24. Gluttony. The beginning of a fruit is a
blossom, while the beginning of a productive life is self-restraint. A
sufficient quantity of matter will fill a container, but a stomach, even if it
bursts, will not say: enough. A body sparsely fed is like a well-ridden horse —
it will never throw its rider. Just as a dead enemy will not evoke fear, so a
body mortified through fasting will not disturb your soul. (Nilus of Sinai)
24. Land left untilled for a lengthy period will
germinate weeds, while the mind of a glutton will engender shameless thoughts.
Much firewood emblazes a fire, while much food nurtures lust. (Nilus of Sinai)
24. Do not take pity on your body when it
complains of being fatigued and do not feed it heartily with gratifying food,
because if it recovers its strength, it will arise against you with
irreconcilable warfare. (Nilus of Sinai)
24. Just like sprouts from a root, other passions
spring up from gluttony and, along with gluttony, very soon branch into a tree
of vices. (Nilus of Sinai)
24. It is admirable to remain within the confines
of necessity, and try with all your might not to cross these boundaries. If
lust sways an individual — even to a slight degree — toward carnal pleasures,
then no amount of directives would be able to hold him back, because beyond the
bounds of necessity, there are no limits but a continuous care and bustle that
will immeasurably increase one’s efforts to satisfy the lust — just like a
flame that grows with the addition of firewood. (Nilus of Sinai)
24. Your physical self-deprivation should be
rendered with a moral aim, so that you learn to weep in your heart over your
sins. (Nilus of Sinai)
24. An abstinent stomach promotes vigor in prayer,
while a full one leads to sleep. It is impossible to find fragrance in pus or
any chaste contemplation in a glutton. The burning of incense fills the air
with an aroma, while the prayer of an abstinent person — with God’s fragrance.
(Nilus of Sinai)
26. Love of money. Love of money is the
root of all evil. Like a sick branch, it produces many other passions
(vexation, anger, envy, falsehood, hypocrisy, vainglory and others). That’s
why, in order to eradicate the other passions, a person must first tear out their
root. (Nilus of Sinai)
26. The sea, in accepting waters from many rivers,
does not overflow, and the wishes of the avaricious are not satisfied with his
accumulated possessions. Having doubled his possessions, he doubles them again
— and never ceases to increase his property until sudden death terminates his
useless endeavors. (Nilus of Sinai)
26. A non-accumulator of worldly goods lives a
carefree life, while a materialist is afflicted with an incurable disease of
caring for riches. When you do not submit your heart to the worries of the
material, you then imprison a whole multitude of sinful thoughts. When you
renounce your wishes to accumulate, you will then carry your cross without
distraction. (Nilus of Sinai)
26. The passion to accumulate is posed by old age
and sickness, so that your trust in God will be replaced with your trust in
possessions. Faith is the possession of a resolute conviction and patient trust
in God’s help. When you renounce all possessions, be wary: gloomy thoughts will
begin to chastise you for your impoverishment — foreboding poverty, ignominy
and scarcity in everything — so as to unsettle your endeavors toward acquiring
virtue. However, if you examine the logic of self-denial, you will see that
what you are being censured for is what is weaving you a heavenly crown. (Nilus
of Sinai)
26. Leaving earthly matters aside, let us turn
toward spiritual gifts. How long are we going to remain in childish games and
thereby not acquire any mature manner of thinking. If it is strange to witness
an adult sitting on a pile of ashes and drawing childish images in the soot,
then it is more so to see people, called toward the enjoyment of eternal
blessings, scrabble in the dust of earthly cares.
The reason for this divergence lies in that we
imagine that there is nothing more important than the perceptible — not
realizing the insignificance of existing benefits and the superiority of future
blessings — and blinded by the dazzle of the present, adhere to it with all our
might. (Nilus of Sinai)
26. Our ship being tossed about by earthly cares,
let us throw off the ship’s load to save the navigator — our mind. If during a
storm, in order to save their lives, the passengers on a ship — with their own
hands — start throwing overboard even their most treasured possessions, why
don’t we for the sake of a better life, spurn that which drags us down into an
abyss? Why is it that our fear of God is not as strong as that of the sea?
Consequently, I beseech you, let us reject everything earthly. Combating wrestlers
do not enter the ring dressed immaculately, because the rules of the contest
call for them to be undressed. Whether it’s hot or whether its cold — they go
into the ring that way, leaving their clothes behind. If one of them refuses to
undress, then he is obliged to refuse to participate in the contest. (Nilus of
Sinai)
26. It is natural for a soul that has attained
perfection not to be concerned about earthly matters, while a soul filled with
passion, burdens itself with cares. We do not refer to the act of
non-accumulation as ordinary poverty — which comes from a combination of
circumstances and plunges the impoverished person into despair — but a
voluntary determination to be content with little. (Nilus of Sinai)
26. The ancient Saints were non-accumulative to
such an extent, that they selected a homeless and itinerant life, ate what
nature had to offer and slept where and how they could. They had no house, no
dining room and their clothing was sheepskin. They zealously carried out
Christ’s advice in every respect: "Look at the birds of the
air..." (Mat. 6:26). They genuinely believed that when a person
pleases God and concerns himself primarily with acquiring the Kingdom of
Heaven, everything essential to the body would follow by itself. (Nilus of
Sinai)
27. Anger, sorrow and pride. Christ
inclines His head toward a patient soul, and the calm soul becomes the habitat
for the Holy Trinity. (Nilus of Sinai)
27. He who loves this world has many sorrows,
while the one that stands above it is always joyful. (Nilus of Sinai)
30. Pride raises a proud person to great heights
and from there, casts him down into an abyss. Rotten crops are worthless to a
farmer, and benevolence from the proud is useless to God. (Nilus of Sinai)
42. On being non-judgmental. A pious person
is not one that shows benevolence to many but he who does not offend anyone.
(Nilus of Sinai)
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