Be taught from what is seen; depart opportunely now, and enter tomorrow most opportunely. If you have a covetous disposition of soul, put on another and enter; [put off the disposition you had, do not cover it over] put off for me fornication and impurity, and put on for me the most brilliant robe of self-control. I give this charge, before Jesus, the bridegroom of souls, enters and sees your dispositions. You have a long period of time; you have forty days for repentance; you have great opportunity both to put off and to wash away, and to put on and to enter. But if you persist in an evil purpose, the one speaking is blameless, but you should not expect to receive grace; the water [for] will receive you, but the Spirit will not receive you. If anyone is conscious of a wound in himself, let him take the plaster; if anyone has fallen, let him arise; let there be no Simon among you, no hypocrisy, nor idle curiosity in the matter. 5 It is possible for you to have come on another pretext; for it is possible for a man to wish to entreat a woman, and for this reason to have come forward; the same reasoning applies also to women; and a slave has often wished to please a master, and a friend a friend. I accept the bait of the hook, and I receive you, having come indeed with an evil purpose, but to be saved by a good hope. Perhaps you did not know where you were coming, nor what kind of net is catching you; you have come inside the Church's nets; be caught alive; do not flee; for Jesus is hooking you, not to put you to death, but that having put you to death He might make you alive; for you must die and rise again; for you have heard the Apostle saying: 'Dead indeed to sin, but alive to righteousness'; die to your sins, and live to righteousness; from today, live. 6 See for me what great dignity Jesus bestows [on you]. You were called a Catechumen, hearing from the outside; hearing of hope, and not knowing; hearing of mysteries, and not understanding; hearing scriptures, and not knowing the depth. No longer do you hear from the outside, but you are instructed within; for the indwelling Spirit, henceforth makes your mind a divine house. When you hear what is written concerning the mysteries, then you will understand what you did not know. And do not think that you are receiving a small thing; though you are a pitiable man, you receive the name of God. Hear Paul saying: 'God is faithful'; hear another scripture saying: 'God is faithful and just.' Foreseeing this, the Psalmist said in the person of God, since men are about to receive the name of God: 'I said, you are gods, and all are sons of the Most High'; but see that the name is not of a faithful one, while the purpose is of an unfaithful one. You have entered the contest, weary yourself in the race; you do not have another such opportunity. If the days of a wedding were set before you, would you not have despised all things and been busy with the preparation of the feast? and when you are about to consecrate your soul to the heavenly Bridegroom, will you not cease from bodily things, that you may gain spiritual things? 7 It is not possible to receive the bath two or three times; for then one could say: 'Having failed once, I shall succeed a second time'; but if you fail the one time, the matter is beyond correction. For there is one Lord, and one faith, and one baptism; for only certain heretics are rebaptized, because the former was not baptism. 8 For God seeks nothing else from us but a good purpose; do not say: 'How are my sins blotted out?' I say to you, by willing, by believing; what is shorter than this? But if your lips say you are willing, but your heart does not say it, the One who knows the heart is the judge. From today, cease from every evil deed; let not your tongue speak unseemly words; let not your eye sin, nor wander to things that are not useful. 9 But let your feet hasten to the catechetical instructions. Receive the exorcisms with earnestness; whether you are breathed upon, or exorcised, the thing is salvation for you. Consider it to be unrefined gold, and alloyed, mixed with various materials, with copper, and tin, and iron, and lead; we seek to have the gold alone; gold cannot be purified of its foreign matter without fire; so without exorcisms the soul cannot be purified; and they are divine, collected from divine scriptures; your face has been veiled, so that henceforth the

παιδεύθητι ἐκ τῶν φαινομένων· ἔξελθε εὐκαίρως τὰ νῦν, καὶ εἴσελθε αὔριον εὐκαιρότατα. Εἰ φιλάργυρον ἔχεις τὸ σχῆμα τῆς ψυχῆς, ἄλλο ἐνδυσάμενος εἴσελθε· [ἔκδυσαι τὸ σχῆμα ὃ εἶχες, μὴ ἐπικαλύψῃς] ἔκδυσαί μοι πορνείαν καὶ ἀκαθαρσίαν, καὶ ἔνδυσαί μοι σωφροσύνης λαμπροτάτην στολήν. Ἐγὼ παραγγέλλω, πρὶν ὁ νυμφίος τῶν ψυχῶν εἰσέλθῃ Ἰησοῦς, καὶ ἴδῃ τὰ σχήματα. Πολλή σοι ἡ προθεσμία· τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν μετάνοιαν ἔχεις· ἔχεις πολλὴν εὐκαιρίαν καὶ ἐκδύσασθαι καὶ ἀποπλύνασθαι, καὶ ἐνδύσασθαι καὶ εἰσελθεῖν. Εἰ δὲ ἐπιμένεις κακῇ προαιρέσει, ὁ μὲν λέγων ἀναίτιος, σὺ δὲ μὴ προσδόκα λήψεσθαι τὴν χάριν· τὸ μὲν [γὰρ] ὕδωρ σε δέξεται, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμά σε οὐ δέξεται. Εἴ τις σύνοιδεν ἑαυτῷ τὸ τραῦμα, τὴν ἔμπλαστρον λαβέτω· εἴ τις ἔπεσεν, ἐγειρέσθω· μηδεὶς ἐν ὑμῖν Σίμων, μηδεμία ὑπόκρισις, μηδὲ περιεργία τοῦ πράγματος. 5 Ἐγχωρεῖ σε καὶ προφάσει ἄλλῃ ἐλθεῖν· ἐγχωρεῖ γὰρ καὶ ἄνδρα βούλεσθαι γυναικὶ καθικετεῦσαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προσελθεῖν· ἀντιστρέφει καὶ ἐπὶ γυναικῶν τὸ ὅμοιον ὁ λόγος· καὶ δοῦλος πολλάκις δεσπότῃ, καὶ φίλος φίλῳ ἀρέσαι ἠθέλησε. ∆έχομαι τὸ δέλεαρ τοῦ ἀγκίστρου, καὶ καταδέχομαί σε, κακῇ προαιρέσει μὲν ἐλθόντα, ἐλπίδι δὲ ἀγαθῇ σωθησόμενον. Ἴσως οὐκ ᾔδεις ποῦ ἔρχῃ, οὐδὲ ποία σε σαγήνη λαμβάνει· γέγονας εἴσω δικτύων ἐκκλησιαστικῶν· ζωγρήθητι· μὴ φύγῃς· ἀγκιστρεύει γάρ σε Ἰησοῦς, οὐχ ἵνα θανατώσῃ, ἀλλ' ἵνα θανατώσας ζωοποιήσῃ· δεῖ γάρ σε ἀποθανεῖν καὶ ἀναστῆναι· ἤκουσας γὰρ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου λέγοντος· Νεκροὶ μὲν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ζῶντες δὲ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ· ἀπόθανε τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι, καὶ ζῆσον τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ· ἀπὸ τοῦ σήμερον ζῆσον. 6 Βλέπε μοι πηλίκην [σοι] ἀξίαν ὁ Ἰησοῦς χαρίζεται. Κατηχούμενος ἐλέγου, ἔξωθεν περιηχούμενος· ἀκούων ἐλπίδα, καὶ μὴ εἰδώς· ἀκούων μυστήρια, καὶ μὴ νοῶν· ἀκούων γραφὰς, καὶ μὴ εἰδὼς τὸ βάθος. Οὐκ ἔτι περιηχῇ, ἀλλ' ἐνηχῇ· τὸ γὰρ ἔνοικον Πνεῦμα, λοιπὸν οἴκους θείους τὴν διάνοιάν σου ἐργάζεται. Ὅταν ἀκούσῃς τὰ περὶ τῶν μυστηρίων γεγραμμένα, τότε νοήσεις ἃ μὴ ᾔδεις. Καὶ μὴ νομίσῃς ὅτι μικρὸν πρᾶγμα λαμβάνεις· ἄνθρωπος ὢν οἰκτρὸς, Θεοῦ λαμβάνεις προσηγορίαν. Ἄκουε Παύλου λέγοντος· Πιστὸς ὁ Θεός· ἄκουε ἄλλης γραφῆς λεγούσης· Θεὸς πιστὸς καὶ δίκαιος. Τοῦτο προβλέπων ὁ Ψαλμῳδὸς ἔλεγεν ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐπειδὴ μέλλουσιν ἄνθρωποι Θεοῦ προσηγορίαν λαμβάνειν· Ἐγὼ εἶπα, θεοί ἐστε, καὶ υἱοὶ Ὑψίστου πάντες· ἀλλὰ βλέπε, μὴ πιστοῦ μὲν ἡ προσηγορία, ἀπίστου δὲ ἡ προαίρεσις. Εἰσῆλθες εἰς ἀγῶνα, κάμε τὸν δρόμον· ἄλλον καιρὸν τοιοῦτον οὐκ ἔχεις. Εἴ σοι γάμων ἡμέραι προέκειντο, οὐκ ἂν κατεφρόνησας πάντων, καὶ περὶ τὴν ἑτοιμασίαν τῆς ἑστιάσεως ἐγένου; μέλλων δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν καθοσιοῦν τῷ ἐπουρανίῳ νυμφίῳ, οὐκ ἀργήσεις σωματικῶν, ἵνα ἄρῃς πνευματικά; 7 Οὐκ ἔνι δὶς καὶ τρὶς λαβεῖν τὸ λουτρόν· ἐπεὶ ἦν εἰπεῖν· Ἅπαξ ἀποτυχὼν, δεύτερον κατορθῶ· ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἅπαξ ἀποτύχῃς, ἀδιόρθωτον τὸ πρᾶγμα. Εἷς γὰρ Κύριος, καὶ μία πίστις, καὶ ἓν βάπτισμα· μόνον γὰρ αἱρετικοί τινες ἀναβαπτίζονται· ἐπειδὴ τὸ πρότερον οὐκ ἦν βάπτισμα. 8 Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλλο παρ' ἡμῶν ζητεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, εἰ μὴ προαίρεσιν ἀγαθήν· μὴ λέγε· Πῶς μου ἐξαλείφονται αἱ ἁμαρτίαι; Ἐγώ σοι λέγω, τῷ θέλειν, τῷ πιστεύειν· τί τούτου συντομώτερον; Ἐὰν δὲ τὰ μὲν χείλη σου λέγῃ τὸ θέλειν, ἡ δὲ καρδία μὴ λέγῃ, καρδιογνώστης ὁ κρίνων. Ἄργησον ἀπὸ τῆς σήμερον ἀπὸ παντὸς φαύλου πράγματος· μή σου λαλησάτω ἡ γλῶσσα ἄσεμνα ῥήματα· μή σου τὸ βλέμμα ἁμαρτανέτω, μηδὲ ῥεμβέσθω τὰ μὴ χρήσιμα. 9 Οἱ δὲ πόδες σου εἰς τὰς κατηχήσεις σπευδέτωσαν. Τοὺς ἐπορκισμοὺς δέχου μετὰ σπουδῆς· κἂν ἐμφυσηθῇς, κἂν ἐπορκισθῇς, σωτηρία σοι τὸ πρᾶγμα. Νόμισον εἶναι ἀργὸν χρυσὸν, καὶ δεδολωμένον, ποικίλαις ὕλαις ἀναμεμιγμένον, χαλκῷ, καὶ κασσιτέρῳ, καὶ σιδήρῳ, καὶ μολύβδῳ· ζητοῦμεν τὸν χρυσὸν μόνον ἔχειν· χρυσὸς μὴ δύναται ἄνευ πυρὸς καθαρθῆναι τὰ ἀνοίκεια· οὕτως ἄνευ ἐπορκισμῶν οὐ δύναται καθαρθῆναι ψυχή· εἰσὶ δὲ θεῖοι, ἐκ θείων γραφῶν συνειλεγμένοι· ἐσκέπασταί σου τὸ πρόσωπον, ἵνα σχολάσῃ λοιπὸν ἡ