5

to one who was tearing it, as if emboldened by her good deeds, which is what many suffer, purchasing luxury by their compassion for the poor, and not healing evil with good, but receiving evil in exchange for good; or while she wrestled down the dust with fastings, she yielded to another the remedy of sleeping on the ground; or while she discovered this help for her soul, she imposed less measure on sleep than some other; or while she legislated this as if bodiless, she reclined to the ground, while others kept vigil all night with body upright, which is indeed especially the contest of philosophic men; or while in this she was seen to be more manly not only than women, but also than the noblest men, but what of the mindful tone of psalmody, or the perusal of the divine oracles, or their exposition, or timely remembrance, or the bending of knees grown hard, or as if grown into the ground, or the tear that cleanses from filth in a contrite heart and a spirit of humility, or the prayer that sets one on high, and a mind unerring and soaring; all these things, or which of these is there, for which any man or woman could boast to have surpassed her? But that great thing is to say, and it is true, that she both emulated 35.805 good things, and was an object of emulation; she both discovered some, and surpassed others. And if in any one of these she had a rival, yet by embracing all things as one, she surpassed all. Thus she accomplished all things, as no one else has accomplished one thing even moderately; thus she brought each to perfection, so that even one alone would suffice instead of all.

XIV.

O squalid body and clothing, flourishing in virtue alone! O soul controlling the body, and almost without food, as if immaterial! or rather, of a body that forced itself to be dead even before its separation, so that the soul might receive freedom, and not be hindered by the senses! O sleepless nights, and psalmody, and standing that ended from one day to the next! O David, who sang no long melodies for faithful souls alone! O tenderness of limbs cast upon the earth, and unnaturally roughened! O fountains of tears sown in affliction, that they might reap in joy! O nocturnal cry passing through the clouds, and reaching the heavenly one! O fervor of spirit, daring the dogs of night for the desire of prayer, and frosts, and rains, and thunders, and hail, and untimely weather! O female nature that conquered manliness for the common contest of salvation, and proved that female and male is a difference of body, not of soul! O purity after the bath, and O soul of the bride of Christ in the pure bridal chamber of the body! O bitter taste, and Eve, mother of both our race and sin, and O serpent, deceiver and death, conquered by her continence! O emptying of Christ, and form of a servant, and sufferings, honored by her mortification!

XV.

O! How shall I either recount all her deeds, or by omitting the greater part not deprive those who do not know? But it is good for me now to add also the rewards of her piety; for you who know her deeds well seem to me long to desire and seek in my discourse, not only her present state, nor that in which she now exults there, which is beyond human thought, hearing, and sight, but also that with which the just rewarder recompensed her here; since He often does this also for the edification of the unbelieving, confirming the great things by the small, and the unseen by the seen. 35.808 I shall speak of things known to all, and things hidden from the many; and this too was part of her philosophy, not to adorn herself with her spiritual gifts. You know of the maddened mules, and the seizing of the chariot, and that dreadful overturning, and the strange dragging, and the evil shatterings, and the scandal that arose from this for the unbelievers, if the just are thus delivered up, and the swift correction of that unbelief; for though completely shattered and bruised in bones and limbs, both hidden and visible, she endured no other physician than He who had delivered her up; at once reverencing the sight and hands of men (for she preserved her modesty even in her sufferings), and at the same time the

5

σπαράττοντι, ὡς ἂν θαῤῥοῦσα ταῖς εὐποιίαις, ὅπερ πάσχουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ, τῆς εἰς τοὺς πέ νητας εὐσπλαγχνίας τὸ τρυφᾷν ἐξωνούμενοι, καὶ οὐ καλῷ τὸ κακὸν ἰώμενοι, καλοῦ δὲ τὸ φαῦλον ἀντιλαμβάνοντες· ἢ νηστείαις μὲν τὸν χοῦν κατεπάλαισεν, ἑτέρῳ δὲ τὸ τῆς χαμευνίας παρῆκε φάρμακον· ἢ τοῦτο μὲν ἐξεῦρε τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ βοήθημα, ὕπνῳ δὲ μέτρον ἧττον ἑτέρου τινὸς ἐπέθηκεν· ἢ τοῦτο μὲν ἐνομοθέτησεν ὥσπερ ἀσώματος, ἐκλίθη δὲ εἰς γῆν, ἑτέρων παννυχιζόντων ἐν ὀρθῷ σώματι, ὃ δὴ μάλιστα φιλοσόφων ἀνδρῶν τὸ ἀγώνισμα· ἢ τοῦτο μὲν οὐ μόνον γυναικῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνδρῶν ὤφθη τῶν γενναιοτάτων ἀνδρικώτερα, ψαλμῳδίας δὲ τόνον ἔμφρονα, ἢ θείων λογίων ἔντευξιν, ἢ ἀνάπτυ ξιν, ἢ μνήμην εὔκαιρον, ἢ κλίσιν γονάτων κατ εσκληκότων, ἢ ὥσπερ τῷ ἐδάφει συμπεφυκότων, ἢ δάκρυον ῥύπου καθάρσιον ἐν καρδίᾳ συντετριμμένῃ καὶ πνεύματι ταπεινώσεως, ἢ εὐχὴν ἄνω τιθεῖσαν, καὶ νοῦν ἀπλανῆ καὶ μετάρσιον· ταῦτα πάντα, ἢ τούτων τί ἐστιν ὅστις ἀνδρῶν ἢ γυναικῶν ἐκείνην ὑπερβεβηκέναι καυχήσαιτο; Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖ νο μέγα μὲν εἰπεῖν, ἀληθὲς δὲ, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἐζήλου 35.805 τῶν καλῶν, τοῦ δὲ ἦν ζῆλος· καὶ τὸ μὲν εὗρε, τὸ δὲ ἐνίκησεν. Καὶ εἰ καθ' ἕν τι τούτων ἔσχε τὸ ἁμιλλώ μενον, ἀλλὰ τῷ γε μία τὰ πάντα συλλαβεῖν, πάντων ἐκράτησεν. Οὕτω μὲν τὰ πάντα κατορθώ σασα, ὡς οὐδεὶς ἄλλος ἓν καὶ μετρίως· οὕτω δ' εἰς ἄκρον ἕκαστον, ὥστε καὶ ἀντὶ πάντων ἓν ἐξαρκεῖν καὶ μόνον.

Ι∆ʹ. Ὢ πιναροῦ σώματος καὶ ἐνδύματος, ἀρετῇ μόνον ἀνθοῦντος! Ὢ ψυχῆς διακρατούσης τὸ σῶμα, καὶ δίχα τροφῆς σχεδὸν, ὥσπερ ἄϋλον! μᾶλλον δὲ σώματος βιασαμένου νεκρωθῆναι καὶ πρὸ τῆς διαζεύξεως, ἵν' ἐλευθερίαν λάβῃ ψυχὴ, καὶ μὴ παραποδίζηται ταῖς αἰσθήσεσιν! Ὢ νυκτῶν ἀΰπνων, καὶ ψαλμῳδίας, καὶ στάσεως ἐξ ἡμέρας εἰς ἡμέραν ἀπο ληγούσης! Ὢ ∆αβὶδ, ταῖς πισταῖς μόνον ψυχαῖς οὐ μακρὰ μελῳδήσας! Ὢ μελῶν ἁπαλότητος ἐπὶ γῆς ἐῤῥιμμένων, καὶ παρὰ τὴν φύσιν τραχυνομένων! Ὢ πηγαὶ δακρύων σπειρομένων ἐκ θλίψεως, ἵν' ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει θερίσαιεν! Ὢ βοῆς νυκτερινῆς νε φέλας διερχομένης, καὶ φθανούσης πρὸς τὸν οὐρά νιον! Ὢ θερμότητος πνεύματος, κυνῶν κα τατολμώσης νυκτερινῶν δι' ἐπιθυμίαν εὐχῆς, καὶ κρυμῶν, καὶ ὑετῶν, καὶ βροντῶν, καὶ χαλάζης, καὶ ἀωρίας! Ὢ γυναικεία φύσις τὴν ἀνδρείαν νικήσασα διὰ τὸν κοινὸν ἀγῶνα τῆς σωτηρίας, καὶ σώματος διαφορὰν οὐ ψυχῆς τὸ θῆλυ καὶ τὸ ἄῤῥεν ἐλέγξασα! Ὢ τῆς μετὰ λουτρὸν ἁγνείας, καὶ τῆς νύμφης Χριστοῦ ψυχῆς ἐν καθαρῷ νυμφῶνι τῷ σώματι! Ὢ πικρὰ γεῦσις, καὶ Εὔα μῆτερ καὶ γένους καὶ ἁμαρ τίας, καὶ ὄφι πλάνε καὶ θάνατε, τῇ ἐκείνης ἐγκρα τείᾳ νενικημένα! Ὢ Χριστοῦ κένωσις, καὶ δού λου μορφὴ, καὶ παθήματα, τῇ ἐκείνης νεκρώσει τετι μημένα!

ΙΕʹ. Ὤ! πῶς ἢ καταριθμήσομαι τὰ ἐκείνης ἅπαντα, ἢ τὰ πλείω παρεὶς μὴ ζημιώσω τοὺς ἀγνο οῦντας; Ἀλλά μοι καλὸν ἤδη προσθεῖναι τῆς εὐσεβείας καὶ τὰ ἐπίχειρα· καὶ γάρ μοι ποθεῖν πά λαι δοκεῖτε καὶ ζητεῖν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ, οἱ τὰ ἐκείνης καλῶς εἰδότες, οὐ τὰ παρόντα μόνον, οὐδὲ οἷς νῦν ἐκεῖθεν ἀγάλλεται, ἃ κρείττω καὶ διανοίας, καὶ ἀκοῆς ἀνθρωπίνης, καὶ ὄψεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἷς ἐντεῦθεν αὐτὴν ὁ δίκαιος μισθαποδότης ἠμείψατο· ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖ πολλάκις εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τῶν ἀπίστων, τοῖς μι κροῖς τὰ μεγάλα πιστούμενος, καὶ τοῖς ὁρωμένοις τὰ 35.808 μὴ ὁρώμενα. Ἐρῶ δὲ τὰ μὲν γνώριμα τοῖς πᾶσι, τὰ δὲ ἀπόῤῥητα τοῖς πολλοῖς· καὶ τοῦτο ἐκεί νης φιλοσοφησάσης, τὸ μὴ καλλωπίζεσθαι τοῖς χαρίσμασιν. Ἴστε τὰς μανείσας ἡμιόνους, καὶ τὴν συναρπαγὴν τοῦ ὀχήματος, καὶ τὴν ἀπευκτὴν ἐκεί νην περιτροπὴν, καὶ τὴν ἄτοπον ἕλξιν, καὶ τὰ πο νηρὰ συντρίμματα, καὶ τὸ γενόμενον ἐντεῦθεν σκάν δαλον τοῖς ἀπίστοις, εἰ οὕτω δίκαιοι παραδίδονται, καὶ τὴν ταχεῖαν τῆς ἀπιστίας διόρθωσιν· ὅτι πάντα συντριβεῖσα καὶ συγκοπεῖσα καὶ ὀστᾶ καὶ μέλη, καὶ ἀφανῆ καὶ φαινόμενα, καὶ οὔτε ἰατρὸν ἄλλον πλὴν τοῦ παραδόντος ἠνέσχετο· ὁμοῦ μὲν καὶ ὄψιν ἀνδρῶν αἰδουμένη καὶ χεῖρας (τὸ γὰρ κόσμιον κἀν τοῖς πά θεσι διεσώσατο)· ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ τὴν