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if you become evil, you alone will draw up evils for yourself. Good, therefore, is guilelessness, a Lordly imitation, a divine likeness. For the Lord is guileless and holy. This guilelessness is a protection for the soul, a purification for the mind, a restraint for character, a quiet for thoughts, a gentleness of face, a meekness of eyes, a guide to friendship, a mother of love, a companion of faith, a perfection of justice; and in a word, guilelessness is the root of all virtue and the foundation of all goodness. It does not know the substance of enmity, it is not acquainted with the fierceness of anger, it does not perceive the operation of malice; but it is like a queen escorted by all the virtues. Good, therefore, is guilelessness, being the cause of so many good things. Beginning with this he says: I walked in the guilelessness of my heart. And he did not say simply, "In guilelessness," but, "In the guilelessness of my heart," meaning, I did not have one thing on my mouth, and another in my heart; nor did I speak peaceably with my mouth, while devising evil in my heart; but such as I was with my mouth, such also was I in the thoughts of my heart. Therefore, I walked in the guilelessness of my heart, in the midst of my house.

Here, by "house," beloved, he means not this one made by hands, composed of stones and wood, nor the one fashioned from formless matter, but the rational temple of the soul, the one outwardly impressed according to the invisible image within, the one formed by the intellectual and rational nature, the one made alive by the divine inbreathing, the one that carries the soul and is carried by the soul, the one receptive of the gifts of the immovable power. In 55.632 the midst of this I walked. And he calls the ruling faculty of the heart "the midst," since it lies in the middle of the whole human body. Evil ways are thoughts and considerations, as the Savior also says: "Out of the heart come evil thoughts." For in this is also every motion of human nature. But what he says is this: If a tumult occurs, the heart is moved; if a disturbance happens, the heart is agitated; if an enemy's uprising occurs, the heart is troubled; if fear comes, the heart, shaken from within by palpitations, shakes also the adjacent member of the body, and failing, and then drawing back again, does not allow it to be at rest, but moving more frequently it provides a greater struggle, and troubles the whole body, it alters the color, changes the form, and transforms the disposition, it makes the face livid, it stops the activity of the eyes, it makes the lips tremble, it paralyzes the strength of the knees, and binding the tongue that moves all things, it renders it stammering, and makes the whole person, so to speak, wild and corpse-like; and when war occurs, it hastens, urging on to the battle, but is in agony, not resting, until it has prevailed in the contest.

But when this has ceased, and victory has been achieved, having changed in the same instant, it turns to gladness, it embraces tranquility and makes the one recently troubled to rejoice, and again it recalls the former state, restoring to each member its use; again it makes the eyes joyful, it composes the lips, it makes the organ of the tongue healthy, it tames the countenance, and like a good charioteer, returning to the ancient order, it brings the person.

3. But not such is the righteous man, nor does he receive disturbance or fear in his

heart. For even if an uprising of enemies should occur, he says boldly: "If a camp should encamp against me, my heart will not be afraid; if war should rise up against me, in this I hope." For this reason he says, "I walked in the guilelessness of my heart, in the midst of my house"; that is, I considered, I searched the things concerning myself, lest any root of bitterness springing up should trouble and defile the sensorium of my heart; but that the

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κακὸς ἀποβῇς, μόνος ἀντλήσεις τὰ κακά. Καλὴ οὖν ἡ ἀκακία, ∆εσποτικὴ ἡ μίμησις, θεϊκὴ ἡ ὁμοίωσις. Ἄκακος γὰρ καὶ ὅσιος ὁ Κύριος. Αὕτη ἡ ἀκακία, ψυχῆς ἐστι φυλακτήριον, διανοίας καθάρσιον, ἠθῶν καταστολὴ, λογισμῶν ἡσυχία, προσώπου ἡμερότης, πραότης ὀφθαλ μῶν, φιλίας καθηγεμὼν, μήτηρ ἀγάπης, πίστεως ὁμο δίαιτος, τελείωσις δικαιοσύνης· καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ῥίζα πά σης ἀρετῆς, καὶ θεμέλιος τῆς ὅλης ἀγαθότητος ὑπάρχει ἡ ἀκακία. Οὐκ οἶδεν ἔχθρας τὴν ὑπόστασιν, οὐκ ἐπίσταται ὀργῆς τὴν ἀγριότητα, οὐ γινώσκει κακίας τὴν ἐνέργειαν· ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὥσπερ βασίλισσα ὑπὸ πασῶν τῶν ἀρετῶν δορυφορουμένη. Καλὴ οὖν ἡ ἀκακία, τοσούτων ἀγαθῶν αἰτία τυγχάνουσα. Ἐκ ταύτης κατάρχεται λέγων· ∆ι επορευόμην ἐν ἀκακίᾳ καρδίας μου. Καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν, Ἐν ἀκακίᾳ, ἀλλ', Ἐν ἀκακίᾳ καρδίας μου, ἀντὶ τοῦ, οὐχ ἕτερα μὲν εἶχον ἐπὶ στόματος, ἕτερα δὲ ἐν καρδίᾳ· οὐδὲ τῷ μὲν στόματι ἐλάλουν εἰρηνικὰ, τῇ δὲ καρδίᾳ διελογιζόμην κακά· ἀλλ' οἷος ἤμην τῷ στόματι, τοιοῦτος καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ διαλογιζόμενος. ∆ιεπορευόμην οὖν ἐν ἀκακίᾳ καρδίας μου, ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ οἴκου μου.

Ἐνταῦθα οἶκον, ἀγαπητοὶ, οὐ τὸν χειροποίητον τοῦτον, ἐκ λίθων καὶ ξύλων συγκείμενον, οὐδὲ τὸν ἐξ ἀμόρφου ὕλης σκευαζόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὸν λογικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ναὸν, τὸν πρὸς τὴν ἔνδοθεν ἀόρατον εἰκόνα τὴν ἔξωθεν ἀποτυπού μενον, τὸν ὑπὸ τῆς νοερᾶς καὶ λογικῆς φύσεως μορφού μενον, τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου ἐμφυσήματος ζωοποιούμενον, τὸν φέροντα τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς ψυχῆς φερόμενον, τὸν δεκτικὸν χαρισμάτων τῆς ἀκινήτου δυνάμεως. Ἐν 55.632 μέσῳ τούτου ἐπορευόμην. Μέσον δὲ καλεῖ τὸ ἡγεμονι κὸν τῆς καρδίας, ἐπειδὴ μέσον κεῖται τοῦ ὅλου σώματος τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου. Κακαὶ ὁδοὶ ὑπάρχουσιν οἱ διαλογισμοὶ καὶ αἱ ἐνθυμήσεις, ὡς καὶ ὁ Σωτήρ φησιν· Ἐκ καρδίας ἐξέρχονται διαλογισμοὶ πονηροί. Ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ κίνησις τῆς φύσεως τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης. Ὃ δὲ λέ γει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· Θόρυβος ἐὰν γένηται, ἡ καρδία κι νεῖται· τάραχος ἐὰν συμβῇ, ἡ καρδία θορυβεῖται ἐχθρῷ ἐπανάστασις ἐὰν τύχῃ, ἡ καρδία ταράσσεται· φόβος ἐὰ γένηται, ἡ καρδία παλμοῖς ἔνδοθεν τινασσομένη συν τινάσσει καὶ τὸ παρακείμενον μέλος τοῦ σώματος, καὶ ἀπολείπουσα, καὶ πάλιν ἐπισπωμένη, οὐ συγχωρεῖ ἡσυ χάζειν, ἀλλὰ συχνότερον κινουμένη μείζονα τὸν ἀγῶν παρέχει, καὶ ὅλον ταράσσει τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλοιοῖ καὶ τὸ χρῶ μα, μεταβάλλει καὶ τὸ σχῆμα, μεταποιεῖ τε τὴν ἕξιν, πελιδνὸν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ἀπεργάζεται, ἵστησι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ὑπότρομα ποιεῖ τὰ χείλη, τῶν γονάτων παραλύει τὴν εὐτονίαν, καὶ τὴν τὰ πάντα κι νοῦσαν γλῶσσαν συνδήσασα, ψελλὴν ἀποδείκνυσι, καὶ ὅλον, ὥς ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, ἄγριον καὶ νεκροειδῆ ἀποτελεῖ τὸ ἄνθρωπον· καὶ πολέμου συμβάντος, σπεύδει μὲν ἐπεί γουσα πρὸς τὴν μάχην, ἀγωνιᾷ δὲ μὴ ἠρεμοῦσα, ἕως ἂν καταγωνίσηται τὴν πάλην.

Ταύτης δὲ παυσαμένης, καὶ νίκης γενομένης, ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτὴν ῥοπὴν μεταβλη θεῖσα, στρέφεται εἰς εὐφροσύνην, ἡσυχίαν ἀσπάζεται καὶ χαίρειν ποιεῖ τὸν ἄρτι τεταραγμένον, καὶ πάλιν εἰ τὴν πρώτην ἐπανακαλεῖται κατάστασιν, ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ μέλε ἀποδιδοῦσα τὴν χρῆσιν· πάλιν χαροποιεῖ τοὺς ὀφθαλ μοὺς, καταστέλλει τὰ χείλη, ὑγιὲς ἀποτελεῖ τὸ τῆς γλώσσης ὄργανον, ἡμεροῖ τὴν ὄψιν, καὶ ὥσπερ τις καλὸς ἡνίοχος ἐπαναστρέφουσα εἰς τὴν ἀρχαίαν τάξιν φέρε τὸν ἄνθρωπον.

γʹ. Ἀλλ' οὐ τοιοῦτος ὁ δίκαιος, οὐδὲ τάραχον ἢ φόβον δε χόμενος ἐν τῇ

καρδίᾳ. Κἂν γὰρ ἐχθρῶν συμβῇ ἐπανάστα σις, λέγει θαῤῥῶν· Ἐὰν παρατάξηται ἐπ' ἐμὲ παρ εμβολὴ, οὐ φοβηθήσεται ἡ καρδία μου· ἐὰν ἐπαναστῇ ἐπ' ἐμὲ πόλεμος, ἐν τούτῳ ἐγὼ ἐλπίζω. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησι ∆ιεπορευόμην ἐν ἀκακίᾳ καρδίας μου, ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ οἴκου μου· τουτέστι, ∆ιεσκόπουν, ἠρεύνων τὰ κατὰ ἐμαυτὸν, ἵνα μή τις ῥίζα πικρίας ἀναφύουσα ἐνοχλῇ καὶ μιαίνῃ τὸ αἰσθητήριον τῆς καρδίας μου· ἀλλ' ἵνα ἡ