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to the church, the waveless harbor, the calm freed from waves. I thought that after one and a second day the vigil had exhausted your bodies; but now, the more the vigil is intensified, the more your desire increases. Those singing to you have grown weary, and you are refreshed; those singing to you have become weak, and you have been strengthened. Where now are the rich, tell me? Let them learn the philosophy of the poor. Those ones are sleeping, but the poor are not sleeping on the ground, but are bending their knees, imitating Paul and Silas. But 50.716 they sang, and shook the prison, but you sing, and have steadied the shaken city.

The outcomes of the events are opposite, but both are for the glory of God. For he shook the prison, that he might shake the mind of the unbelievers, that he might release the jailer, that he might proclaim the word of God; you have steadied the city, that you might dissolve the wrath of God; both that and this were administered in different ways. But still I rejoice, not because the city has been steadied, but because it has been steadied through your prayers, because your psalms have become foundations. From above, the wrath, and from below, your voice; the voice sent up from below has checked the wrath flowing from above. The heavens were opened, and a sentence was brought down, the sword sharpened; the city upon the ground, the wrath inescapable. We had need of nothing, but of repentance, but of tears and groans, and all things were dissolved; God pronounced sentence, and we dissolved the wrath. No one would err in calling you guardians and saviors of the city. Where are the rulers? Where are the great saviors? Truly, you are the towers of the city, and wall, and security. For they, through their own wickedness, made the city unsound, but you, through your own virtue, have steadied the city. And if someone is asked, from where was the city shaken, even if he does not say, it is acknowledged that it was because of sins, because of greed, because of injustices. because of transgressions, because of pride, because of pleasures, because of falsehood. Of whom? Of the rich.

Again, if someone is asked from where the city was steadied, it is acknowledged that it was because of the psalms, because of the prayers, because of the all-night vigils. These of whom? Of the poor. The things that shook the city were theirs, but the things that steadied it were yours; so that you have become saviors and guardians. But here let us conclude the discourse, persisting in the all-night vigils, in the psalms, sending up glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, τὸν λιμένα τὸν ἀκύμαντον, τὴν γαλήνην τὴν ἀπηλλαγμένην κυμάτων. Ἐνόμιζον ἐγὼ ὅτι μετὰ μίαν καὶ δευτέραν ἡμέραν ἡ ἀγρυπνία διέλυσεν ὑμῶν τὰ σώματα· νῦν δὲ ὅσῳ ἐπιτείνεται ἡ ἀγρυπνία, τοσούτῳ αὔξεται ὑμῶν ὁ πόθος. Οἱ ψάλλοντες ὑμῖν ἀπέκαμον, καὶ ὑμεῖς νεάζετε· οἱ ψάλλοντες ὑμῖν ἠτόνησαν, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐνευρώθητε. Ποῦ νῦν οἱ πλούσιοι, εἰπέ μοι; μανθανέτωσαν τῶν πενήτων τὴν φιλοσοφίαν. Ἐκεῖνοι καθεύδουσιν, οἱ δὲ πένητες ἐπὶ ἐδάφους οὐ καθεύδουσιν, ἀλλὰ γόνατα κάμπτουσι, Παῦλον καὶ Σίλαν μιμούμενοι. Ἀλλ' 50.716 ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἔψαλλον, καὶ τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἔσεισαν, ὑμεῖς δὲ ψάλλετε, καὶ σειομένην τὴν πόλιν ἐστήσατε.

Ἀπεναντίας τῶν πραγμάτων τὰ τέλη, ἀλλ' ἑκάτερα ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξης εἰσίν. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἔσεισεν, ἵνα σαλεύσῃ τῶν ἀπίστων τὴν διάνοιαν, ἵνα λύσῃ τὸν δεσμοφύλακα, ἵνα καταγγείλῃ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἐστήσατε ὑμεῖς τὴν πόλιν, ἵνα λύσητε τὴν ὀργὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ ἐκεῖνα καὶ ταῦτα διαφόρως ᾠκονομήθη. Ἀλλ' ὅμως χαίρω, οὐχ ὅτι ἔστη ἡ πόλις, ἀλλ' ὅτι διὰ τῶν εὐχῶν ὑμῶν ἔστη, ὅτι θεμέλια γεγόνασιν αἱ ψαλμῳδίαι ὑμῶν. Ἄνωθεν ἡ ὀργὴ, καὶ κάτωθεν ὑμῶν ἡ φωνή· τὴν ἄνωθεν ῥέουσαν ὀργὴν ἡ κάτωθεν ἀναπεμπομένη φωνὴ ἀνέστειλεν. Ἠνοίγησαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ, καὶ κατηνέχθη ἀπόφασις, τὸ ξίφος ἠκονημένον· ἡ πόλις ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους, ἡ ὀργὴ ἀπαραίτητος. Οὐδενὸς χρείαν ἔσχομεν, ἀλλὰ μετανοίας, ἀλλὰ δακρύων καὶ στεναγμῶν, καὶ πάντα ἐλύθη· Θεὸς ἀπεφήνατο, καὶ ἡμεῖς τὴν ὀργὴν ἐλύσαμεν. Οὐκ ἄν τις ἁμάρτοι κηδεμόνας ὑμᾶς καὶ σωτῆρας τῆς πόλεως προσειπών. Ποῦ οἱ ἄρχοντες; ποῦ οἱ μεγάλοι σωτῆρες; Ὄντως τῆς πόλεως ὑμεῖς καὶ πύργοι, καὶ τεῖχος, καὶ ἀσφάλεια. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ διὰ τῆς ἑαυτῶν κακίας τὴν πόλιν ἐσάθρωσαν, ὑμεῖς διὰ τῆς οἰκείας ἀρετῆς τὴν πόλιν ἐστήσατε. Κἂν ἐρωτηθῇ τις, πόθεν ἐσείσθη ἡ πόλις, κἂν ἐκεῖνος μὴ εἴπῃ, ὡμολόγηται ὅτι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας, διὰ τὰς πλεονεξίας, διὰ τὰς ἀδικίας. διὰ τὰς παρανομίας, διὰ τὰς ὑπερηφανίας, διὰ τὰς ἡδονὰς, διὰ τὸ ψεῦδος. Τίνος δέ; τῶν πλουσίων.

Πάλιν ἂν ἐρωτηθῇ τις πόθεν ἔστη ἡ πόλις, ὡμολόγηται ὅτι διὰ τὰς ψαλμῳδίας, διὰ τὰς εὐχὰς, διὰ τὰς παννυχίδας. Ταῦτα δὲ τίνων; τῶν πενήτων. Τὰ σαλεύσαντα τὴν πόλιν ἐκείνων, τὰ δὲ στήσαντα ὑμέτερα· ὥστε ὑμεῖς σωτῆρες καὶ κηδεμόνες ἐγένεσθε. Ἀλλ' ἐνταῦθα τὸν λόγον καταλύσωμεν ταῖς παννυχίσιν ἐπιμένοντες, ταῖς ψαλμῳδίαις, δόξαν ἀναπέμποντες τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.