617. The brethren said, “Why is it that though the holy fathers incite us continually to the labours of excellence, and to the contending against passions and devils, Abbâ Isidore restrained Abbâ Moses the Ethiopian from works, and from contests with devils, saying, ‘Rest thee, Moses, and quarrel not with the devils, and seek not to make attacks upon them, for there is a measure [i.e., moderation] in everything’; doth this apply also to works and to the labours of the ascetic life?”
The old man said, “Because at the beginning Abbâ Moses was ignorant of the rule of the ascetic life, and because he was healthy of body, he worked overmuch, and he thought that he would be able to prevail mightily against devils by the multitude of his works alone, and that he would be able to vanquish them. Therefore, because the devils perceived his object, they attacked him more severely with frequent wars, both secretly and openly, but Abbâ Isidore, wishing to teach him the truth, and to make him to acquire humility, said unto him, ‘Without the power of the Spirit which our Lord gave us in baptism for the fulfilling of His commandments, the which is confirmed in us each day by the taking of His Body and Blood, we cannot be purified from the passions, and we cannot vanquish devils, and we cannot perform the works of spiritual excellence’; thereupon Abbâ Moses learned these things, and his thoughts were humbled, and he partook of the Holy Mysteries, and the devils were conquered, and they reduced their war against him, and from that time forward he lived in rest, and knowledge, and peace. Many monks have imagined that their passions would be healed, and that they would acquire soundness of soul merely by their labours and strenuousness, and therefore they were abandoned by grace, and fell from the truth. For as he who is sick in his body cannot be healed without the physician and medicines, however much he may watch and fast during the time he is taking the medicine, so he who is sick in his soul through the passions of sin, without Christ, the Physician of souls, and without the partaking of His Body and Blood, and the power which is hidden in His commandments, and the humility which is like unto His, cannot be healed of his passions, and cannot receive a perfect cure. Therefore, whosoever fighteth against the passions and the devils by the commandments of our Lord is healed of the sickness of the passions, and acquireth health of soul, and is delivered from the crafts of the devils.”
618. The brethren said, “With what object did those two monks say to Abbâ Macarius, ‘If thou art not able to become a monk like us, sit in thy cell, and weep for thy sins, and thus thou shalt be like us’?” The old man said, “Because they knew that, if a man was able to be a solitary in his body, and a dweller in silent contemplation, and a worker both in his soul and in his body, who made himself humble and who wept each day for his sins, and who cut off from himself all memories of every kind of passion and anxious thought, and who meditated only upon God and upon his own correct behaviour, such a man was a monk (or solitary) in very truth, even as the blessed Evagrius said, “The monk who is remote from the world is he who hath cut off from himself all the motions of his passions, and hath fastened unto God all the mind of his soul.””
619. The brethren said, “Why is it that certain of the Fathers were called Mêshannayânê [i.e., men who transferred themselves from one place to another], since they were recluses, and never departed from their cells?” The old man said, “Because after much silent contemplation, and unceasing prayer, and watching of the mind, they were worthy to depart from the earth in their minds, and to ascend unto heaven to Christ the King. And they did not do this on occasions only, but continually, for whensoever they wished, or whensoever they sang the Psalms, or prayed, or meditated upon God, straightway their mind was exalted to heaven, and stood before our Lord. But there were other [kinds of] ‘Mêshannayânê,’ that is to say, those who lived with wild beasts in the deserts, such as Abbâ Bessarion, and others who were like unto him.”
620. The brethren said, “What is [the meaning] of the fact that when one of the monks saw a brother in the mountain he fled from him, and was unable to bear the smell of the children of men?” The old man said, “The monk fled because he saw that the brother was carrying silver. And when the brother saw that the monk fled, he cast off his garments and pursued him. And when the monk saw that he had cast off his garments, he waited for him, and welcomed him gladly, saying, ‘Since thou hast cast off the matter which is of this world I have waited for thee. I was not able to bear [the sight thereof] because I myself am naked.’ I looked beyond my rule of life and saw that he was carrying a burden upon his shoulder like a man who was in the world.”
621. The brethren said, “Why did the monk not permit that brother who came to him to dwell in the cave by his side, but did say unto him, ‘Thou art not able to bear up against the attack of devils?’” The old man said, “Because he knew his manner of life and works, and also that he possessed not the labours and the strenuousness which were sufficient to make him strong to resist the fierce assault of the savage nature of the devils which make war against the monks. For according to the labour of every man, and according to his striving, and his rule of life and strenuousness, and according as he is able to bear, so much the greater are the ferocity, and the wickedness, and the bitterness, and the craftiness of the devils who make war against him. Similarly, when one of the brethren entreated Abbâ Apellen to allow him to live with him in the desert, he said unto him, ‘Thou art not able to bear the temptation of the devils.’ Finally, when the brother urged him [to let him do so], he commanded him to dwell in a cave by his side. And the devils came against him in the night and sought to strangle him, until Abbâ Apellen came, and surrounded the cave with the sign of the Cross, after which the brother was able to live in the cave. For not all monks are able to fight against the devils, but only such as are perfect and humble.”
622. Why is it that the two Romans who went to Abbâ Macarius, did not, during the whole period of three years which they lived [near him] come to him and ask him, or any other aged man, questions about the thoughts? The old man said, “Because the elder brother was exceedingly wise, and perfect and humble. Had he gone to Abbâ Macarius, or to one of the other old men, his perfection would have been revealed, and he would have [received] praise throughout Scete from the Fathers, who would have wondered, saying, ‘How is it that a young man hath become perfect in three years’? It is, however, not right for us to make ourselves like unto these two brethren, and to neglect the doctrine of the old men. As for the two brethren, the elder was perfect, and the younger was humble, and learned from him.”
623. The brethren said, “The history of the triumphs of Bessarion saith that during all the days of his life he dwelt in waste places, and in the desert and in the mountains, and among the rocks. Once having come to a certain monastery, he stood up by the door like a wandering beggar, and then sat down weeping and crying out, even as one who had been rescued from a storm. And when the brethren entreated him to go in and rest with them, he said, ‘Before I find the possessions of my house which I have lost I cannot endure being under a roof; for thieves fell upon me on the sea, and a storm reared itself up against me, and I have been robbed of the riches which I once possessed, and from being a man of high estate I am become of no account.’ Now what were the riches which [he inherited] from his parents and lost? And what does this [story] mean? Who are parents? What does he refer to by the words ‘sea, and storms, and waves’? Who were the thieves? Are these words spoken of himself or of the other persons? The old man said, “These things are said of all the monks who are still striving and contending against passions and devils, and who are lacking at the present time purity of heart, and fruits of the spirit, and visions of our Lord, and they are not spoken of men who are perfect as he was. The word ‘sea’ he applieth to the sea of the mind whereon the monk saileth with works of spiritual excellence, wherefrom he entereth the haven of impassibility, even as the blessed Macarius saith, ‘He who wisheth to cleave the sea of the mind, maketh himself longsuffering.’ And he calleth temptations ‘storms,’ and the passions ‘waves,’ and the ‘thieves’ are devils, and his ‘parents’ are the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, One God, in Whose image and likeness we are made, even as our Creator said, ‘Come, let us make man in our image and likeness,’ and also as ‘our Lord said, ‘Be ye like unto your Father, Who is in heaven.’ And He calleth the spiritual excellences, which contain likenesses of the similitude of our Father, Who is in heaven, and which make us heirs of God, and sons of the inheritance of Jesus Christ, by the name of ‘riches and possessions of his parents,’ and these are faith, and hope, and the love of God and man, and joy, and rest, and peace, and graciousness, and pleasantness, and lowliness, and humility, and longsuffering, and patient endurance, and integrity, and simplicity, and purity, and mercy, and cleanness of heart, and the holy light of the mind, and pure prayer, and the divine light which riseth on the heart at the hour of prayer, and spiritual prayer, and Divine knowledge, and the visions and revelations of our Lord. These are the possessions of the soul, some of which it acquireth naturally, and some by Divine Grace; now those which it acquireth naturally are they which the Creator sowed in its nature at the beginning of its creation, and those which it acquireth by Divine Grace are they which are bestowed upon it by the baptism in Christ. And these possessions are lost to a man through pleasures, and honours, and lusts, and benefits, but they are found and acquired, and the soul waxeth rich in them, through tribulations, and revilings, and oppression, and hardships. Now although Abbâ Bessarion, and men who were as perfect as he was, possessed these things, other men lack them and are strangers unto them. [And as regards the words] ‘He once came to a certain monastery, and sat down outside the door like a wandering beggar,’ [they mean that] he saw clearly with the secret eye of the mind that the greater number of the monks were destitute of this spiritual possession, and of the spiritual excellences and gifts which have been already mentioned. And being incited there, to by the law of affection and of brotherly love, he cried out and wept on their behalf, as if it had been on his own, and he made supplication to the lovingkindness of God that He would make them worthy of the riches of His love, and of the possession of His Grace.”
624. The brethren said, “What are the nine spiritual excellences which that holy man possessed, and what did he lack?” The old man said, “Although they are not written down I think that they were as follows: 1. Voluntary poverty. 2. Abstinence, 3. Constant evening fasting. 4. Vigil. 5. The recital of the whole Book of the Psalms seven times during the night and day. 6. The reading of the Holy Books between times. 7. Lowliness. 8. Humility. 9. Love of man. These are the nine spiritual excellences which he possessed, and by means of them he vanquished all passions. By poverty he overcame the love of money. By abstinence he conquered unbridled appetite and gluttony. By fasting he overcame the passion of the love of the belly. By vigil he vanquished sleep. By the recital of the Psalms he did away idleness. By reading he kept away the converse of evil. By lowliness he dispelled wrath and anger. By humility he overcame vainglory and pride. By love of man he conquered hatred, and spite, and enmity. Now the spiritual excellence which he lacked, and which is the tenth, was the constant fervour of the love of God, which is in our Lord Jesus Christ, and this can [only] be gathered together, and stablished and acquired by the secret prayer of the mind, which is unceasing and wandereth not, and by the strict and constant suppression of the thoughts of the passions, and the incitements of devils, when they first begin to bestir themselves in the heart. And because among all the works of ascetic excellence there is none more difficult [to do] than this, for, even as the blessed Macarius said, ‘All the fightings and fierce, and crafty, and evil temptations of the devils are set in array against it,’ the holy man is not able easily to become perfect in the love of Christ, which is acquired by the concentration of the mind and by deep thought about God. Therefore the blessed Evagrius said, ‘If thou canst overcome the wandering of the thoughts, it is the end of all ends; and if thou canst make deep thought about God have dominion in thee, thou canst overcome all passions, and thou shalt be worthy of the perfection of the love of Christ.’ By the love of man and by the other virtues a monk may, by the help of God, vanquish all the passions; but by the love of Christ he shall conquer the evil passion of the love of the soul, which is the first of all the passions, and which embraceth them all, even as Saint Evagrius said, ‘The first of all the passions is the thought of the love of the soul, and after it come the following eight.’ And again he said, ‘Conquer the strife of the love of the soul which is in thy bosom, by that which is towards God.’ For until the monk is worthy of this love, he is unable to acquire exact consolation from the remainder of the labours of the other spiritual excellences, even though it be that he obtaineth assistance from them, as Abbâ Isaiah said, ‘Although the children of Leah were a help to Jacob, yet he loved Joseph most of all, and when Joseph was born, he wished to leave Laban and go to his parents,’ that is to say, When a monk hath become worthy, and hath acquired the perfect love of Christ, which is stablished by silent contemplation, and the power to pray without ceasing, and his soul is at all times rejoicing and exulting with gladness, he will not be content to remain in this life; but each and every day he will be desiring eagerly and longing to depart from the body, and to be with our Lord in Paradise, which is the habitation of the spirits of just men who have become perfect, and the holy country which is exalted above the passions, and devils, and the striving of those who cultivate the virtues until the revelation of our Lord Jesus, Who loveth to make perfect a man with the never-ending happiness of His love in a glorious kingdom.”