Letters 9–12

Translated by Claude from M. Kmosko's Latin translation (1915) of the Syriac; neither is shown

I know that you have fallen into labour of heart and great temptation; nevertheless, if you endure bravely, joy too will come to you. For unless temptation comes, whether openly or secretly, you will make no further progress beyond the measure in which you are. For all the saints, when they prayed that faith might be added to them, fell into temptations. When anyone has received a blessing from God, temptation from the side of the enemies is at once added to him, as they try to rob him of the blessing with which God has blessed him. For the demons, seeing that soul blessed and grown great, join battle with it, whether secretly or openly. For when Jacob had received a blessing from his parents, the temptation of Esau at once took hold of him, because the Evil One stirred up Esau’s heart against Jacob, thinking to make his blessings void. Yet he cannot prevail against the righteous. For it is written: “For the rod of the wicked shall not rest on the lot of the righteous.” Accordingly Jacob did not lose the blessing he had received, but advanced with it from day to day. So strive, you too, to overcome your temptations. For those who have received blessings must also endure temptations. I too, your father, have endured great temptations, whether openly or secretly, and I showed myself strong, waiting and praying, and my Lord … temptations also, until you pass beyond them; and then you will receive a great measure, and it will be added to your excellence, and joy will be given to you … And what is their remedy? This: that you never grow weary, but that with all your heart you entreat God, confessing and having patience in everything; and then it will depart from you. For so Abraham was tempted and proved a victorious athlete. And for this reason it is written: “Many are the tribulations of the righteous, and the Lord delivers them out of them all.” And again James in his Epistle says thus: “If any of you is sad, let him pray.” You see how all the righteous … Again it is written: “God is faithful, who does not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear.” And now, because of the sincerity of your heart, God is at work in you. For unless he loved you, he would not bring temptations upon you. For it is written: “Whom God loves he chastens, and he scourges the son whom he receives.” Therefore the faithful need temptations. For all who are without experience of temptations are not chosen; they have put on the habit, but deny its power. Indeed Father Antony used to say to us: “A man cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without temptations.” And likewise blessed Peter too wrote in his Epistle: “… in which you now rejoice …, that gold, which passes through fire, is tested … and is found …” It is likewise reported also … You know, then, that in this way, through spiritual work, the beginning of the Holy Spirit grants joy when he sees their heart pure. Then, when he has given them joy and sweetness, he withdraws from them and leaves them. And the sign of this is: he does this with every soul that seeks him and fears God; he withdraws and departs and leaves all men, until he knows whether they will seek him or not. But there are men who, after he has left them and withdrawn, sit oppressed by distress and remain motionless in this distress. For they do not pray God to remove the distress from them and that the joy and sweetness they had known may return to them; but through negligence and their own will they become strangers to the sweetness of God. For this reason they become carnal and have put on only the outward form, but deny its power. They are blinded in their eyes and do not know the works of God. But if they perceive an unaccustomed distress, (foreign) to their former joy, let them pray God with tears and fasting; then God in his grace, seeing the sincerity of their heart, and that they entreat him with all their heart and deny all their own will, gives them a joy greater than the former one and strengthens them still more. This is the sign that God gives with every soul …

Translated by Claude from M. Kmosko's Latin translation (1915) of the Syriac; neither is shown

After I had written the letter, I remembered a certain word, which roused me to write to you about the temptation of an excellent human soul which comes down from the order of spiritual perfection to lowest Hades. For this reason the prophet cries out, saying: “You have rescued my soul from the lowest hell.” Everyone who clings to the Spirit of God — and temptations are joined to him likewise — will receive another dignity and honour. So when the prophet was to be taken up, when he had reached the first order he marvelled at its light. But when he reached the second, he was so astonished that he said: “I thought,” he says, “that the light of the former order was darkness in comparison with this one.” And likewise, up to the perfect measure of the perfect order, the souls of the perfect righteous walk and advance, until they reach the order of fulfilment. If you get there, you have passed beyond all temptations; and there are men on earth now who have reached this measure. 2. These things I write to you, dearly beloved, so that, being strengthened, you may learn that temptations come upon the faithful, and not to their harm but to their benefit; and that unless temptation comes upon a soul, it cannot ascend to the dwelling of life, to the place of its Maker. “The Spirit blows where he wills”; and he blows in souls that are chaste and holy and upright and good. If these obey the Spirit himself, he gives them the fear of God and fervour at the beginning. And when he has sown his seed in them, he makes them hate the whole world: whether gold, or silver, or cast [ornaments], or father, or mother, or wife, or children; and in this way he brings it about that the work of God becomes sweet to them above honey and the honeycomb, whether it is labour, or fasting, or vigils, or silence, or a work of mercy. And whatever is done for God’s sake — then it is granted to the man to be tempted, and then all the things that were sweet to him before become irksome to him. For this reason many, when they have been tempted, remain in distress and become carnal. These are the ones of whom Paul said: “You began,” he says, “in the Spirit, and now you have ended in the flesh”; “all these things you suffered in vain” … For the first fervour is agitated and irrational, but the second is more excellent. It is this that causes a man to see spiritual things while … the contest … with a fair wind both rudders of the ship are driven forward the more, and in this way it covers a great distance, and so the sailors too rejoice and enjoy rest: in the same way the second fervour is calmer in every way. Now, dearest sons, acquire the second fervour for yourselves, so that … standing before the glory of God, where the soul, despising itself, says … you may be made firm in all things. For the fervour that is for God’s sake makes all the passions of enticement cease, wipes away and extinguishes the oldness of the old man, and makes the man become a temple for God, as it is written: “I will dwell in them and walk among them.” And if you desire that the fervour which has gone far from you should return to you again, this is the work a man must do: if anyone … “the covenant … which I broke through my negligence, and I will no longer be disobedient”; and let him not walk any longer as though under the rule of his soul’s will, to satisfy his soul’s will, whether in body or in spirit; but let there be thoughts … “How you have despised [it] until this very day, and how insolent you have been, made barren all your days!” And remember at all times all the torments and the eternal kingdom, rebuking your soul and saying to it: “See how much honour God has given you, and you have neglected and despised it!” And when anyone says these things to his soul night and day, rebuking it at all times, at once … For David, when he saw that distress had come upon him, said: “I remembered the years that are from of old and meditated, and I was mindful of the days that are from of old, and I meditated on all your works, and pondered the works of your hands, and I lifted up my hands to you. My soul [thirsts] for you like land.” And again Isaiah says: “When you turn and groan, then you will be saved and will know” how …

Translated by Claude from M. Kmosko's Latin translation (1915) of the Syriac; neither is shown

I hear that temptation is troubling you, and I fear that it may have arisen from your own side. For I have heard that you want to leave your place, and I was saddened, though for a long time I had not been seized by sadness. For I know in truth that if you withdraw now, you will not make even a little progress. For it is not the will of God; and if you do it by your own counsel and go out, he will not be your helper, nor will he go out with you any more. And I am disturbed lest perhaps we fall into very many evils; for if we follow our own judgment, God will henceforth not send his power, which makes all the ways of men prosper and orders them. If anyone does [something] thinking it is from God, while his own choice is mixed into it, God does not help him; and you will find the heart of that man bitter and weak in everything to which he stretches out his hand to do; for as … the fault of the faithful, so desolation too arises in them from eagerness for greatness. For Eve was deceived in the beginning by nothing else than the pretext of good and of greatness. For when she heard: “You will be like gods,” and did not under[stand] … she not only received nothing good but even fell into the curse. 2. And Solomon said in his Proverbs: “There are ways that are thought good, and their end leads down to the depth of hell.” This he said of those who do not understand the will of God but cling to their own pleasure. Those who cling to their own will and do not understand the will of God receive from Satan at the beginning a fervour like joy, though it is not joy; but afterwards he gives them sadness and disgrace. But the one who clings to the will of God endures great labour at the beginning, and at the end finds rest and joy. So do nothing in the joy of the moment until I come to you, so that with you … 3. There are three things which always cling to a man everywhere, and not many … “Solid food belongs to the perfect, who because of their conscience have their senses trained to distinguish good from evil.” But what are these three? One is what is suggested by the Enemy. Another is what arises from the heart of man, as from his own (free) choice. And there is what is planted in man by God. Yet of these three, God accepts what is God’s. 4. So examine your soul, which of these three is urging you to leave your place. Do not withdraw until God himself permits you. For I know God’s will concerning you. For it is difficult for you to know the will of God. For unless a man has denied his soul and his will and has obeyed his spiritual elders, he cannot understand the will of God. And even granting that he understands it, he needs power to help him until he has done it. 5. You see that it is a great thing to have understood the will of God, and a greater still to accomplish it. For those companies were with Jacob because he obeyed his elders. For when they said to him: “Go into Mesopotamia to Laban,” he obeyed them carefully, though he did not gladly leave his own people. But because he had obeyed, he inherited the blessings of his elders. And I too, who am your father, had I not obeyed my spiritual parents at the beginning, God would not have revealed his will to me. For it is written: “The blessing of the father establishes the house of the sons.” And if I have endured many labours in the desert and in the mountains, entreating God day and night until God revealed his will to me, now you too listen to your father in this matter, which will be for your rest and greatness. 6. I have heard that you said: “Our father does not know our distress,” and “just as Jacob fled from the face of Esau.” But we know that he did not flee, but was sent by his elders. So imitate Jacob, and wait until your father sends you and blesses you as you go; for God will make you prosper.

Translated by Claude from M. Kmosko's Latin translation (1915) of the Syriac; neither is shown

To those dearly beloved in the Lord. You know that since the transgression of the commandment the soul cannot know God unless it withdraws itself from men and from all occupations. For then it sees its adversary, how greatly he resists it. And when it has seen its adversary wrestling with it and has overcome him … then God dwells in it, and [turns its] sadness into joy … and sadness and sluggishness, with many other things, and distress of various kinds … 2. For this reason the fathers lived in solitary fashion in the desert, both Elijah the Tishbite and John. Do not suppose that they were righteous among men because they were found among men doing righteousness itself; rather, they were first in great silence and in this way received the power of God to dwell in them, and only then did God send them among men, after they had attained all the virtues, to be God’s stewards and to heal men’s infirmities. … for this reason, called out of silence, they are indeed sent to men, but they are sent only when all their own infirmities have been healed. For it cannot be that a soul is sent to men for their edification while it is itself in some respect imperfect … they come by their own choice, not by the will of God. And God, rebuking such people, says: “I did not send them,” he says, “and they ran.” Therefore they cannot keep even their own soul, much less can they build up the souls of others … that they acquired the divine power in silence. Yet let them not be such as … imitating: as the Father sent his true Son from heaven to heal all the diseases and infirmities of men. For it is written: “He bore our griefs and carried our infirmities.” Therefore all the saints who come to men to heal them imitate the Creator in all things, so that, where the Son is, they too may be for ever and ever. 3. See, dearly beloved, I have shown you the power of silence, how it heals in every respect and how it is acceptable to God. That is why I have written to you, so that [you may be] strong … all the saints, and that for this reason the divine power dwelt in them, and for this reason they knew mysteries. And the one who has written these things to you reached this measure by its help. 5. But there are many anchorites in this age who cannot persevere in silence, because they could not conquer their own will. And therefore they live constantly among men, because they cannot despise themselves and flee the ways of mankind and wrestle in the fight. Therefore, having left silence, they remain all their life consoling themselves with their relatives. And therefore they are not … deemed worthy of the divine sweetness, nor that the divine power should dwell in them. For when the power appears to them, it finds them consoling themselves with the world of this tabernacle and with the passions of soul and body, and so it cannot descend upon them; indeed, love of money and the vainglory of men and all the infirmities and occupations of the soul do not let the divine power descend upon them. 6. But you, show yourselves strong in that thing to which you give your effort. For those who withdraw from silence cannot overcome their passions, nor can they fight against their adversary, since they are subject to their passions; but you are overcoming the passions, and the divine power is with you.