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XII. Why do you await a fever as a benefactor, and not God? Why a season, but not reason? Why a treacherous friend, but not a saving desire? Why not the power, but the force? Why not the freedom, but the distress? Why must you learn of your departure from another, and not consider it as already present? Why do you seek medicines that will be of no use? Why a critical sweat, when perhaps the final journey is at hand? Heal yourself before the necessity; pity yourself, the true healer of your weakness; bring to yourself the truly saving medicine. While you sail with a fair wind, fear the shipwreck; and you will be less likely to be shipwrecked, using cowardice as your helper. Let the gift be celebrated, but not lamented; let the talent be worked, but not buried. Let there be some time between the grace and your departure, so that not only may the evil writings be erased, but also the better ones be written in their place; so that you may not only have the gift, but also the reward; so that you may not only flee the fire, but also inherit the glory, which working with the gift bestows. For to the fainthearted it is a great thing to escape torment; but to the magnanimous, to also obtain a reward.

XIII. For I know three ranks of those who are being saved: slavery, hired service, sonship. If you are a slave, fear the blows; if a hired servant, look only to receive your wages. But if you are above these, and a son, revere him as a father. Do what is good, because it is good to obey the father, even if nothing were to come to you from it. This itself is a reward, to please the father. 36.376 Let us not be seen despising these things. How strange it is to snatch up money beforehand, but to put off health; and to cleanse our bodies beforehand, but to store up the cleansing of the soul; and to seek freedom from slavery below, but not to long for that which is above; and to make every effort that you may dwell or be clothed magnificently, but to take no thought for how you yourself may be of the greatest worth; and to be eager to do good to others, but not to wish it for yourself. And if the good were for sale to you, you would spare no expense; but if what is offered is a gift of love, you despise the readiness of the benefit. Every season is for you a season of washing, since every season is one for departure. With Paul I cry to you, with that great voice: Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation; not one time, but every time being defined by 'Now'. And again: Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light, dispelling the night of sin; since, 'In the night there is evil hope,' according to Isaiah, and to be taken in the morning is more profitable.

XIV. Sow when it is time, and gather in, and open the storehouses when it is time for this, and plant in season, and let the ripe cluster be cut for you, and set sail boldly in spring, and draw up the ship again when winter begins and the sea grows wild. And let there be for you a time for war, and for peace, and for marriage, and for not marrying, and for friendship, and for separation, if there is need for this, and for every matter at all, if Solomon is to be believed. And he must be believed; for the advice is profitable. But always work out your salvation, and let every season be for you a time set for baptism. If you always run past the 'today,' and watch for the 'tomorrow', you are unawares being robbed by the Evil One through small delays, as is his way. 'Give me the present, and to God the future; give me youth, and to God old age; give me the pleasures, and to Him uselessness.' How great is the danger surrounding you! How many are the unexpected accidents! Either war has consumed, or an earthquake has buried, or the sea has received, or a wild beast has seized, or a disease has destroyed, or a passing morsel, the most trivial thing (for what is easier 36.377 than for a man to die, even if you are proud of your image?), or excessive drink, or a wind casting down, or a horse carrying away, or a drug treacherously administered, and perhaps even what seemed to be a remedy proving to be poison, or an inhuman judge, or an executioner

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ΙΒʹ. Τί πυρετὸν ἀναμένεις εὐεργέτην, ἀλλ' οὐ Θεόν; Τί καιρὸν, ἀλλ' οὐ λογισμόν; Τί φίλον ἐπίβουλον, ἀλλ' οὐ πόθον σωτήριον; Τί μὴ τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν βίαν; Τί μὴ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν στενοχωρίαν; Τί παρ' ἄλλου δέῃ μαθεῖν τὴν ἔξοδον, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς ἤδη παρούσης διανοήσῃ; Τί φάρμακα ἐπιζητεῖς, τὰ μηδὲν ὀνήσοντα; Τί κριτικὸν ἱδρῶτα, ἴσως παρεστῶτος τοῦ ἐξοδίου; Σαυτὸν πρὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἰάτρευσον· σαυτὸν ἐλέησον, τὸν γνήσιον τῆς ἀσθενείας θεραπευτήν· σαυτῷ προσάγαγε τὸ σωτή ριον ὄντως φάρμακον. Ἕως ἐξ οὐρίας πλεῖς, φοβή θητι τὸ ναυάγιον· καὶ ἧττον ναυαγήσεις, τῇ δειλίᾳ βοηθῷ χρώμενος. Πανηγυρισθήτω τὸ δῶρον, ἀλλὰ μὴ θρηνηθήτω· ἐπεργασθήτω τὸ τάλαντον, ἀλλὰ μὴ συγχωσθήτω. Γενέσθω τι μέσον τῆς χάριτος καὶ τῆς ἀναλύσεως, ἵνα μὴ ἐξαλειφθῇ τὰ πονηρὰ γράμματα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετεγγραφῇ τὰ βελ τίονα· ἵνα μὴ τὸ χάρισμα μόνον ἔχῃς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἀντίδοσιν· ἵνα μὴ τὸ πῦρ φύγῃς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς δόξης κληρονομήσῃς, ἣν τὸ ἐπεργάσασθαι τῷ δώρῳ χαρίζεται. Ἔστι γὰρ τοῖς μὲν μικροψύ χοις μέγα, τὸ φυγεῖν βάσανον· τοῖς δὲ μεγαλοψύ χοις, τὸ καὶ τυχεῖν ἀντιδόσεως.

ΙΓʹ. Τρεῖς γὰρ οἶδα τάξεις τῶν σωζομένων, δουλείαν, μισθαρνίαν, υἱότητα. Εἰ δοῦλος εἶ, τὰς πληγὰς φοβήθητι· εἰ μισθωτὸς, πρὸς τὸ λαβεῖν βλέπε μόνον. Εἰ δὲ ὑπὲρ τούτους, καὶ υἱὸς, ὡς πατέρα αἰδέσθητι. Ἔργασαι τὸ καλὸν, ὅτι καλὸν τῷ πατρὶ πείθεσθαι, κἂν εἴ σοι μηδὲν ἔσεσθαι μέλλοι. Τοῦτο αὐτὸ μισθὸς, τὸ τῷ πατρὶ χαρίζεσθαι. 36.376 Ὧν ἡμεῖς μὴ καταφρονοῦντες φαινοίμεθα. Ὡς ἔστιν ἄτοπον, χρήματα μὲν προαρπάζειν, ὑγείαν δὲ ἀναβάλλεσθαι· καὶ σώματα μὲν προκαθαίρειν, ψυχῆς δὲ κάθαρσιν ταμιεύεσθαι· καὶ τῆς μὲν κάτω δουλείας ἐλευθερίαν ζητεῖν, τῆς ἄνω δὲ μὴ ἐφίεσθαι· καὶ ὅπως μὲν οἰκήσεις μεγαλοπρε πῶς, ἢ ἀμφιέσῃ, πᾶσαν ποιεῖσθαι σπουδὴν, ὅπως δὲ αὐτὸς πλείστου ἄξιος ἔσῃ, μηδὲν φροντίζειν· καὶ ἄλλους μὲν εὖ ποιεῖν πρόθυμον εἶναι, σαυτὸν δὲ μὴ βούλεσθαι. Καὶ εἰ μὲν ὤνιον ἦν σοι τὸ ἀγα θὸν, μηδενὸς ἂν φείδεσθαι χρήματος· εἰ δὲ πρόκει ται τὸ φιλάνθρωπον, καταφρονεῖς τῷ ἑτοίμῳ τῆς εὐποιΐας. Πᾶς σοι καιρὸς ἐκπλύσεως, ἐπειδὴ πᾶς ἀναλύσεως. Μετὰ Παύλου βοῶ σοι, τῆς μεγάλης φωνῆς· Ἰδοὺ νῦν καιρὸς εὐπρόσδεκτος, ἰδοὺ νῦν ἡμέρα σωτηρίας· οὐχ ἕνα καιρὸν, ἀλλὰ πάντα τοῦ Νῦν ὁρίζοντος. Καὶ πάλιν· Ἔγειραι, ὁ καθεύδων, καὶ ἀνάστα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ἐπιφαύσει σοι ὁ Χριστὸς, λύων τὴν νύκτα τῆς ἁμαρτίας· ἐπειδὴ, Ἐν νυκτὶ ἐλπὶς πονηρὰ, κατὰ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν, καὶ τῷ πρωῒ ληφθῆναι λυσιτελέ στερον.

Ι∆ʹ. Σπεῖρε μὲν ὅτε καιρὸς, καὶ συγκό μιζε, καὶ λύε τὰς ἀποθήκας, ὅτε τούτου και ρὸς, καὶ φύτευε καθ' ὥραν, καὶ κειρέσθω σοι βότρυς ὥριμος, καὶ ἀνάγου θαῤῥήσας ἔαρι, καὶ ἄνελκε τὴν ναῦν, πάλιν ἀρχομένου χειμῶνος, καὶ τῆς θαλάσσης ἀγριουμένης. Καὶ πολέμου καιρὸς ἔστω σοι, καὶ εἰρήνης, καὶ γάμου, καὶ τῶν οὐ γάμου, καὶ φιλίας, καὶ διαστάσεως, ἂν ταύτης δεήσῃ, καὶ παντὸς ὅλως πράγματος, εἴ τι τῷ Σολομῶντι πειστέον. Πει στέον δέ· καὶ γὰρ ὠφέλιμος ἡ παραίνεσις. Ἀεὶ δὲ τὴν σωτηρίαν ἐργάζου, καὶ πᾶς ἔστω σοι καιρὸς τοῦ βαπτίσματος ὅρος. Ἐὰν ἀεὶ τὸ σήμερον παρα τρέχων, ἐπιτηρῇς τὸ εἰς αὔριον, λανθάνεις ταῖς κατὰ μικρὸν ἀναβολαῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Πονηροῦ κλεπτόμε νος, ὥσπερ ἐκείνου τρόπος. Ἐμοὶ δὸς τὸ παρὸν, Θεῷ τὸ μέλλον· ἐμοὶ τὴν νεότητα, Θεῷ τὸ γῆρας· ἐμοὶ τὰς ἡδονὰς, ἐκείνῳ τὴν ἀχρηστίαν. Ὅσος ὁ περὶ σὲ κίνδυνος! ὅσα τὰ παρ' ἐλπίδα συμπτώματα! Ἢ πόλεμος παρανάλωσεν, ἢ σεισμὸς συν έχωσεν, ἢ θάλασσα ὑπεδέξατο, ἢ θηρίον ἥρπασεν, ἢ νόσος ἀπώλεσεν, ἢ ψὶξ παραδραμοῦσα, τὸ φαυλότατον (τί γὰρ τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν ἄνθρωπον εὐκολώ 36.377 τερον, κἂν μέγα φρονῇς τῇ εἰκόνι;), ἢ πότος πλεονάσας, ἢ ἄνεμος κρημνίσας, ἢ ἵππος συναρπά σας, ἢ φάρμακον ἐκ προνοίας ἐπιβουλεῦσαν, τυχὸν δὲ καὶ ἀντὶ σωτηρίου φανὲν δηλητήριον, ἢ δικαστὴς ἀπάνθρωπος, ἢ δήμιος