1. In this terrestrial book, O
divine father, I have given you the last place, but I am certain that you are
inscribed in the celestial book before us all, if indeed He is truthful who
said, “The last in manner of thought shall be first in dignity.”
2. A shepherd is pre-eminently he
that is able to seek out and set aright his lost, rational sheep by means of
guilelessness, zeal, and prayer.
3. A pilot is the man who, once
having received spiritual strength from God and from his own toils, is able to
draw up his ship, not merely from out of the billows, but also from out of the
abyss itself.
4. A physician is he who suffers
from no carnal or spiritual malady, and has no need of any remedy from other
men.
5. A genuine teacher is he who
has received from God the tablet of spiritual knowledge, inscribed by His
Divine finger, that is, by the in-working of illumination, and who has no need
of other books. It is as unseemly for teachers to give instruction from notes
taken from other men’s writings, as it is for painters to take inspiration from
other men’s compositions.
6. Teach from on high as you
instruct the earthborn; and by your outward aspect, teach other men. Do not
forget him who said, “I received not my teaching of men, neither by men, nor
was I taught it.” For lowly instructions cannot possibly heal lowly beings.
7. A good pilot saves the ship,
and a good shepherd quickens and cures his ailing sheep. To the degree that the
sheep follow their shepherd, progressing continually, to the same degree the
shepherd must answer for them to the Master of the house. Let the shepherd cast
the stones of reprimand at those sheep which fall behind because of
slothfulness or gluttony; for this also is the sign of a good shepherd.
8. Whenever the sheep begin to
drowse spiritually because of the burning heat, or rather, the influence of the
body, then let the shepherd, setting his gaze on Heaven, keep watch more
diligently on them, for it often happens that during this torrid period many
fall prey to the wolves. Yet, if the sheep, in imitation of irrational sheep,
incline the heads of their souls to the earth, we may look to the words, “A
heart that is broken and humbled God will not despise.”
9. When darkness and the night of
the passions overtake the flock, make your dog immovable in night-watching.
There is nothing improper in calling your mind a dog, for it drives away the
wild beasts.
10. Our good Lord gave us this
natural attribute: when a sick man sees his physician, he rejoices, even
though, perhaps, he gains nothing from him.
11. Acquire, O wondrous man,
plasters, potions, razors, eye salves, sponges, instruments for blood-letting
and cauterizations, ointments, sleeping draughts, a knife, bandages, and
freedom from nausea. If we have none of these, how can we prove our medical knowledge?
We cannot. Indeed, physicians receive payment not for words, but for deeds.
12. A plaster is a cure for
visible, that is, bodily passions. A potion is a cure for inner passions and a
draining of invisible uncleanness. A razor is trenchant dishonour which
purifies the soul from the rot of conceit. An eye salve is a cleansing of the eye
of the soul which has been troubled by the clouding of anger. An eye salve is a
caustic chastisement which speedily brings healing. A blood-letting instrument
is a quick draining of unseen stench. Again, a blood-letting instrument is
pre-eminently an intensive and brief remedy for the salvation of the sick. A
sponge is care and refreshing cool water which, after blood-letting or surgery,
the physician applies to his patient by means of gentle, meek and tender words.
A cauterization is a penalty and a penance given in a man-befriending way, for
a definite period of time, to aid in repentance. An ointment is assuagement, by
words or some small consolation, given to the patient after cauterization. A
sleeping draught is the taking up of the burden of him who is in obedience, and
by his obedience, giving him rest, and sleepless sleep, and holy blindness to
his own virtues. Bandages are for binding up and strengthening with patience
unto death those who are enervated and enfeebled by vainglory. The last
instrument is the knife, which is a sentence and a decree to cut off a putrid
member and a body which is dead in soul, lest he spread his contagion among the
rest.
13. Blessed is freedom from
nausea among physicians, and blessed is dispassion among shepherds. The first,
not suffering from nausea, untiringly strive to dispel the stench of vomit; the
second will be able to resurrect every dead soul.
14. And let this be one of the
prayers of the superior: to be disposed and compassionate to each according to
his merit, lest, as it occurred to Jacob, he harm both his beloved disciple and
the entire brotherhood. This will happen to superiors who have not yet the
senses of their souls perfectly exercised to discern the good, and the evil,
and the intermediate.
15. It is a great disgrace for
the superior to pray that his disciple be given a gift which he himself has not
yet acquired. Just as those who behold the face of a king and have him for
their friend can, if they wish, reconcile any of the king’s servants, and
perhaps strangers and even enemies to the king, and make them partakers of his
glory; so should it be understood concerning holy men.
16. Men are ashamed to refuse
their most sincere and true friends; they always do their bidding, and they may
even be constrained by them. It is good to gain noetic beings as our friends,
for no one else so helps us towards virtue.
17. A certain man beloved of God
told me that, although God always rewards His servants with gifts, yet He does
so especially on the yearly festivals and the feasts of the Master.
18. The physician should
completely strip himself of the passions, so that when the occasion arises, he
can feign them, especially anger. If he has not entirely expelled the passions,
he will not be able dispassionately to don them again.
19. I observed a horse, still
imperfectly trained, trotting quietly while being held firmly by his reins; but
suddenly, when his reins were relaxed, he threw his master. This riddle
generally occurs because of the presence of two demons; those who wish to seek
this out, let them seek it with labour. A physician will perceive the knowledge
given him by God when he is able to cure passions thought by many to be
incurable.
20. The teacher who makes
quick-witted pupils wise is not worthy of admiration, but rather he who
enlightens and perfects the ignorant and the obtuse. The skill of riders is
manifested and praised when they achieve victory even on untrained horses, and
do them no harm.
21. If you have received eyes to
foresee the surge of the troubled sea, foretell it clearly to the ship’s
company, lest you prove to be the cause of shipwreck, since with complete
confidence all have entrusted you with the pilotship.
22. I have seen physicians who
did not inform their patients of the causes of their illness, and by so doing
gave both themselves and their patients much toil and anguish.
23. According to the great faith
which the superior sees in his disciples and in outsiders towards himself, he
must take great heed to himself in everything he does and says, understanding
that all look upon him as an archetypal image, and they consider whatever he
says and does as a standard and a law.
24. A true shepherd shows love,
for by reason of love the Great Shepherd was crucified.
25. In your words, reckon as your
own the deeds of others, for you will not always stand in need of great
respect.
26. Grieve the sick man for a
time, lest from accursed silence his sickness be prolonged or he die; for
because of the pilot’s silence, many have presumed that they were sailing
fairly, until they struck a reef.
27. Let us hearken to the great
Paul as he writes to Timothy, “Be insistent, in season, out of season.” I think
by “in season” he means when those rebuked suffer it gladly, and by “out of
season” when they are stung by the rebuke. For this reason, springs often well
forth water when there is no one who thirsts for it.
28. Among superiors there is, so
to speak, a natural inclination to diffidence, because of which they often
refrain from speaking things profitable to their disciples. But in such
instances, let them not decline to act as teachers do with their pupils, and undertake
to set down necessary instructions in writing.
29. Let us hearken to Divine
Scripture when it says concerning some, “Cut it down, why cumbereth it the
ground?” And, “Put away from yourselves that wicked person” and, “Pray not for
this people,” which was also said concerning Saul. The shepherd must know for
whom, and in what manner, and when all these measures are to be applied, for
nothing is truer than God.
30. If a man does not feel shame
when he is rebuked privately, then he will make a rebuke before many an
occasion for greater shamelessness, voluntarily disdaining his own salvation.
31. I also have in mind that
which I have seen in many prudent patients, for knowing their own cowardliness
and infirmity, they entreated their unwilling physicians to bind them and cure
them by voluntary constraint, because “the spirit indeed is willing” by reason
of its future hope, “but the flesh is weak,” by reason of its previously
acquired dispositions. And I, beholding this spectacle, begged the physicians
to obey them.
32. The guide ought not to tell
all those who come to him that the way is strait and narrow, nor should he say
to each that the yoke is easy and the burden is light. Rather, he should
examine the case of each man and prescribe medicines which are suitable. To
those who are weighed down by grievous sins and are prone to despair, he should
administer the second as an appropriate remedy, but to those who are inclined to
haughtiness and conceit, the first.
33. Some, about to set out on a
long journey, asked concerning the road from those who knew, and heard from
them that it is straight and free of every peril. Hearing this, they grew
slothful in their journey, and midway they either fell into dangers or turned
back, being unprepared for tribulations; the reverse of this seems true to me
also.
34. Where Divine love has touched
the heart, there the fear of harsh words has no power. And where the fear of
Gehenna has appeared, there is patient endurance of every toil; but where the
hope of the Kingdom is known, there is disdain for all earthly things.
35. A good general must know
precisely the ability and rank of every man under his command, for perhaps
there are with him in his troops front-line fighters, and men suited for single
combat on behalf of their comrades, who ought to dwell in stillness.
36. A pilot cannot save a ship by
himself without help from the sailors, nor can a physician cure a sick man
unless the patient first entreat him and urge him on by baring his wound with
complete confidence. Those who are ashamed to consult a physician cause their
wounds to fester, and often many have even died.
37. Let the shepherd cease not to
play the pipe of exhortation when his sheep are grazing, and especially when
they are settling down to sleep, for there is nothing which the wolf so fears
as the tones of the shepherd’s pipe.
38. The superior ought not always
to humble himself unreasonably, nor should he always exalt himself senselessly,
but he should take example from Paul in both instances.
39. Often the Lord has shut the
eyes of those in obedience to certain failings of their superior, but when the
superior himself revealed these to them, he engendered distrust.
40. I have seen a superior,
because of his extreme humility, take counsel with his children concerning
certain matters; and I have seen another, because of self-esteem, desire to
demonstrate to his children his own unwise wisdom, and acted ironically towards
them.
41. Although seldom, yet on
certain occasions I have seen passionate men ruling over the dispassionate, and
gradually feeling shame before those under their rule, they cut off their own
passions. This, I think, is the recompense of the saved which is wrought within
them, and thus a passionate undertaking became for them a cause of freedom from
passion.
42. We should beware lest we
scatter in the open sea what we have gathered in port; this will be understood
by those who have entered upon outer turmoils, being as yet unprepared for
them.
43. It is truly a great thing to
endure courageously and manfully the burning heat, the tranquillity, and the
deprivation suffered in stillness, and not to seek after distractions and
comforts outside the barque of one’s cell, after the manner of careless sailors
who swim about in the water during a calm. Yet it is incomparably greater to
have no fear of turmoil, and to remain steadfast under its assault with a
fearless heart, while living with men outwardly, but with God inwardly.
44. Let the established order of
the law courts of this world be for you, O marvellous father, a reminder of our
own court of judgment. There are some who come to our truly dread court of
judgment as ones condemned; but others, being guiltless, hasten to labour for
and serve God. The nature of the coming of each is quite different, and demands
for each a particular established order.
45. For two reasons, let us ask
straightway (in private, of course) the man guilty of sin what kind of deeds he
has committed: firstly, so that being always pricked by his open confession, he
will remain free of all audaciousness; and secondly, so that being conscious of
the wounds for which we have taken responsibility, he will be moved to love us.
46. Nor let this matter
concerning those guilty of sin escape you, O venerable father (as if you were
ignorant of it, God forbid!). I mean that God takes into consideration the
places wherein they are found, the degree of their spiritual renewal, and their
habits, for there is much variety and difference between them. Often the man
who is more infirm will also be more humble, and for this very reason he ought
to be more lightly punished by his spiritual judges; the reverse of this is
obvious.
47. It is not right for a lion to
pasture sheep, and it is not safe for a man still subject to the passions to
rule over passionate men.
48. A fox found in the company of
hens is an unseemly sight, but nothing is more unseemly than an enraged
shepherd. The former agitates and destroys but hens, while the latter agitates
and destroys rational souls.
49. See that you are not an
exacting investigator of trifling sins, thus showing yourself not to be an
imitator of God.
50. Have God Himself as your most
excellent Pilot, and as the Steward and Superior of all your inward and outward
activities. Cutting your will through Him, you will be freed of all care and
led by the beckoning of His will alone.
51. You and all shepherds should
inquire into this also: whether, for the most part, grace has deigned to work
through us, not on account of our purity, but because of the faith of those who
come to us, for even many passionate men have worked miracles in this manner.
52. If “many will say to Me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name,” and the rest, as the
Lord says, then what I have just said is worthy of credence.
53. It belongs particularly to
the man who has obtained mercy from God to be able to benefit the sick in a
manner that is unobserved and hidden from them; by this he accomplishes two
most excellent things: he preserves himself from the glory of men (rust, as it
is called), and he incites those who have received mercy to give thanks to God
alone.
54. Offer the better and choice
meats to those who run their course well with youthful eagerness and courage,
but give milk as to sucklings to those who lag behind in their actions or
volition, for this is a time for consolation.
55. The same provision of food
has often made some men zealous, but others despondent. The overseers must pay
heed to the sowing of the seed: to the season, person, quality, and quantity.
56. Some men, setting at naught
the responsibility for taking charge of others, have undertaken unreasonably to
shepherd souls; and although they possessed great riches beforehand, they
departed from this life with empty hands, having dispersed it among others
through the spiritual responsibility which they assumed.
57. Just as there are legitimate
and genuine children, and there are children from a second marriage, and
children from slave girls, and others that are castaways, so also do we
acknowledge a corresponding distinction among most of the degrees of spiritual
responsibility which men assume. Thus, there is an assuming of spiritual
responsibility in the proper sense which is a laying down of one’s soul on
behalf of the soul of one’s neighbour in all matters; and there is an assuming
of responsibility only for sins committed aforetime; and there is an assuming
of responsibility only for sins committed afterwards; and there is a spiritual
responsibility that accepts only the burden of one’s own commands because of a
lack of spiritual strength and an absence of dispassion. But in the first and
perfect assumption of responsibility, we bear the burden according to the
degree that those received by us cut their will.
58. A genuine son is made known
in the absence of his father. The same seems true to me with respect to those
in obedience. Let the superior observe and mark carefully those who contradict
and withstand him, and in the presence of highly respected guests, let him
rebuke them with most severe reproofs, thus instilling fear in the other
brethren by this example, even though they may be exceedingly grieved by such
dishonours; for to make many prudent is worth the expense of one man’s injury.
59. There are some men who,
beyond their strength, take upon themselves the burden of others by reason of
their spiritual love, recalling Him that said, “Greater love hath no man,” and
the rest. But there are others who have perhaps even received from God the
power to take spiritual responsibility for other men, yet who do not readily
submit themselves to burdens for the sake of the salvation of their brethren.
The latter, as ones who do not possess love, I called wretched; but concerning
the former, I quoted that which is said somewhere, “He that bringeth forth the
precious from the worthless shall be as My mouth,” and again, “As thou hast
done, so shall it be unto thee.”
60. I ask you to take notice of
this also: often the sin which a superior commits in his mind is judged to be
greater than the sin committed in actual deed by one in obedience, if indeed it
is true that a soldier’s error is less grievous than a general’s ill counsel.
61. Instruct those under you not
to confess in detail sins relating to the body and to lust; but as for all
other sins, teach them to bring them to mind in detail, both by day and by
night.
62. Exercise those under you in
all manner of guilelessness towards one another, but in great circumspection
towards the demons.
63. Let the aim of your sheep in
their relations with one another not escape you, for the aim of the wolves is
to destroy the zealous by means of the indolent.
64. Do not be slothful in
entreaty and prayer for those who are in every way negligent; do not pray that
they find mercy (for while they do not work concurrently with [grace] this is
impossible), but that God may rouse them to zeal.
65. As stated in the canons, let
the weak not eat with heretics; but if those who are strong in the Lord are
urged by unbelievers to do so on account of the faith, and they wish to go, let
them go for the glory of the Lord.
66. Do not make the excuse of
ignorance, for “he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall
be beaten” because he did not learn.
67. It is a disgrace for a
shepherd to fear death, because the definition of obedience is fearlessness of
death.
68. Search out, O blessed man,
the virtue “without which no man will see the Lord,” and before all else,
secure this for your offspring, delivering them entirely from every smooth and
womanly countenance.
69. Let the conditions and the
dwelling places of all those under us differ depending on their years, for we
must not send away anyone who comes to our haven.
70. Before a man gains
understanding through experience, let us not lay our hands quickly upon him (as
is also the custom in the world), lest when we put some of our sheep to make
vows while they are still in ignorance, they afterwards come to know our way of
life, and are unable to endure its weight and burning heat, and desert us and
return to the world. This will not be without danger for those who tonsure
prematurely.
71. Who is the man that is such a
steward of God that he himself no longer stands in need of tears, sighs, and
labours, but makes generous use of these before God for the purification of
other men?
72. Never cease for a moment to
purge and cleanse defiled souls, and especially defiled bodies, so that you may
boldly procure wreaths of victory from the good Judge of the contest, not only
for the souls of your brethren, but also for the souls of others.
73. I have seen one infirm man,
by reason of his faith, heal the infirmity of another infirm man by employing
praiseworthy shamelessness before God for his sake, and in humility laying down
his soul for that brother’s soul; and through the healing of the latter, the
former healed his own soul as well. But I have also seen a man who acted in the
same manner, but out of pride, and heard these words of censure, “Physician,
heal thyself.”
74. One may refuse a good for the
sake of a greater good, like the saint who fled from martyrdom, not out of
fear, but for the sake of the profit of those who were being saved under him.
75. Another man gives himself up
to dishonour so that others might be honoured. He is considered by many to be a
voluptuary, but he is “as a deceiver, yet true.”
76. If it is true that the man
who possesses the word of profit and does not communicate it liberally will not
be left unpunished, then in how great danger, O my friend, will men place
themselves who are able to help those in distress by the very zeal of their
works, and yet do not wish to labour with men in this manner?
77. Rescue, O you that have been
rescued by God; save those led on towards death, O you that have been saved,
and do not begrudge redeeming men from the demons’ slaughter. This is indeed a
great accomplishment before God, surpassing every activity and divine vision of
both men and angels.
78. The man who wipes away the
filth of others and cleanses them by the purity granted him from God, and who
from things defiled offers unblemished gifts to God, proves himself to be a
fellow labourer of the bodiless and spiritual powers, since this alone comprises
the perpetual work of the ministers of the Godhead as David says, “All that are
round about Him shall bring gifts,” that is, souls.
79. Nothing has so manifested our
Creator’s love and goodness towards us as His leaving His ninety and nine sheep
and going in search of the one gone astray. Give heed, therefore, O wondrous
man; and towards him that is broken and gone very far astray show all your
zeal, love, fervency, care, and prayer to God. For wherever there are great
illnesses and wounds, there also great recompenses will undoubtedly be given.
80. Let us take notice, watch
closely, and then act; for because of the weakness of some, the superior ought
not always to pass judgment according to what is just. I have seen the cause of
two judged by a most wise judge; he pronounced the unjust man to be just, since
he was the more frivolous, while the just man, as one manly and stout of soul,
he condemned as unjust, lest by judging according to what is just the breach
between them should become greater. Privately and apart, however, he spoke what
was suitable for each, and especially to the one who was sickly of soul.
81. A verdant plain is suitable
for sheep, but instruction and remembrance of one’s departure, able to cure
every outbreak of mange, is more appropriate to rational creatures.
82. When you have descried men
stout of soul, dishonour them without cause in the presence of the weak, so
that by the medicine administered to one you may cure another’s inflammation
and teach the lax to be resolute.
83. At no time do we find God
revealing the sins which have been confessed to Him, lest by making these
public knowledge, He should impede those who would confess and so make them
incurably sick.
84. If we have a share in the
gift of clairvoyance, we should not reveal men’s falls, but rather urge them to
confession by means of enigmatical sayings, for they receive no little
forgiveness by their confession to us. After their confession, let us bestow upon
them even greater solicitude and freedom of speech with us than they formerly
possessed, for through this they advance greatly in faith and love towards us.
We should be for them a model of extreme humility, and should train them to
have fear in our presence. In all things you must be forbearing, except when
those we have mentioned are disobedient.
85. Beware, lest by showing
excessive humility in your actions, you should bring coals of fire upon the
heads of your children.
86. Look closely whether there is
in your field a tree that “cumbereth the ground,” which, perhaps, might bear
fruit elsewhere. In such a case, let us not hesitate to transplant it, lovingly
uprooting it by our counsel.
87. There are occasions when a
superior can, without peril, lead his brethren to virtue in unsuitable
locations, that is, places worldly and luxurious.
88. If the physician has abundant
stillness of soul, he will not need to employ much outward solicitude to cure
the ailing; but if he has no part in the first, then let him resort to the
second.
89. Let the superior be
circumspect in his reception of sheep, for in every instance God does not
forbid refusal and dissuasion.
90. We can offer no gift to God
so acceptable as to bring Him rational souls through repentance. The whole
world is not worth so much as a soul, because the one passes away while the
other is imperishable and abides. Therefore, O blest man, do not call blessed
those who make pecuniary offerings, but rather those who offer rational sheep
to Christ.
91. Make your whole-burnt
offering blameless, for otherwise you will gain no profit therefrom.
92. Just as we should understand
the words, “The Son of Man must be delivered up, but woe to that man by whom He
is betrayed,” so it seems to me, we should understand the contrary: that is,
many must needs be saved (those who freely choose it, of course), but the
recompense will be given to those through whom, after the Lord, salvation has
been worked.
93. Before all things, O
venerable father, we have need of spiritual strength, so that by taking their
hands, as though they were small children, we should be able to free those whom
we endeavour to bring within the Holy of Holies, and to whom we strive to show
Christ reclining upon the mystic and secret altar table, whenever we should
behold them afflicted and straitened by a throng of thoughts that would hinder
them (and this comes to pass especially at the threshold of the entrance).
If some are very childlike or
very weak, we are obliged to raise them up upon our shoulders and carry them
until they have passed through the door of that truly strait entrance, for here
it is that every sort of stifling and straitness generally occur. Hence,
someone has said concerning this door, “This is toilsome in my sight, until I
come into the sanctuary of God.”
94. In the aforesaid, O father of
fathers, we have already spoken about that father of fathers and teacher of
teachers, how he was wholly clothed in Heavenly wisdom, straightforward, given
to rebuke, exacting, chaste, condescending, and radiant of soul. But what was
most marvellous about him was that, if he saw men who wished to be saved, he
would train them with greater strictness; and again, if he saw men who had
their own will or attachment, he would deprive them of that to which they were
attached, and so all were careful not to manifest their will in anything that
attracted them.
That famous man was wont also to
say: “It is better to drive a man out of the monastery than to let him do his
own will. For often the superior will thus make the man whom he has driven out
more humble, and afterwards cause him to cut his will himself. However, he that
shows apparent loving-kindness and condescension to such men will cause them to
curse him in a piteous manner at the time of their departure, as one that led
them astray rather than profiting them.”
After the completion of the
evening prayers, one could behold that great man sitting upon his throne
(fashioned outwardly of woven boughs and inwardly of spiritual gifts) like some
king whom his good synodia and company encircled like wise bees, attending to
his words and commands as though they were God’s. One man he would order to
recite fifty psalms by heart before sleep, another thirty, another one hundred,
and another man he would have make so many prostrations. He would order one to
sleep in a sitting position, another to read a certain period of time, and yet
another to stand for a given period at prayer.
Besides this, he appointed two of
the brethren to be overseers to watch for and put a stop to idle gatherings and
loitering during the day, and to report untimely wakings during the night, and
things unlawful to record. Moreover, the great one also assigned to each a
particular rule of eating, for the diet was not the same, or similar for all.
With a view to the state of each, he selected what was suitable; for some that
good steward ordained a more austere diet, for others a more substantial one.
And the wonder was that his command was carried out without murmuring, as
though it came from the mouth of God. There was also a lavra in obedience to
that famous man, to which he, who was in all things perfect, would send the
mighty men of his monastery to practice stillness.
95. I beg you, do not instruct
the simpler sort in the complexities of deceitful thoughts, but rather, if
possible, make complex men simple—a marvellous thing indeed!
96. The man who is wholly
purified by perfect dispassion will even employ strictness like some divine
judge, for the lack of dispassion stings the judge’s heart with remorse, and
does not permit him to inflict punishments and purgings as he ought.
97. Before all else, leave the
inheritance of dispassionate faith and the doctrines of piety to your sons, so
that, by the path of Orthodoxy, you might not only offer your sons to the Lord,
but your grandchildren also.
98. Have no pity in overwearing
and taming men young and strong of body, that in the time of their departure
they may praise you.
99. Let the great Moses be a
model for you in this also, O man most wise, for he was not able to free from
Pharaoh those who obeyed him, however docilely they followed him, until they
ate unleavened bread with bitter herbs. Unleavened bread is a soul which has no
predisposition to do her own will, for this can puff her up and exalt her. And
at times we may take bitter herbs to be the piercing pain which accompanies
submission, and at times the affliction caused by the bitterness of fasting.
100. Yet I who am sending you
these writings, O father of fathers, seem to hear him who said, “Thou which
teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?” So now, having said but one last
thing, I shall make an end to this discourse. A soul which has united herself
to God through purity shall stand in need of no word of instruction, since this
blessed one bears the everlasting Word within herself as her Initiator, Guide,
and Illumination. Such have I learned your most sacred and glorious head to be;
and by deed and experience, not by hearsay, have I become acquainted with your
most pure mind, which is resplendent with beast-destroying meekness and
humility, like that great lawgiver.¹ His footsteps you follow, O most patient
man; and ever proceeding to a new height, you have even a little surpassed him,
with respect to the honour of purity and the reward of chastity, I mean. It is
by means of these two, more than any other virtues, that we are able to draw
nigh to the All-pure God, the Bestower and Champion of all dispassion, by which
He translates to Heaven those yet sojourning upon earth.
With unwearying feet you have
mounted these two as a chariot of fire, like Elias, that lover of purity. You
have not merely slain the Egyptian and hidden your feat in the sand of
humility, but even the mountain have you ascended, and have beheld God by means
of a thorny and rugged manner of life, and received the Divine voice and
illumination. You have loosed the sandal, that is, this entire mortal sheath,
and having seized the tail, that is, the end, of him who was changed from an
angel into a serpent, you cast him into his hole, an infernal pit of darkness,
you vanquished the exalted and haughty Pharaoh, you struck down the Egyptians,
and their first-born you put to death (a feat greater than the others).
Wherefore, the Lord has entrusted
to you, as to one unshakeable, the leadership of the brethren, whom, O guide of
guides, you have separated and fearlessly freed from Pharaoh and the polluted
brick-making of the clay, and through your great experience you have
transmitted to them the Divine fire and the cloud of purity which extinguishes
every flame of desire. Moreover, you have divided before them that red and
burning sea (upon which most of us are wont to be in peril), and by your staff
and shepherd’s wisdom you have made them victors and trophy-bearers, utterly
drowning all their pursuers.
And still again after these
things, by the raising of your hands on behalf of your divinely enlightened
people whilst you stood between righteous activity and divine vision, you
overcame the Amalek of self-esteem, who is wont to encounter victors after
their conquest of the sea. You have vanquished the nations, you have made those
with you to ascend the mount of dispassion, you have ordained priests, you have
given the purifying circumcision without which none can see God. To the heights
have you ascended, and every manner of darkness and gloom and tempest have you
dispelled, I mean the thrice gloomy darkness of ignorance.
You have drawn nigh to that light
which is far more venerable, brilliant, and sublime than the flame in the bush.
You have been deemed worthy of the voice, of divine vision, and of prophecy.
You saw, perhaps, while still in this life future things from behind, I mean
that illumination of knowledge which will come to pass in the last times.
Thereupon, by means of the voice, you heard, “a man shall not see,” and from
the vision of God in Horeb you descended into that deep vale of humility,
furnished with the tablets of mystic ascent, and with the countenance of both
your soul and body glorified. Alas for the forging of a calf of the sort which
my company has wrought! Alas for the breaking of the tablets!
And what thereafter? You took the
hand of your people and traversed the desert. And while they were scorched by
the heat of their own flame, you brought forth a wellspring of the waters of
tears by means of the wood, that is, the crucifixion of the flesh with its
passions and lusts. You wage war against the nations which encounter you,
destroying them by the fire of the Lord. Coming to the Jordan (for nothing
prevents me from breaking the thread of the history), like Jesus³ you divide
the waters for your people by your word: the former waters you assigned to the
salty sea of mortification, but you caused the waters of love to rise up before
the eyes of your spiritual Israelites.
Then you command that twelve
stones be brought forth, either to show them the apostolic pathway, or to
symbolize both the conquest of the eight nations and passions, and the
acquisition of the four principal virtues. Leaving far behind the dead and
barren sea, you came to the enemy’s citadel, and sounding the trumpet with
prayer throughout this seventh cycle of human existence, you broke down its
walls and overcame it; thus you also may chant to your immaterial and invisible
Ally, “The swords of the enemy have utterly failed, and his cities Thou hast
destroyed.”
But should I say what is chiefest
and greatest of all? You have ascended to Jerusalem, the vision of the perfect
peace of souls. You have seen Christ, the God of peace; you are a “partaker of
His afflictions as a good soldier,” “you are crucified with Him to the flesh
with the passions and lusts.” And rightly have you become like unto God to
Pharaoh and to all his hostile power. Thereafter you were buried with Christ
and descended with Him into Hades, I mean the abyss of theology and ineffable
mysteries. You have been anointed and made fragrant by kindred and loving
women, that is, the virtues. But what hinders me from saying this as well? You
are now seated in Heaven at His right hand (O what rich spoils!), whither you
arose on the third day after defeating the three tyrants, or to put it more clearly,
after your victory over the body, the soul, and the spirit, or again, after the
purification of the three faculties of the soul: the appetitive, the irascible,
and the rational.
You have come to the Mount of
Olives (I must make omissions so as not to spin out my words unnecessarily,
especially since they are addressed to you, who are filled with wisdom and
surpass in knowledge all those who are superior to us), concerning which a
certain nimble wayfarer has sung, saying, “The high mountains are for the
harts,” that is, for souls which destroy serpents. Setting yourself alongside
this man, you have undertaken the ascent of the mountain. Lifting your eyes
Heavenward (again I return to my parable), you have blessed us, your disciples.
You have beheld the fixed ladder
of the virtues which stands before us, and by the grace given you from God, as
a wise architect you have laid the foundation of this ladder, or rather, you
have entirely completed it, even though from humility you have forcibly
persuaded us, the simpletons, to open our lips to teach your people. But this
is no wonder, for Moses, according to the sacred history, was also wont to say
of himself that he stammered and was slow of speech. Yet Moses had a most
excellent minister and speaker in Aaron, while you, O initiate of things past
speech, have come, from I know not whence, to a waterless spring filled with
all the frogs, or rather the pustules, of Egypt.
But since I should not leave
uncompleted the narration of your course, O man whose course is in Heaven, we
shall finish weaving our praise of your beauty by saying that you have drawn
nigh to the holy mountain, and fixing your eye upon Heaven, you have set your
foot upon its base, and run, and gone up, and been exalted, and mounted the
cherubim of the virtues; you have taken wing and ascended in jubilation,
vanquishing the enemy. You have gone before us on the road and led the way, or
rather, even now you lead us, and go on before us all, ascending with a light
step to the very pinnacle of the holy Ladder, uniting yourself to love; and
love is God, to Whom be glory unto the ages. Amen.
Translation source: The Ladder
of Divine Ascent, Saint John Climacus, Revised Edition, Holy Transfiguration
Monastery, Boston, MA, 2001, pp. 231-250.
