hath begun to sing the Psalms, though one or two sections of them become too great for him, he is permitted to sing them with understanding and with the meditation which is on God, and he refraineth from the customary Psalms, and he singeth a song which is superior [to that of] body and flesh, and which is like unto that of angels, even as the Fathers say.”
638. The brethren said, “By means of what thoughts of excellence may the children of this world not be offended by the monks, when they see or hear concerning the stumblings (or lapses) which come upon them through the frailty of [their] nature, and from the wars of the devils?” The old man said, “When they consider and look upon the monks as frail men, who are clothed with a body which is full of passions, and who although they are monks are striving to imitate the life and deeds of angels, yet owing to the weakness of their bodies, and the inclination of their souls, and the need which cleaveth unto them, and the strivings of the devils against them, the children of the world will see that it is quite impossible that the monks should not be snared, involuntarily, by certain weaknesses. For behold, some of the perfect men [mentioned] in the Old and New Testaments were caught in snares against their will, through the frailty of their nature and the war of the devils, as, for example, the blessed and perfect men Moses, and Aaron, and David, and Samson, and Hezekiah, and Peter and Paul.”
639. The brethren said, “Why do the monks who have led a life of hard labour become in their old age silly, and simple, and act in a foolish way like children and drunken men?” The old man said, “Because all the ascetic excellences which God hath placed in the nature of their souls, and which appear in them from their youth up, perish through the relaxing of the will, and through the love of the body, and the war of the devils, and finally through labours and contendings. Sometimes they receive them from our Lord as gifts, even as it is written, ‘Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of God,’ even as our Lord said.”
640. The brethren said, “What should be the beginning of the fight against sin of the man who hath cast all impediments out of his soul, and who hath entered the arena, and where should he begin the contest?” The old man said, “It is well known unto every man that in all the contests against sin and its lusts the labour of fasting is the first thing [to undertake], and it is so especially in the case of him that fighteth against the sin which is within him; and the sign of
