1. Faith does not consist only in baptism into Christ, but also in the keeping of His commandments. Holy baptism is perfect and communicates perfection to us, although it does not make perfect the one who does not keep the commandments.
2. If we are still subject to sin after baptism, it does not mean that baptism was imperfect, but that we are negligent of the commandments and that we dwell in pleasing ourselves according to our own free will. Neither God nor Satan forces our will after baptism. In baptism we are mysteriously freed from the slavery of sin, according to what is written: The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). Due to our negligence in keeping the commandments of Him who cleansed us, we fall under the influence of sin. We are captured by the enemy because we do not keep the commandments.3. Man dwells where he pleases of his own free will, even though he has been baptized, because his self-government, that is, his freedom, is not forced. By saying that those who do asceticism will obtain the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 11:12), Holy Scripture is referring to the will of man, so that after baptism each of us forces ourselves not to incline to evil, but to persevere in good. Those who have received the strength to fulfill the commandments, the Lord commands as believers to perform asceticism in them, so that they do not turn back.
4. Asceticism is not something that is separate from the commandments. They are commandments. Show me asceticism outside the commandments. If you point to prayer, it is a commandment; if you mention the casting down of thoughts, we again have the commandment to be sober, i.e., watchful and diligent; if you mention fasting and vigil, you are again mentioning the commandments; if you point to mortifying oneself, you will point to the commandment to renounce oneself. No matter what act of ascetic virtue you mention, you will only name the commandment. The goal of performing asceticism is the completely devoted fulfillment of the commandments.
5. Holy Baptism provides a perfect release from the slavery of sin, as does repentance. To bind ourselves again with partiality or to remain free through the observance of the commandments is a matter of free will. The cause of the retention of the thought in sinful pleasure is found in free partiality, not in compulsion. According to the Holy Scriptures, we have the power to cast down thoughts (2 Cor. 10:4). The casting down of a cunning thought inwardly is a sign of love for God, not of sin, since sin is not the appearance of a thought, but the friendly conversation of the mind with it. If we do not love it, why do we dwell on it? It is not possible for something that we hate with all our heart to speak to our heart for a long time. If this does happen, it means that our evil participation is present.
6. When after baptism we do not keep the commandments, although we are able, sin takes control of us, i.e. we fall into slavery to sin again although we do not want to, until we plead with God through repentance, directing ourselves to all His commandments, and until He removes the sin of our self-will.
7. You have put on Christ by baptism (Gal 3:27), and you have the power and weapons to cast out thoughts (2 Cor 10:4). If, having the power against them, you do not cast them out at the first attack, it is obvious that you are lustful because of unbelief and that you agree and join with them. For such an action you are guilty of yourself.
8. Sometimes, without our consent, some shameful and hateful thought, like a robber, unexpectedly attacks us and forcibly detains our mind. However, know for sure that this thought also came from ourselves. Namely, either after baptism we gave ourselves over to that evil thought, although we did not carry it out in action; or we keep the seeds of evil in ourselves by our own will, as a result of which the cunning demon is established in us. He who detains us with cunning seeds will not leave until we cast them off. The shameful thought that dwells in us because of doing evil will be driven out when we offer to God the effort that requires repentance. Therefore, for the unintentional, disturbing thought, you are to blame, since you did not drive it away and cleanse your mind from it at the beginning, at the first contact, although you had that power, but you gladly spoke to it, although you did not carry it out in action. It came to a warm place, as to an old acquaintance and friend.
9. When you see help in your heart, know that it did not appear from without, but that the grace that was mysteriously given to you at baptism worked. It worked to the extent that you hated the thought and separated yourself from it.
10. Having delivered us from all violence by the grace of baptism, Christ the Lord did not forbid thoughts to creep into our hearts, so that some, as hateful to the heart, would be immediately removed, and others, as beloved, would remain. In this way, both the grace of Christ and the will of man are encouraged, i.e. her love either for labor for the sake of grace, or for thoughts for the sake of self-gratification.
11. Like a kind of evil kinship, our lust and the attacks of thought act together, one with the other. Having remained in its lover, one thought delivers him to its neighbor, so that a man who is strongly drawn by habit to the first, is drawn to the second even without his will. For who can avoid pride if he is filled with vanity? Or who will not be overcome by the thought of fornication if he has had enough of sleep and given himself up to pleasure? Or who will not be bound by ruthlessness if he has given himself up to greed? Who delights in all these, how can he avoid irritability and anger?
12. And after receiving grace, it is up to our free will whether we will walk according to the flesh or according to the spirit. However, it is impossible for him to walk according to the spirit who has loved human praise and pleasing the body, just as it is impossible for him to live according to the flesh who, internally, prefers the future to the present. For this reason, we should hate human praise and the pleasures of the flesh, which will, even without our will, give rise to cunning thoughts in us, and we should honestly say to the Lord: I hate them with perfect hatred; they have become my enemies (Ps 138:22).
13. Those who are baptized in the Church of Christ receive through baptism the grace that lives in them in secret. Then, according to the measure of the observance of the commandments and the hope of thought, it is revealed in the faithful, according to the word of the Lord: He who believes in me, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. And this he said of the Spirit, whom those who believe in his name must receive (John 7:38-39).
14. Because of his weak faith, man falls under the influence of sin, and each one is tempted by his own desire, which entices and deceives him. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is accomplished, gives birth to death (James 1:14-15). From one's own lust, a sin of thought is born, and from it comes the performance of corresponding actions. As soon as someone deviates from the obligations of baptism, sin immediately seizes him.
15. To those who firmly believe, the Holy Spirit is given immediately at baptism. However, we ourselves grieve him and extinguish him in ourselves. For this reason the Apostle Paul commands: Do not quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). This does not mean that everyone who is baptized and has received grace is thereby unshakeable and that we no longer need repentance, but that from baptism, through the gift of Christ, we have been given the perfect grace of God to fulfill all the commandments. If after the mysterious reception of grace we do not fulfill the commandments, we are in proportion to our abandonment of them under the influence of sin, since due to negligence we do not perform the works, although we have the power to perform them. If we want to be perfect, quickly or gradually, we are obliged to perfectly believe in Christ and to fulfill His commandments, since we have received the power for such a work. And to the extent that we, believing, fulfill the commandments of God, to that extent the Holy Spirit shows His fruits in us. And, the fruits of the Spirit according to the Apostle Paul are: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23).
16. Therefore, if any of the faithful, living according to the commandments, in accordance with them, has acquired some spiritual activity, let him believe that he had already received the strength for such a thing. For, in baptism, he received the grace of the Spirit, i.e. the cause of all good, not only secret and spiritual but also public virtues. Let no virtuous person think that he can do any good thing by his own strength alone, since a good man, as the word says, brings forth good out of the good treasure (Mt 12:35), and not from himself. By the treasure is meant the Holy Spirit who is hidden in the hearts of the faithful.
17. He who has sincerely realized that, according to the words of the apostle Paul, he has had Christ hidden in him since baptism, having left all the things of the world, dwells in his heart, guarding him with all caution (Prov. 4:23). For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His own free will (Phil. 2:13). By the word "free will" the apostle shows that the good will for virtue depends on our freedom, while the working of virtue or the removal of sin is not possible without God. The words: " Without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5) have the same meaning. However, there is also our share in everything.
18. The royal mind of each person from the hidden temple of the heart first takes good and gentle intentions from Christ who lives within him, and brings them into a virtuous life, which again, through gentle thought, brings them to Christ who gave them to him.
19. The goods that the faithful will receive after the resurrection are found above, while their pledges and firstfruits are already spiritually at work in their hearts, so that, confident of the future, they may despise all present things and love God even unto death. For this reason the apostle Paul did not say: "You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem " (Heb 12:22). Namely, from holy baptism we have all become capable of this, although only those who firmly believe, who die every day for the love of Christ, i.e. who stand above every thought of present life and who think only of how to attain the perfect love of Christ, are worthy of it. Praying for this above all else, the apostle Paul says: I press on to apprehend it, just as Christ Jesus apprehends me (Phil 3:12), i.e. I press on to love as Christ loved me. Having attained this love, he no longer wanted to think about anything, neither the troubles of the body nor the beauty of creation, but publicly left everything, saying: Who will separate us from the love of Christ ? (Rom 8:35). He no longer wanted to think about anything, but only to abide there, that is, in the heart, in the love of Christ.
20. The Apostle Paul said that we have in ourselves the first fruits of the Spirit (Rom 8:23), showing the measure of our acceptability. We can receive the full working of the Spirit only through the perfect commandment. Just as the sun, being perfect, pours out from itself a perfect, simple and equally beneficial working to everyone, although each one receives its light according to the measure of the purity of his eye; so also the Holy Spirit makes those who believe in Him from baptism capable of receiving all His workings and gifts, although they do not work in all equally, but are given to each according to the measure of the fulfillment of the commandments, the doing of good works and faith in Christ.
21. The satanic attachment consists in the manifestation of a cunning thing, i.e., an action, through a thought. It approaches our mind only because of our little faith. For if the mind deviates from the heart and from the commandment to take no thought for anything except to guard the heart with all caution (Prov. 4:23), and to pray and seek the Kingdom of Heaven that is within us, the devil's attachment and cunning counsel immediately give way. However, even then the devil does not have the power to move our thoughts, otherwise he would not spare us, forcibly inducing every evil thought upon us, and not allowing us to think anything good. He only has the power to uniformly plant his perverted teaching upon our first thought in order to test our inner disposition, i.e. in which direction it is directed: to his advice or to the commandment of God, which are opposite to each other.
22. The stay within and retention of the attachment of the thought of the hated one depends on the previous acceptance, and not on our new disposition. Such an adverb stands motionless in a monotonous place, since the displeasure of the heart does not allow it to develop and turn into passion. An undeveloped thought, hated by one who looks after himself, has no power to draw the mind into a wider conversation, unless the heart is voluptuous. Therefore, if we perfectly depart from all voluptuousness, even the appearance of monotonous representations will no longer harm us, nor will they condemn our conscience that expects future goods.
23. When the mind realizes the futility of its opposition to previous ideas, and confesses to God its previous guilt, the temptation itself immediately disappears and it regains the power to watch over the heart and, with all caution, to guard it with prayer, striving to enter the completely inner and untroubled chamber of the heart, where there are no longer any cunning thoughts that otherwise push the soul and body into the abyss of sensuality and into the torrent of impurities, and where there is no longer a wide and spacious path, decorated with words and images of worldly wisdom, which deceives those who walk along it, even if they are very wise. For the pure inner chamber of the soul and the house of Christ receive only a mind that is free and that does not bring in anything from this world, whether justified or unjustified, except for the three mentioned by the Apostle Paul, namely faith, hope and love (1 Cor 13:13). And so, whoever loves the truth and wants to work hard with his heart, can, as has been said, not be led by previously accepted ideas, but rather watch his heart and progress inwardly, drawing nearer to God. He should only not neglect the effort of prayer and living according to God, since he cannot help but suffer in his heart who watches over the wanderings of thought and the bodily pleasures that surround him every day, not only externally but also internally.
24. The temptations of evil are not felt only by the unchangeable nature, while man cannot avoid them. Adam was also exposed to the temptations of Satan, but he had the power to obey or disobey them. The temptation of thought is neither sin nor righteousness, but a test of the freedom of our will. It is permitted to approach us, so that those who incline to the commandments may be worthy of crowns for their faithfulness, and those who turn to self-pleasing may be shown worthy of condemnation for their unbelief. We should know that we are not brought to judgment after each change as experienced or inexperienced, but only after we have endured temptations throughout our lives, defeated and victorious, falling and rising, wandering and being instructed in the right path. Only on the day of the resurrection, when everything is summed up and in harmony with everything, will we be condemned or praised. And so, temptation is not sin. Not at all! And although he unwillingly shows us things in a single thought, we have received from the Lord the power of spiritual action, and it is up to our freedom whether, at the first thought, we will reject or accept the thoughts that multiply, not by force, but from our own disposition.
25. Since, darkened by lust and vanity, it has fallen into the depths of ignorance, our soul no longer listens to the commandments of Scripture, nor to the course of nature, nor to the advice of experienced people, but follows only its own thoughts. Retaining these causes of evil within itself, it cannot be free from the actions that are characteristic of them. In proportion as one has faith in the Lord and His promise of future good things, a man despises human glory and lust, restrains his thoughts, and becomes so much more peaceful than the lustful. This is why we differ from one another, both in thoughts and in life.
26. Know this, that the Lord looks at the hearts of all men. Those who hate the first appearance of a cunning thought He immediately covers, as He promised, not allowing a multitude of thoughts to rise up against them and defile their mind and conscience, while those who, by faith and hope in God, do not overthrow the first beginning of a thought, but delight in them, He leaves as unbelievers without help to be oppressed by the coming thoughts. He does not drive them away, seeing that we love their contribution and do not hate them at the first appearance.
27. No authority forces us by force either for good or for evil. He whom we serve of our own free will, whether God or the devil, urges us on to everything that is his domain.
28. The first things are two thoughtless attachments: human praise and the pleasures of the flesh. If our will does not agree with them, when they approach us, neither vice nor virtue appears, but only the inclination of our will is tested, that is, what we are inclined to. The Lord wants us to endure insults and sufferings, and the devil wants the opposite. Therefore, when we rejoice because of the above attachments, it is obvious that, having disobeyed the Lord, we incline to a pleasure-loving spirit. When we grieve because of the above attachments, it is clear that we incline to God and that we love the narrow path. These attachments are also permitted to appear to people so that those who love the commandment of God may incline their will to Christ and that He, finding an entrance into them, may direct their minds to the truth. Understand the same thing about the opposite: those who love human praise and the pleasures of the flesh provide an entrance for the devil. Having found an entrance into them, he suggests his evil to them. In proportion as we delight in thoughts, he does not cease to add to them, until we hate them from the heart. However, we love them so much that for their sake we not only betray virtue, but also replace them with one another, that is, we suffer dishonor for the sake of pleasure. When we agree with them without any sorrow, we begin to seek the material that multiplies them. The material for vanity and pleasure is the love of money, which, according to Holy Scripture, is the root of all evils (Tim 6:10).
29. The Lord did not say to Adam: “In the day you eat of it I will put you to death,” but warned them, saying: In the day you eat of it you will die (Gen 2:17). And in general, the Lord established that every deed, good or evil, is accompanied by a corresponding reward in a natural way, and not by a special designation, as those who do not know the spiritual law think.
30. We should remember that God will put us to shame as evil if we hate one of our fellow believers as evil. Likewise, if we reject someone's repentance, considering him a sinner, God will also reject us as sinners. If we do not forgive our neighbor's sins, we will not receive forgiveness for our sins either. In proclaiming this law, our Lawgiver, Christ, said: Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven (Luke 6:37). Knowing this law, the apostle Paul publicly said: In what you judge another, you condemn yourself (Rom 2:1). Knowing this, the prophet also cries out to God: For you will repay to each according to his work (Ps 61:13), and another prophet also says in the name of God: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord (Deut 32:35).
31. In the prophet Daniel it is said: Atone for your sins with alms, and your iniquities with generosity.(Daniel 4:24). However, perhaps you will say: "I have no money. How can I be generous to the poor?" You have no money, but you have desires. Renounce them, and you will do good. You cannot do good with your physical hand? Then do good with a right free will: And if your brother sins against you, forgive him (Luke 17:3), according to the word of the Lord. And this will represent great charity for you. If we pray and ask forgiveness of sins from God, we ourselves are obliged to act similarly in every sin in relation to us, so that what is said in the Gospel will happen: Forgive, and you will be forgiven (Luke 6:37). It is a great deed if someone who has money gives alms to the needy. However, to pity our neighbors when they sin against us is all the more important for receiving forgiveness of sins, as the soul is by its nature more honorable than the body. If we often receive the forgiveness of sins that we ask of God, and if we have suffered no evil here because of it, while we do not want to make our neighbors partakers of this gift, it is obvious that we become like that wicked servant who received from his master the forgiveness of a debt of ten thousand talents, but who did not forgive his neighbor the debt of only one hundred denarii. To him, as judged by the law, the Lord said: You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you? And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that he owed him . And, from this, He draws a conclusion, saying: So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not forgive your brother their trespasses from your hearts (Mt 18:32-3 5).
32. The Lord said: Woe to you rich people (Lk 6:24). However, He does not blame all the rich in this, since among them there are also those who truly knew how to dispose of wealth according to the will of God who gave it, and who, according to Scripture, received a hundredfold in this life. Such were the blessed Abraham and the righteous Job, who, being merciful, became even more rich both here and in the life to come. He, as we have already said, rebukes those who, having a greedy nature, appropriate the gifts of God and who do not want to be merciful to their neighbor from their property or from His various gifts. For it is not the wealth given to them by the Lord that harms the possessor, but the gain acquired through injustice, and its mother - ruthlessness, which those who firmly believe and who completely renounce present goods avoid, and this not because they unreasonably hate God's creation, but because of faith in Christ, who commands them to act in this way and who satisfies all their daily needs. Besides, a person can become rich without having any possessions, greedily holding on to some word or knowledge that is given to all, even though he received it to give it to those who have none.
33. Those who have sinned should not despair. Not at all! For we are not condemned because of the multitude of evils, but because we do not want to repent and recognize the miracles of Christ, as the Truth itself testifies: Do you think , says the Lord, that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, since they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were sinners above all the men who live in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:2-5). Do you see that we are condemned because we do not repent?
34. Repentance, as it seems to me, is not limited to time or to specific works, but is carried out through the commandments of Christ and is proportional to them. Some commandments are more general and contain many individual ones. They cut off many combinations of vices at once. For example, in the Scripture it is said: Give to everyone who asks you; and from him who takes away yours, do not ask for it (Luke 6:30), and: Do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you (Matthew 5:42). These are individual commandments. And the general one, which contains them, is: Sell all that you have and give to the poor (Matthew 19:21) and take up your cross and follow me (Matthew 10:38). By the cross is meant or considered the suffering of the troubles that come upon us. He who distributed everything to the poor and took up his cross fulfilled all the above commandments at once. In the same way the Apostle Paul says: I desire therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting (1 Tim 2:8), while the Lord says generally: Enter into your closet and pray to your Father who is in secret (Mt 6:6), and again: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17). He who prays constantly fulfills the command to pray on every occasion. It is also said: Do not commit adultery, do not commit fornication, do not murder, and the like, as well as generally: Cast down reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. (2 Cor 10:5). He who casts down the thoughts has set up a barrier to all the aforementioned vices. For this reason, those who love God and those who firmly believe force themselves to the general commandments, not leaving aside even the individual ones that are occasionally encountered. Hence I suppose that the work of repentance is accomplished with the following three virtues: purification of thought, constant prayer, and endurance of the troubles that befall us. All this should be done not only externally, but also in mental action, so that those who labor for a long time in it may finally acquire dispassion. However, since the work of repentance, as our word has previously indicated, cannot be accomplished without the three aforementioned virtues, I consider it necessary at all times and for all who desire salvation, both sinners and the righteous, since there is no measure of perfection for which the aforementioned virtues would not be necessary. With their help, beginners enter into a pious life, the intermediate advance in it, and the perfect are established in it.
35. The Lord commands everyone: Repent (Mt 4:17), so that even the spiritual and advanced should not neglect this need and should not leave even the most insignificant sins without attention, since it is said: He who ignores small sins will soon fall.(Sir 19:1). Do not say: "How can a spiritual man fall?" If he remains like that, he will not fall. If he allows a little of the contrary in himself, and persists in it without repentance, the contrary will grow in him and seek to unite with it, by long attachment drawing him forcibly as with a cord. And if he enters into battle with it, that is, with evil, through prayer, he will repel it and remain at the level of his spiritual age. And if, due to the shortening of the battle and the effort of prayer, he is thrown down from his level by the growing effort of that which has mastered him, he will certainly be deceived by other passions. And thus, gradually drawn away by each passion according to its attraction, he finally deprives himself of God's help and is led into greater sins, sometimes even without his will, by the incitement of that which has already mastered him. But you will say to me: "Could he not have prayed to God at the beginning of his evil, that he might not have fallen into the ultimate evil?" And I say that he could have, but he neglected the small sin and of his own free will accepted it into himself. He did not pray for that small sin, not knowing that it was the preparation and cause of the great sin. The same thing happens with good and evil! Having strengthened himself, and with the help of man's free will finding a place for himself in him, passion rises up against him without his will and forcibly. Realizing his trouble, he then prays to God, waging a battle against the enemy whom he had previously protected out of ignorance, arguing with people about him. Sometimes, even when he is heard by the Lord, he does not receive help because it does not come as man imagines, but as God wills and for our benefit. Knowing our fickleness and indifference, He helps us in our troubles so that, having easily escaped, we would not diligently commit the same sins again. For this reason we emphasize that it is necessary to endure what happens to us, and that it is very profitable to abide in repentance.
36. You will answer me: "What further repentance is needed by people who have truly pleased God and have reached perfection?" I admit with you that there were and are such people. However, listen wisely, and you will see that such people also have need of it. The Lord counted looking at a woman with desire as adultery, He compared anger at a neighbor to murder, and He said that we will give an account for every idle word (Mt 5:28; 12:36). Who does not know the lust of the eyes, and who has never been angry with a neighbor without reason, who has shown himself innocent in idle words so that he would not need to repent? For if he is not like that now, he was like that before, and with regard to repentance he is a debtor until death. However, let us suppose that there are some who are even without these weaknesses, as they say, and who are by ordination alien to every vice, although such a thing is not possible according to the words of Saint Paul: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by the gift of His grace.(Rom. 3:24). After all, even if such people existed, they too would have descended from Adam, and they too would have been born under the sin of transgression and, by God's decree, condemned to death. They too could not have been saved without Christ.37. Consider those who have passed through this life since the beginning of the world, and you will find that in those who have pleased God the mystery of godliness was accomplished through repentance. No one was condemned unless he despised it, and no one was justified unless he took care of it. Samson, Saul, and Elijah with their sons, had already partially acquired holiness, but they neglected repentance and lost it, so that, at the end of the time of delay, they died a cruel death. Since the devil does not cease to fight with us, repentance should not be abandoned either. The saints are forced to offer it also for their neighbors, since they cannot be perfect without active love.
38. If repentance is a plea for mercy, then the rich should take care not to hear: You have already had your fill (1 Cor 4:8). The one who does not have, out of his lack, should ask, for everyone who asks receives (Mt 7:8). If he who loves others will be forgiven, then the whole world, as it seems to me, is held in repentance, when we diligently help one another. Through repentance God saved the Ninevites, while He delivered the Sodomites, who were negligent towards Him, to the fire.
39. If we should even to the point of death make a feat of repentance, we shall not yet have accomplished anything of what we are obligated to do, since we have done nothing worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. For as we eat, drink, speak, or hear, so by nature we are obligated to repent. He who once deserves death is killed by the law, but he who lives lives by faith because of repentance. We have been cleansed from sin by baptism—if not from all, then from the sin of Adam's transgression. Having been cleansed, we have received the commandments. If we do not perform them, we desecrate baptism, forgetting our cleansing from old sins (2 Pet 1:9), from which no one is free for a single day, even if he did not neglect anything commanded. Therefore, repentance is necessary for everyone. It makes former voluntary sins involuntary, due to hatred of passions and avoidance of the things that provoke them. He who restricts repentance turns back and renews old sins.
40. Without repentance in active life we cannot do anything significant, and also because of the very intention to repent the Lord showers us with great grace. Whoever forces himself and adheres to repentance to the very end, even if he makes a mistake in something, will be saved because of self-force. For the Lord promised so in the Gospel. Whoever says that there is no need to repent, thinks that he is righteous. The Scripture calls him an evil generation. Thinking that he is righteous and that he has finished repenting, he ignorantly attaches himself to pleasure, i.e. passions, since arrogance and haughtiness are passions. The haughty cannot be saved because the Scripture says: An arrogant and contemptuous and puffed-up man cannot succeed in anything.(Av 2:5). If humility of mind does not harm the perfect, then let it not leave its cause, namely repentance. Faithful Abraham and righteous Job, in humbling themselves, called themselves earth and ashes. These words are a sign of humility of mind. Three young men, three truly magnanimous and great martyrs, confessed in the midst of a blazing fire, saying that they had sinned and transgressed the Law, and that they repented of their old evil, although they were perfect. In fact, almost their entire song consists of repentance. Therefore, if even those who greatly pleased God and who showed themselves perfect in works, used repentance until the very death, who can, under the pretext of righteousness, hope in themselves and despise repentance?
41. We should forgive those who have offended us, regardless of whether the offense was justified or not, knowing that no virtue is greater than the virtue of forgiveness. If, because of the sin that has overcome us, we are unable to forgive, we should, watching and suffering, pray to God to have mercy on us and to give us such ability. In doing so, at all times, in all places and in all actions, we should have one intention, and that is to rejoice and not to grieve at various insults from people, and not to rejoice simply and without reasoning, but because we have the opportunity to forgive the one who sins against us and to receive forgiveness of our own sins. For in this consists the true knowledge of God, more substantial than any knowledge, by which we can pray to God and be heard. Forgiveness is the fruit of faith, by which our faith in Christ is shown, by which we take up our cross and follow Christ, it is the mother of the first and great commandments, since by it we can love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. We should fast, keep vigil, and afflict our bodies, so that our hearts and inner dispositions may open and receive it into ourselves, and so that we may no longer forsake forgiveness. By forgiving our neighbor for his sins, we will see the grace that was mysteriously given to us in baptism, working sensitively and noticeably on our consciousness and senses.
42. Those who are wise in words consider only the offender to be guilty, while those who are wise in the Spirit, when others offend them, reproach themselves for not enduring the insults with joy, and because they know that the inconvenience comes from their previous sin. Of course, the first sin is easier than the second. He who avenges himself, as it were, condemns God for his own lack of justice, and he who endures the misfortune that has befallen him as his own, confesses the evil he has committed before and for which he now suffers hardship.
43. This virtue, that is, the forgiveness of offenses, is hindered by two passions, namely, vanity and pleasure. Therefore, it is necessary first to renounce them in the mind, and then to take care to acquire it. Then enter into a struggle with your will, in order to overcome these passions. However, this struggle is internal, not external, and no one from among men can help us. We will have only one Helper who has been mysteriously hidden in us since the time of baptism, that is, Christ, who is invincible and to whom all things are known. He will help us in this struggle if we fulfill His commandments to the best of our ability. And our opponents are, as was said before: pleasure that is united with the body, and vanity that has seized both you and me. They deceived Eve and tricked Adam because pleasure presented the tree as very good for food and pleasant to look at, and vanity added: You will be like gods, knowing good and evil (Gen 2:5-6).
44. Monks do not hold opinions that would be contrary to the Church, but take care to follow the mind of Christ, according to the words of the Apostle Paul: Therefore let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but humbled himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil 2:5-7). Know that such a way of thinking and living is given by God and that it produces great virtue, that is, humility of mind. The Lord commanded that this work be done in the Church, saying: Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life (Jn 6:27). What is this work? It consists in praying for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. The Lord said that it is within us (Luke 17:21), and He promised that to those who seek Him and ask Him, He will add all the other things that are necessary for the body (Matthew 6:33). If we call those who have heard this from the Lord and believed, and who try to do it by their own strength, those who do not act according to nature, it means that we deny God who commanded it.
45. How do monks who adhere to this order fall? It is not those who adhere to it who fall, but those who leave it and who, robbed by vanity and care for bodily things, neglect the most important things, namely prayer and humility of mind. The devil does not prevent us from thinking and doing everything carnally, only to distance us from prayer and humility of mind. For he knows that what is done without these two, even if it is good, he will eventually take away. By prayer I do not mean only that which is performed by the body, but also that which is offered to God with a calm and quiet thought. For if one of them, that is, the body or the thought, is separated at an untimely time, then what remains will only present itself to its own will, and not to God.
46. Wishing that we should not be negligent in prayer, the Apostle Paul says: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17), indicating at the same time the undistractedness of the mind:Do not be conformed to this life, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom 12:2). Because of our little faith and weakness, God has given us various commandments, so that each one, according to his own care, may escape suffering and obtain salvation. Thus the Apostle Paul teaches us the perfect will of God, wishing that we may not fall under judgment at all. Knowing that prayer helps to fulfill all the commandments, he does not cease to exhort us many times and in various ways to do so, saying: Pray at all times with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and be watchful with all perseverance and supplication (Eph 6:18).
47. Prayer can be different: one thing is to pray to God with the mind without imagination and with a pure mind, and another is to be present in the body while the mind is imagining; It is one thing to choose a time and, after the end of worldly conversations and occupations, to pray, and another to the greatest extent possible to prefer prayer to all worldly concerns, according to the words of the apostle Paul: The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Phil 4:6). And the apostle Peter said: Therefore be blameless and sober in prayer... Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you (1 Pet 4:7; 5:7). Knowing that everything is established by prayer, the Lord Himself first said: Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear?... But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Mt 6:31; 33). It may be that the Lord is calling us to greater faith: for who, having abandoned all care for temporal things and suffering no want, will not trust God also when it comes to eternal treasures? Revealing this, the Lord said: He who is faithful in a very little is faithful in much (Luke 16:10).
48. Knowing that it is necessary to take care of the body daily, the Lord did not cut off the cares of the day, but allowed us to take care of today, very fittingly and lovingly commanding us not to worry about tomorrow. For it is not possible for people who are clothed in the body to avoid the cares of the life of the body: through prayer and abstinence many things can be shortened to insignificance, but they cannot be completely neglected. Therefore, whoever, according to the Scripture, wants to reach a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13), should not prefer various services to prayer, nor should he take them on himself unnecessarily and just like that. However, he should not, under the pretext of prayer, avoid and reject from himself what comes to him according to a certain need and according to the providence of God, but, knowing the difference between prayer and other occupations, serve the will of God without question. He who thinks otherwise does not believe that according to Scripture one commandment is higher and more important than another and will not, according to the word of the prophet, be guided by all the commandments (Ps 118:128) that he encounters according to the plan of God.
49. The works that are necessary and that meet us according to the plan of God are inevitable, but we should reject untimely occupations, preferring prayer to them. Especially should we reject those that draw us into great expenses and the accumulation of abundant possessions. To the extent that someone limits them in the Lord and cuts off their superfluous structure, to that extent will the thought refrain from distraction, and to the extent that the thought refrains from imagination, to that extent will it give place to pure prayer and show sincere faith in Christ. He who is unable to do this because of little faith or some other weakness, let him, to the utmost extent, know the truth and, according to his strength, let him stretch forward, rebuking himself for his unworthiness.
50. Let us take care to cast away all worldly cares from ourselves by hope and prayer. If we are not able to do this completely, let us offer to God a confession of our shortcomings, never neglecting our diligence in prayer. For it is better to be rebuked for frequent omissions than for complete abandonment. In all that we have said about prayer and indispensable service, we need great discernment from God, in order to acquire judgment by which we would know when and what occupation to prefer to prayer. For everyone who is engaged in a favorite occupation thinks that he is performing a proper service, not knowing that we should direct all our actions to please God, and not to please ourselves. It is still more difficult to understand that these necessary and indispensable commandments are not always the same, but that one of them should be preferred to the other in its time; for every service is performed only in its time, and not at all times, while the service of prayer should be constant. For this reason we should prefer it to occupations that are not indispensable. Teaching the people about this difference and wanting to attract them to service, all the apostles said: It is not fitting for us to leave the word of God and serve tables.Therefore, look for seven approved men from among you, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this office. And we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And this word will be acceptable to all the people (Acts 6:3-5). What can we learn from this? That it is good for those who cannot devote themselves to prayer to serve, so that they do not deprive themselves of either, and that those who are able to engage in better things should not neglect the more important or essential.
51. Therefore, let us begin the work of prayer, and as we progress gradually, we will find that from it comes to the faithful not only hope in God, but also firm faith and unfeigned love, and not holding grudges, and love for the brothers, and self-control, and patience, and inner knowledge, and deliverance from temptation, and gifts of grace, and heartfelt confession and sincere tears. And again, prayer provides not only the things enumerated, but also the endurance of the troubles that befall us, and pure love for our neighbor, as well as the knowledge of the spiritual law, and the knowledge of the justice of God, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the gift of the spiritual treasury, and all that God has promised to the faithful, both here and in the life to come. In a word, man cannot renew the image of God in himself without the grace of God and faith, without dwelling with the mind in undivided prayer and without great humility of mind.
52. There are three forms of piety: first, not to sin; second, to suffer the troubles that come after sinning; and third, to weep if the suffering of the troubles that come is lacking. For what is not corrected here by a proper way of reconciliation with God, certainly brings upon us judgment there, unless God, seeing us weeping and humbling ourselves, as He Himself knows, by His omnipotent grace, wipes away our sins.
53. Oh, how deceptive and imperceptible is the passion of pleasing men, for it overpowers even the wise! For the actions of other passions are easily perceived by those who practice them, and for this reason they are brought to weeping and humility of mind. But pleasing men is concealed by words and the appearance of piety, so that those who are ruled by it have difficulty in perceiving its fickleness.
54. Hear how the Holy Scripture denies pleasing men. First, the prophet David says: God breaks the bones of those who please men: they were ashamed because God humbled them (Ps 52:6). And the apostle Paul says: Not only doing outwardly as men pleasers (Eph 6:6), and again: Or do I seek to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I would not be the servant of Christ (Gal 1:10). You will find much of this in the Holy Scripture, if you read it.
55. What is the cunning of pleasing a man? The mother of all cunning and the first of them is unbelief, and after it, as its offspring, follow envy, hatred, malice, jealousy, strife, hypocrisy, partiality, outwardly visible service, slander, lies, false and not true piety, and similar imperceptible and dark passions. However, worse than all this is that some praise all these with skillful words, while they conceal the harm that lies in them. If you want, I will also reveal to you their cunning one by one: by advising one, a cunning man prepares a trap for another; by praising one, he humiliates another; by teaching his neighbor, he praises himself; he takes part in a trial not to judge with justice, but to take revenge on the enemy; he exposes by flattery until the enemy whom he rebukes accepts him; he slanders, not naming names in order to hide the slander; He persuades those who love poverty to tell him what they need, supposedly with the intention of giving it to them, and when they do, he proclaims it as if they were asking for it themselves; he boasts before the inexperienced, and speaks humbly before the experienced, seeking praise from both; when virtuous people are praised, he is indignant and, starting another conversation, removes the praise; he condemns rulers when they are absent, and when they are present he praises them to their face; he mocks the humble in mind, and seeks teachers to rebuke them; he humiliates simplicity in order to show himself to be too wise; he ignores the virtues of his fellow men, and remembers their faults. In short, he hunts for time in every way and is humble before men, revealing an abundant passion for pleasing men and trying to hide his evil deeds by asking about others. True monks do not act in this way, but on the contrary: out of a sense of mercy they overlook the evil deeds of others, and reveal their own before God. This is why they are slandered by people who do not know their intentions. They do not care to please people, but to please God. And so, sometimes pleasing God, and sometimes humiliating themselves, they expect a reward for both from God, who said: " Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14).
56. Nothing that happens to us is due to injustice, but to the just judgment of God. Some suffer for their own evil deeds, and others for their neighbor. And the three young men in the furnace teach us this way of thinking, saying that they were thrown into the fire because of their own guilt (Dan. 3:28) and by the command of God, although they took on the face of others. When Shimei scolded him, holy David confessed that because of his guilt and the command of God he had been subjected to insult (2 Kings 16:11). And Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and other prophets predicted to the people (Israel) and the tribes (heathen) that troubles would overtake them in the future, in accordance with their sins, revealing to them at the same time their guilt and troubles, since they express themselves thus: because they said and did this and that, this and that overtook them. Explaining this, the blessed David also says in the Psalm: I understand, O Lord, that your judgments are righteous, and that you have truly humbled me (Ps 118:75), and again: You have made me a laughingstock to the foolish. I was dumb and did not open my mouth, because you did it (Ps 38:9-10).
57. We should receive the one who rebukes us as the God-sent messenger of our hidden evil thoughts, who helps us to examine our thoughts accurately and to correct ourselves. We often do not know about the great evil that is hidden in us, and it is characteristic only of the perfect to remember all their shortcomings. If we find it difficult to notice our obvious shortcomings, then all the more our thoughts remain unnoticed. Not knowing about the greater part of the evil that is hidden in us, we are confused by the troubles that befall us. However, as rational people, let us understand that the Lord allows troubles to come upon us for our benefit and that through them He does us much good: first, through them He reveals to us the evil thoughts that secretly rule us; then, after they are revealed, He grants us true and unfeigned humility of mind; finally, He grants us both deliverance from vainglory and the perfect revelation of every evil that is hidden in us. Know for sure that we will not recognize the evil that is hidden in us unless we endure the troubles that overtake us with faith and gratitude. If we do not know it accurately, then we cannot reject present evil thoughts, nor pray for cleansing from past evil, nor can we gain firm conviction for the future.
58. The troubles and distortions that befall us, at first glance, do not correspond to our guilt, although in a spiritual sense they preserve all justice. We can also learn this from the Holy Scriptures. Did those who died under the collapsed tower of Siloam, tear the tower down on others? Or did the captives who were taken to Babylon for repentance for 70 years, plunder others for repentance? Not so with punishment. Just as soldiers who are caught in some transgression are punished by beatings, and not by the evil they committed, so we are all punished by the troubles that befall us in due time and in accordance with repentance, and not in the same period of time and with the same things. It is precisely the delay of time and the inconsistency of the troubles that overtake us with our guilt that leads many to disbelieve in the justice of God.59. The culprits of every trouble that befalls us are the thoughts of each of us. I could say that words and deeds are also guilty, but since they do not precede them, I attribute everything to thoughts. Thought precedes, so that then with our words and deeds, and with our neighbors, they form a community. Communion can be twofold: one arises from malice, the other from love. Through communion we accept one another, even those we do not know, and troubles follow this acceptance, as the Holy Scripture says: He who is surety for his friend puts his hand to his enemy (Prov. 6:1). Accordingly, everyone suffers what comes to him not only for his own sake, but also for the sake of his neighbor, because he is surety for him.
60. Acceptance for evil is involuntary. It occurs in the following way: the thief seems to want to take upon himself the temptations of the one from whom he steals; the greedy receives temptations from the one from whom he robs; the slanderer, the one he slanders; the one who overcharges, the one he overcharges; the slanderer, the one he slanders; a despiser, the one he despises; a tempter, the one he tempts. And not to mention each one individually – the one who does injustice receives the corresponding temptations of the one he does injustice to. This is also testified by the Holy Scripture which says: The righteous escapes the trap that the enemy has prepared for him, and the wicked are caught in it (Prov. 11:3). And elsewhere: He who digs a pit for his neighbor will fall into it himself; and he who rolls a stone against another will roll it back on himself (Prov. 26:27). And again: All injustices return to the bosom of the unjust, but with the Lord all things are righteous (Prov. 16:33). According to the Apostle Paul: But if our injustice demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say among ourselves? Is God unjust when he shows wrath (Rom. 3:5) not only against those whom he teaches with afflictions, but also against those who thoughtlessly murmur against them?
61. Acceptance out of love was given to us by the Lord Jesus, who first healed our spiritual infirmities, and then every disease and infirmity, renewing those who firmly believe in Him and purifying their nature. He granted deliverance from death, bequeathed to them the reverence of God, taught them piety, showing that we are obliged to suffer for love's sake even unto death. He also granted us suffering through the communion of the Holy Spirit, as well as future good things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man (1 Cor 2:9). For this reason He receives temptations for us, endures insults, mockings, bonds, betrayal, blows on the cheeks, being given vinegar and gall to drink, being pierced with nails, being crucified, being pierced with a spear. Having united Himself with us both in body and spirit, and having accepted suffering for us, He handed down the same law to the apostles and disciples, prophets, fathers, and patriarchs, having taught some of them beforehand by the Most Holy Spirit, and to others He showed them by His Most Pure Body. Declaring this acceptance, He says: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Therefore, Saint Paul, following the Lord, says: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and in my flesh I fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the Church (Col 1:24), mysteriously indicating acceptance out of love.
62. Would you like to understand more clearly how the apostles entered into communion with us in thought, word, and deed, taking upon themselves trials for our sake. Through their thoughts they proposed to us the Scriptures, citing the prophecies, advising us to believe in Christ as the Deliverer, convincing us that we were obliged to serve him as the Son of God by nature, praying to us, shedding tears, and doing everything possible to make us faithful in thought. With their words they pleaded with us, threatened us, taught us, exposed us, rebuked us for our little faith, denied our ignorance, explained the Scriptures, interpreted the times, confessed Christ, preached that He was crucified for us and that the incarnate Word is one, not two, although we conceive Him in two natures that are indissolubly and inseparably united, in every time, place, and work cutting off falsehood, not agreeing with lies, not conversing with those who boast in the flesh, not staying with the vain, not fearing the proud, overcoming the crafty, accepting the humble, embracing the pious, and teaching us to do the same. In fact, they were persecuted, mocked, deprived, insulted, thrown into prison, killed, suffering in various ways for us. Having thus entered into communion with us, they also accepted our trials, since they say: If we are afflicted, it is for your salvation ... or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort (2 Cor 1:6). They received the law from the Lord who said: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (Jn 15:13). And they handed it on to us, saying:If He laid down His life for us, we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 2:16), and again: Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2).
63. Therefore, having learned the two kinds of communion with one another, i.e. the acceptance that comes through hardship and that which comes from love, in accordance with them let us not be curious about the temptations that occur, i.e. how, or when, or through whom they encounter us. For what is convenient for each of us, the time in which we will be irrevocably caught, and the cooperation of the whole creation in it, is known only to God. We only need to believe in the justice of God and to know that everything that happens to us unwillingly happens either for love or for evil. Therefore we should endure it, and not reject it, so as not to add sin to our sins.
64. The will of the flesh is a natural movement of the body with the ardor that follows it and which is strengthened by sleep and the tranquility of the body. Of them the apostle Peter also says: Do not be surprised at the fire that is happening to you for your testing, as if something strange were happening to you (1 Pet. 4:12). And the blessed Paul said of them: The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. Therefore he commands: Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:17). The apostles said this, wishing that we would not agree with such movements.
65. Those who have begun a feat should also complete it. It is useful for young and old, who have a healthy body and do not fear labor or suffering, to love daily fasting with all seriousness, to take bread in moderation and to drink water occasionally, so that, having finished eating, they still feel a certain hunger and thirst, and so that the pleasure of food does not interfere with their service to God. If, by eating the food indicated, we are satisfied, we will soon desire other foods, and if we are not satisfied, we will always be hungry and will only want to be satisfied, even if only with bread.
66. It is not easy to control the shameless stomach, since it is a god to those who have been controlled by it. It is impossible that the one who obeys it is not guilty. However, it is not only satiety that is dangerous, but also starvation. For if we do not taste food for many days, despondency will find a place in us and attack us, and our nightly vigils will turn into sleep, and our daytime prayers into carnal thoughts. Thus we will not gain any benefit from sleep, but will suffer greater harm from carnal thoughts. Moreover, like those who fast more than others, we will begin to think highly of ourselves and to humiliate the weaker, which is worse than any sin.
67. If an unwise farmer cultivates a field with much expense but does not sow it, he will work against himself. So we will work against ourselves if we prepare the body with great effort and do not offer it words of prayer. If a poor farmer sows seed in an uncultivated field, he will reap thorns instead of wheat. So we will bring forth the fruit of sin, not of righteousness, if we do not offer words of prayer to the body that we have exhausted by fasting. For the body is also of the same earth. If we do not cultivate it with the same diligence as the earth, it will never bring forth the fruit of righteousness.
68. Fasting brings benefit to those who approach it wisely, while it harms those who approach it unwisely. Therefore, those who care about the benefit of fasting should beware of the harm that can come from it, that is, vanity. The bread that we eat after completing the fast that we have imposed on ourselves should be divided into days on which we do not taste food to the full, so that, taking a little each day, we may subdue the wisdom of our body and establish our heart in useful prayer. In this way, by the power of God, we will be preserved from arrogance and will ensure that we spend all the days of our lives in humility of mind, without which no one can ever please God.
69. If we were concerned about humility of mind, there would be no need for us to be punished. For all the evil and every sorrow that happens to us comes because of our arrogance. If the angel of Satan was allowed to afflict the apostle Paul so that he would not be exalted, how much more will Satan himself be allowed to afflict us until we humble ourselves. Our forefathers ruled homes, had wealth, and cared for their wives and children, but at the same time, because of their unfeigned humility of mind, they conversed with God. We have abandoned the world, despised wealth, left our home, and yet demons mock us for our arrogance. He who is arrogant does not even know himself. For if he knew himself and his foolishness, he would not be puffed up. He who does not know himself, how can he know God? If he has not known his foolishness, how will he know God’s wisdom, from which he is far off and alien. He who knows God contemplates His greatness, and, reproaching himself, says like blessed Job: I have heard of you by the hearing of my ears, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I reproach myself and am gone. I feel like dust and ashes (Job 42:5-6).
Accordingly, those who follow Job see God, and those who see him know him. If we desire to see God, let us reproach ourselves and hold to humility of mind. Then we will not only see Him before us, but we will also delight in Him, who has dwelt and rested in us. Thus our foolishness will be made wise by His wisdom, and our weakness will be strengthened by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
70. Good works are fasting, vigils, and living abroad, although they still belong to the order of external good conduct. For the Christian order is more concerned with the interior, and should not rely on these bodily virtues. For it happens that a man is a partaker of grace, but the evil that is still hidden in him plots. It deliberately hides itself and does not act so that he may think that his mind has been purified and that he may fall into high-mindedness, thinking that he is a perfect Christian. Then, after a man thinks that he is free and after he has become careless, evil attacks him like a robber, secretly prepares a trap for him, tempts him and throws him into the depths of the earth. For when twenty-year-old robbers or soldiers know how to prepare traps and ambush their enemies, follow them, attack them from behind, surround them and, finally, kill them, how much more does evil, which is so many thousands of years old, know how to carry out its work, which consists in the execution of souls. It knows how to create a secret ambush in the heart and not to act for a certain time in order to lead the soul to lofty thoughts about its perfection.
The basis of Christianity consists in a man being poor in spirit, i.e. humble, no matter how many righteous deeds he has done, and not being satisfied with them, nor considering himself to be something great. Even if he becomes a partaker of grace, he should not think that he has achieved anything, nor should he imagine that he is something special, nor should he begin to teach. Having led an exemplary life in great fasting, life in a foreign land and prayer, and having acquired grace, he should not think highly of his soul. For, indeed, such an initial portion of grace was given to him that he would endure labor, hunger and thirst, so that he would not be immoderate in his endeavor and so that he would not consider himself righteous and rich in grace, but worthy of weeping and lamentation, like a mother whose only son, whom she had raised, died when he was already grown up.
71. He who carries out the law in his external life and conduct is free only from certain consequences of bad nature, offering to God the sacrifice of the unreasonable actions of passion. He is satisfied with this mode of activity for salvation due to his unworthiness.
72. He who has truly loved the evangelical life has removed both the beginning and the end of his malignity, walking in every virtue in deed and word and offering the sacrifice of praise and confession, that is, glorifying God. Having delivered himself from all anxiety arising from the actions of passion, and being free in mind from the struggle with it, he takes immoderate delight only in the hope of future goods, which nourishes the soul.
73. The fear of hell makes beginners in the feat of a virtuous life avoid evil, while the longing for the reward of future goods gives the advanced serious attention to the doing of good. The mystery of love exalts the mind above all created things, making it blind to everything that is after God. The Lord only makes wise those who have become blind to everything after God (Ps 145:8), showing them the things of God.
74. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and put into three measures of meal until it was all leavened (Mt 13:33). This signifies that the intellect, according to the apostle, hid the word of the Lord, which it had received into itself, in the threefold subject of body, spirit and soul, and all its slenderness, which was scattered in thoughts like flour, gathered into one bowl of faith, expecting that it would resemble in everything the word which works in it. Thus the Lord compared the word of truth to a grain of mustard seed which is small when it is sown in the hearts of those who listen, but then, growing by appropriate action and comparing itself to a huge tree standing in a high place, according to Holy Scripture, it becomes a shelter for the intellects which approach it.
75. The feat of piety consists in fulfilling the commandments of Christ, of which the first and greatest is love which, according to the word of Scripture, thinks no evil, but endures all things (1 Cor 13:5-7). In doing so, she cannot condemn the one who does her wrong. By this love we are distinguished from one another, although no one attains its fullness. Waiting for the grace of Christ to supplement our shortcomings, let us not give up doing what is in our power. For God knows how weak we are, and how many works of love we omit due to negligence. Since love grows stronger not only through voluntary feats, but also through the troubles that happen to us, great patience and meekness are necessary for us from God. Therefore the apostle Paul says: Let no one deceive himself: If any man among you thinks he is wise in this life, let him become a fool, that he may be wise (1 Cor 2:18).
76. The land of Chaldea (Acts 7:4) is a life in passions, in which idols of sin are built to be worshipped. Mesopotamia is a life that participates in both opposite natures. Finally, the promised land (Heb 11:9) is a state that is filled with every good. Therefore, anyone who, like ancient Israel, returns to his old habit, falls back into the slavery of passions, depriving himself of the freedom that was given to him.
77. He who has courageously overcome the passions of the flesh and who has skillfully fought against unclean spirits, expelling their thoughts from the domain of his soul, should pray that a pure heart may be given to him and that a right spirit may be renewed within him (Ps 50:12), i.e. that he may be perfectly delivered from evil thoughts and, by the gift of grace, be filled with divine thoughts. In this way, the bright and great mental world of God will become, consisting of moral, natural and theological insights.
78. A pure heart (Ps 50:12) is one that places before God a completely blind and formless memory and is ready to receive His images, through which what is natural becomes visible.
79. He who has overcome the soul's affection for the body by divine longing has become indescribable, although he is still in the body. For God, who attracts the longing of him who longs for Him, is incomparably above all and does not allow him to be attached to anything that is after God. Therefore, let us desire God with all the virtue of our endeavor and strive that our free will be not attached to anything bodily, placing ourselves in our disposition truly above all sensible and mental things. Then the natural life will not at all hinder us from deciding to be indescribable with God by nature.
80. Having pitched his tent outside the people, that is, having established his thought and mind outside the visible, the great Moses began to worship God (Ex. 34:8). Initiated into the sacred mysteries, he entered the primordium (Ex. 20:21), into the invisible and immaterial place of knowledge.
81. Until we have completely emerged from the ordinary attachment to our essence and the essence of everything that is after God through reason, our virtue will not become immutable. Only when we have reached this dignity through love will we know the power of God's promise. Namely, the worthy should believe that there is unshakable stability where the mind has established its strength through love. Without emerging from itself and everything that can be thought, and without establishing itself in the silence that is above thought, the mind cannot be freed from the changeability that is inherent in everything.
82. Those who, for fear of the Jews (John 20:19), that is, for fear of cunning spirits, sit behind closed doors in the upper room in Galilee, live safely on the side of revelation, on the height of divine insights, closing the senses as doors and receiving the Word of God that comes in an unknown way, without the action of the senses, by communicating peace granting them dispassion, and by inspiration the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He gives them power over the wicked spirits and shows them the signs of his mysteries.
83. He who spends the sixth day in the Gospel has first mortified the initial movements of sin and has reached a state of dispassion, pure from all evil, having sabbathed with the mind even from the most subtle idea of passion. Having crossed the Jordan (Gen 32:22), he passes to the side of knowledge in which the mind, mysteriously built up by peace, becomes in the Spirit the dwelling place of God.
84. The Sabbath (Lev. 16:31) is the peace of mind of the rational soul which has separated the mind even from all the divine words which are hiddenly locked up in the existing, and in the ecstasy of love has clothed it entirely in the one God, making it completely inseparable from Him by mysterious theology. Amen!
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