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and to be quenched, with no exhalation occurring to the outside. Therefore let not those who love sorrow put forward the Lord's tear in defense of their own passion. For just as the food which the Lord ate is not for us a pretext for luxury—but on the contrary, the highest standard of self-control and sufficiency—so also the tear is not a law for wailing, but a most seemly measure set forth, and an exact rule, according to which it is fitting to bear sorrows reverently and decorously, remaining within the limits of nature. Therefore, neither for women nor for men is the love of mourning and much weeping permitted, but only so much as to be saddened by sorrows and to shed a little tear, and this quietly, not roaring nor wailing, nor tearing one's tunic, or pouring dust, nor doing any other such unseemly thing practiced by those who are uninstructed in heavenly matters. For he who has been purified by the divine teaching must be fenced by right reason as by some strong little wall, and manfully and steadfastly ward off the assaults of such passions; and not, as into some low-lying 31.232 place, receive the flowing mob of passions into the humble and yielding part of the soul. For it is characteristic of an unmanly soul, and one having no strength from hope in God, to be violently broken and to succumb to sorrows. For just as worms are bred most in the softer kinds of wood, so sorrows grow in the softer characters of men. For was Job not adamantine in heart? For were his bowels not made of stone? Ten children fell to him in a brief moment of time, crushed by a single blow in the house of gladness, in the time of enjoyment, when the devil brought the dwelling down upon them. He saw a table mixed with blood; he saw children who had been born at different times, but who together underwent the end of life.

He did not wail, he did not tear his hair, he did not utter any ignoble sound, but he uttered that famous thanksgiving, celebrated by all: The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so it came to be; blessed be the name of the Lord. Was the man without sympathy? And how could that be? He who says of himself: I wept for everyone in distress. But was he then lying when he said these things? And yet the truth testifies for him that, in addition to his other virtues, he was also truthful; for it says, A man blameless, just, God-fearing, truthful. But you accompany your mourning with certain songs made for sadness, and you make it your practice to melt your soul with mournful melodies; and just as actors have their own costume and the gear with which they take the stage; so you think it is fitting and that there is a proper appearance for one who mourns: a black garment, and unkempt hair, and darkness in the house, and filth, and dust, and a somber melody, always preserving the wound of grief fresh in the soul. Cease doing these things for those who have no hope. But you have been taught concerning those who have fallen asleep in Christ, that It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised 31.233 a spiritual body. Why then do you weep for one who has departed to be reclothed? Neither mourn for yourself as being deprived of some helper for your life; For it is good, he says, to hope in the Lord, rather than to hope in man. Neither lament for him, as one who has suffered terrible things. For a little while later, the trumpet from heaven will awaken him, and you will see him standing before the judgment seat of Christ. Therefore, leave off these base and uninstructed cries. Woe is me for these unexpected evils; and this: Who would have thought these things would happen? and, When would I have expected to hide in the earth the head most dear to me?

For even if we hear another saying these things, it befits us to blush, we who from the memory of things past and from the experience of things present the necessary things of

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καὶ κατασβέννυσθαι, μηδεμιᾶς γινομένης ἐπὶ τὸ ἔξω διαπνοῆς. Μὴ τοίνυν εἰς συνηγορίαν τοῦ οἰκείου πάθους τὸ τοῦ Κυρίου προβαλλέσθωσαν δάκρυον οἱ φιλόλυ ποι. Ὡς γὰρ ἡ βρῶσις, ἣν ὁ Κύριος ἔφαγεν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡδυπαθείας ἡμῖν ἀφορμὴ, τὸ ἐναντίον μὲν οὖν, ἐγκρατείας καὶ αὐταρκείας ὅρος ὁ ἀνωτάτω· οὕτω καὶ τὸ δάκρυον οὐκ ἔστι νομοθεσία πρὸς τὸ θρηνεῖν, ἀλλὰ μέτρον εὐσχημονέστατον ἐκτεθὲν, καὶ κανὼν ἀκριβὴς, καθ' ὃν προσῆκε σεμνῶς καὶ εὐσχημόνως τοῖς τῆς φύσεως ὅροις ἐμμένοντας διαφέρειν τὰ λυπηρά. Οὔτε οὖν γυναιξὶν, οὔτε ἀνδράσιν ἐπιτέτραπται τὸ φιλοπενθὲς καὶ πολύδακρυ, ἀλλ' ὅσον ἐπιστυγνάσαι τοῖς λυπηροῖς καὶ μικρόν τι δάκρυον ἀποστάξαι, καὶ τοῦτο ἡσυχῆ, μὴ ἀναβρυχώμενον μηδὲ ὀλολύζοντα, μηδὲ καταῤῥηγνύντα χιτῶνα, ἢ κόνιν καταχεόμενον, μηδ' ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον ἀσχημονοῦντα τῶν ἐπιτηδευομέ νων παρὰ τῶν ἀπαιδεύτως ἐχόντων πρὸς τὰ οὐράνια. ∆εῖ γὰρ τὸν κεκαθαρμένον τῷ θείῳ διδασκαλίῳ, οἷον ὀχυρῷ τινι τειχίῳ τῷ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ πεφράχθαι, καὶ ἀν δρείως καὶ καρτερῶς τὰς τῶν τοιούτων παθῶν προσ βολὰς ἀπαμύνασθαι· καὶ μὴ καθάπερ εἴς τι χω 31.232 ρίον ὑποκαθήμενον, τῷ ταπεινῷ καὶ ὑπείκοντι τῆς ψυχῆς, τὸν τῶν παθῶν ὄχλον ἐπιῤῥέοντα δέχεσθαι. Ἀνάνδρου γὰρ ψυχῆς, καὶ οὐδένα τόνον ἐκ τῆς ἐπὶ Θεὸν ἐλπίδος ἐχούσης, τὸ σφοδρῶς καταῤῥήγνυσθαι καὶ ὑποπίπτειν τοῖς λυπηροῖς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ σκώληκες τοῖς ἁπαλωτέροις τῶν ξύλων ἐντίκτονται μάλιστα, οὕτως αἱ λῦπαι τοῖς μαλακωτέροις ἤθεσι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐμφύονται. Μὴ γὰρ ἀδαμάντινος ἦν ὁ Ἰὼβ τὴν καρδίαν; μὴ γὰρ ἐκ λίθου ἦν αὐτῷ πεποιημένα τὰ σπλάγχνα; Ἔπεσον αὐτῷ δέκα παῖδες ἐν βραχείᾳ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ, μιᾷ πληγῇ συντριβέντες ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τῆς θυμηδίας, ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς ἀπολαύσεως, ἐπικατασείσαντος αὐτοῖς τοῦ διαβόλου τὸ οἴκημα. Εἶδε τράπεζαν αἵματι μεμιγμένην· εἶδε παῖδας διαφόρως μὲν κατὰ τὸν χρόνον ἀποτεχθέντας, κοινῇ δὲ ὑπελθόντας τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος.

Οὐκ ᾤμωξεν, οὐ κατετίλατο κόμην, οὐκ ἀφῆκέ τινα φωνὴν ἀγενῆ, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀοίδιμον ἐκείνην καὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνυμνουμένην εὐ-χαριστίαν ἀπεφθέγξατο· Ὁ Κύριος ἔδωκεν, ὁ Κύριος ἀφείλετο· ὡς τῷ Κυρίῳ ἔδοξεν, οὕτω καὶ ἐγένετο· εἴη τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου εὐλογημένον. Μὴ ἀσυμπαθὴς ὁ ἄνθρωπος; Καὶ πῶς; ὅς γε περὶ ἑαυτοῦ λέγει· Ἐγὼ ἔκλαυσα ἐπὶ παντὶ θλιβομένῳ. Ἀλλ' ἆρα μὴ ἐψεύδετο ταῦτα λέγων; Καὶ μὴν μαρτυρεῖ αὐτῷ ἡ ἀλήθεια, ὅτι πρὸς ταῖς λοιπαῖς ἀρεταῖς καὶ ἀληθινὸς ἦν· Ἄνθρωπος γὰρ, φησὶν, ἄμεμπτος, δίκαιος, θεοσεβὴς, ἀληθινός. Σὺ δὲ ᾠδαῖς τισι πρὸς τὸ κατηφὲς πεποιημέναις παραθρηνεῖς, καὶ μέλεσι γοεροῖς ἐκτήκειν σεαυτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπιτηδεύεις· καὶ ὥσπερ τῶν τραγῳδῶν ἴδιόν ἐστι τὸ ἀνάπλασμα καὶ ἡ σκευὴ μεθ' ἧς τὰ θέατρα καταλαμβάνουσιν· οὕτως οἴει προσήκειν καὶ τῷ πενθοῦντι πρέπον εἶναι σχῆμα, μέλαν ἱμάτιον, καὶ αὐχμηρὰν κόμην, καὶ σκότος ἐν οἰκίᾳ, καὶ ῥύπον, καὶ κόνιν, καὶ μέλος στυγνὸν, ἀεὶ νεαρὸν τῆς λύπης τὸ τραῦμα τῇ ψυχῇ διασῶζον. Κατάλιπε ταῦτα ποιεῖν τοῖς μὴ ἔχουσιν ἐλπίδα. Σὺ δὲ ἐδιδάχθης περὶ τῶν ἐν Χριστῷ κοιμηθέντων, ὅτι Σπείρεται ἐν φθορᾷ, ἐγείρεται ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ· σπείρεται ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, ἐγείρεται ἐν δυνάμει· σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικὸν, ἐγείρεται 31.233 σῶμα πνευματικόν. Τί οὖν κλαίεις τὸν ἐξελθόντα μεταμφιάσασθαι; Μήτε σεαυτὸν θρήνει ὡς βοηθοῦ τινος πρὸς τὸν βίον στερούμενος· Ἀγαθὸν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ Κύριον, ἢ ἐλπίζειν ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον. Μήτε ἐκεῖνον ὀδύρου, ὡς δεινὰ πεπονθότα. Μικρὸν γὰρ ὕστερον. ἡ ἐξ οὐρανῶν σάλπιγξ αὐτὸν διυπνίσει, καὶ ὄψει αὐτὸν παριστάμενον τῷ βήματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἄφες οὖν ταύτας τὰς ταπεινὰς καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους φωνάς. Οἴ μοι τῶν ἀπροσδοκήτων κακῶν· καὶ τό· Τίς δ' ἂν ταῦτα ᾠήθη γενέσθαι; καὶ, Πότε δ' ἂν προσεδόκησα γῇ κατακρύψειν τὴν φιλτάτην ἐμοὶ κεφαλήν;

Ταῦτα γὰρ κἂν ἑτέρου λέγοντος ἀκούωμεν, ἐρυθριᾷν ἡμᾶς προσῆκε τοὺς ἔκ τε τῆς μνήμης τῶν παρελθόντων καὶ ἐκ τῆς τῶν παρόντων πείρας τὰ ἀναγκαῖα τῆς