disciple? "As therefore you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him." And we have received Christ as living God and truly Lord.

470XIII. The law prefigured these things, and the prophets also proclaimed them. For it is written in the book of Moses, "And you shall take fine flour and make twelve loaves of it and you shall place them in two rows upon the pure table before the Lord and you shall put frankincense and salt on the row, and they shall be for the loaves for a memorial, set before the Lord." For who else could be the bread that came down from heaven and gives life to the world, but Christ, the Savior of all? And in imitation of him, the blessed disciples are also called loaves; for having become partakers of the one who feeds us to eternal life, they themselves also feed those who hunger and thirst for righteousness through their own writings. And just as the Savior, being the true light, also named the disciples light: "For you are the light of the world;" so also He, being the bread of life, granted to His own disciples to be considered in the order of the loaves. And observe for me the skillfulness of the law; for he says you shall place upon the loaves frankincense and salt; and the frankincense is a symbol of fragrance; and the salt, of understanding and good sense. And both were eminently present in the holy apostles. 471 For their life was fragrant; and indeed they said, "We are the fragrance of Christ to God," and in addition to this they were also all-understanding; wherefore they also heard, "You are the salt of the earth." And I hear also the prophet David singing and saying concerning them, "There is Benjamin, a youth in ecstasy, the princes of Judah their leaders, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali." For the blessed disciples were chosen from almost every tribe of Israel, and they were universal lights holding fast the word of life; and here is the paradox; for the wise men of the Greeks have brilliant eloquence and speak exceedingly well; but the disciples of our Savior were craftsmen and seamen and fishermen, having no boast of words, no abundance of approved phrases; but unlearned in speech, yet rich in knowledge. And the writings of the Greeks and their boastfulness of words have been silenced, but the power of the evangelical proclamations prevails under heaven. God remembers these things and says through the voice of Jeremiah concerning the enemy of all, I mean Satan, "Woe to him who multiplies for himself what is not his and heavily weights his own collar, for suddenly those who bite him shall arise and your conspirators shall awake, and you shall be plunder for them." Satan gathered together all the men on earth who were not his and made them his own worshippers, weighing down his collar; but those who plunder his goods have awakened; for the net of the apostolic teaching hunted down all those who had been led astray and brought what is under heaven to God.

472XIV. And now the Savior distributes talents to his own servants according to the parable in the Gospels; therefore, open your hearts and receive them rejoicing; "Become approved money-changers;" trade what is given with knowledge; multiply it with fairness, the boast is great and befitting the saints and it procures the praises of authenticity, and why do I say this, leaving aside what is still greater? It makes one a citizen of heaven, it leads to the kingdom, it causes one to be glorified with Christ, the Savior of us all. Let us see this also from the evangelical writings themselves; he who received the five talents from the master, having gained another five, what does he come forward saying? "Lord, you gave me five talents, see I have made another five." Do you see how great is the boast of diligence? And what did Christ say to him? "Well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things, enter into the joy of your lord." What is greater than this for glory? What is more desirable for

μαθητής; " ̔Ως ουν "παρελάβετε τὸν Χριστὸν ̓Ιησοῦν Κύριον, ἐν αὐτῷ περιπατεῖτε." παρελάβομεν δὲ ζῶντα Θεὸν καὶ Κύριον ἀληθῶς τὸν Χριστόν.

470XIII. Τούτους προανετύπου μὲν ὁ νόμος, προεκήρυξαν δὲ καὶ προφῆται. γέγραπται γοῦν ἐν Μωσαϊκῷ βιβλίῳ "Καὶ λήψεσθε σεμίδαλιν καὶ ποιήσετε αὐτὴν δώδεκα αρτους καὶ ἐπιθήσετε αὐτοὺς δύο θέματα ἐπὶ τὴν τράπεζαν τὴν καθαρὰν εναντι Κυρίου καὶ ἐπιθήσετε ἐπὶ τὸ θέμα λίβανον καὶ αλας καὶ εσονται εἰς αρτους εἰς ἀνάμνησιν προκείμενα τῷ Κυρίῳ." αρτος μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ κατελθὼν καὶ ζωὴν διδοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ, τίς αν ετερος ειη παρὰ τὸν τῶν ολων Σωτῆρα Χριστόν; κατὰ μίμησιν δὲ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν, αρτοι κέκληνται καὶ οἱ μακάριοι μαθηταί· μέτοχοι γὰρ γεγονότες τοῦ τρέφοντος ἡμᾶς εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, τρέφουσι καὶ αὐτοὶ διὰ τῶν ἰδίων συγγραμμάτων τοὺς πεινῶντας καὶ διψῶντας τὴν δικαιοσύνην. ωσπερ δὲ φῶς ὑπάρχων τὸ ἀληθινὸν ὁ Σωτὴρ, φῶς ὠνόμασε καὶ τοὺς μαθητάς· " ̔Υμεῖς γάρ ἐστε τὸ φῶς "τοῦ κόσμου·" ουτως καὶ αὐτὸς ων ὁ αρτος τῆς ζωῆς ἐχαρίσατο τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς τὸ ἐν τάξει νοεῖσθαι τῶν αρτων. καί μοι βλέπε τοῦ νόμου τὸ εὐτεχνές· ἐπιθήσετε γάρ φησιν ἐπὶ τοὺς αρτους λίβανον καὶ αλας· καὶ ὁ μὲν λίβανος εὐωδίας ἐστὶ σύμβολον· οἱ δὲ αλες, συνέσεως καὶ φρενῶν. ἐνυπῆρχον δὲ ακρως ἀμφότερα τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀποστόλοις. 471 εὐώδης γὰρ ην ὁ βίος αὐτοῖς· καὶ γοῦν εφασκον οτι "Χριστοῦ "εὐωδία ἐσμὲν τῷ Θεῷ," ησαν δὲ πρὸς τούτῳ καὶ πανσύνετοι· διὸ καὶ ηκουον " ̔Υμεῖς ἐστε τὸ αλας τῆς γῆς." ἀκούω δὲ καὶ τοῦ προφήτου ∆αυεὶδ ψάλλοντός τε καὶ λέγοντος περὶ αὐτῶν " ̓Εκεῖ Βενιαμὶν νεώτερος ἐν ἐκστάσει, αρχοντες Ἰούδα "ἡγεμόνες αὐτῶν, αρχοντες Ζαβουλὼν, αρχοντες Νεφθαλείμ." σχεδὸν γὰρ ἐξ ἁπάσης φυλῆς τῆς ἐξ ̓Ισραὴλ ἀπόλεκτοι γεγόνασιν οἱ μακάριοι μαθηταὶ καὶ φωστῆρες ησαν οἰκουμενικοὶ λόγον ζωῆς ἐπίσχοντες· καὶ τό γε παράδοξον· εὐγλωττίαν μὲν γὰρ εχουσι λαμπρὰν οἱ τῶν ἑλλήνων σοφοὶ καὶ εὐστομοῦσιν αγαν· οἱ δέ γε τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν μαθηταὶ, ανθρωποι γεγόνασι χειροτέχναι καὶ θαλασσουργοὶ καὶ ἰχθυοθῆραι, οὐ κόμπον εχοντες λόγων, οὐ λέξεων εὐπορίαν δεδοκιμασμένων· ἀλλ' ἰδιῶται μὲν τῷ λόγῳ, πλούσιοι δὲ τῇ γνώσει. καὶ σεσίγηται μὲν τὰ ἑλλήνων γράμματα καὶ ἡ τῶν λέξεων εὐκομπία, κατακρατεῖ δὲ τῆς ὑπ' οὐρανὸν τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν κηρυγμάτων ἡ δύναμις. τούτων διαμέμνηται Θεὸς καὶ διὰ φωνῆς ̔Ιερεμίου λέγων περὶ τοῦ πάντων ἐχθροῦ, φημὶ δὴ τοῦ σατανᾶ "Οὐαὶ ὁ πληθύνων αὐτῷ τὰ οὐκ οντα "αὐτοῦ καὶ βαρύνων τὸν κλοιὸν αὐτοῦ στιβαρῶς, οτι ἐξαίφνης ἀναστήσονται οἱ δάκνοντες αὐτὸν καὶ ἐκνήψουσιν οἱ "ἐπίβουλοί σου καὶ εσῃ εἰς διαρπαγὴν αὐτοῖς." απαντας μὲν τοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνθρώπους οὐκ οντας αὐτοῦ συνήγαγεν ὁ σατανᾶς καὶ ἰδίους ἀπέφηνε προσκυνητὰς καταβαρύνων αὐτοῦ τὸν κλοιόν· ἀλλ' ἐξένηψαν οἱ διαρπάζοντες αὐτοῦ τὰ σκεύη· ἐθήρευσε γὰρ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς μυσταγωγίας τὸ δίκτυον απαντας τοὺς πεπλανημένους καὶ προσεκόμισαν τῷ Θεῷ τὴν ὑπ' οὐρανόν.

472XIV. ∆ιανέμει καὶ νῦν ὁ Σωτὴρ τάλαντα τοῖς ἰδίοις οἰκέταις κατά γε τὴν ἐν εὐαγγελίοις παραβολήν· οὐκοῦν ἁπλώσατε τὰς καρδίας καὶ ὑποδέξασθε χαίροντες· "∆όκιμοι γενέσθε τραπεζῖται·" ἐμπορεύσασθε τὸ δοθὲν ἐπιστημόνως· πολυπλασιάσατε ταῖς ἐπιεικείαις, μέγα καὶ ἁγιοπρεπὲς τὸ καύχημα καὶ τοὺς τῆς γνησιότητος ἐπαίνους προξενεῖ, καὶ τί τοῦτο λέγω, τὸ ετι μεῖζον ἀφείς; οὐρανοῦ πολίτην ἐργάζεται, εἰς βασιλείαν ἀναφέρει, αὐτῷ συνδοξάζεσθαι ποιεῖ τῷ πάντων ἡμῶν Σωτῆρι Χριστῷ. ιδωμεν δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν γραμμάτων· ὁ τὰ πέντε τάλαντα λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ οἰκοδεσπότου, προσεργασάμενος δὲ καὶ ετερα πέντε, τί προσέρχεται λέγων; "Κύριε, πέντε τάλαντά μοι εδωκας, ιδε ἐποίησα αλλα "πέντε." ὁρᾶς οσον ἐστὶ τῆς φιλοπονίας τὸ καύχημα; καὶ τί πρὸς αὐτὸν εφη Χριστός; "Ευ δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστὲ, "ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ης πιστὸς, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω, εισελθε "εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κυρίου σου." τί τούτου τὸ μεῖζον εἰς δόξαν; τί τὸ αἱρετώτερον εἰς