668. The brethren said, “What is the meaning of that which Abbâ Anthony said, ‘A monk’s cell is the furnace of Babylon, and it is also a pillar of light’?” The old man said, “There are two things peculiar to the cell; the one warmeth and setteth on fire, and the other giveth light and rejoicing. To neophytes it is oppressive and troublesome, by reason of the many wars and the dejection which are therein, but it rejoiceth the perfect and maketh them glad, with purity of heart, and impassibility, and revelations of light; and it is even thus with those who begin to live in silent contemplation, for although at the beginning they are for a considerable time afflicted by the wars of the passions, and by devils, they are never forsaken by the help of Divine Grace. For our Lord Himself, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, cometh to them secretly, and he becometh to them a helper and a companion, and after they have overcome both passions and devils, according to systematic order, He maketh them worthy of the happiness which is in His perfect love, and the revelation of His glorious light.”
669. The brethren said, “Abbâ Moses the Ethiopian was on one occasion reviled by certain men, and the brethren asked him, saying, ‘Wast not thou troubled in thy heart, O father, when thou wast reviled?’ And he said unto them, ‘Although I was troubled, yet I said nothing.’ What is the meaning of the words, ‘Although I was troubled I spake not’?” The old man said, “The perfection of monks consisteth of two parts, that is to say, of impassibility of the senses of the body, and of impassibility of the senses of the soul. Impassibility of the body taketh place when a man who is reviled restraineth himself for God’s sake and speaketh not, even though he be troubled; but impassibility of the soul taketh place when a man is abused and reviled, and yet is not angry in his heart when he is abused, even like John Colobos. For on one occasion when the brethren were sitting with him, a man passed by and upbraided him, but he was not angry, and his countenance changed not; then the brethren asked him, saying, ‘Art thou not secretly troubled in thy heart, O father, being reviled in this fashion?’ And he answered and said unto them, ‘I am not troubled inwardly, for inwardly I am just as tranquil as ye see that I am outwardly’; and this is perfect impassibility. Now at that time Abbâ Moses had not arrived at this state of perfection, and he confessed that although outwardly he was undisturbed, yet he was waging a contest in his heart, and he maintained silence and was not angry outwardly; and even this was a spiritual excellence, although it would have been a more perfect thing had he not been angry either inwardly or outwardly. And the blessed Nilus made a comparison of these two measures of excellence in the cases of the blessed men Moses and Aaron. The act of covering the breast and heart with the priestly tunic which Aaron performed when he went into the Holy of Holies represented the state of a man who, though angry in his heart, suppresseth his wrath by striving and prayer; and the state of a man not being angry at all in the heart, because he hath been exalted to perfection by [his] victory over the passions and the devils, Nilus compared to that which is said of the blessed Moses, saying, ‘Moses took the breast for an offering, because the soul dwelleth in the heart, and the heart in the breast.’ And Solomon said, ‘Remove anger from thy heart,’ and concerning Aaron the Book saith, ‘He was covering his breast with the ephod and tunic,’ and this teacheth us monks that it is meet for us to cover over the wrath which is in the heart with gentle, and humble, and tranquil thoughts, and that we should not allow it to ascend to the opening of our throat, and that the odiousness and abomination thereof shall be revealed by the tongue.”
670. The brethren said, “Why is it that, although all the fathers used to admonish the brethren to ask the old men questions continually, and to learn from them, and to reveal to them their thoughts, and to live according to their directions, one of the old men said to one of the brethren, ‘Go, sit in thy cell, and thy cell shall teach thee everything’?” The old man said, “There is no contradiction in these words of the Fathers, and what the old man said hath an object, the meaning of which is well known. The old man who admonished the brother that he should learn like a beginner was great and famous, and to that brother who asked him the question he spake thus:—In the early days when thou goest to thy cell lay hold upon the habits (or orders) of the neophytes, and live according to them for a considerable period, that is to say, with fasting, and vigil, and reading, and reciting the offices, and all the other things, until at length, after the lapse of time, the life of contemplation in silence shall give thee the order which befitteth thy seclusion, and will add those things which are seemly, and will diminish those which are not. This is the meaning of that which was said by the holy man, ‘Sit in thy cell, and it shall teach thee everything.’”
671. The brethren said, “One of the old men used to say, ‘A man shall have no care, and he shall contemplate in silence, and shall cover up himself; three meditations shall teach purity.’ What is the meaning of these three words?” The old man said, “‘A man shall have no care’ means that he shall not care concerning the shortcomings of others, and that all his anxiety shall be concerning his own shortcomings. And, ‘He shall contemplate in silence’ means that he shall not speak even concerning matters of spiritual excellence if it will trouble any man or condemn him. And ‘He shall cover up himself’ meaneth that he shall not reveal his life and deeds, but as far as possible, he shall be unknown and unhonoured. Now by these things is established the purity of heart which seeth God in a revelation of light.”
672. The brethren said, “How is it possible for a monk to die every day for the love of Christ, even as the blessed Paul said, ‘I swear by your boasting, my brethren, that, in our Lord Jesus Christ, I die daily, and the world is dead unto me, and I am crucified unto the world, and the world is crucified unto me, and I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me’?” The old man said, “A man [can do this] if he contemplate in silence at all seasons, and perform the other works of the body, I mean fasting, and vigil, and the recital of the books of the Psalms, and prayers, and genuflexions, and groanings, and pain, and weeping, and tears, and sighs, and the reading of the Holy Scriptures. And he must especially take care concerning the works of the mind, that is, the constant remembrance of God, and meditation upon Him and His blessings, and upon His commandments and His threatenings; and his gaze must always be on our Lord, and his prayer must be without ceasing and without wandering, and the odiousness of the passions must be away from the heart, and he must suppress with keenness the thoughts of the devils which arise at their prompting. And he must possess that excellence which is the first and most important of all the spiritual virtues, and of all the labours of the ascetic life of the mind, that is to say, death in respect of all the anxieties and cares of this world. And a monk must have no care, and no anxiety, and he must not think about anything, or seek anything, or desire anything, or lust for anything, except for the time when he will attain to the perfect love of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. And he must fulfil at all times the command of the blessed Paul, and his admonition to us wherein he said, ‘Love ye your Lord, rejoice in your hope, pray without ceasing, be fervent in spirit, endure your tribulations, be not anxious about anything, cast all your care upon the Lord; and let all your prayers, and all your requests, and all your petitions be made known unto God, to Whom be glory for ever and ever! Amen.’”
673. The brethren said, “How can love be acquired by men of understanding?” The old man said, “True and pure love is the way of life, and the haven of promises, and the treasure of faith, and it sheweth [the way of] the kingdom, and it is the expositor of the judgement, and the preacher concerning what is hidden.”
674. The brethren said, “We do not know the power of the word.” The old man said, “If a man doth not love God he will not believe in Him, and His promises are not certain to him, and he feareth not His judgement, and he goeth not after Him; but, because love is not in him, so that he may flee from iniquity, and wait for the life which hath been promised, he is always performing the work of sin. And he doth this because His judgement is raised too far above his eyes. Therefore let us run after love, wherein the holy fathers were rich, for it is able to reward its nature and its God, and this is its praise.”
675. The brethren said, “In what way doth wisdom live in a man?” The old man said, “Now when a man hath gone forth to follow God with a sincere mind, grace taketh up its abode in him, and his life and deeds are strengthened in the Spirit, and he hath taken a hatred to the world, for he perceiveth that new spiritual life which is in the new man, and which is exalted above the impurity of human life, and in his mind he thinketh upon the humility of the life and works which are to come, and which are [more] excellent than those here.”
676. The brethren said, “By what is love made known?” The old man said, “By the fulfilment of work, and by spiritual meditation and by the knowledge of faith.”
677. The brethren said, “What are works?” The old man said, “The keeping of the commandments of God in the purity of the inner man, together with the [performance of] labours by the outer man.”
678. The brethren said, “Is every man who is destitute of works also destitute of love?” The old man said, “It is impossible for the man who is in God not to love and it is impossible that he who loveth should not work; and it is incredible that he who teacheth and doth not work is indeed a believer, for his tongue is the enemy of his actions, and although he speaketh life, he is in subjection unto death.”
679. The brethren said, “And is he who is in this state destitute of reward?” The old man said, “The man who speaketh the things of the spirit, and who performeth the things of the body is not destitute of reward, and that which he needeth is fulfilled for him, but he is deprived of the crown of light, because he desireth not that the rule of the spirit shall have dominion over him.”
680. The brethren said, “Fasting and prayer: what are they?” The old man said, “Fasting is the subjugation of the body, and prayer is converse with God, vigil is the war with Satan, abstinence is the being weaned from meats, standing up is the humility of the primitive man, genuflexion is the bowing down before the Judge, tears are the remembrance of sins, nakedness is our captivity through transgression, and [reciting the] service is constant supplication and the praising of God.”
681. The brethren said, “Are these things able to redeem the soul?” The old man said, “When the things which are within agree with the things which are without and the humility which is manifest appeareth in the hidden works which are within, in very truth a man is redeemed from the heaviness of the body.”
682. The brethren said, “And what is internal humility?” The old man said, “It is humility of love, peace, concord, purity, restfulness, gentleness, subjection, faith, remoteness from envy, [and it is] the soul which lacketh the fervour of anger, and is remote from the lust of arrogance, and is separated from vainglory, and is filled with patient endurance like the great deep, and whose motion is drawn after the knowledge of the spirit, and before whose eyes is depicted the departure from the body, and the great marvel of the Resurrection, and the call to judgement, which [shall come] after the quickening, and its standing before the awful throne of God, and the being redeemed.”
683. The brethren said, “Is it possible for a man to fast and not to be redeemed?” The old man said, “There is a fasting which is a matter of habit, and another which is of desire, and another which is of constraint, and another which is of the sight, and another which is of vainglory, and another of tribulation, and another of repentance, and another of spiritual love; and although each one of them is the same outside the mind, yet in the word of knowledge they are distinct. Now although the manner of each in respect of the body is the same, yet each should be undertaken with thorough purpose, and a man should journey straightly along the way of love, and should bear his burden with spiritual patience, and he should not rejoice in his honour.”
684. The brethren said, “Who is the true [monk]?” The old man said, “He who maketh his word manifest indeed, and endureth his pain patiently; with such a man new life is found, and the knowledge of the spirit dwelleth in him.”
685. The brethren said, “Who is he that liveth purely?” The old man said, “He who is free from the delights of the body, and who rejoiceth in the love of his neighbours in the love of God; for in proportion as need hath rule over the soul is spiritual repose produced [therein].”
686. The brethren said, “With what can we vanquish lust?” The old man said, “With the remembrance of the good things of the spirit; for, if the desire for the good things which are to come doth not abrogate the lust for the delights of this world, a man cannot overcome at all. Except the merchant’s ship be laden with manifold hope it will not be able to endure the storms, and will sail on the path of tribulation.”
687. The brethren said, “In what way doth a man go forth from the world?” The old man said, “He doeth this when he forsaketh the gratification of all his lust, and when, so far as it lieth in his power, he runneth to fulfil the commandments; the man who doth not do this will fall.”
688. The brethren said, “Through what did the men of old triumph over nature?” The old man said, “Through the fervour of their love which was above nature, and through the death of the man which is corruptible, and through contempt of arrogance, and through abatement of the belly, and through the fear of the judgement, and through the sure and certain promise; through the desire of these glorious things the Fathers acquired in the soul a spiritual body.”
689. The brethren said, “How can we vanquish the passions which afflict us, since they are placed in our nature?” The old man said, “Through your death to the world, for except a man burieth himself in the grave of continence the spiritual Adam can never be quickened in him. For when a dead man departeth from this temporary life, he hath no perception of the world, and all his senses are at rest and they are useless. Now if that which appertaineth to thy natural body thou dost forsake naturally, and thou dost not do the same voluntarily in respect of thine own person, thou wilt die; but if thy desire dieth through repentance, [thy] nature will cease from this temporary life in the death of the spirit, even as the natural emotions of the body ceased through its natural end.”
690. The brethren said, “To what extent is a man held to be worthy of revelations?” The old man said, “To the same extent as he is held to be worthy to cast off sin inwardly and outwardly. For when a man dieth through spiritual slaughter to all the conversation of this temporary life, and when he hath committed his life to the life which is after the quickening, Divine Grace alighteth upon him, and he is held to be worthy of divine revelations; for the impurity of the world is a dark covering to the soul, and it preventeth it from discerning spiritual meanings.”