heart, and purity of heart from divine vision; ‘Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ When, therefore, a monk laboureth, and afflicteth himself because of the motion of evil thoughts, in order to prevent their remaining for a long time in his heart, and when after a considerable time his heart becometh pure, there remaineth disgust only therein, and it vexeth the mind of the monk, and preventeth his ascent to God, and cutteth off his journeying to Him, and doth not allow him to enjoy the vision of glory. Now when a monk worketh for a considerable time because of the motion of evil thoughts [in him], God hath compassion upon his trouble, and not only doth his heart become cleansed, and his soul pure from every thought of evil, but he is also held to be worthy of the sight of our Lord in a revelation of light, and henceforth, the devils never again dare to stir up evil thoughts in the heart of him that hath been esteemed worthy of this great thing. And should it happen that they dare so to do, they suffer pain and burn even as he suffereth who is hot, and who kicketh away with his feet the piercing goads of iron which glow with heat in the fire. During the interval between the beginning of the strife against evil thoughts and [the attainment of] purity of heart, the devils sometimes vex the monk, and sometimes are vexed by him, even as the blessed Evagrius said, ‘If those who go down to the conflict afflict [others], they are themselves afflicted’; so the devils afflict us, and they are also afflicted by us. They afflict us when we receive their evil thoughts, and they are afflicted by us when we, by means of prayer and wrath, hide (i.e., suppress) their thoughts. When, then, we labour and afflict ourselves for a considerable time in order that their thoughts may not tarry in us, we also afflict ourselves with labours and prayer so that they may not vex and hinder us by [their] violent motion, and afterwards power is given unto us by our Lord to lift ourselves up upon the necks of our enemies, and thenceforward our heart resteth and is at peace, not only from the perception of their thoughts, but from all the violence of their motion. And the peace and rest of God rule over our souls, and we see that there remaineth only the war which is manifest of the visions of devils until the time of death merely to terrify us, so that we may not be exalted [unduly] and destroy ourselves. And should it happen that the devils stir up thoughts in the heart of him that hath been made perfect, straightway they become extinguished, even as fire is extinguished when water falleth thereon.”
627. The brethren said, “Why do the devils fear the labours
