For the glistening of the wine and the ray of the sun, flashing brightly upon the face of him who drinks, pass through even to his inward parts and to his hands and feet and to his hinder parts, and, making the drinker wholly fire, they will empower him to burn and melt the enemies who draw near to him from every side; and he becomes beloved to the light of the sun and a friend to the sun, and, by reason of the brightly gleaming wine of the rays poured forth from them, like a beloved son;
for his drink is nourishment and a cleansing of the filth of his rotted flesh, and the cleansing is complete health to him, and this health does not permit him to be fed with any other food that breeds disease, but affords him a boundless and burning desire to drink of the wine and rather to cleanse himself and to make his drinking a means of health.
Thus, then, will it be, beloved children, my sons, my dearly cherished ones, you who hear my words: with everyone who has sinned before the Lord God Almighty and receives in his heart a perception of the fear of judgment and of His turning away.
For the fear of the Lord and the perception of His just recompense so melt the flesh and crush the bones—as a stone suspended by a machine presses out and vigorously squeezes the grapes trodden in the winepress.
For men first tread the grape clusters, and afterward press them under the stone and render them wholly without any moisture; but as for the man who has entered into the fear of God, the very fear of God itself makes him become for all other men a thing to be trodden underfoot.
And when it has entirely smoothed away and utterly crushed the proud and vainglorious mind of his flesh, then holy humility—the spiritual stone, most light and gracious—falling from above and pressing out all the moisture of the fleshly pleasures and passions, does not render the pressed-out soul useless, but, drenching it with tears like a river, makes it gush forth living water, and heals the wounds arising from sins, and washes away their discharge and sores, and shows that whole man to be brighter than snow.
who, from a tongue and an unclean and defiled mouth, committed these things to writing as an example of conversion and repentance, and as an unerring and most true road for those who desire to be saved with their whole soul and who are about to inherit the kingdom which is in God Himself and our Savior, to whom be the glory unto the ages.
And that the treasure of the Spirit hidden in the letter of the divine Scripture is not manifest to all, even to those who wish it, but only to those who have acquired Him who opens the mind to understand the Scriptures.
Brothers and fathers, spiritual knowledge is like a certain house built in the midst of worldly and Hellenic learning, in which, as in a strong and securely fastened casket, there lies stored the knowledge of the God-inspired Scriptures and the unutterable wealth contained in it, which those who enter into the house could never behold unless the casket is opened wide for them.
But it is not possible for this ever to be opened by human wisdom; therefore the wealth of the Spirit stored up within it also remains unknown to all men who are in the world.
And just as, even if a man takes up the whole casket upon his own shoulders and carries it about, he is ignorant of the treasure stored within it, so also, even if a man reads through and commits to memory all the Scriptures and carries them about as one psalm, he is ignorant of the gift of the Holy Spirit hidden within them.
For neither are the things in the casket made manifest by means of the casket, nor are the things in the Scripture made manifest by means of the Scripture.
You see a small casket, closed securely on every side, and, judging from its weight and its outward comeliness, you suppose—or perhaps, hearing it from certain people, you believe—that it holds a treasure within, which, having taken up, you go on your way with eagerness;
You will never behold, while still living, the treasure within it; you will not see the transparency of the stones in it, the brilliance of the pearls, the flashing radiance of the gold.
What profit is it to you, if you are not deemed worthy to take from them even a little and to purchase something for food or clothing, but carry about, as we have said, the casket sealed throughout, filled with much and precious treasure, while you yourself are worn down with hunger and thirst and nakedness?
1:2164
Ταῦτάμοικαίἐπίτῶνπνευματικῶνὑπολάμβανεἀδελφέ
弟兄啊，你要曉得這些事也照樣適用於屬靈的事上。
Understand these things as also applying to spiritual matters, brother.
Understand for me, then, the casket to be the Gospel of Christ and the rest of the divine Scriptures, having enclosed and sealed within them eternal life, and together with it the ineffable eternal good things contained in it that are not beheld by the senses of sight, according to the voice of the Lord:
1:2166
ἘρευνᾶτετάςΓραφάς, ὅτιἐναὐταῖςἐστινἡζωήἡαἰώνιος
「你們查考聖經，因為在其中有永遠的生命。」——
'Search the Scriptures, for in them is life eternal'—
He carries them about, then, as in a casket, in the memory of his soul, which has the commandments of God as precious stones, in which is life eternal—for the words of Christ are light and are life, as He Himself says:
For through the fulfilment of the commandments comes the working of the virtues, and through the practice of the virtues comes the fulfilment of the commandments; and thus through these the door of knowledge is opened to us — or rather not through these, but through Him who said:
When, therefore, God dwells and walks within us and manifests Himself to us perceptibly, then also do we behold with knowledge the things that are within the ark — that is, the divine mysteries hidden within the divine Scripture.
Otherwise it is impossible — let no one be deceived — either to open the ark of knowledge and enjoy the good things within it, or to come into participation and contemplation of them.
1:2175
Ποίωνδέκαίτίνωνφημίἀγαθῶν;
我所說的，究竟是哪些、又是何等樣的美善呢？
And of what and what kind of good things do I speak?
Of perfect love — namely, love toward God and toward one's neighbour; of contempt for all visible things; of the mortifying of the flesh and its members that are upon the earth, even to the point of evil desire, so that, just as a corpse takes no account of anything at all nor perceives anything, so we ourselves may never entertain any thought of evil desire or of passionate sensation whatsoever, nor be aware of the tyrannical harassment of evil, but may remember only the commandments of Christ our Saviour;
and moreover of immortality, incorruption, everlasting glory, eternal life, the kingdom of heaven, adoption as sons through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, and of our becoming gods by adoption and by grace, being named heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; and together with these, of acquiring the mind of Christ, and through it of seeing God, and Christ Himself dwelling within us according to His Godhead and walking about knowably in us.
Of all these things, then, and of the unspeakable and inexpressible things that are beyond these, those who hear the commandments of God and do them are counted worthy and richly enjoy them, through the opening of that ark of which we spoke — that is, through the unveiling of the spiritual eyes and the sight of the things hidden in the divine Scripture.
But the others, being in ignorance and inexperience of all the things that have been said, remain untasting of the sweetness of these things and of their immortal life, resting upon the mere learning of the Scriptures;
For some of such men, being led astray by ignorance, twist all the divine Scriptures, interpreting them according to their own passionate desires, wishing to establish themselves in the notion that even apart from the exact keeping of Christ's commandments they will be saved, thereby wholly denying the power of the holy Scriptures.
For the things that are sealed and shut up, which are unseen and unknown to all men, but are opened only by the Holy Spirit and thus revealed, becoming visible and known to us — how, then, will they ever be able to see or know or even in any measure conceive them, who say that they have never known the coming of the Holy Spirit, His illumination, His enlightening, His indwelling within them?
How shall those come to the comprehension of such mysteries, who have never recognized within themselves the recasting, the renewal, the alteration, the refashioning, the regeneration that is wrought by Him?
Not having been born from above, how shall they see the glory of those who have been born from thence — as the Lord said — of those who have been born of God and have become children of God?
Those who have not been willing to undergo this, but through negligence have lost it as well — for indeed they received authority to become such — by what knowledge, tell me, could they be able to understand, or in any way whatsoever be strong enough to conceive, what manner of men those became?
God is Spirit, invisible, immortal, unapproachable, incomprehensible, and He makes those who are born of Him to be such — like the Father who begot them — apprehensible and visible in body alone, but in all else known to God alone and knowing God alone; or rather, willing to be known by God alone, toward whom they ever yearn to look, and by whom they long to be seen.
In another way too: just as those unskilled in letters cannot read books equally with the skilled, so neither will those who have not been willing to pass through Christ's commandments by practice ever be able, like those men, to be counted worthy of the revelation of the Holy Spirit, equally with those who have kept watch over these commandments and fulfilled them and poured out their own blood for their sake.
For just as a man who has received a book that is sealed and shut cannot see the things written in it or understand what they are so long as the book remains sealed, even if he has learned all the wisdom of the world, so neither will he who has all the divine Scriptures, as we said, upon his lips ever be able to know and behold the mystical and divine glory together with the power hidden within them, unless he pass through all the commandments of God and receive the Paraclete with himself, who opens the words to him as one opens a book and mystically shows him the glory within them, and moreover reveals the good things of God hidden within these, together with that very eternal life which pours them forth — things which to all the contemptuous and negligent remain covered and entirely unseen.
For since they have nailed all their senses to the vanity of the world and are passionately attached to the delights of this life and to the beauties of bodies, carrying about a darkened faculty of soul, they cannot see or look up toward the intelligible beauties of the unspeakable good things of God.
And just as one whose bodily eyes are weak cannot even in the least look upon a ray of the sun shining more brightly, but if he gazes upon it, he straightway utterly loses even the sight he possessed, so indeed also he who has the eyes of his soul weak and his senses themselves given to passion cannot even perceive the beauty or comeliness of a body dispassionately and without harm; but rather, even the peace of thoughts and the calm from wicked desire which he had before this, he loses by lingering in the meditation of the passion.
For if he had made himself understand that he was weak, he would have believed that there are certain others who are healthy, and perhaps he would at some time have blamed himself as having become the cause of it to himself, and would have taken thought for the things that lead to deliverance from it.
But as it is, such a man, having all men to be subject to passion, equates himself with them and says that it is impossible for him to become superior to all.
For as many of us as have been baptized into His name have received authority from Him to put off the former baseness of corruption like an old garment, and to be named sons of God, and to put on Christ.
[God forbid rather that we should not be made like Him] who died for us and rose again and raised us up to the heavens; and [God forbid that we should not] ever follow in His footsteps, being cleansed through repentance from the stain of sin and putting on the shining tunic of the incorruption of the Spirit, in Christ Himself our God, to whom belong all glory, honour, and worship unto the ages of ages.
Brethren and fathers, the monk ought not only to know and understand the alterations and changes that take place in the soul, but also their causes — of whatever kind they may be, and whence they happen to come about in him.
And at one time it (the soul) becomes so oppressed and constricted within itself that it even renounces its own life; at another time it is so expanded, and the exultation within it is so multiplied, that it cannot even restrain itself, even if it constrains itself to do so.
These things, then, are wont to happen with regard to the natural motions of the soul and of the body, whenever we are engaged in struggle over the working of virtue and the fulfilment of the commandments.
For at one time it (the mind) is keen to conceive and keener to pass through and distinguish concisely the things conceived or beheld by it; at another time it becomes sluggish toward both and slow.
And at one time the same mind becomes as it were mindless and speechless and deaf; at another time it becomes intelligent and eloquent, at once quick to hear and understanding.
And at one time it is simple toward all contemplation and free, in no way remembering the evils that had happened before it nor conceiving any of these at all; at another time it becomes complicated, as it were conceiving and devising things that are not, and acting wickedly;
and like a flame stifled by smoke in damp wood, it acts wickedly not only toward those present, but often even fabricates within itself vain and false imaginings concerning certain absent persons;
whence, though the heart is greatly grieved and does not consent to the mind in such matters, it can in no way profit it at all, nor turn it away from its vain reasonings.
But the irregularities that come upon us with regard to the body, even though they seem to be easily diagnosed and readily recognized by us, yet it is not so.
[The soul] is by its nature and essence unchangeable, and likewise the mind too was created together with it by the Creator; being led only by free choice and by their own will, laying hold of either virtue or vice — that is, becoming eternally partakers and heirs either of light or of darkness — the soul, I say, and the mind, cleaving voluntarily to one of these by choice, as has been said, and by will: if to the good, they become good things; if to the wicked, they are named wicked things too.
But the body is by nature changeable, because it is also composite; and by its essence it is flowing, because it was created out of corruptible and flowing matter, having its composition — that is, its constitution — out of things contrary to one another.
Yet in itself it is deprived both of choice and of will, and, if one must say it, even of motion — unless indeed one should call the flowing of it and its progress toward corruption a natural motion of its own substance, which is irrational;
But burning and desire for marriage, the union of intercourse, pleasure, gluttony, greed, excessive sleep, idleness, adornment of garments, and all the other things which the many suppose the body seeks — it is not the body (as neither when it is a corpse), but the soul that seeks these things through it, taking pleasure in them, having once been mingled with the clay, and wishing, like a sow, to wallow in the mire of these pleasures somehow, longing for the flesh that has been commingled with it.
And the Lord God breathed into his face, and man became a living soul, and he rose up from the earth and walked about — the spirit within him, clearly, moving the body in a masterful and authoritative way.
But burning, or motion, or the irrational frenzy and appetite of the belly, was nowhere yet present; rather, his was a life without disturbance and a manner of living free from grief.
Let us then consider whether it was perhaps because there was no female, or because there were no foods that stir up desire, that on this account man was moved neither toward the desire of intercourse nor toward gluttony;
But they were both naked and neither knew one another, nor were ashamed, nor indeed were they driven toward union by the nature of the body; but after sin and transgression, and after they came to be outside paradise and were stripped bare of God and fell away from His divine glory, then, as it is written, Adam knew his wife, and having conceived she bore.
Therefore, beloved, if you too love God genuinely and abide in His love, you will never be mastered by any passion, nor be tyrannized by the necessity of the body.
For just as the body can be moved toward nothing apart from the soul, so neither can the soul that has been united to God through love be carried away toward the pleasures and appetites of the body, nor indeed toward any other desires whatsoever of visible or even invisible things, together with the passions.
for at one time it is said to enjoy health, whenever the humours do not rise up in revolt against one another; at another time it is forced to fall into sickness, whenever one of the four elements either abounds or becomes less than itself, plainly rising up against the others or rather being overpowered by them and tyrannized, from which come fluxes, mutilations, and perhaps the corruption of the whole living creature — while our soul is in no way harmed by these things, since most of them arise from immoderation in foods and drinks, and some also from the changing of the winds and of the air.
For when the air is cold, those bodies which have obtained a nature of being cold are harmed and become weaker, being for the most part chilled; but those which are of a hot temperament become rather more well-tempered and stronger.
But when the air becomes hot again, the cold ones are as it were warmed and revived — as the flies and the other little creatures, being lit up by the rays of the sun, become both stronger and more easily moved — whereas those partaking of hotter matter are wholly overheated and enervated, and likewise become weak and feeble toward every action and motion.
But indeed, apart from these too, there is likewise, in its own peculiar way, the change from excessive eating and drinking and the change from extreme fasting; and not only so, but also from excessive sleep or sleeplessness, and from toil or bodily idleness, a certain change comes to be in us.
And yet again there is another — the smoky fire that is given off from the very matter inherent in the body and from the natural heat that moves within us, as when embers have been quenched by water — and at one time it is diffused toward the head alone, at another throughout the whole body.
And besides all these, there is yet another temptation which, by the permission of our good God and Master, is brought upon us by the demons for our discipline and instruction, according to a providential design, that we may be led to humility.
This very heaviness of the body, into which we are sometimes delivered over to this demon even apart from any other cause—whether through vainglory alone, or pride, or through condemning a careless brother, or for very many other causes—is given for the destruction indeed of the flesh and the crushing of the soul, yet also for a greater trial and exercise of it; and this in order that, recognizing the compassion and tender mercy of God toward us, we may with our whole disposition transfer all our love unto Him and set our entire longing upon Him.
For this reason not all men understand even these things. As for the changes of the soul and the alterations of the body, those who are but moderately disposed toward virtue each perceive something of them in part, whenever it happens that some such thing occurs in themselves; for concerning those who are wholly darkened we make no account here.
But the changes and turnings that occur in the mind, as we have said, only the dispassionate and perfect know—those who are pure and free in soul, and likewise in mind.
For at times, through the irregularities that occur in the mind, the soul is straitened and becomes gloomy, having lost something of the joy that was present with it; nevertheless, playing the man, it rouses up the mind again.
In this way, then, both the soul and the mind offend against the body, and the mind again against the soul itself, and the soul in turn against the mind and the body.
But the two, the soul and the mind, are not always thrown into confusion together; for out of these again, sometimes the soul alone suffers, while the mind questions it.
For this reason I have said, O fathers and brethren, that it is not enough for us merely to perceive the turnings and changes and alterations that come upon us, but we must also know whence they come, and how, and from what source; what kind of winds of thoughts blow, and from what quarters the rivers of the passions and temptations descend or come upon us—that we may firmly establish the house of the soul and rightly steer the rudder of the vessel, and not handle it unskillfully or clumsily.
For the monk ought to set within himself a rule and a pattern, and to know how he must pass each day, so that he may run well toward the practice of virtue, and may not, through inexperience, be hindered in the course thereof.
For in this way he will smooth out for himself the road that is at once rough and toilsome, becoming, by the habit and custom of what is good, settled therein; and advancing toward God and setting ascents in his heart, he will be well-pleasing, running up from the lesser things to the greater and more perfect. He will come to knowledge of all that has been said, and will prove a teacher of virtue to many others, enlightening by word and by life those who meet with him, inasmuch as he himself has been enlightened from above; and he will uncover deep things to those who with longing seek to learn the depths of the Spirit, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory unto the ages.
Concerning the beginning of a life exceedingly profitable and salvific, suited to those who have but now renounced the world and the things in the world, and are hastening toward the monastic life.
Brethren and fathers, every man who has but now renounced the world and all things in the world, and has run off to this life and arena of monks—if indeed he renounced for God's sake, and chooses to learn this art of arts, and does not wish his withdrawal from the world to be in vain—ought from the very beginning, with all eagerness and most fervent purpose, diligently to do the works of virtue.
And that we may deliver in writing a kind of elementary instruction in the rudiments of the science of sciences—I mean of our ascetic discipline—to those who have but now come from the world, as it were to this school, we set down from the outset such things as these, by way of a pattern, both for them and for those who come after them, even as we ourselves also received them from our fathers.
To rise before dawn and to pray the appointed prayer, and so afterward to rise up with all for the doxology, and with attentiveness and wakefulness to go through the whole of it; giving great heed to the beginning of the hymnody, that is, to the Hexapsalm, to the recitation of the psalter, and to the readings, without slackness—not letting the body grow lax nor standing foot beside foot, nor leaning against walls and pillars, but he ought to keep his hands securely folded, his feet planted evenly on the ground, and his head unmoving and not nodding this way and that.
Rather, he should keep his eye and his soul undistracted, and attend to the psalmody alone and to the reading, and to the power of the words of the divine Scripture that are chanted and read, so far as lies within his power, that no word may pass by him idle; but that from all of them his soul, being nourished, may come to compunction and humility and to the divine illumination of the Holy Spirit.
I entreat you all therefore, as one man, my fathers and my brethren and children, and I lay down these things as a saving law, that each of you may be zealous to make such a beginning in the work of virtue—or rather, of God—through which we also receive from Him, in His love of good, rewards proportionate to our labors; so that, if it be possible, none of you may pass through the office and the reading without tears.
For if you thus accustom yourself, O brother, to do this in the work, in a short time you will make progress and will run up into a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.