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of the goodness of ancient men he recorded the achievements, setting them forth as a conspicuous example for posterity to imitate. Therefore, Abel teaches us to offer the firstfruits of the abundant gifts from God to God before using them, and not to prefer the irrational passion of the belly to the honor of God. For to the most ancient of beings, this blessed Abel sacrificed the firstborn of the sheep, offering nothing of the later ones in worship of the first, but with the firstfruits of what was produced, he glorified the first begetter. After him, the wonderful Noah teaches towards righteousness, alone keeping the balance of righteousness unwavering with good deeds in a whole lawless world. A great lesson in self-control is set before the young, the blessed Joseph, who in a young body blossomed with the white hair of purity, and in the form of a slave appeared as a noble master of the pleasures of the flesh. But these blessed men are perhaps partial images of good works; but he made mention of one man, Abraham the forefather, in one person alone raising up for the whole world a monument of all virtue for imitation. Therefore, all righteous men, all holy men, boast of the faithful Abraham as their father, and consider their kinship with him a most venerable glory. For to the faithful, through him, there is zeal for the faith; to the hospitable, he is a teacher of hospitality, showing what must be done by deeds, not words; the athletes of piety are crowned, emulating his courage; all the magnanimous are images resembling this archetype; the contest towards him has brought forth a multitude of so many righteous men; from this God-loving root have all the Christ-loving sprouted. And why do I enumerate them kind by kind? For all, so to speak, whose light shines before men, were kindled from the faithful lamp of the forefather; so many good children has his way of piety borne for him. For he who said, "I have made you a father of many nations," is true. O blessed soul, that contained such a multitude of achievements under one! You are truly a most fruitful land, you are a plain most fruitful in works of piety, you are a blooming meadow teeming with all sorts of flowers of righteousness, you are also a comely crown, having in its midst the gleaming pearl of faith. God commanded: Go out from your land; but you did not neglect, but held to the road, before the command was finished. He added to, "Go out from your land," the words, "And from your kindred;" but you were not weakened by affection for your kin, preferring the creator of your kin. God said, "Go out from your land and from your kindred," and what was harder than these, "And from your father's house;" but you considered nothing hard that God commands. Neither the honor of a father, nor the longing for a mother, nor the affection of relatives held back the eagerness of your soul. You did not consider how an aged mother would mourn for you, how an old father would weep for you. For you did not think it necessary to be more philanthropic than the one who brought the call. You had a venerable father, but not as the Father of all; you longed for a mother, but for piety more. You despised your paternal house, and your ancestral wealth. For you knew only the wealth through faith that befits the soul, the immortal possession, the inviolable treasure. O what a star, brighter than the morning star, you shone forth from the east to Palestine, in a dark life of polytheism 56.546 flashing forth the bright rays of piety! You, a good sweetness of piety, God cast into the bitter commonwealth of the Canaanites. You, like a salt of philanthropy, have become a seasoning for a wicked life. You have appeared as a calm harbor of hospitality in the midst of the surging misanthropy of foreigners.

3. How, O blessed one, shall I describe your philanthropic tent? How shall I not marvel at the oak called Mamre, which you tamed by your good ways? The tent was a common dwelling for those on a journey, one abundant hearth for all strangers, a free inn for the whole inhabited world, not lying in a secluded place, so that the benefit of its rest might be hidden, but in a desert, yet on a main road, and almost common to all the

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καλοκἀγαθίας παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀνεγράψατο κατορθώματα, προθεὶς ὥσπερ ὑπογραμμὸν τηλαυγῆ ταῦτα τοῖς ὀψιγόνοις πρὸς μίμησιν. Παιδεύει τοιγαροῦν ἡμᾶς Ἄβελ τῶν ἀφθόνων παρὰ Θεοῦ δωρεῶν πρὸ τῆς χρήσεως ἀπάρχεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ μὴ προκρίνειν Θεοῦ τιμῆς ἄλογον πάθος γαστρός. Τῷ γὰρ πρεσβυτάτῳ τῶν ὄντων ὁ μακάριος οὗτος Ἄβελ τῶν προβάτων ἔθυε τὰ πρωτότοκα, οὐδὲν μὲν τῶν ὑστάτων εἰς τὴν τοῦ πρώτου προσφέρων λατρείαν, ταῖς δὲ τῶν γενομένων ἀπαρχαῖς τὸν πρῶτον δοξάζων γεννήτορα. Μετ' ἐκεῖνον παιδεύει πρὸς δικαιοσύνην ὁ θαυμάσιος Νῶε, παντὶ παρανομοῦντι κόσμῳ μόνος αὐτὸς ἀκλινῆ φυλάξας ἐν πράξεσιν ἀγαθαῖς τῆς δικαιοσύνης τὴν πλάστιγγα. Μέγα σωφροσύνης τοῖς νέοις πρόκειται παίδευμα Ἰωσὴφ ὁ μακάριος, ἐν νέῳ σώματι λευκὴν ἁγνείας ἀνθήσας πολιὰν, καὶ σχήματι δουλίῳ σαρκὸς ἡδονῶν δεσπότης γενναίως φανείς. Ἀλλ' οὗτοι μὲν οἱ μακάριοι μερικαί τινες ἴσως ἀγαθῶν ἔργων εἰκόνες εἰσίν· ἑνὸς δὲ πεποίηται μνήμην ἀνδρὸς, Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ προπάτορος, ἐν ἑνὶ μόνῳ προσώπῳ παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ στήλην ὑψώσας πανάρετον πρὸς μίμησιν. Τοιγαροῦν πάντες δίκαιοι, πάντες ὅσιοι τὸν πιστὸν Ἀβραὰμ αὐχοῦσι πατέρα, καὶ κλέος περίσεμνον τίθενται τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν οἰκειότητα. Πιστοῖς μὲν γὰρ διὰ τοῦτον ὁ ζῆλος ὑπάρχει τῆς πίστεως· φιλοξένοις οὗτος φιλοξενίας καθηγητὴς, ἔργοις, οὐ λόγοις τὸ πρακτέον δεικνύς· οἱ θεοσεβείας ἀθληταὶ στεφανηφοροῦσι, τὴν ἀνδρείαν τὴν τούτου ζηλώσαντες· τοῦ ἀρχετύπου τούτου ἐμφερεῖς εἰκόνες πάντες οἱ μεγαλόψυχοι· ἡ πρὸς τοῦτον ἅμιλλα τῶν τοσούτων δικαίων πλῆθος ἤνεγκεν· ἐκ ταύτης τῆς φιλοθέου ῥίζης πάντες ἐβλάστησαν οἱ φιλόχριστοι. Καὶ τί τὸ κατὰ εἶδος ἐπαριθμοῦμαι; Πάντες γὰρ, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, ὧν λάμπει τὸ φῶς ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐκ τῆς πιστῆς τοῦ προπάτορος λαμπάδος ἀνήφθησαν· τοσούτους αὐτῷ παῖδας ἀγαθοὺς ὁ κατ' εὐσέβειαν τρόπος ἐφόρησεν. Ἀψευδὴς γὰρ ὁ εἰπὼν, ὅτι Πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν τέθεικά σε. Ὦ μακαρία ψυχὴ, τοσοῦτον πλῆθος κατορθωμάτων ὑφ' ἓν χωρήσασα! Σὺ πάμφορος ἀληθῶς χώρα, σὺ πεδίον πάγκαρπον τῶν κατ' εὐσέβειαν ἔργων, σὺ λειμὼν εὐανθὴς παντοίοις δικαιοσύνης ἄνθεσι βρύων, σὺ καὶ στέφανος εὐπρεπὴς, μέσον ἔχων τῆς πίστεως μαργαρίτην προλάμποντα. Προσέταττεν ὁ Θεός· Ἔξελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου· σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἠμέλησας, ἀλλ' εἴχου τῆς ὁδοῦ, πρὶν τελεσθῆναι τὸ πρόσταγμα. Προσετίθει τῷ, Ἔξελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου, τὸ, Καὶ ἐκ συγγενείας σου· σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἐθηλύνου τῇ πρὸς τὸ γένος στοργῇ, τοῦ γένους γενεσιουργὸν προτιμῶν. Εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς, Ἔξελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου καὶ ἐκ τῆς συγγενείας σου, καὶ τὸ τούτων βαρύτερον, Καὶ ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός σου· ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ἡγήσω βαρὺ, ὧν προστάσσει Θεός. Οὐκ ἐπέσχε σου τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν προθυμίαν οὐ τιμὴ πατρὸς, οὐ πόθος μητρὸς, οὐ στοργὴ συγγενῶν. Οὐκ ἐνενόησας οἷα ἐπὶ σοὶ θρηνήσει μήτηρ γηραλέα, οἷα ἐπὶ σοὶ κλαύσεται πρεσβύτης πατήρ. Οὐ γὰρ ᾠήθης δεῖν εἶναι φιλανθρωπότερος τοῦ τὴν κλῆσιν ἐπάγοντος. Ἦν σοι πατὴρ αἰδέσιμος, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς πάντων Πατήρ· ἐπόθεις μητέρα, ἀλλὰ θεοσέβειαν μᾶλλον. Οἴκου κατεφρόνησας πατρικοῦ, καὶ πλούτου προγονικοῦ. Μόνον γὰρ ᾔδεις τῇ ψυχῇ πρέποντα τὸν διὰ πίστεως πλοῦτον, τὸ ἀθάνατον κτῆμα, τὸν ἄσυλον θησαυρόν. Ὢ οἷος ἀστὴρ, ἑωσφόρου φαιδρότερος, ἐξ ἀνατολῶν εἰς Παλαιστίνην ἐξέλαμψας, ἐν ἀφεγγεῖ πολυθεΐας βίῳ 56.546 φαιδρὰς ἐκλάμψας θεοσεβείας ἀκτῖνας! Σὲ Θεὸς ἀγαθὸν θεοσεβείας γλύκασμα τῇ πικρᾷ καὶ Χαναναίων ἐνέβαλε πολιτείᾳ. Σὺ, καθάπερ ἅλας φιλανθρωπίας, γέγονας πονηροῦ βίου παράρτυμα. Σὺ γαληνὸς πέφηνας φιλοξενίας λιμὴν ἐν μέσῳ κλυδωνίου τῇ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων μισανθρωπίᾳ.

γʹ. Πῶς σου, μακάριε, τὴν φιλάνθρωπον διαγράψω σκηνήν; πῶς οὐ θαυμάσω τὴν δρῦν τὴν καλουμένην Μαμβρῆ, ἣν σὺ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς τρόποις ἡμέρωσας; Κοινὸν ἦν ἡ σκηνὴ τοῖς ὁδεύουσιν οἰκητήριον, μία πάντων ξένων ἄφθονος ἑστία, πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης πανδοχεῖον ἄμισθον, οὐκ ἐν παραβύστῳ κειμένη, ἵνα λάθῃ τὸ κέρδος τῆς ἀναπαύσεως, ἀλλ' ἐν ἐρήμῳ μὲν, ἐν ὁδῷ δὲ μέσῃ, καὶ κοινῷ σχεδὸν πάσης τῆς