advantage you should seek that of the others, so that they may be saved. For virtue involving many  people is more valuable than virtue involving only one.

215. If a man falls into some sin and does not feel remorse for his offence as he should, he will easily fall into the  same net again.

216. Just as a lioness does not make friends with a calf, so impudence does not gladly admit the remorse that accords  with God's will.

217. Just as a sheep does not mate with a wolf, so suffering of the heart does not couple with satiety for the  conception of virtues.

218. No one can experience suffering and remorse in a way that accords with God's will, unless he first loves what  causes them.

219. Fear of God and reproof induce remorse; hardship and vigils make us intimate with suffering.
220. He who does not learn from the commandments and warnings of Scripture will be driven by 'the horse's whip'  and 'the ass's goad' (cf. Prov. 26:3. LXX). And if he refuses to obey these as well, his 'mouth must be controlled  with bit and bridle' (Ps. 32:9).

221. He who is easily overcome by the lesser will inevitably be enslaved by the greater. But he who is superior to  the lesser will also with the Lord's help resist the greater.

222. When someone boasts about his virtues, do not try to help him by reproving him. For a man cannot love  showing off and at the same time love the truth.

223. Every word of Christ shows us God's mercy, justice and wisdom and, if we listen gladly, their power enters into  us. That is  

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why the unmerciful and the unjust, listening to Christ with repugnance, were not able to understand the wisdom of  God, but even crucified Him for teaching it. So we, too, should ask ourselves whether we listen to Him gladly. For  He said: 'He who loves Me will keep My commandments, and he will be loved by My Father, and I will love him,  and will manifest Myself to him' (cf John 14: 21). Do you see how He has hidden His manifestation in the  commandments? Of all the commandments, therefore, the most comprehensive is to love God and our neighbor.  This love is made firm through abstaining from material things, and through stillness of thoughts.

224. Knowing this, the Lord enjoins us 'not to be anxious about the morrow' (Matt. 6:34); and rightly so. For if a  man has not freed himself from material things and from concern about them, how can he be freed from evil  thoughts? And if he is beset by evil thoughts, how can he see the reality of the sin concealed behind them? This  sin wraps the soul in darkness and obscurity, and increases its hold upon us through our evil thoughts and  actions. The devil initiates the whole process by testing a man with a provocation which he is not compelled to  accept; but the man, urged on by self-indulgence and self-esteem, begins to entertain this provocation with  enjoyment. Even if his discrimination tells him to reject it, yet in practice he takes pleasure in it and accepts it.  If someone has not perceived this general process of sinning, when will he pray about it and be cleansed from  it? And if he has not been cleansed, how will he find purity of nature? And if he has not found this, how will he  behold the inner dwelling-place of Christ? For we are a dwelling-place of God, according to the words of  Prophet, Gospel and Apostle (cf Zech. 2:10; John 14:23; 1 Cor. 3:16; Heb. 3:6).

225. Following the sequence just described, we should try to find the dwelling-place and knock with persistent  prayer, so that either in this life or at our death the Master may open to us and not say because of our  negligence: 'I do not know where you come from' (Luke 13:25). Not only ought we to ask and receive, but we  should also keep safely what is given; for some people lose what they have received. A theoretical knowledge  or chance experience of these things may perhaps be gained by those who have begun to learn late in life or  who are still young; but the constant and patient practice of these things is barely to be acquired even by devout  and deeply

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experienced elders, who have repeatedly lost it through lack of attention and then through voluntary suffering have  searched for and found it again. So let us constantly imitate them in this, until we, too, have acquired this practice  irremovably.  

226. Out of the many ordinances of the spiritual law we have come to understand these] few. The great Psalmist  again and again urges us to learn and practice them as we ceaselessly praise the Lord Jesus. To Him are due  glory, power and worship, both now and through all the ages. Amen.  

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Since you have recently become much concerned about your salvation, and have been asking yourself how you  can live a life according to God, you have consulted us and told us about yourself: how with great labor and burning  desire you wished to cleave to God through a strict way of life, through self-control and much hardship, through  vigils and intense prayer. You spoke of the conflicts and the swarm of carnal passions stirred up in our bodily nature  and aroused against the soul by the law of sin that fights against the law of our intellect (cf Rom. 7:23). You  deplored the fact that you are especially troubled by the passions of anger and desire, and you asked for some  method and words of advice indicating what ascetic practices you should adopt to overcome these two destructive  passions. At that time we talked with you directly and suggested, as far as we could, various ideas to help you,  explaining how the soul should engage in ascetic efforts with understanding and spiritual knowledge, in accordance  with the Gospel: and how, living by faith and helped by grace, it can overcome the evils that spring up in the heart,  and especially the two passions just mentioned. Our soul should fight most vigorously and continually against those  passions to which it is especially liable through prepossession and habit, until it has subdued the non-spiritual and  uncontrolled operations of vice to which up till now it has been subject; for the soul is carried away captive through  its inward assent to the thoughts with which it is constantly and sinfully occupied.

We are now physically separated from you 'for a short time, in presence but not in heart' (1 Thess. 2:17), for we  have gone to live in the desert with the true ascetics of Christ. It is our hope that we, too, may to some small extent  pursue the spiritual way in company with our brethren, who are fighting against the hostile energies and bravely  resisting the passions. We are trying to shake off sloth and  

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laxity, to free ourselves from negligence, and to make every effort to conform to God's will. So we have decided to  write you a few words of advice for the benefit of your soul. In this modest letter you will find some of the things we  mentioned to you in our talk; we ask you to read it carefully, as though we were ourselves present, so that it may  help you spiritually.  

This, my son, is how you should begin your life according to God. You should continually and unceasingly call to  mind all the blessings which God in His love has bestowed upon you in the past, and still bestows for the salvation  of your soul. You must not let forgetfulness of evil or laziness make you grow unmindful of these many and great  blessings, and so pass the rest of your life uselessly and ungratefully. For this kind of continual recollection, pricking  the heart like a spur, moves it constantly to confession and humility, to thanksgiving with a contrite soul, and to all  

forms of sincere effort, repaying God through its virtue and holiness. In this way the heart meditates constantly and  conscientiously on the words from the Psalms; 'What shall I give to the Lord in return for all His benefits towards  me?'(Ps. 116:12).

Thus the soul recalls the blessings of God's love which it has received from the moment it came into existence:  how it has often been delivered from dangers: how in spite of having often fallen by its own free choice into great  evils and sins, it was not justly given up to destruction and death at the hands of the spirits of deception: and how  God with long-suffering overlooked its offences and protected it, awaiting its return. It also recalls that although  through the passions it had become the willing servant of hostile and malicious spirits. He sustained it, guarding it  and in all ways providing for it: and finally that He guided it with a clear sign to the path of salvation, and inspired it  with the love of the ascetic life. So He gave it the strength gladly to abandon the world and all the deceitfulness of  worldly pleasure, adorning it with the angelic habit of the monastic order, and providing for it to be received by holy  men in an organized brotherhood.  

Can any man consciously call these things to mind and not be moved always to contrition of heart? Having so  many pledges from past blessings, will he not always have firm hope, in spite of the fact that he himself has so far  done nothing good'? He will say to himself: 'Though I have done nothing good and have committed many sins  

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before Him, living in uncleanness of the flesh and indulging in many other vices, yet He did not deal with me  according to my sins, or reward me according to my iniquities (cf Ps. 103:10), but gave me all these gifts of grace  for my salvation. If, then, from now onwards I give myself completely to His service, living in all purity and  acquiring the virtues, how many holy and spiritual gifts will He not grant me, strengthening me in every good work,  guiding and leading me aright.' If a man always thinks in this way and does not forget God's blessings, he  encourages and urges himself on to the practice of every virtue and of every righteous work, always ready, always  eager to do the will of God.  

Therefore, my dear son, since through the grace of Christ you possess natural understanding, continue always to  occupy your mind with such meditation. Do not let yourself be overcome by destructive forgetfulness or by the  laziness which paralyzes the intellect and turns it away from life; do not allow ignorance, the cause of all evils, to  darken your thinking; do not be lured by the corrosive vice of negligence; do not be seduced by sensual pleasure or  defeated by gluttony: do not let your intellect be taken prisoner by lust through assenting to sexual thoughts, defiling  yourself inwardly: do not be overcome by the anger which causes you to hate your brother and for some pathetic  reason to inflict and suffer pain, leading you to store up malicious thoughts against your neighbor and to turn away  from pure prayer. Anger enslaves the intellect, and makes you regard your brother with bestial cruelty; it fetters the  conscience with uncontrolled impulses of the flesh, and surrenders you for a time to be chastised by the evil spirits  to whom you have yielded.

Eventually your intellect, at a loss where to turn, is overwhelmed by dejection and laziness and forfeits all its  spiritual progress. Then in deep humility it sets out once more on the path of salvation. Laboring much in prayer and  all-night vigils, it uproots the causes of evil within itself through humility and confession before God and our  neighbor. In this way it begins to regain the state of watchfulness and, illumined with divine grace and  understanding of the Gospels, it perceives that no one can become a true Christian unless he gives himself up  completely to the cross in a spirit of humility and self-denial, and makes himself lower than all, letting himself be  trampled underfoot, insulted, despised, wronged, ridiculed and mocked, and all this he must endure joyfully for the  Lord's sake, not  

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claiming for himself in return any human advantages: glory, honor or praise, or the pleasures of food, drink or  clothes.

Such are the contests and such the prizes that lie before us. How long, then, shall we mock ourselves by  pretending to be devout, serving the Lord with hypocrisy, being thought one thing by men but clearly seen to be  quite different by Him who knows our secrets? Other people regard us as saintly, but we are still savage. Although  we have indeed an outward form of godliness, we do not possess its power before God (cf 2 Tim. 3:5). Other people  regard us as virginal and chaste, but in the sight of Him who knows our secrets, we are inwardly defiled by our  assent to thoughts of unchastity, and made filthy by the activity of the passions. In spite of this, thanks to our  seeming asceticism, we attract men's praises and are bowled over and blinded in our intellect.  

How long shall we continue in this manner, our intellect reduced to futility, failing to make the spirit of the Gospel  our own, not knowing what it means to live according to our conscience, making no serious effort to keep it pure?  Lacking real knowledge, we still trust solely in the apparent righteousness of our outward way of life, and so lead  ourselves astray, trying to please men, pursuing the glory, honor and praise which they offer. But the Judge who  cannot be deceived will certainly come, and 'will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and reveal the  purposes of hearts' (1 Cor. 4:5). He neither respects the wealthy nor pities the poor, but strips away the outward  appearance and reveals the truth hidden within. In the presence of the angels and before His own Father, He crowns  those who have truly pursued the spiritual way and lived according to their conscience: and in the presence of the  heavenly Church of the saints and of all the celestial hosts. He exposes those who possessed merely an outward  pretense of devotion, which they displayed to men, vainly relying on it and deceiving themselves: and He banishes  them in shame to outer darkness.  

Such people are like the foolish virgins (cf. Matt. 25:1-12), who did indeed preserve their outer virginity, yet in  spite of this were not admitted to the marriage -feast: they also had some oil in their vessels, that is, they possessed  some virtues and external achievements and some gifts of grace, so that their lamps remained alight for a certain  time. But because of negligence, ignorance and laziness they were not provident, and did not pay careful attention to  the hidden swarm  

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of passions energized within them by the evil spirits. Their thoughts were corrupted by these hostile energies, while  they themselves assented to this demonic activity and shared in it. They were secretly enticed and overcome by  malicious envy, by jealousy that hates everything good, by strife, quarrelling, hatred, anger, bitterness, rancor,  hypocrisy, wrath, pride, self-esteem, love of popularity, self-satisfaction, avarice, listlessness, by sensual desire  which provokes images of self-indulgence, by unbelief, irreverence, cowardice, dejection, contentiousness,  sluggishness, sleep, presumption, self-justification, pomposity, boastfulness, msatiateness, profligacy, greed, by  despair which is the most dangerous of all, and by the subtle workings of vice. Even the good acts which they  performed and their life of chastity were all for the sake of being seen and praised by men; and though they had a  share in some gifts of grace, this they sold to the spirits of self-esteem and popularity. Because of their involvement  with the other passions, they mixed their virtues with sinful and worldly thoughts, so rendering them unacceptable  and impure, like Cain's sacrifice (cf Gen. 4:5). Thus they were deprived of the joy of the Bridegroom and shut out  from the heavenly bridal chamber.

Pondering, assessing and testing all this, let us realize our situation and correct our way of life while we still have  time for repentance and conversion. Let us perform our good actions with purity, so that they are really good and not  mixed with worldly thoughts: otherwise they will be rejected, like a blemished sacrifice, because of our irreverence,  negligence and want of real knowledge. Let us be careful not to waste our days, lest we undergo all the effort of the  life of virginity - practicing self-control, keeping vigil, fasting, showing hospitality - only to find at the end that,  because of the passions we have mentioned, our apparent righteousness, like the blemished sacrifice, proves  unacceptable to the heavenly Priest, Christ our God.  

Therefore, my son, he who wishes to take up the cross and follow Christ must first acquire spiritual knowledge  and understanding through constantly examining his thoughts, showing the utmost concern for his salvation, and  seeking God with all his strength. He should question other servants of God who are of the same mind and engaged  in the same ascetic struggle, so that he does not travel in the dark without a light, not knowing how or where to  walk. For the  

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man who goes his own way, traveling without understanding of the Gospels and without any guidance, often  stumbles and falls into many pits and snares of the devil: he frequently goes astray and exposes himself to many  dangers, not knowing where he is going. For many have endured great ascetic labors, much hardship and toil for  God's sake: but because they relied on their own judgment, lacked discrimination, and failed to accept help from  their neighbor, their many efforts proved useless and vain.  

So then, my beloved son, follow the advice I gave you at the beginning of this letter, and do not let yourself be  dragged down unwittingly by vice and laziness, so that you forget the gifts you have received through God's love.  Bring before your eyes the blessings, whether physical or spiritual, conferred on you from the beginning of your life  down to the present, and call them repeatedly to mind in accordance with the words: 'Forget not all His benefits' (Ps.  103:2). Then your heart will readily be moved to the fear and love of God, so that you repay Him, as far as you can,  by your strict life, virtuous conduct, devout conscience, wise speech, true faith and humility - in short, by dedicating  your whole self to God. When you are moved by the recollection of all these blessings which you have received  through God's loving goodness, your heart will be spontaneously wounded with longing and love through this recol-  lection or, rather, with the help of divine grace, for He has not done for others who are much better than yourself  such miraculous things as in His ineffable love He has done for you.  

Try, then, to remember unceasingly all the blessings that have been given to you by God. In particular, always  keep in mind that miraculous grace which you told us He conferred on you when you were sailing with your mother  from the Holy Land to Constantinople. Recall the terrifying and uncontrollable violence of the storm that broke on  you during the night, and how everyone in the ship, including the crew and your mother herself, perished in the sea;  and how by an incredible act of divine power you and two others alone were thrown clear of the wreck and escaped.  Remember how you came providentially to Ankyra, and how, with fatherly compassion, you were given hospitality  by a certain freeman, and became friends with his devout son Epiphanios. Then both of you, under the guidance of a  holy man, entered on the path of salvation, and were received as true sons by the servants of God.

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What repayment for all these blessings can you possibly make to Him who has called your soul to eternal life? It  is only right, then, that you should live no longer for yourself, but for Christ, who died for your sake and rose again.  In your struggle to acquire every virtue and to fulfill every commandment, always seek 'the good, acceptable and  perfect will of God' (Rom. 12:2), endeavoring with all your strength to pursue it.  

Submit your youth to the word of God, my son, and, as this word commands, present your body as 'a living  sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, for this is your spiritual worship' (Rom. 12:1). Cool and dry up all the moisture of  sensual desire by being content with little, drinking little, and keeping all-night vigils, so that you can say in all  sincerity: 'I am become like a wineskin in the frost; yet I have not forgotten Thy ordinances' (Ps. 119:83. LXX).  Knowing that you are Christ's, crucify your flesh together with its affections and desires (cf Gal. 5:24). 'Put to death  whatever is earthly in you' (Col. 3:5), avoiding not only external acts of unchastity, but also the impurity stimulated  in your flesh by evil spirits.

Yet he who hopes to achieve true, undefiled and complete virginity does not stop here. Following the Apostle's  teaching, he struggles to put to death every trace and stirring of passion itself. Even so, he is still not entirely  satisfied but he longs intensely for angelic and undefiled virginity to establish itself in his body. He prays for the  disappearance even of the mere thought of lust, occurring as a momentary disturbance of the intellect, without any  movement and working of bodily passion. A person can achieve this only through the help and power of the Holy  Spirit - if indeed there is anyone who is counted worthy of this grace.

Thus he who hopes to achieve pure, spiritual and undefiled virginity crucifies the flesh through ascetic labors and  puts to death whatever is earthly in him through intense and persistent self-control. He erodes the outer man,  refining him, stripping him down to the bone, so that through faith, ascetic effort and the energy of grace the inner  man may be 'renewed day by day' (2 Cor. 4:16), advancing to a higher state. He grows in love, is adorned with  gentleness, rejoices greatly in spirit, is ruled by the peace of Christ, led by kindness, guarded by goodness, protected  by the fear of God, enlightened by understanding and knowledge, illumined by wisdom, guided by humility. The  intellect, renewed by the Spirit through  

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these and similar virtues, discovers within itself the imprint of the divine image, and perceives the spiritual and  ineffable beauty of the divine likeness; and so, learning from itself, it attains the rich wisdom of the inner law.  

Therefore, my son, refine the youthful impulses of your flesh, and through the virtues we have described  strengthen your immortal soul and renew your intellect with the help of the Spirit. For the flesh of youth, gorged  with food and wine, is like a pig ready for slaughter. The flames of sensual pleasure kill the soul, while the intellect  is made a prisoner by the fierce heat of evil desire and cannot then resist such pleasure. For when the blood is heated  the spirit is cooled.  

Young people should particularly avoid drinking wine, and even getting the smell of it. Otherwise the inward  action of passion and the wine poured in from outside will produce a double conflagration, the combination of the  two will bring the flesh's sensual pleasure to boiling point, driving away the spiritual pleasure that accompanies the  pain of contrition, and producing confusion and hardness of heart. Indeed, their spiritual desire should prevent the  young from drinking their fill even of water, for this is a great help towards self-restraint. If you try this for yourself,  experience will show you that it really is so. For in recommending this rule we do not wish to impose on you a yoke  of compulsion; but with love we advise it, as an aid in attaining tme virginity and strict self-restraint, leaving it to  your own free choice to do as you wish.  

Now let us say something about the senseless passion of anger, which ravages, confuses and darkens every soul  and, when it is active, makes those in whom it is easily and quickly aroused behave like beasts. This passion is  strengthened particularly by pride, and so long as it is so strengthened it cannot be destroyed. While the diabolical  tree of bitterness, anger and wrath has its roots kept moist by the foul water of pride, it blossoms and thrives and  produces quantities of rotten fruit. Thus the structure of evil in the soul is impossible to destroy so long as it is  rooted firmly in pride.  

Do you want this tree of disorder - I mean the passion of bitterness, anger and wrath - to dry up within you and  become barren, so that with the axe of the Spirit it may be 'hewn down and cast into the fire' together with every  other vice (Matt. 3 : 1 0)? Do you want the destruction of this house of evil which the devil builds  

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in your soul by continually using as stones various plausible or senseless pretexts, whether material or mental, and  by constructing its foundations out of thoughts of pride ? If this is what you really want, keep the humility of the  Lord in your heart and never forget it.  

Call to mind who He is; and what He became for our sakes. Reflect first on the sublime light of His Divinity  revealed to the essences above (in so far as they can receive it) and glorified in the heavens by all spiritual beings:  angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities, cherubim and seraphim, and the spiritual powers  whose names we do not know, as the Apostle hints (cf. Eph. 1:21). Then think to what depth of human humiliation  He descended in His ineffable goodness, becoming in all respects like us who were dwelling in darkness and the  shadow of death (cf. Isa. 9:2; Matt. 4:16), captives through the transgression of Adam and dominated by the enemy  through the activity of the passions. When we were in this harsh captivity, ruled by invisible and bitter death, the  Master of all visible and invisible creation was not ashamed to humble Himself and to take upon Himself our human  nature, subject as it was to the passions of shame and desire and condemned by divine judgment; and He became  like us in all things except that He was without sin (cf. Heb. 4:15), that is, without ignoble passions. All the penalties  imposed by divine judgment upon man for the sin of the first transgression - death, toil, hunger, thirst and the like -  He took upon Himself, becoming what we are, so that we might become what He is. The Logos became man, so that  man might become Logos. Being rich. He became poor for our sakes, so that through His poverty we might become  rich (cf. 2 Cor. 8:9). In His great love for man He became like us, so that through every virtue we might become like  Him.

From the time that Christ came to dwell with us, man created according to God's image and likeness is truly  renewed through the grace and power of the Spirit, attaining to the perfect love which 'casts out fear' (1 John 4:18) -  the love which is no longer able to fail, for 'love never fails' (1 Cor. 13:8). Love, says John, is God; and 'he who  dwells in love dwells in God' (1 John 4:16). The apostles were granted this love, and so were those who practiced  virtue as they did, offering themselves completely to the Lord, and following Christ with all their heart throughout  their lifetime.

So you should continually keep in mind the great humiliation

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which the Lord took upon Himself in His ineffable love for us: how the divine Logos dwelt in a womb; how He took  human nature upon Himself; His birth from a woman; His gradual bodily growth; the shame He suffered, the insults,  vilification, ridicule and abuse; how He was scourged and spat upon, derided and mocked; the scarlet robe, the  crown of thorns; His condemnation by those in power; the outcry of the unruly Jews, men of His own race, against  Him: 'Away with him, away with him, crucify him' (John 19:15); the cross, the nails, the lance, the drink of vinegar  and gall; the scorn of the Gentiles; the derision of the passers-by who said: 'If you are the Son of God, come down  from the cross and we will believe you' (cf Matt. 27:39-42); and the rest of the sufferings which He patiently  accepted for us: crucifixion; death; the three-day burial; the descent into hell. Then keep in mind all that has come  from these sufferings: the resurrection from the dead; the liberation from hell and from death of those who were  raised with the Lord; the ascension to the heavens; the enthronement at the right hand of the Father; the honor and  glory that is 'far above every principality and power . . . and above every name that is named' (Eph. 1:21); the  veneration of the Firstborn from the dead by all the angels, because of the sufferings He had undergone. As the  Apostle says: 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Though He is in the form of God, He did not  insist on clinging to His equality with God; but He emptied Himself and took upon Himself the form of a servant,  and was made in the likeness of man. Being in this likeness. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death,  even the death of the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every  name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, things on earth and things under the  earth' (Phil. 2:5-10). See to what a height of glory the Lord's human nature was raised up by God's justice through  these sufferings and humiliations.  

If, therefore, you continually recall this with all your heart, the passion of bitterness, anger and wrath will not  master you. For when the foundations constructed of the passion of pride are sapped through this recalling of  Christ's humiliation, the whole perverse edifice of anger, wrath and resentment automatically collapses. For can  anyone keep perpetually in mind the humiliation that the Divinity of the only -begotten Son accepted for our sake,  and all the  

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sufferings that we have mentioned, and yet be so hard and stonyhearted as not to be shattered, humbled and filled  with remorse? Will he not willingly become dust and ashes, trampled underfoot by all men ?  

So, when we are humbled and shattered, and keep in mind Christ's humiliation, what anger, wrath or bitterness  can take possession of us? But when forgetfulness of these life-creating truths is accompanied by the sister vices of  laziness and ignorance, then these three oppressive and deep-seated passions of the soul, hard to discover and  correct, overlay and darken us with a terrible futility. They prepare the way for the rest of the evil passions to  become active and nest in the soul, stifling its sense of awe, making it neglect what is good, and providing easy  access and free scope for every passion.  

For when the soul has been overlaid by pernicious forgetfulness, by destructive laziness, and by ignorance, the  mother and nurse of every vice, the afflicted intellect in its blindness is readily enchained by everything that is seen,  thought or heard. For instance, when we see a beautiful woman, our intellect is at once wounded by sensual desire.  Then we recall what we have seen, heard, or touched with impassioned pleasure in the past, and so our memory  forms sinful images within us. These defile the intellect that is still impassioned and afflicted through the activity of  the demons of unchastity. Then the flesh, too, if it is well fed, full of youthful spirit, or flabby, is easily roused to  passion by such memories, and moved to lust; and it performs acts of uncleanness either in sleep or awake, even  though it does not have intercourse physically with a woman. Although such a man is regarded by others as chaste,  pure and virgin, and may even have the reputation of being a saint, yet he is condemned as defiled, dissolute and  adulterous by Him who sees into the secrets of men's hearts. At the Last Day he will justly be condemned, unless he  first laments and mourns and offers to God worthy repentance, refining his flesh in fasting, vigils and unceasing  prayers, healing and correcting his intellect by meditating on holy themes and on the word of God, in whose sight he  conceived or did these evil things. For God says truly to each one of us: 'But I say to you that whoever looks at a  woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart'(Matt. 5:28).  

This is why, if possible, it is very helpful for young monks not to

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meet women at all, even though these women are considered saintly. And if they can live in seclusion, the warfare  becomes easier and they can see their own progress more clearly, especially if they confine their attention strictly to  themselves, pursuing their spiritual struggle through abstemiousness, drinking but little water and being greatly  vigilant in prayer. They should make every effort to seek the company of experienced spiritual fathers and to be  guided by them. For it is dangerous to isolate oneself completely, relying on one's own judgment with no one else as  witness: and it is equally dangerous to live with those who are inexperienced in spiritual warfare. For then we  become involved in battles of other kinds, because the enemy has many hidden ways of attacking us and sets his  snares around us on every side. Thus a man should try to live with those who possess spiritual knowledge, or at least  to consult them continually, so that even if he is still spiritually immature and childish and does not himself possess  a lamp of true knowledge, he can travel in company with someone who does. Then he will not be walking in the  dark, in danger from snares and traps: and he will not fall prey to the demons who prowl like beasts in the dark,  seizing and destroying those who grope there without the spiritual lamp of God's word.

If then, my son, you wish to acquire within yourself your own lamp of spiritual light and knowledge, so as to walk  without stumbling in the dark night of this age: and if you wish your steps to be ordered by the Lord, delighting in  the way of the Gospel - that is, desiring with ardent faith to hold fast to the most perfect gospel commandments, and  to share in the sufferings of the Lord through aspirations and prayer - then I will show you a wonderful spiritual  method to help you achieve this. It does not call for bodily exertion, but requires effort of the soul, control of the  intellect, and an attentive understanding, assisted by fear and love of God. Through this method you can easily put to  flight the hordes of the enemy, like the blessed David, who through his faith and trust in God destroyed Goliath, the  giant of the Philistines (cf 1 Sam. 17: 45), and with the help of his own people easily put to flight the great host of  the enemy.

Imagine that there are three powerful and mighty giants of the Philistines, upon whom depends the whole hostile  army of the demonic Holofemes (cf. Judith 2:4). When these three have been overthrown and slain, all the power of  the demons is fatally weakened.

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These three giants are. the vices already mentioned: ignorance, the source of all evils; forgetfulness, its close  relation and helper; and laziness, which weaves the dark shroud enveloping the soul in murk. This third vice  supports and strengthens the other two, consolidating them so that evil becomes deep-rooted and persistent in the  negligent soul. Laziness, forgetfulness and ignorance in their turn support and strengthen the other passions. Helping  each other, and unable to hold their position apart from one another, they are the mainstay and the chief leaders of  the devil's army. Through them the whole of this army infiltrates into the soul and is enabled to achieve its  objectives, which otherwise it could not do.  

If then you wish to conquer these three passions and easily to put to flight the hordes of the demonic Philistines,  enter within yourself through prayer and with the help of God. Descend into the depths of the heart, and search out  these three powerful giants of the devil -forgetfulness, laziness and ignorance, the support of the demonic Philistines  - which enable the rest of the evil passions to infiltrate and be active, to live and prevail in the hearts of the self-  indulgent and in the souls of the unmstructed. Then through strict attention and control of the intellect, together with  help from above, you will track down these evil passions, about which most men are ignorant, not even suspecting  their existence, but which are more destructive than all the rest. Take up the weapons of righteousness that are  directly opposed to them: mmdfulness of God, for this is the cause of all blessings: the light of spiritual knowledge,  through which the soul awakens from its slumber and drives out of itself the darkness of ignorance, and true ardor,  which makes the soul eager for salvation.  

So, through the power of the Holy Spirit, with all prayer and entreaty, you will contend bravely against the three  giants of the demonic Philistines. Through mindfulness of God, you will always reflect on 'whatever is true,  whatever is modest, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, whatever is  holy and deserving of praise' (Phil. 4:8); and in this way you will banish from yourself the pernicious evil of  forgetfulness. Through the light of spiritual knowledge you will expel the destructive darkness of ignorance: and  through your true ardor for all that is good you will drive out the godless laziness that enables evil to root itself in  the soul. When by deep attentiveness and prayer you have acquired these virtues, not only through your own  personal  

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choice, but also through the power of God and with the help of the Holy Spirit, you will be able to deliver yourself  from the three powerful giants of the devil For when real knowledge, mmdfulness of God's word and true ardor are  firmly established in the soul through active grace and are carefully guarded, the combination of these three expels  from the soul and obliterates every trace of forgetfulness, ignorance, and laziness, and henceforth grace reigns

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within it, through Christ Jesus our Lord. May He be glorified through all the ages. Amen.



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Finding Peace in Awareness

YOUR MIND/EGO IS THE ONLY OBSTACLE TO YOUR HAPPINESS AND SALVATION

You are at the mercy of your thoughts and emotions because they trigger further reactions, leading to a cycle of negative thoughts and emotions. Reacting on autopilot only leads to misery, as the mind operates on a survival instinct that creates a sense of lack and fear. The key is to not react and find salvation from the mind's delusions. The truth lies in finding peace, letting go, forgiving, and living in the present moment.


Finding Peace in Awareness
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