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not making a tumult, not destroying, nor being destroyed. And he shall come down like rain upon a fleece. You told of the kingdom, you told also of his betrayal: He that ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me. Tell also of his judgment: Why did the nations rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? Speak also of the cross: They pierced my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones. Tell also of his gall: They gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Tell also of his anointing: You have anointed my head with oil. Tell also of his baptism: He has nourished me by the water of rest. Tell also of his mysteries: You have prepared a table before me in the presence of them that afflict me. Tell also of his cup: Your cup which intoxicates me, how excellent it is. Tell also of the casting out of the Jews: I will not accept calves from your house, nor he-goats out of your flocks. Speak also of the reproaches from the Jews: He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him, let him save him, because he desires him. Tell also of the salvation of the nations: Ask 55.530 of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance. Tell also of his tomb: For you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. Tell also of his ascension into heaven: God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Tell also of the election of the apostles: Instead of your fathers, sons have been born to you. Tell also of the chorus of virgins: Virgins shall be brought to the king after him. Tell also of the calling of the Church: The queen stood at your right hand, arrayed in golden vesture, adorned. Tell also of his session at the right hand: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. O David, you have announced the whole prophecy, and why do you cry out: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me? You are a king, you are set about with a diadem, you were clothed in purple. But he says: These are leaves, and night, and a dream. I seek that beauty.

Give me the Holy Spirit, that you may speak to me again, and I may speak to you. For the Spirit departed from me, like a dove seeing filth. I wish it to return. Then I will come and be seen by your face. I cannot endure, since I have lost my confidence. You see David confessing to God. See how great an evil sin is. And what sin? Adultery and murder and transgression of the law, a setting aside of the words of God. And saying these things I do not accuse the prophet, but I report his swift repentance. But it was fitting for the prophet to fulfill what was written: Declare your sins first, that you may be justified; for this is what justified him. "I have sinned against the Lord," he says. But the prophet Nathan came, and said: "And the Lord has put away your sin." Brief was the sin, briefer the confession.

For since he sinned with the wife of Uriah, he was overcome by sin, and writing a psalm, he said: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy. And through all the confession he received release from all sin. But how was Paul also shown mercy? Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? O philanthropy of the Master! To a man he says: Why are you persecuting me? He imitates his own Father. For he also reasoned with the Hebrew people: My people, what have I done to you, or how have I troubled you? Answer me. And his Son said: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? What then did Paul say? Who are you, Lord, who speaks to me? O grateful servant! At once he confessed his lordship, saying, "Who are you, Lord?" And the Lord said to him: I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter Damascus, and there it will be told to you what you must do. And he who was once a wolf, is now a sheep; he who was once a persecutor, is now an evangelist; he who was once a weed, is now wheat; he who was once a pirate and a sinker of ships, is now a pilot of the people; he who was once ravaging the

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οὐδὲ θορυβῶν, οὐκ ἀπολ λύων, οὐδὲ λυόμενος. Καὶ καταβήσεται ὡς ὑετὸς ἐπὶ πόκον. Εἶπες τὴν βασιλείαν, εἶπες αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν προδοσίαν· Ὁ ἐσθίων ἄρτους μου ἐμεγάλυνεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ πτερνισμόν. Εἰπὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ δικαστήριον· Ἵνα τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη, καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά; Λέγε καὶ τὸν σταυρόν· Ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας μου, ἐξηρίθμησαν πάντα τὰ ἀστᾶ μου. Εἰπὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν χολήν· Ἔδωκαν εἰς τὸ βρῶμά μου χολὴν, καὶ εἰς τὴν δίψαν μου ἐπότισάν με ὄξος. Εἰπὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ χρῖσμα· Ἐλίπανας ἐν ἐλαίῳ τὴν κεφαλήν μου. Εἰπὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ βά πτισμα· Ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἀναπαύσεως ἐξέθρεψέ με. Εἰπὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ μυστήρια· Ἡτοίμασας ἐνώπιόν μου τράπεζαν ἐξ ἐναντίας τῶν θλιβόντων με. Εἰπὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ποτήριον· Τὸ ποτήριόν σου μεθύσκον με, ὡσεὶ κράτιστον. Εἰπὲ καὶ τὴν ἐκβολὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων· Οὐ δέξομαι ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου σου μόσχους, οὐδὲ ἐκ τῶν ποιμνίων σου χιμάρους. Λέγε αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰς παρὰ Ἰουδαίων λοιδορίας· Ἤλπισεν ἐπὶ Κύριον, ῥυσάσθω αὐτὸν, σωσάτω αὐτὸν, ὅτι θέλει αὐτόν. Εἰπὲ καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν σωτηρίαν· Αἴτη 55.530 σαι παρ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου. Εἰπὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν τάφον· Ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην, οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν. Εἰπὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάληψιν· Ἀνέβη ὁ Θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, Κύριος ἐν φωνῇ σάλπιγγος. Εἰπὲ καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων τὴν ἐκλογήν· Ἀντὶ τῶν πατέρων σου ἐγγεννήθησάν σοι υἱοί. Εἰπὲ καὶ τὸν χορὸν τῶν παρθένων· Ἀπενεχθήσονται τῷ βασιλεῖ παρθένοι ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ. Εἰπὲ καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὴν κλῆσιν· Παρέστη ἡ βασίλισσα ἐκ δεξιῶν σου, ἐν ἱματισμῷ διαχρύσῳ περιβεβλημένη, πεποικιλμένη. Εἰπὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἐκ δεξιῶν καθέδραν· Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. Ὦ ∆αυῒδ, πᾶσαν τὴν προφητείαν ἀπήγγειλας, καὶ τί βοᾷς· Καρδίαν καθαρὰν κτίσον ἐν ἐμοὶ, ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ πνεῦμα εὐθὲς ἐγκαίνισον ἐν τοῖς ἐγκάτοις μου; Βασιλεὺς εἶ, διαδήματι περίκεισαι, πορφυρίδα περιεβάλλου. Ἀλλὰ λέγει· Φύλλα ταῦτα, καὶ νὺξ, καὶ ὄναρ. Τὸ κάλλος ἐκεῖνο ζητῶ.

∆ός μοι τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ἵνα πάλιν λαλήσῃς μοι, κἀγὼ λαλήσω σοι. Ἀπέστη γὰρ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ τὸ Πνεῦμα, καθάπερ περιστερὰ βόρβορον βλέπουσα. Βούλομαι αὐτὴν ἐπανελθεῖν. Τότε ἥξω καὶ ὀφθήσομαι τῷ προσώπῳ σου. Οὐ δύναμαι ὑπενεγκεῖν, ἐπειδὴ τὴν παῤῥησίαν ἀπώλεσα. Ὁρᾷς τὸν ∆αυῒδ ἐξομολογούμενον τῷ Θεῷ. Βλέπε πόσον κακὸν ἡ ἁμαρτία. Καὶ ποία ἁμαρτία; Μοιχεία καὶ φόνος καὶ νόμου παράβασις, ἀθέτησις λόγων Θεοῦ. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγων οὐ κατηγορῶ τοῦ προφήτου, ἀλλὰ τὴν ταχεῖαν αὐτοῦ μετάνοιαν ἀπαγγέλλω. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἔπρεπεν τῷ προφήτῃ πληρῶσαι τὸ γεγραμμένον Λέγε σὺ πρῶτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου, ἵνα δικαιωθῇς· τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ ἐδικαίωσεν. Ἡμάρτηκα τῷ Κυρίῳ, λέγων. Ἀλλ' ἦλθεν ὁ προφήτης Νάθαν, καὶ εἶπεν· Καὶ Κύριος ἀφεῖλε τὸ ἁμάρτημά σου. Σύντομος ἡ ἁμαρτία, συντομωτέρα ἡ ἐξομολόγησις.

Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἥμαρτεν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Οὐρίου γυναῖκα, ἡττᾶτο ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ γράψας ψαλμὸν, εἶπεν· Ἐλέησόν με, ὁ Θεὸς, κατὰ τὸ μέγα ἔλεός σου. Καὶ διὰ πάσης τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως λύσιν ἐδέξατο πάσης ἁμαρτίας. Ἀλλὰ καὶ Παῦλος πῶς ἐλεήθη; Σαοὺλ, Σαοὺλ, τί με διώκεις; Ὢ φιλανθρωπία ∆εσπότου! Ἀνθρώπῳ λέγει· Τί με διώκεις; Τὸν Πατέρα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μιμεῖται. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἑβραϊκῷ διαλέγεται· Λαός μου, τί ἠδίκησά σε, ἢ τί παρηνώχλησά σοι; Ἀποκρίθητί μοι. Καὶ ὁ Υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἔλεγε· Σαοὺλ, Σαοὺλ, τί με διώκεις; Τί οὖν Παῦλος; Τίς εἶ, Κύριε, ὁ λαλῶν μοι; Ὢ εὐγνώμονος δούλου! Εὐθέως τὴν δεσποτείαν ὡμολόγησε, Τίς εἶ, Κύριε; εἰπών. Ὁ δὲ Κύριος πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἐγώ εἰμι Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζαραῖος, ὃν σὺ διώκεις· ἀλλὰ ἀναστὰς εἴσελθε εἰς ∆αμασκὸν, κἀκεῖ σοι λαληθήσεται τί σε δεῖ ποιεῖν. Καὶ ὅ ποτε λύκος, νῦν πρόβατον· ὅ ποτε διώκτης, νῦν εὐαγγελιστής· ὅ ποτε ζιζάνιον, νῦν σῖτος· ὅ ποτε πειρατὴς καὶ καταποντιστὴς, νῦν κυβερνήτης λαοῦ· ὅ ποτε πορθῶν τὴν