OF
JOHN CASSIAN
ON THE
INSTITUTES OF THE COENOBIA,
AND THE
REMEDIES FOR THE EIGHT PRINCIPAL FAULTS.
CONTENTS.
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OF THE DRESS OF THE MONKS.
CHAPTER I.--Of the monks' girdle.
CHAPTER II.--Of the monks' robe.
CHAPTER III.--Of the hoods of the
Egyptians.
CHAPTER IV.--Of the tunics of the
Egyptians.
CHAPTER V.--Of their cords.
CHAPTER VI.--Of their capes.
CHAPTER VII.--Of the sheepskin and the
goatskin.
CHAPTER VIII.--Of the staff of the
Egyptians.
CHAPTER IX.--Of their shoes.
CHAPTER X.--Of the modification in
the observances which may be permitted in accordance with the
character of the climate or the custom of the district.
CHAPTER XI.--Of the spiritual girdle
and its mystical meaning.
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OF THE CANONICAL SYSTEM OF THE NOCTURNAL PRAYERS
AND PSALMS.
CHAPTER I.--Of the canonical system of
the nocturnal prayers and Psalms.
CHAPTER II.--Of the difference of the
number of Psalms appointed to be sung in all the provinces.
CHAPTER III.--Of the observance of one
uniform rule throughout the whole of Egypt, and of the election of
those who are set over the brethren.
CHAPTER IV.--How throughout the whole
of Egypt and the Thebaid the number of Psalms is fixed at twelve.
CHAPTER V.--How the fact that the
number of Psalms was to be twelve was received from the teaching of an
angel.
CHAPTER VI.--Of the custom of having
twelve prayers.
CHAPTER VII.--Of their method of
praying.
CHAPTER VIII.--Of the prayer which
follows the Psalm.
CHAPTER IX.--Of the characteristics of
the prayer, the fuller treatment of which is reserved to the
Conferences of the Elders.
CHAPTER X.--Of the silence and
conciseness with which the Collects are offered up by the
Egyptians.
CHAPTER XI.--Of the system according
to which the Psalms are said among the Egyptians.
CHAPTER XII.--Of the reason why while
one sings the Psalms the rest sit down during the service; and of the
zeal with which they afterwards prolong their vigils in their cells
till daybreak.
CHAPTER XIII.--The reason why they
are not allowed to go to sleep after the night service.
CHAPTER XIV.--Of the way in which
they devote themselves in their cells equally to manual labor and to
prayer.
CHAPTER XV.--Of the discreet rule by
which every one must retire to his cell after the close of the
prayers; and of the rebuke to which any one who does otherwise is
subject.
CHAPTER XVI.--How no one is allowed
to pray with one who has been suspended from prayer.
CHAPTER XVII.--How he who rouses them
for prayer ought to call them at the usual time.
CHAPTER XVIII.--How they do not kneel
from the evening of Saturday till the evening of Sunday.
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OF THE CANONICAL SYSTEM OF THE DAILY PRAYERS AND
PSALMS.
CHAPTER I.--Of the services of the
Third, Sixth, and Ninth hours, which are observed in the regions of
Syria.
CHAPTER II.--How among the Egyptians
they apply themselves all day long to prayer and Psalms continually
with the addition of work, without distinction of hours.
CHAPTER III.--How throughout all the
East the services of Tierce, Sext and None are ended with only three
Psalms and prayers each; and the reasons why these spiritual offices
are assigned more particularly to those hours.
CHAPTER IV.--How the Mattin Office was
not appointed by an ancient tradition, but was started in our own day
for a definite reason.
CHAPTER V.--How they ought not to go
back to bed again after the Mattin prayers.
CHAPTER VI.--How no change was made by
the Elders in the ancient system of Psalms when the Mattin office was
instituted.
CHAPTER VII.--How one who does not
come to the daily prayer before the end of the first Psalm is not
allowed to enter the Oratory; but at Nocturns a late arrival up to the
end of the second Psalm can be overlooked.
CHAPTER VIII.--Of the Vigil service
which is celebrated on the evening preceding the Sabbath; of its
length, and the manner in which it is observed.
CHAPTER IX.--The reason why a vigil is
appointed as the Sabbath day dawns, and why a dispensation from
fasting is enjoyed on the Sabbath all through the East.
CHAPTER X.--How it was brought about
that they fast on the Sabbath in the city.
CHAPTER XI.--Of the points in which
the service held on Sunday differs from what is customary on other
days.
CHAPTER XII.--Of the days on which,
when supper is provided for the brethren, a Psalm is not said as they
assemble for the meal, as is usual at dinner.
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OF THE INSTITUTES OF THE RENUNCIANTS.
CHAPTER I.--Of the training of those
who renounce this world, and of the way in which those are taught
among the monks of Tabenna and the Egyptians who are received into the
monasteries.
CHAPTER II.--Of the way in which among
them men remain in the monasteries even to extreme old age.
CHAPTER III.--Of the ordeal by which
one who is to be received in the monastery is tested.
CHAPTER IV.--The reason why those who
are received in the monastery are not allowed to bring anything in
with them.
CHAPTER V.--The reason why those who
give up the world, when they are received in the monasteries, must lay
aside their own clothes and be clothed in others by the Abbot.
CHAPTER VI.--The reason why the
clothes of the renunciants with which they joined the monastery are
preserved by the steward.
CHAPTER VII.--The reason why those who
are admitted to a monastery are not permitted to mix at once with the
congregation of the brethren, but are first committed to the guest
house.
CHAPTER VIII.Of the practices in which
the juniors are first exercised that they may become proficient in
overcoming all their desires.
CHAPTER IX.--The reason why the
juniors are enjoined not to keep back any of their thoughts from the
seniors.
CHAPTER X.--How thorough is the
obedience of the juniors even in those things which are matters of
common necessity.
CHAPTER XI.--The kind of food which
is considered the greatest delicacy among them.
CHAPTER XII.--How they leave off
every kind of work at the sound of some one knocking at the door, in
their eagerness to answer at once.
CHAPTER XIII.--How wrong it is
considered for any one to say that anything, however trifling, is his
own.
CHAPTER XIV.--How, even if a large
sum of money is amassed by the labour of each, still no one may
venture to exceed the moderate limit of what is appointed as
adequate.
CHAPTER XV.--Of the excessive desire
of possession among us.
CHAPTER XVI.--Of the rules for
various rebukes.
CHAPTER XVII.--Of those who
introduced the plan that the holy Lessons should be read in the
Coenobia while the brethren are eating, and of the strict silence
which is kept among the Egyptians.
CHAPTER XVIII.--How it is against the
rule for anyone to take anything to eat or drink except at the common
table.
CHAPTER XIX.--How throughout
Palestine and Mesopotamia a daily service is undertaken by the
brethren.
CHAPTER XX.--Of the three lentil
beans which the steward found.
CHAPTER XXI.--Of the spontaneous
service of some of the brethren.
CHAPTER XXII.--Of the system of the
Egyptians, which is appointed for the daily exercise of the
brethren.
CHAPTER XXIII.--Of the obedience of
Abbot John by which he was exalted even to the grace of prophecy.
CHAPTER XXIV.--Of the dry stick
which, at the bidding of his senior, Abbot John kept on watering as if
it would grow.
CHAPTER XXV.--Of the unique vase of
oil thrown away by Abbot John at his senior's command.
CHAPTER XXVI.--How Abbot John obeyed
his senior by trying to roll a huge stone, which a large number of men
were unable to move.
CHAPTER XXVII.--Of the humility and
obedience of Abbot Patermucius, which he did not hesitate to make
perfect by throwing his little boy into the river at the command of
his senior.
CHAPTER XXVIII.--How it was revealed
to the Abbot concerning Patermucius, that he had done the deed of
Abraham; and how when the same Abbot died, Patermucius succeeded to
the charge of the monastery.
CHAPTER XXIX.--Of the obedience of a
brother who, at the Abbot's bidding, carried about in public ten
baskets and sold them by retail.
CHAPTER XXX.--Of the humility of
Abbot Pinufius, who left a very famous Coenobium over which he
presided as Presbyter, and out of the love of subjection, sought a
distant monastery where he could be received as a novice.
CHAPTER XXXI.--How when Abbot
Pinufius was brought back to his monastery he stayed there for a
little while, and then fled again into the regions of Syrian
Palestine.
CHAPTER XXXII.--The charge which the
same abbot Pinufius gave to a brother whom he admitted into his
monastery in our presence.
CHAPTER XXXIII.--How it is that, just
as a great reward is due to the monk who labours according to the
regulations of the fathers, so likewise punishment must be inflicted
on an idle one; and therefore no one should be admitted into a
monastery too easily.
CHAPTER XXXIV.--Of the way in which
our renunciation is nothing but mortification and the image of the
Crucified.
CHAPTER XXXV.--How the fear of the
Lord is our Cross.
CHAPTER XXXVI.--How our renunciation
of the world is of no use if we are again entangled in those things
which we have renounced.
CHAPTER XXXVII.--How the devil always
lies in wait for our end, and how we ought continually to watch his
head.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.--Of the renunciant's
preparation against temptation, and of the few who are worthy of
imitation.
CHAPTER XXXIX.--Of the way in which
we should mount towards perfection, whereby we may afterwards ascend
from the fear of God up to love.
CHAPTER XL.--That the monks should
seek for examples of perfection not from many instances, but from one
or a very few.
CHAPTER XLI.--The appearance of what
infirmities one who lives in a Coenobium ought to exhibit.
CHAPTER XLII.--How a monk should not
look for the blessing of patience in his own case as a result of the
virtue of others, but rather as a consequence of his own long
suffering.
CHAPTER XLIII.--Recapitulation of the
explanation how a monk can mount up towards perfection.
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OF THE SPIRIT OF GLUTTONY.
CHAPTER I.--The transition from the
Institutes of the monks to the struggle against the eight principal
faults.
CHAPTER II.--How the occasions of
these faults, being found in everybody, are ignored by everybody; and
how we need the Lord's help to make them plain.
CHAPTER III.--How our first struggle
must be against the spirit of gluttony; i.e., the pleasures of the
palate.
CHAPTER IV.--The testimony of Abbot
Antony in which he teaches that each virtue ought to be sought for
from him who possesses it in a special degree.
CHAPTER V.--How that one and the same
rule of fasting cannot be observed by everybody.
CHAPTER VI.--That the mind is not
intoxicated by wine alone.
CHAPTER VII.--How bodily weakness need
not interfere with purity of heart.
CHAPTER VII.--How food should be taken
with regard to the aim of perfect continence.
CHAPTER IX.--Of the measure of the
chastisement to be undertaken, and the remedy of fasting.
CHAPTER X.--That abstinence from food
is not of itself sufficient for preservation of bodily and mental
purity.
CHAPTER XI.--That bodily lusts are
not extinguished except by the entire rooting out of vices.
CHAPTER XII.--That in our spiritual
contest we ought to draw an example from the carnal contests.
CHAPTER XIII.--That we cannot enter
the battle of the inner man unless we have been set free from the vice
of gluttony.
CHAPTER XIV.--How gluttonous desires
can be overcome.
CHAPTER XV.--How a monk must always
be eager to preserve his purity of heart.
CHAPTER XVI.--How, after the fashion
of the Olympian games, a monk should not attempt spiritual conflicts
unless he has won battles over the flesh.
CHAPTER XVII.--That the foundation
and basis of the spiritual combat must be laid in the struggle against
gluttony.
CHAPTER XVIII.--Of the number of
different conflicts and victories through which the blessed apostles
ascended to the crown of the highest combat.
CHAPTER XIX.--That the athlete of
Christ, so long as he is in the body, is never without a battle.
CHAPTER XX.--How a monk should not
overstep the proper hours for taking food, if he wants to proceed to
the struggle of interior conflicts.
CHAPTER XXI.--Of the inward peace of
a monk, and of spiritual abstinence.
CHAPTER XXII.--That we should for
this reason practise bodily abstinence, that we may by this fasting
attain to purity of heart.
CHAPTER XXIII.--What should be the
character of the monk's food.
CHAPTER XXIV.--How in Egypt we saw
that the daily fast was broken without scruple on an arrival.
CHAPTER XXV.--Of the abstinence of
one old man, who took food six times so sparingly that he was still
hungry.
CHAPTER XXVI.--Of another old man,
who never partook of food alone in his cell.
CHAPTER XXVII.--What the two Abbots,
Paesius and John, said of the fruits of their zeal.
CHAPTER XXVIII.--The Lessons and
example which Abbot John when dying left to his disciples.
CHAPTER XXIX.--Of Abbot Machetes, who
never slept during the spiritual conferences, but always went to sleep
during earthly tales.
CHAPTER XXX.--A saying of the same
old man about not judging any one.
CHAPTER XXXI.--The same old man's
rebuke when he saw how the brethren went to sleep during the spiritual
conferences, and woke up when some idle story was told.
CHAPTER XXXII.--Of the letters which
were burnt without being read.
CHAPTER XXXIII.--Of the solution of a
question which Abbot Theodore obtained by prayer.
CHAPTER XXXIV.--Of the saying of the
same old man through which he taught by what efforts a monk can
acquire a knowledge of the Scriptures.
CHAPTER XXXV.--A rebuke of the same
old man, when he had come to my cell in the middle of the night.
CHAPTER XXXVI.--A description of the
desert in Diolcos, where the Anchorites live.
CHAPTER XXXVII.--Of the cells which
Abbot Archebius gave up to us with their furniture.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.--The same Archebius
paid a debt of his mother's by the labours of his own hands.
CHAPTER XXXIX.--Of the device of a
certain old man by which some work was found for Abbot Simeon, when he
had nothing to do.
CHAPTER XL.--Of the boys, who, when
bringing to a sick man some figs, died in the desert from hunger,
without having tasted them.
CHAPTER XLI.--The saying of the Abbot
Macarius of the behaviour of a monk, as one who was to live for a long
while, and as one who was daily at the point of death.
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ON THE SPIRIT OF FORNICATION.
Omitted in this translation.
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ON THE SPIRIT OF COVETOUSNESS.
CHAPTER I.--How our warfare with
covetousness is a foreign one, and how this fault is not a natural one
in man, as the other faults are.
CHAPTER II.--How dangerous is the
disease of covetousness.
CHAPTER III.--What is the usefulness
of those vices which are natural to us.
CHAPTER IV.--That we can say that
there exist in us some natural faults without wronging the
Creator.
CHAPTER V.--Of the faults which are
contracted through our own fault, without natural impulses.
CHAPTER VI.--How difficult the evil of
covetousness is to drive away when once it has been admitted.
CHAPTER VII.--Of the source from which
covetousness springs, and of the evils of which it is itself the
mother.
CHAPTER VIII.--How covetousness is a
hindrance to all virtues.
CHAPTER IX.--How a monk who has money
cannot stay in the monastery.
CHAPTER X.--Of the toils which a
deserter from a monastery must undergo through covetousness, though he
used formerly to murmur at the very slightest tasks.
CHAPTER XI.--That, under pretence of
keeping the purse, women have to be sought to dwell with them.
CHAPTER XII.--An instance of a
lukewarm monk caught in the snares of covetousness.
CHAPTER XIII.--What the elders relate
to the juniors in the matter of stripping off sins.
CHAPTER XIV.--Instances to show that
the disease of covetousness is threefold.
CHAPTER XV.--Of the difference
between one who renounces the world badly, and one who does not
renounce it at all.
CHAPTER XVI.--Of the authority under
which those shelter themselves, who object to stripping themselves of
their goods.
CHAPTER XVII.--Of the renunciation of
the Apostles and the primitive Church.
CHAPTER XVIII.--That if we want to
imitate the Apostles we ought not to live according to our own
prescriptions, but to follow their examples.
CHAPTER XIX.--A saying of S. Basil,
the Bishop, directed against Syncletius.
CHAPTER XX.--How contemptible it is
to be overcome by covetousness.
CHAPTER XXI.--How covetousness can be
conquered.
CHAPTER XXII.--That one who actually
has no money may still be deemed covetous.
CHAPTER XXIII.--An example drawn from
the case of Judas.
CHAPTER XXIV.--That covetousness
cannot be overcome except by stripping one's self of everything.
CHAPTER XXV.--Of the deaths of
Ananias and Sapphira and of Judas, which they underwent, through the
impulse of covetousness.
CHAPTER XXVI.--That covetousness
brings upon the soul a spiritual leprosy.
CHAPTER XXVII.--Scripture proofs by
which one who is aiming at perfection is taught not to take back again
what he has given up and renounced.
CHAPTER XXVIII.--That the victory
over covetousness can only be gained by stripping one's self bare of
everything.
CHAPTER XXIX.--How a monk can retain
his poverty.
CHAPTER XXX.--The remedies against
the disease of covetousness.
CHAPTER XXXI.--That no one can get
the better of covetousness unless he stays in the Coenobium; and
how one can remain there.
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ON THE SPIRIT OF ANGER.
CHAPTER I.--How our fourth conflict is
against the sin of anger, and how many evils this passion
produces.
CHAPTER II.--Of those who say that
anger is not injurious, if we are angry with those who do wrong, since
God Himself is said to be angry.
CHAPTER III.--Of those things which
are spoken of God anthropomorphically.
CHAPTER IV.--In what sense we should
understand the Passion and human parts which are ascribed to the
unchanging and incorporeal God.
CHAPTER V.--How calm a monk ought to
be.
CHAPTER VI.--Of the righteous and
unrighteous passion of wrath.
CHAPTER VII.--Of the only case in
which anger is useful to us.
CHAPTER VIII.--Instances from the life
of the blessed David in which anger was rightly felt.
CHAPTER IX.--Of the anger which should
be directed against ourselves.
CHAPTER X.--Of the sun, of which it
is said that it should not go down upon your wrath.
CHAPTER XI.--Of those, to whose wrath
even the going down of the sun sets no limit.
CHAPTER XII.--How this is one end of
temper and anger when a man carries it into action as far as he
can.
CHAPTER XIII.--That we should not
retain our anger even for an instant.
CHAPTER XIV.--Of reconciliation with
our brother.
CHAPTER XV.--How the old Law would
root out anger, not only from the actions, but from the thoughts.
CHAPTER XVI.--How useless is the
retirement of those who do not give up their bad manners.
CHAPTER XVII.--That the peace of our
heart does not depend on another's will, but lies in our own
control.
CHAPTER XVIII.--Of the zeal with
which we should seek the desert, and of the things in which we make
progress there.
CHAPTER XIX.--An illustration to help
in forming an opinion on those who are only patient when they are not
tried by any one.
CHAPTER XX.--How anger should be
banished according to the Gospel.
CHAPTER XXI.--Whether we ought to
admit the addition of "without a cause" in that which is
written in the Gospel "whoever is angry with his brother,"
etc.
CHAPTER XXII.--The remedies by which
we can root out anger from our hearts.
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OF THE SPIRIT OF DEJECTION.
CHAPTER I.--How our fifth combat is
against the spirit of dejection, and of the harm which it inflicts
upon the soul.
CHAPTER II.--Of the care with which
the malady of dejection must be healed.
CHAPTER III.--To what the soul may be
compared, which is a prey to the attacks of dejection.
CHAPTER IV.--Whence and in what way
dejection arises.
CHAPTER V.--That disturbances are
caused in us not by the faults of other people but by our own.
CHAPTER VI.--That no one comes to
grief by a sudden fall, but is destroyed by falling through a long
course of carelessness.
CHAPTER VII.--That we ought not to
give up intercourse with our brethren in order to seek after
perfection, but should rather constantly cultivate the virtue of
patience.
CHAPTER VIII.--That if we have
improved our character it is possible for us to get on with
everybody.
CHAPTER IX.--Of another sort of
dejection which produces despair of salvation.
CHAPTER X.--Of the only thing in
which dejection is useful to us.
CHAPTER XI.--How we can decide what
is useful, and the sorrow according to God, and what is devilish and
deadly.
CHAPTER XII.--That except that
wholesome sorrow, which springs up in three ways, all sorrow and
dejection should be rejected as hurtful.
CHAPTER XIII.--The means by which we
can root out dejection from our hearts.
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OF THE SPIRIT OF ACCIDIE.
CHAPTER I.--How our sixth combat is
against the spirit of Accidie, and what its character is.
CHAPTER II.--A description of
Accidie, and the way in which it creeps over the heart of a monk, and
the injury it inflicts on the soul.
CHAPTER III.--Of the different ways
in which Accidie overcomes a monk.
CHAPTER IV.--How Accidie hinders the
mind from all contemplation of the virtues.
CHAPTER V.--How the attack of Accidie
is twofold.
CHAPTER VI.--How injurious are the
effects of Accidie.
CHAPTER VII.--Testimonies from the
apostle concerning the spirit of Accidie.
CHAPTER VIII.--That he is sure to be
restless who will not be content with the work of his own hands.
CHAPTER IX.--That not the Apostle
only, but those too who were with him, laboured with their own
hands.
CHAPTER X.--That for this reason the
Apostle laboured with his own hands that he might set us an example of
work.
CHAPTER XI.--That he preached and
taught men to work, not only by his example, but also by his
words.
CHAPTER XII.--Of his saying,
"If any will not work neither shall he eat".
CHAPTER XIII.--Of his saying,
"We have heard that some among you walk disorderly".
CHAPTER XIV.--How manual labour
prevents many faults.
CHAPTER XV.--How kindness should be
shown even to the idle and careless.
CHAPTER XVI.--How we ought to
admonish those who go wrong, not out of hatred, but out of love.
CHAPTER XVII.--Different passages in
which the Apostle declares that we ought to work, or in which it is
shown that he himself worked.
CHAPTER XVIII.--That the Apostle
wrought what he thought would be sufficient for him and for others who
were with him.
CHAPTER XIX.--How we should
understand these words: "It is more blessed to give than to
receive."
CHAPTER XX.--Of a lazy brother who
tried to persuade others to leave the monastery.
CHAPTER XXI.--Different passages
from the writings of Solomon against Accidie.
CHAPTER XXII.--How the brethren in
Egypt work with their hands, not only to supply their own needs, but
also to minister to those who are in prison.
CHAPTER XXIII.--That idleness is the
reason why there are not monasteries for monks in the West.
CHAPTER XXIV.--Of Abbot Paul, who
every year burnt with fire all the works of his hands.
CHAPTER XXV.--The words of Abbot
Moses which he said to me about the cure of Accidie.
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OF THE SPIRIT OF VAIN-GLORY.
CHAPTER I.--How our seventh combat is
against the spirit of vain-glory, and what its nature is.
CHAPTER II.--How vain-glory attacks a
monk, not only on his carnal, but also on his spiritual side.
CHAPTER III.--How many forms and
shapes vain-glory takes.
CHAPTER IV.--How vain-glory attacks a
monk on the right hand and on the left.
CHAPTER V.--A comparison which shows
the nature of vain-glory.
CHAPTER VI.--That vain-glory is not
altogether got rid of by the advantages of solitude.
CHAPTER VII.--How vain-glory, when it
has been overcome, rises again keener than ever for the fight.
CHAPTER VIII.--How vain-glory is not
allayed either in the desert or through advancing years.
CHAPTER IX.--That vain-glory is the
more dangerous through being mixed up with virtues.
CHAPTER X.--An instance showing how
King Hezekiah was overtaken by the dart of vain-glory.
CHAPTER XI.--The instance of King
Uzziah, who was overcome by the taint of the same malady.
CHAPTER XII.--Several testimonies
against vain-glory.
CHAPTER XIII.--Of the ways in which
vain-glory attacks a monk.
CHAPTER XIV.--How it suggests that a
man may wish to take holy orders.
CHAPTER XV.--How vain-glory
intoxicates the mind.
CHAPTER XVI.--Of one whom the
superior came upon, and found in his cell deluded by idle
vain-glory.
CHAPTER XVII.--How faults cannot be
cured unless their roots and causes have been discovered.
CHAPTER XVIII.--How a monk ought to
avoid women and bishops.
CHAPTER XIX.--Remedies by which we
can overcome vain-glory.
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OF THE SPIRIT OF PRIDE.
CHAPTER I.--How our eighth combat is
against the spirit of pride, and of its character.
CHAPTER II.--How there are two kinds
of pride.
CHAPTER III.--How pride is equally
destructive of all virtues.
CHAPTER IV.--How by reason of pride
Lucifer was turned from an archangel into a devil.
CHAPTER V.--That incentives to all
sins spring from pride.
CHAPTER VI.--That the sin of pride is
last in the actual order of the combat, but first in time and
origin.
CHAPTER VII.--That the evil of pride
is so great that it rightly has even God Himself as its adversary.
CHAPTER VIII.--How God has destroyed
the pride of the devil by the virtue of humility, and various passages
in proof of this.
CHAPTER IX.--How we too may overcome
pride.
CHAPTER X.--How no one can obtain
perfect virtue and the promised bliss by his own strength alone.
CHAPTER XI.--The case of the thief
and of David and of our call in order to illustrate the grace of
God.
CHAPTER XII.--That no evil is worthy
to be compared with the promised bliss.
CHAPTER XIII.--The teaching of the
elders on the method of acquiring purity.
CHAPTER XIV.--That the help of God
is given to those who labour.
CHAPTER XV.--From whom we can learn
the way of perfection.
CHAPTER XVI.--That we cannot even
make the effort to obtain perfection without the mercy and inspiration
of God.
CHAPTER XVII.--Various passages,
which clearly show that we cannot do anything which belongs to our
salvation without the aid of God.
CHAPTER XVIII.--How we are protected
by the grace of God, not only in our natural condition, but also by
His Providence.
CHAPTER XIX.--How this faith
concerning the grace of God was delivered to us by the ancient
Fathers.
CHAPTER XX.--Of one who for his
blasphemy was given over to a most unclean spirit.
CHAPTER XXI.--The instance of Joash
King of Judah, showing what was the consequence of his pride.
CHAPTER XXII.--That every proud soul
is subject to spiritual wickedness, to be deceived by it.
CHAPTER XXIII.--How perfection can
only be attained through the grace of humility.
CHAPTER XXIV.--Who are attacked by
spiritual and who by carnal pride.
CHAPTER XXV.--A description of
carnal pride, and of the evils which it produces in the soul of a
monk.
CHAPTER XXVI.--That a man whose
foundation is bad sinks daily from bad to worse.
CHAPTER XXVII.--A description of the
faults which spring from the evil of pride.
CHAPTER XXVIII.--Of the pride of a
certain brother.
CHAPTER XXIX.--The signs by which
you can recognize the presence of carnal pride in a soul.
CHAPTER XXX.--How when a man has
grown cold through pride, he wants to be put to rule over other
people.
CHAPTER XXXI.--How we can overcome
pride and attain perfection.
CHAPTER XXXII.--How pride which is
so destructive of all virtues can itself be destroyed by true
humility.
CHAPTER XXXIII.--Remedies against
the evil of pride.
Notes.
Other version available: text.
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