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diligence? Then, lest he should be thought to say these things out of favor, he makes the hearers themselves witnesses of the young man's virtue, saying thus: But you know his approvedness, that as a son with a father, so he served with me in the Gospel; you have received proof of his virtue, and of his approved soul. But nevertheless, having ascended to such a height of right actions, not even so was he confident, but was in agony and very fearful; wherefore he also fasted with exactness, and did not suffer this thing of the many, who, having given themselves to fasting for only ten, or even twenty months, immediately break everything down. But he suffered no such thing, nor said any such thing to himself: What need have I of fasting any longer? I have overcome, I have mastered my desires, I have mortified my body, I have frightened demons, I have driven away the devil, I have raised the dead, I have cleansed lepers, I am fearsome to the opposing powers; what need have I of fasting any longer, and of the safety from it? He said no such thing, he thought no such thing, but the more he was full of countless right actions, the more he feared and trembled; and he learned this philosophy from his teacher. For he too, having been caught up to the third heaven, and carried away into paradise, and having heard unspeakable words, and having shared in such mysteries, and having run over the whole world as if with wings, writing to the Corinthians said: I am afraid lest, having preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. But if Paul is afraid after such and so many right actions, he who was able to say, The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world, much more ought we to fear, and so much the more, by how many right actions we may have accumulated. For the devil becomes wilder then, then he is more brutalized, when he sees us managing our own life with diligence; when he sees the burdens of virtue piled up, and the bulk being great, then he endeavors to work a more grievous shipwreck. For the 49.21 insignificant and rejected one, even if he is tripped up and falls, does not bring so great a harm to the community; but he who stands as on some height on the summit of virtue with much conspicuousness, and is manifest and known to all, and admired by all, when he is assailed and falls, works a great fall and loss; not only because he fell from a height, but because he also made many of those looking to him more indolent. And just as in a body, if one member is corrupted, the harm is not great, but if the eyes are blinded or the head is injured, the whole body becomes useless; so indeed it is possible to speak also of the saints and those who have achieved great things; when they are extinguished, when they contract some stain, they bring a complete and unbearable harm to the rest of the body.

4. Therefore Timothy, knowing all these things, secured himself on every side; for he knew that youth is difficult, that it is easily changeable, easily deceived, easily tripped up, and needs a stronger bridle; for it is a kind of fire that catches hold of all external things, easily and quickly kindled. For this reason he fenced it in on all sides so that it might be restrained, and he was eager to quench this flame in every way, and he choked the horse that was hard to bridle and hard to rein in with much vehemence, until he cut off its leapings, until he made it well-reined, and with great authority handed it over to the hands of reason which was holding the reins. Let the body be weak, he says, and let the soul not be weak; let the flesh be bridled, and let the soul's course toward heaven not be hindered. And besides these things, one might especially admire this in him, that even though he was so weakened, and wrestling with so great an illness, he did not neglect the things of God, but rather than those who are healthy and vigorous in body, he flew about everywhere, now to Ephesus, now to Corinth, often in Macedonia, in Italy, everywhere on land, everywhere on sea, appearing with his teacher, and sharing with him in all his contests, and of the

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σπουδήν; Εἶτα ἵνα μὴ νομισθῇ χάριτι ταῦτα λέγειν, αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἀκροατὰς ποιεῖται μάρτυρας τῆς τοῦ παιδὸς ἀρετῆς, οὕτω λέγων· Τὴν δὲ δοκιμὴν αὐτοῦ γινώσκετε, ὅτι ὡς πατέρα τέκνον, οὕτω σὺν ἐμοὶ ἐδούλευσεν ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ· πεῖραν ὑμεῖς εἰλήφατε τῆς ἀρετῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς δοκίμου ψυχῆς. Ἀλλ' ὅμως πρὸς τοσοῦτον ὕψος κατορθωμάτων ἀνελθὼν, οὐδὲ οὕτως ἐθάῤῥει, ἀλλ' ἐναγώνιος ἦν καὶ περιδεής· διὸ καὶ μετ' ἀκριβείας ἐνήστευε, καὶ οὐκ ἔπαθε τοῦτο τὸ τῶν πολλῶν, οἳ δέκα μόνον, ἢ καὶ εἴκοσι μῆνας νηστείᾳ παρεσχηκότες ἑαυτοὺς, εὐθέως ἅπαντα καταλύουσιν. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἔπαθεν, οὐδὲ εἶπέ τι τοιοῦτον πρὸς ἑαυτόν· Τί μοι νηστείας χρεία λοιπόν; περιεγενόμην, ἐκράτησα τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν, ἐνέκρωσά μου τὸ σῶμα, δαίμονας ἐφόβησα, τὸν διάβολον ἀπήλασα, νεκροὺς ἀνέστησα, λεπροὺς ἐκάθηρα, ταῖς ἀντικειμέναις δυνάμεσίν εἰμι φοβερός· τί μοι νηστείας δεῖ λειπὸν, καὶ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν ἀσφαλείας; Οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον οὐκ εἶπεν, οὐκ ἐνενόησεν, ἀλλ' ὅσῳ μυρίων ἔγεμε κατορθωμάτων, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ἐδεδίει καὶ ἔτρεμε· καὶ ταύτην παρὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἐμάνθανε. Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος εἰς τρίτον ἁρπαγεὶς οὐρανὸν, καὶ εἰς παράδεισον ἀπενεχθεὶς, καὶ ἀκούσας ῥήματα ἄῤῥητα, καὶ μυστηρίων κοινωνήσας τοιούτων, καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν ἐπιδραμὼν καθάπερ τις ὑπόπτερος, Κορινθίοις ἐπιστέλλων ἔλεγε· Φοβοῦμαι μή πως ἄλλοις κηρύξας αὐτὸς ἀδόκιμος γένωμαι. Εἰ δὲ Παῦλος φοβεῖται μετὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα κατορθώματα, ὁ δυνηθεὶς εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Ἐμοὶ κόσμος ἐσταύρωται, κἀγὼ τῷ κόσμῳ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμᾶς δεδοικέναι χρὴ, καὶ τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον, ὅσῳπερ ἂν ὦμεν πολλὰ συνειληχότες κατορθώματα. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ διάβολος ἀγριώτερος τότε γίνεται, τότε ἐκθηριοῦται πλέον, ὅταν ἴδῃ μετ' ἐπιμελείας ἡμᾶς τὸν ἑαυτῶν οἰκονομοῦντας βίον· ὅταν ἴδῃ τὰ φορτία τῆς ἀρετῆς συγκείμενα, καὶ πολὺν ὄντα τὸν ὄγκον, τότε σπουδάζει χαλεπώτερον ἐργάσασθαι τὸ ναυάγιον. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ 49.21 εὐτελὴς καὶ ἀπεῤῥιμμένος, κἂν ὑποσκελισθῇ καὶ καταπέσῃ, οὐ τοσαύτην τῷ κοινῷ φέρει τὴν βλάβην· ὁ δὲ ὥσπερ ἐν ὕψει τινὶ τῇ τῆς ἀρετῆς κορυφῇ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς περιφανείας ἑστὼς, καὶ πᾶσι δῆλος καὶ γνώριμος ὢν, καὶ παρὰ πάντων θαυμαζόμενος, ὅταν ἐπηρεασθεὶς καταπέσῃ, μεγάλην τὴν πτῶσιν καὶ τὴν ζημίαν ἐργάζεται· οὐχ ὅτι μόνον ἐξ ὕψους κατέπεσεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ πολλοὺς ῥᾳθυμοτέρους ἐποίησε τῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν βλεπόντων. Καὶ καθάπερ ἐν σώματι. μέλους μὲν ἑτέρου διαφθαρέντος, οὐ πολλὴ ἡ βλάβη, τῶν δὲ ὀφθαλμῶν πηρωθέντων ἢ τῆς κεφαλῆς παραβλαβείσης, ὅλον τὸ σῶμα ἄχρηστον γίνεται· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ μεγάλα κατορθωκότων ἔστιν εἰπεῖν· ὅταν ἐκεῖνοι σβεσθῶσιν, ὅταν κηλῖδά τινα προστρίψωνται, ὁλόκληρον καὶ ἀφόρητον τῷ λοιπῷ σώματι τὴν βλάβην φέρουσι.

δʹ. Ταῦτα οὖν ἅπαντα ὁ Τιμόθεος εἰδὼς, πανταχόθεν ἑαυτὸν ἠσφαλίζετο· ᾔδει γὰρ ὅτι χαλεπὸν ἡ νεότης, ὅτι εὐρίπιστον, εὐεξαπάτητον, εὐόλισθον, καὶ σφοδροτέρου δεῖται τοῦ χαλινοῦ· πυρὰ γάρ τίς ἐστι τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐπιλαμβανομένη ἁπάντων, ῥᾳδίως ἐκκαιομένη καὶ ταχέως. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πανταχόθεν αὐτὴν ἔφραττεν ὥστε συνεστάλθαι, καὶ τὴν φλόγα ταύτην παντὶ τρόπῳ μαραίνειν ἐσπούδαζε, καὶ τὸν ἵππον δυσχάλινον ὄντα καὶ δυσήνιον μετὰ πολλῆς ἦγχε τῆς σφοδρότητος, ἕως ὅτε αὐτοῦ τὰ σκιρτήματα περιέκοψεν, ἕως εὐήνιον ἐποίησε, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἐξουσίας ταῖς χερσὶ τοῦ ἡνιοχοῦντος αὐτὸν παρέδωκε λογισμοῦ. Ἀσθενείτω, φησὶ, τὸ σῶμα, καὶ μὴ ἀσθενείτω ἡ ψυχὴ, χαλινούσθω ἡ σὰρξ, καὶ μὴ ἐμποδιζέσθω ὁ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν τῆς ψυχῆς δρόμος. Μετὰ δὲ τούτων κἀκεῖνο μάλιστα ἄν τις αὐτὸν ἀγάσαιτο, ὅτι καὶ ἐξησθενηκὼς οὕτως, καὶ τοσαύτῃ παλαίων ἀῤῥωστίᾳ, τῶν κατὰ Θεὸν οὐκ ἠμέλει πραγμάτων, ἀλλὰ τῶν ὑγιαινόντων καὶ σφριγώντων τὰ σώματα μᾶλλον πανταχοῦ περιίπτατο, νῦν μὲν εἰς Ἔφεσον, νῦν δὲ εἰς Κόρινθον, ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ πολλάκις, ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ, πανταχοῦ τῆς γῆς, πανταχοῦ τῆς θαλάττης μετὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου φαινόμενος, καὶ κοινωνῶν ἐν πᾶσι τῶν ἀγώνων αὐτῷ, καὶ τῶν