Letter 178

To Gigantius the Deacon. That you may not lose heart concerning the gift of dispassion [apatheia, the soul's freedom from disordered passions] and of perfect impassibility, nor drown yourself in grief, you have holy Moses to encourage you, saying in the book of Leviticus: "I will give peace in your land, and you shall lie down, and there will be none to frighten you; and I will destroy the evil wild beasts out of your land, and you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall before you in fear." By "land" he means the human heart, which receives both good and worthless seeds; and by "evil wild beasts" the hostile demons and the malice-contriving thoughts of wickedness.

Ὅπως μὴ ἀπευδοκήσῃς τοῦ χαρίσματος τῆς ἀπὸηθείας, καὶ τῆς τελευτάτης ἀπαθείας, μηδὲ σαυτὸν τῇ λύπῃ καταπνίγῃς, ἔχεις τὸν ἅγιον Μωσέα παραθαρσύνοντά σε, καὶ λέγοντα ἐν τῷ Λευϊτικῷ τεύχει, ὅτι « Δώσω εἰρήνην ἐν τῇ γῇ ὑμῶν, καὶ κοιμηθήσεσθε, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ὁ ἐκφοβῶν ὑμᾶς, καὶ ἀπολῶ θηρία πονηρὰ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ὑμῶν, καὶ διώξεσθε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν, καὶ πεσοῦνται ἐνώπιον ὑμῶν φόβῳ. Γῇ λέγει τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην καρδίαν, ἀγαθά τε καὶ φαῦλα σπέρματα δεχομένην, θηρία δὲ πονηρὰ τοὺς δυσμενεῖς δαίμονας, καὶ τὰ κακομήχανα τῆς πονηρίας νοήματα. »