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612. The brethren said, “Why [not]?” The old man said, “Although the monk is little and is a beginner, he is still more excellent than the man in the world who keepeth every just [demand] of righteousness.”

613. “Why did Abbâ Anthony say unto Paule, his disciple, ‘Go and dwell in silence that thou mayest receive the temptations of devils?’ ” The old man said, “Because the perfection of the monk ariseth from spiritual conduct, and spiritual conduct is acquired by the conduct of the heart, and purity of heart ariseth from the conduct of the mind, and the conduct of the mind from prayer which is unceasing, and from strife with devils; but unceasing prayer, and the contendings with devils, both in the thoughts and in visions, have no opportunity for existence without silence and solitariness.”

614. The brethren said, “What is the meaning of that which Paphnutius and James the Lame said to Mâr Evagrius, ‘Every lapse which taketh place through the tongue, or through lust, or through an action, or through the whole body, is in proportion to the measure of pride which a man possesseth’? Now what is the lapse which cometh through lust? And what is the lapse which cometh through an action? And what is the lapse which cometh through the whole body? Enlighten us about these [various] kinds of lapses.” The old man said, “The lapse through lust is the fall which taketh place inwardly through pride, even as the blessed Macarius said, ‘Thou shalt not be lifted up in thy heart and in thy mind through the knowledge of the Scriptures, lest thou fall into a spirit of blasphemy in thy mind.’ And the lapse through the tongue resembleth that into which one of the monks once fell through his pride, and he reviled the holy man Evagrius and the fathers who were in the desert of Scete. And the lapse through an action resembleth that into which another monk fell when he became lascivious and abominable; and the lapse through the whole body resembleth that when, through his pride, one of the brethren was abandoned to the hands of thieves, and they burned him with fire.”

615. The brethren said:—Palladius said, “Once the blessed man Diocles said, ‘The mind which falleth from God is either delivered over to the devil of wrath, or to the devil of fornication.’ And I said unto him, ‘How is it possible for the human mind to be with God uninterruptedly?’ And he said, ‘In whatsoever work of the fear of God the soul [is engaged], provided that the soul hath due care, its mind is with God.’ What is the meaning of the action of which the old man spake?”