A Deep Piercing

Unde praedicator egregius, cum loquens subtiliter diceret: Vivus est sermo Dei et efficax, et penetrabilior omni gladio ancipiti, et pertingens usque ad divisionem animae ac spiritus illico subjunxit: Compagum quoque et medullarum, et discretor cogitationum et intentionum cordis. Distinguit enim Dei sermo compages et medullas, quia discernit cogitationes et intentiones cordis. Per compages quippe ossibus ossa junguntur. Et saepe dum quid recta cogitatione agimus, sed subito in laudis amorem declinamus, atque hoc pro laude facimus quod prius facere pro veritate coeperamus, quia cogitationes cogitationibus adjunguntur, quasi quaedam in spiritu compages fiunt. Sed habent ossa, quae in compage juncta sunt, etiam medullas. Quod praedicator sanctus apertius intulit, cum subjunxit: Discretor cogitationum et intentionum cordis. Compages enim nostrae cogitationes sunt, medullae autem intentiones. Et saepe aliud cogitamus, atque aliud est quod per cogitationem intendimus. Nam si quis proposito nummorum praemio pupilli vel viduae causam defendat, et, fortasse Ecclesiam ingrediens, in suis precibus Deo dicat: Tu vides quia causam pupilli et viduae defendo, iste procul dubio quod cogitat scit, sed quo intendat ejus cogitatio ignorat. Aliud quippe cogitat, atque alio intendit. Non enim defensionem pupilli vel viduae, sed mercedem nummorum quaerit. Nam tolle temporale praemium, et pupillum ac viduam non defendit. Sermo itaque Dei discretor est cogitationum et intentionum cordis, quia non aspicit quid apud temetipsum cogitas, sed per medullam compagis, id est per intentionem cogitationis quid accipere requiras. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Secundus, Homilia IX Source: Migne PL 76.1053c-1054a

The word of God is living and active, even sharper than any two edged sword, and it pierces even to the division of soul and spirit, even to joints and marrow, and it discerns between the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. 1 The word of God distinguishes between joints and marrow since it discerns between the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. Bones are joined to bones by joints, and often while we think rightly, yet suddenly we decline from love to praise, and we do for praise what we began to do for truth, because thoughts to thoughts are joined, as if by certain joints in the spirit. But these bones, which by joints are joined, also have a marrow. Which the holy preacher openly brings forth when he adds, 'and it discerns between the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.' For the joints are our thoughts and the marrow is the intent of our heart. And often we think one thing, and we intend something else with the thought. For if someone for the promise of a payment of money defends the cause of a widow or an orphan, and perhaps he enters a church, and in his prayers he says to God, 'You see that I am defending the cause of the orphan and the widow,' this is without doubt what he thinks he knows, but his thought is ignorant of his intent. He thinks one thing and he intends another. For it is not the defence of the orphan or the widow but money he seeks. Take away the temporal reward, and he does not defend the orphan and the widow. Thus the word of the Lord discerns between the thoughts and the intentions of the heart, because it does not look to what you think about yourself, but to the marrow of the joint, that is, to the intent of the thought, what it is that you seek to gain. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 2, from Homily 9 1 Heb 4.12

Monkey Thoughts

Fabula dicit omnes bestias fetus suos Jovi probandos praesentasse, inter quas simia deformem natum trahens, risu omnium castigari non potuit quin suum caeteris anteferret. Ingenitum si quidem est omni animanti amare quod genuit. De corde sensus nascitur, et amant corda fetus suos adeo ut saepe animus perversus in conspectu summae veritatis tortuosum et pravum, et risu omnium dignum sensum suum commendare non erubescat. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit III, Apologue probans omne cor pronum esse ad commendationem sui et suorum Source: Migne PL 177.481c

A fable tells that all the beasts brought their young to be approved by Jove, and among them was a monkey leading her ugly child, and the laughter of all of them was not able to correct her from putting her own young before all others. It is a property of every living thing to love what it has produced. The feeling is born from the heart and hearts love their young, and so it is that often a mind that is corrupted in the sight of perfect truth, and twisted and depraved, even amid the laughter of everyone, does not blush to commend the value of its own thoughts. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chap 3, A fable proving that every heart is inclined to the commendation of itself and what it produces

A Slavish Monk

Χαίρει Ἰουδαῖος Σαββάτῳ καὶ ἑορτῇ· μοναχὸς γαστρίμαργος Σαββάτῳ καὶ Κυριακῇ· πρὸ χρόνου τὸ Πάσχα ψηφίζει, καὶ πρὸ ἡμερῶν τὰ ἐδέσματα εὐτρεπίζει. Ψηφίζει κοιλιόδουλος ἐν ποίοις βρώμασιν ἑορτάσει· ὁ δὲ θεόδουλος ἐν ποίοις χαρίσμασιν πλουτήσει. Ξένου ἐπιδημήσαντος εἰς ἀγάπην ὅλος ἐκ γαστριμαργίας κινεῖται· καὶ παράκλησιν ἀδελφοῦ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κατάλυσιν λογίζεται· ἐπὶ παρουσίᾳ τινῶν τοῦ οἴνου καταλύειν ἐσκέψατο· καὶ ἀρετὴν δοκῶν κρύπτειν, πάθους δοῦλος ἐγένετο. Ἐχθραίνει πολλάκις κενοδοξία τῇ γαστριμαργίᾳ, καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ ὀνησίμῳ δούλῳ τῷ ἀθλίῳ μοναχῷ διαμάχονται· ἡ μὲν καταλύειν βιάζεται, ἡ δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀρετὴν θριαμβεύειν ὑποτίθεται· σοφὸς μοναχὸς ἀμφοτέρων ἐκφεύξεται, ἐν οἰκείῳ καιρῷ τῇ ἑτέρᾳ τὴν ἑτέραν ἀποσειόμενος. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης τῆς Κλίμακος, Λόγος ΙΔ', ἡ Κλίμαξ Source: Migne PG 88.864d-865a

The Jew rejoices on Sabbaths and feast days; the monk who is a glutton on Saturdays and Sundays. He reckons up the days until Easter, and he prepares the food for it days before. A slavish belly calculates on what dishes it will feast, but the servant of God considers with what graces he may be enriched. A visitor arriving, he is moved to be hospitable entirely out of gluttony, and he judges laxity for himself as a comforting of his brother. In the presence of others, he thinks it right to allow himself wine, and thinking that he conceals his virtue he becomes a slave of passion. Often vainglory is an adversary of gluttony, and they fight among themselves for the wretched monk as for a purchased slave. The one drives him to relax, the other suggests that he should lead about his virtue in triumph. The wise monk flees both, at the right time shaking off the one by the other. Saint John Climacus, from Step 14, The Ladder

The Death Of A King

Ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὸν θάνατον τῳ βασιλεῖ Ἀχαὰμ συμβεβηκότων ἔστι θαυμάσαι, πῶς τὸ χρεὼν οὐδὲ προμηνυόμενον διαφυγεῖν οἶόν τε. Ὑπέρχεται γὰρ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ψυχὰς ἐλπίσι θωπεῦον χρησταῖς, καὶ περιάγει αὐτὰς ἐκεῖσε, ὅθεν αὐτῶν βεβαίως κρατήσει καὶ περιέσται. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΟΖ' Εὐλογιῳ Αναγηωστῃ Source: Migne PG 78.520

From those things which touch on the death of king Ahab, one may wonder, how he was not able to escape what he was warned about beforehand. For the souls of men he comes up upon cleverly, beguiling them with happy hopes, and he encircles them so that he might securely seize and conquer them. 1 Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 2, Letter 77, To Eulogius the Lector 1. 3 Kings 22, esp 20-23

Judged for Hell

Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ κατακρίνοντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐφ' οἶς ἀμαρτάνουσι, προλαμβάνοντες ἀποκρούνται τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ψῆφον, καθάπερ καὶ Παῦλος φησιν· Εἰ γὰρ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκρίνομεν, οὐκ ἄν ἐκρινόμεθα· οὕτως οἱ νοσοῦντες ἀμετανόντα, καὶ ἁμαρτάνοντες, μὴ καταγινώσκοντες δὲ ὧν ἐπληρμμέλησαν, μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σφοδρότητος ἐπισπῶνται τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμωρίαν ἑαυτοῖς. Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ οὗτοι ἢ τὰ ἀλλότρια ἀρπάζοντες, ἢ τὰ οἰκεῖα μάτην καὶ εἰκῆ δαπανῶντες, ἄπερ εἰς πένητας ἀναλίσκειν ἐχρῆν, εἰς τάφους, καὶ σκώληκας, καὶ σῆτας δαπανῶσι, καὶ οὐ μετανοοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῶν γεγενημένων, ἀλλὰ ἀνίατα μένουσι νοσοῦντες, ἄκουσον τί γίνεται λοιπόν. Τί δὴ οὖν γίνεται; Τιμωρίᾳ τῇ παρὰ τού Θεοῦ δίδονται· διὸ ἐπήγαγεν· Ὡς πρόβατα ἐν ᾅδῃ ἔθεντο· θάνατος ποιμανεῖ αὐτους· οὐ τὸ ἥμερον ἐνταῦθα διὰ ὀνόματος τῶν προβάτων δηλῶν (τί γὰρ ἐκείνων ἀγριώτερον γένοιτ' ἂν, τῶν παρορώτων μὲν γυμνὰ σώματα μενήτων, καὶ γαστέπας τηκομένας λιμῷ, καλλωπιζόντων δὲ οἴκους φθπρᾷ, καὶ σκώληκι, καὶ σητί), ἀλλὰ τὸ εὔκολον αὐτῶν τῆς ἀπωλείας, τὴν ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς πανωλεθρίαν, τὸ εὐχείρωτον τοῖς ἐπιβουλεύουσιν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀσθενέστερον ἀνθρώπου κακίᾳ συζῶντος. Ὅπερ καὶ οὖτοι πείονται· καὶ οὕτω καρακοπήσονται, οὕτως ἀπολοῦνται ἄρδην, καὶ εἰς τὸν ᾅδην ἀπελεύσονται ῥᾳδίως, εὐκόλως, συντόμως, ἀπονητὶ, ὡσανεὶ πρόβατα κατακοπτόμενα. Τοῦτο θάνατος, μᾶλλον δὲ πρᾶγμα θανάτου πολὺ χαλεπώτερον. Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν τοιαύτην τελευτὴν ἀθάνατος αὐτοὺς διαδέξεται θάνατοςμ διὰ τοῦτο οὐδαμοῦ εἰς κόλπους Ἀβραὰμ, οὐδὲ εἰς ἄλλο χωρίον φαίνονται ἀπιόντες, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν ᾅδην, τὸ τῆς τιμωρίας, τὸ τῆς κολάσεως, τὸ τῆς πανωλεθρίας ὄνομα. Καὶ ἡ ἐνταῦθα αὐτῶν τελευτὴ εὐτελὴς, καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητος, καὶ ἡμῖν ἔθος λέγειν περὶ τῶν εὐκόλως ἀπολλυμένων· Ὡς πρόβατον ὁ δεῖνα ἐσφάγη. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὡς ἄλογα ἔζων, καὶ ὡς ἄλογα ἀπόλλυνται, οὐκ ἔχοντες περὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἐλπίδα χρηστήν· καὶ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ κακῷ· Θάνατος ποιμανεῖ αὐτούς. Ἐνταῦθα μοι τὸν θάνατον δοκεῖ λέγειν, τὴν ἀπώλειαν τὴν ἐκεῖ, τὴν τιμωρίαν, καθάπερ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησι· Ψυχὴ ἡ ἁμαρτάνουσα, αὔτη ἀπολεῖται· οὐ τὴν τοῦ εἰναι ἀναίρεσιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν τιμωρίαν παραδηλῶν. Καὶ ἐπιμένει τῇ μεταφορᾷ τῆς λέξεως. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπε πρόβατα, ἔδειξεν αὐτῶν καὶ τὸν ποιμένα. Τίς δὲ οὖτος; Ὁ σκώληξ ὁ ἰοβόλος, τὸ σκότος τὸ ἀτελεύτητον, τὰ δεσμὰ τὰ ἄλυτα, ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων. Ὅρα τοίνυν αὐτοὺς πάντοθεν κολαζομένους. Ἐν τῇ ζωῇ, ὅτι πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἐνεποδίσθησαν, ὅτι κακίας ἔγένοντο δοῦλοι, καὶ αἰχμάλωτοι, καὶ περιττὸν ἐπόνησαν πόνον καὶ καταγέλαστον· ἐν τῇ τελευτῇ, ὅτι ἁπλῶς καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἀπώλοντο· ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῷ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν, ὅτι διαπαντὸς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀπωλείας κατέχονται. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Τον ΜΗ' Ψαλμον

For judging themselves they sin, thinking that beforehand they can ward off the judgement of God, but as Paul says, 'If we judge ourselves we are not thereby judged.' 1Thus sick with impenitence, and sinning, not recognising with what they are filled, they demand punishment of grave weight from God. They who seize on goods which are not theirs, or expend their wealth on vain things rather than giving to the poor, they are consumed by their tombs and worms and grubs, and not repenting the things that they have done, but remaining in their sickness without cure, let it be heard what comes next. What then will it be? They shall be given punishment by God, and so it is written below: ' Like sheep in hell they are placed and death will shepherd them.' 2 But by this name of sheep is not signified meekness, (for they are of more wild nature who have despised the naked bodies and the empty stomachs of the poor but decorate their dwellings of corruption, worms and grubs) but it is because their destruction is easy and sudden their exit. How easy to take them that lurked to take from others. Nothing is as feeble as the man who has passed his life in wickedness. But even to these it shall come forth, even thus they shall fall, thus their foundations shall perish and so easily they shall reach hell, so briefly, so quickly, without delay, like sheep slain. This is death, this truly is the death most bitter. After such a death these whom immortal death had taken into hell shall therefore never in the lap of Abraham, nor in any other place, be seen to be placed. Here then is punishment, here is torment, here utter exile is the name. And this is the death of those most vile and contemptible and there they must remain. Thus even we are accustomed to say of those who easily perish: 'He was slain like a sheep.' Because like beasts they lived and as beasts they perished, not having happy hope for the future, for on account of evil: Death shall shepherd them.2 Here to me death seems to say that destruction is there, and torment, as even elsewhere it is said, 'The soul which sins dies,' 3 that is, that here is not signified natural extinction but punishment. It stands as a metaphor: when he speaks of sheep, he indicates the shepherd. What is this? Poisonous worms, darkness without end, chains never to be unbound, gnashing of teeth. See those punished on every side. In life, because virtue was an impediment to them, because they were slaves of vice and possessions, because they took up worthless and ridiculous labour, in death, because their end was vulgar and disgraceful, in the time following their passing, they shall ever be held in destruction.   Saint John Chrysostom, Exposition of the Psalms, Psalm 48 1 1 Cor 11.31 2 Ps 48.15  3 Ez 18.20

Wealth and Mercy

Ἀκούσατε ὅσοι πρὸς τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην ἐστὲ ὀκνηροί. Ἀκούσατε οἱ τὸν πλοῦτον ὑμῖν ἐλαττοῦντες τῇ φυλακῇ. Ἀκούσατε οἱ τῶν ὄναρ πλουτούτων οὐδὲν διακείμενοι ἄμεινον. Ὀνείρατος γὰρ οὐδὲν ἄμεινον τὰ παρόντα· ἀλλ' ὡσπερ οἱ καθ' ὕπνους φανταζόμενοι χρήματα ἔχειν, κᾶν τῶν ταμιείων γένωνται τῶν βασιλικῶν κύριοι, πάντων εἰσὶ πενέστεροι, γενομένης ἡμέρας· οὑτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ βίου τοῦ παρόντος, ὁ μεδὲν ἀγαγεῖν ἐκεῖ δυνηθεὶς, πάντων ᾗ κεκτημένος· ὅναρ γὰρ ἐπλούτησε μόνον. Εἰ τοίνυν βούλει μοι δεῖξαι τὸν εὔπορον, τότε μοι δεῖξον, ὅταν ἡμέρα γένται, ὅταν εἰς τὴν πατρὶδα ἀπέλθωμεν ἐκείνην· νῦν δὲ οὐκ ἀνέξομαι τὸν πλούσιον διαγενώσκειν καὶ τὸν πενητα. Οὐ γὰρ ἐστιν ἀλήθεια πραγμάτων, ἀλλ' ὀνομάτων χάρις καὶ εὐφημὶα μᾶλλον. Καθάπερ γὰρ τοὺς τυφλοὺς καλοῦσιν οἱ πολλοὶ πολυβλέποντες, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀκολουθεῖ τῷ ὀνόματι τὸ πράγμα, ἀλλ' οὕτοι μάλιστά εἰσιν οἱ μὴ ὅρώντες· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὸ τῶν πλουσίων ὄνομα περιφέρεσθαι ἐνταῠθά πλουτῇ, τότε μάλιστα οἰδα ὅτι πένης ἐστίν. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ σφόδρα πένης ἥν, οὐκ ἄν σφόδρα ἐπλούτει. Ὥωπερ γὰρ τὸν πηρὸν, εἰ μὴ καθόλου τετύφλωται, οὐκ ἄν  αὐτὸν πολυβλέποντα εκάλεσαν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα λογιστέον. Ἀποθέμενοι οὖν τῶν ὀνομάτων τὴν ἀπάτην, ἀντιλάβωμεν τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Οὐ γὰρ ἐν ὀνόμασι τὰ πράγματα ἔστηκεν, ἀλλ' αἰ τῶν πραγμάτων φύσεις τὰ ὀνόματα κατὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ὑπόστατιν πλάττουσιν. Ὁ δεῖνα πλούσιος καλεῖται, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστι. καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἔστιν, ὅταν πολὺς μὲν ἄργυρος, πολὺ δὲ χρυσίον, καὶ λίθοι τίμιοι, καὶ ἱμάτια χρυσᾶ, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα αὐτῷ περιῥῥὲῃ; Ὁτι οὐ χρυσίδον, οὐδὲ ἱμάτια, οὐδὲ χρήματα, ἀλλ' ἐλεημοσύνη ποιεῖ πλούσιον. Ταῦτα γὰρ χόρτος, ταῦτα ξύλα καὶ καλάμη. Ἐπεὶ ποῖον ἱμάτιον, εἰπέ μοι, τότε τὸν γυμνὸν ἑστῶτα ἐπὶ τοῦ φοβεροῦ βήματος ἐκείνου περιναλεῖν δυνήσεται; Ὁπερ καὶ Παῦλος δεδοικὼς ἔλεγεν· Εἴπερ καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι, οὐ γυμνοὶ εὐρεθησόμεθα. Ποῖα χρήματα τὸν κινδυνεύοντα ἐξελέσθαι δυνήσεται; ποῖοι οἰκέται μαστιζομενῳ παραστήσεσθαι τῳ δεσπότῃ; ποῖαι οἰκίαι; ποῖοι λίθοι πολύτιμοι; ποῖα βαλανεῖα τὸν ῥύπον ἀποσμῆξαι δυνήσεται τὸν ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων; Μέχρι τίνος ἑαυτοὺς ἀπατᾶτε; μέχρι τίνος οὐ διαβλέπετε τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὰ ὀνείρατα κεχήνατε, ἐγγὸς καὶ ἐπὶ θύραις τῆς κρίσεως οὔσης; Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΜΓ', Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος

Listen you who are so slow to be merciful. Listen you who diminish your wealth by guarding it. Listen you who are no better than those who are rich in their dreams. For no better than a dream are your possessions, but rather it is as those who in a dream seem to have riches, and let the royal treasuries of a king be given them there, still they are the most poor of all when day comes, and so even in the present life, from which no one is able to take anything away, is he most poor who possesses everything, for his wealth was only in a dream. If you wish then to show me wealth, show it to me when the day comes, when we are summoned into that fatherland. Now I am not able to distinguish between rich and poor. For it is not the truth of things but rather foolish and specious words we face. As even many call the blind 'much seeing', so the thing does not accord with the name, since the blind are those who see nothing. And thus even the name of wealth here I say that those who bear it possess nothing. When indeed a man is rich here, then I know he is the poorest; unless he was extremely poor, he was not very wealthy. Just as a blind man if he is not totally blind is not called 'much seeing', so even the rich man here is to be thought. Ridding ourselves then of the deception of a name let us take up the truth. Things are not created by their names but the nature of things fashions names from its proper substance. He is called a rich man here, but he's not. And how is he not when he has plenty of silver and gold and precious stones and golden vestments and all such things? Because neither gold nor clothes nor coin but mercy makes wealth. The things he has are fodder and wood and reeds. Tell me how your clothes will cover you when you are naked before the fearsome tribunal ? The trembling Paul said, 'If indeed we are clothed we shall not be discovered naked.' 1 What money will be able to release you from peril? What servants shall stand with a master being whipped? What will your property do? How will your precious stones avail? What baths will be able to cleanse you of your sin? How long will you deceive yourselves? How long will you not see the truth of things but be lost in a dream, while near, even at your doors, is judgement?   Exposition of the Psalms, Psalm 43, Saint John Chrysostom 1 2 Cor 5.3

Baptism and Sin

Ἐι οὖν ἡ ἄνωθεν γέννησις ἀναστοιχείωσις τε τοῦ ἀνθρώπου γίνεται, ταῦτα δὲ τὴν μεταβολὴν οὐ προσίεται, σκεπτέον τίνος μεταποιηθέντος, ἐντελὴς τῆς ἀναγεννήσεως ἡ χάρις ἐστί. Δηλονότι τῶν πονηρῶν γνωρισμάτων ἐξαλειφθέντων τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, ἡ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον μετάστασις γίνεται. Οὐκοῦν εἰ, καθώς φησιν ὁ προφήτης, λουσάμενοι τῷ μυστικῷ τούτῳ λουτρῷ, καθαροὶ τὰς προαιρέσεις γινοίμεθα, τὰς πονηρίας τῶν ψυχῶν ἀποκλύσαντες, κρείττους γεγόναμεν, καὶ πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον μεταπεποιήμεθα. Εἰ δὲ τὸ λουτρὸν μὲν ἐπαχθείν τῷ σώματι, ἡ δὲ ψυχὴ τὰς ἐμπαθεῖς κηλίδας μὴ ἀποῥῥίψοιτο· ἀλλ' ὁ μετὰ τὴν μύησιν βίος συμβαίνει τῷ ἀμυήτῳ Βίῳ, κᾶν τολμηρὸν εἰπεῖν ᾕ, λέξω, καὶ οὐκ ἀποτραπήσομαι, ὅτι ἐπὶ τούτων τὸ ὕδωρ, ὕδωρ ἐστὶν, οὐδαμοῦ τῆς δωρεᾶς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐπιφανίστης τῷ γινομένῳ, ὅταν μὴ μὸνον τὸν θυμὸν αισχρος ὑβριζῃ τὴν θείαν μορφὴν, ἢ το κατὰ πλεονεξίαν πάθος, καὶ ἡ ακόλαστος καὶ ἡ ἀσχήμων διάναοια, καὶ τύφος, καὶ φθόνος, καὶ ὑπερηφανία· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἐξ ἀδικίας κέρδη παραμένῃ αὐτῷ καὶ ἡ ἐκ μοιχείας αὐτῷ κτηθεῖσα γυνὴ ταῖς ἡδοναῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ μετὰ τοῠτο ὑπηρετεῖται. Ἐὰν ταῦτα περὶ τὸν Βίον τοῦ βαπτισθέντος ῇ, το μεταπεποίηται ἰδεῖν οὐκ ἔνι· τὸν αὐτὸν Βλέπων ὅνπερ καὶ πρότερον, ὁ ἠδικημένος, ὁ σεσυκοφαντημενος, ὁ τῶν ἰδίων ἀπωσθεὶς, οὐδεμίαν ὁρῶσιν εφ' ἑαυτῶν τὴν τοῦ λεγομένου μεταβολήν. Οὐκ ἥκουσαι καὶ παρὰ τούτου τὴν Ζακχαίου φωνήν, ὅτι Εἰ τινός τι ἐσυκοφάντησα, ἀποδίδωμι τετραπλασίονα. Ἄ πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἔλεγον, τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ νῦν περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ διεξέρχοντι, ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν ὀνομάτων κατονομάζουσι, πλεονέκτην, τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐπιθυμη τὴν, ἀπὸ συμφορῶν ἀνθρωπίνων τρυφῶντα. Ὁ τοί  νυν ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὤν, ἔπειτα ἐπιθρυλλῶν ἑαυτῷ δια τοῦ βαπτίσματος τὴν πρὸς τὸ κρεῖττον μεταβολὴν ἀκουσάτω τῆς Παύλου φωνῆς· ὅτι εἰ γὰρ δοκεῖ τις εἶναί τι μηδὲν ὤν, φρεναπατᾷ ἑαυτόν. Ὅ γὰρ μὴ γέγονας οὐκ εἰ. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Λόγος Κατήχητικος Ὁ Μέγας,

If, then, the birth from above is a refashioning of the man, and yet his properties do not allow change, it should be sought by what sort of change the grace of rebirth is perfected. It is clear that when the evil features of our nature have been obliterated there is a change to the better. If, then, as the Prophet says, being washed in that mystic bath we become clean in our will and set aside the evil of our souls, we become better persons being changed to a better state. But if, the bathing having been applied to the body, the soul has not washed off from itself the stains of its passions, but the life after initiation is as the life of initiated, though it be a bold thing to say, yet I will say it and will not shrink from it, in these cases the water is but water, for the gift of the Holy Ghost in no way appears in him; when, that is, not only the pride deforms the divine form of the soul, or the passion of greed, or unbridled and disgusting thoughts, with envy, and arrogance, but the gains of injustice also stay with him, and the woman he has bought by adultery still even after that attends to his pleasures. If these things are present in the life of the baptized I cannot see how he has been changed, for I see the same man as he was before. The one treated unjustly by him, the one falsely accused by him, the one who has had his property taken him, these,  see nothing in him which could called change. They do not hear the cry of Zacchaeus from him: 'If I have by false accusation taken anything from a man, I restore it fourfold.'1  The things they said of him before his baptism, the very same things they now relate, calling him the same names: a covetous person, one who desires what belongs to others, one who lives luxuriously at the cost of  the sufferings of other men. Let the man, therefore, who is the same as before, proclaiming loudly to himself of the beneficial change of his baptism, hear the voice of Paul: 'If a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.'2 For what you have not become, you are not. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, The Great Catechism 1 Lk 19.8  2 Gal 6.3

The Evil Eye

ὁ δὲ πονηρὸς ὀφθαλμός ἐστιν ἡ προσποίητος ἀγάπη, ἥτις καὶ ὑπόκρισις καλεῖται· δι' ἧς ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα σκοτίζεται τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Ἄξια μὲν σκότους πράγματα ἐννοούμενον ἔσωθεν· διὰ δὲ τῶν ἔξωθεν μερῶν, φωτὸς εἶναι δοκοῦντα προφέρον ῥήματα· λύκοι γάρ εἰσιν ὡς ἀληθῶς, προβάτων περιβεβλημένοι δοράς· οἱ τὸ ἔξωθεν τοῦ ποτηρίου καὶ τῆς παροψίδος μόνον πλύνοντες, καὶ οὐκ εἰδότες, ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ τὸ ἔσωθεν τούτων καθαρισθῇ, οὐδὲ τὸ ἔξωθεν καθαρὸν δύναται γενέσθαι. Διόπερ τούτους σαφῶς ἐλέγχων, φησὶν ὁ Σωτὴρ, ὅτι· Εἰ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἐν σοὶ, σκότος, τὸ σκότος πόσον; Τουτέστιν· εἰ ἡ δοκοῦσά σοι ἀγάπη εἶναι φῶς, διὰ τὴν ἐν σοὶ κεκρυμμένην ὑπόκρισιν σκότους ἄξιόν ἐστιν ἔργον, τί τὰ προφανῆ σου παραπτώματα; Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ο Θαυματουργός, Ἐἰς Τὸ Κατά Ματθαῖον Ἐὐαγγέλλιον

But the evil eye is false love, which is also called hypocrisy, by which the whole body of man is darkened. Deeds deemed fit for darkness may be within, while by outer members words come forth that seem to be of the light: for these are in truth wolves, though they may be wrapped in the fleeces of sheep. Such are they who wash only the outside of cup and bowl, not understanding that unless the inside is cleansed, nor can the outside be clean. Thus, in open reproach of such, the Saviour says: 'If the light in you is darkness, how great that darkness?' That is to say, if the love which seems to you to be light is, by reason of some hypocrisy hidden in you, is a work fit for darkness, how patent are your errors? Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, Commentary on Matthew.

The Desire for Office

Sed plerumque hi qui subire magisterium pastorale cupiunt, nonnulla quoque bona opera animo proponunt; et quamvis hoc elationis intentione appetant, operaturos tamen se magna pertractant fitque ut aliud in imis intentio supprimat, aliud tractantis animo superficies cogitationis ostendat. Nam saepe sibi de se mens ipsa mentitur, et fingit se de bono opere amare quod non amat, de mundi autem gloria non amare quod amat: quae principari appetens, fit ad hoc pavida cum quaerit, audax cum pervenerit. Tendens enim, ne non perveniat trepidat; sed repente perveniens, iure sibi hoc debitum ad quod pervenerit putat. Cumque percepti principatus officio perfrui saeculariter coeperit, libenter obliviscitur quidquid religose cogitavit. Unde necesse est ut cum cogitatio extra usum ducitur, protinus mentis oculus ad opera transacta revocetur; ac penset quisque quid subiectus egerit, et repente cognoscit si praelatus bona agere quae proposuerit possit, quia nequaquam valet in culmine humilitatem discere, qui in imis positus non desiit superbire. Nescit laudem cum suppetit fugere, qui ad hanc didicit cum deesset anhelare. Nequaquam vincere avaritiam potest, quando ad multorum sustentationem tenditur is cui sufficere propria nec soli potuerunt. Ex anteacts ergo vita se quisque inveniat, ne in appetitu se culminis imago cogitationeis illudat. Quamvis plerumque in occupatione regiminis ipse quoque boni operis usus perditur, qui in tranquillitate tenebatur, quia quiete mari recte navem et imperitus dirigit; turbato autem tempastatis fluctibus, etiam peritus se natua confundit. Quid namque est potestas culminis, nisi tempestas mentis? In qua semper cogitationum procellis navis cordis quatitur, huc illucque incessanter impellitur, ut per repentinos excessus oris et operis quasi per obviantia saxa frangatur. Inter haec itaque quid sequendum est, quid tenendum, nisi ut virtutibus pollens coactus ad regimen veniat, virtutibus vacuus nec coactus accedat? Ille si omnino renititur, caveat ne acceptam pecuniam in sudarium ligans, de euis occultatione iudicetur. Pecuniam quippe in sudario ligare, est percepta dona sub otio lenti torporis abscondere. At contra, iste cum regimen appetit, attendat ne per exemplum pravi operis, Pharisaeorum more, ad ingressum regni tendentibus obstaculum fiat: qui iuxta Magistri vocem nec ipsi intrant nec alios intrare permittunt.  Gregorius Papa I, Regulae Pastoralis Liber, Lib. I, Cap. IX

But most often those who desire the pastoral office in their souls propose to themselves that thereby they would do much good work, and, though yearning for it for the sake of elevation alone, they still foresee these good works, so that the true motive is suppressed in the depths while the surface of thought is presented to the mind. For often the mind itself lies to itself about itself, and feigns in the matter of good work to love what it does not love, and with respect to the world's glory not to love what it does love. Keen to rule, it is timid while it seeks but audacious after entry. It fears that it should not attain a state; but suddenly on having attained, thinks what it has attained to be its just due. And, when it has once begun to enjoy the office of its acquired dominion in a worldly way, it easily forgets what it had thought in a religious way. Thus it is necessary that, when thought is extended beyond deeds, the mind's eye should be recalled to works done, and a man should ponder what he has done as a subordinate; so he may quickly be able to resolve whether as a prelate he will be able to do the good things he has proposed. No one is able to learn humility in a high place who has not ceased to be proud while occupying a low one, for he does not know how to fly from praise when it abounds, who has learned to pant for it when it was lacking. No one can conquer avarice when advanced to the sustenance of many, who his own means could not suffice for himself. From his past life let every man discover what he is, lest in his craving for elevation the phantom of his thought trick him. Indeed it is common that the occupation of office destroys the practice of good deeds maintained in tranquility; even an unskilled person can steer a ship in a calm sea, but when it is disturbed by the waves of tempest even the expert sailor is confounded. For what is the power of eminence but a tempest of the mind, in which the ship of the heart is ever shaken by storms of thought and is incessantly driven here and there so as to be shattered by sudden excesses of word and deed as if by opposing rocks? In the midst of all these things, then, what course is to be followed, what is to be held to, except that one strong in the virtues should be impelled to come to office, and that one who is void of virtues should not, even under compulsion, approach? As to the former, let him beware lest, if he does not accept, he be as one who binds up money in a cloth, and he be condemned for concealing it. For, indeed, to bind up in a cloth is to hide gifts received under the listlessness of sluggish torpor. But, on the other hand, let the latter, when he desires office, take care lest by his example of bad deeds, in the manner of the Pharisees, he become an obstacle to those journeying to the entrance of the kingdom, that he not be such a one who, according to the Master's voice, neither enter himself nor allows others to enter. Pope Saint Gregory the Great, Pastoral Rule, Book 1, Chapter 9