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your life? But since you have truly journeyed into a far country and have squandered your portion of the paternal substance, and you are fed on husks and you are feeding the swine of the chief citizen. For he has no sheep, for there is one good shepherd and one flock of his. And what is the substance that you lost? It is clear and again manifest: the faith and the gift which you received through baptism. For as, having been baptized into Christ, you put on Christ, so, having journeyed away from the church, you have put off Christ. And so that you may not think what is said to be a sophism, when that son returned, the father commanded nothing else than that the first robe and the ring be given to him. Imitate him, brother; arise from earthly thoughts as he did from the ground, come to yourself, as he did, and you too say: How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger? I do not have bread that can strengthen a man's heart, but only the food of swine, the husks. And what are these, but the diabolical writings, as we shall show in another discourse? Remember from where you have fallen, how you were led astray, enticed by the serpent who promises great things, so that he might deprive you of your present good things. For in the beginning, the word taught that the first man, or rather the woman, he deceived thus, saying: You will be as gods. And you too with the same deceit, through the name of continence and renunciation, he led away from the paternal house to the far country, in which there were no sheep, but only swine. And if you had kept the Lord's commandment that says to you: I will put enmity between you and the serpent, you would not have listened to his counsel. Nevertheless, God is a lover of mankind, he does not know how to hold a grudge; only if you return, is he ready, through his own goodness, to come out to meet you too, as he did for that one. He knows that you have been deadened in so much time from not tasting bread; embracing you he will kiss your neck, which the devil has hardened, and he will feed you again with the fatted calf, the mysteries of Christ. And there will be great joy over you also, and the father will say: It is right to rejoice and be glad, because my son was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found. And you will find all of us also rejoicing with the father and being glad with him at your salvation; for with us there is not even one bit of envy. If you listen to our counsel, you will find these things being done for you both by the common father and by your brother; if you begin, because of the silly women who were deceived with you, to make excuses in sins: "After so much time should I return to the church? I will hear from the silly women living with me 'destroyer'* ". For this has often been said among them, and this is the most bitter art of the devil, that not only at the beginning does he trip up a man, but also after the fall he does not allow him to turn back to God and be healed. What is destruction? And what is transgression? Tell me. Destruction is, by all means, when one abandons the faith and its handed-down mysteries in the church of God and departs into unbelief. You should have said these things in the beginning, when you were in the father's house, when the devil and his agents were persuading you to depart from the paternal wealth of true life, then you should have said: "I will not become a destroyer, I will not become a transgressor, no one will separate me from the love of Christ; he himself endured so many things for me, being subject to no one, so that he might redeem me, who was created, with his own blood from sin. And how shall I flee from the church, having denied the price paid for me?". And he persisted in persuading you through good promises and reverend names, as is the custom for him and his agents, hastening you to depart from the faith under the pretext of continence and renunciation or some other reverend name. You should have said then: "It is possible for me, being a Christian and remaining in the church and keeping the mysteries, to renounce possessions,

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ζωή σου; Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ὄντως ἀπεδήμησας εἰς χώραν μακρὰν καὶ τὸ ἐπιβάλλον σοι τῆς πατρικῆς οὐσίας μέρος ἀνήλωσας, καὶ σιτίζῃ τὰ κεράτια καὶ τοῦ πρωτοπο λίτου βόσκεις τοὺς χοίρους. Πρόβατα γὰρ ἐκείνῳ οὐκ ἔστιν, εἷς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλὸς καὶ μία ἡ ποίμνη αὐτοῦ. Τί δέ ἐστιν καὶ ἡ οὐσία ἣν ἀπώλεσας; Φανερά ἐστι καὶ πάλιν ἔκδηλος· ἡ πίστις καὶ ἡ δωρεὰ ἣν διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἔλαβες. Ὡς γὰρ βαπτισθεὶς εἰς Χριστὸν Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσω, οὕτως ἀποδημήσας ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλη σίας Χριστὸν ἐξεδύσω. Καὶ ἵνα μὴ νομίσῃς σόφισμα εἶναι τὸ λεγόμενον, ἐπαναστρέψαντος ἐκείνου τοῦ υἱοῦ ὁ πατὴρ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐκέλευσεν ἢ τὴν πρώτην στολὴν καὶ τὸ δακτύλιον αὐτῷ δοθῆναι. Μίμησαι τοῦτον, ἀδελφέ· ἀνάστηθι ἀπὸ τῶν γηΐνων φρονημάτων ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐλθέ, ὡς κἀκεῖνος εἰπὲ καὶ σύ· Πῶς οἱ μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου περισσεύουσι ἄρτου, ἐγὼ δὲ λιμῷ ὧδε ἀπόλλυμαι; Οὐκ ἄρτον ἔχω δυνάμενον στηρίξαι καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου ἢ μόνον τὴν τῶν χοίρων τροφήν, τὰ κεράτια. Τί δέ ἐστι ταῦτα, ἀλλ' ἢ τὰ διαβολικὰ συγγράμματα, ὡς ἐν ἑτέρῳ λόγῳ δείξομεν; Ἐνθυμήθητι πόθεν ἐξέπεσας, πῶς ἀπεπλανήθης δελεασθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ ὄφεως τοῦ τὰ μεγάλα ἐπαγγελλομένου, ἵνα σε τῶν παρόντων καλῶν ἀποστερήσῃ. Ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀρχῇ, ἐδίδαξεν ὁ λόγος, ὅτι τὸν πρῶτον ἄνθρωπον ἤτοι τὴν γυναῖκα οὕτως ἠπάτησεν εἰπών· Ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοί. Καὶ σὲ δὲ τῷ αὐτῷ δόλῳ διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τῆς ἐγκρατείας καὶ τῆς ἀποτάξεως ἀπήγαγε τῆς πα τρικῆς οἰκίας πρὸς τὴν χώραν τὴν μακράν, εἰς ἣν οὐκ ἦν πρόβατα, ἀλλ' ἢ μόνον χοῖροι. Καὶ εἰ ἐφύλασσες τὴν δεσποτικὴν ἐντολὴν τὴν λέγουσάν σοι· Ἔχθραν θήσω ἀνὰ μέσον σου καὶ τοῦ ὄφεως, οὐκ ἂν ἤκουσας τῆς συμβουλῆς ἐκείνου. Πλὴν φιλάνθρωπος ὁ θεός, οὐκ οἶδε μνησικακῆσαι· μόνον ἐὰν ὑποστρέψῃς, ἕτοιμός ἐστι διὰ τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτοῦ ἀγαθότητα καὶ σοὶ ὑπαντῆσαι ὡς κἀκείνῳ. Οἶδεν ὅτι νενέκρωσαι ἐν τοσούτῳ χρόνῳ ἄρτου μὴ γευσάμενος· περιπτυξάμενός σε φιλήσει τὸν αὐχένα σου, ὃν ἐσκλήρυνεν ὁ διάβολος, καὶ σιτίσει σε πάλιν διὰ τοῦ μόσχου τοῦ σιτευτοῦ, τῶν μυστηρίων τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἔσται δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ σοὶ χαρὰ μεγάλη καὶ ἐρεῖ ὁ πατήρ· Χαρῆναι δεῖ καὶ εὐφρανθῆναι, ὅτι ὁ υἱός μου νεκρὸς ἦν καὶ ἀνέζησε, καὶ ἀπολωλὼς καὶ εὑρέθη. Εὑρήσεις δὲ καὶ πάντας ἡμᾶς συγχαρέντας τῷ πατρὶ καὶ συνευφραινομένους ἐπὶ τῇ σῇ σωτηρίᾳ· παρ' ἡμῖν γὰρ φθόνος οὐδὲ εἷς. Ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς τῆς συμβουλῆς ἡμῶν, ταῦτα εὑρήσεις παρά τε τοῦ κοινοῦ πατρὸς περὶ σὲ καὶ παρὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ γινόμενα· ἐὰν ἄρξῃ διὰ τὰ γυναικά ρια τὰ σὺν σοὶ ἀπατηθέντα προφασίζεσθαι προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις· «∆ιὰ τοσούτου χρόνου ἐπανέλθω εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν; ἀκούσω παρὰ τῶν γυναικαρίων τῶν συζώντων μοι καταλύτης* «. Μετὰ πολλὰ γὰρ τοῦτο λέλεκται παρ' αὐτοῖς, καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ πικροτέρα τέχνη τοῦ διαβόλου, ὅτι οὐ μόνον εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑποσκελίζει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ τὴν πτῶσιν οὐ συγχω ρεῖ τοῦτον ἐπιστρέψαι πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἰαθῆναι. Τί ἐστι κατάλυ σις; Καὶ τί παράβασις; Εἰπέ μοι. Πάντως κατάλυσίς ἐστιν, ὅταν τις τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὰ παραδοθέντα αὐτῆς μυστήρια ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ καταλείψῃ καὶ εἰς ἀπιστίαν χωρήσῃ. Ταῦτα ἔδει σε ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ λέγειν, ὅτε ἦς ἐν τῇ τοῦ πατρὸς οἰκίᾳ, ὅτε ἔπειθέ σε ὁ διάβολος καὶ οἱ τούτου ἐργάται ἀποστῆναι τοῦ πατρικοῦ πλούτου τῆς ὄντως ζωῆς, τότε σε ἔδει λέγειν· «Οὐ γίνομαι καταλύτης, οὐ γίνομαι παραβάτης, οὐδείς με χωρίσει τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ· αὐτὸς δι' ἐμὲ τοσαῦτα ὑπέστη μηδενὶ ὑποκείμενος, ἵνα με τὸν πλασθέντα ἐξαγοράσῃ τῷ οἰκείῳ αἵματι ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Καὶ πῶς ἐγὼ δραπετεύσω ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀρνησάμενος τὴν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ καταβληθεῖσαν τιμήν «. Καὶ ἐπέμενε πείθων σε διὰ τῆς χρηστῆς ἐπαγγελίας καὶ τῶν σεμνῶν ὀνομάτων, ὡς ἔθος ἐκείνῳ καὶ τοῖς ἐργάταις αὐτοῦ, ἀποστῆσαι τῆς πίστεως σπεύδων ἐν προσχήματι ἐγκρατείας καὶ ἀποτάξεως ἤ τινος ἄλλου σεμνοῦ ὀνόματος. Ἔδει σε τότε λέγειν· «Ἔξεστί μοι χριστιανῷ ὄντι καὶ παραμένοντι τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ φυλάττοντι τὰ μυστήρια ἀποτάξα σθαι χρημάτων,