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drives away quickly; thus the kind and gentle man quickly transforms turmoil and battle into peace and tranquility. It is worthwhile, therefore, to also note that, Christ says that only those who are peaceable in disposition are sons of God. For what reason, then, did He impart His own title only to the meek? Because only the one who becomes the cause of friendship and peace for others imitates the Son of God according to his ability. For He, as God and Lord of all, reconciled the holy angels, who were at war with men, into friendship, having appeared to us through His divine flesh; but a kind man persuades brothers and relatives and family members who are at war with one another to respect the laws of God, and having cast off their enmity, to love one another according to the divine command. And indeed, what the sinews are in our bodies, this a kind man is in a household and a church and a city. For Paul is accustomed to call the brothers a body and members of one another; and the one who brings those who are divided and fighting into friendship confirms the word of Paul, persuading all not to be ignorant of the members, nor to devour one an63.552 other. Therefore that saying is true; so that the one who becomes the cause of peace for the brothers has the same power in the church and the household and the city, which the sinews have in bodies, gluing and joining together those who are divided and at war with one another. However, each one receives this power over others, when he himself first appears living with meekness; but he who is easily carried into anger would seem ridiculous to the many, when he attempts to calm those who are angry. For what could be worse than men enslaved to anger? Who, seeing such a one, does not turn away his eyes? An angry man is unpleasant to those he meets, and unpleasant to his neighbors, and if he falls into need of money, he does not easily find those who will relieve his poverty; he is a common enemy of both citizens and strangers, shouting and screaming, inflicting blows on those he meets, saying things both speakable and unspeakable; such a man's gaze is disturbed, his face swells, his tongue rages, his hands are easily brought to anything, such a one does the works of demoniacs; and someone seeing an angry man might be at a loss whether a demon drives the wretched one, or whether he has been carried away into such madness voluntarily. Anger is a voluntary demon, a self-chosen madness, a desolation of the mind; the angry man is a plaything of the devil, a workshop of demons, a worthy servant of their wickedness. Tell me, what do demons most want men to do? Is it not to insult parents? Is it not to lay their defiled hands upon those who begot them? Is it not to blaspheme God? All these, therefore, are the works of the angry. So that anger easily becomes a cause of impiety for those who are enslaved to anger; for those who have given themselves over to anger are not able to control themselves quickly; but just as in a storm and a surge of the sea, with no helmsman present, the waves taking hold of the deserted ship quickly make it sink; so anger, like a thunderbolt and a storm falling upon the soul, quickly makes the one who serves it senseless and paralyzed. What then? It is the mark of sensible men to check the disease beforehand, and before being carried away into anger, to restrain the soul, and to put anger to sleep with admonitions from Scripture. For if wild beasts readily yield to the incantations of sorcerers, why do you wonder if the oracles of Christ quickly transform a savage soul into calm and equanimity? "Let all," he says, "bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another; if anyone has a complaint against another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God." Do you see what the gentle man is like? Of what

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ἀπελαύνει ταχέως· οὕτως ὁ χρηστὸς καὶ πρᾶος τὴν ταραχὴν καὶ τὴν μάχην εἰς εἰρήνην καὶ ἡσυχίαν μεταῤῥυθμίζει ταχέως. Ἄξιον τοίνυν κἀκεῖνο ἐπισημήνασθαι, ὅτι μόνους τοὺς εἰρηνικοὺς τὸν τρόπον υἱοὺς εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ φησιν ὁ Χριστός. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκα τῆς προσηγορίας τῆς οἰκείας μόνοις ἐπιεικέσιν μετέδωκεν; Ὅτι μόνος ὁ φιλίας καὶ εἰρήνης αἴτιος τοῖς ἄλλοις καθιστάμενος, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ μιμεῖται κατὰ δύναμιν. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ ὡς Θεὸς καὶ τῶν ὅλων κύριος τοὺς ἁγίους ἀγγέλους ἐκπεπολεμωμένους τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εἰς φιλίαν συνεκέρασεν, ἐπιφανεὶς ἡμῖν διὰ τῆς θείας αὐτοῦ σαρκός· χρηστὸς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἀδελφοὺς καὶ συγγενεῖς καὶ οἰκείους πολεμοῦντας ἀλλήλοις, αἰδεῖσθαι πείθει τοὺς νόμους τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἔχθραν ἀποῤῥίψαντας φιλεῖν ἀλλήλους κατὰ τὸ θεῖον ἐπίταγμα. Καὶ μὴν, ὅπερ ἐν τοῖς σώμασι τοῖς ἡμετέροις τὰ νεῦρα, τοῦτο χρηστὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐν οἰκίᾳ καὶ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ πόλει. Σῶμα μὲν γὰρ καὶ μέλη ἀλλήλων ἔθος ὀνομάζειν τῷ Παύλῳ τοὺς ἀδελφούς· ὁ δὲ τοὺς διεσπασμένους καὶ μαχομένους εἰς φιλίαν ἄγων, ἐβεβαίωσε τοῦ Παύλου τὸν λόγον, πείθων ἅπαντας μὴ ἀγνοεῖν τὰ μέλη, μηδὲ κατεσθίειν ἀλλή63.552 λους. Οὐκοῦν ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος ἐκεῖνος· ὥστε τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει δύναμιν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ οἰκίᾳ καὶ πόλει ὁ τῆς εἰρήνης αἴτιος τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς καθιστάμενος, ἣν ἔχει δύναμιν ἐν τοῖς σώμασι τὰ νεῦρα, συγκολλῶν καὶ συνάπτων τοὺς διεσπασμένους καὶ πολεμοῦντας ἀλλήλοις. Ταύτην μέντοι λαμβάνει τὴν δύναμιν ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστος, ὅταν αὐτὸς φανῇ πρῶτος ἐπιεικείᾳ συζῶν· ὁ δὲ ῥᾳδίως εἰς ὀργὴν ἐκφερόμενος, καταγέλαστος εἶναι δόξειεν ἂν τοῖς πολλοῖς, ὅταν ἐπιχειρῇ τοὺς θυμουμένους πραΰνειν. Τί γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο χεῖρον ὀργῇ δουλευόντων ἀνθρώπων; τίς δὲ τὸν τοιοῦτον ὁρῶν, οὐκ ἀποστρέφει τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς; Ἀνὴρ ὀργίλος ἀηδὴς μὲν τοῖς ἀπαντῶσιν, ἀηδὴς δὲ τοῖς γείτοσι, κἂν εἰς χρείαν καταστῇ χρημάτων, οὐ ῥᾳδίως εὐπορεῖ τῶν κουφιζόντων τὴν πενίαν· κοινός ἐστι πολέμιος καὶ πολιτῶν καὶ ξένων, βοῶν καὶ κεκραγὼς, πληγὰς τοῖς ἀπαντῶσιν ἐντείνων, ῥητὰ καὶ ἄῤῥητα λέγων· τῷ τοιούτῳ τὸ βλέμμα ταράττεται, τὸ πρόσωπον οἰδαίνει, ἡ γλῶσσα λυσσᾷ, ῥᾳδίως αἱ χεῖρες ἐπὶ πάντα φέρονται, τὰ τῶν δαιμονώντων ὁ τοιοῦτος ἐργάζεται· καί τις ὁρῶν θυμούμενον ἄνθρωπον, ἀπορήσειεν ἂν εἴτε ὁ δαίμων ἐλαύνει τὸν ἄθλιον, εἴτε ἑκὼν εἰς τοσαύτην ἐξηνέχθη μανίαν. Ὀργὴ δαίμων ἑκούσιος, αὐθαίρετος μανία, ἐρημία φρενῶν· ὁ θυμούμενος τοῦ διαβόλου παίγνιον, ἐργαστήριον δαιμόνων, τῆς ἐκείνων πονηρίας ὑπηρέτης ἄξιος. Εἰπέ μοι, τί μάλιστα βούλονται τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οἱ δαίμονες ἐργάζεσθαι; οὐχὶ γονέας ὑβρίζειν; οὐχὶ τὰς μιαρὰς χεῖρας τοῖς γεγεννηκόσιν ἐπάγειν; οὐχὶ βλασφημεῖν τὸν Θεόν; Ταῦτα τοίνυν ἅπαντα τῶν θυμουμένων ἔργα. Ὥστε καὶ ἀσεβείας ὁ θυμὸς ῥᾳδίως αἴτιος γίνεται τοῖς ὀργῇ δουλεύουσιν· οὐδὲ γὰρ κρατεῖν ἑαυτοὺς δύνανται ταχέως οἱ δεδωκότες ἑαυτοὺς τῷ θυμῷ· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἐν χειμῶνι καὶ ζάλῃ θαλάττης, κυβερνήτου μὴ παρόντος, παραλαμβάνοντα τὰ κύματα τὴν ναῦν ἔρημον ὑποβρύχιον ποιεῖ ταχέως· οὕτως ὁ θυμὸς ὥσπερ τις σκηπτὸς καὶ χειμὼν ἐμπεσὼν τῇ ψυχῇ, ἔκφρονα καὶ παραπλῆγα ποιεῖ ταχέως τὸν αὐτῷ δουλεύοντα. Τί οὖν, εὖ φρονούντων ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ προαναστέλλειν τὸ νόσημα, καὶ πρὶν εἰς ὀργὴν ἐξενεχθῆναι, κατέχειν τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ ταῖς ἀπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς νουθεσίαις κοιμίζειν τὸν θυμόν. Εἰ γὰρ τῶν γοήτων ἐπῳδαῖς εἴκει τὰ θηρία ῥᾳδίως, τί θαυμάζεις εἰ τὰ λόγια τοῦ Χριστοῦ ψυχὴν ἀγριαίνουσαν εἰς γαλήνην καὶ ἰσοψυχίαν μεταῤῥυθμίζει ταχέως; Πᾶσα, φησὶ, πικρία καὶ ὀργὴ καὶ θυμὸς καὶ κραυγὴ ἀρθήτω ἀφ' ὑμῶν, σὺν πάσῃ κακίᾳ· γίνεσθε δὲ εἰς ἀλλήλους χρηστοὶ, εὔσπλαγχνοι, χαριζόμενοι ἑαυτοῖς· ἐάν τις πρός τινα ἔχῃ μομφὴν, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐν Χριστῷ ἐχαρίσατο ὑμῖν. Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὁρᾶτε οἷός ἐστιν ὁ πρᾶος; τίνος