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and to subdue her unenslaved soul by the sight of the pyre, he cast her into the midst; Therefore when he lit the pyre, and the furnace was kindled, and rose to a great height, seeing these things the blessed martyr was herself also kindled with zeal, and she boiled with the fire of longing for Christ, remembering the three youths, and reasoning to herself, that she shared in their struggles, and was being offered the same crowns as them. And just as the maddened see nothing of what is visible as it is, but even if they see a sharpened sword, they tumble easily, or a pyre, or a pit, or a cliff, or the sea, or anything else, they fearlessly cast themselves against all things; so too she, having gone mad with a madness not of that sort, God forbid! but another more august than all sobriety, and having been dyed in the longing for Christ, saw nothing of what was visible, but having transferred herself to heaven and having moved her soul there, she laughed at all the terrible things, and considered the fire not to be fire, but dew. For this reason I call that pyre both a spring of purest waters, and a certain wonderful dye, and a crucible. For just as gold in a crucible, so also the soul of that blessed one became purer through this pyre. For her flesh was being consumed, and her bones were being roasted, and her sinews were being burned, and the fluid of her body was flowing down from all sides; but the faith of her soul was becoming stronger and brighter. And they, seeing these things, thought her to be perishing, but she was rather being purified, and just as with gold, the uninitiated man, standing and seeing it melting and flowing down and mixing with the ash, thinks it to have been lost and destroyed, but the craftsman who knows these things precisely knows that in this way 50.689 it becomes purer, and after firing he draws it up from all sides, gathering it bright; so too in her case, the unbelievers, seeing her flesh melting and flowing down, thought it was becoming ash and dust, but the faithful knew very precisely, that being melted she cast off every stain, and would rise more radiant, having received incorruptibility. And in the pyre itself, before the resurrection, she prevailed over the opposing powers not by chance; for her flesh, being loosed by the fire, and making a crackling sound, routed them with great abundance. And just as a noble soldier, putting bronze armor on himself, terrifies the more cowardly of his opponents by the very sound of his weapons; so too then did the blessed Drosis put to flight those powers by the crackling of her skin, and not only in this way, but also in another again no less than this. For as soon as she mounted the pyre, smoke rose up high and took hold of the air, and choked all the demons flying through the air, drove away the devil, and cleansed the very nature of the air. For since it was being polluted by the smoke of idols, * another smoke rose up against it, cleansing the stain produced in it by them. And the image of a spring would also be fitting for that pyre. For just as in a spring, having taken off her garment, and brightening her body, so in that flame, having laid aside her own flesh more easily than any garment and making her soul radiant, she hastened to the bridegroom, with angels bearing torches for her. For if angels carried that Lazarus, full of sores, to the bosom of Abraham, much more did they depart escorting her, having received her from the furnace as from some sacred bridal-chamber and nuptial-room, and leading her up to the bridal-chamber above. And for what reason did I also call that pyre a dye? Because, just as in some wonderful dye, having become a royal purple, she was sent to the king above, and with much boldness she mounted the heavenly vaults,

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καὶ τὴν ἀδούλωτον ψυχὴν χειρώσασθαι τῇ τῆς πυρᾶς ὄψει, εἰς μέσον ταύτην ἐνέβαλεν· ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὴν πυρὰν ἀνῆψε, καὶ ἡ κάμινος ἀνεκαίετο, καὶ πρὸς ὕψος ᾔρετο μέγα, ταῦτα βλέπουσα ἡ μακαρία μάρτυς ἀνήπτετο καὶ αὐτὴ τῇ προθυμίᾳ, καὶ ἀνέζει τῷ πυρὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πόθου, τῶν τριῶν ἀναμνησθεῖσα παίδων, καὶ λογισαμένη πρὸς ἑαυτὴν, ὅτι κοινωνεῖ τοῖς ἄθλοις ἐκείνοις, καὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐπιφέρεται στεφάνους αὐτοῖς. Καὶ καθάπερ οἱ μεμηνότες οὐδὲν τῶν ὁρωμένων βλέπουσιν ὡς ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ κἂν ξίφος ἠκονημένον ἴδωσι, κυβιστῶσιν εὐκόλως, κἂν πυρὰν, κἂν βάραθρον, κἂν κρημνὸν, κἂν πέλαγος, κἂν ὁτιοῦν ἕτερον, ἀδεῶς κατὰ πάντων ἑαυτοὺς ἀφιᾶσιν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ αὕτη μανεῖσα μανίαν οὐχὶ τοιαύτην, μὴ γένοιτο! ἀλλ' ἑτέραν πάσης σωφροσύνης σεμνοτέραν, καὶ τῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ βαφεῖσα πόθῳ οὐδὲν τῶν ὁρωμένων ἑώρα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν μεταταξαμένη καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκεῖ μεταθεῖσα πάντων κατεγέλα τῶν δεινῶν, καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐχὶ πῦρ, ἀλλὰ δρόσον εἶναι ἐνόμιζε. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐγὼ τὴν πυρὰν ἐκείνην, καὶ πηγὴν ὑδάτων καθαρωτάτην, καὶ βαφήν τινα θαυμασίαν, καὶ χωνευτήριον καλῶ. Καὶ γὰρ καθάπερ ἐν χωνευτηρίῳ χρυσὸς, οὕτω καὶ τῆς μακαρίας ἐκείνης ἡ ψυχὴ διὰ τῆς πυρᾶς ταύτης καθαρωτέρα ἐγίνετο. Κατετήκοντο μὲν γὰρ σάρκες, καὶ ὀστᾶ συνεφρύγετο, καὶ κατεκαίετο νεῦρα, καὶ ὁ τοῦ σώματος ἰχὼρ πανταχόθεν κατέῤῥει· τῆς ψυχῆς δὲ ἡ πίστις στεῤῥοτέρα καὶ φαιδροτέρα ἐγίνετο. Κἀκεῖνοι μὲν ταῦτα ὁρῶντες ἐνόμιζον αὐτὴν ἀπόλλυσθαι, αὐτὴ δὲ ἐξεκαθαίρετο μᾶλλον, καὶ καθάπερ τὸ χρυσίον ὁ μὲν ἰδιώτης ἑστὼς καὶ ὁρῶν τηκόμενον καὶ καταῤῥέον καὶ ἀναμιγνύμενον τῇ τέφρᾳ, ἀπολωλέναι καὶ διεφθάρθαι νομίζει, ὁ δὲ τεχνίτης καὶ ἀκριβῶς ταῦτα ἐπιστάμενος οἶδεν ὅτι ταύτῃ 50.689 καθαρώτερον γίνεται, καὶ μετὰ πύρωσιν αὐτὸ πάντοθεν ἀνασπᾷ λαμπρὸν συλλέγων· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐπ' ἐκείνης οἱ μὲν ἄπιστοι τηκομένην αὐτῆς τὴν σάρκα ὁρῶντες καὶ καταῤῥέουσαν, ἐνόμιζον τέφραν γίνεσθαι καὶ κόνιν, οἱ δὲ πιστοὶ σφόδρα ἀκριβῶς ᾔδεσαν, ὅτι τηκομένη πᾶσαν ἀποτίθεται κηλῖδα, καὶ λαμπροτέρα ἄνεισιν ἀφθαρσίαν ἀπολαβοῦσα. Καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ πυρᾷ, πρὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως, οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχεν ἐκράτει τῶν ἀντικειμένων δυνάμεων· αἱ γὰρ σάρκες λυθεῖσαι τῷ πυρὶ, καὶ ψόφον ἀποτελοῦσαι, μετὰ πολλῆς αὐτὰς τῆς περιουσίας ἐτρέποντο. Καὶ καθάπερ στρατιώτης γενναῖος ὅπλα χαλκᾶ περιθεὶς ἑαυτῷ, καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ ψόφῳ τῶν ὅπλων τοὺς δειλοτέρους καταπλήττει τῶν ἀντιπάλων· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τότε ἡ μακαρία ∆ροσὶς τῷ ψόφῳ τοῦ δέρματος τὰς δυνάμεις ἐκείνας ἐφυγάδευε, καὶ οὐ τούτῳ μόνῳ τῷ τρόπῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέρῳ πάλιν οὐκ ἐλάττονι τούτου. Ὁμοῦ τε γὰρ ἐπέβαινε τῆς πυρᾶς, καὶ καπνὸς ἀνελθὼν εἰς ὕψος καὶ τὸν ἀέρα κατασχὼν, τοὺς κατὰ ἀέρα δαίμονας πετομένους ἀπέπνιγεν ἅπαντας, τὸν διάβολον ἀπήλαυνεν, αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀέρος τὴν φύσιν ἀπέσμηχεν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐμολύνετο καπνῷ τῷ τῶν εἰδώλων, * ἀντανίη καπνὸς ἕτερος τὴν ἐξ ἐκείνων ἐγγινομένην αὐτῷ κηλῖδα καθαίρων. Καὶ ἡ πηγῆς δὲ εἰκὼν ἁρμόσειεν ἂν ἐκείνῃ τῇ πυρᾷ. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐν τῇ πηγῇ ἱμάτιον ἀποδυσαμένη, καὶ τὸ σῶμα φαιδρύνουσα, οὕτως ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ φλογὶ τὴν σάρκα τὴν ἑαυτῆς ἱματίου παντὸς εὐκολώτερον ἀποθεμένη καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν λαμπρύνουσα, πρὸς τὸν νυμφίον ἠπείγετο δᾳδουχούντων ἀγγέλων αὐτήν. Εἰ γὰρ τὸν Λάζαρον ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἡλκωμένον ἄγγελοι πρὸς τοὺς κόλπους ἀπήγαγον τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ταύτην δορυφοροῦντες ἀπῄεσαν καθάπερ ἔκ τινος ἱερᾶς παστάδος καὶ νυμφικοῦ θαλάμου τῆς καμίνου παραλαβόντες αὐτὴν, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄνω νυμφῶνα ἀνάγοντες. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν καὶ βαφὴν ἐκείνην ἐκάλεσα τὴν πυράν; Ὅτι καθάπερ ἐν βαφῇ τινι θαυμαστῇ πορφύρα γενομένη βασιλικὴ πρὸς τὸν ἄνω βασιλέα ἐπέμπετο, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς παῤῥησίας τῶν οὐρανίων ἁψίδων ἐπέβαινεν,