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having secretly received the praise, he is delivered from all arrogance. Again, he who is conscious of his own sloth, having heard the accusation, became better from the accusation, having no man of his acquaintance for his reprover; and this helped him in no small measure. For because we are fluttered by the opinion of the many, as long as we think we are evil without being noticed, we are eager to become better; but when we become manifest to all, and we lose the consolation that comes from being unnoticed, we become more shameless and more slothful. And just as wounds when laid bare, and frequently in contact with cold air, become more difficult to heal; so also the soul that has sinned, if it is rebuked in the midst of many for what it has done wrong, becomes more shameless. So that this might not happen, therefore, the word has healed you secretly. And that you may learn, that this secret healing has great profit, hear what Christ says: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and He did not say, between you and the city, nor between you and the people, but, Between you and him alone. Let the accusation, He says, be without a witness, so that the change toward correction may be easy. A great good, then, is to make the exhortation not public. The conscience is sufficient, that incorruptible judge is sufficient. You do not so rebuke the one who has sinned, as his own conscience (that accuser is more bitter), nor knowing more accurately the things that have been done wrong. Therefore do not add wound to wounds, by making public the one who has sinned, but make the exhortation without a witness. This, therefore, we also do now, which Paul also did, making the accusation of the one who had sinned among the Corinthians without a witness. And hear how: For this reason, he says, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos. And yet it was not he, nor Apollos, who divided the people and cut the Church asunder; but nevertheless he overshadowed the accusation, and as with certain masks, hiding the faces of the responsible ones with his own and Apollos' names, he gave them opportunity to change from that wickedness. And again, Lest when I come God should humble me, and I should mourn for many of those who have sinned before and have not repented of the impurity and licentiousness which they have practiced. See how here too he speaks of those who have sinned indefinitely, so that by not making the accusation plain, he might not make the soul of those who have sinned more shameless. Just as we, then, make our rebukes with so much forbearance, so, I beseech you, also you receive the correction with all earnestness, and pay attention to what is said with accuracy. 5. We discoursed to you yesterday concerning the power which is in prayer. I showed how the devil then 51.358 lies in wait, being an evildoer. For since he sees the greatest profit coming to us from prayer, then especially he attacks; in order to drive us away from our defense, in order to send us home with empty hands. And just as in the case of rulers, when the attendants and those around the ruler himself are hostile towards those who come to entreat, they drive them away from afar with their rods, preventing them from approaching and lamenting and obtaining benevolence; so also the devil, when he sees us approaching the Judge, drives us away from afar, not with a rod, but through sloth. For he knows, he knows clearly, that if they approach soberly, and speak of the things they have sinned, and lament with a fervent soul, they go away having received much pardon; for God is a lover of mankind; and for this reason he acts first, and leads them away from their petition, so that they may obtain none of the things they need. But the soldiers of the rulers scare away with violence those who entreat; but he, not with compulsion, but by deceiving us and casting us into sloth. For this reason we are not even worthy of pardon, willingly depriving ourselves of good things. Prayer with earnestness is a light of the mind and soul, an unquenchable and perpetual light. For this reason he casts countless swarms of thoughts into our minds, and things which we have never considered, these

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λανθανόντως δεξάμενος τὸν ἔπαινον, πάσης ἀλαζονείας ἀπήλλακται. Πάλιν ὁ συνειδὼς ἑαυτῷ ῥᾳθυμίαν, τῆς κατηγορίας ἀκούσας, ἐγένετο βελτίων ἀπὸ τῆς κατηγορίας, οὐδένα σχὼν τῆς ἐπιτιμήσεως γνωστῶν ἀνθρώπων· τοῦτο δὲ αὐτὸν οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχεν ὤνησε. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τὸ πρὸς τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ἐπτοῆσθαι δόξαν, ἕως μὲν ἂν λανθάνειν νομίζωμεν ὄντες κακοὶ, σπουδάζομεν γίνεσθαι βελτίους· ἐπειδὰν δὲ πᾶσι γενώμεθα κατάδηλοι, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ λανθάνειν ἀπολέσωμεν παραμυθίαν, ἀναισχυντότεροι καὶ ῥᾳθυμότεροι μᾶλλον γινόμεθα. Καὶ καθάπερ τὰ ἕλκη γυμνούμενα, καὶ ἀέρι ψυχρῷ συχνῶς ὁμιλοῦντα, χαλεπώτερα γίνονται· οὕτω καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμαρτηκυῖα, ἂν μεταξὺ πολλῶν ἐλέγχηται ἐφ' οἷς ἐπλημμέλησεν, ἀναισχυντοτέρα γίνεται. Ἵν' οὖν μὴ τοῦτο γένηται, λανθανόντως ὁ λόγος ὑμᾶς ἐθεράπευσε. Καὶ ἵνα μάθητε, ὅτι ἡ λανθάνουσα αὕτη ἰατρεία πολὺ τὸ κέρδος ἔχει, ἀκούσατε τί φησιν ὁ Χριστός· Ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ εἰς σὲ ὁ ἀδελφός σου, ἔλεγξον αὐτόν· καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, μεταξὺ σοῦ καὶ τῆς πόλεως, οὐδὲ μεταξὺ σοῦ καὶ τοῦ δήμου, ἀλλὰ, Μεταξὺ σοῦ καὶ αὐτοῦ μόνον. Ἀμάρτυρος ἔστω, φησὶν, ἡ κατηγορία, ἵνα εὔκολος γένηται ἡ πρὸς διόρθωσιν μεταβολή. Μέγα ἄρα ἀγαθὸν, τὸ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν παραίνεσιν μὴ δημοσιευομένην. Ἀρκεῖ τὸ συνειδὸς, ἀρκεῖ ὁ κριτὴς ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἀδέκαστος. Οὐχ οὕτω σὺ ἐπιτιμᾷς τῷ ἡμαρτηκότι, ὡς τὸ συνειδὸς ἑαυτοῦ (πικρότερός ἐστιν ὁ κατήγορος ἐκεῖνος), οὔτε ἀκριβέστερον εἰδὼς τὰ πεπλημμελημένα. Μὴ τοίνυν προσθῇς τραῦμα τραύμασι, δημοσιεύων τὸν ἡμαρτηκότα, ἀλλ' ἀμάρτυρον ποιοῦ τὴν παραίνεσιν. Τοῦτο τοίνυν καὶ ἡμεῖς ποιοῦμεν νῦν, ὅπερ καὶ Παῦλος ἐποίησεν, ἀμάρτυρον κατασκευάζων τοῦ παρὰ Κορινθίοις ἡμαρτηκότος τὴν κατηγορίαν. Καὶ ἄκουε πῶς· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, φησὶν, ἀδελφοὶ, μετεσχημάτισα ταῦτα εἰς ἐμαυτὸν καὶ Ἀπολλώ. Καὶ μὴν οὐχὶ αὐτὸς, οὐδὲ Ἀπολλὼ ἦσαν οἱ σχίσαντες τὸν δῆμον καὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν διατεμόντες· ἀλλ' ὅμως συνεσκίασε τὴν κατηγορίαν, καὶ καθάπερ προσωπείοις τισὶ, τοῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἀπολλὼ ὀνόμασι τὰς τῶν ὑπευθύνων ἀποκρύψας ὄψεις, ἐξουσίαν αὐτοῖς ἐδίδου μεταβαλέσθαι ἐκ τῆς πονηρίας ἐκείνης. Καὶ πάλιν, Μήπως ἐλθόντα με ὁ Θεὸς ταπεινώσῃ, καὶ πενθήσω πολλοὺς τῶν προημαρτηκότων καὶ μὴ μετανοησάντων ἐπὶ τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ ἀσελγείᾳ ᾗ ἔπραξαν. Ὅρα πῶς καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἀδιορίστως λέγει τοὺς ἡμαρτηκότας, ἵνα μὴ φανερὰν ποιήσας τὴν κατηγορίαν, ἀναισχυντοτέραν ἐργάσηται τὴν τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων ψυχήν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἡμεῖς μετὰ τοσαύτης φειδοῦς τοὺς ἐλέγχους ποιούμεθα, οὕτω, παρακαλῶ, καὶ ὑμεῖς μετὰ πάσης σπουδῆς δέξασθε τὴν διόρθωσιν, καὶ μετὰ ἀκριβείας τοῖς λεγομένοις προσέχετε. εʹ. ∆ιελέχθημεν ὑμῖν χθὲς περὶ τῆς δυνάμεως τῆς κατὰ τὴν εὐχήν. Ἔδειξα πῶς ὁ διάβολος τότε ἐφ 51.358 εδρεύει κακοῦργος ὤν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ μέγιστον κέρδος ἐκ τῆς εὐχῆς ὁρᾷ γινόμενον ἡμῖν, τότε μάλιστα ἐπιτίθεται· ἵνα ἡμᾶς ἐκκρούσῃ τῆς ἀπολογίας, ἵνα κεναῖς οἴκαδε ἀποπέμψῃ χερσί. Καὶ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων, ἐπειδὰν οἱ τῆς τάξεως καὶ περὶ αὐτὸν ὄντες τὸν ἄρχοντα ἀπεχθῶς ἔχωσι πρὸς τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας, διὰ τῶν ῥάβδων πόῤῥωθεν αὐτοὺς ἀπελαύνουσι, κωλύοντες προσελθεῖν καὶ ἀποδύρασθαι καὶ φιλανθρωπίας τυχεῖν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ διάβολος, ἐπειδὰν ἴδῃ προσιόντας τῷ δικαστῇ, πόῤῥωθεν ἀπελαύνει, οὐ διὰ ῥάβδου, ἀλλὰ διὰ ῥᾳθυμίας. Οἶδε γὰρ, οἶδε σαφῶς, ὅτι ἂν προσέλθωσι νήφοντες, καὶ εἴπωσι τὰ ἡμαρτημένα, καὶ ἀποδύρωνται ζεούσῃ τῇ ψυχῇ, πολλὴν λαβόντες συγγνώμην ἀπέρχονται· φιλάνθρωπος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προλαμβάνει, καὶ ἀπάγει τῆς ἐντεύξεως αὐτοὺς, ἵνα μηδενὸς ὧν δέονται ἐπιτύχωσιν. Ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν στρατιῶται τῶν ἀρχόντων μετὰ βίας ἀποσοβοῦσι τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας· ὁ δὲ οὐ μετὰ ἀνάγκης, ἀλλ' ἀπατῶν ἡμᾶς καὶ εἰς ῥᾳθυμίαν ἐμβάλλων. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ συγγνώμης ἐσμὲν ἄξιοι, ἑκόντες ἑαυτοὺς ἀποστεροῦντες τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Φῶς ἐστι διανοίας καὶ ψυχῆς ἡ μετὰ σπουδῆς εὐχὴ, φῶς ἄσβεστον καὶ διηνεκές. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο μυρίους συρφετοὺς λογισμῶν ἐμβάλλει ταῖς ἡμετέραις διανοίαις, καὶ ἅπερ οὐδέποτε ἐλογισάμεθα, ταῦτα