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immediately he understood and detested the deceit of the demons that was happening for the error of human nature, and he turned to the true God, having considered, through the things that had been done by the servant, 46.920 the ineffable power of the Master. For if the power of the servant is so great, as to move the immovable with a word, and to use a command against the insensible, and to give orders to the inanimate; how great an abundance of power is it likely to perceive in the Master of all, whose will became, as it were, the matter, and the structure, and the power both of the world itself, and of all things in it, and of the things that are above it!

Thence that great one, having begun his heroic deeds against the demons, and leading the temple-warden about like some trophy over the vanquished, having first astounded the nation by his fame, thus now with confidence and boldness he rode into the city, not boasting in chariots and horses, and mules, and in the multitude of his attendants, but being escorted in a circle by virtues, and when all the inhabitants of the town had poured out en masse, as if to witness some new spectacle, and all were eager to see, who that Gregory is, who, being a man, has authority like some king over those who were considered gods among them, by his command bringing and leading the demons wherever he wishes, and from wherever he wants, evicting and settling them as he sees fit, just like slaves, and he brings that attendant, as if having enslaved him under some authority, who had scorned the honor in which he previously was, and had exchanged all his possessions for a life with him.

And with all receiving him with such an opinion before the town, when he came up to them, with all staring intently at him, passing by the people as if they were inanimate matter, turning towards none of those he encountered, and walking straight towards the city, he led them into much greater astonishment, appearing to those who saw him to be greater than his fame. For to be entering a great city for the first time, with no such familiarity previously existing for him, and then not to be daunted by so great a populace gathered for him, but, as if walking through a desert, to look only to himself and to the road, turning toward none of those gathered around him, this seemed to the people to be greater than the miracle-working with the stone. For this reason, although there were few, as has been said in the preceding account, who had accepted the faith before his arrival, as if the whole city were honoring his priesthood, so he entered, thronged from all sides by his escorts. But since he had freed himself at once from everything together, as from some burden, when he took up philosophy, although he had none of the necessities for life, no field, no place, no house, but he himself was everything to himself (or rather, virtue and faith were his fatherland, and hearth, and wealth); so when he was inside the city, and there was no house 46.921 for him to rest in, neither of the Church, nor his own, and those around him were in a commotion, and were at a loss as to how he might be lodged and with whom he might find shelter; "Why these things," the teacher says to them, "as if you were outside the shelter of God, are you at a loss where you should rest your bodies? Does God seem to you to be a small house, if indeed in Him we live and move and have our being? Or are you constrained by the heavenly shelter, and seek another lodging besides this? Let this one house be your earnest concern, each one’s own, which is built up through the virtues, and raised to a height. Let this alone grieve you, lest such a dwelling be unprepared for us; for the enclosures of earthly walls bring no gain to those living in virtue. Rather, the need for walls would reasonably be pursued by those who are defiled by wickedness; because a house often becomes a cover for hidden things of shame. But for those whose life has been devoted to virtue, they do not have the

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εὐθὺς τὴν γινομένην ἐπὶ πλάνῃ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἀπάτην τῶν δαιμόνων ἐνόησέ τε καὶ ἐβδελύξατο, καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν μετετάξατο, διὰ τῶν παρὰ τοῦ δούλου γεγενη 46.920 μένων, τὸ ἄφραστον τῆς τοῦ ∆εσπότου δυνάμεως λο γισάμενος. Εἰ γὰρ τοσαύτη τοῦ δούλου ἡ δύναμις, ὡς ῥήματι κινεῖν τὰ ἀκίνητα, καὶ προστάγματι κεχρῆ σθαι κατὰ τῶν ἀναισθήτων, καὶ τοῖς ἀψύχοις δια κελεύεσθαι· πόσην εἰκός ἐστι περιουσίαν δυνάμεως ἐν τῷ ∆εσπότῃ τοῦ παντὸς κατανοῆσαι, οὗ τὸ θέ λημα, οἷόν τις ὕλη, καὶ κατασκευὴ, καὶ δύναμις αὐ τοῦ τε τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ πάντων, καὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦτον ὄντων, ἐγένετο!

Ἐντεῦθεν ὁ μέγας ἐκεῖνος τῆς κατὰ τῶν δαιμόνων ἀριστείας ἀρξάμενος, καὶ οἷόν τι τρόπαιον κατὰ τῶν νικηθέντων τὸν νεωκόρον περιαγόμενος, προκαταπλήξας τε τῇ φήμῃ τὸ ἔθνος, οὕτως ἤδη μετὰ πεποιθήσεώς τε καὶ παῤῥησίας εἰς τὴν πόλιν εἰσήλαυνεν, οὐχ ἅρμασι καὶ ἵπποις, καὶ ἡμιόνοις, καὶ τῷ πλήθει τῶν παρεπομένων ἐπικομ πάζων, ἀλλὰ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ἐν κύκλῳ δορυφορούμενος, πανδημεὶ δὲ πάντων προχεθέντων τῶν οἰκητόρων τοῦ ἄστεος, ὡς ἐπί τινα καινοῦ θεάματος ἱστορίαν, καὶ πάντων ἰδεῖν προθυμουμένων, τίς ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ὁ Γρηγόριος, ὃς ἄνθρωπος ὢν τῶν νομιζομένων παρ' αὐτοῖς εἶναι θεῶν, καθάπερ τις βασιλεὺς ἐξουσίαν ἔχει, προστάγματι φέρων καὶ ἄγων, ὅπουπερ ἂν ἐθέλοι τὰ δαιμόνια, καὶ ὅθεν ἂν βούληται, πρὸς τὸ δο κοῦν ἐξοικίζων τε καὶ ἐνοικίζων, ὥσπερ τὰ ἀνδρά ποδα, καὶ τὸν θεραπευτὴν ἐκεῖνον φέρει, καθάπερ ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ τινὶ δουλωσάμενος, ὑπεριδόντα μὲν τῆς τιμῆς ἐν ᾗ τὸ πρότερον ἦν, τῶν δὲ προσόντων πάντων τὴν μετ' αὐτοῦ διαγωγὴν ἀλλαξάμενον.

Τοιαύτῃ δὲ γνώμῃ πάντων προσδεχομένων αὐτὸν πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεος, ἐπειδὴ κατ' αὐτοὺς ἐγένετο, πάντων εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἀτενῶς ἀποβλεπόντων, καθάπερ ὕλην ἄψυχον παριὼν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, πρὸς οὐδένα τῶν ἐντυγχα νόντων στρεφόμενος, καὶ κατ' εὐθεῖαν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν βαδίζων, πολὺ μᾶλλον αὐτοὺς εἰς ἔκπληξιν ἤγαγεν, ὑπὲρ τὴν φήμην τοῖς ὁρῶσι φαινόμενος. Τὸ γὰρ πρώ τως εἰσελαύνοντα πόλει μεγάλῃ, μηδεμιᾶς συνηθείας τοσαύτης προϋπαρχούσης αὐτῷ, ἔπειτα μὴ κατα πλαγῆναι δῆμον τοσοῦτον ἐπ' ἐκείνῳ συνειλεγμένον, ἀλλ' οἷον δι' ἐρήμου βαδίζοντα, πρὸς ἑαυτὸν μόνον καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὁδὸν ἀποβλέπειν, πρὸς οὐδένα τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ἐπιστρεφόμενον ἠθροισμένων, τοῦτο ὑπὲρ τὴν ἐν τῷ λίθῳ θαυματοποιίαν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐδόκει. Τούτου χάριν, ὀλιγοστῶν ὄντων, καθὼς ἐν τοῖς φθάσασιν εἴρηται, τῶν πρὸ τῆς ἐπιστασίας αὐτοῦ καταδεξαμέ νων τὴν πίστιν, ὡς πάσης τῆς πόλεως αὐτοῦ τὴν ἱερωσύνην τιμώσης, οὕτως εἰσῄει στενοχωρούμενος ἁπανταχόθεν τοῖς παραπέμπουσιν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντων ὁμοῦ εὐθὺς, ὅτε τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἥπτετο, καθάπερ τινὸς ἄχθους ἑαυτὸν ἠλευθέρωσε, καίπερ ἦν αὐτῷ τῶν πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν ἀναγκαίων οὐδὲν, οὐκ ἀγρὸς, οὐ τόπος, οὐκ οἰκία, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἦν αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ (μᾶλλον δὲ ἡ ἀρετὴ καὶ ἡ πίστις, πατρὶς αὐτῷ ἦν, καὶ ἑστία, καὶ πλοῦτος)· ὡς οὖν τῆς μὲν πόλεως ἐντὸς ἦν, οἶκος δὲ 46.921 αὐτῷ πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν οὐδαμοῦ, οὐ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, οὐκ ἴδιος, θορυβουμένων τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν, καὶ ὅπως ἂν καταχθείη καὶ παρὰ τίνι τὴν σκέπην εὕροι δια πορούντων· Τί ταῦτα, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ διδάσκα λος, ὥσπερ ἔξω τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ σκέπης ὄντες, δια πορεῖτε, ὅπου χρὴ διαναπαῦσαι τὰ σώματα; μι κρὸς ὑμῖν οἶκος εἶναι ὁ Θεὸς δοκεῖ, εἴπερ ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν; Ἢ στενοχωρεῖ σθε τῇ οὐρανίῳ σκέπῃ, καὶ ζητεῖτε παρὰ τοῦτο καταγώγιον ἄλλο; Εἷς οἶκος ὑμῖν ἔστω διὰ σπουδῆς ὁ ἑκάστου ἴδιος, ὁ διὰ τῶν ἀρετῶν οἰ κοδομούμενος, καὶ εἰς ὕψος ἀνατεινόμενος. Τοῦτο λυπείτω μόνον, μὴ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἡμῖν οἰκητήριον ἀπαράσκευον ᾖ· αἱ γὰρ τῶν γηΐνων τοίχων περι βολαὶ τοῖς ἐν ἀρετῇ ζῶσι κέρδος οὐ φέρουσι. Μᾶλλον δ' ἂν εἰκότως ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν κακίᾳ μολυνο μένων ἡ τῶν τοίχων χρεία σπουδάζεται· διότι προκάλυμμα πολλάκις τῶν κρυπτῶν τῆς αἰσχύνης ὁ οἶκος γίνεται. Οἷς δὲ δι' ἀρετῆς ὁ βίος ἐσπού δασται, οὐκ ἔχουσιν οἱ