Nilus of Ancyra→Heliodorus (correspondent of Nilus of Ancyra)|c. 415 AD|nilus ancyra|From Ancyra|AI-assisted
To Heliodorus the Monk.
As for those who, struggling against the pleasures through many labors and sweat and a long stretch of time, have at last with difficulty attained the gift of dispassion [apatheia, freedom from disordered passion], let us permit them to hold meetings with the women who practice asceticism. But those who, like you, are weighed down with the passions of pleasure-loving, let them be kept from such a most perilous interview, lest they cast both their own souls and the souls of others into the pit. For without some inescapable and necessary need, one ought not to look upon women, whether they be canonical [consecrated nuns] or worldly. And to the men of this world who urge us into their own houses, that we may offer prayers on their behalf, we must say the word of the Gospel in humility: "I am not worthy in virtues, that I should enter into your house [echoing Luke 7:6]; but since you believe that you are helped through the prayer of the monks, let it be done for you, even as you have believed [Matthew 8:13]." And all the fathers and brothers who love our insignificance shall be entreated by me to pray sincerely on behalf of the worldly men who have made their request.
As for those who, struggling against the pleasures through many labors and sweat and a long stretch of time, have at last with difficulty attained the gift of dispassion [apatheia, freedom from disordered passion], let us permit them to hold meetings with the women who practice asceticism. But those who, like you, are weighed down with the passions of pleasure-loving, let them be kept from such a most perilous interview, lest they cast both their own souls and the souls of others into the pit. For without some inescapable and necessary need, one ought not to look upon women, whether they be canonical [consecrated nuns] or worldly. And to the men of this world who urge us into their own houses, that we may offer prayers on their behalf, we must say the word of the Gospel in humility: "I am not worthy in virtues, that I should enter into your house [echoing Luke 7:6]; but since you believe that you are helped through the prayer of the monks, let it be done for you, even as you have believed [Matthew 8:13]." And all the fathers and brothers who love our insignificance shall be entreated by me to pray sincerely on behalf of the worldly men who have made their request.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.