The great lawgiver Moses - or, rather, the Holy Spirit - indicates the pure, comprehensive, and ennobling character of this virtue, and teaches us how to acquire and perfect it, when he says: "Be attentive to yourself, lest there arise in your heart a secret thing which is an iniquity" (Deut. 15:9. LXX) Here the phrase 'a secret thing' refers to the first appearance of an evil thought. This the Fathers call a provocation introduced into the heart by the devil. As soon as this thought appears in our intellect, our own thoughts chase after it and enter into impassioned intercourse with it.
St Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness, Vol. 1 pg. 161
how easily my mind races towards thoughts unbidden.
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