Coptic Homilies in the Dialect of Upper Egypt (Budge translation)

If the blessed man Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, who became the Doctor of the Church, who fought in pain and anguish to make himself to be like unto the incorporeal powers in his daily life, who completed his course [and] kept the Faith, who kept his light shining in fastings, and in hunger, and in thirst, and amid dangers, who travelled with patient endurance the road from Jerusalem to Illyricum preaching the Gospel, this angel who belonged to the earth, this man who belonged to the heavens, who possessed Christ Who spake in him, the habitation of the Holy Spirit, who was caught up to the third heaven [and] heard the words of mystery, who was carried away into the Paradise, who was by reason of his love and zeal well nigh the equal of Christ, who bore the care of the Churches, the orator of piety, the sponsor of those who believed on Christ, the herald and teacher of the Gentiles, who hath taught unto us the way whereby to enter into heaven, [if this man, I say] said, 'I subdue my body, and I make it to be a servant, lest having preached unto others I myself shall become a castaway'; and, moreover, if this holy man, who possessed in his own person so great a multitude of spiritual excellences, and who spake out boldly, saying, 'I know not how to do anything of myself,' was afraid, and spake in this manner, what shall we ourselves do, who are miserable creatures, and who are wholly unable to cultivate successfully one spiritual excellence?

Is it not then seemly for us to keep watch and to pray at all times, and to make petitions to God neither for gold nor silver, nor for any of the riches of this world, but only for the riches which are in the heavens; and to have gladness in God? Now, there are certain folk who rejoice in [their] wealth; and some rejoice in wine-drinkings in taverns, and in eating at feasts, whilst others rejoice in the beauty and glory of [this] world. As for the virgin, let him rejoice in God, and let him seek after the honour which cometh from His hands, saying, 'My justification is before Thee.' There is nothing which is so poverty-stricken or so contemptible as the soul which is filled with passion. For this reason it is seemly for us to take strict care of our souls at all times, and we must say even as did the holy man David, 'God giveth strength to my beauty,' so that when the Bridegroom looketh upon the beauty of the soul He shall say, 'Thou art wholly beautiful, my love, and there is no blemish in thee.'

But even if it be that thy spiritual excellence flourisheth, take good heed that thy heart be not over-exalted because of thy beauty, lest God turn His face away from thee because of thine exaltation of heart (or, pride). For who is there who could make himself worthy of the things which [Christ] endured then patiently on thy behalf? He humbled Himself for thee, and He gave His holy blood to be the price for thee. He Who gave food unto all flesh fasted in the flesh for thy sake. He Who created the sweetness in the honey tasted that which was bitter (gall) for thy sake. He Who ornamented the heavens with the companies of the stars wore a crown of thorns for thy sake; and He became obedient even unto death, the death of the Cross. It is not, then, seemly for us to shew ourselves glad because of these things, nay, we must make ourselves to lament, and we must weep. Let us hearken unto that which [the Book] saith, '[Be] sorrowful in heart upon your beds because of the things which ye have said in your hearts [during the day],' so that we may have in remembrance in the night season the things which we have done during the day, and that we may heave sighs concerning them. This is what Ahab did when he was in sorrow: he fasted and he girded sackcloth about his body. And what did God say concerning him? 'I will not bring the evils upon him in his days.' It was for this same reason that the Saviour proclaimed to be blessed those who weep, not those who weep for the dead, or the loss of property, but those who weep for their sins.

Thou thyself shalt say even as did David, 'Night after night I wash my bed, and I soak my cushion[s] with my tears.' And again he saith, 'Mine eyes pour out streams of water because men keep not Thy Law.' Wash thou away the defilement by means of tears, smite upon thy breast, and take to thyself the remembrance of the sins which thou hast committed. [If] thou hast been snared at [any] time through thine eye, if thou hast opened thy window at [any] time wickedly, thou hast done injury to thy soul through thine eye. The eyes which look with wicked intent heal thou now with tears, and shut thou thy window that thou mayest not see again the things of vanity, for otherwise thou wilt fall into an evil habit. Now habit is wont to draw him that clingeth thereto into great sins. [When] thou hast arrayed thyself in splendid apparel take good heed unto thyself not to sit down in any [dirty] place, lest it become spotted. If thou shalt hold to be a light matter the first stain, and the second, and the third, at length thy whole garment shall become dirty. Thou shalt not be careless [and] sit down in any polluted place whatsoever.

What are we to do then? [Thou hast] need of fervent prayer, lest thou strike a stone with thy feet. And [thou shalt pray fervently] that the Angel of God shall compass thee round about, and shall deliver thee. And thou thyself shalt be strong and shalt say, 'The Angel who delivered me out of all evil.' And [thou shalt pray fervently] that the Angel may cry out unto thee from heaven, even as [he cried] to Abraham, for the Angels love those who love their own God. He (i.e., the Book) saith moreover, 'Take a psalm, set ye forth a tabret, a sweet psaltery and a harp'; thou art to take one thing, and three are demanded from thee. For we are composed of three things, even as the Apostle [Paul] spake, 'He will keep safe him that is in the spirit, and He will make healthy your souls and your bodies.' Now the psaltery is the spirit, the harp is the soul, and the tabret is the dead skin which covereth it. Therefore put thou to death the flesh, and thus shalt thou make thyself strong to ascribe blessings to God with the tabret and dance.

For it is God Himself Who hath filled thee with flesh. Observe, therefore, lest He should say unto thee, 'What profit is there in My blood?' What kind of recompense canst thou possibly make to Him which shall be adequate for all the sufferings which He endured on thy behalf? Be thou a tree which beareth fruit, and thus shalt thou cause the blessing of God to be upon thee. Bring forth fruit according to thy strength. If thou art not able to bring forth an hundredfold, which is the [number of] perfection, then bring forth sixtyfold, which is the half thereof; and if this be difficult for thee, then bring forth thirtyfold, which is one third thereof. Only thou must labour according to thy strength, for if thou art without fruit they will cut thee down and cast thee into the burning. If thou canst not be a vessel of gold, or silver, do not become a log of wood, or grass, or straw, which are merely fuel for the burning. Thou shalt not perform the works which God hateth, for they shall take their stand before thee on the Day of Judgement like solid image[s]. And finally thou wilt have to begin to confess them in that place without witnesses and without an advocate, and without proofs, and thou wilt have to look upon all the deeds which thou hast committed, and upon all the words which thou hast uttered unwittingly, and they shall stand up like statues before thine eyes. Weep before the time, so that thou mayest not hear in that place [the words], 'This is not the time for repentance; for no repentance is possible in this place.'

So long then as we have the time let us do work, for if the time slip through our hands, it is unlikely that we shall find another opportunity. Moreover, for this reason the blessed Paul taught us saying, 'So long as we have the time let us do the things which are good.' And again [he saith], 'Behold, now is the time which is accepted.' Let us then weep over the deeds which we have committed unrighteously, and let us make tears to flow down our cheeks in streams, and let us beat our breasts in sorrow, so that we may do away the weeping, and the gnashing of the teeth in that place whereto we must depart. Moreover, let us weep even as did David in order that we may be proclaimed blessed. He did not shed a few tears only as men do when they weep, but he flooded his bed with his tears; and he passed the whole night in vigil. One night only he sinned, [yet] he wept night after night, and never ceased [from crying], and he freely acknowledged his sins in the following words, and in this manner, saying, 'Forgive me these [offences]. Thou didst give me mine eyes, that I might see Thy light with them, but I have seen wickedly with them. Since, therefore, I have gone astray through mine eyes, for this reason do away my sins through [my] tears.'

Let us come forth from our habits which are evil, and remove ourselves into the city which is in the heavens. Let us subdue our body, and let us make it to be a servant (or, slave), lest peradventure we make our soul to be the servant of the Devil. Let the careful consideration of the words of God reduce to peace the delights of the senses which are engrained in our hearts, and which resemble those that are found in wild animals, and let us bear at all times the death of our Lord Jesus Christ in our bodies, and let us keep in remembrance that which He spake saying, 'Be prudent, be ye vigilant.' The man that slumbereth shall not receive the crown of victory, and the man that is careless and idle shall not receive the prize, but the man who hath borne innumerable buffetings and wounds is he who shall receive honour from the Master of the contest. Now the Enemy is in the habit of taking to flight before him that is prudent (or, cautious), but he plundereth him that slumbereth. Therefore, thou must know that thou hast about thee enemies which are evil. Give, therefore, no sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids, that thou mayest escape like a roe from the snare of the hunter, and like a bird from the net of the fowler.

Let us flee at all times from the cares of this world (or, life), and from the burdens thereof. If we would make ourselves to be free from this world, we must not make to ourselves care for the things of the world, for very many have been snared by the guile thereof. For the [Book] saith, 'He who is our Adversary, the Devil, goeth about roaring, like the lions, and seeking after prey,' not, however, prey in the literal sense of the word, but to devour that which is in the soul. Flee from the knavery of the Crafty One, and thou shalt say, 'Through Thee shall I be delivered from a company of thieves, and through my God I shall leap over a wall.' Seek not to excuse thyself from suffering, lest by so doing thou shalt excuse thyself from the crown also. The merchant loseth not courage, but he endureth even the waves of the sea, and he findeth possessions. He who contendeth is wont to fight in pain and suffering even unto wounds, for his heart looketh for the crown of victory.

The husbandman doth not find ears of corn [in his tillage] unless he hath first of all sown the seed [thereof] by his own toil. This is what is to be expected from the kingdom which is in the heavens: men must account tribulations as nothing whatsoever, and they must fortify their hearts by means of the hope of the good things which shall come. Let us therefore devote our whole attention to watching at all times, so that when our Bridegroom shall return, and look in the bride-chamber, we may hear His voice, and may rise up, and may meet Him being prepared [to receive Him]. For He said, 'Let your loins be girded up, let your lamps be filled and lighted, and do ye even as do those men who are expecting to see their Lord.' Now behold, the Saviour proclaimed blessed the man who was sober (or, vigilant), saying, 'Blessed is that servant whose master on coming shall find him keeping watch.'

And as He proclaimed blessed those who kept watch, so also did He regard him that was careless as a bad servant, for He spake saying, 'That wicked servant shall say in his heart, "My master tarrieth." And he shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat, and to drink, and to become drunken. And the master of that wicked servant shall come on a day which he knoweth not, and in an hour wherein he expecteth him not. And he shall cut him asunder, and shall set his portion with [the portions of] the unbelieving ones.' If they shall cut asunder him that saith, 'My master tarrieth,' what shall they do unto him that doth not expect to see him at all? Therefore, O my beloved, what is meet for us to do is this: We must act in such a way that we may find ourselves prepared at any hour, and we must sail a straightforward course, and always in the same direction; for it is unlikely that we shall be able to turn back again and cultivate successfully that concerning which we have been careless.

Let us therefore be prepared at any hour, so that we may say with boldness, 'Lord, my heart is ready, my heart is ready.' In this life we are in a mighty war. The workers of evil, who are the demons, stretch their bows. Then one of them shooteth an arrow into our ears, so that we may listen to slanderous chatterings with pleasure. And another shooteth an arrow into our eyes, so that we may turn our gaze in a wrongful manner towards the things which are unseemly. And another shooteth an arrow into our tongue, so as to make us to revile scornfully our brother. And another shooteth an arrow into our belly, which exciteth in us the appetite of gluttony. And another shooteth an arrow into our hands, which leadeth us on to deeds of rapine, and greed of the most excessive character. And another shooteth an arrow into our feet, which moveth us to walk into wickedness.

Because of all these things the blessed man Paul armed us with weapons, for he wrote saying, 'Take unto you the whole armour of God, and the helmet of the Spirit. With these ye shall be able to quench every fiery dart of the Evil One.' Let us hearken unto the voice of the prophet, which saith, 'He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and also that which God seeketh after at thy hands, to make thyself to perform judgement and righteousness. And thou shalt love mercy, and to prepare to follow closely after the Lord thy God.' Therefore let us forget the things which are behind, and reach forth unto those things which are before. Let us delight ourselves in the Lord, and let us feed upon His words. Let us not waste our opportunities in emptiness, but as we have a [good] Lord, let us perform service to Him in truth. Consider the great love for man which He sheweth in respect of us! Sometimes He appealeth to us, sometimes He threateneth us with the punishments, and sometimes He teacheth us obedience, and He bestoweth rewards upon those who hearken unto Him.

Therefore we must gird up the loins of our heart[s] in truth. Let us perform the service of the Good God, our Saviour. Let us keep in remembrance all the things which He suffered for our sakes. He was made after the manner of a man for our sakes. He was suckled at the breast like a man. He made Himself to be a child in age (or, stature). He received baptism for our sakes. He suffered hunger. He slept, He slumbered for our sakes. He mourned, they made Him the object of plots of treachery, they scourged Him, they treated Him with contumely, and finally they delivered Him over to death for our sakes.

Let us, then, think at all times on all these things which He suffered patiently for the sake of our sins, [and] that [the Book] saith, 'Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, [striving against sin].' But ye shall fight against sin, that is to say, although we are not now asked to give our blood for the sake of Christ, that we should earnestly follow after sinlessness is demanded at our hands. Keep in remembrance, moreover, the healings which our Saviour effected. He healed the sick, He cast out the devils, He made the lame to walk, He made the blind to see, besides all these other healings which we put aside and do not attempt and describe one by one. And, as the fulfilment of all these, He bestowed upon us the gracious gift of the way of entering into heaven, so that we ourselves might follow in His footsteps by means of a life of noble and virtuous deeds, and might make for ourselves our citizenship in the heavens, in a manner suitable for the place wherein our names are inscribed. Now the Scripture hath called us 'strangers and sojourners', so that we may think scorn of the things of this place (i. e., world).

The pleasure of this world is like unto a day: if we chase him away, he fleeth; and if we feed him, he will abide with thee. It is for this reason that Aiakkōbos (James) said, 'Resist ye the Devil, and he shall flee from you.' Let us not think in our minds that we shall be able to repent in Amente, for the medicine of repentance hath no effect in that place. For although we shall gnash with our teeth, and our tongue shall be on fire, there shall be in that place none who shall dip his finger in water for us; on the contrary, we ourselves shall hear the words which the rich man heard. Let us know, then, O my beloved, that the works of this changing [world] are nothing but phantasms (or, dreams), and that we live in a house wherein travellers are received, out from which we must go forth in any case. Let us take care concerning the road, and concerning the provisions which we must take with us on the road. Let us array ourselves in the garments which appertain to this life, concerning which Paul counselled us, saying, 'Dress yourselves in the bowels of mercies, and in goodness, and in humility.'

In that place we shall have no need of gold, but we shall have need of the dropping of water. We shall have no need of the leaves of trees and plants, but of the fruit thereof. We shall have no need of words, but of deeds. For He (i. e., Christ) said, 'It is not every one who shall say unto Me, Lord, Lord, that shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who doeth the Will of My Father which [is] in heaven.' Let us therefore by no manner of means deceive ourselves. And if any man shall pass the whole of his life in eating at feasts, and in drinking of wine, [that period of time] will be as nothing compared with the ages which shall follow it without end. For in this world both the good things and the evil things which are therein fulfil themselves. In that world, however, the good things endure, and exist for ever and for ever, and the punishments are endless. In this world, if the body burneth, the soul cometh forth therefrom, and it existeth undestroyed. In that world, even though the body rise up, and exist in an undestroyed form, the soul shall burn for all time. And if it be necessary that sinners shall rise up, and exist in an undestroyed form, this shall not happen in order that they may receive glory, but only that they may be punished with the punishments which are deathless. If a man be unable to bear the heat of the bath which hath been heated to an unwonted degree, what will he do when he is delivered over to the river of fire which floweth before the throne of Christ? It is necessary that every man should make himself to consider the fire which is there.

Let us examine carefully the seal which is on our gold and see that it is intact, lest peradventure some come and plunder our treasure. Now all our works may be able to constrain him that hath speech with us [to think us good], but it is impossible that we shall be able to deceive the Judge Who is in the Other World. As long then as we have time, come ye, and let us heal the wound in our souls by means of [our] tears. If the prophet Jeremiah wept over the overthrow of the temple, which had been built throughout with stones of price, saying, 'Leave me alone, let me weep bitterly,' how much more is it right for us to weep over the temple of ourselves, which is exceedingly glorious, and which, though it hath not therein the ark of gold, is, nevertheless, the dwelling-place of the Holy Trinity? If we look upon one who is dead, we weep over him according to custom, what man is there who would be altogether so foolish as not to weep for his own soul if it had died in sin? For this reason it is seemly to weep not over the dead body but over the death of thy soul.

Remember thou, then, that the time hath drawn nigh, and that the Judge standeth at the door; the evening approacheth, and the day hath declined. No man remaineth asleep when once the night hath passed away, and the Sun hath risen. Let us rise up out of the slumber of dreams, and let us make (or, bring forth) fruits worthy of repentance, even as it is written. Repentance requireth not a long time, and very many of the martyrs received the crown for [the repentance] of a short time. And if we have committed the sins which lead unto death, let us not fall into a state of despair, for we have with us the medicines of salvation, that is to say, tears. And moreover, it belongeth to the nature of men to go astray in the work, but it is the work of Satan to persist in the going astray. For falling down is not a very evil thing, but the not rising up [again] after the fall is both an evil thing and destruction.

For this reason our God cried out to us through the prophet saying, 'Is there no balsam in Gilead? Or is there no physician in that place? Why then hath not the healing of the daughter of my people increased?' If it should happen that any member in our body become diseased, are we not wont to send for the physicians, and to make all the haste possible until we have healed that sick member in our body? When, however, the soul itself is sick we are careless about it, and we take no care whatsoever about the healing thereof. Let us hold in fear Him that hath the power to destroy our soul and our body in Gehenna. Come ye, let us flee into the sea of the mercy of God before the time of the torturings, and let us say with the holy man David, 'Thou shalt wash me throughly therein, and I shall become whiter than the snow.'

The Good Shepherd standeth wishing to snatch away our souls from out of the mouth of the lion before he is able to devour them. He crieth out unto us ourselves saying, 'My son, thou hast sinned; do not [sin] again.' And again He saith, 'Shall not he who falleth rise up again? Or shall not he who hath gone astray turn again into the right way?' And again He saith, 'Turn ye yourselves unto Me, O My children (or, sons) who have wandered afar off, and I will heal your wounds of contrition.' He was no liar who said, 'I have not come to judge the world, but in order that the world might have salvation through Me.' The one thing for us to do is to repent. For He saith, 'I do not desire the death of the sinner, but that he would turn himself from his evil way, and live.' There is no man among those who love persons, who even if he be consumed with the madness of love for the woman who is his beloved, that can love wholly in the same manner as that in which God loveth the soul which repenteth. For though it hath committed fornication very many times, He crieth out unto it saying, 'And I spake unto her after she had committed fornication with all these (i. e., her lovers) saying, Return thou unto Me.'

For the lovingkindness of God towards man is in this wise: He never rejecteth him that setteth forth to come to Him with repentance. And if he hath fallen into the ditch, and into evil, yet will He stretch out widely His hands to him saying, 'Turn thou to Me, and I will save thee.' And again, 'On that day wherein ye shall hear His voice, harden ye not your hearts.' Doth there exist a physician who, supposing it to be his wish to make him that is sick to recover a little, would reproach him? The physician doth not treat him with contempt, neither doth he award him the just retribution for his disgraceful state, but he administereth unto him the medicine with gentleness. How much more then shall God, Who is in truth the Good Physician of our souls [act thus towards us]? Above all things let us not despair of our own salvation. For he who contendeth in the games is wont to fall down often, but in the end he riseth up, and receiveth the crown of victory. So also is it with the soldier. After he hath been wounded [the physicians] heal him, and he wageth war again, and men consider him to be of greater value than those who have not been wounded at all. Similarly also there are very many merchants who, although their ships have foundered, and they have lost their cargoes, do not despair, but they go back again regularly to the markets, and they amass riches.

For the burning fire of Gehenna hath not been prepared solely for us, but it was made ready for the Devil and his angels. Above all things let us not kindle that fire for ourselves, and let us not hear besides the words, 'Get ye into the fire which ye yourselves have kindled.' There is no sick man living who cannot be healed by the medicine of the Physician of our souls. But perhaps thou wilt say, 'I certainly cannot attain unto perfection.' If thou art not able to attain unto perfection, and if thou art not able to become like a sun, then make thyself to be like unto a star. In any case transfer thyself from earth to heaven. Make thyself to be like a star which sendeth forth light. It is very much better that thou shouldst do a few works which are good, than that thou shouldst do nothing at all. Thou hast been informed concerning the cup of cold water, and concerning the visiting of those who are sick, and those who are in prison. Moreover, if we shall be punished for our words and for our deeds, how much more shall He give us wages for our good works, even though they be very few? Therefore let us labour for a little time, so that we may at last live the life which is for ever.

If it were possible for us to die many, many times, it would be seemly for us to do so, so that we might see Christ coming in His glory. We shall not see Him in a riddle, but we shall see Him as He really is, with our own eyes, according to the testimony of the Apostle John, who preached concerning God. If we look upon the beauty of the human body in this place (i. e., world) we are wont to marvel thereat. Now the beauty of human bodies ariseth from humours and from heat, which after death turn into worms, and ashes, and corruption. How much more, then, shall we admire when we look upon that beauty which is incorruptible, and spotless, and pure? Since Peter, when he saw only the very smallest portion of the light of the glory thereof, said, 'It is good for us to remain in this place,' what shall happen unto us when we shall look upon the fullness of that glory? If we ascribe blessings to those who are nigh unto a king in this world, when we see him advancing upon a chariot of gold, and wearing the crown and apparel of purple, then how greatly blessed shall we be when we are placed on the right hand of the King of All, the Judge of every man.

Now supposing that a kingdom had been promised unto thee, and that the road to the country wherein the kingdom was situated was exceedingly difficult, and toilsome, and was a place of desolation and steepness: wouldst thou not endure all these things in order to reach that kingdom? Thou shalt not say, 'I am already snared in my sins, and I am not able to turn myself to God,' for even if the Devil hath first of all cast us down headlong, let us rise up quickly. For our God is a lover of mankind. Whomsoever shall flee unto Him He will receive, even as He did in the case of the young man who had squandered the portion of the riches which had fallen to his share. Let us keep in remembrance the fact that after Solomon became king, and had obtained experience of all the glorious things and delights of life, he said, 'It is vanity, and vanity it is which is in them all.' If the governor [of a city] taketh the greatest pains in order to be praised by those who are sitting in the theatre, notwithstanding the fact that the greater number of those who are sitting in that place are poor men, and men of humble station, and servants, and strangers, how very much more pains ought we to take to cause ourselves to be well spoken of in that theatre of the Other World, wherein are congregated the angels, and the archangels, and all the saints?

Let no whoremonger and tax-gatherer be before us to enter into the Kingdom. There are many medicines and many remedies established for us in Holy Scripture which are different each from the other. Ahab sorrowed in his heart because of the sin which he had committed, and he escaped from the wrath of God by means of this medicine. And Nebuchadnezzar (Βαλτάσαρ) [escaped] through mercy. The inhabitants of Nineveh escaped through the medicine of fasting. The harlot reconciled God to her through her tears. The thief became a citizen of the Paradise through faith. Therefore will we exalt these salves and these medicines. Let us heal our souls of the wounds of sin which we our own selves have caused. Let us ourselves say unto the True Physician, 'Heal me, O God, and I shall become whole,' and 'Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee,' and the True Physician shall receive us to Himself. And He shall say, 'I, even I, am He Who blotteth out thy sin, and I will no more remember it.' Thou seest, then, the vast number of the medicines and salves, each of which is different from the other, which have been transmitted unto us in mercy by the Physician for use on various kinds of sores, and on divers cuts and bruises. Choose thou from among these that which thou wishest for the healing of thy soul.

If now thou art not able to perform mercy like Nebuchadnezzar (Βαλτάσαρ), nor to grieve in thy heart over thy sins like Ahab, and if thou art not able to fast like the inhabitants of Nineveh, and if thou canst not wash away thy sins by means of thy tears like the harlot, flee thou to the foot of the Merciful, and thou thyself shalt say, with David, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, according to the greatness of Thy mercy.' It is not a viper which hath bitten me, or I would have fled to the feet of the man of enchantments, neither am I filthy with the mire, or I would have washed myself clean in water, but it is the Devil who hath cast his venom upon me, and I have been penetrated by the mire of iniquity. For this reason I am in need of the greatness of the mercy of Thy lovingkindness towards man.

Thou must, in any case, go to Him, and thou must make supplication to Him, and He will graciously bestow upon thee the mercy of the Father, and the mercy which He spake saying, 'If the unrighteous man will turn from his evil way, I will no longer keep in remembrance all the iniquities which he hath committed.' Nevertheless, thou must certainly shew Him thy wound, and thou shalt say, 'Have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon my body, and upon my soul. Have mercy upon me in this world, and in that which is to come. Have mercy upon me because of the weakness of nature, and because of the sea of Thy goodness.' Do thou desire earnestly healing, and the Physician will be ready to heal thee at the earliest moment with His medicine. For He who seeketh after thy salvation is He who brought back the sheep which had gone astray. And He it is Who sendeth forth His servant into the highways to invite both the wicked and the good to the marriage feast.

Behold, He Himself will sell unto thee the kingdom which is in the heavens. If thou art not able to buy it for copper [money], buy it for thyself with a little piece of bread, for He will sell thee the kingdom which is in the heavens for this. Behold, the prophet cried out saying, 'Who is the man who is wishing for life, and who would see the days that are good?' that is to say, to receive for yourselves a fine external appearance and the service of servants. Now he who seeketh after that which is sold may not have with him the means (or, possessions) to give in exchange for it. If [thou hast] not [these things], then give the innocence of thy soul, give fastings, give tears. If thou hast nothing else whatsoever to give, then give the cessation of thy tongue from that which is evil, and the cessation of thy lips from speaking guile. This shall be the beginning of the salvation of thy soul; but take good heed unto thyself.

If thou dost fast, guard thyself lest thy heart become proud; if thou doest acts of mercy watch thyself that thou doest them not for the approbation of men. Nay, more [than this]. If the day of fasting shall cause thee to be regarded [by men] with close attention, thou shalt consider what it is which thou hast acquired for thyself through the fasting, lest thou find thyself to be on a lower level than before thou didst fast. Moreover, observe what kind of sin it is which thou hast abandoned, or for what purpose thou hast abandoned it, and what kind of success it is which thou hast acquired for thyself, or what manner of defect it is which thou hast corrected through thy fasting. See if thou hast made wrath to cease in thee, and if thou hast driven anger forth from thee. See if thou hast cured thyself of thinking scorn of thy brother, and of uttering calumnies concerning him, and of feelings of hatred towards thy neighbours. See if thou hast cured thyself of cursing and swearing, and if thou hast laid aside words of obscenity, or words of ribaldry, or words of lewdness. See what manner of good thing it is which thou hast gotten for thyself. If thou hast abandoned [the eating of] bread overmuch, and of other kinds of food, but hast not abandoned passion, nor hast gotten for thyself spiritual excellences, in what way then hast thou benefited by the fasting? Thou shalt not say, 'Who is the man that will hold me up to contempt? I myself will hold him up to contempt. Who is he that will destroy my reputation? I myself will destroy his reputation. Who is he that will do wrong unto me? I myself will wreak my vengeance upon him.' Do not this, but leave the matter to the True Judge Who shall reward to each man according to his works.

For all these things shall be made manifest, and they shall all be put to the proof in that theatre wherein the whole world shall be gathered together. In that Other World one man shall not be able to give help to another, and no man shall be able to deliver himself from the decision of the Judge, wherefrom no escape may be obtained by supplication. In that place of judgement neither Moses, nor Noah, nor Daniel, nor even Abraham himself, the lover of children, shall be able to protect one of his children from the punishment. Let us keep in remembrance the fact that we are guilty of very many sins, both of those which are secret and of those which are manifest. Now, he (i. e., David) saith, 'If thou shalt mark carefully every iniquity, who is there that shall stand?' And why need I speak of the sins which are hidden? If He were to judge us only for those which are manifest, what chance of escape would there be for us? If He were to enquire closely into our conduct, or if He were to investigate our remissnesses in prayer, and our faint-heartedness, [what chance of escape would there be for us?] And when we stand in His presence, how do we place ourselves, and on what do we meditate? We do not even pay unto Fil. 26 a Him the honour which servants pay to their masters, or the respect which soldiers pay to their captains, or the honour which friends pay to their friends.

Fil. 26 b Now when we talk with our friends we are in the habit of addressing them with the greatest respect and deference, but when we pray to God Himself for our sins we habitually do this with carelessness, and although our knees are bent on the ground, our hearts themselves are imagining that they are occupied in the performance of worldly affairs. If God were to enquire carefully into this matter, where should we be able to stand? If, moreover, He were to bring forward (or, into the midst) the charges which we have uttered against each other, and the jealousy, and the hatred, what should we do? If also He were to examine carefully in respect of looking [upon our neighbours] with evil intent (or, maliciously), what should we do? And if He were to search into us carefully in respect of our evil desires, and if He were to demand from us our words of abuse, would any of us be able to open our mouths?

Moreover, if He were to judge us for our love of the approbation of men which we have mingled with our prayers, and fastings, and acts of mercy, should we ever be able to look boldly into heaven at all? If He were to look closely into our behaviour in respect of the acts of deceit which we have done to each other, and of how, when our brother was present with us, we held converse with him as a friend, but when he was absent we heaped abuse of every kind upon him as if he had been an enemy [what should we do?]. If He were to make a reckoning with us in respect of our false oaths, and our lies, and our wrath without cause against each other, and our malicious feelings, and our emotions of grief when we saw any one of our friends held in honour by men, or praised more than ourselves, and our feelings of joy when certain folk fell into evil and calamity, should we not be condemned to most severe punishment because of our behaviour in this respect. If He were to exact punishment from us for our carelessness in our assemblies for the Holy Communion, wherein God Himself speaketh to us in the Scriptures, but we pay no attention to Him, and we hold converse with our fellow-servants, should we not then be condemned to a punishment of great severity, because of our behaviour in this respect?

For this reason let us set Gehenna before our eyes at all seasons. And even if we had not been threatened definitely with Gehenna, it would have been meet for us to keep our sins in our memory at all times, [and seeing that] this Gehenna is ready for us, how much more are we bound to keep our sins in remembrance? Remember thou the Judge. For behold, he (i. e., the Book) spake unto thee aforetime concerning the punishment so that thou mightest make thy escape from the danger. If He were to command thee saying, 'Fast thou,' thou couldst find an excuse for not doing so in thy weakness. If He were to say unto thee, 'Give money in charity,' thou couldst find an excuse for not doing so in thy poverty. If He were to say unto thee, 'Collect nothing in this world,' thou couldst find an excuse in the necessity for providing for thy son. But if He were to say unto thee, 'Be not angry, bear no malice against, have no hatred for, treat not with contumely him that is thy neighbour,' what wouldst thou reply in respect of these things? Since, therefore, there is no apology for thee whatsoever, and there is no means of escape from these things in this respect, how wilt thou be able to lift up thy hands to heaven seeing that these things are in thy soul?

Moreover, on many occasions thou hast said, 'They have treated me unjustly, they have defrauded me of my property, they have done me an injury, and they have spoken evil things against me'; but thou hadst only to wait for the decision of the governor. If a servant were to treat thee with insolence thou wouldst not thyself beat him, but wouldst make an accusation against him to his master. How much more is it meet for thee to leave the matter unto Him Who said, 'Cast the judgement upon Me; I will repay, saith God.' Thou knowest, therefore, that it will be necessary for thee to take thy stand before the Awful Throne, where neither advocate nor possessions shall be able to assist thee, and that thy soul shall come forth on the 'river of flame which floweth before the throne of Christ', even as the fathers say who have been in that place before thee.

Let the fountain of thy tears be in size according to the measure of the sins which thou hast committed. If thy sins be few, then a little shedding of tears will suffice. If thy transgression be great, then thou wilt have need of overwhelming torrents of tears. If, however, thou thyself art free from sin, then shed thou thy tears on behalf of thy brother to a suitable degree, and weep with him for his sins. The place through which sin entereth is the eye; let, then, healing come through the eye. Let us repent before the door of repentance be shut in our teeth (or, mouth). For this reason [was said] that which was said, 'Let him that thinketh he standeth look carefully lest he fall.' Let him that is in a slippery place, and hath fallen, make haste to rise up [again], for he must not abandon himself to despair. For it is written, 'God upholdeth those who fall.'

And it happeneth that a man moveth sometimes a very little, according to that which David spake saying, 'As for me, a very little more and my feet would have moved; and a very little more and my steps would have slipped.' And again, 'I say, My feet move; but Thy grace, O God, helpeth me.' Then again, 'They thrust sore at me to make me fall, but God gave me [His] hand.' He who hath fallen hath, in these ensamples, an encouragement not to allow himself to remain in his fallen state, and he (i. e., the Book) saith, 'Shall not he that is in the habit of falling rise up again?' Watch, however, lest having heard of the goodness of God, thou becomest careless. Verily it is written, 'God, the True Judge, is longsuffering and merciful'; and He receiveth (or, accepteth) the repentance of those who shall turn unto Him, as one Who loveth men. But the Book saith, 'If ye will not turn yourselves He will sharpen His sword.' Listen, for the Book saith 'He will sharpen it'. Now hitherto He hath not made use of it to smite, for He thought that when thou didst see Him sharpening His sword, thou wouldst anticipate the passing of the sentence, and that fear would rouse thee up to repentance. For the Book saith, 'He hath stretched His bow, He hath made it ready.' Because thou hast not yet seen the arrow, presume not on the mercifulness of the Judge.

Listen to [the words of] longsuffering of the Saviour Who said, 'Agree thou with him that goeth to law with thee.' Now the adversary, that is to say, he that fighteth with thee, is with thee at all times. And that it is unlikely that thou wilt be able to rid thyself of him Paul teacheth thee saying, 'The flesh lusteth against our spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; these, moreover, war against each other.' Now the spirit warreth against the flesh, and it bringeth into subjection the lust of this world through the hope of the kingdom which is in the heavens. The flesh itself warreth against the spirit, and it inclineth towards the earth and the pleasures thereof. Agree thou therefore with him that goeth to law with thee whilst he is with thee in the way; for when the way hath come to an end, thou wilt no longer find another opportunity for repentance. Watch thou then carefully lest he that goeth to law with thee give thee over into the hand of the Judge, and the Judge give thee over into the hand of the attendant, that is to say, the merciless powers which are over the punishments, and they cast thee into prison, that is to say, the outer darkness, until thou pay the uttermost kontrantés. Moreover, they shall judge thee not only for thy deeds, but also for thy thoughts and for thy motives.

Since, therefore, we know all these things, let us help ourselves. When we shall have actual experience of the punishments, then we shall know that bitter is pleasure, and then we shall have good reason for knowing how bitter that bitterness can be. Now therefore, since these things take place in this wise, O my beloved, let us make our appeal to the Merciful God not to deliver us over into the hands of the demons. Let us ourselves say with the holy man David, 'Give thou me not over unto those who would do violence unto me.' For it is they who urge us on into sin straightway, and it is they who shall be our accusers in the Day of Judgement. It is not the Devil only, but all his angels also, who shall make accusations against us saying, 'Were we not those who assisted you in [committing] fornication, and to be wroth, and to love vain glory, and in [utter] malicious calumnies?' Let us, then, be afraid in our hearts of that day, and of that

hour wherein our own power of reasoning shall be our sternest judge, and of that moment wherein we shall see them (i. e., our sins) all standing before us, clearly depicted in our sight, as if they were actual images, and let us cry out to our God with all our hearts. For even if the flesh which is on us be weak, yet He Who is ready to help us is mighty, and He will give us salvation in His Kingdom. [Now] we ourselves love a certain man for [one] of three things; either because of his goodness, or because he loveth us ourselves, or because of his beauty. But what other kind of beauty is there which can be compared with that which belongeth to our God? even as David spake saying, 'He is fairer in His beauty than the children of men.' Moreover, who is there that doeth such good that he will prepare for those who love him the good things which the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard of, nor hath the conception thereof entered into the hearts of men?

Moreover, who is there who hath loved us as our God and Father hath loved us? He crieth out saying, 'Doth there exist a mother who forgetteth her son? Or doth there exist a bride who shall forget the bridal adornments which have been given to her? Or doth there exist a virgin who shall forget the girdle wherewith she bindeth herself? Yet I will not forget, saith God.' Consider now the blessed man David and how great was the desire which he had to see God, for he said, 'When shall I come and appear before the face of my God?' He did not wish to wait until the appointed time in his life, but he burned with desire to come forth from this place (or, world), and to see Him Whom he loved. Such desire or such readiness appertained to the soul of the philosopher, which took to itself wings and flew up into the sky. Moreover, thou thyself shalt love this [God] only, and thou shalt pass by all the works (or, affairs) of this life as if they were shadows. Keep thou in remembrance at all times the life which shall be for ever, and the kingdom which shall endure, and the existence with the choirs of angels, and the imperishable glory, and the living of the life with Christ, wherein there shall be no sorrow of heart whatsoever, for the Scripture saith, 'Sorrow of heart, and grief, and sighing, shall flee away.'

And continue to remember this life wherein there is nothing but grief, and weeping, and sadness of heart, and contumely, and carelessness, and sin, and suffering, and old age, and death. Now David saw these things, and more than these, that is to say, calumny (or, injustice), and widowhood, and sudden death, and retribution for sin, and the fallings into tribulations of all kinds which are incidental to citizenship in this life, and he earnestly desired to escape from all these [troubles]. And he said, 'When shall I come and appear before the face of my God?' He wished to depart from this place (i. e., world), and to enter into the place (or, world) wherein are peace, and gladness, and love, and splendour, and freedom from care, and all the good things which no words can possibly present to the mind. For this reason, since thou thyself hast the

hope of enjoying such great delights as these, do not thou treat the matter [of thy life] with contempt. Let thy lamp be kept burning every day, and be thou prepared to meet the Bridegroom, so that thou thyself mayest hear [the words], 'Enter into the joy of our God.' It is right therefore for us to keep watch, and to pray at all times. For if after God spake unto the Devil saying, 'Lay not thy hands upon My servant Job,' he still continued to hope that he would be able to cast him down, how much more will he fight against us who are under his hand? And if he is not to cast us down, we shall have need of long nights of protracted watching to guard our souls [thereby]. Now the soldier is accustomed to keep watch very many nights when on the march, and the fisherman doth not sleep, but keepeth watch the whole night long until he hath caught a multitude of fishes. Similarly also the husbandman is accustomed to keep watch

throughout the night, so that no person may destroy his vineyard, and the shepherd also keepeth watch all night guarding his flocks of sheep, even as the Patriarch Jacob spake saying, 'I was consumed by the fiery heat in the daytime, and by the cold of the night, and sleep departed from my eyes.' And for what reason did he pass such long nights of vigil? He did so because he said, 'Peradventure some wild beast will destroy one of the sheep.' Now if he took all this care for the sake of a sheep which is without reason, it is meet that we should take far greater care of our soul which hath reason, and is far more precious than any other thing whatsoever; and it is the soul which they will place before the Awful Throne, and make to defend itself for all that it hath done. For this reason, moreover, let us set down the burden of our sins from our shoulders before the place of judgement [is made ready], for it is unlikely that we shall be able to repent in that place (i. e., in the world to come). For this same reason we shall be condemned to come forth from the body [which shall] be hidden from us, in order that we may be in terror at all times. For if in a court of justice in this world men are terrified, and become as cold as ice through fear when they hear the voice of the court-crier proclaiming [the names] of those who have been condemned, how much more should those be terrified who are destined to take their stand before the Awful Throne, in the midst of thousands of thousands, and tens of thousands of tens of thousands of angels?

And consider the blessed man Jacob who, having set a stone under his head, slept and saw a ladder upon the earth, the top whereof reached up into the sky; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it, and they were bearing our prayers up to God, and bringing to us blessings from His hand. It must be, moreover, that all these keep their gaze upon us, nay, more than this, they must be sorry at heart for us. If they have joy concerning us when we repent, in like manner they must be sorrowful in heart concerning our carelessness. For at all times our conscience accuseth us, and chideth us for what we have done, more especially when we speak concerning the judgement which is to come; moreover, the correction which is the result of the words which are good is wholesome. Would that that rich man had been rebuked [on earth], for then his tongue would not have been consumed in the fire which cannot be extinguished! If thou desirest earnestly virginity, and thou dost keep the commandments, God will bestow it upon thee in full measure. And if thou shalt say when thou prayest, 'Keep me, O God, as the apple of [Thine] eye,' He Himself shall say unto thee, 'Keep thou My words and My commandments as the apple of [thine] eye.' When thou keepest His commandments, He Himself shall take care of thy soul, and thou shalt say concerning thyself, 'Whosoever toucheth thee shall be as one who toucheth the apple of His eye.'

And, O beloved, now that thou hast set thy hand to the plough, do not turn back, and thou shalt not become like a pillar of salt. Let thy tongue speak at all times concerning the judgement which is to come, and make thou thyself to be useful, and thou shalt become a chosen man, through the fear of the place of judgement in the Other World. Let neither anger have dominion over thee, nor grief, nor any feeling of passion whatsoever; and utter not vain words without consideration. On the contrary, let the Law of God be at all times in thy mouth, so that thine eye shall pass through all these things, and thy speech shall be according to the Law of God. Set thou the Giver of the Law before thine eyes at all times, and let Him continue to abide with thee, and let Him be unto thee a counsellor. And if thou shalt see one who fareth delicately, and who enjoyeth himself in great riches, know thou that he shall wither suddenly like the grass of the field. Let him fare delicately in his eatings and feastings, but do thou [nourish] thyself on the words of God.

Many of the virgins have become martyrs, and since they conquered death, even though some of them were women, is it not meet that thou, who art a man, shouldst gain the victory over desire? Strive thou with all thy might to make thy members creatures of sacrifice, so that thou mayest conquer not only thy desire, but also that thou mayest have rule over pride and wrath. Let there be a measure set for [thy] tongue, and take heed that thou dost not make thy conscience to pass sentence upon thee before the condemnation (or, judgement). Remember thou that of necessity all our works shall be made manifest. No man desireth that even one person shall see us in this world if we are to be put to shame; then where shall we hide ourselves in that Other World, among the thousands of thousands, and tens of thousands of tens of thousands [of angels]?

Now John, because he was a holy virgin, reclined upon the breast of Jesus. Let that soul which wisheth to become the bride of Jesus Christ guard carefully its innocence; for the tree is known by its fruit, and 'the righteous man declareth the faith which is manifest'. Remember thou at all times the good confession of Christ which hath entered into thy heart. Remember thou the last day. Make thou thyself secure on every side, especially in the matter of thy tongue, for the Scripture saith, 'The tongue is that which polluteth the whole body'; when the body is polluted it is a necessity that the heart also should be corrupt therewith. Therefore well hath Paul said, 'Men whose hearts are evil,' and 'evil words corrupt the hearts which are col. good'. Seek thou after Paul, even as did the blessed woman Thekla, so that thou mayest hear the words of Paul. Thou hast need of wings, and if thou hast no wings thou wilt find it vain to attempt to fly.

Let thine eyes look downwards upon the ground, but let thy heart be in the height of the heavens. Thou hast need of great soberness (or, caution), for thine Adversary standeth against thee, and he is wary. He was cast forth from the Paradise which was upon the earth, and he seeth thee now [as] thou enterest into heaven, and is not unmindful of it. Hearken unto the word of him that saith, 'I wish that ye may be without care.' Let there be no care whatsoever to thee about anything, except only that which concerneth the kingdom which is in the heavens. If thou wishest to enter into heaven with the body, from the earth, subdue thou the flesh by means of fasting, and then thou shalt be able to make it to enter into the height with ease. If a horse be accustomed to eat large quantities of food, he is able neither to gallop quickly nor to make long marches, and he is unable to do regular work. Had Israel not eaten and waxed fat, he would not have kicked.

Lift up thine eyes to the heavens, wherein is He Whom thou lovest, and thou shalt overcome passion by means of the love which is holy. Prayer and faith shall help thee, and the Holy Scriptures shall give thee instruction, and thou shalt have from this world, according to [His] pledge to us, the rest which is in the heavens. Abide not with a woman who shall make thee to offend, have no care for a child, and avoid thou the care which appertaineth to the rearing of a child. Follow thou after thy God Who shall be the guide of thy heart into the kingdom which is in the heavens. Follow thou after Him Who saith unto thee, 'If ye shall come to Me in rectitude, I Myself will come to you in rectitude.' If thou wishest to be like unto Christ, follow thou in His footsteps; narrow is the gate and difficult, and it is [only] the righteous who enter in through it. Hearken unto the blessed man Daniel, who saith, 'I Daniel was in sore grief for three weeks. I ate no bread with desire, and neither flesh nor wine entered into my mouth.' And John who dwelt in the desert did not cultivate a vineyard for himself, in order that he might not make himself to be a being attached to the earth. Let these be unto thee [examples] which have been prepared to instruct thee. Thou shalt choose for thyself the citizenship which appertaineth to heaven. Fight thou the good fight of faith, and look eagerly beyond it to thy crown of righteousness, and let thy career be strenuous.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. Hast thou noto bserved the statues of the emperors, and noticed that some of them are large and beautifully adorned, whilst others have become black through [the lapse of] time, and have decayed, and have become objects of derision? Thus shall all our works appear in that other world which is to come, even as the statues. Let us flee from that shame which shall be for ever, and let us say, 'Guard me, O God, for in Thee have I set my hope; Thou hast no need of good gifts.' For He hath no need whatsoever of anything that belongeth to us, except only the salvation of our souls. Therefore, let us offer ourselves as a living, holy sacrifice, as it is written, 'I am not to be propitiated with a burnt offering, but with mercy and patient endurance'; for He spake saying, 'He that shall endure patiently to the end shall be saved.' And again [the Book saith], 'He hath suffered for ever, he shall live to the end.'

Therefore, as we would choose for ourselves a life free from care, and free from disturbance, let us run wisely so that we may obtain, even as it is written. It is not a few dangers which should make us to break the agreement which we have made with God. For this reason let us teach our tongue, let us teach our eyes, let us lift up in prayer our hands, which shall be clean, and let us make our feet to walk in rectitude. Create for thyself a citizenship which shall be good, and without blemish, by means of humility, and shamefacedness, and calmness of mind and body, and temperance in eating, and the continence which is effective, and the love of strenuous toil, and sympathy, and brotherly love, and the sharing of our possessions with our neighbours, and the faith which is perfect. Now these are only a very few [of the qualities] of which we may make mention in this case, and they need great striving to make them to flourish.

The Book saith, 'The kingdom which is in the heavens is like unto the [ten] virgins.' It doth not say that it is like unto the sun, or the moon, or the beautiful hosts of the stars, or the gold which is incorruptible, or the beauty which fadeth away, or even the sky itself. Observe the exalted reputation of purity, for it entereth into everything. And it is this of which Paul, the sponsor, spake saying, 'I would that ye should be without carefulness.' Therefore what is seemly for us to do is to pray, so that those who are strong among the virgins may remain permanent in their healthy state, and that those who are sick, who have actually fallen into sin, may receive healing. Now it is seemly that we ourselves should weep in such a manner that we may wash out our eyes which have been seeing badly; thou seest the wound, and thou knowest what will heal it. Fortify thou the windows of thy soul, and not only thine ears, and thine eyes, and thy mouth, for these are the entrances through which the Evil One is wont to come in, even as it is written, 'Death hath entered in through your windows.' Let the commandments of holiness be upon thine eyes, and upon thine ears. Let the Psalms be in thy mouth, and meditation on the Scriptures [in thy heart]. Therefore it is seemly for us to open our windows, that is to say, our senses (or, feelings) to God, and to shut them fast against the Adversary. Say thou, moreover, with that holy soul, 'I will go up into the palm tree, and I will lay hold of the height thereof,' that is to say, 'I will lift up my mind into the heavens, I will lay hold upon the right faith, and I will not concern myself with the things of the earth.'

Take thou, however, good heed unto thyself, lest there be thorns in the palm tree, that is to say, admonishings, when thou art driven to follow after sin, for the Book saith, 'The words of the wise are as ox-goads, and as the nails which are sharp'—so that whilst these remain fixed in thy heart thou shalt abstain from every sin. Now the Book saith, 'Lay hold upon the height thereof,' in order that thou mayest be above the sky, and be able to bear the temptations which shall come upon thee. From time to time, and at all times, rehearse the Holy Scriptures, for as the wine which men drink assuageth grief, and changeth the sadness of the heart into joy, even so doth the spiritual wine which is distributed throughout the Scriptures make the soul which hath partaken thereof to rejoice. Let the remembrance of God be in thy heart at all times, and thou thyself shalt say with David, 'I see God face to face at all times; He is on [my] right hand, therefore shall I never be moved.' Let these words be written on thy hands, and fixed firmly before thine eyes. If thou wilt ascribe glory

to God by reason of His commandments, He shall be on thy right hand; if thou treat Him with contempt through thy transgressions, the Devil shall be on thy right hand. For thus doth the Scripture bear witness concerning Judas who made himself to be an assistant [of the Devil]: 'Let the Devil stand on his right hand.' Ascribe thou glory unto God at all times, and say, 'I will exalt Thee, O my God and King'; thou shalt glorify Him through thy works, and not through thy words only. In this wise did David ascribe glory to God, and he said, 'I will bless Thee for ever, and for ever and ever.' [He did not glorify Him] for a day, neither for a month, nor for a year, but throughout his life, for he well knew that if a man made perfect his glorification of God he would be only beginning. But thou wilt say often, 'What manner of heart is it that is able to ascribe glory to God at all times?' Now the heart is even as the blessed man Paul wrote, 'I know not how to do anything whatsoever.' And again, it is even as David spake saying, 'Cleanse me, O God, from my secret [sins].' And our heart must be like unto that which the Saviour commanded us to make for ourselves saying, 'Blessed are those who are pure in their hearts, for they shall see God.'

Thus is it with the man who committeth no sin against God, and who ascribeth glory to God through his words and through his works. And if there cometh upon such a man who doeth such things sickness, or poverty, or death, he shall not fall into despair, but he shall say with Paul, 'Who shall separate us from the love of God?' and the words which follow these. Remember thou the day, that Awful Day, which shall be filled with quaking, and that moment when we shall take our stand before the Holy Throne, and shall have to defend every deed which we have done in this world, and when all the sins which we have committed shall be made to appear before the eyes of every one, and when there shall be revealed again to us those things which we had forgotten. In that place shall there be the river of fire, and the worm which is deathless. Remember that moment when the books of our hearts shall be opened, when they shall unroll them and read them aloud in the midst of the theatre of that Other World. Then shall all the works which we have done be laid bare, those which we have done openly, and those which we have done in secret, and the things which have been done in the night season, and those which have been done in the daytime, and those which we have done inadvertently, and the faults of forgetfulness, and those which we have done with the members in the body, and those which we have performed at the dictates of our hearts; and in that hour everything which we have done during our whole lives, and every sin which we committed in secret, shall be revealed.

Remember that it is necessary for us to transfer ourselves from this world, and that we must appear before the Judge Whom it is impossible to deceive, Who shall reveal the things which are hidden in the darkness, Who shall make manifest the counsels of hearts, and Who shall try our works, and our thoughts, and our words. In [that] hour we shall receive a great punishment for the sins which we have committed, and which we imagined were few. Keep thou in thy remembrance at every hour the flame of Gehenna which cannot be quenched, and forget it not. And set thou at all times before thine eyes the Judge, Who shall come to judge those who are living and those who are dead. Think, moreover, of the thousands of thousands, and the tens of thousands of tens of thousands, of angels who stand before the Judge at all times. Let thine ears hear beforehand the sound of the trumpets, and the awful voice of that Judge, and let thine eyes see beforehand the things which are

ordained to take place. Now there shall be some whom they will cast forth into the outer darkness, and there are others who even after the fight, and the suffering, which [they have endured for the sake of] virginity, shall have the door of the bridal chamber, which is in the heavens, shut against them. Look at certain of them, and observe how they are tied up in bundles, like garden waste, and cast into the furnace of fire. And see how they bind the hands and the feet of others and cast them forth into the outer darkness, and how certain of them are delivered over to the worm which sleepeth not, and to the gnashing of the teeth. On one they pass the sentence of condemnation because he laughed the laugh of the scoffer, and out of season; and on another because he offended his brother, or because he

behaved unjustly towards his neighbour; and they judge another because of the sins which he committed in secret. To another they assign retribution because of the idle words which he spake. On another they pass sentence of doom because of his evil mind. In the face (or, mouth) of another the door of the kingdom is shut because of the words of infamy which he hath spoken. Another they deliver over to the punishment which is without healing, because he did not hate the things which are evil. Another they deliver over to derision and shame for ever. And others who have shewn themselves to be entirely destitute of the understanding of God shall hear [spoken the words], 'I know you not; whence are ye?' because they did in the course of their works things which were an abomination to Christ. These things then being thus, in what manner is it meet for us to live? We must devote ourselves daily to the shedding of torrents of tears, and we must say with the prophet, 'Who will set a stream of water upon my head, and a fountain of tears in mine eyes?' I will weep for my sins by day and by night, so that I may be able to flee from the punishment which shall take place. Let us confess beforehand our sins, before [we come to] that awful place of judgement. Let us cry out to the mercy of God, so long as we are in this habitation, for the Scripture saith, 'Who shall give thanks unto Thee in Amente?'

Moreover, let us consider this, O beloved. God hath made for us all the members of our material body double, for He hath bestowed upon us two eyes, two ears, two hands, and two feet. If it should happen that one of these [pairs] becometh disabled through sickness, we are able to relieve our wants by [using] the other. The soul, however, which hath been made for us is one only, and if we destroy it through carelessness, by what manner of means shall we live? Let us take exceedingly great care that we do not permit anything whatsoever to become of more importance than the health of the soul, for it is the soul which will be set up to be judged, and it is the soul which will have to defend [the body] before that Throne. If thou shalt say at that time to the Judge, 'The possessions of this world outwitted me,' He Who judgeth shall make answer unto thee saying, 'Didst thou then not hear Me when I cried out to thee, In what shall a man be benefited if he gain the whole world and soffer the loss of his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?' And He shall say unto thee, moreover, 'Eve profited nothing when she said, "The serpent deceived me."'

Further, O my brethren, let us set these things in our hearts. Come ye, let us rise up of ourselves with glad readiness. Come ye, let us ascribe glory to God, before the darkness cometh, and before there cometh upon us that great and shining day, concerning which the Prophet spake saying, 'Behold, God cometh! Who shall be able to abide the day in which He cometh?' That day shall be a day of terror, a day of darkness and blackness, a day of cloud and gloom, a day of blasts of the trumpet. Peradventure thou wilt say, 'Who shall be able to escape all these things?' Hearken, it is I who will tell thee. Now thou must not imagine that thou wilt escape merely by keeping thy body in a state of purity; on the contrary [these things also must thou do]. Whensoever any man doeth unto thee that which is evil thou must do unto him that which is good in return. Whensoever men make false accusations against thee thou must continue to lead a well-ordered life. Whensoever men curse (or, revile) thee, thou must bless them in return. Whensoever thou shalt fast thou shalt not be puffed up thereby, for it is not thine abstinence from eating only which is true fasting, but also thine abstinence from sin.

It is meet for us to search carefully the Scriptures. For observe that it was a staff of wood of the almond tree which the prophet saw at the beginning, but afterwards it was a brazen vessel of fire which actually appeared to him, which indicated that he who will not lay hold on the rod of correction in this world, is he whom the fire of Gehenna shall put to the test in the next. Moreover, in this same manner did Moses teach the people, with a pillar of light and a pillar of fire. He cried out unto every one saying, 'He who will hearken to the Law shall have the enjoyment of the light which is true and pleasant, and he who will not hearken shall be delivered over to the fire.'

Read ye the Gospels, and ye shall know that when we shall go forth from this world there is nothing whatsoever which will help us. No brother shall be able to set free [another] brother from the punishment which never endeth, and no friend shall be able to help his friend; neither shall fathers be able to help their children, nor children their fathers. But why should I speak of ordinary men in this manner? For neither Noah, nor Daniel, nor Job, would be able to set free either son or daughter. Now many times thou wilt say to me, 'What is the proof of these words?' [I will tell thee.] Consider the man who had not on him the wedding garment, and observe that, after they had cast him forth from the bridal chamber, there was not one of those that sat at meat who interceded for him. Consider, moreover, the servant unto whom the talent was given, and observe that, after he had been cast forth into the outer darkness, there was no man who made an appeal on his behalf. Consider, moreover, the five virgins, and observe that after the door of the bridal chamber had been shut in their faces (or, mouths), none of their fellow-virgins asked the bridegroom for a recompense for those whom Christ called 'foolish'. Although they had trampled under foot the flame of pleasure, and had extinguished the fire of desire, and had kept protracted fasts, and had passed whole nights in vigil, and had slept on the ground, although, I say, they had done all these things, He called them 'foolish', and in very truth rightly did He call them by this name, because, though they had observed the great commandment to guard their virginity with success, they had forgotten to observe the little commandment which inculcated charity.

Think of the Judge Who setteth the sheep on His right hand, and the unfruitful goats on His left. Unto those who are on His right hand He saith, 'Come ye, and inherit the kingdom,' and those who are on [His] left He Himself casteth forth into the outer darkness, and none of those who are on the right hand is able to help them. Verily, true is that proverb which saith, 'Behold the man and his work.' Behold, hast thou not heard concerning that rich man, between whom and Lazarus a gulf had been made, who wished him to sprinkle water [on his tongue] as he was burning in the place of punishment? And thou sawest also that Abraham was not able to set the rich man free from the place of punishment, although the rich man entreated him [to do so]. Ought we not, then, to help ourselves in this world, and to ascribe glory to God before the darkness cometh, that is to say, before we are banished into the darkness?

It is far better to have our tongue parched in this world by fasting than for us to wish to have water sprinkled [upon it] in that place where water will not be given unto us. Let us put forth our utmost endeavour to free ourselves from this great torture through a few sufferings in this world. Remember when the fever of sickness cometh upon us, or a few disasters (or, calamities), or when we look upon those who are punished by the judge in [this] world, whereupon horror and quaking seize upon us, notwithstanding the fact that both the punishment and the place of judgement [endure] only for a very short space of time, remember, I say, what manner of punishment it shall be in the place of judgement in the Other World which is to come, wherein we shall be punished for endless ages. Ought we not, therefore, to make haste to enter in through the narrow gate, and not to walk about in the broad way? Now we know that all the works of the world are like unto dreams, and that they all pass away into destruction. For sickness bringeth to nought the strength of the body, and even the beauty of the bodily form decayeth through old age. And even if we enjoy [the sight of] a table heaped high with food, when the evening cometh we forget the pleasures thereof. And in short, everything which is in this world becometh like unto the web of the spider, and like unto dreams. Rightly, therefore, did the Saviour ascribe blessing to those who afflict themselves so that the pleasures of this world may not prevail over them.

Should not, then, we ourselves do as did Abraham, who hearkened unto [the words], 'Get thee forth from thy country,' and come forth from our iniquity? And let us pray with the holy man David, and say unto God, 'I will bless Thee seven times in the day because of the judgement of Thy righteousness.' Now it is a good occupation to hold converse with God at all times by means of prayer. If the friendship of a good man converteth him that meeteth with him to that which is excellent, how much more will he be benefited who holdeth converse with God, by night and by day, by means of prayer? Now, no man ever sinned who remembered that God was before him. Therefore ought we not to remember that which he said, 'Pray at all times,' in order that sin may not discover a way whereby to enter into our hearts through the practice of forgetfulness? Ponder beforehand upon the death which thou shalt die in thy members which are upon the earth, and [remember] that the day of God shall come like a thief. When those who are to bear away thy soul shall come after thee thou wilt say, 'Be merciful unto me, for I will fast, I will do deeds of mercy, I will repent.' And they shall say unto thee, 'Didst thou, then, not hear God Who cried out saying, "The kingdom which is in the heavens hath drawn nigh?" Didst thou, then, not hear Him when He spake saying, "Shew mercy, and I will shew mercy unto you?" Didst thou, then, not hear Paul saying, "Whilst we have time with us let us do the thing which is good?"

He who desireth salvation hath no need of a long time [for repentance]. The thief had no need of a long time for repentance; he believed earnestly, and he gained Paradise. And the holy martyrs in a very little time inherited the kingdom which is in the heavens; they gave their blood, do thou give thy tears. He Who said, 'I would that all men should be saved,' is no liar; for this reason He teachethr us not only by the Holy Scriptures, but also by the misfortunes and sufferings of others. Moreover, we see physicians inflicting pain on men, and we also see the governors who sit on the seat of judgement inflicting righteous punishments on the thieves, and this they do in order that through the sufferings of others we may be admonished. And now, O my beloved, since we are rooted in the faith, let us increase in knowledge; from knowledge [let us proceed] to love, and from this to the inheritance which is in the heavens. Let us persist obstinately in prayer, as it is written.

Shepherds, even if there be no wolves about them, keep watch all night over their flocks of sheep, and even if there be no wild animals [about them] their dogs keep watch for them. For this reason is it good that we should continue to exercise ourselves in our work at all times, and even if no temptations come upon us, the exercise will certainly do thee no harm whatsoever, nay, on the contrary, thou wilt benefit thyself exceedingly. For who is the man who did not benefit himself by watching all night in prayer? Therefore it is meet for us to keep watch on every side, so that evil may not break into our souls. When once the soul hath tasted sin, it will continue in a state of unconsciousness, and will go on adding greatly to the sickness of sin. For as when thou hast once kindled a fire it burneth up quickly through the fuel [above it], and flames burst out in all directions, even so is it in the case of the natural disposition of sin, which finally obtaineth the mastery over the reasoning power of the soul, and then destroyeth the whole soul itself, and the body also with it. For this reason what we ought to do is to drive back once and for all the beginnings of sin, just as we should drive back a horse which is uncontrolled. If we take heed [that we speak not] idle words, how much more ought we to do so in the case of the sins which lead to death? Let not the pleasure of the works of [this] life lead us astray.

For the works of men are in no wise different from dreams and shadows, and they are like the rushing torrent which floweth swiftly away. Hold not to be marvellous things the possessions and the riches of this world, but observe how they are transferred from this man to that, and how they pass from that man to another; for this reason it is right that we should despise them. For very right is the word which is written that saith, 'The things which are seen are those that are for a time, whilst the things which are not seen are those which are for ever.' The latter things are incorruptible and indestructible, and they abide without change. Let us therefore do our utmost to acquire these things for ourselves. Let us strive eagerly for these things, for otherwise it is unlikely that we shall be able to acquire any of these for ourselves, when we shall go forth from this life. For he who striveth in the contest receiveth not the crown if he abandoneth the contest; therefore let us seize and carry off the crown, and we shall thus escape disgrace and loss. Now the Scripture saith, 'He whose possessions are consumed with fire shall suffer loss.' Now what kind of burning with fire is that which shall be to us? And what kind of thing is the outer darkness? And what kind of things are the place of weeping and the gnashing of teeth? Take these things into thy heart, and guard thou thy soul and keep in virgin state until the Bridegroom cometh in His glory.

And do thou sing psalms saying, 'My soul is in thy hands at all times,' 'I do not forget Thy Law.' And say, 'Thou art He Who doth deliver me from the snare of the hunter.' Let thy lamp be burning, and permit not thyself to fall asleep. And if slumber be sweet to thee in the night season, yet know thou that there is nothing sweeter than the Psalms. For the holy man [David] said, 'Thy words are sweeter in my throat than honey in the mouth.' The martyrs gave their own souls for the Name of God: let us bring as an offering [to Him] our life of self-denial. Remember that some of the martyrs were laid upon coals of fire: let not, therefore, the matter seem to thee to be a hardship if thou hast to sleep upon the ground. If thy mouth is wont to become foul and bitter through fasting, [remember that] He Who created the sweetness in the honey tasted gall for thy sake. Although thou mayest weep occasionally for thy sins, thou hast not as yet done as Paul did, who wept for the

salvation of others. Let us address each other in these words: 'Suffering endureth only for a short time, but the Resurrection (or, Rest) is for eternity.' Vanquish suffering by means of hope. For the Scripture saith, 'Tribulation worketh patience, and patience hope, and hope giveth birth to shamefacedness.' Consider, moreover, that pleasure [endureth] only for a short time, and that punishment lasteth for ever. Excuse thyself from the delight of pleasure, because of the tribulation of the punishment [thereof]. Cause not the Devil to make use of our members as arrows [against us], and guard thyself and let him not transfix thee with the arrow of the appetite of the belly. For thou knowest that, after the people [of Israel] had passed over the sea, without being drowned, Moses himself became master of the land through the appetite of the belly. Take good heed thyself to the sufferings of those who were there, and flee thou from their fall. If God did not give His people who were there [water] to drink, He will not give thee [water] to drink if thou practise carelessness. If thou shalt strive in the contest with thy whole heart, in perfect faith, thou shalt be happy in joy and in gladness for ever. Lay fast hold, therefore, at all times upon these teachings which are full of salvation, and keep thou them, and fulfil thou them, so that the Holy Trinity may be glorified through thee, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, henceforward, and always, for all ages of ages. Amen.

For. 60 b ONCE more we come unto you with great readiness, for we are in debt to you in respect of an address. Not that we shall be able to discharge our obligation completely, as is meet, but only to pay to you such things as we have according to our ability. Our willingness is manifest (or, open) and it giveth help, and it would pay more than we are liable to pay, only the poverty of our speech afflicteth us, and for this reason we appeal to you to accept a very little instead of very much. Now if it be that [each] one [of you] who accepteth the very little, will amplify it by the ready will of his heart, then we shall be [found to be] lacking in nothing whatsoever, and such portion as we lack our own ready mind shall make complete.

For. 61 a Now as concerning the little offerings brought by the poor man, and the large offerings of the rich man, when God looketh upon them He receiveth them to Himself with equal honour, nay, perhaps He inclineth more to the gifts of the poor man, for He looketh upon the willingness in the heart rather than upon the abundance of the things offered. Let the proof of these words, moreover, be to you through the words of the poor widow, who threw two lepta into the treasury, for the honour of this offering was far greater in the sight of God than the gold which the rich men gave. For God hath need not of gold, but of the pure heart, and of the upright purpose which is disposed towards that which is good. Now therefore we ourselves will enlarge our hearts in sincerity, and we will bring this address as [an offering] to God, and will set it aside and cast it into the spiritual treasury, and [thus] shall we discharge our debt [of a discourse] to you.

For I recall to my mind that I made the promise which I made to you yesterday that I would preach concerning the fortitude and prudence of Susanna, because [this subject] would be of very great advantage to many, just as the [story of the] fight of Joseph in his chastity and in his contending is of very great benefit to man. Let, moreover, Susanna fight now as in a theatre which is filled with the multitude. Let her fight in the place wherein God, and His angels, and men, and women, shall look upon her, and she shall teach young maidens to think scorn of death [if it be incurred] for chastity's sake.

Now this blessed woman Susanna was of noble birth and race, and her bodily form was beautiful. She had been carefully secluded in her own chamber from her childhood, and having led a chaste life she had grown to woman's estate (now Satan had watched carefully her youthful beauty), and had joined herself in the bond of marriage according to the Law. And she kept her husband's bed undefiled, and she observed the ordinances of her marriage. Her eyes never rested with pleasure upon the beauty of a strange young man, or searched it out. She neither allowed her ears to listen at any time to the words of lewd speech, nor did she permit her nostrils to snuff sweet scents, nor did she array herself in apparel which had been held over the smoke of burning perfumes. In short, she did not permit any one of her senses to carry her away with sudden swiftness, lest the chastity which she had set firmly in her heart should be destroyed, and her soul glide downwards into obscene pleasures through the deceit of apathy. Now the greater number of the sins which come into being in the soul arise from the senses. For the soul abideth in the heart,

C C even as a virgin who liveth quietly in her chamber, and the five senses are the servants which [minister] unto her. Now the senses are the eye, that is to say, the sight, and the hearing, and the smelling, and the taste, and the touch; and if the soul be not led astray by any one of these senses, or corrupted thereby, it remaineth alone, and suffereth no injury whatsoever. If, however, it happen that the eye wandereth about, and doth contemplate the beautiful forms of young men, then do the waves of desire boil up [in the soul], and overcome it, and the winds of passion beat upon it straightway, and it wandereth away from chastity, and goeth into the gulf (?) of sin, and is swallowed up in the vortex wherein David himself was engulfed. Moreover, it was he who cried out concerning himself saying, 'I have come into the abysses of the sea, and the storm hath drowned me.'

So also is it in the case of the hearing. If the ear receiveth the pleasant sound (or, voice), and the deceitful words of lewdness which accompany it, then doth the heart incline thereto, and they drag down the heart into destruction. And again, if the taste devoteth itself to continual eating and feasting, and to innumerable winebibbings, then doth it draw the soul downwards, and into darkness and into drunkenness. Yet again in the case of the smell. If the nose be in the habit of taking delight in the things which have sweet smells, that is, in scented unguents, and in aromatic perfumes, and in balsams, it falleth at length into a state of numbness, and it bindeth tightly the soul in that state of numbness along with it. Moreover, if the chaste soul be in [any of] these [conditions], she hath made herself to be like unto a virgin who hath been delivered over into the hands of her servants, and hath slipped down into sin, and hath lost the power of holding herself back. For when once the habit of incontinence hath entered into the soul, it acteth the part of a thief, and it breaketh into the treasury of the heart, which it maketh into a desert, and it strippeth it naked, and leaveth it unchaste.

Now this blessed woman, that is to say, Susanna, kept guard over her eyes, and her hands, and her feet, and her tongue, and her nose, and over the whole system of her senses, and she became in very truth, according to the word of the Wise Man, 'like a garden enclosed, and a fountain which hath been sealed,' which no man was able to strip bare, and no man was able to destroy the abiding place of the sweet-smelling flowers of chastity, and to ravage and lay waste that place of beauty wherein was the fountain of discretion. Now there were two elders, who were held in high esteem as men who governed the people, and these men lusted after this woman [Susanna], and though both were being [consumed] by the burning of their lust, they were ashamed to make known to each other concerning the fire which was burning in their hearts. And it came to pass on a certain day that each of them went into a secret place, where they could watch Susanna carefully, and they met each other face to face, and when each had questioned the other, each confessed to the other for what purpose [he had come there]. Then they made an agreement, each with the other, to commit a deed of sin, and to work iniquity together, and they kept watch over her diligently and waited for a time when they should find her alone.

And it came to pass that on a certain day Susanna went into her husband's garden, to lie down and rest there, according to her custom during the hottest season [of the day], and she sent away her servants to bring to her the soda and soap [wherewith to wash herself]. And the elders suddenly rushed into the place where she was, even as wolves rush upon a lamb of the sheep, and they laid hold upon her, and then wished to work in her the deed of impurity of their burning lust. Now Susanna was between the two elders, who were far more evilly minded than the lions among which Daniel found himself. There was neither a servant with her, nor a neighbour, nor any person of her acquaintance, nor any young maiden, and there was no one there to render her help in any way whatsoever, God Himself alone excepted, Who was watching her from heaven. Now God had the power to prevent them from gaining the mastery over her, but He permitted them to engage in the contest, in order that the crafty designs

which they had devised in secret might be revealed, for then would be made manifest both the chastity (or, prudence) of Susanna and the incontinence of the elders, and in this way women might find through the fortitude of Susanna a house of instruction in that which was good. And moreover, the contending in which she was engaged was very great, and it increased in violence, and became a mighty fight. Now the matter was far more difficult for Susanna than it was for Joseph, for Joseph was a man, and he was contending against one woman only; but this woman Susanna had to contend against two men, who were strong in their endeavour [to do evil]. And it is a matter whereat to marvel that she contended against these [men] in a garden— the place wherein the Serpent succeeded in leading Eve astray. Now this spectacle was both great and profitable. It was a great spectacle because elders, who stated that they were nobles among the people, were those who were contending in the strife; and it was a profitable spectacle also, because the chastity of one weak woman was able to fight successfully against these nobles, even after they had arranged with each other to fight against her together.

And now the heavens are open, the trumpets send forth their blasts, the contest is prepared, and the true Master of the contest watcheth from heaven, and the multitudes of the angels gaze out from the heights of heaven on the spectacle. The Serpent worketh diligently in these sinful elders, but Faith herself is strong to prevail in this chaste woman. And there is great anxiety among them on both sides. The elders are afraid lest a woman vanquish them, whilst Susanna herself is afraid lest she fall from her state of chastity. And the devils make ready their rich banquet for these sinful men, and the angels prepare the honour which they have to bestow on Susanna from heaven. And these lawless men laid hold upon Susanna, and they strove with her first of all in words saying, 'We are elders among the people. We are they to whom the people have entrusted the Law, and the Power to unbind and to bind in every matter whatsoever. There is no one at all in this place to see us. Be persuaded and [lie] with us, for we desire thee eagerly. If thou wilt not be persuaded to lie with us, we will bear false witness against thee, and declare that there was a young man with thee, and that it was on account of him thou hadst sent away thy servants.'

Observe now how exceedingly difficult were the circumstances in which Susanna, this woman who was all alone, was involved! There were the disgrace of an act of unchastity, and the penalty of death wherewith she would be threatened, and the contemptuous opinion of the people which would make all of them to scoff at her, and the hatred wherewith her husband and her kinsfolk would hate her, and the grief of all her neighbours and of every member of her household; and, finally, there was the destruction of all her house. But none of these thoughts overcame this chaste woman, for both her hope and her heart were strong in the God of heaven. Then Susanna sighed heavily and said, 'I am surrounded by tribulation on every side. If I do this thing I shall suffer death, and if I do not do it I shall not be able to escape from your hands; but it is preferable not to do this thing and to fall into your hands rather than to commit sin before God. Woe is me! The shepherds, whom I have considered to be men who would direct and guide me, I now see are wolves round about me. And those whom I have regarded as a haven wherein the ship of my soul might take refuge, are those who would wreck me, and they are far more

dangerous for me than a mighty storm. Think not that I am afraid of you, and that I shall be persuaded by you [to do your will], and that I shall pollute my chastity. I will not disgrace my parents. I will not cause my noble birth to be held in derision. I will not give my husband occasion to grieve. I will not put an end to my lawful intercourse with my husband for the sake of an improper union with you. I will not hearken to your senseless words, and I choose to die by a violent death rather than accept a polluted couch. Though my husband be not here with me in the body, yet is he here in the desire of my heart, and the faces of my parents are with me at all times. 'Besides this, have ye in fear God Who is looking at you. Take shame to yourselves before the angels who are round about us by night and by day. Know ye yourselves, and know who ye are. Know ye also the Law which ye read, for the Law saith, "Ye shall not lust to know [the wife of] thy neighbour."'

And having said these words she cried out, wishing to make witnesses come so that they might testify concerning their lawless behaviour, and the elders also cried out. And behold, the servants of Susanna and her handmaidens rushed into [the garden], and they saw the elders reviling her. And when the elders had uttered their charges [against her], the servants were exceedingly ashamed, for they had never at any time heard words of this kind spoken against Susanna. And it came to pass on the morrow, that a very great multitude of people gathered together, for as yet the struggle [awaited] decision, and [the award of] the crown had not been given by the judge. And all the people were gathered together into [the synagogue], men and women, and young men and maidens. Now the spectacle was very great indeed. Men who were on the earth knew not at all what they were about to see, but those who were in heaven, that is to say [the angels], had knowledge of everything which concerned the matter.

And the elders came in, being filled with wickedness, and they called unto Susanna as unto a woman whom they considered to have been already called unto disgrace and death; but the true Judge considered her to be as a woman who hath already been called unto life, and unto the glory which is for ever. And the elders said unto the people, 'Send for Susanna, the daughter of Hilkias'; and they sent for her. And Susanna, and her parents, and all her kinsfolk, and her son came, and Susanna herself came as a woman who hath been held to be worthy of death for the sake of her chastity which was great. And she heaved bitter sighs, not because she was about to die, but because she was going to leave behind her a bad name to her parents, and all her kinsfolk would become objects of derision unjustly, and because she had not there one who could bear witness concerning the matter which had happened to her in the paradise.

And there were very many folk who sighed for her, her parents, and her friends and acquaintances, and her kinsfolk, and the people of her native town; and her husband wept, and all the members of his house lamented for her. And Susanna, being sorely grieved and afflicted in heart, and suffering bitterly, and weeping, and being in a state of abject abasement, came and took her stand in the midst of the whole assembly. And the whole multitude rose up on their feet to see her, both angels and men. And the two elders rose up in their garb of shepherds, being however wolves, and the Serpent, the Calumniator, was speaking in them, and they laid their hands upon her, and they said, 'Yesterday we were walking in the garden by ourselves, and this woman came in with two servants, and she sent the servants away and closed the door of the garden. Then there came in to her the young man who hath disappeared, and he had intercourse with her. When we saw the sinful act (now we were hidden in a corner in the garden), we ran to them, but we were not able to lay hold upon the young man, for he was stronger than we were, and he opened the door and fled. Now we laid hold of this woman, and we questioned her saying, "Who is this young man that was with thee?" but she did not wish to tell us. And these things concerning which we bear witness we did actually see.'

And the whole synagogue believed them, seeing that they were elders and judges [of the people], and they condemned Susanna to death. And they took her forth to slay her. And there was there no one whatsoever to avenge the truth, God alone excepted, Who, however, allowed these things to take place, in order that through both sides the work of each might be made manifest and fulfil itself; on the one side wickedness, and incontinence, and calumny, and lawlessness, and on the other the perseverance of Susanna even unto death. And up to what point doth it appear to thee that God remaineth oblivious of the believing ones? He remaineth unmindful until He hath tried them even as gold [is tried] in the smelting-house, and He scareheth thoroughly the righteous by means of temptations of various kinds. For this is what He did in the case of Abraham, who took Isaac to offer him up as a burnt offering. He built an altar, and there was no sheep there; he heaped up wood upon the altar, and there was no ram there. He took the slaughteringknife in his hand, and he went to Isaac to slay him, when straightway by a word God made him to hold his hand.

And moreover, these things have happened in this wise so that each one of us, when temptation cometh upon him, and when he draweth nigh unto death, may not despair of the help of God, but may expect it until at length it shall come unto him. Now they took Susanna forth to destroy her, and there was no man about her to help her. And having seen that there was no help whatsoever to be had from men, she fled to the Helper, Who is in heaven, the Witness Who is faithful, the Eye Which never sleepeth, and she said, 'O God Who art for ever, Who knowest the things which are hidden in the heart, and Who knowest everything that shall happen before it taketh place, Thou alone art He Who knoweth that these [elders] have borne false witness against me. And behold, I am going to die without having committed any of these [offences] concerning which these [elders] have borne false witness against me.' And He Who said, 'Whilst thou yet speakest I will speak, and behold I am in this place,' heard her.

Now whilst they were taking her forth to destroy her, behold God made the Holy Spirit to move in a certain young man whose name was Daniel, and he cried out with a loud voice saying, 'I am innocent of the blood of this woman.' And the people turned towards him, and spake unto him saying, 'What is the meaning of this word which thou hast spoken?' And he took his stand in the midst of them, and said, 'Be ye not such fools as to act in this manner, O House of Israel! Get ye back to the hall of judgement, for these [elders] have borne false witness against her'; and all the people went back in haste. And Daniel said unto them, 'Separate [the two elders] from each other, and I will ask them questions.' And he said unto each one of them, 'O thou who hast lived a long life of evil days, now have come upon thee thy sins which thou hast committed from the beginning. Tell me now, Under what kind of tree was it that thou didst see [Susanna and the young man] talking together?' And he said, 'Under a mastick tree.'

And Daniel said unto him, 'Thou hast directly lied; on thine own head [be it]. For the Angel of God, with the sword in his hand, hath now taken his stand [by thee], and he shall cleave thee in twain.' And having set this man on one side, he cried out to the other, and he said unto him, 'O seed of Canaan, and not of Judah, the beauty of the body hath led thee astray, and carnal desire hath stupefied thy heart. Tell me now, Under what kind of tree was it that thou didst see Susanna and the young man talking together?' And he said, 'Under an evergreen oak.' Then Daniel said unto him, 'Thou also hast lied; on thine own head [be it]. For behold the Angel of the Lord standeth [by thee] with his sword in his hand, and he shall cleave thee in twain.' And all the people cried out with a loud voice saying, 'Blessed be the Lord God Who delivereth every one that putteth his trust in Him'; and on that day He delivered innocent blood. And there was fulfilled on Susanna that

which David spake saying, 'My soul cleaveth to Thee, and it is Thy right hand which hath received it.' And these [two] elders, who had hunted after the soul of Susanna, 'shall descend into the depths of the earth, and shall be delivered over to the sword, and they shall become portions for foxes,' that is to say, for the devils. Moreover, the King, that is to say Susanna, shall rejoice in God. And 'every one who sweareth by Him shall be honoured', that is to say, every one who believeth on Him, 'for the mouth which speaketh violence hath been stopped,' that is to say, these two wicked elders. Then was the grief of the parents of Susanna turned into gladness, and her husband rejoiced and ascribed glory to God, and all her kinsfolk were glad, and all the people of her village and all the members of her household rejoiced greatly. In short, there was gladness before God, and the angels, and men. Seest thou the strength of Susanna's soul? Seest thou the chastity which was in this weak vessel? The soul which is chaste shall endure, and shall conquer in deathlessness. It shall continue to bear fruit which flourisheth and decayeth not, and it shall continue unfailingly in the virtue which is without blemish by the help of God. This woman, moreover, was glorified by men, and was magnified by the angels, and was crowned by God. Imitate therefore this woman Susanna, O ye women, and follow her example, in order that ye yourselves may be held to be worthy of the exceedingly great honour that was paid to her by God in Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom be glory for ever and for ever. Amen.

The world which hath no remembrance of God, O my brethren, is governed by the injustice which appertaineth to cruelty, and by the inhumanity which appertaineth to weakness, even as the holy Apostle spake saying, 'According as God did not think fit to let them remain in a state of rectitude, God gave them over to hardheartedness, and to the doing of the things which were unseemly. And they worked injustice of every kind; and wickedness, and evil, and deeds of avarice; and they were filled with calumnies and murder, and with contention, and the cunningness of the evil heart of the informer and of the tale-bearer; and with the works of the debaucher, which are hateful to God; and with the pride of the babbler of foolish things, and of him that seeketh to find out the things which are evil; and they hearkened not to the words of their parents; and were fools, and men without belief; and were arrogant, without mercy.'

These are they whom God converted to the worship of God, and He teacheth them also to depart from that which is evil, and to have merciful care for him that is his neighbour, according to that which Isaiah taught us, saying in the character of God, 'Cease ye from the things which are evil, learn to do that which is good.'

Now the Law containeth a very large number of precepts which do injury to him that is our neighbour, but there are also therein commandments concerning charity (or, the love of men), and the doing of deeds of mercy to each other. Now if it happen that a man omitteth [to keep] one of these precepts, it will not be sufficient for him to put another in its place; neither will the man be acceptable before God who doeth good with that which is gained from the profits of injustice, if he give nothing of the things which he himself possesseth, because even the men who do unjust things make the attempt to offer up gifts of their own goods to God. For it is written, 'The sacrifice of wicked men is an abomination unto God.' Therefore concerning him that sheweth himself to be without mercy doth He (i.e., the Book) say, 'Unto him that shutteth his ears, and hearkeneth not unto the poor, God will not hearken when he maketh his appeal to Him.' Therefore hath the Book of Proverbs counselled us saying, 'Give thou to God of thy labour in truth, and thou shalt give Him the firstfruits of thy righteousness.' Now supposing thou didst give a gift to God of a part of something which had been obtained by thee through injustice or plunder, thy gift would not be very acceptable to Him, either because thou hadst obtained that something by injustice or plunder, or because thou wast giving a portion of it to Him as a gift. For thou must bring as thine offering the gift which is pure, even as it is written, 'The offerings of the upright are acceptable unto Him.'

And moreover, if thou dost acquire possessions through thine honest labour, thou shalt bring unto God offerings from the same, whereon the poor shall feed themselves. Yet they shall be accounted unto you as things plundered, according to that which He spake by the prophet Malachi saying, 'The firstfruits, and the tithes, are stolen by you, and the plunder shall be in your houses.' Now it is meet for us to mingle mercy with judgement, and we must acquire the faculty of judging, but we must speak in mercy, according to that which is written, 'Keep mercy and judgement, and do thou draw nigh unto thy God at all times.' For God loveth mercy and judgement, and let him draw nigh unto God Who careth [for the poor] in mercy. Finally, let each one of us now in this place (i. e., world) examine himself. Let the rich man consider most carefully concerning the things which he hath gotten, and among which he considereth the gifts of God to be, whether he hath acted unjustly towards the poor man, or whether he hath taken advantage of his weakness, or whether he hath claimed more than his share of that which belongeth to him, [or whether] he hath employed force [in his dealing with him] instead of righteousness.

Now we are commanded, in respect of our servants, to keep strict justice when dealing with them, and to treat them equitably. Because thou hast the power [to deal unjustly], do not practise injustice; and because thou art able [to defraud], do not claim more than thy share; on the contrary, because thou hast the works of power, do thou make manifest the works of righteousness, for it is not a matter which it is impossible for thee to perform. Thou art obliged to give a proof of the obedience and fear which are in thee in respect of God, but in that wherein thou hast the power to transgress, thou shalt not transgress. Supposing thou didst carry off the tools of certain poor men, and didst give them to other poor men, thou wouldst be acceptable neither for thy theft nor for thy gift. Why shouldst thou pollute thy riches and bring upon them works which are unrighteous? Why shouldst thou make thine offering to be an abomination [to God] by undertaking to offer up an offering of injustice, because thou thinkest to do a kindness to other poor men with it? Be merciful unto that man who hath suffered injustice. Do deeds of kindness and charity to this man, and act with gracious goodness to that man, and thou shalt thereby perform mercy and judgement.

For God doth not make Himself a partner in greediness, neither doth He share with thieves and robbers. It is not impossible for Him to feed the poor whom He hath committed unto us, but He requireth the fruitfulness of righteousness, and the love of men, at our hands, whereby we shall be both of use to others, and do good to ourselves. Mercy hath no existence in injustice, neither hath blessing any existence in cursing, nor doth the doing of acts of kindness spring from the tears of those who weep. For God spake concerning the tears that moved Him of those who were treated unjustly, saying, 'These are the things that ye do which I hate. Ye cover over (or, dress) My altar with tears, and weeping, and sighings which arise from sufferings.' Acts of this kind performed in this manner are works of vanity, and they are performed for the sake of the approbation of men, and not for the approbation which is from God. It was for this reason that the Lord rightly said, 'Do not your acts [of charity] in order that men may see you.' For if thou wouldst do thy works of charity so that it shall be God alone Who knoweth thereof, thou wilt guard thyself from doing them in greediness (or, avarice), for thou knowest that thou wilt not please in this manner God, Who watcheth us. Let us perform our acts of charity in such a manner that we may receive the reward therefor from God.

Now though God giveth His good gifts unto these whom He honoureth, He honoureth in no way whatsoever him that seizeth more than his share. Refrain from making an offering unto God if thou causest grief to thy brother, for he (i. e., the Book) saith, 'If thou goest to offer up an offering upon the altar, thou shalt remember in that place if thy brother hath any matter against thee. [If he hath], go forth first of all and make thyself to be at peace with thy brother, and then come in and offer up thy gift.' Remember then Zacchaeus, the tax-gatherer, who determined to restore to him that had been defrauded his property twofold, and in this way he divided his possessions among the poor. For he knew that he wished to receive Christ into [his house], and that Christ would only receive unto Himself those who gave gladly unto the poor, [and that He would not receive him] unless he

did away with his avariciousness, and the things which he had acquired unjustly. And in this manner did the Lord receive in integrity Zacchaeus, who said, 'Salvation is in this my house this day.' And these things we would say unto those who do works of charity, but who do not take care to be scrupulously fair and just. And we would also say them unto him that keepeth strict watch on himself in respect of committing acts of injustice, but is careless in respect of doing works of charity. The tree which beareth not fruit they cut down and cast into the fire. In this manner this tree will never give pleasure to the Husbandman Who appertaineth to heaven, Who spake saying, 'I came seeking for fruit on this fig-tree, and I have found none; and He commanded [them] to cut it down so that it might not make the ground to be without value also.' And they are also wont to condemn him that giveth no pledge to the poor, and there is a threat of punishment because of this in the following [words], for He saith, 'He who forgetteth to give a pledge to the poor

shall cry out to God, and He will not hearken unto him.' And God saith, 'For I am the Merciful One.' Now, it is a terrible thing, and a matter wholly outside the Law, for thee to come back and reap thy fields a second time, or for thee to come back and gather grapes a second time from thy vineyard, or for thee to come back and gather fruit a second time from thine olive trees; for it is meet that thou shouldst leave these for the poor. If now these commandments were given unto those who were under the Law, what shall we say in respect of these who are under Christ? These are the [words] which the Lord spake saying, 'Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom which is in the heavens.' Therefore [we must give] not only from our fields, and from that which cometh in to us, but also of the work of our hands. And the Apostle taught us that we must give unto those who have nothing at all, for he spake saying, 'Ye shall accept the good things in order that ye may find the wherewithal to give gifts to him that is needy.' Unto him that wisheth to follow in the steps of the Saviour will the Lord reveal His Divine Person, and He will make him to give of all his substance, and to do that which is good to the poor; and in this wise he shall follow in His footsteps. Now, those who follow in His footsteps, and those who are perfect, give effect wholly to the great and perfect readiness [to give] which is in charity.

He gave them this commandment in order that they should perform service by means of [their] possessions, and should convert the remnant also to the service by the Word and the Spirit. He gave them this commandment in order to make them do acts of beneficence, and to give gifts for the common good, and to continue to do so with what they had, so that through these things they might find themselves to be like unto the love which God hath for man, and might do works of charity, and give thanks. For He spake saying, 'Give and it shall be given unto you. Be merciful and mercy shall be shewed unto you.' Through the things of this earth, moreover, He promised to them a share in those things which are with Him. For these are they who shall take their stand at the right hand of God, and these are they unto whom the King, when He shall come, shall speak saying, 'Come, ye blessed of My Father, and ye shall inherit the kingdom which hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, [and] ye gave Me food. I was thirsty, [and] ye gave Me water to drink. I was a stranger, [and] ye took Me to yourselves. I was naked, [and] ye clothed Me. I was sick, [and] ye visited Me. I was in prison, [and] ye came unto Me.' Then the righteous, having marvelled [at these words], shall say, 'Lord, at what time did we ever do these things unto Thee?' And He shall say unto them, 'Amen. I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these few little ones, it is to Me that ye have done these things.'

For ready kindness [shewn] to the saints is piety [shewn] to Christ, and ready kindness [shewn] towards those who belong to Christ, maketh him that sheweth it to be a minister of Christ. Not only if he hath many possessions, but also if he hath very few; whatsoever he hath this shall he offer. And if a man shall give only a cup of cold water to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, Amen, I say unto you he shall not lose his reward. He will give unto thee, O rich man, the occasion for true liberty. For through these things thou shalt find thyself to be a fellow-worker with God. Thou shalt feed with the soldiers of Christ, and thou shalt feed with them at thy will, and thou shalt be constrained in no wise; for the King of heaven neither setteth restraint nor maketh demands upon the perfect. He receiveth to Himself those who give willingly, in order that those who give may also receive, and that those who pay honour may themselves be honoured, and that those who make themselves partners with the poor in the things which are temporal shall be invited to take their share with them in the things which are for ever.

These things, let us remember, are for ever and for all time. And let them be before our eyes, [and] they shall be in our souls, in order that we may make use of the time (or, opportunity), and not allow it to escape from us. And we must not forget the things which are. Now let us await after them that which is to come, lest through our expectation we thrust the matter behind us, and there come upon us our end. Now the Lord gave this unto us that we might find ourselves keeping watch. And we must produce fruit, and labour in the remembrance of His commandments; and we must make ourselves ready for His glorious rest, and then nothing whatsoever shall give us offence; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to Whom be the glory, and with Him the Father, and the Holy Spirit, for all ages of ages. Amen.

The discourse of our holy father, apa theophilos, the archbishop, which he pronounced concerning repentance and continence, and also how a man must not neglect to repent before the last times come upon him. The prophet spake saying, 'My tears have been unto me bread by day and by night'; and again, 'The heart which is contrite and abased God will not reject.' Now therefore, O my brethren, let us afflict our souls with fastings, and let us give our bodies unto death by means of manifold sufferings, until we make ourselves companions of the Angel of Repentance, in order that he may divert his path from us. The saints delivered their bodies over unto death until they vanquished that which was opposed to them, according to what is written, 'For Thy sake they put us to death all the day long, they accounted us as the sheep for the slaughter.' And again the Apostle taught us saying, 'Put to death that which is in the members which are upon the earth, that is to say, fornication, uncleanness, passion, [and] evil lust.'

Now when we deliver ourselves over to misery through fastings, and prayers, and long nights of vigil, we crucify both our bodies and our souls. Let us apply to ourselves that which the Psalmist David spake saying, 'Thou hast consumed . . . . . . wickedness of heart.' Then the Angel of Repentance shall come, and he shall root out the plants which are evil, those which the Devil hath sent into our hearts. And he shall plant in their place the fruits of the Spirit, according to that which the Apostle spake saying, 'The fruit[s] of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, gentleness of heart, purity,' and the [others] which come after these. Then, O brethren, straightway Repentance shall enter quickly into us, and it shall fill all our members, and it shall cleanse us from all our sins, and it shall burn up in us all pride of heart, and all anger, and all wickedness, and everything which is evil, and every thought (or, remembrance) of the Evil One, and shall compel the spiritual excellences to come, and to enter quickly into our souls, and it shall plant each one of them in its proper place. And straightway it shall root out wrath, and plant in its place gentleness of heart; and it shall root out pride of heart, and plant humility in its place; [and] it shall root out enmity, and plant peace in its place. It shall make hatred to flee from us, and shall drive it forth out of our hearts; and it shall make peace and love to become a crown upon our heads. It shall carry away from us carelessness and slothfulness, and it shall rouse us up to prayer, and to nights of vigil, and to meditation on the Psalms, and to the singing of spiritual hymns.

Consider further, O my brethren, this Repentance, and observe what a great abundance of fruit it is wont to produce in the man who repenteth, and how it maketh all the members to shoot forth and to blossom, even as the tree which is planted by the waters. O Repentance, how great are thy consolations! Thou art the joy which hath its being in grief, and the merriment which hath its being in tears. The fruits of Repentance ripen fully in the strength of the Spirit. For even if the man who hath repented holdeth his peace, the fruits of the Spirit are manifest in his face. O Repentance, in thy gracious gentleness, and in thy soft speech, and in thy quiet behaviour, thou art a rebuke to every man; for thou art that which hath pointed out the way for all the saints into the fight and into suffering.

Moreover, come ye, O my brethren, and adorn ye Repentance with the adornments of your fastings, and anoint her with the sweet unguents of your prayers, and put a crown upon her head with the abasement of your tears, so that if there be any other spiritual excellences which do not appear in the beauty of the adornments wherewith ye have adorned her, they shall then be gathered together, and shall come and make merry with those which are [already] in the soul. Further, when these take up their abode in your hearts they shall make you to be without sin. Where, moreover, are now the carelessness and heaviness of the body? Where are the disturbing emotions which are in passion, and the profane thought, and every thing which is evil? Where are envy, and hatred, and contentiousness? Where are wrath and wickedness? Where are pride of heart and the words which are cruel? Where are fornication, and impurity, and adultery? Where are the things of vain glory and the apparel of splendour? Where are luxury, and eating, and feasting, and winebibbings, and lewd drunkenness? Where are the idle words and the filthy jests? Who is there that

would not wish to be a companion of Repentance, and to make himself a stranger unto all these evil things, which blind the eyes of our hearts so that they are unable to see the marvellous light? For Repentance maketh a man to spread out his wings like the eagle, and maketh him to penetrate into the heights of heaven through her spiritual excellences. Now, he who hath repented, and hath been exercised in endurance, and in hunger, and in thirst, awaiteth eagerly the good things of heaven which shall continue for ever and ever. Therefore also, O my beloved, let us bring into subjection our bodies by fastings, and by prayers, and by nights of vigil, in order that we may enjoy His promise [of the things] which are in the heavens, according to what He spake saying, 'Ye are those who have endured patiently with Me in My temptations, and I, even I, will stablish with you the kingdom, even as My Father hath stablished the kingdom with Me, and ye shall eat, and ye shall drink with Me at My table in My kingdom.'

Moreover, we must understand, O my brethren, how honourable is the condition of Repentance, and we must understand the gifts of grace which she hath given unto us. O Repentance, who art the food of those who suffer hunger, and a fountain of the waters of life unto those who are athirst! O Repentance, who art the consoler of those who are passing their nights in vigil, who adornest them with the fruits of their sufferings! O Repentance, whose tears are the pleasure and the sweet perfume of the angels of God! O Repentance, who art the helper of those who have given themselves over to despair! Let us consider the fellowship which she made with the men of Nineveh, when she invited them to her in her love for man, and when they made haste to open unto her in great abasement, and in tears and sackcloth. Now, it was not only men who put on sackcloth, but also the cattle and sheep. And when the Almighty, the Good, and Merciful, and Man-loving God, saw such great fruits as these in the hand of Repentance which she laid down before the throne of mercy, not only did He reverse His sentence of doom, but He also made His word to the prophet Jonah to be a lie, and He did not destroy the city.

And now, O my beloved, abandon ye not Repentance, for what shall ye find which will adorn you in your sufferings like Repentance? Nay, on the contrary, let us give unto her honours in the place of the good things which she hath brought unto us from on high. And, moreover, of what kind are the good things which she hath brought unto us from on high? Again, of what kind are the good things which we shall give unto her? They are fasting, and the prayer which is pure, and our hands shall be stretched out in prayer, and our hearts shall be in the height of heaven. Give unto her humility, and sighings, through which the angels become the counterparts of men. Give unto her the tears which shall be abundant through the threat of [the fire of] Gehenna. Give unto her the faith, and the hope, which make a man to draw nigh unto God. Give unto her mercifulness, and the love [which we must shew] towards each other, and the works of charity which cover

entirely a multitude of sins, and blot them out at the judgement. Moreover, after all these good things which are thus, let not any one of us be deceived, and turn a second time to the filthiness of sin after repentance, like the dog which is wont to return to his vomit, wherefor he is held in abomination. Now I call upon you, O my beloved, in order that ye may guard yourselves with exceedingly great care, and that ye may not omit to do anything which can benefit (?) our treasures. For our Enemy taketh counsel against us at all times, and the Thief in his lair is wont to make plots [against us] at all times. This being so, O my beloved, and as the Comforter and the Spirit are looking upon us with merciful kindness, let us give our tears to God each and every day, in order that they may act for us as messengers before our faces, before we depart from the body. Let us repent as much as we are able, and the saints shall be

fellow-petitioners with us in our supplications. Let us not restrain ourselves, but let us seek after Repentance and fail not to find her. Let us not permit ourselves to fall into tribulation, [for] He will not hearken unto us in that Other World. Let us not allow ourselves to come into the hands of those who are without mercy, whereby we shall endure suffering, for even if we cry out, they will not hearken unto us. Let us not allow them to cast us into Gehenna. Let us follow after Repentance [in this world], for there is no repentance in that Other World. And the avenging angels shall answer and say unto us, in anger and with threatenings, 'Wherefore do ye cry out for nothing? This is not the place in which to cry out.' And they will chide us for the [offences] which we have committed, and they will rebuke us because of the things to which we have listened, and the saints, in despair (?), will make complaint to God concerning us saying, 'We endured, and we cried out [until] our throats could cry no longer.'

Straightway in that hour the angels of wrath, who are [set] over the punishments, shall bind in chains the souls of the sinners, and shall cast them into the Tartaros of Amente, and shall inflict upon them their punishments to their utmost strength. And if we suffer pain, and weep there, who will hearken unto us? Or who will shew compassion upon us in that Other World? Or who will take our tears from us and carry them to the place of compassion? Or who among the Saints is there that will make entreaty before God on account of our tribulation and the necessity wherein we shall find ourselves, supposing that we die before we have repented of our sins? The things which we have left undone in this world, whilst we were in the body, where shall we find them to give us help in that Other World? Neither gold, nor silver, nor vineyards, nor [any] possession shall afford us help in that Other World. Neither shall the father have the power to seek out his son in that Other World, nor shall the mother have the power to seek out her daughter, nor shall a son have the power to give help to his parents, nor shall a brother have the power to give help to his brother. No one of these shall become the redeemer of our miserable souls, but each man

F f shall himself bear his own burden of punishments whereto he shall be condemned. And moreover, the Saviour proclaimed saying, 'Whosoever shall love father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whosoever will not forsake son and daughter, and take up his cross, and follow Me, is not worthy of Me, and he shall not inherit the kingdom which is in the heavens.' And O how awful and terrible a thing is it to fall into the hands of the Living God in the hour of our visitation! Now the holy Apostle explained unto us these words when he spake saying, 'I am indeed a wretched man! Who is he that shall deliver me from the body of this death?' O what great terror, O what great tribulation shall come upon all souls in that moment wherein they shall bring them forth from our members!

In [that] hour the deepest darkness shall enshroud us, and the blackness of the night shall be upon our eyes, and it shall spread itself over all the light. And our hearts shall be disturbed exceedingly by reason of those beings who shall come for us, and by the horror of their forms which shall benumb us, and by the terrifying aspect of their faces, and by the gnashing of their teeth, and by the wrath of their eyes, and by the quakings of their limbs, and by the stridings of their legs, and by the roarings of their lips, and by all the forms which they have, and by their rushing in upon us because they wish to devour us. When we see all these things before us, what shall we say? Or what words shall we utter? Or what shall our mouths declare? And whither shall we flee? Or in what place shall we hide ourselves? Now it will be impossible to escape from their hands, and it will be impossible to flee into any place, where the face of God is not. For it is written, 'Whither can I flee from Thy face, or whither can I flee from Thy mercy? Now therefore let us know what is the medicine whereby we may cure ourselves of this great sickness, or with what we may cover (or, protect) ourselves during an affliction which is so exceedingly great. Neither silver, nor gold, nor possessions, nor riches [can do so], for none of these is able to work our healing; and neither the whole world, nor what therein is shall be able to render us help. And we shall find no medicine which will cure us except prayer, and fasting, and humility, for it is these which have the power to cover (or, protect) ourselves in the hour of our necessity.

Let us keep in remembrance the Lord of All, Jesus, the Son of the Living God, Who fashioned every being which breatheth, and the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the rivers, the Lord of whatsoever is in the heavens, and of whatsoever is on the earth, unto Whom alone belongeth Power. He hath His being in the Father, and the Father hath His being in Him. He cried out saying, 'My Father, deliver Me from this hour.' And again, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from Me, nevertheless let Thy will be done, and not Mine.' And He prayed until the third time saying, 'If this be Thy will, let it come to pass.' Observe ye and consider these awful words which the Lord of All spake, the Lord Who was not afraid of death, for it is He Who hath the power over death, and it is He Who is the Lord thereof. On the contrary, it is because He is God, and because He liveth in the glory which is exalted, that He took the lowly form of man, in order that He might taste death on behalf of all; and it was fitting that He should do so, and that they should deliver Him over into the hands of sinners. For this reason He made known unto every one, that the necessity for the death, which had to come upon every soul of man in the hour of their visitation, was very great. Now that day shall be a day of tribulation, and of necessity, and of sighing until we shall have passed by this great danger which is full of terror.

Now if we shall have set Repentance to be a fellow-worker with us, we shall find it straightway, and we shall proclaim it at the feet of God, the Father of Good, Who shall deliver us from all these necessities, and from the tribulations which shall come upon us, and it shall lift us out of the hands of these angels who are our pitiless adversaries. And if we shall have set humility to be a fellow-worker with us, it shall never cease to make supplication to God, until He hath scattered these adversaries and hath taken us in gladness to the bosom of the saints in the Country of the Living. And if we shall have set love to be a fellow-worker with us, it shall never cease to cry out to the Merciful One, the Father of Compassion, until He hath driven these adversaries from us, and hath taken us with gladness into the glorious sanctuary of the Jerusalem of heaven, and hath given us as gifts to the Beloved One.

If, however, we have none of these things with us as fellow-workers, then know ye that when we are in torture, and cry out under the punishments, and weep in misery, no mercy of any sort whatsoever shall be to us [there]. On the contrary, the avenging angels shall be wroth against us, and they shall revile us mercilessly, and they shall inflict most just punishments upon us. Moreover, in that Other World there shall be no mercy wherewith to shew compassion to souls, but the appointed work of those pitiless adversaries shall be to inflict torments on the souls of sinners.

O what a terrible thing it will be to fall into a place wherefrom there is no delivery, even as it is written, He who feareth not shall be in the places which he deserveth for ever, and he shall never be delivered therefrom. O what a wretched state! And in what manner will ye take your stand, O ye who have borne the sacred names of priests and monks, and have, nevertheless, treated with contempt the commandments of God? The sinners who shall be enduring punishment there shall revile you, and shall say unto you, 'It was necessary for us to commit sin because we were involved in the cares of the business of life, and we were led astray through the error of the matter of our bodies. But as for you, what do ye do in this place? And why are ye suffering these punishments, which are endless? Are ye not those who wore the garb of piety (i. e., of the ascetic life) in the world?' O how great shall be the disgrace in that World, for to it no end hath been assigned, and it shall continue for ever. O my beloved, God forbid that this great state of misery shall come upon us. But let us strive against it with all our might, in order that we may obtain for ourselves the great glory which is in that Other World, wherein all the saints are arrayed. Pray, O my brethren, that we may attain unto this glory, for it is the glory which endureth for ever.

Let us repent then, O my beloved, and, O my brethren, let us weep at all times before the Saviour until His voice come to us in joy saying, 'Your sins are forgiven to you.' For the shedding of tears of repentance maketh the compassion of God to have regard unto thee, and to shew mercy unto thee. The shedding of tears of repentance maketh the Holy Spirit to enter quickly into a man, and to take up His abode in him. By the shedding of tears of repentance God maketh thee to become a new creature a second time, and He bringeth back to thee the fruit of thy health-giving suffering. For the shedding of tears taketh not place without the turning of the heart, and the turning of the heart doth not take place in those who pass their lives in lewdness and in jesting. Neither doth repentance flourish in the man who is sated with sluggishness; but through the suffering of fasting, and the vexing (?) of the flesh, thy heart shall be in a state of humility, and thou shalt seek after repentance, and thou wilt sigh by reason of thy sins.

And now, O my beloved, let us take the greatest care of our lives at all times, so that we may make supplication, and that, through God, we may become faithful. See how very many sufferings our Lord and Saviour Christ endured on our behalf! For what evil thing did He do, and who in all creation is there who shall rebuke Him for sin? Nay, He endured all these sufferings on behalf of us sinners in order that He might bestow upon us this great salvation of repentance.

Let the eyes of our heart contemplate the nails which were driven through His holy hands; and His hanging upon the wood of the Cross for our sins; and His side, which they pierced with a spear, and there flowed forth blood and water; and the reed wherewith they smote Him on His head; and the shameless servant who spat in His face, and He was silent. And when He was athirst on the Cross, they had no compassion upon Him, but they gave Him to drink vinegar mixed with gall in His thirst. In fulfilling all these things He bore Himself in patience and in love to man, [for] He wished to make us partakers with Him in His sufferings, in order that we might inherit with Him the kingdom which is in the heavens. And He spake saying, 'He who loveth Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.' And moreover, the Apostle Paul himself knew the honour of the Cross, and therefore he cried out saying, 'Let it not be to me that I should boast myself except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein the world is crucified unto me, and I myself also am crucified unto the world.' And again he spake saying, 'I myself am crucified with Christ, but I do not live, for it is Christ Who liveth in me.' And again, 'Without sufferings a man is not able to please God.' And again, 'If it be that we receive sufferings with Him, then we shall reign with Him.'

Therefore, also, O my beloved, let us be prudent, and let us watch, for our Adversary the Devil goeth about roaring like the lions, seeking to devour our souls, and wishing to make us strangers to these great good things. Blessed, then, are those who shall resist him firmly in the faith, for they are those who shall receive glory with Jesus, according to that which He said, 'Ye are those who have endured patiently with Me in My temptations. And I will stablish you in the kingdom even as My Father hath established Me in the kingdom. Ye shall eat and ye shall drink with Me at My table in the kingdom.' Blessed is he who hath endured sufferings in fastings, and in prayers, and in nights of vigil, and in sighings! For Christ shall magnify him, and he shall eat and shall drink at the feasts of the saints with openness of face.

Blessed is he who hath shewed himself to be a compassionate man, and a lover of his neighbour in the love of God, for he shall enjoy consolation in the bosom of Abraham, in the kingdom which is in the heavens. Blessed is he who is soaked with tears which he hath shed for his sins that he hath committed, for he shall escape the place of weeping, and the gnashing of teeth. Blessed is he who hath sorrowed for his sins, for he shall rejoice with God and His angels in the kingdom of light. Blessed is he who hath given his bread to him that is an hungered, for he shall be filled full of the Bread of Life in the heavens. Blessed is he who hath clothed him that is naked, for his sins shall be covered on the Day of Judgement. Blessed is he who hath shewn mercy to the poor, for mercy shall be shewn unto him, and he shall be held worthy to hear these gladsome and joyful words, 'Come, ye who are the blessed of My Father, and ye shall inherit the kingdom which they have prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' And again He saith, 'Who-soever shall give one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink, Amen, I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.'

Blessed is he who shall forgive his neighbour when he sinneth against him, for if he doth, the note of hand which hath been written against him, and the deed of obligation which he hath to every one shall be destroyed. Blessed are those who shall frequent the church both morning and evening daily, and especially at the time of the receiving of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. For by means of these shall a man become united unto the angels who are in the heavens, and he shall see them face to face, and he shall answer with them mouth to mouth in their salutation of 'Alleluia'. Therefore, O my beloved, we must not give sleep to our eyes, or slumber to our eyelids, either by day or by night, so that we may escape all evil. For the Enemy lieth in wait for us, and he cometh against us in a multitude of crafty sins. If he cometh not in carelessness, he will come in ignorance; if he cometh not in pride of heart, he will come in wrath; if he cometh not in vain glory, he will come in fornication; if he cometh not in remissness, he will come in hatred; if he cometh not in fornication, he will come in complaining; if he cometh not in theft, he will come in false swearing and robbery; if he cometh not in the passions he will come in evil thoughts. In short, Satan will never cease from us. He layeth a snare for us with error of heart, he leadeth us craftily to a perverted judgement, and he sendeth carelessness therein; now Amente is filled through carelessness.

Let us therefore keep in mind when [fighting] these battles the various forms of craft and deceit which the Enemy spreadeth out before us. Let us gird on the armour of righteousness, that is to say, prayer, and fasting, and purity, and peace, and love, and humility, and charity, and love towards each other, and courteous converse with every man in the fear of God; for by means of these we shall be able to do battle against the loose and foolish talk of deceit. Especially let us fear the awful judgement hall of God. Let us cast away from us the works of darkness and put on the armour of light, in order that we may inherit the habitation of the saints which is in the heavens, and of the sons of the light, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom be glory, and with Him the Father and the Holy Spirit for [all] ages and for ever. Amen.

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The Discourse Which SAINT ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF RAKOTE, PRONOUNCED CONCERNING THE PASSAGE IN THE GOS-PEL OF SAINT MATTHEW, 'THE KINGDOM WHICH IS IN THE HEAVENS IS LIKE UNTO A RICH MAN, WHO CAME OUT IN THE MORNING TO HIRE LABOURERS FOR HIS VINEYARD.' The Lord saith in the Gospel of Matthew: The kingdom which is in the heavens is like unto a certain rich man, who came out in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the labourers [to pay them] a stater a day, [and] he sent them into his vineyard. He came out [again] at the third hour, and he saw others standing in the market, and they were idle. He said unto these others, 'Go ye into my vineyard, and that whereof ye are worthy I will give unto you'; and they went in. He came out again at the sixth hour, and again at the ninth hour [and saw other labourers], and he did the same with these. When, however, he came out again at the eleventh hour, he saw others standing [in the market]. He said unto them, 'Wherefore do ye stand in this place the whole day doing nothing?' They said unto him, 'Because no man hath hired us.' He said unto them, 'Go ye into my vineyard.'

Now let us enquire carefully, and let us learn what are these kinds of labourers, and what this vineyard is, and who is this master. In the first place, the Master in this vineyard is God the Father, Who hath governed His creatures (or, creation) from the beginning. And moreover, He speaketh with them through the prophet who hath made known to us that the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah are the new and beloved plant. The labourers whom He hired in the beginning are Moses, and Aaron, and Jesus the son of Nun. He called unto Moses in the land of Midian, saying, 'Come thou, get thee down into Egypt, and thou shalt bring out My people from that land. And thou shalt labour in My vineyard in commandments, and decrees, and ordinances.' And He covenanted with them for a stater, that is, Moses was to have the honourable rank of prophet, and Aaron was to hold the office of high priest over His people, and they were to serve [him].

Those who were hired at the third hour were the Judges, whom He appointed to be over His people; 'him of whom ye are worthy will I give unto you.' They were not prophets, and they were not apostles, but they were those who were worthy of the title of 'judge'. Those who were hired at the sixth hour, and at the ninth hour, were Samuel, and David, and all the [other] Prophets. Samuel worked in the vineyard with a horn. David transplanted a slip of the vine from the land of Egypt, and he cultivated it with the psaltery. Hosea found Israel to be like a vine in the desert in some respects, for he said, 'Israel is a branch of a vine which is good, and his fruit is abundant.'

Those who were hired at the eleventh hour were the Apostles, whom He found to be idle the whole day. And they were idle in respect of the works of iniquity of all kinds, because no one had hired them, and the Devil could not hire them for the service of idols. He could not hire John the Baptist for the peddlers in the place of eating and drinking. Peter he could not hire for the service of unbelief. Andrew he could not hire in polluted marriage, and he could not make him to become the servant of a woman. For this reason he was called 'Boanerges', that is to say, 'Son of the thunder of heaven.' Therefore could no one hire them on earth to make them to work for him, and to give them wages according to what they were worth. Therefore were their wages abundant in the heavens. Therefore doth the Saviour say concerning all the Apostles, 'O My Father, the men whom Thou hast given unto Me from the world have I found to be chosen vessels.' And again, 'Of those whom Thou hast given unto Me have I lost none'; and, 'No man is able to come unto Me except through My Father, Who hath sent Me to draw him.'

Fei. 107 a Behold, these words make us to know that it is the Father Who hireth the labourers for His vineyard. Who is this Governor? I say, It is the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, in Whose hand are all the possessions of God, which is a mystery. His power is in Israel and in the other nations, for He Himself said, 'The Father loveth the Son, and hath given everything into His hand.' The Son saith, 'To Him belongeth the inheritance.' The Governor saith, 'It is He Who giveth wages unto those who labour, and the whole world is under His rule.' Therefore is the key of David in His hand, and He is the vine. Therefore it is He Who rejoiceth in all His creatures. He is the Bread. Therefore it is He Who giveth meat and drink to all His creation.

Now when the evening had come the lord of the vineyard said unto his steward, 'Call the labourers, give them their wages; begin with the last and continue until thou comest to the first; give unto each a stater.' The Father saith unto the Son, 'Either at the last day or to-day, Thou knowest [best], call the labourers and give them their wages, all the labourers who have laboured for the race of men, give them the wages of their work.' Paul saith, 'Now certain men God placed in the Church, the first being the Apostles,' unto whom He began to give [their] wages; and the second were the Prophets, et cetera. The first [labourers] came, thinking that they would receive more [than the others]. Hearken unto Him, for He said, 'I say unto you, very many of the Prophets and Kings have desired eagerly to see the things which ye see, and have not seen them.' The stater which He gave unto them was the honour of Apostleship, and the Holy Offering.

And, the Scripture saith, when they had taken the stater, they murmured against the lord of the vineyard and said, 'Why is it? These last have only laboured for one hour, and yet thou hast paid them the same amount as thou hast paid to us.' Now, who are these who murmured and were envious of the labourers who came in last except the scribes and the Pharisees, who had themselves been sent to labour in the vineyard? It is against these that the Scripture crieth out saying, 'Why have ye burned up My vineyard? And why are the possessions plundered from the poor in your houses?' For they themselves received the Law as the commands of angels, but they did not keep it, and they murmured against the Lord saying, 'The disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Thy disciples do not fast.' Why do Thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? They wash not their hands when they eat their bread, they eat, they drink, they make merry. Even the Apostles cut down the ears of corn and eat before Thy very face, and they wander about at large in the world.' It was these very men that murmured saying, 'Why have Thy disciples made the Sabbath to be of none effect?' who were envious of these last who were the labourers in truth.

And the lord [of the vineyard] made answer, and said unto one of them, 'Friend, I have done thee no injustice. Did I not agree with thee for one stater? Take what is thine and depart.' And who was it who made all these complaints? I say that it was none other than he unto whom it was said, 'Friend, that wherefor thou hast come, do,' that is to say, it was Judas, who betrayed the Saviour, and who spake with great murmurings saying, 'Why did they not sell the unguent for three hundred staters and give them to the poor?' If thou didst care for the poor, O betrayer, why didst thou steal their property from the coffer of the treasury? Or was thine eye evil because I am good? Now because he was a wicked man he stole the money which was cast into it (i.e., the coffer). And the Saviour Himself was good to him, and He shewed Himself longsuffering in respect of him, for He said unto him, 'I have not the power to do that which I wish with the offerings which they bring.' This was God's defence of him: 'I, Who am God, have not the power to pay more wages than those which a man shall earn, and I judge those who shall work wickedness.' These are the testimonies, and the murmurings of Judas; he murmured with his tongue, and he was cruel and merciless in his heart. He was a wicked man in his soul, he was a thief with his hands, and he was shameless in respect of his eyes.

And when they were eating, the Apostles watched that they might not let their hands touch those of the Saviour in the bowl, for they were afraid, and said, 'Who are we that we should eat with God?' But Judas, the man with no right perception, did not hesitate to put his hand into the bowl with the Saviour, and he was eager to dip his piece of bread at the same time, and to eat before the Saviour. The Saviour said nothing in order that we might understand. When the disciples had asked Him, 'Who, then, is it that shall betray Thee?' He gave them a sign of the want of right perception in Judas saying, 'He who shall dip his hand with Me into the bowl first is he who shall betray Me'; and He said unto him, 'That which thou shalt do, do quickly.' For the Saviour made haste to work out the salvation of His creation on the Cross, according to the wish and commandment of His Father. Thou wilt not find that He put out of the way, or was careless about that for which He had come, or that He was afraid of death; but He made manifest His readiness for the Cross like a valiant martyr, and like God Who is without fear.

Therefore did He urge Judas onward saying, 'That which thou shalt do, do quickly.' Haste thee onward, for all these created beings are hindered; they await thee, and moreover, they await Me. Those beings who are in the heavens await Me, and those beings who are in the abyss and chaos await thee. My Father is with Me, and He will help Me; the Devil is with thee, and he standeth by thy side, on the right hand of thee, and he will help thee. Those who are in the gates which are in the heavens, that is, the holy angels, will crown Me, and the avenging powers are making Amente ready for thee.' And He urged him onward with these words, 'Haste thee, for I am ready for the whips (or, scourgings).' Rightly therefore did Esdras say, 'The creature may not haste more than the Creator.' Now since Judas was he who should betray Him, why did He cry out to him, 'Friend, I do thee no injustice'? Though He said to him, 'Thine eye is evil, but I Myself am good,' the Saviour did not withhold the speech of friendship from him until the hour in which he betrayed Him. He called him 'friend', but He thought of enmity. He gave him the bag that held the money, and he became a thief.

He chose him as a disciple, but he meditated guile. He chose him as a man, but he became a devil. O Judas, what is it thou didst do? And what didst thou gain when thou didst betray the Lord? Thou didst waste thy life, and didst lose this great honour, the glory of Apostleship. For who is above his lot? After the appellation of 'Angel' cometh the title of 'Apostle'. Now a man hardly considereth his son to be worthy to eat with him, yet it was a helpless servant who was made to eat with his God, and Jesus, our Lord, considered him to be worthy to do so. He ate with the tax-gatherers, and He drank with Judas the lawless man, and a pestilent man reached out his hand with [that of] God. This wretched man lost his life, and accepted death for himself; he exalted himself above his worth, and he fell down on to the ground according to his worth. Jesus chose him with the Apostles, and he lost his Apostleship. He was chosen to be an heir, and he himself abandoned Thine inheritance. Now the Apostles were the heirs of the Saviour, and they were the light of the world, but Judas did not wish to give forth light. They were the salt of the earth, but Judas did not wish to purge away what was polluted. They were those whom God set in the Church, but Judas did not wish to continue with them. Therefore was he removed from the measure of manhood, and he became the portion of the Devil.

Woe be unto thee, O Judas! In what didst thou benefit thyself? Better Cain, who killed a man, than Judas, who killed God. Better Saul, who hated a man, than Judas, who hated God. Better the hardheartedness of Pharaoh towards the people than the hardheartedness of Judas towards God. Better the deceit of Balaam than the wickedness of Judas. Better the rebellious speech of Korah in the desert than the stiffneckedness of Judas in Jerusalem. Better Achar (Achan), who stole the accursed thing, than Judas who stole the gifts of charity. Better the arrogance of Absalom in respect of David than the contumacy of Judas in respect of God. Better the evil counsel to David of Ahitophel, who hanged himself and died, than the condemnation of Judas, who hanged himself and is in Tartaros, against the Saviour. Better, by far, the cursings by Shimei of David than the scorn of the Saviour by Judas. Of far less evil was the bloody murder by Joab, which he committed in sheer wickedness, than the murder by Judas, which he committed in pitilessness. Better the love of money by Gehazi, who became a leper, than the avariciousness of Judas who went to destruction. The sin of Jeroboam was less than the wickedness of Judas, for Jeroboam [only] made false gods, but Judas rejected the True God.

'Friend, I do thee no injustice; take that which is thine [and] depart.' O evil friend Judas, it was not the Saviour Who did thee an injustice, but thou thyself; take thou thy curse, and depart thou into Amente! Now Judas being in this state, Matthias entered in and received the blessing, and became a disciple of the Master in his stead. He became an Apostle, he preached, and he sent forth light into the countries [round about]. He made himself salt, and purified souls; he made himself a servant, and was in subjection unto God; he became a beloved son of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of All, the Lord of All, the Glory of All, Who ruleth All, Who shall judge All, Who sheweth compassion upon All, Who doeth acts of mercy to All, Who sustaineth All, Who destroyeth All, Who transformeth All, Who maketh All new, Who maketh All glad, and through Whom All endureth.

And now, O man, come and embark in the ship of salvation which is the faith of the Church. It hath two steering oars, wherewith it is guided, and these are the Testaments, whereon if thou shalt meditate they will bring thee unto a good place for tying up thy boat. It hath a mast, which is the Cross of the Lord, and a rudder; these are thy hands which are stretched out in prayer to God. It hath a sail which beareth it onwards, that is the Power of God, which directeth thee into every good course. It hath a guiding pole, which is the Bishop in the Church. It hath a helmsman to steer it, Who is Jesus, Who directeth the course of the universe. The sailors on board are the clergy who are in the Church and who minister. There is a cargo borne upon it, and these are the Christian peoples. Thou shalt arrive in port, in a haven which is fair, that is to say, the harbour of Jesus, which is the heavenly Jerusalem. Thou shalt inherit the things promised by God, that is to say, His good things, and thou shalt rest thyself with thy fellow-citizens, who are the angels and all the saints.

And now behold, O my brethren, we have passed the whole day in exercising ourselves in the word, so that we might at length set the matter, whereto we put our hands, upon its feet. And now, let us give thanks unto God, and unto the Holy Spirit, Who hath opened for us our mouth in speech, and hath put into our mouth the words, in order that we may say the things which the Logos hath bestowed upon us, which will benefit greatly our own souls and the souls of those who hear us. Let us ascribe blessing to the Logos, Who hath blessed us with the Holy Spirit. It is He, moreover, Who spake saying, 'When they speak with you, take no thought as to what ye shall say, for it shall be given unto you in that hour what ye shall say. For it shall not be you who shall speak, but the Spirit of our Father Who shall speak in you.' And now let us ascribe glory to God, God Almighty, Who hath sent unto us the King, the Christ, through Whom we bless and praise the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the consubstantial Trinity, from all ages to all ages. Amen.

Likewise A HOMILY PRONOUNCED BY PRO-KLOS, BISHOP OF CYZICUS, IN THE CHURCH OF ANTHEMIUS IN CONSTANTINOPLE, ON THE SUNDAY BEFORE EASTER, WHEN HE WAS INSTALLED IN THE ARCHIEPISCOPAL SEAT, AND NESTORIUS THE HERETIC WAS PRESENT. May the precious miracle of our Saviour overcome our [halting] speech, and may the utterance of words of great weight vanquish our tongue this day in respect of this miracle, for otherwise we shall not attain to the capacity for preaching, according to its true value, the goodness of Him Whom they crucified for our sakes. For what is there which hath ever happened that is like unto that which we now see by faith? Moreover, what mind hath ever existed which hath been able to think it out as it really is? Or what understanding hath ever been able to reason it out? Or what heart hath ever been able to depict it to itself? Or what power of speech hath ever described it? Or what eye hath ever seen it? Or what ear hath ever heard the report of such a miracle as this, and of such love, that is to say, of Christ Who took upon Himself flesh in very truth, and bestowed upon us the blessing of life?

Never before did the sun look upon one hanging on the wood of the cross, who was so shamefully slandered as was He—for our sakes. Never before did the sun see any one purchasing our nature under a curse. Never before was the redemption of the world sold for thirty [pieces] of silver. Never before did there exist passion and death, which were without sin, in the smelting furnace of sin. Never before was one who was without a father, according to the flesh, condemned to death by the governor. Never before was there one who was hung upon the tree to draw every one to him, and to give life unto them. Never before did the tomb receive into it a dead body which had plundered death. Never before did the heavens become dark as night at mid-day, [as they did] through Him, in order that they might not see the tragedy which they dared to act in respect of God, for they presumed to touch His flesh. Never before did Amente quake as it did when it swallowed Him up. Never before was the earth made beautiful by a sepulchre which contained life; it was, however, no sepulchre, but rather a bridal bed. He Whom they buried therein did not suffer corruption; on the contrary, He Who went down into it became a bridegroom. Never before hath any natural man passed three days and three nights in the earth, and risen up therefrom, except Him Who of Himself fashioned the temple of His Body in the womb of the Virgin, according to that which He knew, He it was Who rose on the third day. He raised up the temple, He lifted it up, by His will through death, and He made manifest the Resurrection through the birth-pangs of the Virgin.

Now in this place (i. e., world) time followeth after begetting, but in this place (i. e., world) he who prevaileth is he who preacheth at all times in haste. No lamb which could have been offered up on the altar could ever have carried away the sins of the world, except at that time when God took the form of a servant. And He fashioned an ineffable body for Himself, and He clothed Himself therewith; now this was His flesh, the life. His blood is the redemption. The Spirit is the seal. The nature of God is without beginning. Well therefore hath the blessed Paul said, 'Old things have departed; behold, new things exist.' [The new heaven,] that is to say, He Who hath come down from it (i. e., heaven) hath blessed our coming thereto. The new earth: He Who was laid in a manger. He purified it through the flesh wherein He was placed. The new sea, which is vast and deep: the feet of men of flesh do not pass over it, neither is it contaminated by sin. The new life: this is He Who hath made war to cease from Him, and [the life] is full and made perfect in peace. The new humanity: this is that which hath washed itself and cleansed itself in water, and hath smelted itself a second time in the furnace of the Holy Spirit. The new worship: this is not the savour of sacrifice a second time, neither is it circumcision, but it is the worshipping by faith, and the glorifying of One Substance in Three Persons.

These things are they which the prophet preached unto us saying, 'In that day God shall make Himself manifest in counsel and in glory upon the earth.' In what day? Declare thou unto us, O prophet. He saith, 'In that day wherein God, Who is over all nature, shall take upon Himself flesh of a woman, according to that which He knoweth. The Virgin shall bring forth by ineffable mystery, without a husband, a Man, and a Lover of men, Who shall not change. He will make death to vomit me forth, this [death] which hath swallowed me up, which I know not. His tomb shall be the treasury of the Resurrection. And the captivity of man He will make to be the mother of freedom. And why should I multiply words? Passion belongeth to my flesh, but power belongeth to divinity.' But declare unto us, O thou prophet, in what manner shall God make Himself manifest on the earth? Will it be without [His] manhood? Will it be without [His] flesh? 'Get thee hence, O heretic, and speak not of this, for I will not declare [the matter] unto thee,' [saith] the prophet. 'If God were to appear without this, I speak of the flesh, O thou new and vain dogmatizer, neither thy face, nor thine eye, would be able to bear His light. And creation could not clothe herself with [her covering of] nature; the mighty Devil would not be able to go against Him to fight with Him, for he would quake before the Creator. Death would not dare to swallow up the indestructible nature of God, and Amente would be in abject terror of God if He were naked in respect of the flesh. The Seraphim would not be able to gaze upon Him, and how would it be possible for Amente not to quake?

'Now the nature of God had need of a hood (or, covering), not in order to clothe itself (I speak of the indestructible nature of His Divinity) but in order that we might not be struck dumb at the sight of Him. It was not a covering like unto that of Moses, for that was a covering of the darkness which was ignorance. It was not a curtain which was made by cunning weavers, for its beauty was not due to a mixture of many colours. It was not [like unto] the covering of the mercy seat, which was interwoven with gold, for its beauty was not derived from a material substance. It was not [the work of] the Cherubim, neither was it wrought by the hand of man; for the cunning handiwork thereof was marvellous.' Now the sheep hath need of a covering [of wool], in order that it may be guarded by it from the wolf which eateth man.

Now the new Jew hath also attacked my words, and hath scoffed at the words of great import of the prophet, and hath contended against the Holy Spirit. And what doth he say? [He saith,] 'I do not believe that God appeared upon the earth, or that He Who hath no form hath taken shape in the similitude of a man.' But if thou deridest the Law, O Jew, and if thou wilt not hearken to the Prophets, and if thou wilt treat with contumely the Evangelists, and if thou wilt pervert the words of the Apostles, let us then enquire of the Elements, and let us learn from them what they have to confess concerning God Who died in the flesh, and Who He is. Come now, first of all let us enquire of the sun. Tell us, O Sun: For what reason didst thou withdraw to thyself thy rays when the Lord was crucified? Why was it? Was it because He Whom they crucified was an ordinary man? If this be so, thou shouldst have done the same when they slew Abel, the righteous man.

I will also enquire of heaven. Tell us, O Heaven: For what reason didst thou clothe thyself with darkness at the hour of noon? Was it because the Jews pierced the side of the Lord? Or was it because He Whom they crucified for us was an ordinary man? If He was, why didst thou not understand [and do the same] when they stoned Naboth the Israelite? [I will also enquire of the earth.] Tell us, O Earth: For what reason didst thou quake when these fighters against God committed this abominable deed of presumption? Was it because He Whom they crucified was an ordinary man? If He was, why didst thou not quake when they sawed Isaiah asunder by [the command of] Manasseh? Let us enquire also of the temple. Tell us, O Temple: For what reason was the veil of the temple rent in twain when they crucified Christ? Was it because He Whom they crucified was an ordinary man? If He was, why wast not thou brought to the ground when they poured out in the midst of thee the blood of Zecharias?

And now, all creation which is without speech maketh its defence before us, and saith: 'Did we not proclaim our grief for the Creator, Who was not a fellow-servant with us, Who had been condemned to death? nay, but we were sorely moved, and we trembled with fear at the dishonour [which was shewn] to God.' For Heaven cried out saying, 'He Whom they crucified in the flesh is God Who took upon Himself flesh. This I know of a certainty, for,' Heaven saith, 'I am the Heaven which He bowed, and He came down.' The Sun cried out saying, 'It is my Lord, the Jesus Whom they have crucified in the flesh. I, even I, was afraid of the splendour of His Divinity, and I withdrew into myself my rays of light.' The Earth also cried out saying, 'The Creator Who hath taken upon Himself flesh is He Whom they have crucified in the flesh.' It saith also, 'Now though I took His flesh into my bosom when He was in the manger, I could not include within my dominion His Divinity.' The Sea cried out saying, 'He Whom they have crucified in the flesh is not my fellow-servant. The footsteps of my fellow-servant [Peter] did indeed press upon my back, but the feet of my Lord made pure (or, sanctified) my nature.' The Temple cried out saying, 'He Whom they worshipped in me from the beginning is He Whom they have treated with contumely in the flesh.

Because I was unable to bear so great and so presumptuous a deed, I rent my raiment.' Amente cried out saying, 'It was not an ordinary man who came down into my domain, for,' it saith, 'I know what suffering I received. He Whom I took in as a captive I found to be one Who was stronger than everything else (i. e., the Almighty).' But if thou wilt not believe the Elements, let us, then, enquire of the Powers which are in the heavens. Tell us, O ye Angels, and Archangels, and all ye Hosts which are in the heavens, Who is He Who appeared upon the earth? Who is He Whom they crucified in the flesh? And they all make answer, and cry out with the prophet David, 'The Lord of Might, He is the King of Glory,' unto Whom belong the Glory and the Power for [all] ages. Amen.

The homily which proklos, bishop of cyzicus, pronounced in the great church of constantinople, when nestorius the heretic was present, concerning his contemptible dogma, on the sunday which preceded the holy forty days. Very great are the riches of the nourishment of the wisdom of the grace of God. Numberless are the benefits of this gathering together of spiritual beings. Honourable is the merchandise of the market of the Church. Joyful is the festival before the altar. Exceedingly splendid is the profit of the traffic with the Saviour. Indescribable are the ungrudged riches of the nails of the Saviour. Great is the treasure of the gifts which appertain to the beings of heaven. This love knoweth not poverty, for it is Christ Who giveth this charity. And if thou wishest, O beloved, and wilt look into the Holy Scriptures, thou shalt have knowledge of the riches which are immeasurable [and shall understand that] He giveth great gifts. For He wisheth to make thee to know this with careful exactness, and the forms and ways in which He doeth this are various. For from the beginning our Lord Jesus Christ hath not ceased to do good to the race of men.

Having banished the first [man], that is to say, Adam, to the place of one who hath been condemned to punishment, He took him and seated him with Him upon the throne in the heavens. He saw Abel when they slew him for a sacrifice, and after his death He made Himself the accuser of his murderer in converse [with him]. Hol. 124 a and He protected him like a star among the race of men. Hol. 124 a He found Abraham when he was a sojourner [in a strange land], and He made him the father of all nations. He saw also Joseph when he was in fetters, and He raised him up [to be] an image (or, example) of chastity to the world. He saw Moses who had fled from Egypt, and He made him [to be] the guide of a people that was without number. Hol. 124 a Jesus, the son of Nun, was a spy in the country of Palestine, and He curbed the course of the sun and the moon [for him].

Hol. 124 a He took David from a flock of sheep, and made him king of his race, and the father of the Awful Mystery. Hol. 124 b He caused Balaam not to hearken unto the ass, and He made the animal to become a reasoning creature instead of A speechless brute. In order to make it a useful thing He bestowed reasoning power on the Red Sea. Hol. 124 b He made the rod of Aaron to shoot forth new blossoms, contrary to its nature. He set up a serpent of brass in the desert, like a physician of marvellous powers. Hol. 124 b He saw Elijah as he fled, and He took him up and made him an inhabitant of heaven. Hol. 124 b He made the flame of the furnace which was in Babylon become cool for the Three Children. Hol. 124 b He made the lions which were in the pit become like ready disciples of Daniel.

He made the belly of the whale in the sea to become like the bridal bed of the prophet. He made the brothel of Rahab to be changed into an orderly hospital for the reception of strangers. My tongue, however, will not suffice for the narration of all His works of goodness, for the wealth of His working power overcometh my tongue. Now the festival of the Church is full of benefits of every kind for our salvation, according to that which is written, 'Every good gift and every perfect gift are from heaven, and they come down through the Father of Light.' In this world He giveth those which are on the earth, [and] those which are in the heavens. In this world He is the maker of sufferings (i. e., vices), and He maketh men to acquire virtues. In this world the offering is made with material possessions, and the market-place is quiet—I speak of the Church. In this world the clouds give rain through the waters of the Gospel. In this world there are the trumpets of the Apostles, and the preaching of the Trinity uncreate. In this world spiritual hymns fight against the tyranny of the passions which exist in our intellectual members. In this world Adam is naked on the earth, and we clothe ourselves in the Light which is from heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ. In this world we overthrow the ancient tyrant, and we adore the Mystery, which is of the Virgin. In this world the note of hand of our sins is torn up, and a contract of freedom is delivered unto us. In this world passion is killed, and our soul is made to live again.

O thou festival, the place of which is upon the earth, [and] the benefit of which is in heaven! In this world are preached with a loud voice the useful medicines of the fast of the holy Forty Days, and the great reward of continence, and the angelic character of virginity, and the almsgiving which is accepted, and the gentle disposition, and the quality of blessing, and the meekness which is without limit, and the longsuffering which is like unto that of God, and the immeasurable patience which cannot be submerged, and the character of not seeking to pry into faith, [and into] the Uncreatedness of the Trinity, and into the incomprehensibility of the dispensation of the flesh. But if thou dost attempt to enquire deeply into the matter, by means of thy power of reasoning powers, thou wilt find that this glorious miracle is wholly beyond all investigation whatsoever.

Now the intellect of man hath not the ability to discover by enquiry by what means God became man, and in what way God, Who is impassible, and is One, and is, moreover, rot of the earth, took form to Himself in the flesh. He Who Is hath no beginning. Out of the Father, without change, is He Who hath come into being in the last days, and hath made Himself manifest in the Virgin. He Who Is is uncreate. He Who hath come into being is not a phantom, for He is God in truth, and man in truth. He is of like substance with the Father, and He is the same as I am, so far as my birth is concerned, according to that [portion of Him] which is create, with the exception of sins. The Nature of God is uncreate, and that Nature which He hath taken with me is not false, but is indeed the same (?). We do not divide the Natures into two Persons, but the two Natures are one Person, and proceed from the divinity and manhood of the economy of the Son, which maketh [them] to become one of one with Him. As the result of the oneness, which it is impossible to describe, He becometh the Only-begotten Son. The heretics think mad [this view], and the Jews break their minds (or, hearts) [concerning it], and the Greeks (or, Heathen) cut themselves off [from us].

The Son cannot be separated from the Father, and yet He was nourished like men. He took upon Himself flesh without change. He took the whole of man, [and] was not divided. He, the whole of Him, is in heaven; and He, the whole of Him, is on the earth; and He, the whole of Him, is in every place; for the Nature of God cannot be divided. In that wherewith He clothed Himself (i. e., the flesh) He endured sufferings patiently, but He freed me from sufferings by means of that [flesh] which He took upon Himself. We call Him the Son of God, because He is God the Word in very truth, and because He is the wisdom and the intelligence (or, mind) which are inseparable from the Father according to [His] nature (even as the two animals which are yoked together and are driven by the charioteer), God and man. For He is the strength of His Father, therefore is He the Protector of all the things which have come into being. He is the Truth, therefore is He the distinguishing Mark of the Father. He is the Image [of Him], therefore is He the same Substance, and He it is Whom the Father hath begotten without change. He is the Light, therefore is He the Sun of our souls. He is the Life, therefore we live in Him, and we exist and we move [through Him]. He is Justice, therefore He it is Who giveth unto each and every one according to his merit. He is Holiness, therefore is He the Slayer of sin. He is Salvation, therefore it is He Who hath purchased the whole world with His Blood. He is the Resurrection, therefore it is He Who hath set free those who are in the tomb, and hath made them new a second time by His Blood.

But thou sayest[, O Jew], 'Declare unto me other [things].' I tell thee, O Jew, that I am not ashamed to declare [them] with a loud voice, for my salvation is the economy of the Son. For He Who Is existeth of and by Himself, and He Who Himself hath become create, hath Himself become create for my sake. And He worked miracles as God, and He bore patiently very many sufferings as a man. That He Himself, therefore, became create was due to His commerciation for me. Because He was a man He took [upon Himself flesh] in truth, though surely He was the leaven of the bread. For this reason He became a son of man, for in truth He took flesh from a woman without a husband. For He is the Way, therefore He is the Guide to His Father. Next, He is the Door, therefore He is the Guide into Paradise. He is the Shepherd, therefore He is the Seeker after the sheep which is lost. He is the Sheep, therefore they slew Him on behalf of the whole world. He is the Lamb, therefore He is the Cleanser of the world from its impurity. For His administration (or, economy) is beyond compare, and His Nature is unchangeable. He is the high priest, therefore He offered Himself up for us. He is the God Who Is. In that He was without mother, He was superior to our nature; in that He was without ancestors among us He appertained not to us in our nature. His generation hath never been recorded in any form, or in any place whatsoever. The inhabitants of heaven cannot utter it, the dwellers upon the earth cannot declare it, and in no place whatsoever can any interpret it. For He took body, and soul, and mind (or, intelligence), in order that through them He might be able to deliver us from death.

Be ashamed, then, O Jew, because of the sufferings which He endured on thy behalf, and the miracles which He performed for thy sake. But thou, the new Jew, wilt say, 'What are the miracles which He performed?' And I, even I, will say unto thee, 'What are the miracles which He hath performed on your behalf, O ye who strive against God, in comparison with those which He hath performed for us? Which of these miracles is the greater? Which of them make thee to wonder most concerning them? Which is the greater miracle? The heavens raining down bread, or God taking upon Himself flesh? Which is the greater miracle? The sea which became divided that thou mightest pass through it, or the Virgin who ceased not to be a virgin, even after a passage had been made through her? Which is the greater miracle? The rod which made the rock to become a lake of water, or the Cross which cleansed the world?'

Be thou ashamed, therefore, at these miracles, O Jew, and do thou worship Him Who took upon Himself flesh. But perhaps thou, O heretic, wilt also say, 'What are the miracles?' O Jew, if thou wishest to know what are the miracles, hearken and I will inform thee concerning them. They are: the begetting of the Child without seed; the childbirth which was not preceded by the marriage-bed and union with man; the Virgin who was holy and undefiled, who was both virgin and mother at the same time, and was still a virgin; the course and the disappearance of the star; the hymns of the angels, the fear of the shepherds, the gifts of the Magi, the obedience of the sea, the flight of the wind and its sinking to rest; the walking on the lake, the stilling of the waves; the leaping to the feet of those who were paralysed; the making of the blind to see, the driving out of the devils; the revivification of those who were dead; the terror-stricken state of created things; the lamentation of heaven, the sun which became dark, the rocks which split asunder, the rending of the veil in the Temple, the destruction of Amente, the coming forth from the tombs of those who were dead, the conversion of the thief, the affixing to the Cross of the handwriting, and the bill of debt for which we were liable, the overthrow of thy synagogue, the increase of the Church, and the growth and spreading abroad of piety. Finally, when thou hast vomited thine error and thy folly, do thou thyself cry out with the Lawgiver Moses, saying, 'This is my God, I will ascribe glory unto Him,' for unto Him belong glory and power, for all ages of ages. Amen.

Let us understand now, O my brethren, that at the moment when God created all things, there was none who knew, neither was there any voice or disturbance, but there existed great quietness and silence when He fashioned the universe. And we hear in the Holy Scriptures concerning the day when the heavens and the earth shall come to an end, and how great the confusion (or, trouble) shall be is described therein. And another angel spake saying, 'They shall bring about the end of the world,' even as we have heard. And our Saviour made known to us in the Gospels concerning the overthrowings and the tribulations, and the earthquakes which shall take place, for He said, 'There shall be great tribulations, the like of which hath not been since the beginning, at the creation of the world, and the like of which there shall never be again.' And He said also in another place, 'Heaven and earth shall be convulsed, and the powers which are in the heavens shall be shaken in that day, [and there shall be] great earthquakes, and blasts of the trumpet, and great and frequent flashes of lightning, with mighty thunderings.'

For the angels shall send forth from His mountain messengers into the world, and they shall gather together all mankind, and shall make them to stand before the throne of the Son of God, and they shall separate the wicked from among the righteous. Behold now, at the time when He created all things no one knew except Himself and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Concerning that hour wherein He shall destroy all created things, when everything shall be overthrown, concerning that last hour, I say, and the destruction of the heavens and the earth, no one whatsoever shall know, not even the angels in the heavens, except Himself and His beloved Son, even as we have said before. Now it is written that [as no sound was heard at the creation], so in the days in which Solomon was building the temple of God in Jerusalem, there was no sound heard therein, neither the sound of an axe, nor that of an iron hammer. And during the twenty years in which the king was building this temple in this manner, there was not heard therein even the sound of the artificer who worked in gold.

And why was this? First of all, because the temple was being built for God, in Whose place of abode no disturbance of any kind must make itself manifest. [And secondly] because the wise king who was building the temple to the Lord God chose Solomon to continue the building of the temple to Him in this manner, that is to say, in quietness, according to the manner in which work on the first creation was performed, which He founded in quietness, and there was no sound, neither was there any disturbance. [And thirdly] because God worketh with His own thoughts, and with His intelligence, and He hath therefore no need of a crowd [of workmen] who would disturb the place wherein they perform their work. Nay, God is not one who worketh in this manner, but His thoughts and His command are wholly sufficient to make everything which is made.

For this reason hearken unto that which is written in the Exodus of Moses, for when Moses had made the tabernacle, and the ark of the covenant, God said [unto him] 'Take heed that thou makest everything according to the pattern which hath been shewn unto thee on the mountain'. Now, who was it that made them except the command of God? That is to say, God shall build for Himself the temple which is necessary [for Him]. And this also is what the wise man Paul wrote concerning Him saying, 'Ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God abideth in you.' And again he wrote, 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you?' And moreover, one of the wise men of old used to say, 'The great altar of God is the heart of the wise man.'

The hand and the power of God are the things which made all created things, and moreover, it is they which have made man. Again hear what Isaiah saith in the character of God: 'Is it not My hand which hath stablished whatsoever is in the earth? And is it not My right hand which hath made firm the heavens? I call unto them all, and they all stand up at one time.' And again, the blessed man David cried out saying, 'It is His hand which hath fashioned the dry land.' And again, in [the Book of] Hosea He saith, 'It is My hand which hath created the hosts of heaven.' And again in [the Book of] Isaiah [He saith], 'Heaven is My throne, the earth is My footstool: What kind of a house shall ye build for Me? saith the Lord.' Was it not My hand which made all these things? It was My hand, moreover, which fashioned the first man Adam. Therefore, after the fashioning of the first man which is [related] in Genesis . . . . .

And again the righteous man Job saith, 'Remember that Thou hast made me of clay, and I shall return again to the earth.' And again, 'Hast Thou not poured me out like the milk, and turned me over and over like a cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, Thou hast knitted me together by means of bones and tendons (or, sinews). Thou hast granted unto me a heart of life and favour, and it is Thy visitation which hath protected my spirit. These things are in Thy heart, and I know, moreover, that Thou art able [to do] everything, and that there existeth nothing which Thou art not able to do.' Then again the Psalmist David saith, 'Thy hands have made and fashioned me.' And again, 'For Thou art He Who took me out of my mother's womb.' And again, 'In secret my body was not hidden from Thee, for Thou didst fashion it in secret.' And again God saith in [the Book of] Jeremiah, 'Before I had fashioned thee in the womb I knew thee, and before thou didst come out therefrom I sanctified thee.'

Now, after all these things, if it was the hand of God which created all things which exist, the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and everything which is therein, for what reason shall they be destroyed, and become dissolved with a mighty overthrow, both inanimate things and man, and the temple of Solomon? And again God saith in the Gospel, 'I work, and My Father hath worked hitherto.' Now the [things of the] Six Days which God made, He made in great joy, and in gladness, and in silence. And again, during the six thousand years which He hath made [since that time], He hath supplied the world with His commandments, and with His laws, and with His holy Prophets. And of all these the principal things are, His holy desire which He hath shewn (or, made) towards us, and all the sufferings of His Apostles, and all the supplies which have been needed by men, and by the courses of the luminaries. And again, after all these [years], in a moment, suddenly everything which hath been made shall be overthrown and destroyed. And again, the [things of the] Six Days which God made when He created the world, [and] all these [later] things, shall be destroyed, and shall dissolve in the twinkling of an eye. For He, the Lord of All, and the Fabricator, Jesus Christ, Himself said in the Gospel, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away.'

And again, because of that day and that hour none knoweth except the Father, therefore the great overthrow which shall take place shall be unbearable. O how great shall be the sorrow of heart, and all the sufferings, at that awful time, that is to say, when the administration and management of the service of the luminaries by the angels, and the sending down of the dew upon the earth, and the blowing of the winds, and the strength of the earth which He giveth to the children of men, and the rivers and the streams—when I say, all these things shall be blotted out in a single moment, and shall be destroyed! And what reason is there why a single moment should have the power to do all these evil things, except it be because of sin and disobedience? It was the first transgression, that is to say, disobedience, which cast man forth from Paradise. It hath changed this world, and hath made to exist the things which ought not to exist; and the things which ought indeed to exist it hath set a restraint upon. It hath made God Who is without anger to be wroth, and hath turned the Father from gladness to grief.

Now, who is he who hath committed all these sins? It is the Enemy of every man, this evil beast which slayeth the soul, this bird which snatcheth greedily at its prey, this serpent which biteth, this fire which blazeth fiercely, this thief who carrieth off all souls [into] sin, this murderous barbarian, this troubled pool, this desert road, this evil tare, this sin which inviteth death, this similitude of hunger (or, greed), this stirrer up of war, this destroyer of the city, this waster of the people, who maketh the whole land to be without fruit. It is, moreover, he who doth make the heavens to withhold the dew, and, besides, he maketh parents to look upon the death of their children without mourning for their beloved.

He changeth kings, he leadeth the nations into error, and he bringeth the nations to boundaries of countries which do not belong to them. The thorn and the bramble exist because of Sin, and because of Sin death hath become king. Moreover, because of Sin a judgement took place in the Paradise, and punishments [were inflicted] in the place of gladness. Moreover, because of Sin there was to be weeping in the world which was to come, and sorrow of heart was to be in all created beings. Because of Sin there was a deluge upon the earth, and the cataracts of heaven poured down from heaven the waters of wrath upon the earth, and the fountains of the great deep were opened, and they belched forth the waters of vengeance. Because of Sin God meditated the blotting out of every created thing which was on the face of the whole earth. The transgression of the Watchers, that is to say, Giants, was like unto a flood, and it was sin, and impurity, and the concealment of uncleanness of every kind which burnt up Sodom and Gomorrah. The superfluous meddling of the men of Calneh (?) was what made diverse the languages of men, and at length they became scattered abroad over the whole earth. It was sin and cruel obstinacy which filled Pharaoh and destroyed the multitudes of Egypt. It was lawlessness and idolatry which destroyed the seven nations in the land of Canaan. It was sin and disobedience to God which consumed six hundred thousand Israelites in the desert, by sword, and fire, and by serpents, because they chose sin for themselves, and forsook the Lord their God.

Because of all these God cried out in [the Book of] Isaiah saying: 'For behold, in My anger I will make the sea to become a desert, and I will turn the rivers into dry land, and the fishes thereof shall be dried up, and shall be without water, and shall die because of thirst. I will spread darkness over the heavens as a garment, and I will make the apparel thereof like unto sackcloth.' Now it was Sin which did all these things, and because thereof the evil of this single hour shall overthrow and shall destroy at this awful time all the things which have been set in order since the beginning of the creation of the world.

Now let us again hearken concerning the building of the temple which Solomon builded in such great silence; and concerning Him Who was able to destroy it to its foundation. For it is written thus in the Third [Book of] the Kingdom concerning the temple which Solomon builded in the Name of the Lord:—Behold, O God of Israel, there hath been heard the sound neither of hammer, nor axe, nor the sound of any tool of iron whatsoever; even though, in his wisdom, which was great, he permitted a few men to work in a certain place which was at some distance from the temple. Now this he did in order that the sound of the workers in gold might not shut out from the ears of the king, and prevent him from hearing, the pleadings of those who came unto him to receive judgement. Now therefore God gave unto him peace, and there was no war made upon him whilst he was building, and no hostile attack was made upon him either on this side or on that; and because of this peace he was not burdened with any serious anxiety concerning the care of the kingdom. He used to rise very early each morning, and go into the place which he had prepared, and sit down there, and all the works continued to progress in due order; and there was no idleness or lax labour.

For these reasons he did not permit a handicraftsman to work in the place which he had stablished; that the place might not be disturbed continually, and that he might not be prevented from hearing the voices of those who were pleading before the king. Now according to what is reported, he [finished] building the house after twenty years, and [then] he dedicated the house to God. And he went into the temple, and all Israel was with him; he bowed his knees before the altar of the Lord, and his hands were stretched out towards the heavens, and he prayed thus saying: 'O Lord God of Israel, if the heaven, and the heaven of heavens suffice Thee not, then verily God will not come and abide with men. And now, O God, hearken Thou unto the prayer which Thy servant maketh unto Thee, in order that Thine eyes and Thine ears may be open towards this house.' And, in short, after hearing these words God spake unto him over the altar saying, 'I have heard thy prayer which thou hast made to Me. I do not dwell in a house which hath been fashioned by the hands of man, yet, because of thy labours which thou hast performed (and if thou shalt keep My commandments, and My judgements which I have given into thy hands), Mine eyes and Mine ears shall be open over this house which thou hast built. If, however, thou transgress My commandments, I will cast away this great place from Me, and it shall be destroyed and become such a wilderness that all those who shall pass by it shall marvel, and shall smite together their hands, and shall whistle, and shall say, "Why have these things happened to this great place?" And it shall be told them, "Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, and made themselves servants of strange gods."'

Observe now, moreover, that after Solomon had gone to his rest, the people committed sin, and they cleaved to this evil friend, who is Sin, who also made the first man to commit sin in the Paradise, and who hath changed the world from the beginning. It was he also who destroyed the temple of the Hebrews by the hands of the Chaldeans, which name is interpreted 'those who are scattered', or 'those who are corrupt'. As concerning [the statements] that Solomon spent twenty years in building it with costly stones, and that the materials which he made ready for the work were very great in quantity, these words refer to the work of the eighty thousand men who bare burdens, and thirty thousand men who cut down trees in Lebanon, and thirty-six hundred scribes (i.e., overseers), and eighty thousand hewers of stone in the mountains. And after all these labours [to think] that this Enemy, that is to say, Sin, should cause it to be destroyed in a few days! Further, might we not say that the Chaldeans worked against Jerusalem throughout a whole year? Therefore in this one year was scattered and wasted the labours of the preceding twenty years, and this because of Sin. That which the Hebrews built the Chaldeans destroyed because of the lawlessness of the people. That which had been builded in silence was destroyed amid great confusion and noise. That which Solomon built in wisdom Zedekiah destroyed in his lawlessness. Rightly therefore did God put the following proverb in the mouth of Solomon and make him say, 'The wise among women build up houses, but the worker of folly destroyeth it with her hands.' And the blessed man Paul also saith, 'Knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up.'

All these things came into being through Solomon, but the overthrow and the destruction thereof took place through Zedekiah. The sound of the tools of the workmen was not heard during the building of the temple by Solomon the wise man, but the sound of the axes and the hammers shook Jerusalem when the Chaldeans destroyed it through the folly of Zedekiah. Now, after these things, hearken unto the words which the holy man Stephen spake saying, 'Solomon built a temple, but the Most High dwelleth not in that which is made by the hands. Then where shall God dwell?' He saith, 'In very deed God shall dwell with men.' And this indeed took place, for our Lord Jesus Christ came forth from the heavens, and took up His abode with us, and He put on a human body, like unto ours, but without sin. This is the holy and honourable temple which our Saviour took upon Himself of His own free will. Moreover, David spake of Him when he said, 'Thy temple is holy, and is a miracle in righteousness.' Truly and surely the Holy Virgin Mary is the miracle, for no human being hath been created on earth like unto her. Mary is the temple which is more exalted and more honourable than the temple of Solomon, for it is she who hath become the temple of the True God, Jesus Christ, Jesus our Lord, through Whom is the glory, and with Him the Father and the Holy Spirit for all ages of ages. Amen.

Now the word which hath been sent from heaven hath no ill-will (or, grudging) therein, and it is ready to cleanse that which is in the soul, provided that ye yourselves be prepared for the strength of the word, which, however, hath also need of him that listeneth. For it is like the rain from heaven, which doth not produce fruit without the earth, neither doth the earth make things to grow without the rain from heaven. The meaning of which is, that the disciple gaineth no advantage without a master to teach him, neither doth the master without a pupil to listen to him. The Logos giveth the speech; let obedience (or, listening) of those who hearken to it make it perfect. For behold the Logos giveth its strength, [provided that] ye yourselves are without ill-will (or, grudging), and that ye first of all purify yourselves from every restraining influence and [from] ill-will (or, envy), and from unbelief, which are the enemies of righteousness. Now envy warreth against love, and unbelief against belief, even as bitterness warreth against sweetness, and darkness against light, and that which is evil against that which is good; and death warreth against life, and falsehood against truth. Now those who are full of the strength of that which is adverse to good, and have in them envy, and ill-will, and unbelief, hate love and faith (or, belief), and those who hate these things are the enemies of God.

For we know, O my beloved, that all those who are filled with envy, and ill-will, and unbelief, are the enemies of righteousness; take good heed to yourselves, therefore, that ye may not become the enemies of righteousness. Take unto yourselves belief and love, for through these salvation hath come unto all the saints, from the beginning even until this present. Moreover, make ye manifest the power of love, not only in word, but also in deed; now God hath given salvation for all of us. For we ourselves did not come into being as the whole world came into being, by the word of His mouth only, but He made us both by word and by deed. God was not content with making Himself to say, 'Let us make man according to Our likeness and image,' but He made the action follow the word. For God took a piece of earth from the earth, and fashioned man, according to His own image and likeness, and He breathed into his face the breath of life. Now when Adam was nigh unto death because of his transgression, the material body of Adam needed to be fashioned a second time by the hand of God, the Fabricator, in order that he might receive salvation.

Now [the body of] man rotteth away, and is buried in the earth, but the soul, which God breathed into him when he became a living soul, separateth itself from him. And further, when [the body] is dead they carry off the soul into a place of darkness, into the region which is called 'Amente'. For the soul and the body become separated, and death divideth them each from the other. Now the soul is fettered in Amente, but the body (or, flesh) dissolveth in the earth. And there is a very great gulf [fixed] between them—the flesh and the soul. Now the flesh disappeareth, and is diffused abroad in the earth wherein it hath been buried, but the soul is powerless in the bonds of Amente. The soul, which is a strong thing, is fettered in the darkness, but the body, which is a weak thing, dissolveth in the earth. Now the body is not strong [enough] to move, [and] it dissolveth in the [funerary] mountain; neither is the soul able to do anything, [for] it is fettered in Amente. For when death beareth away a man, the strong portion [of him], which is the soul, it fettereth in Amente, and the weak portion [of him], which is the flesh, it carrieth off [into the earth.]

Now it is like a general who captureth the city of a king; when he hath taken possession thereof he first of all seizeth the king and shutteth him up under restraint. And this is what death doeth first of all to the soul. Now the body is like unto a ship which hath no steersman upon it, that is to say, the body perisheth, and it falleth to pieces, limb from limb, because the soul hath ceased to steer it. And the members thereof are dissipated in the [funerary] mountain, and they perish like the city which hath been laid waste, and like the ship which hath no steersman in it, and hath become submerged in the waters. For it is the soul itself which steereth its body, even as the king administereth his city.

Now when the man is dead, his soul is not able to steer his flesh, because it is fettered in Amente, and it drifteth about among the waves of [un]righteousness, even as a steersman whose ship drifteth about on the sea. And the soul heeleth over into the waves which are ready for it, and it is driven on into the breakers of the thieves that engulf it, that is to say, adultery, and fornication, and the love of ornament, and the worship of idols, and the slaying of men, and hatred; now these are the things whereby man slayeth the soul. And because of these things, whereby [the Evil One] hath seduced the soul, it is given over to the Evil One to whom it hath clung closely, and it is carried away into Amente; for he carrieth it off like a thief. Moreover, he maketh it to be without the power to assist its own body which perisheth. The flesh dissolveth in the earth, the substance (?) thereof decayeth, and one member droppeth away from the other because the soul is not in the body to bind them together.

And the soul itself is bound in Amente, having fetters not on the feet only, but on its whole person. For this reason it hath not the power to give help to its own body, and to prevent it from decaying in the earth. Now it is like a captain who dieth when his ship foundereth, that is to say, if the soul were not bound in Amente, it would be able to steer its own body, and would not allow it to perish. Moreover, the soul is bound [in Amente] not only with fetters, but it is bound with its own sins as with cords, and for this reason it hath become powerless, and it forsaketh its body, leaving it to perish in the earth. And besides, the soul is made to suffer tortures in Amente. It becometh the footstool of death, and when it is in Amente it is wont to weep and sigh after its good body, saying, 'Where is my body, that body wherein I used to sing hymns? Where is my body, that body wherein I used to pray to God? Where is my good body, that body wherein, when I was a man, I used to walk about with my friends and my kinsfolk? And I made merry in my body, I was called [by my name] whilst I was in my human body, and now I am no longer a man, but a soul. Now when death hath separated the soul from the body they call the body a "corpse", and it giveth forth foetidness. I enquire after my body, [but] I do not enquire after my name, that body together with which I was a man and in which I spake.'

And when the soul ceaseth to be in its body, the body can never again speak with a pleasing voice, but with a choked and exceedingly sad voice; and it is like unto a musical instrument which hath no sound in it and is speechless. That is to say, the soul is not in the body to give utterance therefrom. And the body perisheth in the earth like a broken pot, and it becometh speechless, and it hath neither sound nor voice; and it is motionless, for it is a corpse, for the soul which adorned it hath departed, taking with it the power of speech. And it is impossible, moreover, to know what any man who is dead was like, for his form is destroyed by the sand. And thou canst know neither [what] his face [was like], nor the form of his person, nor the height of his stature, nor canst thou tell what the sound of his voice was like. For the son cannot know his own father, or his mother, or his brother, or his friend; it is wholly impossible [for him] to recognize the face of any one [of them] in the tomb. The lips have rotted away, the nose hath decayed, the eyes are blocked up, the colour of the face hath changed, and it is impossible to recognize any one of them; because all bodies turn into dust in the tomb, and they perish, and nothing of them remaineth to

Now it is impossible to identify a bone, and to make it to rejoin the body to which it belonged, because the bone hath become bare, and there is no flesh on it. And besides this, even before the flesh which elothed the bone crumbled away it would have been impossible for thee to shew clearly to whom it belonged. For who can identify a bone when it hath been taken out of the member [to which it belonged]? Or who is there that can make known to us the colour [of the hair] of one who is dead? And it is wholly impossible for thee to recognize the bones of Adam, or [to say] what manner of men the Prophets were, and what kind of bodies had the Patriarchs and the Apostles. They have all been cast in the earth, and their heads and their bodies have become separated.

If the son were to seek after his father in the tomb, he would not recognize him, neither would a friend recognize his friend, nor a brother recognize his brother; nor could a man address any one of them by name, being sure that he really was the person who bore that name, or identify his form, because they have all turned to dust in the tomb, and there is no longer any human resemblance in them. For man is scattered abroad over the face of all the earth, and he is poured out in every place, for the earth beareth a grievous burden of tombs and sepulchres, and every place is filled with the blood of those who are dead. Moreover, the earth hath become one [great] sepulchre for those who are dead. It was one man only (i. e., Adam) who was taken from the earth, but those who are buried in it are thousands of thousands, and tens of thousands of tens of thousands. Every place is filled with the dead, the sea and the rivers, the earth and the mountains, and the wild beasts and the birds of prey devour the dead, and are sated with their slaughtered bodies. And Amente is filled with the souls which are bound in fetters.

O thou form of earth wherein grief is abundant! O thou form of man which groweth [only] for destruction, and flourisheth only in sorrows and sighings! The joy of those who are upon the earth is only for a moment, and yet they are wont to think that it is great; but it slippeth away speedily through their hands. Behold, one man rejoiceth, and taketh a woman to wife, and soon after he weepeth for her, for she is dead! Behold, one man rejoiceth in his son, and behold, soon after he weepeth over his grave! Behold, another man exulteth because of his father, and [soon] afterwards he maketh lamentation and burieth him! For there is no profit whatsoever for man; he is one who [is intended to] lament, and there is no consolation in him. He hath not the power to pacify him that shall destroy [him], neither doth he receive him that could console him. Each man, in his own way, must die for himself, and no friend can make an appeal for his friend; but each man must suffer the death to which he is liable. There is no prophet of God who can give men consolation, for they will not hearken unto him. Neither will they really believe in the God of heaven, nor will they do His Will until they fall into death.

Moreover, God is wroth with man because of his unutterable and indescribable transgressions, which destroy him. For man suffereth evil in every way because of his transgressions, [namely] by sickness, by punishment, by sorrow, by the grief and suffering which envelop him, by cold and heat, by burning, by wild beasts, and birds of prey, and reptiles, by the times in which he liveth, and by old age. The winds, and the earthquakes, and the rains, and the dews, do harm to man. The rivers drown him, the wild beasts devour him, and he is destroyed by death. All [these things] have held him in contempt since he was disobedient to God. And having been driven forth from the Paradise he came out into this world which is full of sufferings. In it are envy, and adultery, and fornication, and idolatry: and these are the things through which man dieth. All these things have become fellow-workers with death in respect of man, and they war against him with wickednesses in order that death may bring him to the dust.

For man hath at no time any enjoyment, never hath he any pleasure. For when during his lifetime doth man rejoice? Doth he rejoice when he is in the womb of his mother? What kind of enjoyment can he have when he is carried about in the darkness and foetor thereof, and when he is in pain and restraint on every side in the blood of the belly? But he must come forth from his mother's body: doth he rejoice [in doing this]? Nay, for he runneth an exceedingly great risk of dying. But surely he rejoiceth when he is at his mother's breast? Now in what manner doth he take the nipple? He crieth loudly and weepeth. Now the child that is healthy neither crieth out nor weepeth.

But surely when man is a little child, he crawleth about on the ground and rejoiceth? In what way then doth he rejoice? He is liable to be attacked by some beast, which will trample him to death, and will split open his head, and the foam of his mouth and his intestines will be scattered about on the herbage (?) and on the ground. But surely if he groweth up into a young man he will rejoice? In what way, then, will he rejoice? [I say] he cannot rejoice; for the disposition of youth surroundeth him on every side with the lusts which are full of danger, and if he doth not crush them they cause him to die in an evil manner. But surely when he hath taken a wife, and hath begotten children, he will rejoice? In what way, then, will he rejoice? He will live in a state of anxiety about the children who will commit acts of folly. But surely when he shall have become an old man [he will rejoice, and take rest]? In what way, then, will he have rest? He will rest with the dangers of old age [always] round about him. And at the end of all these [troubles] is the expectation of death, which consumeth the soul like a fire.

O thou death, thou carriest off [people] of every age and condition—the children and the old man, the youth and the man of mature growth. For age (or, stature) is no obstacle to death, and he carrieth away [people] of every age and condition. Now it is an exceedingly sorrowful thing to look upon death in man, and to contemplate his decay. The face hath become ghastly pallid in the garb of death, and the body hath become shrivelled up, and the mouth is shut up, and the hair hath become lustreless (?), and the eyes have become sightless and are shut, and the limbs are motionless. And as for the other changes which take place in the body when it is placed in the earth, the flesh crumbleth away, and the sinews and ligaments decay, and the other [members] which have been laid bare, [and] those which have not been laid bare, become dissolved, and the humours which have dried up, and the dust which is abundant. For man is a thing of nought, and he is like unto a flower of the grasses which withereth, and he shrivelleth up like a log of wood which is burned in the fire and is consumed.

Now after the destruction of man, and [seeing] his wretchedness, which was very great, God visited that which He Himself had fashioned, and had made in His M m own form and likeness, in order that Death might not become the conqueror. Death boasted himself saying, 'I will conquer man.' Now the Devil fighteth against man at all times, and he carrieth him away captive through the evil of death into the gate of Amente. And he hurleth his wickedness against man at all times, until at length he bringeth him under the power of death, and he shutteth him up in the prison of Amente. For this reason the soul which is fast bound in darkness is not able to make its escape from the place of imprisonment of those who are dead. For this reason the Father sent His Son upon the earth. Now He had no body of flesh; therefore the Holy Spirit caused Him to take upon Himself flesh in the womb of the Virgin.

And God became man so that He might deliver him that had gone astray, and might gather together those who were scattered through the envy of the Devil, and might bring them into His fold. Death having made a separation in man, those whom Death had scattered, these did Christ gather together, and He hath made man one again, the soul with the body. For Death bound the soul in Amente, and he made the flesh to dissolve in the earth; thus he divided man into two parts. The Saviour Jesus, however, Himself set free the soul from its bonds, and He bound the flesh together inseparably, and He brought the two towards each other, and made them one of one, the soul and the body, and He rejoined them each to the other. He gave the body to the soul, and the soul He placed in the body; He made [the body] to be an instrument of speech, and He gave it constituted members.

And now, O soul, sing thou hymns of praise in the body wherein thou art, to thine own Imperishable God, because Christ died for us, in order that we might live with Him for ever. For He was neither liable to Death, nor was He under any obligation to die by Death; neither was it absolutely necessary for Him to make Himself to become man, nor had He Himself any need to take upon Himself the flesh of man: for He is God, and He is arrayed in all the glory of Divinity. For this reason he endured patiently and was made after the manner of men who die, [though] He is the God Who alone dieth not. Now for what reason did He come down upon the earth, seeing that He Himself was the King, Who was reigning over the heavens? Who compelled Him to go to the Cross, and to die gladly?

Though He Himself was the Fabricator of the universe, He endured patiently, and allowed Himself to be begotten in the womb of a woman. And they wrapped in swaddling bands Him that had been arrayed in all the glory of the Father. He Who sat on the chariots of the Cherubim was laid in a manger, and He sucked the nipple at the breast of a woman. He before Whom the Seraphim stand in awe ascribing glory to His Divinity, He Who sent forth waters to flow in the rivers, and the rains, and the dews, and Who sent forth waters from heaven, received baptism in the Jordan by a mortal man. He from Whom the whole universe receiveth light was treated with contempt by the Jews. He upon Whose Word hang the seven heavens, and the firmament, and the earth, and Amente, was Himself hung upon a Cross of wood. He Who took a clod of dead earth, and fashioned it into a living man, bare patiently the scorn of those who mocked Him, in order that by the contempt of Himself He might save man, who had gone to perdition through his own sins. He gave His soul of salvation for the soul of man. He gave His holy flesh on behalf of the whole race of Adam. And He gave His Blood on behalf of all. He gave Man for man, and His death for our death. And the death which men are under an obligation to suffer, and which they fear, became a blessing, because Christ died for us.

This is the love which Christ made manifest. He died for us, who are sinners, in order that He might save us. For what righteous man ever died on behalf of a sinner? Or what father ever died on behalf of his own son, whom he had begotten? Again, what friend ever died on behalf of his friend? Or what loving brother ever died on behalf of his brother? No man ever did such a thing, that is to say, no man ever let himself die for another by his own wish, or through his own good pleasure only. But Christ came of Himself, and of His own free will and love. And as to us sinners, not only did He fashion us in the form of Adam and make us to become men, but when we were dead in [our] sins, He came and bore suffering on our behalf; and He hath given us life again by His love.

Now at the time when He fashioned us with His hand, He had not suffered [on our behalf]; but now that He hath begotten us a second time, through the suffering of His death, He suffereth with us even as doth she who gave [us] birth. He hath borne with us for an exceedingly long time, and He hath not burnt up the world, [the people whereof] treated Him with contempt, and scourged Him by the hands of sinners, and put Him to death, and buried Him, according to that which the prophet spake saying, 'Thou hast brought me into the dust (or, grave) of death.' Who was it that brought Him there? It was the wicked people whom He loved that put Him to death. He came to them to save them, and they cast Him aside like a straw. Consider moreover, O men, the return which the children of Israel made to our God. They pierced the side of Him Who had created them. They inflicted sufferings upon Him Who had on very many occasions conferred benefits upon them and their fathers. They paid Him back with evil things instead of good, and they shewed hatred instead of the true [love] wherewith He had loved them. They made sorrowful Him Who had given joy unto them. He Who had raised the dead among them, and they saw Him doing it; He Who had healed the lame, and cleansed those who were leprous, He Who had given light to the blind— He it was Whom they killed, and hung upon a tree!

Consider moreover, O men, the insolent daring of the Jews. They hung [upon a tree] Him that had hung out the earth. They drove nails into Him that had stablished the earth on the waters. They broke [the limbs] of Him that had heaped up the heavens in His wisdom. They bound as a prisoner Him that had released them from the servitude of Pharaoh. They put fetters on Him that had set free sinners. To Him that had given them a stream of water to quench their thirst did they give vinegar to drink when He thirsted, and they sustained Him with gall when He was in the agony of death on the Cross, and they did not remember that He it was Who had given them [water as sweet as] honey to drink from the rock. They bound the hands and the feet of Him that had unbound the limbs of those who were paralysed. They themselves were bound in the hand of the Devil because they performed His will; for he kept them bound until the coming of Him that should release those who were in captivity, and set free those who were bound. Of Him that had sent forth the sun and the moon to give light to them, and had opened the eyes of those who were blind from their birth, did they close the eyes like those of a dead man. Him Who had raised the dead did they bury in the earth.

O what a new and incomprehensible mystery! He Who was the Judge was judged. He Who had done away their sins was bound with cords. Nails were driven into the hands of Him Who had fashioned men. They hung on a tree Him Who had placed breath in their throats. They broke Him Who could break their members from their bodies. On the Cross they compelled Him Who had filled the earth with life to drink gall. He through Whom the whole universe liveth died. Now they did scoff at Him greatly whilst He was on the Cross, and before He died they gave utterance to many mocking words, and they gibed at Him. When our Lord was hanging upon the wood of the Cross, the sepulchres opened, and Amente was rent asunder. He delivered the souls [therefrom], and He raised up the dead, and very many of the saints shewed themselves in Jerusalem. Now these things happened before the mystery was fulfilled on the Cross. And when Christ died, He abolished the Enemy, He bound in fetters the mighty tyrant, He set His Cross before him. He conquered in their presence, and He gained the victory.

Our Lord Jesus Christ lifted up His Body on the Cross, and when Death had seen Life, he fell down at His feet. Then the Powers of the heavens marvelled at His wisdom. The angels were stupefied with admiration of Him. The elements were terror-stricken, and all created things were shaken when they saw this new mystery, and this awful sight. They saw God hanging on a tree, and men were lifted up near Him on the tree. His feet were fastened to it by means of nails, and likewise His hands, which were extended, were fastened by nails to the tree. And the Jews mocked at Him, and laughed at Him, and derided Him, because they did not understand the mystery. The earth trembled (or, shook) when it saw the shamelessness of the Jews. The mountains thereof trembled, and the hills shook and quaked. The sea made its waves to rise up to a height sufficient to cover the world. The abyss was disturbed, and opened its mouth to swallow up all created things. The whole of creation was moved with wrath because of the abominable insolence of the Jews. The luminaries of heaven became dark, the sun withdrew to rest, the moon was perturbed and hid itself, and the stars ceased to shine on the wicked men. Though the moon was full, it did not shine, and moreover, the sun having withdrawn to rest, the whole world was in darkness. They saw their God Who had created them hanging upon a tree like a thief. The day turned into night.

And an angel who was wroth came forth from among all the angels, with his drawn sword in his hands, to slay them quickly altogether. And he was prevented [from doing this] by the mercy of Christ. And the angel laid his hand upon the curtain of the temple, and rent it in twain, from the top to the bottom. And all the angels were looking forth from the heavens, and they were wroth because the lovingkindness of God the Father prevented them all from destroying the Jews. The light of the day took to flight, the world was shrouded in darkness, the darkness of the blackest night. All these things happened before Christ closed His eyes. And His light made haste to rise in Amente. And Amente was perturbed when the Lord went down into it, not in the flesh, but in the spirit; for He had power over all creation, and He could destroy [it] before His last hour. He poured out His Blood on the earth, and It protected the earth and those who were therein. His Body continued to hang upon the tree for the sake of the elements, and His Spirit went down into Amente, and saved those who were in that region. He despoiled Amente, and made Himself Master of all of it.

His Body raised up those who were dead on the earth, and His Spirit set free the souls which were in Amente. For in that hour in which our Lord was hanging upon the Cross, in that very same hour, the sepulchres opened, and the gatekeepers of Amente saw Him, and they shook with fear and took to flight. He burst open the gates of brass, He broke through the bolts of iron, and He took the souls which were in Amente and carried them to His Father. When the Lord had broken up Amente, and had gained the victory over Death, He set the Enemy under restraint. Now the souls He brought out of Amente, but the bodies He raised up on the earth. Furthermore, consider the mighty and marvellous strength which was in His mortal body as He hung upon the tree! For neither was creation able to endure His dead body, nor could the Elements endure it, and Amente could not endure His Spirit. Every place was filled with trouble because of the sufferings of our Saviour, and all created things were troubled because of His death, for they were not accustomed to see their Lord treated with scorn and contempt. All created things were stupefied and said, 'What is this new

mystery? The judges pass judgement upon Him and He speaketh not. Those who know Him not look upon Him, and are not ashamed. Those who have no authority over Him take possession of Him, and He resisteth them not. Those who are not His equals treat Him with scorn, and He becometh not angry. He Who is impassible endureth sufferings, and is not wroth. He Who is immortal hath died, and He hath endured [pain] patiently. He Who dwelleth in the heavens hath been buried in the earth, and hath kept silence.' 'What is this mystery?' saith all creation, for every thing marvelled at His lovingkindness. And having risen from the dead at dawn on the First Day of the Week, and having vanquished death, He bound in fetters the tyrant and set men free. Then did every created thing know that the Judge had had judgement passed on Him for the sake of the salvation of man, and that, for man's sake, He Who was invisible had been seen, and He Who was infinite had been measured, and He Who was impassible had endured sufferings, and He Who was immortal had died, and He Who was in the heavens had been buried.

For He Who had become man was judged in order that He might shew mercy to us. He was put to death in order that He might set free those who were in bonds. He endured sufferings in order that He might give us rest. He died that He might make us to live. He was buried in order that He might raise us [from the dead]. If the Lord had not endured sufferings with the race of man, by what manner of means would mankind have been saved? Moreover, Death fell down at the feet of Christ, and Christ carried him away, and the Devil who had been a rebel became a captive. Christ made Amente to quake and the power of the Devil He turned backwards. Death heard the voice of the Lord as He cried unto all the souls, 'Come forth, O ye who are bound in fetters! O ye who sit in the darkness and shadow of death, on you hath the light risen. I preach unto you life, for I am Christ, the Son of God.' Then He set free the souls of the saints, and He raised them up with Him.

And earth itself cried out saying, 'Spare me, O Lord. Free Thou me from the curse which is on me. Remove from me the wickedness of the Devil. Thou hast held me to be worthy of having Thy Body buried in me, in the Place of the Blood, which was poured out upon me, in order that Thou mightest raise men from the dead. Thy glorious Image is spread abroad in every place. Except Thyself, when Thou utterest Thy words, no one shall resist Thy commands; but it was Thy love which compelled Thee to come to the beings whom Thou hadst fashioned. For behold, Thou didst stand on the earth, and didst seek after the members of the beings whom Thou hadst made. Take Thou, then, man, the deposit. Take Thou Thine image, which Thou hast committed as a pledge to me. Take Thou Adam, being complete in his likeness.'

Then Christ rose from the dead in the third hour of the day, and He took the saints with Him to His Father; now all mankind shall receive salvation through the death of Christ. For one was judged instead of all men, and salvation and mercy [came] into the whole world. Moreover, one died in order that all might rise from the dead. And the Lord died on behalf of every one, in order that every one should rise from the dead with Him. For having died, He put man on Himself like a garment, and took him with Him into the heaven which is in the heavens, and man became one of one with Him. He took Him as a gift to His Father. The gift was not gold, neither was it silver, but it was man whom He had created in His own likeness, and in His own image. Moreover, this [Christ] did God the Father exalt. He seated Him on His right hand, on the Exalted Throne, and He appointed Him to be the Judge of those who are living, and of those who are dead, and Captain of all His creation. He sitteth above the Cherubim, He Who hath created the Jerusalem of heaven, that is to say, the True Bridegroom, and the King of all the Ages. Glory be unto Him for all ages of ages. Amen.

Great is the storm, but it hath not been able to hinder the readiness of those who have come. Great is the trial, but it hath not destroyed our sufferings. The Church shall never be free from those who contend against her, [but] she shall never be overcome. Certain folk plot craftily against her, [but] she vanquisheth them. Howsoever great may be the evil which they meditate against her, she increaseth exceedingly. The waves break over her and have no effect upon her, for she hath taken her stand on this Rock, which is the immoveable Word of God, and she is herself immoveable. The Rock it was Who said, 'The gates of Amente shall not prevail against her.' He who fighteth [against her] destroyeth only himself, but the Church herself becometh stronger and stronger. Job was a good man before [his] trial, but the days wherein he was healthy in his body were not like unto the days in which his infirmity wove a crown and set it upon his head.' Be not afraid at any time of temptation if thy soul be prepared. For the matter is like unto the gold to which the furnace doeth no injury, that is to say, tribulation doeth no harm to him that beareth himself with fortitude. What doth the furnace do to the gold except to purify it more and more? That is to say, he who riseth up before tribulation, when the suffering which hath to be endured cometh to him, is exalted thereby. Cowardly inaction weakeneth the soul, but trial giveth victory to the layman. Know, moreover, that those who endure no trial receive shame, and that those who endure trial receive election. Where are the things which are reckoned unto them? Nothing maketh itself visible.

I come out into the market, and I look upon the wares [therein], [I see that] they are weak plants on which the wind blew, and they were thrown to the ground, and straw which had been threshed out; nevertheless the flour hath remained pure. Who is there that can fight against them [successfully]? Their conscience it is which giveth them victory over those who fight against them. Let us prepare a table. Yesterday Paul provided his table for us, to-day the table is that of Matthew. Yesterday it was the tentmaker, to-day it is the tax-gatherer. Yesterday it was the blasphemer, to-day it is the man of obedience. Yesterday it was the pursuer, to-day it is the man of avarice. The blasphemer, however, did not continue to be a blasphemer, but became an Apostle; and he who was a robber did not continue to be a man of greed, but became an Evangelist. I will not make mention of the wickednesses of their earlier years, which afterwards became spiritual excellences. Our masters did not give light whilst they lived in their former state of sin, but they did shine brightly at the last [when living] in [a state of] right-cousness.

Now the tax-gatherers and the blasphemers are the masters of the earth. What kind of place, then, is that of the tax-gatherer? It is a place wherein men plunder at mid-day. The injustice which is according to the law maketh itself manifest, as well as the injustice which is done in the presence of the law. The tax-gatherer is the advocate of thieves. When a thief is caught in the very act of stealing he is ashamed, but the tax-gatherer is bold of speech and action, even while he plundereth. But suddenly the tax-gatherer became an Evangelist; how did this come about? When Jesus was passing by, He saw him sitting in his tax-gatherers' shed, and He said unto him, 'Rise up, follow Me.' O the might of the word! The hook came, and it hooked the captive, and it armed him like a soldier. The hook came, and it made the clay become gold. He (Matthew) was in the pit of wickedness, and it drew him up into the mesh of the net of spiritual excellence. Let no man fall into despair concerning his salvation, for evil deeds possess not a constitution which endureth for ever. And, moreover, we were created in a state of liberty.

If thou art a tax-gatherer, thou hast the power to turn thyself into an Evangelist. And if thou art a thief, thou hast the power to enter into the Paradise. And if thou art a magician thou hast the power to worship thy God. For there is no kind of sin whatsoever which repentance will not do away; therefore God hath chosen the greatest sinners on the earth, so that no man might fall into despair about himself. Thou shalt not say, 'I have committed sin, which is what usually happeneth,' [for] thou hast a Physician by thee Who is wont to treat thee with such medicines as thou wishest. Was it not He Who made thee? [And when] thou didst not exist did not He make thee to be? He hath not made thee anew as He made thee at the beginning, when He took a piece of earth, and fashioned it into a man, but He hath made the earth [and] the clay, to become flesh, similar to that which hath ligaments (or, nerves), and bones, and hair, and eyelids, and eyes, and the shoulders (?), and the breast, and the hands, and the feet, and all the other members. Are not all these members earthy in their substance?

Then entered Skill in handicraft, and she made all created things according to their kinds. Inquire not concerning the manner in which they were made, and waste not thy labour in prying into what is, but believe that the matter was super-miraculous. Thou wouldst never be able to describe the means by which creation was made. If fire cometh upon thorns it consumeth them: how much more then shall the Word of God make sins to become white, and consume them? And if thou art in the habit of saying, 'I have sinned exceedingly, but who is there that is without sin?'—now, I am using the very words which thou thyself wilt say— confess thy sins first of all, and [then] do thou the work of making thyself just. If thou hast committed sin, make haste, stand up on thy feet, be sorry, and let thy heart eat thee [in remorse], and pour out thy tears. For did not the sinful woman act in this wise? And did she not pour out her tears, and lay hold on repentance?

'Now Jesus came out of the border of Tyre and Sidon, and behold a woman set out to go to Him.' The Evangelist is stricken with wonder, and saith, 'a woman,' [that is to say,] the strongest weapon of the Devil! The mother of sin! The beginning of wickedness! [Woman,] who was cast forth from the Paradise! This is woman, and such is [her] nature. O what strange (or, new) and wonderful works are these! The Jews fled from Him, but the woman fled to Him, and made supplication unto Him saying, 'O Son of David, have mercy upon me.' Consider this woman, who made herself to be a preacher, and one who acknowledged the government of God, for she said, 'Lord,' which was the confession of [His] Divinity, and 'Son of David,' which was the acknowledgement [of His manhood], 'have mercy upon me.' Is not this act better than every other act in this world? Consider how this truly wise soul said, 'Have mercy upon me.' Is not this citizenship better than every other citizenship in the world? [She said:] 'I was in danger, I fled to His feet for mercy. Wilt Thou, then, search out my sins? Give me salvation abundantly, inasmuch as the place of mercy searcheth not out sins.'

O thou woman, what didst thou think within thyself? Thou wast a law-breaker and a harlot. How couldst thou possibly dare to go out to meet Him? Consider, moreover, the wisdom of this woman. She did not make an appeal to the Apostles saying, 'Take me in to Him.' She made no supplication to Peter, neither needed she any of the other [Apostles to help her. But she said:] 'I want, however, to see [Him], but I have no need of men to make Him come to where I am.' And why? 'Because He came down, and took upon Himself flesh, I will speak with Him in the flesh.' O how great is the lovingkindness of God towards man! He before Whom the Cherubim in the heavens tremble in awe [permitted] a sinful woman to stand and to talk with Him upon the earth! She said: 'Have mercy upon me! for this reason hast Thou taken upon Thyself flesh, and hast come forth, and hast entered into the world for the sake of sinners like unto myself.' Those who are in the heavens tremble in awe before Him, yet those on the earth hold converse with Him boldly. 'Have mercy upon me!' What is it that thou desirest? 'I seek after mercy.' What dost thou wish? 'My daughter is grievously afflicted. My sorrow is great. Heal thou my members which are within me, for I am being consumed; preserve my bowels, and take Thou me out of this burning heat of fever. What shall I do? I shall die.'

Why did she not say, 'Have mercy on my daughter?' On the contrary she said, 'Have mercy on me, for my daughter doth not perceive the torment of the disease with which she is grievously vexed. That she is seized by the disease in its most severe form [is evident] because she doth not perceive what it is. Have mercy upon me! because I see this sight every day, and great is my grief. What do I call her? I call her a dead body, for though she moveth and liveth yet she knoweth not what she doeth. For I know not the name of the disease, neither do I know of what kind it is, or whether my daughter shall die through it. Now death appertaineth to every one. In what condition shall I see [her on my return]? With her eyes starting from their sockets in terror, and her hands with the bones thereof protruding, and the hair torn out in frenzy, and the mouth dripping with foam, and meanwhile the devil which is contending with her is hidden inside her, and doth not appear. Have mercy upon me! My waterflood (or, tempest) is great. This is the kind of disease from which I [suffer], and also from demoniacal wickedness. Have mercy upon me!'

Consider the wisdom of this woman! Why did she not go to the magicians, or to those who used exorcisms, or to the women who dealt with the bodies of the dead, or to the soothsayers who were in the habit of paying honour to devils, or to those who could make the sufferings of sick folk to become greater or to diminish? Nay, she forsook the court of the Devil, and she came to the feet of the Saviour of souls [and said], 'Have mercy on me, for my daughter is grievously vexed.' Dost thou observe the fortitude and the patient endurance? And as the woman raised herself from the ground, 'He answered her not a word.' O these things which were done publicly! She made supplication to Him, and she besought Him earnestly, and she entreated Him, but He answered her not a word. The sickness increased, but the Physician kept silence. The blow was sharp and severe, and the Word kept silence. The Physician held His hand. What is this new and wonderful matter? Thou didst run after others, and didst say, 'Come ye unto Me. I will heal you.' Yet from her who ran after Thee Thou didst run away! 'Have mercy on me!' 'I was not sent unto any except the sheep which had gone astray of the House of Israel.'

And His disciples went to Him and entreated Him, saying, 'Send her away, for she crieth out after us.' [And the woman said:] 'Thou Thyself seest that my outcry is great, [but] my cry, which is in my heart also, is to Thee. And again they said unto Him, As the Lord, and as a Lover of mankind, give salvation to this woman.' 'What shall I give? I am not sent unto any except the sheep which have gone astray of the House of Israel.'

This is in itself the whole matter. It was for this very thing that Thou didst take upon Thyself flesh, that Thou mightest do good to a certain woman who was going to perish. Wouldst Thou, then, leave the world to become a desert [and destroy] the Scythians, and the Arabs, and the Elamites, and [the people of] Cilicia, and Cappadocia, and the Syrians, and the Phoenicians, and [the people] of every place on which the sun looketh? Or didst Thou come into this world only for the sake of the Jews? Wilt Thou allow [the lands of] the Gentiles to become a desert? Or hast Thou forgotten that they scoff at Thy Father and worship idols? Wherefore, then, did David speak according to the flesh and say, 'Ask of Me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and thy dominion unto the end of the earth.' And in like manner also Isaiah, who saw the Seraphim, said, 'The root of Jesse shall [flourish], and He who shall arise shall rule the nations, [and] in Him shall the nations hope.' And again, 'A ruler shall not cease from Judah, nor a governor from his heritage, until there come He that hath been constituted [ruler], and He it is Whom the nations await.' And again, 'O all ye nations, clap ye your hands.' And [yet Thou doest thus,] Thou, O Lover of every soul, Who didst say to Thy disciples, 'Go ye, baptize all nations, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost!'

This Canaanitish woman, however, received a profitable rebuke. She came out of a place of madness and stupefying folly, a place where they worshipped idols. This miserable woman came and made entreaty by reason of the matter which had come upon her daughter, and Thou didst say unto her, 'I have not been sent to any except the sheep which have gone astray of the House of Israel.' Yet in that very hour wherein the centurion came to Thee Thou didst say, 'I am coming, I will heal him.' And again, in the hour of the thief Thou didst say unto him, 'This day thou shalt be with Me in My Paradise.' And again [in the case of] the man who was paralysed, Thou didst make him take up his bed, and he walked. And again, Lazarus didst Thou call when he had been in the tomb four days, [and he came forth]. The dead Thou didst raise to life. Those whose members were withered Thou didst gird with strength. The harlots Thou didst hold to be more chaste than the virgins. And what didst Thou say to her, the wretched Canaanitish woman, whom Thou wouldst not answer [at first]? He said, 'Is it good to take the bread of the children to throw it to the dogs?'

O the solicitude of this Physician! He understood her, and she had been rebuked. All these words were [intended] to shame the Jews who called themselves 'children'. They had, however, taken to themselves the nature of their own dogs, according to that which Paul spake saying, 'Beware ye of dogs. Beware ye of these workers of evil. Beware ye of [those of] the concision.' And again, she said [unto Him], 'Have mercy on me!' But He said, 'Is it good to take the bread of the children to throw to the dogs?' [And she said within herself:] 'Yea, Lord, Thou callest me a dog, [and] I confess that Thou treatest me like unto a dog. I do not excuse myself from derision. Give me that which Thou seest fit. Thou hast called me a dog, give me, then, the crumbs. For the dogs are in the habit of eating of the crumbs which fall from the table of their masters.' He said unto her, 'Who hath until now begged for that which is cast away and rejected? Therefore, O woman, thou shalt be rewarded straightway.'

And the Lord spake saying, 'O thou woman, may thy prayers be heard in that hour wherein I utter thy appeal before God, and offer supplication to Him.' Thou sayest, 'I have appealed to Him once, and I have prayed to Him twice, and thrice, and ten times and twenty times have I bowed the knee [to Him]. Thou hast bowed the knee, and thy mouth spake, but thy heart was counting the cost (?), and thou wast thinking about thy friends and thy substance. Thy soul hath taken its stand at the door, turn not thou away until thou hast received thy request.' Now certain folk are wont to go into the church and pour forth tens of thousands of strings of words; but God hath no need of a multitude of words, though He hath very great need of thy prayer. Make thou thyself to be like unto this Canaanitish woman; pray in whatsoever place thou art. If thou art in the bath, or if thou art in the street, pray. And if they hale thee before the judge, pray. And if the judge break thee by his decision, let thy prayer go to God on thy way to execution; He enquireth not about the place [where thou prayest], but He doth enquire concerning a right mind.

When Jeremiah was in the pit of mire he found God there, and he prayed to Him. Daniel was in the pit of the lions, and God helped him. The Three Saints who were in the furnace turned to God, and made supplication unto Him. When Job was [seated] in the dust, among the worms, he turned to God, and made an appeal to Him. And thou thyself also, if thou makest an appeal unto Him, He will hear thee in thy prayer. Make thou thyself like unto this Canaanitish woman. And when thou goest into the church of the Persians, and of the Cuthaeans, and of the Hindoos (?), and of the Moors, thou shalt hear Christ crying out, 'O thou woman, great is thy faith.' And behold, very many times thou shalt acquire blessing and honour by the remembrance of her, which shall abide and be glorious. And though thou hast not a daughter with thee who is possessed of a devil, yet hast thou with thee thy soul which committeth sin. To him who is possessed of a devil it is usual to shew mercy; but he who committeth sin of himself men are wont to hate. Against him that is possessed of a devil the matter is not reckoned; for him that committeth sin of himself there is no defence whatsoever.

Now as concerning the Canaanitish woman: in what hour was the devil cast out [from her daughter]? In that very hour wherein Christ said unto her, 'O thou woman, great is thy faith.' The Son of God cast out the devil, for no man would be able to go into the place where he was, but He was God, Who filleth every place. Had He wished He could have gone against the prince [of devils] at the same time. That which is under His feet shall not destroy thee. If it were not thus one might say unto thee, 'He is inattentive, or He is asleep.' Now this is not the habit with God. In the hour wherein thou shalt cry unto Him He shall hear thee, and at every hour. Let neither doorkeeper nor steward prevent thee [from crying]. Do thou say 'Have mercy on me', like this Canaanitish woman, and He shall come unto thee immediately.

Consider the following speech which maketh manifest that the Son is like unto the Father, and that He is equal with Him. At the time wherein God created the heavens He said, Let heaven be,' and the heaven was. And, 'Let the earth be,' and the earth was. [And], 'Let the air (or, sky) be,' and the air was. [And], 'Let the sun and moon be,' and they came into being. O the goodness of God which created for us the Son Who is equal with the Good Father in every respect, in Divinity The Father spake in times of old saying, 'Let [things] be,' and they came into being. The Son Himself said, 'Let it be unto thee according to that which thou desirest,' and it was so, and her daughter ceased to be vexed by the devil from that hour. What was it that enabled the Canaanitish woman to drive the devil out of her daughter, or to drive him out at all? [It was done] according to the command of the Saviour of souls. In the mercy and lovingkindness of our God, and by His Grace, shall we ourselves be healed. For all these things let us give thanks to God the Father, and to the Son, Jesus Christ, Who hath informed us by His holy mercy saying, 'I am in My Father, and My Father is in Me'—to Whom belongeth the glory for [all] ages. Amen.

If the blessed man Paul, who became the Apostle of the Gentiles, the teacher of the Holy Church, who forgot the things which were behind and reached out to those that were in front of him, who being in a corruptible body made himself to be like unto the incorporeal hosts, who finished his course and kept the Faith, who was trained in his fasting, and was in dangers in abundance, who excelled in hunger and thirst, who served the service of preaching from Jerusalem to Illyricum, who possessed the attributes of Christ Who spake in him, that earthly angel and heavenly man, that orator-apostle who became a receiver of the Spirit, who ascended up to the third heaven and heard words which cannot be uttered, who was incomparable in zeal and rich in love, that protector of the Church and orator of the fear of God, that succourer of the sick, and sponsor of the faithful, and rebuker of the Jews, who became the net and enclosed us all, who even after his death was a teacher and a preacher, who taught how meet it was for us to ascend into heaven; I say, if this man, who possessed all these spiritual excellences to such an extent that he could say, 'I feel nothing whatsoever in my soul,' said, 'I am afraid lest I who have preached unto others become a castaway,' what shall we do who do not even possess the rectitude of spiritual excellence?

Therefore vigil and prayer are essential at all times, and we must ask God, not for gold, or silver, or any earthly riches whatsoever, but especially for the kingdom of heaven, and pray that we may rejoice in our Lord. Some rejoice in riches, and some in wine and feasts of dainty food, and others in an abundance of offspring and in the glory which is vain. Now he who is a virgin rejoiceth in our Lord, so that there may be to him glory from Him, and he shall say, 'From before Thee is my glory.' There is nothing hateful and filthy [wanting] in the soul which is joined unto evil passions and is bound [by them]. Therefore it is meet that we should be exceedingly careful concerning the beauty of the soul, and we must say like the holy man, 'O God, in Thy good pleasure give to my glory strength,' so that the Lord when He seeth its beauty shall say, 'Thou art wholly beautiful, my friend, and there is no blemish in thee.'

But see that, although thou dost preserve the beauty of virginity, thou art not lifted up through thy beauty, lest through thy boasting God shall pay no heed to thee, and thy exaltation shall be rebuked. For what canst thou endure which shall be equal to the things which He endured for thy sake? He humbled Himself, and with His precious Blood bought thee. He fasted for thee, He Who stablished the hosts of heaven tasted bitterness for thy sake. He Who crowned the heavens with the splendour of the stars was crowned with a crown of thorns for thy sake, and was obedient even unto death. Now it is right not that we should rejoice according to [the greatness of] these things, but that we should weep, and beat our breasts, and should be persuaded to do what he said, 'Repent ye in your hearts on your beds of what ye say,' so that we may remember the things which we have done in the daytime and lament. In this manner did Ahab repent: he rent his garments, and he fasted, and put on sackcloth. And what did God say unto him? [He said,] 'I will not bring the evil upon him.'

For this reason also our Redeemer said in the Gospel, 'Blessed are those who weep,' not over a dead man, nor because of some loss, but for sin. So that, like David, we may say, 'All the night long have I bedewed my couch, and I have made my cushions to be saturated.' And again, 'Streams of water have come from mine eyes because I have not kept Thy Law.' Wash away with tears the filth which is in thy soul, smite upon thy breast, bend thy face to the ground, and remember the things wherein thou hast sinned. At one time or another thou hast been snared through thine eyes, like David, and thou hast opened the windows (or, shutters) wickedly, and thine eyes were [enemies] against thy soul. Shut thou, with groanings and with tears, the eye which hath seen wickedly, for it is in the habit of bringing a man by means of little things to great things wherein he falleth. Thou hast clean apparel; sit not down in every place lest it be defiled. For if thou art careless about one dirty spot, and about two, and about three, thou wilt finally be like a man who possesseth a wholly dirty garment, and it will not be cast away by thee even though it become muddy throughout. And why? Therefore prayers are required that our foot may not trip over a stone, and that a camp of the angels of the Lord may deliver us; and that we may be able to say confidently, 'It was an angel who delivered me from all these evils,' and that an angel may call us as he called Abraham.

Now the angels love those who love their Lord. And the prophet also said, 'Take the harp and bring forth the drum, the beautiful harp with the psaltery.' He giveth one thing and demandeth three. And why? Because we are constituted of three things, even as the Apostle said, 'That we may be preserved perfect, body, and soul, and spirit'; now the drum is the body, and the harp is the spirit, and the psaltery is the soul. Now the drum hath a mortal skin: put this to death so that thou shalt praise God with the drum and with [all] four (sic) [instruments]. He delivered His Body over to sufferings, and disgrace, and death, for thy sake. Take heed lest He say unto thee, What advantage is there in My Blood that I should go down into destruction?' What are we able to do or what shall be equal before Him to all these things which He suffered for our sake?

Be then a tree which produceth fruit, so that thou mayest be blessed by God, and thou shalt give unto Him fruit according to thy power. And if it be that thou art unable to give the full hundredfold, give a portion thereof, that is to say, sixtyfold; and if even this amount be difficult for thee, give one third, that is to say, thirtyfold. Only give what thou hast the power to give, so that thou mayest not be cut down like that tree which was without fruit, and fall into the fire. If thou hast neither gold nor silver, that is to say, a life of purity, see that thou dost not become grass and reeds for the rivers of fire, see that thou dost not make thyself that pillar which the Lord hated, see that thou dost not set up thy mind as an idol, and He accuse thee in the Day of Judgement, so that thou mayest not be there without witnesses and be rebuked, and mayest not have to confess the things which thou knowest thou hast done and said [before] others.

Weep thou beforehand in order that thou mayest not hear in the Other World [the words], 'Is it now that thou wouldst repent? There is no time here for repentance.' Whilst we still have the time let us cultivate good works. For in the case of anything else if we lose it there is the possibility that we shall recover it, but if we once lose this opportunity we shall never be able [to find] another. For this reason also Paul admonisheth us, saying, 'Whilst we still have the time let us cultivate good works.' Let us weep over the sins which we have committed. Let us make a practice of raining down tears [from our eyes] until it is easy for us [to do so]. Let us smite upon our hearts, so that we may be saved from the gnashing of teeth which is in the Other World. Let us weep like David that we may be worthy of grace. For he not only wept but kept vigil also, and he flooded his bed [with tears]. One night he sinned, and he wept the whole night, and it is probable that he made confession and said, 'Thou didst give me eyes that I might see Thy light with them, but I have seen with them in an evil manner. I have transgressed and erred through the eye, for I have gazed with mine eyes in an evil manner, and I opened the shutters thereof with evil intent. For this reason I will cleanse them with tears.' In this way it is meet for us to weep, and to cleanse the eye which hath looked with a wicked intent.

Thou hast seen the sore; thou hast good knowledge of the cure [for it]. Take good heed to the windows (or, shutters) of thy soul, not only of the eyes, but also of the hearing and the mouth, for these are the openings through which, according to our desire, bad things or good things enter. Observe lest death go up into thy windows. But let there be at all times in front of thine eyes the commandments which concern chastity of life, and in thine ears let there be the similitude of the admonitions of God, and in thy mouth hymns of praise and meditation on the Old and the New Testaments. These windows it is meet for us to open to God and to shut to sin. Do thou say like that holy soul which said, 'I will go up into the palm-tree and lay hold of the height thereof,' that thou mayest love integrity. And let thy heart be pure that it may leap up towards heaven, and let it not creep about among the things of earth. Observe that there are also thorns on the palm, that is to say, rebukes against sin, for 'the words of the wise men are like ox-goads, and like iron bolts which are heated red hot.' Let those who would be justified by means of these things repent in their hearts, and flee from every [kind of] sin. But lay hold firmly on the top of the palm-tree, so that when the winds of temptations blow thou mayest always remain there without falling.

Occupy thou thyself at all times with the Holy Scriptures, for as when wine is drunk it silenceth griefs and changeth [sorrow] into gladness, so also when spiritual wine is drunk it shall change thy soul into gladness. Remember thou God at all times, and with the holy man do thou say, 'I have set the Lord in front of me at all times, and He hath been on my right hand so that I should not be moved.' Write thou these words on thy hands, and let them be visible before thine eyes. For if thou honourest God He will be at thy right hand, and if thou treatest Him with contumely through thy wicked actions, Satan shall be at thy right hand. Thus when Judas treated Him with contumely, the Book saith that Satan was standing at his right hand. Glorify thou God at every hour, saying, 'I will exalt Thee, O my God and King.' By deeds and not by words only shalt thou exalt Him. For thus did David bless Him—for ever, and for ever and ever. Not for months, nor for a season, nor for a year, but always, for he knew that when man finisheth God beginneth.

Perhaps, however, thou wilt say, 'How is it possible for the heart to have sufficient strength in it to exalt God at all times?' [Let thy heart be] like unto that which Paul had, who said, 'I feel nothing whatsoever in my soul'; and like that of David, who said, 'Cleanse Thou me from secret faults'; and like that which our Redeemer commanded us to have, saying, 'Blessed are those who are pure in their hearts, for they shall see God.' Thus he who sinneth not exalteth God every day, and not in words only, but also in deeds doth he shew forth the reality of the matter. And a man must not fall into despair, though sickness attack him, or the loss of possessions come upon him, or even death, but he must say with Paul, 'Who shall separate me from the love of Christ?' &c.

The Lord did not abide without due care in the place wherein was impurity, but in an upper chamber which was made ready and arranged in good order, therefore thou shalt make ready thy soul that it may be a place of abode for God. Remember thou that alarming and awful day wherein every man shall rise up, and [God] shall give judgement concerning the things which [a man] hath done, in the place where sinners shall appear before the eyes of men and of angels, and everything shall be revealed, where they shall appear before those who knew not [of them], where are the river of fire and the serpent which shooteth forth poison, where every man shall stand forth clearly in the open, where the books of the hearts shall be opened and read aloud in the middle of the theatre, with angels and men round about. Then shall be laid bare the things which are hidden and the things which are revealed, the things which [were done] in the night and those which [were done] in the day, those which we forget and those which we remember and were committed when we knew temptation; for the things which are hidden here shall in that world come into the light.

Understand that we are about to go from this world to that Judge Whom no man can deceive, to a place where not only our actions, but also our words and our thoughts will be judged, where also the failings which were thought to be trivial matters [will bring upon us] a terrible judgement. Remember these things at all times, and forget not the flame which is never quenched. Consider carefully at all times Him Who shall come to judge the living and the dead. Think, too, carefully of the thousands and tens of thousands of angels who shall stand before that Judge! And thou shalt hear beforehand [with thine] hearing the sound of the last trumpet, and the awful voice of the Judge. And thou shalt see beforehand with the eye those who are sent forth into the outer darkness, and those others who remain outside the door of the feast chamber, and this [is their fate] even after the labour and patient endurance of virginity. Consider

Y y carefully, too, those who like tares are bound and cast into the furnace, and those who, being bound hand and foot are carried outside, and those who are delivered over to the worm which dieth not and to the gnashing of teeth. And observe also another who is judged for scoffing and ribald jesting; and another [who is judged] because he treated his neighbour iniquitously, and also made his brother to offend; and another who is punished because of secret sins; and another [who is judged] for a vain word; and others who are condemned for evil will; and another who is expelled from the Kingdom for blasphemy; and others who endure frightful tortures because they nursed their wrath; and another who standeth in everlasting shame; and others who have denied their Lord and hear the words 'I never knew you', because they did that which Christ abominateth.

Now these things being thus, it is necessary for us to become like men who make rivers of tears to flow each day, and to say like the prophet, 'Who will make my head to become water, and my eyes fountains of tears, so that I may weep for my sins day and night?' Now in order that we may save ourselves from the torture which is to come, let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and through extreme carefulness in respect of our good lives whilst we are here, let us cause the compassion of our Lord to incline towards our souls. For it is written, 'In Sheol who shall give thanks unto Thee?' Our Lord hath given to us by nature every member in double, two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet, so that if it happen that one of them be injured, we are consoled by the use of the other. He hath, however, given unto us only one soul, and if we lose that with what shall we live? It is meet that we should cherish this carefully, and that we should not hold anything which is visible to be of greater value than its redemption, because it is that which shall rise with us and be judged before that awful throne of the Judge. If at that time thou shalt say, 'Riches and possessions have led me astray,' the Judge shall say unto thee, 'Hast thou not heard [the words], What shall a man profit if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?' And, if thou say, 'The Calumniator led me astray,' He shall say unto thee, 'This that thou sayest, He led me astray, did not even do Eve any good.'

Now therefore, holding fast these things in our souls, let us have understanding, and let us be watchful before the darkness overtake us, and before that great and terrible day come concerning which the prophet said, 'Behold, He cometh! And who shall be able to bear the day of His coming? For that day shall be awful, a day of blackness and thick darkness.' But thou sayest, 'How is it possible for us to save ourselves from these evils which are described?' I, even I, will tell thee. Thou canst not do it by keeping thy body in purity only, but by rewarding with good the evil which cometh upon thee, and by bearing patiently false accusations when they are made against thee, and by returning a blessing for a curse, and by not imagining exalted attributes [for thyself] when thou art fasting, for it is not abstinence from good only, but abstinence from sins, which maketh perfect fasting.

It is meet that we should search the Scriptures. For observe how the prophet first of all saw a rod of walnut wood, and afterwards a blazing cauldron, in order that he might make manifest that the fire would receive him that was not afraid of the rod and did not correct his ways. And thus also did Moses make manifest the pillar of fire when he actually cried out saying, 'He who desireth the Law, and will be obedient thereto, shall see the light, him who is disobedient the fire shall find.' Read ye in the Doctrine of our Redeemer, and learn that when we depart from this world no man shall be able to help us, and no brother shall redeem his brother from the tortures which never cease, and no friend [shall help] his friend, and fathers shall not [be able to help their] sons, and sons shall not [be able to help their] fathers.

Why need I say these things? If Noah, and Job, and Daniel were to come there they would not be able to persuade that Judge. But thou wilt say, 'Where is the proof of this?' [And I reply]: 'Observe that man who was not arrayed in the apparel of the feast. When he was cast outside by the bridegroom no man dared to bring forward an entreaty on his behalf. And consider also him unto whom the talent was entrusted and who did not traffic therewith: when he was cast out into the darkness not one man made entreaty on his behalf. And observe, too, the case of the five virgins, for when they remained outside the door the wise virgins were unable to make entreaty on their behalf. Moreover, Christ called them foolish'. For after they had trampled down the flame of desire, and after they had quenched the furnace of delight, and after fasting, and vigil, and sleeping on the ground, they were called 'foolish virgins', and rightly so. Because, having guarded carefully the great thing, that is to say their virginity, they did not perform the act of courtesy which ariseth out of a small matter. Observe also the Judge who placeth the sheep on His right hand in the Day of Judgement, and the goats, which are without fruit, on His left. And to those who were on His right hand He said, 'Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom which hath been prepared for you,' whilst those who were on His left hand He sent into the outer darkness. And there was none able to help any one of them.

For true indeed is that which the [Book] saith, 'Behold, a man cometh, and his work is before him.' And again, thou hast heard of that rich man who would not shew loving-kindness to Lazarus, and who, suffering agonies in the place of torment, desired eagerly a drop of water, and thou knowest that not even Abraham himself was able to shew mercy unto him at that time, and give him relief from his tortures. Therefore let us help ourselves with this example, and let us give praise to God in our deeds and lives whilst we live, before we depart into the darkness. It is far better to make the tongue dry by fasting here, than to keep it wet and to have to ask there for a drop of water, which they will not give, when one is suffering agonies and endless torture. For through the small labours of this world we can escape great tortures [in the next]. We well understand that we cannot endure here the burning fever which lasteth for three days, and that when we see the punishments which are inflicted by judges in this world, we are undone, and quake with fear, although in this world, even when the punishments are exceedingly severe, the judges have hardly the power to punish for more than fifty years; imagine thou, then, how very much more severe will be the judgement of God, which will not last for fifty years only, and the tortures which it will prolong for endless ages.

Therefore let us enter in through the strait gate in order that we may be able to journey [subsequently] in a wide space, knowing that all visible things which are pleasant are like a dream, and that they are subject to parturition and birth-pangs. For although we possess health of body and strength, sickness can dissipate our joy in them, and old age is a foe to the beauty of the body, and if we delight in an abundant table, when the evening hath come the pleasure therein waneth. And most certainly everything which appertaineth to time is more fragile than the web of the spider, and is snatched away from us more quickly than dreams. For this reason our Redeemer ascribed blessing to those who are afflicted, [and He did so] in order that the pleasure in the things which are fair might not lay fast hold upon him that is involved in them.

Therefore as Abraham obeyed [the words], 'Get thee forth from thy country,' let us depart from the customary use of the things which are pleasant to our senses, so that, by meditation upon the mortality of our members which are on the earth, we may make ourselves to become inhabitants of our City which is above. Let us subdue our body and bring it into subjection, in order that it may not make our soul to be subject to the Calumniator. By constant meditation on the Psalms let us put to sleep the lusts which leap up in us like wild beasts, and let us carry at all times death in our bodies. Let us remember him who said, 'Play the man, stand up, be watchful.' For no man who is a sleeper is crowned, neither doth he who is inert and cowardly receive the crown, but he who beareth and suffereth the burden and wounds of blows, he who is found to have grown old in fighting and who sheweth in his body bloody scars and marks of wounds.

Now therefore we learn by experience that the work of the Calumniator is evil and bitter, for he fleeth from him that is alive to his cunning devices, and he plundereth him that is asleep. Therefore did the wise man say, 'Thou shalt give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids, so that thou mayest be delivered like a gazelle from the hunters' trap, and like a bird from the snare.' Let us flee at all times from the traps of this world, and from the care thereof, and let us be like men who have forsaken the world, and let nothing appertaining to the body be found with us, for the ambushes of the Crafty One are many. And [the Book] saith, 'Our Adversary roareth like a lion, and goeth about and seeketh'—not a man to bite, and not a man to break, but—'one whom he can swallow up'. Flee from the cunning of the Crafty One, and say, 'Through Thee I shall be delivered from the robber, and by my God

I shall pass over a wall.' Flee not from labour that thou fall not from the crown. The merchant is not sluggish, and he endureth the waves in order that he may find profit. The athlete who goeth down into the contest beareth blows, because his eye looketh [beyond them] to the crown, and the husbandman doth not rejoice in crops unless he hath beforehand sweated at the season of sowing. Thus also must it be with those who pursue heaven, and tribulations must be accounted as nothing to them, because they must be strong in the hope of the good things which are to come. Therefore let us look out at all times and wait, so that, when the Bridegroom shall come to the feast and we hear His voice, we may rise up prepared to meet Him, even as He said, 'Be ye like unto men who are awaiting their lord.' From this our Redeemer ascribed blessing to him that is vigilant, saying, 'Blessed is that servant whose lord shall come and find him watching.' And as He blessed him that is vigilant, so did He contemn and chide him that is unfaithful, saying, 'If that wicked servant shall begin to say, My lord tarrieth in coming, and he begin to beat his companions, and to eat and to drink with the drunkards, his lord shall come on a day when he expecteth him not, and in an hour which he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and set his portion with the unbelievers.' Now if he who saith 'He tarrieth' is cut asunder, what shall happen unto him who never expecteth Him to come at all?

Therefore it is meet for us to be chaste, and to be ready for departure, and we must say at all times, 'My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.' We are [engaged] in a great battle in this world, for the wicked march around us, and the sinners stretch their bows. One shooteth an arrow into our sense of hearing that it may incline favourably to the Calumniator, and another shooteth an arrow into the sense of sight that it may gaze lasciviously, and another shooteth an arrow into the tongue that it may vilify the brethren, and another shooteth an arrow into the belly that it may incite it to greed, and another shooteth an arrow into the hand [to move it to] plunder and robbery, and another shooteth an arrow into the feet so that they may run [to do] wickedness. Because of these [arrows] Paul clothed us with the armour of the Spirit, and wrote, 'Put on armour and a helmet in order that ye may be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the Evil One.' Let us be persuaded by the voice of the prophet, who saith, 'These things I require of thee, [saith] the Lord. That thou doest judgement, and lovest goodness, and makest thyself ready to go after the Lord thy God.' Therefore forgetting the things which are behind us, we reach out to the things which are before us, to the good things, so that we may eat what our hands have worked for, and may rejoice in the Lord.

Therefore let us not waste the time of our life in empty matters, but as men who have a Lord, let us serve Him with exact service. For behold, He teacheth us, and remindeth us, and testifieth to us, and threateneth, and persuadeth and admonisheth us, and if we will allow ourselves to be persuaded by Him, He will bestow upon us the Kingdom of Heaven as the wages of our obedience. Let us gird up our loins, then, in truth, and let us cultivate the service of this Good Lord. Let us think how much the Redeemer suffered for our sakes, that is, to be born, to suck milk at the breast, to eat, to drink, to sleep, to rise up, to be baptized, to endure guile, to be alarmed and troubled, to be scourged, to be held up to disgrace, and at length to die. For observe, He bore all these things from the sinners who rose up against Him, and up to this present ye have not in your contending resisted sin unto blood.

And how many were the good deeds which He wrought for our sakes! The healing of sicknesses, the cleansing of the lepers, the resurrection of the dead, the persecuting and driving out of the devils, the walking of the lame; and finally He bestowed upon us the Ascension into heaven, so that through our lives of good deeds we might follow in His footsteps. For it is meet that we should be in our lives that which we have been described as being, the Scripture calling us 'strangers and sojourners', so that we may despise the things which pass away. Lust is like a dog which, if thou feed it, will abide with thee. For this reason Paul said, 'Stand up against the Calumniator, and he will flee from you.' Let us not remain [idle] whilst we go down into Sheol where the building up of repentance hath no power. For neither when a man gnasheth his teeth there, nor when his tongue is on fire, will any moisten [it] with a drop of water on the tip of his finger, but he will hear the words which that rich man heard.

Now therefore, since we see that all these things fly away and pass like a dream, and that we live [here] by the Divine Decree, and that we are bound in any case to depart, let us take care concerning our road, and let us take with us provisions for the life which is for ever. Let us array ourselves in the apparel which will go with us, the which Paul counselleth us [to take], that is, mercy, and compassion, and goodness. For in that Other World we shall not have need of gold, but of shade wherein to refresh ourselves. In that Other World leaves will not be required, but fruit, not words, but deeds. 'For not every one who saith unto Me, My Lord, my Lord [shall enter in], but he who doeth the will of My Father.' Therefore let us not deceive ourselves. For supposing that we live our whole life in this world in [fulfilling our] lusts and in pleasure, what is this in comparison to the labours [in the Other World] which are never completed, and are never ending, and never pass away? In this world both good things and evil things come to an end, but in the Other World tortures never pass away. Here if the body burneth, the soul escapeth, but in the Other World, when the indestructible body riseth up the soul shall be tortured

Z Z therein always, for sinners also shall rise in indestructibility, not that they may be honoured, but that they may be punished with deathless tortures. For if we are not able to bear excessive heat in the bath, what shall we do in that river of fire? For the fire shall try us all, [to find out] if our gold be pure [or not]. It is meet also that the stamp (or seal) should be seen, lest the treasure of virginity hath been filched away. It is meet also that that which is hidden, as well as that which is revealed, should be seen; for we must all give the word with confidence, and no man is able to escape the wrath of that Judge. But perhaps thou wilt say, 'How is it possible for a soul to burn everlastingly in that Other World? How could the body burn in this world with fire continually? For if the body be brought exceedingly low in this world the soul departeth.' [I reply,] In the Other World, because [the body] is never brought low, it followeth of necessity that the soul shall be punished in that burning everlastingly. Doth there, then, exist the man who for the sake of dreams would wish to be tortured everlastingly? For what comparison can be made between dreams and these things which are to be expected [in that Other World]? For if the things [here] are thus transitory, then most assuredly the things which are [there are] abiding.

Come ye, therefore, whilst we have the time, and let us bind up and heal the wounds of the soul by means of tears, and let us not be our own enemies by abiding in wickednesses. For one buildeth up, and another scattereth. What profit have they except labour in vain? For if the prophet Jeremiah lamented concerning that temple which was built of stones, saying, 'Let me weep bitterly, and ye shall not make strong your consolations towards me,' how much more is it meet for us to weep over the soul, which is far more holy than that temple? In the soul there is, it is true, no ark of gold, but in it there dwell the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If we feel pain for those who die, and weep for them, who is there so devoid of feeling that he will not weep over his own soul? He who feedeth his body with dainties killeth his soul, but he who careth for his soul to live doth not make his body to be in a healthy state.

For this reason we ought not to lament for the dead, but we ought to repent for our soul's sake, and pour out floods of tears; we must remember that the time is shortening, and that the Judge is already at the door, for even if He be afar off it will not be meet for us to rely upon [this]. Therefore let us wake up from dreams, for whether they be pleasant, or whether they be painful, they are nothing more than dreams. It is not meet for a man to sleep when he seeth the sun, but he must produce fruits which are equal to repentance, even as it is written. Now as it is easy for us to immerse ourselves in water, so it is easy for the soul to repent. That thief did not need a long time [to repent], and the martyrs were crowned in a short time.

If now the things which are hard and which I lead to death pierce us, so long as we have the bandages of redemption let us not despair of our lives. For the falling of a man is not in itself a very evil thing, but the not wishing to rise up again on the part of him that falleth [is evil]. That we should go astray is human, but that we should not repent is of Satan and destruction. For this reason the Good Lord cried out by the hand of the prophet, 'Is there no balm in Gilead? Or are there no physicians there?' For if our body is sick we seek out physicians, we take care to provide ourselves with herbs, and we use every endeavour in order that the member which is sick shall be healed. In respect of our soul, however, which is sick, we are careless, and we take no care at all about that which is of the greatest importance and of the highest value.

Let us, therefore, fear Him that is able to destroy both the body and the soul in Gehenna, and before the time of punishment (or, torture). Come ye, let us cast ourselves into the sea of the mercy of God, saying with that holy man, 'Cleanse me, and I shall be whiter than snow.' Now our Good Shepherd standeth and seeketh to pluck us from the mouth of the lion before he shall swallow us, and He also crieth out now, saying unto us, 'My son, thou hast sinned, sin no more. Shall not he who hath fallen rise up [again]? Shall not he who hath gone backward return? Return ye to Me, My sons, and I will heal your broken [bones].' For He is not a liar Who said, 'I did not come to judge the world'; only let us return. For He desireth not the death of a sinner, but that he should repent and live. No man loveth a woman as much as God loveth the soul that repenteth before Him, for He loveth it so greatly that even after it hath played the whore away from Him He crieth out to it, saying, 'Come thou back to Me.' So great is the loving mercy of our Lord.

And of those who repent He repulseth not one, but He giveth the hand [to them], and saith, 'To-day if ye will hear My voice.' For if through severe pain the physician be driven away [by the sufferer], he doth not neglect him because he hath been treated with contempt, nay, on the contrary, he applicth to him his aids with the more insistence, and he is not angry with the man who may very possibly have struck him. How much more, then, is this the case with that Physician of our souls? Most assuredly I am convinced that no man need be in despair concerning his soul. And also how very many times doth the athlete fall before he at length goeth up crowned from the contest! And the Greek who hath been wounded in war and healed becometh a very much more successful fighter than those who have never fallen in the war. And many of the merchants who have lost their cargoes in the sea have come back and carried on their trade again, and have gotten wealth from the sea.

Did God, think ye, prepare the fire for us? Certainly not. It was for the Calumniator and his angels only. Let us not kindle a fire against ourselves, and we shall [not] hear from Him [the words], 'Depart ye into the light of your fire, and into the flame of your burning.' There is no sickness, not even one, which cannot be healed by the medicines of our Physician. But perhaps thou wilt say, 'I am not able entirely to make manifest a changing (or, conversion) to goodness.' If thou art not able to become like the sun, be thou like the moon; and if thou art not able to become like the moon, be thou like a star. Only draw thyself up from the earth, and begin to make thyself to be like the light-giving stars. It is better that thou shouldst acquire even a very few spiritual excellences than that thou shouldst possess none at all. Let the cup of cold water be offered by thee to God, and the visiting of the sick and of those who are in prison.

Now if they judge us for words and thoughts, all the more shall we receive a reward for our righteousnesses (i. e., alms), even though the spiritual excellences which we practise be few. Therefore let us work for a short time in order that we may not lose the good things which are for ever. And moreover, myriads are the labours which it would be meet for us to undergo in order that we should be worthy to see the Christ when He cometh in His glory, for we shall see the King not by representations, but face to face. If in this world we admire the beauty of the body which is ashes and worms, and the constitution whereof is humour and watery matter, how very much more shall we admire—if it be that we are accounted worthy to see [it]—that intransient and unchangeable beauty [of Christ]! For if when Peter saw in the mountain a very little of that beauty he said, 'Lord, it is a good thing for us to be here,' what shall we say who expect to see the full beauty of His glory? If in this world we admire him who standeth by the side of the king, when we look upon the ornament of gold, and the purple raiment, and the crown, it is meet that we should be like him (?), when we ourselves stand by the side of Him that hath the power to judge the world in righteousness.

Tell me now. If a man were to call upon thee to become a king [in a certain country], and there were to meet thee on thy way [thither] mountains, and great toil, and difficulty, I wouldst thou not endure everything that thou mightest not lose the kingdom, even though it might possibly be one that would soon pass [from thy hands]? I think that thou wouldst. Therefore from this time onwards thou shalt not say, 'I have fallen into sin, and I cannot possibly turn again to God.' Now even David on one occasion fell, but he rose up [again] in such wise that, a very long time after his death, he became a support for the children of Israel at the time when their city was besieged by the Assyrians, even as it is written, 'For I will protect this city, and I will deliver it, for My sake, and for the sake of David My servant.'

If therefore the enemy hath cast thee down, rise up, and return in repentance, and He will go forth to meet thee, and will accept thee, even as the father met the son who had squandered his possessions. Let us understand that after Solomon became king, and he had planted [gardens] and had built [the Temple], and had enjoyed the things which he had lusted after, and had become richer than all the kings who were before him, he said, 'All is vanity, and vanity, and trouble of spirit.' Tell me. Supposing that a number of vain people were about to praise us, I mean the people who sit in the theatre, should we not move in every possible way, and take the greatest care to snatch for ourselves that empty praise? How much more, then, is it meet for us, amid all the labours and tribulations which come upon us in this world, not only not to notice or to be grieved [by them], but to rejoice, even to the same degree, that we shall be applauded and praised by those crowds of angels who are in that theatre of the Other World, before that Righteous Judge, Who rejoiceth in the praise of His servants?

I am afraid lest peradventure the tax-gatherers and the harlots shall precede us in the Kingdom of Heaven. Now we have in the Scriptures various kinds of medicines. When Ahab sinned he saved himself from wrath by the medicine of repentance. The Ninevites [saved themselves] by the medicine of fasting. Belshazzar escaped from the decree of doom through the medicine of mercy; and the harlot was able to placate our Lord by the medicine of tears. Paul, having turned from his sin, became the teacher of the penitent, and that thief became a dweller in Paradise because he believed in our Lord. Let us take these medicines for ourselves, and with them let us heal and bind up our wounds, saying at the same time, 'Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee.' Now when the Physician receiveth us He saith, 'I, even I, am He Who blotteth out thy sins, and I will not remember them again.'

Observe thou how many medicines the Physician hath prepared for thee, therefore choose thou the one which thou wishest for. He hath shewn thee a variety of medicines in accordance with the variety of thy sins. If thou art not able to shew mercy like Belshazzar, then repent even as Ahab. If thou art not able to fast like the Ninevites, then even like the harlot do thou shed tears, in order that thou mayest be washed clean of thy sins. And again, if thou thinkest that this is difficult, although it is very easy to him that is sensitive in conscience, confess thou thy sins, and cast thy hope upon the mercy of God. And take refuge with David, saying, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, according to the greatness of Thy mercy.' For it is not the sting of a viper whereto I could apply the medicine which is suitable, neither is it a splashing of mud which I could wash away with water, but it is the sting of the Calumniator which hath produced in thee the boil of sin which requireth the mercy of the Lover of men. Only, do thou draw nigh to Him, and entreat Him for mercy, for He wisheth to pour out mercy in abundance on those who beseech Him with fervour [to do so]. For He it was Who said, 'If the wicked man will turn away from his evil way, I will not remember against him his iniquities which he hath committed.' Only shew Him thy sickness, and say, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, have mercy upon me. Have mercy on the body and on the soul. Have mercy upon me, both here and in the Other World. Have mercy upon me, both because of the sickness and feebleness of nature, and because of Thy goodness.' Only let Him make thee feel the sickness, and thou shalt be healed.

For this Physician desireth thy life, Who brought back the sheep that had gone astray, and Who sent out into the highways to call to the good and the wicked. Behold now, He offereth to sell thee the Kingdom of Heaven. If thou hast not the wherewithal to buy it in copper money, buy it with sighings; He will exchange the Kingdom of Heaven with thee even for broken pieces of bread. For behold, the prophet crieth out, saying, 'Who is he that will buy life? Who is he that wisheth to see good days?' Ye who have no money take life for yourselves without money. Thou hast, he saith, neither money, nor repentance, nor fasting, nor tears, nor any other of the things which are required. Keep thy soul from evil, and thy lips that they speak not guile, and these things shall suffice thee for salvation. See, moreover, if thou dost fast that thou art not lifted up. And if thou doest good deeds seek not the praise of men, for it is an empty thing. But when thy fast hath passed reckon

up what thou hast profited by thine abstinence, for per-adventure thou hast come forth therefrom even as thou didst go in. See what sin thou hast washed away from thy soul, or in what matter thou hast advantage, or what rectitude thou hast acquired, or what breach thou hast repaired. [See] if thou hast ceased from thy wrath, and from speaking against thy brother, and from calumniating him, and from hating him secretly, and if thou hast ceased from being negligent, and if thou hast done any of the other fair things. Now if thou hast only restrained thyself from eating, and if thou hast not corrected the other wickednesses, thou hast become no better through thy fast and thine abstinence.

For, behold, I say unto thee, 'Perhaps thou wilt say, I am not able to lead a life of abstinence.' Why hast thou not become reconciled to thine enemies? Why hast thou remained in thine envy and jealousy? Or why hast thou nursed thy wrath against him that hath transgressed and vexed thee? This last is the most evil and destructive of all sins. It is quite possible that there may be a reason for other sins, even though it may not be a true one [, but for the nursing of wrath there is none]. Now he who nurseth his wrath by day, and by night, and at all seasons, committeth sin. If thou wilt remember these things, no disgrace, and no passion shall be able to rouse thee and make thee to lay hold upon wrath against [any] man, although he shall have injured thee even to the death. For because a man hath entreated thee evilly, or hath insulted thee, that is no reason why thou shouldst insult God, Who commanded thee to endure all evils. For because thou treatest with contempt His commandment, everything which hath been done by thee shall be revealed in the congregation of the whole world. Therefore, before we fall into the pit of sin, let us flee from the punishment which is to come.

Let us understand that no man is able to deliver us from that Hall of Judgement, neither Moses, nor Noah, nor Daniel, and not even the Patriarch Abraham, who loved children, shall be able to deliver us from that punishment. Let us understand that we are guilty of many sins, both openly and secretly. For this reason [David] saith, 'If thou shalt lay up sins, O Lord, who shall be able to stand?' And why should I speak of the sins that are secret? For if He were to take vengeance on us for the sins that are open, what possible excuse (or, defence) could there be for us or to what kind of forgiveness should we be equal? For if He were to enquire into our carelessness in prayers, or our curtailment of the fast, or our failing to divide with Him the honour when we stand before Him (now we do not honour Him even as soldiers do their captains, though it is meet for us to fear Him and to honour Him more than servants fear their lords and honour them. And we do not even behave towards Him as a friend doth to his friend. Now we hold converse with our friends with respectful solicitude, but when we pray to God about our sins we entreat forgiveness secretly and scornfully, and whilst we place our knees on the earth, our mind wandereth abroad), if He were to seek to take vengeance on us for this only, how could we hide ourselves [from it]?

Now what if He were to bring into the midst the accusations which we make against each other? And if, moreover, He were to enquire into the idle wandering of our gaze, and were to take vengeance for our evil thoughts, and if the Judge were to take vengeance for our blasphemies, should we ever be able to open our mouth at all? Moreover, if He were [to take vengeance] for the vain glory which we seek, that is, that we should be praised for our fasting and our prayers, and for our good deeds—if we ever do any—think ye then that we should ever be able to lift up our gaze to the heavens? Now if He were to regard us as sinners because of our guile towards each other, for when our brother is present we speak to him like a brother, and when he is absent we backbite him, then most assuredly we should be liable to be punished. And if He were to take vengeance for our swearings, and falsehoods, and oppressions, and wrath, and anger without reason, and the breakings of oaths, and the distress which we cause our friends who behave well towards us, and carelessness in respect of the assemblies, and our curtailing of His words when He speaketh to us through the Scriptures (for we forsake Him and hold converse with our companions), what severe judgements are there to which we should not be condemned?

And this is the case even with Gehenna before our eyes! If Gehenna were not threatening us, when should we ever remember our sins? Therefore it is meet for us to set before our eyes that judgement which is everlasting, for behold, He hath told thee beforehand of the penalty so that thou mightest fly from the danger. Now if He telleth thee to deny thyself thou makest weakness of body the excuse [for not doing so]. And if He telleth thee to give alms thou dost also plead poverty as the reason [for not doing so]. And if He telleth thee to attend regularly the assembling of the Church, thou bringest forth anxiety about affairs of business as an excuse [for not doing so]. Now if He telleth thee not to be angry, and not to nurse thy wrath, what hast thou to plead in this case wherein thou hast no reason, neither bodily weakness, nor poverty, nor ignorance, nor anxiety concerning matters of business, that preventeth thee from carrying out this excellent behest 'Thou shalt not be angry'? Therefore this sin of nursing thy wrath is without excuse. How canst thou lift up thine eyes to heaven, or move thy tongue to petition for forgiveness? Thou hast acted wickedly, thou hast cheated, thou hast oppressed, thou hast hearkened unto evil things, and thou hast defrauded men in great matters; abide thou the penalty of the Lord of All.

Now if in the case of a servant who hath abused thee thou dost not strike him, but dost make an accusation against him to his lord, shouldst thou not do this all the more in the case of Him Who said, 'Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord'? Thou hast fasted from meats, see what sin thou hast washed away from thee thereby, or in what thing thou hast pleased thy Lord, or what spiritual excellence thou hast acquired, or what breaches thou hast repaired. Now therefore, because thou knowest that thou shalt stand before the awful Throne, where no tongue can prevail, and no advocate avail when thy soul passeth through that unquenchable fire, send thither beforehand dew, and pour out fountains of tears. Thou hast a well, from the depth of thy heart draw up sufferings and sighings. Shake thou the twin pupils of thine eyes, and make streams of water to burst forth! Let thy tears be in proportion to thy sins. If thou hast transgressed but a little, a little weeping will suffice; but if thy sins are very great thou must increase the stream of tears. If, moreover, thou thyself hast purity, and thou hast no need to weep, then lend to others thy tears, and weep on thy brother's behalf.

O that thou wouldst weep because of thine own sins! Where sin entered in from that same place must come the fountain of healing and the unloosing of sin. It is not here sin, and in heaven repentance (now the Redeemer of us all hath power upon earth to forgive sins), and for this reason 'let him that thinketh he standeth take heed that he fall not', and let him that is nigh to falling make haste to stand up. And let him that hath fallen not sink utterly. If any man hath become crooked by his fall, there existeth Him Who straighteneth the crooked ones, the Lord. Now it happeneth that a man inclineth to fall, even as the holy man said, 'Within a very little my feet had slipped,' and again, 'I said, my feet tottered, but Thy grace, O Lord, held me up.' Now there are some who are thrust out to fall, for [the Book saith], 'I was thrust out that I might fall, but the Lord held me up.' There is also he who hath fallen: [for him is] the consolation that he need not remain in his fallen state. And there is, peradventure, he that hath fallen and hath not risen up.

But see that thou dost not become sluggish when thou seest the goodness of God. For God is a Judge of truth, and He is mighty, and longsuffering, and as a Lover of man He receiveth at all times those who repent. Nevertheless, His sword He whetteth, and His bow He stretcheth, if ye do not repent! At this time [His sword] He whetteth only, but He cutteth not therewith, so that when thou seest His sword, which is sharp and glittering, thou mayest be afraid and receive no experience of its cutting power. He terrifieth thee so that thou mayest stand up and make thyself abounding in repentance. And thus also is it with the bow which is stretched, but He shooteth no arrow, [for He wisheth] thee to be afraid of the mere form of the bow which He hath stretched. But thou mayest not despise the Judge, or hold in contempt the bow. For He is ready, and if thou art sluggish He will shoot the arrow, notwithstanding that He is longsuffering.

Hearken thou unto our Redeemer, Who said, 'Make terms with him that hath a case against thee, whilst thou art in the way with him,' for in this world thy fellow-litigant is always with thee, and thou art not able to flee from him. And this doth Paul teach thee, saying, 'The body lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit lusteth against the body, and the spirit shall gain the mastery over the flesh which cometh to an end.' He compareth the lust of the world with the kingdom of heaven; the body decayeth in the earth, but the soul is made in the image of God, and it is meet for it to be like unto Him. Therefore make thou terms with him that hath a case against thee whilst thou art with him in the way in this world, for if this way come to an end, thou wilt not again have time for repentance. And see, lest peradventure he who hath a case against thee deliver thee over to the judge, and the judge hand thee over to those who beat [criminals], that is to say, to the hosts who inflict punishments, and thou fall into prison, that is to say, into the outer darkness, until thou shalt pay to the last farthing. And thou shalt be punished not only for the things which thou hast done, but thou shalt also be judged for the thoughts which thou didst think.

Now therefore that we know all these things, let us assist ourselves in this world. In the Other World it will be for us to know how bitter are lusts, when we see by experience how many evils have been prepared for us through them, for we shall know how we have placed these things for ourselves. Let us make supplication to God, the Merciful One, that we may not be handed over to the devils, and let us say with that holy man, 'Deliver Thou me not over to my enemies.' For it is they who stir us up to sin, and it is they who become our accusers. Now it is not only the Calumniator who openeth his mouth against us, but also those devils of his, who say, 'Were not we ourselves ministers unto thee in respect of anger, and vain glory, and the slandering of thy brethren?' Let us therefore be afraid of that day wherein they shall reckon against us severe judgements. Let us not abide [with them], that they may not become to us witnesses of iniquity, but from this time onwards let us entreat our Lord with passion and with weeping.

Now although the body is weak, yet great is He who is able to help us, and to redeem us, and to bring us to His Kingdom. It is meet that we should love our Lord, as the Beautiful One, and as the Good One, and as the One Who loveth those who serve Him with the whole service of their souls. And we children of men love people for the three following reasons: either for beauty's sake, or because they entreat us well, or because they themselves love us. What, then, is more beautiful than our Lord, even as David said, 'He is more comely in His visage than the children of men.' Or who is as good as He Who hath prepared for those who love Him that which the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor hath gone up in the heart of man? Now who hath ever loved us as He hath? Or what father hath loved his sons as He hath, so that He crieth out and saith, 'Doth a woman ever forget her child? Yes, it is possible that she may, but I, even I, do not forget thee, saith the Lord.' This Good Lord did David love, and he was most urgent to see Him, saying, 'When shall I come and see Thy face?' For he could not endure tarrying in this world, but he was burning to depart from this world that he might see Him Whom he loved. And this arose from the desire of a wise soul which was at all times flying aloft to heaven; do thou also love this thing.

For everything which is visible fleeth like a shadow and passeth away. And at all times do thou be mindful of the life which is everlasting, and of that Kingdom which dieth not, and of that enjoyment [which thou shalt have] with the angels, and that praise which passeth not away, and that abiding with Christ wherefrom all troubles are removed. And moreover, see thou and understand that this world is absolutely nothing, and that it is full of vexations, and envy, and calumny, and pains, and weariness, and sicknesses, and old age, and sin, and death. David saw that these and such like things were found in the world, and he wished to escape from them, and desiring this greatly he said, 'When shall I come and see the face of God,' [and the place] where dwell rest, and peace, and love, and longsuffering, and beauty, and freedom from care, and freedom from anxiety, and all the good things which no speech can describe?

Now therefore, because thou thyself hast the hope of enjoying all these things, be not careless about thy life, and treat it not with contempt. If He were a wretched person, or a poor man who ought to be despised by thee, then in all probability thou wouldst do rightly in being careless and sluggish in respect of Him. But since He is the Great and Glorious One, and the Lord of the whole Kingdom, Him Whom thou awaitest, . . . let thy lamp be lighted every day, and being prepared, go forth to meet thy Lord, so that thou mayest hear from Him [the words], 'Enter into the joy of thy Lord'—to Whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.

It is meet for us at all times to be wakeful and to pray. For if, when God said to Satan 'Thou shalt not draw nigh to Job', the Devil was pertinacious and thought that he would conquer him and overthrow him, how much the more will he be pertinacious in the case of us, who ourselves, of our own desire, place ourselves under his hand, and vanquish us and overthrow us according as he wisheth? Therefore vigilance is required. For the Greek who is in military service doth not sleep upon a bed, but on the ground. The huntsman also doth not pass the whole night in sleeping, but in standing up. The husbandman and the vineyard keeper manifest extreme wakefulness, so that nothing may injure the vineyard of their lord. And thus was Jacob who said, 'I bore the burning heat of the sun in the daytime, and the cold of the frost in the night season, and sleep departed from my eyes.' And what was the cause of his vigil except that no sheep might be eaten by a wild beast? Now if he manifested such earnest care for a dumb animal, is it meet that we ourselves should be like unto those who have no solicitude for the rational soul, that soul which is more valuable than all the world, that soul which shall stand up with us before that awful Throne of God, that it may make an apology for the things which have been done in the body?

For this reason also the Patriarch Jacob himself placed a stone for his pillow when he lay down to sleep at Bethel, in order that he might see that spiritual stone in his dream. And through this he was held to be worthy to see that ladder, and the angels who were going up and coming down on it, for they were carrying up our prayers, and were bringing down gifts from the Lord for those who were worthy thereof. The athlete is not anointed with unguents, for sweet-smelling spices and perfumes of this kind belong to the effeminate. For no impure thing is wanting in the soul when the body enjoyeth scent in this manner. For as the man with a loathsome disease covereth his hands and his apparel with uncleanness, so also is the impurity of the soul recognizable from the scents of the body. Therefore it is meet that we should choose a life of strenuous deeds, so that we may not rejoice in pleasure and in the lusts. For what pleasure hath he who lieth down on an ivory couch inlaid with stamped work in metal, except empty care? And this, moreover, inviteth the wrath of God. Other sinners may possibly have pleasure, although it flieth away like a dream; this sinner, however, hath no pleasure at all [therein]. For this reason the prophet in condemning such effeminacy as this spake, saying, 'Those who lie upon ivory couches, and wanton on their beds.' Wouldst thou see the royal couch which was filled with spiritual excellence? Look, then, on that of David, whereon were tears, like pearls, the whole night long!

Now these things were written [concerning these men] for our reproof and admonition, in order that we might travel in their footsteps, and might escape and save ourselves from the judgement which is to come. Therefore, before we enter into that Hall of Judgement, let us put off from us the burdens of our follies, for in the Other World there is no place for repentance. He wisheth us to be ready [always], and for this reason He hath hidden from us the day of our departure, so that we may always be in a state of meditation. If in the Halls of Judgement in this world those who are fettered are dissolved and parched with fear if they hear the voice only of him that maketh the proclamation, how much more shall those suffer who are about to stand before the throne of that Awful Judge? Much have ye suffered in silence in these things which have been spoken. Now at all times conscience smiteth sinners, but especially when we speak unto you concerning that Judgement. But perhaps the rebukes which are [made] in words will benefit them. Would that that rich man had been rebuked in this world, for then his tongue would not have been on fire, and he would not have been tormented!

Dost thou earnestly desire to keep virginity? Keep the commandments, and God will bestow it upon thee. If thou sayest when thou prayest, 'Lord, keep me as the apple of the eye,' He shall say, 'Keep thou My commandments, and My judgements, and My words as the light of thine eyes.' And if thou wouldst be thus [kept], cast away from thee all anxiety, and say, 'He Who is nigh unto me is as nigh to me as the apple of mine eyes.' Now having laid thine hand on the ploughshare, turn thou not behind thee lest thou become a pillar of salt. Let thy tongue be meditating at all times on the judgement which is to come. Thou shalt speak no empty words. Thou shalt not be vanquished by wrath, nor by grief, nor by any of the Destroying passions, especially since thou wilt thereby become involved in punishments in the Other World, so that through the fear of that Judge Who shall come thou mayest the more reach forward to the things which are before thee. Let the Law of God be in thy mouth at all times, so that thy words may come forth according to His Will. Set thou the Lawgiver over thy mouth at every hour, and He shall be unto thee a Dwelling-place, and a Counsellor, and One like-minded to thyself. And if thou seest a man faring delicately, and enjoying himself, and also making himself a ruler, know thou that very quickly he will wither like the light grass of the field. He enjoyeth himself with the things which are transitory, but do thou enjoy thyself in the Lord.

Very many of the virgins have testified as martyrs. Since these have despised death, wilt not thou persist against lust and conquer? That thou must put to death thy members is required of thee; and thou must [be free] not only from lust and anger, but a measure must be set to the tongue. See that thy conscience doth not make thee liable before the time. For the Judge shall come, and everything shall be revealed. In this world thou dost not wish to be stripped bare even before one man, and when we are stripped bare in the Other World before the tens of thousands [of angels], where shall we be able to hide ourselves? John the virgin was a pure man, and because of this he lay on the breast of his Lord. He who betrotheth his soul to Christ guardeth [his] purity. The tree shall be known by the fruit; the righteous man speaketh faith openly. Remember at all times this good confession, and take into thy mind the Last Day. See that thou dost not become smeared with dirt through thy tongue, for the tongue polluteth the whole body, and when the body is polluted, it followeth of necessity that the mind is destroyed. Well did Paul say, 'Men who destroy their minds, and destroy understandings with wicked writings and converse.'

Seek thou Paul even as did Theklâ, in order that thou mayest be persuaded [to do] the things which were spoken by Paul. Thou hast need of wings, and if these be not to thee thou hast promised vainly. Let the gaze of the eyes testify to the chastity which is within. Let [thy] gaze incline downwards that the mind may be on high. Extreme carefulness is required by us, for our Adversary is very crafty. And if he drove us out of the Paradise which was upon earth, he cannot be prevented [from obstructing us] now that we would go up to heaven. See that thou dost not mingle water with the wine: let the Holy Scripture be to thee in the place of water, and the doctrine of our Lord in the place of wine. Hearken thou unto him who said, 'I would that ye should be without care, and that we should not be in trepidation.' Now therefore, if thou dost eagerly desire to ascend into the Kingdom of Heaven in this earthly body, and to fly up into the heavens, reduce thy body so that it may be easy for it to fly and to ascend thither. If a horse eateth a very large meal he cannot run, and the athlete doth not eat all that he desireth. And if Israel had not over-eaten he would not have waxed fat and kicked.

Lift up thy gaze to where He is Whom thou lovest, so that by means of celestial love thou mayest vanquish terrestrial love. On this earth we have fastings, and prayers, and vigils which assist us, and the Scriptures which admonish us. He who curtaileth [his efforts] in the contests is not crowned. Herein hast thou a pledge of the life which is beyond, that thou hast not a wife. Thou hast not to be in fear concerning the pains of her parturition, thou hast not to weep for one child who is dead, nor for another who is sick, nor for thy daughter lest she should be deserted, but thou art freed from begetting children, and from bringing them up, and from anxiety, and from the vexation of these things. On the contrary, thou dost follow in the footsteps of that Bride-groom Who leadeth to the Kingdom, which passeth not away, after Him Who said, 'If ye will walk with Me in truth, I also will walk with you in integrity. But if ye turn aside from Me, I also will act in wrath and in anger.'

Await thou at all times thy Lord Who is coming. For if he who said, 'He tarrieth in coming,' was cut asunder, what shall happen unto him that doth not expect Him to come at all? Dost thou wish to be like unto Christ? Then follow in His footsteps, for strait is the door whereby the righteous enter in. Hearken thou unto Daniel, who said, 'I Daniel was sitting in grief for three weeks of days. Bread I did not eat, and wine did not enter my mouth.' And John also, who dwelt in the desert, possessed nothing in order that he might not be taken by [the goods of this world]; for he was a lamp, and therefore was afraid of the coming of the winds. Remember thou these teachings. Thou hast chosen for thyself a heavenly course of life, fight thou therefore the good fight in faith, looking forward to the victory, and through victory to the crown, and through the crown to Him that ordereth the contest. Only, let the labour [be performed] with knowledge. For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. If thou hast looked in times past at the images of the Emperors, thou wilt have observed that the countenances of some of them are pleasant to the sight, and that some of them are frightful and savage; even thus is it in the Other World, for according to the life which a man leadeth in this world doth he appear there.

As then we flee from that shame which is for ever, let us say, like the prophet, 'Keep me, O God, for in Thee have I put my trust, for of my good deeds Thou hast no need.' For He hath no need of the things which are ours, but He is anxious concerning our redemption. Let us offer unto Him our soul as a living sacrifice, even as it is written, 'Not through fire, but by longsuffering.' Now he who endureth to the end shall live, and moreover, weary thyself for ever that thou mayest live for ever and ever. For this reason, even as we would choose for ourselves to live without disturbance and without distraction, let us run well in order that we may overtake. For the debt for which we should be liable would not be small, if after we have promised God that we will travel in this path, we were to turn back.

Therefore let thy tongue and thy gaze be well ordered, and lift thou up thy hands reverently in prayer. And by thy behaviour, and by thy conversation, and by thy patient endurance, and by thy persistence in self-denial, and by thy love of labours, and by thy love for the brotherhood, and by thy health in the faith, make thou thyself to be known as a disciple of Christ. And at all times do thou be meditating upon that judgement which is to come. Now all these things are little and are easy to be described, but they are very great when they come to be performed in very deed. Now [the Book] saith, 'The kingdom of heaven is like unto the five virgins who were famous.' He doth not say that it is like the sun, or the moon, or the ornament of the stars, or gold, or silver, or any one of the beautiful things which are transient. For what is there that is greater than the riches of the kingdom which are without care? For this reason Paul, the sponsor of the Church, admonished [us], saying, 'I desire that ye be without care.' Therefore is prayer necessary at all times, for if a man be sick he shall be healed in the spirit, and if he be well, let him take good heed that he fall not, and let him say like that holy man, 'Seven times in the day have I praised Thee because of Thy righteous judgements.'

For it is a beautiful thing that by means of prayer we can always hold converse with God. And if converse with a good man profiteth, how very much more shall we profit if our converse be with God by day and by night! For who is able to sin when he is convinced that God is near him? Therefore [see] that sin doth not find itself able to glide in by means of error. Let us remember him that said, 'Pray ye at all times, and let it not be a weariness to you.' Now the prayer with the lips is good, but the prayer of works is better, and it helpeth those who have need of us, and it is acceptable to God. Meditate thou on thy death; put to death thy members which are on the earth, for the day of the Lord cometh like a thief. For if, when those who require thy soul come, thou begin to say unto them, 'Permit ye me to fast and to give alms,' thy Lord shall say unto thee, 'Have I not already told thee to take good heed? Have ye not heard [the words], Repent, for the day of the Lord hath drawn nigh? Did ye not hear Paul, who said, Whilst we have the time let us cultivate good works'? For he who is diligent hath no need of a long time for repentance. That thief did not live a long time, but he believed, and gained the treasure of the kingdom; and the martyrs, those of them who poured out their blood, were crowned in a very short time. Do thou pour out tears in abundance.

No liar is He Who said, 'I wish all the children of men to live.' For this reason He doth not admonish us through the Holy Scriptures only, but He correcteth us through the penalties which He bringeth upon others. And moreover, for this reason the physicians also make their cuttings in the presence of all men. And the governors also, when they sit upon the high throne, hack criminals in pieces, in order that we through the wickednesses of others may become better men. Therefore being firmly fixed in the faith, let us advance to knowledge; and from knowledge let us come to love; and from love to the inheritance which is with the saints. And let us strip off sin and array ourselves in righteousness, being constant in prayer, even as it is written, 'Who at any time suffered injury because he was watching?' And behold, even though the wolves be a long way off, the shepherds watch and keep guard, and their dogs are ready [to spring]. Therefore is it a good thing that we should be vigilant at all times, for although there may be no recompense for thy labours, the exercise (or training), will do thee no harm. Hearken now unto good counsels. Now our fathers according to the body feel great anxiety concerning us in childhood, for they suffer with the suffering, and say, 'Who is sick and I myself am not sick?' And for this reason we must apply the medicine of the Word.

Now when once the soul hath been seized by sin, and it remaineth without pain, it addeth greatly to its sickness. For as the flame which hath once laid hold upon fuel devoureth everything, even so is sin; when once it hath laid hold upon the thoughts of the soul and there is none to cut it off, it can afterwards only be healed with the greatest difficulty, because with growth (or, addition) sluggishness cometh. Now in this way, on many occasions, many who did not at the beginning extinguish the sparks, have suffered great overthrow, for they had not restrained their sin so that it might not advance. And sin is like unto the horse which hath bitten through its bridle, and thrown its rider from the rock. For sick folk have a great prospect of recovery so long as they remain with their physicians; but when once they have no one to care about the sickness, and to check it, they abide subsequently unhealed. And this doth not happen through the law of the sickness, but because of neglect of Him that can heal [it].

Therefore it is meet to curb sin from the very beginning, like a fierce and obstinate horse. For after our departure from this world we can neither repent nor correct our ways, even as the athlete cannot be crowned when the contest is ended. Therefore let us snatch for ourselves the glory of the crown in this world that we may escape the disgrace of the next, for disgrace is more evil than burning. For if the servant of a man burn he suffereth loss, but every disgrace is more severe than burning. Now if we seek not to be disgraced no one shall disgrace us. It is said, 'Thou shalt not revile the man who turneth from his sins.' For if in this world it is not seemly for us to revile the adulterer whose disgrace is not forgotten, how much more in that synagogue of the Other World, where there is no bribe and nothing else, should he be able to do away for himself that disgrace?

Therefore open thou thy mouth with the word of God, and not with idle words. For if instead of an idle word we give a portion of the Psalms, how much more should we give instead of a deed which we have sinfully committed? Let not the pleasure of the things which are seen lead us astray; for as we cannot overtake our own shadows, so also we cannot [overtake] the deeds of men. Now some of them are dissolved before our death, and others afterwards, and more rapidly than a mountain torrent they are exhausted, and fly away. Now the things which are about to be change not, neither do they become old, nor are they transformed, but they are joyous at all times, and in their beauty they abide. Marvel not at the wealth which doth not abide with those who possess it, but which forsaketh them, and leapeth from this man to another, and also from that man to another. And it is meet that we should despise all these transitory things, for it should be sufficient for us to hear him who said, 'God is the Judge of truth, the Mighty One, and the Long-suffering One.' Frequent vigil is necessary for thee [if] thou wouldst guard thyself against thieves, for thine Adversary, the Calumniator, seeketh to cast thee down s that thou mayest not ascend to that place wherefrom he fell. His nets are many. Flee from his snares, and from his traps, so that thou mayest be able to say, 'He shall deliver thee (me?) from the snare of stumbling, and from the words of emptiness.'

Thou hast need at all times not only of a lamp, but also of a light [therein] because of the craftinesses which are from afar; for although thou hast feet thou wilt not be able to walk unless the Lamp of the Law is with thee. And although thou hast hands and eyes thou wilt be able neither to work nor to see whilst the light is not near thee. Thou travellest on the road every day, and the light is necessary for thee, that thou mayest not fall from the rock if thou meetest thieves. Be thou above the snares at all times, saying, 'Skip about, and dwell on the mountains, like a goat'; and 'Would that I had wings like doves, so that I could fly away, and dwell, and be afar off!' The nature of the pupil of the eye is the eye, whatever it may be. Thou shalt be chaste as a virgin under the tamarind trees, so that thou mayest arrive in the bed-chamber. Also,

c as the tongue is restrained between the two high hedges of the lips, and like a modest virgin, let us utter every word in knowledge and in order. And seeing beforehand the Judge Who is to come, let us say, 'What then is the river of fire like? And the outer darkness? And the gnashing of teeth?' In thy mind shalt thou receive [the knowledge thereof], and thou shalt be able to please God. Now because [the loins of] the Bridegroom are girded up, guard thou for Him thy conscience in purity until He come in His glory. And sing thou a Psalm, saying, 'My soul is in Thy hands always, and Thy Law have I not forgotten.' Inasmuch as thou art above snares thou shalt not fall into them, so that thou mayest be able to say, 'My soul hath escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler.' At all times fear thou God, as the righteous Judge; and if thou dost not love the dwelling with angels, be afraid lest thou be tortured with Satan. See how death cometh, light thy lamp, and let thy lamp burn with a good flame, so that thou mayest not tarry [through] sleep. Consider not the labours, but look upon Paradise; reckon not the sufferings, but be of good courage with victory. Thou shalt not be anxious about the stripes, but the honour. Thou shalt not see those who have fallen, but be thou like unto those who were trained and who conquered, who were crowned not with the [crowns of] earth, but with those of heaven.

The martyrs offered themselves to God, but let us offer the labours which are great. Thou thinkest sleep pleasant, but understand thou the sweetness of the spiritual song. If thou find it to be a hardship to sleep upon the ground, observe thou that the martyrs fell down on coals of fire. If thy mouth be bitter through fasting, ponder thou that to Him Who created sweetness did they give gall for thy sake. And if thou weep it is for thyself, for hitherto thou hast not poured out tears, like Paul, for the redemption of others. Give courage to thy soul with all these things. Labour is for a little time, but the rest is everlasting. Conquer the world by hope. Tribulation receiveth enjoyment. Consider that lust is of time, that everlasting punishment is prepared for thee, and flee from pleasure because of the penalty which is attached to the fight. Let not thy members become arrows for the Calumniator, neither through thy sight, nor through thy mouth, nor through thy hand, nor through thy belly, lest with the arrows which come from thyself he shoot thee through and through. Now consider that nation which, through fasting, passed over the Sea of Sedge (Red Sea), which through drunkenness worshipped the calf, and was swallowed up in the pit of wickedness; and have understanding concerning sins, and flee from falls. For if God doth not spare the natural branches He will not spare thee.

May our Lord then grant unto all of us to find mercy before Him, through the supplication and prayer of all His saints, and through the grace and love for man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory and dominion, together with His Father and His Holy Spirit, now, and always, and for ever and ever. Amen. Here endeth the Discourse of Mâr John, Bishop of Constantinople, which was pronounced by him on Virginity, and Repentance, and Admonition.

(From a MS. in the Vatican.) Rich are the beautiful streams of the Divine Goodness. Innumerable are the benefits of spiritual assemblings. A glorious thing is the merchandise of the Ecclesiastical Market and beloved in the honour of the feast at the altar. Glorious are the profits of the Cross. Indescribable is the trodden-out produce of Salvation. Unenvied and abundant is the treasure of the celestial gifts. Grace knoweth no poverty, for Christ doth not borrow riches from [any] other place. And, O my beloved, look into, if thou wishest, the Divine Books, and thou shalt know with exactness the immeasurableness of the riches, and the greatness of the gift of the Giver. For they shall teach thee with exactness how, at divers times and in multitudinous ways, our Lord Jesus Christ hath never ceased to confer benefits upon the human race since the beginning. For first of all Adam, [who] was driven forth from Paradise; He took [him], and after he had been condemned, He made him a fellow-occupant of His throne in heaven. Abel, who had been slain as a sacrifice; after his death He made the shepherd to become the accuser of the murderer (?). He saw Noah sailing in the ark, and He preserved him [as] the spark of the race. He found Abraham a sojourner in a strange land, and

Cod. Syr. Vat. He made him the Father of Nations. He saw Joseph in bonds, and He set him up for ever as a pattern of chastity. He found Moses a fugitive from Egypt, and He made him the governor of a people which could not be counted. Joshua, the spy of Palestine, He made to be the man who put a bridle on the Sun and Moon. He took David from [following] a small flock, and made him the root of kings, and the head of the generations of the Awful Mystery. The she-ass of Balaam, though she was without reason, He made to be endowed with the faculty of speech. [For] the Red Sea, because of the necessity, He gave sailors (?). He made the dry rod of Aaron to be the mother of blossoms out of the ordinary course of nature. He set up a serpent of brass [to be] a marvellous physician in the wilderness.

Elijah, a fugitive slave on the earth, He made to be mounted on a heavenly chariot. He made the flame of the Babylonian furnace to be the nurse of the Three Children. He made the lions that were in the pit to stand up like disciples before the instruction of Daniel. He turned the fish of the sea into the couch of prophecy. He changed the house of Rahab the harlot into an altar of the love of receiving strangers. The tongue sufficeth not to relate [the instances of His love], for the wealth thereof surpasseth speech. Now therefore, every house of the merchandise of salvation is filled at the Ecclesiastical Festival. For there are terrestrial gifts and celestial rewards, and here are the selling of passions and the acquisition of spiritual excellences. There are the offerings of possessions and the selling of reward[s], [and here] . . . There are (sic) the cloud which produceth rain [and] the Gospel healing, and here are the Trinity uncreate and the Apostolic Trumpets. There, instead of savage passions, hymns of praise set to tones of music are sung. Here are the dismissal of Adam of the dust and the lightning flashings of the Lord from heaven. There are the expulsion of the old tyrant and the worship of the Virgin mystery. Here the hand-written list of sins is torn up, and a bill of freedom is ordered and written. There are the death of the passions and the joy of souls.

O festival, he who is below. . . . And all his merchandise. There with a loud voice repentance is preached, [and there are] the beneficial binding up of the Forty Days' Fast, [and] the reward of the wages of continence and angelic virginity, [and] the almsgiving which is acceptable, [and] the happiness of simplicity (or, integrity), [and] the incalculable understanding of longsuffering, [and] the patient endurance which cannot be wrecked, [and] the faith which is without perversity, [and] the incomprehensibility of the coming [of our Lord] in the flesh. Now in whatsoever way thou shalt thresh the matter with the mind, thou wilt find that this miracle is in the greatest degree beyond all possibility of investigation.

For the mind is too feeble which seeketh to discover how God, Who is immutable, became man, and how the Word, Who cannot mingle [with anything], became united unto clay, and how the impassible God became a form in the flesh without having changed: because He is of the Father Who hath no beginning, and because He cannot be depicted. For He Himself is very God, and, without falsehood, man; with the Father because He is equal in substance; with myself because He is equal in race, [except] that He hath not sinned. Of Divine Nature. Uncreate is He. [His] assumption [of humanity] is without falsehood. And He is One, the Son, and is not divided into Two Natures, but the Adorable Government hath united to the Two Natures One Person. One is the Son, even though the heretics scoff, and the Jews rave, and the heathen are shaken [in derision]. He was not separated from the Father, and dwelt with the children of men. He took upon Himself flesh, and was not changed. He became man, and was not separated (or, divided). The whole of Him was in heaven, the whole of Him was on earth, and in every place is the whole of Him, for the Divine Nature cannot be divided. He endured sufferings in that which He put on (i. e., flesh); He was free from sufferings because of that which He was. We say the Son, not God, Who is of grace, but by Nature God the Word:

as the Son of the Father in Nature indivisible; Wisdom, as the Governor of things divine and human; Power, as the Preserver of all things which exist; Truth, as the veritable Form of the Father; Image, as equal in substance with His Begetter Who is immutable; Light, as the Sun of souls; Life, for in Him we live, and move, and have our being; Righteousness (or, Justice), as He Who rewardeth every man according to his works; Holiness, as the destroyer of sin; Salvation, as He Who by blood bought the world; Resurrection, as the Restorer of him that had been cast into the grave.

But is it necessary that I should say other things? I say, however, O Jew, and I am not ashamed, and I will cry with a loud voice: it was the adorable Dispensation of God that negotiated my redemption. For what He was, He was because of Himself. What He became, He became because of me. He wrought wonderful things as God, and He bore sufferings as the Son of man. In what He was He remained. And because He loved He became man, because of the leaven of that which had been formed (i. e., the lump) He is the Son of man, for in truth having taken flesh from a woman He was born [like a man]. He is the Way, like a guide, to the Father; the Door, like one who leads into the Paradise; the Shepherd, like him that seeketh [the sheep] which he hath lost; the Ram, like one who is sacrificed on behalf of the world; the Lamb, as the Purifier of the uncleanness of the world.

The Divine Dispensation of God [worketh] in many ways. High priest, that is, He was God, [and] He was. Without mother, that is, He was superior to us. Without father, that is, He was like unto us. He was not reckoned among the generations in any place. Above He was ineffable: below (i. e., on the earth) He was never expounded, and in every place He could not be interpreted. Body, soul, mind, He assumed, that through all these He might become (?) a likeness [of ourselves]. Because of these things, and because He redeemed [thee], be ashamed, O Jew, and also because of the sufferings which He bore for thee, and the miracles [which He wrought] on thy behalf. But [thou sayest], Are they miracles? And, O fighter against God, what hast thou to shew in this respect which can be compared with what we have? Which miracle is more worthy of admiration: the heaven which rained bread, or the God Who put on flesh? The sea which was divided by the passage [of the Israelites], or the Virgin who, after giving birth to a child, was still a virgin? The rod which turned a rock into a watery deep, or the Cross which bought and sanctified the world? Be ashamed of [these] miracles [, O Jew], and worship thou Him that put on flesh.

But [thou sayest,] are these things [truly] miracles? These (i. e., the following) I say [are] miracles. The conception which took place without seed. Birth-pangs which did not follow carnal union. The Virgin undestroyed. Virgin and mother, and virgin again. The course of the star [in the East]. The praise of the angels. The fear of the shepherds. The presentation of the offerings of the Magians. The obedience (or, submission) of the sea. The flight of the winds. The walking on the sea. The stilling of the storm. The leaping of the paralytic. The keen sight of the blind men. The smiting of the devils. The resurrection of the dead. The tottering of Creation. The D lamentation of the heavens. The darkening of the Sun. The rending of the rocks. The cleaving of the Temple. The overthrow of Sheol. The emptying of the graves. The death of the thief. The fixing of the handwriting [on the Cross]. The dissolution of the Synagogue. The growth of the Church. The increase of the fear of God. The worship of the Cross. And when thou hast vomited forth error, proclaim, with Moses, 'This is my God, and I will worship Him'—to Him be praise, and honour, for ever and ever. Amen.

Here endeth the Discourse of the Sabbath which bringeth in the Fast.

May the festival of the Virgin this day make to blossom our tongue, O my brethren! May it be called upon to give praise, and may it become unto us this day, and unto those who have gathered together [here], a guide of salvation, a faithful one. For pure and without blemish is His word, and He Whom we preach is the glory of the generation of women. And there is honour to them because of the Virgin, and through this honour the Synods of the Church are glad, and earth and sea crown the Virgin. The sea [because on] its back multitudes of ships come and go, and the earth because it receiveth the footsteps of those who journey over it with gladness; and creation exulteth and rejoiceth. Women are held in high honour, and men utter cries of gladness throughout all the earth, for, to oppose the multitudes of sins which are exceedingly many in this world, grace and righteousness have been gathered together by Saint Mary, who is the vessel of virginity which cannot be destroyed. She is the garden of the spirit of the Second Adam. She is the union of existence, and she is the possessor of salvation, whereby she hath purchased us. [She is] the pure edifice wherein one liveth daintily. [She is] the Word, the flesh, and is indeed the wood of the bush, wherein was a soul, which the fire consumed not. [She is] the Deity, whereof in truth the cloud hath been stripped away. And she carried with her flesh Him Who was above the Cherubim, and Who came [down] from heaven. [She is] the pure rain [upon] the wool, wherefrom the Shepherd clothed Himself in the garb of the Lamb, Mary, the handmaiden, mother and virgin.

She is heaven, and she became the bridge from God to man, [the bridge] of His incarnation in our life, wherein was woven the awful fabric of His flesh. His apparel was miraculous, the Fashioner thereof was the Holy Spirit, the thread thereof was from above, the shadow of the Power, the fibre thereof existed from the beginning, the flesh of Adam, the web thereof was of the virgin, [whose] flesh was pure, and the Weaver was His Grace which He put on. And His Maker was the Word which was obedient to His Father which is in heaven.

The womb of the Virgin was not too strait for Him in any respect, and He was brought forth by a woman, God, not stripped of flesh, and not man an inferior, but God with His flesh. And He Who was in times past the door, the door of man, redeemed him; He Who was brought forth worked righteousness. By the obedience of a woman at His coming He healed woman, who had disobeyed His word, of the venomous vomit of the serpent, and by woman, by whom was brought forth Cain, the first worker of sin, was brought forth our Redeemer Jesus Christ, without seed of offspring. And the Lover of man was not ashamed to be brought forth by a woman, for what He had made was life, and He Who was the Creator did not destroy His habitation in her womb, and He was without disgrace. Had she not remained a virgin after giving birth to God, verily He Who was brought forth by her would have been an ordinary man, and His birth would not have been miraculous. But, seeing that after she had given birth to Him she continued to be a virgin, verily He Who was born of her was a miraculous Being, for through a closed barrier God came. Thomas, His disciple, having perceived the nature of His substance, cried out and said, 'My Lord and my God.'

Thou shalt not be ashamed of His birth from a woman, for a woman became the means of salvation. If He had not been born of a woman, His mother, He could not have died in His flesh. And if He had not died in His flesh, He could not have destroyed by His death him that hath dominion over death, Diabolos. The materials used by the architect when he buildeth them into a building are not disgraced, and the brickmaker doth not destroy the clay whereof the bricks are made when he restoreth old brickwork, and in like manner by His birth from a pure virgin He was not destroyed. When He created her He was not defiled, and similarly, when He was born of her He was not destroyed. Hail, Belly, wherein was written the freedom of all the world! Hail, Womb, wherein was wrought the shield against death! Hail, Field, wherein germinated the Crop of the Ploughman without seed! Hail, Palace, wherein lived God the High-Priest, Whose nature is unchanging, and Who, in His mercy, arrayed Himself after the manner of the order of Melchisedek!

And now, we say, the Word became flesh, and although the Jews have refused to believe in God, yet did God make flesh, and put it on [Himself], even though the Arami vainly imagine it to be a mystery. Because of this thing it is written, 'To the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Nations (or, Heathen) madness,' that is to say, the Cross, which is marvellous above all speech. If the Word did not dwell in the womb we shall not sit [in] our flesh on the great throne. If God suffered disgrace by dwelling in the womb, the angels who are sent to the children of men suffer degradation in their office. He Who in His own nature could not suffer pain, by reason of His compassion for us, became one who could suffer pain in His flesh. He Who was the Lord Christ did not thereby acquire the qualities (or, attributes) thereof—God forbid!—but for our sakes, being God, He became a man, and even thus do we believe. And we do not preach a man who became God, having changed himself, but we believe in God, Who became incarnate, and Who made a handmaiden to be [His] mother.

Now, in His Divine Nature, He had no mother, and in His fleshly nature He had no father on the earth; for He is of like substance with the Father. How can one liken Him to Melchisedek, [the names] of whose father and mother were not written [in genealogies], if He was an ordinary (or, humble) man? Christ was not without a mother, for He had a mother on the earth. And as He was God His Being was not of the flesh, because He had no [earthly] father, for He had a Father in heaven. Now, in his character of Christ, He had no mother in heaven above, for He is the Creator, and He had no father [on earth] below, for He was created in His flesh. The salutation of the angel caused Mary to be greatly ashamed; now 'Gabriel' was the name of the angel who saluted Mary, and the interpretation thereof in Hebrew is 'he is God'. He saluted her first of all in order that His incarnation might be believed [by her]. Understand, O man, the means whereby He came, and glorify the power of Him that became incarnate. Much did the first generation of man owe as the debt for his sin, for through Adam the Devil made us sinners and slaves. The Devil had taken possession of us, and he bore the testimony [which was against] us, and he set down on his bill of indictment the suffering of our flesh. And the Evil One stood up and wrote a statement of claim against us, and he acted craftily in respect of us, and he watched the bill of our debts increasing, and [at last] he demanded us in death.

Now from all this it follows of necessity that there cannot be two [Persons]. One Person hath redeemed all of us from our litigation, and similarly One [Person], our Lord, was given for the redemption of us all. For to Him is all righteousness to save man, and degraded man did He deliver from a state of helplessness. For us He redeemed the debt. From a state of helplessness He bought us into a state of divinity; for there was no being of flesh who could redeem us. Therefore it was necessary for Him that had no sin in Himself to die in His flesh because of our sin. This was the means whereby He Who is Himself the Creator Who created saved us from our sins. Nothing is impossible with His graciousness, nothing is [too great] for Him to give.

Now He obtained strength and gladness of life for sinners, and caused the overthrow of death, which was right. And according to the design which He Himself knew, He became incarnate, and He became a man like unto ourselves, and He died in the flesh wherewith He had clothed Himself. And He redeemed [us] by that which He had put on, according to that which Paul saith, 'For in Him we have found our redemption by His Blood, [and] the remission of our sins'. This thing could not have been wrought by any other than He. He is not mortal, for He is the Being Who cannot die. And like unto Him there is no other in respect of His flesh; there is none who shall be, and there is none who hath been, He Who was brought forth by the Virgin, that is, God, Who became incarnate, standeth alone. And He was [not] of weight like unto the many who were weighed with Him, for He Who redeemed us is greater than we, greater than all of us, in every matter, and in every computation. He redeemed us [and made us] to be redeemed men because He was the Son Who was equal with His Father, and He saved us because He was the Creator, Whose power is infinite.

And because He was the Loving One He did not disdain to shew mercy upon us, nay, He suffered for us openly; and because He was the High Priest, He brought us to His faithful Father as something for which He had made petition, and would not be denied from possessing. Where can be found another who is like unto Him, or who shall be compared with Him? Nowhere.

And consider His love towards the men who wished to condemn Him to death! After they had crucified Him He made their dead to live, and He changed the transgressions of those who slew Him into [their] salvation. He saved degraded man from his helpless state, and because he was degraded He wished to save him, even as Paul saith, 'We have all sinned,' and our sins have brought us nigh unto the Devil, and the Devil hath given us over unto death. And the generation of man was in great suffering, and there was none to deliver [him], and those who had been sent, the keepers of medicine, the Prophets, were unable to heal him. And when they saw that the wound was waxing sore in the whole nature of man, they cried out unto the Keeper of medicine Who was in the heavens, and spake, and one said, 'Lord, bow the heavens, and come down.' And another said, 'Heal Thou me, and I shall be healed.' And another said, 'Lift up Thy power, and come, deliver us.' And another said, 'Thus shall God dwell with man.' And another said, 'Let Thy mercy find us quickly.' And another said, 'Woe is me, O Lord, for the good man hath perished from the earth.' And another [said], 'O Lord, look Thou to my help; O Lord, hasten to my help.' And another said, He Who is shall come, and shall not tarry.' And another said, 'I have gone astray like a sheep which is lost, seek Thou Thy servant.'

With all these [prayers], however, creation was not healed, nay, she was oppressed. But He Who is in truth King in His Being, and Whose Being is eternity, came, and He gave Himself [to be] the redemption, and He Who put on flesh of the virgin gave the price of death for the generation of man, and He bought him for ever from the curse of the Law. Now, He Who redeemed us was not an ordinary man, O Jew, for the race of man was in bondage to sin, but He redeemed us; and the Lord was not a mediator through the flesh, for the flesh is an enemy. O Manichean, had He not put on [the flesh], He could not have saved us. But in the womb of the virgin, there did He put on that which had sinned, and there took place the awful change in Him that redeemed us. And it was not the Spirit which became incarnate, but He, the Son, took flesh from the virgin, and the Spirit overshadowed the Son as He became incarnate of her.

Now if thou sayest, [There are] 'Two Christs' and 'Two Words', know that it is not so in the Trinity wherein we believe, but in a Tetrad. Now, therefore, hold not in abhorrence the garment of His flesh which was woven in heaven above, and become not a disciple of Arius, for this man blasphemously divided Him Whose Being is a Trinity, and thou shalt not separate blasphemously the substance of the Being of Christ. Who was it that appeared unto those who sat in the darkness and shadow of death? And who is he who dwelleth in the shadow? Hearken unto Paul who saith, 'Who hath delivered us from the shadow.' And again he saith, 'For ye are the first of darkness.' And who is He that appeared? David taught us, saying, 'Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord.' And who is He that shall come? Let us hearken unto David again: 'God hath declared Himself. The Lord hath appeared unto us.' [His] Being was joined in union, and He remained without change. He came to save him (i. e., man), and His own death was necessary.

[Besides] all this, how was it possible for an ordinary man to save him (i. e., man)? It was impossible for God, his Mediator, to suffer in the flesh, but being God He became man, and through His Divinity He saved him; and in that He had become incarnate He suffered in the flesh. And for this reason when the Church saw Him, as they were crowning Him with the crown of thorns, weeping for the Temple, she cried out, 'O children of Jerusalem, get ye forth and see the crown wherewith His mother hath crowned Him.' For He put on the crown of thorns, and He made whole him that had suffered from the thorns. He Who was in the bosom of His Father was in the womb of the virgin. He Who was in the arms of His mother was glorified on the wings of spirits. He before Whom the angels bowed in homage reclined at meat with the tax-gatherers. He upon Whom [not] one of the Seraphim dared to look did Pilate examine in the hall of judgement. And creation trembled because of Him. They set up the Cross. No place was empty of Him. He was shut in the grave. And heaven was laid out (or, rent) like sackcloth. And in His Divinity He was watching. He was counted among the dead; He moved about in Sheol. And He Who was treated with contumely like a thief here below was proclaimed holy above, for He is holy.

But I see [the mystery of] the miracles of Him Who was thus, and I preach His Divinity. Emmanuel did not open the door of the virgin, like a man; He did not burst the bolt of her virginity, for He was God. As He entered the womb without corruptible matter, so was He produced, and so was He conceived; He came in without corruptible matter, and He went out without corruptible matter, even as Ezekiel the Prophet saith, 'He brought me by the way of the gate of saints, outside the door which looketh towards the east, and it was closed. And God said unto me, Son of man, this gate is closed, and it shall not be opened. And no one shall go in through it except the God of Israel. He alone shall go in through it, and come out from it, and it shall remain closed. Behold, then, the true and open testimony concerning the holy God-bearer, Mary. And now, from this time onwards, let there be cast aside all contention and unbelief, and let us expound the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, so that God may give us a portion in the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to Whom, and to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, be glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 17,192, ff.) Now the Word was sent [down] from heaven without Frl. 278 a grudging, and it is ready to give drink to our hearts, if it be that we ourselves are ready to be [obedient] to the power of the Word. For power [cometh] not by what we say, but by our hearkening [thereto]. As the rain produceth not fruit without the earth, nor doth the earth [produce fruit] without the rain, so neither doth the Word produce fruit without hearing [on our part], nor doth hearing produce fruit without the Word. For the Word produceth speech in us, but it is the hearkening [thereto] which giveth us the faculty of listening. Since now the Word giveth power, do ye also, without grudging, give hearing, having first of all purified yourselves from all envy and unbelief. For envy and unbelief are evil possessions and the enemies of righteousness. For envy is the opposite of love, and unbelief of belief, just as bitterness is the opposite of sweet, and darkness of light, and wickedness of good, and death of life, and falsehood of truth. Now, therefore, those who are filled with these opposites are dead men. For those who possess envy and unbelief hate love and faith, and those who hate these are the enemies of God.

For ye know now, O my beloved brethren, those who possess envy and unbelief are the enemies of righteousness. Guard ye yourselves against the enemies of justice, 3 H and receive ye faith and love, for through them cometh salvation to all the saints, from the beginning until this day. Therefore make ye manifest the fruits of love, not only in word, but also in deed, and the works to the Lord through patient endurance. For behold, our Lord also made manifest towards us His love, and not in word only, but in deeds, for He gave Himself as a redemption for us, and also that we should not be like unto the world, either in word or in deed. For the world standeth by the word, but we [stand] by both word and deed. For it was not sufficient for God to say only, 'Let us make man in Our own image and likeness,' but unto the word He united action. For God took dust from the earth, and He formed man in His own image and likeness, breathing into him the breath of life, that Adam might become a living soul. Now therefore man having, through error, turned aside somewhat to death, that which had been fashioned required to be fashioned anew for redemption by the Handicraftsman. For it was that which had been fashioned that had become corruption in the earth. That breath which appertaineth to the living soul is, when it is separated from the body, seized and carried off to a dark place which is called Sheol.

Now the soul and the body are separated: the former becometh a fettered thing in Sheol, and the latter lieth free in the earth. Now between these, the soul and the body, there is a great gulf [fixed], so that the flesh is set free, being dissolved, but the soul is unable [to escape], being fettered. For like a king who hath been taken prisoner, the city having been destroyed; or again, like a general who is loaded with fetters, his troops having been scattered; or like a steersman who hath fallen [into the water], his ship having sunk; even so is the soul which is fettered, its body being set free, for it is like unto a city which hath no king, and its members are like unto the troops which have no governor, and they are sunk in death, like the ship which hath no steersman. Now the soul was wont to govern its man, for it was to the body like the king of a city, and also like the governor of a troop, and like the steersman of a ship. Now therefore it can no longer govern its man, because the soul hath been chained to immovability. Therefore doth it wander away into error, because it hath turned aside from the straight way, and it hath joined itself to the courses which tempt [the soul], to fornication, and idolatry, and to murders, and deeds of blood, whereby it hath destroyed its man.

Now the soul, having been taken to Sheol, is bound in fetters by the Evil Tempter. But as a king reconstructeth a city which hath fallen down, or a general collecteth together [again] the soldiery who had been scattered, or the steersman maketh ready [again] the ship which had foundered, so also is it with the soul. It was a helper of its body before it was dissolved in the earth, for it itself was not in bonds. Now the soul is fettered, not by bonds, but by sins. Therefore being unable [to free itself] it left its body lying free in the earth. It itself, however, having been struck down into Sheol, became a footstool for death. For it became a thing worn out for all the children of men. Man went forth from Paradise to this region, where are gatherings of iniquities, and adulteries, and fornications, and murders, and deeds of blood; now these are the things which destroy man, and all of them make [him go] to death. [And whilst Sheol] was fighting against man, in order that it might also destroy him, man was without any one to encourage him and to be a helper [to him]; and he would never [enjoy] rest.

Now at what period of his life doth a man rejoice? Is it when in the womb of his mother? But there he is nigh unto death. Is it when he is being fed with milk at the breast? But he never enjoyeth happiness there. Is it when he is in the vigour of early manhood? But that period also is one of danger because of the vigour of the lusts [of his body]. Is it when he is an old man? But in that period he groaneth because of his old age, and because of his expectation of death. For what is old age except the expectation of death? But all who are on the earth die, young men and old men, little and great; for the measures of the statures [of men] do not subdue death, for man is destroyed however [large he be]. Now the sight of the death of a man is a sorrowful thing. When one looketh at a dead body [one seeth that] the face is changed, the form [is that of] a dead thing, the body is shrunk, the mouth is silent, [the body is] cold to the touch, the eyes are closed, the limbs are without motion, and the body of the dead man becometh in the ground decaying flesh. The ligaments are rotten, the bones are bleached, the muscles are dissolved, the body is fine dust, and is not a man.

What, then, is man? He is a flower which bloometh for a [short] time. In the womb he knoweth nothing, in his youth he suffereth pain, and in old age he is made helpless by death. Now therefore after all this service of death, and the destruction of man, God visited the formation which He had formed in His own image and likeness. And He visited it for this reason—that it might not be any longer the mark of death continually. God the Father sent His Son, Who was without flesh, from heaven, that He might put on flesh in a virgin womb. And He became a man like unto thyself that He might redeem man who was lost, and He gathered together all his limbs which had been scattered. Now that was a matter for the Divine Providence: having divided man [into two parts], these did Christ bring together, and He made one [in] the man. And for this reason also Christ suffered in order that we might live for ever. If this be not so, why did Christ also die? Was He, think ye, under the obligation of the liability of death? Why, then, did He put on the flesh?

Was He not arrayed in glory? Also, why did He become man? For was He not God? Why, then, did He come down upon the earth, and put on flesh in the womb? For was He not reigning in heaven? In what manner now was it necessary that God should come upon the earth, and put on flesh, and be laid in swaddling bands in a manger, and be fed with milk at the breast, and be baptized by a servant, and hung upon the Cross, and buried in the earth, and rise again from the dead on the third day? In what way, I say, was it necessary? It is well known that for the sake of man He bore disgrace, in order that He might redeem man who was lost, even as He cried out by the hand of the prophet, 'I have endured pain like a woman in birth-pangs.' For it is indeed true that He bore suffering for our sake, and endured pains, and revilings, and scourgings, and also death and burial. For thus also hath He said by the hand of the prophet, 'He hath brought me down into the depth.' Who was it, then, that brought Him down? The wicked nation.

Observe ye, O children of men! Observe the reward wherewith Israel rewarded Him! They killed Him, who wrought benefits for them, having rewarded Him with evil things for good things, and affliction for gladness, and death for life. For Him Who had raised up their dead, and healed their lame folk, and cleansed their lepers, and given light to their blind, Him, I say, did they kill and hang upon a tree. Observe ye, O children of men, for all generations saw new and wonderful things. They hung upon a tree Him that hung out the earth, and they fastened thereto Him that had fixed the world [in its place]. And they bound Him that had unbound sins. And they made to drink vinegar Him that had made [them] to drink righteousness. They tore the Hands and the Feet of Him that had healed their hands and their feet. And they compelled Him to shut His Eyes, Him that had made them to see. And they buried Him that had raised the dead before He suffered.

But whilst our Lord was hanging on the tree, the graves were rent, and Sheol was opened, and souls came forth, and the dead rose, and many of those who had risen appeared in Jerusalem when the mystery of the Cross was fulfilled. Now our Lord dissolved Death, and also dissolved the enmity [thereof]. He bound the strong one, and set up against him the passion of the victory (or, merit) of the Cross. He lifted up His own Body on the Cross, in order that it might be seen that it was the body which had been lifted up, and that it was Death which had fallen under the feet of the flesh. Then the heavenly hosts were stupefied with admiration, and the angels marvelled, and the [Four] Elements were shaken (or, moved), and all creation tottered when it saw [this] new mystery, and the awful sight which had been [seen] on the earth. The people as they mocked rejoiced, and at the same time, when as yet the mystery was not known, the earth tottered. The mountains and the valleys

rocked and were shaken, the sea was greatly disturbed, and the whole Creation of God was troubled. The luminaries in the heavens were terrified, the sun fled, and the moon also fled, the stars ceased to shine, and the day did not abide. An angel came forth in trouble from the temple, and rent in twain the curtain of the temple; darkness covered the earth, because the Eyes of the Lord thereof were closed. A light went round about Sheol, and beyond there arose the planet Venus. Then the Lord went down into Sheol, not in the body, but in the spirit, for in every place He was operative. In the body He raised up the dead, but in the spirit He set free the souls from Sheol. For whilst the Body of our Lord was hanging [on the Cross], then were the graves rent asunder, and Sheol was opened, and the dead were rising, and the souls were ascending into heaven when the Lord dissolved Sheol. And He trod under foot Death, and rent asunder the Enemy. Now the souls came forth from Sheol, but the dead appeared from the earth.

Observe ye therefore how much His dying was able [to effect]. The Elements could not endure His Passion, nor the earth His Body, nor Sheol His Spirit. For everything was troubled, and everything was moved (or, shaken) at the Passion of Christ. The Lord cried out, as in the matter of Lazarus, 'Come forth, O dead, from your graves! Come forth from your coffins! I announce unto you the Resurrection, I Christ.' Then the earth could not endure the Body of our Lord which was buried in it, and it cried out, saying, 'My Lord, spare me these evils. Remove from me wrath, release me from the curse, because I received the blood of the righteous and the bodies of men. And moreover, Thine own Body was buried in me. What is this wonderful mystery? Why didst Thou descend into the earth but for the sake of man, who is scattered about in every place? For in every place Thy beautiful image is scattered. But if Thou speakest the word of command, all bodies shall stand up before Thee. Now however that Thou hast come to the earth, and dost seek out the members of the creatures whom Thou hast fashioned, take Thy man, take Thy deposit, take Thine Image, take Adam.'

Then the Lord rose from the dead on the third day, the third part of man only having been dead. Then all the generations of the children of men were redeemed by Christ, for One had been judged and myriads were set free. Now this One was the cauterisation of the sore in man, and He redeemed man. And He ascended into the heights of heaven, and took up [as] an offering to the Father, neither gold, nor silver, nor precious stones, but man whom He had fashioned in His own image and likeness. This One did the Father exalt at His right hand, on a high throne, and He made Him the Judge of the Gentiles, and the Captain of the armies of the angels, and the Charioteer of the Cherubim, and the Son of the true Jerusalem, and the Bridegroom of the Virgin, and King for ever and ever. Amen.