4

and no one is the helper; behold I seek the one who redeems, and there is no one who delivers; behold I seek the one who accompanies, and there is no one who suffers with me. Where is the father who begot? where is the mother who was in labor? where is the brother? Where a brother does not redeem a brother, how will a man redeem a man?

These things those who leave us utter to us, and then they journey their eternal road. For what man is there, who shall live, and not see death? or Who shall deliver his soul from the hand of Hades? Blessed is God, that a man, brothers, behold he lies, and no longer clings to any of the things of life; behold he has become quiet, behold he has ceased from vanities. A small fever, and all things became inactive; one hour, and he who appeared becomes as if he had not appeared; one moment, and His spirit will go forth, and he will return to his earth, from which he was taken. In that day shall perish 60.727 all our thoughts; in that hour a man will leave his father and his mother, friends and relatives, sons and daughters, and will go alone. isolated, on his eternal road.

Let us join those who journey before us, before we also depart; sit down, and do not disturb him who lies there; be quiet, and stop the noise; quiet yourselves, look closely, and see the great mystery; shudder, and expect the same; kings, behold, and no longer be proud; rulers, look closely, and no longer imagine great things; see the one lying there being separated from life, and no longer consider yourself a king or a ruler. For what kind of king, where he does not redeem himself? But behold he too trembles at the cup; behold he is in agony like one of all; behold he has become all pitiful, he who a little while ago was fearsome has become a corpse; behold he is led away as one condemned, he whom yesterday the condemned trembled at, behold he was troubled, behold he was entirely shaken, behold all wisdom and power were swallowed up, behold he has become entirely amazed. For he saw angelic powers, and forgot his own power; he saw fearsome armies of angels, and considered his own power as a spider's web; he saw masterful forms, and his form was altered; he heard the sentence of the soul, and trembled all over in the flesh, and what things he considers in himself, being amazed and thinking where is the pomp of kings, where the power of rulers. Alas! behold true order, behold a mighty force, behold unerring power, behold fearsome forms, behold an immortal army.

Considering these and similar and more unutterable things, which only those who have gone before and experienced them know, some lying in bed leap up, wishing to flee, but not being able; others gnash their teeth, others strike their jaws, others turn their eyes about piteously, as they see the powers of the body ceasing little by little, the tongue uttering, and the deposit being surely accomplished, the opposing powers standing by, demanding an account, accusing, attempting to seize, then also the thief entering and making known and tearing the soul from the body. We have need then of many prayers, of many good deeds, we have need then of much protection from the angels, we have much need of guidance in the ascent of the air. For if when journeying here to a country and a foreign city we need one to guide us, how many helpers and guides do we need to save and pass through the principalities and the powers and the unseen world-rulers of this air, whom the divine Scripture calls persecutors and tax collectors and toll collectors? A good fellow traveler for us then is almsgiving and compassion, able to guide and save us harmlessly to the gate of the heavens; good advocates for us there are the poor, whom we had mercy on here before death. Therefore let us act before we are acted upon, let us run before we are caught.

4

καὶ οὐδεὶς ὁ βοηθός· ἰδοὺ ζητῶ τὸν λυτρούμενον, καὶ οὐδεὶς ὁ ἐξαιρούμενος· ἰδοὺ ζητῶ τὸν συνοδεύοντα, καὶ οὐδεὶς ὁ συμπάσχων μοι. Ποῦ πατὴρ ὁ γεννήσας; ποῦ μήτηρ ἡ ὠδίνουσα; ποῦ ἀδελφός; Ὅπου ἀδελφὸς ἀδελφὸν οὐ λυτροῦται, πῶς λυτρώσεται ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπον;

Ταῦτα πρὸς ἡμᾶς φθέγγονται οἱ ἀφιέντες ἡμᾶς, καὶ λοιπὸν πορεύονται τὴν αἰώνιον ὁδὸν αὐτῶν. Τίς γάρ ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὃς ζήσεται, καὶ οὐκ ὄψεται θάνατον; ἢ Τίς ῥύσεται τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐκ χειρὸς ᾅδου; Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι ἄνθρωπος, ἀδελφοὶ, ἰδοὺ κεῖται, καὶ οὐδενὶ λοιπὸν τῶν τοῦ βίου πρόσκειται· ἰδοὺ ἡσύχασεν, ἰδοὺ τῶν ματαίων ἐπαύσατο. Μικρὸς πυρετὸς, καὶ πάντα ἤργησαν· μία ὥρα, καὶ ὁ φανεὶς ὡς μὴ φανεὶς γίνεται· μία ῥοπὴ, καὶ Ἐξελεύσεται τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπιστρέψει εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ, ἐξ ἧς ἐλήφθη. Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἀπολοῦνται 60.727 πάντες οἱ διαλογισμοὶ ἡμῶν· ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ καταλείψει ἄνθρωπος τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν μητέρα, φίλους καὶ συγγενεῖς, υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέρας, καὶ πορεύσεται μόνος. μεμονωμένος, τὴν αἰώνιον ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ.

Συνέλθωμεν τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν ὁδεύουσι, πρὶν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀπέλθωμεν· καθίσατε, καὶ τῷ κειμένῳ μὴ ἐνοχλήσητε· ἡσυχάσατε, καὶ τὸν θόρυβον λύσατε· ἠρεμήσατε ἑαυτοὺς, ἐμβλέψατε, καὶ τὸ μέγα μυστήριον ἴδετε· φρίξατε, καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐκδέξασθε· βασιλεῖς, θεάσασθε, καὶ μήκετι μέγα φρονήσητε· ἄρχοντες, ἐμβλέψατε, καὶ μηκέτι μέγα φαντάζησθε· βλέπετε τὸν κείμενον τοῦ βίου χωριζόμενον, καὶ λοιπὸν μὴ βασιλέα ἢ ἄρχοντα ἑαυτὸν γνωρίσῃς. Ποῖος γὰρ βασιλεὺς, ὅπου ἑαυτὸν οὐ λυτροῦται; Ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ ποτήριον τρέμει· ἰδοὺ ὡς εἷς τῶν πάντων ἀγωνιᾷ· ἰδοὺ ὅλος γέγονεν ἐλεεινὸς, ὁ πρὸ μικροῦ φοβερὸς γέγονε νεκρός· ἰδοὺ ἀπάγεται ὡς κατάδικος, ὃν χθὲς ἔτρεμον οἱ κατάδικοι, ἰδοὺ ἐταράχθη, ἰδοὺ ὅλος ἐσαλεύθη, ἰδοὺ πᾶσα ἡ σοφία καὶ ἡ δυναστεία κατεπόθη, ἰδοὺ ὅλος ἔκθαμβος γέγονεν. Εἶδε γὰρ ἐξουσίας ἀγγελικὰς, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἐξουσίας ἐπελάθετο· εἶδε στρατιὰς ἀγγέλων φοβερὰς, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐξουσίαν ὡς ἀράχνην ἐλογίσατο· εἶδε μορφὰς δεσποτικὰς, καὶ τὴν μορφὴν ἠλλοιώσατο· ἤκουσεν ἀπόφασιν ψυχῆς, καὶ ὅλος ἐτρόμαξε τῇ σαρκὶ, καὶ οἷα εἰς ἑαυτὸν διανοεῖται, θαμβούμενος καὶ ἐννοούμενος ποῦ τῶν βασιλέων ἡ φαντασία, ποῦ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἡ ἐξουσία. Βαβαί! ἰδοὺ τάξις ἀληθὴς, ἰδοὺ δύναμις κραταιὰ, ἰδοὺ ἐξουσία ἀψευδὴς, ἰδοὺ μορφαὶ φοβεραὶ, ἰδοὺ ἀθάνατος στρατιά.

Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια καὶ ἀποῤῥητότερα ἐννοούμενοι, ἅπερ μόνοι οἱ προλαβόντες καὶ πειραθέντες ἐπίστανται, οἱ μὲν ἐν τῇ κλίνῃ κείμενοι ἀναπηδῶσι, φυγεῖν μὲν βουλόμενοι, οὐ δυνάμενοι δέ· οἱ δὲ τοὺς ὀδόντας βρύχουσιν, ἄλλοι τὰς σιαγόνας κόπτουσιν, ἕτεροι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐλεεινῶς περιστρέφουσιν, ὡς ὁρῶσι τὰς δυνάμεις κατ' ὀλίγον τοῦ σώματος ληγούσας, τὴν γλῶτταν φθεγγομένην, καὶ τὴν παρακαταθήκην βεβαίως ἀνυομένην, τὰς δυνάμεις τὰς ἐναντίας παρισταμένας λογοθετούσας, κατηγορούσας, ἁρπάσαι ἐπιχειρούσας, εἶτα καὶ τὸν κλέπτην εἰσελθόντα καὶ μηνύσαντα καὶ τοῦ σώματος τὴν ψυχὴν διαῤῥήξαντα. Πολλῶν ἡμῖν δεῖ τότε τῶν εὐχῶν, πολλῶν τῶν πράξεων τῶν ἀγαθῶν, πολλῆς ἡμῖν τότε τῆς τῶν ἀγγέλων προστασίας, πολλῆς ἡμῖν τῆς ἐν τῇ τοῦ ἀέρος ἀναβάσει χειραγωγίας. Εἰ γὰρ εἰς χώραν καὶ ξένην πόλιν ἐνταῦθα πορευόμενοι δεόμεθα τοῦ χειραγωγοῦντος, πόσων ἡμῖν δεῖ τῶν βοηθῶν καὶ χειραγωγῶν τοῦ διασῶσαι καὶ διαπεράσαι τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας καὶ τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοὺς ἀφανεῖς τοῦ ἀέρος τούτου, οὓς διώκτας καὶ τελώνας καὶ φορολόγους ὀνομάζει ἡ θεία Γραφή; Καλὴ τότε συνοδοιπόρος ἡμῖν ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη καὶ ἡ συμπάθεια, δυνάμεναι ἀσιάντως ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν πύλην ὁδηγῆσαι καὶ διασῶσαι· καλοὶ ἡμῖν ἐκεῖ συνήγοροι οἱ πένητες, οὓς ἐνταῦθα πρὸ θανάτου ἠλεήσαμεν. ∆ιὸ προφθάσωμεν πρὸ τοῦ προφθασθῶμεν, δράμωμεν πρὸ τοῦ καταληφθῶμεν.