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we confessed Christ who appeared to be true God both before we were at the place and afterwards, our faith neither being diminished nor afterwards increased, and we knew of the incarnation through the virgin even before Bethlehem, and we believed in the resurrection from the dead even before the tomb, and we confessed the ascension into heaven to be true even without seeing the Mount of Olives; but we benefited only this much from the journey, so as to know by comparison that our things are much holier than those outside. 2.16 Therefore, you who fear the Lord, in the places where you are, praise him; for a change of place does not bring about nearness to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you, if indeed the lodging of your soul be found to be such that the Lord may dwell 2.17 in you and walk within you. But if you have the inner man full of wicked thoughts, even if you are on Golgotha, or on the Mount of Olives, or under the tomb of the Resurrection, you are as far from receiving Christ in 2.18 yourself as those who have not confessed him at all. Advise, therefore, beloved, the brothers to be absent from the body and present with the Lord, and not from Cappadocia to Palestine. But if someone should put forward the voice of the Lord which commanded the disciples not to depart from Jerusalem, let him understand what was said. Since the grace and distribution of the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon the apostles, the Lord commanded them to remain in the same place, until they should be clothed with power 2.19 from on high. If, then, what was from the beginning were still happening now, with the Holy Spirit dispensing the gifts to each one in the form of fire, it would be necessary for all to be in that place where the distribution of the gift took place; but if the Spirit blows where it wishes, then those who have believed here become partakers of the gift according to the measure of their faith, not according to their sojourn in Jerusalem.

3.τ To the truly most honorable and most devout sisters Eustathia and

Ambrosia and to the most honorable and most venerable daughter Basilissa, Gregory sends greetings in the Lord.

3.1 The meeting with good and pleasing people and the signs of the

great loving-kindness of the Master for us, which are shown in those places, became for me a cause of the greatest joy and gladness; for through both the festival according to God was revealed to me, both through seeing the saving symbols of the God who made us alive, and through meeting with souls in whom such signs of the Lord’s grace are spiritually contemplated, so that one believes that truly in the heart of the one who has God 3.2 are Bethlehem, Golgotha, the Mount of Olives, the Resurrection. For he in whom Christ is formed through a good conscience, and who has nailed his flesh with the fear of God and has been crucified with Christ and has rolled away from himself the heavy stone of worldly deceit and has come out of the bodily tomb to walk as in newness of life, and he who has left the material and earthly life of men, and has ascended through high desire to the heavenly commonwealth and minds the things that are above, where Christ is, and not being weighed down by the burden of the body but having lightened it through a purer life, so that his flesh is borne aloft with him like a cloud, this one, at least in my judgment, is among those named, in whom the memorials of the Master’s loving-kindness for us are seen.

3.3 Since, therefore, I saw the holy places with my senses, and I also saw in you the clear signs of such places, I was filled with so much joy that the telling of the good thing is beyond 3.4 words. But since it seems that being a man

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τὸν ἐπιφα νέντα Χριστὸν εἶναι θεὸν ἀληθινὸν ὡμολογήσαμεν καὶ πρὶν ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου γενέσθαι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, οὔτε τῆς πίστεως ἐλαττουμένης οὔτε μετὰ ταῦτα προσαυξηθείσης, καὶ τὴν διὰ τῆς παρθένου ἐνανθρώπησιν καὶ πρὸ τῆς Βηθλεὲμ ἠπιστάμεθα, καὶ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐξανάστασιν καὶ πρὸ τοῦ μνήματος ἐπιστεύσαμεν, καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάβασιν καὶ δίχα τοῦ τὸ ὄρος ἰδεῖν τῶν Ἐλαιῶν ἀληθῆ εἶναι ὡμολογήσα μεν· τοσοῦτον δὲ μόνον ἐκ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ὠφελήθημεν, ὅσον ἐν συγκρίσει γνῶναι ὅτι τὰ ἡμέτερα τῶν ἔξω πολὺ ἁγιώτερά ἐστιν. 2.16 Ὅθεν Οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν κύριον, ἐν οἷς ἐστε τόποις, αἰνέ σατε αὐτόν· θεοῦ γὰρ προσεγγισμὸν τοπικὴ μετάστασις οὐ κατεργάζεται, ἀλλ' ὅπουπερ ἂν ᾖς, πρὸς σὲ ἥξει ὁ θεός, ἐάν γε τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς σου καταγώγιον τοιοῦτον εὑρεθῇ, ὥστε ἐνοι 2.17 κῆσαι τὸν κύριον ἐν σοὶ καὶ ἐμπεριπατῆσαι. εἰ δὲ πλήρη ἔχεις τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον λογισμῶν πονηρῶν, κἂν ἐπὶ τοῦ Γολγοθᾶ ᾖς κἂν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους τῶν Ἐλαιῶν κἂν ὑπὸ τὸ μνῆμα τῆς Ἀναστάσεως, τοσοῦτον ἀπέχεις τοῦ τὸν Χριστὸν δέξασθαι ἐν 2.18 ἑαυτῷ ὅσον οἱ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὁμολογήσαντες. συμβούλευσον οὖν, ἀγαπητέ, τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐκδημεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς τὸν κύριον καὶ μὴ ἀπὸ Καππαδοκίας εἰς Παλαιστίνην. εἰ δέ τις τὴν τοῦ κυρίου φωνὴν προβάλοιτο τὴν παραγγείλασαν τοῖς μαθηταῖς μὴ χωρίζεσθαι ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων, νοησάτω τὸ εἰρημένον. ἐπειδήπερ ἡ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος χάρις καὶ διανομὴ οὔπω ἐπεφοίτησε τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, προσέταξεν αὐτοῖς ὁ κύριος ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ μένειν, ἕως ἂν ἐνδύσωνται δύναμιν 2.19 ἐξ ὕψους. εἰ μὲν οὖν ὃ ἦν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, ἐγίνετο μέχρι τοῦ νῦν, τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐν εἴδει πυρὸς τῶν χαρισμάτων οἰκονο μοῦντος ἕκαστον, ἔδει πάντας εἶναι ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ ἐν ᾧ ἡ διανομὴ τοῦ χαρίσματος ἐγίνετο· εἰ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ, καὶ οἱ ἐνταῦθα πιστεύσαντες μέτοχοι γίνονται τοῦ χαρίσματος κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς πίστεως, οὐ κατὰ τὴν ἐπιδημίαν τὴν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις.

3.τ Ταῖς κοσμιωτάταις ἀληθῶς καὶ εὐλαβεστάταις ἀδελφαῖς Εὐσταθίᾳ καὶ

Ἀμβροσίᾳ καὶ τῇ κοσμιωτάτῃ καὶ σεμνοτάτῃ θυγατρὶ Βασιλίσσῃ Γρηγόριος ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν.

3.1 Ἡ μὲν τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ καταθυμίων μοι συντυχία καὶ τὰ γνωρίσματα τῆς

μεγάλης τοῦ δεσπότου ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν φιλ ανθρωπίας τὰ ἐν τοῖς τόποις δεικνύμενα τῆς μεγίστης ἐγένετό μοι χαρᾶς τε καὶ εὐφροσύνης ὑπόθεσις· δι' ἀμφο τέρων γὰρ ἐδηλώθη μοι ἡ κατὰ θεὸν ἑορτή, διά τε τοῦ ἰδεῖν τὰ σωτήρια σύμβολα τοῦ ζωοποιήσαντος ἡμᾶς θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τοῦ ψυχαῖς συντυχεῖν ἐν αἷς τὰ τοιαῦτα τῆς τοῦ κυρίου χάριτος σημεῖα πνευματικῶς θεωρεῖται, ὥστε πι στεύειν ὅτι ἀληθῶς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἐστὶ τοῦ τὸν θεὸν ἔχοντος 3.2 ἡ Βηθλεὲμ ὁ Γολγοθᾶς ὁ Ἐλαιὼν ἡ Ἀνάστασις. ᾧ τε γὰρ διὰ τῆς ἀγαθῆς συνειδήσεως ὁ Χριστὸς ἐμμορφωθῇ, καὶ ὁ καθηλώσας τῷ θείῳ φόβῳ τὰς σάρκας αὑτοῦ καὶ συσταυ ρωθεὶς τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ ἀποκυλίσας ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ τὸν βαρὺν τῆς βιωτικῆς ἀπάτης λίθον καὶ ἐξελθὼν τοῦ σωματικοῦ μνημείου ὡς ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατήσῃ, καὶ ὁ κατα λιπὼν τὴν ὑλικὴν καὶ χαμαίζηλον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωήν, ἀναβὰς δὲ διὰ τῆς ὑψηλῆς ἐπιθυμίας εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον πολιτείαν καὶ τὰ ἄνω φρονῶν, οὗ ὁ Χριστός, καὶ μὴ βα ρούμενος τῷ ἄχθει τοῦ σώματος ἀλλ' ἐξελαφρύνας διὰ τῆς καθαρωτέρας ζωῆς, ὥστε αὐτῷ νεφέλης δίκην συμμετ εωροπορεῖν ἐπὶ τὰ ἄνω τὴν σάρκα, οὗτος κατά γε τὴν ἐμὴν κρίσιν ἐκείνων ἐστὶν τῶν κατωνομασμένων, ἐν οἷς τὰ ὑπομνήματα τῆς τοῦ δεσπότου ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν φιλανθρω πίας ὁρᾶται.

3.3 Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν εἶδον μὲν καὶ αἰσθητῶς τοὺς ἁγίους τόπους, εἶδον δὲ καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν τῶν τοιούτων τόπων ἐναργῆ τὰ σημεῖα, τοσαύτης ἐπληρώθην χαρᾶς, ὥστε ὑπὲρ λόγον 3.4 εἶναι τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τὴν διήγησιν. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἔοικεν ἄνθρω πον ὄντα