Mystic Treatises (Ascetical Homilies)

And even if thou art not able to perform but little, thou must bear with joy the laziness of thy solitude and be patient. And thou must know that, if thou leavest solitude, even the thought will not stay with thee which causes thee to be chastised by thy conscience on account of laziness. On the contrary : many circumstances will injure thee on account of distraction and laxity of the senses, which destroy even that which has been performed by thee before, because the grace of solitude has been taken from thee. And thou wilt fall into temptations and many circumstances will befall thee, of which thou didst not think. If thou doest fall into temptations, do not despair. For there is no merchant who travels on seas and roads without suffering losses; and there is no husbandman who simply reaps the whole ; and there is no champion who suffers not blows and strokes even if he gains victory in the end. So in the things of God, in the things of the merchants who go this invisible road, there are profits and losses, blows and victory. When thou art hit, do not turn thy back. Pardon me.

It is well that thou hast brought forward from the Gospel a comparison and a tested example for the great duty of solitude, as if we were opponents to it or tried to reject it as something superfluous. For our Lord has defined mercy as the similitude to the Father by which those who perform it, can approach Him. This is true. And we, the solitaries, do not honour solitude without mercy, though we try to remain far from care and trouble, as much as possible. Not that we deny necessary things, when they present themselves, but we care for solitude, because in it we are constantly with God in lonely intercourse, by which it is more possible to be purified from perturbance and to approach unto quiet of mind, though such cases are rare. But when it is necessary, we will not neglect mercifulness, compelling ourselves perpetually to be inwardly full of mercy toward all kinds of rational beings, at all times. For so the doctrine of our Lord orders, and this is the distinction of our solitude, and it is not due to fortune.

So 567 none of us neglects to show this inward virtue, — when the time corresponds with the work and the necessity — making known his love openly, by deeds; especially those who have not laid themselves wholly under the rule of solitude do so. But solitude to such ones means that they never meet anyone, except once a week. They have not cut themselves off, by the definition of their rule, from showing their fellow man deeds of mercy ; only that one does so who is very devoted and solitary so that he avoids the sight of men. For we know, that without love of the fellow-man, the mind is not able to become illuminated by intercourse with and love unto God. Therefore, which of the says solitaries, who possessed food and clothing, could see his neighbour hungry and naked and persevere in withholding his hand? Or which of them, when his brother according to the flesh was sick and tormented and destitute of visitors, has honoured the rule of his reclusion more than the life of his fellow, on account of love of solitude? Where, however, such circumstances, are not at hand, we keep in mind love and mercy unto the fellow man.

Where practice is near, God demands from us plainly that we perform it actually. 5 f) 8 This is well known, that if we have acquired nothing, we are not allowed to expose ourselves to care and disturbance for the sake of the poor. But it is demanded of us [to give] from what we have. And when our dwelling place is far from the habitation of men and from intercourse with and sight of them, it is not necessary for us to leave our cell and our solitary and lonely dwelling-place and proceed erring through the world in order to visit the sick and to be occupied with similar practice. For it is known that he that does so descends from greatness to smallness. If however the recluse live in the dwelling place of many and is near to men through his constant dwelling with them, and he can take rest when others are fatigued — be he healthy or ill — it is incumbent upon him to occupy himself with practice, without asking largely from others. But if he see the brother according to the flesh and to profession, in trouble, or rather: Christ rejected and vexed, and he flee and hide himself, pretending a sham solitude — he that acts thus, is without mercy.

Do not remind mc of John of Thebais and Arsenius and the like. For who has given himself to such deeds and cared for the sick or the poor, and has despised solitude? Do not approach unto their stories. For if thou art far from all comfort and all meeting with men as they were, thou art allowed to despise such works of [practice]. If however thou art far 569 from the state of the perfect and continually occupied with bodily labours and occupations, why then doest thou despise a commandment which suits thy measure, taking refuge with the grand behaviour of the saints, a behaviour to which thou art not near? As to me, I will not neglect to cite the example of Macarius the Great, which was written, as it were, to rebuke those who despise their brethren. One clay he went to visit some one who was sick. When he asked him whether he desired anything, he answered : I want some fresh bread. Those solitaries, namely, usually baked bread for a year; so was the custom of those places. Then that blessed man, who was ninety years old, went from Skete the town of Alexandria, forty miles and more, carrying with him dry bread in his cowl.

There he changed it and brought the sick what he desired. And an other, who was his equal, did what is still greater, a certain Agathon, exquisite above all the solitaries of his time, a man who loved silence and solitude better than all others. Once he went to a festival, in order to sell what he had made with his hands. There he found a stranger, lying in the street, sick. He hired a house and stayed with him, working with his hands and making expenses on his behalf and paying the hire of the house. So he served him for six months, till the sick had recovered. Then he said, as the story runs, I 570 wished that I could find a leper and give him my body and take his. — This is perfect love ; let us resemble our Fathers, that we may be thought worthy of grace, as they were. Those who fear God, my beloved, are provided for so that they keep the commandments of our Lord without difficulty, even although that seems possible to them only through labours, and danger is thought to be incurred for its sake. Christ has defined and limited their totality to two commandments, which make up the sum of them all.

I mean the love of God, and what He taught to be the like of this : love unto His image. The possession of the former is the aim of spiritual contemplation ; that of the second, of contemplation and practice. Now, because God's nature is simple and not composite and invisible and not subject to want, the heart in its occupation equally does not require practice, nor bodily performance, nor material motion. Its performance is simple, and, on account of partial union in the [human] intellect, is in accordance with the simple nature of its adorable cause, which is exalted above the apperception of the senses and the flesh. 1 he second commandment, love of mankind, is to be accomplished in a double way, in accordance with its double nature. I mean, that we accomplish it with the heart, invisibly, and at the same time with the body, manifestly •, but those things which are accomplished by practice, happen also in secret and in cooperation with the heart. For, as man's nature is composed of two parts, — namely body and soul — so all things regarding him are provided 571 in a double way, in accordance with the double character of his constitution.

As everywhere practice is anterior to contemplation, so it is impossible for man to elevate himself unto that elevated p»art , unless he has accomplished before , by practice, that which is lower. Therefore, let no one venture to speak concerning the acquisition of love of his fellowmen, as if he possessed it already in his soul, if the part is still wanting which has to be accomplished by the body, according to the opportunity for practice granted by strength, time and place. Then by faith has to be acquired that part of love which is received and recognized by the heart. When, on account of these things, we have been made ourselves known as faithful and true, as far as possible, then power is given to the soul to stretch itself towards the grand part of exalted and divine contemplation, by means of simple emotions and without comparison. Where man has no opportunity to fulfill love of his fellow man practically by visible and by bodily things, it is sufficient in the eyes of God, that we keep love of our fellowman with our mind only, especially if we are able constantly to administer the service of that universal part, that is more excellent.

If however we are destitute of the totality of that universal part, we should fill up this gap by the lower commandment, namely by apperceptible practice, consisting therein that, according to the time happening, we should provide for the comfort of our brethren, by wearying our body ; lest our liberty 572 become an opportunity for the flesh, in that we should occupy ourselves with idle things under the pretext of lonely intercourse. For it is known, that it is not allowed to demand from him who is wholly deprived of human intercourse and who is wholly occupied with God, being dead to all beings because of his being deprived of them — that he should serve men. He, however, whose rule of solitude forbids intercourse except on one day every week, and who, after the completion of his rule, meeting and mingling and consoling himself with man, neglects the trouble of his brethren and pretends to keep the rule of his week of prohibition, is anathema. For it is manifest that it is through a lack of mercy and on account of presumption and fallacious deliberations that such a one does not condescend to occupy himself with such things. He that neglects the sick, shall not see light.

And who turns away his face from one in distress, may his day be dark. And who despises the cry of the vexed, may the sons of his house grope in darkness. Let us not dishonour the great name of solitude by our ignorance. Every duty has its time and place and distinction. And then its service is accepted by God who knows all. The service that deviates from this, is idle ; for all measures have to be brought to completion. He that hopes that he will be consoled and visited in his misery by others, has to humble himself, so that he may be of use to his fellow man when the latter is tempted. Then during his service in solitude he may be joyful and free from presumption and the seduction of the demons. 573 It has been said by one of the holy Fathers, Euagrius, one of the initiated, that there is nothing which frees the solitary from the demon of haughtiness and aids to the attainment of the domain of chastity when the passion of fornication is burning, as to visit those who are thrown on their bed and vexed by bodily troubles. Great is the angelic service of solitude, when it is mingled with such a discrimination, for humbleness is needed.

For w r e arc plundered without our knowing it. We have not said these things, my brethren, that we should despise the duty of solitude; for we have everywhere insisted upon it. We are not now found to contradict our own words, and no one should pick out a single word from our argumentation and take this in his hand without discrimination, neglecting the rest. F"or I remember that in several places I have said with emphasis, that if a man should happen to be in his cell in total idleness, on account of the necessity of weakness, even then he should not choose to leave it completely and to perform his service outside it rather than to be idle, within. I have spoken of leaving the cell completely ; but if a necessary practice presents itself, which demands some weeks, during which he may gain relief or the life of a fellow-man, he should not deem this idleness. If there is anyone who thinks himself to be one of the perfect and exalted above all that is here, on account of his continually being with God, and his 574 being" far from all visible practice, he rightly withdraws himself even from these things.

Great is the labour of discrimination, to him that is spoken to by God. May He in His mercy, give us to accomplish the work of Him that has said : Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. To whom be glory and honour from the whole creation for ever and ever. Amen.

I clessire to open my month, my brethren, to speak on the elevated place of humility ; but I am filled with fear, as a man who is conscious of the fact, that he will speak concerning God in a tale of his own speech. For humility is the garment of divinity ; for the word which became man, put it on and spoke in it with us, through our body. And every one who puts it on in truth, by humility takes the likeness of Him that has descended from His height and concealed the splendour of His majesty and hidden His glory, lest the creation should perish by the sight of Him. For the creation was not able to see Him without His being united to a part of it which He should assume and speak with them through it-, then the creation was able to hear the word of His mouth, face to face. The children of Israel were not able to listen to His voice, while He spoke with them from within the cloud; then should the creation be able to bear the sight of Him openly?

For the children of Israel were so troubled that they said to Moses: Let us speak with thee, and listen thou to His words for us; 575 but let Him not speak with us, lest we die. And so terrible was the sight, that even the intermediary said : I fear and tremble. For on mount Sinai the splendour of His glory revealed itself, and the whole mountain smoked and was shaken from j°0 fear of His revelation that took place on it, so that even the beasts which approached the foot of the mountain, died. And all the children of Israel, on the order of Moses, prepared themselves, every one purifying himself for three days in order to be worthy of listening to the sound of God's speech and of seeing His revelation. And when the moment came, they were not able to bear the sight of His light, and the vehemence of the sound of His thunder.

But now that He has poured out His grace on the world by His coming, not in earthquake nor in fire, nor with a terrible and vehement sound — but descending as the rain upon the lamb's fleece, and as the soft dew drops which softly descend upon the earth — it has pleased Him to speak with us in a different way, concealing His majesty in the cover of flesh, speaking to us while being in us, in the garment which Providence had woven from the womb of the virgin, so that we, seeing Him speak with us as one of our race, should not be terrified by the sight of Him. Therefore, every one who puts on the garment in which our Creator appeared, by means of a body full of holiness, puts on Christ. For with the likeness in which He appeared to His creation and in which He dealt 576 with us, He desired to clad His inner man and in it He desired to appear to His fellow men, and with it [He desired] to be adorned in stead of with the garment of honour and outward glory.

And therefore the creatures prostrate themselves as to a lord before every one whom they see being clad with this likeness, silent or speaking, on account of the honour of their Lord with which they saw Him clad and in which He wandered about. Which of the creatures should not be intimidated by the sight of the humble? Yet before the glory of humility revealed itself to all, this sight full of holiness was despised by them. But now that He has caused its majesty to dawn before the eye of the worlds, every man honours this likeness, wheresoever it shows itself. For through the mediation of it, the creation became worthy of receiving the sight of its Creator. And therefore [humility] is not despised even by the enemies of truth. And though he that has acquired it, should be a beggar in comparison with all creatures, yet he that has learned it, is honoured on account of it as if he were clad with crown and purple. No one will ever hate the humble nor assail him Vcrli. Afd. LctU-rk. 1922 (Wensinrk). 25 with a word, nor despise him. And because his Lord loves him, he is beloved by every one. Every one loves him, every one cherishes him.

And wherever he comes, he is looked upon as an angel of light and distinguished by [signs of] honour. When the sage and the learned speak, they are ordered to be silent in order to give the humble an opportunity to speak. The eyes of everyone look on his mouth [in order to know] which word will come forth from it. Every one awaits his 577 words, as words from Gocl. The sense of his few words is investigated as the words of a philosopher. Sweet are his words to the ear of the sages, more than honeycomb is to the palate of those who taste it. And by everyone he is reckoned as a God, though he be simple in his words and of mean aspect. He that speaks of the humble in a despising way, is not reckoned as one living, but as one who opens his month against God. And the more despicable he is in his own eyes, the more honour is shown to him on the part of the creatures. The humble approaches the beasts of prey and as soon as their eye rests on him, their wildness is tamed and they come to him and accompany him as their master, wagging their tails and licking his hands and his feet.

For they smell from him the smell which spread from Adam before his transgression, when the beasts gathered near him and he gave them names, in Paradise — the smell which was taken from us and given back to us anew by Christ through His advent, which made the smell of the human race sweet. And when the humble approaches the deadly reptiles, as soon as the touch of his hands attains to their bodies, the virulence of their deadly poison is cooled and with his hands he crushes them as if they were locusts. And when he approaches the children of man they look upon him as upon their lord. Why do I mention the children 578 of man ? Because, notwithstanding all the evil and stubbornness of the demons and all the pride of their own mind, as soon as they meet the humble, they become as dust : all their hardness becomes weak, their tricks become craftless, their cunnings idle. Now that we have shown in how great honour humility stands with God and how great a power is hidden in it, we will clearly show what humility is, and when a man will be deemed worthy of receiving it in its fulness, as it is.

And we shall make a distinction between him who is humble in some respects and him that has been deemed worthy of veracious humility. Humility is a mysterious power, which the perfect saints receive when they have reached accomplishment of behaviour. And this power is not granted except to those who, by the power of Grace, have personally accomplished the whole of excellence, in so far as nature in its domain is able to do this. For humility is all-comprehending excellence. And therefore we cannot deem every man humble, without discrimination, but only those who have been deemed worthy of the rank mentioned. Not every one who in his nature is peaceful or quiet or discrete or without blame, has reached the rank of humility. But a humble one in truth is he that, possessing inwardly something worthy of being proud of, does not extol himself, but is as dust in his own thoughts. Nor do we call humble him that humbles himself on account of the recollection of his low characteristics or trespasses, which he remembers in order that his heart may become contrite and his mind with579 drawn from impulses of haughtiness, however praiseworthy this may be. For. he still possesses deliberations of haughtiness.

Humility however he does not possess, but, by various means, he seeks to draw it towards himself. And however praiseworthy this may be, as I have said, he does not yet possess humility ; he asks for it, but it is not his. A perfectly humble one is he that does not need to find out a cause which should make his mind humble. But he has fulfilled all these, and possesses humility as something natural, without bestowing any labour upon it •, so that, even though he has received within him the great gift of which all creatures are not worthy — namely his [humble] nature — yet he is deemed a sinner and a simple man in his own eyes. And though he has penetrated into the mysteries of all spiritual kinds [of beings], and possesses great wisdom concerning all the creatures, he knows with perfect certainty that he knows nothing - . And this he is not by any intermediary ; but without compulsion he is so in his heart. Can it be possible that man should be so, that nature can thus change him ? No. But do not doubt for this reason.

For this mysterious strength which he has received, which makes him perfect in all excellence, without labour, is the strength which the blessed Apostles received under the aspect of fire. And on account of it our Saviour ordered them that they should not leave Jerusalem before having received the strength from on high, namely the Comforter which is the Spirit. And this is the spirit of visions. And this is what is said concerning them in the Scripture: To the humble the mysteries are revealed l ). This means that the humble are deemed worthy 5 8 ° of receiving within them this spirit of revelations which explains the mysteries. And therefore it has been said by holy men, that humbleness makes the soul perfect by divine revelations.

Therefore, no one should venture to think concerning himself that he has personally reached the rank of humility, on account of a single thought of contrition which has once risen [in his heart], or on account of a few tears which he has shed, or on account of one beautiful attribute which he possesses by nature or which he has acquired by compulsion ; for he would in that case have acquired that which is the summit of all mysteries and the sum of all excellence in the domain of small labours and reckon these as the whole gift. But if a man has vanquished all contrary spirits, and if none of all the works of excellence fails him, for which he has not laboured in order to possess them, and if he has vanquished and subdued all forteresses of resistance, and if he then perceives with his spirit that his soul has received the gift, while the Spirit witnesses to his spiritaccording to the word of the Apostle, then this is the summit of humility. Blessed is he that has acquired it, for he at all times embraces Jesus' bosom. But if a man asks: What shall I do? How can I acquire it? By what means shall I become worthy of receiving it?

For, if I compel myself and think that I have acquired it, I see that unperceivecl contrary impulses err through my mind, and, consequently, I fall into despair. 581 He that asks this, is to be answered thus: It is expedient for the disciple to be as his master, and for the slave as his lord. Look at Him who has commanded this and who grants the gift, how I Ie acquired it ; and strive thou to become like Him ; then thou canst do it. For He has said : The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. Doest thou see how humility is to be acquired by the accomplishment of all excellence? So that we have to imitate Him that has commanded it. ,The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head' 2 ). To whom be glory from all those who have become perfect and have been sanctified and become accomplished, in all generations, with the Father who sent Him and the Holy Ghost, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.