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So also now the same command has accomplished everything. Then he said: Let the waters bring forth creeping things with living souls; but now not creeping things, but it has yielded spiritual gifts. Then the waters brought forth irrational fish; but now it has borne for us rational and spiritual fish, caught by the apostles. For, he says, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Truly new is the way of this fishing. For those who fish cast the fish out of the waters, and kill what is caught; but we cast into the waters, and those who are caught are made alive. There was once also among the Jews a pool of water; but learn what it was able to do, that you may know precisely the poverty of the Jews, and may be able to know our wealth. An angel, it says, would go down there, and trouble the water, and the first one to go down after the troubling enjoyed the healing. The Lord of angels came down into the streams of the Jordan, and having sanctified the nature of the waters, he healed the whole world. For this reason, there, after the first one, he who went down was no longer healed; for the grace was given to the Jews who were weak, who were crawling on the ground; but here, after the first, a second goes down, after the second a third and a fourth; and if you should mention ten thousand, if you should cast the entire world into these spiritual streams, the grace is not used up, the gift is not spent, the streams are not polluted, the generosity is not diminished. Have you seen the greatness of the gift? Hear, you who today and on this night were enrolled as citizens in the Jerusalem above, and show a guardianship worthy of the greatness of the gifts, so that you may also draw down more abundant grace; for gratitude for what has already been received calls forth the generosity 52.772 of the Lord.

It is not permitted for you, beloved, to live indifferently any longer; but set for yourself laws and rules, so that you may do all things with precision, and show great vigilance even concerning things considered to be indifferent. For this present life is a contest and a struggle, and it is fitting for those who have once entered this stadium of virtue to be temperate in all things; For "everyone who competes is temperate in all things." Do you not see in the gymnastic contests how much care those who undertake the struggle against men take of themselves, and with how much self-control they show the training of the body? So also here. Since our struggle is not against men, but against the spiritual forces of wickedness, let our training and our self-control also be spiritual; since also our weapons, with which the Lord has clothed us, are spiritual. Therefore, let the eye also have boundaries and rules, so that it does not simply leap upon all that falls in its way; and let the tongue have a little wall, so that it does not run ahead of the mind. For this reason both the teeth and the lips have been fashioned for the security of the tongue, so that the tongue may never simply throw open the doors and go out, but when it has arranged its affairs well, then it may proceed with all decorum, and bring forth such words as to give grace to those who hear, and utter those things which contribute to the edification of the hearers. And one must completely avoid disorderly laughter, and have a calm and quiet gait, and modest clothing, and in short, it is fitting for one who has enrolled in the stadium of virtue to be regulated in all things; for the good order of the external members is an image of the state of the soul.

6. If from the beginning we establish ourselves in such a habit, then walking on the path with ease, we shall accomplish all virtue, and we shall not need much toil, and we shall draw down much impulse from above. For thus we shall be able to run through the waves of the present life with safety, and having become superior to the snares of the devil, to attain to the eternal good things, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the

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Οὕτω καὶ νῦν τὸ αὐτὸ ἐπίταγμα πάντα εἰργάσατο. Τότε εἶπεν· Ἐξαγαγέτω τὰ ὕδατα ἑρπετὰ ψυχῶν ζωσῶν· νῦν δὲ οὐχὶ ἑρπετὰ, ἀλλὰ πνευματικὰ χαρίσματα ἀνέδωκε. Τότε ἰχθύας ἀλόγους ἐξήγαγε τὰ ὕδατα· νῦν δὲ ἰχθύας λογικοὺς καὶ πνευματικοὺς ἡμῖν ἀπέτεκεν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἁλιευθέντας. ∆εῦτε γὰρ, φησὶν, ὀπίσω μου, καὶ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων. Καινὸς ὄντως τῆς ἁλείας ταύτης ὁ τρόπος. Οἱ γὰρ ἁλιεύοντες ἐκ τῶν ὑδάτων ἐκβάλλουσι τοὺς ἰχθύας, καὶ νεκροῦσι τὰ ἁλιευόμενα· ἡμεῖς δὲ εἰς τὰ ὕδατα ἐμβάλλομεν, καὶ ζωογονοῦνται οἱ ἁλιευόμενοι. Ἦν μέν ποτε καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων κολυμβήθρα ὕδατος· ἀλλὰ μάθε τί ἴσχυσεν, ἵνα γνῷς ἀκριβῶς τὴν πτωχείαν τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν, καὶ εἰδέναι ἔχῃς τὸν πλοῦτον τὸν ἡμέτερον. Κατήρχετο ἐκεῖ, φησὶν, ἄγγελος, καὶ ἐτάρασσε τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ ὁ πρῶτος καταβαίνων μετὰ τὴν ταραχὴν ἀπήλαυε τῆς θεραπείας. Κατῆλθεν ὁ τῶν ἀγγέλων ∆εσπότης εἰς τὰ Ἰορδάνεια ῥεῖθρα, καὶ ἁγιάσας τῶν ὑδάτων τὴν φύσιν πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐθεράπευσε. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐκεῖ μὲν μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον ὁ καταβὰς οὐκ ἔτι ἐθεραπεύετο· Ἰουδαίοις γὰρ ἐδίδοτο ἡ χάρις τοῖς ἀσθενοῦσι, τοῖς χαμαὶ συρομένοις· ἐνταῦθα δὲ μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον ὁ δεύτερος κάτεισι, μετὰ τὸν δεύτερον ὁ τρίτος καὶ τέταρτος· κἂν μυρίους εἴπῃς, κἂν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν ἐμβάλῃς εἰς τὰ νάματα ταῦτα τὰ πνευματικὰ, οὐκ ἀναλίσκεται ἡ χάρις, οὐ δαπανᾶται ἡ δωρεὰ, οὐ ῥυποῦται τὰ νάματα, οὐκ ἐλαττοῦται ἡ φιλοτιμία. Εἶδες μέγεθος δωρεᾶς; Ἀκούετε οἱ σήμερον καὶ κατὰ τὴν νύκτα ταύτην εἰς τὴν ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ πολιτογραφηθέντες, καὶ ἀξίαν τοῦ μεγέθους τῶν δωρεῶν τὴν φυλακὴν ἐπιδείξασθε, ἵνα καὶ δαψιλεστέραν τὴν χάριν ἐπισπάσησθε· ἡ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἤδη ὑπηργμένοις εὐγνωμοσύνη τὴν φιλοτιμίαν ἐκκαλεῖται 52.772 τοῦ ∆εσπότου.

Οὐκ ἔξεστί σοι, ἀγαπητὲ, λοιπὸν ἀδιαφόρως ζῇν· ἀλλὰ θὲς σαυτῷ νόμους καὶ κανόνας, ὥστε μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἅπαντα διαπράττεσθαι, καὶ πολλὴν τὴν φυλακὴν καὶ περὶ τὰ ἀδιάφορα νομιζόμενα εἶναι ἐπιδείκνυσθαι. Ἀγὼν γάρ ἐστι καὶ πάλη πᾶς ὁ παρὼν βίος, καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ σταδίῳ τούτῳ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἅπαξ εἰσελθόντας προσήκει πάντα ἐγκρατεύεσθαι· Πᾶς γὰρ ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος πάντα ἐγκρατεύεται. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς ἐν τοῖς γυμνικοῖς ἀγῶσιν ὅπως πολλὴν ποιοῦνται τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἐπιμέλειαν οἱ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους τὴν πάλην ἀναδεχόμενοι, καὶ μετὰ πόσης ἐγκρατείας τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἄσκησιν ἐπιδείκνυνται; Οὕτω δὴ ἐνταῦθα. Ἐπειδὴ οὐ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἡ πάλη, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, καὶ ἡ ἄσκησις ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ ἐγκράτεια πνευματικὴ ἔστω· ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὰ ὅπλα ἡμῶν, ἅπερ ἡμᾶς ἐνέδυσεν ὁ ∆εσπότης, πνευματικὰ τυγχάνει. Ἐχέτω τοίνυν καὶ ὀφθαλμὸς ὅρους καὶ κανόνας, ὥστε μὴ ἁπλῶς ἐπιπηδᾷν πᾶσι τοῖς προσπίπτουσι· καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα τειχίον ἐχέτω, ὥστε μὴ προτρέχειν τῆς διανοίας. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ οἱ ὀδόντες καὶ τὰ χείλη πρὸς τὴν τῆς γλώττης ἀσφάλειαν δεδημιούργηται, ἵνα μηδέποτε ἁπλῶς ἀναπετάσασα τὰς θύρας ἡ γλῶσσα ἐξίῃ, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὰν καλῶς τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὴν διαθῇ, τότε μετὰ πάσης εὐκοσμίας προΐῃ, καὶ τοιαῦτα προφέρῃ ῥήματα, ἵνα δῷ χάριν τοῖς ἀκούουσι, κἀκεῖνα φθέγγηται, ἃ πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν συντείνει τῶν ἀκουόντων. Καὶ τὸν ἄτακτον δὲ γέλωτα πάντη ἐκκλίνειν δεῖ, καὶ τὸ βάδισμα ἤρεμον ἔχειν καὶ ἡσύχιον, καὶ τὴν στολὴν κατεσταλμένην, καὶ διὰ πάντων ἁπαξαπλῶς ῥυθμίζεσθαι προσήκει τὸν ἀπογραψάμενον εἰς τὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς στάδιον· ἡ γὰρ τῶν μελῶν τῶν ἔξωθεν εὐταξία εἰκών τίς ἐστι τῆς ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ καταστάσεως.

ςʹ. Ἐὰν εἰς τοιαύτην συνήθειαν ἐκ προοιμίων ἑαυτοὺς καταστήσωμεν, ὁδῷ βαδίζοντες λοιπὸν μετ' εὐκολίας, τὴν ἀρετὴν ἅπασαν διανύσομεν, καὶ οὐδὲ πολλοῦ πόνου δεησόμεθα, καὶ πολλὴν ἐπισπασόμεθα τὴν ἄνωθεν ῥοπήν. Οὕτω γὰρ δυνησόμεθα καὶ τὰ κύματα τοῦ παρόντος βίου μετὰ ἀσφαλείας διαδραμεῖν, καὶ τῶν τοῦ διαβόλου παγίδων ἀνώτεροι καταστάντες, τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἅμα τῷ