Letter 793

To Paul the Monk. Let not the leapings of the flesh frighten you, since you cling laboriously to continence, make more frequent use of prayers, and long for stillness [hesychia, the inner quiet sought by the ascetic]. For "we shall not fear," it says, "while the earth is troubled" [Psalm 45:3 LXX] -- that is, when the flesh boils up, in the manner of a cauldron, with the innate seethings and agitations of the passions and impulses. But neither shall we ever be cowed by the pleasures of the demons, which are blended in from outside, like some sorcery, with the human impulses and drive nature into madness, for we call the Master of all things into alliance with us.

Μή σε φοβείτω τῆς σαρκὸς τὰ σκιρτήματα, ἐμπόνως τῆς ἐγκρατείας ἐχόμενον, καὶ λιταῖς πυκνότερον χρώμενον, καὶ ἡσυχάζειν ποθοῦντα. « Οὐ φοβηθησόμεθα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν τῷ ταράσσεσθαι τὴν γῆν » τουτέστιν· Ἐν τῷ τὴν σάρκα τοῖς ἐμφύτοις παθῶν τε καὶ κινημάτων βρασμοῖς καὶ κλόνοις ἀναζεῖν τρόπον χαλκείου, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδὲ τὰς τῶν δαιμόνων ἡδονὰς, ἔξωθεν δίκην τινὸς γοητείας τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις κινήμασι συγκιραμένας, καὶ ἐκμαινούσας τὴν φύσιν, ποτὲ δειλιάσομεν, καλοῦντες εἰς συμμαχίαν τὸν Δεσπότην τῶν ὅλων.