1\IYSTIC TREATISES BYISAAC OF NINEVEH

l\1YSTIC TREArfiSES BYISAAC OF NINEVEI-I
TRANSLATED F ROl\I BEDJAN'S SYRIAC TEXTvVITH

AN INTRODUCTION AND

REGISTERS

BY

A. ]. WENSINCKVERHANDELINGEN DER KONINKLIJKE AKADEMIE
VAN WETENSCHAPPEN TE AMSTERDAM
AFDEELING LETTERKUNDE

NIEUWE REEKS
DEEL XXIII No. 1

Wiesbaden

Dr. Martin Sandig oHG.

r.

.

/�

'

), g •/J/l

Univ.-Bib!loth�-1Re9ensbur;

1969
Freun dlich genehmigter Neudruck der Ausgabe von 1923

Printed in Germany

Titel-N ummer 2070

PR E F ACE

It is with a feeling of hesitation that I publish this work. I
must confess that the author's intention has not always become
clear to me. I hope that some of the readers may be in better
condition. The reason why I have yet decided to trust thisbook to the press, is that Isaac may be called one of the mostgenuine and profound representatives of Oriental mysticism.
There is another ground that induced me to u ndertake thepresent translation . Isaac stands chronologically and m ateriallyon the threshold of Muslim mysticism. He has developed someessential features which have become prominent among theMuslims. I only mention his view on the ,means' - the .,_,�f­and on the value of seaking disdain , :.:..JL.. So I hope that
this publication will prove to be of som e use for the history
and understanding of one of the most im portant departmentsof Islam.
It would have been im possible for me to prepare an English
translation of lsaac's work without the assistance of an English
scholar trained in Oriental mysticism. Professor D. B. Macdo·
nald of Hartford was so k ind as to draw my attention to oneof his former pupils, the Reverend vVILLIAII! TnOMSON, B. D . ,who undertook t o correct the English style with painstaking
care. Moreover he collated some of the Mss. in the British
Museum and provided me with valuable suggestions. I am
anxious to express to him publicly my sincere thanks.
The present translation is as literal as seemed compatible
with an English style. It may be considered as a compromis
between my point of view and Mr. Thomson's.
If there have remained expressions which are rather Syriac
than English, they are due to my stubbornness. The renderingof some of the technical expressions gave a good deal oftrouble. rCu.Ci.u e. g. is usually translated by ,deliberations'or ,thoughts'. Mr. Thomson often suggested ,intuitions' which
in some cases would perhaps suit the context, but in otherhope that
instances expresses more than the word contains.
the reader gradually will grasp the meaning of this andsimilar terms.
I gratefully acknowledge the liberality of our Royal Academy
in giving the present work a place in the series of its publica­
tions. The ,Leidsch Universiteitsfonds' kindly complied with myrequest to grant the sum necessary for the final preparing of
the manuscript. I beg the syndics to agree my warmest thanks.
L e ide n ,19 2 2.

C ONT ENTS
PREFACE .
CONTENTSREFERENCESINTRODUCTION
The text and the Greek translation
Isaac's age and person .
A sketch of Isaac's mystical ideas
Isaac's place in Oriental thought
TRANSLATION.
CHAPTER I
IIIII
On the behaviour of excellence.
IV
V

VI
VII. On other subjects, chapter by chapter, in shortsections: on the character of trust in God, etc. .
CHAPTER VIII. What is it that helps a man to come near
unto God with his heart etc. .
CHAPTER IX. On sins [committed ] intentionally and with evil
will and on those [committed] accidentally .
CHAPTER X. On the words of the scriptures being spoken as
it were to patients etc. .
CHAPTER XI. \Vhereby the beauty of solitary life is to bepreserved and how it can be a cause of God's being glorified
CHAPTER XII. That it is not beautiful for the servant of God
who has renunciated the world and has gone forth to seek
even the truth, out of fear that he shall not find the truth,
to desist from seeking it etc. .
CHAPTER XIII. On the varying states which come to those
who live in solitude etc.
CHAPTER XIV. As to when those who live in solitude, begin
to know, even to a slight extent, how far they have advancedin their service etc.
CHAPTE R X V. On the course of the solitary career, succinctly
and without prolixity. And on the question how and at whattime its virtues are born one from the other .
CHAPTER X VI. How profitable it is for the soul while in solitude to be free from works etc. .

P=.�ge
V
VII

XI

XH

XII

XVJI

XXIII
XLV

7
I4
28
42
55
67
70
74
78
So

82
84
85
87
Sg

VIII

CO:'-!TI•:NTS

CHAPTER XVII. On the short paths towards God which arerevealed to one from the sweet works in vigils etc. .
CHAPTER XVIII. Things which I have heard from old men
and stories of holy people etc.
CHAPTER XIX. On the revelations and powers which happen
to the saints in images
CHAPTER XX. On various intelligible forces of the mind, in con­nection with the action of revelations and spiritual visions.
CHAPTER XXI. On that which happens during prayer [untothose who live] in solitude .
CHAPTER XXII. On various [experiences] in prayer and on
the limits of the power of the mind etc. .
CHAPTER XXIII. On the speech of true knowledge .
CHAPTER XXIV. On the things a brother is provided with 111
his cell .
CHAPTER XXV. The opportunities of the soul that seeks pro­found contemplation, to immerse itself in it [and so escape ]from bodily deliberations which arise from things recollected.
CHAPTER XXVI. Against those who say: If God is good,wherefore has He made these things? .
CHAPTER XXVII. In how many different ways the sight ofincorporeal things is received by human nature.
CHAPTER XXVIII. A symbolical demonstration concerning thetheory of Sabbath and Sunday
CHAPTER XXIX. On the difrerent excellent methods of wiseprovidence in educating pupils .
CHAPTER XXX. On the power and the evil action of sin; andconcerning those in whom it maintains itself and those inwhom it is annihilated.
CHAPTER XXXI. On the struggle or rather the danger of fallingthat excellent works incur
CHAPTER XXXII. On the aim of guarding the heart. And on
subtle speculation that looks into the Apartment .
CHAPTER XXXIII. On the action of divine love .
CHAPTER XXXIV. On the natural children of virtues andthe like .
CHAPTER XXXV. A treatise in questions and answers con­cerning constant behaviour and every kind of excellence etc.
CHAPTER XXXVI. On the various ways in which Satan wars
against those who tread the narrow way which is above
the world
CHAPTER XXXVII. On the things the exact use of which I
have learnt by the knowledge of discernment .
CHAPTER XXXVIII. Short sentences concerning the distinctionof the mind's impulses.
CHAPTER XXXIX. Helpful advice based on love .
CHAPTER XL. Exposition concerning the degrees of the path,
namely concerning the power of ministration of each of them.

Page

9I
95
I05
I 09
I 10
1I 1
I 18
120
124
I z8
I 32
I36
138
141
145
146
148
149
152
r8o
188
194
197
202

IX

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XLI. A letter which he wrote to one of the brethren
who loved solitude etc.
CHAPTER XLII. The answer he sent his natural and spiritualbrother etc.
CHAPTER XLIII. Profitable words full of spiritual wisdom .
CHAPTER XLIV. Concerning how many degrees knowledge has
and concerning the degrees of faith .
CHAPTER XLV. Profitable advice
CHAPTER XL VI. Other considerations .
CHAPTER XL VII. On the angelic motions stirring in us by
divine Providence for the education of the soul in spiritual
things.
CHAPTER XLVIII. On the varying states of light and darkness
to which the soul is subject at all times etc.
CHAPTER XLIX. On the gloomy darkness which during solitude
befalls those who walk in the discipline of knowledge. .
CHAPTER L. Short sections containing various considerations
in which is shown the injury caused by foolish zeal etc.
CHAPTER LI. On the three degrees of knowledge etc.
CHAPTER LII. Short sections on a different subject, on the
distinction of the impulses of knowledge .
CHAPTER LIII. On prayer and the other things which arenecessarily to be sought in constant recollection etc.
CHAPTER LIV. Other explanations concerning maggenanut!za.
CHAPTER LV. How the hidden alertness within the soul is
to be preserved etc.
CHAPTER LVI. Beautiful considerations concerning the life ofman .
CHAPTER LVII. How patience for the sake of the love of God
acquires help from God .
CHAPTER L VIII. On those who live in the neighbourhood of
God and pass all their days in a life of knowledge .
CHAPTER LIX. A profitable discourse .
CHAPTER LX. That without necessity we should not desire
nor ask that any sign should mamfcstly happen through us
or unto us .
CHAPTER LXI. For which causes God admits temptations to
His friends .
CHAPTER LXII. That by the thoughts which stir in a man, he
knows to which degree he belongs and which thoughts follow.
CHAPTER LXIII. Why it is that people who are in the psychic state of knowledge, consider spiritual things in accordance with l their] bodily grossness etc.
CHAPTER LXI V. On the many varying states which cling to
the mind and are purified by prayer
CHAPTER LXV. Good advice giving instruction concerning
watchfulness, and directions concerning the way of discipline,
by which a man may acquire a high rank.

l'ag:e

203
209
z IO
2 I2
2IS
22 I

225
227
228
230
242

253
2 54
261
263
265
268
27 3
278
282
286
288

29 3
29 6
297

X

CO�Tl':NTS
Page

CHAPTER LXVI. A letter which he sent to his friend, in which heexpounds some things concerning the mystery of solitude etc. 3I2
CHAPTER LXVII. An elucidation with examples concerning
the distinctions between intelligible things [showing] which
use there is in each of them
3I6
CHAPTER LXVIII. Short sections
3I8
CHAPTER LXIX. How the intelligent have to dwell in solitude . 32 I
CHAPTER LXX. That we can understand the degree of our
behaviour by the varying states of our mind, etc.
324
328
CHAPTER LXXI. On the influence proceeding from Grace.
CHAPTER LXXII. On true knowledge and on temptations, etc. 332
CHAPTER LXXIII. The concise sense of the [foregoing] section,
together with explanations of what has been said .
337
CHAPTER LXXIV. On the discrimination of virtues and thescope of the whole course, and the greatness of the love341
unto mankind, etc. .
CHAPTER LXXV. On hidden states and the powers and influ348
ences which are in them .
350
CHAPTER LXXVI. Short sayings .
CHAPTER LXXVII. This chapter is full of life .
352
CHAPTER LXXVIII. On the profit [arising] from the flight fromthe world, the method of which has been thought out by
the Fathers through prudent examination .
360
CHAPTER LXXIX. How the hidden impulses vary along with36I
the variation of outward behaviour .
CHAPTER LXXX. On vigils and on the many different kindsof labours during them. And that it is not becoming thatthe aim of our labours should be the fulfilling of a quantity,
but [to work] in freedom and with discrimination etc. .
366
CHAPTER LXXXI. An answer to a brother who had asked
him why, when our Lord has defined mercy as similitude
to the greatness of the Father in heaven, the solitaries
honour solitude more than it? etc.
379
CHAPTER LXXXII. How much honour humility possesses andhow high its rank is384
GENERAL REGISTER39I
QUOTATIONS FROM THE BIBLE.
399

R EFE R ENC ES

A ntonius and Maximus. See Stobaeus.
Dionysius Areopagita, Opera Omnia ( ed. Lansselius, Paris I 6 I 5 ).
Epicteti Dissertationes ab Arriano collectae (ed. Upton,
London I 74 I ) .
A. L. Frothingham, Stephen bar Sudaili, the Syrian Mystic
and the Book of H ierotheos (Leyden I 886).
Ghazali, I}:iya' 'Ulum al-D!n (Kairo I 3 02 ) .
Philo, Opera (ed. Mangey, London I 7 42).
Plotinus cum Marsilii Ficini interpretatione castigata iterumediderunt F. Creuzer et G. H . Moser (Paris, 18 55 ) .
Stobaeus, Sententiae .
. item loci communes sententiarium
collectarum per A ntonium et Maximum monachos (A urel .
Allobr. I 609).

I N TR OD U C T I O N

TilE TEXT AND THE GREEKTIC\NSLATION

1)

The present English text has been translated from the editionof the original Syriac by P. Bedjan 2), p. r-581. The rest of
Bedjan's publication contains some extracts from other worksof Isaac, which Bedjan did not edit, because he did not possessmanuscripts which seemed to him sufficient for this purpose.
The works from which these extracts were taken, are consi­
dered as genuine by Bedjan. I have not been able to consult
them, as they are preserved in several places in West e rn Asia.
I do not consider the fact, that these writings are still u nknown
to us, as an important lacuna in our knowledge concerning
the ideas of lsaac. For the present text contains - sometimes
repeated - expositions of his thoughts on themes which intheir totality give a survey of the whole system .
That these treatises are genuine is the opinion of Chabot
and Bedjan ; I think that we have no ground to doubt it. The
style, the vocabulary and the ideas are u niform throughout
the whole work. And the few indications as to the personalityof the author concord with particulars which are known to us
fro m other sources 3).
Bedjan's text has been determined from several man uscripts,
which he enumerates in his a vant·propos, and may be called
a good one, especially as the style and the subjects treatedcannot have been easily intelligible to ordinary scribes. For
some passages, indeed, the help of an accurate translation
1) All further references are to the pages of Uedjan's edition.
2) J.tfar lsaacus /1/inivita de pe;fectio!U rdigiosa (Paris 1909 (p. 582 -639).
3) Cf. beneath, p. X VII sq.

INTRODUCTION

XIII

would have been of value to me. But, as far as I see, noneof the accessible ones deserves this description. I need not
enumerate them here, I may refer the reader to Chabot's
dissertation on Isaac 1). To the Mss. containing an Arabictranslation of the genuine and spurious works of Isaac, m ust
now be added a codex which F. K renkow presented to theJohn Rylands Library at Manchester. On his request Dr. A .
Mingana was so kind a s t o copy for m e some passages, whichshow a close affinity with the extracts from the Mss. at Rome,given by Assemani. A ccording to Chabot this translation wasmade from the Greek. At any rate it seems not to afford
valuable help for a literal understanding of the Syriac text ;consequently I have not deemed it worth while to burden thepresent publication with new costs, which a photographic repro­
duction of these Arabic Mss. for my use would have imposed.
One Arabic translation I could use at liberty, viz. that con­tained in Cod. 5 belonging to the Royal Academy at A msterdam,
to which my attention was drawn by Dr. van Arendonk. The
M s. contains nearly one half of Bedjan's text; long passages
fo the translated treatises have been left out ; sometimes a few
sentences are added. On the whole, the translation is not bad,but not literal enough to afford a valuable basis for correctionsof the Syriac text.
The Greek translation, concerning which Chabot has given
the necessary communications, was at my disposition in the
Leiden library through the kindness of the direction of the
University Library at Leipzig, a liberality which is highly tobe prized, as copies of the book are very rare, as has been
pointed out by Chabot, whose severe judgment concernir.g theway in which the translation was made, m ust be acknowledged
to be just.
I willingly acknowledge that in some cases the Greek text
has been of value to me. Yet I have not deemed it necessary
to collate it throughout with the Syriac original ; this was alabour which it did not deserve.
In one respect the Greek translation - or at any rate theprinted text - differs totally from its original, viz. i n thesequence of the chapters. In order to facilitate its collation
with Bedjan's text I give a table of the corresponding chaptersI) De lsa:rci Nini1•itae vita, scriptis et doctrina (l.ouvain1 1892).

INTRODFCTJ0:-1

XIV

in a footnote , as far as I could identify them 1 ) . Thus of thetreatises of the Syriac text I 4 are missing in the Greek
translation, or m ore than one sixth . A m ong these chaptersthere are some of the most difficult ; so that it is not unjust
to suppose that the translators gave them up for this reason.
This hypothesis is confirmed by the fact that also large partsof the translated chapters are left out, and usually those whichcontain difficult passages.
On the other hand the translators have added four treatises
which are not in the Syriac text, and which appear to belong
to the writings of the so-called John Saba, viz. n°. 2 , 7, 43
and 8o which are respectively found in the Syriac Mss. Add.
I 4· 7sS (British Museum), fol. 249a 2 ) , and in the Ms. describedby A ssemani, Bibliothcca Orientalis, I, p. 440, sermo 20; m

82

I)

Syr.
2
3

l

Gr.

p. 20-22 .
p. 22-30 .
P·

30-37 ·
p. 37-end.

4
5
6
7
8
9
IO
11
I2
I3
14

IS

IS
16
I7

p. I39-142
p. 142-144

IS

30
S2
S3
44
45
23
5
s6
22
21
41
70
IO
11
'4

p. I44-I46
p. I46-144

p. 14S-end

9
I3
29
75
76
77
7S
79

I�
20

2I
22

I p.

I63-16S
I P · 165-end

31
32

Syr.

Gr.

2S
29

74

30

l p. 20S-211 .

p. 211-end .

31
32

l p . 2 1 S-219 .
33

p . 2 1 9-end .

34

l p. 224-267 .

)

42
55
6S
24
16

P·

l

4s
49

l

.

57

23
p. 343-353 .
24
sssop. 353-359 .
6o
67
25
26
52
SI
84
27
66
52
2) Wright, Catalo.r;·uc of tlu Syri.rc .fifss., JII, p. 583 .

I

Gr.
33
3

p. 3S5-end .

ss
47267-269.
p. 269-271 .
51
p. 271-275 .
52
36
p. 275-276 .
53. p. 276 -end .
54
37
26
p. 291-292 .
3S
p. 292-end .
27
46
39
40
17
Epist. I
41
Epist. 2
42
43
72
44
IS
73
45
46
p. 3 35-337 .
39
47
40
p. 337-33s
35

l p. 379-3S5.
53

Syr.

54
55
56
57
ss
59
6o
61
62
63
64
6s
66
67
6S
69
70
7I
72
73
74
75
76
77
7S
79
So
SI
82

61
25
37
4
36
4S
3S
35
59

p. 443-446 .

1 p. 446-end .

l34

Epist. 3

partly and in afree manner incorporated in Gr.

69

69
12
s
49
so
SI

l p. 546-549 .

19
6
7I
2S

p. 549 sqq.

20

INTRODCCTI0:-1

XV

Assemani, I, p. 43 7 , sermo 8; in Assemani, I, p. 436, sermo
1; Add. 14. 7 28 fol. 250b 1) and Assemani, I, p. 440, sermo 22.
Further the table shows that the Greek translators havedealt freely with the division of the Syriac text in chapters.
On a much smaller scale the Syriac Mss. have also used someliberty in this respect.
The Greeks had the more reason to act thus, because they
adopted a system of sequence totally different from the Syriac
one. Whoever compares the sequence of the chapters in the
Greek text, will observe that here the arrangement has been
made according to the subjects treated in the different chap­ters ; here is united what is alike in nature : the chapters onlove are put together, equally those on temptations, and so on.
This arrangement, at first sight, would seem entitled to aclaim of originality, especially when it is contrasted with the
Syriac text, which does not betray a systematic arrangement.
Still , the Syriac Mss. extant show the same order withslight variations. This points to a fixed tradition in this. respect.
A close examination of the Syriac text provides us withmaterial which is sufficient to settle this question.
The first six treatises (which are scattered over the Greek
translation) have this subscription in the Syriac text : F inishedare the six treatises on the behaviour of excellence. In accor­d ance herewith is the fact that none of these chapters has atitle of its own as the other ones have, but that they aresimply indicated by : Treatise the first, and so on. The titleof the seventh chapter, which apparently - as well as all theother titles - was given by lsaac himself, runs thus : Further,on other subjects, chapter (�;�) 2) by chapter, etc . . . . . . . .
Here is a proof of the authenticity of the arrangement of
the Syriac text.
There are further indications which point in the same direc­
tion. On p. 94 the author speaks of the later chapters inwhich he promises to deal with the significance of tears. This
is in accordance with the facts, as a consultation of the registers. v. Tears can teach. - At the beginning, of chapter 33 theauthor refers to chapter 3 2 ; the Greek translation has tornthese chapters asunder. Likewise the beginning of chapter 36I) Wright, o. l . , Ill, p. 583.
2) The AraLs apparently have taken

one the metaphorical senses of y� from the Syrians.

XYI

INTRODUCTION

points back to the end of chapter 3 5 ; here the connection ts
equally disregarded by the Greek translators. - I n the be­ginning of the chapter on inspiration (n°. 54) the author reminds
the reader of his treating this subject previously ; this hastaken place on pages 107 and I 6o. - Chapter 7 3 entitles
itself as a succinct rendering of n°. 72; here the right sequenceis preserved even in the Greek translation. - On p. 57 3 theauthor, explaining his definite ideas on solitude and intercourse,
warns the reader not to argue against him on account of
quotations from foregoing pages, taken at random from thecontext. As a matter of fast Isaac has dealt with this subject
largely in his book, as again may be seen from the Register . This evidence is conclusive in my opinion. Still, the fact remains,that the Syriac text, taken as a whole, has nothing to do witha real composition .
I n this respect i t is i n sharp contrast with other mysticalworks written by congenial spirits. Bar Hebraeus shows agreat predilection for systematic order, a tendency which healready found in his example al-GhazalL The Book of Hiero­
theos is also systematically arranged. Isaac's example, however,is imitated by Joh n Saba, whose works, according to the de­scriptions of the Mss . , also seem to consist of single treatises
which are not linked together by any progessive idea.
The present text, therefore, is only to be taken as a long­a very long - exposition of the many sides and theories andexperiences of mystical life. Of course this lack of composi­tional lines has given rise to many repetitions, which are some­times fatiguing, but often welcome to us as containing explana­tions. Perhaps Isaac's way of proceeding should be ascribedto some extent to the fact that at a certain age - and he wrote
the present book when very old - his eyesight was lost, sothat he could no longer read but was obliged to have recourse
to scribes. Perhaps this fact accounts also for his style, which
is full of too lengthy periods and anacolouthons.
It is in accordance with the defective com position of thebook, that it has no distinct title. Bedjan has called it De per­fectione religiosa, which seems to be a free rendering of thesubscription of the first six treatises ,on the behaviour of
excellence'. Some, but not all M ss. 1), give the title , On the way
1) Bedjan's text, p. 1, note 1.

lNTRODUCTION

xvrt

of monasticism' . Both are equally in harmony with the con­tents of the book, but many si milar ones would have been
also possible. The author seems not to have been minded tolook for such a one as at once prints itself into the memory,
as e g. Bar Hebraeus and Ghazali did.
One peculiar feature of the Greek translation has still to be
discussed, viz. the way in which it deals with Isaac's authorities.
The names of the Fathers of Scete appear without exception ;likewise, the great theologians of the fourth century are left
in their place, as e. g. A thanasius, Basil, Ephraim ; and in
the only passage where Dionysios (the Areopagite) occurs,
his name is not suppressed. Euagrius on the other hand, who
is very often cited in the original, never occurs in the Greek
text. He is either left out, or replaced by such names as
Nilos, the blessed Marcus, the divine and great Gregory. Like­
wise the Commentator, Theodore of Mopsuestia, who is also
often cited in the original text, is either left out by the Greeks,or replaced by Gregory , John Chrysostom , Martinianus. In
stead of Diodorus Rhetor or Diodorus of Tarsos 1) Dionysius
the Areopagite or ,one of the great sages' appear. And i nanother passage ,the blessed Cyril' i s introduced by the trans­
lators on their own authority. This means that they thought
it better to suppress those names which were not acceptedby the Monophysite church ; the mention of Cyril is in accord­
ance with this. I n this connection I may refer to Bedjan's
preface, p. VIII, who has shown that some passages on thenature of Christ have been altered by non-Nestorian scribes
and translators.
II
ISAAC'S AGE A�D PERSON

It is only of late that Isaac's age has been fixed withapproximate certainty. In Syriac Mss. he is sometimes con­founded with Isaac of A ntioch , and when it became clearthat our author belonged to a different period, it was not at
first easy to give precise dates. Two Syriac texts which wereedited by Chabot and Rahmani each contain a short bioI) Cf. on him the article in Herzog's Protest. Real-Encyclojiidie.
B

XV1I1

1N1'RODUCTION

graphy of Isaac. It may be worth while to give a translationof both of them.
On the holy Mar Isaac, bishop of Ninive, who resigned his
episcopal office and wrote books on the behaviour of solitaries.
H e was ordained a bishop of Ninive by Mar George theKatholikos, in the monastery of Bet 'Abe 1). After he had
held the pastoral staff at Ninive for five months, as the suc­cessor of bishop Moses, he resigned his episcopal office, fora reason which God knows, and went away to live i n themountains. And after the chair had been vacant for this time,
the blessed Sabr Isho' was ordained as his successor, who also
left his episcopal office and b' e came an anchorite in the daysof J:Ianan Isho' the Katholikos, and departed this world in themonastery of Mar Shehin in Kurdistan .
When Isaac left the chair of Ninive, he ascended the moun­tain of Matlit which surrounds Bet Huzaje and lived in soli­
tude among the anchorites who were there.
Afterwards he went to the monastery of Rabban Shabilr andbecame exceedingly well acquainted with the divine writings ;at last he lost his eyesight through his reading and asceticism.
H e penetrated deeply into the divine mysteries and wrote bookson the divine behaviour of solitaries. He said three things
which were not accepted by the community. Daniel, the bishop
of Bet Garmaia, was scandalized at him on account of thesethings which he said. I n high age he departed this temporary
life ; his corpse was interred in the monastery of Shabilr. He
was born in Bet l}:atraye ; I think that envy was aroused
against him by people of the country even as it was against
Joseph J:Iazzaya and John of A pamea and John de Daliyateh. This biography is taken from the Ketaba de Nakfuta 2).
The following biography occurs in Rahmani's Studia Syriaca 3).
This Mar Isaac of Ninive was born in Bet l}:atraye beneathI ndia. When he had become excercised in the writings of the
Church and their commentaries he became a monk and ateacher in his country. And when Mar George the Katholikos
went to his own country, he took Isaac with him to Bet A ra­maye, because he was a relative of Mar Gabriel l}:atraya, the1) Cf. Hoffmann, Ausziige, p. 226z) ed. Chabot i n Mi!a11ges d'atcftiologit rt d'!listoire,t;aisede Rome), p. 63.

z) 1, p.

�.

X VIe annee

1896 (Eco!e jra!l-lNTRODVCrtON

XIX

commentator of the church. Mar fsaac was ordained a bishop
of Ninive in the monastery of Bet 'Abe. But because of his
keen mind and his zeal, he could endure the pastoral function
for five months only. Then he returned to his solitude, after
he had asked the permission of P a p a, who dismissed him andordered him to go and live i n solitude in the Moun tain of
Bet Huzaye with the monks who dwelt there. At last he be­came blind, so that the brethren wrote down his doctrine.
They gave him the surname of the second Didymus, because
he was placid and kind and humble, and his speech was meek.
He ate only three loafs of bread a week, with small vege­
tables ; he n ever tasted what was cooked. He wrote five volu­
mes which are extant till now [full of] sweet doctrine. This
is attested by Mar Jozadals:. in the letter which he wrote tohis pupil Bushir, to the monastery of M ar Shabur, saying : I
thank the Lord because of your diligence which has sent me
the doctrine of Mar Isaac of Ninive. I know that you haveacquired in your life the keys of the kingdom, because you
have filled our monastery with doctrine full of life. For we
confess that we are pupils of Mar Isaac the bishop of Ninive. So he writes in his letter. And in the end he says, even as
John the Bishop : the writings of Mar Isaac have been of
great support and strengthening power to me. - When h e
had grown old a n d had reached a high age, he departed unto
our Lord. And he was buried in the monastery of Mar Shabur. On account of these notices, we may state that Isaac became
bishop in the second half of the seventh century.
Isaac's work on mystical life shows us a man who musthave felt himself unhappy on the episcopal chair, we are only
amazed at the fact that he let himself be ordained and kept
his office for five months. Assemani has printed from the A rabictranslation of lsaac's works 1) a story pretending to give theclue to Isaac's abdication. It has, however, the value of a n
anecdote only.
Isaac's episcopate and his abdication are confirmed by apassage in the present text (Bedjan, p. 24 8 sq.). It occurs i n
the long treatise n°. 3 5 which has the form o f a dialogue
between a master and his pupil who asks questions. Isaacvery seldom speaks plainly about himself ; he usually imitatesI) Bibliotheca Orienta!is, I, 444

xx

iNTRODUCTION

the way in which St. Paul once speaks about his own expe­
riences: I know a man who etc.
On p. 248 he: tells something about one of the saints.
Then he continues : [ Another witness to this is ] he who etc.
Then he tells how this latter felt divine care as long as he
was in the desert, but lost it when he was i n the inhabitedworld. Then he asked God, saying : Perhaps, my Lord, Grace
has been withdrawn from me on account of my episcopal
rank ? It was said to him : No.
A similar allusion seems to occur on p p. 553 : Some ofthem [ viz. the solitaries] were sustained by a bird. Behold,these last sixty years I have received the half of my breadfrom a such a bird. Others are sustained by some tree or apalm i n a supernatural way, as one of them has said, viz. thebishop who repented in the desert. I am now in this desert nineand forty years. God has granted me life through this palm. Further we learn from the present text, that he had a brother,
who had likewise devoted himself to solitary life, for he calls
him his natural and spiritual brother in the letter which occurs
in the present text as n°. 42 of the treatises. The contents ofthis letter show us Isaac in full. His brother was ill, apparently
very ill, and had asked him to come and visit him. But Isaac
had his stern ideas on the point of intercourse, which arefound throughout his work. So he refused to go. Now it
seems that he also makes an allusion to this refusal in alater passage, an allusion which is clad in the same dress as
those we have cited above. On p. 3 I 2 he says: We know
another of the saints whose natural brother was ill. He lived
as a recluse in a different cell. During the whole period of
his brother's sickness he restrained his mercy, so that he did
not go out the visit him. When the sick man was on the
point of departing from this world, he sent his brother a mes­sage to this effect: Come, that I may see thee before I departthe world, even if it be in the n ight. Then I will take leavefrom thee and go to rest. The blessed one, however, was not
to be persuaded even at this time, when natural mercy usuallyis stirred, to transgress the voluntary barriers, saying : If I goout, my heart will not be pure before God; for I despise
visiting spiritual brethren ; should I then honour nature above
Christ ? - So his brother died, without his having seen him.
Similarly, on p. 1 7 8, he says : I know a brother who put

INTRODUCTION

XXI

the key in the door of his cell in order to shut it, for he
was going out in order to idle things as Scripture says. A nd
there Grace visited him, so that he returned immediately.
This sounds also as a personal experience. Very clearly the
personal character peeps through the impersonal form in a
passage, occurring on p. 4 92: Now I know one who evenduring his sleep was overwhelmed by ecstasy in God throughthe contemplation of something which he had read in the evening.
And while his soul was amazed at this contemplative medi­
tation, he perceived as it were that he had meditated for longin the motion of sleep, and examined the ecstatic vision. It
was in the depth of the night, and suddenly he awoke fromhis sleep while his tears dropped as water and fell upon his
breast 1) ; and his mouth was full of glorification etc.
This passage brings us to lsaac as a mystic. Several times
he speaks of his experiences. Page 430: My beloved ones,
because I was foolish, I could n ot bear to guard the secretin silence, but am become mad for the sake of my brethren's
profit. For true love is not able to cling to the cause of love,apart from friends. Often when I was writing these things, myfingers paused on the p<!,per. They could not bear the delightthat had fallen into the heart and which made the senses silent.
In the wonderful chapter on the varying states of light anddarkness (n°. 48) he speaks about the despair which sometimes
overwhelms the solitary. If he did not say that he is speaking
on account of experience yet every reader would feel it fromhis very words. But he speaks plainly : If thou possessest no
power to dominate thy soul and to fall upon thy face in prayer,
envelop thy head in thy mantle and lie down till the hour of
darkness has passed away from thee. Leave not, however,thy cell. By this temptation are tried especially those who arewilling to walk in mental discipline and who in their course
are running toward the consolation which comes from faith.
. . . . . . All these things we have experienced many times andrecorded to the consolation of many.
In the beginning of chapter 24 he does not expressly saythat he speaks from his own experience, but the passage ispersonal enough in its tenour : It occurs many times in a day,that a brother, even if thou shouldst give him the kingdom
I) It is to be remembered that lsaak used to sleep sitting.

XXII

INTRODUCTIONof the world, would not consent at that hour to leave his cellor to [allow] any one to visit him. For the time of commerce
has presented itself, of a sudden. Such things happen on days
such as are considered as days of relaxation. Often on suchdays and even on those wherein he has intercourse with others,
grace of a sudden will visit him , in tears without measure, ora vivid affection moving the heart, or a certain gladness withoutcause, or the delight of kneelings.
T here are many passages in the book, which breathe anequally personal spirit. The reader will find them himself. Hereattention is to be drawn to a different kind of utterances, which
disclose their personal character. A t the end of the chapter ontears (n° 1 4) he says : This I have written to the profit of myself
and of everyone who comes across this book, being that which
I have attained by contemplation of the scriptures and fromthe mouth of veracious men (and to a small part by experience).
Still more strongly he utters himself in another passage(p. I 64): In His bounty He has opened our blind heart tounderstand, by the contemplation of the scriptures and the
instruction of the great Fathers, even although I have notbeen deemed worthy of experiencing for personal zeal one
thousandth of what I have written with my hands, especiallyin this tract which we have ventured to write for the illumi­
nation and exhortation of our soul and of those who comeacross it. - Such utterances do not stand by themselves inmystical literature. On the one hand it is well known that the
mystics in general are dependant on congenial spirits, in theirwritings as well as in their experiences. On the other handnearly all of them confess, that their own time is void of thehighest mystic experience and that they themselves are longing
to reach what their predecessors seem to have reached. Bar
Hebraeus, after having written three books on mysticism , con­fesses that his sun is still in the sign of Capricorn and thathe prays for more light 1).
This feature lsaac has in common with most of the mystics,
as also his aversion to dogmatic disputes. Page 48 he warns
against reading books which accentuate the differences between
the confessions, with the aim of causing schisms, which provides
the spirit of slander with a mighty weapon against the soul.
1) Roo/.: of the D,)z•(·, Sentence 79xxrn

INTRODUCTION

This is , generally speaking , the attitude of the mystics inWestern Asia. It is as if they felt that they belonged to one
common type; moreover, dogmatics, which are the great causesof dessension, do not interest them; they think of how they
may ascend unto the One and A ll ; what are dogmatic subtle­
ties to this flight of the mind? Bar Hebraeus has very plainly
spoken his ideas on this point and A bd al-l).:adir al-Djilan1even estimated the differences between Islam, Christianity andJ udaism as being of no real importance 1 ) .
Isaac combines his aversion to confessional differences witha beautiful love of mankind. ,Deem all men worthy of bountyon thy part. Especially because thou incitest them unto truth
thereby. The soul can easily be drawn by corporeal things to
the thought of the fear of God. Also our Lord shared his
table with publicans and harlots, without making any distinction
between those who were worthy and those who were not . . . . .
Therefore, deem all people worthy of bounty and honour, bethey Jews or miscreants or murderers' 2).
With such utterances may be compared the beautiful pas­sages concerning the mystic love of mankind and the wholecreation (p. 507 , 5 08,· 5 1 0, 5 70).
This much may be sufficient concerning Isaac's person andcharacter ; the real man is in his book.
lii
A

SKETCHOF'ISAAC SMYSTICAL

IDEAS

It will always be difficult to describe mystical ideas in asystem atic form ; a mystical system can hardly be spoken of
Ill
Isaac's case; and we have already said, that his book is
as unsystematic as any book can be. Still, the chief ideas of
its author are expounded in it some repeatedly and sometimes
very explicitly. This enables us to give a short characteristicof its contents.
There is a special reason why such a characteristic can beshort. In the Introduction to the translation of Bar Hebraeus ' sBook of the Dove the attempt has been made to give a surveyt) On this tolerance of �Iuslim mystic� see Sir T. \V. Arnold's instructive article 1ToleRdiXitw and Et!Ji(·s.
z) p. 55

ration' in Basting's JJictionnrJ' ofXXIVINTRODUCTIONof the mystical type to which Bar Hebraeus belongs ; fromthat it would appear that he is of a type with Isaac. So I
may refer the reader in the first place to the Introduction
mentioned. But there remain ideas enough which are Isaac's
peculiar property and which have to be discussed here for
Isaac's readers in particular. His relation to his predecessors
and to M uslim mysticism will be treated in the following section.
Isaac devides the mystic way into three sections : repentance,
purity or purification, and perfection 1) . This sequence is of alogical nature in the first place ; it will appear that it cannot
be taken as a temporal distinction in the strict sense ; he thathas reached the state of perfection will often want purification
again, and even repentance. In this respect he is less systematicthan Bar Hebraeus, who makes these states to coincide withthe abode in the monastery, with that in the cell, and withthe state of spiritual consolation.
We may keep Isaac's division in describing his ideas. But
beforehand it is necessary to say a few �ords concerning thegeneral position of his mysticism.
Just as other mystics 2) he shrinks from divulging his mostintimate experiences. ,As to the question of the cause of that
other prayer 3) and its duration without compulsion, it seems
to me that it is not becoming for us to treat such things indetail, or to describe their nature in speech or writing, lest
the reader, being unable to understand anything of it, should
j udge it to be something insipid; or, if he should be acquainted
with these things, should despise him who is not abie to crossthe border of certain things' 4). - Isaac's textbook, the use ofwhich is prescribed to all those who walk the ,way', is the Bible.
But he interprets it as well as the chief dogma's of Chris­tianity in an allegorical way. Speaking of the thorns andthistles which the earth brings forth since Adam's fall, he says:,In reality the thorns are affections which grow in lis frombodily seed' 5).
Mysticism, though dualistic in its deep conscience of goodand evil, body and soul, matter and spirit - is monistic in
its highest view of God and the world. As a matter of fact
the only real Being is God. So Isaac does not acknowledge
2) The Book of the Dove, p. XXVII sqq.
1) p. 507
3 ) viz. pure or even spiritual prayer5) p. 2044) p. 12<)

INTRODUCTION

XXVSatan at His side as a kind of second God. ,Satan is thename of the deviation of the will from the truth, but it is
not the designation of a natural being' 1).
Equally the eschatological and cosmological scheme of Oriental
positive religion is dissolved by allegorical interpretation. ,Fear
is the paternal rod which guides us up to the spiritual Eden,
when we are arrived there, it leaves us a nd returns. Eden is
the divine love wherein is the paradise of all good, where
the blessed Paul was sustained by supernatural food' 2). ,The
many mansions i n the house of the Father denote the spiritualdegrees of the inhabitants of that place. This means : the dif­ferent gifts and the spiritual ranks in which they rejoice spiri­
tually, and the variety of the classes of gifts' 3). And ,th e
kingdom o f heaven i s spiritual contemplation' 4).
Hell is equally of an intelligible nature"). Speaking of those
who do not enter the kingdom but go into the darkness,lsaac says with a variation on the well known word fro m theGospel : ,There will be psychic weeping and grinding of teeth ,which is a grief more hard than the fire. Now thou under­
standest, that to remain far from that elevation, means torturing
hell' 6) . To the same purport are the words 7) : ,If the apple ofthy soul's eye has not been purified, do not venture to look at
the sun, lest thou be bereft of the usual visual power and thou
be thrown into one of those intelligible places which are Tartarus
and a type of hell, namely darkness without God, whither those
who with the impulses of their mind leave nature, wander by
the cognitive nature which they possess. Therefore he that
ventured to go to the banquet in sordid garments, was ordered
to be thrown out into that outer darkness. By the banquet isdesignated the sight of spiritual knowledge. The institutions
in iL are the manifold divine mysteries, full of joy and exul­
tation and delight of the soul. The garment of the banquet
he calls the mantle of purity ; the sordid garments the emotionsof the affections which are defiled in the soul ; the outer dark­
ness, the state without any delight of true knowledge andcommunion with God'.
It is clear that Isaac simply uses the Bible and Christian
dogmas as a means to support his own ideas by an outward
1) p. 1892) p. 315 sq.
4) P· 528
S ) p. 456
7) p. 521 sq., cf. p. 16 sq., 50

3) p. 866) p. 88

XXYI

INTRODUCTION

authority. But it is again to be borne m mind that it was not
only Isaac among- the mystics, nor only the mystics among
the intepreters of the Bible in early Christian times who fol­
lowed such a method. Muslim mystics have submitted the�or'an to a similar treatment 1). We may even ask : Was there
any interpreter or school of interpreters of the Bible which
did not in the first place seek after their own ideas in theholy writ ?
These facts correspond with the mystics' aversion to dogmaticalschisms ; they were not interested in them, because there wasno place for dogmatics in their system. And it may be said thatmysticism is an exponent of the unity of Hellenistic monotheism.
This is the catchword which covers all these mystics of Western
A sia, the early Christian - John Climacus, Basil, Gregory Na­
zianzen, Euagrius -, the later Christian ones - Stephen bar$udaile, Dionysius the Areopagite, Isaac, Bar Hebraeus -, andthe ;\:Iuslims : Abu Talib al-1\Iakki, al-�ushairi, al-Ghazaii. And
in this unity the Eastern Church in its chief representatives
is remarkably different from the great West ern Fathers.
One general point may still be mentioned in connection withthe foregoing remarks. Mysticism is said to be essentiallypantheistic everywhere. Of Eastern mysticism this is certainly
true. Its highest aim, - the u nification of God and the mystic­is pantheistic ; and, as a matter of fact, they go far in asserting
that, in the deepest sense, God is the only Being.
Still, the place of this thought and its prominence, is very
different in the different authors. In Dionysius' and Stephen
bar $udaile's works the transition of man into God, is des­cribed at length and with delight. Bar Hebraeus quotes suchpassages, but scarcely. In lsaac's works they occur very seldom .
In this connection may b e cited what l saac says o n p. I 70:
A s the saints, in the world to come, do not pray, when themind has been engulfed by the [divine] Spirit, but dwell in
ecstasy in that delightful glory, so the mind, when it has been
made worthy of perceiving the future blessedness, will forgetitself and all that is here etc. In a similar way he speaks on
p. I 94: Now when the intellect withdraws itself from this and
I S exalted
u nto the u nique Essence, by the contemplation ofI ) C f. the highly instructive chapter o n mystical interpretation o f the J):or'an i n Gold­ziher1s Die Richtungen der islamischen R""oranaus!egung.

INTRODUCTION

XXVII.he properties of that good Nature. \Vhen the intellect descends
again from that place and returns again to the worlds andtheir distinctions etc. Generally speaking, Isaac is much moreconcerned with the state of purification and illumination thanwith that of perfection and unification. In this respect hebelongs rather to the early than to the later type of Oriental
mystics.
These general rem::trks may be sufficient as an introduction
to a description of Isaac's way in its three stages.
Of repentance Isaac gives the usual definition . : . . at 1)
every moment of the four and twenty hours of the day, we
are in want of repentance. The explanation of the denotationof repentance, in its real practical sense, is continual mournful
supplication in contrite prayer, offered to God for the forgi­
veness of preceding sins ; and petition to be guarded against
future ones. A similar definition occurs in many later mysticalworks 2). Of course this does not imply that Isaac is theirdirect or i ndirect source ; perhaps Isaac himself is citing a wellknown predecessor. But the passage contains a proof of what
has been said above : the three mystical stages cannot be clearly
separated in the mystic ; repentance is the foundation of thewhole ; but as little as the foundation of a building looses its
practical value when the whole has been finished, so little does
repentance become useless when the second and third stages
have been reached. Now repentance does not especially belong
to mysticism; it stands at the beginning of the way of every
Christian. But Isaac does not separate it from his special thoughts
and method. ,Repentance is the constant sorrow of the heartat the meditation of that inexplicable statute : how shall I reachthat unspeakable entrance 1 If thou lovest repentance, then love
also solitude. For without this, repentance cannot be completed.
If there is any one who disputes this, do not dispute withhim, for he does not know what he says. If he did knowwhat repentance is, he also would know its place, and that it
is not to be disturbed by trouble. If thou lovest solitude, thefather of repentance, then love also to accept' etc. 3). And to
the same purport is what he says in another chapter 4) : Repen­tance is the mother of life. It opens its gate to us, when weI ) p. 502
3) P· 46 2

2)

Cf. Book cf t h e !Joz•t, p. 6 , note 34) P · 4 43

XXVIIIINTRODUCTION

flee from all things'. - This means that true repentance isonly to be practised by the methods which are at the baseof mysticism : renunciation, asceticism and solitude.
The connection between repentance and spiritual gifts is ex­
pounded in the following passage 1) : When thou enquirest well,thou wilt find that the service of the fear of God is repen­tance. And spiritual knowledge is, as we have said, that ofwhich we have received the pledge in baptism and which we
receive really by repentance. The gift of which we have said,
that we receive it by repentance, is spiritual knowledge; which
is given gratuitously for the service of the fear of God.
The transition from the stage of repentance to that of purity
takes place by purification. ,If the small pupil of thy soul has
not been purified, do not venture to look at the globe of thesun , lest thou be bereft even of the usual sight' 2) etc. Whatis that from which man has to be purified ? The question
cannot be answered by one term, but needs a longer exposition.
Mysticism is spiritualisun, it endeavours to make the spirit free.
I n the most general sense from its contrary : matter. The
origin of the conception may be illustrated by the fact that
the Syriac term for it is Greek (u"AYJ). ,So long as the soulhas .not become drunk by the faith in God, in that it hasreceived an impression of its powers, the weakness of thesenses cannot be healed and it is not able to tread downwith force visible matter, which is the screen before what iswithin and unperceived [by the senses] ' 8). It is necessary to
free one's self from matter, for freedom from matter precedes
the bonds in God 4).
It goes without saying that such sentences on the natureof m atter are to be applied in the first place to the body.
Matter is called a screen, the flesh a curtain 5) . ,One of thesaints says : The body becomes a comrade of sin ; for it isafraid of troubles, thinking it m ay receive an injury and haveto give up its life. For the spirit of God oppresses the bodyso that it dies ; it is well known that it cannot vanquish sin
unless it die. Who desires that our Lord should dwell in him,
will oppress his body and minister unto his Lord those spiri­tual fruits which the A postle describes ; and he will guard his1) p. 3 2 02) p. 1 74 ) p . 7 ; the sentence returns on p. 4 0

3) P· 25) p. s ss

XXIX

INTRODUCTION

soul against the works of the flesh which Paul describes. For
the body that is mingled with sin, takes pleasure in the worksof the flesh. And the spirit of God takes pleasure in its own
fruits. When the body is weak by fasting and mortification,
the soul is spiritually strong through prayer. �'hen the bodyis vehemently oppressed by solitude and penury and its life
is near its term, it will beseech thee : Leave me a while tobehave with . moderation' 1 ) .
In other words : the spiritual part of man has to live at theexpenses of the body systematically.
As matter is represented by the body, so the latter by thesenses. , Without quiescence of the senses, peace of mind cannot
be perceived' 2). It is worth while to observe, that Isaac does
not always use the term (�) in its relation to the body.
He speaks also of the senses of the soul ; and he calls theheart the central organ of the inward senses 3). He even uses
the expressions ,the spiritual senses of the mind' 4) and ,thespiritual senses of the soul' 5) .
Man's purification, however, is more often expressed by lsaac
as a purification from the affections (�). As a matter offact, it is these which are considered as the more fearful andsubtle enemy of the spiritualizing process of mysticism.
Isaac quotes Euagrius : ,A purifying drug is the hot con ­trition of the soul, the which is given by the Lord throughthe angels to those who repent, that through diligence purifica­tion from the affections may be granted' 6). And parallel tothis is what he says himself 7) : ,As dissolving drugs purify the
body from bad humours, so does the force of troubles purify
the heart from affections' .
What are the affections ? ,Parts 8) of the usual current of
the world. Where they have ceased, there the world's current
has ceased. They are : love of riches ; gathering of possessions ;fatness of the body, giving rise to the tendency towards casualdesire ; love of honour which is the source of envy ; exercising
government ; the pride and haughtiness of magistrates ; folly ;glory among men, which is the cause of cholar ; bodily fear.
When their current has been dammed, there the world, after
their example, has to some extent ceased to be maintained1 ) p. 2 67 s q .
5) p . 5 142 ) p. 6 76) p. 443 sq.

3 ) p. 297) p. 540

4) P· 4 7 58) p . 18 sq.

XXX

1:-<TRODUCTlONand to exist'. A very vigorous description of the affections hegives in the following passage 1 ) : Now, if the bosom of theearth, when the sunrays have ceased, preserves their heat fora long time, and if an aromatic smell and the odour of per­fumes which spread through the air, remain a long time before
they are dissipated and become effaced - how much morecertain it is, that the affections, like dogs accustomed to lap
up blood at the butcher's, will stand at the door barking
when the usual food is withheld from them, till their old force
has abated.
Isaac repeatedly speaks of the affections of the body andthe soul �). He expressly utters his opinion concerning theirnature. ,The affections of the body, are they naturally inherent
in it, or of a secondary nature ? And those which affect thesoul, by the intermedation of the body, are they secondaryor natural ? To call those of the body not natural, is impos­
sible. As to the soul - because it is known and universallyconfessed that purity belongs to its nature - no one willventure in view of this fact to maintain, that it is primarily
affectable ; for it is generally conceded that ailment is secundary
to health and it is not possible that one and the same thingshould be of a good and an evil nature 3).
This theory is closely connected with Isaac's -- and thegeneral mystical - theory about the soul, which is originallypure, but defiled by matter , the body , the senses 4). It isnecessary to recur here to this view, because it explains Isaac's
bifold view of the soul and the psychic domain : it is above
the body, but connected with it and holding a middle posi­tion between body and spirit. This appears especially in Isaac ' s
division of knowledge into three kinds. , While his [ viz. man's]
knowledge and his behaviour are of a bodily nature, he isfrightened by death. But when his knowledge is of a psychic
nature and his behaviour is steadfast, his mind is moved by
the thought of Judgment every moment. In the first state heis moved and guided by his knowledge and by his discipline.
And he is happy in the neighbourhood of God. But when hereaches true knowledge by the emotion of the apperceptionof God's mysteries and becomes confirmed in future hope, he1 ) p. 481
2) p. 3 97, 474, 521
4) B o ok of the Dove, Introduction , p.

LXIV3) p . 25

lNTRODUCTION

XXXI

is consumed by love 1). \Vhen he however speaks from his
spiritual height, his contempt for the psychic state, is manifest
at once. , He that has been deemed worthy of the taste offaith and then turns towards psychic knowledge, is the equalof him that has found a pearl of great price and changed it
for a copper coin ; for he has left authoritative freedom andturned towards the means of poverty which are full of thefear of bondship' 2).
This estimation is to be compared to Paul's discrimination
between psychic and pneumatic man 3).
As a matter of fact, the Old Testament, in its tripartite
division of man, holds nearly the same view. The spirit has
been given by God and breathed into Adam's nostrils ; itreturns unto God when man dies. But his soul returns to the
nether world whence it apparently comes ; consequently it ts
ungodly, demoniacal.
It is however, not very likely, that lsaac's psychology is
inspired by the Old Testament or even by Paul. His ideas con­cord with those of Hellenism, as it will be shown beneath.
But we have to return to the affections. lsaac is aware of
the fact that they cannot wholly be purified away 4) ; still the stateof being freed from them, apathy, the boon of martyrs andapostles, is one of the highest aims of the mystics. But here
again it is to be kept in mind, that the three states in theirpure form do not occupy three separate periods in the lifeof the mystic.
It may be added here that the terms impulses, emotions(�o,), though often used iP. a sense similar to that of affec­
tions, cover a much wider field and have not always an evil
meaning; they denote the whole activity of the invisible partof man, and even a single time even the ,emotions of the body'occur. A glance at the catchword ,impulses' in the Register
will give a survey of the various connections in which it is used.
It is not necessary to give a sketch of Isaac's views on
anthropology and psychology ; it would scarcely contain any­
thing which is not to be found in the mystic sphere to which
he belongs. It has been tried to characterize these views in
the Introduction to the Book of the Dove, to which I mayr ) p . 4 29 sq .
3) I Cor. 2 1 1 42 ) p . 366
4) p. 28

XXXIIINTRODUCTION

refer the reader 1). Here there must be added that Isaac isan adherent of the theory of free will. ,Reason is the causeof freedom ; and the fruit of both is liability to err. Without
the first, the second would not be. And where the second islacking, there the third is bound as it were with halters' 2). I f
there were n o freedom, their would be n o retribution : ,Goodand evil arc the offspring of freedom. Where the latter islacking, practising the former is superfluous in view of remu­
neration. For nature knows no remuneration. Reward is des­tined for strife. Victory cannot be spoken of where there is no
struggle. W hen opposition is taken away, freedom vanishes atthe same time. Then nature remains without struggle. A time ispreserved for the annihilation of freedom ; then a limited ration­ality comes into existence, among men as well as among theangels' 3). The last thought is explained by another passage :Man, therefore may freely go so far as to say : all excellence
whatever, in body or in spirit, is in the realm of free will, as
well as the mind that dominates the senses. But when the influ­
ence of the spirit reigns over the mind that regulates the senses
and the deliberations, freedom is taken away from nature, which
no longer governs, but is governed 4).
This freedom is co-existent with ,the liability to err'(���). , Nor has He [God ] made thee incapable of error,
lest thou shouldst be like the beings which are bound, andthou shouldst receive thy good and thy evil without profit or
remuneration, as the other corporeal beings on earth. How
many blows and humiliations together with thanksgivings areborn from the capacity for affections and fear and also of error,
is manifest to every one ; so that it should be known that
our zeal for righteousness and our turning aside from evil areof our own will, and that the honour and disdain, caused
thereby, should be put to our credit' 6) .
This liability of deviation incites us unto prayer : ,And as
our Lord knows that He does not take away liability of devi­
ation before the cup of death [is drunk ] , and this being so,that man is near to a change from excellence to deterioration,and nature susceptible of accidents - therefore He urges us tocontinual beseechings' 6).
1) p. LIX

4) p. 1 70z ) p. 35 ) p. 7 1

3) P· 2096 ) p. $ 03

INTRODUCTIONXXXIII

Even the perfect remain liable to deviation. This view ismaintained against the Me?alleyane in another place : , Varying
states happen to every man like [changes of] the air. Under­
stand it : to every man ; for nature is one. Do not think thathe 1) is speaking to insignificant men only and that the perfect
are exempt from varying states and that they stand in one
class, without liability of deviation and without the impulse of
the affections, as the Me?allayane say' 2) .
Still, man as the possessor of freedom could be a sovereign,
if it were not that he has not only connection with his own
inner world, but also with the impressions coming from with­out, with accidents and circumstances (f'C'..x..i�.) . ,Every apper­
ceptible thing, be it action or word, is the revelation of what
is hidden within, if its cause be not entirely accidental, but
return constantly. The latter element only is considered inconnection with reward ; the former is taken into consideration
to a small extent only. For the strength or the weakness ofwill is evidenced in the doing of evil or of good things, notby anything that happens accidentally ; but the proof of its
freedom is the constant repetition. To fate is given power ;sometimes even so as to dominate freedom of will' 3) etc. And :. . . ,that after these chaste and peaceful deliberations, accidents
will befall the mind, that we should not be sorry or despair
or, at the time of rest caused by grace, be puffed up, butthat, at the time of joy, we should look at trouble. He 4)
says, that we should not be sorry when accidents happen ; notthat we should not resist them, nor that the mind should
accept them joyfully as something natural belonging to us, butthat thou shouldst not despair even as the man who expected
what is exalted above strife, and perfect rest' 5) etc.
Consequently man, who is clad with the body and endowedwith a soul and a spirit, has to oppress his material part, toforget his relations with the world, to strip off his old customs,
and to polish the mirror of his spirit so that it becomes a purerefl e ction of the Divine ; for more than a reflector it is not.
How can this take place ? In general by asceticism. Posses­
sions, refinement in dress, copious food, frequent rest, a com­
fortable dwelling-place are the outward things the mystic has
1) Euagrius
4) Macarius

2) p. 495
S ) p. 496

3 ) p. 1 7 5

INTRODUCTION

XXXIV

to renunciate. But there is more. The life of discipline or
behaviour (r<-i=o:t or r<7.i:.o:t) has to be arranged on a basis,in which recitation of the Scriptures, the service of prayer,
fasting, and vigils have a dominant place.
This service, however, is not an opus operatum ; it has totake place u nder peculiar circumstances and according to astrict method which has to be expounded according to Isaac's
chief points of view.
The first condition for reaching spiritual life is solitude, forit purif.es the soul from the affections. ,Labours cause apathy
and mortify our limbs on the earth and give rest on the partof the deliberations, only if they are combined with solitude. . . . . . . For solitude
the blessed Basil, the shining torchof the whole world, says - is the beginning of the purificationof the soul' 1). And : , When a man has found solitude, thesoul is able to expel the a ffections and to test its own wisdom.
Then the inward man will be stirred unto spiritual service andday by day he will perceive the hidden wisdom moving m
his soul' ") .
Solitude not only purifies the soul, but it is the entrance tothe higher world. ,Let us look at ourselves at the time ofservice and prayer. If we possess contemplation regarding thewords of the Psalms and of prayer, this has its origin inveracious solitude' 3) . And : ,Constant solitude, with recitationand moderate food, easily arouse in the spirit a state of ecstasy,
if perpetual solitude be not broken for any cause. Insightbrought about by works performed in solitude, will of itself
automatically, and suddenly, impart to these two eyes a kindof baptism, by tears which burst forth and moisten the cheeks
by their profuseness' 1).
It is well known that regarding solitude the opinions of theChristian ascetics were divided. From of old there were GzwpiJ->:tx.-:;{
and rcpa·;.u.a-rtx-;i, the former adherents of a purely contemplative
life, the latter of monkish life combined with works 5) . Isaac
is a partisan of the former method which he advocates in his
book. ,Compare all powers and signs that are worked in thewhole world with a man's consciously sitting in solitude. Lovethe ease of solitude rather than the satisfying of the hunger-�1) p. 24 3
4) P· 1 39

2) p. 244
5)

The Boo!:

3) P· 339

of the Dove, Introduction, p. XX[ll sqq.

INTRODUCTIO:'<

XXXVo f the world and the converting of the multitude of heathen
peoples from error unto adoring God. Let it be more excellent
in th y eyes to detach thyself from the bonds of sin than todeta ch the subject unto liberty from those who hold their bodies' 1).
It appears - as can be understood - that not all brethren
could bear solitude without work. To those it is allowed toperform some light work : ,If anyone is not able to bear soli­
tude without service, he must necessarily have recourse to it.
But he shall take it as a helpful means only, without eagerness
and as a secondary thing, not as a principal commandment.
This applies to the weak. Manual work is called by Euagrius
an impediment to the recollection of God' 2).
We have seen that Isaac so decidedly clung to solitude
that he even was not willing to go to visit his dying brother.
Still, in a rather long exposition in the end of his book, hedeclares that there are cases in which the feeling of mercy
can abrogate the commandment of solitude ; this holds good
especially for those who have not yet climbed the highest
summits of the mystic life 3).
Solitude is especially considered as a means to forget theworld, to extinguish the recollections of it in the heart, tobanish distraction , and to reach concentration. ,For when thourisest for prayer and service instead of meditating worldly things,
scriptural thoughts will be pictured in the mind. And thereby
the recollection of that which it saw and heard before, will beforgotten and effaced in it. So thy mind will reach purity' 4) .
Still, recollections cannot wholly be effaced ; they only loose
their sharp character. , Works performed carefully by the pure,
do not remove the impression of the recollection of previous
reprehensible things ; but they abolish in the mind the pain·
ful nature of recollection, so that what has passed throughthe mind often enough, now becomes something excellent' 5) .
F urther the mind has to give up distraction aad occupations.
,That a man, who is beset with care, should be quiet and i n
a state o f peace, is impossible. For the necessary things which
cohere with those things, upon he which expends h is labour,
cannot but have the effect that he be shaken ; and they will
bereave him of his rest and quiet. For the only opportunityI) p. 4 54) p . 53

2) p. 5 7
S) P · 83 ) P·

565 sqq.

INTROD U CTIONXXXVI

for Satan to enter the soul is distraction' 1 ). For distraction is
obnoxious to chastity : ,If thou lovest chastity, do not love
distraction. Things which happen to thee through distraction
do not allow thee to cling to chastity with watchfulness.
No one who loves distraction, is chaste . . . . . . That a man
who is given to distraction, should guard truth in his soulwithout a stain, is impossible' 2). Moreover it gives birth todejectedness, one of the most fearful enemies of the mystic :, Dejection is caused by distraction of mind ; distraction by neglectof labours and recitation and by intercourse left to chance' 3).
So the mind has to be concentrated. Strikingly, in a way
which shows his personal experience, Isaac has described thefirst tentative passes of the mind towards concentration andspiritual behaviour. ,A young bird without wings is the mind
that has lately left the bonds of the affections, qy means of
the works of repentance. At the time of prayer it strives toexalt itself above earthly things, but it cannot. For it creeps
still on the surface of the earth, where also the serpent crawls.
But it concentrates its deliberations by recitation and works
and fear and care for excellent qualities. For beyond these it
does not yet know anything. And these keep the mind pure
for a short time. But then recollections will return, troublingand defiling the heart For he does not yet perceive the airof peace and liberty, which concentrates the heart for a longtime, [keeping it] quiet without the recollection of [worldly]
things' 4) . It is especially prayer which is a cause of concen­
tration. ,If anyone asks : How is it that only at this time [viz.
the time of · prayer] these great and unspeakable gifts are
granted ? We answer : Because at this time, more than in any
other hour, man is concentrated and prepared to look unto
God and to desire and to expect compassion from Him' 5).
How necessary a condition for mystical life perpetual con­centration is, appears from the following passage. ,Above allhe [viz. the mystic] chooses concentration and reclusion withhimself alone, to be quiet and shut off and lonely and left tohimself in a solitary place, void of all beings and separated
from the whole creation' 6) .
Mortification, solitude, service and concentration produce in1) p. 1 30
4 ) p. 9 22) p. 4455) p. 1 7 '3 ) p. 383
6) p. 5 1 5

INTRODUCTIONXXXVII

the mystic the state favourable for mystic progress. This state
can be characterized in several ways. But it is usually con­sidered from the point of view that the soul (heart, spiritmind) has recovered the purity and clearness which is its
peculiar property. ,Perpetual tears during prayer are a sign of
divine mercy of which the soul is worthy because of its repent­ance which has been accepted ; and with tears it begins toenter the plain of serenity' l).
In a characteristic way this state is described in the fol­lowing passage : ,One of the saints who was then an old
ascetic, had become so pure and simple and had reached sucha perfection and serenity, that he was nearly as a b abe,having forgotten all worldly things. A nd perhaps many will
not believe what we say (for it is a real wonder) that evenat the time of the oblation of the Eucharist he could notobserve [the fast] so as to receive the Eucharist ; he did noteven know whether he had observed [ the fast] or n ot, till
his disciples kept watch on him in his cell and brought him
to the sanctuary as a little boy. So very serene and pure
was this blessed man. And being thus in worldly things, in
his soul he was perfect with God' 2) .
In the following passage the serene soul is compared with amirror, one of the metaphorical designations beloved with the
Eastern mystics : ,Also this I advise thee, o my brother, thatin all thy dicipline the scale of mercy be preponderant ; throughthis thou wilt perceive God's mercy for the world. Our own
state becomes to us a mirror in which we behold the true
Prototype in those things which naturally belong to that Essence.
By these things and the like we become illuminated so as to
be in motion unto God, with a serene mind. A heart wickedfrom of old, cannot become serene' 3).
More frequent than serenity is the term purity, which isalso used in connection with the mirror. Isaac tells how Pacho­
mius had asked from God the gift, that he could do without
sleep. ,Then this gift was granted him, as he had asked, fora long time. And because his heart was pure - the sightof his soul having been purified through vigils and solitude
and prayer - he saw God, whu is invisible, as in a m irror' 4).
Purity is the necessary condition and at the same time the2) p . 2 5 13) p. 4 5 5

INTRODUCTION

soil for spiritual gifts. , When a man has reached purity fromthe affections, what no eye has seen and no ear has heard
what has not entered into the heart of man to ask in prayer,
is revealed to him by purity, which ceases not any momentfrom mysteries and spiritual visions. And what the force ofspring is wont to work unto the nature of the earth, thisgrace works unto the soul by purity' 1). And ,it has been said
that the things of God come of their own, if there is a pureand undefiled place. That they come of their own, means that
it naturally belongs to purity that heavenly light shines in it,
without investigation and labour on our part. For in the pureheart, the new heaven is stanped ; of which the sight is lightand the room is spiritual . As also in another place it is said :As the magnet-stonen has the natural faculty to attract atomsof iron, so has spiritual knowledge [the faculty to attract] thepure heart' 2).
It need hardly be said that the term ,the pure in heart' 3)(Matthew 5 , 8 ) acquires an especially mystical exegesis. Whenthe soul has been purifi e d, its original nature becomes visible ;and as this nature is divine, it appears in the divine aspectof serenity ; so it enters the state of illumination. This term isfrequently found in mystical works, and the mystics themselves
are often called the illuminate. , As the face of the earth isgladdened by the rays of the sun when the dense atmosphereis torn asunder, so the words of prayer are able to tearaway and to remove from the soul the dark cloud of the affec­
tions and to gladden and to illuminate the spirit by the raysof joy and consolation, which is born in our deliberations' 4).
Gradually, by constant purification, concentration, solitude
and service, the mystic has reached the third state, that ofperfection ; the bodily and psychic stages have passed away,
and the spirit has become free and monarchic. The spiritualis the element of the mystic ; in this sphere divine gifts are
granted to him. This however does not induce him to giveup his feeling of humility. Humility stands at the beginningof his course ; it remains his constant attitude till the end.
How highly Isaac estimates humility, may be seen in his
beautiful last chapter, which is wholly devoted to it. The spiri­tual state can also be styled as that of sight ; for lsaac, like1) p. 519 sq .

2 ) p. 522 sq.

4) p. 1 24 sq.

INTRODUCTIONXXXIXother mystics 1), considers true m ystic life as one of sight as
opposed to hearing, which belongs to a lower state. So it is
not amazing that frequent use is made of the term contem­
plation, which in general means the spiritual attitude of themind regarding things which its meets, but also denotes theoutlook on mystical scalities. ,Because such men have reached
the summit of purity and because at all times their inneremotions are stirring in prayer, - as I have said before the Spirit, whenever it looks at them, will fi n d them i n prayer ;and from there it will conduct them by contemplation , whichis interpreted spiritual sight' �) . So high is the value of spiritualcontemplation that it is identified with the kingdom of heaven 3).
That, however, contemplation even extends to cosmic sight,
appears from Isaac's sentence : , For the Father quickens thesoul that has died the death of Christ, in contemplation of all
the worlds' 4) . This is not amazing in view of the fact, thatthe elevation of the m ind is often described as a voyage throughthe Universe 5).
That contemplation and sight partake of the character ofrevelation, is taught by the following passage : ,There is adifference between vision and revelation. The name of revela­
tion covers the two, because it denotes the revealing of athing that hitherto was hidden and now becomes manifest i n
any way. But not all that i s revelation, is a t the same time.vision. But what is vision, is also called revelation, because it
is a hidden thing which is revealed. But not all that comes tobe revealed and known, is vision' 6) .
States of spiritual intensity usually rise during prayer. Prayer
has a mighty purifying power, it drives away the cloud of
the affections 7). ,Therefore, m y brother of this thou mayest be
sure : that the power of the mind to use the emotions withdiscernment, has its limit in purity during prayer. When themind has reached this point, it will either turn backwards, or
it will desist from prayer ; so prayer is, as it were, a mediator
between the psychic and the spiritual state' 8).
Prayer becomes an occasion for receiving spiritual gifts.
, What time is so holy and fit for sanctification and the receivingof gifts as the time of prayer, in which man speaks with God ?
2) p. 2 60
1) Book of the Dovr, Jntroduction, p. 53
4 ) P· 5 44
S ) See Philo I, 1 6 ; Book of tile Dove, p. 5 36) p. 249
7) p. 1 248) p. 1 69

3) p. 528

XL

INTRODUCTION

At this time man utters his desires unto God , beseeching Him
and speaking with Him and his whole emotion and thought
are concentrated from all sides upon Him with compulsion ;of God alone he thinks and Him alone he supplicates ; hiswhole thought is absorbed in discourse with Him and his heart
is full of Him. It is in this state, therefore, that the Holy
Ghost joins to the things which man prays some unattainableinsights, which it stirs in him in accordance with his aptitude
of being moved' 1).
So prayer may pass into sight. ,Sometimes from prayer acertain contemplation is born which also makes prayer vanish
from the lips. A nd he to whom this contemplation happens,
becomes as a corpse without a soul, by ecstasy. This we callsight during prayer and not an image or form forged byp hantasy, as fools say. Also in this contemplation during
prayer there are degrees and differences in gifts. But till here
there is still prayer. For deliberation has not yet passed into
the state where there is no prayer, but rather a state supe­rior to it. For the motions of the tongue and the heart during
prayer, are keys. \Vhat comes after them, is entering into thetreasury. H ere then all mouths and tongues are silent, andthe heart, the treasurer of the deliberations, the governer ofthe senses, the daring spirit, that swift bird, and all the sub­sidiaries and the use which is in them, and the persuasions,have to stand still there : for the master of the house has come'.
, For as the whole force of the laws and the commandments
which God has laid down for mankind, have their term in
the purity of the heart, according to the word of the Fathers,
so all kinds and habits of prayer with which mankind prays
unto God, have their term in pure prayer. Lamentations andselfh umiliations a_nd beseechings and inner supplications andsweet tears and all other habits which prayer possesses - as
I have said : their bounpary and the domain within which they
are set into motion, is pure prayer. As soon as the spirit
has crossed the boundary of pure prayer and proceeded on­
wards, there is neither prayer, nor emotions, nor tears, norauthority, nor freedom, nor beseechings, nor desire, nor longing
after any of those things, which are hoped for in this worldor in the world to be. Therefore there is no prayer beyond1 ) p. 1 73 sq.

XLI

INTRODUCTION

pure prayer, and all its emotions and habits conduct the spirit
thus far by their authority with freedom 1).
It seems that Isaac uses the term spiritual prayer in nearly
the same sense as the term pure prayer. He argues with somefervour, that spiritual prayer cannot be prayed at all, nay that
it is blasphemy to say so 2). Signi ficant for the distinctionb etween prayer and spiritual prayer is Isaac's exposition on p. 5 I 9 ·,If a man asks in prayer for deliverance from temptations, rest
from struggles, victory over the affections, consolation and soon, and if he asks these things with the right intention anda mournful heart, God will condescend to grant him his wish.
,As to the mysteries which belong to the spirit, namely theemotions during spiritual prayer, and the entering of the mind
behind the curtain of the holy of holies, and the apperceptionof the indestructible inheritance - if a man does not pay theirdues, God is not willing to grant them, even if the wholecreation should beseech in behalf of him. Their dues are purityof soul' 3).
Prayer is one of the favourite subjects of Isaac. It seems(even) that he uses the term, constant prayer' as a designationof the spiritual state. , What is the acme of all the labours ofascet1c1sm � which a man, when he has reached it, recognises
as the summit of his course ? When he is deemed worthy of
constant prayer. When he has reached this, he has touched
the end of all virtues and forthwith he has a spiritual dwelling­
place. If a man has not received in truth the gift of the Com­
forter, it is not possible for him to accomplish constant prayer
in quiet. \Vhen the spirit takes its dwelling-place in a man,he does not cease to pray, because the spirit will constantly
pray in him. Then, neither when he sleeps, nor when he isawake, will prayer be cut off from his soul ; but when he eats,
and when he drinks, when he lies down, or when he does
any work, even when he is immersed in sleep, the perfumesof prayer will breathe in his soul spontaneously. And hence­
forth he will not possess prayer at limited times, but always ;and when he has outward rest, even then prayer is ministeredunto him secretly. For the silence of the serene is l>rayer, saysa man clad with Christ' 4) .
Isaac considers the mystic way as one of knowledge, andI ) p. 1 6 5 sq.

2) p. 1 68

3) p. 5 1 94 ) P· 2 59

XLII

INTRODUCTION

his whole system is one of knowledge. But - as is the casewith the other mystics of his type - the term knowledge isa kind of disguise. As the whole way is divided in three parts,
so knowledge is of three kinds 1) and reaches its summit in
spiritual knowledge. , How knowledge is subtilized and acquires
spirituality so that it resembles the discipline of those invisible
forces, the service of which is not performed by the apper­
ceptible practice of works but by the thoughts of intellect hear this now. \\'hen knowledge elevates itself above earthly
things and the thought of service and begins to try its impulses
in things hidden from eyesight, and when it partly despises
the recollection of [worldly ] things from which proceeds theperversion of the affections, and when it stretches itself upwards
and clings to faith by the thought of the world to be, andthe love of the promises and investigation concerning the hidden
things - then faith swallows knowledge, gives anew birth toit, being wholly spiritual. Then it is able to direct its flighttowards non-bodily places and to scrutinize the depths of theunscrutable ocean of wonderful and divine government which
directs intelligible and apperceptible beings, and to examine
spiritual mysteries which are attained by the sim ple and subtle
i ntellect. Then the inner senses awake to spiritual service, as
the order of things which will be in the state of immortality
and incorruptibility. For from here o nwards they have received
intelligible resurrection, symbolically, as a true sign of that
universal renewal.
These are the three degrees of knowledge, in which thewhole course of man is contained, that of body, soul and spirit.
From the time that a man begins to distinguish between goodand evil, till he leaves the world, in these three degrees iscontained the knowledge of himself and the accomplishmentof all iniquity and wickedness and the summit of all righte­
ousness ; and the scrutiny of the depths of all spiritual mysteries
is worked by one knowledge in these three degrees' 2).
Knowledge gives birth to love. ,The flower of spiritual know­
ledge is divine love, which has its origin in radiant insights
which are found by the spirit during prayer. Love is the fruitof prayer, which, through contemplation arising in it, draws themind towards a predilection which never becomes satisfied' 3).
z) p. 3 7 3 sq.

3 ) p. 475

INTRODUCTION

XLIII, When he [ viz. man] reaches true knowledge by the motionof the apperception of God's mysteries and becomes confirmed
in future hope, he is consumed b y love. . . . . Love is the dis­solver of temporary life. He that has reached the love of God,
does not desire to stay here any more' 1).
, What is the perfection of all spiritual fruits ? This is when
man is deemed worthy of the complete love of God. And how
can he that has reacheu this point, acquire certainty ? Everytime when the thought of God is stirred in his spirit, the heart
will become hot with love at once, the eyes will shed multi­
tudinous tears ; for love is accustomed to shed tears at therecollection of the beloved. He that is in this state, will never
be found destitute of tears, because he is never without abundant
recollection of God, so that even during sleep he speaks with
Him. Love is accustomed to practise these things and this is
the accomplishment of man in this life ' 2).
This high spiritual state is often described through the imageof drunkenness. ,Then there arises in him that sweetness of God
and the flame of His love which burns in the heart andkindles all the affections of body and soul. And this power
he will perceive in all the species of the creation and all things
which he meets. From time to time he will become drunk by
it as by wine ; his limbs will relax , his mind will stand still
and his heart will follow God as a captive. And so he willbe, as I have said, like a man drunk by wine. And according
as his inner senses are strengthened, so this sight will bestrengthened. A nd according as he is careful about discipline
and watchfulness and applies himself to recitation, so the powerof sight will be firm based and bound in him. In truth, mybrethren, he that reaches this from time to time, will notremember that he is clad with a body, nor will he know that
he is in this world' 3) . And : ,How is it that the service ofhope is so delightful, and its labours so few and its work soeasy to the soul ? This is because it excites the natural longing
in the soul and gives them this cup to drink and makes them
drunk. And from this moment they nevermore perceive fatigue
but become apathetic against troubles. And during the wholeof their course it is to them as if they were moving in the
air without bodily motion, without seeing anything of the diffiI ) p . 43 0z) p. z6x sq.

3) P · 33 7 "l·XLIVINTRODUCTION

culty of the road or the streams and hills that are before them ;but rough places become to them smooth and difficult placeslevel, because they always see the bosom of their Father' 1 ) .
Such states come near to ecstasy which is often describedby Isaac. ,Sometimes from prayer a certain contemplation isborn, which also makes prayer vanish from the lips. And he
to whom this contemplation happens, becomes as a corpse
without soul, by ecstasy. This we call sight during prayer' �).
Also in other passages there appears to be a close connection
between prayer and ecstasy 3). One of the saints is reported
by Isaac to have told him : , When I desire to stand performing
service, I am allowed to accomplish one m a r m i t a (one fifteenth
part of the Psalter). Further, even if I remain standing during
three days , I am in ecstasy with God ; without perceiving
fatigue' 4). And another Father tells this : ,On one day, suchas this in which I was wont to take food (and since four days
I had not eaten), when I rose in order to perform evening
service and to eat afterwards, I stood in the room of my cellin full sunlight. I perceived only that I began with the m a r­
m i t a which is the beginning of service ; but till the next day
when the sun rose before me, and the clothes on my body
became warm, I did not perceive where I was. As the suntroubled me by burning my face, my mind came back to me
and behold, I saw that it was a new day' 5) . And concerning
another of the saints it is said that he remained in ecstasy
during four days 6) . A nd it is probably Isaac himself who
experienced ecstasy during sleep, caused by his recitation theforeigoing night 7) .
As I have said, the state of unification is very seldom men­tioned by Isaac. The passage cited above on p. XXVI refers to
the unification in the world to be. ,The incomprehensible unifi­
cation' mentioned on p. r 6 9 occurs in a passage borrowed
from Dionysius the Areopagite ; and ,union with God', p. 462,
is a quotation from Euagrius. It is to be remembered, how­ever, that Isaac very often speaks of the state of transition
and forgetting of the world, a state which, if not identical,
still bears a strong likeness with that of union.
The mystic, when he has reached the height of spiritual life,1 ) p. 5 1 1 sq.
S ) P· 3 8 92) p. 1 646) p. 26 13 ) p. 1 66, 1 74 , 2 6 17 ) p. 492. Cf. above p. XXI4 ) p . 3 88

XLVINTRODUCTION

has not reached the mystic ideal of spiritual rest. For he remains
exposed to changes. They are considered by the m ystics in two
ways . I n themselves they are of an inferior nature 1).
I saac has a chapter 2) with the title : ,On the many varying
states which cling to the mind anfl are purified by prayer'.
And chapter 48 bears the inscription : ,On the varying statesof light and darkness to which the soul is subject at all times,
and on the training it acquires in things of the right and of
the left hand' . God sends them for the sake of education,and by the mystic they can be used as a criterium of his
degree in behaviour 3).
It is the mystic's fate that, as long as he is in this world,
varying states will accompany him. ,That the whole rational
nature is liable to deviation without discrimination, and thatvarying states pass through every man at all times, the dis­
criminate is able to understand from many [ symptoms] ; more­
over the experiences of every day are wholly sufficient to makehim prudent, if he is cautious and keeps to what is his domain.
[They also show him ] how many varying states of rest andunrest work upon the mind every day, so that it suddenly
passes from peace to perturbation without any reason at all
and comes into unspeakable danger' . . . . . . A nd, citing Euagrius :,There are states of cold, and soon there-after of heat ; andperhaps of hail, and soon there-after of serenity. It is thus
for our instruction. Strife, then the help of grace. A n d some­times the soul runs into storm , and heavy billows assail it ;then there comes a different state and it is visited by grace ;then joy fills the heart and peace from God and chaste,
peaceful deliberations' ').
IV
ISAA C ' S

PLACE I N

ORIENTALTHOUGHTI t is not amazing, but only natural, that Isaac will prove tobelong to H ellenism in its · general sense. After what has been
said on the relation between Semitic mysticism and Hellenism
in the introduction to the translation of the Book of the Dove,it will only be necessary to define Isaac's place more accu1) Book of the Dove, Introduction, p. XCV3) Title of chapter 704) p. 495 sq.

INTRODUCTION

XLVI

rately. If it is allowed to anticipate the result of the following
enquiry, I may state here already, that two systems of Helle­nistic thought have especially influenced Isaac's spiritual atti­
tude : the religious and philosophic school of Alexandria, andthe Stoics. Even the form . of Isaac's thoughts ·and , consequentlyof the present book, bears this H ellenistic stamp. A large partof Isaac's book consists of sentences ; again and again hereturns to this way of communicating his thoughts, a way
already known to the old Greek philosophers but especiallytrodden by their Hellenistic posterity. One of the chief repre­
sentatives of the Stoa, Epictetus, has remained popular till to
day on account of the sententious character of his Encheiridion,a characteristic which seems to suit the Stoic doctrine excell­
ently. As to the Neoplatonists, Porphyry has written a kindof introduction to the doctrine in the form of sentences. I n thesame way the N eopythagoraeans had their collections of sentences,ascribed to Pythagoras 1). And Johannes Stobaeus has, as it
were, reduced Greek literature to a vast collection of sentences.
That Christianity followed these examples appears e .g. fromthe collection made by the monks A ntonius and Maximus in
the domain of Christian literature i n Greek. Finally the Muslims
imitated this method of collecting wisdom in a concise form .
But we have to show the close relationship between lsaac
and the two forms of H ellenism mentioned above, for the whole
series of ideas which make up Isaac's view of life. The closest
relationship will appear to exist between Isaac and Philo. I n
the second range stand Plotinus a n d the Stoa.
Apart from any definite ideas, Philo has already an impor­tant thing in common with Isaac, viz. his mystic attitude. H ei s dealing with facts and thought which i t i s forbidden tocommunicate to vulgar eyes and ears : 7c6-rx, ;;; :J.�GW.() xoxx9xpr

.-,

\

''

-

(

'"

\r

t.

I, 'l. t; �ea; ctziJ-:�v iV/..p �Y..o cz:.!J'J:.
[J.,:v")' 1'(1. w-:(1.) -JJ ; tsp � o·.r:-w; [J.'J'77l;p t(l. 1:rf..
xa� j-·
rt.:r;rJ�vf. -=�v du.'J�rwv lxJr:;):h7'l.7;. J). .i\nd : C·n xsx:;�'2S�a (Jzi :-Qv
'
'!:\
I
'
"
("f ?'.l 7Ef1 'rv:.l (/.'jE'.I'.I'(j-:•:/J X(l.( 7"-'J';J 0 :.1'.1'/.[J.EW';J CI.'J'r!i'J f1.:.1G":'fi'.l l.v'j ?'.l 3) A n d
'

'

'

�

""'

'

'

I

\

I

r

�

1

�

�

I

I

l

I

•

agam he speaks of the Jr:6pp1i-:'l. p1i.?Gc. ?{r;_; Ji:r;So:!; 4) . And very
often he addresses his readers with : ;;; fJ·�o;m1 and speaks interms borrowed from the language of the mysteries 5). Further
I ) The last edition of the Syriac recension by G. Levi Della Vida (Rivista Deg!i Studi
Orienta!i, Ill).
z) I 1 4 7 33
3) I 1 74 1
4) I 655 1
S) I 1 3 1 4, 1 4 7 33, 5 58 32, 1 73 32, 1 0 1 13, 1 07 3o, 1 46 '', 2 $ 9 27, 270 1 7 ; II 1 9 14,XLVllINTRODUCTION

Philo , in interpreting the Holy Scriptures, makes conscwus useof the allegorical method ; the literal sense is to him the form
which conceals the mystical sense. This method, as we haveseen above, was also applied by Isaac and the Christian mys­tics in general. How far Philo ' s influence goes in this domain,
appears from a striking example. Speaking of Isaac's allegoricalmethod, we have cited above 1) his interpretation of the thorns
and thistles which the earth produces since man's fall as theaffections �). This interpretation occurs already in Philo's LegumA l!egoriae. Commenting on the thorns and thistles he says :
'" "'

\

r/.}.1//.

'

1

7�

/

f'.JZ7CI.!

, jj},'l.'J":'(I.;;zt
(_ "'
·!,
TtJ:t;'J 'r'X ZZ'.r:VJVt'(l XCI.!
C'J (1.'( {/0'.10; !rlFj,J)

ZO:!

, '
CJ.::.r:t; '.l

I

,r:

c'
Cl.

� '
0 !(1.

l

,,

,

�

' r

"'

\

\

CI.XCI.')' J(/.; iE;t),fjXEV�.
I t IS'-rrrp:d7X0'.1:(/..
7!!/.. U Y)
r7"JfJ·J�0.
DOt
r. ' ),(0'.1necessary that Isaac should have read Philo's works ; but, inview of their popularity among the early Christians, it is very
probable that portions of them did reach the Syrian's.
There is another general view of the world which Isaac hasin common with Philo, but which is not Philo's property inparticular, viz. Platonic dualism. ,Every apperceptible thing'says Isaac 3) , ,fact or word, is the appearance of that which
is hidden within' . ,\ nd the terms apperceptible (t<.�b) andintelligible (..<..l.:�o.. ��':7.l) are among the commonest in Isaac's
treatises ; they occur as frequently in Philo's works, where also
the x6r;:;.r;; 'J!Jfj-:a; and the x6�p.IJ; aiu01)-r6; are mentioned 4). It is
worth while to observe here that it is already Philo whomaintains that apperceptible things have no reality : . . d aiu61r:�
rtd.'J"':a il; [F-�] 7� np?; r/J:/,0�((/.V C",/7(/. 5) , a doctrine which is also
held by our Christian and Muslim mystics who compare thisworld with a mirror which reflects the only reality, God ,the'"·'"'"•" c)1'• ' r
Bemg,
·
t<'<n
CI�f<,
c:; r;",J-rr,); �J",I, o• rrpa;
C/.AI;vaa'J
t11e E ssence ( r<-<n�r<,�)v 7). In reality the system is monistic. Philo, as regards
dualism, proves a true Platonist. , W hen the mind elevatesitself and becomes initiated in the Lord's mysteries, it thinks
the body something evil and hostile' 8 ) . And he even with
Plato calls the body a dungeon 9).
'Ne have seen, that according to Isaac and his fellow-mystics
the soul is of a divine nature. This doctrine was familiar to
the Platonic school, as well as to the Stoa. It is shared by/"I) p. XXV
2) Syriac text p. 204
3) p. I 7 56) I I I 9 26
4) I 4 I 91 4 2 4, 6 I 9, 648 ; I l 490
5 ) I 4 82 49
8) I 10 I 13
7 ) 11 2 2 39) I 4 8 5 2

INTRODVCTIONXLVIII

Philo (:Jda fvzl, 1). In his commentary on the story of thecreation, he comes across the statement that man was createdas God's i mage. It can hardly be doubted that the old narrator
referred this to man's bodily stature. Philo, on the other hand,argues that this is impossible, for God is incorporeal ; the real
image of God is the human soul : -� IJ' sixcJv ).D.-:.xTw x.o:-r<Z TOY
Ti;; fvz'li; Jr;z,u.ova votiv 2).

Exactly the same argument is in lsaac's book. ,We believethis, that God has not made H is image of affectable nature.
His image I do not call the body, but the soul, which is invi­
sible. In every image the likeness of the archetype is expressed' 3).
The last sentence is almost literally in Philo : -r'l;; dv6p ;rrtiJ'J
.1.
I
I
'
'
- ' '
£ 4)
'fVX.'fl£ X.Cf.TO: TOV C<ff..€71J7WV TW O:tTW1J )JY/OV rxrrstX.O;J tiJ6 EtGYj'
But this divine soul dwells in the body and is connectedwith it. It has to be purified. Isaac's whole scheme of the wayof the mystic, which was expounded above, is already in Philo
and the Neoplatonists. Purification consists chiefly in purifying
away the affections. God's spirit does not dwell with man in
his vulgar state, the affections have to be banished first :
I

I

J\•

'

"'

r

/

-;

h,

" ,

rpwvsTw u ov rrwrrazov o ) JX{o; ov-ro; rxJ.J.

'

'

m

,

>

•

/

(, �

I

�

spi';[J.av rra'Jc,;v xw xo:xtc,;v5).

They have to be purged away : dvaxo:9d.po:t To rrd.6o; 6) . Isaac
compares the affections with dogs lapping up blood at the
butcher's 7), Philo with beasts and birds : e't)p{ot; o"S xo:i 1!':'/)Voi';
dmtx.d.�st Tu rrd.6'1) 8) . Apathy is the ideal of Philo as well as of
' -�
'
9
"
'
'9
I
I
'
'
'f!Xp cma StCI. X!XTCI.Gf..Y) Ti/V fVf..i'I V 're),fW£ £'JUCI.tfl.OVi'; IJSt ) .
I saac : zrxv
It is well known that Stoic philosophy condemns the affec­
tions in an equally emphatic way.
Still Isaac avows that the affections are destined to be auxi­
liaries. , All existing affections are given to be a help to eachof the natures to which they naturally belong and for thegrowth of which they were given by God. The bodily affec­
tions are placed by God in the body for the sake of the profit
and the growth of the body ; and the psychic affe ctions, i.e.
the psychic powers for the sake of the growth and the profitof the soul' 10). Exactly the same theory is expounded by Philo.
H e argues that the senses are auxiliaries (�o't)6o;, t<.li:t�) ; andthat even the four real affections : voluptuousness, desire, sorrowIt ) I • s6 a4) I 332 37
8) I 68 42

2) I 16 I
5 ) I t zo 379) I 8 53) P· 2 JOPU Cf. 1 2 6 , 169.
6) I 7 2 157) p. 48 Ito) p. 25

INTRODUCTION

XLIX

and fear, have their utility by which they ,help' the soul 1).
Isaac has elaborately treated the question concerning thenat ure of the affections "). The result is that they naturally
belong to the body ; but that there is such a close union
between body and soul that the latter, though not naturally aa receptacle of affections, participates in them, so that both,affections of the body ' and ,affections of the soul' are frequent
expressions in Isaac' s work.
The question is an old one, as Isaac says himself (p. 2 1 ) .
I t has been treated at length by Plotinus in the opening chap­ters of the Enneades. He has answered it in the same sense
as Isaac. He argues that the soul is a being of its own and ,for this reason, not subject to the affections of the body. Still ,the soul being the body's vivifying partner, there is an influenceof the latter on the former ; not a direct one, however, but
through a kind of medium of a composite nature.
It has been said above 3) that Isaac assigns to the soul a
middle position between the body and the spirit, and conse­
quently, considers it as being of an ambiguous nature. It isagain Philo who has expressed the same view : rhoi:'l O'·?nwv is
�v ·{, Yi[J..er{pa ·+vz� G".!\IEG'!fi, l.'.!jt·d :J -r� xet.i r/.).�IVV 4). And Plotinus
thinks it the soul's duty to strip off the bonds which tie it tom atter, and to elevate itself unto the spiritual state : Yi [LE\/ o�vr:c).:/tx xcz( np6; vo:i'J v2�0'J1Jr/.- �fvz� .de! x(l.0r:;p'l. xcd �):()'J drrfr7Tpa:rctcu 5).
It has been pointed out above 6) that Isaac is an adherentof the theory of free will and of its consequence, that is man's
capability of abberration. If in this point he is in accord withthe main current of early Christianity, it is not to be forgottenthat the church itself stands on the basis of Hellenism. Philo
speaks of D.z'J0op{a rcav-rJ); ·+'Jzi,; 7) and calls those who love
God the highest kings 8) . And some of the Stoics 9) as well as
Plotinus 10) and his school 11) defend the same view.
Isaac's term t<�ru.� betrays its technical character. A s
a matter o f fact the corresponding idea was known to Philo
already : k'vn [.LE\/ o�v A�r lp:n)\I�'J0�i;; r/.rc�xJ.tvt;. K)Jv�:at 0'} o vo:i;)2) p. 2 1 sqq.
3) p. X X X sq.
1) I, 67 sq.
4) ll1 2 4 1 27
5) EnmaJes, I, 8 § 47) I, 53443
6) p. XXXII sqq.
8) II, 4 5 24
9) Epictelus Smtmtiac I X ; Diatribae I, 1r o) Enmades VI, 8 § 1 sqq . ; Ill, 1 § 9 sq . ; Ill, 3 § 3 sqq.
u) Zeller , Die J'!t i!osophie ,fer Griecllw<, Ill, z, p. 76 9))

L

1:-ITRODUCTION.
2)
E piCtetUS
uses the term -r),v o'Svrx,u.tv lzr..)r:tr../,v ; Proclus was well acqainted
with the idea : Anima igitur habente in substantia earn q\lae
ad ambo inclinationem, -ra bene dico et -ro male 3).
How strongly Isaac is dependent upon his Hellenistic teachers,
appears also from his doctrine of freedom in connection withthe world's course. As it was pointed out above, he distinguishes
between those things which lie within our grasp, which belong
to the mind's customary domain, and those which come fromwithout and are fortuitous. This is the theory of the Stoics ;Epictetus' Manual begins with the theory of -r;, £7' ·�e..l:v xo:i,
1"0: GVX epli(J.. tV.
Isaac and his teachers, though leaving some room to accidental
things, still acknowledge Providence as the power which domi­nates this world. ,There are no accidents happening by chance ;by chance there happens :.:othing to man , neither good, norevil ; there is a Governor who governs the things of thisworld' �) etc. The idea of Providence is Hellenistic indeed 5)
and the S yrians even have borrowed the Greek term (�1i�) .
Mysticism in Western Asia is the offspring of asceticism ,which is often considered as being essentially Christian. Our
growin g knowledge of Hellenism has shovm , however, that thisview is not true, but that in large circles of the Hellenistic
world, asceticism was the preferred attitude of life. In thisrespect Stoicism, Pythagorism , and Neoplatonism went handin hand. I n con nection with the close parallelism between Isaac'sview of life and that of Philo, it is worth while to draw atten­
tion to the latter's asceticism . Those who follow Abraham's
migration -rrJ; -rs I;,P �·+st; xrx-r!X[J..�o'J'It,''-rci; '!�Y t7.''),),W'J 2Tr2XO'J7t'J
Cf/1-�;
Xtz!'
2.J
'
'
f

'

'

r. '

I

'r�'!"Z fJ.E'.i 7VjO.'JO'J 70'!"2\ldStiJ'0Gtv,

'

�;

"' '
0' !X'J''

TG )(!XXGV!Xit'Y7'rfZrOf-'.E'.IO; 1 ) .
'

I

(

[J.�

r:p6; -:c;o; aiGG'I)-r':/.J -r�

Ed'w�'J 0 Os6;, Eitu;-xux�J0� 6).

\Ne have seen above 7) that according to Isaac man's spm­tual part has to live at the expense of his body. This is Philo's
theory too : s�,u..zv dv ixd'Jwv 0r/.vrx-rov, -rsOv/,xr/..fJ..£'.1 d'l dv ir..dvwv �{ovis one of Herakleitos' sentences, which Philo interprets in this1 ) I, 4 5 9 53) ed. Cou>in I, p. 68

2) Dialribae I , 14) p. 1 76.'i) Epictctus, Diatribae I, cap. 6, 1 4 , 1 6 ; Ill, cap. 1 7 : EnncaJ,· III,

Proclus1 cd. Creuzer § CXX.
6) I, 466 zo sqq.

Philo, cd. Aucher, De Proz,idcntia.
7) p. 32 sq.

2 § 3 ; Ill, 3 § z ;LI

INTRODUCTION

sense that he soul ' s life is the body's death 1). A nd is it not
Philo who has erected a monument to asceticism in his De
zda contempla tz'va ?

This expression ,death of the soul' which so often occurs
in Isaac's treatises will remind Christian readers of the meta­
phorical use of the term death so familiar to them from the
New Testament. It is again to be accentuated that the idea
is not especially Christian , but Hellenistic. Philo repeatedly
speaks of the death of the soul �). A nd Plotinus was wellacquainted with the idea : xai 3 0dva:'J; a·)-r�) ;wi E":! iv 'cf G�[J.CI.Tt
'
'
'\'
"
5
' ' i"' "' (,' "..l- l" .f! cG":!
(.. (.)!j?.!.JCI.T:":!G[l.cW;J cY
XCI.':'CI.O:JYW XW r:J.Y)G liX/.! C/.'..1 ":1;:; XW ES?.UO'Jtn;
I�'- X��<JY(l!
- ( zr,);
tX.Ct

'

'\

'

}

,, I

IY'.Iry_fJfij_fJ�:; X(%! �f£ ):� ;:w; 'rt;") C1fC.J
xcd -r0:0-ro d�J-:t -:Q i'.l ��I)'J c),06'Jta :huxa-:aO�pSci:'.l 3).
�

I

'

,

\

'

El<

r;, Cl.
'!0:1 �Ofj.JCfOJ�fConsequently just as in Isaac, the soul has to vanquish theaffections and its own inferior part ; it has to overcome matter ;it has to be purified 4) [in order to elevate itself unto God,
who is light, and to participate of this light : �T! -tl dGxY)-rtx0j\, lI
utccJ0ta . . . . ":'(Z!; '/:f/)'ti..J TtQt; x.ca Ct:I1W[J�(J.:!ot; cntrtvt-ro0 d.cG?opo'J Uc'J0 r:zpt).d[J.7tHCI.! 5).
Here mystical knowledge is compared to sight : 6 vr:£ro:v6;
lvrtv 6pa'1t; Gzc£i 6).
A nd both Philo and Isaac choose the term sight in order
to express 1a spiritual reality of deeper in tensity than thatwhich the term audition conveys. H igher faith, says Isaac 7),,is called faith of sight. Sight is more true than audition'.
Philo connects this transition from audition to sight with thechange of Jacob's name into that of Israel. For, according tohim, Israel means sight of God. So this name denotes Jacob's
new visual state as being elevated above his auditive state
which is symbolized by his old name Jacob for mnnipa '/b_p
I

J

I

J

-

r+� �:wv 8) .

I n many passages of his works Philo describes this highest
spiritual state in the form of ecstasy : f.vvr;'JGt{m;; '/b_p xCI.i c.�x
'\
I
'
(..
' cCI.'J":"!i O!CI.VO!CI.:;,c":! O'JGI;:; Ell'l.Jj Ef W":! v'JfC/.V!':> G?.GQl�YJ fl.CV'IJ; Xo:! £Xfl.S'
'
,,
'
'
9)
p:�VcVCI.; XCI.! O'VW rrpo; C/.'J'!vY WXJG(l.cYY); . . . . .
A nd it is remarkable that the other symbolical denominationof this highest state, the Image of drunkenness which is so
H

,,

(

�

'

,..., " '

'

c..,

"

J

'

/

1) I, 6521
2) I, 20513, 23912, 3 1 536, 41015
3) Enneadcs I , 8 § 1 34) I, 33920, 64733, 4025, 1451, 1 5827
5) I, 6381 1
6) II, 4 1 238
9) I, 4 8240• CL I , 5 101", 5 1 1 11, 5 5 421
8) I, 36913
7) p. 320l

Lll

INTRODUCTION

often used by Isaac 1), is also one of the most beloved expres­sions i n Philo : 0d'7. {J.i01} �), .._.; ,(�\6'7- [Ii01} 3 ) , [J.f.01} "IJ{dJtv; ').
I think these examples are of a nature to show that theframe of Isaac's thoughts is that of Alexandrian philosophy
as it is already embodied in Philo. For further details I may
refer the reader to the notes to the translation.
Now that we have tried to define Isaac's relation to H el­lenism in its strict sense, we have to say a few words con­cerning his relation to Syriac mystics. Very little however canbe said here, for the simple reason that very little concerning
Syriac mysticism is known to us. Of Eastern Syriac mysticism
Isaac himself is the chief representative. Of \Vestern Syriac
mysticism the great source, the Book of Hierotheos, is still
unedited. It would be surprising, if Isaac had not known thiswork. The few specimens of it which Frothingham published,evoke the surmise of acquaintance on Isaac's part. Certainty
is hardly to be reached here.
Isaac has a remarkable passage describing how the i nitiatedmind acts as new creator. [First he will free this whole world]from its state, so that it is reduced to nothing, analogous to
the first state ()f the body. Then he will elevate himself intel­
lectually beyond the beginnings of the creation of the world,when there was no creation nor anything, no heaven, no earth,no angels, nor any of the created things. Then of a sudden
he will bring all things into existence 5) etc.
Compare with this Frothingham's translation on p. 1 09 ofhis book : It 6) will then begin , by a new and holy brooding,to create a new world, and will create a new man in its image
i mageless, and according to its likeness l ikenessless. It willmete out heaven with its span and will measure the d<Jst of
the earth with its measure : it will nu mber the drops of thesea and weigh the mountains in a scale" etc.
The parallelism is striking enough.
Isaac, in several passages, speaks of an esoteric crucifixion .
,And as one who is destined to suffer crucifixion, he accepts
the thought of death , and goes forth, as one who does notthink that he has any further share in this life' 7).
2) I 103 32
1 ) Cf. Register s. v. Drunken ne"5) p. 2 564) I 16 223) I 6o 31
6) the mind7) p. 232 ; cf. also p. 223

LIII

INTRODUCTION

In his chapter on the ascent of the mind, Hierotheos speakson the cross in this way 1) : Then proceeding on its way, itreaches the holy place of the Cross : here it understands that
it is to endure its passion and suffer crucifixion, in the samemanner that Christ suffered ; for unless the mind undergoes
all that Christ suffered it cannot be perfectedPerhaps there is also dependency or Isaac's part in thefollowing passage : , Everything that . is above another one isconcealed from what is beneath it' 2), as compared with H iero­
theos '3) : , Every intelligent nature is determined, known andcomprehended by the essense which is above it, and determines,
knows and comprehends the essence which is below it'.
I seems hardly allowed to increase the number of juxta­
positions, because of our fragmentary knowledge of the Book
of Hierotheos.
That Isaac was acquainted with the works of Dionysius the
Areopagite, appears from his citation (p. 1 6 9) . It appears also
from the passage on p. 1 8 7 , where the name of Dionysius,
however, is not mentioned. I give the translated texts in j ux­
taposition.
Dionysius(De Coel. Hier. V I , VII).
All heavenly beings are
named by theology with ninedistinct designations. These
our divine initiator divides into
three tripartite subdivisions.
He says that, according to
the divine scriptures, the mostholy thrones, and the Che­
rubim with many eyes and theSeraphim with many wings (asthey are called in H ebrew)
occupy the place nearest toGod.

1 ) P· 99z) p. 1 82

Isaac
All heavenly beings are
named by the divine instruc­tion with nine designations.
It divides these three classes
each into three subdivisions.
The first comprises thro­n es, exalted, high and holy ;and Cherubs with many eyes ;and Seraphs with many wings.

3) Frothinghamp, p. 9 2

LlV

IC'i"TRODl!CTION

The [second ] tripartite class[comprises] lords and powers
and magistrates.

The second division, hesays, comprises powers andlords and magistrates. The
third, which comprises thelowest hierarchic class of hea­
ven! y beings, consists of angels,archangels and pnnces.

The third : pnnces andarchangels and angels.

According to those whoknow Hebrew the name of
Seraphim means those who
cause fire or heat ; Cherubim,
those who possess fulness ofknowledge, or effusion of
wisdom.

According to the meaningof the Hebrew, these terms
are to be interpreted thus :Seraphs means those who
cause heat and fire. Cherubs
means magnitude of know­
ledge and effusion of wisdom.

It is clear that here Isaac's acquaintance with the works ofDionysius has taken the form of a free citation. And the further
explanation of the designations of heavenly beings which Isaac
gives, also shows his dependency upon the rest of Dionysius'
seventh chapter.
Finally we have to consider Isaac in his relation to Muslim'
mystics. The general concordance between Isaac and mysticsof the type of Ghazali may appear from the present transla­tion. Here some special points only have to be discussed, which
in Muslim mysticism are considered as foreign elements, though
their origin is not known . The oldest l\Iuslim mysticism isacquainted with the ahl al-malama, people who reckon disdain
as honour and who consequently do not shun the blame ofdefinite faults or crimes being laid to their charge. It appears
that Syriac n1ystics were already acquainted with this spiritual
attitude and that in Isaac's days it possessed the reputationof being old. It appears also that the technical term malama
was as such translated from Syriac r<'�a.\�.
Isaac himself tells us that, when he was young , he felt
inclined to follow such practices. When he visited one of thesolitaries he said to him that he wished to eat bread in the
galery of the Church on Sunday morning. ,Then every visitor
will see and despise me'. But the solitary dissuades him, saying

INTRODUCTION

LV

among other things : ,The ancient fathers could do such things
because of the signs and the forces which were ·wrought throughthem and because of the great name and fame they possessed.
These things they practised, each of them in order to be despisedand blamed, and to obscure the fame of his behaviour and tokeep far from him the cause of haughtiness' 1). As it is shownby this quotation , it is not only the practice but also the motive
which is identical with that of the all al-malama.
P. 7 6 sq . have very characteristic sayings about r<�c:U.,.LL .
,Be despised and rejected in thy own eyes, then thou wilt
behold the glory of God within thyself'. ,Learn to be disdained
while being full of the honour of the Lord, not to be honoured
while being injured by ulcers within. Reject honour, then thouwilt be honoured. Do not love i t , lest thou be rejected' .
,If thou givest thyself to disdain i n order to b e honoured, theLord will confound thee. If thou rejectest thyself for the sakeof truth, He will command the creatures to praise thee '.
A nd finally : ,r<�a.\-LL with discernment is followed by freedom
from everything and by disregard of life and by love of men' '}I think these quotations are sufficient to show that the attitu deof the ahl al-malama was not m·iginal, but takeri over fromChristian mystics.
One of the terms which appe::trs in the old :?ufi works likeal-l}.ushairi's letter, is al-asbab ,the means'. I t appears at once
as a technical term , and we have no occasion to observe its
growth from its usual significance in this direction. This fact
is explained by its being a translation : it is Isaac's terminology
which indicates where al-asbab as a technical term takes its
origin : it is a translation of �:;� which has exactly thesame meaning ,the means' and is used to denote the sameidea, viz. earthly help anc1 instruments as opposed to provi­
dential care and human confidence in it. I shall give somecharacteristic passages from Isaac. ,If it be true to thee andthou believest that God has care for thee, thou hast not tothink of the body, nor should it be thy care to govern thyself
by m eans of the r<'..s» 1a.21.' 3).
It is especially chapter Ll which speaks about �:;� insuch a way as to make clear the full meaning of the term .
,The soul that once, on account of faith , has entrusted itself
I ) p. 1 42

2 ) p. 356

3 ) l'' 67

INTRODUCTION

LVI

unto God and, under many temptations, has received the tasteof faith's help, does not any longer think of itself, but is madespeechless by ecstasy and silence, without being allowed toreturn unto the m e a n s of its knowledge or to make use ofthem ' 1) etc. And : , N ever will he that seeks refuge withfaith, use r<"..m1a..2> " 2) .
The idea is connected with that of con fidence (t<ko�).
A survey of the many passages i n which Isaac speaks of i t(see t he Register s. v. Trust) w ! ll easily show to what extent
this subject is covered by the $_,.:; of the �ilfr's.
But, as I have said above, it is not only in these special
points, it is in his whole set of ideas that Isaac appears to
be one of those Christian thinkers such as have determined
the general character of �ufism . I n this respect he has oneof the fi rst places in the history of �ufism .
I ) p. 3 60z) p. 364.

Cf. also p. 36 1 , 3 6 2 , 365, 370

SIX TREATISES ON T H E B E H AVIOUR OF
EXCELLENCE 1)

The fear of God is the foundation of excellence ; for excellenceis said to be the offspring of faith. It is sown in a man's h eart,when he allows his mind to confine the wandering impulses tocontinual meditation on the order of things to come, awayfrom the distractions of the world. As to the foundation ofz excellence, the first among its peculiar elements is the concen­
tration of the self, by freeing it from practical things, upon
the enlightened word of the straight and holy ways, the wordthat by the inspired Psalmist is called the teacher.
There is scarcely to be found a man who is able to bear
honours, or possibly such an one exists not ; because man isvery prone to err, even i f he be an angel i n his way.
The foundation of the way of life consists in accustoming
the mind to the words of God and the practice of patience.
For the draught provided by the former is helpful towards
acquiring perfection in the latter ; and, further, increased devel­
opment towards accomplish:nent in the latter, will cause aheightened desire of the former. And the help provided byboth of them will quickly bring about the rise of the wholebuilding.
No one is able to come near to God save only he who is
far from the world. For I do not call separation the departurefrom the body, but from the bodily things.
Excellence consists therein that a man in his mind be a void
as regards the world. As long as the senses are occupied with[ outward] things, it is not possible for the heart to rest from
1 ) Title taken from t h e e n d o f VI o n p . 9 9 · A l l reference applies t o t h e pages of
Hedjan':-. tex�.
Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1 <)'2'2 ( \\'en:.in ck ·.

2

SIX TREATISES ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

imagining them. Nor do the affections cease, nor evil thoughts
end except in the desert and the wilderness.
'While the soul has not yet become drunk by the faith inGod, i n that it has received an impression of its powers, theweakness of the senses cannot be healed and it is not able totread down with force visible matter which is a screen before
what is within and not perceived [by the senses].
Reason is the cause of freedom 1) and the fruit of both liability3
to err. W ithout the first, the second cannot be. A nd where thesecond fails, there is the third bound as it were with halters.
When grace is abundant in man, then the fear of death isdespised on account of the love of righteousness. He fi nds
many arguments in his soul [proving] that it is becoming to beartroubles for the sake of the fear of God. And those things
which are supposed to injure the body, and to repel nature
injustly, which consequently are of a nature to cause suffering,are reckoned in his eye as nothing in comparison with whatis expected to be. And his mind convinces him firmly of thefact that it is not possible to recognize truth without gaining
experience of the 3.ffections, and that God bestows great careupon man, and that he is not abandoned to chance. Especiallythose who are trained in praying unto Him and who bear
suffering for His sake, see [these truths] clearly [as if painted]
in colours. But when little faith takes root in our heart, then
all these things are felt as contrary, not as serving for testing us.
And that we are not always successful in trusting in God,and that God does not care for thee as it is supposed, is often
insinuated by those who lay ambushes and shoot their arrows
in the darkness.
The foundation of man's true life, is the fear of God. And
this does not consent to dwell in the soul as long as there
4 exists the distraction of [outward] things. For the heart, by theservice of the senses, is turned away from the delight in God.
The inward impulses are bound up in their sensible facultywith the senses administering to them.
The doubt of the heart introduces fear into the soul. But
faith is able to make manly the mind, even u nder the cutting
off of the limbs. As long as the love of the body is strong inthee, thou art not able to be courageous and without fear

1) This term has nearly always the meaning of free will. Cf. Introduction.

SIX TREATISES 0:-< THE BEHAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

3

because of the many adversaries that are constantly present
in the neighbourhood of him who is loved.
If any one is fond of honour, he cannot be without causesof distress.
There is no man, whose mind suffers not likewise a changewith things, in whatever respect it may be.
If there is a second apperception of the senses, which generates
and gives birth to desire, as Euagrius says, then those who
dwell in doubt must keep silence, promising to preserve theirmind in peace.
Not that one is chaste from whom evil impulses that intended
to combat him, are withheld, but he whose uprightness ofheart renders chaste the gaze of his mind, so that he does not
audaciously enter upon lascivious thoughts ; and the saintlinessof his heart is testified by the gaze of his pupils, which are
guarded faithfully, so that bashfulness screens, like a curtain,
the hidden place of his thoughts. So that his purity 1), likethat of a chaste virgin, is faithflllly guarded for Christ.
There is nothing so apt to banish lascivious customs fromthe soul, and to restrain inciting memories which quicken thewild flames in the body, as burning for the love of teachings,
and prosecuting investigations concerning the meaning of thes words of the scriptures.
When the impulses are immersed in delight, after [having
tasted ] the wisdom contained in the [ divine] words, by meansof the faculty that absorbs information from them , then every
man will leave the body behind him. Forgetting the world andall that is in it, he will also banish from his soul all recollec­
tions on which are based the images of the material world.
And often the soul in its thoughts during ecstasy will desist
from the use of the wonted deliberations - natural practice by reason of the novel [ experiences] which reach it from thesea of their mysteries.
Even when the mind is floating on its upper waters, without
being able to make its impulses deep as the d e pth of thewaters (so that it can see all the treasures in its abysses) still meditation, by its [power of] love, will have sufficient force
to bind the thoughts firmly together with thoughts of ecstasy
so that they are checked from thinking of and running after

4

SIX TREATISES ON THE B E H AVIOUR OF

EXCELLENCE

the nature of the body. As one of those, who are clad withGod says : " Because the heart is weak, it is not able to bear
the evil influences that reach it from without, nor the struggle
within . For you know, that the evil thoughts of the body arestrong. A nd if the heart is not accustomed to teachings, it is
not possible to bear the troubled thoughts of the body.
As the heaviness of the weight [impedes] the quick swaying
too and froo of the tongue of the balance in the wild winds,
so bashfulness and fear [impede] the aberration of the mind.
And that which IS an indication of deficiency in the former,
is also a [sign] of the dominion of freedom 1) in the latter.
6 Just as in that case any additional decrease is the cause of thescales swaying too and froo with greater ease, having no solid
foundation, so in this case, by the abolition of fear from thesoul on account of freedom, the balance of the mind is able
to turn aside quickly. So the faculty of emotion comes in theconsequence of freedom ; and inconstancy of the mind is theconsequence of the faculty of aberration z). Be wise enough tolay a foundation for thy course in the way of God ; in a few
days it will bring thee before the gate of the Kingdom, without
windings in the way 3).
Do not in the way of those who are educated by teachers
look at the words which in the way of test, are intended toelevate thy behaviour, in order that thy soul may be elevatedby the height of sight that is in them. Distinguish the purportof the word in all the stories thou findest in the scriptures ; sothou wilt be able to make thy soul deep so that it may dwellwith the great wisdom that is in the writings of enlightened men.
Those who, by grace, are directed in their behaviour towards
illumination, perceive constantly as it were an in telligible rayrunning between the words [of the scriptures]. This ray dis­tinguishes for the mind the simple speech from those things
that are said in spiritual loftiness in order to expand the soul .
H e who simply reads lofty words, his heart will also remain
simple and devoid of the holy power, that imparts to the hearta sweet taste by the meanings that stupefy the soul.
7
A ll things are accustomed to move towards that which is
I ) Cf. p. 2 note I.
2) Cf. Introduction .
3) Cf. llook of tiLt Dove, Sentence 85 : " Every serene soul seeks its ori[:inal country, anddirects itself towanls i t 6n the straight way, which ic; the nearest1'. And the inscription ofchapter X:\" 1 1 : On the short paths to God.

SlX

TREATISESONTHE

B E H AVIOUROF

EXCELLENCE

5

aki n [ to them] . A nd the soul that possesses something of thespirit, on hearing anything wherein a spiritual force is hidden,
fervently embraces that which it hears ; and yet a tale that istold spiritually and wherein a great force is hidden, is not able
to arouse every one u nto admiration.
A word concerning excellence requires a heart free fromthe earth and earthly occupations.
If a man's mind is beset with care for transitory things,
tales concerning excellence will not incite his thought to thedesiring of its possession .
Solution from matter precedes the bonds i n God 1). A nd
though, as if by Providence of Grace, i n some people the latter
precede the former, so that love covers love, in the usual orderof Providence the common sequence is otherwise. So thou hastto keep the common order. If Grace in thee comes first, it isfor its own sake. If it does not, then, along the way that every
man goes by tradition, ascend the spiritual tower.
Everything which is mentally performed and the command­
ment of which is. ful filled thus also, is entirely invisible to theeyes of the flesh ; whereas every thing which is performed i npractice, is wholly of a composite nature. For i t is only one
commandment that necessitates these two, viz. theory and per­formance. Because corporeity and non-corporeity and the adap8 tation of the two belong to all. Therefore the enlightened
intellect - as has been ordered formerly by the blessed
Moses - u nderstands in a twofold way the commandment[ lying at the bottom of theory and practice ] : the simple aswell as the complex is u nderstood.
Works performed carefully by the pure, do not remove thei mpression of the recollection of previous reprehensible things ;but they abolish i n the mind the painful nature of recollection,
so that what has passed through the mind often enough, now
becomes something excellent.
The longing of the soul for the acquiring of excellence
vanquishes the desire of its partner 2) for visible things.
1)

Cf.

beneath p. 40 and Basilius:

d!J..l'f 0tYWc; TE[J Sef(J thcoJ..ouSijuat f.Lb.J..oyra

Aov9ijva:: t del T0v liEtr(.dJY rij; ?rpOtr?r«1efcu; roiJ (3!ov rOv(An ton ius et Maximus , p. 22). And Philo I 380 39 ;..
- Plotinus, Enneades IV, 8,

liec;{J-a tJ.fv oit; 1rp6repov Ec;r:p!yyero £ ?rEpJ;;j..J,rCt!v al roil 9v'1roU (3fov x.eval tr7rovliaJ , 7nfvn:t: J..6trac;?rpOt; r�v roll &yevv�rov ?r«yKtiJ.."f V xal &of11tt.tov Oiav f?retx9ijYat.

·§ I points to the Platonic origin of the comparison, and uses it himself § 4, speaking o f
the soul : E?rJurpa<f:Jelcra li E ?rpOc; wiJ1trtY J..Uetr9tXf re he rfiJv liEtr(.t.Wv, Kai &vaf3a!vetv
2) the body

6

SIX TREATISES ON T H E BEHAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

All things have their mean . Lacking that, even those things
the use of which is apt to help, may turn aside and become
harmful without meeting any obstacle.
If thou wishest to have mental communion with God, by
acquiring the impression of that delight that is not subject tothe senses, then cling to mercy. For the holy beauty is formedby that element within thee, which resembles mercy 1). And
all the practices of mercy bring the soul, immediately, into
communion with the unique splendour of the divine glory 2).
Spiritual unification is a perpetual recollection, that is vivid
in the heart without variation, with burning love. By constancy
9 in clinging to the commandments, it acquires the force to remain
in u nion ; and there is found, in a way neither secondary nor
natural , matter for spiritual vision , in which the soul may
confide absolutely. So a man is drawn towards ecstasy by theclosing of the two classes of senses : those of the flesh andthose of the soul. There is no other way towards spiritual love
which is modeller of invisible images, than to begin in the firstplace with mercy i n accordance with the word of our Lord
who commands it to those who obey him, i n connection withthe perfection of the Father, the foundation.
Very different is the word of practice from words of beauty.
Even without experience wisdom knows how to adorn its words
and to speak the truth even without having any acquaintancewith it, and to express itself concerning excellence without any
experience of [practical] performance. A word proceeding frompractice, is a treasure to confi d e in. But idle wisdom is a pawn
causing shame ; it is as when an artist paints water on walls,
without being able to quench his thirst by it ; or as a man
who dreams beautiful dreams.
He who from practical experience speaks about excellence,brings the word to his hearers as it were from the capitalwon by his own commerce ; and, as from the stock of hissoul, sows his teachings in the ears of his audience. He opens
his mouth freely before his spiritual sons, in the manner of
old Jacob before chaste Joseph, [saying] : I have given thee
one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the handof the Amorite with my sword and with my bow 3).
1 ) Reading m\ i nstead of2 ) Cf. Chapter LXXXI.
3) Genesis 48, 22.

tnl .

SIX

TREATISESONTHE

B E H A V lOUROF

E X C E LLENCE

7

10

So every man whose behaviour is stained, will love temporal
life ; so will also he who falls short of knowledge. Some one
has well said : The fear of death distresses a fleshly man. But
he who has a good witness in himself, will desire i t as life.
Do not reckon as a truly wise man that one whose mind
is subject to fear on account of temporal life.
All good and evil things which befall the body have allof them, to be reckoned by thee as dreams, which thou canst
escape from not only by death, but which often leave theeeven before death and disappear.
If thy soul is bound to some of them, then estimate them as
thy possession for ever, accompanying thee also in the world
to be. If they are beautiful, then rejoice and thank God i n
thy mind. If they are evil, then b e sorry a n d sigh a n d seek
to be delivered from them while being in the body. If any
good is done to thee, open or concealed, then be sure thatthy mediators concerni ng it have been baptism and faith, bywhich thou wert called in Jesus Christ u nto good works ;to whom and to the Father and to the Holy Ghost belong
praise, honour and adoration, now and always and for everand ever. A men.
II

11

Gratefulness on the part of the rectptent spurs on the giver
to bestow gifts larger than before. He who embezzles petty
things is also false and fraudulent concerning things of im­
portance.
The sick one who is acquainted with his sickness is easily
to be cured ; and he who confesses his pain is near to health.
Many are the pains of the hard heart ; and when the sickone resists the physician, his torments will be augmented.
There is no sin which cannot be pardoned except that one
which lacks repentance , and there is no gift which is not
augmented save that which remains without acknowledgement.
For the portion of the fool is small in his eyes.
Think constantly of those who are superior to thee in ex­cellence, so thou mayest see thyself at all times as being lessthan they are. And be aware at all times of the heavy troublesof those whose vexations are difficult and serious, so that thoumayest become grateful for the small ones found with thyself
and thou mayest be able to bear them with joy.

8

SIX

TREe\ TISES

ON

THE

B E HAVIOUROF

EXCELLE:-IC E

When thou art in a state of subjection and languid anddejected, and thou art bound and fettered before thy foe inmournful wretchedness and laborious service of sin , then recall
to thy mind the previous times of firmness : how thou shewest
painstaking even concerning small things and how thou wert
moved with zeal against the obstructors in thy course : how
12 thou utteredst sighs on account of the small things which ·were
despised by thee as accidental and thy whole person was winding
a wreath of victory over these things. Then , by these andsimilar recollections, thy soul will be aroused as from the depth,
and be clad with the flame of zeal ; and it will rise from its
immersion as if from the dead, and stretch itself and return toits former state, in hot strife against Satan and sin.
Recollect the fall of the strong, that thou mayest remain
humble under thy virtues. And think of the heavy sins of those
who fell and repented ; and of the praise and honour theyreceived afterwards, so that thou mayest acquire courage during
thy repentance.
Be a persecutor of thy self ; then thy foe will be driven
away from thee.
Be on peaceful terms with thy soul ; then heaven and earth
will be on peaceful terms with thee. Be zealous to enter thetreasury within thee ; then thou wilt see that which is in heaven .
For the former and the latter are one, and entering thou wilt
see both. The ladder unto the Kingdom is hidden within theeand within thy soul. Dive into thyself [freed] from sin ; there
thou wilt find steps along which thou canst ascend.
What the things of the world-to-be are, the scriptures do
not explain. H ow we may acquire the faculty to perceive theirdelight even now, without change of nature or local transition ,they teach us plainly.
Though they call these things by beloved names of glorious
things which are delightful and esteemed by us, in order tospur us on, still by saying that the eye has not seen, northeear heard 1) and so on, they show us that the things-to-be•3
are not equal to any of the present things, by their being
i ncomprehensible. They have to be reckoned by us as giving
us even n ow spiritual delight, not the enjoyment of those thingsin themselves, such as are found outside the being of the1) I Cor. 2 1 g.

SIX

T R E ATISES

ON

THE

B E H AV I O U R

OFEXCELLENCE

9

receivers and promised us for the future state. Otherwise " The
Kingdom of God is within you" 1 ) and " Thy Kingdom come" z)would teach us that we possess within us a pledge of thedelight which is in those things. For it is necessary that there
be a resemblance between these and the pledge, partial forthe present though it be, yet to be complete in the future.
Again the word " as through a glass' ' 3) shows us the compara­bility anyhovv, even if they are not one in essence. If now,according to the trustworthy testimonies of the commentatorsof the scriptures, this is due to an intelligible in fluence of theHoly Ghost, and is a part of that total one, then - apart
fro m the spiritual influence that by intelligible apprehension
forms a commun ication between the Holy Ghost and those
who are influenced - the delight of the saints in the worldis not occasioned by any sensible mediator, be it senses orsense-organs, save only the wombs which contain all in definedorder, which we may call the profusion of light, though not
the intelligible profusion.
A friend of excellence is not he, who zealously practices
beautiful things, but who gladly accepts the evil th ings adhering
to him. Patiently to bear troubles for the sake of excellence,is not so great as this that through the determination of thegood will, the mind be not confused by the allurements of
exciting things.
For repentance which comes after the taking away of freedom,' 4 never can be a source of joy nor can it be reckoned as aredemption of those who rue.
Protect the sinner without doing him wrong. But strengthen
his courage for life ; then the mercy of the Lord will bear thee ").
Support with thy word the weak and the distressed in spirit
whenever thou canst ; then the hand that bears the universe
will support thee. Participate with those who are suffering inheart, in passionate prayer a nd mourning of the heart ; thenbefore thy demand a fou ntain of grace will be opened.
Be strenuous in prayer at all time before God, with a heartfull of chaste deliberations mingled with passion ; then He will
preserve thy mind from impure thoughts, so that the way ofGod be not disordered in thee. Occupy thy gaze with constant
1 ) Luke 1 7, 2 1 .
3 ) 1 Cor. 1 3, 1 2.
z) Matth. 6 , 10.
4) An idea which recurs in the work. Cf. Epicteti Diatribac Lib. I, Cap. X V I II : oTt
oU 'fu7 x aAE7rcdvEtv roit; ip.etpror.t.ivott;.

10

SIX

T RE

ATIS ES ON T i l E B E H AVIOUR O F EXCELLENCE

intercourse with intelligent recitation [of the scriptures], lest, on
account of idleness, the sight of foreign things defile thy look .
Do not tempt thy mind, for the sake of examination, byconsideration of impure seductive thoughts, thinking that thoushalt not be vanquished. Even wise men have been perturbed
in this place and deviated. Do not take fire in thy bosom, as
hath been said 1). \Vithout severe bodily trouble, it is hard forthe untrained youth to be bound under the yoke of saintliness.
The sign of the beginning of darkness of mind manifests
itself in the soul by dejection, in the first place with regard toservice and prayer. For it is not possible that the way in thysoul towards error should be ·opened if thou hast not fallen inrs this point first. Then, being bereft of God's help - which [else]
affords a way unto Him - thou wilt easily fall into the handsof the foes. And further, being without care for the mattersof excellence, thou wilt be carried towards the contrary thingsin every manner. Departing, from any side, is the beginning[of approaching] to the opposite one. Let the service of ex­cellence be firm in thy soul ; meditate on it and so on.
Show thy weakness before God at all times, lest strangers
come to examine thy strength while thou art separated fromthy helper.
The service of the cross 1s a double one. And this is inaccordance with its twofold nature which is divided into twoparts : patience in face of bodily troubles, which is accomplishedthrough the instrumentality of the anger of the soul 2) ; this iscalled 8) practice. And : the subtle intellectual service, in inter­course with God, constant prayer and so on, which is performed
with the desiring part 2) and called theory. The one purifies
the affectable part 2) by the strength of zeal ; the other clears
the intellectual part 2) by the influence of the love of the soul,
which is the natural appetite.
Every one, who, before being trained in the former part,passes to the latter, on account of the pleasures it affords,
desiringly 4) - or rather negligently - causes [God's] anger to
1 6 blow against him because, before having mortified his members
1) Proverbs 6, 27.
2) Cf. The Book of the Dove , p. 524/5·
3 ) The text has !"GJt.gb , Read : ��b ,4) We have either to cancel the waw of c}u�rGO or to suppose an anakoluth inIsaac's construction; I have cancelled the waw.

SIX TREATISESU :'<THE B E l l A VI OUR OF EXCEL!JENCE

I I

on the earth 1 ) , i . e. before healing the illness of his delibera­
tions by endurance under the l abours and the shame of thecross, he has dared to occupy his mind with the glory of thecross. This is what has been said by the ancient saints : If themind desires to ascend the cross before the senses have becomesilent on account of weakness, the anger of God will strike it .
B y the fact of the ascension of the cross causing anger hedoes not point to the first part, namely, the bearing of troubles
patiently (which is the crucifying of the body) but to the theo­
retical ascension which is the second part, and which is [truly]
subsequent to the healing of the soul. For he who hastens tomeditate with his heart vain i maginations concerning futurethings, while his mind is still stained b y reprehensible passions,will be reduced to silence on his way by punishment, be­cause, before having purified his mind by means of the trials
met in subduing the carnal desires, on account of what hehas heard and read merely, he has hastened headlong to treada path full of darkness, being blind - a way which exposes todang-er day and night even those whose sight is sound andfull of light, and who possess Grace as their guide, while
their eyes are full of tears, and with prayer and weeping they
convert night into day, on account of the danger of the course
and the hard rocks they meet, and the phantoms of shamtruth that are frequently found on the way among those who
pretend to be true. For divine things present themselves spon­taneously, without thy perceiving them, if the place of theheart' be pure and undefiled .
•7
If the small pupil of thy soul has not been purified, do not
venture to look at the globe of the sun, lest thou be bereft
even of the usual sight, which is simple faith and humblenessand confession of the heart and light service in accordancewith thy power ") , and thou be cast i nto one of the i ntelligible
places, which is the darkness without God, like him who vent­ured to go to the meal in sordid habits 3).
1 ) Cf. Colo"ians 3, 5 ·2) Faith, c onfes ::.i o n and work are also the three elements which are enumerated as theconstituents of Islam. Cf. Qb.azalr, Il).ya'� I, 1 09.
3 ) This sentence occurs also, with slight v a r iat i o n s � on p. 50 and 521 sq. In the lastpassage it shows its sententiou � character in an eviden t way, for here the context is not
written in the z ud person. Its sen tentious character appears also from the fact that i t occurs
three times in 1 saac 1 s book. Indeed it is not Isaac's spiri t ual property ., but a popularsentence in Hellen istic literature. Stoh:1ctts ascribes it to Rheginns and gives it in the
fOllowing red action : K:d.X7rEp JE TO TOV � J..fov qJWt; o/.;K 'ia-n $eXa-a-:r9:z: aa-ae�EI K.:.d ddu'I.XT(� T�I2

SIX TREATISES

0 :'-1

TilE

llEHA V I O C R OF EXCELLENCE

From labour and watchfulness springs purity of deliberations.
And from purity of deliberations inward light 1). And from here
the mind is guided by Grace towards that which it is not al­
lowed to the senses either to teach or to learn.
Let excellence be reckoned by thee as the body, contem­
plation as the soul. The two [form] one complete spiritual man ,composed of sensible and intelligible parts. And as it is notpossible that the soul reach existence and birth without theaccomplished formation of the body, so it is not possible that
contemplation, the second soul, the spirit of revelations, beformed in the womb of the intellect which receives the fulnessof spiritual seed, without the corporeal performance of excellence,the dwellingplace of the knowledge which receives revelations.
Contemplation is the apprehension of the divine mysteries
which are hidden in the things spoken.
When thou hea rest of being far from the world, of leaving
the world, of being pure from the world, thou art first in need
1 8 of learning and knowing
not after the .fashion of a novice,
but with the impulses of gnosis - what the term world means,
how many different meanings the word conveys. Then thouwilt be able thyself to know, in how far thou art distant fromor connected with the world. If a man know not first what
the world is, he cannot understand with how many limbs heis bound to or far from it.
There are many who think themselves wholly devoid of theworld in their behaviour because on two or three points theyrefrai n from it. [This is] because they have not understood nor
perceived with discern ment that they are dead to the world i none o r two limbs, while others are l iving in the body o f the�oVr(IJ net/ Erl {.J.iJ... Aov r�v &;;..�GEtav oVx 'iu·nv ldE7Y U.u9EvE7 xal .iduvirt;J T8 dtaYOfCf. Basilius
must also have been acquainted with it ; in the collection of sentences by Antonius andl\Iaximus it occurs on his name in this form : eldivtu O ef; E!J..oruv a xpl1 J..aJ<.{iv xal £: XPl1O�EJ

uu,.nrfiv. oU y.Xp ?r.fvra P11r«. ri1; yJ..iHnng TO:: roil 9Eoil, l'vv.: {./..� 6 voii� J<tdi?rEp Oq;9aJ..t.tO� OJ..o v rOv

fiJ.. toY 9b.fAJv ii7fo(3J..brEtv &:7roJ..io:� 0 ixEt Cf;W;.

I , 6 § g) :f:Xv

dE '1';1

But we can even go back to Plotinus ( Enneades
� &a-Oev�� &vav'Opff(- , oV

E7rl r�v 6/av J.."ftdiJv xczKfat� xal o� XEKa1xprdvo�

duvtf(.LEVO� rX 7r&vv J..t�p.7rpX (3J..i?rEtY, oUd£v (3J..{?rEt, K£v «.J..J..o� dEtKvrJ� 7rxpWv TO 6px1j:jvxt duvi.f.UVOV.

cr

TO rXp OpWii 7rp0� ,.a Opc:;fi.EYOv a-uyyevE� Kxi Ot.Lotov 7rOt}1 it.LEYOY dei E7rt(3.:iJ..J.. EtY
7r;;7r0TE EidE'I o:p�aJ..t.LO� l,fJ..tov 4J..JOEtd��(EVO(.Liv'l'f.

f.L�

YEYEV'I'ff.Livo� olf�E TO xxJ..011

T� SEer-. 0� y:Xp £y{;ty '!dot o/ux�

f.L�

KXA�

rEvia-8UJ d� 1rpWrov OeoEJd�� 1ri� xxi x:xAO� 1r2i� el {.LiAAEt Se&.a-a.a-Sxt Sdv rE xxl xa.A6v.

Probably, however, Isaac did not borrow the sentence from any of these three authorities,
but from the works of Dionysius, \\·here it occurs (Ecc!esiastica Hitrarclda, p. 7 5) in thisform : x:d fJ.Ot f.L 'I'f'OEi� &riJ..ea-ro; E7rl r�v Six:; lirUJ x:d yXp oUdE T:li; 4AtoreUwrot; aUya7; Ev&rrGevirrt x6pat� &vrw7rEiv &x!\.iduvol' oUdE Toi; V7r£p 4t..c.CC:; Eyxetpeiv &{3Aa{3i�.

1 ) Litterally : the light of the r<"�;� .

STX TREATISES ON T H E BEHAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

13

world. Therefore they even cannot perceive their affections andbecause they do not perceive them they are not anxious tobe cured from them .
The world is said by speculative examination to be the extensionof a common name u nto distinct affections. If we wish to call theaffections by a common name we call them world ; i f we mention
the affections separately, we call them by their separate names.
The affections are p a rts of the usual current of the world.
Where they have ceased, there the world 's current has ceased.
They are : love of riches ; gathering of possessions ; fatness ofthe body giving rise to the tendency towards carnal desire ; loveof honour which is the source of envy ; exercising govern ment ;1 9 pride and haughtiness of magistracy ; folly ; glory among men,which is the cause of choler, bodily fear.
\V here their current has been dammed, there the world,
after their example, has to some extent ceased to be main­tained and to exist. In the same way as some of the saints,
who though being alive, yet are dead ; for they are alive bodily,
but they do not live carnally. See in which of those thou art
alive ; then thou shalt know in how many parts thou art living
to the world and in how many thou art dead.
\Vhen thou hast learned what the world is, thou wilt be
instructed in these distinctions and also concerning thy beingbound to the world or thy being free from it.
In short : the world is bodily behaviour and carnal thoughts.
For the overcoming of the world is also to be recognised i nthese two : viz. from the change of behaviour a n d from thealteration of the impulses.
From the impulses of thy mind to the things towards which
its impulses go astray, thou canst understand the measure of
thy behaviour : viz. to which things thy nature turns without
labour ; which are the constant incl inations and which are those
set into motion fortuitously ; whether the mind is the agent
for the apprehension of incorporeal impulses only, or whether
it works wholly through matter ; whether this materiality is anaffected state, or whether the impulses are but the stamps ofthe mind's service to the body, so that the mind, not of its
own will, is hallucinating concerning those faculties by which
it performs virtues and from which, in a sound state, it derives
zo its motive for fervour and concentration of thought, so thatthe mind can act corporeally, even with the loftiest aim, be-I4

SIX TREATISES ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

cause of its lack of experience, even though it be in no affectedstate ; and whether the mind is not distressed by the unseen
touch of the stamps of the imaginations, in view of its exces­
sive radiance in God, which is wont to cut off vain recollections.
The short descriptions of this chapter are sufficient for a
man's illumination if he be quiet and intelligent ; and theyoutweigh many books.
Bodily fear is strong in man, so strong that it often with­holds him from praiseworthy and honourable things. But when
it is face to face with psychic fear it is absorbed by it ascoldness by the force of a flame.
Ill

The soul whose nature is not greatly solicitous for the ga­
thering of possessions, does not require great diligence in order
to find within itself impulses of wisdom unto God . For freedom
from connection with the world will naturally set in motion
flashes of intuition from which it can exalt itself unto God andremain in ecstasy.
When the waters from without do not enter the fountain of
the soul, its natural waters will arise, viz. the wonderful intui­
tions which are moving towards God at all time.
As often as the soul is found not to be in this state, it has
21either found a starting point in foreign recollections, or thesenses have caused it to be troubled by the touch of [outward]
things, when the senses are fenced in by solitude without abreak and recollections have grown dim by its helpful influ­
ence - then thou wilt see what the nature of the deliberationsof the soul, and what the nature of the soul is, and what
treasures are collected in it. These treasures are incorporeal
intuitions which arise from the soul without care or labour
being spent on them. Nay, a man does not even know thatsuch deliberations could arise in human nature, nor does heknow who was his teacher, or how he has found that which
he cannot describe to his companion, or who has been his guide
towards that which he has not learned from another 1).
I) T h e passage reminds in a remarkable w a y of Plotinus' description of t h e spontaneous
character of the illumination. Zeller,

Phi!. d. Griechen', III, z, p. 672 describes it thus :ohne Vermittlung und Vorbereitung, durch eine pliitzliche Erleuchtung geht es in der Seele
auf, sie kannnicht sagen woher es kommt, ob von innen oder von aussen, ja es kommt

streng genommen, gar nicht, sondern es ist unmittelbar da.

SIX TREATISES ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

I

5This is the nature of the soul. So the affections are addi­
tions, entering the soul on account of [certain] causes. But
n aturally the soul is not affectable 1).
When thou find{'st psychic or corporeal affections here or
there i n the scriptures, such things are said concerning those·causes. But the soul naturally has no affections.
But the philosophers who are without do not believe this ;neither do those who are their followers. But we believe that
God has not made His image affectable. With His image I do
22 not mean the body but the soul which is i nvisible 1). Every
image is a copy in which the prototype is depicted. A n d avisible image cannot be the copy of something invisible. So webelieve that the affections of the soul are not natural as theysay. If any one likes to dispute concerning this point we will
ask him : What is n atural to the soul ? To be without affec­
tions, full of light, or moved by the affections and dark ? Now
if the n ature of the soul is to be clear and a receptacle ofthe blessed light, it will be found in this condition when it
returns unto its original state. But when it is moved by theaffections, all the members of the church confess it to haveabandoned its n ature. Consequently the affections are later ac­
cessions to the nature of the soul. And it is not at all becoming
to think the affections to be psychic. If the soul be moved bythem , nevertheless it is clear that it is moved by somethingoutside it, not by what is its own. And if these [affections] arethought to be natural, because the soul is m oved by themthrough the intermediary cause of the body, then hunger, thirstand sleep would also be n atural to the soul because it isaffected and brought to rest by them along with the body. And
this would also be true for the amputation of limbs, fever,pains, illnesses and so on, by which the body is affected be- .
cause of its connection with the soul and the soul because of
its connection with the body, being affected with joy becauseof bodily experiences, and receiving distress, along with thetorments of the body.
W h at i s n a t u r a l t o t h e s o u l ; w h a t i s e x t e r n a lt o a n d w h a t i s a b o v e i t s n a t u r e 2).
Natural to the soul is the u nderstanding of all created things,
23I ) Cf. Introduction.

2) This terminology occurs in Stoic writings. Cf. Zellcr, Fln'lo.rop!tic der Griecht�l\ 111,

I , p.

264.

I

6

SIX

TREATISES

0�

THE

DElL\ V I O UlZOFEXCELLENCE

sensible and intelligible. Above its n ature its being moved by
divine contemplation ; external to its nature its being excitedemotionally by the affections. A lso the light of the world, thevictorious Basilius, says thus : when the soul is in its naturalorder, it is found above ; ·when it has abandoned its nature, it isfound beneath and on the earth. There are no affections above,
where also the place of the soul is said to be. But when its
nature abandons its order, it becomes affectable. Where then
are the affections of the soul, now that it appears that they
do not belong to its nature ?
I t is clear that the soul is moved by the reprehensible affec­
tions which are in the body, as also it is moved by hunger
and thirst on account of the body. But because there are nolaws concerning these, the soul is not reprehensible on accountof them. Just as, sometimes, a man is ordered by God to do
those things which are blameworthy and he receives, insteadof blame and reprehension, good reward, as H osea the prophet
who contracted an unlawful marriage and as Elijah who com­mitted slaughter in his zeal for God and as those, who on
Moses' order, stabbed with swords their kindred.
But it is said that, apart from what belongs to the natureof the body, the soul has also that which belongs to its nature,viz. anger and choler ; and these are its passions.
S e c o n d q u e s t i o n. We ask : when the desire of the soul
is kindled to a fla me by divine things, does this belong to its
2 4 nature, or rather when it is set upon earthly and bodily things ?
And when it is said that the nature of the soul is on tire forthe sake of those things which excite its zeal, is then thispassion natural when it goes hand in hand with bodily desire,envy, glory and so on, or when it goes in the direction oppo­
site to them ? We shall answer the disputed question and we
too shall enquire into it.
The holy writ says many things allegorica]ly 1) ; and often it
uses metaphorical 2) terms. Many times it applies to the soulthat which belongs to the body and to the body that which
belongs to the soul without distinguishing between the two,for the sake of succinctness. N ow the intelligent understandwhat they read, viz. the aim of scripture. In the things related
to the divinity of our Lord for instance, in a high and elevatedSIX TREATISES ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

I7

way, applies to His humanity, that which does not suit humannature and to H is divinity what does not suit it. And many
who do not understand the aim of the language of scripture
have stumbled here so that they never could rise again. - So
it is also with the things which concern soul and body.
If excellence is the natural health of the soul, the affections
however ailments accustomed to oppress it and to bereave it
of its health, it is clear that health is prior in n ature to acci­
dental illnesses. And if this be so (as it is i ndeed true) thenexcellence necessarily must be n atural to the soul and theaccidental external to its nature. For it is not possible thatwhat is prior should not be natural.
z s T h i r d q u e s t i o n. The affections of the body are theynaturally inherent in it or of a secundary nature ? And thosewhich affect the soul, by the i ntermediary of the body, are they
secondary or natural ? To call those of the body not n atural,
is i mpossible. As to the soul - because it is known and un i­versally confessed that p urity belongs to . its nature - no one
will venture in view of this fact to maintain that it is primarily
affectable ; for it is generally conceded that ailment is secon­
dary to health and i t is not possible that one and the samethings should be a good and an evil nature. One of the two,in any case, must be the prior of the other ; and that whichis the older one, is also the natural. Whatever is accidental ,cannot be said to be natural and essential ; but it is a n irrup­
tion from without. A n d all accident and obtrusion is connected,
whenever it be, with variation and change. Nature, however,does not change or vary.
All 1) existing affections are given to be a help to each of
the natures to which they naturally belong and for the growthof which they were given by God. The bodil y affections areplaced by God in the body for the sake of profit and growthof the body ; and the psychic affections, i . e. the psychic powers,
for the sake of the growth and profit of the soul. And when the
body is compelled to desist from its affectable nature, by with­drawing from the affections, and to follow the nature of thesoul, it is i njured. And when the soul leaves its own natureand follows that of the body, it is i njured . Because, according
to the word of the Apostle, the spirit desires that which harms
1)

Cf. Introduction

Verb. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (Wensinck).

I

8

SIX

TREATISES

26 theONTHE

BEl-lA \'lOUR

OF

EXCELLENCE

body and the body desires that which harms the spirit 1).
And these two are naturally opposites to one another. There·
fore no one shall abuse God because He has implanted io
our nature affections and sins. For, when He set in order eachnature, He implanted in it that which gives it growth. But if
one connects itself with the other, i t is no longer in its own
domain , but in a foreign one.
If these affections naturally belonged to the soul, why thenshould the soul be injured when using them ? For that whichis the property of nature, does not inj ure it. And how is it,that the accomplishment of the bodily affections is profitable
and helpful to the body, whereas those of the soul injure
the soul, if they belong to it ? And why should, if this be true,
excellence torment the body, but be beneficial u nto the soul ?
Thou seest how what is external to their nature injures every
one of these natures. For every one of these natures exults
when it is near to what is its own . If thou art desirous toknow what are the properties of every one of these natures,thou must observe that its properties are those things by theuse of which it profits. And if it is tormented by [the use of]any of these things, then know that it is influenced by what
is not its property. \Ve conclude : If it is known , that theaffections of every one of these natures are each other's op­
posites, then, consequently, all that gives profit and rest to thebody when used by the soul has not to be reckoned as be­longing to the soul. Because what is natural to the soul isfatal to the body, except those things which are connectedwith the soul in some secondary way. Because of the weak27 ness of the flesh the soul can absolutely not be freed fromthem, a s long a s it is clad with t h e flesh. For its nature isconnected with the troubles of the flesh because of the unionof its impulses with the carnal senses, with which they areinterwoven by the inscrutable wisdom . And, though i ntermingled
in . this way, nevertheless impulses are distinguished from im­pulses, and will from will, viz. the carnal from the spiritual
one. And nature is not at all composite nor does it disavow
what is its property. And though man renders the impulses i n
a high degree equal t o each other, by sin o r b y excellence, a tcertain times every o n e exerts its will and shows its power.
1 ) Cf. Galatians 5 1 1 7 .

SIX TRE ATISESm!

T H E BE H AVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

19

But when bodily thoughts have to some extent been lifted
up, then their impulses manifest themselves wholly in the spi­ritual sphere, swimming in the heart of heaven with incom­
prehensible things. But even then the body can not remain
without some memory of what its own is, even as, when theimpulses are in the domain of sin, the beautiful emotions of
the soul are not brought to silence i n the mind.
W h a t i s p u r i t y o f m i n d ? Not that one who does notknow evil things, is pure of mind - that were to be a brute. Nor
do we call pure of mind those whom nature has placed in theage of boyhood ; that were to postulate that man should notbelong to the class of created beings. But purity o f mind con­sists in being captivated by divine things, [a state] that is only
reached when many virtues have been practised.
We do not venture to say that he that has reached it, has
acquired it without the experience of contrary deliberations.
Else he would not be clad with a body. For we do not think
2s that before the world-to-be nature can be purged from contrary[ inclinations] . The temptation of the deliberations is not, in m yopinion this, that one surrenders t o them, bu t the beginningof the struggle within the deliberations which beg·ins i n themind on account of the four kinds of bases which are the rootof movement to all kinds of affections. So that in this life
there is not found anyone exalted above earthl y recollections,even if he belong to the masters of the battle and, like Paul,be reputed perfect.
But while the body by means of its impulses, in accordancewith the order of nature, and the world by its natures throughthe intermediation of the senses, and the soul by deliberations,recollections and powers of deviation, and the demons by the
co-operatin g forces of the things mentioned - while 1) the powerof these fourfold affections is experienced by hi m �), he will be
troubled to a small degree only 3) and be drawn towards theexcellent things which are seen by intuition. Decide thou,
whether it is possible that one of these four be annihilated
before the annihilation of the world, or by the transition thattakes places at death ; or whether the body can elevate itself
wholly above its needs, without n ature's urging it to seek any
1 ) I have retained the anakoluthic character o f the ori g inal.
2) The mystic.
3 ) 0 1 her

Mss : he w i l l percci\'e this to a "m:1ll extent only.

20

SIX TREATISES O N THE BEHAVIOUR O F EXCELLENCE

of the worldly things. If now this is deemed absurd, so longas these [four powers] exist, it is necessary that also the affec­
tions move themselves i n all beings clad with a body, andconsequently caution must be practised by every one. By theaffections I do not understand one or two, but all the different
ones which [occur in] those clad with flesh. But if a man should
29 venture [to say that he experiences only] weak impulses andharmless strife, we would say that, whoever such people may
be, they do not require works but great watchfulness.
W h a t i s t h e d i ff e r e n c e b e t w e e n p u r i t y o f m i n d 1)
a n d p u r i t y o f h e a r t.
Purity o f mind is something other than purity o f heart, justas there is a difference between one of the members of thewhole body and the whole body. The mind is one of the sensesof the soul. The heart is the central organ 2) of the i nward
senses ; this means the sense of senses, because it is the root 3).
A n d if the root is holy, so also are all the branches. But thisis not so if it is holy in one of the branches only. N ow withbut little acquaintance with the scriptures and a little exercise
i n fasting and solitude, the mind forgets its former occupationand is cleansed, while it refrains from foreign habits. But isalso easily defiled.
The heart is purified through great trouble and by being
deprived of all association with the world, together with acomplete mortification i n every point. And when i t has been
purified, its purity is not defiled by the touch of insignificant[worldly] things ; this means : it has no fear even before severe
struggles. For it possesses a sound stomach that easily digests
all sorts of food which are difficult for others who are sick i ntheir interior. F o r the physicians say : A l l meat which is difficultof digestion , increases the forces of the sound body, because it
is taken up by a strong stomach. In the same way every
30 purification that is brought about easily, in a short time andby small labours, is easily defiled again. But the puri ty thatis acquired through great troubles and after a long time by thehighest part of the soul , is not endangered by insigni ficant
touches of the [worldly] things.
Quiet senses give birth to peace in the soul, because they
do not allow it to experience strife. But since the soul has no1) � ;

3) Cf. I n troduction.

SIX TREATISES ON T H E B E H AVIOUR OF EXCELLE:-ICE

2I

sensation of a n y thing , it is a victory without struggle. But
when it becomes negligent, it is not able to remain steadfast,
and when it strives to ged rid of apprehension after the latterhas got accession, the soul destroys its previous properties, viz.
serenity and natural perfection. For the majority of men, andpossibly the whole world, leave their first state on accoun t ofthis cause 1). Only one out of many returns to his first placewhen he has once adoptee\ the second habit. M uch better issimplicity than the different kinds of forgiveness.
H uman nature needs fear in order to guard against theborders of the commandments be·ing crossed, [it needs] love to
excite the desire of good things, for the sake of which man
hastens to perform beautiful things.
Spiritual knowledge is posterior to the performance of ex­cellence. Prior to both are love and fear. And fear is prior tolove. Every one who ventures to acquire the latter things
before the former, u ndoubtedly lays a perishable foundation i n
his soul. For they are placed b y God in such a n order, thattaese proceed from those. Do not interchange the love of thyneighbou r with the love of [worldly] things, for that which isprecious above all things, is hidden in it.
3x
A material object which is a mark for the eyes of the flesh,
is also of such a nature as to affect the hidden visual powers ;and the affections which cloud the second natural contempla­
tion, acts in the same manner for the natural steadfastness.
They are related to one another in the same way, u p to whereceases the curren t of all kinds of contemplation. When themind 2) is in a state of natural steadfastness, it is in angelic
contemplation , which is the first and natural contemplation
which is also named naked mind. \Vhen the mind is in the second
state of natural knowledge, it sucks and is sustained by themilk from the corporeal breasts ; this state is called the lastgarment of the afore-mentioned state ; it is placed after [thestate of] purity, which the mind enters fi rst. It is prior inbeing, for it is t he first stage of knowledge, although posterior
in honour. On this ac·count, therefore, it is also called thesecon d one, as also on accou nt of the indications of some o f
t h e tokens by which the mind i s purified and trained for the
ascent to a second order, which is the p'erfection of the i ntelI ) ·Negligence.

z) �om22

SIX

TREATISES

ON

Tf!E

B E l L\ VIOUROF

EXCELLE:-<CElectual impulses, and the stage which is near divine contem­
plation 1).
The last garment of the mind are the senses. Its state of
nakedness is its being moved by kinds of non-material con­templation. Leave the small things in order to find the ho­n oured ones.
Be dead in life, then thou wilt not live in death . Let thyself
die in integrity, but not live in guiltiness Not only those whos u ffer death for the sake of the faith in Christ are martyrs, butalso those who die for the sake of keeping his commandments.
32
Be not inept in thy petitions, lest thou grieve God by thy
ignorance.
Learn to pray with prudence, that thou mayest be esteemedworthy of glorious things.
Seek well-esteemed things from Him, who does not withhold ;then thou wilt receive honour from Him, because of the choiceof thy wise will.
Solomon sought wisdom and he received, apart from it, theearthly kingdom , because he knew how to ask wisely viz. greatthings from the King.
Elisha sought one or two parts of the spirit that was uponhis master and his request was not withheld from him.
The honour of the King is lessened by him who seeks con
temptible things.
Israel sought despicable things ; it gained the anger of God.
It n eglected to wonder at the workings and terrible effects of
H is deeds and it sought the desires of its belly. A nd while
their food was still in their mouth, the anger of God reachedthem . Present thy requests unto God in accordance with His
glorious being , in order that thy honour be great in His eyesand He rejoice in thee.
When a man seeks from a king a measure full of dung hewill not only be despised on account of his despicable request,
1 ) The above passage b e tra ys its relation with Philonean thought at once hy the te r m"naked mind"' which often occurs in Philo (I 76 sq., 981 1 79, 270). There is further con­cordan ce; but also difference bct\veen the two authors. Both of them distingllishes threekinds of nakedness. According to haac they are : the puerile st:l.te, the state ot natural
purity, and the purified state. According to Philo ( I 76 sq.) th e y are : the puerile state ;the state of �oah's drunkenness in which the soul has lost its faculties ; the state of purity
in which the soul has abandoned all earthly things.
z) Cf. Potphyrius, Sot ltnliae, I X : 0 yoU;� oa�:tro� dnrAof.l.; . 6 t..t. E;I (Tt.JYE'}'YW<Tf.!.ho.; J.. UO{J.ivovroV rrWr.�. �ro� d :::r O ,J;vxq.; · 6 d£ riz.';l ��J.ct76:.fwY, J.. vov.i"�'1; 'rf:i.; ...J;ux� ; &irO roil rrWt.J..�ro.;. And the
Pythagorean sentence i n Sto lJaeus ( p. 15 8): reJ;;i;:x.t 7rOi,),i� xpehrO'I � (j,- d;.cp:;.�T[z;; r�;� � 1.1 X�Y
dt..t.:tupW'T:/.. 1 .

SIX

TREATISESONTHE

B E HAVIOUROF

EXCELLE :--I C E

2 .)'exposing thus his ignorance, but he also insults the king by
his insipid demand : such also is he who in prayer asks cor ­poreal things from God.
Lo, the angels and the archangels which are the chiefs of
the angels look at thee in the time of prayer, [in order to know ]which prayer thou wilt present u nto their Lord. And they wonderat thee when they see the corporeal one leaving his dunghill
and asking heavenly things.
33
Do not seek from God that which He is anxious to give us
even if we do not beg for it, which He withholds not fromhis housemates and not even from those who are wholly foreign
to the knowledge of Him, nay who do not even know that He is.
Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do 1). What is this" as the heathen'' ? The corporeal things are sought by the peo­
ples of the earth ; but give ye no thought saying what shallwe eat, or what shall we drink or wherewithal! shall we be
clothed ? For your Father knoweth that ye also have need of
all these things 2).
A son does not ask bread from his father, but makes sup­plication concerning the great portions in store for him in thehouse of his father. That which our Lord has commanded
concerning daily bread, namely that we pray for it, is a peti­tion which he handed clown to the common people, becauseof the weakness of their minds. Regard that which he com­mands to those who are perfect in k nowledge and sound ofsoul, viz. : ye shall not take thought of food or raiment. If
your Father bestows care upon the fowls that have no soul,
how much more upon you. But ask from God the Kingdom
and righteousness, then he will add these things too.
If He is slow in granting thy request, when thou askest
without receiving promptly, then be not distressed. For thouart not wiser than God. \Vhen thou remainest as thou art 3),[ it is] either because thy behaviour does not agree with thyrequest ; or because the ways of thy heart diverge from theaim of thy prayer ; or because thy i nner state is childish incomparison with the greatness of the thing.
It is not becoming that great things should fall into our
3 4 hands easily : lest the gift of God should be thought to bemean because of its being acquired without difficulty.
1) M atthew 6, 7 ·z) �bt t h e w G, 3 1 s q .

3 ) T h e pr;:tyer n o t L e i n g hc:u J.

24

SIX

TR E.\ TISES

ON

THE

BEH AVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

All that is acquired with labour, is guarded with caution.
Thirst after Jesus ; then he will satisfy thee with his love.
Shut thy eyes to the precious things of the world ; then thouwilt be deemed worthy of a peace given by God to reign inthy heart.
Restrain thyself from the allurements that are shining for theeyes ; then thou wilt be deemed worthy of spiritual joy.
If thy behaviour is not worthy of God, do not ask from Him
praised things, lest thou appear as a man who tries God.
Prayer accords strictly with behaviour.
No man desires heavenly things as long as he is boundwith ties [impeding] his will, on account of the body. And n o
man asks divine things while h e i s occupied with earthly things.
The desire of every man is known from his works ; and thatwhich he cares for, he will be anxious to seek in prayer. A nd
he will be zealous in showing b y his outward deeds that which
he asks for in his prayer.
He who desires great things, has no intercourse with mean ones.
Be free even while thou art bound in the body and show
submission in thy freedom for the sake of Christ ; and be wisein thy innocence, lest thou be beguiled.
Love humility in thy dealings, that thou mayest be freed
from the imperceivable snares which are continually to be foundby the side of the paths on which the humble walk.
Do not reject the troubles, by means of which thou art led
towards knowledge.
Do not fear temptations by means of which thou wilt findprecious things.
35
Pray that thou mayest not be led into temptations of thesoul. To those of the body thou shalt prepare thyself with all
thy force and with all thy limbs thou shalt swim in them. For
without them it is impossible for thee to approach unto God.
For beyond them lies divine rest.
Who flees from temptations, flees from excellence ; not fromthe temptations of desires, but from [ those of ] troubles.
How does the sentence "pray, that ye enter not into temp­
tation" 1) concord with " strive to enter in at the strait gate" �)
and " fear not them which kill the body" 3) and " he that loseth
his life for my sake shall find it" ? 4)I) Matthew 26 1 4 1 .

2) Luke I 3 1 24.

3) Matthew 101 28.

4) Matthew I D, 39.

SlX TREATISES

0� THE B E H AV lOUR OF EXCELLENCE

25

In all these places our Lord recommends to us temptations ;but i n that he orders us to pray that we enter not into temp­
tation. What kind of excellence can be accomplished without
temptations ? Or what kind of temptation is stronger than thewhich he orders us to undergo for His sake ? And " he thattaketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy ofme" 1). " Pray that ye enter not into temptation", but entering into
temptations occurs everywhere in his teachings. A nd he has
said : without temptations the Kingdom of heaven is not found.
0 how strait is the way of thy teachings, our Lord ! A n dhe who does not discriminate with knowledge, as he reads,
will always remain without it, as far as his insight is concerned.
When the sons of Zebedee and their mother desired of him
to sit with him in the Kingdom , he postulated this : Are ye
able to suffer gladly the cup of temptations ? A re ye able to36 drink of the cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized withthe baptism that I am baptized with �) ? And how orderest Thou
here, 0 our Lord : pray that ye enter not?
\V h i c h a r e t h e t e m p t a t i o n s i n t o w h i c h w e s h a l lp r a y n o t t o e n t e r.
Pray that thou enterest not i nto temptation concerning thy
belief.
Pray that thou enterest not into temptation through mental
presumtion, with the demon of abuse and haughtiness.
Pray that thou enterest not, under [ God's] admission, into
the manifest temptations of the senses, which Satan is able toi nstill unto thee with God's permission, on account of thefoolish thoughts thou hast cherished.
Pray that the witness of chastity be not taken away fromthee lest thou be tempted in the flames of sin without him.
Pray that thou enterest not into the temptation of abusing
anything.
Pray therefore, that thou enterest not into psychic temp­
tati·Jns, namely those which lead the soul into struggle, doubt
and allurements. But prepare for the bodily ones with thy
whole body and swim in them with all thy limbs, thy eyes fullof tears, that thou be found amidst of them with thy guar­
dian. For without temptations God's care cannot be perceived
and fam iliarity of speech with Him cannot be acquired and1 ) Matthew 1 0 , 3 8 .

2) �btthew z o , 2 2 .

26

SIX TREATISES O N T H E BEHAVIOUR O F EXCELLENCE

spiritual wisdom cannot be learnt and the love of God cannot
be implanted in the soul.
Before [having experienced] temptations, man prays unto God
as a stranger. But when he has entered into troubles for thesake of his love, without being changed, then , as one that haslaid upon God rthe obligation of paying] a certain loan, he isreckoned as His housemate and His friend, who has fought,
for the sake of His will, against the host of His enemies. This3 7 is [the meaning of] : Pray that ye enter not into temptation .
And further : pray that thou enterest not i nto temptations
for the sake of thy self-exaltation, but for the sake of thy loveof God, that His power may be conspicuous in thee. Pray thatthou enterest not into such on account of the folly of thy
thoughts and deeds, but in order that thou provest to be afriend of God and His power be glorified in thy endurance.
O n t h e m e r c y o f o u r L o r d i n t h i s m a t t e r, w h om easures his word r n accorda n ce with h u m an
w e a k n e s s.
Further he deals [with us] in this matter compassionately. I fthou considerest bodily things [it appears that God], also in thispoint has remembered the weakness of nature ; it was possible
that, on account of the wretchedness of the body, we should
not find fortitude against the power of the temptations when­ever it should present itself, and consequently we should evenleave [the path of] truth, being overcome by troubles. There­
fore he orders us that, as m uch as possible, we should avoid
entering wilfully into temptation. And not only this, but [heeven says] : Pray that you be not found in it without j ust cause,
if it be- possible to please God without temptation.
But if very great excellence is desired, when temptations as­
sail and that most terribly, and if that excellence cannot be
accomplished without a man's bearing them, in that case it is
not becoming to spare ourselves or anyone. Even on accountof fear thou shalt not shrink from that great thing upon which
the life of thy soul depends, putting forward as an apology
3s for thy laxness : Pray that ye enter not into temptation. For
such are those, concerning whom it is said that they sin secretly
by [fulfilling] the commandments.
If one of the divine commandments comes to be dissociatedfrom a man, be it the state of chastity, or the habit of holiness,or the confession of faith, or the testimony concerning the word

SIX TREATISES ON THE BE HAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

27

of God, or the cautiously · guarding o f the other prescriptionsof the Law -- it is im possible that he should not fall if he beafraid of temptations. Therefore he has to despise the bodywith complete confidence, and to entrust God with its soul andto proceed in the name of the Lord. And H e that was with
Joseph in the land of Egypt and who was the witness of his
chastity, and who was with Daniel in the pit of lions, andwith Hananja and his companions i n the furnace, and with
Jeremia in the pit of mire and who saved him and made him
an object of compassion in the midst of the camp of the Chal­daeans ; who was with Peter in the prison and brought him
out of it through shut g-ates ; and with Paul in the synagoguesof the Jews ; in short, He who in all generations was with His
servants always and everywhere and showed in them His
power and made them victorious and guarded them miracu­
lously so that they saw His salvation manifestly at the timeof their troubles, He will strengthen and guard him in the
midst of the storms which surround him. Therefore he shallarm himself against the i nvisible foe and his hosts with thezeal of the Maccabees and of the other holy prophets, apostles,
martyrs, confessors and recluses who have maintained the divine
laws and the spiritual com mandments in frightful places and3 9 among difficult and fearful temptations and who have thrown
the world and the body behind them and clung to the truth i nthem without giving way t o the constraint pressing both bodyand soul and endured as heroes ; in short, whose names are
written in the book of life until the coming of our Lord. A n dtheir deeds are preserved i n the book by God's decree forour instruction and encouragement according to the testimonyof the blessed Apostle, so that we may get insight from themand learn the way of God, placing their stories before ourmental eyes as living images, that we may resemble them andconform the ways of our behaviour u nto theirs, after the patternof the Ancients.
To the soul endowed with mind the words of God aredelightful as oily food which makes fat the body, to the palateof those who are healthy.
The stories of the j ust are as desirable to the ear of theperfect, as a constant watering to young plantations.
Listening to God 's providential leading of the A ncients beestimated by t hee as precious drugs for weak eyes. A n d let

28

SIX

TREATISESON

THE

BEHAVIOUROF

EXCELLENCE

the recollection of it be kept with thee at all times of the day.
Meditate and think of it and learn wisdom from it, that thou
be able to receive in thy soul with honour the recollection ofGod's greatness and find for thyself everlasting life in Jesus
Christ, the mediator of God and mankind, who was one in his
two natures. Though the legions of the angels are not able
to look upon the glory surrounding His majestic throne, yet
for thy sake He has appeared before the world the most con­temptible and h umble of man ; without form or comeliness ;40 and while His invisible nature was not within the reach of theapprehension of created beings, He accomplished His provi­
dential dealings by [covering Himself] with a veil [made of the
stuff] of our limbs, in order to save the life of all.
This is he through whom He has purified many peoples 1)
and on whom the Lord has laid the sin of us all �), as Jesaja
says. It pleased the Lord to hu mble him and to put him togrief 3).
Sin has been placed in him who knew no sin 4). To whom,
for his providential dealings in all generations for our sake, be
glory and praise and thanksgiving and adoration from all, now
and at all time and for ever and ever. A men.
IV
The soul that loves God [finds] its rest in God only.
First detach from thyself the outward bonds, then strive tobind thy heart to God.
To be detached from matter is prior to being bound to God 5).
When a child has been weaned, bread is given him as food .
And a man who wishes to become excellent in God, has firstto wean himself from the world, as a child is weaned fromhis mother·s breasts.
Bodily labours are prior to psychic service, as the creationof the body takes place before that of the soul.
For he who does not perform bodily labour, does not per4 I form psychic labours either. For the latter are born out of theformer as the ears from mere grains. And he who does not
perform psychic service, IS also devoid of spiritual gifts.
3) Jes. 5 3 , IO.
I) Je>aja 5 2, IS in the Pe;;hito.
2 ) Jes. 5 3 , 6.
4) 2 Cor. 5, 2 1.
S) The sentence occurs also p. 7. Cf. Introduction.

SIX TREATISES 0:-.1 T i l E BE I I A \' !Ol'R

OF

EXCELLENt "E

29

Temporary suffering for the sake o f the truth i s not to becompared with the delight preserved for those who performlabours of excellence.
As the weeping of the time of sowing is followed by thejoys of harvest 1 ) , so are the labours for the sake of God
followed by joy.
The bread earned with sweat, delights the workman ; labours
for the sake of rig-hteousness, the heart that has received theknowledge of Christ.
Suffer contempt and �) humiliation in the thought of excel­
lence, for the sake of the heart's familiarity of speech with
God. Every time a man suffers a hard word with discernment,
save only when it is caused by his own fault, he receives acrown of thorns on his head for the sake of Christ ; blessed is
he ! A t other times he is crowned and knows it not.
He who flees from the fame [that rests] on knowledge, will
perceive in himself the hope of the world to come.
He who promises to leave the world, yet quarrels with men
concerning [worldly] things because he is not willing to giveup anything of what is agreeable u nto him, he is perfectly
blind, because he has given up the whole world voluntarily,
yet quarrels about a part of it.
If anyone flees from what is agreeable [unto him] in thisworld, his mind will behold the world to come.
He who is master of possessions, is the slave of passions.
Do not estimate gold and silver only as possessions, but all
things thou possessest for the sake of the desire of thy will.
He who cuts off impediments from fear of affections, he isa wise man indeed.
Without the constant service of excellence true knowledge
42 cannot be found.
Not by bodily works alone is the knowledge of life acquired,but by directing our efforts to the cutting off of mental af­
fections.
He who labours without discern ment will easily become thev i ctim of the causes Qf sin when they present themselves to him.
Never praise him who labours with his budy, but concerning
his senses is lax and without constraint, viz. whose ears andmouth are open and whose eyes are prone to wander.
1 ) Litterally : full hands. Cf. Ps. 1 2 6, 6.

2 ) Read ing of London Ms. 1 4632.

30

SIX TREATISES ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

If thou settest up as thy aim to practice mercy, train thy­
self not to pursue j ustice in other fields, lest thou appear towork with one hand and to spill with the other. For there
clemency is necessary, but here magnanimity.
Let the forgiveness of those who are guilty towards theein these things, be reckoned by thee as a work of righteous­ness. Then thou wilt see peace springing up in thy soul fromboth sides, that is when thy path is superior to dignity
and justice, and thou wilt favour the rise of freedom in all
things. For one of the saints, speaking of these things, says :The merciful, if he be not just, is blind, in so far as he pro­vides others from weaith which has been gathered with j usticeand by his own labours, and not from the acquirements offalsehood , oppression, iniquity and cunning.
I n the same way, in another place, this man preaches : I fthou sow est · among the poor, sow from thy own possessions ;what thou sowest from those of others is much more bitter4 3 than weeds. But I say : if the merciful be not even above
justice, he is not merciful. This means, that he will not only
show mercy u nto men on his own part, but that he will volun­
tarily suffer iniquity with delight, so that he does not maintainand postulate full justice in his dealings with his fellow men,but is merciful towards him and surpassing j ustice by mercy,
wreathing for himself the crown not of the just under the law,
but of the perfect under the new covenant.
To give the poor from one's own possessions, and to cover
the naked on seeing them, to love the neighbour as one self,
not to do iniquity or falsehood, are things commanded also by
the old law. But perfection in behaviour, according to the newcovenant, commands thus : I f a man takes from thee, do not
demand back ; give every one who asks from thee. And not
only hast thou to suffer gladly iniquitous dealing in possessions
and other outward things, but thou hast even to give thyself
in behalf of thy neighbour.
Merciful is he, who shows his compassion towards his neigh­bour not only in gifts, but who after hearing or seeing any­
thing that causes suffering to any one, cannot withhold hisheart from burning ; who, even if he receives a blow on his
cheek from his brother, does not venture to repay him evenwith a word and so cause him to suffer intellectually.
Honour the works of vigils, then thou wilt find consolation

SIX TREATISES ON T H E BEHAVIOl.:: R OF EXCELLENCE

3I

near in thy self. Be constantly occupied with recitation in soli­tude, then thou wilt be drawn towards ecstasy at all times.
44
Love poverty with endurance, that thy mind may be concentrated and so not wander.
Hate abundance, that thou be preserved against confusionof mind.
Cut off [ intercourse with] the multitude and take care of thy
behaviour that thy soul be saved from spilling its i nward rest.
Love chastity lest thou be put to shame at the time ofprayer before Him who exposes thee to strife.
Acquire a pure behaviour, that thy soul may exult duri ng
prayer and joy be kindled i n thy mind at the recollection ofdeath.
Keep control of small things, lest thou neglect great ones.
Be not lazy with regard to labours lest thou be put to shame
when in presence of all comrades.
Pursue thy work with knowledge, lest it throw thee out of
thy whole course.
Be not destitute of provisions ; lest [ thy companions] leavethee alone in the m idst of the way and depart.
Acquire freedom in thy behaviour, that thou be freed from
confusion.
Do not use thy freedom for the sake of comfort, lest thou
become a slave of slaves.
Love abstinence in thy behaviour, that the deliberations
leading to haughtiness of heart and lasciviousness may be
restrained.
That he who loves finery should acquire a hu mble m ind, is
not possible. For the heart within and the habits without
necessarily must be parallel one to another. Who would be
able to acquire chastity of m ind, when he is addicted to luxu·
riance ? And who could acquire humble inward deliberations,when he is pursuing outward glory ? And who is he, that being
lascivious without and lax in his limbs, should be chaste in his
45 heart and pious in his deliberations ? When the mind is guided
by the senses, it feeds with them upon the food of the beasts ;but when the senses are guided by the mind, they feed with
it upon the sustenance of the angels.
Vain glory is a servant to fornication . If it is concerned withbehaviour, to haughtiness. To humility brevity is proper.
Love of glory is connected with prolixity. The former through32

SIX TRE ATISES ON THE BEH AYIOVR O F EXC ELLENCE

constant concentration, attains to contemplation and arms thesoul unto chastity. The latter through the continual wanderingof the mind, g-athers provisions 1) through contact with [outward)
things, and defiles the heart.
It touches lasciviously upon the nature of things and excites
the mind through lascivious deliberations. The former is spiri­
tually concentrated by contemplation and moves its possessors
towards glory.
Compare not all powers and signs that are worked in thewhole world, with a man's consciously sitting in solitude.
Love the ease of solitude rather than satisfying the hungerof the world and the converting of the multitude of heathen
peoples from e rror unto adoring God. Let it be more excel­
lent in thy eyes to detach thyself from the bonds of sin , thanto detach the subdued unto liberty from those who subject
their bodies.
Prefer to make peace with thyself, in harmony with thetrinity within thee : body, soul and spirit, rather than to ap­
pease those who are angry at thy teachings.
Love simplicity of speech together with experienced know46 ledge within, rather than the production of a Gihon of teachings
by acuteness of mind and out of a deposit of hear-say and ink.
Be anxious to quicken the deadness of thy soul caused byaffections, unto the emotion of the impulses in God, rather
than to quicken those who are dead in the natural sense.
There have been many people who have exercised powers,
quickened the dead, bestowed their labour upon the erring ,done great signs and drawn many people towards God byexciting their admiration of the things done by them ; but
afterwards those who have saved others, have fallen into im­
pure and disreputable passions. And after they had given life
to others, they have brought themselves to death and caused
themselves to stumble by the offence given by their works.
The cause of this is, that, while they were still sick of soul,
they did not care for their own healing, but plunged themselves
into the sea of the world in order to heal the souls of others,
being still sick themselves. So they have bereft themselves of
the hope in God as I said before, because the weakness of
their senses was not yet able to bear the touch of the rays
1 ) The London Ms. hast<'_a,t< "bonds".

SlX

T R E A TISESON T i l E HE I I AVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

33

o f [worldly] things that excite usually the vehemence of theaffections in those who still are in want of caution . I mean thesight of women and comfort and money and worldly things, andthe passion for governing and for exalting oneself above others.
Be despised by fools for simplicity, not by the wise for au­
dacity. Seek poverty for humility's sake and do not seek riches
4 7 for the sake of audaciousness. Confound critics by the powerof thy virtues, not by thy word ; and the impudence of those
who will not be persuaded, by the peacefulness of thy lips,
not by sounds . Confound the lascivious by thy honourable be­haviour and those of audacious sensuality by the chastity of
thy eyeballs that are concentrated within thee in quiet.
Deem thyself a stranger wherever thou enterest all thy life­
long 1), that thou mayest be able to flee from the great dam­ages rising from freedom of speech.
Think concerning thyself always that thou knowest nothing,that thou mayest "'he liberated from the reprehensible thingscaused in thee by conceit ; then thou wilt be entitled to direct
others.
Let thy mouth constantly administer blessing ; then the scornof any one will never hurt thee. Disdain gives birth to dis­dain, blessing to blessing.
Think concerning thyself always that thou needest teaching,in order that thou be found a wise man during thy whole life .
D o not hand down to others as thy own , the practical eth ics �)that thou hast not yet reached ; lest thou be put to shame bythyself and thy deception appear from the comparison withthy behaviour. But if thou speakest concerning what is be­
coming, speak as one belonging to the class of pupils, not as
an authority, having before subdued thy self and shown thy­
self as being less than thy listener. Then thou wilt give also
thy hearers an example of humility and thy words will spurthem unto the course towards [ good] works and thou wilt behonoured in their eyes.
4s
As m uch as is possible for thee, speak about such things
with tears, so that it be profitable unto thyself and thy com­panions and attract grace towards thee.

(�J'

of).

1 ) Buk_hari, I.:i�·ii!;, b. 3 : Be in the world as a stranger
0.itS t.,.,.i-.\.!1 j.
And according to Porphyrius tnan i n this world is a stranger, who longs for home (Zeller,!'hi!. J. Gricc!un• Ill, z, p. 7 1 8). c r. llcl>rc\V' I I , 13 etc.
2) Sec heneath p. 40 , note 1 .
Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1922 IWen"inck:.

34

S I X TREATISES O N T i l E BEH AV!OVR

OF

EXCELLENCE

If, by the grace of Christ, thou hast reached the delight ofthe mysteries of the visible created things, which is the firstsummit of knowledge, then arm thy soul against the spirit ofslander. For without arms thou canst not hold thy place inthis country, but thou wouldst soon be killed secretly by the
seducers. Let thy arms be : fasting and tears which thou sheclst
in constant self-hu miliation ; and prudence against reading books
which accentuate the differences between the confessions, withthe aim of causing schisms, which provides the spirit of slanderwith a m ighty weapon against the soul.
When thy stomach is replenished, do not venture to scruti­n ize, or thou willst regret it. Understand what I say : in a fullstomach, there is no knowledge of the mysteries of God. Be
occupied with the books of God's providence intensely, without
becoming satisfied. They have been composed by holy men
and show the aim of His different works in His establishingthe different natures 1) of the world. Let thy mind be streng­thened by them and thou wilt acquire enlightened impulses
from their subtlety ; then thy mind will go its way with a clear
consciousness towards the aim of [understanding] the right schemeof the creation of the world, according to the laudable wise
intention of the Creator of the natures.
Read in the two Testaments which God has destined forthe instruction of the whole world, so that it should be dazzled
by the power of His ProYidence in every generation and be
enveloped in wonder.
Such recitations and the like are very useful to this aim.
Let thy recitation take place in complete rest, while thou art
49 free from too great care for the body and from the disturbanceof practice ; then the recitation will give thy soul a delicious
taste, by the sweet insight, exalted above the senses, which
the soul, by constant intercourse with it, perceives in itself.
Do not deem the words that are founded upon experience as
the babbling of those who sell words, lest thou remain in
darkness till the end of thy life, bereft of their profit, gropingin the n ight in times of war, nay even falling i nto one ofthe pits, under the pretext of [ clinging to ] truth.
This shall be the sign for thee, when thou art near to enter
that country : when grace begins to open thy eyes so that theyr ) Jsa:1c uses the word " nall1re"(r<'.l.�.a. ) i n :.1 -;ensc co rrcsponrlin g with our "species",

S I X TKEATISES ON TilE BEHAVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

35

perceive things by essential sight, a t that time thy eyes will
begin to shed tears till they wash thy cheeks even by theirmultitude, and the vehemence of the senses will be calmed sothat they will be shut up within thee peacefully. If any man
teach thee otherwise , do not believe him. To ask from thebody anything else - as a manifest sign of the real apper­
ception - than tears, is not allowed to thee, save only if theinfluence of the members of the body be silent. This takes placewhen the mind is elevated above [earthly) beings and the bodyis without tears, apprehension and emotionality, except only
its natural animal existence. For this knowledge does n ot stoop
to take with it as secondary companions of spiritual sight thes o ideas of the things of the sensual world. " Whether in the bodyor out of it, I do not know". It is God who knows this as
well as the fact that he has heard unutterable words 1).
All that is heard by the e'irs can be spoken. But he did
not hear sensible sounds, nor did he [see] in a vision of cor­poreal sensible images, but with the i mpulses of the mind, ina state of rapture apart from the body, the will having nopart in it �). The eye never saw the like, the ear never heard
its equal and his varied knowledge never dreamt of recollecting
the likeness of what his heart saw, namely that which God
has in store to show the pure in heart when they have be­come dead to the world : not corporeal sight received throughthe eyes of the flesh in gross distinctions, nor fantasies which
they themselves form in their mind, in a secondary way, but
simplicity of contemplation concerning things of intellect andfaith - the contrary of partition and division - that show theimages of the elements.
Fix thy gaze on the sphere of the sun according to thy
visual strength and only with the object of enjoying its rays,
noth with the aim of scrutinizing the course of its wheel, lesteven thy limited sight be taken from thee :1). If thou find honey,
eat in measure lest thou, having become satisfied, hast to
reject it. The nature of the soul is of small dimensions ; andsometimes i t proceeds onwards, desiring to learn what is beyond
its nature. And many times, during the course of recitation and5 1 the contemplation of things, it grasps one or more things ; yet
the sum of its k nowledge is insignificant as compared with1)

1 Cor.

1 2 ; 2-4.

2) Cf. �hnvc p . 1 4 note I .

3) Cf. p . 1 7 .

,) 6

SIX

TREATISES

ON

THE

11 EII A \'JOUR

1)1"

EXCELLENCE

what it found. But how far does its knowledge penetrate ) Until
its deliberations are clad with emotion and trembling. Then it
hastens to turn backwards from fear, venturing [from time totime] to penetrate into the luminous things.
But fear witholds it on account of the frightfulness of thesethings. And discernment warns in silence the mind of the soul
not to be audacious lest it should die. \\'hat is too hard forthee, seek not ; what is too strong for thee, search not. Scru­
tinize with thy intellect that which has been allowed to thee,and do not venture to approach unto hidden things. Adore
therefore and praise in silence and confess thy unability tounderstand. For too much for thee has been shown to thee,but do not trouble thyself with the rest of His works. As i t
is not good t o eat much honey, s o i t i s not good t o examine
laudable words. Lest, desiring to gaze from a great dista nce
before we have approached near, we be exhausted by the inter­minable way, without having the power to gaze, and be inj ured.
For sometimes in stead of truth fantasies arise ; when namely
the intellect becomes too weary to understand, and forgets itstrue essence. And the wise Solomon has well said that he thathath no rule over his own spirit, is like a city that is in ruins
and without walls 1)
It is not necesc;;uy to search for God in heaven and earth
and to send out our mind to seek Him in different places.
5 2 Purify thy soul , o man, and strip thyself from the thought ofrecollections which are unnatural and hang before thy impulses
the curtain of chastity and humility. Thereby thou wilt findHim that is within thee. For to the humble the mysteries are
revealed.
If thou wouldst give thyself to the service of the pure prayerof the mind and to constant vigils in order to acquire a mind
clad with light, withdraw thyself from the sight of the world,and cut off intercourse by speech . And refuse to receive inthy cell thy accustomed friend, even [if he comes] for the sakeof excellence, savP only him that has the same aim as thyself
and shares i n the secrets of thy behaviour. I f thou art in fearof distraction and secret psychic intercourse, which originates
spontaneously with out our seeking it, cut off from thee evenoutward intercourse .
•1 ) l'royerbs 2 5 1 2 8.

.

SIX H!.EATISI<:SUN

Ti l E!J E l l A \' l O U R

OF

EXCl·:LLENCE

37

Let thy prayers be followed by works of excellence, thatthy soul may see the flower of the light of truth. In conse­
quence of the heart's freedom from external recollections, themind will receive [ the gift] of ecstatic understanding of things.
The soul can easily be accustomed to interchange one occu­
pation with another if we only bestow some little care andtrouble upon it.
Burden it with the labour of reading books expounding thenarrow ways of behaviour, contemplation, and the stories of thesaints, even if it does not perceive delight in the beginning,
because of the darkness and disturbance originating in present
recollections ; then it will interchange one habit with another.
5 3 Accordingly when thou risest for prayer and service, insteadof meditating worldly things, scriptural thoughts will be pictured
in the mind. And thereby the recollection of that which it saw
and heard before, will be forgotten and effaced in it. So thy
mind will reach purity. This is what h as been said : the mind
is made chaste by recitation when it comes to prayer, and byrecitation it is enlightened during prayer. This means : the soul
will find strength to interchange outward distraction with thehabits of prayer, viz. essential understanding shining in themind on account of the wondrous recollections of that world.
How often at those times has the power of contemplation[stimulated ] by the scriptures, m ade silent and stupefi e d [thesolitary] during prayer and left him standing without i mpulses ;the same power, that cuts off prayer by delight as I have said,
giving rest to the heart and bringing to silence its impulses, thepsychic and bodily members being in rest.
Those know what I say, who have experienced this in theirsoul, who have penetrated into its mysteries, who have notlearnt it from others or snatched it fro m writings which sooften are found to falsify truth.
A full stomach shrinks from examining spiritual questions, asa harlot from speaking of chastity. A conscience full of diseaseabhors fat food ; a mind full of the world, cannot approach
the investigation of divine service.
54
Fire cannot burn fresh wood ; the love of God cannot bekindled in a heart that loves comfort.
A harlot cannot cling to the love of one man ; neither can
the soul, that is tied to many things, cling to loving spiritualteachings.

3S

S I X TlZ E.\TISES

0 :-.1TilE

B E l l .\ \'!UlJ!�

OF

E XC E L L E :--! C E

As he who has never seen the sun with his eyes is notable, on the basis of hearing about it, to imagine its light in
his mind, or to receive some image in his soul, or to perceive
the beauty of its rays, so he who in his soul does not haveperception for the taste of spiritual service and whose behaviour
has n ever brought him experience of its mysteries so that heis able to conceive in his mind an image resembling the truth,is u nable to find real con viction in his soul nor to attain theessence of the matter through human teachings and training
in writings 1),
If thou possessest anything above thy daily sustenance, go
and give it the poor and then offer unto God prayer withfran kness. This means : speak with God as a son with hisfather.
There is nothing which brings the heart so near unto God
as mercy �) ; and nothing which gives peace to the mind as
voluntary poverty. Many will scorn thee as an ignorant becauseof thy liberality and for thy giving thyself without stint for thesake of the fear of God ; they will not call thee wise or steadyof mind, because of thy asceticism.
If any one is riding on a horse and stretches out his hand,ss do not withdraw from him thy hand in which is that which
his need truly requires. For at that time he is needy as oneof the indigent. And what thou givest, give it with a bountifuleye, and make thy face glad towards him. And g·ive him above
what he asks, that which he does not seek. Cast thy breadupon the waters for thy shalt fi nd remuneration after manydays 3).
Do not make any distinction between the rich and the poor
nor know who is worthy and who is not worthy. Deem all
men worthy of bounty on thy part. Especially because thouspurrest them unto truth thereby. The soul can easily be drawn
by corporeal things to the thought of the fear of God. Also
our Lord shared his table with publicans and harlots without
m aking any distinction between those who were worthy andthose who were not, seeking to spur them on thereby unto
the fear of God and to bring them, through communion inbodily things. unto spiritual communion. Therefore deem all1) Cf. Book of t h e Dove , S e n t e n c e 32) Cf. the t i t l e of Cluptcr LXXX! one! p . 8 ''h 42

S·l ·3) Eccle:;. I 1, I .

SIX

TIZE.\TISES

UN

TilE

B E ll A V I U U RUFE X C E L L E Ci C E

3 C)

people worthy of bounty and honour, be they Jews or mts­
creants or m urderers. Especially if they be thy brothers andcomrades who have erred from the truth on account of ig­
norance.
W hen thou doest well, do not wish a remuneration in thisworld ; for both thou wilt be recompensed by God. If possible,
do not even wish a remuneration in the world-to-come ; but
be excellent only by the love of God. The degree of love ismore intimate than that of service unto God ; nay, it is more
56 intimate in its mystery, with an intimacy that surpasses thatof service as the soul's the body's.
If thou hast set for thyself the aim of renunciation, and by
the grace of God thou hast been freed from care, and exalted
above the world by thy renunciation, take care lest, on accountof thy love of the poor, thou desire to fall back into the careof possessions and things, even with the aim of giving alms,
falling thereby into trouble , taking from one to give unto
another 1) ; for thou wouldst expose thy honour to contemptby thy propensity to accost others in thy search for these andcognate things and thou wouldst fall back from the height of
thy liberated mind unto care for earthly things.
Thy rank is higher than that of al msgivers. I pray thee, do
not make thysel f an object of laughter. The latter is the classof adolescents being educated ; the former is the way of per­fection.
If thou possessest, spend at once. If not, be not desirous
to possess. Purify thy life from luxuriousness and superfluous
things ; this will necessarily bring thee towards asceticism .
Necessity bears many things which our will, as long as pos­sible, would not submit to bear. Those who have overcome
outward struggle have also annihilated inward fear and nocompulsion can force them to go its way by confounding themwith strife before and behind.
Outward struggle I name that which a man excites by thesenses against himself foolishly ; viz. : worldly dealings, hearing
5 7 and seeing, speech and stomach, gradually and continually as­sociating himself with the practice of life, so th3.t the soul isblinded and becomes unable, because of external troubles thatmeet it, to discern its self in the hidden strife that arises ; then1 ) Tu t:tkc and g iYe i-; : t n e:>: p rc.:;.., ;\)11 d e n o t i n g w o r l d l y de:1. l i n g :-:. .

40

SIX

TREATISES

0;-.i

TilE

B E H A V l O UIZ

OF

EX< 'F L LENC E

for the sake of quiet, he subdues that which comes from within.
But if a man closes the gates of the town, there will be a
strife face to face ; and he will not fear from the ambushes
outside the town.
Blessed is the man who knows these things and endures
them in silence without even then imposing upon himself muchwork, but interchanging the whole of his bodily service withthe labour of prayer, if he is able to do so, who, proceedingfrom service to service, does not join anything to the worshipof God consisting in prayer and recitation, but believes that,when serving God and meditating upon Him night and day,He will not leave him in need of the necessary things he needs,
because he does not work for himself.
If anyone is not able to bear solitude without service, hemust necessarily have recourse to it. But he shall take it as ahelpful means only, without eagerness, and as a secondary
thing, not as a principal commandment.
This applies to the weak. Manual work is called by Eua­grius an impediment to the recollection of God. The Fathers
have prescribed service to the indigent and despondent, not tothose who are zealous to perform their legal obligations.
When God opens thy mind from within and thou givest thy5 8 self to frequent kneelings, let no care of anything take hold of
thee, though the demons secretly persuade thee to do so ; thensee and wonder at what is born in thee from these things.
Do not compare any of the ethical practices 1) with a man's
throwing himself day and night on his face before the cross,his hands turned backwards. If thou desirest that thy fervour
may never abate, and that thy tears may never fail, then prac­
tice this. Blessed art thou, o man, if thou thinkest of what I
have told thee, without seeking any other thing night and day.
Then thy light will be spread out like dawn and thy righteous­ness will shortly appear 2). Then thou wilt be like an exulting
paradise and like a fountain never destitute of water.
Behold, how many signs of grace happen to a man from
Providence. Sometimes a man will be on his knees at the timeof prayer, h is hands spread out or stretched towards heaven ,his face looking to the cross, and, so to speak his wholeemotion and mind stretched out towards God in supplication ;z) Cf. Ps. 37, 6 .

SIX

TREATISES

0::-.1TilE

llEllAVIO Ul\.

OFE X C E LLE::-.ICE-\ l

and while absorbed in these beseechings and pains at this time,of a sudden a fountain of delight will spring from his heart,
his limbs will relax, his eyes be darkened, his face bow down
and his deliberations be confuse, so that even his knees are
no longer able to lean on the earth, from the exulting joyof the sign of grace that spreads through his whole body.
Distinguish, o man , what thou art reading, can these things
be known from ink ' Or can the taste of honey be spread overthe palate of the reader, from written documents ?
59
I f thou doest not seek , thou wilt not find. And if thou doest
not wake and k nock fervently at the gate, without a break,
thou wilt not be answered . Who could hear these things andbe desirous of outward righteousness , u nless he who is notable to bear the bonds of the cell � But if there be anyone
who is n ot able to do these things, since it is a gift of God
that a man remain within the door, he should not however
desist from this other part 1), lest he be bereft of the two partsof life. For until the outward man becomes dead to the waysof the world, not only to sin , but also to the whole bodily
service, and the inward man to the seducing recollections ofevil things, until the natural impulse is brought low and the
body has almost died through labours, so that the sweetnessof sin has no more mastery over the heart, the spirit of God
does not spread its sweetness and man's limbs are not u nveiled
to life and divine impulses do not show themselves in the soul .
A n d a s long a s a man's heart is n o t freed from earthly care,
except those necessary things which nature imposes upon him
at the time of his necessity - and which he leaves also to
God to arrange - spiritual drunkenness cannot rise in him andthat madness, for which the Apostle was disdained, he will not
perceive ; for the multitude of books had made him mad.
But I do not say this in despair ; namely that unless a manreach the depth of perfection, the grace of God will not begiven him and consolation will not come to him.
Verily, when a man rejects evil things and becomes wholly
6o alienated to them, and clings to good things, in a short time
he will be aware of profit. And if he shows only a little zeal
he will find the consolation of the forgiveness of sins in himself,and he will be dignified with grace and receive many good1) out ward righ teonsness.

..j. 2SIX

T R E :\TISES

ON

Tile

BEl l.\ VIOCR

OF

EXU:T.LENCJ<:

things. But he is little when compared with him who has be­come wholly alienated to the world and has found in himself
as it were the bleo:sings of the world to come and has reachedthat for the sake of which Christ reached us. To whom andto his Father and to the Holy Ghost be glory and praise forever and ever. Amen.
H ere ends the fourth discourse.
V
God has made great the honour of man, by the twofold
teachings he has given him. And from every side He has
opened for him a door through which he has access u nto
knowledge.
Ask from nature a true witness concerning thyself, then thouwilt not err. If thou goest yet astray, let thyself be taught bythat second witness who will bring thee back to the way fromwhich thou hast erred.
A rtistracted heart cannot help but erring. And wisdom will
not open its gate before it.
He who is able to understand through essential knowledge
to what a degree of equality all men will come in the end,
will not seek another teacher concerning the contemptabilityof the world.
The first book given by God to the rational beings, is the61nature of the created things. Written teachings have been
added only after aberration.
He who does not willingly remain far from things causing
sin will be drawn towards them involuntarily. Things causing
sin are wine and women, riches and bodily health. They are
not to be called sin in themselves, but on account of man's
weakness and their unlawful use, nature is easily drawn bythem - more easily than by any other thing - towards
different sins and therefore there is need of peculiar caution
in regard of them. If thou rememberst continually and recog­
nisest truly that thou art weak, thou wilt never overstep theborders prescribed by watchfulness. Despised above all things
among men is poverty. But much more despised by God ishaughtiness of heart and a disdainful spirit.
Among men riches are honoured ; by God a humble soul.

SIX TIZ E.\TISI':S 0:'-1 T i l L

H E l L\ \'IUL' IZ

UF

K\:U<: LLE;'{CE.f 3\\'hen thou intendest to beg·in with one of the virtues, firstprepare thyself, lest, by the evil things which it causes, thou
shouldst fal l into doubt concerning the truth.
If the Evil one sees some one beginning with one of the62
virtues in the fervour of faith, he attacks him by vehemen t
and terrible temptations, with the i ntention that he be frigh­tened by them, so that the love of his mind may abate andhis fervour not rise again to bring him n ear to the works ofGod. A nd thus, because of fear of temptations accompanying
good works [he hopes that] nobody will practise them anymore.
Thou, however, prepare thyself to meet the evil things accom­
panying virtues, bravely and strongly ; and then begin. If thoudoest not expect evil things, do not begin with excellence. The
man who is in doubt concerning the Lord, is persecuted byhis own shadow ; at the time of satiety he will be h ungry andat the time of peace his ruin will be heavy. But whoever con­fides in God , his heart will be strong and his honour will bemanifest before the crowds and his glory before his enemies.
The commandments of God are better than the treasures of
the whole earth. He who acquires His l aws in his heart, willfind the Lord i n them. He who meditates upon God in thenight, will acquire H i m as a housemate. He who is pliable toHis will, will find the angels of heaven his teachers.
He who trembles before sins will pass without stumblingeven through a dangerous place and at the time of darkness
he will fi nd a l ight within himself. If any one tremble before
sins, his footsteps will be guarded by the Lord and mercy will
precede his failures. He whose faults are small i n his own eyes
will fall into those which are worse than the former ones andit will be necessary that he pay for them sevenfold. Sow alms
in h umility and thou wilt reap mercy in the court oi justice.
Whereby thou hast lost goods, thereby thou shalt acquire
63
them again. If thou hast to pay a penny to God i n some way
or other, He will not accept a pearl from thee i n its place.
For i n this case that thing is necessary.
If thou hast lost chastity, let not fornication take its place.
If thou gi vest alms as a reparation, He will not accept themfrom thee ; He postulates saintliness for saintliness. And if thouwrongest not the poor, let not u njust possession take the placeof that. \Vhile thou art refraining from bread, let not injusticeusurp its place so that thou m ust struggle with some other thin�.

44

SIX

TlZEc\TlSES

UN

TilE

U E I L\ VIUURUi'

EXC E L U:�l'E

Oppression is eradicated by compassion and renunciation. I fthou leavest the plant in its place, thou wilt have to struggle
with some other thing, according to the word of the greatteacher Mar A frem.
Take care not to fight against heat during summer in clothes
destined for winter. Thus each will reap, with the contrary ofthat with which he sows inj ustice. And every illness he will
combat with its peculiar antidotum. Now thou art deadly woundedby envy ; while thou strugglest against sleep. When sin is stillgreen, eradicate it, lest it cover the whole ground. He whoneglects an evil thing while it is small, will find it at last a
hard master and he will go in bonds before it. He who treats
it severely in the beginning, will easily rule it. He who bears
injustice with gladness while victory is in his hand, he hasreceived from God the consolation of his faith clearly m an i6-t fested. And he who bears oppression in humility, has reachedperfection. The angels will admire him. There is no profitableaction more difficult and more meritorious.
Do not believe thyself strong before thou hast been led into
temptations and thou hast found thyself steadfast in them. In
all things thou hast to try thyself in this way.
Acquire glory on account of the faith of thy heart, thenthou wilt tread upon the neck of thy enemies, and thou wilt
find thy mind humble. Do not confide in thy strength lest thoube left to the weakness of thy nature and thou !earnest thy
weakness in thy fall ; nor in thy knowledge , lest thou besurrounded in thought with hidden ambushes and becomest
confused.
Acquire a humble tongue ; then disdain will never h urt thee ;and pleasant lips ; then thou wilt be found a friend of every
one. Do not boast of any thing with thy tongue, because among
creatures there is nothing exempt fro m change ; and thy shame
will b e double when thou art found the contrary [ of what thoudidst boast of ] . Everything of which thou boastest before men,
will surely be altered by God, so that thou mayest have acause for humility so that thou j udge God's knowledge to beall, and believe not that there is anything true in creatures.
And when thou thinkest thus, thy eyes will at all times be
fixed u pon Him.
[Divine] care surrounds all men at all times ; but It IS not
seen, save only by those who have purified themselves from

SI X

TRE.\TISES

ON

TIH: JlEI I AV!Ol'R

OF

EXCELLFC:CF45

sins and think of God perpetually. To these then it is revealed
clearly ; for when they have been led into great temptations
for the sake of truth, then they receive a faculty of perception
clearly as if with the eyes of the flesh . [ They receive it] when
they want it, in a sensible way, in accordance with the kindand the cause of the temptation, in order to strengthen theircourage. As in the case of J acob and Joshua the son of Nun ,Hananya and his companions, Petrus and others, to whom thefigure of a man appeared in order to encourage them and to
console their faith.
I f thou sayest that these things were acts of Providence ofa universal nature, let then the holy martyrs console thee,
who sometimes together, sometimes one by one in separate
places have suffered for God. Not only a hidden force waswith them, by which the members of their bodies were fortified
against being hanged in irons and against torments of all
kinds, things beyond natural power ---- but sometimes ·also holyangels were seen by them manifestly, in order that every man
should know that God ' s care is with those who suffer for H issake for any reason , so that they themselves might receive
encouragement and their torturers be ashamed. For as theformer were made conspicuous by such visions, to the same
degree the latter were tormented by their endurance.
A nd what shall we say about many of the solitaries andstrangers and true monks, who have made waste land habitable
and an encamping ground of the angels, who visited them on
account of their worthy behaviour r As true comrades [ serving ]one Lord the heavenly hosts mingled [ with them ] i n their
66 dwelling- place , solitaries who during their whole life loved
solitude, who made holes and rocks their dwelling places, who
gladly suffered cold and heat for the love of God. A nd be­cause they left the earth and loved heaven like the angels, theangels have not concealed themselves from their sight. But
sometimes they taught them concerning behaviour. And again
they answered the questions they asked them concerning otherthings. And sometimes the angels showed them the way when
they wandered through the desert ; sometimes they delivered
them from temptations ; sometimes they saved them from somenet of danger which suddenly, without their foreseeing it, tlue;:�­tened them , some serpent for instance, or falling from a rock,or a stone that suddenly fell down with violence from a height.
65

46

SIX TRF,\TJSES ON T i l E RFII AVIOIJROFEXCELLE � < ' E

Sometimes, also under the attacks of the open battles of Satan ,the angels showed themselves t o them manifestly, and clearly
announced that they were sent in order to help them andencouraged them by their words. Sometimes also they cured
their pain and healed some injuries which had befallen themin some way or other, by the touch of their hands. Sometimes
again they im parted to their bodies, which had been weakened
by abstention from all food, by their words or by the sudden
67 touch of their hands, a force foreign to nature, adducing i nsome secret way a force unto the lowered nature. Sometimes
they brought them food, warm bread and olives, and to some ofthem various fruits. Others they informed concerning the time of
their death . A nd how long must be the enu meration of things
concerning the love of the holy angels towards our race andconcerning the care they showed unto the righteous, as greatbrothers who fostered and guarded their little ones. All thisserves t o make clear for every one how near God is to His
friends and how much care He bestows on those who entrust
their life to f{ is hands and follow Him with a serene heart.
If it is certain to thee and thou believest that God cares
for thee, thou needest not be anxious for thy body nor havecare concerning the guiding of thyself by m eans. But if thou
doubtest this and desirest to care for thyself, without God,
thou art more wretched than any man, and what does life
mean to thee ? Throw thy care on God 1), that thou be streng­thened against all fear. He who once has entrusted his life toGod, will dwell in mental peace.
Without renunciating possessions, the soul cannot be liberated
from confusion of thought. And without quiescence of thesenses, peace of mind cannot be perceived �). And without
68 entering into temptations, spiritual wisdom cannot be acquired.
A nd without constant reciting, subtlety of thought cannot belearned. And without the deliberations being set at peace themind cannot be moved by hidden mysteries. And without theconfidence of faith one cannot venture to throw his soul amidst
sorrowful and hard circumstances. �1ithout the practical ex·perience of God's care the heart is not able to confide in God .
And when the soul does not taste sufferings for the sake of
Christ, it is not united with Him i n knowledge.
1 ) P'· S S , 2 3.

2) Introduction

S I X TREATISES ON T i l E BEIL\VIOUR OF

EXCELLENCE

47

Deem him a man of God, who constantly takes upon him­
self the lot of want, being moved b y great compassion. He
who does good to the poor finds God his provider. H e who
suffers want for His sake finds Him to be a great treasure.
God does not need anything ; only He rej oices when anyone
satisfies or honours His image 1) for His sake.
When anyone asks thee and thou hast, do not say in thyheart : I will keep it for myself in order to have more comfort
by it and I will let him pass quickly ; God will provide forhim from another ; I will bestow it upon myself. Do not speak
thus. For in this way think iniquitous men , and people who do
not know God deliberate thus, fostering such thoughts. But arighteous man does not give his honour to another one nordoes he let slip the opportunity for bounty. God will provide
for him certainly in some other way ; if He knows that he isin trouble. God will not abandon any one. But thou art willing
69 im mediately to leave God's honour and to throw His bounty
from thee. On the other hand rejoice if thou possessest andgive, saying : Glory to thee, o God, who hast granted untome that I find some one to comfort. And if thou possessest
not, rejoice the more, thanking God with many thanksgivings,
saying : I thank thee, o God, who hast granted me the honourof becoming poor for Thy sake, and who hast deemed me
worthy to taste sufferings enjoined in Thy commandments
namely illnesses and poverty such as the saints have tasted
who have gone this way.
A nd if thou art ill, say : Blessed are those who find in thethings which God sends us for our profit, the aim for which
God has destined them . God sends sickness for the sake ofthe health of the soul.
One of the saints once said : The following I have taken asa sign. \Vhen a solitary does not serve God in the right way,
and is not zealous in His works, God certainly will send him
a temptation to occupy his thoughts, lest he be wholly idle
and, by complete idleness, his mind turn aside to thinking of
the things of the left hand. But if he is not willing to thinkof excellence, the influence of the temptations will cause him
to think of it and not to think of idle things. This God doeswith every man who loves Him. \Vhen He sees that he begins
1) v i �:. m a n

48

S I :\ TREi\ TlSFS O :l T i lE BFf-L\YIOl:R<•F

EXC ELLENCE

to disdain His works, he sends a heavy sorrow in order tomake him wise and to chastise him. Therefore , when such;o people call to Him,
He does not pay attention, nor does He
hasten to fi·ee them, till they have become weary and knowthat they have to bear these things on account of their neglect.
' \\'hen ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes fromyou ; yea, when ye m ake many prayers, I will not hear' 1). Even
if this was said to others, stil l it is certainly applicable to those
who leave the way. But if God is so compassionate, why cJo
we then so frequently kn ock at His door in trouble and pray,
and yet H e t u r n s away from our prayer ; He says : Behold,the Lord's hand is n ot shortened, that it cannot save ; nor His
ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have sepa­
rated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His
face from you, that He wi t ! not hear �). Remember the Lord
at all times, then He will remember thee when evil appro­
ches unto thee. He has made thy nature a receptacle ofaccident. i\ n d in the world where He has created and leftthee He has made frequent the causes of accidents and temp­
tations. He has made thy nature a small receptacle of thesethings. Evil things are not far front thee, neither are they a
few in number. For they rise from within thee when He gives
a sign, and from under thy feet and from the place where
thou art standing. But like one eyelid is near the other, so
temptations are near the children of men.
With wisdom God has provided these things for thee in thisway, for thy profit, that thou rnayest continually knock at His
door and that, for fear of sorrowful events, the thought of Him
may constantly recur to thy mind and thou be near to God inconstant prayer and sanctified by constant thought of Him inthy heart.
And when thou callest unto Him and He a nswers thee, thou
7' wilt know that thy saviour is God. And thou wilt perceive thy
God who h as created thee and is thy provider and preserver,
therein that H e has made in thy behalf two worlds. One forthy instruction, as it were a school for a short time ; andanother one, a paternal home and thy abode for ever and ever.
He has not made thee apathetic, lest thou shouldst desire
divine ran k and receive what Satan received . Nor has He madeI) k I , I S

2) Is. 5 0 · I " I ·SIX

TREATISES

ON

T!IE

BE I J AV IOI.JR

OF

EXCELLENCE

49

thee incapable of error or, lest thou shouldst be like the beings
which are bound and thou shouldst receive thy good and thyevil without profi t or remuneration as the other corporeal beingson the earth. How many blows and hu miliations together with
thanksgivings are born from the capacity for affections, andfear, and also error, is manifest for every one so that it should
be known that our zeal for righteousness and our turning aside
from evil are of. our will, and that the honour and disdain,caused thereby, should be put to our credit. Thus we are put
to shame and we fear on account of disdain ; but we thank
God and press towards the good on account of honour.
All these instructions He has multiplied for thee, lest freed
from them on account of thy not needing them or thy nature
not being capable of them, exalted above fear and affecting
things, thou shouldst forget God and turn away from H i m andinvent many gods. For though subjected to affections and want,
which scou rges were sent against them on account of paltry
7 2 riches and short-lived temporal power and precarious health, still many have not only invented many gods, but have· evenventured in their insanity to pretend to be of divine nature.
Therefore He has turned thee away from all these things
through that which troubles thee from time to time, lest He
should be angry with thee on account of thy turning aside anddestroy thee from before Him in punishment.
I omit the ungodliness and the sins that arise from healthand lack of fear and comfort, even though that which has beenm entioned above should not happen 1). Therefore, by sufferingsand distress He has caused thee frequently to recall Him i n
thy heart ; a n d by fear of adversities He incites thee to turntowards the gate of his mercy. By liberating thee from these! troubles] He sows in t hee causes of love unto Him. A nd whenthou hast found love he brings thee near to the honour of thesons ; He shows thee the richness of His bounty and the stead­fastness of His care for thee. Then He will make thee perceive
the holiness of His honour and the hidden mysteries of thenature of His greatness. How shouldst thou have become ac­
quainted with these things if there had not been adversities ?
For through these the love of God is able to increase, viz. by
understanding His acts of bounty and by recalling His various
1) viz. that creatures pretend to be of d i vi ne nature.
\'erh. Afd. Le!lerk. 19'22 1 \\-e n :--i nck '·I

Univ.-Bibfiotll

Reoensburo

50

SIX

T R E A T I SESON THEBE H A \'IOUR

OF

EXCELLENCE

acts of care. All this good is born for thee from things causing
grief, if thou knowest to give thanks.
Therefore remember God, that He may remember thee con­stantly ; and when He remembers thee and saves thee, thouwilt receive all these goods. Forget Him not in idle distraction,
lest He also forget thee in thy temptations.
73
In prosperity be near to Him and obedient, that thou m ayest
have freedom of speech with Him i n trouble because of thy
constantly being near to Him in thy heart by means of thy
prayer. Sit before His face all thy time, thinking of Him andrecollecting Him in thy heart, lest, seeing Him only after long
thou shouldst lack freedom of speech with Him on account ofbashfulness. A high degree of freedom of speech is born fromconstant intercourse. Constant intercourse with men is of abodily nature ; that with God is psychic meditation and offerings
m prayers.
On account if its intensity this meditation is sometimes mingledwith ecstasy. For the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoices.
Seek ·the Lord, ye sinners and be strengthened in hope in yourthoughts. Seek His face by repentance at all time and you will
be sanctifi e d by the holiness of His face and you will be puri­
fied from your unrighteousness. Speed unto the Lord , ye u n­righteous, the Lord who forgives unrighteousness and effaces
sins. For He has sworn : I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked ; but that he turn from his way and live 1). I havespread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious and dis­
obedient people 2). And why will ye die, 0 house of Jacob ? 3)
Turn unto me, then I will turn unto you 4) . A nd by Ezekiel
He says : \\;'hen the wicked turns from his way u nto the Lord
and do that which is lawful and right, the sins he has com7 4 m itted will not be remembered but he shall live, sayeth the
Lord '). Thus it is also with the righteous ; when he turneth
from his righteousness and comitteth sin and iniquity, the righ­teousness he has done will not be remembered but I will lay
a stumbling block before him and by the iniquity he has done
he shall die if he remains steadfast in it G). Why is this ? Because
the iniquitous will not stumble on account of his iniquity after
he turns unto the Lord . But the righteousness of the righteousI ) Ez. 331 I I .
5) Cf. E z . 3 3 , I 9 ·2 ) Is. 6 5 , 2 .
3) E1. 3 3 , I I .
6 ) Cf. E z . 3 3 , I S .

SIXTREATISES

0::-1 T i lE B E H A V JOUR OF EXCELLENCE

5I

will not save him when he sins, if he builds his building onthat foundation.
And to Jeremia H e spake thus : Take a roll of a book, andwrite therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee, fromthe day of Josia the king of Jnda even unto this day. It
may be that [the house of Juda] will hear and fear and they
may return every man from his evil way and turn again untome, that I may forgive their sins 1). A nd the sage has said :H e that covereth his sins, shall not prosper. But whoso con­fesseth and forsaketh them , shall have mercy from God �).
And Jesaja, who was rich in revelations, says : Seek ye theLord and call ye upon Him when ye have found Him. And
when He is near let the sinner forsake his way and the u n­righteous man his thoughts. Let him turn unto me and I
will have mercy upon him and to our God for He will abun­
dantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither
are my ways your ways 3) . \Vherefore do ye 4) spend moneyon that which is not bread ? and your labour for that which
satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye thatwhich is good . Come unto me, hear and your soul shall live 5).
7 5 When thou keepest the ways of the Lord and doest H is will ,then thou wilt confi d e in the Lord. Then thou wilt call on Him
and H e will answer thee ; thou wilt cry and He will say : Lo,here I am .
The wicked when evil befalls him has confi d ence in God tocall on Him. A nd he is not able to expect H is salvation, be­cause he has left His ways in the days of his prosperity.
Seek a helper for thyself before thou hast to struggle.
Seek a physician for thyself before thou art ill. Pray before
distress has reached thee ; then in the time of distress thou wilt
find prayer (?) and it will ans\ver thee. Pray and ask before
thou stumblest. Prepare thy gifts before thou makest a vow,
they are thy provisions.
The ark was constructed in time of peace. A hundred years
before its wood was planted. So when anger came, the wicked
who had been comfortable in their wickedness, were confounded .
But the ark was a refuge for the righteous.
The wicked shuts his mouth during prayer. Inward basenesstakes away freedom of speech from the heart.
1) Cf. Jeremia 3 6 , 2 sq.
4) The Syrioc t n t 0<ld' n o t .

z ) Pro\'. 28, 13.

3) h S S , 6-8.
S) \f. 1 ' . S S . 2 ' ' I ·

52

SlX

TREA T!SES 0"' T H E BEHA V!OlJR OF

EXCELLEl\CE

Steadfastness of the heart makes tears of joy to flow during
the imploration [of God].
Strong endurance of injustice borne by free will purifies theheart . Endurance of injustice is based on contempt for theworld. That a man remains steadfast during oppression without
being distressed, is caused by the fact that the heart begins
to see the truth. Joy on account of oppression and injusticeborne by free will, exalts the heart. No one can bear oppression
and injustice with a glad will, save those whose deliberations
have wholly become dead to the world.
Those whose thoughts are wholly filled with the odour of
7 6 this life, are made to blaze with anger at once through vain
glory ; or they fall into thoughts of spite, born of [the love of
vain glory]. 0 how difficult is this excellence, and how honoured
it is with God ! He who denies this behaviour, has to go
abroad and to leave his country. It is difficult for a man toaccomplish this exalted excellence in his country ; the eminentand the strong only are able to bear the grief that is born of
this behaviour, among their acquaintances and also those whoin their lifetime have become dead to this life and have aban·cloned hope of the consolation of this time. A s Grace is nearto humility, so are difficult accidents to haughtiness.
The heart of the Lord is towards the humble, to comfort
them. The face of the Lord is against the haughty to humi­
liate them. Humility receives compassion , continually. But
hardness of heart and unbelief meet hardships continually thatseem hopeless till of a sudden evil rises against them an dthey are delivered t o destruction.
Make thyself small among men, then He will exalt thee even
above the heads of the people. Let thy prostration be low be­fore all men and be the first to salute ; then thou wilt behonoured more than he who brings gold from Ophir. Be des­pised and rejected in thine own eyes, then thou wilt see theglory of God within thyself.
77
Where humility sprouts, there glory will rise. I f thoustrivest publicly after dishonour among men he will make thy
honour great. A nd if thou art humble in thy heart, He willshow thee His glory in thy heart. Be disdained in thy greatness,
not great in thy being disdained. Learn to be disdained, while
being full of the honour of the Lord ; not, to be honoured
while being injured by ulcers within. Reject honour, then thou

SIX TREATISES ON T H E BEl! A V lOUR OF EXCELLENCE

53

wilt be honoured. Do not love it, lest thou be rejected. I f thoupursuest honour, it will flee fro m thee. If thou fleest from it,it will rise for thee from the place where thou hidest thyself
and it will be a herald of thy humility to every one.
If thou givest thyself to disdain in order to be honoured,
the Lord will confound thee. If thou rejectest thyself for thesake of truth He will com mand the creatures to praise thee.
And they will reveal to thee the glory of the creator who frometernity speaks through them and they will glorify thee as thecreator, because thou art His thrue image.
H as anyone found a man whose behaviour is exalted, whois despised among men and who is enlightened and wise andpoor in spirit ? Blessed is he who has humbled himself in all
things, for he will be magnified in :1ll things. He who has
humbled and made himself small for the sake of God, will be
glorified by God. And whoever for His sake is hungry andthirsty, He will give to drink him from H is good a wine
causing a drunkenness that never leaves those who drink it.
And he who goes naked for His sake will be clad by H i mwith a garment o f glory. A n d h e who i s poor and indigent
78 for H is sake, his consolation will be established in H is truerichness. Make thyself disdained for the sake of God, then thy
glory will be great, even if thou doest not perceive it.
During thy whole life deem thyself as a sinner, then thouwilt found to be a righteous man during thy whole life. Be
despised though wise, and do not err in thy wisdom. Be simple
in thy wisdom and do not assume the appearance of being wise
if thou art simple. If humility elevates the despised how, m uch
more will it elevate the honoured.
Flee from praise, then thou wilt be praised. Fear haughtiness,then thou wilt be exalted. For pride was not assigned to thechildren of man, nor haughtiness of heart to those born froma woman.
If thou hast voluntarily renunciated the whole body of theworld, do not quarrel with anyone concerning small parts of it.
If thou hast rejected glory, flee fro m those who hunt praise.
Flee from possessors as fro m possessions. Depart from theluxurious, as from luxury. Flee from the lascivious, as fromfornication. If the memory of their habits troubles the mind,
how much more if one see and be near to them. Be near to
the excellent ; through them thou wilt be near u nto God.

54

S I X TREATISES ON TilE D E I L\\'IOUR OF EXCELLENCE

Be an ascete with the hu mble, to learn from his ways. If
to see his habits is profitable to those who see him, how much
more the character of his behaviour and teachings received
from his very lips.
Love the poor ; through them thou wilt find mercy. Do not
approach unto the quarrelsome, lest thou be compelled to leave
thy peaceful customs.
Flee not from the ugliness of the illness of the sick, for thouart also clad with flesh. Do not contend with the bitter in
7 9 heart, lest thou
be beaten with the rod with which they arebeaten and seeking a consolator, wilt n ot find any. Do not
reject the cripples lest thou enter Sheol with them.
Love the sinners but reject their works. Do not despise thembecause of their shortcomings, lest thou be tempted by the same.
Remember that thou sharest in the stink of Adam and thatthou too art clad with his illness. To him who needs passionate
prayer and soft words, do not give blame in stead, lest thoucause his destruction and his soul be demanded from thy hand.
Resemble the physicia·1s who use cold medicines against symp­
toms of fever.
Compel thyself to show honour to thy fellow man, whenthou meetest him ; and kiss his hand and his foot, and warm
thy heart with love unto him, piously. A nd take his hands
several times and place them upon thy eyes and caress themwith great honour. And attribute to his person beautiful things,
that do not belong to him. And also when he is absent, speak
about him fine and beautiful things and call him by several
honourable names. By these things and the like, thou com­pellest him not only unto the desire of beautiful things, since
he will be ashamed of the renown thou im putest him without
his deserving it and so thou wilt be able to sow in him theseed of excellent things, buL by means of these habits and the
So like to which thou accustomest thyself, thou wilt found in thy­
self peaceful and humble customs and be liberated from many
severe struggles, against which others learn to guard themselves
by steady works. And not only this. But if he, who receives
these honours from thee , has any shortcom ing or fau lt ofwill, he will easily acquire from thee healing, if thou lettest
him clearly perceive [ it ] but for an instant only ; for he will
be ashamed because of the honour shown to him and becauseof tht> s r gr1 of love he constantly percei\'es in thee.

SIX TREATISES ON THE B E H AVIOGR OF EXCELLENCE

55

This be thy aim regarding all men. And when thou becomest
angry at any one and zealous for the sake of faith, or on
account of his evil works, or thou reprehendest and vituperatest
him, then be cautious. We all have a just judge in heaven .
But if thou art merciful and seekest to turn him u nto thetruth, thou hast to suffer for him. And with tears and in love
thou must speak to him without being enraged against him,effacing all sign of hostility from thy face. Love does not know
how to be angry ; it is not indignant, it does not despise so
as to cause suffering. Wherever the sign of love and knowledge
is present, it is profound humility rising fro m the inner mind.
VI
8,

The fact that a man may fall into accidental faults, proves
the weakness of his nature, namely that our nature necessarily
is liable to such things. It has not seemed good unto God that
it would be profitable for him that he should be wholly exalted
above this [weakness], before his nature arrived at the second
creation. The fact of his being subject to chance, is profitable
for the subjugation of the mind. But the constant [falling i nto
faults] causes audacity .
There are three modes by which every rational soul may
approach unto God : by the fervour of faith ; by fear ; bypunishment from God. For it cannot approach unto the rankof love by its own power ; but only if it is based on one ofthese modes .
As fro m a disordered 1) belly confusion of thought is born,so, from wantonness in speech and confusion of habits, Igno­
rance and folly of mind.
The care of practical things confuses the soul, and the dis­traction of work disturbs the mind and makes it lose its quiet­
ness and drives away from it its peacefulness. It is becoming
for the solitary who has devoted himself to heavenly work ,that his mind be constantly free from care so that, when he
exam ines his soul and deliberates, he may not see in it any
thing belonging to this world, nor desire of any visible obj ect,Sz but that, on account of his complete absorption from temporaryI) Cf. Thomas a Kempls' inon.!inalus.

56

SI X

TREATISESON

THE

BE H AVIOUR

OF

F:·:•_T L L E "' C E

things, he may be able to meditate upon the law of the Lord
night and day, without any distraction.
Bodily works without mental beauty are like a barren womband dry breasts ; they do not bring any nearer unto the know­
ledge of God. They have no care for a body labouring toeradicate passions from the mind ; so they do not reap anything.
As a man who sows on thorns and is not able to reap, so
is he whose mind is injured by care and wrath and desire ofgathering treasures, and who sighs on his bed on account of
the frequency of his vigils and abstinence. Witness is the scrip­
ture that says : A s a nation that did righteousness and forsook
not the ordinance of their God : they ask of me the ordinancesof justice ; they take delight in coming near unto God. Where­
fore have we fasted and thou seest not ? H ave we afflicted oursoul and thou takest no knowledge ? Behold, in the day of
your last ye find pleasure and sacrifice unto all your idols 1).
This means : the evil designs and the evil thoughts hold you
in yourself in stead of God and sacrifice to them your liberty,
a thing esteemed at all times ; the sacrifice which is honoured
above all things and which you ought not to omit, consistsof your good works and pious inner being. A good land whichmakes its lord rejoice by yielding an hundredfold, is the soul
8 3 that is made excellent by meditation on God, in vigil day andnight. The Lord will build upon its foundations a nd around
it, a cloud for shade during the day and a shining flame offire during the night. From withi n its darkness, light will dawn.
As a cloud obscures the rays of the moon, so the vapourof the stomach obscures the divine wisdom so that the souldoes not see it �). As a hearth burning with dry wood, so isbodily desire i n a full stomach . As oily matter excites thefierceness of a flame, so does the hu midity of food the carnalpassion in the body.
The knowledge of God does not dwell in a body that loves
comfort.
A man who l oves his body will not be deemed worthy of
divine gifts.
As from the travail a fruit is born that gladdens the woman,so from labours there is born in the soul the knowledge ofGod's mysteries. To the pusillanimous and those who love1 ) Is. 58, z sq.

2) Cf. Book of the Doz•e l'· 2 7 note 3·

S I X TEEATJ S E S 0:-.1 T H E BEH.\ V l 0 L1ROF

E X C E LL E N C E

57

comfort, a fruit is born that causes shame. A s a father shows
mercy unto his son, so Christ shows mercy unto the body that
performs labours, and He is near its mouth at all times. The
labour of wisdom is priceless.
A stranger is he who is strange is his spmt unto every
habit of this world. A mourner 1) is he, who spends all · thedays of this life in hunger, thirst and m ourning, for the sakeof the expectation of heavenly hope. A recluse is he who,s 4 removing his abode from the sight of the world, and looking
beyond, has only one demand in prayer : the desire of theworld to be. The riches of the solitary are in his heart 2) . The
riches of the solitary are either consolation granted him fromthe m idst of mourning, or gladness that dawns from faith, thetreasury of his spirit. The compassionate is he, whose spirit
does not distinguish , when practising compassion , any of theclasses of men. Virginity is this, that a man not only guards
his body from the corruptions of revelling, but that he also
guards his chastity against his soul even when he is alone. If
thou desirest chastity, restrain the course of impure deliberations,by occupying thyself with recitation and constant beseechings
unto God. Then thou wilt be armed also in thy inner being
against the things that spring from nature. Without those, man
is able to see purity in himself.
I f thou art desirous to acquire compassion , first train thyself
to acquire contem pt for [outward] things, lest their importancedraw the mind away from the aim which it has set before itself.
The purity of compassion is known from patience in bearing
wrong, and the perfection of humility from idle oppression borne
g-ladly. If thou art really compassionate, thou wilt not be angry
within thyself, when thou art bereft of thy possessions iniquitously
and with injustice ; and thou wilt not show thy suffering openly
unto others, but let the sin of thy injustice be effaced by passs sionate compassion , as the headiness of wine is abated by[mixing it with] m uch water. But show thou the mark of purity
that arises from great mercy, by adding there-unto other thingsand do well to those who do thee wrong, with gladness, as also
the blessed Elisha did unto his enemies, which were come totake him prisoner who, by praying and by blinding their eyes1) �l..a.::n< , also a wonl for monk.
2 ) Supplied from London Mos.

SS

SIX TREATISES O N THE B E H AVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

by VISIOns, made manifest the power at his disposal. And if he
had wished this, they would have been annihilated before him ;but by providing them with food and drink and letting them go
away, he made manifest the mercy he possessed within himself.
I f thou art truly humble, be not troubled if thou art op­pressed. A nd do not excuse thyself in any point, but actuallytake upon thee the wrong laid to thy charge, without being
anxious to persuade people that the matter is otherwise_ On
the contrary, pray that thou rnayest obtain forgiveness_ Somehave taken upon them the evil name of fornication and others
have taken upon them deeds of adultery for which they were
too pious, and the fruit of a sin which they had not committed
they made appear serious by bewailing it as if it were theirown . And they implored forgiveness for sins which they had
not committed from their oppressor with tears, while their soul
was crowned with the full purity of chastity. Others, lest theyshould be praised on account of wonderful deeds performed insecret, have assumed the habits of lunatics, though they werein the full possession of their wits and their serenity ; so that
8 6 the holy angels, in admiration of these deeds, became spec­tators of the greatness of such men. Thou , however, hastassumed humility where those others have given witness against
themselves ; thou art not even able to keep silence if thou art
accused, and yet thou deemest thyself to be humble ' If thouart [really] humble, try thyself by these things, whether or not
thou art troubled.
The many mansions in the house of the Father denote thespiritual degrees of the inhabitants of that place. This means :the differen t gifts and the spiritual ranks in which they rejoicespiritually, and the variety of the classes of gifts. It is not to
be understood in such a manner, that every person has reallyhis defined portion in the various local habitations, so that[ these differences] manifest themselves openly in the variety ofparticular mansions apponited for every one ; but they are to
be compared with the personal advantage every one of us
obtains by the personal yet common use of this apperceptible
sun in accordance with the purity of his visual power. Thus
as the eyelid regulates the effusion of the quality of light, andas a lamp 1), in one and the same house, distributes the use of
1) The same c o m p arison is u�ecl l1y (iliazalr1 l[iyi·(; I I I, p. 4·

SIX TREATIS�S ON THE B E H A V l O U R OF EXCELLENCE

59

its light in a varied fashion , although the lamp itself is not
bereft of the simplicity of its light, so as to become many with
its varied aspects, so, those who have been deemed worthyof that place, although dwelling i n one mansion, indivisible as
it is into parts, attract, at a fixed time, from one and the same
intelligible sun, every one according to the rank of his beha8 7 viour, the own delight, in one air and one place and one
abode and with one sight and one mode. The high degree of
his neighbour ' s rank is not seen by him who is inferior, namely
not as if it arose from the many gifts of his neighbour andfrom the scarcity of his own gifts, so that it should be to him
a cause of grief and spiritual torment, absit ! To think suchthings in the place of delights were impossible. Every one
rejoices within himself at the gift he has been deemed worthyof, and at the height of his rank. But the outward aspect ofthem all, is one ; and the place is one. And what is still truer,
they dwell as in encampments of angels, in one aereal abode,in equality of actual vision, with secret consciousness of their[different] ranks, in contemplative revelations that vary accor­
ding to their degree.
If real personal beings possess, apart from working apper­
ceptive power, also spiritual impulses, no one will venture, evenin the world to be, to proclaim in words an order of things
deviating from this one : that [that the only differentiation is withregard to] the intellect and further [spiritual] powers , eventhough [this differentiation j be very manifest on account of theperfection of nature. True, therefore, is the word spoken by
the Fathers : on the one hand there is ignorance for an un­
determined time ; on the other hand there is a limited time
for the manifestation of its abrogation, together with [the reve­
lation of] other peculiar mysteries that are defined in sil enceby the [supreme] being. For there is no mean between comss plete elevation and absolute abasement, in the future separation.
Either one belongs wholly to the high ones or wholly to thelow ones. But within this and the other [state] there are varying
modes of retribution .
And if this be true, as it is true, what then is the folly ofsome, who say : I do not desire to be i n the kingdom ; if I
only could strive after salvation from hell. Being saved fromhell i s the kingdom. And being without the kingdom i s hell.
For the scriptures do not teach three places [in the world to

60

SlX

'J'R L\TISES

0�

TilE

B E l L\ VIOURUF

EXCELLEKCE

bej . What do they teach i \\'hen the son of man shall comein his glory, he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but thegoats on the left 1) . Here the scriptures do not mention threeclasses, but two : those of the right hand and those of theleft. The difference between the dwelling place is given dis­tinctly. And these, it says, shall shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of the father 2), and those [will depart] into everlasting
fire 3). Further : They shall come from the east and west, andshall sit down with A braham in the kingdom !). And thechildren of the promise that have not been obedient shall go
into the darkness outside the kingdom. There will be psychic
weeping and grinding of teeth, which is a grief more hardthan the fire. 1'\ow thou understandest that to remain far fromthat elevation means torturing hell.
It is beautiful for a man to ad monish mankind unto beau8 9 tiful things and to bring them, by his constant care, from error
to the knowledge of life. And this is the stage of our Lord
and the apostles, and it is very elevated. But if he perceives
within himself, that by familiar and constant intercourse, his
inner being becomes injured by the sight of [worldly] things,
and his serenity is disturbed so as to lose its discernment, andis darkened , since his spirit still acquires cautiousness andstricter submission of the senses. For he is sick as long as his
senses are not yet healed : and wishing to heal others, he loses
his own partial health of soul and quits the chaste freedom of
his will for a troubled m ind. Such a one has to recall theword of the apostle who says : Strong meat belongeth to thehealthy 5), and he shall turn back, lest he hear from them,symbolically : How art thou a physician for others, yet full ofwounds thyself ? Accordingly he shall keep to himself andguard his own health only. Then instead of audible words heshall care 6) for a beautiful behaviour, and others will profit
not by his spoken words, but by the health in which he holds
himself, if possible. Thus by his health they will be healed,even though he be absent, [thay is to say] by the zeal of his
excellent deeds, which is a more excellent thing than to serve
them merely with words, while sick himself, and in need ofhealing more than they themselves.
I) Matthew 25, 32.
5 ) Hebrews 51 I4.

2) Matthew I 31 43 ·6) Read �3) Matthew 25. 4 1 .

4 ) Matthew 8 , I L

S I X TREATISE S ON THE B E H A V IOUR OF EXCELLENCE

6I

For if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch 1).
For strong meat belongeth to the healthy and to those whose
senses have been trained and strengthened so as to receive
all kinds of food , that is [ those that are strengthened ] against
all sensual shocks, because the heart is healthy on account of
its training in perfection .
But when Satan desires to defile the chaste spirit by thoughtsof fornication, he first tempts its endurance by vain glory, since
the beginning of such a thought does not resemble that of theaffections. This he does with the guarded spirit into which hecannot easily instill a thought which is purely evil. But when
he that was strong, by meditating on old thoughts has left his
fortress and when he is at some distance from it, Satan causes
him to be assailed by full opportunity of fornication, by asso­
ciating the spirit with lascivious things.
At first the spirit feels a sudden terror when it meets them,because of the chastity of the deliberations that meet the[ worldly] things, for the mind, their governor, has refrained
from looking at them before. But it falls from the height of
its original thought, even though it be not defiled . A nd it does
not turn and regains quickly the former deliberations which
are the cause of the secondary ones, then, when it meets oftenwith these things, custom will blind the discernment of the soulthrough frequency of meeting. So in accordance with the quan­tity and the character of the first affection, is the submission
to the second.
To avoid the affections by the recollection of virtues iseasier and more beautiful than to vanquish them in strife. For
when the affections leave their place and are in motion so as
9 1 to show themselves at strife, then they also print on t he spirit
forms and images. [People of] this rank 2) possess a great
valiance, so that they draw strength from the spirit ; but themind is greatly disturbed and troubled. By the former way ofproceeding mentioned , even the traces of affections are notknown in the spirit when they have departed.
Bodily labours and meditating upon the scriptures preserve
purity. And labours are made firm by hope and fear. Hopeand fear are established in the spirit by seclusion from the
9o1 ) Matthew I 51 '4·2 ) Namely t h o s e w h o V;tnquish the :1 ffections.

62

SIX TRE ATISES ON T H E BEHAVIOVR OF EXC ELLE:\'CE

children of man and by constant prayer 1). Until man hasreceived the Comforter, he needs written docu ments 2) , in order
to fix in his heart, by images, profitable recollections. And byconstant meditation upon them , he will renew the attractionsof excellence and see in himself caution against the narrowpaths of sin ; for he does not yet possess the dominating forceof spirit which reduces to oblivion those powers which bereave
man of profitable recollections and adduce in him languor by
distraction of mind.
But when spiritual force enters and dwells in the intelligible
forces of the operative soul, then there are fixed in the heart
in stead of written laws spiritual commandments, which theheart learns secretly from the spirit, which does not need thehelp of sensible material 3) by the medium of the senses.
Whenever the mind learns from matter this instruction isfollowed by error and forgetful ness. But whenever it draws
in struction from incorruptible things, its recollection will also
be incorruptible , founded on their intelligible nature.
92
There are good deliberations and there is a good will. Thereare evil deliberations and there is an evil heart. The former,
without the latter are of little account for remuneration. The
latter are impulses which blow over the mind, as the windsthat blow over the sea causing waves to arise. But the latterare the roots. And in accordance with the fundamental directionis also the good or the bad remuneration ; not in accordancewith the motion of the deliberations. For the soul does notcease from setting into motion varying deliberations, and if
thou calculatest a remuneration for all these even though they
have no root beneath, thou wilt be near to changing thy
remuneration and thy retributions thousand times every day.
A young bird without wing-s is the mind that has l ately left
the bonds of the affections, by means of the works of repen­tance. At the time of prayer it strives to exalt itself above
earthly things, but it cannot. For it creeps still on the surfaceof the earth , where also the serpent crawls. But it concentrates
its deli berations by recitation and works and fear and care forexcellent qualities. For beyond these it does not yet know
anything. And these keep the mind pure for a short time. But
2) Litt . : im pressions in ink.

SIX

TREATISES ON THE DEH AVTOVR OF EXCELLENCE

63

then recollections will return, troubling and defiling the heart.
For he does not yet perceive the air of peace and liberty,
which concentrates the mind for a long time, [keeping it] quiet
without any recollection of [ worldly ] things. For it has still
9 3 wings of flesh, viz. bodily virtues which are exercised openly.
But is does not yet see and perceive the theoretical significanceof the virtues exercised, which consists in wings of the mind
by which it approaches unto heavenly things and is removed
far from the earth .
As long as man serves God in a way that can be perceived
by the senses and in [ outward ] things, the prints of things will
be delineated in his deliberations and his mind will think of
divine things in bodily forms. But when he perceives that which
is within things, then, according to the m easure of its appercep­
tive power, the mind will also be exalted above the forms ofthings in due time. The eyes of the Lord are upon the humble
and His ears are willing to hear them 1). The prayer of thehumble [goes ] as it were from his mouth unto [ God's] ear : 0
Lord, my God, let my darkness be enlightened. W hen thouart [ occupied ] in solitude with the beautiful work of humility,
when thy soul is near u nto coming forth from under the dark­
ness, this will be thy sign : thy heart will burn and glow aswith fire, night and day, so that thou wilt esteem all earthly
things as ash and dung. This means that it will not evenplease thee to touch food, on account of the pleasure of thenew, fervent deliberations, which move continually within thee.
Then, of a sudden, the fountain of tears will be given thee,so that they flow from thy eyes, as the waters of brooks,
without compulsion, mingling themselves with all thy work, viz.
with thy recitation and with thy prayer, with thy service andwith thy meditation , with thy food and with thy drink , withall that thou doest tears will stream . If thou observest this in
94 thyself, take heart, thou hast passed through the sea. Continue
thy labours, keep thy cautiousness sound that thy grace may
augmen t from day to day. As long as thou hast not yet met
with these things, thy way has not yet finally reached themountain of God .
If this state vanishes after thou hast found it and if thisfervour abates, without thy proceeding to take another thing
1) C f. P s . 3 4 , 1 5 .

64

SIX

T R EATISESON

T H E BEJI AV!Ol'R OF

EXCELLENCE

as its substitute, woe to thee, what hast thou lost ! Either thouhast become haughty, or thou art lax. ·what is it that issituated after tears, and what a man meets after having passed
beyond them , and what there is further after th is latter state,
we will describe beneath, in those chapters which deal withthe course of behaviour, as a thing concerning which we areenlightened by the scriptures and by the Fathers who were
entrusted such mysteries.
If thou hast no works thou shalt not speak about excellence.
Dearer to God are trials for righteousness' sake, than all vows
and sacrifices. And clearer is the odour of the sweat of thefatigue they cause, than all the drugs of sweet scent and ex­
quisite perfumes.
All excellence, which does not vex the body, must be deemedby thee a miscarriage without a soul. The sacrifices of the righ­teous are the tears of their eyes, and their acceptable offerings
are the sighs of their vigils. The saints lament because of thedulness of the body and they sigh and send their prayers unto
God with suffering. And at the voice of their lamentations the
95 holy hosts assemble to them in order to give them heart
through hope and to console them. The holy angels are theirpartners during the temptations and sufferings of the saints,
because they are near to them.
Labours and humility make man a God on the earth .
Faith and compassion give a speedy advance to clearness.
Fervour and a broken heart cannot dwell in one soul ; neither
do those that are drunk know control of their mind. Whenfervour has been given, sorrow and mourning are taken away.
Wine has been given for gladness, and fervour for the joy ofthe soul. The former warms the heart, the word of God themind. Those who are kindled by fervour, are transported to
the world to be in their deliberations by meditations of hope.
As to those who are drunk with wine, various hallucinations
present themselves, so he, who is drunk and is ablaze does notknow trouble, nor the world nor anything in it. These things
happen to those who are simple of heart and fervent with hope.
The many things which will happen unto those who go the
traditional course of behaviour after long labours of purifi c ation
are tasted by them, in the beginning of the way, by faith ofsoul only. All that the Lord wills, He does.
Blessed are those who, in the sea of troubles, keep themselves

SIX TREATISES

0:-1 THE BE I I AVIOUR OF EXCELLENCE

6S

simple and avoid investigation , in fervour to God , without
turning their back, for they will quickly be safe in the harbourof the promises and rest in the mansions attained by all who
labour well. There they are consoled for their toiling, exulting
96 with the joy of their hope .
Those who proceed with hope, are not liable to see theinjuries on the way ; neither are they able to investigate thelike. But when they have gone ashore they appear unto them,and they praise God [thinking of] how they have been guarded
amidst all those storms and the many cliffs of which they wereunconscious, because they were not anxious to look at suchthings. But those who cherish serious thoughts and wish todeal very prudently, and give themselves up to evolving deli­berations and to bear and make many preparations, and wish
to see and to deliberate the causes of injuries and thoughtsof relaxation, such are usually constantly found at the door of
their houses. For the slothful man saith, There is a lion with­out, I shall be slain in the streets 1). And as those who said :And there we saw the giants, and we were in our own sightas grasshoppers z). And the cities are strong and walled up to
heaven 3). These are the people who at the time of death arefound at the beginning of their way. They are those who
constantly wish to act prudently, but never to begin. But thesimple swims and passes with his first ardour. He does notthink of the body nor of the possibility that his commerce
will not prosper.
Let not the greatness of thy wisdom be a stumbling-blockfor thyself and a snare before thee, preven ting thee from be­
ginning manly and quickly, in the hope in God, thy course
97 cleansed with blood, lest thou be constantly needy and devoidof the knowledge of God.
He who looks at the winds will not sow. Better for us isdeath in the war for [the sake of] God, than a life of shameand baseness 4). If thou wilt begin with one of the works of God,
make thy testament beforehand as one who has no further life
i n this world and as one prepared for death. Draw near to it
without hope, as one whose end will be reached in that action
and as if it will be the end of thy days without thy seeing
any more. Let this be truly decided in thy mind, lest victory1 ) Proverbs 22, 13

2) Numbers 1 3 , 333) Dent.

1, 284) Cf. p. 3 1

66

SIX !REATlSES ON !HE BEHAVlOUR OF EXCELLENCE

be taken from thee · through hope of life, being a cause of
spiritual laxity.
Therefore let not wisdom reign wholly over thy actions. Givequickly room also to faith in thy spirit. Remember constantly
the days after death and let laxity never enter thy soul, ac­cording to the word of the sage who has said : A thousand
years in this world are not like one day in the world of therighteous 1).
Begin manly with every work of excellence ; do not approach
it with a double heart. Do not doubt in thy heart, on the wayof thy course, of the hope of God's grace, lest thy toiling
become in vain and the work of thy service become heavy
for thee. But believe in thy heart that God is merciful andgives grace to those who seek Him, not in accordance with
our service but in accordance with the love of our soul andwith our faith in Him. For as thou hast believed, so it will
happen u nto thee.
98
Some are occupied by knocking their head the whole
day in stead of by their services ; and with some, perpetualkneelings take the place of the number of their prayers. Someare occupied by the course of their tears in stead of by theircanonical [duties] without seeking any thing besides, because
it is better to them than all other things. Some fulfil! the lawsprescribed to them by their zeal for their spiritual meditations,by their suffering from hunger which eats away their flesh.
Some are withheld from accompl ishing their work, by the tor­
ments which torture their stomach. Some do not make a breakin their reciting of Psalms on account of their spiritual fervour.
The heart of some is set aflame by written words ; some arecaptivated by the u nderstanding thereof. A nd there are somewhose lips are withheld from their ordinary course by the
stupor caused by the contents of their recitation. Some taste
all these things and are satisfied and turn away and desist.
Some taste a little from them only, and become puffed up andisolent and forget.
Some are held back from them by the severe suffering fromtheir plagues ; some by all kinds of allurements ; some by power,some by glory among men, others by passion for [ worldly]
things ; some by wanton occupations. Some however advance1 ) n . f's. 84 , ! I

SlX TREATlSES ON TilE BEHA VlOUR OF EXCELLENCE

67

well and making up their mind, they do not turn their backbefore they have taken possession of the pearl.
Begin every work for the sake of God joyfully. And if thouart pure from affections and from doubt of heart, God will
99 remunerate thee and help thee and give thee wisdom , andaccording to His will and in a wonderful way He will b ringthee to perfection. To whom be glory and power and adorationand exaltation for ever and ever. Amen.
Completed are the six treatises on the behaviourof excellence.

VII
ON OTH E R SUBJECTS, C H APTER BY C H A PTER , IN
SHORT SECTIONS. ON THE CHARACTER O F T R UST
IN GOD A N D FOR WHOM IT IS BECOMING TO TRUSTIN GOD. AND FURTHE R : W HEN A MAN TRUSTS, H E
WILL HAVE POWER ACCORDING T O [T HE STATE
OF ] HIS MIND. AND WHO TRUSTS FOOLISHLY ANDWITHOUT DISCERNMENT
There is a trust in God, with a faith of the heart, which is
beautiful and which rises from the discernment of knowledge.
And there is another trust which is insipid and rises fromfolly ; and this is false trust.
That a man who has absolutely no care for any of thesepassing things and whose soul is night and day given to theworks of God, without thought of any work of this world
because of his great zeal for exellence and because of hisabsorbing anxiety for the divine things, and who, therefore,
neglects to prepare dress and food and to fix and to preparea place for his shelter and the like, - that such a man trusts
in God that He will prepare in its due season all he needs
and that He will care for him - this is really true trust anda trust of wisdom. A nd in truth, for such a man it is also
1oo beautiful to confi d e in God, because he is His servant, andhe is ladened with thoughts concerning Him and he bears theweight of H is works without neglect. And so it is becoming

68

ON

OTHER

S U RJ ECTS,C H APTER

llY

ctL\ P T E R ,ET('.

to Him to show care for him, which is disting uished from His
care for the rest of mankind, beca use he has eminently main­tained in his person the word of our Lord saying : seek the
kingdom of God and H is righteousness 1 ) and : Take no thoughtfor your body 2). And if ye care for this, the world will pre­pare all for you , like as a servant. And as unto a master itwill be obedient unto your words without hesitation , without
thwarting your will in anything.
Therefore, because such a man does not desist on accountof [worldly] causes from standing perpetually before Him, hewill not surrender himself to those things which the body needs.
For he does not care for other things either, but he abstains
from them all equally, be they small or great, be they thingsof comfort or pleasure - an abstention based on fear of God.
So he will find sustenance in a wondrous way, even though
he does not touch any of these things, nor fatigues himself
with them.
Another however, whose heart is wholly buried in the earth
and who constantly eats dust with the serpent without caring
in any way for the things pleasant to God, who fatigues him­
self in every respect by the bodily things and is occupied byand constantly cares for intercourse and pleasure and luxury,
and who has manifold worldly connections, - when such a man,�iven to such laxity and indifference regarding excellence, fromtime to time gets into trouble or want, or the fruits of sin­fulness disturb him in any way, and [when he] says as follows :1 0 1 I trust in God, He will work for me without doubt and He
will comfort me, - o fool, till now thou hast not recalled God
but thou hast disdained Him by the laxity of thy works and
H is name was slandered among the nations, as the scripturesays. And now thou sayest with a full mouth : I confide in Him
who will help me and care for me. God has well said throughthe prophet, scorning such people : They see� me daily anddelight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness
and forsook not the ordinance of their God : they ask of me
the ordinances of justice 3). To them belongs the fool who does
not even spiritually come near u nto God, but, at a time when
the darkness of troubles surrounds him, elevates his hands unto
Him i n confi d ence. That such become wise, requires that they1 ) Matthew 6, 33

2) Matthew 6, 2 5

ON OTHER SUBJECTS, C H A PTER BY C H APTER, ETC.

69

be branded several times. For, although they have no works
such as could be a basis for trust in God, yet they have beenthought worthy of chastisement and loaded with mercy, as itwere from [the midst] of their evil works and their indifference
regarding their duties. They should not mislead themselves and,forgetting the rank of their previous way of life, say : I trust
in God. Such have to be chastised, lest they, though not pos­sessing works of faith, stretch out their feet in idleness, saying :I believe that God will give me to eat , as if they weretoiling in the works of God.
Or it may come to pass that some one goes and falls intoa pit through his own folly, and although he has neverthought of God before, he says now : I trust in God, He will
102 deliver me. Err not, thou fool. Trust in God has to be precededby works for the sake of God and by the sweat of His service.
If thou believest in God thou doest well. But also faith re­quires works ; and confi d ence in Him requires the testimonyof the heart which is born of the toils [ for the sake] of ex­cellence. Believe that God is He who cares for H is creatures
and who is clad with all power. But connect with this faith
the works which suit it. Then He will answer thee. Take nowind in thy fist, viz. faith without deeds.
If a man travel a road without being conscious of the factthat there are evil beasts or m urderers on it, or the like, howmany times will this universal care of God cause [ the danger]
to pass, by retaining him at the place where he is, for any
cause, till the danger is over, or by some one meeting him
and causing him to return. Or another time, a dangerous
serpent lies on the way, which he has not noticed. If God willthat he be not entangled in evil, the animal will at once makea sound or leave its place and disappear, or it will creep
farther so that he sees it and is cautious. Thus God will savehim, even if he be not worthy, for motives which God alone
k nows, especially for His mercy's sake. Or, another time ahouse or a wall or a rock is on the point of falling or slippingfrom its place and coming down instantly [ at the place] where
103 some men are sitting. Thereupon God will order an angel
and will hinder this accident and prevent it till those people
have risen [ and left] that place, for any reason whatsoever thatmakes them go away, so that none will remain under [ thefalling thingJ . But as soon as they have left [ the place ] , it will

70

O N OTHER SUBJECTS, CHAPTER BY C H APTER, ETC.

fall. But if it happens that anyone be under it, he will not bedamaged. By this God desires to show the greatness of His
power.
Such things and the like are [ signs of] universal care. The
righteous possesses this grace perpetually ; as an individual,
not 1 ) as a member of the community. The rest, however, areordered by God to govern themselves with insight and tomingle in their affairs intelligence with the care of God. But
the righteous does not need this insight in order to governwith it his affairs. In stead of this insight he possesses faithby which he storms strong fortresses. And such things as wehave enumerated he does not fear. As scripture says : therighteous is bald as a lion �) and he ventures all through his
faith. Not as one who tempts God but as one who possesses
confidence in Him and as one who is armed and strongly cladwith the force of the spirit. A nd concerning His great perpe­
tual care for him God has said thus : I will be with him introuble ; I will deliver him and honour him. With long life
I will satisfy him, and shew him my salvation 3). He who is
1 04 weak in his works and lax or negligent, or whose deeds areevil, it is impossible that this hope be his. But it will be forhim that is constantly with God in all things and who is His
relative by his beautiful works, who directs constantly the gaze
uf his heart towards God's grace, as David says : My eyes failwhile I wait for the Lord 4) .
VIII
W H AT IT IS THAT HELPS A MAN TO COME NEAR
UNTO GOD WITH HIS HEART AND WHY IT IS T H A T
HELP COMES N E A R UNTO HIM SECRETLY A N D
W H AT IT IS T HAT C A USES A M A N T O COME NEARU NTO HUMILITY
Blessed is the man who knows his weakness. This know­
ledge becomes for him the foundation and the beginning [ ofhis coming ] unto all good and beautiful things. When a manI) Lacking in one of the London M".
3) Ps. 9 I 1 I S
4) Cf. Ps. I 1 9. 1 2 32) Prov e rbs 28, 1

WHAT

IT

IS

THAT

HELPS

A

M AN

TO

COME

NEAR

ETC.

7I

knows and perceives that he really and in truth is weak, thenhe restrains his soul from profuseness which is dissipation ofknowledge and he will augment the watchfulness of his soul.
Unless a man has been remiss in some small thing and aslight negligence has appeared in him and tempters have sur­rounded him either with temptations that arouse bodily affections
or with temptations which stir the affectable power of the soul,he cannot perceive his own weakness, Then, however, he re­cognizes the greatness of God's help by comparing it with his
own weakness.
Thus if he sees that his heart does not rest from fear, eventhough he be provident and very cautious, withdrawing and
105 hiding his soul in innumerable apartments and providing hissoul with causes of trust, then he understands. and knows that
this whole impulse of his heart denotes some other thing whichis lacking and which is very necessary to him, viz. that heneeds other help. For the heart testifies to [this ] within, by thefear that moves in it, denoting the lack of something. And
therefore he cannot remain i n confidence. For the help of God
is necessary for deliverance.
When he knows that he needs divine help, he will frequently
pray. And by much beseeching the heart becomes humble. For
there is no man who is needy and asking, without being humble.
And God will not despise a broken and contrite heart 1). Until
the heart has become humble, it will not rest from distraction .
Humility restrains the heart. And a s soon as m a n has become
humble, mercy will surround and envelop him. And when mercy
draws near, the heart will perceive help at once, because someconfidence and force will also move in it. When it perceives
that divine help approach unto it and that He is its supportand its helper, then the heart will be filled with faith at once.
Then it will see and understand that prayer is the port ofhelp, the fou ntain of salvation, the treasure of confidence, thesheet-anchor amidst the storms, the light in the darkness, thestick of the weak , the shelter at the time of temptations, themedicine at the time of illness, the shield of protection in thebattle, the sharp arrow against the enemies.
106
And because by prayer he has found the entrance unto all
this good, he will delight in prayer of faith for ever more,
1 ) l's. 5 1 , 1 7

72

W!L\T IT IS THAT

I! ELl'S.\ ;'.L\:'-1 TO C O M E NEAR ETC.

while his heart exults in confidence , not blindly and withwords only, as it had been till then.
When he knows this, he possesses prayer as a treasure
within his souL And from joy he changes the tenor of prayer
into sounds of thanksgiving. And the following word has been
said by the sage among the saints, Mar Euagrius, who did
every thing which he did with a purpose : Prayer is a joythat gives place to thanksgivings. Concerning this prayer,
which takes place after receiving the knowledge of God, hesays : This prayer that gives place [to thanksgiving] , in whicha man does not pray nor act as in the other passionate prayers
which he prayed , perceiving grace, consists therein that in theheart, which is filled with joy and ecstasy, frequently emotionsof thanksgiving" and gratitude stir themselves, in the silenceof kneelings. Then, on account of the inner ardour, which is
set in motion by wOJ1 der at the understanding of God's bounties,
he will of a sudden raise up his voice and praise without being
wearied, while the inner ardour gives place to thanksgivings
also of the tongue ; and so he will give utterance [to his feelings]
long and wonderfully. Who has experienced these things clearly,
not dimly, and has noted them with intelligence, will under­
stand when I say that it occurs without variation , for it has
been experienced many times. And furthermore [such a manJ
107 will leave idle things and be constantly with God, without abreak, in constant prayer, fearing th•it he will be bereft of thecurrent of its helping forces.
All these beautiful things are born from a man's perceiving
his own weakness. For from this, because of his longing for
help, he turns to God with beseechings. And as he brings near
his spirit unto God, He comes nigh unto him with His gifts.
And H e does not take away from him His inspiration , becauseof his great humility. For as a widow unto the j udge, hecries at all times : avenge me on my adversary. Therefore God,the merciful, necessarily will delay his petitions, that he havethe better reason to approach unto Him. And because of hisneed he will constantly remain at the fountain of help, while
God grants some of his demands quickly, others not : [Hegrants] those concerning which He knows that they arc neces­sary for life, the rest He delays. And in some cases He with­holds from him the ardour of his enemies, and in others He
gives an opening to temptations, that this, as I have said ,\V I I A T

ITIST ll ATl i EU'S

A

MAN

TO

COM E

N EAK

ETC .

73

should be a cause for approaching unto God, and that heshould become prudent by temptations. And this is what issaid i n the scripture : The Lord left many peoples and He
did not destroy them at once, nor did He give them into thehand of Joshua, in order to test Israel by them so that thegenerations of the children of Israel should learn war 1).
As for the righteous who is not acquainted with his weak108
ness, all his affairs are in peril. He is not far from falling,
the destroying lion is not removed from him nor the demon ofhaughtiness. Who lacks knowledge of his weakness , lacks
humility. Who lacks humility, lacks perfection. Who lacks
perfection ·is still in a state of peril. And the enemy can attack
him at every quarter, because his town is not fortified withiron bolts nor with a brazen lintel.
Neither is humility to be acquired except through the causes
which bring about a continually broken heart and destroy thedeliberations of presumption . Without humility the service ofman cannot be sealed : the seal of the spirit has not yet beenplaced on the charter of his freedom , he is still a slave andhis service cannot be established without his being made humble,
neither can he acquire wisdom without temptations, neither canhe reach humility without wisdom. Therefore God necessarily
sends the saints things which cause humility and brokennessof heart and passionate prayer without distraction. Sometimes
he afflicts them by accidents that arise from the natural affec­
tions or by transgressions arising from impure deliberations ;sometimes by disdain or by idle oppressions which they have toendure from men, or by bodily pains ; sometimes by poverty
or need of necessary things ; sometimes by vehement affectio:1soffear in the open war of the demons which He allows i n91oorder to keep them continually in motion, o r b y terrible varying
states of which one is still more strong and sorrowful andhard than the other.
All these things happen, that man should have a reason
for being humble, lest he should sleep in neglect either ofthings present from which the struggler suffers, or of fear ofthings to be. Therefore temptations will necessarily be profi­
table unto men. Now I do not say, that, in order to have acause of humility, he ought to let loose his will unto evil1 ) Cf. Judges 3, 1 s q .

74

WHAT IT IS THAT H E LPS AMAN TO COME NEAR ETC.

things, with the purpose of humbling himself by the recollec­
tion of them, or that he should hasten unto other temptations.
But it is beautiful for him that, apart from his performing goodworks, he should constantly spur himself and remember that
he is a creature and naturally prone to be seduced. And who­
soever is a creature, requires an external power, viz. to help
him. And he who requires external help, the deficiency of his
own nature is manifest. And every one who knows that he isdeficient, to him humility is becoming in order to receive what
he needs from Him who is able to give it.
If he knows all these things from the beginning and looks
to them at all times, he will not sleep. A nd if he does not
sleep, he will not be delivered into the hand of the powers
which endanger his vigilance. Therefore it is becoming for him
r 1 o that goes the way of God, that he confess and reproach andrebuke his soul for all [evils] that overtake him, knowing thateither because of his negligence it is excited by the tempter
by order of the Governor, or because he has exalted himself.
Therefore he shall not leap up nor be shaken, but keep hissoul quiet without accusation [of God], lest his evil be doubled.
For there is not iniquity with God, on the contrary, He is
the fou ntain of j ustice.
IX
O N SINS [COM MITTE D] INTENTIONALLY A N D WIT H
EVIL WILL AND ON T H OSE [COMMITTED] ACCI­DENTALLY
There are sins in which a man is entangled through weak­ness and accidentally. And there are sins the source of whichis the will ; others [ spring] from an u ncultivated mind. Someare committed occasionally, others continually ; others are cus­
tomary. A nd all these classes and kinds of sins, though boun dby the common verdict o f reprehension, have a different cha­racter and their punishment may be greater or smaller.
Some sins are reprehended severely ; others are near to mercy.
God has also shown unto Adam, Eve and the serpent, though
not one of them was exempted from receiving the retributionof his fault, a great variety in the curse which was directedON SINS[ cOMMITTED] INTENTIONALLY AND WITH ETC.

75

against each one of them ; and so He did in the curses directedagainst their offspring. In accordance with the propensity andinclination of each unto sin, is j udgment m ade more heavy.
1, 1
If any one be not inclined to follow sin, but he be drawn
towards it on account of neglect regarding righteousness, al­though he be not zealous for it, his judgment will be severe
even if the connection with sin be difficult for him. But if hebe diligent and temptations rise, mercy is near to purify him,
without doubt. For it is another thing that a man who iscareful regarding excellence and constant in its works, m edi­
tating on it even in the night, should fail in any of its duties ;while by day he is loaded with its burden and goes aroundwith it, all his thoughts concentrated upon j ustness - it is adifferent thing that, while he is occupied with such things ,through ignorance or the compulsion of opposition on the wayof excellence and the mighty waves that arise every momentin his limbs, and the propensity towards aberration which is
implanted in him as a test of freedom, the indicator of his
scale should point somewhat to the left, and through the sick­ness of the flesh he should be entangled in any kind of sin
and suffer and be sorry on account of it and bewail himself
passionately because of his miserable weakness in the face ofwhat overtakes him now and then .
It is a very different thing, that one being lax i n the worksof righteousness or wholly neglectful of the way, should run
like a slave in complete obedience to all the delights of sin,and try to find the means of its accomplishment ; and that likeu z a slave he should purpose zealously to perform the will of his
adversary , his limbs serving him as weapons on behalf ofSatan in complete obedience and that he should not eventhink of repentance so as to draw nearer unto excellence andend his path of shortcomings.
D ifferent are the trespasses and the stumbling-blocks laid on
the way of virtue and in the course of righteousness. As the
Fathers say : On the way of excellence there are stumbling­
blocks, there are varying states, there is compulsion, and the like.
A different thing is death of the soul and complete destruc­tion and total abandonment. This is known thereby that, al­though one falls, he does not forget the love of his Father ;and although he is loaded with trespasses of every kind, hiszeal for the service of good is not held back, nor does he

76

ON

SINS

[ cOMM ITTlm ] INTENTIONALLY ANU WITH ETC .

desist from his course, nor abhor to stand i n struggle against
these things anew and with the same chance of being van­quished, nor cease from demolishing every day his building
and beginning a [ new] foundation.
And the word of the prophet is in his mouth : Till the hourof my departure from this world, rejoice not against me, 0mine enemy : when I fall, I shall arise ; when I sit in darkness,
the Lord shall be a light unto me 1). A nd he will not cease
to struggle till death. He will not allow himself to be van­quished, as long as there is breath in his nostrils. And though
his ship is wrecked every day and the sweat of his commerce
becomes a prey to the depths, he does not cease to borrowand fit out ships and navigate with good hope ; till the Lord,seeing his zeal, has mercy for his shipwrecks and inclines unto
"3 him in compassion and gives him strong impulses towards
patience and towards braving the burning arrows of the Evilone. This is wisdom from God and whoever is sick in thisway, IS WISe.
To abandon hope profi t s not. It is more expedient for us
to be j udged on account of special [sins] than on account ofcomplete abandonment. Therefore the blessed commentator 2)
warns us against becoming weary in face of the many struggles
and the frequent various kinds of strife to be met on the wayof righteousness lest we should turn back and give our adver­sary the opportunity of a complete victory in any kind of evil.
And so the blessed commentator says, arranging the strugglers
as it were i n classes : If you are truly zealous to look towards
excellence and anxious for serenity of mind unto God, andto practise those things which are agreeable u nto Him, youmust necessarily bear for the sake of these things, all the
struggles which will arise continually against you on accountof the natural affections and the attractions of this world andthe evil of the demons, without relaxing i n spite of the constantand never ceasing strife, without fear of the tenacious vehe­mence of war, without dread of the hosts of enemies , andwithout dejection if it happen that you trespass somewhereand sin, but receiving on your faces the blows and wounds
such as are [to be expected] i n so great a war. On accountof these things, therefore, you must not let yourself be moved
1) Micah 7, 8z) Theodore of Mo p suestic.

ON SINS[ C:OMMITTEIJ] I N TENTIONALLY A:\'D \V IT !I ETC.

77

even from your will ' s decision ; on the contrary you must main­
tain the choice of your behaviour, deeming it a beloved and' 1 4 glorious thing to show yourselves in the war besmeared with theblood of your blows, without pausing in the slightest degreefrom strife against the enemies. These are the warnings of theblessed commentator.
Thus, it is not becoming in us to relax because of thesethings. Woe to the solitary who is unfaithful to his covenantand, treading down his conscience, gives Satan entrance into
him, in small and great matters of sin, so that he does notfind strength to defend against the enemies the breach [Satan]
has made in his soul. And with what countenance will he behold
the chaste, his companions, when they are brought together
from whom he has separated his way to go the way of des­truction , and the freedom of speech with God which the pious
possess, and the prayer which arises from the chaste heart
towards God and uplifts itself and even passes the hosts of
the angels and stops not until it reaches God's majesty, holding
the keys in its hands ceasing not until it has acquired its
demand, returing unto the mouth that has sent it, with glad­n ess. [ And with what countenance will he look upon] what isharder than all these things, viz. that, as he has separated his
way from them here, so Christ will separate him from them onthat day. When the brilliant clouds will bear on their backs 1)
the bodies that have become splendid by purification and thatenter the great gate of heaven. Therefore the ungodly shallnot stand in the j udgment 2), because their work is alreadyj udgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous 2),
in the resurrection before the j udgment, nor the impure in theranks of the saints.
1 ) Litterally : hipsz) Ps. 11 5

X
u s ON THE WORDS OF THE SCRIPTU RES BEING SPOKENAS IT WERE TO PATIENTS IN 1\l ODERATION LEST
THEY SHOU LD WHOLLY ABA N DON THE LIVING GOD.
BUT THIS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN BY US AS A
REASON F O R GREATER FREEDOM REGARDING SIN
The encouragement which our Fathers give us in theirwntings and the help towards repentance which is in thewritings of the Prophets and the Apostles, should not be taken
by us as a reason to disregard the threats of the divine actsof judgment, nor the punishment which God has decreed firmly
against the trangression of the borders which should not bepassed, through the mouth of all His saints and by means of
all kinds of laws, in order to eradicate sins. As if the hope of
repentance could be reason for us to strip from ourselves the
feeling of fear in order to sin more freely and without dread.
These [threats] are confi r med by the seals of the word of God,in all the scriptures of our salvation, and by the [divine] decrees
fixed against them, [threatening] all kinds of terror. Some ofthese He has partly revealed to the many or to the few [people]
by the punishments He brought upon them in order to showthat He hated sin. Or why then were drowned in the Deluge
the generations of the days of Noah ? Was it not on accountof the vileness of lasciviousness, because they had violated theu 6 beauty of the daughters of Kain ? In that time there was nolove of money nor adoration of idols, nor sorcery, nor wars
waged [by men] against one another.
Or again, why were five towns of the Sodomites for everburnt ? Was it not because they had given way to lust of theflesh, which had taken possession of them according to its
good pleasure, consisting in all kinds of impurity ? \Vas it notbecause of the fornication of one man that in Israel, the first­
born of God, there fell twenty-fi v e thousand by the plague i n
an instant ? Why then was Simson rejected b y God, Simson ,the man of strength, the Naziraean from the womb, the sanc­tified to God, whose birth was annunciated by an angel likethat of John the son of Zecharia, through whose hand [God]wrought marvels and signs, and who by the supernatural strength

0�

THE

WORDS

OF

THE

SCRIPTURESBEINGSPOKEN

ETC.

79

which God infused into his body smote a thousand men withthe jawbone of an ass and became a saviour and a judge
u nto Israel ? Was it not because he made impure and defi l ed
his hallowed limbs by i ntercourse with a harlot, that the Lordleft him and gave him into the hands of his enemies ? David,
the heart of God, for whose excellence the promise m ade u nto
the righteous Fathers was carried out in his offspring fromwhom sprouted Christ the Saviour of the whole world - was
it not by adultery with one woman and for the feebleness of
one moment that from a glance of his eye he got an arrowin his soul and wrought evil against himself from within h isown house ; for the son which was to come forth from his loins
was to pursue him ?
A nd this happened although he showed repentance and the
1 1 7 Lord said to him : Also have I put away thy sin ; thou shalt
not die 1), and he wept a flood of tears so that he moistened
his bed during the nights.
I return to what I was saying before : Why then did distressand destruction hit the house of Eli the priest, the righteous
old man, a priest and a judge of Israel during forty years ?
Was i t not because of Pinehas and H ophni his sons who treatedthe women scornfully that came to pray i n the tabernacle,
though he himself did not sin, at any rate not wilfully, but
only in so far as he was silent and reprehended with words
only, without showing fervour against the fornication of hissons, so that the j udgment of the Lord took revenge on them ?
And lest any one should think that the Lord shows His zeal
only against those who are sinners in their lifetime, He also
displays it against this audacious sin hated of Him, in thecase of those who are near to Him, His priests and judges
and the heads of the people and against those men who wereholy unto Him and by whose hands He had done wonderfulthings, yet whom, when they violated the laws H e had laid
down , He did not spare. As is written in Ezechiel where H esays t o the m a n whom He orders t o smite the people o f
Jerusalem with a hidden sword : Begin before my altar a n d do
not spare, neither old man nor boy nor youth �) ; to show that
it was the people near to Him, those who walked i n fear
1 1 8 and chastity before Him and performed His will. The saints
1 ) Cf. 2 Samuel 1 2 , 1 32 ) E7ekie\ 9·, 6

80

ON

TilE

WORDS

OF

THE

SC:RIPTL'RESBEINGSPOKENETC.

of the Lord and those near to Him are good works and apure heart. But when they reject the ways of the Lord's will,
He also rejects them and puts them away from before Him
and takes His grace from them .
And why then did the judgment of the Exalted smite
Belshazzar by the sign of the hollow hand ? Was it not be­cause he had behaved audaciously against the holy vessels
which he had taken from Jerusalem and in which he drankwith his concubines ? And in the same way the judgment of
the Exalted will of a sudden smite him who in abandoned
audaciousness uses for worldly purposes the limbs that once
were set apart for the holiness of the Lord, just as Belshazzar
was smitten who behaved audaciously against the holy vessels
taken from the sanctuary of the Lord.
Therefore we should not make use of the confidence i nrepentance a n d the heart-giving words o f the scriptures as amotive for disregarding the words and the threats of theLord and disdain Him by evil deeds, disdaining thereby also
the limbs that once we have offered as a sacrifice for theministration of His sanctuaries and for the use of His service.
Verily we are the sanctified of the Lord and the Naziraeansabstaining from women, as Elijah, Elisha and the prophetsand the other sanctified Naziraeans and holy virgins by whose
hands great and amazing things were done, who spake withGod face to face ; and as those who lived afterwards, John
the virgin and the holy Simeon and the other preachers of
I I 9 the New Testament who sanctified themselves to the Lord andreceived mystic secrets from Him, some from His own mouth,
others by revelation. And so they became mediators between
God and mankind, and the receptacles of His revelations andthe preachers of the Kingdom to the inhabitants of the world.
XI
W H EREBY THE BEAUTY OF SOLITARY LIFE IS TO
BE PRESERVED A N D H O W IT CAN BE A CAUSE O F
GOD'S BEING GLORI FIEDI t i s becoming for the solitary to be in every way a visionof stim ulation u nto those who look at him, so that because of
the beauties which radiate from him on all sides as the rays

W I IEREilYTHE

BEAUTY OF SOLITARY LIFE IS TO BE ETC.

8I

of the sun, even the enemies of truth unwillingly acknowledge
that the Christians have a well-founded hope ; and from everyside they will flow to their place of refuge, and thus the headof the church will be elevated above its enemies.
Thus the glory of the solitary's deeds will be a stimulus formany to withdraw from the world. And [it is becoming] that
he be reverenced by every one on account of his excellence,
so that the mouth of the m em hers of the church will be openedon his account and their head exalted above all creeds.
The pride of Christ ' s church · consists in the behaviour ofthe solitaries. Therefore it is becoming to the solitary that the
beauties of his habits shine on all sides ; in the humble attitudeof his limbs, in the simplicity of his habit, in his elevation
120 above visible things, in the veracity of his renunciation, in his
rigorous fasting, in his being continuous silent, in the subduingof his senses, in the continence of his aspect, in his not being
quarrelsome with other people for any reason, in the sparing­ness of his speech, in his being pure from rancour, in his
discriminate conscious simplicity. And [ it is becoming for him]that it be known that he is alien to this harmful and fleeting
life and n ear to true and spiritual life, from his constantly
being by himself, from his being unknown among men, fromhis not being tied to any one by the bonds of comradeshipand intimacy, from his quiet dwellingplace, from the small
space of his habitation, from his few and mean utensils, fromhis avoiding men, from his constant prayer, from his hating
and avoiding honour, from his not being bound by temporal
life, from his great patience, from his endurance in temptations,from his keeping aloof from rumours and from inquiries into
worldly affairs, from his constant care for and meditation upon
his true country, known by his sad countenance and his shri­velled face 1), from his constantly weeping night and day, andabove all from his cautioi.1s chastity and his freedom fromcovetousness in small and great things . .
These are, in short, the manifest beauties of the solitary
121 which testify to his being wholly dead to the world and nearu nto God.
It is becoming for him to think of these things constantly
in order to acquire them.
Verb. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (Wensinck).

82

WHEREBY THE BEAUTY OF SOLITARY LIFE I S TO BE ETC.

If any one asks : Wherefore are these lengthy descriptions
necessary ? I answer : they are very necessary. For if any one
search for them, one by one, in himself, and if any fail him
who cares for his life, he can ascertain from these distinctions
his deficiency in any of the virtues. And thus these descriptions
may become to him admonitions. And if he possess perso­
nally all the things described and also those omitted, the know­
ledge of them is given him [in this way] and so he will be­come a cause of God bei ng praised among men and angels.
And then he may prepare for his soul a place of rest before
departing this world.
XII
THAT IT IS NOT BEAUTI FUL FOR THE SERVANT OF
GOD WHO HAS RENUN CIATED THE WORLD AND
H AS GONE FORTH TO SEEK EVEN THE TRUTH ,OUT OF FEAR THAT H E SHALL NOT FIND THE
TRUTH TO DESIST F ROM SEEK i i\ G IT OR FROM
THE FERVOUR \V H ICH IS BORN FROM THE DESIREO F DIVINE T H I N GS, O R F ROM THE I N Q UIRY AFTER
THEIR M YSTI C SECRETS WHICH ARE DESCRIBEDM YSTERIOUSLY. T H AT, BY THIS SEEKING, THE MIND
MAY D ESIST F ROM EVIL D ISTRACTION A ND REC OLLECTiONS OF THE AFFECTIONSThere are three degrees which constitute the whole courseof man. The degree of novitiate, the middle one, and that ofperfection.
122
A nd although the mind of the first degree looks with all
its occupations and recollections towards excellence, yet it isconnected with the affections.
The second degree, the middle one, lies between the affec­
table and the spiritual state. Righthand and lefthand delibera­
tions are stirred equally in it. And neither the fountain oflight nor that of darkness ever cease to flow on its side, as
it has been said. If the [ solitary ] cease for even a short timefrom meditating restlessly on spiritual writings, or from thinkingof divine things, such as enftamc him as fire by their tending
towards the truth, in union with outward heedfulness as strict

TIIAT IT IS NOT BEAUTIFUL FOR THE SERVANT OF ETC .

s ,)�

as possible which includes inward cautiousness and sufficient
works - then he is swept away towards the side of the af­
fections.
But if h e heighten his natural warmth in the way mentioned,
without desisting from seeking and inquiring, and if he follow
these things from afar without seeing ti1 em, except their desig­
nation in the scriptures, and if he multiply his deliberations
and dominate them by those which do not decline unto theleft side, and receive not any seed of phantasies coming fromthe demons instead of from truth, but be desirous on the con­trary, long and guard himself and beseech God in passionate,
enduring prayer - then, as · soon as it will please God to giveit, He will open His gate before him. Especially on accountof his humility, for to the humble the mysteries are revealed.
If he dies, however, in that expectation , without having seenthat country at a short distance, I think that his heritage will
be with the ancient righteous, who have expected perfection,according to the word of the A postle, but have not seen it 1),
1 z3 yet have worked in expectation of it all their lifetime and havedeparted. But what shall we say , if any one does not reach[the degree which enables him ) to enter the promised land
which is the stage of the perfect and to find truth eye to eye
in so far as nature is capable of this ? Shall he then resign
this [and remain ] on that low stage which is wholly connectedwith that of the left side ? A nd because he has not found thewhole truth, shall he remain in this low state which does noteven know to desire these things, or shall he elevate himself
unto the middle stage mentioned, even though he does notlook as it were in a mirror, but expects it from afar, and inthat expectation will be gathered unto his fathers ?
Even though he is not deemed worthy of the fulness of thatgrace here, yet he shall occupy his mind through intercoursewith it at a distance and by its stimulating influence during
his lifetime he shall eliminate and fly from bad deliberations.
And in this hope, his heart being full of God , he shall departthis world .
All that takes place in humility, is beautiful. The uncor­
poreal thoughts of the mind inclining towards the love of God[engendered] by the understanding of the scriptures , are a1) Cf. 1

Peter

11 10-ll

84

ON

THE

VARYING STATES WIIICII COME TO T I I OSE ETC.

fence for the gates of the soul against foreign deliberations.
They guard the spirit by ardent recollections of future things,
against its being distracted through idleness to the recollectionof [worldly] things ; this would quench the ardour of its emo­tion and it would fall into desires.
XIII
1 24

ON THE VARYING STATES W H I C H COME T O THOSEW H O LIVE I N SOLITUDE, AS IS J U STLY ORDEREDBY GOD CONCERNING THIS [SPI RITUA L] WAY : NOWS A DNESS AND PSYCHIC SUF F OCATION, THEN, SUD­
DENLY, GLADNESS A N D JOY AND HOT FERVOUR
A N D U N U SU A L STRENGTH. PRAISE TO HIM THATH A S O RDERED O U R WAY A MEN

To him who has determined to order his being m lonely
dwelling and to pass the remainder of his. days in service andin the ordering of the way of solitude, it will come to passthat, while he is as usual, in solitude, such as is justly pres­cribed by divine grace, his soul will be hidden in darkness. A nd
just as the radiance of the sun is hidden from the earth by
thick clouds, so, for a short time be is bereft from spiritualconsolation and from the rays of grace, by the clouds of theaffections ; and some of the j oy-giving force is withdrawn fromhim, while an unusual darkness falls upon his spirit ; yet his mind
is not troubled. nor inclined towards dejection ; but he remains
patient, occupying himself with the writings of divine men andwith prayers to which he forces himself, looking for help.
Then of a sudden it will be given him unexpectedly 1). For,as the face of the earth is gladdened by the rays of the sunwhen the dense atmosphere is torn asunder, so the words ofprayer are able to tear away and to remove from the soul the
1 2 5 dark cloud of the affections and to gladden and to illuminate
the spirit by the rays of joy and consolation which is born inour deliberations.
Especially when the soul is able to have recourse to the
profit from the holy books and from vigils that make the mind
pure. Constant meditation upon the holy scriptures will perpe­
tually fill the soul with incomprehensible ecstasy and joy in God .
1 ) Literolly : though he rloes not k now it.

_\S

TO

\VIIE:-1

THUS!<:\V I I O LIVE IN SOLITUDE ETC.

Ss

XIV
AS TO WHEN THOSE WHO LIVE IN SOLITUDE BEGIN
TO KNOW, EV EN TO A SLIGHT E XTENT, HOW F A R
THEY HAVE A DVANCED I N TH EIR SERVICE IN T H E
UNFATHOMABLE S E A OF SOLITA RY L I FE S O T H AT
THEY ARE A BLE TO HAVE CONFIDENCE SOME­WHAT ON THEIR LABOURS THAT THEY BEGI N TO
BEAR FR U I T
I shall tell thee a thing a t which thou must not laugh ; fortell the truth. Do not doubt it, for those from whom I havereceived it, are trustworthy.
If thou hangest on they eyelids before God, do not thinkthat in behaviour thou hast reached anything till tears come
forth ; for thy hidden being still ministers unto the world. Thismeans, that thou art on the same stage of behaviour withfaithful lay people. For thou workest with thy outward manin the service of God but the inward man is still without fruits.
His fruits begin at the point which I have indicated. Whenthou hast reached the place of tears, then understand that thespirit has left the prison of this world and set its foot on theway towards the new world. Then it begins to breathe the
126 wonderful air which is there, and to spend tears. For now thethroes caused by the spiritual child, become vehement. A n dgrace, the common mother, hastily delivers, as i t were, thesoul , God's image, unto the light of the world to-come. A nd
when the time of birth is come, then the mind will perceive
a something belonging to that world, like a faint perfume,
which the child has received in the members into which it
has grown.
But he who does not patiently bear what is unusual, will
move his body with weeping m ingled with j oy which excels
the sweetness of honey. Together with the growing of thechild within there will be an increase of tears. The stream oftears begins when the spirit begins to become serene. I mean
the flowing of tears belonging to the stage which I havedescribed, not that partial one, which takes place from time
to time.

g6

AS TO W H E N TIIUSE W l l U

L I V E IN SUL!TL'DE ETC.

This consolation which takes place from time to time, will
come to pass to every one who serves God in solitude. Some­times during spiritual contemplation. Sometimes when hearing
or reading the words of the scriptures. Sometimes while occu­
pied with beseechings.
But I propose to speak of that complete one, which con­tinues night and day without a break, and which comes tohim who has found truth in solitude by the sincerity of his
behaviour, when the eyes become fou ntains of water for a periodof nearly two years. This happens during a transition-period ;I mean symbolical transition 1). At the end of the period oftears thou wilt reach peace of deliberations ; and by this peaceof deliberations thou wilt reach the divine rest of which Paul
speaks, rest in part, according to [our] nature.
From the beginning of [ this period of] rest onward , the mind
1 2 7 will see hidden things. Then the Holy Ghost will begin toreveal u nto it heavenly things, while God dwells in thee andpromotes spiritual fruits in thee. Then thou wilt perceive thestate which the whole nature will receive in the renewal of allthings, dimly and mysteriously.
This I have written to the profit of myself and of every
one who comes across this book , being that which I haveattained by contemplation of the scriptures and from the mouthof veracious men (and to a small part by experience) that I
also may gain profit by the prayers of those who have gained
profit from these things , because I have toiled upon them.
Listen also to another thing which I tell thee, as I haveheard it from a mouth that does not lie : As soon as thouhast entered this place where the deliberations are set at peace,then the violence of weeping is again taken from thee andthou reachest the state of moderation.
This is the exact truth in a few words ; and it is true andconfirmed by the whole church, by the excellent among hersons and by her chief protagonists.

ON TilE COURSE

UF

T i l E SULITARY CAREER, ETC.

07

XV
ON T H E COU RSE OF THE SOLITA RY CAREER, SUC­C I N CTLY AND W ITHOUT PROLI X ITY. AND O N T H E
QUESTIO:"J H OW A N D A T W H AT T I M E ITS VIRT UES
A R E BORN ONE FROM THE OTH ER
Lucidly and distinctly, the course of virtues shows itself so.
From works performed by compulsion, in solitude there is
1 2 8 born a blazing and immeasurable heat, which is generated i n
the heart b y fervent deliberations, newly born in the spirit.
Works and watchfulness polish the mind by their heat andgive it sight. And sight gives birth to the fervent deliberations
mentioned , because of the depth of psychic sight which iscalled contemplation.
Contemplation gives birth to fervour ; from this fervour sight
given by grace is born ; and then outbursts of tears begin. A t
first partial ones ; this means that a man's tears will flow
several times every day. Then he will come to [the state of]tears without a break. Through the tears the soul receives
peaceful deliberations. From peaceful deliberations it rises unto
serenity of insight. And by serenity of insight a man reaches
the sight of hidden things. For purity is brought about by
being free from war.
And after these the mind will reach that which is denotedby the symbol of the brook in Ezekiel the prophet 1), a symbol
which contains the type of those three psychic stages which
are near to divine things and of which the third is the utmost
which a man can reach.
The beginning of all these is a good will unto God andvarious works in solitude and that uprightness which is bornfrom severe redusion from the world .
It is not necessary to enumerate the distinctions between
the works, for they are known to every man. But as soon as
any one occupies himself with them it is not possible that hedeteriorate ; I know, on the contrary, that he will profit by1) Ez. 47

88

ON

TilE

COURSEUF

TilE

SOLITARY

CAREEK

ETC.

them. They are the following : the work of hunger, of reciting,waking during the night, according to every one's strength ;frequent prostrations, several times in the day and often during
the night. Some will perform thirty prostrations at one time,
salute [ the cross] 1) and go away from it. Some will perform
even a greater n umber. Others will prolong prayer during threehours and stay i n concentration while prostrated, without com­pulsion and without distraction.
These two varying states show the great richness of grace,
which works in various ways with every man according to his
measure, be it that he multiplies the n umber [ of his prayers]
on account of his fervent ardour, be it that he acquires quiet
in his soul so that he n:duces to one the large number of hisformer prayers.
As to the question of the cause of that other prayer andits duration without compulsion, it seems to me that it is not
becoming for us to treat such things in detail, by describing
their nature in speech or writings lest the reader, being unable
to understand anything of it, should judge it to be something
insipid ; or, if he should be acquainted with these things, should
despise him who is not able to cross the border of certain
things. From the one blame, from the other laughter would
be the consequence ; and thus I would become a barbarous
writer to such o nes, according to the word of the apostle• 3o concerning him that speaks in prophecies 2).
But he who is desirous to k now these things should knowthat their course has been described above. He may combine
works with deliberation, by the grace of our Lord. A nd
what practically happens in these states he may experience
personally.
Stay therefore in thy cell and the cell will teach thee every­
thing.
129

1) Cf. p. 140z) Cf. I Cor. 14

1 1 0 \Yl'JWFIT:\DLE IT IS FUIZ

Ti l E

SU\!L\\' lllLE ETl'.

89

XVI
HOW PROFIT AB LE IT IS FOR THE SOUL W H ILE INSOLITUDE TO B E FREE FROM WORKS AND H O W
INTE RCOURSE H ARMS THE M I N D OF T HE NOVICEW HICH H AS BUT LATELY BEGUN TO HAVE I N SIGHT
FOR ITSELF AND HOW IT IS CLEAR THAT BODILYWORKS N ECESSA RILY BRI N G ABOUT I N THE SOLITARY A DEFICIENCY I:\' DIVINE W ORKS
That a man who is beset with care, should be quiet andin a state of peace, is impossible. For the necessary things
which cohere with those things upon which he expends his
labour, cannot but have the effect that he be shaken ; andthey will bereave him of his rest and quiet. For the only oppor­
tunity for Satan to enter the soul is distraction. Therefore it
is becoming for the solitary to place himself constantly before
God's face and to look for His will 1), if it be his intention tokeep his mind in watchfulness and if it be his will grasp
quickly the small deviations as soon as they begin to stir mhim, and, in peace of spirit, learn to recognise what passes
in him �).
'3'Frequent oscillations are a sign of the solitary ' s relaxation
as to the preparation of Christ's service, and they are signsof deficiency in divine things.
Without being free [from cares] thou canst not demandlucidity from thy soul ; nor rest and quiet if the senses are set
free ; nor concentration of the senses when the oscillations ofpractice [are frequent] .
Keep thy self free from accidents ; then thou wilt find notrouble i n thy mind.
Without constant beseechings it is not possible to be near
to God. And to think of other things at the same time withthe work of beseechings, is distraction of the heart.
If fervent emotions befall thee sometimes when thou tastest
God in the hot fire of divine things, but when thou seekest
them agam thou findest them to have become insipid and cold
1)

m\!'Ji2) Literally : t!lose \\'ho go in and out.

90!lOW PROFITABLE IT IS FUR THE

SOUL

WI !ILE IN

ETC.

within thyself, [this is because ] the distraction of intercoursewith men has assailed thee somewhere, or because thou hastestimated bodily work above them, and on account thereof thefervour of thy deliberations has become cold. Tears, however,and beating the head [ on the ground ] during prayer, andfervent self-humiliations quicken again their warm sweetness i n
the heart. A n d in lauded madness the heart will fly after God,crying : My scul thirsteth for thee, the living God : when shall
I come and see thy face 1) ? He that has tasted this wine andhas been bereft of it, he only knows in what a torment hehas been left and what has been taken from him on accountof his relaxation.
0 , how evil is the sight of men and intercourse with them
1 32 for him that lives insolitude, especially him that is relaxed
and left alone 2). Verily, my brethren, as a strong blast of cold,that suddenly hits the buds of the trees and nips their smallheads germinating from the twigs, so intercourse with men ,even though i t b e short and in a congregation with a good
purpose, withers the sprouts of the virtues which have but
lately shown their heads because of the good air a) of solitude,
and which beset with their humidity the tree of the soul, plantedby the brooks of repentance. And as the sharpness of the cold
strikes the new sprouts of the roots, destroying and pushingback their heads into the earth, so intercourse with men de­stroys the root of the mind which but begins to grow green
by reason of the herbs of virtues, thrusting them back totheir original place and destroying their tenderness. And ifintercourse with those who are nearly master of themselves is
so obnoxious to the soul, be it only on account of their hinde­ring the customary service, this must happen to a larger extent
if a man speaks with and sees stupid and u ncultivated men oreven lay people, which has the effect of lire upon small wood.
And as the humility of an honourable and estimable man, who
forgets himself frequently by drinking wine, is troubled and hishonour stained and his chastity shaken by the foreign deli­berations which dominate his spirit on account of the force of
the wine, so the chastity of the soul is shaken by intercourse
1 3 3 withand sight of men ; and it forgets the aim of its watch­fulness and is bereft of the whole intention of its will ; and
1 ) P s . 421 22) viz. by grace3) literally : the mixture of the air

! IO W PROFITABLE IT IS FOR THE SOUL WI IILE

IN

ETC.

9I

intercourse and recreation and the use of luxury eradicate fromits depth the whole fou ndation of laudable behaviour.
And even if a man be silent and only in the presence ofsuch men in person, hearing and seeing, the mere fact that thedoors of his eyes and his ears let in [what is seen and heard],
is able to turn his spirit from divine things and to trouble itgreatly.
If thus the mere sight of men and the bare hearing of theirspeech for only a small time is able to cause so much harmto the solitary who is watchful, what then shall we say about
regular meetings or about those of a longer duration ?
The vapour rising from the stomach obscures 1 ) the know­
ledge of divine things, as the inhalations rising from the damp
earth obscure the face of the sun 2).
H aughtiness does not u nderstand that it proceeds in dark­
ness without knowing insight and wisdom . In its own thoughts
it is elevated above all things, but it is poorer and lower than
any thing. It is unable to know the ways of God, and the
Lord will hide His will from it, because it does not like to go
in the way of the humble.
XVII
1 34

ON THE SHORT PA l'HS TOWA RDS GOD WHICH AREREVEALED TO ONE FROM THE SWEET WORKS I N
V IGILS A N D T H AT THOSE W H O ARE GIVEN TO
VIGILS A RE SUPPORTED BY H O N EY THEIR WHOLE
LI FETIME
Do not think, 0 man, that among all the works of ascetics
there is any one greater and more profi t able than that of vigils.
I n truth, my brethren , if during the day the ascetic is not
distracted by corporeal things and temporal care , but cuts
himself off somewhat from the world , and is watchful to evena low degree during vigils, then I do not object to declare
u nto you in truth, that soon his spirit will fly as with wings
and ascend u nto God to be in delight. And he will easily
look at that glory, and in that knowledge which is higher than1 ) I n o n e Ms. onlyz) Sec p . 8 3

92

UN

Ti l E

S l !U IU'

l' A T I I S

TUW.\ l'. D S

GU D

W ! J IU I

ETC.

human spirit he will quickly swi m . The solitary who during his
v igils abides by the discernment of the mind, will no longer
seem to be clad with flesh. Verily, this work belongs to theclass of the angels. And it is im possible that those who appli­
cate themselves to this behaviour, should be left without great
divine gifts, on account of the vigilance and serenity of theirheart, and because their deliberations tend to Him only.
The soul, therefore, which applies itself in its labours to theduty of vigils, becomes trained, and acquires Cherubs' eyesin the swiftness and acuteness of their gaze, so that at all
times it gazes on heavenly contemplations.
I am of the opinion that he who on account of vaste know' 35 ledge and with discern ment has chosen for himself this greatand divine work, and is wholly devoted to bear the load of
the glorious part he has chosen, will necessarily be zealous toguard himself also during the day against the trouble of occu­
pations and of care for [worldly] things, and that he conse­
quently will not be devoid of wonderful fruits and the great
delight he will gather from them . And I may say deliberately,
without lying, that he who despises this, does not even know
for what purpose he performs all this toil : the loss of sleep,
the many repetitions, the fatigue of the tongue, the standingon his feet during the whole night, while his m ind is not there
where he recites his Psalms and prayers ; but he performs
these works as a matter of custom, as something which isdevoid of discernment. And if this were not as I say, how
could he suffer to be bereft of and to remain without reaping
profi t able fruits from the constant occupation with his work ?
But he strives towards these [results] through the holy occu­
pation of the recitation of the scriptures, which is a fortificationof the m ind and, principally, a cause 1 ) of prayer, a helper anda com panion of vigils, a light of the m ind, a guide on theway and the seed �) of manifold contemplation during prayer.
It is a check against the distraction of the spirit and against
its occupying itself with idle things. It sows in the soul constantrecollection of God and [of] the ways of the saints who havepleased Him. A nd it causes the mind to acquire wisdom andsubtlety.
Wherefore then, 0 zealous man, doest thou order thy occu1)

�z) literally : the sower

ON THE SHORT PATIIS TOW ARDS GOD W H IC H ETC.

93

pations in this way, without discernment ? For thou showest
care for thyself in that thou standest upon thy feet during thewhole night, fatiguing thyself with glorifications and Psalms andprayers. It would be easy for thee, by little watchfulness during
the day, to be made worthy of the divine grace for thy strenuous
efforts in other duties. Wherefore doest thou fatigue thyself andsow in the night, whereas during the day thou renderest useless
thy works so as to lose the fruits, dissipating this vigilance
and fervour which thou wouldst acquire by vigils, through the
distraction of intercourse with men and through different occu­
pations, and destroying thy profit by wandering idleness?
I f tho'u wouldst associate to thy nightly meditation , o man,service during the day without breaking in twain the fervourof the occupations of the heart, thou wouldst quickly embrace
Jesus' bosom .
A n d from this thou seest that thou sufferest for lack o f
discernment. For thou doest not perceive why vigils are neces­sary for the ascetic. Thou thinkest it is for the sake of toiling
only, and not in respect of another thing which is expected to
be born from it.
But he that by grace has almost been made worthy ofunderstanding that for which the sages hope in combating
sleep and compelling nature to such a degree that during thewhole night, awake bodily and mentally, they offer prayers also knows the strength given by watchfulness during the day
and the profit it grants the spirit in its nightly solitude while' 3 7 at its vigils with discernment, and the power it supplies overthe deliberations and the purity 1) and concentration with which
it endows the mind, so that without compulsion and strife thespirit gazes at the greatness of the words [recited] .
I say this also, that though the body may fall short in thework of fasting on account of its great weakness, yet vigils,
by their lonely character, afford the mind steadfastness in prayer,
a nd enable the heart to recognize spiritual powers by meansof insight. This can only take place if it is n ot assailed byany disturbance through relaxation caused by things met during
the day.
Therefore I admonish thee, o man of insight who wishest
to acquire vigilance of mind in God and knowledge of the, 361 ) Rearl i n g- of some l\1ss,

94

ON

THE

S H OR T

PATHS

TOWARDSG OD

W H ICHETC.

new life, that during thy lifetime thou mayest not despise thisduty 1) of vigils, by which thy eyes will be opened so as tosee the whole glory of ascetic work and the power of the wayof righteousness.
And if it should happen - unfortunately - that a thoughtof relaxation should make its nest in thee, and thou shouldst
think, on account of [previous] experience, that thy usual helper
is training thee and making thee prudent by means of varying
states, such as coldness and heat, or by variety of chance andoccasion, or on account of thy body being ill or weak ; andif this should induce thee to forego sleep in the evening, though
thou shouldst not be willing to fatigue thy body - then I
beseech thee with love to desist from all this zealous labour,
the reciting of Psalms, the performing of the service, the fre1 3 8 quent kneelings during regular praying. I advice thee to sit
in solitude, awake, if thou art able to do this, without recitationof Psalms and without prostrations. And if thou art able to
do so, pray with thy heart only. But do not sleep. And by
all means pass thy night, sitting, in the usual beautiful medi­
tation. 0nly - do not make thy heart heavy 2) and dark by
sleep. Then the old swiftness and force and fcr\' our w ill begiven thee by grace and thou wilt rejoice and exult and thankGod. For such heaviness and coldness 3) are admitted unto
man in order to test him.
If . a man rouse himself fervently and shake off and castaway [despondency], compelling hi mself somewhat , suddenly
grace will approach as before. And another force will impartitself to him, in which ten thousand [ gifts of] grace and profi­
table states are hidden. And man will be astonished while
thinking of the former heaviness and the swiftness and strength
following it, and of how such a state of a sudden has over­come him.
Therefore he will be prudent henceforth, so that, when thisheaviness comes again at other times, he will recognize it. But
if he had not been daring on former occasions, he would nothave acquired this knowledge.
Thou seest how prudent a man becomes if he rouse himself
a little and if he be valiant at the time of struggle. Rut when1) f< -\:lo;,
3) Readingz ) Literally : thickf<�o;.. -i.awith

the London Mss.

ON THE SHORT PATHS TOWARDS GOD WHICH ETC.

95

his nature really subsists only a n d no longer struggle, butsickness or natural weakness, it is useless to resist. If a mancompel himself in other points, strength in all things will begiven him.
1 39
Constant solitude, with recitation and moderate food, easily
arouse in the spirit a state of ecstasy 1), if perpetual solitude
be not broken for any cause. Insight brought about by works
performed in solitude, wili of itself, automatically and suddenly,
impart to these two eyes a kind of baptism, by tears whichburst forth and moisten the cheeks by their profuseness.
If thou perceivest in thy body, humbled by the asceticism
of watchful solitude, the vehement passion of fornication, not the usual dark i mpulse of nature, - know then that thouart tempted in thy spirit by haughtiness. Mix thy food withashes, press thy belly against the dust and scrutinize what thouhast thought. And recognize the varying states of thy natureand thy service which is above thy nature. Perhaps God will
have mercy upon thee and send thee light so that thou wilt
know how to be humble, lest thy evil become greater.
So we will not desist from carefulness, till repentance dawns
in our heart and we find humility and our heart fi n ds rest
in God .
XVIII
THI NGS WHICH I H AVE H EARD FROM OLD MEN
AND STORIES O F HOLY PEOPLE , THEIR PIOUS
WORDS A ND W O NDERFUL BEH AVIOUR. l\i A Y GOD
PRES ERVE US BY THEIR PRAYERS A ME N
,40

One day I went t o the cell o f a holy brother and lay down
in a corner as I was ill, expecting that he would visit me for
God's sake. There was nobody in that country [whom I knew] .
I had seen this brother several times at night, as he stood, along time ago. He usually woke for the service earlier thanany of the brethren. Then he would begin with Psalms andwould recite them diligently. Then, of a sudden, he would leave
the service, fall on his face, and beat, so to speak a hundred
times, with his head on the earth violently and quickly, on1) �C\:._s l�;, .<;m� amazing attitude regarding things

96

THINGS WIIICJI I HA\'E HEARD FROM OLD :\!EN ETC.

account of the fervour which grace had kindled in his heart.
Thereupon he would rise and salute the cross. Then again heprostrated himself, rose, saluted the cross and ag-ain fell downon his face. This he repeated so many times that I was notable to count them. Who could have counted the many kneelings
which that brother performed these nights ?
He would also approach the cross and kiss it twenty times,
full of reverence and of fervour, in love mingled with fear ;thereafter he continued his reciting of Psalms. From time totime, when he was no longer able to bear that flame of joy,
he was suddenly overwhelmed by frequent currents of delibera­
tions, which kindled him with their fervour ; and he would
elevate his voice because he could not restrain himself.
And I was astonished at the grace which was with that brotherand I wondered at his zeal and alacrity in the works of God.
141
After the morning service, when he sat down for recitation,
he was like one in the state of rapture. At every verse herecited he would fall on his face several times ; and at manyof the words he would stretch his hands towards heaven andutter the glorification several times.
He was a man of middle age, nearly forty years old. H e
ate b u t little : his temperament was dry and hot. A n d because
he compelled himself, when his body could not bear it, helooked like a shadow from time to time, so that one pitied
him on account of his thin face, which was vanishing and be­coming as small as two fi ngers. Several times I said to him :moderate this strict rule of behaviour, my brother, and thisbeautiful way which thou treadest and do not disorder nor
break thy rule as a spiritual chain , out of desire to add asmall quantity of works with the result that thy wh o le course
will be brought to a close. Eat moderately, but eat regularly.
And make not thy way too long for thy strength, lest thou
shouldst have to desist from it wholly.
F urther he was compassionate and very bashful , he was glad
to show compassion. He was honest by nature and easily per­suaded, and prudent in God. Because of his honesty and joyous
disposition he was liked by every one and they all loved him.
H e worked with all the brethren in clay in their cells, whenthey
had any, now for three, now for four days ; every evening
1 42
he returned to his own cell, till the work of the brother was
finished . He was very well skilled in this work.

THINGS

WHICH

I

H AVE

H EA R D

FRO M

OLD

MEN

ETC.

97

If h e possessed any thing, and one o f the brethren begged
him to give it him, he gave it him even though he was i ngreat need of it 1). He was very sensitive before all sorts ofpersons and was not able to say : I have not, or : I want it
myself. A nd that he regularly left his cell to work with thebrethren, was because of his sensitiveness before others ; so hecompelled himself, although not inclined to go out. A nd several
times he spoke to me about his aversion to leave his cell.
This was the divine behaviour of that wonderful brother.
C o n c e r n i n g a n o t h e r s o I i t a r y 2). Once I went to thecell of an old solitary, an excellent man who loved me greatly.
He was somewhat quaint in his words, but illuminated in his
thoughts and profound. A nd what he choose to tell, he spokewith a certain goodheartedness. He scarcely left his cell, except
for the holy mysteries 3). He was constantly concentrated andin solitude.
Once I said to him : Father, I purpose going on Sunday
and sitting down in the galery of the church and to eat earlyin the morning. Then every visitor will see and despise me.
The solitary said to me : It is written : He who offends thelay people, will not see light. Nobody knows thee in theseregions, n either do people know what thy fame is. So they
will say : The solitaries eat early in the morning. There is a
1 4 3 greater reason. There are novices of weak deliberations, manyof whom will be edified by thee now ; but if they see thee[eating], they will turn back. The ancient Fathers could dosuch things, because of the signs and the forces which were
wrought through them and because of the great name andfame they possessed. These things they p ractised, each of themin order to be despised and blamed, and to obscure the fameof his behaviour and to keep far from him the cause ofhaughtiness. But what is the n ecessity for thee to act in thisway ? Doest thou not k now that even for the behaviour [ ofsolitaries] moderation is necessary and a fixed time for every
one of their works ? But what necessity is there for thee regar­
ding such things ? Thou doest not follow a distinct discipline,
nor art thou famous. Thou hast the same discipline as theother brethren. Therefore, thou doest not gain profit for thy­
self by doing so, but thou art harmful for others.
1) Translation accord ing t o the London 111".
\'erh. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (Wen"inck 1,2) �3) The Eucharist

98

TIIINGS WHICH I HAVE HEARD FROM OLD MEN ETC.

And this behaviour 1), is not profi t able for all men , but for
the great and perfect only, because it involves relaxation of
the senses. For the novices and those of the middle state
however it is very harmful. For they, on the contrary, needwatchfulness and subduing of the senses. For the trained soli­taries have passed [the period of] watchfulness, as has been
said , and mix with what they like, yet know to gain profit.
A simple merchant will lose greatly in great affairs ; in small
ones he often easily comes forward . Therefore, as I have said,
1 4 4 inall work moderation is necessary ; and every discipline has
it;;; fixed time. Every one who, before its time, begins withwhat is above his rank , will be injured and gain no profit.
If thou desirest this, first suffer that disdain which Providence
sends thee without thy willing it, gladly, without being troubled
thereat and without hating those who disdain thee.
C o n c e r n i n g a n o t h e r s o I i t a r y. Once I was in inter­course with the virtuous one that had tasted from the tree oflife in the sweat of his soul, from the morning of youth u ntil
the evening of old age. A nd after much conversation in which
he taught me concerning excellence, he also said this to me :Every prayer, in which the body does not participate and bywhich the heart is not affected, is to be reckoned as an abor­tion without a soul.
Further he said to me : Have not the slightest i ntercoursewith any man who strives after victory in his words, and isastute in spirit and of keen senses , lest thou destroy theserenity thou hast acquired by works and thy heart become
full of darkness and trouble. Once I went to the cell of one of the Fathers. This saintly
man scarcely ever opened to any one. When he saw from his
window that it was I, he said : Thou wishest to enter ? I said
to him : Ay. \Vhen I had entered and we had prayed and sat
clown and he had spoken with me concerning many things, I
asked him at last : What shall I do, my lord ? There are persons
who constantly visit me, without my profiting by their inter1 4 5 course. To forbid them to enter would be painful to me. They
often hinder me even in my usual service. But I am not able
to say so to them openly. So I am much troubled by thismatter.
1) A :-::;.umiog t h e l n h i t s of sin

THINGS W HICH I HAVE HEARD FROM OLD MEN ETC.

99

This blessed man said to me : \Vhen such people visit thee,people who like to be lazy and who spread 1) idle words, andwhen they have sat down a little time, assume the air thatthou desirest to stand for service. A nd say to [thy visitor] ,whosoever he be, with an obeisance : M y brother, we will
perform the service. For the time of my service is come andI may not overlook it. For it would be hard for me to com­bine it with the next prayer ; that would cause me trouble ;and I m ay not omit any service without [the plea of ] necessity.
At present there is no necessity to let the time pass. - This
shalt thou urge till he stand up with thee for the service. And
if he say : Perform thou thy service, now I will go away make an obeisance before him and say : Be kind to me andperform with me this single service, that I may be helped by
thy prayer. Then, when he agrees and you are standing, makethy service longer than usually. So thou shalt do with themas often as they enter. And when they see that thou art n otof their kind and that thou doest not love idleness, then they
will no more come where they hear that thou art. Behold,thou shalt be no respecter of persons and neglect none of theworks of God.
If, however, [thy visitor] be one of the Fathers, or a foreign
146 brother who is fatigued, then deem it an important service toremain in intercourse with him. But if this stranger also should
be one of those who love idle words, content him as much as
thou canst and dispatch him quickly.
Once one of the saints said to me : When I hear, that there
are people who perform work in their cell and also accomplish
the rules of the ceii without failure, I wonder how it is possiblethat they are not troubled.
He also said a wonderful thing : verily, I say that even when
I go to make water, this troubles my constancy [ of mind] ;because practice turns away from me the complete discernment
which I have mastered.
A solitary asked a brother : What shall I do ? Often I desirea thing and am in need of it on account of illness, or work,or some other reason, so that by its aid I would nigh well beable to lead a life of solitude. But if I see anyone who needs
this thing as I do, then compassion causes me to give it him.
I ) ._a�1 00

THINGS W H ICH I HAVE HEARD FR0.:\1 OLD MEN ETC.

Or if any one asks me for this thing, I am pressed by loveand by command so that I give it him. But afterwards I require
this thing. A nd my need causes me care and disturbance andtroubled thoughts, and it takes away my concentration of spirit
and my care for the usual service of solitude. So that I am
1 4 7 compelled many times to leave my solitude a nd go and ask
for this thing. A n d when I restrain myself from going out, I
am in great n eed and perturbance of mind. On account of thisthing I am constantly shaken and disturbed without k nowing
which of the two I shall choose : that which destroys anddisturbs my peace for the sake of the peace of my neighbours ;or to abandon this, so as to remain in solitude and renuncia­
tion, and to care for the small things of my self only, without
any inclination to think many thoughts or to care for others.
I beg to learn, in answer to this, what is good and worthyof recommendation. The solitary answered saying : All com­passion is either love, or alms, or a gift. And every becoming
thing, and every deed reckoned as being godly which destroys
thy solitude and bereaves thee of thy freedom regarding theworld, and causes thee care and troubles thy thoughts concer­
ning divine things, and breaks the order of thy prayers andbrings about troubled deliberations and takes from thee theconcentrated occupation with recitation and freedom from dis­traction, and destroys thy watchfulness and makes thee i nsteadof a prisoner one who walks where he likes and [changes]
thee from a solitary into one who mingles [with other people]
and awakens in thee buried passions and relaxes the asceticism
of thy senses and quickens thee again who wert dead to theworld and casts thee out of thy angelic service which is con­centrated solitary thought, and sets thy part with the serviceof the laity - this [sort of] righteousness may perish. To
accomplish alms of love to thy neighbour, consisting in bodily
1 48 comfort, belongs to the service of lay-people, or of those soli­taries who are inferior to service in solitude or practice am ingled solitude i n the company of one another and throughconstant visits 1). - But those solitaries who have earnestly
chosen to be free from the world in body and in spirit i norder t o establish in their mind the prayer o f solitude whichis the being dead to the things that perish and to all thought1) literally : entering and departingTlliNGSWHICHIIL\ VE HEARD FROM

ULD

MEN

ETC.

I0

I

of practice and seeing and recollecting [worldly] things, they do
not serve Christ by any service in these bodily things or witha righteousness founded upon manifest deeds with the inter­mediation of persons in order to be justified thereby, but [theyserve H im] by mortifying their members which are upon theearth 1), according to the word of the A postle, offering at all
times the pure sacrifices of their thoughts as the first fruits of
their service and their bodily affections through patience introuble for the sake of that which they expect. The behaviourof the solitaries is like that of the angels. So it is not j ust toneglect the service of heavenly things and to gather righte­
ousness by [practising] earthly things.
A brother was blamed because he provided the wants of thepoor from his own possessions. He answered proudly : Solitaries
are near to alms. He that blamed him said : Well known isthe solitary who is not near to alms ; who without shame cansay to our Lord, as has been said : Behold, we have forsakenall, and followed thee 2). This is he that does not possess any14 9 thing on the earth, nor does .he perform bodily labour forearthly things, his thoughts do not turn to any of the visible
things in the world, nor does he expect to acquire anything.
If any one offers anything to him, he only accepts according
to his want ; he never looks at aught else. But he is in his
dealings like a bird , the which does not think of giving alms ;for he has a service more excellent than alms.
How can he give others from that of which he is liberated ?
But as long as a man works with his hands and receives fromothers, he is also obliged to give alms. To neglect this would
be a manifest transgression of God's commandment. But if hedoes not make progress with God in hidden things, and does
not know to serve God in spirit and despise the manifest
things which lie within his power, what further hope has heto acquire life ? Be he anathema.
A DMONITION O F O N E O F THE FATHERSCONCERNING THE RIGHT SOLITUDE
wonder at those who trou hie themselves in their course ofsolitude because they desire to comfort others by bodily things.
1) Colossians 3, 5z) Matthew 19, 27

1 02

TIIINGS WHI C H I HAVE HEARD FRO �! OLD MEN ETC .

He also said : It is not becoming to mingle with the serviceof solitude the thought of any thing in the world, safe only
those which it is possible to perform in solitude. And we haveto honour every solitary performance in its place, lest we be­come confuse in our solitary course. For he who cares about
r so many things, is a slave of many persons. He who lets go all
and cares for the steadfastness of his soul, is a friend ofGod. Behold, those who practise alms and completely show
their love of neighbours by bodily things, are many in thev,rorld. But those who beautifully serve in solitude and haveintercourse with God are scarcely to be found. Or who are,among those who practise righteousness and gain it by earthly
things, those from whom we may receive one of the gifts
which those who work in solitude receive from God ?
The same has further said : If thou art a lay man, practise
the behaviour which suits lay people. But if thou a rt a solitary,gain profit by the labours by which the solitaries gain profit.
If, however, thou wilt practise both, thou wilt fall short in both.
The work of solitaries is this : to become liberated from sensible
things and to be constantly with God in the thoughts of theheart and through fatiguing the body by prayer. Judge thouthyself whether it be possible to despise these things and to
fill their place with worldly excellence. Or should a solitary beable to practise in solitude two kinds of behaviour, the outward
and the inward one viz. meditation on God and burdening hisheart with the care of others ? I say even this that he who
has honestly willed to lead a life with God, and leaves all,fixing his attention solely upon matters of behaviour - thateven he will not be able to accomplish without shortcomings
r s • all the duties of the practice of solitude. He is found wanting
in the bearing of his load, though he desists absolutely fromthe use and the care of the world - not to mention the caseof his being . occupied by many other thoughts.
To our Lord are given 1) those who administer and visit His
servants and His sons. He has also chosen those who minister
before H imself.
\Ve do not only see, in the affairs of earthly kings, thatthose who are constantly with the king and participate of his
secrets are more glorious and elevated in their ranks than thoser) �THINGS WHICH I J I A VE HEARD FROM OLD ME� ETC.

I 0J

who accomplish their outward affairs with love, but, also in
divine affairs, it is easy to see what a freedom of speech thosepossess who, in intercourse with Him possess the mysteries ofprayer at all times ; and over what riches of heaven and earth
they reign, and how apparent is their mastershipover all.
created natures, which , without dispute, obey their words as
those of God. They are stam ped with the manifest sign of His
image, with a glory greater than that of all rational and irra­
tional 1) beings, greater than that of those who serve God withpossessions and earthly things and seek to content Him in [ thecompany of ] their companions. This m ay be very beautiful,
but as to us, we have not to take as examples those who
stand at a low degree in the service of God, but those whoare athletes in our path 2) and the saints who go our course,
and those who once for all have given up and turned theirback on the earth and have taken hold of the vault ofheaven.
Whereby have the ancient saints pleased God, those who
152 have trodden the way of our behaviour and have excelled :the holy John of Theba"is, that treasury of excellence and foun­tain of prophecy ? Did he comfort his companions with bodily
things, in his reclusion, or did he please God by prayer ? I
confess that there have been [ solitaries] who also in these things
pleased [ God ] and gained profit. But they are less in number
than those who pleased God by prayer and by renouncing allthings. What their help to their followbrethren who live insolitude is, is well known. It consists in helping them as often
as they are in want of a profi t able word or [ in helping t hem )by offering prayer in behalf of them. Apart from these things,
it is not wise for him who dwells in solitude to give place inhis heart to recollections or thoughts concerning any one as
far as bodily things are concerned. 'Render unto Caesar thethings which are Caesar's ; and unto God the things that are
God's 3) and what belongs to a neighbour is his, and what
belongs to God is His' does not apply to those who dwell insolitude, but to those who walk without. It is not the duty of
him who performs the service of the angels with the thoughtsof the soul, to please in earthly things ; namely to have thought
1) Literally : s p eakin g and mutez) In the sense of: mystic course, Nu.}'>3) Matthew 221 z 1

I 0-J-TIIINGS Wl llCI I I

I IAVE

IIEAIUJ FIW :-1 OLD �! E N ETC.

for manual work or to taking from others and giving to others.
His service is in heaven.
It is not becoming for the solitary to allow the thought ofanything to move and drive away his spirit from before God.
If, however, anyone dare to adduce the example of Paul, who
1 5 3 also performed [manual] work and also gave alms, we reply
to him : Paul was unique and a m aster in all things. We know
not that another Paul has ever existed who was a master i n
all things like him. Show it me, i f thou c> rt found to L e anotherPaul, and I will believe thee. Do not, therefore, compare thematters of government with the inner practice. For the workof the heralds is different from that of solitude.
But if thou wilt master solitude, be like a Cherub who has
no care for earthly things. And think that there is no otherman in the created world, excepted thee alone, and God about
whom thou thinkest, as thy Fathers who have gone the way
before thee, have taught thee. Unless a man harden his heartand restrain his compassion forcibly so as to be far from thethought of any man, should it be for the sake of God or ofany bodily being - but he shall only be in prayer, at thetimes · appointed to him, lest love or care of anyone enter hisheart - it is not possible for him to be freed from the troubleof thought or to be in solitude. So much is certain. But whena deliberation is awake in thee, urging thee to the thought ofanyone under the pretext of excellence, the purpose of whichis to drive away from thee the peace that was becoming cus­
tomary to thy heart through the recollection of God, then say
to it : it is beautiful to lead a life of love and compassion forthe sake of God, but I do not seek it, even for the sake ofGod, so it only remains to me to drive thee away for the sakeof God. Thus the solitary will speak. Then the deliberation
154 will say to him : And I flee from thee for the sake of God.
A ha Arsenius, for the sake of God, did not open his mouth
to speak, neither profitable nor gratuitous words. Another,
however, for the sake of God, spoke the whole day andreceived all the strangers that visited that place. The former,
in stead of this, chose silence and solitude.
Thus he voyaged with the spirit of God on the ocean of
this world in the ship of solitude, in exalted peace, as is shownin revelation to the athletes who investigate this thing.
This is another denomination of solitude : rest from allu:-;

T i l E REVELATIUNS ,\NO l'UWERS \\' I llCll

ETC.

1 05

things 1). I f thou art full of trouble even in solitude, because
thy body is troubled by manual service and various affairs,
and because thy soul is troubled by the thought of others,
what peace doest thou possess then to care for many things
and to please God ' Judge thyself. It appears to me ridiculous
to talk about mastering the course of solitude without abando­ning all things and the care of all things.
XIX
ON THE REVELATIONS A N D POWERS W H I C H
HAPPEN T O THE SAI NTS I N I M A GES
The degree of revelation is not the same as that a man
deepen his emotions by the study of wisdom and by intellectual
labour so as to arrive at some understanding and contemplationr s s of anything by mental investigation. For it is said : Revelation
is silence of intellect. And by zealous efforts and human thoughts
no one can imagine that he has found knowledge ; this happens
by spiritual power so that he to whom the revelation is imparted,at that time is not aware of any thought of his soul nor of those
things which present themselves to his senses ; neither does heuse them nor is he acquainted with them.
This we do not assert on our own authority, but it can beproved sufficiently from the w ritings of the prophets, who, whenrevelations happened to them, did not perceive any of theusual things nor could they use their thoughts at will nor had
they any sensual apperceptions, because they were in ecstasy.
Their mind was wholly concentrated upon those things whichappeared to them during the revelation. As it happened to theblessed Peter when he was hungry and ascended u nto the roof
in order to pray : when the revelation began, he did not per­ceive his hunger. Even the recollection of food was effaced
from his mind, because he was in ecstasy, as scripture says 2).
Concerning all these things one may be well instructed inparticulars from the writings of the blessed bishop Theodore,
the light of the whole world '1). For he speaks about the kindz ) Acts

ro, 103) Theoiorc bishop of �!opsuestia

I

06

ON T H E REVELATIONS AND POWERS WHICH ETC.

and the rank of revelations, especially in the three volumes on
Genesis and in the two volumes on Job and in the last one
about the Twelve Prophets, and in the commentaries on theActs and the Gospel of Matthew .
. Scripture mentions six kinds of revelations. The first : thatby the senses. The second : by psychic sight. The third : byrapture 1) of the spirit. The fourth : by the rank of prophecy.
The fifth : in some intellectual way. The sixth : as it were bya d ream.
Revelations by the senses are divided into two different kinds :those which take place by means of the elements and thosewhich take place without matter. Examples of !he f o r m e r
k i n d are the revelation in the thorn bush, in the cloud, in thetables and so on, things which were also seen by the people ;also those wondrous things which every day happen in thewhole world and the causes and details of which are gainedby the saints in revelations ; and also the works and deeds
and things which are hidden or far away, yet are revealed
unto some at the time of their actual occurence.
W i t h o u t m a t t e r : as for instance the men th(Jt appeared
unto Abraham, the ladder of J acob, the revelation about thetabernacle (try only to look at and to act with the likenessthat appeared unto thee on the mountain, and so on), thedivine light of exalted rays that shone for Paul on the way
and . blinded his eyes. It, is well known that, though a revelation,
it was visible and perceptible by the senses , so that also
those who were with him saw and heard it ; yet it was not amaterial revelation, nor a natural and elementary light, as the
15 7 blessed commentator denotes in his commentary on the story
in the Acts : And those who went on the way with Paul,stood in amazement while they heard the voice, yet did not
see anyone. He comments on the words, in amazement' thus :In silence without [uttering] a word, also seized with doubt,
because they had caught the voice that had spoken to him
and, as far as it was possible for them, had seen the lightthat appeared unto him. Lest it should be surmised later that
Saul had invented what had happened and that which had
been wrought unto him, while none of those who were withhim had heard or seen it. But they did not see anyone. For
1 56

UN THE REVELATIONS AND POWERS WlllC II ETC.

107

they did not see Jesus, because, as I have said, that whichappeared was even no sensible light, but an i ncomprehensible
apperception which in an immaterial way was given him by
divine action in the likeness of a vision of light, so that hethought that the heavens were opened and so on. - These
are the revelations which have taken place through the mediumof the bodily senses. They are exalted above any commixture
with the elements or any of the sensible and human events.
But those who receive these revelations are not envelopedin ecstasy of mind, as in the case of the revelation that takes
place through the eyes of the soul in the vision of the soul ,as : I saw the Lord sitting on a high throne and Seraphs
each with six wings round it 1), and as in the revelation unto
Ezekiel, in the revelation of the wheels and the amazing images,
and the sound from the wheels resembling the sound of the
1 58 sea, and the glorifications heard from .the Cherubs with manyeyes, which . say : Blessed is the majesty of the Lord in His
place. How much subtler these revelations are than those of
the first mentioned class, is known to the illuminated. [ To thesecond class also belongs] for instance the vessel that appeared
to Peter and the animals in it, with the other things des­cribed. And he who wishes, may recognize these things fromthe scriptures.
R a p t u r e o f t h e s p i r i t, as for instance when he wastaken up unto the third heaven, and whether this was in the
body or without, I do not know. But he was taken to Para­dise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful fora man to utter 2) .
P r o p h e c y, as for instance the things that happened unto
the Prophets, who foretold future events, many ages before they
took place, as it was also given unto Balaam the sorcerer toforetell many things through the spirit of prophecy, things evenmore numerous than what prophets had prophesied.
I n s o m e i n t e l l e c t u a l w a y. As for instance the blessed
Paul says : I pray that you may be filled with the knowledge
of God in all wisdom and spiritual understanding 3) . A nd : May
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
1) Isaiah 61 I�) Colossians 1 , 92) 2 Cor. 1 21 2-4

1 08

U�

Tl!E

R E V E LATIUNS,\NDl'U\YERS

W l l!U l

ETC .

of Him : the eyes of your hearts being enlightened ; that ye
may know what is the hope of His calling, and the riches of
His glory in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His
power in us who believe 1 ) and the other things which were
given to the Apostle in a revelation of knowledge concerning' 59 the things of the world to be, and the order of resurrection
and the alteration of human bodies and so on . And as forthe degree of exalted understanding and the knowledge of thedivine nature, as for instance that [man J is the likeness of theinvisible God and that with His hand He has made the worlds,
God has given us revelation by His spirit. Again we know inpart and we understand in part �) ; and : In the beginning was
the word 3) ; and : Thou art the Christ, the son of the living
God ') and so on. Again, unsearchable are His j udgments, andHis ways past finding out 5) ; and : He who worketh all after
the counsel of His own will 6) ; and : God hath concluded them
all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon alJ 7) and so on.
These are designations of the insight which was given unto
them that they sought to know and understand through theSpirit the divine nature.
B y d r e a m s, as for instance happened to A bimelek andJoseph and Pharao and Nebukednesar ; and when the angel ofthe Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph the husband of Mary,and so on.
Also this it is necessary to know : that all revelations, which
God has granted for the sake of teaching mankind and in­structing them concerning things, take place by means of images,
especially revel,ations unto those who are of simple understanding
and of small i"n sight in the truth. But those which are destined
to comfort and to instruct some person, and to console to1 6o some extent and to instruct a single person , take place without
images and by intelligible apperception. This is clearly provedby the blessed commentator 8) in the second volume on Job.
For how much greater, as compared with other revelations,
are the things which are given in a revelation for the intellecta nd the u nderstanding through an intellectual medium andhow much higher are the mysteries which serve to instruct allconcerning God. This is perfection of knowledge.
t) Ephesians 11 1 7 - 1 94 ) Matthew 1 6 1 1 67 ) Romans 1 1 , 322) 1 Corinthian' 1 3 1 1 2S ) R omans 1 1 , 33
8) Theodore

3) John 11 I
6) Ephesians

t1 1 1

0;'-1THE

REVELATIONSAND

POWERSW HICHETC.

l 09

And also this it is becoming to know : Revelation and [ divine]
action are different from truth and knowledge in so far asrevelation is not the exact truth, but only shows indications
and signs corresponding to human strength. Neither may theaction and the wondrous things in those revelations be calledknowledge and truth. They are called inspiration caused by[ divine] action . So that it is impossible to gain from them
instruction concerning God's foreknowledge or His incompre­
hensible nature or His different qualities or the understandingof the mysteries of His will concerning mankind and the otherthings which are to be attained by sound knowledge concerning
Him. Therefore : the mysteries which are attained by the in­tellect through insight into the divine nature is different fromthe action by which the mind is inspired during a certain time.
Therefore it is not absolutely necessary that every one to whoma revelation is imparted or who is influenced by a consoling
action, m ust know the truth and the exact knowledge con161 cerning God. For many are those to whom such things werei mparted, yet knew God as children only.
XX
ON V A RIOUS INTELLIGIBLE FORCES OF THE M I N D
I N CON f'\ ECTION W ITH T H E A CTIO N OF REVELA­TIONS AND SPI RITU A L VISIONSDivine sight is a non-apperceptible mental revelation. Divine
revelation is an emotion of the mind by spiritual understanding,concerning the divine being. It is not even a faculty of thenature of the angels to be stirred into emotion at will, without
a revelation granted by [divine] grace. E motion by revelations
concerning God's activity is different from emotion by revela­
tions concerning the nature of His being. The former is of anature to have analogy with apperceptible things. The latterhas absolutely no analogy with the intellect or anything. It isthreefold purity as to its parts and its nature, as it is said.
And it is impossible that one of the thousand righteous should
be deemed worthy of this high apperception. Also speculation
concerning the incarnation of our Lord and His revelation in
the flesh is said to belong to divine speculation.

I I0

ON VARIOUS I NTELLIGIBLE FORCES OF T H E MIND ETC.

The true sight of the angels is emotion by spiritual under.
standing concerning their domain. But it is impossible for us
1 6 2 to see the nature of spiritual forces without the mind.
When man is deemed worthy of seeing them in their natureand in their place and as they are in their spiritual creation ,grace moves his mind by the revelation of spiritual insightconcerning them . When the soul has been purified and isworthy of seeing its fellows, their sight is 1) perceived withthese eyes. They are not objects and they cannot be seen as
they are, without alteration, but by psychic sight which is truecontemplation. This means : without deterioration of their natureby sight. This sight cannot be acquired by any man without
the second purifi c ation of the mind.
But the fact that the �ngels appear unto some men inimages, is not due to true sight ; but the angels minister unto
the order of government by their mission. Or they show them­selves for the consolation and encouragement of the simple,[in forms] perceptible by sight.
S uch visions even happen to those who are not pure. But
the fi r st kind happens to illuminated and initiated people, who,by the glorious course of solitude, have been elevated unto therank of purity.
XXI
ON THAT WHICH H A PPENS DURING PRAYER [UNTO
THOSE W H O LIVE] IN SOLITUDE
Who is he that knows that delightful bending of the knees,
when the tongue is silent and the heart silently utters someglorification, and its delightful emotion does not abate, the1 63 body resting on the knees in silence ? Blessed who eats fromthese things perpetually. But they do not happen at will, nor
when one seeks them . This is in part the delight which is
given for the consolation of him who walks without a blame
before the Lord in the course of solitude.
If he continues this course in all simplicity, and seeks thepurity of his service, and if his behaviour is worthy, after sometime he will be deemed worthy of the things mentioned above.
1 ) In some M ss. : not

ON THAT WHICH HAPPENS DURING PRAYER ETC.

I II

As to those who are novices in this course and who have afixed aim, Grace at first will make them apt for the taste ofthese and similar things by recitation and it will draw theirthoughts towards its self, away from earthly thoughts. Thenthey will work and wake and pray without becoming fatigued.
Unto those who are trained to some extent in the mysteriesof solitude, apperceptive power during prayer and service will
be imparted.
XXII
ON V A RIO US [ EXPERIENCES] DURING PRAYER A N D
ON T H E LIMITS O F T H E POWER O F T H E MIND.
A ND I N HOW FAR IT H A S POWER TO MOVE ITSA RBITRA RY IMPULSES BY THE VARIOUS H ABITS O F
PRAYER. A ND W H A T IS T H E LIMIT PRESCRIBEDTO N ATURE DURING PRAYER, T H E LIMIT W H ICH
P RAYER IS NOT ALLOWED TO S URPASS. A N D H O W
W H EN I T H AS PASSED I T A ND H A S PROCEEDEDFA RTHER, IT IS NO LONGER PRAYER, EVEN THOUGH
W H AT HAPPENS IS CALLED BY THE NAME O F
PRAYER
Glory to Him whose gift has been poured out upon man·kind, in that He has ordained that they, although of the fl e sh,should serve on the earth the class of immaterial beings andhas deemed worthy the nature of mortals to speak about such
1 64 mysteries, especially sinners as we are, who are not evenworthy of hearing speech concerning such things. In H is bounty
He has opened our blind heart to understand, by the con­templation of the scriptures and the instruction of the great
Fathers even although I have not been deemed worthy ofexperiencing for personal zeal one thousandth of what I havewritten with my hands, especially in this tract, which we haveventured to write for the illumination and exhortation of oursoul and of those who come across it, that perhaps, on accountof its desire, it may be incited to approach unto practice.
How then ? Delight during prayer is different from sightduring prayer. The latter is more excellent than the former,
as an adult man is superior to a little boy. It will happen

II2

ON VARIOUS [EXPERIENCES] DURING PRAYER ETC.

that the words become sweet in the mouth and that one wordof prayer is repeated infinitely so that no feeling of satiety
with it causes thee to proceed and to pass over to a second.
Sometimes from prayer a certain contemplation is born which
also makes prayer vanish from the lips. And he to whom thiscontemplation happens becomes as a corpse without soul, in
ecstasy. This we call sight during prayer and not an image
or form forged by phantasy, as fools say. Also in this con­templation during prayer there are degrees and differences in
gifts. But till th is point there is still prayer. For thought has
not yet passed into the state where there is no prayer, but a• 6 5 state superior to it. For the motions of the tongue and theheart during prayer, are keys. What comes after them is theentering into the treasury. Here then all mouths and tongues
are silent, and the heart, the treasurer of the thoughts, the mind,
the governor of the senses, the daring spirit, that swift bird,
and all their means and powers and the beseeching persuasions
have to stand still there : for the master of the house has come.
For like as the whole force of the laws and the command­
ments which God has laid down for mankind, have their termin the purity of the heart, according to the word of the Fathers,
so all kinds and habits of prayer with which mankind prays
unto God, have their term in pure prayer. Lamentations andsclfhumiliations and beseechings and inner supplications andsweet tears and all other habits which prayer possesses, - as
I have haid : their boundary and the domain within which they
are set into motion, is pure prayer.
As soon as the spirit has crossed the boundary of pure
prayer and proceeded onwards, there is neither prayer, noremotions, nor tears, nor authority, nor freedom, nor bescechings,
nor desire, nor longing after any of those things which are
hoped for in this world or in the world to be.
Therefore there is no prayer beyond pure prayer, and allits emotions and habits by their authority with freedom conduct
166 the spirit thus far and there is struggle in it ; but beyond thislimit it passes into ecstasy and is no longer prayer. From here
onwards the spirit desists from prayer ; there is sight, but thespirit does not pray.
Every kind of prayer which exists is set into motion by theimpulses of the soul . But when the mind has entered theemotions of spirituality, then it can no longer pray.

ON VARIOUS[E XPERIENCES] DURING P.RA YER ETC.

1 1j

Prayer is different from contemplation during prayer, though
they are caused by each other. One is the seed ; the otherthe load [of harvest] borne by the hands, while the reaper isastonished by the undescribable sight of how from the mean
and bare grains of seed glorious ears suddenly grow up before
him. And during sight he remains without motion.
Every prayer which exists, is demand and request, or praiseor thanksgiving. But judge whether there exists any of thesemodes, or demand of anything , when the mind has passed
into this domain and has entered this place.
I ask this of those who know the truth. It is not given to
every one to enquire into these distinctions, but only to those
who have been personally witness and ministers of this matteror have been brought up in the presence of the spiritualauthors 1) of such experiences and have received the truth fromtheir mouth and have passed their days with such occupations,asking and answering concerning matters of truth. As among
ten thousand men there is scarcely to be found a single one
167 who has fulfilled the commandments and the laws to any extent
and who has been deemed worthy of serenity of soul, so
there is rarely to be found one among many, who on accountof strenuous vigilance has been deemed worthy of pure prayer
and who has made his way into this domain and been deemedworthy of this mystery. Not many are deemed worthy of pure
prayer, only a few. But as to that mystery which lies beyond,there is scarcely to be found a single man in every generation
who has drawn near to this knowledge of God's grace.
Prayer is a beseeching for, a caring for, a longing for something, either liberation from the evil things here or [in theworld] to come, or a desire for promised things, or a demand
for something by which man wishes to be brought nearer unto
God. In these emotions are included all habits of prayer. But
its being pure or not depends upon the following circumstances.
If, when the spirit is prepared to offer one of the emotions
which we have enumerated, any foreign deliberation or dis­traction mingles itself with it, prayer is called non-pure, because
it has brought upon the altar of the Lord an animal which
it is not allowed [to offe r], the altar which is an upright, in­telligible heart.
1) literally : the Fathers

Verb. Afd. Letterk. 1922 {\Vensinck).

1 14

ON VARIOUS [EXPERIENCEs) DURING PRAYER ETC.

But when the spirit gives itself with longing to one of t hese
emotions, in accordance to the necessity of the case, at thetime of beseeching, and when on account of its alacrity thegaze of the emotion is directed by the eye of faith beyond
the curtain of the heart, the entrances of the soul are closed
thereby against the foreign deliberations which are called
r68 strangers 1), whom the law does not allow to enter the taber­nacle. This is called the accepted offering of the heart andpure prayer. Its boundaries are to this point. \Vhat lies beyond
cannot be called prayer.
If any one should mention what by the Fathers is calledspiritual prayer, without understanding the force of the wordsof the Fathers, saying : This belongs also to the domain ofprayer) I think that, if he should reach true insight, it would
prove a blasphemy if there should be found any of the crea­tures who should say that spiritual prayer can be prayed atall. For all prayer that can be prayed, lies on this side of
spirituality. A nd all that is spiritual, is in kind free from emo­tion and prayer.
Now if man is hardly able to pray pure prayer what mustbe said of spiritual prayer I The holy Fathers are accustomed
to designate all profitable emotions and all spiritual working
by the name of prayer. And the blessed commentator �) evencounts beautiful deeds as prayer ; though it is clear that prayer
is different from deeds which are things done. But sometimes
they designate by spiritual prayer that which they sometimes
call contemplation ; and sometimes knowledge ; and sometimes
revelations of intelligible things. Doest thou see, how the Fathers
169 change their designations of spiritual things ! This is because
accurate designations can only be established concerning earthly
things. The things of the world-to· be do not possess a true
name, but only simple cognition, which is exalted above allnames and signs and forms and colours and habits and com­posite denominations. \Vhen, therefore, the knowledge of thesoul exalts itself above this circle of visible things, the Fathers
use concerning this knowlegde any designations they like, though
no one does know the real names in order that the psychic
deliberations may be based on them. \Ve use denominations
and riddles, according to the word of the holy Dionysius 3) who
1) t< 1o...�
..
proselytes

2) Theodore of Mopsuestia3) Areopagita

ON

VARIOUS [EXPERIENCES] DURING PRAYER ETC.

tI5

says : We use signs and s.yllables, conventional names andwords in behalf of the senses. But when by spiritual working
our soul is moved unto divine things, then the senses andtheir workings are superfluous to us, as also the spiritual forcesof the soul are superfluous as soon as our soul becomes theimage of the godhead through unification with the incomprehen­sible and radiant in the rays of the sublime, by those impulses
which are not for the eyes.
Therefore, my brother, of this thou mayest be sure : thatthe power of the mind to use the emotions with discernment
has its limit in purity during prayer. When the mind hasreached this point, it will either turn backwards, or it will
desist from prayer ; so prayer is, as it were, a mediator be­
tween the psychic and the spiritual state. As long, however, as
1 70 it is in emotion, it is in the psychic state. But as soon as it
has passed this limit, prayer ceases.
As the saints, in the world to come do not pray, when themind has been engulfed by the [divine] spirit, but they dwellin ecstasy in that delightful glory, so the mind, when it has
been made worthy of perceiving the future blessedness, will
forget itself and all that is here, and it will not be moved any
longer by the thought of anything 1).
Man, therefore, may freely go so far as to say : all excel­
lence whatever and all orders of prayer whatever, in body orin spirit; are in the realm of free will, as well as the mind
that dominates the senses. But when the influence of the spirit
reigns over the mind that regulates the senses and the deli­berations, freedom is taken away from nature which no longer
governs but is governed. And how could there be prayer atthat time, when nature does not possess power over its self,
but is conducted by an outward force without knowing whither.
Nature then does not direct the emotions of the spirit accor­
ding to its will, but captivity reigns over nature in that hourand conducts it there where sensual apperception ceases ; be­cause nature even has no will at that time, even to this extent
that it does not know whether it is in or without the body,as scripture testifies. Has therefore such a one prayer who isa captive to this degree and who even does not know himself?
So no one should say with blasphemy that there is anyone
1) Cf. Plotinus's description of the mind's delight when it !las forgotten matter VI, 7 § 34•

1 16

ON VARlOUS[ EXPERl ENCESj DUR ING PRAYER ETC.

who could venture to say that it is possible to pray spiritual
prayer. This audaciousness the Me�alleyane vindicate for them­selves, those haughty ignorants who proclaim concerning them­selves that they are able to pray spiritual prayer when theylike. But those who are humble and have insight and are in­clined to learn from the Fathers and know the limits of nature,
do not abandon their deliberations to this audaciousness.
A nd therefore, when there is no prayer, can then this u n­
speakable gift be designated by the name of prayer ? The
cause, as we say, is therein, that at the time of prayer [thisgift] is granted unto those who are worthy. And in prayer it
has its starting-point, because this glorious gift cannot be granted
excepted at this time, according to the testimony of the Fathers.
Therefore it is called by the name of prayer, because fromprayer the mind is conducted towards this blessed state, andbecause prayer is its starting-point and it does not occur on
any other occasion, according to the testimony of Mar Euagrius
and others. A nd we see also that the majority of the saints
say that during prayer their mind was snatched 1).
If any one asks : How is it that at this time only thesegreat and unspeakable gifts are granted ? we answer : Because
at this time, more than in any other hour, man is concentrated
and prepared to look unto God and to desire and to expect
compassion from Him. In short : it is the time that thedemand of him who is at the gate of the king and asks desi172 ringly and beseechingly, is likely to . be heard. And what timeis there when man is so cautious and fit and prepared, as thetime when he prays ? Or should it be becoming that he should
be deemed worthy of this at the time when he sleeps or settles
any affair or is distracted of mind ? H owever, the saints do noteven know a time of idleness, because at all times they areoccupied by spiritual things, for when they are not standing in
preparation for prayer, they often meditate upon some storiesof the scriptures, or their mind meditates in contemplation of
the created things, or [their mind is occupied] with other things
meditation of which is profitable.
At the time of prayer the gaze of the spirit is exclusively
fixed on God and the tendency of its emotion is wholly directed
towards Him, and it offers to Him the beseechings of the171ON VARIOUS [EXPERIENCES] DURING PRAYER ETC.

I I7

heart with the necessary zeal, with fervour and ardour. There­
fore it is becoming that at this time, when a single thought
dominates the soul, divine mercy should well forth from Him.
For we see also that when we offer the visible sacrifice, while
every one is prepared and standing in prayer, supplicating andbeseeching, the mind being concentrated upon God, the giftof the spirit descends upon the bread and wine which we layon the altar. To Zechariah also the angel appeared at the timeof prayer and announced to him the conception of John. And
1 7 3 to Peter appeared, while he was praying on the roof theprayer of the sixth hour, the revelation that made him ac­
quainted with the accession of the gentiles, by the cloth thatdescended from heaven and by the animals that were on it.
And to Cornelius appeared, when he prayed, that which is
written concerning him. A nd God spoke with Joshua the sonof Nun while he was prostrated in prayer. And over the ark
was placed a plate, from which the priest was taught by divine
revelation what was required, at the time when the high priest,
once in a year, entered the inner sanctuary at the dreadfultime of prayer while all the tribes of the children of Israel
were gathered and stood in trembling and fear in the outertabernacle in prayer. And while the high priest was prostrated
the voice of God was heard from the plate over the ark, ina dreadful, unspeakable revelation. How dreadful was themystery that was ministered in this ceremony ! So all therevelations and visions that happened unto the saints, happenedat the time of prayer.
What time is so holy and fit for sanctification and the re­ceiving of gifts as the time of prayer, in which man speaks
with God ? At this time man utters his desires unto God, be­seeching H im and speaking with Him and his whole emotion
and thought are concentrated from all sides upon Him with
1 7 4 compulsion ; of God alone he thinks and Him alo n e he sup­plicates ; his whole thought is absorbed in discourse with Him
and his heart is full of Him. It is in this state, therefore, thatthe H oly Ghost joins with the things which man prays, someunattainable insights, which it stirs in him in accordance with his
aptitude of being moved so that by these insights the emotionof prayer ceases, the mind is absorbed in ecstasy and the desired
object of prayer is forgotten. The impulses are drowned in aheavy drunkenness and man is no longer in this world. ThenI I8

ON VARIOUS [EXPERIENCES] DURING PRAYER ETC.

there is no longer discrimination of body or of soul, nor re­collection of anything, as Euagrius says.
Prayer namely is steadfastness of mind, which is terminatedonly by the light of the holy Trinity through ecstasy. Thouseest, how prayer is terminated when those insights which areborn in the spirit from prayer, pass into ecstasy, as I havesaid in the beginning of this treatise and in several places
further on.
Further h e 1) says : Steadfastness of mind is highness of intel­
ligible apperceptions 2), which resembles the colour of the sky
over which rises, at the time of prayer, the light of the holy
Trinity. When is a man deemed worthy of the whole of thisgrace such that during prayer he is exalted unto this height ?
He says : When the mind puts off the old man and puts on
175 the new one by grace, then it also sees its steadfastness at
the time of prayer, resembling sapphire or the colour of heaven,as the place of God was called by the elders of Israel, towhom it appeared on the mountain 3).
So, as I have said, this gift is not to be called spiritual
prayer, but what then ? The fruit of pure prayer, which isengulfed in the spirit. The mind has ascended here above
prayer. And, having found what is more excellent, it desistsfrom prayer. And further there is no longer prayer, but thegaze in ecstasy at the unattainable things which do not belong
to the world of mortals, and peace without knowledge of any
earthly thing. This is the well known ignorance 4) concerningwhich Euagrius says : Blessed is he who has reached, during
prayer, unconsciousness which is not to be surpassed.

XXIII
ON THE SPEECH OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE
Every apperceptible thing, be it action or word, is the reve­
lation of what is hidden within, if its cause be not entirely
accidental, but return constantly. The latter element only isI) evidently Euagrius2) literally : things
4) Cf. Dionysius Areopagita p. 274 10

3) Exodus 24, 9- I l

ON THE SPEECH OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE

I 19

considered i n connection with reward ; the former is taken into
consideration to a small extent only. For the strength or the
weakness of will is evidenced in the doing of evil or of goodthings, not by anything that happens accidentally ; but theproof of its freedom is the constant repehtton.
To fate is given power ; sometimes even so as to dominate
1 7 6 freedom of will. Good or bad accidents meet man be it inorder to spur him on, or to test, or to train, or to reward
him. That which serves to spur on, is good ; that which serves
to test, is considered as being bad ; that which serves to train
and to remunerate is indifferent.
There are no fortuitous accidents ; for nothing fortuitous
happens to man , good or evil. There is a governor who
governs the things of this world. There is a guardian witheach of us, whom nothing escapes and whose attention neverfails. But all accidents are foreseen by this appointed guar­
dian. A nd in these four kinds [of accidents] his providence isactive.
Passionate prayer, the companion of a course [ of life ] inharmony with its passionate nature, alters the character of those[ who are subj ect to accidents] and brings about amelioration.
The good are strengthened and corroborated by it ; to the bad
it causes a change to the opposite direction. Therefore, doubt
not what I have said : there is no accident fortuitous or without
a governor. If indeed prayer combined with steadfestness isable to alter or to direct, we have to believe that there is agovernor to every accident. Blessed is he who compares every
accident which happens to him, with his hidden [state] , who
scrutinizes its cause and beholds its governor. He that is desi­rous to acquire experience with God, cannot but become a foolto the world and a hater of human glory.
Admirable is the man who conceals the greatness of his
work by lowliness of soul. Such a one is admired by the angels.
As guardians of righteousness have to be reckonned by thee1 7 7 involuntary defects, which sometimes are found with those who
are watchful.
There is no prayer which is heard so soon as when a man
asks to be reconciled with those who are angry with him. And
when a man charges himself with the fault, this prayer isanswered without delay. If thou fulfillest thy duty and art
watchful in thy domain, yet art weak and despicable in thy

1 20

ON THE SPEECH OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE

own eyes, hating human glory, then know that thou art surely
in the way of God. But if thou perceivest that thou art notin this state and, when thou explorest thyself, thou seest thatthoughts of blame cause thee pain, then know that thou art
void of truth and in secret relation with falsehood.
XXIV
ON THE THINGS A BROTHER IS PROVIDEDW ITH IN HIS CELL
It occurs. many times in a day, that a brother, even if thou
shouldst give him the kingdom of the world, would n ot consent
at that hour to leave his ceii or to [ allow] any one to visit
him. For the time of commerce 1) has presented itself, of asudden. Such things happen on days such as are considered
as days of relaxation. Often on such days and even on thosewherein he has intercourse with others, grace of a sudden willvisit him, in tears without measure, or a vivid affection moving
1 7 s the heart, or a certain gladness without cause, or the delightof kneelings.
I know a brother who put the key in the door of his cellin order to shut it, for he was going out in order to be occu­
pied with idle things as the scripture says 2). And there grace
visited him, so that he returned immediately. Nobody, there­
fore, shall blame a brother if, on the days on which he does
not keep canonical solitude, he should happen to neglect thecongregational service sometimes. Especially if he be not reputedbase or given to inane occupations, and if he does not neglect
it on account of bodily labour. You know, my brethren, that
our work is not only that which is accomplished before theeyes of men ; but we have also a service which is hidden fromthe eyes of men and which is not known to novices and lay
people. For you are acquainted with the fact, that the solitaryis under a rule and not his own master. Therefore if any ofhis brethren comes to visit him and he answers him not, heshall return immediately without blaming his brother. For heI) Often the image of spiritual things2) Eccles. 1, 14 etc.

ON THE THINGS A BROTHER IS PROVIDED ETC.

I2I

does not know that with which his brother is occupied at thattime. The cell of a solitary is the cave of the rock in which
God spoke with Moses, as the Fathers say. Those solitaries
who have not been put to the test by the service which con­sists in the true taste of solitude, do not know these things.
They despise their brethren and judge, claiming for themselves
equality with them in all things.
It also happens sometimes that a brother is suddenly set face
1 79
to face with some necessary strife, and, with his hands laidon his heart, he is in danger of flying away. Being prostrated
he beseeches God, not able to bear the voice of any one.
These varying states are known to those who once have crossed
this ocean and are acquainted with the winds blowing [there] .
I t may also happen that the thought of repentance may risein a man and that his past may suddenly be united with thememory of his death and present itself before him. And thisbrilliant sun will be darkened before his eyes and every recol­
lection of the world will be effaced from his heart.
It may also happen that suddenly billows may rise against
him and his ship be engulfed in hidden abysses ; things which
are not known to every one, but which unexpectedly assail
the solitary in his solitude owing to the violent struggles ofSatan, so that the cell becomes a place of mourning.
Numerous are the varying states of this ocean and who
knows its labours and its multifarious connections, the wonderfulpearls in its depth and the animals rising from it ? Blessed ishe who sleeps not during the whole of his course u ntil theport of death.
No one loves anything without multiplying his connections[with it].
No one is able to occupy himself with divine things without
having cast away and despised temporal ones ; becoming a
stranger to worldly honour and delights, following the disdainof the cross, drinking every day vinegar and gall on accountof the affections, men, demons and poverty.
Be alert, my brother, and be like a prudent merchant, beaI8o ring thy pearl and wandering through the world, anxious thatits excellent beauty be not besmirched. Be careful , lest it bestolen from thee on account of thy laxity and thou go toHell in distress.
Persue the small consolation which is gained from labour inI 22

ON THE THINGS A BROTHER IS PROVIDED ETC.

its time, that thou may be deemed worthy of that great con­solation which liberates those who have found it, from torment
in this place of distresses. Do not reject small things, lest thou
be bereaved of the great ones. No one has ever seen a childwhich sucks milk putting meat into its mouth. By means ofsmall things the gate unto great ones is opened. Thou dis­dainest God, o my brother who desirest that God shall govern
thee without His rule. No one has been entrusted with greatthings, without having been first tried in small ones. Think ofthis, o m y brother, and remember me in due time : every
station which on the morrow thou attainest to in this way of
excellence and knowledge of the truth, will be found by theemore glorious and excellent than that in which thou hastspent the night before. Thou departest, wondering at the
beauty of the station which thou has entered to-day. But its
beauty vanishes by the beauty of that which thou wilt reach
to·morrow. Who can perceive the mind's varying states, full ofdelight ? Pray only, that the gate may be opened before thee.
Be on thy guard against dejectedness. Thou servest notunder a tyrant ; thy service is under a kind Lord, who hasgiven thee all, without taking from thee anything and who,
before thou didst exist at all, destined thee to ocupy thy present
place. Who can do justice to His grace even as shown by His
calling us into existence ?
181
0, for His immeasurable grace ! W ho can sufficiently tell theglory of Him who has given us the knowledge of all things ?
Not only of those which are manifest, but also of those which
are hidden , so that we know that, if there is anything that
we know not, we must ask it of Him ; who has taught thee,o mortal, to be moved by the desire of seeking that of which
the knowledge is not in thy nature ? Never seek a consolationthat lies without the heart, which is the knowledge of discern·m ent. Exalt thyself above all consolation administered by thesenses, that thou may be worthy of that consolation which lies
beyond. The solitary who has become alien to the consolationof the world, without expecting every day the consolation of
Christ, is dead in his living state.
For God is compassionate and prone to give ; but He desiresthat we give the opportunity. For He rejoices when man offers
a wtse prayer.
The mark of him who is recovering from illness is that heON THE THINGS A BROTHER IS PROVIDED ETC.

I 23

is desirous of the hidden things. There is delay, however, if
he beholds essential health. He who wearies of asking is thecompanion of him who wearies because of delay. Wearinessdeclines to ask in prayer, viz. it is an impediment to asking.
D ejectedness shortens prayer and bars its prolongation. Ex­
pectation gives patience and incites us to prolong prayer.
Expectation makes light the weight of fatigue in the limbs. It
also knows how to impart rest to the heart i n its troubles.
There is no load the weight of which is m ore agreeable thanwork with expectation ; nor is there any comrade with whom
1 8 2 intercourse is more desired than with it. Prison is a pleasanthabitation if it be there. Make it thy companion, o repentant
brother, then thou wilt not perceive any of the labours of thy
struggle. If thou art in thy cell, it will be with thee. If thouart found among men, fix thy mind on it. And if at any time
thy heart errs after anything on the earth, this world and allthat is in it will be found alien to thee. If thou sleep, makeit thy bed-companion ; and converse with it until thou art en­
folded in sleep. Then no depraved deliberation will draw near
thy heart, because thy occupation is of an immaterial kind andno object clad with matter, which by its appearance moves
the spirit, is able to show itself there ; and no demoniac deli­beration knows how to show itself detached from material
appearance.
The fruit of life sprouts from endurance in prayer. And
expectation is a helper during prayer to those who possess it.
When thou prayest, remember the husbandman who sows inhope. And He who causes to return twofold the seed of thehusbandman who sows in faith , and who has estimated theseeking of His kingdom and His righteousness higher than
the temporal things, He will incline himself to our prayer toour demands, as He has promised. Amen.

1 24

THE OPPORTL'NITIES OF THE SOUL THAT ETC.

XXVTHE OPPORTUNITIES OF THE SOUL THAT SEEKSPROFOUND CONTEMPLATION TO IMMERSE ITSELF
IN IT A N D SO TO ESCAPE F RO M BODILY DELIBERA­TIONS W H IC H A RISE FROM T HINGS RECOLLECTED
Every 1) thing that is above another one is concealed fromwhat is beneath it. And this is not caused by its being covered
1 83 by other bodies. For it possesses naturally the faculty to unveil
its secrecy whenever it likes to do so. Thus all things which
are essentially intelligible have no external distinctions of rank ;these distinctions are confined to their emotions. This implies
manifestly that they are more suited to receive, without any
intermediary, the primeval light, than things of a lower 2) rank,
not materially nor locally, but in relation to the high degreeof purity or moderation of the minds, with reference to thefaculty that receives hints from above.
All things which are by their nature intelligible, are hiddenfrom what is beneath them ; not on account of natural diver­gences, but on account of excellence of impulses. This I say
in respect of the members of [different] classes, viz. the classesof holy forces, the classes of souls, the classes of demons. The
first have the middle place ; the last the lowest in a naturaland local respect and also with regard to their emotions.
Each of the classes is hidden from the other as to theirintelligible character, whether they see or not ; from the inferior
ones they are also hidden by nature.
Now then, because incorporeal beings are not to be seen
by other beings in the same way as corporeal beings, but
their [power to] see one another is said to be dependent upon
their emotions, namely the excellency and temperance of theemotions - therefore they see one another if they are equalt ) With the ideas of this chapter compare Frothingham, Stephen Bar Sudaili, p. 92 :"Every intelligent nature is determined, known and comprehended by the essence which
is above i t ; and determines, kno\YS and comprehends the essence which is below it ; but
to the pure mind alone belongs the vision above and below". This seems to be the ope­ning sentence of the Book of Hierothcos.
2) literally : later

THE

OPPORTUNITIES OF THE SOUL 'fHA 1' ETC.

1 25

in this respect even at a distance and not as phantoms, butwith real sight and in their true nature.
184
Only - the cause of all is exalted above these distinctions,He, who is alone to be adored.
The demons, though they are very impure, are not deprivedof seeing the m em hers of their own classes. But they do not
see the two degrees that are above them because spiritualsight is serenity of emotions. These are their mirror and theireyes. And when the emotions have become darkened, they do
not see the orders which are above them. [ Only ] one anotherthey see, because they are more material than the order ofspiritual things, i11 comparison with them. Such is the state ofthe demons.
The souls, in accordance with their being impure and obs­
cure, have not the faculty to see even the members of theirown classes. Being deprived of seeing one another, they arealso deprived of seeing themselves. But if they are purified
and return unto the original state in which they were created,
they clearly gaze at the three classes, viz. at those which arebeneath themselves, at those which are above themselves, andat one another. This does not mean that they see all theseclasses only when they are transformed i nto material simili­tudes : angels, demons or the cognate soul. But they see themin their nature, being in their spiritual state, angels, demonsand souls.
If thou sayest, however, that it is impossible that demon orangel be seen in their spiritual state without being altered, then
185 it is not the soul that sees, but the body ; or wherefore, then,is purifi c ation necessary ? Demons are seen sometimes, and alsoangels, it is true, by those who are not pure. But they see
them with their bodily eye when they see them, where no
purification is n eeded. But the soul that has been purified sees
not thus ; it sees them in their spiritual state with its naturaleye, viz. with its intellectual faculty.
That the souls see one another, even when they are in thebody, is not surprising. Of this fact there is an evident proof
which thou wilt acknowledge, because its witness is trustworthy.
The blessed Athanasius, the confessor and Catholicus, gives
witness to it in his book on the dealings of Mar A ntonius. One
time when Mar A ntonius prayed, he saw a man's soul ascending
with great honour. He uttered a blessing over him that had been

t2b

tHB OPPORTUNlTIES OF THE SOUL THAT E'fC.

deemed worthy of all this grace. This was the blessed Ammon,
the recluse. And the mountain the blessed A ntonius inhabited
was at a distance of thirteen days from Nitria. - Here is a
proof of the three things we have maintained, viz. spiritual
beings see one another even at a distance, without their being
impeded by space and the presence of objects ; souls see one
another when they have been purified ; when they see they do
1 8 6 not see in a bodily way but by spiritual faculty, for it is clearthat bodily sight can see what is before it ; but as for seeing
at a distance a different sight is needed.
These highest classes possess an unlimited multiplicity of
number. A nd distinctions and orders are noted among them.
Some of them are called p rinces and magistrates, powers andlords. Perhaps those which are entrusted with magistracy andauthority are smaller in n umber than those which are compelled
to obey their commandment, says the master of teachers Dio­
dorus Rhetor 1). For they are in the possession of power andgreat if partial insight, in accordance with the highness of theirorders, being gradated so that they ascend from degree todegree till they reach the one who is older and mightier andmore glorious than any other and who is the head and thefoundation of all creatures. The head, I say, not the creatorof the primeval wonderful works of God.
The angels and the archangels are very far from attaining
to the wisdom of God, their and our creator. They are as far
from it, as those of the lower degree are from them, but also
no farther. Far, I say, as to their being higher or lower intheir mutual relations ; not in a spatial sense, but in respectof power and insight. Thus we say that they are higher orlower in respect of natural power and insight ; for in accordancewith the measure they have reached, greater or lesser know­
ledge is inherent in them.
1 87
All heavenly beings are named by the divine instruction withnine designations. It divides these three classes each into threesubdivisions. The first comprises thrones exalted, high and holy ;and Cherubs with many eyes ; and Seraphs with many wings.
The [second] class [comprises] lords and powers and magistrates.
The third : princes and archangels and angels.
A ccording to the meaning of the H ebrew, these terms are1) Cf, Introduction; also for the provenience of the following classification of heavenly beings.

tHE

OPPORTUNITiES OF THE SOUL THA 't ETC .

t '!i. 7

to be interpreted thus : Seraphs means those who cause heatand fire. Cherubs means magnitude of knowledge and effusionof wisdom. Thrones means divine acceptance and good pleasure.
This first class is called [that of] the Initiated, not because
they see spiritually by the intermediary of the various apper­
ceptible symbols, or because from spiritual writings they haveacquired understanding concerning the Essence ; but because
they are full of the exalted light of the whole of immaterial
knowledge and have been saturated with the essential con­templation of the threefold rays of the beauty that creates all
beauties, so far as it has been permitted to them. And because
they have been deemed worthy of communion with Jesus, notby means of images of holy formation, which with a certain
exactness depict the divine likeness ; but because they are in
truth near to Him, stamped by Him with the mark of the
primary acceptance of the knowledge of His divine illuminated.
B y the godhead they are filled with essential knowledge, as itis among the angels, and with primary insight into the godhead.
A n o t h e r a n d c l e a r e r [d e s c r i p t i o n ] o f t h e d e s i g­
n a t i o n s o f t h e h i g h e s t o r d e r s.
188
Thrones are honoured [ beings] . Lords are those who rule
kingdoms. Princes the governors of the air. Magistrates arethose who rule the peoples and human individuals. Forces arethose whose sight is frightful, viz. who are powerful with strength.
Seraphs are those who sanctify. Cherubs are bearers. Guards 1)
are those who watch. A ngels are messengers.
On the first day eight kinds were created, seven in silence,
one by voice, viz. light. On the second day the firmament. On
the third the gathering of waters and the sprouting plants. On
the fourth the different luminaries. On the fifth the fowls, thereptiles and the fishes. On the sixth the beasts and men.
The form of the whole world is length and breadth. The
head is the East ; the end is the west ; the right part is the
N orth ; the left part is the South.
The earth is as a bed ; and the highest heaven as a vault ;the second heaven as a wheel adaptated to the higher one.
A nd the borders of heaven and earth are joined one to theother. The Ocean surrounds them as a belt. Beyond it arehigh mountains ascending unto the sky. The sun goes its way
1)

re' � , also a usual term for angels in Syriac.

1 28

THE OPPOI{Tl.JNlTIES OF THE SO U L THAT E 1'C .

behind these mountains the whole night. The great sea isbeyond them. A nd this encompasses four times the area of the
dry land and one fourth is dry land.
XXVI
1 89

AGAINST THOSE WHO SAY : IF GOD IS GOOD
WHEREFORE HAS HE MADE THESE T HINGS ?
Sin, hell and death do not at all exist with God. For they
are facts, not persons. Sin is the fruit of will. There was atime, when it was not. And there will be a time, when it will
not be. H ell is the fruit of sin ; at some time or other it had
beginning ; but its end is not known. Death, however, is pro­vided by the wisdom of the creator. It will rule a certain time
only over nature ; then it will vanish altogether. Satan is thename of the deviation of will from the truth, but it is not thedesignation of a natural being.
A lthough thou findest, o my brother, some of these things
also in other books, still we may not be reckoned by thee as
those who seek their own glory, because we pretend the workof others to be our own, but, on the contrary, as those whoare humble, since we suck from the milk of our fore-fathers
those things which we have collected and placed before our­selves as objects of contemplation, with the aim of enriching
the intellect with their stores in which we may pasture andbe fed.
For we have not forgotten that we are not above the rankof disciples so long as we dwell in the flesh. The faculty of
discernment is the emotionality of the natural ideas. W he nthese g o the natural way in their emotions, they meet withthe changing elements and worlds. But when [they go] a sub�
sidiary way, another use will be found for the former ones.
For when the natural [faculties] are twofold in their intellectual
use, they will be understood in one of these only, and thatthe non-psychic state.
W hen thou catchest the delight of the words of the service,
then the mind is eager to remain in it continuously. If thoudesirest, however, to fulfill its wish, then haste towards theknowledge of its cause. If thou hast attained this quickly, as

AGAINST THOSE WHO SAY : IF GOD IS GOOD ETC.

1 29

one discerning and not blind, it is not difficult for thee to taste
this [delight] constantly without impediment. And what then is
the influence which is also called cause ? By a file, which does
not add anything to it, iron is brought to brilliancy and radiance ;for these properties belong to its essence. But what happens ?
The file removes from it the rust, which has come upon it,
although no one is responsible for that. The same theory holds
true as to the nature of the mind. Bring it into contact withthe file ; then thou wilt find how it shines at the time of ser­vice, imitating the rays of the stars. For a thing is not able
to go its way [without aid] ; it delays, if no one cares for it.
Therefore have I said that during the recitation of Psalms (notduring the prayer of the heart and recitation) the heart canhardly be captivated. It is otherwise with those ; with them
only small care is needed. They are able to make [recitationof Psalms] profitable. But without them, care for recitation will
1 91 be found to be in vain. The latter will be promoted, even if
there be no other increase to it, if the former be a stockalready present 1).
Hunger is able to procure food ; but it is not inclined toabstain from eating.
Delicious for the husbandman is the bread won by his sweat.
Without previous sweat, the bread of truth does not givesaturation. The body which is the husbandman, sweats andfeeds the rational mind. And this happens even when the mind
is deprived of its customary, non-natural food.
Spiritual excellency is the daughter of excellency of will andthis it is necessarily. For freedom is the natural force of reason,and not slavery. But on that side, towards which it inclines
and where it abides, it gives birth to a different force, which
is not natural. And when this is born, freedom becomes ruledand governed by comp•Jlsion. I dare to say : it becomes bound,
without self-government. Before, compulsion was voluntary ; now
compulsion has mastered will.
And I say that this is to be seen on both sides, when a man
subdues himself on the right side and when he gives an oppor­
tunity to the left one. But the mind that has learnt to see discri­
minately, is able to observe how compulsion on both sides domi­nates freedom, when the force which is not from nature, is born
1) I am not quite certain of the meanin g of the last sentences.
Verb. AfJ. Lctterk. 1922 (\Vensinck).

t 30

192

AGA 1 NST THO S E W H O S AV : IF G OD ts G O OD ETC.

from the submission of the will. I do not mean the usual force,
which is very difficult ; but that which is called secondary.
Custom at any rate is subject to the will ; though it strives
to resist it. Apart from this we know two forces ; one subdues
the will ; the other dominates nature. It has even power toalter nature. That infl u ence dominates nature, is known to those
who have been tested by it.
The varying states of the hearts and the deviating minds
which are usually born from them (free and bound, living anddead) are promoted to a large extent by the disparity 1) ofcontemplation which rises in human minds, concerning divine
j udgments. By the mediation of this disparity the world 2) has
been preserved for thousands of years. This disparity is largely
helpful towards changing the course of· mortal life, and whatis greatest of all, towards the contemplation of j udgments
which engender trust in God.
M any hearts as soon as trust has entered them, resemble aman who has taken deadly poison.
Even to true and veracious sons, with ten parts of love fiveparts of fear are mixed together.
Nature liable to deviation is not able to receive here theperfection of divine truth, or to know the whole will of God
regarding the class of rational beings ; even Paul and his equals
are not sufficient for this ; till the liability to err has been taken1 ) Disparity (l<"�e\aC\z. � , cf. Register) is a term which, as well as its opposite,
often occurs in cognate works, but o f which it is not easy to give a clear definition.
Dionysius the Areopagite is well acquainted with the idea (/<76r�� and avt<76T��) : T�V yap&vur6rwr« !I Tit; i"A%{301 Tat; Ev Ti[J f!At:J Ttiiv fJA(dv 7rp0� 1JA� Cha'f:lop&t; �eetl Ta6TJ1t; � dnuuou6vJ1
�potJptf'TOc�, �� Ull'y-JGCdpoiJua UUtJ.fLI'Yij T« tiM Ev fh.o1t; yEV6JLEva dtaTt%paxSi1vatLf>u)u:tT-rouua ��
Ta '0vT« ?rc:iYT« �«T, E1dot; lbt:ttrTov. Ev ifj 'E11.rxu-rov ETvat 1riq>v"E (De divinis nominibus, Chapter
VIII). On the other hand, in the ninth chapter, Dionysius argues that i<76r�� is a divine
property, corresponding to some extent with justice ; it means that God is not composed
and pervades and reaches the Universe i n an equal way.
Going back in literature, we find the terms in the Neo-l'latonists. Of importance is thefollowing passage in Plotinus (Enmades Ill H § XVII) : xal �� 6 Myo� cl ,.ii; ,r� · f<EfLE­
pt�T«t dE c;Ux Elt; Yr:rre . CfOev xal TOU ?r«VTO� dui�opol r67rOI {3Eli.Tfou; Kal xefpou; "�' �uxal olnc
'frrat hapr<6TT'""'v o�,..,� ToI, o&x 'I�Tot� (cf. also § X VIII and Ill Ill § 3 , 5 and Prod us,
Imtitatio Th eologit-a, ed. Creuzer § VII).
Goin g further back, we find that Philo was well acquainted with the ideas of !..6,.��
and &vt<76r��- Ed. Mangey I 493 sqq. is very instructive. And in the fragments Mangey
gives the following sentences from Philo (11 66s) : Wl77rEp rtiJv TEAEIDT<fTOIV aya!tiJv TO !<76/LETpov ciiTtov, oi:'Ttd T(ijv fJ.E'yfr:rr(l)v xaxrelv � �fLETpfa , TOll &lcfiElHf.tt!JTcotTDv A6ou�a dE(J'fLOV jqoQ­
TJfTD;. And : rO ltYti.TOV Au?rJtpDv xal dtlta'T:tTJxOv Wu1rtp Kal ,.,.;; ir:rov tiAznrov xal (J'IJYdETixOv ei;··

Wq>IJ.. Etav . - TO 'lvvOfLOV xal TO Ta-ov elp411'1t; tT7rlPf.t«, Kal IJ'(A)Ttfpkt.c; tifTiov, x«l Titc; elc; fbravradat(.tOYifc; . 'Av;<16-r'J1t; JE Y.al ?I"AEove�Ia Opt.t'1T'1p!a -;roAit.c,ou, xal Avroc.% T�v �vr&c�v.

2) Reading !<'.!::Qt� in stead of���AGAINsT THOSE WHO SAY : lF GOb !S GOOD

ttC.

t3t

193 away, so that n ature no longer errs through being aware of this.

What is parity and disparity ? Disparity of contemplation ­differences and variations in one soul - is the eternal thoughtof God being unattainable. Parity is truth being revealed.
If a nature able to err should receive in this world the exact
truth, it would die by the power of its liability to err. This is' 0, depth of the riches' 1) and ' How u nsearchable are His
judgments ' and ' \Vho has known the mind of God' and thelike, which in an astonishing way and among sighs rise in themind from time to time, which by some is called the Cloud.
From this, disparity of contemplation and divergence of in­sight are born concerning the unattainable inquiry into God's
judgments.
When, however, the perfection of n ature will have come, i na world without deviation, nature will be no longer afraid toknow divine truth, as if it would deviate to the left becauseof trust. Trust engenders contempt and profusion of spirit. Fear,on the other hand, is wonted to check aberration, so that it
becomes bridled. This fear thou fi ndest i n thy soul by thecontemplation of the different judgments and worlds and thedisparity of behaviour and the non-correspondence between the
retribution provided to men in this world and the righteousness
which shows itself from time to time, and [ God's] constant
1 94 patience, and the righteous and the sinners, and the contrary
and incongruous meetings of repugnant persons, as orderedby Providence. When the intellect observes all this, emotion
takes hold of the whole soul. And then is born in it exami­
nation of deliberations, of words and actions and of the out­lines of the domain of divine righteousness.
Now when the intellect withdraws itself from this and isexalted unto the unique Essence, by the contemplation of theproperties of that good Nature 2) which possesses eternal know­
ledge, which is anterior to all existence, and of all H is otherproperties, fear is expelled at once and the mind is supported
by confi d ence.
\Vhen the intellect descends again from that place and returns
again to the worlds and their distinctions, it will fly and give
way to fear, because Providence does not allow it to be always
in the presence of this contemplation of truth. Therefore from
1 ) Romans I 1 , 332) f<'� viz. G od

I 32

AGAINST THOSE WHO SAY : IF GOD IS GOOD ETC.

time to time [fear] will take away from the heart the strengthof trust which is inspired by true contemplation, and it will
let the intellect be tortured by diverse opinions ; lest [the in­tellect] should desist from judging constantly the veracity ofits deliberations and actions and thus acquire cautiousness, forit does not know how it will meet the j udgment of God. To
whom be praise for ever and ever Amen.
XXVII
' 95

I N HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THE SIGHT
OF I NCORPOREAL BEINGS IS RECEIVED BY
H UMAN N ATURE

All simple and subtle kinds of rational bodies can be at­tained to by the apperception of h uman nature in three ways :by personal density [which is a] non-essential way ; by personal
subtlety [which is a] non-essential way ; by true contemplation
which is essential sight.
The first way is dominated by the senses ; the other bysimple psychic sight ; the third by the natural force of thespirit. Further one is dominated by will and reason ; one bywill and psychic light and all that strengthens the latter.
Will is in the first place cause ; and these are the childrenof freedom, even if at the time of use freedom and will aresilent, so long as influence is active and potent. And one onlyis dominated by the demonstrating [power] , even without thewill of the recipients and essential knowledge, even as thesenses are the recipients of all accidents without the will.
These three ways are ministered by holy forces which mingle
themselves with us for the sake of our instruction and in orderthat we may fi n d life. Those who are impure have power tominister two of them, which they may use when they come1 96 near unto us, for perdition, not for profi t . To the third kindthey do not approach with the purpose of using it, so as toacquire power over us to lead us astray.
For it is not possible for the children of darkness to ap­
proach light ; the demons do not possess the power to set into
motion the natural insights of the mind. The holy angels,however, possess this faculty of setting into motion and of

IN HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THE SIGHT ETC .

I 33

illuminating. The demons, however, possess the false insights,
the children of darkness, as their power and government. Fromthe illuminated the recipient takes light, from the dark, dark­
ness. A nd what is the reason that this was given to those, andnot to these ? The insight which every one of these teachers
shows and teaches, is first seen by him in his own person, andlearnt and tasted ; then he is able to transmit to us the truthof things on account of their true knowledge concerning them,which they have found first by the swift attaining power of thelight and pure mind. The demons also possess swiftness, but noillumination. Swiftness is different from illumination. The former
without the latter leads its possessors to destruction and insi­
pidity ; the latter teaches truth, the former sham truth ; forlight shows the veracity of things entirely and it becomes
greater or less in accordance with behaviour.
From their knowledge the holy angels pour out into us,
through the emotions caused by things, that which they taste
197 and acquire first and thus transmit to us. And these secondary
teachers also set into motion in us, in correspondence with
their knowledge, emotions caused by things. In the domain
where they have no freedom, it is necessary [for them] toquicken in us right deliberations concerning these things. As
I have said, therefore, this may be certain to thee, that evenif we were able to receive it, they would not be able to teachus true contemplation, though they should be acquainted with
it from of old. Every member of one party or the other - holyangels or those of the opposite group - teaches and i ncites
us, the disciples, to behave according to his own behaviour.
To me this is true : that the mind of itself, even without themediation of the holy angels, tends towards the good, even
without instruction, but that it is unable to receive the know­
ledge of evil things without the mediation of the demons or
the senses, [and is unable] to tend towards them of its own
accord. In our nature good is implanted, evil not. And all thatis foreign and is taught from without, needs an intermediary.
What is planted within, however, unfolds itself naturally, even
without instruction, even if dimly. But even though our naturetends of its own towards the good, it is unable, without the
tutorship of the holy angels, to increase this and to be illu­
minated by it. We have them as teachers, as they have each
1 98 other, namely those who are lower [have for their teachers]

I 34

IN HOW l\IANY DIFFERENT WAYS T i l E SIGHT ETC.

those who are more instructed and enlightened than themselves.
So they have each other [ for teachers] up to the one who has
as a teacher the holy Trinity. A nd even he [ does not receive
instruction ] of his own, but he has as a teacher the mediator
Jesus, through whom he receives [instruction] and transmits itto those who are on the same plan and lower.
I think also this. As we naturally do not at all possess theforce to be moved by divine contemplation, and we share inthis deficiency with all heavenly beings, it is only by grace,
without exercise or computation [on our part] , that we are
moved by something which naturally is foreign to the humanand angelic mind. For contemplation concerning the godhead
is not to be compar�d with other kinds of contemplation ; for
we possess contemplation as to their natures through our par­ticipation in the twofold nature that is theirs, because of thatwhich is in us and also in them ; but we do not participate in
the nature of the Essence, nor do we possess contemplation
concerning Him. As the faculty of being set into motion by
this contemplation does not naturally belong to any of therational beings of the first and middle class, it must be a giftof grace in all heavenly and earthly minds.
It is not like other faculties caused by nature, however illu­
minated and purifi e d. But I think - and this is true - thatthe mind of us, children of man, is to be conducted [only ] byrevelations and insights so far as to reach this essential con­templation which is the same as true revelation ; without their
1 99 mediation, however, our mind could not be conducted. And
our mind does not possess a strengh like that of those highand exalted beings who receive all revelations and contem­
plation from the Essence, without an intermediary. But even
they [ receive these revelations] through an image of the Essence,
not from the Essence itself. So that our mind also is in thesame degree as the other classes, not able to receive revela­
tions and contemplation of their own , without an intermediary,
but only from Jesus who sways the sceptre of the Kingdom.
The other classes, viz. other primary classes receive [ revela­
tions] by handing them down one to the other, concerning all
matters of government and the understanding thereof (notconcerning the Essence), from the first to the second and soon till the mystery has gone through all the classes.
But many are the mysteries which remain in that one primary198

IN HOW J\!ANY DIFFERENT WAYS TilE SIG HT ETC.

I

35

class without spreading through the other classes, because,apart from that one, they are not able to receive such a great
mystery. There are other mysteries again which proceed fromthe primary class and are revealed only to the second, but
are preserved there in silence ; the other classes do not per­ceive them. Others again are revealed to the third and fourthclasses. There are also [differences of] superiority and inferiorityof revelation in the case of individual angels. Some of them
2oo are rich in revelations and mysteries of a high order are
revealed unto them, and they receive plentiful light. Some arelower and their impulses are too weak for these mysteries. And
thus among the spiritual classes there is excellency and defi­
ciency, superiority and inferiority concerning the receiving ofrevelations. A part from that upper class which is the primaryof all classes, the remainder without exception receive con:templation and hints concerning the entire divine government
from their fellows. And if this is the case with them, how muchless are we able, without them and without an intermediary,
to receive such mysteries. But as often as an apperception
falls in the minds of the saints, this revelation of whatsoever
mystery it be, comes from these [heavenly beings]. When it
is allowed by God, revelation is handed down by each higher
class to that which is lower, unto the lowest ; in the same way,
when it is allowed by the godhead, the mystery is handed
down by those who are worthy of it unto human beings.
By their intermediary, at any rate, the saints become receiversof the light of contemplation, by which they behold the praised
Essence, which is a mystery which they do not learn from eachother. Those [higher beings] are administering spirits, which aresent to those who are to inherit life through the apperceptionof such insights of the truths as are peculiar to them.
201
In the world to be, however, this kind of transmission will
be annihilated. For then one will not receive the revelation ofGod's glory for the delight of his soul, from his comrade, but
it will be given to every one himself in so far as is in accor­
dance with the measure of his excellency, and as he is deemedworthy of by the Lord of the Universe ; but he will not receive
the gift through his comrade, as is the case in this world. For
there are none who learn and none who teach and none who
desire to receive from their comrades what fails themselves.
For one giver reveals himself there without intermediary unto

I 36

IN I I OW M ANY DIFFERENT WAYS TilE SIGHT ETC .

all receivers. And those who receive all spiritual delight receivefrom Him. So that they do not perceive Him by means of
single insights but by [ direct] revelation of Himself, without theoutward intermediary of impulses. There is abrogated the degreeof the learner and the teacher and every one's swift love isfixed on one.
Also I say that even those who are scourged in Hell are
tormented with the scourgings of love. Scourgings for love's
sake, namely of those who perceive that they have sinned
against love, are more hard and bitter than tortures throughfear. The suffering which takes hold of the heart through thesinning against love is more acute than any other torture. It
is evil for a man to think that the sinners in Hell are destituteof love for the Creator. For love is a child of true knowledge
such as is professed to be given to all people. Love works
with its force in a double way. It tortures those who have
202 sinned, as happens also in the world between friends. And it
gives delight to those who have kept its decrees. Thus it isalso in Hell. I say that the hard tortures are grief for love.
The inhabitants of heaven , however, make drunk their soulwith the delight of love.
Some one was asked when one could believe that he had
been deemed worthy of forgiveness of sins. He answered : when
he perceives that he inwardly hates them with a complete hate,
and that his mode of life is the contrary of what it previously
was. He who is in such a state, will trust that his sins havebeen forgiven by God, on account of the witness borne by the
conscience of his soul, according to the word of the A post!e.
The heart which does not blame is a witness concerning itself.
X XVIIIA SYMBOLICAL DEMONSTR ATTON CONCERNING
THE THEORY OF SABBATH AND SUNDAY
Sunday is the symbol of true knowledge which is not received
by flesh and blood, and which is elevation above [ mere] opinion.
In this world, l}owever, there is no eighth day ; but neither isthere a true Sabbath. The fact that God rested on the seventh
day is a symbol of the rest of our nature from the course of

A SYMHOLICAL DEMONSTR.\TION CONCERNING ETC.

I3

7

this life. For the grave is also of a bodily nature ; it belongs
to this world. Six days are accomplished in the service of life ;the seventh is accomplished in the grave ; the eighth in depar­
ting from it. As those who are worthy receive in this world
the mysteries of the Sunday in a symbol - they do not re­ceive the day as long as they are in their bodily nature -- so
203 those who are worthy receive in this world the mysteries of
the Sabbath symbolically, not the true Sabbath which is perfectrest from wanton influences. God has given us to taste of amysterious indication of all things, but He has not decreed that
we should walk here in intercourse with the real truth. For the
real, not the symbolical Sabbath, will happen in the grave, viz.
rest which finishes the torments of the affections and the toil
against them. The whole man gives rest there to the body
together with the soul.
In six days God established the existence of this world andcreated the elements 1 ) and connected their existence with theadministration of never resting motion and [ ordered] that theyshould not rest from their course before their dissolution. And
from the force of these, viz. the primeval elements, He has com­posed our body. He did not give those rest from their motions ;neither did He grant our body, their offspring, rest fro m ser­vice. As the term of our nature He fixed rest, when we shallfollow our first relatives, rest consisting in the dissolution oflife. Thus He said to Adam : In the sweat of thy face thoushalt eat bread 2). Till when ? Till thou returnest unto the dust,
for out of it wast thou taken. Thou shalt work in the groundand it shall bring forth to thee thorns and thistles. This denotes
symbolically that this world is a world of service as long as
it exists.
Our Lord, since the night when He sweated, has changed
this sweat caused by working in the earth which brings forththorns and thistles, into the sweat which also rises during
prayer and which ma.n should produce in the service of righzo4 teousness. For five thousand years He left man to work in
his sweat, for the way of the saints had not yet been revealed,as the Apostle says. He appeared, however, with His gracein the latter days and ordered our free will to replace sweat
by sweat. At any rate this change does not show that He
1)

���r< also the planets and zodiacal signs
1z) Gen. 3, 1 9

I38

A SYMBOLICAL DEMONSTRATION CONCERNING ETC.

ordered rest. But He was merciful upon us for the sakeof our long and weary work in the earth. If, however, we
desist from sweating for this [ spiritual service] , we must neces­sarily reap thorns ; for desisting from this, means the serviceof the material earth which brings forth thorns and thistles
according to her nature. In reality the thorns are the affec­
tions which grow in us from bodily seed. As we bear theimage of Adam so we necessarily bear his affections too. The
earth is not free to desist from bearing ; for it brings forth on
account of its nature. The earth is our relative according toGod's witness unto us ' the dust out of which thou wast taken'.
The one [ brings forth] thorns ; the other, the rational [ earth] ,affections.
If now our Lord has been a symbolical example for us inevery respect, viz. in all his different dealings - for till theminth hour Friday He did not take rest from work, not evenfrom the toilsome work which symbolically represents our whole
life ; the Sabbath He expected in the grave only - wherethen are those 1) who pretend that there is a Sabbath in thisworld, viz. rest from affections ? Concerning the Sunday, how­ever, it is difficult to speak. Our Sabbath is the day of thegrave. In reality our nature rests there. So every day it is
205 necessary to eradicate thorns from this earth as long as itexists. For constant service brings about decrease of weeds.
But even thus the earth does not wholly become pure. If thourelaxest but a short time in this respect, the weeds will growand cover the surface of the earth and choke thy seed andthy previous work as if it had not existed. Therefore, it isnecessary to purify, every day ; for a pause in this work pro­duces a multitude of weeds.
XXIX
ON THE DIFFERENT EXCELLENT M ETHODS OF
WISE PROVIDENCE IN EDUCATING PUPILSAll wisdom comes from the Lord, as hath been said 2). And
we exercise ourselves in our own things in order to become
wise in the dealings of the Lord with us. The Father of truth
1) the Me�alleyane ?

2) Jesus Sirach 11 1

ON TilE DIFFERENT EXCELLENT METHODS OF ETC.

I 39

deals in different ways with his sons ; He avoids uniformity
which consists in showing always the same face, for the profitof his sons. On the contrary, for the sake of exercise H ewithdraws his love. Thus He displays i n appearance a n ordersuch as exists not ; but what is, He retains. A wise son recog­
nizes in different attitudes his father's care for him and his
discerning love.
The practice of love appears in two ways when rightly
understood : in joyful events, but also in sorrowful ones. This
proves that love is constantly tending towards the pleasure of
206 its object. But sometimes it makes its object suffer, because of
its fulness ; if it makes suffer, it suffers also itself. It resists
the motions of natural compassion because of the fear of later
harm . Love urges us to participate ; knowledge gives strength
to resist [ these] feelings.
Parallel to the differences in its election are the varying
forms of wise love regarding those who receive its sustenance.
Let us not ask of a wise friend foolish love. He who kills his
son by feeding him with honey, is not different from him thatkills his son with a knife.
It is namely not worthy of the wisdom of love to sustain
its object in a uniform way, the same in health as in illness.
That is to say the variations which depend upon the will in
the choice of the emotions, not bodily changes. If we are able
to choose those [varying] times when we love some one, withdiscrimination, especially when such a one is under our com­mand, is it not then but right that we attribute to God thefaculty of performing the offices of his discriminating love untous, even if we do consider them in the same way as thevariations we are able to show to our friends ? This is difficult
to bear, as I know myself ; but it is profitable nevertheless.
Thy nature which is liable to deviation makes thee in need ofthis, if not as a retribution for what has passed, then to excite
in thee fear of what will certainly happen.
Distressing accidents are to the inner education what whole­some medicines are to bodily disparity.
All that is simple among creatures, is without struggle in its
20 7 dealings ; this is applicable to bodily as well as to non-bodily
beings. Action is of such a nature that it is only possible inconnection with disparity. Disparity exists only in composite
beings, on account of a united duality. And though non-compositeI ,�0ON TilE DIFFERENT EXCELLENT METHODS OF ETC.

and simple beings are also said to be liable to aberration, still
this takes place wholly to the right side, and not in the wayof action, because they have no experience of that which ison the opposite side. They are only affectable regarding thegood. For their liability to deviation is checked by swift love ;and where there is love, there is no struggle and no fear. Yet
they are bound in nature ; and from this being bound, their
liability to aberration is said to originate.
Good and evil are the offspring of freedom. Where thelatter is lacking, to practise the former is superfluous withrespect to remuneration. For nature knows no remuneralion.
Reward is decreed for strife. There can be no mention of victory
where there is no struggle. \Vhen opposition is removed, free­
dom vanishes at the same time. Then nature remains without
strife. A time is reserved for the annihilation of freedom ; thena limited rationality comes into existence, among men as wellas among the angels. Rationality, not sensible emotionality. In
conception 1) rationality possesses two peculiarities, namely twoforces, a rational and a conceiving force. The former is alto­
gether limited. In the latter nature is complete, in so far aszo s it is conceiving. But again it is limited , not compulsorily,
but rather delightfully, with a delightful bond. Sometimes this[delight] happens unto a few in this world in a symbolical way ;·but only in trance. Unto the primeval rational beings [thishappened] without trance, as far as this was possible, though
they were not perfect. What was it which happened without
trance u nto persons who were not perfect ? There are mysteries
that cannot be received before the time appointed. Those per­sons are imperfect therefore, who do not possess it at all, notthose who possess what they do here possess, only in trance.
Therefore constancy [is necessary] , rather than trance. If
trance [at all] , then it is for those things which are most ex­cellent. So trance for those people was an excellent change ;with us it is annihilation, because of the sickness of the flesh.

ON TilE POWER AND THE EVIL ACTION OF SIN ETC.

I4I

XXX
ON THE POW ER AND THE EVIL ACTION OF SIN
AND CONCERNING THOSE I N WHOM IT MAINTAINSITSELF AND THOSE IN WHOM IT IS ANNIHILATED
A man is not freed from the allurements of sin in his heart
until he hates from [ the depth of] his heart and sincerely thecause of sin. This causes the vehemence of the struggle which
opposes man in the blood and in which his freedom is testified
to through the purity of his love of virtues.
This is the power which is called seduction, by the scent of
which the weak soul is defeated because of its mighty attrac­
tion. This is the strong power of sin by which it troubles thezo9 serenity of the chaste and overpowers the pure emotions bythings the knowledge of which they have never experienced.
Here we have to show our endurance, my beloved.
This is the time of the unseen martyrdom in which theorder of the solitaries is said to excel at all times. By theshock of this war the mind of the steadfast is troubled andupset, if it is not extremely watchful. Our Lord, who possessest
almighty power, fountain of all help, support Thou in thesetimes of martyrdom the souls who joyfully have betrothed
themselves to thee, heavenly bridegroom, and who have given
thee the promise of sanctity, in entire purity of emotions without
an afterthought. Fill them with the force which subdues theresistance of fortresses and of heights that raise themselves
against sanctity, lest they be driven away from their proposed
aim by the unbearable compulsion of this time in which thestruggle in the blood rages.
Not always does this severe strife take place in the struggleof chastity. Remittance may occur that a test may be applied.
Woe to the weak who is put to the test in this decisive strife.
It possesses great strength and maintains its customary force
against those who have given themselves wholly, even though
it be but once, to defeat, by submitting their deliberations to it.
Be on your guard against idleness, my beloved ; intelligible
death is hidden in it. W ithout it it is impossible that the soli­tary should fall into the hands of those who wish to captivate

142

ON THE POWER AND THE EVIL ACTION OF SIN ETC.

him. N ot that God will judge us on that day on the basis of
Psalms we have recited or whether we have passed in
idleness the times of service occasionally ; but by our neglecting
them , the demons win access. And when they have found an
opportunity to enter and have shut our rooms, they accomplish
in us tyrannically things which will necessarily bring their per­petrators under divine judgment in view of the severe punish­
ment allotted for them. So we become enslaved through negli­
gence in small matters which by the prudent are · treated ina painstaking way, for the sake of Christ. As it has been said :Whosoever does riot subject his will to God, he becomes aslave to his foe. We have, therefore, to consider as walls
against those who desire to captivate us, those things which
are reputed to be of a humble nature and which are accom­
plished in the cell, things which by those who maintain thestrict institutes of the church have been laid down in prudence
in a spirit of revelation, for the preservation of our life, theneglect of which is deemed insignificant by the imprudent, theharm of which, however, they do not consider. The beginningand the middle of their path is untrained freedom, which is
the mother of wrongs. To trouble oneself with the care ofsmall things is better than to give opportunity for sin by re­missness regarding them. This is freedom at the wrong time ;the end of which is grinding slavery.
As long as thy senses are alive to the shock of every
accident, thy soul is to be deemed dead. For in that case theflames of sin will never be absent from thy limbs, whateverbe thy states, and no peace will be able to settle in thy soul.
If any of the solitaries promises in his heart to be watchful in2 1 1 such a state, he does not desire to be conscious of punishment.
When a man deceives his companion he deserves the curse,such as is according to the law. When, however, a man
deceives himself, he is not deserving those punishments ; forwhile conscious he has made himself unconscious, because it isdemanded from him that he shall eradicate the cause from hisheart. But this is difficult in his eyes ; and, for this reason,
while conscious, he desires to be unconscious. 0 how sweet isthe cause of affections. He will cut them off sometimes andbe pleased to drive them away. Often he rejoices on accountof their being apeased ; to eradicate their cause he is, however,
not able. Therefore we are put to the test, though it be against

2 1 0 theON THE POWER AND THE EVIL ACTION OF SIN ETC.

I 43

our will, and are distressed by the affections although we likethat their causes be strong in us.
Sins we desire not ; their conductors, however, we receivewith delight ; so secondary reasons become a mighty cause of
primary ones. For he who desires the causes of the affections,is subject to them, though not of his will.
Who hates his sins, abstains from them. He who confesses
his faults, receives forgiveness. There is no abstaining from
customary sins without acquiring hate, nor receiving of for­giveness without confession of faults. The latter is accompaniedby true humility ; the former by grief, through shame rising in
the heart. So long as we have not advanced to the point of
hating blameworthy things, it is not possible to perceive thefoetid odour they spread when perpetrated, nor their stinking
212 smell, bearing them, as we do, in ourselves. So long as thouhast not cast evil away, thou knowest not what shame thouwilt foster nor what chastisement will rise from it. If thou seest
in others that with which thou art charged, then thou knowest
the shame with which thou art clad. Remove thyself from evil,
then thou wilt know. For thou inhalest the foetid odour as asweet scent, and [considerest] the nakedness of thy shame asa glorious cover.
Blessed is he that has removed himself from darkness andseen himself ; so long as he is in it, sight and discernment are
impossible. Blessed is he that has come forth from the dizzinessof his wine and has seen in others the shamelessness of his
drunkenness ; then he will understand his own shame. As longas he himself is under the drunkenness of sins, all that hedoes is beautiful in his eyes. When nature has deviated fromits order, it is all alike, to be drunk with wine or with desires ;both [states] remove [a man] from what is becoming ; both
excite in their bearer, the body, the same heat ; they are dif­ferent as to their idea, but one in appearance ; and one inmadness. There is no equality in their causal ideas ; but intheir bearers there is no diversity.
All rest is followed by vexation ; and all vexation by rest.
If all in this world is liable to change, nevertheless man under­
goes it in an attitude of opposition, either here or there or at
the time of departure. This is especially the case with rest
213 from lasciviousness or vexation which precedes it, in the wayof sanctity. This is administered by God with compassion, so

I 44

ON THE POWER AND THE EVIL ACTION OF SIN ETC.

that man has to taste this torment either on his way or atits end ; then he passes away. And on account of the richnessof God's compassion He [uses] this as a means of remuneration,
like a deposit ; so that the wages of good do not diminish thecapital ; but the wages of evil do.
As has been said : He who is chastised here, diminishes [historments in] Hell.
Beware of freedom preceding subjection, beware of consola­tion preceding strife. Beware of knowledge older than the shockof temptations ; beware of it rather than of love preceding theaccomplishment of repentance.
If all of us are sinners, and none is exalted above theirexperience, then none among the virtues precedes repentance.
Recollect that all delight is secondary to aversion and bitterness.
Beware of joy also, to which is not joined variation withoutcause. Concerning all things provided from above thou wilt
find the cause of their variation unattainable to knowledge.
Fear that which is reputed to be joined with equality ; it issaid to lie besides the way which is trodden. He who knows
to steer the ship of the world with prudence, has connectedvariation with all that belongs to Him. Different from this islikeness.
Distraction of the thoughts is connected with the rest of
the limbs ; dejection with immoderate labour ; distraction withdejection. Distraction differs from distraction. The former is
2 14 accompanied by the strife of wantonness ; the latter by the
inclination to leave the cell and to [inhabit] various places.
Moderate labour connected with constancy is priceless ; where
it fails, there is exuberant desire ; where it prevails, there isroom for trouble.
Bear the folly of nature prevailing in thy body, o brother,because thou art destined to possess that wisdom which pos­sesses thP- everlasting crown of government. Be not troubled
by the disturbance of the body, [the inheritance] of Adam,
which is destined as soon as it is clad with that heavenly
image which is the king of peace, to dwell in that delight ofwhich the knowledge would overpower in this world the mindsof those who are clad with flesh.
Be not troubled on account of the wild variations of nature.
For the short duration of the labour caused by them is, to him
who endures, as a delightful gift. They are hounds accustomed

bN 'tHE POWER AND 'tHF: EV!L AC'f!ON Olt S!N ETC.

t 45

to the butcher 1) ; a sound from the mouth is sufficient to makethem flee. But if thou shouldst condescend to have connections
with them, thou wouldst make them strong lions.
Despise mean pleasures, lest thou become subjected to theforce of their heat �). A little patience regarding small things
repels the danger of the approach of large ones. It is notpossible to overcome great evils without a small victory overtrifling ones.
Recollect the kind of way thou wilt go, o brother ; there is
no longer life there sustained by chemicals driving mortality ;nor warmth of temperament exciting the young nature by theallurement of its pleasure. Bear the labour of the struggle into
which [He] has introduced thee in order to put thee to the
2 , 5 test ; then thou wilt take the crown and pass ; for after a little
time thou wilt have rest from this world. Think of that rest
without end, of that life without allurements, of that state ofperfect manhood, of that course of life without shocks, of thatcompulsory force of divine love reigning over nature.
X XXI
THE STRUGGLE OR RATHER THE DANGER OF
FALLING THAT EXCELLENT WORKS INCUR
It is not possible to vanquish the bad deliberations that
accompany the bodily allurements ; or rather it is hardly
possible. They have been called by some a double weapon[directed] against us. There is no rest from them as long as
there is satiety of bread, water and sleep, and access to thethings that cause emotions by their accidental character. It isbetter to depart life than to bear shame in it. When we areanxious to fulfill our duties, the influence of the flesh will be
extinguished from our limbs.
It is not possible to have care for apperceptible things andto correct our personal affections [at the same time] . For
without affectionate beseechings and constant bending [of theknees] it is not possible to draw [divine] compassion towardsI) viz. the butcher's shop

2) when it has grown strong
Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (Wensinck)

! 46

tfi:E StRUGGLE OR RATHER THE DANGER OF ETC.

us ; and thus it is necessary to pra ctise them constantly. With­out · painstaking in small things it is not possible to escapegreat evils.
XXXII
216 ONTHE AIM OF GUARDING THE H EART A ND ON
SUBTLE SPEG:ULATION THAT LOOKS INTO THE
APARTMENTLet there not be hidden to thy knowledge the power thatlies in spiritual songs, when we use it with understanding. For
it turns the deliberation away from the world. It also drives
distraction from the mind, though it is reputed to be usefulfor children [ only] . The unsteady mind profits by �t at once.
Spiritual allurements are more valuable against the affections
than the force of knowledge. When thou art alone, guard thyheart by them if thou possessest not yet the force to bewatchful in thy being, through contemplation which is familiarintercourse with the knowledge of discernment ; or - if thisis not [ sufficient] - by the constant recollection of the depar­
ture from the body and by the recollection of things expected
and hoped for ; this must be accompanied by [ the fulfilling of ]the duties which cause delight, namely : the withdrawal fromthings which cause emotions, and the little observances within
the cell. If, after long slavery, thou findest that thy harbour
is to be reached with freedom, pursue it [ in this way] . If thouseest that this is a foolish method, combine it with [ the practiceof ] the law. For here it is easy to be rectified.
While with these and such variations thou advancest withinsight, in a ship loaded with the treasures of the cell - agreat festival full of the marchandise of the virtuous - thenlook with subtlety at the unequal children which are born tothee from apperceptible variations. Thou wilt namely see how
every spiritual delight is preceded by the pains of the cross ;2 1 7 how the pleasure of sin, however, is born from bodily comfort ;[ and thou wilt see] why in the harbour of chastity, spiritual
love is caused by spiritual contemplation, which heals the mind.
There is nothing secondary without a preceding cause, nor athird virtue without a foregoing one. Thou wilt find growing

ON THE A!M OF GUARD!NG 1'Hl.': I-tE;AR1' ETC.

1 47

in the womb of chastity the wings with which the mind ascends
unto divine love, in which one may venture to approach thecloud.
This insight will give a man a considerable force, so as tomingle watchfulness with his affairs, and incitement unto zealous
efforts.
Behaviour without eyes will prove idle. For it quickly brings
about dejectedness on · account of distraction. Pray our Lordthat He endow thy behaviour with eyes. Then joy will begin
to sprout ; then troubles will become sweet to thee as honeycomb ; then thou wilt think thy enclosure a festival chamber.
It is not possible to vanquish the affections without apper­
ceptible virtues, nor fortuitous distraction without intercoursewith spiritual knowledge. Our mind is an agile thing ; if it is
not bound to an object with discernment, it will not cease to
be distracted. And if the antecedents have not been fulfil led ,there is no room for such a process. For there is no peace
without victory over the enemies. And if peace does not reign,[how is it possible] to find that which lies beyond peace ?
Affections are the fence of hidden virtues. If they are notvanquished first by the manifest virtues, it is not possible to see
2 1 8 what lies within them. For it is not possible for one standing
without a wall, to speak about what is within. It is not possible
to see the sun in a cloud, nor the natural virtues of the soulamong the trouble of perpetual affections.
Pray God that He may give thee to perceive spiritual allu­
rements. If these take hold of thy soul the world will departfrom thee and thou from the world. But they cannot be per­ceived without solitude and emaciation and attentive intercoursewith recitation. Without the latter thou must not pray for theformer. If thou prayest for the former without [these virtues] ,they will change quickly and become of a bodily nature. \Vhois able to understand, will understand. It has pleased the wise
Lord that we should eat this bread with sweat ; not for malig­nity, but lest we should be attacked by a malady of thestomach and die.
Every virtue which is the mother of a second, which IS
anterior to it, is a viper to the souls of those who find it, it
they do not cast it from them quickly.

ON THE AC'r!ON OF D!V!NE LOV!t

XXXIIION THE A CTION OF DIVI N E LOVE
Now that we have written the above 1) about spiritual allu­
rements, it is time to explain [this idea]. It is a dim power
which arises from love in the heart, at first without sensible
causes, for it sets in motion the temperament, without personal
vision or practical understanding or reasoning. And therefore
it is thought to be without cause, because the mind is stillvague.
219
This is its impression on the untrained. To the perfect thecause is revealed later, in connection with examination of
it ; and then the [impression] is still stronger, for delight ismoving in the heart. A part of it is reserved in the body by
the recipient ; and another part is sent to the psychic forces.
For the heart is in the middle between psychic and bodily
apperceptions ; to the former it belongs organically, to thelatter naturally. And the recipient directs the taste of its action
towards both sides. Therefore the world is compelled to departfrom it as it itself departs from the things of the world. We
must necessarily inquire into the cause [of this phenomenon].
Love is something hot by nature. And when it alights on any
one without measure, it renders that soul as it were mad.
Therefore the heart that perceives it, cannot contain and bear
it without u nusual excessive variations becoming manifest in it.
And these signs it publishes in an apperceptible way, openly :at once the face becomes reddy and joyous, the body grows
hot ; fear and bashfulness are thrown away and it becomes as
it were wanton ; the power of concentration flees ; impetuosityand disturbance reign. His own life forthwith is estimated as
nothing in comparison with his Friend. Therefore even death,
which was more dreadful to him than any thing, is the same
to him as pleasure. And with all this, the gaze of the mind
is not free from fantastic thoughts on Him. Afar, he speaks
w ith Him as with one who is near. His knowledge inquires
into the hidden state of Him who is concealed from sight. His
I) End of chapter XXXIION THE ACTION OF DIVINE LOVEI 49

zzo gaze

Is natural and hostile to sensual apperception. In his
actions, as in his sight, he is enflamed. He dwells in solitude,
and deliberation entertains itself as it were with a partner andis stupefied.
This passion has enebriated martyrs and, driven by it, apostles
have travelled through the whole earth in trance, the saints
have been tormented, have suffered derision and were erringin the wilderness. Composed, they have become deranged ; wise,
they have wilfully become foolish ; bashful, they have become
wanton with discernment ; exempt from affections [they havewalked] in the flesh. Constantly demanding, they have become
quiet without compulsion. May we be worthy to reach theirmadness by the compassion of our adorable God. Amen 1).
If thou considerest thyself as having peace from the assaultof the affections, before thou hast entered the town of humility,
do not trust this. There is some ambush prepared for thee.
Expect, after this peace, great trouble from them. While pas­
sing along all the apartments of virtues, thou wilt not find rest
221 from thy tribulations nor relief from thy persecutors, till thy
course will have reached the apartment of humility.
XXXIV
ON THE NATURAL CHILD REN OF VIRTUES AND
THE LIKE
Asceticism is the mother of saintliness ; from it is born thetaste of the first apperception of the divine mysteries and it
is called the first period of spiritual knowledge. That no one
deceive himself and become a false prophet. For the impuresoul does not ascend to the pure kingdom, neither in thesymbolical nor in the common sense, and it cannot m ingle
with the holy spirits. But when the elements have mingledwith their relatives, the distinction of the natural unity being
1) In the text there follows : "who has taken a mediator from our race and given us
these things through his hand; who was i n all points tempted like as we are, yet withoutsin (Hebrews 4, 1 5 ). On account of the equality of his natural flesh with ours, eternallywithout mixture, in the unity preserving the properties of the natures, He has made him­
self worthy of sitting to the right hand. Therefore praise and power and adoration toHim, now and in life without end for ever and ever''. The passage is lacking i n the
Greek translation and looks like a Nestorian addition.

I 50

ON THE NATURAL CHILDREN OF VIRTUES ETC.

preserved, that miserable [soul] will be preserved for the great
future judgment.
Keep pure, o brother, the beauties of thy chastity, by tears
and fasting and sitting alone by thyself. When the right courseof the natural sphere has been finished a!ld [the soul J has reachedthat great luminary, which supports the spheres of the stars
multitudinous in their personal distinctions, as Paul says inorder to prove the future resurrection, and when it has mingledwith its rays - I do not mean in the natural sense - thenthe vehicle of the will shall be bound with the bonds of un­consciDUsness and the two exuberant fountalnS will dry up in
their basins. And then the priests will leave the sanctuary on
222 account of the cloud of God's majesty 1). At tha t time theking of Israel will be Solomon, viz. that peace which is bornfrom humility ; he will build a house for the Lord and com­pletely provide it with all the sacred vessels.
A little trouble for God's sake is more excellent in God'seyes than much service without suffering. Because trouble bornefrom free will is a manifestation of love. Service in comfort,
however, rises from inward satiety. Therefore by troubles, notby service with satiety the saints were tested concerning thelove of Christ. Service without labour is the righteousness oflay people who wish to be justified on account of what they
possess, but do not acquire excellency in their person.
Thou, however, who art victorious, taste the suffering ofChrist in thy person, that thou also mayest be deemed worthyof tasting His glory. For if we suffer with Him, we shall also
be glorified with Him. The mind cannot be glorified with ] esus,
if the body does not suffer for Jesus. He who despises glory
will receive glory at the same time. He will be glorified in his
body as well as in his soul. The glory of the body is humble
subjection before God. The glory of the mind is true con­templation concerning God. Right subjection is twofold ; itfollows from labour and from disdain ; so that when the bodysuffers, the heart also suffers with it.
If thou doest not know God, it is not possible that His loveshould be excited in thee. It is not possible for thee to love
God, if thou hast not seen God. Thou seest Him as soon as
223 thou knowest Him. Sight is not prior to knowledge. Make me
I)

Allusion to

I Kings 81 I I

ON THE NATURAL CHILDREN OF VIRTUES ETC.

151

worthy o f knowing Thee, m y Lord, then I shall love Theetoo. [I do not desire] that knowledge which arises amidst dis­tractions of the mind, in the training of instruction. But makeme worthy of that knowledge by which the mind, while gazingat Thee, will be glorifying thy nature ; gazing with that gaze
which banishes from the mind the apperception of the world.
Make me worthy of becoming exalted above arbitrary sightfrom which come phantastic thoughts, so that I gaze at Theeby the compulsion of the bonds. of the cross, the latter halfof which is the crucifixion of the mind whose position of free­
dom is annihilated by the service of the impulses, with thatgaze which nature gives not, but is constantly directed towards
Thee. Place in me the pure metal of Thy love, so that, fol­lowing Thee, I become alienated from the world. Move in me
the understanding of Thy humility by which Thou hast lived
in the world clad with the cover taken from our limbs, thatby the constant and never weakening remembrance of it I may
accept with delight the humiliation of my nature.
Two are the parts of the ascension on the cross. One is- thecrucifixion of the body. The second is the ascension unto con­templation ; but the former is a m<J.tter of freedom ; the latterof influence.
The mind will not be subjected, if the body is not sub·jected. The reign of the mind is the crucifixion of the body.
The mind is not subjected unto God, if freedom has not been
subjected to reason.
It is hard to trust an elevated matter to boyish rank. For
woe to thee, 0 town, when thy king is a child 2).
He who subjects himself, nearly all will be subjected unto
him. He who knows himself, the knowledge of all things will
224 be given him. The word ,know thyself' means the accomplish­
ment of all knowledge. As all is encompassed in thy being,
so in the knowledge of thy being all knowledge is encom­
passed, and in the subjection of thy being, the subjection of
all the world. At the time when humility dominates thy be­haviour, thy being will be subjected to thee, and with it every­
thing, because in the heart a divine peace will be born. As
this has not yet happened to thee, thou art perpetually per­secuted not only by the affections, but also by accidents. Verily,I) Ecclesiastes Io, 16.

·

I52

O N THE NATURAL CHILDREN OF VIRTUES ETC.

0 Lord,if we do not humble ourselves, thou ceasest not tohumble us. True humility is the offspring of knowledge ; righ t
knowledge the offspring of temptations.
XXXVA TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS CON­CERNING CONSTANT BEHAVIOUR AND EVERY KIND
OF EXCELLENCE WHICH IS EMINENTLY USEFULFOR THOSE WHO H AVE STRIPPED OFF THE WORLDA N D D WELL IN THE WILDERNESS, FOR RECLUSESA N D FOR THOSE W H O I N VOLUNTARY MORTIFI­CATION AT ALL TIMES EXPECT THE CROWN OFRIGHTEOUSNESS

T h e d i s c i p I e says : Which are the bonds captivating themind [ and withholding it] from running after evil things ?
T h e t e a c h e r says : The constant search after wisdom anddesire for the teachings of life. For bonds stronger than theseagainst the unruliness of mind do not exist.
T h e d i s c i p I e says : Where is the limit of the course of
225 wisdom for those who seek it, and where does the course ofteachings end ?
T h e t e a c h e r says : The way of this course is foreign to any
limit, to such an extent that even the holy angels do not reachperfection. The course of wisdom is without end. It ascends
to such a height that it mingles with God him that follows it.
And even this is a sign of its unlimitedness, that its distinc­
tions are without end ; wisdom is God.
T h e d i s c i p l e : What is the first and principal way leading
towards wisdom ?
T h e t e a c h e r : That a man seeks God with all his might
and that he is quick in seeking Him with his whole person,
so that he even does not dislike to give up and throw down
his life on account of his love.
T h e d i s c i p l e. To whom is it becoming to be called a manof understanding ?
T h e t e a c h e r. H e that really understands that there is a limit
to his earthly life, is also able to put a limit to his sins. Whatknowledge or understanding is greater than this, that a man
has wisdom to depart this life without harm, while his limbs are

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

I 53

are not strained with the odour of desires, nor his soul with thefilth of their sweetness ? If a man subdues his impulses in orderto penetrate into the mysteries of all classes of beings, and isfilled with insight into all kinds of knowledge, so to say, yet hissoul is defiled by the filth of sin so that he cannot hope on
account of the witness of his soul that he shall safely reach the
harbour of trust - then there is none more foolish among thecreatures than such a man who, though being constantly occupied
226 by his works, is brought by them to the hope of this world only.
T h e d i s c i p I e. Who is really strong ?
T h e t e a c h e r. He that during the temporary troubles by which
the glory of his victorious power is hidden, does not long after
the comfort by which a shameful life is enveloped and which at
all times compels those who find it, to drink the goblet of sighs.
T h e d i s c i p I e. Is it harmful to his course towards God,
if a man makes a pause is his labour ?
T h e t e a c h e r. It is not possible for a man to come near to
Christ without troubles, nor can his righteousness be preserved
unchanged without them. When righteousness already acquiredis bereft of labours which served to augment and at the sametime to guard it, it resembles a treasure which of a sudden
finds itself without guardians, or an athlete who is stripped of
his arms while a host of enemies surrounds him ; or a shipthat is left in the ocean without the utensils of her equipment ;or a garden rich in fruits from which is cut off the fountainthat watered it.
T h e d i s c i p I e. Who is the illuminated in his impulses ?
T h e t e a c h e r. He who is able to understand the bitterness
hidden in the sweetness of the world and who withholds hismouth from drinking its goblet. vVho zealously enquires after
the salvation of his life and who does not cease from running,
up to the day on which he is freed from the world ; whoshuts the gates of his senses, lest the love of the world enterand dwell within him and bereave him of his hidden treasures.
T h e d i s c i p l e. What is the world and how can we recog227 nize it and how can it do harm to those who love it ?
T h e t e a c h e r. The world is a whore and by the desire ofits beauty it attracts those who see it so that they love it. And
he that during a short time has been entangled in its love
is not able to escape from its hands, before it has stripped
him even of his life and sends him from its house throughI

54

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

death, bereaved of all. But a man recognizes it as soon as heendeavours to leave its darkness. Then he is able to see themany cords of its nets. As long as he is in it, he cannot see
its ensnarements. For it is not only its disciples and sons andcaptives which are within its fortress, but also the renunciators,
ascetics and those who have once broken its bonds and wereonce above it - those also it now gradually begins to entangle
in its service, making them litter for its feet.
T h e d i s c i p I e. Now that thou hast convinced me of thefact that the world really suffocates those who dwell in it andof how difficult it is to understand its artificial bonds, I beg tolearn first, what is the first impulse . to the mind's doubt con­cerning the world, since its bonds are so very sweet and theschemes of its fetters are hidden ?
T h e t e a c h e r. When the deliberation of the love of hissoul awakens in him, this impulse of deliberation begins to makethe world hated in his eyes and it throws into him doubt
concerning it.
228
T h e d i s c i p l e. Whence comes this emotionality which brings
about that which appeared always praiseworthy and beautiful,
now suddenly appears as ugly, so that he repents his life andhis previous knowledge, thinking that he did not think rightly
concerning the world ?
T h e t e a c h e r. In the first place it is nature which beakoning
to him in silence, awakens in him the critical impulse as to theunstable duration of the world and of the future and of its
course ; and as to the ephemere nature of those who enter into
it, so that he considers this world as a place of transition for
those who enter into it ; as also for the many generations
before him, the number of which is unlimited. They haveentered it as an inn for a night and left it as travellers on ajourney over the whole earth, without thinking of return. Someof them kings, some governors, some wise, some honoured.
Some of them scribes, some orators, some judges, some com­manders of armies. Some of them possessors of riches, somelords of goods. And now after their death there is neither theorder of their degrees, nor the crowns of their government ;nor their dreadful thrones, nor their lordly pleasures, nor thepraise of those who honoured them, nor the love of their friends,
nor the luxuriant pleasures of their bodies, nor the comely beautyof their grace, nor their proud majestic stature, nor their erudite

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

I55

mind, nor their spirit rich in impulses, nor the rich effusionsof the Gihon of their learning which streamed from their mouthand captivated by its grace the heart of the hearers.
They have slept in Sheol for long years as if it were onenight. And it is not known how many years they yet have of
this long sleep, nor when the dawn of resurrection will risefor them and awaken them from their slumber. And to consider
for what purpose they are left in this state, causes great suf­
fering ; and he will think of how many generations are cloisteredunder this earth, forgotten [now]. And I too will pass as any
one of them. Cursed be riches and comfort. And under this
deliberation, great confusion will arise in his heart and his
spirit will be filled with suffering. And on account of the seve­rity of suffering he will pour forth tears in great sorrow. Thenhe will despise the world and bewail his life and lament over
his soul with various bitter lamentations. And with sighs hewill say to himself : Where wilt thou be, my miserable soul
and where wilt thou find thyself after my death ? Perhaps eventhis deliberation will rise in him : Would I had not entered
the world of creatures and I had not left the womb !
In this kind of lamentation he will shed sweet tears becauseof the sorrow of his heart, and moisten his garments with histears. And forthwith this world will be in his eyes as a prison
and its first sweetness will be more bitter than any bitter thing
and the love of his life and its desirable beauty will seem thetype of hell.
Then his mind will turn to scripture which will awake in
230 him faith in the resurrection and the end awaiting all thethings of this world, and in the promises given to those whohave lived well in the world and the divine j udgments threa­
tened against the transgressors of the law and against those
who, during their short lifetime have lived in the broad wayof sin. And then, as one who has discovered some light, hethrows away the burden of sorrow, and great joy is awakened
in him, because he has found a hope, excellent and true.
These things and the like, nature is not able to prompt fromhis inward emotion : they are understood from the words ofscripture by faith alone. Man is not able to acquire instruction
concerning himself wholly from nature and from the critical
impulses which are within him . Concerning the dealings of God
in the Past and in the Future we are able to gain this in22 9

JS6

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

struction from the scriptures or from spiritual revelation. Thenby the rays of faith and scripture the eye of the spirit will be
enlightened and the natural critical faculty will radiate andman will be incited to care for his soul. And further he will
think of means to make his life free from the world, so that,
before departing the body, he will be able to prepare for him­
self provisions useful for the world to be.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. How can man wholly give up the world ?
T h e t e a c h e r. By desire of the future good that is recollected,
which divine scripture sows in his heart with the sweetness of
its words full of hope. When the things that are thought tobe glorious and delightful and in which man is entangled, arenot contrasted with the desire of still more excellent things,
231 the spirit is not able to despise its former love.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. But nature is weak and not able to give up
suddenly all its former customs and embrace a life of troubles.
T h e t e a c h e r. If the greatness of the future life does notcause a man's spirit in the greatness of wisdom to compare it withthe miserable shortness of this temporal life, it is not possible
for him to take heart to bear troubles in order to begin hiscourse on the way of the new world. Pray, compute in thy
mind the number of years of this our place and elevate thyself
as much as possible, and compare it with the days of the
future world, and say whether that which thou givest is equal
to what thou wilt receive.
And , considering what thou leavest and what thou wilt
receive in stead of it, say whether thy exchange is an equalone. Therefore the wise, while he wonders at the greatness ofthat world and its unlimited life over against the shortness of
temporal life, will say : The number of man's days if he lives
long, are a hundred years 1) ; this is like filling a bucket from thesea or taking one corn of sand. A thousand years in this worldis not as much as one day in the world of the righteous 2).
T h e d i s c i p l e. And what shall we do with the body ? Assoon as it is surrounded by distress, the desire of the will
towards the good is relaxed as well as its former zeal.
T h e t e a c h e r. This will usually happen to those the half
232
of whose being has sought God, whereas the other half has
remained in the world. This means that their heart is not yet
1) Cf. Ps. 901 1 0

2 ) Cf. Ps. 84, 1 1

A 'i'REATi SE i N QUESTi ONS AND ANSWi<:RS E'tC.

1 57

free from earthly things, but they are in doubt, sometimes
looking behind, sometimes forward ; and I think that the sageadmonishes those who approach the way of God in this stateof indecision, saying : Do not approach it doublehearted, but
approach it as one who sows or as one who reaps. And ourLord, seeing that among those who wish to renunciate com­pletely, there are some in such a state of mind, that their willis ready but their thoughts are drawn backwards by fear of
troubles, on account of their love of the body which they have
not yet thrown away - He will take from them this lassitudeof mind saying to them briefly : If any man will come afterme, let him first deny himselfl). What is the denial that isspoken of here ? It is the denial of the flesh. And one who isdestined to suffer crucifixion, he accepts the thought of death,and goes forth, as one who does not think that he has any
further share in this life. This is [what is meant by] taking up
the cross and following me. The cross denotes the will prepared
for any trouble. And declaring why this is so, He says : Who­ever will save his soul in this world, will lose it in the true
233 life 2). And whoever will lose his individuality here for my sake,will find it there. This means : he that sets his steps on theway of crucifixion and yet still cares to think of this bodily
life, bereaves his soul of the faith for which to suffer he isgone out. Because this thought does not allow him to approach
trouble ; but, being always with him, allures him gradually andmakes him leave the centre of the struggle for blessed life.
Such thoughts grow in him till they have overpowered him.
But he whose mind has complied with the loss of his self forthe sake of finding the love of Me, he will be preserved,
without harm, for life everlasting. This is, he who gives up
his life for my sake will find it'.
This means : make free thy soul as it were from thyself andprepare it for a complete loss of life. If the departure fro mthis life finds thee i n this state o f mind, I will give thee life
everlasting, according to my promise. And if thou perseverest in
this life, I will show my promise in thee later as a confirmationof the future goods. Therefore, thou wilt find that immortallife when thou despisest temporal life. If thou enterest the
strife with such a preparation, all that was most sorrowful andI) Matthew I 61 24

2) Matthew 1 0, 39

1 58

A TR�AT1SE 1N QUES'tiO�S ANb ANSWEltS :E'rC.

difficult, will be contemptible in thy eyes. The preparation ofsuch a will even is not a struggle for his life in his mind,
234 even when peril of death threatens him . In short : If a man
does not hate his temporal life, because of love of the future
life, he cannot bear troubles.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. In what way can a man cut off his former
customs and accustom himself to a life of privation ?
T h e t e a c h e r. The body is not to be persuaded to live in
need, so long as it is surrounded by things of luxury andrelaxation. For the sight of [worldly] things, their splendour andexistence kindles in it a desire for them. Therefore j ustly our
Saviour has commanded those who follow Him, in the firstplace to renunciate and to leave the world. First He frees
them from the causes of relaxation ; then He commands them
to begin work. And our Lord himself, when He began His
strife .with the Devil, combated him in the dry and desert
wilderness. And Paul also commands those who bear the
cross of Christ to leave the town. So we will leave the townwith Him, bearing his disdain, which He also suffered without
the town.
By the abandonment of the world and what belongs to it,
man easily forgets his former customs and his trouble will notlast a long time. But the coming near to [ worldly] things
easily relaxes the fervour of the spirit. It is also becoming andvery profitable in the strife, that a man's life be ordered withthe utmost privation and indigence, free from all things that
235 exci te [ the desire of] comfort. When thus the causes leading
towards relaxation are removed from man, he will not be
tormented by the double strife, the outward and the inward one.
Lo, how much easier is the strife if the things a man desires areafar off and not near, alluring the thoughts by their aspect.
Thus we see that there is a double strife. When a man's
way of life is poor and his wants are small, he will not lookwith desire at these things even when indigent and he willcontent his body with little, because even the body is despisedand contemptible in his eyes ; and he does not approach unto
it because of its beauty and the pleasure · it gives, but only inorder to sustain nature.
These ways easily lead man to asceticism, without harm andstrife and deliberations. It is becoming for a man to refrainfrom the sight of those and to remain far from those things,

A tREATiSE IN QUES TION S ANb AN SWERS

ETC.

t 59

against contact with which he can b e on his g uard only withgreat effort. This I do not say in view of things of the belly
only, but also in view of those things which by their temptation
put to the test the solitary's freedom and the avoiding of
which he has promised in his bond with God. So I mean also
the sight of a woman's face, the sight of superb things., superb·
persons and their luxury, splendid persons and their garments,
all things belonging to worldliness also speaking and hearing
concerning them. For the affections possess a strong power,
36
when [worldly] things are near, to weaken the strugglers and2
to turn aside their mind. If the sight of beautiful things spurs
on the mind to follow their service with zeal, it is well known
that also those which are the contrary of beautiful, have thepower of captivating the mind. And if further harm does not
happen than· that the quiet mind is cast into strife, there is
this loss at any rate, that a man by his own will is thrownfrom peace into perturbation.
If one of the saints, an industrious father, thought the sightof a man with a womanlike face a harm for the mind andan injury in the strife, when once he appro ached one of theconvents, who then should neglect other [dangers] ; for thisblessed man was not to be persuaded even to enter and pro�strate himself there. This wise father deliberated with . insightthus : ' if it should come to my memory even only in . the night
I pass here, that there is here such a thing, this would be agreat loss'. And therefore he did not enter the convent. ' I
am not afra.i d, my brethren' [he said]. ' But wherefore uselessstrife' ? This means, that even such recollections hinder the
serenity of my service.
For all the things which belong to this body and against
which a man must guard himself by a great effort, will cause
him little strife as long as they are at a distance from him .
Thus even when they are near, so long as a man uses thepleasant things [of this world] with fear, he desires their proxi­
mity only because of the use which is in them.
23 7
We see that many roots are buried and hidden under theearth, of which no one has any knowledge as to their existence
while it is summer, because of the force of the sun and thestrength of heat. But when the raindrops reach them and theinfluence of the fragrant air, then all of them suddenly begin
to show themselves whereever they are buried. Doest thou not
a

1 60

A TR:I<:A't1SE 1N QUESTiONS AND ANSWERS F.fC .

see, that by the strong heat of asceticism and the rays of thegrace of solitude, the affections leave thee in quiet ; but if thouapproachest the things [of the world], thou shalt see that allof them are quickened . and thrust up their heads from theirplaces, that is : if they smell just a little of the odour of
comfort.
These things I have said in order to show that no one
should have confidence before he dies and departs this life andhow helpful in our strife flight and withdrawal from the worldare. Those things which we are ashamed to recollect secretly,
we must also fear to meet. And we may not tread down theheart and despise conscience. For in a lonely place without
contact [with the world] we have to examine our body in orderto acquire training in endurance.
There is also another thing, more important than the rest :namely as often as that which is a cause of strife, is afar froma man, even if he be vexed in mind he will not fear that,vanquished by desire, he might employ it on account of its
being near.
238
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. If a man has thrown away all impediments
and has entered the arena, what is the beginning of his strife
against sin, and where does he start fighting ?
T h e t e a c h e r. This much is known to every one, that all
strife against sin and its desires is to be preceded by the labourof fasting, especially if one is combating inward sin. A nd thetoken of hate against sin and its desires, visible in those whoare engaged in this invisible strife, is this that they begin withfasting.
Afterwards comes standing during the night. He that during
his whole life loves the use of fasting, is a friend of chastity.
As at the root of all the boons of the world and of all its
evils, is sexual pleasure and the relaxation of sleep which in­cites to impure cohabitation, so the beginning of the holy wayof God and of all virtues, is founded upon fasting and strict
punctuality in the service of God, with the crucifixion of the
body during the whole night in the strife against the pleasureof sleep.
Fasting is a strengthening of all the virtues, the beginningof the struggle, the crown of the Naziraeans, the beauty ofvirginity and sanctity, the preservation of chastity, the beginningof the way of Christianity, the father of prayer, the fountain

A TREAtlSE 1N Q UESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

161

of placidity, the teacher of quiet, and the forerunner of all
good qualities. As the delight of light belongs to sound eyes,
2 39 so the desire of prayer follows fasting with discernment. For
as soon as a man begins to fast, his mind forthwith will be
desirous of intercourse with God. A fasting body cannot endure
lying on its bed during the whole night. For fasting naturally
excites vigilance unto God ; not only by day, but also during
the night. And the empty body of him that fasts does not
grow fatigued in the struggle against sleep. And though hissenses are weak, his mind is awake unto God in beseechings.
It is better to neglect service for weakness caused by fasting,than on account of indolence caused by food.
To dwell at length upon the beauties of fasting is not ne­
cessary. Many of the teachers and fathers have spoken about
the victories of fasting and the many beautiful things origina­
ting in it. And all books inform us concerning the importanceof fasting and the victories it has given generation after gene­ration, and concerning the mighty help afforded by it, and thehigh praise deserved by those who fast. And by experience it
is known to every one, that it is the fountain of all good[ qualities] .
As long as the seals of fasting are on a man's mouth, his
mind meditates on the soul's penitence, his heart sends forthprayers and his face is dark with sadness. Evil impulses areafar from him ; neither is gladness seen on his brow at all. For
he is an enemy of desires and idle occupations. There has
never been seen a man who was fasting with discernment who
was subjected to evil desire. For fasting is a storehouse of all
virtues. And he that despises it, makes all virtues totter.
240
As the first commandment imposed upon our nature in the
beginning was against the tasting of the food, and in thispoint the head of our race fell, therefore those who strive forthe fear of God begin the building there where the first injury
originated, when they begin the task of keeping His command­
ments. And also our Saviour, when He manifested H imself tothe world at the Jordan, began from that point. For when He
had been baptised, the spirit led Him into the wilderness, andthen He fasted forty days and forty nights. And all those who
follow His steps, base the beginning of their struggle upon thisaction. That weapon was polished by God, who should despise
it without being blameworthy ? If the lawgiver has fasted, toVerh. Afd. Lctterk. 1922 (\Vensinck).

; 62

A tREAtiSE IN QUESTIONS ANb ANS\VERS EtC.

which guardian of the law is it not necessary to do likewise ?
Till then the human race had not known victory, and Satan
had never experienced defeat on the part of our nature ; throughthis weapon, however, he was vanquished for the first time
and the first victory was won which set the crown on the headof our nature. - Thus it is that as soon as this weapon
appears in the hand of a man, immediately fear falls upon
the deliberations of Satan, that head of rebellion, and at once
his mind is struck by the recollection of that defeat in thedesert and that first defeat he had to suffer. His strength will
be broken when he sees the weapon which our commander
has placed in our hands. As soon as he sees this weapon wornby any man, he knows that this one is prepared for the strife.
\Vhat weapon is stronger than this and which gives encoura241 gement to the heart in the struggle with evil spirits as hunger
for Chris( s sake does ? To the degree in which a man's bodyis fatigued and kept down at the time when the hosts of Satan
surround him, to the same degree his heart i� supported byconfidence. And he that is constantly in this state, will at all
times be burning with zeal as it were with fire.
Constant fasting is a symptom of zeal and fervour in war.
Even that zealot Eliyah took upon him this tribulation when
he fought for the divine law. Forty days he restrained hismouth from food, during the long walk through the desert.
Fasting reminds those who practise it of the spiritual com­mandments ; for it was a mediator in the ancient law and by
the grace of our Lord Jesus we have received it. But whatmore shall I say concerning its merits which are known toevery one ? He that despises fasting, will also be weak andwithout vigour in the other good works, because he lacks theweapon by means of which the godlike athletes have been
victorious. A nd he that from the beginning shows in himself
a sign of relaxation, gives his adversary a chance of victoryand enters battle in a state of deprivation. And it is certainthat he will leave it, without the victory, because he has berea­
ved himself of the force which divine zeal had stirred in him.
Thus he begins strife in a state of cold in stead of in a stateof heat. For his limbs are not clad with the flame of hunger,
namely of fasting during which the mind endures the strokesof all hard and unexpected events motionless.
It is said concerning many of the holy martyrs that, when

A tREATiSE IN QUESTiONS AND ANSWERS E'tC.

24z they

I 63

were informed by a spiritual revelation or by one of theirfriends, regarding the day on which they would receive thecrown, they did not taste anything the preceding night, nor
did they take any food. But from the eve till morn they would
stand in prayer, awake, praising God in songs and glorifications
and hymns and spiritual melodies, being joyful and exalting
and expecting that moment as people destined to enter a bridal
house. They expected, while in a state of fasting, to receive
the blow of the sword and to be crowned with the crown of
the confessorship.
And we too have to keep this state of preparation perpe­
tually, o my brethren, expecting invisible martyrdom and thewinning of the crown of holiness, [being on our guard] lest in
any of our limbs a sign of unbelief be given to our enemies.
Thus our outward senses and our inward impulses being cladwith all the weapons of God , we shall receive this crowndeserving it and so we shall . go in unto His glory with theholy martyrs, striking our enemies with amazement. For without
labour nobody wins the crown, as the teacher, the great
Diodorus 1) says. For it is well known that it would be mostunworthy that merchants may not bring home riches without
labour and dangerous storms, and that yet the righteous should
expect the remuneration of the crown, without injury and labour
for the sake of righteousness.
3
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. Many are those who perform these labours,z4
yet do not perceive rest as to the affections, nor peace as tothe deliberations.
T h e t e a c h e r. The affections hidden in the soul, o mybrother, cannot be apeased by the works of solitaries which
are performed with the body alone, nor do these hinder the
deliberations from being constantly stirred by the senses. Theselabours guard man against being vanquished by desires andagainst harm caused by the demons. But they do not give
peace and rest unto the soul too. Labours cause apathy andmortify our limbs on the earth and give rest on the part ofdeliberations, only if they are combined with solitude, when
also the outward senses rest from turbulance and have become
addicted during some time, to the service of wisdom. Until a
man refrains from meeting his fellow-man and until he checks
1) One of the London Mss. has : BasilU )4

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

his limbs · from mingling with many things, and concentrates
his self, - he will not be acquainted with his affections. For
solitude, the blessed Basilius, the shining torch of the wholeworld, says - is the beginning of the purification of the soul.
For when the outward senses have rest from outward turbulence,then the mind will return from distraction unto its place andthe heart will be stirred to examine the inner impulses of thesoul ; and if it perseveres well it will reach in its course eventhe purification of the soul.
T h e d i s c i p I e. Is it not possible for the soul, if it be strong,
to be purified while having connections with the outward world ?
T h e t e a c h e r. If a tree is watered every day, when will
244 its roots . become dried up ? A vessel whose contents increase
daily, when will it be empty ? If purity be nothing else than toforget the dealings belonging to non-freedom and to have peacefrom their recollection, and if a man, either personally andpractically, or through others, renews in his soul by the mediumof the senses this recollection, viz. the knowledge of evil things,
when shall he be purified from them ? Or when shall he beliberated from the strife with outward things, so that it will bepossible to see inward things and gain peace ? When the heart
is defiled every day, when can it be purified from filth ?
Perhaps it cannot even dominate practice, not to speak ofpurifying the root. For it stands in the centre of the campand every day its ears are struck by the rumour of battles,
how then can it venture to proclaim peace to itself? But if it
be far from these, then it will be· able to grant peace to theinward things gradually. Before the stream from above has
been shut off, the nether waters will not dry up.
But when a man has found solitude, the soul is able toexpel the affections and to test its own wisdom. Then the in­ward man will be stirred unto spiritual service and day by day
he will perceive the hidden wisdom moving in his soul.
T h e d i s c i p I e. What are the true marks and the undubi­
table signs that from a man's labour the hidden fruits are
beginning to show themselves in the soul ?
T h e t e a c h e r. When he is deemed worthy of the gift of
24 5 tears; fl o wing abundantly and without compulsion. Tears areto the mind the sure distinction between the bodily and thespiritual state, between the state of apperception and that ofpurity. As long as one has not yet received this gift, theA TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

I 6S

labour of his service is still in the outward man, and this tosuch an extent that he does not even perceive anything of thehidden service of the spiritual man. When he begins to leave
the bodiliness of this world and moves in that territory whichlies beyond this visible nature, then at once he will reach thegrace of tears. And from the first apartment of that hidden
behaviour these tears will begin and they will conduct him to
the complete love of God. When he has reached this point,tears will be so copious that he drinks them with his food andhis drink, so constant and abundant are they. This is a true
token of the mind's leaving this world and its apperceiving
the spiritual world. And the more the mind approaches unto
this world, the more these tears will diminish. And when themind is wholly in the worldly things, it will also be completely
without tears, and this is the sign of its being enveloped by
the affections.
Some tears cause a burning heat, others render fat. Alltears which flow for grief and distress of heart caused bysins, make the body lean and burning with heat. And often
when these tears are shed, one will even feel that his marrowis injured. Man will necessarily enter this order of tears first.
246 Then by them the gate leading to the second order will be
opened for him, an order which is by far superior, because it
contains the sign of the receiving of mercy. What is this ?
Those tears which have their origin in insight, make the body
fat ; they flow spontaneously and compulsion has no share inthem. They also anoint the body and the aspect of the faceis changed. For a joyful heart renders the body beautiful.
These tears moisten the whole face when the mind lives insolitude. The body acquires by them as it were some suste­
nance and joy is diffused ovet: the face. Whosoever has expe­
rienced these two varying states, will understand.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. What is the resurrection of the soul, namely
if ye be risen with Christ ? 1)
T h e t e a c h e r. This is what is said by the apostle inanother place : For God who commanded the light to shineout of darkness, hath shined in our hearts 2). Resurrection hecalls leaving the old state, which in the likeness of Hell hindered
him from seeing the light of the Gospel rise, so to say, whichI) Coloss. 3, I2) 2 Cor. 4 1 6

I 66

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

is the breath of life in the hope of the resurrection by which
the dawn of divine wisdom rises in the heart, so that he now
is a new man in whom is nothing of this world. As it has
been said : A new heart also will I give you ; and a new
spirit will I put within you 1). Then in truth Christ is imprinted
on them, by the spirit of wisdom and revelation , in knowledg�
concerning Him.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. What is, in short terms, the power of thepractice of solitude ?
247
T h e t e a c h e r. It mortifies the outward senses and quickens
the inward impulses. Intercourse, however, works in the in­verse way.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. What is the cause of the visions and reve­
lations granted unto some ? To others however, who havelaboured more than the former, such things are not granted.
T h e t e a c h e r. The causes of revelations and visions are
many, not one. The first cause of revelations and visions is
God's will to give a token of His mercy ; in this case God
provided men with them in order to help them. Some takeplace on account of divine providence. These are the common
cases. The rest take place in order to strengthen and to en­
courage the weak, and to console and instruct them.
[An instance of those revelations which take place by] pro­vidence are the angels which were seen at the side of thegrave, and those which at the Assumption appeared unto the
Apostles who were both distressed and stupefied and in con­fusion on account of the Lord's departure from them. And atonce two angels appeared who stood by them in white apparel,
and those which appeared in the prison and in any place where[the apostles] fell into the hands of men. Unto single persons
and unto the other saints after them they appeared, and evento this day. For these three classes of men such visitations
are usually provided : for those who are simple and irre­
proachable above measure ; or for holy and perfect persons ;or for those who on account of fervent zeal have fled from
248 the world ; abandoning it entirely in despair and retiring fromany part inhabited by men, following God, naked, without hope .
or help from anything visible, assailed by the fear of desolationor surrounded by the peril of death from hunger or illness or
1) Ez. 36, 26

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

I 67

any evil whatever and near to dejection. That such consola·
tions happen to some people, whereas others who are theirsuperiors in works remain without anything of that kind, is in
the first place founded on purity or non-purity of the heart,
I mean. A second cause is certainly this, that as long as a
man receives consolation from his fellow-man or from any ofthese visible things, such [heavenly] consolations do not happen
to him, safe only by providential decree and this bears acommon character.
But our discourse is for solitaries. A witness to this is oneof the saints who has announced that there came a voice unto
him saying : Enough of consolation from and intercourse withmen ! Another witness 1) to this is he who led a solitary life
in reclusion, and often tasted from consolations granted bygrace, and divine care often became visible to him i n manifest
apperception ; but when he came near the inhabited world andsought these things as usual, he did not find them. He be­sought God that the truth concerning this matter might become
249 known to him, saying : Perhaps, my Lord, grace has been
withdrawn from me on account of my episcopal rank ? It wassaid to him : No. But then, there was the desert, there wereno men, but God provided for thee. Now, there is the inha·
bited world and men provide for thee. - So we say that it
is impossible for a man to share in visible as well as in spi­ritual consolation.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. Are vision and revelation one, or are theydifferent in fact as they are different in names ?
T h e t e a c h e r. There is a difference between vision andrevelation. The name of revelation covers the two, because it
denotes the revealing of a thing that hitherto was hidden andnow becomes manifest in any way. But not all that is revelation
is at the same time vision. But what is vision is also c;alled
revelation, because it is a hidden thing which is revealed. But
not all that comes to be revealed and known, is vision.
Revelation is usually connected with what is intelligible andtasted with the intellect. Vision, however, always happens insimilitudes ; as those things which were ministered unto theancients, be it in the depth of sleep, or in the state of waking ;sometimes clearly, at other times dimly, while he to whom the1) See Introduction

1 68

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

visiOn was given often did not know whether he saw awake
or in sleep. Even after he had regained consciousness, he did
not know whether the thing had in reality happened to him,or as in a dream. Sometimes a V<?ice of help was heard ;250 sometimes a symbolical representation was seen ; sometimes
there was a clear apparition, face to face, and sight a nd speech,
questions and intercourse ; and those holy hosts appeared tothose who were worthy. It is clear that in the desert and thewilderness and in lonely places and in places of retreat fromthe world, such things happen ; where man decidedly needs
them, because he has no help from any side.
Revelation of those things which are apperceived intellec­
tually, is received through purity. And the latter only belongs
to the initiated and perfect.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. When any one has reached purity of heart,
what is the token thereof ? And when shall he know himself
whether his heart has come to purity ?
T h e t e a c h e r. When he sees all men in a good light,
without any one appearing to him unclean or defiled. Such aman has really reached purity. If this were not true, how could
it be possible to fulfill the word of the A postre : When a man
possesses all excellence, he reckons every one superior to him­
self in heart and truth 1).
But when he has reached the point mentioned, he whoseeyes are pure, does not see evil.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. What is purity and where is its limit ?
T h e t e a c h e r. I think that purity is oblivion of those kindsof knowledge which do not belong to nature, those namely
which nature has found in the world. Its limit consists thereinthat we are freed from that knowledge to such a degree that
we reach the original simplicity and integrity of nature in the
25 1 way pf a child, apart from small exceptions only.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. It is possible for a man to reach this order ?
T h e t e a c h e r. Ay. One of the Fathers was come sofar, that he repeatedly asked his pupil whether he had eaten
bread or not. And one of the saints who was then an old
ascetic, had become so pure and simple and had reached sucha perfection and serenity, that he was nearly as a babe ,having forgotten all wordly things. And perhaps many will notI) Cf. Philippians 2, 3

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

I 69

believe us what we say (for it is a real wonder) that even at
the oblation of the Eucharist he could not observe [the fast]
so as to receive the Eucharist ; he did not even know whether
he had observed [the fast] or not, till his disciples kept watch
on him in his cell and brought him to the sanctuary, as a little
boy. So very serene and pure was this blessed man. And being
thus in worldly things, in his soul he was perfect with God.
T h e d i s c i p I e. Which meditation and occupation should aman have in his reclusion and solitude, lest his intellect should
be found to be occupied with accidental deliberations ?
T h e t e a c h e r. Thou ask est what shall be the meditationof him that is dead to the world in his cell. Should a man
who is zealous and whose soul is awake, need to ask what
his work should be in his solitude ? What is the meditation of
the solitary in his cell but weeping ? Should he be able to turnhis gaze from weeping towards a different deliberation ? W hichzs z meditation would be more profitable ? For his dwellingplace,lonely like the grave and deprived of all worldly pleasures,teaches him that his service consists in weeping. And even his
name turns him into this direction ; for he is called abila ,which means : bitter in heart. All the righteous have departed
this world with weeping. If the saints would weep and theirmouths at all times were filled with their tears and they thus
departed this world, who should not weep then ? The consolationof the recluse is born from weeping. If those who were vic­
torious have shed tears in this world, how then should he thatis covered with wounds dare to abstain from weeping ? If be­fore the housefather his beloved is laid dead, should he need
instruction concerning the thought which should move him totears ? Thy soul which is dead in sins is laid before thee, thysoul which is of greater value to thee than the whole world.
If we come to solitude, we can also get accustomed to weeping.
Therefore we should steadily beseech our Lord to give us this.
If we receive this gift , excellent above any other, throughweeping we shall reach purity. And when we have reached it,
it will not be taken from us again, to the day on which weshall depart the world.
Blessed therefore are the pure in heart who at all times
enjoy this delight of tears and through it constantly see ourLord. While tears are in their eyes, they are deemed worthy
253 of seeing His revelation at the height of prayer ; for they even

I 70

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

know of no prayer without tears. And this is what has been
said by our Lord : Blessed are they that mourn : for they shallbe comforted 1). For by mournfulness a man reaches purity ofsoul. When therefore our Saviour says : Blessed are they thatmourn : for they shall be comforted, He does not explain what
comfort is. When the solitary is deemed worthy on account of
his mournfulness to pass beyond this place of affections andto reach the plain of purity of soul, where he will find a con­solation that will not leave those who have found it - then it isclear that the consolation which at the completion of mournfulness
is received through purity, is promised by our Lord to themournful. For if any one weeps constantly, the affections will
not approach his heart ; for weeping lies beyond affectibility.
If tears are able to efface from the mind of him that mourns
and weeps for but a short time, the recollection of the affec­
tions, what shall we say about him who has imposed upon
himself a d efinite service during day and night ? Who knows
the profits of weeping, save those who have given themselvesto it ? All the saints desire this [ means of] introduction ; andby weeping, a gate is opened before them through which they
enter that place of consolation, in which the footsteps of God's
love are impressed by revelations.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. But because man is not able to adhere to
this practice, on account of the body's weak nature , it isnecessary for him to have some other thing serving to capti25 4 vate his mind, lest the affections should assail him through theidleness of the intellect.
T h e t e a c h e r. The affections are not able to assail thesoul and to trouble the solitary whose heart is cut off fromthe world by dwelling lonely in the complete solitude of thedesert, separated from all the sounds and voices of the com­motion of mankind - unless he neglect his duties, especiallythat of being occupied with the scriptures and the profitabledeliberations with which he is occupied, by the excellent under­
standing of which paltry thoughts are driven away from him
and his mind is not able to free itself from them, but [in thisstate] he gazes upon the whole world, because of the great
delight of that occupation by which the intellect is completely
satisfied in that extreme loneliness of the desert. So he looses
1) Matthew 5, 4

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

I7I

consciousness of himself and forgets his nature and he becomesas one who is mad without any recollection of the world ;especially when he thinks of God's greatness, the glory of His
nature and His wondrous works and when he recollects howhigh his own despicable being has been elevated. To think
about Him and to dare foster such thoughts for the sake ofdelight and to get drunk at all times by ecstatic impulses asin the life after resurrection, are things greatly promoted bysolitude, because the intellect has the opportunity of being withitself, in the peace that has its origin in solitude. At the sametime it will adapt its recollections to the aim of its course,
and it will direct itself towards the glory of the world to be,
the hope preserved for the righteous, life in spiritual emotion
2 5 5 wholly originating in God. This is the new way of life, without
recollection and without emotion concerning anything in thisworld. And when he is satisfied with these things his contem­
plation turns from them towards the things of this world inwhich he is still abiding, saying with amazement : 0 the depthof the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge and unsear­chable mind of God ! How unsearchable are His judgments
and His ways past finding out 1). Since He has prepared adifferent world which is so amazing, into which He shall intro­
duce all rational beings and keep them without variance in life
without end. What then is the reason why He has made thisworld first, which He has made large and has provided witha great many species, and has made a place of a multitudeof affections ? And He has set us first in this world and im­planted in our nature a strong love of its own life ; then He
expels us from it, gradually, by death and prescribes to us along interval in a state without sensual apperception, like stones
and wood, a state during which He destroys our image andpours out our mettle and mixes it up with the earth. And H epermits our building t o b e demolished and ruined, till i t has
lost all likeness with [its previous] composition. Then, at thetime appointed by His wisdom, working according to His freewill, He resurrects us in a different likeness which He knows
and introduces us into that new order ; and not only us, butalso the holy angels, who do not need the use of this world
256 on account of their amazing nature. For all of them are nearlyI) Romans I I , 3 3

I 72

A TREATISE I N QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

perfect, awaiting the resurrection and the elevation of ourfallen state, when the human race shall rise from the dust,
and its fallen state be quickened unto new life. For on accountof us they are hindered from entering, till once the gate ofthat new world will be opened, which they expect. For eventhe class of the angels sighs with us in that it sees us loadedwith the weight of the body while it hopes and expects therevelation of the children of God, so that it itself may be freed
from slavery that perishes, in the freedom of the glory of thechildren of God 1).
First he will free this whole [world] from its state so that
it is reduced to nothing, analogous to the first state of the
body. Then he will elevate himself intellectually beyond the
beginnings of the creation of the world, when there was nocreation nor anything, . no heaven, no earth, no angels, nor anyof the created things. Then of a sudden he will bring all things
into existence, his will being sufficient to effect that all is be­fore him in a state of perfection. Then he will descend in his
mind and visit all God's creatures. And in his high and wond­rous works the wisdom of his creating power will show itself.
His power subdues all minds, the amazing and powerful strengthof his creating force brings into existence out of nothing acreation with innumerable different kinds.
Then he will think of how He again will destroy this, sothat perishes the wondrous order, the ornament of kinds, the2 5 7 prescribed course of the creatures, the times and occasions, theharmony of night and day, the useful seasons of the year, theembellished earth, the different kinds sprouting from it ; thefine buildings of the cities and the beautiful palaces in them ;the continual course of mankind, nature submitted and tormented
from man's entering it until he leaves it.
And how suddenly this wonderful order will be destroyed
and how a new world will begin in which no recollection what­ever of the first creation will occur to any man's mind, inwhich there will be a different mode of life, different delibera­
tions and different thoughts. Then human nature will no longer
recollect this world nor the former way of life in it. For thegaze of their mind will be captivated by the sight of that[new] order, and it will not be able to turn in its memory1 ) Cf. Rom. S, 2 1 . On the following passage cf. the Introduction.

A TREAT1SE IN QUESTtONS AND ANSWERS

ltfC.

I 7j

towards the races of flesh and blood ; for as soon as this worldis destroyed, the new one will begin 1).
0 mother that suddenly has been forgotten by the sonswhich she has borne and educated and instructed - and in
the twinkling of an eye they are gathered unto another bosom,
and have become real sons of the barren one that which has
never borne. Rejoice, o barren, thou that didst not bear, atthe sons which the earth has borne to thee. And the mind
thinks in amazement, of how a new world will take the placeof this, and of when its beginning will be ; and of how longthese bodies will lie in that state, body and dust mingled to­gether ; and what like that mode of life will be ; and in what
likeness this nature will rise and in what way it will come tothe second creation.
By such thoughts rest will spread over the mind. And the5s apperception of its bodily state will vanish ; and it will remain
a long time in silence, wondering at the incomprehensible deeds
of God. At that moment the solitary will kneel down andrender thanks with many tears to God who is wise in His
works, and whose deeds are incomprehensible, as are also thesecrets of His exalted mind, concerning what He has done
and what He will do. What heart of stone would not become
unconscious under such impulses, struck with silence and stupor,
and turned away from the emotions of senses and impulses ?
Blessed is he who has been deemed worthy of these things.
Blessed is he who has thought of this, day and night. Blessedis he who has been occupied with these things during hiswhole life. To every man this thought is useful, but especiallyto him that lives in solitude. And it is becoming that theserecollections should always be with him. These indications a
man should take to mind and, having finished prayer, he should
think of them and meditate upon them .
When he is occupied with these thoughts, there will be noroom for foreign recollections in his spirit, which could hinder
him from the constant recollection of God. And if at first hedoes not perceive the profitable infl u ence of these things, on
account of his being distracted, he should not be dejected.
When the husbandman casts seed on the earth, it is not pos1 ) The two sentences which follow could be an interpolation; the sentence "And themind thinks" etc. is the direct continuation of the present one.

1 74

A 'tREA'ttSE 1N QUEStiONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

sible that he should see the oars at the same time. Dejection
and despondency are connected with sowing. It is sweet tothe peasant to eat of his bread ; but his sweat is still sweater.
259
This thought, in solitude, will pour endless delight into theheart and will quickly draw the mind towards unspeakableecstasy. Blessed is he to whom this fountain has been opened
and who drinks from it at all hours of the day and the night.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. What is the acme of all the labours ofasceticism, which a man, when he has reached it, recognises
as the summit of his course ?
T h e t e a c h e r. When he is deemed worthy of constantprayer. When he has reached this, he has touched the endof all virtues and forthwith _he has a spiritual dwelling-place.
If a man has not received in truth the gift of the Comforter,
it is not possible for him to accomplish constant prayer inquiet. When the spirit takes its dwelling-place in a man hedoes not cea�e to pray, because the spirit will constantly pray
in him 1). Then, neither when he sleeps, nor when he is awake,
will prayer be cut off from his soul ; but when he eats andwhen he drinks, when he lies down or when he does any
work, even when he is immersed in sleep, the perfumes ofprayer will breathe in his soul spontaneously. And henceforth
he will not possess prayer at limited times, but always ; andwhen he has outward rest, even then prayer is ministeredunto him secretly. For the silence of the serene is prayer, saysa man clad with Christ. For their deliberations are divine im­pulses. The motions of the pure mind are quiet voices withwhich they secretly chant psalms to the Invisible One.
26o
T h e d i s c i p I e. What is spiritual prayer, and how are we
made worthy of it ?
T h e t e a c h e r. It is the psychic impulses which partakeof the influence of the Holy Spirit, on account of veracious
purity. One man in ten thousand is found worthy of this. It
is a symbol of the future way of existence, for nature is ele­
vated and exempt from all the impulses from the recollectionof things in this world. It does not pray, but the soul per­ceives the spiritual things of the world beyond (which is so­mething greater than the mind of man) ; the understanding ofthese is kindled by spiritual force. - It is inner sight, and
I) This is apparently the meaning of the sentence, which in the original is not quite clear.

A TREATISE IN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS .ltTC.

l 75

not the impulse and the beseeching of prayer. It has its starting
point in prayer. Because such men have reached the summitof purity and because at all times their inner emotions are
stirring in prayer - as I have said before - the Spirit ,whenever it looks at them, will find them in prayer ; and fromthere it will conduct them by contemplation, which is inter­
preted spiritual sight. They do not want prolonged prayer nor
the defined order of frequent service.
For the recollection of God alone will be sufficient for them,and at once they will be governed by love, as if captives.
But because of this state they are not absolutely negligent,
but attribute honour to prayer by standing on their feet atfixed times ; but they do not practise continual prayer.
For we see that the holy Antonius, when standing on his feet
261 in the prayer of the ninth hour, perceived that his mind was
taken up. And another saint found himself in ecstasy for fourdays, while he stood in prayer with outspread hands. And, on
examination, it will be seen in the stories of many others thatthey were found in the well known attitude of prayer, whengranted this gift. A man is deemed worthy of this, when heputs off outward and inward sin, by observing the command­
ments of our Lord, which are anterior to this state. If one
will practise these in his own degree, it is inevitably necessary
for him to forsake all human things. This means : he shall put
off the body and be outside it, so to speak ; not its nature,
but the use of it. There is nobody who has practised thesethings in the sense of the lawgiver, and with whom sin has
persevered to dwell.
Therefore our Lord has promised in the Gospel, that H eshall make H is dwellingplace the man who observes thesethings.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. And what is the perfection of all spiritualfruits ?
T h e t e a c h e r. This is when man is deemed worthy ofthe complete love of God.
T h e d i s c i p I e. And how can he that has reached thispoint, acquire certainty ?
T h e t e a c h e r. Every time when the thought of God isstirred in his spirit, the heart will hecome hot with love atonce, the eyes will shed multitudinous tears ; for love is accus­
tomed to shed tears at the recollection of the beloved. He

t 76

A TllEAT1SE lN QUEStiONS AND ANSWERS ttC.

that is in this state will never be found destitute of tears, be·
he is never without abundant recollection of God, sothat even during sleep he speaks with Him. Love is accus­
tomed to practise these things and this is the accomplishmentof man in this life.
T h e d i s c i p 1 e. He that after many labours and fatigues
and victories fought and won, is assailed by the thought ofhaughtiness that is based upon the beauty of his excellence,
when he recalls the many labours he has borne - how canhe restrain his thoughts and regain watchfulness so as not togive way ?
T h e t e a c h e r. When he knows that he falls from God asa withered leaf falls from the tree, then he will also know
his own strength and recognise whether he has acquired thesevirtues by his strength and whether he could have withstood
all the struggles face-to-face if God had withdrawn from him
His help and had left him alone in his strife with Satan without
being accompanied by that force that usually accompanies thevictorious combatants in their struggles. For here their strength,or better their weakness, comes to light. So that it is God'scare for man which at all times guards and strengthens him
and through which he overcomes all classes of men, be it in
the struggle of chastity , or in the sufferings of martyrdom orin the other hardships while he suffers for the sake of divine
things.
This is well known and no doubt concerning it is possible.
For how else could nature vanquish this mighty force of neverresting allurements which have their seat in man's members
z63 and torment him and yet he does withstand them ? How is itthat others which love and long after the same purity, are notable to reach it, though they strive after it, nay daily they
are cast back, tormented and sad and weeping over them­selves, whereas thou bearest easily the difficulties of nature,
which are so hard, and yet thou art not oppressed by them ?
Or how were it possible that another should endure in his
sensitive flesh the cutting iron and the combs in all his members
without being vanquished by suffering under all kinds of tortures,
whereas else he could not endure a little thorn inserted under
his nail ? But these totally diverse tortures he b�ars without
suffering in the natural way. How should this be possible unlesssome force, apart from that of nature, were sent to him and262 causeA 'tREATiSE iN QUESTiONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

t 77

from another direction and unless this force restrained andmitigated the force of the tortures ?
There is nothing that withholds us from mentioning here astory that is really amazing to one who hears it. Because wehave pointed to God's care for man which makes him victo­
rious in all battles for the sake of excellence, it would not be
becoming to omit this story. Socrates, in his work on thehistory of the church, when mentioning the Roman emperors,
relates in a succinct way the evil which the members of thechurch had to suffer under Julianus ; then passing on to par264 ticulars he tells a story of that which happened in the city of
Antioch.
A certain adolescent, Theodore by name, was brought by
the heathens before Sallustius, to whom the jurisdiction in thesematters had been entrusted. He gave him up to suffering andtorture, commanding that his whole body should be combed.
Then he set him free from torture, thinking that he was dead.
But God was the saviour of that blessed man, who lived fora long time after his testimony. For Rufinus, who has written
about ecclesiastical things in Greek, says that a long time after
he had conversation with this blessed Theodore. He asked him
whether he had felt the pain keenly when being tortured. The
latter answered that he had been conscious of pain to a very
trifling extent only. For a young man had been standing nearhim, wiping off the sweat of the struggle and strengthening
his soul and making the time of the struggle of the torturesa delight to him. 0, for God's compassion, how near is His
bounty to those who begin the warfare for His sake in order
to bear sufferings for Him gladly. Do not injure God's bounty
to thee, o man.
If it is manifest, that thou art not the victor but that thouart as an instrument and that the Lord wins the victory forthee whereas thou obtainest the name of victor as a present,
what then hinders thee from beseeching at all times the same
power, that thou mayest always obtain the same victory as a
26 5 witness ? Hast thou not heard, o man, from of old and fromthe beginnings of time, how many champions have fallen fromthe height of their victories because they have injured grace ?
0 n t h e s a m e s u b j e c t. The gifts of God unto the humanrace being many and various, there is also a difference in theirsm allness or greatness in relation to those who receive them.
Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (\Vensinck).

1 7g

A 'i'REAT1SE iN QUtStiONS AND ANSWERS ttC.

Though all of them are wonderful and glorious, one is morethan the other in glory and honour. One degree is higher thanthe previous one, according to the word of scripture.
And further, that a man be elected to practise good works
and a steady behaviour, this is one of the principal gifts ofChrist. But many forget this grace, namely those whom God
has distinguished above others so that they belong to thereceivers of H is gifts, even to the degree that they are electedto the service of the Lord ; then, in contrast to the gratitude
which was always on their lips, they turn aside to presumption
and become haughty in mind. And though they have been
made worthy to serve God with pure behaviour and spirituallabours, yet they do not deem themselves receivers of grace
but as those who deserve this through God, forgetting thatthey have been elected from the rest of mankind unto fami­
liarity with Him and knowledge of His mysteries. Nor do they
tremble in their whole soul when they think of how theircomrades, who fostered the same thoughts, were suddenly de266 prived of that strength with which they had been entrusted,and of how in the twinkling of an eye they lost the greathonour they had possessed and declined quickly unto lasci­
viousness and turned towards the base behaviour of the irra­
tional animals. A nd because they know not the strength oftheir soul, nor perpetually recollect Him that made them worthyof the great boon of serving Him and of abiding in the honour
of His kingdom and that made them comrades of the spiritual
beings and brought them near unto the behaviour of the angels,He rejects them from their service. Thus He shows to themby the sudden variations of their behaviour, that it was notby their own [strength] that they adhered to a steady behaviour
under all the assaults of nature and the demons and the other
impediments, but that this strength wa_s a gift from Him.
What other men cannot even endure to listen to, on accountof its difficulty, this they have endured a long time without
being vanquished, because the strength that accompanied them
was able to help them under all circumstances and to guard
them at all times. Accordingly, since they have forgotten this,the word has been fulfilled in them. Namely as they have notwilled concerning themselves that they should know God, viz.
their Lord who has made the service of the spiritual beings
descend to earth, God has delivered them up to vain know-A tREATISE IN QUEStiONS AND ANSWERS ETC.

I 79

ledge and so they have received in person the retribution which
their forgetfulness had deserved.
T h e d i s c i p I e . Is it possible that a man should so to
speak daringly leave the dwellingplaces of men suddenly andz67 go naked into the uninhabited desert and the terrible wilderness
in beautiful zeal and that he should die there from hunger orfrom the absence of shelter or the like ?
T h e t e a c h e r. He that has prepared a dwellingplace forthe beasts before He created them and who provides theirwants, will not neglect those who fear them, especially when
they follow Him simply, without forethought. He whose will
accords with God in all things will never, for fear of bodily
evils and dangers, consent to adhere to a filthy behaviour andto endure a life of humiliation because he fears troubles. But
he will count it an exquisite and delicious thing to become
estranged to the whole world in purity of behaviour, and tolead a life of deprivation among hills and mountains and to
wander in the haunts of beasts and not to lead a life of filth,in bodily comfort, delivering up his soul so that it be for everdestitute of a pious and pure behaviour unto God, to whom
belongeth the glory and the honour and who preserves us in
His goodness and sanctifies us by His spirit to the honour of
His name, that we may praise Him worthily all the days of
our life, Amen.
For one of the saints says 1) : The body becomes a comradeof sin ; for it is afraid of troubles, thinking it may receive an
injury and have to give up its life. For the spirit of God
oppresses the body so that it dies ; it is well known that it
cannot vanquish sin unless it die. Who desires that our Lordshould dwell in him, will oppress his body and minister unto
his Lord those spiritual fruits which the apostle describes ; andhe will guard his soul against the works of the fl e sh which
268 Paul describes. For the body that is mingled with sin takes
pleasure in the works of the flesh. And the spirit of God takes
pleasure in its own fruits. When the body is weak by fasting
and mortification,
the soul is spiritually strong through prayer.
.
When the body is vehemently oppressed by solitude and penury
and its life is near its term, it will beseech thee : Leave me awhile to behave with moderation. Now I give directions because
1) Introduction p. 3 2

1 So

A tREAtiSE tN QtJESTto:Ns ANO ANSWERS EfC.

I know by experience that evils are of this nature. And whenthou releasest the body somewhat from oppression, giving itsome comfort by sparing it so that it can take breath again,
then it will whisper to thee quietly again and again : Let us
leave even the wilderness. For its allurements are very strong ;[it says] : from now onward we shall be able to behave well,even in the neighbourhood of the inhabited world. For wehave been put to the test in many things and we shall be able
to continue this [behaviour] even there. Put me to the test
and if I do not comply with thy will, we can begin anew for
the desert lies before us. - But do not believe [the body] even
if it beseeches and promises greatly, for it will not keep its
promises. When thou hast granted it some of its wishes, itwill drive thee on towards greater concessions from which thoucanst not retract thy steps. When thou art dejected on accountof thy being filled with troubles, say to thyself : Doest thoudesire this filth and this sordid life ? And if the body says tothee : It is a great sin that thou killest thyself, - say to it :I kill myself because I cannot live purely. I will die now and
not further see my soul's essential die away from God. It is269 better for me to die now for the sake of purity than to live
a shameful life in the world 1). This death I willingly choose on
account of my sins. I kill myself because I have sinned before
God and will not further rouse His anger. What to me is life
afar from God ? I will bear these evils and through them I
will not be a stranger to heavenly hope. Why have I beencreated in the world, if I simply enter and leave it ? And whatshould God profit by my life in the world, if I lived badly in
it ? On the contrary, I would but rouse His anger.
XXXVI
ON THE VARIOUS WAYS I N WHICH SATAN WARSAGAINST THOSE WHO TREAD THE NARROW WAY
W H ICH IS A BOVE THE WORLD
Our enemy Satan has also other methods, wh�n he cun­ningly proposes to attack those who engage themselves in thisstrife. His way of warfare varies according to their characterand in relation to their personal tendencies.
1) See p. 31, 9 7

ON THE VARIOUS WAYS IN WHICH SATAN ETC.

1 81

As to those whom he sees to be of a weak will and offeeble thought he combates them vehemently from the be­ginning by submitting them to heavy and terrible temptations,in order to make them taste the nature of his evil from thevery beginning of the way. In this way he intends to instill
into them a horror of the first battle so that this way shallappear to them difficult to walk. And if the beginning is very
270 difficult, who could endure to the end, facing all the battles
which are ranged in the middle ? Thus they will not again
venture to withstand him or to look for other help, on accountof their being totally occupied with the thought of his attacks.
And when he has pressed them a little vehemently they taketo flight. Or better : God lets him oppress them, without hel­ping them in any way because they have engaged in the battleof the Lord, with a cold heart and hesitatingly. Cursed is every
one who performs the work of the Lord without diligence,retaining his hand from bloodshed. But also : His help is nearthose who fear Him 1) ; and He commands that we should notmeet the foe with a cold and fearful heart. Begin to destroy
him and to wage war with him and I will begin to put thedread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that areunder the whole heaven 2).
If thou doest not voluntarily die to the senses for the sakeof the love of God, thou wilt die intellectually away from God,against thy will. That which belongs to thy lot thou shalt notrefuse to take upon thee willingly, though it is connected withtemporary suffering ; afterwards thou shalt enter the glory ofGod. If thou perishest bodily in the strife of the Lord, theLord will even crown thee ; and to thy thriumphant limbs He
will attribute the honour of the martyrs.
So, as I have said above, if they have not girded them­selves up from the beginning and strengthened themselves andvowed themselves to death, then they will appear to be inferior
in all battles, especially because God overlooks their relaxa­
tion 3) in that they trie to accomplish the work of the Lord in
271 a frivolous and tentative way. And even Satan knows themfrom the beginning, examining what their thoughts are : pusil­
lanimous, loving themselves, even sparing their body. So hepersecutes them like a hurrycane, because he does not find in
1) Ps. 145, 1 92) Deut. 21 2 53 ) �;� as the

London Mss. have

I 82

O N THE VARIOUS WAYS I N WHICH SATAN ETC.

them the intelligible power which he usually finds in the trium­
phant. As a man's will tends towards God, for whose sake heloves labours, so God will send him His help and show him
His care. For it is not possible for Satan to approach unto
anyone or to bring forward his temptations, except by permis­
sion of the godhead ; or else that his will has become relaxedand he has given himself to impure thoughts and to distraction ;or because doubt has taken hold of him. Concerning such
persons Satan does not ask [permission] to try them as in thecase of those who are perfect and great ; as to the latter heknows that they are not given over into his hand. For heknows that it is not possible that the power of God's care bewithdrawn from them. Except because of one of the causes
mentioned.
This is one way in which the foe makes war. As to those
whose · will he sees to be vigorous and who reckon death asnothing and who have begun with keen zeal giving themselves
over to every temptation and to dea.th, and who trample uponlife and the world and the body with its temptations - thees
272 he does not meet at the outset, nor does he usually show
himself to them. But he withdraws himself and gives way tothem. He neither encounters them with his principal force nordoes he enter into battle with them. For he knows that the
beginning of battles is usually hot and the antagonist is zealousand zealous champions are seldom vanquished.
This method he follows, not because he is afraid of them,but of that divine power which sets them ablaze through theforces working in them till they begin to emit it through theirown will in full confidence. But he leaves them for some time
till their zeal is abating and their attention is withdrawn fromthe exercise of the weapon for which they had trained them­selves and with which they had armed their mind, viz. different
divine words and profitable and strengthening recollections ;and thus awaits the time of negligence. And when the firstthoughts have abated somewhat, how often will they find withinthemselves occasions of defeat on account of allurements thathave their origin in the mind. They dig a ditch in themselves
through the distraction of thoughts that arise in their mind
through tediousness, through which a chill overpowers them.
It is not spontaneous when Satan acts thus, delaying thetime of battle ; for neither when he spares them nor when heON THE VARIOUS \YAYS IN WHICIISATAN ETC .

I 83

withdraws himself from them, does he account them nothing.
But I think that a certain power surrounds those who are
blazing with fervour unto God and who have begun in ayouthful way, without forethought, confiding in Him on account273 of their faith, without knowing however against whom they haveto fight. Therefore he conceals his evil nature from them, ap­
proaching not near. For his nature is checked by the guardian
which he sees with them continually. Now if they do not castaway the causes of profi t : beseeching, labours and humbleness,the helper will never withdraw Himself from them. The loveof comfort is a cause of [God's] withdrawal. But if they ad­
here to these [works] sedulously, they will never be destituteof help and the foe will not be allowed to approach them.
And if [God] witdraws himself from time to time, this is forthe sake of training. For while the holy force governs andaccompanies them, they do not fear seducers ; the mind is fullof courage and therefore it despises them. But He trains themas a man who teaches swimming to a little boy ; as soon
as he begins to sink, the teacher lifts him up, for the boy
swims upon the hands of his teacher. And when the courageof the boy begins to diminish, from fear that he will be drowned,
the man who supports him with his hands, cries : be not afraid,
I support thee. Or, as a mother who teaches her little child towalk, places him at a distance from her and calls him ; butwhen the boy will go to his mother on those little tottering
feet of his, they tremble on account of their weakness. Then
when the boy is about to fall, the mother will run and take him
274 in her arms. So God's grace will bear up and train the childrenof man, namely those who trust themselves clearly and simply
to the hands of Him that created them and who with theirwhole heart turn from the world and follow Him .
And thou, 0 man, who hast begun to follow God, recollectperpetually during thy whole struggle the beginning and thatfirst zeal at the outset of the way and the fervent thoughts
with which thou didst leave thy former life and range thyself
in the order of battle. And examine thyself every day [in orderto state] whether the fervour of thy soul has abated in compa­
rison with the zeal with which thou wert blazing. Or whether
thou lackest any weapon with which thou wert girded at the
beginning of thy struggle. And elevate constantly thy voice inthe camp and encourage those of the right hand with familiar

I 84

ON THE VARIOUS WAYS IN WHICH SATAN ETC.

thoughts. And show the opposite party that thou art awake.
And if thou meetest impetuosity in the beginning, because thetemptator will frighten thee, do not then relax. Perhaps thiswill be profitable to thee.
It is not without reason that thy saviour permits anything­unto thee but only when He has foreseen it and ordered it
to thy profit. Show thou no relaxation from the beginning ;for if thou shouldst show relaxation here, thou wouldst not beable to withstand what follows : hunger, sickness, fearful sights
and so on. Do not turn into its opposite the intention of Him
that commands thee to fight, which serves to thy profit, lest
275 thy foe find thee as he hopes to find thee. But cry unto God
unceasingly and weep before His grace and weary thyself out
with beseeching, till He sends thee a helper. And if thou onc.eseest the saviour who js with thee, thou wilt no more be van­quished by thy foe who is standing before thee.
Thus far these two kinds of strife.
A no t h e r way i n which Satan m akes war again stt h o s e w h o a r e g i r d e d.
When after all this Satan is still opposed by a man without
being able to overpower him in battle, or rather his helper,
for whose sake man resists him; and who helps and streng­thens him to such an extent that he who is compact flesh andbody vanquishes him that is spiritual and unbodily - when
Satan sees all the help which that man receives from God sothat his outward senses are not vanquished by sights andsounds nor his thoughts weakened by excitations and allure­ments, nay he even despises the blows they give him, thenhe seeks for a means to separate that man from the angel thathelps him, or rather he purposes to blind the mind of him
that is helped so that he is left without support.
So he stirs that man's thoughts of presumption namely thoseof [imaginary] strength, so that he thinks his mind the causeof all this vigour and of the glorious wealth which he possesses
in his soul. His preservation from all these obstacles, sad, un276 speakable, and bloodthirsty, he sometimes ascribes to accident,
sometimes to their being weak. I do not mention other things
the bare recollection of which makes the soul shiver on accountof their blasphemous nature.
It also happens that he advances his betrayal insidiously
under the appearance of divine revelations. During sleep heON THE VARIOUS WAYS IN WHICH SATAN ETC.

1 85

imparts information and in the state of waking he assumes thelikeness of an angel of light. And all this [is of such a nature]that, should a man surrender to it even to a small extent, hewill become its victim. But if a man be wise and keep histhoughts under control, or rather if God helps him and hefixes the gaze of his heart on heaven in order to turn awayfrom incantators, then the foe plans a n o t h e r k i n d o f w a r.
This is the only one left to him now ; and because it has someaffinity to nature he expects the more that man will be en­tangled in it. \Vhat is it ? He contrives in all manner of ways
to set man in contact with those things through which heusually becomes guilty on account of his nature. The mind of
the warrior namely becomes blinded by sight of and contact
with [worldly] things, and it is easily vanquished in battle when
it is near them, especially when they are ranged before his
eyes. The clever one knows this cunning thoroughly on accountof his experience with many valiant champions who were van277 quished through it. Therefore he prepares this means cunningly.
And when it is not of a nature to be practised because of the[warrior's] utter solitude and his dwelling far from things thatcause [sin], then he contrives to bring it near him throughphantasy. So he shows him fallacious images in the habit ofreality, in order that by these visions he be rendered desirous
and incited to conceive impure thoughts and become guilty
and to alienate Him that helps him.. For Satan knows that thesolitary's victory and defeat, his treasure and his help and allthat belongs to him, depends upon deliberation, and that, if
deliberation be moved from its place, one short moment isable to throw him down from the nest of life on to the earth,if his will be pointed in this direction for even a moment only.
Thus it has happened to many of the saints that he showed
them the image of a beautiful woman .
Those who dwelt at a distance of one or two or even ten
parasangs from the inhabited world he did indeed contrive tobring in contact with a woman. But to those, to whom hecould not do this on account of their distant dwellingplace
being too far off, he showed the images of womanly beauty
by appearing to them, now in splendid dress and finery and ina seducing aspect, now even in the form of a naked woman.
Some of the solitaries he overpowered by these means andthe like, some by real seduction, some by things of the ima·

1 86

ON THE VARIOUS WAYS

IN WHICH SATAN ETC.

gination which brought about their fall 1) through the relaxationof their deliberations ; so they fell down into the abyss of des­pondency and turned unto the world, cutting themselves offfrom heavenly hope.
Others however who were steadfast and illuminated by grace,
278 have vanquished him and his fantastic representations andtrampled upon bodily pleasures ; and they have been found tobe elected by the lo\'e of God.
Often also he represents to them images of gold and precious
things as treasures that were hidden somewhere. It even happensthat he shows them these things in reality, expecting that by
one of these various [artifices] it will be possible to impede
some one of the solitaries so as to bar his course through his
being entangled in one of the snares of his nets. Lead me
not, o Lord, into these temptations ; for even the strong andthe elect scarcely pass this gate victorious.
The seducer is allowed to make war upon the saints in allthese ways of temptation, in order that the love of God whichis in them may be proved under these circumstances ; namely,
whether they are friends of God and whether they adhere to
His love because [worldly] things are at a distance, far off andabsent ; or whether they love God really, so as to make war
on and to despise these things even when present, without
being vanquished and without giving up their love of God
through the allurements of those temptations. This does not
happen that they may be known to God through these [temp­
tations], but to the Devil, who is very desirous of recognizing
them, if possible. As he also said concerning Job, asking God
about him : Doth Job fear God for nought 2) ? If then a little
negligence creeps in, the temptator approaches with authority
in accordance with the power he has over them. Then theunjust appears in the , desire which these things excite in him.
2 79 And through these things those are proved who are strong intheir love of Him, those who despise all these things, whichin their eyes are counted as nothing in comparison with thelove of God. In this they are humble, ascribing merits only to
Him who strengthens all and who is the cause of their victoryand into His hands they entrust the battle. For Thou art the1) litt. derision
2) Job 1, 9

ON THE V A RIO US WAYS IN WHICH SATAN ETC

I 87

powerful, and the battle is Thine. Fight, o Lord, and be VIC­
torious on our behalf.
Then they are tested by these things as gold in the furnace.
But those who are untrustworthy are recognized there throughthose trials, and thrown out as refuse. They give way to their
foe and have to leave the battle, defeated through the relaxa­
tion of their mind, or perhaps through their haughtiness which
has made them unworthy of that strong power which is always
ready to help the saints.
For never to be defeated is the power of Him that helps
us, the omnipotent, the almighty, the victorious at all times
whenever He descends into the body of mortals to fight forthem. But it is manifest that '·those who are defeated, aredefeated without Him. They are those whose will is strippedof Him because of their injustrice, who are not worthy of thatpower which is the support of the victorious. They also per­ceive at the time of battle that they lack the usual strength,
which they found in themselves in all hot and difficult battles.
How do they perceive this ? They see in themselves that theirdefeat gives them comfort and that the hardships of strife are
zSo difficult for them to bear, hardships under which at all times
they were wonted to win a clear victory. And the emotions ofzeal which at such times used to stir nature vigorously andwhich were strengthened by a f.ery heat - they do not findthem in themselves.
Now those who are shaken from their foundation are terri­fied not only by these and the like struggles, but even by thesound of the leaves of the trees 1), and give way and renounce
and turn their back under light trouble, for hunger or slightillness. The true and elect, however, do not even satisfy theirhunger with herbs and vegetables. But, feeding upon drugs
and dry stubble, even then they are not to be persuaded toopen their mouth for food, before the fixed time. Lying on
the earth , with an emaciated body and eyes blinded 2) on
account of bodily weakness , their soul near their mouth 3)
through tribulation, even then they do not give way so as
to be vanquished and give up their firm will. For it is moredelightful for them to be troubled for the sake of love, with
1 ) Cf. Lev. z6, 36z) Isaac himself is said to have become blinded
3) i. e. on the point of leaving the body

1 88

ON THE VARIOUS WAYS IN W H IC H SATAN ETC.

labours for excellency, than to possess temporal life and all its
comforts. So, when adversities approach them, they rejoice ;for they know that these will lead them to perfection. And
not only have they no doubt of the love of Christ in spite of
the bodily tortures they have to suffer, but it would be delightful
281 even to bear for His sake loss of life ; even then they would
not separate themselves from Him.
XXXVIION THE THINGS THE EXACT USE OF WHICH I HAVELEA RNT BY THE KNO WLEDGE OF DISCERNMENT
Having been tested many times by things of the right andby things of the left, and examined myself in these two states
many times, and received innumerable blows from the opposi­tion, and been deemed worthy of important, hidden support,
and having continued the examination of myself during a rangeof years, I have learnt by experience that the principles of all
good things and the regaining of the soul from the captivityof the enemies, and the way towards life and light, consist in
two things : abiding in one and the same place, and constantfasting. This means : that a man, being wise, shall lay downa fair law for his belly, by untroubled, constant sitting [alone).
Proceeding from here he will reach the subduing of the senses ;further : watchfulness of mind ; further : tranquillizing of brutish
passions stirring in the body. Further : quiet thoughts. Further :enlightened impulses of the spirit. Further : application to ex­cellent works. Further : high and subtle insights. Further : im­measurable tears at all times. Further : watchful chastity, without
any connection with the experience of the image in the spirit.
282 Further : a quick and far gaze. Further : a deep intelligence,
penetrating and attaining to the hidden things in all depths,
the power of words and the hidden motions in the soul ; andthe distinctions of spirits and holy powers ; of true sight anddeceitful images. Further : fear of the [many) ways and tracks
in the sea of the spirit - fear that cuts off negligence ; andblazing zeal which tramples upon all dangers and sets its footupon all things feared ; and fervour despising all desires andeffacing from the mind the recollection of all transitory things ;bN TH!t tHiNGS THE EXACt' USE OP WH!CH :E1'C.

I 89

and many other things. In brief : the liberation of true man
and the renewal of the soul and the resurrection with Christin the kingdom, away from here.
He that neglects these two 1), should know that he not only
bereaves himself of these, but that he shakes the foundationof all virtues by despising these two. A nd as the beginningof all other virtues in the soul is formed by these principles
of all divine se-rvice, which are the gate and the way unto
Christ, for him that takes hold of them and sticks to them,so the deviation and the departure fro m them towards thosewhich are their opposite, I mean distraction of the body anda lawless belly, constitute in the soul a place for the beginningof all things contrary to those mentioned above. And also thisattitude takes its source in one action, viz. in the fact thatthe submissive senses are first freed from the bonds of lonely
dwelling. And what are the consequences ? Unexpected, impure
283 contact ; threatening danger of falling ; agitation and . heavy
billows stirred by sensible sight ; almighty flames kindled in
the body ; small spiritual shortcomings ; uncontrolla,ble delibe­
rations, prone to falling ; lack of love of service ; gradual for­getting of the distinctions of solitude ; complete negligence ofthe canons of behaviour ; renewal of former things which had
become effaced, and instruction concerning other new things,
unknown before and caused by audition on various and per­petually recurring occasions and by a multitude of unintentional
cases of sight, presenting themselves on account of perpetual
travelling from country to country and from place to place.
All this has the effect that those affections which by God's
grace were already slumbering in the soul on account of the
oblivion into which obliterated recollections had passed, begin
to be stirred into motion anew, forcing the soul to work. And
there are yet other [injuries] which I will not mention all ofthem ; taking their origin in that first one, they are let loose
against the miserable one, and he has to bear them.
And what is the second fault ? This, that he begins to re­semble the swines in his deeds. What is it that the swines do ?
They do not check their belly, filling it at all times without
having an hour fi x ed for food, as rational beings have.
And what further ? From this comes heavy sleep, greatI) solitude and fastingt 90

ON THI<: 'i'HtNGS filE E}{AC't USE OF WHiCH ETC.

284 bodily

heaviness and a slackening of the shoulders ; the com­pulsion to desist from services, aversion to the inclinations 1)
connected with them ; contempt of the usual prostrations, dark­
ness and coldness of spirit ; a dull mind that does not distin­
guish, confusedness and great darkness of deliberations ; thickclouds and obscurity spread over the whole soul ; great dejec­tion concerning every godly work, also concerning recitation[of the scriptures], originating therein that the sweetness of thesense of the words is not tasted ; frequent neglect of necessary
things ; an uncontrolled mind, made blunt by wandering throughthe whole world, many humours gathered in the limbs ; impure
phantasies during the whole night, consisting in sordid repre­
sentations and unclean voluptuous images, which cling to thesoul and act in it according to their impure pleasure ; and acover and a body wholly defiled by the large stream of shame­
ful things flowing from [the body] as from a fountain. And thisdoes not happen at night only, but also by day the body sends
forth [this stream constantly], defiling the mind thereby.
And on account of these things, [the solitary] disavows hischastity. Sweet allurements working in the whole body with
unbearable and incessant heat ; exciting deliberations full ofbeautiful faces representing them before him lasciviously andperpetually and thereby seducing him ; a mind delivering itself
unhesitatingly to intercourse with them, joining itself with themin longing and meditation, because its distinctive faculty has
2 8 5 been blinded ; all this is what has been said by one of thegreat philosophers : he that provides his body with many things,
exposes his soul to penury. And though he recollects his soul
now and then, trying to compel himself, yet it is impossible
for him to keep his soul under control because of the hot
emotions in the body which by the power of their allurements,
forcibly captivate the soul, according to their pleasure. As theclever and acute Mar Diodorus of Tarsus says : to support the
body in softness and luxury, quickly imparts to the soul asensation of suffering, so that death becomes to it something
deplorable and God's judgment is thought of with fear. The
soul, however, that constantly thinks of becoming things, isquiet in its being ; it has small solicitude, as it feels no grief.
Care for excellence is the driver of the affections, the guardianI) �b N t H E TittNCS tHE EXACT U SE OF WH!CH E'i'C.

191

of excellence, a secure education, joy without solicitude, a goodlife and a safe port. Bodily luxury strengthens the affections
and makes them dominant upon the soul, nay they even totally
eradicate it. And apart from all this, it inflames the belly on
account of wantonness and lack of rules as to hours. Yet [thesolitary] does not wish that gradually the passion of hunger
should gain power over his soul which in a compulsory way
could be brought by it under the dominion of the affections.
These are the fruits that come forth from the shameful[passions] of the belly ; and these are the fruits produced by
2 8 6 the lack of power to cling to one spot in peace. As now ourfoe, who follows us constantly, knows that on these two occa­
sions nature is usually capable of being troubled and affectedwith passion to a higher degree and also the mind easier tobe perflexed through sensible vision and· the comfort of thebelly, therefore he contrives to surpass nature, and at thesetimes casts into the mind different haughty deliberations inorder to strengthen the power of passion over nature, if pos­sible, by a more intense flame, and so ruin a man utterly.
Just as our foe knows these times, it is, therefore, necessary
for us to know them also as well as our own weakness andthe [want of] strength of our nature which is not able to with­stand the vehement emotions of those times nor the delibera­
tions subtle as the dust of the earth which are before our eyes
so that we cannot see ourselves nor remain upright before fate.
By such experiences on many occasions we have miserably
learnt from our foe to be prudent henceforth and not to allow
ourselves to relax so that we indulge in the desire of conso­
lation or to be defeated by hunger however we may be incitedby it ; or to be removed from the place of our solitude unto
a place safe against such accidents, thinking out reasons anddevising means for turning our back to the desert. Such thoughts
are manifest machinations of Satan. But if thou remainest in
the desert, thou wilt not be tested. For thou seest no woman
287 in the desert nor anything that does harm to thy behaviour,nor [doest thou hear] evil sounds. What hast thou to do withthe ways of Egypt and with drinking water from the Nile ?
Understand what I say. Show thy foe thy training by enduring
small things ; then he will not demand great things from thee.
Constantly thou shalt have to keep the laws of these smallthings, thereby throwing before his feet a bait, namely, in the1 9�ON 1'H:It 'tHINGS 1'It:lt E:li:AC't US:It O F WHiCH EtC.

struggle concerning them. So he will not have rest from them,so as to have occasion to set up dangerous snares for theein secret.
How is it possible that he should persuade a man, who is
not to be persuaded to go five steps outside the door of hishut, to leave the desert or to approach unto the town ? And
he that can not be induced to look through his window fromthe place of his reclusion, how should he persuade him toleave it ? He who is not to be persuaded to take food in thelate evening being desirous of vigils, how is it possible that
his deliberations should be excited so as to begin [his mealsj
before the appointed time ? And how is it possible that heshouid induce as to important matters him who was evenashamed to satisfy [his hunger] by contemptible food ? And
how can he allure towards foreign beauty him, that even re­fused to look at his own body ? First man is vanquished bysmall things when he despises them and then he causes him­
self to be driven towards serious ones. But how can he deter
from troubles that lead to death him who loves [death], anddoes not care in the least to continue temporary life ? Thus is
the war carried on with u nderstanding : the wise do not allow
288 their foe to invite them to great struggles. But the endurance
which they show in small things, preserves them from fallingwhile they perform large works. First the [solitary] desists fromconstant prayer consisting in beseechings of the spirit, and thenhe persuades him to despise canonical prayer [performed] by
the body at fixed times.
Firstly deliberation is relaxed, so that, within a short time,
it gives way in insignificant and small things. And when it hasgiven up its endurance, it will trespass in a wanton way.
Firstly the solitary will be vanquished, or rather : it will bea trifling thing in his eyes to look at his naked body or tocontemplate the beauty of each of his limbs, without clothes ;or he will loose control over his senses in a vile way when
he goes to fulfill a bodily want ; or he will daringly and un­
blushingly introduce his hand within his clothes and touch his
body ; and then one thing and another will happen to him.
As soon as the watchfulness of his spirit relaxes, showing
negligence in any of these things, the gate towards serious
offences will be open for him.
Our deliberations are as water, as is well known. As long

ON THETHiNGs 1'H::E :EXAt'r tisE: oF WH:tcH :Inc.

t 9j

as they are confined on all sides, they proceed in their [right]
order. If they once find a small outlet, however, they escapethrough it, causing breaches and ruins. For the subtle one who
is spying us and waiting, sitting night and day before ourz89 nostrils and looking which gate will be opened for him in anyof our senses or in which of the things enumerated there willappear any foulness - he will of a sudden direct against us
his weapons. Sometimes it will be our own nature which loves
consolation and evil intercourse, and frivolity and pleasure andrelaxation, which is a fountain of affections and a sea of agi­tation. Sometimes it will be our foe. Let us therefore vary
great labours and circumstances perilous with ruin, with slightlabours, that we may show in these small ones which arenothing, that they may give rise to important struggles if they
are neglected, and to labours whose accomplishment is difficult,and to intricate battles and to large ulcers. Who would not
like to have a quiet sleep at a small expense ?
0 wisdom, how admirable art thou ! And how thou doest
foresee all things from afar ! Blessed is every one who has
found thee, who has been liberated from the torpidity of youththat buys great detriment with a slight negligence. One of thesages says beautifully, that once he was suddenly struck byemotion so that thereupon he straightway sat down, for a mere
fortuitous thing, which was not of a nature to cause fear. For
this, some one in a light mood laughed at him. He answered
and said : Not of this am I afraid. I , am afraid of the expez9o fienced fact that often negligence as to small things causes
danger of great ones. So, by my emotion and my sittingstraightway down, I have proved concerning myself that I amawake ; and also that further on I will not neglect those things
which are not to be feared.
For philosophy is this that a man gather great consolation
for his soul by the attention he bestows on trifling things ; that
he will not slumber ere fate come and reach him ; but that
he will take in hand the previous things and will buy thatwhich is of importance, in exchange for a thing which will cause
inj ury, a little before [this happens] . Fools attach a greater
value to a little consolation which is near, than to a kingdom
which is far. It is better to bear tortures in probity, than torelax on a comfortable royal bed in shameful baseness. For
the sages prefer death to disdain on account . of neglect m·

Verb. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (Wensinck).

t 94

ON T H E 1'HtNGS 'tHE E:XAC1' USE OF' WH!CH E!'C.

affairs. Wake for thy life, says a philosopher ; for drowsinessof mind is cognate to real death. The divine philosopher Basi­lius says : he that is weak in small things, do not believe that
he will be trustworthy in great ones. Do not shrink from dying
for the sake of those things for which thou wilt live.
XXXVIII
29 1 SHORT SENTENCES CONCERNING THE

DISTINCTION
OF THE MIND'S IMP ULSES

Pusillanimity is a sign of despondency ; the mother of bothts negligence.
A timorous man shows that he suffers from two illnesses :from love of the body and from want of faith. Love of the
body is a sign of unbelief. But he that despises it, shows con­cerning himself that he trusts God and expects the futurethings.
If there is anyone who has approached God without being
troubled, try then on thy part to resemble him.
Courage of the heart and contempt for danger arise fromone of two causes : either from hardness of heart, or from a
deep belief in God. The former is accompanied by haughtiness,the latter by humbleness of heart.
It is impossible for a man to acquire confidence in God, if
he has not before fulfilled His will in part. Confidence in God
and manliness of heart rise from the testimony of conscience.
For on account of the true testimony of our mind we acquireconfidence in God. The testimony of the mind has its origin
therein that a man is not despised by his soul for neglect of
his duty, as far as this is possible.
If our heart does not despise us, then we are frank with
God. Frankness has its origin in a firm behaviour and in an
unstained mind.
It is hard to serve as a slave to the body. He that isaware of his hope, though to a small extent, will refuse to292 serve again the stern will of this hard master.
Endurance in perfect silence and preservation of solitude
arise from on1e of three causes : from the [love of] glory among
fellow-men ; or the fervent zeal for excellence ; or a certain

SHORT SE�TE�CES CONCltRNING THE D1S1'I�C1'IO� ltTC.

1 95

inward working of God towards which the mind is attracted.
He that is destitute of the two latter causes, will suffer fromthe first as it were by necessity.
Excellence does not consist in many manifest distinctions ofbodily performances, but in a heart prudent in its hope, ac­companying the works with a right intention. For often these
performances do not favour service, and the mind will be able
to gain profit even without them. But without the prudence ofthe heart the body cannot profit even when it performs service.
For if there is an opportunity to perform beautiful works, agodly man cannot refrain from showing his love, in the per­formance of manifest deeds. The former kind is always succes­
ful ; the latter sometimes, and sometimes not.
Do not reckon it a small thing when the causes of theaffections are afar off and removed from a man. The stirringof the inferior limbs which comes quickly into existence, without
deliberations, that is to say impure pleasure which springs fromu nder a wall with fervour and captivates the soul with madness,
293 the will being of no use - undoubtedly arises in the bodyfrom a repleted belly.
As a strong weapon in this strife reckon this, that a man
be far from seeing women. What nature works by its power,
even the foe cannot work it. Do not think that nature will
forget till death that which God has sown and hidden in
its roots, serving for the carrying on of our race and fortesting us by strife. So every desire, whatever it be, is lulled
to sleep in our limbs by keeping things at a distance ; and its
memory is given over to absorption and oblivion.
Thoughts of far off things which make a simple passage
through the mind, are different from the dark and cold impulsesthat arise from the soul itself. Those thoughts also which arise
from living contact which immerses the mind in a sight not
to be forgotten and which excites passion near-at-hand, feeding
it as oil feeds the flame of the lamp which was already flickeringand nearly extinguished, are different from the stirring of thesea of the body through the impulses which agitate it against
the ship of the mind.
The emotionability which exclusively rises from nature andwhich by God the creator has been deposited in us in orderto educate the world of the body, is not able, without an in­crease from without, to bereave the will of its clearness, tot 96

SHORT SENTENCE:s CbNCERNlNC THE Dts1'1NC1'1oN ltTC.

confuse it so that it lose its chastity. For God does not impartstrength to nature so that it overcome the virtuous will.
294
But when a man is defeated by anger and by desire, it is
not that which lies in nature which compels him to leavenature's domain and to cut the bonds of duty, but it is some­thing which we add to nature by the intermediary of the will.
All that God has made, He has made beautiful and in due
proportions. And as long as the measure of natural things isrightly preserved in us they do not cause us to be swept
from the way of God's law as it were by a deluge ; only
peaceful impulses stir in a body provided with the faculty ofemotions, so long as we only know that passion exists, but
not so when we also experience that it allures, or that ittroubles the course of chastity and that it causes confusion orthat it changes the state of peace into anger. If, however, wesometimes crave for things of the senses which are usually thesource of unnatural anger, or for copious food and drink, orfor constantly having the opportunity of seeing a woman nearus, or of hearing tales about her which use to enflame in the
body the fire of desires - then we cause the natural state ofpeace to be changed into that of bestiality, be it on accountof the many humours in the arteries, or by various sights of[worldly] things.
It occurs also on account of that abandonment that arises
from presumption. But this does not really belong to this cate­gory. The former cases we call strife for freedom and they
belong to the common way of nature. Strife through abandon�
ment arising from presumption we experience when we areoccupied by labours and watchfulness for a long time and295 then, in spite of them , the force of desire rushes in upon us
with unnatural vehemence. But in other cases such events takeplace on account of our relaxation.
When nature is augmented in force by the senses or by the
belly, it is not to be persuaded to keep henceforth the original
measure of its stamp. He that rejects troubles and lonelinessis involuntarily compelled to love sins. Without these we are
not able to remain far from spiritual allurements. The latter
diminish in accordance with the growth of the former. For
troubles dissipate the pleasure of the affections ; consolation,on the other hand, strengthens and induces them.
So it is clear that God and His angels rejoice at troubles ;SHORT SENTENCES CONCERNING THE DISTINCTION ETC.

I 97

Satan and his servants, however, at consolation. For if God'scommandments are performed under bodily tortures and we
reject these, it is clear that we contrive to reject Him that is
the giver of the commandments. As by the affections, which
are the offspring of consolation, we annihilate that which isthe cause of excellence, namely hardship, so we make room
for the affections to the same extent as we admit consolation.
For in a tortured body deliberations cannot be distracted byidle things. When a man bears tortures with gladness, he has
also strength enough to check the deliberations ; because eventhe deliberations do not abhor labours.
Thus, when a man flogs himself with troubles, on accountof the recollection of his previous sins, God, on His side, will
296 care for his peace ; because He rejoices when He sees that thesinner himself has executed a judgment against himself becauseof his deviation from His way - a sign of repentance. And
as he greatly troubles himself, so to the same extent the signsof honour granted to him by God, will increase. Every joy
which is not caused by excellence will at once stir emotions ofdesire in him that has found it. This is to be understood of
all desires connected with the affections, not of the natural
ones only.
XXXIX
HELPFUL ADVICE BASED O N LOVE
Hardships for .the sake of the good are loved as the gooditself. Nobody can acquire real renunciation save him that isdetermined in his mind to bear troubles with pleasure. Nobody
can bear trouble save him that believes that there is some­thing more excellent than bodily consolation which he shallacquire in reward for trouble. Every one that has devoted
himself to renunciation, will first perceive the love of trouble
stir within himself; thereupon the thought of renunciating all
worldly things will take shape in him. Every one who comesnear unto trouble will at first be confirmed in faith ; then hewill come near unto trouble. He that renunciates [worldly]
things without renunciating the senses, sight and hearing, he
2repares twofold trouble for himself and he will find tribulation"

HELPFUL ADVICE BASED ON LOVEin a twofold measure. Or rather : while he refrains from theuse of things, he delights in them through the senses ; and by
the affections which they cause he experiences the same from29 7 them that he had to endure in reality before ; because therecollection of their customs is not effaced from the mind. Ifthen imaginary representations existing in the mind alone cantorture man, apart from the things corresponding to them mreality, what shall we say when the real things are close athand ?
Beautiful therefore is solitary life and very helpful, because
it silences the deliberations with force and gives us strength
to train ourselves in endurance ; and teaches a man patienceby the exercise given by cruel troubles, which accompany thelife of the solitary necessarily.
Do not seek the advice of him that is not thy fellow inbehaviour, though he be very prudent. A layman who has
experienced things is more to be trusted than a sage who
speaks on the basis of theoretical knowledge but without ex­
penence.
What is experience ? Experience is not this that a man goes
and touches things, without acquiring knowledge concerning
their advantages and their defects and without remaining withthem during a certain time. How often the faces of things givethe impression of defect, whereas within them is found matter
full of advantages. In the same way are to be judged thingsof the opposite aspect.
Many are those who from profitable things gather defects.
Neither is the testimony of these concerning their knowledge
to be trusted. This is only the case with him that has learned
to examine things with patient distinction. Not all man's advice,
therefore, is to be trusted ; but [only ] that of him who has
behaved well before, who has knowledge founded upon expe­
rience in all things, who does not love himself, or who does
not shun disdain.
As often as thou findest thy course in peace, without varia2 98
tions, then be suspicious. For thou art deviating from the divine
ways trodden by the weary footsteps of the saints. The morethou proceedest on the way towards the city of the kingdom
and approachest its neighbourhood, this will be the sign : thatthou meetest hard temptations. And the more thou approachest,
the more thou wilt find difficulties.

HELPFUL ADVICE BASED ON LOVE

1 99

So, as often a s thy soul o n its way perceives varying states
which cause difficulty thou must know that thy soul has secretly
been advanced to a higher state and that it has acquired a giftof increase in comparison with the degree it occupied before.
The hard temptations into which God brings the soul arein accordance with the greatness of His gifts. If there is aweak soul which is not able to bear a very hard temptation
and God deals meakly with it, then know with certainty that,as it is not capable of bearing a hard temptation, so it is not
worthy of a large gift. As great temptations have been with­drawn from it, so large gifts are also withdrawn from it. God
never gives a large gift and small temptations. So temptations
are to be classed in accordance with gifts. Thus from thehardships to which thou hast been subjected thou mayest
understand the measure of the greatness which thy soul has
reached. In accordance with affection is consolation.
What then ? Temptation, then gifts ; or gifts and afterwards
temptation ? Temptation does not come if the soul has notreceived secretly greatness above its previous rank, as well as
299 the spirit of adoption as sons 1). We have a proof of it in thetemptation of our Lord and of the Apostles ; for they were
not allowed to be tempted before they had received the Comfor­
ter. Those who partake of good have also to bear temptations.
Along with good are the oppressions [in behalf of it] . So it
has pleased God, who is wise in all things.
Thus is the state of things ; and accordingly, the appercep·
tion of temptations is anterior to the apperception of gifts, inorder to test freedom. Grace never reaches a man before hehas tasted temptations. In reality it is anterior ; to the apper­
ception it is posterior.
It is true therefore, that there are with thee at those times
two opposite feelings, not resembling one another. What are
they ? Joy and fear. Joy, because thou findest thyself as appears
from the sign of the temptations going the way that has been
trodden by the saints, nay even by the saviour of the world.
Fear, lest thou be tempted by these temptations through haugh­tiness. But the humble are gifted with prudence by grace, so
as to be able to recognize the distinctions of these things,
namely [to distinguish] between the temptations that arise from"

1) Cf. Rom. 8, 1 5

200

HELPFUL ADVICE BASED ON LOVEhaughtiness, and cheeks that burn from love. For the temp­
tations that serve to improve behaviour are to be distinguishedfrom those temptations which are permitted [by God] with the
purpose of overcoming the presumption of the heart.
The temptations which take place under paternal control andserve to educate the soul, to train and to try it, so that it
becomes illustrious, are : dejection, bodily weariness, relaxationof the limbs, despondency, confusion of mind, bodily pains,00
3
temporary despair, darkness of deliberations, deprivation ofhuman help 1), want of bodily provisions and so on. For bythese man acquires a solitary soul and humbleness and a mor­tified heart ; and these things try him by the love of the cre­ator ; and the governor administers them to those to whomthey are sent, in accordance with the force necessary to bear
them. In them are mingled consolations and distress, light anddarkness, struggles and help. In short : they make narrow andthey enlarge, which is the sign of the increase of help. The
temptations which happen by permission unto those who venture
to puff themselves up in their mind before the bounty of theauthor of our boons so as to become injuriously haughty
regarding His boons - are the following : the manifest temp­
tations of demons which lie without the domain of the psychic
forces, so that [those who are tempted] are destitute of theforce which imparts to them prudence ; a vivid �ensation of
the impulses of fornication which are let loose in order tosuppress their presumption ; a being led easily to anger ; thesetting up of the will ; love of victory in dispute ; rashness ; aheart inclir.ed towards contempt ; complete aberration of themind ; abuse of Him whose honour be blessed ; foolish thoughts
full of jest, or rather weeping ; contempt as to men ; [endan­
gering] personal honour by impudence ; ridiculousness throughmany contrivances of the demons, secretly and manifestly ; loveof mingling and intercourse with the world ; frequent evasions
301 of foolish words ; novel individual inventions and false pro·phecies ; frequent promises above one's power ; in the bodily
sphere a continually hard involved fate most difficult of solu­
tion ; perpetual meetings with evil and ungodly persons ; falling
into the hands of evil persons ; perpetual emotions of the heart,caused by sudden fear without reason ; repeated heavy falls_

1) This enumeration has been taken over by Bar Hebraeus, Book of the Dove, p. 528

HELPFUL ADVICE BASED 0� LOVE

201

from rocks and high places and the like, such a s destroys the
body ; the inability of the heart to lean on God's care and to
confide as is becoming to faith ; in short : all unbearable forces
which it is above one's power to withstand, such as are letloose against the solitary and his surroundings.
All that I have expounded belongs to the temptations ofhaughtiness ; the beginning of them shows itself in a man assoon as he becomes wise in his own eyes. He gets into allthese evils according as he gives way to this deliberation 1).
So by distinguishing between thy temptations thou wilt gain
insight into the narrow paths of thy mind. If thou lookest on
and observest some [of these temptations] on thy mind's paths,
thou must know that the quantity of temptation is in accor­
dance with the defiling working of presumption.
Hear also another consideration. All hardships and troubles
which are not borne with patience, cause twofold torture. A
man's patience throws off his distress. Want of courage is thesource of tortures. Patience is the source of consolations, a
302 certain strength born from courage of the heart. It is difficult
for a man to find in his own soul in troubles, if it be not given
him by God, that which is found through supplication and thepouring out of tears.
If God decrees that a man shall be troubled in a larger
measure, He gives him into the hand of faintheartedness. And
this will give birth to great despondency which gives the feelingof psychic suffocation ; all these things taste after Hell. There­
upon the spirit of confusion is let loose against [the solitary],and from it rise innumerable temptations : perturbance, anger,
abuse, vituperation, oscillating deliberations, moving from place
to place, and the like. If thou sayest : Who is the cause of
all these ? I say : thou ; because thou didst not care to find out
the means to heal them. There is one remedy for all theseand by it a man will at once find consolation within himself.
What is this then ? Humility of heart. Without it, it is notpossible for a man to demolish the fence of these evil things,
for he would find them far too strong. Be not angry with mefor telling thee the truth : thou never hast sought this within
thy soul. If thou wilt, follow it, then thou shalt see how it
causes the destruction of thy evils.
"

1) viz. the deliberation of haughtiness202

HELPFUL ADVICE BASED ON LOVEIn accordance with thy humility will be given thee en­durance in thy distress ; and in accordance with thy endurance
its weight will be lightened from thy soul which will be con30 3 soled in its troubles ; and in accordance with the consolationof thy soul, thy love in God will increase ; and in accordancewith thy love thy spiritual joy will increase. When our com­passionate Father is of the will to relieve those who are realsons in their temptations, He does not take them away fromthem, but He imparts to them endurance under temptations,and all that good which they receive through it, to the per­fection of their souls. May Christ in His grace make us worthyof bearing evils for the sake of His love, with thanksgivingsof the heart. A men.
XL
EXPOSITION CONCERNING THE DEGREES OF THE
PATH, N A MELY CONCERNING THE POWER OFMINISTRATION OF EACH OF THEM
Bodily discipline i n solitude purifies the body from thematerial elements in it. Mental discipline makes the soul humble
and purifies it from the material impulses that tend towards
decaying things, by changing their affectible nature into motionsof contemplation. And this will bring the soul near to thenakedness of the mind that is called immaterial contemplation ;this is spiritual discipline. It elevates the intellect above earthly
things and brings it near to primordial spiritual contemplation ;it directs the intellect towards God by the sight of unspeakable
glory and it delights spiritually in the hope of future things,[thinking of] what and how each of them will be 1).
Bodily labours are called bodily discipline unto God. For
304 they serve for the purification of the body through the serviceof excellence which is manifest personal works, by which man
is purified from the pus of the flesh. Mental discipline is labourof the heart. It is the thinking, without cessation, of the greatcoming judgment, in constant prayer of the heart, and of God's
providence and care for this world in its individuals and in its
I) The Greek translation has the right division of the text here

EXPOSITION CONCERNING THE DEGREES ETC.

20 3

species. This is also the regarding of the domain of the inner
affections, lest any of them pass into the hidden and spiritualplace. This is the labour of the heart which is called mental
discipline.
By this labour of discipline, which is called psychic service,
the heart is subtilized and torn away from participation in
decay, viz. in the praeternatural affections ; from here onwards
the heart begins to Le often set in emotion by insight into
the things of the senses which were created to the purpose of
the education of the body and which administer strength tothe four elements which are in the body.
Spiritual discipline is service without the senses ; this is what
has been written by the Fathers , that when the mind of thesaints was gifted with personal contemplation, then the heavi­
ness of body was taken away. And further on sight will be
spiritual sight.
Personal contemplation he uses in the sense of contemplation
concerning the primordial creation of nature. From there one
is easily moved onwards toward what is called solitary know­
ledge which is, according to a clear interpretation, ecstasy inGod, this is the order of that high future state which will begiven in freedom that lives in immortality, in that way of life
305 which will be after the resurrection. It will consist therein, thatfrom that point onwards human nature will not be cut off fromconstant ecstasy in God, to mingle itself with any created being.
If there were any other thing equal to Him, nature would some­times follow Him, sometimes His equals. When, however, thebeauty of all which exists in that future order of things, isinferior to His beauties, how should it be possible for the mind
not to fix its gaze exclusively on Him ? What then ? Shouldmortality trouble it, or the heaviness of the flesh , or theremembrance of kindred, or natural wants, or the adversities
which overtake it ; or the distraction of ignorance, or the defi­
ciency of nature, or the distraction caused by the elements, orintercourse with one another, or the influence of dejection, or
the weariness of the flesh ? If now in this world - while allthese things are thus - the veil of the affections is sometimes
withdrawn from before the eyes of the spirit so that it gazesat the glory, and the mind is drawn away in ecstasy - then,without doubt, if God had not limited the duration of these
moments in this life, man WQUld not COme back from that

:2 04EXPOSITION CONCERNING THE DEGREES ETC.

state 1) his whole life, if he were allowed. Now when all these[earthly] things exist no longer and that endless order [has been
established] , and when we personally and practically abide in
the habitations of the kingdom - if our behaviour be worthy ­how then should the spirit find a way to remove itself fromthe wondrous sight of God and to dwell with any other ? Woe
306 to us, who do not know for what state we are destined, recko­
ning as something this life of sickness and this animal state,
and the world with its troubles and evils and pleasures.
0 Christ, who art the only strong one, blessed is the man
whom thou supportest and in whose heart are the steps towards
thee. Turn thou, o Lord, our face away from the world bydesire of Thee, so that we see it as it is, without taking
shadows for truth. Throw, o Lord, zeal into our heart before
death comes, that at the time of our departure we may know
for what purpose our entrance in and our departure from thisworld have served. Then, fulfilling the work to which we werecalled in accordance with thy aim in placing us in this life first,
we shall hope, with a mind full of confidence, to receive thegreat things which, according to the promises of the scriptures,in the second creation are prepared by Thy love, things therecollection of which we preserve with mystic faith.
Bodily purity is to be clean from filth. Psychic purity is tobe free from hidden affections in the spirit. Purity of mind is
to be purified by revelations from any emotion unto things
which, in view of their material nature, lie in the domain of
the senses. Children are pure in body and as to their soul
they can be without affections. Yet no one will call them purein mind. Purity of mind is perfection through training in
3 07 heavenly contemplation, so that the mind without the senses
receives impulses from the spiritual powers of those worlds
above, powers which are amazing, surpassing number, distin­
guished in demeanour, mingled in invisible service, subject tomany variations at all times, on account of the motion of thedivine revelations.
1 ) Litt. from there. Cf. Plotinus, Enneades, VI, 9 § 9

A LEttER WH!Clt HE WROtE TO ONE ETC.

!:! 0 5XLI
A LETTER WHICH H E WROTE TO ONE OF THE
BRETHREN W HO LOVED SOLITUDE CONCERNINGHOW S ATA N CONTRIVES TO DIVERT THE ZEALOUS
F ROM CONSTANT SOLITUDE UNDER THE PRETEXTOF THE LOVE OF RELATIVES AND HONOURED MEN ;AND THAT IT IS BECOMING THAT ALL SHOULD BE
DESPISED IN THE EYES [OF THE SOLITARY] C OM­
PARED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD WHICH IS
FOUND IN SOLITUDE AS MAY BE SEEN IN T H E
EXAMPLE OF O U R A NCESTORS
Because I know that thou lovest solitude and that Satan,
knowing the intention of thy mind, impedes thee in many respects
under the pretext of excellence, in order to divert thee fromthis comprehensive and manifold excellence, o virtuous brother,
I was anxious to help thy good will as one limb helps its
partner, with an excellent word, which I have received fromprudent men and from the writings of the Fathers and fromexperience. For if a man does not despise honour and dis­honour and bear for the sake of solitude abuse and derisionand loss, nay even blows, and become an object of laughterand be reckoned mad and foolish by those who see him, he
3os cannot master the advantages of solitude. For if a man once
open the door to [worldly] things, Satan will not cease to bring
unto him men under every pretext, a continual, innumerable
series of associations. Therefore, my brother, if thou lovest theveracious discipline of solitude without distraction and shocks
and sudden pauses, as it has been eminently practised by theancients, thou wilt be able to carry out this laudable desire
by trying to resemble thy Fathers and by retaining in thy
mind, as if it were written down, the memory of their histories[ascertaining] that those of them who loved complete solitude,
did not care to practise love of their fellows at the cost of
distracting themselves, neither were they ashamed of avoiding
such persons as were reputed to be in honour.
J\nd though they were thus, devoted to complete solitude,
yet they were not deemed by those who know and are wise,

�06

A UTTER WHtCEt HE WR01'E 't O ONE E!1'C.

to despise their brethren, nor were they thought of as scorners ordestitute of distinctions, as it was pretended by some in the way of
apology against those who honour quiet and reclusion more thanmeeting their fellows. For the man that has experienced thequiet of his cell does not avoid meetings because he despises
his fellow, but because of the fruits he gathers from solitude.
How did they practise reclusion ? Aba Arsenius would notmeet with any one. Aba Theodore, when meeting anyone, waslike a sharp sword ; he did not greet anyone when he happened
309 to be outside his cell. But the holy Arsenius did not evengreet him that came to greet him. Once one of the Fathers
went to see Aba Arsenius who opened, thinking that it was
his servant. When, however, he saw who it was he prostrated
himself. And when the visitor sought to persuade him, saying :Rise, o father, that I may greet thee, were it only in the
doorway, then I will go, the saint protested saying : I will not
rise until thou goest ; and he did not rise until the other had
left him and was gone. Thus the blessed one acted, lest theyshould come again if he once gave way to them.
,One of the Fathers' - pay careful attention to this phrase
lest thou think perhaps that Aba A rsenius despised his visitor
on account of his mean estate ; but it was one of the Fathers
who spoke to him.
But we have also a strong proof from another side, lestthou say that he despised one, but received another favourablyon account of his high position and conv<'<rsed with him. No,
in his reclusion he avoided alike all kinds of association ; andin his eyes to despise the association with high or low for thesake of solitude, and to bear the reproaches of all in view ofthe honour of solitude and silence, was one and the same thing.
We know namely that once the blessed Theophilus, the arch­bishop of Alexandria, visited him accompanied by the judgeof that place, because they longerl for the honour of seeing
the saints. As he sat wit!1 them he did not comfort themeven with a single word such as would have been fitting theirhigh position, although they were very eager to hear his speech.
310 And when the archbishop tried to bring him to speech, thesolitary was silent for a short time, and answered, saying : If
I speak to you, will you remember what I say ? They promised
to do so. Then the solitary said to them : Wherever you hearthat Arsenius is, do not come near to that place.

A tEt1ER W H!CH

ltE W ROT� TO O:r:-::E: E1'C.

"). 0 7

Doest thou see the wonderful way of the man ? Doest thou
see how he despised the honour of men ? The blessed . one
knew how to gather the fruits of solitude without a thought
to the fact that he was in the presence of the katholikos, thehead of the whole church. But he thought thus : I am now
dead to the world ; what profit will a dead man give theliving ? He was vituperated for this in a loving way by theblessed Macarius who said to him : Why doest thou flee fromus ? The holy solitary made a wonderful praiseworthy apology :God knows that I love you ; but I cannot be with God andwith men .
Another time the archbishop sent him a message concerning
this subject. The solitary answered, saying : ,If thou comest I
shall open the door to thee. But if I open to thee, I shallopen to every one. And if I open to every one, I shall not
remain here'. This wonderful doctrine he had heard from noneother than from a divine voice, saying : , Arsenius, flee fro m
men and thou shalt live'. None o f the idle men who seek an
occupation, will venture to refute this message by his objec­tions or to speak against it, as if to seek peace proceeded
3 1 1 from human invention. For this is a doctrine from heaven.
The opinion that this was said to him with a view to reclu­
sion and retreat from the world only, not with the intention
that he should also avoid the brethren, is refuted thereby that,when he had retreated from the world and was abiding in themonastery, he again prayed to our Lord in order that heshould know to live well. ,0 Lord', he said, ,teach me to live',thinking that now he would hear another message. The divine
voice proclaimed the same words again, adding as in expla­
nation : ,Flee and be silent and keep in solitude. Though thesight of and intercourse with the brethren be very profitable
to thee, still intercourse with them is not as profitable as with�drawal from them'.
When the blessed Arsenius, while he was still in the world,
had heard by divine revelation the order to withdraw from it,
and when the same had been said to him while he was withthe brethren, he knew certainly that in order to acquire asteadfast life, not only withdrawal from lay people was neces­sary but from every human being. Lest any one should venture
to �eak against the divine voice, it was also said to A ha
Antonius in a revelation : ,If thou desirest to be in solitude,�oS

A LETtER. WHiCH IiE WROfE fo ONE EtC.

do not only go to the Theba"is, but to the heart of the desert.
If now God in this way commands us to witdraw from all, andwishes that His friends dwell in solitude, who should then,for other reasons, cling to intercourse and the vicinity of men ?
3 1 2 If watchfulness was profitable and withdrawal helpful to Anto­nius and Arsenius, how much more then to the weak ? And if
the solitude of those whose words and the help that is inspiredby the sight of them the whole world needs, is estimated by
God higher than their useft1lness to mankind in its entirety,
how much more will this be the case with him that is not able
to guard even his own person properly.
We know another of the saints whose natural brother was
ill. He lived as a recluse in a different cell . During the whole
period of his brother's sickness he restrained his mercy, so that
he did not go out to visit him. When the sick man was on
the point of departing from this world, he sent his brother amessage to this effect : Come that I may see thee before I
depart the world, even if it be in the night. Then I will takeleave from thee and go to rest. The blessed one, however,
was not to be persuaded even at this time , when natural
mercy usually is stirred, to transgress the voluntary borders,sayin� : ,If I go out, my heart will not be pure before God,for I despise visiting spiritual brethren, should I then honour
nature above Christ ? So his brother died without his having
seen him.
No one, therefore, shQuld consider the weakness of feelings;is an insuperable and invincible reason, nor as a providential
institution, implying the denial of solitude. If the saints subdue
nature which is so strong, and Christ, though despised in His
children, loves to be where solitude is honoured, what othernecessity should then exist which could not de despised when
it presents itself? The commandment : Love the Lord thy God
3 1 3 with thy whole soul and with thy whole heart 1) and more than
�he whole world and nature and what belongs to nature - isaccomplished when thou abidest in solitude. And also the corn�
mandment ordering the love of our fellow men, is included in
it. Wilt thou acquire the love of thy fellow-man, according to
the commandment of the Gospel, within thyself, then withdraw
from him. Then the flame of his love will burn in thee and1) Deuteronomy 6, 5

� 09

A LETTER WHiCH HE WROTE To ONE: :ln'C.

thou wilt run to see him as if thou wouldst see the angel oflight. Doest thou further desire that thy beloved ones longafter thee ? S.ee their faces at fixed days only. Verily, expe­
rience is the teacher of all. Be in health.

XLII
THE ANSWER H E SENT HIS N ATURAL AND SPIRI­TUAL BROTHER WHO HAD TRIED TO PERSUADE
H IM I N LETTERS THAT H E SHOULD VISIT HIM I N
T H E INHABITED WORLD BECA USE HE LONGED TO
SEE HIMWe are not strong, as thou supposest, o blessed one. Per­
haps thou art acquainted with my weakness, but thou makest
not much of my destruction. Constantly thou askest me this,placing nature above the thought which once burned in thee,showing thereby that thou doest not consider it even as amatter to be treated carefully, though to us it seems to be amatter of care. Do not ask from me, o my brother, whatgives consolation to body and mind, but let me seek the sal­vation of my soul. Yet a short time and we shall have passed
away from this world. It is not unknown to thee how many
persons I should meet, if I went to thy dwelling-place ; howmany sorts of people and of places, before I should have
314 returned unto my place ; and by meeting them, what cause forthought my soul would receive - my soul, that would be
disturbed by the affections which would be awakened in it,
after it has been left in peace by them a little. That the sightof lay people injures the solitary, is a fact with which thou art
acquainted ; not just the sight of women, but also of men.
Behold how many varying states pass through the mind of
him that has for a long time been alone with his soul andthen suddenly comes in contact with these things, hearing andseeing what he is not wont to see and to hear. If meeting his
fellow brethren injures him that is engaged in the struggle
and still wrestles with his foe, if the brethren are not in con­corclance with his aim, into what pit would we fall, that haveto be freed from the sting of our foe ? Especially those [among
Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1 9 2 2 (Wensinck).

'4

1 IO

THE ANSWER HE SENT H!S NATURAL E't'C.

us] that know these things by long experience. Therefore I am
not to be persuaded to do this without necessity. Our heart
does not err after those who say that hearing and seeing will
not harm us and that, in the desert or in the inhabited world,
within our cell or without it, we are alike in our deliberations
on account of our being at rest against perturbation as longas we do not experience evil varying states and as long as
we do not perceive the meeting with persons and things by
the shock of affections. Those who say this, do not even know
it when they receive a blow. But as to us, we have not yet
reached this psychic health. vVe suffer from rotting abscesses ;which, if they be left without bandages but for one day, sothat they appeared from under the plasters and the bonds,
would abound with worms.

XLIII
315 PROFITABLE WORDS FULL OF SPIRITUAL WISDOM

Faith is the gate of the mysteries. What the bodily eye isfor the things of the senses, the same is faith in connection
with the treasures hidden to the eyes of the mind.
We possess two psychic eyes, as the Fathers say, just as we
possess two bodily eyes. But both have not the same purpose
as to sight.
With one we see the hidden glory of God which is con­cealed in the things of nature, His power and His wisdom,and His eternal care for us which by His peculiar providence
is directed unto us. With the same eye we also see the spiri­tual classes of our fellow-beings.
With the other we see the glory of His holy nature. When
our Lord desires to give us initiation to the spiritual mysteries,
He opens in our mind the ocean of faith.
As a grace beyond a grace has repentance been given toman. Repentance is being born anew in God. That of which
we have received the pledge by baptism , we receive as a giftby repentance. Repentance is the gate of mercy which is
opened to all who seek it. Through . this gate we go in to
divine mercy. Apart from this entrance it is not possible to find

PROF'I'l'ABtE WORDS FULt OF' SPIRI'l'UAL WISOOM�t 1

mercy. Because all have sinned, according to the words ofscripture, and are justified freely by grace 1) . Repentance is asecond grace ; it is born in the heart from faith and fear. Fearis the paternal rod which guides us up to the spiritual Eden.
3 1 6 When we have arrived there, it leaves us and returns. Edenis the divine love wherein is the paradise of all goods, where
the blessed Paul was sustained by supernatural food. When hehad eaten from the tree of life which is there, he exclaimed :eye has not seen, nor ear heard neither have entered into theheart of man the things which God hath prepared for themthat love him 2). Adam was bereft of this tree by the promiseof the Devil. The tree of life is the divine love which Adamlost by his fall, after which he worked and wearied himself.
Those who are bereft of divine love are still eating thebread that is won by the sweat of their labour, even though
they work righteousness, as was commanded to the head ofour race when he lost it by his fall. Until we find love, we
work in the earth with her thorns. Among thorns we sow andreap, even if we sow the seed of righteousness. Perpetually
we are pricked by them, even if we are justified, and livewith sweat on our faces.
When, however, we have found love, we eat the heavenly
bread and we are sustained without labour and without wea­riness. Heavenly bread is that which has descended fromheaven and which gives the world life ; this is the food ofangels. He that has found love eats Christ at all times andbecomes immortal from thence onwards. For whoever eats ofthis bread sl;tall not taste death in eternity. Blessed is he that
3 1 7 has eaten from the bread of love which is Jesus. Whoever is
fed with love is fed with Christ, who is the allgoverning God.
Witness is John who says : God is Love 3). Thus he smells
life from God, that lives with love in this creation . He breathes
here of the air of resurrection. In this air the righteous will
delight at resurrection. Love is the kingdom of which our Lord
spoke when He symbolically promised the disciples that theywould eat in His kingdom : ,you shall eat and drink at thetable of my kingdom'. What should they eat, if not love?
Love is sufficient to feed man in stead of food and drink. ThisIs "the wine that gladdens the heart of man. Blessed is he1) Cf. Ram. 3 , 23 sq.

z) I Cor. 2 1 93) I John 4, I 6

2t2

l'ROF!TABLE

WORbS l.<'ULt 01.<' SPtRI1'UAt WISDOM

who has drunk from this wine. This is the wine from which
the lascivious have drunk and they became chaste, the sinners
and they forgot the ways of offence, the drunkards and they
became fasters ; the rich and they became desirous of poverty,
the poor and they became rich in hope ; the sick and they
became valiant ; the fools and they became wise.
As it is not possible to cross the ocean without a boat ora ship, so no one can cross towards love, without fear. Thisfoetid sea, which lies between us and the intelligible paradise,
we cross in the boat of repentance, which has fear for a rudder.
If the rudder of fear does not govern this ship of repentance,
in which we cross the sea of this world towards God, weshall be drowned in the foetid sea. Repentance is the ship,fear is her governor, love is the divine port.
318
Fear places us in the ship of repentance and makes us crossthe foetid sea of the world and brings us in the divine port
which is love, towards which look all those who are weary andcrushed by repentance.
When we have reached love, we have reached God andour way is ended and we have passed unto the island whichlieth beyond the world, where is the Father and the Son andthe Holy Ghost ; to whom be glory and dominion. That He
make us worthy to fear Him and to love Him. Amen.

X LIVCONCERNING HOW MANY DEGREES KNOW LEDGE
H AS AND CONCERNING THE DEGREES OF FAITH
There is a knowledge which is anterior to faith and there
is a knowledge which is born from faith. The knowledge an­terior to faith, is natural knowledge ; that which is born fromfaith, is spiritual knowledge.
What is natural knowledge ? Knowledge which distinguisheth
good from evil and which is also called natural distinction.
God has implanted in rational nature to know good from evil,
naturally, without instruction , yet this knowledge increases throughinstruction . There is no one in whom this [knowledge] is not
active ; and this is the force of the knowledge of the rational

CONCERNING HOW MANY DEGREES ETC.

213

soul by nature, namely the distinction between good and evil
is stirring in it naturally, without ceasing. Those who are de­fective in this respect are beneath the rank of reason. Thosein whom this is found, stand upright in psychic nature, and
319 there has not been destroyed in them that which was given
by God unto psychic nature, to the honour of His reason.
Those who have destroyed this knowledge which distingui­
shes between good and evil, are scorned by the prophet : man·
has no insight in his own honour 1). The honour of rational
nature is the faculty to distinguish between good and evil.
Rightly the prophet compares those who have destroyed thisfaculty with the brutes who possess no distinguishing and ra­
tional soul. On account of this faculty we are naturally able
to find the way of God, and this is the natural knowledge
which is anterior to faith and this is the way u nto God. On
account of the fact that a man knows how to distinguish be­
tween good and evil, he receives faith. Witness is the force of
nature to the fact that it is beautiful for a man to believe in
Him that has created all these things and that he acknowledge
the words of His commandments and performs them.
From the fact that he believes this, is born the fear of God.
When man clings to the service of the fear of God, and byservice proceeds to some extent in it, the spiritual knowledge
is born of which we have said that it is born from faith. Not
that it is simply born from faith. From simple faith only spi­ritual knowledge is not born, but from faith fear of God isborn. And when we begin with the service of the fear of God,
from the service of the fear of God spiritual knowledge is born,according to the word of the blessed commentator 2) : Whena man possesses the will to cling to the fear of God and an
upright mind he will easily receive the revelation of hidden
320 things. The revelation of hidden things he calls spiritual know­
ledge. Not that the fear of God brings this forth, it is notpossible to bring forth that which is not implied in nature.
But knowledge is to given gratuitously for the service of thefear of God.
When 3) thou inquirest well thou wilt find that the serviceof the fear of God is repentance. And spiritual knowledge is,as we have said, that of which we have received the pledge·

1 ) Cf. Psalms 49, 12, 20

2) Theodore of Mopsuestia

3) Cf. Introduction

214

CONCERNING HOW MANY DEGREES ETC.

in baptism and which we receive really by repentance. The
gift of which we have said 1) that we receive it by repentance,is spiritual knowledge, which is given gratuitously for the ser­vice of the fear of God. Spiritual knowledge is apperceptionof the things which are hidden. When a man perceives thethings which are unseen but most profitable, after which spiri­tual knowledge is called, by this apperception is born a diffe­
rent faith. Not that it is contrary to the old faith, nay it evencorroborates it. It is called the faith of sight. Hitherto there washearing ; now there is sight. Sight is more true than hearing.
All these things are born from that knowledge which dis­tinguishes between good and evil and which is stirring in na­
ture. A nd this · is the seed of excellence, as it has been called.
But when we conceal this by our will which loves desire, welose all this good.
With this knowledge are connected a perpetual stabbing of
the heart ; distress and grief ; fear of God ; shame before nature ;grief at the transitory things which [occupied the mind] before ;321 zeal for that which is becoming ; perpetual remembrance ofdeath, torturing thoughts of that transition and care for its
provisions ; passionate beseeching of God that we enter wellthat gate through which all nature has to pass ; contempt of
the world and noble strife for the sake of excellence. All thesethings are found in this natural knowledge. Man has to exa­mine his discipline in view of these and when he is in accord
with them, he goes in the way of nature. When he climbs
higher and reaches love, he leaves the domain of nature andstrife, fear and fatigue leave him alone.
In accordance with what has been said man has to measure
his things [in order to know] in which way he is walking ; inthat which is beneath nature, in nature, or above nature.
Through these distinctions which have been clearly expounded,a man may easily understand what the discipline of his whole
life has to be. When thou art not in the things of nature
which have been described here, nor in the things above
nature it is clear that thou dwellest beneath nature.
1) p. 3 1 5

PROFITABLE ADVICE

215

XLV
PROFITABLE ADVICE
There is no good impulse which does not fall in the heart
as a gift from on high. There is no evil deliberation which
does not approach the heart in the way of a temptation. A
man that has attained the knowledge of his weakness has
attained the summit of humility.
The conductor of the signs of God's goodness unto man is322 a heart which is moved by perpetual gratefulness. The con­ductor of temptations unto the soul is the impulse of rebellion
which is constantly stirring in the heart. God suffers every
weakness of man ; but He does not suffer a man who is con­stantly murmuring, withom chastising him. The soul which isfar from any splendour of knowledge, finds itself in these
impulses.
The mouth which constantly praises, receives a blessing from
God ; the heart which is constantly grateful, is inhabited bygrace.
Grace is preceded by humility ; chastisement is preceded bypresumption.
He that is uplifted in his heart on account of knowledge,
is tempted by abuse ; he that is uplifted on account of his
excellent service, is surrounded by fornication. And he that
extols himself on account of wisdom becomes entangled indark traps.
The man that is far from any remembrance of God, yetbears in his heart care for his fellow, will be of evil remem­brance. He that honours all men by his remembrance of God
will find all men his helpers by the hidden decree of God.
He that gives an apology in behalf of the oppressed willfind an advocate in his creator. He that gives his arm to thehelp of his fellow, will receive God's arm in stead of it. He
that accuses his brother on account of his evil deep.s will find
God as his accuser. He that directs his brother in his inner
apartment, cures his evil ; he that accuses him before an as­se�bly makes worse his wounds. He that cures his brotherprivately gives a proof of the strength of his love, but he who

216

PROFITABLE ADVICE

exposes him in the presence of his comrades betrays the forceof his envy.
A friend that vituperates in secret is a wise physician ; but
3 23 he that cures in the presence of the public, is really a derider.
The token of compassion is forgiveness regarding all sins.
The token of an evil mind are varying utterances unto thesmner.
He that combines with healing chastisement, chastises withlove. He whose demand bears the character of revenge, isdestitute of love. God chastises with love, not for the sake ofrevenge, this is far from Him. H e demand,s that His image 1)
be healed ; His anger does not endure until guidance is nolonger possible ; for He does not seek personal revenge. Thisis the intention of love ; the chastisement of love aims at gui­dance ; it does not aim at retribution.
The righteous who is wise resembles God. He never chas­
tises man in retaliation for his sin, but either in order that hemay be guided aright, or that others may be deterred. Other
than this is no chastisement. But this 2) is regarded as its image
by the Spirit, the thought that was with God from eternity.
He that is pleased to think of God as the revenger, thinking
that he acknowledges His justice, denounces Him as destituteof bounty. It is far from the fountain of love, the ocean fullof bounty, that the idea of retribution should be found with
H im. His aim is the guidance of men ; and if it were not that
we wou1d be bereft of the honour of freedom, perhaps He
would even not heal us by vituperation 3) . The domain of
freedom regarding our deeds is the power with which frankness
supplies reason. And also the latter adores the greatness of
H is bounty, because it is not H is will that we rejoice at what
is His, but as it were at the merits of our own deeds. And
3 24 though all is His, it is not His pleasure that we should thinkthat we delight in what is His, but rather in what is ours.
In accordance with a man's goodness is he illuminated con­cerning God. According as he stretches himself towards theknowledge of God, does he approach unto freedom of soul.
He that tries to excel in beautiful things with a view tofuture reward, will be easily led to deviation. He that admires
1 ) man2) chastisement on account of love3 ) but by stronger methods

PROFITABLE ADVICE217

the power of his knowledge, when looking at the love whichis in God will not be puffed up in mind even if his flesh should
be cut off, nor will he deviate from excellence. He whose mind
is illuminated concerning the rents for which we are indebted
to God, descends unto the depth of humility, body and soul.
Before a man approaches unto knowledge, he will go up
and down in his discipline. \\'hen, however, he has come near
to knowledge he will wholly be raised up. Yet, however he beraised up, his advance in knowledge will not be complete, until
the world of glory has come and he has received the wholeof his treasure.
According as a man becomes perfect in his relation to God,will he follow Him closely. In the world of truth, He will show
him His face, not however the face of His essence. The more
the righteous advance to the vision of Him, the more they
see an enigmatic sight, as an image shown in a mirror. There,
however, they will see the revelation of truth.
Fire feeding upon dead wood is not easily extinguished. I f
the divine blaze falls in a heart cut off from the world, its
flame is not to be extinguished and it will be even quicker
than fire. When the power of the wine penetrates into theveins, the mind forgets the particulars of all things ; when the
325 remembrance of God has taken hold of the soul, the recollecc
tion of visible things vanishes from the heart.
The mind that has found spiritual wisdom is like a man thathas found on the ocean an equipped ship which, when he has
got aboard, brings him from the ocean of this world to theisland of the world to be. Just so the apperception of the
future things in this world, is like a small island in the ocean.
And he that has approached unto it, he will no more be vexedby the storms of temporal phantasies.
When the merchant has accomplished his business, he hastens
to reach his home. As long as the monk still lives in the
period of his service, he has anguish [ by the thought] that heshall have to depart the body. As soon however as he isaware that he has redeemed his time l) and that he has taken
his pledge, he longs for the world to be. As long as themerchant is on the sea, motion dominates his limbs ; a storm
may 1\ise and the hope of his labour may sink. As long as the1) Cf. Eph. 5, 1 6 ; Col. 4, 5

2!8

PROFITABLE ADVICE

monk is in this world, fear dominates his service, lest a hurry­
cane be stirred against him destroying the labour which he has
wrought from his youth till his old age. The merchant looks
towards land, the monk towards the time of his death. The
sailor gazes at the stars as long as he is sailing on the ocean,and he directs his ship by them, that they may show him theharbour. The monk gazes at prayer, which directs his way[showing him] towards which harbour he has to direct hiscourse. At prayer the monk gazes at all times, that it may
show him the island where he may anchor his ship free fromfear and where he may take on board provisions in order to
326 direct himself towards another island. Such is the course of
the solitary as long as he is in this life. He departs from is­land to island, and from knowledge to knowledge. And as
various islands he meets the various [kinds of] knowledge, till
he goes ashore and directs his course towards the city oftruth the inhabitants of which do no longer traffic, but every
one is content with his goods. Blessed he whose course is not
disturbed, on this wide ocean. Blessed is whose ship is not
wrecked and who reaches that harbour with joy.
Naked the swimmer dives into the sea in order to find apearl. Naked the wise monk will go through the creation inorder to find the pearl Jesus Christ Himself. When he has
found it, he will not seek to acquire any other thing. A pearl
is preserved in a treasury ; the solitary's delight is in solitude.
A virgin is robbed in a crowd ; the mind of a monk in inter­course. The bird fl i es to her nest from any place in order toproduce young ones, and the discerning monk hastens to hiscell in order to produce in it the fruits of life.
When the body of the serpent is crushed, it guards its headcautiously ; the wise solitary guards his faith amidst all evils,
cautiously, because it is the head of his life.
A cloud covers the sun : so much talk covers the soul which
has begun to be illuminated by contemplative prayer.
The bird which is called l;urba 1) is glad and delights - so
327 the sages say - when she leaves the inhabited places andtakes up her abode in the desert. And the soul of the solitary
receives heavenly joy when it removes itself from men andtakes up its abode in quiet places where it awaits the timeI) In Syriac l)ureba means at the same time desert and stork

PROFITABLE ADVICE219

of departure. I t is told concerning the bird which is called thesiren that whosoever hears her singing is allured by her in hiscourse in the desert, and that by the sweetness of her melodies
he forgets his life and falls down dead. This resembles what
happens with the soul ; when that heavenly sweetness falls into
it which comes from the melodies of the words of God [andwhich is transmitted ] by mental apperception, it follows [thesesounds] so that it forgets its bodily life and leaves the body on
account of its delight and is lifted up from this life unto God.
The life of this world is sweet to him that lives in a mate­rial way ; not, however, so sweet as is departure 'from life unto
him that departs from it by perception in God. A tree will not
produce new buds until it has put off the old leaves ; and thesolitary will not produce new buds, through Jesus Christ, until
he has shaken from his heart the memory of his past.
The wind makes the fruits ripe ; and the spirit 1) of God
makes ripe the fruits in the soul. The shell in which the pearl
is formed receives its full form from the air, as then saying
has it still then, it is only mere flesh. And until the heart ofthe monk receives its heavenly fullness by understanding, its
3zs service is still simple and it has no consolation .wi thin its shell.
The fruits of the trees are sour and disagreeable to the taste
and are not apt to be eaten till they have become sweet by
the sun ; and the first labours of repentance are bitter andvery unpleasant and without consolation to the solitary, until
they are made sweet by the contemplation which withdraws
the heart from earthly things so that it forgets itself.
The dog which licks the file drinks from his own blood ; hedoes not recognize his hurt on account of the sweet taste ; andthe solitary who condescends to drink vain glory, sucks fromhis own life without being aware of his hurt, because of the
momentary sweetness.
Glory on the part of worldly folk is like a rock hidden in
the sea ; it is not known to the sailor before his ship is split
on it so that its bottom is pierced and it is filled with water.
It is said therefore by the Fathers, that by glory all the affec­
tions return unto the soul, that once had been vanquished andhad departed from it.
A" small cloud covers the sphere ; but the sun which is1) wind and spirit are expressed by the same word in Syriac

2 20

PROFIT ABLE ADVICE

behind it, is nevertheless real ; and a little dejection covers
the soul ; yet the gladness which follows it is the more exhi­
larating.
The musician who plays the flute is not fed by the soundof its melodies. And when he ceases his music his stomach is
the more hungry. And the sweetness of words without ritual
performances does not satisfy ; when a man no longer hears
them he is the more confused.
As it is not possible for a man to drink wine without
breathing forth its odour from his mouth, so it is not possible
3 2 9 that a man becomes worthy of spiritual rest in his discipline
without the sage's perceiving a change in his state. The heartthat has received the heavenly seed is changed in its speech,changed in its mind, changed in its discipline, changed in its
senses ; and in all that belongs to it, it is different from theother simple men, as a man that was asleep and has awakened
from his sleep.
Do not approach the mysterious words in the scriptures without
prayer and without asking help from God, saying : Lord, grantme to perceive t)le power that is in them. Deem prayer as
the key to the insight of truth in scripture.
When thou desirest to approach unto God in thy heart, firstshow Him love in bodily things. Here is the beginning of
discipline. For the heart greatly draws near to God by renun­
ciating some special necessary thing and by application tolabours. Even our Lord has laid here the foundation of per­fection.
Account idleness the beginning of psychic darkness ; oralintercourse as darkness beyond darkness ; and the latter as thecause of the former. Even profitable words without measurecause darkness. The soul is shaken by frequent intercourse
even if it is inclined and in a way near to the fear of God.
Deem darkness of the soul as being an agent unto confusion.
Darkness in the soul comes from disordered behaviour.
Measure and time in discipline illuminate the mind and3 3okeep confusion afar. When the mind is upset by disorder, it
becomes dark. And when it has become dark, the soul istroubled. Peace comes from order ; light is born from peace inthe soul ; from peace, joyous air in the mind. According as
the .heart approaches to wisdom, it receives the gladness whichis in God. The difference between spiritual wisdom and worldly

l>ROt<'tTAilU ADVICt

�21

wisdom thou perceivest in thy soul. I n the former, silence
reigns over thy soul ; in the latter, it will be a fountain of
distraction. When the former is present, thou wilt be greatly
filled with humility, and quiet and peace will reign over all
thy deliberations, thy limbs being quiet and at peace fromturbulence and trouble. vVhen the latter is present, thou wilt
possess presumption in thy mind and varying unspeakable
thoughts and mental bluntness and thy senses will be turbulent
and impudent.
XLVI
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Do not think that a man who is tied to bodily things willapproach to freedom of speech in prayer before God.
An avaricious soul is destitute of wisdom ; and the one whichis compassionate, is made wise by the spirit.
As oil feeds the flame of the torch, so compassion feeds
knowledge in the soul.
The key of divine gifts unto the heart is given through loveof the neighbour.
33 1
According as the heart is freed from the bonds of the body,to the same extent is opened before it the gate unto knowledge.
Deem the transition of the soul from world to world tohappen by the reception of insight.
Laudable and excellent is the love of the neighbour, but only
if the thought of it does not turn us from the love of God.
Delightful is intercourse with our spiritual brethren, but only
if it be possible that we preserve along with it intercourse with
our Lord. Beautiful, therefore, it is to trouble one self withthese, in so far as it is ordered by duty, namely in so far as
through it we do not fall short of the hidden service and con­stant intercourse with God. To disturb divine intercourse, means
to erect human intercourse. The mind is not capacious enoughfor both kinds of intercourse.
The siglit of worldly people troubles the soul that once hasrenunciated what is theirs, for the sake of the service of God.
To these belongs constant intercourse, to this even the avoi­
dance of sight.

OTHER C0NS1DERAT10NS

Bodily labours are not impeded by impressions of the senses.
He that on the ground of mental peace wishes to embracegladness in hidden service will be disturbed in the quiet of hisheart, even by voices without sight.
Inner deadness cannot exist except by the annihilation of
the senses. Bodily discipline requires keenness of the senses ;psychic discipline keenness of the heart. As the soul is more
excellent in its nature than the body, so the service of thesoul is more excellent than the discipline of the body. And as
the body is anterior in existence to the soul, so are bodily
duties anterior to the service of the soul.
Great is the power of a little discipline, if it is combined
332 with constancy. The soft drop on account of its constancy
makes a hole even in hard rocks. When the spiritual man isnear to being quickened in thee, death to all things will cometo thee, and thy soul will become hot with gladness which has
no equal amongst created beings, and thy deliberations will beconcentrated within thee, on account of the sweetness in thyheart. But when the world is quickened in thee, distraction ofmind will increase in thee, and lack of courage without con­stancy.
World I call the affections conceived by distraction. Whenthey are born and have become fullgrown they become sin
and kill man. As men are not born without a mother, so
affections are not born without distraction of mind, nor does
sin become fullgrown without intercourse with the affections.
When patience increases in onr soul, this is a sign thereof
that it has secretly received the gift of consolation. Stronger
is the power of patience than the emotions of gladness whichstir in the heart.
Life in God is the fall of the senses. When the heart lives,
the senses fall. The resurrection of the senses is the death of
the heart. When the senses are quickened this is a sign thereof
that the heart is dead regarding God.
The heart does not derive guidance from the virtues which
are performed among men . Virtues which a man shows unto
others, cannot purify the soul . Still they are taken into accountwith God, in view of wages and reward. But that excellence
which a man performs unto himself, accomplishes the two : itis taken into account for reward, and it causes purification.
Therefore desist from the former and cling to the latter. Without

OTHER CONS1DEltATlONS

application to the latter, to desist from the former means to
God openly. The latter, however, fills also the placeof the former without its being performed.
Be dead in life in order that thou mayest be free throughthy being dead. Be dead to the world in order that thoumayest be free from laws. For none of those who walk inthem can perfectly fulfill them in this life. Who is dead in his
life, is free while alive, and alive while dead.
Painstaking regarding graceful words is understood by sim­
plicity of heart coming from God .
The soul that perceives a life above bodily life, does notadorn · itself for the world. If man has not found the former,
he is scarcely able to despise the latter ; to despise it utterly
is absolutely impossible to him. And he that would try to doso compulsorily, would stir up in himself a great struggle. But
if he has found the former kind of life, he can renunciate thelatter without a struggle.
Comfort and laziness are the destruction of souls. They areable to harm even more than the demons. Where the souldwelling in light resides, in laudable labours of virtue, there
the demons are not able to work. But the soul which is dark
becomes thereby a guide even for the demons, so that they
can accomplish all kinds of evil things.
When a weak body is forced to accomplish too many labours,
it will accumulate darkness upon darkness in the soul andconduct it more and more unto perturbation and obscurity. If
the dense body, namely that of sound constitution, comes tolaziness and takes its place in comfort, it accomplishes all kindsof evil in the soul which dwells in it. Even if the soul greatly
rejoices in good, still, after a short time the body will bereave
it of thoughts that rejoice in the good.
33 4When, however, the soul is drunk with gladness because of
its hope, and with the joy in God, the body will be withoutapperception of troubles, even if it be brought low. For it willbear a double load without becoming weary as is the case withthe body that has become heavy ; and the body will share in
the delight of the soul, even though it be brought low, when
the soul enters into spiritual gladness.
If thou guardest thy tongue, my brother, a gift will be given
to thee from God, affectibility of the heart so as to see thy­
�elf in it ; and thereby thou wilt enter into spiritual gladness.
3 33 forsake

OTHJ!:R

CONSlQEI.tA 'rlONS

I f, however, thy tongue vanquish thee, believe what I say :thou wilt never save thyself from darkness.
If thou possessest not a pure heart, have at least a puremouth. As the blessed John says : When thou wilt admonish
a man 1,1nto beautiful things, first draw him near to bodily restand honour him by a word full o f love. There is nothingwhich makes a man so modest and persuades him to inter·change evil things with good ones, as bodily comfort andhonour which is shown to him by some one. The secondmeans of persuasion is a man's effort to be a laudable exam­ple. He that has gained possession of his self by prayer andwatchfulness will easily draw his neighbour unto life , even
without wearying words and apperceptible admonition. Baseness,on the contrary, and relaxation do not only harm those who
possess them, but also those who see them. As to the factthat a man by bestowing care upon himself can spur his fel­lows on to beautiful things and by the mere sight of him makethose who are relaxed ashamed, no words are sufficient to tell
3 3 5 how blessed such a man is. The silent deed has a greater
power to direct others than careful words which are contra­
dicted by laxity of behaviour. When however thou directest
thyself, thy neighbour will gain no small help.
The more a man enters into the struggle for the sake ofGod , the more he will approach unto the heart's freedom ofspeech in its prayer. And according as he is distracted bymany people is he bereaved of help.
The soul that has rest from the stings of the body, will
have peace in its emotions.
Be a free man as to the body, in order that thou mayest
be deemed worthy of spiritual freedom. Walk in the yoke of
thy freedom, lest thou be tied to the yoke of bondage to thy
enem1es.
If once thou hast shown in thy person an example of dis­solution from temporal life, then through abandonment of theaffairs of life thou wilt become wholly dead, as an example ofthe future dissolution, as the care of all things will be takenfrom thee by death. Be not angry at the blows of the body,which death will wholly take from thee. Be not afraid of death,for God will elevate thee above it.

225

0:'< THE ANGELIC EMOTIONS STIRRING ETC.

XLVIION THE ANGELIC EMOTIONS STIRRING I N US BYDIVINE PROVIDENCE FOR THE EDUCATION OF T H E
SOUL IN SPIRITUAL THINGS
The first emotion that befalls a man by divine grace anddraws the soul towards life, strikes the heart [with thought]
336 concerning the transitory character of this 1) nature. This thought
is naturally connected with contempt of the world. And thenbegin all the beautiful emotions which educate unto life. That
divine power which accompanies man makes as it were afoundation in him, which desires to reveal life in him. As tothis emotion which I mentioned, if a man does not extinguishit by clinging to the things of this world and to idle inter­course, and if he makes this emotion increase in his soul by
perpetual concentration and by gazing at himself, he will bringhimself near to that which no tongue is able to tell.
This thought is greatly hated by Satan and he strives withall his power to eradicate it from man. And if he were able
to give him the kingdom of the whole earth in order to efface
by thought of it from his mind this deliberation, he would not
do otherwise. For Satan knows that if this recollection remains
with him, his mind will no longer stay in this world of error,
and his means will not reach man.
This sight is clad with fiery emotions and he that has caught
it will no longer contemplate the world nor remain with the body.
Verily, my beloved, if God should grant this veracious sight
unto the children of man for a short time, the course of theworld would stand still. It is a bond before which nature cannot
stand upright. And he unto whim this intercourse with his soulis given - verily, it is a gift from God, stronger than all
3 7 partial workings, which in this middle state are presented unto
those who with an upright heart desire repentance. It is es­
pecially given to him of whom God knows that he is worthyof the real transition from this world unto profitable life, be­cause He finds good will in him. It will increase and remain/1 ) earthly
Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (\Vensinck)

•5

2 26

ON THE ANGELIC E:\10TIONS STIRRI:-IG ETC.

with a man through his dwelling alone by himself. Let us ask
this gift in prayer ; and for the sake of this gift let us makelong vigils. And as it is a gift without equal, let us keep
watch with tears at the gate of our Lord, that He may giveit us. Further we need not weary ourselves with the troubleof this world. This is the beginning of the impulse of life,
which will fully bring about in a man the perfection of righ­teousness.
O n t h e s e c o n d w o r k i n g u p o n m a n. When a man
follows his discipline perfectly and when he has succeeded inrising above the degree of repentance, and when he is near
to taste the contemplation of his service, when it is given himfrom above to taste the delight of spiritual knowledge, a second
working, after the first, will take its origin here .
In the first place man is assured concerning God's care forhim and illuminated concerning His love of the creatures- rational creatures - and H is manifold care for the things
which regard them. Then there arises in him that sweetnessof God and the flame of His love which burns in the heart
and kindles all the affections of body and of soul. And thispower he will perceive in all the species 1) of the creation andall things which he meets. From time to time he will become
338 drunk by it as by wine ; his limbs will relax, his mind will
stand still and his heart will follow God as a captive. And so
he will be, as I have said, like a man drunk by wine. And
according as his inner senses are strengthened, so this sightwill be strengthened and according as he is careful about dis­
cipline and watchfulness and applies himself to recitation andprayer, so the power of sight will be founded and boun din him.
In truth, my brethren, he that reaches this from time totime, will not remember that he is clad with a body, nor will
he know that he is in the world. This is the beginning of
spiritual sight in a man, and this is the principle of all intel­
lectual revelations. By this the intellect will be educated unto
hidde n things and become mature , and by this he will be
gradually elevated unto other things which are higher thanhuman nature. In short, by this will be conducted unto man
all divine visions and spiritual revelations which the saints
1) litt. : natures

ON THE ANGELIC E MOTIONS STIRRING ETC.

227

receive in this world. Thus nature can become acquainted withthe gift of revelations that happen in this life .
This i s the root of our apperception in our Creator. Blessedis he that has preserved this good seed when it fell in hissoul, and has made it to increase, without destroying it byidle things and by the distraction of that which is transitory.

XLVIII
339 ONTHE VARYING STATES OF LIGHT AND DARK­NESS TO WHICH THE SOUL IS SUBJECT AT A LL
TIMES AND ON THE TRAINING IT ACQUIRES I N
THINGS OF THE RIGHT H A N D A N D OF T H E LEFT

Let us look at ourselves at the time of service and prayer.
If we possess contemplation regarding the words of the Psalms
and of prayer, this has its origin in real solitude.
Let us not be perturbed when we are in darkness ; espe­
cially if we are not the cause of it ourselves. For it is brought
about by divine care, for causes which are known only to it.
Our soul is then suffocated and, as it were, in the midst of
storms. Whether a man approach unto a book of service to whatever he approaches, it is darkness upon darkness which
he finds in it, so that he desists from all effort. How manya time is he not even allowed to approach. He is wholly
unable to believe that a different state will come upon him sothat he will be in peace again. This hour is full of despair
and fear ; and the hope in God and the consolation of faith
are wholly effaced from the soul, which is totally filled withdoubt and fear.
Those who are tempted by the storm of this time, know by
experience the varying state which will follow after it. Neverwill God leave the soul a whole day in this state ; otherwise
it would lose life and all Christian hope. But gradually however strong this darkness may be - a turn unto life willappear from it. Unto thee, o man, I give the advice : if thoupossessest no power to dominate thy soul and to fall uponthy
face in prayer, envelop thy head in thy mantle and lie
34�
down till the hour of darkness has passed away from thee.

2 28

ON THE VARYING STATES OF LIGHT ETC.

Leave not, however, thy cell. By this temptation are tried
especially those who are willing to walk in mental discipline
and who in their course are running toward the consolation
which comes from faith.
This dark hour, therefore, tortures them, more than by any
thing else, by spiritual doubt. It is also accompanied by strong
abuse ; sometimes even by doubt of the resurrection and otherpoints which it is not necessary to mention.
All these things we have experienced many times and re­corded for the consolation of many. Those who are occupied
by bodily labours only are wholly removed from this struggle.
They are attacked by dejection with which every man is ac­
quainted and which differs from the state mentioned and similar
ones. The healing of the latter - viz. its consolation - has
its origin in solitude. By intercourse a man will never obtainthe light of consolation, but in the course of time he will findalleviation. Afterwards, however, it will attack him vehemently.
He needs an enlightened man, experienced in these things, bywhom he may be illuminated and encouraged from time totime, though not constantly. Blessed is he that endures underthese circumstances the abiding indoors , he that after thesethings reaches the large and strong apartment, as the Fat herssay. Not at once, however, will this struggle cease ; neither
will grace come and dwell in the soul completely at once, but
3 41 gradually. One, and the other : sometimes temptation, some­times consolation. Some of it will remain, even till departure.
Complete deliverance from it we do not expect here, nor com­plete consolation.
Thus has it pleased God that our temporal life should be
provided. And these things are for those that walk in the way.
XLIX
ON THE GLOOMY DA RKNESS WHICH DURINGSOLITUDE BEFALLS THOSE WHO W A LK IN
THE DISCIPLINE O f' KNOWLEDGE
At the time of obscurity, more than any thing kneeling is
helpful. And even the fact that thou art not able to offer this[ unto God] and to cling to it, is [an act of war] on the part

0.:'< TilE GLOOMY DARKNESS W I IICII DURING ETC.

2 29

of Satan. It is thy duty to fight against this. For Satan knows
the help [provided] by kneeling ; therefore he strives with hiswhole power to withhold thee from offering it. And when thouart near to falling on thy face, he will trouble thee. And even
if thou vanquishest him and bendest thy knees he will force
thee not to abide by it.
Even if our emotions are cold � nd dark, we should perse­vere in kneeling. Even if our heart be dead at these times ;even if we are destitute of prayer, so that we know not whatto . say in that even words of beseeching will not come to us,
nor supplication - even then we should be found prostrated
constantly, even if in silence.
If we need any help from God, yet remain destitute of help,
342 we rightiy do not obtain it, because we do not approach unto
God in prayer with zeal and fervour, night and day, crying
to Him in pain, because we expect that He will give it us
spontaneously. But He contrives an intermediate cause that
we should approach unto Him, by leaving us in trouble. And
by His refraining from delivering us, He produces our help inthat we prolong [our standing] at His door in prayer.
But we, when helpful things come to us, are stupefied andhesitating and we deliver ourselves to despondency and aversion
and dejection, and we are colder than water. Under ail evils
and temptations which befall thee , from without and fromwithin, the way of prayer lies before thee. Fall on thy face,even if for a day and night only and beseech God with apassionate heart. A nd God, who is merciful and good, will
not hesitate to give consolation and relief when He sees thatthou beseechest Him in the pain of thy heart, except thou
shouldst not ask in the [right] way.
During thy whole life thou hast to act thus. Thou wilt gain
and lose. And then thou shalt beseech in pain and He will
give thee. And again He wiii go away from thee ; and now
thou wilt meet with such a thing that thou wilt think that theend of ail has come. And when thou askest Him, in the nexthour it will have disappeared. Thus this course has beenordained ; be not dejected.
During that time of deep darkness that lies upon the soul,
we have to be watchful against dejection. Listen to me, o my/brother, fight against [the inclination] to leave thy ceii, as a
343 woman in travail against her pains, and as a man who bears

2 30

ON Tim GLOOMY DARKNESS WHICII DURING ETC.

tortures. For the foe greatly purposes, more than anything, tomake thee leave thy cell, under the pretext of being unable
to endure, at the time of struggle. And with all his power
he will compel thee to go outdoors, lest, staying, thou shouldst
seek refuge with kneeling. Greatly, more than anything, is heafraid of this act.
L
SHORT SECTIONS CO.NTAINING V ARIOUS CONSIDE­RATIONS IN WHICH IS SHOWN THE INJURY CAUSEDBY FOOLISH ZEAL UNDER THE PRETEXT OF FEAR
OF GOD AND THE PROFIT ORIGINATING IN Q UIETNESS ; TOGETH ER WITH OTHER SUBJECTS
A zealous man will never reach peace of mind. And hethat is destitute of peace is also destitute of gladness. Peaceof mind is called complete health , zeal is the contrary ofpeace. H e, therefore, that is moved by zeal suffers from asevere illness. Before thou art deemed, o man, to move thyzeal against the illness of others, thou has driven away healthfrom thyself. Thou hast rather to bestow care upon the healingof thyself. If thou desirest however to heal the sick, knowthat those who are sick, are in want of nursing more thanin want of vituperation. So, whilst thou doest not help others,
thou vexest thyself by a severe illness. Zeal is not counted
344 among man as a form of wisdom , but as one of the illnessesof the soul, namely a narrowmindedness and a great igno­
rance. The principle of divine wisdom is quietness acquired bymagnanimity, and the endurance of human weaknesses. Ye,
therefore, that are strong, bear the loads of the sick, anddirect the transgressor in a meek spirit. The Apostle counts
among the fruits of the Holy Spirit peace and patience 1).
A heart full of suffering on account of its insufficiency regarding
manifest bodily labours, is the acme of all bodily labours.
Bodily labours, without mental suffering, are as a bodywithout a soul.
He that suffers in his heart and is lax regarding his senses,
1) Gal. 5, 22

SHORT SECTIONS CONTAINING VARIOUS ETC.

2J I

is as a sick man whose body is aching and whose mouth in­dulges in all obnoxious kinds of food. He that suffers in hisheart and is lax regarding his senses, is as a man who has
an only son and slays him with his own hands limb by limb.
Suffering of the mind is an hmiourable gift from God ; andhe that bears it together with the duties it imposes, is as aman who bears holiness in his limbs. A man who is dominatedby his tongue in all things, good and evil, is not deemedworthy of this gift.
Repentance along with intercourse is as a pierced jar.
Blame along with a gift is a knife concealed in honey.
Chastity and intercourse with women are as a lioness anda lamb in one house.
Labours and depravity before God are as a man who
slaughters a son before his father. He that is sick in his soul
345 and directs his comrades, is as a blind man that shows the way.
Compassion and justice in one soul are as a man adoring
God and idols in one house. Everywhere compassion is theenemy of justice.
Justice is the equality of the even scale which gives to every
man as he deserves without deviation to any side and without
any consideration of a reward for it 1).
Compassion is an affection which is stirred by bounty andwhich goes out to every one for their support. It does not
repay him that has deserved evil. To him that has deserved
good, it gives a double portion. If the former stands on theside of righteousness, then the latter is on the side of evil. As
stubbles and fire cannot remain together in one room, so jus­
tice and compassion cannot in one soul.
As a grain of sand does not balance a load of gold, so theeffect of God's justice does not counterbalance His compassion.
As a handful of sand thrown into the ocean, so are thesins of all flesh as compared with God's mind.
As a fountain that flows abundantly is not dammed by ahandful of earth so the mercy of the Creator is not vanquishedby the wickedness of the creatures.
As one that sows in the sea and expects that he shall reap,
so is he that prays while preserving rancour.
As the flames of the fire cannot be checked from going/1) itself

232

SHORT SECTIONS CONTAINING VARIOUS ETC.

upwards, so the prayers of the merciful cannot be checkedfrom ascending towards heaven.
346
As the violence of water in a narrow place, so is the forceof anger when it has found a place in our mind.
He that has humility in his heart, has become dead to theworld. He that is dead to the world, is dead to affections. To
him that is dead in his heart regarding his relatives, Satan isdead. He that has found envy has also found him th.at found
it for the first time 1).
There is a humility that has its origin in the fear of God
and there is a humility that arises through the love of God.
Some people are made humble by their fear, others by theirjoy in Him. The former live with limbs subdued and orderedsenses and in perpetual contrition of heart ; the latter in fullexuberance and with an exulting heart which is never checked.
Love does not know bashfulness ; these, therefore, do not know
how to regulate or to order their limbs. Love naturally pos­sesses frankness and oblivion of measure.
Blessed is he that has found Thee, thou harbour of all joys.
Beloved of God is the congregation of the humble, as thecongregation of the seraphs.
A chaste body is clearer to God than a pure offering. Both,however, prepare a dwelling-place for the Trinity in the soul.
Walk with thy friends in a reserved attitude ; in doing sothou wilt be of profit unto thyself and unto them. For usually
under the pretext of friendship the soul casts off the reins ofwatchfulness.
Be cautious regarding intercourse ; it is not always profitable.
In the congregation honour silence ; for it prevents many wrongs.
34 7
Be not so cautious regarding the belly, as regarding sight.
Inner war is in any respect easier.
Do not believe, o brother, that inner deliberations can be
regulated without the regulation of the body .
Fear customs rather than enemies. He that fosters a custom
is as one fostering fire. Both display their vigour when they
have acquired free play. When custom, however, has been
repelled the first time it demands access, thou wilt find it
weaker, a second time. But if thou fulfillest its desire the firsttime, thou wilt find it stronger when it demands access untoJ) I am not certain of the sense of these words

SHORT SECTIONS CONTAINING VARIOUS ETC.

233

thee the second time. Under all circumstances this recollection
will strengthen thee.
Help proceeding from watchfulness is better than help pro­ceeding from labours.
Be not friends with one that loves laughter and derision ;for he will drag thee towards lax customs. Be not joyous withhim whose behaviour is lax ; but be cautious against hating him.
If he desires to remain standing, try to help him ; and carefor his existence,· until death. If thou art yet ill, thou hast not
to play the physician ; stretch the end of thy staff toward him,and so on.
Speak with watchfulness before a boaster and one who issick with envy. For while thou speakest he gives in his heart
thy words the explanation he desires. He seizes the opportunity
to make others stumble, even through beautiful things in thee.
And thy words will be changed in his mind into opportunities
of illnesses.
Frown upon him that begins to speak to thee concerning34s
his brothers. Doing so thou wilt be found cautious by God andby him.
If thou givest something to one who is poor, let gladnessof .face and kind words and encouragement for his suffering
precede thy gift. When thou doest this, by thy gift the delightof his mind will be greater than the want of his body.
On the day that thou openest thy mouth to speak against
a man; deem thy soul as dead to God and void of all thy
labours, even if it is thought that thou art moved to speakby [the desire to] direct and to build. Wherefore should a man
demolish his own building and order that of his neighbour ?
On the day that thou sufferest on behalf of a man in any
way, be it on behalf of the good or on behalf of the wicked,
in body or in mind, deem thyself on that day to be a martyr
and as one that has been deemed worthy of confessorship forthe sake of Christ. Remember that Christ died for the wicked,
according to the words of the scripture, not for the good.
Behold how great a thing it is to suffer for the evil and to
do good to the sinners, even greater than to do this for therighteous. The Apostle reminds thee of this as of an amazing
thing.
If thou art able to acquire righteousness within thyself, be/ not anxious to seek other rightecusness.

234

SHORT SECTIO:-.IS CONTAINING VARIOUS ETC.

Anterior to all thy deeds are chasteness of body an� purityof heart. Without them every deed is vain before God.
Any work which thou performest without deliberation andexamination - know that thy labour upon it is vain even349 though it be beautiful. God counts as righteousness every matterof discrimination, not fortuitous performances.
A lamp in the sun - the righteous who is not wise.
Seed on a rock - prayer of one harbouring rancour.
A tree without fruits - an ascetic without compassion.
A venemous arrow - vituperation that has its origin menvy.
A hidden snare - the praise of the cunning.
A foolish counsellor -- a blind watchman.
Sorrow of heart -'-- sitting with sinners.
A sweet fo�:�ntain - intercourse with the wise.
A wise counsellor - a wall to rely upon.
A foolish friend - a treasure of deficiency.
Better it is to see a mourning assembly than to see a wise
man clinging to a fool.
Better it is to dwell with the beasts than to dwell with people
affected by envy.
Better it is to dwell in a grave than to dwell with people
who behave in a depraved way.
Sit with vultures but not with those who are covetous.
Associate with the murderer, but not with the quarrelsome.
Have intercourse with the swine, but not with the loquacious.
Better is the young of the swine than the mouth of theloquacious.
Sit amidst lions, but not amidst the haughty.
Be the persecuted, not the persecutor.
Be the crucified, not the crucifyer.
Be treated unjustly rather than treat unjustly.
Be the oppressed, not the oppressor.
Be peaceful, not a zealot .
Deal beneficiently, not justly. Justice does not belong to the.
behaviour of Christianity and no mention is made of it in
the doctrine of Christ.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep ;350 this is a sign of serenity. vVith the sick, be as if sick ; with thesinners practise mourning and with the converted rejoice.
Be a friend of all men, but a solitary in thy mind.

SHORT SECTIONS CONTAINING VARIOUS ETC.

235

Join in the suffering of all men, but hold thy body far
from all men.
Do not vituperate any one and do not direct any one, noteven those who are very evil in their behaviour.
Spread thy mantle over the sinner and cover him .
If thou art not able to take upon thee his transgressions
and to receive chastisement in his stead, at least suffer expo­
sure, in order not to expose him.
Do not quarrel for the sake of the belly.
Do not hate for the sake of honour.
Do not love to be a judge.
Thou must know, o my brother, that we stay indoors inorder not to know the evil deeds of men. For when we con­sider all men as good, we shall reach purity in our mind.
But if we also become vituperators and chastisers and judges
and vindicators, persecutators and critics, in what respect thenis dwelling in the towns inferior to abiding in the desert ?
If thou art not quiet in thy heart, be quiet with thy tongue.
If thou art not able to be a ruler of thy deliberations, bea ruler of thy senses.
If thou art not a solitary in mind, be a solitary in body.
If thou art not able to labour with thy body, suffer in thy mind.
If thou art not able to watch on thy feet, watch on thy bed.
If thou hast no sufficient power to fast during the night, fastat least in the evening. A nd if thou hast no force for fasting
3 5 1 in the evening, be on thy guard at least against satiety.
If thou art no saint in thy heart, be a saint in thy body.
If thou art no mourner 1) in thy heart, let at least thy face
be clad with mourning.
If thou art not able to justify thyself, then speak as a sinner.
If thou art not a peacemaker, be at least not a disturber.
If thou art not able to be valiant, be a humble man inthy mind.
If thou art not a victor, be not wrath with the vanquished.
If thou hast no sufficient power to shut the mouth of him
that speaks against his neighbour, guard at least thyself, lestthou become his partner.
Know that if fire goes out from thee and kindles others,
the souls of all those to whom some of this fire has been im­_r-I) abila1 also a monk

236

SHORT SECTIONS CONTAINING VARIOUS ETC.

parted, will be demanded at thy hands. And if thou doest
not throw out fire, but doest agree with him that does, andcompliest with his deed, thou wilt be his partner in judgment.
If thou lovest peace, be peaceful. And if thou hast been
deemed worthy of peace, rejoice at all times. Pray for insight,
not for gold.
Be clad with humility, not with byssus. Acquire peace, nota kingdom .
No one has insight without being humble. He that is not
humble, has no insight. No one is humble without having
peace ; he that has no peace is not humble either. No one
has peace without rejoicing. While men walk in all the ways
which there are in this world, they do not find peace, until
they approach unto hope in God. The heart does not acquirepeace from vexations and offences, until it approaches unto
this place. But hope will give them peace and pour gladness
352 into their heart. This is what that adorable mouth, full of holi­
ness, has said : come unto me, all ye that labour and areheavy laden and I will give you rest 1). Draw near to the hopewhich is in me, and desist from the many ways, and ye will
have rest from labours and from fear. Hope in God elevatesthe heart. Fear of Hell breaks it.
The light of the mind gives birth to faith. Faith gives birth
to the consolation of hope. Hope makes the heart strong.
Faith is the revelation of insight. When the m ind is dark,faith is hidden, and fear reigns in us and cuts off our hope.
Faith through instruction does not free a man from presump­tion and doubts ; only that faith which dawns by insight. It iscalled the revelation of truth.
As long as faith understands God as God, through therevelation of insight, fear will not approach unto the heart.
When we are left in darkness and we lose this insight that
we may become humble, fear assails us which brings us nearto humility and repentance.
The son of God has borne the cross and sinners have ac­quired courage in repentance.
If the habit of repentance has driven away the anger of theKing, he will not now reject your sincere mind. If the habitof humility can drive away God's anger from him who knows1 ) Matthew 1 1 , 28

SHORT SECTIONS CONTAINING VARIOUS ETC.

237

himself not to be true, how - much more will this be the casewith you who are suffering in truth for your trespasses. Suffi­
cient is the suffering of the mind in place of all bodily labours,
according to the word of the commentator 1).
A temple of grace is he that is mingled with God by con353
stantly thinking of that which belongs to him. What is thinkingof that which belongs to him ? It is the constant hunting after
his rest ; suffering at all times ; the toil of constant care con­cerning those things which always remain imperfect on accountof the wretchedness of nature ; the constant sorrow at thesethings which the mind bears under strong emotions and which
it places before itself with humble contrition as an offering
during prayer. As much as possible it despises the care of thebody, according to its power. Such is he that bears in his soulthe constant recollection of God, as the blessed Basil, thebishop, says.
Prayer without distraction is that prayer which produces inthe soul the constant thought of God. For also this is God's
incarnation, that He dwells in us by our constant recollectionof Him with painstaking care of the heart, seeking His plea­sure. Involuntary evil deliberations have their origin in pre­vious laxity.
0 men and brothers, ye that desire to give some rest to thebody in the way of recreation, for the sake of the service ofGod, in order to acquire force and to return to your service- let us not weaken our perfect watchfulness during the few
days of rest, giving our whole self to relaxation as if we weremen who have not the intention to return unto their service.
Those who in the time of peace are wounded by arrows,
are the people who bear the cause of this in themselves ,
namely wilful freedom of speech. And the dirty clothes withwhich they see themselves clad in a holy place (namely at the
35 4 time when God is astir in their soul) are those which they
have woven in the time of relaxation. The things which put
us to shame when, at the time of pure prayer, we wish tooffer them, are those with which we have accustomed ourselvesat the time when we esteemed our senses too low.
Watchfulness helps a man more than labours ; and relaxation
injures him more than rest. In rest there arise internal wars/

1) Theodore

238

SHORT SECTIONS CO;\/TAINING VARIOUS ETC.

which a man is able to overcome vexing though they may be
to him . For as soon as he gives up rest and returns to theplace of labour, they are put to silence and flee from him. Not
so it is with that which is born from relaxation, though re­laxation is born from rest. For as long as man is in the placeof his freedom , he is able to lay hand on himself and place
himself under the order of his laws ; he is still in the place of
his freedom. But when he is relaxed, he has left the place of
freedom. If a man does not throw away completely all his
watchfulness, he is not compelled against his will to comply
with those things which he does not like. A nd if he does notcompletely give up the domain of his freedom, he will not be
assailed by accidents, which bind him so that he is not able
to withstand necessity. Do not give up the place of freedomon account of any of thy senses, o man ; else thou willst not
be able to return thereto. Rest injures the novices only ; re355 laxation also the perfect and the aged. Those who let them­selves be directed to the comfort of bad deliberations, may
find the way back by watchfulness and gain the height of good
behaviour. But as for those who, confiding in their labours,
have neglected cautiousness, and have been captivated by therelaxations of life, after [they had walked on] the height of
behaviour, some have been wounded in the country of theenemies and have died during the time of peace, others haveset out for the sake of the merchandise of life, and have
exposed their soul to offence.
We have no difficulties when we trespass in a thing, but
only when we persevere in it. Trespasses will sometimes happen
even to the cautious.
But clinging to them is utter death. Suffering which we
endure for the sake of things in which we transgress fortui­
tously, are counted as pure service on our part, by the gracethat sustains our life.
He that sins a second time expecting [forgiveness] walks
with God cunningly. Unexpectedly the rope of punishment willbe thrown upon him and he will not reach the time for which
he had hoped.
If a man's senses are lax, his heart is also lax. The serviceof the heart is a bond of the outward members, if a man
performs it with discrimination as the Fathers who were before
us. This is known from other tokens which are seen in him :SHORT SECTIONS CONTAINING VARIOUS ETC.

2 39

namely that he is not entangled in bodily profits, that he does
\Vhereon the contrary these three are found : the love of bodily
profits to a small or to a large extent, and quick anger, andgiving way to the belly (even in the case of the former saints),
know that the relaxation in outward things originates in inward
lack of patience, not in the baseness of the discriminating soul.
How else could it be possible that such a one did not possess
disregard of bodily things, and quietness ?
To expose oneself to disdain 1) discriminately is to be freed
from all things, to disregard life and to love men.
If thou endurest willingly injuries for the sake of God, thouart pure within.
If thou doest not despise any one on account of his stains,thou art surely a free man.
If thou doest not run to encounter those who honour thee,and if thou art not moved by meeting those who do not con­cord with thee, thou art really dead to this life.
Watchfulness with discrimination is better than all kinds of
behaviour to all kinds of men.
Do not hate the sinner 2) ; we are all worthy of condemnation.
If thou art moved for the sake of God, weep over him. .Whyshouldst thou hate him ? Thou meanst to hate his sins ? Prayon his behalf, that thou mayest resemble Christ, who was notangry with sinners but prayed on their behalf. Hast thou notseen how He wept for Jerusalem ? I n many things we are mademock of by Satan. Why should we hate them that are mademock of like ourselves by the same one that makes mock of
357 us ? Why hatest thou the sinner, o man ? Perhaps because heis not righteous as thou art ? And how art thou righteous, thathast no love ? And if thou hast love, why doest thou not weep
for him, instead of persecuting him ? It is through ignorance
that some people, reputed to be discriminating, are moved by
the deeds of sinners.
Be a herald of God's goodness, because He provides forthee who art not worthy of it. And though thou art guilty ofmany things, it is not known that he is ·desirous of revenge.
And for the few things in which thou showest [good] will, he
remunerates thee with many. Do not call God just anymore,
356 not love money, and that he is wholly void of anger.

/1)..<��..:&:.. , Cf. Introduction

2) With this passage cf. p. 1 41 791 348 , 35 0

2 40

SHORT SECTIONS CONT.<\ INING VARIOUS ETC.

for His justice is not known in His dealings with thee. Though
David called Him just and righteous, still His son has madeit clear to us that He is good and kind. For He is kindtowards the evil and the miscreant. How callest thou God justwhen thou comest across the section on the hire of the work­
men ? Friend, I do thee no wrong. I will give unto this last,
even as unto thee. Or is thy eye evil because I am good 1) ?
How can any one call God just if he come across the storyof the prodigal son ? When he had spent all in fornication, it
was only on account of the contrition he showed that [thefather] ran to throw himself at his neck and made him lordof all his possessions. No one else can say concerning Himthat he doubts His goodness. His son testifies this concerning
Him. How could there be justice in God, when Christ died
3 5 8 for us who were sinners ? If He is compassionate here, we
believe that there · will be no change in Him. Far be it fromus that we should wickedly think that God could not possibly
be compassionate. God's properties are not liable to variations
as those of mortals. It is not possible that He sometimes
should not possess a thing, and afterwards should possess it,or that what He possesses should diminish or increase asthat which creatures possess. But that which God possesses
is with Him from eternity, and it is with Him for ever, as
also the blessed commentator 2) says in his exposition on thecreation.
Fear before His love, not before the reputation of harshness
with which He has been charged. Love Him because it is ourduty to love Him ; not for those things which He will give,
but also because of those which we have received. Even if H e
had made this world only for our sake, who could sufficiently
tell His bounty ? Where is the remuneration for Him in ourdeeds ? Who has persuaded Him beforehand to bring us into
existence ? And who will intercede with Him for our sake when
we shall be in a state of oblivion as if we were not ? Whowill stir our destruction into life ? And from where will theimpulse of knowledge be cast into [what is] dust ? 0 the wonderof God's compassion. 0 the amazement of the bounty of ourCreator. 0 the power of His almightiness. 0 His immeasurable
kindness regarding our nature, that He also brings sinners into1 ) Matt. 201 1 3-1 52) Theodore

SHORT SECTIONS CONTAINING VARIOUS ETC.

24 I

existence ! Who can sufficiently teii His praise, who quickens
the sinner and abuser who had become dust without motion[so as to participate of] a laudable, recognizing and rationalmode of existence ; that changes scattered dust into a being
exalted above perception ; that makes scattered senses a rational
nature with quick motion ? If the sinner is not able to [under­
stand] His quickening power, he can be content with His grace.
359
Where is Heii which can make us suffer ? And what is thetorment which can overcome in us His fear, vanquish the joy
at His love ? A nd what is Heii as compared with the graceof resurrection, which wiii restore us to life after Sheol andmake this corruptible to be clad with incorruptibility, and makerise in glory what was lying in the contempt of Sheol ? Yeunderstanding, come and wonder. Who has an inteiiect wise
enough to wonder ? Come and let us wonder at the grace of
our Creator. The retribution of the sinners is this, that H erepays them with resurrection instead o f with justice. A nd
those that have trampled upon His laws are clad by Him withthe glory of perfection instead of with the body. This grace
after we had sinned is greater than that which brought ourbeing 1) into existence when we were not yet.
Glory to Thy immeasurable grace. Now the floods of Thy
grace make me silent without any emotion remaining, not eventhankfulness. With what mouth shaH we thank Thee, goodking who lovest our life ? Glory to Thee in both the worlds
which Thou hast created for our education and for our delight,
from aii those that Thou hast brought into existence to know
Thy glory, now and at aii times, world without end, Amen.

/
Verh. AfJ. Lctterk. 1922 (\Vcnsinck);242

ON THE THREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

LI
JGo ONTHE THREE DEGREES OF Kl'\OWLEDGE AND
THE DISCRI MINATION BETWEEN THEIR SERVICE
AND IMPULSES A N D ON THE FAITH OF THE SOULA N D THE TREASU RES OF MYSTERIES HIDDEN IN
IT AND TO WHAT EXTENT WORLDLY KNOWLEDGE
IN ITS MEANS ') IS OPPOSED TO THE S IMPLICITY
OF FAITH

When the soul in the course of its behaviour walks in theway of faith , this improves it much. When it then turns towards
the means of knowledge, it becomes alienated to faith at once.
And it is removed from that intelligible force of faith which
reveals itself by different acts of help in the serene soul that
simply, without inquiry, uses all that belongs to it.
The soul that has once, in faith, entrusted itself unto God
and, under many temptations, has received the taste of faith's
help, no longer thinks of itself, but is made speechless by ec­
stasy and silence, nor is it allowed to return unto the meansof its knowledge or to make use of them, lest it also be bereft,on the contrary, of the divine care which visits it incessantly
and provides for it and clings to it everywhere. For the soul
would consider it as a despicable thought to deem itself suffi­
cient to guide itself by the power of its knowledge. For thosein whose hearts the light of faith has dawned, do not venture
to pray in their own behalf, they do not even venture to ask
36r God : Give us this, or : Take from us that, nor dare they
think of themselves in any way. For by the initiated eyes of
their faith they always see the paternal care which protects
them on the part of that Father whose strong and immeasu­
rable love surpasses the love of all fleshly fathers and who
has power to supply us with all things above what we ask
and think.
For knowledge is opposed to faith and faith with all its
means destroys the laws of knowledge. I do not mean spirituallaws. For the circumscription of the domain of knowledge 1s

ON THE THREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

24 3

this, that a man is not allowed to do anything without inquiry
or examination ; but he must investigate, so as to comply, if
possible, with what befalls him.
But as to faith, what is it ? If yes and no approach unto it
equally, faith does not consent to remain in that position. Thatknowledge cannot be used without methods and means, thatit even does not exist without them, is known. A nd this is
the token of its sceptical attitude regarding truth. Faith on theother hand requires a serene and simple mind, far from any
cunning or need of means. Behold, how knowledge and faith
are each other's opposites.
The mansion of faith is a childlike mind and a pure heart.
For in the purity of their heart people have praised God. For'except ye be converted and become as little children' 1 ) andso on. Knowledge, however is the persecutor and opposite of
362 these two. Knowledge adheres to the domain of nature, in all
its ways. Faith makes its course above nature. Knowledge does
not admit unto itself anything which is in disharmony withnature, not even for the sake of trial ; but it lets these things
dwell at a distance. Faith on the other hand orders withauthority and says : Thou shalt tread upon the serpent andthe lion : the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample
under feet 2).
Knowledge is accompanied by fear ; faith by trust. As
long as a man uses the means of knowledge, he is not freefrom fear, it is not even possible that he be deemed worthyof freedom. But as soon as he clings to faith, at once a free
man and the king of his soul and a son of God, he will use
freedom in all things, with authority. A man that has foundthe keys of faith will use all the species in nature, as God.
For faith is allowed even to create a new creation, just as
God did. If thou wiliest, anything will stand before thee. And
many times it is possible to make every thing out of nothing
Knowledge is not able to make anything without materials.
Knowledge does not venture to step over unto the domain
which lies outside nature. How then ? That the dissolved natureof water does not suffer the footsteps of flesh on its back,that he who excites fire is burnt by it, and that it is dangerous
3 63 to act contrary to these [rules]. Such lore is cautiously guardedI) iratth. I s, 32) Ps. 9 1 , 1 3

2 44

ON THE THREE DEGREESOFKNOWLEDGE ETC.

by knowledge. And it is absolutely impossible to persuade it
to order · an advance into this domain.
Faith on the other hand commands this with authority,
saying : If thou tread on fire it will not burn thee ; and floods
will not drag thee along. And faith has done these things
many times before the eyes of all creatures. If knowledge had
been given an opportunity in this domain, it would not ha,·egiven the permission to try such things at all. Through faithmany have entered the mouth of the flames, and have checked
the power of the burning fire, and have persevered in it with­out injury, and have walked on the back of the sea as if itwere dry land. Verily, all these things are above nature andcontrary to the methods of knowledge.
Seest thou how faith shakes the foundations of knowledge
and shows that all its means and laws are vain ? Seest thou
how knowledge guards the domain of nature ? Seest thou also
how faith walks above nature and makes there the paths for
its course ? For nearly five thousand years the means of know­
ledge have be�n governing the world and the world has notbeen able to lift its head from the earth at all nor to perceive
the power of its creator, until faith dawned to us and freed
us from the trouble of labouring upon earthly things and fromthe vain slavery of fruitless distraction. And now that we have
364 found an unexplored ocean and an unlimited treasure, should
we desire to stay at a poor fountain ? There is no knowledge
which is not lacking, rich though it may be. As to faith, hea­
ven and earth cannot contain its treasures.
He whose heart is supported by the trust of faith, will
never experience want of anything. And though he does notpossess anything, he dominates all things through faith. As
it is written : All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive 1).
And again : Our Lord is at hand ; be careful for nothing 2).
Knowledge perpetually seeks means to preserve those who pos­sess it. What does faith do ? 'Exept the Lord build the houseand keep the city, they labour in vain that build it and wake
to watch' 3). Never will he that seeks refuge with faith use means.
Knowledge everywhere praises fear. As also the sage says :Blessed is he whose heart fears. What does faith do ? 'He was1 ) Matth. 2 1 , 2 22) Phi!. 4, 4 sq.

3) cf. Ps. 1 2 7, 1

ON THE THREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

245

afraid and began to sink' 1) . And again : For ye have notreceived the spirit of fear to bondage, but the spirit of adop­tion 2) to freedom in faith and trust in God. 'Fear them nottherefore' 3), lest I crush thee before them . Fear always accom­
panies doubt, and doubt examination, an� investigation means,
and means knowledge. And that which always examines andinvestigates, shows doubt and fear ; for knowledge does notalways and in every thing profit, as has been shown above.
365
Often hard circumstances and multifarious affairs oppose
themselves, full of danger and of such a nature that know­
ledge and the means of wisdom are absolutely unable to give
any profit ; things which are so hard that they withstand thewhole power of the domain of htiman knowledge.
But faith is never vanquished by anything. What help canhuman knowledge afford in manifest struggles against invisible
natures and incorporeal powers and many things of that kind ?
Thou seest how weak the power of knowledge and how
strong the power of faith is. Knowledge restrains its pupils
from approaching unto anything which can do harm to nature.
But look at the power of faith ; what does it command its
sons ? In my name shall they cast out devils and shall takeup serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing , it shallnot hurt them 4) .
Knowledge according to its laws orders all those who walkin its way, to investigate all things from their beginning till
their end and then to begin ; lest the end of the thing becontrary to the limits of human power , and people mightundertake fruitless labour when their work would prove to be
impossible and difficult to be realized. But what says faith ?
All things are possible to him that believeth 5).
0 unspeakable richness, o ocean rich in its billows and in
366 its amazing treasures, o effusions of the power of faith ! How
full of encouragement, how delightful and full of trust is its
path ! And how easy are its loads ; how delightful is its
service. He 6) that has been deemed worthy of the taste offaith and then turns towards psychic knowledge is equal tohim that has found a pearl of great price and changed it fora copper cotn for he has left authoritative freedom and hasr) Matth. 1 4, 30
3)_AI!atth. ro, 265 ) Mark 9, 232) cf. Rom. 8, 1 54) Mark r 6, 1 76 ) Introduction

2 46

ON Ti lE THREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

turned towards the means of poverty which are full of thefear of bondship.
Knowledge is not to be rejected, but faith is superior to it.
And if we reject, we do not reject knowledge, far be thatfrom us, but the distinctions in a variety of classes in which
it moves itself in opposition to the glory of nature, so that it
becomes cognate with the class of the demons. This we shalldiscern distinctly, seeing in how many degrees knowledge moves,and how many distinctions there are in every one of them ,and in which emotions it a rises within every one of the clas­
ses when it remains in them, and in which of these classes itcomes into opposition to faith when it is moved in them, andleaves the domain of nature ; and which are the distinctionsof the service in them ; and in which class it comes to its
natural state, having changed its pristine direction preparing
the degrees for faith by its beautiful behaviour : and to which
point the distinctions of this class conduct it ; and how it
3 6 7 proceeds from this class to a higher one ; and what are thekinds of service in that latter class, which is the first in honour ;and the point where knowledge is united to faith and becomes
one with it and is clad by its infl u ence with fiery impulses sothat it blazes spiritually and acquires the wings of apathy andis lifted up from the service of earthly things towards theplace of its creation, acquiring also other things.
So it is meet for us to know that the degree of the serviceof faith is superior to that of knowledge. And knowledge ismade perfect by faith, so that it acquires the power to ascend
and to perceive that which is above all perceptibility and tobehold the splendour of Him that is not attained by the mindor the knowledge of the creatures.
Thus knowledge is the ladder on which a man ascends theheight of faith, but which he does not use any more when
he has reached faith. For now we know little out of muchand we understand little out of much. But when perfection
has come this little becomes useless.
So faith shows us as it were before our eyes the reality ofthat future perfection. By faith we are instructed about those
unattainable things , not by investigation and the power ofknowledge. All works of righteousness : fasting, alms, vigils,
holiness and the others which are performed with the body ;and neighbourly love, humility of heart, forgiveness of sins, medi-

ON THE TIIREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

247

tation upon beautiful things , investigation of the mysteries
hidden in the holy scriptures, the occupation of the mind withthe practice of good works, the keeping of the affections of
the soul within the borders, and the other virtues which areaccomplished with the soul : all these need knowledge as theirregulating power. But all these are still degrees along which
the soul ascends unto the elevated height of faith, and they
are called virtues.
As to the discipline of faith , its service is above excellence ;it is not a service of labour but one of perfect rest ; it isconsolation and comfort and it is accomplished by the im­pulses of the soul. All the amazing distinctions of spiritualdiscipline , the service of which is apperception of spiritualforces and delight and exultation of the soul, and love andjoy in God and all the other things which are granted throughthis discipline - all these are forthwith given by faith in full­ness unto the soul which by grace is made worthy of this bles­
sedness, by God who is rich in gifts, as they are mysteriously
denoted in the holy scriptures.
But perhaps some one reasons thus : I f all these good things
and the works of excellence which are mentioned above, andalso the refraining from evil and the discrimination of subtle
emotions arising in the soul, and the struggle with deliberationand the strife against alluring affections, and the other quali­
ties without which faith cannot even show its power in its
working upon the soul - if all these are made perfect byknowledge , how then can it be argued that knowledge isin opposition to faith ?
The solution of this doubt : There are three stages in which369
knowledge ascends and descends in an intelligible way, andwhere it receives its variations according to variations of theplaces in which it moves, and where it also injures or helps.
The three stages which I mean are : body, soul , spirit. And
though knowledge is one in its nature, it becomes condensed
or subtilized in accordance with its abiding in these intelligible
places. And so also its stores are changed and also the workingof its impulses.
H ear now the [enumeration of] the stages of its service
and the causes by which it injures or helps. K nowledge is a
gift /which was p resented by God unto the species of rational
beings from the beginning of their existence. It is simple in

368

248

ON THE THREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

nature, not divided, as sunlight is , but has variations anddivisions in connection with its service.
T h e f i r s t s t a g e o f k n o w l e d g e. When knowledge ac­companies the love of the body, it gathers provisions as : riches,vain glory, honour, elegant things, bodily comfort, means toguard the body against those things which are in oppo�ition
to nature, zeal for rational wisdom that serves to govern thisworld, and to be the originator of inventions in crafts andlearning, and the other things which crown the body in thisvisible world.
To the properties of this knowledge belong those whichhave been enumerated above in opposition to faith. This know­
ledge is what is called simple knowledge, because it is bare
37 ° of every godly thought. It i mparts to the mind an unspeak­able weakness because it dominates it with a bridle and be­cause its whole thought is directed upon this world. Thus thisdegree of knowledge never i magines that there is at all an
intelligible force and a hidden governor regarding man, or adivine care which provides for him. But it thinks that all goodwhich happens to a man, and his being saved from injury
and guarded against severe difficult accidents and against thenumerous adversities which inhere to our nature openly orin secret, all happen by its own zeal and means.
This is the degree of knowledge which thinks in the way
mentioned and its adherents say that there is no providential
government in visible things. Consequently it is not able todesist from constant anxiety and fear regarding bodily things.
Therefore [it is accompanied by] pusillanimity, grief, despond­ency, fear of demons, fear of men, rumours of robbers, tales
about epidemies anxiety before sicknesses, fear of scarcity offood, fear of death, reptiles and beasts and other things ofthis kind. And at all times of the day and night knowledge
is tossed about as the sea is by its billows, because it does
not know to commit its care unto God with the trust offaith in tfim.
So knowledge in all its circumstances uses means and arti­
fices. And when by any cause its means are exhausted, be­cause it does not see hidden providence, it scolds men as its
3 7 1 hindrances and haters.
By this knowledge was planted the tree of good and evil,
which is the eradicator of love. Knowledge examines the small

0:"1 T H E THREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

249

stains i n others and the shortcomings and weak points o f men ;and in it are the disputations of learning, and dialectics, andcunning artifices, and all the other means which dishonourman. In it are also presumption and haughtiness, because it
reckons to its own credit and not to God's credit all things
which happen, if they are wholesome.
Faith on the other hand attributes its deeds to grace.
Therefore it cannot be haughty. As it is written : I can do
all things through grace which strengtheneth me 1) ; and again :Not I, but grace which was with me 2) ; and what the blessed
Apostle says : Knowledge puffeth up 3).
This he says concerning that knowledge which is not mingledwith faith and trust in God, but not concerning true know­
ledge. Far be it l For true knowledge makes perfect by hu­
mility the souls of those who possess it, as Moses and Davidand Isaiah and Peter and Paul and the other saints who weredeemed worthy of p�rfect knowledge, in accordance with thedomain of nature. And because their knowledge is constantly
enveloped by various visions and divine revelations and thesupreme sight of spiritual things and unspeakable mysteries,
their own person is in their eyes, as compared with these,
dust and ashes.
That other knowledge must needs be puffed up, because it
walks in darkness and it examines its subjects in analogy withearthly things without knowing that there is something morevaluable.
But [even] those who are dominated by haughtiness because
37z
their behaviour is [in their own eyes] of greater importancethan earthly and bodily things, and because they rely upon
service without penetrating with their mind in unattainable
things - when they come to meditate upon those waves of
the glorious splendour of the godhead, and their service is onhigh, their mind then cannot deviate to think of impure thingsand idle deliberations. For those who walk in light cannot go
astray. All those, therefore, who err from the light of the know­
ledge of God's son, and deviate from truth, walk in these ways.
This is the first stage of knowledge accompanying the bodily
love. This we reject, calling it appositional not only to faith,bu_> to all works of excellence.
1 ) Cf. Philippians 4o 1 3z ) C f. 1 Cor. 1 5, 1 03 ) 1 Cor. 8 , 1

250

O N TilE THREE DEGREES O F KNOWLEDGE ETC.

T h e s e c o n d d e g r e e o f k n o w 1 e d g e. Vvhen knowledge
leaves this first state and turns towards meditation and psychic
love, it performs those beautiful things which have been des­cribed above, through the cooperation of the psychic impulses
with the bodily senses, by its natural light ; namely : fasting,prayer, compassion , recitation of the holy scriptures with aview to excellence, strife against the affections, and so on. All
beautiful deeds and excellent distinctions which are seen in thesoul, and the amazing stages which are administered in the
church of Christ, are accomplished by the influence of the
3 73 power of the Holy Ghost, in this middle stage of knowledge.
The Ghost will level ways in our heart leading to faith. And
by faith we shall gather provisions for this our true world.
A nd till this point knowledge is still of a bodily nature andcomposite, though it occupies itself with excellence and though
it is the way conducting us to faith. For the latter is a degreehigher than knowledge ; and if knowledge is as it ought to be,
it will be able by the help of Christ, to ascend [this higherway], when it bases its service upon seclusion from men andrecitation of the holy scriptures and prayer. And the other goodworks will be made complete by these.
This is the second degree of knowledge, by which all beau­
tiful works are performed. It is called knowledge of practice,because, as to its outward stage, it accomplishes its activity
by deeds perceptible by the senses of the body.
The third degree of k n owledge, w h i ch is t h e
d e g r e e o f p e r fe c t i o n. How knowledge is subtilized andacquires spirituality so that it resembles the discipline of thoseinvisible forces the service of which is not performed by theapperceptible practice of works but by the thoughts of theintellect - hear this now. When knowledge elevates itself
above earthly things and above the thought of service andbegins to try its impulses in things hidden from eyesight, andwhen it partly despises the recollection of [worldly] things fromwhich proceeds the perversion of the affections, and when it
stretches itself upwards and clings to faith by thinking of theworld to be and love of the promises and investigation con3 74 cerning the hidden things - then faith swallows knowledge,
gives anew birth to it, wholly spiritual. Then it is able todirect its flight towards non-bodily places and to the depthsof the unscrutable ocean of wonderful and divine government

ON THE THREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

25 I

which directs intelligible and apperceptible beings, and to exa­mine spiritual mysteries which are attained by the simple andby the subtle intellect. Then the inner senses awake to spi­ritual service, as the order of things which will be in the stateof immortality and incorruptibility. For from here onwards they
have received intelligible resurrection, symbolically, as a true
sign of that universal renewal.
These are the thrPe ciPgrees of knowledge, in which thewhole course of man is contained, that of body, soul and spirit.
From the time that a man begins to distinguish between goodand evil, till he leaves the world, in these three degrees iscontained the knowledge of himself and the accomplishment of
all iniquity and wickedness and the summit of all righteousness ;and the scrutiny of the depths . of all sriritual mysteries isworked by one knowledge in these three degrees. Within theseis the whole emotion of the mind that ascends or descends
moving in good things or in evil thiogs or between these.
These three degrees are called by the Fathers the natural, thepraeternatural and the supernatural. And these are the three
directions in which the thoughts of the rational soul ascendand descend, as it has been said. Either it works righteousness
in nature, or in the domain above nature, its thoughts wrapped
37 5 up in contemplation towards God ; or it will go out to feed
the swine in the praeternatural domain, as one that has lostthe riches of his intellect while serving with the herd of demons.
The first degree of knowledge makes the soul cold to works
in the course of the good. The middle one excites in the soul
fervour in its course in the degrees of faith. The third stage
is the soul's desisting from service ; and this is a symbol of
the future, that the soul only finds delight in intellectual occu­
pations, in the symbols of future goods. But as nature is not
yet elevated above the stage of mortality and above the loadof the flesh so as to abide totally in that spiritual state whichis exempt from deviation , and because it is not able to ad­
minister complete perfection in tht: world of mortality and toabandon the nature of the flesh completely while it abides in
it as yet, therefore it is in the former and in the latter stage
alternately. Sometimes the soul in the middle degree of know­
ledge as a poor being is occupied with performing with allits p�wer the virtues proper to nature, because of the natureof the body. And sometimes, as those who have received the252

ON TilE THREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

spmt of adoption 1), it delights m the mysteries of freedom
through the gift of the spirit, even as it pleases its giver.
Then it turns again towards the poverty of its world, namelyof the body, being on its guard against it, lest the lattershould captivate it by the allurements which are found in its
world through its troubled and easily deviating impulses. For
as long as the soul is covered by the curtain of the flesh, it
3 76 has no trust. For there is no perfect liberation m a non­perfect world.
The whole service of knowledge is a service of work andof exercise. The deeds of faith however, are not performed bylabours ; for they are accomplished by the spiritual impulses
through the sole and pure efficacy of the soul [and they are
elevated] above t�e senses. Faith is more subtle than know­
ledge, just as knowledge is more subtle than apperceptible
deeds. For all the saints which have been deemed worthy ofspiritual discipline which is ecstasy in God, walk through thepower of faith, in the delight of that discipline which isabove nature.
I do not call this faith, that a man believes in the discri­
mination of the adorable hypostases of the Essence, or in theproperties of His nature , or in the amazing government
regarding humanity consisting in His accepting our nature.
But I call this faith : the intelligible light which by grace
dawns in the soul and, without leaving room for doubt, sup­ports the heart by the testimony of the min�, namely by the
persuasion of hope which is far from all presumptions and notby tradition from hearsay. This light will show the spiritualeyes of the soul the hidden mysteries which are in the soul,and the secret riches of divinity which are concealed from theeyes of fleshly men and are revealed spiritually to those whoat the table of Christ are brought up in meditation upon His
laws ; as He says : If ye keep my commandments, I shall send
you the Spirit, the Comforter, whom the world cannot receive,
377 and He will guide you into all truth 2) . Thus He will also
show man the holy power, which surrounds him at all times.
That power is the Comforter. By the power of this faith
all the parts of the soul are kindled as it were by fire sothat it despises all danger on account of its trust in God.
1) Romans 8, 1 5z) John 16, 1 3

ON THE THREE DEGREES OF KNOWLEDGE ETC.

253

A nd upon the wings of faith it is lifted up above the circleof the visible world and, as drunk, it is constantly in ecstatic
thought of God . And by simple sight, and by insight without
sight of the divine nature, it accustoms the intellect to looking
at its secret being in meditation. For until the coming of thatwhich is the perfection of the mysteries, and until we shallhave been made worthy of its revelation eye to eye, faithadministers unspeakable mysteries between God and the saints.
May we be deemed worthy of them by the grace of Christ,
here by pledge, there in reality in the kingdom of heaven,with all those who love Him. A men.
LII
SHORT SECTIONS ON A DIFFERENT SUBJECT
ON THE DISTINCTION OF THE IMPULSES OFKNOWLEDGE
When knowledge pursues visible things, concerning which
instruction is acquired through the senses, it is called natural.
When it pursues the intelligible forces behind the visible thingsin non-bodily species, it is called spiritual. For perception is378 received by the spirit, not by the senses. A nd regarding bothof these kinds the soul receives the recognizable materials fromwithout. When however knowledge pursues the Essence it is calledsupernatural, or rather agnostic, because it is elevated above
knowledge. As to this [latter kind], the soul does not acquirecontemplation concerning it in materials lying without it, asis the case with the former kinds. But without materials, bya sudden working of grace within, unexpectedly, it is revealedin the soul. For the kingdom of God is within us 1). And it
will not come from the place from where it is expected, northrough observation 2), according to the word of our Lord_
But within the hidden form of the intellect it is revealed with­out cause and without meditation upon it. For the intellecthas no materials to meditate upon it.
The first [kind of knowledge1 is born from constant recitationand from zeal for teachings. The second kind from a steady/1) cf. Luke 1 7 , 2 12 ) Luke 1 7 , 20

2 54

SHORT SECTIONS ON A DIFFERENT SUBJECT ETC.

behaviour and faith of the intellect. The third kind is due
to faith alone. For there knowledge ceases and works reach
their end and senses will be superfluous.
As long as knowledge is beneath this line, it is called know­
ledge. And the lower it is, the more honoured it becomes, sothat when it reaches the earth and earthly things, knowledge
is master of all, and without it all is cripple and idle. But
when the soul elevates its gaze and directs the space and the
3 79 time of its impulses towards heavenly things and becomesdesirous after the things which are not to be seen with thebodily eye and over which the flesh has no power, then all
things fall under the category of faith.
LIII
ON PRAYER A ND THE OTHER THINGS WHICH ARE
NECESSARILY TO BE SOUGHT 1) I N CONSTANT RE­
COLLECTION AND WHICH IT IS VERY PROFITABLE
FOR A MAN TO RECITE WITH DISCRIMINATION AND
TO RETAIN
That a man have trust in the petition of his prayer throughtrust in God, · is the chief part of the gift of faith. The
assurance of faith in God is not a correct confession, though
this is the mother of faith, but a soul that looks on thetruth of God by the power of behaviour. When thou findest
faith and what is related to it, in the holy scriptures mingled· with behaviour, do not consider it in the sense of true con­fession. Faith which gives the conviction of trust is neverdemanded by the imperfect, or by those whose mind is per­verted so that it cannot attain truth. The assurance of truth
reveals itself in the soul - in accordance with the elevationthat is the result of behaviour - in an attitude which tends
toward the legislation of our Lord.
The light of the soul consists in constant meditation upon
the scriptures. For they trace in the intellect profitable recol­
lections with regard to watchfulness against the affections andfor perpetual abiding with God, in love and in purity of prayer.
t) Bedjan'stl-�c),;w is a misprint for �b

ON PRAYER AND THE OTHER THINGS ETC.

255

They trace before us the way which is made peaceful bysteps of the saints. Yet do not confide in the signs of thewords when they are not accompanied by great alertness andperpetual affectability through constant prayers. Accept without
doubt words that are spoken from experience, even if they
are uttered by a simple man. Even the great treasury ofearthly kings does not abhor to take increase from the moneyof the mendicant. And from small sources the large streams of
the rivers increase.
If the recollection of the excellent renews in us the desireof excellence when we commune with them mentally, the re­collection of the impudent also renews in our mind impure
desire when we are reminded of them. This is because therecollection of all these develops in our mind the distinct linesof their deeds. And with their finger as it were they show us
their evil deeds or the elevation of their behaviour, in accord
with their belonging to one or to the other kind. And therecollection with its stings - be they right or left ones - spurns
us to meditate upon the baseness of our mind (while theimages of their noble behaviour are depicted in our imagina­
tions) and to look upon them zealously.
So not only the meditation upon evil injures those who are
captured by it, but also the sight and the recollection of those
who perform evil. And not only is the performing of excellent
things greatly profitable to those who accomplish them, butalso the imaginative representation formed by the recollectionof the persons who perform those things. And on account of
381 this it can be understood that those who are near to reaching
the stage of purity, are deemed worthy of seeing perpetually
holy men in nightly visions. And during the whole day theimages of the saints which are printed in their soul are tothem a source of joy by their intellectual intercourse with them.
And on account of this they turn with renewed fervour towards
the performance of good works and an intense fire of love
unto excellence is kindled in them.
It is said that the holy angels assume the appearance of
honoured and excellent men and show themselves to the soulin visions during sleep when the emotions are distracted, forthe sake of joy and higher incitement. And during the day
they set [thy solitary] astir by the recollection of the visions,and so they are fired anew to their labour by their joy at
38o the256

ON PRAYER AND THE OTHER THINGS ETC.

those holy men. And so the latter are promotors of the former's
course. In the same way, at the time of the heat of battle,
those who are accustomed to evil intercourse, are visited by
the demons in this likeness. They assume a likeness in which
they show themselves to the soul, namely visions highly exciting
amidst the recollections of the day to those who converse withthese. Sometimes also they do this by frightful visions which
terrify the soul and weaken it, and which accentuate the dif­ficulty of behaviour in solitude and reclusion, and the like.
We ought therefore, · o my brethren, to use discrimination
regarding recollections, in our meditation, [ choosing] which ofthem we should cherish and which we should dispel hastily assoon as they approach our mind, according to whether they
382 proceed from the activity of the demons who provide the af­
fections with matter, or from desire or anger, or from theholy angels such as give indications that cause joy and know­
ledge and profit by the deliberations which they excite throughtheir offerings to us, or by the recollection and perception offormer deeds some of which stir in the soul deliberations thatare useful in any direction .
Experience concerning the two we must acquire by discri­
minating knowledge, as also experience concerning their aspect,their intercourse, even concerning their way of working. Eachof the two has at once to be · met with a distinct prayer.
Love which is maintained by [outward] things is to be com­pared with a small flame whose light subsists by the sustenanceof oil ; and with a stream subsisting through rain, and whose
flow ceases as soon as the supply which maintains it becomes
deficient. Love of which God is the cause, is as a source
welling from the depth, whose current will never cease. For
He alone is the source of love whose supply does not fail.
Thou desirest to perform the recitation of Psalms during thy
service with delight, and thou wishest to perceive the spiritual
words which thou recitest ? Abandon the performance of acertain quantity and ignore the measures of service ; and say
the words in the way of prayer, and leave the usual iteration.
Understand what I say. As to those sections which bear thecharacter of a history, let thy spirit consider their repetition
as the recitation of some providential act of God, in orderthat by the deep significance which is in them the soul be
38 3 awakened unto amazement at Providence ; and from here it25 7

ON PRA VER AND THE OTHER THINGS ETC.

may be stirred to praises or to profitable affection. The pas­sages which are prayers, take them unto thyself. When thy
mind has become established in them, confusion has given
way and disappeared. For in the service of bondage there isno peace of mind, nor is there trouble of confusion in theliberty of the children. For confusion is wont to suck away
the taste of insights and to rob them of their intellect, as theleech which with the hloorl of the limbs sucks the vitality ofthe body. For it is possible, to say of confusion that it is themount of Satan even. Satan, as a chariot-driver, is wont toride on it constantly, taking with him a multitude of affections.
Thus he invades the poor soul making use of the darknessof its confusion.
And this thou hast to understand clearly, lest in the sentencesof thy recited Psalms and of thy prayer thou becomest a con­ductor of words as if they came from a strange person. For
thou shouldst not think that thou art sedulously promoting
the work of the apostles if thou art wholly devoid of the pas­sion and the joy which is in it. But thou shouldst say thewords beseechingly, as originating in thyself, with intelligence
and with passionate discrimination, as one who is aware of his
being occupied with ritual of his own. Dejection is caused by
distraction of mind ; distraction by neglect of labours and reci­
tation and by intercourse left to chance.
Not to use conversation with those who speak to us, but
3 8 4 to cut off their speech entreatingly, is a sign of a mind thathas found wisdom and power by grace. For its true know­
ledge frees it from much labour ; and by its treading shortways it cuts off the many windings of a long way. For wehave not at all times the power to reduce to silence allcontrary deliberations by arguments, and it may happen, when
we receive a blow, that for a long time we shall not be healed.
Against those who are six thousand years old thou wilt standthy trial. But they also are provided with means which may
destroy thee, being mightier than thy wisdom and thy learning.
But even if thou vanquishest, the dirt of their deliberations will
defile thy mind and their stinking odour will linger in thy
smell. But by the former method 1) thou wilt be free from allthese and from fear, because there is no helper like God.
_/I) viz. by cutting off discussions

Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1922 ('Vensinck).

17

�5$

ON t'RA YER AND THE O'ritER THiNGS

ltTC.

Perpetual tears during prayer are a sign of divine mercy ofwhich the soul is worthy because of its repentance which has
been accepted ; and with tears it begins to enter the plain ofserenity. Unless the deliberations have been freed from the careof transitory things and have cast away the hope of the world
and contempt for it has been established in them and they havebegun to prepare provisions for the day of a man's departure,
because the thought of things beyond earthly ones has been
established 1) in the soul - it is not possible that the eyes shed
385 tears. Tears originate from pure meditation without distraction
and from perpetual meditations without deviation, and by some
subtle recollection which falls into the mind and affects theheart by the anxiety it causes. Then tears become frequent.
When thou turnest towards perpetual handiwork in thy soli­tude, do not make the commandment of the fathers a pretext
for love of money. In order to avoid despondency thou musthave some trifling occupation which does not trouble the mind.
If however thou desirest to bestow more care upon it, for thesake of alms, know then that the order of prayer is more
excellent than alms ; if thou desirest to do so because of thy
need, without being covetous, that which is sufficient to fulfill
thy want is what our Lord provides thee with. He never has
left His servants in want of transitory things. Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you, before ye ask, says our Lord �).
One of the saints 8) has said : it is not the aim of thy dis­
cipline that thou shouldst appease the hungry and that thycell chould become a place of congregation for strangers. For
this behaviour is rather meet for those who are in the world,
but nor for solitaries who are free from thoughts of visible
things and who preserve their mind by prayer. If ever thouwilt be deemed worthy of the solitary state and avoid heavy
386 loads in the kingdom of its freedom, let not the customary
thought of fear terrify thee with its many and varying delibe­
rations. But as a man who believes that there is a guardian
with him and who knows accurately through his wisdom that
he and all creatures are under one Lord, and that one willmoves them all and stops and governs them, and that no
fellow is able to injure his comrade without the commandment
2) Matthew 6, 33
1) Reading �;,�3 ) Perhaps Euagrius ; cf. Book of the Dove, p. 30

ON PRAYER AND THE OTHER TH1NGS ETC.

�59

of the Governor, and that all i s under His caremake u p
thy mind t o b e courageous. For though some o f them havebeen given freedom, yet they have no freedom in all things,
and neither the demons nor the beasts of prey, nor malicious
men are able to injure any man according to their good plea­sure, until the divine will has given the command and untilmaterial opportunity has been given. It is not granted by the
divine will that all freedom should realize itself, otherwise noflesh could live. For the Lord does not allow the freedom ofdemons or man to approach his creatures that they use it
according to their good plea.sure.
So thou hast to say to thyself : there is a guardian with me
and there is no possibility for any of the creatures even toshow themselves to me, if no permission from on high has
been given. So if thou seest with thy eyes and hearest withthy ears their threatenings, even then thou must not believethat they will venture to act. If they had received an order387 from the heavenly will, no speech and even not a word evenwould be necessary, but action would immediately follow will.
And if this be the will of my Lord (so say to thyself), thatthe evil ones have power in his creation, then I must notresist this fact as if I were one taking pleasure in contradicting
the will of his Lord. Thus, even in thy temptations, thou shalt
be full of gladness, as one who knows and feels that his Lord
is governor. Support therefore thy heart by confidence in thefaith in the Lord without being afraid for the termr by night
nor for the arrow that flies by day 1). For the faith of therighteous in God makes the beasts of the field as lambs andgoats 2) . It is namely impossible to be a righteous man confiding
in God unless this be tme of thee, that for the sake of theservice of righteousness thou art gone into the desert with its
many troubles and that for it thou art administering the willof God. So thou labourest in vain when thou takest upon thee
these pains. For Goel does not wish the pains of mankind, butthat thou offer to Him as a sacrifice of love thy personalaffections. All those who love God show Him this distinctive[sign of love] that they are willing to bear troubles for thesake of His love. For all those who desire to live in the fearof God through Jesus Christ, bear troubles. A nd then He
makes them rule over his hidden treasures.
- ·1 ) Psalm 91 1 5

2) Cf. Book of the Dow, p. So2 6o

ON PRAYER AND THE OTI-IER THINGS ETC.

One of the saints has said : There was an old, honoured
solitary to whom I once went when I was shaken by tempta388 tions. He was ill and had to lie down. When I had greeted
him I sat down near him and said : Pray for me, Father, for
I am very much shaken by the temptations of the demons.
He opened his eyes and looked at me benignanthy, saying .
My son, thou art a boy ; God will not admit the demons
unto thee. I answered : If I am a boy I have to bear thetemptations of strong men. Then he said to me : So God istrying to make thee wise. I said to him : How can I become
wise, if I taste death every day ? He said to me : God loves
thee ; be silent, God shall give thee His gift. Then he said
to me : Thou must know, my son, that I have been making
war upon the demons during thirty years, of which I havepassed twenty without enjoying any help whatever. When
twenty fi v e years had elapsed, rest began to show itself. A s
i t approached, i t increased and when twenty eight years had
passed it had grown considerably. And now that thirty years
have been accomplished rest has increased to such a degree,that I know not how this can happen. - Further he said :When I desire to stand performing service, I am allowed toaccomplish one marmita 1). Further, even if I remain standing
during three days, I am in ecstasy with God, without per­ceiving fatigue. - Behold how prolonged labours produce
illimitable rest.
One of the Fathers used to eat two times every week. He
389 said to us : 'The day on which I speak with someone, I am
not able to keep the usual rule of fasting, but I am compelled
to break it'. So we understand that the keeping of the tongue
not only does excite the mind unto God but that it also insecret grants considerable force for the accomplishment of thevisible labours which are performed through the body. Andon account of a hidden service thP. intellect will constantly beilluminated, as our Fathers say. For keeping the tongue excites
the heart unto God, if we be silent with knowledge.
This saint was much given to vigils saying : When of anight I stand till dawn and take rest after the recitation of
Psalms, and then wake up from sleep, on that day I am asa man who is not in this world. No single earthly thought
1 ) a fifteenth part of the psalter.

ON PRAYER AND TilE OTHER THINGS ETC.

261

rises ih my heart, nor do I want definite regulations, but all
day I am in ecstasy.
On one day such as this in which I was wont to take food(and since four days I had not eaten), when I rose in order toperform the evening service and to eat afterwards, I stood in
the room of my cell in full sunlight. I perceived only that I
began with the marmita which is the beginning of the ser­vice ; but till the next day when the sun rose before me andthe clothes on my body became warm, I did not perceive
where I was. As the sun troubled me by burning my face
my mind came back to me and behold, I saw that it was a
390 new day. And I thanked God because of His pouring out
His grace upon mankind and because of His deeming worthyof such a greatness those who seek Him.
H ere end the tales of holy men.
LIV
OTHE R E XPLANATIONS CONCERNINGMAGGENANUTHA 1)
Although we have already spoken on this subject in another context in the foregoing disquisitions �) , when an oppor­
tunity offered itself, yet we do not object to elucidating the
subject further here.
Maggenanutha denotes help and guardianship and also thereceiving of the heavenly gift. As for instance : The Holy
Ghost shall come and the Power of the Highest shall over­shadow thee 3). And : Thy right hand shall save me 4) , which
is a prayer for help. And : I will defend this city to save it 5) .
So we understand two kinds of action in the maggenanutha
granted by God unto mankind : one is symbolical and intel­
ligible ; the other practical. The former is connected with theholiness which is received through divine grace ; this means :by the influence of the Holy Ghost a man is made holy inbody and soul, as is the case of Elisha and John and Mary
the blessed among women . But because this is incomparablez) Syriac text, pp. 107, 160
1) Inspiration, revelation , incarnation a. s. o.
3) Luke 11 35 naggen ; to overshadow is only a faint rendering. The original means
rather to envelop and to overpower.
4) Ps. 138, 7
sf Ps. 37, 3 5

262

OTHER EXPLANATIONS CONCERNING MAGGENANUTHA

and above that which happens to the rank-and-file of creatures
we have to come to that partial [holiness] which is granted
unto the other saints, in the relation between the limbs andthe body.
The mysterious kind of maggenanutha - as the [gifts]
3 9 I imparted unto each of the saints - is a kind of influencewhich possesses the mind. And when man is deemed worthyof this maggenanutha, the mind is snatched away in ecstasy
and expanded by some divine revelation. And as long as theinfluence possesses the mind, man is exalted above the emo­
tions of psychic deliberations, on account of his communionwith the Holy Ghost.
And this is what was said by the Apostle in the form ofa prayer unto the Ephesians, when he desired to explain tothem this mystery : May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, give unto you the spirit of wisdom andrevelation in the knowledge of Him : the eyes of your hearts
being enlightened 1 ) . What is the result of this ? That ye may
know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches of
the glory of His inheritan<;e in the saints, and what is theexceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe 2).
This is one symbolical kind of maggenanutha, that when
this power overshadows a man, he is deemed worthy of theglory of the new world, by revelation. And this is the partthat has fallen to the lot of the saints by light ; concerningwhich the blessed Paul says, that those are deemed worthyof it who have received sanctification of the mind from theSpirit, on account of their holy and excelient behaviour 3).
Another kind of maggenanutha is that whose action mani­
fests itself practically. It is the intelligible power which con­stantly covers a man and broods over him, removing from him
any injury or accident that threatens to approach his body orsoul, something not to be perceived visibly by the mind, but
392 clear and evident to the eye of faith, such as was frequently
experienced by the saints ; as is written : The angels of theLord encamp round about them that fear Him and deliver
them 4) . And : Many are the afflictions of the righteous ; but
the Lord delivers them out of them all 5) .
I) Ephesians I1 I 7 sq.
2) ib. I 01 IS sq.
4) Ps. 34 1 75) Ps. 34 , I 93) cf. 2 Thess. 21 I 3

HOW T H E HIDDEN ALERTNESS WITHIN THE SOUL ETC.

2 63

LV
HOW THE H IDDEN ALERTNESS WITHI N THE SOULIS TO BE PRESERVED HOW SLEEPINESS AND COLD­
NESS ENTER THE MIND BANISHING THE HOLYFERVOUR FROM THE SOUL KILLING THE DESIRE
OF GOD THAT TENDS TOWARDS SPIRITUAL ANDHEAVENLY DESIRA BLE THINGS
Opposition would have no chance to cause confusion to
those who desire beautiful things, if an occasion were notoffered to these evil machinations by the lovers of beautiful
things themselves. The matter is nearly thus.
Every impulse of love unto what is beautiful is from the
beginning of its motion accompanied by some zeal which inits fervour resembles that of fiery coals. This zeal usually sur­rounds the impulse of love as a wall, chasing from its neigh­bourhood all opposition and trouble. It possesses such vigour
and •mspeakable force that it can stiffen the whole soul against
relaxation or against being shaken by the attack of all troublousthings. It is in the first place the force of the holy desire im­planted in the nature of the soul, namely an emotion set astir
393 by the force of the soul's natural anger, which is implanted in
it by God in order to guard the boundaries of nature, so thatit may use its vigour for fulfilling the natural desire of thesoul, which is excellence. It is impossible to perform excellence
without this impulse.
It i s called zeal because it makes zealous and it sets astir
and kindles and makes man heroic from time to time so that
he despises the body in the troubles and terrible temptations
which occur, and delivers his soul to death full of confidence
and encounters the powers of the rebellion, giving up espe­
cially the fulfilling of what the soul loves.
A certain man, clad with Christ, somewhere in his book calls
this zeal a dog and a guardian of the law of God, which is
excellence.
Excellence is the fulf.lling of the laws of God. This force ofzeal becomes mighty and alert and fervent for the sake ofguarding the horr5e, an account of two reasons ; and it becomes

2 64

! lOW

TilE

HIDDENALERTNESS\VIT I I l N

TilE

SU U LETC.

weak and sleepy and despicable on account of other two reasons.
The first reason of fervour and alertness consists in anxiety
for the virtues which a man possesses or is going to possess,when some fear arises, lest these virtues should be stolen or
seized by some approaching event. This fear is set astir by
divine care, in all worshipers of excellence, lest the alertness
and the constant zeal of the soul should get asleep.
When this fear is set astir in nature, the dog of which we
394 have spoken will be fervent, night and day, as a blazing fur­nace, spurring nature which like a Cherub is watching andthreatening all the surroundings at all times. If, so to speak,a bird should pass by, it would be astir and bark with avigour unspeakably sharp.
When this fear is anxious on behalf of the body, it is sa­tanic ; because faith in God's care is shaken and man forgets
how God thinks of those who care for excellence by caring
for them at all times. As the Holy Ghost has said throughthe mouth of the prophet : The eyes of the Lord are upon
the righteous and His ears are [inclined] to hear them 1). For
the thoughts of the Lord are unto those who fear Him. And
in another place [the prophet] says, as it were speaking in thename of God, unto those who perform righteousness : There
shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nighthy dwelling .. For He shall give His angels charge over theeto keep thee ; they shall bear thee up in their hands �), andcompare the other words of Scripture.
But when this fear is on behalf of the soul, for the accidents
threatening excellence, namely fear lest the soul be robbed or
injured by any cause, this is a divine impulse and an excellent
thought. And it is in God's care that this distress and fear
originate, and this terror which torments the mind by its op­
pression.
The second cause of the vigour and the fervour of the dog
is brought about by the increase of love of excellence in thesoul . According to the measure of the love of the soul for
3 95 that which it possesses by this love, - which is a divinedeliberation - this natural zeal glows for it.
As to the causes of its abating and sleepiness, one of themis brought about by love being quenched and reduced in the.
1 ) Psalms 34, 1 62 ) Psalms 9 1 , 1 1 sq.

I IO W

TilE ll!Dl lEN ALERTNESS WITHIN T H E SOUL ETC.

265

soul. The second rises when some deliberation o f trust takes
its seat in the soul and man confides and thinks manytimes that there is no danger of anything that could injure
him. Then he casts away the weapon of zeal and becomes asa house without a guardian . And the dog goes asleep, leaving
his watch. Usually this deliberation is the source of most of
the intelligible houses being robbed. This happens when theserene flame of holy knowledge in the soul becomes dark.
Whereby does it become dark, if not by some subtle deli­beration of presumption penetrating into the soul, or because
man is given to too much care of bodily things, or because heis frequently in contact with worldly things. Every time thatstrugglers come into contact with lay people, especially women,
the soul descends. This also happens through contact with themultitude on account of whose gaze the soul necessarily isassailed by vain glory.
In short : the ruling mind as often as it comes into contact
with the world resembles the skipper who calmly was sailingon · the sea while a soft wind from behind drove him towards
the harbour, when he suddenly got among the cliffs.
LVI
396 BEAUTIFULCONSIDERATIONS 1) CONCERNING THE
LIFE OF MAN

As often as man in his course approaches this world, thelove of worldly things takes root in him , and he is constantly
troubled by the thought of them, and he fights with man forthem ; and becomes bound in love to some person or other,
without discrimination.
When on the other hand the mind profits by the subtle
meditation upon the world to be, constantly thoughts unrivalled
will move in it ; and expecting the things which he does notsee, he goes to meet them, forgetting the things of this world,
sometimes forgetting himself, because of his utter absorption
in ideas, neglecting visible things on account of these delibe­
rations. So deliberations as well as practice are despised by1) literally : distinctions /2 66

BEAUTIFUL CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING ETC.

him as long as he cares for these ideas. He is devoid ofenslaving love related to single persons, but universal love
which does not need sight is fixed in his soul. The appercep­
tion of recollection concerning human things gradually disap­
pears from his mind, while the thought of hidden things in­creases in it, gains force and vanquishes bodily deliberations,till it is free from corruptible things, as far as nature allows
this. And if it were not that the common [ human] recollection
was aroused in him, when the need of something which cannot
absolutely be dispensed with presents itself, his mind would bedirected towards future things the most of the time, by suchthoughts as would give him profit of these things. And be­cause of these he becomes a stranger 1) to all the wisdom of
this world. So he becomes void of recollection and a fool as
it were on account of his having examined human wisdom.
397
Blessed is the man who has been deemed worthy of thesethings. Tears will not cease to drop from his eyes when heturns unto himself with the recollection of those things bywhich men are led into error, and why forgiveness is granted
them, and whereby the universal end is brought about, andwhat labour and error is caused by these. It' is said concerning
Paul that on account of these emotions which prevailed over
his soul, for three years he was not quit of tears, unable tosubdue them.
Such a deliberation accompanied with the emotion of tears
rules man when he perceives the future hope and then turns
his mind towards the things of this world, [thinking] how small
psychic life is in comparison with the hope preserved for eter­
nities, in the new life. By such affectability man grows dead
unto all transitory things and thought of them : and all affec­
tions of body and soul die in him.
Let us remember this, my beloved, and despise the thingsof this world, as much as it is possible for us ; and let us
gradually, to the same extent, approach with our emotions
towards future things. For if a man does not compel himself,from time to time utterly neglecting the things which are
before the eyes in order to abandon them gradually and toproceed onwards in this way, so that the thought and thecontemplation of these things increase in him - he will remain1) literally : a fool

BEAUTIFUL CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING ETC.

267

i n this body with his behaviour. Also those who walk i n theway, if they do not go forwards in their daily march and sodiminish the distance but remain on one spot, the way before
3 9 8 them will never end and they will never arrive there where
they hope to come.
Our case resembles theirs. If we do not compel ourselves
gradually, we never shall have the power to abandon thebodily things in order to look towards God.
Because it is so difficult to free oneself from them when
one has once become entangled in any of them, it is a matterof wisdom to struggle in order not to come near to them, sothat one may be free even of the thought of them, and thus
the mind be able to look towards something different. I do
not mean that we should not provide for our wants ; for these
are a necessity and may bereave nature of life. But we should
not put them in the position of the principal service by giving­them the preference over the service of God. But attending
to these needs in part, we must leave the care of them toGod. We should confide in Him rather than in ourselves.
And when a man ventures to despise these (earthly] things
wholly for the sake of spiritual things, I do not esteem thisimproper, because we have all the encourag-ements of scripturethat teaches us to be strong in hope ; as is written : The Lord
is at hand ; be careful for nothing 1). A nd David says : Castthy care upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee 2) . The richdo lack and suffer hunger : but they that seek the Lord shallnot want any good thing 3). And our Lord has commandedus, saying : Be careful for nothing, but frequently think of the
future things. And these earthly things which are necessary
because of the needs of nature, will not fail thee.
399 May God in H is grace grant us that His love be abundantin us, in order that by constant meditation on Him we mayforget the world and what belongs to it by becoming freefrom its bonds ; and that instead of many bonds we may bebound with that one bond which is not loosened from those
who love Him, namely the bond of the kingdom of the worlds
above ; that we also may be bound with it, and be deemedworthy of the prefiguration of good the fulness of which ispreserved in the future world for those who have possessedI) Philippians 4, S2)--Psalms SS, 223) Ps. 34 , to according to the Peshito

2 68

BEAUTIFUL CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING ETC.

it here already. That we also may possess it and be pos­sessed by it through the power that comes from it, for everand ever, Amen.
LVII
HOW PATIENCE FOR THE SAKE OF THE LOVE OF
GOD ACQUIRES HELP FROM GOD
In accordance with a man 's despising this world and his
being occupied by the fear of God, divine care will approach
him and he will perceive its help in secret and there will begiven to him clear emotions so as to understand it. Even
though a man be not destitute of the - goods of this world byhis own will , still even as he is devoid of them, so mercy
will follow him and divine compassion will support him. Glory
to Him who shows us His grace in things of the right andof the left hand 1) and· who in all of them lays a cause forthe renewal of our life ; and who makes the souls of those
who, wilfully, are too weak to acquire life, ascend towards
excellence, by involuntary distress.
The poor Lazarus was not destitute of the goods of this
4ooworld by his own will, even his body was stricken by ulcers ;bitter plagues he had to endure, one still harder than theother : illness and poverty. Yet in the end he received honour
in the bosom of the patriarch.
God is near to the suffering heart which out of trouble
cries to Him. And though the body sometimes refuses tohear these pains for the sake of the help, yet, as a physician
who causes healing by the acute pains of his operations, theLord greatly favours his soul in accordance with the heavy
pains of his distress. Now when the love of Christ is not so
prevalent in thee that thou art without affection in all troubles
through thy gladness in Him, know then that the world lives
in thee more than Christ does. When illnesses and want, or
injury of the body, or fear of its afflictions trouble thy mind
in the joy of thy hope and thy clear thought in our Lord,know then that the body lives in thee, not Christ. He whose
1) happy and unhappy

HOW PATIE�CE FOR THE SAKE OF THE LOVE ETC.

2 69

love is prevalent over thee, he lives in thee. If thou art able
to walk in serenity on thy way unto Christ, fulfilling all things
required without lack, without bodily torments, without fearof adversaries, know then that thou art sick in thy mind anddevoid of the taste of God's glory.
I do not judge why thou art so, but [I say this] in orderthat thou mayest know at least how far thou art from the
401 accomplishment, even partially, of the discipline of the saints
which lived before us. Do not say : There is not a man tobe found whose mind, shipwrecked though the body may be
by . every sorrow of temptation, is so wholly exalted above
sick ness that the love of Christ vanquished the affectabilityof the mind. I refrain from reminding thee of the deeds of themartyrs ; perhaps we would be unable to remain standing firm
before the deluge of their sufferings, in which patience throughthe power of love has vanquished the trouble and the loveof the body. But because even the recollection of these things
is difficult to human nature, in that we are troubled by thegreatness of the thing and by its amazing aspect, we willturn towards the ungodly philosophers, and from them, by acomparison with their patience, we shall find instruction con­cerning the weakness of our will. But this has also to bepreserved till its time when we shall explain it in its place 1),
knowing that also this is a sign of illness. Thus we shall notjudge this matter from ourselves, but so that we may believe
how very low we have been cast down and how that, despite
this, it is possible that the Highest should become wholly man.
The drunkard will never believe that there are many men
who do not even drink wine. N either will the lascivious be­lieve , that there are men who wholly abstain from sexual
union. Neither will he that is troubled by a certain desire
believe that there are men who are not troubled at all by
this desire, even though they be incited by other things.
Neither will he that is constantly ill, believe that there exists
a body which is not ruined by illnesses. So the consolation
402 of those who are not able to vanquish absolutely [the weak­ness of] the mind, may be in the consideration that there isno man who is completely elevated above this weakness. That
there are people in whom the love of Christ has vanquishedI) p. 403 (Syriac text)/

'2 70HOW PATIENCE FOR THE SAKE oF THE LOVE ETC.

the weakness of nature so that they wholly despise the bodyand its love, whose mit1d is not troubled by the gladness inChrist so that this should bring about the possibility of being
vanquished by the power of appositional forces on the partof the body, and in whom the [divine] gifts have overcome
the incompetence of nature - this they do not believe at all.
I do not say that difficulties wholly fail in the way of God,or that there is anyone who lives in this way without tempta­
tions. On the contrary, I say that he that lives in excellence,day by day will find more troubles, and the farther he proceeds
onwards, the more he is oppressed by distresses. This is asign of the veraciousness of his course, that he lives a bitterlife in this world and that he departs this body with torments.
For this world is not the world of the righteous, and theycannot abide in it without distresses. But the will can bestrengthened by grace to despise all these things and keep themind without confusion, by the gladness of the love of Christ.
That there have been men who reached this, and that it
is possible that they become thus even now, is due to thegreat help of the gift of Christ. Do not judge, o man, the403 deeds of ail men, from thy own case, and do not weigh their
behaviour against the weight of thy own weakness. If thouseekest, begin with hope, then thou wilt be helped. And be
not incredulous lest thou be left by Him that sows these thingsin thee, so that thou reach the measure of thine own small­ness, whatever it be, in contrast to those who have vanquishedthe world and its confusion absolutely.
If thou doest not believe the church, approach unto thephilosophers. Then thou wilt see, how much power the will
possesses to be uplifted above the body and to remain with­out confusion according to the choice of him that chooses.
When thou seest how these, who did not know God, havedisplayed in the face of the world the endurance and vigour
of a heroic will, and how they have shown how much force
inner nature possesses to vanquish everything if it like a man will be struck with amazement in reading their histories
at the power which God has assembled in this nature, that,
if we like, we can vanquish everything. But because we do
not will, we preach the weakness of nature. And while wehide the vigour of nature by the weakness of our will, we
say : Who should ever be able to vanquish these things ?

HOW PAT!ENCE l<'OR 1'HE SAKE

01<' THE LOVE Et'C.

�71

One of them had mastered the will of the body to such a
degree, that, in order not to give up and to deviate from thechoice he had made, he. did not even allow his mind to be
disturbed when the sword was drawn ; so fear of death could
not break through the barrier he had made for himself. When
4°4 for many years he had kept silence, the king of the Greeks,
wondering at his fame and desiring to put him to the test,ordered him to appear before him. As the philosopher remained
silent whenever the king spoke and questioned him, giving noanswer, the king grew angry and ordered him to be put todeath, because he was not even impressed by the glory of
his throne and crown. The philosopher was not moved bythis [order] , but kept his rule quietly. Then the king ordered
the executioners to slay him if he should break his rule outof fear of the sword ; but to bring him back living if he should
be firm of will. When the moment had come and the execu­
tioners commanded him to bend his will or die, he deliberated
thus : it is better once to suffer death, while keepicg the ruleof my will which I have borne all this time, than to give
way out of fear of death, putting to shame my wisdom, andbe found a coward because of that which I shall have tomeet at any rate, whenever it be. - By this firmness of will
and this heroic mind he was delivered even from death, being
found just and true to his rule. Doest thou see what power
will possesses ? This sage stretched his neck before the ·sword
without breaking his own rule.
Others have trampled upon the desire of nature and havetamed it by the bridle which they have put into its mouth.
Others have remained u nmoved before disdain. Others have405 been found consistent and without wrath, before blows. Somehave suffered from their equals what could hardly be borne ;others from people who were by far their inferiors. Others
have remained without feelings of enmity or anger while theirpossessions were robbed. Others have shown endurance underhorrible and severe illnesses, without being troubled, and haveadded even other ascetic practices. Some have performed
voluntary labours, others have practised total nakednes� apartfrom the covering demanded by chastity, or a solitary life,and support of life by raw food. Thus king Alexander, whenonce he went to see one of them, did not hear anything fromhim except on contempt of the world.
/

272

HOW PATIENCE FOR THE SAKE OF THE LOVE ETC.

All this [ they practised] lest they should be withheld frommeditation and the occupying themselves with their wisdom.
If the labour of instruction and the discipline of wisdom, apartfrom the fear of God and the light of faith and the hope ofa world to be, are able to perform such heroic deeds, whothen should not be despised by his own conscience, that nDt­
withstanding all the light of Christ which is poured out on
the world, and the great gifts which are lavished abundantly
in secret, and the hope on God which day by day is con­firmed by events - still the difficulties and the pleasure ofthis body are master of him, so that he does not remain asa diamond for the sake of the love of God, despising every­
thing joyfully ?
If it is possible to be in doubt as to how men vanquish all
406 these things - every wise man knows that no one can doanything by his own power. But it is possible, because by God's
help and a firm will he finds all things w eaker than himself.
By these the zeal of the solitaries has been kindled, so thatthey have abandoned and suddenly given up the world andwhat belongs to it, and have become strong, withstanding allcontrary things and, by endurance of will and by the help of
their Lord, have vanquished all difficulties whatsoever. For
they dwelt in the midst of them. Many of them were adherentsof the doctrine of the philosophers, saying : If external sages,
in spite of the fact that they were not on the way of God,
have taken upon themselves, in return for transitory wisdom
and training in the instruction of this temporary world, tobear these things, and have become alienated to the world
and apart from it in their dealings, so as to reach the desireof their will, though there was no just basis in their thoughts
nor hope of inmortality in their labours, performing these things
to this high degree with a view to a vain expectation how much more are we bound to endure for the sake of thelove of God and to despise all difficulties for the sake of thesublime future which has been promised us.
So they have been confirmed by this thought and havemastered the laxity of their deliberations and have entered
the arena and turned not their backs until they have gaineO.
the crown. They were an example even for later generations,and have shown the world how those who walk this way
have to enter the arena.

ON THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE NElGHBOURHOOD ETC.

273

LVIII
4 o7

ON THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
OF GOD AND PASS ALL THEIR DAYS IN A LIFE
OF KNOWLEDGE

Blessed is he that leads. a watchful life m this world. A
certain Father had written on all the walls of his cell various
things, and all kinds of thoughts, and admirable words on
every context. He was asked : What are these, o Father ?
He answered : These are deliberations of justice that occur tome through the angel that is with me and through the right
impulses of nature. I write them down when I am in theseapartments, in order that I may be occupied with them in thetime of darkness, and that they may save me from error.
So a man ought to do all his days.
A certain Father was called happy by his own thoughts
which praised him thus : In stead of the world that passes,
thou hast been deemed worthy of the indestructible hope. The
Father said to them : Why do ye call me happy, while I am
still alive ? I do not know what will happen to me till mydeath. I am still on the way ; happinessis not certain before.
I have reached my home.
Indeed, this is a just deliberation . It is becoming that weshould appoint our day of death as the term of victory. Before
death, he that triumphs is no real victor. For his enemies areliving and the way is before him, and he does not know
4os where he may be entangled ; for his way is not safe, and hehas not yet reached the time of trust. Thus he that is
entangled in evil things has not to be dejected ; for it ispossible for him to gain life, as he is still alive. There ishope for him as well as for the one that behaves well.
Why doest thou rebuke the sinner, o man ? The labours ofthine own merchandise have not yet entered the harbour ; thehope of him over whom thou art extolling thyself, has notbeen cut off by God. It is possible that within a short time
he will surpass thee in excellence and come nearer to God
than thou art. For death has not yet come and concluded
his affair, nor thine. Many vicissitudes happen to a man during
Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1922

(Wensjck).

2 74

ON THOSE WHO LIVE lN THE NElGHBOtJRHOOD ETC.

his life. But it is God who looks to the end and not to thethings in the middle. There have been many righteous who
fell from their righteousness, and sinners have come up andtaken their place. Therefore the righteous should not extol
himself, he is still alive ; nor shall the sinner be dejected, for
God is near to him if he seeks Him, and prepared to receive
him when he changes his behaviour and turns towards Him.
If thou hast wrought righteousness without perceiving the tasteof its profit, then be not amazed.
Until a man becomes humble, he does not receive the wagesof his service. Remuneration is not given for service, but for
humbleness. He that wrongs the latter, looses the former.
He who has taken upon him the service of excellence is
409 inferior to him that has first taken upon him the excellenceof service. Excellence is the mother of afflictions ; from afflic­
tions humbleness is born. The gift is given for humbleness. Con­
sequently remuneration does not belong to excellence, nor topains for its sake, but to humbleness which is born from it.
Now if humbleness fails, the other ones are vain. The serviceof excellence is the observance of the commandments of ourLord. The excellence of service is steadiness of mind, which isestablished by humbleness and watchfulness. Where the power[necessary] for the performance of the former ones fails, the lat­ter is received instead of them. So Christ does not seek theservice of the commandments, but the steadiness of the soul,for the sake of which He also has laid commandments uponrational beings. The body works with the right and with theleft part, eq ually. But the mind, as is becoming, is either
justified or condemned.
Some serve life by left-hand things, through wisdom from
God ; and some acquire sin under the appearance of acquiringd ivine things. Shortcomings in sundry things in which those
who are watchful are entangled, are permitted by God in orderto guard their righteousness, that their trespasses and failures
may become to them a cause of humbleness.
H umbleness protects many men for their service, not only
withholding them from haughtiness, but by the recollection their[trespasses] they become humble and receive higher wages.
Without blows a gift cannot be kept. A gift without temp4w tations is found to cause the destruction of those who havereceived it.

ON THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ETC.

2 75

If thou hast served well before God, and He has given
thee a gift for thy steadfastness regarding Him, in order tospur thee on the more and to give thee joy in thy service,
then let Him give thee knowledge so as to know how it isnecessary to humble thyself ; otherwise he would appoint a
prosecutor or take it again from thee, lest there should be achance for its being lost. It is not given to every one toguard riches without damage.
The soul that takes upon itself the trouble of excellence
and lives in the veracious fear of God cannot be without daily
afflictions. Virtues and afflictions are intenvoven.
He who abandons troubles also abandons excellence entirely.
Who clings to excellency, clings to afflictions. If thou desirest
excellence, thou givest thyself over to all afflictions. Excellenceis the mother of afflictions ; afflictions are the mother of hum­bleness. For God does not desire that the soul �hould be with­out care. And he that desires this, his mind is found to bewithout God's will. By care I do not mean care concerning
bodily things, but concerning the oppression that persecutes
virtues. For before we reach true knowledge, which is therevelation of hidden things , we have to come near to hum­bleness through temptations. He that is found to be without
afflictions in his excellence, for him a door unto haughtiness
is opened. How can he who desires this [excellence] be without
affliction in his mind ? It is not possible that the mind remain
4 1 1 in humbleness if there is no reason for blows. A nd it is notpossible that without humbleness it should remain in perpetualsupplication unto God, in serenity.
First man is removed from the thought of his duty in his
mind, then the spirit of haughtiness approaches him. At firstthe angel of care suffers this , but afterwards it withdraws
itself from him. As long as the angel is near him, he provides
him solely with thoughts of righteousness. But when he has
wronged the angel and it has withdrawn itself from him, thena foreign power approaches him, and no single just thought
will furthermore be in him. Haughtiness comes before ruin,says the sage 1) ; so humbleness before a gift. By the quantityof haughtiness which is found in the soul , is judged the scaleof ruin which is on the point of being sent to it by God.
I) Proverbs 1 6, 1 9

276

ON THOSE WHO LIVE lN 'rilE NEIGHBOURHOOD ETC.

For none of the sins does God withdraw from man, leaving
him wholly because He dislikes him, until He fi n ds the mind
seized with haughtiness or blasphemy. And the former [ofthese two] becomes the cause of the latter.
Those who in their mind leave the way of humbleness andso become devoid of divine help, either fall into the impurityof lasciviousness, or into blasphemy, or into mental ruin.
Those who extol themselves on account of excellent beha­
viour, usually fall into into evil lasciviousness ; those who extol
themselves on account of knowledge and mental discipline,
into blasphemy or trouble of mind.
Haughtiness is not the state in which such deliberations
4 1 2 pass through the mind, nor when the mind is sometimes over­powered by them, but when the mind clings to them. It is
manifest that even for such a one there is repentance. But
when he loves haughtiness, he does not know how the repent.
If he does repent , he does not cling to haughtiness. Not
that the evil man sins or commits a fault against God, butthat he clings to his evil [is the great thing]. For the former
denotes the weakness of nature, the latter audaciousness of
the will.
Also by praises on the part of his fellowmen is a man'smind struck with madness, when he desires to perform among
them deeds which are above his measure, in order that theglory of his greatness may increase, and men may perceivethat he is very near to God. Many have excelled in behaviour
and were rich in gifts from God and have been honoured withthe gift of [performing] signs. But afterwards they becamechanged and received a blow from God, the same men thatwere so honoured before. The cause of this was that they
were not able to bear the many gifts which they had received
and were drawn towards haughtiness and were rejected by
God as dross and became foreign to the high rank in which
they were. And many who were quiet and firm in mind ,whose words were weighed, whose behaviour was chaste, whoseknowledge was envied, have become an object of fear for
those who know them and a lamentable aspect for those who
see them.
With loud weeping raise thy voice unto God and beg for4 1 3 humbleness. Fill thy mouth with thy tears and stray ashes on
thy head. Do not rise from the earth nor lift up thy head

ON THOSE WIIO LIVE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ETC .

277

from the ground, before God has shown thee mercy and has
made thee to pas� away from this life, saved ; or till He hascompassion upon thee and gives thee humbleness. And do notdesist from mourning before perceiving that thou hast received
it, lest thou shouldst be found suddenly as one of these 1).
A nd even when thou hast received [humbleness], do not lift
up thy eyes, nor look towards the sky, nor satisfy thy eyeswith the aspect of men nor let thy heart have rest from fearand prayer. Perhaps thou wilt be saved from the evils which
are prepared by the demons, in this discipline full of dark­
ness, narrow, with many stumbling-blocks, incomprehensible tohuman nature.
Believe me, my brother and consider my words as true :thou art not able to understand all the power of the demons,and thy knowledge is not sufficient to remain standing before
their artifices. Let now therefore be poured out within theea stream of light, in which the love of Christ is found andby which thou art conducted within the wall of divine mercy,
to the honour of the humbleness which thou hast found.
When thou enterest into the darkness of temptations where
the light withdraws itself and thou art given over to be
tempted in that thick darkness of the soul into which thoseenter who are abandoned by God and given over to thedemons, then thou wilt know that thou findest thyself face4 ' 4 to-face with them as a child that does not know where to go.
All thy knowledge will be confuse as a little child. Thy mind
which was firm in God, thy veracious knowledge, and thysound spirit will be in the midst of the ocean of doubts.
By one thing canst thou vanquish them : by humbleness alone.
As soon as thou takest hold of this, their whole power vanishes.
Do not take it for [a sign] of the health of thy soul whenthou goest thy course in serenity through thy 'joy in God, butwhen thy being bound up with [earthly] things does not turn
thy mind away from the love of God or thy neighbour, nor
thy connection with several persons from thinking of our Lord,
to whom be the glory. May He keep us near to Him and inintercourse with Him. A men.
1 ) who have been described in the above passage

A

PROFITABLE DISCOURSE

LIXA PROFIT ABLE DISCO URSE
True is the word of our Lord who has said that no one
can possess love of God side by side with love of the world ;nor mingle with the world and with God, nor care for theworld and care for God. Apart from all that is connectedwith vain glory , many of us generally deviate because of
bodily want, we who have promised to serve the kingdomof heaven but who do not remember the promise of ourLord who has said : If ye bestow all your care upon the
4 ' 5 kingdom of heaven, I shall not leave you in want of theneeds of sensible nature ; but these things will come to you
spontaneously before ye think of their use at the time of want,
although I do not even let you want because of care for them.
Upon the soulless fowls which have been created in yourbehalf, God bestows care ; and should He neglect you thatcare for righteousness ? To him that cares for spiritual things,
even partially, bodily things are prepared even when he does
not provide for them, in accordance with their necessity andin their time.
He that shows care for the last named things more thanis becoming, will fall from God, even involuntarily. While we
bestow care upon things connected with the name of our Lord,
He will provide us with both kinds, in accordance with themeasure of our care and the importance of the want of eachof them. We should however not ask God's care in thesebodily things for ourselves as a remuneration for our labours,
but we should direct our whole service towards the futurehope. For he that once has given himself to excellence withthe love of his soul and longs after its service with his wholebeing, does not think of looking after bodily things, whether
they are or are not. How many times does God allow thefriends of excellence to be tempted by such things ! And not
only this ; but He even allows many evil things to assail themfrom all sides ; and He smites their body, as in the case of
4 1 6 Job, and . gives poverty entrance to them an lets them bedeprived of their human state, and smites them in all thatA PROFlTAIJLE lliSCOURSE

2 79

they possess, with this restriction only, that the plague should
not attain to their life.
It is not possible that we should walk in the way of right­
eousness and that no troubles should hurt us, nor that the
body should not suffer illness and pains, nor that we should
remain without varying states, if we really desire to live in
excellence. That however a man should wilfully kill or injure
himself or harm himself in any way, is a cause of damnation .
If he walks in the way of righteousness and follows his course
towards God, together with many of his fellows, and one ofthese things should hurt him on his way, it is not becomingfor him to deviate : but he shall accept them joyfully without
scrutiny, thanking God because He has given him His gift,
God for whose sake he has been deemed worthy to be en­tangled in temptations so as to become associated with thesufferings of prophets and apostles and the other saints who
have endured troubles on behalf of the way of God ; [thanking
God] because He has deemed him worthy to bear afflictions
for the way of excellence, even though they should happen
through men, or through the demons or through the body.
These things are not permitted without the divine will, butthey happen in order that thou mayest have a cause of right­
eousness. For it is not possible that God should give the op­
portunity of becoming excellent to him that desires to be with
Him, otherwise than by bringing him into contact with temp­
tations for the sake of truth.
That a man himself is not able to become worthy of such
4 ' 7 a greatness that he should be led into tempt:Itions in behalfof these divine things with joy, but only by a gift from Christ,
is witnessed by the blessed apostle. For so great is this thing,that he openly calls it a gift that a man for the sake of thehope in God should be prepared to suffer by faith, saying :For unto you it is given from God, not only to believe inChrist, but also to suffer for his sake 1).
Then thank without a break Him that has delivered you
from the dominion of the darkness of the world and has brought
you near the kingdom of His son, and has made you fellows
of all the children of light who have suffered for the sake ofGod, in order that you may gain the part that has fallen toI ) Philippians 1 , 2 9

2 80

A PROFITABLE DISCOURSE

the lot of the saints in the light. And this is what Peter writes
in his epistle : But if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy
are ye 1). For you will have a share in Christ's suffering. There­
fore, when thou art free from affliction, do not leap up withjoy, nor when circumstances assail thee cover thy face withsadness, reckoning this as something foreign to the way of God .
Behold, for years and generations , the way of God has
been leveled by the cross and by death. How is this withthee, that thou seest the afflictions of the way as if they wereout of the way ? Doest not thou wish to follow the steps ofthe saints ? Or doest thou wish to go a way which is especially
4 1 8 for thee, without suffering ? The way unto God is a daily cross.
No one can ascend unto heaven with comfort, we know where
the way of comfort leads.
If any one trusts himself with his whole heart to God, Godnever wishes to take care away from him, namely care forthe sake of truth. But thereby he knows that he is guided
by God, when He continually sends him afflictions. But those
who are guided under afflictions, are never allowed by divine
care to fall into the hands of the demons, especially when
they kiss the feet of the brethren and hide and cover theirshortcomings as if they were their own.
He that wishes to be without care in the world yet guided
by excellence, loathes this way. As the blessed commentatorsays in his interpretation of Matthew : For those who longafter excellence, it is not possible to flee from afflictions. For .
afflictions will necessarily increase to the same measure as thesoul fights against contrary powers. But when afflictions leave
it, the soul in the first place leaves what belongs to it.
He that says that he is without care, yet is guided byexcellence, does not even know whence excellence is born inthe soul. For we know what are the governors of excellence.
By temptations the gate of heaven is opened before the soul.
Our Fathers have guided us in this way. God who gives unto
His saints victory in strife so that their deliberations are notturned away from the future hope, will guard and help us by
their prayers. Amen .
The righteous not only excel in beautiful works by their
4I9
will but even in involuntary temptations they excel greatly byI) I Peter 3, I 4

A PROFITABLE DISCOURSE

their tried patience, because they valiantly endure all earthly
troubles, expecting the amazing wages of the world to be.
The soul which clings to the fear of God does not fear before
anything which harms the body.
LX
THAT WITHOUT NECESSITY WE SHOULD NOTDESIRE NOR ASK THAT ANY SIGN SHOULD MA­
N IFESTLY H APPEN THROUGH US OR UNTO US
The Lord who is always near the saints through the signsof help He sends to them, does not show, without necessity,
His power manifestly by performing any perceptible sign , lest
the things which are meant to help us, should become impo­
tent or a means to bring us harm . Such is His way, though
He care for them to such an extent, that His secret providence
does not abandon them one moment. But in all things He
allows them to show ca�e according to their power and to
fatigue themselves by prayer.
If however the matter is so difficult, that the scale of theirknowledge should become too light, after they have spent
their force and resigned because nature is not sufficient [forsuch a task] , He will give His supply according to the great­ness of His power, as is becoming and profitable to them in
4zo His mind. As long as possible He strengthens them secretly
in order that they may remain standing before that difficulty.
By the knowledge which He grants them He causes its bondto be loosened, and by contemplation He excites them unto
glorification , in order that the matter may be of profit toboth parties.
If however the case wants manifest action , He will proceed
to give this, for necessity's sake. His acts of providence arewise, serving necessity, not chance.
He that without necessity ventures upon this, begging from
God and desiring that wonders and powers should happen
through himself, is found to be tempted 1) of the scornful demon
in his heart, and even a boaster and one sick in heart.
For to ask God's help in trouble, is becoming. But to tempt
1) R e a d i ng ,..Dr2l!:>O with Dedjan and the Greek translation (7rE1pa�oruvo; )2D2

Ti !AT WITHOUT NECESSITY WE SHOULD ETC.

without necessity, is a dangerous thing. He is not even truly
a righteous one, who desires this. But that which the Lord
does without any man's will, is found by most of the saints.
That a man should desire this wilfully, without necessity, isapostasy from watchfulness and aberration from true knowledge.
And if he that asks is heard on this point, because of his
daring and his persuading our Lord, he is led unto a thingwhich is still more serious. But those who are truly righteous,
do not desire this ; and they not only do not count upon this4 2 1 but they do not even ask for it, if it is given them ; neither
before the eyes of men, nor even privately.
Unto one of the saints, because of his serenity, the gift
was granted that he knew beforehand if any one should visit
him ; but he asked God, and he persuaded others to pray for
this, that the gift might be taken away from him.
The Fathers did not use this freedom of speech not evenin times of necessity. When the blessed Ammon, a holy man
in truth, one of the admirable Fathers, went to the great Mar
Antonius and wandered in the desert he did not say : 0 God
take me up and set me down there where Antonius is though he would have been able to do something like this,because of his being near to God, and because this was acase of necessity ; for it is said that those who are wanderingin this desert incur danger. Notwithstanding all these things,
he did not say this to God, but said only this word : 0 Lord,
let not Thy creature perish. - Doest thou perceive the humble­
ness, doest thou understand the true wisdom of the Fathers ? And
422 God, because He knew that the man was true and not led
in his deliberations by haughtiness, showed unto him His carefor the saints, and did to the man as his greatness deserved.
And so, though Ammon did not beseech, God did what was
becoming. For A mmon lay down to sleep ; and rising he saw
as it were the hand of a man hanging above his head in thesky and showing him the way, till it went and stood still
above the cave of the blessed Antonius. - Doest thou per­ceive God's care for His housemates ? It would have beenpossible even not to let him err. But God desired that Ammonshould know how much He cared for him. So He let Him
err and showed him afterwards manifestly the way, not througha man, but through an angel and in the air. Blessed be God'scare for the saints.

THAT WITHOUT NECESSITY WE SHOULD ETC.

2 83

Recollect also what happened to Aba Macarius. When hewent to Skete, bearing baskets, and grew fatigued and weary,he sat down because he could not walk any longer. But he
did not ask from God that He should do unto him anything,by His infl u ence, to give him comfort. But he trusted himself
unto God saying : 0 God, thou knowest that I have no morestrength. Then at once, in a moment, by divine influence, he
was taken up and placed there whether he wished to go, heand his baskets.
Those who are righteous in truth, constantly think in theirheart that they are not worthy of God. And they consider
themselves as true in so far as they deem themselves to be
wretches. And they sincerely confess, secretly and openly thatthey are not worthy of His care. And as sinners and wretches
4 23 they bestow care and painstaking upon everything and trust
themselves unto God, in faith, though, as far as their strength
goes they do not desist from what they ought to do, being
instructed by the Spirit that they should not neglect to carefor their duty but to labour as long as they live.
The time of rest He has preserved for the world to be.
And those in whom God dwells do not desire that they may
have rest here and be liberated from torments, although con­solation in spiritual things is given unto them from time totime in secret.
Excellence is not that a man, on reaching it, should giveup care and J:lainstaking. But this is [the sign of] the imma­
nence of the Spirit, that a man constantly subdues and compels
himself, even if it should be possible to perform the thing in
comfort. For the will of the Spirit is not to accustom thosein whom it dwells to laziness and to invite them to comfort,
but to labours and greater trouble. And it will teach themalertness and confirm them by temptations and lead them
towards wisdom.
It is the will of the Spirit that those who love it, be invexations. In those who pass their life in comfort, not' theSpirit of God but the Spirit of Satan dwells. The Spirit of
God is not pleased with bodily comfort, nor does it find plea­
sure in a life of comfort, but in a life of vexations. Satan on
the other hand fi n ds pleasure in a life full of comfort, according
to Our Lord's witness. The Holy Spirit flees from comfort ;424 as it is said by the holy Fathers : The Spirit of God does not2 84

TIIAT WITHOUT NECESSITY WE SHOULD ETC.

dwell in a body softened 1) by comfort. But it looks after aplace where people strain themselves, with an emaciated body,and a prepared soul ; and with them it takes habitation, tea­ching them how to live during this small space of time.
Those who love God complete their life under all kinds oftrouble. For all the righteous have driven out this world bymeans of vexations. According as they came nearer to God,
their vexations increased. For one of them said with oaths :I die every day. I conjure you by your honour, o my brethren,that it has been given me in our Lord Jesus Christ to dieevery day. Therein they differ from other men ; and that God
lives in them [appears from the fact] that they live in troubles
whereas the world delights in comfort. God has not chosenthat those who love Him should enjoy bodily comfort, but it
is His will that as long as they live they should be in trouble
in the world, afflicted, vexed, needy and lonely ; naked andpoor ; sick, scorned and beaten. A standing place they have
not ; their heart is broken ; their body is humbled ; their acquain­
tances disavow them ; their mind is full of distress ; their aspect
is strange to all creatures ; their dwelling place is strange to
all mankind ; their habitation is solitary and lonely, bereft ofthe sight of the world, void of every sign of the things whichcause joy in this world ; destitute of any comfort. Mourning,
425 is found in it ; joy, is far from it ; afflictions, are frequent in
it. They do not even possess plenty of that which the bodyneeds as all men do. Their bed is the ground ; their faces areparched by fasting ; their knees tremble from weakness. Theirinternal organs are unfitted for their customary purpose throughservice alien to human habit. They weep, and the world
laughs. They are sorry, and the world is joyful. They fast,
and the world takes comfort. All creatures enjoy a sweet
sleep, and they wake in prayer. During the day they are
wearying themselves and during the night they prepare them­selves for struggle. The saints live a bitter life in the world,with a humbled body , an afflicted soul and in distress on
all sides.
Thus it is the will of God that all those who are near to
Him should live in miserable circumstances, being humbled
and wretched in their whole soul and body ; some through1) DweH and softened arc expressed by the same root in Sy ri ac

THAT WITHOUT NECESSITY WE SHOULD ETC.

2 85

voluntary troubles ; some through the vexations caused by theirsufferings ; some through the bitter pains which they bear i ntheir bodies ; some through the misery and the persecutionsof men ; danger of sufferings, danger of the demons, dangerof illnesses, danger of poverty. Others have been persecuted ;others have been put to death ; others have been sawn
asunder ; others have been stoned ; others have been drownedin the sea ; others have had their limbs cut off alive ; others
have been delivered to scorn and contempt ; others have been
426 punished by the fl a mes, others by prison, others by terrible
flogging ; others have been delivered to the sword ; others
have gone round, clad in hides of lambs and goats, and havebecome as lost in the desert. Troubles the saints have under­gone on mountains and in caverns and in the holes of theearth. Of such people according to the witness of the apostle,
the world was not worthy. But what is more marvellous than
all these things, they did not expect to be saved or to findrest on account of all these according to the word of theblessed apostle. Glory to Him that crowned them, He thatby the suffering of the cross has also completed this pathwith all its previous sufferings, that also His saints may fol­low His steps.
Fulfilled has been the word of our Lord : In the world ye
shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have good cheer 1).
By the force of this good cheer, these saints acquire the power
to be patient. May God, by whose power the saints have been
patient in these struggles without becoming weak in their hope,strengthen His hope in us all. Amen.
Without troubles, no life. God did know that two kinds ofgladness cannot be in one man. And because it is impossible
to cling to His love when the body is in comfort, He has
withheld men from this, and has strengthened His love intheir soul by bereaving them from all worldly pleasure. May
Christ, whose love is stronger than death and fire and sword
427 and exile and alienation from family and loss of life - and no
difficulties can remain standing before His love of His friends reveal in us the power of His love. Amen.
1 ) John 16, 33

2 86

FOR WHICH CAUSES GOD ADMITS TEMPTATIONS ETC.

LXI
FOR WHICH CAUSES GOD ADMITS TEMPTATIONSTO HIS FRIENDS
By the love which the saints show unto God in return forwhat they bear for the sake of His name in that they undergo
trials without leaving the excellency which God loves, theirheart acquires freedom to look towards Him without a veil
and to ask from Him with confidence.
Great is the power of prayer in freedom of speech. There­
fore He allows that His saints are tried by all afflictions, on
the way towards Him, in order that they may acquire freedomof speech and may experience His help and His care for themin that He is found to be their saviour in danger ; and inorder that His friends may acquire wisdom through temptations
so that they are not dull and destitute of training. So throughtemptation they acquire knowledge concerning everything, andare not laughed at lightly by the demons.
For if He would train them by good things only they would
lack training in other things and they would be as blind men
in trials_ And if someone should say : He guides them without
training and without selfknowledge [the conclusion would be]that He wished them to be like oxen and asses who possess
428 no freedom whatever. There is even no taste in the good,when a man has not fir st been tried by temptations of evil
and afterwards finds it and when he does not use it as hisown, in knowledge and freedom. How sweet that knowledge
is which has been acquired through training and the experienceof labours, and how much strength it imparts to him that has
found it after many personal experiences, is known to those
who are acquainted with the help afforded by it.
They learn the weakness of nature and the help affordedby divine power when He first withdraws power from thenr
while they are in temptations. Then they perceive the weak­ness of nature and the strength of temptations and the wicked­
ness of the Fiend, [perceiving] of which nature their Fiendis, with which nature they are clad , and how they are guarded
by divine power ; and how, though they run and are uplifted,

FOR WHICH CAUSES GOD ADMITS TEMPTATIONS ETC.

287

when the divine power withdraws itself from them, they become
weak before all passions.
Through all this they acquire humbleness, and press close toGod, expecting His help and persevering in prayer. How could
they have acquired all this, if they had not experienced myriads
of evils, without God's caring for their being surrounded by them ?
'And lest I should be exalted through the abundance of revela­
tions, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger
of Satan' 1).
Man acquires also a confirmed faith by temptations, throughexperiencing divine help , when it is granted several times.
And furthermore he is without fear and acquires courage by
temptation, on account of the training he acquires.
429
Temptation is useful to every man. The virtuous are temp­
ted in order that their riches may increase ; the lax, in orderthat they may be preserved from injuries ; the sleepy, in orderthat they may be armed with alertness ; those that are afar
off that they may come nearer to God ; the housemates, thatthey may approach with freedom of speech.
A son that is not trained, cannot profit by the riches thatare given to him from his father's house. Therefore God tempts
and vexes fi r st, then He shows His gift. Glory to that Lord
who by strong drugs brin gs us the delight of health. Thereis no one, to whom the time of exercise is not hard ; andthere is no one, to whom the time during which he is obliged
to drink the potion of temptations, is not bitter. But without
this, a sound constitution cannot be obtained. Even to endure
is not of our own. How should a clay vessel endure thevehemence of the waters, if the divine fire had not hardened
it ? If we daign to ask in humbleness fervently and persever­
ingly, we shall receive everything.
1) 2 Cor. 1 2, 7

288

T I I AT BY THE THOUGHTS WI I IC I I STIR IN A !\!AN ETC.

LXII
THAT BY THE THOUGHTS WHICH STIR IN A MAN
H E KNOWS TO WHICH DEGREE HE BELONGS AND
WHICI-I THOUGHTS FOLLOW
As long as a man is negligent, he fears the hour of death ;when , however, he comes near to God, the coming of Judg­
ment. But when he proceeds firmly, both kinds of fear arc
taken away. How does this happen ? While 1) his knowledge
4 3° and his behaviour are of a bodily nature, he is frightened bydeath. But when his knowledge is of a psychic nature, andhis behaviour is steadfast, his mind is moved by the thoughtof Judgment every moment. In the first state he belongs whollyto nature ; in the psychic state he is moved and guided byhis knowledge and by his discipline. And he is happy in theneighbourhood of God. But when he reaches true knowledge
by the motion of the apperception of God's mysteries and be­comes confirmed in future hope, he is consumed by love.
He that is bodily, fears as an animal fears being slaugh­
tered ; he who is rational fears the Judgment of God. He thathas become a son, is pleasing to love, not to the staff of him
who terrifies. ,I and my house, we will serve the Lord' £).
For love annihilates fear. It not only felars not but it evenlongs after departure. Love is the dissolver of temporary life.
He that has reached the love of God, does not desire to stayhere any more.
My beloved ones, because I was foolish, I could not bear
to guard the secret in silence, but am become mad, for thesake of my brethren's profit. For true love is not able tocling to the cause of love apart from friends.
Oft when I was writing these things, my fingers paused on
the paper. They could not bear the delight which had fallen
into the heart and which made the senses silent. Blessed ishe that is in constant intercourse with God and has withdrawn
himself from worldly things, being with Him only, in inter­course founded upon his knowledge. And if he has to bepatient, it will not be long before he sees fruits.
1) Intro(�uction

2) Joshua 24, 1 5

THAT BY THE THOUGHTS WHICH STIR IN A MAN ETC.

2 89

Gladness in God is tronger than earthly life. He that has
found it, is not only free from the trial of the affections, but
he does not even turn towards his life any longer. Further­more he has no other apperception, if he really has been
deemed worthy of this.
Love is sweeter than life. And understanding concerning
God, from which love is born, is sweeter than honey andhoneycomb. What is the sweetness of love which excels life ?
Love is not spiteful if it has to undergo a myriad of deaths
for the sake of its friends.
Love is the child of knowledge, knowledge the child ofhealth of soul. Health of soul is a power born from patientendurance. And what is knowledge ? The apperception of im­mortal life. What is immortal life ? A pperception in God.
Knowledge concerning God is the highest of all desirable
things. A nd the heart that has received it, does not want
the sweetness of anything on the earth. Because to thesweetness of the knowledge concerning God nothing is tobe compared.
0 Lord, fill my heart with life everlasting. Life everlastingis consolation in God. He that has found consolation in God,to him the consolation of the world is superfluous. How is it
perceived in a man that he has received wisdom from theSpirit ? Thereby, that wisdom teaches him kinds of humbleness,internally and by his senses ; then it is revealed to him in his
intellect, how humbleness is acquired.
How is it to be perceived that he has reached humbleness ?
432
Thereby that it is a vile thing to him to please this world
by act or word, and thereby that the glory of this world isugly in his eyes.
What are the affections ? The allurements that lie in thethings and the stories of this world, evoking a bodily want,
which never cease as long as the world exists. If a man how­ever has been deemed worthy [to know] the divine intellectand to taste and perceive what is more profitable than those
things, their allurements will not enter his heart, because theirplace has been taken by a desire which is better than those.
Then the allurements of [worldly] things and those which areborn from them, will no longer approach his heart. But they
will stand outside idle. Not that the allurements of the affec­
tions do not exist any longer , but the heart which could

43 'Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (Wensinck).

:2 90

THAT BY THE TIIOVGHTS WHICH ST!R IN A MAN ETC.

receive them is dead to them and living to some other thing.
Not that it desists from watchfulness and the labour of dis­
crimination, but there is no longer any struggle in the mind,
in as much as the inner being is satisfied by the delight ofsome other thing. So, when a man is satisfied with delicious
and fat food, and his inner being with abundance and delight,
and then he sees food which is unclean and steeped in its
own filth, his inner being does not need care to check it fromdesire or to withhold it from gazing at it with lust ; nay, thewhole inner being is even shaken and troubled by the sight4 33 of it. This does not happen on account of the uncleanness ofthe food, for possibly he had been accustomed to it before ;but on account of the comparison with the excellence of that
other food which had tilled his inner being with every delight.
So it is with the health of the soul. If the heart has reallyreceived the apperception of spiritual things and the contem­
plation of the world to be, its inner being will regard theaffections in the way mentioned.
And just as a man when he loses his riches and becomespoor and destitute of the glorious and excellent food in which
he delighted in the royal palace, forgets its delicious taste,
and those glorious dishes are no longer with him and his
stomach is deprived of the delight of their abundance, and hehas necessarily to turn towards food which is by far inferior so it is with him that was deemed worthy of health of soul.
If he is deprived of that divine delight because he neglects
his duty and falls asleep and becomes neglectful he again turns
towards that sordid food, that has been steeped in all filthand which is unclean ; and his inner being does not examine,
because the stomach of his soul is empty. For to the hungry
soul even bitter things are sweet.
And farther : no one to whom a treasure is entrusted will
indulge in sleep. If he keeps the law of watchfulness and434 clings to the labour of discernment, and through knowledge
derived from these drinks in life, the struggle of the allurementsof the affections will not approach his mind at all. And these
allurements will not be held back with effort from entering
the heart, but the satiety of the inner soul which is full ofknowledge, and the desire of amazing visions which is foundin it, restrain them from approaching to man with their inter­course. This does not happen, as I have said, while man

THAT BY THE THOUGHTS WHICH STIR IN A M A N ETC.

29 1

desists from watchfulness and from the labour of discrimination
which are the guardians of true knowledge and of psychic light ;but it happens without the mind being involved in struggle,
for the reasons which have been expounded.
The food of the poor is despicable to the rich and thenutriment of the sick to the healthy. But riches and healthare established through watchfulness and diligence. This iswitnessed to by nature. As long as a man lives he needs watch­fulness and diligence and alertness in order to guard his trea­
sure. But if he leaves his territory, he becomes ill and isrobbed [of his possessions] . For a long time even he will
possess strength through his previous health, but .when thisdoes not increase, he will become a prey to weakness andindigence. Does not even nature instruct us concerning thesethings ? And is there any heavenly thing which cannot be
discussed in a comparison which we find in our nature ? Even
our Lord used to confirm all spiritual things by examples fromnature and in this way He used to establish their power inour souls ; not only things relating to the shortliving earthly
pawn, but also those belonging to the true body, and the435 completion and the truth of our future. Do not wonder atwhat I have said. There is not only work to be done till thefruit shows itself, but even till the time of gathering the fruit
there is still work to be done. By the time of gathering the
fruit I mean the grave. It may occur that, when the fruit has
become ripe, hail of a sudden will strike it.
He that mingles with things and proceeds to have inter­course, cannot be certain that his health will stay with him.
I say : using and seeing [are the same]. 0 Jesus Christ, kingof the worlds, make me worthy of desire in Thee. The man
who adheres to intercourse with God, and who has mingled
his life with it, is greater than any other man on the earthand [greater] than any service performed by rational creatures.
When thou prayest unto God, say to Him only this : 0 Lord
make me worthy of becoming dead to the intercourse withthis world, in truth. - So thou canst comprehend the wholeprayer. And try diligently to accomplish this in thyself in
reality. If prayer is followed by practice, thou surely art standing
in the freedom of Christ.
Being dead to the world is not only this that a man keeps
himself far from mingling with [worldly] things. But this is292

THAT BY THE THOUGHTS WHICH STIR !N A MAN ETC.

being dead to the world in truth : that a man in 1) his mind
does not long after the goods of the world.
If we are accustomed to beautiful meditation, we are eshamedof the affections when we come in contact with them (this is
known by those who have experienced it in their soul), and so
we shall be ashamed to approach unto their causes.
436
If thou desirest to cling to some work for the sake of thelove of God, then set death as the limit of thy desire for it.
So by practising it, thou wilt be elevated unto the degree ofmartyrdom through every suffering and injury which smites
thee within the domain of death, if thou perseverest till theend without giving way. Meditating upon a feeble deliberation
weakens the power of patience. But the confirmed mind im­parts a strength which does not belong to nature, to him thatadheres to its contemplation. 0 Lord, make me worthy of
hating my life, for the sake of life in Thee.
Dealings in this world resemble a copy of a book whichis still in rough draft. What a man desires or whenever hewishes, something can be added to or taken from it, and so
he may alter his writing. Future dealings resemble documents
drawn up as bonds, provided with the seal of the king, to orfrom which it Is not allowed to add or subtract anything.
As long as we are in the place where altering is possible,
let us observe ourselves ; and while we have authority over
our lifebook and our book is still between our hands, let us
zealously add [acts of] beautiful behaviour, and let us scratch
from it the loss of the old behaviour without freedom. \\7eare allowed to scratch out faults, as long as we are here.
And God will take into account every alteration we make init. May we be deemed worthy of life everlasting before weappear before the king, and He puts His seal on the book 2).
As long as we are in this world, God will not put His seal
43 7 neither on our good works nor on our bad ones, before thehour of departure, when we have completed the service ofour country and we prepare to strike camp.
So it is becoming for us, as the blessed Mar Ephraim says,that we ma�e our soul resemble at all times a ship that is
prepared [for sea] . When the wind [required] for her will blow,I) The text has : in the intercourse or occupation of his mind
2) Cf. the Muslim doctrine of the �!,;>THAT BY THE THOUGHTS WHICH STIR IN A MAN ETC.

2 93

she does not know. A nd the army does not know when thetrumpet will give the sign to start ; and to the tenant it is
not known when the landlord will give the command to depart.
Now if these are thus prepared for the sake of a short ab­
sence, as they will soon turn perhaps and come back, howmuch more is it becoming for us to be prepared and readybefore the long absence of the day of death. May Christ,
the mediator of our life, grant us to reach that long bridge
and the gate of the new world, in a state of preparation. To
whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
LXIII
W H Y IT IS THAT PEOPLE WHO A RE IN THE PSY­
CHIC STATE OF K N OW LEDGE CONSIDER SPIRITUAL
THINGS I N ACCORDANCE W ITH [THEIR] BODILYGROSSNESS AND HOW IT IS POSSIBLE T H AT THE
MIND BE ELEVATED ABOVE THIS AND WHAT IS THE
CAUSE WHY WE A RE NOT FREED FROM IT AND
W HEN AND HOW IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE MIND TO
REMAIN WITHOUT IMAGES AT THE TIME OF PRAYER
He whose majesty is blessed, will open the gate before us,
so that we have no single wish than desire of Him . W hen
4 38 we so abandon everything, and our mind goes out to seek
Him alone, there will be rio thought in it of anything whichscreens its face from the aspect of the Lord of the Universe.
The more the mind abandons the thought of visible things,
o my beloved, and the more it thinks of the future hope, in
accordance with the degree of elevation above bodily thoughts
and · intercourse with them, to the same extent it will be sub­tilised and become clear during prayer.
To the same extent as the body, the mind is made freefrom the bonds of [worldly] things ; and to the same extent
as it is made free from the ties of thoughts, does it become
cerene ; and to the same extent as it becomes serene, is it also
subtilized ; and to the same extent as it is subtilized, is it
lifted up above the emotions of this world which bears thestamp of grossness. And it knows that it shall look on God
as He ts, not as we are.

2 94

WHY IT IS TUA T PEOPLE W HO ARE ETC.

If a man has not been deemed worthy of revelation before,
it is not possible that he should know this. And if he does
not attain purity, his emotions are not made clear so as tolook at the hidden things. And until through his [spiritual]riches he be freed from all that is seen, he is not freed fromemotions for those things, and he does not become devoidof deliberations that cause darkness. And even as darkness
and enchaining thoughts, so the affections are there.
If a man is not made free from all those things which I
have mentioned and from their causes, he cannot consider thehidden things of the mind. Therefore our Lord has ordered
us to practise renunciation before any other thing, and flightfrom the troubles of the world, and freedom from common
human thought. Who does not forsake his whole human state
and all that he possesses, and deny even himself, he cannot
be a disciple to Me 1) ; lest the mind be inj ured by anything :439 by sight, by hearing, by care of [worldly] things, their loss ortheir increase, or by man . A nd thereby that He has boundour mind by hope of Himself alone, He has caused the wholecare of our deliberations to look towards Himself. And inHimself He has bound the whole care of our mind, after having
freed it from all other things, that thence we · may long after
intercourse with Himself, because of our care being continually
directed towards Himself.
Prayer further requires also training, that through long prac­
tice the mind may become wise. For after renunciation whichfrees our impulses from bonds, prayer requires constancy thatthrough constancy and time the mind may acquire training so
as to know how to restrain its deliberations and to learn
through experience many things which it cannot receive fromothers. Any [state of] discipline is prepared 2) by the preceding
one ; and the preceding one is necessary for the existence ofthe following.
Prayer is preceded by reclusion ; reclusion [is practised] witha view to prayer ; prayer in order to acquire love of God ;for in prayer are found causes for loving God.
Also this we must know, my beloved ones, that any hidden
intercourse, or any meditation upon spiritual things, is to be
denoted by prayer or comprehended under the name of prayer
1) Cf. Luke 14, 332) literally : educatedW i l Y IT IS TIIA T PEOPLE WHO ARE ETC.

295

or included within this denomination : be it recitation with disor songs in praise of God, or painstaking thoughtof our Lord, or prostration of the body, or psalms of glori­
fication, and so on. For from them is received instruction con­cerning veracious prayer ; and from the latter love of God isborn. And love is through prayer ; and prayer through dwellingalone. And loneliness serves the purpose, that we should havea place where we can converse with God in solitude. Lone­liness is preceded by abandonment of the world.
If a man forsake not the world first and renunciate all thathe possesses, he cannot attain to loneliness. So abandonment of,the world in its turn is preceded by patience, and patience byhatred of the world ; hatred of the world by fear and love.
For if the mind is not terrified by the fear of Hell and incitedby the love of [future] good, the hatred of this world will notarise in him. And if the mind does not hate the world, itcannot forego its intercourse and comfort. And if the mind
has not acquired patience before, it cannot choose dwelling i nsolitude without companions. And i f i t does not choose a lonely
life, it cannot abide in prayer. And if it is not constantly inintercourse with God and cling to those impulses which areinterwoven with prayer and to those kinds of instruction which
are in prayer, as we have said, it cannot perceive love.
So the love of God proceeds from intercourse with Him ;the intercourse of prayer from solitude ; solitude from renun­
ciation ; renunciation in its turn from patience ; patience from
4 4 r hatred of desires ; hatred of desires from fear of Hell and the
expectation of the [future] good. Desires are hated by him
that knows the fruits thereof, namely what they prepare forhim and from what good he is deprived for their sake.
So every discipline is connected with that which precedes
it, takes increase from it and proceeds unto others which arehigher. And if one of the middle links should fail, the fol­lowing could not maintain itself and it would appear that all
were loosened and lost.
440 crimination ,296

ON THE MANY VARYING STATES WHICH CLING ETC.

LXIV
ON THE MANY VARYING STATES WHICH CLING TO
THE MIND AND ARE PURIFIED BY PRAYER
To choose what is good, is the part of the good will of
him that desires this. To accomplish the choice of the excellent
will, this belongs to God and it requires much help on His
part. Therefore we have to combine the good desire which
is awakened in us, with continual prayer. Not only in order
to ask from Him help, but also to discriminate whether it
concords with His will or not. Not every beautiful desire falls
into the heart by divine action, but [only] that which is pro­fitable. There are beautiful things which man may desire though
they do not help him. Such desires may even be sent by
Satan, even though they be esteemed to be helpful. How
many times does the thing desired not fit his measure ; and442 Satan has contrived it to his detriment, compelling him to ask
it, though he has not yet reached this [stage of] discipline or
though he is a stranger to the rank of its scheme ; or thetime is not fit in which Satan incites him to accomplish thesethings ; or he is not able to perform them, either through[lack of] knowledge, or through bodily weakness, or throughthe time not being favorable. A t any rate, though it does
seem beautiful, it either troubles him, or it causes him bodily
harm, or it places a hidden snare in his mind.
So , as I have said, we have to combine continual anddiligent prayer with theseemingly good desire which is awakened
in us, saying, every one of us : May it be Thy will regarding
me, to accomplish in fact this good which I have choosen andwhich I desire to practise, if it concords with Thy wilL To fix
my will on it, is easy to me ; to practise it, is however not
possible for me without a gift on Thy part. Though in truth
both are thine, to will and to do 1). For it is not without Thy
grace that I have surrendered to or been shaken before thatwhich stirred in me. It is the custom of him that desires any
good thing with discrimination of mind , to work for it inI) Cf. Philippians 21 I 3

ON THE MANY VARYING STATES WHICH CLING ETC.

297

prayer continually ; and the force [he acquires] thereby, hewill use as an aid for his service. And then wisdom which
distinguishes truth from falsehood through much prayer andlabour and watchfulness and beautiful longing without break,will come to light, in continual tears, humbleness and heavenly
help, especially when its opponents are deliberations of haughti·
ness which remove from us God's help, and which we canannihilate by prayer.
LXV
443 GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNINGWATCHFULNESS A ND DIRECTIONS CONCERNING
THE W AY OF D ISCIPLI NE BY WHICH A MAN MAY
ACQUIRE A HIGH RANK

Repentance 1) is the mother of life. It opens to us its gatewhen we flee from all things. The grace which we have lost,
after baptism, by a lax behaviour, is restored in us by repen­tance, through discrimination of mind. From water and spirit
we have put on Christ , without perceiving His glory. Byrepentance we enter into His delight through the discriminating
love which rises in us.
He who is destitute of repentance, is destitute of future
delight. He who is near to all, is far from repentance. H e
who i s far from all, with discrimination, i s the true repentant.
As soon as a man withdraws from men and concentrates upon
himself, impulses of repentance will show themselves in his
mind. He receives the seed of life from grace and, as anembryo, the affection of discrimination moves in him, and in
his heart is �tirred the thought of eternal life in the future
and the hope of resurrection and the thought of Judgment.
Do not think that without divine grace suffering falls into
the mind, which receives [it] secretly, as a gift through divinemercy, because of a sudden contrition and a longing after life.
As also the blessed Euagrius says 1) : A purifying drug is the
444 hot contrition of the soul, which is given by the Lord throughthe angels to those who repent, that through diligence pun1 ) Cf. Introduction

2 98

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

fication from the affections may be granted. Further he says :The fire of a furnace is the hot contrition of the soul, which
through the grace of Christ happens to the soul at the timeof prayer so that the thoughts attain contemplation . Its lackis cured by living water.
The beginning of repentance is humbleness without artifice.
Splendid garments are a confusion of repentance. The way
towards wisdom is the regulation of the limbs. Bodily effer­vences are a confusion of wisdom. True wisdom is looking
towards God. Looking towards God is silence of the delibera­
tions. Solitude of the mind is quietness with discrimination.
The moisture of the senses is a fountain of deliberations.
Apperception in God is the depth of humbleness.
True contemplation is the mortification of the heart. The
heart which is really dead to the world, is wholly astir in
God. True mortifi c ation is the motion of life. It is better tosmell life by desisting from all, than to build life by desistingfrom smelling. Better is he that builds his soul than he thatbuilds the world. It is better to imbibe life than to distributelife. He whose outward limbs are dead, his inner emotions
are alive. He whose outward limbs are alive, has killed thelimbs of wisdom. Humbleness with discrimination is true know­
ledge. True knowledge is a fountain of humbleness. He thatis humble in his heart, is humble in his body. He who is
audacious in his body, is audacious in his heart. He who is
44 s perturbed in his body, is perturbed in his heart. He who isperturbed in his heart, is foolish in his mind. He who is foolishin his mind, his ways are evil. Whose way is evil, he isdead in life.
If thou lovest humbleness, do not love finery. A man wholoves finery cannot bear contempt. And to take to lonely
works, is difficult to him. And he is ashamed of submitting
to him that is inferior to himself.
The servant of God does not adorn his body. Know thatevery man who loves bodily finery is sick in his inner being,
though he performs beautiful [works] . And to every one wholoves visible profit, it is impossible to acquire true love of any
one. And every one who runs after honour, is a slave of thisworld. If those who do these things are disliked by thee, thenrestrain thyself from the same things.
Humbleness and chastity are promoted by the same idea

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

2 99

of contempt. And from him that loves honour and finery thourequirest not the former properties in their truth. If thou lovest
chastity, do not love distraction. Things which happen tothee through divagation do not allow thee to cling to chastity
with caution. No one who loves distraction, is chaste. And
do not believe that any one who converses with lay people,
is humble. Every one who loves God loves a solitary life. Thata man who is given to distraction should guard truth in hissoul without a stain, is impossible.
Many show the appearance of repentance ; but only he pos446 sesses it in truth, that is grieved in heart. Many run to findthe affection of the heart ; but only he finds It m truth, thatpossesses continual silence. Every one who is a servant ofGod, loves grief.
Every one who possesses profuse speech is certainly empty
within, though he tells amazing things.
Inward grief is a bridle of the senses.
If thou lovest truth, thou must love silence. This will makethee illuminated in God like the sun and it will deliver theefrom the idle thoughts of ignorance ; silence will even unite
thee with God.
When thy kneeling gives thee delight, do not hasten toreach its end. Would that it never ended as long as thouart in this life. When thy mind is concentrated, do not cut
off thy prayer. Do not count as idleness a long concentrated
prayer, as against the long recitation of Psalms. Love kneeling
during prayer better than the sound of the sentences. If it
profits thee, then accomplish it instead of thy service.
If the gift of tears be given thee during thy service, . do
not deem the delight which is in it as a pause in thy service.
For the gift of tears is the accomplishment of prayer.
Do not wonder if sometimes, while thou art kneeling inprayer , thy mind, being concentrated upon it , desist frompraying. This thou wilt find during service as well as during
recitation. W hen thy mind is distracted, it will rather adhere
to recitation than to prayer. Thy method of recitation has tobe parallel to the scope of thy discipline. Not all books areuseful for the concentration of the mind. Most books containing
447 instruction are not useful for purifi c ation. Various books cause
to thee distraction of mind. Know that not every book con­taining instruction concerning the fear of God, is also useful3 00

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

for the purification of the inner being and the concentrationof the deliberations. Do not dispute about the exact significanceof these things with him that does not know the truth.
Love rest more than labours. Honour recitation, if possible,
more than standing 1) ; for it is a source of pure prayer. But
there is no reason at all to despise standing. Beware of snares.
Recitation of Psalms is the root of discipline. But know this,that the sentences [sung] with a distracted mind suit better
bodily labour. Mental grief is better than bodily fatigue. At
the time of weariness be accustomed to spur on thy zeal
somewhat. For the heart greatly needs to be alert to renderfervent the emotions of the soul. As against desire, so natural
warmth is also helpful at the time of weariness ; for it chases
the cold from the soul. Usually weariness befalls us at two
occasions : through a heavy stomach and through great weak­ness caused by labours.
The regulation of service is the light of the mind. Thereis nothing like knowledge.
Let every prayer which thou offerest during the night, behonoured in thy eyes above all labours of the day. Do notmake heavy thy stomach, lest thy mind become confused and
44 8 thyself troubled by distraction while standing during the night ;and thy . limbs be lax and thyself filled wholly with relaxation ;thy soul be dark and thy impulses troubled, and thyself ab­solutely unable to concentrate them upon the sentences on
account of darkness ; and the taste of everything become weakto thee ; and the sentences of the Psalms sung keep not their
sweetness to thee, sentences the discriminations of which themind used to taste with delight on account of its swiftness
and illumination.
When the order of the night-service is troubled, then themind will also be confused during the service of the day andproceed in darkness, without taking delight in recitation, as
usually. For it is as if a cloud lies over the impulses, when
they are in emotion in prayer or in meditation. The delightwhich during the day is lavished upon the ascetic is poured on
the watchful mind on account of the light of the nightly service.
From him who has not experienced solitude for a long time
thou canst not expect to learn anything additional concerning1 ) in prayer or i n vigils

G OOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCER"'ING ETC.

30 I

the goods of the ascetics even though he may be very wise
and instructive and possess a range of habitual virtues
Be cautious not to weaken thy body too much, lest wea­riness overpower thee and thou shouldst make thy soul cold
against the taste of its service. As in a scale man ought toweigh his discipline. When thou art satisfied, be somewhat
cautious against free speech in thyself.
Let thy sitting be in chastity, also at the time of bodily
want. Especially chaste and cautious thou hast to be whengoing to sleep, not only thy deliberations, but also thy mem­bers being watchful. Be watchful against presumption whengood states 1) come upon thee. Thy weakness and thy dullness
449 in the face of its subtlety thou must communicate to our Lordin zealous prayer, lest evil things should be allowed to try
thee. For fornication follows haughtiness, and aberration pre­sumption.
Use handiwork as far as thou needest it, especially as thouart shut up in solitude. Let not thy hope on Him that pro­vides for thee, indulge in any weakness ; God's provisions inbehalf of His housemates are amazing ; even in the desert
without human hands He provides for those who inhabit itand hope on Him. If our Lord supplies thee with that which
the body needs, though thou doest not labour but carest forthe soul only, then some thought will arise by the trickeryof the murderer 2) namely this, that there necessarily must beon thy part some cause for all this care. And with this deli­beration, God's care will be withdrawn from thee. And at thesame time myriads of temptations will arise and assail thee,having their origin either in the neglect of those who used
to care for us, or in the recommencement of pains and illnes­
ses that are caused 3) in our body. God does not give up His
care on account of this emotion alone, but when the mind
sticks to it. On account of in voluntary emotion God does
not chastise and judge a man, not even when we give way
to it for a short time ; but at once pain pricks us and con­trition comes to us. Our Lord will not seek retribution forsuch a fault ; but only for such a one as the mind reallyclings to, in that we glance at it unconsciously as if therer ) �cu.
2) Satan3) lit. stirring

3 0 .2, ; uu J >.\lJ\'ICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

were no harm in it and without thinking of anything wrong
Perpetually we have to pray to our Lord in this way : 0
450 Christ, Thou summit of truth, let Thy truth dawn in our hearts,that we know to walk in Thy way according to Thy will.
When for a short time or longer some evil deliberationshows itself often in thee, know then assuredly that Satan
wishes to lay a snare for thee. And pay attention to it indue time. If it is however a right-hand and good one, knowthat the Lord wishes to give thee some share of life andthat for this cause this deliberation is astir in thee so unusu­
ally often. If it is a dark deliberation and thou art in doubt
concerning it because thou canst not make out clearly whether
it is helpful or treacherously hidden in a scheme of beauty,
then pay attention to it in keen prayer night and day, withlong vigils. Do not push it from thee, neither deliver thyself
unto it but pray diligently and fervently because of it. Do
not cause crying to our Lord, and He will show himself ma­
nifestly, [so that thou knowest] whence it is.
Love silence above all things. It brings thee near the fruit
which the tongue is too weak to interpret. At first we compel
ourselves to be silent. Then from our silence something isborn which draws us towards silence. May God grant thee toperceive that which is born from silence. If thou beginnest
with this discipline, I do not know how much light will dawn
in thee through it. Concerning what is said about the admir4 5 ' able Arsenius : that Fathers and brethren came to see him,
but that he sat with them in silence and dismissed them insilence - do not think, my brother, that this happened by
the action of his will alone, though in the beginning he had
to compel himself. After some time some delight is born inthe heart from the exercise of this service and by force it
draws the body towards remaining in silence.
Many tears are born in us by this discipline, by the amazingsight of things which the heart perceives distinctly. Sometimes
by suffering, sometimes on account of ecstasy the heart be­comes small as a child ; and as soon as it insists in prayer,tears will burst forth.
Great is the man who, side by. side with bodily endurance,
possesses admirable customs in his soul.
If thou placest all labours of this discipline 1) on one side1 ) solitary life

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

303

and silence on the other, silence will outweigh them. There
are many warnings of the Fathers which need not be kept
laboriously when a man approaches unto silence , and thepractice of which becomes superfluous, because he is elevatedabove them, and is near the mark. Silence is also helpful
for solitude.
For it is impossible. that, living in an inhabited place, weshould not meet with any one. Even that angel of God, Ar­
semus , who loved solitude more than any one , could not
whoily avoid meeting others. For in such a place we meet
Fathers and brethren and innumerable other persons, and wehave to visit the church. When that blessed man saw that it
452 was impossible to avoid this, so long as he was in the vicinityof an inhabited place (though his dwelling-place was at a
distance of many miles from a human settlement, even fromthe solitaries who dwelt in those places) , he learned fromgrace this means : continual silence. When sometimes it wasnecessary for him to open his door to some of them, they
enjoyed his aspect only ; conversation was superfluous.
Many fathers have been led by this sight, to become care­
ful also as to their own person that, their spiritual riches might
increase, through the instruction they received from the aspectof the blessed one. They continually saw him silent, so thatmany of them put a stone in their mouth 1), others tied arope to their inner wall for the sake of recollection, others
wearied themselves by unusual fasting ; when they had to go
to meet other people they imposed the trial of hunger uponthemselves. For hunger greatly helps those who try to acquirea greater concentration of the senses. And many used to dosuch things in order to acquire this self-control of beautiful
aspect tha t imparts life.
Many fathers I have found, o my brethren, great and admir­able, who cared for the direction of the senses and the bodily
attitude more than for other labours, because from them is453 also
born the direction of the deliberations. Many causes,
independent of his will, meet a man and make him leave thedomain of his freedom. And if he did not guard his senses
through the regularity of custom which dominated his soulbefore, they would for long prevent him from recovering his mind,
finding his former quiet.
1) Ghazali tells this about Abu Bakr

304

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

The education of the heart is, to be occupied with its hope.
The education of discipline is to free oneself from every thing.
The recollection of death is a wholesome bond of the outward
limbs. A hook [drawing] the soul towards life is the joy thatrises in the heart on account of hope. A drink of knowledge
are the perpetual temptations which the mind every day draws
from within, through the two varying states. The budding of
the heart is the conviction of the resurrection in faith, which
hope receives from within.
Deem me worthy, my Lord, to see in my soul Thy bounty,
before I depart this would, that I may perceive in my self
in that hour consolation, as have done those who in good
hope have left this world. Open my heart, o God, throughThy grace and purify me from the communion with sin ; andmake level in my heart the way of repentance, my God and
my Lord , my hope and my boast , my strong refuge , bywhom my eyes receive light, and let me receive understandingby Thy truth.
Deem me worthy, 0 my Lord, to taste the delightful giftof repentance by which the soul is made free from the bondage
of sin and the whole wiii of flesh and blood.
Deem me worthy, o Lord, to taste this affection in which
reposes the gift of pure prayer. My saviour has reached theamazing passage through which the soul leaves the visible
454 world and in which begin new impulses for entry into thespiritual world, and experiences of new apperceptions.
He that begins and accomplishes well, places his discipline
upon this foundation, entreating God unceasingly that He may
deem him worthy to perceive this apperception in which issown the knowledge of the future order of things throughimperishable hope, which through divine grace is preserved
for man after the completion of this world.
But he that begins pervertedly goes from above downwards :he begins with joy and he ends with weeping ; and he becomesdevoid of knowledge and hope, as a formless body which notattained to the reception of the soul, because it has not com­pleted the state of preparation in the womb, but has reached
the end of the life of form 1).
Contempt for intercourse with the world is the sign of a

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

305

soul that has perceived its hope. A hidden alertness implies
drowsiness regarding visible things.
The weapon of the heart is faith in Christ. Who by thedesire of hope has withstood even death, death is esteemed
as nothing in his eyes, and so are being exiled from his country,
and the strife of the demons and alienation from men , andlack of the consolation of the world. What is the consolationof visible things and the being occupated with them , as com­pared with the delight of hope that is perceived in the heart ?
As he that has abandoned the body in the drunkenness of hisjoy, through the flaming faith which kindles his heart, so that455 all visible things are hidden from him and he knows nothing
in the creation through the heat of his body and the emotionsof his soul, and as he that abides already in the kingdom, does
he account [earthly things] because of the faith of his mind.
Though sometimes we are subject to despondency becauseof loneliness - perhaps this is permitted in us by Providence yet we also possess through our heart's faith the consolationof hope which is too great for words ; and through this hope,troubles are accounted by us as nothing, even death. And
well has one of those who are clad with God, said : Sufficientis the love of God, as a consolation for him that believes,
even when he loses his self. How should troubles injure him
who despises even the delights of comfort for the sake offuture good ?
Also this I advise thee, o my brother, that in all thy dis­
cipline the scale of mercy be preponderant ; through this thouwilt perceive God's mercy for the world. Our own state be­comes to us a mirror in which we behold the true Prototype,in those things which naturally belong to that Essence.
By these things and the like we become illuminated so as
to be in motion unto God, with a clear mind. A heart wickedfrom of old, cannot become serene.
A merciful man is the physician of his own soul ; for hedrives away from his inner being the dark mist, as by astrong wind. Mercy is a good investment with God, according
4 5 6 to the Gospel of life : Blessed is the merciful : for he shallobtain mercy 1). Not only in the world to be, symbolically also
here. V/hat mercy is greater than this, that when a man is1 ) Matthew 5 , 7

Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (Wensinck}

306

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CO:-.iCERNING ETC.

moved by mercy unto his follow man and becomes his partnerin suffering, our Lord delivers his soul from gloomy darkness
which is intelligible Hell, and brings it in contact with thelight of life, for its comfort ? The blessed Euagrius has well
said : A clear way is founded upon T!1ercy.
Therefore, as I have said : Let a merciful heart presideover thy whole behaviour, then thou shalt find peace with God.
Be careful, that no evil be ever done to any man through thy
hands, not even to the evil one 1) . And when it is possible forthee to deliver the iniquitous from evil, do not omit it. Not
that, if the matter be far from thee, thou shouldst go and mix
thyself with such things - such a deed does not belong to
thy duty - but if the matter is put in thy hands, and thouhast power over it, because it has been placed before thee
accidentally as a trial, in that God wished to try thee by His
admitting it, then be cautious regarding thyself lest thou be­come a participant in the blood of the iniquious, because thoudoest not hasten to deliver him. But try with thy whole soulto save him, even if thou shouldst die for his sake. Thenthou wilt really be a martyr and as one that has suffereddeath on the cross for sinners. And pray God , that this ") may
not happen through thee. But even if he be worthy of evil,
let him receive the judgment of his deeds by the hands of
45 7 others. It does not become thee to regard the worth of hisdeeds. Let good [alone] happen to him by thy hands.
Think of Him who bears all, the deeds of all men being
placed before His eyes, clearer than the sun ; and if He liked
He could destroy all men by the breath of His mouth. Thouwert not appointed to pronounce [the judgment of] vengeanceagainst deeds and their perpetrators, but it is thy duty to
implore mercy on the world, to abide in vigil for the salva­
tion of all, to share in the suffering of every man, righteousand sinners. And thou must know, that if he deserve it, justicewill bind him within a short time, by the hands of others who
are fit for this deed ; and thou wilt save thy soul and become
a living martyr. But even this thou hast not to ask or tocare for, but to implore God's mercy upon him , that he may
change and become as it is the will of God that he should1 ) C f., p. 14, 7 9 etc.
z) viz. the punishment of the iniquitous

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

307

be and may depart life in righteousness and not [awaiting]the retribution of wickedness.
Be instead of an avenger, a deliverer ; instead of an accuser,a peace maker ; instead of one who delivers, a martyr ; insteadof a plaintiff, a dependant. Beseech God in behalf of the sin­ners, that they may obtain grace. And pray for the righteous,that they may be preserved. Vanquish the evil ones by thiskindness, and make the zealous wonder at thy bounty. Those
who love justice, make them ashamed by thy mercy. With theafflicted be afflicted in thy mind. Love all men. And be far
4 5 8 from all men. Recollect death, and prepare thyself for thy
entrance into it. Embellish thy course. Remember that the sinsof all men go before them to the court of justice.
Be not dejected because of trespasses. I do not say thatthou shouldst not suffer ; but thou must not account them as
being incurable. Better broken than dead. For one who isbroken , there is the physician, who on the cross has imploredmercy for those who crucified Him, who asked forgiveness for
His murderers while He hung on the cross. ,All manner of sin
and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men' 1) , namely on ac­
count of repentance. \Vhen Simon who had denied Him, had
wept a short time, He forgave him. And after His resurrec­tion, He appointed him as the head of His flock . Three times
He asked him : Lovest thou me ? 2) , even as three times hehad denied Him, in order to confirm His pardon. Christ cameon behalf of the sinners, in order to heal the broken in heart,and to bind up their wounds 3) . 'The Spirit of the Lord isupon me ; therefore He has anointed me , to preach goodtidings unto the meek ; He hath sent me to bind up thebrokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives 4), and sightto the blind, and healing to those who are broken, by for­giveness. And the Apostle says in his epistle : Jesus Christ
came to the world to save sinners 5). And his Lord witnesses :For I am not come to call the righteous ; for they that arewhole have no need of the physician , but they that are sick 6) .
There were two debtors to a certain creditor ; and because
they had nothing to pay with, he forgave both of them ; na­mely : when they had beseeched him.
I ) Matthew 1 21 31
4) Isaiah 6 I , 1z) John Z I , I 6S ) I Timothy I , I S3 ) cf. Psalm I4 7 , 36) Mark 21 I 7

3 08

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

Our frail nature would not be strong enough if God's j usticeproceed to take vengeance. Therefore He uses mercy
so that we at all times are bound by our debt.
Do not sin, o man, in hope of repentance, and do not indulge
in weakness, confiding in forgiveness. Remember, that deathwill not be postponed. Do not contrive to approach to thedelight of sin, with a cunning mind. God is not mocked 1).
H is knowledge precedes thy deliberation : trouble will comeupon thee suddenly, and thou wilt cry, but He will not
answer thee.
When thou approachest thy bed, because the time for sleep
has come, say : 0 bed, perhaps thou wilt become my grave
this night and I not know it. Perhaps in stead of temporary
sleep, eternal sleep will fall on me this night, while I thoughtof preparing for days and months, which I did not see.
As long · as thou hast feet, run after the service of righte­
ousness, before they be caught by a bond which it is impos­
sible to sever. As long as thou hast hands , stretch them
towards heaven in prayer, before thy arms fall from theirjoints and thou desire to raise them, and it is impossible forthee. As long as thou hast fingers, raise them unto God in
supplication. For there will come a time when the splendid
strength of their joints is weakened. As long as thou hasteyes, fill them with tears during prayer, weeping for thy sins,
46o before the moment when sand will cover the black [clothes]and the eyes will become feeble, staring senseless in one direc­
tion, without thy knowing it. As long as the heart, the fountainof the deliberations, is ordered by a distinguishing power, be­think of those things which are helpful to thy life, before thesoul be hastened on to departure from it 2) and become ahouse devoid of its inhabitants.
0 thou who art wise, let no deliberation flatter thee withthe hope of a long life. As a flower withers by the blowingof the sirocco, so against thee will blow one of the elements
which are within thee and without thy expecting it, suddenly
thy knees will relax. And while thou thinkest that it is nothing
and that thou art curing the illness, suddenly the cunning one
will approach, who laughs at the wise.
4 5 9 should1) Galatians 61 72) the heart

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

3 09

0, for the wretchedness of our nature ! how are we entangled
in its love, though God does not desire to leave us in thisstate. Set thy heart to prepare for departure, o man. As asage thou must expect departure every hour, thinking every
day : the messenger of him that comes after me, has reached
the gate ; why should I remain sitting ? It is a departure for
ever, I cannot return hither. Go asleep with these thoughts
every night ; and meditate upon this deliberation every day.
And when [the time of departure] comes, go joyfully to meetit, saying : Come in peace. I knew that thou wouldst comeand I have not neglected anything that could. serve me on
the way.
461
Take provisions for thy long way, o sage. Drive away
the heaviness of sleep from thy heart, o companion. Order
thy things for departure , thou who dwell est as a sedentary.
Morningtime is near, o traveller, why art thou sleeping ? Come,
prepare thyself, thou sailor who art about to sail off, prepare
the utensils of thy ship ; for thou doest not know when thewind will begin to blow.
.
Be ready and prepared before he comes that will destroy
thy forms. For Sheol shall make wither their form 1), and theyshall be bereft of the beautiful glory of nature and their bodies
will be left in the wilderness. Remember always that destructionof deplorable appearance, that formless scattering of thy senses,
that ruin of the building of thy body, that pure mixture thatwill become mud in Sheol. Bleased is he that with joy meetsthe recollection of that destruction ! Blessed is he that withgood hope awaits that event full of mystery, in which thewonder of the Creator's great power is hidden ! Spiritual me­
ditation is, to be continually occupied with the hope of [things
which will be] after the resurrection.
The beginning of this impulse in the mind lies in the domainof repentance. That which induces the soul to embrace repen­tance, is the constant thought of future things. Who has been
moved by repentance, his hope has turned to the future world.
Who has forgotten this, his mind abides in this world.
Who loves intercourse with Christ, loves to be alone. Wholoves to remain in the company of many others, he is a friendof this world.
1) Cf. Job 14, 20 : Thou changest his countenance and sendest him away.

3IO

GOOlJ ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CO:-<CERNING ETC.

Repentance 1) is the constant sorrow of the heart at the
meditation of that inexplicable statute : how shall I reach that
unspeakable entrance r If thou lovest repentance, then love also
solitude. For without this, repentance cannot be completed.
If there is any one who disputes this, do not dispute with him,
for he does not know what he says. If he did know what
repentance is, he also would know its place, and that it is not
to be disturbed by trouble. If thou lovest solitude, the fatherof repentance, then love also to accept gladly the small de­ficiencies of the body, and the blame that arises from them.
Without this preparation it will be impossible for thee to live
in solitude, freely, without trouble. If thou despisest those things,
thou wilt acquire solitude, according to God's will. If thou art
wronged or robbed or laughed at or the like, thou wilt not
be moved, because of thy love of solitude.
Love of solitude is the constant expectation of death. He
that without this meditation enters solitude, having other thoughts,
cannot bear those things which, for the sake of solitude, hemust bear from all sides : to die for the sake of God, and tolive in God. The accomplishment of life is meditation upon
death for the sake of God. This brings our mind near to unionwith God, says Euagrius.
Also this thou must know , o discrimiating reader , thatlonely dwelling and solitude and reclusion are not chosen by
us in order to perform an excellent canonical labour. For it
463 is known that communion with many others gives a better
opportunity, because the body preserves its strength better. But
if reclusion were not necessary, the pious men that were theholy Fathers, would not have abandoned intercourse with many
people. Some of them dwelt in graves, others chose reclusion
in a lonely cell, which is greatly relaxing to the body andwhich does not promote the accomplishment of the canonicalrules. And all bodily weakness and misery, and severe illnesses
which struck them, they bore gladly during their whole life,
even when they were not able to stand on their feet or tooffer the usual prayer, or to praise God with their mouth, orto recite a psalm, or to perform any of the [works] which
are performed through the body. And bodily weakness alone
and solitude with them took the place of all canonical rules.

46zI) Cf. Introduction

GOOD ADVICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ETC.

3I I

And this was their occupation all the days of their life. And
during all this so called idleness, none of them longed to leave
his cell or to wander abroad ceasing from canonical labours,
or to enjoy the sound of the glorifications of others in acongregation.
Better is he that perceives his sins, than he that is profit­
able to the world by his appearance. Better is he that one
time has sighed by himself, than he that quickens the deadby his prayer and dwells among many others. Better is hethat has been deemed worthy of seeing himself, than he thathas been deemed worthy of seeing the angels. The latter
464 partakes of the eyes of the body, the former of the eye ofthe soul. Better is he that clings to Christ mournfully in soli­tude, than he that praises Him in a congregation. No one
should adduce the words of Paul : For I could wish that myself
were accursed by Christ for my brethren 1). He that hasreceived the power of Paul, he has also the permission to
do so. Paul was behaving as he did because a divine order
had been given to him to be profitable to the world. As hewitnesses to it, that he did not this by his OW11 will : fornecessity is laid upon me, woe is u nto me, if I preach not
the gospel 2) . Moreover, the election of Paul was not becauseof repentance , but that he should preach to humanity hereceived even greater power.
So we must love solitude, o my brother, that this world
may die from our heart and we may think of death continu­
ally. And by this meditation we shall approach unto God inheart ; and we shall despise the emptiness of the world ; andits desires shall be despicable in our eyes. Let us joyfully bear,with a sorry body, the continual idleness of solitude, my brother,in order that we may be deemed worthy of delight with thosethat in the caverns and the clefts of the earth are waiting forthe glorious revelation of our Lord from heaven. To Him andto His father and to the Holy Ghost be glory and praisefor ever and ever.
1) Romans 9, 3

2) Romans 9, 1 6

3I2

A LETTER WHICH HE SENT TO HIS FRI END ETC.

LXVI
465 A

LETTER W HICH HE SENT TO HIS FRIEND IN
WHICH HE EXPOUNDS SOME THINGS CONCERNING
THE MYSTERY OF SOLITUDE AND HOW IT IS THATMANY NEGLECT THIS WONDERFUL SERVICE BE­
CAUSE THEY ARE NOT ACQUAINTED WITH IT
WHEREAS THE MAIN PART OF THEM CLING TO
SITTI NG IN THE CELL BECAUSE THIS IS CURRENTMONKISH TRADITION. TOGETHER WITH A COLLEC­
TION OF SHORT SAYINGS USEFUL FOR THOSE WHO
PRACTISE SOLITUDE

Now that thou hast inculcated in me the duty to write tothee on those things which are necessary, I inform thy loveby this my writing, in accordance with the promise which I
gave thee. As I have found that thou art determined to prac­
tise sitting in solitude, with painstaking behaviour, so I frommy side will describe to thee in simple words, that which I
have heard from discriminating men concerning this service,
combining the concentrated sense of their words with personal 1)
experiences [gathered] by practice. And thou , on thy side,
wilt profit by being occupied with this letter in thy usual
diligent way, because with the discrimination of wisdom thouapproachest . the concise terms of the lecture of this letter,and not in the usual groove. And thou shalt take them assome elucidation of the rest of thy lecture, because of thegreat insight and power hidden in them. For the mind isgreatly strengthened by such a lecture and it takes from it a
466 weapon against distraction of the thoughts and against dejec ­tion which is wont to rise from the hardship of labours andthe prolonged sitting in solitude. And it casts behind it theworld with attention to its practices , through the radiancy
with which it is clad [by the sight of] those things which itmeets ; the which is the aim of this letter, [namely to makeknown] what is dwelling and service in solitude, and what
mysteries are hidden in this discipline which are not observed1) lit. : nearA LETTER WHICH HE SENT TO H I S FRIEND ETC.

3I3

by many, and what events the prudent try to reach by soli­
tude ; and wherefore they reject the righteousness which ispractised among men, fleeing from the sight of the world andchoosing the troubles and struggles which are connected withquiet and lonely dwelling. On account of this insight and on
account of those things which are found in this letter [readers]will call these solitaries who pass their life in this world inconcentrated sitting by themselves happy. To those who do
not perceive these things, admonition and advice concerning
the order of solitude are vain. Here however I write to thewise, and I give advice in love.
If thou seekest imperishable life during thy short days, obrother, then let thy entry unto solitude take place with dis­
crimination 1), that thou mayest find the profit which awaits
the wise in the path of solitude. Scrutinize its service and do
not run after a name. Enter, be profound and bold, learn andacquire and train thyself in all the amazing and liberating
distinctions of the ways of service in solitude. Then thou wilt
understand, with all the saints, what is the height and the467 depth and the length and the breadth of this illimitable dis­
cipline, because of the illimitable riches which its merchantsseek to acquire. And thou wilt not rest, until thou art trainedin all the ways of its service 2).
From every human practice, at its beginning, some profit isexpected when it shall be realised ; this it is which moves theintelligent to lay its foundations. And this aim makes the mind
heroic, so as to bear the difficulties of the matter. The mind
even gathers some consolation from it by looking towards it.
And after the fashion of an officer of the law, it apprehends
the mind, till the matter is accomplished. So, in the eyes ofthe discriminate, the aim of the severe service of solitude is
the harbour of mysteries towards which the mind looks, fromthe time when it lays the first foundations till the end of thework of building. A nd as the eyes of the helmsman look to
the stars, so, in all his long and difficult labours, the innergaze of the solitary, during his whole course, is directed
towards the aim which he has fixed in his mind the first day
when he gave himself to sailing the rough sea of solitude,
till he shall find the pearl for the sake of which he has
1 ) Cf. The Book of the Dove, p. 192) Text has plural

3 I4

A

LETTERW I I IC HHE

SE='ITTOHISFRIEND

ETC.

entrusted himself to the not-to-be-explored floods of the ocean.
And his gaze of hope makes light to him the whole burdenof service and the difficulties full of danger which meet him
in his course.
But he that, as soon as he enters solitude, does not set this
aim to the profit [he wishes to gather] from his service, labouring
at random as a man that combates the air, will never during
468 his life escape the spirit of despondency. And one of two things
will happen to him : Either, no longer bearing the insupportableburden, he will be vanquished and give up solitude altogether ;or, if he adheres to it, his cell becomes a dungeon in which
he is tormented. And because he does not know that he may
expect the consolation which is born from the service in solitude,
he is not able to implore through his heart's pain or to beseech
in passionate prayer or to embrace the token which our merciful
Fathers, from love of their posterity, have left to us in theirwritings, whereby we could gain our life.
One of them has said : To me the profit of solitude is this,that where I withdraw from the camp in which my abode isfixed, my mind becomes void of the occupations of war andturns to a service which is more profitable.
Another : Solitude cuts off causes which give a new turn tothe deliberations and within its walls there grow old and taste­
less the recollections of previous things. And when the oldmatter has disappeared from the intellect, the mind returns tonature in order to direct it.
Another : I run to meet solitude, with this aim, that in myheart the sentences of recitation and prayer may become sweet.
And when my tongue has been made silent by the delight of
their understanding, I fall, as it were, asleep, my senses andmy emotion being benumbed. And when by prolonged solitude
my heart has acquired peace from the trouble of recollections,solitude sends me continually waves of gladness which arise
from emotions which burst forth from within unexpectedly and469 suddenly , to the delight of my heart ; the which , runningagainst the ship of my soul, and [withdrawing it] from thesounds of the world and from the life of the flesh, immerse
it in the deepest depths of quiet in God.
A nother : The degree of thy hidden things thou canst under­
stand by thy different emotions. I mean the perpetual ones,
not those which are set astir by accident and are made toA LETTER WHICH HE SENT TO HIS FRIEND ETC.

3I5

pass by time. There is no one clad with flesh whose house
is not visited by some traveller belonging to the two various
states of good and of evil. If he is disprudent, by those of
deficiency, through nature, the fathers of children. If he isfaithful, by those of elevation, through the leaven of grace
which He has mixed with our nature, the parents of the king­dom on high.
Another : Choose the delightful service of continual vigils,
by which all the Fathers have put off their old man and havebecome worthy of the renewal of the intellect. At these times
the soul perceives that immortal life, by which apperception
it throws off the garment of darkness and becomes the recipientof spiritual gifts.
Another : It is not possible that a man, while seeing many
faces and h�aring various sounds foreign to spiritual medita­tion, and speaking and having intercourse with the like, should
keep his mind free so as to gaze at himself secretly , toremember his sins, to hide his thoughts, and to look at thosewhich come, and to become familiar with hidden prayer.
Further it is impossible for a man to subdue the senses by
47 o
the domination of the soul without solitude and alienation frommen because the initiated soul becomes united to them andinvolved with them as in one person and is dragged alongwith their impulses, if it does not hold vigil with hidden prayer.
And then, how vigils and alertness with prayer and recitation,
will delight and gladden and give joy and make pure the soul,is well known to those who have practised these things during
their whole life, in veracious asceticism.
And thou, o man who lovest solitude, place before thee, asa mark, these indications based upon the words of the Fathers,
and direct the course of thy service towards them, and before
all things, judge which are those which suit best the aim of
thy service. \Vithout them thou canst not be mature in true
knowledge ; try to show thy endurance especially in them.
Silence is a symbol of the future world. Speech is an organof this world. A man who fasts is trying to acquire likenesswith the nature of the spiritual beings.
Through his continual silence and fasting a man becomes
distinguished that in his hidden state is constantly occupied withthe service of God. By these mysteries is accomplished, eventhrough those invisible forces, the holy service of the Essence3 16

A LETTER W H ICH HE SENT TO HIS FRIEND ETC.

which governs the world. Some men who have been marked
enter the divine mysteries, have been signed with suchseals as these ; some of them have been entrusted with theguidance of a strong people ; others have even acquired powerover the elements and, midst great admiration, the species 1)of nature have obeyed their commandments ; others have been
entrusted with the office of examining, for the universal renovation, the secrets that were hidden in the mysterious silenceof the Lord of the universe. And it would not have been
beautiful, if with a full belly and a mind distracted by wantonness,such mysteries had been administered, or if the sanits had
ventured to elevate themselves to intercourse with God andunto His secret mysteries, unless with weak limbs and a colour
livid by the pain of hunger, and a mind conscious of its reason
by its having renunciated all earthly deliberation�.
When, on account of a long abode in thy cell and troublesome
labours and secret observance and restraint of the senses fromall contact, the power of solitude gets hold of thee, thou wilt
find first that joy which from time to time, without a cause,
dominates thy soul Then thy eyes are opened to see God's
creative power and the beauty of the creatures, in accordancewith the degree of thy purity. And when the mind by thissight has been snatched up in ecstasy, night and day become
one to it in its admiration of the. glorious works of God. And
then the apperception of the affections is taken away from thesoul by the delight of this sight. And by it the soul enters
4 7 2 the two degrees of intelligible revelations which belong to whatlies higher than purity.

471 off to

LXVII
AN ELUCIDATION WITH EXAMPLES CONCERNING
THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN INTELLIGIBLE THINGS[SHOWING] WHICH USE THERE IS IN EACH OF THEMIntellect 2) is a spiritual sense which is made a recipient of
the visual power, as the pupil of the fleshly eyes into whichperceptible light is poured.

AN ELUCIDATION WITH EXAMPLES CONCERNING ETC.

3I7Intelligible sight is natural knowledge which by power has
been mixed with the order of nature, and which is called
natural light.
A holy power is grace, the sun of distinction for those things,
which hold a middle position between light and sight. Species 1)
are those things which are intermediary and distinguished bylight so as to become sight. The affections are as it weresome dense entities, which, placed between light and sight,
hinder the distinction of things.
Purity is the clearness of the intelligible air, through themediation 2) of which spiritual nature circulates in us.
The reverse way : If the intellect is not of a sound nature,knowledge does not influence it. If the fleshly sense is harmed
by some cause, sight is taken from it. If the intellect is sound,but there is no knowledge , the intellect cannot have any
distinct influence upon spiritual things without it ; just as aneye which is sound in all those things which are its own ,473 and yet, often its visual power is dull. So, if all these [ spiri­tual] things are preserved in their proper state, but grace is
not near, they remain, all of them, destitute of the service of
their different functions ; as it is also during nighttime, when
all these things, because of the absence of the sun, remain
without function, though they are true and perfect in them­selves. I mean eye, sight and things, not those which are
distinguishing or distinguished. This is what ha:s been said :In Thy light we see light 3). Now, even when grace, the in­telligible sun, is near and inciting and flattering and working
and exhortating , but there is no purity through which (asthrough the air purified from the density of the clouds andfrom the matter of darkness) the sunrays attain to us easily,so that we enjoy by their light a sight which is wholly spiri­tual - then sight is impeded in its discriminating power, naturelooses its active force, the soul is hindered from perceiving
the second sun which dawns over the world, because of thescreen of the body in which the rays of truth are hidden sothat they cannot reach us.
Therefore, all that has been said Is strictly necessary. And
because all these things are hardly to be found without defiI ) ""'�!loo3) Ps. 36, 92) lit. bosom

3I8,\N ELUCIDATION WITH EXA1IPLES CONCERNING ETC.

ciency any one , not many are found who reach a partial
completeness in spiritual knowledge. Such a deficiency has its
origin in impotence of the intellect, or in neglect of the aim,
4 7 4 or in the unpreparedness of the will, or in lack of purity, orin want of guides, or in the impediments of grace (for riches
do not suit the fool, nor is a slave entitled to rule over manythings) - or in the hindrances of time, place and mode.
LXVIIISHORT SECTIONS
You must know, my brethren, that the sensual eye throughits visual power alone (which is administered unto it from thebrains as it were through a channel), without partaking ofother light, is not able to receive [the images] of the different
things. All natural apperceptions are placed on the same level
as the intelligible things as regards spiritual behaviour in thisrespect ; and [as for] the natural force of the intellect, whichis also called psychic knowledge - it is impossible for thesoul to participate in truth by contemplation, without receiving
divine light. This is based upon excellence of behaviour, whichis acquired when the affectible part of the soul is built uponnatural health. For many have endeavoured [to acquire this]while being entangled in psychic and bodily affections, by phi­losophical training, being supported by the latter alone ; but
they have lost even the truth which they possessed and haveruined their usual visual power. And just as eyes which see
in the air fantastic images because of their weak sight whichcannot reach the humid matter in them, so every one of them
4 7 5 considers as truth one image which presents itself to him.
And when all the images of all of them are united, then, in
stead of one truth, there appears a variety of images. And
this happens to them because they have not asked for therays of grace which shines so as to purify the soul. Truth is
the apperception concerning God which a man personally tastes
by the perceptive power of the spiritual senses of the mind.
The flower of spiritual knowledge is divine love, which has
its origin in radiant insights which are found by the spirit
during prayer. Love is the fruit of prayer, which, on accountSHORT SECTIONS

of contemplation originating in it, draws the mind towards a
predilection which never becomes satisfied ; the mind clings tothis predilection for prayer without growing dejected, be itthat it prays apperceptibly, with the body, or by the silent
motion of the mind, fervently and eagerly. Prayer is : the im­pulses of the will being dead regarding fleshly life. For it isalike when a man prays veraciously and when he dies fromthe world ; this means that he denies himself, and this means
continually being in prayer.
It is known to those who know the scriptures what beseechingin veracious prayer is. And it is known that those who havedevoted themselves to this lonely state in order to acquire
lonely prayer through their demands, thwarting their desire,
do not follow their nature when they arouse trouble against
their soul because of the contrary affections which they stir
47 6 in their soul after prayer.
So :he love of God is found in selfdenial . As from theseeds of the sweat of fasting the blade of chastity grows
up, so does lasciviousness grow up from satiety and impudence
from repletion. Against a hungry stomach wanton deliberations
never direct themselves. Every food which we receive within
us is added to the humours of the natural seed which is col­lected in our body. And when the organic limbs are filledwith the influx which is gathered there from the whole body,and when it happens that the bodily [eye] sees [something] ,or when some involuntary recollection is awakened in theheart , then at once, together with the thought a sensation ofdelight is astir and spreads through the whole body, so that,even if the mind is very strong and chaste and cautious inits emotions, still, by this apperception of the limbs, the dis­
criminating power of the mind is troubled at once, and is, as
it were, cast down from the height where it stood, and theholiness of its deliberations is perverted.
And its pure chastity is defiled by the confusion which is
caused by the affection that is astir i n the heart on accountof the burning of the limbs ; and at once half of its force islost, so to say, and the former scope of its hope is forgotten ;and thot;gh it has not entered into the struggle, it is defeated
without strife or labour on the part of its fiend, and van­quished by the subduing will of the body.
To such an extent does copious food and constant satiety
477

SHORT SECTIONS

compel a man's ,good will that, although he is moving steadilyin the harbour of chastity, he stoops to comply with thatwhich he never would have stooped to think of. And when
he lies down to sleep, alone, a host of thoughts clad in im­
pudent images surrounds him. And his chaste bed is madeby them a theatre and a brothel, where he deals and speaks
with his thoughts in drunkennes·s and defiles his holy limbs,
though no woman is near to him.
What sea is so disturbed by storms as the steady mind isstirred by the vehemence of the waves assailing it in the seaof the body , through a full stomach ? 0 chastity , how is
thy beauty made splendid by sleeping on the ground, by the
suffering of hunger, when sleep flies from thee on account of
the leanness of the body and the emptiness of the stomach,which is made a deep pit for the intestines between the ribsby abstinence from food. But by indulgence in food and com­
fort, evil representations and impure images are formed andcome into existence. Then they proceed and show themselves
to us in the hidden place of our mind, inciting us to mingle
with them secretly by impudent actions.
Emptiness of the stomach makes free room for the mind
which is devoid of deliberations and all tumult of thoughts.
But when the stomach is replenished and satisfied it is madethereby a place of sights and a theatre, even if we are in
4 7 8 the wilderness and alone. For he that is satisfied desires
many things.
Thou understandest that thou hast been deemed worthy ofpsychic apathy therein not , that no evil deliberations passthrough thee - that is [the absence of] the movement of theimpulses which are in the body, the which is impossible nor that thou vanquishest them easily, the thought not having
been defiled or disturbed at all, however exalted this may be ;but that, through the intellect being totally occupied , the mind
is not even permitted to combat with or to crush them , butthat as soon as deliberations elevate their head, it is dragged
away from them by some involuntary force , which by custom
or grace, begins to ferment in the heart which is the house of
the intellect. The struggling mind is different from the rankof priesthood. The mind which, by heavenly mercy, is deadto the world , to it things cause simple deliberations only,
without the strife of battle, though from the motion of theSHORT SECTIONS

32 1

limbs an apperceptive power without equal [is born] . Perfection
which is joined with flesh and blood rules over that which
originates in flesh and blood, but it does not annihilate thepeculiarities of nature while vital impulses still move in elemen­tary life, and the foundation of existence, on account of thefour humours, is subject to various emotions.
LXIX
479

HOW THE I NTELLIGENT HAVE TO DWELL I N
SOLITUDE

Listen, my beloved, to what our love says to thee.
If thou desirest that thy labours shall not be empty and thydays idle and thyself destitute of the profit which the intelli­gent expect from the discipline of quiet, let then thy entering
into solitude take place with discrimination, not in a kind ofgroo\·e, as it is with many. But let there be an aim towards
which thy mind directs the labours of its behaviour 1). And in­terrogate those who have solid knowledge, through experience,
not through reading only. And exercise thyself in all the won­
derful and liberal distinctions of solitude, without taking rest
before thou art trained in all the ways of its service. And at
every step thou takest, examine whether thou art walking in
the way, or thou hast erred away from it on one of the ways
le�ding to the desert.
Thou must not believe that the true discipline of solitudeis accomplished by visible labours alone. If thou desirest toreach by personal experience that which our Fathers have found,thou must secretly have signs and tokens in thy soul, at every
step thou takest, by which thou canst recognise the truth of ourFathers or the error of Satan. A few of them, written in orderthat thou mayest become wise in thy way are as follows.
When thou seest, in solitude, that thy mind is able to use
480
freely its righthand impulses and that there is no compulsion
in its rule over any of them, then know that thy solitude isright. And if, while thou art performing thy service with dis­
crimination, without distraction as much as possible, the words
are suddenly cut off from thy mouth, and the bonds of corn1 ) Book of the Dove, p. 1 9

Verh. Afd. Letterk. rg22 (\Vensinck).

322!lOW THE I:"!TELLIGENT HAVE TO DWELL IN SOLITUDE

pulsory silence are placed on thy soul and this phenomenon
is constantly repeated, then know that thou art making pro­
gress in thy solitude and that its simple beginnings are taking
m crease.
For simple solitude is rejected by justice. And every simple[act of] discipline, among discriminate sages is accounted as alonely, helpless member.
And if thou seest that at every deliberation which stirs inthy soul, at every recollection and vision happening duringsolitude, the surroundings of thy eyes are filled with tears andthy cheeks are moistened by them, without compulsion, thenknow that before thee, in the opposing camp, there begins togrow a breach .
And if thou findest that thy spirit, from time to time, descends
within them without unusual efforts, and abides there sometime, whatever that time be and afterwards thou seest thy
members as it were in great weakness, while peace reigns over
all thy deliberations, but [the weakness] remains continually
the same, then know that the cloud has begun to cover thetabernacle.
If, during thy abiding in solitude, thou findest that harsh delibe481 rations reign over thy soul, and that it is tyrannised by themevery moment, and that at all times the mind is attracted bythose things which were administered before, namely, when it
is desirous of vain investigations - then know that thou art
fatiguing thyself with solitude in vain and that thy soul is cor­rupted by distraction, and that there are outward causes, orinward neglect of duties, especially of vigils and recitation.
Then direct and fix thy will. But if thou doest not find peacefrom the assaults of the affections as soon as these days begin,then be not astonished.
Now 1), if the bosom of the earth when the sunrays haveceased, preserves their heat for a long time, and if an aromatic
smell and the odour of perfumes which spread through theair, remain a long time before they are dissipated and become
effaced - how much more certain is it, that the affections, likedogs accustomed to lap up blood at the butcher's, will standat the door barking, when the usual food is withheld fromthem, till their old force has abated.
1) IntroductionHOW THE I ::\fTELLIGENT IL\ VE TO D W ELL

1::\f

SOLITUDE

323

When neglect begins to penetrate into thy soul secretly andto spread gloom, and the house is near to being fi l led withdarkness, then thou wilt secretly perceive in thyself these signs
which will soon appear : Thy faith will be weakened. Visible
things will arouse thy covetousness. Thy confidence will diminish.
Thy neighbour thou wilt wrong. And thy whole person, thymonth and thy heart, will be full of vituperation against every
482 man and thing and against that which thy deliberations andsenses meet, and even against the most H igh. And thou wilt
be terrified by the frailty of the body which has rendered theepusillanimous at all times. And from time to time thy soul
will be shaken by fear, so that thou shalt be frightened andterrorised as it were by thy shadow.
For by faith I do not understand that which is the foundationof the common confession, but the intelligible force that by
the light of the mind supports the heart, and by inward
testimony stirs in the soul great confidence in God ; so thatthe soul does not provide for itself, but casts all its cares on
the Lord without thinking of any of them.
Then, when thou art making intelligible progress, thou wilt
soon perceive in thy soul these dim signs. By hope thou shalt
become strong, and by prayer rich. And continually abundant
profit will be the part of thy mind in all that thou meetest,
and thou wilt perceive the weakness of human nature. On the
one hand thou must beware of haughtiness ; on the other hand
let injury against thy neighbour be despicable in thy eyes.
Departing the body has become desirable to thee becauseof the desire to be near those things in which we are goingto live. And as for all the afflicting accidents which happen
to thee manifestly and secretly thou wilt soon find that all ofthem happen to thee j ustly, in all sincerity which is far from
483 presumption. And concerning all these thou shalt make con­fession.
These are signs for the watchful and for those who constantly
dwell in solitude and wish to reach veraciousness of behaviour.
Those who are relaxed, do not want subtle signs indicating hidden
traps. For they are also far from hidden virtues.
As soon as one of these begins to show itself in thy soul,then at once try to understand towards which side it begins
to incline ; then thou shalt know at the same time to which
category it belongs.

324

THAT W E CAN UNDERSTAND THE DEGREE ETC.

LXX
THAT WE CAN UNDERSTA ND THE DEGREE OF OUR
BEHAVIOUR BY THE VARYING STATES OF OUR MINDWITHOUT CHILDISHLY J UDGING BY THE M ANYDISTINCTIONS OF OUR L ABO URS ONLY THAT WESHOULD RECOGNISE THE DEGREE OF OUR SOUL AS
SAGES BY THE JOY WHICH DAY BY DAY IS SECRETLYPERCEIVED IN IT. THE SUBTLE ORDER OF INITIATEDKNOWLEDGE
Examine thyself constantly, my beloved, and pay attention
to the steadiness of thy labours, and the troubles assailingthee, thy lonely dwellingplace, the subtlety of thy mind andthe keenness of thy knowledge, the long period of thy soli­tude, and the frequent drogues of temptations that are con­tinually administered by the true physician in order to heal
the inner man ; sometimes however by the demons. Sometimes
they come through illnesses and bodily sufferings, sometimes
through the terrors of the emotions of thy soul when it thinksof the woes which will come in the end. Sometimes through484 the tenderness and fostering of grace there will arise warmthand sweet tears and spiritual joy and all the other things, tobe short.
Doest thou see with certainty through all these that thy
wounds are going to be healed, that is - that the affections
begin to grow weak ? Put up a mark and enter into thyself
continually and see v.rhich of the affections have become weak
before thee ; which of them have reached their end and are
altogether finished ; which of them are beginning to becomesilent in the health of thy soul , and not by the departure ofemotional infl u ences ; through the maturity of the mind andnot for lack of causes.
Doest thou now see perfectly - as thou observest thatliving flesh, which is peace of the soul, is going to cover thy
open wound - which of the affectrons continually trouble thee,and which from time to time ; and which are bodily, which
are psychic, and which of a mixed nature ; and whether theystir darkly, as being ill by recollections, or they assail theTHAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE DEGREE ETC.

325

soul vehemently ; whether they consequently behave stealthily
or imperiously ; and how king mind, the governor of thesenses, looks at them when they knock at the door ; whether
it combates and vanquishes them by its force, or even does
not look at them or think of them ; and which of them are
the remnants of old ones, and which have been newly formed ;and whether the affections stir through representations, or byapperception without any representation ; whether there is recol­
lection without affections, and emotion without allurements.
By these [symptoms] it is possible to recognize the degree
which the soul occupies. If the first mentioned alternative is
to be affirmed (though it does not prevail), this shows that
4 85 there is still strife in the soul though it is strong against [theco:-�trary powers]. If the second mentioned alternative is to beaffirmed, it almost proves that, as scripture says, David sat
in his house and the Lord had given him rest round aboutfrom all his [enemies] 1).
These things are not to be connected with one affection,
but with the natural affections of desire and love also, as alsowith the affection of love of glory, which forms images andphantasies and allurements. A nd the affection of the love ofmoney - when the soul participates of it secretly, though it
is not persuaded to commit any action thereby - forms in themind images of things connected with the love of money in theexamples of wealth-gathering, and it induces the soul to thinkof. them and it excites the desire of possessing them, and so on.
Not all affections combat man by allurements. For someof them burden the soul with troubles only. Dejection anddespondency and distress do not bring allurements nor comfort,
but only burden the soul with heaviness. The readiness of thesoul is demonstrated by a victory fought against those forces
which make use of allurements in the struggle.
For a man ought to possess all these, namely subtle know­
ledge and signs, in order that he may perceive, at every step
he takes, how far he is gone and in which country his soulhas begun to walk, in the land of Kanaan or beyond the Jordan.
Consider also this : whether the soul, through its illumination,possesses sufficient knowledge for these distinctions ; or dis­tinguishes them dimly, or is wholly destitute of such distinctiveI) 2 Sam. 7 , I

326
486 faculties .

THAT W E CAN UNDERSTAND THE DEGREE ETC.

Doest thou find with absolute certainty , tha t thedeliberations have begun to become clear ? Does distraction
desist from the intellect at the time of prayer ? Which affection
troubles thee when the mind approaches unto prayer ? Doest
thou perceive that the power of solitude envelops the soulwith the quiet and the unusual peace which it engenders in
the mind ? Is the mind continually snatched away spontane­
ously, by immaterial emotions, towards those things which it
is not allowed to interpret to the senses ? Does there suddenly
blaze in them joy which makes the tongue silent by its incom­
parable delight ? Does there constantly flow from the heartsome enjoyment which envelops the whole being- in rapture,
without thy perceiving it ? Is sometimes thy whole body pos­sessed by some delight and joy, which no fleshly tongue can
express, so that thou esteemest all earthly things as ashes
and dung, even when thou recollectest them ?
The first happens sometimes at the time of prayer, some­times during the recitation ; sometimes when through constantand prolonged meditation the spirit has become meditative
and the mind fervent.
The second usually happens without these. Often during
fortuitous works , usually however during the night and on
purpose, between sleeping and waking, sleeping though not
sleeping and waking though not waking. And the delightwhich fl o ws through the whole body is esteemed so high atthat time, that it seems as if the kingdom of heaven werenothing else but this.
487
And further consider this : if the soul possesses the strength
to reject recollections of apperceptible things by the strengthof the hope which reigns over the heart and makes strong
the inner senses by an unfathomable conviction ; and if theheart has acquired, without forethought, the habit of being
captured so that it does no longer [perceive] earthly things,
through continual intercourse with our Saviour, and thou pos­sessest knowledge so as to distinguish the different designationsof this intercourse, when thou hearest them - solitude cul­
tivated without interruption will make it easy to the soul toacquire the taste of these.
They disappear however, after having been present, throughthe neglect of those who have received them, and for a longtime they do not reappear.

THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE DEGREE ETC.

32 7

On account of these, man ventures to adduce with con­fidence the testimony of his own mind ; so the blessed Paulsays : For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, northings present, nor things to come, nor any other thing shallbe able to separate me from the love of Christ 1). Then should
bodily and psychic trouble, or persecution or hunger, or naked­
ness or loneliness, or captivity or danger or the sword ? No,
not even the angels of Satan, nor his powers with their evil
cunning ; nor glory which makes efforts by its alluring flat­teries ; nor oppressions and scorn by their vain blows.
If these things, my brother, to a larger or lesser extent
have not begun to show themselves in thy soul, thy labours
and troubles and all thy solitude are vain efforts. And even488 if miracles were wrought by thy hands and thou shouldst
quicken the dead, this would be, nothing in comparison withthe absence of these. And it is becoming that thou arousest
thy self and with tears beseechest the Saviour of the worldthat He may take away the veil from the heart, and dispersefrom the inner firmament the darkness of the clouds of theaffections ; and that thou mayest be deemed worthy of seeing
the rays of daylight.
Then thou wilt not dwell in darkness as one who is deadfor ever. Continual vigils with recitation and frequent kneelings
performed between, will not fail one day to give this good to
him that is diligent. For those that have found them, havefound them through these works. And those who will findthem, will be able to do so through these works.
And while we are constantly abiding in solitude, performing
these works, and the mind is not bound by any thing or any
man without the soul, then by the works of inward excellence
we shall soon find in ourselves a partial, but veracious apper­
ception of them and we shall acquire certainty also concerning
the rest. Those who, w hile abiding in solitude, have experienced
God's lovingkindness, do not need much persuasion. Nor istheir soul sick by the affection of unbelief as those who doubt
the truth. The witness of their mind is for them sufficient persua­
sion, more than myriads of words not founded on experience.
1)

Cf. l{om. 8, 38

328

ON THE INFLUENCES PROCEEDING FROM GRACE

LX XI
4 89

ON THE I NFLUENCES PROCEEDING FROM GRACE

Thou must perpetually place a token in thy soul, and pay
attention to it. And when thou perceivest that divine care
begins to reveal itself to the soul, then understand that thouart near the harbour of purity. As soon as man begins to belifted up above the affections, this holy force will cling to
the soul, without leaving it, day or night, showing it God's
providence. And even the particulars of what is and comesto pass, of yes and no, what happens to a man secretly andman ifestly and the facts relating to the creation of this world,
are revealed to the soul by that force which clings to it andwhich reveals to it the creative power of God and shows it
divine providence which, without a break, follows and visits
this whole creation. And it shows the soul how this providence
follows man at all times, and, though he does not perceive
it and does not know it, preserves him against adversities at
all times and directs him towards what serves for the salvation
ami the rest of his soul and body and to gain life.
Now this divine force, which works all these, shows itself
secretly to man, by intelligible revelation to his spiritual nature,
which is intellect. When man has been deemed worthy to receive
this power within his soul, he abides only in ecstasy and silence
and tears which always flow as water, so that he desists from
490 all work.
And thou must gaze at all times at this sight of God'scontinual care for the work of His hands : the mind absorbed
in ecstasy, the senses at rest, weak man prostrated on his facein prayer, [in astate ] in which no tongue can speak and in.
which no heart can pray, but by astonishment at these thingseven prayer is cut off.
This is the idleness which is more profitable than work,when a man is purely at rest, with his senses and his impulses,
being continually prostrated before his Lord. And even hisbones in silence send up a glorification to God, in this so­called idleness ; as the prophet says : All my bones shall say :ON THE INFLUENCES PROCEEDING FROM GRACE

329

Lord, who is like unto Thee 1 1) At this time, above all affec­
tions, thou findest the demon of haughtiness bound and thrownat the feet of the soul. By this gift, as it is said, man becomes
worthy of the love of God and of complete humility.
This first gift is tasted through solitude. And those who,
in service and observance, have abided within absolute solitude,
must necessarily know it. But when a man leaves solitude andbegins to be lax, it is withdrawn from him. And when heenters again and cares for himself and clings diligently to theusual service, he is again supplied with it, and it shows its
force to the soul. Then, when man has become wholly per­fect, this force will cling to him inwardly and outwardly and
491 not one hour will he be without sighs and tears and the rest,
if he does not neglect 2) the pure order of his service. Even now
there are men who have been deemed worthy of this partly.
And the peculiarities of the degree of perfection they recognize
from that which they possess partially. For, when a man has
tasted a small quantity 3) of wine from a large skin,· he knows
how all the rest is, even when others drink a part or all theremainder.
A man who possesses [this gift] in perfection, will not soon
be found, nay hardly at all. For this power is a gift of theobservance of solitude ; and because in this our enervated ge­
neration there is none who keeps perfect solitude and complete
observance, we are also destitute of its gifts 4). He who possesses
these signs in writing of ink, but their practice is not foundin him by experience, resembles a man who bears in his arms
a either adorned and provided- with strong strings, but his
fingers do not know, because they are not trained, to playthereon and to bring forth different melodies for his own
delight. For he only possesses the either, but not the required
art. And he needs others to play on it before him and givehim enjoyment.
Do not rejoice when thou art rich in the knowledge of manythings ; but rejoice when that which thou knowest is foundwith thee practically. The former without the latter will retire
gradualiy and even end in haughtiness, through idleness. Whenthou art zealous in the latter, thou wilt necessarily be illuminatedI) Ps. 35, IO3 ) !'<'�U11:7.1z) ;o�, meaning uncertain4) cf. Book of tile Do<H1 Introduction, p. XVI

3 30

ON THE INFLUENCES PROCEEDING FROM GRACE

by it without instruction. The eye of knowledge is experience ;its growth is brought about by continual service.
This will be to thee a luminous token of the serenity of
4 92
thy soul : when thou, examining thyself, findest thyself full ofmercy for all mankind, and when thy heart is afflicted by pity
for them and burns as with fire without personal discrimination.
While by these things the image of the Father in heaven is
continually seen in thee, thou canst recognize the degree of
thy behaviour, not by the discrimination of the labours, butby the varying states to which thy intellect is subject. The
body is then wont to swim in tears, as the mind gazes atspiritual things, while it is as if from the eyes there flowed
brooks which moisten the cheeks, without compulsion, spon­taneously.
Now, 1) I know one who even during his sleep was over­whelmed by ecstasy in God through the contemplation ofsomething which he had read in the evening. And while hissoul was amazed at this contemplative meditation, he per­ceived, as it were, that he had meditated for long in the
motion of sleep and examined the ecstatic vision. It was in
the depth of the night, and suddenly he awoke from his
sleep while his tears dropped as water and fell upon his
breast ; and h is mouth was full of glorification and his heart
meditated in contemplation for a long time, with a delightwhich did not come to an end. And through the many tears
that, without measure, were shed by his eyes, and throughthe stupefaction of his soul by which all the members of his
body were relaxed, and of his heart in which some delight
493 was astir, he was not even able to accomplish his usual night­
service, except some psalm at break of dawn, so overwhelmed
was he by the many tears which as a fountain broke forthfrom his eyes spontaneously, and by the other spiritual things.
Let us also be zealous, my brethren And before we go tosleep, let us many times meditate upon glorifications and recitedpsalm and passages of the holy scriptures, guarding ourselves
against evil recollections and from bad thought. And let us
provide 2) our treasury with every beautiful thing. Then sleep
will overtake us while we are full of the recollection of God,
while our soul is glowing with great desire for the things thatr) Cf. Introduction

2)

Reading �r<'..l instead of -..�D:I.l

ON THE INFLUENCES PROCEEDING FROM GRACE

33 I

are good, through the grace of God which surrounds us in
our sleep and spends upon us its gifts while we are sleeping,
exammmg us, whether our body is free from any kind of
impurity, and the impulses of our heart pure from evil. And
through grace it will be impossible for the sons of the princeof darkness to approach us because the sword and lance ofgrace surround us. But when they find us as they like to findus, when grace has withdrawn from us because it disliked us
and has removed us from itself as corpses void of life, thenthey approach us, with all their evil, and try us by all sordid
and fearful impulses, according to th� desire of their evil will.
And when such a thing happens to us in our sleep, let us
understand at once and recollect and perceive, that in that night
God's inspiration l) was far from us. And how is it that the
494 demons have not devoured us ? Because the divine will in whose
hand the soul of all flesh is placed, only allows [them ] to ap­
proach us, that we should arouse and look at ourselves. It is notpossible for them to approach us when [inspiration] is near.

332

ON TRUE KNOWLEDGE AND ON TEMPTATIONS ETC.

LXXII
ON TRUE KNOWLEDGE AND ON TEMPTATIONS AND
THAT IT IS BECOMI N G TO KNOW EXACTLY THATNOT ONLY WEAK AND I NSIGNIFICANT AND U N E­
D UCATED PEOPLE BUT ALSO THOSE WHO HAVEBEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF TEMPORA RY APATHY
AND HAVE REACHED PERFECTION OF MIND AND
H AVE APPROACHED PARTI AL PURITY AS FAR AS
THIS IS COM PATIBLE WITH MORTA LITY AND HAVEGAI N ED EXALTATION ABOVE A FFECTIONS - IN SO
FAR AS IN THIS WORLD IT IS ALLO WED BY GOD INCOMBINATION WITH LIFE IN AFFECTIBLE FLESH ­H A VE TO STRUGGLE AND ARE INJ URED BY THE
AFFECTIONS BECA USE OF THE BODY A ND THATTO THEM ALSO ARE CONTINUA LLY PERMITTED[TEMPTATIO NS] I N MERCY BECAUSE OF THE DAN­GER OF H A UGHTINESS IN SOME DEGREE AND
THAT MANY TIMES THEY TRANSGRESS AND H EAL
THE MSELVES BY REPENTANCE GRACE ACCEPTINGTHEM AGAIN
That every rational nature is liable to deviation without
distinction and that varying states pass through all men at
all times, the discriminate is able to understand from many
[symptoms] ; moreover the experiences of each day are wholly
sufficient to make him prudent if he is cautious and keeps towhat is his domain. [They also show him] how many varying
49s states of rest and unrest work upon the mind every day, sothat it suddenly passes from peace to perturbation without
any reason from anywhere and falls into unspeakable danger.
Even this is clearly described by the blessed Macarius, withgreat care and devotion, in order to remind and instinct thebrethren , lest those who stand in the degree of purity give
way to despair at the time of contrary states, when there
happens to them an accidental [state] like [a change in] air,provided that this is not due to neglect and relaxation, butthat these circumstances contrary to the scope of their mind,
happen to them while they are walking in their path .

ON TRUE KNOWLEDGE AND ON TEMPTATIONS ETC.

333

And also the blessed Euagrius witnessing to this throughreal experience, has committed it to writing, for the sake ofampler confirmation, as it were lest any one should think thatthe blessed Macarius wrote this in his letter fortuitously with­out having examined his words carefully. Thus then by reasonof two veracious witnesses like these, the mind may accept,
without doubt, its consolation at the time of need .
\Vhat then ? Varying· states happen to every man, like[changes of] the air. Understand it : to every man ; for nature
is one. Do not think that he is speaking to insignificant men
only and that the perfect should be exempt from varying
states and that they stay in one class, without liability ofdeviation and without the impulse of the affections, as theMe;;alleyane say. Therefore he says : unto every man.
How is this, o blessed man ? He says : there are states of496 cold , and soon after states of heat ; and perhaps of hail, andsoon there-after of serenity. It is thus for our instruction : strife,then the help of grace. And sometimes the soul runs into astorm and heavy billows assail it ; then there comes a different
state and it is visited by grace ; then joy fills the heart andpeace from God and chaste , peaceful deliberations. Gracemakes dawn here chaste deliberations on the bestiality andimpurity of those whom it had ordered away.
Therefore he warns , saying that after these chaste andpeaceful deliberations, accidents will befall the m ind, that weshould not be sorry or despair ; or at the time of rest causedby grace, be puffed up, but that, at the time of joy, we
should look at trouble. He says that we should not be sorrywhen accidents happen ; not that we should not resist them,nor that the mind should accept them joyfully as something
natural belonging to us, but that thou shouldst not despair
even as the man who expected what is exalted above strife,and perfect rest without varying states and without strugg·lesand blows, and freedom from the impulse of any adversity the which it has not pleased our Lord God to give to our
nature in this world so that we should entirely desist fro mlabours and i n consequence o f this thought thou shouldst be
relaxed by despondency and desist from thy courseBut know that all the saints have to face this labour aslong as we are in this world, though we have ample con49 7 solation for it in secret. For every day and at all times it is3 34

ON TRUE KNOWLEDGE AND ON TEMPTATIONS ETC.

demanded of us that we give proof of our love unto God by
the struggle against temptations. And therefore we should not
be sorry ; namely, we should not be dejected in our struggle
but thus is our way prepared. ,For he that deviates from thismethod, becomes a prey of the wolves'. Admirable is that
saint, who with a small word confirmed this section that is
loaded with significance and absolutely took doubt away fromthe mind of the reader. ,For he that deviates from this method,
becomes a prey of the wolves' . This means that he, that pos­sesses this intention and is minded to walk out of the way,
wishing to go in loneliness a way that has not been trodden
by the Fathers, is through this in danger of becoming theprey of old wolves who are clad in lambs' clothes in orderstealthily to turn back foolish souls to their evil under thepretence of truth. That at the time of joy we should look at
trouble , means : when by the influence of grace , suddenly
mighty emotions and amazement of the intellectual vision ofwhat is above nature, fall on the soul ; as the holy Euagrius
says : when the holy angels approach us filling us withspiritual sight, and all those who were in opposition to us
vanish, and there comes peace and unspeakable stupefaction ;when thou art in this state ; when grace envelops thee, andthe holy angels are near and around thee and, therefore, allthose who tried thee, have withdrawn from thee, then do not
498 extol thyself and do not think that thou hast reached now
the undisturbable harbour and the unchangeable air and thatthou art altogether exalted above this bay and the contrarystorms and that there is no fiend and no evil accidents. For
there were many who have thought thus and have fallen into
danger, as Euagrius says, namely : the danger of thinking
that thou art greater than many others, and that thou deser­
vest these [spiritual distinctions] and that others, on accountof their insufficient knowledge, are destitute of the like ; but I
possess [those distinctions] duly, and therefore I have reachedperfect chastity and the degree of spirituality, and definite
renovation.
On the other hand recollect the impure deliberations andthe unclear images which printed themselves in thy mind in
the winterperiod , and the disturbancies and the disordered
deliberations which assailed thee shortly before, during thatgloomy darkness ; and how easily thou deviatedst towards theON TRUE KNOWLEDGE AND ON TEMPTATIONS ETC.

335

affections and hadst intercourse with them, when thy m ind
was troubled, without being ashamed before the divine sightand on account of the gifts and presents thou hadst received.
And know that all this was brought upon thee, in order tohumble thee, by the care of God, which provides for every
one of us as is profitable to him. But when thou exaltest
thyself on account of its gifts, it leaves thee, and thou wilt
wholly relapse into the practice of those things by which thouwert tried in thy thoughts.
Know, therefore, that the fact that thou art standing, is notdue to thee nor to thy excellence ; but that it is grace which
4 99 bears thee on its handpalms so that thou art not moved.
These things thou hast to recollect at the time of joy, when
thy deliberation exalts itself, says our holy Father, and thenthou hast to weep and shed tears. And humble thyself at therecollection of thy transgressions committed when [temptations
were] admitted to thee ; perhaps thou wilt be saved by acqui­ring humility through them. Be not , however , dejected ,but expiate thy sins by deliberations of humility. Humility,
even without labours , expiates many sins. Labours without
humility on the contrary , are not only destitute of profit,
but cause us many evils. Therefore, expiate thy sins, by hu­
mility, as I have said. As salt is to all kinds of meat, so
is humility to all virtues. The force of many sins is able
to break this. Therefore it is necessary for the mind to suffer
continually by humiliation and by pain borne with discernment.
If we possess this, it makes us a son of God ; even without
service , it allows us to stand before God rich in virtues.
W ithout it, every servrce and every virtue and all labours
are vam.
Therefore God demands the alteration of the mind. By themind we acquire improvement and by the mind we become
despicable. So this alone is sufficient, without [any further]help, to stand before God and to speak in our behalf.
Thank God without break on account of the fact that, not­withstanding thy so weak and easily deviating nature, fromtime to time thou art lifted up by the aid of grace to sucha height and to such gifts and remember in which spheresoo thou then art - above thy nature, and how when [tempta­
tions] are admitted to thee, thou art brought low and posses­
sest a brutish mind. And recollect the wretchedness of thy

336

ON TRUE KNOWLEDGE AND ON TEMPTATIONS ETC.

nature and how easily thou becomest subject to varying states,
as also one of the saintly Fathers has said : When thou art
assailed by the deliberation of haughtiness which desires toenumerate thy virtues, then say : Father, look at thy fornication.
He means the fornication by which the deliberations are triedat the time of the admittance [of temptations] and with which
man is provided by grace, be it as a means of strife or asa means of help, according to the degree in which grace helps
us. Seest thou how clearly this admirable Father explains thematter ? , When thou art approached by the deliberation ofhaughtiness, because of the elevation of thy behaviour, thensay : Father, look at thy fornication ! ' It is manifest that thisFather was speaking to a great one, because it is impossiblethat deliberations of haughtiness should assail other people
than those who occupy a high degree and are behaving in a
praiseworthy way. For this affection attacks the soul whenvirtue has been exercised, in order to bereave it of its per­formance.
Also from one of the letters of Macarius thou canst learn ,if thou desirest, which degrees those saints occupy unto whom
temptations are admitted. That letter was written by Macarius
to all his beloved sons, showing clearly how struggles andthe help of grace are provided by God, through which it has
pleased His wisdom to train them as long as they abide ins o r this life, struggling against sin, in behalf of excellence. This
He does in order that at all times their looks may be fi x ed
upon Him and that, by continually looking at Him , His holy
love may be augmented in them . So that, when they seek
continually refuge with Him against the ardour of the affec­
tions and the fear of deviations, they are confirmed in faith,
hope and love.
So these things are not said to those who continually arein contact with men and wander about everywhere, participa­ting in impure actions and passions [and living] in a state ofrelaxation . Nor are they said to those who perform righteous­ness in works which have nothing to do with solitude andwho at every moment are captured by the senses, and who
at all times are in danger of falling on account of the com­pulsion exercised on them by the things which happen tothem involuntarily, through circumstances which they have notforeseen, so that they are unable to guard completely notON TRU E KNOWtEbGE AND AN TEMPTATIONS ETC .

337

only their deliberation but even their senses. But they aredestined for those who by the great watchfulness with which
they guard their bodies and their deliberations, keep altoge­
ther aloof from the perturbations and conversations of men,
and who by having given up all, even their soul, are able toguard their mind in prayer and to receive various provisions
from grace, in perfect solitude . And under the ar� of theknowledg-e of the Lord they are brought up and secretly
made wise by the spirit, while they have rest from works andthe sight of things and possess a mind dead to the world.
The affections do not die ; but intercourse [with them] dies,because they keep aloof from things and because they arehelped by grace.
LXXIIIso2 THE CONCISE SENSE OF THE [FOREGOING] SECTIONTOGETHER W ITH EXPLANATIONS OF W H AT
HAS BEEN SAID

The concise sense of the foregoing section is to communi­
cate to us that at every moment 1) of the four and twenty
hours of the day, we are in want of repentance. The expla­
nation of the denotation of repentance, in its real practicalsense, is continual mournful supplication in contrite prayer,
offered to God for the forgiveness of previous sins ; and peti­tion to be guarded against future ones 2). Therefore our Lordalso has sustained our weakness by prayer : W atch and pray,that ye enter not into temptation 3). And : Pray, and do not
faint 4). And : Watch ye therefore, and pray always 5).
Ask, and it shall be given unto you ; seek, and ye shallfind ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you ; for every one
that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to
him that knocketh it shall be opened 6) . And he corroborates
His word strongly and exhortates us strongly by the parableof the friend who went to his friend in the middle of thenight and asked him for bread. ,Verily, I say unto you, though
ho will not rise and give him , because he is friend, yet beI ) Introduction3) Matthew 26, 4I
S) Luke 2I; 3 62) Cf. Book of the Dove, p. 6 and note 34) Cf. Luke IS, !
6) Matthew 7, 7 sq.

Verh. Afd. Letterk. r922 {'Vensinck).

338

THE CONCISE SENSE OF THE [ FOREGOING] ETC.

cause of his importunity he will rise and give him as manyas he needeth 1 ) . And ye also : Pray and do not faint 2).
Blessed is the unspeakable encouragement of the Giver, who
exhorts us saying : Ask from me and I will give you gifts.
5 °3 And He will also provide you with all that is profi t able, ac­cording to His knowledge. These words are full of encoura­
gement and great confidence.
And as our Lord knows that He does net take away lia­
bility of deviation before the cup of death [ is drunk] , and,this being so, that man is near to a change from excellency
to deterioration , and nature susceptible of accidents - there­
fore He urges us to continual beseechings. For if there werein this world a place of security whereto a man could go andthenceforth his nature would be exempt from need and his
service from fear - then He would not have exhorted us
towards prayer nor would He have urged us diligently. In theworld to be men will not offer prayers unto God, with be­
seechings concerning various things. For in that place of free­
dom our nature will no longer be susceptible of variation, norbound by the fear of opposition, but perfect in every way. There­
fore His care not only drives us unto prayer and watchfulness,but even scourges us with the whip of temptations, in viewof the subtlety and incomprehensibility of those things which
continually happen to us and superate the power of our know­
ledge, things among which we are found continually and in­voluntarily. And even although our mind be firm and willed
to the good, yet often His care scourges us with temptations,as the blessed Paul says : Lest I should be exalted throughthe abondance of the revelations, there was given me a thorn
504 in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. For thisthing I besought the Lord thrice that He might take fromme temptation (namely that I might in freedom perform thework which He had ordered me) . And He said unto me :My grace is sufficient for thee : for my strength is made per­fect in weakness 3) .
Therefore 4), my Lord, if this is thy will, and our childish
nature so much needs a master who rules and exhorts thateven a man who is so fond of thy love as I am and so zea1) Luke I I, 82) Luke 1 8 0 T
3) 2 Corinthians 1 2 1 7 sqq.
4) The following passage is put into the mouth of Paui.

THE CONCISE SENSE OF THE[FOREGOING] ETC .

339

lous a follower of good that he does not see the world at all
because of his drunkenness in thee, so that thou hast broughtme so far as to see revelations and visions which a fl e shly
tongue is not allowed to interpret, and to hear the sound of
the service of the spiritual orders, so that I am deemed worthyof sight full of spiritual sanctities, that such a man as I withall this is not able to guard his own person, I who am aman perfect in Christ, - because there is still something which
because of its subtleness resists the power of my knowledge I that possess the mind of Christ - [if all this be so J then,my Lord, I rejoice at my illnesses, at troubles, reclusions,bonds, compulsions, on the part of nature or on the part ofnatural beings, or on the part of the fiend of nature.
] oyfully, therefore, I will bear my illnesses, namely my
temptations, which the power of Christ brings upon me. If,
with all these, I still require the rod of temptations in ordersos to augment thy influence upon me and that I may be guar­
ded by thy presence, I known that there is none whom thoulovest better than me.
And because thou hast made me greater than many others
and hast not given to any of my fellow Apostles what thouhast given to me - namely to know the glorifications of thy
powers ; and because thou hast called me an elect vessel andhast entrusted me with the guardianship of thy love ; becauseof all these and that I know that the preaching of thy gospel
has made excellent progress, while I am free from the bondsof temptations on account of all these things I know that thou
wouldst have given men freedom, if this were profitable tome. But thou hast not wished that I should be without trouble
and without care in this world ; and thou werst not anxious
to promote the preaching of thy gospel to the same degree
as thou werst anxious that I should prott by my temptations,and my soul be kept healthy with thee.
Therefore, o thou who art discriminating, if the gift of thetemptations be so great that a man, even if he be as exalted
and advanced in spiritual state as Paul's degree was , stillrequires fear and watchfulness and gathers profit by meeting
temptations, who then can reach a place of security in theworld of mortality full of robbers, and receive stability 1) (which3 40

THE CONCISE SENSE OF T HE

[FOREGOING] ETC.

was not given to the hoiy angels, lest they should become
perfect before us), thus receiving before all people, - spiritualand bodily ones - such ,a gift that, according to his wish, heshould be without varying states at all, without a temptationeven approaching to his deliberations ?
The order of this world, according to the conception of aiJ
so6 holy writings, is this, that even if we received a thousandblows every day, our mind would not become humble and wewould desist from the course in the arena ; but that on accountof one small cause, we gain the victory possibly and win our crown.
This world is an arena and a running place. And this time isa time of struggle. And the time and the place of the struggle
are not subject to a law. This means : the King does not set
a terminus to his warriors, till the struggle is ended and all
the world is gathered within the gate of the king of kings
and it is examined there who has been constant in the war
and has not been defeated, and who has taken to flight. How
often wiJJ it happen that a man who was good for nothing
and constantly beaten and thrown down because of his wantof training, and who was always in a state of weakness, will
snatch the banner from the hand of the valiant warriors andmake his name famous above that of the doughty ones, theable and knowing battle-troops, and receive the crown andgifts which are honoured by all his fellows.
Nobody, therefore, should give way to despondency. Only :he should not despise prayer, nor neglect to ask help fromour Lord. And let us take this to heart, that, as long as weare in this world and dwelling in this body, even if we arelifted up unto the vault of heaven, it is not possible to be
free from toil and inj ury and care. This is the sum of it all.
Pardon me. What exceeds this is superfluous.

ON THE DISCRIMINATION OF VIRTUES ETC.

341

LXXIV
so1 ONTHE DISCRI MINATION OF VIRTUES AND THE
SCOPE OF THE WHOLE COURSE AND THE GREAT­NESS OF THE LOVE UNTO MANKIND AND THE
SPIRITUAL A I M WHICH IT REA CHES I N ALL THE
SAINTS CREATING WITHIN THEM A DIVl� E LIKE·
NESS BY T H E RICH LOVE WHICH HE POURS O UTUPON MA NKIND

The scope of the whole course consists m these three :Repentance, purity and perfection. What is repentance ? To
desist from former [ sins] and to suffer on account of them.
And what is the sum of purity ? A heart full of mercy unto
the whole created nature. And what is perfection ? Depth of
humility, namely giving up all visible and invisible things.
Visible things : all that which is sensible. In visible things : all
thinking about them. Another time the same .Father was asked :What is repentance ? He answered : A broken heart. And what
is humility ? He replied : E mbracing a voluntary mortification· regarding all things. And what is a merciful heart ? He replied :The burning of the heart unto the whole creation , man , fowls
and beasts, demons and whatever exists ; so that by the recol­
lection and the sight of them the eyes shed tears on accountof the force of mercy which moves the heart by great com­passion. Then the heart becomes weak 1) and it is not able
to bear hearing or examining injury or any insignificant suf­
fering of anything in the creation. And therefore even inbehalf of the irrational beings and the enemies of truth andeven in behalf of those who do harm to it, at all times hesos offers prayers with tears that they may be guarded and streng­thened ; even in behalf of the kinds of reptiles, on account of
his great compassion which is poured out in his heart without
measure, after the example of God.
And what is prayer? He replied : The mind's being freefrom all that is earthly and the heart's turning its gaze com­pletely towards the desire of future hope. Who deviates from
this, is as one who sews in his furrow mixed seed and as one
who ploughs with ox ar:.d ass together.
1) litt. : small

342

O N THE DISCRIMINATION O F VIRTUES ETC.

How is hu mility acquired ? He replied : By constant. recollec­
tion of trespasses, by expectation of near death, by dressing
meanly, by always choosing the lowest place and by always
undertaking low and humble work, without compulsion , byconstant silence, by disliking crowded meetings, by being un­
known and disregarded, by choosing distincly one occupation,by hating- intercourse with other persons, by disliking profits.
All his qualities are based upon these.
And his mind mList be exalted above vituperating and re­proaching anyone and above zealotism. And his hand shallnot be against all. Nor the hand of all with him . But he shallbe a solitary, only occupying· himself with his own things , andlonely. And he shall not take upon himself the care of any
one in the world except himself. In short : abiding abroad andpoverty and lonely dwelling give birth to humility and purify
the heart. As to those who have reached perfection, theirtoken is, that if ten times every day they are delivered toburning for the sake of the love of mankind, they are notsog saturated with it. As also Moses said to God : If thou wilt notpardon the children of Israel, blot me out of thy book whichthou hast written 1). And as also the blessed Paul said 2) : I
could desire to be removed afar from Christ 3), if thereby thechildren of Ist'ael would come near to the faith of life. And
if it be thus that it is possible that they, for this reason, will
believe in Christ and will come to life everlasting and will not
be alienated from the living God. Then, as is written : I re­joice in my sufferings for you, o peoples 3) . Even so the otherA postles have undergone all kinds of death, for the sake ofthe love of the life of mankind. The sum of all is God, theLord of all, who from love of His creatures, has delivered His
son to death on the cross. For God so loved the world, that
He gave his only begotten son .for it 4) . Not that He was not·able to save us in another way, but in this way it was pos­sible to show us His abundant love abundantly, namely bybringing us near to Him by the death of His son. If He hadanything more dear to Him, He would have given it us, inorder that by it our race might be His. And out of His greatlove He did not even choose to urge our freedom by com­pulsion, though He was able to do so. But His aim was, thatI) Cf. Exodus 32, 32
2 ) The text has some words which give no sense here
and are wanting in the Greek translation.
3 ) Cf. Col. r , 24
4) Cf. John 3, 16

ON THE DISCRIMINATIONOF

VIRTUES ETC.

3 43

we should come near to Him by the love of our mind.
And our Lord obeyed His father out of love unto us,
taking upon Him scorn and suffering joyfully, as Scripture says :5 1 0 Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,despising the shame 1). Therefore our Lord said in the nightin which He was betrayed : This is my body which is given
for the salvation of the world unto life. And this is my blood
which is shed for all for the remission of sins 2). In behalf ofthem I offer myself.
And so all the saiP.ts have reached this accomplishment when
they became perfect, so that they resembled God in effusionof love and compassion for mankind. And they asked for them­selves as a token of their resembling God, that they shouldbe perfect in the love of their fellows. So did also the soli­tary Fathers, that they might bear in themselves constantly
this likeness full of the life of Christ, the Lord of the Universe.
The blessed Antonius thought that he never could do any­
thing so useful to himself as that which was profitable to hisneighbour, in the opinion that the profit of his neighbour was
his excellent service. Analogous is a saying concerning theblessed Agathon : ,I wished that I could find a leper, and givehim my body and take his '. Doest thou see the perfect love ?
Even in outward things he could not bear to displease hisneighbour rather than himself. He possessed namely a knife,
which a brother saw and liked it. And he did not allow him
5 1 1 to leave his cell till he had taken it. And when he possesseda thing and saw some one who wanted it, he did not lay any
further claim to it.
What do I mean by these things [which include] that manyof them have given their bodies even to the beasts and thesword and the fire on behalf of their neighbours ? It is notpossible that a man should reach this degree of love, withthe exception of that one who secretly perceives his faith.
And it is not possible that thos� who love this world, should
acquire the love of mankind. When a man has acquired love,
he is clad with God at the same time. He that has put on
God, never can be persuaded to acquire any other thing ex­
cept Him, but he puts off his body even. And if he is cladwith the world or with love of his life, these will not allow
I) Hebr. 1 21 2

2) Cf. Matth. 261 26, 28

3 44

O N THE DISCRIMINATION OF VIRTUES ETC .

him to put on God. For he is witness : he that does not forsakeand hate all, even himseif, cannot be my disciple 1). Not onlythat he should leave them, but that he should ever hate them.
And if he cannot be a disciple, how can He dwell in him ?
T h e i n t e r r o g a t o r. How is it that the service of hope is
so delightful, and its labours so few and its work so easy tothe soul ?
T h e F a t h e r. This is because it excites the natural longing
in the soul and gives them this cup to drink and makes them
drunk. .And from this moment they nevermore perceive fatigue
but become apathetic against troubles. And during the wholeof their course it is to them as if they were moving in the
5 1 2 air without bodily motion, without seeing anything of the diffi­
culty of the road or the streams and hills that are before
them ; but the crooked becomes to them straight and roughplaces plain 2), because they always see the bosom of their Father ;and all those things which are far and invisible it makes tothem clear in themselves, so that they gaze at them myste­
riously with the hidden eye of faith. For all the parts of thesoul become hot as by fire, on account of the expectation of
those things which, though far, become as near ; for towards
them is tended the whole direction of their deliberations ; andthey hasten to know when they will reach . [their aim] andwhen they will approach unto every single virtue by practice.
They do not practice them partly, but all of them toge­
ther, at the same time. For they do not take their course
along the king's way, as the generality of men, but choose
short paths along which a few heroes move, who easily reach
the Apartment. For hope warms them as with fire, and theycannot pause in their incessant course, on account of theirjoy. And to them happens as in the word of Jeremia : I said :I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his
name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shutup in my bones 3). Such is the recollection of God in the heartof those who move in the expectation of the promise. Short
5 x 3 paths I call the concise virtues, because in them there is no
winding nor the long space of many ways of discipline leadingfrom here to there, nor place nor time nor distraction. But
they stand on the way and accomplish it at once.
1) Cf. Luke 141 33

2) Isai� 40, 43 ) J eremia 20, 9

ON THE DISCRIMINATION OF VIRTUES ETC.

345

T h e i n t e r r o g a t o r. Wat is apathy?
T h e F a t h e r a n s w e rs. Apathy is not [the state] that does
not perceive the affections, but that which does not accept
them, so that on account of the many virtues possessed, mani­
fest and hidden ones, the affections have become weak andcannot easily assail the soul. Neither does the spirit want tolook at them every time, because at all times its e motion isfilled with meditation and intercourse with excellent thoughts,
which move with insight in the mind. And when an affection
is beginning to move, the spirit at once hastens away from it
through some insight which it perceives in the mind, and theaffection remains idle. As also the blessed Euagrius says : themind which by the grace of God performs works of excellence
and approaches unto knowledge, perceives little of the foolishpart of the soul. For its knowledge drags it on high andalienates it to all things in the world ; this happens also be·cause, on account of theit: purity, their mind has become subtle
and light and swift. Farther the m ind is purifi e d by asceticism,
because the body is desiccated, and also in consequence of thefulness of solitude and the long space of time passed in it.
Therefore it swiftly alights on several things towards which
5 14 their contemplation draws them in ecstasy. Therefore they arerich in contemplation, and are never in want of abundant in­sight in their spirit, apart from the fact, that the Spirit ripens
its fruits in them. And in the course of time also the eyeloses sight of the recollections that come from the heart andwhich stir the affections in the soul and are a principal powerof Satan. But when the soul does not associate with the af­
fections by meditating upon them - because it is continuallyoccupied by other care - the power of their nails cannot
take hold of the soul's spiritual senses.
T h e i n t e r r o g a t o r : What are the characteristics of humility ?
T h e F a t h e r a n s w e r s : As presumption dissipates the soulby phantastic distraction on account of the power inciting it
to fly round the whole creation in the cloud of its delibera­
tions, so humility is the power which concentrates the soul's
being by the peace of its deliberations and the reclusion of
the soul within its self. And as the soul is unknown and invi­
sible to the fleshly eye, so the humble is unknown amongst
mankind. And as the soul in the body is hidden from sightand from m ingling with every man, so the truly humble not

3 46

ON

THE

DISCRIMINATiONOF

VIRTUES

ETC.

only does not desire to be seen and known among mankind,because of his being hidden and recluded from all, but it iseven his desire - if possible - to be shut off from his souland to be within himself in total quiet and rest of his emo­
tions and senses , as something that does not exist in thes • s creation and has not come into existence and is not at all,so that he does not even wish for himself to be known andperceived. And as long as he is hidden and shut off from theworld, he is wholly with his Lord.
The humble is never pleased to see crowds and gatheringsof people, noise and rumour, nor riches and finery, nor the
luxury which is a consequence of them , nor speech and in·tercourse, rumour and distraction of the senses. But above all
he chooses concentration and reclusion with himself alone, tobe quiet and shut off and lonely and left to hi mself in a so­litary place void of all beings and separated from the wholecreation. And in every respect smallness and limitation andwant and poverty is beloved by him. And he is not occupied
with many things and labours, but at all times he is satisfied
and without care, without troublesome mingling with worldly
things, so that his deliberations do not wander from his self,
because he knows that if he alights upon many things it is
not possible for him to remain without confused emotions. For
many practices cause many cares. And many cares are a ga­
thering-point of varied thoughts and deliberations. Then hewoulcl have to give up his being exalted above the care ofearthly things, in peace of deliberations - except for the small
necessary things which are inevitable - with a spirit occupied
with a single care, the emotions being in a state of peace.
And then necessary things would not allow him to keep silents•6 and so he would be injured and would cause injury. Thus there
would be opened a gate for the affections and discriminating
quiet would disappear, humility would flee; the gate of salva­
tion would be shut. And because of all this, he continuallykeeps his soul away from the many things, and at all times
thou findest him quiet and at rest and humble and peaceful.
In the humble there is never violence nor terror nor con­fusion, nor hot nor quick emotions. But at all times he abides
in rest. If heaven should fall on the earth, the humble would
not be moved.
Not every one who is quiet, is humble. But every one who

ON THE DISCRIMINATION OF VIRTUES ETC.

347

i s humble is also quiet. There does not exist one who is
humble without being submissive. Those who are submissive
without being humble are found in large numbers. This is themeek and humble concerning whom our Lord has said : Learnof me, that I am meak and lowly in heart ; and ye shall findrest unto your souls 1). The humble is content at all times,
because there is nothing which moves his spirit. As it is notpossible for a man to move a mountain, so the spirit of thehumble is unmoved , if it is possible to say so. And perhaps
it is not even foolish to say that even the humble does notbelong to this world, because he is not destroyed nor moved
by distresses : even [emotions] of joy cause ecstasy and effusion
to him. But all his joy and true excultation is in the thingsof his Lord.
Connected with humility are patience, a concentrated self
5'7
which is [real] humility - a low voice , little speech, self­contempt, mean clothes, a modest gait, bashful looks, effusionof mercy, easily flowing tears, a lonely soul, a broken heart,
the not being moved by anger, absence of distraction of thesenses, moderate wishes, moderate wants in every respect, wil­lingness to bear, patience, intrepidity, manliness of heart bornfrom hatred of temporal life, endurance of temptations, few
emotions which are not swift, extinguished deliberations, keep­
ing of secrets, chastity, bashfulness, modesty, and above all :continual silence, continual having recourse to ignorance. The
humble is never approached by necessity which makes him
confused. The humble, even when he is alone, is shameful forhis soul.
I wonder whether there exists a truly humble man, who
ventures to pray to God when he approaches unto prayer, or
who is worthy of this, or of asking Him anything, or who
knows what he shall pray. But when all his emotions are quiet
and he only hopes for mercy, [being uncertain] which order
will be given concerning himself by the adorable Majesty ;when his face is bent towards the earth and the inner gazeof the heart lifted up towards the door of the holy of holiesof the Highest, the cloud of whose dwelling-place blinds theeyes of the Seraphs, and whose splendour terrifies the legionsof their orders, when silence lies upon all their classes and-r ) Matthew r r , 29

34 8

ON THE DISCRIMINATION OF VIRTUES ETC.

5 1 8 they

expect the rising of mysteries from the domain of in­visible things, in an airless womb, with emotions without voice,with unbodily senses, with apperception without resemblance 1),
without seeing the revelations which reach them, the vehe­mence of their emotions being too weak to endure the wavesof His mysteries ; then he does not venture to say anything,but : According to thy will, my Lord.
These things so far I have endeavoured to write to theein plain words, which the spirit could attain without scrutiny
on account of their manifest sense ; things by the reading of
which alone the mind forgets the ways and the dealings ofthis world and its fleshly life, migrating then with the spirit unto
its true and profitable world. [I have written this], asking thylove that, when thou comest in contact with these mysteries,
thon shalt not leave them without profit, so that they should
be found with thee to be dead sentences ; lest it should hap­
pen to thee as it happened to those who were invited to thespiritual meal but excused themselves. Behold, the table isprepared, spiritual ideas are ranged upon it, and all delightful
things are ready ; and the bridegroom expects that we shallenter and rejoice with him. Let us, therefore, not excuse our­selves, lest there be said to us also the word that was said
concerning them. What then ? Verily, I say unto you, thatnone of those invited, shall eat from my meal.
LXXVON HIDDEN STATES AND THE POWERS AND
I NFLUENCES WHICH ARE IN THEM

This may be taken for true by thee, that the practice of
marvellous things, and the foreseeing of future things, andtemptations, and rest from strife, and victory over every oneof the affections, and the presence of every one of the vritues,
and consolation, for a certain time, from grace, and purity ofprayer, and warmth of spirit, and spiritual joy, and all theother things with which a man fatigues himself for a certain
time, with a good intention and a mournful heart - that inI) The : i n the text t o b e placed after �are';,ON HIDDEN STATES AND THE POWERS AND ETC.

3 49

all these God will condescend to accomplish man's will at any
time. And when He sees his intention and longing He grants
him his wish and satisfies him.
As to the mysteries which belong to the spirit, namely theemotions during spiritual prayer, and the entering of the mind
behind the curtain of the holy of holies, and the apperceptionof the indestructible inheritance - if a man does not pay
their duty, God is not willing to grant them, even if the wholecreation should beseech in behalf of him. Their duty is purityof the soul. When a man has reached purity from the affec­
tions, what no eye has seen and no ear has heard and what
has not entered into the heart of man to ask in prayer, isrevealed to him by purity, which during n o moment ceases
from mysteries and spiritual visions. And what the force of
5 20 spring is wont to work unto the nature of the earth, this grace
works unto the soul by purity. The power of spring makes
even the smallest roots in the valleys bud, warming the earth
as fire does the cauldron, so that it sends forth the treasuresof the plants which God has laid in the earth's nature, to thegladness of the creation and to His glory.
So grace makes manifest all the glory which God has h id­
den in the nature of the soul showing the soul this glory andmaking it glad because of its own beauty. So that when it
sees the great and unspeakable treasures which God has laid
in it and which were hidden fro m it by the defiled mantle ofaffections and ignorance, but which now that it has torn asunder
the garment of the affections, He has shown to it - it is cap­
tured on account of its gladness by His love and turns its
back on earthly things.
Moreover it does not remember the body which hid its own
beauties fro m its sight. Then it sees heavenly beauties in itself
as the exact mirror which by its great purity shows the beautyof faces. Holiness suits those who are holy. All excellence
whatever and all service by which righteousness is accomplished,
may be performed and acquired and accomplished without so­
litude ; but apathy and purity cannot be acquired without so­
litude.

.3 5 0SHORT SAYINGSLXXVISHORT SAYINGSThe blessed Paul teaches us saying : Put off the old man
and put on the new man , which after God is created in righte­
ousness and holiness 1).
He does not say : Put on the new man over the old man.
For he knows that this is not possible. Look, how wisely hegives his order. He does not say : Put on the new man who
is renewed by the knowledge of God, but he says, first put
off this, and then put on the new. Also he says definitely inanother place : Flesh and blood cannot i nherit the kingdom ofGod, neither does corruption inherit incorruption 2). By incor­
ruption he means the knowledge of the other world. By cor­
ruption and flesh and blood he designates the corruptible af­
fections of soul and body, which have the place of their motionin the fleshly mind. Purity he calls the new man, and by the
kingdom of God he means the exalted and intelligible con­templation of the blessed motions of the essential rays into
which the saintly soul only is allowed to enter when its in­corruptible emotions are lifted up above corruption and flesh
and blood.
1£ 3) the apple of thy soul's eye has not been purifi e d, do
not venture to look at the sun, lest thou be bereaved of thy
usual visual power and thou be . thrown into one of those intelS22 ligible places which are Tartarus and a type of Hell, namely
darkness without God, whither those who with the impulsesof their mind leave nature, wander by the cognitive nature
which they possess. Therefore he that ventured to go to thebanquet in sordid garments, was ordered to be thrown out
into that outer darkness. By the banquet is designated thesight of spiritual knowledge. The institutions in it are the mani­
fold divine mysteries, full of joy and exultation and delight ofthe soul. The garment of the banquet he calls the mantle ofpurity ; the sordid garments the emotions of the affections inthe soul which are defiled, the outer darkness, the state with2) 1 Cor. I S , so
1) Cf. Ephes. 4 , 22, 24
3) The following passage occurs also p. 16 sq. Cf. the Introduction.

SHORT SAYINGS

35 1

out any delight of true knowledge and communion with God.
He that is clad with such garments and ventures to think
phantastically with his intellect on the heights of God and to
introduce and to settle his soul within the spiritual contem­
plations of that holy banquet which is made to dawn in thepure only, and who, partaking only of the delight of the affec­
tions, wishes to mingle in the delight of that banquet - issuddenly overwhelmed, as it were by some hallucination, andexpelled thence unto the place without rays, which is called
Hell and destruction, which is ignorance and oblivion of God.
For it has been said that the things of God come of theirown, if there is a pure and undefiled place. That they comeof their own, means that it naturally belongs to purity thatheavenly light shines in it, without investigation and labour
5 2 3 on our part. For in the pure heart, the new heaven is stamped ;of which the sight is light and the room is spiritual. As also
in another place it is said : As the magnet-stone has the natural
faculty to attract atoms of iron, so has spiritual knowledge[the faculty to attract] the pure heart.
Though it has been handed down rightly by the true ones
that no mind is absolutely steadfast against the allurementsof the affectioD3 in this life, yet 1 say with confidence without
being afraid of the truth of experience, that he who is cladwith the garment of mourning in his mind, is not only invincible
against the allurements of the effections, but a hero in the
war against them and a victor, because ·they absolutely do not
venture to show themselves with the intention of strife, nor dothey even venture to appear from afar where there is amourning soul which has made itself a wailing-place with various
lamentations on account of its sins. As it has been said by
the blessed Jacob : It makes its abode in the grave, till itmeets the beloved Joseph. Where there is the bitterness ofmourning, I do not believe that the above-mentioned pleasureof the affections is admitted.
But I say that in watchfulness lies this service and confidence,
exalted above fear. He that is constantly in a state of mourning
because of his fear - as he does not know what the end of
his course will be
IS moreexcellent than he that is con5 24 stantly in the way of gladness, because he perceives the hopeof his service.
0 thou whose town is vanquished by inward affections, put-

352

SHORT SAYINGS

on the armour of mourning and persecute them and save thysoul from their hands. For always invincible is this weapon
and that of con fi d ence, and tried by the true ones.
LXXVIITHIS CHAPTER IS F U LL OF LIFE
0thou wretched man, wishest thou to find life ? Take faithand humility in order to find by them mercy and help andconsolation from God , and protection secretly and openly.
Desirest thou to acquire these, which are the fountain of life ?
Put on sincerity, from the beginning. I n sincerity walk before
God, and not in knowledge. Sincerity is combined with faith ;subtlety and the reflections of knowledge, with presumptuous
thoughts ; presumptuous thoughts, with being removed from God.
When thou liest before God in prayer, then be in thy con­sideration as a an ant and as the reptiles of the earth and as
the beetle. And stammer as a villager and speak not before
Him with knowledge. With a childlike mind approach unto
God and walk before Him, that thou mayest be worthy ofthe paternal care which fathers entertain in behalf of their
young children.
525
It has been said : The Lord guards the children. A child
may approach a serpent and take it at its neck ; and theanimal will not bite. A child may go naked during the whole
winter. And while others are clad and covered - yet thecold penetrates all their members - he sits down naked in
the day of frost and ice, without suffering, because the bodyof their childhood is covered by a different, invisible garment,by that hidden care which guards the frail members of child­
hood, lest injury from any side approach them. Doest thou
now believe that there is a secret care in behalf of the tenderbody which is expecially liable to all kinds of injuries on
account of its tenderness and the weakness of its joints, sothat it is guarded from obnoxious influences so that they do
not cause suffering ? For the Lord guards the child. Thou must
not only apply this and believe it in the case of children,
but also in the case of those who, being wise in the world,
leave their knowledge, and relying upon that wisdom which is

THIS CHAPTER IS

FULL OF Ll:FE

35 3

aB-sufficient become children by their own will. Then they learn
wisdom, which is not to be learnt by labours of exercise.
Also the blessed Apostle, who was wise in divine things,
has beautifully said in an admonition : If any man seemeth tobe wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may bewise 1). But beseech God, that He may grant thee to reachthe degree of faith. If thou perceivest the delight of faith in
thy soul, it is not difficult for me to say that there is nothing
further which withholds it from Christ. And it is not difficult
sz6 for it to be always captivated and not to perceive earthly
things but to forget this weak world and the recollection of
its things. On behalf of this pray without dejection ; and ask
it with tears and beseech fervently ; and supplicate with great
earnestness, till thou hast received it. Further no fatigue will
be necessary.
Thou wilt be deemed worthy of this, if beforehand thoucompellest thy soul to cast thy care on God, in faith, and sothou wilt change thy care for His care. Then, when He seesthat in utter serenity of spirit thou art willed to believe God
in things which concern thee and that thou compellest thysoul to confi d e in God more than in thyself, that power withwhich thou art not acquainted, will take hold of thee, so thatthou wilt be affected in an apperceptible way by the power
which works in thee, no room being left for doubt.
By this power which they perceived, many went into thefi r e without fear, and walked on water without thinking of thepossibility that they could be drowned in it , because faithstrengthened the senses of their soul so that it felt an inward
conviction that resolution could not be weakened nor look on
terrible things except with a gaze exalted bove the senses.
Take care not to think at all, that spiritual knowledge canbe received by psychic knowledge. It is not only that spiritual
knowledge cannot be received by psychic knowledge, but it
is even impossible that those who zealously try to acquire
training in psychic knowledge should be deemed worthy to
527 perceive spiritual knowledge. And if any of them should desire
to approach unto spiritual knowledge, before having denied
psychic knowledge and all its subtle orders and intricacies andbefore having reached childhood of spirit - it will not beI) I Cor. 3, I 8

Verb. Afd. Letterk. rg22 (Wensinck).

23

354

THIS CHAPTER IS FULL OF LIFE

possible for him to approach even a little way towards it.
But its customs and perverted impulses become to him many
hindrances, before he gradually forgets them.
Spiritual knowledge is simple, not illuminated by psychic
deliberations. Before the mind has been freed from manifold
deliberations and has reached the unified simplicity of purity,
it is not able to perceive spiritual things.
This order of knowledge, consisting therein that man here
already perceives the delight of the life of the world to be,rejects much deliberation. And psychic knowledge is not able,
apart from the gatherings of many deliberations , to know
anything which is received by serenity of spirit. And the wordof our Lord is not denied : Except ye be converted and be­come as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdomof heaven 1). Indeed, many are those who do not reach thisinnocence ; but on account of their beautiful works a portionis kept for them with our Lord in the kingdom of heaven,as can be recognized from the u nderstanding of the blessings
which He especially pronounced in His gospel. I n these bles­
sings He has touched a variety of ways of behaviour [fromwhich it appears] that for every man who walks to Him, in
whatever measure on whatever way, the gate of the kingdomof heaven is open. But the word 'Except ye be converted
szs and become as little children ' means that here man perceives
the delight of the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is said
to be spiritual contemplation. And this is not found by thelabours of the deliberations, but it is tasted by grace. And
before a man has become pure, he is not able even to hear.
Because it is not acquired by learning. If thou reachest purity,
my son , which is acquired through the faith of the heart andby reclusion from men, and thou forgettest. the knowledge ofthis world and doest not perceive it, then [spiritual contempla­tion] suddenly is found within thee, without inquiring after it.
Erect a pillar and pour oil upon it 2), and thou wilt find thytreasure within thee.
If, however, thou art entangled in the snares of psychic
knowledge, I have no objection to say that it will be easierto thee to escape from iron bonds than from it. And thouwilt never be far from the snares of seduction, and thou wiltI) Matth, IS, 3

2) Cf. Gen. 28, 1 8

THIS CHAPTER IS FULL OF LIFE

355

never be able to find and to have freedom of speech and con­fidence unto our Lord. And at all times thou wilt walk on
the edge of the sword and thou wilt not be able absolutely
to be without suffering 1).
Take refuge with weakness and sincereness, that thou mayest
l ive beautifully before God, and that thou mayest be without
fear. For as the shadow follows the bodies, so does mercy follow
humility. Therefore, if thou wishest to be connected with these,5 2 9 do not give room any-how to weak deliberations. If all injuries
and evils and dangers surround thee and make thee fear, do notcare to look at them or to think of them. If once thou believestthat God is able to guard and to govern thee, and if thoufollowest him, then do not further care for anything like these.
But say to thyself: All-sufficient is He to whom thou hast once
entrusted thyself. I am not near [to anything] , but He knows it.
Then thou wilt see indeed the wonders of God, namely
how near His salvation always is to those who fear Him ;and that His care surrounds them, though it is invisible. And
though the guardian which is with thee is invisible to thebodily eyes, yet th·ou shalt not doubt his existence. Sometimes
he reveals himself also to the bodily eyes, for the sake of thy
confirmation. But when man has thrown away all visible help
and human hope and clings to God in faith and with a clear
heart, then at once grace will cling to him and reveal in
him its force by various [acts of ] help. At first it shows its
help in manifest things, also in bodily ones, by its care of him ,in order that by these things he may the better be able toperceive the power which is in God's care of him, and thatby insight in man ifest things he may become confirmed in
hidden ones, as is becoming to his childlike mind and hislack of training. How then ?
It is to be compared with this, for instance, that a man'swant is prepared for him without labour, without his bestowingcare on it. So grace causes him to escape many accidents
53 ° which often come near him and which are full of danger. And
while he has no anxiety before them because he does not
perceive them, grace disposes of them in a very wonderfulway, as also the other things which suddenly assail him, with­out his thinking how often injury to the soul and also to ther) Affection ?

THIS

CHAPTERIS FULL OF LIFE

body may proceed from them. And it preserves him against them,as a nurse who gives him shade and spreads her wings overher sons, that no harm may approach unto them. A nd at thesame time it causes him to perceive that which happened, sho­wing him what threatened to destroy him , by the yees of thebody, and the actual help of God, in a clear way ; and the disso­
lution of his life which was near and from which God saved him .
So [grace ] instructs him, also in hidden things. And it re­veals to him the ambushes of thoughts and of deliberationsdifficult to understand. So he will easily attain to their under­
standing and their mutual relation and seduction, which is re­lated to which, and how one is born from the other and des­troys the soul. A nd the whole ambush of the demons is laid
open before ·him, and the cover of their deliberations, andwhat is related to every one of them.
And [ grace] provides him with insight, so that he under­
stands what will happen. Then in his sincereness dawns ahidden light so that he perceives everything and the force ofthe emotions of subtle deliberations. It shows him as it werewith its finger - if he did not know this - what is goingto happen to him. And then this is born in him, that he asks
from his governor, in prayer, all things small and great.
s3x
A nd when grace, by all these things, · has confirmed his mind
in confi d ence on God, then it begins to introduce him gradu­
ally into temptations. And it admits unto him those tempta­
tions the difficulty of which his degree is able to bear. And bysuch a temptation it adduces unto him its help in an apper­
ceptible way, i n order to strengthen his courage, till, gradually,
he acquires training and wisdom and despises his enemies
through confidence in God.
For it is impossible for a man, without these, to become
prudent in spiritual struggles and to recognize his governor
and to perceive his God, and to become secretly confirmed in
his hope, by the force which he has received personally throughexperience. And as often as [grace] sees that the deliberationof presumption begins to move somewhat in him , and that he
begins to think great things of himself, it allows the tempta­
tions to become strong and powerful against him, so that herecognizes his weakness and fl.ees and seeks refuge with God
in humility.
By these things man reaches the degree of perfect man, throughTHIS CHAPTER IS FULL OF LIFE

357

faith and hope in the son of God to whom he is lifted up inlove. For in a wonderful manner God's help unto man is recog­
nized when he is surrounded by circumstances full of despair,and God shows there His power by delivering him from them.
Never has man experienced the divine power in rest and comfort,
and never has He shown His action in an apperceptible manner
except in a lonely place or in the desert or in places not visitedby men and free from the disturbance of their habitation.
32
Be not astonished if, when thou beginnest [to practice] ex­5cellence, severe troubles rise against these from all sides. For
excellence is not to be deemed to involve that its practice is
not combined with difficulty and labours. Excellence has re­ceived its denomination from this , says the holy Euagrius.
Usually difficulties make front against this alertness, and ex­cellence is to be rejected when it is combined with comfort,says the blessed Marcus, the solitary.
All excellence whatever, is called the cross, because it ac­complishes the order of the spirit. For all those who desirein the fear of God to live in Jesus Christ, are assailed bytroubles. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross and follow me. Whoever would save hislife in comfort, loses it ; and who gives up his life for my sake,finds it 1). Therefore our Lord has placed before thee the cross,that thou mightest pronounce death on thy soul and there­
upon cause it to follow Him.
There is nothing so strong as despair. It does not know
how it can be defeated by anything belonging to those of theright or to those of the left hand. When a man in his mind
has given up his life, none is more courageous than he is,and there is no enemy who is able to meet him, and there
is no trouble the fame of which can weaken his m ind. For
any trouble whatever is inferior to death, and he has resolved
to take death upon himself.
53 3
If in every place and in every work and at all times con­cerning all things which thou art going to perform thou placest
labour and pain as a:n example for the mind, thou wilt not
only be found always courageous and undaunted to thwart all
reputed difficulty, and by the vigour of the deliberations to
put timidity to flight which usually rises therefrom that deliI) Matth. 161 24

THIS CHAPTER IS

FULL

OF

LIFE

berations look for comfort, but also all hard and difficult things
which meet thee will seem to thee easy and light.
How often thy will is thwarted by what thou expectest, thoughperhaps these things do not reach thee. For thou knowest thatthe expectation of comfort always withholds men from great
profit and from excellent good, so that even those who livein the world with their fleshly dealings cannot accomplish theirwish if they do not resolve in their 1 mind to bear difficulties.
And because experience is witness to this, persuasion with words
is not necessary. And in all preceding generations till now
there is nothing which makes men despair of victories andchecks them from exellent practice and which makes them to say it in one word - despise to enter into the kingdom,as the expectation of the small comfort which is near. And
not only this, but ma.n y times this aspect is the cause of se­vere accidents and hard temptations to every man whose mind
is directed towards it and whose deliberations move unto it;
5 34 because his governor is the will of desire. Who does not knowthat also the bird by the aspect of comfort draws near thesnare ? Perhaps our knowledge, as compared to that of a bird,
is much inferior, concerning the hidden things and the acci­
dents which are hidden in things and actions and places andvarious things. And also Satan, from the beginning, tries toensnare us by promise's and the prospect of comforts.
Now that my mind is occupied with the subject of desire, by
the words I have written, I have erred away from the scope which
I had indicated above, viz. that at all times we must place theaspect of troubles before our mind, in all that we wish to begin
in the path of our Lord, so that it reach its end duly.
How many times, when a man wishes to begin some workfor the Lord, he asks whether there is comfort in the thing,or whether it is possible to accomplish it easily, without la­bour, or whether there is any thing in it to trouble the body.
Are not above and beneath names of comfort ? What doest
thou say, o man ? Doest thou wish to ascend unto heaven andto receive the Kingdom which is there and communion with
God and spiritual comforts and that blessedness and mingling
with the angels, and immortal life ? A nd doest thou ask whe­ther there is trouble in this way ? How astonishing are those
who desire the things of this world and the riches which are
to be destroyed and the dominion which will be dissolved. They

THIS CHAPTER IS FULL OF LIFE

359

walk on the difficult waves of the sea ; and they tread frightful
ways ; they bear a long course full of labours and troubles ,5 3 5 and other mournful things which men are wont to perform forthe sake of their desire ; and they do not deliberate at allwhether there is labour in the matter or vexation in what theywish to do ; whereas we always inquire after comforts.
If we always in our mind take upon us the way of cruci­
fixion and always comply with the crucifixion, what difficultythen should not be easier than it ? Does there exist any one
at all who is not acquainted with this, that no man has ever
won a victory in battle and received a perishable crown, or
has administered divine actions, or has succeeded in any of
the glorious things of excellence, or has got the desire of his
will even in things not laudable, without having undertaken
first labours and troubles or without having pushed away
alluring thoughts of comfort that gave birth to dejection andpusillanimity and caused relaxation in all things ? But whenthe mind is zealous in behalf of excellence , the outward
senses - smell, . touch, hearing, sight and taste - do notknow what it means to be vanquished by the severe shocks
caused by foreign influences lying outside the course anddominion of the power of nature.
When anger influences ra man] naturally, then bodily life
appears more despicable than dung. When however the heartis spiritually zealous, the body does not suffer by troubles,
nor does it shrink from terrible things. But the mind faces all
temptations being like diamond in its endurance.
Let us also be zealous with a spiritual zeal for the sake of
5 36
the will of Jesus, then all dejection which causes relaxation in
the mind will be driven away from us. For zeal causes cou­rage and firmness of soul and soundness of body. What poweris there in the demons when the soul moves its zeal againstthem with natural vigour ?
Resolution too is said to be the offspring of zeal. And all
immoveable vigour which is born in the soul when it sets its
powers to work, is implanted in it by zeal. Also the crowns ofconfessorship which the victorious martyrs receive on accountof their endurance are born by this twofold influence of zeal
and resolution which have their origin in the power of naturalanger, [and thus the martyrs] become apathetic against thevehement suffering in vexations.

360

ON THE PROFIT [ARISING] FROM THE FLIGHT ETC.

LXXVIII
ON THE P ROFIT [ARISING] F ROM THE FLIGHT FROM
THE WORLD THE METHOD OF WHICH HAS BEEN
THOUGHT OUT BY THE F ATHERS T H ROUGH PRUDENT EXAMINATION
Strong indeed and difficult and very hard is the struggle
which arises when things are near. A nd though a man may
be excellent and vigorous, when things causing battles andstrife are near, fear clings to him. Then he falls easier thanwhen Satan personally meets him in battle. For when a man
537 is not far from those things which the heart is afraid of, thefiend has constantly the opportunity [to assail him] . And if it
happens that he sleeps a while, the fiend can easily destroy
him. For there the body is in danger of being injured, at any
rate it has to be kept afar from sin. But here it is the soulthat receives an invisible blow and it cannot fatigue the fiend
so that he gives up fighting against it. For these things areof themselves able to move against it the disturbance of struggle
at any time. And willingly it lets itself be captivated by them,without any one arousing strife against it from without. But
the soul is in strife with itself through the allurements of those
things which are arranged before the senses of the body, as
has been said somewhere ; for as soon as the soul is cap­
tivated by the injurious meetings with the world, these meetings
become stumbling-blocks to it ; or, as has also been said : Thesoul is naturally vanquished, when it meets those things.
Therefore, because the ancient saints who have walked inthese ways knew that the mind is not always healthy so as
to be able to remain in one attitude, without deviation, andvigilant, because there is a time that the soul becomes enve­
loped in darkness without being able to look at those things
which cause injury - they have examined prudently and[resolved to] put on renunciation, as a weapon. For it frees
from :nany struggles, as has been written. For some haveescaped from sins, through their poverty and have migrated
towards the desert where there is nothing to cause affections,

ON THE PROFIT[ ARISING] FROM THE FLIGHT ETC.

36 I

so that, when a time comes when they are weak, nothing isfound to give occasion to fall.
538
I say : anger and desire and rancour and glory and the likeare slight, because of the desert, and by it [those solitaries]
were protected as by an invincible tower. Then every one ofthem was able to accomplish his strife in solitude, there where
the senses found no support so as to become fiends by IOJ U­
rious meetings. Better for us is death in our struggle, thanlife with falling.
LXXIX
H OW THE HIDDEN IMPULSES VARY ALONG WITH
THE VARI ATION OF OUTWARD BEHAVIOUR
As long as a man clings to renunciation [the thought of]
departure from this life is continually alive in his mind. And
every hour he meditates on the life after resurrection, con­triving to prepare what is necessary for that state. And acontempt for all honour and comfort of the body is sown in
his mind, and the thought of the baseness of the world m ovesin him at all times. And he is courageous and always pos­sesses the heart of a hero in all fear and danger threatening
death. For he is not afraid even of death, because he perpe­
tually looks at it very near from a short distance and expects
it. And his care is cast on God, with full, undoubting confidence.
A nd when troubles oppose him, he, as a man that knows
assuredly that they will prepare crowns for him, bears themwith perfect joy, while his soul rejoices and exults when receiving
539 them. For he knows that it is God who sends them, becauseof the profits of things which remain unknown, in the hidden
acts of providence. But when it happens that on account ofsome cause some transitory thing falls to his lot by the actionof him that cunningly devises all evils, at once love of the
body begins to stir in his soul and he thinks of a long lifeand deliberations connected with bodily comfort germinate inhim every moment. But, if possible, he witholds his body frombeing hurt by anything. And he contrives all things which canbe utilized for the comfort of the body, and becomes wanting
in that freedom which is not subject to any deliberation offear, and consequently bestows his care and deliberation on

362

IIOW

THE HIDDEN IMPULSES VARY ALONG ETC.

all these things, namely the emotions that cause fear and thethings -that produce terror. For the courage of the heart has
been taken away from him, which he possessed in his soul
while he was exalted above the world by his renunciation. And
now that he has become an inheritor of the world, in accord­
ance with the quantity of his possession he also has received
fear for the law and the provision allotted to him by God.
For the side to the service of which we prepare our mem­bers, is that to which we become servants with a submission
involving total fear, according to the word of the Apostle 1).
Anterior to all affictions is self-love. A nterior to all virtues
is that a man despise comforts. He that feeds his body with
comforts, is troubled in the place of peace. He that indulges
in luxury in his youth, will become a slave and sigh at the end.
As it is impossible that he, whose head is bound within thes4odark 2) bosom of the water, should smell the subtle air whichis poured out into this empty bosom, so it is not possible that
he whose mind is immersed in earthly care, should perceivewith the smell of his soul the clear air of the new world. As
the smell of a deadly poison disturbs the constitution of thebody, so does pernicions sight disturb the peace of the mind.
As it is not possible that health and illness should be in
one body without one being destroyed by the other, so it is
not possible that money and love be in one house without one
destroying the other. As it is not possible that glass remains
whole in the neighbourhood of stone, so it is not possiblethat a saint should continually seek the sight of or discoursewith a woman and that his purity should remain immaculate.
As trees are eradicated by the perpetual blows 3) of violent
waters, so is the love of the world [eradicated] from the heartby the violence of temptations assailing the body. As 4) solvent
drugs purify the body from bad humours, so does the forceof troubles purify the heart from affections. As it is not pos­sible that a dead man should perceive the things of life, so
the soul of a solitary, who is buried in solitude as in a grave,is exempt from the storm which usually blows on account of
the apperception of things which pass among men. As it is
not possible for him that spares his adversary in the field of
54' battle to avoid blows, so it is not possible that a championI) Cf. Rom. 8, 1 5z) litt. : thick4 ) IntroductionHOW THE HIDDEN IMPULSES VARY ALONG ETC.

363

should spare his body and that his soul should be saved fromdestruction. As childhood, when terrified by frightful sights runs
to seek refuge at the skirts of its parents, so the soul, whentroubled by the terror of temptations , hastens towards God toseek shelter in perpetual beseechings. And as temptations as­
sail, to the same extent it multiplies its beseechings. But when
it has free-space, it expands itself in distraction.
As those who are handed over to the judges in order tobe scourged on account of their evils, become humble andimmediately confess their faults, when they come suddenly be­fore the scourges, so that their punishment is lessened andthey are soon delivered through the agency of small troubles,
but others of them are foolish and obstinate and their scour­
ging is augmented and at last, after much scourging, with la­cerated backs, they confess against their will, without gaining
any profit ; so when we are handed over from divine mercy
unto justice, for the faults to which we have become accus­
tomed without returning to the [ good] direction, and the Judgeof the world orders us to stretch ourselves before the rod ot
temptations, lest our scourging in the world to be, become
heavy ; if, as soon as the r�d of the Judge approaches us, we
humble ourselves and recollect our forfeits and confess before
the avenger, we shall soon be saved by small temptations ;but if we become obstinate in troubles, and confess not that
we were the cause of them ourselves and that we have de5 42 served even more than these, and if we vituperate men andsometimes demons and sometimes even God's justice and as­
sume the attitude of victors though we do not think and saythat our works are like theirs , and if we do not think of thefact that God knows and recognizes us better than we doourselves, and that the judgment of the Lord is over the whole.
earth and that no man is chastised without His orders, thenour distresses assail us as they come, and our trouble becomes
violent, and they hand us over the one to its fellow as in achain, till we know ourselves and become humble and per­ceive our sins ; for without apperception it is not possible for
us even to come to [good] direction ; then at last when we
have suffered many troubles, we confess our sins in a confes­
sion without profit and without gathering from it any conso­
lation. And also this that a man perceives his sins, is a giftwhich is allotted by God to the mind, when He sees that one

3 64

HOW THE HIDDEN IMPULSES VARY ALONG ETC.

has been fatigued by various temptations, lest he depat"t thisworld under all these distresses a nd troubles, without profit ;and [also this is a gift : to perceive] that we have not lacked
insight on account of obstinacy, but on account of ignorance.
Some depart this world under these circumstances, without
confessing that they are guilty, but litigating and vituperating.
God, however, who is compassionate, looks to whether they
humble themselves, that He ma,y forgive them and give them
expansion. Not only that He will put an end to their temp­
tation, but He will even forgive their sins at a faint confessionof their heart.
As a man who offers a large offering to the king and tries
5 4 3 to make h is face benignant, so he that sheds tears in prayer
before God, the king of all the worlds, makes to pass away
all the degrees of his sins, and is even granted to see His ·face beingnant. As the lamb that leaves the pen, and in its
error comes before the den of the wolves, so is the solitary
who separates himself from the communion of his fellows un·
der the pretext of lonely dwelling, and constantly visits spec­
tacles and the distraction of the town.·
As a man who bears on his shoulder a pearl of great priceand goes on an ill-famed way so that he is in perpetual fearof being robbed, so is he that bears the pearl of chastity
and walks in the world the way of the enemies. Before heenters the chamber of the grave, which is the place of confi. dence, it is not to be expected that it will escape robbers andpluderers. Perhaps he that is not afraid, is able [to go thatway] ; even this man does not know either, on which spot orfrom where or at which moment he will suddenly be assailed
and robbed of his hope. Some are robbed at the gate of theirhouse, namely in old age.
As a man who drinks wine at the time of mourning andgets drunk and forgets all the suffering of his sorrow, so is
he that, having got drunk by the love of God in this world
which is a place of wailing, forgets his sorrow and all his
distress and, through his drunkenness, becomes apathetic against
all the affections of sin.
Whose heart is supported by hope in God, his soul is a
swift beast of wings. H e whose spirit is at all times exalted
above the earth and who flies above the sky with the thoughts
544 of his deliberations, and is in continual prayer, is as a man

HOW THE HIDDEN IMPULSES VARY ALONG ETC.

365

who has the wind as his driving animal, so that his enemy
cannot reach him. Every time the latter seeks to join him,
he flies away from him.
As a man who has an advocate in the court of justice, so
is he that is compassionate to the troubled ones.
As a man who is amidst dangerous storms on the oceanand casts his utensils from the ship, so is he that despises
the hindrances on his godly way in this world which is an
ocean ready to suffocate him.
Hindrances will not fail. What doest thou in a house which
is not thine ? The sight of a corpse ought to be for thee an
instruction coneerning thy departure from here. Why doest
thou multiply bonds to thyself? Gain thy life before thy lightgrow dim and thou seek help without finding it. This life
has been given thee for repentance ; do not spend it withvarious things.
The cross is the gate of mysteries ; here takes place theentrance of the mind unto the knowledge of the heavenly
mysteries. The knowledge of the cross is hidden within thesufferings of the cross. And in accordance with communionwith them is the apperception of the cross, according to theword of the Apostle 1). The greater place the suffering of Christ
takes in us, the greater becomes our consolation in Christ.
Consolation means contemplation , which is psychic sight. Sight
gives birth to consolation . It is not possible . that our soul
produce spiritual fruits, except when our heart is dead to theworld. For the Father quickens the soul that has died thedeath of Christ, in contemplation of all the worlds.
A nother observation. If thou diest not to the world, the5 4 5 spiritual Adam will not be quickened in thee. When a man,by being offered spiritually, dies to all dealings of this dwelling­
place , and trusts his life to the life after the resurrection,
Grace will dwell with him. And his behaviour is spirituallystrengthened. And when he hates the world, he perceives the
behaviour of the new man who is exalted above the fi l th ofhuman habitation and is deemed worthy of divine revelations.
It is not possible for us to be dead to the world in theworld, as long as our mind desires comforts, and the world,by its affairs, is placed before our senses and by apperception
I ) Cf. Philipp. 41 I o

3 66

HOW THE HIDDEN I MPULSES VARY ALONG ETC .

renews recollection and incites the body unto seeking what it
wishes, by close contact with [worldly] things, by sight, hearing,
touch , smell and taste.
The soul's being dead to the world is the heart's being
free from the thought of its recollections and the soul's being
void of the deliberations concerning [worldly] things and thewill being cut off from the love of thinking upon them.
For it is not possible that our heart be in peace exalted
a.bove disturbance and in serenity of love lifted up above theworld, when there are poured out into it recollections that
renew through meetings with things by the senses, their recep­
tacles. The mortification of the soul to the world cannot be
acquired, if not the body be also beyond apperception andsight of things.
LXXX
546 ON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OFLABOURS D URING THEM AND TH AT I T IS NOT BE­
COMING THAT THE AIM OF OUR LABOURS SHOULD
BE THE FULFI LLING OF A Q UANTITY BUT [TO WORK]IN FREEDOM A ND WITH DISCRIMI NATION AS CHIL­
DREN OF GOD WHO WORK WITH THEIR FATHERIN THE ALERTNESS OF LOVE A ND HOW PRECIOUS
T H E LABOUR OF VIGILS IS MORE THAN THAT OF
ALL OTHER D UTIES AND WHAT THIS LABOURIMPOSES ON THOSE WHO CHOOSE IT AND H OW
THEY HAVE TO WALK I N IT AND ON THE GIFTSOF WHICH THEY ARE DEEMED WORTHY BY GOD
A ND ON THE BATTLES AGA INST THEM ON THE
PART OF TH E PRINCIPA L OF THIS WORLDWhen thou desirest to rise for the service of thy vigils,
then, with the help of our Lord, do as I say to thee. Bend
thy knees as usually, and rise. Then do not begin with thy
service at once. But when thou hast prayed and concluded
and signed thy heart and thy limbs with the living sign, risefor a short time, in silence, till thy senses are at rest and thy
emotions in peace. Then lift up thy inward gaze towards ourLord and beseech Him passionately that He may support thy

ON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

367

weakness. And let the words of thy tongue and the emotionsof thy heart be to the pleasure of His will. A nd say thus,
quietly in the prayer of thy heart : My Lord and my God,maker of thy creation, to whom our affections are revealed
as well as the weakness of our nature and the strength of
our fiend, do Thou guard me against his wickedness, for his
power is strong and our nature is wretched and our strengthis weak. Thou art benignant who art acquainted with our
5 47 weakness and bearest the difficulties of our illness ; guard me
from the disturbance of deliberations and the vehemence ofaffections and make me worthy of this holy service. Lest I
spoil its taste by my affections and be found audacious before
Thee. But with pure deliberations and in clearness of thought
let me stand before Thee, as is beautiful to Thy holiness, forthe splendour of which the chariot with the Seraphs, whosanctify and praise the holiness of Thy being with vibrating
hot emotions to their delight, are not sufficient.
And with these deliberations thy heart will suddenly be
opened by grace and thou wilt shed tears at the beginningof thy prayer. And thy deliberations will be purified by therecollection of the Lord. And thy soul will receive quiet andpure chastity. And while thy spirit is concentrated and pure,thou wilt begin thy service , without disturbance , and thouwilt continue it till the end, with delight.
It is becoming for us to continue our service, with complete
freedom, apart from all disturbing thoughts of youth. If we see
however that there is not much time and light dawns before
we have finished, we should leave out on purpose and con­sciously one or two of the usual eulogies rather than to let
perturbancy spoil the taste of our service and disturb also thePsalms of the morning.
If during thy service, a deliberation says to thee whisperingly :Hasten somewhat, let us do much work, then thou wilt soon
be ready - do not look at 'it. If, however, it urges thee,recite in inverse order some marmita's 1) of the Psalter ; andevery sentence, the sense of which involves the sign of the
54s cross, repeat it many times ; and if it disturbs or troubles theeagain : then cease reciting Psalms, and kneel in prayer, andsay : I do not wish to count milestones, but I seek to enterI) tenth part

3 68

ON

VIGILS

AND

ON

THE

MANY

DIFFERENT

KINDS

ETC.

the Apartment. Every way which leads me quickly to theaim, I will go. The people who fashioned the calf in thedesert, walked forty years erring in the desert, went up anddown mountains and hills, but the promised land they did noteven see from afar.
And if, during thy vigils, long standing overcome thee by
its duration, and thou become weak by fatigue, and delibera·tion say to thee , or rather that cunning one who speaks
through it as through the serpent : Finish now, because thouhast no strenght to stand - then answer : Not so, but let us
sit down, this is much better than to sleep. For even though
I do not recite a Psalm, let my tongue be silent, while mymind is occupied with prayer and intercourse with God. To
be awake is at any rate better than sleep.
Vigils do not wholly demand standing nor solely the recitingof Psalms. But some spend the whole night with the recitationof Psalms ; some with kneelings and passionate prayers andhumble prostrations on the earth ; some with weeping and tears
and bewailing of their sins.
It is said concerning one of our Fathers, that for forty years
his prayer consisted in one sentence : I have sinned, as man ;do Thou as God forgive me. And the Fathers and bethren
549 heard him repeating this sentence, weeping passionately, with­out ceasing. And this prayer alone, during night and day,took for him the place of service.
Some pass a small part of the evening with the recitationof Psalms and the rest of the night with songs and glorifi.
cations and hymns and other mournful melodies. Others assign
the hours of the night to liturgical recitations ; and between
every two parts they enliven and enjoy themselves by reading
the Scripture. Others impose upon themselves the rule, thatthey never shall bend their knees, not even in the prayer for­ming the conclusion to a marmita 1), though this is the customof those who practice vigils. But they pass the whole nightin · one attitude.
Concerning one of the saints, therefore, it is said that be­cause the demon of fornication made war against him and did
not neglect to use against him any means, he gave himself
to the labour of vigils and imposed upon himself the rule,I) See above, p. 3 5 7 , note

ON VIGILS AND ON

THE

369

MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

that he would never bend his knees, but stood the whole night,
his eyes open, without bending his knees, till morning.
All these distinctions are in the labour of vigils, and bythem the virtous put off the old man who is depraved by thedesires of seduction and put on Christ and are saved. On ac­
count of these kinds of labour performed in wisdom, the saints
are deemed worthy of ecstasy caused by divine revelation,
which is exalted above fleshly thought.
While the virtuous in their vigils enjoy such various kinds
55 ° of things, they pass, without dejection the whole space of thelong hours of night, while their soul exults and rejoices andforgets the coat of flesh, woven from affections, with which
it was clad. And on account of the delight and the joy of
their heart, they do not remember sleep. For they imagine
themselves to have put off the body and to be already in thestate which comes after the resurrection. And in consequenceof their great joy, they leave their Psalms from time to time,
and they fall on their faces on account of the power of thegladness which moves in their soul. And the whole long night
is to them as the day, and darkness .as sunrise, on account of
the hope which elevates their heart and makes them drunkwith its thought and by the blazing of their mind which burnsby the recollection of future good. And while the tongue con­tinually plays on the spiritual harp, mind is occupied with its
own things ; sometimes it turns towards the understanding of
the sentences, sometimes it pushes away the foreign 1) delibe­
ration which tries to enter in. Sometimes, when it becomes
weary, it turns towards the contents of the daily recitation.
And the recollection which it has gathered from it and col­lected in its treasury, causes at these times emotions at which
the mind delights, so that there ts no room at all for foreign
deliberations.
And then quickly the mind is drawn towards the under­
standing of prayer and Psalms, lest, by abiding too long inthis state - profitable though meditation upon them may be it should be bereaved of discourse with God and the light ofcontemplation which the mind is wonted to receive from prayer
without distraction in which it speaks in loneliness with its Lord
5 5 1 through the secrecy of the heart, in humility of deliberations.
1 ) ..<;�� = proselyte

Verb. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (Wensinck)

24

3 70

ON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

In these and similar things they pass their whole lifetime,
every one of them pleasing his Lord by his labours in accor­
dance with his degree and his power, in total applicationof will.
If anyone, however, desire to give his body some rest, hemay finish and sit down [turned] towards the East. As long
however as he is sitting, he shall not allow his mind to beidle ; but he shall meditate and think and deliberate on thegreatness of this duty ; and on what his performance is ; andhow it is done, and how great his crown, and how glorious
the fruit of his labour is ; and what watchfulness it demands ;and how the ancients have dealt with it, and of what things
they have been deemed worthy through the fulfil ment of theirstruggles ; and how by the mercy of Jesus he was turned fromthe world, he that was occupied with vain labours the end ofwhich is destruction from God and reprehension through sins ; andhow this mercy brought him to this performance of the angels,the hope of which is a veracious hope, and its joy is a joy which isbeyond the . power of distress and its confidence a confi d ence
which cannot be fallacious. For a man may work ever somuch, his labours are small compared with that which he will
receive at his end in the pledge of good things, to the delightof his soul.
While these and similar deliberations are in his heart and· he is astonished at them he places his mind in the spiritualchariot and lets it fly and be occupied with all the holy Fa552 thers of all generations, the inheritance of whose behaviour
he possesses, [thinking of] how every one of them has ac­complished, with various districtions, this spiritual service ; andof how they have abandoned the inhabited world and mankind
and have withdrawn themselves from the allurements of theworld and from the disturbancies of life and have gone andhidden themselves in mountains and caverns and removed andand lonely places, because they saw that this course of life
cannot be accomplished among men, on account of the many
hindrances ; and have become dead in their lifetime for thesake of life in God, erring through desert places and between
rocks as those who have lost their way ; people [of such worth]that every single one's glory is not equalled by the wholeworld. Some of them lived on rough and steep rocks, someat the foot of mountains, or in deep valleys ; some in theON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

371

caves of the ground and in caverns, as those who dig after
foxes in order to surprise then ; some in graves and on moun­tain cliffs. Some have constructed a small hovel in the desert
and passed there the rest of their life ; some have built asmall pen on the top of a mountain, viz. a small cell, andhave dwelt therein with pleasure as if in a royal palace. And
because they did not care for their livelihood, they only thoughtof how each of them should please God and accomplish his
struggle beautifully.
And what kind of a life did these saints lead in these places ?
55 3 Did they live with the body, or a life above flesh and blood ?
Did they not become pusillanimous in that total desert ? Did
the power of endurance not abate during that long time, did
the body not become weak during that prolonged period,
through their being deprived of the use of natural needs ?
How was human life preserved in them ? And in all this, what
struggles have they endured and what troubles ! How strenu­
ously and without perturbance did they endure various difficult
wars in which the evil spirits assailed them ! How did they
not in their life time - even till the end - become relaxedso as to neglect their difficult and wearying labours ? How did
their spirit not become sorry through this utter · loneliness, cut
off from all visible consolations ? Is there really all this strength
in human nature ; and how did divine power preserve themwithout injury, under all those various temptations ; and how
did it prepare for every one of them by various provisions,in accordance with one's dwelling place, the fulfilling of theneed which was necessary for him ? Some of them were sus­
tained by a bird. Behold, these last sixty years I have thehalf of my bread from such a bird. Others are sustained bysome tree or palm in a supernatural way, as one of them has
said, viz. the bishop who repented in the desert. I am now
in this desert nine and forty years. God has granted me life
5 5 4 through this palm. And so it was with the saint who was inhis monastery, in a fallen state, for six months ; and who fled
and went unto the interior of the desert in order to repent
his sin. When his stomach ached through and through, theangel came and cured him. Some are sustained by the beasts ;as that blessed one who dwelt in a cavern in the desert of
Sodom. Some, who are dwelling in the desert near the inhabitedworld, are furnished by men, as that strenuous man whom

37 2

ON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

Serapion visited ; and as the blessed Martinianus who dwelt ina lonely island and was visited by a merchant two times a year.
Where no habitation was near and there were no ways
whatever, [ divine power] visited them through an angel, as issaid concerning the blessed Apelles who dwelt in the declivityof a mountain in a small grotto. H is work consisted thereinthat he offered prayer to God during the whole day and ahundred times during the night. His food, without care on hispart, came in the desert through an angel. He was clad in a
shirt, and on his head he wore a small cowl ; and these remainedon him in the desert, without becoming worn out. Doest thousee, how God cares for his soldiers in every respect ?
Others fed upon roots ; others upon eatable greens, which
grow of themselves ; others upon crops which had to be wateredand upon dried vegetables, which are sown on purpose ; others
upon the fruits of trees. To others a bed of parsley and a
5 5 5 streaming well were sufficient for the wants of this ephemeral
life, in so far as the body is maintained by them, apart fromprofitable recollections, which at these times are stirred bygrace, to the consolation of man.
When a man is occupied in his mind with these and similar
things, he becomes drunk as it were with living wine, andforgets himself. Then he sees himself again and wonders thatduring the whole of this travel through the desert and during
the meeting with saints, no injury at all has met the mind.
And now it seems to him as if he were with those saints andsaw them manifestly. And on , account of this recollection of
the behaviour of the saints which the mind imagines to itself
through the remembrance of their tales, and through medita­tion upon them , dejection vanishes ; and languor is driven
forth ; the limbs are strengthened ; sleep is driven away fromthe eyelids ; the spirit is strengthened and throws fear away ;distraction is crushed heroically ; the mind is concentrated ; afervent heat burns in the heart and unspeakable joy arises inthe soul. Further sweet tears moisten the cheeks ; spiritual
exultation makes the mind drunk ; inexplainable consolations
are received by the soul ; hope supports the heart and streng­thens it. Then it is to him as if he dwelled in heaven , during
his vigils that are so full of good things.
By these and similar ways those proceed who perform vigils
with discrimination. For there is nothing which makes the mindON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

5 56 pure and glad373

and enlightens it and expels evil deliberations sothat the soul exults, to such an extent as continual vigils do.
For this reason all the Fathers were persevering in thislabour of vigils, and clung to the rule of abiding awake inthe nights, during the whole course of their behaviour ; espe­
cially because they heard our Saviour in several places warning
us earnestly, by His living word : Watch ye therefore andpray always 1). And : Watch and pray that ye enter not into
temptation 2). And again : Pray and do not faint 3) and soon . And it was not sufficient to warn us by words only,
but He gave us even an example in His person . thereby that
He always honoured the practice of prayer above all otherthings. And therefore He perpetually separated Himself, also
for prayer, not arbitrarily, but chose for time, night, and forplace, the desert ; that we, avoiding all crowds and tumult,might be able to pray in solitude, as is becoming.
Also all the revelations which happened to the saints, onvarious subjects, - whether they served to make them prudent
or to common instruction - usually happened to them during
the night and at the time of prayer. Therefore our Fathers
have received this elevated instruction concerning prayer as itwere from Christ ; and the state of " waking during prayer theychose in the first place, according to the order of the Apostle,5
5 7 for solitude and reclusion from the whole world, in order thatthey might be, without a break, in the vicinity of God, throughcontinual prayer. They fled into solitude not only lest anythingshould prevent them from constant prayer, but lest any foreign
thing from without should hurt them and disturb their puremind, and their gladdening vigils should be troubled, which
are the light of the soul. They also fed themselves moderately
lest the vapour which rises from a full stomach should obscure
the mind so as to deprive it of its discriminating quiet andtake away the spiritual delight which is granted through prayer.
In short : they were zealous in every respect that they might
be able to speak with God without a screen, as much as pos­sible, the mind not being hindered by anything at all.
Therefore, because Satan knows, that all these good things
are collected in this wonderful performance which occupies theplace of the soul with regard to all the sundry members of1 ) Luke 2 1 , 362) Matth. 26, 4 13) 1 The ss. 5, I 7

3 74

ON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

the body of excellence, he envies it more than all other duties
the which all men know by experience and there is nothingin man at which he aims and against which he directs his
zeal, and which he prepares himself to combate more thanvigils - whether those of a solitary, or of a coenobite, or alayman. Here he cannot but show himself openly, in manifest
war against man, without an intermediary, without perceiving
5 5 8 at all the gifts which those receive who perform vigils ; but
he envies them on account of their chaste habit of standing,and through their perseverance, against sleep, in waking, andglorifications, and singing of Psalms, and prayers and inclina­
tions, and stretching [of the hands] , and prostrations, and lying
down on the earth, and beseechings of the heart during thewhole night. He is especially envious because others lie on
their beds as dead at whom he makes mock, according to his
pleasure, by sordid visions and impure phantasies, and immerses
them during the whole night as it were in mire by various
phantasies during the heavy sleep that has its origin in a fullstomach - whereas these depart hence with their soul unto
the waking state of resurrection. And he sees them, though stillbound under the curtain of the body, while perpetually waves
of mortality assail them arid they are confined by a life limited
under the government of the air of this world - still showing
in their mortal nature a type of future behaviour.
A great power possesses prayer which is offered at night­
time, more than that offered in the day. Therefore all thesaints used to pray during the night, while they were com­bating against the heaviness of the body and the sweetnessof sleep, and expelling bodily nature. As also the Prophet
says : I am weary with my groaning ; all the night make I my
bed to swim 1) , while he was sighing in passionate prayer,from the depth of his heart. And further : I rose in the midstof night to praise Thee because of Thy judgments, Thourighteous one 2). For every request which they demanded from
5 5 9 God with power, they armed themselves with prayer in vigils,
and at once they received what they had asked.
There is nothing so feared, even by Satan, as prayer which
is offered during vigils. And even if it takes place with dis­traction, it does not return fruitless, unless that which is asked,
1 ) Ps. 6, 6z) ?

ON VIGILS AND ON THE M ANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

375

should be what is not becoming. Therefore he engages him­
self in severe battle with them, in order to turn them awayfrom this performance, if possible, namely those who are con­stantly at it. Those who are somewhat strengthened against
his evil stratagems, and have tasted the gifts of God which
are granted during vigils, and experienced personally the great­ness of God's help which has presented itself to them, despise
him utterly, him and all his devices.
Therefore, more than the whole community of the church,
the order of the solitaries wages war with them, in the struggleof prayer and vigils, in the first place, because they are freefrom visible things ; in the second place, because of their con­tinual solitude. For, because they are free from incitements,
he is not able to turn away their deliberations from the thoughtof God and to detain them from continual beseechings, intheir war against him, so that from the beginning of their ap­
prenticeship till their old age they do not neglect the labourof vigils in any way, but it is a performance well known tothem, to stand during the whole night ; even as we learn fromthe written stories of every one of them.
s6o
For Mar Athanasius, says in his story on the mirror of thesolitaries 1), that he kept vigils plentifully, so that he passed themain part of the nights without sleep. And it was in this pointthat Satan found an occasion to wage his first battle against
the victorious one ; and this happened while he was still a boy.
We often read in many stories, that he did not neglect vigils
during his whole lifetime, as he did not even when he visitedothers ; as for instance, when he went to see the blessed Fa­ther Paul, when they ate their meal [furnished to them] througha bird, and stood in prayer during the whole night. Which of
the saints, though possessing all the virtues together, could
neglect this duty, and not be rockened to be idle without
it ? For this is the light of the mind. By it the intellect iselevated and the spirit concentrated, the mind fl i es [on high]and gazes at spiritual things and becomes young and illumi­
nated in prayer. By it the goods of future life, and the pre­sents the mysteries of which are indicated in the holy scrip­
tures are given as a pledge. Therefore our Fathers did not1 ) Athanasius in his .E.'pistola ad Monachos does not speak of vigils. Or is Euagrius'
work meant here ?

3 76

ON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

neglect this labour from the beginning of their apprenticeshiptill [they reached] the measure of perfection, so that, even at
the time of old age which when a man can hardly standon his feet, they did not let languor gain power over them­selves so as to detain them from continual vigils by giving their
5 6 1 bodies rest in a short sleep ; as we also learn from the stories
which are told concerning that perfect image of excellence andof all spiritual beauties, I mean the blessed Arsenius. Whenthat famous man of Skete had withdrawn himself from all in­tercourse with men and removed his dwelling-place to a long
distance even from the brethren, he gave himself wholly to
the wonderful performance of vigils. His standing during
vigils differed also from that of all the Fathers of his time.
To which also his story is witness. On the evening before
Sunday he set his back to the sun and stretched his hands
unto heaven, till the sun rose before him. A gain in anotherplace : he passed the whole night in vigils ; and when, towards
morning he wished to take rest, because nature demanded it,
while he struggled with sleep, he said : Go and leave me,evil maid. A nd so he expelled sleep quickly and remained
awake. And this happened at that high age, concerning which
it is said that it had bent him.
And in order that his assiduity in vigils may better beknown, let us hear another story concerning him ; how he per­severed during all his old age and weakness, a man ninety
5 62 years old. Once he called two of his disciples, who were highly
esteemed Fathers, and said to them : Because the demons
struggle with me and I am not sure that they will not betrayme during sleep, [come and] labour with me this night in vi­
gils, and guard me and look whether I fall asleep . during
vigils. So one sat down at his right hand and one at his left,from the evening till the morning. [ Afterwards] they said : We
have slept and waked, but we have not seen him sleeping at
all. And when dawn began, whether he assumed such an at­
titude as to make us believe that he slept, or whether sleep
really overwhelmed him , we do not know. Three times [weheard ] his breath leave his nostrils, then he rose and said to
us : I have slept, did I not ? We answered and said to him :We do not know it, for we have slept.
In these delightful labours of vigils those rejoiced who werethe leaders of our course. What then was the delight which·ON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

377

the glorious Arsenius gathered from this vexation with which
he tortured his body to such an extent ? It is clear that hedid not vainly persevere in all these things. For we see that
not only his inner man became enlightened on account of his
delight, by the exalted ray, but also his outward man, which
is material and corruptible nature, was clad with the glory
with which all the saints will be clad in the end, on accountof the variation which the whole inner nature of men undergoes.
5 63
Wherefrom do we learn this ? Once one of the brethren
went to the cell of Aba Arsenius and looked through thewindow and saw the Father standing who was wholly as bur­ning fire. For this brother who had gone to see the Father,was worthy of this sight : he did not belong to the small but
to the great ones. The blessed one was famous on account of
his exalted behaviour and all Fathers desired to see him. And
because they especially desired to see him, [ it was] as Aba
Macarius said to him : Why doest thou flee from us ! There­
fore the strangers who came to Skete desired chiefly to see
him and to receive his blessing. - When that brotherknocked at his door, the Father came outdoors. And when hesaw that his visitor was astonished at what he saw, he said
to him : Was it time for thee to knock ? Hast thou seen any­
thing ? The other answered : No. So he dismissed him.
And what shall I say concerning the blessed Pacomius ? The
counterpart of the former, and among others the chief, thevaliant in s'trife, the fervent and heroic in his vigils, the man
who passed a long time fighting against the demons as aglorious champion, in the way of the holy Antonius, who, be­cause many demons used to come to him during the nights,
asked God during his vigils that He might free him fromsleep, so that night and day he should be without sleep, so
as to be able to subdue the power of the Fiend. As it has
564 been said : Let me not turn my back before having crushedthem, for they are powerless against the faith of the Lord. Then this gift was granted him, as he had asked, for a longtimt>. And be cause his heart was pure - the sight of hissoul having been purified through vigils and solitude and pra­
yer - he saw God, who is invisible, as it were in a mirror.
These are the fruits of vigils, and these are the boons of
those who perform them , and these are the crowns [grantedon account of persevering in ] this struggle.

378

ON VIGILS AND ON THE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS ETC.

Thou also, o brother, if thou desirest to be the fellow of thesesaints and an heir of their behaviour, cling to solitude, with­out dejection, that thou also mayest persevere in the work of
prayer without a break. Bear its troubles, in order to acquireits good. And if thy body should be bent down by different
reasons and desist from labour, and thou shouldst not be able
to accomplish the works of solitude as usual, and thou shouldst
begin to be despised by thy heart and to become dejected
and worried - because this is the work of the heart, especi­
ally for those who have the right intention : not to desist from
reprehending and reproving - do not say : Woe to me, that
I am idle, and it would be better for me to be in the world
and to perform any work whatever, and not possess an idle
reputation of solitude and reclusion , and yet to cease fromperformance, being a solitary and lonely, yet afar from duties.
565 Do not say this. For God's lovingkindness bears the loadof our weakness ; He asks man from what he has, and He
knows us better than we do ourselves what our strength is.
When thy strength is sufficient, work. And even if thouart not able to perform but little, thou must bear with joy
the laziness of thy solitude and be patient. And thou must
know that, if thou leavest solitude, even the thought will notstay with thee which causes thee to be chastised by thy con­science on account of laziness. On the contrary : many circum­
stanc.es will injure thee on account of distraction and laxity ofthe senses, which destroy even that which has been performedby thee before, because the grace of solitude has been takenfrom thee, A nd thou wilt fall into temptations and many cir­
cumstances will befall thee, of which thou didst not think.
If thou doest fall into temptations, do not despair. For there
is no merchant who travels on seas and roads without suffering
losses ; and there is no husbandman who simply reaps the whole ;and there is no champion who suffers not blows and strokes
even if he gains victory in the end. So in the things of God,in the things of the merchants who go this invisible road,there are profits and losses, blows and victory. When thou art
hit, do not turn thy back. Pardon me.

AN ANSWER TO A BROTHER WHO H A D ASKED ETC.

379

LXXXI
s 6 6 AN ANSWER TO A BROTHER W H O H AD

ASKED HIMW HY W HEN OUR LORD HAS DEFINED MERCY AS
SIMILITUDE TO THE GREATNESS OF THE FATHERI N HEAVEN THE SOLITA RIES HONOUR SOLITUDE
MORE THAN IT ? AND AN APOLOGY OF THIS POINT
AND THAT IT IS NOT BECOMING TO NEGLECT THE
DISTRESSED AND SICK WHEN THEY ARE NEAR

It is well that thou hast brought forward from the Gospel
a comparison and a tested example for the great duty ofsolitude, as if we were opponents to it or tried to reject it
as something superfluous. For our Lord has defined mercy as
the similitude to the Father by which those who perform it,
can approach Him. This is true. And we, the solitaries, do nothonour solitude without mercy, though we try to remain far
from care and trouble, as much as possible. Not that we denynecessary things, when they present themselves, but we carefor solitude, because in it we are constantly with God in lonelyintercourse, by which it is more possible to be purifi e d fromperturbance and to approach unto quiet of mind, though suchcases are rare. But when it is necessary, we will not neglect
mercifulness, compelling ourselves perpetually to be inwardly
full of mercy toward all kinds of rational beings, at all times.
For so the doctrine of our Lord orders, and this is thedistinction of our solitude, and it is not due to fortune. So
567 none of us neglects to show this inward virtue, - when thetime corresponds with the work and the necessity - making
known his love openly, by deeds ; especially those who havenot laid themselves wholly under the rule of solitude do so.
But solitude to such ones means that they never meet anyone,
except once a week. They have not cut themselves off, by
the definition of their rule, from showing their fellow man
deeds of mercy ; only that one does so who is very devoted
and solitary so that he avoids the sight of men. For we know,that without love of the fellow-man, the mind is not able tobecome illuminated by intercourse with and love unto G0d.
Therefore, which of the says solitaries, who possessed food and3 80

AN ANSWER TO A BROTHER WHO HAD ASKED ETC.

clothing , could see his neighbour hungry and naked andpersevere in withholding his hand ?
Or which of them, when his brother according to the flesh
was sick and tormented and destitute of visitors, has honoured
the rule of his reclusion more than the life of his feilow, on
account of love of solitude ?
Where, however, such circumstances, are not at hand, we
keep in mind love and mercy unto the feilow man. Where
practice is near, God demands from us plainly that we per­form it actuaiiy.
5 68 This is well known, that if we have acquired nothing, weare not allowed to expose ourselves to care and disturbancefor the sake of the poor. But it is demanded of us [to give]from what we have.
And when our dwelling place is far from the habitation ofmen and from intercourse with and sight of them, it is notnecessary for us to leave our cell and our solitary and lonely
dwelling-place and proceed erring through the world in order
to visit the sick and to be occupied with similar practice. For
it is known that he that does so descends from greatness
to smallness.
If however the recluse live in the dwelling place of manyand is near to men through his constant dwelling with them,and he can take rest when others are fatigued - be he healthyor ill - it is incumbent upon him to occupy himself withpractice, without asking largely from others. But if he see thebrother according to the flesh and to profession, in trouble,
or rather : Christ rejected and vexed, and he flee and hidehimself, pretending a sham solitude - he that acts thus, iswithout mercy.
Do not remind me of John of Thebais and Arsenius andthe like. For who has given himself to such deeds and cared
for the sick or the poor, and has despised solitude ? Do not
approach unto their stories. For if thou art far from all com­
fort and ail meeting with men as they were, thou art allowed
to despise such works of [practice]. If however thou art far
5 6 9 from the state of the perfect and continually occupied withbodily labours and occupations, why then doest thou despisea commandment which suits thy measure, taking refuge withthe grand behaviour of the saints, a behaviour to which thouart not near ?

AN ANSWER TO A BROTHER WHO HAD ASKED ETC.

38 I

A s to me, I will not neglect to cite the example of Maca­
rius the Great, which was written, as it were, to rebuke those
who despise their brethren. One day he went to visit some
one who was sick. When he asked him whether he desired
anything, he answered : I want some fresh bread. Those soli­taries, namely, usually baked bread for a year ; so was thecustom of those places. Then that blessed man, who was ninety
years old, went from Skete the town of Alexandria, forty miles
and more, carrying with him dry bread in his cowl. There hechanged it and brought the sick what he desired.
And an other, who was his equal, did what is still greater,a certain Agathon, exquisite above all the solitaries of his time,a man who loved silence and solitude better than all others.
Once he went to a· festival, in order to sell what he had
made with his hands. There he found a stranger, lying in thestreet, sick. He hired a house and stayed with him, working
with his hands and making expenses on his behalf and paying
the hire of the house. So he served him for six months, till
the sick had recovered. Then he said, as the story ru ns, I
57o wished that I could find a leper and give him my body andtake his. - This is perfect love ; let us resemble our Fathers,
that we may be thought worthy of grace, as they were.
Those who fear God, my beloved, are provided for so thatthey keep the commandments of our Lord without difficulty,
even although that seems possible to them only through labours,
and danger is thought to be incurred for its sake. Christ has
defined and limited their totality to two commandments, whichmake up the sum of them all. I mean the love of God, andwhat He taught to be the like of this : love unto His image.
The possession of the former is the aim of spiritual contem­
plation ; that of the second, of contemplation and practice.
Now, because God's nature is simple and not composite andinvisible and not subject to want, the heart in its occupation
equally does not require practice, nor bodily performance, normaterial motion. Its performance is simple, and, on accountof partial union in the [human] intellect, is in accordance withthe simple nature of its adorable cause, which is exalted above
the apperception of the senses and the flesh.
The second commandment, love of mankind, is to be accom­
plished in a double way, in accordance with its double nature.
I mean, that we accomplish it with the heart, invisibly, and38 2

A N ANSWER T O A BROTHER WHO HAD ASKED ETC.

at the same time with the body, manifestly ; but those things
which are accomplished by practice, happen also in secret andin cooperation with the heart.
For, as man's nature is composed of two parts, - namely
body and soul - so all things regarding him are provided
5 7 1 in a double way, in accordance with the double character of
his constitution. As everywhere practice is anterior to con­templation, so it is impossible for man to elevate himself untothat elevated part , unless he has accomplished before , bypractice, that which is lower.
Therefore, let no one venture to speak concerning the ac­quisition of love of his fellowmen, as if he possessed it alreadyin his soul, if the part is still wanting which has to be accom­
plished by the body, according to the opportunity for practice
granted by strength, time and place. Then by faith has to beacquired that part of love which is received and recognizedby the heart. V/hen, on account of these things, we havebeen made ourselves known as faithful and true, as far as
possible , then power is given to the soul to stretch itself
towards the grand part of exalted and divine contemplation,by means of simple emotions and without comparison.
Where man has no opportunity to fulfill love of his fellow
man practically by visible and by bodily things, it is sufficientin the eyes of God, that we keep love of our fellowman with
our mind only, especially if we are able constantly to admi­
nister the service of that universal part, that is more excellent.
If however we are destitute of the totality of that universal
part, we should fill up this gap by the lower commandment,
namely by apperceptible practice, consisting therein that, ac­cording to the time happening, we should provide for the com­
fort of our brethren, by wearying our body ; lest our liberty
5 72 become an opportunity for the flesh, in that we should occupy
ourselves with idle things under the pretext of lonely inter­course. For it is known, that it is not allowed to demand
from him who is wholly deprived of human intercourse andwho is wholly occupied with God, being dead to all beings
because of his being deprived of them - that he should
serve men.
He, however, whose rule of solitude forbids intercourse ex­
cept on one day every week, and who, after the completion
�f his rule, meeting and mingling and consoling himself with

AN ANSWER TO A BROTHER WHO HAD ASKED ETC.

3 83

man, neglects the trouble of his brethren and pretends to keep
the rule of his week of prohibition, is anathema. For it ismanifest that it is through a lack of mercy and on accountof presumption and fallacious deliberations that such a one
does not condescend to occupy himself with such things.
He that neglects the sick, shall not see light. A nd whoturns away his face from one in distress, may his day be dark.
And who despises the cry of the vexed, may the sons of his
house grope in darkness.
Let us not dishonour the great name of solitude by ourignorance. Every duty has its time and place and distinction.
And then its service is accepted by God who knows all. The
service that deviates from this, is idle ; for all measures haveto be brought to completion.
He that hopes that he will be consoled and visited in his
misery by others, has to humble himself, so that he may beof use to his fellow man when the latter is tempted. Then
during his service in solitude he may be joyful and free frompresumption and the seduction of the demons.
It has been said by one of the holy Fathers, Euagrius, one
5 73of the initiated, that there is nothing which frees the solitaryfrom the demon of haughtiness and aids to the attainment of
the domain of chastity when the passion of fornication isburning, as to visit those who are thrown on their bed andvexed by bodily troubles. Great is the angelic service of soli­tude, when it is mingled with such a discrimination, for hum­bleness is needed. For we are plundered without our knowing it.
We have not said these things, my brethren, that we should
despise the duty of solitude ; for we have everywhere insisted
upon it. We are not now found to contradict our own words,
and no one should pick out a single word from our argumen­
tation and take this in his hand without discrimination, neglecting
the rest. For I remember that in several places I have said
with emphasis, that if a man should happen to be in his cellin total idleness, on account of the necessity of weakness, eventhen he should not choose to leave it completely and to per­form his service outside it rather than to be idle, within.
I have spoken of leaving the cell completely ; but if a neces­sary practice presents itself, which demands some weeks, du­ring which he may gain relief or the life of a fellow-man, heshould not deem this idleness. If there is anyone who thinks

3 84

AN ANSWER TO A BROTHER WHO H AD ASKED ETC.

himself to be one of the perfect and exalted above all that ishere, on account of his continually being with God, and his
5 74 being far from all visible practice, he rightly withdraws him­
self even from these things. Great is the labour of discrimi­
nation, to him that is spoken to by God. May He in His
mercy, give us to accomplish the work of Him that has said :Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do
to you, do ye even so to them 1). To whom be glory andhonour from the whole creation for ever and ever. Amen.
LXXXII
HOW MUCH HONOU R HUMILITY POSSESSESA N D HOW H IGH ITS R A NK IS
I dessire to open my month , my brethren, to speak on theelevated place of humility ; but I am filled with fear, as aman who is conscious of the fact, tha·t he will speak concer­
ning God . in a tale of his own speech. For humility is thegarment of divinity ; for the word which became man, put it
on and spoke in it with us, through our body. And every one
who puts it on in truth, by humility takes the likeness of
Him that has descended from His height and concealed thesplendour of His majesty and hidden His glory, lest the crec
ation should perish by the sight of Him. For the creation was
not able to see Him without His being united to a part of it
which H e should assume and speak with them through it ;then the creation was able to hear the word of His mouth,-face to face.
The children of Israel were not able to listen to His voice,while He spoke with them from within the cloud ; then should
the creation be able to bear the sight of Him openly ? For
the children of Israel were so troubled that they said to Moses :Let us speak with thee, and listen thou to His words for us ;5 7 5 but let Him not speak with us, lest we die 2). And so terrible
was the sight, that even the intermediary said : I fear andtremble. For on mount Sinai the splendour of His glory revealed
itself, and the whole mountain smoked and was shaken from
1 ) Matthew 7 , . 1 2

385

HOW MUCH HONOUR HUMILITY POSSESSES ETC.

fear of His revelation that took place on it, so that even thebeasts which approached the foot of the mountain, died. And
all the children of Israel, on the order of Moses, preparedthemselves, every one purifying himself for three days in order
to be worthy of listening to the sound of God's speech andof seeing His revelation. And when the moment came, they
were not able to bear the sight of His light, and the vehe­mence of the sound of His thunder.
But now that He has poured out His grace on the world
by His coming, not in earthquake nor in fire, nor with a ter­rible and vehement sound - but descending as the rain upon
the lamb's fleece, and as the soft dew drops which softly
descend upon the earth - it has pleased Him to speak with
us in a different way, concealing His majesty in the cover offlesh, speaking to us while being in us, in the garment which
Providence had woven from the womb of the virgin, so that
we, seeing Him speak with us as one of our race, should not
be terrified by the sight of Him. Therefore, every one whoputs on the garment in which our Creator appeared, by meansof a body full of holiness, puts on Christ. F qr with the likenessin which He appeared to His creation and in which He dealt
576 with us, He desired to clad His inner man and in it He de­sired to appear to His fellow men, and with it [He desired] tobe adorned in stead of with the garment of honour and out­
ward glory. A nd therefore the creatures prostrate themselves
as to a lord before every one whom they see being cladwith this likeness, silent or speaking, on account of the ho­
nour of their Lord with which they saw Him clad and inwhich He wandered about.
Which of the creatures should not be intimidated by thesight .of the humble ? Yet before the glory of humility revealed
itself to all, this sight full of holiness was despised by them .
B ut now that H e has caused its majesty t o dawn before theeye of the worlds, every man honours this likeness, where­
soever it shows itself. For through the mediation of it, thecreation became worthy of receiving the sight of its Creator.
And therefore [humility] is not despised even by the enemiesof truth. And though he that has acquired it, should be a
beggar in com parison with all creatures, yet he that has learned
it, is honoured on account of it as if he were clad with crownand purple. No one will ever hate the humble nor assail him
Verh. Afd. Letterk. 1922 (\Vensinck).

•s

3 86

!IOW M U C H HONOUR HUMILITY POSSESSES ETC.

with a word, nor despise him. And because his Lord loves
him, he is beloved by every one. Every one loves him, every
one cherishes him. And wherever he comes, he is looked
upon as an angel of light and distinguished by [signs of] honour.
When the sage and the learned speak, they are ordered tobe silent in order to give the humble an opportunity to speak.
The eyes of everyone look on his mouth [in order to know]
which word will come forth from it. Every one awaits l�is
577 words, as words from God . The sense of his few words isinvestigated as the words of a philosopher. Sweet are hiswords to the ear of the sages, more than honeycomb is tothe palate of those who taste it. And by everyone he isreckoned as a God, though he be simple in his words andof mean aspect. He that speaks of the humble in a despisingway, is not reckoned as one living, but as one who opens hismouth against God. A nd the more despicable he is in his
own eyes, the more honour is shown to him on the part ofthe creatures.
The humble approaches the beasts of prey and as soon as
their eye rests on him, their wildness is tamed and they cometo him and accompany him as their master, wagging their tails
and licking his hands and his feet. For they smell from him
the smell which spread from Adam before his transgression,
when the beasts gathered near him and he gave them names,
in Paradise - the smell which was taken from us and given
back to us anew by Christ through His advent, which madethe smell of the human race sweet.
And when the humble approaches the deadly reptiles, assoon as the touch of his hands attains to their bodies, thevirulence of their deadly poison is cooled and with his hands
he crushes them as if they were locusts 1).
And when he approaches the children of man they lookupon him as upon their lord. Why do I mention the children
5 7 s of man ? Because, notwithstanding all the evil and stubborn­
ness of the demons and all the pride of their own mind,
as soon as they meet the humble, they become as dust : alltheir hardness becomes weak, their tricks become craftless, theircunnings idle.
Now that we have shown in how great honour humility
1) With this passage is to be compared the Book of the Dove, p. So

HOW MUCH HONOUR HU:>IILITY POSSESSES ETC.

387

stands with God and how great a power is hidden i n it, we
will clearly show what humility is, and when a man will bedeemed worthy of receiving it in its fulness, as it is. And weshall make a distinction between him who is humble in somerespects and him that has been deemed worthy of veracious
humility.
Humility is a mysterious power, which the perfect saints
receive when they have reached accomplishment of behaviour.
And this power is not granted except to those who, by thepower of Grace, have personally accomplished the whole ofexcellence, in so far as nature i n its domain is able todo this. For humility is all-comprehending excellence. And
therefore we cannot deem every man humble, without dis­
crimination, but only those who have been deemed worthyof the rank mentioned. Not every one who in his nature ispeaceful or quiet or discrete or without blame, has reached
the rank of humility.
But a humble one in truth is he that, possessing inwardly
something worthy of being proud of, does not extol himself,
but is as dust in his own thoughts. Nor do we call humble
him that humbles himself on account of the recollection of
his low characteristics or trespasses, which he remembers i norder that his heart may become contrite and his mind with5 7 9 drawn from impulses of haughtiness, however praiseworthy thismay be. For he still possesses deliberations of haughtiness.
Humility however he does not possess, but, by various means,
he seeks to draw it towards himself. And however praise­worthy this may be, as I have said, he does not yet possess
humility ; he asks for it, but it is not his.
A perfectly humble one is he that does not need to findout a cause which should make his mind humble. But hehas fulfilled all these, and possesses humility as something
natural, without bestowing any labour upon it ; so that, eventhough he has received within him the great gift of which all
creatures are not worthy - namely his [ humble] nature - yet
he is deemed a sinner and a simple man in his own eyes.
And though he has penetrated into the mysteries of all spiri­tual kinds [ of beings] , and possesses great wisdom concerning
all the creatures, he knows with perfect certainty that he knows
nothing. And this he is not by any intermediary ; but without
compulsion he is so in his heart.

3 88

HOW MUCH HONOUR HUMILITY POSSESSES ETC.

Can it be possibl-e that man should be so, that nature canthus change him ? No. But do not doubt for this reason.
For this mysterious strength which he has received, whichmakes him perfect · in all excellence, without I �bour, is thestrength which the blessed Apostles received under the aspectof fire. And on account of it our Saviour ordered them thatthey should not leave Jerusalem before having received thestrength from on high, namely the Comforter which is the Sp.i rit.
And this is the spirit of visions. And this is what is said
concerning them in the Scripture : To the hu mble the mysteries
are revealed 1). This means that the humble are deemed worthys so of receiving within them this spirit of revelations which explains
the mysteries. And therefore it has been said by holy men,that humbleness makes the soul perfect by divine revelations.
Therefore, no one should venture to think concerning him­
self that he has personally reached the rank of humility, on
account of a single thought of contrition which has once risen[in his heart] , or on account of a few tears which he has shed,or on account of one beautiful attribute which he possesses bynature or which he has acquired by compulsion ; for he wouldin that case have acquired that which is the summit of all
mysteries and the sum of all excellence in the domain of smalllabours and reckon these as the whole gift. But if a man has
vanquished all contrary spirits, and if none of all the works of
excellence fails him, for which he has not laboured in orderto possess them, and if he has vanquished and subdued all
forteresses of resistance, and if he then perceives with his spiritthat his soul has received the gift, while the Spirit witnesses
to his spiritaccording to the word of the Apostle, then this is
the summit of humility. Blessed is he that has acquired it, for
he at all times embraces Jesus' bosom.
But if a man asks : What shall I do ? How can I acquire
i t ? By what means shall I become worthy of receiving it ? For,
if I compel myself and think that I have acquired it, I see
that unperceived contrary impulses err through my mind, and,
consequently, I fall into despair.
He that asks this, is to be answered thus : It is expedientssr
for the disciple to be as his master, and for the slave as hislord. Look at Him who has commanded this and who grantsr ) Cf. Ps. 25, 9HOW MUCH HONOUR HUMILITY POSSESSES ETC.

3 89

the gift, how H e acquired it ; and strive thou to become like
Him ; then thou canst do it. For He has said : The prince of
this world cometh, and hath nothing in me 1). Doest thou see
how humility is to be acquired by the accomplishment of
all excellence? So that we have to imitate Him that has com­manded it. ,The foxes have holes and the birds of the air havenests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head' 2).
To whom be glory from all those who have become perfectand have been sanctified and become accomplished, in all ge­
nera-tions, with the Father who sent Him and the Holy Ghost,
now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.
1) John 14, 30

2) Matt. 8, 20

GENERAL REGISTER(The Roman figures refer to the pages of the Introduction, the Arr.bic ones to thoseof Bedjan's text as printed on the margin of the translation].
A b e r r a t i o n XXXII, 3. 5, 6, 7 I , I92, I 93,
307, 3 75, 494, 495, 503, 50S.
A c c i d e n t s ( � �) XXXIII, I 75 sqq.,496, 503 ; no fortuitous - I 76.
A c c o m p l i s h e d (The), 2 I 9. See Perfect.
A f f e c l a b l e s t a t e ; - as opposed to thespiritual one I 2 2 ; - of the mind (heart)
40 I , 446 ; affectable part of the soul 474·
A ff e c t i o n s XXIX sqq. , XLIX, cease onlyin the desert I ; - and world I 8; what they
are I8 sq., 432, 472 ; their relation to thesoul 2 I , 25 sq. ; - of the body 25 ; of body and soul 25, 397, 484, 52 I ;bodily, psychic and mixed - 484 ; can­not wholly be vanquished 28 ; their fourroots 2 8 ; mental - 4 2 ; easier to be
avoided than to be vanquished 90; theirdangerous power 1 2 2 ; - bereave thesolitary of consolation 1 2 4 ; torments ofthe - 203 ; - a fence against v irtues
2 I 7 ; martyrs and apostles exempt from 220, 43 2 ; - expelled by solitude 244,
254, by weeping 253 ; - corroborated byluxury 285 ; the veil of the - sometimes
withdrawn 305 ; - born from distraction
332 ; provided by the demons 382 sq. ; to be purified aw..y 444 ; the assaults ofthe - 48I ; - compared with dogs 2 I 4,
48I ; the dying - 484 ; - of love ofglory and money 48 5 ; the clouds of the 488 ; the - of unbelief 488 ; the garmentof the - 520j - caused by selflove 5 3 9 ; ­purified away by troubles 540 ; coat offlesh woven from the - 5 50.
A f r e m (Mar) 63 , 437.
A g a t h o n 5 r o, 569.
A l e x a n d e r the Great 405.
A l l e g o r i c a l interpretation XXIV sqq.
A l l u r e m e n t s (spiritual) 2 I 61 2 I 8 bis.
A m m a n I8S, 42I sq.
A n g e I s helping martyrs and solitaries 666 8 ; their nature 182 sq q. ; do not reachGod's wisdom I 86, I 96 ; - cannot teachus true contemplation 1 9 7 ; their influenceon us 19 7 ; classes of angels I 99 sq. ; do not reach perfection 2 2 5 ; - liable toaberration 505.
A n g e l i c s e r v i c e I 52 sq.
A n t o n i u s I 8S, 26o, 3 1 1 sq., 42I sq.,
5 Io, 563.
A p a r t m e n t 2 I 61 340, 5 I 2, 548.
A p a t h y XLVIII, 243 ; the wings of- 367 ;
psychic - 478 ; temporary - 494, 5 1 1 ;definition of - 5 I 3 ; - only to be reachedby solitude 520 ; - of the martyrs 5 36 ; ­regarding the affections 543·
A p e l l e s (A p o ll o s ?) 5 5 4·A p p e r c e p t i o n. 8econd - of the senses
4 ; - in three ways I 95 ·A p p r o a c h unto God I041 I071 3291464,566.
A r s e n i u s 1 541 308-3 I 21 45I bis, S 6 I S63, 568.
A s c e t i c i s m L.
A s k i n g great things from the king 32 sqq.
A t h a n a s i u s I85. His " Mirror of solitaries" s 6o.
B a s i l i u s 23, 243, 290, 353·
B e a s t s of the field are submissive to therighteous, 387.
B e a u t y. Inward - and mercy 8; mental 8 2 ; - of the solitaty 1 1 9 ; the - thatcreates all beauties I87.
B o d y. To leave the - behind 5 ; its evil
deliberations 5 ; its longing after visible
things 8 ; - a comrade of sin 267 ; hasto die if it shall vanquish sin 267 ; when
the body is weak, the soul is strong 268 ;should he opposed, else it will become aseductor z6o ; - abandoned in the drunken­
ness of joy 454 ; curtain of the - 5 58.
B o n d s i n God 7, 40.
B r e a d. The heavenly - 3 I 6.
C a r e (divine) surrounds men always 64.
C e 1 1. Staying i n the - under all circum­
stances 1 30, 1 7 7, 340, 342 ; - is thecavern of Moses' revelation I 7 8 ; treasuresof the - 2 I 6 .

392

GENERAL REGISTER

C h i l d r e n guarded by God 525.
C l o u d 1 93, 2 1 7 ; - which covers t he ta­
bernacle 480.
C o m m a n d m e n t s. Spiritual - take theplace of written law 9 1 .
C o m m e n t a t o r (Theodore o f Mopsuestia)
XVII, 1 1 3 sq., 1 5 5 sqq. , 160, 1 68, 3 1 9 ,352, 3 5 8 , 4 1 8.
C o m m e r c e. The time of - 1 7 7·
C o m m u n i o n with God 8, 534·
C o m p a s s i o n to be pushed back by thesolitary I 53· See s. v. Mercy.
C o n c e n t r a l i o n XX XVI sq . ; - and excel­l e n ce I s q . , 1 9, 44 ; - and contemplation
4 5 ; - and reci tation 92 ; - anti prayer
1 29, 17 I sq., 446 ; - of the senses I J 1 ; 1 36, I42, 1 46, 2 1 9, 243, 332, 3J6, 447 i ­promoted by fasti n g 45 2 ; - 466 ; - thedesire of the solitary 5 1 5 ; - 5 1 6, 547 ,s s s , s6o.
C o n s o l a t i o n 181.
C o n fi d e n c e (trust) 9 9 sq'h 1 9 2 sq., 241,
29I, 366, 377, 379, 395, 408, 529 sqq . ;- ami fear 362.
C o n t e m p l a t i o n XXXIX, compared withexcellence 1 7 ; definition of - 1 7 ; firstand second n atural - 3 I ; angelic - 3 I ;also called the naked mind 3 I ; di l'ine 3 1 , 1 9 8 ; - and concentration 45 ; 53, 1 26 ; - is psychic s ight 1 28, 1 6 2 ;heavenly contemplations I 34 ; - during
prayer 135, 1 6 4 ; prayer different from 1 66 ; - and spiritual - 1 6 8 ; profound ­I 8 2 ; essential -- 1 8 7, I 9 8 ; veracious -·1 94 ; true - is essential sight 195 ; l ightof - 200; spiritual - 2 1 7, 303, 5 70;
true - 222 ; - 223 ; - which is in ter­preted spiritual sight 26o, 544 ; immaterial- 303 ;
personal - 304 ; heavenly 307 ; - and solitude 339; - 444 ; true
- the mortification of the heart 444 ; and prayer 475 ; - 492 ; - in ecstasy
S I 3 i intelligible - 5 2 I ; the kingd o m ofheaven is spiritual - sz8; - of all theworlds 544 ; practice ante rio r to - 5 71 ;divine - 5 7 1 .
C r e a t i o n. The second - 8 L
C r o s s. Its double nature 1 5 sq. ; - 223,
232 ; excellence is called the - 5 3 2 ; is the gate of mysteries 544·
C r u c i f i x i o n of the m ind 223, 232, 233 ; ­of the body 238 ; we have al w ays to takeupon us - 535·
C u s t o m s. Lascivious - 4 ; cutting o f f 2 34 ; recollection of - 297 ; - to Le
feared - 527.

333 sq. , 339, 341 sq. ; the - of temp­
tations 4 I 3 i - 438 , 448 , 456, 48 1 ,498, 5 3 7 .
D e a d to the world I 9, 3 I , S I , 5 9 , 7 5, 76,
97, I2I, I47, I48, 251, 3 10, 332 , 346,
435, 444, Sol , 544 i to Le dead in life
3 I , 333, 335 ; to die in integrity � 1 , 97,
268/9, 290 ; the soul - by affections 46 ;when the soul is - 2 1 0 ; - in sins 252 ;- to the world by veracious prayer 475 ;
mortification regarding all things I I 2, 507 ;to become - in life for the sake of Gud
5 5 2 ; - to all things 397, 5 72.
D e a t h o f the body is st rength of the soul
268 ; - 2 7 I i inner deadness 3 3 1 ; 332, 333, 235 ; - of the outward limbs
444 ; fear of - I O ; - desired as life s o ;recollection of - 44, 453, 458, 460, 462,
464 ; - does not exist with God I 89 ;intelligible -- 209 ; - agreeable to thelover 2 1 9 ; voluntary - of the senses
270; - cognate to sleepiness of mind 289 ;no on e to be called a victor before 407 ; risking - for the sake of the loveof Cod 436 ; - the seal on our book436 ;- - desirable 482 ; better is death instruggle than life with falling 2 I 5 , 538.
D e g r e e s. The way consists i n t hree - 1 221
the degrees of the path 303.
D e j e c t e d n e s s 1 1 3, I 8o, I 8 1 , 2 I 3, 258,
2 59, 2 7 7, 284, 29I, 299, 302, 340, 385,
455 , 4 6 6, 468 , 485, so6, 535 sq ., s So ; the beginning of darkness I4 sq. ; e ffec­
tuated by distraction 2 1 7 , 383 ; by lone­
liness 45 5, 466 ; no thi n g is so strong as
despair 5 3 2 ; how - vanishes 5 5 5·
D e I i g h t may rise suddenly during prayer
5 8 ; does not appear at will I63 ; - pre­ceded by the pains of the cross 2 I 6.
D e m o n s. Their nature 182 sqq., 196.
D e sert I.
D e s p a i r see Dejectedness.
D e s p o n d e n c y see Dejectedness.
D e v i a t i o n see Aberration.
ofD i o d o r u s Rhetor XVII, I 86, 242 ;Tarsus 285.
D i o n y si us the Areopagite LIIJ, 16g.
D i s e e r n m e n t (distinction) 4I sq., 89, 1 341 36, 146, I 8 g , 2 1 7, 238 s q. , 281, 3 7 9,432 sq., 4 42 sq., 465 sq., 479, 546, 5 5 5,566, 573 ·D i s d a i n has to be sought LIV sq., 76, 8 5
sq , 3 5 6 . On t h e question whether - may
be sought by assumming a sinful appear­�nce 142 sq.
D i s p a r i t y 192 sq., 207. Sec Equality.
D i s t r a c t i o n XXXVI I, 3, 53· 6o, 72, 82,
I 22, 1 3 1 , I35, 1 7 2, 213, 2 I 6, 2 7 1 sq.,

GENERAL REGISTER
282, 332, 466, 48I, 485, 5 I4, S I 7 , 54I ; ­and intercourse 5 2 ; - an opportunity for
Satan I 3 0 j - effectuates dejectedness 2 I 7,
383 ; - and good works 308 ; - damages
chastity 445 ; how it vanishes 5 5 5 ·D o g m a t i c s . Isaac's aversion to - XXVI.
D r u n k e n n e s s XLI I I, LI, 21 59, I 741 202,
220, 2 54, 334, 358, 377, 454, 504, S I I ,543, 5 5 5 ; never ceasing - 7 7 ; drunkwith living wine 5 5 5 ·D u n g h i l l. Man's - 32.
E c s t a s y 5 bis, 20, 43, 731 Io6, I 2 51 I 39·
I 5 5, I 7 5, 259, 305, 360, 39 1 , 45 I, 47I ,489, 5 1 3, 5 I 6, 549 ; - when the two­
fold se�ses are closed 9; ecstatic under­
standing when the heart is free fromrecollections 5 2 ; man becomes as a corpse
without a soul through - I 64 ; - andprayer I 66, I 74, 2 6 I ; - in the world
to come 1 70 ; - - during four days 261 ;- in God 304, 376 ; - and silence 360;
ecstatic thought of God 3 7 7 ; - during
three days 388; - during one day I 8 9 ;- during sleep 492 ; contemplation i n- 5 I 3.
E m o t i o n s. See I m p u 1 s e s.
E n l i g h t e n e d men 6 ; - intellect 8.
E p h r a i m Syrus 437·
E q u a l i t y and n o n - e q u a l i t y I921 2071
2 I 3.
E r r o r s�e A herration.
E s s e n c e (= God) I 87, I 94, I 981 I 99, 200,
376 , 378, 4 5 5, 470.
E u a g r i u s 4, 106, I 74, I 7 5 , 385, 443, 456,
462, 495 1 497 sq., 5 I 3, 573·
E x c e l l e n c e and concentration 1 sq. ; and the world 2 ; - and contemplation
I 7 ; - the natural health of the soul 24 ;prior to spiritual knowledge 30 ; what is 423 ; - is called the cross 532.
F ac·e of God can be seen but not essen­tially 324.
F a i t h has to be combined with works 102 ;the value of - 3 I 5 ; the degrees of -3 I 8 sqq . ; -- and knowledge 3 I 8, 360
sqq., 379 ; the gate of the mysteries 3 I 5 ;- of sight 320; taste of - 366 ; - makes
man like God 362 ; when - swallows
knowledge 374; definitions of- 376, 482.
F a m i l i a r i t y with God 265.
F a m i l i a r i t y of speech 36, 4 I , 73, 75,
I I 41 330, 335 , 353, 4 2 I 1 427, 528. See
Freedom.
F a s t i n g 238 sqq. Without - no know­
ledge of God's mysteries 48 ; - the signof beginning strife 2 3 8 ; - of the ascetics

393

and martyrs 24I sq. ; effectuates strength
in the soul 268 ; - on the way to light
28I ; solitude and - 282 ; - helpful forconcentration 452.
F a t e (��) I 7 5 ; see Accidents.
F e a r of God I sq q . , 3 I 5 sq. ; - and doubt
4; bodily and psychic - 20 ; - prior tolove 30; brings the soul near to God 8 I ,cf. 3 I 5 ; hope and fear 9 I ; - and trust
I 94, 362 ; when fear is expelled I 94 ; ­and love 3 I 7, 430 ; no fear of outward
things in the true solitary 5 39·
F e r v o u r I9, 94, 95, 1 2 2 , I27 sq., I 291
I 3 I, I 361 I 721 24I1 282, 332, 375, 392,
484, 486, 5 1 2, 5 I9, 5 50, s s s ; - causes
a brother to beat the earth with his heada hundred times 140; - caused by thinking
of God 2 6 I .
F i l e I 9o, 328.
F o r g e t (to) the world 5 , 399, 526 ; - allthat is here I 7 o ; - all worldly things
2 5 I 1 cf. 1 7 4 ; I 791 2 5 5 , 325, 369 ; ­one's own nature 2 5 4 ; - bodily life 327 ;- the body and the world 3271 338 ; ­one self 395 ; - the world and life of
the flesh 5 I 8 ; - the body 5 20.
F r e e d o m XXXII ; XLI X ; 3, 5 , 6, I 3 1 I 7o,
1 7 5 , I 9 I , 1 95, 207, 323 F r e e d o m of speech (frankness) 73, 75, 1 1 41
I 5 I, 29 I, 330, 335, 427, 429, s z 8. See
Familiarity.
F r i e n d (God, the) 2 I 9·
G a r m e n t. Last - of the mind 3 I .
G I a d n e s s. Exulting joy 5 8 ; - withoutcause I 7 7 , 4 7 I ; - in God takes away
all other sensations 43 1 ; - as a means
to recognize the degree of one's own soul
483 ; spiritual - 484 ; - which no tongue
can express 486 ; - sometimes causes thesolitary to give up recitation of Psalms
5 5 0 ; unspeakable - 5 5 5G l o r y. Vain - and fornication 45 ; theharm of - 328.
G o I d. Images of - and precious things 278.
G r a c e. Its sudden workings I 7 7 ; what ­imparts to us I 98.
G r a v e , the time of gathering fruits 435·
G u a r d i a n. Man's - I 7 5 sq.
H a n d i w o r k. See Work.
H e a l i n g of the soul I 6 ; - of the innerman 483.
H e a l t h of the soul 24, 89, 433, 484 ; ­effectuated by sickness of the body 69 ; ­gives birth to knowledge 43 I ; - injured
by intercourse 435·
H ea r i n g and sight 54, 320.

3 94

GENERAL REGISTER

H e a r t the central organ of the inward
senses 29.
H e 1 1. Definition of - 88 ; - does not exist
with God 189 ; intelligible - 456, 52 1 ; ­is ignorance and oblivion of God 523.
H i d d e n things 51, 1 27 sq., 149, 181, 282,
3 1 9, 338, 3 7 3, 396, 4 1 0, 438, 529, 530j
hidden states 5 1 9.
H o n o u r to be rejected 76, 1 20.
H o p e and fear 9 1 ; - 96 ; all - has tobe given up by him that begins with theworks of God 97.
H o u s em a t e s. God's
33, 36. God as
a - 62.
H u m b l e 76, 85 sq., 93, 1o5, 279, 3 5 1 .
Mysteries revealed t o the - 1 22 ; cha­racteristics of the 5 1 5 sqq . ; - is bashful
before his own soul 5 1 7 ; the prayer ofthe humble 5 1 7 sq. ; the creatures timid
before the - 5 7 6 ; esteemed as a God byeveryone 527 ; the perfect - 579.
H u m i l i t y XXXVIII, 34, 76, 93, 1051 108
sq. , 1 39, 220 sq., 224, 302, 3211 414,
42 1 , 432, 507, 524. Works and - makeman a God 95 ;a cause of grace 322 ;two kinds of
346 ; - remunerated, notservice 408 sq. ; - to be asked from Godwith tears 4 1 2 sq. ; - the beginning ofrepentance 444; - expiates many sins
compared to salt 499 ; how 499 ;is acquired 508 ; the characteristics of 5 1 4 ; - and mercy 5 2 8 ; high rank of 5 7 4 sqq. ; -- the garment of divinity-5 7 4 ;makes a man Christlike 574 ;true - 5 78 ; the summit of - 580.
H u m o u r s. The four - 580.
-

-

-

-

-

I g n o r a n c e. Whether - will be annihilated
87 ;during prayer 1 7 5 ; - and oblivion
of God 522.
I l l n e s s 347 ; - of thoughts 1 6 ; - of thesoul 24, 46, 344, 401 ; sick in m;nd 400.
I l l u m i n a t e d (the) 1 58, 1 62, 226, 278,
324, 340.
I l l u m i n a t i o n XXXVIII, 6, 1 25, 1 64, 1 96,
326, 330, 337, 389 , 446, 448, 455, 485,
491, s s s , 562, 567.
I m a g e of God is the soul XLVIII, 2 1 1
1 26, 1 69.
I m p u Is e s XXXI. Inward
4; intellectual
3 1 ; - in God 46 ; divine - 59, 259;
illuminated - 48, 226, 281 ; spiritual87, 1 66, 376;of the soul 166, 26o ;distinctive
230 ; ecstatic - 254 ; hot ­of the body 285 ; dark and cold - 293,
34I ; contemplative 303 ; - of knowledge
3 7 7 ; - of love and beautiful things 392 ;clear
399, 43 8 ; - interwoven with
-

-

-

-

-

-

-

prayer 440 ; fervent - of the soul 447 ;troubled
448 ; - unto the entrance i n
the spiritual world 454; - of the will
4 7 5 ; right hand - 480 ; uncorporeal 486;
hot and quick
5 1 6 ; scarce - which
are not swift 5 1 7 ; perverted - 5 27 ; hid­den emotions 538; vibrating, hot - ofthe Seraphs ; simple
57 1 .
I n i t i a t e d (the) 1 62, 1 87, 2 50 ; - eyesof faith 36 1 ; - soul 470 ; - knowledge
483 ; Euagrius is called one of the - 5 7 3 ·I n s p i ra t i o n 160, 3 9 0 sqq.
I n t e l l i g e n t. The - 479·
I n t e 11 i g i b 1 e rays between the words ol
the scriptures 6 ; - forces of the soul 9 I,of the mind 1 6 1 ;apperceptions 1 74 ;- death 209 ; - force 3 70 ; - resur­
rection 374 ; - light 376 ; - hell 456 ;distinction between - things 472, 494 ;- sight 472 ;air 472 ; - sun 473 ;- contemplation 52 1 ; - places 522.
I n t e n t i o n. The heart's - 292.
I n t e r c o r; r s e (or Association) XXXIV sq.,52, 1 30, 1 3 1 bis, I 3 3, 247 ; - injures thesoul 89, 3 14 ; - compared to a blist ofcold I 32 ;the cause of darkness 329 ;with God and men 333 ;injures
health 435 ; lonely 566, 572.
I n t o x i c a t i o n. See Drunkenness.
-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

J o h n o f T h e b a"is 1 5 2 ; the blessed John
334·
J o y. See Gladness.
J u s t i c e as compared with compassion 344,
348.
K i n g d o m. The pure - 2 2 1 .
K n e e l i n g s 57 sq., 98, 1 6 2 , 3 4 I , 488.
K n o w i n g oneself is knowing all things 224.
K n o w l e d g e XLI sq. Spiritual - posterior
to excellence 30 ; second natural - 3 1 ; ­without excellence impossible 42 ; - oflife 42 ; first summit of - is that of themysteries of created things 48 ; essential
6o, 1 87 ; on the speech of true - 1 7 5
sqq . ; the way o f true - 1 8 o ; love thechild of true
201 ; Sunday a symbolof truezo z ; spiritual - 2 17 , 2 2 1 ,
3 1 8 sqq., 3 3 7, 522, 526 ; -, love andsight 222 ; - and humility 224 ;withdiscernment 28 1 ; - of God 307 ; degreesof - 3 1 8 sqq., 360 sqq . ; - anterior tofaith and - posterior to it 3 1 8 ; psychic- 366, 430, 437. 474, 5 2 8 ; simple 369 ; when - is swallowed by faith 374 ;impulses of - 377 sqq. ; natural, spiritualand supernatural
377 sq. ; clear flameof holy - 395 ; true - 430, 470, 494 ;gives birth to love 43 I ; - born from
-

-

-

-

-

GENERAL REGISTER
health of the soul 43I ; a de fi ni tion of 43I ; spirit ual - and love 475 ; - in­comparable 447; partial accom plishment
in spiritu al - reached by a few only
473 ; initiated - 283 ; s pi ri t ual - notreached by psychic - 526 ; snares of psy­
chic - 528.
L i g h t. I nwards prings from purity ofthoughts I 7 ; essential - 49 ; mind cladwith - 5 2 ; the Rower of the - of tru th
5 2 ; - of knowledge 187 ; - of con­templation 2001 5 50 ; - of faith 36o ;intelligible - 3 76 ; - of the soul 379,
434, 5 5 7 ; - of the mind 447, 482, s 6o ;- of life 456 ; - and sight 472 ; divine- 474; hidden - 530.
L i k e n e s s. Divine - I 69, 507, 5 1 0.
L o v e XLII sq., more intimate than service
55 sq. ; - even in Hell 20 1 ; - a childof true knowledge 20I1 43 1 ; drunk wit h- 202 ; the ways of - 205 sq. ; spiri­tual - 2 1 7 ; divine - 2 1 8 ; - is h ot
by n atu re 2 I 9 i - and madness 2 I 9 ; --,knowledge and sight 222 ; - of God andtears 245 ; - of God the accomplishmentof all spiritual fruits 26 1 ; the bread of 3 1 6 sq. ; meaning of - 3 I 7 ; - and fear
.3 1 7 ; th e flame of the love of God 33 7 ;- caused b y God i s a fountain from th e
depth 382 ; to be co n sume d by - 430 ;divine - the flower of spiritual knowledge
475 ; - the fruit of prayer 4 7 5 ; - of
God is selfdenial 4 7 6 ; - of mankind 507,
508, 5 I O j - of God and of mankind 570.
L u c i d i t y I 3 1 1 1 34 .
M a c a r i u s 495, 500.
M a d n e s s 1 3 1 , 2 1 9 sq., 254·
M a g g e n a n u t h a 390 sqq.
M a n's nature 197·
M a r c u s the soli tary 532.
M a r t y r s 220 ; spiritual - 3 I ; unseen mar­tyrdom 209, 242 ; fasting of the - 241
sq. ; - are those who suffer for theirneighbour 348 ; - and renun ciat ion 436 ;who the real - is 456 ; the living - 457·
M a t t e r XXVIII, a screen 2 j solution from- 7, 40.
M e a n s LV ; belong to knowledge, not tofaith 360 sq'l.
M e d i t a t i o n 72 , 7 7, 98, 376 , 486 , 493 ;its value and e ffec t 73 ; - and ecstasy
7 3 ; nocturnal - 1 3 8; - and the se co ndstage of knowledge 372; cons t ant - andthe light of the soul 3 79 ; - and theorigin of tears 385 ; spiritual - 46 1 ;contemplative - 492.

395

M e r c y 8 sq., 42 sq., 54, 455 sq., 492 ,
5061 507. See also s. v. Compassion.
M q a l l e y ii n e 495·
M i n d ( ��; , r<l om ) . Its relation

to heart 2 9 ; naked - 31 his, 303 ; naturall y tends towards good 197.
M i r r o r X XXVII. Our own state a - ofgodly things 45 5 ; the pure soul a - 520 j
to see God in a - 564.
M o r t i fi c a t i o n see s. v. Dead.
M o t i ons. See s. v. Impulses.
M o u n t a i n s beyond the Ocean 188.
M o u r n i n g. Its value 523.
M y s t e r i e s of visible thi n gs 48 ; hidden 68 ; - of G od's greatness 72 ; God's - 83.

N a k e d. The monk goes - through the world
326 ; - mind 3 1 , 303.
N a t u r e is the first book g i ven to man 6 1 .
N a t u r a I , p raet ernatural and supernatural375·
N e g l i g e n c e in small t h i ngs 289.
N i t r i a 1 85.
O c e a n surrounds the b ord ers of heaven andearth 1 88.
P a t h . The mystic - has thre e degrees
XXIV, 1 2 1 .
P e r fe c t (the), 250, 2 7 1 , 495 , 569, 5 78 ;perfect man 5 3 1 ; the - need not mingle
with works of mercy 5 73·
P e r fe c t i o n XXXVIII, 1 08, 1 22, 25 1 , 28o,
478, 49 1 , 507 sq., 560.
P h i l o XLVI sqq.
P h i l o s o p h e r s 2 1 , 401, 403 sqq.
P l o t i n u s XLIX sqq.
P r a c t i c e. Practical things of a composi tenature 7 ; - and theory 1 5 ; practicalthings confuse the soul 81 ; - anterior
to co ntemplation 5 7 1 ·P r a i s e i s t o b e avoided 78.
P r a y e r XXXIX sq. ; - which it is not al­l o wed to des cri be 1 29 . Purifying - 5 2 ;- act o ff b y delight 5 3 ; the sign ificanceof - 105 sq.; - that gives place tothanksgivings 106 ; - drives away thecloud of th e affections 1 24 ; my s teries of- 1 5 1 ; wha t happens durin g - unto
those who live in solitude 1 6 2 sq. ; dis­tinctions in - 163 sq. ; the limit which- is not allowed to surpass 163 sq. ;delight during - different from sightduring - 1 64 ; contemplation during 164 ; - vanishes by contemplation 164 ;pure - the limit of - 1 7 5 ; - andecstasy 1 66, 1 74, 261 ; - different fromcontemplation 166 ; a few a re d eemed

GENERAL REGISTER
worthy cf pure - 1 67 ; pure - XL, 1 671
1 68, 1 75 , 3791 4531 5 1 9 ; spiritual XLI; cannot be prayed 168, 1 70; contem­
plation and spiritual prayer 168 ; - amediator between the psychic and thespiritual state 1 69 ; when - ceases 1 70,
1 7 5 ; - Li the time for receiving gifts
1 7 3 ; spiritual - 1 7 5, 26o, 5 1 9 ; no ­without tears 2 5 3 ; constant - 259, 3041
5441_ 5 5 7 ; - the starting point for inner
Sight 260 ; contemplative - 326 ; -­the key to insight 329 ; - open under
all circumstances 342 ; - more excellent
than alms 385 ; - requires training 439 ;- with a view to the love of God 43 9 ;irue - 440 ; recitation a source of pure
- 447 ; - during the night is higher
than any work on the day 447 ; hidden 469, 470 ; love the fruit of - 475 ; adefinition of - 4 75. so8 ; true - is dying
to the world 47 5 ; lonely - 475 ; when
- is cut off 490 ; no - in the world
to come 503 ; revelations during - 5 5 6 ;night - higher than - o n the day 5 5 8 ;- during vigils feared b y Satan above
all things 5 59·
P r o s tr a t i o n s 1 2 9 .
P r o t o t y p e 455·
P u r e. The - 8, 522 ; the - in heart so,
564 ; - mind 921 2 5 9 ; - heart 1 1 8 ;the new heaven stamped in the - heart
522 ; - spirit 5 4 7·
P u r i fy (to) - the mind (heart) 1 6, 75,
5 5 5 ; - oneself from sin 64; - the soul
475 ; - the sight of the soul 564.
P u r i fi c a t i o n XXVIII ; - on account ofworks 9 5 ; threefold - 1 6 1 ; second -­of the mind 1 62 ; ·_ of the soul 1 84,
243 ; \ of the body by service 304; of the inner being 447 .
P u r i t y XXXVII sq. ; - of deliberations
the source of inward light 1 7 ; natural ­of the soul 2 5 j - of the mind 27, 306,
5 1 3, 527 ; - of the heart 29, 1 65 , 2501
348 ; - preserved by works and recita­tion 91 ; bow it is effectuated 53, 1 2 8 ;rank o f - 1 62 ; - during prayer 1 69 ;- of emotion 209 j the limits of - 250 ;- of the soul 253, 306, 5 1 9 ; true 26o; bodily and psychic - 306 ; stageof - 3 8 1 ; - and hidden things 438 :what - is 472 ; the harbour of - 489 ;partial - 494 ; repentance, - and per­fection 507 ; - can only be reached bysolitude 520j definition of - 520.
R a p t u r e so, 1 5 6 ; cf. 1 7 1 .
R e c i t a t i o n 98, 2181 488 ;in solitude

prepares ecstasy 43 ; - has to take placein complete rest 48 ; effectuates the illu­
mination of the mind 5 3 ; effectuates subt­
lety of mind 68 ; - is a fortification of
the mind 1 3 5 ; - used by Grace 163 ;how to gain delight from - 382 ; - whenthe mind is distracted 446 ; - a sourceof pure prayer 446 ; - of Psalms the rootof discipline 447·
R e c o 1 1 e c t i o n 8 bis, 20 sq., 52 sq., 7 8,92, 182 ; - of the body 27 ; cannot beshaken off 28 ; - of the other world 5 3 ,306 ; - of evil things 59 ; profitable 9 1 ; - of the affections 1 2 2 ; - of thedealings of non-freedom 244 ; - of thisworld in the world to come 2 5 7 ; external
2 5 8 ; - of God 2 58, 260 sq. , 493,
5 1 21 54 7 ; - of things of this world
z6o; - of transitory things 282 ; obli­
terated - 283 ; - of customs 297 ; of visible things vanishes by the - ofGod 37 5 ; - of worldly things effacedin the third degree of knowledge 3 7 3 ; to be admitted with discernment 3 8 1 , 396 ;getting void of the trouble of - 468 ;affections which are ill by - 484 ; without affections 48 4 ; - of sensible
things 487 ; the recollections which arelost sight of 5 1 4 ; -- of the world 545·R e l a x a t i o n of the limbs 58.
R e m u ne r a t i o n in accordance with thefundamental direction of man 92.
R e n u n c i a t i o n higher than giving alms 56.
R e p e n t a n c e XXVII sqq., 1 1 , 1 1 51 1 1 81
1 32, 1 39, 1 79. 3 1 5, 3 1 7, 320, 337, 443
sq., 453, 448, 46 1 sq., 4941 502, 507.
R e s u r r e c t i o n of the soul 246, cf. 282 ;the wonder of - 358 sq. ; intelligible- 374R e v e l a t i o n XXXIX, 1 54 sqq., 161 sqq.,
2471 338, 545 ; - is silence of intellect• s s ; six kinds of - 1 56 ; - and truth
16o ; - to the angels 1 99 sq. ; - andvision 249 ; intelligible - higher thanpurity 472 ; revelations usually take placein the night and in prayer 5 56.
R u f i n u s (ecclesiastical writer) 264.
S a b b a t h and Sunday 202 sqq. ; - andgrave 203 sq.
S a t a n. What - means 1 89 ; the different
ways in which - combates the solitary 269.
S c r i p tu r e s. Intelligible ray between thewords of the - 6.
Se r u t i n iz i n g blamed 47.
S e n s e s XXIX ; - of the flesh and of the soul
9 ; - have to be silent 1 6, 67 ; - of the soul
29; inward - 2 9 ; - the last garment ofGENERAL REGISTER
the mind 3 1 ; - must he subdued 281 ;inner - 338, 3 74 ; silent - 430 ; spiri­tual - of the mind 472, 4 7 5 ; spiritual- of the soul 5 1 4.
S e r e n i t y of soul 1 67 , 2 5 1 , 350, 360, 384,
414, 492 ; - of spirit 526 sq.; of mind
1 1 3, 438 ; serene heart 67, 455 ; the se­rene 259.
S e r v i c e. Psychic - 304 ; in visible - 307.
S i c k n e s s. See llness.
S i g h t XXXIX sq., LI, 1 28, 338 ; �ssential 49, 1 84, 195 ; caused by works and watch­fulness 1 2 8 ; spiritual - 9, 1 87, 304;
divine - 1 6 1 ; psychic - 1 281 162, 195,
544; - during prayer 1 64 ; - makes
one motionless 1 66 ; kinds of - 1 8 1 sqq . ;love, kno wledge and - 222 ; i o ner 260 ; contemplation is interpreted spiritual
260 ; - of God 306, 324 ; - and hearing
54, 320 ; true - would make the world
stand still 336 ; simple - 377 ; intelligible
472 ; - of what is above nature 497.
S i g n s. That we should not desire - 281 s qq .
S i I e n c e and solitude 154 , 4 5 1 ; guarding- rises from three causes 292 ; ecstasy
and - 36o ; - and an affected heart
446 ; - and truth 446 ; - causes unionwith God 446 ; - is to be loved above
all things 450, 4 5 1 ; - a symbol of the
future world 470; mysterious silence ofGod 471.
S i n. Int�;;: n tional and unintentional - 1 1 0 ;does not exist with God 1 8 9 ; - will
not al w ay s be and has not always been 1 8 9 ;power and e\'il influence o f - 208 sqq.
S i n n e r s are to be loved 14, 79, 348, 350,
408, 456 sq .
S l e e p i n g and waking 454 ; - which is
not - 486 ; the mystic speaks with God
in his sleep 262 ; prayer d ur ing
259.
S m a l l things. The t remendou s influenceof - 287 sq.
S o c r a t e s , the historian 263.
S o l i t a r y has a higher rank than he thatgives alms s 6 ; his behaviour the pr id e of.
the church 1 1 9 ; h is work 150.
S o l i t a r y life 1 1 7 sqq. ; its beauty 1 1 9 ;compared t o a n uofathomable sea 1 2 5 ; o n
the sol i tary career 1 2 7 sqq.
S o l i t u d e X X XIV sq., a fence to the se n ses
2 I ; - is more than all signs and powers
45 ; - is higher than mi ss iona ry work
45 ; - and ecstasy 1 3 9 ; the right - 1 4 9 ;definition of - 1 54 ; - a nd purity 16z ;mysteries of - 1 63 ; works have to be
combined with - 243 ; - is the begin­ning of the p u ri fi cation of the soul 243 ;- expels the affections 244 ; the effe cts
-·

·-

-·-

39 7

of - 246 sq. ; - and fasting 2 8 2 ; pre­ferred to works 308 sqq., 464 ; practisedby the Fathers of Scete 309 ; to dwell in- is ful filling the two chief commandments
3 1 3 ; - and contemplation 339 ; - andrepentance 462 ; praise of - 463 sq. ; themystery of - 465 ; the aim of - theharbour of mysteries 467 ; the p rofi ts of- 468 ; how the intelli ge n t have to dwellin - 479; simple - rejected 48o ; and the first gift of the mystic 490 ; noone who keep s p erfect - in o ur genera­tion 491 ; apathy and purity only to bereached by - 520 ; -- compared to thegrave 540 ; - recommended 564 ; - andmercy 566 sqq.
S i re n's song 3 2 7.
S o n g s. Sp irit ual - 2 16.
S o u 1 XXX. Ladder from the - to the king­dom 1 2 ; pupil of the - 1 7 ; its naturali nclinations unto God 20; its nature 2 1 ;its treasures 2 1 ; naturally not affectable
2 1 , 25 sq. ; God's image 2 1 , 1 26, 169 ;what is natural and not natural to it 23 ;its natural health 24 ; nature of souls 182
sqq . ; souls see one another when they
are purified 1 85 ; resurr� c ti o n of the246; serene - 360 ; - be<:omes strongby mortification 268 ; hidden mysteries ofthe - 376.
S p l e n d o u r of the divine glory 8.
S t o r k. Monk compared with the - 327.
S u n 1 7, so, 54, 5 2 1 ; inteiJigible - 86;
goes its nocturnal way behind the mountains
1 88 ; grace, the intelligible - 473 ; thesecond - 4 7 3·
S u n d a y and Sabbath 202 sqq. ; - symbolof true k nowledge 202.
·-T e a r s. See also s. v. Weeping ; 98, 1 3 1 , 1 39,
221, 490, 492 sq., 499 ; - attract grace
48 ; - and fasting 48 ; - when grace
opens a man's eyes 49 ; perpetual - 5 8 ;when the fountain o f - i s given 7 3 ;what comes after - 94 ; - a s a criteriumof the solitary's state 1 2 5 sq. ; perpetital- 1 26, 1 28, 397, 443, 489 ; when per­petual - stop 1 27 ; wh en - begin
1 28 ; - q uic ke n the cold e motio ns 1 3 1 ;sweet - 165, 229, 484, 5 5 5 ; - a signof grace - 1 7 7 ; - a sign of beginningfruit s 244 ; - a s ign of the transition
from the bodily to the spiritual state 245 ;- and .the love of God 245 ; effects o f 245 ; delight of - 252 ; - caused bylove 2 6 1 ; immesurable - 1 8 1 ; perpetual- during prayer a charisma 384 ;originate in pure meditation 385 ; - did

GENERAL REGISTER
not leave Paul for three years 397 ; giftof - during service 446 ; - the accom­
plishment of prayer 446 ; - born fromsight 45 I ; - during prayer 46o, 547 ;
spontaneous ·- a sign of approaching vic­
tory 48o; - when the mind gazes atspiritual things 492 ; - during sleep 492 ;- during prayer cause forgiveness of sins
543 ; -- during vigils 548.
T e m p t a t i o n s 34 sqq . ; - of the souland - of the body 35 sq. ; are necessary
36, I 04, I 09 ; we should not seek them3 7 ; are not to be shunned in critical cases
3 7 ; divine help in - 6 5 ; - in accord­
ance with gifts 298 ; kinds of - 299 ; ­and divine help 303 ; by - the gate ofheaven is opened 4 1 8 ; for which causes- are admitted 427 ; - heal the innerman 483 ; - also admitted to those whohave reached partial purity 494 ; - ad­mitted by grace 5 3 ; - should not cause
despair 365.
T h e o do r e , one of the confessors 264.
T h e o d i c y I 89 sqq.
T h e o do re of Mopsuestia. See Commentator.
T h e o r y. Practice and - I S.
T h i n g s (outward, worldly) 2, 3 , 8, 10, I4,
2 1 , 48, 54, 6 I , 89, 93, 135, 2 5 I , 276 ,
438, 486, 536.
T r a n e e 208 , 220.
T r a n s i t i o n 141, 1 58, 1 7 1 .
T r e a s u r y 1 6 5 ; - within man 1 2 , 528 ;- of the soul 520.
T r e e o f l i f e is the divine love 3 1 6.
T r e e o f g o o d a n d e v i I the eradicator oflove 3 7 I .
T r u s t. See Confidence.
T r u t h has to be sought 1 2 2 ; divine
cancot be acquired by nature 192.
U n c o n s c i o u s n e s s 221.
U n i fi c a t i o n XXVI, XLIV, 8 , I 69, I94, 462.
V a r y i n g s t a t e s XLV, I I 2, 1 24, I 29, 1 39,
1 79 sq., 1 92, 206, 2 1 3 sq., 2 I 6, 2 1 9, 246,
298, 3 14, 416, 453, 492, soo, sos ; serve to make a man humble 109; - of coldand heat 1 37 ; - of light and darkness
339; - purified by prayer 441 ; good -448 ; - as a means to recognize one's
own degree of discipline 483 ; - happen
to every man 494 ; - compared to changesof the weather 495.
V i g i l s 52, I 34 sqq., 450, 469, 488, 546
sqq., 563 sq.
V is i o n. See Sight.
W e a k n e s s. �fan has to be conscious of
his own - 1 04, 107 sq. ; sins arisingfrom - 1 10.
W e e p i n g. See also s. v. Tears ; psychic 88; - is [the meditation of the soli tary
2 5 1 sq. ; - and purity 2 5 2 ; - expels
the affections 253 ; - and consolation 253 ;praying for humility with - 4 1 2 sq.
W i n e. Spiritual - 3 I 7 .
W o m e n. The representation of beautiful 2 7 7, 284 ; refraining from the sight of ­is a mighty weapon 293·
W o r k (manual) 449 ; - called an impedi­ment 5 7 ; it is profitable to give up 1 3 0 ; - unfit for the solitary I S2 sq.;
precepts for - 385.
\V or k s and humility make man a God
95 ; - and trust 1 0 2 ; - and faith 102 ;- have to be combined with solitude
243 ; - without humility cause many evils
499 ; solitude preferable to - 385.
W or I d. How to be far from the - 1 8 ; and affections 1 8 ; man has to be weaned
from the - 40 ; to withdraw from the sightof the - 52 ; to renunciate the wholebody of the - 7 8 ; how the - may become
the solitary's servant 1 00 ; - compared
to a whore 227 ; - compared to a prison
229 ; how to give up the - 1 30 ; what ­means 332.
W o r l d t o b e perceived here already I 2 ;remuneration i n the - not t o b e expec­
ted 5 5 ; two stotes only in the - 87 sq.
spiritual degrees of those in - 86 sq. ;the things of the - 1 6 9 ; in the - norecollection of this world 2 57.
W r i t t e n documents and laws necessaryor him that has not received the Com­
forter 9 I .
Z e a I condemned 343 sq. ; laudable - 395 sq.

QUOTATIONS FROM THE BIBLE
page

Genesis 3 , 1 9 .

48, 2 2
Exodus 20, I 9
24, 9-1 1
3 2, 3 2
Lev. 26, 3 6 . .
Numb. I 3 , 3 3 ·Deut. 6, 5
Judges 3 , 1 sq.
2 Sam. 7 , I
1 2, I 3
I Kings 8, I I
Jes. 6, r .
3 7, 3 5 .
40, 4 . .
5 2, I S .
53, 6
5 3, I O .
S 5, 2 sq . .
s s , 6-8 .
ss, 2 sq
611 I
65, 2
Jer. 20, 9
3 6, 2 sq . .
Ezekiel 9, 6
33 , 1 1
33 , I S s q
3 6, 26
Micah 7, 8 .
Psalms r , 5
6, 6
25, 9
34, 7
3 4, 1 0 .
3 4, 1 5 ·
3 4, 1 6 .
34, I 9 .
35, 1 0 .
3 6, 9 .
3 7 . 35 ·42, 2
49, 1 2, 20
5 '• 1 7 .
s s , 22 .
55, 2 3 .
"

"

"

• .

"

..

203
9
574 sq.
175
509
280
96
312
I07
485
117
222
157
3 90
512
40
40
40
74
74
. 82, IOI
45 8
73
512
74
I17
73
74
246
112
1 14
5 58
5 79
3 92
3 98
93
3 94
39 2
490
47 3
3 90
131
3 19
I05
3 98
67

Psalms 84, I l ,90, 10,91, 5
9 1 , I I sq.
9 1, 1 3 ·91, I 5 .
1 1 9, 1 2 3 .
1 26.. 6 .
I 2 71 I .
1 3 8, 7 I45, I 9
I47, 3 ·Job I , 914, 20 .
Proverbs 6, 2 7
10, 4
r6, 1 9 .
22, 1 3 .
25, 28 .
28, 1
28, 1 3 .
Ecclesiastes I o, I 6 .
I I, I
Ecclesiasticus 1 , I .
Matthew 5, 4 .
"

•

"

"

"

s, 7 .

6, 7 .
6 , IO
6, 2 5
6, 3 1 sq . .
6, 337, 7 sq.
7, 1 2
8, 1 1
8, 20
to, 26 .
1 0, 28 .
w , 3 8, 3 9n, 28 .
1 1 , 29 .
12, 3 1 .
1 3, 43 .
14, 1 3 .
I5, 1 4 .
16, r 6 .
1 6, 24 .

page•

9 7, 2 3 1
231
3 87
3 94
3 62
I03
I04
4I
364
3 90
2 70
458
278
46 1
14
1 78
41 1
96
SI
I0 3
74
22 3
ss
20 5
25 3
4 56
33
13
lOO

33
100� 3 8 5
502
574
88
58 1
3 64
35
. 3 5 , 23 3
3 52
516
458
88
3 64
90
159
2 3 2, 5 3 2

400

QUOTATIONS FROM THE BIBLE

Matthew 18, 3

page

1 9, 27 .

148

8, I .

.

371

20, 22 .

36

1 2, 2-4.

2 1 , 22 .

364

1 3, 1 2 .

so. 13, 1 5 9

I S, 1 0 .
,2 Cor. 4, 6 . .

22, 2 1 .

I S2

25, 32 .

88

25, 4 1 .

88

261 .26, 28

510

Mark 2, 1 7 .

246

s, 2 1 .
1 2, 2-4.
1 2, 7 .

40
so
428

.

344

390
502

Ephesians 11 1 1 .

Luke I , 3 5 .
1 1, 8 .
13, 2435

14, 33439, 5 1 1

17, 2 1

. 13, 378502

2 1 , 36502, SS6

26
459
IS9

1 1 1 7- 1 9 .
4, 22, 24378

181 I .

.

I S8, 391.

S21

s, 16 . . .
1 0, 1 8 sq.

325

Colossians 1, 9

.

392
I S8
509

.

159

246

3, 1 6 .

5°9. 16, 148

14, 30

s8 x
377

.

325

x6, 1 3

Philippians 1, 29

417

16, 33426

2, 3 .

250

21, 1 6

4S8

2, 13

442

Acts 10, 1 0
Romans 3 , 23 sq . .

..

. 299, 364, 375, 539

8, 2 1 .

256

8, 3 8 ;487

9, 3 .

464, S 09

1 11 32 sq.

1 1, 33

Cor. 21 9·.

4, 4 sq. ·
•

.

364

4, S ·

398

4, ' 3371

464

Thess. 5 , 1 7
2 Thess. 2, 1 3
1 Tim. I , I S .
Hebrews S, 14

IS9

1 2, 2510

Peter 3, 1 4 .

417

1 John 4 , 1 6 .

316

193, 2S5
12, 3 1 6

I

4, 5

.

xs s
315

8, I S .

g, 1 6 .

.

371

s , 22 •6, 7 .

365

I

525

428, S04

1 61 1 7

1 7 , 20 sq . .

•.

12, 7 sq.
•
Galatians S, 17 .

458
365

John 1 , 1

1

3 5 , soz , S S6

9, 23 .

•

page361, 527

26, 41 .

•Cor. 3 , 1 8 .

.

1

I

ekf
f

Univ.-B ibfioth
Reoensburg

Hausdruckerei Dr. Martin Sandig oHG., Wiesbaden

S S6
391
258
89