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more than is necessary, either to be, or to be thought, as if ashamed if we were not thought evil, and slaves of the belly, and of the things under the belly.

18. What is this, O friends and brothers? Why are we also sick in our souls, a sickness much more grievous than that of our bodies? Inasmuch as I know the one is involuntary, but the other comes from choice; and the one is dissolved with this life, but the other departs with us when we pass away; and the one is pitied, but the other is hated, at least by those who have sense. Why do we not help nature when we have the opportunity? Why do we not, being flesh, check the humiliation of the flesh? Why do we luxuriate in the misfortunes of our brothers? May it not befall me, either to be rich, while these are in need; nor to be in good health, if I do not help their wounds; nor to have enough food, nor shelter, nor to rest under a roof, if I do not also offer bread, and share clothing to the best of my ability, and give rest under a roof. But either all things must be laid aside for Christ, that we may genuinely follow him, taking up the cross, and fly up as if light towards the world above, and well-equipped, dragged down by nothing, and may we gain Christ in place of all things, having been exalted through humility, and enriched through poverty; or our possessions must be shared with Christ, that somehow even our having, 35.881 through having it well, may be sanctified, and through sharing with those who have not. But if I were to sow for myself alone, I would sow then, and others would eat; and that I may say again the words of Job: Instead of wheat let nettles come forth for me, and instead of barley a thorn-bush; and may a burning wind take hold, and a tempest carry away my labors, that I might toil in vain. And if I were to build storehouses, treasuring from mammon, and for mammon, on this very night my soul should be required of me, to give an account of what I have wrongly treasured.

19. Shall we not be prudent, at least at last? Shall we not cast off our insensibility, that I may not say pettiness? Shall we not consider human affairs? Shall we not secure our own good in the evils of others? For by nature nothing of human affairs is stable, nor constant, nor self-sufficient, nor standing on the same ground; but a certain cycle of our affairs runs around, bringing changes at different times, often on a single day, and sometimes even in an hour; and one can sooner trust breezes that do not stand still, and the tracks of a sea-faring ship, and the deceptive dreams of night, whose grace is for a short time, and whatever things children playing impress upon the sands, than the prosperity of men. But prudent are they who, by not trusting in present things, treasure up the future for themselves; and because of the instability and unevenness of human prosperity, they love the kindness that does not fail, so that they may by all means gain one of three things; either never to fare ill, since the divine often favors the pious even with good things from here, calling forth sympathy with kindness; or to have confidence in themselves towards God, as having suffered not through wickedness, but through some dispensation; or, finally, to demand as a debt the philanthropy from those who are doing well, which they themselves offered beforehand to those in need, when they were doing well.

20. Let not the wise man, he says, boast in his wisdom, nor the rich man in his wealth, nor the mighty man in his strength; even if they have reached the summit, the one of wisdom, the other of possessions, the other of power. And I will add also what follows these: Neither the conspicuous in his glory, nor the healthy in his health, nor the beautiful in his prime, nor the young in his youth, nor in any other of the things praised here, if one must speak concisely, who is puffed up by it; but let him who boasts boast 35.884 in this alone, in understanding and seeking God, and in sympathizing with those who suffer, and in laying up for himself something good for the future. For these things are fleeting and temporary, and, as in a game of dice, are thrown about and transferred from one to another; and nothing is so much the property of the one holding it, as either not

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περιττοτέρους, ἢ εἶναι, ἢ νομίζεσθαι, ὥσπερ αἰσχυνομένους, εἰ μὴ κακοὶ νομιζοίμεθα, καὶ δοῦλοι γαστρὸς, καὶ τῶν ὑπὸ γαστέρα.

ΙΗʹ. Τί ταῦτα, ὦ φίλοι καὶ ἀδελφοί; τί νοσοῦμεν καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰς ψυχὰς, νόσον πολὺ τῆς τῶν σωμά των χαλεπωτέραν; Ὅσῳ τὴν μὲν ἀκούσιον οἶδα, τὴν δὲ ἐρχομένην ἐκ προαιρέσεως· καὶ τὴν μὲν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ συγκαταλυομένην, τὴν δὲ συναπιοῦσαν ἡμῖν μεθισταμένοις· καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐλεουμένην, τὴν δὲ μισουμένην, τοῖς γενοῦν ἔχουσιν. Τί μὴ βοη θοῦμεν τῇ φύσει καιρὸν ἔχοντες; τί μὴ περι στέλλομεν, σάρκες ὄντες, τῆς σαρκὸς τὴν ταπείνω σιν; τί τρυφῶμεν ἐν τοῖς τῶν ἀδελφῶν δυστυχήμασι; Μή μοι γένοιτο, μήτε πλουτεῖν, τούτων ἀπορουμέ νων· μήτε εὐεκτεῖν, εἰ μὴ βοηθοίην τοῖς τούτων τραύμασι· μὴ τροφῆς ἱκανῶς ἔχειν, μὴ σκέπης, μὴ ὑπὸ στέγην ἀναπαύεσθαι, εἰ μὴ καὶ ἄρτον ὀρέξαιμι, καὶ μεταδοίην ἐσθῆτος εἰς δύναμιν, καὶ ὑπὸ στέγην ἀναπαύσαιμι. Ἀλλ' ἤτοι πάντα ἀποθετέον Χριστῷ, ἵνα γνησίως ἀκολουθήσωμεν αὐτῷ, τὸν σταυρὸν ἀρά μενοι, καὶ ἀναπτῶμεν ὡς κοῦφοι πρὸς τὸν ἄνω κόσμον, καὶ εὐσταλεῖς ὑπὸ μηδενὸς καθελκόμενοι, καὶ κερδήσωμεν ἀντὶ πάντων Χριστὸν, διὰ ταπείνω σιν ὑψωθέντες, καὶ διὰ πενίαν πλουτήσαντες· ἢ Χρι στῷ τὰ ὄντα συμμεριστέον, ἵνα πως καὶ τὸ ἔχειν, 35.881 διὰ τοῦ καλῶς ἔχειν, ἁγιασθῇ, καὶ τοῦ κοινωνεῖν τοῖς μὴ ἔχουσιν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ σπείραιμι ἐμαυτῷ μόνῳ, σπεί ραιμι ἄρα, καὶ ἄλλοι φάγοιεν· καὶ ἵνα πάλιν εἴ πω τὸ τοῦ Ἰώβ· Ἀντὶ πυροῦ ἐξέλθοι μοι κνίδη, ἀντὶ δὲ κριθῆς βάτος· καύσων δὲ ἄνεμος ὑπολάβοι, καὶ ὑφέλοιτο λαῖλαψ τοὺς ἐμοὺς πόνους, ἵνα εἰς κε νὸν κοπιάσαιμι. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀποθήκας οἰκοδομήσαιμι ἐκ τῶν μαμωνᾶ θησαυρίζων, καὶ μαμωνᾷ, ταύ τῃ τῇ νυκτὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπαιτηθείην, λόγον ὑφ έξων, ὧν κακῶς ἐθησαύρισα.

ΙΘʹ. Οὐ σωφρονήσομεν ὀψὲ γοῦν; οὐ καταβα λοῦμεν τὴν ἀναλγησίαν, ἵνα μὴ λέγω μικρολογίαν; οὐ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα λογιούμεθα; οὐκ ἐν τοῖς ἑτέρων κακοῖς τὰ ἡμέτερα εὖ θησόμεθα; Φύσει μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων βέβαιον, οὐδὲ ὁμαλὸν, οὐδὲ αὔταρκες, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἱστάμενον· ἀλλὰ κύκλος τις τῶν ἡμετέρων περιτρέχει πραγμάτων, ἄλλοτε ἄλλας ἐπὶ μιᾶς ἡμέρας πολλάκις, ἔστι δ' ὅτε καὶ ὥρας, φέρων μεταβολάς· καὶ αὔραις μᾶλλον ἔστι πιστεύειν οὐχ ἱσταμέναις, καὶ νηὸς ποντοπορού σης ἴχνεσι, καὶ νυκτὸς ἀπατηλοῖς ὀνείρασιν, ὧν πρὸς ὀλίγον ἡ χάρις, καὶ ὅσα κατὰ ψαμάθων παῖδες τυποῦσι παίζοντες, ἢ ἀνθρώπων εὐημερίᾳ· σώφρονες δὲ, οἱ διὰ τὸ μὴ πιστεύειν τοῖς παροῦσι, τὸ μέλλον ἑαυτοῖς θησαυρίζοντες· καὶ διὰ τὸ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης εὐπραγίας ἄστατον καὶ ἀνώμαλον, τὴν οὐ πίπτουσαν ἀγαπῶντες χρηστότητα, ἵνα τριῶν ἕν γέτι πάντως κερδάνωσιν· ἢ τὸ μή ποτε πρᾶξαι κακῶς, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐντεῦθεν χρηστοῖς πολλάκις δεξιοῦται τὸ θεῖον τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς, χρηστότητι τὸ συμπαθὲς προκα λούμενον· ἢ τὸ παῤῥησίαν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς πρὸς Θεὸν, ὡς οὐ διὰ κακίαν, ἀλλὰ διά τινα οἰκονο μίαν κακοπαθήσαντες· ἢ, τὸ τελευταῖον, ὡς ὀφειλο μένην ἀπαιτεῖν τὴν παρὰ τῶν εὖ πραττόντων φιλαν θρωπίαν, ἣν τοῖς χρῄζουσι προεισήνεγκαν, δεξιῶς αὐτοὶ πράττοντες.

Κʹ. Μὴ καυχάσθω, φησὶν, ὁ σοφὸς ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ ὁ πλούσιος ἐν τῷ πλούτῳ αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ ὁ δυνατὸς ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ αὐτοῦ· κἂν εἰς τὸ ἄκρον ὦσιν ἐληλακότες, ὁ μὲν σοφίας, ὁ δὲ περιου σίας, ὁ δὲ δυνάμεως. Ἐγὼ δὲ προσθήσω καὶ ἃ τού τοις ἕπεται· Μηδὲ ὁ περίβλεπτος ἐν τῇ δόξῃ, μηδὲ ὁ εὐεκτῶν ἐν τῇ ὑγιείᾳ, μηδὲ ὁ καλὸς ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ, μηδὲ ὁ νέος ἐν τῇ νεότητι, μηδὲ ἐν ἄλλῳ μηδενὶ τῶν ἐνταῦθα ἐπαινουμένων, εἰ δεῖ συνελόντα εἰπεῖν, ὁ ὑπὸ τούτου φυσώμενος· ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τούτῳ καυ 35.884 χάσθω ὁ καυχώμενος μόνον, ἐν τῷ συνιεῖν καὶ ἐκζητεῖν τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ συναλγεῖν τοῖς πάσχουσι, καὶ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἑαυτῷ τι χρηστὸν ἀποτίθεσθαι. Τὰ μὲν γάρ ἐστι ῥευστὰ καὶ πρόσκαιρα, καὶ, ὥσπερ ἐν παιδιᾷ ψήφων, ἄλλοτε εἰς ἄλλους μεταῤῥιπτούμενα, καὶ μετατιθέμενα· καὶ οὐδὲν οὕτω τοῦ κατέχοντος ἴδιον, ὡς ἢ μὴ