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having a part of heaven, it preserved its form, while the lower part towards the sea was of earth, and if someone were to say that they were also the supporting pillars for the city, he would not be wrong. O strange affair, where the labors of the ascetic wrestling school of the universe were honored, now things hateful to God are committed and God postpones vengeance! O forbearance of God, how have you endured such things? It would have been better for the earth to have split open and covered it, than for this to be transformed in this way; it would have been better for these things to have fallen down in a single earthquake and for not even ruins to have been left in the place; for then the suffering would not have so bitten the souls of those who saw it. To us, even to enter within the sanctuary seemed a fearful thing, and it was accessible only to those appointed to it, who had first purified their soul and body. But now, alas, it is opened to the abominable, and they are not restrained from such audacity, and the earth does not split apart and bury those who advance against God, nor does the sun burn them from above, or heaven send down a violent rain and submerge the lawless deed. Where, with sobriety of mind and senses, the melodies of the divine oracles were sung and intelligences from above sang in harmony, now the cry of meaningless voices is raised and the tribe of demons rejoices, seeing silenced the tongues that served the all-night hymns. Alas! How can I bear the memory of these things without tears? Where he who became as one of us for our sake was seen living, and a host of angels was gathered to see, works of lawlessness are dared by the enemies of God, and thunderbolts are not cast down from heaven.

O places consecrated to God, the divine grace with which you were rich has been taken away from you, and you are counted as of little worth by the audacious. Oh, how the time of our prosperity has become one of attack and raid, and we who have been left behind have become a shame and a reproach! Gone are the festivals, gone are the splendors 76 of the divine images, freedom of speech has perished, the order of monks has been driven away, and the gray-haired dignity of presbyters and deacons are counted among the dishonored. Is not our life unlivable, and is not to die less bitter than to live, being struck each day by such pains? Indeed, all would surely agree with me, who are disposed to suffer in such things. Often, therefore, I was at a loss within myself as to why these things are, and how we who have suffered have come to such a state of misfortune, and I found the divine word resolving the difficulty for me, saying, “your land shall be desolate and your homesteads desolate, because you walked contrary to me, and I also will walk contrary to you in fury”; for this reason, I have refrained from saying more and have honored it with silence. For it is necessary to propitiate God when we have committed unpardonable offenses, and not to speak at length for show, for we are the cause of what has happened, as the one said, having sown such seeds. Therefore, as for all the nourishment of piety and right doctrines according to virtue, the works of which we have been shown to have neglected, having brought zeal to take them up again, let us strive in every way to obtain a benevolent God by works in which he rejoices, so that from this we may sing a recantation most gracefully.

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ἔχον μέρος οὐρανοῦ σῶζον ἦν σχῆμα, τὸ κάτω δὲ καὶ πρὸς θάλατταν γῆς, εἴ τις δ' ἂν καὶ συνεκτικὰ εἴποι στύλους τῇ πόλει, οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι. Ὢ πράγματος ξένου, ἔνθα πόνοι τῆς ἀσκητικῆς τοῦ παντὸς ἐτιμῶντο παλαίστρας, νυνὶ θεοστυγῇ διαπράττεται καὶ θεὸς ὑπερτίθεται τὴν ἐκδίκησιν! Ὦ θεοῦ ἀνοχή, πῶς τοιούτων ἠνέσχου; Βέλτιον ἂν ἦν τὴν γῆν διασχοῦσαν καλύψαι ἢ τοῦτον ταῦτα μετασκευασθῆναι τὸν τρόπον· κρεῖττον ἂν ἦν ἑνὶ τῆς γῆς ἀνατιναγμῷ ταυτὶ καταπεπτωκέναι καὶ μηδὲ λείψανα γοῦν ἐναπολελεῖφθαι τῷ τόπῳ· τότε γὰρ οὐ τοσοῦτο τὰς τῶν ὁρώντων ψυχὰς ἔδακνεν ἂν τὸ πάθος. Ἡμῖν μὲν καὶ τὸ εἰσιέναι ἔνδον τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου φοβερὸν εἶναι ἐδόκει καὶ μόνοις ἦν εἰσιτητὸν τοῖς τεταγμένοις ἐν τούτῳ, ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα πρότερον σφίσι καθηραμένοις. Τὰ νῦν δὲ τοῖς βδελυροῖς, φεῦ, ἀνεῖται καὶ τῆς τοιαύτης οὐκ ἀπείργονται τόλμης καὶ οὔτε γῆ διίσταται καὶ τοὺς κατὰ θεοῦ χωροῦντας χωννύει, οὔθ' ἥλιος ἄνωθεν καταφλέγει ἢ οὐρανὸς σφοδρὸν ὑετὸν καταπέμπει καὶ καταδύει τἀνόμημα. Ὅπῃ νοῦ καὶ αἰσθήσεων νήψει θείων λογίων ᾔδετο μέλη καὶ συνᾴδοντες ἦσαν ἄνωθεν νόες, φωνῶν νῦν αἴρεται ἀσήμων κραυγὴ καὶ τὸ δαιμόνων ἐφήδεται φῦλον, σιγώσας ὁρῶν παννύχων ᾠδῶν ὑπηρέτιδας γλώττας. Οἴμοι! πῶς ἂν ἀδακρυτὶ τὴν τούτων μνήμην ἐνέγκοιμι; Ἔνθα ζῶν αὐτὸς ὁ καθ' ἡμᾶς δι' ἡμᾶς γενόμενος καθεωρᾶτο, δῆμός τε συνεστέλλετο βλέπειν ἀγγέλων, ἔργα τοῖς ἀντιθέοις παρανομίας τολμᾶται καὶ σκηπτοὶ οὐρανόθεν οὐ καταφέρονται.

Ὢ τόπων θεῷ ἀφωσιωμένων, ἣν ἐπλουτεῖτε θείαν ἀφῄρεσθε χάριν καὶ τοῖς τολμηταῖς παρὰ φαῦλον λογίζεσθε. Ὤ, πῶς ὁ τῆς εὐημερίας ἡμῖν καιρὸς ἐπιθέσεως καὶ καταδρομῆς γέγονε καὶ καταλειφθέντες αἰσχύνη καὶ ὄνειδος γεγενήμεθα! Οἴχονται πανηγύρεις, οἴχονται θείων ἐκτυπωμάτων λαμ 76 πρότητες, ἀπόλωλε παρρησία, τὸ τῶν μοναχῶν ἀπελήλαται τάγμα καὶ πολιαὶ πρεσβυτέρων καὶ διακόνων σεμνότης ἐν τοῖς ἀτίμοις λογίζονται. Ἆρ' οὐκ ἀβίωτος ὁ βίος ἡμῶν ἐστὶ καὶ ἧττον τοῦ ζῆν τὸ θανεῖν ἐστὶ πικραῖς οὕτω βαλλομένοις καθ' ἑκάστην ὀδύναις; Ἤ πού γε πάντες ἄν μοι συμφθέγξαιντο, οἳ πάσχειν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις πεφύκεσαν. Ἠπόρησα οὖν πολλάκις κατ' ἐμαυτόν, ἀνθ' ὅτου ταῦτα καὶ πῶς εἰς τοσοῦτον ἥκομεν κακοπραγίας οἱ πεπονθότες καὶ εὗρον λύοντά μοι τὸν θεῖον λόγον τὴν ἀπορίαν, «ἔσται», λέγοντα, «ἡ γῆ ὑμῶν ἔρημος καὶ αἱ ἐπαύλεις ὑμῶν ἔρημοι, ὅτι ὑμεῖς ἐπορεύθητε πρὸς ἐμὲ πλάγιοι, κἀγὼ πορεύσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν θυμῷ πλαγίῳ»· ἔνθεν τοι καὶ τοῦ πλείω λέγειν ἀφέμενος τῷ σιγῆσαι τετίμηκα. Θεὸν γὰρ ἐξιλεοῦν ἀσύγγνωστα πταίσαντας καὶ μὴ μακρηγορεῖν κατ' ἐπίδειξιν χρή, ἡμεῖς γὰρ τῶν φύντων αἴτιοι, κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα, τοιαῦτα σπέρματα καταβεβληκότες. Πᾶν τοιγαροῦν εὐσεβείας ὅσον καὶ δογμάτων ὀρθῶν τρόφιμον τῶν κατ' ἀρετήν, ὧν ἠμεληκότες ἐφάνημεν ἔργων, αὖθις ἐπιλαβέσθαι σπουδὴν εἰσενέγκαντες, θεοῦ τυχεῖν εὐμενοῦς ἔργοις, οἶς χαίρει, πᾶσι τρόποις ἀγωνισώμεθα, παλινῳδίαν ὡς ἂν ἐντεῦθεν ᾄσωμεν χαριέστατα.