Chapter LVII
How Patience For The Sake Of The Love Of God Acquires Help From God
In accordance with a man 's despising this world and his being occupied by the fear of God, divine care will approach him and he will perceive its help in secret and there will be given to him clear emotions so as to understand it. Even though a man be not destitute of the - goods of this world by his own will, still even as he is devoid of them, so mercy will follow him and divine compassion will support him. Glory to Him who shows us His grace in things of the right and of the left hand 1) and· who in all of them lays a cause for the renewal of our life; and who makes the souls of those who, wilfully, are too weak to acquire life, ascend towards excellence, by involuntary distress. 4oo The poor Lazarus was not destitute of the goods of this world by his own will, even his body was stricken by ulcers; bitter plagues he had to endure, one still harder than the other: illness and poverty. Yet in the end he received honour in the bosom of the patriarch. God is near to the suffering heart which out of trouble cries to Him. And though the body sometimes refuses to bear these pains for the sake of the help, yet, as a physician who causes healing by the acute pains of his operations, the Lord greatly favours his soul in accordance with the heavy pains of his distress. Now when the love of Christ is not so prevalent in thee that thou art without affection in all troubles through thy gladness in Him, know then that the world lives in thee more than Christ does. When illnesses and want, or injury of the body, or fear of its afflictions trouble thy mind in the joy of thy hope and thy clear thought in our Lord, know then that the body lives in thee, not Christ. He whose
1) happy and unhappy
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love is prevalent over thee, he lives in thee. If thou art able to walk in serenity on thy way unto Christ, fulfilling all things required without lack, without bodily torments, without fear of adversaries, know then that thou art sick in thy mind and devoid of the taste of God's glory. I do not judge why thou art so, but [I say this] in order that thou mayest know at least how far thou art from the 401 accomplishment, even partially, of the discipline of the saints which lived before us. Do not say: There is not a man to be found whose mind, shipwrecked though the body may be by. every sorrow of temptation, is so wholly exalted above sickness that the love of Christ vanquished the affectability of the mind. I refrain from reminding thee of the deeds of the martyrs; perhaps we would be unable to remain standing firm before the deluge of their sufferings, in which patience through the power of love has vanquished the trouble and the love of the body. But because even the recollection of these things is difficult to human nature, in that we are troubled by the greatness of the thing and by its amazing aspect, we will turn towards the ungodly philosophers, and from them, by a comparison with their patience, we shall find instruction concerning the weakness of our will. But this has also to be preserved till its time when we shall explain it in its place 1), knowing that also this is a sign of illness. Thus we shall not judge this matter from ourselves, but so that we may believe how very low we have been cast down and how that, despite this, it is possible that the Highest should become wholly man. The drunkard will never believe that there are many men who do not even drink wine. Neither will the lascivious believe, that there are men who wholly abstain from sexual union. Neither will he that is troubled by a certain desire believe that there are men who are not troubled at all by this desire, even though they be incited by other things. Neither will he that is constantly ill, believe that there exists a body which is not ruined by illnesses. So the consolation 402 of those who are not able to vanquish absolutely [the weakness of] the mind, may be in the consideration that there is no man who is completely elevated above this weakness. That there are people in whom the love of Christ has vanquished
I) p. 403 (Syriac text) /
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the weakness of nature so that they wholly despise the body and its love, whose mit1d is not troubled by the gladness in Christ so that this should bring about the possibility of being vanquished by the power of oppositional forces on the part of the body, and in whom the [divine] gifts have overcome the incompetence of nature - this they do not believe at all. I do not say that difficulties wholly fail in the way of God, or that there is anyone who lives in this way without temptations. On the contrary, I say that he that lives in excellence, day by day will find more troubles, and the farther he proceeds onwards, the more he is oppressed by distresses. This is a sign of the veraciousness of his course, that he lives a bitter life in this world and that he departs this body with torments. For this world is not the world of the righteous, and they cannot abide in it without distresses. But the will can be strengthened by grace to despise all these things and keep the mind without confusion, by the gladness of the love of Christ. That there have been men who reached this, and that it is possible that they become thus even now, is due to the great help of the gift of Christ. Do not judge, o man, the 403 deeds of all men, from thy own case, and do not weigh their behaviour against the weight of thy own weakness. If thou seekest, begin with hope, then thou wilt be helped. And be not incredulous lest thou be left by Him that sows these things in thee, so that thou reach the measure of thine own smallness, whatever it be, in contrast to those who have vanquished the world and its confusion absolutely. If thou doest not believe the church, approach unto the philosophers. Then thou wilt see, how much power the will possesses to be uplifted above the body and to remain without confusion according to the choice of him that chooses. When thou seest how these, who did not know God, have displayed in the face of the world the endurance and vigour of a heroic will, and how they have shown how much force inner nature possesses to vanquish everything if it like -a man will be struck with amazement in reading their histories at the power which God has assembled in this nature, that, if we like, we can vanquish everything. But because we do not will, we preach the weakness of nature. And while we hide the vigour of nature by the weakness of our will, we say: Who should ever be able to vanquish these things?
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One of them had mastered the will of the body to such a degree, that, in order not to give up and to deviate from the choice he had made, he. did not even allow his mind to be disturbed when the sword was drawn; so fear of death could not break through the barrier he had made for himself. When 4°4 for many years he had kept silence, the king of the Greeks, wondering at his fame and desiring to put him to the test, ordered him to appear before him. As the philosopher remained silent whenever the king spoke and questioned him, giving no answer, the king grew angry and ordered him to be put to death, because he was not even impressed by the glory of his throne and crown. The philosopher was not moved by this [order], but kept his rule quietly. Then the king ordered the executioners to slay him if he should break his rule out of fear of the sword; but to bring him back living if he should be firm of will. When the moment had come and the executioners commanded him to bend his will or die, he deliberated thus: it is better once to suffer death, while keeping the rule of my will which I have borne all this time, than to give way out of fear of death, putting to shame my wisdom, and be found a coward because of that which I shall have to meet at any rate, whenever it be. - By this firmness of will and this heroic mind he was delivered even from death, being found just and true to his rule. Doest thou see what power will possesses? This sage stretched his neck before the ·sword without breaking his own rule. Others have trampled upon the desire of nature and have tamed it by the bridle which they have put into its mouth. Others have remained unmoved before disdain. Others have 405 been found consistent and without wrath, before blows. Some have suffered from their equals what could hardly be borne; others from people who were by far their inferiors. Others have remained without feelings of enmity or anger while their possessions were robbed. Others have shown endurance under horrible and severe illnesses, without being troubled, and have added even other ascetic practices. Some have performed voluntary labours, others have practised total nakedness apart from the covering demanded by chastity, or a solitary life, and support of life by raw food. Thus king Alexander, when once he went to see one of them, did not hear anything from him except on contempt of the world. /
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All this [they practised] lest they should be withheld from meditation and the occupying themselves with their wisdom. If the labour of instruction and the discipline of wisdom, apart from the fear of God and the light of faith and the hope of a world to be, are able to perform such heroic deeds, who then should not be despised by his own conscience, that notwithstanding all the light of Christ which is poured out on the world, and the great gifts which are lavished abundantly in secret, and the hope on God which day by day is confirmed by events - still the difficulties and the pleasure of this body are master of him, so that he does not remain as a diamond for the sake of the love of God, despising everything joyfully? If it is possible to be in doubt as to how men vanquish all 406 these things - every wise man knows that no one can do anything by his own power. But it is possible, because by God's help and a firm will he finds all things weaker than himself. By these the zeal of the solitaries has been kindled, so that they have abandoned and suddenly given up the world and what belongs to it, and have become strong, withstanding all contrary things and, by endurance of will and by the help of their Lord, have vanquished all difficulties whatsoever. For they dwelt in the midst of them. Many of them were adherents of the doctrine of the philosophers, saying: If external sages, in spite of the fact that they were not on the way of God, have taken upon themselves, in return for transitory wisdom and training in the instruction of this temporary world, to bear these things, and have become alienated to the world and apart from it in their dealings, so as to reach the desire of their will, though there was no just basis in their thoughts nor hope of inmortality in their labours, performing these things to this high degree with a view to a vain expectation -how much more are we bound to endure for the sake of the love of God and to despise all difficulties for the sake of the sublime future which has been promised us. So they have been confirmed by this thought and have mastered the laxity of their deliberations and have entered the arena and turned not their backs until they have gained the crown. They were an example even for later generations, and have shown the world how those who walk this way have to enter the arena.
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