Ethical Sermons collected by Symeon Metaphrastes — Appendix

APPENDIX TO THE THIRD VOLUME OF THE WORKS OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT, COMPRISING

Twenty-four sermons on ethics, collected from his works by Symeon Metaphrastes, and the book *On Virginity*, falsely ascribed to the name of Basil.

NOTICE

The twenty-four sermons on ethics rightfully take the first place in this Appendix, for since they are entirely woven together from the works of Basil, they present Basil himself speaking to us, and do not attribute to his name the offspring of another. Symeon the Master and Logothete—accustomed to being called Metaphrastes—stitched these centos together. In this work, he adds almost nothing of his own, except when the connection of the matter demands that a single word be added or changed. For he has by no means neglected the order and sequence; but, if you except a few testimonies which have no connection either with what precedes them or with what follows them, the rest are sufficiently fit and joined to one another. However, as is wont to happen in works of this kind, whereby those things which rested in their proper place are distorted when placed in a foreign one, Metaphrastes did not always escape this fault. For example, Basil denies in Epistle 250 that he ought to be brought to concede his communion to everyone, and maintains that some must be excluded from it; Symeon substitutes "charity" for "communion," and induces Basil to speak most absurdly in Sermon 3, no. 2. He errs no less when, in Sermon 18, no. 1, he reports the impious principle of Eunomius as if it were a splendid saying of Basil. For what Eunomius entreats of his present and future readers—that they should not judge truth by the multitude, with the prize awarded to the greater part, nor pay attention to dignities, nor stop their ears to the later generation, with victory conceded to the host of the former—Metaphrastes has attributed to St. Basil; nor did he perceive in these words the craftiness of the heretic, who, seeing himself pressed by the authority of all antiquity and the consensus of all the Churches, was diminishing the weight of so great an argument by dissembling and quibbling. Furthermore, this work is quite useful, both on account of the very juxtaposition of similar testimonies, which are gathered from various places into one, and also because it sometimes helps to correct the text of St. Basil, and contains many things which, since they do not appear in Basil’s works, may seem to have been derived from those which we have lost. We have marked such testimonies with little stars, distinguishing them from others, which are indicated as having been found in their own places. In the two Royal codices which we have used, the works of Basil, or the orations from which each testimony seems to have been taken, are generally indicated in the margin: for example, from the *Antirrhetica*, from the *Ascetica*, from the Commentary on Isaiah, from the epistles, from the Homilies on the *Hexaemeron*. Only the Psalms are cited more accurately, with the number of the psalm itself added. In these notes in the margin, two orations are listed which do not exist today, namely, the homily *On Almsgiving and Judgment* (a), sermon 4, and the homily *That God is Incomprehensible*, sermon 15.

These Sermons were published, says the most learned Fabricius (b), first in Greek from the library of the Most Christian King, at Paris, by Guil. Morellus, 1556, 8°. Hence, they were translated into the Latin tongue by Simone de Maillé, Archbishop of Tours, ibid. 1558, 8°. Later, in both languages, with a new interpretation by Stanislaus Ilovius, Frankfurt 1598 and 1611, 8°. The Latin interpretation of Simon de Maillé has been preserved in the Greco-Latin editions of Basil’s works. I suspect that among these ethical works are the nine shorter homilies which Nicolaus Antonius narrates in *Bibliotheca Hispana* were translated into Latin by Francisco Vergara. The interpretation of the Archbishop of Tours, which is dedicated to Cardinal Lorraine, is an egregious monument to the diligence of the interpreter and his skill in the Greek tongue, but I have not retained it, because the most learned prelate, while following the context of a faulty codex, fell into many errors which he could easily have avoided had he had in his hands another codex of the same Royal library, which was of great use to me. Therefore, since this work is a text composed of gathered testimonies, it seemed better to append the interpretation that each had in its own place. However, we have corrected many things that were rendered less accurately or less clearly. As regards the context, of the two Royal codices with which it was collated, the one marked 1992 was, as I have already said, of great assistance to me; the other, which is 1910, differs so little from the published editions that it seems to have been used for the first edition of the twenty-four sermons.

APPENDIX. — SYMEONIS METAPHRASTÆ.

TWENTY-FOUR MORAL DISCOURSES

DE VIRTUTE ET VITIO. SERMO I. — ON VIRTUE AND VICE. DISCOURSE I.

^A 1. Our Lord Jesus Christ says to his apostles: “Go, teach all nations, teaching them,” ^B not to observe some things and neglect others, but “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”—that is, not to let even the slightest of the things ordained be passed over. For if all things were not necessary to us for the purpose of salvation, neither would all the commandments have been written down, nor would it have been instructed that all must be kept.

But we, imagining that we have fulfilled one of the commandments (for I would not say that we have fulfilled them—since all are linked together according to the sound principle of the goal to which they point, in such a way that if one is undone, it is necessary that the others also be undone at the same time), do not expect wrath for the things we have passed over, but we await rewards for that which we imagine we have achieved; ^C not knowing that someone who, among ten talents committed to him, has kept back one or two but returned the rest, is not recognized as upright because of the many he paid back, but is convicted as dishonest and greedy for the theft of the few.

And what do I mean by theft? Since he to whom one talent had been entrusted, and who then returned that very talent whole and intact, is condemned because he did not increase the entrusted talent by interest; and he who has honored his father for ten years, but afterwards deals him only a single blow, is not honored as a pious and kind person, but is condemned as a parricide. He, therefore, who has been in the progress of good works, and then has fallen back into his ancient habit, not only

loses the reward of his former labors, but is also judged worthy of a heavier condemnation, because he who has tasted the good Word of God, and has been deemed worthy of the knowledge of the mystery, has betrayed everything, being ensnared by a brief pleasure.

2. It is necessary, therefore, for us, if we desire to traverse ^A safely the underlying path of life, and to present to Christ our soul and body together free from the shame of wounds, and to receive the crowns for victory, to keep the eyes of the soul always circumspect and vigilant, and to be suspicious of all things that are pleasant, and not to fasten our mind on anything of the kind; not even if gold should appear spread out in abundance, ready to fall into the hands of those who desire it (for "If riches should abound," He says, "do not set your heart upon them" ^B); nor if the earth should bring forth every

delight

departed with any man; but that which was said of old by the just man remains fixed and valid for every human being: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return." (1) Which, therefore, is more profitable for you: to choose temporary pleasure, and through it receive eternal death; or to embrace the ^A toils and hardships of cultivating virtue, and by its help attain eternal life? (2) For we judge the weights of the body by the scales of a balance; but the things to be chosen in life, we distinguish by the free will of the soul, which Scripture has also called a balance, inasmuch as it can receive an equal inclination toward either side. For example, fornication and chastity are judged before you, and your high mind—trusted with the tribunal—presides over the judgment committed to it; and while pleasure supports fornication, the fear of God comes to the aid of chastity. If, then, having condemned sin, you grant the victory to chastity, you have ^B made a straight judgment of the matter; but if, inclining toward pleasure, you pronounce that sin is to be preferred, you have made a crooked judgment, becoming liable to the curse of him who said: "Woe unto them that call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness." Since, then, every virtue is judged against every vice, then surely show the straightness of your judgments in the secret tribunal of your soul, and, taking the commandment as your assessor, show a hatred of wickedness, turning away from sins and preferring virtues. For if you act so that in every action the better things prevail within you, you shall be blessed "in that day, when God shall judge the secrets of men according to our gospel"; and, "their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing," you shall not depart condemned because you inclined toward evils, but you shall be honored with the crowns of righteousness, with which you have crowned virtue throughout your entire life. (5) For just as an archer directs his arrow toward the mark, not missing his aim by shooting too far, nor falling short, nor swerving to either side: so ^C must a judge aim at that which is just, having no regard for persons ("For to show partiality in judgment is not good"), nor acting because of a leaning, but delivering a just and in no way distorted sentence. And when two are judged before him, one of whom has more than is fair, and the other less, the judge ought to set them both on equal footing, and take from him who has more than is sufficient exactly as much as he finds the one who has suffered wrong lacks.

3. (6) For as for the rest of possessions, they are not so much of those who possess them as of any whoever may attain them. ^D

seeing that they are shifted like pieces in a game of dice. ^A But virtue alone of all possessions is something that cannot be taken away, and it abides with the living and with the dead. Hence, it seems to me that Solon spoke these words to the wealthy:

Virtue I would not exchange For riches; for the one abides for all time, While riches pass from one man to another.

Therefore, you must take care of virtue, O humans, which even swims to safety with you in a shipwreck, and when you are cast naked upon the land, it will show you to be more venerable than the fortunate. And let us live in such a way that we never consider the past better than the future. Let us not say that the former days were better than these. ^B For if the previous days are better than those that follow, it will be said to us: "You have suffered so much in vain," as the goods are brought to nothing by the subsequent negligence. (3) For just as the one who is being perfected stretches forward to what lies ahead, so he who sins steps backward. And what greater proof of evil is there than the abandonment of the good? And the height of wickedness is to provoke one who is good and gentle. For what is extreme in wickedness is at variance even with itself; and vice seems to be opposed not only to the good, but even to itself. (5) Just as darkness is overcome by the presence of light, and disease is conquered by the arrival of health, and progress in virtue has its growth from lesser things to greater ones, so too the outpouring ^C of malice flows from small beginnings to something incurable. (7) Furthermore, the beginning of acquiring good things is the withdrawal from evil. "Turn away," he says, "from evil, and do good." For if he had immediately set before you perfect things, you would have shrunk from the undertaking; but now He accustoms you to things that are easier to grasp, so that you may have the courage for what is to follow. (9) For as the first step on a ladder is the withdrawal from the ground, so in the way of life according to God, the beginning of progress is the separation from evils. (10) For as long as each of us is a child, pursuing the pleasure of the present, he takes no thought for the future; but having become a man, after the perfecting of the faculty of judgment, ^D he seems to see the path of life branching off toward virtue and vice, and often turning the eye of his soul toward both, he judges by comparing what belongs to each. And the life of sinners shows only the delights of the present age, while that of the righteous reveals only the goods of the future. And truly the way of those who are being saved, by how much more beautiful are the things it promises for the future, by that much more laborious does it present the things of the present; but the pleasant and intemperate life does not offer an expectation for the future, but rather it presents the enjoyment as already present. Blessed, therefore, is he who does not turn…

away from the allurements of pleasure toward destruction, and in the choice 11 of the two ways does not enter upon the path that leads to the worse. Blessed is he who has withdrawn himself from all hope of the things of this world, and has God as his only hope. For just as the man is cursed ^A who has his hope in man, so is he blessed who leans upon the Lord. For hope in God does not admit of wavering; nor does the Lord deign to provide the fullness of His help to one who at one time places his hope in money, human glory, and worldly power, and at another time puts God forward as his hope; but one must truly rest in the help from God.

4. But ignorant men, and lovers of the world, since they are ignorant of the nature of the good itself, often deem blessed those things which are of no value: riches, health, the splendor of life. None of these things is good by its own nature, not only because they easily change into their opposites, but because they cannot even make their owners good. He, therefore, who is still passing through this life is not yet to be called blessed, on account of the uncertainty of the outcome; but he who has completed his obligations and has closed his life with a sure end, he is already securely called blessed. And those who do good have the approval in the very work; but those who avoid evil are not to be praised if they happen to have avoided sin once or twice, but if they ^B can entirely decline the experience of evil. 473 If, therefore, it behooves one to choose the best life, and to expect that it will become pleasant through habit, it is fitting to set about the best things. For it is shameful, while wasting the present time, to seek later to recall what has passed, when it will be of no advantage to be grieved. For it is truly impossible for us to become capable of receiving divine grace unless we have first driven out the passions of wickedness that have occupied our souls. I have seen physicians who do not administer life-giving medicines before they have evacuated through vomiting the morbid matter which the intemperate have stored up for themselves through an evil diet. But also, a vessel previously imbued with some foul-smelling liquid, unless it has been washed out, does not receive the pouring in of an ointment. Therefore, what was previously within must be poured out, so that what is brought in may be received 12. For the Holy Spirit is indeed present to all; but to those who are pure in their affections, He exhibits His own power; ^C but to those whose ruling faculty is confounded by the stains of sin, He does not.

5. For it is impossible for that which we strive for to be accomplished if the mind is distracted by various cares, just as the Lord affirmed, when He said: No one can D

serve two masters; and again: Ye cannot serve God and mammon. For we can neither keep any other commandment, nor even love God or our neighbor, if we wander in mind, now to one thing and now to another. For it is impossible for a person to grasp any art or science accurately if he passes from one to another, nor can he master one if he ignores what pertains to its end. For actions must square with their scope and end, because nothing that is right can be accomplished by an inept and incongruent way. For the end of the blacksmith's art is not naturally achieved through the works of the potter, nor are athletic crowns gained by the pursuit of flute-playing; but the labor peculiar and suitable to each end is what is sought. ^B Just so, the exercise of pleasing God according to the Gospel of Christ is accomplished by withdrawing from the cares of the world and by the complete removal of all wandering of the mind. Whoever, therefore, truly wishes to follow God must necessarily be loosed from the bonds of attachment to this life; and this cannot be accomplished except through total withdrawal and the forgetting of old habits. For if we do not distance ourselves from carnal kinship and the companionship of this life, and as it were migrate to another world through the disposition of our soul, we cannot attain our scope, which is to please God. Whoever, then, has embraced a state of life equal to the angels, if he becomes defiled by human passions, is like the hide of a panther, whose hair is neither entirely black nor entirely white, but being speckled by the mixture of different colors, it is counted neither among the black nor among the white. ^C Just as painters, when they paint images from images, look frequently at the model, and strive to transfer the character from there into their own work with artistry, so also he who has resolved to perfect himself in all parts of virtue should look to the lives of the saints, as to certain living and active statues, and should make their goodness his own through imitation.

6. For if an ox, which is given to us for agriculture, knows the voice of its keeper and recognizes him who usually brings it food, and if a donkey runs automatically to its accustomed places of rest, and such is the habit of brute animals toward their provider, how much more shall the rational nature be required to measure its love for God? For no single action perfects a man of virtue, but the works of virtue must extend throughout his whole life. And just as those entering a bath are stripped of every garment, ^D so also he who...

approaches the ^A ascetic life must be stripped of all material things of this life, to enter into the life of philosophy. "Be," he says, "wise as serpents;" for when the serpent needs to slough off its skin, it thrusts itself into a narrow place and, pressing its body tightly, it puts off its old age wisely and intelligently. This is what the Word also wishes for us: as we travel along the narrow and constricted way, to put off the old man and put on the new, so that our youth too might be renewed like the eagle’s. For upon the shining of the light, darkness vanishes; and upon the return of health, the troubles of sickness are quieted; and upon the demonstration of truth, the nature of falsehood is exposed.

But most men are like clouds, which are carried now to one part of the air, now to another, according to the shifting of the winds ^B. And it is no wonder that for those whose understanding is easily changeable, the order of their life does not remain consistent; but for those whose mind is firm and always constant and the same, it is consistent for them to lead a life harmonious with their resolve. Many, however, while even approving of wicked actions, call the sarcastic person "witty," and him who utters obscene words, "refined"; the harsh and irascible man they name "scorn-worthy" [to be held in honor]; the stingy and illiberal man they praise as a "thrifty administrator"; the one wallowing in luxury, as "liberal"; the fornicator and the lascivious person, as one who "enjoys his own affairs" and is of a "freer spirit"; and, in a word, they impose a flattering name upon every vice from the virtue that lies adjacent to it ^C. Such people "bless with their mouth," as David says, "but curse in their heart." For by the flattery of their words they bring every curse upon their life, rendering those men subject to eternal condemnation by their approvals. Just as, therefore, it is not for a just judge to fix equal portions for unequal deeds, but rather it is necessary that he who initiated the evil pay the debt with an increase—if he is to become better himself through the punishments, and make others more sensible by his example—so also he who does evil under the pretext of good is deserving of double punishment, both because he does what is not good and because he uses the good, so to speak, as a partner in perpetrating the sin.

7. ^D Therefore, a prudent man must beware of living according to the rumors of the mob, or looking toward those things that are approved by the multitude, and not rather establish right reason as the guide of his life, so that even if he must contradict all men, even if he must have a bad reputation and face danger for the sake of what is honorable, he chooses to alter nothing of what he has rightly discerned. For he who...

is not so disposed, what shall we say he lacks that the Egyptian sophist ^A possessed, who, whenever he wished, became a plant and a beast, and fire and water, and everything? For he himself now praises justice among those who honor it, yet now will hold the contrary opinion when he perceives injustice being esteemed, which is the very character of flatterers, and the imitation of the cunning and versatile fox of Archilochus. For true speech, proceeding from a sound mind, is simple and uniform, always saying the same things about the same matters; but the versatile and artful man, possessing much complexity and artifice, assumes countless shapes and turns himself through infinite deceits, transforming himself for the favor of those he encounters. For when things are in reality one way, but words persuade differently about them, it is a kind of trick, or rather a perversion, brought about by speech concerning the truth. And he who appears one way but is another in reality, uses the rotations of speech, deceiving those who are with him, just as hares and foxes do to dogs, showing one path while traveling another. For familiarity with base words is a pathway to base deeds. Therefore, the soul must be guarded with all vigilance, lest by the pleasure of words we unwittingly receive some of the worse things, just as those who take poisons with honey. For he who confirms with deeds the philosophy that exists merely in words among others, ^B

He alone is wise, while the rest flit about like shadows.

Since to praise virtue magnificently in public and to deliver long speeches on its behalf, yet privately to prefer pleasure to temperance, and to value gain more than justice, I would say is like those performing dramas on the stage; who often enter as kings and potentates, though being neither kings nor potentates, and perhaps not even free men at all. Furthermore, a musician would not willingly suffer his lyre to be out of tune, nor would a chorus leader allow any of the chorus to stand with him who is not as harmonious as possible; yet shall each man be at variance with himself, and not provide a life in agreement with his words? For neither does the excellence of a sire in the race make a horse fast, nor is the praise of a dog that it was born of the fastest; but as the virtue of ^C all other animals is observed in each one individually, so too is the proper praise of a man that which is attested by his own rightly performed deeds. The practice of virtue is a precious possession for the one who has it, and a most pleasant spectacle for those who encounter it. For those who pursue virtue ^D are like stars, which in the darkness of night, to others in different parts of the heavens,

^A shine forth—whose radiance is indeed pleasing, but the unexpectedness of it is surely even more pleasing. Such also are these men, very few and easily numbered, in this gloomy state of our life appearing as if in a moonless night; in addition to the grace that comes from virtue, because they are rare to find, they also possess a quality that makes them dearly desired. But it is shameful for one who is illustrious by his own virtue to be adorned with foreign ornaments.

8. ^B Therefore, do not tell me that wickedness has its origin from God; for this is not pious, because nothing of contraries is generated by its contrary. For neither does life generate death, nor is darkness the source of light, nor is disease the creator of health; but in the changes of affections, the transitions occur from contraries to contraries; whereas in generation, each of the things that come into being proceeds not from contraries, but from things of the same kind. Therefore, evil is not a living and ensouled substance, but an affection in the soul contrary to virtue, ^C arising in the slothful because they have fallen away from the good. Do not, therefore, look for evil from without, nor imagine some primordial nature of wickedness; but let each person recognize himself as the author of his own malice. For if it were involuntary and not in our own power, the fear of the laws would not hang so heavily over those who do injustice, nor would the punishments of the courts be so inexorable, measuring out to the guilty what is commensurate with their deserts. For if the origins of actions according to vice and virtue are not in our own power, but are necessities depending on birth, then the legislators are useless for defining what we must do and what we must avoid, and the judges are useless for honoring virtue and punishing wickedness. ^D For the wrong is not of the thief, nor of the murderer, who could not even if he wished hold back his hand, because of the inescapable necessity compelling him to the deed. And most vain of all are those who study the arts; for the farmer will have an abundance, even if he does not cast seed into the ground nor sharpen his sickle; the merchant likewise will grow rich beyond measure whether he wishes it or not, as fate gathers wealth for him. And those great hopes of the Christians will vanish and fall away from us, since neither is justice honored nor is sin punished, because nothing is done by humans according to the free determination of the mind. For where necessity and fate rule, merit has no place, which is nevertheless the principal foundation of a just judgment. For they tell that regarding figs, some plant wild figs near the garden ones; and others, by binding the green figs of the wild fig tree to the fruitful and domestic figs, heal their infirmity, when the fruit is already flowing and fading.

What is the meaning of this example from nature? It is that we ought ^A often to receive a certain impetus and vigor for the manifestation of good works even from those who are outside the faith. For if you see one who lives an ethnic life, or who has been cut off from the Church because of some perverse heresy, acting as a diligent observer of a sober life and of the rest of the moral order, let your own zeal be increased all the more, so that you may become like the fruit-bearing fig tree, which gathers strength from the presence of the wild ones, and checks the falling of its fruit, and nurtures the fruit more diligently. We have known that the natural defects of certain trees are cured by the care of farmers; such as acid pomegranates and the more bitter almonds, which, when they have ^B had their trunk perforated at the root and have received a peg of fat pine driven through into the middle of the pith, then transform the bitterness of their juice into good use. Let no one, therefore, who is living in vice despair of himself. For if a farmer changes the qualities of plants, how much more is there no kind of infirmity that the cultivation of the soul, in matters pertaining to virtue, cannot overcome, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power now, and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

ON TEACHING AND ADMONITION. SERMO II.

1. If, after so many exhortations with which we have unceasingly urged you in the time that is past, ^C and thereafter have day and night without any intermission announced to you throughout these seven weeks of the fast the Gospel of the grace of God, no fruit and no utility has emerged; with what hope shall we hold our discourse today? For even a farmer, if his former seeds have not sprouted, is slower and more hesitant to scatter other seed again into the same fields. So that, even if I had kept silent, believe me, if I had not feared the example of Jeremiah—who, when he did not wish to speak to a stubborn people, suffered what he himself recounts, that it became as fire in his gut, and he was being dissolved on every side, and could not bear it—I would have held my peace. ^D For since it is the natural role of speech neither to hide the things signified by obscurity, nor to be superfluous and vain, and recklessly flowing around the subjects, it is not seemly to speak about many things at once, lest perhaps what has been diligently and studiously collected should become useless through an immoderate discourse. For the mind, which is unequal to apprehending all things at once, is in the same condition as a stomach which, due to an excess of satiety, cannot digest the food it has received. For that which you have learned unwillingly is rarely wont to endure; but that which you have learned with pleasure and

is the more readily accepted, and sticks more tenaciously in our minds. ^A (1) Therefore [God] also mingled the sweetness of harmony with the dogmas, so that through the pleasantness and smoothness of the hearing we might imperceptibly receive the benefit of the words, not otherwise than wise physicians, who, when they are about to give a rather bitter potion to those who are nauseated, often smear the rim of the cup with honey. For this reason those harmonious strains of the psalms were devised for us, so that those who are children at heart, or even altogether young in their ways, might indeed sing in appearance, but might in truth be instructed in their souls. For horse-breakers do not immediately urge and agitate fierce colts with bridles—for thus they are taught to kick and to shake off their riders—but, yielding at first and accommodating themselves to their impetus, when they have perceived that their heat has been broken and exhausted by their own impetus and vehemence, then, taking them when they are subdued, they make them more tractable by their art. For to those who diligently gather benefit from every thing, as if they were great rivers, many additions are wont to occur from everywhere. For to join small to small ^B ought to appear to a prudent man to be appropriate not more for the increase of money than for any discipline whatever.

2. (4) For that which is acquired by labor is received with joy and diligently preserved; on the contrary, things which are easily procured are possessed with contempt. (5) Therefore, just as our Creator, not begrudging us the aids for living, did not permit all things to be born with us, as they are with beasts, but contrived the lack of necessary things for the exercise of our industry, so also He willed that obscurity should be in the Scriptures for the benefit of the mind, stirring up the power of its intelligence; first, indeed, so that by being occupied with these it might be drawn away from worse things; then, because things acquired with labor are better loved, and those which are acquired over a long period of time remain more constantly: whereas those things which are easily procured, we do not enjoy with the same eagerness. For a supply of ready-at-hand things is neglected, and he who possesses them does not think them worthy of any protection. For it is shameful to reject harmful foods, but to have no consideration ^C for the studies which nourish our soul, but, like a winter torrent dragging along whatever it meets, to store that up in the mind. For just as the nature of honey cannot be understood by those who have not experienced it so much by reasoning as by the very sense of taste, so neither can the goodness of the heavenly Word be clearly transmitted by teachings, unless, having examined the dogmas of the truth more accurately, we can perceive the goodness of the Lord by our own experience. ^D

^A For when the benign God and our Savior Jesus Christ says: "Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you," it is dangerous to repel those who come to the Lord through us and wish to undergo his sweet yoke. ^B It is necessary to examine the past life of those who come, and to those who have already rectified some things, more perfect teachings should be imparted; but those who have rushed from a wicked life to the precise life of the knowledge of God must be examined to see what their character is, [to see if they are not] unstable and easily moved in their judgments. For the volatility of such persons is suspect; for besides benefiting nothing themselves, they also become causes of harm to others. But since all things are rectified by diligence, and the fear of God overcomes all the vices of the soul, we should not despair of them immediately, but lead them into the appropriate exercises, taking the test of their judgment over time and through laborious struggles, so that if we find anything firm in them, we may safely admit them; otherwise, while they are still outside, [we should] send them away, so that the testing may result in no loss to the brotherhood. ^C But as for one who is hastening from a more illustrious life toward the humility in the likeness of the Lord, one must prescribe some of the things that appear disgraceful to outsiders, and observe whether with all equanimity he presents himself to God as a workman who has no reason to be ashamed. As for those who, being slaves under a yoke, ^D take refuge with the brotherhood, they must be admonished and, once improved, sent back to their masters, following the example of the blessed Paul, who, when he had begotten Onesimus through the Gospel, sent him back to Philemon, persuading the one that the yoke of servitude, if it is borne as it pleases the Lord, makes one worthy of the kingdom of heaven; and exhorting the other not only to remit the threats hanging over the servant but also to have a more kindly disposition toward him. If, however, the master happens to be wicked, commanding illegal things and forcing the servant toward the transgression of the commandments of the true Master and our Lord Jesus Christ, one must struggle so that the name of God may not be blasphemed because of that servant, by his doing something which does not please God. This struggle is successful either when that servant is trained to endure the trials brought upon him, so as to obey God rather than men, or when those who receive him undertake the temptations brought upon themselves for his sake. Those who come to such a life while in the bond of marriage must be examined as to whether they do this by mutual consent, according to the ordinance of the Apostle, and thus be received by more witnesses into the

^A company of those who are approaching. But if the other party disagrees and contends, caring less for pleasing God, let them remember the Apostle saying: "God has called us in peace." Therefore, he who is departing from his own affairs with the purpose of following the Lord must not be disposed to be contemptuous regarding the things he is leaving behind; but he must endeavor to take everything with accuracy, as things now consecrated to the Lord, and to manage them with all piety, either by himself, if he has the ability and experience, or through others who have been chosen after much examination and have given proof of their ability to manage faithfully and prudently; for he knows that it is not without risk either to abandon them to relatives or to have them distributed by any chance person. For if he who is entrusted with the care of royal estates, even if he has often embezzled nothing of what he had in his hands, but through some negligence has betrayed what could have been acquired, is not absolved from the charge, what judgment is he to be expected to undergo concerning those things which are already dedicated to the Lord, if he has managed their administration in a slack and negligent manner? ^B 4. But withdrawal from the world is not to be outside of it, but to tear the soul away from the fellowship of affections with the body, and to become stateless, homeless, without a dwelling, without friends, without possessions, without the things necessary for life, without business, contracting no affairs, inexperienced in human disciplines, ready for his heart to receive the impressions derived from divine teaching. And the preparation of the heart is the forgetting of the teachings that previously possessed it from evil habit. ^C First of all, it behooves the man who loves God to be zealous in his use of speech, not to be unskilled, but to ask without the desire for disputation, to answer without ambition, not interrupting the one speaking when he says something useful, nor desiring to insert his own speech for the sake of showing off, keeping the measures of speaking and listening; to learn without shame, and to teach without envy; and if he has learned anything from another, not to conceal it, as base women are accustomed to do who pass off illegitimate births as their own, but to gratefully proclaim the parent of the teaching. The tone of the voice should be moderate, so that it neither escapes hearing through being too small, nor is importunate through the greatness of its intensity; having first examined within himself what he is about to say, thus publish the word. Be affable to those who approach, sweet in conversations; not seeking pleasure through wit, but having friendliness through kind exhortation. ^D Everywhere, roughness, even if it is necessary to rebuke, is to be rejected. For he who has first humbled himself through lowliness, will thus be acceptable to the one in need.

^A Generally, however, that method of rebuke also is useful to us which was employed by the prophet: for when David had sinned, he did not bring the sentence of condemnation from himself, but, by using a feigned person, he made the man himself the judge of his own sin; so that, having as it were passed judgment against himself, he would no longer be angry at the one who reproved him. For just as a stream of water points back to its own source, so the nature of one's speech depicts and reveals the heart from which it flowed.

5. ^B And just as in medical prescriptions, when they are applied aptly and according to reason, their usefulness is most clearly manifested after the experience, so too in spiritual exhortations: when the warnings and commandments have been most specifically attested and corroborated by their outcome, then it appears that they have been wisely and usefully applied for the amendment of life and the perfection of those who obey. For he who raises up the one who is lying down must necessarily be higher than the one who has fallen; but he who has fallen equally stands in need of another to raise him up. ^C Those who entrust their guidance to blind teachers have deprived themselves of the enjoyment of the light. For to rebuke a sinning brother with passion and anger is not to free him from sin, but to entangle oneself in faults. For "with gentleness one must instruct those who resist," and not be severe in those matters where one's own self is offended, while demonstrating patience toward the sinner when one sees another being despised; rather, one ought to be indignant at the evil itself at such a time. For in this way, one will avoid the suspicion of self-love and will provide proof that one does not hate the sinner, but turns away from the sin. For the fact of not being concerned or laboring for one's own sake is a commendation of a Christ-loving and brother-loving disposition. By every means, therefore, one must care for the infirm and strive to restore the dislocated, if I may so speak, limb to its proper place. ^D But if, in whatever vice he may be, he persists, he must be dismissed as an alien. For it is written: "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted out." For if they are with difficulty torn away from their own habits, and desire to serve the pleasures of the flesh rather than the Lord, and do not accept the life according to the Gospel, there is no common ground between us and them. For we have been taught to hear that in a disobedient and gainsaying people, "Save, save your own soul, and do not partake of the sins of others." And if anyone does not eagerly approach the chanting of psalms, and does not show the manner of him who said, "How sweet are the words to my throat...

more than honey to my mouth!" and if he does not consider idleness a great loss, let him either be corrected or let him be removed, ^A so that a little leaven may not corrupt the whole lump. For those whom common punishments do not bring to a sound mind, nor separation from the communion of prayers brings to repentance, it is necessary to subject to the canons given by the Lord. For it is written: "If your brother sins, rebuke him between you and him alone; if he does not hear you, take with you another; but if he does not hear them even so, tell it to the Church; and if he refuses to hear the Church, let him be to you as an ethnic and a publican." And this was done in his case as well. He was accused once; he was convicted before one and a second; a third time before the Church. Since, therefore, we have testified to him and he has not accepted it, he will henceforth be excommunicated; and let it be proclaimed to the whole village that he is not to be admitted ^B to any fellowship of matters pertaining to life, so that, by our not mingling with him, he may become entirely a prey for the devil. For just as young children, neglecting their lessons, after receiving the beating that teachers or tutors inflict upon them, receive the teachings more attentively; and the very word that they did not hear before being flogged, the same, having received pain from the lashes, with ears now opened, they perceive by hearing and commit to memory: so it happens also with those who hear the doctrine of God in a perfunctory and negligent manner and hold His commandments for naught. After they have been affected by the chastisement from God, then at last, the commandments of God, repeated to them a hundred times and a hundred times neglected by them, are received as if they had reached their ears for the first time, as he says: "The discipline of the Lord opens my ears."

6. ^C Just as those who are infirm in soul must be treated with a calm spirit, so in turn, by those who are being treated, rebukes are not to be taken as expressions of hatred, nor is the care that is applied from compassion for the salvation of their soul to be considered a tyranny. For it is shameful that those who are sick in body trust their doctors so much that, even if they cut, even if they burn, or even if they cause distress with bitter medicines, they consider them to have acted well toward them; but that we, toward the physicians of our souls, when through a painful regimen they bring about our salvation, ^D do not have the same disposition. Since, therefore, a terrible judgment hangs over the one in charge who does not rebuke those who sin, having been entrusted with the common care, as one who is to render an account for each, so should he be disposed, knowing that if one of the brothers falls into sin, and he has not previously told him the justification of God, or should he fall...

^A his blood shall be required at his hands, as it is written; and especially if he neglects things that are pleasing to God, not through ignorance, but by accommodating himself to the vices of each individual through flattery, he undermines the integrity of discipline. ^B Just as the superior is responsible for leading the brotherhood in all things, so too it is incumbent upon the others, if ever they suspect any transgression in the superior, to remind him through those who excel in age and prudence. If, therefore, there is anything worthy of correction, we will have benefited the brother, and ourselves through him—since he is, as it were, the rule of our life and ought, by his own uprightness, to convict our perversity—having brought him back to the straight path. But if some are rashly troubled on his account, once they have been fully informed through the disclosure of things that were suspected without truth, they are set free from the suspicion they had conceived against him.

7. ^C For you do not ignore that those who preside and are set before all publicly, just like cliffs projecting in the sea, receive the fury of the waves of heretics, which, while they are broken around them, do not wash away what is behind them. I, therefore, will counsel you on what I judge to be best: some things now, and other things throughout my whole life. For even if bodily infirmity constrains me (which you surely do not ignore, how great it is, having been nourished with me from my early youth until this old age, and chastening me according to the just judgment of God, who governs all things in wisdom), ^D yet as long as we breathe, we ought to omit nothing that pertains to the edification of good things. But you, while there are three kinds of sicknesses, take care not to appear like the incurable case, nor show an ailment of the mind similar to the sickness of those who suffer in their bodies. For those who labor with minor ailments go to the doctors themselves; those who have been seized by greater sicknesses summon the doctors to themselves; but those who have lapsed into a completely incurable disease of black bile do not even admit those who approach them. Which, take care that it does not happen to you now, if you flee from those who are endowed with mind and reason; but rather be instructed and initiated in the fear of the Lord our God, so that you may be partakers of future good things, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is the glory and the power with his unbegotten Father, and the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

APPENDIX. — SYMEONIS METAPHRASTÆ ON CHARITY TOWARD GOD AND NEIGHBOR. SERMON III.

1. Those who have removed themselves from the cares of the world must keep their heart with all watchfulness, so that they may never cast out the thought of God, or defile the memory of His wonders with the phantasms of vain things; but rather, through a constant ^A and pure remembrance impressed upon our souls, like an indelible seal, they must carry about the holy thought of God. For thus the love of God is acquired by us, which at once stirs us to the fulfillment of the Lord’s commandments, and is itself fostered by them in turn, so that it may be perpetual and uninterrupted.

(2) But he who is seized by a vehement desire to follow Christ can no longer turn himself toward anything that pertains to this life, nor toward the natural affection for parents or kin, if it is in opposition to the Lord’s commandments. For then that word also has its place: *If any man come to me, and hate not his father and his mother*, and the rest.

(3) This also the holy disciples of the Lord taught us: James and John, who left their father Zebedee, and the very boat itself, upon which their whole manner of life depended; and Matthew, who rose up from the very tax office and followed the Lord, not only leaving behind the profits of the tax office, but also despising the dangers which impended from the authorities—both upon himself and his kin—because he had left the accounts of the taxes unfinished. Finally, to Paul, the whole world was crucified, and he to the world.

(4) For when the love of piety occupies the soul, it mocks every kind of conflict; and even if all men, for the sake of the Beloved, pierce it with darts, they delight rather than torment it.

(5) For if we have a natural goodwill and affection toward those who excel in their treatment of us, and if we endure every labor in order to repay the benefits that have been conferred upon us, what speech is sufficient to explain the gifts of God according to their merit? Such is their multitude, that they escape even number; and they are of such magnitude and nature, that even one of these would be sufficient to make us owe all-encompassing gratitude to the Giver.

(6) But He is so good that He does not even demand a reward, but is satisfied if only He be loved for those things which He has bestowed. When I recall all these things in my mind (that I may reveal my own feeling), I fall into a certain horror and a terrifying stupor, lest at some time, through the thoughtlessness of my mind or through my preoccupation with vain things, I might fall away from the love of God and become a disgrace and an opprobrium to Christ.

(7) For the devil will turn our contempt into a reproach against the Lord, and he will boast over our disobedience; for he who

^A neither created us nor underwent death for us, nevertheless had us following him in our disobedience and in our neglect of the commandments of God. This disgrace, this reproach against the Lord, seems to me more grievous than the torments of hell, that we should become fuel for the boasting of the enemy of Christ, and an occasion for him to exalt himself against Him who died and rose again for us.

2. For we must love the Lord God with all the power ^B that is in us for loving, and we must love our neighbor; and we must even love our enemies, that we may be perfect, imitating the kindness of our Father who is in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good; but it is not permitted to expend the power of loving on other things in a wrong way. For if the good of charity is circumscribed by the name of charity alone, it is ridiculous to choose this one and that one, to bestow the act of loving only upon them, and to exclude countless others from the fellowship of that good. But if, under the guise of charity, harmony with harmful men causes hostile damage to those who receive it, we must consider whom we are associating ourselves with. (4) For if the beloved Son of God is hated, what wonder if we are hated by men, in whom surely hatred abounds? Furthermore, neither can a building stand if its binding joints are removed, nor can the Church be built up to its full height, if it is not bound together by the bond of peace and love. (5) For nothing is so proper to our nature as to communicate with one another, to have need of one another, and to love those of our own kind. Indeed, we are in greater need of the assistance of each one of our brethren than one hand is in need of the help of the other. (6) For when I gaze upon these very members of our body, since no one of them is sufficient for action by itself, how shall I think myself sufficient for the business of life? For neither could a foot walk safely, if the other did not support it; nor could an eye see rightly, without having the other as a partner, and together with it focusing in harmony upon the things that are seen. Audition is more accurate when it receives the voice through both passages; and the grasp is stronger through the cooperation of the fingers. And in sum, I see that ^D nothing, whether of the things done by nature or of the things performed by free will, is accomplished without the cooperation of those of the same kind; since even prayer itself, if those who concur with it are lacking, is by far weaker than itself. (7) Let the mutual love of the bats admonish you, who hang together as if in a chain; and do not think that what is separated and solitary is more excellent than that which is communal and united.

^A For nothing separates us from one another, unless we ourselves accept the separation by our own intent. One is our Lord, one faith, one and the same hope. Whether you consider yourselves the head, the head cannot say to the feet: "I have no need of you"; or if you place yourselves in another order, you who are established in the same body cannot say to those ordered with you: "We have no need of you." For the hand has need of the other, and the feet support one another, and the eyes possess clear and distinct perception through concord. ^B For let not that thought hold you, that "we are outside of the suffering of the many, and what need have we of communion with them?" For our Lord indeed separated the islands from the mainland by the sea, but he bound the islanders to the continentals through charity. And in this especially a friend differs from a flatterer, that the latter speaks for pleasure, while the former does not even omit painful truths. (4) Do you know what must be rendered by you to your neighbor? What you wish to be done to yourself by another. Do you know what evil is? What you would not yourself wish to suffer from another. (5) For since I have heard from God: *In this shall all know that you are my disciples, if you love one another*, and since the Lord, when he was about to complete his dispensation in the flesh, left his own peace as a final gift to his disciples, saying: *Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you*, I cannot say that, without mutual charity and without, as far as it depends on me, having peace with all, I can be called a worthy servant of Jesus Christ.

3. (6) In the same way, therefore, it is fitting that there be mutual and equal charity among all, just as a man is naturally disposed toward each of his own members, desiring health for his whole body alike, since the pain of any single member inflicts equal distress upon the body. (7) For he who in a community loves one more than the others accuses himself of not possessing perfect charity. ^C Wherefore, indecorous contention and partial love are to be equally banished from the community. For enmity arises from contention, while from particular friendship and cliques, suspicions and envies are born. For when equality is taken away, it is everywhere the source and cause of envy and hatred for those who are deprived of it. As therefore the good God imparts the light to all equally, causing his sun to rise upon the just and the unjust, ^D so let the imitators of God pour out the common and equal ray of charity upon all. For where charity is lacking, there of necessity hatred enters in its place. But if, as John says, *God is charity*, it is entirely necessary that the devil is hatred. As therefore he who has charity has God; so he who has hatred nourishes the devil within himself. For this reason, it is fitting that…

^A charity should be equal and the same from all towards all, but that honor should be rendered to each as is appropriate. And just as in ourselves, the pain of each of the suffering members perhaps touches the whole body, yet there are members more honorable than others (for we are not affected in the same way regarding the eye and the toe of the foot, even if the pain be equal); so it is fitting that everyone should show an equal sympathetic disposition and affectionate relationship toward all who live in the same assembly; yet, as is fitting, the greater degree of honor shall be accorded to those who are more useful. For among those who are joined to one another in a spiritual union, not even physical kinship shall have any greater weight in terms of charity; nor, if one happens to be a brother, son, or daughter of someone by the flesh, will the blood relationship produce a greater affection toward the one related by birth than toward others. For he who follows nature in these things accuses himself that he has not yet completely departed from nature, but is still governed by the flesh. To our God be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

ON ALMSGIVING. DISCOURSE IV.

1. ^B If you marvel, man, at the honor ^C coming from them, consider how much more profitable it is for glory to be called the father of countless children than to have countless staters in your moneybag. For you will leave your money here, even if you do not wish to; but the glory obtained through good works you will carry off to the Master, when the whole crowd, standing ^D before the common Judge, calls you a nourisher, and a benefactor, and all the names of philanthropy. And in a public market, no one grieves at parting with what is present and acquiring in its place what is missing; but by how much lower the price at which he buys precious items, by so much more he rejoices, as having made an excellent trade. But do you grieve at giving away gold, and silver, and possessions—that is to say, offering stones and dust—in order to acquire the blessed life? And what use will you make of wealth? Will you wrap yourself in precious clothing? Yet will not a tunic of two cubits suffice for you, and the wearing of one cloak satisfy the entire need for garments? But will you squander your wealth on food? A single loaf is enough to satisfy the belly. Why then do you grieve? Deprived of what? Of the glory that comes from wealth? But if you do not seek glory on the ground, you will find the true and brilliant one which leads you into the kingdom of heaven. For wealth, when scattered according to the manner the Lord suggests, is accustomed to remain.

^A If you guard it, you will not have it; if you scatter it, you will not lose it. *He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor: his righteousness endureth for ever and ever* (Ps. CXI, 9). Wherefore, those who judge prudently ought to consider the use of wealth as a dispensation, not as a source of pleasure; and to rejoice when they lay it aside, as if they were being separated from what is foreign, and not at all to be distressed, as if they were falling away from what is their own. Why, then, are you troubled? Why are you cast down in soul, hearing: *Sell what thou hast and give to the poor* (Matth. XIX, 21)? For if your possessions were to follow you into the future age, even so they would not be something to be sought after so eagerly, being obscured by the treasures laid up there; but if it is necessary to remain here, why do we not sell them and carry away the profit from them? For he who uses his possessions badly is a wretched man, no different from one who, having received a sword to avenge himself against his enemies, ^B willingly wounds himself with it. But whoever handles his own affairs well and according to right reason, and becomes a steward of the goods given by God, not gathering them so that he himself may enjoy them, he is worthy to be praised and loved for his brotherly love and liberal and beneficent character.

2. ^C See how the multitude of our sins has led the seasons of the year away from their own natures, and has changed the forms of the times into strange temperaments. For all things have newly transgressed the boundaries of creation, and conspiring evilly to our ruin, they drive mortals away from sustenance and life. What, then, is the cause of this disorder and confusion? It is that, although we have received, we do not share with others; we praise beneficence, and yet we deprive the needy of it. We have been made free from being slaves, and we do not pity our fellow slaves; we are fed while hungry, and we pass by the one who is in need. Having an inexhaustible Provider and Steward, we have become stingy and unsociable toward the poor; our sheep are multi-prolific, and yet the naked are more numerous than the sheep. Our storehouses are cramped by the abundance of stored grain, and yet we do not pity the man who is pinched by straits. Are you poor? There is surely another who is poorer than you. Do you have food for ten days? He has it for one. As a good and grateful man, share your surplus equally ^D with the needy. Do not hesitate to give out of a little; do not prefer your own convenience to a public danger. And if your food is reduced to a single loaf, and a beggar stands at your doors, bring forth that one from your storehouse, and placing it in his hands, and looking up to heaven, say a word at once pitiful and grateful: "If you see one loaf, Lord, and the danger is plain, yet I...

^A set your command before my own, and from a little I give to the hungering brother; do you also, O Lord, give to your servant who is in danger." I know your goodness, and I trust also in your power; you do not defer your favors for a long time, but you scatter your gifts whenever you will. If you speak and act in this way, the bread which you give out of your scarcity becomes seed for a harvest, and produces a very fruitful crop.

3. But that which was said by the Lord proves that you are ^B lacking in true love. For if you had distributed to each as much as to yourself, whence would you have such an abundance of wealth? For he who loves his neighbor as himself possesses nothing more than his neighbor. But since you do possess more, you clearly show that you prefer your own enjoyment to the consolation of the many; for the more you abound in wealth, the more you are lacking in love. For if you had loved your neighbor, you would have long since practiced the alienation of your wealth; but now your riches are attached to you more closely than the limbs of your body, and their separation pains you as if it were the amputation ^C of vital parts. For if you had clothed the naked, if you had given your bread to the hungry, if your door had been open to every stranger, if you had become a father to orphans, if you had felt with every sufferer in his weakness—for what wealth would you then grieve, having long practiced distributing it to the needy? How much thanks you ought to have for the Benefactor, and to be cheerful, and to be brightened by this honor—namely, that you yourself do not pester the doors of others, but that others occupy yours! Make your brothers partakers of your provisions. Give to the needy today what will rot tomorrow. It is the most wicked type of avarice not to share even those things which are subject to corruption with the needy. If he who strips the clothed ^D will be called a robber, is not he who does not clothe the naked, when he has the power to do so, deserving of some other title? The bread which you withhold belongs to the hungry; the garment which you keep in your storehouses belongs to the naked; the footwear which rots away with you belongs to the barefoot; the money which you have buried belongs to the needy. Wherefore, you do injury to as many as you had the power to give to. How shall I set before your eyes the miseries of the poor, so that you may perceive from what sort of groans you are gathering up treasures for yourself? Oh, of what great value will that word seem to you on the day of judgment: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you!" (Matt. xxv, 34). But again, what horror, and sweat, and darkness will encompass you when you hear that condemnatory judgment: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the outer darkness, which is prepared for the devil and his angels!" (ibid. 41).

^A For neither is mercy without judgment before God, nor is judgment without mercy. For before judgment one loves mercy, and after mercy one comes to judgment. These things are joined to one another: mercy with judgment, so that neither mercy alone may produce laxity, nor judgment alone work despair.

4. (2) If you have not murdered, if you have not committed adultery, if you have not stolen, nor borne false witness against anyone, you nonetheless make the diligence you have applied to these things fruitless for yourself, by not adding that which is missing, through which alone you will be able to enter the kingdom of God. And if a physician were to promise to heal bodily limbs that are defective due to nature or some infirmity, you would certainly not listen to him with sorrow; but since the great Physician of souls desires to make you perfect through almsgiving, leaving out the most vital things, you do not accept the grace, but mourn and look downcast, grieving in your soul, and you make useless to yourself everything you have previously labored for. Will you not labor diligently for your own sake? Will you not in the present age store up what pertains to the rest of the future age, having looked to the example of the ant? Which in summer stores up for itself wintry food, and not because the hardships of winter are not yet present does it pass the time in listlessness, but with a certain relentless diligence it strains itself toward the work, until it has deposited sufficient nourishment in its storerooms; and not even this lazily, but with a certain wise ingenuity it contrives for the food to last as long as possible. ^B For it cuts through the middle of the grains with its own claws, so that they might not sprout and become useless to it for food; and it dries them out when it perceives them to be damp; and it does not bring them out in all weather, but when it senses that the air will remain in a serene state. Certainly you would not see rain falling from the clouds during the time that grain has been laid out by the ants. Imitate the earth, O man; bring forth fruit like it, lest you be seen as inferior to an inanimate thing. For the earth nurtured its fruits not for its own enjoyment, but for your service. But whatever fruit of beneficence you show, you gather it for yourself, because the graces of good works return upon the givers. You gave to the hungry, and what was given becomes yours, returning with an increase. For just as the grain that falls into the earth becomes a gain for the one who cast it, so the bread cast to the hungry brings back much benefit for the future. ^C 5. (5) If one stands at your doors seeking relief for his poverty, do not look at inequalities. Do not say: "This one is a friend, this one a relative, this one a benefactor; that one is a stranger, an alien, unknown." If you look at inequalities, you will not receive mercy. Nature is one; both this one and that one are men; the need is one, the want in both is the same.

^A Give to your brother, and to the stranger; do not turn away from your brother, and consider the stranger as your own brother. God wishes you to be a source of comfort to those in need, not a respecter of persons, giving to your kinsman while pushing away the stranger. For all are kinsmen, all are brothers, all are children of one Father. There are some who have been snatched from the jaws of a certain danger by the Creator, and have no means of life remaining to them, having escaped him only with their soul and body. We, therefore, as many of us as have remained untasted by the experience of such hardships, let us offer our own resources as common property to them. Let us embrace the brothers who have barely been saved; let us say to each one: *He was dead, and is alive again; and he was lost, and is found*; and let us clothe the body that is akin to our own. Let us oppose ^B the slanders of the Enemy with our own consolation, so that even though he harms, he may not appear to have done any great harm; and having waged war, he may show no one conquered; and despite having stripped away the resources of the brothers, he may appear as one conquered by our generosity.

6. It is necessary indeed to have charity and to be open-handed towards those who ask, according to the precept which says: *Give to everyone who asks of you*; but one must also, by discernment, distinguish the need of each of those who are begging, just as we have learned in the Acts. For it says: *distribution was made to each, according as anyone had need*. Because many, overstepping the use of what is necessary, make asking an occasion for peddling and a pretext for luxurious excess, the distribution of necessities must be done in an informed and prudent manner according to the need of each. For to those who compose mournful pieces to deceive women, and who feign bodily mutilations and sores as an occasion for profit, ^C copious provision is not at all beneficial; for to these, such generosity becomes an instrument for wickedness. Rather, by a small gift, one ought to ward off the barking of such people, while showing sympathy and brotherly love to those who have learned to bear their affliction with patience, of whom it shall also be said: *I was hungry, and you gave me to eat*. For this reason, diagnosis truly requires experience, so as to distinguish between the truly needy and those who ask out of greed. Indeed, whoever gives to the one in distress has given to the Lord, and will receive the reward from Him; but he who provides for every wanderer has cast it to a persistent dog because of its impudence, not to one to be pitied because of its poverty.

7. ^D Hearken, you rich, to what counsel we give to the poor because of your inhumanity, namely, that they should rather endure the most grievous things patiently, than that the [burdens] from interest...

^A calamities resulting from usury be suffered. If you were yielding to the Lord, what need would there be for these words? For He says, Lend to those from whom you hope to receive nothing. For when you are about to provide for a poor person for the sake of the Lord, that same thing is both a gift and a loan: a gift, because of the hopelessness of receiving it back; but a loan, because of the great generosity of the Master, who pays it back on his behalf; for He, having received small things through the poor person, will render great things in their place. Therefore, let each of the wealthy consider his own resources, from which he intends to offer gifts specifically to God: whether he has oppressed the poor man, whether he has brought force against the weaker one, whether he has greedily taken from his subordinate, using power in place of justice. For we are commanded to observe what is just and equitable even toward [our] slaves. Do not ^B use force because you are his master; nor be greedy because you are able; but because you possess authority, show what justice is. For you will not provide the proof of your obedience and fear toward God in that wherein you cannot [do otherwise], but in that wherein you could transgress, yet you do not. But if you give to the poor what you have taken away from the poor, it would have been better for you had you neither plundered nor given. For neither are benefits conferred upon the needy from unrighteous gain acceptable before God, nor is he who abstains from such rapine to be praised, if he imparts nothing of his own to anyone. For concerning those who act unjustly and yet attempt to offer gifts to God, it is written: Sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. And concerning those who do not show mercy: He who stops his ears so as not to hear the poor, he also will call, and there will be none to heed him. On account of this, the Proverb advises: ^C Honor the Lord with thy righteous labors, and offer to Him the first-fruits from the fruits of justice. For if you intend to offer anything to God from injustice and rapine, it were better that you had neither acquired such a possession, nor offered from it. For a pure gift will lift up the prayer, as it is written: Prayers of those with a right heart are acceptable before Him. And again, if, possessing from righteous labors, you do not offer to God the oblations with which the poor are fed, it will be reckoned to you as rapine, as God says through the prophet Malachi: Shall your first-fruits and tithes remain with you, and there will be plunder in your houses? Why then, O man, do you defile your own wealth, adding thereto unrighteous gains? Why do you make your oblation to God abominable, attempting to offer from injustice that which you intend to use to show mercy to another poor person? ^D Show mercy to him whom you treat unjustly; use your philanthropy upon him; grant it to him, and you shall fulfill mercy with judgment. For God will not participate in greed, nor is the Lord a partner of robbers and plunderers; nor, as if He were unable to feed the poor, did He leave them for us to feed—rather, He asks for the righteous and philanthropic harvest from us, in order that...

He might provide for our own benefit. ^A Almsgiving does not come from injustice, nor does a blessing come from a curse, nor do benefits arise from the tears of others. Such things belong to vainglory and seek the praise of men, not the praise that comes from God. For if you perform an act of almsgiving as though God were the observer of it, guard yourself against performing it out of greed, knowing that you do not delight the God who watches over all. So then, let us perform almsgiving in order that we may receive from God; and God makes repayment to those whom He praises, but He praises no greedy person. Do not be deceived; Christ will not accept the acts of generosity shown to the poor in any other way than if the acts of greed against those who have been wronged have been undone. In this way, the Lord accepted the uprightness of Zacchaeus and said: *"Today salvation has come to this house,"* because, having proposed to restore fourfold if he had defrauded anyone of anything, he distributed half of his remaining money to the poor. For He knew that he wished to receive Christ. Let us therefore provide an opportunity, brothers, for anyone who wishes to overflow with wealth toward those in need; let us not pass by the Lazaruses ^B who still lie before our eyes even now; nor let us begrudge them the crumbs of our own table that are sufficient to satisfy them; nor, by imitating that unmerciful rich man, let us pass over into the same flame of Gehenna as he. For then we shall entreat Abraham much, and we shall entreat much each of those who have lived well, but there will be no profit for us from our crying out. For *"no brother redeems, will a man redeem?"* Each of them will say to us, crying out: "Do not seek the philanthropy which you yourself ignored in others, nor hope to receive such great things, when you spared the lesser; enjoy those things which you gathered in your life. Weep now, since you did not have mercy when you saw your brother weeping then." They will say these things to us, and ^C justly so. And I fear that they might even attack us with words more bitter than these, since, as you know, we even surpass that rich man in wickedness. For flatterers and parasites, after they have feasted splendidly at our table, also carry away their hands filled with expensive gifts, and they learn from us that it is more profitable for them to pursue such things and to do these rather than to cultivate virtue. But if a poor man appears to us, who can scarcely speak because of his famine, we turn away, we hurry past, as if fearing that if we walk too slowly we might share in his very misfortune. And if indeed he turns his gaze to the ground, ashamed of his plight, we call him a hypocrite; but if he looks at us with boldness because of the heavy sting of famine, ^D we call him shameless and violent. And if he happens to be covered in clean clothes given to him by someone, we drive him away as a glutton, and we swear that he is faking poverty; but if...

he is clothed in putrid rags, we cast him off again as foul-smelling. And although he mingles the name of the Creator with his prayers, and incessantly begs of us similar trials, yet he cannot bend a pitiless will. Wherefore I fear a fire of Gehenna even more grievous than that which consumed that rich man who despised Lazarus. And that this may not happen, let us purchase mercy with mercy, so that we may also obtain eternal goods in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power, with His eternal Father, and with the life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ON RICHES AND POVERTY. SERMON V.

1. As wells that are drawn flow better, so wealth, if it remains steady, is useless; but if it is moved and transferred, it promotes the common utility and bears fruit. And I am struck with wonder how, after a superfluous and useless scheme of expenditures, when wealth—having been distributed into six hundred uses—still overflows, it is thrust under the earth by its possessor and stored in hidden places. O Heavens! After he could not spend his gold through countless devised methods, he then hid it under the earth. And it seems to me that the vice of the rich man’s soul is similar to the vice of gluttons, who prefer to burst from voracity rather than impart anything remaining to the needy. Such was that rich man in the Gospel. ^C Those who would demand his soul were standing by, and he was debating with himself about food. That very night he was taken away, and he was imagining for himself the enjoyment of possessions for many years. A great madness! While the gold was in the mines, he was searching the earth; but when it was already in the open, he hides it in the earth again. Then I think it happens to the one burying his wealth that he buries his heart along with it; for He says, "Where your treasure is, there also is your heart" (Matt. vi, 21). Come then, O rich man, distribute your wealth in various ways. Be not precious; do not await famine in order to open your granaries; do not expect a common starvation for the sake of gold, nor a general scarcity because of your private abundance of goods. Do not become a merchant of human calamities; do not make the wrath of God an occasion for heaping up money. For you look upon the gold, but you do not look upon your brother; and you recognize the stamp of the coin,

^A and distinguish the genuine from the counterfeit, yet you are utterly ignorant of your brother in his time of need. The bright luster of gold delights you greatly, but you do not consider how many and how great are the groans of the needy that follow you.

2. And who, you ask, am I injuring by keeping and closing up what is mine? Tell me, what is actually yours? Where did you get them from when you brought them into this life? Just as if someone were to occupy a seat in a theater, and then bar those coming in, considering as his own that which is set forth for the common use of all: such also are the rich. For by seizing common things first, they make them their own through their anticipation. Since if each one, having taken only what is sufficient for the solace of his own need, left the surplus to the needy, no one would be rich, and no one would be in want. Did you not come out naked from the womb? Will you not return naked once more to the earth? From where, then, do these things you have come? If you say they are by chance, you are impious, neither knowing Him who created nor having gratitude to the Giver; but if you acknowledge them to be from God, tell us the reason why you received them. Is God unjust, who distributes the necessities of life to us unequally? Why are you rich, while another is poor? Is it not surely so that you might receive the reward of kindness and faithful stewardship, and that he might be honored with the great prizes of patience? ^B But, you say, wealth is necessary for the sake of children. This is a specious pretext for avarice. For you put your children forward, but you are actually satisfying your own soul. Do not cast blame upon the innocent; they have their own Master, their own Governor: from Him from whom they received life, let them expect the sustenance of life. Were the Gospels not written for those who are married? *If you wish to be perfect, sell what you have, and give to the poor.* When you were asking for children from the Lord, when you were praying to become a father of children, did you add this: "Give me children, that I may disobey your commandments; give me children, that I may not attain to the kingdom of heaven"? Who will be the guarantor for the child's will, that he will make good use of what is given? For to many, wealth has become a servant of wantonness and impurity. See to it, then, that having gathered wealth with ten thousand toils, you do not prepare material for sin for others, and then find yourself punished doubly—for the things you did unjustly yourself, and for those which another, helped by you, committed. For children, having received nothing as an inheritance from their parents, have often built their own houses; but your soul, if abandoned by you, by whom will it be pitied? Why, then, are you so crazed over gold? ^{C D}

3. Who among those who have a greater desire for elegant apparel has been able to add one day to his own life? Whom has death spared because of his wealth? From whom has sickness held back because of his money?

^A When, O gold, you hangman of souls, you hook of death, you bait of sin? How long will wealth be the cause of war, by which swords are sharpened, by which kinsmen forget their nature, and brothers look upon one another with murderous eyes? Who is the father of lies? Who is the author of forgery? Who has begotten perjury? Is it not wealth? Is it not the pursuit of it? What are you doing, O men? Who has turned what is yours into a plot against yourselves? For it is far from the case that money was given as an incitement to evils, as a ransom for the soul; far be it that it should be an occasion for destruction. For if wealth is an aid to injustice, the wealthy man is to be pitied; but if it is a service towards cultivating virtue, there is no place for envy, since its common benefit is set before all. For this reason, it is fitting not to long for wealth when it is absent, and when it is present, not to be proud of possessing it, but of knowing how to manage it. For that saying of Socrates is good; he said that he would not sooner admire a rich man who was proud of his money, before he had learned by experience of the thing itself that he knew how to use it. For wealth and good health often become an instrument of sin to those who use either of them badly. Poverty with truth ^B is more precious to those who live wisely than any enjoyment.

4. 494 But not one of us thinks of these things; instead, seeing a man bowed down by necessity, falling at one's knees and suppliant—doing nothing that is not humble—that he might even by a loan remedy his poverty, one does not pity him who suffers a fortune that is adverse beyond his deserving; but one stands inflexible and implacable, swearing and cursing himself that he is truly in need, and is himself looking about, if indeed he might find someone to lend, and confirming the lie through oaths, acquiring perjury as a certain evil and added gain of inhumanity. But when he who seeks the loan mentions interest and brings forward the name of a pledge, then he softens his brow, smiles, and recalls a paternal friendship, and calls him an acquaintance and a friend, and says, "We shall see if there is any silver stored up with us. There is a deposit, indeed, of a friend who entrusted it to us for the purpose of gain. But he has fixed heavy interest upon it; we, however, will certainly remit something and will give it to you at lower interest." By putting on such a mask, and by using such words to flatter and entice the wretch, once he has bound him with written contracts, and, beyond the urgent poverty, has also taken away the man’s freedom, he goes away. What are you doing, you wretch? Are you demanding money and profit from the needy? If he were able to make you wealthier, why would he be seeking it at your doors? O the calamity! ^{C D}

He comes seeking aid; but he finds an enemy. While he looks for a remedy, he falls into poisons. ^A It had been your duty to relieve the man’s poverty: but you aggravate his need; just as if someone, a physician visiting the sick, instead of restoring them to health, should take away even the small remains of their strength. You, therefore, make the calamities of the wretched an opportunity for gain; and just as farmers hope for rains for the multiplication of seeds, so you too long for the needs and incapacities of men, so that money may be for you a source of profit.

^B 5. He who seeks a loan, placed in the midst of difficulties, when he looks at his poverty, despairs of payment; but when he considers his present straits, he becomes bold to take on the interest. But as the money slips away, and the advancing time brings with it the accumulation of interest, the nights bring him no rest, the day is not cheerful, nor is the sun pleasant; but he finds life burdensome, and hates the days that hasten toward the deadline. If he sleeps, he sees the moneylender in his dreams, an evil vision standing over his head; if he is awake, his thought and care is the interest. But it is possible to say also to him who receives the loan: "Drink water from your own vessels, and from the fountains of your own springs" (Prov. v, 15); that is, do not go to the springs of others, but from your own waters provide for yourself the comforts of life. Do you have brass vessels, clothing, a beast of burden, ^C household goods of every kind? Sell these; be ready to part with everything, except your liberty. But, he says, I am ashamed to subject these things to the voice of an auctioneer. Why, then, will another expose them a little later, and hold an auction of your goods, and sell them before your eyes for a low price? It is better with craftsmanship and industry to relieve your need bit by bit, rather than, having suddenly puffed yourself up with the resources of others, to be stripped of all your possessions at once afterwards. If, therefore, you have the means to pay, why do you not dispel your present need with those items? But if you are at a loss for repayment, you are curing evil with evil. You are poor now, but you are free; if you have borrowed at interest, you will not become rich, and you will be deprived of your liberty. A person who has borrowed is a slave to the lender, and a wage-earning slave, bearing an inescapable duty. Dogs are tamed by receiving food; ^D the moneylender is irritated by receiving. For he does not stop barking, but demands more. If you swear an oath, he does not believe you; he searches through your house, he pries into your business dealings. He puts you to shame in the presence of your wife, he insults you before your friends, he throttles you in the marketplace; he is an evil encounter on a feast day, he makes life unlivable for you. But, he says, the necessity is great,

and there is no other way to obtain money. What, I ask, is the benefit of putting it off until today? For a loan provides no complete release, but only a small delay of your helplessness. If you did not borrow, you would be poor today just the same, and tomorrow as well; and now, no one will reproach you for being poor, since it is an involuntary misfortune; but if you are liable to interest, there is no one who will not blame your imprudence. Consider already from where you will repay it. From what you receive? But it is not sufficient both for your need and for the repayment. And if you also calculate the interest, where will the money come from to be multiplied to such an amount? No one heals wounds with wounds, nor cures evil with evil. How then, he says, shall I be fed? You have hands, you have a trade; work for hire, serve: there are many plans for supporting life, many ways. But are you unable to do this? Beg from those who possess. But is it shameful to beg? It is, in fact, more shameful to defraud your creditor of the money you borrowed. Furthermore, the ant can feed itself without begging or taking a loan; and bees bestow the remains of their own food upon their kings, to whom nature has given neither hands nor trades. But you, man, an ingenious animal, will you not find one of all these methods for the conduct of your life? ^A And there is no other means for me of obtaining funds. What then is the gain in deferring it until today? For a loan provides no complete release, but only a small delay of your helplessness. ^B If you had not borrowed, you would be poor today just the same, and hereafter; and now, no one will reproach you for your poverty; for the misfortune is involuntary; but if you are liable to interest, there is no one who will not blame your lack of judgment. Already consider from where you will repay it. From what you receive? But it is not sufficient both for your need and for the repayment. If you also count the interest, from where will the money be multiplied to such an amount? No one heals wound with wound, nor does he cure evil with evil. How then, he says, shall I be sustained? You have hands, you have a trade; earn wages, serve; there are many contrivances for life, many pretexts. But are you unable to do this? Beg from those who have acquired wealth. But is it shameful to beg? It is, however, [more] shameful to defraud one who has lent to you. And then the ant is able, without begging or borrowing, to feed itself; and bees offer the remnants of their own food to their kings, to whom nature has given neither hands nor trades. But will you, man, the ingenious animal, not find one of all possible contrivances for the conduct of your life? Are you rich? Do not borrow. ^C Are you poor? Do not borrow. For if you are well-off, you have no need of a loan; and if you have nothing, you will not repay the loan. Do not borrow, do not surrender your own life to later regret. In this one thing do we poor excel the wealthy: in our freedom from care; and we laugh at them as they stay awake, while we sleep; and as they are always together and anxious, we are unconcerned and relaxed. However, the debtor is both poor and full of cares, and thoughtful all the time; now assessing his own substance, now the expensive houses, the fields of the rich, and the clothing of those he meets. If these were mine, he says, I would pay so much and so much, and be rid of the interest. These things sit upon his heart night and day. ^D If you knock on the door, the debtor creeps under the bed. Someone runs up quickly, and his heart beats; a dog barks, and he is bathed in sweat, and seized with anxiety, and looks about to see where he might flee. The deadline draws near; he worries about what he will say, what excuse he will invent to put off the creditor. Why do you attach yourself to a creature that bears so much offshoot? They say that hares simultaneously give birth, and nurse, and conceive again; and to the usurers...

it is not yet in your hands, and yet the profit of the current month is demanded of you. And this money, borrowed in turn at interest, nourishes another evil, and that one another, and so the evil continues to infinity. For interest (tokos), I think, is so named because of the prolific nature of the evil; for from what else could it be? Or perhaps it is called *tokos*, that is, birth, because of the pains and griefs which it is wont to cause in the souls of those who borrow. For just as the time of labor presses upon the woman in childbirth, so the deadline presses upon the debtor. Interest upon interest, the evil offspring of evil parents. They say that vipers, when they are bring born, gnaw through the belly of their mother; and interests are born having devoured the houses of the debtors. Seeds sprout in time, but interest is born today, and today it begins to bear fruit. Everything that grows, when it reaches its proper size, ceases to grow; but the money of the greedy grows throughout all time. Animals, having bestowed the power to give birth upon their offspring, cease from gestation; but the moneys of the creditors and those things that accrue to them give birth ^B and the old are made young again. And just as those who suffer from cholera vomit up what was previously taken, and if before a complete purging they take other food, they vomit it up again with pain and convulsions; so also those who borrow, burdening themselves with interests upon interests, and before the first ones are purged away, adding a second loan, for a short time glorying in what belongs to others, ^C afterwards they mourn the loss even of their own family property. Yet, you say, many have even become rich from borrowing. But many more, I think, have died by the noose. Do you not count those who strangled themselves, who, not bearing the shame of the legal summonses, preferred death by the noose to living in disgrace? I have seen a pitiful sight: noble children dragged to the marketplace for their father's debts. Have you no money to leave to your children? Beware of taking away their nobility. Preserve for them this one possession of liberty, the deposit which you received from your parents. No one has ever been blamed for a father’s poverty; but a father's debt leads to prison. Do not leave behind a bond like a fatherly curse descending upon children and grandchildren.

7. "If wealth flows, do not set your heart upon it." Admire the saying. Wealth, he says, if it flows. The nature of wealth is fluid, running past its possessors more swiftly than a torrent, ^D wont to pass from one person to another. And just as a river rushing from a height approaches those standing on the bank, but as soon as it has touched, it immediately recedes; so also the ease of wealth has a very swift and slippery presence, and is wont to change from others to others...

Look at the houses in the city; how many names have they already received since they were built, being called now after one owner, now after another. And gold, always flowing from the hands of the one who possesses it, passes to another, and from him to someone else. You could more easily hold water by grasping it in your hand than keep wealth for yourself permanently. Do not, therefore, envy any of those who are exceedingly rich, nor deem his life blessed; and even if money flows to you from many directions and from abundant springs, do not embrace this abundance. Poverty is not always praiseworthy, but only that which is achieved by free choice according to the evangelical purpose. For many are poor in their resources, but are most greedy in their intention; such are not saved by their indigence, but are condemned by their intent. ^B Wealth and glory, insofar as they do not make those who possess them good, are not of the number of things that are good by nature; but insofar as they provide a certain ease for our life, they are more to be chosen than their opposites, poverty and dishonor. These things, however, are given by God to some for the sake of stewardship, as they were to Abraham, and to Jacob, and to those like them. To the wicked, they are a provocation, that they might return to a better state of life, so that anyone who, after such a great manifestation of kindness from God, persists in iniquity, unequivocally renders himself liable to condemnation without any excuse. ^C The righteous man, however, neither attaches his heart to wealth when it is present, nor seeks it when it is absent; for he is not a person who enjoys what is entrusted to him, but a steward of them. No prudent man, moreover, covets the business of distributing the goods of others, unless he has an eye to the praise of the crowd, to whom men established in some authority are objects of admiration and emulation. If we were trained in despising the body, we would scarcely admire any other human thing. For I do not see what need we would have for wealth if we loathed bodily pleasures, unless it be pleasant and agreeable to watch over buried treasures like the dragons in the myths.

8. ^D Therefore, this is the principal thing, which a Christian must most especially care for, that he be stripped of the various and diverse vicious affections that pollute the soul. Then it is necessary, in the second place, that he who looks to the life that is sublime according to God should relinquish his wealth and possessions, because the care and concern for earthly things produce a great aberration in the mind. When, therefore, many who are intent upon the same goal of salvation have embraced a life together, it is necessary that this above all else should prevail among them, that there should be one heart in all, and one will, and one desire, and—as is commanded

one will and one desire, and, as the Apostle legislates ^A, to become one body gathered together from diverse members. This cannot be accomplished in any other way unless this custom prevails: that nothing be assigned specifically or peculiarly to anyone, neither a garment, nor a vessel, nor any other thing among those that serve the common life, so that each of these may belong to the need, and not to the possessor. And just as a small garment does not befit a larger body, nor a more complete one a smaller body, but for each what is proportional is useful and fitting; so also here the bed, the blankets, the warm covering, and the footwear should belong to the one who is in great need, not to the one who has acquired them. And just as the wounded person uses medicine, and not the healthy one, so also with the things devised for the relief of the body, it is not the man living in luxury, but he who is in need of relief that rightfully enjoys them ^B, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and majesty for ever and ever. Amen.

ON AVARICE

DISCOURSE VI

1. When I enter the house of a foolish man ^C, and see it gleaming with ornaments of every kind, I know that he possesses nothing of more value than the things that are seen; rather, he diligently adorns inanimate objects, while he leaves his soul unadorned. And yet, countless poor people stand at the door, uttering every kind of miserable cry; but he denies the gift, saying it is impossible for him to provide for those who ask. And with his tongue, indeed, he swears that he cannot, but by his hand he is refuted; for the hand, though silent, proclaims the lie, flashing with the setting of a ring. O unhappy and miserable man, how many debts can one single ring of yours settle! How many falling houses can it raise up! One chest of your garments is able to clothe a whole population shivering with cold; yet you endure to send away the poor man without a gift, not fearing the just retribution of the Judge. You have not shown mercy, you shall not receive mercy; you have not opened your house, you shall be cast out of the kingdom; you have not given bread, you shall not receive eternal life. But you call yourself a poor man. I agree; for he is poor who is in need of many things. But an insatiable desire makes you in need of many things. For ten talents you strive to add another ten talents; when twenty are gathered, you seek as many more, and the thing that is always being added does not stop the impulse, but rather inflames the appetite. For just as for those who are drunk, the addition of wine becomes the occasion for drinking, so also those who are newly rich, having acquired much, desire more, nursing their disease by what is always being added, and their very zeal turns against them. For their present possessions, as great as they are, do not cheer them as much as those things that are missing—those things, I say, which they think they lack. For when ^D

ὑπόθωνται. Δέον γὰρ αὐτοὺς εὐφραίνεσθαι καὶ χάριν ^A ἔχειν, τοσούτων ὄντας εὐπορωτέρους· οἱ δὲ δυσφοροῦσι, καὶ ὀδυνῶνται, ὅτι ἑνός που ἢ δευτέρου τῶν ὑπερπλουτούντων ἀπολιμπάνονται. Καὶ οὐ τοὺς ὑποδεεστέρους ἀπαριθμούμενοι, τὴν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἔχουσι χάριν ἀποπληροῦσι τῷ εὐεργέτῃ· ἀλλὰ τῇ πρὸς τὸ ὑπερέχον συγκρίσει· ὅσον ἀπολείπονται λογιζόμενοι, ὡς οἰκείων στερούμενοι τῶν ἑτέροις προσόντων, οὕτως ἀνιῶνται καὶ καταμέμφονται. Οἱ γὰρ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ὅρων ἔξω γενόμενοι, παραπλησίως τοῖς κατὰ τοῦ πρανοῦς φερομένοις, πρὸς οὐδὲν στάσιμον ἔχοντες ἀποβῆναι, οὐδαμοῦ τῆς εἰς τὸ πρόσω φορᾶς ἱστανται· ἀλλ' ὅσῳπερ ἂν πλείω προσπεριβάλωνται, τοῦ ἴσου δέονται, ἢ καὶ πλείονος πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐκπλήρωσιν, κατὰ τὸν Ἐξηκεστίδου Σόλωνα, ὅς φησι·

Πλούτου δ' οὐδὲν τέρμα περασμένον ἀνδράσι [κεῖται. Τῷ δὲ Θεόγνιδι πρὸς ταῦτα διδασκάλῳ χρηστέον, ^B λέγοντι· Οὐκ ἔραμαι πλουτεῖν, οὔτ' εὔχομαι· ἀλλά μοι εἴη Ζῇν ἀπὸ τῶν ὀλίγων μηδὲν ἔχοντι κακόν.

Ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ Διογένους ἄγαμαι τὴν πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ὑπεροψίαν, ὅς γε καὶ βασιλέως τοῦ μεγάλου ἑαυτὸν ἀπέφηνε πλουσιώτερον, τῷ ἐλαττόνων ἢ ἐκεῖνος κατὰ τὸν βίον προσδεῖσθαι. Τοῖς δὲ πλεονέκταις, εἰ μὴ τὰ Πυθίου τοῦ Μυσοῦ προσείη τάλαντα, καὶ πλέθρα γῆς τόσα καὶ τόσα, καὶ βοσκημάτων ἑσμοὶ πλείους ἢ ἀριθμῆσαι, οὐδὲν ἐξαρκέσει. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ οἱ τὰς κλίμακας ἀναβαίνοντες, ἀεὶ πρὸς τὴν ὑπερκειμένην βαθμίδα τὸ ἴχνος αἴροντες, οὐ πρότερον ἀφίστανται, πρὶν ἂν τῆς ἄκρας ἀφίκωνται· οὕτω καὶ οὗτοι, ὅταν τοῦτον τὸν πλούσιον καταλάβωσιν, εὐθὺς τῷ πλουσιωτέρῳ παρισωθῆναι φιλονεικοῦσι· ^C κἂν ἐπ' ἐκεῖνον φθάσωσιν, ἐπὶ τὸν ἄλλον τὴν σπουδὴν μεταφέρουσι, καὶ οὐ παύονται τῆς κατὰ τὴν δυναστείαν ὁρμῆς, ἕως ἂν ὑψωθέντες, ἀπὸ μετεώρου τοῦ πτώματος ἑαυτοὺς καταῤῥήξωσι.

2. Καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ ὑπὸ μανίας παράφοροι οὐ τὰ πράγματα βλέπουσιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ πάθους φαντάζονται· οὕτως ἡ τοῦ πλεονέκτου ψυχὴ τῇ φιλοχρηματίᾳ καταχωσθεῖσα, πάντα χρυσόν, πάντα ἄργυρον βλέπει. Ἥδιον ἂν ἴδῃ τὸν χρυσόν, ἢ τὸν ἥλιον. Εὔχεται πάντα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ χρυσοῦ φύσιν μεταβληθῆναι, καὶ ἐπινοεῖ μέντοι καθ' ὅσον οἷόν τε. Ποίαν γὰρ μηχανὴν διὰ χρυσὸν οὐ κινεῖ; Ὁ σῖτος χρυσὸς αὐτῷ γίνεται· ὁ οἶνος εἰς χρυσὸν μεταπήγνυται· ^D τὰ ἔρια αὐτῷ ἀποχρυσοῦται· πᾶσα ἐμπορία, πᾶσα ἐπίνοια χρυσὸν αὐτῷ προσάγει. Αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ὁ χρυσὸς ἀπογεννᾷ, πολυπλασιαζόμενος ἐν δανείσμασι· καὶ τέλος τῆς ἐπιθυμίας οὐκ ἐξευρίσκεται. Τῶν μὲν γὰρ παίδων τοῖς λίχνοις ἀφειδῶς πολλάκις ἐνδίδομεν τῶν περισπουδάστων ὑπερεμπίμπλασθαι, ὥστε

ὥστε ^A τῷ ὑπερβάλλοντι κόρῳ τὴν ἀποστροφὴν ἐμποιῆσαι. Ὁ δὲ πλεονέκτης, οὐχ οὕτως· ἀλλ' ὅσῳ πλειόνων ἐμφορεῖται, πλειόνων ἐφίεται. Τὸ μὲν πῦρ ἐπειδὰν καταπρήσεως ἅψηται, σπεύδει πᾶσαν ἐπινεμηθῆναι τὴν ὕλην· καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτῷ στῆσαι δύναται, πρὶν ἂν ἐπιλείπῃ ἡ ὕλη. Τὸν δὲ πλεονέκτην τί δύναται ἐπισχεῖν; Πυρός ἐστι χαλεπώτερος, πάντα διὰ συνεχείας νεμόμενος. Ἔλαβε τὰ τοῦ πλησίον· ἄλλος ἀνεφάνη γείτων, καὶ τὰ ἐκείνου ἐξιδιοποιήσατο. Οὐ τοῖς κατόπιν προσέχει, ὅτι πολλά· ἀλλὰ τοῖς λείπουσιν, ὅτι γείτονας κέκτηται. Οὐκ εὐφραίνει τὰ κτηθέντα· ἀλλὰ λυπεῖ τὰ λειπόμενα· οὐ τῇ ἀπολαύσει τῶν συναχθέντων προσέχει, ἀλλ' ἑαυτὸν ἐκδαπανᾷ τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ τῆς τοῦ πλείονος κτήσεως. Εἶτα ἀγρυπνίαι ἐντεῦθεν, αἱ μέριμναι, αἱ φροντίδες. Τί ποιήσω; Καθελῶ μου τὰς ἀποθήκας, καὶ μείζονας οἰκοδομήσω. ^B Ἄφρον, ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτὶ ἀπαιτοῦσι παρὰ σοῦ τὴν ψυχήν· ἃ δὲ ἡτοίμασας, τίνι ἔσται; Μείζων τῆς αἰωνίου κολάσεως ὁ γέλως τῆς ἀβουλίας. Ὁ γὰρ μετ' ὀλίγον ἀνάρπαστος ἄγεσθαι μέλλων, οἷα βουλεύεται; Καθελῶ μου τὰς ἀποθήκας. Καλῶς ποιεῖς, φαίην ἂν ἔγωγε πρὸς αὐτόν· ἄξια γὰρ καθαιρέσεως τὰ ταμιεῖα τῆς ἀδικίας. Κατάσκαπτε ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ χερσὶν, ἃ κακῶς ᾠκοδόμησας· λύε τὰ σιτοδοχεία, ὅθεν οὐδεὶς ἀπῆλθε ποτε παραμυθίας τυχών· ἀφάνισον πάντα οἶκον, πλεονεξίας φύλακα, ἀποσκεύασον ὀρόφους, περίελε τοίχους, δεῖξον ἡλίῳ τὸν εὐρωτιῶντα σῖτον, ἐξάγαγε ἐκ φυλακῆς τὸν δέσμιον πλοῦτον, θριάμβευσον τὰ σκοτεινὰ τοῦ μαμωνᾶ καταγώγια. Καθελῶ μου τὰς ἀποθήκας, καὶ μείζονας οἰκοδομήσω. Ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ταύτας ἐμπλήσῃς, τί ποτε ἄρα διανοηθήσῃ; ἤπου πάλιν καθαιρήσεις, καὶ πάλιν οἰκοδομήσεις; Καὶ τί τούτων ἀνοητότερον, ἀπέραντα μοχθεῖν, οἰκοδομεῖν μετὰ σπουδῆς, καὶ μετὰ σπουδῆς καθαιρεῖν;

3. ^C Κἂν μὲν ἀκούσῃς, Πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς, ἵνα ἔχῃς ἐφόδιον πρὸς τὴν αἰώνιον ἀπόλαυσιν, ἀπέρχῃ λυπούμενος· ἂν δὲ ἀκούσῃς, Δὸς χρήματα γυναιξὶ χλιδώσαις, δὸς λιθοξόοις, τέκτοσι, ψηφοθέταις, ζωγράφοις, χαίρεις ὡς δή τι χρημάτων τιμιώτερον κατακτώμενος. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς τοὺς τοίχους τούτους τοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου καταρρυέντας, ὧν τὰ λείψανα ὥσπερ σκόπελοι τινες διὰ τῆς πόλεως πάσης ἀνέχουσι; Πόσοι ἦσαν κατὰ τὴν πόλιν πένητες τούτων ἐγειρομένων, οἱ διὰ τὴν περὶ ταῦτα σπουδὴν ὑπὸ τῶν τότε πλουσίων παρεωρῶντο; Ποῦ τοίνυν ἡ λαμπρὰ τῶν ἔργων κατασκευή; ποῦ δὲ ὁ ἐπὶ τῇ τούτων μεγαλουργίᾳ ζηλούμενος; Οὐ τὰ μὲν συγκέχυται καὶ ἠφάνισται, ὥσπερ τὰ κατὰ παιδιὰν ἐν ταῖς ψάμμοις ὑπὸ τῶν παίδων φιλοτεχνούμενα, ὁ δὲ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ κεῖται, ἐπὶ τῇ σπουδῇ τῶν ματαίων μεταμελούμενος; Μεγάλην ἔχε τὴν ψυχὴν, ἄνθρωπε. ^D Τοῖχοι δὲ καὶ μικροὶ καὶ μείζονες τὴν αὐτὴν χρείαν πληροῦσι τοῖς ἔχουσιν. Ἔχεις ἀποθήκας, ἐὰν θέλῃς

θέλῃς ^A the houses of the poor. Store up for yourself treasure in heaven. What is deposited there, moths do not consume, rot does not spread upon, and thieves do not steal away. "But," you say, "I will impart to the needy when I have filled my second storehouses." You have fixed for yourself a long period of life; but watch that the day that hastens according to the appointed time does not anticipate you. For this promise is not an evidence of kindness, but of wickedness. For you promise, not that you might give afterward, but that you might fend off the present. For what is now hindering the distribution? Is not the needy person present? Are not the storehouses full? Is not the reward ready? Is not the commandment clear? The hungry person is wasting away, the naked person is freezing, the one from whom a debt is exacted is being strangled—and you are putting off your almsgiving until tomorrow? ^B Hear Solomon: "Do not say, 'Go and return, and tomorrow I will give,' when you are able to do good today; for you do not know what the coming day will bring." And then, while providing gold and acquiring a horse, you are not distressed; but when giving away things that perish and receiving the kingdom of heaven, you weep and refuse the one who asks, and decline to give, inventing thousands of excuses for expenses. What will you answer to the Judge? You who clothe walls but do not clothe a human being? You who adorn horses but overlook a brother who is wallowing in filth? You who allow grain to rot but do not feed the hungry? You who bury gold but despise the one who is being choked?

4. How shall I set the calamities of the poor before your eyes? That person, having looked around at his own affairs, sees that there is no gold, nor has there ever been, but only vessels and garments, such as are the usual possessions of the poor, the whole worth but a few obols. What, then? Then at last the miserable man turns his eyes upon his children, so that by leading them to the slave-market, he might find from that a remedy for death. Consider here the battle between the necessity of hunger and paternal affection. The one threatens the most wretched death, the other pulls back, persuading him to die together with his children; and often impelled, and often held back, he finally succumbs, forced by the necessity of destitution. And what plans does the father revolve in his mind? ^C "Whom of these shall I sell first? And whom will the seller of grain look upon more willingly? Shall I approach the eldest? But I revere the rights of his age. Or the youngest? But I have pity on that age, which does not yet understand these calamities. This one clearly preserves the features of his parents; that one is suited for learning his lessons." Woe to the helplessness! "What shall I become? With whom of these shall I clash? What kind of beast's spirit must I put on? How shall I forget nature? If I save them all, I will see them all consumed by hunger. ^D If I sell one, with what eyes shall I look upon the others, already having become suspicious to them [and] lacking faith? How shall I inhabit the house...

having fashioned for myself childlessness? How shall I come to the table, which has its prosperity from such a pretext? And he indeed comes to sell the dearest of his children with countless tears; but you are not moved by the calamity, nor does the thought of nature enter your soul. And yet hunger presses upon that miserable man, while you delay and dally, making the calamity longer for him. And he indeed offers up his own bowels as the price of food; but your hand, not only does it not grow numb as it receives the prices of such calamities, but you even wrangle over more; and you strive to give less after taking much, weighing down the calamity for the miserable man from every side.

^B 5. The Creator of all things crafted the bird [i]Seleucis -- for the benefit of man -- to be insatiable; but you have made your own soul insatiable for the ruin of many. Most fish devour one another, and the smaller is food for the greater among them. And if it ever happens that the one who has overcome the smaller becomes the prey of another, both pass into the one same belly of the latter. What else, therefore, do we humans do when we oppress those who are inferior by tyranny and power? How does he who hides the weak in the insatiable folds of his own greed for wealth differ from the latter fish? That man possessed the poor man’s goods; you, having taken this one, have made him a part of your own wealth. You have appeared more unjust than the unjust, and more rapacious than the rapacious. See to it that the same end [that awaits] the fish does not await you—some hook, or basket, or net. For in any case, even we, if we have committed many unjust deeds, shall not escape the final punishment.

The possessions acquired through plunder your father left to you; restore them to him who has been wronged, do not claim them for yourself as your own—it is an inheritance of sin. That which your father unjustly reduced to slavery and left to you as a slave, do you grant him freedom, ^C so that you may both make his torment lighter and prepare for yourself freedom. Do not make your children an excuse. Are they children? Treasure up for them an eternal treasure. Leave them a good reputation, rather than much wealth. Make all [men] fathers to your child through benevolence. It is necessary that you depart from life at some time; then you will leave your child at an immature age, in need of guardians. If you are decent and good, everyone will nourish your child as their own; for it will come to their mind that you also were a father to the orphan. But if, after having lived in wickedness and having grieved many, you depart from life, having been harsher than any wild beast to those who encounter you, you have left your child a common enemy of the living. For just as the offspring of a scorpion ^D...

^A seen by one who beholds it is feared, lest when it reaches maturity it should imitate its father; so also will your children, being suspected as heirs to their father's wickedness, be plotted against by everyone before they even reach maturity. For just as rivers, having started from a small beginning, then taking on an irresistible increase through small, gradual additions, sweep away with violent force whatever stands in their path; so too do the rich, advancing from small power, and gaining the capacity to do injustice from those whom they have already oppressed by their power, enslave the rest ^B along with those whom they had previously injured; and a growth of power becomes for them an abundance of wickedness, while each of the injured is more concerned not to suffer any further harm than to exact vengeance for the things they have already experienced.

6. (2) Do not, therefore, covet the land of your neighbor. By adding furrow to furrow, increase your land bit by bit. For as much as you widen your land with an alien addition, so much the greater sin you heap upon yourself. And the land indeed remains here, having come to you little by little and through avarice, and it is no longer yours, but belongs to those after you, and you leave unjust wealth to your successor. The earth stands forever; but sin ^C will follow like a shadow, clinging to every soul. For just as the shadow follows the body, so too sin is naturally joined to the soul. Furthermore, all who have extended the boundaries of their own possessions beyond what is fair, together with the bordering of their neighbors—because those possessions were not acquired without the groans of those who were wronged—have become alien to the divine blessing. Whence, where ten yokes of oxen, as it is in Isaiah [Isa. v, 10], have plowed, scarcely one jar will be harvested, and where six artabae have been sown, scarcely three measures of fruit will be collected. (4) A wicked man in the city, a wicked man in the country, is a rapacious neighbor. The sea knows its boundaries; the night does not overstep its ancient borders. But the rapacious man does not revere time, does not recognize a limit, does not yield to the order of succession; but he imitates the violence of fire, seizing everything, consuming everything. Whatever the eye looks upon, the rapacious man desires. The eye will not be satisfied by seeing [Eccle. 1, 8], nor will the rapacious man be satisfied by receiving. Hell has not said, "It is enough" [Prov. XXX, 16], nor has the rapacious man ever said, "It is enough." And what is the gain from this? Sleeplessness, anxieties, cares. A judge is awaited, and he ^D looks about lest...

^A he be dragged to the courts. He deliberates by night upon which bitter advocates he may hire, that he might obtain false testimony; how he may besiege the man who is desolate, how he may oppress him with his power, and by stealing the truth even in the courtroom, he devours both his victim and deceives the judge and defrauds the one who has been wronged.

His wealth he partly displays, while the rest he keeps buried, laying it up for uncertain hopes—hopes, I say, which are no hopes at all. For if the deposit were for true hope, the preparation would have been made for that eternal hope. But as it is, he hides his uncertain wealth under his bed, thinking to avert some impending loss. But if the hour of need should ever come—it is uncertain, yet the time will surely come in which he will repent that he did not steward his wealth. This is certain, and I am the bondsman for it. ^B What are you doing, miserable man? You are entrusting your treasure to the earth. When will you use the things that are present? When will you enjoy them, while you are always constrained by the labors of acquisition? Do you not use ten thousand pretexts in order to seize the property of your neighbor? "The house of my neighbor," he says, "obstructs my view; it causes noise, or it harbors vagrants." If you desire your neighbor's house, and you will never lack a neighbor, you must necessarily proceed to the farthest ends of the earth. But if this is impossible, restrain your impulse toward evil from its first thought, O man, being content with what you have received and continuing with what you possess; knowing that even great mansions, because they were constructed through iniquity, are desolate of inhabitants, and a great expanse of land seized through rapacity ^C has often been shown to be barren of fruits. For divine judgment often anticipates the coming punishment, and already reduces houses unjustly enclosed to uselessness, making them desolate of inhabitants—they who formerly had a great multitude of people and brilliant abundance. For he who desires what belongs to another will not long after mourn, being deprived of his own. What killed Naboth the Jezreelite? Was it not the desire of Ahab for the vineyard?

7. Remember that day, in which wrath ^D is revealed from heaven. Remember the glorious coming of Christ, when they shall arise, they who have done good things, unto the resurrection of life, but they who have done evil things, unto the resurrection of judgment. Let those things cause you grief, and let not the commandment of God cause you grief. How shall I persuade you? What shall I say? You desire not the kingdom, you fear not hell; whence shall health be found for your soul? For if you do not fear dreadful things, and you are not spurred on by joyful things, we are talking to a heart of stone.

^A I wish, O covetous man, that you would take a little breath from the works of injustice, and give your thoughts some leisure, so that you might consider to what end the pursuit of such things tends. You have so many acres of arable land, as many planted with trees, mountains, fields, woodlands, rivers, and meadows. What then results from these? Do not three cubits of earth await you? Will not the weight of a few stones be enough to guard your miserable body? For what reason do you act unjustly? Why do you heap up with your hands fruitlessness and fuel for the eternal fire? Will you never sober up from this drunkenness? Will you not recover a saner mind? Will you not return to yourself? Will you not place the judgment of Christ before your eyes? What excuse will you bring, when those who have been harmed by you, surrounding you, cry out against you before the just Judge? What then will you do? What advocates will you hire? What witnesses will you produce? How will you deceive the Judge, who cannot be beguiled by any craft? No orator is present there, there is no persuasive language capable of stealing the truth from the Judge: flatterers do not follow, nor money, nor the pride of rank. Deserted by friends, abandoned by supporters, without patronage, without defense, suffused with shame, you will be left sad, grieving, solitary, lacking confidence and freedom of speech. For wherever you turn your eyes, you will see clear and open proofs of your crimes: here the orphan's tears, there the widow's groaning; elsewhere, the poor struck by your fists, the slaves whom you mangled, the neighbors whom you provoked to anger. Everything will rise up against you, and a ^B wicked chorus of your evil deeds will surround you. There is no place for denial there, but every shameless mouth is stopped. For the deeds themselves bear witness against each person, not by uttering a voice, but by appearing such as they were performed by us. Let us, therefore, flee with all our strength from the most grievous vice of avarice; let us flee, I say, that we may both avoid the punishment threatened to us, and become partakers of eternal goods, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power, with the Father who is without beginning, and the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and to the endless ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING SIN. SERMON VII.

^D 1. A great and varied war, beloved, is waged against us daily by the enemy of truth. He wages it, as you know, by making our own desires into arrows against us, and by always borrowing from us the strength to harm us. And just as wicked and rapacious men, whose work and purpose it is to grow rich from the possessions of others, but who lack the power to exercise open violence, habitually lay ambushes along the ways.

^A And if they see some place nearby with deep, broken ravines or one shaded by the density of trees, they withdraw into it, and by cutting off from the travelers any possibility of seeing them from afar with such coverings, they leap upon them suddenly, so that no one can see the snares of danger before falling into them. Thus, too, our hostile adversary from above, the devil, entering into the shadows of worldly pleasures—which are apt to appear along the path of life, hiding the brigand and causing the one who lays traps to be unnoticed—from there unexpectedly weaves snares of destruction for us.

2. But just as the walls of cities, surrounding them on every side, ward off the assaults of enemies from every direction, so too the angel who guards us both fortifies us from the front and keeps watch from behind; ^B nor does he leave anything on either side unguarded; but he is always keeping watch, sitting beside those who believe in the Lord, unless we drive him away by our wicked deeds. For just as smoke drives away bees, and a foul odor puts to flight doves, so also does the tearful and foul sin drive away the angel who is the guardian of our life.

3. It is, indeed, worthy not to fall into evil; but there remains a second navigation: to avoid that blow immediately after the experience, just as one would a venomous beast. For I know some who, after lapsing into the vices of the flesh in their youth, persisted in sins until their very gray hairs because of the habit of evil. ^C For just as swine, wallowing in the mire, are always splashed with mud ever more and more, so these, day by day, contract the disgrace of pleasure ever more and more. For sin, as long as it is being delivered, brings with it a certain shame; but when it is accomplished, it then makes those who commit it all the more shameless. Therefore, as long as we sin in small and few things, we are moved only gently, as plants agitated by a light breeze; but when the evils become many and greater, according to the proportion of the increase of sins, the agitation is also apt to be intensified. And some are moved much; others, however, ^D are to such a degree uprooted and cast down, when the spiritual forces of wickedness, sharper than any storm, break off the roots, as it were, of the soul, upon which it had rested by faith in God. For he who involuntarily departs from what is fitting may perhaps find some pardon from God, but for him who deliberately chooses things that are worse, there is no excuse, but that he incur punishment many times over. For of the things in which sin is committed, some are involuntary, while others are sinned from a wicked will. Otherwise, then, involuntary things meet with forgiveness, and otherwise those which arise from a wicked purpose are condemned. Since one person might

^A have sinned from being educated wickedly from the beginning; for he was brought into life by unjust parents and was brought up amidst lawless words and deeds. Another, however, having many things that invite him to virtue—most honorable upbringing, admonition of parents, the care of teachers, the hearing of divine discourses, a disciplined and moderate lifestyle, and other things by which the soul is trained toward virtue—subsequently, nevertheless, has slipped into the same sin himself. How, therefore, will such a one not justly be deemed worthy of a heavier punishment? For the former will be accused only for neglecting the salutary resources scattered in our minds, as one who did not use them well; but the latter, in addition to this, as one who has betrayed all the assistance granted to him, and has been dragged by negligence ^B into a wicked life.

4. What sins, therefore, can obtain forgiveness before God; and for what and what sort of offenses does one become liable to the judgment of contumacy? Neither in the multitude nor in the magnitude of sins, but in the single violation of any commandment whatsoever, do we clearly find that contumacy against God is judged, and that a common sentence is brought by God upon every disobedience, when we unravel the divine Scriptures. For in the Old Testament, I read of that terrible end of Achar, or the history of him who gathered wood on the Sabbath; of whom neither is ever found to have sinned anything else against God, nor to have wronged any man, either great or small. But the former, for the sole and first gathering of wood, pays the inescapable penalty, finding not even a place for repentance; for by the command of God, he is immediately stoned by all the people. The latter, because he had only taken away something from the offerings—and these not yet brought into the tabernacle, nor yet received by those appointed to accept such things—became the author of destruction, not to himself alone, but also to his wife and children, and moreover to the tabernacle itself, along with all his own kin. And the vengeance of the sin ^C was already about to consume all the people, like fire, and this, though they neither knew the matter nor were cognizant of the sinner, had not the people been quickly broken by the slaughter of the men who were struck down, sensing the wrath of God, and Joshua, son of Nun, along with the elders, fallen down and sprinkled themselves with dust; and thus the guilty one, having been detected by lot, gave the aforementioned satisfaction. But what of Mary, the sister of Moses? Because she merely said something about Moses by way of disapproval, and that too was true (for she says, "He has taken to himself an Ethiopian wife"), she experienced such indignation from God, that not even with Moses himself praying, was the penalty of her sin remitted to her. But what need is there to mention these things, ^D

^A passing over Moses himself, that servant of God, that great man, who was held worthy of such and so great honor by Him, and so attested by Him as to hear, "I know you above all, and you have found favor before me"? For this man, at the waters of contradiction, for no other reason than that he merely said to the people who were murmuring because of the scarcity of water, "Shall I bring forth water for you from this rock?", for this reason alone he immediately received a threat from God that he would not enter into the land of promise, which was then the culmination of all the promises made to the Jews. When, therefore, I see him entreating and not being granted [his request]; when I see him deemed unworthy of any pardon for such great accomplishments, on account of that one brief word; do I not truly perceive the severity of God, according to the Apostle? ^B Shall I not be persuaded that that saying also is true: "If the righteous is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" And why do I mention these things? Eli the priest, though otherwise of most upright life, because he did not inveigh against his sons more vehemently, kindled the lenity of God to such wrath that, when aliens made an incursion, those very sons of his were killed in war on a single day, the whole people were defeated, and many of them fell; and indeed, things happened concerning the ark of the holy covenant of God which had never been heard of before: so that the ark, which it was not lawful for the Israelites, nor even for all the priests themselves, to touch at any time, nor was it kept in just any place, was carried away from one place to another by impious hands, and instead of a sanctuary, was placed in the temples of idols. From which it is permitted to conjecture what laughter and mockery the very name of God served for those aliens. In addition to this, Eli himself ended his life with a most miserable exit, and the Lord threatened him that his seed would be removed from the priestly dignity—which also came to pass. And yet, the old man was never accused of any crime on account of his own manner of life. ^C Indeed, he did not even silently endure the flagrant sins of his sons; but he had exhorted them much, that they should no longer persevere in such sins. For he said, "Far be it, my sons! The reports which I hear about you are not good." Yet, because he did not show the zeal that was fitting against them, he kindled such great wrath of God upon himself, and upon them, and upon the people. Although it seems that rebuke has as its end the correction of the one sinning, while reproach is brought about for the confusion of the one who has fallen. For even if anyone appears to have done many things excellently, but has been negligent of a few, or even of one single commandment, or has indifferently acquiesced in one who is sinning, and has not shown good zeal according to the judgment of God, he will pay the penalty justly on this account alone. ^D And even if he suffers such a thing out of ignorance, not even in that way will he escape without punishment.

^A Likewise, we indeed find in the Old Testament very many judgments against all disobedience; yet not fewer than these do I perceive as I proceed to the New, but rather I learn of a much greater severity of judgment therein; as for instance: *The servant who knew the will of his lord and did not do it, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he who did not know, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few.* Christ surely does not free from punishments even him who has sinned out of ignorance, and against those who sin with knowledge, he directs even more vehement threats. And again, *Heaven and earth*, he says, *will pass away, but my words will not pass away.* And the blessed apostle Paul says: *Destroying arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.* Every high thing, and every thought, not just this one or that one. *And having in readiness to punish all disobedience.* And elsewhere again: *They who do such things are worthy of death*; and again: *You who boast in the law, through the transgression of the law you dishonor God.* Therefore, nothing is left unpunished before God. ^B But if these are only words without reality, behold the one in Corinth who had his father's wife, who, being accused of no other evil besides this one, is not only delivered himself to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, until he should amend the sin with worthy fruits of repentance, but he casts the whole Church together into these rebukes, because it had not avenged the crime. And what of that Ananias who is mentioned in the Acts? What other evil is he found to have committed, except for that very thing? Where, then, does it appear that he was worthy of such great wrath? Having sold his own property, he brought the money to lay at the feet of the apostles: yet because he had held back a certain part of the price, for this reason he is struck with death at that very hour, together with his wife, not having been deemed worthy to hear words concerning repentance for the sin, nor having found time in which he could be pricked in heart for the crime, nor having received a set time to perform repentance. ^C Furthermore, such an executor of such a great judgment, and minister of such great wrath of God against the sinner, that blessed Peter, who was preferred before all the disciples, to whom alone greater testimonies were given than to others, who was declared blessed, to whom the keys of the kingdom of heaven were entrusted—when he hears from the Lord: *If I do not wash you, you have no part with me*, what kind of heart, I pray, and however much one might be of stone, does it not incite to the fear of the judgments of God? Especially when he had given no indication of any sin, nor of any contempt, but rather had treated his Lord with extraordinary honor; ^D and using the proper...

^A reverence due from a servant to his Master, when he saw his own Lord and the Lord of all, God, King, and Savior—yea, all things at once—girded with a towel in the guise of a minister, and wishing to wash his feet, immediately, as if coming to a sense of his own unworthiness and struck with awe at the dignity of the One approaching him, he cried out: "Lord, do you wash my feet?" and again, "You shall never wash my feet." Because of this, such great threats were directed at him that, had he not corrected his contradiction with the speed and fervor of obedience, neither the testimonies of the Lord declaring him blessed, nor the gifts, nor the promises, nor even the revelation of the goodness of God the Father toward His only-begotten Son, so great and of such a nature, would have sufficed to heal that present disobedience.

6. But if I should wish to recount all these things which ^B I find in the Old and New Testaments, time would perhaps fail me in the telling. Yet, for the present, it is necessary to recall only this one thing: what will be said by our Lord Jesus Christ on the great and terrible day of judgment to those who stand on His left: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. xxv, 41); not because you murdered, or committed adultery, or lied, or wronged someone, or did any other of the things forbidden—even the most trivial—but because you neglected good works. For He says, "I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink; I was sick and in prison, and you did not visit me" (Matt. xxv, 42). He, therefore, who is not softened and turned aside by self-control has achieved a complete flight from sins; but if someone has fled from most sins, yet is mastered by one, such a one is not self-controlled, ^C just as he is not healthy who is troubled by a single bodily ailment, nor is he free who is mastered by one, whoever that lord may be.

To those whose sins are curable, the Word threatens that the Lord shall visit their iniquities with a rod and their injustices with stripes (Ps. lxxxviii, 33); but to those who are in an incurable state He says, "Why are you still struck, having gone through all the stripes? You have despised all the corrective lashes; destruction awaits you" (Isa. i, 5). Of the calamities that occur, some happen for the sake of sins, some for the amendment of the character of those being tested, and others for the crushing of those who are in a state of despair, as in the case of Pharaoh. For these, it is no longer lashes or stripes that are threatened, but destruction. Why are you still struck, ^D you whose bodies and souls have been scourged, and yet there is nowhere any amendment? Often, sickness is also beneficial when it is about to school the one who is sinning.

For health is harmful when it becomes a supply for sin to one who possesses it. In the same way, wealth has at times become a service to licentiousness for some, whereas poverty has greatly restrained many who were inclined toward evil. Therefore, do not flee that which you should not, nor take refuge in that which you should not; but let there be one thing you flee—sin—and one refuge from evils—God. ^A

7. Many, indeed, of the former sinners forget, having no account of them and treating them with contempt, as if no retribution were to follow. But he who constantly keeps the judgment of God before his eyes, and is persuaded that all of us shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad, is always in anxiety; and desiring to heal this pain in his own soul, he accuses himself through his confessions to God, according to him who says: *My pain is before me always.* (3) But many, even if they have departed from wicked works, while they go over their former deeds in their memory, often renew through it the sin that was lying dormant. (4) For wickedness, when lulled by silence, is a hidden disease in the soul. (5) Moreover, the dismissal of those who sin comes through abandonment. Yet of those whose care He undertakes, Scripture says: *I will not leave you, nor will I forsake you*; but those of whom He utterly despairs, these He leaves free to fulfill the desires of their flesh and of their thoughts, as if a sharp rebuke would be of no profit to them. (6) For since this sin ^C is worse than a wound, a bruise, and an inflamed sore, it is not possible to apply a poultice as to a sore, nor oil as to wounds; nor is there any need for relief from these, for the symptoms, it is said, are greater than to yield to these medicines. And because the whole nation is sinful, and the entire people is full of iniquities, for this reason punishment often reaches everyone. And every heart grieves while the people are led into captivity on account of their sins. Therefore, just as the physician is not the cause of an incision or a cautery, but the disease itself, so also the destructions of cities, having their origin in the excess of those sinning, turn away all complaint from God.

8. For evils come even on account of a few upon a whole people, and the wickedness of one harms the entire public. Achan committed sacrilege, and the whole host was scourged. ^D Zimri again

consorted with the Midianite women, and Israel paid the penalty. And just as a pestilence, once it touches one man or beast, is wont to spread by transmission to all who are near, so also do the workers of iniquity strive to bring their own evil upon all, eagerly desiring many to become like themselves, so that they may avoid disgrace in the fellowship of vices; and by imparting the disease one to another, they become sick together and perish together. For neither can fire, once it has touched matter suitable for taking flame, be restrained from spreading over the whole of it—especially if a strong wind happens to carry the flame—nor can it happen that sin, once it has touched some one individual, does not pass to all who are near, if the spirits of wickedness ignite it. ^B

9. (3) Now, bodily actions require time, and occasion, and labor, and helpers, and the rest of the supplies. But the movements of the mind are exerted without time, are completed without toil, are constituted without business, and have every time as suitable. And indeed, sometimes one is found who is arrogant and puffed up with gravity, wearing the mask of temperance externally, and, while sitting in the midst of those who often call him blessed for his virtue, he runs away in his mind to the place of sin in the secret movement of his heart. He saw in his imagination the things desired; he fashioned for himself some unbecoming discourse, and, in the hidden workshop of the heart, painting for himself the clear pleasure, he wrought the sin within without witnesses. For the greatest part of sin is fulfilled in the impulse according to intent; because bodily actions are interrupted by many, but he who sins according to intent completes the sin with the speed of his thoughts. ^C For as a shadow follows the body, so do sins follow souls, depicting the actions clearly. Therefore, perfect malice is to sin both in intent and in deeds; but it is half of the evil when the sin stops at the impulse of the mind. Thus, he who sins according to his mind is not entirely unpunished; but by as much as he falls short of the evil, by so much will his torments be remitted. However, he who has been admitted into the brotherhood and has subsequently violated his profession ought to be regarded as one who has sinned against God, before whom and in whom he deposited the confession of his covenants. For if one sins against God, he says, who shall pray for him? ^D For he who has dedicated himself to God and then has leaped away to another manner of life has become a sacrilegious person, having stolen himself and taken away the offering of God. For such a one it is reasonable that the door of the brothers no longer be opened, even if he should come for a mere passing shelter.

[...and] it is fair that the doors of the brethren should no longer be opened, lest they approach even for a brief transit to request shelter. For the Apostolic rule is clear, by which we are ordered to withdraw from every disorderly person, and not to associate with him, so that he may be put to shame.

10. For thus from the beginning the rose grew without a thorn; but later a thorn was joined to the beauty of the flower, so that pleasure might be conjoined with pain, while we remember the sin for whose cause the earth was condemned to bring forth thorns and thistles for us. But the depravity of the affections, through ignorance of God, has implanted an evil knowledge. For that great athlete Job, having endured temptations of every kind, was not unaware of whence this had come to him. Wherefore he said: *For the arrows of the Lord are in my body, the wrath of which drinks up my blood.* But David, since his soul itself was ailing, took vengeance upon himself and afflicted himself, and subjected himself to every kind of punishment in various modes of confession. *For since thine arrows are fixed in me,* he says, *and thou hast laid thy hand upon me. There is no health in my flesh because of thy wrath. There is no peace in my bones because of my sins.* Furthermore, the arrows mentioned here seem to me to be spiritual, or rather, they are the very words of God, which pricked and wounded his soul, and exacted punishment from his conscience itself, and chastised it. For this man, although he was so great and had received so many good things from God, nevertheless committed a base deed. Since David was found defenseless and did not resist the flaming darts of the evil one, he was justly wounded in his soul and taken captive by concupiscence. But just as Job called the devil's arrows—namely, the ulcers inflicted upon his body—the arrows of the Lord, because they happened by the permission of God, saying: *For the arrows of the Lord are in my body, the wrath of which drinks up my blood;* so it is likely that David here called them arrows of the Lord, because by the Lord’s permission the adversary attacked him, in order that he might learn not to say: *I shall never be moved.* For because he was strengthened by the grace of God, he once thought greatly of himself, so that he arrogantly said: *But I said in my abundance: I shall never be moved.* ^C For this reason, he was justly delivered to the tempter, who, by attacking his soul, inflicted greater damage upon him than upon Job.

11. But I see these three ^D distinctions of the disposition in the inviolable necessity of obeying Christ: that of servants, of hirelings, and of sons. For either we turn away from evil through fear of punishment, and we are in the disposition of a servant; or, seeking the gains of a reward,

^A we fulfill the things commanded for the sake of our own benefit, and in this we resemble hirelings; or we do so for the sake of the good itself, and out of love for Him who gave us the law, rejoicing that we have been counted worthy to serve so glorious and good a God; and thus we are in the disposition of sons. Neither, therefore, will he who performs the commandments in fear, and ever dreads the punishment for sloth, do some of the things commanded him while neglecting others; but he will consider the retribution for every act of disobedience to be equally fearful to himself. And for this reason he is called blessed, as one who chooses to pass over nothing that is required (for, he says, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; why? Because he will delight exceedingly in His commandments"). But neither will the hireling choose to violate any of things ordained. For how shall he receive the wages of his labor, if he has not fulfilled all the things agreed upon? For if even one of the necessary things is lacking, he has rendered the work useless to the one who possesses it. ^B Who therefore, while the damage remains, would pay wages to one who has done injury? The third was the service according to love. Who, then, is a son who has for his aim the pleasing of his father, and while gladdening him in greater matters, would choose to cause him sorrow for the sake of the smallest things? Those, therefore, who transgress the majority of the commandments, in what category do they wish to be placed? They who serve God neither as a Father, nor obey Him as one promising great rewards, nor serve Him as a Master.

12. But as for us, having preferred the blessedness of life and the equal citizenship of the saints ^C and the joys with the angels in the presence of Christ, how do we promise such things to ourselves? Such imaginings are the mark of a truly foolish mind. How shall I be with Job, I who have not accepted even the most trivial affliction with thanksgiving? How with David, I who have not borne myself patiently toward an adversary? How with Daniel, I who have not sought out God with continuous abstinence and diligent prayer? How with each of the saints, I who have not walked in their footprints? What issuer of contests is so devoid of judgment as to deem the victor and him who has not struggled at all worthy of equal crowns? What general, to those who have conquered and to those who have not even appeared in the battle, ever distributes an equal share of the spoils? God is indeed good, but He is also just. And it is the way of the just to reward according to merit, ^D as it is written: "Do good, O Lord, to the good. But those who turn aside to crooked ways, the Lord shall lead away with those who work iniquity." He is merciful, but also a judge. "For the Lord loves mercy and judgment." Have you learned upon whom mercy is bestowed? "Blessed," He says, "are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Do you see how He has used mercy with discernment, neither bestowing it without judgment, nor judging without mercy? He is merciful, it says, the merciful, because they themselves shall obtain mercy.

and just. Let us not, then, acknowledge the Lord only in part, nor take His philanthropy as an occasion for sloth. For this reason there are thunderings, for this reason lightnings, that goodness might not be held in contempt. He who causes the sun to rise, also punishes with blindness. He who gives the rain, also rains fire. ^A The former things indicate clemency, the latter severity. Let us love Him for the former, or fear Him for the latter, lest it be also said to us: "Do you despise the riches of His goodness and forbearance, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath." What profit is it to me to have other things done rightly, if, because I have called my brother a fool, I am to be condemned to hell? For what use is freedom from many things to one who is held in service by a single master? For "whoever commits sin," He says, "is a slave of sin." And what profit is it to anyone to be free from many diseases, if his body is corrupted by even one? ^B For he who does the will of God, but not as God wills it, nor does it with the affection of love toward God, has the pursuit of his work in vain: for He says, "Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward." Therefore, O man, if you do not remember your first creation, take some notion of your dignity from the price that was paid for you; look toward that compensation, and acknowledge your own worth. You were bought with the most precious blood of God; do not become a slave of sin. Understand your own excellence, that you may not be likened to senseless beasts. For how will you rule your servants, when you yourselves serve foolish and harmful desires like slaves? How will you instruct your children, when you live a life devoid of discipline and order? For just as necessity is laid upon me, and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel, ^C and [I Cor. IX, 16 ] testify to the righteousness of God by day and by night, as the Apostle says; so also the struggle is equal for you, if you have given yourselves over to sluggishness, or if you are disposed to be listless and dissolute in keeping and fulfilling through works those things handed down to you. For the word which I have spoken, says the Lord, that shall judge the world on the last day. For while always desiring what is good, yet always failing to attain it, I can find no other cause for what happens than my being persuaded that I am paying the penalties for ancient sins. As, therefore, knowing that the words of inspired Scripture will stand before us at the judgment seat of Christ; so let us also attend soberly to what is said, and let us hasten zealously to bring the divine precepts into action, ^D because we do not know on what day or hour the Lord

our God shall come; concerning which to Him be glory and power, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ON PENITENCE

SERMON VIII

^A Two-fold is the fear that has invaded my mind ^B concerning the subject of you. For either some unfeeling mindset, having taken the lead, casts me into the charge of inhumanity, or, on the other hand, it turns out badly for one desiring to show compassion, causing me to grow soft towards vices. Wherefore, in writing this letter of mine, I strengthened my hand, which was numbed by my reasonings, but I could not change my face, which was anxious from the sadness I felt for you; so much shame was heaped upon me, that the very expression of my mouth, with my lips turned to mourning, fell away instantly. Woe is me! What shall I say, or what shall I think, caught at the crossroads?

If I call to mind your former vain manner of life, when riches flowed around you, and a groveling kind of glory, I shudder; when a multitude of flatterers followed you, and you enjoyed a fleeting and temporary pleasure with manifest danger and ill-gotten gains; and partly, fears of the magistrates agitated you as you thought of your safety, and partly, the tumult of public affairs disturbed your household, and the pressure of evils drove your mind away from Him who could help you; when you were gradually contemplating looking towards the Savior, holding fears for your benefit, yet liberating and protecting you, whom you had mocked while you were in safety; when you were practicing for a change to a virtuous way of life, treating your dangerous wealth as nothing, and fleeing the care of your household and the company of your wife.

Wholly lifted up, like a stranger and a wanderer, having traveled through fields and cities, you sought Jerusalem, where even I myself, staying with you, called you blessed for your athletic labors, when, through cycles of seven days, you persevered fasting and philosophized for God, at once shunning human encounters as if turning to flight, and by applying quiet to yourself, you avoided civil tumults. Moreover, piercing your body with a rough hairshirt, and tightening your loins with a hard belt, you patiently wore down your bones. And by hollowing your flanks with deprivation, you relaxed them as far as the parts of your back; and having rejected the use of a soft sash, you forced your abdomen to be drawn inward like a cupping-glass, and to adhere to your kidneys. And having emptied all the fat from your flesh, you courageously dried up the passages situated beneath the belly, and by contracting the belly itself with fasting, you made the costal parts, acting as a kind of projection of a roof, cast a shadow over the parts of the navel. And with your whole frame contracted, in the night hours, confessing

^A to God, you moistened your beard with streams of tears. And what need is there for me to recount each thing? Remember how many mouths of the saints you greeted with a kiss; how many sacred bodies you embraced; how many men cherished your hands as if they were undefiled; how many servants of God, like worshipers, ran to your knees, clasping them.

2. And what is the end of these things? The report of the rumor of adultery, flying swifter than an arrow, wounds our ears, piercing our vitals with a sharper sting. What such artful trickery of a sorcerer cast you into so ruinous a fall? What winding nets of the devil, constricting you, rendered the sinews of virtue immovable? Where have the narrations of your labors gone? But perhaps it is not right to give credence to these? And how ^B shall we not believe, even from things manifest, those things which until now were hidden? Since you have bound with horrible oaths those souls that were fleeing to God, when yet by name whatever is of these little words, and is no more, is attributed to the devil. Therefore, you have simultaneously become a sponsor of destructive perjury, and having brought the character of your ascetic institution into contempt, you have transmitted disgrace and infamy even as far as the apostles and the Lord Himself. You have disgraced the boast of chastity, you have bespattered with a stain the vow of continence; we have become a tragedy for captives, our affairs are brought onto the stage and into the acts by Jews and Gentiles. You have split the zeal of the monks: you have driven the more diligent and cautious into fear and dread, as they still wonder at the power of the devil; but you have led the more negligent to follow the example of incontinence. You have dissolved, as far as it depended on you, the boast of Christ, who said: "Take heart, I have overcome the world," ^C and its prince. You have mixed a cup of disgrace for your homeland. You have truly fulfilled the Proverb, "As a stag struck by an arrow in the liver." But what now? Has the tower of strength not fallen, brother? The remedies of correction and conversion have not become deaf; the city of refuge has not been closed. Do not remain in the depth of evils, nor deliver yourself to the homicide. The Lord knows how to raise up those who have been crushed. Do not flee far away, but run back to us. Resume again your youthful labors, by subsequent right actions blotting out the groveling and sordid pleasure. Look to the day of the end, so near and close to our life; and know how now the children ^D of the Jews and Gentiles are being driven to the worship of God, and do not entirely deny the Savior of the world: lest that most horrible sentence seize you: "I do not know you, who you are."

3. The preaching of one man, John, drew all to repentance; but you, being taught through the prophets: "Wash yourselves, become clean," and admonished through the Psalms: "Draw near to Him, and be enlightened"; you, who through the apostles that joyful message...

^A hear: "Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Spirit." Since you are invited by the Lord Himself, saying: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest," you hesitate, you deliberate, and you delay. ^A Instructed from childhood in the rudiments of the faith, have you not yet assented to the truth? Always learning, have you not yet arrived at the knowledge? A scout throughout your life, a watcher until old age, when will you finally become a Christian? When shall we acknowledge you as our own? Last year you were expecting this present time, now again you wait for the next. Beware of being caught making promises that extend longer than your life. You do not know what the coming day will bring forth; do not promise what is not yours. We are calling you to life, O man; why do you flee from the call? We are calling you to a share in good things; why do you pass over the gift? The kingdom of heaven is open; He who calls is truthful; the way is easy; there is no need of time, no need of expense, no need of labor. Why do you delay? Why do you shrink away? Why do you fear the yoke, like some heifer that has never been under the yoke? It does not bruise the neck, but adorns it. For the yoke-strap is not bound around the neck, but requires the one who pulls to do so voluntarily and freely. Do you see that Ephraim is accused, as a heifer goaded by a gadfly, because it wanders in a disorderly fashion, dishonoring the ^B yoke of the law? Submit your untamed neck; become a beast of burden for Christ, so that, by not being freed from the yoke and living a life of license, you do not become easily caught by wild beasts. ^C 4. If I were distributing gold to the Church, you would not say: "I will come tomorrow, and you will give it to me tomorrow"; but you would already be demanding the distribution, being urgent, and you would bear the delay with an impatient mind. But because the great Giver of gifts offers you not beautifully colored material, but the purity of the soul, you invent excuses and enumerate reasons. If you were a slave of men, and freedom had been proposed to slaves, would you not have rushed to the appointed day, hiring advocates and begging judges, so that by every device you might be enrolled in the number of the manumitted? Nay, you would even accept a slap, the final blow to slaves, so that you might thereafter be free from the lash. But since the herald calls you—not a slave of men, but a slave of sin—to freedom, that he may release you from captivity, make you a fellow-citizen of the angels, show you to be a son of God, adopted through grace, and an heir ^D of the goods of Christ, you say that it is not yet time for you to receive what is being given. O wicked obstacles! O shameful and never-ending preoccupation! How long, finally, will there be pleasures? How long, luxuries? We have lived a long time for the world; let us henceforth live also for ourselves. What is equivalent to the soul? What is to be compared to the kingdom of heaven? Who is a more trustworthy counselor to you than God? Who is wiser than the Wise One, or who is more beneficial than the Good One; who is more intimate than the Creator? Not even Eve [index: entries preserved]

^A benefited from believing the serpent’s advice more than the Lord’s. O the absurdity of such words! “I have no leisure to be healed; do not show me the light yet; do not join me to the King.” Do you not speak thus openly? Indeed, your words are even more irrational than these. For if you were liable for public taxes, and a cancellation of debts had been proclaimed to those responsible, and then someone were to attempt to deprive you by injury of such a pardon, you would surely be indignant and cry out, as if being despoiled of your rightful portion of the common benefit. Yet since not only is there a forgiveness of past things, but also gifts of future things have been proclaimed, you injure yourself—in a way that not even any of your enemies would have wished upon you—and do you think you have consulted properly and provided profitably for yourself, since you do not accept the pardon, but die instead in your debts? If your sins are many, do not despair because of their multitude. For where sin abounded, grace did superabound; provided you accept the grace. But if your sins are small and trivial, and not unto death, why are you anxious about the future, having borne the past not ignobly?

^B 5. Now, consider your soul, O man, as on a scale, pulled here by angels and there by demons. To which, I ask, will you give the weight of your heart then? What will gain the victory in you? The pleasure of the flesh, or the holiness of the soul? The enjoyment of present things, or the desire for future ones? Will the angels receive you, or will those who currently hold you detain you? In battle, commanders distribute the watchword to those serving under them, so that friends may easily call out to one another, and if they should be mingled with enemies in the fray, the separation may be able to be clear. No one will recognize whether you are one of our own or of the ^C adversaries, unless you reveal your kinship and affinity by mystical signs, unless the light of the Lord’s countenance is marked ^D upon you. How will an angel lay claim to you? How will he snatch you from the enemies, if he does not recognize the seal? How will you say, “I am God’s,” if you do not display the marks and insignia? An unsealed treasure can be easily plundered by thieves; a sheep lacking a mark is ambushed without risk. [(2)] If any physician were to promise you that he would make you a young man out of an old one by certain arts and skill, would you not desire that day to arrive, in which you would see yourself returned to the vigor of your age? But when repentance promises and pledges to act, so that your soul, which you have worn out with old age and rendered wrinkled and stained by iniquities, may return to its pristine bloom, you spurn the benefactor and do not hasten to the promise. Do you indeed not desire to see the great miracle of the promise? How a man is regenerated without a mother? How one who is grown old and corrupted by the desires of error thrives again, grows young again, and returns to the true bloom of youth; and how [(3) runs; ]

^A O wretched one, you consider pleasure to be preferable to so many and such great blessings? For I understand your procrastination, even if you cover it up with words; the very facts cry out, even if you are silent in voice: "Allow me," you say, "to use the body for the enjoyment of shameful lusts, to wallow in the mire of pleasures, to stain my hands with blood, to plunder the goods of others, to walk deceitfully, to perjure myself, to lie; and then, repentance, when I have at last reached the end of these evils." If sin is a good thing, then keep it until the end; but if it is harmful to the one who commits it, why do you persist in such deadly things? Does God not see what is happening? Or does He not understand your thoughts? Or does He cooperate with your iniquities? For "you have thought," He says, "iniquity, that I shall be like you." But you, when you are seeking the friendship of a mortal man, win him over with benefits, saying and doing those things in which you perceive he takes pleasure; yet, when you wish to be reconciled to God, and hope to be received into the place of a son, you do things that are hostile to God, and by transgression of the Law you dishonor Him. Do you hope for intimacy with Him from those very things by which you offend Him most? See to it that, in the hope of deliverance, you do not heap up a multitude of evils for yourself, gathering sin but failing to obtain forgiveness. God is not mocked. Do not make merchandise of grace. Do not say, "The Law is indeed good, but sin is more pleasant." Pleasure is ^B the devil's hook, drawing one toward destruction. Pleasure is the mother of sin; but sin is the sting of death. Pleasure is the nurse of the eternal worm; it soothes the one who enjoys it for a time, but afterward it produces fruits more bitter than gall. What are you doing, O man? When you are capable of performing works, you squander your youth on sins. When your organs grow weary, then you offer them to God, when they are of no use for anything, but are forced to lie idle due to the wasting away caused by time, with their tone and vigor dissolved. Temperance in old age is not temperance, but the inability to be licentious. The dead man is not crowned; no one is just simply because he lacks the power to do evil. As long as you have strength, overcome sin by reason; for this is virtue: to turn away from evil and do good. But the mere cessation from wickedness is in itself worthy of neither praise nor punishment. If you cease from sin because of age, it is a benefit of infirmity. We praise those who are good by their own intent, not those who are restrained by some necessity. And who has fixed your term of life? Who has defined for you a certain limit of old age? Who is so trustworthy a guarantor for you concerning the future? Do you not see infants carried away, and those in the prime of life taken and removed from the midst? Life has no fixed term. Why do you wait for fever ^C to become your opportunity for repentance, when you will not even be able to utter ^D the saving words of confession; perhaps you will not even be permitted to hear them clearly,

^A when the disease has occupied your very head; unable to lift your hands to heaven, unable to rise to your feet, unable to bend your knee in worship, unable to be instructed profitably, unable to confess securely, unable to believe in God, unable to renounce the enemy; perhaps, indeed, you will not even be able to listen with understanding while you are being initiated, so that those present doubt whether you have perceived the grace or are receiving what is being done without awareness? Nay, even if you receive the grace knowingly, at that moment you possess the talent, but you do not bring back any profit.

6. ^B The devil is wicked and crafty in doing evil. He understands that we humans live only in the present time, and that every action is performed in the present time. Therefore, having fraudulently stolen the present day from us, he leaves us with hope for the morrow. Does he not suggest that we commit sin today, while persuading us to reserve righteousness for the morrow? Then, when the morrow comes, our wicked divider approaches again, claiming the present day for himself and the morrow for the Lord. And thus, always stealing away the present through pleasure, and setting the future before us as a hope, he carries us, imprudent and incautious as we are, out of this life.

I once saw such craftiness in a clever bird. When its chicks were easy to catch due to their tenderness, the bird would present itself as ready prey, fluttering before the hands of the hunters. It could neither be easily caught by the hunters, nor did it remove from them the hope of capturing their prey; but meanwhile, by keeping them variously occupied with hope and busy with itself, it provided escape and safety for its chicks, and finally, it too flew away at the same time. Fear lest the same things happen to you, you who abandon the certain for the hope of the uncertain. ^C See also to it that, while you put off repentance from year to year, from month to month, and from day to day, you do not one day fall into an unexpected day, when the means of living shall finally fail you, and there shall be distress on every side, and affliction devoid of any comfort, with physicians despairing and relatives despairing as well; when, pressed by frequent and dry gasping for breath, with a violent fever inflaming and consuming your internal parts, you groan indeed from the bottom of your heart, yet you will find no one to sympathize; and though you speak something faint and weak, there will be no one to hear; and whatever you might utter will be despised as raving.

Who will remind you of repentance then, when you are seized by the heavy and deep sleep of ^D sickness? Relatives will mourn, strangers will despise the disease; a friend neglects one’s advice as if it brings disturbance, or perhaps even a physician deceives you, and you do not despair of yourself because of the natural love of life. Death stands by, and those who are to lead you away are urgent. Who will snatch you away? God, who has been despised? Will He then, forsooth, listen to you? You, for your part, do not listen to Him now.

To make a covenant with God.

^A You have made good use of the time granted to you. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For sudden ruin will be upon you, and destruction will arrive like a storm. ^A A mournful angel will come, violently dragging away and pulling your soul, which is bound by sins, frequently turning itself toward the things here below, and lamenting without a voice, the organ of its groans having already been closed. Oh, how you will lacerate yourself! How you will groan! You will repent in vain of your deliberations, when you see the radiance of the righteous in the glorious distribution of gifts, and the dejection of the sinners in the deepest darkness. What will you say then in the pain of your heart? Woe is me! That I did not cast off this heavy burden of sin, when it was so easy to lay it aside, but cherished this heap of evils. Woe is me! That I did not wash away the stains, but am branded with sins. Now I would be with the angels; now I would be enjoying heavenly goods. ^B Oh, wicked deliberations! For the sake of the fleeting enjoyment of sin, I am tormented eternally; for the sake of the pleasure of the flesh, I am delivered to the fire. Just is the judgment of God. I was called, and I did not obey; I was taught, and I did not pay attention; I was warned, and I mocked. These and such like things you will say while bewailing yourself, if you are snatched away before repentance. O man, either fear Gehenna or strive to attain the kingdom. It comes to me to weep, whenever I consider that you prefer works of shame to the great glory of God; and because of the sweetness of debauchery, clinging fixedly to sin, you exclude yourself from the promised goods, so that you are not permitted to see the goods of that heavenly Jerusalem. ^C 7. The Judge wishes to show mercy and to impart His compassion, according to the one who says: "The Lord loves mercy and judgment" (Ps. XXXII, 5). But if He finds you after sin humble, contrite, having deeply deplored your wicked deeds, having shamelessly made public those things done in secret, having asked your brothers to toil with you for your healing, if ever He sees you having become altogether pitiable, He abundantly imparts His mercy to you. But if He beholds a heart unrepentant, a proud mind, disbelief in the world to come, and a lack of fear of judgment, then He loves judgment upon you. For as a skillful and humane physician first tries to reduce the swelling with poultices and soft applications; but when he sees the mass resisting unyieldingly and harshly, having cast aside the oil ^D and gentle treatment, he chooses at last the use of the iron. For to those who, having fallen many times, have often been raised by the protection of divine mercy, and then afterwards have succumbed to their infirmities, He threatens utterly...

^A that God will not forgive. For He says, I will no longer forgive your sins. This indicates that He has already often granted forgiveness for similar things. For apart from the forgiveness that comes from God, it is impossible for anyone to give himself to a life according to virtue. For He wishes that he who has been weighed down by certain sins, and then promises to return to a healthy life, should put an end to the past and make a certain beginning after his sins have been committed, as if coming to life again through repentance. But if he promises these things constantly, and just as constantly falls away from them, He excludes him from His loving-kindness as one thoroughly given up as hopeless. For he who says, "I have sinned," and then persists in sin, does not truly confess; but he does so who, according to the Psalmist, has found his sin and has hated it. For what profit does the physician’s care bring to ^B a sick man when the sufferer busies himself with the things that destroy his life? So, too, there is no benefit in sins being forgiven to one who is still acting like a sick man, and in acts of impurity being remitted to one who is still acting impurely.

8. Endeavor, therefore, not to give your thoughts time to investigate the infirmity of another; rather, turn your eyes to examine yourself. For there are not a few who notice the speck in their brother’s eye, but do not look at the beam in their own eye. Do not look around at things outside, in case you might find some place to find fault with someone, imitating that Pharisee who stood and justified himself while despising the publican. Moreover, do not cease to question yourself: whether you have sinned in your thoughts, whether your tongue has slipped, anticipating your mind, or whether anything involuntary has been done in the works of your hands. ^C For just as it is impossible to recover health without getting rid of the disease, or to become warm without the cold being completely stilled—for these things cannot exist together—so it is fitting that he who wishes to live a good life should withdraw from all association with evil. For repentance is judged not by the length of time, but by the disposition of the soul. But those who have withdrawn from a vain life and are training themselves for a more divine life should not train themselves by themselves or in isolation; for it is fitting that such a life should have witnesses, so that it may be placed beyond wicked suspicion. And if anyone has long since been ensnared, or has heaped upon himself the dust of riches from iniquity, and has bound his mind with the cares of these; or has joined to his nature the filth of lasciviousness which is ^D hard to wash away; or has satisfied himself with other crimes; he, while there is still time, before coming to complete destruction, should cast off the burdens

^A of his excessive cargo, which he has gathered in incorrectly, and before the ship is submerged, should effect an ejection of the wares that were indecorously piled up. Nor, indeed, do the goods, when properly jettisoned, perish for those who cast them out and throw them away; but just as if transferred into other, safer cargo ships—namely, the bellies of the poor—they are preserved, and arrive safely at port, and are kept as an ornament for those who cast them out.

9. ^B For things that have hardened over time first require time to be cured; then, a strong and more vigorous course of action, if one wishes to reach the very bottom, so that those things which have taken root in souls over a long period may be pulled up by the roots. Such was that diligent repentance of the Ninevites, and that wise and concentrated affliction, which did not even leave the brute animals exempt from punishment, but compelled them too, by necessity, to cry out by a certain artifice. For the calf was separated from the cow, the lamb driven from its mother’s udder; the nursing child was not to be seen in the arms of its mother; voices were sent forth by all, piteous, crying out in turn and resounding. The offspring, hungry, sought the fountains of milk; the mothers, torn by natural affection, recalled their young with sympathetic cries; the infants, likewise hungry, were shattered by the most vehement wailing and gasped for breath, and the mothers were pierced in their inmost parts by natural pains. The old man wept over them, and plucked and tore at his gray hairs. ^C The young man in his prime lamented more vehemently; the poor man groaned; the rich man, forgetful of his luxuries, applied himself to hardship as to a good thing. Their king transformed his splendor and glory into shame. He laid aside his crown, and sprinkled dust upon his head, and having cast away his purple-dyed robe, he clothed himself in sackcloth; having abandoned the high and lofty throne, he dragged himself piteously upon the ground; having left behind his own royal dignity, he mourned together with the people; he became one of the many, when he saw the common Master of all angry. This is the disposition of sensible servants. Such is the repentance of those entangled in sins, that sorrow should occupy every age, both that which is sentient and that which is not; the former by choice, the latter by necessity. For this reason, when God saw them thus humbled, as though passing judgment upon themselves for their own misery by a condemnation common to all, He had mercy on their passion, ^D and remitted the punishment, and granted joy to those who had mourned with sound counsel. For it is peculiar to the love of God toward men not to inflict punishments in silence, but to announce them beforehand, provoking the sinners to repentance through threats; for in this way...

He also dealt with them through Jonah. ^A And against Israel when they had sinned, He did not bring destruction in silence; but, moving His own servant to act on behalf of the people, He proclaimed ahead of time, saying: "Let me alone, that I may blot out this people." Similarly, we have learned something in the Gospel concerning the parable of the fig tree, the master of which says to the gardener: "Behold, three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none: cut it down. Why does it even make the ground useless?" For what time, then, are we putting off repentance? Shall we not awake? Shall we not recall ourselves from our customary way of life to the exactness of the Gospel? Shall we not place before our eyes that day of the Lord, fearsome and manifest, in which the kingdom of heaven shall receive those who, by their deeds, draw near to the right hand of the Lord; but ^B those who have been cast off to the left on account of the lack of good works, the fire of hell and eternal darkness shall hide? "There," He says, "shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." But we perform sin promptly, ^C yet we embrace repentance carelessly and sluggishly. And we say we desire the kingdom of heaven, but we are not concerned about those things by which it is possible to attain it; but bearing no labor for the commandment of God, we imagine in the vanity of our minds that we shall receive the same honors as those who have resisted sin unto death. Let us make an effort, then; let us at last make an effort concerning the care of our souls, brothers. Let us grieve for the vanity of the life that has passed; let us strive for what is to come. Let us not remain in this sloth and dissolution, nor, by squandering the present time through constant laziness and putting off the beginning of our works to tomorrow and the future, be then caught by Him who demands our souls, unprepared with good works, and be cast out from the joy of the bridal chamber, and cry in vain and uselessly, lamenting then the time of life that was evilly passed, when it will no longer profit those who repent. This is the age of repentance, that one is of retribution; this one is of work and labor, that one is of receiving the reward; this one is of endurance, that one is of consolation. Now ^D God is a helper to those who turn from an evil way; then He will be a fearsome and unerring inquisitor of human deeds and words and thoughts. Now we experience His gentleness; then we shall know His righteous judgment, when we shall rise, some to eternal punishment, some to eternal life.

And each shall receive according to his own works. ^A To you, however, as many as have grieved at the shameful conduct of those who have been condemned, we give this command: If you see those who repent of the absurdity of their deeds, have compassion on them as though they were your own sickly members. But if you perceive them to be stubborn and making light of the distress you feel on their behalf, *Go out from among them and be separate, and touch no unclean thing*; that thus they, being shamed, may come to a knowledge of their own wickedness, and you may receive the reward of the zeal of Phinehas from our Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING PRAYER. SERMON IX.

1. We ought not to fulfill prayer by mere syllables, brothers, but rather by the resolve of the soul, and by actions that extend throughout the whole of life in accordance with virtue. For we do not consider that God feels need of being reminded through words, nor yet that He needs us to ask for things that are beneficial, for He knows them even before we ask. ^B For the divine hearing does not require a voice to perceive, since it is able to discern what is sought even in the motion of the heart. For do you not hear that Moses, while saying nothing, but interceding with the Lord through his own unspoken sighs, was heard by the Lord, who said: *Why do you cry to me?* And those who adorn their lives with no virtue, but nevertheless think they are justified by the duration of their prayers, let them hear these words: *When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn away my eyes from you; and even if you multiply your petition, I will not hear you.* ^C For the words of prayer do not profit simply by being uttered, but if they are sent forth with a fervent disposition. For even the Pharisee was praying these things to himself, not to God; for he was reverting to himself, since he was involved in the sin of arrogance. Therefore, the Savior also says: *But when you pray, do not babble like the heathen; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking*; and that, *From much speaking you will not escape sin.* This is the cause why God turns away His eyes when the hands are stretched forth, because the very symbols of supplication are occasions for provoking Him. Just as if someone were to have murdered the beloved son of another, and, still having his hands bloodied, were to stretch them out towards the father who is angry with him, seeking a right hand of friendship; would not the child’s blood appearing on the hand of the murderer rather stir the injured man to greater rage? ^D Such are the prayers of the Jews, when they extend their hands, reminding God and Father of the crime committed against the only-begotten Son, and showing their hands full of the blood of Christ with each extension. Indeed,

those who persist in blindness are heirs to the ancestral murder. For His blood, they say 6, be upon us and upon our children.

^B 2. 1 Therefore, O man, remember God at all times, and have His fear in your heart, and join everyone to the communion of prayers. For great is the help of those who are able to appease God. For indeed, even while we live this life in the flesh, prayer will be a good helper; and for those departing from here, it will be a constant provision for the life to come. But just as solicitude is a good thing, so again despondency, despair, and having distrust regarding salvation are things that harm the soul. Therefore, hope in God’s goodness and await His help, knowing that if we turn to Him rightly and sincerely, it will happen that He will not only not reject us entirely, but even while we are still uttering the words of prayer, He will say: "Behold, I am here" 58. 2 For who would entertain an evil thought, or perform an evil deed, if they believed that God is present everywhere, that He is present to the things that are done, that He attends to every action, and looks into the counsels of the hearts? But thinking either that God does not look, or does not care for the things that occur, in this way men turn their minds to committing impious ^C acts 7. 3 The beginning of the soul’s purification, therefore, is quiet—neither the tongue speaking of human affairs, nor the eyes observing the beauty and symmetry of bodies, nor the hearing relaxing the soul’s intensity through the listening to modes composed for pleasure, nor the words of facetious and ridiculous men—a thing which is most accustomed to breaking the soul's vigor. For the mind, which is not dissipated by external things, nor scattered into the world through the senses, returns to itself; and through itself it ascends to the thought of God, and, illuminated by that beauty, it even forgets its own nature, and is no longer distracted by the concern for food or the solicitude for clothing; but being free from earthly cares, it transfers all its own zeal to the acquisition of eternal goods.

3. 4 Therefore, do not allow half of your life to be useless to you by the sleep of slumber: but let the time of the night be divided for you into sleep and prayer; nay, let sleep itself be an exercise of piety. For often the visions in sleep are, in most cases, ^D as it were, echoes of the day’s cares. 5 What, then, is more blessed than a man who, as soon as the day begins, rises for prayers and honors the Creator with hymns and canticles? Then, when the sun has clearly shone, he turns to his labors, with prayer accompanying him everywhere, and also, with hymns, touching his works

^A? For the consolations of hymns bestow a cheerful and tranquil state of soul. Let prayers be made in a manner worthy of God's gifts, both those He now bestows and those He has stored up for the future; let there be prayers also after food, containing thanksgiving for the goods received and the petitioning of those promised. ^B And that prayer is noble which impresses a clear notion of God upon the soul: for this is the indwelling of God—to have God settled within oneself through memory. Thus we become a temple of God, when the continuous tenor of memory is not interrupted by earthly cares, nor is the mind disturbed by unexpected passions; but, fleeing everything, it withdraws to God, driving away the passions that incite it to intemperance, and lingering in those pursuits that lead to virtue. And what dawn is to others, midnight is to the striver in piety, especially as the nocturnal silence grants leisure to the soul, sending nothing deleterious to the heart—neither through sight to the eyes nor through hearing to the ears; but the mind, being only by itself ^C with God, corrects itself through the recollection of sins, while simultaneously setting for itself limits for the turning aside of evil, and beseeching the cooperation of God toward the perfection of those things it is pursuing.

4. Also, what is suggested by the history of Moses ^D signifies this, that because those who are progressing do not make their actions uniform, but at one time live better, and at another are weakened by lethargy and act more feebly, the events of that time were symbols of the human condition. For if he raised his hands, Israel grew strong, but when he let down his hands, Amalek grew strong (Exod. xvii, 11). This means that when our active power flags, our opposing forces prevail against us; but when it is raised and stretched out, the perceptive power within us becomes stronger. For he who seeks the things above raises them [his hands], but he who asks for help for corporal things stretches them out. Therefore, he who is in the temple of God does not proclaim evil-speaking, vanity, or words full of obscene things—far from it! But *In his temple*, as David says, *everyone says glory* (Ps. xxviii, 9). The angels stand by, recording the words; the Lord is present, observing the dispositions of those who enter. The prayer of each one is manifest to God: who is seeking heavenly things with true affection, who with mere knowledge; who utters the words perfunctorily and with only the tips of their lips, while their heart remains far from God. For if they pray, they seek health of flesh, and bodily wealth, and human glory. But none of these should be sought, as the Word teaches, but *In his temple everyone says glory*. But, oh, the wonder! The heavens declare the glory of God. To the angels is the work,

^A of glorifying God. For the entire host of heavenly beings, this is the one task: to send up glory to the One who created them. All creation, whether silent or speaking, whether above the heavens or upon the earth, glorifies the Creator.

But as for wretched men, having left their homes and run to the temple, they act as though they are to gain some benefit, yet they do not offer their ears to the words of God, nor do they perceive their own nature, nor do they grieve when they call their sins to mind, nor do they fear the judgment; rather, smiling and shaking hands with one another, they turn the house of prayer into a place of chatter, ignoring the Psalmist who bears witness and says, *In the temple of God everyone says glory.* But you not only refrain from saying it, but you also become an obstacle to another, by turning him toward yourself. For God is not in need of glory, but He wants you to be worthy of being glorified. For, *Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.*

5. We ought to give thanks to God when He bestows good things, and not to be vexed when He delays. And if He grants that we be together, we shall consider this best and most pleasant; but if He defers it, we shall bear the loss gently. For surely He disposes our affairs much better than we ourselves could choose. The halcyon is a sea bird. It is its nature to nest along the shores, laying its eggs on the sand; and ^B it hatches its young about the middle of winter, when the sea is lashed against the land by many violent winds. Yet, all the winds are calmed nonetheless, and the sea waves grow quiet for the seven days during which the halcyon incubates its eggs. For in just those days it hatches its chicks. And since food is also required for them, the most munificent God has provided another seven days for the growth of the chicks for this tiny creature. Wherefore all sailors know this, and they call those days "halcyon days." These things are established and ordained by the providence of God in brute animals, so that you, moved by these, may seek from God the things that pertain to your salvation. For what could not happen for your sake—you who were made in the image of God—when, for the sake of such a small bird, ^C the great and fearsome sea is commanded to maintain a calm in the middle of winter? For if He grants such great things to the halcyon, how much greater things will He give to those who call upon Him with all their heart?

Let us therefore persuade ourselves, brothers, both in our other petitions and in a time of trial, not to run to human hopes, nor to hunt for help for ourselves from that source; but let us offer our prayers with tears and sighs, and with diligent prayer and intense watchfulness. ^D For thus does he find relief from distress who scorns human help as vain, and rests his hope in Him who has the power to save us.

^A of recording those who fast. Because to Him is due the glory and the adoration, together with His eternal Father, and with the life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ON FASTING. SERMON I.

^B 1. Generals when they set an army in array for battle are wont to use words of exhortation before the conflict, and such power has this encouragement that it often brings about a contempt for death itself. Likewise, gymnastics masters and trainers, when they bring athletes to the contests of the stadium, discourse much on the need to endure labor for the sake of the crowns, so that they have persuaded many in their passion for victory to treat their bodies with disregard. Therefore, for me also, as I arrange the soldiers of Christ for the war to be waged against invisible enemies, and as I prepare the athletes of piety through abstinence for the crowns of righteousness, a word of exhortation is necessary. The angels are they who in each church register the names of those who fast. See that you do not, for the sake of a small pleasure of food, lose the registration of the angel, and make yourself liable to a charge of desertion before Him who has enrolled the army. The danger is less if one is caught throwing away a shield in the line of battle than if one appears to have cast away that great shield, fasting. Are you rich? Do not insult the fasting by disdainfully refusing to take it as a table companion, nor send it away from your house without honor, overcome and defeated by pleasure; for it might report you before the Lawgiver of the fasts, and bring upon you a deprivation many times greater by way of sentencing, whether from bodily infirmity or from some other calamitous circumstance. Let the poor man not trifle with fasting, since he has had it as a long-time housemate and table companion. ^C For women, to fast is as natural and becoming as breathing. Let children, like flourishing plants, be watered with the water of the fast. To the aged, long acquaintance makes the labor light; for labors that are practiced through long habit fall less painfully on those who are trained. To travelers, fasting is an unencumbered companion on the way. For just as luxury forces them to carry a burden, bearing along those things that look to indulgence, so fasting makes them light and ready for the road. And indeed, for the soldiers of this world, rations are increased in proportion to their labors; but among the spiritual soldiers, he who has less of food has more of honor. Therefore, it is highly absurd not to rejoice in the health of the soul, but rather to grieve at the removal of food, and to seem to be such as to attribute more to the pleasure of the belly than to the care of the mind. For in the belly settles the delight of satiety, but fasting lifts the gain up to the soul. Do not imitate the disobedience of Eve, nor again ^D accept the serpent as an advisor, sparing the flesh and proposing the food.

^A Do not plead infirmity and weakness of body; for you are not declaring these excuses to me, but to One who knows. You say you cannot fast, tell me; but are you able to live in constant satiety and crush the body under the weight of things eaten? And yet I know that physicians prescribe to the sick not a variety of foods, but abstinence and lack of nourishment. How is it then that, being able to do the latter, you claim you cannot do the former? Which is easier for the belly, to spend the night on a light diet, or to lie weighed down by a profusion of foods? Unless perhaps you will say, following the shipmasters, that a ship heavily laden with cargo is easier to keep safe than one which is unencumbered and light. For the one weighed down by the magnitude of its burden is sunk by even a slight rising of a wave; whereas the one that has its cargo in moderate measure easily surmounts the swell.

2. ^B Yet I do not think I have need of such great labor to exhort you to fasting, as I do to dissuade you from falling into the vice of drunkenness. For most people undertake fasting partly out of custom, and partly out of the mutual respect they have for one another. But I fear drunkenness, which the wine-lovers cling to as if it were some ancestral inheritance. Just as those who are preparing for a long journey [make provisions], so do some senseless people today indulge in wine in anticipation of the five days of fasting. What are you doing, O man? No one, intending to take a chaste wife in lawful marriage, first brings harlots and concubines into his house; for the lawful wife will not endure living with those who are corrupt. Do not, therefore, when fasting is expected, bring in drunkenness first—that public whore, that mother of shamelessness, that madwoman, who is prone to every form of indecency. ^C The Lord receives the one who fasts within the sacred precincts; but the one who is bloated with excess He does not admit, as he is profane and alienated from sacred things. For if you come tomorrow smelling of wine—and that, spoiled and putrid—how shall I account your drunkenness as fasting? Do not think of that—that you have not poured in the wine just recently—but consider this: that you are not pure from wine. In which rank shall I place you? Among the drunkards, or among those who fast? Your past wine-bibbing claims you for itself; your present lack of food bears witness to your fasting. You are in doubt, and like a slave of drunkenness, it will never dismiss you, and with perfect justice; for it brings forward as clear proofs of your servitude the smell of wine remaining in you like in a vessel.

3. ^D What teacher’s presence so suddenly restrains the clamor of boys, as fasting, when it arises, suppresses the tumult of a city? What reveller went forth in a time of fasting? What lascivious chorus was organized by fasting? Harlot-songs and frenzied dances suddenly depart from the city, as if by...

But if all were to take it as a counselor in matters to be done, nothing would prevent there being a deep peace throughout the whole world, with neither nations rising up against one another, nor armies clashing. ^A Nor would the wildernesses have evildoers, nor the cities harassers, nor the sea pirates. Nor would our life be so full of sighing and sadness, if fasting governed our life. It would clearly have taught everyone not only abstinence from foods, but also complete flight and detachment from avarice, covetousness, and every vice. It raised the great Samson, and as long as it was present with the man, enemies fell by the thousand, the gates of cities were torn up, and lions did not withstand the strength of his hands. But as soon as drunkenness and fornication took hold of him, he was easily captured by the enemies, and having been deprived of his eyes, he was exposed as a toy to the children of the aliens. Having fasted, Elias closed the heaven for three years and six months. For because he saw that much insolence was being born from satiety, he necessarily brought upon them an involuntary fast through famine, by which he checked their sin that was already flowing beyond measure, cutting off the further advance of evil through fasting, as if ^B by a cautery or a surgical incision. For in order to soften the unyielding heart of those with stiff necks, this just man chose to condemn even himself along with the rest to that calamity. For this reason he says, "The Lord lives, if there shall be rain upon the earth, except by my mouth." Thus, he also restored the son to the widow, having shown himself strong against death itself through fasting. There is no profit, moreover, in an alms that is proclaimed with a trumpet, nor any gain in a fasting that is publicized. For things done for display do not extend their fruit into the age to come, but end in the praise of men. What, moreover, was the life of Elisha? How did he enjoy the hospitality of the Shunammite? How did he himself receive the prophets? Did not wild herbs and a little flour fulfill the duty of hospitality? ^C And at that time, when the gourd was taken, those who tasted it were about to be in danger, had not the poison been dissipated by the prayer of the faster. And, to say everything once for all, you will find that as many as were saints, all were guided to a life worthy of God through fasting.

4. There is a nature of the body which they call *amiantos* (unstainable), which is incapable of being consumed by fire. This, while lying in the flame, seems to be charred, but when taken out of the fire, as if it had been brightened by water, it becomes purer. Such were the bodies of those three youths, possessing incorruptibility from fasting. For in the great ^D heat of the fire, they appeared cooler than water.

^A flame of the furnace they were, as it were, golden by nature, and thus appeared superior to the harm and injury of the fire. Nay, they were shown to be stronger even than gold. For the fire did not melt them, but kept them whole and unharmed. And yet, there was nothing that could have withstood that flame, fed as it was by naphtha, pitch, and brushwood, such that it spread to forty-nine cubits and, consuming all that was around it, destroyed many of the Chaldeans. That great conflagration, therefore, the children entered with fasting, and trod it underfoot, breathing a thin, dew-like air in the midst of so fierce a fire. Nor, indeed, did the fire dare to touch their hair, because they had been nurtured by fasting. Furthermore, Daniel, the man of desires, when he had neither eaten bread nor drunk water for three weeks, being cast into the den, taught even the lions to fast. For the lions could not fasten their teeth upon him, ^B just as if he had been formed of stone, or bronze, or some other tougher material. To such a degree had fasting, like a tempering of iron, strengthened the body of that man and made him unconquerable to the lions. Moses would by no means have dared to touch the summit of the smoking mountain, nor would he have ventured to enter into the darkness, had he not been armed with fasting. Through fasting he received the law, written by the finger of God upon the tablets; for while, upon the summit of the mountain, fasting obtained the law, at the base of the mountain, gluttony drove the people to idolatry. For what the servant had accomplished, dwelling assiduously with God for forty days in fasting and prayer, a single instance of drunkenness rendered void and fruitless. For the tablets that fasting had obtained, written by the finger of God, drunkenness shattered; for the prophet judged that a drunken people was not worthy to receive the law from God. What defiled Esau, and made him the slave of his brother? Was it not a single dish, for the sake of which he sold his birthright? When Elijah had purged his soul with a fast of forty days, only then, in the cave that is in Horeb, did he merit seeing the Lord, as much as it is permitted for a man to see Him. Whose corpses were strewn in the desert? Was it not those who clamored for the eating of flesh? As long as they were content with manna and the water flowing from the rock, they overcame the Egyptians, they made their way through the sea, and there was not one feeble person in their tribes. But after they remembered the flesh-pots and turned back in their desires to Egypt, they did not see the promised land. ^D 5. Nor would Daniel, that wise man, have seen his visions, had he not by fasting made his soul clearer. For from richer food, as it were, smoky vapors are exhaled, which, like a thick cloud intervening, block the illuminations of the Holy Spirit radiating upon the human mind. And light, easily shaken off, is, by nature, what follows a thin diet.

design. For to be held fast in heavy stupor, with one's limbs relaxed, so that an easy access is opened up for images alien to reason, condemns those who sleep in this way to a daily death. ^A Moses, in order to receive the second law, had need of a second fast. And if the brute animals had not also fasted together with the Ninevites, they would not have escaped the threat of destruction. A great good to men is fasting, which has recalled the decree of God. A three-day destruction was proclaimed in Nineveh; and the turning to God overcame the destruction; for the threat of destruction was relaxed because of the conversion. The Ninevites were candid and noble-minded sinners, who, having heard Jonah preaching the destruction, stayed the threat by the manner of their fasting, and by the remedy of confession and ^B prayer attracted salvation. Who has diminished his household affairs by fasting? Count today what is within, and count it again afterwards; nothing will be missing from household property because of the fast. Not one animal laments death, there is no blood anywhere, no sentence anywhere brought forth against living creatures by the inexorable belly. The knife of the cooks has ceased; the table is content with things that grow of their own accord. But to those elegant Encratites, in reply to their noble question, "Why do we not also eat everything?" let this answer be given, that we even hold our own excrement in aversion. For as regards their dignity, meats are to us as the herbs of the field; but as regards the ^C discernment of useful things, just as among herbs we separate the harmful from the salutary, so also among meats we distinguish the harmful from the useful. For indeed hemlock is an herb, just as vulture flesh is meat; yet no one in his right mind would eat henbane, nor would he touch the flesh of a dog, unless forced by great necessity; and he who does eat it is not sinning. Give respite and a delay to your cook, let the server of tables be idle; stay the hand of the wine-pourer; let the architect of the variety of dishes have a rest at last; let the house itself at some time rest from the infinite tumults, from the smoke, and from the smell of meat, and from those running up and down, and serving the belly as if she were an imperious ^D mistress. Let the belly grant some truce to the mouth; let it strike a five-day covenant with us—it which always demands, and never ceases, and while receiving today, forgets tomorrow. When it is full, it philosophizes about abstinence; when it has subsided, it forgets those doctrines.

^A Having thus briefly spoken in response to the king who commands us to do impossible things, let us finish. Be pleased, most serene one, to spare us; for we possess only as much as would not suffice for us if we wished to eat it today. The art of cooks ceases among us, as is fitting, nor does their knife touch blood. The best of our foods, with which we abound, are leaves of herbs with very coarse bread and sour wine, so that our senses, stunned by gluttony, may not fall into foolishness. For just as one should seek what is necessary in clothing, so in food, bread will fulfill the need, and water will quench the thirst of one who is healthy, along with whatever pulse dishes can preserve the body’s strength for necessary uses. One should eat, not exhibiting a beastly gluttony, but everywhere preserving composure and gentleness, and maintaining self-control even in pleasures. ^B But what shall I do? When I consider the abundance of what has been said, I see myself being carried beyond measure; but when I again look upon the variety of God’s wisdom shining in all things, I think I have not even begun my narrative. And, besides, to detain you a little longer will not be useless. For what could one do from this time until evening? The banquet-servers do not rush you, the drinking parties do not await you. Wherefore, if it seems good, let us use bodily fasting for the joy of our souls. You have often served the flesh for the sake of pleasure; today, persist in serving the soul. Delight in the Lord, and He will give thee the petitions of thy heart. For what profit is it, I ask, to fast in body while the soul is filled with countless evils? If one does not perform evil but keeps ^C idle, what vanities does he not speak? What absurdities does he not listen to? For leisure devoid of the fear of God is a teacher of wickedness to those who do not know how to use their time. Perhaps, therefore, you will find some profit in what is said; but if not, at least it is possible for you not to sin through your present occupation. Therefore, to detain you longer is to keep you longer removed from transgressions, and to lead you by the hand, as it were, to that heavenly kingdom; which may it be granted to us all to attain, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is due glory, and honor, and adoration, together with the Father who has no beginning, and the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING DEATH. SERMON XI.

1. O the wonder, beloved! How—the moment each one of us has come forth from the maternal womb—

^A bound to the currents of time, he is dragged along, always leaving behind the day he has lived, and never able, even if he should wish it, to return to yesterday. But we rejoice as we are carried forward, and as we change ages, we are glad as if we were gaining something, and we deem it a blessed thing when one becomes a man from a boy, and from a man, an elder. But we are ignorant that we are losing just as much of our life each time as we have lived; and we do not perceive the life being exhausted, although we are always measuring it by what has run past and flowed away; nor do we consider that it is uncertain ^B how much time he who sent us forth upon this journey will wish to grant us. Nor are we willing to look accurately at which burdens are light for us for such a course and can be moved along with those who gather them; and which are heavy and troublesome and nailed to the earth, and of a nature not suited to be possessed by men at all, nor permitted to follow their owners through that narrow gate. But we leave behind things that ought to be gathered, and we gather the things that ought to be despised. And those things which could be united to us, and truly become an ornament in harmony with soul and body, ^C to these we do not even pay attention; but those which remain perpetually alien, branding us only with infamy, these we attempt to heap up, laboring in vain and enduring toil, just as if someone, deceiving himself, should wish to pour water into a perforated jar. For just as those who complete a strenuous journey, advancing the steps of their feet in rivalry to cover the course, and by the swift displacement of the other, constantly rendering the footprint previously fixed on the ground the second, easily arrive at the end of the road; so too, those who have been brought into life by the Creator, ^D immediately at the beginning, stepping into the segments of time, and always leaving the former behind as rear, arrive at the end of life. For indeed, the present life seems to me to be a certain continuous path, and a journey punctuated by ages as if by stations; providing to each the pains of mothers as the beginning of the journey, and pointing out the tents of the graves as the end of the course; and leading everyone toward them, some more quickly, some more slowly, and some who have traveled through all the intervals of time, and others who have not even camped at the first stations of life.

2. For God, who fashioned us and gave us life, allotted to each soul its own conduct of life, and set for different people different limits for their departure. For He ordained for one to remain longer in the presence of the flesh, while He appointed for another to be released sooner from the bonds of the body, according to the ineffable reasons of His wisdom and justice. Just as...

those who sleep in ships are carried automatically by the wind to harbors, even if they themselves do not perceive it, yet the journey brings them to the terminus; so also we, as the time of our life flows away, in the imperceptible course of our life, we each hasten with a certain continuous and restless motion toward our own end. In this life you are a traveler: all things pass by, all things are left behind your back. You have seen a plant, ^B an herb, water, or anything else upon the road worthy of being looked at: you were gladdened for a little while, then you passed by. Again you have encountered stones, and valleys, and precipices, and crags, and stakes, or perchance wild beasts, and creeping things, and thorns, and some other things that are troublesome; after you were afflicted for a little while, you soon left those behind. Life is of such a kind: neither its delights nor its troubles remain constantly. Today you have cultivated the land, tomorrow another, and after him another still. Do you see these fields and these sumptuous houses? How many names have they already changed since they emerged? They were said to be of this man, then the name of another was imposed upon them, they passed to another, and finally they are said to be of yet another. Is our life, therefore, not a road, receiving one at one time and another at another, and containing all who follow one upon another? ^C Other roads, indeed, which lead from city to city, one may decline, and not travel along them, if one so wills; but this road of life, even if we should desire to defer the course, drags those who travel upon it, violently seized, toward the goal ordained by the Master. And it is not possible that he who has once gone out through the gate leading to this life, and has entered upon that journey, should not also arrive at its terminus.

3. Do not, therefore, prefer the most cheap to the most precious things, nor become bad traders, preferring this mortal life to that immortal and blessed rest. For beyond the affections of ignominy, to which most voluptuaries are subject, there are still also the necessities of this life, which, breaking the magnanimity of the soul, reduce it as it were into slavery, while they drag it down to the service of the flesh. ^D But where there is slavery, there it is evident that there is also ignominy. Life, therefore, to which ignominy is joined, is to be avoided.

I do not do, he says, a great thing, if I deliver myself to the Master;

^A for being your slave, I offer to you your own possession. For everything that is created belongs entirely to the Creator. Therefore, it is fitting for a human being in the flesh to be a sojourner, and upon departing from this life, to rest in his own proper places. For this reason, even Abraham, in his life, was a sojourner among foreigners, not owning even a step of his own land; yet in his burial he purchased with silver the land that was proper to himself to receive his body. How blessed, then, it truly is not to be attached to the things on earth as one’s own, nor to cling to the things here as if to some natural fatherland ^B—but rather to live as sojourners, burdened by our residence here as if we had been banished into exile from our own country by certain judges on account of some transgressions. But are you puffed up with wealth? And are you proud of your ancestors? And do you boast in your fatherland, in the beauty of your body, and in the honors received from all? Do you not know, then, that you are mortal, that you are earth, and that you will return to the earth? Look around at those who, before you, were examined in similar splendors. Where are those who were clothed with political powers? Where are the invincible rhetoricians? Where are the generals, the satraps, the tyrants? Is not everything dust? Is not everything a fable? Is not their memory preserved in only a few bones? Peer into the tombs, if you can distinguish ^C who is the servant and who is the master, who is the poor man and who is the rich. Distinguish, if you have any power, the prisoner from the king, the strong from the weak, the well-formed from the deformed. And remembering your nature, you will never be exalted.

4. For what profit is there for a rich man who is dying, being unable to take his wealth with him? For he has gained only so much from its enjoyment, that his soul might be called blessed by flatterers in this life. But in dying, he will not take all this adornment; he will barely take a garment covering his unsightly parts, and even that, if it seems good to the servants who are wrapping him ^D. It is enough for him to obtain a little earth, and even that given to him out of pity by those who perform the funeral, who provide these things for him out of reverence for the common human nature, not granting them to him, but honoring human nature. So that nothing of the things in life that are pleasant, for which the majority are mad, is truly ours, nor is it of such a nature that it can become so. But it appears equally to be foreign to all, both to those who seem to enjoy them, and to those who do not even approach them. For if some people should collect an abundance of gold in their life, it does not remain their own forever; but it either escapes them while they are still living, tightening its hold from all sides, and moves on to the more powerful...

or it abandons them when they are already facing death, nor does it wish to accompany them on their journey abroad. But while they are being dragged away by the Power that separates their souls from this wretched flesh toward an unavoidable migration, they frequently turn back toward their wealth, weeping over the sweat they expended since their youth to acquire it; yet riches migrate into the hands of others, having left to their former possessors only the toil of gathering them and the charge of avarice. Nor, if someone should possess countless acres of land, and magnificent houses, and herds of animals of every kind, and were surrounded by every human power, does he enjoy these things forever; but having been called their master for a brief time, he yields these resources to others, and a small patch of earth covers him. Indeed, often even before his burial, and before he departs from here, he will see his goods passing to others, perhaps even to his enemies. Are we unaware how many fields, how many houses, how many nations and cities, even while those who possessed them were still alive, have taken on the names of other masters and cast off the former ones? And how those who were once enslaved have ascended the throne of authority, while those who were called lords and masters, if they happened to sit with their subjects, considered it well with them, and have succumbed to their own servants, as if in a turn of the dice, with circumstances suddenly transposed for them?

5. Whenever you see grass and flowers, let your mind turn to human nature, remembering the image of the wise Isaiah: *All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass*.

Isa. XL, 6.

of those subject to him grows. But what indeed after this? One night, and a single fever, or pleurisy, or inflammation of the lungs snatches this man away, removing him from among men; it instantly strips bare his whole stage, and that former glory is proven to be as a dream. Wherefore the prophet has aptly compared human glory to a most fragile flower.

6. But what a specious cause for parsimony do they allege, who are distraught by the affairs of this life! "I do not sell what I possess, nor do I give to the poor, because of the necessary uses of life; but after I have enjoyed my wealth throughout all my life, after the end of my life I will appoint the poor as the heirs of my property." When you are no longer among ^B men, then will you become philanthropic? When I see you as a corpse, then shall I call you a lover of your brother? Much gratitude will be owed to you for your munificence, because, while lying in the tomb and dissolved into earth, you are already generous and magnanimous in incurring expenses. Tell me, I pray, for what times do you demand the wages: for those in which you lived, or those which followed after your death? But in the time when you lived, given over to pleasures and flowing with luxuries, you could not even bear to look upon the needy. But now, what action remains for a dead man? And what wage of labor is owed? Show your works, and demand the rewards. No one conducts business once the market is closed; nor is anyone crowned after the matches are over, nor does anyone perform noble deeds after the wars are finished. Therefore, clearly, one is not pious after this life either. For if you promise to do a kindness with ink and parchment, who will announce to you the time ^C of your departure? Who will be the guarantor for the manner of your death? How many have been snatched away by violent accidents, to whom, because of their affliction, it was not even granted to utter a voice! Why do you await a time in which you will often not even be master of your own thoughts? Deep night, a grave illness, and no one anywhere to help. Then, when you have cast your eyes hither and thither, and see the solitude surrounding you, then you will realize your folly; then you will lament your mindlessness, because you deferred the commandment to this time, while you lived indulging in pleasures: but dead, you perform the mandates. As long as you lived, you preferred yourself to the commandment; but after death, then you prefer the commandment to your enemies. For so that "so-and-so" may not receive it, let Christ receive it, you say. And what is this? Is it vengeance against enemies, or love for your neighbor?

^D 7. Let us not, then, lament the departures from here, and especially those of holy men, but rather their births and their arrivals into this life. For the entry into this world has joined to it the ignominy of filth and stench, and of such things as not even one of us, who have gone before in life, could easily bear the sight. For through such things the passage of the fleshly...

^A nativity is constituted: but the departure, and the passing hence, is precious and illustrious, not for all men, but for those who have passed the life here in holiness and justice. Precious, therefore, is death, not precious is the birth of men. For it is sown, he says, in ignominy, it is raised in glory: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. When men perished in the Jewish manner, corpses were an abomination; but where death for Christ occurs, the relics of His saints are precious. Previously it was said to the priests and to the Nazarites: "He shall not be defiled over any dead person": and, "If anyone touches a corpse, he shall be unclean": and that, "You shall wash your garments." But now, he who touches the bones of a martyr receives a certain participation in sanctification from the grace residing in the body. For "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Compare, therefore, death with birth; and cease mourning him who has been delivered from ignominy. For the divine word commands us to exult and rejoice ^B together with the just; but to grieve and lament with those who shed tears from repentance; and to bewail those who are disposed without pain, because they do not even know how they perish. For one is not to be thought to have fulfilled the commandment who mourns the death of men and raises a cry with those who are grieving. For I would not praise a physician who, when he ought to be bringing aid to the sick, instead becomes filled with diseases himself. Thus also David, when mourning his most beloved friend Jonathan, mourned also his enemy, saying, "I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan"; and, "Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul." For he mourns the one as having died in sin; but Jonathan, as one who had been united with him throughout his whole life. ^C

8. For when the ends of life have been fulfilled, which the just judgment of God, who foresees from afar what is beneficial for each of us, has fixed for each from the beginning. But the death of a beloved child crushes your soul. And who is so stony-hearted, or so entirely devoid of human nature, as to suffer nothing at such an event, or to receive only slight grief into his mind? The bright succession of a house, the support of a family, the hope of the fatherland, the offspring of pious parents, educated ^D with countless prayers—to be snatched from the midst of a father's hands in the very flower of age and depart! What nature of adamant would these things not be strong enough to dissolve and bring to commiseration? Therefore, if we wish to mourn and shed tears over the things that have happened, the time of life will not suffice for us; nor if men...

s tears became the rivers themselves would they be sufficient to fulfill the lamentation for what has occurred. ^A Therefore, I exhort you, as a noble athlete, to stand firm against the magnitude of the blow, and not to succumb to the weight of sorrow, nor to let your soul be swallowed up; being persuaded of this, that even if the reasons for the things dispensed by God escape us, yet certainly that which is dispensed by Him who is wise and loves us is to be accepted, even if it be painful. For He himself knows how He apportions to each what is useful, and for what cause He establishes for us unequal termini of life. For there is a cause, hidden to men, for which some are snatched away from here sooner, while others are left to endure toils longer in this sorrowful life. Wherefore in all things we ought to worship His love for mankind, and not to be vexed; ^B remembering that great and famous voice which that great athlete Job uttered, when at a single table he saw ten children crushed in a brief moment of time: *The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so it has come to pass.* Let us make this our own admirable exclamation; equal reward is dispensed by the righteous Judge to those who show equal noble conduct. We have not been deprived of the child, but we have restored Him to the One who lent him; his life has not been extinguished, but has been exchanged for the better; the earth has not covered our beloved, but heaven has received him. Let us wait a little while, and we shall be together with the one we long for. Nor is the time of separation long, ^C since all men in this life are like travelers on a road hastening toward the same inn; into which one has already arrived, another has come upon it, another is hastening, but one end shall receive them all. For even if he completed the path more quickly, yet we are all traveling the same road, and the same lodging awaits us all. Remember your own father, that he has died. What then is to be wondered at, that one born of a mortal should become a father of a mortal? But as for the fact that it was before the hour, and before he was satisfied with life, and before he reached the measure of adulthood and appeared to men, and left behind a succession for his lineage: these things are not an increase of sorrow, but a consolation for what has happened—that he did not leave behind ^D orphaned children upon the earth; that he did not leave a widow exposed to long affliction, or one who would live with another husband and neglect the former children. And as to the fact that the life of the child was not extended in this life, who is so ungrateful as not to judge this to be the greatest of goods? For a longer stay here is an occasion for more evils.

9. Why did you not accustom yourself to think of matters concerning a mortal in a mortal way, but instead received the death of your child contrary to your expectations? When his birth was first announced to you

if someone had asked you what kind of thing had been born, what would you have replied? Would you not have said anything other than that what was born was a human being? But if he was a human being, he was obviously mortal as well. Why is it surprising, then, if a mortal has died? Do you not see the sun rising and setting? Do you not see the moon waxing and then waning? Do you not see the earth flourishing and then drying up? What wonder is it, then, if we ourselves, being part of the world, partake in the things of this world? ^B The bereavement of a beloved child, or a most pleasing wife, or any other of those who are most dear and joined to us by every benevolence and intimacy, is by no means going to be troublesome and burdensome to the prudent man who has right reason as the guide of his life, but does not walk according to some mere custom. For separation is most distressing even to the brute animals. Indeed, I myself once saw an ox in its stall weeping when its yokefellow and companion in labor had been snatched away by death. And one may see the rest of the beasts clinging most tenaciously to custom.

10. [(1)] I did not think it right to be wanting in my duty, nor did I think I should fail to direct my speech to you, who are his mother. For I know what the bowels of mothers are like; and I calculate how great the pain is likely to be under the present evils. You have lost a son whom, while he was living, all mothers proclaimed blessed and wished their own sons to be like; but when he died, they mourned as if each one had covered her own child in the earth. His death became ^C a wound to his country; with him, a great and illustrious family has fallen, shaken as if its support had been removed. O incursion of an evil demon, how much evil it was able to accomplish! O earth, forced to receive such a misfortune! Perhaps even the sun shuddered, if it possesses any sensation, at that gloomy sight. And what could anyone say that is as much as the helplessness of the soul suggests? But our affairs do not occur without providence, as we have learned in the Gospel, that not even a sparrow falls without the will of our Father. So if anything has happened, it has happened by the will of Him who created us. And who can resist the will of God? Let us accept what has happened; for by taking it ill, we neither mend what has been done, and we destroy ourselves besides. Let us not find fault with the just judgment of God. We are too ignorant to explore His secret judgments. Now the Lord is putting your love for Him to the test; now is the time for you to win through patience the portion of the martyrs. The mother of the Maccabees ^D saw the death of seven children, and she did not groan, nor did she shed ignoble tears, but giving thanks to God that she saw them being released from the bonds of the flesh by fire and sword and the most grievous tortures, she was proven acceptable before God, and was held in high renown before men. Affliction is great, I too confess: but the rewards from the Lord for those who are patient are also great.

^A When you became a mother, and saw your child, and gave thanks to God, you knew by all means that, being mortal yourself, you had given birth to a mortal. What is strange then, if the mortal has died? But it is the "untimeliness" of it that grieves us. It is uncertain, however, if it was not timely; for we do not know how to choose what is beneficial for souls, nor how to define the set period of human life. Look around the whole world in which you dwell; and consider that all things that are seen are mortal, and all are subject to corruption. Look up toward the heaven, and it too shall one day be dissolved; toward the sun, not even it shall remain; all the stars, the animals of the land and of the sea, the adornments of the earth, the earth itself, all are corruptible, and all will not be a little later. Let the thought of these things be a consolation for what has happened. Do not weigh your affliction by itself; for so it will appear intolerable to you; but by comparing it with all human things, you will find therein its comfort. And above all, I have this strong word to say to you: Spare your husband; be a comfort to one another; do not make the calamity more grievous for him by consuming yourself with grief.

11. Your extreme love for your children is a cause for suspicion to me, ^B lest you perhaps yield yourself to your grief, since for the tenderness of your character you have received a deep wound of sorrow. For we ought not to receive any of the things that happen to us as grievous, even if for the present it touches our infirmity. For even if we are ignorant of the reasons for which each of the things that occur is brought upon us by the Master as for our good; yet this we must be persuaded of, that what happens is in every way beneficial, either for us, for the sake of the reward of patience, or for the soul that has been taken, so that it might not, by lingering longer in this life, be filled with the malice that is rife in the world. ^C For if the hope of Christians were limited to this life, it would rightly be thought grievous to be separated from the body sooner; but if it is the beginning of the true life for those who live according to God, that the soul be freed from these bodily bonds, why are we distressed, like those who have no hope? But the deprivation of a most beloved husband makes the calamity unbearable for you. And I agree. For we all know that the calamity, the fall of that most excellent man, is a sorrowful one. For indeed, there is no one with a heart so stony that, having had experience of that man, and then hearing that he was suddenly snatched from among men, would not have considered his loss to be a common calamity for human life. ^D If then, to those who are not joined by kinship, the event is so heavy and difficult to bear, how is it likely that your soul would be affected in this case, a soul so subject to the affection, that it would feel as if a certain bisection had occurred in the separation of a spouse? For such a separation has no less pain than if the half of our body were torn away.

...and his departure from the body. But such are the bitter things, indeed even greater than these; but what is the consolation for these events? It is the law of our God which has prevailed from the beginning: that it is absolutely necessary for one who has entered into birth to depart from life at the appropriate times. If, therefore, human affairs have been ordained ^A in this way from Adam down to our own times, let us not be indignant at the common sufferings of our nature, but let us accept the dispensation of the Master regarding us. For the school of the Scriptures is always useful, but especially in such times. Remember, then, the decree of Him who created us, through which all of us who have sprouted from the earth return again to the earth; and no one is so great as to be exempt from this dissolution. For that admirable man was indeed excellent and great, possessing a virtue of soul equal to his strength of body—I myself admit it—and he was certainly second to no one in both respects; but nevertheless, he was a ^B man, and he has died, as did Adam, as Noah, as Abraham, as Moses, as whomever you might name among those who have shared in the same nature. In truth, the Creator who fashioned us had made that man a pattern of human nature; wherefore all eyes were fixed upon him, and every tongue recounted his deeds. Painters and sculptors were unable to attain to the dignity of his form; and historians, while recounting the things he achieved brilliantly in war, fall into the incredibility of fables. Wherefore most could not even be brought to believe the ones carrying the sad news of his fame, or to admit at all that such a man had died. But yet he underwent that which shall befall the heaven, the sun, and the earth. ^C So, therefore, measure your grief, so that you neither cast him out of your heart, nor be swallowed up by sorrow.

12. Those who are joined together while they live, and then are separated from one another by death, consider to be like travelers, journeying along one and the same road, and bound together by intimacy and habit because of their continuous time spent with one another. When these, having traversed the common road, subsequently reach the point where it splits, the necessity already compelling each one to be separated from the other, they do not, restrained by habit, neglect what they had set before themselves; but, calling to mind the cause that impelled them at the beginning, they run toward each one’s own goal. Just as, therefore, ^D while for those travelers there was one target for the journey, yet an attachment occurred to them during the trip out of their habit, so too for those who are joined in marriage or in any other life-partnership, there was, without doubt, a preordained specific limit of life; yet when they were joined to one another, the predetermined end of life necessarily separated and divided them. But it is the mark of a grateful mind not to take it ill at the separation of the one who was joined to you, but to give thanks to Him who gave the allotment for the original union. But you, even when there remained to you...

your husband, or your little child, or whatever it is you now lament, gave no thanks to the Giver of your present blessings; nay, you were even complaining about those who were absent. And indeed, if you were living with your husband without children, you complained that you did not have such children as you desired; but if you had children, you were grieved that you did not abound in riches. Beware, therefore, lest by chance we make the deprivation of our dearest ones necessary for ourselves, since we are not moved by their presence, but long for them once they are lost. For since we do not render thanks for the present blessings bestowed by God, it is necessary for us to be deprived of them, so that our affection may be stirred. For just as eyes do not see what is placed too close, but require some proportionate distance, so also do ungrateful souls appear to be affected by past benefits only through the alienation of those goods. For when they were enjoying the better things, they recognized no gratitude toward the Giver; but after the deprivation, they praise and value that which has vanished. ^B We, however, casting away the grief that arises from the things that are missing, let us learn to render thanks for the things that are present. Let us say to the wise Physician in the sadder turns of events, "In small affliction is thy discipline for us" (Isa. xxvi, 16). Let us say, "It is good for me that thou hast humbled me" (Ps. cxviii, 71). Let us say, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. viii, 18). Let us say, "We have been scourged for few of the things wherein we have sinned" (cf. Job xv, 11). Let us beseech the Lord, saying, "Chasten us, O Lord, but in judgment, and not in anger" (Jer. x, 24). For when we are rebuked, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world (1 Cor. xi, 32). But in a more cheerful state of life, let us utter that voice of David: "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?" (Ps. cxv, 12). Well did the Prophet doubt, and looking around at his own poverty, see that he had nothing worthy as a return; for, after such great and splendid benefits, and than which nothing is more excellent, the Lord promises us much greater things in the future: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor. ii, 9). May we also attain to these, having purified ourselves from the passions of the flesh, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING SADNESS AND DEJECTION OF SOUL. SERMON XII.

1. When I see already the evil prospering, and your piety worn out and despairing at the continuous succession of insults, filled with sadness

^A but when again I consider the mighty hand of God, and that He knows how to raise up the broken and to love the righteous, but to crush the proud and to cast down the mighty from their thrones, I am changed again and become lighter in my hopes. And I know and am persuaded—which I also wish you to know—that the relief will be swift, and the abandonment will not be to the end. For what we have suffered, we have suffered because of our sins; but the Lover of mankind will show His own help and mercy on account of His love for His servants. For whether we are paying the penalties for our sins, the scourges are sufficient to avert for the future the wrath of God against us; or whether it is that we are called by these temptations to the struggles for piety, the Arbiter of the contests is just so as not to allow us to be tempted beyond what we can endure, ^B but to give us back, for the labors already endured, the crown of patience and of the hope in Him. For who is so diamond-hard in soul, who is so utterly devoid of all compassion and gentleness, that, upon hearing the groan that strikes our air from every side—as if from some mournful choir emitting a common and consonant lamentation—he does not suffer in his soul, and fall to the ground, and waste away utterly beneath these inescapable cares? I say these things, not for the sake of consolation (for what speech could be found that is a physician for such a calamity?), but by this voice I signify to you, as much as is possible, the pain of my heart.

2. ^C For I have considered the craftiness of the devilish war; for when he saw that virtue was multiplying among you amid the persecutions of the enemies, and blooming even more, he changed his own counsel, and no longer wars openly, but sets for us hidden snares, covering his own treachery with the name which the enemies carry about, so that we might suffer the same things as our fathers, and might not seem to be suffering for Christ, because those who persecute us also bear the name of Christians. These things have smitten us and have almost driven us out of our senses. But to these thoughts there was also added this idea: Has the Lord utterly abandoned His servants? Is this the last hour, and does the falling away find its entrance through these things, so that at last there might be revealed the lawless one, ^D the son of perdition, who opposes and is exalted above every one that is called God or an object of worship? Nevertheless, whether this temptation is temporary, bear it as good athletes of Christ; or whether matters are delivered over to total destruction, let us not lose heart at present things, but let us await the revelation from the heavens and the coming of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. For if the whole of creation is to be dissolved, and the fashion of this world will be changed, what marvel...

^A that we too, being a part of creation, should suffer the common ills and be delivered to afflictions, which the righteous Judge has appointed for us according to the measure of our strength, not allowing us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, but providing with the temptation also the way of escape, that we may be able to endure it? Let us not, therefore, grow weary, brethren; for the crowns of the martyrs await us; the choirs of the confessors are ready to reach out their hands to you, and to receive you into their own number. Remember the saints of old, that none ever became worthy of the crowns of patience while living in luxury or being pampered; but all, tried through great afflictions as if by fire, gave proof of themselves. ^B Blessed is he who is deemed worthy to suffer for Christ. More blessed is he who suffers more, since the afflictions of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For he who does not succumb to afflictions, but through hope in God bears the weight of sorrow, has a great reward from God for his patience.

SERMON XII. — ON DEJECTION OF SPIRIT

3. Just as worms are born for the most part in ^C softer woods, so also does sadness spring up in the softer dispositions of men. Nor is such profuse mourning and weeping permitted either to women or to men; but only so much as is right, to be saddened by adverse things, and to shed a little tear, and that quietly, without shouting, without wailing, without rending one's garment, or casting dust upon oneself, or doing any other such indecorous thing as is studiously performed by those who have not been instructed concerning human affairs. For it is the mark of a cowardly soul, having no strength from the hope that resides in God, to be utterly broken and to succumb to adverse things. For a tear is wont to be produced as though from some blow, ^D from an unexpected circumstance striking the soul and contracting it, while the spirit surrounding the heart is crushed; but joy is a kind of leaping of the soul exulting in things that accord with its will. Hence also the symptoms of the body differ. For in those who are sad, the mass of the body becomes sickly, livid, and rigid; but in those who are gladdened, the condition of the body is blooming and reddish, the soul, as it were, leaping and pressing outward from pleasure. And we have known many who, in most serious adversities, have forcibly restrained themselves from tears; some of whom afterward fell into incurable diseases, into apoplexy or paralysis; and others even altogether died, because their strength,

^A as if a weak support, was broken by the weight of their sorrow. For, as one may see in a flame—which, if its own smoke cannot escape but is whirled around, it suffocates—so they say it happens also to the power that constitutes a living being: it withers away and is extinguished by griefs if no outlet to the exterior is provided. For why did Christ weep for the sake of Lazarus? It was certainly to heal the propensity to complaining and mourning of those who loved him, and the dejection of their souls. For that the Lord wept not out of passion but to instruct us is clear from this: *Lazarus our friend sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him.* Who among us laments a sleeping friend whom he expects to be awakened a little later? *Lazarus, come forth*; and the dead man was being restored to life, and the bound man was walking. A miracle within a miracle: his feet were bound with grave-clothes, yet he was not prevented from movement. For there was present a power greater than the obstacle. How, then, could the Lord, who was about to perform such things, have judged that event worthy of tears? Is it not manifest that He, who in every way supports our weakness, kept those affections that are inevitable and necessary within certain modes and limits? He avoided apathy as something bestial, yet He was unwilling that one should be given over to ^B sorrow and sadness, and to excessive weeping, because this would be illiberal and cowardly. But what of Job? Was his heart made of adamant? Were his entrails forged from stone? Ten children fell in a brief moment of time, crushed by a single blow, in a house of merriment, in a time of luxury, when the devil caused the building to collapse upon them. He saw the table mingled with blood; he saw his children, born at different times, but meeting one common end of life. He did not wail, he did not tear his hair, he did not utter any ignoble cry, but he uttered that celebrated thanksgiving, chanted by all: *The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away: as it pleased the Lord, so has it come to pass; blessed be the name of the Lord.* Was that man devoid of affection? And how, when he says of himself: *I wept for every afflicted one.* Is he lying in saying these things? Indeed, Truth itself bears witness to him that, in addition to his other virtues, he was also truthful; for it says: *A man blameless, just, pious, true.* ^C But the majority of people use certain songs composed for sadness to incite themselves to weep, and they labor to consume their own souls with mournful melodies. And just as fiction and gear are proper to tragedians, with which they ascend the stage, so also they think this appearance is fitting for one who mourns: black clothing, unkempt hair, darkness in the house, filth, dust, and a mournful song—always keeping the wound of grief fresh in the soul. ^D

^A For they do not know that a soul which has once been bound by the desire for its Creator, and has become accustomed to being brightened by the beauties that are there, will not have its extreme joy and cheerfulness changed by the varied vicissitudes of fleshly passions; rather, it will convert what are grievous to others into an addition to its own joy. Just as those whose eyes are weak turn their gaze away from things that are too bright, and refresh them with the sight of flowers and herbs, so too the soul ought not to keep sad things always before its eyes, nor remain fixed upon present calamities, but rather turn its eyes toward the contemplation of those things which are truly good.

^B Afflictions test the soul as fire tests gold, and in truth, for those well prepared, afflictions are like certain supplies—athletic exercises—that lead the athlete toward his paternal glory. Excessive sadness, however, becomes the cause of sin, for the grief drowns the mind and induces the vertigo of despair, and the perplexity of thoughts breeds ingratitude. It is shameful, therefore, that we should give thanks in prosperous circumstances, but fall silent in sad and painful matters. Rather, one ought to give even more abundant thanks then, for we know that *the Lord disciplines whom He loves, and He scourges every son whom He receives* (Heb. XII, 6). And God delivers His saints out of tribulation, not by leaving them without testing, but by granting them patience. For if tribulation works patience, and patience works probation (Rom. V, 3), he who shrinks from tribulation deprives himself of probation. ^C Just, therefore, as no one is crowned without an opponent, so neither can anyone be shown to be proven except through tribulations. *Out of all these tribulations*, therefore, *He will deliver them* (Ps. XXXIII, 17)—not by allowing them not to be afflicted, but by granting, along with the temptation, the way of escape so that they are able to bear it (1 Cor. X, 13). The one who says that tribulation is not fitting for the righteous one says nothing other than that an opponent is not fitting for the athlete with whom he may contend.

5. Since participation in groans brings relief to those who mourn, it is fitting to be afflicted at the calamities and miseries of others. For in this way you will secure the benevolence of the afflicted toward yourself, by neither showing yourself cheerful because of their adversities, nor by bearing the ^D affliction of another with indifference. Yet it is by no means fitting to be more than reasonably moved by the miseries of those who suffer, so that you would either cry out or mourn together with the afflicted, or in another's affairs act like a man

^A who shuts himself up, puts on mourning clothes, lies upon the ground, and neglects his hair. For by these things the calamity is increased rather than lightened. However, it is not unreasonable to be pained by things that happen, and to be silently afflicted by adversities, so that by your countenance, fixed in reflection, and by a modesty that carries with it a certain gravity, you signify the state of your soul. But when you come to conversation, it is not fitting to proceed immediately to rebukes, as if insulting and mocking those who have fallen. For rebukes are troublesome and burdensome to those whose souls are tormented by sadness; and, at the same time, the words of those who are not touched by any sense of pain are heard with difficulty by the sorrowful, and have no power to persuade or console them. ^B For just as even the softest balm brings pain to an inflamed eye, so too to a soul afflicted by heavy sorrow, a discourse, even if it brings much consolation, seems somehow bothersome when applied at the very height of the pain. But when you see a brother weeping for the repentance of his sins, sympathize with such a one, and be compassionate; for thus it will be possible for you to correct your own faults through the sufferings of others. For he who sheds hot tears for the sin of his neighbor, while he laments for his brother, heals himself. Weep for the sake of sin. Sin is a sickness of the soul; it is the death of the immortal soul; sin is worthy of mourning and incessant lamentations. For this reason, let all tears flow, and let not the sighs drawn from the depths of the heart cease. Thus did Jeremiah weep for those of the people who were perishing; ^C and since his natural tears were not enough for him, he sought out a fountain of tears and the ultimate station. For all these things let us give thanks to Christ our God, for to Him is due all glory, honor, and adoration, together with His Father who is without beginning, and the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ON PATIENCE AND LONG-SUFFERING. SERMON XIII.

1. Let no one, because of the evils he has suffered, be persuaded to think or say that our affairs are governed by no providence, nor let him accuse the administration and judgment of the Lord; but let him look to the athlete Job, and take him as a counselor for better thoughts. Let him consider all the struggles in order, in which that man came out victorious, and by how many darts he was struck by the devil, yet received no lethal wound. ^D For he [the devil] destroyed his domestic prosperity, and resolved to overwhelm him with alternating messengers of adversity. For when the first was still announcing some disaster, another messenger arrived, bringing the sadness of worse events; and thus evils were linked together

^A and disasters vied with the onrush of waves, and before the first tear could be stanched, the occasion for another was brought forward. But he stood like some promontory, receiving the buffetings of the storm, and while changing the violence of the waves into foam, he emitted that acceptable voice to the Lord, and deemed nothing of what was happening worthy of tears.

But when someone arrived to report how a violent wind had shaken the house of merriment while his sons and daughters were feasting living together, then only did he rend his garment, demonstrating the sympathy of nature, and confirming by his actions that he was a father who loved his children. Adorning the event with those pious utterances, he said: "The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away: as it pleased the Lord, so it came to pass" ^B. Almost crying out in this fashion: "I was called a father as long as He who made me a father wished. He has decided to take away again the crown of my offspring; I do not struggle against Him taking back His own. Let that which seemed good to the Lord prevail; He is the Creator of the race, I am the instrument; what need is there, being a servant, for me to grieve in vain, and to complain of a judgment which I cannot undo?" With words of this sort, that just man pierced the devil as if with javelins.

But when the enemy again saw him victorious, and that he could not be shaken by any of these things, he brought the engine of temptation upon his flesh itself, and having struck his body with unspeakable wounds, he caused fountains of worms to gush forth from him; and having brought the man down from the royal throne, he seated him ^C upon a dungheap. Yet he, even when struck by such sufferings, remained unmoved; and while his body was being torn apart, he kept the treasure of piety undefiled in the hidden recess of his soul.

2. Since the enemy had nothing left to do, he recalled his ancient ambush, and drawing the mind of the wife into an impious and blasphemous way of thinking, he attempted through her to shake the athlete. And she indeed, yielding to the long duration of the labor, stood by the righteous man, bowed to the ground, clapping her hands over the things she saw, reproaching him for the fruits of his piety, recounting on the one hand the former opulence of their household, and on the other pointing out the present evils, and what kind of life he had obtained ^D from what kind of standing, and what recompense he had received from the Lord for his many sacrifices. And she always uttered words worthy, indeed, of the faint-heartedness of women, yet such as could disturb any man and subvert even a strong spirit. "A wanderer," she said, "and a servant I roam; I who was a queen am in servitude, and I am compelled to look to the hands of my own servants; and I, who formerly nourished many, now consider it a good thing if I am nourished by others." And she added that it would be better and more useful if

by using impious words and sharpening the sword of the Creator's wrath, she were to cut herself off from the earth, than to prolong the labor of endurance against evils, both for herself and for her spouse. But he, ^A offended by these words more than by any of the previous evils, and filling his gaze with anger, and turning toward his wife as if toward an enemy, what does he say? "Why hast thou spoken as one of the foolish women?"—Job ii, 10. "Lay aside," he says, "O woman, that counsel. How long wilt thou dishonor our common life with thy speech? Thou hast lied, and—would that God had averted this—thou hast besmirched my resolve and my life with thy calumny. I seem to myself now to have acted ungodly in part, inasmuch as marriage made us both one body, but thou hast fallen into blasphemy. 'If we have received good things at the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure the evil things?'—ibid. Refresh thy memory with past blessings. Balance the blessings against the evils. No man's life is perpetually happy; to be happy at all times belongs to God alone. If, therefore, ^B thou art afflicted by present pain, console thyself with the past. Now thou weepest, but formerly thou didst laugh; now thou art poor, but formerly thou wast rich; thou hast drunk the crystalline stream of life, now, drinking the turbid, bear it with an equable mind. Not even the currents of rivers appear perpetually pure. And our life, as thou knowest, is a river, flowing incessantly and filled with waves succeeding one another. For one part of it has already flowed past, another is still passing; one part has just emerged from the springs, and another is about to emerge, and we are all hastening to the common sea of death. ^C 'If we have received good things at the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure the evil things?' Do we compel the Judge to supply us with equal things for all time? Do we teach the Lord how he ought to govern our life? His decrees are within his own power. He rules our affairs according to his own judgment. For he is wise; and what is useful, that he metes out to his servants. Beware of prying too curiously into the judgment of the Lord. Take in good part only those things that are dispensed by his wisdom. Whatever he shall give thee, receive it with joy. Show in adversity that thou wast worthy of thy former gladness." By saying these things, ^D Job repelled also this assault of the devil, and brought upon him the full ignominy of defeat. What, therefore, happened as a result of this? The disease fled from him again, as one that had approached in vain and accomplished nothing more. The flesh blossomed back into a second youth, life flourished again in all respects, and riches from every side flowed back into the house, so that he might possess one part as if he had lost nothing, while the other part might exist as the just reward for his patience. From that example, therefore, let each of us learn fortitude of soul—he who, with his affairs having slipped into reverse, and becoming needy from being rich, and childless from being a parent of beautiful offspring, in a moment of time, not only remained the same, keeping his high-minded spirit unbroken everywhere,

but was not even provoked by his friends, who came to console him, yet trampled upon him and increased his pains. ^A

3. It also happens sometimes that the misfortunes of life are brought upon men for the purpose of proving their souls, in order that it may be discerned in the midst of difficulties who are upright, whether they be rich or poor. For both are tested through patience; and it is in this time especially that it is shown whether one is generous and a lover of his brothers, and whether the other is grateful and mindful of benefits, and not, on the contrary, a blasphemer, whose mind is quickly changed by the vicissitudes of life. For as the storm proves the pilot, the stadium the athlete, the battle the general, ^B and calamity the magnanimous man, so does temptation prove the Christian. And just as the toil of the contests leads athletes to the crown, so also does the testing in temptations lead Christians to perfection, if we accept what is dispensed by the Lord with the fitting patience and in all thanksgiving. Are you poor? Do not be despondent, but have your hope in God. For does He not see your distress? He has the food in His hands, and He defers the giving, that He may test your steadfastness, that He may discern your disposition, to see if it is not similar to that of the intemperate and the ungrateful. For they, ^C indeed, while food is still in their mouths, bless, flatter, and admire beyond measure; but a little while after the table is removed, they attack with blasphemies, as if with stones, those whom they had a short time before honored for the sake of the pleasure of food. Elijah had Carmel, a high and uninhabitable mountain, a solitude for a solitary man; but his soul was everything to the righteous man, and his provision for life was his hope in God. And living thus, he did not end his life from famine; but birds, the most rapacious and voracious, were the ones that carried the food, and became ministers of sustenance to the righteous man—those very birds that are accustomed to snatch the food of others; and by the command of the Master they changed their nature and became faithful guardians of the bread and meat. ^D The Babylonian pit also had the Israelite youth, a captive indeed in misfortune, but free in soul and spirit. And what happened then? The lions fasted contrary to their nature, and Habbakuk, his nourisher, was carried through the air, with an angel conveying the man together with the food; and that the righteous man might not be pressed by famine, the prophet was carried over such a distance of land and sea in a small moment of time, as stretches from Judea to Babylon. But what again of the people of the wilderness, over whom Moses presided? How was their life provided for during forty years? There was no man there to sow, no ox to draw a plow, no threshing floor, no winepress, no storehouse; and yet...

^A their nourishment was provided without sowing and without plowing; and a rock brought forth fountains that had not existed before, but gushed out in the time of need. Do you, therefore, be steadfast in your affliction, like the noble Job, and be not turned aside by the tempest, nor cast away any of the provisions of virtue that you carry with you. Keep gratitude in your soul like a most precious cargo, and you, too, for your gratitude, shall receive a double delight. ^B

4. Yet, it is not he who lacks necessities who is patient; rather, it is he who remains steadfast in the face of calamities while in the abundance of enjoyment. Are you sick? Be of good cheer, for "whom the Lord loves, He chastens." Are you poor? Rejoice, for the goods of Lazarus await you. Do you suffer insults for the name of Christ? You are blessed, for this confusion prepares for you the glory of angelic companionship. Are you a servant? Be grateful even for this condition; there is someone lower than you. Be grateful that you excel over one, that you are not condemned to the mill, that you do not receive lashings. No one is ever without opportunities for gratitude. Are you beaten unjustly with a club? Rejoice in the hope of future things. Have you been justly condemned? Even so, give thanks. ^C And since the noble deeds of the men of old are preserved for us either by the succession of memory, or are guarded in the writings of poets or historians, let us not lack the benefit to be derived from them. For instance, a certain man from the marketplace was heaping abuse upon Pericles; yet he paid no heed. And this continued for the whole day, the one showering him with unsparing revilement, and the other not caring at all. Then, when evening had already come and darkness had fallen, Pericles led the way with a torch for him as he was departing, so that his exercise in philosophy might not be interrupted. Again, someone, having fallen into a drunken rage, struck Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus, repeatedly in the very face. ^D He, however, did not fight back, but allowed the drunken man to sate his anger, so that his face was already swelling from the blows and was bruised. When he finally ceased his beating, Socrates is said to have done nothing else than to have inscribed the author upon his own forehead, as if it were a statue: "So-and-so did this," and to have taken vengeance in this way. And someone, provoked by Euclides of Megara, threatened him with death and swore an oath; but he in return swore that he would indeed ensure that he was appeased and ceased from being hostile toward him. Moreover, I could hardly believe that the action of Clinias, one of the disciples of Pythagoras, happened to agree with our own precepts by chance, and not by intentional imitation. And what was it that he did? When it was possible to avoid a penalty of three talents by taking an oath, he paid the money rather than swear, even though he was about to swear truly; having heard, it seems to me, the command that forbids us to swear.

And this ^A action of Clinias is akin to that command; while that of Euclid is akin to the command which bids us pray for those who persecute us, but never to speak evil of them: so that he who has been previously instructed in these things will no longer withhold belief from our commandments as though they were impossible. Let the command, then, be your constant companion, providing you with a light and a clarity that is without interruption for the discernment of things; and, ^B having taken possession of the guidance of your soul from afar, and having pre-prepared the true opinions concerning every matter, it will not allow you to be altered by any of the events that befall you; but, having your mind well-prepared, it will cause you, like a cliff situated by the sea, to safely and immovably endure the assaults of violent winds and waves, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

CONCERNING THE COMING JUDGMENT

1. When you feel yourself being impelled toward some sin, I entreat you, consider that ^C dreadful and intolerable judgment seat of Christ, in which the Judge sits upon a certain high and exalted throne, while all creation stands trembling at His glorious manifestation. For we are all to be brought forward, one by one, to face an examination of the things we have lived through. Then, for the one who has done many evil things throughout his life, certain fearsome and gloomy angels will stand by, emitting fire from their eyes, breathing fire, by reason of the malice of their disposition resembling night in their countenances, on account of their sullenness and hatred of humanity. Next, imagine in your mind a deep abyss, and darkness that cannot be passed through, ^D and fire that is lightless in that darkness, possessing the power to burn, but deprived of light. Then, a certain species of venomous and flesh-eating worms, eating insatiably and never being satisfied, causing intolerable pains by their gnawing; and then the most grievous punishment of all, that reproach and that eternal shame. Being led by the fear [(2)] of these things, restrain your soul as with a bridle from desire for evil things. For he who keeps that day and that hour before his eyes, at which all creation shall stand around the Judge, rendering an accounting for the things that have been done, and who is ever meditating upon his defense before that unerring tribunal, such a man will sin either not at all, or most lightly; because sinning happens to us due to the absence of the fear of God. But to those in whom the expectation of the things threatened is clearly present, the indwelling fear will give no time to slip into involuntary actions or thoughts.

^A For the valiant athletes of God, who have struggled against invisible enemies throughout their whole life, once they have escaped all their persecutions and reached the end of their life, are examined by the prince of this age. Thus, if they are found bearing wounds from their contests, or any stains and marks of sin, they might be detained; but if they are found to be unwounded and undefiled, they might be allowed by Christ to rest, as those who are unconquered and free. And you might learn this from the Lord Himself, saying at the time of His passion: "Now the prince of this world comes, and in me he will have nothing." But He, who had committed no sin, said that he had nothing in Him; yet for a human, it will be sufficient if he dares to say: "The prince of this world comes, and in me he will have but few and small things."

(2) Consider, I pray, those horrible evils which will be inflicted by God upon those to be punished: namely, when darkness is poured over the stars, and the light of the sun fails, and the moon is no longer illuminated, when lightning bolts streak through the air and thunder crashes with a horrible roar; ^B when the air hanging over one's head is darkened, so that the torture of those who have been delivered to wrath admits no solace or relief from any quarter. For creation, as the minister of its Creator, is vehemently exasperated to punish the wicked, but is mitigated and soothed to bestow benefits upon those who have placed their trust in Him. And just as there is joy in the heavens over one sinner who repents, so also there is indignation and sorrow over those who, through sin, fall away from the Creator.

(3) Then the fire that is prepared for the devil and his angels for punishment is divided by the word of the Lord; so that, since there are two faculties in the fire, one of which burns and the other illuminates, the harshness and the property of punishing of the fire might be reserved for those who are worthy of burning, ^C while its brilliant and shining aspect might be allotted for the joy of those who are to lead a happy and blessed life; so that the fire of punishment might be dark, while that which is for enjoyment might lack the power to burn. And do not think that you ought to doubt this matter. (4) For when the reward for the things done in this life is given, the nature of the fire will be divided; and its light will be assigned to the enjoyment of the just, but the pain of burning will be assigned to the retribution of those to be punished.

(5) But more horrible than the darkness and the eternal fire is the shame in which sinners will live eternally, always having before their eyes the traces of the sin committed in the flesh, which, like some indelible stain, are to remain forever in the memory of their soul. ^D For it is given to few to approach the true light, and to be revealed, and after the revelation of hidden things, not to depart with faces covered in shame. For the alienation from God, and the turning away, and the...

privation of light ^A to the eye, even if no other pain be present, is to the sufferer more intolerable and heavier than all the other expected torments of Gehenna. For if anyone were to gather together in his speech all the happiness of mankind since men have been born, and heap it into one, he would find it not even comparable in the smallest part to those good things; but all the goods of this present life stand further from the worth of the future goods than a shadow and a dream from the realities. Nay, more, to use a more suitable example, by as much as the soul is more precious than the body, by so much is the difference of each life.

3. But many people, because of that [Scripture] passage which says, *He will be beaten with many, and he with few* (Luc. XII, 47), ^B claim that there is to be an end of punishment for those who are punished. But this is achieved not by the length or the completion of time, but by the diversity of the punishment. For when the Lord at one time declares that *these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life* (Matth. XXV, 46); and at another time sends some into *the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels* (ibid. 41), and at another names ^C the Gehenna of fire, and adds, *Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched* (Marc. IX, 45); and yet again, through the prophet, says of some that *their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished* (Isa. LXVI, 24); since these and similar things are found in many places in the divinely-inspired Scripture, this too is surely one of the ruses of the devil: that many men, as if forgetting so many and such pronouncements of the Lord, should imagine for themselves an end to ^D punishment, so that they may sin with greater boldness. For if there is ever to be an end to eternal punishment, then eternal life will surely also have an end. But if we do not allow ourselves to understand this regarding life, how can it be reasonable to assign an end to eternal punishment? For the addition of "eternal" stands equally for both. *For they will go away*, he says, *into eternal punishment; but the righteous into eternal life*. Therefore, the phrase, *He will be beaten with many, and with few*, denotes not an end, but a diversity of punishment. For if God is a just judge, rendering to all, not alone to the good but also to the wicked, to each according to his deeds, one man may be worthy of unquenchable fire—and this either of a milder sort or one that burns more fiercely; another may be worthy of a worm that never dies—and this, too, either causing pain more gently or more severely, according to the worthiness of each; another may be worthy of Gehenna, which has various and entirely different torments; and another of the outer darkness, where one man is only in weeping, while another is even in gnashing of teeth, because of the intensity of the pains. And the outer darkness

^A certainly indicates that there is also an inner one. And the saying in Proverbs, *Into the depth of hell*, declares that there are some who are in hell, but not in the depth of hell, enduring a lighter punishment. But do not think that I, like some nurse or mother, am thrusting false phantoms and terrors upon you, as they are accustomed to do to infants when they weep incessantly and uncontrollably, and they quiet them with fabricated stories. For these things are not myths, but a truthful word proclaimed long ago. And I would have you be firmly persuaded that there will one day be a diligent investigation of the life that has been lived. ^B Have you afflicted your brother? Expect the same. Have you snatched away the goods of your inferiors, beaten the poor, shamed them with insults, slandered, lied, laid snares for others' marriages, perjured yourself, moved the boundaries of your fathers, invaded the possessions of orphans, oppressed widows, preferred present pleasure to promised goods? Expect a measuring back of these things. For such as each one sows, such also shall he reap. And indeed, if any good has been performed by you, expect rewards for those things likewise.

4. ^C But consider, O man, the final day (since you will not live through the eternal age alone), and the distress and the suffocating, and the hour of death, and the urgent sentence of God, and the hastening angels, and the soul meanwhile grievously troubled and bitterly tormented by a sinful conscience, turning itself miserably toward the things that are here, and the inescapable necessity of that long journey. Depict for me in your mind the final end of our common life, when the Son of Man shall come in His glory. For He shall come and He shall not be silent; ^D that is, when He comes to judge the living and the dead, and to render to each according to his deeds; when that trumpet, sounding something great and terrible, shall awaken those who have slept since the foundation of the world, and they shall come forth—those who have done good, into the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil, into the resurrection of judgment. Recall to your memory the vision of God granted to Daniel, how he sets judgment before our eyes. *I beheld*, he says, *until the thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat. A river of fire drew before him. Thousand thousands were ministering to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.* The place of judgment was established, and the books were opened—the good, the evil, the manifest, the hidden, the deeds, the words, the thoughts, all things together, so that they may be heard by all, both angels and men.

^A And to these things, how is it necessary that they be affected, those who have lived wickedly? Where, then, shall that soul hide itself, which in the eyes of so many spectators shall suddenly be seen full of shame? And with what body will it endure those endless and unbearable torments, where there is fire unquenchable, and a worm punishing without ceasing, and the deep, dark, and horrible pit of Hades, and bitter wailing, and exceeding lamentation, and weeping, and gnashing of teeth, and where these evils have no end? From these things, after death, there is no escape, nor is there any device or means to elude those bitter punishments. These things it is possible to avoid now. While it is possible, let us raise ourselves up from the fall, and let us not despair of ourselves, if we turn away from evil. There is a way of salvation, if we but wish it. ^B The Good Shepherd seeks you, having left the sheep which had not wandered. If you give yourself to Him, the Lover of mankind will not hesitate, nor will He deem it unworthy to carry you upon His own shoulders, rejoicing that He has found His lost sheep. The Father stands and awaits your return from wandering. Only turn back, and while you are yet far off, He will run, ^C fall upon your neck, and with friendly embraces will hold you, already purified by repentance. And if any of those who think they stand should complain because you were so quickly received, the Good Father himself will answer for you, saying: "It is necessary to make merry and be glad, because this my son was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found." To Him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

CONCERNING AUTHORITY AND POWER. SERMON XV

1. It is always a good thing for the inferior to be led by the better; for often the lack of judgment of the multitude has placed the worst man in authority. It is fitting, therefore, that he who is over all, and who is testified to for prudence, stability, and exactness in his way of life, should excel, and that he should be appointed ^D to lead others, so that the good that is in him may become common to all who imitate him. For it is natural for those who are subject to be molded to the character of those who rule, as for the most part, the governed are such that those who lead them must also be. And such as the leaders are, such do the morals of those who are led usually tend to become. And just as, if many painters were to paint the features of one face, all the images would be similar to each other, because they are being made like unto the one; so, if many minds look toward the imitation of the one, the character of a good life will shine forth equally in all. And indeed, the true and...

the form of a good life will shine forth. For true and perfect obedience of subordinates toward their superior ^A is declared in this: if they not only abstain from shameful acts by the superior's counsel, but also do not perform even those things which are praiseworthy without his judgment. For abstinence and every bodily affliction are useful for something; but if someone, following the impulse of his own mind, does what pleases himself and does not obey the superior who gives him counsel, the sin committed will be greater than the right deed performed. For he who resists the authority, resists the ordinance of God; and a greater reward is attributed to obedience than to the virtue of abstinence.

2. (1) Therefore, he who can heal an evil, but of his own volition delays it, may justly be condemned as a murderer for the injury. Moreover, let not him who presides exalt himself or become insolent on account of the degree of dignity in which he is placed, lest he be deprived of the beatitude of humility. ^B (2) For will one who serves a king boast on that account, because he has been placed in this or that order of ministry? But he who has been deemed worthy to serve God, will he devise praises for himself from elsewhere, as if the invocation of the Lord were not sufficient for him for every heap of glory and splendor? For it is enough for us for every dignity to be named servants of so great a Master. (3) And just as it is right to worship nothing other than God, so too it is not right to place hope in any other than in God, the Lord of all. For he who hopes in man, or is puffed up by any other of the things of this life, such as power, or riches, or any other of those things which are thought by many to be magnificent, ^C cannot say: O Lord my God, in thee have I hoped. For there is a commandment not to place hope in princes, and, Cursed is the man who trusts in man. (4) Therefore, he is truly blessed who exults in no worldly thing, however lofty, but considers God to be his own glory, and has God alone in whom he may boast, and according to the Apostle can say: But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of Christ. For if someone boasts greatly because he is a servant of a king and is held in great honor by him, how much more does it befit you to boast to yourself that you are a servant of the great King, called by Him to the highest intimacy? (5) He who is truly a ruler is not known by external symbols, ^D such as purple, a royal cloak, and a diadem, but by the sovereign virtue with which he is endowed. For he who is subject to pleasures and led by various desires, being a servant of sin, is not fit to rule. (6) For to bring into subjection those who rebel is the mark of a brave man and one who truly rules; but to be benign and gentle in pro-

proceeding is the mark of one who excels all in greatness of soul and clemency. For many of those who lived before us have been masters of those who wronged them, yet no account of them has been passed down to those who came after; whereas those who, by their philosophy, surpassed the multitude, remitted their anger—men whose immortal memory is handed down for all time. For we punish those who have committed an offense, not because we seek to undo what has already happened (for what device could there be to make what is done undone?), but so that either they themselves may become better for the future, or they may serve as an example of wisdom to others.

3. Often, ^B even in the smallest things, the wisdom of God shines forth. For He who stretched out the heavens and poured forth the measureless depths of the seas, is the very same One who hollowed out the finest needle of the bee, so that its sting might be like a tube through which its venom is poured. To behold Him with the eyes of the flesh is impossible, for that which is incorporeal cannot be subject to the eyes of the flesh; and the only-begotten Son of God Himself has testified to this, saying, "No one has seen God at any time" (John 1, 18). And if, according to what is written, Ezekiel saw Him, yet attend to what the Scripture says: "He saw the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (Ezech. 1, 19), not, however, the Lord Himself; nor, indeed, the glory itself as it exists in truth. And having seen the likeness of the glory, and not the glory itself, he fell to the ground out of fear. But if even the likeness of the glory, when beheld, brought fear and trembling upon men, if anyone were to behold God Himself, he would surely depart from life, according to what was said: "No one shall see the Lord and live" (Exod. XXXIII, 20). ^C For this reason, in His supreme love for mankind, God stretched out the heaven as a veil over His own divinity, that we might not perish. It is not my word, but the prophet said: "If you shall open the heaven, trembling will seize the mountains from your presence, and they will melt away" (Isa. 64, 1-2). And why do you marvel if Ezekiel, having seen the likeness of the glory, fell? Daniel, having seen a servant of the Lord, both trembled and fell; and until he was able to direct his eyes to behold the likeness of the Son of God, he did not dare to answer (Dan. 10, 7 sqq.). And if Gabriel, when appearing, causes trembling to men who are prophets of God, if He had come as He is, would they not all have perished? This is surely clear to everyone. If, therefore, you wish to know clearly that it is impossible to grasp the nature of God, learn what the three youths in the furnace of fire say, singing praises to God: "Blessed are You, who behold the deeps, who sit upon the cherubim" (Dan. 3, 55). Tell me, what is the nature of the cherubim, and then you shall behold ^D Him who sits upon them. Although the prophet Ezekiel describes them...

^A in a way that was possible, saying: "Each one had four faces: one face of a man, the second face of a lion, and in the third the face of an eagle, and in the fourth the face of a calf" (Ezech. x, 14); and that "each one had six wings," and that "they were full of eyes on all sides," and that "beneath each one there was a square wheel" (Ezech. x, 14) — yet even though the prophet has provided this description, we who read it are not yet able to comprehend it. If we cannot comprehend the throne that he described, how shall we be able to comprehend the invisible God who sits upon it? For it is promised that in the world to come, those who are worthy will be granted "face to face" vision and the perfect knowledge of the incomprehensible majesty of God. But now, even if one be a Paul or a Peter, he sees truly and is not deceived, nor is he deluded by images, ^B yet he sees as it were "through a glass and in an enigma" (1 Cor. xiii, 12); and while receiving with thanksgiving what is now in part, he awaits with great joy that which is perfect in the future. For what now seems perfect in that knowledge is a thing so small and obscure that it differs from the clarity of the future age even more than it differs from the knowledge that is "face to face." So great is the infinity of the knowledge of God, and so great is the weakness of human nature in perceiving divine mysteries in this world, that although there is always some gain according to each person’s progress, no one attains perfect knowledge until that which is perfect has come, when that which is in part shall be done away ^C with (1 Cor. xiii, 10).

4. He who says that the understanding of existing things can be acquired, undoubtedly applied his mind to the knowledge of existing things by a certain path and order; and having exercised himself in matters that are easy to grasp and minute, he thus eventually advanced his own faculty of comprehension toward that which surpasses all thought. Whoever, therefore, boasts of having apprehended the knowledge of existing things, let him explain the nature of the most minute of the animals that fall under our sight, and let him say what the nature of the ant is: whether its life is sustained by breath and respiration; whether its body is divided by bones; whether its structure is strengthened by nerves and ligaments; ^D whether the placement of nerves is contained by an envelope of muscles and glands; whether the marrow extends from the head to the tail along with the vertebrae of the back, and whether it imparts the power of motion to the limbs that are moved by means of the complexity of a nervous membrane; whether there is a liver in it, and in the liver a certain vessel that receives bile; whether there are kidneys, and a heart, and arteries, and veins, and pellicles, and diaphragms; whether the animal is bare or hairy; whether it has undivided hoofs or multifid feet; how long it lives; in what manner they produce others; how long the fetus is carried, and how...

^A many offspring they bear. All ants are not pedestrian, nor are all winged, but some crawl on the ground, while others move through the air. Let him, therefore, who boasts of his knowledge of existing things first explain to us the nature of the ant, and only then let him examine the nature of that power which surpasses all understanding. But if you have not yet grasped the nature of the tiniest ant with your knowledge, how can you boast that you have grasped the incomprehensible nature of God with your imagination?

3. For to think that one has discovered the very substance of God, who is above all, is a matter of great pride and arrogance; for with such boastfulness they almost surpass even him who said, "I will set my throne above the stars." Does not that great David, to whom God manifested the secret and hidden things of His own wisdom, openly acknowledge that His knowledge is inaccessible, saying, "Your knowledge is wonderful to me"? And Isaiah, who beheld the majesty of God, what has he revealed to us regarding the divine substance? For when he utters a prophecy concerning Christ, he testifies in these words: "Who shall declare His generation?" And what of the vessel of election, Paul, who had Christ speaking within him, who was caught up even to the third heaven, and who heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter—what teaching did he leave us regarding the substance of God? But when he gazed upon the particular ^C reasons of divine Providence, as if suffering from vertigo due to the insurmountable difficulty of contemplation, he cried out: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" But if these things are unattainable even to those who have reached the knowledge of Paul, how great is the pride of those who profess to know the substance of God? I would gladly ask them, what they say regarding the earth upon which they stand, and from which they were born, and what substance they claim it has for us; so that if they could discourse indisputably about things that are upon the ground and beneath our feet, then we might also have faith in them when they pronounce judgment upon matters that surpass all understanding. And as they say that "Adam is from God," so we shall ask them, "From whom is God?" Would it not be prompted in the mind of everyone that He is from nothing? But that which is from nothing is, clearly, that which is without a beginning; and that which is without a beginning is unbegotten. As, therefore, in the case of men, that which is from someone is not their substance, so neither can we say that "being from nothing," which is the same as being unbegotten, is the substance of the God of all. And he who says that being without a beginning is substance acts just as if one were asked what the substance of Adam was, and what his nature, and he were to answer, "Not from the union of man and woman, but fashioned by the divine hand." What mode of knowledge then remains? Let those who despise all things that are ^D answer us.

who yet penetrate to heaven itself and all the heavenly powers. If the magnitude of heaven exceeds the measure of human intelligence, who then will be able to search out the nature of eternal things? If that sun, subject to corruption, is so beautiful and so great, swift in its motion and fulfilling ordered cycles, possessing a magnitude so adapted to the universe that it does not exceed the proportion it holds with the whole, and, like a certain pellucid eye of nature, adorning created things—if the sight of this is insatiable, with what beauty is the Sun of Justice endowed? If it is a detriment to the blind not to see this sun, what is the loss to the sinner to be deprived of the true light? For if these temporal things are such as this, what are the eternal things? And if those things which are seen are so beautiful, what are the invisible things which God has prepared for those who love Him? May we all be found worthy to attain to these, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

ON GLUTTONY AND DRUNKENNESS. SERMON XVI.

1. The life of a Christian is one and constant, dearly beloved, and has one goal: the glory of God. For "whether you eat," says Paul, who spoke in Christ, "or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." But the life of worldly men is multiform and varied, transformed now in one way and now in another for the sake of pleasing those they encounter. If, therefore, we were to become involved in the same things, and should seek out things pertaining to pleasure according to our existing ^C power, and prepare ourselves for ostentation, I fear that we might appear to be building up what we destroy, and while we judge others, we might condemn ourselves, using a feigned life, changed now into one form and now into another—unless, perhaps, we also change our garments when we happen upon famous and proud men. If this is shameful, it is far more shameful to alter our table on account of men who abound in delights. For if, desiring to bring pleasure to a brother through an abundance of food and luxury, you alter your table, you accuse him of a love of pleasure, and with the things that you prepare, you besmirch him with the disgrace of gluttony, convicting him of finding delight in these things. ^D What, then, have we to do with sumptuous preparations? Has some guest arrived? If he is a brother and follows the same way of life, he will recognize his own table; for he will find among us those things which he left at home. But is he weary from the journey? We offer him only as much refreshment as is required to relieve his fatigue. Has someone else arrived who is addicted to this world? Let him learn from our deeds, to the extent that words have not persuaded him, and let him take a pattern and outline of...

^A exemplar of frugality in food. Let the memorials of the Christian table remain in him, and of that poverty which, for the sake of Christ, must be endured without shame. But if he is not at all moved by these things, and rather mocks them, he will not cause us trouble again. ^B For us to run about and investigate things that are not required for necessary use, but which have been invented for ruinous pleasure and vain, destructive glory, is not only shameful and unbecoming to us, but it brings no slight harm, since those who live in luxuries, and define blessedness by the pleasures of the belly, see us also distracted by the same concerns with which they themselves occupy themselves with admiration and amazement. (3) Even while eating, let us not have our soul idle from the thought of God, but from the very nature of the foods, and the structure of the body that receives them, let us draw material for divine praises, because the various kinds of food have been devised for the quality of bodies by Him who governs all things. Let one hour be set aside for taking food, recurring in the same way, so that of the twenty-four hours of the day and night, scarcely that one is spent on caring for the body, and the rest [are spent] in the exercise of the soul.

2. (4) For he who considers what is best for himself will care most ^C for his soul, and will endeavor by all means to keep it sincere and genuine; but for the flesh, whether it be wasted by hunger, or struggles with cold and heat, or is tormented by diseases, or suffers anything violent from some people, he will have little regard, and when he sees danger to his life coming, he will not appear timid at all. If, however, one wishes to have compassion even on the body, as it is the one possession that is necessary to the soul, and brings it supplies for living on earth, he will take small thought for its needs, so as to sustain it only, and by moderate care keep it sound for the service of the soul, but not indeed allow it to grow wanton from satiety. For by these means he will make it obedient to himself and light for completing the heavenly journey, and it will be a greater help for ^D fulfilling the tasks set before him. But if he allows it to be insolent and perverse, and to be stuffed daily like some wild beast, then at last, drawn down by its weight violently toward the earth, he will lie there groaning in vain. And when brought before the Lord, and asked for the fruit of that earthly journey entrusted to him, and being unable to return it, he will lament long and inhabit everlasting darkness, blaming much the luxury and the deception of it, by which the time of his salvation was taken from him; but he will gain no profit then from tears. For "in Hades who will confess to you?" says David. The belly is a most faithless dealer.

an unguarded storehouse: although many things are deposited within it, it does not hold them, nor does it preserve what is entrusted to it. ^A (2) Therefore, what has been devised for us for food and drink, and whatever petulant wealth has invented beyond necessity for the service of an ungrateful and insatiable belly, when it is ours, even if it is poured in ^B perpetually – things which, once they have afforded the taste but a slight pleasure in passing, we immediately feel to be troublesome and superfluous, such that if they were to remain long in the bowels we would be in the greatest danger of losing our lives – would that they were ours, even if they be poured in continuously! For satiety has brought death to many, and has been the cause of their tasting nothing further. For that power which provides for the living creature easily digests a temperate and sparing diet and turns it into the substance of the body which it nourishes; but when it has taken in sumptuous and varied foods, and is then ^C not equal to digesting them entirely, it produces diverse kinds of diseases. Satiety is the beginning of insolence. For immediately with luxury, drunkenness, and every kind of seasoning, every species of beastly lust breaks forth. Hence men become horses raging after females, on account of the goad that arises in the soul from luxury. Because of those who are drunk, the reversals of nature occur, as they seek that which is feminine in the male sex, and that which is masculine in the female. For from rich food, as if from smoky vapors, there are exhaled, like a thick cloud, things which cut off the illuminations of the Holy Spirit ^D shining into the mind of man. Do not, therefore, indulge your flesh with sleep, baths, and soft bedding, always repeating this saying: "What profit is there in my blood, when I descend into corruption?" Why do you cherish that which will perish a little later? Why do you fatten yourself and make yourself fleshy? Or are you ignorant that the fatter you make your body for yourself, the heavier the prison you build for your soul? For an abundance of bodily strength is a hindrance to the salvation of the spirit. It is necessary to provide for the belly the things that are essential, not those that are most pleasant, as those do who go about seeking certain stewards of tables and cooks, and search out the whole earth and sea, paying tribute like slaves to a cruel master; they are worthy of pity for such an occupation, feeling no less torment than those who dwell in Hades, truly carding fire, carrying water in a sieve, and pouring it into a leaking jar, having no end to their labors. (6) Therefore, just as thirst makes drink pleasant, and hunger, in preceding, renders the banquet sweet, so also does self-restraint sweeten the enjoyment of foods. For by interposing itself in the middle, and interrupting the continuity of luxury, it makes desired for you the...

change brought by self-restraint. But you, being overly preoccupied with luxury, are unwittingly dimming the food for yourself, and, out of love for pleasure, are annihilating pleasure itself. For nothing is by nature so desirable that it does not become despicable through the continuity of enjoyment; yet things whose possession is rare, their enjoyment is most eagerly sought.

3. Those, therefore, who explore where drinking parties happen, and make the rounds of wine shops and taverns, and take each other along to drink, and exhaust the whole concern of their soul on the care for such things—these are lamented by the prophet. For their eyes have no leisure to look up to heaven and to examine the beauties therein; but immediately at the beginning of the day, they adorn their drinking parties, and display care and diligence in the preparation of vessels, arranging cooling basins and mixing bowls and goblets as if in some procession and festival, so that the distinctness of the vessels might entice them to gluttony, and the change and variation of the goblets might provide them with enough distraction for drinking; order in disorder, and arrangement in confusion are devised. In addition to these things, there arise contests for more, disputes, and struggles, as they vie to outdo one another in drunkenness. And the one who acts as the umpire for them is the devil, and the prize of the victory is sin. For whoever has poured in more of the unmixed wine, this one brings away the trophies of victory over the others; for they struggle against each other, but they are avenging themselves upon themselves. Everything is full of unreason, everything of confusion; those who are defeated are drunk, those who are victorious are drunk, the servants mock. The hand fails; the mouth does not receive; the belly is being rent asunder; and the ill does not cease. The wretched body, paralyzed in its natural vigor, is flowing away on every side, not bearing the violence born of excess. ^C Pitiful spectacle! A man flourishing in age, distinguished in military lists, being carried home in a litter, unable to stand upright or to set himself upon his own feet. A man who ought to be a terror to his enemies provides an occasion for laughter for the children in the marketplace; he has been laid low without iron, he has been slain without enemies. A man-at-arms, in the very flower of his age, has become the waste product of wine, ready to suffer whatever even enemies might wish. Who is the author of these evils? Who is it that has plotted these things? You have made the drinking party a battle line; you have deadened the flower of youth with wine; and you invite him indeed as a friend to a feast, but you cast him out as a corpse, his life having been extinguished by wine. ^D You, man, are different from the irrational beasts, are you not? Is it not by the gift of reason, received from your Creator, that you have been made the prince and lord of every creature? Whoever, therefore, by intelligence and knowledge [has abandoned himself...]

of prudence through drunkenness, has been compared to the senseless beasts and made like unto them. Nay, I would even say that those who are drunk are more irrational than the very cattle. For all four-footed animals and wild beasts have definite and constant impulses and drives for mating; but those whose soul is held captive by drunkenness, and whose body is filled with a heat that exceeds nature, are driven at every time and every hour to impure and shameful embraces. For just as water is an enemy to fire, so the intemperance of wine extinguishes a sober mind. For what beast is so neglectful and disobedient as the drunkard? Does he not fail to recognize his own kinsmen, and run to strangers as if they were his own familiar friends? Do such men not frequently leap over shadows as if they were streams or ravines? Furthermore, their ears are filled with a sound and a roar, as if by a surging sea; ^B the earth seems to rise upwards, and the mountains to rotate in a circle. For these men, sleep is heavy, difficult to break, nearly suffocating, and truly a neighbor to death; and their wakefulness is more senseless than sleep. For their life is a kind of dream; they, who have neither clothes to wear nor food for the morrow, reign and command armies while drunk, build cities, and distribute wealth. What are you doing, O man? A servant flees from a master who strikes him; will you not flee from the wine that strikes your head every day?

4. The best measure of wine is the need of the body. But if you go beyond the limits, you will come the next day affected by a heaviness of the head, yawning, suffering from vertigo, reeking of fermented wine; everything will seem to you to be spinning and turning around. ^C For when the membranes of the brain have become full of the soot which the wine, as it evaporates, sends upward, the head is seized with unbearable pains; and, unable to remain upright upon the shoulders, it falls this way and that, sliding onto the vertebrae. Moreover, this very lack of restraint in enjoying pleasures flows manifestly from wine as from a fountain, and with the undiluted wine creeps in the stain of impurity, which shows the madness of all beasts toward females to be less than the wantonness and lewdness of the drunkards. For indeed, the irrational animals do not ignore the limits of nature; but the drunkards search out the female in the male, and the male in the female. For having thus destroyed their souls, so that they are marked with every kind of stain, they furthermore also corrupt the very habit of the body; not only by the excess of the pleasures that goad them, having wasted away and become slack in lust, but also [...]

by the very mass and swelling, ^A they carry about a body filled with excessive moisture and loosened from its vital vigor. Their eyes are livid, their skin surface sallow, their breathing labored and constricted, their tongue relaxed, their shouting indistinct, their feet stumbling like those of children, and the evacuations of their waste products flow automatically as if from inanimate objects. Miserable because of their luxury, they are more miserable than those tossed in the sea, whom one wave succeeding another, and submerging them, does not allow to emerge from the waters. For just as storm-tossed ships, when they become waterlogged, are necessarily lightened by the casting out of their cargo; so too for these men, the laying aside of what burdens them is necessary. For vomiting and spewing, they are with difficulty freed from their burden, being so much more miserable than those who sail unsuccessfully, in that the latter blame the winds and the sea and external necessities, while the former ^B bring upon themselves of their own will the storm of drunkenness. And those who are possessed by demons are worthy of compassion; but the drunken, though suffering the same things, are not even worthy of being pitied, as they wrestle with a self-chosen demon. They even prepare certain drugs of drunkenness, exerting their labor and industry in this, not that they might not suffer any harm from wine, but that their drunkenness might be constant and assiduous. And there is no end to this evil. For wine itself drives itself forward to even more. For it does not satisfy a need, but introduces an inevitable need for another drink, burning up those who are drunk, and always summoning them to a desire for more. And just as ravines, as long as torrents flow into them, seem to be full, but when the flood has passed, they are left dry and arid; so too the mouth of the drinkers of wine, while the wine is stagnant, is in a manner full and moist, but as soon as it—even a little—has flowed away, it is found dry and devoid of moisture.

5. Therefore, one must entirely abstain from anything that disturbs the ruling part of the mind. For when much strong wine enters, ^C like some tyrant that has ascended to the citadel, it commands nothing but what is unjust, and from the highest summit stirs up unceasing tumults in the soul. Indeed, having first reduced reason itself to slavery, it confuses and disturbs all the orderliness that comes from discipline, stirring up indecent laughter, a boisterous voice, rash angers, unbridled desires, and a goad and madness prompting toward every illicit pleasure. For this reason, it says, let not the powerful drink wine, whether those who have been entrusted with some magistracy and the administration of public affairs, or those who, because of the prime of their age, are in physical strength. For such people, being by nature prone to impulses, when they also gain the goad of wine, like some flame with an abundant supply of burning fuel, it pushes them to a great [fire]. ^D

^A For just as ships burdened by their cargo are difficult to steer and easily [prone] to shipwreck, so too are bodies, which, through love of pleasure, have heavily loaded themselves with much and lavish luxury for the sake of bodily indulgence, and they are carried along floating on the deep sea of perdition. Why draw down upon yourself the curse of Cain, becoming a drunkard, trembling and wandering throughout your whole life? For a body that lacks its natural support must necessarily spin around and tremble. How long will there be drunkenness? There is a danger that you might finally become mud and mire instead of a human being; you have been so entirely commingled with wine, and have rotted away together with it, smelling of wine from your daily gluttony, and are corrupted by this, like the most useless of vessels. If drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God, and you, while drunk, come to the fast, what profit is there for you? Is it then useful to fast? Do you not see how even the trainers of horses, who are most experienced, when the day ^B of the contest is expected, prepare them through abstinence? But you, on the contrary, deliberately weigh yourself down with repletion. For a burdened stomach is not only unsuitable for a race, but not even for sleep; for, oppressed by its weight, it cannot rest, but is compelled to make many tossings and turnings to one side and the other. Do not, therefore, let drunkenness initiate you into the mysteries of the fast. There is no entrance to the fast through drunkenness, nor to justice through fraud, nor to chastity through lasciviousness, nor, to speak compendiously, through vice to virtue. Drunkenness leads to lasciviousness; self-restraint leads to the fast. An athlete exercises before the contest; he who is about to fast prepares himself by abstinence. Do not, as though taking vengeance on these days, or trying to deceive the lawgiver, store up gluttony before these five days. For you labor in vain if you emaciate your body, but do not provide comfort for your hunger. ^C Drunkenness does not receive the Lord; it drives away the Holy Spirit. For smoke drives away bees, and gluttony drives away spiritual gifts. But that we may not suffer this, let us flee from indulging the thankless stomach, so that we may attain the eternal good things, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, honor, power, and majesty, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING ANGER AND HATRED

1. The greatest accusation against a Christian ^D is obvious:

to be found disposed and ready for vengeance, and in every way intended to render like for like to those who have caused him vexation. For how shall he teach another to return evil to no man for evil, while he himself does everything to take vengeance and to vex in his turn the one who has harmed him? He does not imitate the gentleness of David, who says: *If I have repaid those who render me evil, then I shall perish void from my enemies.* ^A Wherefore, one must restrain the frantic and impulsive movement of the soul by the memory of the blessed examples of this man: how gently he bore the wantonness of Shimei. For he gave no time for anger to be stirred, transferring his thought unto God. For, he says, *The Lord has said to Shimei to curse David.* Therefore, hearing [himself called] a man of blood and a lawless man, he did not rage against him, but humbled himself, as if the insult had met him according to his desert. ^B For every rebuke, when it clearly strikes the one being rebuked, torments him strongly, by displaying the deformity of the sin; so that it bestows a great benefit upon the one who was insensible of his own failings, by bringing him to consciousness and true repentance. For what bodily wound creates such sharp pain as the torment which an objurgatory word brings to the soul, when it pricks the conscience of those gripped by the shame of things badly done?

2. For the character of a person is not something merely bodily, ^C just as the peacefulness and gentleness are characteristic of a soul that loves God. It is therefore fitting for such a man to draw others to himself, and to offer to all who approach him—as if [wafted by] the fragrance of some ointment—the chance to be filled with the goodness of his conduct, showing himself a leader to others toward the best things, and not following others in things that one ought not. Let him yield the contentious spirit to others; nay, rather, if it be possible, let him extract even that from the souls of others, ^D while he himself dissolves sorrows through his own long-suffering. For to take vengeance belongs to every man who is angry; but to be superior to anger itself—this is the mark of one man alone, or of him who is similar to him in virtue. For what a spectacle! How noble and admirable and almost surpassing human nature it is, for a man who has been assailed by many insults, and has perhaps received a blow upon the cheek, and has suffered ten thousand other things—both in word and in deed—which lead to the uttermost shame, not to boil over with rage, nor to bestir himself toward vengeance, but [to remain] gentle and without anger, and to pray for the one who has insulted him, so that his past sin may be forgiven him, and that for the future he may be held worthy of God’s care!

Now, however, among our other sins, we commit this one most of all: we ^A pursue retribution, not by giving back in equal measure, but by defending ourselves with excess. We are provoked not only if we are insulted, but also if we are not honored; and we consider those who honor us less than we think we deserve to be our enemies.

3. Is someone angry and insulting you? ^B By your silence, stop the evil; do not, like a stream, receive his anger into your own heart; do not imitate the winds, which repel what is brought against them by blowing it back. Did he curse? Do you bless. Did he strike? Do you endure. Does he spit upon you and hold you for nothing? You, take thought of yourself, that you were born of earth and shall again be dissolved into earth. Did he call you obscure, inglorious, and a nobody who was born in the lowest place? You, call yourself earth and ashes. You are not more honorable than our father Abraham, who called himself that. Did he call you unlearned and poor? You, call yourself a worm, and say that you have your birth from dung, using the words of David. To these, add the noble deed of Moses. When he was harassed by curses from Aaron ^C and Miriam, he did not call upon God against them, but prayed for them. Therefore, if he calls you a poor man, if he speaks the truth, bear the truth; but if he lies, what is it to you what he said? Do not be puffed up by praises that exceed the truth, nor be exasperated by insults that do not touch you. Do you not see how arrows are wont to pierce harder and resistant things, but in soft and yielding things they break their force? But what is it that troubles you about the name of "poor man"? Let your nature come into your mind: that naked you entered the world, and naked you shall depart. And what is poorer than one who is naked? You have heard nothing grave. Who was ever dragged to prison because of poverty? To be poor is not disgraceful, but it is disgraceful not to bear poverty nobly. What is more foolish than anger? ^D If you remain free from anger, you have put the insulter to shame, having demonstrated your self-control by your actions. For just as one who strikes someone who does not feel pain punishes himself (for he has neither avenged himself on his enemy nor calmed his own rage), so the one who reviles a person who is not moved by insults cannot find solace for his passion. But, having defended yourself and placing yourself on an equal level with the insulter, what sort of apology will you make? That he provoked you by beginning it? And what is that worthy of, in terms of indulgence? For not even the fornicator who shifts the blame onto the harlot, as if she were the one who incited him to sin, is deemed less worthy of condemnation. Is insult an evil? Beware of imitating it. For the fact that another began it does not suffice as an excuse. Rather—

as I persuade myself—one ^A should even direct a complaint against you, because he had no example by which to be corrected. Yet you, seeing the angry man behaving indecorously, did not avoid that likeness, but are indignant, scold more bitterly, and contest him; and therefore your own perturbation becomes a defense and excuse for him who began and initiated it. For if anger is an evil, why did you not shrink from the evil? But if it is something worthy of pardon, why are you incensed at the one who is angry? For he who contradicts a babbler seems in a certain way to be rendered like him. Therefore, I think, the wise Solomon has decreed that one should not answer a fool according to his folly [Prov. XXVI, 4]. For just as he who has dishonored the imperial image is punished no differently than if he had sinned against the emperor himself: so too is he liable to sin who offers injury to one whom God created in His own image.

^B 4. *Do not join yourself, he says, with an angry man* [Prov. XXII, 24]. It is a bad thing to be bound to a dog and to suffer his perpetual barking. Flee, therefore, from his company and association; otherwise, it is necessary for you to learn some of his ways. He said something insulting; he moved the anger within you. Just as the barking of one dog provokes the tumult of another, and the voice of the one stirred up your anger, which was for a while asleep and at rest, and you have come to bark back at one another—and then, standing against each other like slings, you cast the filth of words—he said something insulting, and you responded with greater excess, imitating the one who began it. He, having received the reciprocation for the insulting word, did not stop being moved, but turning, increased his own sin. He wished to emerge superior through bitterness of speech. You, in return, upon hearing this, are lifted up beyond measure, and thus a contention of evils arises. But he who wins in a contest of evils is the more miserable. ^C For when the vice of anger has once cast out reason and has usurped dominion over the soul, it turns the man entirely into a beast and does not even allow him to be a man. For what poison is to the venomous, this same thing is anger to the exasperated. They become rabid after the manner of dogs, they assault like scorpions, they bite like serpents. For the angry at first do not know themselves, and then they do not know all their intimate friends and relatives alike. Through anger, the sword is sharpened, and murder is dared by human hand. Through it, brothers have not recognized one another; parents and children have forgotten nature; and just as torrents ^D flowing towards hollow places drag along whatever is in their way, so the violent and uncontrollable impulses of the angry invade everyone alike. For, goaded as if by a gadfly by the memory of the things that have troubled them, and as the anger itself surges and leaps, they do not before...

^A they inflict some harm upon the one who provoked them cease. For when anger is kindled by things that incite it, like a flame by a huge pile of wood, then at last one may see spectacles neither explicable by words nor tolerable in deed: hands raised against one’s own tribesmen, feet trampling recklessly, and whatever comes into sight—everything becomes a weapon for their fury and madness. And if they find from the opposite side an equal evil resisting them—that is, another anger and an equal madness—so, having locked together, they inflict upon each other and suffer whatever it is fitting for those who serve under such a demon to suffer. For these mutual offenses and petty grievances are indeed small at first and very easy to cure, but as time progresses, having been increased by contention, they are accustomed to become completely incurable. ^B For as long as the slanders that arise from the dissension have place, it is necessary that suspicions always grow for the worse.

(3) If, therefore, you see one sharpening his teeth, consider that a man such as this is like a boar, revealing the anger within through the grinding of his teeth. (4) For in wicked strife he is more miserable who wins, because he departs having a greater portion of sin. Let your anger be against the serpent alone. (5) For what justified Phinehas? Was it not a righteous anger against those who practiced fornication? He, being for the most part gentle and mild, when he saw the fornication of Zimri and the Midianite woman happening openly and shamelessly—while they did not even bother to hide the shameful spectacle of their disgrace—unable to bear it, made use of his anger at the right time, running the spear through both. Again, Elias the Zealous, the four hundred and fifty men, priests of shame, and the four hundred men, priests of the groves, who ate at Jezebel's table, with calculated and wise anger, he put to death for the benefit of all Israel. Thus, anger is often a minister of good deeds. (6) One would ^C indeed rather see one who is loved acting in anger than cultivating some other. Let us, therefore, strive to imitate these men, and let us not arm our anger against ourselves, but only against the devil, if indeed we wish to attain the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power, with the unoriginate Father and the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING ENVY AND MALEVOLENCE

1. (7) It brings us much anxiety ^D

^A of this time, in which all Churches have been shaken, and all souls are being sifted. For all have opened their mouths without restraint against their fellow-servants. Falsehood is proclaimed fearlessly; truth is concealed. And those who are accused are condemned without judgment, while the accusers are believed without examination. It is now a long time that, struck by slanders, I have endured the scourges of accusation, content that I have as a witness to the calumny the Lord, who knows secrets. But because many have already accepted our silence as a confirmation of the slanders, and did not think that we were silent due to patience, but because we were unable to open our mouths in defense of the truth; for this reason I beseech your love in Christ, that you do not altogether receive as true the slanders concocted by one side; for it is written, "The law judges no man, unless it first hear and know what he does." Ask us for an account of the crimes laid against us. And if you find the truth with us, do not give place to falsehood; but if you perceive us to be weak in our defense, then believe our accusers, as speaking the truth. For their mouths cannot be stopped by our words. Nay, it is rather likely that they will be incited by our defenses, and will devise, revile, and accuse us of greater and harsher things. ^B Although, for an equitable judge, the facts themselves are sufficient for the manifestation of the truth, and even if we remain silent, it is possible for you to look at what is happening. (1) But before all things I ask you, both those who will hear now and those who will read hereafter, not to wish to distinguish truth from falsehood by the multitude, assigning the prize to the greater part; nor to be blinded in mind by having regard for dignities; nor to stop your ears to those who come later, granting victory to the vanguard. For a listener must keep the other of his ears intact for the absent party, doing as Alexander did. For they say that he, when one of his companions was being slandered, offered one of his ears ^C to the slanderer, but carefully stopped the other with his hand, showing that he who is about to judge rightly must not be immediately led away entirely by those who have spoken first, but should keep half of his hearing intact for the defense of the absent one.

2. For, in a way, these ignoble treatments are wont to grow upon great powers; those who, lacking a good of their own by which they might be known, establish themselves upon the evils of others. And just as vultures are drawn to foul-smelling things, ^D and many...

⟨...⟩ pleasant and fragrant meadows, they pass by them, but flies avoid what is healthy and hasten toward a sore; thus also do the envious: they do not even glance at the brightness of life and the greatness of virtuous deeds, but they rush upon the rotten and putrid parts. It is therefore worth the while of those who are right-minded to do what Alexander did: ^A when he had received a letter against his physician as if he were practicing treachery, because it happened that at that very time he had received medicine to drink, he was so far from believing the slanderer that he read the letter and drank the potion at the same time. Those, then, who pour out reproaches against their neighbor, but do not bring forward proof of what they say, will be found to have brought a wicked name upon themselves, by the illicit use of words. For how is it proper to call the slanderer anything else ^B than by applying to him the name which he earns for himself from the very act? Let him who reproaches us, therefore, not be a "devil" (diabolos), but a brother, admonishing in charity and directing his rebuke toward amendment; and do not you be listeners to reproaches, but judges of arguments; nor let those who are slandered be left uncured, their fault not being indicated to them. ^C (3) For even when they are convicted, they will acknowledge their sin; and you, after they have been convicted, will have pardon before the Lord, since you have withdrawn yourselves from the communion of sinners: and those who have convicted them will have a reward, as those who have brought hidden malice to light. But if you condemn them before they are convicted, they indeed will suffer no harm, except for the loss of that which is the most precious possession of all to us, namely the charity that exists between you and us; but as for you, you will suffer this very thing, ^D not having them, and you will seem to be fighting against the Gospel which says: "Doth our law judge any man, unless it first hear him, and know what he doth?" (4) Do not, most reverend brothers, do not bear this, (5) do not evade this our entreaty, (6) lest the formidable prophecy of our Lord reach us, who said: "Because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold."

3. (7) For just as rust is the blight peculiar to grain, so envy is a disease of friendship. And just as it follows for the good that they do not envy, so envy follows the devil. (8) And as rust consumes iron, so envy consumes the soul that has it. Nay rather, just as they say that vipers [... ]

born of the mother's womb devour it, so envy is naturally formed to tear apart the soul that gives it birth. ^A The envious man looks for only one respite from his misery, if he might see any of those whom he envies falling. This is the goal of hatred: to see him who is envied become wretched from being blessed, and to see him who was held happy become miserable. Then a pact is struck and he becomes a friend, when he sees him weeping, when he beholds him mourning; and he does not rejoice with the cheerful, but he weeps with the one who is lamenting. And he "pities" the change of life, from what state to what state he has fallen, not out of any humanity or any sense of compassion, speaking of his former state, but in order that he may prepare for him a heavier calamity. ^B Such was Saul, for whom the magnitude of the benefits he received was the pretext and origin of war against David, and who attempted to transfix his benefactor with a spear. For having been saved together with his army from the enemies, and released from the shame that was being burned against him by Goliath, he attempted to become his slayer and to remove him from the midst by an ambush; then, after driving him into exile, not even so did he put an end to his hatred, but finally, having undertaken an expedition against him with three thousand chosen men, he searched the wilderness. But when, at that very time of the pursuit, he was captured—exposed and ready for slaughter at the hands of his enemy—and was again saved by the righteous man, who was unwilling to lay hands upon him, ^C he was by no means moved by this benefit, but again he was gathering an army and again he was pursuing him, until, being caught a second time by the same man in the cave, he both made his virtue more brilliant and rendered his own wickedness more manifest. In like manner also did the brothers of Joseph act, not knowing what they were doing. For if the dreams of Joseph were true, what means is there by which the things predicted would not by all means come to pass? And if the visions of the dreams were false, why do they envy one who is mistaken? But in truth envy is a special passion of the devil, which cannot be spoken aloud, which admits of no remedy. He who has a headache tells the physician of the headache; he who suffers from the disease of envy, what can he say? "Are my brother's good things causing me distress?" This is the truth, but each one is ashamed of the words. Why do you sigh? Is it your own misfortune, or another's good fortune? Truly, envy is the devil's own private evil. ^D For just as arrows that are carried with force, when they fall upon something hard and resistant, return back upon the one who shot them, so the movements of envy, while harming the one who is envied not at all, become wounds for the envious man. For there are indeed many evils in envy, but this much is useful, that it is an evil for the one who possesses it, and it consumes the heart more than rust does iron. For the one who envies harms the person envied but little, while he consumes himself with [the pain of his own grief].

^A nor does he diminish his neighbor’s wealth, but rather he consumes himself through envy. Therefore, just as it is our care to keep combustible material as far as possible from the fire, so it is worthwhile, as far as it is possible, to withdraw our friendships from the company of the envious, so that we may station ourselves outside the darts of envy. For we make dogs tame by feeding them, but we make the envious person more morose by bestowing benefits upon him. For he does not rejoice in the good things he receives, but is grieved by the prosperity of others, because they possess the means from which they might satisfy their own needs. Panthers have a certain natural anger toward man, and are especially prone to fly at the eyes of men. Those, therefore, who mock the fury of the beast place a likeness of a man on paper before its eyes. The beast, not thinking in its excessive rage, tears the paper as if it were a man, and there manifests its hatred of mankind. Thus also the devil showed his hatred of God in the image, since he could not touch God Himself. ^B

4. I wish, therefore, O man, that you flee the imitation of evildoers and observe the great craftiness and treachery even in a weak animal; what kind of thing do I mean? The crab desires the flesh of the oyster; but this prey is difficult for it to capture because of the defense of the shell. For nature has fortified the tenderness of the flesh within an infrangible enclosure. Wherefore this animal is also called "testaceous." And since two cavities, precisely joined together, surround and encompass the oyster, the claws of the crab are necessarily useless. What, then, does it do? When it sees the oyster basking with pleasure in tranquil places and opening its valves to the rays of the sun, then, having secretly inserted a pebble, it prevents the closing, and what was lacking in physical strength is found to be obtained by craft and deceit. ^C Such is the malice of those who are endowed neither with reason nor with voice. Such is the man who approaches his brother fraudulently, and lies in wait for his neighbor’s adverse fortune, and exults in the calamities of others. But I would not omit the craft and wiles of the octopus, which assumes the color of whatever rock it happens to adhere to. For this reason, most fish, swimming along heedlessly, fall upon the octopus as if upon a rock, and offer themselves as an easy prey to that cunning creature. Such are the morals of those who always fawn upon the ruling powers and accommodate themselves to all manner of nodes and uses, nor do they persist in the same opinion of mind, but easily become one thing and then another, changing their opinion to win the favor of each person. Whom it is difficult to avoid, and to protect oneself from their harms, because their carefully fashioned wickedness lies deep ^D under the guise of friendship.

^A For those who harbor hatred in the depths of their hearts display a surface colored with friendship, like hidden reefs in the sea, which, while covered by a little water, become an unforeseen evil for the unwary. Therefore, one should not keep silent in the face of calumnies, not so that we may avenge ourselves through rebuttal, but so that we may not allow a lie to prevail, and not leave the deceived to their own harm. For the slanderer inflicts damage upon three persons at once: he injures the one who is falsely accused, the one to whom he speaks, and himself. Knowing that to slander and defame others is the work of an unrestrained tongue and a perverse mind, of wicked men who delight in hostility; but that to endeavor with all zeal to refute the lie ^B is the work of prudent men who, along with their own good counsel, value the safety of many. Let us flee the malice of the former, and let us emulate the way of life of the latter, who are entirely unlike the others, so that we may become partakers of the future goods as well, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen.

CONCERNING TEMPERANCE AND INCONTINENCE. SERMO XIX.

1. ^C Alexander of Macedon, having taken the daughters of Darius as captives, the incredible beauty of whom was proclaimed, did not even deem them worthy of a glance, saying that it was shameful for one who had conquered men to be overcome by women. This tends toward that very commandment: "Whoever looks to lust has already committed adultery" (Matt. v, 28); that is to say, whoever looks at a woman with lust, even if he does not consummate the adultery in act, yet because he has admitted the desire into his soul, he is not free from the charge. If, therefore, accidental encounters carry such great danger for those who look with curiosity, how much more so are the meetings that take place by design, so that one may see women behaving indecorously and composing their gestures for lasciviousness, and singing soft songs, which even when only heard can instill every goad of pleasure in those who are incontinent? ^D What then will they say, or what will they plead in their defense, those who have collected a huge swarm of evils for themselves from such spectacles? They are therefore subject to judgment under the Lord’s inescapable sentence for the crime of adultery. For it is possible to commit adultery by speech, and to commit adultery with the eyes, and to be defiled by hearing, and to receive pollutions into the heart, and by 572 the...

^A immoderate use of food and drink to fall away from the bounds of temperance. But he who, through continence, preserves himself under the rule of virginity in all these things, truly shows himself to be endowed with the grace of perfect virginity. But if anyone, professing virginity in word, in actual deed does the things that belong to those who are married, it is plain that he pursues the honor of virginity, but does not at all abstain from unseemly pleasure.

2. ^B Neither, therefore, is he pure who is unequal in his soul regarding chastity; but rather he who has subjected the petulance of the flesh to the spirit. But let him who is captivated by the desire for temperance frequently unfold the history of Joseph, and thence learn the excellent deeds of temperance, and he will find him not only temperant towards pleasures, but to have possessed the highest habit of virtue. ^B For the life of Joseph is an exhortation to chastity, and the stories of Samson an incitement to fortitude. But we do not call him temperant and continent in whom the appetites of lust have been extinguished by reason of old age, or sickness, or some other chance event. For in him the vice itself does indeed reside; but its action is impeded by the infirmity of the organs. But true continence is a power of ^C knowledge, which, being impressed upon the inmost recess of the soul, deletes the internal traces of shameful movements. For they ought not to be praised for chastity whose genitals have been excised. For we do not praise horses because they do not strike with a horn, but we shall praise them if they do not kick; but in the case of oxen, if they do not strike with a horn, we approve their gentleness. For it is not in that which one cannot do, but in that which, being able, one does not use power for injury, that there is admiration. And therefore continence in old age is ^C not continence, but an incapacity for lasciviousness. A dead man is not crowned: no one is righteous because he has no faculty for doing evil.

(7) Therefore the body must be chastised and held in check, just like the impulses of some beast; and the tumults which are excited by it in the soul must be restrained by reason as if with a scourge, and the mind must not be neglected by letting the reins of pleasure loose entirely, so that it is carried away like a charioteer who is dragged along by horses that are unleashed and violently agitated. Nor will it be out of place to remember Pythagoras, ^D who, when he had learned that one of his acquaintances was rendering himself very corpulent with exercises and food, said thus: “Will you not cease from building a heavier prison for yourself?” Whence they say that Plato, too, foreseeing the harm proceeding from the body, purposely chose for the Academy an unhealthy place in Attica, so that he might prune back the luxuriousness of the body, just as one prunes a vine of its excess growth. But I also ^D consider it hazardous to

^A have the body in too good a condition, as I have heard from physicians. For excessive care of the body is both useless to the body itself and harmful to the soul; to submit and yield to it is manifest insanity. One must therefore despise the body, if one does not wish to wallow in its pleasures as in mire, or else one must hold it in such check as to provide a service to philosophy, as Plato says—speaking not unlike Paul, who urges that we should make no provision for the body to fulfill its desires. Rom. XIII, 14.

3. ^B But our own affairs are of this sort. Women, however, are licentious: forgetful of the fear of God, having despised the eternal fire, on that very day when, because of the memory of the resurrection, it behooved them to sit in their homes and ponder that day on which the heavens will be opened, and the Judge will appear from the heavens, and the trumpet of God, and the resurrection of the dead, and the just judgment, and the recompense to each according to his work; when they ought to have held these things in their thoughts and cleansed their hearts from evil imaginations, and wiped away their past sins with tears, and prepared themselves for the meeting with Christ on that great day of His appearing—instead, they cast off the yoke of slavery to Christ, threw the veils of modesty from their heads, despised God, scorned His angels, shamelessly endured the gaze of every man, tossing their hair, trailing their robes, and dancing with their feet, inviting all the licentiousness of young men upon themselves. In the shrines of the martyrs before the city, they formed choirs, turning ^C holy places into a workshop of their own obscenity. They defiled the air with their harlot-songs, and defiled the earth with their impure feet, which they stomped in their dances; setting up a spectacle for themselves by gathering a crowd of young men from all sides, thoroughly shameless and entirely frantic, leaving no limit to their insanity. Do you laugh, tell me, and take licentious delight, when you ought to be weeping and groaning over what has happened? Do you sing harlot-songs, casting aside the psalms and hymns you were taught? You move your feet and leap about like a madwoman, and dance dances you ought not, when you should be bending your knees in worship! For whom shall I grieve? For the maidens who have never known marriage, or for those bound by the yoke of wedlock? For the former return having lost their virginity, while the latter have not kept their chastity for their husbands: for even if some escaped sin physically, they ^D have nevertheless completely received corruption in their souls. Wherefore, every woman who misuses the adornment of clothing should expect to be stripped of it. For because they walk even trailing their tunics, as if they do not use clothing but misuse it, therefore they are bidden to be deprived of the glory of clothing. For the Lord also takes away from us the honor of raiment, if we are found caught using it unworthily.

treading it underfoot and polluting it with fleshly defilements. ^A And what, he asks, is such a garment? "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ," whom the Lord takes away from those who by their sins trample upon the body and account the blood of the covenant as a common thing.

4. ^B Women, therefore, who pride themselves too much on the beauty and elegance of their bodies, exalt themselves above others, indulge in vain arrogance, and glory in a thing that quickly withers and fades away; then they carry a neck held high, so that their faces may be viewed by the eyes of all. The modest woman, adorned with decent habits, with eyes cast down to the ground out of shame, keeps her face turned downward; but the shameless woman, who has set her mind on capturing and hunting many in the snare of her beauty, walks with a neck held high, and by the movements of her eyes declares the impurity of her soul, and from her very look darts a kind of deadly poison. Indeed, rumor tells a similar tale about the basilisk, which they say kills beholders by its gaze alone. Since, however, certain colors ^C are greatly sought after by women for decorating the face—white, red, and another, black (the white falsely mimics the fairness of the body; the red blooms upon the cheeks; the black traces the eyebrows in a crescent shape around the eyes)—all these the Lord threatens to take away, so that he says, the continence of men may not be stolen, nor the eyes of miserable youths be snatched away by such paintings; for the wicked dispositions of women submerge the weak souls of those who dwell with them. Let men listen, let women listen, how even among brute animals, the modesty and honesty of widowhood is preferred to the disgrace of frequent marriages. Others, who were enemies, are reconciled to the dead; stepmothers begin to hate after death. ^D But they say that the turtledove, once separated from its spouse, never enters into a union with another but remains a widow, inasmuch as for the memory of its former mate it refuses another marriage. What, then, could be more miserable for us, if we not only do not show a love toward our spouses similar to that of the beasts, but even tread a path contrary to the Lord's commandments, with neck held high, and by the movements of our eyes and the deceits of colors, steal away the temperance of others? These things will then be utterly taken from us when all things are laid bare before the Judge; when the eyebrow shall fall, the cheek shall bear sadness, the color shall become livid from fear, and everyone shall receive according to his works.

Having apprehended these things in our minds, beloved, let us hasten, while there is time, to conduct our lives according to the will of God, that we may also attain the future goods, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

ON HUMILITY AND VAINGLORY

^A 1. It is impossible for one who does not desire to be held inferior and last of all before everyone, to ever be able to master anger when reviled, or to overcome temptations through patience when afflicted. But he who has achieved extreme humility, by judging his own lowliness to be even greater in the midst of reproaches, shall not have his soul stirred by words of dishonor. If he hears a poor man [being insulted], he knows himself to be poor and in need of everything, and in need of the daily provision from the Lord. If he hears [himself called] low-born and obscure, he has already grasped in his heart the fact that he was created from clay. And, simply put, he is great before God who has humbly submitted himself to his neighbor, and who, without shame, has accepted blame upon himself, even if the charges are not true, in order to grant the great benefit of peace to his brother. ^B For it is equally difficult, both in adverse circumstances to keep the soul unhumbled, and in prosperity not to be exalted. For in truth, haughty characters, when treated with excessive respect, naturally tend to become ever more arrogant.

But for the humble and cast-down mind, there follows a mournful eye cast toward the ground, a neglected appearance, unkempt hair, and soiled clothing; so that what those who are mourning do by design, these things are seen to be present in us spontaneously. The tunic should be drawn tight to the body with a belt; yet the waistband should neither be above the loins—for that is effeminate—nor so loose as to let the tunic drag, for that is limp. Also, the gait should neither be sluggish, so as to betray a relaxed soul, nor again vehement and boisterous, so as to reveal impulsive passions. ^C The goal of clothing is one: that it be a covering for the flesh, sufficient for winter and summer. And neither in color should a vivid hue be sought, nor in texture, the thin and soft. For to scrutinize the colors in clothing is equal to the womanly concern for cosmetics, by which they are led to dye their cheeks and hair with foreign colors. But the tunic should even be so thick that it has no need of a companion to warm the one who wears it. And footgear should be cheap in price, but lacking nothing for the fulfillment of its use. For the exercise of a humble and abject mind consists in the practice of using meaner and simpler things, bringing a cure to those who are lusting for glory. ^D Now, he is a seeker of vainglory who does, or says, anything merely for the sake of the glory of this world. For example, he who does almsgiving for the

sake of receiving glory from men receives his reward, and he is neither merciful nor munificent. And he who exercises temperance for the sake of human favor is not temperate, since he does not seek virtue, but hunts for the glory that will result from it. ^A For it was permitted to Ananias in the beginning not to promise or dedicate his possessions to God; but since he looked toward human glory and consecrated his possession to God by a promise, so that he might be admired by men for his munificence, while he kept back part of the price, he aroused against himself such indignation from the Lord—of which Peter was the minister—that he did not even find time for repentance. For the Lord who resists the proud and humbles sinners to the ground promises that He Himself will cast down the insolence of the proud. He, therefore, who humbles the proud frees them from the likeness which they have to the devil, who is the father of pride, and leads them to become disciples of Him who says: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." ^B What more magnificent thing do you think of concerning yourself, because you have cut down crowds of nations and overturned the powers of cities? Would the axe not be able to be proud for the same reason, because it casts down the lofty and proud trees to the ground? Or the saw, because it divides solid and firm logs? But indeed, neither does the axe cut without hands, nor can the saw divide without one who pulls it.

2. ^C But if you see your neighbor sinning, beware of considering only his sin; rather reflect also on the things which he has done or does rightly, and you will often find him better than yourself, when you examine all things and do not judge partially. For God does not judge a man partially; "For I come," He says, "to gather their works and their thoughts." And when He reproved Josaphat for a sin committed in the moment, He also remembered the things accomplished by him, saying: "Nevertheless, good words have been found in you." Thus, humility often rescues the one who has sinned much and grievously. Do not therefore justify yourself above another, lest, being justified by your own judgment, you be condemned by that of God. Do you think you have accomplished some good thing? Give thanks to God, and do not exalt yourself against your neighbor. For what have you helped your neighbor in that you have confessed the faith, or endured exile for the name, or persevered in the labors of fasting? The gain is yours, not another’s. Fear lest you fall similarly to the devil, who, having been exalted against man, was humbled by man, and is handed over as a footstool to be trampled upon. ^D In sum, remember that true proverb: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Have the saying of the Lord ready: "Everyone who exalts himself, will be humbled; but he who humbles himself will be exalted. Do not be an unjust judge of yourself, nor ..."

examine your case for the sake of favor—if you think you have something good, putting this into the balance while willingly forgetting your faults; nor, while being puffed up for what you accomplish today, grant yourself pardon for the things you did badly in the past or long ago. But when the present exalts you, let it bring the past to your memory, and it will put an end to your senseless inflammation. For it is truly most difficult to know oneself. For not only does the eye, while looking at external things, not use its sight to look at itself, but also our very mind, while keenly beholding another’s sin, is slow toward the recognition of its own shortcomings. Do not be harsh in reproofs, nor rebuke quickly, nor with passion; for such a thing savors of arrogance. Do not condemn for small things, as though you yourself were an exact judge; but receive those who are in a lapse, ^B setting them right spiritually, as the Apostle exhorts, *Looking to yourself, lest you also be tempted*. For if we are sinning in some way, we shall be better if admonished; but if we are doing nothing wrong, why are we hated? Cast from your soul the thought that you need no other for communion. For it is not the character of a man walking according to love, nor one fulfilling the law of Christ, to cut himself off from connection with brothers. Lest the evil of war, which goes around, eventually come even to us; and if we should suffer the indignity along with others, we will not find anyone who sympathizes, because in the time of our own prosperity we did not lay down for those who were wronged the contribution of sympathy. ^C It has been more my study to be completely unknown than for the ambitious to be in the limelight. Do you, therefore, make such an effort not to be glorified by men, as much as others do to be glorified. But have you been judged worthy of the chair, and do men court and honor you? Be equal to your subjects; for the Lord commanded that he who wishes to be first, must be the servant of all. Moses the great, who was in all things compliant and obedient, when he was being sent to the people, said: *I pray, O Lord, appoint another whom You may send*. By which he made God, as it were, contend more stubbornly with him, by that very refusal and the confession of his weakness showing himself worthy to preside. Wherefore the commandment is well-said: *Do not seek to become a judge, lest you be unable to remove injustices*. ^D However, the prophetic word does not say that the refusal of those who are drawn by the seditious to rule has been completely without additions. For he did not say simply, "I will not be a leader," but with an addition: "I will not be a leader of this people"; and he provided the cause, that their tongues are with iniquity toward those who disobey the Lord.

^A Ac Moses, when summoned to a most splendid way of life and to the governorship of such a great people, refused and prayed for exemption: "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and bring the people out of the land of Egypt?" And again: "I pray, Lord, I am not suitable since yesterday, nor since the day before, nor since you began to speak to your servant." And again: "I beseech you, Lord, choose another who can, someone whom you will send." But the Lord said to him: "Go and be the leader of this people, and I will send my angel before you." ^B (2) What, therefore, (did) Moses (say)? "I beseech you, Lord, unless you yourself walk before us, do not lead us away from here." (3) Isaiah, however, although he had heard nothing of this sort, but had been instructed only on the necessity of the mission to be sent, offered himself willingly and cast himself into the midst of dangers. (4) What, then, is the intention of these men? The thought of Moses was that that people was subject to sins and stood in need of one who releases sins, which angels cannot provide. For angels are indeed punishers of those who sin, but not releasers of transgressions; let the true Lawgiver therefore come, that powerful Savior, who alone has the authority to release sins. (5) As for Isaiah, it was because, by the excess and ardor of his love, he esteemed nothing of those things which he might fear would befall him from the people. Let us imitate the deeds of both of these, so that we may also attain to future good things, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father is glory, honor, power, together with the holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING PROSPEROUS AND ADVERSE FORTUNE, AND CONCERNING PRUDENCE. SERMON XXI.

1. ^C Things that are prosperous, and such as are coveted by the many, have no stability or duration, nor do adverse and sad things persevere constantly: but all things are subject to a certain agitation, motion, and unexpected changes. For neither the health of the body, nor the flower of youth, nor the happiness of a home, nor the remainder of the prosperity of life, lasts very long: but if you are living in this serenity of life, expect nevertheless at some time a storm and tempest of affairs. For disease will come, poverty will also come, with the wind not always rising from the stern. But also, unexpected disgraces often invade a man who is in all things admirable and worthy of imitation, and unforeseen ^D events, like certain whirlwinds, disturb all happiness. Indeed, continuous evils are even in the place of waves for you, of which one succeeds another. You will see, however, at some time these also passed by, and life...

^A transmutated into hilarity and a truly pleasant tranquility. For just as it is not possible for the sea to remain the same for long—since the one you now see as calm and stable you will see a little later roughened by the violence of the winds; and indeed, the one that is fierce and boiling with the surge, a deep calm quickly settles—so also do the affairs of life easily take their turn in either direction. For this reason, there is need of a helmsman, so that even in the tranquility of life, with everything proceeding according to his wishes, he may expect changes and not rest as if present things were immortal; and in a more gloomy situation, he should not despair of good things, lest he be swallowed up by greater grief and be borne off submerged. For this is the intelligent helmsman, the one who, with aim fixed ^B upon the underlying nature, handles the events that occur, and always remaining the same to himself, is neither puffed up in good times nor cast down in misfortunes. Although it is not permitted to a helmsman to create tranquility whenever he wishes, for us it is quite easy to establish a calm life for ourselves, if we silence the disturbances rising up within from the passions, and make our mind higher than those things which fall upon us from without. For those who are excessively caught up in the cares of life, like fat birds, uselessly equipped with wings, crawl somewhere down below with the cattle.

2. Many, having collected many things from their youth, when they reached about the middle of life, with the spirits of wickedness stirring up temptations against them, did not bear the weight ^C of the storm, as they lacked a helmsman, but suffered the loss of all those things. And some indeed shipwrecked concerning the faith; others, having gathered temperance from their youth—as if some gale of wicked pleasure coming upon them—lost it. A most miserable spectacle, after fasting, after a harsh way of life, after extended prayer, after large flows of tears, after continence of twenty or perhaps even thirty years, through thoughtlessness of soul and negligence, to be found naked and despoiled of everything; and for him who was thriving in the practice of the commandments to become similar to some wealthy merchant who, rejoicing in the multitude of his merchandise, having had his ship borne along by the power of a fair wind, and having traversed the dreadful seas, finds his ship shattered at the very harbors and is suddenly shown to be destitute of everything. God our Lord has mercy ^D on such persons. For mercy is an affection toward those who have been humbled beyond their desert, proceeding from those who are moved with compassion. We pity him who has fallen from great wealth into extreme poverty; we pity him who has been reduced from the best state of body to the final weakness; [we pity] him who is exulting in the beauty and bloom of his body and by the most shame

shameful and foul ^A diseases is corrupted. Since, therefore, we were also once glorious in our conduct in paradise, but became inglorious and lowly because of our fall, our God has mercy, seeing us as we are, and [considering] from what state we have fallen. For this reason He called back even Adam with that voice of mercy, saying: "Adam, where are you?" 76 For He who knows all things did not ask in order to be taught, but He wished to make him understand what kind of person he had become from what he once was. "Where are you?"—that is to say: Into what ruin have you fallen from such great height?

3. Logic, therefore, having obtained the supreme seat of judgment within us, must weigh and examine each thing, deciding both what is to be accepted and what is not, and granting access to the agreements regarding objects and the movements of the soul not without careful judgment. For this is what Paul says: "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." 77 Do not, therefore, curiously investigate the future, but use the present to your advantage. For what profit is there in grasping knowledge [of the future] beforehand? If indeed what is to come is good, it will arrive, even if you do not foresee it; but if it is grievous, what gain is it to be consumed by grief in advance? (2) The name of prudence is double: for one kind guards its own advantage while simultaneously setting traps for a neighbor—such as the prudence of the serpent, which guards its own head. This seems to be a certain cunning malice of character, which quickly devises what is useful to itself and preys upon the simpler ones; such was the prudence of the unjust steward. ^B But true prudence is the knowledge and discernment of what should be done and what should not be done, by which he who follows it will never depart from the deeds of virtue, nor will he ever be pierced by the destructive dart of vice.

4. (3) Since each of us cannot by himself discover that which ought to be done, for this reason God, being beneficent toward us, gives us counselors, but not masters. (4) For it is the property of a king to command his subjects, but [the property] of a counselor to persuade those who are willing among them. (5) Therefore, let each one of us consider himself, not as a ruler, but as a counselor given by the Lord to the people. Such was that counselor of the New Testament, Paul, when he said: "I give my counsel, as one who has obtained mercy of the Lord." 78 Great, indeed, is the benefit of the presence of a prudent and well-disposed counselor, who supplies what is lacking in the understanding of those taking counsel. (9) But Moses shows how great the utility of counsel is—he who was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, who spoke with God as one might say, ^C as a friend speaks to a friend. He received counsel from ^D

^A his father-in-law Jethro, to appoint tribunes, and centurions, and decurions, to judge the people. And David also used Chusi as a counselor, by whom he dissipated the military counsel of Achitophel. And, in a word, counsel is a sacred thing, a union of wills, a fruit of love, a demonstration of humility. For it is a terrible arrogance to think one needs no one, but to attend only to oneself as if one alone were able to counsel the best things. But we are reluctant to submit ourselves to those who suggest what is needed, and we are ashamed to acknowledge those who are more prudent than we are with regard to life. However, he who waits for a counselor also grants an opportunity to his own thoughts to investigate what is fitting with longer time, with discernment and attention. Therefore, counsel is very necessary and useful to the life of1 men, because no one is sufficient for these things by himself, but requires helpers for the selection of useful things even more than for those things which are accomplished by the body. Wherefore, he who lacks a counselor is like a ship destitute of a helmsman, rashly abandoned to the movements of the winds. If, therefore, we employ counselors in deliberations concerning ordinary matters, when we deliberate about the soul and the things useful to it, should we not seek out admirable counselors? But he who, when good counsel is available, follows the vain will of his heart, is similar to Roboam, who, having spurned the salutary counsel of the elders, followed the younger men who had been raised with him, through whom he lost the kingdom of the ten tribes.

^B 5. Thus do the counsels of the just recoil upon the heads of those who formed them, just as arrows shot against solid and resistant bodies return to those by whom they were shot. For the Lord guards all who love Him, and all sinners He will destroy: for to Him is due all glory, honor, and majesty, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING PROVIDENCE

1. So great is the fecundity of the Creator’s intelligence in commanding, as are the variations and commonalities of the things created. To go through all these with precision is equivalent to attempting to count the waves of the sea, or to measure the water of the sea with the palm of one’s hand. For who could accurately recount ^C all the properties pertaining to the life of birds? How is it that the storks all build in these places at one and the same time, and all depart under one signal—a thing which is not far removed from rational intelligence? And how do the crows surround them, and accompany them, and, as ^D it seems to me, provide them with a kind of social aid against warlike birds?

The proof of this matter is, first, that during that time no crow appears at all; and second, that when they return with wounds, they bring back manifest signs of having fought a common battle. Who prescribed for them the laws of hospitality? Who threatened them with a charge of desertion, so that none would withdraw from the company? ^B Cranes also take turns standing watch. Some sleep, while others walk in a circle, providing them with complete security during their sleep. Then, when the time of the watch is completed, the one that has signaled turns to sleep, and the one that takes its place in succession provides, in its turn, the same security that it received. They observe this same order in flight. For one is the leader of the journey for others; but when it has presided over the flight for a set time, it turns back and hands over the leadership of the road to the one following it. ^C You, however, who do not believe that there will be a change in the resurrection, recalling the transformation of the silkworm, accept a manifest notion of the resurrection. You also who laugh at our mystery, as if it were impossible and contrary to nature for a virgin to give birth, with her virginity remaining intact, consider that God, to whom this was pleasing, has set forth countless arguments from nature in advance for the belief in miraculous things. For He granted the vultures to give birth without any union, even though they are extremely long-lived, since their life generally extends to a hundred years: and thus in all things, He has left behind for us clear monuments of His miracles.

2. There is also among the fish a wise and well-ordered arrangement, and each of their species knows the way of life distinct to it by nature; and it dwells in the parts of the sea assigned to it, just as in cities, or in certain villages, or in ancient fatherlands. And indeed, certain fish are accustomed to migrate, departing into foreign regions as if from a common council, and they leave all together under a single signal. For when the prescribed time for spawning arrives, migrating from one gulf to another, stirred by the common law of nature, they hasten toward the northern sea. ^D And indeed, at the very time of the ascent, you can see the fish flowing in a pack through the Propontis into the Euxine Sea, like a certain torrent. Who moves them? What kind of king’s command is it? What edicts posted in the forum indicate the designated time? Who are the guides for these guests and strangers? You see divine ordination fulfilling all things, and passing through even the smallest matters. A fish does not oppose the law of God, while we do not obey saving precepts. Do not despise the fish because they are entirely mindless and devoid of reason; but fear lest you be even inferior to them, in the ordinance-

^A of the Creator, resisting his arrangement. 1. No race of fish is partially armed with teeth, as are the ox and sheep among us; for among them no one ruminates, unless, according to the accounts of some, the scarus alone. But all fish are equipped with a most sharp edge of dense teeth, so that the food, while being chewed for a long time, may not disintegrate; for if it were not quickly cut up and sent into the stomach, it would, in its breaking down, be dissipated by the water. Hear then these creatures, as if they were issuing a voice through their deeds, saying: "We set out upon this long migration for the preservation of our kind." They do not possess individual reasoning, but they have the law of nature firmly implanted within them, prompting them as to what must be done. "Let us go," they say, "to the northern sea." For that water is sweeter than the rest of the sea, because the sun, dwelling upon it for a short time, does not draw out from it through its rays, whatever is suitable for drinking. The creatures of the sea also delight in sweet waters. Whence they often swim up to rivers and travel far from the sea. For this reason, the Pontus is preferred by them over the other gulfs, as being suitable for bringing forth and rearing their offspring. ^B And when that which was sought is abundantly fulfilled, all again in a body return home. And what is the reason for their returning, let us hear from the silent ones. The northern sea, they say, is shallow, and lying exposed to the violence of the winds, it has few shores and few retreats. Therefore, the winds easily churn it up from the very bottom, even so that the sand which had settled at the bottom is mixed with the waves. Moreover, it is cold in the winter season, since it is filled by many and great rivers. For this reason, as much as they have enjoyed it moderately in the summer, again in the winter they hasten toward the warmth in the deep and to the sunny regions, and fleeing the wind-blown severity of the northern parts, they take refuge in less agitated gulfs as if in harbors. I have seen these things, and I have admired the wisdom of God in all things. If the irrational creatures are inventive regarding their own safety, and the fish knows what is to be chosen for him and what is to be avoided: what are we to say, we who are honored with reason, ^C educated by the law, invited by promises, and taught by the Spirit, yet still order our own affairs more ineptly than the fish themselves? For they know how to make some provision for the future: we, however, out of hopelessness for the future, consume our life in the pleasures of grazing, and in the basest of beastly delights we throw away our life.

3. If we examine the account, how great is the diligence that exists in these irrational animals for preserving their own life—diligence which they have not been taught, but which they possess by nature—will we not be impelled to the guarding of our own selves and the providing for the salvation of our souls, or will we not be condemned the more heavily ^D when we are found to be lacking even in the imitation of irrational animals? A bear, often wounded with the deepest gashes, heals itself with every art, while with mullein, which by nature possesses a dry quality

having dry nature closes up wounds. You might even see a fox treating itself with the resin of a pine tree. A tortoise, having satiated itself on viper flesh, avoids the harm threatening it from the poisonous beast through the contrary nature of marjoram. Nay, even a serpent, having fed on fennel, applies a remedy to the injury of its eyes. ^A Oxen, too, long enclosed during the winter season, now at last as spring returns, perceiving the change by a natural sense, look from their stalls toward the exits, and all, as if by a single sign given, turn their faces. Sheep, moreover, as winter approaches, voraciously devour their feed, as if preparing sustenance for themselves against future want. What, then, is indicated to us men by these things? Truly, that there is a certain sense of the future in animals; so that we may not be addicted to the present life, but bring all our zeal to bear upon the age to come. ^B Whence does a lamb, leaping out from the sheepfolds among countless sheep, know its mother's voice, and hasten toward her, and search for its own sources of milk? Indeed, if it happens upon the dry teats of a mother, it is content with them, having passed by full and heavy udders. Whence, likewise, does a mother among so many lambs recognize her own? The voice is one, the color the same, the scent of all similar—so far as it is presented to our sense of smell. But yet there is in them a certain sense, sharper than our own comprehension, by which it is permitted to each to discern what is his own. A cub does not yet have teeth, and yet it defends itself against those who bring it harm by its mouth. ^C A calf does not yet have horns, yet it knows where its weapons will grow. Because God, their Maker, has compensated for the lack of reason with a greater faculty of perception.

4. And let no one accuse the Creator because He produced venomous animals, destructive and adverse to our life. Or by the same reasoning, might one blame a tutor, who brings the levity and inconstancy of boys into order, and who corrects their wantonness and forwardness with blows and whips? Do you trust in the Lord? Through faith you have the power to walk upon serpents and scorpions. ^D Do you not see the viper clinging to Paul as he gathers sticks, and inflicting no harm upon him, because that holy man was found full of faith? But if you lack faith, do not fear the beast more than your own unbelief, by which you have made yourself vulnerable to every corruption. For whatever evils we suffer, we suffer by divine ordination. For He does not allow us to be tormented by perverse powers, but He Himself defines the measure of punishments, having regard for the strength of those whom He wishes to heal. And whatever good comes to us by divine power, we say it is an operation of the grace that accomplishes all things. For God provides for all things, the sleepless eye watches all things; to all He is present.

scattering salvation to everyone. Often, indeed, even in the smallest things, His wisdom and providence are manifest. ^A For He who spread out the heaven and poured out the measureless depths of the seas, is the same who hollowed out the most slender sting of the bee like a pipe, so that through it the poison might be emitted. It is therefore opportune to say with the prophet: "How magnified are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made all things." To Him belongs glory, and honor, and magnificence, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

CONCERNING THE SOUL. SERMON XXIII.

1. To extend all effort so that one might be in the best possible physical condition is not the mark of a man who knows himself, nor of one who understands that wise exhortation which teaches us that what falls under the gaze is not the human being, ^B but that a certain more transcendent wisdom is required, through which each one of us may recognize what he truly is. This, however, is more difficult for those who have not purified their minds than to gaze upon the sun with blurry eyes. For just as one cannot write on wax without first smoothing out the characters already inscribed there, so one cannot entrust divine teachings to a soul without first removing the preconceptions arising from habit. For if a good thought is lacking to the soul, it is clearly because illumination is absent, not because the source that illuminates is wanting, but because that which ought to be illuminated is slumbering. ^C For just as it is impossible for a body that does not breathe to live, so it is impossible for a soul that does not acknowledge its Creator to endure; for ignorance of God is the death of the soul. Therefore, one must not be enslaved to the body, except inso-far as it is strictly necessary; rather, the better things must be acquired for the soul, so that we may release it from its association with the body—as if from a prison—through philosophy, and at the same time render the body itself superior to the passions. For those who care only for the body, that it might be in the best condition, while neglecting the soul that makes use of it as if it were of no value, differ in no way from those who devote themselves to their tools ^D while neglecting the craft that works through them. Therefore, do not attend to your own, nor to things around you, but to yourself alone. For we ourselves are one thing, ours are another, and those things around us are yet another. For we ourselves are the soul and the mind, according to which we were made in the image of the Creator; ours, however, is the body, and the senses through it; and around us are wealth, skills, and the rest of the life's equipment. Do not therefore attend to the flesh, nor pursue its good in every way; but adorn the soul, and take care of it, so that all that arises from wickedness...

may be cleansed away by prayer and supplication. ^A

2. For just as a mirror covered in dirt cannot receive the impressions of images, so a soul occupied with the cares of life and darkened by the passions arising from the inclinations of the flesh cannot receive the illuminations of the Holy Spirit. By nature, indeed, we must consider the good of the soul as beautiful. But the soul's treasure is the body's neediness; for when the latter is rich, the former is poor. And just as on the scales of a balance, if you weigh down one pan, you must necessarily make the opposite one lighter; so too in body and soul, while one abounds, the other is necessarily diminished. For when the body enjoys sound health and is weighed down by obesity, it is inevitable that the mind becomes infirm and weak toward its own proper activities. Conversely, when the soul is in a good state and, by the meditation of good things, is raised to its own proper magnitude, it follows that the body's condition must wither and grow languid. ^B

3. And just as no teaching instructs us to hate disease, but we possess of ourselves an aversion to those things that cause us trouble, so too is there in the soul a natural, untaught flight from evil. Now, evil is every sickness of the soul; but virtue possesses the account of health. For some have rightly defined health as the stability of the vital functions according to nature. And one will not be wrong to state the same of the good state of the soul. For no one disregards his own son when he is about to fall into a pit, or abandons him in his fall if he has already fallen; ^C how much more grievous is it to abandon to destruction a soul which has fallen into the depths of evils? It is necessary, therefore, for the soul to rule over the passions, but to serve God. For it is impossible for it to be ruled by both sin and God; but it must overcome wickedness and be subjected to the Lord of all things. And just as the proper virtue of a plant is to sprout with ripe fruit, yet it also bears a certain decoration as leaves are shaken around its branches; so too, while the primary fruit of the soul is truth itself, it is by no means ungracious to be clothed in secular wisdom as well, as if they were leaves providing a certain shelter and a not-unpleasant appearance for the fruit. For no painter can capture the features of the body as accurately as discourse depicts the hidden senses of the soul. Let us therefore take care of it, as much as we are able, so that we may also attain to the good things to come, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father is glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. ^D

ON THE HONOR TO BE SHOWN TO PARENTS, AND ON OLD AGE AND YOUTH. DISCOURSE XXIV.

^A 1. "Arise, O Lord my God," in the precept which thou hast commanded, can be referred both to the mystery of the resurrection, the Prophet exhorting the Judge to arise for the vengeance of every sin, and that the commands prescribed to us be fulfilled; and it can also be understood regarding the state of affairs as it then was, with the Prophet imploring the Judge to arise for the vengeance of the command which He had enjoined. The command, however, given by God, was: "Honor thy father and thy mother," which his own son had transgressed. Therefore he urges God not to delay in correcting that person himself and in restraining many, but to rise up in wrath, and rising, to vindicate His own command. For he says, it is not me you are avenging, but your own command which has been scorned, which you yourself enjoined. For it is clear that when one wicked man has been chastised, many will turn back. ^B Indeed, the care which storks show for those who have grown old suffices of itself, if our children are but willing to attend, to render them lovers of their parents. For there is surely no one so lacking in sense as not to judge it a mark of shame to be surpassed in virtue by the most irrational birds. For those birds, standing in a circle around a father who has shed his feathers from old age, warm him with their own feathers, and providing food generously, offer whatever help they can in his flight, gently supporting him on both sides with their wings. And this is so celebrated among all, that some now call the recompense of benefits "antipelargosis" (stork-like return).

2. If, therefore, you wish to be sure about the things that are to come, do what is commanded according to the law, and await the enjoyment of those good things. "Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and thou shalt be long-lived upon the earth which the Lord thy God giveth thee." For grateful children bring great praises to their parents. ^C "Children, love your parents; parents, do not provoke your children to wrath," the divine Apostle exhorts. For if a lioness loves her own offspring, and a wolf fights for its cubs, what shall be said of a man who both disobeys the command and corrupts his own nature, when either a son dishonors a father's old age, or a father, because of a second marriage, forgets his earlier children? The eagle is most unjust in the rearing of its offspring. For when it has hatched two chicks, it thrusts the one down to the ground, pushing it away with the blows of its wings, and only taking up the other one as its own, rejecting the one it ^D brought forth because of the difficulty of finding food. But not...

so ^A that bird! For, having received it, she rears it together with her own brood. Such are those parents who, under the pretext of poverty, expose their infants, or who are most unjust in the distribution of their estate to their children. For just as they imparted existence to them equally, so it is just that they should provide them the means for conducting their lives in a like and equal manner. Do not imitate the cruelty of those birds which have hooked talons, which, when they see their chicks now ready for flight, strike them with their wings and drive them away, casting them out of the nest and thereafter taking no care of them. Rather, show yourself to be emulous of the love of the crow for its young, which accompanies them even when they are already flying, supplying them with food and rearing them for a very long time.

3. For indeed, he who is a child in understanding does not differ at all from one who is a child in age; for gray hair is prudence in human beings. ^B For in truth, the elderly character in prudence contributes more to the commendation of a senior than the whiteness of hair. For if, according to the wise Daniel, someone is young in body but has gray hair in understanding, he is more justly to be esteemed of greater worth than those who carry about the gray hair of the body with an impure soul. For indeed, even when Daniel was yet a boy, and junior in sensible age, he was adorned with the gray hair of spiritual prudence, and the grace of the presbyterate passed to him. Thus it happens sometimes that, while seniors live their lives negligently and slothfully, younger men are found to be preferable—in that they are seniors because of the virtue whitening in their souls. And it is also a most grievous punishment that a city should be governed by foolish ^C youth. For youth is fickle and prone to base desires; bestial angers, rashness, and insolence, pride and boastfulness, are vices nurtured together with youth; envy against one who excels in virtue, suspicions against those within one's own house—a swarm of countless evils is yoked to youth. It is necessary for those who are ruled to share in all of these, because the vices of rulers become calamities for the subjects. Hence those evils occurred before the last sack of Jerusalem, when the citizens, fighting among themselves, filled the city with sedition and slaughter, and they were not led to the necessary concord even by the enemies surrounding them on all sides; ^D but fearing for themselves in the extremes, with the city all but taken, the walls being torn down, and the enemies pouring in, they attacked one another out of a passion for gaining mastery and preeminence. And they suffered these things because the prophet, and the conjecturer, and the senior, and the wonderful counselor had been taken away from them, and in their place young princes had been set over them, and mockers come to rule them. In order, therefore, that the same things may not happen to us as to them, let us flee attacking one another, and let us [seek] concord

and let us pursue mutual honor and peace, so that, having lived securely and attained to the blessings to come, we may, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. ^A Amen. [To Symeon Metaphrastes: our translation ends here as the anchor.]

INDEX

Of the places of Basil from which these XXIV sermons have been composed.

(The pages are of the edition of Garner, printed in larger type.)

From the Homilies on the Hexaemeron, p. 476; III, 478; V, 476, 477, 511, 534; VI, 476, 551, 557; VII, 493, 501, 570, 581, 581, 582; VIII, 525, 531, 574, 581, 586, 586; IX, 485, 488, 576, 582, 583, 585, 586. From the Homilies on the Psalms, 1, p. 472, 472, 477, 493, 510, 532; VII, 550, 554, 585; XIV, 490, 494, 495, 496; XXVIII, 525, 551; XXIX, 559; XXXII, 488, 519; XXXIII, 497, 505, 520, 544, 544, 544, 550, 551, 554; XLV, 509; XLVIII, 515, 554; LIX, 549; LXI, 470, 473, 474, 496, 505, 552, 554, 575; CXIV, 523, 579. From the book Against Eunomius, p. 556, 557, 568, 571. From the Homilies on the Psalms, xiv, p. 474, 489, 507, 533; XXXVII, 509, 511; CXV, 533, 536. From the Commentary on Isaiah, p. 471, 472, 472, 473, 474, 478, 484, 503, 503, 509, 510, 510, 511, 520, 521, 523, 524, 525, 550, 553, 554, 561, 564, 564, 564, 572, 573, 574, 574, 575, 576, 577, 579, 580, 586, 586. From the Homily On Fasting, p. 527, 528, 530, 530, 530, 559, 561, 563, 563; II, 526, 527, 529, 563. From the Homily on that text, "Give heed to thyself," p. 477, 510, 520, 553, 585. From the Homily On Thanksgiving, p. 536, 542, 543, 544, 584. From the Homily on the Martyr Julitta, p. 477, 498, 523, 524, 532, 536, 538, 540, 545, 549. From the Homily on that text of Luke, "I will pull down," p. 486, 487, 488, 492, 492, 499, 500, 500, 501. From the Homily to the Rich, p. 486, 488, 492, 493, 498, 499, 500, 501, 501, 502, 503, 503, 504, 511, 535. From the Homily on Famine and Drought, p. 486, 487, 510, 521, 522, 544, 548, 554. From the Homily That God is not the author of evils, p. 536. From the Homily Against those prone to anger, p. 480, 564, 565, 566, 567. From the Homily On Envy, p. 486, 493, 568, 569, 570, 570. From the Homily on the beginning of Proverbs, p. 471, 475, 506, 578, 579, 579. From the Homily on Holy Baptism, p. 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 572, 584. From the Homily against Drunkards, p. 469, 477, 560, 561, 561, 562, 563, 571, 573. From the Homily on that text, "In the beginning was the Word," p. 477. From the Homily on the Martyr Barlaam, p. 483. From the Homily on the Martyr Gordius, p. 572. From the Homily on the Forty Martyrs, p. 548. From the Homily On Humility, p. 576, 576. From the Homily That one should not cling to worldly things, p. 470, 489, 491, 505, 521, 531, 533, 534, 535, 559. From the sermon On reading pagan literature, p. 471, 473, 475, 478, 478, 482, 493, 497, 499, 506, 549, 551, 560, 571, 572, 573, 584, 585. From the Homily on the Martyr Mamas, p. 475, 475. From the Prooemium concerning the judgment of God, p. 506, 507, 508, 509. From sermon I of the Ascetica, p. 473, 575. From sermon II of the Ascetica, p. 474, 485, 497, 553. From the Prooemium to the Longer Rules, p. 469. From the Longer Rules, p. 473, 473, 478, 479, 480, 481, 481, 483, 483, 511, 512, 522, 522, 551, 558. From the Shorter Rules, p. 480. From the Homily delivered in Laciza, p. 489, 499, 502, 502, 503, 566, 567, 569, 570, 570. From the sermon On almsgiving and judgment, vol. III, col. 1707 et seqq. From the Homily against the slanderers of the Holy Trinity, p. 545. From Homily II On Fasting, p. 530. From the Letters, I, p. 525; II, 473, 479, 480, 524, 524, 530, 531, 547, 558, 575; V, 536, 537; VI, 538, 543; XVI, 556; XX, 484; XXI, 567; XXIX, 542; XLIV, 552, 553; XLV, 514; LIII, 474; LV, 572; LIX, 513, 564, 567, 577; XCIV, 568; XCVII, 484; CI, 539, 548; CXII, 554, 555; CXXXIV, 480; CXXXIX, 542; CXL, 541; CL, 489; CLIV, 475; CLVI, 521; CLXXIV, 523, 550; CLXXXVIII, can. 2, and CCXVIII, can. 84, 520; CCIII, 482, 484, 485, 568, 569; CCIV, 571; CCX, 577; CCXVII, 481; CCXIX, 566; CCXXVI, 567; CCXXXVI, 497, 530; CCXLIV, 474; CCXLVI, 541; CCXLVII, 541, CCL, 484; CCLX, 474; CCLXIX, 539, 540; CCLXXII, 568, 568; CCLXXXVIII, 481; CCXCIII, 474, 578; CCC, 537; CCCII, 539, 542. From the book On Virginity, p. 572.