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What else did the harlot pour out? Nothing other than tears and repentance; she took repentance as her guide, and approached the fount.

4. But let us hear what the publican and the evangelist says. And Jesus went out from there, and went into the region of Tyre and Sidon; and behold, a woman. The evangelist marvels: Behold, a woman, the ancient weapon of the devil, she who cast me out of paradise. 52.452 the mother of sin, the leader of the transgression, this very woman comes, this very nature; a new and strange wonder; Jews flee, and the woman pursues. And behold, a woman coming out from those regions, was beseeching him, saying: Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. The woman becomes an evangelist, and confesses both the divinity and the economy; Lord, the lordship; Son of David, the assumption of the flesh. Have mercy on me. Behold a philosophical soul. Have mercy on me; I have no accomplishments of life, I have no boldness of conduct; I take refuge in mercy, in the common harbor of sinners; I take refuge in mercy, where there is no tribunal, where salvation is without examination; and yet, being so wicked and lawless, she dared to approach.

And behold the philosophy of a woman; she does not beseech James, she does not entreat John, nor does she approach Peter, nor did she cut through the choir. I have no need of a mediator, but taking repentance as an advocate, I approach the Fount himself. For this he descended, for this he took on flesh, so that I too might converse with him. Above the Cherubim tremble before him, and below a harlot converses with him. Have mercy on me. A bare word, and she finds a boundless sea of salvation. Have mercy on me; for this you came, for this you took on flesh, for this you became what I am. Above, trembling, and below, boldness. Have mercy on me; I have no need of a mediator, Have mercy on me. What do you have? I seek mercy. What do you suffer? My daughter is cruelly possessed by a demon; nature is tormented, sympathy is laid bare. She went forth as an advocate for her daughter; she does not bring the sick one, but brings faith; He is God, and sees all things. My daughter is cruelly possessed by a demon. A harsh grief; the goad of nature has pierced the womb, the tossing wave is in her bowels. What shall I do? I am perishing. And why do you not say, Have mercy on my daughter, but, Have mercy on me? She has the affliction in insensibility, she does not know what she suffers, she does not feel the pain, having the painlessness, or rather the insensibility, as a veil for her misfortune. But have mercy on me, the beholder of daily evils; I have a theater of misfortune in my house. Where shall I go? Into the desert? But I do not dare to leave her alone. But into the house? But I find the enemy within, the waves in the harbor, a theater of misfortune. What shall I call her? Dead? but she moves. But alive? But she does not know what she does. I do not know how to find a name to explain the affliction. Have mercy on me. If the little daughter had died, I would not be suffering such things; I would have given the body to the bosom of the earth, and with time I would have introduced forgetfulness, and I would have dispersed the wound; but now I have a continuous dead one working a spectacle for me, weaving my trauma, increasing my suffering. How can I see eyes being distorted? hands being twisted? hair being unbound? foam being emitted? the executioner being inside and not appearing? the one who scourges not being seen, but the scourges being visible? I stand as a spectator of another's evils, I stand with nature goading me; Have mercy on me. Harsh is the tossing wave, passion and fear; passion of nature, and fear of a demon. I cannot approach, nor hold fast. The passion pushes me, and fear thwarts me. Have mercy on me.

5. Consider the philosophy of a woman. She did not go to magicians, she did not call soothsayers, she did not make amulets, 52.453 she did not hire sorceresses,

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ἄλλο τι ἐξέχεεν ἡ πόρνη; Οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἢ δάκρυα καὶ μετάνοιαν· ἔλαβε χειραγωγὸν τὴν μετάνοιαν, καὶ προσῆλθε τῇ πηγῇ.

δʹ. Τί δέ φησιν ὁ τελώνης καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς, ἀκούσωμεν. Καὶ ἐξελθὼν ὁ

Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν, ἦλθεν εἰς τὰ μέρη Τύρου καὶ Σιδῶνος· καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνή. Θαυμάζει ὁ εὐαγγελιστής· Ἰδοὺ γυνὴ, τὸ παλαιὸν ὅπλον τοῦ διαβόλου, ἡ τοῦ παραδείσου με ἐκβαλοῦσα. 52.452 ἡ μήτηρ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἡ ἀρχηγὸς τῆς παραβάσεως, αὕτη ἐκείνη ἡ γυνὴ ἔρχεται, αὕτη ἡ φύσις· καινὸν θαῦμα καὶ παράδοξον· Ἰουδαῖοι φεύγουσι, καὶ ἡ γυνὴ καταδιώκει. Καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνὴ ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρίων ἐκείνων ἐξελθοῦσα, παρεκάλει αὐτὸν λέγουσα· Κύριε, υἱὲ ∆αυῒδ, ἐλέησόν με. Εὐαγγελίστρια γίνεται ἡ γυνὴ, καὶ τὴν θεότητα καὶ τὴν οἰκονομίαν ὁμολογεῖ· Κύριε, τὴν δεσποτείαν· Υἱὲ ∆αυῒδ, τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν ἀνάληψιν. Ἐλέησόν με. Ὅρα φιλόσοφον ψυχήν. Ἐλέησόν με· οὐκ ἔχω κατορθώματα βίου, οὐκ ἔχω παῤῥησίαν πολιτείας· ἐπὶ ἔλεον καταφεύγω, ἐπὶ τὸν κοινὸν τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων λιμένα· ἐπὶ ἔλεον καταφεύγω, ὅπου δικαστήριον οὐκ ἔστιν, ὅπου ἀνεξέταστος ἡ σωτηρία· καίτοι οὕτω πονηρὰ οὖσα καὶ παράνομος, ἐτόλμησε προσελθεῖν.

Καὶ ὅρα γυναικὸς φιλοσοφίαν· οὐ παρακαλεῖ Ἰάκωβον, οὐ δέεται Ἰωάννου, οὐδὲ προσέρχεται Πέτρῳ, οὐδὲ διέτεμε τὸν χορόν. Οὐκ ἔχω μεσίτου χρείαν, ἀλλὰ λαβοῦσα τὴν μετάνοιαν συνήγορον, αὐτῇ τῇ πηγῇ προσέρχομαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο κατέβη, διὰ τοῦτο σάρκα ἀνέλαβεν, ἵνα κἀγὼ αὐτῷ διαλεχθῶ. Ἄνω τὰ Χερουβὶμ αὐτὸν τρέμει, καὶ κάτω πόρνη αὐτῷ διαλέγεται. Ἐλέησόν με. Ψιλὸν τὸ ῥῆμα, καὶ πέλαγος ἀχανὲς σωτηρίας εὑρίσκει. Ἐλέησόν με· διὰ τοῦτο παρεγένου, διὰ τοῦτο σάρκα ἀνέλαβες, διὰ τοῦτο ἐγένου ὅπερ ἐγώ εἰμι. Ἄνω τρόμος, καὶ κάτω παῤῥησία. Ἐλέησόν με· οὐ χρείαν ἔχω μεσίτου, Ἐλέησόν με. Τί ἔχεις; Ἔλεον ζητῶ. Τί πάσχεις; Ἡ θυγάτηρ μου κακῶς δαιμονίζεται· ἡ φύσις βασανίζεται, ἡ συμπάθεια γυμνάζεται. Ἐξῆλθε συνήγορος τοῦ θυγατρίου· οὐ φέρει τὴν νοσοῦσαν, ἀλλὰ φέρει τὴν πίστιν· Θεός ἐστι, καὶ τὰ πάντα βλέπει. Ἡ θυγάτηρ μου κακῶς δαιμονίζεται. Πένθος χαλεπόν· τὸ κέντρον τῆς φύσεως τὴν μήτραν διέσχισε, τὸ κλυδώνιον ἐν τοῖς σπλάγχνοις. Τί ποιήσω; ἀπόλλυμαι. Καὶ διὰ τί μὴ λέγεις, Ἐλέησον τὴν θυγατέρα μου, ἀλλὰ, Ἐλέησόν με; Ἐκείνη ἐν ἀναισθησίᾳ ἔχει τὸ πάθος, οὐκ οἶδε τί πάσχει, οὐκ αἰσθάνεται τῆς ὀδύνης, παραπέτασμα τῆς συμφορᾶς ἔχουσα τὸ ἀνώδυνον, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ ἀναίσθητον. Ἐμὲ δὲ ἐλέησον τὴν θεωρὸν τῶν καθημερινῶν κακῶν· θέατρον ἔχω συμφορᾶς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ. Ποῦ ἀπέλθω; Εἰς τὴν ἔρημον; Ἀλλ' οὐ τολμῶ αὐτὴν καταλιπεῖν μόνην. Ἀλλὰ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν; Ἀλλ' εὑρίσκω τὸν πολέμιον ἔνδον, τὰ κύματα ἐν τῷ λιμένι, θέατρον συμφορᾶς. Τί αὐτὴν καλέσω; Νεκράν; ἀλλὰ κινεῖται. Ἀλλὰ ζῶσαν; Ἀλλ' οὐκ οἶδε τί ποιεῖ. Οὐκ οἶδα εὑρεῖν ὄνομα ἑρμηνεῦον τὸ πάθος. Ἐλέησόν με. Εἰ ἐτεθνήκει τὸ θυγάτριον, οὐκ ἂν τοιαῦτα ἔπασχον· παρέδωκα ἂν τοῖς κόλποις τῆς γῆς τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ τὴν λήθην ἂν εἰσήγαγον, καὶ διεφόρησα ἂν τὸ ἕλκος· νῦν δὲ νεκρὸν ἔχω διηνεκῆ θεωρίαν μοι ἐργαζόμενον, ὑφαίνοντά μοι τὸ τραῦμα, πλεονάζοντά μοι τὸ πάθος. Πῶς ἴδω ὀφθαλμοὺς διαστρεφομένους; χεῖρας στραγγαλουμένας; πλοκάμους λυομένους; ἀφρὸν προϊέμενον; τὸν δήμιον ἔνδον ὄντα καὶ μὴ φαινόμενον; τὸν μαστίζοντα μὴ ὁρώμενον, τὰς δὲ μάστιγας φαινομένας; Ἕστηκα θεωρὸς τῶν ἀλλοτρίων κακῶν, ἕστηκα τῆς φύσεώς με κεντριζούσης· Ἐλέησόν με. Χαλεπὸν τὸ κλυδώνιον, πάθος καὶ φόβος· πάθος φύσεως, καὶ φόβος δαίμονος. Προσελθεῖν οὐ δύναμαι, οὐδὲ κατασχεῖν. Ὠθεῖ με τὸ πάθος, καὶ διακρούεταί με ὁ φόβος. Ἐλέησόν με.

εʹ. Ἐννόησον γυναικὸς φιλοσοφίαν. Οὐκ ἀπῆλθε πρὸς μάγους, οὐκ ἐκάλεσε

μάντεις, οὐ περίαπτα ἐποίησεν, 52.453 οὐ μαγγανευτρίας γυναῖκας ἐμισθώσατο,