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on the day of judgment; one must despise nothing as small. For he who despises a thing, it says, will be despised by it. Besides, what sin will one dare to call small, when the Apostle has declared that Through the transgression of the law you dishonor God? And if the sting of death is sin, not this or that sin, but clearly, by its indefiniteness, every sin, merciless is the one who keeps quiet, not the one who reproves; just as he who leaves the venom in one bitten by a venomous creature, not he who 31.1085 removes it. And this one destroys love. For it is written: He who spares the rod, hates his own son; but he who loves disciplines him diligently.

QUESTION 5. How ought one to repent for each sin, and what fruits worthy of repentance ought one to show. RESPONSE. Having taken on the disposition of him who said, I have hated iniquity, and abhorred it. And having done the things said in the sixth psalm, and in many others, and the things testified by the Apostle on behalf of another who had sinned to those who grieved according to God. For behold, he says, this grieving according to God, what earnestness it has produced in you, but what a defense, but what indignation, but what fear, but what longing, but what vindication, but what zeal. In everything you have proved yourselves to be pure in the matter. And having multiplied the opposite good deed many times over, like Zacchaeus.

QUESTION 6. He who confesses repentance in word, but does not correct his sin, who is he. RESPONSE. I reckon it has been written concerning such a one: If your enemy pleads with you with a loud voice, do not be persuaded by him; for there are seven evils in his soul; and elsewhere: As a dog when it returns to its own vomit, and becomes hateful, so is a man who in his own wickedness returns to his own sin.

QUESTION 7. What is the judgment of those who take vengeance on sinners. RESPONSE. Heavier, I think, than that of which it is said, that It is better for him, that a millstone be hung about his neck, and that he be cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. For no longer a rebuke for correction, but vengeance for the confirmation of the sin does the sinner receive, and he urges others to similar passions, so that it applies to the one who takes vengeance, 31.1088 unless he shows fruits worthy of repentance, that which was spoken by the Lord, that If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you. For it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not your whole body be cast into hell.

QUESTION 8. How must one receive the one who genuinely repents. RESPONSE. As the Lord taught, saying, that He calls together his friends and neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost.

QUESTION 9. How should we be disposed toward one who sins unrepentantly. RESPONSE. As the Lord commanded, saying: And if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector; and as the Apostle taught, writing: That you keep away from every brother who is walking in idleness, and not according to the tradition which they received from us.

QUESTION 10. A soul that has suffered much in many sins with what kind of fear and what kind of tears ought it to withdraw from sins; and with what hope and disposition to approach God. RESPONSE. First, it ought to hate its formerly condemned life, and loathing and abhorring the very memory of it; for it is written: I have hated and abhorred iniquity, but I have loved your law; then, to take as a teacher of fear the threat of eternal judgment and punishment, and to know the time of tears as the time of repentance, as David taught in the sixth psalm; having been fully assured of the cleansing of sins through the blood of Christ in the greatness of the

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ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως· οὐδενὸς δεῖ καταφρονεῖν ὡς μικροῦ. Ὁ γὰρ καταφρονῶν πρά γματος. φησὶ, καταφρονηθήσεται ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. Ἄλλως τε ποῖον ἁμάρτημα μικρὸν τολμήσει τις εἰπεῖν, τοῦ Ἀποστόλου ἀποφηναμένου, ὅτι ∆ιὰ τῆς παραβά σεως τοῦ νόμου τὸν Θεὸν ἀτιμάζεις; Εἰ δὲ τὸ κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου ἡ ἁμαρτία, οὐχ ἥδε ἢ ἥδε, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἀδιορίστῳ δηλονότι πᾶσα ἁμαρτία, ἄσπλαγ χνός ἐστιν ὁ ἐφησυχάζων, οὐχ ὁ ἐλέγχων· ὥσπερ ὁ τὸν ἰὸν ἐναφεὶς τῷ δηχθέντι ὑπὸ ἰοβόλου, οὐχ ὁ 31.1085 ἐξαίρων. Καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην δὲ οὗτος καταλύει. Γέγραπται γάρ· Ὃς φείδεται τῆς βακτηρίας, μισεῖ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ υἱόν· ὁ δὲ ἀγαπῶν ἐπιμελῶς παιδεύει.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Εʹ. Πῶς ὀφείλει τις μετανοῆσαι ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ ἁμαρτή ματι, καὶ ποίους ἐπιδείξασθαι καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Τὴν διάθεσιν ἀναλαβὼν τοῦ εἰπόντος, Ἀδικίαν ἐμίσησα, καὶ ἐβδελυξάμην. Καὶ ποιήσας τὰ ἐν τῷ ἕκτῳ ψαλμῷ, καὶ ἐν πολλοῖς ἄλλοις εἰρημένα, καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου ὑπὲρ ἄλλου ἡμαρτηκότος μεμαρτυρημένα τοῖς κατὰ Θεὸν λυπηθεῖσιν. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸ κατὰ Θεὸν λυπηθῆναι, πόσην κατειρ γάσατο ὑμῖν σπουδὴν, ἀλλὰ ἀπολογίαν, ἀλλὰ ἀγανάκτησιν, ἀλλὰ φόβον, ἀλλὰ ἐπιπόθησιν, ἀλλὰ ἐκδίκησιν, ἀλλὰ ζῆλον. Ἐν παντὶ συνεστή σατε ἑαυτοὺς ἁγνοὺς εἶναι ἐν τῷ πράγματι. Καὶ πολυπλασιάσας τὸ ἀντίθετον κατόρθωμα, ὡς ὁ Ζακ χαῖος.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ʹ. Ὁ λόγῳ ὁμολογῶν μετανοεῖν, τὸ δὲ ἁμάρτημα μὴ διορθούμενος, τίς ἐστιν. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Περὶ τοῦ τοιούτου γεγράφθαι λογίζομαι· Ἐάν σου δέηται ὁ ἐχθρὸς μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ, μὴ πει σθῇς αὐτῷ· ἑπτὰ γάρ εἰσι πονηρίαι ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· Ὥσπερ κύων ὅταν ἐπέλθῃ ἐπὶ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἐμετὸν, καὶ μισητὸς γένηται, οὕτως ἄνθρωπος τῇ ἰδίᾳ κακίᾳ ἀναστρέψας ἐπὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίαν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Ζ. Τί τὸ κρῖμα τῶν ἐκδικούντων τοὺς ἁμαρτά νοντας. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Βαρύτερον ἐκείνου οἶμαι, περὶ οὗ εἴρηται, ὅτι Συμφέρει αὐτῷ, ἵνα κρεμασθῇ μύλος ὀνικὸς περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ῥιφῇ εἰς τὴν θά λασσαν, ἢ ἵνα σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τού των. Οὐκέτι γὰρ τὴν ἐπιτίμησιν εἰς διόρθωσιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐκδίκησιν εἰς βεβαίωσιν τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος ὁ ἁμαρτήσας λαμβάνει, καὶ ἄλλους εἰς τὰ ὅμοια πάθη προτρέπει, ὡς ἐφαρμόσαι τῷ ἐκδικοῦντι, 31.1088 εἰ μὴ ἐπιδείξηται καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας, τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου εἰρημένον, ὅτι Ἐὰν ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ὁ δεξιὸς σκανδαλίζῃ σε, ἔξελε αὐτὸν, καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ. Συμφέρει γάρ σοι ἵνα ἀπόληται ἓν τῶν μελῶν σου, καὶ μὴ ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου βληθῇ εἰς τὴν γέενναν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Ηʹ. Τὸν μετανοοῦντα γνησίως πῶς προσδέχεσθαι χρή. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ὡς ὁ Κύριος ἐδίδαξεν, εἰπὼν, ὅτι Συγκαλεῖται τοὺς φίλους καὶ τοὺς γείτονας λέγων· Συγχά ρητέ μοι, ὅτι εὗρον τὸ πρόβατόν μου, τὸ ἀπ ολωλός.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Θʹ. Πρὸς τὸν ἀμετανόητα ἁμαρτάνοντα πῶς διατε θῶμεν. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ὡς ὁ Κύριος προσέταξεν, εἰπών· Ἐὰν δὲ καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας παρακούσῃ, ἔστω σοι ὡς ὁ ἐθνικὸς καὶ ὁ τελώνης· καὶ ὡς ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἐδί δαξε, γράψας· Στέλλεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ παντὸς ἀδελ φοῦ ἀτάκτως περιπατοῦντος, καὶ μὴ κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν ἣν παρέλαβον παρ' ἡμῶν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Ιʹ. Ψυχὴ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις πολλαῖς ταλαιπωρήσασα μετὰ ποταποῦ φόβου καὶ ποταπῶν δακρύων ὀφείλει ἀναχωρῆσαι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων· καὶ μετὰ ποίας ἐλπίδος καὶ διαθέσεως προσελθεῖν τῷ Θεῷ. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Πρῶτον μὲν ὀφείλει μισῆσαι τὸν κατεγνωσμένον ἑαυτῆς πρότερον βίον, καὶ τὴν μνήμην αὐτὴν σικ χαίνουσα καὶ βδελυσσομένη· γέγραπται γάρ· Ἀδικίαν ἐμίσησα καὶ ἐβδελυξάμην, τὸν δὲ νόμον σου ἠγάπησα· ἔπειτα δὲ φόβου μὲν διδάσκαλον λαμβάνειν τὴν ἀπειλὴν τῆς αἰωνίου κρίσεως καὶ κολάσεως, δακρύων δὲ καιρὸν γνωρίζειν τὸν καιρὸν τῆς μετανοίας, ὡς ἐδίδαξεν ὁ ∆αβὶδ ἐν τῷ ἕκτῳ ψαλμῷ· πληροφορηθεῖσα τὸν καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῷ μεγέθει τοῦ