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devoid of all virtue, the possession of these things is not at all necessary for us in any way; nor indeed is their non-possession, for the generation or preservation of anything good or evil. For some who were deprived of power and wealth and 0372 health, acquired many treasures of eternal goods; while others, on the contrary, having power and wealth and health, according to their own judgment have fallen away from all divine goods. And both the poor Lazarus and the rich man in the same story bear witness. The one, deprived of all material power, health and abundance, receiving the blessed repose in the bosom of Abraham; while the other, abounding to the extreme in these material things, being barred from the holy ones by the chasm, and being condemned to have the punishing fire as his portion. And again David and Job, the great champions of the truth, having been tested through both kinds of lives, diametrically and oppositely separated from one another, preserved their virtue, which increased through adversities. For virtue is not the work of wealth and health and power; nor again is it of the opposite lot to these, that it should suffer a change towards its opposites, being altered along with circumstances; but of a divine disposition, and of a mind completely formed by the good, and unchangeably fixed according to God, and preserving its own unaltered identity in opposite circumstances.

Therefore let us cherish the authority given to us, and let us accept it as an instrument of assistance given to us by God for 15Β_022 virtue. And again, when it is taken away, let us not seek it, as if laying aside the great weight of a fearful burden, and revealing the purpose of Providence for us, which benevolently manages what is expedient for each; For, "do not seek," says the Wise Man, "to become a judge, lest you not be strong enough to root out injustices; lest you ever be in awe of the face of a powerful man, and you set a stumbling block in your uprightness; and sin against the multitude of the city, and cast yourself down among the crowd, and bind sin twice over." However, if you should wish to be known even from these things, blessed one, you came short of none of those of your time. For the eyes of the Lord, as the same Wise Man said, looked upon you for good, and raised you up from your humiliation, and lifted up your head, and many marveled at you, and they recount your virtues to peoples and nations. And what the Holy Spirit proclaimed beforehand concerning the apostles through the great David: The sound of your achievements has gone out into all the earth, and the fragrant report of your virtues has come to the ends of the world. For you did not eat your bread alone, but you shared it generously with orphans, and from their youth you raised them as a father, and from their mother's womb 0373 you guided them to righteousness. You did not overlook the naked perishing and not clothe them; but all the powerless blessed you; for you warmed their shoulders from the shearing of your lambs. You did not set your gold in your dust, that is, for the enjoyment of your flesh; but you sent all your wealth ahead to heaven, in preparation for the goods of the soul. You were not deceived by perishable wealth, and when it flowed, you did not set your heart upon it. You did not associate with jesters, whose living is a disgrace, and whose life is filled with stains. Your foot did not hasten to deceit; nor did you rejoice at the fall of your enemies, and your heart say, 15Β_024 "Well done!" The land did not groan on your account; for you did not eat its strength alone without payment, nor did you oppress the souls of its owners. You held back your hands from unjust gifts; and you saved the poor from the hand of the powerful, and you wept over every powerless person; and seeing a man in distress, you groaned. You helped orphans who had no helper; and the mouths of widows blessed you. For you put on righteousness, and clothed yourself with just judgment, like a double-folded robe. You became an eye to the blind, a foot to the lame, and a father to the powerless. You shattered the molars of the unjust, and from the midst of their teeth

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πάσης ἀρετῆς ἔρημοι, τούτων οὐκ ἀναγκαία πάντως ἡμῖν καθοτιοῦν ἡ κτῆσις· οὔτε μήν ἡ ἀκτησία, πρός γένεσιν καλοῦ τινος ἤ κακοῦ καί συντήρησιν. Ἐπεί καί δυναστείας καί πλούτου καί 0372 ὑγείας τινές ἐστερημένοι, πολλούς ἀγαθῶν αἰωνίων ἐκτήσαντο θησαυρούς· ἕτεροι δέ τοὐναντίον, δυναστείαν καί πλοῦτον καί ὑγείαν ἔχοντες, πάντων τῶν θείων ἀγαθῶν κατ᾿ οἰκείαν γνώμην γεγόνασιν ἔκπτωτοι. Καί μαρτυροῦσιν ὅ τε πτωχός Λάζαρος, καί ὁ κατ᾿ αὐτόν πλούσιος. Ὁ μέν πάσης ὑλικῆς δυναστείας, ὑγείας τε καί περιουσίας ἐστερημένος, τήν ἐν κόλποις Ἀβραάμ δεχόμενος μακαρίαν ἀνάπαυσιν· ὁ δέ τούτων τῶν ὑλικῶν εἰς ἄκρον ὑπάρχων κατάκομος, εἰργόμενος ἀπό τῶν ὀσίων τῷ χάσματι, καί τό κολαστικόν πῦρ ἔχειν μερίδα κατακρινόμενος. Καί πάλιν ∆αβίδ καί Ἰώβ, οἱ μεγάλοι τῆς ἀληθείας ἀγωνισταί, δι᾿ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν βίων τῶν ἀλλήλων κατά διάμετρον ἀντιπαθῶς ἀπῳκισμένων δοκιμασθέντες, τήν ἀρετήν διεσώσαντο διά τῶν ἐναντίων αὐξάνουσαν. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι πλούτου καί ὑγείας καί δυναστείας ἔργον· οὐδ᾿ αὖ πάλιν τῆς τούτοις ἀντικειμένης μοίρας ἡ ἀρετή, ἵνα πάθῃ πρός τά ἐναντία μεταβολήν, συναλλοιωθεῖσα τοῖς πράγμασιν· ἀλλά διαθέσεως θείας, καί γνώμης εἰς ἄκρον τῷ καλῷ πεποιωμένης, καί κατά Θεόν ἀμεταβόλως πεπηγυίας, καί τήν οἰκείαν ἐν τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἀπαράλλακτον φυλαττούσης ταυτότητα.

∆ιδομένην τοίνυν τήν ἀρχήν στέρξωμεν, καί ὡς τῆς κατ᾿ 15Β_022 ἀρετήν ἡμῖν παρά Θεοῦ δοθεῖσαν ἐπικουρίας ὄργανον καταδεξώμεθα. Καί πάλιν ἀφαιρουμένην αὐτήν μή ζητήσωμεν, ὡς μέγα φοβερᾶς ἀχθηδόνος βάρος ἀποτιθέμενοι, καί τόν ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν τῆς Προνοίας σκοπόν ἀποκαλύπτουσαν, τῆς τό συμφέρον ἑκάστῳ φιλανθρώπως οἰκονομούσης· Μή ζήτει, γάρ, φησίν ὁ Σοφός, γενέσθαι κριτής, μή οὐκ ἰσχύσης ἐξᾶραι ἀδικίας· μή ποτε εὐλαβηθῇς ἀπό προσώπου δυνάστου, καί θήσεις σκάνδαλον ἐν εὐθύτητί σου· καί ἁμάρτῃς εἰς πλῆθος πόλεως, καί καταβάλῃς ἑαυτόν ἐν ὄχλῳ, καί καταδεσμεύσῃς δίς ἁμαρτίαν. Πλήν γε ὅτι εἰ κἀκ τούτων φανῆναι θελήσειας, εὐλογημένε, οὐδενός ἔλαττον ἦλθες τῶν κατά σέ. Οἱ γάρ ὀφθαλμοί Κυρίου, καθώς ὁ αὐτός ἔφη Σοφός, ἐπέβλεψαν ἐπί σέ εἰς ἀγαθά, καί ἀνώρθωσέ σε ἐκ ταπεινώσεώς σου, καί ἀνύψωσε τήν κεφαλήν σου, καί ἀπεθαύμασάν σε πολλοί, καί διηγοῦνται λαοῖς τε καί ἔθνεσι τάς ἀρετάς σου. Καί ὅ περί τῶν ἀποστόλων διά τοῦ μεγάλου ∆αβίδ τό ἅγιον Πνεῦμα προανεφώνησεν· Εἰς πᾶσαν τήν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος τῶν κατορθωμάτων σου, καί εἰς τά πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τῶν σῶν ἀρετῶν εὐώδης ἦλθε διάδοσις. Οὐ γάρ ἔφαγες τόν ἄρτον σου μόνος, ἀλλ᾿ ὀρφανοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ πλουσίως μετέδωκας, καί ἐκ νεότητος αὐτῶν ἐξέτρεψας αὐτούς ὡς πατήρ, καί ἐκ γαστρός μητρός 0373 αὐτῶν ἐπί δικαιοσύνην ὡδηγήσας. Οὐχ ὑπερεῖδες γυμνούς ἀπολλυμένους, καί οὐκ ἠμφίασας· ἀδύνατοι δέ πάντες ηὐλόγησάν σε· τούς γάρ ὤμους αὐτῶν ἐθέρμανας ἀπό κουρᾶς ἀμνῶν σου. Οὐκ ἔταξας τό χρυσίον σου εἰς τόν χοῦν σου, τουτέστιν εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν τῆς σαρκός σου· ἀλλ᾿ ἐν οὐρανῷ πάντα τόν πλοῦτόν σου προέπεμψας, εἰς ἑτοιμασίαν τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγαθῶν. Οὐκ ἠπατήθης πλούτῳ φθειρομένῳ, καί ῥέοντι αὐτῷ οὐ προσέθηκας καρδίαν. Γελοιασταῖς οὐ συνηυλίσθης, ὧν ὁ βίος ἐστίν αἰσχύνη, καί ἡ ζωή κηλίδων πεπλήρωται. Οὐκ ἐσπούδασεν ὁ ποῦς σου εἰς δόλον· οὐδέ ἐπεχάρης πτώματι ἐχθρῶν, καί εἶπεν 15Β_024 ἡ καρδία σου. Εὖγε. Οὐκ ἐστέναξεν ἡ γῆ ἐπί σοί· οὐ γάρ ἔφαγες μόνος τήν ἰσχύν αὐτῆς ἄνευ τιμῆς, οὐδέ ψυχάς κυρίων αὐτῆς ἐξέθλιψας. Ἀπό δώρων ἀδίκων τάς χεῖρας συνέστειλας· διέσωσας δέ πτωχόν ἐκ χειρός δυνάστου, καί ἔκλαυσας ἐπί παντί ἀδυνάτῳ· καί ἰδῶν ἄνδρα ἐν ἀνάγκαις, ἐστέναξας. Ὀρφανοῖς οἷς οὐκ ἦν βοηθός ἐβοήθησας· στόματα δέ χηρῶν ηὐλόγησάν σε. ∆ικαιοσύνην γάρ ἐνδύσω, καί ἠμφιάσω κρῖμα εὐθές, ἴσα διπλοΐδι. Ὀφθαλμός ἐγένου τυφλῶν, ποῦς δέ χωλῶν, καί πατήρ ἀδυνάτων. Μύλας ἀδίκων συνέτριψας, καί ἐκ μέσου τῶν ὀδόντων