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works, like some public executioner, tearing and choking the conscience and showing the magnitude of sin. “Those therefore,” he says, “who are burdened by this and bent down as by some load, these I will give rest, granting the remission of sins, only come to me.” Who is so stone-like, who is so unyielding as not to obey so philanthropic a call? 1.29 Then, teaching us also the manner of the rest, he added: “Take my yoke upon you.” Come under my yoke, he says. But do not be timid hearing “yoke”; for it neither chafes the neck nor makes it bend downwards, but it teaches to set your minds on things above; this yoke trains in the true philosophy. “Take my yoke upon you and learn;” only come under the yoke and you will learn; learn, that is, give ear that you may be able to learn from me. For I do not seek anything heavy from you. You who are slaves, imitate me, the master; you who are earth and ashes, emulate the maker of heaven and earth, your creator. “Learn from me,” he says, “for I am meek and lowly in heart.” 1.30 Did you see the condescension of a master? Did you see an incomparable philanthropy? He did not demand anything heavy or burdensome from us; for he did not say: Learn from me that I have worked signs, that I have raised the dead, that I have shown wonders, which were of his power alone. But what? “Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Did you see how great is the profit of this yoke, how great the benefit? He, then, who has been deemed worthy to come under this yoke and has been able to learn from the master to be meek and lowly in heart, will procure all rest for his soul. For this is the chief point of our salvation; he who has possessed this virtue will be able, while entwined with a body, to compete with the bodiless powers and to have nothing in common with the present things. 1.31 For he who imitates the master’s meekness will not be angered, will not be puffed up against his neighbor. And if someone should inflict blows on him, he will say: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why do you strike me?” And if someone should call him demon-possessed, he answers: “I do not have a demon,” and none of the things brought against him will be able to wound him. Such a one will despise all the glory of the present life and none of the visible things will draw him away; for he will acquire other eyes from now on. For he who has become lowly in heart will never be able to envy the good things of his neighbor. Such a one will not seize, will not be greedy, will not desire money but will even give away what he has, showing great compassion for his fellow man. Such a one will not break into another’s marriage. For he who has come under the yoke of Christ and has learned to be meek and lowly in heart will surely display every virtue and will follow in the footsteps of the master. 1.32 Let us then come under the good yoke and let us take up the light burden, so that we may also be able to find rest. He who has come under this yoke ought to make a forgetting of every old habit and to display strictness of the eyes; “for he who looks at a woman,” he says, “to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” so that it is necessary to place security on the senses of sight, lest through them death should ascend. But it is necessary to display great strictness not only of the eyes, but also of the tongue. “For many have fallen,” he says, “by the mouth of the sword, but not so many as they that have fallen by the tongue,” to restrain the other passions that are born and to establish the mind in calm, to banish anger, wrath, malice, enmity, envy, unseemly desires, all licentiousness, all the works of the flesh, which are, he says: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, envy, drunkenness, carousing. 1.33 It is fitting, therefore, to root out all these things, and to be eager to have the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, meekness, self-control. If thus

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ἐργάζεται, καθάπερ δήμιός τις καταξαίνων καὶ ἄγχων τὸν λογισμὸν καὶ δεικνὺς τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸ μέγεθος. «Τοὺς οὖν ὑπὸ ταύτης φησὶν βεβαρημένους καὶ καθάπερ φορτίῳ τινὶ κατακαμφθέντας, τούτους ἀναπαύσω τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἡμαρτημένων χαριζόμενος, μόνον δεῦτε πρός με.» Τίς οὕτως λίθινος, τίς οὕτως ἀνένδοτος ὡς μὴ ὑπακοῦσαι τῇ οὕτω φιλανθρώπῳ κλήσει; 1.29 Εἶτα διδάσκων ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς ἀναπαύσεως ἐπήγαγεν· «Ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ' ὑμᾶς.» Ὑπέλθετέ μου, φησί, τὸν ζυγόν. Ἀλλὰ μὴ δειλιάσητε ζυγὸν ἀκούοντες· οὐδὲ γὰρ τρίβει τὸν αὐχένα οὐδὲ κάτω νεύειν παρασκευάζει, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἄνω φρονεῖν διδάσκει, τὴν ἀληθῆ φιλοσοφίαν οὗτος ὁ ζυγὸς ἐκπαιδεύει. «Ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ' ὑμᾶς καὶ μάθετε·» μόνον ὑπέλθετε τὸν ζυγὸν καὶ μαθήσεσθε· μάθετε τουτέστιν ὑπόσχετε τὴν ἀκοὴν ἵνα μαθεῖν δυνηθῆτε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ. Μὴ γὰρ βαρύ τι παρ' ὑμῶν ἐπιζητῶ. Ὑμεῖς οἱ δοῦλοι ἐμὲ τὸν δεσπότην μιμήσασθε, ὑμεῖς οἱ γῆ καὶ σποδὸς ὄντες τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ποιητὴν τὸν ὑμέτερον δημιουργὸν ζηλώσατε. «Μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ φησιν ὅτι πρᾶός εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ.» 1.30 Εἶδες συγκατάβασιν δεσπότου; Εἶδες φιλανθρωπίαν ἀμήχανον; Μὴ βαρύ τι ἢ ἐπαχθὲς παρ' ἡμῶν ἀπῄτησεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶπεν· Μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ὅτι σημεῖα εἰργασάμην, ὅτι νεκροὺς ἤγειρα, ὅτι θαύματα ἐπεδειξάμην, ἅπερ τῆς αὐτοῦ μόνης δυνάμεως ἦν. Ἀλλὰ τί; «Μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ὅτι πρᾶός εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν.» Εἶδες ὅσον τοῦ ζυγοῦ τούτου τὸ κέρδος, ὅση ἡ ὠφέλεια; Ὁ τοίνυν ὑπὸ τὸν ζυγὸν τοῦτον ἐλθεῖν καταξιωθεὶς καὶ δυνηθεὶς μαθεῖν παρὰ τοῦ δεσπότου πρᾶος εἶναι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδία. πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τῇ ψυχῇ ἀνάπαυσιν προξενήσει. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ κεφάλαιον τῆς σωτηρίας τῆς ἡμετέρας· ὁ ταύτην κεκτημένος τὴν ἀρετὴν δυνήσεται σώματι συμπεπλεγμένος ταῖς ἀσωμάτοις ἁμιλλᾶσθαι δυνάμεσι καὶ μηδὲν ἔχειν κοινὸν πρὸς τὰ παρόντα. 1.31 Ὁ γὰρ μιμούμενος τοῦ δεσπότου τὴν πραότητα οὐκ ὀργιεῖται, οὐκ ἐπαρθήσεται κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον. Κἂν πληγὰς αὐτῷ τις ἐντείνῃ, ἐρεῖ· «Εἰ κακῶς ἐλάλησα μαρτύρησον περὶ τοῦ κακοῦ, εἰ δὲ καλῶς, τί με δέρεις;» Κἂν δαιμονῶντα αὐτὸν καλέσῃ ἀποκρίνεται· «Ἐγὼ δαιμόνιον οὐκ ἔχω» καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτὸν τῶν ἐπαγομένων δακεῖν δυνήσεται. Ὁ τοιοῦτος ὑπερόψεται πάσης δόξης τοῦ παρόντος βίου καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτὸν τῶν ὁρωμένων ἐπισπάσεται· ἑτέρους γὰρ ὀφθαλμοὺς κτήσεται λοιπόν. Ὁ γὰρ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ γενόμενος οὐδέποτε βασκῆναι δυνήσεται τοῖς τοῦ πλησίον ἀγαθοῖς. Ὁ τοιοῦτος οὐχ ἁρπάσει, οὐ πλεονεκτήσει, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσει χρημάτων ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ὄντα προήσεται, πολλὴν τὴν συμπάθειαν περὶ τὸ ὁμογενὲς ἐπιδεικνύμενος. Ὁ τοιοῦτος οὐ διορύξει γάμον ἀλλότριον. Ὁ γὰρ τὸν ζυγὸν ὑπελθὼν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ μαθὼν πρᾶος εἶναι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ πάντως ἐπιδείξεται πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν καὶ τοῖς ἴχνεσιν ἐξακολουθήσει τοῦ δεσπότου. 1.32 Ὑπέλθωμεν τοίνυν τὸν ζυγὸν τὸν χρηστὸν καὶ τὸ φορτίον τὸ ἐλαφρὸν ἄρωμεν ἵνα καὶ τὴν ἀνάπαυσιν εὑρεῖν δυνηθῶμεν. Ὁ τοῦτον ὑπελθὼν τὸν ζυγὸν πάσης ὀφείλει τῆς παλαιᾶς συνηθείας λήθην ποιήσασθαι καὶ ὀφθαλμῶν ἀκρίβειαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι· «Ὁ γὰρ ἐμβλέψας γυναικί φησιν πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ», ὥστε ἀσφάλειαν ἐπιθεῖναι δεῖ ταῖς ὀπτικαῖς αἰσθήσεσιν ἵνα μὴ δι' αὐτῶν θάνατος ἀναβῇ. Οὐ μόνον δὲ ὀφθαλμῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ γλώττης πολλὴν τὴν ἀκρίβειαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι χρή. «Πολλοὶ γὰρ ἔπεσόν φησιν ἐν στόματι μαχαίρας καὶ οὐχ ὡς οἱ πεσόντες διὰ γλώσσης», τὰ ἄλλα πάθη τὰ τικτόμενα χαλινοῦν καὶ ἐν γαλήνῃ τὴν διάνοιαν καθιστᾶν, τὸν θυμὸν ἐξορίζειν, τὴν ὀργήν, τὴν μνησικακίαν, τὴν ἔχθραν, τὴν βασκανίαν, τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τὰς ἀτόπους, τὴν ἀσέλγειαν ἅπασαν, πάντα τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκὸς ἅτινά ἐστί φησιν μοιχεία, πορνεία, ἀκαθαρσία, ἀσέλγεια, εἰδωλολατρία, φαρμακεία, ἔχθρα, ἔρις, φθόνοι, μέθαι, κῶμοι. 1.33 Ταῦτα τοίνυν πάντα ἐκμοχλεύειν προσῆκε, τὸν δὲ καρπὸν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἔχειν σπουδάζειν, ἀγάπην, χαράν, εἰρήνην, μακροθυμίαν, χρηστότητα, ἀγαθωσύνην, πραότητα, ἐγκράτειαν. Ἐὰν οὕτως