The Noonday Demon

Ὁ τῆς ἀκηδίας δαίμων͵ ὃς καὶ μεσημβρινὸς καλεῖται͵ πάντων τῶν δαιμόνων ἐστὶ βαρύτατος· καὶ ἐφίσταται μὲν τῷ μοναχῷ περὶ ὥραν τετάρτην͵ κυκλοῖ δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ μέχρις ὥρας ὀγδόης. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τὸν ἥλιον καθορᾶσθαι ποιεῖ δυσκίνητον ἢ ἀκίνητον͵ πεντηκοντάωρον τὴν ἡμέραν δεικνύς. Ἔπειτα δὲ συνεχῶς ἀφορᾶν πρὸς τὰς θυρίδας καὶ τῆς κέλλης ἐκπηδᾶν ἐκβιάζεται͵ τῷ τε ἡλίῳ ἐνατενίζειν πόσον τῆς ἐνάτης ἀφέστηκε͵ καὶ περιβλέπεσθαι τῇδε κἀκεῖσε μή τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν.  Ἔτι δὲ μῖσος πρὸς τὸν τόπον ἐμβάλλει καὶ πρὸς τὸν βίον αὐτόν͵ καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἔργον τὸ τῶν χειρῶν· καὶ ὅτι ἐκλέλοιπε παρὰ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἡ ἀγάπη καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ παρακαλῶν· εἰ δὲ καί τις κατ΄ἐκείνας τὰς ἡμέρας εἴη λυπήσας τὸν μοναχόν͵ καὶ τοῦτο εἰς αὔξησιν τοῦ μίσους ὁ δαίμων προστίθησιν. Ἄγει δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν τόπων ἑτέρων ἐν οἷς ῥᾳδίως τὰ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἔστιν εὑρεῖν καὶ τέχνην μετελθεῖν εὐκοπωτέραν μᾶλλον καὶ προχωροῦσαν· καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τόπῳ τὸ εὐαρεστεῖν τῷ Κυρίῳ προστίθησιν· πανταχοῦ γάρ͵ φησί͵ τὸ θεῖον προσκυνητόν.  Συνάπτει δὲ τούτοις καὶ μνήμην τῶν οἰκείων καὶ τῆς προτέρας διαγωγῆς· καὶ χρόνον τῆς ζωῆς ὑπογράφει μακρόν͵ τοὺς τῆς ἀσκήσεως πόνους φέρων πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν· καὶ πᾶσαν τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον κινεῖ μηχανὴν ἵνα καταλελοιπὼς ὁ μοναχὸς τὴν κέλλαν φύγῃ τὸ στάδιον.  Εὐάγριος ὁ Ποντικός, Ὁ Πρακτικός

The demon of acedia, who is also called the 'noonday', is of all the demons the most burdensome. He imposes itself on the monk at about the fourth hour, encircling his soul until about the eighth hour. First he makes it seem that the sun has slowed down or stopped moving, the day appearing to be fifty hours long, then it continually makes the monk look out of his window and impels him to rush out of his cell to study the sun to see how much longer it is to the ninth hour, and to look round to see if any of the brothers are about. Then it places in him a hatred for the place and his life and his manual labour, for it seems there is no charity left among the brethren, no one being there to comfort him. And if anyone has grieved the monk recently, the demon adds this too to increase his hatred. He inclines the monk to desire other places where he can easily find what he needs and practice a craft more suitable to him and that will profit him more. 'For indeed, pleasing the Lord is not dependent on place,' says the demon, 'God is to be worshiped everywhere.' It joins to this the memory of family and the monk's former way of life, and explains to him that he still has a long time to live, bringing before his eyes the toils of the ascetic. And so, as it is said, he uses every device to move the monk to abandon his cell and flee the arena.  Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos