Exhortation to Theodore after His Fall: Book II

^A the Synod of Constantinople, Coll. V, p. 470; and likewise ^B Theodorus of Caesarea, ibid. p. 490, but one of many verses, *polystichon*, that is, very long. This truly seems to refer to the first [epistle] rather than the second; for the second can scarcely be called "very long," especially if it is compared with other works of Chrysostom. Nevertheless, Leontius the Byzantine records two epistles or *paraeneses* to Theodorus of Mopsuestia; and likewise Isidore of Seville in his *Chronicon*. Having considered these things, Tillemont leans entirely toward the opinion that there is only one *paraenesis* to Theodorus of Mopsuestia to be found, namely the second; and he judges that the first one was sent by Chrysostom to another man of the same name. Beyond the authority brought forth by Sozomen, Hesychius, and Theodorus of Caesarea—who, as we have seen, commemorate one epistle to Theodorus of Mopsuestia—Tillemont relies upon these reasons and arguments: “How can it be that in neither *paraenesis* does any mention of the other *paraenesis* occur, even where Chrysostom uses the same reasons and examples? Why, in the course of the first, is Theodorus never addressed—his name appearing only in the title—whereas in the second, the name of Theodorus is not infrequently brought forward? Furthermore, what must be considered more serious, the Theodorus mentioned in the second had not yet, according to Chrysostom, reached his twentieth year; on the other hand, by that same authority, Chrysostom, the one to whom the first *paraenesis* is sent could hope for no more than fifty remaining years of life, even if he were to reach extreme old age, which can only be said of a man who is nearly forty. To these points, the one whom Chrysostom addresses in the first *paraenesis* had broken out into open vices and crimes, as is gathered from various places in the oration. But Theodorus of Mopsuestia had not reached such a degree of ruin; for if, having already been baptized, he had fallen into those crimes, he could by no means have been later chosen as a bishop according to the canons.”

These are the arguments of Tillemont, who surely does not notice that he is fighting against Chrysostom himself. For at the end of the second epistle—which Tillemont himself admits was sent to Theodorus of Mopsuestia—the sacred doctor testifies that he had sent not one, but many epistles to the same man, in these words: “I know that I have exceeded the just limits of an epistle; but forgive me, for I did not do this willingly, but compelled by the force of love and grief; moved by this affection, I forced myself to write even this epistle, although many were veiling [my efforts] and saying: ‘Make an end of laboring in vain and sowing upon rocks.’ I, however, lent an ear to no one; for there is hope, I used to say to myself, that through the help of God, these letters will prove useful.” From which it is clear that many epistles were sent by Chrysostom to the fallen Theodorus; which is indicated by these words: “I forced myself to write even this epistle”; which is also declared by these words from Chrysostom’s friends: “Make an end of laboring in vain and sowing upon rocks.” By these words, it is certainly implied that not one or another, but many epistles were sent by Chrysostom to the fallen Theodorus; of which the first, which is that longer ^C *paraenesis*, and the last remain. Thus falls that argument taken from the testimony of Sozomen, Hesychius, and Theodorus of Caesarea, who record only one epistle to the fallen Theodorus of Mopsuestia; the last of whom, moreover, seems to indicate the first *paraenesis* rather than the second, as we have already said. Also falling is that [argument] which Tillemont adds, that in neither one is the other already given indicated (from which, however, I do not see what can be inferred); for in the second, others given previously are mentioned, and among them, without a doubt, [is] the one that appeared first.

Regarding that passage of Chrysostom brought forth above, certain things must be observed. Indeed, since in that first, longer *paraenesis* Chrysostom had exhausted everything that was opportune for recalling Theodorus to his station, as he puts it, in the following epistles pertaining to the same purpose, he briefly refreshed the memory of what had been said and wove the epistles with few words; and from this it is that in the last [epistle] he asks Theodorus to forgive him if he exceeded the limits of an epistle; for these things cannot be said of the latter *paraenesis* if it is compared with the former; for this latter one, although it is longer than the preceding epistles, as is likely, appears as nothing but a compendium of the first.

Tillemont continues [asking] why, in the course of the first, Chrysostom never addresses Theodorus, whereas in the course of the following one, he often addresses the same man by his name? To which I might reply with no difficulty: Why, in one or another of the epistles to Olympias, does Chrysostom address her by her name, while in others, and especially in one of them which is longer than the rest, he never addresses her? But why should we seek examples from elsewhere? Even if we were to concede to Tillemont that the Theodorus to whom the first *paraenesis* is sent is different from the Mopsuestian to whom the second is directed, could not the same question always be raised: why, namely, does he often address Theodorus in the later one, but never in the former? This mode of addressing depends on one’s own whim: Chrysostom alone could say why he addressed him now, and now abstained from addressing him—if indeed he did it by design, and not by chance, as that or another mode of speaking presented itself to his mind.

Now let us hasten to strike down the most powerful weapon, as Tillemont thinks it. The Theodorus mentioned in the second epistle had not yet reached his twentieth year; on the contrary, by the witness of Chrysostom himself, the one to whom the first *paraenesis* is sent could hope for no more than fifty remaining years of life, even if he were to reach extreme old age, which can only be said of a man who is nearly forty. True indeed, Chrysostom says in the second epistle that Theodorus had not yet reached his twentieth year; but in the first, the passage stands somewhat differently than Tillemont has set forth. It reads thus, n. 10, near the end: “For how much time do you wish the usufruct, or, if I may so speak, the enjoyment of the present life to be extended to you? Indeed, I do not think that more than fifty years of life remain for you, so that you might come to extreme old age.” That is, if you live for fifty more years, such

that you might no longer be able to take the fruit and pleasure of life. Who would deny that these things can fittingly be said to a twenty-year-old youth? Truly, I can hardly grasp how Tillemont could determine from such a statement that the man to whom these things are said is nearly forty years old. If we were to establish a chronology from words of this kind, we would bring about a great disturbance in the ordering of times. For example, what would someone say about the age of Anthusa, Chrysostom’s mother, if he heard her speaking in his books *On the Priesthood* like this: “We, however, being old, await nothing but death”? Would he not have declared her to be nearly seventy? And yet she, as is certain and as Tillemont himself admits, had not yet passed her forty-seventh year when she said these things—so true is it that a certain mark of time cannot be deduced from such statements.

Neither should the expression πρὸς ἐσχάτην γῆρας, “to extreme old age,” move us; for Chrysostom is accustomed to use it not for decrepit old age, when someone, for example, is so burdened by the weight of years that he is almost deprived of the use of his senses and is soon to be brought to the grave, as are those greater than eighty or ninety years old; but rather for men who are still able to manage business and take on great offices. Thus, in *On the Priesthood*, book 3, p. 393, where he says that those who have lived their lives with praise in minor ministries, when they have reached old age, are not always to be preferred before other younger men for the episcopacy unless they are suitable in other respects; there he uses the same expression, “reached extreme old age,” and below regarding the same, “advanced old age.” By these, he certainly understands both seventy-year-olds and perhaps those younger than seventy, as any sensible person can see; for those who are entirely decrepit are by that very fact not suitable.

Similarly, in Homily 3 *On the Statues* at the beginning, when bishop Flavianus approached the Emperor Theodosius in reconciliation, Chrysostom says of him: “his age advanced to extreme old age.” And yet, according to Chrysostom himself, although some time had elapsed from that legation of Flavianus to Theodosius, Flavianus had not yet reached the age of St. Peter the Apostle. Indeed, in Homily 3 *On the Beginning of the Acts*, Chrysostom, closing his discourse, wishes Flavianus the years of the age of St. Peter the Apostle, after he had said that he had already reached extreme old age at least a year before. This Flavianus even after that legation to Theodosius presided over the Antiochian Church for seventeen years; for so many years are counted from the year 387, when he approached Theodosius, to the year 404, in which he died and left the see vacant. Furthermore, more will be said about his age when he reached his end in the *Life of Chrysostom*.

And in Homily 2 *On Penance* no. 2, speaking of David, Chrysostom says that when he fell into adultery, he was in extreme old age; I would not, however, wish that statement about David to be accepted as an assertion. But as I hope no one will deny, I believe it is proven and certain that Chrysostom everywhere understands “extreme old age” to refer to those seventy years old and perhaps sometimes those younger than seventy.

Tillemont insists: “The one whom Chrysostom addresses in the first *paraenesis* had broken out into open vices and crimes, as is gathered from various parts of the oration: but it does not seem that Theodore of Mopsuestia, to whom the second epistle is sent, had reached such a degree of ruin, for if he had already been baptized and had fallen into those crimes, he could by no means have been accepted as a bishop afterwards according to the canons.”

These things are overturned with no difficulty. Theodore, who had deserted the sacred gathering, was handling secular business, was addicted to pleasures, and was burning with love for a certain girl, Hermione. Chrysostom reports no other crime regarding Theodore; yet he seems to consider that a great crime in the first *paraenesis*, where these things are enumerated. According to these things, however, when he had learned—either by others reporting it or through Theodore’s own letters—that Theodore had involved himself in secular business so that he might manage the solicitude of his patrimonial affairs, and that he loved Hermione so as to take her as his wife, he did not think Theodore was involved in evils as great as he had thought before; but he did not think he was free from fault, as he indicates through the entire second epistle, the beginning of which is of this sort: “If tears and groans could be exhibited through letters, I would have sent a letter filled with them to you. Indeed, I weep, not because you are managing the solicitude of your patrimonial affairs, but because you have deleted yourself from the catalog of the brothers, because you have trampled upon the pacts initiated with Christ.”

Regarding marriage, however, he has this on p. 38: “Marriage is a legitimate thing, that I admit... but it is no longer upright for you to preserve the rights of matrimony. For it is certain that he who has been joined to the heavenly bridegroom once, if he is torn away from him and takes a wife, commits adultery.” I think that Theodore, having received the earlier epistles of Chrysostom, in which he was rebuked concerning the secular business he had undertaken and his love for Hermione, had brought forward for his own excuse, through letters, both the care of his patrimonial affairs and the marriage to be entered into with Hermione. Certainly, at the end of the final epistle, Chrysostom asks Theodore that he might deign to write back to him; if he had replied nothing to so many letters previously sent, Chrysostom would undoubtedly have rebuked him for such great silence.

For these reasons, adhering to the footsteps of Savile and Fronto, I think that there was one Theodore to whom both *paraeneses* were sent. Both are certainly inscribed to the same Theodore in all manuscripts, some of which are of the most remote antiquity: “To the same Theodore,” they all have; but to invent two Theodores, each of whom in association with Chrysostom had dedicated himself to a certain sacred gathering, each of whom had retreated, each of whom had been recalled by Chrysostom, and that without any author and from weak conjectures, that is a wonder how much it abhors from my plan.

Regarding the year in which these two homilies were written, the difficulty is not minor. Baronius says that both *paraeneses* were sent by Chrysostom to Theodore while he was living as a solitary in the mountains. Tillemont, however, speaking from a prejudiced opinion, thinks that this can be conceded regarding the first—sent to someone else, as he thinks, than the Mopsuestian—but not at all regarding the second. If he had noticed that which is said at the end of the first, [he would have seen that it is] no less regarding the first than the second that it cannot be ^A

THE WORKS OF OUR HOLY FATHER JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE. EXHORTATORY DISCOURSE TO THEODORE WHO HAS FALLEN.

§1. "Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes?" (Jer. 9:1). It is opportune for me now to say this, and much more so than it was for the prophet at that time. For if I am not to mourn many cities, nor whole nations, yet [I mourn] a soul worth as much as many such nations, nay, even more precious. For if one who does the will of God is better than ten thousand lawless men, you were formerly better than ten thousand multitudes of the Jews. Wherefore, no one could blame me now if I were to record lamentations even more numerous, and display more vehement wailings, than those set forth by the prophet. For I am not mourning the destruction of a city, nor the captivity of lawless men, but the desolation of a holy soul, and the pulling down and destruction of a Christ-bearing temple. If any one knew well the splendor of your own mind when it was shining, would he not groan, moving through the lamentations of the prophet and hearing that "barbarous hands have polluted the holy of holies, and having applied fire have burned up everything, the cherubim, the ark, the mercy-seat, the stone tablets, the golden urn"? For this, this disaster is more bitter than that, in as much as symbols far more precious than those were stored away in your soul. This temple is holier than that one; for it did not shine with gold and silver, but with the grace of the Spirit; and instead of the ark and the cherubim, it had Christ and His Father and the Paraclete established within it. But now it is so no longer, but is desolate and stripped of that beauty and comeliness—despoiled of that divine and ineffable ornament—and desolate of all security and protection; and there is neither door nor bolt, but it is opened to all soul-destroying and shameful thoughts; and whether it be the thought of arrogance, or of fornication, or of greed, or any even more defiling than these, should they wish to enter, there is no one to hinder them; whereas formerly, just as heaven is inaccessible to all these, so too was the purity of your mind. And perhaps I shall seem to say unbelievable things to some who now see your desolation and ruin; for it is for this reason that I beat my breast and mourn, and I shall not cease doing this until I see you again in your former radiance. For even if to men it is impossible...

yet to God all things are possible. For He is the One who raises the poor man up from the earth and lifts the needy from the dung heap, to make him sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He is the One who makes a barren woman dwell in her house as a joyful mother of children. Therefore, do not despair of yourself being transformed back to what is best. For if the devil was able to do so much as to cast you down from that pinnacle and summit of virtue into the depths of malice, God will be able all the more to lead you back to your former freedom—and not only such as you were, but to render you much more blessed than you were before.

^B Never let go of hope. Only do not collapse, and do not cut off the good hope, nor incline toward the status of the impious. For it is not the multitude of sins that is wont to cast one into despair, but the soul that is impious of itself. For this reason, Solomon did not say simply, "Whoever enters into the depth of evils, loses heart," but "The impious man," says he (Prov. 18:3). For that disease belongs properly to the impious, once they have reached the depth of evils. And this permits them no power even to look up, nor to return to whence they fell. For that foul thought, like a wooden yoke placed upon the neck of the soul and compelling the eyes to gaze upon the ground, prevents it from looking up to its Lord. But it is the mark of a noble and admirable man to shatter such a yoke and to strike down the tormentor who imposed it, and to bring forth the words of the prophet: "As the eyes of the maidservant are in the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, because we are filled with contempt" (Ps. 122:2-3). These are truly divine teachings and the dogmas of the supreme philosophy. "We are filled," he says, "with contempt," and have suffered ten thousand grievous things; yet we shall not cease looking unto God, nor shall we reach the end of our praying until we have received our petition. ^C For this is the mark of a noble soul, not to be dismayed nor to be disturbed from hope on account of the force of calamities, nor to depart, even if one does not obtain his request after repeating prayers again and again, but to persist until He has mercy upon us, as the blessed David says.

^D For it is for this reason that the devil casts into us thoughts of despair, so as to cut off the hope toward God, which is truly the safe anchor and the stay of our life, our guide on the road that leads to heaven, the salvation of perishing souls. "For by hope," he says, "we were saved" (Rom. 8:24). This, then, hanging as it were from heaven, sustains our souls and gradually draws toward that high summit those who hold it firmly, and rescues them from the storms of the evils of the present life. If anyone, therefore, through weakness lets go of this sacred anchor, he at once falls down and is suffocated, plunged into the abyss of malice. And knowing this, the malignant one, when he perceives us weighed down by the conscience of evil deeds, rushes in and himself casts in a thought of despair, which is heavier than lead; if we receive it, it is necessary that we be immediately torn away by its weight and, being detached from that chain, be pushed down into the depths of evil, in which you now dwell. For when you have cast off the commandment of the meek and humble Lord, you perform all the precepts of that cruel and tyrannical enemy, who is implacable toward our salvation, having broken the sweet yoke and thrown off the light burden, having had iron bars set upon you in their stead; and besides this, you have hung a millstone from your neck. Where do you stand now, after having plunged your unhappy soul down and having imposed such a necessity upon yourself, that you should always tend downwards?

That woman, then, who had found the one drachma was calling her neighbors to be partakers of her joy, saying, "Rejoice with me" (Lk. 15:9). But I shall now summon all my friends and yours for something quite the contrary; and I shall not say, "Rejoice with me," but "Mourn with me," and take up the same lamentation, and cry out with us in a grievous voice. For we have suffered an extreme loss—not because so many talents of gold have fallen from our hands, nor because of a great quantity of precious stones; but because a man more precious than all these, who was sailing with us on this great and vast sea, has been—I know not how—cast out and fallen into the very depth of perdition. I will address you with these words of the prophet: "Leave me, I shall weep bitterly; do not press me to be comforted" (Is. 22:4). For I am not now being afflicted by such mourning as might be faulted in me because it is excessive, but by such as it would not have shamed even Paul or Peter, renouncing all consolation, to have assumed.

^A For those who mourn a common death, one might justly charge with little-mindedness; but when, in place of the body, the soul lies prostrate and dead, riddled with ten thousand wounds, and even in that very death displays signs of its former noble nature, of its past health, and of its extinguished beauty, who would be so savage and devoid of sense as to bring forward words of consolation instead of groans and tears? For just as there it is philosophical not to mourn, so here it is philosophical to mourn. He who had reached heaven, who mocked the vanity of life, who looked upon the beauty of bodies as if they were stone statues, who despised gold as though it were clay and all delights as mire—he, suddenly seized by a fever of foolish desire, has lost his health, his strength, and all his refinement, and has become a slave to pleasures. Shall we not mourn for him, tell me, shall we not weep until we recover him? Or would that be the act of a human soul? For the destruction of bodily death cannot be found here, and yet it is not...

the only thing that can be destroyed; for in Hades, it is said, who will confess to Thee? (Ps. 6:6). With how much lack of sense, therefore, is it that some weep so vehemently for those who have suffered bodily death, even though they know they will not recall the deceased with their tears; yet we show nothing of the kind, although we know that there is often hope to bring back the lost soul to its former life? For many, both in this present time and in the age of our ancestors, having been turned aside from the right standing and having fallen from the narrow way, have risen again in such a way as to cover their former actions with their subsequent ones, and to receive the prize, and to be crowned with the garland, and to be proclaimed among the victors, and to be numbered in the choir of the saints. ^B For as long as one stands in that furnace of pleasures, even if he has innumerable such examples set before him, the thing seems impossible to him; but if he takes even a small beginning of an escape thence, proceeding ever forward, he leaves behind the more violent part of the fire, and he will see what is in front and at his feet full of dew and great ease; provided only that we do not despair, nor abandon the return; for he who has suffered this, even if he possesses ten thousand strengths and zeal, possesses them in vain. For having once locked the door of repentance against himself, and having walled off the entrance to the stadium, how will he be able, remaining outside, to perform any good at all, whether small or great? For this reason, the evil one maneuvers everything, so that he may plant this thought in us; for he will no longer have need of toils and labors for our resistance; for how could he, when we are lying prostrate and fallen and do not wish to rise against him? For he who has been able to slip through this bond, he will regain his own strength, and he will not cease struggling against him until the last breath; even if he falls into ten thousand other downfalls, he will rise again, and will burn up the enemy; but he who is bound by the thoughts of despair, and has paralyzed his own strength, how will he be able to prevail and resist, fleeing from the opposite side?

[5] 5. And do not name for me those who have sinned but little, but let there be someone full of every wickedness, and let him commit everything that excludes him from the kingdom, and let this man be not one of the initially faithless, but of the faithful, and who has previously pleased God, and let him later become a fornicator, an adulterer, a lecher, a thief, a drunkard, a sodomite, a reviler, and the other things similar to these; for not even for this man will I accept that he despair of himself, even if he reaches extreme old age with such unspeakable evils. For if the anger of God were a passion, one would rightly despair, as being unable to quench the flame which he had kindled by so many evils; but since the Divine is impassible, even if He punishes, even if He chastises, He does not do this with anger, but with great care and philanthropy; wherefore we must be very bold, and trust in the power of repentance. For it is not His custom to attack those who have sinned against Him for His own sake; for no harm passes over to that nature; but He looks to what is expedient for us, and practices caution for the sake of our not becoming worse by despising and overlooking Him. ^C Just as he who puts himself outside the light has caused that [the light] no harm whatever, but has caused himself the greatest harm by being locked in darkness; so also he who has become accustomed to despise that all-powerful strength has caused it no harm, but has caused himself the extreme harm. And for this reason God threatens us with punishments, and often brings them upon us, not as one taking vengeance for Himself, but as one drawing us to Himself. For even a physician, at the insults of those who are delirious, is neither pained nor stung, yet he does everything and works for the sake of stopping those who are behaving so shamelessly, not looking to his own interests, but to their benefit; and if they show some small amount of soundness of mind and sobriety, he rejoices and is glad and applies the medicines much more vigorously, not taking vengeance on them for their previous actions, but wishing to increase the benefit, and to conduct them back to pure health; so also God, when we have fallen into the lowest madness, not taking vengeance for the past, but wishing to set us free from the disease, says and does everything; and this is enough to discern from [our] right reasoning.

5. But if any should dispute these things with us, we will confirm them also from the divine scriptures. For who, I ask you, was more pollutable than the Babylonian king? He who had taken the very test of God's power, so as to worship his prophet, and to command that mannæ be offered to him, again was carried away into his former pride, and he threw into the furnace, bound, those who did not prefer him to God. But however, the one who was so cruel and impious and more of a beast than a man, He calls to repentance, and gives him even other occasions for change, first the very miracle that happened in the furnace, and after those things the vision which the king saw, and Daniel interpreted, which was sufficient to bend even a stony soul; and in addition to these, after the remonstrance from the events themselves, the prophet himself advised him, saying: Therefore, O king, let my counsel be pleasing to thee, and redeem thy sins with alms, and thine iniquities with mercies of the poor: perhaps there will be long-suffering for thy trespasses (Dan. 4:24). ^D What sayest thou, O wise and blessed one? Is there, even after such a great fall, a return, and after such a great disease, health, and after such great madness, hope again of soundness of mind? The king, having preceded himself, had deprived himself of every hope, first by failing to know the one who made him, and brought him to that honor, although he had evidence of His power and providence to recount, both regarding himself and what had happened to his ancestors; and after this again, having received clear signs of His wisdom and foreknowledge, and having seen the destruction of the scene of magic, and astronomy, and every diabolical sorcery.

^A For those wise men, the Magi of Gaza, were unable to explain them, but confessed that they were greater than human nature could grasp. Having interpreted them for him by the grace of God, the captive child led him to such a miracle that he not only believed, but also became a herald and public teacher of this dogma to the whole world. So that if before such a sign he was undeserving of pardon because he ignored God, he was much more undeserving after that miracle and after his confession and teaching had been declared to others. For he would not have rendered such honor to His servant, nor would he have given such commands to others, had he not clearly believed that He alone is the true God. Yet after such a confession he fell back into idolatry; and he who had prostrated himself on his face and worshipped the servant of God, was later seized by such madness that he cast the servants of God, who refused to worship him, into the furnace.

What then? Did God take vengeance on the apostate as He ought to have avenged? Nay, He showed him greater signs of His power and brought him back again after such madness to his former [state]. And what is more marvelous, so that faith might not be denied them because of the magnitude of the wonders, He did not perform a sign upon any other thing, but in the very furnace which he had ignited against the youths whom he had bound and cast in. It would have been a strange and astonishing thing if He had extinguished the flame; but that most merciful One, in order to bring greater fear and to strike more serious terror, and to resolve his blindness completely, wrought something greater and more marvelous. For when He had allowed it to be kindled as much as he wished, He showed His power in such a way as not to dissolve the contrivances of the enemies, but to make them, while remaining, of no effect.

Lest anyone, seeing them after the flames had been overcome, think it a phantom, He permitted those who had cast them in to be burned, showing that the fire which was being seen was true; otherwise, it would not have consumed naphtha, tow, vine-branches, and so many bodies. But nothing is more powerful than His command: the whole nature of things obeys Him who brought it forth out of nothing, which indeed was then demonstrated. For when the flame had received corruptible bodies, it abstained from them as if they were incorruptible, and returned the deposit safe, and that with much splendor. For just as kings come forth from royal palaces, so did the youths from the furnace; no one then deigning to look at the king, but with the eyes of all, having dismissed him, turned to such a marvelous spectacle. And neither the diadem, nor the purple, nor any other thing of royal pomp moved the crowds of the infidels as much as the appearance of those faithful ones, who had indeed remained for a long time in the fire, but came out as if they had ^B experienced these things in a dream. And what is most easily consumed in us, namely the nature of hair, then overcame the all-devouring flames more strongly than adamant. Nor was that the only marvelous thing, that being cast into the midst of the fire they suffered nothing, but that they also spoke immediately. And no one is ignorant that those who are in the flames, as long as their lips are closed, resist the burning for a short time at least; but if they open their mouth, the soul immediately flies from the body.

But yet, when so many miracles had been performed, and all were astonished—both those present and looking on, and those absent who learned of it by letters—that king who had taught others remained obstinate, and returned to his former wickedness. And not even then did God punish him, but bore with him patiently, and warning him through a dream and through the prophet, when he became no better by such a way, He finally sent the punishment—not avenging past things, but cutting off future evils, and restraining the wickedness so it would not proceed further; yet not even to the end. For after He had chastised him for a few years, He restored him to his former honor, with no loss inflicted as a punishment, but having gained the greatest good of all, so that he might firmly cling to faith in God and do penance for his former sins.

For such is God’s clemency toward men: He never turns away a sincere repentance; but even if someone should reach the extremity of wickedness, and from there should wish to return to the path of virtue, He receives and embraces him, and does everything to restore him to his former state. And what is of greater mercy, even if someone does not show a full repentance, He does not reject that which is brief and shown for a short time, but grants him a great reward. This is indeed manifest from those things which the prophet Isaiah says regarding the people of the Jews in these words: *For the sake of sin I grieved him for a little, and I struck him, and I turned my face away from him: and he was grieved, and walked sadly; and I healed him, and comforted him* (Isa. 57:17-18).

But the most impious king will be a witness to us, who was indeed handed over to sins by his wife; but whenever he was enlightened, and having put on sackcloth condemned his crimes, he thus reconciled God’s mercy to himself, so that he avoided all the evils impending upon him. For God said to Elijah: *Hast thou seen how Ahab has been pricked at heart from my face? I will not bring the evil in his days, because he has wept from my face* (3 Kings 21:29). After him also Manasseh (2 Chron. 33:13), who surpassed all in insanity and tyranny, and overturned the legal worship, closed the temple, and made the error of idols to flourish, and was the most impious of all who had been before, when he afterwards repented, he was brought back into the number of the friends of God. If, however, looking at the magnitude of his own iniquities, he had despaired of a return and of change, he would surely have fallen from everything he afterwards attained. But now, not looking ^C to the mass of his sins, but to the immense compassion of God, having broken the chains of the devil, he rose up and struggled, and finished the good course.

And not only by the words which He spoke to them, but also by other things pronounced through the prophet, God cuts off all thoughts of despair: *Today*, He says, *if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation* (Ps. 94:9).

Repentance is estimated not by time, but by affection.

^A the Ninevites did not require many days to wipe away their sin, but a short period of a day sufficed to blot out all their iniquity. And the thief, too, did not accomplish his entrance into Paradise in a long time, but in as much time as one might spend uttering a single word, in that very moment he washed away all the sins of his whole life, and received the prize of approval before the Apostles. We see also the martyrs, not in many years, but in few days, and often in just one, obtaining brilliant crowns.

^B 7. Therefore, we need eagerness and deep affection everywhere; and if we prepare our conscience so as to hate our former wickedness and to choose the opposite path with the same intensity that God desires and demands, we will lack nothing by reason of time. For many who came last have surpassed the first. For it is not falling that is grievous, but for one who has fallen to lie there and not rise again, but rather, out of a desire for evil and through sluggishness, to hide one’s weakness of resolve by means of thoughts of despair. To such people the prophet also said in perplexity: "Does one who falls not rise, or does one who turns away not turn back?" And if you seek from us examples of some who fell again after believing, all that has been said is on their behalf; for he who fell was previously among those who stood, not among those who were lying down; for how could such a person have fallen? Other things will also be said, some through parables, some through clearer deeds and words. For that sheep which was separated from the ninety-nine, and then brought back, shows us nothing other than the fall and return of the faithful. For it was a sheep, and not of some other flock, but of the remaining number, and it was previously pastured under the shepherd, and it wandered in no ordinary way, but onto the mountains and the ravines—that is, a long road, and one far from the straight path. Did He then allow it to wander? Not at all, but He brought it back—not driving it, not whipping it, but taking it upon His shoulders. For just as the best of physicians return to health those who are suffering from a long illness with much care, not only treating them according to the law of medicine, but sometimes even showing them favor, so too God does not lead those who are greatly corrupted to virtue with much severity, but gently and little by little, supporting them everywhere, so that the rift might not become greater, nor the wandering longer. And this parable did not merely hint at this, but also that of the prodigal son. ^C For he, too, was not someone foreign, but a son, and a brother of the son who had pleased his father; and he did not end up in ordinary wickedness, but in the very extremity, as one might say, of evils, the rich and free and noble man having fared more miserably than slaves and strangers and hirelings. But nevertheless, he returned again to his original state and regained his former glory. And if he had despaired of his life, and had remained in the foreign land, having given up on what had happened, he would not have attained what he did, but having been corrupted by famine, he would have endured the most piteous death of all. But because he repented, and did not despair, after such great corruption he is restored again to the same brightness, and is clothed in the finest robe, and experiences greater things than the brother who had not fallen. "For so many years," he says, "I serve you, and I never transgressed your commandment, and you never gave me a kid, so that I might rejoice with my friends; but when this son of yours, who devoured your living with harlots, came, you killed for him the fatted calf." Such is the power of repentance.

8. Having so many examples, then, let us not remain in our evils, nor despair of reconciliation, but let us also say, "I will go to my Father," and let us draw near to God. For He never turns away from us, but we are the ones who distance ourselves; for God, He says, is near, and not "God from afar." And through this prophet, rebuking them again, He said: "Do not your sins stand between you and me?" Since, therefore, this is what makes us far from the far-off God, let us remove this grievous partition, and nothing will keep us from becoming near. ^D And hear that this has happened in the very things themselves. Among the Corinthians, a certain notable man committed a sin of such a kind as was not even named among the Gentiles. He was a believer, and one of those who were kin to Christ; and some even say he was among those in holy orders. What then? Did Paul cut him off from the lot of those who are being saved? By no means; for he is the very one who is upbraiding the Corinthians over and over, that they did not bring him to repentance. But wishing to show us that there is no sin which cannot be healed, he spoke again concerning him who had sinned more grievously than the Gentiles: "Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." But this was before the repentance; and after he repented, "Sufficient, he says, for such a one is this rebuke which is from the majority," and he wrote to encourage him again, and to accept his repentance, so that he might not be outwitted by Satan. And indeed, the whole nation of the Galatians, after believing, and performing signs, and enduring many temptations for the sake of the faith in Christ, he restores even those who had fallen back. For that they were performing miracles, he declared by saying: "He therefore that supplies to you the Spirit, and works powers in you." That they had also struggled much for the sake of the faith, he also declared by saying: "Have you suffered so many things in vain, if yet in vain?" But nevertheless, after such great progress, they sinned a sin capable of alienating them from Christ; concerning which he pronounces judgment, saying: "Behold, I Paul say to you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." And again, "Whoever of you are justified by the law, [you are fallen from grace]."

Yet after such a fall, he receives them again, saying: "My little children, of whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. IV, 19), showing that it is possible for Christ to be formed in us again; for He does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should be converted and live (Ezech. XXXIII, 11).

11 Let us turn back, then, O beloved head, and perform the will of God. For He created and brought us forth for this very purpose: that He might make us partakers of heavenly goods, that He might bestow the kingdom of heaven, not that He might cast us into hell and deliver us to the fire; for this fire was not created for us, but for the devil; the kingdom, however, was prepared and assigned to us from the beginning. ^A And He indicates both of these when He says to those on the right: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matth. XXV, 34); but to those on the left: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire," prepared, not indeed for you, but for the devil and his angels. Hell, therefore, is not prepared for us, but for the devil and his angels; whereas the kingdom was adorned for us from the foundation of the world. Let us not, therefore, render ourselves unworthy of entry into the bridal chamber; for while we are here, even if we sin a thousand times, all things allow for the washing away of sins if we show repentance: but when we have been taken off from here, even if we show [great] repentance, it will profit us nothing; but however much we may gnash our teeth, however much we may lament, however much we may beseech, no one will distill any refreshment for us, not even with the tip of his finger; but we shall hear those very words which that rich man heard of old, namely: "Between us and you, there is a great chaos fixed" (Luc. XVI, 26).

Let us, then, take heed, I beseech you, while we tarry here, and acknowledge the Lord as it is proper to acknowledge Him. For then alone must one despair of repentance, when we are stationed in hell: for there alone this remedy is weak and useless; but while we dwell here, even if it be applied in old age itself, it has the greatest power. Wherefore the devil does everything, that he may plant the root of despair in us: for he knows that if we recover ourselves even a little, it will not be without reward. But just as he who has offered a cup of cold water has a laid-up retribution, so he who repents of the crimes he has committed, even if he does not display a worthy repentance, will nonetheless receive its retribution. For nothing good, however small it may be, will be overlooked by the just Judge. For if sins are searched out with such accuracy, that we pay penalties even for words and thoughts, how much more will good works, whether they be great or small, be reckoned to us at that time. Wherefore, ^B even if you find yourself unable to return to that former diligence, yet if you withdraw yourself in any way at all from the present disease and luxury, not even this will be fruitless for you; make the attempt and open the path to the struggle: for as long as you remain outside, it will rightly appear to you difficult and arduous. For before the attempt is made, however easy and expedited things may be, they are wont, nevertheless, to present a great appearance of difficulty; but when we have entered upon them with a strenuous and bold heart, a great part of the labor flies away; and confidence, having crept in place of trembling and despair, diminishes fear, increases ease, and strengthens good hope. Therefore that wicked one took Judas away from this life, lest, having made a start at recovering himself, he should return through repentance to the place from which he had fallen. For I, even if I seem to speak beyond belief, would not say that even that sin [of Judas] is greater than the aid which is offered to us by repentance. Wherefore I ask and beseech you, with every satanic thought driven from your soul, to return to this salvation. For if I were to order you to ascend to that pinnacle at once, you would rightly feel burdened, as if by a most difficult matter; but since I now require only this, that you add nothing to your present evils, but that rising up you turn yourself to the contrary path, why do you hesitate? Why do you recoil, and pull yourself back towards the rear? Have you not seen some who died in delicacies, and in debaucheries and in jests and in the remaining mockery of this life? Where now are those who with much pride, with many followers, used to proceed through the forum? Who, dressed in silken garments and smelling of ointments, and feeding parasites, were always attached to the stage? Where is that ostentation now, and that pomp? The expense of banquets has departed, the crowd of musicians, the company of flatterers, immoderate laughter, the relaxation of the soul, the pouring out of the mind, a life soft, idle, and ruined by luxury. Whither have all things flown now? What has become of the body which formerly abounded with such attendance, with such cleanliness? Proceed now to the tomb: contemplate the dust, the ashes, the worms, look upon the deformity of the place, and sigh bitterly. And would that the damage stopped at the ashes; but now transfer your thought from the tomb and the worms to that immortal worm, to the inextinguishable fire, to the gnashing of teeth, to the exterior darkness, to the affliction and distress, to the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, who, although instructed with so many riches ^C and clothed in purple, afterwards did not have even a drop of water in his power, being set in such a calamity. For the condition of this life is no better than dreams. For just as those who dig metals, or pay some other penalty harsher than this, if at any time under those hard labors and most bitter life they see themselves in their dreams in delicacies and in abundance of things, when they have awakened, they have no gratitude for their dreams: so also that rich man, when in the present life, as if in a dream, he had abounded in riches, after he had migrated from here...

was punished with that bitter punishment. Consider this, and setting that fire against the burning of desires that holds you now, be released from the furnace at last. For he who has extinguished this one well here, shall not experience the other; but if someone does not overcome this one, that other one will seize him more fiercely when he has departed from here. How long do you wish the enjoyment of the present life to extend for you? For I do not think that more than fifty years remain for you, so as to reach extreme old age; nay, not even this is clear to us: for how can those who cannot be confident of their life even until evening, insist upon so many years? And not only is this uncertain, but also the change of human affairs: for often, even if life has been extended to a long time, the pleasure has not been extended with it, but has arrived and disappeared at the same time. But still, if you wish, let it be assumed for the sake of argument, that you will live for so many years, and undergo no change, what is this compared to the infinite ages, and those bitter and unbearable punishments? For here both good things and difficult things have an end, and that a very swift one; but there both are extended into immortal ages, and in quality they differ from the present things so much that it cannot even be expressed.

10. For do not because you have heard of fire, suppose that it is like that fire; for this one, whatever it takes, burns up and consumes; but that one burns those who are once seized by it continuously, and never ceases; for this reason it is also called unquenchable. For it is necessary that those who have sinned should be clothed in incorruptibility, not for honor, but so that they may have a continuous supply for that punishment: how terrible this is, ^B language could never express; but from the experience of small things it is possible to get a slight understanding of those great things. For if ever you were in a bath heated more than was necessary, then reflect on the fire of Gehenna for me; and if ever you were again scorched by a severe fever, turn your mind toward that flame, and then you will be able to distinguish clearly. For if a bath and a fever so afflict and disturb us, when we fall into that river of fire which is dragged before that fearful judgment seat, how shall we be disposed then? Shall we gnash our teeth because of the pains and those unbearable agonies; and there will be no one to help; but we will groan aloud, the flame being applied to us more fiercely, and we shall see no one except our companions in torment, and the great desolation. Who could describe the terrors that arise in our souls from the darkness? For just as that fire is not consuming, so neither is it illuminating; for otherwise it would not be darkness. The confusion, therefore, which is generated in us then from this, and the trembling, and the paralysis, and the great disturbance, that time alone is sufficient to display. ^C For there are many and various instruments of torture there, and snowstorms of punishments are brought upon the soul from every side. But if anyone says, "And how could the soul be sufficient for such a multitude of punishments, and remain being punished for infinite ages?" let him consider what happens here, how many have often endured a long and severe illness. And even if they have ended their lives, it is not because the soul was consumed, but because the body gave up, as if that had not yielded, the soul would not have ceased being tortured. When, therefore, it receives this incorruptible and inconsumable body, there is nothing to prevent the punishment from being extended to infinity. For here, the two cannot come together, I mean the severity of punishments and the endurance, but one fights against the other, because the nature of the body is corruptible, and does not bear the union of both; but when incorruptibility has arrived in the future, the resolution of this struggle will come to pass, and with great power both ^D will hold us to the infinite evils. Do not, therefore, be so disposed now as if the excess of the tortures consumes our soul; for neither will the body be able to suffer this in that time, but it will remain being punished eternally with the soul, and there will be no other end. How much enjoyment, then, and how much time do you wish to set against this punishment and this retribution? Do you wish for a time of one hundred years and twice as much? And what is this compared to the infinite ages? For what a dream of one day is in the whole of life, that is the enjoyment of things here compared to the state of those to come. Is there, therefore, any who would choose to be punished for all time just to see something pleasant? And who is so senseless as to come to this exchange? For I am not yet slandering the enjoyment, nor am I revealing the bitterness lying within it now; for this is not the time for these arguments, but [one must wait] until you can escape it. For now, being caught by the affection, you would suspect that we are talking nonsense if we were to call the pleasure bitter; but when you have been released by the grace of God from the disease, then you will recognize its wickedness well. Therefore, having stored these arguments for another time, we shall say this now: Let the food be enjoyment, and the pleasure be pleasure, and let it have nothing annoying or shameful, what shall we say compared to the punishment laid up? And what shall we do then, having enjoyed [these things] as if in a shadow and an image now, but in reality paying the eternal penalty there, and that too when it was possible in a short time to both escape the aforementioned tortures and to enjoy the good things laid up? For this also is a work of the philanthropy of God, that our contests are not extended for a long time, but having struggled in a short and momentary [time]—for this is what the present life is compared to that one—to be crowned in the infinite ages. And this, too, will not cause little pain to the souls of those being punished, when they consider that, while it was possible in these few days to accomplish everything, having been negligent, they surrendered themselves to immortal evils. In order that we may not suffer this, let us be awakened while there is a favorable time.

time, yes, while there is much room for repentance and strength. For the things that have been said do not await us only after we have failed; rather, other things are far more grievous than these. For the departure from good things possesses such pain, such affliction, and such distress, that even if no other punishment were appointed for sinners here, that alone would be able to inflict a heavier penalty and disturbance of soul than the torments of hell.

^B XII. Consider within yourself, as far as it is possible to conceive, the state and condition of that life; for no speech is sufficient to declare it according to its worth. But from those things which we have heard, let us form a dim image of it, as if through riddles. "Pain," he says, "sorrow, and sighing shall flee away" (Is. XXXV, 10). What, then, could be happier than that life? There is no poverty or disease to be feared there; no one harms there, and no one is harmed; no one provokes or is provoked; no one is angered, or envious, or inflamed with absurd desire; no one is anxious about the provision of necessities; no one grieves over rank or power. For every storm of the passions within us is stilled and perishes, and all is in peace, joy, and gladness; all is tranquil and serene; all is day, splendor, and light—not this present light, but another, as much more splendid than this as the light of day is than a lamp. It is not obscured there by night or by the coming together of clouds; nor does it burn or scorch bodies. For there is no night there, no evening, no cold, no heat, no other shifting change of weather; but another state is present, and such a one as only those who have attained it will know. There is no old age there, nor the infirmities of old age, but all things that pertain to corruption are cast aside, because incorruptible glory reigns everywhere. And, what is the greatest of all, they will enjoy the companionship of Christ continually, with angels, with archangels, with the higher powers. Look at the heaven now, and transcend with your thought those things which are above the heavens; consider the transformation of the whole creation. For it will not remain as it is now, but will be far more beautiful and bright; and as much as gold is more brilliant than lead, so much more excellent will that be than this present condition of things, just as the blessed Paul says: "Because the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption" (Rom. VIII, 21). For now, as it is a participant in corruption, it suffers many things befitting such a body; but then, having cast off all these, it will show us an incorruptible beauty. For since nature is to receive incorruptible bodies, the creation itself will eventually be changed for the better. There will then be no sedition or fighting; for there will be great harmony in the choir of the saints, with all always agreeing with one another. There is no devil to be feared there, no snares of demons, no threat of hell, no death—neither this human one nor that other which is far more grievous—but every fear of this kind is ended. And just as a king’s child is at first reared in a humble manner and is restrained by fears and threats so that he may not become worse through indulgence and render himself unworthy of his paternal inheritance, but after he has attained the royal dignity, having at once laid aside all these things, adorned with purple and diadem and surrounded by a numerous retinue, he presides with great liberty, having cast off from his soul that humble and lowly state and having substituted another condition of affairs—so it will happen to all the saints then. ^C And do not think that these things are cast about in a kind of pomposity of words; let us go to the mountain where Christ was transfigured; let us behold Him shining with great splendor, although He did not show the whole splendor of the future age. For that He appeared as such by a certain tempering, not by an accurate demonstration of things, is shown by the very words of the evangelist. For what does he say? "He shone as the sun" (Matt. XVII, 2). But the glory of incorruptible bodies does not emit light as much as this corruptible body, nor is it of such a kind as to be seen by mortal eyes, but requires incorruptible and immortal eyes for its contemplation. But on the mountain He revealed to them as much as they could bear without damage to their eyes, and yet they could not sustain it, but fell on their faces. Tell me, I pray, if someone were to lead you into a certain splendid place where all were sitting dressed in golden robes, and in the midst of the gathering he showed you another who had both his garment and his crown of the head composed only of precious stones, and then promised to enroll you in the number of this people, would you not do anything to obtain such a promise? Open your eyes now and look at that theater, not frequented by men of this kind, but by those who are far more worthy than anyone who falls under the gaze—worthy not only of men, but even of those who far surpass men: namely, angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers. For of the King, what He is like, we cannot even speak; His beauty, appearance, splendor, glory, majesty, and magnificence exceed all speech and mind. Shall we deprive ourselves of such great good things, tell me, so that we may avoid the labor of a little time? For if it were necessary to die a thousand times daily, if hell itself had to be endured, that we might see Christ coming in His glory and be numbered in the choir of the saints, would not all these things be worth enduring? Hear what the blessed Peter says: "It is good for us to be here" (Matt. XVII, 4). And if he, having seen a certain dim image of future things, immediately rejected everything from his mind because of the pleasure implanted by such a vision, what will be said when the very truth of things is present, when, with the royal halls opened, it will be permitted to behold the King Himself, no longer in a riddle nor through a mirror, but face to face, no longer through faith, but through sight?

^D There are many, indeed, who, using an absurd judgment, desire only to be delivered from hell; but I think that to be deprived of that glory is a penalty far more grievous than hell, and I believe that he who has fallen from it should not be lamented so much for the evils of hell as for the loss of the kingdom of heaven; for this is the most bitter torment of all. However, now when we see the king approaching the palace with a frequent retinue, his clients...

and those who are near him and share in his counsel and intention, and participate in the rest of his glory, we call them blessed; and even if we possess myriad good things, we bewail ourselves, and we take no perception of any of those things, looking instead at the glory of those around him, even though we know such splendor to be precarious and insecure, both because of wars and because of plots and because of jealousies, and because, apart from these, in itself it is worth no account at all. But in the case of the King of all, ^B who possesses not a part of the earth, but the entire circle of the earth, or rather, who encompasses the whole of it in the hollow of his hand, and measures the heavens with a span, who upholds all things by the word of his power, the entire universe, for whom all the nations have been reckoned as nothing and as spittle; shall we not, in his case, consider it to be the ultimate punishment not to be enrolled in that choir around him, but will we be content if we are merely delivered from hell? And what could be more pitiable than this soul? For this King does not come to judge the earth having a pair of white mules, nor a golden chariot, nor wearing a purple robe and a diadem.

But how? Hear the prophets crying out and saying, so far as it is possible for men to speak. For one says: ^C *God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall be kindled before him, and a mighty tempest round about him: he shall summon the heaven above, and the earth, to judge his people* (Ps. XLIX, 3-4). And Isaiah adds the punishment itself to us, speaking thus: *Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, of incurable wrath and anger, to make the whole habitable world a desert, and to destroy the sinners out of it* (Is. XIII, 9). *For the stars of heaven, and Orion, and all the host of heaven, shall not give their light, and the sun shall be darkened at his rising, and the moon shall not give her light. And I will command evils for the whole world, and the sins of the ungodly for their transgressions: and I will destroy the insolence of the lawless, and I will humble the insolence of the proud: and those who are left shall be more precious than untried gold, and a man shall be more precious than the stone that is from Ophir. And the heaven shall be provoked, and the earth shall be shaken from its foundations, because of the fierce anger of the Lord of Sabaoth, in the day when his anger shall come* (Is. XIII, 10-13). And again, *Windows, he says, shall be opened from heaven, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken: the earth shall be confounded with confusion, the earth shall be moved, it shall be in perplexity, the earth shall be shaken with a tossing, as one who is drunk and reeling: the earth shall be shaken as a lodge, it shall fall, and shall not be able to rise again: for iniquity has prevailed upon it. And God shall bring his hand upon the host of heaven in the height on that day, and upon the kingdoms of the earth; and they shall gather their assembly into a prison, and shall shut them up in a stronghold* (Is. XXIV, 19-22). Malachi also, speaking in harmony with these, said: *Behold, the Lord Almighty cometh, and who shall abide the day of his coming? or who shall stand in his sight? For he is coming as the fire of a refiner, and as the plant of washers: and he shall sit refining and purifying as silver and as gold* (Mal. III, 2-3). And again, *Behold, he says, the day of the Lord cometh burning as an oven, and it shall consume them; and all the foreigners, and all who commit lawless deeds, shall be as stubble, and the coming day shall set them on fire, saith the Lord Almighty: and there shall not be left to them root nor branch* (Mal. IV, 1). And the man of desires says: *I was watching until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days was seated, and his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head as pure wool: his throne was a flame of fire, his wheels were burning fire: a river of fire was drawing itself along, moving before him. Thousand thousands were serving him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him (Dan. VII, 9-10). The judgment-seat sat, and the books were opened. Then after a little while, I was watching, he says, in the vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, as it were a son of man was coming, and he reached as far as the Ancient of Days, and he was brought before him: and to him was given the rule, and the honor, and the kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and tongues serve him. His authority is an eternal authority, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed. My spirit shuddered, I, Daniel, in my habitual state, and the visions of my head confounded me* (Dan. VII, 13-15). ^D Then all the gates of the celestial arches are flung wide, or rather, the heaven itself is taken from the midst. *For the heaven,* he says, *shall be rolled up like a scroll,* like the skin of a tent and a curtain being withdrawn from the midst, so that it may be transformed for the better (Is. XXXIV, 4). Then all things are filled with ecstasy and dread and trembling; then a great fear possesses the angels themselves, and not angels alone, but also archangels and thrones and dominions and principalities and powers. *For the powers of the heavens,* he says, *shall be shaken* (Matt. XXIV, 29), because their fellow-servants are to be called to account for the life here. For if, when one city is being judged before these rulers, all men are terrified, even those who are outside of dangers, when the entire habitable world is being judged before such a Judge—who needs neither witnesses, nor proofs, but without all these brings forth into the midst both deeds and words and thoughts, and demonstrates everything, as if in an image, to those who have sinned them and to those who are ignorant of them—how is it not to be expected that every power is shaken and trembles? For if no river of fire were being drawn along, nor were fearful angels standing by, but only, as men were being called, some were praised and admired, while others were sent away dishonored so that they might not see the glory of God (*For let the ungodly be taken away, so that he may not see the glory of the Lord* [Is. XXVI, 10]), and this alone were the punishment—would not the loss of such goods gnaw at the souls of those deprived of them more bitterly than any hell? For how great an evil this is, it is not possible to represent in words now; but then we shall know clearly in the reality. But do you now join to this the punishment for me, and not only as being ashamed, and not only as covering their faces and looking down, but also...

suffering for the moment, whenever they are crowned and hidden, and all who have done good things for the King, and are worthy of the life eternal, stand before the throne.

^B Furthermore, who is the logos that shall set before us what follows after that period? For the soul, having returned to its own nobility, and being able at last with boldness to look upon its own Master, it is not possible to say how much joy it brings forth, and how great is the gain, not only for those who rejoice in good things at hand, but because they are persuaded that in no way will these come to an end. It is not possible for such joy to be presented by words, nor is it possible to grasp it with the mind. ^C Yet, as one might show great things through small, I shall attempt to make it clear. Let us examine those who in the present life of this world enjoy (I speak of wealth, and power, and glory) and who, on this account, are so puffed up with joy that they do not even think they are placed upon the earth; yet they enjoy these things which are neither confessed to be good, nor do they remain with them, but fly away faster than a dream. Even if they should stand for a little while, they are useful only until the present life, and cannot go further with them. But if such things lift those who have them to such joy, what do you think of those souls, called to these ten thousand good things which are in the heavens, which remain ^D firmly and fixedly forever? For not only that, but they are also better than the present things in quantity and quality, so that it cannot even come into a man’s heart! For now, just as an infant in the womb, so we dwell in this world, confined by straits, and cannot see the splendor and liberty of the coming age. But when the time of birth comes, and this world produces all the men whom it had held for the day of judgment, the aborted will indeed go from darkness into darkness, and from affliction to more grievous affliction; but the mature fetus, which has kept the character of the royal image, will be presented to the King, and will receive that liturgy which angels and archangels perform for the God of all. Do not, therefore, O friend, wish to destroy these characters until the end, but, having restored them, reduce them to a better form as soon as possible. For God concluded bodily beauty within the limits of nature, but the adornment of the soul is freed from necessity and slavery, being far ^A better than bodily form; it is all situated in us and in our will. For our Master, being beneficent, has decorated our race with this gift above all, that He has assigned those things which are lesser—which are not of great concern, nor does it matter if they perish—to the necessity of nature, but has granted us to be the artisans of the true goods. If He had made us masters of bodily beauty, we would have undertaken a superfluous care, and would have spent all our time in fruitless things, with our concern for the soul completely neglected. The beauty of the body cannot be increased, but that of the soul always can. For since we have been granted such a facility, we do everything, we attempt everything, and since we cannot attain the true form, we claim it for ourselves with pigments and colors, and paintings, and the arranging of hair, ^B and the clothing of garments, and the artifice of the eyes, and many other machines, we feign the false beauty; what sort of zeal would we put into the soul and honest things, if we were able to change the body into a beautiful form? Perhaps we would undertake no other work if this were in our power, but we would consume all the time decorating the slave with infinite ornaments, while the mistress would lie in deformity and sloth, worse than a vile slave. For this reason, God, having taken away the unfortunate care, has placed in us the art of the better thing; so that he who cannot make the body elegant from being deformed, can bring the soul, even if it has fallen into extreme deformity, back to the highest beauty, and make it so lovable and pleasant that not only upright men, but even the King and God of all may come into its desire; just as the psalmist also speaks ^C about that beauty: *And the King shall desire thy beauty* (Ps. XLIV, 12).

Do you not see in the brothels that deformed and shameless women are not admitted even by gladiators, fugitives, and those who fight with beasts; but if there is any one who is beautiful, free-born, and modest, who by some calamity has fallen into such a necessity, do not even great men of splendid fortune blush to take her as a wife? If there is such mercy among men, and such contempt for glory, that they often free those who are affected by ignominy in the brothel from that slavery and have them as wives: how much greater will the mercy before God be towards souls which, through the tyranny of the devil, have been brought back ^D to the brothel of the present life from that ancient nobility? You may find such examples everywhere among the prophets, when they address Jerusalem, which had fallen into fornication, indeed a fornication of a new kind, just as Ezekiel says: *Thou hast given rewards to all harlots, but thou gavest rewards* and it has become for thee *otherwise than for others* (Ezech. XVI, 35). And another: *Thou hast sat waiting for them like a deserted crow* (Jer. III, 2). God thus calls back her who has fornicated in this way. For the captivity occurred not so much for vengeance as for conversion and amendment. For if God had wished to punish them completely, He would not have brought them back home, nor would He have rebuilt the city greater and more splendid, nor the temple again: *For*, He says, *the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former* (Agg. II, 10). But if God has not excluded from repentance her who is often soiled by lust, much more will He embrace your soul, which has now fallen for the first time. For no one, no lover of bodily form, no matter how insane, burns with such desire for his beloved as the zeal with which God seeks the salvation of our souls; which it is possible to see both from those things which happen daily, and from the sayings of the divine Scriptures. Observe therefore, both in the very beginning of Jeremiah and elsewhere in the prophets, how, having been held in contempt and disdain, He again presses on and seeks the friendship of those who had turned away from Him; which He himself also in the Gospels...

declared, saying: *Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not?* (Matt. 23. 37). And Paul also, writing to the Corinthians, said: *God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God* (2 Cor. 5. 19, 20). Consider that this is said to us now as well. For not faithlessness alone, but also an impure life is capable of producing this detestable enmity. For *the mind of the flesh*, he says, *is enmity against God* (Rom. 8. 7). Let us therefore destroy this barrier, and let us remove it, and let us put it to death, that we may attain the blessed reconciliation, that we may become once more lovable and desired by God.

^B 14.

Theodorus captivated by the love of Hermione.

^A and cast us down; therefore, we must rise again and take care not to be dragged away, nor to cast ourselves down, nor to add to his blows others brought on by our own selves. For even blessed David fell into a lapse such as yours—nay, he even added another to it, namely, homicide. What then? Did he remain prostrated? Did he not immediately rise up and strenuously prepare for war against the enemy? ^B Indeed, he so valiantly overcame him that he was a protection to his own offspring even when he was dead. For when Solomon undertook a huge transgression and deserved a thousand deaths, God said that He would leave the kingdom entire for David’s sake, in these words: "I will surely rend the kingdom from thy hand, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: but I will take it out of the hand of thy son" (3 Reg. XI, 11). Why? "For David thy father's sake." And to Hezekiah, who was in danger regarding the highest matters, although he was righteous, He promised help for the sake of that blessed man: "I will protect," He says, "this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake" (4 Reg. XIX, 34). Such is the power of repentance. ^C Furthermore, if he had held the same opinion that you now hold—that God could not subsequently be placated—and if he had said within himself, "God bestowed great honor upon me, appointed me among the prophets, handed over to me the empire over my own kin, and delivered me from six hundred dangers; how, after so many benefits, having fallen and dared to commit extreme crimes, can I render Him favorable to me again?" If he had held these things in his mind, he would not only have failed to do the things he later did rightly, but he would have ruined even the former things. For it is not only the body’s wounds, but also those of the soul, that bring about death. Yet we have reached such a pitch of senselessness that we take diligent care of the former and neglect the latter; although the body often labors under an incurable disease, we nonetheless do not despair of health; and although physicians frequently say that the disease cannot be remedied, we nevertheless insist, begging that some ^D consolation, however small, be brought. But in the diseases of the soul, which are none of them incurable—since they do not proceed from the necessity of nature—we act as negligently as if these infirmities were alien to us; indeed, we despair. And where the nature of the disease suggests that our health is hopeless, we apply care as if there were much hope of salvation; but where there is no cause for despair, we lose heart and desist from all care. To such an extent do we have greater regard for the body than for the soul. Consequently, we cannot save the body either. For he who neglects what is primary and places all his concern in lesser things destroys and loses both; but he who preserves order and takes most care of what is first, even if he neglects what is secondary, preserves this also through the health of the former. Indeed, Christ declares this to us in these words: ^A "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. X, 28). Is it now persuaded to you that one must never despair of the diseases of the soul as if they were incurable, or is it necessary to apply other arguments? For however much you may despair, we will never despair of you; nor will we commit what we reproach others for, even though it is not the same and equal for someone to despair of himself as to despair of another. For one who has such an opinion of another will quickly obtain pardon, but one who has it of himself will not. Why? Because the former does not have the other's zeal and repentance in his power, but the latter possesses it alone. Nevertheless, we will by no means despair of you, even if you lose heart a thousand times; for perhaps, perhaps I say, some return to virtue, some restoration of your former life, will be granted. ^B Hear what follows. The Ninevites, upon hearing the prophet vehemently threatening, "Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown" (Jon. III, 4), did not even then lose heart, although there seemed to be no hope of beseeching God; rather, the contrary was suggested by the oracle (for that had not been spoken with any condition, but was an open decree); yet they nevertheless produced repentance, saying: "Who can tell if God will repent and be entreated, and turn from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not" (Jon. III, 9, 10). But if barbarians and unlettered men were able to understand so much, it is much more fitting for us to do so, who have been instructed in divine dogmas and have seen many examples of this kind shown as much in words as in deeds. ^C For "My thoughts," He says, "are not as your thoughts, neither are my ways as your ways; but as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Is. LV, 8, 9). And if we admit our servants who have frequently offended when they promise that they will be better, and restore them to their former honor—nay, we frequently give them greater trust—He is much more likely to do this. For if He had made us for the purpose of inflicting punishment, you would rightly lose heart and doubt your salvation; but if He created us for no other reason than that, moved by His own goodness, we might enjoy eternal goods, and for this reason He does and performs everything from the first day even unto the present, what would drive us to that doubt? ^D Have we offended Him vehemently, and like no one else? Yet for that very reason one must desist from present faults and perform repentance for past ones, and show a great change. For the things we have presumed to perpetrate cannot irritate Him as much as our unwillingness to repent at last. For while to sin is human, to persist in sins...

is no longer human, but altogether satanic. For observe ^A how God complains of this through the prophet more than the former: "And I said," He says, "after she had committed all these acts of whoredom, 'Return to Me,' and she did not return" (Jer. 3:7). And elsewhere again, wishing to show how inclined He is toward our salvation, since after many transgressions they promised to walk in the straight path, He said upon hearing it: "Who will grant that their heart be so in them, that they may fear Me and keep all My commandments all their days, that it may be well with them and with their children forever?" (Deut. 5:29). And Moses, when speaking to them, said: "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, but to fear the Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to love Him?" (Deut. 10:12). He, therefore, who is eager to be loved by us, and does everything for this, and spared not even His Only-begotten for the sake of our friendship, and who considers the matter precious whenever we are reconciled to Him, how could He not receive and love those who repent? Hear, then, what He says through the prophet: "Do you declare your iniquities first, that you may be justified" (Is. 43:26). And this He requires from us in order that the friendship toward Him may become intense. For when someone who loves, having been insulted many times by those he loves, does not even then extinguish his affection, he is eager to bring those insults into the open for no other reason than to demonstrate the solidity of his love, and to draw them into a greater and more intense love. If the confession of sins has such great consolation, far more so does washing them away through deeds. For if this were not so, but rather that those once turned aside from the straight path were prohibited from returning to the former, no one, perhaps—except a very few and easily numbered—would have ever entered into the kingdom of heaven; but now we shall find those who have shone the brightest to be from among these fallen ones. For those who displayed great intensity in their evils will display it again in their good deeds, conscious of how many debts they have made themselves responsible for; which is exactly what Christ indicated when He spoke to Simon about the woman: "Do you see this woman?" He says. "I entered your house, you gave Me no water for My feet; but she has wetted My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since I entered, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil; but she has anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore I say to you, her many sins are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." And He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven" (Luke 7:44-48).

16. Therefore, even the devil, knowing that those who have committed great evils, when they begin to repent, do this with great intensity—as they are aware of their transgressions—fears and trembles lest they take a beginning of the matter. ^B For after they have taken it, they are thereafter unstoppable, and having been rekindled by repentance like fire, they render their own souls purer than refined gold, being pushed into the harbor of virtue as if by a certain strong wind of conscience and the memory of their former transgressions. And this is what they have as an advantage over those who never fell—that they use greater eagerness; only, as I said, if they can take hold of the beginning. For this is the difficult and hard-to-achieve thing: to be able to place one's feet at the entrance, and to grasp the thresholds of repentance, and to push away and strike down the enemy who is there puffing ^C and pressing hard. But after this, he will not display such madness, having been defeated once where he was strong, and we shall receive greater eagerness, and with much ease we shall run this good race. Let us therefore take hold of the return, let us run back to the city in the heavens, in which we were also inscribed, and in which we were commanded to conduct our lives. For falling into despair about oneself has not only this evil, that it shuts against us the gates of that city, nor that it brings one into greater negligence and contempt, but that it also casts one into a satanic arrogance. For even the devil became such from nowhere else, but from first despairing, and later, out of despair, falling into madness. For when a soul has once renounced its own salvation, it will no longer perceive how it is being cast down, choosing both to say and do everything against its own salvation. And just as those who are insane, when they have once fallen from a healthy state, fear nothing, nor are they ashamed, but they dare everything without fear, even if they are to fall into fire, even into the sea, even down a precipice; so too are those who are seized by the madness of despair thereafter unbearable, running through every kind of wickedness, and if death coming upon them does not stop that madness and rush, they work ten thousand terrible things upon themselves. Therefore I exhort you, before you are deeply baptized by this drunkenness, to sober up and awaken, and to shake off the satanic stupor, and if not at once, then gently and little by little. For to me it seems easier to be detached from all the ropes that hold one simultaneously, and to transfer oneself to the gymnasium of repentance. But if this seems difficult to you, as you wish to touch the road leading to the better things, just touch and take hold of the eternal life. Yes, I beg and beseech you, for the sake of your previous excellence, for the sake of that boldness, that we may see you again on the same peak of perseverance. Have mercy on those who are scandalized because of your head, on those who are falling ^D, on those who become more negligent, on those who are despairing of the road of virtue. For now sadness occupies the choir of the brethren, but pleasure and mirth the gatherings of the unbelievers and of the young men who are more slackly disposed. But if you return again to that strictness of life, then all total of adversaries will be dissipated; but we, strengthened by that confidence, will be crowned with greater splendor. For such a victory will bring greater glory and delight. For you will not receive merely the reward for excellent deeds, but also for the exhortation and consolation of others, being positioned as an example; so that if anyone should fall into similar evils, he may rise again and betake himself to a better life. Do not despise such gain, nor...

let your soul be cast down into Hades with grief; rather, let us breathe again, and let us shake off the cloud of sadness which hangs over us on your account. For now, setting aside our own losses, we weep for your calamities. But if you are willing to return to your senses and open your eyes, and be reckoned among the angelic militia, you will both snatch us from mourning and wipe away a great part of our own sins. That it happens that those who have been restored through repentance shine forth greatly, and often even more than those who have never fallen, we have made plain from the divine Scriptures. Thus also publicans and harlots possess the kingdom of God; thus, among the last, many are preferred before the first. ^B I will tell you what happened in our own time, things of which you yourself could have been a witness. You know that young son of Urban, the Phoenician, who remained an orphan while still immature, being well endowed with money, servants, and lands. He, first of all, having said a long farewell to his tutors, and having cast aside his most splendid garment and all the pomp of this life, suddenly covered himself with viler clothing; and withdrawing to the solitude of the mountains, he exhibited an extraordinary philosophy, not according to the measure of his age, but such as some great and admirable man could exhibit. After this, being deemed worthy of the sacred initiation into the mysteries, he progressed much further in virtue; so that all were rejoicing and giving glory to God, because, educated in wealth and sprung from illustrious ancestors and being very young, he had immediately trampled upon the pomp of life and ascended to the true summit. When he was in this state and stirred the admiration of all, certain corrupters who had care of him by right of kinship brought him back to his former waves. Having therefore rejected everything again, he betook himself from the mountains into the midst of the forum, and carried on horseback and surrounded by a great retinue of servants, he thus went around the entire city, and was unwilling to return to a sound mind. Indeed, kindled by excessive pleasure, he is necessarily driven into absurd loves; and there was no one of those who were going about in the midst who did not have his salvation despaired of; such a crowd of flatterers surrounded him, ^C and there were joined the orphanhood of his parents, his youth, and his wealth. But those who are accustomed to easily malign everything were blaming those who from the beginning had led him into this kind of life, and were saying that he had both fallen away from spiritual things and would afterwards be useless to his household, since he had recoiled from the study of letters before the time and could pluck no fruit from it. When these words were thrown about and much shame followed from thence, certain holy men who had often hunted such a prey, and had learned well by experience not to despise even such as these, for those who are instructed by divine hope, observing him assiduously, if they saw him at any time in the forum, would approach and embrace him. And at first, indeed, he, carried on a lofty horse, would address them as they followed him obliquely; such was the man’s initial impudence. But they, moved by mercy and love, not caring for this kind of affront, looked only to this: to snatch the lamb from the wolves; which they also accomplished through patience. For at length, having returned as if from a certain madness, and suffused with blushing at their assiduous care, if he saw them approaching from afar, he would immediately leap down from his horse, and with lowered eyes, listened to their admonitions in silence, and with the passage of time ^D exhibited greater reverence and honor toward them. And thus, by the grace of God, gradually freed from such nets, they returned him to his former solitude and philosophy. Now, finally, he has shone with such splendor that his former life, if compared with that by which he shone after his fall, must be considered as nothing. For since he had learned by experience what that temptation was, having consumed all his money for the use of the needy, and freed from such cares, he cut off every occasion for those lying in wait, and now, progressing on that path which leads to heaven, he has finally arrived at the peak of virtue. Another example. But that one indeed, when he was a youth, fell and rose again; but another certain person, after many labors in the eremitic life, having traversed the angelic life with only one companion, when he was already approaching old age, I know not by what means circumvented by the craftiness of Satan, and giving entrance to the malignant one because he was acting more laxly, he fell into the concupiscence of women, he who, from the time he had entered the monastic life, had never seen a woman. And at first, indeed, he was asking his companion to serve him meat and wine, with threats added that, if he did not obtain it, he would go down into the forum. He said this not from a desire for meat, but that from this he might seize an opportunity for a descent into the city. That man, however, anxious and fearing that if he refused it, he might cast him into a greater crime, abundantly satisfied his wish. But this man, as he saw that his cunning plan had failed, finally acting impudently, unveiled his simulation, and said it was absolutely necessary for him to go to the city. When, however, he noticed that he was striving in vain, he finally let him go, and following from afar, observed for what reason he was descending. When he saw him enter a brothel, knowing he had had relations with a harlot, he waited; and after he, having obtained his absurd desire, had come out, he received him with hands stretched out; and having embraced him and lovingly kissed him, blaming nothing for the deed, he asked only that, after he had sated his concupiscence, he should return to the dwelling of solitude. He, truly suffused with shame because of such meekness, and struck in his soul, and pricked by the deed, follows him as he goes to the mountain: where he asks the man to shut him up in another cell, and with the doors of the dwelling closed, to provide him bread and water on appointed days, and to answer those who inquire that he had fallen asleep. The companion assents to the requests; but he, enclosed, was taking care to wipe away the filth of his soul with assiduous fasts, prayers, and tears. But not much time having elapsed, when a drought occupied the region and all the inhabitants were living in mourning, a certain man was ordered in a dream to go away and beseech that man who was enclosed, that he might pray and take away the drought. He sets out with friends accompanying him: who first as they...

seek that man, learn that he is dead. Thinking they have been deceived, they turn again to prayers, and again through the same vision they hear the same things as before. And then, surrounding the one who truly had deceived them, they exhorted him to show the man to them; for they were saying that he had not died, but was living. Having heard these things, and seeing that the compacts were exposed, he brings them to that saint; and they, having broken down the wall (for he had also happened to block up the entrance), and entered in all together, prostrating themselves at his feet and announcing what had occurred, entreated him to ward off the famine. But he at first resisted, saying that he was far from such boldness; for he had the sin as though it had just been committed, always before his eyes; but when they related to him all the things that had befallen them, then they persuaded him to pray; and having prayed, he ended the drought. As for the things concerning that young man, who had formerly been a disciple of John the son of Zebedee, but later spent a long time as a brigand, and was again hunted by the holy hands of the blessed man, and returned from the dens and caves of the robbers to his former virtue, you yourself are not ignorant, but know all things accurately not less than we do; and I have often heard you marveling at his great condescension, and that he who had before kissed the hand that had done these things, embraced the young man, and thus led him back to his former state.

18. The blessed Paul, too, takes hold of Onesimus—the useless one, the runaway, the thief—not only embracing him when he was changed, but also deems the one who has repented worthy of being held in equal honor with his teacher, saying thus: "I beseech thee," he says, "for my child, whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus, who was once useless to thee but now is useful to both thee and me, whom I have sent back; do thou receive him, that is, my own heart. Whom I wished to keep with me, that for thee he might serve me in the bonds of the Gospel: but without thy mind I would do nothing, that thy good might not be as it were of necessity, but of will. For perhaps he was therefore parted for a while, that thou mightest receive him forever, no longer as a slave, but above a slave and a beloved brother, most dear to me; but how much more to thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord? If therefore thou hast me as a partner, receive him as me" (Philem. 10-18). Writing also to the Corinthians, the same [apostle] said: "Lest by any means, when I come, I shall bewail many of them that have sinned before, and have not repented" (2 Cor. 12:21 and 13:2). And again: "As I have said before, I foretell, that if I come again, I will not spare" (2 Cor. 13:2). Do you see whom he bewails, and whom he does not spare? ^A Not those who have sinned, but those who have not repented. And not simply those who have not repented, but those who have been exhorted once and a second time unto this, and have not been willing to be persuaded. For the "I have said before and foretell as present," and "the second time and absent I write," implies nothing else than this—which may it not be that we also now encounter! For even if Paul is not present—who then threatened the Corinthians—yet Christ is present, who [even then] spoke through him; and if we persist in being unyielding, He will not spare us, but will strike with a great blow ^B both here and there. Let us then prevent his face with confession; let us pour out our hearts before him. "For thou hast sinned," he says; "add no more, and pray for thy former [sins]" (Eccli. 21:1). And again, "A just man is an accuser of himself at the beginning of his speech" (Prov. 18:17). Let us not then wait for the accuser, but let us forestall his rank, and thus we shall make the Judge more gentle through our right-mindedness. That you confess your sins, and that you upbraid yourself beyond measure, I know ^C clearly; but I do not desire only this, but I desire that you be persuaded that the matter is also able to justify you. For as long as you do not make this confession profitable, even if you accuse yourself, you will not be able to depart from the sins that follow. For no one will be able to do anything with eagerness and the appropriate discipline, when he has not first persuaded himself that he does this for his own benefit. For indeed, he who sows, if after he has cast the seeds he does not expect the harvest, he will never reap. For who would choose to labor in vain, winning no good from the toil? ^D Thus, therefore, he who sows words and tears and confession, if he does not do this with the expectation of a good return, he will not be able to depart from sinning, still being held by the evil of despair; but just as that husbandman who has despaired of the produce of fruits will no longer hinder anything that is damaging to the seeds; so also this man, who sows confession through tears, but expecting no profit from it, will not be able to overthrow the things that destroy repentance. And it is being entangled in the same evils again that destroys repentance. "For he that buildeth," he says, "and he that pulleth down, what profit have they more than labor?" (Eccli. 34:23). Being baptized from a dead body, and again touching it, what did he profit in his laver? Thus, a man fasting from his sins, and again going forth and doing the same things, whose prayer will he hear? And again, "He that returneth," he says, "from righteousness unto sin, the Lord will prepare him for the sword" (Eccli. 26:27). And, "As a dog, when it has returned to its own vomit, becomes hateful; so also is a fool, who has returned to his own sin" (Prov. 26:11).

19. Do not therefore exhibit your sin only as if accusing yourself, but also as one bound to be justified through the manner of repentance; for in this way you will be able to turn the soul that is confessing, so that it no longer falls into the same [vices].

^A And look to the sinners who are not ashamed, but with great impudence proclaim their sins as if they were those of others. I would certainly not wish you to be of their number, or to make your confession out of the impulse of despair, but with good hope, and having cut away the entire root of despair, to display for yourself the opposite attitude. What is the mother and root of despair? Sloth; or rather, let it be called not only the root, but also the nurse and mother. For just as rot produces moths in wool, which are then increased by the moths themselves, so too does sloth produce despair, and thereafter is nurtured by despair; and both of them procure for themselves a detestable increase, and do not receive a moderate addition. If, therefore, one were to cut away the one, he will easily be able to overcome the one that remains. For he who is not lazy will never fall into despair, and he who is nurtured by good hope and does not despair of his own soul will never be able to fall into sloth. Separate that pair, and shatter the yoke—I mean that shifting and heavy thought; for it is not of a single form, but presents a shifting and manifold aspect. What is this? It happens that one who is repenting performs many things that are right and noble, and meanwhile falls from good works, [and he thinks that] because of the gravity of the sin it is equal to the deeds he did right; and this is most powerful in casting one into despair, as if what had been constructed were demolished, and his labor in performing those things had been for nothing. Yet one ought to reflect on this in one's mind, and drive away this thought: since if we do not hold that the measure of right deeds is set equal to the sins that were committed later, nothing will prevent us from being completely cast down. But those right deeds are like a strong breastplate, which repels a sharp and bitter weapon so that it does not complete its work, but being itself pierced, it removes much danger from the body. For he who departs [from this life] with many works, both good and evil, will have some comfort in the punishment ^B and in the torments; but he who is bereft of good works and carries only evils with him, it cannot be said how much he will suffer, having been sent away to eternal punishment. For there, evil works will be weighed against those that are not such, and if the latter depress the scales, they will bring no small salvation to their author; nor will the harm of the evil works have so great a force that it can dislodge him from his place. If, however, the evil works prevail, they depress him into the fire of Gehenna, because the sum of his good works is not such that it could resist the more vehement contrary impulse. This, moreover, not only our own reasoning suggests, but also the divine oracles; for He Himself says, "He will render to each according to his works" (Rom. 2:6). And you may find many distinctions not only in Gehenna, but also in the kingdom: "Many are the mansions," He says (John 14:2). And, "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon" (1 Cor. 15:41). And what is surprising if He has distinguished these so accurately, when He says that there, "star differs from star" (1 Cor. 15:41)? Being aware of these things, therefore, let us never cease from the exercise of good works, nor yield to labor, nor despise the state of the stars because we cannot ascend to the order of the sun and moon. For if we have displayed at least such virtue, we will be able to be in heaven. And if we are not gold, nor shall we be precious stone, ^C if we possess at least the rank of silver we shall remain upon the foundation. Let us beware of this one thing: that we do not return to that material which fire easily kindles, nor, when we are not able to perform illustrious deeds, abstain even from the smallest ones; for that is the extreme of madness: which may it be far from us. For just as bodily riches are increased when their lovers do not neglect even the smallest gains, so too are spiritual riches. Since it is absurd that, where the Judge denies the reward not even to a cup of cold water, we should not care for the lesser deeds unless we perform the excellent ones. For he who has not despised the lesser ones will exhibit great diligence toward the greatest; but he who despises these will eventually depart even from those, to which Christ, so that this might not happen, assigned a most ample reward. For what is easier than to visit those laboring with sickness? Yet for this matter He grants a great reward. Therefore, take hold of eternal life, delight in the Lord, and supplicate Him; take up that sweet yoke again, submit to the light burden, add to the beginning the end that is worthy; do not suffer such great riches to flow away. For if you continue to provoke God, you will lose them all through your deeds; but if, on the contrary, before much loss occurs and the crops are inundated, you obstruct the channels of wickedness, you will be able to recover what has been lost, and to make no small addition to them. Reflecting on all these things, shake off the dust, rise from the earth, and you will be formidable to the adversary; for he indeed has cast you down as if you would never rise again; but if he sees you on your feet again with hands raised ^D, struck by an unexpected event, he will be more slothful to trip you up again; but you will emerge stronger, so that you do not receive a blow of this kind again. For if the calamities of others can instruct us, much more will those which we have sustained instruct us. Which, in your very person, I expect to see shortly, and that you, by the nod of God, will become more radiant, and will exhibit such virtue that you are able to patronize others there as well. Only do not despair, and do not break down; for I will not cease to repeat this to you in every encounter, wherever I see you, and also through the mouth of others: for if you hear this, you will not need other remedies.