Overview of the Spiritual Struggle - Saint John Cassian the Roman

 THE GOAL AND PURPOSE OF THE FIGHT OF SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE

All sciences and arts have a goal and purpose. Fixing their gaze on them, a zealous lover of art gladly endures all the efforts and needs. Thus, a farmer, enduring now heat, now cold, tirelessly cultivates the land, having the goal of clearing it of weeds and making it more fertile. He is convinced that otherwise he cannot achieve an abundant harvest in order to support himself and multiply his wealth. So too, our feat of spiritual struggle has a goal and purpose for the sake of which we tirelessly and contentedly endure all the labors, for which the scarcity of ascetic food does not burden us, for which we rejoice in exhaustion from vigil. For the sake of this daily purpose of ours, the reading of the Holy Scripture with reflection knows no satiety, for which we are not afraid of constant labor and work, nor of renunciation of everything and scarcity in everything, nor of the horrors of the boundless desert.

The purpose of our life in the feat of spiritual struggle is the Kingdom of God, and the goal is purity of heart without which it is not possible to achieve this purpose. By fixing our gaze on this goal, we should most accurately direct our life as if on a straight line. And, if our thought deviates in the slightest from the goal, we should, as if by some rule, immediately correct it by returning to its consideration.

The apostle Paul teaches this when he says to those who have accepted the gentle yoke of Christ: You have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life (Rom. 6:22).
He thus seems to say, your goal is purity of heart, and your purpose eternal life. Therefore, we should hold on with all our strength to that which can direct us to that goal, that is, purity of heart, and avoid that which distracts us from it as destructive and harmful. For we do and endure everything for its sake. Thus, in order to preserve a constant purity of heart, we leave behind parents, homeland, ranks, wealth, comforts, and all the pleasures of this world. If we always have this goal in mind, all our actions and thoughts will be directed towards its attainment. But if the goal is not constantly before our eyes, all our labors and efforts will be wasted, since they were not directed only towards it.
Therefore, for the sake of purity of heart, we should desire and do everything. For its sake we should go to the desert, to observe fasting, vigils, labor, physical poverty, reading and other virtues. By doing this we should make our heart free from all destructive passions and keep it so. For the sake of this main goal, namely purity of heart, we should practice fasting, vigils, solitude, teaching in the Holy Scriptures. For their sake we must not allow ourselves to violate this main virtue. For, if this main virtue is preserved intact in us, there will be no harm if some of the aforementioned feats are omitted in a particular case out of necessity. But we will not benefit at all if we maintain all of them, but purity of heart alone is violated. Therefore, we should do everything for its sake. Virtues are not perfection but means to achieve perfection. Therefore, he who stops the aspiration of his heart on them, being satisfied with them as the highest good, will labor in vain, since they will not lead him to the achievement of the purpose for which they are desired.

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS GOAL, IT IS NECESSARY TO DETERMINE THE TYPE OF OUR RENUNCIATION FROM THE WORLD

There are three kinds of renunciation of the world. The first, in which we physically leave behind all the riches and acquisitions of the world; the second, in which we leave behind former habits, vices, and passions of the soul and body; and the third, in which, withdrawing the mind from all that is present and visible, we look only to the future and long for what is invisible. The Lord told Abraham to make all three renunciations at the same time: Go out from your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house (Genesis 12:1).

From our country , that is, from worldly wealth and earthly acquisitions; from our lineage , that is, from our former way of life, former habits and vices, which are very similar to us as if they were of the same blood with us, adhering to us from the very birth; from our father's house , that is, from every memory of the world and everything that meets our gaze in it. This is achieved when, having died with Christ to the elements of the world, according to the apostle Paul, we look not at what is seen, but at what is unseen, because what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor 4:18); when, having left this temporary and visible house with our hearts, we turn our eyes and mind towards the house in which we will dwell eternally; when, living in the flesh, we do not wage war in the flesh in the Lord (2 Cor 10:3), proclaiming by our deeds and lives that saying of the apostle Paul: Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20).
We will not benefit much if, with all the fervor of faith, having made the first renunciation, we do not also make the second with the same zeal, and having succeeded in acquiring it, we achieve the third in which, when we leave the house of our former father according to the old man, we will completely direct the gaze of our mind towards heaven. Therefore, if we want to achieve true perfection, we should strive, since we have left: physical parents, homeland, riches and worldly pleasures, to leave everything we have left in our hearts, and never return with lust to what we have rejected with contempt. Otherwise, we will be like the Israelites who, after leaving Egypt and tasting the heavenly manna, desired the unclean and sinful food of Egypt, saying: It was good for us in Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat (Ex 16:3; Num 11:5).
And anyone who, after renouncing the world, returns to his former cares or desires, says in deed and thought the same as they: "It was good for us in Egypt, that is, in the world." It will not benefit us if we leave the world only in body or if the move from this world is only in place. In the same way, we need to acquire renunciation of the heart, which is much greater and more beneficial. Here is what the apostle Paul declared about the renunciation that we have called bodily: And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing (1 Cor 13:3). This means that it will not benefit me to renounce everything and burn the outer man, nor to be martyred and burn my body, which I give up for Christ, if I am: impatient, angry, envious, proud, if I get angry because of the insults of others, or seek my own, if I think about what is evil, or if I do not patiently and reluctantly bear everything that happens to me. Because, at the same time, the inner man is still covered with former passions.
Therefore, with all perseverance we should hasten to remove from ourselves and cast off from our inner man all that it has accumulated in the previous life, that is, the wealth of passions which, growing with the body and soul, are in the true sense ours. And if, while we are still in this body, they are not cut off and cast off, they will not cease to accompany us even after leaving the body. Just as virtues (or love itself, which is the source of virtue) acquired in this life make their lover beautiful and luminous at the end of this life, so also vices, having covered the soul with disgusting colors, do not depart from it soiled in the next life. The beauty or ugliness of the soul is born from the quality of virtue or vice. Some of these colors, which are obtained from them, make it either so bright and beautiful that it is worthy to hear the prophetic word: And the king will desire your beauty (Ps 45:11), or completely black, impure and impersonal, so that it can itself, confessing its torments, say: My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness  (Ps 38:6). Therefore, those virtues and passions are our personal wealth that resides inseparably with the soul, and which neither the king can give us nor the enemy take away from us. They are precisely our wealth, which even death itself is not strong enough to tear away from the soul. To spend the evil wealth of passions means to mortify them, which is impossible to achieve without a struggle with them. Therefore, those who have renounced the world inevitably face a struggle with passions. They should embrace them from the beginning. 

THE BATTLE OF THE BODY AGAINST THE SPIRIT

There is a struggle in our members, as we read in the apostle Paul: For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other, so that you do not want to do what you do not want to do (Gal 5:17).

According to God's plan, this struggle seems to have grown into our very nature. And can we not consider it a natural feature of the human system after the fall of Adam, since it is common to all without exception? However, it is necessary to believe that, if it is already natural to everyone, it is in us by the will of God and for our good, and not for evil. It was left in us in order to awaken zeal for higher perfection.
The word flesh in this place should be understood in the sense of the carnal will or evil desires, and not in the sense of man as a being. Likewise, the word Spirit should not be understood as a personal being, but as the good and holy desires of the soul. This is the sense defined by the apostle Paul, saying: Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit (Gal 5:16-17). Since both desires are in one and the same man, there is a constant struggle within us. While the lust of the flesh, tending mainly to the sinful, finds satisfaction in what concerns the provision of the necessities of this present life, the spirit, on the contrary, desires to cling entirely to spiritual works, neglecting even the most necessary bodily needs and not paying the slightest attention to the corruptible body. The flesh delights in abundance and pleasures of every kind, while the spirit is not pleased even with the care of the objects of natural needs. The flesh desires to be satisfied with sleep and to be full of food, while the spirit is fed by vigilance and fasting to such an extent that it would not want to allow itself even as much sleep and food as is necessary for life. The flesh desires to abound in riches of every kind, while the spirit is not satisfied even with a small amount of bread for daily use. The flesh desires to be pampered and to be surrounded by a crowd of flatterers, while the spirit finds comfort in a strict life and the vastness of a difficult-to-access desert, where the presence of mortals is not pleasant to it. The flesh is carried away by the honors and praise of men, while the spirit finds pleasure in persecutions and insults.
Guided by self-love and worldly wisdom, our will imagines that it can achieve a middle ground (otherwise, worthy of all condemnation) between these two endeavors, with the intention of abstaining from bodily passions so as not to suffer at all the troubles that are inevitable in fulfilling the demands of the spirit. It would like to achieve bodily purity without punishing the body, to acquire purity of heart without the effort of vigilance, to abound in spiritual virtues despite bodily tranquility, to obtain the grace of suffering without fierce slander, to show the humility of Christ without losing worldly honor, to follow the simplicity of piety with the vanity of this world, to serve Christ with human glory and approval, to boldly speak justice without encountering even the slightest sorrow. In general, it would like to achieve future treasures without losing present ones. Such a will does not lead to true perfection, but by establishing a state of undesirable warmth, it makes people worthy of the rebuke that the Lord mentions in the Revelation: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot! But because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of  my mouth (Rev. 3:15-16).

When grace comes, the energy of the spirit awakens and higher aspirations are established in man that turn him away from everything earthly. Exposing itself to their influence, the will can no longer remain indifferent and lukewarm, and it gains zeal for the better and sacrifices everything lower to it. Nevertheless, the inclination to the former tranquility of indifference remains in it, and it is very inclined to return to it again. To prevent this from happening, movements remain in the body that are hostile to higher aspirations, to which the will that has tasted higher treasures cannot be inclined, and as soon as it senses them, all zeal immediately awakens in it and it courageously guards its higher treasures. However, it happens that the will falls into a lukewarmness that is contrary to God, as a result of which the struggle of the body rises and stimulates the lukewarmness to action. From this it is evident that we would remain forever in the state of the aforementioned lukewarmness that is contrary to God if the struggle that arises within us did not lead us out of it. For when, in the midst of it, we, enslaved to self-indulgence, desire to make ourselves some relief, the body immediately rises up, and, wounding us with the stings of sinful movements and passions, does not allow us to remain in the comforting and desired purity, and leads us to a cooling and unwanted pleasure, that is, as if it drags us onto a path strewn with thorns. However, this awakens the dormant zeal for God, and it rises up and pursues those enemies who have approached. Working daily in us, this struggle leads us to a beneficial resolution to, having rejected a broad and carefree life, with great effort and contrition of spirit, acquire purity of heart, to preserve purity of body with strict fasting, hunger, thirst and sleeplessness, to enter into a good constitution of spirit through reading, reflection and constant prayer.
Moreover, something mysterious is expressed in God's decision concerning the nations hostile to Israel, as we read in the Book of Judges: And these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, that they might learn war (Judges 3:1-2). The Lord organized such a war, not because He did not want peace for Israel or because He did not care for its welfare, but because He saw that it was very useful for it. Exposing itself to the almost constant attack of these nations, Israel could not help feeling a constant need for God's help. For this reason, it was obliged to remain in constant recourse to Him, in hope and prayer. Not having the possibility of abandoning the work of war, it had no time to give itself up to carelessness or to weaken from laziness and idleness. For peace and happiness often overthrow him whom misfortune could not overcome.
Why do we find a sleeping soul in eunuchs in the body? It is precisely because of the delusion that, having been freed from this bodily need, they do not need the effort of physical restraint and contrition of heart. Those who are broken by such carelessness do not worry about acquiring true perfection, or about purifying their hearts from spiritual passions. Such a state, although it rises above the physical, nevertheless remains only spiritual. According to the Lord himself, it is worthy of rejection because, having passed from cold to lukewarm, it has stopped at an undesirable heat.
Therefore, at the very beginning of renunciation, when we cease to be carnal, that is, when we begin to separate ourselves from the customs of the world and abstain from obvious bodily impurity, let us hasten to immediately adopt a spiritual state with all our strength, lest we begin to imagine that, simply by renouncing the world according to the external man, or by cutting short the defilement of carnal fornication, we have already attained perfection, and that we become lazy and careless in removing the causes of passion. Otherwise, it will happen that we will stop midway between the body and the spirit and will not attain the degree of spiritual perfection, thinking that for it it is enough to separate ourselves in an external way from worldly life and pleasures, and to simply be far from debauchery and carnal ties. For if we remain in this state of lukewarmness or indifference, which is considered the worst, we will be vomited out of the mouth of the Lord, as He says:  But because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of  My mouth  (Rev 3:16).

The Lord justly declared that those whom He received into the bosom of love, and who proved to be cold, would be turned back with a certain disgust. For it is easier for a carnal man, that is, a worldly man or one who does not know God, to be converted to salvation and to ascend to the summit of spiritual perfection, than for one who has accepted the yoke of Christ, but has not entered upon the path of perfection, but has allowed the first fire of spiritual zeal to grow cold. For the former, being humiliated by sensual passions and becoming conscious of his impurity through bodily defilement, will come to contrition and have recourse to the Eastman of all purity and perfection, and will hate the cold state of unbelief and carelessness in which he was. Burning with spirit, he will ascend more easily to perfection. On the contrary, he who coldly accepts the works of the Lord and without humility and due diligence enters upon the path of this calling, once defeated by this miserable infection, can no longer make himself wise for the better, nor receive reasonable instruction from others. For he says in his heart, according to the word of the Lord: I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing , although what follows is more fitting to him: And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Rev. 3:17). In this way, he becomes worse than a worldly man, for he loses the consciousness of being wretched, blind, and naked, that he needs correction in many things, that he has great need of instruction and reasoning from others. As a result, he does not accept a single saving word, not realizing that in the future life he will inevitably be subjected to severe judgment and punishment.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PASSIONS AND THE STRUGGLE WITH THEM

There are eight main passions: gluttony or overeating, fornication, avarice, anger, sorrow, despondency, vanity, and pride.
We divide them into two types: natural, which are born from natural needs, such as gluttony and fornication, and unnatural, which have no root in nature, such as avarice. Their actions are expressed in four ways: some act only in the body and through the body, such as gluttony and fornication, and some are expressed without the participation of the body, such as vanity and pride; then, some are awakened from without, such as avarice and anger, and some arise from internal causes, such as despondency and sorrow. Such an expression of the action of passions gives us reason to allow for two more genera in them, dividing them into bodily and mental. The bodily are born in the body and nourish and delight the body, while the mental arise from mental inclinations and nourish the soul, while they often have a destructive effect on the body. Mental illnesses are treated by simple internal treatment of the heart, while physical illnesses are treated by dual remedies: both external and internal.
We will clarify some of what has been said with a more extensive discussion.

Having their origin in the body, the passions of gluttony and fornication sometimes arise without the participation of the soul, only because of the excitement of the needs from which they arise. However, they also attract the soul because of its union with the body. In order to tame their onslaught, it is not enough to strain the soul alone, but it is necessary to tame the body also by fasting, vigil, exhaustion through labor, and to resort to temporary solitude, and often even complete solitude. They arise from the depravity of the soul and the body, and can be overcome only by their mutual labor. Vanity and pride are born in the soul without the mediation of the body. For what need has vanity for anything bodily when it leads the soul to its downfall solely because of the desire for praise and glory? Or, what bodily action had a share in Lucifer's fall into pride. He conceived it only in the soul and thought, as the prophet says: And you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will make myself like the Most High (Is 14:13-14). He had no movement or cause from without for such pride. It was born and fully matured within him.
Therefore, these eight passions have different origins and different effects. However, the first six, namely, the indulgence of the stomach, fornication, avarice, anger, sorrow, and despondency, are united to each other by some special relationship, that is, the excess of one leads to the next. For from the excess of the indulgence of the stomach, lust necessarily arises, from fornication, avarice arises, from avarice, anger, sorrow, and despondency. Therefore, they should be fought against in the same order, moving in the fight with them from the previous to the following. To conquer despondency, we must first overcome sorrow; to banish sorrow, we must first overcome anger; to extinguish anger, we must hate avarice; to eliminate avarice, we must tame lust; To overcome lust, we must tame the passion for the pleasure of the stomach. The remaining two passions, namely vanity and pride, are united in the same way, and the intensification of the first becomes the beginning of the second. From excessive vanity comes the passion for pride. Victory over them is achieved in the same order, because in order to eradicate pride, it is necessary to overcome vanity. However, they are not united in kind with the previous six. They are not born from them, but on the contrary, after their removal. We fall into these two passions especially after victory and triumph over the other passions. Moreover, although they are in the aforementioned mutual relationship, these eight passions are more often divided into four alliances: lustful lust is united by a special alliance with the pleasure of the stomach, anger with avarice, despondency with sadness, and pride with vanity.
None of the passions is expressed in just one way. Thus, the indulgence of the stomach is expressed in three ways: either it gives rise to a desire to eat before a certain time, or it demands food to the point of overeating without distinguishing the quality of the food, or it demands delicious food. This is why we have irregular eating, gluttony, and love of sweets. From these three passions arise various evil impulses in the soul. Thus, from the first arises murmuring against the monastic constitution, from which dissatisfaction with monastic life grows to an unbearable level, which is usually quickly followed by flight from the monastery; from the second awakens lust and sensuality; and the third leads to avarice and makes no room for the poverty of Christ.
There are three forms of lustful passion: the first is carried out through the mixing of one sex with the other; the second arises without mixing with a woman, for which the Lord defeated Onan, the son of the patriarch Judah (Genesis 38:9-10), and which is called impurity in Scripture; The third is done with the mind and heart, and the Lord speaks of it in the Gospel: " Everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Mt 5:28). The apostle Paul pointed to these three forms in the verse: "Therefore, put to death your earthly members: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry"  (Col 3:5).

There are also three forms of avarice: first, it does not allow one who has renounced the world to be free from all kinds of possessions; second, it encourages one who has already given everything to the poor to acquire the same kind of possessions again; third, it inflames the desire to acquire in one who previously had nothing.
There are three forms of anger: the first is that which burns within; the second is that which is expressed in word and deed; the third is that which smolders for a long time and is called resentment.
Sorrow has two forms: the first occurs after the cessation of anger, or appears in the event of damage and loss and unfulfilled desire; the second arises from fears and apprehensions about one's lot, or from unreasonable worries.
There are also two forms of despondency: one throws one into sleep, and the other drives one out of the room.
Vanity has various faces, but two main forms can be distinguished: in the first we are too exalted by bodily privileges and visible things; in the second we are inflamed by the desire for vain glory for spiritual goods.
And pride is of two kinds: the first is bodily, and the second is spiritual, which is more harmful. It especially tempts those who have advanced in some virtues.
These eight passions tempt the whole human race, although they do not attack all in the same way. For in one the spirit of fornication occupies the chief place, in another anger prevails; in one vanity reigns, and in another pride rules. Accordingly, although all passions attack all, each of us is enslaved to them in a different way and in a different order.
Therefore we must wage a struggle against these passions. Having discovered which passion is particularly harmful to him, each one should direct his main struggle against it, using every care and concern to monitor and overcome it, directing against it the spears of daily fasting, throwing at it every moment the arrows of groaning and sighing from the heart, and constantly shedding tears in prayer to God for the shortening of the struggle that troubles him. For no one can conquer any passion until he is convinced that he cannot win victory over it by his own care and effort, although, in order to purify himself from it, he himself is obliged to constantly be in every effort and every care.
When such a fighter feels that he has freed himself from his main passion, he should examine with full attention the secret places of his heart, so that, having seen which of the remaining passions is the strongest, he may raise all spiritual weapons against it. Having thus won victory over the main passion in himself, he will more quickly and more easily maintain victory over the other, weaker ones.
When you have conquered one or several passions, you should not be proud, otherwise the Lord, seeing the pride of your heart, will cease to protect and protect it, and you, left behind, will again be tormented by the passion that you, with the help of God's grace, had already conquered. And the prophet David would not have begun to pray: "Do not, O Lord, give over to the beasts the soul that confesses to you" (Ps 73:19), if he had not known that those who are exalted in heart again give in to the passions they have overcome in order to be humbled.

FIGHTING THE EIGHT MAIN PASSIONS

Depicting the struggle with the eight main passions, we will describe their properties, show their causes, and suggest appropriate remedies against them.

BATTLE WITH BELLY PLEASURE

The first battle we must enter into is the battle with the indulgence of the stomach, or with the passion of overeating.
As for the method of abstinence in food, or fasting, there cannot be a rule that is the same for everyone, since not everyone has the same strength of body. This virtue is not performed only by the strength of the soul, but must also be in harmony with the strength of the body. Not everyone can fast for a whole Sunday. Some cannot go without food for more than two or three days, and for some it is difficult to last until sunset. Also, not everyone can eat nutritious vegetables, herbs, or dry bread. In addition, some need 800 grams to be satisfied, while others feel burdened if they eat 400 grams or 200 grams. However, all who abstain should have one goal, namely, to receive food according to the measure of their physical strength, and not fall into overeating. For the soul is exhausted not only by the quality of food, but also by the quantity, kindling in it the harmful fire of sin.
No matter what food one eats, the stomach will produce the seeds of carnal lust, and the mind, overwhelmed by the weight of food, will no longer be able to properly steer the rudder of judgment. The mind is not only intoxicated by excessive use of wine; even the abundance of all kinds of food usually makes it shaky and wavering, and deprives it of pure and blameless thoughts. The cause of the debauchery and destruction of the inhabitants of Sodom was not only drunkenness with wine, but also overeating. Listen to how the Lord rebukes through the prophet For I have become angry: This is the iniquity of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters lived in luxury, in abundance of bread, and in ease, but they did not help the poor and needy (Ezek 16:49). Why did your sister Sodom sin, if not because she ate her bread to her fullness and overeating? They were inflamed by such overeating of bread with the unquenchable ardor of carnal lust, and were, by the judgment of God, burned from heaven with sulphurous fire. If, in this way, only the intemperance in the use of bread due to the passion of overeating plunged them into the abyss of debauchery, what can be said of those who, in the flourishing health of the body, allow themselves to eat meat and drink wine in immoderate quantities, using them as much as their self-pleasing lust whispers to them, and not as much as the weakness of the body requires.

The Holy Fathers establish as a measure of abstinence that we should stop eating the food that we need to receive in order to maintain the life of the body while we still have the desire to eat. Judging by this, even a physically weak person can demonstrate the virtue of abstinence in perfection just as much as a strong and healthy person, that is, if he tames the desire to eat by force of will when the earthiness of the body has no need for it. For the Apostle Paul also says: Do not turn the care of the body into lust (Rom 13:14). He did not completely forbid us to take care of the body, but only commands that we do not have lust in doing so. He rejected lustful care of the body, but did not exclude the reasonable, necessary care for life. First, he forbade us from falling into destructive acts of lust through indulging the body, and second, he allowed that the body, weakened by unreasonable severity, does not prove powerless to carry out our spiritual interests and efforts.
Accordingly, the measure of abstinence should be determined by the judgment of each person's conscience. Everyone is obliged to determine for himself how much to abstain, or how much abstinence is necessary to combat the disturbances of the body. Fasts, prescribed by the constitution, should certainly be observed. However, if we do not observe abstinence in food after them, their observance will not lead us to perfect purity. Starving in fasts lasting several days will bring only short-term exhaustion and fatigue of the body, but not the purity of chastity, if it is followed by overeating the body to satiety, because the purity of the soul is inseparably connected with the starvation of the stomach. The permanent purity of chastity does not exist for one who cannot maintain a permanent evenness of abstinence. Strict fasts remain useless if they are followed by excessive indulgence in food, because their fruit will quickly be driven out by the passion for pleasing the stomach. Therefore, it is more reasonable to eat moderately every day than to have occasional long and extremely strict fasts. Excessive abstinence can not only shake the steadfastness and firmness of the soul, but also make the performance of prayer lifeless due to the weakness of the body.
In order to preserve the purity of the soul and body, it is not enough to abstain from food alone; other spiritual virtues should be added to it. First, humility should be learned through the virtue of obedience, contrition of heart, and exhaustion of the body. Possession of money should not only be avoided, but the very desire for it should also be uprooted. For it is not enough not to have it (which is mostly out of necessity), but one should not even allow the very desire to have it if it were offered to us by chance. Also, the vehemence of anger should be subdued, the weight of sadness should be overcome, vainglory should be despised, the loftiness of pride should be trampled down, and the inconstancy and wandering of the mind should be tamed by constant remembrance of God. We should always strive to bring our hearts back from imaginative wanderings to the contemplation of God. For the cunning enemy will try to sneak into the hiding places of the heart to distract our minds from contemplation.
He who is unable to tame the appeals of the stomach's pleasures will never be able to overcome the lust that is inflamed. The purity of the inner man is known by the perfection of this virtue. For no one will believe that in a fight with the strongest opponents he can compete who is overcome by the weakest in a small skirmish.
Therefore, we must first crush the lust of the stomach's pleasures, and lighten our mind not only by fasting, but also by vigils, reading, and constant contrition of heart, remembering all that we have been deceived and defeated by, sometimes sighing with a sense of horror at the multitude of sins, sometimes burning with a desire for perfection and purity. And we must bring it to such a point that, constantly occupied with ascetic labors and thoughts, even the taking of food itself does not consider so much a permitted object of pleasure as a burden imposed in the form of punishment, which should be approached more as something inevitable for the body than something desired by the soul. If we strive to be steadfast in such spiritual care and contrition, we will soon tame the lust of the flesh (which reaches its utmost frenzy if we load it with food), and dull its deadly sting. Thus, with abundant tears and constant weeping from the heart, we will extinguish the furnace of our flesh, which the king of Babylon, that is, the devil, has kindled in us, through arranging occasions for sin and arousing passions. With these, like adding oil and pitch to a furnace, he makes us burn more strongly (unnecessarily), until the grace of God, by stirring up the dewy spirit, completely extinguishes the flame of fleshly lust in our hearts. Accordingly, our first struggle consists in extinguishing the lust for abundant nourishment and pleasing the stomach by the desire for perfection. Therefore, not only should we overcome the desire for abundant food by contemplating virtue, but we should also receive the very food necessary for our nature as useless for chastity with careful caution from the heart. We should organize the transience of our life in such a way that we do not at any time separate ourselves from spiritual pursuits, except when the weakness of the body forces us to take necessary care of it. Even when we submit to this necessity, satisfying the needs of life rather than being slaves to the desires of the soul, we are obliged, as soon as possible, to leave it, considering that it is an act that distracts us from salutary pursuits. Even at the time of receiving food, we should not separate ourselves from these pursuits. For we will by no means be able to refrain from enjoying the dishes offered unless the soul, having fixed its attention on divine contemplation, at the same time delights in the love of virtues and the beauty of heavenly things. And in general, a person will be able to despise everything present as corruptible if the gaze of the mind is inseparably fixed on incorruptible and eternal goods. Thus, while still in the body, he will taste with his heart the bliss of the future life.
Having overcome with such a disposition the lust of pleasing the belly and abundant food, now no longer as servants of the flesh, we will be considered worthy to enter into a higher battle, that is, to confront the unclean forces (spirits), which usually enter into battle personally only with the victors. In this way, overcoming the desires of the flesh shows itself to be the most solid foundation of all battles. Without overcoming his flesh, no one can fight properly. And whoever does not fight properly will not be crowned.
Do you want to hear the true fighter of Christ, who fights according to the lawful rule of warfare: So I do not run as uncertainly; I do not fight as one who beats the air; but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, so that, having preached to others, I myself should not be disqualified (1 Cor 9:26-27).
Do you see how he established the main work of warfare in himself, that is, in his body, as on some most solid foundation, and placed the entire success of the struggle solely on the exhaustion of the body and the subjugation of his body? Therefore, I , he says, so run, not as uncertainly . He does not run uncertainly who looks to the heavenly Jerusalem and has in it an immovable goal towards which he is obliged to direct the movement of his heart fearlessly. He does not run uncertainly who, forgetting what is behind, stretches forward to what is ahead, striving for the prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:13-14). Always directing the gaze of his mind towards it, and pressing on with all the readiness of his heart, he exclaims with confidence: I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Tim 4:7). Being aware that he had run with perseverance and zeal in conscience after the fragrance of the oils of Christ (Song 1:3), and that by exhausting his body he had successfully maintained victory in the spiritual battle, he says with confident hope: Now there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day (2 Tim 4:8). And, in order to reveal to us a similar hope of reward, if we imitate him in the feat of this aspiration, he adds: And not to me only, but also to all who love his coming (2 Tim 4:8). He solemnly declares that on the Day of Judgment we too can make ourselves partakers of his crown if, loving the coming of Christ, not only that in which he will appear to those who do not want it, but especially that in which he always goes to holy souls, we maintain victory in the battle through the mortification of the body. The Lord speaks of this final coming in the Gospel: I and my Father will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). And again: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me (Rev 3:20).
Moreover, saying: I so run, not as uncertainly, the apostle Paul not only describes the feat of running that he accomplished, which especially refers to the direction of the mind and the fervor of his spirit, with which he belonged to Christ with all his zeal, saying to his bride: I run after you and the fragrance of your peace (Song 1:3), and again: My soul clings to you (Ps 62:9), but also testifies that he also maintained victory in another kind of war, stating: So I fight not as one who beats the air; but I wear out my body and conquer it , which especially refers to the hard labors of self-control, to physical fasting and the exhaustion of the body. Here he presents himself as a vigilant fighter with his body, emphasizing that he did not give it the blows of self-control in vain. On the contrary, through the mortification of his body he succeeded in gaining the triumphant triumph, for having tamed it with the scourges of abstinence and exhausted it with the blows of fasting, he delivered to the victorious spirit a crown of immortality and an incorruptible palm. Do you see the lawful order of the struggle, do you notice the outcome of the spiritual conflict, that is, how the warrior of Christ, having maintained the victory over the rebel, that is, the flesh, and having thrown it under his feet as a great conqueror, rides in a victorious chariot! He does not run uncertainly, because he is confident that he will soon enter the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem. So I fight in fastings, that is, in mortifying the body, not as one who beats the wind, that is, not as one who in vain strikes the blows of abstinence. For, by mortifying his body, he did not defeat the empty wind, but the spirits of wickedness that were attacking him. For he who says: Not as he that beateth the wind , understands that he does not conquer the empty and empty wind, but some who are in it. Having overcome this kind of struggle, that is, with the body, he, adorned with many crowns of victory, enters into battle again, and submits himself to the attacks of the most powerful enemies. And having conquered the first envious, he began with good hope to say: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).
For the soldier of Christ, as long as he is in the body, there is never a lack of opportunities to obtain crowns for warfare. On the contrary, the more he is crowned with the successes of his victories, the stronger the order of battle lies before him. For, against him, the victorious soldier of Christ, who has conquered and subdued his body, a crowd of opponents, an army of enemies, are raised up, being irritated by his victories. This happens so that the soldier of Christ, softened by the tranquility of peace, may not begin to forget the glorious battles of his warfare, and so that, relaxing from idleness, in a sense of security from the enemy, he may not lose the readiness and courage to display the victorious heroism that is worthy of the highest rewards. Accordingly, if we do not weaken, but grow in strength and courage, and want to achieve the highest triumphs of victory, we must in the same order go through the battles of asceticism, that is, first of all, accomplish what we could say with the apostle Paul: So I fight, not as one who beats the air; but I wear out my body and conquer it , and then, when we win that battle, to enter into the one after which we can again say with the apostle Paul: For we do not wrestle against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places . For we cannot possibly enter into battle with them unless we have conquered the flesh. We will never be worthy to try the battle with spirits if we are equally overcome in the battle with the flesh and defeated in the battle with the belly. And then the apostle Paul will justly rebuke us: No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man (1 Cor 10:13).
A monk who wants to achieve the feat of internal struggle should first determine for himself that, before the time of taking food determined by the constitution and common to all, that is, outside of meals, he will in no way take any food or drink, no matter what pleasure and sweetness otherwise tempts him. Also, after the meal is over, let him not dare to do anything like that, not even to the smallest extent. Likewise, he should adhere to the time and measure of sleep that are established by the constitution. And, passions of this kind should be cut off with the same zeal with which we cut off lustful passion. For how will he quench the ardor of bodily desire who cannot subdue the abundant desires of the stomach? And, how will he be able to overcome secret passions, which spring up without any witness, who cannot tame visible and small passions?
We should fear the enemy within ourselves, not the external adversary. For there is a constant internal struggle going on within us. If we win there, all external struggles will become null and void. For the soldier of Christ, everything will become peaceful and everything will obey him. We will have no need to fear the enemy from without if what is within us, having been conquered, obeys the spirit. We should not believe that for us, to achieve perfection of heart and purity of body, fasting alone, consisting in abstaining from visible foods, is sufficient. No, to this should be added fasting of the soul. For it too has its harmful foods. Having become fat from them, it can fall into the abyss of sensuality without an abundance of physical food. Its food is condemnation, and a very pleasant food at that. Anger is also its food, although not so easy, but at times harmful, even deadly. Envy is the food of the soul, which poisons its juices and constantly torments it with sorrow for the happy successes of others. Vanity is also its food, which temporarily delights it with a pleasant taste, but later makes it desolate, naked and devoid of all virtue, leaving it barren and incapable of bearing spiritual fruits. It not only deprives it of the reward for great labors, but also attracts great punishment. Every lust and lust of an unstable heart is a kind of grazing of the soul in a kind of pasture that nourishes it with harmful foods, and which makes it not a partaker of heavenly bread and solid food. By abstaining from all this in our holy fast, according to our strength, we will make the observance of a physical fast purposeful and fruitful. For the exertion of the body, united with contrition of the spirit, represents the most pleasing sacrifice to God, because it will build a temple worthy of His holiness in the pure and beautifully decorated recesses of the heart. However, if, while fasting physically, we are caught in the net of the most destructive passions of the soul, the exhaustion of the body will not bring us any benefit, because then we will remain defiled in our most precious part, that is, we will remain defective in that part of our nature which in the true sense can become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. For the dwelling place of God and the temple of the Holy Spirit is not a corruptible body, but a pure heart. Therefore, when our outer man fasts, we should also abstain from harmful food in the inner man. We should especially present him pure to God, so that we may be worthy to receive Christ as a visitor, as the apostle Paul advises: That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph 3:16-17).
Food should be chosen that calms and does not arouse the passions of the flesh, that is easily obtained, and that is in accordance with the general custom and usage of the brothers. Indulging the stomach is manifested in three ways: one encourages us to receive food before the time established by the constitution; the second encourages us to overeat and fill our stomachs with food regardless of its quality; the third encourages us to be satisfied only with completely delicious and exquisite dishes. Therefore, against indulging the stomach, a monk should observe a threefold rule: first, to wait for the times established by the constitution to begin the meal; second, not to give in to the desire to overeat; and third, to be satisfied with simple and cheap food. And, what is not in accordance with general custom and usage in relation to food, the most ancient tradition of the Fathers does not approve, since it is defiled by vanity and boasting. We have not seen any of those who were distinguished by the gift of knowledge and judgment, and of those whom the grace of God has set forth as the brightest lights for imitation, abstain from eating bread, which is considered simple and cheap. And conversely, we have never seen any of those who used herbs, vegetables, and fruits of trees to be among the most experienced men, or to have been deigned to be granted the grace of judgment and knowledge.
Works of charity are to be preferred to fasting. We learned this from the Egyptian Fathers. For when we, desiring to learn the rules of these elders, came from Syria to Egypt, they received us with unusually lively warmth of heart. No matter where we passed, for our peace of mind they did not limit themselves to observing the time for receiving food fixed by the constitution, as we are accustomed to see in the Palestinian monasteries. On the contrary, they always permitted the use of food before the appointed time, except on Wednesdays and Fridays. When we asked why they so freely circumvented the rule of daily fasting, one of the elders answered us: "Fasting is always with me, but I cannot always have you with me. Moreover, fasting represents a voluntary sacrifice, which is very useful and always necessary, but the performance of works of love is an urgent requirement of the commandment. Therefore, by receiving Christ in you, I am obliged to feed Him. And when I see you off, I will be able to compensate for the deviation made for His sake by a strict fast. For the wedding guests cannot fast as long as the bridegroom is with them. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days" (Luke 5:34-35).
As the Holy Fathers say, extremes are equally harmful, namely, excessive fasting and overeating. We know some who were not conquered by pleasing their stomachs, but were overthrown by excessive fasting. They fell into the same passion for indulging their stomachs because of the weakness that came from excessive fasting.
We should take care not to take food before the appointed time or in excess, despite the desire for bodily pleasure, and to use it at the appointed time, even if we do not feel like eating. For both the excessive desire for bodily pleasure and the aversion to food are instigated by our enemy. Moreover, immoderate abstinence is more harmful than overeating. For from the latter, through repentance, it is possible to move on to right action, but from the former it is not.
Our ancient Fathers often reasoned about how to pass between the two extremes, maintaining reasonable moderation. They preferred bread to all types of food. As a measure for its use, they determined two not large loaves, weighing about 400 grams.
The general rule of moderate abstinence consists in this: that everyone, according to strength, condition of the body and age, eats as much food as is necessary for maintaining physical health, and not as much as is required by the desire for overeating. He who does not keep an even measure, but sometimes fasts excessively, sometimes overeats, harms both prayer and chastity: prayer because he cannot be strong from not eating, and due to weakness he tends to sleep, and chastity because the fire of bodily lust, which is inflamed by excessive use of food, continues to work even during a strict fast.
To use food moderately, according to the opinion of the Fathers, means to use only as much food daily as is necessary so that, even after finishing a meal, one still feels hungry. Such a measure will keep the soul and body in an equal state, and will not allow a person to fall into either excessive fasting that disturbs the body, or overeating that burdens the spirit.
We propose another salutary instruction of blessed Macarius, so that we may usefully conclude our book on abstinence and fasting with the opinion of the great father. He says that a monk should reasonably adhere to the act of fasting as if he were to remain in the body for a hundred years and to tame the movements of the soul, that is, to forget insults, to avoid sorrow, to consider suffering and deprivation as nothing as if he were to die the next day. This is in relation to the first, that is, fasting, a useful prudence for the soul is advised, which encourages the monk to always follow the path of equal severity in abstinence, which, even in the case of bodily weakness, does not allow him to pass from abstinence to excess, and in relation to the second, that is, the taming of the movements of the soul, a salutary generosity, with which he is able to despise not only what seems desirable in this world, but also misfortunes and sorrows, considering them harmless, remaining fearless and steadily directing the gaze of the mind towards that to which he expects to be called every day and every moment.

FIGHTING WITH THE SPIRIT OF FORNICATION

According to the tradition of the Fathers, the second battle in our country is the battle with the spirit of fornication. It is daily, fierce, and longer than the others. Very few are those who completely overcome it. It begins to appear from the first age of maturity and does not cease before the victory over the other passions. Since the method of attack is twofold and the weapons for the fight are twofold, therefore the weapons of defense should also be twofold. To achieve perfect purity or innocence, physical fasting alone is not enough; more important than that should be penitential contrition of spirit and constant prayer against a completely impure spirit. These should be accompanied by constant teaching in the Holy Scriptures combined with mental activity, physical labor and manual labor that keeps the heart from wandering and brings it back to itself, and above all, true and deep humility without which no passion can ever be conquered.
The transformation of this passion is conditioned by the perfect purification of the heart, from which, according to the word of the Lord, the poison of this disease is released: For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications (Mt 15:19). Accordingly, it is necessary to purify first that from which the source of life and death flows, as Solomon says: Above all else, guard your heart, for from it are the issues of life (Prov 4:23). For the body obeys its will and authority. Of course, the law of ascetic scarcity of food must be followed with all care so that the body, satiated with an abundance of food and opposing the commands of the soul, in its madness does not overthrow its leader, that is, the spirit. However, if we put the entire essence of our activity only on exhausting the body, without at the same time fasting the soul from other passions, and are not interested in the lesson in divine or other spiritual activities, we will not be able to reach the peak of true purity. For in that case, what is domineering will defile our body, which can be clean. Therefore, according to the Lord's instructions, we must first cleanse the inside of the cup and platter so that the outside may be clean also (Mt 23:26).
Other passions, among other things, are usually purified in communication with people and in everyday affairs or actions. They are somehow cured by the very discomfort and boredom of falling into them. Thus, for example, the impulses of anger, humiliation and intolerance are cured, in addition to a lesson from the heart and vigorous attention, by visiting brothers and by frequent provoking of the passions themselves. For, since they are provoked and expressed more often, they are more often revealed and therefore more quickly cured. This disease, in addition to the exhaustion of the body and contrition of the heart, also needs solitude and distance from people so that, after the causes for its fatal feverish inflamation are removed, a state of perfect recovery is reached more quickly. Just as it is beneficial for those suffering from some disease not to have harmful foods placed before their eyes, so that a deadly desire does not arise at the sight of them, so silence and solitude are very helpful in the persecution of this disease or lust. Being removed from external provocations by various persons and things, the sick soul ascends more freely towards the purest mental perception, by which it can more easily remove the contagious excitement of lust at the root.
It is one thing to be continent, and another to be chaste, and to attain an unclouded state of rational purity and virginal innocence. This virtue is attributed only to those who are blameless in soul and body, such as, for example, in the New Testament, both Johns (the Forerunner and the Evangelist), and in the Old: Elijah, Jeremiah, and Daniel. It can justly be considered that those who, after the fall, through long ascetic labors and zealous supplications for the lost, have reached a state of purity and purity of soul and body, and who feel the sting of the body not so much due to the attacks of shameful lust as due to the movements of nature, stand on their level. Such a state is extremely difficult to achieve among many people, and perhaps even impossible! Let each one find out this for himself through the examination of his own conscience, and let him not expect our reasoning to inform him. We do not doubt that there are many who abstain, who sometimes pursue and overcome the rare or daily attacks of the flesh by fear of eternal fire, sometimes by desire for the Kingdom of Heaven. The elders, or spiritual Fathers, believe that it may happen that they are not completely distracted and overcome by passionate irritations, but that they are still not safe from attacks and wounds. For he who fights inevitably sometimes experiences agitation and wounds, although he often conquers and overcomes his opponent.
If, with the apostle Paul, we are to legitimately perform a spiritual feat (2 Tim 2:5), let us strive with all diligence to overcome this completely unclean spirit, and not by our own strength, since human effort is powerless, but hoping for help from the Lord. For the soul will not be freed from this passion that does not give up trying to defeat it until it becomes aware that successfully waging the battle is beyond its powers, and that, unless it is supported by the help and intercession of the Lord, it cannot possibly maintain victory with its own strength and zeal.
Every success in virtue is a work of the Lord's grace. And the overcoming of every passion is His victory. All the more so is this work, that is, the achievement of purity and the overcoming of lustful passion, a special grace and gift, as is confirmed by the opinion of the holy Fathers and the experience of purification from passion, according to the testimony of those who have deigned to acquire it. For not feeling the sting of the flesh is, in a way, the same as dwelling in the body and leaving the body, and being clothed in the body and being outside nature. Therefore, a person cannot soar on his own wings to such a heavenly height of perfection, unless the grace of the Lord draws him out of the earthly mud with the gift of purity. For people in the flesh are not so successfully like angels by any virtue, imitating their life, as by the gift of the grace of purity. By it, although they live on earth, according to the Apostle Paul, they have a life in heaven (Phil. 3:20). By it, those in mortal bodies already possess what is promised to the saints in the future life after the putting off of the corruptible body.
Hear what the apostle Paul says: Everyone who strives abstains from all things (1 Cor 9:25).
In our spiritual struggle, the apostle sets for us as a model the runner who fights in the racetrack. For the sake of success in the struggle, he abstains not only from forbidden food, drunkenness and other foolishness, but also from idleness, idleness and laziness. By constant training and insight into the work, he takes care to develop his strength and acquire skill. He leaves all care and sorrow about life and other works, tormenting himself only with the care of success and the crown of victory. He takes special care to keep himself pure from bodily defilement, not to deceive himself even in sleep with any shameful fantasies, so as not to diminish the strength gained after a long time and great care. From this you can see everything that the spiritual bearer of the struggle should do. You can also see that for success in spiritual activity, you too must first preserve purity and innocence. Accordingly, purity is also necessary in the external worldly competitions for corruptible wreaths. How much more infinitely necessary is it in our spiritual inner striving for heavenly wreaths? What is required of us is not only external purity from bodily sin, or involuntary defilement, but especially internal purity of thoughts and feelings. We must in every way preserve the very recesses of the heart pure. What they, or the runners on the racetrack, want to have only physically, we must possess in the depths of our conscience, in which our Lord observes everything, even the smallest movements of our free will. Accordingly, what we are not allowed to do publicly, we must not allow to arise even inwardly through careless thoughts, and with what is shameful before men we must not defile the heart through secret consent. Because, it can be hidden from people, but not from angels and from the almighty God himself, from whom no secret can be hidden.
The sign and measure of the perfection of acquired purity is the absence of any imaginary image (image) even when we are resting or sleeping in a deep sleep. Even if he comes forward, in such a state, he still remains powerless to initiate any movements of lust. Because such movements serve as a sure sign that the soul has not yet reached perfection, even though they are not counted in guilt and sin. As soon as imaginary characters (images) manage to produce such discomfort, it is obvious that passion has not yet been completely eradicated.
The quality of thoughts that are not guarded quite zealously during the day is expressed during the tranquility of the night. Therefore, when the mentioned inconvenience happens to us, we should not blame the dream, but the inattention in the previous time. In this we should see the manifestation of a disease that hides in the interior and was not first born by the night watch. He only brought it to the surface of the skin, at the time of invigorating the body with sleep, while it was, in fact, in the inner threads of the soul. We have kindled the inner flame of passion ourselves, feeding ourselves with bad thoughts throughout the day. And bodily diseases are not born when they manifest themselves visibly, but are formed earlier, from food that is harmful to health and from which bad juices are collected.
Knowing better than anyone the nature of His creation, God Himself, the Creator of the entire human race, directs the treatment to the causes of this passionate disease and says: " Everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:11). ,28). In mentioning the lust of the eyes, He nevertheless reveals more the inner feeling that misuses their service of seeing. In fact, the heart that is sick and wounded by the arrow of lust looks with desire, and the gift of seeing that the Creator has given it for good, according to He turns his passion to serving evil deeds, bringing to light with his sense of sight the disease of lust hidden within him. This is why the saving commandment is addressed to one whose passion results in evil injury through looking. For it is not said: "Keep your eyes at all times," but: " Above all else, guard your heart " (Prov. 4:23).
Let our first and main task in preserving the purity of our hearts be to banish from our thoughts, as quickly as possible, the memory of the face of a female, even a mother, sister, relative, or holy woman, which, through the subtle workings of the devil's malice, creeps into our minds. Otherwise, If we dwell on such thoughts for a long time, our enemy and deceiver can imperceptibly divert our minds from these women to those through whom he could sow thoughts that are harmful to the soul. Therefore, taking care to fulfill the commandment: Above all else, guard your heart. yours, we are obliged, according to the original commandment of God, to carefully watch the deadly head of the serpent (Genesis 2), that is, the beginnings of evil thoughts through which the devil tries to enter our soul. If, due to our negligence, its head penetrates our heart, we should be careful that its entire body does not follow it, that is, that from impure thoughts consent to sinful pleasure is not born. If it is released into the interior, the enemy will seize the soul and finally kill it with his deadly bite. All the wicked that spring up on earth, that is, the carnal feelings, we are obliged to destroy from the morning of their birth (Ps. 100:8), and to dash the sons of Babylon against the stone while they are still children (Ps. 136:9). For if they are not crushed while they are still tender and weak, they will, having grown up because of our negligence, rise up against us with great power, and will either destroy us or be defeated, although not without great sighs and efforts. For when the strong man, that is, our spirit, arms himself and guards his palace, that is, he guards the peace of our heart with the fear of God, his possessions are in peace (Luke 11:21), that is, the fruits of his labors and virtues, acquired after a long time. And when one stronger than him comes and overcomes him, that is, the devil through agreement with the thoughts he instills, he takes away all his weapons in which he trusted, that is, the memory of the Scriptures, or the fear of God, and divides what he has seized from him (Luke 11:22), that is, he scatters the habits of virtues with the vices that are contrary to them.
This , says Saint Paul, is the will of God, your holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:3). And, so that he does not leave in us any doubt or darkness of misunderstanding about what he calls holiness, whether it is justice, or love, or humility, or patience, since holiness is achieved by all these virtues, he further openly emphasizes: That you should abstain from fornication, and that each of you should know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in passionate lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5). See with what praises he exalts chastity, calling it the honor of the vessel, that is, our body, and holiness. Accordingly, he who dwells in the passion of lust is in a state of dishonor and impurity and his life is alien to holiness. A little further on, again calling chastity holiness, the apostle Paul adds: For God did not call us to impurity, but to holiness. Therefore, whoever rejects chastity rejects not man but God, who also gave his Holy Spirit to you (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8).
The apostle gave his command the greatest force and importance by saying that he who rejects it does not despise man, that is, him who commanded, but God who speaks through him, who has designated our heart as the temple of the Holy Spirit. See with what praises, even in simple words, he praises this virtue! First, he attributes holiness to it; then he establishes that by it the vessel of our body is freed from all impurity; next, that it will dwell in honor as a sanctuary when it casts out shameful impurity; and finally, that through it the Holy Spirit becomes the indweller of our heart, which is its highest privilege.
I will also cite another similar testimony from the same apostle. Writing to the Hebrews, he says: Make every effort to have peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14). And here he clearly confirms that without holiness, which he usually calls purity and purity of soul and body, it is impossible to see the Lord.
The more exalted and worthy of heaven the dignity of chastity is, the stronger the attacks of the enemy are. Therefore, we are obliged to adhere more strongly not only to physical abstinence, but also to contrition of heart, with constant sighs of prayer, so that the furnace of our flesh, which the king of Babylon constantly kindles with the ardor of carnal desires, we constantly quench and cool with the dew of the Holy Spirit descending into our hearts.
We will succeed in maintaining such a disposition if we always remember that God watches and knows not only our secret deeds, but also all our thoughts, both night and day, and if we believe that we will have to give him an answer for everything that is in our hearts, as well as for all our deeds and actions.
We should always observe a regular and moderate fast so that even during sleep we are not defiled by impure fantasies. For whoever violates a reasonable measure of severity in abstaining from food will inevitably later violate the measure of indulgence in the same way. And, with the change in the measure of food intake, the nature of our purity will inevitably change. In this, it is necessary to have constant humility of heart and patience, as well as careful distancing from anger and other passions during the day. For as soon as the fire of anger is kindled within us, the heat of lust will easily penetrate us. More than anything else, vigorous attention at night is necessary. For just as purity and attention during the day prepare for nightly purity, so night vigilance gives the heart and attention strength and virtue to stand against all impurity during the day.
Is it possible to completely extinguish the fire of lust, the heat of which our body feels as inherent in itself? First, let us look at what the apostle Paul thinks about this: Mortify your members which are upon the earth (Col 3:5). What members does he command us to mortify? Of course, not to cut off hands and feet or any other limbs, but to remove the sinful body, which he speaks of in another place: In order to destroy the sinful body.(Rom 6:6), which, like every other body, has its members. It is these that he commands us to mortify. In the same place he lists which members these are. For, having said: Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth , he continues: fornication, impurity, passion, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry . The first member is fornication, or the sin of unlawful carnal union; the second fornication is impurity, which occurs without any contact with a woman during sleep, or during wakefulness; the third member is passion, which, being in the secret places of the soul, can be inflamed even without the action of carnal lust; the fourth member is evil concupiscence, which can refer not only to the aforementioned impure passion, but also to all destructive desires in general, and which is the disease of the depraved will; and the last member of the sinful body for the Apostle Paul is covetousness. The apostle advises that we should abstain not only from other people's things, but also generously despise our own, as indeed the first community of believers mentioned in the book of Acts of the Apostles did (Acts 4:32-35). From all that has been said, we can draw a conclusion: if many for Christ's sake have renounced their possessions, cutting off not only the possession of money, but also the very desire for it, from their hearts, it follows that in the same way it is possible to quench the burning of lust. For the apostle would not have united an impossible deed with the possible. Recognizing both as possible, he commanded that we mortify both. The apostle was so convinced of the possibility of eradicating lustful passion from our members that he commanded not only that we mortify it, but that its name should not even be mentioned among us: But fornication and all impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; neither shameful or foolish talking or jesting, whatever is indecent (Eph 5:3-4). Therefore there can be no doubt that the passion of fornication can be removed from our members. For the apostle commanded us to cut it off as well as greed, empty talk, and laughter, which are easier to cut off.
63. Moreover, we should know that despite all the rigor of abstinence, that is, hunger, thirst, vigils, constant labor, diligent reading of books useful for the soul, we cannot acquire the continuous purity of innocence, unless the special grace of God comes to our aid. Let everyone know that he is obliged to tirelessly practice the aforementioned feats only in order that, by patiently enduring the sorrows from them and drawing upon himself the mercy of God, he may merit God's gift of liberation from the struggle of the flesh and from the domination of overpowering passions, and not with the hope that by himself, through them, he will achieve the indestructible purity of bodily chastity, which he so desires and seeks.
Desires for present things cannot be overcome or rejected unless other, salutary desires are accepted in their place. Therefore, if we want to remove carnal desires from our hearts, we must plant spiritual desires in their place so that our spirit, always striving for their objects, has neither the desire nor the time to pay attention to the deceptions of fleeting earthly joys. When our spirit, through daily practice in spiritual activity, is established in the mood of renouncing everything, it will experientially understand the power of the verse that we all often repeat, although only a few, or rather experienced ones, understand it: I see the Lord always before me. He is at my right hand, that I may not stumble (Ps 15:8). Therefore, the power and meaning of this verse is understood only by one who, having reached the purity of body and spirit of which we are speaking, becomes aware that the Lord guards him at every moment so that he does not turn back to the former, and that his right hand, or rather, his holy deeds, are fenced off by Him. For the Lord is always present with His Saints, and not on the left, since a holy man has nothing on the left, or evil, but on the right. And for sinners and the impure He becomes invisible, because they do not have the right side, on which He is usually present.
There are many degrees of chastity, by which one ascends to perfect purity. I divide the ladder of such perfection of chastity into six degrees, which are actually passed imperceptibly, just as our body grows imperceptibly every day, and without our knowledge grows to its perfect form.
The first degree of chastity is present where the monk is not disturbed by bodily lust in the waking state; the second, where the mind does not dwell on lustful thoughts; the third, where at the sight of a woman he is not in the least disturbed by desire; the fourth, where in the waking state he does not allow even simple bodily movements; the fifth, where even the slightest consent to bodily action does not wound the mind in the case when reasoning or reading brings to mind the birth of a person; sixth, where even during sleep he is not disturbed by scandalous fantasies about women.
Complete, immaculate purity is distinguished from the beginnings of abstinence from lustful thoughts and movements by the perfect calming of bodily excitements and tranquility. Perfectly matured chastity always preserves the purity of body and soul unclouded and perfect. It is nothing other than holiness. This happens when the body, having ceased to lust against the spirit, begins to agree with its desires and virtue, and when both are united with each other in firm peace, and according to the saying of the writer of the Psalms, they begin to live together like brothers (Ps 132:1). Then God also dwells with them, since it is said that His place is in peace (Ps 75:3), that is, not in the noise of war and struggle with the passions, but in the peace of chastity and in the constant tranquility of the heart. Therefore, he who, through the quenching of bodily passions, deigns to acquire this place of peace, becomes at the same time the temple of God.

FIGHTING WITH THE SPIRIT OF SILVER LOVE

The third battle that lies ahead of us is the battle with the spirit of avarice, or with a passion that is foreign and uncharacteristic of our nature. It arises in monks from the despondency of a weakly energetic soul that is not properly organized, and for the most part from a poorly placed renunciation of the world, the basis of which was not ardent love for God. The movements of the other passions seem to have their beginning within us, as if they were implanted in human nature and somehow anchored in the body. Since they are simultaneous with our birth, the passions anticipate with their movements an indicator of the ability to distinguish good from evil. They can only be defeated by long-term effort. This disease, or avarice, comes later and approaches the soul from without. For this reason it can be more easily removed and expelled. However, if it is neglected due to negligence and once released into the heart, it becomes the most destructive of all. It is then the most difficult to drive out of all, since it becomes the root of all evils (1 Tim 6:10), serving as a source of awakening various passions.
If it seizes power over the despondent and cold soul of a monk, this passion first incites him to a small income, describing to him with striking images some supposedly just and reasonable reasons for which it is necessary for him either to save some money when renouncing the world, or to acquire it after renouncing. “What is given in the monastery,” she complains, “is not enough for a healthy and strong body. What will you do if physical illness occurs, and you have nothing to help yourself in your weakness? The monastic means of support are too meager, and the care for the sick is too great. You will have to die in a miserable way if you do not have something of your own that you could use to restore your physical health. Even the clothes given to you by the monastery are not enough. Therefore, you must have something with which you can buy yourself another one. After all, one cannot spend one's entire life in the same monastery. Therefore, unless you prepare money for your travel expenses and transportation across the sea, you will not be able to move when you want, and, squeezed by extreme poverty, you will constantly lead a life of hard work and misery without any success.''
When such thoughts occupy his mind, the monk begins to think about how to acquire at least one coin. With this aim in mind, he looks for some work, which he does with all diligence, without the knowledge of his spiritual father. Then, having secretly sold what he has made with his hands and received the desired money, he, in fear for it, ponders where to put it, or to whom to entrust it for safekeeping. At the same time, he has already begun to be gnawed by an even more burning concern about how to double the money, and he frantically makes important plans about what he would buy for it, and what new benefit he would gain from the purchased. And, when this desire also comes true, an absolutely insatiable greed for gold will appear, which will then flare up stronger and stronger, in accordance with the amount of income, because with the multiplication of money, the frenzy of passion for it also increases. Like embers on embers, other anxious thoughts come: he is promised a long life, old age and various long illnesses are predicted, which in old age cannot be endured unless enough money is prepared in his youth. Thus the unfortunate soul, being bound by the bonds of this serpent or avarice, is more and more inflamed with the desire to multiply the ill-begotten accumulation of wealth, giving birth to a contagion within itself which, like fire, devours it more and more strongly. Being entirely imbued with a selfish thought, it turns its heart's gaze to nothing except the source from which it could obtain money with which it could free itself as quickly as possible from the burden of monastic austerity. If some hope of obtaining money arises, it does not hesitate to do anything: neither lies, nor slander, nor theft, nor breach of fidelity. In a word, gold and the expectation of profit in everything becomes to it a god, as the belly is to others. Foreseeing the deadly poison of this disease, the Apostle Paul called not only the root of all evils, but also the service of idols, saying: Mortify also covetousness, which is idolatry (Col 3:5).
There are three kinds of this disease, which all the Fathers condemn with equal disgust. The first, whose perniciousness we have already described, deceives some unfortunates and convinces them to accumulate what they did not have before, when they lived in the world; the second encourages them to desire again and to recover what they left at the beginning of their renunciation of the world; the third arises from a bad beginning of monasticism, that is, from an imperfect renunciation of everything, and it does not allow those whom it succeeds in infecting with coldness of soul to completely free themselves from all worldly possessions, frightening them with future poverty and disturbing them with unbelief: then, due to the retention of money and other possessions, which they were obliged to leave behind when renouncing the world, it does not allow them to attain evangelical perfection. And, in Holy Scripture, we can find examples of the condemnation of these three kinds of fall, with the severe punishments that accompany them. In his desire to obtain what he did not have before, Gehazi not only did not deign to obtain the grace of prophetic office that he should have received from his teacher by hereditary precedence, but he was also struck with leprosy because of Elisha's curse (2 Kings 5:21-27). In his desire to recover the money that he had thrown away when he followed Christ, Judas fell into betrayal of the Lord and lost his apostolic rank. Moreover, he did not end his life in a common way, but by a self-violent death (Matthew 27:5). Having retained a part of what they possessed, Ananias and Sapphira were punished with death by the words of the apostles (Acts 5:1-11).
Oh, to those who renounced the world, but were then overcome by unbelief, fearing to be left without all earthly possessions, it is mysteriously written in the book of Deuteronomy: Whoever is fearful and fainthearted, let him not go to battle, but let him go and return to his house, lest he make his brother's heart as his own (Deut. 20:8). What is more evident than this prophecy? Is it not obvious that the Holy Scripture wishes them better not to lay the foundation of such a calling, nor to take upon themselves its name, so that they may not disturb others by their words, bad example, and unfaithful fear and distance them from evangelical perfection. Therefore, they are commanded to leave the battle and return to their homes, since no one can fight the Lord's battles with a divided heart. For a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). The Gospel story tells of a king who set out with ten thousand against another who had twenty thousand soldiers. Not hoping to succeed in a conflict with him, he, while he was still far away, sent to ask for peace, clearly not wanting to start a fight. Penetrating into the meaning of this story, we come to the conclusion that it is better for the above-mentioned persons not to begin renouncing the world at all, than, having begun, to be unable to endure it diligently and with complete accuracy, and thus expose themselves to great danger. For, as the Wise One says, it is better not to promise than to promise and not fulfill.(Eccl. 5:4). It is well said here that one goes with ten thousand, and another with twenty. For the number of passions that attack us is greater than the number of good dispositions that fight for us. But no one can serve God and mammon (Mt. 6:24), and no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God (Lk. 9:62).
Such people try to justify a similar tendency to greed by the authority of Holy Scripture. Interpreting it incorrectly, they are happy to twist and change according to their own desire the thought of the apostles, and even the Lord himself, not adapting their lives or minds to the meaning of Scripture, but doing violence to Scripture according to their own desire to please themselves. Wishing to show that in the present case also the Scripture agrees with their opinion, they say: " It is written : It is more blessed to give than to receive " (Acts 20:35). Understanding these words in a wrong way, they think that they completely nullify the force of the saying in which it is said: If you want to be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me (Mt 19:21). They think that under such an excuse they do not have to leave their wealth. They declare themselves more blessed than those who left it because they are able, as if they were secured by their former possessions, to share the surplus with others. They are, in fact, ashamed to accept, with the apostle Paul, glorious poverty for the sake of Christ, and do not want to be content with the labors of their hands and the meager sustenance of a monastery. They are left with one of two options: either to become aware of their self-deception and the fact that they have never renounced the world, since they are partial to former wealth, or to throw away and distribute everything, if they wish to test the monastic vocation in action and through effort, so that, not keeping anything with themselves that they have renounced, they may, together with the Apostle Paul, boast of hunger and thirst and of enduring cold and nakedness (2 Cor 11:27).
There is a saying circulating of St. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, addressed to a senator who was overcome by the cold in question, that is, who, saying that he had renounced the world, kept some of his property with him, not wanting to support himself by the labor of his own hands, nor to train himself in true humility through deprivation in everything and the laborious effort of monastic submission. "And you have lost the rank of senator," he said to him, "and you have not become a monk."
Therefore, if we wish to lawfully perform the feat by a spiritual feat, let us also drive out this pernicious enemy from our hearts. Victory over him is not so great, but it is very dishonorable and ugly to be defeated by him. For to be defeated by a stronger one is painful because of the fall and lamentable because of the lost victory, although the defeated one finds some consolation in the awareness of the strength of the opponent. However, if defeat is suffered by a weaker opponent and in a fight that is not difficult, the humiliating shame will cause much greater pain than the pain of falling, and the shame will be much heavier than the damage caused.
The final victory and perfect triumph over this enemy can be expected only when the conscience of the monk is not defiled by the possession of even the smallest coin. Therefore, it is impossible for one who has been carried away by even the smallest monetary gift and who has once received the root of the lust of greed into his heart not to be immediately inflamed with the fire of longing for greater things. And the soldier of Christ will be victorious, free from all danger and inaccessible to the attack of passion, until this most inconvenient spirit sows the seeds of its lust in his heart. In all kinds of passions, it is most important to watch out for the head of the serpent. However, especially in relation to this passion, one should be very careful and not allow its head to penetrate the interior. For, if it is allowed inside, it will, feeding on its own matter and growing stronger, ignite a great fire of its own accord. Therefore, one should not only fear the possession of money, but the desire itself should be completely removed from the soul. And one should not so much avoid the deeds of avarice as cut off its passion by the root. For the lack of money will not bring us any benefit if the desire to possess it remains in us.
It is possible that even someone who has no money will be enslaved by the disease of avarice. The act of deprivation of everything will not bring any benefit to someone who cannot cut off the passion of greed. For he delights in the act of impoverishment, but not in the virtue of poverty itself, and with sorrow in his heart he reconciles himself to a heavy necessity. For just as the Gospel declares some who are undefiled by the flesh to be impure in heart (Matthew 5:28), so also those who are not at all burdened by the weight of money can, in heart and mind, be condemned along with the lovers of money. They simply did not have the opportunity to acquire, but they had the will to acquire, which in the eyes of God always has greater importance than necessity. Therefore, we should take care in every way that the fruits of our labors do not go to waste. For it is worthy of pity to suffer the consequences of deprivation and impoverishment, and that the fruits are lost due to the fruitless sinful desire of the will.
Do you want to know what pernicious fruits this passion bears and what branches of other passions it releases from itself, to the destruction of the one who receives it and does not carefully remove it? Look at Judas, who was counted among the apostles! How it destroyed him with its poison because he did not want to trample on the deadly head of the serpent, catching him in the trap of his lust! Into what a deep ruin of transgression it threw him, teaching him to sell the Redeemer of the world and the Savior of the human race for thirty pieces of silver! He would never have been led to such an impious act of betrayal if he had not been infected with the disease of avarice. He would not have become guilty of murdering the Lord if he had not become accustomed to stealing the chest entrusted to him.
Here is the strongest example of the tyranny of this passion. Once a soul is seized, it no longer allows it, as we have said, to observe any rule of honesty, nor to be satisfied with any income. For the end of its fury is not achieved by acquiring wealth, but by stripping oneself of everything. And Judas himself was given the chest intended for distribution to the poor, so that, having satiated himself with an abundance of money, he could finally calm his passion. However, he was inflamed by the excessive arousal of passion, and not only secretly stole the chest, but also wanted to sell the Lord Himself. For the fury of this passion is not satisfied by any great wealth.
Knowing that he who has something for passion is not able to keep greed within decent limits, and that the end of passion is not a small or large sum, but a perfect renunciation of everything, the holy Apostle Peter punishes with death Ananias and Sapphira, who kept some of their property for themselves. And they perished for a lie because of greed, just as Judas executed himself because of the guilt of betraying the Lord. What similarity is there between them in transgression and in punishment!? There the love of money led to betrayal, and here to lies. There the truth is betrayed, and here the sin of lies is committed. The action of sin there and here is apparently not similar, but its goal is the same. He, in order to be delivered from poverty, again desired to have what he had renounced, and they, in order not to become miserable, tried to keep for themselves some of their property, which should have been faithfully offered to the apostles, or completely distributed to the brothers. And, in the first and second case, the same punishment of death followed because both sins grew from the same root of love of money. If (we will continue to consider) those who did not want to acquire what was other people's, but only to preserve their own, and who had no desire to acquire, but only to preserve, were pronounced such a severe sentence, what can be said of those who want to accumulate wealth that they never had, and who appear poor before men, while remaining rich before God because of the passion of greed.
The greedy should be considered lepers in spirit and soul, like Gehazi, who, desiring the corruptible money of this world, was struck with the contagious impurity of leprosy. By this he left us a clear example that the soul that is defiled by the transgressive passion of greed is defeated by the spiritual infection of passion, and that in the eyes of the Lord it has an impurity that leads to eternal damnation.
Therefore, if, striving for perfection, you have left everything and followed Christ, listening to His word: Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me (Mt 19:21), why, having laid your hands on the plow, do you look back, and according to the words of the same Lord, become unprepared for the Kingdom of Heaven (Lk 9:62)? When you have already been placed on the roof, on the height of evangelical perfection, why do you go down again to your house to take something of what you previously so joyfully despised (Luke 17:31)? When you have already been placed in the field of virtue, why do you again strive to clothe yourself with the burden of worldly acquisitions, from which you freed yourself by renouncing the world? If then, being preempted by poverty, you had nothing to leave behind, all the more so now you should not acquire what you did not possess before. You, by the special free will of God, were prepared by poverty for renouncing the world, so that, unhindered by any chains of acquisition, you might come to Him more quickly. Besides, none of the poor should be humiliated because they have nothing to leave behind. For there is no one who has nothing to leave behind. He renounced all the possessions of the world who cut off the very passion for acquisition by the root.
We cannot preserve this virtue of non-greed or non-acquisitiveness intact and unimpaired unless we live in a monastery, and unless, according to the Apostle Paul, we are content with food and clothing (1 Tim 6:8).
Therefore, remembering the condemnation of Ananias and Sapphira, let us hesitate to retain something of what we are bound by the covenant to leave perfectly, intending to renounce the world. Fearing also the example of Gehazi, who was punished with incurable leprosy for the sin of avarice, let us fear to acquire what we did not have before. Also, terrified both by the crime of Judas and by his end, let us avoid with all our might the acquisition of money again, which we have renounced once and for all. Moreover, considering the mortality of our nature and the uncertainty of the hour of death, let us fear lest the Day of the Lord, which comes like a thief in the night, find our conscience defiled by the acquisition of even one coin. For, he alone will destroy all the fruits of our renunciation of the world and make what the Lord said to the rich man in the Gospel apply to us as well: You fool, this night I will require your soul from you; and whose will be those things which you have provided (Luke 12:20)!
Without thinking at all about tomorrow, let us never allow ourselves to stray from the monastic constitution. We will certainly never be able to do this, nor will we be able to live peacefully according to the rules of the monastic constitution, unless the virtue of suffering, whose source is none other than humility, is first firmly established within us.

FIGHTING WITH THE SPIRIT OF ANGER

In the fourth battle, we are faced with the task of uprooting the deadly poison of anger from the depths of our souls. For as long as anger nestles in our hearts and blinds the eye of our mind with a deadly darkness, we can neither acquire the right distinction between good and evil, nor the sharpness of honorable perception, nor the maturity of counsel; nor can we be partakers of life, nor fearlessly adhere to justice; nor receive true spiritual light, since it is said: My eye is troubled by anger (Ps 6:8); nor become partakers of wisdom, even if everyone considers us wise, since anger rests in the bosom of fools (Eccl. 7:10); nor achieve long life, even if other people consider us prudent, since anger destroys even the prudent (Prov. 15:1); nor be able to always keep the measure of justice well according to the manifestation of the heart, since an angry man does not work out the righteousness of God (James 1:20); nor to be able to possess important respect, as is common among the people of this life, even if we are considered important and respected by virtue of birth, since an angry man is not of good disposition (Prov. 11:25); nor to be able to possess maturity of counsel, even if we appear to be those who have acquired much knowledge, since an angry man does everything without counsel (Prov. 14:17); nor to be calm from unrest and confusion, nor free from sin, even if we are not disturbed at all by others, since an angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man reveals sins (Prov. 29:22).

Trying to justify this fatal disease of the soul, some try to minimize its inappropriateness by misinterpreting Scripture, saying: "It is not terrible if we are angry with our brothers who sin, since the Lord himself is angry with those who either do not want to know him, or do not want to honor him as they should, even if they do know him, as for example: And the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people (Ps 105:40), or, as in another place, where the prophet prays, saying: Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chastise me in your wrath " (Ps 6:2). They do not understand that by doing so they not only give people freedom to act according to passion to their own destruction, but also impiously attribute impure bodily passion to the infinite God, the source of all purity.
If these and similar passages in the Holy Scripture are understood literally, in a gross physical sense, it will turn out that God sleeps and wakes, that He sits and walks, that He is kind to some and turns away from others, that He approaches and moves away, that He has bodily limbs: head, eyes, hands, feet, and the like. He cannot avoid the ultimate error who understands all this literally about Him who, according to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures: is invisible, indescribable, and present everywhere. Likewise, one cannot attribute to Him, without blasphemy, the disturbance of anger and wrath. Under the name of bodily limbs and movements, God's attributes and His mental actions regarding us are designated, which we can more easily understand through comparison: eyes signify that God sees and knows everything; hands and feet His creation and deliberation, muscles His strength and omnipotence, etc. Likewise, when we read about the anger or wrath of God, we should be careful not to think of something that is encountered in man. By this we should understand as befitting God something that is alien to all anger, namely that He is the judge and justly requites everything that is not done rightly in this world. When reading sayings of this kind, we should fear the just punishment of God, and in every way guard ourselves from everything that is contrary to His will.
Therefore, a monk who strives for perfection and who wants to lawfully perform a spiritual feat should be alien to every movement of anger and rage. He should listen to what the Apostle Paul commands him: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice (Eph 4:31). Saying: Let all anger be put away from you, he does not exclude any movement of anger, even that which seems necessary or useful. A monk who rushes, if it turns out to be necessary, to heal a brother who has sinned should be careful not to become angry, lest, while he is anxious to heal one who is suffering from a slight fever, he fall into a still worse disease of blindness. For he who wants to heal the wound of another must be healthy and free from all disease, lest that gospel word be said to him: Physician, heal thyself (Luke 4:23), and also:And why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," when, behold, the log is in your own eye (Mt 7:3-4).
Regardless of the reason for which it has flared up in us, the movement of anger blinds the eyes of the heart. By imposing a veil on the sharpness of the mental vision, it prevents us from seeing the Sun of justice. It is the same whether the eyes are covered with gold or lead, or with some other metal: the value of the metal does not affect the difference in blindness. Moreover, anger also does us a very useful service if we are angry at the lustful movements of our heart and if we protest that in the recesses of our breasts there is a liking for what it is shameful to do, and even to say before men, and because of which we tremble with fear at the thought of the presence of angels and God Himself, who is everywhere and fills everything, as well as the all-seeing eye of God, from which no secrets of our conscience can be hidden. It is also useful when we are angry against anger itself, that is, because it has crept into us, inciting us against our brother. For then we reject its destructive suggestions with anger, not allowing it to hide in the secret places of our breasts to our harm. The prophet who resolutely rejected this passion from his feelings teaches us to be angry in this way. He did not even want to take revenge on his public enemies whom God had delivered into his hands. When Shimei loudly cursed him in front of everyone, throwing stones at him, and when Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, wanted to cut off his head as punishment for such an insult to the king, the blessed King David piously rebelled against such an intention, fearlessly preserving his meekness, and showing a model of humility and hard suffering, saying: What have you to do with me, sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse; for the Lord said to him: Curse David. Who then can say: Why do you do so? David also said to Abishai and all his servants: Behold, my son, who came forth from my loins, seeks my life, and how can this Benjaminite not? Let him curse, for the Lord has commanded him. Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction, and the Lord will repay me good for his cursing today (2 Sam 16:10-12).
In this way, we are allowed to be angry, but for salvation, that is, at ourselves and at the bad thoughts that come to us. Therefore, we can be angry at them, and not sin, that is, not put them into practice to our own destruction. The same meaning is expressed even more clearly in the following verse: Speak in your hearts and grieve on your beds (Ps 4:5). Namely, what you think in your hearts when you are suddenly overcome by disturbing thoughts, correct and smooth out with saving contrition, after having previously managed to silence every noise and unrest of anger through calm reasoning, which will be similar to lying down on a comfortable bed. Taking advantage of the lesson of this verse, the apostle Paul said: Be angry, but do not sin , and then added: Do not let the sun go down on your anger, nor give place to the devil. (Eph 4:26-27). If it is fatal to allow the Sun of righteousness to set in our anger, and if we, being angry, immediately give place to the devil in our hearts, why then does he earlier command us to be angry, saying: Be angry, and do not sin ! Does he not say the following: Be angry with your passions and with your anger itself, so that when you indulge in anger, the Sun of righteousness or Christ may not begin to set in your minds darkened by anger. For by His departure you would give place to the devil in your hearts.
In a figurative sense, under the sun we can understand reason. It is rightly called the sun because it illuminates all the thoughts and endeavors of our heart. On the other hand, under the prohibition of anger we should understand the command not to extinguish that light with the passion of anger, so that, with its setting, the darkness of turbulent unrest together with its culprit, that is, the devil, may not seize our whole heart. For then, enveloped in the darkness of anger as in a dark night, we would remain ignorant of what to do. Such an understanding of this passage in the Apostle Paul is handed down to us in the teachings of the elders. They do not allow us to allow anger to creep into our hearts even for a moment. They advise us to be careful in every way so as not to come under the condemnation pronounced in the Gospel: Everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be liable to judgment (Mt 5:22). Moreover, if it were permitted to be angry until sunset, the passion of anger would always rush to satisfy itself with its revenge, supposedly justified, before the sun sets in the west.
And what can be said of those whose implacability does not cease even after sunset, and who hold a grudge against those against whom they are angry for many days? They sometimes say that they are not angry, although their actions often openly reveal a great deal of resentment when, for example, they do not address someone with a polite word or when they do not speak with the usual courtesy. It seems to them that they are not wrong in this, since they do not seek revenge for their irritability. However, they simply cannot or do not dare to express it, while their hearts are boiling. By remaining silent, they survive it, thereby turning the poison of anger to their own ruin. They do not expel the bitterness of anger immediately with the strength of the soul, but simmer it over many days, and only in time do they tame it to some extent.
Does not he who does only what he can of what anger moves him to do satisfy his revenge and anger? So do those who restrain the movements of anger, not from a desire to be peaceful, but from the impotence to take revenge, although they vent it with what they can. Having no possibility of doing anything more to those against whom they are angry, they vent their anger by not speaking to them with ordinary kindness. Therefore, it is not enough to tame the manifestation of sin in action. Anger must be cast out of the secret place of the heart, otherwise, due to the eclipse of darkness, sound judgment and the light of knowledge will be lost, and a person will cease to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. For although it does not grieve those around him, hidden anger in the heart drives out the brightest radiance of the Holy Spirit, just as expressed anger does.
Can we think that God allows us to hold onto anger for even a minute, if we know that He does not allow us to offer the sacrifices of our spiritual prayers when we are aware not only that we are angry with another, but also when the other has something against us: Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Mt 5:23-24)? And how can we think that we are allowed to hold onto anger against our brother even until sunset (not to say for many days), if we are not allowed to offer our prayers to God even when he has something against us, and when the apostle Paul commands us: Pray always (1 Thess 5:7), and: Therefore I will that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without anger and doubting (1 Tim 2:8)? Therefore, if we keep such poison in our hearts, we are left with either never praying and being guilty before the apostolic and evangelical commandment, which commands us to pray constantly and in every place, or we are aware that, by pouring out our prayer regardless of the prohibition, we are in fact showing our arrogant disobedience in a spirit of rebellion, and not offering prayer to the Lord.
We do not need to dwell longer on the evangelical and apostolic commandments when the Old Testament, which seems to somewhat succumb to our weaknesses, warns against the same thing, saying: You shall not hate your brother in your heart (Lev 19:17), and again: The ways of those who remember evil lead to death (Prov 12:28), and again: You shall not be vengeful, nor bear a grudge against the children of your people (Lev 19:18). Do you see that here too, bad moods towards brothers are cut off not only in action, but also in secret thoughts, since it is commanded to root out hatred from the heart so that, not only would they not retaliate for an insult, but they would not even mention it.
Having felt a special inner impulse to correct our disordered and careless nature, and overcome by pride or impatience, we complain to ourselves that we lack the desert. By this we seem to mean that there, undisturbed by anyone, we would immediately acquire the virtue of patience, apparently justifying our inaction in taming the impulse of anger, and blaming the cause of its emergence on our brothers, and not on our own impatience. However, if we, in this way, attribute the causes of our disorder to others, we will never reach the necessary measure of patience and perfection. Do not place the work of correcting and calming your heart in the hands of the free will of another, who is not at all in our power, but keeps it in the good mood of his will. Our not falling into anger should not depend on the perfection of another, but on our own virtue, which is acquired not by the suffering of others, but by our own generosity.
Therefore, seeking the desert is fitting for the perfect and purified of all passions, who have eradicated all passions in communion with their brothers. One should not enter the desert out of a despondent flight, but out of a desire to reach the height of God's contemplation, since even the perfect cannot attain it without the desert. For the unhealed passions that we carry into the desert will remain hidden within us, but not eradicated. To those who are pure in heart, the desert provides the purest contemplation, and in the most faithful visions it reveals the knowledge of spiritual secrets, while to those who have not yet purified themselves it usually not only nurtures passions, but also intensifies them. In such a case, a person can appear to himself to be patient and humble until he sees or comes into contact with a person. But as soon as some occasion provokes it to action, it immediately returns to its former nature, that is, at that moment the passions that were hidden spring up in it, and like untamed horses fattened by long rest, with the greatest effort and fury break out of their prisons to the ruin of their rider. For, unless they have been previously cleansed, the passions act with greater fury in us after the cessation of the occasions of their manifestation and taming among men. And the very shadow of suffering, which, as it was imagined, we had apparently mastered by living together with our brothers, and which we showed, at the very least, out of respect for them and out of shame at appearing faint-hearted before everyone, we lose in the desert carelessness.
It is similar with poisonous snakes and wild animals, for while they are hiding in the desert, in their dens and hiding places, they do not bite, although not because they are harmless or have acquired good qualities, but because the desert forces them to do so. However, as soon as they seize the opportunity to bite, they immediately bring out and show the poison and the brutality that is hidden in them. Likewise, for those who want perfection, it is not enough not to be angry with people when they are not in communication and conflict with them, since anger is alive at that time: it has only been latent and is ready to attack anything at once. I remember how, living in the desert, I sometimes got angry with a pen for writing if I did not like its thickness or thinness, sometimes with a knife if it became dull when cutting and did not cut quickly, and sometimes with a flint if a spark of fire did not quickly fly from it when I was in a hurry to read. The movement of indignation sometimes rushed with such force that a curse was involuntarily heard from the mouth on a soulless thing, or inevitably on the devil, thus the disturbance would disappear and the soul seemed at peace. Therefore, in the work of improvement, it will bring little benefit to distance yourself from people against whom anger would be raised, if we do not first gain patience. Because the passion of anger can be expressed on silent things and on trifles. Remaining in our heart, it will not allow us to achieve a peaceful mood, nor to free ourselves from other passions.
Therefore, if we want to achieve the highest treasure of God, which is spoken of: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Mt 5:8), we are obliged to expel this passion not only from our actions, but also to remove it by the roots from the depths of the soul. For it will not do us much good to restrain the fury of anger in words and not to express it in deeds, if God, from whom the secrets of the heart cannot be hidden, sees it in the secret places of the heart. The word of the Gospel commands us to remove the roots of passions rather than their fruits, which, once the roots are removed, will no longer be born. In this way the soul will be able to abide steadfastly in all patience and holiness, since anger will not be removed only from the surface of our actions and deeds, but also from the secret places of our thoughts. Therefore, anger and hatred must be deadened, so that we do not fall into the sin of murder, which cannot occur without them. For everyone who is angry with his brother for nothing will be liable to the judgment (Mt 5:22), and: Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer (1 Jn 2:15). Namely, such a one in his heart wishes that the one he is angry with perish. And although people do not consider that he shed blood with his own hand or sword, the Lord, because of the passion of his anger, declares him a murderer. For he will repay everyone either with reward or punishment, not only for the deeds done, but also for the intentions of the will, as he himself says through the prophet: "I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming when I will gather all the nations " (Is 66:18). And the apostle Paul says:Since their thoughts accuse or justify each other on the day when God will judge the secrets of men (Rom 2:15-16).
Accordingly, the bearer of Christ's feat, who lawfully performs the feat, must root out the passion of anger from himself. For a perfect cure from this disease, the following treatment is necessary: ​​first of all, one should believe that it is not appropriate to be angry under any pretext, either for justified or unjustified reasons, knowing that, by the darkening of the original light that is in us by anger, by the darkening of the light of our heart, we will immediately lose both the light of distinguishing things, and the firmness of prudence and decency, and the measure of justice; next, we should hold to the conviction that if the spirit of anger remains in us, the purity of our spirit will inevitably be clouded, and it will no longer be able to become a temple of the Holy Spirit; and finally we should also remember that as long as we remain in anger we must not pray and pour out our petitions before the Lord. And, above all, having before our eyes the uncertainty of the limit of human life, we should constantly be aware that we may pass from the body any day. There neither the preservation of purity of chastity, nor the renunciation of all possessions, nor the contempt of wealth, nor the efforts of fasting and vigils will help us at all, since even because of anger and hatred the Judge of the universe threatens us with eternal torment.

FIGHTING WITH THE SPIRIT OF SADNESS

In the fifth battle we must avoid the sting of all-consuming sorrow. If it gains the ability to take possession of our heart, it makes it impossible to contemplate God. Having cast down the soul from the height of holy disposition, it weakens it to the end and suffocates it, not allowing it to pray with the usual liveliness of heart, nor to resort to the reading of holy books as a spiritual tool and medicine, nor to be calm and meek with its brothers, while it makes it impatient and murmuring towards obligatory acts of obedience. Having deprived it of all sound judgment and clouding its heart, it makes it frantic and intoxicated, and it crushes and strangles it with a fatal despair.

Therefore, if we wish to strive lawfully in the feats of spiritual warfare, we are obliged to treat this disease with equal care. As the moth eats away clothing, and the worm eats away wood, so sorrow eats away the heart of man (Prov. 25:21): so clearly and definitely does the Spirit of God express the power of a dangerous and destructive passion. Just as clothing eaten by moths is no longer of any value, nor is it fit for honorable use, and just as wood eaten by worms is no longer fit for the construction or decoration of any building, even a mediocre one, but deserves to be set aside for burning by fire, so too is the soul devoured by the bites of all-destroying sorrow no longer fit for the high-priestly garment, or the myrrh of the Holy Spirit, which descends from heaven first upon Aaron's beard, and then upon his garments, as it is said in the prophecy of Saint David: As the precious oil upon the head, which descends upon the beard, upon Aaron's beard, which descends upon the skirts of his garments  (Ps 132:2), nor for the building and adorning of the spiritual temple whose foundation was laid by Paul, the wise architect, saying: For you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you (1 Cor 2:16), for the construction of which the wood described by the bride in the Song of Songs is used, saying: The beams of our houses are cedars, our planks are cypress (Song 1:17 ). These are the kinds of trees chosen for the temple of God: they have a pleasant smell and do not rot, so that they do not succumb to decay due to age or to the rotting of worms.

Sometimes this disease is born from previous passions, from anger, lust, or greed, or when one loses hope in the mind of satisfying them by deeds or things according to their kinds; sometimes it is born without any visible reasons that could throw us into this ruin, or by the action of a cunning enemy, whereby such sorrow suddenly seizes us that we are not able to receive with usual kindness even the persons who are dearest and most necessary to us, and whatever they then say to us we will consider inappropriate and unnecessary, and we will not give them any kind answer, since all the pores of our heart are filled with the bitterness of gall.
This most clearly shows that the stings of sorrow do not always arise in us because of the guilt of others, but rather because of our own guilt, because we ourselves carry the causes of all sorrows within ourselves, or in the seeds of passions which, as soon as the rain of temptations falls on our soul, immediately spring up in their shoots and fruits. No one is ever forced into sin, even if the bad example of others incites to sin, but a person has a hidden structure of a certain sin in his heart. And, one should not believe that a person, for example, suddenly receives the passion of shameful lust without having previously possessed it, that is, when he looks at a beautiful woman and is overcome by her beauty. On the contrary, one should consider that he desired her because looking at her only brought to light the disease that was hidden inside. Therefore, we should primarily take care of purifying our passions and correcting our feelings and moods.
There is another type of sadness, and it is the worst, which does not put the intention of correcting life and purifying oneself from passions in the soul that has sinned, but the most destructive despair. It did not allow Cain to repent after killing his brother, nor Judas to seek means of correction after betrayal. On the contrary, it led him to suicide through the despair that it advised.
Sorrow can be useful to us only when we receive it, motivated either by repentance for sin, or by a burning desire for perfection, or by a vision of future bliss. The apostle Paul also speaks of it: For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be repented of; but the sorrow of this world produces death (2 Cor. 7:10).
However, this sorrow, which produces repentance leading to undoubted salvation, is obedient, courageous, humble, meek, pleasant, and patient, since it stems from love for God. From the desire for perfection, it tirelessly extends itself towards bodily self-mutilation and contrition of spirit, but at the same time somehow remains joyful and alive because of the hope of progress, due to which it retains all the pleasantness of cordiality and kindness, bearing within itself all the fruits of the Holy Spirit that the apostle Paul lists: Now the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control.(Gal 5:22). The sorrow of this world is extremely grumbling, intolerant, harsh, full of repulsive quarrelsomeness, fruitless sorrow and destructive despair. The one who is seized by it, it distracts and distracts from all interest and saving concern for himself. It not only cuts off the effect of prayer, but also devastates all the aforementioned spiritual fruits that godly sorrow usually makes possible.
Therefore, every sorrow that is not received for the sake of saving repentance, or out of zeal for perfection, or out of desire for future goods should be cut off as worldly and deadly and completely cast out, together with the spirit of fornication, avarice and anger.
We will be able to drive this most destructive passion out of ourselves if we constantly interest our soul with spiritual teachings, reviving it and raising it with hope and contemplation of future bliss. In this way we can overcome all kinds of sorrow: both that which arises from previous anger, and that which comes from the loss of income and the suffering of harm, and that which is born of insults inflicted on us, and that which arises from unreasonable mental disorder, and that which throws us into mortal despair. Always rejoicing in the contemplation of eternal future goods and remaining motionless in such a mood, we will not be downcast in spirit in unpleasant circumstances, nor exalted in pleasant ones, considering both the one and the other as insignificant and quickly passing.
(To calm the spirit of sorrow, read also in the 7th section the selection from St. Cassian – On the Struggle with Adversities and Temptations).

FIGHTING WITH THE SPIRIT OF LITTLENESS

Sixth, we have to fight against a passion that we can call despondency or sadness in the heart. It is related to sadness and is especially suffered by monks who perform asceticism in the deserts. It is the most unpleasant enemy of those who live in solitude. It disturbs every monk especially around the sixth hour (at twelve o'clock in our reckoning of time, or at noon) like a fever that attacks a sick soul at certain hours with its destructive effects. Some elders (Evagrius, Volume I, p. 631) call it the noon demon, which is spoken of in the 90th Psalm.

Having attacked the poor soul of a monk, despondency breeds horror at the place where he lives, disgust at his cell, and contempt for the brothers who live with him or at a short distance from him, representing them as lazy and completely unspiritual, while it makes him completely lazy and distracts him from the activities that usually interest him in his abode. It weakens his will to sit in his cell, prevents him from reading, makes him sigh and lament that he has lived so long without any progress and has not gained any spiritual fruit, and advises him to grieve because he remains in a deserted place, although he could govern others and be of benefit to many, and because he has not instructed anyone and has not given anyone spiritual birth by his teachings and teachings. Then it praises the monasteries that are far away from him, presenting the places where they are located as much more useful for spiritual progress, since they can help salvation more, while it presents the communion with the brothers there as the most pleasant and spiritually perfect. In contrast, the place where he is is presented as unbearable, reminding him that he does not receive any instruction from the brothers who reside there, while he obtains everything necessary for the maintenance of the body with enormous effort. Finally, it informs the hermit that he will not be able to save himself if he remains in that place, and that he will soon die if he does not leave his cell and immediately move to another place. After this, about the fifth or sixth hour, it brings his body to such weakness and to such starvation that it seems to him as if he were exhausted and worn out from a long journey and the most difficult labor, or as if he had endured a two- or three-day fast without taking any food. And, behold, he looks about him restlessly, sighing because none of the brothers come to him, often entering and leaving his cell, and, observing the sun, he has the impression that it is slowly moving towards the setting. In such unreasonable confusion of mind, he seems to be enveloped in darkness, and becomes incapable of any spiritual activity. He begins to think that he cannot be freed from such a temptation unless he visits one of the brothers, or unless he consoles himself with sleep. Then this destructive spirit begins to tell him that he should make necessary visits to the brothers, or to visit the sick who are near or far. He also instills in him the thought that he is obliged to find some relatives and visit them more often, and that it would be a great act of piety if he were to visit a pious woman, who has dedicated herself to God and is deprived of all help from her relatives, more often and bring her everything she needs, since her relatives do not care for her. He suggests to him that he should try harder in acts of piety of this kind, while sitting in a cell is fruitless and does not bring any progress.
Thus the poor soul, troubled, becomes entangled in the snares of the enemy until the monk, exhausted by the spirit of discouragement, either throws himself on his bed or leaves the confinement of his cell and seeks deliverance from temptation in a visit from one of the brothers. However, this visit, which he uses at present as a remedy, soon becomes in the hands of his adversary a means of causing even greater disarray. For the enemy will attack even more frequently and vigorously the one who, as he has learned in practice, turns his back on him as soon as the battle begins, and expects his salvation neither from victory nor from opposition, but from flight. For little by little, as he leaves the cell, he will begin to forget the main work of his vocation, which consists in striving for divine purity, which can only be achieved by daily residence in the peace and silence of the cell, and in the constant teaching of God. Thus, in the end, the soldier of Christ flees from his struggle, becomes entangled in worldly affairs, and is no longer pleasing to the King (2 Tim 2:4), whom he has promised to serve.
Blessed David very beautifully expressed all the harmful consequences of this disease in the following verse: My soul slumbers for discouragement (Ps 118:28). And indeed, at that time the soul, not the body, sleeps. For, wounded by the arrow of this destructive passion, the soul truly becomes drowsy for all efforts towards virtue and for the pursuit of its spiritual feelings.
Accordingly, the true soldier of Christ, who wishes to lawfully perform the feat in the struggle for perfection, should take care to drive this disease out of the hiding place of his soul. He should also boldly arm himself with opposition against this completely inappropriate spirit of discouragement, so that he may not fall from the wounding with the arrow of sleep, nor, like a fugitive, step out of the confinement of his cell, even under the justified pretext of piety.
For, whoever it begins to overcome from any side, discouragement leaves him to dwell in his cell without any success, making him lazy and careless, drives him out and makes him a vagabond and lazy for every good work, forcing him to constantly visit the cells of the brothers and monasteries, and to think of nothing else except where and under what pretext he will find an opportunity to eat his next meal. For the mind of the lazy one thinks of nothing else but food and his stomach. Meeting somewhere a friend in some man or woman, who is languishing in the same cold, he becomes involved in their works and needs. Little by little, having caught himself in such occupations that are harmful to his soul, and as if wrapped in the embrace of a serpent, he will never be able to separate himself from them, nor turn to the abandoned works of his former calling.
The spirit of discouragement in us, first of all, causes laziness, distracts us from action and teaches idleness. Therefore, the main action against it is not to give in and to sit behind the toil of one's hands. In this regard, we can accept as a medical prescription against discouragement what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about toil:But we beseech you, brethren, to be diligent in living quietly, and in minding your own business, and in working with your own hands (1 Thessalonians 4:10-11). He says: live quietly, that is, dwell in silence in your cells, lest you lose your inner peace from various stories, from which one who wanders about idle, cannot be saved, and begin to cause unrest to others. He then says: mind your own business, that is, do not, carried away by curiosity, worry about learning about the works of the world and examining the behavior of other brothers, lest instead of caring about your own correction and zeal for acquiring virtue, you get used to spending your time in judging and slandering your brothers. And, he also says: work with your own hands, that is, sitting in your cell, engage in manual labor. With this he cut off the very possibility of what he had previously rejected. He who loves to sit at work has no time to wander here and there, to investigate the works of others, to interfere in them and judge them. In the second epistle to the same Thessalonians he adds to this: Now I command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us (2 Thess 2:6). Here he no longer begs, but commands, and not in simple words, but in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. He thereby gives us to understand that this command is obligatory. From the further words it is clear that it is a commandment about labor. He who avoids it should not be received into the Christian community. Accordingly, he commands us to distance ourselves from those who do not want to labor. We should cut them off as limbs that have been injured by corrupt laziness, so that the disease of inactivity, like a deadly infection, does not spread to the healthy limbs of the body. And, in what has been said there is already a strong incentive to love work. However, he strengthens it even more by offering himself as an example for them to follow (2 Thessalonians 2:7). He says: While we were with you, we did not eat bread for nothing.(2 Thessalonians 2:8), although the Lord also commands that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14). If even the one who preached the Gospel and performed such a high spiritual work did not receive food for free, what shall we say in justification of our laziness, who are not commanded to preach the word and who have no other concern than the care of our own souls? With what hope do we dare to eat bread for free in laziness, which the apostle Paul, charged with the care of preaching the Gospel, did not allow himself to eat without the labor of his own hands? Moreover, so that his own example would not appear to be the only one, and so that it would not be proposed as a model for imitation by all, the apostle states that all who were with him also acted in this way. Namely, Silas and Timothy, who wrote this with him, were engaged in the same labors. Lest anyone think of distancing himself from following his example by representing that they all worked in silence, without intending to set an example that would oblige us to work, he says that, having the power not to work, they worked to make themselves an example to them: That you may imitate us (2 Thess 2:9). He seems to say: "If you have forgotten the sensible teaching that often enters your ears, at least keep in mind our examples that were presented to your eyes." Finally, after so many persuasions, the Apostle Paul no longer uses the advice of a teacher or a physician in relation to them, but the authority of the apostolic authority, saying: If anyone will not work, let him not eat (2 Thess 2:10)! This is a judgment against possible and foreseeable ones who despise these commandments, pronounced from the seat of the apostolic judgment.
And, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul wrote about the same effort, saying: Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need (Eph 4:28). And, in the Acts of the Apostles, we find that he not only learned, but also worked. Having arrived in Corinth, he did not want to stay anywhere else except with Aquila and Priscilla, who were masters of the trade in which he was usually interested, with the obvious intention of working together with them (Acts 18:1-3). Moreover, when, sailing to Jerusalem, he stopped at Miletus, he sent to Ephesus to call for the elders of the church at Ephesus. Giving them instructions on how to govern the church of God in his absence, he said that he did not ask them for money or clothing. On the contrary, his own hands served his needs and the needs of those who were with him. And he did this to show that one should strive in this way, helping those who have nothing and remembering the commandment of the Lord himself, namely that it is more blessed to give than to receive.(Acts 20:33-35). By giving an example of love for work, he also teaches that it is better to help the needy with what is acquired by sweat than with what has come into our hands in some other way. The monk who acts in this way will be adorned with a double virtue: by renouncing all things he will acquire the perfect poverty of Christ, and by his labor and disposition he will show the generosity of the rich, honoring God with his righteous labor, and offering him as a sacrifice the fruits of his righteousness.
The Egyptian fathers in no way allow monks, especially the young, to be idle. On the contrary, by their zeal for work they measure the state of the heart and the speed of progress in suffering and humility. They do not receive anything from food for their own use, but from their labors they feed the brothers who come and strangers, and send them to the places of Libya that are poor due to infertility and hunger. Even in the cities they deliver large quantities of food of every kind to those who suffer in filthy dungeons, believing that by such a sacrifice they are offering a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord from the fruits of their hands. On this subject the ancient Egyptian fathers have coined a saying: "A monk who works is tempted by one demon, but he who dwells in idleness is attacked by countless multitudes."
When I began to live in the desert, I told Father Moses (Livy, to whom the 1st and 2nd Books of Conversations belong) that yesterday I had been completely distracted by the impulse of despondency and that I had only been freed from it when I went to Father Paul. "No, you have not been freed from it," he told me, "but you have surrendered and submitted to it. For it will attack you even more strongly as a coward and a fugitive, seeing that in the first fight you allowed yourself to be defeated and that you immediately fled from the battlefield. Therefore, you should resolve to engage the enemy a second time and repel his fiery attacks, defeating him by suffering and resistance, and not by leaving your cell or falling asleep.'' Thus, experience has shown that one should not flee from attacks of despondency by avoiding combat with it, but rather that one should defeat it by courageously opposing it.

FIGHTING WITH THE SPIRIT OF VANITY OR GLORIA

Seventh, we have to fight against the spirit of vanity or ambition. It is diverse, changeable and subtle. It is difficult for even the sharpest eyes to consider and recognize it. Therefore, it is all the more difficult to protect ourselves from it. Other passions are simple and uniform, but vanity is complex and diverse. It meets the soldier from everywhere and on all sides during the battle, and when he already appears victorious. For it tries to wound the soldier of Christ with clothing, and stature, and gait, and voice, and work, and vigils, and fasting, and prayer, and solitude, and reading, and knowledge, and silence, and obedience, and humility, and good-naturedness. Like some most dangerous underwater stone, hidden beneath the rising waves, it suddenly brings to a terrible shipwreck those who sail with a gentle wind and at a time they least hope for.

Therefore, he who wants to walk the royal road with the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left should, according to the apostolic teaching, walk equally in glory and in shame, in reproach and praise (2 Cor 6:7-8), and with extreme caution direct his steps along the path of virtue, amidst the turbulent waves of temptation, under the guidance of discernment and the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord. He should know that he will immediately be smashed on the destructive underwater reefs as soon as he deviates even slightly to the right or to the left. That is why we hear the advice from the all-wise Solomon: Do not turn either to the right or to the left (Prov 4:27), that is, do not deceive yourself because of virtue and do not exalt yourself with your spiritual successes, nor turn to the left path of passions, seeking, as the apostle Paul said, glory in their disgrace (Phil 3:19). The one in whom he cannot arouse vanity by the beauty of stately and luxurious clothing, the devil tempts with his clumsy, untidy and worthless clothing; the one whom he has not succeeded in throwing into this passion by honor, he restrains by humiliation; the one whom he has not succeeded in persuading to exalt himself too much by much knowledge and the ability to speak beautifully, he hunts with silence. The one who fasts publicly is disturbed by vain glory, and the one who, out of contempt for such glory, begins to hide his fast suffers attacks of self-exaltation. In order not to be defiled by vanity, someone avoids saying long prayers before his brothers. However, starting to practice them in secret and having no one to witness his actions, he does not avoid trumpeting about it. Our elders (fathers) beautifully describe the nature of this disease, comparing it to onions and garlic, because no matter how much we remove one layer of the covering, another layer appears again.
It does not cease to drive away even the one who, fleeing from glory, hides in the desert, avoiding all intercourse with mortals. And the further a man flees from the world, the more he attacks him. Some of those who live in monasteries it tries to throw into pride by suffering in work and effort, others by readiness for obedience, still others by humility that surpasses all. One it tempts with many knowledges, another by long sitting at reading, still another by the length of vigils. This disease tries to wound everyone with his own virtues. Thus it prepares a stumbling block to ruin by the very means by which the fruits of life are acquired. For those who want to follow the path of piety and perfection, enemies or slanderers set up nets of deception on the very path they walk, according to the saying of the blessed David: In the path that I walk they have hidden a trap for me (Ps 141:4). Therefore, if, while we are walking the path of virtue and striving for the honor of a higher calling, we exalt ourselves by our successes, we will stumble and be entangled in the nets of vanity, having the feet of our soul bound. In this way, it happens that we are not overcome by the enemy, but we are overcome by the greatness of our victory over him.
When overcome, all other passions wither and become weaker every day. Also, under the influence of place or time, they wither and subside. In general, due to the struggle with the virtues that are contrary to them, they are easier to avoid and repel. However, this one, even when defeated, rises up to fight even more fiercely. And, when it is thought to have given up the ghost, it becomes even more lively, healthier and stronger through its death. Other passions have a tyrannical rule only over those whom they have defeated in the struggle. Vanity presses its victors even more fiercely. And the more it is defeated, the more strongly it fights with thoughts of excessive pride for the sake of victory over itself. The subtle cunning of the enemy is seen precisely in the fact that because of his tricks, a soldier of Christ falls from his own arrows, although he could not be defeated by the enemy's weapons.
Other passions, as we have said, are calmed under the influence of another place. Also, they are subsided and subside by being removed from the object of sin, or the occasions and causes of sin. But vanity also goes into the desert with him who flees from it. It is not afraid of any place, nor does it weaken by removing an object from the eyes. It draws courage precisely from the success in the virtue of the one it attacks. Other passions, as we have said before, sometimes weaken and disappear with time. And time, not only does not harm it, but even more gathers food for its vanity.
Finally, finding itself at war with virtues that are opposed to it and openly advancing, as in the daytime, other passions are easier to defeat and easier to keep at bay. Having pushed its way among the virtues and mixed with our army, vanity seems to enter the battle in the dark of night. It deceives all the more fiercely, the less one expects it and the less one guards against its attacks.
We read that Hezekiah, king of the Jews, a man perfectly just in all things, was struck down by a single arrow of excessive pride; that he who could have prayed for the deliverance of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers with one prayer was overcome by vain ambition; that he who was worthy of an extension of his life by 15 years through prayer (although God had already determined the limits of his life and the day of his death afterwards) and to whom the sun, by going back ten degrees, confirmed the miracle, lost everything for one excessive pride and self-deception. And, after the testimony of virtue and such a sign of God's will towards him, he subjected not only himself, but also all his people to the wrath of God. And, this wrath was so great that, even after humbling himself and pleading with God with all his people, he could only pray for the postponement of the wrath, that is, that it not come in his days (2 Kings 20:2). So fatal and grievous is the sin of the passion of excessive pride!
Hosea, the great-grandfather of the aforementioned king, who is also praised by the testimony of the Holy Scripture, had many virtues and many highly commendable deeds and ordinances for the good of the people. However, being carried away by vainglory, he offended the Lord his God with a deed that was not pleasing to Him. And, immediately he fell from the height of his glory and was punished with leprosy. Here is another example of a severe fall!
So, you see that happy successes can be disastrous, if a person does not guard against vanity and arrogance. Those who do not guard themselves and do not guard themselves and who avoid humility in difficult circumstances, suffer a greater defeat because of their victories. Having escaped the danger of death during the battle, they fall because of victory and celebration.
Therefore, the apostle Paul warns: Let us not be vain (Gal 5:26). Exposing the Pharisees, the Lord also says: How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that comes from the only God (Jn 5:44). Of such, blessed David speaks with threat: God scatters the bones  of those who rise up against you  (Ps 53:6).
Vanity usually inflates beginners and those who have made little progress in virtue and spiritual knowledge because of their voice, that is, because they sing better than others, or because of their thin body, or because of their beauty of body, or because of rich and noble parents, or because they despise military service and honors. It convinces another that if he had remained in the world, he would easily have acquired honor and wealth, although he could never have achieved them. In this way, it inflates him by offering him the sacrifice of uncertain hopes, persuading him to be too proud for leaving behind what he never had.
It instills in someone a desire for the priesthood or deaconry, representing in his mind that he would carry out his work with holiness and rigor, and would be an example of holiness to other priests, and useful to many by his conduct and the lessons he imparts. Sometimes even one who lives in the desert, or is alone in a cell, it causes him to imagine in his mind that he is visiting the homes of various people and monasteries and, by the action of his conceited beliefs, converting many to the path of a righteous life. And the wretched soul is led about by such vanity, fantasizing as if in a deep sleep. And, carried away by the sweetness of these thoughts and filled with such fantasizing, he is for the most part unable to notice either his own actions or the presence of his brothers who are really present. On the contrary, he is deliciously immersed in what he fantasizes in his waking state, wandering with his thoughts.
I remember that when I was living in the Scythian Desert, an old man approached the cell of a brother for a visit and heard something being said inside. He stopped, wanting to know what he was reading from the Holy Scriptures or what he was saying by heart, as was the custom when doing manual labor. Leaning his ear closer, the eager listener heard the brother giving instructions to the people as if he were in church. This meant that he, deceived by the spirit of vanity, imagined himself a priest and was performing his imagined work. After waiting a little longer, the old man heard that the brother had finished his instruction. Then he changed his duty and was already in the rank of deacon, beginning to announce: "Announced, come out." The old man knocked on the door. When he came out, the brother met him with the usual respect. Leading him inside, he asked if he had come long ago, pretending to be worried that, perhaps, he had had to stand outside for a long time and might suffer something unpleasant. In fact, he was exposed by his conscience because of his fantasies and because of what he did under their influence. The old man replied sweetly: "I arrived at the moment when you were announcing: Come out, you who have been announced."
I have cited this example so that, having before our eyes a complete education in the power and order of the attacks of passions on the wretched soul, we may better watch ourselves, and more easily avoid the traps and snares of the enemy. This is also the practice of the Egyptian fathers. Without hesitation, they bring everything to light and, by their stories about others and themselves, reveal and reveal to the young monks the struggles with all the passions, both those that the young already suffer and those that are yet to come. Through such an exposition of the temptations of all the passions, the novices who are burning with spirit learn the secrets of their current struggles. Seeing them as in a mirror, they understand the causes of the passions that fight with them, as well as the means to combat them. Likewise, they learn in advance about the battles that are yet to come, preparing to protect themselves from them, to enter into battle with them and to confront them. The most experienced physicians are accustomed not only to treat present illnesses, but also, according to their clairvoyant experience, to oppose future ones, removing them in advance with teachings or useful potions. So these very true physicians of souls, with their spiritual teachings, as with a kind of antidote, kill in advance the diseases of the heart that could come. They do not allow them to sprout in the souls of young monks, revealing to them both the causes of the attacks of passions, and useful means against them. Desiring to perform a true spiritual feat according to the law, a soldier of Christ should take care in every way to defeat this diverse and varied beast. First, we can avoid the very encounter with this complex unnecessaryness that is ready to rush against us from all sides. To achieve this, we need not, keeping in mind David's saying: The Lord scatters the bones  of those who rise up against you  (Ps 53:6) , and forbid us to do or undertake anything with a vain intent to gain vain glory. Then, what has been done with a good beginning should be preserved with similar or good care, so that the disease of vanity does not sneak in and destroy the fruits of all our efforts. In addition, what the brothers did not accept as a general custom, and what not all do, we should reject with all our strength as an act of boasting. We should avoid by all means that which can make us stand out among others and which, because it is unique to us, can bring us fame among people. This self-emphasis primarily reveals that we are suffering from the deadly contagion of vanity, although we could have avoided it if we had kept in mind the warning that we will not only completely lose the fruits of the efforts we undertake with vain intent, but also become guilty of a great transgression . Because, as thieves of the sanctuary, we will have to bear eternal torment. We have grieved God, and have desired to do the work for the sake of men, and not for Him as we ought to have done. In this we have preferred men to God, and the glory of the world to the glory of God. In this then will God, who knows what is hidden, reveal us.

FIGHTING AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF PRIDE

The eighth and final battle is before us with the spirit of pride. Although it is considered the last in the order of description of the battle with the passions, it is actually the first in terms of beginning and time. This is the most ferocious and completely untamable beast, which especially attacks the perfect. It devours them with a furious bite at the moment when they have almost reached the very peak of virtue.

There are two forms of pride: the first is that which, as we have said, attacks men of high spiritual life, and the second seizes beginners and carnal men. And although both forms of pride raise a pernicious haughtiness both before God and before men, yet the first is properly applied to God, and the second to men. The principle of the second and the means against it we will investigate, God willing, in the last chapters of this book, and now we would somewhat consider the first, by which, as we have said, the perfect are tempted first.
Evil pride is a passion which destroys all virtues, and strips and deprives a man of all righteousness and holiness. Like a kind of all-encompassing contagion, it is not satisfied with the weakening of only one limb, or one part, but wounds the whole body with deadly disorder. It also seeks to bring down those who are already at the height of virtue with an extremely heavy fall and to their utter ruin. Every other passion is satisfied with its limits and its own goal. And, although it disturbs others, it is directed mainly against one virtue, and it presses and attacks it primarily. Thus, the indulgence of the stomach, that is, the passion for overeating and the sweetness of taste, destroys abstinence, lust defiles chastity, anger pursues patience. Sometimes the one who suffers from one passion is not completely alien to the other virtues. By the loss of one virtue, which has been overcome by a zealously armed passion that is opposite to it, a person can to some extent retain the others. However, when it dominates a wretched soul and occupies the highest fortress of virtue, that is, humility, pride, like a most cruel tyrant, demolishes and destroys to the ground its entire city. Having leveled the once high rocks of holiness and mixed them with the soil of vice, it no longer allows a single sign of freedom to be preserved in the enslaved soul. The richer the soul he enslaves, the heavier the yoke of slavery to which he subjects it, stripping it of all possessions of virtue with the cruelest plunder.
If you wish to know more precisely the measure of the power of this most cruel tyrant, remember that as an angel, who was called the morning star (Lucifer) because of his excessive brilliance and beauty, he was cast down from heaven precisely because of this passion. Wounded by the arrow of pride, he fell from the highest rank of the blessed angels to the worst place or hell. Such a disembodied angel, adorned with such significant primacy, was cast down from heaven to earth for one exaltation of heart. How much more should we, who are clothed in mortal flesh, avoid pride with all vigilance. This only shows the magnitude of the fatal fall. And how we should avoid the most harmful infection of this passion, we will learn if we examine the principle and causes of the said fall. For impotence cannot be cured, nor can a remedy be prescribed for any disease, unless its principles and causes are first examined by careful research. Clothed with the light of God and shining more than other higher powers by the bounty of the Creator, this (archangel) imagined that the splendor of wisdom and the beauty of virtue, with which he was adorned by the grace of the Creator, he possessed by his own natural powers, and not by the gift of God. Being puffed up because of this, he began to consider himself equal to God. He thought that there was no need in anything, similar to God, and that in order to remain in such purity there was no need for God's help. Thus he completely trusted in the power of his free will, believing that through it everything necessary for complete perfection in virtue and for the continuity of the highest bliss would be provided to him in abundance. This one thought became for him the first cause of his disastrous fall. Thinking that he had no need for God, he was also abandoned by God, and immediately became unstable and wavering. Thus he immediately felt the weakness of his own nature and lost the bliss in which, by the gift of God, he enjoyed. For he loved the words of destruction, with which he magnified himself, saying: I will ascend into heaven (Is 14:13), and the lying tongue, with which, deceiving himself, he said: I will make myself equal with the Most High . With these he then deceived Adam and Eve, persuading them: You will be like gods. Therefore he heard the sentence: For this reason God will utterly destroy you: He will uproot you and remove you from your dwelling place, and your root from the land of the living. The righteous will see and fear, and they will mock him, saying: Behold the man who did not have God as his helper, but trusted in the greatness of his riches. He grew in his vanity (Ps 51:6-9). The last words of Behold the man can very justly be applied also to those who hope to attain the highest treasures without God's protection and help.
Here is the cause of the first fall and the principle of the main passion. Then, through the one who was first wounded by it, it crept into the first-created being and produced all the multitude of passions. And, the first-created being believed that only by the power of his free will and his own efforts could he attain the glory of God. In this way, he lost the strength that he had received through the Creator's kindness.
Such examples and testimonies of the Holy Scripture clearly prove that the passion of pride is the first in origin and the source of all sins and transgressions, although it is the last in the order of struggle. It does not destroy only one virtue, contrary to itself, like the other passions, namely humility, but at the same time it suppresses all virtues. And it does not tempt some mediocre and useless, but especially those who stand at the height of perfection. For thus the prophet speaks of this spirit: His food is choice (Hab 1:16). Blessed David guarded the secrets of his heart with great care. This shows the boldness with which he cried out to Him from whom the secrets of his conscience were not hidden: Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes are lofty, nor do I go to great things, nor to things too high for me (Ps 130:1), and again: He who clings to pride shall not dwell in my house (Ps 100:7). And yet, knowing how difficult it is for even the perfect to keep themselves from every movement of this passion, he did not rely only on his own efforts, but in prayer he asked for help from the Lord. He sought to escape the wounds from the arrows of this enemy, saying: Do not let the foot of the proud stand against me (Ps 35:12), that is, “Do not let me, Lord, take any step at the instigation of pride.” Namely, he feared not to be subjected to what is said about the proud: God opposes the proud (James 4:6), and again: Everyone who is proud in heart is unclean before the Lord (Prov 16:5).
How great an evil is pride. Neither angels nor other opposing forces can oppose it, but God Himself must oppose it. It should be noted that the apostle Paul did not say that those who are restrained by other passions have God as their opponent. He did not say: "God opposes the gluttonous, the sexually immoral, the angry, or the covetous," but only the proud. For these passions are directed either against those who sin only, or against their accomplices, that is, other people, and pride is especially directed against God. That is why he has it as an adversary.
We can avoid the snares of this completely unnecessary spirit if we say about every virtue in which we have progressed: Yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me , and: By the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor 15:10), and: For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). And the Savior of our salvation himself says: He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing (John 15:5), and the writer of the Psalms also sings: Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman does not sleep in vain. (Ps 126:1). For the will of those who desire and strive and are clothed in the flesh that fights against the spirit is not sufficient to achieve perfect purity and innocence, without the special covering of God's mercy, nor to obtain what is so strongly desired and sought for. For every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17). What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive, why do you boast as if you did not receive it (1 Cor 4:7).
I say this not because I want to demean human effort and separate anyone from careful and strenuous effort. On the contrary, I firmly assert, and not on the basis of my own opinion, but on the basis of the opinion of the fathers (elders), that perfection cannot be achieved without them. However, it cannot be brought to the appropriate level on the basis of them alone, that is, without the grace of God. Therefore, just as we say that human efforts alone cannot achieve it without God's help, so we assert that God's grace is given only to those who toil in the sweat of their brow, or, to use the words of the apostle Paul, only to those who want and who strive. In the 88th Psalm it is said in the name of God: I have sent help to the mighty, I have exalted my chosen one from the people (v. 20). We say according to the word of the Lord that everyone who asks receives, that it is opened to everyone who knocks, and that everyone who seeks finds. However, praying, knocking, and seeking are not enough in themselves without the mercy of God who grants what we ask for, who opens what we knock on, and who allows us to find what we seek. He is ready to grant us all this as soon as we give Him the opportunity and offer our good will. For He desires and expects our perfection and salvation much more than we ourselves. And blessed David became deeply aware of the impotence of achieving success in his work and effort by his own efforts alone. Therefore, he asked with a double prayer that the Lord himself would deign to correct his works, saying: And complete for us the work of our hands, and complete the work of our hands (Ps 89:17), and again: Establish, O God, what you have done among us (Ps 67:29).
Accordingly, we should strive for perfection, being zealous in fasting, vigils, prayers, and contrition of heart and body, so that, puffed up with pride, we do not make everything in vain. We should believe that by our own efforts and labors, that is, without the help of God's grace, we cannot achieve not only perfection, but also that in which we practice for its attainment, that is, feats and various spiritual activities.
We should always offer thanks to God, not only because He created us rational and endowed us with the ability of free will, because He bestowed upon us the grace of baptism and, as an aid, provided us with knowledge of the law, but also because He frees us by His daily providence from the attacks of the enemy, helps us to overcome the passions of the flesh, covers us from danger without our knowledge, protects us from falling into sin, helps us, enlightens us in the knowledge and understanding of the requirements of His law, secretly arouses in us contrition for our inactions and sins, corrects us in a saving way, deigns to visit us specially, and sometimes even against our will draws us to salvation. Finally, He directs our free will itself, which is more inclined to passions, to actions that are more beneficial to the soul, and turns it to the path of virtue, visiting it with His actions.
This is what humility before God really consists of, this is what the faith of the most ancient Fathers consists of, which even to this day remains pure in their successors. Of this their faith they give an undoubted testimony of the apostolic power, which was shown not only among us, but also among the unbelievers and those of little faith.
Jehoasaph, king of Judea, was at first a praiseworthy life. However, having become proud, he was given over to shameful and impure passions, according to the apostle's words: God gave them over to a debased mind, to do what is not fitting (Rom. 1:26-28). Such is the law of God's justice. He who unrepentantly puffs himself up with the proud haughtiness of his heart, gives himself up to the shame of the most abominable bodily shame, so that, humiliated, he feels that he has been defiled because he previously did not want to be aware of the deepest and most important impurity of proud arrogance, and that, having realized the misfortune, he is zealous to cleanse himself from other passions as well.
Therefore, it is obvious that no one can reach the ultimate degree of perfection and purity without true humility. Everyone should bear witness to this publicly before their brothers and sisters, and also before God in the secret places of their hearts, and believe that without His protection and help, which visit them at every moment, they cannot possibly achieve the perfection they desire and strive for with effort.
So far, as far as the scarcity of our gift has permitted, we have said enough with God's help about spiritual pride, which, as has been said, tempts the perfect. This form of pride is unknown to many, and is not tested by many, since few are those who take care to acquire perfect purity of heart. Few reach such struggles. Pride usually fights only with those who, having conquered all other passions, are almost at the very peak of virtue. Since he could not overcome them by leading them to a physical fall into sin, our most cunning enemy tries to defile and destroy them by a spiritual fall. He intends to deprive them of all the previous fruits, acquired with great effort through it. Besides, he does not tempt us, who are bound by physical passions, in this way, but stumbles us with a gross, bodily pride. Therefore, I consider it necessary, in accordance with our promise, to say something about the danger that primarily threatens us, people of our size, and especially the souls of young and novice monks.
If, after a bad and insufficiently zealous beginning of renunciation of the world, fleshly pride remains in the soul of a monk, he will not allow him to descend from his former worldly pride to the true humility of Christ. It will first make him rebellious and stubborn, not allowing him to be meek and kind. It will not allow him to keep pace with all his brothers, to live like others and to avoid self-promotion. It will especially not allow him to free himself, according to the commandment of our God and Savior, from all earthly acquisitions. Renunciation of the world is nothing other than the expression of mortification towards everything and the cross. It can truly begin and be built only on the basis of the awareness of spiritual mortality to all the works of this world, and on the faith that we must also die bodily every day. She, on the contrary, teaches man that a long life awaits him, presenting to him in advance various long-term illnesses. Hesitating with shame and embarrassment at the possibility of being left without anything and having to support himself from other people's resources, and not from his own, she advises him that it is much better to provide food and clothing from his own, and not from other people's, resources. In confirmation, she cites the saying: It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). However, those who have become fat and cold-hearted will never be able to understand the meaning with which it is said.
Therefore, a monk who has not begun his asceticism well will never be able to receive the truly simple humility of Christ. He will not cease to boast either of the greatness of his origin, or of being puffed up by a former worldly position which he has abandoned only in body and not in heart, or of the money which he has kept with him to his own peril, since because of it he can neither calmly bear the burden of the monastic order, nor submit to the instructions of any elder (spiritual father). He who is overcome by pride considers it humiliating to observe any rule of submission or obedience. He is even reluctant to listen to the general teaching about the perfection of the spiritual life. Sometimes he turns away from it altogether, especially when his conscience exposes him or when he receives the knowledge that it is deliberately directed against him. In this case, his heart becomes even more embittered and inflamed with anger. After that, loud speech, harsh words, stubborn answers with bitterness, haughty and rapid gait, uncontrollable speech appear in him. Thus it happens that spiritual conversation does not bring him any benefit. On the contrary, it becomes harmful for him, becoming an occasion for greater sin.
I heard an old man reprimand a young monk: "Why did you leave the humility that you showed for a while after renouncing the world, and begin to puff yourself up with the pride of the devil?" With extreme pride he answered him: "Was I in humility for a while that I should be subject forever?" At such an untamed and insulting answer, the old man was startled with surprise. His speech was cut off. He seemed to hear the words of ancient Lucifer himself, and not of a man. He could not utter a single word from his mouth against such insolence, but only let out sighs and groans from his heart. In silence, he repeated in his mind what was said about our Savior: Being in the form of God, he humbled himself and became obedient, not for a while, as the devil speaks, but even to death (Phil 2:6-8).
Carnal pride is expressed in the following works: its speech is accompanied by noise, its silence by boredom, its joy by loud laughter, its sadness by meaningless depression, its answer by sarcasm, its word by frivolity. Its words seem to be spoken without any participation of the heart. It knows no patience, and remains a stranger to love, bold in inflicting grief, faint-hearted in enduring them, hardly moved to obedience unless preceded by its own desire and will, unyielding to advice, incapable of renouncing its own will and submitting to others, stubborn in its decision, unwilling to yield to another. Having become incapable of receiving salutary advice, she trusts her own opinion more than the judgment of her elders (fathers).
Having descended such steps, he who has once been overcome by pride already turns away with horror from the strict monastic order. Considering that he is moving slowly on the path of perfection due to communion with his brothers, and that he is only slightly successful in acquiring patience and humility due to the guilt of others and obstacles on their part, he is tempted to live in a solitary cell or even to found his own monastery with the aim of attracting many to the strict life. And, he hastens to gather supporters of his teachings and teachings, and from a failed student he becomes a completely failed teacher.
Therefore, if we want our building or edifice to rise to the very top and be pleasing to God, let us take care to lay its foundation according to the exact gospel teaching, and not according to our self-pleasing will. According to him, such a foundation can be nothing other than the fear of God and humility, which is born of meekness in simplicity of heart. Humility cannot be acquired without renouncing everything. Without renouncing, we will not be able to establish ourselves in good obedience, in hard suffering, in unconfused meekness, or in perfect love. Without all of these, our heart cannot possibly become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. The Lord speaks of this through the prophet: To whom will I look, but to the meek and contrite of heart, who trembles at my word (Ps 66:2).
Therefore, a soldier of Christ, who legitimately performs a feat as a spiritual feat and who desires to be crowned with a crown from the Lord, should take care in every way to eradicate even this most ferocious beast, that is, pride as the destroyer of all virtues. He should be convinced that he will not be free from passion as long as pride is in his heart. On the contrary, even the little virtues he acquires will perish from its poison. For in our soul the edifice of virtue cannot be erected unless the foundations of true humility are first laid in our hearts. For only humility, as the most solidly constructed, can sustain the edifice of perfection and love that rises to the top. For this reason, it is first necessary that we show true humility before our brothers with a sincere disposition, not allowing ourselves to grieve or make them sad in any way. We will never be able to do this unless a true renunciation of everything for the love of Christ is deeply rooted in us. This renunciation consists in the complete deprivation of any acquisition. In addition, it is necessary that in simplicity of heart and without any hypocrisy we accept the yoke of obedience and submission so that, apart from the command of the father or elder, no other will lives in us at all. He will be able to do this only to one who has deadened himself to this world and who considers himself unreasonable and stupid without any thought, carrying out everything commanded by the elders (spiritual fathers) with the faith that everything is holy and revealed by God himself.
If we keep ourselves in such a mood, we will undoubtedly acquire an unclouded and unchanging state of humility. By it we will consider ourselves the least of all and patiently endure everything that happens to us, whether it be slander, torment or harm. And we will receive it as if it were imposed on us by our superiors as obedience or examination. And not only will we endure it with ease, but we will consider everything insignificant and useless, constantly remembering and feeling the sufferings of our Lord and all the Saints. For then the slanders that are made against us will seem to us all the lighter, the further we are from their great works and very fruitful lives. The enthusiasm for suffering that results from this will be even stronger if we think that we too will soon pass from this world and that after the quick end of our life we ​​will immediately become partakers of their blessedness and glory. Such a thought is fatal not only to pride, but also to all passions. It follows that we must maintain such humility before God with great rigor. We will achieve this if we hold to the conviction that on our own, that is, without His help and grace, we cannot do anything that would contribute to the perfection of virtue, and if we sincerely believe that even what we have managed to understand is a gift from God.

THE BATTLE WITH THOUGHTS AND THROUGH THEM WITH EVIL SPIRITS, WHICH ACCOMPANIES ALL OTHER BATTLE AND OUTSTANDS THEM ALL

Question: And, despite all my care, I see no success in establishing attention. The mind cannot possibly keep itself from wandering. Even when you feel that the heart is compassionately directed to a certain insight, the mind imperceptibly descends and with great speed falls into its usual wanderings. Countless times every day the mind is prey to its wanderings. Moreover, it is seized with despair that it will never achieve the desired correction of its impotence. It acquires the idea that the exertion of attention for the sake of this work is a useless effort, since the soul is rushing at every moment with rapid flights to distraction. Drawn by the fear of God to spiritual insight, the soul, however, before it is established, immediately loses sight of everything. Even if you anticipate its intention to wander and catch it at the very beginning, dragging it to the perspective from which it has begun to deviate, intending to bind it, as with some chains, with the greatest tension of the heart's attention, it still, during the very effort over it, manages to slip out of the inner sanctuary faster than an eel from the fisherman's hands. In this way, striving every day with all diligence to guard the thoughts, and seeing no success, you reluctantly come to the conclusion that the wanderings of thoughts do not originate from us, but from nature itself.

Answer: It is not without danger to draw conclusions so quickly, that is, before the work has been properly examined. Because of our own impotence or inability to succeed in something, we should not think that others cannot achieve success either. This would be the same as if someone, not knowing how to swim and stay afloat, concluded that no one's body can stay afloat in water and that, therefore, no one can swim. Since his body, due to its weight, cannot stay afloat in water, and since everyone's bodies are like his, he concludes that the very nature of the body is not capable of swimming. However correct such a conclusion may seem to him, experience does not justify it. Such is our judgment. Our mind by its nature cannot be empty. Unless he has carefully prepared objects in advance in which to practice his movements and in which he is constantly interested, he will inevitably fly everywhere because of his mobility, until by long practice and constant habit (which you call vain effort) he learns from experience that he must prepare in his memory the material around which to revolve in his tireless flights, and that through constant abiding in effort he will gain the strength to repel the contrary persuasions of the enemy by which he was previously distracted, fearlessly remaining in the desired state of undisturbed and inner peace. Accordingly, the instability of the disorderly wandering of thoughts is not to be attributed to the nature of man, or to God, its Creator. For the word of Scripture is true: God made man good, but they (i.e., people) search out all kinds of thoughts (Eccl. 7:30). Accordingly, the quality of thought depends on us. And, the Psalmist says: Blessed is the man whose counsel is in you, he has set it in his heart to go upward (Ps. 83:6). You see that it is in our power to place in our hearts either the ascent, that is, the thoughts that reach God, or the descent, that is, the thoughts that bring us down to earthly and bodily things. If thoughts were not in our power, the Lord would not have rebuked the Pharisees: Why do you think evil in your hearts (Mt 9:4). And through the prophets He would not have commanded: Put away your evil thoughts from before my eyes (Is 1:16), and: How long will evil thoughts dwell within you (Jer 4:14).
It is true that many vain thoughts disturb us against our will and deceive us almost without our knowledge. They enter us imperceptibly and cunningly. And, not only are we unable to prevent them, but we also notice them with great effort. However, everyone can accept them or reject them if, with God's help, they invest care and effort. Their emergence does not depend on us, but their rejection or acceptance lies in our will. After all, even in the development of thoughts, not everything should be attributed to their attack, or to the spirits who take care to sow them. On the contrary, it also depends on us, if not always, then for the most part, whether we will correct the quality of our thoughts, and whether we will take care that spiritual-holy thoughts sprout in our hearts instead of carnal, earthly thoughts. Bad thoughts are diminished and appear less frequently in one who is intelligently and diligently instructed in the Holy Scriptures, practices the Psalms and the singing of church hymns, performs the feat of fasting and vigil, remembers the future, that is, the Kingdom of Heaven and the fire of hell, and all the works of God. On the contrary, evil thoughts multiply in one who is interested in worldly cares and bodily works, and engages in vain and empty conversations.
The activity of our mind can be compared to a millstone that is quickly turned in a circle by a violent stream of water. Moved by water, it cannot stop turning. However, it is in the power of the miller whether to grind wheat, grain or tares. So too, our mind in the present life cannot be empty of the flow of thoughts, since it is constantly moved by streams of impressions directed at it from all sides. However, it depends on our will and decision which of them to accept. If, as has been said, we are constantly interested in the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, if we fill our memory with spiritual subjects, and if we have a desire for perfection and a hope for the attainment of future bliss, spiritual thoughts will arise in us, and our mind will move in constant thoughts about the subjects in which we have immersed ourselves. However, if, due to carelessness and indolence, we are interested in objects of passion and empty talk, or worldly and vain cares, thoughts will also be born in us, according to their fruits, like chaff, and very harmful work will be delivered to our heart, according to the words of the Savior: For where the treasure of your deeds and your care is, there your heart will necessarily be also (Mt 6:21).
It should be known that there are three sources of our thoughts, namely God, the devil, and ourselves. God deigns to visit us with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, arouses in us either zeal for greater progress, or contrition for slow progress and indulgence in laziness and carelessness, reveals to us the secrets of heaven, and turns our intentions to better works. Thus the Lord inspired Artaxerxes to seek the book of the chronicles from which he learned of the good deeds of Mordecai, and immediately changed his former cruel decision to destroy the Jewish people (Esther 6). Thus the apostles were promised: For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you. (Mt 10:20).
From the devil are thoughts that try to stumble us, arousing in us a passionate pleasure, or with the most cunning cunning presenting evil under the guise of good. For he transforms himself before us into an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). Thus he put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray the Lord (Jn 13:2), and of Ananias to lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3).
Thoughts arise from ourselves when we naturally remember what we have seen, heard, or done.
We should always keep this threefold cause of the arising of thoughts in mind and judge the thoughts that arise in the heart according to it. Accordingly, we should also relate to them. In this sense, we should imitate the experienced money changers who know exactly how to recognize whether it is gold, whether the coin is made of pure gold, or of copper resembling gold, whether it bears the image of the king and is legally represented, and whether the coin has a legal weight. Something similar in the spiritual sense we should do in relation to thoughts. First, we should comprehensively examine whether what has entered our heart is true or not. For example, if a teaching is proposed to us, we should examine whether it has been purified by the divine fire of the Holy Spirit, or whether it belongs to Jewish superstition, or whether it comes from an inflated worldly philosophy and only wears a mask of piety. By doing so, we will fulfill the apostolic instruction: Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. (1 John 4:1), and we will be out of danger of departing from the Truth. Those who did not take care to fulfill this precaution, were subject to a miserable apostasy from the faith. Sweet-talking seducers first attracted them to themselves with some pious feelings and reasonings, consistent with the holy faith, as with the brilliance of gold. Then they taught them wisdoms contrary to faith. Deceived by the original appearance, they did not subject them to a comprehensive examination. Having thus received false copper money for gold, they fell into heretical errors. Secondly, we should carefully consider whether we hear a false interpretation of Holy Scripture. For it may happen that it, imitating the pure gold of the true understanding of the words of God, tries to deceive us with the appearance of a precious metal to accept it with an admixture of copper of a falsely attributed meaning. Thus Satan tried to tempt the Savior Christ Himself. Thus he tempts us all, though not without success as with our Lord. Thirdly, we should be on our guard in every way lest the enemy, by distorting the precious teachings of Holy Scripture with cunning interpretations, succeed in leading us to an improper application and use. By covering up the deception by appealing to a tradition supposedly derived from the elders, he is as if illegally placing the royal seal on counterfeit money. He succeeds in this when he deceives us into tireless labors that are beyond our strength, into excessive vigils, into prayers without any order, into inappropriate reading. By seducing us with an alleged good, he leads us to an end that is harmful to the soul. He urges us to make unnecessary visits to drive us out of solitude and deprive us of blessed solitude or a life of silence and peace. He advises us to take upon ourselves the care of pious helpless women to ensnare us with disastrous cares. He encourages us to desire the priesthood under the pretext of teaching many and distracts us from our humble vocation. All such advice, disguised under the cover of charity, piety and higher progress, leads the inexperienced into deception. Outwardly they resemble the money of a true king, although they were minted by false spiritual smiths, and not by truly Orthodox experienced Fathers. They were minted by insidious demons to harm and ruin. The saying of Ecclesiastes can be perfectly applied to them: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the bottom of hell (Prov. 16:25). The last (fourth) observation of the experienced money changer concerns the examination of the weight of a coin. We will carry it out in our spiritual activity when we place the work that the thought advises us on the scales (bench) of conscience, and with all severity examine whether it has real weight, that is, whether it is heavy with the fear of God, whether everything in it is according to its meaning and significance, whether it is not made light by external appearance and novelty, whether its weight has not been diminished by vanity and whether it has not been destroyed by human glory. Having weighed and examined it by the testimonies of the apostles and prophets, we are obliged to accept it as in agreement with them, or to reject it with all severity as contrary to them and destructive to us.
Therefore, we should constantly observe all the hiding places of our heart, and with vigilant attention follow the tracks of those who enter, lest some mental beast, or the lion or the dragon itself, sneak in and, secretly sealing the fatal footsteps through our carelessness, open the way for others to enter the hiding places of our heart. By thus cultivating the soil of our heart every moment and every minute with the evangelical plow, that is, with the constant remembrance of the cross of the Lord, we will be able to destroy the dens of deadly beasts and the hiding places of poisonous snakes, and to drive them out of ourselves.
The image of the perfect mind (which has power over its thoughts) is beautifully presented in the face of the evangelical centurion. The moral strength that does not allow all thoughts to deceive us, but, according to its own judgment, receives good things and expels the contrary without any effort, is described in the story about him by his words (which, of course, should be understood in a figurative sense): For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it (Mt 8:9). If we courageously fight against disorderly inner movements and passions, if we subject them to our authority and our judgment, if we extinguish the lust that arises in our body, if we keep the disorderly crowd of thoughts under the yoke of the rule of reason, if we expel the crowds of evil enemy forces from the borders of our hearts with the saving sign of the Lord's cross, we would be introduced to the rank of captain in the spiritual sense. Because of such triumphs and victories, we too will rise to the height of his dignity and have commanding authority and strength. In it, we will no longer be attracted by thoughts that we do not want, but only by those that we spiritually delight in. Then we will be able to dwell in them and cling to them. We will command evil persuasions with authority: "Depart," and they will depart. In the same way, we will call good thoughts: "Come," and they will come. And we will show our servant, that is, our body, what it needs for purity and self-control, and it, declaring complete obedience, will do everything without any resistance, no longer provoking evil desires contrary to the spirit.
But how can we achieve this? This will come of itself if we are closely united with God. Then He will already work in us. The apostle Paul assures us of this, saying: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down thoughts (2 Cor. 10:4). No matter what we do to overcome our thoughts, we will not succeed until God Himself begins to work after uniting with us. Then even our weak means will become strong and all-conquering, destroying the strongholds of the enemy and defeating and expelling all thoughts. And the prophetic word will be fulfilled in us: Let the weak say, "I am able" (I have strength), and let the meek be strong (Joel 3:10-11), and what the apostle Paul says about himself: For when I am weak, then I am strong.(2 Cor 12:10). For then the power of God will be made manifest in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9). Accordingly, with all the will of our hearts we should direct ourselves to union with the Lord, so that what the blessed David inquired about may be fulfilled in us: My soul clings to you. And your right hand holds me (Ps 62:8). And each of us will begin to sing with him: How good it is for me to be near God (Ps 72:28). Of course, this requires constant effort and toil. But without them there is no success in any work. All the more so should we not expect it without them in such an important work. The perfection of any virtue cannot be achieved without effort, and no one can achieve peace of mind without the utmost effort of the heart. The word of the Lord directly applies to this: The kingdom of heaven is conquered with effort, and the ascetics seize it (Mt 11:12). In order for our spirit to attain to the perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13), and to become one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor 6:17), it is necessary that it should always be vigilant with great effort and be untiring in zeal. Having arrived at this, it can already solemnly rejoice with the apostle Paul: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13).
Therefore, all our attention should always be directed to quickly returning the thoughts from their wandering and circling to the remembrance of God. He who wants to erect and build a dome-shaped roof accurately, with a strip steadily draws a circle from the center, thus achieving the same roundness everywhere. Whoever tries to complete the work without this help will not be able to achieve the correct roundness without error, even if he possesses great skill, since he will not be able to determine with a single glance how much he has deviated from the circle. Likewise, if our spirit does not establish within itself, as an immovable center, the beloved memory of God, so that, secured by it, it visits all its works and labors at every moment, so that by it, as by a test, it determines the quality of its thoughts and deeds (it accepts some and rejects others), and by it, as by a true compass, it gives direction to everything it does, it will never be able to build the spiritual edifice as it should, the architect of which is the Apostle Paul (1 Cor 2:10). It will then not be able to give the house the beauty of which the blessed David, desiring to present it to the Lord in his heart, says: Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house, and the place where your glory dwells (Ps 25:8), but will unwisely build in its heart an ugly house, which is unworthy of the Holy Spirit and which is always prone to collapse. And it will not be glorified by the indwelling of the blessed inhabitant, that is, the Holy Spirit, but will submit to a sad collapse.
The dark forces act on us primarily through thoughts. Of course, it would be easier for us to cope with them if we were not constantly and in large numbers surrounded by enemies who do not wish us well. However, this is not something to be terrified of. It is true that enemies constantly besiege us. However, they only sow and arouse evil in us, without having the power to force us to do it. For if they were given the power to forcibly drag us into evil, and not just to persuade us to do it, no man would be able to avoid sin that would correspond to the sinful desire they would kindle in our hearts. However, we see that they are given the opportunity to arouse us, just as we are given the power to reject them and the freedom to agree with them. And why be afraid? Moreover, to him who fears their violence and attacks, on the other hand we propose God's protection and God's help, which is stronger than them, as it is said: For greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). His intercession fights for us with a power that is incomparably greater than that with which the enemy rises up against us. For God not only inspires good works, but also supports them and brings them to completion. He sometimes draws us to salvation without our will and our knowledge. Therefore, it is obvious that the devil can deceive only those who of their own will give him consent. Sirach clearly expressed this in the words: Judgment on evil deeds is not swift. Therefore the heart of the sons of men does not fear to do evil (Sir 8:11). It is obvious that everyone sins because, when evil thoughts attack him, he does not immediately resist with opposition. For it is said: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
Someone may wonder how evil spirits enter into communication with the soul. They imperceptibly converse with it, sow in it whatever they wish, see its thoughts and movements, and use them to its detriment. However, there is nothing unusual in this. A spirit can enter into communication with a spirit and secretly influence it, encouraging it to do what it wants. For there is a certain similarity and affinity of nature between them, as between men. But it is perfectly impossible for them to enter into one another and for one to dominate the other. This can only truly be attributed to God.
The above does not contradict what happens to those who are tormented by demons, that is, when they are possessed by unclean spirits, they say and do what they do not want to, or are forced to utter words that they do not understand. However, it is certain that not everyone is influenced by spirits in the same way. Some are so overcome by them that they are not at all aware of what they are doing or saying, while others are aware and later remember what happened. Both are due to the influence of an unclean spirit. However, it should not be thought that, by uttering words and speaking through the mouth of the one who is suffering, he permeates the very essence of the soul or that he merges with it and clothes himself with it. They cannot do this. This actually happens in the following way: by seizing the organs through which the soul acts, and imposing an unbearable weight on them, the unclean spirit covers the rational feelings of the soul with a terrible darkness and interrupts their activity. This, however, as we see, sometimes happens from wine, and from fever, and from excessive cold, and from other diseases that come from without. Lest the devil should think of doing the same to blessed Job, having gained power over his body, the Lord threatened him with a special commandment, saying: Behold, I deliver him into your hands, but only spare his soul (Job 2:6). He seems to say: "Only do not make him foolish, do not disturb the seat of his soul, do not attack his reason and do not injure his organ of reason, for with it he must oppose you."
In this way, the spirit somehow mixes with coarse and hard matter, that is, with the body, and this very easily. However, it does not follow from this that it can unite with the soul, which is also a spirit, so as to make it, like the body, the seat of its being. This is possible only for the Holy Trinity, who not only encompass every rational nature, but also permeate it. Only God is everywhere and in everything, so that He sees all our thoughts, all our inner movements, and all the secrets of our souls. And there is no substance hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and revealed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Heb 4:13). He justly searches hearts and minds (Ps 7:10).
But how do unclean spirits know our thoughts? They do not read them directly in the soul, but recognize them by their expression in external sensory expressions, that is, from our words and deeds. However, they cannot possibly penetrate thoughts that have not yet emerged from the interior of the soul. Even whether and how the thoughts that they themselves plant in us are received, they learn not from the soul itself, and not from the completely internal movements that secretly occur in it because of them, but from their expression outside the soul. Thus, for example, they know that a monk, in whom they have sown the thought of pleasing the stomach, has received the desire to please the stomach if they see that he has begun to look out the window at the sun, or that he is wondering what time it is. And it is not surprising that the forces of the air (demons) acquire such knowledge, when we see that even intelligent people manage to learn the state of the inner man by the eyes, face, and other external signs. Of course, those who, as spirits, are undoubtedly much more subtle and perceptive than men, can have all the more accurate knowledge.
It should be known that not all demons inflame all the passions in men, but that a certain spirit takes care of each one. For some of them delight in impure and shameful lusts, others love blasphemy against God, others in anger and rage, a fourth console themselves with sorrow, a fifth in vanity and pride. And each sows in the heart of man the passion with which it particularly delights. However, they do not all arouse their passions together, but alternately, according to the time, place, and suitability of the one being tempted.
Moreover, it should be known that they are not all equally evil and equally strong. Weaker spirits are released upon beginners and the weak. If they are overcome, stronger ones are sent. In this way, the soldier of Christ, in proportion to his progress and the increase of spiritual strength, must endure greater and greater struggle. And none of the saints could possibly bear the wickedness of such and so many enemies, or withstand their attacks and fierce fury, if our most merciful advocate Christ were not always present in our struggle, equalizing the strength of those who fight, repelling and taming the sudden attacks of the enemy and making an end of temptation, so that it can be endured (1 Cor 10:13).
Demons do not have the power to harm every man. This is clearly demonstrated by the example of the blessed Job, whom the enemy did not dare to tempt more than was permitted by the will of God. This is also testified by the confession of evil spirits, which is included in the Gospel stories: If you cast us out, let us go into the herd of swine (Mt 8:31). Therefore, without God's permission, they did not have the power to enter even into unclean and unreasonable animals. All the more so should we believe that they cannot enter into any man, created in the image of God, of their own will. For if they were given the power to tempt and embitter every man at will, none, not only of the young monks, but even of the perfect elders, would be able to endure life in the desert, being surrounded by crowds of evil enemies.
It is also known that unclean spirits enter the bodies of the possessed only after they have taken possession of their minds and thoughts. Having first deprived them of the fear of God, the remembrance of God, and spiritual instruction, they boldly attack them. And, since they are disarmed and deprived of God's help and protection, they easily defeat them. In the end, they establish a dwelling place for themselves in them, as in a place that has been given over to their power. Moreover, it is also true that they torment more severely, excessively, and disastrously those whom they have not conquered physically, but spiritually. These are precisely those who have been caught in the net of their passions and desires. For, according to the words of the Apostle Peter, by whom a person is conquered and enslaved (2 Pet 2:19).
Holy Scripture testifies that two angels, a good one and an evil one, are inseparably present with each of us. The Savior says about the good: See that you do not despise one of these little ones; For I tell you that their angels in heaven always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven (Mt 18:10), and blessed David: The angels of the Lord encamp around those who fear him, and deliver them (Ps 33:8). What is also testified to in the Book of Acts of the Apostles about Saint Peter: It is his angel (Acts 12:15). Both angels are spoken of at length in the Book of the Shepherd. If we consider the one who sought access to blessed Job, we will clearly understand that it was the one who always attacked him, although he could never induce him to sin. For this reason he asked the Lord for power over him, confessing that until then he had been defeated by the intercession of the Lord (who always protected him with his covering), and not by his own strength. And, of Judas it is also said: And let the devil stand at his right hand (Ps 108:6).

COMBATING ALL KINDS OF SORROW THAT COMES FROM TRIBULATIONS AND ATTACKS

In Palestine, in the deserts between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, barbarians suddenly attacked the monks, and killed many. How could God allow such an evil deed to be committed against His servants? This question usually troubles the souls of those who do not have much faith and knowledge and who think that the virtues and exploits of the Saints are rewarded in this temporal life. And we, who not only in this life hope in Christ, so that, according to the Apostle Paul, we are not more miserable than all men (1 Cor 15:19), should not fall into the error of such opinions. Otherwise, it can happen that, due to an incorrect determination of the truth in relation to such events, we become terrified and confused by the temptations that also meet us, that we turn our feet from the path of justice (Ps 72:2), or, which is terrible to say, that we attribute to God injustice and carelessness about human actions, that is, as if He does not deliver holy people who live righteously from temptation, and that He does not repay good with good and evil with evil in the present life. By doing so, they would deserve condemnation with those whom the prophet Zephaniah threatens in the name of the Lord, saying: I will take revenge on those who say in their hearts: " The Lord does neither good nor evil " (S of 1:12), or they would submit to an equal share with those who utter blasphemy against God with complaints: He who does evil is good before God and he is pleased with him. And where is the God of justice , adding another blasphemy against God that the prophet describes: We serve God in vain. And what is the benefit of keeping what he commanded, and of walking as prayer-bearers before the Lord Almighty? For we praise others, the workers of iniquity prosper, and those who oppose God are saved (Mal 3:14-15). Therefore, to avoid ignorance, which is the cause and root of the worst, that is, of every error, we must first know exactly what is truly good and what is evil. Then, adhering to the true definition of Scripture, and not to the false opinion of the crowd, we will no longer be deceived by the error of unfaithful people.

Everything that exists and happens in the world can be one of three: good, evil, or something in between. Accordingly, we need to find out what is actually good, what is evil, and what is in between so that our faith, being surrounded by accurate knowledge, may remain unshakable in all temptations. In human actions, nothing should be considered essential good, except for the virtue of the soul that brings us to God with sincere faith and encourages us to constantly cling to the unchangeable good. And, conversely, nothing should be considered evil except sin, which separates us from the good God and binds us to the evil devil. The middle, however, is that which can belong to both sides, judging by the characteristics and disposition of the one who uses it. These include: wealth, power, honor, physical strength, health, beauty, life or death itself, poverty, weakness of the body, slander, and other similar things. Therefore, according to the characteristics and disposition of the one who uses it, it can serve both good and evil. For wealth, according to the apostle Paul, can often be used for good. He commands the rich of this world not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us all things richly for our use, to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold on eternal life (1 Tim 6:17-19). However, it turns into evil when it is gathered up to be hoarded and buried in the ground, as the heathen do, or when it is wasted on luxury and comfort, and not for the benefit of those in need. Likewise, power and honor and physical strength and health are something intermediate and can be used for both good and evil. This easily explains the fact that many of the saints in the Old Testament, having mastered all these things, were very pleasing to God, and that, on the contrary, those who used them badly and turned them to serve their bad inclinations, were justly punished or given over to death, as the books of the Kingdom often relate. In the same way, understand other intermediate things, that is, that they are not true good (which consists in virtues), but something indefinite. For they are useful and beneficial for the righteous who use them for just and necessary works, giving them the opportunity to gather good fruits for eternal life, while for those who use them badly they are useless and destructive, leading them only to sin and death.
Keeping firmly in mind this distinction between things and deeds, knowing that there is no true good except virtue (which comes from the fear of God and love of God), and that nothing is truly evil except sin and separation from God, we will now examine with all our attention whether God has ever, either by Himself or through someone else, done evil to any of His Saints? Without a doubt, you will not find such a thing anywhere. For it has never happened that someone else led a man to sin unless he willed evil and opposed it. And if he fell into sin, it means that he had already conceived it within himself due to the carelessness of his heart and a depraved will. Wishing to throw righteous Job into this evil, that is, into sin, the devil used all the snares of his wickedness: he deprived him of all his wealth, defeated his children with death, and covered him himself from head to foot with sores that caused unbearable pain. However, he could not possibly defile him with sin. Despite all this, Job remained steadfast and did not speak foolishly against God (Job 1:22), that is, he did not fall into blasphemy.
However, as God himself says about himself: I am the one who builds peace and creates evil (Is 45:7)? And, the prophet testifies about him: Can there be disaster in a city, and the Lord does not do it (Am 3:6)?
The Holy Scripture sometimes uses the word evil to designate painful cases not because they are truly evil by nature, but because they are perceived as evil by those to whom they are sent to benefit. For, speaking to people, the Word of God necessarily speaks in human words and with human feelings. So also the salutary cutting and burning, which the doctor does with good intentions on a body suffering from dangerous injuries, the sick person considers an evil that he must endure. Spurs are not sweet to a horse and correction to a person who sins. And all disciplinary strictures seem bitter to those who are undergoing a training course, as the apostle Paul says: For no chastisement for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous; but afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. He also says: For whom the Lord loves he chasteneth; and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. For what son is he whom a father chasteneth not (Heb 12:6-7;11)? In this way, the word evil is sometimes used in the sense of sad cases, according to what is said: And God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them, and did it not (Jonah 3:10). And again: For I knew that thou art a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and of great mercy, and that repentest of evil (Jonah 4:2), that is, of the sad privations and miseries which thou art forced to bring upon us because of our sins. Knowing that they are useful to some, another prophet, out of a desire for their salvation, and not out of hostility toward them, prayed: Add evil to them, O Lord, add evil to the glorious ones of the earth (Is 26:15). And the Lord himself says: Behold, I will bring evil upon you. (Jer 11:11), that is, sorrow and destruction. Salvationally punished by them at the present time, you will be forced to turn at last and hasten to me, whom you forgot in the days of your happiness. Because of this, we cannot consider them to be intrinsically evil, since they serve many people for good and lead to receiving eternal joys. But let's go back to the question. Everything that we usually consider evil, what our enemies do to us, or what defeats us in some other way, we should not consider evil, but something intermediate. And then it will no longer be as the one who inflicted it in a spirit of anger considers it, but as the one who suffered it feels it. Therefore, when death happens to a holy man, one should not think that evil has been done to him, but something in between. Because it is evil for the sinner, and peace and freedom from evil for the righteous. Death is rest for the righteous man, whose way is hidden (Job 3:23). A righteous man will not suffer any harm from such a death. For nothing unusual has happened to him. What was to happen to him by natural necessity, he received through the malice of his enemies, and not without benefit for eternal life. Debt The price of human death, which had to be paid by the inevitable law of our present existence, he paid with the rich fruit of suffering, acquiring a pledge of a great reward.
However, this does not absolve the guilt of the evildoer. The wicked lawless one will not go unpunished because he has done evil. He could not do any substantial harm to his righteous one. For, suffering is the virtue of the righteous. It brings reward not to the one who inflicted death or suffering, but to the one who patiently endured them. One will deservedly suffer punishment for bestial cruelty, while the other will suffer no punishment at all. intrinsic evil. By the courage of his spirit, patiently enduring temptations and sufferings, he turned everything that was inflicted on him with evil intentions to his own good and to the increase of his blessedness in the future life.
Job's suffering did not earn a good reward for the devil, who made him famous with his temptations, but to him who bravely endured them. And, Judas will not be granted deliverance from eternal torment because his betrayal served to save the human race. For, one should not look at the fruit of the deed, but at the disposition of the one who does it. That is why we We should be firmly convinced that no one can harm a person unless they are drawn to it by the weakness of their own heart and discouragement. Because the apostle Paul also confirms in one verse: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God (Rom. 8:11). ,28). For, saying: All things work together for good, he includes everything together, not only what is considered happiness, but also what is considered misfortune. And, in another place, the same apostle says that he went through both:With the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left, that is, in glory and in shame, in reproach and in praise, as deceivers and true, as unknown and known, as dying and here we are alive, as punished but not killed, as sorrowful and always rejoicing, as poor and making many rich (2 Cor 6:7-10). Accordingly, both what is considered happiness and which the apostle classifies on the right side, designating it with the words of glory and praise, and what is considered misfortune and which he classifies on the left side, designating it with the words of shame and reproach, become weapons of righteousness for the perfect man. He generously bears the sorrows inflicted on him, using them as weapons against those who attack him. He arms himself with them, as with a bow, a sword and the strongest shield against those who inflict them on him, perfectly demonstrating his patience and courage. He shows the most glorious state of his fearlessness through the very arrows of the enemy that mortally strike him. In this way, he is neither exalted by good fortune, nor does he fall in spirit because of misfortune, but walks on the right path and the royal road. From such a peaceful state of heart, he will not turn to the right when joy comes, nor turn to the left when misfortune strikes and sorrow comes. Great peace have those who love your law, O Lord, and they do not stumble , testifies Saint David (Ps 118:165). Of those who change at the coming of every chance, according to their characteristics and differences, it is said: The fool changes like the moon (Sir 27:11). Of the perfect and wise it is said: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God . Of the weak and unreasonable it is declared: Go away from a foolish man, for you will not hear wise words (Prov 14:7), since he neither uses pleasure for his own good, nor corrects himself because of inconvenience. The moral strength that is needed to bravely bear sorrows is also needed to maintain moderation in joy. He who is thrown off the track by one of these accidents will undoubtedly be unable to resist any of them. After all, happiness wounds a person more than misfortune. For misfortune sometimes tames and humiliates, even against his will. By bringing us to a saving contrition, it either inspires us to sin less or compels us to correct ourselves completely. Happiness, inflates the soul with fatal, though pleasant, flatteries, and with terrible devastation, brings to dust those who, because of happy successes, consider themselves secure.
Such perfect men are figuratively called double right-handed in the Holy Scripture. Such was Ehud, as it is written in the Book of Judges, who used both hands as his right (Judges 3:15). We will also master such perfection in the spiritual sense if we turn both happiness, which is considered the right side, and misfortune, which is called the left side, to the right side through good and proper use. Thus, everything that happens to us would be for us, according to the Apostle Paul, a weapon of righteousness. In our inner man we perceive two sides, and so to speak, two hands. And, none of the saints can have both the one we call the right and the one we call the left hand. Perfection, his virtues are recognized by the fact that he turns both into the right hand, using both well. In order for us to understand more clearly what is at stake, I will say: a holy man has the right hand when he shows spiritual successes; when, burning with spirit, he rules over all his desires and lusts; when, being free from every attack of the devil, he casts off and cuts off bodily passions without the least effort or discomfort; when, having risen from the earth upwards, he looks upon all present and earthly things as a fleeting smoke and a desolate shadow, despising them as quickly passing away; when in the rapture of the mind he not only ardently desires the future, but also clearly sees it; when he is most truly nourished by spiritual contemplations; when he clearly, like an open door, perceives the mysteries of heaven; when he offers prayers to the Lord purely and fervently; when, inflamed with the fire of the spirit, he moves with all the efforts of the soul into the invisible and eternal, in which he thinks that he is no longer in the body. He also has a left hand when he is surrounded by storms of temptation; when he is inflamed by the attacks of lustful impulses towards bodily desires; when he is incited to untamed anger by the fire of irritating trouble; when he is encouraged by his loftiness to pride or vanity; when he is overcome by the sorrow that brings death (2 Cor 7:10); when he is saddened by attacks of insidious despondency; when, after the departure of all spiritual fervor, he dies due to coldness and some inexplicable sadness, whereby not only good thoughts, which kindle inner zeal, depart from him, but also the Psalms and prayer and reading and the solitude of the cell become terribly anxious for him and all the instruments of virtue meet with some unbearable aversion and repulsion. When all this assails him, the monk should know that he is being pressed by the left side.
Therefore, he who, as we have said, is not overcome by the vanity that comes upon him, nor who, fighting bravely, does not fall into despair because of what belongs to the left, will use both hands as his right. Having proved victorious in both actions, he will receive a crown of victory, both from his left and from his right state. Such a crown, as we read, was deserved by the blessed Job, who crowned himself with a crown for the right action: being a rich and prominent father of seven sons, he daily offered sacrifices to the Lord for their purification, desiring to make them pleasing and related not so much to himself as to God; his doors were open to every comer; he was the foot of the lame and the eye of the blind; the sheepskin of his sheep warmed the shoulders of the weak; he was a father to the orphans and widows; he did not even rejoice in his heart over the destruction of his enemy. The same Job, acting with his left hand, with incomparably high courage won victory over troubles; having lost seven sons in one moment, he, as a father, did not grieve with great sorrow, but as a servant of God, was calmed by the will of his Creator; having become from the richest to the poorest, from the most abundant to the most naked, from the healthy to the leper, from the famous and glorious to the humiliated and despised, he preserved the courage of his spirit unblemished; having finally deprived himself of all his possessions and wealth, he became a place of pus, and like some most cruel torturer of his body, he scraped the squeezed pus with a tile, and plunged his fingers into the depths of the wounds that covered all parts of his body and pulled out the worms. In all this, he did not blaspheme God in the least, and did not murmur against his Creator in anything. Moreover, not at all afraid of the burden of the most severe temptations, he tore off and threw away the very garment that covered his body, and which alone could be preserved from the devil's plunder because it was on him, adding a willful nakedness to that with which his fiercest captor had defeated him. He even cut off the hair of his head, which remained as the only intact sign of his former glory, and threw it to his tormentor. He thus cut off what the most ferocious enemy had left him, and with a heavenly voice declared the joy of his glorious victory over him: We have received good from God, and shall we not receive evil? Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. As it pleased the Lord, so it is done. Blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 2:10; 1:21). Among the double right-handed I will justly include Joseph, who in happiness was pleasing to his father, full of respect for his brothers, gentle and pleasing to God, and in adversity blameless, faithful to his master, the most meek in prison, not holding grudges against insults, a benefactor to his enemies, and towards the envious brothers who almost became his murderers, not only tender-hearted, but also richly merciful. He and those like him are justly called double right-handed, since they use both hands as if they were the right. Going through the trials listed by the apostle Paul, they can say like him: With the weapons of righteousness, the left and the right, in glory and dishonor, in reproach and praise . We too will be double-handed if neither abundance nor scarcity of transitory goods changes us, that is, if neither abundance leads us to the pleasures of harmful debauchery, nor scarcity to despair and murmuring, but if in both cases, giving thanks to God, we draw equal fruit from both the pleasant and the unpleasant. Then we will become truly double-handed, as the teacher of the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul, was, who testified about himself: I do not speak of this because of want, for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in everything and in all things I have learned the secret of both being full and hungry, of abounding and suffering. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:11-13).
Temptation, as we have said, is twofold, namely through pleasant and unpleasant. The reason why people are tempted is threefold: mostly for testing, sometimes for correction, and not infrequently for punishment for sin.
Thus, for testing, as we read, Abraham and many Saints endured countless sorrows, similar to Job. For his sake, the Jewish people were also subjected to temptations in the desert, as Moses says in the book of Deuteronomy: And remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not (Deut. 8:2). And, in the Psalm it is mentioned: I tested you at the waters of Meribah (Ps. 80:8). That Job underwent all that he endured precisely for this reason, God Himself testifies directly, saying: Do you think that I have done all this to you for no other reason than to prove you righteous (Job 40:3)?
For the sake of correction, this happens when the Lord, rebuking His righteous for some small and slight sins, or for pride in personal righteousness, allows various temptations. By these they are purified in the present time from all impurity of thought and by them every impurity that is seen in their interior is burned up (Is 1:25), so that in the future examination they will appear like pure gold, and that nothing will remain in them that, after the examination by the fire of Judgment, would need to be purified by the burning of punishment. In this sense it is said: Many are the afflictions of the righteous (Ps 33:20), and also: And you have forgotten the counsel which speaks to you as to sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor turn away when he rebukes you. For whom the Lord loves he rebukes; and he scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom the father does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, which all have experienced, then you are bastards and not sons (Heb 12:5-9). And in Revelation it is said: Those whom I love I rebuke and correct (Rev 3:19). To such, in the sight of Jerusalem, the word was addressed from the face of God through the prophet Jeremiah: And I will make an end of all the nations among whom I have scattered you, but I will not make an end of you, but I will correct you in judgment (Jer 30:11). For such salutary correction David prayed: Examine me, O Lord, and try me. Prove my reins and my heart (Ps 25:2). Understanding the salutary nature of such a trial, the prophet Jeremiah also cries out: Chasten us, O Lord, but with due measure, and not in your anger (Jer 10:24). Likewise, Isaiah says: I bless you, Lord, because you were angry with me, but you turned away your anger and had mercy on me (Is 12:1).
The blows of temptation are also sent because of sin. Thus the Lord threatens to send blows to the people of Israel, saying: I will send the teeth of beasts upon them with the fury of those who crawl on the earth (Deut 32:24). And, in the Psalms it is said about them: Many are the wounds of the sinner (Ps 31:10). And, in the Gospel it is mentioned: Behold, you have become well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you (Jn 5:14).
There is also a fourth reason why suffering is sent to some, known from Holy Scripture, and that is the manifestation of the glory and works of God. Thus the Gospel speaks of the man blind from birth: Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God might be manifested in him (Jn 9:3). And, of the illness of Lazarus it is said: This illness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it (John 11:4).
There are other kinds of divine punishments, by which those who have exceeded the highest degree of evil are defeated, and by which they were condemned, as we read, Dathan, Aviron, and Korah, and primarily those of whom the Apostle Paul speaks:God gave them over to a depraved mind to do what is not fitting (Rom 1:26-28). This should be considered the most severe of all punishments. The Psalmist also says about them: They are not in the works of men, nor are they toiled with other men (Ps 72:5), since they do not deserve to be saved by the visitation of the Lord and to receive healing through temporal punishments. For they, having become dull, have given themselves over to licentiousness, working all uncleanness with greediness (Eph 4:19) due to the hardness of their hearts from a long stay in constant sin, which exceeds all measures of purification and revenge in the very short period of life in this life. The Word of God also rebukes such people through the prophet Amos: I overthrew you as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a brand plucked from the fire. Yet you did not return to me, says the Lord (Amos 4:11). He speaks also through the prophet Jeremiah: I will destroy my people, because they do not return from their ways (Jer 15:7), and in another place: You have struck them, but they do not feel pain; you have crushed them, but they do not accept instruction. Their face is harder than a stone, and they do not return (Jer 5:3). Nevertheless, having given all the saving medicines as the most experienced Physician, and seeing that there was no longer any remedy for healing that could be applied to their wounds, the Lord seemed in a way to be overcome by the greatness of their injustice. Being forced to withdraw from merciful punishment, He declares to them, saying: My zeal will depart from you, and I will rest, and will no longer care (Ezek 16:42). Of others whose hearts have not been hardened by frequent sins, who have not yet deserved the most severe and extirpating punishment, but are capable of receiving punishment for the sake of salvation, it is said: I will rebuke them, and they will hear of their suffering, that is, I will reason with them, causing them to hear of the troubles that threaten them (Hos 7:12).
How to acquire and preserve patience and kindness? True patience and kindness cannot be acquired or preserved without humility of heart. When patience flows from this source, in order to avoid sorrow from inconvenience, it will be necessary neither to shut oneself up in a cell, nor to hide in the desert. Having established itself in the depths of the soul in the virtue of humility, its mother and guardian, patience will no longer need external help. Therefore, if we are disturbed by some insult, it is obvious that the foundation of humility is not firmly established in us. Therefore, our inner structure, when the slightest storm blows, undergoes a devastating earthquake. Patience is not praiseworthy and admirable in the case when inner tranquility is preserved due to the absence of the enemy's arrows. On the contrary, it is magnificent and glorious when it abides fearlessly despite the storm of temptations directed at it. And when, apparently, it collapses and shakes, it becomes more solid. And, by that, he is more perfected, by which he seems to weaken. For, it is not unknown to anyone that suffering got its name from enduring grief. Therefore, he who endures with sorrow everything that seems to him cannot be declared patient. Therefore Solomon deservedly praises the patient: Better is a man who is slow to anger than a mighty man. And he who rules his own heart is better than he who takes a city (Prov. 16:32). He also says: He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is hasty in spirit shows folly (Prov. 14:29). Therefore, it happens that someone experiences slander and is set on fire by anger. Then the insult inflicted on him should not be considered the cause of his sin, since it is exclusively an occasion for the manifestation of the illness or anger hidden in him. Such is the meaning of the Savior's parable about two houses, one founded on stone, and the other founded on sand. The attack of water and a storm of winds was directed at them with equal force. However, the consequences were different. For the house founded on solid rock suffered no damage from the mighty blow, while the one founded on loose sand immediately collapsed. And it apparently collapsed, not because it was subjected to an external blow, that is, from the waters that were directed at it, but because it was unwisely established on the sand. Likewise, the holy man does not differ from the sinner in that he is not subjected to strong temptations, but in that even great temptations do not overcome him, while the sinner falls even from small ones. And, as we have said, the courage of the righteous would not be commendable if he were victorious without temptation. Moreover, there would be no victory if there were no enemy attacks. For blessed is the man who endures temptation, because when he has been tested, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him (James 1:12). And the apostle Paul says that the power of God is not manifested in peace and comfort, but in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). For thus says the Lord to Jeremiah:For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against all this land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you (Jeremiah 1:18-19).
I would like to present to you at least two examples of such suffering. One was shown by a pious woman. Wishing to perfect herself in the virtue of suffering, she not only did not flee from temptations, but even sought to be embittered. No matter how often she was grieved, she did not fall into temptation. This woman lived in Alexandria and came from a well-known family. In the house left to her by her parents, she devoutly served God. Having once come to Archbishop Athanasius, she asked him to give her one of those widows who were supported at the expense of the church to provide for her support and tranquility: "Give me one of the sisters, whom I may appease." Praising the woman's good intention and her diligence in the work of mercy, the saint ordered that a widow be chosen from all who would surpass all in honorable character, seriousness and kindness, so that the desire of the one who shows mercy would not be suppressed by the bad habit of the one who uses it, and so that the one who shows mercy, being grieved by the bad nature of the widow, would not suffer harm in faith. So, having received the chosen one, she brought her into her house and began to serve her in everything. However, seeing her modesty and quietness, and receiving from her every minute respect out of gratitude for her work of charity, she came to the aforementioned saint again a few days later and said: "I have asked you to order that someone be given to me whom I may appease, and whom I may serve with full obedience." At first he did not understand why she was saying this and what she really wanted. Thinking that her prayer had been ignored due to the carelessness of the overseer of widows, he asked with some mental confusion the reason for such an omission. However, he was told that the most honorable widow had been sent to her. Then he, understanding what this wise woman was asking for, ordered that the worst of all widows be given to her, who surpassed all others in anger, quarrelsomeness, stupidity, chatter and vanity. When they found and gave her such a one, she, taking her into her house, began to serve her with the same or even greater diligence. In gratitude for these services, she received from her only grief, humiliating scolding, evil words, insults. Rebuking her, the widow muttered with malicious mockery that she had asked the bishop for her, since he did not make her peaceful, but tormented her. She, allegedly, had taken her from a peaceful life and led her to a difficult one, and not from a difficult one to a peaceful one. Such grief, this woman sometimes extended to blows with her hand. However, that lady served her with even greater humility, learning to overcome her anger not by opposing, but rather by humbly submitting herself. She tamed her anger with humane meekness. Having been fully established in patience by such experiences and having attained perfection in the desired virtue, she went to the aforementioned saint and thanked him for his wise choice and for training her in charity in the true sense, and for having, in perfect accordance with her desire, indicated to her the most worthy teacher,whose constant sorrows daily strengthened her in suffering and I attained the height of virtue. ''Father, for the sake of peace you have finally given me such as I wished to have. She was the first to appease and console me with her respect for me, before I did her.'' This is enough to say about the female sex, that by the memory of such a deed we not only edify ourselves, but also shame ourselves. For we cannot preserve suffering unless we shut ourselves up in a cell.
We will also give another example of Father Paphnutius, who lived in perfect solitude in the famous Scythian Desert, where he is still a presbyter. Being still a young monk, he shone with such gracious holiness that the greatest elders of that time admired his progress. And, regardless of the fact that he was younger than all, they compared him with the elders. So they decided to include him in the figure of the elders. When this became known, the envy that had once stirred the souls of the brothers against Joseph, with its poisonous fire, inflamed one of the Scythian brothers against him. He planned to stain his glory with some stain of shame. Having waited for the time when Paphnutius went to church on Sunday, he secretly entered his cell and among the baskets that are usually woven there from palm fronds, hid his book. Then he himself went to church, satisfied with his cunning. After the end of the Sunday service, in front of his brothers Saint Isidore, who was then a presbyter, he complained that a book had been stolen from his cell. This complaint disturbed everyone, especially the presbyter, and they did not know what to think, nor what to do, being defeated by a new and unprecedented transgression. Then the prosecutor demanded that all the brothers stay in the church, and that they send a select few to search all the cells. When the three elders, chosen by the presbyter, had searched all the other cells, they came to the cell of Paphnutius. And, in it they found a book hidden among palm baskets, where the addict had hidden it. Taking it, they immediately brought it to the church and placed it in front of everyone. Although Paphnutius, because of his clear conscience, was convinced that he had no part in the sin, as if he were guilty of theft, he presented himself to the judgment of the elders, declaring his readiness to bear whatever punishment was imposed on him and asking that a place of repentance be appointed for him. He said nothing in his defense out of shy modesty, fearing that, while trying to wash away the stain of theft with words, he would also incur the condemnation of lying, since no one considered anything other than what had been revealed. When the examination was over and the verdict was passed, he left the church, not fainting in spirit, but entrusting himself to the judgment of God himself. He began to offer repentance, intensifying his prayers with abundant tears, tripled his fasting, and appeared before the people with the greatest humility of spirit. Having thus subjected himself to every contrition of body and spirit during the expiration of almost two weeks, he came to church early on the Sabbath or Sunday morning, not to receive Holy Communion, but to stretch himself out at the church door and humbly ask for forgiveness. However, not suffering him to further contrive himself and to be humiliated by others, God, the witness and knower of all hidden things, compelled the devil to reveal what the inventor of evil, the dishonorable thief of his own property, the cunning slanderer of others, had done without any witnesses. For, possessed by the most furious demon, he himself revealed all the cunning of his secret deception. And so he who was the counselor of the evil deed and conspiracy, became at the same time the treacherous proclaimer.Then this unclean spirit tormented the wretched brother greatly and for a long time, so that not only the prayers of the other saints who were there and who had the gift of God's power over demons, but also the special grace of Isidore the presbyter could not drive him out. Nor could he drive out this most furious tormentor, although, by the grace of the Lord, he was given power over them, since the insane were healed even before they were brought to his door. And this was because Christ the Lord reserved this glory for Paphnutius, so that the slanderer might be healed by the prayers of the one against whom he had plotted, and receive forgiveness of sins and deliverance from present punishment, by proclaiming the name of the one whose glory he, as an envious enemy, wanted to darken.
Two reasons have led me to relate this incident to you: first, that by contemplating the fearless fortitude of that man, we show all the more fearlessness and patience if we submit to minor attacks from the enemy; and second, that on the basis of them we may arrive at the firm conviction that we cannot be safe from the storms of temptation and the attacks of the devil unless we place the entire protection of our suffering and all our hope in the strength of our inner man and not in the prison of a cell, in the solitude of the desert, in the community of saints, or in anything that exists outside of us. For unless the Lord, who said in the Gospel: The kingdom of God is within you , (Luke 17:21), strengthens our spirit by the power of his intercession, we hope in vain to overcome the attacks of the enemy (who is in the air) either by the help of the people who live with us, or by withdrawing to distant places or by going away into the desert, or by hiding behind stones and roofs or by locking ourselves in a cell. For Paphnutius had all this, and yet the tempter found a way to attack him. This utterly evil spirit was not repelled from him by the protection of the rocks, nor by the solitude of the desert, nor by the intercession of so many saints in that community. However, since he did not place the hope of his heart in anything external, but in the Judge of all things hidden, this holy servant of God could not possibly be shaken by the wiles of such an attack. 

Likewise, did not he who was driven by envy into such a transgression benefit from the beneficence of the desert, the enclosure of a distant dwelling, and the community of blessed Isidore, father and presbyter, and other saints? And yet, when it found him fortified on the sand, the devil's storm not only dealt a strong blow to his house (the inner structure), but also completely destroyed it. Therefore, let us cease to seek the foundation of our undisturbed inner peace outside ourselves, and to expect that the helplessness of our suffering can be helped by the suffering of others. For as the Kingdom of God is within us, so a man's enemies are his own household (Mt 10:36). And no one opposes me more than my own feelings, which are my closest household. Let us take more care of ourselves, lest our own household hurt us. For when our own household does not rise up against us, then the Kingdom of God dwells within us in undisturbed peace of mind. And if we diligently consider the causes of what happens within us, we will find that we cannot be wounded by any, even the most malicious, man, unless we ourselves rise up against ourselves by the unrest of our heart. And if we are wounded, the cause is not to be sought in an attack from without, but in our own impatience. Thus solid food is beneficial to the healthy, but harmful to the sick. It cannot injure the one who receives it, unless his weakness adds strength to inflict injury.

ON GOD'S GRACE AND FREE WILL AS FACTORS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

We should always be firmly convinced that we can never achieve perfection through our own efforts and exploits, even if we practice every virtue with all our untiring effort. Human
efforts do not have sufficient value and strength to elevate us to the heights of holiness and bliss. It is necessary for the Lord to help us and direct our hearts towards what is beneficial for us. Therefore, we are obliged to cry out to the Lord at every moment, together with David: Establish my feet in your paths, that they may not slip (Ps 16:5). It is necessary for the invisible Leader of the human spirit to turn our free will towards virtue, which, partly due to ignorance of good, partly due to the temptation of passion, is more prone to vice. This was expressed very clearly by the prophet in one verse of the song: Rejected, I leaned over to fall, but the Lord took me up (Ps 117:13). The first half of the verse signifies the weakness of our will, and the second the ever-ready help of the Lord. Every time we begin to doubt, He extends His hands to us, supports us and strengthens us. Otherwise, left to our own free will, we would fall with a perfect fall. In fact, not a single righteous person has enough strength within himself to acquire righteousness. He constantly doubts and is ready to fall at any moment. Therefore, the Lord's grace supports him with His hand. Otherwise, having exposed himself to a fall due to weakness of will, he would completely perish. Will anyone be so self-confident and blind as to think that there is no need for God's constant help, when the Lord Himself clearly teaches in the Gospel: Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. For without me you can do nothing (Jn 15:4-5)? In fact, how unreasonable and even blasphemous it is to attribute good deeds to one's own efforts, and not to the grace and help of God! And the Lord's saying testifies that without His help no one can bear spiritual fruit!
Therefore, we believe that by a special inspiration from God, both the beginning of a good disposition and the practice of virtues are laid in us. Our effort consists in obeying God's inspirations with greater or lesser readiness and in receiving His help. We deserve a reward or a worthy punishment, depending on whether we are negligent or take care with pious obedience to conform to the commandments and providence of God, which extends to us by His free will. This was clearly shown in the healing of the blind men of Jericho. The incident of the Lord passing by them represented the grace of God's providence and deviation. Their cry: Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David (Mt 20:31) was a work of their faith and hope. And again, the restoration of sight itself is an expression of God's mercy.
Even if he works hard to cultivate the land, the farmer cannot expect a bountiful harvest unless the rain falls on the cultivated land in due time and the weather is favorable. Therefore, just as God does not give fruit to lazy farmers who do not care about cultivating their land, so too will the self-sacrificing ones benefit from their daily worries unless God’s mercy helps them. And in the work of living according to God, it is the same: our effort is also needed, although without the help of God’s grace we will not succeed in anything. We should confess that God is the original culprit not only of deeds, but also of good thoughts, because He also inspires us with His holy will, and gives us strength and a suitable opportunity to carry out what we rightly desire. For every good gift and every perfect present is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17).
The will of God always wants that the man whom God created should not perish, but should live forever. If He notices in our heart even a spark of disposition toward good, God, in His kindness, does not allow it to be extinguished. Desiring that all may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, He helps in every way to turn it into a flame. The grace of God is near to all. It calls all without exception to salvation and the knowledge of the truth, for it says: Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).
The human mind cannot understand how salvation also belongs to our will, since it is said: If you are willing and obedient to me, you shall eat the good things of the earth (Isaiah 1:19), and at the same time it is not the work of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy (Romans 9:16). It does not understand how God has to repay each one according to his works, and at the same time He is the One who works in us both to will and to do of His free will (Philippians 2:13). He wants to understand why we are commanded to make ourselves a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek 18:31), when at the same time we are told: And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek 11:19). These doubts will not be difficult to resolve if we understand that both the grace of God and our free will participate in the work of our salvation. Namely, although sometimes we may desire virtue, man will not be able to acquire it without God's help. Even for a sick person, it is not enough to just want to be healthy, but God, the Giver of life, must give the strength to restore health. To be perfectly convinced that even good desires, which arise from the natural ability given to us by the mercy of the Creator, can be fulfilled only with God's help, we should remember the words of the Apostle Paul: For to will is present with me, but to carry out what is good I do not find (Rom 7:18).
Many ask when grace works in us, is it when good desires are expressed in us, or are good desires expressed in us when God's grace visits us? Experience justifies both, because Saul and Matthew the tax collector did not desire Christ themselves, but only after the call. Zacchaeus and the thief on the cross anticipated the work of grace with their desire. This is how it should be considered, because when He sees that we want to do good, God directs and strengthens our readiness. If we do not want good, or have grown cold towards Him, He gives us saving inspirations, through which good dispositions are formed or renewed.
193. We should not think that human nature is capable only of evil. The Creator has sown the seeds of all virtues in our souls. However, for them to grow, God's help is necessary. Likewise, in man there is always free will to receive or not to receive the workings of grace. If the construction of our salvation did not depend at all on us, the apostle Paul would not have said: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling . However, if it depended only on us, he would not have added: For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13). The grace of God also precedes us, for the prophet says: My God, and his mercy precedes me (Ps 58:11), and it follows our will, which is why he says: And in the morning my prayer precedes you (Ps 87:14).
The grace of God always directs our will in a good direction, although it also demands or expects appropriate efforts from us. In order not to give its gifts to the negligent, it seeks an occasion by which it can awaken us from cold indifference. And so that the generous manifestation of its gifts would not be done without reason, it manifests them according to our desire and effort. Yet, in all this, grace is always given as a gift, since our small efforts are rewarded with immeasurable generosity. Therefore, no matter how great they may be, all human efforts cannot prevent grace from being given as a gift. Although he said that he had worked harder than all the apostles, the apostle Paul nevertheless adds that the efforts did not belong to him, but to the grace of God which was with him (1 Cor 15:10). Accordingly, by the word: I have worked hard , he expresses the effort of his will, by the words: Not I, but the grace of God which helped God , and by the words: Which is with me, that grace helped him when he worked hard, and not when he lived in negligence and carelessness.
God works out our salvation in various and incomprehensible ways; in those who desire and seek salvation He strengthens the desire, and in those who have no desire He arouses the intention. He helps the fulfillment of our salvific desires, inspires holy desires and establishes them. For this reason we call Him in our prayers both protector and savior and helper. He, like the all-merciful Father and the suffering Physician, does all things in all: in some He initiates the beginning of salvation and kindles zeal for Him, and in others He brings the work to completion and virtues to perfection; He keeps some from imminent fall, and gives others opportunities for salvation; He helps those who desire and strive, and others, who do not want and oppose, He attracts and turns to a good disposition. He always does everything by initiating, helping, and establishing, although without violating the freedom He has given us.

ABOUT PRAYER

As our absolutely main goal and the pinnacle of perfection, we should set constant prayer, which relies on peace of mind and purity of heart. For their sake we should bear the corruption of the body and hold on to contrition of heart. The connection between all these efforts and prayer is inseparable and mutual. Because, just as the collection of these virtues leads to perfection in prayer, so prayer, as their conclusion and crown, makes them firm and steadfast. Just as constant, pure and undisturbed prayer cannot be acquired and perfected without them, so also those who go ahead in arranging their lives according to God cannot reach perfection without constant prayer. Therefore, we cannot immediately enter into reasoning about the power of prayer (which completes the edifice of all virtues), unless we first mark out and consider in order everything that needs to be cut off or prepared for its acquisition, or unless, according to the meaning of the Gospel story (Luke 14:14), ,28-30), we do not first calculate and gather everything that is necessary for the erection of that most sublime spiritual pillar. However, we will not be able to properly use what has been prepared, nor build upon it the final peaks of perfection, if first, after presenting each the impurities of vices and the expulsion of the ruins and dead dung of passions, on the living and hard soil of our hearts, as on that evangelical stone (Luke 6:48), let us not lay the most solid foundation of simplicity and humility. Only on it could that pillar be raised by laying spiritual virtues. And, he will stand fearlessly and raise his peak to the highest heights of heaven, hoping for his strength. Having established himself on such a foundation, he will withstand the torrent of passion and the rivers of persecution which, like machines for breaking stones, attack mightily, that fierce storm of hostile spirits. And, he will not only not be destroyed by the collapse, but will not even feel their attacks.
Therefore, in order that prayer may be offered with the necessary fervor and purity, it is necessary to take care of the following: first, all care for bodily things should be completely cut off; second, not only care for some work or event should not be allowed, but even the memory of them; third, distraction, idle talk, talkativeness, and jokes should be cut off; fourth, above all, confusion from anger or grief should be completely overcome; fifth, the pernicious impulses of carnal lust and the temptation of avarice should be removed by the root. After the perfect expulsion and cutting off of these and similar vices, visible even to the human eye, and after a preventive purification from everything that finds its end in purity and innocence, one should, next, lay a fearless foundation of deep humility, which would be strong enough to support the pillar that is to penetrate to heaven itself. Then, on this foundation, the edifice of spiritual virtues should be built, while the spirit should refrain from all wandering and unsteady hesitation, so that the spiritual gaze, little by little, begins to approach the contemplation of God. For during prayer, what our soul received into itself before the time of prayer will necessarily come to our mind, brought to us by the hand of memory. Therefore, before the time of prayer, we should prepare ourselves to be what we want to be during prayer. In addition, let us hasten to expel from the secret places of our hearts before prayer what we do not want to see oppressing us during prayer. Thus we will be able to fulfill the apostle's command: Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
It is not without reason that our mind is compared to an extremely light feather or down which, free from the moisture of a foreign liquid, usually flies to a great height at the slightest blow of wind, due to its lightness. If it is burdened with some liquid, instead of rising through the air, it will fall down due to the weight of the moisture and cling to the ground. And our mind, if it is not burdened by the passions that have come, by the cares of the world, and if it is not wounded by the moisture of pernicious lust, as light and naturally pure, will ascend upwards at the slightest stirring of spiritual thought, and leaving behind what is below and earthly, it will rise to the heavenly and invisible. This is precisely what the Lord's commandment advises us: But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life (Luke 21:34). Therefore, if we want our prayers to reach not only to heaven, but also beyond heaven, let us take care to direct our mind to its natural lightness, cleansing it of all earthly vices and of all the moisture of worldly passions. In this way, unburdened by any extraneous burden, its prayer will easily fly to God.
Pay attention to the causes that weigh down our minds according to the Lord's words. He did not point to adultery, nor to fornication, nor to murder, nor to blasphemy, nor to theft (all of which are considered mortal sins and worthy of condemnation), but to overeating, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, from which no worldly person avoids and which he does not consider shameful. On the contrary, it is shameful to say that even some of those who have renounced the world allow themselves the same indulgences, seeing in them neither harm nor misery for themselves. Besides, these three irregularities that oppress the soul and separate it from God and cling to the earth, are not at all difficult to avoid, especially for us who are so far removed from all connection with the world and who have absolutely no opportunity to get involved in visible cares, drunkenness, and overeating. However, there is another spiritual overeating and drunkenness, which is more difficult to avoid, and there is a certain care and sorrow of this world, which also overwhelm us after our perfect renunciation of all acquisitions, with all our abstinence from wine and all overeating and during our stay in the solitude of the desert. I am thinking of indulgences of the flesh, of attachments and passions. And if we do not cleanse ourselves of them, our heart will be burdened with even more harmful drunkenness and overeating, even without getting drunk with wine and without an abundance of food. For only he whose mind, having freed himself from all passions, is deeply calmed and whose heart clings with the strongest effort to God, as to the highest good, can fully fulfill the commandment of the Apostle Paul: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17).
I think that without sincere contrition of heart, purity of soul and enlightenment by the Holy Spirit it is not possible to encompass all forms of prayer. There are as many of them as there can be various states and moods in one soul, or in all souls. The prayer of each person is transformed according to the measure of the progress of the mind in purity and the character of the state into which he is introduced either by chance or by his internal actions. Therefore it is obvious that no one can always offer the same prayers. A person prays differently when he is cheerful, differently when he is burdened with sadness or despair, differently when he is flourishing in spiritual successes, differently when he is oppressed by the multitude of enemy attacks, differently when he prays for the forgiveness of sins, differently when he prays for the increase of grace or the acquisition of some virtue or the extinguishing of some passion, differently when he is overcome by fear at the thought of hell and the future Judgment, differently when he is inflamed with hope and desire for future blessings, differently when he is in troubles and dangers, differently when he delights in security and peace, differently when he devotes himself to the discovery of heavenly secrets, differently when he grieves over the barrenness of virtues and the dryness of feelings.
With regard to the subject, the apostle Paul distinguishes four forms of prayer: Therefore, I urge, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made (1 Tim 2:1). Prayer is a supplication or entreaty for sins. By it a person, having come to repentance for sins committed, whether present or past, asks for forgiveness; prayer is offered when we offer something or promise God, saying: "I will do this and that, only have mercy, Lord"; intercession is made when, being in the warmth of the spirit, we offer prayers for others, for those we love, or for the peace of the whole world; thanksgiving is made when the mind offers gratitude and praise to God, remembering His past good deeds, or seeing His present ones, or knowing those He has prepared for those who love Him in the future.
These four forms of prayer are followed by a most sublime state of prayer, which consists in contemplating the one God, and in ardent love for Him. In it our mind, absorbed and imbued with this love, speaks to God in the most intimate way and with special sincerity. The Lord's Prayer: Our Father (Mt 6:9-13) tells us that we should pray for this state with zeal.
We say: Our Father , confessing God, the ruler of the universe, as our Father. At the same time, we confess that we have been delivered from a state of slavery and adopted by God as adopted children. By adding: Who art in heaven , we declare our readiness to turn away completely from attachment to this present earthly life, which is something foreign, which distances us far from our Father, and to strive with the greatest desire towards the realm in which our Father lives, not allowing ourselves anything that would make us unworthy of the high adoption, and that would deprive us, as illegitimate children, of the inheritance of the Father and subject us to all the severity of the righteous judgment of God.
Having thus reached the high degree of sons of God, we should burn with filial love for God. We no longer seek our own benefit, but with all our hearts we desire the glory of our Father, saying: Hallowed be thy name . We thereby testify that all our desire and all our joy is the glory of our Father, that is, that His glorious name be glorified, devoutly honored and adored.
The second prayer of the purified mind is the petition: That the Kingdom of our Father may come, or the Kingdom in which Christ reigns in the saints. In it, after the devil has taken power over us and after the passions have been cast out of our hearts, God begins to reign through the fragrance of virtue. It is promised at a certain time to all the perfect and children of God, to whom Christ says: Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Mt 25:34).
The third petition is peculiar to the sons: That your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.. This means: let people be like angels. As angels carry out the will of God in heaven, so let all who live on earth do His will, and not their own. This also means: let everything be with us in life according to your will. We entrust our portion to you, believing that you organize everything, both pleasant and unpleasant, for our good, and that you care more about our salvation than we do ourselves.
Then: Give us this day our daily bread . Daily bread is supernatural, above all essences or essences (such as only the bread that came down from heaven can be). When it is said: today, it is emphasized that yesterday's tasting is not enough. It should be given to us now as well. And since there is no day on which the heart of our inner man should not be nourished by receiving and tasting this bread, it is necessary that we pour out prayer for it at all times.
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors . The merciful Lord promises us the forgiveness of sins if we ourselves set an example of forgiveness for our brothers: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our brothers. It is obvious that, in the hope of this prayer, only he who has forgiven his debtors can boldly ask for forgiveness of sins for himself. He who has not forgiven his brother who has sinned against him with all his heart will be saying this prayer to his own condemnation, not to mercy. For if his prayer is heard, what else can be expected but, in accordance with his example, merciless wrath and unconditional punishment. For judgment will be without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy (James 2:13).
And lead us not into temptation . Recalling the words of the Apostle James: Blessed is the man who endures temptation (James 1:12), we should not understand the words of prayer in the sense of: "Do not let us ever be tempted," but: "Do not let us be overcome by temptation." Job was also tempted, but he was not led into temptation. For, with God's help, he did not speak foolishly against God (Job 1:22). He did not defile his mouth with blasphemous murmuring, to which his tempter, the devil, wanted to lead him. Abraham was also tempted, Joseph was also tempted, but neither of them was led into temptation. For neither of them fulfilled the will of the tempter.
But deliver us from evil , that is, do not allow us to be tempted by the devil beyond what we can bear, but make an end of temptations, that we may be able to endure them (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Although the above prayer, uttered by the Lord Himself, contains within itself all the fullness of prayerful perfection, yet the Lord leads His intimates even further towards some most sublime state, to that fiery, I would even say, ineffable prayer, which very few have understood and tested. Surpassing all human understanding, it is not indicated by the sound of the voice, nor by the movement of the tongue, nor by the utterance of any words. Illuminated by the outpouring of that heavenly light, the mind does not express it with weak human words, but, gathering its feelings, as from some most abundant source, it pours them out irresistibly, and somehow inexpressibly raises them up to the Lord. In that brief moment of time, it expresses what, having withdrawn into itself, it is unable either to express in words or to comprehend in thought.
This form of the prayerful state is a gift from God. Usually, on the other hand, a gracious prayerful mood is characterized by affection. The mind, touched by its visitation, is moved to pure and fervent prayer. This affection appears in various cases, as experience has shown. Sometimes, during the singing of the Psalms, the words of a verse gave rise to fervent prayer, and sometimes the melodious melody of a brother's voice moved the souls of the amazed to quite serious prayer. We also know that sometimes careful and devout singing instilled much fervor in those who listened, and often the advice of a perfect husband (elder) and spiritual conversation in those present, while they were kneeling, stirred the feelings to an abundant outpouring of prayer. It happened that we were strongly moved to full affection by the death of a brother or some dear person. Also, the memory of our coldness and laziness sometimes prompted us to a saving spiritual fervor. And in general, there are countless cases in which the grace of God awakened our souls from insensibility and drowsiness.
Affection is found in various cases. It is also expressed in various ways. Sometimes it manifests itself in an inexpressible spiritual joy, sometimes it immerses all the forces and movements of the soul in deep silence, sometimes it brings more or less abundant tears. Tears or some kind of tearful mood is its most common expression. They appear either because the heart is wounded by the consciousness of one's own sins, or because of the contemplation of eternal goods, or because of the desire for eternal glory, or because of the knowledge of God's great benefits towards us, when feeling our own worthlessness and unworthiness, or because of the feeling of our painful life on earth.
What is the sign that prayer has been heard? We do not doubt that our prayer has truly been heard when no doubt confuses us, when nothing throws the hope of our petition into despair, when in the very outpouring of prayer we feel that we have received what we pray for. For the supplicant will be worthy of being heard and will receive what he asks for in accordance with his faith that God looks upon him and can fulfill his petition. For the saying of our Lord is unchangeable: All things, whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believe that ye receive them; and ye shall have them.(Mark 11:24). In addition, the Word of God indicates sufficient means that help prayer to be heard. Prayer is heard when two agree in prayer (Matthew 18:19), or when it is accompanied by faith, even if it were as small as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20), or when it is constant (Luke 11:8), or when it is united with almsgiving (Sir 29:15), and other works of mercy (Isaiah 58:6-9). See in how many ways the grace of hearing prayer is acquired. Therefore, no one should despair when praying for himself for the goods that save. For, let us suppose that you lack that for which prayer is heard. Yet, can you not be persistent in prayer? It is in the hands of everyone who wants it. For this reason alone the Lord has promised to give everything we pray for. Therefore, we should not stumble in unbelief. Let us be persistent and we will receive what we ask for. Thus the Lord promised: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you (Luke 11:9-10). However, everyone who prays should know that he will certainly not be heard if he doubts the answer.
Above all, in connection with prayer we should fulfill the evangelical commandment, namely, that, having entered our room and closed the door, we pray to the Father in heaven. This should be done both literally and even more spiritually. In our inner room we pray when we completely distance our heart from all thoughts and worries and when we offer our prayers to the Lord in some secret way and with boldness. We pray with the door closed when we pray with our mouths closed and in silence to Him who examines the heart, not words. We pray in a hidden place when we offer our petitions to the one God with only our heart and attentive mind, so that even the opposing forces themselves do not know what we are praying about. Therefore, we should pray in deep silence not only so that we do not distract the brothers present from prayer by our whispering or speaking and disturb their prayerful feelings, but also so that we hide the object of our prayer from our enemies themselves, who attack us especially when we pray.
Our prayer will reach its inherent perfection when what the Lord prayed to his Father happens in us: That the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:26), and again: As you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us (John 17:21). This will happen when all our love, all our desires, all our zeal, all our effort, all our thoughts, all we see, all we speak of, all we hope for is God, and when the unity that is in the Father with the Son, and in the Son with the Father, is poured into our hearts and minds. Then we too will be united with Him in pure and undivided love, just as He truly loves us with pure and undivided love. He who has achieved this enters into a state in which constant prayer burns in his heart. Then every movement of his life, and every effort of his heart, will be a constant prayer, a foretaste and pledge of an eternally blessed life.
To attain the ultimate perfection in prayer, it is necessary to establish ourselves in the constant remembrance of God. The best means for this is a short, often repeated prayer. Our Fathers found that he who strives for the constant remembrance of God should acquire the habit of constantly repeating the prayer: O God, come to my aid, O Lord, make haste to help me (Ps 69:2). This verse was not chosen without reason from the whole of Holy Scripture, for it expresses all the dispositions required in prayer, and meets all the needs of the supplicant. It contains a humble confession of one's own helplessness, a confession of God as the only helper who is always ready to help, and faith and hope that He will help us and deliver us from all misery. He who constantly calls upon God with these words, sees with his mind and feels with his heart God present within himself. He addresses Him as a Father with filial love in his heart, and thereby draws upon himself God's covering, protection, and hedge. In this way, this short prayer becomes an unbreakable rock against the attacks of demons, a persecutor of restless thoughts, a banisher of bad thoughts, a tamer of passionate movements, and a teacher of all good movements in the heart. The Fathers commanded us that in the event of an attack of the passion of indulging the stomach in its various manifestations, we pray: God, come to my aid, Lord, hasten to help me ; that in the event of feeling the need for a strict fast for the sake of taming the body and the lack of hope that we will succeed on our own, we pray: God, come to my aid ... etc.; that in the event that we are tormented by the spirit of discouragement or spiritual laziness and are tormented by sadness, separating us from every necessary work, we say: God, come to my aid, Lord, hasten to help me ; that in the event that some spiritual joy visits our soul and we want to preserve and increase it, we also say the words: God, come to my aid, Lord, hasten to help me ; that in case the tickling of the body with its deceptive sweetness rises upon us, and we fear that this fire will scorch the fragrant flower of innocence or chastity, we also pray: God, come to my aid ... etc.; that in case tranquility and freshness have entered our limbs, and we wish that the good state may be prolonged, or that it may always abide in us, we constantly say: God, come to my aid ... etc. So also in every spiritual need, constantly say this short prayer. And, it will be your deliverance from all evil and the guardian of all good. Therefore, let it constantly revolve in your chest. In every work and service, on the road and at the table, when going to bed and after rising from sleep, constantly sing this verse and instruct yourself in it until, through constant practice, you become accustomed to singing it even in your sleep.
The first fruit of this will be the rejection of all the multitude of thoughts and the retention of one verse. You will increasingly acquire the habit of concentrating your mind on the thought of the one Helper. You will notice that He is always present within you, that He sees everything and sustains everything. Starting from this, you will ascend to the most lively communion with God, and you will begin to be saturated with ever more sublime mysteries, immersing yourself in God, dwelling with Him alone, and being fulfilled only with Him. Thus, in the end, you will also reach the aforementioned pure prayer. It no longer takes into account any form, nor does it manifest itself in the sound of the voice, or in the utterance of any words. On the contrary, it bursts forth from the heart with irresistible force. In the inexpressibly rapturous fiery orientation of the mind to God, it pours out in inexplicable sighs and lamentations.

ON LEADERSHIP IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
(ON REASONING WITH ADVICE OF THE EXPERIENCED)

Once the elders gathered at the house of Saint Anthony the Great and from evening until morning they discussed various spiritual subjects. In particular, the conversation turned to what is the greatest virtue, that is, what virtue can preserve us from being caught in the snares of the devil's deception, and lead us on the right path to the highest perfection. Various opinions were proposed: some emphasized fasting and vigilance, others non-greed and contempt for all things, some solitude or withdrawal into the desert, others charity. After everyone had declared themselves, Saint Anthony began to speak. "Everything you have said is salutary and necessary for those who seek God and who want to draw near to Him. However, the experience of the fall of those who have advanced in them does not allow them to be given priority. For those who were distinguished by strict fasts and vigils, and those who lived hopelessly in desert solitude, and those who reached the highest degree of non-greed, and those who gave alms abundantly, fell into the traps of the enemy. I think that the reason for this was the lack of judgment (consideration or prudence). For judgment teaches a person to walk the royal road, avoiding dangerous extremes. In relation to fasting, for example, it does not allow either excessive exhaustion of the body, or indulgence of the body. In the Gospel it is called the eye and the lamp of the soul: The lamp of the body is the eye, says the Lord. Therefore, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness (Mt 6:22-23). ​​When light illuminates everything and the eye sees everything. So judgment considers, judges, and explains all the thoughts and actions of a person. It determines what should be done, and how and from what to abstain. "With one who lacks such judgment, actions and thoughts proceed as they are, without strict consideration. Here the enemy succeeds in planting an apparent good in place of the true good. By concealing his trap with it, he throws the man into a ditch and kills him."
The solution of Saint Anthony is confirmed by countless examples. Let us recall the sad fall of the elder Iron. He used extremely strict fasting and deep solitude. And, in order not to disturb them in any way, at the instigation of his enemies, he stopped coming to the usual Eucharistic (liturgical) Saturday and Sunday gatherings of the hermits, after which the various ways and the wilderness of the strict life were clarified in conversation. Deceiving himself with this, supposedly good, advice of the enemy, he gave himself up to even greater deception and received the devil who appeared to him in the form of an angel and at his word jumped into the deepest well. Having broken down, he died on the third day. Here is another example! Intending to go to the deepest desert, two brothers decided to receive only the food that the Lord Himself would send them. Wandering in the desert, they became so exhausted that they could no longer move. At that moment, they were attacked by the Maziki, a wild and cruel people. However, seeing them in such a pitiful state, they took pity on them and offered them bread. One thought about it, and agreed to receive bread as from men sent by the Lord. He was strengthened and remained alive. The other stubbornly stuck to his decision and died of hunger. Here is another example! One of the strict ascetics and hermits thought that he was worthy of communion with the heavenly powers. And the enemy was not late in taking advantage of this. He began to appear to him as an angel, to give him revelations about human deeds and thoughts, to create light in his cell without a lamp. Having thus gained his complete trust, he finally commanded him, like Abraham, to offer his son as a sacrifice to God. This would certainly have happened if the son, seeing the unusual preparations, had not fled. And another example! The devil in Mesopotamia led a hermit and hermit to unquestioningly trust in dreams. He presented to him in a dream two nations: the Christian with the apostles and martyrs in darkness, without honor, sorrow and weeping, and the Jewish with Moses, the patriarchs and prophets in the radiance of light, in glory and joy. And with this he led him to convert to Judaism and receive circumcision. And these examples are enough to convince you that lack of judgment is an open door to fall and perdition.
Discernment (consideration or prudence) is a gift from God that needs to be developed and educated. How to do this? Well, simply by surrendering all your judgment to the most experienced Fathers. This is the wisest school of judgment in which even those who do not have special abilities are taught to reason well about what is proper. Thus the question of how to acquire judgment is resolved. True judgment is acquired through true humility. Its first indicator is to reveal to the fathers not only what we do, but also what we think, without the slightest confidence in our own thoughts. Humility is to follow the teachings of the elders in everything, and to consider good or bad only what they recognize as such. Such action helps us to stay on the right path without danger and protects us from all the devil's snares. He who arranges his life according to the advice of those who have advanced, and not according to his own judgment, cannot fall into the devil's deception. Surrendering his thoughts to the judgment of the fathers replaces his own judgment and teaches true judgment. Enemies do not like light. Therefore, the revelation of evil thoughts immediately drives them away and removes them. Pulled out of a dark hole into the light, the snake takes care to escape and hide. So evil thoughts, being revealed by open recognition and confession, take care to escape from man. This is confirmed by many examples and experiences.
Father Serapion tells about himself: "When I was a novice, I secretly took dried figs from my father and ate them. I did this for a very long time. And passion took possession of me so that I could not control it. My conscience condemned me, but I was ashamed to confess my passion to my father. However, by the providence of the loving God, it happened that some brothers came to the elder, who began to reveal their thoughts to him and to ask for solutions for them. The elder answered them what was necessary. At that time, it was his turn to speak about abstinence from food. Then he added: "Nothing harms monks so much and nothing pleases demons so much as to conceal one's thoughts from the spiritual fathers." These words struck me hard. It seemed to me that God had revealed my sins to the elder. Having come to repentance, I began to cry. Then I took out from under my armpit the bread that I usually stole. Prostrated myself on the ground, I begged him to forgive me for the past and to pray for me to be preserved in the future. Then the elder said: "Your confession has freed you from slavery. By revealing your sin, you have defeated the demon that wounded you in your silence. Up until now you have allowed him to rule you, without contradicting him, and without exposing him. Being taken out of the heart and exposed, he will no longer have a place in you." The elder had not yet finished his words when something that resembled a burning torch came out of my chest and filled the entire cell with a stench, so that those present thought that sulfur was burning. The elder added: "Behold, the Lord has visibly confirmed the truth of my words and your liberation." Thus, through the action of confession, the passion for pleasing the stomach departed from me.Since then, my earlier desire hasn't even crossed my mind.
What do we see in Samuel? Since childhood, dedicated to God and worthy of conversation with Him, he did not trust his own thoughts. Being twice called by God, he rushes to the elder Elijah and receives from him instruction on how to respond to God. In this way, God Himself wanted to guide the one with whom He had been deigned to speak with Him through the elder's instruction, to bring him to humility. Do we not see the same thing in Saint Paul? The Lord Himself called him, but at the same time He sent him to Ananias to be taught the way of truth. And Saint Paul himself, after a great experience of evangelical preaching, goes to Jerusalem to verify his gospel, so that he may not run in vain (Gal 1:13-2:2), although he was noticeably accompanied by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, the Lord reveals the path to perfection only to those who are guided by spiritual Fathers, as He says through the prophets: Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will tell you (Deut 32:7).

ON THE DEGREES OF PERFECTION OF SPIRITUAL LIFE WITH REGARD TO THE MOTIVES FOR IT

Three motives urge people to suppress their passions: fear of future hellish torment or fear of the severity of the law in the present; hope and desire to obtain the Kingdom of Heaven; and finally, love of virtue or love of goodness. The Proverbs speak of fear leading us to hate impure evils: The fear of the Lord hates iniquity (Prov. 8:13). That hope also keeps us from giving in to passions is evident from what has been said: No one who trusts in Him will be put to shame (Ps. 33:23). It is said of love that it does not even fear the fall into sin: Love never fails (1 Cor. 13:8). For this reason the Apostle Paul places the entire work of salvation in the acquisition of these three virtues, saying: And now abide faith, hope, love, these three (1 Cor. 13:13).
By instilling in us a fear of future judgment and torment, faith draws us away from filthy passions; By drawing our minds away from the present by the expectation of heavenly rewards, hope leads us to despise all bodily pleasures; by igniting in us with its fire the love of Christ and of progress in spiritual virtues, love moves us to turn away with perfect hatred from everything that is contrary to them. Although they lead us to one goal, that is, they move us to abstain from everything forbidden, all three virtues differ greatly from each other in the degree of their dignity. The first two are characteristic of people who strive for progress, but have not yet acquired love in their hearts, while the third belongs exclusively to God and to people who have renewed the face and likeness of God in themselves. For only God does everything well out of his love, and not for fear or reward. The Lord created everything for himself , says Solomon (Prov. 16:4). For by His gentleness He pours out every good thing abundantly upon the worthy and the unworthy, since, as an eternally perfect and by its nature unchangeable gentleness, He can neither be embittered by offenses nor provoked by human iniquity.
Therefore, he who desires perfection must, from the first stage of fear, which is properly called servile fear, ascend the path of hope. Here man already becomes like a hired hand, and no longer a servant, since he acts in expectation of a future reward. Although he no longer fears the punishment for sins, since he is convinced of forgiveness, and although he expects to receive a good reward, since he is aware of his good deeds, he has not yet arrived at the disposition that is proper to the son. For the Son, without the slightest hesitation in the conviction that everything that belongs to the Father is also his, since he is completely convinced of the Father's generous benevolence towards him.
Therefore, we must accelerate our progress so that, through love that never ceases, having entered the third step of sons who consider all that belongs to the Father as their own, we may be worthy to receive the face and likeness of the heavenly Father and, following the example of His true Son, to say: All that the Father has is mine (Jn 16:15). The Apostle Paul also confesses this about us, saying:For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours (1 Cor 3:21-22). The Savior's commandment also calls us to such a likeness to God: Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48). In those who are still in the state of servants and hirelings, the disposition towards good is sometimes interrupted, namely, when the soul, due to the cooling of its feelings, or due to its absorption in worldly pleasures and joys, ceases to be inspired by the fear of hell or the desire for future goods. Accordingly, we cannot attain true perfection unless we love God, moved only by a loving longing for Him. For He also loved us first only for the sake of our salvation. Therefore, we should take care that with fiery zeal we ascend from fear to hope, and from hope to the level of love for God, or love for the virtues themselves, with full spiritual fervor. Having acquired such attachment to good, we will be able, as far as human nature is able, to abide firmly in Him.
There is a great difference between one who, through fear of hell or hope of a future reward, extinguishes the flame of passion in himself, and one who, out of a feeling of God's love, turns away with hatred from vice and impurity itself, who preserves in his heart the good of purity out of love and attachment to purity, who does everything out of love for virtue, and not out of fear of torment, and who does not look to what is promised to us in the future, but nourishes himself with a conscious tasting of true goodness. In such a state, a person will not allow himself to take advantage of an opportunity for sin, even if no one sees him. He will not even want to secretly defile himself in his thoughts with sinful pleasure. For he nourishes in his heart a true love for virtue and does not accept into his feelings anything that is contrary to it, but turns away with hatred from everything similar. He who, with the help of fear, refrains from giving in to the deceptions of passion, after removing the barrier of fear, again approaches what he loves. For this reason, he will not always be steadfast in his virtue, and will never be at peace from the struggle with passions. He will never be able to acquire the firm and permanent inner peace that purity provides. Where there is no peace from battle, occasional wounds cannot be avoided. No matter how experienced he is in battle, no matter how bravely he fights, even if he often inflicts mortal wounds on his enemies, a man sometimes cannot escape the enemy's blade. On the contrary, he who has overcome every rebellion of passion, but enjoys firm peace, having become devoted to virtue itself. He will steadfastly preserve the state of good order by which he is completely absorbed and to which he is completely devoted, being convinced that there is nothing more fatal than the loss of purity. Respect for the people present will not in the least increase his honor, nor will his loneliness diminish it. Namely, he always and everywhere carries with him the judge not only of his actions, but also of his thoughts, that is, his conscience. He is primarily concerned with pleasing the One who, as he is convinced, can neither be bypassed nor deceived, and from whom man cannot hide.
He who, hoping for God's help and not for his own zealous efforts, is deigned to reach the level of perfection, passes from the state of a servant in which fear acts, and from the state of a hired hand in which the motive of service is not the inner goodness of the one who acts, but the expectation of reward, to the state of adoption in which there is neither fear nor desire for reward, but only love that never ceases. He who through such love renews in himself the image and likeness of God, will delight in good already according to the disposition of his heart towards himself. Having acquired patience and meekness, which are somewhat similar to God's, he will no longer be angry at any vices of those who sin. On the contrary, he will pity them and suffer with them in their weaknesses, and will pray for their pardon, remembering that he himself was enslaved by similar passions until the mercy of the Lord saved him. He knows that he was freed from the bonds of bodily life not by his own efforts, but by the grace of God. Therefore, he understands that he should not show anger towards those who have sinned, but rather a suffering that enables him to sing to God in a peaceful mood of heart: You have broken my chains; I will offer you a sacrifice of praise (Ps 115:7), and again: Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul would have quickly gone to hell (Ps 93:17). Being in such a humble state of mind, he is able to fulfill the following commandment of evangelical perfection: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you (Mt 5:44). In this way, he was worthy to receive the reward promised for the fulfillment of this commandment, namely, to be worthy not only to bear the image and likeness of God, but also to be called the son of God: That you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun shine on the evil and on the good; and gives rain on the just and the unjust (Mt 5:45). Having become aware of what love he had attained, blessed John says: That we may have boldness in the day of judgment; for as He is, so are we in this world (1 Jn 4:17). For how else could man, who is by nature weak and feeble, be like Him, if not by extending the benevolent love of his heart to the good and the bad, the just and the unjust? Accordingly, he who wants to attain true adoption should do good to God out of devotion to good itself. About this the Apostle Paul preaches: No one who is born of God commits sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God (1 Jn 3:9), and again: We know that no one who is born of God sins; but he who is born of God keeps himself, and the impure does not touch him. (1 John 5:18). This should be understood only for mortal sins, and not for every kind of sin. Indeed, even the saints themselves cannot avoid small sins that occur in words, thoughts, desires due to ignorance, forgetfulness, some extreme, or unexpected event. Although they differ from the sin that is called mortal, they are still not without any guilt and reproach. Accordingly, he who acquires love for good and becomes an heir of God, receives the mercy and long-suffering of the Lord (Col 3:12) and prays even for his persecutors themselves, saying similarly to his Lord: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Lk 23:34). And, an obvious sign of a soul that has not yet been cleansed from dirty passions is the lack of a sense of compassion for the sins of others, as well as the pronouncement of a strict judgment about them.

ON THE END OF PENITIONAL WORKS

Perfect repentance consists in no longer committing the sins for which we repent, and for which our conscience condemns us. The proof that we have made an effort to correct them and that they have been forgiven is their expulsion from our hearts and the very sympathy for them. Let everyone know that he is not yet freed from his former sins if, during the labors and sighs that he undertakes to correct them, scenes of sinful deeds, either those he himself has committed or similar to them, play out before his mind's eyes, and if, through the delight in the memory of them (not to mention the indecent objects themselves), he destroys the good inner mood of the soul. Therefore, let him who boldly strives for such correction consider himself free from his sins, and that he has received forgiveness for all that he has done before, only when he feels that his heart is not disturbed in the least not only by imagination, but also by their lures. Accordingly, the examiner of repentance and forgiveness sits in our conscience even before the Day of Judgment and while our stay in this body is still prolonged, revealing the remission of our guilt and announcing the completion of the smoothing by the manifestation of forgiveness. And, to express what I have said more convincingly, I add: we can believe that all the impurities of previous sins are forgiven us only when both the lustful desires and the passions themselves are expelled from our hearts.
Question: How can that holy and saving contrition and humility be born in us after this, which the penitent describes: I confessed my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity . I said: "I confessed my transgressions to the Lord," so that what follows can be truly and deservedly added to us: And you took away the guilt of my sin (Ps 31:5). Or, how, by spreading out our hands in prayer, will we be able to awaken in ourselves the tears of repentance that would be powerful enough to attract the forgiveness of our sins, like St. David: Every night I wet my bed. I water my couch with my tears (Ps 6:7), if we banish from our hearts every memory of our sins, although, on the contrary, the word of the Lord Himself commands us to keep it within ourselves: I am he who blots out your transgressions and your sins. And I will not remember them, but you remember them (Is 43:25)? For this reason, not only when I work with my hands, but also in prayer, I take special care to arouse in my soul the memory of past sins. In this way I am more successfully disposed to true humility and contrition of heart, and with the prophet I can boldly say: Look upon my humility and my labor, and forgive all my sins (Ps 24:18).
Answer: What has been said is about the completion of repentance and about the signs of the smoothing of conscience and justice. The remembrance of sins is very useful and necessary, although only for those who are still going through the feat of repentance. Beating their breasts, they should constantly say: For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.(Ps 50:5), and again: I will confess my transgressions, and I will be mindful of my sins (Ps 37:19). Accordingly, as long as we repent and as long as the memory of our former sinful acts still wounds us, it is necessary that the rain of tears, which is born from the knowledge of our guilt, extinguish the painful fire of the burning of conscience. In a person, through the action of deep humility of heart and contrition of spirit, with tireless penitential efforts and sighs, the memory of sins can be put to sleep and the sting of conscience can, by the grace of a merciful God, withdraw from the depths of the soul. Then it becomes obvious that he has reached the end of the purification, that he has deservedly received forgiveness for everything and has cleansed himself from the impurity of all his sins. However, such oblivion is achieved only by the purification of former sins and passionate passions, and by a perfect, that is, complete purification of the heart. It is certainly not attainable by any of those who, through laziness or contempt, do not care to purify themselves from passions, but only by those who, with bitter weeping and constant sighs, wash away all the filth of former impurities. After his labors, he can say to God with all the firmness of his soul: I confessed my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not hide (Ps. 31:5), and: Tears have been my bread day and night (Ps. 41:4), so that he may deservedly hear from the Lord himself: I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like the evening twilight (Is. 44:22).
You said above that you especially call to mind former sins. This should not be done. Even if it arises against your will, it should be banished immediately, since it distracts the mind from pure contemplation, especially in one who lives in solitude, entangling it in the impurities of this world and choking it with the impurity of passion. For the recollection of what you have done in ignorance or lust for the prince of this world, even if no pleasure is stolen away by such a thought, can taint the air of the mind with a loathsome and unpleasant odor. For only the mental contact with former corruption can drive away the spiritual fragrance or sweetness of the fragrant fragrance of virtue. Accordingly, from the memory of former passionate deeds, which touch our feelings, we should flee as an honorable and serious husband flees from the talk and embrace of a shameless and impudent wife. For unless he immediately withdraws from her suggestions and allows himself to linger even for the shortest time in dishonorable conversation with her (even if he rejects consent for shameful pleasure), he will by no means escape the condemnation of all passers-by for permitting something dishonorable and reprehensible. Therefore, when we are led into thoughts of this kind by contagious recollection, we should not dwell on impurity for a moment, but immediately depart from their conceits. For, seeing that we are interested in impure and shameful thoughts, the angels who pass by us will not be willing to say of us: The blessing of the Lord be upon you! We bless you in the name of the Lord. (Ps 128:8). It often happens that the inexperienced, while with a feeling of contrition examining his own failures, or the failures of others, himself is imperceptibly wounded by the thin arrow of lust and agrees with it. In this way, what was begun under the guise of piety ends in a shameful and disastrous conclusion. There are ways that seem right to a man, although their end looks to the depths of hell (Prov. 16:25).

Saint JOHN CASSIANS OF THE ROMAN

Short biography

St. John Cassian was born somewhere between 350 and 360, certainly in Gaul, near Marseille, to distinguished and wealthy parents, where he received a good scientific education. From childhood he loved a life pleasing to God, and in his desire to achieve perfection in it, he went to the East, where he entered the Bethlehem monastery and received monasticism. In the monastery he heard about the famous ascetic life of the Egyptian fathers, and he wished to see them and learn from them. After a two-year stay in the Bethlehem monastery, he set out for Egypt with his friend Germanus around 390.

Living in hermitages, cells, monasteries, among hermits, in solitude, they spent a full seven years there. They observed, studied and put everything into practice, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the ascetic life there in all its forms. They returned to their monastery in 397, and during the year they went again to the same Egyptian desert regions where they stayed until 400.
Leaving Egypt again, St. John Cassian and his friend Germanus set off for Constantinople, where they were very well received by St. John Chrysostom, who ordained St. John Cassian as a deacon, and his friend, who was older, as a priest in 400. When St. John Chrysostom was condemned to exile in 405, his loyal friends sent a certain number of representatives to Rome to represent the persecuted saint of God, among whom were St. John Cassian and his friend. Unfortunately, their venture was not successful.
St. John Cassian did not return to the East after that, but went to his homeland where, following the Egyptian model, he continued his ascetic life. After becoming famous for his holy life and teaching wisdom, he was ordained a priest.
One after another, disciples began to gather around him and soon an entire monastery was established from them. Following their example, a women's monastery was also established nearby. And, in both monasteries, a constitution was introduced by which monks in the Eastern, and especially in the Egyptian monasteries, lived and were saved.
The good organization of these monasteries in the new spirit and according to the new rules and the obvious successes of the ascetics there attracted the attention of many bishops and abbots of the monasteries of the Gallic region. Wishing to establish such an order in their own country, they asked St. Cassian to write for them the Eastern monastic constitutions and to present the very spirit of asceticism. He gladly fulfilled their request, describing everything in 12 books of rules and 24 books of conversations. St. Cassian died in 435. His memorial is held on February 29th