SELECTED LETTERS

1-10; 55-57, 59
Translation by Luke Dysinger, O.S.B. (translation in public domain)
Syriac text with Greek retroversion by W. Fankenberg, Evagrius
Ponticus, Abhandlung der Kniglichen Gesellschaft der Wisenschaften
zu Gttingen, Philologisch-Historische Klasse, Neue Folge, Band xiii,
no. 2 (Berlin, 1912). Portions of the Greek of Letter 4 (.3-.6) in Claire
Guillaumont Fragments grecs indits dEvagre le Pontique Texte und
Untersuchungen 133 (1987): 219-220.
Translation and Discussion of Letter 57 http://students.cua.edu/
16kalvesmaki/EvagPont/EvEp57.htm

LETTER 1 [To Melania]_

.

1. IT is said that a person bitten by a viper

endures less suffering if he converses with
another who has also been bitten by a viper: and
so in my many adversities my soul is comforted
by telling you who have had a severe
breakdown, that many and powerful are the
demons wiles against who are striving to
possess the knowledge of Christ (Phil 3:8).
[160 p.565] '
'

2. However, you should know that no

temptation bestows on the soul such frankness
at the time of prayer as that bestowed by the
temptation that attacks the body! Nor does our
Lord confer such apatheia on anyone as on one
who, patiently enduring what happens with
thanksgiving, despises this sack [i.e physical body].
And may blessed Job convince you of this, he
who, after the battle waged in this skin saw God
and discovered from him what the reason was
for his enduring these temptations (cf. Job 38 ff.).
[sic]



{?} .
'
.

3. And if we will only meditate on our pains,

praising God and listening patiently to those
who minister to us, we will also [hear] helpful,
contemplative narrative[s]! For these are the
laws of those thus tempted. But if our tempters

tempt us by dragging us down from meditations

on higher things, we will redouble the blows of
our enemies [if] we increase our discussions with
unstable [lit. wandering] men and women.

[160]
!
.
,

..

4. Remember that although Jobs friends wanted

to console the[ir] afflicted [friend] through
contemplation of the logoi of divine providence,
the evil one deceptively manipulated them in
order to provoke blessed Job to anger. For the
infamous one knows that one who suffers pain
is more easily moved to anger.


,

Therefore bear it patiently if you call and he

fails to answer, for it is written I called to my
servant and he did not reply (Job 19.16). And if
someone who knows you holds you in contempt

do not be surprised; for Jobs friends were

merciless towards him For the evil one
[stage-]manages all these things, desiring to
confusing that mind with which we look to God
as creator and with which we bring pure prayer
to God.


].
{161} .

.

5. And in all these thing if those tempted are

brought still nearer to God, seeking assistance
from Him, then their temptation becomes a
benefit to them. And if it is otherwise, then it is
as the blessed Apostle Paul says: suffering
produces endurance, and endurance produces
character, and character produces hope, and
hope does not disappoint us (Rom. 5:3).; for it
renders the nous capable of receiving the
Kingdom of Heaven.

'
, .
, ,

 {Rom 5,3f.},
.

6. Strive therefore, O Temperate One, to give

good example not only to women but also to
men, being as it were an archetype of patience;
since it is proper for a disciple of Christ to
struggle unto [the shedding of] blood [thus]
showing everyone that Our Lord arms women,
too, with manliness against the demons, and that
He strengthens weak souls through the gifts of
the commandments and faith.


.

{161}

LETTER 2 [to John of Jerusalem]

.

1. You have always wrtten to me as though to a

farmer - as if I were capable of working the
spiritual soil But you have not yet seen my field,
which is full of thorns and thistles; nor yet my

vineyard, which is dry, unfruitful, and devoid of

spiritual grapes.

,

.

2. And in spite of this we have dared to cook

uncharitable, carnal souls, so as to save them
from the hardness of an evil life:but through
lack of the water of knowledge we have
scorched the pot countless times. And I am
ashamed to speak of our axe : how often in
striking wood it shoots our fire[y sparks], having
struck a stony heart (cf. Ezek 36:26) , or whatever I
should call it.

{} '
.

.

3. And despite all this you have sent us pure

silver, which we, trying to do the right thing,
have turned around and sent back to you.
Vessels and cups of the kind you ordered are not
available here: and blessed [are we] if we have
not failed in our reckoning.



{161} [or ]
.

4. Have we perhaps somehow offended the

deacon Olympos? Meanwhile we give thanks to
Our Lord, that He has considered us worthy to
hold the sacred Pasch with a man who can quiet
the fierceness of our soul through his
conversation.

LETTER 3 [To a Monk]

.

1. What I had not hoped to discover you have

sent us by writing; but what we might have
hoped to learn you have not disclosed: namely,
who has taken you; whether he is blessed; where
you live; and who you were [formerly] with.
These are the things I very much wish to learn.

,

 {}
.

2. But if you have obtained nothing you wished,

do not be surprised. Bear in mind Him Who
had nowhere to lay his head (Mt 8:20). If they
would not receive Him Who is the head of all
things (cf. Eph 1:22), how much more a man of
modest standing.
,

.

3. You yourself know that the earth does not

oppose the foxes which seek to make their dens
in it: but how often does it slide down on those
digging wells for themselves, caving in and
suffocating them!
[161] [p.569]
,
.

4. But we thank the Lord that you have

remembered us out of love, [thereby] proving to
all the uprightness of your love.
'

LETTER 4
(to Abbot Lukios [concerning Antirrhetikos])
.

1. I have seen your sanctitys letter, in which

you truly show your love for us and command
us to send you something of our troubles [?
labors?]; which I would not have wanted to send
of my own free will on account of my shame at
your considerateness [discretion]. But now,
having been commanded, I have readily obeyed
and sent to you the treatise Antirrhetikos, so that
you may read and correct it, and complete what
is deficient, in case we have inexactly presented
one or another of the unclean thoughts and not
hit upon the proper contradiction to be
addressed against it. For I acknowledge to your
worthiness that until now I have not properly
understood the demonic thoughts, and that I
have often been wickedly hampered by them;
and since your departure I have endured
indescribable suffering from them. But now I
offer thanks to Our Lord Jesus Christ for the

things I have heard concerning you, as I had

prayed.

,




' .

[162] '
' ' .
'
.

2. Be thus for me a preacher of abstinence and

humility, and a destroyer of the thoughts and
any other bullwark raised against the knowledge
of Christ. (2Cor 10:4 ff.), so that at the time of
prayer frankness will come to the intellect of
those who are rich in these things, so that it (the
intellect) does not submit or bow down, neither
when struck down by anger nor when ravished
by desire. This happens, however, to the
wrathful and the gluttonous who do not abstain
by day, and who enjoy no respite from evil
fantasies by night.

 {}

[2Cor 10:5]

' ' .

.

3. And you know from Our Lord that reading

the Sacred Scriptures is very conducive to
purity, since it turns the intellect away from
anxieties concerning this visible world, from
which arises the corruption of unclean thoughts
that shackle the intellect by their passions,
binding it to corporeal affairs.

[162 ]


.

* Therefore speak tirelessly to the brothers, so

that they read the scriptures at the proper times
and love not the world nor what is in the
world; (Jn 2:15 [1 or 2 Jn?), while keeping watch over
[tempting-] thoughts, which is a poison against
wolves, [much-] hated by the demons..

* []
,
, ,

4. Thus the struggle engaged in with

discernment is replete with numerous
temptations. But it affords great purity of mind
that will not be ridiculed by the demons, since
they are not in a position to accuse the intellect
or the soul. For just as wisdom fittingly orders
the contemplations of bodily things, just so - it
may be presumed - the gift of discernment
distinguishes in the forms imprinted on the
intellect between holy and depraved thoughts,
between the pure and the unclean. And the
cunning of the mocking demons may be
recognized: they clothe themselves in images of
the senses and of memories in order to lead into
error the soul hastening toward the knowledge
of Christ.

, ,

,
[220] ,
,

5. Thus it is essential for everyone who takes

the field in this warfare to seek [the gift of]
discernment from the Lord, while seeing to it
that he lacks nothing essential for the reception
of this gift. In outline these [esential
prerequisites] are: abstinence; humility; vigils;
withdrawal [from the world]; and constant prayer
strengthened by reading of the sacred scriptures.
The practice of virtue cuts off the passions, for
there are found desire and sorrow and wrath.
Reading, however, uproots the trifling worldly
senses after practicing the virtues, and
consecrates our intellect in the formless
contemplations of the beings of divine
knowledge that our Savior in his Gospel
allegorically called closet (Mt 6:6), in which we
will behold the holy and hidden Father.

,

, ,


, ,

 ,
,
,
.
Portions of the Greek of Letter 4.3-5 [From asterisk above] in Claire Guillaumont
Fragments grecs indits dEvagre le Pontique Texte und Untersuchungen 133
(1987):, 219-220.

LETTER 5
. [162]

1. Richly-varied and full of good fruit is the

letter you in your kindness have sent us is; so
much so that I was overcome as I gathered and
harvested the [fruits]. And by them and their
delightful fragrance my sense of smell was
invigorated and I was wholly absorbed in joy
and cheerfulness.

'

2. And who will give me such fathers to comfort

my soul, sitting [as I do] in the darkness and
shadow of death of repentence? And it

behooves us to remember the proverb where it

stands written: like cool water to a thirsty soul,
so are good tidings from a distant land (Prov. 25.25).
But in spite of this we posess nothing we could
keep ready [to offer guests], for we are poor and
beggars (cf. Ps. 39:18), in need of Gods mercy and
far from able to feed our guests plentifully with
the food of spiritual words.



[prov. 25.25].
[p.571] {cf. Ps.
39:18} ,

3. I admit that I once had a field and a vineyard

I do not deny it. But locust have devoured my
field, while my vineyard was trampled by a boar
of the forest and destroyed by a wild beast. 6.
And behold, I sit at the doors of virtue with
outstretched hand[s] if ony they were
outstretched to beg alms from those who enter
the temple! 7,!


{ 7914} .
163

 - -
.

4. Come therefore to my aid through prayer, so

that in response to my pleading I may be sent
Peter and John: that Peter by means of his virtue
and John through his divine words may
straighten the feet of virtue and ankles of
knowledge; so that through allegorical
knowledge I, too, leaping up, may enter the
temple of knowledge and astonish the Jews.
[ 218] 5-4
'

LETTER 6
.

1. We unkowingly passed your holiness by

during our former visit to Palestine, and we
were not able to bring saving provisions on the
way that lay before us. And along the way we
snatched as it were by the birds; or we were the

rocky grounddessicating what sprang up or we

are full of thorns, and the Word suffocated in us.
I beg you, forgive us this sin and pray for my
other offences!

2 We have rushed into a sea full of gales and

waves and I fear those shipwrecks that fight
against faith and knowledge and justice: and
throughout all this the Lord within us sleeps,
and our nous does not keep watch, [even] though
by means of the virtues it is able to awaken [the
Lord]. And sorely opposing us is the the fleeing
dragon who strikes [us], now with his tail, then
with his gnashing jaws. This dragon cannot be
expelled otherwise than by completely despising
food and posessions and worldly glory. For it is
through these that the evil one instills his defiled
thoughts into us, and through impassioned
[tempting-] thoughts forces our nous to entangle
itself with and to meditate upon visible things.

 [163]
{ }
,
'





.

3. It is these passions that the wholly-evil-one

employs and these three temptations that he
brought upon Jesus our God: enticing him to
change stones into bread; then promising to give
him the whole world; and finally interpreting
the sign of spiritual words [as meaning] that he
was worthy of being served by angels. And in
these matters who is capable of banishing [the
devil] behind ? And who will be [as] Daniel,
helped by blessed Gabriel, making balls of pitch
and hair and fat, to burst the dragon? I am not
able [to do this], besieged as I am by
temptations. The ship I have given wholly over
to the pilot, so that our trust is not in ourselves,
but in God who stills the wind and commands
the sea, and brings those in the ship to the land
of his will on which they have gazed.


.
'
.
[163]



' '

.

4. I beg your son [Aidesios] who is my brother,

to compel his flesh and, as far as he it is able, to
subdue it through prayer and fasting and vigils,
through which the craving part the soul is
healed, so that they are not receptive of hideous
thoughts and wickedness. And he should quell
his wrath, which is a Judas who hands the
intellect over to the demons. And he will quell
it through humility and forbearance and mercy,
from which love arises by which the the disciple
of Christ is recognized.



.

 '
[163] . .

He should concern himself with reading the

Scriptures, which not only testify that he is the
Redeemer of the world, but also, that he is the
creator of the Ages and of the judgment and
providence in them. Saying this to your son will
satisfy us.


. .

5. Because the the man of God and servant of

Christ has afforded us great consolation in the
desert, I entrust him to your holiness, and I
implore you to incline your soul and offer him
the gift of yourself, as I have supported him and
hope to find him.
.


+ [frb 571]

LETTER 7
. [.571]

1. Not like the just toward the just do I stretch

out my soul towards God, for I am still full of
lawless and [tempting-] thoughts; nor do I draw
near the Lord as creator, for I know neither the
logoi of corporeals nor incorporeals neither
the logoi of judgment nor of providence.



.

Nor do I stand in Gods presence, wretch that I

am, for I have not prayed with uncovered head,
carrying instead images of this present world
and conversing with them. And although I
promise spiritual withdrawal from the world,
within my soul I have ceaseless interactions
with human beings. Behold I knock at every
door and investigate every city, to see whether I
can purchase the provisions of vainglory, to
satisfy my miserable, vanity-loving soul.


[] [.573] [164]

'

Let this suffice concerning Lazarus whom you

say rests in the gnosis of Abrahams breast.

.

While I praise the intention of the chaste

deaconess Severa, I cannot accept her
undertaking: for I canot see what value she
would receive from such an triesome journey on
a long road; and I believe I have, with God[s
help] shown how much she and her companions
could be harmed.

.
'
.

I therefore implore your holiness that you

prevent those who have forsaken the world from
undertaking unnecessary trips. I would be
amazed if they did not drink from the waters of
the Gihon during the duration of their trip
whether in the [tempting-] thoughts of their
minds or through their deeds: and this [would] be
far from the state of the chaste!



[164]

. +

LETTER 8
8.

1. I am not capable of being either crowned

through eulogies nor cast down through
criticism: for eulogies produce vainglory while
criticism evokes sadness; and where there are
either vainglory or sadness there also are all
other desires. For the one deprived of his
desires is saddened; while one who obtains his
choice procures vainglory. To Paul it was given
to triumph with the weapons of the right and the
left; while to me applies the saying, my
wounds worsen and fester through my
foolishness, (Ps 37.6) and again, be merciful to
my sins, for they are great (Ps 24,2).These are my
responses to your holy letter!
'

 ,
,
.


[ 37.6{ { 24,}.

2. Teach your sisters and sons (daughters?) not

to undertake any great journey, nor to come
unexamined into desert places for this is foreign
to any soul that has withdrawn from the world!

3. Instead, the soul striving earnestly to persue

the way of virtue should not only abstain from
sinning in act, but also never to offend through
[tempting-] thoughts. For [the commandmant] to
turn from sinful actions comes from Moses;
while the the commandment against [tempting-]
thoughts is from our Savior. And I would be
amazed if a woman who traveled about,
interacting with innumerable people were in a
position to live this lifestyle!
[164]
'

 '
.

LETTER 9 [to John of Jerusalem]

.

I know you: that you are a shepherd of many

sheep and that you are able to lead a god-fearing
flock to pasture in Bethlehem (1 Sam 17:15), [leading]
a few of them with the rod but many with the
staff. I, however, am a wretch, incapable of
leading even a single sheep to graze, nor am I
willing to snatch it from the mouth of the wolf.
Behold it is thus bitterly wounded, sometimes
by wrath, and at other times by sadness;
sometimes it is torn by pride and again by
vainglory.
.

.
.
{}
{}

I therefore ask your holines to beseech Jesus the

Shepherd for me, that he would save us from the
wild beasts, make us worthy of the number of
his flock, give us the pasrture of virtue, and let
us drink the water of knowledge.
[164]
.

LETTER 10
.

1. We greatly rejoiced at seeing our brothers in

the desert where such trusted companionship is
not easily found. And what ought we to have
done when we saw them? We slaughtered for
them no calf, since we still struggle beneath the
yoke of wickedness; nor did we bake for them
the the unleavened bread of the souls kindness
and love of truth, since we have not yet acquired
the state of the pure.
'


,

.

2. Instead we set before them dry bread, a

symbol of the aridity of our nous, which has not
[yet] germinated the simplicity of grass, the figs
sweetness, or the olives oil. As for a vineyard or
a grapevine - we would not dare [even] to think
of them, so far are we from [enjoying] the state
of a seer.


. '

3. We trust solely in Christ, [reverend] father,

that you will come to our assistance through
your prayers. From now on we will sow the seed
of justice in hope of harvesting the sheaves of
true knowledge.
.
'
.
Letter 55

LETTER 55 ___

1. I AM not like the wise who, according to

the spiritual proverbs (prov. 9:8), take advice to
heart, loving those who admonish: rather, it is as
if I am riddled with passions while striving to be
free of the passions. I freely admit that I am
more cowardly than him who feared the
serving-girl in the days of Pilate. On the other
hand I have also sought at the same time insofar as I was afraid - to receive forgiveness,
in order that I do not trample the pregnant soul
which carries formed within it the seal of Christ,
and [thus] earn the sentence of the trampling
bull. {} The blame should certainly be mixed so
that he, while he [] the opportunity to take the
appearance of terror, like clever physicians who
conceal the [surgical] instruments in the
ambiguity of divination. This I have said
concerning fear.
. 98
'
.


. 181
[E. 2128 ff]..

 .
,

2. But in regard to the passions which dominate

you I believe that knowledge is thus: of the
tempting thoughts which assail us one sort arise,
indeed, from nature, while the other [arise] from
the weakness of our wills. From nature are
those from blood [-relations] and our parents;
from the will are those which happen out of
anger and lust . Those arising from nature, are
time-consuming in their misleading us, because
through meditation they imprint themselves in
the nous and become entangled and thus
scripture properly says : leave quickly do not
remain in this place But those which arise
from the will bother the intellect if it assents to
them, thus it is written: do not choose to be
with them It misleads by means of duration
and the action of the sin.



,
.

 ,
182 '

3 It is certainly possible for thoughts which

accord with nature to awaken anger and lust
insofar by scattering the intellect through their
many concerns, if he oes not take care to
employ corresponding remedies, namely
hunger, thirst, keeping vigil and withdrawal
from the world and prayer. For strong hunger
also knows how to disown nature. Be convinced
by the woman of Samaria who devoured her
own son. Out of starvation. The satiated seek
everything useful for their satiation and despise
the purity of prayer.
{ }

,

, -
-

.

Perhaps you will say, If I am anxious for the

life of my relatives I do not violate the
commandment! Comprehend the treachery of
the evil one who brings about death in you by

means of good things, and who darkens your

intellect through thoughts which are in accord
with nature. Look, rather, to the physician of
souls who abolishes these thoughts through
necessary surgery, saying: If anyone comes to
me .

'



182
{ }
1426

4 And do not regard it as a great thing that, for

the sake of the knowledge of God he forsakes
his relatives. For many who heeded the idols
offered their sons and daughters to the demons.
I know that many of the brethren in whom these
thoughts persisted have fallen into difficulty.
For when their parents or brethren come
joyfully to them in their cells they would not
receive them. For the evil one turned their
minds towards anger under the pretext of the
withdrawal [into solitude]!

 .


.



.

5 Therefore abide in stillness in the desert, I beg

you, and persevere in prayer without anger and
without [tempting-] thoughts, and give no place
to the evil one {}, for mighty is the Lord who
has called you also to lead them to life and to
give them the inheritancewith those consecrated
in light.



.

LETTER 56
. [.603]

1. Sufficiently have you consoled us, o Serene

One [in that] you have extinguished mourning
through encouragement and allowed no space
for tears. It is not seemly to mourn for the

departed, since we should not mourn like those

who have no hope () . ]1 If this were not so, how
should we then say to God lead my soul out of
this prison, so that I may praise your name,
Lord?, like one hindered by the body, from
sending up pure praise to God? For the senses
incline towards physical things, whereas the
nous observes spiritual things in which our God
abides. Therefore the nous is bored by physical
things if it is still a beginner, since it wants to
converse with God alone.
122

,




.

2. Just as there is no possibility of incorporeals

approaching corporeal things, so also it is
impossible to see the incorporeals without the
incorporeal nous. Indeed, it is not the nous
which of itself sees God, but rather only the
pure nous. Blessed are the pure of heart, for

they shall see God () . Note that He does not

pronounce purity blessed, but raather vision!
For purity is apatheia of the logos-gifted souls;
while the vision of God is true knowledge of the
unity in being of the Blessed Trinity, which
those will see who fulful their journey here and
have purified their souls through the
commandments.


' ,
. ,
[182] ,

'
.

3. But the first and most important of the

commandments is love (Mk 12:29, ff.) with which the
intellect sees the primordial love, namely God.
For it is through our love that we behold Gods
love for us, as it is written in the Psalm He will
teach the gentle his ways (Ps 24:9) : But Moses
was gentler than all other men (Num 12:13) and the
Holy Spirit fittingly said: He showed Moses
his ways. (cf. Ps 102:7)

 '
, .

{ 24,9}
{ 102,7}.

4 Teach your brothers this gentleness, so that

they give themselves to anger only with
difficulty. For no evil makes the intellect into a
demon as much as anger through the troubling
of wrath. Thus it is said in the psalm: [their]
anger is like that of the snake. (Ps 57:5) And do
not consider a demon to be anything other
than a human being aroused by anger and
deprived of perception! Although the bodies of
the demons have color and form, they elude our
perception, because their quality is the quality of
bodies beyond our perception Therefore, if they
wish to appear to someone, they imitate our
bodies in various ways and do not show their
own bodies.



{ 57,5}
,
[183] ,

 .
,
.

5. Let none of the brothers, therefore, become

like the snake, and do not approve any
abstinence that is far from gentleness. For he
who abstains from food and drink, but in whose
interior reigns unjustified anger, resembles a
ship that finds itself in the middle of the sea,
steered by the demon of anger.



.

6. But tell me, why has the Scriptures in

wishing to praise Moses, left aside all
miraculous signs and instead reflected solely on
gentleness? (Num 12:3) Because they do not say
that Moses chastised Egypt with the twelve
plagues and led the chosen people out from
there And they do not say that Moses was the
first to receive the Law from God and that he
received understandings of past worlds, and
they do not say that that he divided the Reed Sea
with his staff nor that he brought water welling

up for the thirsty people from the rock. Rather,

they state that he stood all alone in the desert
before the face of God when he wanted to
destroy Israel, and asked to be annihilated with
the sons of his people. Love of men and crimes
he placed before God insofar as he said,
Forgive them or blot me out of the book you
have written. (Ex. 32:32) Thus spoke the gentle
one!, God, however, preferred to forgive those
who had sinned, rather do Moses an injustice.



{183}
,




{
31,32}.
.

7. The Scriptures skip over the famous feeding

with Manna, the unexpected flight of quail and
the abstinence of Moses, that surpassed human
nature, the allegorical tent, in which the last and
the future worlds were portrayed (comp. Heb 9:6 ff.)

and they praise only this, that Moses was more

gentle than all people (Num 12:3). O how great the
miracle, that they enclose all Moses the wisdom
of in two miraculous signs! Both this
acclamation of Moses and his name portray the
two miraculous signs.




{ 12,3}.
{183}
.

8. And David, too, reflecting on the virtue of

gentleness pleaded that he might be made
worthy of it, saying:: O Lord remember David
and [all] his gentleness. (Ps 131:1) He sets aside
[the fact] that his knees became weak from
fasting () and his flesh wasted [for lack] of oil
and that he kept vigil, and was like a sparrow
flying around the roof () and he says [instead]:
O Lord remember David and [all] his
gentleness.

{ 131,1}
'

 { 108,24}
. { 131,1}

9. Let us, too, acquire that gentleness of him

who said : Learn from me, for I am gentle
and humble of heart ()that he may teach us His
ways and refresh us in the heavenly kingdom.
'
{ 11,29}
. +

LETTER 57
. .[607]

1. Since you are dead, do not be greatly

distressed that our blessed father has passed
away. For we gladly go to him, but he will not
return to us (2Sam 12:23) My wish in regard to
everything I possess is this: I made a vow to
God when I entered the order of monks, that
after the death of my father I would keep
nothing for myself on earth, but rather spend
everything in deeds of righteousness for the
Lord.

.

2. According to your word you have written us

while sorrow still burned within you. Although I
find myself also in the same state of mourning,
this letter was requested of me and I have been
compelled to write of that which I have myself
received from [all of] you . But God who
consoles the humble (cf 2Cor 7:6), consoled us, in
that he immediately bestowed on us the
knowledge of life and death: regarding the flesh
which is our vessel (cf 2Cor.4:7, 1Thes 4:4), and
regarding the reasoning soul, why souls are [at
first] bound to bodies and then released.
[183]

' .

,

why angels and demons approach our world;

but we do not approach their worlds. For, we
are not able to unite the angels more [closely] to

God, nor could we propose to make the demons

more impure;
[KG .78] [] [,]
[1224] ,
,
. [also Peri.Log. 20, PG 1221D-1224.

because we dont attain to that greatness of

knowledge, nor do we reach that [abyss of]
ignorance.

3. And how our fathers are only the fathers of

the flesh, while God is the father of the soul .
And just as the sons illness grieves the father,
so the disorder of the soul grieves God. At the
sickening of the son the father calls the
physician; but, God has sent the physician of
our souls from heaven, so as to enchant human
beings, thus bringing wickedness to virtue and
ignorance to the knowledge of God .
,

. [184]


'

4 Whereas he has on the one hand given the

angels the Jerusalem above (Gal 4:26) to be their
dwelling, as it is written: You have come to the
mountain of Zion and the city of the living God,
to the heavenly Jerusalem and to myriads of
angels (Heb.12:22); he has, on the other hand,
bound the demons with fetters of darkness and
has handed them down to the deepest (regions)
of the earth, so that they may be kept for
judgment (cf 2Pe 2:4); and He has placed us in this
this world and bound us to working [prob.
praktike] bodies, as it is written: The heaven of
the heaven belongs to the Lord, but the earth he
has given to men (Ps 113:24) , so that we, insofar as
we practiced mercy, might be granted mercy (cf
Mt. 5:7? Rom 11:31) and become coheirs with the
angels (cf.Eph. 2:19, ?Heb 1:4, 11:9?), with whom, as I
believe, is our blessed father, for he was
merciful, And witnesses to that are those who
received alms from him and who bought oil for
him.


{. 12.22}

 ,

[
11324]
'
, ' [184]
.
LETTER_59

LETTER 59 [To Kekropios]

.[.609]

1. Do not be sad, Brother Kekropios, that we

live far away from you. For it is possible for you
to be amoung our holy fathers by living in
justice and in the fear of God: for it is not locale,
but rather impassioned thoughts which frustrate
the knowledge of God. So take note in the
words of St. Paul that we though many are one
in Christ Jesus (Rom 12:5) and the crowd of those
who believed in Our Lord were of one heart and
soul: (Acts 4:32), [namely,] through apatheia and
faith. Indeed, that which locale is for corporeal
beings, virtue is for the incorporeals. And

indeed it is said that among the the saints they

are together whose virtue is one.
, ,

'
,
[ 125]
[ 432] .

.

2. And so you proclaim blessed those who

dwell with me: well, Blessed, indeed, are the
gentle: (Mt. 5:5) However, those who dwell with
me are shameless dogs who daily lick my
blood., (cf. Lk 16:21, cf Ep.Mel 17). Understand what I
have said!
' 185
'
.

3. And since you mention Lazarus and the rich

man, that Lazarus was gladdened through
knowledge while the rich man was tormented by
the flames of ignorance, (Lk 16:23 f.) [know this
also: that]

there was [a time] when evil did not exist, and

there will be [a time] when it no longer exists;
but there was never [a time] when virtue did not
exist and there will never be [a time] when it
does not exist; for the seeds of virtue are
indestructible. And be convinced by the rich
man condemned to hell for his evil, but who felt
compassion for his brothers (Luke 16:19-31). For to
have pity is a very beautiful seed of virtue.
, ,

[ ] [. . .]
[154] . ,
. [cf Sch. 62 on Prov.5:14, pp. 152-154]

here] the, finger and the depths are symbols

of knowledge and wickedness, as one who is
reliably knowledgeable in spiritual matters has
passed on to us.
[