prosperity? praises from Christ and a master's decree crowning the one who has labored well, it names faithful the one who has borne fruit spiritually; for did he not bring the profit to the Master? for does He need anything in His own affairs? He Himself is the fullness of all things, and as the all-wise John says, "From his fullness we have all received." but when we gain ourselves, and also benefit others, then Christ rejoices, He considers our good reputation a treasure; and I will say something even greater: He makes the matter His food, as it were. That what I say is true, you will learn again from the evangelical letters. For He had instructed the woman from Samaria; then when she said, "When the Messiah comes, he will tell us 473 'all things,'" He revealed Himself, saying, "I am he who is 'speaking to you.'" And the woman runs with haste and has initiated the city of the Samaritans; but Christ, knowing that many would believe in Him, said to the holy disciples, "I have food to eat that you do not know," for the salvation of the lost feeds, as it were, His most gentle nature. The genuine servant, then—for I will return again to the aim of the discourse—bound on the crown of equity, for he has been brought into the joy of his own master; but the one who received the talent, and then became lazy, having worked at nothing at all, but rather having hidden it in the ground, has fallen into the last judgments. Let us flee, therefore, this imitation; let us send away from our own mind the unprofitable and accursed sloth, that is, in good endeavors, lest we bury in idleness the grace given to us by Christ. Somewhere, through the voice of Isaiah, the God of all says, "Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem;" but what if the one teaching were to weave words that are accustomed to benefit the listeners, but they do not place the instruction in their mind and heart, but having only applauded and repaid the instructor with empty praises, remain untasted of the sacred teachings? Is it then fitting for the instructor to be lazy? Then what words will he find at the divine tribunal to aid him when he blames the laziness of the listeners and for this reason speaks of his opportune idleness? For he will be condemned all the more, as can be seen from the evangelical parable; for the one who received the talent from the householder, buried it in the ground and having it unmultiplied, brought it forward saying, "Lord, see, you have what is yours." Was he then praised and deemed worthy of rewards, or was he rather condemned 474 as lazy? "For you ought, he says, to have deposited 'my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received what was my own 'with interest.'" Therefore, as to you knowledgeable bankers, I am disbursing the master's money; and you, having received it, deposit what is given in your mind and hide it in the depth of your heart, knowing well that of the seeds sent into the earth, those buried in the clods bear fruit, but those unburied are snatched away.

XV. But the Lord was careful neither to reveal His divinity completely, nor to hide it entirely, the one for the sake of those at that time, the other for the sake of those after these things; so as to show the distinct operations both of His divinity and of His humanity, in order that neither the divine power might be diminished nor the human nature be disbelieved. For since a heresy was about to arise, saying that the body was a phantasm and came down from heaven; for the incorruptible nature would not have taken on the flesh of a corruptible body, nor would it have accepted stain or defilement or spot; in order that God might assure the race of men that He became that which we are, while remaining that which He was, for this reason He allowed the flesh to suffer its own things, and He showed a twofold operation, suffering as a man, but working as God, the same one; for He is not one and another, even if in one way and another. From Saint Cyril, on "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Again a great and exceptional achievement for our souls through the Savior of us all, Christ. For since we have been justified through faith in Him, and in Him the 475

εὐημερίαν; επαινοι παρὰ Χριστοῦ καὶ ψῆφος δεσποτικὴ στεφανοῦσα τὸν φιλεργήσαντα, πιστὸν ὀνομάζει τὸν καρποφορήσαντα νοητῶς· μὴ γὰρ τῷ ∆εσπότῃ τὸ κέρδος προσήνεγκε; μὴ γὰρ χρῄζει τινὸς ἐν τοῖς καθ' ἑαυτόν; αὐτός ἐστι τὸ πάντων πλήρωμα καὶ ὡς ὁ πάνσοφος ̓Ιωάννης φησίν ̓Εκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ "πάντες ἡμεῖς ἐλάβομεν." ἀλλ' οταν ἡμεῖς ἑαυτοὺς κερδάνωμεν, προσωφελῶμεν δὲ καὶ ἑτέρους, τότε χαίρει Χριστὸς, πλοῦτον ἡγεῖται τὴν ἡμῶν εὐδοκίμησιν· καὶ τὸ ετι μεῖζον ἐρῶ· τροφὴν ωσπερ ποιεῖται τὸ πρᾶγμα. οτι δέ ἐστιν ἀληθὲς οφημι, πάλιν ἐκ τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν μαθήσῃ γραμμάτων. νενουθέτηκε μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἐκ Σαμαρείας γυναῖκα· ειτα λεγούσης ἐκείνης " Οτε ελθῃ Μεσίας ἀπαγγελεῖ ἡμῖν 473 "πάντα," ἑαυτὸν ἐμφανῆ κατέστησε λέγων " ̓Εγώ εἰμι ὁ "λαλῶν σοι." καὶ τὸ μὲν γύναιον δρόμῳ συντείνεται καὶ τὴν Σαμαρειτῶν μεμυσταγώγηκε πόλιν· εἰδὼς δὲ Χριστὸς οτι πολλοὶ πιστεύσουσιν ἐπ' αὐτὸν, τοῖς ἁγίοις εφασκε μαθηταῖς " ̓Εγὼ βρῶσιν εχω φαγεῖν ην ὑμεῖς οὐκ οιδατε," τρέφει γὰρ ωσπερ τὴν ἡμερωτάτην φύσιν τῶν ἀπολωλότων ἡ σωτηρία. ̔Ο μὲν ουν γνήσιος οἰκέτης· ἀναβήσομαι γὰρ αυθις ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ λόγου σκοπόν· τὸν τῆς ἐπιεικείας ἀνεδήσατο στέφανον, εἰσκεκόμισται γὰρ εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ ἰδίου δεσπότου· ὁ δέ γε λαβὼν τὸ τάλαντον, ειτα γεγονὼς ὀκνηρὸς, προσεργασάμενος δὲ παντελῶς οὐδὲν, κατακρύψας δὲ μᾶλλον εἰς γῆν αὐτὸ, ταῖς ἐσχάταις περιπέπτωκε δίκαις. φύγωμεν τοίνυν τὴν μίμησιν, ἀποπεμψώμεθα τῆς ἑαυτῶν διανοίας τὸν ἀκερδῆ καὶ ἐπάρατον οκνον, τὸν ἐπ' ἀγαθοῖς δηλονότι σπουδάσμασι, μὴ εἰς ἀργίαν τὴν δοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν παρὰ Χριστοῦ καταχώσωμεν χάριν. φησί που διὰ φωνῆς ̔Ησαΐου ὁ τῶν ολων Θεός " ̔Ιερεῖς λαλήσατε εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ̔Ιερουσαλήμ·" τί δὲ εἰ ὁ μὲν διδάσκων τοὺς ὠφελεῖν εἰωθότας ἐξυφαίνοι λόγους τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις, οἱ δὲ οὐκ εἰς νοῦν καὶ καρδίαν ἀποτίθενται τὴν μυσταγωγίαν, ἀλλ' ἐπικροτήσαντες μόνον καὶ γυμνοῖς ἐπαίνοις ἀμειψάμενοι τὸν μυσταγωγὸν, αγευστοι τῶν ἱερῶν ἀπομένουσι διδαγμάτων; αρα ὀκνῆσαι προσήκει τὸν μυσταγωγόν; ειτα ποίους εὑρήσει λόγους ἐπὶ τοῦ θείου βήματος τοὺς ἐπικουροῦντας αὐτῷ οταν αἰτιάσηται τῶν ἀκροωμένων τὸ ῥᾴθυμον καὶ εὐάφορμον ειπῃ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν οκνον; κατακριθήσεται γὰρ μᾶλλον ὡς εστιν ἰδεῖν ἐκ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς παραβολῆς· ὁ γάρ τοι τὸ τάλαντον λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ οἰκοδεσπότου, κατέχωσε μὲν εἰς γῆν αὐτὸ καὶ ἀπολυπλασίαστον εχων προσεκόμιζε λέγων "Κύριε ιδε εχεις τὸ σόν." αρ' ουν ἐπῃνέθη καὶ γερῶν ἠξίωται, η κατεδικάσθη μᾶλλον 474 ὡς ὀκνηρός; " Εδει σε γὰρ, φησὶ, καταβαλεῖν τὸ ἀργύριόν "μου τοῖς τραπεζίταις, κἀγὼ ἐλθὼν ἐκομισάμην αν τὸ ἐμὸν "σὺν τόκῳ." οὐκοῦν ὡς τραπεζίταις ὑμῖν ἐπιστήμοσι τὸ δεσποτικὸν ἀργύριον ἐξοδιάζω ἐγώ· ὑμεῖς δὲ λαβόντες, εἰς νοῦν ἀπόθεσθε τὸ δοθὲν καὶ εἰς τὸ βάθος τῆς ἑαυτῶν καρδίας κρύψατε, ευ εἰδότες οτι τὰ εἰς γῆν πεμπόμενα τῶν σπερμάτων ἐγχωννύμενα μὲν ταῖς βώλοις καρποφορεῖ, τὰ δὲ ἀκατάχωστα διαρπάζεται.

XV. Πλὴν ἐσπούδασεν ὁ Κύριος μήτε δι' ολου φανερῶσαι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θεότητα μήτε εἰς τὸ παντελὲς ἀποκρύψαι, τὸ μὲν διὰ τοὺς τότε, τὸ δὲ διὰ τοὺς μετὰ ταῦτα· ωστε δεῖξαι καὶ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος τρανὰς τὰς ἐνεργείας, ινα μήτε ἡ θεία δύναμις ἀμβλυνθῇ μήτε ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις ἀπιστηθῇ. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εμελλεν αιρεσις ἀνακύπτειν ἡ λέγουσα οτι φάντασμα ην τὸ σῶμα καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ κατῆλθεν· οὐ γὰρ αν ελαβε τοῦ φθαρτοῦ σώματος σάρκα ἡ αφθαρτος φύσις, οὐδ' αν κατεδέξατο ῥύπον η μολυσμὸν η σπῖλον· ινα πιστώσηται ὁ Θεὸς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ γένος οτι τοῦτο ἐγένετο οἐσμεν, μένων ο ην, διὰ τοῦτο συνεχώρησε τῇ σαρκὶ πάσχειν τὰ ιδια, καὶ εδειξε διπλῆν τὴν ἐνέργειαν, πάσχων μὲν ὡς ανθρωπος, ἐνεργῶν δὲ ὡς Θεὸς ὁ αὐτός· οὐ γὰρ αλλος καὶ αλλος, εἰ καὶ αλλως καὶ αλλως. Τοῦ ἁγίου Κυρίλλου εἰς τό Πατὲρ εἰς χεῖράς σου παρατίθημι τὸ πνεῦμά μου. Μέγα πάλιν καὶ ἐξαίρετον κατόρθωμα ταῖς ἡμετέραις ψυχαῖς διὰ τοῦ πάντων ἡμῶν Σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δεδικαιώμεθα διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸ 475