Κεφ. ΛϚ'
The Nature of Spiritual Struggle
Evagrius distinguishes between the varying intensities of demonic influence and the eventual peace found in the life of detachment.
The demons that rule over the passions of the soul stay until death, while those that rule over bodily passions leave sooner. Other demons are like the rising or setting sun, touching only one part of the soul; but the noonday demon tends to envelop the whole soul and suffocate the mind. That is why withdrawal becomes sweet once the passions have been emptied out: by then, memories are just bare impressions, and the struggle no longer prepares the monk for combat, but for contemplating the struggle itself.1
Read the original Latin
Οἱ μὲν τῶν ψυχικῶν προεστῶτες παθῶν ἄχρι θανάτου προσκαρτεροῦσιν· οἱ δὲ τῶν σωματικῶν θᾶττον ὑποχωροῦσιν· καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι δαίμονες ἀνατέλλοντι ἢ δύνοντι τῷ ἡλίῳ ἐοίκασιν, ἑνός τινος μέρους τῆς ψυχῆς ἐφαπτόμενοι· ὁ δὲ μεσημβρινὸς ὅλην περιλαμβάνειν εἴωθε τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ ἐναποπνίγειν τὸν νοῦν. Διὸ γλυκεῖα ἡ ἀναχώρησις μετὰ τὴν τῶν παθῶν κένωσιν· τότε γὰρ αἱ μνῆμαι μόνον εἰσὶ ψιλαί· καὶ ἡ πάλη οὐ πρὸς ἀγῶνα λοιπόν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς θεωρίαν αὐτῆς παρασκευάζει τὸν μοναχόν.
Notes
- 1 ↩“Bare impressions” renders memories stripped of the passions that formerly accompanied them.
The Praktikos companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
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