and wept on their behalf, as if it had been on his own, and he made supplication to the loving-kindness of God that He would make them worthy of the riches of His love, and of the possession of His Grace.”
624. The brethren said, “What are the nine spiritual excellences which that holy man possessed, and what did he lack?” The old man said, “Although they are not written down I think that they were as follows: 1. Voluntary poverty. 2. Abstinence, 3. Constant evening fasting. 4. Vigil. 5. The recital of the whole Book of the Psalms seven times during the night and day. 6. The reading of the Holy Books between times. 7. Lowliness. 8. Humility. 9. Love of man. These are the nine spiritual excellences which he possessed, and by means of them he vanquished all passions. By poverty he overcame the love of money. By abstinence he conquered unbridled appetite and gluttony. By fasting he overcame the passion of the love of the belly. By vigil he vanquished sleep. By the recital of the Psalms he did away idleness. By reading he kept away the converse of evil. By lowliness he dispelled wrath and anger. By humility he overcame vainglory and pride. By love of man he conquered hatred, and spite, and enmity. Now the spiritual excellence which he lacked, and which is the tenth, was the constant fervour of the love of God, which is in our Lord Jesus Christ, and this can [only] be gathered together, and stablished and acquired by the secret prayer of the mind, which is unceasing and wandereth not, and by the strict and constant suppression of the thoughts of the passions, and the incitements of devils, when they first begin to bestir themselves in the heart. And because among all the works of ascetic excellence there is none more difficult [to do] than this, for, even as the blessed Macarius said, ‘All the fightings and fierce, and crafty, and evil temptations of the devils are set in array against it,’ the holy man is not able easily to become perfect in the love of Christ, which is acquired by the concentration of the mind and by deep thought about God. Therefore the blessed Evagrius said, ‘If thou canst overcome the wandering of the thoughts, it is the end of all ends; and if thou canst make deep thought about God have dominion in thee, thou canst overcome all passions, and thou shalt be worthy of the perfection of the love of Christ.’ By the love of man and by the other virtues a monk may, by the help of God, vanquish all the passions; but by the love of Christ he shall conquer the evil passion of the love of the soul, which is the first of all the passions, and which embraceth them all, even as Saint Evagrius said, ‘The first of
