Letter 727

To Laurentius, Faustus, and Epinicus, monks. Do not in any way be afraid, nor cower before the threats and the terrors of the wicked demons: not before the voices and the shaking of the dwelling, not before the lightning-flashes and the countless sparks, not before the bites of what appear to be barbarians and camels and serpents, not before their sudden nighttime assaults and the uproars and crashings and hissings, not before the disorderly fits of laughter and the dancing and the other devices of the impious and unholy spirits. For each of you has written that you have suffered such things at their hands in the places of meditation there [your monastic retreats]. You have all read what was written by me, and, as I said before, do not in any way fear them, nor be dismayed. For we have endured these things, and more than these, many times over, and we have known others before us who were so tried. Therefore let not your heart be broken over these things, nor let it lose courage; for they are nothing, and they shall be reckoned as nothing. "Be men and be strong in the Lord" [Psalm 30:25 LXX / 31:24]; make yourselves mighty, brace yourselves, be sober, employ faith, endurance, prayer, the psalms, the bending of the knee, fasting, the keeping of vigil, your customary sleeping on the ground, the readings, gentleness, stillness, peace, humility, the seal of the cross; and you shall see your enemies vanishing away like smoke.

Μηδαμῶς φοβῆτε, μηδὲ καταπτῆξητε τὰς ἀπειλὰς καὶ τὰ φόβητρα τῶν πονηρῶν δαιμόνων, μὴ τὰς φωνὰς καὶ τὸν σάλον τοῦ οἴκου, μὴ τὰς ἀστραπὰς καὶ τοὺς μυρίους σπινθῆρας, μὴ τὰς τῶν βαρβάρων δῆθεν καὶ τῶν καμήλων, καὶ τῶν δρακόντων δήξεις, μὴ τὰς ἐξαίφνης νυκτερινὰς ἐφόδους αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς θορύβους καὶ κτύπους καὶ συριγμούς, μὴ τοὺς ἀτάκτους γέλωτας καὶ τὰς ὀρχήσεις καὶ τὰς ἄλλας μεθόδους τῶν ἀσεβῶν καὶ ἀνοσίων πνευμάτων. Τοιαῦτα γὰρ ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν πεπονθέναι ἐν τοῖς αὐτόθι φροντιστηρίοις, ἕκαστος ὑμῶν γεγράφηκε. Πάντες ἀνέγνωτε τὰ παρ᾿ ἐμοῦ γραφέντα, καὶ καθὼς προείρηκα, μηδαμῶς φοβῆθε αὐτούς, μηδὲ καταπλαγῆτε. Ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ πλείω τούτων πλεονάκις ὑπέστημεν, καὶ ἄλλους πρὸ ἡμῶν πειραθέντας ἐγνώκαμεν. Μὴ οὖν θραυέσθω ἐπὶ τούτοις ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν, μηδὲ ἀθυμεῖτω· οὐδὲν γάρ εἰσι, καὶ εἰς οὐδὲν λογισθήσονται. « Ἀνδρίζεσθε καὶ κραταιοῦσθε ἐν Κυρίῳ, » ἰσχυροποιεῖσθε, νευροῦσθε, νήφετε, χρήσασθε τῇ πίστει, τῇ ὑπομονῇ, τῇ προσευχῇ, τοῖς ψαλμοῖς, τῇ γονυκλισίᾳ, τῇ νηστείᾳ, τῇ ἀγρυπνίᾳ, τῇ συνήθει χαμευνίᾳ, τοῖς ἀναγνώσμασι, τῇ πραότητι, τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ, τῇ εἰρήνῃ, τῇ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ, τῇ σφραγῖδι τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ ὄψεσθε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, ἐκλιμπάνοντας δίκην καπνοῦ.