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to be filled with his flesh? since I was so kind. Here he describes the manic love of his servants, which they had for him, having become his ardent lovers, because of what he had shown to them. For so, he says, did they hang on me, so did they hold to me, so were they attached, so loving, as to desire even to be filled with his very flesh, and to devour and consume it because they loved so intensely and were inflamed.

5. What could one say of his disdain for money? For even this he had achieved with exaggeration. For not only did he not desire what belonged to others, as many do now, but not even his own things, but he was alienated from them with all exaggeration; wherefore he also said: If I rejoiced when my wealth became great, nor did I trust in a precious stone. For this reason, when they were taken away, he bore their removal with great ease, and when they were present he practiced lavish almsgiving, 63.484 extending his right hand to all, and opening his house. For he did not do what many do, scrutinizing and meddling with those who receive, but, My door, he says, was opened to all who came. For the helpless, whatever need they had, did not fail; and a stranger did not go out my door empty-handed. Have you seen his lavishness? Have you seen his love for humankind, his kindness, his humility? Do you want to learn also of his self-control? I made a covenant, he says, with my eyes not to gaze upon a strange maiden. The things which Christ, coming after these events, commanded, that man accomplished through his deeds. Have you seen him rich, have you seen him poor, have you seen him healthy, have you seen him sick? have you seen his affairs flowing smoothly? have you seen him deprived of everything? have you seen how he presented himself towards children, towards servants, towards the wronged, towards orphans? And if I have walked with mockers, he says; that is, I did not even pursue these companionships with jesters. And this is no small sign of self-control. For he went through every virtue, and though surrounded by so much, he was more exact than those who have nothing; for one who has nothing was not so detached from money as that man who had so much. For everywhere it is the disposition that is crowned. And he ascended to the very summit of self-control, and he achieved every virtue with fitting exactness. Emulate these things, beloved, imitate these things, and taking up this image that has been outlined, fix it in your conscience; if you are in despair, flee to him, if in wealth, take the remedy from here, so that you are neither submerged by poverty, nor puffed up by wealth; if you lose children, you have consolation from here; for here you will find the extremity both of misfortunes and of endurance; if you fall into sickness, consider the springs of worms which his flesh seethed forth, and you will bear all things gently; if a friend plots against you, again bring the holy one into the midst, and you will overcome the suffering; if common people abuse you, consider what he suffered from his servants, and you will receive great healing; if some evil suspicion overtakes you, consider what things they said about this man, that he had not yet paid the just penalty for his sins, and what things they reproached, and you will overcome this suffering too. For there is not, as I said at the beginning, a misfortune among men which this man, more steadfast than any adamant, did not endure, having sustained at once famine and poverty and sickness and loss of children and the loss of so much wealth; and after that, being plotted against by his wife, insulted by his friends, warred upon by his servants, through all things he was shown to be more steadfast than any rock, and this before the law and grace. For we will not even have an ordinary defense, when we who after law and grace have enjoyed so great a gift, bear less than this man who in the beginning and preliminaries of human life showed such philosophy. So that, therefore, we may have both consolation for our sorrows, and instruction

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σαρκῶν αὐτοῦ ἐμπλησθῆναι; λίαν μου χρηστοῦ ὄντος. Ἐνταῦθα τὸν ἔρωτα διηγεῖται τῶν οἰκετῶν τὸν μανικὸν, ὃν περὶ αὐτὸν εἶχον διακαεῖς αὐτοῦ καταστάντες ἐρασταὶ, ἀφ' ὧν αὐτὸς εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐπεδείκνυτο. Οὕτω γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐξεκρέμαντό μου, οὕτως ἀντείχοντο, οὕτως ἦσαν προσηλωμένοι, οὕτως ἐρῶντες, ὡς ἐπιθυμεῖν καὶ αὐτῶν ἐμπλησθῆναι τῶν σαρκῶν, καὶ καταπιεῖν καὶ καταφαγεῖν διὰ τὸ σφόδρα φιλεῖν καὶ ἐκκαίεσθαι.

εʹ. Τί ἄν τις εἴποι τὴν τῶν χρημάτων ὑπεροψίαν; καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο μεθ' ὑπερβολῆς αὐτῷ κατώρθωτο. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ μόνον τῶν ἀλλοτρίων οὐκ ἐφίετο, ὅπερ πάσχουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ νῦν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῶν οἰκείων, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτῶν ἠλλοτρίωτο μετὰ πάσης ὑπερβολῆς· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγεν· Εἰ δὲ ηὐφράνθην πολλοῦ πλούτου γενομένου μοι, οὐδὲ λίθῳ πολυτελεῖ ἐπεποίθησα. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ἀφαιρεθέντων, μετὰ πολλῆς ἔφερε τῆς εὐκολίας τὴν ἀφαίρεσιν, καὶ παρόντων δαψιλῆ τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην εἰργάζετο, 63.484 πᾶσι τὴν δεξιὰν ἁπλώσας, καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν ἀνοίξας. Οὐδὲ γὰρ, ὃ πάσχουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ περιεργαζόμενοι καὶ πολυπραγμονοῦντες τοὺς λαμβάνοντας, ἐποίει οὗτος, ἀλλ', Ἡ θύρα μου, φησὶ, παντὶ ἐλθόντι ἀνέῳκτο. Ἀδύνατοι γὰρ, ἥν ποτε εἶχον χρείαν, οὐκ ἀπέτυχον· ξένος δὲ οὐκ ἐξῆλθε τὴν θύραν μου κόλπῳ κενῷ. Εἶδες τὸ δαψιλές; εἶδες τὸ φιλάνθρωπον, τὸ χρηστὸν, τὸ ταπεινόν; Βούλει καὶ τὴν σωφροσύνην μαθεῖν; ∆ιαθήκην, φησὶν, ἐθέμην τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου τοῦ μὴ κατανοῆσαι εἰς παρθένον ἀλλοτρίαν. Ἃ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐλθὼν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐπέταξε, ταῦτα ἐκεῖνος διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων κατώρθου. Εἶδες αὐτὸν πλουτοῦντα, εἶδες πενόμενον, εἶδες ὑγιαίνοντα, εἶδες νοσοῦντα; εἶδες τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτῷ κατὰ ῥοῦν φερομένων; εἶδες αὐτὸν πάντων ἀφαιρεθέντα; εἶδες πρὸς παῖδας, πρὸς οἰκέτας, πρὸς ἀδικουμένους, πρὸς ὀρφανοὺς οἷον ἑαυτὸν παρεσκεύασεν; Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἤμην πεπορευμένος μετὰ γελοιαστῶν, φησί· τουτέστιν, οὐδὲ τὰς συνουσίας ταύτας ἐδίωκον τὰς τῶν γελωτοποιῶν. Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ σωφροσύνης οὐ μικρὸν σημεῖον. Πᾶσαν γὰρ ἀρετὴν ἐπῆλθε, καὶ τῶν οὐδὲν ἐχόντων ἀκριβέστερον διέκειτο τοσαῦτα περιβεβλημένος· οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ὁ μηδὲν ἔχων ἀπήλλακτο χρημάτων, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ὁ τοσαῦτα ἔχων. Πανταχοῦ γὰρ ἡ γνώμη ἐστὶν ἡ στεφανουμένη. Καὶ πρὸς αὐτὴν τῆς σωφροσύνης τὴν κορυφὴν ἀνέβη, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν μετὰ τῆς προσηκούσης ἀκριβείας κατώρθου. Ταῦτα ζήλου, ἀγαπητὲ, ταῦτα μίμησαι, καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα ταύτην τὴν ὑπογραφεῖσαν ἀναλαβὼν, ἔμπηξον τῷ συνειδότι τῷ σῷ· κἂν ἐν ἀθυμίᾳ ᾖς, πρὸς αὐτὸν κατάφευγε, κἂν ἐν πλούτῳ, τὸ φάρμακον ἐντεῦθεν λάμβανε, ὥστε μήτε πτωχείᾳ βαπτισθῆναι, μήτε πλούτῳ φυσηθῆναι· κἂν παῖδας ἀποβάλῃς, ἔχεις ἐντεῦθεν τὴν παράκλησιν· τὴν γὰρ ὑπερβολὴν ἐνταῦθα εὑρήσεις καὶ τῶν συμφορῶν καὶ τῆς καρτερίας· κἂν νόσῳ περιπέσῃς, ἐννόησον τὰς πηγὰς τῶν σκωλήκων, ἃς ἐπέζεσε ἡ ἐκείνου σὰρξ, καὶ οἴσεις ἅπαντα πράως· κἂν φίλος ἐπιβουλεύσῃ, πάλιν τὸν ἅγιον εἰς μέσον ἄγε, καὶ περιέσῃ τοῦ πάθους· κἂν οἱ τυχόντες ἀποχρήσωνται, ἐννόησον ἅπερ ἔπασχε παρὰ τῶν οἰκετῶν, καὶ πολλὴν δέξῃ τὴν ἰατρείαν· κἂν πονηρά τις ὑπόληψίς σε περιλάβῃ, λόγισαι οἷα περὶ τούτου ἔλεγον, ὅτι οὐδέπω τῶν ἡμαρτημένων αὐτῷ ἔδωκεν ἀξίαν δίκην, καὶ οἷα ὠνείδιζον, καὶ περιέσῃ καὶ τούτου τοῦ πάθους. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν, ὅπερ ἀρχόμενος εἶπον, συμφορὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἣν οὐχ ὑπέμεινεν ὁ παντὸς ἀδάμαντος οὗτος στεῤῥότερος, λιμὸν καὶ πενίαν καὶ νόσον καὶ ἀποβολὴν παίδων καὶ ζημίαν τοσούτων χρημάτων ἀθρόον ὑπενεγκών· καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι παρὰ γυναικὸς ἐπιβουλευθεὶς, παρὰ φίλων ἐπηρεασθεὶς, παρὰ οἰκετῶν πολεμηθεὶς, διὰ πάντων ἀπεδείκνυτο πέτρας ἁπάσης στεῤῥότερος, καὶ ταῦτα πρὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῆς χάριτος. Καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ τὴν τυχοῦσαν ἕξομεν ἀπολογίαν, ὅταν ἡμεῖς οἱ μετὰ νόμον καὶ χάριν τοσαύτης ἀπολαύσαντες δωρεᾶς, ἔλαττον φέρωμεν τούτου τοῦ ἐν ἀρχῇ καὶ προοιμίοις τοῦ βίου τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου τοσαύτην ἐπιδειξαμένου φιλοσοφίαν. Ἵν' οὖν καὶ παράκλησιν ἔχωμεν τῶν λυπηρῶν, καὶ διδασκαλίαν