THE TWELVE BOOKS OF JOHN CASSIAN ON THE INSTITUTES OF THE COENOBIA AND THE
REMEDIES FOR THE EIGHT PRINCIPAL FAULTS, BOOKS VI TO VIII
BOOK VI.
ON THE SPIRIT OF FORNICATION.
WE have thought best to omit altogether the translation of this book.
BOOK VII.
OF THE SPIRIT OF COVETOUSNESS.
CHAPTER I.
How our warfare with covetousness is a foreign one, and how this fault is not
a natural one in man, as the other faults are.
OUR third conflict is against covetousness which we can describe as the
love of money; a foreign warfare, and one outside of our nature, and in the case
of a monk originating only from the state of a corrupt and sluggish mind, and
often from the beginning of his renunciation being unsatisfactory, and his love
towards God being lukewarm at its foundation. For the rest of the incitements
to sin planted in human nature seem to have their commencement as it were
congenital with us, and somehow being deeply rooted in our flesh, and almost coeval
with our birth, anticipate our powers of discerning good and evil, and although
in very early days they attack a man, yet they are overcome with a long
struggle.
CHAPTER II.
How dangerous is the disease of covetousness.
But this disease coming upon us at a later period, and approaching the
soul from without, as it can be the more easily guarded against and resisted, so;
if it is disregarded and once allowed to gain an entrance into the heart, is
the more dangerous to every one, and with the greater difficulty expelled. For it
becomes "a root of all evils,"(1) and gives rise to a multiplicity of
incitements to sin.
CHAPTER III.
What is the usefulness of those vices which are natural to the flesh.
For example, do not we see those natural impulses of the flesh not only in
boys in whom innocence still anticipates the discernment of good and evil, but
even in little children and infants, who although they have not even the
slightest approach to lust within them, yet show that the impulses of the flesh
exist in them and are naturally excited? Do not we also see that the deadly pricks
of anger already exist in full vigour likewise in little children? and before
they have learnt the virtue of patience, we see that they are disturbed by
wrongs, and feel affronts offered to them even by way of a joke; and sometimes,
although strength is lacking to them, the desire to avenge themselves is not
wanting, when anger excites them. Nor do I say this to lay the blame on their natural
state, but to point out that of these impulses which proceed from us, some are
implanted in us for a useful purpose, while some are introduced from without,
through the fault of carelessness and the desire of an evil will. For these
carnal impulses, of which we spoke above, were with a useful purpose implanted in
our bodies by the providence of the Creator, viz.: for perpetuating the race,
and raising up children for posterity: and not for committing adulteries and
debaucheries, which the authority of the law also condemns. The pricks of anger
too, do we not see that they have been most wisely given to us, that being
enraged at our sins and mistakes, we may apply ourselves the rather to virtues and
spiritual exercises, showing forth all love towards God, and patience towards our
brethren? We know too how great is the use of sorrow, which is reckoned among
the other vices, when it is turned to an opposite use. For on the one hand,
when it is in accordance with the fear of God it is most needful, and on the
other, when it is in accordance with the world, most pernicious; as the Apostle
teaches us when he says that "the sorrow which is according to God worketh
repentance that is steadfast unto salvation, but the sorrow of the world worketh death."
CHAPTER IV.
That we can say that there exist in us some natural faults, without wronging
the Creator.
IF then we say that these impulses were implanted in us by the Creator, He
will not on that account seem blameworthy, if we choose wrongly to abuse them,
and to pervert them to harmful purposes, and are ready to be made sorry by
means of the useless Cains of this world, and not by means of showing penitence
and the correction of our faults: or at least if we are angry not with ourselves
(which would be profitable) but with our brethren in defiance of God's command.
For in the case of iron, which is given us for good and useful purposes, if
any one should pervert it for murdering the innocent, one would not therefore
blame the maker of the metal because man had used to injure others that which he
had provided for good and useful purposes of living happily.
CHAPTER V.
Of the faults which are contracted through our own fault, without natural
impulses.
BUT we affirm that some faults grow up without any natural occasion giving
birth to them, but simply from the free choice of a corrupt and evil will, as
envy and this very sin of covetousness; which are caught (so to speak) from
without, having no origination in us from natural instincts. But these, in
proportion as they are easily guarded against and readily avoided, just so do they
make wretched the mind that they have got hold of and seized, and hardly do they
suffer it to get at the remedies which would cure it: either because these who
are wounded by persons whom they might either have ignored, or avoided, or
easily overcome, do not deserve to be healed by a speedy cure, or else because,
having laid the foundations badly, they are unworthy to raise an edifice of virtue
and reach the summit of perfection.
CHAPTER VI.
How difficult the evil of covetousness is to drive away when once it has been
admitted.
WHEREFORE let not this evil seem of no account or unimportant to anybody:
for as it can easily be avoided, so if it has once got hold of any one, it
scarcely suffers him to get at the remedies for curing it. For it is a regular nest
of sins, and a "root of all kinds of evil," and becomes a hopeless incitement
to wickedness, as the Apostle says, "Covetousness," i.e. the love of money,
"is a root of all kinds of evil."(1)
CHAPTER VII.
Of the source from which covetousness springs, and of the evils of which it is
itself the mother.
When then this vice has got hold of the slack and lukewarm soul of some
monk, it begins by tempting him in regard of a small sum of money, giving him
excellent and almost reasonable excuses why he ought to retain some money for
himself. For he complains that what is provided in the monastery is not sufficient,
and can scarcely be endured by a sound and sturdy body. What is he to do if
ill health comes on, and he has no special store of his own to support him in his
weakness? He says that the allowance of the monastery is but meagre, and that
there is the greatest carelessness about the sick: and if he has not something
of his own so that he can look after the wants of his body, he will perish
miserably. The dress which is allowed him is insufficient, unless he has provided
something with which to procure another. Lastly, he says that he cannot possibly
remain for long in the same place and monastery, and that unless he has
secured the money for his journey, and the cost of his removal over the sea, he
cannot move when he wants to, and, detained by the compulsion of want, will
henceforth drag out a wretched and wearisome existence without making the slightest
advance: that he cannot without indignity be supported by another's substance, as
a pauper and one in want. And so when he has bamboozled himself with such
thoughts as these, he racks his brains to think how he can acquire at least one
penny. Then he anxiously searches for some special work which he can do without
the Abbot knowing anything about it. And selling it secretly, and so securing the
coveted coin, he torments himself worse and worse in thinking how he can
double it: puzzled as to where to deposit it, or to whom to intrust it. Then he is
oppressed with a still weightier care as to what to buy with it, or by what
transaction he can double it. And when this has turned out as he wished, a still
more greedy craving for gold springs up, and is more and more keenly excited, as
his store of money grows larger and larger. For with the increase of wealth the
mania of covetousness increases. Then next he has forebodings of a long life,
and an enfeebled old age, and infirmities of all sorts, and long drawn out,
which will be insupportable in old age, unless a large store of money has been
laid by in youth. And so the wretched soul is agitated, and held fast, as it were,
in a serpent's toils, while it endeavours to add to that heap which it has
unlawfully secured, by still more unlawful care, and itself gives birth to plagues
which inflame it more sorely, and being entirely absorbed in the quest of
gain, pays attention to nothing but how to get money with which to fly(2) as
quickly as possible from the discipline of the monastery, never keeping faith where
there is a gleam of hope of money to be got. For this it shrinks not from the
crime of lying, perjury, and theft, of breaking a promise, of giving way to
injurious bursts of passion. If the man has dropped away at all from the hope of
gain, he has no scruples about transgressing the bounds of humility, and through
it all gold and the love of gain become to him his god, as the belly does to
others. Wherefore the blessed Apostle, looking out on the deadly poison of this
pest, not only says that it is a root of all kinds of evil, but also calls it the
worship of idols, saying "And covetousness (which in Greek is called
<greek>filarguria</greek>) which is the worship of idols."(3) You see then to what a
downfall this madness step by step leads, so that by the voice of the Apostle it
is actually declared to be the worship of idols and false gods, because passing
over the image and likeness of God (which one who serves God with devotion
ought to preserve undefiled in himself), it chooses to love and care for images
stamped on gold instead of God.
CHAPTER VIII.
How covetousness is a hindrance to all virtues.
With such strides then in a downward direction he goes from bad to worse,
and at last cares not to retain I will not say the virtue but even the shadow
of humility, charity, and obedience; and is displeased with everything, and
murmurs and groans over every work; and now i having cast off all reverence, like a
bad-tempered horse, dashes off headlong and unbridled: and discontented with
his daily food and usual clothing, announces that he wall not put up with it any
longer. He declares that God is not only there, and that his salvation is not
confined to that place, where, if he does not take himself off pretty quickly
from it, he deeply laments that he will soon die.
CHAPTER IX.
How a monk who has money cannot stay in the monastery.
And so having money to provide for his wanderings, with the assistance of
which he has fitted himself as it were with wings, and now being quite ready
for his move, he answers impertinently to all commands, and behaves himself like
a stranger and a visitor, and whatever he sees needing improvement, he despises
and treats with contempt. And though he has a supply of money secretly hidden,
yet he complains that he has neither shoes nor clothes, and is indignant that
they are given out to him so slowly. And if it happens that through the
management of the superior some of these are given first to one who is known to have
nothing whatever, he is still more inflamed with burning rage, and thinks that
he is despised as a stranger; nor is he contented to turn his hand to any work,
but finds fault with everything which the needs of the monastery require to be
done. Then of set purpose he looks out for opportunities of being offended and
angry, lest he might seem to have gone forth from the discipline of the
monastery for a trivial reason. And not content to take his departure by himself
alone, lest it should be thought that he has left as it were from his own fault, he
never stops corrupting as many as he can by clandestine conferences. But if
the severity of the weather interferes with his journey and travels, he remains
all the time in suspense and anxiety of heart, and never stops sowing and
exciting discontent; as he thinks that he will only find consolation for his
departure and an excuse for his fickleness in the bad character and defects of the
monastery.
CHAPTER X.
Of the toils which a deserter from a monastery must undergo through
covetousness, though he used formerly to murmur at the very slightest tasks.
AND SO he is driven about, and more and more inflamed with the love of his
money, which when it is acquired, never allows a monk either to remain in a
monastery or to live under the discipline of a rule. And when separating him like
some wild beast from the rest of the herd, it has made him through want of
companions an animal fit for prey, and caused him to be easily eaten up, as he is
deprived of fellow lodgers, it forces him, who once thought it beneath him to
perform the slight duties of the monastery, to labour without stopping night and
day, through hope of gain; it suffers him to keep no services of prayer, no
system of fasting, no rule of vigils; it does not allow him to fulfil the duties
of seemly intercession, If only he can satisfy the madness of avarice, and
supply his daily wants; inflaming the more the fire of covetousness, while
believing that it will be extinguished by getting.
CHAPTER XI.
That under pretence of keeping the purse women have to be sought to dwell with
them.
HENCE many are led on over an abrupt precipice, and by an irrevocable
fall, to death, and not content to possess by themselves that money which they
either never had before, or which by a bad beginning they kept back, they seek for
women to dwell with them, to preserve what they have unjustifiably amassed .or
retained. And they implicate themselves in so many harmful and dangerous
occupations, that they are cast down even to the depths of hell, while they refuse to
acquiesce in that saying of the Apostle, that "having food and clothing they
should be content" with that which the thrift of the monastery supplied, but
"wishing to become rich they fall into temptation and the snare of the devil, and
many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men in destruction and
perdition. For the love of money," i.e. covetousness, "is a root of all kinds of
evil, which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves
in many sorrows."(1)
CHAPTER XII.
An instance of a lukewarm monk caught in the snares of covetousness.
I know of one, who thinks himself a monk, and what is worse flatters
himself on his perfection, who had been received into a monastery, and when charged
by his Abbot not to turn his thoughts back to those things which he had given
up and renounced, but to free himself from covetousness, the root of all kinds
of evil, and from earthly snares; and when told that if he wished to be cleansed
from his former passions, by which he saw that he was from time to time
grievously oppressed, he should cease from caring about those things which even
formerly were not his own, entangled in the chains of which he certainly could not
make progress towards purifying himself of his faults: with an angry expression
he did not hesitate to answer, "If you have that with which you can support
others, why do you forbid me to have it as well?"(1)
CHAPTER XIII.
What the eiders relate to the juniors in the matter of stripping off sins.
But let not this seem superfluous or objectionable to any one. For unless
the different kinds of sins are first explained, and the origin and causes of
diseases traced out, the proper healing remedies cannot be applied to the sick,
nor can the preservation of perfect health be secured by the strong. For both
these matters and many others besides these are generally put forward for the
instruction of the younger brethren by the elders in their conferences, as they
have had experience of numberless falls and the ruin of all sorts of people. And
often recognizing in ourselves many of these things, when the elders explained
and showed them, as men who were themselves disquieted(2) by the same
passions, we were cured without any shame or confusion on our part, since without
saying anything we learnt both the remedies and the causes of the sins which beset
us, which we have passed over and said nothing about, not from fear of the
brethren, but lest our book should chance to fall into the hands of some who have
had no instruction in this way of life, and might disclose to inexperienced
persons what ought to be known only to those who are toiling and striving to reach
the heights of perfection.
CHAPTER XIV.
Instances to show that the disease of covetousness is threefold.
AND SO this disease and unhealthy state is threefold, and is condemned
with equal abhorrence by all the fathers. One feature is this, of which we
described the taint above, which by deceiving wretched folk persuades them to hoard
though they never had anything of their own when they lived in the world.
Another, which forces men afterwards to resume and once more desire those things
which in the early days of their renunciation of the world they gave up. A third,
which springing from a faulty and hurtful beginning and making a bad start,
does not suffer those whom it has once infected with this lukewarmness of mind to
strip themselves of all their worldly goods, through fear of poverty and want
of faith; and those who keep back money and property which they certainly ought
to have renounced and forsaken, it never allows to arrive at the perfection of
the gospel. And we find in Holy Scripture instances of these three
catastrophes which were visited with no light punishment. For when Gehazi wished to
acquire what he had never had before, not only did he fail to obtain the gift of
prophecy which it would have been his to receive from his master by hereditary
succession, but on the contrary he was covered by the curse of the holy Elisha with
a perpetual leprosy: while Judas, wanting to resume the possession of the
wealth which he had formerly cast away when he followed Christ, not only fell into
betraying the Lord, and lost his apostolic rank, but also was not allowed to
close his life with the common lot of all but ended it by a violent death. But
Ananias and Sapphira, keeping back a part of that which was formerly their own,
were at the Apostle's word punished with death.
CHAPTER XV.
Of the difference between one who renounces the world badly and one who does
not renounce it at all.
OF those then who say that they have renounced this world, and afterwards
being overcome by want of faith are afraid of losing their worldly goods, a
charge is given mystically in Deuteronomy. "If any man is afraid and of a fearful
heart let him not go forth to war: let him go back and return home, lest he
make the hearts of his brethren to fear as he himself is timid and frightened."(3)
What can one want plainer than this testimony? Does not Scripture clearly
prefer that they should not take on them even the earliest stages of this
profession and its name, rather than by their persuasion and bad example turn others
back from the perfection of the gospel, and weaken them by their faithless terror.
And so they are bidden to withdraw from the battle and return to their homes,
because a man cannot fight the Lord's battle with a double heart. For "a
double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."(4) And thinking, according to that
Parable in the Gospel,(1) that he who goes forth with ten thousand men against a
king who comes with twenty thousand, cannot possibly fight, they should, while
he is yet a great way off, ask for peace; that is, it is better for them not
even to take the first step towards renunciation, rather than afterwards
following it up coldly, to involve themselves in still greater dangers. For "it is
better not to vow, than to vow and not pay."(2) But finely is the one described as
coming with ten thousand and the other with twenty. For the number of sins
which attack us is far larger than that of the virtues which fight for us. But "no
man can serve God and Mammon."(3) And "no man putting his hand to the plough
and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God."(4)
CHAPTER XVI.
Of the authority under which those shelter themselves who object to stripping
themselves of their goods.
THESE then try to make out a case for their original avarice, by some
authority from Holy Scripture, which they interpret with base ingenuity, in their
desire to wrest and pervert to their own purposes a saying of the Apostle or
rather of the Lord Himself: and, not adapting their own life or understanding to
the meaning of the Scripture, but making the meaning of Scripture bend to the
desires of their own lust, they try to make it to correspond to their own views,
and say that it is written, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."(5)
And by an entirely wrong interpretation of this they think that they can weaken
the force of that saying of the Lord in which he says: "If thou wilt be perfect,
go sell all that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure
in heaven; and come, follow me."(6) And they think that under colour of this
they need not deprive themselves of their riches: declaring indeed that they are
more blessed if, supported by that which originally belonged to them, they give
to others also out of their superabundance. And while they are shy of
embracing with the Apostle that glorious state of abnegation for Christ's sake, they
will not be content either with manual labour or the sparing diet of the
monastery. And the only thing is that these must either know that they are deceiving
themselves, and have not really renounced the world while they are clinging to
their former riches; or, if they really and truly want to make trial of the
monastic life, they must give up and forsake all these things and keep back nothing
of that which they have renounced, and, with the Apostle, glory "in hunger and
thirst, in cold and nakedness."(7)
CHAPTER XVII.
Of the renunciation of the apostles and the primitive church.
As if he (who, by his assertion that he was endowed with the privileges of
a Roman citizen from his birth, testifies that he was no mean person according
to this world's rank) might not likewise have been supported by the property
which formerly belonged to him! And as if those men who were possessors of lands
and houses in Jerusalem and sold everything and kept back nothing whatever for
themselves, and brought the price of them and laid it at the feet of the
apostles, might not have supplied their bodily necessities from their own property,
had this been considered the best plan by the apostles, or had they themselves
deemed it preferable! But they gave up all their property at once, and
preferred to be supported by their own labour, and by the contributions of the
Gentiles, of whose collection the holy Apostle speaks in writing to the Romans, and
declaring his own office in this matter to them, and urging them on likewise to
make this collection: "But now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For
it has pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for
the poor saints who are at Jerusalem: it has pleased them indeed, and their
debtors they are. For if the Gentiles are made partakers of their spiritual things,
they ought also to minister to them in carnal things."(8) To the Corinthians
also he shows the same anxiety about this, and urges them the more diligently to
prepare before his arrival a collection, which he was intending to send for
their needs. "But concerning the collection for the saints, as I appointed to the
churches of Galatia, so also do ye. Let each one of you on the first day of
the week put apart with himself, laying up what it shall well please him, that
when I come the collections be not then to be made. But when I come whomsoever
you shall approve by your letters, them I will send to carry your grace to
Jerusalem." And that he may stimulate them to make a larger collection, he adds, "But
if it be meet that I also go, they shall go with me:"(9) meaning if your
offering is of such a character as to deserve to be taken there by my ministration.
To the Galatians too, he testifies that when he was settling the division of
the ministry of preaching with the apostles, he had arranged this with James,
Peter, and John: that he should undertake the preaching to the Gentiles, but
should never repudiate care and anxious thought for the poor who were at Jerusalem,
who for Christ's sake gave up all their goods, and submitted to voluntary
poverty. "And when they saw," said he, "the grace of God which was given to me,
James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave to me and to Barnabas the
right hand: of fellowship, that we should preach to the: Gentiles, but they to
those of the circumcision: only they would that we should be mindful of the
poor." A matter which he testifies that he attended to most carefully, saying,
"which also I was anxious of myself to do.Who then are the more blessed, those
who but lately were gathered out of the number of the heathen, and being unable
to climb to the heights of the perfection of the gospel, clung to their own
property, in whose case it was considered a great thing by the Apostle if at least
they were restrained from the worship of idols, and from fornication, and from
things strangled, and from blood,(2) and had embraced the faith of Christ, with
their goods and all: or those who live up to the demands of the gospel, and
carry the Lord's cross daily, and want nothing out of their property to remain
for their own use? And if the blessed Apostle himself, bound with chains and
fetters, or hampered by the difficulties of travelling, and for these reasons not
being able to provide with his hands, as he generally did, for the supply of his
food, declares that he received that which supplied his wants from the
brethren who came from Macedonia; "For that which was lacking to me," he says, "the
brethren who came from Macedonia supplied:"(3) and to the Philippians he says:
"For ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I came
from Macedonia, no church communicated with me in the matter of giving and
receiving, except you only; because even in Thessalonica once and again you sent to
supply my needs:"(4) (if this was so) then, according to the notion of these
men, which they have formed in the coldness of their heart, will those men
really be more blessed than the Apostle, because it is found that they have
ministered to him of their substance? But this no one will venture to assert, however
big a fool he may be.
CHAPTER XVIII.
That if we want to imitate the apostles we ought not to live according to our
own prescriptions, but to follow their example.
WHEREFORE if we want to obey the gospel precept, and to show ourselves the
followers of the Apostle and the whole primitive church, or of the fathers who
in our own days succeeded to their virtues and perfection, we should not
acquiesce in our own prescriptions, promising ourselves perfection from this
wretched and lukewarm condition of ours: but following their footsteps, we should by
no means aim at looking after our own interests, but should seek out the
discipline and system of a monastery, that we may in very truth renounce this world;
preserving nothing of those things which we have despised through the temptation
of want of faith; and should look for our daily food, not from any store of
money of our own, but from our own labours.
CHAPTER XIX.
A saying of S. Basil, the Bishop, directed against Syncletius.(5)
THERE is current a saying of S. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, directed
against a certain Syncletius, who was growing indifferent with the sort of
lukewarmness of which we have spoken; who, though he professed to have renounced this
world, had yet kept back for himself some of his property, not liking to be
supported by the labour of his own hands, and to acquire true humility by stripping
himself and by grinding toil, and the subjection of the monastery: "You have,"
said he, "spoilt Syncletius, and not made a monk."
CHAPTER XX.
How contemptible it is to be overcome by covetousness.
AND so if we want to strive lawfully in our spiritual combat, let us expel
this dangerous enemy also from our hearts. For to overcome him does not so
much show great virtue, as to be beaten by him is shameful and disgraceful. For
when you are overpowered by a strong man, though there is grief in being
overthrown, and distress at the loss of victory, yet some consolation may be derived by
the vanquished from the strength of their opponent. But if the enemy is a poor
creature, and the struggle a feeble one, besides the grief for defeat there is
confusion of a more disgraceful character, and a shame which is worse than
loss.
CHAPTER XXI.
How covetousness can be conquered.
AND in this case it will be the greatest victory and a lasting triumph,
if, as is said, the conscience of the monk is not defiled by the possession of
the smallest coin. For it is an impossibility for him who, overcome in the matter
of a small possession, has once admitted into his heart a root of evil desire,
not to be inflamed presently with the heat of a still greater desire. For the
soldier of Christ will be victorious and in safety, and free from all the
attacks of desire, so long as this most evil spirit does not implant in his heart a
seed of this desire. Wherefore, though in the matter of all kinds of sins we
ought ordinarily to watch the serpent's head,(1) yet in this above all we should
be more keenly on our guard. For if it has been admitted it will grow by
feeding on itself, and will kindle for itself a worse fire. And so we must not only
guard against the possession of money, but also must expel from our souls the
desire for it. For we should not so much avoid the results of covetousness, as
cut off by the roots all disposition towards it. For it will do no good not to
possess money, if there exists in us the desire for getting it.
CHAPTER XXII.
That one who actually has no money may still be deemed covetous.
FOR it is possible even for one who has no money to be by no means free
from the malady of covetousness, and for the blessing of penury to do him no
good, because he has not been able to root out the sin of cupidity: delighting in
the advantages of poverty, not in the merit of the virtue, and satisfied with
the burden of necessity, not without coldness of heart. For just as the word of
the gospel declares of those who are not defiled in body, that they are
adulterers in heart;(2) so it is possible that those who are in no way pressed down
with the weight of money may be condemned with the covetous in disposition and
intent. For it was the opportunity of possessing which was wanting in their case,
and not the will for it: which latter is always crowned by God, rather than
compulsion. And so we must use all diligence lest the fruits of our labours should
be destroyed to no purpose. For it is a wretched thing to have endured the
effects of poverty and want, but to have lost their fruits, through the fault of a
shattered will.
CHAPTER XXIII.
An example drawn from the case of Judas.
WOULD you like to know how dangerously and harmfully that incitement,
unless it has been carefully eradicated, will shoot up for the destruction of its
owner, and put forth all sorts of branches of different sins? Look at Judas,
reckoned among the number of the apostles, and see how because he would not bruise
the deadly head of this serpent it destroyed him with its poison, and how when
he was caught in the snares of concupiscence, it drove him into sin and a
headlong downfall, so that he was persuaded to sell the Redeemer of the world and
the author of man's salvation for thirty pieces of silver. And he could never
have been impelled to this heinous sin of the betrayal if he had not been
contaminated by the sin of covetousness: nor would he have made himself wickedly
guilty of betraying(3) the Lord, unless he had first accustomed himself to rob the
bag intrusted to him.
CHAPTER XXIV.
That covetousness cannot be overcome except by stripping one's self of
everything.
THIS is a sufficiently dreadful and clear instance of this tyranny, which,
when once the mind is taken prisoner by it, allows it to keep to no rules of
honesty, nor to be satisfied with any additions to its gains. For we must seek
to put an end to this madness, not by riches, but by stripping ourselves of
them. Lastly, when he (viz. Judas) had received the bag set apart for the
distribution to the poor, and intrusted to his care for this purpose, that he might at
least satisfy himself with plenty of money, and set a limit to his avarice, yet
his plentiful supply only broke out into a still greedier incitement of desire,
so that he was ready no longer secretly to rob the bag, but actually to sell
the Lord Himself. For the madness of this avarice is not satisfied with any
amount of riches.
CHAPTER XXV.
Of the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, and Judas, which they underwent through
the impulse of covetousness.
LASTLY, the chief of the apostles, taught by these instances, and knowing
that one who has any avarice cannot bridle it, and that it cannot be put an end
to by a large or small sum of money, but only by the virtue of renunciation of
everything, punished with death Ananias and Sapphira, who were mentioned
before, because they had kept back something out of their property, that that death
which Judas had voluntarily met with for the sin of betraying the Lord, they
might also undergo for their lying avarice.(1) How closely do the sin and
punishment correspond in each case! In the one case treachery, in the other falsehood,
was the result of covetousness. In the one case the truth is betrayed, in the
other the sin of lying is committed. For though the issues of their deeds may
appear different, yet they coincide in having one and the same aim. For the one,
in order to escape poverty, desired to take back what he had forsaken; the
others, for fear lest they might become poor, tried to keep back something out of
their property, which they should have either offered to the Apostle in good
faith, or have given entirely to the brethren. And so in each case there follows
the judgment of death; because each sin sprang from the root of covetousness.
And so if against those who did not covet other persons' goods, but tried to be
sparing of their own, and had no desire to acquire, but only the wish to
retain, there went forth so severe a sentence, what should we think of those who
desire to amass wealth, without ever having had any of their own, and, making a
show of poverty before men, are before God convicted of being rich, through the
passion of avarice?
CHAPTER XXVI.
That covetousness brings upon the soul a spiritual leprosy.
AND such are seen to be lepers in spirit and heart, after the likeness of
Gehazi, who, desiring the uncertain riches of this world, was covered with the
taint of foul leprosy, through which he left us a clear example that every soul
which is defiled with the stain of cupidity is covered with the spiritual
leprosy of sin, and is counted as unclean before God with a perpetual curse.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Scripture proofs by which one who is aiming at perfection is taught not to
take back again what he has given up and renounced.
IF then through the desire of perfection you have forsaken all things and
followed Christ who says to thee, "Go sell all that thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me,"(2) why,
having put your hand to the plough, do you look back, so that you will be declared
by the voice of the same Lord not to be fit for the kingdom of heaven?(3) When
secure on the top of the gospel roof, why do you descend to carry away
something from the house, from those things, namely, which beforetime you despised?
When you are out in the field and working at the virtues, why do you run back and
try to clothe yourself again with what belongs to this world, which you
stripped off when you renounced it?(4) But if you were hindered by poverty from having
anything to give up, still less ought you to amass what you never had before.
For by the grace of the Lord you were for this purpose made ready that you
might hasten to him the more readily, being hampered by no snares of wealth. But
let no one who is wanting in this be disappointed; for there is no one who has
not something to give up. He has renounced all the possessions of this world,
whoever has thoroughly eradicated the desire to possess them.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
That the victory over covetousness can only be gained by stripping one's self
bare of everything.
THIS then is the perfect victory over covetousness: not to allow a gleam
from the very smallest scrap of it to remain in our heart, as we know that we
shall have no further power of quenching it, if we cherish even the tiniest bit
of a spark of it in us.
CHAPTER XXIX.
How a monk can retain his poverty.
AND we can only preserve this virtue unimpaired if we remain in a
monastery, and as the Apostle says, having food and clothing, are therewith content.(5)
CHAPTER XXX.
The remedies against the disease of covetousness.
KEEPING then in mind the judgment of Ananias and Sapphira let us dread
keeping back any of those things which we gave up and vowed utterly to forsake.
Let us also fear the example of Gehazi, who for the sin of covetousness was
chastised with the punishment of perpetual leprosy. From this let us beware of
acquiring that wealth which we never formerly possessed. Moreover also dreading both
the fault and the death of Judas, let us with all the power that we have avoid
taking back any of that wealth which once we east away from us. Above all,
considering the state of our weak and shifty nature, let us beware lest the day of
the Lord come upon us as a thief in the night,(1) and find our conscience
defiled even by a single penny; for this would make void all the fruits of our
renunciation of the world, and cause that which was said to the rich man in the
gospel to be directed towards us also by the voice of the Lord: "Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which
thou hast prepared?"(4) And taking no thought for the morrow, let us never
allow ourselves to be enticed away from the rule of the Coenobium.
CHAPTER XXXI
That no one can get the better of covetousness unless he stays in the
Coenobium: and how one can remain there.
BUT we shall certainly not be suffered to do this, nor even to remain
under the rule of a system, unless the virtue of patience, which can only spring
from humility as its source, is first securely fixed and established in us. For
the one teaches us not to trouble any one else; the other, to endure with
magnanimity wrongs offered to us.
BOOK VIII.
OF THE SPIRIT OF ANGER.
CHAPTER I.
How our fourth conflict is against the sin of anger, and how many evils. this
passion produces.
IN our fourth combat the deadly poison of anger has to be utterly rooted
out from the inmost comers of our soul. For as long as this remains in our
hearts, and blinds with its hurtful darkness the eye of the soul, we can neither
acquire right judgment and discretion, nor gain the insight which springs from an
honest gaze, or ripeness of counsel, nor can we be partakers of life, or
retentive of righteousness, or even have the capacity for spiritual and true light:
"for," says one, mine eye is disturbed by reason of anger."(2) Nor can we become
partakers of wisdom, even though we are considered wise by universal consent,
for "anger rests in the bosom of fools."(3) Nor can we even attain immortal
life, although we are accounted prudent in the opinion of everybody, for "anger
destroys even the prudent."(5) Nor shall we be able with clear judgment of heart
to secure the controlling power of righteousness, even though we are reckoned
perfect and holy in the estimation of all men, for "the wrath of man worketh not
the righteousness of God."(6) Nor can we by any possibility acquire that
esteem and honour which is so frequently seen even in worldlings, even though we are
thought noble and honourable through the privileges of birth, because "an
angry man is dishonoured."(7) Nor again can we secure any ripeness of counsel, even
though we appear to be weighty, and endowed with the utmost knowledge; because
"an angry man acts without counsel."(8) Nor can we be free from dangerous
disturbances, nor be without sin, even though no sort of disturbances be brought
upon us by others; because "a passionate man engenders quarrels, but an angry man
digs up sins."(1)
CHAPTER II.
Of those who say that anger is not injurious, if we are angry with those who
do wrong, since God Himself is said to be angry.
Wig have heard some people trying to excuse this most pernicious disease
of the soul, in such a way as to endeavour to extenuate it by a rather shocking
way of interpreting Scripture: as they say that it is not injurious if we are
angry with the brethren who do wrong, since, say they, God Himself is said to
rage and to be angry with those who either will not know Him, or, knowing Him,
spurn Him, as here "And the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people;"(2)
or where the prophet prays and says, "O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger,
neither chasten me in thy displeasure;"(3) not understanding that, while they
want to open to men an excuse for a most pestilent sin, they are ascribing to the
Divine Infinity and Fountain of all purity a taint of human passion.
CHAPTER III.
Of those things which are spoken of God anthropomorphically.
FOR if when these things are said of God they are to be understood
literally in a material gross signification, then also He sleeps, as it is said,
"Arise, wherefore sleepest thou, O Lord?"(4) though it is elsewhere said of Him:
"Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."(5) And He stands
and sits, since He says, "Heaven is my seat, and earth the footstool for my
feet:"(6) though He "measure out the heaven with his hand, and holdeth the earth
in his fist."(7) And He is "drunken with wine" as it is said, "The Lord awoke
like a sleeper, a mighty man, drunken with wine;"(8) He "who only hath
immortality and dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto:"(9) not to say
anything of the "ignorance" and "forgetfulness," of which we often find mention in
Holy Scripture: nor lastly of the outline of His limbs, which are spoken of as
arranged and ordered like a man's; e.g., the hair, head, nostrils, eyes, face,
hands, arms, fingers, belly, and feet: if we are willing to take all of which
according to the bare literal sense, we must think of God as in fashion with the
outline of limbs, and a bodily form; which indeed is shocking even to speak
of, and must be far from our thoughts.
CHAPTER IV.
In what sense we should understand the passions and human arts which are
ascribed to the unchanging and incorporeal God.
AND so as without horrible profanity these things cannot be understood
literally of Him who is declared by the authority of Holy Scripture to be
invisible, ineffable, incomprehensible, inestimable, simple, and uncompounded, so
neither can the passion of anger and wrath be attributed to that unchangeable nature
without fearful blasphemy. For we ought to see that the limbs signify the
divine powers and boundless operations of God, which can only be represented to us
by the familiar expression of limbs: by the mouth we should understand that His
utterances are meant, which are of His mercy continually poured into the
secret senses of the soul, or which He spoke among our fathers and the prophets: by
the eyes we can understand the boundless character of His sight with which He
sees and looks through all things, and so nothing is hidden from Him of what is
done or can be done by us, or even thought. By the expression "hands," we
understand His providence and work, by which He is the creator and author of all
things; the arms are the emblems of His might and government, with which He
upholds, rules and controls all things. And not to speak of other things, what else
does the hoary hair of His head signify but the eternity and perpetuity of
Deity, through which He is without any beginning, and before all times, and excels
all creatures? So then also when we read of the anger or fury of the Lord, we
should take it not <greek>anqrwpopaqws</greek>; i.e., according to an unworthy
meaning of human passion,(10) but in a sense worthy of God, who is free from all
passion; so that by this we should understand that He is the judge and avenger
of all the unjust things which are done in this world; and by reason of these
terms and their meaning we should dread Him as the terrible rewarder of our
deeds, and fear to do anything against His will. For human nature is wont to fear
those whom it knows to be indignant, and is afraid of offending: as in the case
of some most just judges, avenging wrath is usually feared by those who are
tormented by some accusation of their conscience; not indeed that this passion
exists in the minds of those who are going to judge with perfect equity, but that,
while they so fear, the disposition of the judge towards them is that which is
the precursor of a just and impartial execution of the law. And this, with
whatever kindness and gentleness it may be conducted, is deemed by those who are
justly to be punished to be the most savage wrath and vehement anger. It would
be tedious and outside the scope of the present work were we to explain all the
things which are spoken metaphorically of God in Holy Scripture, with human
figures. Let it be enough for our present purpose, which is aimed against the sin
of wrath, to have said this that no one may through ignorance draw down upon
himself a cause of this evil and of eternal death, out of those Scriptures in
which he should seek for saintliness and immortality as the remedies to bring life
and salvation.
CHAPTER V.
How calm a monk ought to be.
And so a monk aiming at perfection, and desiring to strive lawfully in his
spiritual combat, should be free from all sin of anger and wrath, and should
listen to the charge which the "chosen vessel" gives him. "Let all anger," says
he, and wrath, and clamour, and evil speaking, be taken away from among you,
with all malice."(1) When he says, "Let all anger be taken away from you," he
excepts none whatever as necessary or useful for us. And if need be, he should at
once treat an erring brother in such a way that, while he manages to apply a
remedy to one afflicted with perhaps a slight fever, he may not by his wrath
involve himself in a more dangerous malady of blindness. For he who wants to heal
another's wound ought to be in good health and free from every affection of
weakness himself, lest that saying of the gospel should be used to him, "Physician,
first heal thyself;"(2) and lest, seeing a mote in his brother's eye, he see
not the beam in his own eye, for how will he see to cast out the mote from his
brother's eye, who has the beam of anger in his own eye?(3)
CHAPTER VI.
Of the righteous and unrighteous passion of wrath.
FROM almost every cause the emotion of wrath boils over, and blinds the
eyes of the soul, and, bringing the deadly beam of a worse disease over the
keenness of our sight, prevents us from seeing the sun of righteousness. It makes no
difference whether gold plates, or lead, or what metal you please, are placed
over our eyelids, the value of the metal makes no difference in our blindness.
CHAPTER VII.
Of the only case in which anger is useful to us.
We have, it must be admitted, a use for anger excellently implanted in us
for which alone it is useful and profitable for us to admit it, viz., when we
are indignant and rage against the lustful emotions of our heart, and are vexed
that the things which we are ashamed to do or say before men have risen up in
the lurking places of our heart, as we tremble at the presence of the angels,
and of God Himself, who pervades all things everywhere, and fear with the utmost
dread the eye of Him from whom the secrets of our hearts cannot possibly be hid.
CHAPTER VIII.
Instances from the life of the blessed David in which anger was rightly felt.
AND at any rate (this is the case), when we are agitated against this very
anger, because it has stolen on us against our brother, and when in wrath we
expel its deadly incitements, nor suffer it to have a dangerous lurking place in
the recesses of our heart. To be angry in this fashion even that prophet
teaches us who had so completely expelled it from his own feelings that he would not
retaliate even on his enemies and those delivered by God into his hands: when
he says "Be ye angry and sin not."(4) For he, when he had longed for water from
the well of Bethlehem, and had been given it by his mighty men, who had
brought it through the midst of the hosts of the enemy, at once poured it out on the
ground: and thus in his anger extinguished the delicious feeling of his desire,
and poured it out to the Lord, without satisfying the longing that he had
expressed, saying: "That be far from me that I should do this! Shall I drink the
blood of those men who went forth on the danger of their souls?"(1) And when
Shimei threw stones at King David and cursed him, in his hearing, before everybody,
and Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, the captain of the host, wished to cut off
his head and avenge the insult to the king, the blessed David moved with pious
wrath against this dreadful suggestion of his, and keeping the due measure of
humility and a strict patience, said with imperturbable gentleness, "What have I
to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? Let him alone that he may curse. For the
Lord hath commanded him to curse David. And who is he who shall dare to say, Why
hast thou done this? Behold my son, who came forth from my loins, seeks my life,
and how much more this son of Benjamin? Let him alone, that he may curse,
according to the command of the Lord. It may be the Lord will look upon my
affliction, and return to me good for this cursing to-day."(2)
CHAPTER IX.
Of the anger which should be directed against ourselves.
AND some are commanded to "be angry" after a wholesome fashion, but with
our own selves, and with evil thoughts that arise, and "not to sin," viz., by
bringing them to a bad issue. Finally, the next verse explains this to be the
meaning more clearly: "The things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them on
your beds:"(8) i.e., whatever you think of in your hearts when sudden and nervous
excitements rush in on you, correct and amend with wholesome sorrow, lying as
it were on a bed of rest, and removing by the moderating influence of counsel
all noise and disturbance of wrath. Lastly, the blessed Apostle, when he made use
of the testimony of this verse, and said, "Be ye angry and sin not," added,
"Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil."(4) If
it is dangerous for the sun of righteousness to go down upon our wrath, and if
when we are angry we straightway give place to the devil in our hearts, how is
it that above he charges us to be angry, saying, "Be ye angry, and sin not"?
Does he not evidently mean this: be ye angry with your faults and your tempers,
lest, if you acquiesce in them, Christ, the sun of righteousness, may on
account of your anger begin to go down on your darkened minds, and when He departs
you may furnish a place for the devil in your hearts?
CHAPTER X.
Of the sun, of which it is said that it should not go down upon your wrath.
AND of this sun God clearly makes mention by the prophet, when He says,
"But to those that fear my name the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing
in His wings."(5) And this again is said to "go down" at midday on sinners and
false prophets, and those who are angry, when the prophet says, "Their sun is
gone down at noon."(6) And at any rate "tropically"(7) the mind, that is the
<greek>nous</greek> or reason, which is fairly called the sun because it looks
over all the thoughts and discernings of the heart, should not be put out by the
sin of anger: lest when it "goes down" the shadows of disturbance, together
with the devil their author, fill all the feelings of our hearts, and, overwhelmed
by the shadows of wrath, as in a murky night, we know not what we ought to do.
In this sense it is that we have brought forward this passage of the Apostle,
handed down to us by the teaching of the elders, because it was needful, even
at the risk of a somewhat lengthy discourse, to show how they felt with regard
to anger, for they do not permit it even for a moment to effect an entrance into
our heart: observing with the utmost care that saying of the gospel:
"Whosoever is angry with his brother is in danger of the judgment."(8) But if it be
lawful to be angry up till sunset, the surfeit of our wrath and the vengeance of
our anger will be able to give full play to passion and dangerous excitement
before that sun inclines towards its setting.(9)
CHAPTER XI.
Of those to whose wrath even the going down of the sun sets no limit.
BUT what am I to say of those (and I cannot say it without shame on my own
part) to whose implacability even the going down of the sun sets no bound: but
prolonging it for several days, and nourishing rancorous feelings against
those against whom they have been excited, they say in words that they are not
angry, but in fact and deed they show that they are extremely disturbed? For they
do not speak to them pleasantly, nor address them with ordinary civility, and
they think that they are not doing wrong m this, because they do not seek to
avenge themselves for their upset. But since they either do not dare, or at any
rate are not able to show their anger openly, and give place to it, they drive in,
to their own detriment, the poison of anger, and secretly cherish it in their
hearts, and silently feed on it in themselves; without shaking off by an effort
of mind their sulky disposition, but digesting it as the days go by, and
somewhat mitigating it after a while.
CHAPTER XII.
How this is the end of temper and anger when a man carries it into act as far
as he can.
BUT it looks as if even this was not the end of vengeance to every one,
but some can only completely satisfy their wrath or sulkiness if they carry out
the impulse of anger as far as they are able; and this we know to be the case
with those who restrain their feelings, not from desire of calming them, but
simply from want of opportunity of revenge. For they can do nothing more to those
with whom they are angry, except speak to them without ordinary civility: or it
looks as if anger was to be moderated only in action, and not to be altogether
rooted out from its hiding place in our bosom: so that, overwhelmed by its
shadows, we are unable not only to admit the light of wholesome counsel and of
knowledge, but also to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, so long as the spirit of
anger dwells in us. For wrath that is nursed in the heart, although it may not
injure men who stand by, yet excludes the splendour of the radiance of the Holy
Ghost, equally with wrath that is openly manifested.
CHAPTER XIII.
That we should not retain our anger even for an instant.
OR how can we think that the Lord would have it retained even for an
instant, since He does not permit us to offer the spiritual sacrifices of our
prayers, if we are aware that another has any bitterness against us: saying, "If then
thou bringest thy gift to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother
hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift at the altar and go thy way; first
be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."(1) How then may
we retain displeasure against our brother, I will not say for several days,
but even till the going down of the sun, if we are not allowed to offer our
prayers to God while he has anything against us? And yet we are commanded by the
Apostle: "Pray without ceasing;"(2) and "in every place lifting up holy hands
without wrath and disputing."(3) It remains then either that we never pray at all,
retaining this poison m our hearts, and become guilty in regard of this
apostolic or evangelic charge, in which we are bidden to pray everywhere and without
ceasing; or else if, deceiving ourselves, we venture to pour forth our prayers,
contrary to His command, we must know that we are offering to God no prayer,
but an obstinate temper with a rebellious spirit.
CHAPTER XIV.
Of reconciliation with our brother.
AND because we often spurn the brethren who are injured and saddened, and
despise them, and say that they were not hurt by any fault of ours, the Healer
of souls, who knows all secrets, wishing utterly to eradicate all opportunities
of anger from our hearts, not only commands us to forgive if we have been
wronged, and to be reconciled with our brothers, and keep no recollection of wrong
or injuries against them, but He also gives a similar charge, that in case we
are aware that they have anything against us, whether justly or unjustly, we
should leave our gift, that is, postpone our prayers, and hasten first to offer
satisfaction to them; and so when our brother's cure is first effected, we may
bring the offering of our prayers without blemish. For the common Lord of all
does not care so much for our homage as to lose in one what He gains in another,
through displeasure being allowed to reign in us. For in any one's loss He
suffers some loss, who desires and looks for the salvation of all His servants in
one and the same way. And therefore our prayer will lose its effect, if our
brother has anything against us, just as much as if we were cherishing feelings of
bitterness against him in a swelling and wrathful spirit.
CHAPTER XV.
How the Old Law would root out anger not only from the actions but from the
thoughts.
BUT why should we spend any more time over evangelic and apostolic
precepts, when even the old law, which is thought to be somewhat slack, guards against
the same thing, when it says, "Thou shall not hate thy brother in thine
heart;" and again, "Be not mindful of the injury of thy citizens;"(1) and again, "The
ways of those who preserve the recollection of wrongs are towards death"?(2)
You see there too that wickedness is restrained not only in action, but also in
the secret thoughts, since it is commanded that hatred be utterly rooted out
from the heart, and not merely retaliation for, but the very recollection of, a
wrong done.
CHAPTER XVI.
How useless is the retirement of those who do not give up their bad manners.
SOMETIMES when we have been overcome by pride or impatience, and we want
to improve our rough and bearish manners, we complain that we require solitude,
as if we should find the virtue of patience there where nobody provokes us: and
we apologize for our carelessness, and say that the reason of our disturbance
does not spring from our own impatience, but from the fault of our brethren.
And while we lay the blame of our fault on others, we shall never be able to
reach the goal of patience and perfection.
CHAPTER XVII.
That the peace of our heart does not depend on another's will, but lies in our
own control.
THE chief part then of our improvement and peace of mind must not be made
to depend on another's will, which cannot possibly be subject to our authority,
but it lies rather in our own control. And so the fact that we are not angry
ought not to result from another's perfection, but from our own virtue, which is
acquired, not by somebody else's patience, but by our own long-suffering.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Of the zeal with which we should seek the desert, and of the things in which
we make progress there.
FURTHER, it is those who are perfect and purified from all faults who
ought to seek the desert, and when they have thoroughly exterminated all their
faults amid the assembly of the brethren, they should enter it not by way of
cowardly flight, but for the purpose of divine contemplation, and with the desire of
deeper insight into heavenly things, which can only be gained in solitude by
those who are perfect. For whatever faults we bring with us uncured into the
desert, we shall find to remain concealed in us and not to be got rid of. For just
as when the character has been improved, solitude can lay open to it the purest
contemplation, and reveal the knowledge of spiritual mysteries to its clear
gaze, so it generally not only preserves but intensifies the faults of those who
have undergone no correction. For a man appears to himself to be patient and
humble, just as long as he comes across nobody in intercourse; but he will
presently revert to his former nature, whenever the chance of any sort of passion
occurs: I mean that those faults will at once appear on the surface which were
lying hid, and, like unbridled horses diligently fed up during too long a time of
idleness, dash forth from the barriers the more eagerly and fiercely, to the
destruction of their charioteer. For when the opportunity for practising them
among men is removed, our faults will more and more increase in us, unless we have
first been purified from them. And the mere shadow of patience, which, when we
mixed with our brethren, we seemed fancifully to possess, at least out of
respect for them and publicity, we lose altogether through sloth and carelessness.
CHAPTER XIX.
An illustration to help in forming an opinion on those who are only patient
when they are not tried by any one.
BUT it is like all poisonous kinds of serpents or of wild beasts, which,
while they remain in solitude and their own lairs, are still not harmless;(3)
for they cannot really be said to be harmless, because they are not actually
hurting anybody. For this results in their case, not from any feeling of goodness,
but from the exigencies of solitude, and when they have secured an opportunity
of hurting some one, at once they produce the poison stored up in them, and
show the ferocity of their nature. And so in the case of men who are aiming at
perfection, it is not enough not to be angry with men. For we recollect that when
we were living in solitude a feeling of irritation would creep over us against
our pen because it was too large or too small; against our penknife when it cut
badly and with a blunt edge what we wanted cut; and against a flint if by
chance when we were rather late and hurrying to the reading, a spark of fire
flashed out, so that we could not remove and get rid of our perturbation of mind
except by cursing the senseless matter, or at least the devil. Wherefore for a
method of perfection it will not be of any use for there to be a dearth of men
against whom our anger might be roused: since, if patience has not already been
acquired, the feelings of passion which still dwell in our hearts can equally well
spend themselves on dumb things and paltry objects, and not allow us to gain a
continuous state of peacefulness, or to be free from our remaining faults:
unless perhaps we think that some advantage and a sort of cure may be gained for
our passion from the fact that inanimate and speechless things cannot possibly
reply to our curses and rage, nor provoke our ungovernable temper to break out
into a worse madness of passion.
CHAPTER XX.
Of the way in which auger should be banished according to the gospel.
WHEREFORE if we wish to gain the substance of that divine reward of which
it is said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,"(1) we
ought not only to banish it from our actions, but entirely to root it out from our
inmost soul. For it will not be of any good to have checked anger in words, and
not to have shown it in deeds, if God, from whom the secrets of the heart are
not hid, sees that it remains in the secret recesses of our bosom. For the word
of the gospel bids us destroy the roots of our faults rather than the fruits;
for these, when the incitements are all removed, will certainly not put forth
shoots any more; and so the mind will be able to continue in all patience and
holiness, when this anger has been removed, not from the surface of acts and
deeds, but from the very innermost thoughts. And, therefore to avoid the commission
of murder, anger and hatred are cut off, without which the crime of murder
cannot possibly be committed. For "whosoever is angry with his brother, is in
danger of the judgment;"(2) and "whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer;"(3) viz., because in his heart he desires to kill him,
whose blood we know that he has certainly not shed among men with his own hand
or with a weapon; yet, owing to his burst of anger, he is declared to be a
murderer by God, who renders to each man, not merely for the result of his actions,
but for his purpose and desires and wishes, either a reward or a punishment;
according to that which He Himself says through the prophet: "But I come that I
may gather them together with all nations and tongues;"(4) and again:(5) "Their
thoughts between themselves accusing or also defending one another, in the day
when God shall judge the secrets of men."(6)
CHAPTER XXI.
Whether we ought to admit the addition of "without a cause," in that which is
written in the Gospel, "whosoever is angry with his brother," etc.
BUT you should know that in this, which is found in many copies,
"Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, is in danger of the judgment,"(7)
the words "without a cause" are superfluous, and were added by those who did
not think that anger for just causes was to be banished: since certainly nobody,
however unreasonably he is disturbed, would say that he was angry without a
cause. Wherefore it appears to have been added by those who did not understand the
drift of Scripture, which intended altogether to banish the incentive to
anger, and to reserve no occasion whatever for indignation; lest while we were
commanded to be angry with a cause, an opportunity for being angry without a cause
might occur to us. For the end and aim of patience consists, not in being angry
with a good reason, but in not being angry at all. Although I know that by some
this very expression, "without a cause," is taken to mean that he is angry
without a cause who when he is angered is not allowed to seek for vengeance. But
it is better so to take it as we find it written in many modern copies and all
the ancient ones.
CHAPTER XXII.
The remedies by which we can root out anger from our hearts.
WHEREFORE the athlete of Christ who strives lawfully ought thoroughly to
root out the feeling of wrath. And it will be a sure remedy for this disease, if
in the first place we make up our mind that we ought never to be angry at all,
whether for good or bad reasons: as we know that we shall at once lose the
light of discernment, and the security of good counsel, and our very uprightness,
and the temperate character of righteousness, if the main light of our heart
has been darkened by its shadows: next, that the purity of our soul will
presently be clouded, and that it cannot possibly be made a temple for the Holy Ghost
while the spirit of anger resides in us; lastly, that we should consider that we
ought never to pray, nor pour out our prayer to God, while we are angry. And
above all, having before our eyes the uncertain condition of mankind, we should
realize daily that we are soon to depart from the body, and that our continence
and chastity, our renunciation of all our possessions, our contempt of wealth,
our efforts in fastings and vigils will not help us at all, if solely on
account of anger and hatred eternal punishments are awarded to us by the judge of
the world.