Letter 24

To Timothy the subdeacon. You have written to me, saying: I should like to learn what benefit there is in the vigils that people keep, since I see many being zealous and alert toward this practice; but I consider keeping vigil to be superfluous, since God laid sleep upon Adam [Genesis 2:21], and one must by all means sleep. For God has no need of my good deed. Now, what came to pass for Adam in a perceptible manner at the beginning hinted darkly at an intelligible mystery; for it signified that the second Adam, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, was going to put human death to sleep upon the cross, so that from his holy side, pierced with a lance and flowing with blood and water [John 19:34], his spiritual bride might be built up, that is, the catholic Church. But your saying that one must sleep, on the ground that God laid sleep upon you as though it were a law for your admonition and for relaxation, is exceedingly brutish, and not befitting a man who has been entrusted with a rational soul. And what then remains for you, who hold a brutish and irrational purpose, but to bleat as you lie upon your bed, or to bellow, or to bray, while other men, as you yourself have said, are alert and zealous for the hymnody of God throughout the vigils, and overpower and shake off the tyranny of sleep? For it is high time for you, who have acquired a senseless mind, to spend the whole time of your life in drowsiness, and no longer to be called a living man, but a tomb of the dead, having buried within your living body a soul dead with utter destruction, and no longer to behold the light of men, but, after the manner of a miscarriage [an aborted fetus], to go from darkness into darkness; and truly, according to what is written, a man honored with the image of God, "he did not understand; he was compared with the senseless beasts, and was made like to them" [Psalm 49(48):20]. But if you wish to know the benefit of the vigil, inquire carefully what he said who each night watered his couch with his tears: "I came before the dawn and cried out, confessing and praising you; I rose at midnight" [Psalm 119(118):147-148, 62], not pricked on by another, and dragged by force to shake off sleep, but myself rousing myself eagerly to the glorification of the Creator. For this has been reckoned by me sweeter than sleep, since great is the benefit that comes from it, and it becomes the procurer of many eternal good things for those who keep vigil. For first, when we uncover to God the faults that have befallen us through deeds or words during the preceding day, we are lightened of the burden of them, as of a heavy load lying upon the shoulders of the soul, and with the fire of the vigil we reduce to ashes, as though we were burning up thorns, the wealth of the devil. For that one grows rich each day by our transgressions. Therefore the devil is henceforth distressed, and roars against us, when he sees us giving ourselves to the vigil, and attending to it with longing and with love of toil; for we cast him into great loss and confusion, showing him stripped and bereft of the gain that accrues to him each day through our sins. And secondly, that many-headed and altogether wicked beast, who springs upon us invisibly and wishes to tear us apart or to swallow us up, the vigil bridles and trips up and dwells against, and loosens the sinews of his wickedness, while it procures for us the attainment of the heavenly bounty, since grace gushes up for us beyond the springs, and is poured out beyond the sea for our benefit. And then we too become more sluggish henceforth concerning sin, since the vigil exchanges into us thoughts of the love of God, and works in us an aversion from the vanity of the world, and teaches us to thrust away the things that harm us. For the vigil that is according to God, taking us up by night when we are solitary and deprived of the confusion of crowds, and of the busyness of transactions, and of the company of friends, having found its opportunity, like a tender-loving mother, in some unobserved place, filled with stillness and watchfulness and calm and full peace, and setting us beside herself, opens her own treasures of wisdom, and of venerable exhortations, and of divine illuminations. And secretly she fills the bosoms of our soul; and if we keep watchfully all the things given to us, blessed are we, and thrice-blessed. And ten thousand times over they know what I say, the initiates and nurslings of the noble vigil, who long to strike the harp of David [the psalms] with the plectrum of their own tongue, and in their own throat, as the Prophet says, to sing aloud the exaltations of God. "Does not my throat meditate on understanding?" [cf. Job 6:30; Psalm 19(18)]. And just as the darkness, so also do I show forth the light, illuminating with the psalms and shining upon the gloom of the night, and "my eyes come before the dawn, to meditate upon the words of the Lord" [Psalm 119(118):148]; and being adorned with the scarlet grain of fiery understandings, I urge the wisdom from above to come upon me; for the grace of the Lord visits us who keep vigil ineffably, and appears beyond reason, and lifts up the sacred minds toward the contemplation of it that is attainable, and toward likeness to it, namely those who, as is lawful and in a manner befitting sacred things, apply themselves to it.

Γεγράφηκάς μοι λέγων, ὅτι ἤθελον μαθεῖν, τί ὠφελεῖ ἡ ἀγρυπνία τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι πολλοὺς μὲν βλέπω γοργευομένους πρὸς αὐτήν· περιττὸν δὲ ἡγοῦμαι τὸ ἀγρυπνεῖν, ἐπειδὴ τὸν ὕπνον τῷ Ἀδὰμ ὁ Θεὸς ἐπέβαλεν, καὶ χρὴ πάντως κοιμᾶσθαι. Τὸν γὰρ ἀγαθὸν μου χρείαν οὐκ ἔχει ὁ Θεός. Τὸ μὲν τῷ Ἀδὰμ κατ' ἀρχὰς γενόμενον αἰσθητῶς, μυστήριον νοητὸν ὑπηνίττετο, ἐσήμανε γὰρ τὸν δεύτερον Ἀδάμ, τουτ-ἐστιν τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, μέλλειν ὕπνοῦν τὸν ἀνθρώπινον θάνατον ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ, ὅπως ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας αὐτοῦ πλευρᾶς λόγχῃ νυγεὶσης, καὶ ῥευσάσης αἵμα καὶ ὕδωρ οἰκοδομηθῇ ἡ νοητὴ νύμφη αὐτοῦ, τουτέστιν ἡ καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία. Τὸ δὲ λέγειν σε, ὅτι χρὴ κοιμᾶσθαι, ἐπειδὴ ὥσπερ νομοθεσίαν σοὶ πρὸς νουθεσίαν, καὶ χαύνωσιν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ὕπνον ἐπέβαλεν κτηνῶδες λίαν ὑπάρχει, καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρωπείαν, καὶ λογικὴν πεπιστευμένου ψυχήν. Καὶ τί λοιπὸν τὸ λεῖπόν σοι, κτηνώδη, καὶ ἀλόγιστον τὴν πρόθεσιν ἔχοντι, ἣ βληχᾶσθαι κειμένῳ ἐπὶ τῆς κοίτης, ἣ μυκηθμῷ κεχρῆσθαι, ἢ ὀγκηθμῷ, ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων, ὡς σὺ εἴρηκας, πρὸς ὑμνῳδίαν Θεοῦ κατὰ τὰς ἀγρυπνίας γοργευομένων, καὶ τὴν τυραννίδα τοῦ ὕπνου καταδυναστευόντων τε, καὶ ὑποτινασσομένων. Καιρὸς γάρ σοι ἀνόητον κεκτημένῳ τὴν γνώμην, πάντα τὸν χρόνον τῆς ζωῆς ἐν ὑπνηλίᾳ δαπανᾶν, καὶ μηκέτι καλεῖσθαι ἄνθρωπον ζῶντα, ἀλλὰ νεκροτάφιον. ψυχὴν νεκρὰν ἐν τῷ ζῶντι σώματι πανολεθρίας ἐν- θάψαντα, καὶ μηκέτι βλέπειν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ δίκην ἐκτρώματος ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς σκότος πορεύεσθαι· καὶ ἀληθῶς κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, ἄν- θρωπος τετιμημένος τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰκόνι « Οὐ συνῆκεν, παρεσυνεβλήθη τοῖς κτήνεσι τοῖς ἀνοήτοις, καὶ ὡμοιώ- θη αὐτοῖς. » Ἀλλ’, εἰ βούλῃ τὸ ὠφέλιμον γνῶναι τῆς ἀγρυπνίας, πολυπραγμόνησον, τί ἔλεγεν ὁ καθ’ ἑκά- στην νύκτα τὴν κλίνην ἄρδων τοῖς δάκρυσι· Προ- έφθασα ἐν ἀωρίᾳ καὶ ἐκέκραξα ἐξομολογούμενος, καὶ ὑμνῶν σε· μεσονύκτιον ἐξεγειρόμην, οὐκ ὀφ’ ἑτέρου νυττόμενος, καὶ βίᾳ ἑλκόμενος πρὸς ἐκτινα- γμὸν ὕπνου, ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς ἐμαυτὸν προθύμως διανιστὰς πρὸς τὴν δοξολογίαν τοῦ κτίσαντος. Γλυκερὰ γὰρ αὕτη μοι τοῦ ὕπνου [μᾶλλον] λελόγισται, ἐπειδήπερ πολλὴ ἡ ἐκ ταύτης ὠφέλεια, καὶ πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν αἰωνίων πρόξενος τοῖς ἀγρυπνοῦσι καθίσταται. Πρῶ- τον μὲν γὰρ τὰ κατὰ τὴν προλαβοῦσαν ἡμέραν ἡμῖν συμβεβηκότα πταίσματα ἔργοις ἢ λόγοις τῷ Θεῷ ἐκκαλύπτοντες, κουφιζόμεθα τῆς ἀχθηδόνος αὐτῶν, ὡς φορτίου βαρέως τοῖς ὤμοις τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπικειμέ- νου, καὶ τῷ πυρὶ τῆς ἀγρυπνίας τεφροῦμεν, ὥσπερ ἀκάνθας καταφλέξαντες τοῦ διαβόλου τὸν πλοῦτον. Πλουτεῖ γὰρ καθ’ ἡμέραν ἐκεῖνος τοῖς ἡμῶν παρα- πτώμασι. Διόπερ δυσφορεῖ λοιπὸν ὁ διάβολος, καὶ καθ’ ἡμῶν βρυχᾶται, ὅταν βλέπῃ ἡμᾶς τὴν ἀγρυπνία σχολάζοντας, καὶ ταύτῃ ποθεινῶς, καὶ φιλοπόνως προσέχοντας· εἰς μεγάλην γὰρ αὐτὸν ζημίαν, καὶ τύρβην ἐμβάλλομεν τῷ καθ’ ἑκάστην διὰ τῶν ἁμαρτη- μάτων ἡμῶν, προσγενομένῳ αὐτοῦ πορισμοῦ γυμνὸν ἀποδεικνύντες, καὶ ἔρημον. Δεύτερον δὲ αὐτὸν τὸν πολυκέφαλον, καὶ παμπόνηρον θῆρα ἐφαλλόμενον ἡμῖν ἀοράτως, καὶ σπαράξαι βουλόμενον, ἢ καταπιεῖν ἡμᾶς, ἡ ἀγρυπνος χαλινὸς καὶ συμπλοδίζει ἐοχή, καὶ ἐκλύει τὰ νεῦρα τῆς πονηρίας αὐτοῦ, ἡμᾶς δὲ τῆς οὐρανίου φιλοτιμίας ἐπιτυχεῖν προξενεῖ, ὑπὲρ τὰς πηγὰς ἡμῖν ἀναβλυζούσης τῆς χάριτος, καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸ πέλαγος χεομένης εἰς ἡμετέραν εὐεργεσίαν. Ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀκνηρότεροι τοῦ λοιποῦ περὶ τὸ πταίειν γινόμεθα, τῆς ἀγρυπνίας ἡμῖν λογισμοὺς φιλοθεΐας ἐναπαλασσομένης, καὶ κόσμου ματαιότητος ἀποστρο- φὴν ἐμποιούσης, καὶ διωθεῖσθαι τὰ βλάπτοντα δι- δασκούσης. Ἢ γὰρ κατὰ Θεὸν ἀγρυπνία ἐρήμους ἡμᾶς νύκτωρ παραλοβοῦσα, καὶ ἀπεστερημένους τῆς τῶν ὄχλων συγχύσεως, καὶ τῆς τῶν συναλλαγμάτων σπουδῆς, καὶ τῆς τῶν φίλων συντυχίας, καιρὸν εὐ- ροῦσα, ὡς μήτηρ φιλόστοργος, ἐν ἀπερικυπήτῳ τινὶ, καὶ ἡσυχίας, καὶ νήψεως, καὶ γαλήνης, καὶ μεστῆς εἰρήνης μεμεστωμένῳ χωρίῳ, καὶ παραθήσασα ἡμᾶς ἑαυτῇ, ἀνοίγνυσι τοὺς ἑαυτῆς θησαυροὺς τῆς σοφίας, καὶ τῶν σεπτῶν παραινέσεων, καὶ τῶν θείων ἐλλάμ- ψεων. Καὶ λεληθότως πληροῖ τοὺς κόλπους ἡμῶν τῆς ψυχῆς· κἂν μὲν πάντα τὰ δοθέντα ἡμῖν νηφόν- τως φυλάξωμεν, μακάριοι ἡμεῖς, καὶ τρισμακάριοι. Καὶ μυριάκις οἴδασιν ὅπερ λέγω, οἱ μύσται, καὶ τρόφιμοι τῆς καλῆς ἀγρυπνίας, οἳ τὴν κιθάραν τοῦ Δαβὶδ τῷ τῆς γλώττης ἑαυτῶν πλήκτρῳ κρούειν ἀποθυμούμενοι, καὶ ἐν τῷ οἰκείῳ λάρυγγι, καθὼς λέγει ὁ Προφήτης, τὰς ὑψώσεις τοῦ θεοῦ ἀναμέλποντες. Ἡ οὐχὶ ὁ λάρυγξ μου μελετᾷ σύνεσιν; Καὶ ὥσπερ τὸ σκότος, οὕτως καὶ τὸ φῶς δείκνυμι, καταφωτίζον τοῖς ψαλμοῖς, καὶ καταυγάζον τῆς νυκτὸς τὴν στυγνότητα, καὶ προφθάνουσιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου πρὸς ὄρθρον τοῦ μελετᾷν τὰ λόγια Κυρίου, καὶ τῷ κόκκῳ κοσμούμενος τῶν διαπύρων νοήσεων, τὴν ἄνωθεν σοφίαν ἐπελθεῖν μοι προτρέπω· ἐπιφοιτᾷ γὰρ ἀῤῥήτως ἡμῖν ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου τοῖς ἀγρυπνοῦσιν, καὶ ἐπιφαίνεται ὑπὲρ λόγον, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐφικτὴν αὐτῆς θεωρίαν, καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἀνατείνει τοὺς ἱεροὺς νόας, τοὺς, ὡς θεμιτόν, καὶ ἱεροπρεπῶς ἐπιβάλλοντας αὐτῇ.