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I remain completely speechless, being altogether unable to tell or explain to anyone the glory of Christ our God, which he grants to those who seek with their whole soul. But oh, my astonishment and the greatness of God's gifts, that leaving the wise things of the world and the strong and the rich, he has chosen the weak things of this world and the foolish and poor, through his great and ineffable goodness. And who is able to give thanks worthily for this alone (32)? For almost all people loathe the weak and the poor, and an earthly king does not tolerate seeing them, rulers turn away, the rich disdain them and pass by when they meet them as if they were nothing, and no one considers it blessed to associate with them; but God, who is served by myriads and countless powers, who upholds all things by the word of his power, who has a magnificence intolerable to all, did not refuse to become both Father and friend and brother of these rejected ones, but also willed to be incarnate, so that he might become like us in all things, without sin, and make us partakers of his glory and of his kingdom. O, the riches of his great goodness! O, the ineffable condescension of our Lord and God!

Why do we not run, brothers, to the merciful God who has so loved us? Why do we not give our souls over to death for the sake of Christ and God who died for us? Why are we cowardly and why do we dread the departure from the body? For will Hades receive or hold the souls of those who have hoped in Christ? For does death have authority over the souls sealed by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit and by the blood of Christ? Does the spiritual wolf dare to look upon the seal of the chief shepherd Christ, with which he seals his own sheep? Certainly not, faithful and God-minded brothers. Therefore, all who are unsealed, run; all who are unmarked, (33) hasten to be marked with the sign of the Spirit. And who is the unsealed? The one who dreads death. Who is the unmarked? The one who does not know precisely the form of the seal; for the one who has learned the divine imprint, taking courage in faith, possesses a hope that does not disappoint. Let us therefore seek Christ, whom we put on through divine baptism, and whom we have put off through wicked deeds, since having been sanctified without awareness while still infants both in mind and in age, we defiled ourselves in our youth, not to mention that with every transgression of the commandments we defile our souls and our bodies. For this reason, then, let us recall ourselves again through saving repentance, doing and practicing all things that are well-pleasing to Christ, so that, having been sealed by him, we may live fearlessly for the rest of our lives; and not only this, but also that we might receive mercy from his hand and be deemed worthy to become worthy of the knowledge of the mysteries of Christ, and I speak of a knowledge not delivered in word and hearing alone, but one contemplated in deed and action. How then is the knowledge of the mysteries of Christ contemplated in us in deed and action? Pay attention.

Our Christ and God thus cries out explicitly every day through his gospel: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Hearing this, then, we ought to consider and examine ourselves precisely, whether we are truly so poor as for the kingdom of heaven to be ours to such a degree that we have sure possession of it in the perception of our soul, and possess its wealth to such an extent that we perceive ourselves to be within it without doubt and, delighting in the (34) good things there, to rejoice. For the same Lord declared that this is within us; and the signs and proofs of someone's being within it are that such a person desires none of the visible and corruptible things, I mean the possessions and pleasures of this world, not wealth, not glory, not luxury, not any other enjoyment of life or of the body, but so

9

μένω παντάπασιν ἄφωνος, εἰπεῖν ἤ ἐξηγήσασθαί τινι τήν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καί Θεοῦ ἡμῶν δόξαν, ἥν τοῖς ἐξ ὅλης ζητοῦσι ψυχῆς χαρίζεται, μηδόλως δυνάμενος. Ἀλλ᾿ ὤ τῆς ἐμῆς ἐκπλήξεως καί τῆς μεγαλωσύνης τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεῶν, ὅτι τά σοφά τοῦ κόσμου καί τά ἰσχυρά καί τά πλούσια λιπών, τά ἀσθενῆ τούτου καί τά μωρά καί πτωχά ἐξελέξατο διά πολλήν καί ἄφατον ἀγαθότητα. Καί τίς ἱκανός ὑπέρ μόνου τούτου (32) ἀξίως εὐχαριστῆσαι; Ἄνθρωποι μέν γάρ ἅπαντες σχεδόν τούς ἀσθενεῖς καί πτωχούς ὥσπερ ἀποβδελύσσονται καί βασιλεύς ἐπίγειος τούτους ὁρᾶν οὐκ ἀνέχεται, οἱ ἄρχοντες ἀποστρέφονται, ὑπερορῶσιν οἱ πλούσιοι καί ὡς οὐδέν ὄντας αὐτούς καθυπαντῶντες παρέρχονται, καί τό συναναστρέφεσθαι τούτοις οὐδείς ἡγεῖται μακάριον· ὁ δέ Θεός, ὁ ὑπό μυρίων καί ἀναριθμήτων δυνάμεων λειτουργούμενος, ὁ πάντα φέρων τῷ ῥήματι τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ, ὁ ἔχων ἄστεκτον τοῖς πᾶσι τήν μεγαλοπρέπειαν αὐτοῦ, οὐ παρῃτήσατο γενέσθαι καί πατήρ καί φίλος καί ἀδελφός τῶν ἀπερριμμένων τούτων, ἀλλά καί σαρκωθῆναι ἠθέλησεν, ἵνα ὅμοιος ἡμῖν κατά πάντα χωρίς ἁμαρτίας χρηματίσῃ καί κοινωνούς ἡμᾶς τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ καί τῆς βασιλείας ποιήσηται. Βαβαί τοῦ πλούτου τῆς πολλῆς αὐτοῦ ἀγαθότητος! Βαβαί τῆς ἀφάτου συγκαταβάσεως τοῦ ∆εσπότου ἡμῶν καί Θεοῦ!

Τί οὐ προστρέχομεν, ἀδελφοί, τῷ οὕτως ἡμᾶς ἀγαπήσαντι εὐσπλάχνῳ Θεῷ; Τί τάς ψυχάς ἡμῶν εἰς θάνατον οὐ προδίδομεν ὑπέρ τοῦ δι᾿ ἡμᾶς ἀποθανόντος Χριστοῦ καί Θεοῦ; Τί δειλοί ἐσμεν καί τήν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος δειλαινόμεθα ἔξοδον; Μή γάρ ᾅδης μέλλει λαμβάνειν ἤ κατέχειν τάς ψυχάς τῶν εἰς Χριστόν ἠλπικότων; Μή γάρ θάνατος ἐξουσιάζει τῶν ἐσφραγισμένων ψυχῶν τῇ χάριτι τοῦ Παναγίου Πνεύματος καί τῷ αἵματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ; Μή ἀντιβλέψαι τολμᾷ ὁ νοητός λύκος τῇ τοῦ ἀρχιποίμενος Χριστοῦ σφραγῖδι, ᾗ σφραγίζει τά ἴδια πρόβατα; Οὐμενοῦν, ἀδελφοί πιστοί καί θεόφρονες. Ὅσοι τοίνυν ἀσφράγιστοι, δράμετε· ὅσοι ἀσημείωτοι, (33) σπεύσατε τῷ σημείῳ σημειωθῆναι τοῦ Πνεύματος. Τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ ἀσφράγιστος; Ὁ δειλαινόμενος θάνατον. Τίς ὁ ἀσημείωτος; Ὁ μή ἀκριβῶς τό εἶδος τῆς σφραγῖδος γινώσκων· ὁ γάρ τό θεῖον καταμαθών ἐκτύπωμα, θαρρήσας τῇ πίστει ἐλπίδα ἀκαταίσχυντον κέκτηται. Ζητήσωμεν τοιγαροῦν τόν Χριστόν, ὅν διά τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος ἐνδυθέντες, διά τῶν πονηρῶν ἐξεδύθημεν πράξεων, ἐπειδή ἀναισθήτως ἁγιασθέντες ἔτι νήπιοι ὄντες καί ταῖς φρεσί καί τῇ ἡλικίᾳ, ἑαυτούς ἐμολύναμεν ἐν νεότητι, ἵνα μή λέγω ὅτι καθ᾿ ἑκάστην τῇ τῶν ἐντολῶν παραβάσει μολύνομεν τάς ψυχάς ἡμῶν καί τά σώματα. ∆ιά τοῦτο οὖν πάλιν ἑαυτούς διά τῆς σωτηρίου μετανοίας ἀνακαλεσώμεθα, πάντα ποιοῦντες καί πράττοντες ὅσα Χριστῷ ὑπάρχει εὐάρεστα, ἵνα καί παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ σφραγισθέντες τοῦ λοιποῦ ἄφοβοι βιωσώμεθα· οὐ μόνον δέ ἀλλά καί ἐκ χειρός αὐτοῦ λάβωμεν ἔλεος καί ἄξιοι γενέσθαι ἀξιωθῶμεν τῆς γνώσεως τῶν μυστηρίων Χριστοῦ, γνώσεως δέ λέγω οὐ τῆς ἐν λόγῳ μόνῳ καί ἀκοῇ παραδιδομένης, ἀλλά τῆς ἔργῳ καί πράξει θεωρουμένης. Πῶς οὖν ἔργῳ καί πράξει ἡ γνῶσις ἐν ἡμῖν θεωρεῖται τῶν μυστηρίων Χριστοῦ; Πρόσεχε.

Ὁ Χριστός ἡμῶν καί Θεός οὕτω διαρρήδην βοᾷ καθ᾿ ἑκάστην διά τοῦ εὐαγγελίου αὐτοῦ· "Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοί τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν". Τοῦτο τοίνυν ἡμεῖς ἀκούοντες σκοπεῖν ὀφείλομεν καί ἑαυτούς ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάζειν, εἰ τοιοῦτοι ἀληθῶς πτωχοί ἐσμέν, ὥστε καί ἡμετέραν εἶναι τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν τοσοῦτον, ὡς βεβαίαν ἐν αἰσθήσει ψυχῆς τήν κτῆσιν ἔχειν αὐτῆς, καί ἐπί τοσοῦτον κατέχειν αὐτῆς τόν πλοῦτον, ὡς ἐντός αὐτῆς ἀδιστάκτως ὑπάρχειν αἰσθάνεσθαι καί τοῖς (34) ἐκεῖσε καλοῖς ἐντρυφῶντας εὐφραίνεσθαι. Ἐντός γάρ ἡμῶν εἶναι ταύτην ὁ αὐτός ἀπεφήνατο Κύριος· σημεῖα δέ καί ἀποδείξεις τοῦ ταύτης ἐντός εἶναί τινα, τό μηδέν ἐπιθυμεῖν τόν τοιοῦτον τῶν ὁρωμένων καί φθειρομένων, λέγω δή τῶν πραγμάτων καί τῶν τερπνῶν τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, μή πλούτου, μή δόξης, μή τρυφῆς, μή ἄλλης βιωτικῆς ἤ σωματικῆς ἀπολαύσεως, ἀλλ᾿ οὕτως