CHAPTER XV

THE TRIUMPH OF DIOSCURUS

AND we saw also another holy man in Thebaïs, whose name was Dioscurus, and he was the Abbâ of one hundred monks. And when the monks were about to draw nigh to the gracious gift of the Mysteries, he would say to them, “Peradventure there is a man among you who dareth to draw nigh to the Holy Things, in whose mind the lust for women hath risen up during the night. The nocturnal pollution which is not of the thoughts, is a customary though involuntary emission, and it is not the result of desire, for it is a natural result, and is derived from the actual substance of the body; therefore we are not guilty of sin. On the other hand, the filthy vision proceedeth from the mind, and the evil desire is the cause of the same.” And Dioscurus used to say, “It is right that a monk should be superior to the law of nature, and that the smallest impurity whatsoever should not be in his body; but he should humble himself in such wise that owing to much fasting the physical matter of the body may not be able to increase. And it is not right for a monk to approach lusts, for if he doth, in what respect are we superior to the men of this world whom we see in several cases curbing their lusts, either for the sake of the health of the body, or for other befitting causes? How much more, then, is it fitting for a monk to take care concerning the health of his mind, and of his soul, and of his spirit?”

Here endeth the Triumph of Dioscurus