Κεφ. ΝΖ'
Discerning True Peace
The monk must distinguish between the peace born of virtue and the deceptive calm caused by demonic withdrawal.
There are two peaceful states of the soul: one arises from the seeds of virtue planted in our nature, while the other comes when the demons withdraw. The first is accompanied by humility with compunction, tears, boundless longing for God, and immeasurable zeal for the work; but the second is accompanied by vainglory and pride, which drag the monk down once the other demons have been defeated. Therefore, anyone who stays within the bounds of the first state will recognize the demons’ attacks more keenly.
Read the original Latin
Δύο τῆς ψυχῆς εἰρηνικαὶ καταστάσεις εἰσί, μία μὲν ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν φυσικῶν σπερμάτων ἀναδιδομένη, ἑτέρα δὲ ἡ ἐξ ὑποχωρήσεως τῶν δαιμόνων ἐπιγινομένη· καὶ τῇ μὲν προτέρᾳ ἀκολουθεῖ ταπεινοφροσύνη μετὰ κατανύξεως, καὶ δάκρυον καὶ πόθος πρὸς τὸ θεῖον ἄπειρος, καὶ σπουδὴ περὶ τὸ ἔργον ἀμέτρητος· τῇ δὲ δευτέρᾳ κενοδοξία μετὰ ὑπερηφανίας ἐν ἀναιρέσει τῶν λοιπῶν δαιμόνων τὸν μοναχὸν ὑποσύρουσα. Ὁ τοίνυν τηρῶν τὰ ὅρια τῆς προτέρας καταστάσεως, τὰς ἐπιδρομὰς τῶν δαιμόνων ὀξύτερον ἐπιγνώσεται.
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.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent