even thus with those who begin to live in silent contemplation, for although at the beginning they are for a considerable time afflicted by the wars of the passions, and by devils, they are never forsaken by the help of Divine Grace. For our Lord Himself, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, cometh to them secretly, and he becometh to them a helper and a companion, and after they have overcome both passions and devils, according to systematic order, He maketh them worthy of the happiness which is in His perfect love, and the revelation of His glorious light.”
669. The brethren said, “Abbâ. Moses the Ethiopian was on one occasion reviled by certain men, and the brethren asked him, saying, ‘Wast not thou troubled in thy heart, O father, when thou wast reviled?’ And he said unto them, ‘Although I was troubled, yet I said nothing.’ What is the meaning of the words, ‘Although I was troubled I spake not’?” The old man said, “The perfection of monks consisteth of two parts, that is to say, of impassibility of the senses of the body, and of impassibility of the senses of the soul. Impassibility of the body taketh place when a man who is reviled restraineth himself for God’s sake and speaketh not, even though he be troubled; but impassibility of the soul taketh place when a man is abused and reviled, and yet is not angry in his heart when he is abused, even like John Colobos. For on one occasion when the brethren were sitting with him, a man passed by and upbraided him, but he was not angry, and his countenance changed not; then the brethren asked him, saying, ‘Art thou not secretly troubled in thy heart, O father, being reviled in this fashion?’ And he answered and said unto them, ‘I am not troubled inwardly, for inwardly I am just as tranquil as ye see that I am outwardly’; and this is perfect impassibility. Now at that time Abbâ Moses had not arrived at this state of perfection, and he confessed that although outwardly he was undisturbed, yet he was waging a contest in his heart, and he maintained silence and was not angry outwardly; and even this was a spiritual excellence, although it would have been a more perfect thing had he not been angry either inwardly or outwardly. And the blessed Nilus made a comparison of these two measures of excellence in the cases of the blessed men Moses and Aaron. The act of covering the breast and heart with the priestly tunic which Aaron performed when he went into the Holy of Holies represented the state of a man who, though angry in his heart, suppresseth his wrath by striving and prayer; and the state of a man not being angry at all in the heart, because he hath been exalted to perfection by [his] victory over the passions
