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let there be a torrent of tears. But if you have boldness of life, and a readiness for tears, and a contrite heart, even if you do not weep entirely for yourself, lend me a portion of your tears; weep for the sins of your brethren. And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned. Samuel did not sin, but he mourns for Saul who had sinned. Paul is a chosen vessel; but he is in anguish for us. Who is made to stumble, he says, and I do not burn? Do you see that my stumblings break Paul's heart? Nevertheless, may each of us be content to deal with his own sins with tears. Let us imitate the woman; she wets the feet of Jesus with tears, she anoints them with myrrh. With tears, his feet. From where the sins came, from there also the remedies. Have you heard the Lord saying today: Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Since through the glance sin began. Where the root of licentiousness is, there is the fount of healing. And she wiped them with her hair. Did she who bought the myrrh, who prepared the alabaster jar, not have a towel prepared, 59.765 could she not have wet them with tears, and wiped them with a towel? But she does not dare to do this; for wiping with a towel has been reserved for Christ. Perhaps she, also being afraid, made herself more secure; for she does not want the sins to be of the body, but the healings of inanimate things. For what would she have been profited if the inanimate towel, having touched the body of Christ, were sanctified? She innovates upon nature, instead of a towel she wipes with her hair. From where the sins came, from there also the remedies. She sinned with all her members, she heals with all her members. She saw the young man badly; she pours forth fountains of tears; she sinned with whorish kisses and the touch of hands, defiling her soul; she kisses the feet of Christ, that she might wipe clean her lips, and cleanse the filth; she also wipes them with her hair, perhaps by these things also teaching women who lack good taste. For since the braids of hair often weave snares for the young men, for which reason Paul also rightly admonishes to adorn themselves not in braided hair; since therefore she is conscious in her soul that she hunted many young men through her braids, like gazelles through snares, she wishes also through her hair to make a defense for her repentance; and since she often braided it impiously, she once loosed it piously. What then is the prize she receives for these devices? Hearken to the Master's voice: But she loved much, for which reason her many sins are forgiven her. 5. The Master tore up the certificate of debt, and Novatus gathers the torn pieces. Have you ever seen a meddler, gathering a torn up document, and again painstakingly gluing it together, in order to renew the course of false accusation? The Master tore up the certificate of debt, he forgave the debt, the accuser slanders. But let our discussion of Novatus be brief. Imitate the woman, and you will receive the prize of healing. Shall I fear Novatus judging? for is he not the one who is to judge the living and the dead? for will a thirteenth throne for Novatus be set for the judgment with the twelve apostles? Who will give me exactness of repentance, and I will guarantee the love for mankind of Jesus the Master? The name of repentance is not sufficient for you, but works of repentance. If you say, I repent, and again like a dog you return to your own vomit, or again like a sow to wallowing in the mire, the word has not profited, but the mire has choked. But if you wish to repent exactly, be of good courage concerning what has been sinned, only make secure what remains. It is better not even to have the beginning of a wound; but if it should be necessary, rather heal it, rather

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δακρύων γένοιτο χείμαῤῥος. Εἰ δὲ καὶ παῤῥησίαν ἔχεις βίου, καὶ ἐπιτηδειότητα δακρύων, καὶ καρδίαν κατανενυγμένην, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντα ὑπὲρ σαυτοῦ δακρύεις, κἀμοὶ δάνεισον δακρύων μέρος· δάκρυσον ὑπὲρ ἀδελφικῶν ἁμαρτημάτων. Καὶ ὑμεῖς πεφυσιωμένοι ἐστὲ, καὶ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἐπενθήσατε. Οὐχ ἥμαρτε Σαμουὴλ, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ Σαοὺλ ἡμαρτηκότα πενθεῖ. Παῦλός ἐστι σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς· ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται. Τίς σκανδαλίζεται, φησὶ, καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ πυροῦμαι; Ὁρᾷς ὅτι τὰ ἐμὰ σκάνδαλα τὴν Παύλου συντρίβει καρδίαν; Πλὴν ἀλλ' ἕκαστον ἡμῶν γένοιτο τοῖς οἰκείοις ἁμαρτήμασι μετὰ τῶν δακρύων ἀρκέσαι. Μιμησώμεθα τὴν γυναῖκα· δάκρυσι βρέχει τοὺς πόδας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἀλείφει τῷ μύρῳ. ∆άκρυσι τοὺς πόδας. Ὅθεν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ἐκεῖθεν καὶ τὰ ἰάματα. Ἤκουσας τοῦ Κυρίου λέγοντος σήμερον· Ὃς ἂν ἴδῃ γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι, ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἑαυτοῦ. Ἐπειδὴ διὰ τοῦ βλέμματος ἡ ἁμαρτία κατήρξατο. Ὅπου ἡ ῥίζα τῆς ἀκολασίας, ἐκεῖ ἡ πηγὴ τῆς θεραπείας. Καὶ ἐξέμασσε ταῖς θριξίν. Ἆρα ἡ τὸ μύρον ἀγοράσασα, ἡ τὸ ἀλάβαστρον ἑτοιμάσασα, λέντιον οὐκ εἶχε αρεσκευασμένον, 59.765 οὐκ ἠδύνατο βρέξαι μὲν τοῖς δάκρυσιν, ἐκμάξαι δὲ λεντίῳ; Ἀλλ' οὐ τολμᾷ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι· τὸ γὰρ ἐκμάσσειν λεντίῳ Χριστῷ τετήρηται. Τάχα δὲ αὐτὴ καὶ φοβουμένη πλέον ἠσφαλίσατο· οὐ βούλεται γὰρ τὰς μὲν ἁμαρτίας τοῦ σώματος εἶναι, τὰς δὲ θεραπείας ἀψύχων. Τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖτο ἐκείνη εἰ λέντιον ψαῦσαν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ ἄψυχον ἡγιάζετο; Καινοτομεῖ τὴν φύσιν, ἀντὶ λεντίου ταῖς θριξὶν ἐκμάσσει. Ὅθεν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ἐκεῖθεν καὶ τὰ ἰάματα. Πᾶσιν ἥμαρτεν τοῖς μέλεσι, πᾶσι θεραπεύει τοῖς μέλεσιν. Εἶδε κακῶς τὸν νέον· δακρύων προχέει πηγάς· ἥμαρτεν φιλήμασι πορνικοῖς καὶ χειρῶν ἁφῇ τὴν ψυχὴν καταῤῥυπάνασα· καταφιλεῖ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα ἀποσμήξῃ τὰ χείλη, καὶ τὸν ῥύπον καθάρῃ· ἐκμάσσει καὶ ταῖς θριξὶ, τάχα που καὶ διὰ τούτων γυναῖκας ἀπειροκάλους παιδεύουσα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ καὶ τὰ πλέγματα τῶν τριχῶν πολλάκις βρόχους τοῖς νέοις πλέκουσιν διὸ καὶ Παῦλος καλῶς νουθετεῖ κοσμεῖν ἑαυτὰς μὴ ἐν πλέγμασιν· ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν σύνοιδε τῇ ψυχῇ, ὅτι πολλοὺς νέους διὰ τῶν πλεγμάτων, ὥσπερ δορκάδας διὰ βρόχων ἐθήρευσε, βούλεται καὶ διὰ τῶν τριχῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς μετανοίας ἀπολογήσασθαι· καὶ ἐπειδὴ πολλάκις ἔπλεξεν ἀσεβῶς, ἅπαξ ἔλυσεν εὐσεβῶς. Τί οὖν τῶν ἐπινοιῶν τούτων λαμβάνει τὸ γέρας; Ἄκουσον τῆς ∆εσποτικῆς φωνῆς· Αὐτὴ δὲ ἠγάπησε πολὺ, οὗ ἕνεκεν ἀφέωνται αὐτῆς αἱ ἁμαρτίαι αἱ πολλαὶ ἐκεῖναι. εʹ. ∆εσπότης ἔῤῥηξε τὸ χειρόγραφον, καὶ Ναυάτος συνάγει τὰ διαῤῥαγέντα. Εἶδές ποτε φιλοπράγμονα, γραμματεῖον διαῤῥαγὲν συνάγοντα, καὶ πάλιν φιλοπόνως κολλήσαντα, ἵνα τὴν ἀγωγὴν τῆς συκοφαντίας ἀνανεώσῃ; Ὁ ∆εσπότης ἔῤῥηξε τὸ χειρόγραφον, τὸ χρέος ἀφῆκεν, ὁ λογοθέτης συκοφαντεῖ. Ἀλλὰ βραχὺ ἡμῖν ὁ περὶ Ναυάτου λόγος. Μίμησαι τὴν γυναῖκα, καὶ λήψῃ τὸ γέρας τῆς θεραπείας. Μὴ δέδοικα Ναυάτου κρίνοντος; μὴ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ μέλλων κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς; μὴ γὰρ μετὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων τῶν δώδεκα τρὶς καὶ δέκατος θρόνος Ναυάτου εἰς τὴν κρίσιν τεθήσεται; Τίς μοι δώσει τῆς μετανοίας τὴν ἀκρίβειαν, κἀγὼ Ἰησοῦ ∆εσπότου τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἐγγυῶμαι; Οὐκ ἀρκεῖ σοι ὄνομα μετανοίας, ἀλλ' ἔργα μετανοίας. Ἐὰν εἴπῃς, Μετανοῶ, καὶ πάλιν ὡς κύων ἐπὶ τὸν ἴδιον ἔμετον ἐπιστρέψῃς, ἢ πάλιν ὡς ὗς ἐπὶ τὸν κυλισμὸν τοῦ βορβόρου, οὐ τὸ ῥῆμα ὠφέλησεν, ἀλλ' ὁ βόρβορος συνέπνιξεν. Ἐὰν δὲ βουληθῇς ἀκριβῶς μετανοῆσαι, θάῤῥει ὑπὲρ ἡμαρτημένων, μόνον ἀσφάλισαι τὸ λειπόμενον. Βέλτιον μηδὲ σχεῖν ἀρχὴν τραύματος· εἰ δὲ δέοι, μᾶλλον θεράπευσον, μᾶλλον