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is an image, and after the likeness of God. Every man is said to be in the image, according to the dignity of the mind, and of the soul, that is, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the immortal, the self-governing, yea and also the ruling, and procreative, and constructive; but after the likeness, according to the principle of virtue, and these divinely-named and God-imitating acts, that is, to be lovingly disposed toward one's own kind; to pity and to have mercy, and to love one's fellow servant, and to show all compassion and sympathy. “For be,” says Christ the God, “merciful, just as your Father in heaven is merciful.” And every man possesses the being in the image; for the gifts of God are irrevocable; but the being after the likeness, few [possess], and only the virtuous and holy, and those who imitate the goodness of God as far as is possible for men; may we also be deemed worthy of such exceeding goodness and love for mankind, having pleased Him through good works, and having become imitators of those who from the beginning have pleased Christ; for to Him belongs mercy, and to Him is due all glory, honor, and worship, and to the unoriginate Father, and to His all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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εἰκόνα ἐστὶ, καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν Θεοῦ. Κατ' εἰκόνα μὲν λέγεται πᾶς ἄνθρωπος, κατὰ τὸ τοῦ νοὸς ἀξίωμα, καὶ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς, ἤτοι τὸ ἀκατάληπτον, τὸ ἀθεώρητον, τὸ ἀθάνατον, τὸ αὐτεξούσιον, ναὶ μὴν καὶ τὸ ἀρχηγὸν, καὶ τεκνογονικὸν, καὶ οἰκοδομικόν· καθ' ὁμοίωσιν δὲ, κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἀρετῆς λόγον, καὶ τὰς θεωνύμους ταύτας καὶ θεομιμήτους πράξεις, ἤγουν κατὰ τὸ φιλανθρώπως πρὸς τὸ ὁμογενὲς διακεῖσθαι· οἰκτείρειν τε καὶ ἐλεεῖν, καὶ ἀγαπᾷν τὸ ὁμόδουλον, εὐσπλαγχνίαν τε πᾶσαν καὶ συμπάθειαν ἐνδείκνυσθαι. «Γίνεσθε γὰρ, φησὶ Χριστὸς ὁ Θεὸς, οἰκτίρμονες, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν οὐρανοῖς οἰκτίρμων ἐστί.» Καὶ τὸ μὲν κατ' εἰκόνα, πᾶς ἄνθρωπος κέκτηται· ἀμεταμέλητα γὰρ τὰ χαρίσματα τοῦ Θεοῦ· τὸ δὲ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν, σπάνιοι, καὶ μόνοι οἱ ἐνάρετοι καὶ ἅγιοι, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθότητα κατὰ τὸ δυνατὸν ἀνθρώποις μιμούμενοι· οὕτως ὑπεραγάθου φιλανθρωπίας ἀξιωθείημεν καὶ ἡμεῖς, εὐαρεστήσαντες αὐτῷ δι' ἀγαθοεργίας, καὶ μιμηταὶ γενόμενοι τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος εὐαρεστησάντων Χριστῷ· ὅτι αὐτῷ ἐστιν ἔλεος, καὶ αὐτῷ πρέπει πᾶσα δόξα, τιμὴ, καὶ προσκύνησις, καὶ τῷ ἀνάρχῳ Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ παναγίῳ καὶ ἀγαθῷ καὶ ζωοποιῷ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.