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let us hear him saying, we likewise speak again, and we spend our whole life simply in despair and pain, working greater evils for ourselves than for them, and keeping a perpetual war in our soul. Knowing all these things, therefore, beloved, let us be especially eager to have enmity toward no one; but if some enmity should arise, let us be reconciled on that very day. For if it takes hold of a second and a third day, the third quickly becomes a fourth, and that one a fifth, and it will again give birth to many more days of enmity for us; for the more we put it off, the more we blush with shame. But is it shameful to approach and kiss the one who has wronged you? This, then, is praise, this a crown, this an encomium, this a gain and a treasure holding countless good things; and your enemy himself will accept you, and all those present will praise you, and even if men should bring charges, God will certainly crown you. But if you wait for him to come first and ask for forgiveness, you will not have so great a gain; for he, having acted first, has seized the prize, and transferred the whole blessing to himself; but if you run ahead, you have not been diminished, but you have conquered your anger, you have overcome your passion, you will have shown great wisdom by obeying God, you have made the life hereafter more desirable, you have been delivered from troubles and turmoil. Not only in God's eyes, but also according to man it is precarious and dangerous to have many enemies. And why do I say many? To have even one single enemy is dangerous, just as, then, it is safe and salutary to possess all men as friends. Not so is the income of money, not so are arms and walls and ditches and countless other devices constituted to keep us safe, as is genuine friendship. This is a wall, this is security, this is abundance, this is delight, this will both prepare us to lead the present life with cheerfulness, and will bestow the life to come. Therefore, considering all these things, and reckoning how great is the gain from this matter, let us do and arrange everything, so as to reconcile to ourselves those who are our enemies, and to prevent those who are about to become so, and to make our existing 48.795 friends more secure. For love is the beginning and end of all virtue; may it be that we, genuinely and perpetually enjoying it, may attain to the kingdom of 48.796 heaven, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

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αὐτοῦ λέγοντος ἀκούσωμεν, ὁμοίως φθεγγόμεθα πάλιν, καὶ πάντα ἁπλῶς τὸν βίον ἐν ἀθυμίᾳ καὶ ὀδύνῃ διάγομεν, μείζονα ἑαυτοῖς ἢ ἐκείνοις ἐργαζόμενοι τὸ κακὰ, καὶ διηνεκῆ πόλεμον φυλάττοντες ἐπὶ τῆς ψυχῆς. Ταῦτ' οὖν ἅπαντα εἰδότες, ἀγαπητοὶ, μάλιστα μὲν σπουδάζωμεν πρὸς μηδένα ἀπεχθῶς ἔχειν· εἰ δὲ καὶ γένηταί τις ἀπέχθεια, ἐν αὐτῇ καταλλαττώμεθα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ. Ἂν γὰρ ἐπιλάβηται δευτέρας καὶ τρίτης, γίνεται ταχέως ἡ τρίτη τετάρτη, κἀκείνη πέμπτη, καὶ αὐτὴ πολλῷ πλείους τέξεται πάλιν ἡμέρας ἀπεχθείας ἡμῖν· ὅσῳ γὰρ ἀναβαλλόμεθα, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ἐρυθριῶμεν. Ἀλλ' αἰσχύνη προσελθεῖν, καὶ καταφιλῆσαι τὸν ἠδικηκότα; Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἔπαινος, τοῦτο στέφανος, τοῦτο ἐγκώμιον, τοῦτο κέρδος καὶ θησαυρὸς μυρία ἔχων ἀγαθά· καὶ αὐτός σε ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἀποδέξεται, καὶ οἱ παρόντες ἅπαντες ἐπαινέσονται, κἂν ἄνθρωποι δὲ ἐγκαλέσωσιν, ὁ Θεὸς στεφανώσει πάντως. Ἂν δὲ ἐκεῖνον πρότερον ἀναμείνῃς ἐλθεῖν καὶ συγγνώμην αἰτῆσαι, οὐ τοσοῦτον ἕξεις τὸ κέρδος· ἐκεῖνος γὰρ προλαβὼν τὸ βραβεῖον ἥρπασε, καὶ τὴν εὐλογίαν εἰς ἑαυτὸν μετέστησεν ἅπασαν· ἂν δὲ αὐτὸς προδράμῃς, οὐκ ἠλαττώθης, ἀλλ' ἐνίκησας τὸν θυμὸν, περιεγένου τοῦ πάθους, φιλοσοφίαν ἐπιδείξω πολλὴν ὑπακούσας τῷ Θεῷ, ποθεινότερον τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα κατέστησας βίον, πραγμάτων ἀπηλλάγης καὶ ταραχῆς. Οὐ παρὰ Θεῷ δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον σφαλερὸν καὶ ἐπικίνδυνον ἐχθροὺς ἔχειν πολλούς. Καὶ τί λέγω πολλούς; ἕνα καὶ μόνον ἔχειν ἐχθρὸν ἐπικίνδυνον, ὥσπερ οὖν ἀσφαλὲς καὶ σωτήριον τὸ πάντας κεκτῆσθαι φίλους. Οὐχ οὕτω χρημάτων πρόσοδος, οὐχ οὕτως ὅπλα καὶ τείχη καὶ τάφροι καὶ μυρία ἕτερα μηχανήματα ἡμᾶς ἀσφαλίζεσθαι πέφυκεν, ὡς φιλία γνησία. Τοῦτο τεῖχος, τοῦτο ἀσφάλεια, τοῦτο περιουσία, τοῦτο τρυφὴ, τοῦτο καὶ τὸν παρόντα βίον ἡμᾶς μετ' εὐθυμίας παρασκευάσει διαγαγεῖν, καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν χαριεῖται ζωήν. Ἅπερ οὖν ἅπαντα ἐννοοῦντες, καὶ τὸ κέρδος ὅσον ἀπὸ τοῦ πράγματος λογιζόμενοι, πάντα ποιῶμεν καὶ κατασκευάζωμεν, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ὄντας ἐχθροὺς ἡμῖν καταλλάττειν, καὶ τοὺς μέλλοντας γίνεσθαι κωλύειν, καὶ τῶν φίλων τοὺς 48.795 ὄντας ἀσφαλεστέρους ποιεῖν. Καὶ γὰρ ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος ἀρετῆς ἁπάσης ἡ ἀγάπη· ἧς γένοιτο γνησίως καὶ διηνεκῶς ἀπολαύοντας ἡμᾶς, τῆς βασιλείας τῶν 48.796 οὐρανῶν ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.