Asceticon 1 part 2/6

but it becomes habituated even to complete contempt and forgetfulness of his judgments, than which it could suffer no greater or more destructive evil.

Concerning the necessity of living together with those of like mind, for the goal of being well-pleasing to God;

and that to live alone is both difficult and dangerous.

Question: Since, then, the argument has assured us that life together with those who hold the commandments of the Lord in contempt is dangerous, we ask, accordingly, to learn whether one who has withdrawn from such persons ought to live apart by himself, or to live together with brothers of like mind who have chosen the same goal of piety.

Answer: I find the common life of the many together to be more beneficial in many respects.

First, because not even one of us is self-sufficient for the needs of the body, but in acquiring necessities we have need of one another.

For just as the foot has one capacity but lacks another, and without the cooperation of the other members it finds neither its own function to be effective or sufficient for its continuance, nor has any remedy for what it lacks;

so also in the solitary life, both what is present with us becomes useless, and what is lacking is without remedy, since God the Creator has determined that we need one another, as it is written, so that we might also be joined to one another.

And apart from this, the principle of the love of Christ does not permit each one to look to his own interest.

"For love," it says, "does not seek its own."

But this is manifestly at odds with the law of love, which the Apostle fulfilled, not seeking his own advantage, but that of the many, that they might be saved.

Furthermore, in seclusion no one will easily recognize his own defect, since he has no one to reprove him, and to correct him with gentleness and compassion.

For rebuke, even from an enemy, might often produce in the reasonable person a desire for healing;

but the healing of a fault is accomplished skillfully by one who loves sincerely.

"For he who loves," it says, "disciplines carefully."

Such a one it is impossible to find in solitude, if one has not first been united with others in life;

so that there befalls him that saying:

"Woe to the one who is alone, for if he falls, there is no one to raise him up."

Moreover, the commandments too are easily fulfilled in greater number by the many living together, but no longer so by the one living alone;

for in the performance of one, another is impeded.

For example, in visiting the sick, the reception of the stranger is hindered; and in the sharing and communicating of one another's needs (especially when the services take a long time), diligence with regard to one's own work is hindered;

so that from this, the greatest and most urgent commandment for salvation is left unfulfilled;

with neither the hungry being fed, nor the naked being clothed.

Who, then, would choose to prefer the idle and unfruitful life over the fruitful life accomplished according to the commandment of the Lord? And if indeed all of us, who have been received into one hope of the calling, are one body, having Christ as our head—

and each one is a member of the others—if we are not, in harmony, joined together unto the fitting together of one body in the Holy Spirit,

but each of us instead chooses solitude, not serving, according to what is well-pleasing to God, the arrangement for the common advantage, but rather satisfying his own passion of self-pleasing—

how can we, cut off and divided, preserve the mutual relation and mutual service of the members with one another, or the subjection to our head, who is Christ? For it is not possible either to rejoice together with the one who is glorified, or to suffer together with the one who suffers, in a life thus divided, since each of us cannot, in the natural course of things, know the affairs of his neighbor.

Furthermore, since one person is not sufficient to receive all the spiritual gifts, but the Spirit's supply comes according to the proportion of faith in each one, in the fellowship of life the particular gift of each becomes common to those who share life together.

"For to one is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another faith, to another prophecy, to another gifts of healing," and so forth;

each of which the one who receives it possesses not more for himself than for others.

So that it is necessary that, in the life of fellowship, the working of the Holy Spirit in the one should pass over to all together.

The one, then, who lives by himself perhaps possesses one gift, and this he renders useless through idleness, having buried it within himself;

and how great a danger this involves, all of you who have read the Gospels know.

whereas in the community life of the many, he both enjoys his own gift, multiplying it through sharing, and reaps the fruits of others as if they were his own.

The life together also has many more good things, all of which it is not easy to enumerate.

"Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;"

and for the one who sins, withdrawal from the sin is easier, restrained as he is by the concordant censure that comes from the many, so that there might fit him that saying: "Sufficient for such a one is this punishment inflicted by the many;"

while for the one who does well, there is great assurance both in the approval of the many and in their agreement concerning the deed.

the one who accomplishes a good work will be more firmly confirmed by the testimony of the many.

Danger, moreover, attends the solitary life, in addition to what has been said.

The first and greatest is the danger of self-satisfaction.

For having no one who can test his work, he will imagine that he has arrived at the perfection of the commandment;

and then, having always kept his disposition unexercised, he neither recognizes his own deficiencies, nor perceives his progress in works, having removed all the material for carrying out the commandments.

For in what will he demonstrate humility, having no one before whom to show himself the humbler? In what will he demonstrate compassion, cut off as he is from fellowship with the many? And how will he train himself for patience, when no one opposes his own wishes? But if someone says that he is content with the teaching of the divine Scriptures for the amendment of his character, he does something like the one who learns carpentry but never actually practices carpentry, or who is taught the craft of metalworking but chooses never to put his lessons into practice.

To such a one the Apostle might say:

"Not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified."

For behold, the Lord, out of the abundance of his love for mankind, was not content with teaching by word alone, but, so as to hand down to us precisely and vividly the example of humility in the perfection of love, he himself girded himself and washed the feet of the disciples.

Whom, then, will you wash? Whom will you serve? To whom will you be the least, if you spend your life entirely by yourself? But that good and pleasant thing—the dwelling together of brothers in one place, which the Holy Spirit likens to the ointment breathing forth from the head of the high priest—how will it be fulfilled in a dwelling alone? The dwelling together of brothers is, then, an arena for contest, a good course toward progress, unceasing training, and the practice of the commandments of the Lord;

having as its goal the glory of God, according to the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said:

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven;"

and preserving the character of the saints recorded in the Acts, concerning whom it is written:

"And all who believed were together, and had all things in common;"

"And the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul;"

"and not even one of them said that any of his possessions was his own, but they had all things in common."

Whether one must first renounce all things, and then thus approach the way of life according to God.

Since our Lord Jesus Christ, after much strong proof given through many matters, says to all:

"If anyone comes to me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me;"

"So, then, every one of you who does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple;"

we consider that the precept extends to a great many more things, from which estrangement is necessary.

For indeed, before all else, we renounce the devil, and the passions of the flesh, having repudiated the hidden things of shame; and we also renounce bodily kinships, and human companionships, and the customary manner of life that conflicts with the exactness of the Gospel of salvation.

And what is more necessary than these: one renounces himself, having put off the old man together with his deeds, who is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit.

And he renounces also all attachments to the world that are capable of hindering the goal of piety.

As for parents, then, such a one will regard as his true parents those who begot him in Christ Jesus through the Gospel, and as brothers those who have received the same Spirit of adoption; and toward all possessions he will regard them as belonging to others, which indeed they are.

...to the world—how, then, can he still be a partaker of the cares of the world? For our Lord Jesus Christ carries both the hatred of one's own soul and the denial of oneself to the utmost degree, in the words where he says:

"If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross."

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

So then, perfect renunciation consists in achieving freedom from attachment even toward life itself, and in bearing the sentence of death within oneself, so as not to trust in oneself;

and it begins from estrangement from external things — for example, possessions, vain glory, habitual attachment to worldly life, and attachment to unprofitable things — just as the holy disciples of the Lord showed us: James and John, who left their father Zebedee and the boat itself, their whole means of livelihood;

and Matthew, who rose up from the very tax office and followed the Lord, not only leaving behind the profits within the tax office, but also disregarding the dangers that were bound to follow upon himself and his household from the authorities, for leaving the accounts of the tax office unsettled.

To Paul, moreover, the whole world was crucified, and he himself to the world.

Thus one who is powerfully possessed by the desire to follow Christ can no longer turn back to anything of this present life — not to affection for parents or kin, whenever it stands opposed to the Lord's commands (for then that saying, too, has its occasion):

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and his mother," and so forth);

nor to human fear, so as on its account to shrink back from anything that is profitable — which the saints accomplished, when they said:

"We must obey God rather than men;"

nor to the mockery which outsiders direct at what is good, so as to be overcome by their contempt.

But if anyone should wish to know more precisely and more clearly the intensity bound up with the desire of those who follow the Lord, let him call to mind the Apostle, as he recounts his own circumstances for our instruction, saying:

"If anyone else thinks he has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:"

"circumcised the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, persecuting the Church; as to the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless;"

"but whatever things were gain to me, these I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ."

"Yes indeed, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing worth of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, that I may gain Christ."

For if — to say something bold, yet true — he likened those very legal privileges given by God for a time to the things most expelled from the body and utterly loathsome, things from which we are most powerfully impelled toward estrangement, regarding them as hindrances to the knowledge of Christ, and to the righteousness that is in him, and to conformity to his death — what, then, would one say concerning things merely established by men? And what need is there to establish this argument by our own reasonings and the examples of the saints, when it is possible to set forth the very words of the Lord himself, and through them to bring the fearful soul to reverence, since he testifies clearly and irrefutably when he says:

"So then, every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be my disciple;"

and elsewhere, after first saying, "If you wish to be perfect,"

"Go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor;"

And the parable of the merchant, too, is plain to every fair-minded person as bearing upon this point.

"For the kingdom of heaven," he says, "is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, who, having found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."

This has been taken as a likeness of the heavenly kingdom, which the word of the Lord shows to be impossible for us to obtain unless we give up, all together, in exchange for it, everything that belongs to us — wealth, glory, family, and whatever else is eagerly sought after by the many.

Furthermore, the Lord also declared that it is impossible for what is being earnestly pursued to be achieved while the mind is divided among various cares, when he said:

"No one can serve two masters;"

"You cannot serve God and mammon."

We must, therefore, choose for ourselves the one heavenly treasure, that in it we may have our heart.

"For where," he says, "your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

If, then, we leave to ourselves any earthly possession or any perishable abundance, the mind being thereby buried, as it were, in a kind of mire, the soul will of necessity be unable to behold God, and will remain unmoved toward the desire for the heavenly goods and the blessings laid up for us in the promises;

for it is impossible for us to attain possession of these, unless an undistracted and more intense longing leads us toward seeking them, and lightens the labor undertaken for their sake.

Renunciation, then, as the argument has shown, is a loosing of the bonds of this material and temporal life, and a freedom from human obligations, rendering us more fit to set out on the road toward God;

and an unhindered means of possessing and enjoying things more precious than gold and much fine stone;

And, in short, it is the transferring of the human heart to citizenship in heaven, so that one may be able to say:

"For our citizenship exists in heaven."

And, greatest of all, it is the beginning of likeness to Christ, who for our sake became poor, though he was rich;

and unless we achieve this, it is impossible for us to attain to that manner of life which is according to the Gospel of Christ.

For when can contrition of heart, or humility of mind, or freedom from anger, grief, and cares — and, in short, deliverance from the destructive passions of the soul — be achieved amid wealth and worldly anxieties, amid attachment and habituation to other things? And altogether, for one who is not even permitted to be anxious about the necessities themselves, such as food and clothing, what reasoning would allow him to be entangled, as it were, in wicked thorns — the cares of wealth — which hinder the fruit-bearing of the seed sown by the farmer of our souls? For our Lord said:

"These are they who are sown among thorns, who are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bring forth mature fruit."

Question: Whether one who joins those dedicated to the Lord ought to relinquish, without discrimination, to unreasonable kinsfolk the things that belong to him.

Since the Lord said, "Sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me;"

"Sell your possessions, and give alms;"

I consider that one who goes forth from what is his own with such a purpose ought not to be disposed contemptuously toward the things belonging to him, but should rather take care to reckon everything with exactness and, as things now consecrated to the Lord, to administer them with all reverence — either through himself, if he has the capacity and experience, or through persons selected after much testing, who have given proof of being able to administer faithfully and prudently;

knowing that it is not without danger either to hand things over carelessly to relatives, or to have them administered through some chance person.

For if one entrusted with the care of royal properties, even if he does not often embezzle from what is already at hand, yet through some negligence allows what might have been additionally acquired to slip away, is not thereby acquitted of the charge —

how much more, then, with respect to this stewardship? Are not the negligent liable to judgment? — according to what is written:

"Cursed is everyone who does the work of the Lord negligently."

But everywhere we must be on guard lest, under pretext of one commandment, we be found overturning another.

For it is not fitting for us either to fight, or to wrangle together with those who deal unreasonably with us;

since a servant of the Lord must not fight, but rather, one who is wronged by kinsfolk according to the flesh must remember that the Lord said: "There is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields" — not simply so, but "for my sake and the Gospel's" — "who will not receive a hundredfold in this present time, and in the age to come, eternal life."

Yet to those who deal unreasonably one must solemnly declare the sin of sacrilege, in accordance with the Lord's commandment when he said:

"If your brother sins against you, go, reprove him," and so forth.

"To him who wishes to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak also;"

and, "Does any one of you, when he has a dispute with another, dare to go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?" In such cases, then, let us summon them to judgment, having greater regard for the salvation of the brother than for the abundance of money.

For indeed the Lord, having said, "If he listens to you," went on to add, "you have gained" — not the money, but your brother.

But there are times when, for the sake of making the truth manifest, since the very one who instigated the unfair dealing repeatedly summons us to a common arbitration, we consent to submit to the examination — not having initiated it ourselves, but following those who summoned us, fulfilling not any personal passion of anger or contentiousness, but making the truth manifest.

For in this way we will deliver even that man, unwilling though he be, from evil, and we ourselves will not transgress the commandments, standing firm and steadfast as ministers of God who are peaceable and free from love of money, in the manifestation of the truth, and nowhere exceeding the measure of zeal that has been given.

Question: Whether it is necessary to receive all who come, or only certain ones; and whether to admit them at once, or only after a period of testing — and what sort of testing this should be. ANSWER

Since our benevolent God and Savior Jesus Christ proclaims, saying:

it is not without danger to repel those who through us come to the Lord and wish to take upon themselves his kindly yoke and the burden of the commandments, which lightens us on our way toward heaven.

Yet neither ought we to permit them, with feet unwashed as it were, to tread upon the solemn dignity of the teachings;

but, just as our Lord Jesus Christ questioned the young man who came to him about his former manner of life, and, learning that it had been rightly conducted, then commanded him to fulfill what was still lacking for perfection, and only then permitted him to follow —

so, evidently, it is likewise fitting for us to inquire carefully into the past life of those who come to us;

and to those in whom something has already been rightly achieved beforehand, we should hand on the more perfect of the teachings; but those who are turning from a wicked life, or who have set out toward the exact life of the knowledge of God out of a former indifference, must be examined as to what sort of character they possess —

whether they are not unstable and easily shifted in their resolves.

For the fickleness of such persons is a matter of suspicion, since, besides profiting themselves nothing, they even become a cause of harm to others, spreading reproaches and lies and wicked slanders against our work.

[If, however, they are found steadfast,] they may be admitted without danger;

but if not, being as yet outsiders, they should be sent away;

so that the testing brings no loss to the brotherhood,

at once putting to shame and disowning those who would become his fellow-workers in wicked deeds, according to him who said:

"Depart from me, all you who work iniquity."

and acquiring for himself security for the life that follows, so as no longer to fall into the like passions.

The common manner of testing applied to all is whether they are disposed toward complete humility without shame, so as even to accept the most menial trades, if reason judges their labor to be useful.

And when each one is thoroughly examined in every particular by those skilled in searching him out—

Especially for one who, coming from some more distinguished manner of life, presses on toward humility in likeness to our Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary to appoint him some task that seems disgraceful in the eyes of outsiders, and to observe whether, with full conviction, he presents himself to God as a workman unashamed.

But as many slaves under the yoke as take refuge with the brotherhoods must, once admonished and amended, be sent back to their masters, after the likeness of the blessed Paul, who, having begotten Onesimus through the Gospel, sent him back to Philemon — assuring the one that the yoke of slavery, rightly discharged in a manner pleasing to the Lord, renders one worthy of the kingdom of heaven;

and exhorting the other not only to relax the threat held against him, remembering that our true Lord said, ‘If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive your trespasses,’ but also to hold a kindlier disposition toward him, by writing:

‘For perhaps he was parted from you for a while for this reason, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother.’

Now the contest is won either in this — that the slave in question be trained to endure the sufferings brought upon him, so as to obey God rather than man, as it is written — or in this, that those who received him bear, in a manner pleasing to God, the trials brought upon them on his account.

How married persons ought to be received

Those, too, who come to this life while joined in the yoke of marriage must be examined as to whether they do so by mutual consent, according to the ordinance of the Apostle (for he says, ‘The wife does not have authority over her own body’);

and thus, in the presence of a good number of witnesses, the one who comes should be received.

For nothing takes precedence over obedience to God.

But if the other party should dissent and contend, caring less for what is pleasing to God, let the Apostle be remembered, who says:

‘But God has called us to peace.’

and let the command of the Lord be fulfilled, who said:

‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife, and children, and the rest, he cannot be my disciple.’

For nothing takes precedence over obedience to God.

—those who persist to the end in disobedience being often subjected, even through bodily constraint, to compliance with right judgment—

That the discipline of silence is also useful for those being newly introduced

Good also for those being newly introduced is the discipline of silence.

For at the same time they will give sufficient proof of self-control, by mastering the tongue, and in quiet, intently and without distraction, they will learn from those who make skilled use of speech, how one ought both to ask questions and to answer each one.

For there is a tone of voice, and a due measure of speech, and a fitness of occasion, and a particular character of words, proper and distinctive to the devout, which cannot be taught unless one has first unlearned what comes from worldly custom;

—silence at once producing forgetfulness of former ways through its stillness, and affording leisure for the learning of good things.

So then, unless some personal need presses urgently — either for the care of one’s own soul, or the unavoidable necessity of the work at hand, or some such question that has been raised — one should pass the time in silence, apart, of course, from the psalmody.

Concerning those who have professed themselves to God, and then attempt to set aside their profession

Each of these, having been received into the brotherhood, and then having set aside his profession, must be regarded in this way: as one who has sinned against God, before whom, and to whom, he deposited the profession of the covenant.

For, it says, ‘If a man sins against God, who then will pray for him?’ For the one who has dedicated himself to God, and then leaps away to another manner of life, has become a temple-robber, having stolen himself away and taken from God his votive offering.

For such persons it is reasonable that the door of the brothers no longer be opened, not even should they at some time arrive merely in passing, for the sake of shelter.

For the apostolic canon is clear, commanding us to withdraw from every disorderly person, and not to associate with him, that he may be ashamed.

From what age it is proper to permit persons to profess themselves to God, and when the profession of virginity ought to be reckoned binding

‘Let the children come to me’; and since the Apostle praises him who from infancy has known the sacred writings, and again charges us to bring up children in the discipline and admonition of the Lord, we judge that every season, even that of earliest age, is suited for the reception of those who come to us; receiving on our own initiative those bereft of parents, so as to become, after the zeal of Job, fathers to orphans;

but those who are still under parents, being brought by those same parents, we receive in the presence of many witnesses, so as not to give occasion to those who seek an occasion;

but rather every unjust mouth of those who speak slander against us should be stopped.

but that they be brought up in all piety as common children of the brotherhood, and that separate dwellings and manner of life be assigned to the male children and to the female, so that neither excessive familiarity nor immoderate boldness toward their elders may arise in them, but that, through the rarity of their meeting, the reverence due toward their elders may be preserved;

nor, from the reproofs administered to those more mature for their oversights in matters of duty, should there — whenever it happens that these children take notice — be secretly bred in them either a facility toward sin, or often a kind of conceit, when in the very matters wherein they themselves succeed they frequently see their elders stumbling.

for one who is an infant in understanding differs in nothing from an infant in age.

So it is no wonder that the same passions are often found in both.

Nor indeed should the young, through close association, be led unbecomingly and prematurely into presumption regarding those matters in which, on account of age, propriety is preserved for their elders.

For the sake, then, of this arrangement, and of due decorum in general, the dwelling of the children and of the more mature must be kept separate.

And at the same time the house of the ascetics will not suffer disturbance during the study of instruction, which is necessary for the young.

But let the prayers appointed for each day be common to both children and elders;

for to the children there comes, from zeal for those more mature, a habituation toward compunction; and to their elders no small help in prayer comes from the little ones;