2

to uproot and to plant, to dig up and to build up; to uproot polytheism, and to plant monarchy; to dig up and to build up; to dig up the Hellenic objects of worship, and to build up the oratories of the martyrs. But as for, Today I have set you, do not take it as on a specified day, but for ever and always, as the blessed Paul says: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, instead of, On whatever day you hear the Lord saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; Do not harden your hearts, like the so-called Cathari. These things, however, not only before baptism and in the law, but also after baptism and in grace. For the Master Christ, delivering these very things to his own disciples in other words, said: Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and not simply of certain words, but of deeds did he make his own disciples liable, for loosing and binding. Look, above all, at the blessed Peter, how he bound with death those who had agreed to the lie, Ananias and Sapphira; and how he suddenly loosed the misfortune of the man lame from birth, granting him feet. What will the Cathari say to these things, they who are of the purer ones, and more impure than all impurity? For no one is clean from filth, not even if his life is but a single day upon the earth. What then will the many say to this, those who have vainglorious reasoning, who dare to say with a foolish mouth: Must I go to this presbyter and confess my sins to him, who has often stumbled more than I? How can this man, being human and a sinner, wipe away my sins? Such excuses do those make who exalt themselves in sins and in arrogance. But, O man, you who plot against yourself with your boastful and deceitful words, who provoke God through your foolishness and high-mindedness; for do you approach a man, or does a man forgive your sins? You approach the Master and King of all, God, who through the priest forgives you your trespasses. For the priest is a mediator, not an author. Why then do you judge and abominate him whom God does not condemn? He breaks His precious body, and he consecrates His spotless blood. As long as he is 62.761 a priest, and God permits him to officiate, do not refuse to receive the gift from him; for he himself does not grant you the forgiveness of sins, but the great high priest Christ, who entrusted the priesthood to him. But that not only in grace, but also before grace, God worked salvation for men through a man (for this reason our Master became man, the mediator between God and men); you know accurately the story concerning the blessed David, who just said, 'I will give thanks to you, Lord, with my whole heart,' how he himself, having fallen into murder and adultery, the worst of evils, remained unconfessed. What then does God do, in order to drive him to repentance, and to make those who come after embrace repentance? He sends to him Nathan the prophet, to announce the things against him in the person of another. For having come, he says, the aforementioned prophet said to David: 'King, I have something to say to you.' And David said, 'Speak.' And the prophet Nathan said: 'There was a rich man, having many flocks and herds; and there was a poor man having one ewe lamb, which ate from his table, and drank from his cup, and slept in his bosom;' calling David the rich man, and Uriah the poor man. What then? 'A traveler,' he says, 'came to the rich man.' Who is the traveler? The thought of desire, which casts us into punishment. A traveler came to the rich man; and the rich man, sparing his own sheep, sent and took the ewe lamb of the

2

ἐκριζοῦν καὶ φυτεύειν, ἀνασκάπτειν καὶ ἀνοικοδομεῖν· ἐκριζοῦν τὴν πολυθεΐαν, καὶ φυτεύειν τὴν μοναρχίαν· ἀνασκάπτειν καὶ ἀνοικοδομεῖν· ἀνασκάπτειν τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ σεβάσματα, καὶ ἀνοικοδομεῖν τὰ μαρτυρικὰ εὐκτήρια. Τὸ δὲ, Σήμερον καθίστημί σε, μὴ ἐν ὡρισμένῃ ἡμέρᾳ λάμβανε, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἰς ἀεὶ καὶ πάντοτε, καθώς φησιν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος· Σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ἧ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ ἀκούσητε τοῦ Κυρίου λέγοντος, Μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν· Μὴ σκληρύνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς οἱ λεγόμενοι Καθαροί. Ταῦτα δὲ οὐ μόνον πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα καὶ ἐν τῇ χάριτι. Αὐτὰ γὰρ ταῦτα ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς ἐν ἑτέραις λέξεσι παραδιδοὺς ἔλεγεν· Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅσα ἐὰν δήσητε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἔσται δεδεμένα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ· καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς λέξεών τινων, ἀλλὰ πραγμάτων ἐνόχους ἐποίησε τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς, τοῦ λύειν καὶ δεσμεῖν. Βλέψατε πρὸ πάντων εἰς τὸν μακάριον Πέτρον, πῶς ἐδέσμευσε θανάτῳ τοὺς συμφωνήσαντας τῷ ψεύδει, Ἀνανίαν καὶ Σάπφειραν· πῶς δὲ ἔλυσε τὴν συμφορὰν τοῦ ἐκ γενετῆς κυλλοῦ ἀθρόον, πόδας αὐτῷ χαρισάμενος. Τί ἐροῦσι πρὸς ταῦτα οἱ Καθαροὶ, τῶν καθαρωτέρων, καὶ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας ἀκαθαρτότεροι; Οὐδεὶς γὰρ καθαρὸς ἀπὸ ῥύπου, οὐδ' ἂν μία ἡμέρα ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς. Τί οὖν ἐροῦσι πρὸς ταῦτα οἱ πολλοὶ, οἱ τὸν κενόδοξον λογισμὸν ἔχοντες, οἱ τολμῶντες λέγειν μεματαιωμένῳ στόματι· Ἐγὼ ἔχω τῷδε τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ προσελθεῖν, καὶ ἐξομολογήσασθαι αὐτῷ τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου, τῷ πολλάκις πλείονά μου πταίσαντι; πῶς δύναται οὗτος, ἄνθρωπος ὑπάρχων καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς, τὰς ἐμὰς ἁμαρτίας ἐξαλεῖψαι; Τοιαῦτα προφασίζονται οἱ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις καὶ ἐν ὑπεροψίᾳ ὑψοῦντες ἑαυτούς. Ἀλλ', ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ὁ σαυτῷ ἐπιβουλεύων τοῖς ἀλαζόσι καὶ ἀπατηλοῖς σου ῥήμασιν, ὁ Θεὸν παραπικραίνων διὰ τῆς ἀνοίας σου καὶ ὑψηλοφροσύνης· μὴ γὰρ ἀνθρώπῳ προσέρχῃ, ἢ ἄνθρωπος ἀφίησί σου τὰς ἁμαρτίας; τῷ ∆εσπότῃ καὶ βασιλεῖ τῶν ἁπάντων Θεῷ προσέρχῃ, τῷ διὰ τοῦ ἱερέως συγχωροῦντί σοι τὰ πλημμελήματα. Μεσίτης γὰρ, οὐκ αὐθέντης ὑπάρχει ὁ ἱερεύς. Τί τοίνυν κρίνεις καὶ βδελύττῃ, ὃν ὁ Θεὸς οὐ κατακρίνει; Τὸ τίμιον αὐτοῦ σῶμα μελίζει, καὶ τὸ ἄχραντον αὐτοῦ αἷμα ἱερουργεῖ. Ἕως ἐστὶν 62.761 ἱερεὺς, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς συγχωρεῖ αὐτῷ ἱερουργεῖν, μὴ παραιτήσῃ παρ' αὐτοῦ λαβεῖν τὴν δωρεάν· οὐ γὰρ αὐτὸς παρέχει σοι τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, ἀλλ' ὁ μέγας ἀρχιερεὺς Χριστὸς, ὁ πιστεύσας αὐτῷ τὴν ἱερωσύνην. Ὅτι δὲ οὐ μόνον ἐν τῇ χάριτι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸ τῆς χάριτος ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὴν σωτηρίαν δι' ἀνθρώπου ἐποιεῖτο (τούτου χάριν ὁ ∆εσπότης ἡμῶν ἐνηνθρώπησεν, ὁ μεσίτης Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων)· οἴδατε ἀκριβῶς τὴν ἱστορίαν κατὰ τὸν μακάριον ∆αυῒδ τὸν ἀρτίως εἰρηκότα, Ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι, Κύριε, ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ μου, πῶς ὁ αὐτὸς φόνῳ καὶ μοιχείᾳ περιπεσὼν, τοῖς ἄκροις κακοῖς, ἔμενεν ἀνεξομολόγητος. Τί οὖν ποιεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, ἵνα καὶ τοῦτον πρὸς μετάνοιαν ἐλάσῃ, καὶ τοὺς μετέπειτα ποιήσῃ τὴν μετάνοιαν ἀσπάζεσθαι; Πέμπει πρὸς αὐτὸν Νάθαν τὸν προφήτην, ἐν ἀλλοτρίῳ προσώπῳ τὰ κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐξαγγέλλοντα. Ἐλθὼν γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ μνημονευθεὶς προφήτης πρὸς τὸν ∆αυῒδ ἔφη· Βασιλεῦ, ἔχω σοί τι εἰπεῖν. Ὁ δὲ ∆αυῒδ, Λέγε. Καὶ ὁ προφήτης Νάθαν· Ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν πλούσιος, ἔχων ποίμνια καὶ βουκόλια πολλά· ἄνθρωπος δέ τις ἦν πένης ἔχων ἀμνάδα μίαν, ἥτις ἐκ τῆς τραπέζης αὐτοῦ ἤσθιε, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ποτηρίου αὐτοῦ ἔπινε, καὶ ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ αὐτοῦ ἐκάθευδε· πλούσιον τὸν ∆αυῒδ καλῶν, πένητα τὸν Οὐρίαν. Τί οὖν; Ἦλθε, φησὶ, ξένος πρὸς τὸν πλούσιον. Τίς ὁ ξένος; Ὁ λογισμὸς τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, ὁ ἐμβάλλων ἡμᾶς εἰς κόλασιν. Ἦλθε ξένος πρὸς τὸν πλούσιον· καὶ ὁ πλούσιος φειδόμενος τῶν οἰκείων προβάτων, πέμψας ἔλαβε τὴν ἀμνάδα τοῦ