Chapter I.
How our sixth combat is against the spirit of accidie,
and what its character is.
Our
sixth combat is with what
the Greeks call
ἀκηδία
, which we
may term weariness or distress of heart. This is akin to dejection, and
is especially trying to solitaries, and a dangerous and frequent foe to
dwellers in the desert; and especially disturbing to a monk about the
sixth hour, like some fever which seizes him at stated times, bringing
the burning heat of its attacks on the sick man at usual and regular
hours. Lastly, there are some of the elders who declare that this is
the “midday demon” spoken of in the ninetieth
Psalm.
964
964
Ps. xc. (xci.)
6
, where the Latin “et
dæmonio meridiano” follows the LXX.
καὶ
δαιμονίου
μεσημβρινοῦ
,
instead of “the destruction that wasteth at noonday.”