By Archimandrite Photii (Spassky) (+1838)
Abbot of St. George
(Yuriev) Monastery, Novgorod
Source: Душевное врачевство от
божественного писания и от святых отец душею страждущим собранное в свою
очередь и ближних пользу в одиннадцати беседах вопросами и ответами
предложенное, by Archimandrite Photii, Second Edition, Saint Petersburg:
Printing House of Yakov Trey, 1860.
Discourse 1. On evil passions in
general
Question. For what reason
did the Most High Creator will to create man, subject to evil passions?
Answer. Man was not
created such, but free from evil passions: “God made man upright” (Eccl. 7:30).
Question. From what, then,
did he become subject to passions?
Answer. From the fact that
he did not preserve himself in his original state.
Question. And in what
state was he?
Answer. In perfect
holiness and blessedness.
Question. Tell me about
this more fully.
Answer. He was created in
the image of God and according to the likeness—endowed with wisdom, holiness,
free will, without sinful inclinations, with immortality of soul and body, and
with dominion over the animals. And as the place of his dwelling, he had the God-planted
Paradise, where from the tree of life he partook of immortality, and from all
the trees of Paradise he enjoyed their fruits. But after this he was deprived
of it.
Question. In what manner?
Answer. Having been
deceived by the serpent (the devil), he desired for himself the highest
deification, to become equal to God in knowledge; he tasted of the forbidden
tree, and by his disobedience angered his Creator.
Question. What followed
from this?
Answer. Alas, a lamentable
condition! As a transgressor he was driven out of the paradise of sweetness,
deprived of the tree of life—the earth, cursed in the works of his hands, began
to bring forth thorns and thistles. And the Cherub, with his flaming weapon, barred
also the way to the God-planted Paradise.
Question. What befell his
body?
Answer. Heavy labors,
various illnesses, and death.
Question. And the soul?
Answer. Darkening of the
mind and corruption of the will.
Question. Why so?
Answer. From the uprising
of evil passions, to which his soul, after the transgression, became subject.
Question. What are
passions?
Answer. Passions are those
evil inclinations of the human heart which draw him to do that which is
contrary to sound reason, a pure conscience, and the Law of God.
Question. By what other
names are passions called?
Answer. Diseases,
sufferings, ulcers, wounds, thorns, and the like.
Question. Why are they
called diseases?
Answer. Because passions
produce the same effects as bodily diseases. If someone’s leg hurts, he,
although he desires, cannot walk without limping. In the same way the soul,
when it has its wound (a passion), suffers. And from this a man cannot,
although he desires, walk blamelessly in the Law of God, but, being crushed
within himself, says: “Why do I suffer? Alas! For the good that I will, I do
not; but the evil that I will not, this I do” (Rom. 7:19).
Question. And why are they
called thorns?
Answer. Because just as
thorns hinder the good seed from sprouting, so passions do not allow the
sprouting of virtues to arise.
Question. Is every man
subject to such passions?
Answer. “For as from one
Adam the human race multiplied upon the earth, so an equal evil corruption in
passions has settled in the whole human race,”*—says Macarius the Great. And
the holy Apostle: “By one man,” he says, “sin entered into the world…” (Rom.
5:12).
Question. What is sin?
Answer. Sin is a
transgression of the Law of God in thought, desire, feelings, word, and deed,
to which the passions incline.
Question. Are passions
indeed the cause of sin?
Answer. So it is! “But
each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed: then
lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin” (Jas. 1:14–15).
Question. From what does
this sinful thorn spring up within us?
Answer.
1. From bad upbringing.
2. From one’s own negligence.
3. From the example of
passion-loving people.
4. From the flesh warring against
the spirit.
5. From the tempter, the devil,
who deceived Adam and even dared to tempt the Son of God Himself.
Question. In what manner
does the devil tempt us?
Answer. He wars against us
not by anything else, but by our own instruments. Through our senses he wounds
us and with the fire of our lusts he inflames our hearts. And as Delilah bound
Samson with the braids of the hair of his head (cf. Judg. 16:14), so the devil
binds us with the braids of our passions. However, he draws no one to evil by
force, but it depends upon our will: to accept the temptation or not to accept
it (Saint John of Damascus).
Question. What should I
do, that I may not fall under his temptation?
Answer. Be sober and
watchful always with your mind, and repel the crafty suggestions and evil
thoughts by the word of God and by prayer at their very beginning. And guard
your heart with all your strength from corrupt desires, according to what is
written: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring
lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, steadfast in the
faith” (1 Pet. 5:8–9).
Question. For what reason
does God permit the devil to tempt us by our passions?
Answer. Saint Maximus sets
forth five reasons for this:
“1. That, being fought and
fighting in return, we may come to discern virtue and evil.
2. That, having acquired virtue
through struggle and labor, we may possess it as sure and inalienable.
3. That, advancing in virtue, we
may not become high-minded, but may learn to be humble-minded.
4. That, having been tested by
evil, we may hate it with perfect hatred.
5. That, having become
passionless, we may not forget our own weakness, nor the power of God who
helped us.” [3]
Question. Does not our own
heart also have an inclination toward the passions?
Answer. It is very much
inclined: “For the imagination of man’s heart is diligently inclined to evil
from his youth” (Gen. 8:21).
Question. How strongly are
men sometimes overcome by the passions?
Answer. So much so that
many even deify them. The pagans, deifying the passions, called shameful lust
Venus, wrath—Mars, drunkenness—Bacchus. And the holy Apostle calls the belly a
god (Phil. 3:19), and covetousness—idolatry (1 Tim. 6:10).
Question. To whom is one
who serves evil passions like?
Answer. To irrational
animals: “Man being in honor did not understand; he was compared to the
senseless beasts, and became like them” (Ps. 48:13).
Question. In such a state
is a man pleasing to God?
Answer. No! “My Spirit
shall not abide in these men forever, for they are flesh,” said God concerning
those who lived corruptly before the Flood (Gen. 6:3).
Question. And to men?
Answer. Even well-disposed
men turn away from such as serve evil passions, when they see that there is no
hope of their correction.
Question. What harm
proceeds from them?
Answer. As those infected
with a pestilence destroy themselves and others, so those infected by their
passions inflict harm upon themselves and their neighbors.
Question. In what way do
they harm themselves?
Answer.
1. They are deprived of the grace
of God, of light and strength in law-keeping.
2. They fall into godlessness,
into heresies, into many vices and lawlessness.
3. They bring upon themselves the
vengeance of God.
4. They are deprived of temporal
goods.
5. They fall into manifold
illnesses and sorrows.
6. They die an untimely and
grievous death. And finally,
7. they shall not enter into the
joy of the righteous; but, alas, with the impious they shall be condemned to
eternal torments prepared for the devil and his angels.
Question. And how do they
harm their neighbors?
Answer. Some they
embitter, persecute, and kill; others they corrupt by their depraved life and
by their evil counsels. But blessed is the man who has not walked in the
counsel of the ungodly (Ps. 1:1).
Question. When it is so
soul-destroying to indulge evil passions, what then should I do?
Answer. “Turn away from
evil and do good, that is, struggle against the enemies (evil spirits), that
you may diminish the passions. Then be sober, that they may not increase. And
again struggle, that you may acquire virtues. After this be sober, that you may
preserve them. And this is what it means to do and to keep,” says Saint
Maximus. [4]
Question. For what reason
is it so?
Answer. Since you are a
man, it is not fitting to live contrary to your rational nature in an
irrational manner. And since you are a servant of Christ, it is unseemly to be
a slave of dishonorable passions.
Question. Is it not
possible partly to please God and partly one’s passions?
Answer. No! “Whoever
commits sin is a slave of sin. No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve
God and mammon. Those who are in the flesh (living corruptly) cannot please
God” (John 8:34; Matt. 6:24; Rom. 8:8).
Question. Must everyone
conquer sinful passions?
Answer. Everyone must:
1. because the Heavenly Creator
created all of us for this alone—that we might live without passions: “For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10);
2. because He did not leave us,
having fallen, to be utterly corrupted, but gave us His Law as a guide to
passionlessness: “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes”
(Ps. 18:9);
3. because He stirs us to a
virtuous life through the prophets, of whom one cries out: “Turn away from evil
and do good” (Ps. 33:15);
4. because in the last days He
was pleased to send to us His Only-begotten Son, that He might lead us out of
darkness and the shadow of death, those enslaved by passions, into the
consolation of passionlessness (cf. Luke 4:18);
5. because the Son of God, for
our sins, was tormented by the lawless and endured a shameful death on the
Cross, that He might free us sinners from the tyranny of the passions (cf.
Titus 2:14);
6. because all of us at Holy
Baptism renounced Satan and all his works, and were joined to Christ, who
requires a virtuous life. And at monastic tonsure we again make vows to a life
of passionlessness. And finally,
7. because the wide gate and the
broad way lead us to destruction, but the narrow gate and the strait way to
eternal life (Matt. 7:13–14).
Question. By what, then,
is one to restrain the striving of evil passions?
Answer. By the fear of
God, which is born:
1. From reflection on the
omnipresence of God, and that God in the very act of passions has destroyed and
does destroy many.
2. From the remembrance of the
last things, that is, death, the Judgment of Christ, the Heavenly Kingdom, and
the eternal torments in Hades. And according to Saint Maximus: “We abstain from
the passions either for the sake of human fear, or for the sake of the fear of
judgment, or for the sake of the future recompense, or for the sake of the love
of God, or for the sake of the conscience that reproaches” (Saint Maximus the Confessor).
[5]
Question. In the struggle
against the passions, what is most necessary?
Answer. The presence of
the grace of God, that it may instruct in this spiritual struggle. For man by
his own power can do nothing good: “For it is God who works in you both to will
and to do” (Phil. 2:13). And grace is acquired by humility and unceasing prayer.
Along with grace, one’s own zeal and labors are also necessary.
Question. I ask you to
tell me what and how I should do with the help of grace.
Answer. First: Having in
your heart the fear of God, be sober and watchful always with your mind, that,
instructed and strengthened by grace and armed with prayer, you may more easily
strike the noetic enemies, the evil thoughts introduced by the spirit of wickedness,
with the sword of the Word of God at their very beginning. For from noetic
sobriety evil thoughts vanish like smoke, and the power of the passions is
weakened.
Second: Flee idleness, but always
occupy yourself with blessed labors and the reading of the Word of God, of the
books of the Fathers, especially those which teach the struggle against the
passions.
Third: You must have a spiritual
guide, able by word and deed to instruct how to arm oneself against each
passion and by what to overcome each one. And to him open with a sincere heart
all your thoughts and desires of the heart frequently, that he may be able to
instruct you and establish you in this spiritual struggle. For “where there is
no guidance, the people fall like leaves, but in much counsel there is
salvation” (Prov. 11:14). Under an experienced guide, being subject to
passions, never follow your own will and understanding, lest you fall, cast
down by self-will. According to his instruction, follow his will and
understanding.
Fourth: Withdraw from the
fearless and corrupt, lest you learn to indulge corrupt passions. Likewise
withdraw from those things, occasions, and causes which stir up the passions in
us.
Fifth: If you are overcome by
some passion, do not delay to rise up and conquer it in return. For it is
easier to uproot a young shoot than to tear out an old thorn. Just as a fresh
and still warm wound is quickly healed, so wounds (passions) neglected in our
soul over a long time suffer the opposite, even if one should begin to treat
them (Venerable John of the Ladder). [6]
Sixth: Even if it should happen
many times that through the force of the passions you stumble, do not weaken
yourself by despair, but, rising again courageously against them, take up the
struggle, calling upon the All-powerful God for help and beseeching the
intercession of those saints who, being subject to the same passions as we,
also struggled.
Question. Is it possible
to be rid at once of evil passions?
Answer. No! “Do not
struggle against all the passions at once, lest perhaps, turning back, you
should be unable to proceed and be found unfit for the Kingdom of Heaven; but
fight against each passion one by one” (Saint Peter of Damascus). [7]
Question. What is the
reason for this?
Answer. It often happens
that a man, at the beginning of his struggle, wishing to overcome the passions
at once, but seeing them arise like waves one after another and plunge him into
the depth of evils, becomes disturbed, falls into perplexity, is crushed, grows
weak, and then even falls into despair. Therefore, not all at once, but first
take up arms against that passion which most of all overcomes you. Does anger
disturb your inner peace—overcome this passion. Does the carnal passion trouble
you more—use all your powers and means to extinguish the flame of shameful
lust. And when God helps you to become chaste, do not grow negligent, but also
subject the other passions to reason with the help of God.
Question. From what is a
passion recognized in me?
Answer. From thoughts:
“For as the mind of one who hungers imagines bread, and of one who thirsts
water, so also the glutton imagines various foods and drinks, the
pleasure-lover imagines female faces, the vainglorious imagines honors from
men, the lover of money imagines acquisitions, the resentful imagines revenge
against the one who has grieved him, and the envious imagines the harming of
those envied. For when the mind is troubled by passions, it receives passionate
thoughts” (Saint Maximus the Confessor). [8]
Question. And are passions
sometimes hidden even from ourselves?
Answer. “Many passions are
hidden in our souls. If there are no things or causes that awaken the passions,
they do not manifest their activity. But when there are things or causes
present, then the passions also manifest their activity” (Saint Maximus the Confessor).
[9]
Question. What are the
causes of the passions?
Answer. Sweet foods,
drinks of various kinds, beautiful-faced women, money, possessions, honor,
glory, and the like.
Question. How can I know
whether I love a passion or not?
Answer. “A sign that
someone acts according to a passion willingly is that, when he is reproved or
corrected concerning it, he becomes disturbed. But to endure reproof and
correction concerning it without disturbance is a sign that he is overcome by
the passion unwillingly or falls through ignorance,” says Saint Dorotheos. [10]
“He who hates the passions removes their causes, but he who remains among the
causes, even unwillingly, is attacked,” said the Venerable Mark the Ascetic.
[11]
Question. For the
restraint of evil passions, what else must be known?
Answer. It is necessary to
know the initial passions, from which all vices and lawlessness, as evil
branches from evil roots, spring forth.
Question. How many initial
passions are there?
Answer. Eight, namely:
gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sorrow, despondency, vainglory,
and pride.
Question. Of these eight,
which are the root ones?
Answer. Gluttony, love of
money, and vainglory. For from these three the other five are born.
Question. And these three
from what?
Answer. From self-love.
“Guard yourself from the mother of evils, self-love, which is the irrational
love of the body; for from it are born the first three passionate thoughts:
gluttony, love of money, and vainglory. From these is born every assembly of
evils” (Saint Maximus the Confessor. [12]
Question. Is it not
necessary for me to know in detail about each of these passions?
Answer. It is very
necessary. And first, let us begin the discourse concerning self-love.
Discourse 2. On self-love
Question. What is
self-love?
Answer. If you love
yourself more than God, and do not love your neighbor as much as yourself, but
instead of pleasing God slavishly please your passions, observing only your own
benefit and advantages, then this is precisely sinful self-love.
Question. But how is one
not to love oneself?
Answer. It is natural for
every man to love himself, but a true Christian must love himself without
corruption.
Question. How am I to love
myself without corruption?
Answer. Love yourself
without violating love toward God and neighbor, so that you render to each what
is due—to God, to your neighbor, and to yourself.
Question. What should be
rendered to God?
Answer. Believing in Him,
love Him with all your heart and perform good deeds according to His holy
commandments.
Question. And to the
neighbor?
Answer. To every man wish
and do good in whatever way possible, not only to those who love in return, but
also to your enemies, according to Christ’s commandment: “Love your enemies… do
good to those who hate you” (Matt. 5:44). And wish and do nothing evil to anyone:
“Love does no harm to the neighbor” (Rom. 13:10). Concerning the fruits of
love, read in the first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter thirty.
Question. What should be
rendered to oneself?
Answer. “If you wish to be
righteous, render to each of the parts within you what is fitting—both to the
soul and to the body. To the rational part of the soul, readings, spiritual
contemplation, and prayer. To the irascible part, spiritual love opposed to
hatred. To the appetitive part, chastity and self-control. And to the bodily
part, food and clothing, only what is necessary” (St. Maximus). [13]
Question. Describe to me
one who is conquered by self-love.
Answer. Worthy of pity is
that unfortunate man who is conquered by self-love. He is a Christian idolater,
slavishly serving his passions. He is an enemy of the Cross of Christ and a
transgressor of the Gospel. For, having forgotten God and not having in mind His
holy Law, he does not care for his salvation, but does everything that is
pleasing to his senses and to his corrupted will. He is a lover of pleasure
more than a lover of God. Luxury, gluttony, and drunkenness are his
consolation. He is money-loving, fond of possessions, miserly, without mercy,
prone to anger, resentful, envious, and so attached to temporal goods that, not
obtaining them or being deprived of them, he is plunged into unbearable sorrow.
In spiritual labors he is negligent, or even if he performs virtue, he does so
not from good intention, but in order to be glorified by men. For his heart is
filled with vainglory and pride. May the Lord deliver every man from this evil!
Question. From what does
such shameful self-love arise?
Answer.
1. From bad upbringing.
2. From one’s own negligence.
3. From association with
self-lovers.
4. From the instigation of the
devil.
Question. By what is it
further strengthened?
Answer. In the
unbelievers—by unbelief, and in us, the faithful—by negligence. For the
negligent man, little by little yielding to his inclinations, finally comes to
extreme self-love.
Question. What harm comes
from self-love?
Answer. Self-love, having
separated the mind and heart from God, casts man into all evil passions, vices,
and lawlessness, for the committing of which God justly and righteously brings
temporal punishments, and if a man does not correct himself—he will not escape
the eternal torments in Hades, as we see from the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus.
Question. What in general
does self-love produce?
Answer. The root of every
lawlessness is self-love. It “corrupts judgment, darkens speech, obscures the
mind, corrupts the will, and shuts the gates of salvation” (Philippus the
Desert Dweller). [14]
Question. What does
self-love produce in the rich man?
Answer. Misuse of wealth.
Either he irrationally squanders it on luxury, or he is miserly and without
mercy toward his neighbors.
Question. And in the poor
man?
Answer. It gives rise to
envy, murmuring, deceit, theft, murder, and other evils.
Question. Is it possible,
with self-love, to follow Christ and to save one’s soul?
Answer. No! Behold the
words of our Savior: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24). And, “He who loves his
soul shall lose it; and he who hates his soul in this world shall keep it unto
eternal life” (John 12:25). For self-love prevents one from pleasing God: “You
cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). Do not be self-loving, and you will
be God-loving; do not be self-pleasing, and you will be brother-loving.
Question. But how am I to
overcome self-love?
Answer.
1. Have a good disposition toward
self-denial.
2. Acknowledging your weakness
before God, unceasingly and earnestly ask Him for help.
3. Have no friendship with
self-lovers; toward every sinful passion have hatred and aversion.
4. Being passionate, do not
follow your own will and reason, but the will of God and the will of your
spiritual guide.
5. Be sober in mind continually,
and, keeping watch over the inclinations of your heart, do not permit yourself
any indulgence to do—even the least thing—according to self-love against
conscience. For from the neglect of small sins a man comes into great evils
(holy venerable Abba Dorotheos). [15]
Question. And when there
is no inclination toward self-denial, what am I to do?
Answer. Stir up your
unwilling and passionate heart to it by force through the fear of God,
reflecting on the justice of God that punishes lawlessness, and remembering
your inevitable death, the dread Judgment of Christ, eternal torments, and the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Question. What follows
upon the victory over self-love?
Answer. All evil passions
are weakened. Then a man, by the power of the grace of God, being freed from
the yoke of the passions, attains a measure of perfection, is in union with God
and with his neighbors, is enriched with gifts from above, enjoys the peace of
the Angelic realm, and attains the Heavenly Zion.
Question. Having learned
how destructive self-love is, and how beneficial self-denial is for the soul, I
shall now begin to overcome self-love by the rejection of sinful passions and
the subjection of my will to the will of God. But at the same time, I wish to
know what I should do with regard to my belly?
Answer. Concerning
gluttony there will be the next discourse.
Discourse 3. On gluttony
Question. What is
gluttony?
Answer. An impassioned and
slavish indulgence in food and drink, as if to one’s belly as to a god.
Question. How is this
passion divided?
Answer. Into surfeiting,
daintiness, and drunkenness. Surfeiting is the excessive filling of one’s belly
without discrimination as to the quality of foods. Daintiness is the indulgent
use of sweet foods without surfeiting—out of mere love of pleasure. Drunkenness
is the immoderate use of wine and other intoxicating drink.
Question. Which of these
harms us more?
Answer. Gluttony and
drunkenness. Against these Christ the Savior warns us, saying: “Take heed to
yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be weighed down with surfeiting and
drunkenness” (Luke 21:34).
Question. What harm comes
from drunkenness?
Answer. It is manifold:
1. Drunkenness harms the soul,
darkening the mind with evil thoughts and corrupting the heart with shameful
lusts.
2. It also harms the body,
bringing on illnesses, and alters and dulls all the senses, especially sight.
3. From drunkenness many are
deprived of wealth, honor, and other good things, and others even of their
life, dying untimely.
4. From drunkenness come
quarrels, strife, murders, thefts, and other evils.
5. Drunkards… shall not inherit
the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10).
Question. Is it
permissible for a Christian to drink wine?
Answer. It is not
forbidden to use a little wine to the glory of God, but its immoderate use is
forbidden. The holy Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, his disciple: “Keep thyself
pure. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake
and thine often infirmities” (1 Tim. 5:22–23). And this small use of wine was
permitted to him on account of his frequent infirmities.
Question. And for those
who are healthy, what is the commandment?
Answer. “Do not be drunk
with wine, wherein is debauchery” (Eph. 5:18). “Lest at any time your hearts be
weighed down with surfeiting and drunkenness” (Luke 21:34).
Question. What remains for
me to do?
Answer. Turn away from
evil and do good. Flee drunkenness, and always love sobriety and temperance.
“It is good neither to eat meat nor to drink wine” (Rom. 14:21). “Do not be
drunk with wine… but rather be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your
hearts to the Lord” (Eph. 5:18–19).
Question. How should one
flee drunkenness?
Answer. Do not form a
habit of it; turn away from wine-drinkers, and do not heed their counsel. And
if anyone has become accustomed to drunkenness, he must immediately cease from
it as from a destructive contagion, lest it lead his soul prematurely into
Hades.
Question. Should a monk
use even a little wine?
Answer. A monk ought the
more to flee drunkenness. For the ascetic life requires sobriety and temperance
in all things. Nevertheless, by the holy Fathers even ascetics are permitted to
use a little wine—of the vine, diluted with water—according to the ecclesiastical
rule on feast days.
Question. How do other
Fathers reason on this?
Answer. Venerable Theodore
of Edessa: “It is written that wine gladdens the heart of man; but you,” he
says to the monk, “having promised to weep and to mourn, avoid such gladness,
and you will rejoice in spiritual gifts. But rejoicing in wine, you will live
with passionate thoughts and fall into many sorrows.” [16]
And the venerable Poemen said:
“Wine is altogether not fitting for a monk to drink, especially for the young.”
[17]
Accordingly, Mark the Ascetic
also writes in his epistle to the monk Nicholas: “Especially let youth not even
partake of wine nor even smell it, lest by the double heat—arising from the
inner activity of the passions and from without being poured in by wine-drinking,
whereby the pleasure of the flesh is further inflamed—it drive away the
spiritual sweetness of divine compunction and produce confusion and
insensibility in the heart. But for the sake of spiritual desire, let youth not
even take water to satiety; for scarcity of water greatly helps toward
chastity” (Philokalia). [18]
Therefore, he who desires
sobriety of mind, purity of heart, and union with God must abstain both from
wine and from everything that can serve as an obstacle to his intention; that
is to say: “Every man that strives is temperate in all things” (1 Cor. 9:25).
Question. Having learned
the benefit of sobriety, I ask: what harm proceeds from surfeiting?
Answer. It is also
manifold. Surfeiting harms both soul and body.
Question. What harm does
it bring to the body?
Answer. “Do not be filled
to excess with every delicacy, and do not pour yourself out over a variety of
foods; for in many foods there will be sickness, and surfeiting will bring one
even to cholera” (Sir. 37:32–33). “The toil of watching, and cholera, and belly-ache
are with the insatiable man” (Sir. 31:23). Moreover, “by surfeiting many have
died” (Sir. 37:34).
Question. And how does
surfeiting harm the soul?
Answer. When the belly is
weighed down with food, the soul is likewise weighed down, it abandons sobriety
of mind, grows weak in spiritual labors, and falls into the pit of carnal lust,
into many passions, vices, and lawlessness. “Just as water poured out into many
streams, by its nature, causes every place lying around those streams to
flourish; so also the passion of gluttony, if it is poured out in your heart,
having watered all your senses and planted in you a whole grove of evils, will
make your soul a dwelling-place of beasts” (Saint Basil the Great). [19]
Question. What, in
general, do gluttons suffer from?
Answer. He who is a slave
of the belly:
1. Always thinks how he might
please his belly. “For by whom a man is overcome, to him also he is enslaved”
(2 Pet. 2:19).
2. Even in sleep he dreams of his
favorite foods and drink.
3. Rejoices when he sees before
him the desired foods or drinks.
4. But when he does not obtain
them or is deprived of them, he grieves, is sorrowful, becomes troubled,
murmurs, is angered, and manifests other faint-heartedness.
5. He reviles unpleasant foods.
6. He is subject to secret eating
and to other vices.
Question. Does not such a
one come altogether into corruption?
Answer. “I have seen,”
says Basil the Great, “many who were formerly ruled by passions, but afterward
recovered health; but I have seen no one among secret eaters or the insatiable
of the belly corrected; but all such, either having entirely fallen away from a
life of abstinence, have become corrupt in the world, or, attempting to hide
themselves among the abstinent, have attached themselves to the devil through
love of pleasure.” [20]
Question. From what does
this occur?
Answer. From extreme
self-love, which has darkened the mind and corrupted the will of the one who
has fallen.
Question. Is it not for
this reason that the passion of gluttony is placed first after self-love?
Answer. Exactly so! “The head and
source of all passions is the surfeiting of the belly.” [21] “The beginning of
the nations is Amalek (Num. 24:20); and the beginning of the passions is
gluttony,” writes Saint Nilus of Sinai. [22]
Question. What is the
first offspring of surfeiting?
Answer. Surfeiting is the
father of fornication (cf. St. John Climacus). [23] “Much wood increases the
flame; and a multitude of foods kindles lusts” (St. Nilus of Sinai). [24]
Answer. Speaking in the
person of this passion, someone says thus: “My firstborn son is fornication,
and from him born, hard-heartedness is my second son; the third is excessive
sleep, and from this proceeds a sea of impure thoughts, waves of vile desires
arise, and finally from me comes a foul abyss of unknown and unspeakable
abominations. My daughters are: sloth, much talking, boldness, buffoonery, idle
talk, contradiction, stubbornness, obstinacy, insensibility and captivity of
the spirit, excessive boasting, and man-pleasing. After these follows prayer
born of impure thoughts and disturbance of thoughts, and often sudden and
unexpected incidents, to which is added despair, the most loathsome of all
vices” (St. John Climacus). [25]
Question. Since surfeiting
is so harmful, what should I do?
Answer. “Do not be filled
to excess with every delicacy, and do not pour yourself out over a variety of
foods” (Sir. 37:32). “Eat as a man what is set before you, and do not be filled
to excess, lest you be hated. Cease first for the sake of discipline, and do not
be filled to excess, lest you stumble. How sufficient for a disciplined man is
a little! Sound sleep comes from a moderate belly—he rises in the morning, and
his soul is with him” (Sir. 31:18–19, 21–22). Therefore, do not be filled to
excess, but be temperate in food and drink, according to this command of
Christ: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be weighed down
with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life” (Luke 21:34).
Question. What should I do
in order that I may partake of food and drink with moderation?
Answer.
1. When partaking of food and
drink, make upon yourself the sign of the Cross, with the prayer: Lord, bless!
2. While eating, be sober in your
mind, always remember the Lord Jesus, and attend to reading, lest you be
weighed down.
3. Consider that it is unseemly
for you, as a man, to partake of food irrationally unto surfeiting, which is
harmful both to soul and body, but that you must preserve moderation.
4. Beware of condemning foods,
remembering the Son of God, who tasted gall and vinegar upon the Cross.
5. Of the better foods, always
leave a portion against your desire, as the Fathers have said, for Christ.
Question. Is every kind of
abstinence beneficial to the soul?
Answer. No. Fasting with
vainglory is without benefit, and in anger it is likewise opposed to God. Only
that abstinence is beneficial to the soul which is practiced with good
intention and humility, so that, having subjected the flesh to the spirit, we
may acquire chastity and purity and live in a manner pleasing to God.
Question. By what is a man
more stirred to temperance?
Answer.
1. By love for God: “He who loves
God lives the angelic life on earth, fasting and keeping vigil, chanting and
praying” (St. Maximus the Confessor). [26]
2. By the fear of God: “He who
fears punishment abstains from the passions” (St. Maximus the Confessor). [27]
3. By sorrow for sins, and at
times also by worldly sorrow, of which it will be spoken later.
4. By the desire to be without
passions and to obtain the future goods.
5. By hatred against the
passions: “He who hates the passions removes their causes” (Venerable Mark the
Ascetic). [28]
6. Most of all, a man is stirred
to temperance by his conscience, through the action of the grace of God.
Question. How is the use
of food divided?
Answer. “Into temperance,
sufficiency, and satiety. Temperance is to be hungry while eating; sufficiency
is neither to be hungry nor to be weighed down; and satiety is to be weighed
down” (Venerable Gregory of Sinai). [29] “The Fathers set one limit of temperance:
not to be deceived by the filling of the belly nor to be drawn by the sweetness
of the throat; but for one partaking of any food, while desire is still present
in him, to abstain from it and not to await satiety” (Saint Venerable John
Cassian the Roman). [30]
Question. In temperance,
what is most necessary?
Answer. Discernment.
First, one must consider age, upbringing, strength of body, whether one is in a
state of health or weakness, the disposition of the soul, and whether one lives
in labor or in rest; secondly, one must examine whether, on each day, at what
time and how much and what kind of food should be taken. “Test all things; hold
fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). And one must not give oneself over to
excessive fasting by one’s own senseless self-will, to the harm of one’s soul;
but by the counsel and blessing of one’s spiritual father one must keep
moderate temperance with humility.
Question. What is the sign
that I have conquered my belly?
Answer. If, when there is
an abundance of food and drink, you are temperate not from miserliness or
vainglory, but from a good disposition, this is a sure sign that you have
conquered the passion of surfeiting.
Question. When does the
sense of sweetness toward foods cease?
Answer. At that time when
your soul is united with the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and tastes His
gracious fruits. “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17).
Question. This suffices.
And I shall apply daily effort to be temperate in food and drink. But after
this, what soul-profiting matter do you have to set forth?
Answer. That you may
understand the harm of shameful desire and the benefit of chastity, I now set
forth a discourse on fornication.
Discourse 4. On fornication
Question. What is
fornication?
Answer. The fulfillment of
carnal sinful desire:
1. In thought and desire alone:
“Whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery
with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).
2. In the act itself, by sinful
carnal union with an unlawful person.
Question. From what does
this passion arise?
Answer.
1. From the natural inclination
toward union: “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members” (Rom. 7:23).
2. From the tempter, the devil:
“There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted” (2 Cor. 12:7).
3. From the surfeiting of the
belly: “For surfeiting is the father of fornication” (Venerable John Climacus).
[31]
4. From drunkenness: “Do not be
drunk with wine, in which is fornication” (Eph. 5:18).
5. From association and
conversation with women: “Oil feeds the flame of the lamp, and indulgence
dissolves into burning the conversation with women” (St. Nilus). [32] “Sit not
at all with a married woman, nor tarry with her over wine, lest your soul incline
toward her and you slip in your spirit into destruction” (Sir. 9:10–11).
6. From lack of guarding the
senses, especially sight, hearing, and touch: “Turn away your eye from a
beautiful woman, and do not gaze upon another’s beauty. By the beauty of women
many have been led astray” (Sir. 9:8–9). And sometimes also
7. “Because of pride, the
struggle of fornication is permitted upon a man, by God’s providence, that
through it a man may be humbled,” says Saint Damascene. [33]
Question. How do some say:
we do not have the struggle of fornication?
Answer. Those who say this
have within themselves subtle passions, worse and greater than fornication, and
the devil, holding them in these, does not fight them with fornication; for
vainglory and pride, idle talk and slander, judgment and envy, mockery and laughter
fill up the measure of fornication and take its place.
Question. What is the sign
of a soul raging with fornication?
Answer. “This is a sign of
excessive lust: to be frenzied both toward animate and inanimate things.” And,
“it indicates extreme lust, when in wakefulness one is defiled by emissions
from impure thoughts” (Venerable John Climacus). [34]
Question. What then does
fornication produce?
Answer. Harm to the soul
and to the body, and complete ruin for man. Whoever is infected with lust is
deprived of the light of grace, is darkened in mind, is corrupted in will,
loses shame and conscience, and does everything according to his carnal
understanding, as one beside himself: “Into a malicious soul wisdom shall not
enter, nor dwell in a body subject to sin” (Wis. 1:4). Being darkened in mind
and deprived of the power of grace in the making of laws, he is ensnared by the
malicious cunning of the devil, falls into various kinds of wandering, into
many vices and lawlessness. He becomes filled with envy, malice, jealousy,
deceit; he produces quarrels, strife, murders, and every evil deed, for which
he brings upon himself the vengeance of God, temporal and eternal punishments.
Finally, defiling himself with carnal impurity, he ruins his body with
incurable diseases, dies untimely, and if without repentance, is subjected to
eternal condemnation in the gehenna of fire: “Neither fornicators… nor the
impure, nor the effeminate, nor those who lie with males… nor drunkards… shall
inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9–10).
Question. What harm does
fornication bring to the body?
Answer. Those who know
medical science demonstrate in their writings that fornicators and those who
practice self-abuse, by destroying the vital fluids through frequent emissions
of seed, fall into many and incurable diseases, lose hearing and sight, and die
before their time.
Question. What then should
be done, when this passion is so destructive?
Answer. Please the Lord
God, and not your corruptible body. Subject the body to the spirit according to
the will of God. “But fornication and all impurity, or covetousness, let it not
even be named among you, as is fitting for saints” (Eph. 5:3).
Question. For what reason?
Answer. “For this you
know, that no fornicator, or unclean person… has any inheritance in the Kingdom
of Christ and God” (Eph. 5:5). “Do not deceive yourselves: neither fornicators,
nor the impure, nor the effeminate, nor drunkards shall inherit the Kingdom of God”
(cf. 1 Cor. 6:9–10). But even here, before that eternal condemnation, God
punishes for carnal impurity, as, for example, the inhabitants of Sodom and
Gomorrah. “If anyone defiles the temple of God, him God will destroy” (1 Cor.
3:17). “Or do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit
who dwells in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you
were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your bodies and in your
souls, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19–20).
Question. But is it easy
to conquer this passion?
Answer. Although it is
difficult, it is not impossible. Many have fallen by it, but many have also
conquered it courageously. Nevertheless, to conquer nature does not lie in our
power. “And he who wishes to overcome and conquer his flesh by himself runs in
vain” (Venerable John Climacus). [35]
Question. Who then helps
in this?
Answer. Almighty God. “Set
before the Lord God the weakness of your nature, acknowledging before Him all
your powerlessness, and imperceptibly you will receive from Him the gift of
chastity. Cry out to Him who is able to save you not with artful words, but
with humble speech: Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. Then you will feel
the power of the Most High, and you will drive away invisible enemies by
invisible help” (Venerable John Climacus). [36]
Question. Is prayer alone
sufficient?
Answer. Together with
prayer one must also employ those means by which the power of shameful lust is
weakened.
Question. I ask you to
speak of them.
Answer.
1. Do not take delight in lustful
thoughts, but at their very beginning repel them from the mind and heart by
fervent prayer to Christ.
2. Do not obey the carnal desire,
but, following the commandment of God, resist it courageously.
3. Reveal your thoughts and
desires frequently to your spiritual father.
4. Imagine that God can destroy
you at the very moment of committing the sin.
5. Bring to mind bitter death,
the Judgment of Christ, eternal torments, and the Kingdom of Heaven.
6. Remember your vows, given at
Holy Baptism and at tonsure into monasticism [for monastics].
7. Flee idleness, drunkenness,
and surfeiting, but always remain in labors, in prayer, in reading the word of
God and other beneficial books, in temperance, in vigilance, and in every
virtue with humility.
8. Have no dealings with women,
or conduct yourself with them in the fear of God.
9. Guard your senses—hearing,
sight, and touch.
10. Love silence and solitude.
Question. Tell me more
briefly the method of overcoming lust?
Answer. “If you wish to
overcome fornication, love hunger, thirst, and vigil, remember death, and never
converse with a woman, and you will overcome” (St. Nilus). [37] Or: “Wear out
your flesh by fasting and vigil, and diligently exercise yourself in the chanting
of prayers, and the sanctification of chastity, bearing the love of God, will
come upon you” (St. Maximus the Confessor). [38]
Question. Who overcomes
the body?
Answer. “He who has
crushed his heart” (Venerable John Climacus). [39]
Question. And who has
crushed his heart?
Answer. “He who has denied
himself. For how shall he not be broken in heart who has died to his own will?”
(Venerable John Climacus). [40]
Question. By what means is
victory over lust accomplished?
Answer. Speaking in the
person of this passion, someone says thus: “If you know my weakness and your
own, by this very thing you will bind my hands. If you cut off gluttony, you
will bind my feet so that they will not be able to go further. If you cleave to
obedience, by this very thing you will be loosed from me. If you acquire
humility, by this you will cut off my head” (Venerable John Climacus). [41]
Question. What is the sign
of perfect purity?
Answer. “This is the sign
of the highest purity: to have a dispassionate disposition toward all things,
both animate and inanimate” (Venerable John Climacus). [42] Or: “The sign of
true purity is not to feel any (lustful) movement even in dreams” (Venerable
John Climacus). [43]
Question. To whom are
lovers of purity likened?
Answer. They become like
the holy Angels and like God Himself. “Purity makes us akin to God, and, as
much as is possible, makes us like Him” (Venerable John Climacus). [44]
Question. What reward is
there for purity in this life?
Answer. The indwelling of
the Holy Spirit and the gift of sonship. “But you are not in the flesh, but in
the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Rom. 8:9). And “as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). Therefore,
overcome your flesh. “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of
the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; and these are opposed to one another, so that you do not do the things
that you wish” (Gal. 5:16–17).
Question. I shall in every
way subject my flesh to the spirit and preserve purity of soul and body. But
after this, what for my benefit do you have to set forth?
Answer. The passion of
love of money.
Discourse 5. On love of money
Question. What is love of money?
Answer. An insatiable
desire to increase possessions and to acquire money by whatever means.
Question. From what does
this passion arise?
Answer. Saint Maximus sets
forth three vices that produce love of money: “love of pleasure, vainglory, and
unbelief. And unbelief is more grievous than both. For the lover of pleasure
loves money in order to enjoy it; the vainglorious, that he may be glorified by
it; but the unbeliever, that he may hide and preserve it, fearing hunger, or
old age, or sickness, or wandering, and in this he places more hope than in
God, the Creator of all creation and the Provider for all, even unto the
smallest and last of living creatures.” [45]
Question. Into what does
the lover of money fall?
Answer. “They that will be
rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful
desires, which plunge men into destruction and perdition. For the love of money
is the root of all evils; which some, coveting, have wandered from the faith
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:9–10). Love of
money gives birth to envy, anger, divisions, enmities, quarrels, hardness of
heart, miserliness, extortion, theft, sacrilege, betrayals, murders, and
similar evils.
Question. What should the
rich man do, whose possessions are increased righteously?
Answer. “If riches
increase, set not your heart upon them” (Ps. 61:11). “Charge those who are rich
in this present age not to be high-minded, nor to trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy; to do good, to
be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, storing up for
themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold on eternal
life” (1 Tim. 6:17–19). From this it follows that the duty of the rich is:
1. To flee miserliness and
senseless prodigality in luxury;
2. To be compassionate and
merciful toward the poor, and especially toward their neighbors;
3. To allot a portion of their
possessions to other God-pleasing works—toward the building of churches,
almshouses, hospitals, and the like.
But woe to the unmerciful rich!
“Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:24).
“Weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you… You have lived in
pleasure on the earth and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts as in a
day of slaughter” (James 5:1, 5).
Question. What especially
should a monk do?
Answer. He should live
according to his vow in poverty and non-possession, and must flee love of money
and love of possessions as a snare of the enemy.
Question. What is love of
possessions?
Answer. Attachment to fine
clothing, to adornment of the cell, to decorated vessels, to better implements,
and to every thing pleasing to the sight.
Question. To what is one
subject who is money-loving and fond of possessions?
Answer. To anxiety, that
he may acquire money and things and preserve them; to sorrow when he does not
acquire them or loses what has been acquired; to envy, seeing others in greater
abundance. And after these he is subject to many other vices and lawlessness.
Question. Describe to me a
monk who is conquered by these passions.
Answer. Love of money and
acquisitiveness draw the monk away from psalmody and prayer and compel him to
be diligent in manual labor. A man without love of money is pure of heart at
the time of prayer, but the money-lover imagines money during prayer (cf.
Venerable John Climacus). [46]
Question. In order to be
freed from acquisitiveness, what must one do?
Answer. Follow the
apostolic command: “Having food and clothing, let us be content with these” (1
Tim. 6:8). Let us love voluntary poverty, simple clothing and other things,
only those necessary; and let us reject every excess of things in use, which
proceeds from self-love and lack of understanding, and regard all that is fine
as refuse.
Question. To what does
voluntary poverty lead?
Answer. To the perfection
of the virtues: “Jesus said to him (the young man): If you would be perfect,
go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matt. 19:21).
Question. Does wealth
indeed hinder the path to perfection?
Answer. “A soul that has
given itself over to some thing of this age and has become attached to it,
whether to wealth or glory or worldly friendship, is not able to escape and
drive away the darkness of the opposing powers” (Saint Venerable Macarius the
Great). [47] And the Heavenly Sower Himself, Christ the Savior, declares: “He
that was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word; and the care of this
age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful”
(Matt. 13:22).
Question. Where can one
more easily acquire non-possession?
Answer. In the cenobitic
life: “The virtue of non-possession is not easily fulfilled by those who do not
dwell in the common life; for there we do not concern ourselves even about the
most necessary needs” (Venerable John Cassian the Roman). [48] “Those who live
in obedience are strangers to love of money” (Venerable John Climacus). [49]
Question. Having learned
the soul-destroying nature of acquisitiveness and the benefit of voluntary
poverty, I will employ every measure to preserve the latter and to flee the
former. But after this, what infirmity of our spirit will you set forth?
Answer. Anger.
Discourse 6. On anger
Question. What is anger?
Answer. Anger is called
that disturbance of our heart, arising from something, in which we, whether
justly or unjustly being vexed against someone, become irritated. And thus,
anger is either sinful or blameless.
Question. What is
blameless anger?
Answer. Blameless anger is
when, being zealous for God with a good zeal, we naturally become angry:
1. At the evil passions that war
against our reason: “The anger of the mind is by nature against the passions,
and without anger there is not even purity in a man” (Venerable Abba Isaiah).
[50]
2. At the tempter, the devil:
“Turn your anger against the man-slayer (the devil), against the father of
lies, against the worker of sin” (Saint Basil the Great). [51]
3. At the enemies of God, who
corrupt the faith and trample upon His holy Law: “Do I not hate those who hate
Thee, O Lord? I have hated them with perfect hatred; they have become my
enemies” (Ps. 138:21–22). However, those who sin from the weakness of nature,
and in whom there is hope of correction, must not be hated. “Who hates sin as
the saints do? Yet they do not hate the sinner, nor do they condemn him, nor
turn away from him, but they have compassion, instruct, console, heal as a weak
member, and do everything that he may be saved” (Abba Dorotheos). [52]
Question. What then is
sinful anger?
Answer. Sinful anger is
that which arises against one’s brother in vain, not for some lawful cause, but
either for some offense committed by him, or from some passion of one’s own.
And this anger is either brief or prolonged.
Question. What is
prolonged anger?
Answer. Prolonged anger is
when someone, having been offended by word or deed, or becoming angry from his
own passion against his brother, continues his anger sometimes for a whole day,
sometimes for two or three, and for a whole week and more, bearing enmity and
vexing him in whatever way possible, and only with difficulty is afterward
reconciled. This prolongation of anger is called remembrance of wrongs, and it
is exceedingly opposed to God! But there are also such as have irreconcilable
anger, who can never be reconciled with their neighbor, but always harbor
malice, are at enmity, and vex, as, for example, Saul, who in enmity vexed the
meek David. And this is complete malice! May the Lord deliver us from such
destruction!
Question. Now describe
brief anger.
Answer. Brief anger is
when you are overcome by wrath for a short time, and, not at all bearing
remembrance of wrongs, in that very hour you abandon your anger and are
reconciled with the one who has offended you, laying the blame for the
disturbance upon your own inattention and faint-heartedness, according to the
word of Abba Dorotheos—“to blame oneself and not one’s neighbor.” [53] This
anger, although more pardonable than prolonged anger, is nevertheless also
quite destructive: “The swift turning of a millstone in one minute can grind
and crush more of the wheat of the soul and its other fruits than another
slowly turning stone grinds in a whole day” (Venerable John Climacus). [54] And
a flame, made fierce by a strong wind, more quickly devours and destroys the
field of the soul than a quiet and weak fire. [55]
Question. How many kinds
of anger are there?
Answer. Three: wrath,
malice, and revenge. Wrath is the most intense movement of anger, called sharp
bitterness. Malice is nothing other than a prolonged desire for revenge against
one’s adversary. Revenge is the vexing of another in malice by word or deed.
But you—cease from anger and forsake wrath: “Keep innocence and behold
uprightness” (Ps. 36:37). Do not be vengeful; “do not render evil for evil or
reviling for reviling” (1 Pet. 3:9). For revenge is the consolation of a base
soul and a sign of feminine faint-heartedness [cf. Juvenal, Satires,
Book V, XIII, 189–191; most likely a commonly known translation of that time
from Latin. The first part of the phrase is found, for example, in M. V.
Lomonosov, A Brief Guide to Rhetoric, §256].
Question. From what does
anger arise?
Answer.
1. From an offense inflicted upon
us or upon one of our neighbors by word or deed, and the like.
2. From our own passions: just as
waves arise from every wind, so wrath and anger arise from every passion. The
glutton, the drunkard, the lustful, the lover of money, the envious, the
slothful, the vainglorious, and the proud—all suffer from anger when something
contrary to their passions occurs. “The mothers of anger are: vainglory, love
of money, gluttony, and fornication, and the father is arrogance or pride”
(Venerable John Climacus). [56]
Question. Who is most
subject to anger?
Answer. The proud man: for
pride is prone to anger, impatient, and fierce. “Wrath is a sign of excessive
pride” (Venerable John Climacus). [57] “For it is impossible for anyone to be
angry with his neighbor unless his heart is first exalted over him, and he despises
him and considers himself higher than him,” says Abba Dorotheos. [58]
Question. To whom is the
wrathful man likened?
Answer. Among men, the
wrathful is like one drunk or possessed. And among animals—like a barking and
biting dog, a serpent wounding with its sting, a lion, a tiger, and other
fierce African beasts. And among the elements—like a violent storm, thunder,
and all-consuming fire.
Question. What does one
disturbed by wrath suffer?
Answer. He is altered in
soul and body, and comes to a state of bestiality, and another becomes
altogether insane and demoniac.
Question. What does wrath
produce in the soul?
Answer. As a violent storm
disturbs nature and the gathering darkness of clouds covers the rays of the
sun, so wrath and anger trouble the soul and cover the light of the mind with
the darkness of irrationality. Thus spoke one who suffered from this passion:
“My eye is troubled with anger, my soul and my inward parts” (Ps. 30:10). “For
when the spirit of anger darkens the mind, neither the light of discernment,
nor the stability of right counsel, nor the guidance of righteousness is found
in us,” says Saint Cassian. [59] “A man quick to anger acts without counsel,”
says the Proverbs (Prov. 14:17).
Question. What change does
anger produce in the body?
Answer. “In those who
desire revenge, the blood in the heart boils, surging and roaring as from fire,
and when it comes forth outwardly it manifests itself in the appearance of the
angry. Their gaze is savage, fiery; they gnash with their teeth; the voice is
harsh; speech is unclear, irrational, disordered, and unseemly,” (Saint Basil
the Great). [60] Therefore it is said that “an angry man is uncomely” (Prov.
11:25).
Question. Into what
destruction does anger cast a man?
Answer. A man sometimes
comes into such bestiality through anger that he is not horrified to do
manifest evil to his neighbor, or even to himself. Not only does “a wrathful
man stir up strife” (Prov. 15:18), but “often even a single evil word uttered
in anger requires a whole lifetime to correct; or one has done something such
as has overturned his whole life” (Saint John Chrysostom). [61]
Question. What vices
especially proceed from anger?
Answer. Hatred and enmity,
as two sources of countless evils. From these flow slander, deception,
reproach, blasphemy, dishonor, quarrels, assaults, offenses, strife, wounds,
murders, and other evils.
Question. Does not anger
hinder the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us?
Answer. “If the Holy
Spirit is called and is peace of soul, and anger is disturbance of heart, it
follows that no passion so blocks the way to His presence in us as wrath”
(Venerable John Climacus). [62]
Question. Is the fasting
of the wrathful pleasing to God?
Answer. “If you fast for
strife and contention, and strike with the fist the humble, why do you fast for
Me?... Is this the fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to humble his
soul?… If you bow down your neck like a reed, and spread sackcloth and ashes,
will you call this a fast acceptable? But loose every bond of injustice…” (Isa.
58:4–6).
Question. Is the prayer of
the wrathful pleasing to God?
Answer. “I desire
therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without anger and
disputing” (1 Tim. 2:8). “And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have
anything against anyone, that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you
your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in
heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mark 11:25–26).
Question. Is an offering
pleasing?
Answer. No. “If therefore
you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has
something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go; first be
reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:23–24).
Question. Consequently, no
virtue of the wrathful is pleasing to God?
Answer. Yes. “For neither
the prayers, nor the gifts, nor the offerings of the wrathful are pleasing to
God. Even if the wrathful endure torments, even if they work miracles, yet God
will not accept them because of anger” (Saint John Chrysostom). [63] “For neither
chastity, nor renunciation of all possessions, nor fasting and vigils are of
any benefit if we are held by anger and hatred” (Venerable John Cassian the
Roman). [64]
Question. And is anger,
especially remembrance of wrongs, exceedingly opposed to God?
Answer. “No sin is so
contrary to God as remembrance of wrongs” (Saint John Chrysostom). [65]
Question. Since anger is
so destructive to the soul and opposed to God, what further should I do?
Answer. “Let all
bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and blasphemy be put away from
you, with all malice” (Eph. 4:31). “But now you also put off all these: anger,
wrath, malice, blasphemy, shameful speech out of your mouth” (Col. 3:8).
Question. But is it
permissible to be angry even at one’s enemies?
Answer. No. This is not a
Christian thing. For Christ, being meek and lowly in heart, teaching all of us
meekness, harmlessness, and freedom from anger, said thus: “Love your enemies,
bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who
persecute you and drive you away” (Matt. 5:44). But those who are angry without
cause He delivers to judgment: “Whosoever is angry with his brother without
cause shall be liable to judgment” (Matt. 5:22).
Question. This is said
generally to every Christian; therefore, it is also unseemly for us monks to be
angry?
Answer. The Fathers have
said: “It is foreign to monks to be angry, and likewise to cause sorrow to
anyone. And if anyone is overcome by the passion of anger, he is altogether a
stranger to the monastic life” (Abba Dorotheos). [66]
Question. How is it
possible not to be disturbed by anger when I am humiliated, dishonored, and
insulted?
Answer. This will be
possible if you inwardly reproach yourself with humility, considering yourself
unworthy of honor, of praise, of consolation, or of rest, but worthy of
humiliation and insult. “He who reproaches himself—if anything happens to him,
whether loss, or dishonor, or any sorrow—having beforehand accounted himself
worthy of offense, is never disturbed” (Abba Poemen). [67]
Question. Who has shown an
example of this?
Answer. Many saints, but
especially the king of Israel, the holy Prophet David, at the time when Shimei
reproached and reviled him, crying: “Come out, come out, you man… lawless one!”
Then Abishai said to the king: “Why does this dead dog curse my lord the king?
Let me go now and take off his head.” But the meek David said to him: “Let him
alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to curse David” (2 Sam.
16:7, 9, 10).
Question. What should I
think when my neighbor insults me without cause?
Answer. First, examine
yourself with the fear of God, whether you yourself have given cause for it by
deed or word, or in some manner. Secondly, whether you have not offended him
before in some way, or one of his neighbors, or someone else without cause. And
if you have at some time offended him or another, then, receiving it as
recompense, humble yourself and abase yourself, and do not be angry with him in
vain. But if you have not offended him and have never offended him, then know
that for other sins, by God’s providence, temptations come upon you. And for
this reason, we, sinners and worthy of every insult, must never be angry with
those who insult us, even without cause; but with love, meekness, and without
malice, let us endure every suffering patiently, giving thanks for all things
to God, the Physician of souls and bodies.
Question. What should we
do in order to restrain ourselves from anger at its very beginning?
Answer. When the movement
of anger begins in you, then make upon yourself the sign of the Cross, and
unceasingly with your mind call upon the Lord Jesus for help, to calm the storm
of anger—and quickly the disturbance of the soul will subside, and there will
be gracious peace within your heart. How beneficial this is, you will learn by
your own experience. But if you do not forestall the disturbance of anger by
prayer, and your wrath kindles like fire, then guard your mouth, and withdraw
from those who provoke you, lest harsh words fly from your lips like arrows
from a bow. “Do not speak a word in anger from your mouth” (Isa. 58:13).
Question. Now I ask with
Peter: “How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to
seven times?” (Matt. 18:21)
Answer. “Jesus said to him
(Peter): I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven”
(Matt. 18:22).
Question. Describe to me
who and how one resists the passion of anger?
Answer.
“1) When someone hears an
offensive word and is grieved within himself, not because he has been insulted,
but because he did not endure it.
2. One who strives and labors to
endure afflictions, but afterward is overcome by the oppression of the passion.
3. One who does not wish to
answer evil, but by habit is carried away.
4. One who strives not at all to
speak evil, yet is grieved that he has been offended, but reproaches himself
for grieving and repents of it.
5. One who is not grieved that he
has been offended, nor even rejoices. All these resist the passion” (Abba
Dorotheos). [68]
Question. Who and how
conquers this passion?
Answer.
“1) He who rejoices when he
receives offense, but for the sake of reward. This one conquers the passion,
but not with right understanding.
2. He who rejoices when offended,
understanding within himself that he deserves to be offended, since he himself
gave cause for it.
3. He who not only rejoices when
offended and makes himself to blame, but also grieves for the disturbance of
the one who offended him. May God bring us into such a gracious state!” (Abba
Dorotheos). [69]
Question. What is the sign
of one exceedingly prone to anger and of one perfectly meek?
Answer. “If this is called
a sea of anger, when a man rages alone without others, then this is a sign of
the highest meekness, if even in the presence of one who reviles us we feel no
agitation within ourselves” (Venerable John Climacus). [70]
Question. To what extent
must freedom from anger reach?
Answer. “Not only not to
be angry with men, but not even with irrational and inanimate things”
(Venerable John Cassian the Roman). [71] But enough concerning anger. It is now
time to begin a discourse on sorrow.
Discourse 7. On sorrow
Question. What is sorrow?
Answer. Sorrow is the
excessive crushing of our heart, arising from something, bringing great
dejection and darkening, and oppressing our whole spirit as with a heavy
burden.
Question. From what does
this passion arise?
Answer. Sorrow arises:
1. From misfortunes that happen
to us, or to our neighbors and friends.
2. From offenses and insults
inflicted by someone in word or deed.
3. From the prosperity of
neighbors comes sorrow called envy, a passion most harmful to the soul,
destructive, and hateful to God.
4. And from every sinful passion
sorrow arises, when something contrary to it occurs.
5. From sins committed by us
there also comes sorrow. But this sorrow for committed sins is twofold: one
casts into despondency and despair, and the other produces repentance, and is
called sorrow according to God, of which it will be spoken later.
Question. Of the causes
now mentioned, which produce sorrow the most?
Answer. Our own passions,
which bind us to the world and to the things in the world. “He who loves the
world will be greatly grieved. The lover of money, when deprived of profit, is
filled with sorrow; but he who has despised possessions will be without sorrow.
The lover of glory is grieved when dishonor comes upon him, but the humble
receives it as nourishment… The temperate is not grieved over failure in foods;
nor does the chaste fall into folly through fornication. Nor does the free from
anger, when deprived of revenge, become sorrowful. Nor does the humble, when
deprived of human honor, grieve” (St. Nilus). [72]
Question. In what way do
the passions produce sorrow?
Answer. If something contrary to
gluttony, love of money, or vainglory occurs, then a man is first disturbed by
anger and wrath, and afterward is given over to sorrow. “For sorrow is composed
from anger and wrath. The desire for revenge produces wrath, and failure in
revenge gives birth to sorrow” (St. Nilus). [73]
Question. What does sorrow
itself produce in us?
Answer.
1. Sorrow darkens the mind and,
by excessive crushing, consumes the heart: “As a moth eats a garment and a worm
wood, so sorrow devours the soul of man” (Venerable John Cassian the Roman).
[74]
2. Sorrow changes the face: “When
the heart rejoices, the countenance blossoms; but in sorrow it is downcast”
(Prov. 15:13).
3. Sorrow produces silence, heavy
sighs, and sometimes tears and withdrawal from people.
4. Sorrow leads some away from
food and sleep, and casts others into drunkenness and other vices.
5. Sorrow weakens in the practice
of virtues, casting into negligence, despondency, and despair.
6. Sorrow of heart weakens
strength and produces diseases—consumption, melancholy, and others.
7. “Sorrow brings old age before
its time” (Sir. 30:26; cf. Sir. 38:18).
8. From sorrow comes untimely
death, and not infrequently self-inflicted. “For from sorrow comes death” (Sir.
38:18).
Question. What other
fruits does sorrow have?
Answer. “The fruits of
sorrow are: despondency, impatience, wrath, hatred, contradiction, despair, and
slothfulness in prayer” (Venerable John Cassian the Roman). [75]
Question. Describe to me a
monk immersed in sorrow.
Answer. Worldly sorrow,
having weakened the soul of the monk, casts him into sloth and negligence. Then
he abandons sobriety of mind, contemplation of God, prayer, psalmody, reading,
prostrations, vigils, bodily labors, and other virtues. And, having no hope in
God, he becomes impatient in afflictions, faint-hearted, murmuring, without
love, quarrelsome, contentious, insolent, wrathful, vengeful, irreconcilable,
and subject to other vices.
Question. Since sorrow is
so destructive to the soul, what should I do?
Answer. “Give not your
soul over to sorrow, and do not afflict yourself by your own counsel. Joy of
heart is life to a man, and gladness prolongs his days… comfort your heart, and
put sorrow far from you; for sorrow has slain many, and there is no benefit in
it” (Sir. 30:22–25).
Question. But how is it
possible not to suffer from sorrow?
Answer. This will be
possible when you leave attachment to this world, overcome self-love, and are
freed from the yoke of the passions: “He who has conquered the passions will
not be held by sorrow” (St. Nilus). [76] For the passionless man is not crushed
by sorrow even in sufferings, but rejoices in his spirit.
Question. Who comforts the
passionless in afflictions?
Answer. The Comforter, the
Holy Spirit, depicting in the mind the brevity of temporal things and the
endlessness of eternal goods and evils. “For our present light affliction works
for us, beyond measure, an eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2
Cor. 4:17–18). “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matt.
5:12).
Question. And for me, who
am subject to passions, by what should I strengthen myself in sorrow?
Answer.
1. By hope in God, courageously
overcoming every affliction, imitating him who said: “Not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience,
experience; and experience, hope; and hope does not put to shame” (Rom. 5:3–5).
2. By diligent prayer to God: “Is
any among you afflicted? Let him pray” (James 5:13). “Call upon Me in the day
of your affliction, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Ps.
49:15).
3. By remembrance of those who
have suffered courageously for the faith and for virtue, and especially of the
voluntary suffering of Christ for us. “For Christ also suffered for us, leaving
us an example, that we should follow His steps; who, when reviled, did not
revile in return; when suffering, did not threaten, but committed Himself to
Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet. 2:21, 23).
4. By the expectation of a change
from affliction to well-being; for everything that happens in this world is not
permanent. Are you sorrowful—expect joy. Are you joyful—be ready to endure
sorrow. And finally,
5. By diligent reading of the
Word of God and other soul-profiting books, psalmody, manual labor,
conversation with a spiritual father, and with a reverent brother.
Question. What should one
do during heavy sorrow, in an hour of grief and distress?
Answer. If neither prayer,
nor psalmody, nor reading, nor manual labor, nor soul-profiting conversations,
nor anything else can assuage grievous sorrow; at that time, it is permissible
for the one in need to use a little of that which gladdens the heart of man, and
to sleep. But for the temperate ascetic, in an hour of heavy sorrow, if he has
the gift of tears, let him dissolve the bitterness of sorrow with tears; if
not, having tasted something pleasant, let him give himself rest in sleep. For
sorrow after sleep either departs altogether or lessens its force.
Question. By what is envy
to be eradicated from the heart?
Answer. By love for one’s
neighbor: “Love does not envy” (1 Cor. 13:4). Desire for your neighbor
well-being and every good as you desire for yourself, or even more for him than
for yourself; then you will not have sorrow over his success and prosperity,
but you will rejoice and give thanks to God.
Question. What is sorrow
according to God?
Answer. Sorrow for sins
committed, which stirs to repentance: “For godly sorrow works repentance unto
salvation without regret” (2 Cor. 7:10). But there is also another kind of
sorrow of this sort.
Question. What kind?
Answer. Sorrow for sinners
who abandon the Law of God: “Sorrow took hold of me because of sinners who
forsake Thy Law, O Lord” (Ps. 118:53).
Question. What fruits does
sorrow according to God produce?
Answer. “Sorrow according
to God, nourishing the soul with the hope of repentance, is joined with joy.
Therefore it makes a man ready, eager, and obedient for every good work,
approachable, humble, meek, without malice, patient in every good labor and
affliction, since it is sorrow according to God; and from this the fruits of
the Holy Spirit are known in a man, namely: love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
goodness, faith, temperance” (Venerable John Cassian the Roman). [77]
Question. From what does
sorrow according to God arise?
Answer. “No one can have
grief and sorrow according to God unless he first loves the causes of these”
(Venerable Mark the Ascetic). [78] The fear of God and self-reproof for evil
deeds bring sorrow within; temperance and vigil join themselves to this grief.
“If someone cuts off his own will and does not attend to the sins of others, he
acquires weeping. For from this his thoughts are gathered, and thus gathered
they give birth to sorrow according to God in the heart, and sorrow to tears”
(Abba Dorotheos). [79] But the essential cause of sorrow in all these is the
grace of God, which crushes the heart and stirs it to repentance: “For it is
God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil.
2:13).
Question. Does sorrow
according to God not produce bitter tears?
Answer. No, but tears of
joy, gladdening the spirit and the heart: “They that sow in tears shall reap in
joy” (Ps. 125:5). And: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted” (Matt. 5:4).
Question. What is said of
those who do not have such sorrow and tears?
Answer. “Woe to you who
laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep” (Luke 6:25). But enough of this. Now
it is necessary to set forth despondency.
Discourse 8. On despondency
Question. What is despondency?
Answer. Despondency is that
weakening of our spirit, arising from something, in which, forgetting our
calling, we perform virtues lazily and negligently, or even abandon altogether
the struggle of piety. And therefore, despondency may be called a heavy sleep
and the death of the soul.
Question. Does despondency weaken
in all works?
Answer. No. Only in the practice
of God-pleasing virtues and ascetic labors, but not in worldly affairs. For
lovers of money and lovers of glory labor without ceasing: the former that they
may become rich, the latter that they may be glorified. Yet despondency also
weakens the vainglorious when they are not glorified.
Question. From what does this
passion arise?
Answer.
1. “From folly comes despondency,
and from it—idleness” (St. Peter of Damascus80).
2. From indulgence toward
oneself: “Relaxation, carelessness, and ease weaken and dissolve the soul”
(Abba Dorotheos81).
3. From surfeiting, which also
weakens and makes the soul despondent.
4. And finally, from excessive
sorrow.
Question. In what way does sorrow
produce despondency?
Answer. If someone is deprived of
honor, humiliated and reproached, then his heart is crushed by sorrow, and from
this follows sloth and complete weakening in the struggle of piety. “But the
humble does not suffer this” (St. Nilus82).
Question. What then proceeds from
despondency?
Answer. “Despondency, being an
invincible passion, weakens the body; and when the body is weakened, the soul
is also weakened; and when both are weakened, the bodily constitution changes
into love of pleasure, and love of pleasure stirs up lust… And thus, when a man
is overcome, he falls” (St. Gregory of Sinai83).
Question. Does despondency not
also arouse other passions in us?
Answer. “All other passions touch
either the irascible part of the soul, or only the appetitive, or the rational,
such as forgetfulness and ignorance; but despondency, embracing all the powers
of the soul, stirs up all the passions together. Therefore it is the heaviest
of all passions. Well did the Lord give the remedy for this: ‘In your patience
possess your souls’ (Luke 21:19)” (St. Maximus the Confessor). [84]
Question. Whom does despondency
weaken most?
Answer. Those who dwell in
solitude.
Question. Describe to me a monk
in despondency.
Answer. The spirit of
despondency, having weakened the soul of the monk, makes him negligent in
prayer and distracted in mind during psalmody. Then he begins to neglect and
diminish his cell rule, prayer, psalmody, reading, contemplation of God,
fasting, vigil, labors, and every soul-profiting work; but he comes to love
idleness, from which even the quiet of the cell becomes unbearable to him, so
that, to dispel boredom, he begins often to leave the cell to visit the
brethren, under the pretext of compassion and concern for the sick. Having no
sobriety of mind, no attention to himself, and no converse with God, he becomes
talkative with men, not counting as sin idle talk, jesting, judgment, and
slander. Moreover, he becomes soft-hearted, a glutton, sleepy, hard-hearted,
mad with fornication, fond of possessions, envious, prone to anger,
faint-hearted, fearful, much given to sorrow, without hope, distrustful,
vainglorious, proud, and subject to other vices.
Question. What are the principal
vices that proceed from despondency?
Answer. Excessive reliance on God
and despair.
Question. What is excessive
reliance on God?
Answer. To delay repentance and
the correction of life, and to sin boldly in the hope of the mercy of God—this
is excessive reliance on God and a mortal sin.
Question. And what is despair?
Answer. Doubt concerning the
mercy of God, as though there were no forgiveness for grievous sins, as the
fratricide Cain thought: “My guilt is greater than can be forgiven” (Gen.
4:13).
Question. By what should one
guard oneself from these vices?
Answer. Opposites are healed by
opposites: ward off despair by the mercy of God toward repentant sinners,
bringing to mind those saved by repentance—the thief, the publican, the harlot,
Peter who denied, Paul who persecuted the Church, and others. But excessive
reliance destroys by the remembrance of the temporal and eternal punishments
prepared for unrepentant sinners: “Unless you repent, you shall all likewise
perish” (Luke 13:5).
Question. But tell me, how should
one guard oneself from their root—despondency?
Answer. Having in your heart the
fear of God in works of piety, do not give yourself any indulgence at all, but
ask help from God with tears and labor according to your strength in the
practice of virtues, fulfilling the commandments of the Lord as His faithful
servant. And valiantly flee idleness and lack of restraint in food and drink.
But in time of affliction, do not give yourself over to sorrow, but endure
every temptation courageously. “In your patience,” it is said, “possess your
souls” (Luke 21:19).
Question. How can one not grow
weak in spirit in severe temptations?
Answer. You will not grow weak if
you first prepare your soul for temptations, according to what is said: “My
son, if you come to serve the Lord God, prepare your soul for temptation; set
your heart aright and endure, and do not be hasty in time of trial; cleave unto
Him and do not depart, that you may be increased at your latter end” (Sir.
2:1–3). But if you begin to weaken in patience, pray unceasingly to the Lord
with tears: “Deliver, O Lord, my soul from despondency, and grant me patience,
Thy servant, O Master, Lover of mankind!”
Question. Must one not grow weak?
Answer. No. “Woe to the faint
heart! Woe to you who have lost patience! And what will you do when the Lord
visits?” (Sir. 2:13–14).
Question. Teach me how to conquer
despondency.
Answer. “Psalmody and prayer bind
despondency, the remembrance of death is its enemy, and prayer together with
hope in future good things utterly slays it” (Venerable John Climacus85).
“Despondency is healed by patience and by doing everything with great diligence
and the fear of God. Set for yourself a rule in every work and do not depart
from it until you complete it; and pray often for help, and the spirit of
despondency will flee from you” (St. Nilus86).
Question. What is the sign of
patience, which is contrary to despondency?
Answer. “If it is a sign of
extreme sloth or despondency to be in every kind of weakness and to have not
the least patience, then this may be called the highest magnanimity: when a
man, even while in misfortune, finds in his thoughts some consolation” (Venerable
John Climacus87). But enough of this. Now it is time to describe vainglory.
Discourse 9. On vainglory
Question. What is vainglory?
Answer. Vainglory is that
sickness of the soul, or vain desire, which by every means incites one to seek
empty worldly glory.
Question. From what does
this passion arise?
Answer. From self-love and
folly.
Question. In what do
people generally take vainglory?
Answer.
1. In natural gifts of the
soul—sharpness of mind, strong memory, knowledge of sciences and arts.
2. In virtues—fasting, prayer,
almsgiving, non-possession, virginity, and others.
3. In spiritual gifts—the word of
wisdom, the gift of healings, prophecy, discernment, knowledge of mysteries,
and others.
4. In the goods of this
age—nobility, honor, wealth, various adornments, and others.
5. In natural bodily
gifts—strength, beauty, eloquence, sweet singing, and the like. These are the
instruments of the passion of vainglory.
Question. In what way does
vainglory act in relation to virtues?
Answer. “When I keep a
fast, I become vainglorious; but when, in order to conceal my fasting from men,
I permit myself food, again I become vainglorious over my prudence. When
clothed in bright garments, I am overcome by love of honor; and when dressed in
poor ones, again I am overcome by vainglory. If I wish to be silent, again I
surrender to it. Wherever you turn this thorn, it always sets its spikes
upward” (Venerable John Climacus). [88] “When you conquer one of the
passions—gluttony, or fornication, or anger, or avarice—immediately the thought
of vainglory attacks you. And if you also conquer this, pride takes hold” (St.
Maximus the Confessor). [89]
Question. To what passion
is vainglory opposed?
Answer. To despondency.
For despondency weakens a man in the practice of virtues, whereas vainglory
incites him to perform every virtue—not, however, for the sake of pleasing God,
but with the intention of being glorified by men.
Question. Should one not
seek glory from men?
Answer. Christ commanded
us not to imitate those who give alms, pray, and fast in order to be glorified
and seen by men (Matt. 6:1, 5, 16), but to perform every virtue before the
Heavenly Father, in secret or openly, yet without vainglory (Matt. 6:4, 6, 18).
“Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another”
(Gal. 5:26). “For not he who commends himself is approved, but he whom the Lord
commends” (2 Cor. 10:18).
Question. Why should one
not praise oneself?
Answer. Lest we be
deprived of the heavenly reward, with which the Heavenly Father rewards those
who practice virtues without vainglory. For the vainglorious receive their
reward here in the enjoyment of human praise (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16). “A soul that
desires honor or seeks to be glorified will not see the Kingdom of Heaven” (St.
John Chrysostom). [90]
Question. Is it possible
to believe while being vainglorious?
Answer. “How can you
believe, receiving glory from one another, and not seeking the glory that comes
from the only God?” (John 5:44).
Question. Is vainglory
very harmful to the soul?
Answer. It is so harmful
to the soul that it devours all the fruits of the virtues. And he who takes
vainglory in natural gifts—such as sharpness of mind, high learning, reading,
pleasant speech, and all such qualities received without labor—will never
attain gifts beyond nature.
Question. What else does
this passion produce?
Answer. Many other
passions, vices, and iniquities. But the chief offspring of vainglory is pride.
“Praises exalt and puff up the human soul, and as soon as it is puffed up,
pride takes hold of it, raises it to heaven, and brings it down to the very
abyss” (Venerable John Climacus). [91]
Question. And what are the
other fruits of vainglory?
Answer. Love of honor,
love of money, love of possessions, anger, wrath, remembrance of wrongs,
hatred, blasphemy, revenge, strife, murders, sorrows and griefs, despondency,
insensibility, darkening of the mind, delusion, heresies, apostasy from the
faith, hypocrisy, falsehood, pleasing of men, much talking, ostentation,
self-praise, luxury, adornment of garments, feigned humility, and many other
such vices and iniquities.
Question. Can a
vainglorious man avoid these vices?
Answer. No. “For he who
loves vain glory and is attached to sensible things cannot but be grieved with
men for temporal matters, or remember wrongs against them, or have hatred
toward them, or be enslaved by shameful thoughts. But a God-loving soul is a
stranger to all these!” (St. Maximus the Confessor). [92]
Question. Are the
vainglorious not opposed to God?
Answer. They are so
opposed that He cannot allow them to continue to exist. “For God has scattered
the bones of those who please men” (Ps. 52:6).
Question. How does God
humble vainglorious people?
Answer. In many ways, but
especially He humbles them by dishonor. “Often God humbles vainglorious people
through unexpected dishonor sent upon them” (Venerable John Climacus). [93]
Question. Since vainglory
is so harmful and opposed to God, what remains to be done?
Answer. “Turn away from
evil and do good” (Ps. 33:15). In doing good works, do not seek vain glory from
men, but do everything for the glory of God.
Question. How can one be
freed from the spirit of vainglory?
Answer. Having performed a
good deed, even if people exalt you with praise, and self-praise also arises in
your mind, prompting you to boast before others; but you, attributing the
practice of virtue not to your own strength and effort but to the power of God,
reproach and humble yourself in your mind, fully knowing your weakness and the
multitude of your sins (cf. Venerable John Climacus). [94] But repel human
praise and your own self-praise by diligent prayer to Christ, crying inwardly:
“Deliver me, O Lord, from the spirit of vainglory!” “For it is no small
struggle to be changed from vainglory,” says Saint Maximus, “and one is changed
by the hidden practice of virtues and by unceasing prayer. And the sign of this
change is no longer to remember wrongs against one who has reviled or reviles.”
[95]
Question. And if I do not
overcome this spirit by prayer, what should I do?
Answer.
1. Bring to mind the following
words of Christ: “Woe to you, when all men speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26).
2. Remember that Jesus Christ,
from the manger to the Cross, did not seek glory from men: “I do not receive
glory from men” (John 5:41). And by His example He teaches us the same.
3. Represent to yourself that for
vainglory, the God who loves righteousness, even before the future recompense,
humbles and abases in this world, as He did Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
who was turned into a beast.
4. Consider that worldly glory,
being vain, false, short-lived, harmful to the soul, and in comparison with the
future eternal glory, as nothing, is unworthy of love, but worthy of all
contempt and aversion.
5. And finally, have in your
heart the fear of God, love poverty, humility, simplicity, and frequently
disclose your thoughts to your spiritual father, and follow his counsel and
instruction.
Question. Is anything else
still needed?
Answer. It is greatly
necessary to have patient endurance of sorrows and afflictions without malice.
Reproaching yourself in your mind, endure without malice from your neighbors
every kind of insult, imitating Him who said: “I gave My back to the smiters,
and My cheeks to those who struck Me; I did not turn My face from the shame of
spitting” (Isa. 50:6).
Question. But is it easy
to endure sorrows?
Answer. At the very
beginning it is not without labor for a man to endure insults from his
neighbors. But after some time, he bears sorrows without pain and finds in them
spiritual sweetness; and finally, by the action of the grace of God, he comes
to such a state that in every sorrow and affliction he rejoices in his spirit
and loves those who insult him as his benefactors. And this is the sign of the
highest perfection, which may Jesus Christ grant all of us to attain by His
almighty power!
Question. What is the sign
of contempt for vain glory?
Answer. If extreme
vainglory is when someone, seeing no one near him who would praise him,
imagines within himself about his deeds and ascribes to them false honors, then
this is a sign of not seeking any honor for oneself: when a man, even in the
presence of others, does not allow any flattery to enter his heart (cf.
Venerable John Climacus). [96] Or: “The sign of freedom from vainglory is
this—that one no longer remembers wrongs against one who has reviled or
reviles” (St. Maximus the Confessor). [97] But enough concerning vainglory. It
is now time to proceed to the description of pride.
Question. Why is pride
placed after all the passions?
Answer. Because “the
beginning of all the passions is self-love, and the end is pride,” as Saint
Maximus says. [98] For pride more than all other passions deprives a man of the
help of God and brings upon him temporal and eternal punishments.
Discourse 10. On pride
Question. What is pride?
Answer. If you, forgetting
yourself, judge, reproach, and despise your neighbors, while exalting yourself,
then this is precisely the God-hating pride. Otherwise, this passion is also
called arrogance, haughtiness, conceit, exaltation, self-exaltation, self-opinion,
contempt, and the like.
Question. From what does
pride arise?
Answer.
1. From not knowing oneself: “If
you had known yourself, you would not have been proud” (St. Isaac the Syrian).
[99]
2. From forgetting God: “The
beginning of pride for a man is to depart from the Lord, and when his heart
turns away from his Creator” (Sir. 10:14).
3. Pride is born from forgetting
one’s falls into sin.
4. Pride begins from extreme
vainglory.
5. Pride is produced by wealth
and honor: “Poverty humbles a man” (Prov. 10:4) (cf. Venerable John Climacus).
[100]
6. Pride also arises from
association with the proud: “He who touches pitch will be defiled, and he who
associates with the proud will become like him” (Sir. 13:1).
Question. What is
characteristic of pride?
Answer. “For a monk, it is
characteristic of vainglory to boast of virtue and of the gifts that follow it.
But for pride it is characteristic to exalt oneself and to despise others, and
to attribute the correction of virtues to oneself and not to God. For a worldly
man, it is characteristic in vainglory and pride to boast and take pride in
beauty, wealth, authority, strength, and understanding” (St. Maximus the Confessor).
[101]
Question. What is the sign
of perfect pride?
Answer. “The extreme sign
of pride is to be exalted even by a small thing” (Venerable John Climacus).
[102]
Question. What does pride
produce in a monk?
Answer. “A proud-minded
monk always contradicts. He never wishes to have obedience, but always desires
to rule. He does not repent of his sins. Blasphemous thoughts are born in his
heart. He counts the meek as nothing. He forgets himself, thinking that he is
blameless. And not only is he unable to ascend to the height of virtues, but he
is even cast down. The devil has no need to trouble the proud, because he
himself becomes his own devil and enemy. The proud judges all, reviles and
despises. He magnifies the small sins of his neighbor and subjects them to very
strict punishment, but his own—even grave ones—he does not see, or sees them
and diminishes them. No one is so inquisitive as the proud. He wishes to
investigate even the depth of the judgments of God. And finally, the proud man,
with all his knowledge, is blind and without understanding” (Venerable John
Climacus) [103]; “Many are great and renowned, but to the meek mysteries are
revealed” (Sir. 3:19).
Question. Of what evils is
pride the cause?
Answer.
1. Because of pride, a man is
deprived of the favor of God and becomes hated by God and by men: “God resists
the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). And “Pride is hated
before God and men” (Sir. 10:7).
2. Because of pride, God condemns
and humbles: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).
3. Because of pride, a man is
deprived of the good things of this world, of temporal life, and of the future
eternal blessings: “I saw the wicked exalted and lifted up like the cedars of
Lebanon; and I passed by, and lo, he was not; and I sought him, but his place
was not found” (Ps. 36:35–36).
4. Through pride all the wealth
of virtues is squandered, and all labors are dried up (see Venerable John
Climacus). [104]
5. And finally, through pride it
often happens that a man loses his mind, falls into delusion, into errors, into
heresies, into godlessness, and into many vices and iniquities.
Question. What vices
generally proceed from pride?
Answer. “The offspring of
pride and vainglory are these: anger, slander, grief, wrath, shouting,
blasphemy, hypocrisy, hatred, envy, contradiction, self-will, disobedience.”
[105] “For pride is impatient, wrathful, and fierce,” said the hierarch of
Christ, Demetrius. [106]
Question. Since pride is
so destructive to the soul, what remains to be done?
Answer. The Lord Jesus
Christ Himself teaches us: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:29).
Question. By what and how
should one conquer the spirit of pride?
Answer.
1. Know yourself, by knowledge of
your weakness and wretchedness.
2. Remember your sins, voluntary
and involuntary, and cleanse your conscience by frequent confession.
3. Bring to mind the ineffable
humility of Jesus Christ, by which He taught us both in word and in deed.
4. Do not compare yourself with
anyone in virtues, but consider yourself more sinful than all sinners, and
worse and more useless than all irrational creatures.
5. Having performed a virtue,
attribute it not to your own strength, but to the grace of God; “for it is God
who works in you both to will and to do” (Phil. 2:13).
6. “Remember the falls of the
mighty, and you will be humbled” (St. Isaac the Syrian). [107]
7. Noticing pride in yourself,
cry to the Lord with tears: “Deliver me, O Lord, from the spirit of pride, and
grant me true humility!”
8. And finally, do nothing
according to your own will and understanding without inquiry, counsel, and the
blessing of a spiritual father, but do everything according to his will.
Question. What else leads
to humility?
Answer. “Silence, humility
of mind, humble speech, humble clothing, self-reproach, and submission”
(Venerable Gregory of Sinai). [108]
Question. What is the sign
of true humility?
Answer. When, with all
your high qualities and virtues, you do not exalt yourself above anyone, do not
despise anyone, do not judge anyone either in word or in thought, but attribute
the correction of virtues not to your own strength but to the grace of God—then
it is a sure sign that you have conquered pride and are already within the
bounds of true humility.
Question. Enough
concerning pride. What, then, do you have to propose to me for the profit of
the soul?
Answer. After the thorn of sin,
let us set forth dispassion and the perfection of virtues.
Discourse 11. On dispassion
Question. Is it sufficient that I have knowledge of the evil passions?
Answer. No. But, having
learned the disastrous consequences of the passions, you must courageously
overcome them and attain the grace-filled state of dispassion: “For the grace
of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, instructing us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously
and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing
of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us,
that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for Himself a chosen
people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11–14). And Christ Himself says:
“Therefore be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).
Question. What is
dispassion and perfection?
Answer. Dispassion is that
blessed state in the much-passioned flesh, in which a man, emulating the
Angels, is not easily inclined toward sinful tendencies, but, being
strengthened by grace, courageously walks by the path of the commandments of
the Lord toward the perfection of virtues. By conquering the evil passions, he
attains self-denial, moderation in all things, humility of mind, endurance of
afflictions, love for God and neighbor, and love of enemies—in which virtues
the perfection of a true Christian consists.
Question. In what way does
the path to this perfection of virtues begin?
Answer. The beginning of
this path is from our firm resolve, together with the grace of God that stirs
us, which also assists us in the struggle against evil passions, filling us
with zeal, understanding, and courage, if we always abide in humility of mind.
For by humility the grace of God is acquired, by humility its power in us is
increased, and this heavenly treasure is preserved. By the power of grace, we
ascend to perfection by the steps of virtues in such a way as Saint Maximus,
beginning from faith, philosophically sets forth.
Question. I ask you to
explain this Ladder.
Answer. “He who believes
in the Lord fears punishment; and he who fears punishment abstains from
passions; and he who abstains from passions endures afflictions; and he who
endures afflictions acquires hope in God; and hope in God separates the mind
from every earthly attachment; and when the mind is separated from these, it
receives love for God” (St. Maximus the Confessor). [109] And from love for God
proceeds love for neighbor: “As much as we draw near to God by love toward Him,
so much are we united by love toward our neighbor” (Abba Dorotheos). [110]
Question. How may I know
that I have reached the limits of dispassion?
Answer. “When you neither
say nor do anything shameful even in thought, and when you do not remember evil
against one who has harmed or reviled you, and when in time of prayer you
always have your mind immaterial and without images—then know that you have
reached the measure of dispassion and of perfect love” (St. Maximus the
Confessor). [111]
Question. By what is
perfect dispassion recognized?
Answer. “Do not think that
you possess perfect dispassion when no object is present (that could stir a
passion). But when such an object appears and you remain unmoved toward it, and
also afterward toward its remembrance, then know that you are surpassing its bounds.
Yet even being such, do not cease to be watchful. For virtue, when it abides,
puts the passions to death; but when neglected, it raises them up again” (St.
Maximus the Confessor). [112]
Question. Is the
dispassionate man subject to change?
Answer. “If, having little
by little cut off the causes of the passions, we become occupied with spiritual
contemplations, but do not remain in them continually, then, being engaged in
this alone, we easily return again to the passions of the flesh, having gained
nothing else from this except a subtle understanding with conceit, whose end is
the gradual darkening of that understanding and the complete turning of the
mind toward material things” (St. Maximus the Confessor). [113]
Question. In that case,
what should I do?
Answer. Have recourse to the
saving Mysteries, to Repentance and the Eucharist. Confess your mental
temptations and all your sins as often as possible to your spiritual father,
and partake reverently of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. For by these Mysteries
the soul is strengthened in the fear of God, in prayer and contemplation of
God, and in every virtue; and by the grace of Christ and His dignity, it is
cleansed from sins.
Question. Consequently,
does even the dispassionate man feel movements of the passions?
Answer. Certainly so!
“Dispassion is not that one does not feel the passions, but that one does not
accept them… And when the passions begin to move and disturb, the thought is
suddenly snatched away from their approach, entering into a certain
understanding that has inclined toward the mind, and the passions remain in him
inactive” (St. Isaac the Syrian). [114]
Question. Is the
dispassionate man subject to certain slips and to sin?
Answer. Saint Macarius the
Great: “I also,” he says, “for a certain time attained the measure of
perfection and tasted and experienced that age by my own experience; yet I have
not seen a single Christian who is completely and in every way free from sin.
But even if one rests in grace and is a partaker of revelations… nevertheless
sin lives in him.” [115] Likewise, the great Theologian says: “If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).
“For we all stumble in many things” (James 3:2).
Question. Since even in
the dispassionate sin lives, in what way does grace produce its action in them?
Answer. “At times (grace)
kindles a stronger fire in a man; at other times a weaker one, and the light
sometimes shines more clearly, and at times it restrains itself and brings a
certain darkness; and all this happens according to God’s dispensation, though
the lamp does not cease to burn. When it emits a purer light, then, as if from
a more abundant drinking of the wine of divine love, a man rejoices and keeps a
feast. And this also happens, when this light shining in the heart opens the
door to another, more inward and deeper shining light, and the man, wholly
filled with that sweetness and contemplation, is no longer in himself, but is
considered by the world as foolish and of no account, because of the new joys
of love and sweetness, and the depth of the mysteries which he has been counted
worthy to taste. And often it happens that at that time he attains perfect
measures and becomes free and blameless from every sin; but afterward again
grace is somehow constrained, and again is overshadowed by the opposing power”
(Venerable Macarius the Great). [116]
Question. But tell me,
from what cause do some sometimes fall from the height of dispassion?
Answer. From a Pharisaic
opinion of oneself, and from judging one’s neighbors. Therefore it is said:
“Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). “But he
who is humble in spirit never falls” (St. Macarius the Great). [117]
Question. Does humility
itself, by itself, preserve from falls?
Answer. No. Humility is
only the attractive instrument of the highest power. For by humility the grace
of God is acquired, by humility its power in us is increased, and this heavenly
treasure is preserved. And grace, having entered through humility, establishes
the humble struggler in virtues, as a mother preserves an infant and does not
allow it to fall: “For My strength,” said the Lord to Paul, “is made perfect in
weakness.” And Paul himself: “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9). “Humility
is great, and powerful, to draw the grace of God into the soul; and that grace
of God, when it comes, covers the soul” (Abba Dorotheos). [118] Be humble,
therefore, that you may receive grace from the Lord. “But if you do not humble
your mind, grace leaves you, and you fall completely in those things in which
you are only tempted by thoughts. For to stand in virtues is not yours, but of
grace. It is this that bears you upon the palms of its hands, preserving you
from all adversities” (St. Isaac the Syrian). [119]
Question. Consequently,
can a man do nothing good without grace?
Answer. As a bird without
wings, as a fish without water, and as a body without a soul, so a man without
the grace of God produces nothing good. A man without grace is alive yet dead.
He is alive to sin, obeying it in its lusts, but dead to God, producing nothing
pleasing to Him.
Question. If the work of
piety is accomplished by grace, then for what are we rewarded?
Answer. For our free will: “If a
man does evil, being incited by Satan, Satan is not judged in his place, but
the man himself is convicted and punished, since he submitted to evil by his
own will. In like manner, if a man inclines toward the good and the grace of
God overcomes, grace does not ascribe that good deed to itself, but attributes
it to the man himself and glorifies him” (Venerable Macarius the Great). [120]
Question. Describe to me
the gracious operations in dispassionate souls.
Answer. “Nothing
contributes so much to a better depiction of this as if we set forth certain
visible delights of this world and compare them with the delights which grace
produces in the souls of the saints. For it happens that they are seen at times
as though rejoicing at some royal banquet, exulting and rejoicing with
exceedingly great and ineffable joy; at times as a bride spiritually delighting
together with the Bridegroom; at times like bodiless Angels they feel such
swiftness and lightness of body that they seem not to be clothed with flesh; at
times as though intoxicated with the wine of the ineffable mysteries of the
Holy Spirit, and being gladdened by this they celebrate; at times weeping and
lamentation seize them in sorrow for the salvation of mankind, for being
inflamed with the divine love of the Spirit toward all men, they weep over all
fallen Adam; at times they are inflamed with such love, mingled with ineffable
spiritual sweetness, that, if it were possible, they would receive every man into
their own bosom, making no distinction between the evil and the good; at times
they so humble themselves that they consider no one lower than themselves, but
deem themselves the lowest of all; at times they are filled with the ineffable
joy of the Spirit; at times, as though some mighty commander, having put on all
royal armor, goes forth to battle and drives away opposing forces—so also
these, having taken up the weapons of the Spirit, rise against invisible
enemies and trample them underfoot; at times a great stillness and harmony of
spirit, and peace and wondrous sweetness, surround them and give them joy; at
times they are filled with understanding and divine wisdom and knowledge of the
Spirit, and are instructed by the grace of Christ in things so deep and lofty
that no tongue can express them; and it happens that they appear as one among
all men” (Venerable Macarius the Great). [121] Thus does Grace act. Yet it also
happens that Satan produces effects similar to those of grace.
Question. For my caution,
I ask you to explain the deceit of the evil spirit.
Answer. “For the
operations of grace are not known to sin, which—even if it should assume the
appearance of a good deed—cannot in any way produce them. For although,
according to the Apostle, Satan knows how to transform himself into an angel of
light, in order thus to deceive a man, yet even if he should present bright
visions, he cannot at all impart a good operation; and by this his works are
made known (2 Cor. 11:14). For he cannot give either love toward God and
neighbor, nor meekness, nor humility, nor joy, nor peace, nor restraint of
thoughts, nor hatred of the world, nor spiritual tranquility, nor desire for
heavenly things, nor can he subdue passions and lusts—which are manifest
operations of grace: ‘for the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,’ and so
forth (Gal. 5:22). Rather, he is especially able to instill pride and
high-mindedness in a man, for toward these he is exceedingly inclined and
powerful. Thus, by the operations you will discern whether the noetic light
that has shone in your soul is from God or from Satan” (Venerable Macarius the
Great). [122]
Question. Who falls into
the enemy’s delusion?
Answer. A high-minded and
self-willed ascetic. But the humble in spirit escapes the delusion of the evil
one. For his mind is illumined by grace with its light and is given clear
knowledge of the opposing light, and is thereby preserved from its deception.
Question. How quickly can
one attain grace-filled perfection and be deemed worthy of the gifts of the
Holy Spirit?
Answer. “No one can
quickly and easily attain this measure of perfection; rather, many labors and
struggles are required for it, as well as no little time and diligence, and a
firm spirit against the temptations and assaults that come from the devil,
until one reaches the perfect measure of dispassion. For only after being
tested by all labors and sorrows, and having borne with good courage all
temptations arising from evil, does one become worthy of great portions of the
gifts of the good Spirit and of the divine riches, and thereafter becomes an
heir of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Venerable Macarius the Great). [123]
Question. Enough
concerning dispassion. What follows after this?
Answer. In conclusion of
all that has been said in these homilies, receive this final word: the duty of
every Christian, and especially yours, O dweller in solitude, is to conquer the
sinful passions. Let not sin reign, but let grace reign in you! And it will reign
when your heart is humble. Then grace will accomplish your struggle against the
force of wild passions and will raise you to the height of virtues, where you
will taste the blessedness of Paradise. For he who subdues the turbulence of
evil passions lives here a peaceful and blessed life, tasting the ineffable
sweetness of the gracious operations and fruits of the Spirit; and after his
death, he will receive the eternal good things “which God has prepared for
those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
NOTES
Quotations from the works of the Holy Fathers are given by
Archimandrite Photii in Church Slavonic, since most translations into Russian
were made much later, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Here and
elsewhere, editorial notes and explanations are given in square brackets.
1. Philokalia, vol. I. Instructions of Saint Macarius
the Great on the Christian life, selected from his homilies, part 2, 17.
2. Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. Book 2,
chapter IV. On the devil and demons.
3. Philokalia, vol. III. Second century on love, 67.
4. Philokalia, vol. III. Second century on love, 11.
5. Philokalia, vol. III. Second century on love, 81.
6. The Ladder. Step 5, 30.
7. Philokalia, vol. V. Book two, discourse 5.
8. Philokalia, vol. III. Second century on love, 68.
9. Philokalia, vol. III. Fourth century on love,
52–54.
10. Soul-profiting instructions. Instruction 19.
11. Philokalia, vol. I. To those who think to be
justified by works, 119.
12. Philokalia, vol. III. Second century on love, 59.
13. Philokalia, vol. III. Third Century on Love, 44.
14. Dioptra, or Soul-Seeing Mirror, part 3,
chapter 9.
15 Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 3. On
conscience.
16. Philokalia, vol. III. One Hundred Soul-profiting
Chapters, 32.
17. Alphabetical Paterikon. The addition “especially
for the young,” attributed to the sayings of Venerable Poemen the Great,
unfortunately is not found either in this or in any of the Paterika currently
available, for example, in the Ancient Paterikon of Saint Theophan the
Recluse (Govorov), nor likewise in the Paterikon of Saint Ignatius
(Brianchaninov). However, a similar phrase is found in the sayings of unnamed
elders and in the Paterikon: “Young man! Flee from wine as from a
serpent!”, and in the Ancient Paterikon: “If you are still young, flee
from wine as from a serpent.”
18. Philokalia, vol. I. Epistle to the monk Nicholas,
15.
19. On Asceticism. Ascetical discourse and exhortation
on renunciation of the world and on spiritual perfection.
20. On Asceticism. Ascetical discourse and exhortation
on renunciation of the world and on spiritual perfection.
21. Ladder, 14, 30, 34.
22. Philokalia, vol. II. On the Eight Spirits of Evil,
a. On gluttony, 3.
23. Ladder. Discourse 14, 5, 27.
24. Philokalia, vol. II. On the Eight Spirits of Evil,
a. On gluttony, 5.
25. Ladder. Discourse 14, 36.
26. Philokalia, vol. III. First Century on Love, 42.
27. Philokalia, vol. III. First Century on Love, 3.
28. Philokalia, vol. I. To those who think to be
justified by works, 119.
29. Philokalia, vol. V. Instructions to the
Hesychasts, 6. How to partake of food.
30. Philokalia (in Church Slavonic).
31. Ladder. Discourse 14, 5.
32. Philokalia, vol. II. On the Eight Spirits of Evil,
b. On fornication, 2.
33. Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. Book 2,
chapter XXIX. On Providence. Cf. Ladder, Discourse 15, 38.
34. Ladder. Discourse 29, 10; Discourse 15, 13.
35. Ladder. Discourse 15, 25.
36. Ladder. Discourse 15, 26, 80.
37. Prologue, July 14. From the chapters of Saint
Nilus, instruction on the eight thoughts.
38. Philokalia, vol. III. First Century on Love, 45.
39. Ladder. Discourse 15, 84.
40. Ladder. Discourse 15, 84.
41. Ladder. Discourse 15, 86.
42. Ladder. Discourse 15, 8.
43. Ladder. Discourse 15, 13.
44. Ladder. Discourse 15, 36 and 70.
45. Philokalia, vol. III. Third Century on Love,
17–18.
46. Ladder. Discourse 20, 15; Discourse 17, 4.
47. Seven Homilies. Homily 6. On love, 24.
48. Philokalia, or Sayings and Chapters on Sacred
Sobriety (in Church Slavonic). On the eight passionate thoughts. On love of
money. In Venerable John the description is also given more extensively; see
“The 19th Conference of Abba John (of Diolcos). On the aim of the cenobitic and
eremitic life,” chapter 6, “On the benefit of the common life,” in his Conferences
of the Egyptian Ascetics. Also, an almost verbatim citation is found in
Venerable Joseph of Volokolamsk in his Rule of the Volokolamsk Monastery,
in Discourse 3.
49. Ladder. Discourse 17, 5.
50. Philokalia, vol. I. 4. On guarding the mind in 27
chapters, chapter 1.
51. Homilies. Homily 10. On those prone to anger.
52. Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 6.
53. Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 7.
54. Ladder. Discourse 8, 8.
55. Cf. Ladder. Discourse 8, 8.
56. Ladder. Discourse 8, 29.
57. Ladder. Discourse 8, 12.
58. Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 19.
59. Philokalia, vol. II. Struggle with the spirit of
anger, 1.
60. Homilies. Homily 10. On those prone to anger.
61. Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles. Homily 6.
62. Ladder. Discourse 8, 14.
63. The book called Chrysostom, Discourse 7.
64. Philokalia, vol. II. Struggle with the spirit of
anger, 16.
65. Homily on the parable of the debtor of ten thousand
talents who exacted a hundred denarii (Matt. 18:23–35), and on the fact that
remembrance of wrongs is worse than every sin.
66. Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 8.
67. Alphabetical Paterikon. On Abba Poemen, 81, 95,
125. See also Abba Dorotheos, Soul-profiting Instructions, Instruction
7.
68. Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 10.
69. Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 10.
70. Ladder. Chapter 8, 13.
71. On the Institutions of the Monasteries. Book
eight. On the spirit of anger. Chapter 18.
72. Philokalia, vol. II. On the Eight Spirits of Evil.
On sorrow, 12, 16–18.
73. Philokalia, vol. II. On the Eight Spirits of Evil.
On sorrow, 1.
74. Philokalia, vol. II. Struggle with the spirit of
sorrow. Chapter 2.
75, Philokalia, vol. II. Struggle with the spirit of
sorrow. Chapters 1 and 3.
76. Philokalia, vol. II. On the Eight Spirits of Evil.
On sorrow, 11.
77. Philokalia, or Sayings and Chapters on Sacred
Sobriety (in Church Slavonic). On the eight passionate thoughts. On sorrow.
78. Philokalia, vol. I. To those who think to be
justified by works, 218.
79. Soul-profiting Instructions. Questions of
Venerable Dorotheos and the answers given to them by the holy elders
Barsanuphius and John the Prophet. Question 34.
81. Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 13.
82. Philokalia, vol. II. On the Eight Spirits of Evil.
On sorrow, 18. Cf. also there: 153 chapters on prayer, 96.
83. Philokalia, or Sayings and Chapters on Sacred
Sobriety (in Church Slavonic). Gregory of Sinai. His other chapters, 4.
84. Philokalia, vol. III. First century on love, 67.
85. Ladder. Discourse 13, 15.
86. Philokalia, vol. II. On the Eight Spirits of Evil.
On despondency, 19–20.
87. Ladder. Discourse 29, 10.
88. Ladder. Discourse 22, 5.
89. Philokalia, vol. III. Third century on love, 59.
90. Commentary on the Epistle to Titus. Homily 2, 4.
91. Ladder. Discourse 22, 35.
92. Philokalia, vol. III. Fourth century on love, 41.
93. Ladder. Discourse 22, 38.
94. Ladder. Discourse 22, 42.
95. Philokalia, vol. III. Fourth century on love, 43.
96. Ladder. Discourse 29, 10.
97. Philokalia, vol. III. Fourth century on love, 43.
98. Philokalia, vol. III. Third century on love, 57.
99. Editor’s note: in the original there is a reference to Ascetical
Homilies, homily 79, on pride. A similar explanation is found in homily 69.
The exact quotation is found in the Spiritual Alphabet, attributed to
Saint Demetrius of Rostov, but according to newer data actually belonging to
Saint Isaiah (Kopinsky), Part 2, Chapter 3, 3. The same quotation, almost
verbatim, is also found in Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk; see Collected Works,
vol. 5, Brief Moral Instructions, homily 22. On pride.
100. Ladder. Discourse 25, 66.
101. Philokalia, vol. III. Third century on love, 84.
102. Ladder. Discourse 29, 10.
103. Ladder. Discourse 23, 6–8, 10, 20, 28–30, 32, 34,
35. Discourse 25, 12.
104. Ladder. Discourse 23, 13.
105. Ladder. Discourse 23, 38.
106. Instruction on the commemoration of the holy great
martyr Eustathius Placidas, on the 20th day of September (“By your patience
save your souls” (Luke 21:19)).
107. Ascetical Homilies. Homily 2. On thanksgiving to
God.
108. Philokalia, vol. V. Chapters on commandments and
dogmas, threats and promises, also on thoughts, passions, and virtues, and also
on stillness and prayer, 117.
109. Philokalia, vol. III. First century on love, 3.
110. Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 6.
111. Philokalia, vol. III. Fourth century on love, 42.
112. Philokalia, vol. III. Fourth century on love, 54.
113. Philokalia, vol. III. Third century on love, 70.
114. Ascetical Homilies. Homily 48. On the distinction
of virtues and on the perfection of the whole course.
115. Seven Homilies. Homily 6. On love, 12.
116. Seven Homilies. Homily 6. On love, 9.
117. Spiritual Homilies. Homily 19, 8.
118. Soul-profiting Instructions. Instruction 2.
119. Ascetical Homilies. Homily 46. On true knowledge.
120. Seven Homilies. Homily 1. On guarding the heart,
12.
121. Seven Homilies. Homily 6. On love, 6.
122. Seven Homilies. Homily 4. On patience and
discernment, 13.
123. Seven Homilies. Homily 6. On love, 27.
Online Russian source:
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Fotij_Spasskij/dushevnoe-vrachestvo/
