Mystic Treatises
Mystic Treatises
continued
Chapter LXXIII
The Concise Sense Of The [Foregoing] Section Together With Explanations Of What Has Been Said The concise sense of the foregoing section is to communicate to us that at every moment 1) of the four and twenty hours of the day, we are in want of repentance. The explanation of the denotation of repentance, in its real practical sense, is continual mournful supplication in contrite prayer, offered to God for the forgiveness of previous sins; and petition to be guarded against future ones 2). Therefore our Lord also has sustained our weakness by prayer: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation 3). And: Pray, and do not faint 4). And: Watch ye therefore, and pray always 5). Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened 6). And he corroborates His word strongly and exhortates us strongly by the parable of the friend who went to his friend in the middle of the night and asked him for bread.,Verily, I say unto you, though ho will not rise and give him, because he is friend, yet be-
I) Introduction 2) Cf. Book of the Dove, p. 6 and note 3 3) Matthew 26, 4I 4) Cf. Luke IS,! S) Luke 2I; 3 6 6) Matthew 7, 7 sq. 338 cause of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth 1). And ye also: Pray and do not faint 2). Blessed is the unspeakable encouragement of the Giver, who exhorts us saying: Ask from me and I will give you gifts. 5 °3 And He will also provide you with all that is profitable, according to His knowledge. These words are full of encouragement and great confidence. And as our Lord knows that He does not take away liability of deviation before the cup of death [is drunk], and, this being so, that man is near to a change from excellency to deterioration, and nature susceptible of accidents - therefore He urges us to continual beseechings. For if there were in this world a place of security whereto a man could go and thenceforth his nature would be exempt from need and his service from fear - then He would not have exhorted us towards prayer nor would He have urged us diligently. In the world to be men will not offer prayers unto God, with beseechings concerning various things. For in that place of freedom our nature will no longer be susceptible of variation, nor bound by the fear of opposition, but perfect in every way.
Therefore His care not only drives us unto prayer and watchfulness, but even scourges us with the whip of temptations, in view of the subtlety and incomprehensibility of those things which continually happen to us and superate the power of our knowledge, things among which we are found continually and involuntarily. And even although our mind be firm and willed to the good, yet often His care scourges us with temptations, as the blessed Paul says: Lest I should be exalted through the abundance of the revelations, there was given me a thorn 504 in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that He might take from me temptation (namely that I might in freedom perform the work which He had ordered me). And He said unto me: My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness 3). Therefore 4), my Lord, if this is thy will, and our childish nature so much needs a master who rules and exhorts that even a man who is so fond of thy love as I am and so zea-
339 lous a follower of good that he does not see the world at all because of his drunkenness in thee, so that thou hast brought me so far as to see revelations and visions which a fl e shly tongue is not allowed to interpret, and to hear the sound of the service of the spiritual orders, so that I am deemed worthy of sight full of spiritual sanctities, that such a man as I with all this is not able to guard his own person, I who am a man perfect in Christ, - because there is still something which because of its subtleness resists the power of my knowledge -I that possess the mind of Christ - [if all this be so J then, my Lord, I rejoice at my illnesses, at troubles, reclusions, bonds, compulsions, on the part of nature or on the part of natural beings, or on the part of the fiend of nature. Joyfully, therefore, I will bear my illnesses, namely my temptations, which the power of Christ brings upon me. If, with all these, I still require the rod of temptations in order sos to augment thy influence upon me and that I may be guarded by thy presence, I known that there is none whom thou lovest better than me. And because thou hast made me greater than many others and hast not given to any of my fellow Apostles what thou hast given to me - namely to know the glorifications of thy powers;
and because thou hast called me an elect vessel and hast entrusted me with the guardianship of thy love; because of all these and that I know that the preaching of thy gospel has made excellent progress, while I am free from the bonds of temptations on account of all these things I know that thou wouldst have given men freedom, if this were profitable to me. But thou hast not wished that I should be without trouble and without care in this world; and thou werst not anxious to promote the preaching of thy gospel to the same degree as thou werst anxious that I should profit by my temptations, and my soul be kept healthy with thee. Therefore, o thou who art discriminating, if the gift of the temptations be so great that a man, even if he be as exalted and advanced in spiritual state as Paul's degree was, still requires fear and watchfulness and gathers profit by meeting temptations, who then can reach a place of security in the world of mortality full of robbers, and receive stability 1) (which
340 was not given to the holy angels, lest they should become perfect before us), thus receiving before all people, - spiritual and bodily ones - such,a gift that, according to his wish, he should be without varying states at all, without a temptation even approaching to his deliberations? The order of this world, according to the conception of aiJ so6 holy writings, is this, that even if we received a thousand blows every day, our mind would not become humble and we would desist from the course in the arena; but that on account of one small cause, we gain the victory possibly and win our crown. This world is an arena and a running place. And this time is a time of struggle. And the time and the place of the struggle are not subject to a law. This means: the King does not set a terminus to his warriors, till the struggle is ended and all the world is gathered within the gate of the king of kings and it is examined there who has been constant in the war and has not been defeated, and who has taken to flight.
How often will it happen that a man who was good for nothing and constantly beaten and thrown down because of his want of training, and who was always in a state of weakness, will snatch the banner from the hand of the valiant warriors and make his name famous above that of the doughty ones, the able and knowing battle-troops, and receive the crown and gifts which are honoured by all his fellows. Nobody, therefore, should give way to despondency. Only: he should not despise prayer, nor neglect to ask help from our Lord. And let us take this to heart, that, as long as we are in this world and dwelling in this body, even if we are lifted up unto the vault of heaven, it is not possible to be free from toil and injury and care. This is the sum of it all. Pardon me. What exceeds this is superfluous.
Chapter LXXIV
On The Discrimination Of Virtues And The Scope Of The Whole Course And The Greatness Of The Love Unto Mankind And The Spiritual Aim Which It Reaches In All The Saints Creating Within Them A Divine Likeness By The Rich Love Which He Pours Out Upon Mankind The scope of the whole course consists in these three: Repentance, purity and perfection. What is repentance? To desist from former [sins] and to suffer on account of them. And what is the sum of purity? A heart full of mercy unto the whole created nature. And what is perfection? Depth of humility, namely giving up all visible and invisible things. Visible things: all that which is sensible. In visible things: all thinking about them. Another time the same.Father was asked: What is repentance? He answered: A broken heart. And what is humility? He replied: Embracing a voluntary mortification · regarding all things. And what is a merciful heart? He replied:
The burning of the heart unto the whole creation, man, fowls and beasts, demons and whatever exists; so that by the recollection and the sight of them the eyes shed tears on account of the force of mercy which moves the heart by great compassion. Then the heart becomes weak 1) and it is not able to bear hearing or examining injury or any insignificant suffering of anything in the creation. And therefore even in behalf of the irrational beings and the enemies of truth and even in behalf of those who do harm to it, at all times he sos offers prayers with tears that they may be guarded and strengthened; even in behalf of the kinds of reptiles, on account of his great compassion which is poured out in his heart without measure, after the example of God. And what is prayer? He replied: The mind's being free from all that is earthly and the heart's turning its gaze completely towards the desire of future hope. Who deviates from this, is as one who sews in his furrow mixed seed and as one who ploughs with ox ar:.d ass together.
342 How is humility acquired? He replied: By constant. recollection of trespasses, by expectation of near death, by dressing meanly, by always choosing the lowest place and by always undertaking low and humble work, without compulsion, by constant silence, by disliking crowded meetings, by being unknown and disregarded, by choosing distincly one occupation, by hating- intercourse with other persons, by disliking profits. All his qualities are based upon these. And his mind must be exalted above vituperating and reproaching anyone and above zealotism. And his hand shall not be against all. Nor the hand of all with him. But he shall be a solitary, only occupying· himself with his own things, and lonely. And he shall not take upon himself the care of any one in the world except himself. In short: abiding abroad and poverty and lonely dwelling give birth to humility and purify the heart. As to those who have reached perfection, their token is, that if ten times every day they are delivered to burning for the sake of the love of mankind, they are not sog saturated with it. As also Moses said to God: If thou wilt not pardon the children of Israel, blot me out of thy book which thou hast written 1). And as also the blessed Paul said 2): I could desire to be removed afar from Christ 3), if thereby the children of Israel would come near to the faith of life.
And if it be thus that it is possible that they, for this reason, will believe in Christ and will come to life everlasting and will not be alienated from the living God. Then, as is written: I rejoice in my sufferings for you, o peoples 3). Even so the other Apostles have undergone all kinds of death, for the sake of the love of the life of mankind. The sum of all is God, the Lord of all, who from love of His creatures, has delivered His son to death on the cross. For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten son.for it 4). Not that He was not · able to save us in another way, but in this way it was possible to show us His abundant love abundantly, namely by bringing us near to Him by the death of His son. If He had anything more dear to Him, He would have given it us, in order that by it our race might be His. And out of His great love He did not even choose to urge our freedom by compulsion, though He was able to do so. But His aim was, that
I) Cf. Exodus 32, 32 2) The text has some words which give no sense here and are wanting in the Greek translation. 3) Cf. Col. r, 24 4) Cf. John 3, 16 343 we should come near to Him by the love of our mind. And our Lord obeyed His father out of love unto us, taking upon Him scorn and suffering joyfully, as Scripture says: 5 1 0 Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame 1). Therefore our Lord said in the night in which He was betrayed: This is my body which is given for the salvation of the world unto life. And this is my blood which is shed for all for the remission of sins 2). In behalf of them I offer myself. And so all the saiP.ts have reached this accomplishment when they became perfect, so that they resembled God in effusion of love and compassion for mankind. And they asked for themselves as a token of their resembling God, that they should be perfect in the love of their fellows. So did also the solitary Fathers, that they might bear in themselves constantly this likeness full of the life of Christ, the Lord of the Universe. The blessed Antonius thought that he never could do anything so useful to himself as that which was profitable to his neighbour, in the opinion that the profit of his neighbour was his excellent service. Analogous is a saying concerning the blessed Agathon:,I wished that I could find a leper, and give him my body and take his '. Doest thou see the perfect love? Even in outward things he could not bear to displease his neighbour rather than himself.
He possessed namely a knife, which a brother saw and liked it. And he did not allow him 5 1 1 to leave his cell till he had taken it. And when he possessed a thing and saw some one who wanted it, he did not lay any further claim to it. What do I mean by these things [which include] that many of them have given their bodies even to the beasts and the sword and the fire on behalf of their neighbours? It is not possible that a man should reach this degree of love, with the exception of that one who secretly perceives his faith. And it is not possible that those who love this world, should acquire the love of mankind. When a man has acquired love, he is clad with God at the same time. He that has put on God, never can be persuaded to acquire any other thing except Him, but he puts off his body even. And if he is clad with the world or with love of his life, these will not allow
I) Hebr. 1 21 2 2) Cf. Matth. 261 26, 28 344 him to put on God. For he is witness: he that does not forsake and hate all, even himself, cannot be my disciple 1). Not only that he should leave them, but that he should ever hate them. And if he cannot be a disciple, how can He dwell in him? T he in t e r r o g a to r. How is it that the service of hope is so delightful, and its labours so few and its work so easy to the soul? T he F at he r. This is because it excites the natural longing in the soul and gives them this cup to drink and makes them drunk..And from this moment they nevermore perceive fatigue but become apathetic against troubles. And during the whole of their course it is to them as if they were moving in the 5 1 2 air without bodily motion, without seeing anything of the difficulty of the road or the streams and hills that are before them; but the crooked becomes to them straight and rough places plain 2), because they always see the bosom of their Father; and all those things which are far and invisible it makes to them clear in themselves, so that they gaze at them mysteriously with the hidden eye of faith. For all the parts of the soul become hot as by fire, on account of the expectation of those things which, though far, become as near; for towards them is tended the whole direction of their deliberations;
and they hasten to know when they will reach. [their aim] and when they will approach unto every single virtue by practice. They do not practice them partly, but all of them together, at the same time. For they do not take their course along the king's way, as the generality of men, but choose short paths along which a few heroes move, who easily reach the Apartment. For hope warms them as with fire, and they cannot pause in their incessant course, on account of their joy. And to them happens as in the word of Jeremia: I said: I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones 3). Such is the recollection of God in the heart of those who move in the expectation of the promise. Short 5 x 3 paths I call the concise virtues, because in them there is no winding nor the long space of many ways of discipline leading from here to there, nor place nor time nor distraction. But they stand on the way and accomplish it at once.
345 T he in t e r r o g a to r. Wat is apathy? T he F at he r an s w e rs. Apathy is not [the state] that does not perceive the affections, but that which does not accept them, so that on account of the many virtues possessed, manifest and hidden ones, the affections have become weak and cannot easily assail the soul. Neither does the spirit want to look at them every time, because at all times its emotion is filled with meditation and intercourse with excellent thoughts, which move with insight in the mind. And when an affection is beginning to move, the spirit at once hastens away from it through some insight which it perceives in the mind, and the affection remains idle. As also the blessed Euagrius says: the mind which by the grace of God performs works of excellence and approaches unto knowledge, perceives little of the foolish part of the soul. For its knowledge drags it on high and alienates it to all things in the world; this happens also be· cause, on account of their: purity, their mind has become subtle and light and swift. Farther the mind is purifi e d by asceticism, because the body is desiccated, and also in consequence of the fulness of solitude and the long space of time passed in it. Therefore it swiftly alights on several things towards which 5 14 their contemplation draws them in ecstasy.
Therefore they are rich in contemplation, and are never in want of abundant insight in their spirit, apart from the fact, that the Spirit ripens its fruits in them. And in the course of time also the eye loses sight of the recollections that come from the heart and which stir the affections in the soul and are a principal power of Satan. But when the soul does not associate with the affections by meditating upon them - because it is continually occupied by other care - the power of their nails cannot take hold of the soul's spiritual senses. T he in t e r r o g a to r: What are the characteristics of humility? T he F at he r an s w e r s: As presumption dissipates the soul by phantastic distraction on account of the power inciting it to fly round the whole creation in the cloud of its deliberations, so humility is the power which concentrates the soul's being by the peace of its deliberations and the reclusion of the soul within its self. And as the soul is unknown and invisible to the fleshly eye, so the humble is unknown amongst mankind. And as the soul in the body is hidden from sight and from mingling with every man, so the truly humble not
346 only does not desire to be seen and known among mankind, because of his being hidden and recluded from all, but it is even his desire - if possible - to be shut off from his soul and to be within himself in total quiet and rest of his emotions and senses, as something that does not exist in the s • s creation and has not come into existence and is not at all, so that he does not even wish for himself to be known and perceived. And as long as he is hidden and shut off from the world, he is wholly with his Lord. The humble is never pleased to see crowds and gatherings of people, noise and rumour, nor riches and finery, nor the luxury which is a consequence of them, nor speech and in· tercourse, rumour and distraction of the senses. But above all he chooses concentration and reclusion with himself alone, to be quiet and shut off and lonely and left to himself in a solitary place void of all beings and separated from the whole creation. And in every respect smallness and limitation and want and poverty is beloved by him. And he is not occupied with many things and labours, but at all times he is satisfied and without care, without troublesome mingling with worldly things, so that his deliberations do not wander from his self, because he knows that if he alights upon many things it is not possible for him to remain without confused emotions.
For many practices cause many cares. And many cares are a gathering-point of varied thoughts and deliberations. Then he would have to give up his being exalted above the care of earthly things, in peace of deliberations - except for the small necessary things which are inevitable - with a spirit occupied with a single care, the emotions being in a state of peace. And then necessary things would not allow him to keep silent s•6 and so he would be injured and would cause injury. Thus there would be opened a gate for the affections and discriminating quiet would disappear, humility would flee; the gate of salvation would be shut. And because of all this, he continually keeps his soul away from the many things, and at all times thou findest him quiet and at rest and humble and peaceful. In the humble there is never violence nor terror nor confusion, nor hot nor quick emotions. But at all times he abides in rest. If heaven should fall on the earth, the humble would not be moved. Not every one who is quiet, is humble. But every one who
347 is humble is also quiet. There does not exist one who is humble without being submissive. Those who are submissive without being humble are found in large numbers. This is the meek and humble concerning whom our Lord has said: Learn of me, that I am meak and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls 1). The humble is content at all times, because there is nothing which moves his spirit. As it is not possible for a man to move a mountain, so the spirit of the humble is unmoved, if it is possible to say so. And perhaps it is not even foolish to say that even the humble does not belong to this world, because he is not destroyed nor moved by distresses: even [emotions] of joy cause ecstasy and effusion to him. But all his joy and true excultation is in the things of his Lord. Connected with humility are patience, a concentrated self 5'7- which is [real] humility - a low voice, little speech, selfcontempt, mean clothes, a modest gait, bashful looks, effusion of mercy, easily flowing tears, a lonely soul, a broken heart, the not being moved by anger, absence of distraction of the senses, moderate wishes, moderate wants in every respect, willingness to bear, patience, intrepidity, manliness of heart born from hatred of temporal life, endurance of temptations, few emotions which are not swift, extinguished deliberations, keeping of secrets, chastity, bashfulness, modesty, and above all: continual silence, continual having recourse to ignorance.
The humble is never approached by necessity which makes him confused. The humble, even when he is alone, is shameful for his soul. I wonder whether there exists a truly humble man, who ventures to pray to God when he approaches unto prayer, or who is worthy of this, or of asking Him anything, or who knows what he shall pray. But when all his emotions are quiet and he only hopes for mercy, [being uncertain] which order will be given concerning himself by the adorable Majesty; when his face is bent towards the earth and the inner gaze of the heart lifted up towards the door of the holy of holies of the Highest, the cloud of whose dwelling-place blinds the eyes of the Seraphs, and whose splendour terrifies the legions of their orders, when silence lies upon all their classes and r) Matthew r r, 29 348 5 1 8 they expect the rising of mysteries from the domain of invisible things, in an airless womb, with emotions without voice, with unbodily senses, with apperception without resemblance 1), without seeing the revelations which reach them, the vehemence of their emotions being too weak to endure the waves of His mysteries; then he does not venture to say anything, but: According to thy will, my Lord. These things so far I have endeavoured to write to thee in plain words, which the spirit could attain without scrutiny on account of their manifest sense; things by the reading of which alone the mind forgets the ways and the dealings of this world and its fleshly life, migrating then with the spirit unto its true and profitable world. [I have written this], asking thy love that, when thou comest in contact with these mysteries, thon shalt not leave them without profit, so that they should be found with thee to be dead sentences; lest it should happen to thee as it happened to those who were invited to the spiritual meal but excused themselves. Behold, the table is prepared, spiritual ideas are ranged upon it, and all delightful things are ready; and the bridegroom expects that we shall enter and rejoice with him. Let us, therefore, not excuse ourselves, lest there be said to us also the word that was said concerning them. What then? Verily, I say unto you, that none of those invited, shall eat from my meal.
Chapter LXXV
On Hidden States And The Powers And Influences Which Are In Them This may be taken for true by thee, that the practice of marvellous things, and the foreseeing of future things, and temptations, and rest from strife, and victory over every one of the affections, and the presence of every one of the virtues, and consolation, for a certain time, from grace, and purity of prayer, and warmth of spirit, and spiritual joy, and all the other things with which a man fatigues himself for a certain time, with a good intention and a mournful heart - that in I) The: in the text to be placed after �are';, 349 all these God will condescend to accomplish man's will at any time. And when He sees his intention and longing He grants him his wish and satisfies him. As to the mysteries which belong to the spirit, namely the emotions during spiritual prayer, and the entering of the mind behind the curtain of the holy of holies, and the apperception of the indestructible inheritance - if a man does not pay their duty, God is not willing to grant them, even if the whole creation should beseech in behalf of him. Their duty is purity of the soul. When a man has reached purity from the affections, what no eye has seen and no ear has heard and what has not entered into the heart of man to ask in prayer, is revealed to him by purity, which during no moment ceases from mysteries and spiritual visions. And what the force of 5 20 spring is wont to work unto the nature of the earth, this grace works unto the soul by purity. The power of spring makes even the smallest roots in the valleys bud, warming the earth as fire does the cauldron, so that it sends forth the treasures of the plants which God has laid in the earth's nature, to the gladness of the creation and to His glory. So grace makes manifest all the glory which God has hidden in the nature of the soul showing the soul this glory and making it glad because of its own beauty.
So that when it sees the great and unspeakable treasures which God has laid in it and which were hidden from it by the defiled mantle of affections and ignorance, but which now that it has torn asunder the garment of the affections, He has shown to it - it is captured on account of its gladness by His love and turns its back on earthly things. Moreover it does not remember the body which hid its own beauties from its sight. Then it sees heavenly beauties in itself as the exact mirror which by its great purity shows the beauty of faces. Holiness suits those who are holy. All excellence whatever and all service by which righteousness is accomplished, may be performed and acquired and accomplished without solitude; but apathy and purity cannot be acquired without solitude.
Chapter LXXVI
Short Sayings The blessed Paul teaches us saying: Put off the old man and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and holiness 1). He does not say: Put on the new man over the old man. For he knows that this is not possible. Look, how wisely he gives his order. He does not say: Put on the new man who is renewed by the knowledge of God, but he says, first put off this, and then put on the new. Also he says definitely in another place: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption 2). By incorruption he means the knowledge of the other world. By corruption and flesh and blood he designates the corruptible affections of soul and body, which have the place of their motion in the fleshly mind. Purity he calls the new man, and by the kingdom of God he means the exalted and intelligible contemplation of the blessed motions of the essential rays into which the saintly soul only is allowed to enter when its incorruptible emotions are lifted up above corruption and flesh and blood. 1£ 3) the apple of thy soul's eye has not been purifi e d, do not venture to look at the sun, lest thou be bereaved of thy usual visual power and thou be.
thrown into one of those intel-S22 ligible places which are Tartarus and a type of Hell, namely darkness without God, whither those who with the impulses of their mind leave nature, wander by the cognitive nature which they possess. Therefore he that ventured to go to the banquet in sordid garments, was ordered to be thrown out into that outer darkness. By the banquet is designated the sight of spiritual knowledge. The institutions in it are the manifold divine mysteries, full of joy and exultation and delight of the soul. The garment of the banquet he calls the mantle of purity; the sordid garments the emotions of the affections in the soul which are defiled, the outer darkness, the state with- of which the sight is light and the room is spiritual. As also in another place it is said: As the magnet-stone has the natural faculty to attract atoms of iron, so has spiritual knowledge [the faculty to attract] the pure heart. Though it has been handed down rightly by the true ones that no mind is absolutely steadfast against the allurements of the affections in this life, yet 1 say with confidence without being afraid of the truth of experience, that he who is clad with the garment of mourning in his mind, is not only invincible against the allurements of the affections, but a hero in the war against them and a victor, because ·they absolutely do not venture to show themselves with the intention of strife, nor do they even venture to appear from afar where there is a mourning soul which has made itself a wailing-place with various lamentations on account of its sins. As it has been said by the blessed Jacob: It makes its abode in the grave, till it meets the beloved Joseph. Where there is the bitterness of mourning, I do not believe that the above-mentioned pleasure of the affections is admitted. But I say that in watchfulness lies this service and confidence, exalted above fear. He that is constantly in a state of mourning because of his fear - as he does not know what the end of his course will be - IS more excellent than he that is con-5 24 stantly in the way of gladness, because he perceives the hope of his service. 0 thou whose town is vanquished by inward affections, put
352 on the armour of mourning and persecute them and save thy soul from their hands. For always invincible is this weapon and that of con fi d ence, and tried by the true ones.
Chapter LXXVII
This Chapter Is Full Of Life 0 thou wretched man, wishest thou to find life? Take faith and humility in order to find by them mercy and help and consolation from God, and protection secretly and openly. Desirest thou to acquire these, which are the fountain of life? Put on sincerity, from the beginning. In sincerity walk before God, and not in knowledge. Sincerity is combined with faith; subtlety and the reflections of knowledge, with presumptuous thoughts; presumptuous thoughts, with being removed from God. When thou liest before God in prayer, then be in thy consideration as a an ant and as the reptiles of the earth and as the beetle. And stammer as a villager and speak not before Him with knowledge. With a childlike mind approach unto God and walk before Him, that thou mayest be worthy of the paternal care which fathers entertain in behalf of their young children. 525 It has been said: The Lord guards the children. A child may approach a serpent and take it at its neck; and the animal will not bite. A child may go naked during the whole winter. And while others are clad and covered - yet the cold penetrates all their members - he sits down naked in the day of frost and ice, without suffering, because the body of their childhood is covered by a different, invisible garment, by that hidden care which guards the frail members of childhood, lest injury from any side approach them.
Doest thou now believe that there is a secret care in behalf of the tender body which is expecially liable to all kinds of injuries on account of its tenderness and the weakness of its joints, so that it is guarded from obnoxious influences so that they do not cause suffering? For the Lord guards the child. Thou must not only apply this and believe it in the case of children, but also in the case of those who, being wise in the world, leave their knowledge, and relying upon that wisdom which is 353 aB-sufficient become children by their own will. Then they learn wisdom, which is not to be learnt by labours of exercise. Also the blessed Apostle, who was wise in divine things, has beautifully said in an admonition: If any man seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise 1). But beseech God, that He may grant thee to reach the degree of faith. If thou perceivest the delight of faith in thy soul, it is not difficult for me to say that there is nothing further which withholds it from Christ. And it is not difficult sz6 for it to be always captivated and not to perceive earthly things but to forget this weak world and the recollection of its things. On behalf of this pray without dejection; and ask it with tears and beseech fervently; and supplicate with great earnestness, till thou hast received it. Further no fatigue will be necessary. Thou wilt be deemed worthy of this, if beforehand thou compellest thy soul to cast thy care on God, in faith, and so thou wilt change thy care for His care.
Then, when He sees that in utter serenity of spirit thou art willed to believe God in things which concern thee and that thou compellest thy soul to confi d e in God more than in thyself, that power with which thou art not acquainted, will take hold of thee, so that thou wilt be affected in an apperceptible way by the power which works in thee, no room being left for doubt. By this power which they perceived, many went into the fi r e without fear, and walked on water without thinking of the possibility that they could be drowned in it, because faith strengthened the senses of their soul so that it felt an inward conviction that resolution could not be weakened nor look on terrible things except with a gaze exalted bove the senses. Take care not to think at all, that spiritual knowledge can be received by psychic knowledge. It is not only that spiritual knowledge cannot be received by psychic knowledge, but it is even impossible that those who zealously try to acquire training in psychic knowledge should be deemed worthy to 527 perceive spiritual knowledge. And if any of them should desire
to approach unto spiritual knowledge, before having denied psychic knowledge and all its subtle orders and intricacies and before having reached childhood of spirit - it will not be I) I Cor. 3, I 8 354 possible for him to approach even a little way towards it. But its customs and perverted impulses become to him many hindrances, before he gradually forgets them. Spiritual knowledge is simple, not illuminated by psychic deliberations. Before the mind has been freed from manifold deliberations and has reached the unified simplicity of purity, it is not able to perceive spiritual things. This order of knowledge, consisting therein that man here already perceives the delight of the life of the world to be, rejects much deliberation. And psychic knowledge is not able, apart from the gatherings of many deliberations, to know anything which is received by serenity of spirit. And the word of our Lord is not denied: Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven 1). Indeed, many are those who do not reach this innocence; but on account of their beautiful works a portion is kept for them with our Lord in the kingdom of heaven, as can be recognized from the understanding of the blessings which He especially pronounced in His gospel. In these blessings He has touched a variety of ways of behaviour [from which it appears] that for every man who walks to Him, in whatever measure on whatever way, the gate of the kingdom of heaven is open. But the word 'Except ye be converted szs and become as little children ' means that here man perceives the delight of the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is said to be spiritual contemplation.
And this is not found by the labours of the deliberations, but it is tasted by grace. And before a man has become pure, he is not able even to hear. Because it is not acquired by learning. If thou reachest purity, my son, which is acquired through the faith of the heart and by reclusion from men, and thou forgettest. the knowledge of this world and doest not perceive it, then [spiritual contemplation] suddenly is found within thee, without inquiring after it. Erect a pillar and pour oil upon it 2), and thou wilt find thy treasure within thee. If, however, thou art entangled in the snares of psychic knowledge, I have no objection to say that it will be easier to thee to escape from iron bonds than from it. And thou wilt never be far from the snares of seduction, and thou wilt I) Matth, IS, 3 2) Cf. Gen. 28, 1 8
355 never be able to find and to have freedom of speech and confidence unto our Lord. And at all times thou wilt walk on the edge of the sword and thou wilt not be able absolutely to be without suffering 1). Take refuge with weakness and sincereness, that thou mayest live beautifully before God, and that thou mayest be without fear. For as the shadow follows the bodies, so does mercy follow humility. Therefore, if thou wishest to be connected with these, 5 2 9 do not give room any-how to weak deliberations. If all injuries and evils and dangers surround thee and make thee fear, do not care to look at them or to think of them. If once thou believest that God is able to guard and to govern thee, and if thou followest him, then do not further care for anything like these. But say to thyself: All-sufficient is He to whom thou hast once entrusted thyself. I am not near [to anything], but He knows it. Then thou wilt see indeed the wonders of God, namely how near His salvation always is to those who fear Him; and that His care surrounds them, though it is invisible. And though the guardian which is with thee is invisible to the bodily eyes, yet thou shalt not doubt his existence. Sometimes he reveals himself also to the bodily eyes, for the sake of thy confirmation.
But when man has thrown away all visible help and human hope and clings to God in faith and with a clear heart, then at once grace will cling to him and reveal in him its force by various [acts of] help. At first it shows its help in manifest things, also in bodily ones, by its care of him, in order that by these things he may the better be able to perceive the power which is in God's care of him, and that by insight in manifest things he may become confirmed in hidden ones, as is becoming to his childlike mind and his lack of training. How then? It is to be compared with this, for instance, that a man's want is prepared for him without labour, without his bestowing care on it. So grace causes him to escape many accidents 53 ° which often come near him and which are full of danger. And
while he has no anxiety before them because he does not perceive them, grace disposes of them in a very wonderful way, as also the other things which suddenly assail him, without his thinking how often injury to the soul and also to the r) Affection? 356 body may proceed from them. And it preserves him against them, as a nurse who gives him shade and spreads her wings over her sons, that no harm may approach unto them. And at the same time it causes him to perceive that which happened, showing him what threatened to destroy him, by the yees of the body, and the actual help of God, in a clearway; and the dissolution of his life which was near and from which God saved him. So [grace] instructs him, also in hidden things. And it reveals to him the ambushes of thoughts and of deliberations difficult to understand. So he will easily attain to their understanding and their mutual relation and seduction, which is related to which, and how one is born from the other and destroys the soul. And the whole ambush of the demons is laid open before ·him, and the cover of their deliberations, and what is related to every one of them. And [grace] provides him with insight, so that he understands what will happen. Then in his sincereness dawns a hidden light so that he perceives everything and the force of the emotions of subtle deliberations. It shows him as it were with its finger - if he did not know this - what is going to happen to him. And then this is born in him, that he asks from his governor, in prayer, all things small and great.
s3x And when grace, by all these things, · has confirmed his mind in confi d ence on God, then it begins to introduce him gradually into temptations. And it admits unto him those temptations the difficulty of which his degree is able to bear. And by such a temptation it adduces unto him its help in an apperceptible way, in order to strengthen his courage, till, gradually, he acquires training and wisdom and despises his enemies through confidence in God. For it is impossible for a man, without these, to become prudent in spiritual struggles and to recognize his governor and to perceive his God, and to become secretly confirmed in his hope, by the force which he has received personally through experience. And as often as [grace] sees that the deliberation of presumption begins to move somewhat in him, and that he begins to think great things of himself, it allows the temptations to become strong and powerful against him, so that he recognizes his weakness and fl.ees and seeks refuge with God in humility. By these things man reaches the degree of perfect man, through
357 faith and hope in the son of God to whom he is lifted up in love. For in a wonderful manner God's help unto man is recognized when he is surrounded by circumstances full of despair, and God shows there His power by delivering him from them. Never has man experienced the divine power in rest and comfort, and never has He shown His action in an apperceptible manner except in a lonely place or in the desert or in places not visited by men and free from the disturbance of their habitation. 5 32 Be not astonished if, when thou beginnest [to practice] excellence, severe troubles rise against these from all sides. For excellence is not to be deemed to involve that its practice is not combined with difficulty and labours. Excellence has received its denomination from this, says the holy Euagrius. Usually difficulties make front against this alertness, and excellence is to be rejected when it is combined with comfort, says the blessed Marcus, the solitary. All excellence whatever, is called the cross, because it accomplishes the order of the spirit. For all those who desire in the fear of God to live in Jesus Christ, are assailed by troubles. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. Whoever would save his life in comfort, loses it; and who gives up his life for my sake, finds it 1).
Therefore our Lord has placed before thee the cross, that thou mightest pronounce death on thy soul and thereupon cause it to follow Him. There is nothing so strong as despair. It does not know how it can be defeated by anything belonging to those of the right or to those of the left hand. When a man in his mind has given up his life, none is more courageous than he is, and there is no enemy who is able to meet him, and there is no trouble the fame of which can weaken his mind. For any trouble whatever is inferior to death, and he has resolved to take death upon himself. 53 3 If in every place and in every work and at all times concerning all things which thou art going to perform thou placest labour and pain as a:n example for the mind, thou wilt not only be found always courageous and undaunted to thwart all reputed difficulty, and by the vigour of the deliberations to put timidity to flight which usually rises therefrom that deli-
I) Matth. 161 24 358 berations look for comfort, but also all hard and difficult things which meet thee will seem to thee easy and light. How often thy will is thwarted by what thou expectest, though perhaps these things do not reach thee. For thou knowest that the expectation of comfort always withholds men from great profit and from excellent good, so that even those who live in the world with their fleshly dealings cannot accomplish their wish if they do not resolve in their 1 mind to bear difficulties. And because experience is witness to this, persuasion with words is not necessary. And in all preceding generations till now there is nothing which makes men despair of victories and checks them from exellent practice and which makes them -to say it in one word - despise to enter into the kingdom, as the expectation of the small comfort which is near. And not only this, but ma.n y times this aspect is the cause of severe accidents and hard temptations to every man whose mind is directed towards it and whose deliberations move unto it; 5 34 because his governor is the will of desire. Who does not know
that also the bird by the aspect of comfort draws near the snare? Perhaps our knowledge, as compared to that of a bird, is much inferior, concerning the hidden things and the accidents which are hidden in things and actions and places and various things. And also Satan, from the beginning, tries to ensnare us by promises and the prospect of comforts. Now that my mind is occupied with the subject of desire, by the words I have written, I have erred away from the scope which I had indicated above, viz. that at all times we must place the aspect of troubles before our mind, in all that we wish to begin in the path of our Lord, so that it reach its end duly. How many times, when a man wishes to begin some work for the Lord, he asks whether there is comfort in the thing, or whether it is possible to accomplish it easily, without labour, or whether there is any thing in it to trouble the body. Are not above and beneath names of comfort? What doest thou say, o man? Doest thou wish to ascend unto heaven and to receive the Kingdom which is there and communion with God and spiritual comforts and that blessedness and mingling with the angels, and immortal life? And doest thou ask whether there is trouble in this way? How astonishing are those who desire the things of this world and the riches which are to be destroyed and the dominion which will be dissolved. They
359 walk on the difficult waves of the sea; and they tread frightful ways; they bear a long course full of labours and troubles, 5 3 5 and other mournful things which men are wont to perform for the sake of their desire; and they do not deliberate at all whether there is labour in the matter or vexation in what they wish to do; whereas we always inquire after comforts. If we always in our mind take upon us the way of crucifixion and always comply with the crucifixion, what difficulty then should not be easier than it? Does there exist any one at all who is not acquainted with this, that no man has ever won a victory in battle and received a perishable crown, or has administered divine actions, or has succeeded in any of the glorious things of excellence, or has got the desire of his will even in things not laudable, without having undertaken first labours and troubles or without having pushed away alluring thoughts of comfort that gave birth to dejection and pusillanimity and caused relaxation in all things? But when the mind is zealous in behalf of excellence, the outward senses - smell,. touch, hearing, sight and taste - do not know what it means to be vanquished by the severe shocks caused by foreign influences lying outside the course and dominion of the power of nature. When anger influences a man] naturally, then bodily life appears more despicable than dung.
When however the heart is spiritually zealous, the body does not suffer by troubles, nor does it shrink from terrible things. But the mind faces all temptations being like diamond in its endurance. 5 36 Let us also be zealous with a spiritual zeal for the sake of the will of Jesus, then all dejection which causes relaxation in the mind will be driven away from us. For zeal causes courage and firmness of soul and soundness of body. What power is there in the demons when the soul moves its zeal against them with natural vigour? Resolution too is said to be the offspring of zeal. And all immoveable vigour which is born in the soul when it sets its powers to work, is implanted in it by zeal. Also the crowns of confessorship which the victorious martyrs receive on account of their endurance are born by this twofold influence of zeal and resolution which have their origin in the power of natural anger, [and thus the martyrs] become apathetic against the vehement suffering in vexations.
Chapter LXXVIII
On The Profit [Arising] From The Flight From The World The Method Of Which Has Been Thought Out By The Fathers Through Prudent Examination Strong indeed and difficult and very hard is the struggle which arises when things are near. And though a man may be excellent and vigorous, when things causing battles and strife are near, fear clings to him. Then he falls easier than when Satan personally meets him in battle. For when a man 537 is not far from those things which the heart is afraid of, the fiend has constantly the opportunity [to assail him]. And if it happens that he sleeps a while, the fiend can easily destroy him. For there the body is in danger of being injured, at any rate it has to be kept afar from sin. But here it is the soul that receives an invisible blow and it cannot fatigue the fiend so that he gives up fighting against it. For these things are of themselves able to move against it the disturbance of struggle at any time. And willingly it lets itself be captivated by them, without any one arousing strife against it from without. But the soul is in strife with itself through the allurements of those things which are arranged before the senses of the body, as has been said somewhere; for as soon as the soul is captivated by the injurious meetings with the world, these meetings become stumbling-blocks to it; or, as has also been said: The soul is naturally vanquished, when it meets those things.
Therefore, because the ancient saints who have walked in these ways knew that the mind is not always healthy so as to be able to remain in one attitude, without deviation, and vigilant, because there is a time that the soul becomes enveloped in darkness without being able to look at those things which cause injury - they have examined prudently and [resolved to] put on renunciation, as a weapon. For it frees from:many struggles, as has been written. For some have escaped from sins, through their poverty and have migrated towards the desert where there is nothing to cause affections, 361 so that, when a time comes when they are weak, nothing is found to give occasion to fall. 538 I say: anger and desire and rancour and glory and the like are slight, because of the desert, and by it [those solitaries] were protected as by an invincible tower. Then every one of them was able to accomplish his strife in solitude, there where the senses found no support so as to become fiends by injurious meetings. Better for us is death in our struggle, than life with falling.
Chapter LXXIX
How The Hidden Impulses Vary Along With The Variation Of Outward Behaviour As long as a man clings to renunciation [the thought of] departure from this life is continually alive in his mind. And every hour he meditates on the life after resurrection, contriving to prepare what is necessary for that state. And a contempt for all honour and comfort of the body is sown in his mind, and the thought of the baseness of the world moves in him at all times. And he is courageous and always possesses the heart of a hero in all fear and danger threatening death. For he is not afraid even of death, because he perpetually looks at it very near from a short distance and expects it. And his care is cast on God, with full, undoubting confidence. And when troubles oppose him, he, as a man that knows assuredly that they will prepare crowns for him, bears them with perfect joy, while his soul rejoices and exults when receiving 539 them. For he knows that it is God who sends them, because of the profits of things which remain unknown, in the hidden acts of providence. But when it happens that on account of some cause some transitory thing falls to his lot by the action of him that cunningly devises all evils, at once love of the body begins to stir in his soul and he thinks of a long life and deliberations connected with bodily comfort germinate in him every moment. But, if possible, he witholds his body from being hurt by anything. And he contrives all things which can be utilized for the comfort of the body, and becomes wanting in that freedom which is not subject to any deliberation of fear, and consequently bestows his care and deliberation on
362 all these things, namely the emotions that cause fear and the things -that produce terror. For the courage of the heart has been taken away from him, which he possessed in his soul while he was exalted above the world by his renunciation. And now that he has become an inheritor of the world, in accordance with the quantity of his possession he also has received fear for the law and the provision allotted to him by God. For the side to the service of which we prepare our members, is that to which we become servants with a submission involving total fear, according to the word of the Apostle 1). Anterior to all afflictions is self-love. Anterior to all virtues is that a man despise comforts. He that feeds his body with comforts, is troubled in the place of peace. He that indulges in luxury in his youth, will become a slave and sigh at the end. s4o As it is impossible that he, whose head is bound within the dark 2) bosom of the water, should smell the subtle air which is poured out into this empty bosom, so it is not possible that he whose mind is immersed in earthly care, should perceive with the smell of his soul the clear air of the new world. As the smell of a deadly poison disturbs the constitution of the body, so does pernicions sight disturb the peace of the mind.
As it is not possible that health and illness should be in one body without one being destroyed by the other, so it is not possible that money and love be in one house without one destroying the other. As it is not possible that glass remains whole in the neighbourhood of stone, so it is not possible that a saint should continually seek the sight of or discourse with a woman and that his purity should remain immaculate. As trees are eradicated by the perpetual blows 3) of violent waters, so is the love of the world [eradicated] from the heart by the violence of temptations assailing the body. As 4) solvent drugs purify the body from bad humours, so does the force of troubles purify the heart from affections. As it is not possible that a dead man should perceive the things of life, so the soul of a solitary, who is buried in solitude as in a grave, is exempt from the storm which usually blows on account of the apperception of things which pass among men. As it is not possible for him that spares his adversary in the field of 54' battle to avoid blows, so it is not possible that a champion
I) Cf. Rom. 8, 1 5 z) litt.: thick 4) Introduction 363 should spare his body and that his soul should be saved from destruction. As childhood, when terrified by frightful sights runs to seek refuge at the skirts of its parents, so the soul, when troubled by the terror of temptations, hastens towards God to seek shelter in perpetual beseechings. And as temptations assail, to the same extent it multiplies its beseechings. But when it has free-space, it expands itself in distraction. As those who are handed over to the judges in order to be scourged on account of their evils, become humble and immediately confess their faults, when they come suddenly before the scourges, so that their punishment is lessened and they are soon delivered through the agency of small troubles, but others of them are foolish and obstinate and their scourging is augmented and at last, after much scourging, with lacerated backs, they confess against their will, without gaining any profit; so when we are handed over from divine mercy unto justice, for the faults to which we have become accustomed without returning to the [good] direction, and the Judge of the world orders us to stretch ourselves before the rod ot temptations, lest our scourging in the world to be, become heavy; if, as soon as the rod of the Judge approaches us, we humble ourselves and recollect our forfeits and confess before the avenger, we shall soon be saved by small temptations;
but if we become obstinate in troubles, and confess not that we were the cause of them ourselves and that we have de-5 42 served even more than these, and if we vituperate men and sometimes demons and sometimes even God's justice and assume the attitude of victors though we do not think and say that our works are like theirs, and if we do not think of the fact that God knows and recognizes us better than we do ourselves, and that the judgment of the Lord is over the whole. earth and that no man is chastised without His orders, then our distresses assail us as they come, and our trouble becomes violent, and they hand us over the one to its fellow as in a chain, till we know ourselves and become humble and perceive our sins; for without apperception it is not possible for us even to come to [good] direction; then at last when we have suffered many troubles, we confess our sins in a confession without profit and without gathering from it any consolation. And also this that a man perceives his sins, is a gift which is allotted by God to the mind, when He sees that one
364 has been fatigued by various temptations, lest he depat"t this world under all these distresses and troubles, without profit; and [also this is a gift: to perceive] that we have not lacked insight on account of obstinacy, but on account of ignorance. Some depart this world under these circumstances, without confessing that they are guilty, but litigating and vituperating. God, however, who is compassionate, looks to whether they humble themselves, that He ma,y forgive them and give them expansion. Not only that He will put an end to their temptation, but He will even forgive their sins at a faint confession of their heart. As a man who offers a large offering to the king and tries 5 4 3 to make his face benignant, so he that sheds tears in prayer before God, the king of all the worlds, makes to pass away all the degrees of his sins, and is even granted to see His · face benignant. As the lamb that leaves the pen, and in its error comes before the den of the wolves, so is the solitary who separates himself from the communion of his fellows un· der the pretext of lonely dwelling, and constantly visits spectacles and the distraction of the town.· As a man who bears on his shoulder a pearl of great price and goes on an ill-famed way so that he is in perpetual fear of being robbed, so is he that bears the pearl of chastity and walks in the world the way of the enemies.
Before he enters the chamber of the grave, which is the place of confi-. dence, it is not to be expected that it will escape robbers and pluderers. Perhaps he that is not afraid, is able [to go that way]; even this man does not know either, on which spot or from where or at which moment he will suddenly be assailed and robbed of his hope. Some are robbed at the gate of their house, namely in old age. As a man who drinks wine at the time of mourning and gets drunk and forgets all the suffering of his sorrow, so is he that, having got drunk by the love of God in this world which is a place of wailing, forgets his sorrow and all his distress and, through his drunkenness, becomes apathetic against all the affections of sin. Whose heart is supported by hope in God, his soul is a swift beast of wings. He whose spirit is at all times exalted above the earth and who flies above the sky with the thoughts 544 of his deliberations, and is in continual prayer, is as a man
365 who has the wind as his driving animal, so that his enemy cannot reach him. Every time the latter seeks to join him, he flies away from him. As a man who has an advocate in the court of justice, so is he that is compassionate to the troubled ones. As a man who is amidst dangerous storms on the ocean and casts his utensils from the ship, so is he that despises the hindrances on his godly way in this world which is an ocean ready to suffocate him. Hindrances will not fail. What doest thou in a house which is not thine? The sight of a corpse ought to be for thee an instruction coneerning thy departure from here. Why doest thou multiply bonds to thyself? Gain thy life before thy light grow dim and thou seek help without finding it. This life has been given thee for repentance; do not spend it with various things. The cross is the gate of mysteries; here takes place the entrance of the mind unto the knowledge of the heavenly mysteries. The knowledge of the cross is hidden within the sufferings of the cross. And in accordance with communion with them is the apperception of the cross, according to the word of the Apostle 1). The greater place the suffering of Christ takes in us, the greater becomes our consolation in Christ. Consolation means contemplation, which is psychic sight. Sight gives birth to consolation. It is not possible. that our soul produce spiritual fruits, except when our heart is dead to the world. For the Father quickens the soul that has died the death of Christ, in contemplation of all the worlds. Another observation. If thou diest not to the world, the 5 4 5 spiritual Adam will not be quickened in thee. When a man,
by being offered spiritually, dies to all dealings of this dwellingplace, and trusts his life to the life after the resurrection, Grace will dwell with him. And his behaviour is spiritually strengthened. And when he hates the world, he perceives the behaviour of the new man who is exalted above the fi l th of human habitation and is deemed worthy of divine revelations. It is not possible for us to be dead to the world in the world, as long as our mind desires comforts, and the world, by its affairs, is placed before our senses and by apperception I) Cf. Philipp. 41 I o 366 renews recollection and incites the body unto seeking what it wishes, by close contact with [worldly] things, by sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. The soul's being dead to the world is the heart's being free from the thought of its recollections and the soul's being void of the deliberations concerning [worldly] things and the will being cut off from the love of thinking upon them. For it is not possible that our heart be in peace exalted a.bove disturbance and in serenity of love lifted up above the world, when there are poured out into it recollections that renew through meetings with things by the senses, their receptacles. The mortification of the soul to the world cannot be acquired, if not the body be also beyond apperception and sight of things.