of the devil, this 793 and this alone might conquer the devil who conquered it. The wise God, therefore, foreknowing again that humanity alone was not able to conquer without divinity, divinity was hidden in the flesh itself, so that the devil, seeing the flesh, and not knowing that divinity is hidden in the flesh itself, might approach and wrestle with Christ, and thus be conquered by the hidden divinity. Which is precisely what happened. For just as a fisherman, wishing to hunt a fish, does not cast a bare hook into the sea, but clothes the hook with a worm from without as bait, and thus throws it into the sea clothed with the worm; and the fish, seeing only the worm, and not knowing that the worm has the hook in its midst, but thinking the worm to be all alone without a hook, being deceived is caught by the hook; so also did Christ do. For wishing to hunt the venomous fish lurking in the infinite waters of the abyss, or rather the great dragon, the devil, He did not offer Himself to the devil in His bare divinity, but as bait the worm, His all-holy flesh, which He put on from the Ever-virgin Mary, the all-holiest earth, without confusion, according to the divine David who says: "I am a worm and not a man," He covered the most holy hook, His world-saving cross, being nailed to it, and wishing through it to conceal His own divinity, by which this venomous and serpent-biting fish, the great dragon devil, who cast out and killed man from paradise, being deceived and caught, was conquered and perished. So that the divinity is in the type of the hook, and the humanity is in the type of the worm. The devil, therefore, seeing from without the humanity and not understanding the divinity hidden within it, was deceived, and approaching the humanity, was caught by the incomparable and unconquerable hook of the divinity; and thus the great dragon devil was conquered. For this reason the Son and Word of God did not come in His bare divinity to hunt the devil, but He put on the flesh, and thus entered. And this is the reason for the Incarnation to happen. And just as the devil himself, wishing once to deceive man and to cast him out of paradise, did not approach Eve in his bare devilishness, but put on the flesh of the serpent, and thus approached and deceived her; for the cunning one knew that if he approached her in his bare devilishness, he would not be able to deceive her; and for this reason he clothed himself with the serpent as with flesh, and through the flesh-bearing serpent he deceived Eve. And the serpent was seen, but the devil was not seen. And through the visible serpent the unseen serpent, the devil, was at work. For two natures in one person then brought about the fall of the first parents. And just as then devilishness and serpent-ness, two natures, were united in one person, and the one nature, that is, the serpent-ness was seen, but the other, namely the devilishness, was not seen, and cast man out of paradise; so 796 also in Christ two natures, divinity and humanity, were united into one person; and the humanity was seen, but the divinity was not seen, and through the visible humanity the unseen divinity was at work, and the man long ago exiled from paradise, these two good natures, I mean divinity and humanity, have now brought back into it again. And this is the reason for which God was incarnate and became man; because to Him belongs glory for endless ages. Amen.

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διαβόλου, αὕτη 793 καὶ μόνη νικήσῃ τὸν νικήσαντα ταύτην διάβολον. Προγινώσκων οὖν πάλιν ὁ σοφὸς Θεὸς, ὅτι οὐκ ἠδύ νατο μόνη ἡ ἀνθρωπότης νικῆσαι χωρὶς τῆς θεότητος, ἐκρύβη ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ σαρκὶ ἡ θεότης, ὅπως ὁ διάβολος, θεωρῶν τὴν σάρκα, καὶ μὴ γινώσκων, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ σαρκὶ ἡ θεότης ἐστὶ κεκρυμμένη, προσέλθῃ καὶ προσπαλαίσῃ τῷ Χριστῷ, καὶ οὕτως νικηθῇ ὑπὸ τῆς κεκρυμμένης θεότητος. Ὅπερ καὶ γέγονεν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἁλιεὺς, βουλόμενος κυνηγῆσαι ἰχθὺν, οὐ γυμνὸν τὸ ἄγκιστρον βάλλει εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, ἀλλ' ἐνδύει ἔξωθεν σκώληκα δόλῳ τὸ ἄγκιστρον, καὶ οὕτως ῥίπτει αὐτὸ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἐνδεδυμένον τὸν σκώληκα· ὁ δὲ ἰχθὺς, θεωρῶν τὸν σκώληκα μόνον, καὶ μὴ γινώσκων, ὅτι σκώληξ μέσον ἐκείνου ἔχει τὸ ἄγκιστρον, ἀλλὰ νομίζων δίχα ἀγκίστρου τὸν σκώληκα εἶναι μονώτατον, πλανώμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγκίστρου κρατεῖται· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἐποίησε. Βου-ληθεὶς γὰρ κυνηγῆσαι τὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀπείροις ὕδασι τῆς ἀβύσσου ἐμφωλευόμενον ἰοβόλον ἰχθὺν, ἢ μᾶλλον μέγαν δράκοντα τὸν διάβολον, οὐ γυμνῇ τῇ θεότητι αὐτοῦ τῷ διαβόλῳ προσέφερε, ἀλλὰ δόλῳ τὸν σκώληκα τὴν παναγίαν αὐτοῦ σάρκα, ἣν ἐκ τῆς Ἀει-παρθένου Μαρίας, τῆς παναγιωτάτης γῆς, δίχα φυρμοῦ ἐνεδύσατο, κατὰ τὸν φάσκοντα θεῖον ∆αβίδ· «Ἐγώ εἰμι σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος,» ἐκάλυψε τὸ ἱερώτατον ἄγκιστρον τὸν κοσμοσωτήριον αὐτοῦ σταυ-ρὸν, ἐν αὐτῷ προσπαγεὶς, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ λαθεῖν βουλη-θεὶς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ θεότητα, ὑφ' οὗ πλανηθεὶς καὶ κρατη-θεὶς ὁ ἰοβόλος καὶ ὀφιοδήκτης οὗτος ἰχθὺς, ὁ μέγας δράκων διάβολος, ὁ τοῦ παραδείσου ἐξώσας καὶ θα-νατώσας τὸν ἄνθρωπον, νικηθεὶς ἀπώλετο. Ὥστε ἡ μὲν θεότης εἰς τύπον τοῦ ἀγκίστρου ἐστὶν, ἡ δὲ ἀνθρωπότης εἰς τύπον τοῦ σκώληκος. Θεωρήσας οὖν ὁ διάβολος ἔξωθεν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον καὶ μὴ νοήσας τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ ἔσωθεν ἐγκεκρυμμένην θεότητα, ἐπλανήθη, καὶ προσελθὼν τῇ ἀνθρωπότητι, ἐκρατήθη ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀνεικάστου καὶ ἀκατανικήτου ἀγκίστρου τῆς θεότητος· καὶ οὕτως ἐνικήθη ὁ μέγας δράκων διάβολος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἦλθεν ὁ Υἱὸς καὶ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ γυμνῇ τῇ αὐτοῦ θεότητι κυνηγῆσαι τὸν διάβολον, ἀλλ' ἐφόρεσε τὴν σάρκα, καὶ οὕτως εἰσῆλθε. Καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία τοῦ γενέσθαι τὴν σάρκωσιν. Καὶ ὥσπερ αὐτὸς ὁ διάβολος, βουληθείς ποτε πλανῆσαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ τοῦ παραδείσου ἐκβαλεῖν, οὐ προσῆλθε τῇ Εὔᾳ γυμνῇ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ διαβολότητι, ἀλλ' ἐφόρεσε σάρκα τὸν ὄφιν, καὶ οὕτως προσῆλθε, καὶ ἐπλάνησεν αὐτήν· ᾔδει γὰρ ὁ δόλιος, ὅτι, εἰ προσέλθῃ αὐτῇ γυμνῇ τῇ διαβολότητι αὐτοῦ, οὐκ ἂν αὐτὴν πλανῆσαι δυνήσεται· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐνεδύθη ὥσπερ σάρκα τὸν ὄφιν, καὶ διὰ τοῦ σαρκοφόρου ὄφεως τὴν Εὔαν ἐπλάνησε. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ὄφις ἐφαί-νετο, ὁ δὲ διάβολος οὐκ ἐφαίνετο. Καὶ διὰ τοῦ φαινο-μένου ὄφεως ἐνήργει ὁ ἀθεώρητος ὄφις διάβολος. ∆ύο γὰρ φύσεις ἐν ἑνὶ προσώπῳ ἀπῆγον τότε ἐπὶ τῶν προπατόρων τὴν ἔκπτωσιν. Καὶ ὥσπερ τότε διαβο-λότης καὶ ὀφιότης δύο φύσεις ἐν ἑνὶ προσώπῳ ἡνώ-θησαν, καὶ ἡ μὲν μία φύσις, ἤγουν ἡ ὀφιότης ἐφαίνετο, ἡ δὲ ἑτέρα, ἤτοι ἡ διαβολότης, οὐκ ἐφαίνετο, καὶ ἐξέβαλε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου· οὕτως 796 καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δύο φύσεις εἰς ἒν πρόσωπον θεότης καὶ ἀνθρωπότης ἡνώθησαν· καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀνθρω-πότης ἐφαίνετο, ἡ δὲ θεότης οὐκ ἐφαίνετο, καὶ διὰ τῆς φαινομένης ἀνθρωπότητος ἡ θεότης ἐνήργει ἡ ἀθεώρητος, καὶ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου πάλαι ἐξ-ορισθέντα ἄνθρωπον, αἱ καλαὶ δύο φύσεις αὗται, ἡ θεότης φημὶ καὶ ἀνθρωπότης, εἰς αὐτὸν πάλιν καὶ νῦν ἐνέβαλον. Καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ αἰτία, δι' ἧς ὁ Θεὸς ἐσαρκώθη καὶ ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος· ὅτι αὐτῷ πρέπει δόξα εἰς ἀπεράντους αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.

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