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let us wipe them out here. Are you ashamed to confess your sins? Be ashamed to commit sins. But when we commit them, we dare to do so rashly and shamelessly; but when we must confess them, then we are ashamed and hesitate, when we ought to do this with eagerness. For it is not a shame to accuse oneself of sins, but righteousness and virtue; if it were not righteousness and virtue, God would not have set a reward for it. For that confession has rewards, hear what he says: Declare your iniquities first, that you may be justified. Who is ashamed of a deed from which he becomes righteous? who is ashamed to confess sins, in order to be loosed from sins? For does he command you to confess for this reason, that he may punish? not that he may punish, but that he may forgive.

4. For in the external courts of justice, after confession comes punishment. For this reason the psalm, suspecting this very thing, lest someone, fearing punishment after confession, should deny his sins, says: Confess to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. For does he not know your sins, if you do not confess? What then do you gain from not confessing? for can you hide? Even if you do not speak, he has seen; but if you speak, he forgets. For behold, I am God who blots out your iniquities, and I will not remember them. Do you see? I will not remember, he says; for this is of his love for mankind; but you 50.659 remember, that you may have a reason for self-control. Paul, having heard these things, continually remembered the sins which God did not remember, saying thus: I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church; and, Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. He did not say, ‘I was,’ but, ‘I am.’ The forgiveness of sins had been granted by God, and the memory of the forgiven sins was not effaced in Paul; what the Master had wiped away, he himself paraded. For you have heard the prophet saying, 'And I will not remember;' but you, remember. God calls him a chosen vessel, and he calls himself the first of sinners. And if he did not forget his forgiven sins, consider how he remembered the good deeds of God. And what am I saying, that the memory of sins does not bring shame? The memory of good deeds does not make us as glorious as the memory of sins; rather, the memory of good deeds not only does not make us glorious, but even fills us with shame and condemnation; but the memory of sins fills us with boldness and great righteousness. Who says this? The Pharisee and the publican. For the one, having stated his sins, went down justified; but the other, having stated his good deeds, went down having become less than the publican. Do you see how much harm there is in remembering good deeds, and how much benefit in not forgetting sins? And quite reasonably. For he who remembers his good deeds is lifted up to arrogance, he despises other men, which is what the Pharisee suffered; for he would not have come to such boastfulness, he would not have said, 'I am not like other men,' if he had not remembered his fasting and his tithing; but the memory of sins composes the mind, persuades it to be humble, and through humility draws down the favor of God. Hear, at any rate, how Christ also commands us to consign our good deeds to oblivion. When you have done all these things, say, 'We are unprofitable servants.' You say that you are an unprofitable servant, I do not make you unprofitable; if you confess your own lowliness, I will make you glorious and crown you. Do you see through how many examples it has been proven to us that the memory of sins is profitable, and the memory of good deeds is harmful, and the opposite again, that punishment comes from the forgetting of sins, and benefit comes to us from the forgetting of good deeds? Do you wish to learn from another source also that it is a very great good deed to remember one's sins? Listen to Job. For just as he prided himself on other things, so indeed also on the confession of sins, saying thus: But if also having sinned willingly I was diverted by a multitude of my people, from not declaring the

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ἐνταῦθα αὐτὰ ἀπαλείψωμεν. Αἰσχύνῃ ὁμολογῆσαι ἁμαρτήματα; αἰσχύνου πρᾶξαι ἁμαρτήματα. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ὅταν αὐτὰ πράττωμεν, ἰταμῶς καὶ ἀναισχύντως τολμῶμεν· ὅταν δὲ ὁμολογῆσαι δέῃ, τότε αἰσχυνόμεθα καὶ ὀκνοῦμεν, δέον μετὰ προθυμίας τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν αἰσχύνη κατηγορεῖν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἀλλὰ δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἀρετή· εἰ μὴ δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἀρετὴ ἦν, οὐκ ἂν μισθὸν ἔθηκεν αὐτῇ ὁ Θεός. Ὅτι γὰρ μισθοὺς ἔχει ἡ ἐξομολόγησις, ἄκουσον τί φησι· Λέγε σὺ τὰς ἀνομίας σου πρῶτος, ἵνα δικαιωθῇς. Τίς αἰσχύνεται ἔργον, ἀφ' οὗ γίνεται δίκαιος; τίς αἰσχύνεται ὁμολογῆσαι ἁμαρτήματα, ἵνα λύσῃ ἁμαρτήματα; Μὴ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο κελεύει ὁμολογῆσαι, ἵνα κολάσῃ; οὐχ ἵνα κολάσῃ, ἀλλ' ἵνα συγχωρήσῃ.

δʹ. Ἐπὶ γὰρ τῶν ἔξω δικαστηρίων μετὰ τὴν ὁμολογίαν κόλασις. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ ψαλμὸς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὑφορώμενος, μή τις δεδοικὼς κόλασιν μετὰ τὴν ἐξομολόγησιν, ἀρνήσηται τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, φησίν· Ἐξομολογεῖσθε τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι χρηστὸς, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ. Μὴ γὰρ οὐκ οἶδε τὰ ἁμαρτήματά σου, ἐὰν μὴ σὺ ὁμολογήσῃς; Τί οὖν σοι γίνεται πλέον ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὁμολογεῖν; μὴ γὰρ δύνασαι λαθεῖν; Κἂν μὴ εἴπῃς, ἐκεῖνος εἶδεν· ἂν δὲ σὺ εἴπῃς, ἐκεῖνος ἐπιλανθάνεται. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἐγὼ Θεός εἰμι ἐξαλείφων τὰς ἀνομίας σου, καὶ οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ. Ὁρᾷς; Ἐγὼ οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ, φησί· φιλανθρωπίας γὰρ τοῦτο· σὺ 50.659 δὲ μνήσθητι, ἵνα σωφρονισμοῦ λάβῃς ὑπόθεσιν. Τούτων ἀκούσας ὁ Παῦλος, ἁμαρτημάτων, ὧν οὐκ ἐμέμνητο ὁ Θεὸς, αὐτὸς διηνεκῶς ἐμέμνητο οὑτωσὶ λέγων· Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς καλεῖσθαι ἀπόστολος, ὅτι ἐδίωξα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν· καὶ, Χριστὸς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι, ὧν πρῶτός εἰμι ἐγώ. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἤμην, ἀλλ', Εἰμί. Ἡ συγχώρησις ἐγένετο τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ ἡ μνήμη τῶν συγκεχωρημένων ἁμαρτημάτων οὐκ ἠφανίζετο παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ· ἅπερ ὁ ∆εσπότης ἀπήλειψε, ταῦτα αὐτὸς ἐξεπόμπευεν. Ἠκούσατε γὰρ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος, Καὶ οὐ μὴ μνησθῶ· σὺ δὲ μνήσθητι. Ὁ Θεὸς σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς αὐτὸν καλεῖ, καὶ οὗτος πρῶτον τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἑαυτὸν καλεῖ. Εἰ δὲ τῶν συγκεχωρημένων ἁμαρτημάτων οὐκ ἐπελανθάνετο, ἐννόησον πῶς τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν ἐμέμνητο τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ τί λέγω, ὅτι οὐ καταισχύνει μνήμη ἁμαρτημάτων; οὐχ οὕτως ἡμᾶς ποιεῖ λαμπροὺς κατορθωμάτων μνήμη, ὡς ἡ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων μνήμη· μᾶλλον δὲ ἡ μὲν τῶν κατορθωμάτων μνήμη οὐ μόνον οὐ ποιεῖ λαμπροὺς, ἀλλὰ καὶ αἰσχύνης πληροῖ καὶ καταγνώσεως· ἡ δὲ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων μνήμη παῤῥησίας ἡμᾶς ἐμπίπλησι καὶ δικαιοσύνης πολλῆς. Τίς τοῦτό φησιν; Ὁ Φαρισαῖος καὶ ὁ τελώνης. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ εἰπὼν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, κατῆλθε δεδικαιωμένος· ὁ δὲ εἰπὼν τὰ κατορθώματα, κατῆλθεν ἐλάττων τοῦ τελώνου γενόμενος. Ὁρᾷς ὅση βλάβη μεμνῆσθαι κατορθωμάτων, ὅση ὠφέλεια μὴ ἐπιλελῆσθαι ἁμαρτημάτων; Καὶ μάλα εἰκότως. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τῶν κατορθωμάτων μεμνημένος εἰς ἀπόνοιαν αἴρεται, ὑπερορᾷ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπερ ὁ Φαρισαῖος ἔπαθεν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἰς τοσαύτην ἀλαζονείαν ἦλθεν, οὐκ ἂν εἶπεν, Οὐκ εἰμὶ ὡς οἱ λοιποὶ ἄνθρωποι, εἰ μὴ ἐμέμνητο τῆς νηστείας αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς δεκάτης· ἡ δὲ μνήμη τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων καταστέλλει τὴν διάνοιαν, ταπεινοφρονεῖν πείθει, καὶ διὰ τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης ἐπισπᾶται τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν εὔνοιαν. Ἄκουσον γοῦν πῶς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς κελεύει λήθῃ παραπέμπειν ἡμᾶς τὰ κατορθώματα. Ὅταν ταῦτα πάντα ποιήσητε, λέγετε ὅτι Ἀχρεῖοι δοῦλοί ἐσμεν. Σὺ λέγε ὅτι ἀχρεῖος δοῦλος εἶ, ἐγώ σε οὐ ποιῶ ἀχρεῖον· σὺ ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃς τὴν εὐτέλειαν τὴν σεαυτοῦ, ἐγώ σε λαμπρὸν ποιῶ καὶ στεφανῶ. Ὁρᾷς διὰ πόσων ἡμῖν ἀποδέδεικται κέρδος ἔχουσα τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἡ μνήμη, καὶ βλάβος τῶν κατορθωμάτων ἡ μνήμη, καὶ τοὐναντίον πάλιν, κόλασις μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς λήθης τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ὠφέλεια δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς λήθης τῶν κατορθωμάτων ἡμῖν γινομένη; Βούλει μαθεῖν καὶ ἑτέρωθεν ὅτι κατόρθωμα μέγιστον τὸ μεμνῆσθαι ἁμαρτημάτων; Ἄκουσον τοῦ Ἰώβ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐκαλλωπίζετο, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ ἐξομολογήσει τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, οὑτωσὶ λέγων· Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἁμαρτὼν ἑκουσίως διετράπην πολυοχλίαν λαοῦ μου, τοῦ μὴ ἐξαγγεῖλαι τὰς