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having made it, you restored it again; O, the paradoxical healing! having disciplined us into peace through hatred being hated as quickly as possible, and having managed the contrary by the contrary, and having separated us only so much as to make us run more warmly to one another; just as plants which are forcibly pulled apart by hands, then released, spring back to one another again, and their original nature, and show what is proper to them, being bent by force, but not by force straightened; that the hand no longer despises the eye, nor the eye the hand; that the head no longer rises up against the feet, nor are the feet estranged from the head, not so much harming as being harmed by the disorder and lawlessness, which is also the confusion and dissolution of the whole; but the members care for the same thing for one another by the order and law of nature, to Him who has bound and preserved all things through one another; and we have appeared as one body and one Spirit, as also we were called in one hope of our calling.

9. For this reason the poor people will praise you, having become rich from being destitute; for you have made wonderful your mercies toward us, and something has been added to the ancient narratives. For where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; for, having cast a grain, I have reaped a head of grain; for, mourning my sheep, I have gained shepherds in addition; and I will touch, I know well, the most hono 35.733 rable of the shepherds, even if for certain spiritual reasons he defers his pastoral office, having been entrusted with the Spirit and the working of the talents, and the care of the flock, and anointed with the unction of priesthood and perfection, yet still delaying his supervision out of wisdom, and holding the lamp under the bushel (which he will shortly place on the lampstand, to shine around every soul of the Church, and to be a light for our paths), still surveying glens, and mountains, and streams, and devising traps for the wolves that snatch souls, so that at a fitting time he may also receive the staff, and shepherd with the true Shepherd this rational flock, making it to lie down in a place of green pasture with the ever-verdant words of God and nourishing it with the water of rest, that is, with the Spirit. This, then, we both hope and pray for; but for me it is now time to add to the thanksgiving also the exhortation; and I shall make this too, as far as possible, very brief, since you have already received the greater part of your instruction through the deeds themselves and those who have been taught by experience do not need longer speeches.

10. It was fitting, brothers, neither to have been divided in the first place, nor to have had our ancient dignity and ornament destroyed; by which, although our flock was small, and not worthy even to be named among numbered flocks, they held it equal to the greatest and widest; and there are some whom they even preferred in the power of the Spirit. For so it was, one had one ornament, another another, either small or greater, but of our flock the most special distinction was its unbreakable and peaceful nature; so that it was often even called the ark of Noah, alone having escaped the inundation of the whole world, and preserving within it the seeds of piety. But since we have been proven to be human, and have not entirely escaped the envy of the evil one, nor have we appeared stronger than the disease that possesses all things; but we ourselves also have taken part in the common misfortune, and have not preserved to the end the good and ancestral inheritance, the blessing of concord, though not in a small way did we here too excel others (if we must boast at all against our enmity, taking courage in Christ), in being the last to suffer these things, and the first to be set right. For to fall ill is of 35.736 common nature, and of human weakness, which touches all, even those exceedingly strong in body and mind; but to be healed, and to return to one another, is of reason and of grace, which

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ποιήσας, πάλιν ἀποκατέστησας· ὢ τοῦ παραδόξου τῆς ἰα τρείας! παιδεύσας εἰς εἰρήνην διὰ τοῦ μίσους μιση θέντος ὡς τάχιστα, καὶ τῷ ἐναντίῳ τὸ ἐναντίον οἰκονομήσας, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἡμᾶς διαζεύξας, ὅσον θερμοτέρους προσδραμεῖν ἀλλήλοις· καθάπερ τῶν φυτῶν ἃ βίᾳ χερσὶ μετασπώμενα, εἶτα ἀφιέμενα, πρὸς ἑαυτὰ πάλιν ἀνατρέχει, καὶ τὴν πρώτην ἑαυτῶν φύσιν, καὶ δείκνυσι τὸ οἰκεῖον, βίᾳ μὲν ἀποκλινό μενα, οὐ βίᾳ δὲ ἀνορθούμενα· ὅτι μηκέτι χεὶρ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν περιφρονεῖ, μηδ' ὀφθαλμὸς χεῖρα· ὅτι μηκέτι ποδῶν κατεξανίσταται κεφαλὴ, μηδὲ κε φαλῆς ἀλλοτριοῦνται πόδες, οὐ μᾶλλον βλά πτοντες ἢ βλαπτόμενοι τῇ ἀταξίᾳ καὶ ἀναρχίᾳ, ἣ καὶ τοῦ παντός ἐστι σύγχυσις καὶ διάλυσις· ἀλλὰ τὸ αὐτὸ ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων μεριμνῶσι τὰ μέλη τάξει καὶ θεσμῷ φύσεως, τῷ δι' ἀλλήλων τὰ πάντα συνδήσαντι καὶ φυλάξαντι· καὶ πεφήναμεν ἓν σῶμα καὶ πνεῦμα ἓν, καθὼς καὶ κεκλήμεθα ἐν μιᾷ ἐλπίδι τῆς κλήσεως.

Θʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ λαὸς ὁ πτωχὸς αἰνέσει σε, πλού σιος ἐξ ἀπόρου γενόμενος· ὅτι ἐθαυμάστωσας τὰ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ἐλέη σου, καὶ προστέθειταί τι τοῖς παλαιοῖς διηγήμασιν. Οὗ γὰρ ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν ἡ χάρις· ὅτι, κόκκον κα ταβαλὼν, στάχυν ἐκομισάμην· ὅτι, πρόβατα πενθῶν, ποιμένας προσεκτησάμην· καὶ προσήψομαί γε, εὖ οἶδα, τῶν ποιμένων τὸν τιμιώτα 35.733 τον, εἰ καὶ λόγοις τισὶ πνευματικοῖς τὴν ποι μαντικὴν ἀναβάλλεται, πιστευθέντα μὲν τὸ Πνεῦμα καὶ τῶν ταλάντων τὴν ἐργασίαν, καὶ τοῦ ποιμνίου τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, καὶ χρισθέντα τῷ χρί σματι τῆς ἱερωσύνης καὶ τελειώσεως, ἔτι δὲ ἀνα βαλλόμενον τὴν ἐπιστασίαν ὑπὸ σοφίας, καὶ τὸν λύ χνον ὑπὸ τῷ μοδίῳ κατέχοντα (ὃν θήσει μετ' ὀλίγον ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν, πᾶσαν τὴν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ψυχὴν περιλάμψοντα, καὶ φῶς ταῖς τρίβοις ἡμῶν ἐσόμενον), ἔτι περισκοποῦντα νάπας, καὶ ὄρη, καὶ νάματα, καὶ τοῖς ἅρπαξι τῶν ψυχῶν λύκοις ἐπι νοοῦντα θήρατρα, ἵν' ἐν καιρῷ εὐθέτῳ καὶ τὴν βακτηρίαν δέξηται, καὶ συμποιμαίνῃ τῷ ἀληθινῷ ποιμένι τὸ λογικὸν τοῦτο ποίμνιον, ἐν τόπῳ χλόης κατασκηνῶν τοῖς ἀειθαλέσι τοῦ Θεοῦ λό γοις καὶ ἐκτρέφων ὕδατι ἀναπαύσεως, εἴτουν Πνεύματι. Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐλπίζομεν καὶ εὐχό μεθα· ἐμοὶ δὲ ἤδη καιρὸς προσθεῖναι τῇ εὐχαριστίᾳ καὶ τὴν παραίνεσιν· ποιήσομαι δὲ καὶ ταύτην, ὡς οἷόν τε, βραχυτάτην, ἐπειδὴ τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς νου θεσίας διὰ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν προειλήφατε καὶ οὐ μακροτέρων δεῖ λόγων τοῖς πείρᾳ πεπαιδευμέ νοις.

Ιʹ. Ἔδει μὲν, ἀδελφοὶ, μήτε διαιρεθῆναι τὸ πρῶ τον, μήτε τὸ παλαιὸν ἡμῖν καταλυθῆναι ἀξίωμα καὶ καλλώπισμα· ᾧ, καίτοι μικρὰν οὖσαν ἡμῶν τὴν ποίμνην, καὶ μηδ' ὀνομάζεσθαι ἀξίαν ἐν ποιμνίοις ἀριθμουμένοις, τοῖς μεγίστοις ἐξ ἴσου εἶχον καὶ πλατυτάτοις· ἔστι δ' ὧν καὶ προετί θουν ἐν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος. Καὶ γὰρ οὕτως εἶχεν, ἄλλου μὲν ἄλλο τι καλλώπισμα ἢ μικρὸν, ἢ μεῖζον, τῆς δὲ ἡμετέρας ποίμνης ἰδιώ τατον ἦν τὸ ἄῤῥηκτόν τε καὶ ἀστασίαστον· ὥστε δὲ καὶ τὴν Νῶε κιβωτὸν πολλάκις ὀνομασθῆναι, μόνην διαφυγοῦσαν τὴν τοῦ κόσμου παντὸς ἐπίκλυσιν, καὶ τὰ σπέρματα τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐν αὐτῇ διασώζουσαν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἠλέγχθη μεν ὄντες ἄνθρωποι, καὶ οὐ πάντη διεφύγομεν τοῦ πονηροῦ τὸν φθόνον, οὐδὲ τῆς πάντα κατεχούσης νόσου κρείττους πεφήναμεν· ἀλλὰ τῆς κοινῆς συμ φορᾶς μέρος, καὶ αὐτοὶ μετειλήφαμεν, καὶ τὴν καλὴν καὶ πατρῴαν κληρονομίαν, τὸ τῆς ὁμονοίας ἀγαθὸν, οὐκ εἰς τέλος διεφυλάξαμεν, οὐ μικρὸν μὲν κἀνταῦθα τοὺς ἄλλους ἐπλεονεκτήσαμεν (εἴ τι δεῖ καὶ καυχήσασθαι κατὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἔχθρας Χριστῷ θαῤῥήσαντας), τὸ καὶ τελευταῖοι ταῦτα παθεῖν, καὶ πρῶτοι διορθωθῆναι. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀῤῥωστῆσαι τῆς 35.736 κοινῆς φύσεως, καὶ τῆς ἀσθενείας τῆς ἀνθρωπί νης, ἣ πάντων ἅπτεται, καὶ τῶν λίαν ἰσχυρῶν τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν· τὸ δὲ θεραπευθῆναι, καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐπανελθεῖν, τοῦ λογισμοῦ καὶ τῆς χάριτος, ἣ