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in the gospels the Lord: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink, and to the Samaritan woman: Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty for ever. And the honor of Carmel is given to the soul that has the likeness to the desert, that is, the grace through the Spirit. For since Elijah dwelt on Carmel 9.237 (and the mountain became famous and renowned for the virtue of its inhabitant) and John the Baptist, shining in the spirit of Elijah, was sanctifying the Jordan, for this reason the prophet declared that the honor of Carmel would be given to the river. And he transferred the glory of Lebanon from the parable of the lofty trees to the river; for just as that Lebanon has sufficient cause for wonder in the very trees which it grows and nourishes, so the Jordan is glorified by regenerating people and planting them in the paradise of God, of whom, according to the psalmic voice, who are always flourishing and abounding in virtues, the leaf will not fall off, and receiving the fruit in season, God will rejoice as a good gardener exulting in his own works. And the divine David, also prophesying the voice which the Father sent from heaven to the Son as he was being baptized, in order to guide the hearers to the natural dignity of the Godhead, who were for the time being looking at the perceptible lowliness according to the man, inscribed that in the book: The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the voice of the Lord is in magnificence. But the testimonies from the divine scriptures must stop here; for the discourse would go on to infinity, if one should wish to select each detail and set it down in one book.

But all of you who are adorned with the gift of rebirth and carry the saving renewal as your boast, show me after the mystical grace the change of your ways and make known the difference of the reordering to the better by the purity of your life; for of those things that fall under the eyes, nothing is altered, 9.238 the features of the body remain unchanged and the formation of the visible nature is not altered, but there is every need of some clear proof, through which we may recognize the newborn man, distinguishing the new from the old by some manifest signs. And I think these happen to be the movements according to the purpose of the soul, from which, separating herself from the old custom, and cutting a newer path of life, she will teach her acquaintances clearly, how one person has become another, dragging along no distinguishing mark of the old wickedness. And this is the manner of the transformation, if you, being persuaded by me, will keep my word as law: the man before baptism was licentious, greedy, a plunderer of others' property, a reviler, a slanderer, and anything similar and consequent to these. Let him now become orderly, self-controlled, content with his own things and from these sharing with those in poverty, a lover of truth, respectful, affable, practicing simply every praiseworthy action; for as darkness is dissolved by the light and black vanishes when whiteness is painted over it, so also the old man, being adorned with the works of righteousness, vanishes. You see how Zacchaeus also killed the tax collector by the change of his life, restoring a fourfold payment to those who were unjustly harmed, and he divided among the poor the remainder, which he had previously wickedly hoarded from the oppressed poor. Matthew the evangelist, another tax collector, a fellow craftsman of Zacchaeus, immediately after his calling changed his life as if it were a mask. Paul a persecutor, but after the grace an apostle, bearing heavy chains for Christ's sake for a defense and repentance for the unjust bonds which he 9.239 once received from the law and bore against the gospels. Such ought the regeneration to be, thus to wipe out the habit toward sin, thus the sons of God ought to live; for we hear that we are his children after the grace. And for this reason it is fitting accurately

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εὐαγγελίοις ὁ κύριος· Ἐάν τις διψᾷ, ἐρχέσθω πρός με καὶ πινέτω, καὶ πρὸς τὴν Σαμαρῖ τιν· Πᾶς ὁ πίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος τούτου διψήσει πάλιν, ὃς δ' ἂν πίῃ ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος οὗ ἐγὼ δώσω αὐτῷ, οὐ μὴ διψήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. καὶ ἡ τιμὴ δὲ τοῦ Καρμήλου δίδοται τῇ ψυχῇ τῇ ἐχούσῃ τὴν ὁμοίωσιν πρὸς τὴν ἔρημον, τουτέστιν ἡ διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος χάρις. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ Ἠλίας μὲν ᾤκει τὸν Κάρμηλον 9.237 (ὀνομαστὸν δὲ τὸ ὄρος ἐγένετο διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἐποικοῦντος ἀρετὴν καὶ ἀοίδιμον) ὁ δέ γε Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστὴς ἐν τῷ πνεύματι Ἠλίου διαλάμπων τὸν Ἰορδάνην ἡγίαζε, διὰ τοῦτο ὁ προφήτης ἐθέσπιζε τὴν τιμὴν τοῦ Καρμήλου τῷ ποταμῷ δοθήσεσθαι. καὶ τὴν δόξαν δὲ τοῦ Λιβάνου ἐκ τῆς παραβολῆς τῶν ὑψηλῶν δένδρων ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν μετήνεγκεν· ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ὁ Λίβανος ἱκανὴν ἔχει θαύματος ἀφορμὴν αὐτὰ τὰ δένδρα, ἃ φύει καὶ τρέφει, οὕτως ὁ Ἰορδάνης δοξάζεται ἀνθρώπους ἀναγεννῶν καὶ φυτεύων ἐν τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ παραδείσῳ, ὧν κατὰ τὴν ψαλμικὴν φωνὴν ἀνθούντων ἀεὶ καὶ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς κομώντων τὸ μὲν φύλλον οὐκ ἀπορρυήσεται, τὸν δὲ καρπὸν ἐν καιρῷ δεξάμενος ὁ θεὸς εὐφρανθήσεται ὡς ἀγαθὸς φυτοκόμος τοῖς ἰδίοις ἔργοις ἐπαγαλλόμενος. ὁ δὲ θεσπέσιος ∆αβὶδ καὶ τὴν φωνὴν προφητεύων, ἣν ἐξ οὐρανῶν ὁ πατὴρ ἐπαφῆκε τῷ υἱῷ βαπτιζομένῳ, ἵνα πρὸς τὸ φυσικὸν τῆς θεότητος ἀξίωμα τοὺς ἀκούοντας ὁδηγήσῃ πρὸς τὴν αἰσθητὴν τέως τὴν κατὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον εὐτέλειαν βλέποντας, ἐνέγραψεν ἐκεῖνο τῇ βίβλῳ τό· Φωνὴ κυρίου ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων, φωνὴ κυρίου ἐν μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ. ἀλλὰ τὰς μὲν ἐκ τῶν θείων γραφῶν μαρτυρίας μέχρι τούτου παυστέον· χωρήσοι γὰρ ὁ λόγος εἰς ἄπειρον, εἴ τις βουληθῇ τὰ καθέκαστον ἐκλέγων ἑνὶ παραθέσθαι βιβλίῳ.

Ὑμεῖς δὲ πάντες, ὅσοι τῷ δώρῳ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας ἐγκαλλωπίζεσθε καὶ καύχημα φέρετε ἀνακαινισμὸν τὸν σωτήριον, δείξατέ μοι μετὰ τὴν μυστικὴν χάριν τὴν τῶν τρόπων ἐναλλαγὴν καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μετακοσμήσεως τὴν διαφορὰν τῇ καθαρότητι τῆς πολιτείας γνωρίσατε· τῶν μὲν γὰρ ὑποπιπτόντων τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς οὐδὲν ἀλλοιοῦται, οἱ 9.238 δὲ τοῦ σώματος χαρακτῆρες μένουσιν ἀμετάβλητοι καὶ ἡ τῆς ὁρωμένης φύσεως διάπλασις οὐκ ἀμείβεται, χρεία δὲ πάντως τινὸς ἐναργοῦς ἀποδείξεως, δι' ἧς ἐπιγνωσόμεθα τὸν ἀρτίτοκον ἄνθρωπον συμβόλοις τισὶ φανεροῖς τὸν νέον ἀπὸ τοῦ παλαιοῦ διακρίνοντες. ταῦτα δὲ οἶμαι τυγχάνειν τὰ κατὰ πρόθεσιν τῆς ψυχῆς κινήματα, ἀφ' ὧν ἑαυτὴν χωρίζουσα τῆς παλαιᾶς συνηθείας, νεωτέραν δὲ τέμνουσα τῆς πολιτείας ὁδὸν διδάξει σαφῶς τοὺς γνωρίμους, ὡς ἄλλη τις ἐξ ἄλλης γεγένηται οὐθὲν τῆς παλαιᾶς κακίας ἐφελκομένη γνώρισμα. ἔστι δὲ οὗτος τῆς μεταποιήσεως ὁ τρόπος, ἄν μοι πεισθέντες τὸν λόγον ὡς νόμον φυλάξητε· ἦν ὁ πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἄνθρωπος ἀκόλαστος, πλεονέκτης, ἅρπαξ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων, λοίδορος, συκοφάντης καὶ εἴ τι τούτοις ὅμοιον καὶ ἀκόλουθον. γενέσθω νῦν κόσμιος, σώφρων, ἀρκούμενος τοῖς ἰδίοις καὶ ἐκ τούτων τοῖς ἐν πενίᾳ μεταδιδούς, φιλαλήθης, τιμητικός, εὐπροσήγορος, πᾶσαν ἁπλῶς ἐπαινουμένην πρᾶξιν ἀσκῶν· ὡς γὰρ τῷ φωτὶ τὸ σκότος λύεται καὶ ἀφανίζεται τὸ μέλαν ἐπιχρωσθείσης λευκότητος, οὕτω καὶ ὁ παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος τοῖς τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἔργοις ἐπικοσμηθεὶς ἀφανίζε ται. ὁρᾷς ὅπως καὶ ὁ Ζακχαῖος τῇ μεταβολῇ τοῦ βίου τὸν τελώνην ἀπέκτεινε πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ζημιωθέντας ἀδίκως τετραπλῆν ἐπανάγων τὴν ἀπόδοσιν, ἐμέρισε δὲ τοῖς πτωχοῖς τὰ κατάλοιπα, ἃ πρότερον παρὰ τῶν πτωχῶν θλιβομένων κακῶς ἐθησαύρισεν. εὐαγγελιστὴς ὁ Ματθαῖος, ἄλλος τελώνης, ὁμότεχνος τοῦ Ζακχαίου εὐθέως μετὰ τὴν κλῆσιν ὥσπερ τι προσωπεῖον ἤμειψε τὸν βίον. διώκτης ὁ Παῦλος, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τὴν χάριν ἀπόστολος βαρείας φέρων τὰς ἁλύσεις ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἀπολογίαν καὶ μετάνοιαν τῶν ἀδίκων δεσμῶν, ἃ παρὰ τοῦ 9.239 νόμου ποτὲ λαβὼν κατὰ τῶν εὐαγγελίων ἐβάσταζε. τοιαύτην προσῆκεν εἶναι τὴν ἀναγέννησιν, οὕτως ἐξαλείφειν τὴν πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν συνήθειαν, οὕτω πολιτεύεσθαι τοὺς υἱοὺς τοῦ θεοῦ· τέκνα γὰρ ἐκείνου μετὰ τὴν χάριν ἀκούομεν. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προσῆκεν ἀκριβῶς