Глава 8. О том, что не должно давать воли и свободного доступа скитающимся подвижникам, но надобно остерегаться и их

We must also beware of those who wander and move from one brotherhood to another, constantly, with restless and unrelenting swiftness, run around monasteries and, under the guise of supposedly spiritual love, fulfill the desires of the flesh; in whose soul there is nothing permanent, solid, decent, adorned with prudence, but there is everything that is vain, evil, full of anxiety and unreason, deceit and hypocrisy, lies and deceptive flattery. Their tongue is unbridled, their belly is immoderate, their soul is always ready to fly and rush headlong, their thoughts are like the flight of bats, they never follow a straight direction, but rush at all angles and conveniently turn back, which they discover in their first impulses, and, beyond all expectation, they strive for another due to the changeability of their location, they crawl a lot and do not lean forward at all. They are also like animals under the jugular, which are driven around millstones and which walk a lot, but always remain in the same place, and although their bodies become tired, they do not leave the small space. So these people, always groveling in bodily passions, do not at all ascend to spiritual heights, but run along an endless wheel, constantly driven by bodily pleasures and lusts, drawn away from the same thing again and again and, due to bad will, not freed from evil slavery. Instead of bait, they show those who look at them a sheepish appearance, but inside they hide a greedy, malicious and cunning fox, and they try to seduce many others into equal evil, namely those who, not being under the control of reason, easily surrender to the will of both a good and a bad leader, then recognizing as good that the other will indicate either the correct one, or only the plausible one. And they try to drag such people into their abyss, thinking that the corruption of those deceived by them will serve to their own justification and that accomplices in vice will reduce their guilt. Therefore, such people must be guarded by all means so that they do not harm others by imparting spiritual infection to them, and so that even if it is too late to block their access everywhere, they themselves turn to goodness, taking shame as their mentor and in the aversion of honest people from them, finding admonition to flee vice. Paul also taught this, speaking about those who do nothing, but are curious about everything: “This,” he says, “signify and do not mix with him, so that he will be put to shame” (2 Thess. 3:14). You might be interested in: