41–80

41. But those people who have no natural, inborn inclination to the doing of good should not despair of themselves and let their hands fall in hopeless weakness; they should not loathe the God-loving and virtuous life, however unattainable and distant such a life may seem to them. Rather, they too should think about the salvation of the soul and care for themselves as far as they are able; for although they have not the strength to reach the summit of virtue and to become perfect in the spiritual life, yet by thinking about their salvation and not failing to care for it as far as they can, they will either become better or at the least will not become worse than they are — and this is no small profit for their souls!

42. In his intelligence man is like the ineffable divine power, while in body he is akin to the beasts; but few are such as, being truly intelligent beings, turn all their understanding and thought to God and to their Saviour, so as to have kinship with Him, and show this striving of theirs in deed and in a virtuous life. The greater part of people are without understanding in soul: they have turned their backs on God and departed from the divine and immortal sonship, and in exchange hasten after the wretched and short-lived likeness of everything bodily. For this reason they become like the beasts, since they think only of the flesh and are inflamed with foul desires, by which they of their own will remove themselves from God and, instead of the Kingdom of Heaven, cast their souls into the abyss of bodily torments.

43. The intelligent man, who always thinks of being with God and of partaking of Him, never becomes attached to anything earthly, that is, to anything base; his mind is always turned to the heavenly and the eternal, since he knows that the will of God is the cause of everything good and the source of eternal blessedness for man, and that by this highest will of God the salvation of the human race has been established.

44. When you meet a man who loves to argue and who begins to fight with you over truths clearer than clear, break off your conversation with him, go away quickly and turn from him, for such a man’s understanding has wholly turned to stone. As stagnant water makes the best wine altogether useless if it is mixed into it, so evil conversations, even rare ones, corrupt and defile the souls of people who are virtuous in life and in manners.

45. If we use every effort and means to avoid bodily death, then how much more should we strive not to fall into the death of the soul, a lot far more dreadful than the death of the body; for whoever wants the salvation of his soul can have no obstacle in this work except sloth of soul and a lack of diligence in zeal for God.

46. Of those people who do not love to seek and to learn what is profitable and beneficial for them, it may be said that they are sick in soul. And those who once knew the truth but afterwards departed from it and shamelessly oppose it have a dead mind: their character has become beastlike, they do not know the true God, and their souls are not lit by the true light but are wrapped in darkness.

47. Very many kinds of animals the Creator made for our human benefit: some for food, others for service; but man God created so that he might be a beholder and a thankful interpreter of the great works of God. This is what people should turn their efforts to, so as not to depart from this world without having seen with their mind and known God the Creator, and without having discerned and interpreted His great works; for if they could not do this during their earthly life, they will become like the beasts. Man must know that God can do everything, and that nothing and no one can withstand the Almighty. As in the beginning God created everything out of nothing by the power of His word, because He so willed, so now too it is the will of God to do everything in order to save people by His word.

48. Heavenly beings are immortal because of the good that is in them, while earthly beings have become mortal because of the self-willed evil that is in them, which in senseless people is multiplied and sharpened still more by sloth, by reason of which they do not know God.

49. Death, for those people who know God the Creator, is immortality; but for those who do not know Him it is truly death and destruction. Therefore we should not fear bodily death but the destruction of the soul, which is the ignorance of God. This is what should be most dreadful for the soul of man!

50. Sin found its support for establishing itself in everything material, and the body of man became its dwelling. But the intelligent soul of man, knowing and understanding this, throws off from itself the yoke of what is material and rises up, freed from that burden; it strives in every way to know God in truth and will always look attentively upon its own body as upon an enemy and adversary, from which it expects evil and which it does not trust. And the soul that overcomes the evil passions, the foul desires and everything material will in the end be crowned by God.

51. Sin that has been recognised by the intelligent soul of a person becomes as hateful to it as a savage beast. But every sin that is not recognised is received with love by those who have not recognised it, and such a sin enslaves the one who loves it and holds him always in its captivity. The unhappy lover of sin does not see what is saving for him and does not think about salvation; more than that, he loves sin because he thinks it adorns him, and he rejoices in his sin.

52. The pure soul, being good by nature, is enlightened by God, and through it a person’s mind devises only good and does God-loving works. But when a person’s soul is defiled by sin, God turns His face from it, or rather, this sinful soul itself departs and turns its back on God, and then the crafty demons take hold of its thoughts and suggest to it wicked works: fornication, murder, robbery and many other like demonic deeds.

53. People who know God are full of all good thoughts; and since they have desired the heavenly and strive after the divine, everything earthly is hateful to them, for which reason many do not like such people. For this reason those who know God are subjected to abuse, reviling and humiliation by the senseless, but they are ready to endure everything, for they know that what many count as evil is for them the greatest good. Therefore they live with joy even in the utmost poverty. Whoever thinks about the heavenly life believes in God and knows that every creature exists by His will. But whoever does not think about the heavenly life cannot be persuaded either that the whole world is God’s creation, brought into being for the salvation of man.

54. Why does man exist? For what purpose did God create him? — So that, coming to know the works of God, he might see God Himself and glorify his Creator, who made everything for man. The mind of man, held by the love of God, God-loving and having pleased God, is an invisible good, which is granted by God to the worthy for a virtuous and godly life.

55. Free is the person who is not enslaved to bodily sweetness and the pleasures of the senses, but rules over his body by intelligent judgement and reverence, and with this is content with thanksgiving with what God gives, even if it is very little. When a person’s God-loving mind and soul are in agreement with one another, then the body too is obedient and without desire, for the soul, by the effort of the mind, stifles in the body every fleshly movement and low striving.

56. When people are not content with what they have for keeping and renewing life, but always want more and more, they enslave themselves to an evil passion and put themselves under foul desires, by which they trouble the soul and breed in it ever worse thoughts and empty daydreams. And such people, unsatisfied with what God has given and wanting more, think that what we have is bad and that something new and better must be got. As a garment too long for one’s height hinders a traveller from walking, so the desire to acquire surplus property does not let a person labour for the salvation of his soul and inherit eternal life. Therefore never try to acquire more property than you already have.

57. If a person is restricted by another’s will, then whatever his lot and condition may be, it will be unwelcome to him, for to be without freedom is a prison and a torment. But you, who have dedicated yourself to the Lord, be content with what you have; that is, do not desire a better lot, and give thanks to God for what there is. If you do not act so, and endure such a condition without thanksgiving, always discontented with your lot, then you, without even perceiving it, will become a tyrant to yourself. And there is only one way to be rid of all this — to disregard and to loathe the goods of this world and of this life.

58. As God gave us the power of sight so that we might know what is white and what is black, so the Creator granted us understanding so that we might distinguish what is good and what is evil, that is, what is profitable for the soul and what is only harmful. But when the desire that arises in us departs from understanding and turns us toward the pleasures of the senses, our soul suffers and loses the power to save itself, that is, the ability to have communion with God.

59. Sin is not when one does something in accordance with the laws of nature, but when, out of free will, one does something bad. The taking of food cannot be counted a sin, but it is a sin to take it without giving thanks to God, without reverence and restraint. Nor can seeing something be in itself a sin; but people sin when they look at something with envy or look at someone with pride. To listen calmly to something is not a sin, but that person truly sins who listens to something in anger. There is no sin in speaking about something necessary, or, better still, in giving thanks to God and praying; but you will sin if you let your tongue slander anyone or speak evil of a person. It is no sin to weary your hands with handiwork, or, still more, to tire them with giving alms and doing good; but it is a sin when you make them snatch something or commit murder. Thus every member of our body sins when, self-willed, that is, out of its own free will, it does something evil, contrary to the will of God, and does not do the good that is natural to it according to its purpose.

60. If you ever doubt whether all the deeds you have done in your life are plain and open to God, then reason thus: even you, dust and ashes, can survey with your mind all the events known to you and seen in your life, which took place beside you and to you yourself, or of which you have heard and read; and if even you, so weak and sinful, can do all this, how much more does the almighty God, who quickens and feeds all things according to His will, see everything as a grain of mustard seed! So do not doubt this.

61. When you shut the door of your dwelling and remain alone, know that with you, as with every person, there dwells an angel appointed by God for this work, whom the Greeks called the spirit of the house. This angel is always watchful and, being always at your side, sees all your deeds, and from him you will hide neither your thoughts nor your imaginings. It is impossible to deceive him, and even the deepest darkness will not hide you from him. And together with him God too is understood to be with you in every place and every condition in which you may find yourself throughout your earthly life — that God who is greater than all and holds all things.

62. If worldly soldiers are faithful to their king because he gives them food and pay, then how much more should we, soldiers of the Lord and of the Church, who with unceasing lips give thanks to God and glorify Him, always strive to please Him who created everything and to whom we should always be faithful.

63. Thankfulness to God and a godly life — this is the good fruit brought forth by man for God. But as the fruits of the earth cannot spring up and ripen in one hour, but need a certain time, rain and tending, so the fruits brought forth by a person need time and toil to be perfected: judgement, waiting, self-restraint, patience and other spiritual labours, until they appear in all their splendour. And with this, if because of such labours and of the fruits you have brought forth you seem to some people a godly and God-fearing man, do not believe yourself while you are in this corruptible body, and do not consider anything of your own to be wholly pleasing to God. Know that it is exceedingly hard for a person to keep himself blameless and sinless before God to the end of his earthly life.

64. People have nothing more honourable than the word and nothing that should be guarded more. So precious is the word that by it, by the uttering of a word and by thanksgiving, we can render honour to God! And by uttering unseemly, useless and unworthy words we expose the uselessness of our soul. Only a senseless person will blame his origins, or something else outside himself, for his own sin, and at that very moment use an evil word of his own will, that is, do an unseemly deed.

65. If we treat certain bodily illnesses so that the people around us will not laugh at us, should we not strive a thousand times more to be healed of the illnesses of the soul, so as not to be dishonoured and worthy of derision before God, who will judge everyone on the dread day of judgement? For we have been given full power over ourselves, since we were created free by God, and we can, if we strongly wish it, refrain from doing evil deeds even when we strongly want to do evil. It is also in our will whether we live a life pleasing to God or not, and no one can ever force us to do evil if we ourselves do not want it. By such a life, that is, by constant fighting with the evil in our own being, we shall become worthy of God and shall live in this world as the angels live in heaven.

66. If you wish, you will become a slave of evil passions and foul desires; but by your own wish you can also remain free and not bow your neck under the yoke of evil passions, for God created man free, the master of his own will. And the person who overcomes the passions of the flesh will be crowned by God. If there were no evil passions in man, then there would be no virtues either, and God would have no crown prepared for worthy people.

67. Those people who do not see what is profitable for them and cannot tell good from evil are blind in soul, and their mind is darkened. We should not gaze upon such people or have any fellowship with them, lest unwillingly we too fall into the same misfortune and become blind in soul.

68. We should not be angry with those who sin, even if their offence deserves punishment. Sinners should be set on the right path out of love for the truth, and, if it be necessary, even punished, either by ourselves or through others; but to be angry at them and because of them does not befit us, for anger is a passion of the senses, and in its working there is no share of judgement or justice. Justification is not needed by those people who are exceedingly forbearing and merciful; but those who do evil should be punished in order to bring them back to goodness and truth, and not in order to give way to our own passion of anger.

69. Of all possessions, only spiritual wealth is the safest — no one can steal it from us. And such wealth is one thing: a virtuous and godly life, the doing of good works. Earthly wealth is a blind guide and a senseless counsellor. Whoever uses material wealth only for himself and for the getting of bodily pleasures destroys his exhausted soul with an evil destruction.

70. A person should know that it is not fitting to acquire more than one uses; and if he has something surplus, he should be firmly convinced that everything material and earthly is corruptible and passing: either it will be snatched away, or he will somehow lose it himself, or it will fall down, if it is a building. Therefore, as soon as the occasion offers, he should not be faint-hearted but should give his wealth away generously, as the holy Gospel teaches us.

71. Know that the body of man, as corruptible and material, is by nature subject to bodily illnesses. In the time of such illness it befits a well-instructed soul to give thanks to God, to be patient and brave, and never to reproach God, saying: why hast Thou created a body so corruptible and subject to a thousand illnesses?

72. At the Olympic games the contenders are not crowned with a wreath for victory over two or a few opponents, but only if they surpass all the contenders without exception. So too every person who wishes to be crowned by God must train his soul in reverence, so as to overcome not only all the passions of the body but those of the soul as well; and he must never be led astray by coveting another’s property. Let him not be enslaved to envy at the success of others, to pride, to the fear of death; let him never judge or enslave his neighbour; and there is much else of the kind to which the God-fearing person should not be enslaved.

73. So let us be diligent in zeal for God and strive with our whole being for a virtuous and God-loving life, not for praise from people but for the salvation of the soul, since death stands before our eyes every day, and we know well that everything earthly is unreliable.

74. Whether we live with self-restraint or not is in our will; but whether we shall grow rich is not in our will. So what follows? Should we not blame our souls for having desired the short-lived and illusory glitter of riches?! And riches, too, whose gaining never depended on our will! Oh, how senselessly we act when we strive after earthly wealth! Do we not know that humility and obedience are higher than all virtues, just as gluttony and the insatiable desire for earthly goods stand above all evil passions?

75. Intelligent people should always remember that for bearing small and short labours in this life we shall receive in the world to come, after death, the greatest consolation and eternal blessedness. If a person who fights with evil passions and is zealous to receive the crown from God should ever fall, let him not be faint-hearted and let him not remain in that sin, despairing of himself, but let him rise to his feet again, fight the evil passions again and care to receive the divine crown; to his last breath he must try to rise from his fall. Bodily toil is one of the ways to a virtuous life, and the wearying of the body is salutary for the soul.

76. If a person is deprived of the good things of this life, by this the brave person who fights with evil passions becomes worthy to receive an immortal crown from God. So in this earthly life we must put away the desire for everything earthly, since after death we shall no longer be able to take care of anything.

77. The intelligent person who labours for the salvation of the soul should not be frightened or fall into despair when something sorrowful happens to him, lest afterwards he be put to shame for faint-heartedness. A soul carried away by the splendour of everything worldly and earthly loses its worth. But spiritual virtues and good deeds make us worthy again to receive eternal goods. And the sins which we commit by our own will become the cause of eternal torments.

78. With an intelligent person the passions of the soul fight by means of the bodily senses, which both man and the beasts have. These bodily senses are five in number: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. By means of these five bodily senses the wretched soul of a sinful person is enslaved to its own evil passions and becomes their captive. These evil passions of the soul are: pride, the thirst for bodily pleasures and comforts, anger and faint-heartedness. It is by these passions that a person’s soul is wounded; but if, filled with wisdom and understanding, it fights against them as it should and overcomes these evil passions in its own soul, then they can no longer wound it or fight against it, for it is already clothed in true peace and will be crowned by God as a victor.

79. Of those who stop at inns, some receive beds for the night, while others, who have not been granted such an honour, sleep on the floor and sleep just as soundly as those lying in beds. And when the night has passed, all rise from sleep and leave the inn, taking with them only what they brought. Such are all who walk the way of this earthly life: both those who live moderately and have nothing, and those who have spent their whole life in honour and riches — in the hour of departure from this world they will be able to take nothing with them of the pleasures and riches of this life, but will take with them only their own deeds done during their lifetime, both good and evil, so that God may repay each according to those deeds.

80. If you are clothed with great power, do not lightly threaten anyone with the death penalty, since, as you yourself know well, you too are mortal by your human nature, and every soul living in this world will in the end put off its body like a last garment. Reasoning on this and declaring it to yourself, labour only to be humble and merciful. And when you do a good deed, give thanks to God for this gift. He who has no mercy and no thankfulness cannot have spiritual virtues either.