Treatise XXXVI

ON THE VARIOUS WAYS IN WHICH SATAN WARS

AGAINST THOSE WHO TREAD THE NARROW WAY

WHICH IS ABOVE THE WORLD

Our enemy Satan has also other methods, when he cun- ningly proposes to attack those who engage themselves in this strife. His way of warfare varies according to their character and in relation to their personal tendencies.

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As to those whom he sees to be of a weak will and of feeble thought he combates them vehemently from the be- ginning by submitting them to heavy and terrible temptations, in order to make them taste the nature of his evil from the very beginning of the way. In this way he intends to instill into them a horror of the first battle so that this way shall appear to them difficult to walk. And if the beginning is very 270 difficult, who could endure to the end, facing all the battles which are ranged in the middle? Thus they will not again venture to withstand him or to look for other help, on account of their being totally occupied with the thought of his attacks. And when he has pressed them a little vehemently they take to flight. Or better: God lets him oppress them, without hel- ping them in any way because they have engaged in the battle of the Lord, with a cold heart and hesitatingly. Cursed is every- one who performs the work of the Lord without diligence, retaining his hand from bloodshed. But also : His help is near those who fear Him ] ) ; and He commands that we should not meet the foe with a cold and fearful heart. Begin to destroy him and to wage war with him and I will begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven 2 ).

If thou doest not voluntarily die to the senses for the sake of the love of God, thou wilt die intellectually away from God, against thy will. That which belongs to thy lot thou shalt not refuse to take upon thee willingly, though it is connected with temporary suffering ; afterwards thou shalt enter the glory of God. If thou perishest bodily in the strife of the Lord, the Lord will even crown thee ; and to thy thriumphant limbs He will attribute the honour of the martyrs.

So, as I have ,said above, if they have not girded them- selves up from the beginning and strengthened themselves and vowed themselves to death, then they will appear to be inferior in all battles, especially because God overlooks their relaxa- tion 3 ) in that they trie to accomplish the work of the Lord in 271 a frivolous and tentative way. And even Satan knows them from the beginning, examining what their thoughts are : pusil- lanimous, loving themselves, even sparing their body. So he persecutes them like a hurrycane, because he does not find in

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them the intelligible power which he usually finds in the trium- phant. As a man's will tends towards God, for whose sake he loves labours, so God will send him His help and show him Mis care. For it is not possible for Satan to approach unto anyone or to bring forward his temptations, except by permis- sion of the godhead ; or else that his will has become relaxed and he has given himself to impure thoughts and to distraction ; or because doubt has taken hold of him. Concerning such persons Satan does not ask [permission] to try them as in the case of those who are perfect and great •, as to the latter he knows that they are not given over into his hand. For he knows that it is not possible that the power of God's care be withdrawn from them. Fxcept because of one of the causes mentioned.

This is one way in which the foe makes war. As to those whose will he sees to be vigorous and who reckon death as nothing and who have begun with keen zeal giving themselves over to every temptation and to death, and who trample upon life and the world and the body with its temptations — thees 272 he does not meet at the outset, nor does he usually show himself to them. But he withdraws himself and gives way to them. He neither encounters them with his principal force nor does he enter into battle with them. For he knows that the beginning of battles is usually hot and the antagonist is zealous and zealous champions are seldom vanquished.

This method he follows, not because he is afraid of them, but of that divine power which sets them ablaze through the forces working in them till they begin to emit it through their own will in full confidence. But he leaves them for some time till their zeal is abating and their attention is withdrawn from the exercise of the weapon for which they had trained them- selves and with which they had armed their mind, viz. different divine words and profitable and strengthening recollections ; and thus awaits the time of negligence. And when the first thoughts have abated somewhat, how often will they find within themselves occasions of defeat on account of allurements that have their origin in the mind. They dig a ditch in themselves through the distraction of thoughts that arise in their mind through tediousness, through which a chill overpowers them.

It is not spontaneous when Satan acts thus, delaying the time of battle ; for neither when he spares them nor when he

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withdraws himself from them, does he account them nothing. But I think that a certain power surrounds those who are blazing with fervour unto God and who have begun in a youthful way, without forethought, confiding in Him on account

273 of their faith, without knowing however against whom they have to fight. Therefore he conceals his evil nature from them, ap- proaching not near. For his nature is checked by the guardian which he sees with them continually. Now if they do not cast away the causes of profit : beseeching, labours and humbleness, the helper will never withdraw Himself from them. The love of comfort is a cause of [God's] withdrawal. But if they ad- here to these [works] sedulously, they will never be destitute of help and the foe will not be allowed to approach them. And if [God] witdraws himself from time to time, this is for the sake of training. For while the holy force governs and accompanies them, they do not fear seducers; the mind is full of courage and therefore it despises them. But He trains them as a man who teaches swimming to a little boy ; as soon as he begins to sink, the teacher lifts him up, for the boy swims upon the hands of his teacher. And when the courage of the boy begins to diminish, from fear that he will be drowned, the man who supports him with his hands, cries : be not afraid, I support thee. Or, as a mother who teaches her little child to walk, places him at a distance from her and calls him; but when the boy will go to his mother on those little tottering feet of his, they tremble on account of their weakness. 1 hen when the boy is about to fall, the mother will run and take him

274 in her arms. So God's grace will bear up and train the children of man, namely those who trust themselves clearly and simply to the hands of Him that created them and who with their whole heart turn from the world and follow Him.

And thou, O man, who hast begun to follow God, recollect perpetually during thy whole struggle the beginning and that first zeal at the outset' of the way and the fervent thoughts with which thou didst leave thy former life and range thyself in the order of battle. And examine thyself every day [in order to state] whether the fervour of thy soul has abated in compa- rison with the zeal with which thou wert blazing. Or whether thou lackest any weapon with which thou wert girded at the beginning of thy struggle. And elevate constantly thy voice in the camp and encourage those of the right hand with familiar

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thoughts. And show the opposite party that thou art awake. And if thou meetest impetuosity in the beginning-, because the temptator will frighten thee, do not then relax. Perhaps this will be profitable to thee.

It is not without reason that thy saviour permits anything unto thee but only when He has foreseen it and ordered it to thy profit. Show thou no relaxation from the beginning • for if thou shouldst show relaxation here, thou wouldst not be able to withstand what follows : hunger, sickness, fearful sights and so on. Do not turn into its opposite the intention of Him that commands thee to fight, which serves to thy profit, lest

275 thy foe find thee as he hopes to find thee. But cry unto God unceasingly and weep before His grace and weary thyself out with beseeching, till He sends thee a helper. And if thou once seest the saviour who is with thee, thou wilt no more be van- quished by thy foe who is standing before thee.

Thus far these two kinds of strife.

Another way in which Satan makes war against those who are girded.

When after all this Satan is still opposed by a man without being able to overpower him in battle, or rather his helper, for whose sake man resists him, and who helps and streng- thens him to such an extent that he who is compact flesh and body vanquishes him that is spiritual and unbodily — when Satan sees all the help which that man receives from God so that his outward senses are not vanquished by sights and sounds nor his thoughts weakened by excitations and allure- ments, nay he even despises the blows they give him, then he seeks for a means to separate that man from the angel that helps him, or rather he purposes to blind the mind of him that is helped so that he is left without support.

So he stirs that man's thoughts of presumption namely those of [imaginary! strength, so that he thinks his mind the cause of all this vigour and of the glorious wealth which he possesses in his soul. His preservation from all these obstacles, sad, un-

276 speakable, and bloodthirsty, he sometimes ascribes to accident, sometimes to their being weak. I do not mention other things the bare recollection of which makes the soul shiver on account of their blasphemous nature.

It also happens that he advances his betrayal insidiously under the appearance of divine revelations. During sleep he

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imparts information and in the state of waking he assumes the likeness of an angel of light. And all this [is of such a nature] that, should a man surrender to it even to a small extent, he will become its victim. But if a man be wise and keep his thoughts under control, or rather if God helps him and he fixes the gaze of his heart on heaven in order to turn away from incantators, then the foe plans another kind of war. This is the only one left to him now ; and because it has some affinity to nature he expects the more that man will be en- tangled in it. What is it? He contrives in all manner of ways to set man in contact with those things through which he usually becomes guilty on account of his nature. The mind of the warrior namely becomes blinded by sight of and contact with [worldly] things, and it is easily vanquished in battle when it is near them, especially when they are ranged before his eyes. The clever one knows this cunning thoroughly on account of his experience with many valiant champions who were van- 277 quished through it. Therefore he prepares this means cunningly. And when it is not of a nature to be practised because of the [warrior's] utter solitude and his dwelling far from things that cause [sin], then he contrives to bring it near him through phantasy. So he shows him fallacious images in the habit of reality, in order that by these visions he be rendered desirous and incited to conceive impure thoughts and become guilty and to alienate Him that helps him. For Satan knows that the solitary's victory and defeat, his treasure and his help and all that belongs to him, depends upon deliberation, and that, if deliberation be moved from its place, one short moment is able to throw him down from the nest of life on to the earth, if his will be pointed in this direction for even a moment only. Thus it has happened to many of the saints that he showed them the image of a beautiful woman.

Those who dwelt at a distance of one or two or even ten parasangs from the inhabited world he did indeed contrive to bring in contact with a woman. But to those, to whom he could not do this on account of their distant dwellingplace being too far oft", he showed the images of womanly beauty by appearing to them, now in splendid dress and finery and in a seducing aspect, now even in the form of a naked woman. Some of the solitaries he overpowered by these means and the like, some by real seduction, some by things of the ima-

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gination which brought about their fall l ) through the relaxation of their deliberations; so they fell down into the abyss of des- pondency and turned unto the world, cutting themselves off from heavenly hope.

Others however who were steadfast and illuminated by grace,

2 /S have vanquished him and his fantastic representations and trampled upon bodily pleasures ; and they have been found to be elected by the love of God.

Often also he represents to them images of gold and precious things as treasures that were hidden somewhere. It even happens that he shows them these things in reality, expecting that by one of these various [artifices] it will be possible to impede some one of the solitaries so as to bar his course through his being" entangled m one of the snares of his nets. Lead me not, o Lord, into these temptations ; for even the strong and the elect scarcely pass this gate victorious.

The seducer is allowed to make war upon the saints in all these ways of temptation, in order that the love of God which is in them may be proved under these circumstances; namely, whether they are friends of God and whether they adhere to His love because [worldly] things are at a distance, far off and absent ; or whether they love God really, so as to make war on and to despise these things even when present, without being vanquished and without giving up their love of God through the allurements of those temptations. This does not happen that they may be known to God through these [temp- tations], but to the Devil, who is very desirous of recognizing them, if possible. As he also said concerning Job, asking God about him : Doth Job fear God for nought 2 ) ? If then a little negligence creeps in, the temptator approaches with authority in accordance with the power he has over them. Then the unjust appears in the desire which these things excite in him.

279 And through these things those are proved who are strong in their love of Him, those who despise all these things, which in their eyes are counted as nothing in comparison with the love of God. In this they are humble, ascribing merits only to Him who strengthens all and who is the cause of their victory and into His hands they entrust the battle. For Thou art the

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powerful, and the battle is Thine. Fight, o Lord, and be vic- torious on our behalf.

Then they are tested by these things as gold in the furnace. But those who are untrustworthy are recognized there through those trials, and thrown out as refuse. They give way to their foe and have to leave the battle, defeated through the relaxa- tion of their mind, or perhaps through their haughtiness which has made them unworthy of that strong power which is always ready to help the saints.

For never to be defeated is the power of Him that helps us, the omnipotent, the almighty, the victorious at all times whenever Pie descends into the body of mortals to fight for them. But it is manifest that those who are defeated, are defeated without Him. They are those whose will is stripped of Him because of their injustrice, who are not worthy of that power which is the support of the victorious. They also per- ceive at the time of battle that they lack the usual strength, which they found in themselves in all hot and difficult battles. How do they perceive this? They see in themselves that their defeat gives them comfort and that the hardships of strife are 280 difficult for them to bear, hardships under which at all times they were wonted to win a clear victory. And the emotions of zeal which at such times used to stir nature vigorously and which were strengthened by a fiery heat — they do not find them in themselves.

Now those who are shaken from their foundation are terri- fied not only by these and the like struggles, but even by the sound of the leaves of the trees L ), and give way and renounce and turn their back under light trouble, for hunger or slight illness. The true and elect, however, do not even satisfy their hunger with herbs and vegetables. But, feeding upon drugs and dry stubble, even then they are not to be persuaded to open their mouth for food, before the fixed time. Lying on the earth, with an emaciated body and eyes blinded 2 ) on account of bodily weakness , their soul near their mouth 3 ) through tribulation, even then they do not give way so as to be vanquished and give up their firm will. I ; or it is more delightful for them to be troubled for the sake of love, with

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labours for excellency, than to possess temporal life and all its comforts. So, when adversities approach them, they rejoice; for they know that these will lead them to perfection. And not only have they no doubt of the love of Christ in spite of the bodily tortures they have to suffer, but it would be delightful 281 even to bear for His sake loss of life ; even then they would not separate themselves from Him.

XXXVll

ON THE THINGS THE EXACT USE OF WHICH I HAVE LEARNT BY THE KNOWLEDGE OF DISCERNMENT

Having been tested many times by things of the right and by things of the left, and examined myself in these two states many times, and received innumerable blows from the opposi- tion, and been deemed worthy of important, hidden support, and having continued the examination of myself during a range of years, I have learnt by experience that the principles of all good things and the regaining of the soul from the captivity of the enemies, and the way towards life and light, consist in two things : abiding in one and the same place, and constant fasting. This means : that a man, being wise, shall lay down a fair law for his belly, by untroubled, constant sitting [alone]. Proceeding from here he will reach the subduing of the senses; further : watchfulness of mind ; further : tranquillizing of brutish passions stirring in the body. Further: quiet thoughts. Further: enlightened impulses of the spirit. Further : application to ex- cellent works. Further : high and subtle insights. Further : im- measurable tears at all times. Further : watchful chastity, without any connection with the experience of the image in the spirit. 282 Further : a quick and far gaze. Further : a deep intelligence, penetrating and attaining to the hidden things in all depths, the power of words and the hidden motions in the soul ; and the distinctions of spirits and holy powers ; of true sight and deceitful images. Further : fear of the [many] ways and tracks in the sea of the spirit — fear that cuts off negligence ; and blazing zeal which tramples upon all dangers and sets its foot upon all things feared ; and fervour despising all desires and effacing from the mind the recollection of all transitory things ;

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and many other things. In brief: the liberation of true man and the renewal of the soul and the resurrection with Christ in the kingdom, away from here.

He that neglects these two 1 ), should know that he not only bereaves himself of these, but that he shakes the foundation of all virtues by despising these two. And as the beginning of all other virtues in the soul is formed by these principles of all divine service, which are the gate and the way unto Christ, for him that takes hold of them and sticks to them, so the deviation and the departure from them towards those which are their opposite, I mean distraction of the body and a lawless belly, constitute in the soul a place for the beginning of all things contrary to those mentioned above. And also this attitude takes its source in one action, viz. in the fact that the submissive senses are first freed from the bonds of lonely dwelling. And what are the consequences? Unexpected, impure 283 contact; threatening danger of falling ■ agitation and heavy billows stirred by sensible sight; almighty flames kindled in the body; small spiritual shortcomings; uncontrollable delibe- rations, prone to falling; lack of love of service; gradual for- getting of the distinctions of solitude ; complete negligence of the canons of behaviour; renewal of former things which had become effaced, and instruction concerning other new things, unknown before and caused by audition on various and per- petually recurring occasions and by a multitude of unintentional cases of sight, presenting themselves on account of perpetual travelling from country to country and from place to place. All this has the effect that those affections which by God's grace were already slumbering in the soul on account of the oblivion into which obliterated recollections had passed, begin to be stirred into motion anew, forcing the soul to work. And there are yet other [injuries] which I will not mention all of them; taking their origin in that first one, they are let loose against the miserable one, and he has to bear them.

And what is the second fault? This, that he begins to re- semble the swines in his deeds. What is it that the swines do ? They do not check their belly, filling it at all times without having an hour fixed for food, as rational beings have.

And what further? From this comes heavy sleep, great

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284 bodily heaviness and a slackening of the shoulders •, the com- pulsion to desist from services, aversion to the inclinations [ ) connected with them ; contempt of the usual prostrations, dark- ness and coldness of spirit ; a dull mind that does not distin- guish, confusedness and great darkness of deliberations ; thick clouds and obscurity spread over the whole soul ; great dejec- tion concerning every godly work, also concerning recitation [of the scriptures], originating therein that the sweetness of the sense of the words is not tasted ; frequent neglect of necessary things ; an uncontrolled mind, made blunt by wandering through the whole world, many humours gathered in the limbs; impure phantasies during the whole night, consisting in sordid repre- sentations and unclean voluptuous images, which cling to the soul and act in it according to their impure pleasure -, and a cover and a body wholly defiled by the large stream of shame- ful things flowing from [the body] as from a fountain. And this does not happen at night only, but also by day the body sends forth [this stream constantly], defiling the mind thereby.

And on account of these things, [the solitary] disavows his chastity. Sweet allurements working in the whole body with unbearable and incessant heat ; exciting deliberations full of beautiful faces representing them before him lasciviously and perpetually and thereby seducing him •, a mind delivering itself unhesitatingly to intercourse with them, joining itself with them in longing and meditation, because its distinctive faculty has

285 been blinded ; all this is what has been said by one of the great philosophers : he that provides his body with many things, exposes his soul to penury. And though he recollects his soul now and then, trying to compel himself, yet it is impossible for him to keep his soul under control because of the hot emotions in the body which by the power of their allurements, forcibly captivate the soul, according to their pleasure. As the clever and acute Mar Diodorus of Tarsus says : to support the body in softness and luxury, quickly imparts to the soul a sensation of suffering, so that death becomes to it something deplorable and God's judgment is thought of with fear. The soul, however, that constantly thinks of becoming things, is quiet in its being ; it has small solicitude, as it feels no grief.

Care for excellence is the driver of the affections, the guardian

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of excellence, a secure education, joy without solicitude, a good life and a safe port. Bodily luxury strengthens the affections and makes them dominant upon the soul, nay they even totally eradicate it. And apart from all this, it inflames the belly on account of wantonness and lack of rules as to hours. Yet [the solitary] does not wish that gradually the passion of hunger should gain power over his soul which in a compulsory way could be brought by it under the dominion of the affections.

These are the fruits that come forth from the shameful [passions] of the belly; and these are the fruits produced by

286 the lack of power to cling to one spot in peace. As now our foe, who follows us constantly, knows that on these two occa- sions nature is usually capable of being troubled and affected with passion to a higher degree and also the mind easier to be perflexed through sensible vision and the comfort of the belly, therefore he contrives to surpass nature, and at these times casts into the mind different haughty deliberations in order to strengthen the power of passion over nature, if pos- sible, by a more intense flame, and so ruin a man utterly.

Just as our foe knows these times, it is, therefore, necessary for us to know them also as well as our own weakness and the [want of] strength of our nature which is not able to with- stand the vehement emotions of those times nor the delibera- tions subtle as the dust of the earth which are before our eyes so that we cannot see ourselves nor remain upright before fate.

By such experiences on many occasions we have miserably learnt from our foe to be prudent henceforth and not to allow ourselves to relax so that we indulge in the desire of conso- lation or to be defeated by hunger however we may be incited by it ; or to be removed from the place of our solitude unto a place safe against such accidents, thinking out reasons and devising means for turning our back to the desert. Such thoughts are manifest machinations of Satan. But if thou remainest in the desert, thou wilt not be tested. For thou seest no woman

287 in the desert nor anything that does harm to thy behaviour, nor [doest thou hear] evil sounds. What hast thou to do with the ways of Egypt and with drinking water from the Nile? Understand what I say. Show thy foe thy training by enduring small things : then he will not demand great things from thee. Constantly thou shalt have to keep the laws of these small things, thereby throwing before his feet a bait, namely, in the

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struggle concerning them. So he will not have rest from them, so as to have occasion to set up dangerous snares for thee in secret.

How is it possible that he should persuade a man, who is not to be persuaded to go five steps outside the door of his hut, to leave the desert or to approach unto the town ? And he that can not be induced to look through his window from the place of his reclusion, how should he persuade him to leave it? He who is not to be persuaded to take food in the late evening being desirous of vigils, how is it possible that his deliberations should be excited so as to begin [his meals] before the appointed time? And how is it possible that he should induce as to important matters him who was even ashamed to satisfy [his hunger] by contemptible food? And how can he allure towards foreign beauty him, that even re- fused to look at his own body? First man is vanquished by small things when he despises them and then he causes him- self to be driven towards serious ones. But how can he deter from troubles that lead to death him who loves [death], and does not care in the least to continue temporary life? Thus is the war carried on with understanding : the wise do not allow their foe to invite them to great struggles. But the endurance which they show in small things, preserves them from falling while they perform large works. First the [solitary] desists from constant prayer consisting in beseechings of the spirit, and then he persuades him to despise canonical prayer [performed] by the body at fixed times.

Firstly deliberation is relaxed, so that, within a short time, it gives way in insignificant and small things. And when it has given up its endurance, it will trespass in a wanton way.

Firstly the solitary will be vanquished, or rather: it will be a trifling thing in his eyes to look at his naked body or to contemplate the beauty of each of his limbs, without clothes •, or he will loose control over his senses in a vile way when he goes to fulfill a bodily want ; or he will daringly and un- blushingly introduce his hand within his clothes and touch his body; and then one thing and another will happen to him. As soon as the watchfulness of his spirit relaxes, showing negligence in any of these things, the gate towards serious offences will be open for him.

Our deliberations are as water, as is well known. As long

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as they are confined on all sides, they proceed in their [right] order. If they once find a small outlet, however, they escape through it, causing breaches and ruins. For the subtle one who is spying us and waiting, sitting night and day before our

2g 9 nostrils and looking which gate will be opened for him in any of our senses or in which of the things enumerated there will appear any foulness — - he will of a sudden direct against us his weapons. Sometimes it will be our own nature which loves consolation and evil intercourse, and frivolity and pleasure and relaxation, which is a fountain of affections and a sea of agi- tation. Sometimes it will be our foe. Let us therefore vary great labours and circumstances perilous with ruin, with slight labours, that we may show in these small ones which are nothing, that they may give rise to important struggles if they are neglected, and to labours whose accomplishment is difficult, and to intricate battles and to large ulcers. Who would not like to have a quiet sleep at a small expense ?

O wisdom, how admirable art thou! And how thou doest foresee all things from afar! Blessed is every one who has found thee, who has been liberated from the torpidity of youth that buys great detriment with a slight negligence. One of the sages says beautifully, that once he was suddenly struck by emotion so that thereupon he straightway sat down, for a mere fortuitous thing, which was not of a nature to cause fear. For this, some one in a light mood laughed at him. He answered and said : Not of this am I afraid. I am afraid of the expe-

290 rienced fact that often negligence as to small things causes danger of great ones. So, by my emotion and my sitting straightway down, I have proved concerning myself that I am awake ; and also that further on I will not neglect those things which are not to be feared.

For philosophy is this that a man gather great consolation for his soul by the attention he bestows on trifling things ; that he will not slumber ere fate come and reach him ; but that he will take in hand the previous things and will buy that which is of importance, in exchange for a thing which will cause injury, a little before [this happens]. Fools attach a greater value to a little consolation which is near, than to a kingdom which is far. It is better to bear tortures in probity, than to relax on a comfortable royal bed in shameful baseness. For the sages prefer death to disdain on account of neglect in

Vcrh. Afd. I.ctterk. T922 (Wcnsmclc). ij

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affairs. Wake for thy life, says a philosopher; for drowsiness of mind is cognate to real death. The divine philosopher Basi- lius says : he that is weak in small things, do not believe that he will be trustworthy in great ones. Do not shrink from dying for the sake of those things for which thou wilt live.