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he makes an apology to him, because he did not come to him, nor did he see him. For both the, "Until I come," and the, "I am eager to come to you quickly," made him expect his coming soon. To this, then, he immediately makes an apology. And he does not immediately state the reason for which he did not come, so that he might not cause great grief; and this was his being detained by Caesar; but when he called him to himself toward the end, then he disclosed it. But he does not immediately cast him into grief from the introduction, but shows hopes of seeing him; "I long to see you," and, "Be eager to come to me quickly." 62.602 Therefore, from the introduction he immediately raises his spirits, and speaks what follows with commendation. "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience, as without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy." I thank God that I remember you, he says; thus do I love you. This is of surpassing love, when one is also adorned by the friendship from loving so greatly. "I thank God," he says, "whom I serve." How? "With a pure conscience from my forefathers;" because his conscience was not harmed. Otherwise here he speaks about life, and everywhere he calls conscience life. Or that I betrayed nothing of the good things I was zealous for on account of a human cause, not even then when I was persecuting. For this reason he says, "But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief;" almost saying, do not suspect the matter to be wickedness. He well commends his own character, so that what relates to love might be shown to be trustworthy. What he says is this: I do not lie, nor do I have one thing in mind, and say another. So that even then, being compelled, he commended himself, as the book of the Acts somewhere shows. For since they were slandering him as a seditionist and an innovator, for this reason he said; "And Ananias said to me, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.’" Thus also here, so that he might not get the reputation of one without affection and without conscience as having forgotten, he fittingly commends himself, saying, "As I have unceasing remembrance of you," and not simply, but "In my prayers." That is, it is a work of prayer for me, all the time I continue doing this constantly. For this he indicates by saying, "Night and day I was entreating God for this, greatly desiring to see you." Do you see a fervent longing? Do you see a madness of love? Do you see humility? How he apologizes to the disciple? Then he shows that it is not simply nor in vain. He has shown it indeed already, and he shows it also here; for he says, "Being mindful of your tears." It was likely that he, when being separated, would weep and lament more than a child being torn away from the breast and from its nurse and milk. "That I may be filled with joy," he says, "I long to see you." I would not then have deprived myself of so great a pleasure, even if I were exceedingly insensitive and cruel and beast-like; for those tears were sufficient, coming to my memory, to sway me. But now I am not one of such, but of those who serve God purely. So many necessities led me to you. Therefore, he was weeping. And he puts forward another reason that is at the same time comforting; "Calling to remembrance," he says, "the unfeigned faith that is in you." 2. Then another commendation, that he was not from the Gentiles, nor from unbelievers, but from the beginning from a house that served Christ. "Which dwelt," he says, "in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice." For he was, it says, "the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed." How Jewish? How believing? Not from the Gentiles. But on account of his father, because he was a Greek, and on account of the Jews who were in those places, he took and circumcised him. Do you see how the Law was beginning to be abolished, when these 62.603 intermarriages were happening? And see how many things he established, fully persuading that he did not despise it. "I serve God," he says; I have a true conscience;

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ἐκεῖνον ἀπολογεῖται, ὅτι οὐκ ἦλθε πρὸς αὐτὸν, οὐδὲ εἶδεν αὐτόν. Καὶ γὰρ τὸ, Ἕως ἔρχομαι, καὶ τὸ, Σπουδάζω ἐλθεῖν πρὸς σὲ τάχιον, ταχεῖαν ἐποίει προσδοκᾷν τὴν παρουσίαν. Πρὸς τοῦτο οὖν εὐθέως ἀπολογεῖται. Καὶ τὴν μὲν αἰτίαν εὐθέως οὐ λέγει, δι' ἢν οὐκ ἦλθεν, ἵνα μὴ σφόδρα λυπήσῃ· αὕτη δὲ ἦν τὸ κατέχεσθαι αὐτὸν παρὰ τοῦ Καίσαρος· ὅτε δὲ αὐτὸν ἐκάλεσε πρὸς ἑαυτὸν πρὸς τῷ τέλει, τότε αὐτὴν ἐνέφηνεν. Εὐθέως δὲ αὐτὸν ἐκ προοιμίων οὐκ ἐμβάλλει εἰς λύπην, ἀλλ' ἐλπίδας ὑποφαίνει τοῦ αὐτὸν ὄψεσθαι· Ἐπιποθῶ σε ἰδεῖν, καὶ, Σπούδασον ἐλθεῖν πρός με ταχέως. 62.602 Εὐθέως οὖν ἐκ τοῦ προοιμίου ἀνίστησιν αὐτὸν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς λέγει μετ' ἐγκωμίου. Χάριν ἔχω τῷ Θεῷ, ᾧ λατρεύω ἀπὸ προγόνων ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει, ὡς ἀδιάλειπτον ἔχω τὴν περὶ σοῦ μνείαν ἐν ταῖς δεήσεσί μου νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας, ἐπιποθῶν σε ἰδεῖν, μεμνημένος σου τῶν δακρύων, ἵνα χαρᾶς πληρωθῶ. Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι μέμνημαί σου, φησίν· οὕτω σε φιλῶ. Τοῦτο ὑπερβαλλούσης ἀγάπης, ὅταν καὶ κοσμῆταί τις τῇ φιλίᾳ ἐκ τοῦ σφόδρα φιλεῖν. Χάριν ἔχω, φησὶ, τῷ Θεῷ, ᾧ λατρεύω. Πῶς; Ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει ἀπὸ προγόνων· ὅτι τὸ συνειδὸς αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἦν βλαβέν. Ἄλλως δὲ ἐνταῦθα περὶ βίου φησὶ, καὶ πανταχοῦ τὴν συνείδησιν τὸν βίον λέγει. Ἢ ὅτι οὐδὲν ὧν προεθυμούμην καλῶν δι' ἀνθρωπίνην αἰτίαν προὔδωκα, οὐδὲ τότε ὅτε ἐδίωκον. ∆ιό φησιν, Ἀλλ' ἠλεήθην, ὅτι ἀγνοῶν ἐποίησα ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ· μονονουχὶ λέγων, μὴ ὑποπτεύσῃς τὸ πρᾶγμα κακίαν εἶναι. Καλῶς συνίστησιν αὑτοῦ τὸ ἦθος, ἵνα ἀξιόπιστον δειχθῇ τὸ περὶ τὴν ἀγάπην. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοῦτό ἐστιν· Οὐδὲν ψεύδομαι, οὐδὲ ἄλλα ἔχω, καὶ ἄλλα λέγω. Ὥστε καὶ τότε ἀναγκασθεὶς ἑαυτὸν ἐνεκωμίασεν, ὥς που τὸ τῶν Πράξεων βιβλίον δηλοῖ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὡς στασιαστὴν αὐτὸν διέβαλλον καὶ νεωτεροποιὸν, διὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγε· Καὶ εἶπεν Ἀνανίας πρός με· Ὁ Θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν προεχειρίσατό σε γνῶναι τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἰδεῖν τὸν δίκαιον, καὶ ἀκοῦσαι φωνὴν ἐκ στόματος αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἔσῃ μάρτυς αὐτοῦ πρὸς πάντας ἀνθρώπους, ὧν ἑώρακας καὶ ἤκουσας. Οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα, ἵνα μὴ λάβῃ ἀφίλου καὶ ἀσυνειδήτου δόξαν ὡς ἐπιλελησμένος, εἰκότως ἑαυτὸν ἐγκωμιάζει λέγων, Ὡς ἀδιάλειπτον ἔχω τὴν περὶ σοῦ μνείαν, καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ' Ἐν ταῖς δεήσεσί μου. Τουτέστιν, εὐχῆς μοι ἔργον ἐστὶ, τὸν πάντα χρόνον διατελῶ τοῦτο ποιῶν διηνεκῶς. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐμφαίνει τῷ εἰπεῖν, Νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ὑπὲρ τούτου τὸν Θεὸν παρεκάλουν, ἐπιποθῶν σε ἰδεῖν. Ὁρᾷς ζέοντα πόθον; ὁρᾷς μανίαν ἀγάπης; ὁρᾷς ταπεινοφροσύνην; πῶς ἀπολογεῖται τῷ μαθητῇ; Εἶτα δείκνυσιν ὅτι οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ εἰκῆ. Ἔδειξε μὲν οὖν καὶ ἤδη, δείκνυσι δὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα· φησὶ γὰρ, Μεμνημένος σου τῶν δακρύων. Εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτὸν ἀποσχιζόμενον κλαίειν καὶ ὀδύρεσθαι μᾶλλον, ἢ παιδίον τοῦ μαστοῦ καὶ τῆς τίτθης ἀποσπώμενον καὶ γάλακτος. Ἵνα χαρᾶς, φησὶ, πληρωθῶ, ἐπιποθῶ σε ἰδεῖν. Οὐκ ἂν οὖν ἐμαυτὸν τοσαύτης ἀπεστέρησα ἡδονῆς, εἰ καὶ σφόδρα ἀναίσθητος ἤμην καὶ ὠμὸς καὶ θηριώδης· ἱκανὰ γὰρ ἦν τὰ δάκρυα ἐκεῖνα εἰς μνήμην ἐλθόντα κάμψαι. Νυνὶ δὲ οὐχ εἷς τῶν τοιούτων εἰμὶ, ἀλλὰ τῶν καθαρῶς λατρευόντων τῷ Θεῷ. Ὥστε πολλαί με ἦγον ἀνάγκαι πρὸς σέ. Ἄρα οὖν ἔκλαιε. Καὶ ἑτέραν τίθησιν αἰτίαν ἅμα καὶ παρακλητικήν· Ὑπόμνησιν, φησὶ, λαμβάνων τῆς ἐν σοὶ ἀνυποκρίτου πίστεως. βʹ. Εἶτα καὶ ἄλλο ἐγκώμιον, ὅτι οὐκ ἐξ ἐθνῶν, οὐδὲ ἐξ ἀπίστων, ἀλλ' ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ οἰκίας ἦν τῷ Χριστῷ δουλευούσης. Ἥτις ἐνῴκησε, φησὶν, ἐν τῇ μάμμῃ σου Λωΐδι, καὶ ἐν τῇ μητρί σου Εὐνίκῃ. Ἦν γὰρ, φησὶν, υἱὸς γυναικὸς Ἰουδαίας πιστῆς. Πῶς Ἰουδαίας; πῶς πιστῆς; Οὐκ ἐξ ἐθνικῶν. ∆ιὰ δὲ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ, ὅτι Ἕλλην ὑπῆρχε, καὶ διὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τοὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς τόποις ἐκείνοις, ἔλαβε καὶ περιέτεμεν αὐτόν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἤρχετο ὁ νόμος καταλύεσθαι, τῶν 62.603 ἐπιμιξιῶν τούτων γινομένων; Καὶ ὅρα πόσα ἔθηκε πληροφορῶν ὅτι οὐ κατεφρόνησεν. Ἐγὼ λατρεύω τῷ Θεῷ, φησί· συνείδησιν ἔχω ἀληθῆ·