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| Tabula |
Tuesday January 20 2026, 15H50
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The brothers said, ' What are the nine spiritual excellences which that holy man possessed, and what did he lack?' The old man said, 'Although they are not written down I think that they were as follows: 1. Voluntary poverty. 2. Abstinence, 3. Constant evening fasting. 4. Vigil. 5. The recital of the whole Book of the Psalms seven times during the night and day. 6. The reading of the Holy Books between times. 7. Lowliness. 8. Humility. 9. Love of man. These are the nine spiritual excellences which he possessed, and by means of them he vanquished all passions. By poverty he overcame the love of money. By abstinence he conquered unbridled appetite and gluttony. By fasting he overcame the passion of the love of the belly. By vigil he vanquished sleep. By the recital of the Psalms he did away idleness. By reading he kept away the converse of evil. By lowliness he dispelled wrath and anger. By humility he overcame vainglory and pride. By love of man he conquered hatred, and spite, and enmity. Now the spiritual excellence which he lacked, and which is the tenth, was the constant fervour of the love of God, which is in our Lord Jesus Christ, and this can [only] be gathered together, and established and acquired by the secret prayer of the mind, which is unceasing and wanders not, and by the strict and constant suppression of the thoughts of the passions, and the incitements of devils, when they first begin to bestir themselves in the heart. And because among all the works of ascetic excellence there is none more difficult [to do] than this, for, even as the blessed Macarius said, ' All the fightings and fierce, and crafty, and evil temptations of the devils are set in array against it,' the holy man is not able easily to become perfect in the love of Christ, which is acquired by the concentration of the mind and by deep thought about God. Therefore the blessed Evagrius said, ' If you can overcome the wandering of the thoughts, it is the end of all ends; and if you can make deep thought about God have dominion in you, you can overcome all passions, and you will be worthy of the perfection of the love of Christ. ' By the love of man and by the other virtues a monk may, by the help of God, vanquish all the passions; but by the love of Christ he will conquer the evil passion of the love of the soul, which is the first of all the passions, and which embraces them all, even as Saint Evagrius said, ' The first of all the passions is the thought of the love of the soul, and after it come the following eight.' And again he said, 'Conquer the strife of the love of the soul which is in your bosom, by that which is towards God.' For until the monk is worthy of this love, he is unable to acquire exact consolation from the remainder of the labours of the other spiritual excellences, even though it be that he obtains assistance from them, as Abba Isaiah said, 'Although the children of Leah were a help to Jacob, yet he loved Joseph most of all, and when Joseph was born, he wished to leave Laban and go to his parents, that is to say, When a monk has become worthy, and has acquired the perfect love of Christ, which is established by silent contemplation, and the power to pray without ceasing, and his soul is at all times rejoicing and exulting with gladness, he will not be content to remain in this life; but each and every day he will be desiring eagerly and longing to depart from the body, and to be with our Lord in Paradise, which is the habitation of the spirits of just men who have become perfect, and the holy country which is exalted above the passions, and devils, and the striving of those who cultivate the virtues until the revelation of our Lord Jesus, Who loves to make perfect a man with the never-ending happiness of His love in a glorious kingdom.'
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