5

Great is your war against the devil, beloved, great, and mighty, and continuous. Learn therefore the struggles, that you may imitate the victories; laugh at wealth, and possessions, and all the other illusion of this life; do not call the wealthy blessed, but call the martyrs blessed, not those in luxury, but those in frying pans; not those at a costly table, but those in a boiling cauldron; not those in daily baths, but those in harsh furnaces; not those smelling of perfumes, but those giving off smoke and the smell of roasting from their burning flesh. This fragrance is better and more profitable than that one; for that one leads those who use it to punishment, but this one to the prizes and crowns above. And that you may learn that luxury is evil, and the anointing with perfumes, and drunkenness, and wine in excess, and a costly table, hear what the prophet says: Woe to those who sleep on beds of ivory, and live in luxury on their couches; who eat the kids from the flocks, and the milk-fed calves from the herds; who drink strained wine, and anoint themselves with the finest perfumes.

But if these things were forbidden under the old covenant, much more so under grace, where the philosophy is greater. These things have been said by me both to men and to women; for the stadium is common to all; the army of Christ is not divided by nature, but the assembly is one; women too can put on a breastplate, and hold forth a shield, and shoot an arrow, both in time of martyrdom, and in another such time requiring great boldness. And just as an excellent archer, shooting the arrow well-aimed from the bowstring, throws the entire rank of the enemy into confusion, so 50.682 the holy martyrs, and all the combatants for the truth, who contend against the wiles of the devil, as from a kind of bowstring of the tongue they release their words well-aimed; and these, like arrows flying through the air, falling upon the unseen phalanxes of demons, throw their entire battle-line into confusion; which therefore also happened in the case of the blessed Barlaam; for by mere words, as if by flying arrows, he confounded the army of the devil. Let us too imitate this good aim. Do you not see those who come down from the theaters becoming softer? The reason is that they pay attention with zeal to the things that happen there; for having stored up in their souls the impressions of the rolling of eyes, and the brandishing of hands, and the circling of feet, and of all the images that appeared in the contortion of the twisted body, they thus depart. How is it not absurd, then, for them to show so much forethought for the ruin of their own soul, and to have an inward memory of the things that happen there; while we, who from the imitation here are about to be made equal to the angels, do not contribute even the same zeal as they for the keeping of the things that have been said? Do not, I beg and beseech you, do not let us so neglect our own salvation, but let us all store up the martyrs in our minds, with the frying pans, with the cauldrons, with the other tortures; and just as painters wipe clean the icon that has often become dim with smoke and soot and long time; so you also do, beloved, with the memory of the holy martyrs; whenever the cares of life entering in obscure your mind, wipe it clean through the memory of the martyrs. For if you have this memory in your soul, you will not marvel at wealth, you will not weep for poverty, you will not praise glory and power, nor anything at all of human affairs, neither will you suppose any of the bright things to be great, nor of the sorrowful things to be unbearable; but having become superior to all those things, you will have the contemplation of this image as a continuous instruction in virtue. For he who sees soldiers every day acting bravely in wars and battles will never desire luxury, will not admire the soft and dissolute life, but the hard, and

5

Πολὺς καὶ σοὶ πόλεμος πρὸς τὸν διάβολον, ἀγαπητὲ, πολὺς, καὶ μέγας, καὶ διηνεκής. Μάθε τοίνυν τὰ παλαίσματα, ἵνα μιμήσῃ τὰς νίκας· καταγέλασον πλούτου, καὶ χρημάτων, καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἁπάσης τοῦ βίου φαντασίας· μὴ μακαρίσῃς τοὺς πλουτοῦντας, ἀλλὰ μακάρισον τοὺς μαρτυροῦντας, μὴ τοὺς ἐν τρυφῇ, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐν τηγάνοις· μὴ τοὺς ἐν τραπέζῃ πολυτελεῖ, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐν λέβητι ζέοντι· μὴ τοὺς ἐν βαλανείοις καθημερινοῖς, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐν καμί νοις χαλεπαῖς· μὴ τοὺς μύρων ὄζοντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς καπνὸν καὶ κνίσσαν ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκὸς ὀπτωμένης ἀφιέν τας. Αὕτη ἡ εὐωδία ἐκείνης βελτίων καὶ λυσιτελε στέρα· ἐκείνη μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ κόλασιν ἀπάγει τοὺς κε χρημένους αὐτῇ, αὕτη δὲ ἐπὶ βραβεῖα καὶ στεφάνους τοὺς ἄνω. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι πονηρὸν ἡ τρυφὴ, καὶ μύρων ἀλοιφὴ, καὶ μέθη, καὶ οἶνος ἀμετρίαν ἔχων, καὶ πολυτελὴς τράπεζα, ἄκουσον τί φησιν ὁ προφή της· Οὐαὶ οἱ καθεύδοντες ἐπὶ κλινῶν ἐλεφαντί νων, καὶ κατασπαταλῶντες ἐπὶ ταῖς στρωμναῖς αὑτῶν· οἱ ἐσθίοντες ἐρίφους ἐκ ποιμνίων, καὶ μοσχάρια ἐκ βουκολίων γαλαθηνά· οἱ πίνοντες τὸν διυλισμένον οἶνον, καὶ τὰ πρῶτα μύρα χριό μενοι.

Εἰ δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς παλαιᾶς διαθήκης ταῦτα ἀπ ηγόρευτο, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῆς χάριτος, ἔνθα πλείων ἡ φιλοσοφία. Ταῦτά μοι καὶ πρὸς ἄνδρας, καὶ πρὸς γυναῖκας εἴρηται· κοινὸν γὰρ τὸ στάδιον· οὐ διῄρηται τὸ στρατόπεδον τοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλ' εἷς ἐστιν ὁ σύλλογος· δύνανται καὶ γυναῖκες ἐνδύσασθαι θώρακα, καὶ ἀσπίδα προβαλέσθαι, καὶ βέλος ἀφεῖναι, καὶ ἐν μαρτυρίου καιρῷ, καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ δὲ τοιούτῳ πολλὴν ἀπαιτοῦντι παῤῥησίαν. Καὶ καθάπερ τοξότης ἄριστος εὐστόχως τὸ βέλος ἀπὸ τῆς νευρᾶς ἀφιεὶς, ἅπασαν συνταράττει τῶν πολεμίων τὴν τάξιν, οὕτω 50.682 καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι μάρτυρες, καὶ πάντες δὲ οἱ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀγωνισταὶ, οἱ ἀνταγωνιζόμενοι πρὸς τὰς μεθοδείας τοῦ διαβόλου, ὥσπερ ἀπό τινος νευρᾶς τῆς γλώττης τὰ ῥήματα ἀφιᾶσιν εὐστόχως· καὶ ταῦτα ὥσπερ βέλη πετόμενα διὰ τοῦ ἀέρος, εἰς τὰς ἀοράτους τῶν δαιμόνων ἐμπίπτοντα φάλαγγας, πᾶσαν αὐτῶν συνταράττει τὴν παράταξιν· ὅπερ οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μακαρίου Βαρλαὰμ τούτου γέγονεν· ἀπὸ ψιλῶν γὰρ ῥημάτων ὥσπερ ἀπὸ βελῶν πετομένων συνέχεε τὸ τοῦ διαβόλου στρατόπεδον. Ταύτην καὶ ἡμεῖς μιμησώμεθα τὴν εὐστοχίαν. Οὐχ ὁρᾶτε τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν θεάτρων καταβαίνοντας μαλακωτέρους γινομένους; τὸ δὲ αἴτιον, ὅτι μετὰ σπουδῆς τοῖς ἐκεῖ γινομένοις προσέχουσι· καὶ γὰρ ὀφθαλμῶν περιστροφὰς, καὶ χειρῶν περιδονήσεις, καὶ ποδῶν κύκλους, καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν τῇ διαστροφῇ τοῦ λυγισθέντος σώματος φανέντων εἰδώλων τοὺς τύπους ἐναποθέμενοι ταῖς ψυχαῖς οὕτως ἀπέρχονται. Πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἄτοπον ἐκείνους μὲν ἐπὶ λύμῃ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ψυχῆς τοσαύτην ἐπιδείκνυσθαι πρόνοιαν, καὶ μνήμην ἐνδιάθετον ἔχειν τῶν ἐκεῖ γινομένων· ἡμᾶς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνταῦθα μιμήσεως μέλλοντας τοῖς ἀγγέλοις παρισοῦσθαι, μηδὲ τὴν ἴσην ἐκείνοις συνεισφέρειν σπουδὴν περὶ τὴν τῶν εἰρημένων φυλακήν; Μὴ, δέομαι καὶ ἀντιβολῶ, μὴ οὕτω τῆς οἰκείας καταμελῶμεν σωτηρίας, ἀλλ' ἐναποθώμεθα τοὺς μάρτυρας ἅπαντες ταῖς ἑαυτῶν διανοίαις, μετὰ τῶν τηγάνων, μετὰ τῶν λεβήτων, μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων τιμωριῶν· καὶ καθάπερ οἱ ζωγράφοι τὴν εἰκόνα πολλάκις καπνῷ καὶ αἰθάλῃ καὶ χρόνῳ μακρῷ γενομένην ἀμαυροτέραν ἀποσμήχουσιν· οὕτω καὶ σὺ ποίησον, ἀγαπητὲ, τὴν μνήμην τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων· ἐπειδὰν εἰσιοῦσαι βιωτικαὶ φροντίδες ἀμαυρώσωσι τὴν διάνοιάν σου, ἀπόσμηξον διὰ τῆς τῶν μαρτύρων μνήμης. Ἂν γὰρ ταύτην ἔχῃς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ σου τὴν μνήμην, οὐ θαυμάσεις πλοῦτον, οὐ πενίαν δακρύσεις, οὐκ ἐπαινέσεις δόξαν καὶ δυναστείαν, οὐδὲν ὅλως τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων, οὐ τῶν φαιδρῶν μέγα τι ὑπολάβῃς εἶναι, οὐ τῶν λυπηρῶν ἀφόρητον· ἀλλὰ πάντων ἐκείνων ἀνώτερος γενόμενος, ἕξεις διδασκαλίαν ἀρετῆς διηνεκῆ τῆς εἰκόνος ταύτης τὴν θεωρίαν. Ὁ γὰρ στρατιώτας ὁρῶν καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐν πολέμοις καὶ μάχαις ἀνδριζομένους, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσει τρυφῆς ποτε, οὐ θαυμάσεται τὸν ὑγρὸν καὶ διαλελυμένον βίον, ἀλλὰ τὸν σκληρὸν, καὶ