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she was sanctified, having a prophet, and conceiving a priest, and bearing the offering, a living offering. For these reasons God bore with her despondency; for this reason He gave slowly, that He might make her more glorious by the manner of the birth, that He might show her wisdom. For when she began to pray she did not mention her rival, she did not speak of her railings, she did not bring forward the reproaches, she did not say: Avenge me of that defiled and wicked woman; which many women do; but not even mentioning those reproaches, she prayed only for what was profitable to her. This you also do, O man, and when you see an enemy grieving you, do not utter any bitter word to him, nor pray against him who bears ill will toward you; but go in, and bend your knees, and shed tears, beseech God to release the despondency, to quench the grief; which indeed this woman also did, and reaped the greatest benefits from the enemy woman. For that woman cooperated in the birth of the child. And how, I say. Since she reproached, she afflicted, and wrought greater pain, from the pain the prayer became more attentive, the prayer drew God's attention, and made Him assent, and thus Samuel was born. So that, if we are sober, not only will our enemies be unable to harm us at all, but they will also benefit us in the greatest things, making us more earnest in all things, only if we do not turn ourselves to railings and insults, but to prayers 54.642 from the despondency that comes to us from them. And when she had borne the child, she called him Samuel, that is, Heard of God. For since she received him from being heard, and from prayer, and not from nature, she henceforth deposited the memory of the work, as on a bronze pillar, in the name of the child. And she did not say, Let us call him by the name of his father, or his uncle, or his grandfather, or his great-grandfather; but He who gave him, let Him also be honored in the name of the child, she says. Emulate her, O women, let us imitate her, O men, and let us take such care for our children, thus let us raise those who are born, both in all other things, and in the matter of modesty. For one must be earnest and care for nothing so much for the young, as for the sake of modesty and sobriety. For this passion especially troubles those ages; and what we do in the case of lamps, let us also guard in the case of children. Often, at any rate, we exhort a maidservant lighting a lamp not to bring the lamp near where there might be straw, or grass, or any such thing, lest while we are unaware, some spark might fall out, and catching that material, burn down the whole house; let us have this foresight also in the case of children, and let us not lead their sight where there are wanton maidservants, where there are profligate girls, where there are licentious slaves, but let us command, and charge, whether we have such a maidservant, or a neighbor, or simply any other such person, to come neither into sight, nor into conversation with the young, so that a spark falling from there may not ignite the whole soul of the child, and the disaster become inconsolable. Let us lead them away not only from sights, but also from soft and effeminate sounds, so that their soul may not be bewitched through these; nor let us lead them to theaters, nor to banquets and drunkennesses, but let our young people be guarded more than secluded virgins. For nothing is so apt to adorn that age as the crown of modesty, and to come to marriage pure from all wantonness. Thus also their wives would become desirable to them, when the soul has not premeditated fornication, nor is corrupted, when the young man knows only that woman who has been joined to him in marriage. Thus also loves become warmer, and goodwill more genuine, and friendship more precise, when young people proceed to marriage with such guarding. As for what happens now, it is not marriage, but simply a trade of money, and a retail business. For when even before marriage a corrupted

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ἡγιάζετο προφήτην ἔχουσα, καὶ ἱερέα κυοῦσα, καὶ τὸ ἀνάθημα φέρουσα, ἀνάθημα ἔμψυχον. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα ἠνείχετο ἀθυμούσης αὐτῆς ὁ Θεὸς, διὰ τοῦτο βραδέως ἐδίδου, ἵνα λαμπροτέραν αὐτὴν τῷ τρόπῳ τοῦ τόκου ποιήσῃ, ἵνα δείξῃ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν. Καὶ γὰρ εἰς τὴν εὐχὴν καταστᾶσα οὐκ ἐμνήσθη τῆς ἀντιζήλου, οὐκ εἶπεν αὐτῆς τὰς λοιδορίας, οὐκ ἤνεγκεν εἰς μέσον τὰ ὀνείδη, οὐκ εἶπεν· Ἐκδίκησόν με ἐκ τῆς μιαρᾶς καὶ πονηρᾶς γυναικὸς ἐκείνης· ἅπερ πολλαὶ ποιοῦσι γυναῖκες· ἀλλὰ μηδὲ μνησθεῖσα τῶν ὀνειδῶν ἐκείνων, περὶ τῶν αὐτῇ συμφερόντων ηὔχετο μόνον. Τοῦτο καὶ σὺ ποίησον, ἄνθρωπε, καὶ ὅταν ἴδῃς ἐχθρὸν λυποῦντα, πρὸς ἐκεῖνον μὲν μηδὲν ἐκβάλῃς ῥῆμα πικρὸν, μηδὲ εὔξῃ κατ' αὐτοῦ πρὸς σὲ ἀπεχθῶς ἔχοντος· εἰσελθὼν δὲ, καὶ τὰ γόνατα κάμψας, καὶ δάκρυα ἀφεὶς, παρακάλει τὸν Θεὸν λῦσαι τὴν ἀθυμίαν, σβέσαι τὴν λύπην· ὅπερ οὖν καὶ αὕτη πεποίηκε, καὶ τὰ μέγιστα παρὰ τῆς ἐχθρᾶς ἐκαρπώσατο γυναικός. Ἐκείνη γὰρ πρὸς τὸν τόκον τοῦ παιδίου συνέπραξε. Καὶ πῶς, ἐγὼ λέγω. Ἐπειδὴ ὠνείδισεν, ἔθλιψε, καὶ μείζονα τὴν ὀδύνην εἰργάσατο, ἀπὸ τῆς ὀδύνης ἡ εὐχὴ προσεκτικωτέρα γέγονεν, ἡ εὐχὴ τὸν Θεὸν ἐπεσπάσατο, καὶ ἐπινεῦσαι ἐποίησε, καὶ οὕτως ὁ Σαμουὴλ ἐτέχθη. Ὥστε, ἐὰν νήφωμεν, οὐ μόνον ἡμᾶς οἱ ἐχθροὶ οὐδὲν παραβλάψαι δυνήσονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὠφελήσουσι τὰ μέγιστα, πρὸς πάντα ἡμᾶς σπουδαιοτέρους ἐργαζόμενοι, μόνον ἂν μὴ πρὸς λοιδορίας καὶ ὕβρεις, ἀλλὰ πρὸς εὐχὰς ἑαυτοὺς 54.642 ἄγωμεν ἀπὸ τῆς παρ' ἐκείνων ἐγγινομένης ἡμῖν ἀθυμίας. Τεκοῦσα δὲ τὸ παιδίον, ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸ Σαμουὴλ, τουτέστιν, Ἀκούσει Θεοῦ. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ἀκουσθῆναι, καὶ ἐξ εὐχῆς αὐτὸν ἔλαβε, καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ φύσεως, τῆς ἐργασίας τὴν μνήμην, ὥσπερ ἐν στήλῃ χαλκῇ, τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τοῦ παιδίου λοιπὸν ἐναπέθετο. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Καλέσωμεν αὐτὸν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, ἢ τοῦ θείου, ἢ τοῦ πάππου, ἢ τοῦ ἐπιπάππου· ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ δεδωκὼς αὐτὸν, αὐτὸς καὶ τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τοῦ παιδίου τιμάσθω, φησί. Ταύτην ζηλώσατε, γυναῖκες, ταύτην μιμησώμεθα, ἄνδρες, καὶ τοσαύτην περὶ τὰ παιδία ποιώμεθα τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, οὕτως ἐκτρέφωμεν τοὺς τεχθέντας, ἔν τε τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν, ἕν τε τῷ τῆς σωφροσύνης λόγῳ. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω σπουδάζειν χρὴ καὶ φροντίζειν τῶν νέων, ὡς σωφροσύνης ἕνεκεν καὶ σεμνότητος. Τοῦτο γὰρ μάλιστα τὸ πάθος ἐκείναις ἐνοχλεῖ ταῖς ἡλικίαις· καὶ ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν λύχνων ποιοῦμεν, τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν παιδίων φυλάττωμεν. Πολλάκις γοῦν θεραπαινίδι λύχνον ἁπτούσῃ παρακελευόμεθα μὴ παραγαγεῖν τὸν λύχνον, ἔνθα ἂν ᾖ καλάμη, ἢ χόρτος, ἤ τι τῶν τοιούτων, μήποτε ἀγνοούντων ἡμῶν, σπινθήρ τις ἐκπεσὼν, καὶ τῆς ὕλης ἐπιλαβόμενος ἐκείνης, ὁλόκληρον ἐμπρήσῃ τὴν οἰκίαν· ταύτην καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν παιδίων τὴν πρόνοιαν ἔχωμεν, καὶ μὴ παράγωμεν αὐτῶν τὰς ὄψεις, ἔνθα θεραπαινίδες ἀσελγεῖς, ἔνθα κόραι ἄσωτοι, ἔνθα δοῦλαι ἀκόλαστοι, ἀλλὰ κελεύωμεν, καὶ παρεγγυῶμεν, κἂν θεραπαινίδα τοιαύτην ἔχωμεν, κἂν γείτονα, κἂν ἁπλῶς ἑτέραν τινὰ τοιαύτην, μήτε εἰς ὄψιν, μήτε εἰς συνουσίαν λόγων τοῖς νέοις ἔρχεσθαι, ὥστε μὴ σπινθῆρα ἐκεῖθεν ἐκπεσόντα ὁλόκληρον ἀνάψαι τοῦ παιδίου τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ ἀπαραμύθητον γενέσθαι τὴν συμφοράν. Μὴ θεαμάτων δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀκουσμάτων αὐτοὺς μαλθακῶν καὶ διακεκλασμένων ἀπάγωμεν, ἵνα μὴ γοητεύηται διὰ τούτων αὐτοῖς ἡ ψυχή· μηδὲ εἰς θέατρα αὐτοὺς ἀνάγωμεν, μηδὲ εἰς συμπόσια καὶ μέθας, ἀλλὰ τῶν θαλαμευομένων παρθένων μᾶλλον ἡμῖν οἱ νέοι φυλαττέσθωσαν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω τὴν ἡλικίαν ἐκείνην κοσμεῖν πέφυκεν, ὡς ὁ τῆς σωφροσύνης στέφανος, καὶ τὸ πάσης ἀσελγείας καθαρεύοντα πρὸς γάμον ἐλθεῖν. Οὕτω καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες αὐτοῖς γένοιντ' ἂν ποθειναὶ, ὅταν μὴ πορνείαν ἡ ψυχὴ προμεμελετηκυῖα, μηδὲ διεφθαρμένη ᾖ, ὅταν ἐκείνην εἰδὼς ᾖ τὴν γυναῖκα μόνον ὁ νέος τὴν γάμῳ συναφθεῖσαν αὐτῷ. Οὕτω καὶ οἱ ἔρωτες θερμότεροι, καὶ ἡ εὔνοια γνησιωτέρα, καὶ ἡ φιλία ἀκριβεστέρα γίνεται, ὅταν μετὰ τοιαύτης φυλακῆς ἐπὶ τοὺς γάμους οἱ νέοι βαδίζωσιν. Ὡς τά γε νῦν γινόμενα, οὐ γάμος ἐστὶν, ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς χρημάτων ἐμπορία, καὶ καπηλεία. Ὅταν γὰρ καὶ πρὸ τῶν γάμων διεφθαρμένος ὁ