Synkletike

ON ST. SYNCLETICA, SUPERIOR OF THE SACRED VIRGINS.

Under Constantine the Great.

Syncletica, Virgin of Alexandria (St.)

[1] A celebrated commemoration of the Egyptian Virgin Syncletica exists in the Roman Martyrology on the 5th of January: "At Alexandria, St. Syncletica, whose remarkable deeds St. Athanasius committed to the written record." St. Syncletica is venerated by the Greeks on January 4. On this same day Molanus also records her in his Additions to Usuard. But the Greeks venerate her on the 4th of January. The Menologion: "On the same day, the commemoration of St. Encletica the Virgin." The Menaea display this summary of her life:

"Syncletica, abandoning the servitude of life, Lives among the elect, a servant of God, in heaven."

She was born of an illustrious family, renowned for her wealth and piety toward God. Because of the splendor of her birth and the abundance of her riches, she was sought by many as a bride and wife; but she was carried with her whole desire toward God. Whence, at length, having renounced all worldly cares, she devoted herself entirely to religious exercises and studies. But having encountered the adversary as her enemy, before she was released from the bonds of the body, she was already making her pilgrimage in spirit to God. Toward the end of her life, however, she was harassed by the enemy of the human race. For just as the great Job, she struggled with enormous bodily diseases, and her body was consumed by wounds and scars. She died when she had reached the age of eighty; during which very time she never relaxed anything of the customary exercises of her former life, but from the very contest of her labors she departed to the Lord.

[2] The Life written by St. Athanasius. The great Athanasius wrote the life of St. Syncletica, as Nicephorus testifies, book 8, chapter 40, so that just as women might have in this writing, so in that other work (the Life of Anthony) men might have, an institute to follow set forth as in a handbook. Baronius laments that this life had perished, not without grave loss to the whole Christian world. Translated into Latin by David Colville. But it was at last found in the Escorial, the library of the Catholic King, and was rendered into Latin by David Colville, a Scot, and by him transmitted to our Andreas Scottus, among whose papers I found it -- but, to my regret, copied incorrectly in various places by the hand of a boy. I shall therefore present it here. From this Life various apophthegms of St. Syncletica are reported in the Lives of the Fathers, which we have noted in their proper places. Our Jacobus Pontanus, together with the works of Simeon the Younger the Theologian, once published some ascetical chapters by several other authors on the discipline of monks, and among them ten from the Life of St. Syncletica, which we shall indicate in their proper places.

We shall treat below on this very day of another Syncletica the Virgin, and there also of a third celebrated by Coelius Sedulius.

LIFE,

BY ST. ATHANASIUS,

TRANSLATED BY DAVID COLVILLE.

Syncletica, Virgin of Alexandria (St.)

By St. Athanasius.

Preface.

[1] All people ought to devote themselves to good pursuits, and if they cultivated their lives thereby, they would not be so subject to losses. For many useful things often remain hidden from the simple, because of their inexperience of things, since their minds have already been dulled by indolence. And often precious pearls fall into the hands of the poor and lowly, Syncletica, a pearl unknown to many. who have never had any knowledge of pearls and despise and cast them away as things of no worth. So too, when we came upon this pearl, being of simple and inexperienced mind, we conceived nothing great of it, attending only to the outward appearance. How far, I confess, we were from knowing the value and dignity of this gem! And when we had begun to be instructed a little about it, a certain love seemed to kindle from heaven our zeal for more diligently considering what we had only taken in with our eyes; and indeed the very progress that we were happily making day by day in our knowledge of her animated us to further labor.

[2] But why should I lead anyone astray among those whom we know to be living? Rather let me count myself among those who had not yet known or published anything about the venerable Syncletica. For to narrate her life, I scarcely think all the powers of human eloquence could suffice; Her value is beyond telling. so that if some man, however wise and most versed in speaking and in the knowledge of things, should undertake this task, how far, I think, would he fall short of his intended goal. For just as those who strive too persistently to gaze at the rays of the sun thereby increasingly impair their vision, so too those who attempt to behold the life and deeds of Syncletica should not be surprised if, seized as by a vertigo from the magnitude of her accomplishments, they feel confusion in their minds.

[3] Whence Athanasius received these things. But we, tracing as it were through certain footprints with our slender ability, what we received in summary from those who were her contemporaries about the first period of her life, and what we drew from the events themselves, have approached the writing with this intention: that we might store up these salutary feasts for ourselves. For to write her deeds worthily would be not only ton adynaton (among things impossible) for us, but exceedingly difficult for anyone else.

CHAPTER I.

The family and youth of St. Syncletica.

[4] She is from Macedonia. Syncletica (as if in Latin we were to say "senatorial," taking the name from the heavenly Senate) is a native of Macedonia. For her ancestors, when they heard the fame of the religion of the Alexandrians, left their native soil and made for Alexandria, which was once founded by Alexander the Macedonian. When they had stayed a little while at Alexandria and found everything greater than its reputation, they began to inhabit it with zeal -- captivated not by the throng of the populace nor the pleasantness of the city, but with a uniform faith and sincere charity, they established a second homeland in their sojourn at Alexandria.

[5] She was illustrious in family and nobility of blood, Noble by birth. and adorned with other advantages and goods of a pious life, this Syncletica of ours. She had one sister and two brothers united in spirit, of whom the one departed this life at the very threshold of boyhood, and the other, about the age of twenty-five, having been destined for marriage by his parents, with the tablets drawn up in the customary fashion and all other things prepared for the wedding, being about to take a bride as a young man, flew from his cage and exchanged an earthly bride for the spotless company of the Saints.

[6] Pious from her tender years. But Syncletica, while she still clung in her parents' arms, had begun in her tender age to imbue her spirit with true piety; nor did she spend as much care on tending the body as on the soul, since she observed all the movements of her mind.

[7] She is sought by suitors. Moreover, she was of most beautiful form, so that many courted her for marriage from her earliest years, attracted by her wealth, by the honor of her parents, and by the beauty of the girl. And her parents also earnestly urged her to marry, since they had placed in her the preservation of their family line. But she, by no means yielding to the counsels of her parents, remained firm in spirit: admitting these worldly marriages only with the tip of her ear, she was thinking of heavenly nuptials; and, scorning the band of suitors, she chose Jesus Christ alone as her heavenly bridegroom. She rejects them.

[8] In Syncletica one may see a genuine disciple of the blessed Thecla,* who walked in the same footsteps. One was the suitor of both, namely Christ; one the sponsor and groomsman, namely Paul; the same the common bridal bed, namely the Church. The epithalamium was sung by the Prophet David himself, Compared to St. Thecla. who in rightly sounding cymbals loves to delight most harmoniously the souls consecrated to God and to modulate the most excellent songs with timbrels and the ten-stringed harp. Miriam, the sister of Moses, led the chorus in the dance, singing: "Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously" Exodus 15:1. The dishes were also set in the midst of those feasting: "Come," he says, "taste and see that the Lord is sweet" Psalm 34:9. Finally, the same was the weaving and warp of the bridal veils for both. Galatians 3:27 For "whoever has been baptized in Christ has put on Christ." Whence the love of both toward Christ was uniform, because, endowed with the same gifts, they devoted themselves to the same pursuits. The martyrdoms of Thecla are known to all -- through fires, through wild beasts, and through what torments was she not tortured? Nor do I think the praiseworthy sweat and labors of Syncletica are less known. For since one and the same Beloved was the bridegroom of both, namely Christ the Lord, it follows that the same was the adversary of both, namely the devil. But in Thecla I believe the torments were more moderate, since the malice of the adversary seemed to rage against her body only and in outward things; but in Syncletica, against the mind and the interior -- and therefore all the more bitter, since he stirred up the battle through pernicious thoughts of the mind.

[9] She overcomes all enticements. But never did the splendor of garments bewitch the eyes of Syncletica; never did the brilliance of gems derange her mind; never did music enchant her ears; neither Tyrian purple nor delicacies could break the tenor of her spirit; neither the tears of her parents could soften her, nor the prayers of her kindred bend her. But with the adamantine vigor of her mind she turned away the outward currents of the senses from all these things, and closed the doors as it were, dealing in secret with her interior, new Bridegroom, whom she had already chosen, and she sang to him that solemn song: Song of Songs 2:16 "My Beloved is mine and I am his." And when pestilent conversations or any unwholesome associations presented themselves, she diligently avoided them, collecting herself to the inner sanctuaries of her heart; but when something salutary was being done or spiritual admonitions were being discussed, she often recalled them in her memory and delighted her mind with the recollection of them.

[10] Devoted to abstinence. As for the body, she was not forgetful of that salutary medicine which consists in abstinence, for she had made it very familiar and habitual to herself. She always desired to be equal to the rest, for she considered abstinence to be the guardian and foundation of all other virtues. And when pressing necessity sometimes required that something be taken outside the customary time, she would not only not take anything, but would abstain entirely and remain among those who were not eating. Whence her face was pale and the mass of her body was diminished. For when that which moves fails, what is moved must necessarily also be altered; for however the principle is constituted, the rest that depends upon it follows almost entirely and bears witness to its principles. For those to whom food is supplied with relish and abundantly have a florid bodily habit; but those from whom it is subtracted have a thin and meager one. For the infirm bear witness to what I say. Therefore the blessed Syncletica took care to be worn down in body and to flourish in spirit. For she acted according to what the Apostle said: 2 Corinthians 4:16 "The more the outer man is weakened, the more the inner man is renewed." And when she exercised herself, she did so in secret, so as to escape the notice of others.

* On her, see September 23.

CHAPTER II.

The illustrious first stages of religious life.

[11] When her parents had already departed this life, then, more greatly inspired by the Spirit and by divine counsel, she left the house of her father and took with her her only sister, who had already lost her sight; and she withdrew to a certain tomb of a relative, situated a little way from the city, having sold all the possessions left by her parents and immediately distributed them to the poor. And finally, having summoned a certain elderly man of advanced age, she had the hair of her head cut off. For then she is said to have first cast off all kosmesis (cosmesis), that is, all adornment and grooming. For it was the custom among women to call their hair kosmon ("ornament"), and when they put aside their hair they were said to have put aside their ornament and grooming. She has her hair cut off. This cutting of the hair was a symbol that the spirit was now pure and cleansed of all superfluities and excrescences; and then for the first time she was deemed worthy to be called by the solemn name of Virgin.

[12] She gives her goods to the poor. When she had distributed her goods to the poor, they report that she spoke beforehand in the following manner: "I have been received with a great name; I have nothing sufficient to repay according to his merit him who has bestowed this name upon me. For if in the most worthless things of this world all mortals spend their possessions to obtain corruptible honor, how much more is it fitting for me to consecrate both my body along with my supposed goods to him? But why do I speak of goods or body, when all things are his, according to what is written: Psalm 24:1 'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.'" And thus, embracing humility with these words, she chose, to speak with the Apostle, the tranquility of the solitary life.

[13] She had previously prepared herself for the ascetic life. But indeed even earlier, within the private walls of her parents' home, she had already been more than sufficiently trained in labors; and now, having been brought forth into the arena, she produced admirable progress in virtue. For whoever comes to this sacred calling inconsiderately and without having well weighed the matter falls short of the purpose, not having first considered those things that are particular to it. Just as those who are about to make a journey first take care of their provisions, so too Syncletica, preparing herself by the exercises of her past life as by provisions for the journey, fearlessly undertook the road to higher things. For, laying in advance all that was necessary for the building, she erected her most fortified citadel. But if one considers the art of building: a house is constructed from materials and external things, but she did the opposite. For she did not beg materials from external things; rather, she stripped herself inwardly. For, distributing her goods to the poor, laying aside all anger and the memory of injuries, and casting away envy and ambition, she built her house upon the rock. This is a most illustrious citadel and house, never to be shaken by any storm.

[14] She immediately surpasses those more advanced. But what need is there of many words? She surpassed from the very beginning even those who were already confirmed in the habit of the solitary life. Just as boys who are endowed with a more ready talent, even while they are studying their elements under their teachers, contend with those more advanced in the school -- those who surpass them both in age and in time -- so too the blessed Syncletica, fervent in spirit, surpassed all others in the ascetic exercises.

[15] She conceals her good works. Above all, she took care that her good actions should not be spread abroad or become known to others who lived with her; nor, I would say, was she as concerned to have done them as to have them done with this caution, that they not become known to others. Nor did she do this out of rivalry and envy. For she always kept in memory that saying of the Lord: Matthew 6:3 "If your right hand does something, let not your left hand know." And thus she did in secret all things that pertained to the profession of the solitary life.

[16] She avoids the company of men and women. From her earliest childhood up to her more advanced and settled age, she abstained not only from all association with men, but she also for the most part refused gatherings with women -- and this for two reasons above all: lest, namely, the rigor of her exemplary ascetic life should redound too much to her own glory, or lest she should be distracted thereby on account of bodily necessities.

[17] She observes even the first movements of the mind. Thus she observed the first assaults of the mind, not allowing them to be distracted by bodily desires, just as in trees it is necessary to cut off the branches that do not bear fruit. So Syncletica always took care to bring forth the fruit of the mind through fasting and prayers, subjugating the appetite through various labors.

[18] She was not content merely with the substance of bread and rich nourishment, but also with the meager poverty of water, which requires no or very few arts of the kitchen. Whenever, therefore, the adversary sounded the trumpet for battle, she called upon the Lord above all else for help; and not only content with meager food, in which little art was to be employed, she mortified herself, Her austerity in diet and bedding. but also took care to abstain from all things that savored of pleasure. She ate coarse bread and often drank water, and slept on the ground for some time. When the trumpet was sounded by the adversary, she used these arms: Arms against the demon. she put on prayer as a helmet woven from faith, hope, and charity. Faith indeed led the household; almsgiving also was present, if not in effect, at least in desire. With these arms she carried off the palm from the adversary.

[19] Discretion. But she tempered the rigor of this exercise and from time to time relieved herself, lest the members of her mortal little body should soon grow feeble -- which indeed was a sign of victory. For when arms fail, what hope of battle can there be even for a veteran soldier? For whoever destroy themselves by immoderate and indiscriminate fasting inflict a lethal wound upon themselves and ruin themselves, as though they were doing it at the request of the adversary. But Syncletica did not act so; rather, she managed everything with discretion and prudence: for she valiantly repelled the adversary through prayer and the spiritual exercises of the mind; but meanwhile she gave to the body that care which was necessary for the safety of the little ship. For just as sailors, in the presence of a storm and the agitation of the sea, are forgetful of food and attend only to the danger before their eyes; and when they have escaped the danger and begin, as it were, to live again as before, then they indulge the necessities of nature and take care for their new life, lest all their time be spent laboriously in the insane fury of the sea. But although they may seem from some tranquility of the sea to have obtained even the slightest cessation of labors, they never pass the time without some anxiety, nor are they carried away by deep sleep, having the experience of past events, and thence conjecturing what is to come. For even though one storm has abated, the sea does not cease to be the sea; and even though a second squall has ceased, yet a third is at the ready. And although what has happened has already passed and is remote, yet that which caused it remains. In the same way the matter stands at present. For although the spirit of lust has been routed, yet its author is not far off; and therefore we ought to pray unceasingly, that we may cross this stormy sea and the brackish malice of this life. The holy woman, therefore, knowing exactly the present storms of life and also the hurricanes of winds bearing down upon her, guided her vessel with care and with piety and devotion toward God. For, having cast that most secure anchor of faith in the Lord, she brought her ship through without storm, unshaken, into the saving harbor of life.

[20] Since, therefore, her apostolic life was girded with faith and poverty, and also shone with charity and humility, she truly fulfilled in herself that saving word: Psalm 91:13 "You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and upon all the power of the enemy." And she had particularly attended to what is said in the Gospel: Matthew 25:21 "Well done, good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful in a few things, I will set you over many." Which saying, although it refers to gifts, may yet be applied here in the present case: "And because you have conquered" -- as if he had said: A trophy over the demon. "Because you have conquered the material battle, I will cause you, under my protection, to raise a trophy over the immaterial and spiritual enemy, and so that the principalities and powers, mentioned by my glorious servant Paul, may know the greatness of your faith: for you have conquered the opposing powers, and you now contend with greater ones."

CHAPTER III.

The precepts of Syncletica to the Virgins.

[21] Many flock to her for instruction. Withdrawing, therefore, in this manner from the crowd, she performed good deeds, and as time went on and her virtues flourished, the fragrance of her most praiseworthy labors was spread abroad and carried to many: Matthew 10:26 "For nothing is hidden that shall not be revealed." For God knows those who love him and publishes their fame for the correction and benefit of those who hear. At that time, therefore, as the supreme divine will directed, certain women began to approach her and to engage in conversations for their own edification; for, comparing the precepts of life from her conversations, they flocked together more and more, desiring to profit and to gain advantage therefrom. In the course of their usual conversation, therefore, they asked her by what means the soul can be saved. She, deeply groaning and shedding tears abundantly, collected herself and seemed to have given her answer through tears; and again she fell silent. But they, running together, compelled her by force to proclaim the great works of God. For they were stunned, struck even by the spectacle alone, and again they urged her to speak. She long excuses herself. She, therefore, as if compelled and overcome, after a long silence brought forth in a low voice that passage of Scripture: Proverbs 22:22 "Do not do violence to the poor, because he is poor." They received the saying cheerfully, but as though anointed with honey and honeycomb, they continued questioning and in turn pressed her with the words of sacred Scripture: Matthew 10:8 "Freely you have received," they said, "freely give. Beware lest you hide your talent, lest you suffer the punishment of that servant." Matthew 25:30 To which she replied: "Why do you think so highly of a sinner, as if I had ever done or said anything to the purpose? We all have a common master, namely the Lord Jesus Christ; from the same springs we draw spiritual waters; from the same milk we are nourished from the same breasts, namely from the Old and the New Testament. Sacred Scripture is a good teacher. To these things they replied: "We know," they said, "that there is one and the same teacher for us, namely Scripture, and the same Master; but you excel in virtue through constant care and study. And since those who are in the habit and possession of good virtues ought, as being more excellent, to instill precepts into those who are more tender, do this for us, for our common Master has commanded it." When the blessed woman heard these things, she again broke into tears and wept, as infants are wont to do at the breast. But they, running together, urged her with continual questioning to stop her weeping; and when she had ceased, they again, after a silence, began to invite her to speak. At last she, moved by compassion and knowing that what she was about to say would bring not so much praise to herself as benefit to them, began to speak thus:

[22] "Hear, all of you. We all know how we can be saved, but we fail through our own negligence. For we must first preserve those commandments of the Lord that have been revealed to us by grace: 'You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and your neighbor as yourself' Matthew 22:37-39; Love of God and neighbor. in these consists the beginning of the law, and in the same is found the perfection and fullness of grace. The period of the words is brief, but the virtue in them is great and indeed immense. For upon these hang all things that pertain to the salvation of the soul. Which Paul also testifies when he says that the end of the precept is charity 1 Timothy 1:5. And therefore whatever useful things men can say through the grace of the Spirit come from charity and end in charity. And so our salvation, like that charity, is twofold."

[23] One must always progress further. "But this must be added besides, which also proceeds from charity: that we should understand what it means to desire greater things." But they were hesitating, barely grasping what she was saying, and they questioned her again. Then she said to them: "The parable of the sower in the Gospel is not unknown to you -- of the hundredfold, the sixtyfold, and the thirtyfold Matthew 13:8, 23. We who have professed virginity are numbered among the hundredfold; those who are continent are numbered among the sixtyfold; and the temperate among the thirtyfold. It is fine and glorious to advance from thirty to sixty; but to slip from the greater to the lesser is not without danger. For one who once begins to decline toward the worse will not be able to stand firm even in the least things, but is carried headlong, as to the lowest pit of destruction. Some therefore among us who profess virginity, deprived of reason and wavering from weakness of judgment, seek a pretext for their sins. For they speak thus to themselves, or rather to the devil: 'What if we lived sophronos (temperately),' they say, 'we would live all the more aphronos (foolishly)' -- that is, if temperately and continently, then all the more foolishly -- 'even though we have been deemed worthy of the rank of the thirtyfold? For all our foremothers,' they say, 'devoted themselves to having children.' Know that this is a suggestion of the demon. For one who slips from the greater to the lesser is thrust down by the adversary. Just as a soldier is judged a deserter and fugitive by the very fact of his flight, and he is not deemed worthy of pardon because he transferred to a lower rank and service, but is handed over for punishment because he fled. We ought therefore, as I have said, similarly to advance from lesser things ever onward to further things; and this is what the Apostle teaches: Philippians 3:13 'Forgetting what lies behind, let us press on to what lies ahead.' Those therefore who have obtained the hundredfold ought to revolve it in a circle within themselves and admit no limit in number; for it is said: Luke 17:10 'And when you have done all these things, say: We are unprofitable servants.'"

CHAPTER IV.

Further precepts for the guardianship of chastity.

[24]^a "We who have undertaken this profession of virginity must above all maintain^b temperance. For although sophrosyne (temperance) seems to be esteemed even among seculars,^c yet there is always joined with it some species of aphrosyne (impudence), Temperance must be maintained. because they still sin with all their other senses; for they look indecently with their eyes and laugh without restraint. But we, casting away even those things first of all, let us devote ourselves to the virtues and tear from our eyes every vain fantasy. For thus Scripture says: Proverbs 4:25 'Let your eyes look straight ahead.' And let us restrain our tongue from such sins. For it is wicked that this instrument, created for the praises of God, should utter shameful words -- words that not only ought not to be spoken, but ought not even to be heard."

[25] One should not go out in public. "^d But we can observe these things if we do not go out in public so frequently; for robbers creep in and enter through the senses even against our will. For how will a house not be blackened by smoke entering from outside when the doors are open? It is therefore necessarily fitting that we avoid frequenting the marketplace. For if it is painful and displeasing to us to see our fathers or parents naked, how much more harmful is it to behold strangers indecently exposed in the streets, and even to hear indecent speech? For from these things foul and pestilent fantasies usually arise."

[26] One must always be vigilant against fornication. "But when we confine ourselves at home, we ought not then to be free from all solicitude, but we must keep watch. For it is written: Ecclesiastes 1:18 'Watch.' But the more we strengthen our mind toward temperance, the more bitter will be the thoughts with which we are assailed. For 'he who adds knowledge adds labor.' Athletes, the more they advance in the wrestling school, the greater are the opponents against whom they are matched. See how far you are from the goal, and do not behave lazily in the present. Have you conquered material fornication, that which consists in the act? The adversary will cast in your way that which is through the senses. And when you have repressed even this, the enemy lurks in the secret places of the mind, ready to stir up hidden warfare against you. For he suggests even to those who lead a tranquil life beautiful persons, comely faces, and simple conversations. But one ought not to give assent to fantasies. For it is written: Ecclesiastes 10:4 'If the spirit of one who has power rises against you, do not leave your place.' For to assent to these things is nothing other than a prelude to bodily fornication. For it is said: Wisdom 6:7 'The powerful shall suffer powerful torments.' Great, therefore, is the struggle against fornication; for this is the principal weapon of the adversary, which he uses to lead his own to destruction. And intimating this very thing, the blessed Job said of the devil: Job 40:16 'His strength is in the navel of his belly.'"

[27] "With many and various devices, therefore, the adversary hurls the sting of fornication against the faithful servants of Christ. For he often transforms fraternal love into his own malice. The demon lays snares in various ways. For virgins who have renounced marriage and every thought of the world, he has tripped up under the guise of fraternal affection; and also monks who flee all things and even themselves, he has wounded with this specter of fornication. Indeed, he has even deceived them through religious and fear-filled conversations. For these are the arts of the adversary: to dress himself in what belongs to others and secretly to thrust in his own. He shows a grain of wheat but hides a snare beneath it. And I think the Lord was speaking of him when he said: Matthew 7:15 'They will come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.'"

[28] "You will say: What then must we do against these things? ^e Let us be wise as serpents and simple as doves Matthew 10:16. For shrewd counsel must be used against the machinations of the devil. For that which is said -- that we should be like serpents -- Remedies against him: prudence, simplicity. intimates that we should not be ignorant of his attempts. For like easily recognizes like. Then the simplicity of the dove should put on purity of actions. Every good work, therefore, will consist in the flight from the devil. But how shall we flee what we do not know? We ought therefore, grasping in our mind the baseness of the adversary, to guard against his evil tricks and wiles; of whom it is said: 1 Peter 5:8 'He goes about seeking whom he may devour'; and, Habakkuk 1:16 'his food is choice.' We must therefore keep continual watch. For the enemy is always watchful through external things and reigns through interior thoughts -- and indeed more through interior things; for day and night he secretly rushes upon us like a spirit."

[29] Also constant exercise and prayer. "What then, you will say, is needed for this present warfare? Laborious exercise of the spiritual life, of course, and pure prayer to God. But while these things are indeed antidotes against any pernicious thought, particular remedies are also needed besides, Particular remedies: oppose ugliness to beauty. so that we may root out this immediate plague from the mind. And when some foul thought enters, we must introduce its opposite. For if the image of some handsome face should appear in the region of the mind, it must be repressed by reason thus: Remove the eyes from the face, take away the flesh from the cheeks, have the lips cut off, and then say: 'What is it that was lovable or desirable?' Thus indeed the thought of vain illusion may be restrained. For that beautiful thing which we desire is nothing other than blood mixed with phlegm, and a covering that serves animals as a garment. Thus it is fitting, through such reasonings, that we drive away abominable wickedness; and as one nail is driven out by another, so it is fitting to expel the devil. Moreover, one ought also to imagine that foul-smelling and worm-ridden ulcers have taken possession of the body of desire, and, to say it in one word, that it is nothing but a dead corpse; or rather, consider yourself dead to the inner eyes of the mind that has been captivated by such an image. Also to restrain gluttony. But the greatest thing of all is to hold dominion over the belly, for thus we shall be able to contain the pleasures of the abdomen."

^a The same is reported in book 5 of the Lives of the Fathers, translated by Pelagius, booklet 4, number 41.

^b Pelagius translates this as "chastity."

^c The same: "but there is also foolishness with it, on account of which they still sin with all their other senses, etc."

^d The same is reported in the same work, booklet 11, number 32.

^e The same is reported in book 6 of the Lives of the Fathers, translated by John, booklet 1, number 2.

CHAPTER V.

The goods of voluntary poverty.

[30] "Divine, therefore, was that banquet of theirs; for they were gladdened by the cups of wisdom, and the blessed Syncletica as cupbearer poured forth the divine draughts, choosing with her own palate what she wished. ^a But one of those who had gathered together asked whether^b actemosyne -- that is, voluntary poverty and the complete renunciation of the possessable goods of this world -- was a perfect good. 'It is a remarkably perfect good,' she replied, Poverty is a perfect good. 'for those who can sustain it; for they feel affliction in the flesh, but have tranquility in the spirit. For just as^c thick felt garments and more compact clothing become white when trampled and more frequently rolled, so too a generous character of soul is more strengthened by voluntary poverty. But those who are of weaker spirit suffer the opposite; for at the slightest affliction they sense, they faint and come to nothing, like half-torn rags, since they cannot endure the fulling-mill of virtue and the spiritual life. And although the art of fulling is the same for both cloths, and the craftsman also the same, yet the outcome is different. For the one is torn and perishes, but the other grows bright and is renewed.' Someone has therefore rightly said that this voluntary poverty is a precious treasure for a generous spirit, for it is virtually a bridle upon sins."

[31] Preparation for it. "But indeed other things must be tasted first before this -- fasting, I mean, and sleeping on the ground, and other particular exercises, through which one must acquire this part of virtue that consists in the voluntary renunciation of goods. For those who do not do so, but rush headlong too hastily to the casting away of goods -- we almost always see them fall into this grave utterance: 'I regret having done it.'"

[32] Riches are incentives for a luxurious life. "For riches are incentives for a luxurious life. First cut off the refinements of your flesh -- I mean the craving of gluttony and the luxurious life -- and then you will be able easily to cut off the material and occasion of riches. For I consider it the greatest detriment for the luxurious life to be deprived of its instruments: he who does not first cast away the first thing from himself, how will he be able to cast away the second? For this reason Christ the Lord too, in that discourse with the rich young man, did not abruptly command the casting away of goods, but first asked whether he had done all things commanded in the law Matthew 19:21. See how the Lord played the part of a genuine master. He asks whether he knows the elements, whether he can join syllables, whether he can read words. Then he says: 'Let us come to the highest lesson. Go,' he says, 'and sell all your goods; come and follow me.' And truly I believe that if, when asked, he had not so frankly professed that he had done all those things, perhaps he would not so easily have moved the man to the casting away of goods. For how will he who does not yet know his syllables be able suddenly to burst forth into reading?"

[33] Poverty leads directly to God. "Voluntary poverty, therefore, is good for those who are already in the habit and possession of other virtues. For those who have cast away all excrescences and superfluities are carried directly toward God, purely singing that divine song of the Psalmist: Psalm 145:15 'The eyes of all hope in you, and you will give food to those who love you, in due season.'"

[34] She is content with a daily ration. "Moreover, they gain the greatest advantage from the casting away of earthly goods. For when they turn their eyes from the treasures of the world, they look toward the kingdom of heaven and utter that word which the Psalmist sang thus: Psalm 73:22 'I have become like a beast of burden before you.' For just as beasts of burden (far be all irreverence from the comparison), performing their daily work, are content with the rations that are counted out for their sustenance, so too those who have embraced voluntary poverty make no use of silver or money but are content with food for the day alone, for the use and service of the body. These hold the pinnacle of faith; for to them was spoken that word of the Gospel by the Lord: 'Be not anxious about tomorrow Matthew 6:25-26; for the birds of the sky neither sow nor reap, and your heavenly Father feeds them.' Therefore those who trust in these words (for God himself uttered them) say with confidence and freedom: Psalm 116:10 'I believed, and therefore I spoke.'"

[35] "Moreover, the adversary suffers very great harm from these poor ones who have left the world. ^d For he has nothing in which to harm them; It is a scourge to the demon. for the greatest harvest of the arts and temptations of the devil revolves around the deprivation of fortunes. What can the adversary do, I ask? Shall he destroy estates by fire? But they have none. Shall he kill their beasts of burden? But they have none. Shall he strike down their dearest possessions? But they have already bade a long farewell to all these things. Is not, therefore, this voluntary poverty at once the greatest scourge for the adversary and the most precious treasure of the soul?"

[36] "But the more illustrious and admirable poverty is for virtue, the more base and wicked is the love of money for vice. Truly therefore the Apostle Paul said that it is the cause and source of all evils 1 Timothy 6:10. For from it follows the desire for luxuries, Love of money is the source of many evils. perjuries, robberies, murders, envy, fraternal hatred, war, idolatry, covetousness; and the offshoots of these: hypocrisy, flattery, and buffoonery. It is acknowledged that the cause of all these is philargyria (love of money). Whence the Apostle also called it the parent, as it were, of all evils. But God not only punishes these people; It is an insatiable wound. they also destroy themselves inwardly, always bearing an insatiable appetite. They have no limit to their desiring; therefore the wound is insatiable. He who has nothing desires little; when he has obtained it, he craves more. Does he have a hundred gold coins? Soon he desires a thousand; and when he has received them, the interminable greed progresses to infinity. And thus those who cannot set a limit always bewail their poverty. It generates envy. The love of money always carries envy with it. But envy first kills its master: just as vipers newly born first kill their own mothers before they harm others, so too envy first causes its possessor to wither before it attacks anyone from the neighborhood."

[37] "It would indeed be admirable if we could endure as many labors in seeking that true and pure treasure of heaven as the hunters of this most vain world entangle themselves in with incurable zeal: they endure shipwrecks, new trials exhaust them, on land they fall into the hands of robbers, they withstand storms at sea and the most violent winds; ^e and often, when they have made their fortune, they pretend to be poor on account of the envious. One must trade in true virtues. But we do not undergo even the slightest of their labors and dangers for the sake of true riches; and if we have gained even the least thing, we raise our crests and make much of ourselves, putting ourselves on display before others, and often we do not even present the deed as it plainly is, without pretense. Then immediately the adversary, when we seem to have already obtained the semblance of virtue, snatches it from our hands; whereas they, on the contrary, when they have gained even a penny, desire more, and regard the present as small, always striving after what they have not yet obtained."

^a The same is reported in the Lives of the Fathers, book 5, translated by Pelagius, booklet 6, number 13.

^b More simply, Pelagius: "if it is a perfect good to have nothing."

^c Pelagius: "strong garments." "Felt garments (impilia) are," says Laevinus Torrentius in his manuscript annotations to Pliny, book 19, chapter 2, "in place of clothing, compacted from wool, with which we wrap the feet." Adrianus Turnebus, book 11, Adversaria, chapter 14, denies that they serve only the feet. On these, Ulpian treats in L. argumento sunt, 25, ff. de auro, argento, mundo.

^d Book 6 of the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 4, number 23, reports the same.

^e Book 5 of the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 10, number 70, where the same is found, though somewhat more briefly. This is reported a little differently: "when they gain much, then they desire more, and what they have they reckon as nothing; but toward those things which they do not yet have, they direct all the attention of their mind." The same is repeated in book 6, booklet 4, number 24.

CHAPTER VI.

A comparison of monastic and secular life.

[38] Virtues must be concealed. "We ought therefore to take every care that our gain and profit be made in secret. For those who publish their prosperous deeds and proclaim them to others should also take care to speak at the same time of their misdoings and imperfections. But if they conceal these from others to avoid blame and disgrace before their hearers, how much more ought they to have kept silent about those things that were alien to God? For those who live according to the virtue of the spiritual life do the contrary: they freely disclose their small failings, even with the addition of things they did not actually do, casting behind them all esteem among men; and they keep silent about the good things they have done, for greater security and protection of conscience. ^a For just as a treasure that is made public is dissipated, so virtue that is proclaimed grows weak; and just as wax melts from fire, so too the soul is dissolved by praises ^b and loses that tone of vigor."

[39] Not praises but reproaches should be sought. "The contrary, therefore, will hold in the contrary way. For if heat melts wax, cold on the contrary solidifies it; so if praises deprive the soul of its good, reproaches and insults will lead it to the summit of virtue. 'Rejoice,' he says, 'and be glad when they speak every falsehood against you' Matthew 5:11; and in another place: Psalm 4:1 'In tribulation you have enlarged me'; and in another: Psalm 69:20 'My heart expected reproach and misery'; and innumerable other such good things may be seen from sacred Scripture, which are promised as revenues, so to speak, to the afflicted, who are burdened with reproaches and who grieve."

[40] ^c "But there is a certain sorrow that is salutary and another that is destructive. The works of salutary sorrow are to grieve for one's own sins, and for the blindness of one's neighbor, Two kinds of sorrow. not to fall from one's right purpose, and always to aspire to become perfectly good: these are the effects and species of genuine sadness. But there is another sadness that is suggested by the enemy and tends to cling and adhere to these: for the devil casts in a certain brutal and bestial sadness and sorrow, devoid of all reason, and ^d called by some 'acedia' (akedia). But this spirit of sadness must be driven away above all by psalms, hymns, and prayer."

[41] No life is free from cares. "While we are occupied with these good cares and pursuits, we ought to think and reckon that no one in this life is free from cares. For it is said in Scripture: 'Every head is sick, and every heart is sorrowful' Isaiah 1:5. In this single sentence the Holy Spirit has encompassed both the monastic and the secular life. For by 'the head' he indicates the monastic state. For the head is the hegemonikon (ruling) member, that is, the one destined for governance, according to the saying: Ecclesiastes 2:14 'The eyes of the wise man are in his head.' And for this reason the faculty of contemplation, I believe, resides in the head. But he said 'labor' because the fruit of virtue is perfected through labors. But by 'sorrow in the heart' he indicates the unstable and wretched state of seculars. Comparison of monastic and secular life regarding women. For some say that the heart is the seat and workshop of anger and sorrow. For if they are not honored as they wish, they are saddened; gaping after the possessions of others, if they do not obtain them, they wither; in poverty they lose heart; when they abound in riches, they run riot; they do not know what they are doing, nor can they enjoy sleep because of guarding their riches."

[42] "Let us not therefore stray from the right judgment, saying that those who live in the world are free from cares. For perhaps, if we reduce the matter to a comparison, they are assailed by far greater ones. For they give birth with difficulty and with danger; they are subject to the pains of nursing; when their little children are sick, they are sick themselves; and when they suffer these things, they never achieve any end of worldly concerns. For either their newborn children are afflicted with fevers, or, badly raised, when they grow up they are driven by wicked counsel to parricide. Therefore, knowing these things, let us not be deceived by the adversary, as though those women enjoyed a luxurious manner of life, free from cares of mind. If they bear children, they are worn out by labors; if they do not bear children, they waste away from sheer reproaches, and are despised as barren and without offspring."

[43] Not all things suit all persons. "I say these things for no other end than that we may be rendered safe and secure from the adversary. I confess, however, that what has been said is not by itself suited to everyone, but only to those who love the solitary life. Just as there is not one food for all animals, so the same discourse does not suit all people. For one ought not, as is said, to pour new wine into old wineskins Matthew 9:17. For those dedicated to contemplation feast in one way, those who practice the ascetic life in another, and finally those who follow the justice of the world according to their abilities in yet another. Three orders of people. For just as some animals are terrestrial, some aquatic, and some aerial, so too some men have followed the middle life, like terrestrial animals; others seek the heights, like birds; others are submerged in the waters of sin, like fish -- of whom the Prophet intimated: 'I came into the depth of the sea, and the storm overwhelmed me' Psalm 69:2. And so the nature of animals stands. But let us, like eagles to whom wings have been granted, seek the heights and trample upon dragons and lions, and bring under the yoke the adversary who once held us in subjection; and this we shall do if we consecrate our whole soul to our Savior Jesus Christ."

^a The same is found in the Lives of the Fathers, book 5, booklet 8, number 19.

^b More clearly in the cited passage of the Lives of the Fathers: "and loses the rigor better: vigor of the virtues."

^c The same is reported in the Lives of the Fathers, book 5, booklet 10, number 71.

^d More accurately, Pelagius in the cited passage of the Lives of the Fathers translates: "which they have called tedium (taedium)."

CHAPTER VII.

On guarding against the snares of demons.

[44] The devil impedes the ascent to heaven. "But the more we are lifted on high, the more the adversary attempts to impede our flight, casting snares before our eyes. But what wonder is it that we have adversaries when we strive toward God, when they begrudge us even the most worthless things? For they hardly allow men to dig up treasures hidden in the bowels of the earth. Whence, if they oppose us in things that consist only in an outward, earthly appearance, how much more will they do so in the kingdom of heaven?"

[45] ^a "We must therefore arm ourselves completely against them, for they beset us from without External and internal temptations must be guarded against. and no less attack us from within. Our soul, like a ship, is sometimes submerged by^b trikymiai (triple waves) and floods of waters crashing from without, and sometimes is pressed down^c by the weight of bilge water and ballast within. For we are sometimes lost by outward sins of action, and sometimes by internal thoughts. Therefore we must both observe the external assaults of demons and purge the internal bilge water of thoughts. We must keep watch at all times against thoughts, for they are always threatening us. Often in the greatest dangers of the sea, when mountains of waves crash down, we see sailors saved by imploring help from neighboring boats; but bilge water on a calm sea, when the lookouts are dozing, is wont to bring about more dangerous peril, so as to overwhelm the unwary."

[46] The demon attacks us in various ways. "We must therefore apply our mind most diligently to our thoughts. For the adversary, having resolved to tear down the soul and its house, either hurls it down utterly from its foundation, or, beginning from the roof, demolishes it completely, or, entering through the windows, binds the master of the house and thence brings all other things into his power. The foundation is good works, the roof is faith, and the windows are the senses: through all of these the adversary wages war. Therefore whoever wishes to preserve himself must have many eyes.^d We have here no reason to be free from all care, for it is said in Scripture: 'Let him who stands see that he does not fall' 1 Corinthians 10:12."

[47] "We sail on an unknown sea; and our life is called a sea by the Psalmist Psalm 104. Comparison of monastic and secular life. In the sea, however, some places are rocky, with shoals and sand bars; some are full of sea monsters and seals; and some are calm. We seem to sail in the calm places of the sea, while seculars sail in more dangerous ones. Moreover, we sail by day under the guidance of the helmsman, who is the Sun of Justice; they are borne along by night, wherever chance and wind carry them -- they do not know where they are going. But it often happens that seculars, existing in storm and darkness, save their vessel^e by crying out and keeping watch; but we are submerged in the calm of the sea, having abandoned the helm of justice."

[48] "Let him who stands therefore see that he does not fall. For he who has fallen has but one care remaining, Let him who stands see that he does not fall. namely to rise again; but he who stands should take care not to fall. For falls are various: all who fall are truly deprived of their standing; but some, when they have risen, receive relatively little notable damage. But he who stands should not despise the fall of another, but should be on guard for himself and fear lest, falling, he should perish and be cast down into the deepest abyss. For it is probable that the depth of the abyss is so great that, when the voice of one crying out cannot be heard, he is able neither to seek nor to obtain help. For the just man says: Psalm 69:15 'Let not the deep swallow me up, nor let the pit close its mouth upon me.' The first who fell stuck fast in the mire: consider him and see to it that you do not fall, and that you also become prey to wild beasts. He who falls has not secured his step nor barred the door of his house. Do not permit your eyes even to blink; but always have on your lips those divine words of the Psalmist: 'Enlighten my eyes, lest I ever sleep in death' Psalm 13:3. Watch continually for that roaring lion 1 Peter 5:8."

^a The same is found in the Lives of the Fathers, book 5, booklet 11, number 33.

^b Trikymia (trikymia) is a word for the greatest storm, because a triple wave seems to merge into one. The Latins call it the fluctus decumanus (tenth wave), because the tenth wave is said to be the greatest.

^c In the same place, Pelagius: "it is submerged by the rising bilge water."

^d This is found in the same booklet 11, number 34.

^e Rightly added in the cited passage: "to God."

CHAPTER VIII.

On curing arrogance and pusillanimity.

[49] "These words indeed serve to repel presumption, so that through penance and contrition we may attain salvation. Look and consider yourself: you are the one who stands. A double fear weighs upon you: lest either you return to your vomit through indolence, with the adversary suggesting the material, or your legs be broken while running and you be tripped up. For the adversary drags us toward himself from behind Presumption must be guarded against. when he sees us growing torpid or sluggish; or conversely, when he sees us too assiduously devoting ourselves to spiritual exercises, he creeps in secretly and stealthily insinuates himself into our minds through presumption, and thus the most generous hearts and manly spirits of mortals are destroyed. For presumption is the ultimate weapon and the chief of all the evils of the adversary, by which he himself was cast down, and through which he strives to destroy the most powerful of mortals. For just as the most skilled masters of warfare are accustomed, after lesser weapons have been spent while the victory still hangs in the balance and the adversaries still stand, to take up their strongest arms, in which all hope of victory is placed, so too the devil, after he has exhausted his first snares, seizes at the last the scimitar of arrogance. But what are his first traps? It is clear that they are gluttony, pleasures, luxury, and indulgence -- for these especially suit young people of tender age. After these, however, follow the love of having, covetousness, and similar things. Whence, when the wretched soul has extricated itself from these snares, has overcome the belly and subjugated the pleasures of the abdomen, and has despised money -- then the adversary, driven to his last resort and ever malicious, suggests a disordered movement to the spirit: he inflates it, so that it indecently exalts itself above its sisters. This is the grave and deadly poison of the adversary: How the demon suggests it. he has suddenly blinded and destroyed many by it alone. He suggests a foul and lethal thought to the mind: he makes it seem to itself to comprehend things that could not be understood by others, and that it surpasses others in fasting, and he attributes to it a great harvest of good works above all others. But the memory of all sins he erases, so that the soul exalts itself above the others with whom it lives. For the greatest faults slip from memory. The adversary does not do this for the benefit of that soul, but so that the wretched one may not have from which to bring forth those healing and saving words: 'Against you alone have I sinned; have mercy on me' Psalm 51:4. Nor these: 'I will confess to you, Lord, with my whole heart' Psalm 9:1. But just as he himself said in his pride: Isaiah 14:13 'I will ascend and set my throne on high,' so too he pushes the wretched one from arrogance to positions of authority, to the first seats, and even to positions of teaching and the profession of healing. But truly such a soul, deluded in this manner and struck as by an incurable wound, perishes."

[50] "What then must be done when such thoughts have already entered the mind and hold it? One must ceaselessly meditate on those divine words of the Prophet: Psalm 22:6 'I am earth, and not a man.' And in another place: 'I am earth and dust.' And also those of Isaiah: Isaiah 64:6 'All human righteousness is like the rag of a menstruating woman.' But if such thoughts should befall one who lives the solitary life apart, Remedies against presumption. let her enter a cenobium, that is, a common solitude with others, and live with others. And if it should happen that on account of too great rigor of life she has been captured in this way, let her be compelled to eat twice daily, and let her be rebuked and reproached repeatedly by those of her own age, as if she had accomplished little. Let her undertake any service whatsoever. Examples of the saints. Let the more illustrious lives of the Saints be set before her and recited to her -- lives that are beyond imitation and greater than all praise. And let the virgins who live with her devote themselves above all to this: that they intensify their own actions and exercises of virtue for several days, so that when she sees the excellence of the virtues of others, she may learn to lower her Christian sails and esteem herself less."

[51] Monastic disobedience precedes presumption. "But indeed before the poison of arrogance another evil precedes, namely disobedience. But through the antidote of obedience we can cut away the widely creeping venom that corrodes the soul like a phagedenic ulcer. For obedience, as it is said in sacred letters, is more than sacrifice Ecclesiastes 4:17."

[52] The presumptuous must be humbled. "One must therefore sometimes cut down esteem at the right time, and at other times praise and extol to the point of admiration. One should praise when the soul, given over to sloth, grows torpid with lethargy; The sluggish should be stirred by praise. especially when it seems dead to all sense and progress in virtue, it must be stirred up by praise. And if it has begun to do even the slightest good, one ought to proclaim it with admiration, and reckon its sins, however elephantine and monstrous, as minimal and of little moment. For the devil, when he resolves to turn everything upside down, subtracts sins from the memory of the good and well-exercised -- for he then intends to increase presumption. But in neophytes who have recently taken up the profession of solitude and are only lightly imbued with ascetical discipline, he sets before their eyes all the sins they have ever committed, leaving out none, because he intends to lead them to despair. For he sometimes suggests: 'What hope can be left for you, who have given the use of your body to men?' And to others: 'You burn with such desire for possessing that it is impossible for you to attain salvation.' But such wavering souls ought to be consoled, and one should speak to them in this way: 'Rahab was indeed a harlot, but she was saved through faith. Paul was a persecutor, but afterward became a vessel of election. Matthew was a tax collector, but no one is ignorant of the grace he received. The thief too was infamous for thefts and murders, yet he was the first to unlock the doors of paradise.' And therefore, fixing her eyes upon these, let her not lose heart on account of her sins."

[53] How pride must be repressed. "But for those who are tainted with the poison of presumption, a more careful remedy seems to be sought from greater things. For one ought to say to them: 'Why are you so puffed up? Is it because you abstain from meat? But there are others who abstain even from fish. Is it because you abstain from wine? But others abstain even from oil. Is it because you extend your fasts until evening? But others go without food for two or three days. Is it because you do not use the bath? But many invalids abstain from it altogether on account of some bodily illness. Do you please yourself because you sleep on the ground on rushes and sackcloth? But even if you did this, it would not in any case be great; for there are others who spread rough stones beneath them to deprive themselves of the natural comforts otherwise permitted, and others who suspend themselves in swings all night long. And even if you did all these things and reached the extreme of exercise, beyond which you could go no further, you ought not to raise your crest on that account. For the demons have done and do more: for they neither eat nor drink, and they even dwell in the deserts -- while you, living in a cave, think you have accomplished something great.'"

[54] "By these and similar arguments, therefore, we shall be able to heal these opposite cancers -- despair and presumption. Against presumption and despair. For just as fire perishes when it is fanned too much, and equally when it is deprived of a fresh supply of air it is no less extinguished, so too virtue is enervated by presumption and arrogance, however great an extreme of exercise it may have attained; and it is also corrupted by indolence, when we do not stir ourselves to the ventilation of the Holy Spirit. A sharp blade breaks more easily under the whetstone; so too a more intense asceticism is quickly corrupted by presumption. Whence we must on every side keep the soul well fortified, and deflect the rigor of exercise from the burning heat^a of arrogance to the more moderate and shady groves of humility. There is a time when one must cut away the superfluous and luxuriant branches, so that the root may put forth good shoots."

[55] Despair and torpor of soul must be cured. "But when one has been seized by the peril of despair, one must employ the aforesaid arguments and compel her, almost by force if possible, to lift her spirit upward. For at such a time the spirit crawls too much on the ground. For skilled farmers, when they see a plant that is meager and puny, water it more generously and apply great care that it may grow; but when they see a precocious shoot, they prune it in time and cast it away as superfluous and luxuriant, for such things are wont very quickly to be blighted and wither. So too physicians nourish some of their patients with a more ample diet and invite them to walk and take exercise; but others they keep bound, as it were, in fasting and a more meager diet."

[56] "It is therefore manifest that arrogance is the worst of evils -- as the contrary virtue, namely humility, also shows. But humility is not easily attained. For unless one has cast from oneself all opinion of esteem, one will not be able to obtain this treasure. For humility is a virtue so sublime How sublime humility is. that the devil, although he otherwise seems to imitate all other virtues in some semblance, not only cannot imitate humility, but knows nothing at all about it, what it even is. Therefore the Apostle, knowing well the stability and firmness of humility, commanded us egkombosai 1 Peter 5:5, that is, to bear it in our bosom and arms and to clothe ourselves with it -- those who perform good deeds, whether they fast, or practice works of mercy, or teach. If you are temperate and shine with intelligence, set humility as a wall of bronze for yourself; let humility gird all your virtues. You see that hymn of the three youths Daniel 3:87, how it made such rare mention of other virtues, yet bound the humble together with those three who sang praise, and did not number among them the temperate, nor those who had embraced poverty. ^b Just as it is impossible for a ship to be built without nails, so it is impossible to attain salvation without humility."

[57] Christ teaches it. "How excellent and salutary the virtue of humility is may be learned even from this: that Christ the Lord, when he descended to earth to fulfill the economy of the incarnation, clothed himself with humility, saying: 'Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart' Matthew 11:29. Consider who it is that said this. Learn thoroughly what I say: let humility be the alpha and omega of all your good actions. But by humility, or a humble mind, he means not merely in outward appearance, but he signifies the inner man. It is true, indeed, that the outer man follows the inner. The Lord knows that you have done all the commandments, but he will enjoin upon you anew that you return to the starting line and take up the beginning of a new service; for he says: 'And when you have done all these things, say: We are unprofitable servants' Luke 17:10."

[58] It is perfected through reproaches. "Humility, therefore, is perfected through reproaches, insults, and blows -- so that you hear yourself called 'fool, stupid, destitute, beggar, fallen, worthless, inconsiderate in action, infantile in speech, ignoble, impotent,' and the like. For these are the sinews of Christian humility. For Christ the Lord heard and suffered these things. For they called him a Samaritan and said he had a demon; he took the form of a servant, was struck with blows, and was afflicted with the gravest insults."

[59] "We ought therefore to imitate the humility of Christ, which was shown in deed. It must be shown in deed. For there are some who outwardly assume the mask of humility and humble themselves, but intend nothing other than to capture glory. But they are known by their works. For when they are assailed with insults at the crossroads, they cannot bear it, but like asps they immediately spew forth the venom of wrath."

^a Kauson (kauson): heat, burning fever.

^b The same is found in the Lives of the Fathers, book 5, booklet 15, number 48.

CHAPTER IX.

Other admonitions of Syncletica, on avoiding wrath, detraction, and hatred.

[60] "At these discourses all were greatly exulting with joy and steadfastly persevering in listening, taking no satiety of good things. Whence, continuing her discourse, she said: 'Great is the struggle for those who approach God, and immense is the labor at the beginning, but thence comes an ineffable joy. ^a For just as those who wish to kindle a fire The beginnings of a pious life are hard. are first seized by smoke and shed tears, and then obtain the desired warmth, so too we must kindle the divine fire with tears and labor. For the Lord himself declared: Luke 12:49 "I came to cast fire upon the earth." Some indeed who endure the annoyance of smoke through indolence do not, however, kindle the fire or grow warm, because of impatience -- for they have gone beyond the bounds of Christian long-suffering, and because their taste is very languid.'"

[61] On charity and wrath. "Whence charity is a great foundation and treasure, of which the Apostle speaks solidly thus: 1 Corinthians 13 'Even if you distribute all your substance and reduce your body to servitude, but have not charity, you have become like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.' Whence charity is the chief among good things, just as wrath is the gravest among evils. For it covers the whole soul with darkness and drags it into ferocity, so as to render us powerless of reason and brutish. Therefore Christ, bearing singular care for our salvation, left nothing at all, not even the least thing, unfortified in us. The adversary kindles lust -- Christ armed us with temperance; the demon introduced presumption -- Christ placed humility at hand; he stirred up hatred -- Christ placed charity in the midst. Whatever arms, therefore, the adversary moves against us, Christ has armed us with still more arms against them, which we may use for our salvation and the ruin of the adversary."

[62] Wrath must be moderated. "Wrathfulness, therefore, is the worst among evils. For the wrath of man, as it is written, does not work the justice of God James 1:20. We ought therefore to moderate it with the bridle of prudence, since it can also be useful in its proper time. For it is fitting to be roused and stirred up against demons, but by no means against men, even if they have sinned. One ought rather to convert them with a calm spirit, when the fury of wrath has subsided."

[63] The memory of injuries is pernicious. "And so, to be angry might seem a lesser evil among evils; but the memory of injuries is the gravest of all. For anger, like smoke, disturbing the mind for a short time, dissolves and vanishes; but the memory of injuries, being more deeply fixed in the soul, makes it wild and more terrible. For a dog, even though aroused with rabies, is calmed from its fury by the enticement of a morsel, and other animals are similarly accustomed to be cured by companionship; but he who is held by this vice of retaining the memory of injuries cannot be persuaded by exhortations, nor mitigated by food; nor can time, which otherwise changes all things, heal him. These, therefore, are the most impious and most cruel of all mortals. For they do not hear, nor do they obey the Lord when he said: Matthew 5:24 'Go first and be reconciled to your brother, and then offer your gift.' And what is said in another place: Ephesians 4:26 'Do not let the sun set on your wrath.'"

[64] "It is therefore good not to be angry. But if the matter should so require, he did not grant to the passion even the space of one day; for he said: Matthew 6:34 'Let not the sun set.' While you meanwhile wait for a whole lifetime to pass, you cannot say: 'Sufficient for the day is its own evil.' Why do you hate the man who has caused you trouble? It is not he who has done you injury, but the devil. Its harms. Hate the disease, not the wretched man suffering from it. Why do you glory in malice, you who are powerful in iniquity? The Psalmist cried out about you when he said in another place: Psalm 52:2 'He spoke iniquity all the day long' -- that is, during the whole time of your life you transgress the precept of the lawgiver who says, 'Let not the sun set on your wrath.' And he says that your tongue has devised injustice, for you have set no end to speaking against your father. And therefore that most just chastisement of the Holy Spirit pronounced against you by the same Psalmist is: Psalm 52:5 'Therefore God will destroy you utterly; he will pluck you up and remove you from your dwelling, and your root from the land of the living.' These indeed are the rewards for those who retain the memory of injuries."

[65] Harmful effects. "We ought therefore to beware of this vice, for very many grave evils follow it: envy, sadness, and slander. The virulent malice of these, although they seem small and of almost no moment (for they are, as it were, the mock weapons of the adversary), yet often the wounds inflicted by a battle-axe, and a sword reserved for greater uses (such as fornication, murder, and covetousness) are healed by the salutary medicine of penance; while meanwhile presumption, the memory of injuries, and detraction -- which seem to be lightly falling missiles of no account -- secretly destroy us off our guard, once they have occupied the principal parts of the soul. It is true indeed that they do not kill by the magnitude of the wound, but by the sheer negligence of those who are wounded. For they despise and think nothing of detraction and these other vices, but are gradually destroyed by them."

[66] Detraction must be avoided. "Detraction, therefore, is a grave and wretched evil. For it is food and sport and holiday for some people. But do not admit such vain performances to your ears, nor allow so good a member to become a receptacle for the vices of your brother. Render your mind pure of such empty things. For once it has received that foul-smelling impurity of passions devoid of reason, you will without doubt brand upon the soul most loathsome stains through such thoughts. You hate without cause those with whom you live, because your ears have already been tinged and occupied with the inhuman gall of detractors. You look at everyone with an illiberal eye, because the eye too, when it has been imbued with some more vivid color, cannot judge other colors without corruption."

[67] "We must therefore carefully guard both tongue and ears, so that we neither utter nor hear anything from passion. For it is written: Sirach 13:16 'Do not admit a foolish report.' 'Him who secretly slanders his neighbor, I have pursued' Psalm 101:5. And in another place: 'Let not my mouth speak the works of men' Psalm 17:4. But let us not speak of things that were not even done by them. We must therefore in no way give credence to such words, but do and speak according to the touchstone of sacred Scripture: Psalm 38:13 'I have become as one who is deaf and mute.'"

[68] One should not rejoice in the misfortunes of others. "Nor should one rejoice in the adversities of a neighbor, however wicked and sinful he may be. For there are some who, when they see some wretch being beaten with clubs or dragged off to prison, barbarously chant that popular and worldly proverb: 'He who makes his bed badly will feel a laborious night.' You, therefore, who have arranged your affairs well, are confident that you will have rest in life. But what shall we do with those who say that the same destruction awaits the just man and the sinner? It is true indeed that living itself, as long as we are here, is common to all; but the manner of living is one thing in the one and another in the other."

[69] Enemies should not be hated. "Nor ought we to hate our enemies, for the Lord himself commanded this to us with his own voice, saying: 'Love not only those who love you, for sinners and tax collectors do the same,' etc. Matthew 5:46. For what is good and honorable does not need enticement for its own love, for it attracts lovers by itself; but evil needs even the teaching of God and great labor to be uprooted and wiped away. For the kingdom of heaven belongs not to the idle and careless, but to the violent who take it by force Matthew 11:12."

[70] "Just as we ought not to hate our enemies, Nor should one flee the company of sinners. so also we ought not to flee from or look down our noses at the lukewarm and the idle and lazy. For there are some who apply to themselves that saying of Scripture: 'With the holy you shall be holy, and with the perverse you shall be perverted' Psalm 18:26; and therefore, they say, let us flee from sinners, lest we be perverted by them. Out of ignorance, these do the opposite of the saying. For the Holy Spirit commanded not to associate, that is, not to be perverted together with the perverse, but to turn them from their perverse way. For syndiatripseis ('you shall spend time with') in that passage is the same as synelkyseis ('you shall draw together'), which should have been translated: 'with the perverse you shall convert' -- that is, you shall convert the perverse and draw him to you from the left way to the right."

[71] Three orders of people. "There are three opinions among men regarding the choice of a way of life, of which one belongs to extreme wickedness, another is in a middling state, as one that looks to both extremes and seems to participate in both, 1. The extremely wicked. and the third, situated at the summit of contemplation, not only establishes itself but also endeavors to lead the other two lower orders, as it were by hand, to a good state. 2. The middling in virtue. The wicked, mixed with the worse, increase wickedness further; the middling endeavor to flee the dissolute and intemperate, fearing this very thing we just mentioned -- lest they be attracted and perverted by them; for they are still children in the business of the virtues. But the third, who are endowed with a manly spirit 3. The perfect. and a confirmed judgment, live freely with the wicked and associate with them, because they desire to save them, even though they suffer grievous things from them. For the demons moreover seek to destroy them, because they are being deprived of the services of their incendiary ministers. And they also endure reproaches from the unruly, and are held in ridicule by those who see them living together with the dissolute; for they are criticized as being like those with whom they associate. But they, hearing those things that have come from men as their own encomiums, fearlessly carry out the work of God. Matthew 5:11 For it is said: 'Rejoice and be glad when people speak every falsehood against you.' Truly therefore the actions of these were similar to the actions of the Lord; for the Lord ate with sinners and tax collectors. But they are more devoted to their brothers than to themselves; for they look upon sinners as upon houses on fire. Neglecting their own things, they strive to save what belongs to others, and gathering up the scorched, they emerge burned themselves from the midst of the fiercest flames of insults. But those who are in the middle, when they see a brother blazing in the fire of sin, flee, fearing lest the fire should touch them too. The first group, finally, plays the part of wicked neighbors, further increasing the fire; for the destruction of their neighbor they supply their own wickedness, or new material for the fire -- as if someone were to pour tar or cedar pitch instead of water upon a burning ship. But the good do the opposite: for they set their own possessions below the salvation of their neighbor. For these are the signs of true love, and these are the guardians of sincere charity."

^a The same is found in book 5 of the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 8, number 16.

CHAPTER X.

On spiritual and bodily almsgiving and the exercise of the religious life.

[72] Vices are interconnected, as are virtues. "Just as vices depend mutually upon one another -- for the desire of possessing is followed by envy, deceit, perjury, wrath, and the memory of injuries -- so too the virtues cohere with charity, namely gentleness, forbearance, long-suffering, and that perfect good called actemosyne (voluntary destitution), which is the voluntary casting away of goods for Christ's sake. For it does not happen that one attains this virtue of love except through the casting away of goods. Nor has God enjoined charity toward one person alone, but toward all. One ought not therefore, if one is rich and has abundance, to despise the needy; for thus something is scraped away from charity -- although it is not in man's power to suffice for all, for this is the work of God."

[73] How the virtue of almsgiving befits monks. "'Why then,' she said, 'are you anxious about almsgiving? It is itself an occasion for retaining riches. It was enjoined upon seculars. For it was not prescribed so much for the sake of feeding the poor as for the sake of charity. For the same God who governs the affairs of the rich feeds the poor. Was the precept of almsgiving, then, given in vain? By no means; rather it is the beginning of charity for the uneducated and ignorant. For just as the bodily circumcision of the foreskin was a sketch of the circumcision of the heart, so too almsgiving was established to be a teacher of charity. And therefore for those to whom charity has been given by grace, almsgiving will be in addition.'"

[74] "These things have not been said by me to disparage almsgiving, but to show the purity of voluntary poverty and the renunciation of goods. Let the lesser not be an impediment to the greater. In a small matter you have rightly done what is less: for you have distributed everything to the last coin. Come, look upward to what is greater, namely charity; for you are under the cross. You ought to utter that generous utterance: 'Behold, we have left all things and followed you' Matthew 19:27. You have been made worthy to imitate that freedom of speech of the Apostles. For Peter said with John: 'Silver and gold I have none' Acts 3:6 -- a twin tongue, indeed, but a faith of one kind in both."

[75] Almsgiving must be done with discretion. "Among seculars, moreover, alms should not be given simply and indiscriminately as the occasion arises. For it is said: 'The oil of sinners shall not anoint my head' Psalm 141:5. Therefore he who practices almsgiving must have the judgment and spirit of Abraham, who displayed a just deed justly. For when he received his guests at a banquet, he produced both feasting and a wise deed. For it is written: 'He himself stood ministering' Genesis 18, not allowing the household servants to share in so great a ministry. Truly such persons will receive the reward of almsgiving, and they exist in the second order. Contrast between the celibate and the married life. For the Lord who fashioned the world established a twofold order of inhabitants: to some who would lead life rightly he permitted marriage for the sake of begetting children; but to others, for the sake of purity of life, he assigned chastity, making them equal to the angels. To the former he gave laws of punishment and discipline; but to these he said: 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord' Romans 12:19. To them he said: 'Work the earth'; but to these: 'Do not be anxious about tomorrow' Matthew 6:31. To them he gave the law; but to these he intimated his commandments from grace in his own person."

[76] "The cross is our trophy of victory. For our profession is nothing other than a renunciation of life and a meditation on death. For just as the dead do not work for the body, neither ought we; for we have already done what needed to be done for the body when we were children. For the Apostle says: Galatians 6:14 'The world is crucified to me and I to the world.' Let us therefore live in spirit, and in spirit let us display our virtues; let us practice almsgiving in spirit. Matthew 5:7, 28 'Blessed are the merciful in spirit.' For just as it is written there that he who has lusted after a woman, but without consummation of the deed, commits a sin that is amartyron Internal and external almsgiving. -- that is, one to which no one bears witness except the worm within -- so it is in the matter of almsgiving. For almsgiving is accomplished when the soul inwardly completes the operation, even though money is not present; we are honored with greater honor."

[77] Comparison of the celibate and married life. "Just as in the world there are various kinds of service for heads of households -- for they send some to the country to cultivate estates and for the sake of begetting offspring, and from those who are born, if they see some of them as modest and of somewhat noble appearance, they bring them into the house and raise them in their own dwellings for the service of their own person -- so too the Lord has placed some in the small estate of this world to contract honorable marriage, but others, as men of better counsel, he has reserved for his own use; and these are they who are separated from all earthly affairs. For they have already been deemed worthy of the master's table, and they are not anxious about clothing, for they have put on Christ."

[78] The end of both. "Christ, therefore, is one and the same for both. For just as from the same wheat come chaff and seed, so from the same God come those who lead life rightly in the world and those who have chosen the solitary life. But each has its own use. The leaf serves for the benefit and protection of the seed, while the fruit and seed serve for propagation. Therefore the pursuit of the seed is necessary, for from it all things are generated.^a Just as the blade does not exist at the same time as the seed, so it is impossible that, with the glory of this world surrounding us, we should produce heavenly fruit. But when the leaves have fallen and the stalk has dried, the harvest awaits the reaper's sickle. So too, when we have cast away earthly thoughts like leaves, and our bodily frame has dried up like grain, and our mind is raised on high, we shall be able to produce the fruit of salvation."

[79] "^b It is indeed a dangerous work, I confess, for a person to engage in this who has not first been trained in the wrestling school of the practical life. The mind must be prepared for religious life. For just as if someone were to receive others under a tottering roof threatening collapse, they would be made destitute when the house fell, so too these people, unless they have first built themselves up well, destroy those who come to them along with themselves. With words indeed they exhort and invite to salvation, but by their bad character and examples they rather inflict grave harm upon the athletes. For their bare and unembodied words seem like paintings that are fashioned, to be sure, but drawn with easily erasable colors and perish in a very short time, vanishing at the slightest puff of breeze or drop of water. But the practical doctrine that is gained by doing cannot be destroyed by any length of time; for the word that penetrates to the living and solid inner chambers of the soul provides an eternal monument and example for the faithful."

[80] The whole soul must be cultivated. "We must therefore have care for the soul, not only on the surface, but cultivate it wholly, as great as it is, and above all descend to its depths. We have cut off our hair; let us also cast away with the hair the lice on the head, which if left too long will cause no small pain. The hair was the world -- the honors, glory, possessions, splendid garments, robes, baths, and delicacies of this life. All these we have already resolved to cast away. Come then, let us rather cast away the lethal lice of the soul! But what are these lice? Detraction, oath-taking, and the love of money. Our head, therefore, is the soul. As long as these little creatures were covered in the halls of worldly affairs, they seemed to be hidden; but now that the hair has been cut, they are laid bare and exposed to all. The sins of monks and virgins are more conspicuous. Therefore in a virgin or in a monk even the lightest sins are on display, just as in a clean house a tiny creature thinner than galbanum becomes conspicuous; but among seculars, as in the foulest dens, the greatest monsters of venomous creatures lie hidden in their lairs, concealed under the density of the forest. We must with constant cleansings purge the house, and look around lest any of this venomous kind of creature enter the inner chambers of the soul, and we must go through the innermost recesses with the divine fumigation of prayer. For just as the most potent medicines drive away venomous animals, so too prayer with fasting routs unclean thoughts."

^a The same is found in book 5 of the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 8, number 20.

^b Pontanus also has this passage, at number 1.

CHAPTER XI.

The vain judgments of the astrologers are refuted.

[81] To believe in fate is a great wickedness. "Among the lethal things for the soul is also this: that we allow ourselves to be persuaded by the proponents of fate, which they also call genesis (nativity). This is, if any is, a most grievous goad of the adversary. Among good people, as soon as he has presented the pestilent notion to the mind, he departs at once; but among the incautious he even exercises tyranny. For no one who leads his life with virtue has believed or admitted such a lethal and subversive doctrine. For they set God as the principle of all good things that are and come to be, and as a secondary principle they set each person's own will, in which lies the judgment and sovereignty over virtue and vice. But when some through carelessness suffer what they otherwise did not expect, they immediately take refuge in this demon and the sacred anchor of fate. For just as dissolute and prodigal sons who cannot bear the rod of their parents -- although applied for their salvation and benefit -- nevertheless become deserters and flee to those desolate places of folly, and enslave themselves to the wild and barbarous opinions of demons. For when they are ashamed to confess that their own will is the cause of the things they have done, they throw the blame on I know not what, which they say they lack, as if the cause of the evil were that they lack those things."

[82] The impiety of the astrologers. "And so, thoroughly alienating themselves from the divine power of God, they say that all things that savor of lust proceed from one's nativity. For when they suffer from fornications, thefts, and avarice, and have freely chosen deceit, they themselves have twisted their actions and life from the straight path of truth, and the end of their intention is utter despair. For by these arguments it is necessary that God and furthermore the judgments of God be removed from their midst. For they say: 'It has been so established and ratified in the tables of fate that I would be a fornicator, or that I would be a thief.' Are the judgments then in vain? For just is the punishment of things that are committed willingly. And involuntary actions, which are done as if compelled by some cause, render their authors blameless; and therefore judgment is removed from the midst."

[83] They do away with the majesty of God. "But how the majesty of God is also done away with among them must be heard. For they will say that God either holds the first place, or the second, or has merely coexisted continuously with other operating causes, according to their vain futility. If they say God holds the first place, it necessarily follows that all things have been done through him, for he himself is in all things; and thus he would be the lord of fate. Whence if they should say that they are thieves or adulterers by nativity, it is necessary that God be the cause of evil through the medium of nativity -- which is absurd and impious to say. But if they say that God holds only the second place, it follows that God is a minister and under someone else; for the secondary must obey the primary and do whatever the primary has decreed. And thus God will also be the cause of evil according to them -- which is abominable to say. If, finally, they wish God merely to coexist with other causes, as if he were doing nothing, then those things that have natures repugnant to one another will wage continual war against each other. Whence by these arguments the vain opinion of this kind is summarily overturned, concerning which Scripture says: 'The fool has said in his heart: There is no God' Psalm 14:1; and, 'They have spoken iniquity on high.'"

[84] Their vain arguments from the Scriptures. "But these people offer pretexts for their sins. For in their blindness they mutilate the Scriptures, from which they attempt to prove their unsound doctrine. They first attempt to draw and spew forth their poison from the Gospel, where it says: 'The generation of Christ was thus' Matthew 1:18. Furthermore, they say that the fact that the Word was made incarnate consequently implies a nativity. And even if they also fabricate something about the star, let them learn that the glorious coming of that One was demonstrated in it. That one brightest star was for us a herald of the truth. But this foolish fate has induced many to cast nativities of humans; whence it is manifest to all how thoroughly wickedness contradicts itself. Then they also drag Isaiah into the confirmation of their folly. For they say he spoke these words: 'The Lord making peace and creating evils' Isaiah 45:7. It is acknowledged among all that peace is the work of God, but wickedness reigns among them -- wickedness, I say, which is in the soul. But the evils that are inflicted upon us by God are most useful; for they are for the salvation of the soul and the discipline of the body: famine, rain, disease, poverty, and other such calamities. For they consider these salutary medicines to be evils of the soul, and conceive of them as truly evil. But they are inflicted for the correction of the good; for 'what son is there whom his father does not chastise?' Jeremiah 10:23 Finally, they also bring forth this: 'The ways of man are not in himself' -- but to their own confusion. For since they have no way, they wish to search out ways. Covetousness has no way, nor does gluttony, nor fornication; for they are anhypostata (without substance) in themselves, me onta (non-beings) -- that is, things that have no foundation in themselves and do not truly exist. These they thought to be ways; but Scripture in that passage calls 'ways' those things that are common to all: life and death. For truly these ways are the entrance into this theater of the world and the exit therefrom."

[85] Their end. "All the wicked do, therefore, is to remove themselves from free will; and they place all their care in this: to exchange freedom for servitude. For this is the proper work of wickedness, always to mix itself with what is worse. They are constant and abundant witnesses against themselves, The devil is the author of this opinion. having enslaved themselves to wickedness. But the mastermind of this imposture and stratagem is the devil; for he works through such unsound preconceptions to bend downward inert and servile minds, not allowing them to raise their heads to recognize the truth. Just as a ship without a rudder is always tossed by waves on the high sea, so dangers press upon them from every side, and they cannot make for the harbor of salvation because they have abandoned the captain and helmsman. And thus the devil holds in error those who have enslaved and devoted themselves to him. He often also lays snares for the good, wishing to interrupt their praiseworthy course through these things. For he suggests to their minds that all good fortune and prosperity comes from the movement of the stars; and the adversary proposes this argument to those who migrate from secular philosophy to the profession of the solitary life. The devil, shrewd in evil, suggests things suited to the nature of each: to some he constantly presses through despair, others he drags along through vainglory, others he trips up through cupidity. In sum, like a treacherous physician he administers poisons to men: one man, suffering from liver disease, he destroys by suggesting the poisonous medicine of cupidity; another, suffering from heart disease, by inflaming his spirit to wrath; and for others he blunts the ruling parts of the soul, either blinding them with darkness or twisting them with the vertigo of curiosity."

[86] The foolish curiosity of some. "Some, therefore, he perverts through foolish questions. For when an insane desire to scrutinize God and the nature of God has entered the mind, they stumble and suffer shipwreck -- unskilled charioteers who have not yet learned to hold the reins of the practical life and dare to commit themselves to the wings of speculation. Whence they fall headlong, driven by the vertigo of the mysteries. For when they have not attained what was first in order, they go astray also from the second. Just as those who encounter the first element of letters first look at the figure, then learn the name, then the number, and finally the tone and correct pronunciation -- if, therefore, so great an expenditure of time and art is needed to know just the first element, how much more time and labor must be spent beforehand to contemplate the ineffable majesty of the creator of the world? But let no one gloriously presume to comprehend the divine nature through the exotic sciences of the pagans; for whoever thinks this way deceives himself, deluded by the devil. For the Psalmist says: 'Out of the mouths of infants and sucklings you have perfected praise' Psalm 8:2. And the Lord himself in the Gospel said with his own voice: 'Suffer the little children to come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven' Luke 18:16. And in another place he said: 'Unless you become as these little children' Matthew 18:3. Are you learned for the sake of the world? Be foolish for Christ's sake. Tear out the old, that you may plant the new. Destroy the crumbling foundations, and lay the adamantine base of Christ, and be built, as the Apostle was, upon the firm rock."

[87] "We ought not therefore to be contentious in empty disputations of words, lest we devote ourselves too much to them. Vain disputations must be avoided. For the devil can inflict no small harm through untimely loquacity. He has many snares; he is a skilled fowler. He sets small snares for smaller birds, and larger and stronger ones for the larger. A grave and pernicious snare it is to place one's faith in nativities. All reasonings that tend in that direction must be avoided. Astrology is entirely conjectural and vain. 'But,' you say, 'they will wrest faith from the unwilling by their works and prognostications.' But the whole system is conjectural and the judgment uncertain; for the things predicted by them do not necessarily come to pass. For just as among common folk and sailors there is a rough-and-ready method of predicting winds and rains from acquired experience and the character of the clouds, so too among these there is a rather putrid knowledge of prediction derived from demons. For they also arrive at some things by conjecture, just as the ventriloquist pythons do. And this above all is sufficient to expose their vain opinion; for if their conjectures and falsehoods have proceeded from demons, the entire profession of calculating nativities is vain."

[88] Chance and fortune are suggested by the devil. "And if the devil has still persevered in patronizing the science of divination, we shall be able to convict him of falsehood from this further consideration: that at other times he wages war upon the soul through other opinions contrary to this one. For what is inconstant is also unstable; and what is unstable is close to destruction. For the devil is not content with that first malice of his, but he also suggests to the soul chance and fortune, which are contrary to fate; and he holds that our mind is nothing other than a certain offshoot of nature, and that when the body is dissolved the spirit perishes along with it. These things he suggests to us in order to keep the soul lulled to sleep with the potion of indolence. But we ought not to assent to such suggestions as though they were true; for they will someday betray their own malice, turning now this way, now that, and vanishing in the blink of an eye. For I have known a certain servant of God The entry of thoughts must be examined. who spent his life in virtue. When he sat in his cell, he observed the assaults of thoughts and kept account of which was first and which was second, and how long each lasted, in what order they succeeded one another, and whether they preceded or followed when compared with the preceding day. Thus he accurately recognized the grace of God, his own strength and perseverance, and moreover the demolition work of the adversary."

[89] Spiritual trading must be constant. "We ought to observe the same rule. For those who devote themselves to commerce daily evaluate the favorable opportunities for trading; they always gladly seize upon profit and more of it, and flee from losses. Much more ought those who profess the commerce of true treasures to be vigilant beyond these: to desire more good things, and to bear it gravely, out of fear of judgment, if the adversary has stolen even a tiny bit; yet not to lose heart and throw everything away in despair because of a fault that was committed unwillingly. You have ninety-nine sheep: go to seek the one that was lost. Do not be dismayed on account of one and flee from the Lord. Otherwise that infernal leech the devil will lead the whole flock of your actions into captivity and destroy you. Therefore do not abandon your place because of one. The Lord is benign. For it was said through the Psalmist: Psalm 37:24 'When he falls he shall not be bruised, because the Lord supports his hand.'"

CHAPTER XII.

Spiritual progress: the adornment of the brides of Christ.

[90] All things of this world are of no moment compared to the next. "Whatever we have done or gained in this world, let us reckon it small if compared with the goods of the future life. For we are on earth as though we were enclosed again in the womb of our mother. Just as in the enclosure of the mother we do not have the same life as here -- for we are not then nourished with such solid nourishment in those parts as now, nor can we perform actions as here, for we are outside the light of the sun and all the splendor of heaven -- so, just as while we are in those little cells we are deprived of many things that we have in abundance here, so too in this world the abundance we enjoy ought to be directed toward the kingdom of heaven. We have already made trial of the foods that are here: let us desire heavenly ones. We have already used this worldly sun: let us desire the Sun of Justice. Let us reckon the heavenly Jerusalem as our city and mother, and let us call God our father. Let us live temperately here, that we may attain eternal life."

[91] "Just as children grow in the womb of the mother, and from a meager nourishment in the narrow prison of life are transferred to a wider theater, so too the just pass from their course in this world to the heavenly life, according to what is written: Psalm 84:7 'They shall go from strength to strength.' But sinners are like embryos that die in the womb of the mother: they pass from darkness to darkness. For while they are in the world they are truly dead, and, weighed down by the ballast of sins, deceased as to life, after death they are transferred to the infernal and dark places in hell. Indeed, we are born three times in life: We live three lives. first from the womb of the mother, when we are transferred from earth to earth; then when we are led from earth to heaven, the latter being granted to us by the gratuitous benignity of God, which takes place through the divine bath of Baptism, which we also truly call regeneration. The third life, finally, comes to us from penance and good works. In this third kind of life we now find ourselves."

[92] Virgins, as brides of Christ, must be adorned with virtues. "We must therefore adorn ourselves more elegantly as we approach our true Bridegroom. Let the weddings that we see celebrated in the world serve as our example. If young women spend so much effort and expense on baths, perfumes, cosmetics, and the like, so that they may appear more elegantly groomed in the bridal chamber when about to be joined to a man who is otherwise easily captivated -- for by this means they think they will be more lovable to their bridegrooms -- if these women vex themselves so much in temporal weddings that are transacted in the body, how much more is it fitting that we should surpass them in spirit, we who are betrothed to a heavenly Bridegroom, so that by the zealous exercise of virtue we may wash away the stains of our sins and exchange our bodily garments for heavenly ones? They adorn the body with I know not what earthly little flowers; let us make our mind radiant with virtues in place of precious stones. Let us place upon our head that threefold crown of faith, hope, and charity. In place of necklaces, let us put around ourselves that noble ornament of humility. In place of a girdle, let us be girded with temperance. In place of a bridal veil, let us have actemosyne (voluntary poverty). Let dishes that will never perish be brought to the banquet: prayers and psalms. But as the Apostle says, do not merely move the tongue, but also the spirit 1 Corinthians 14:14. Mark well what I have said; for the mouth often speaks while the heart is distracted by other thoughts. But care must be taken that when we approach the heavenly wedding we do not suffer from a lack of lamps -- that is, of virtues. Otherwise the Bridegroom will hold us in hatred and will in no way admit us until he has received our pledge and our virginal promises. But what are these promises and pledges of ours to the Bridegroom? The nuptial pacts of the brides of Christ. To be less anxious about the body, and to irrigate the soul more abundantly. These are the chief articles of our contract with the Bridegroom."

[93] "Just as we cannot draw two full buckets at the same time on one and the same well-sweep -- for as the wheel turns, with the empty one sinking at the other end of the beam, the full one is drawn upward -- so too the matter stands with us. When we devote all care to the soul and fill it with the stream of good actions and virtues, it raises itself upward, moved by the pursuit of sublime things, and the body, then made light by the exercise of virtue, will not weigh down the ruling parts of the soul. Which the Apostle also testifies when he says: 'The more the outward man is corrupted, the more the inward man is renewed' 2 Corinthians 4:16."

CHAPTER XIII.

Exhortation to religious women.

[94] "^a You live within the enclosure of a cenobium, that is, a common and voluntary enclosure? Do not change your place; One should not rashly change location. for this will do you great harm. Just as a bird, if it abandons the eggs on which it is sitting, will render them addled, so too a veiled virgin or monk, when she migrates from place to place, finds her faith growing cold and indeed dying."

[95] "^b Do not let luxuries move you, nor let the feasting of the wealthy in the world entice you, Luxuries must be scorned. as if they had some weight under the guise of pleasure. They indeed cultivate and esteem the skill of the cook; but you, by fasting and cheap foods, surpass all their abundance. For it is written: 'The full soul tramples upon the honeycomb' Proverbs 27:7. ^c Do not gorge yourself with food, nor desire wine."

[96] "There are three principal weapons of the adversary from which all depravity arises, and one follows another Pleasure, sadness, concupiscence. like links in a chain. Pleasure we can moderate to some extent; concupiscence, however, is impossible. For pleasure is fulfilled through the body, but concupiscence begins from the mind, and pain from both. Do not therefore allow concupiscence to pass into act, and you will easily rout the rest. For if you have allowed the first to gain the upper hand,^d it will give place to the second in turn; they will drive each other in a circle, tossed up and down, so that the soul cannot restrain itself by any brake, according to what is written: 'Do not give your water an outlet' Sirach 25:25."

[97] "Not all things suit all persons. ^e Let each be persuaded by her own judgment. Various things suit various people. For it is profitable for many to live in a cenobium, that is, in a common solitude with others; but for many it is also profitable to withdraw apart. For just as some plants grow more abundantly in moister soil and others more firmly in drier, so too some people thrive more happily in higher places, others in lower; so that many are saved in cities who have touched the desert only in thought, and conversely many perish in the mountains and deserts. It can happen that one who lives amid a great throng of people is solitary in spirit, and conversely that one who dwells in solitude feels crowds in his mind."

[98] "The devil has many weapons against us. ^f Could he not bend us by poverty? He will bring riches as bait. Could he not prevail through insults and reproaches? He casts praise and glory in our way. Has he attacked in vain through good health? He will try illness. The devil has many weapons against us. For when he could not deceive us by pleasures, he works to make us overthrow ourselves by our own labors. For he will deliberately inflict the gravest infirmities, as though at our own request, so that because of them we may become more sluggish and disturb our charity toward God. But if the body is tormented Consolation for the afflicted. and inflamed by the most burning fevers and also vexed by intolerable thirst: if you suffer these things while being a sinner, remember the punishments of the other world, and the eternal fire, and the judgments of hell; then you will not show negligence regarding present things. Rejoice, for the Lord has visited you; and always have on your lips those auspicious words of the Psalmist: 'The Lord has chastened me sorely, but he has not given me over to the death of sin' Psalm 118:18. For you are iron, and in the fire you are purged of rust. But if you are sick while being righteous, then you are progressing from great things to greater: you are gold, and through fire you will be made more pure. 'An angel of Satan was given to your flesh to buffet you' 2 Corinthians 12:7. Exult, seeing to whom you have been made like. For you have been deemed worthy of the honor of Paul. ^g Through burning you are tested; through cold you are instructed. But Scripture also says: 'We have passed through fire and water. Refreshment is prepared' Psalm 66:12. You already have the first; wait for the second. As long as life lasts, always have on your lips those words of the Prophet: 'I am like a poor man, destitute and sorrowful' Psalm 69:29. You will be perfected by the threefold number; for it is also written: 'In tribulation you have enlarged me' Psalm 4:1. In these wrestling-schools let us exercise our souls: we have the adversary before our eyes."

[99] "^h Let us not be saddened that because of the weakness and affliction of the body we are not able to stand for prayer or to use our voice for singing psalms. All these things were done for the extirpation of desires. Consolation in illness. For fasting and sleeping on the ground were instituted because of the most foul pleasures of the flesh; if illness has cut these short, voluntary labors will be superfluous. But why do I call them superfluous? The worst symptoms of concupiscence are put to sleep, I confess, by illness, as by a great and more potent medicine. But this is a great ascesis for us: to endure diseases patiently, and to pour forth hymns to God Almighty with thanksgiving. Have we been deprived of our eyes? Let us not bear it ill; for we have lost the instruments^i of insatiable desire; but with the inner eyes of the mind let us gaze as in a mirror upon the glory of God. Have we become deaf? Let us give thanks that we have utterly lost so vain a sense of hearing. Have we been maimed in our hands? But let us keep the inner hands of the soul ready for battle against the implacable adversary, the devil. Has infirmity occupied the whole body from head to foot? ^k But let the health of the inner man flourish all the more."

[100] "^l When one lives in a cenobium, that is, in the common solitude of life, The benefit of obedience. let us prefer obedience to asceticism; for asceticism promises presumption, but obedience promises humility. ^m For there is a certain asceticism devised by the devil, which his disciples follow. On good and vicious asceticism. How then shall we distinguish the divine and royal asceticism from the tyrannical and demonic? By moderation, of course. Your whole life, however long it is, must be carried through with one equal and uniform rule of fasting. One must not fast for four or five suns and then stuff the body with excessive gluttony to the point of the collapse of one's strength; for by doing so you will serve the adversary well. On moderating asceticism. Our arms are the body, and the soldier is the soul: take care of both, each for its own purposes. If you are young and healthy, devote yourself to fasting; old age with its weakness is at the door. While your strength holds, store up provisions; so that when your strength fails, you may have something to use. Fast with reason and diligence. Beware lest the chameleon mingle itself with the sails; for I believe the Lord intimated this when he said:^n 'Be expert money-changers' -- that is, diligently distinguish the royal coin. For there are also other foreign coins in which, although the nature of the gold is the same, they differ in their stamp. The gold is fasting, continence, and almsgiving. But the Greeks -- that is, the pagans -- have also issued their own tyrannical images, and heretics too raise their crests and presume much upon these things. One must therefore diligently examine their coins and avoid both them and their foreign currency. See to it that when you encounter them without experience, you do not suffer loss. Confidently take in your hands the cross of the Lord, sealed with virtues -- namely, right faith together with good works."

[101] "^o We must govern the affairs of the soul with prudence. When we are in a cenobium and common life, we ought not to seek our own things nor live by our own judgment, but to obey the common mother who is according to the faith. Voluntary punishment. We have handed ourselves over to exile -- that is, we have gone beyond the boundaries of the world, from which we have been cast out. Let us not, I beg, return. There we had glory, here ignominy; there feasting, here hunger.^p In the world, if someone has committed something, willingly or unwillingly he is thrown into prison. Let us, on account of our sins, willingly confine ourselves in the custody of prison, so that by what we do voluntarily we may avoid the punishment of the future life."

[102] "^q Have you begun to fast? Do not afterward plead poor health as an excuse; for those who do not fast One must persevere in good things. are afflicted with the same ills. ^r Have you begun to do good things? Do not turn back your foot when the adversary interrupts you; for by your perseverance he is weakened. And those who begin to sail at first use a favorable wind and tend to the sails and spread the stern ornaments. Then a contrary wind arises, and everything is adverse; but the sailors do not on account of this gale desert the ship.^s They keep calm, or even contend with the waves, and continue the sailing as best they can. In the same way we too must act when the spirit of the devil bears down upon us: spreading the cross as our sail, let us fearlessly pursue our course."

^a This is also found in the Lives of the Fathers, book 5, booklet 7, number 15, and in Pontanus, number 2.

^b Found in book 5 of the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 4, number 43.

^c Pontanus, number 3: "Do not eat bread to the point of satiety."

^d Jacobus Pontanus, number 4, where he has the same, renders this: "confused with the second."

^e Pontanus, number 5: "Let each person examine and know with certainty how much he is capable of."

^f Same place, booklet 7, number 16.

^g More clearly in the Lives of the Fathers: "If by fevers, if by the cold of chills you are chastised."

^h Found in the same place, number 17.

^i In the Lives of the Fathers: "of vainglory."

^k In the Lives of the Fathers: "but health increases for our inner man."

^l In the Lives of the Fathers, book 5, booklet 14, number 9, where instead of "asceticism," it says that obedience is to be preferred to "continence."

^m Pontanus has the same more briefly. But differently in the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 10, number 72: "For there is, by the suggestion of the devil, an extended harsh abstinence; for his followers also do this. When therefore do we discern the divine and royal abstinence from the tyrannical and diabolical? Clearly when there is one moderate rule of fasting for the whole time of your way of life. You do not suddenly fast four or five consecutive days and then dissolve your strength with an excess of food? For this gladdens the devil. For what is without measure is always corruptible. Therefore do not suddenly spend your arms, lest, found naked in battle, you be easily captured. Our arms are our body, and our soul is our soldier. Therefore show diligence toward both, so that you may be prepared for what is necessary."

^n This seems to be taken from the passage where Christ says: "Whose image is this?"

^o The same is found in book 5 of the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 4, number 10.

^p The same is reported in booklet 7, number 18, and by Pontanus, number 7.

^q Pontanus seems to render this less aptly: "Do you fast? Do not feign illness; for those who do not fast are accustomed to feign the same."

^r Pontanus has the same, number 9.

^s More clearly in the Lives of the Fathers: "but sustaining a little or fighting against the storm, they again find their straight course." Pontanus: "but when they have rested a little, or even striving against the opposing storm, they continue the voyage."

^d Jacobus Pontanus, number 4, where he has the same, renders this: "confused with the second."

^e Pontanus, number 5: "Let each person examine and know with certainty how much he is capable of."

^f Same place, booklet 7, number 16.

^g More clearly in the Lives of the Fathers: "If by fevers, if by the cold of chills you are chastised."

^h Found in the same place, number 17.

^i In the Lives of the Fathers: "of vainglory."

^k In the Lives of the Fathers: "but health increases for our inner man."

^l In the Lives of the Fathers, book 5, booklet 14, number 9, where instead of "asceticism," it says that obedience is to be preferred to "continence."

^m Pontanus has the same more briefly. But differently in the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 10, number 72: "For there is, by the suggestion of the devil, an extended harsh abstinence; for his followers also do this. When therefore do we discern the divine and royal abstinence from the tyrannical and diabolical? Clearly when there is one moderate rule of fasting for the whole time of your way of life. You do not suddenly fast four or five consecutive days and then dissolve your strength with an excess of food? For this gladdens the devil. For what is without measure is always corruptible. Therefore do not suddenly spend your arms, lest, found naked in battle, you be easily captured. Our arms are our body, and our soul is our soldier. Therefore show diligence toward both, so that you may be prepared for what is necessary."

^n This seems to be taken from the passage where Christ says: "Whose image is this?"

^o The same is found in book 5 of the Lives of the Fathers, booklet 4, number 10.

^p The same is reported in booklet 7, number 18, and by Pontanus, number 7.

^q Pontanus seems to render this less aptly: "Do you fast? Do not feign illness; for those who do not fast are accustomed to feign the same."

^r Pontanus has the same, number 9.

^s More clearly in the Lives of the Fathers: "but sustaining a little or fighting against the storm, they again find their straight course." Pontanus: "but when they have rested a little, or even striving against the opposing storm, they continue the voyage."

CHAPTER XIV.

For three and a half years she suffers from a wasting disease, meanwhile instructing her companions.

[103] The illustrious deeds of Syncletica. These were the most weighty and most richly laden with all praise of virtue teachings of Syncletica, which were rather actions and examples than words. And many other very numerous and great things were done by her, from which those who heard and saw derived benefit. For so many good things were done by her, and so great a multitude of goods sprang forth from her, that human language could not suffice to narrate them.

[104] Her illness. But the malicious adversary, always burning with hatred of the good, bearing with difficulty so abundant a harvest of goods, was wasting away, and he contrived within himself new stratagems by which to disrupt this growth of goods, and at last he challenged this most noble virgin Syncletica to a final battle. He harassed her with such hatred that he would not begin the wound from the exterior part of the body; but attacking the interior, he disseminated pain in the depths of the body, so that she was held by all as one whose health was utterly despaired of by human care.

[105] Consumption in the lung. First he attacked through that vital organ, the lung, and gradually kindled the wound with lethal strokes. For he had caused the disease to allow life to continue slowly and, as it were, on sufferance; but like a bloodthirsty executioner he displayed his ferocity through the multitude of his blows and the length of time. For with the lung gradually consumed and even expelled through the mouth by coughing, she had lost almost the whole organ. Then an intermittent fever, Hectic fever. so called, consumed the body like a file.

[106] In the eightieth year of her age. She was in the eightieth year of her age when the devil inflicted upon her those wounds like those of Job; for he used the same scourges, but in Syncletica he shortened the time, making the pains more severe.^a Job had endured thirty-five years in his affliction; but against Syncletica the adversary took tithes of the years of Job as first fruits for the wounds with which he tortured the holy body of the virgin: for three and a half years she withstood the adversary under this glorious martyrdom and labors. Comparison of Syncletica with Job. In Job he had begun from the exterior parts, but in Syncletica from the interior; therefore, since he attacked the internal organs, he aroused far greater and more troublesome pains, of a kind that I scarcely think even the most courageous Martyrs endured as this venerable virgin Syncletica did. With the Martyrs. For the bloodthirsty dragon inflicted upon them through external means: although he brought sword, fire, and the like, I judge them milder than the temptations with which he assailed Syncletica. For he burned her entrails as in a furnace, kindling the fire slowly from within, and over a long time, like a file, he plucked away the bloom of her body, so that you might truly say this was exceedingly severe and inhuman. For when judges to whom the tribunals of punishment are entrusted wish to devise a more exquisite kind of torment for offenders, they consume them with a slow fire; in the same way the adversary, the executioner, approached Syncletica with an inextinguishable fever from within, which consumed the flesh and kept up the torments day and night.

[107] Her constancy. But she, bearing the wound nobly, never sank in spirit, but always bravely armed herself against the adversary. For those who had been wounded by him she healed with good instructions, and as from the jaws of a lion she drew them out unharmed. For she cured the wounded with the saving balm of Christ; and others, still untouched, she preserved from the wound, for by uncovering the deceitful snares of the adversary she kept them free and immune from sins.

[108] ^b This admirable virgin often warned souls once consecrated to God that they should never be idle or free from solicitude. Admonitions to religious women. For the adversary more frequently attacks such women; when they enjoy their solitary tranquility, he roars terribly, and falling short of his desire he is tormented. But drawing back his foot a little and collecting himself, he watches for when they might begin to doze even slightly, and^c he attacks them unexpectedly and tries to trip them up by the very means through which he thinks they will have that constancy of meditation and that never-granted respite from solicitude. But just as it is impossible for the notoriously wicked not to have some tiny bit of good,^d so too the converse holds for the good.^e For often one who is surrounded by every stain of shame is nevertheless merciful and compassionate; so too among the good, temperance, abstinence, and laborious asceticism often reign; yet you will see them sometimes ungenerous and sometimes prodigal with the reputation of others."

[109] Even small things must not be neglected. "We must not therefore despise small things, as though they could not do us harm; for a drop hollows out a stone over time.^f The greatest goods in human beings are granted by divine grace, but what seem to be small evils has been given to us to rout through our own efforts. Whence one who resists the greater evils through grace but despises the small ones is notably harmed. For the Lord, like a true father, extends his hand to little children who are just beginning to walk and delivers us completely from every great danger; but for small things he allows us to move by ourselves, as though with his feet he were pointing out our free will. For he who is easily captured in small things, how will he be able to guard against the great?"

^a I have read no one who writes that Job was afflicted by so long a calamity. Some circumscribe all his plagues within the space of one year, as may be seen in our Jacobus Salianus, year of the world 2398, numbers 18 and following. Others extend them to three and a half years; others, finally, as Salianus himself, to seven years.

^b Pontanus, number 10.

^c Pontanus otherwise: "And through those very things by which someone thinks himself secure, through those very things he overturns and prostrates him."

^d There is added in Pontanus: "For a certain portion of the goods and evils that fight against each other is in the opposing parties."

^e Pontanus: "and has dealings with the good."

^f This passage must be carefully understood in accordance with what has now been determined by the Church concerning matters of grace and free will.

CHAPTER XV.

She is deprived of the use of her voice. She suffers bitterly. She dies piously.

[110] The consumption seizes the organ of the voice. But when the malicious adversary saw that she was so spirited and strengthened against him, he could hardly bear it; and when he saw his tyranny overthrown, he devised another mode of malice. He struck the vocal organs, so that he might shut off the prophorike* (external) voice of the virgin; for it seemed to him that by this means the other virgins who came to her would be excluded from the divine discourses. But although he deprived their hearing of this fruit, yet the gain accrued to her in greater abundance; for when they beheld with their eyes the martyrdom of the virgin, they were all the more confirmed in spirit. For the wounds in her body healed their wounded souls. One could see at once both a preservative and a curative medicine in those who beheld the magnanimity and endurance of Syncletica.

[111] The origin and progress of the whole disease. The adversary had given this occasion to the evil: first, a molar tooth began to trouble her; then the gums suddenly contracted putrefaction, and the bone fell out; the corruption spread to the whole jaw, so that a lichen crept around to the parts beneath. Within the space of forty days the bone was hollowed out by decay and worm-eaten; and within two months it was completely eaten through. Then everything around was blackened with putrefaction; the flesh was consumed by gangrene, the bones by necrosis, gradually contracting corruption by themselves. Thence putrefaction and a foul stench occupied the whole body, so that you would say that the attendants suffered more than she herself; and since they could not tolerate such a horrifying stench, they would mostly withdraw, Enormous stench. and when necessity called them, they would first burn fragrant incense in abundance, then enter, and soon leave again, because of the horrible and cadaverous odor. But the blessed woman always faced the adversary with an unfurrowed brow. Nor did she ever allow male hands to be applied to her, showing in this the genuine strength of her spirit, so that she could never be induced, even by those who had gathered and begged that it be done for their sake, to have the walls even anointed with perfumes. For she considered it glorious that the outer man be conquered in the fellowship of so glorious a martyrdom with them. But when the virgins had summoned a certain physician to see whether he could offer any hope of recovery, she by no means permitted it, speaking to them thus: "Why do you hinder me from the palm of so good a contest? Why do you busy yourselves with shells and do not recognize the kernel? Why do you worry about what has happened and do not look to him who caused it?" Then the physician who was present said: "It is not our intention to apply any medicine for the purpose of healing or palliating; but only that, as is customary, the parts already corrupted and dead may be buried, lest those who are present here with you also be corrupted. Remedy against the stench. For what they apply to the dead, this we now do also: behold, I apply aloe with myrrh and myrtle macerated in wine." Then she, moved rather by compassion for her companions, permitted the remedy to be applied to her, and the violence of the stench was somewhat mitigated.

[112] Who indeed would not shudder who beheld the enormity of the wound? Who would not perceive the benefit who saw the patience of the blessed woman? Who would not be edified who observed the downfall of the adversary? He had inflicted the wound where there was the salutary and sweetest fountain of eloquence, and the enormity of the adversary's ferocity had excluded all hope of mitigation. For like a bloodthirsty beast he strove to drive away all the services of those who attended and visited her, so that he might tear apart the offered prey alone. But the fox who was hunting the prey himself became the prey. For, enticed as by bait from the weakness of her body and seeing that he was dealing with a woman, he made little of her. But he had not recognized the manly spirit of the virgin: he considered only her diseased limbs. He was blind in that he could not behold so noble a spirit of the virgin. Three months she spent in this conflict. She therefore spent three months in martyrdom, and by plainly divine power sustained her whole body; for the nourishment that would have served for sustenance was being withdrawn. Atrophy was already present: for how could she indulge in food amid such putrefaction and stench? She was also deprived of sleep because of the pain.

[113] And when the end of life and the palm of victory shone nearby, she saw in a vision a guard of Angels and virgins inviting her to ascend, and a splendor of ineffable light, and the region of Paradise. And after the vision, as if collecting herself within herself, she spoke these last words as a charge to the virgins who were present: that they should bear themselves nobly and never grow sluggish for the present. "In three days," she said, "I too shall put off this body." She foretells the day and hour of her death. Nor was this all, but she had also foretold the hour of her departure. When it drew near, she departed to the Lord and received the kingdom of heaven as the reward of her contests.

* That is, the external or bodily voice -- namely, that which is uttered.