I think it must be added that even the commandments of the Lord cannot be performed with the intent of pleasing men. For no man turns to an inferior if he is convinced a superior is present; but, if it should happen that something is acceptable and pleasing to the more important person, but seems undesirable and reprehensible to the less important, then he values the acceptance of the superior man but disregards the censure of the inferior. But if this be the case with men, will any soul that is truly sober and healthy, convinced of the presence of God, leave off acting to please God and turn to the good opinion of men? Or will any such soul neglect God’s commandments and be enslaved to human customs or conquered by public opinion, or be talked over by dignitaries? Remember the state of mind of him who said: “The lawless spoke idle words, but not according to thy law, O Lord.” And again: “And I spoke in thy testimonies before kings and was not ashamed.”
A dn: xiv. 23°94; 2 Jn. xv. 12 add éyo after xa8ac.
$ HX. xxxai. 32. 4 See Rom. ix. 3.
> Prov. i. 7 Kuptov with AC, Sw.’s (B) text cod.
§ See Heb. v. 12. 7 Lk. xii. 48 dratraoovew for aithoovow.
1 1 Cor. vii. 32, 33 d&pécer for d&péon (twice) K.
2 Jn. xv. 19 byeic odx eoté 2x tod xdcuov tTobtov**,
S Ji rxvil, 20, 2 Jnl xiv. 17: = Phil, 111.720;
6 Lk. xiv. 33 trégyovew éavtod for adtod br., elvar before pov.
1 Jn. xiv. 15 thehoate for thpgcete K. ons XV 20. > Jn. vi. 38 éx for dné K, add matpdc after pe. > Ps. Xviz8: 61 Corcx.otr
. © Jer, xxiii. 23 odyt (Sw. B. wh odyt). 7 Jer. xxiii. 24. Bas. with A xal od (Sw. B. odyt). 8 Mt. xviii. 20 &xov for of. 2 Pscemx. 165.
VI. — The Necessity of Retirement
A retired habitation is a help to the soul in avoiding distraction. For to have one’s life always mixed up with those who are fearlessly and scornfully disposed towards the exact observance of the commandments is shown to be harmful by the words of Solomon, who teaches us: “Be not a companion of an angry man, nor abide with a wrathful friend; lest thou learn his ways and get snares to thy soul.” And, “Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord” points in the same direction.
Accordingly our first step is to seek a retired habitation, lest through eyes or ears we receive incitements to sin and imperceptibly become accustomed to it, and impressions and forms of things seen or heard abide in the soul causing destruction and loss; and in order that we may be able to continue in prayer. For thus we should overcome previously formed habits, in which we lived alienated from the commandments of Christ—this entails no small struggle, to overcome one’s accustomed mode of life, for habit strengthened by lapse of time gains the strength of nature—and we shall be able to rub out the stains of sin by toiling in prayer and assiduous meditation upon the will of God; to which meditation and prayer it is impossible to attain in a crowd, which distracts the soul and introduces worldly cares. Who ever in a crowd could fulfil the precept: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself”? For we must deny ourselves and take up the Cross of Christ, and thus follow Him.
But to deny oneself means complete forgetfulness of the past and retirement from one’s own will, in which it is very hard, almost impossible, for a man to succeed when he lives in promiscuous intercourse. Indeed mixing in such a life impedes even the taking of one’s cross and following Christ. For preparedness to die on Christ’s behalf, and the mortification of one’s members that are upon the earth, and to stand in battle array to meet every danger that comes upon us for the name of Christ, and to be indifferent towards this present life—this is to take up one’s cross; the obstacles put in the way of which by the intercourse of common life we see to be great.
In addition to all the many other things, the soul, looking at the crowd of offenders, in the first place has no opportunity to perceive its own sins and to become contrite by penitence for its misdeeds, but by comparison with worse people acquires pretensions to virtue; secondly, led away from the precious memory of God by the tumults and distractions which common life naturally introduces, it is not only deprived of exultation and joy in God, and of delighting in the Lord, and tasting the sweetness of His words, so as to say: “I remembered God and rejoiced” and: “How sweet are thy words unto my throat, sweeter than honey unto my mouth”; but also it grows accustomed to complete contempt and forgetfulness of His judgments, than which it could suffer no greater or more deadly evil.
1 Jn. v. 30 add natpdc after ue K. 2) Pe, exix. 8d: 3 Ps. cxix. 46. 4 Cf. Ep. ii (to Greg. Naz.): “ Quiet is the first step in our sancti-
fication.”
5 Prov. xxii. 24, 25. & 2 Cor. vi. 7.
1 Lk. ix. 23 én0civ for epyecOon K, dnapvynckobe for dpvnckoOw K.
* Could B. have been a bishop when he wrote this? See Intr. p. 16. A modern bishop immersed in activities might well speak in similar terms.
> As did the martyrs, see Intr. p. 43. - * cod xowod Biov. Cf. 346m where 6 xowavinds log = the community ife.
> Ps. Ixxvii. 3. Bas. omits xhprov of Sw.’s (&) text with R@AT.
8 Ps. cxix. 103 nippdvOny, Sw. (B) cdppdvOny.
VII. — That it is Necessary, with a View to Pleasing God, to Live with Like-minded Persons, and that Solitude is Difficult and Dangerous