Letter 769

To Trajan the Deacon. If you are unable to make a defense for yourself before God, how is it, O man, that you are eager to be entrusted with the protection and care of other souls? You have entreated me, both through your letter and through those who carried the letter, to grant you some consolation toward the removal of acedia [spiritual listlessness, a chronic temptation in monastic life] and the dispelling of the despondency that is secretly implanted by the demons in your industrious and God-loving heart. And so, without any delay, I shall offer you consolation concisely and in brief; and consider what is about to be said. Many waters lifted up on high by the clouds—I mean the waters of the sea—by the command of God lay aside their saltiness and become sweet. Therefore we too, by the will and power of God, shall one day be lifted up and made good, and be strangers to all the saltiness that belongs to sin, when those who devour us are removed far from us according to the prophecy; for we shall be caught up in spiritual clouds into the mystical air, and so henceforth we shall always be with the Lord [cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:17], no longer suffering to stand apart, or to turn away from the longed-for and true Master and Shepherd, nor to wander away from his goodness, but to follow him throughout all eternal life, and to be ranged under him and shepherded by him forever. So let us encourage one another, and be encouraged by these words, as Paul the divine Apostle writes; and let us by all means appear above the despondency that is treacherously sown in us by the unclean spirits, in order to weaken and unstring our righteous striving upward. For why do we yield to acedia, or grow despondent, when the Lord clearly promises in the Gospel that, after being lifted up, he will draw all to himself [John 12:32], and when the prophet insists and encourages each one in saying, “Wait for the Lord, and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the kingdom above” [cf. Psalm 36:34 LXX / 37:34]? Wherefore, considering these things, do not despair of your own salvation. And let us serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice in him with trembling [Psalm 2:11] and with much reverence, never giving way either to despair, or to contempt, or to the disdain of pride.

Εἰ ἀδυνατεῖς ὑπὲρ σεαυτοῦ ἀπολογήσασθαι τῷ Θεῷ, πῶς τὴν ἄλλων ψυχῶν προστασίαν καὶ ἐπιμέλειαν ἐγχειρισθείῃ σπουδάζεις, ὦ ἄνθρωπε; Παρακέκληκας με καὶ διὰ γραμμάτων σου, καὶ διὰ τῶν κεκομικότων τὰ γράμματα, ὥστε παρηγορίαν σοί τινα δωρήσασθαι πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀκηδείας ἀναίρεσιν, καὶ τὴν ἐξαφανισμὸν τῆς ἀθυμίας τῆς ὑπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων λεληθότως ἐντιθεμένης τῇ σῇ φιλοπόνῳ καὶ φιλοθέῳ καρδίᾳ. Καὶ δὴ μηδὲν μελλήσας ἐγώ, συντόμως καὶ ἐν βραχεῖ σοι παρέξω παράκλησιν· καὶ σκόπει τὸ λεχθησόμενον. Ὕδατα πολλὰ εἰς ὕψος νέφεσι κουφιζόμενα, ὕδατά φημι τὰ θαλάττια, τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ κελεύσει, τὸ ἁλμυρὸν ἀποτίθενται, καὶ γλυκέα γίνεται. Οὐκοῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς, τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ βουλήσει καὶ δυνάμει, ἀγαθοὶ κουφιζόμενοί ποτε γενησόμεθα, καὶ πάσης τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἁλμυρότητος ἀλλότριοι, ὅταν οἱ καταπίνοντες ἡμᾶς, ἀφ’ ἡμῶν μακρυνθῶσι κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν, Ἁρπαγησόμεθα γὰρ ἐν νεφέλαις νοηταῖς εἰς τὸν μυστικὸν ἀέρα, καὶ οὕτως λοιπὸν πάντοτε σὺν Κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα, μηκέτι ἀνεχόμενοι ἀφίστασθαι, ἢ ἀπονεύειν τοῦ ποθεινοῦ καὶ ἀληθῶς Δεσπότου καὶ ποιμένος, μηδὲ ἀποπλαvᾶσθαι τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀγαθότητος, ἀλλ’ ἔπεσθαι αὐτῷ διὰ πάσης τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, καὶ ὑπ’ αὐτῷ τάττεσθαι καὶ νέμεσθαι εἰσαεί. Ὥστε παρακαλῶμεν ἑαυτούς, καὶ παρακαλῶμεθα ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις, ὡς γράφει Παῦλος ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος; καὶ πάντως ἐπάνω φανείημεν τῆς δυσθυμίας, τῆς δολουργῶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀκαθάρτων πνευμάτων ἡμῖν ὑποσπειρομένης, πρὸς τὸ παραλῦσαι ἡμῶν καὶ ἐκνευρῖσαι τὴν δικαίαν ἀνάτασιν. Διατί γὰρ καὶ ἀκηδιῶμεν, ἢ ἀθυμοῦμεν, τοῦ Κυρίου σαφῶς κατεπαγγελλομένου ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ, Μετὰ τὸ ὑψωθῆναι, πάντας πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἑλκῦσαι, καὶ τοῦ προφήτου δισχυριζομένου, καὶ παραθαρρύνοντος ἕκαστον ἐν τῷ λέγειν, «Ὑπόμεινον τὸν Κύριον, καὶ φύλαξον τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὑψώσει σε τοῦ κατακληρονομήσαι τὴν ἄνω βασιλείαν;» Ὅθεν ταῦτα ἐννοοῦντες οὐκ ἀπογινώσκεσθα τῆς ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίας. «Δουλεύσωμεν δὲ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν φόβῳ, καὶ ἀγαλλιασώμεθα αὐτῷ ἐν τρόμῳ » καὶ εὐλαβεία πολλῇ, μήτε τῇ ἀπελπισμῷ, μήτε καταφρονήσει, ᾗ ὑπεροψίᾳ πειθόμενοι πώποτε.