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Four Hundred Chapters on Love

St Maximus the Confessor, tr. Sherwood, 1955

Prologue

See, in addition to the discussion on the Ascetic Life, I have sent this one on charity to Your Reverence, Father Elpidius, arranged in four sets of a hundred according to the number of the Gospels. While it does not perhaps come up to your expectation, still it does not fall short of my ability. Your Holiness should be aware that these are not the work of my own thought; rather I went through the writings of the holy Fathers and selected whatever might turn the mind to my subject. I have recapitulated many things in a few lines that they may be seen at a glance, for ease in memorizing. These I send to Your Sanctity with the request that you read them with kindly forbearance and hunt only profit in them, overlooking the homeliness of the style, and pray for our limited ability that is barren of any spiritual profit.

I urge you not to take what I have written as a troublesome puzzle: I have merely fulfilled a command. I say this, because today we are many who get involved in words; whereas those who give or receive instruction by deeds as well, are few indeed. Rather, do give your best attention to each chapter. Nor will they all, as I think, be readily understood by everybody; on the contrary, for a great number of them will require much scrutiny, even though they seem to be simply expressed. Perhaps something useful for the soul will come out of them; but this will wholly come from God’s grace to him who reads with a simple mind, with the fear of God, and with charity. But for him who takes up this or any other work whatsoever, not for the sake of spiritual profit but of ferreting out phrases serving to revile the author, while setting up his own conceited self as wiser, there will never come any profit of any sort.