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he receives and, if I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ. And David arms himself, saying: I spoke before kings and was not ashamed. They have plotted many things against me and they say that I gave communion to some after they had eaten. If I did this, may my name be blotted out from the book of bishops and not be written in the book of the orthodox faith, because I have done no such thing and may Christ cast me out of His kingdom. But if they say this to me once and for all and are contentious, let them depose Paul, who after supper baptized a whole household. Let them also depose the Lord Himself, who after supper gave communion to the apostles. They say that I slept with a woman. And let them strip my body and they will find the deadness of my members.

But they have done all these things out of envy. But it is certainly grievous, brother Cyriacus, that those who exiled us speak freely in the marketplace and a crowd of bodyguards follows them. But remember again the rich man and Lazarus. Which one was afflicted in the present age? And which one enjoyed himself? How did poverty harm that one? Did it not carry him as an athlete and victor to the bosom of Abraham? And how did wealth benefit that one who lived in purple and fine linen? Where are the lictors? Where are the bodyguards? Where are the horses with golden bridles? Where are the parasites and the royal table? Was he not led away bound like a robber into the grave, carrying his soul naked out of the world? And he cries out with an empty voice: Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger and cool my tongue, for I am terribly scorched. Why do you call Abraham father, whose life you did not imitate? He received every man as a guest into his house, but you did not care for a single poor man. Is it not a thing to mourn and weep that, having so much wealth, he was not worthy of a drop of water? For since he did not give a drop to the poor man, he does not receive a drop of water. In the winter he did not sow mercy, the summer came and he did not reap. And this the Master arranged, that He placed the punishment for the impious and the repose for the righteous opposite each other, so that they might see one another and know one another. For then each martyr will recognize his own tyrant, and each tyrant the martyr whom he punished. And the words are not mine. Listen to Wisdom saying: Then the righteous man will stand with great boldness in the presence of those who afflicted him. For just as a traveler walking in the heat, even if he finds a clear spring, burning with thirst and gripped by great hunger, sits down beside a table having all kinds of delicacies, but is prevented by someone more powerful from touching the table, or from enjoying the delicacies, he has extreme pain and punishment, because he sits beside the table and cannot enjoy the foods, so on the day of judgment the impious see the saints rejoicing and cannot enjoy the royal table. For God, wishing to punish Adam, made him work the earth opposite paradise, so that seeing that place from which he came out every hour and day, he might always have pain in his soul. And if we do not meet one another here, yet there no one prevents us from living with one another. And we will see those who exiled us, just as Lazarus saw the rich man and the martyrs their tyrants. Therefore, do not be disheartened, but remember the prophet saying: Do not fear the scorn of men and do not be overcome by their reviling, for like wool they will be eaten by moths. Consider also the Master, how from his very swaddling clothes he was persecuted and cast out into a land of barbarians, he who holds the world, becoming for us a type of not

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λαμβάνει καί, εἰ ἔτι ἀνθρώποις ἤρεσκον, Χριστοῦ δοῦλος οὐκ ἂν ἤμην. Καὶ ὁ ∆αβὶδ καθοπλίζει λέγων· ἐλάλουν ἐναντίον βασιλέων καὶ οὐκ ᾐσχυνόμην. Πολλὰ κατ' ἐμοῦ ἐσκευάσαντο καὶ λέγουσιν ὅτι τινὰς ἐκοινώνησα μετὰ τὸ φαγεῖν αὐτούς. Εἰ τοῦτο ἐποίησα, ἐξαλειφθείη τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐκ τῆς βίβλου τῶν ἐπισκόπων καὶ μὴ γραφήτω ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῆς ὀρθοδόξου πίστεως, ὅτι οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐγὼ ἔπραξα καὶ ἀποβάλοι με Χριστὸς ἐκ τῆς βασιλείας αὑτοῦ. Εἰ δὲ ἅπαξ μοι τοῦτο λέγουσι καὶ φιλονεικοῦσι, καθελέτωσαν τὸν Παῦλον, ὃς μετὰ τὸ δειπνῆσαι ὁλόκληρον οἶκον ἐβάπτισε. Καθελέτωσαν καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Κύριον, ὃς μετὰ τὸ δειπνῆσαι τοῖς ἀποστόλοις τὴν κοινωνίαν ἔδωκε. Λέγουσιν ὅτι μετὰ γυναικὸς ἐκοιμήθην. Καὶ ἀποδυσάτωσάν μου τὸ σῶμα καὶ εὑρήσουσι τὴν νέκρωσιν τῶν μελῶν μου.

Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα διὰ φθόνον πεποιήκασιν. Ἀλλὰ πάντως λυπεῖ, ἀδελφὲ Κυριακέ, ὅτι ἐκεῖνοι οἱ ἡμᾶς ἐξορίσαντες ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς παρρησιάζονται καὶ πλῆθος ἀκολουθεῖ δορυφόρων. Ἀλλὰ πάλιν ὑπομνήσθητι τὸν πλούσιον καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον. Ποῖος μὲν ἐν τῷ νῦν αἰῶνι ἐθλίβη; Ποῖος δὲ ἀπέλαυσε; Τί ἔβλαψεν ἐκεῖνον ἡ πενία; Οὐχὶ ὡς ἀθλητὴν καὶ νικητὴν εἰς τοὺς κόλπους τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἀπήνεγκε; Τί δὲ ὠφέλησεν ἐκεῖνον ὁ πλοῦτος τὸν ἐν πορφύρᾳ καὶ βύσσῳ ἀναγόμενον; Ποῦ οἱ ῥαβδοῦχοι; Ποῦ οἱ δορυφόροι; Ποῦ οἱ χρυσοχαλίνωτοι ἵπποι; Ποῦ οἱ παράσιτοι καὶ ἡ βασιλικὴ τράπεζα; Οὐχὶ ὡς λῃστὴς δεδεμένος ἀπήγετο ἐν τῷ μνήματι γυμνὴν τὴν ψυχὴν περιφέρων ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου; Καὶ κράζει κενῇ τῇ φωνῇ· πάτερ Ἀβραάμ, πέμψον Λάζαρον, ἵνα βρέξῃ τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ δακτύλου αὑτοῦ καὶ καταψύξῃ τὴν γλῶσσάν μου, ὅτι δεινῶς ἀποτηγανίζομαι. Τί πατέρα καλεῖς τὸν Ἀβραάμ, οὗ τὸν βίον οὐκ ἐμιμήσω; Ἐκεῖνος πάντα ἄνθρωπον εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὑτοῦ ἐξένιζε, σὺ δὲ ἑνὸς πτωχοῦ φροντίδα οὐκ ἐποιήσω. Οὐκ ἔστι πενθῆσαι καὶ κλαῦσαι ὅτι τοσοῦτον πλοῦτον ἔχων σταγόνος ὕδατος ἄξιος οὐκ ἐγένετο; Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ σταγόνος οὐ μετέδωκε τῷ πτωχῷ, σταγόνα ὕδατος οὐ λαμβάνει. Τῷ χειμῶνι οὐκ ἔσπειρεν ἔλεος, ἦλθε τὸ θέρος καὶ οὐκ ἐθέρισε. Καὶ τοῦτο τοῦ δεσπότου οἰκονομήσαντος, ὅτι ἐξεναντίας ἐποίησε τὴν κόλασιν τοῖς ἀσεβέσι καὶ τὴν ἀνάπαυσιν τοῖς δικαίοις, ἵνα βλέπωσιν ἀλλήλους καὶ ἀλλήλους γνωρίζωσι. Καὶ γὰρ ἕκαστος τότε μάρτυς τὸν ἴδιον τύραννον ἐπιγνώσεται καὶ ἕκαστος τύραννος τὸν μάρτυρα ὃν ἐκόλασε. Καὶ οὐκ ἐμὰ τὰ ῥήματα. Ἄκουε τῆς σοφίας λεγούσης· τότε ἐν πολλῇ παρρησίᾳ στήσεται ὁ δίκαιος κατὰ πρόσωπον τῶν θλιψάντων αὐτόν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁδοιπόρος ἐν καύματι περιπατῶν, κἂν εὕρῃ καθαρὰν πηγὴν δίψῃ φλεγόμενος καὶ πολλῷ τῷ λιμῷ συνεχόμενος παρακαθέζεται τραπέζῃ ἐχούσῃ παντοδαπὰ ἐδέσματα, παρά τινος δὲ δυνατωτέρου κωλύεται μὴ ἅψασθαι τῆς τραπέζης, μηδὲ ἀπολαῦσαι τῶν ἐδεσμάτων, σφόδρα ἔχει τὴν ὀδύνην καὶ τὴν κόλασιν, ὅτι τῇ τραπέζῃ παρακαθέζεται καὶ τῶν βρωμάτων ἀπολαῦσαι οὐ δύναται, οὕτως ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως βλέπουσι τοὺς ἁγίους εὐφραινομένους οἱ ἀσεβεῖς καὶ τῆς βασιλικῆς τραπέζης ἀπολαῦσαι οὐ δύνανται. Καὶ γὰρ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ὁ Θεὸς κολάσαι βουλόμενος ἐποίησεν αὐτὸν ἐξεναντίας τοῦ παραδείσου ἐργάζεσθαι τὴν γῆν, ἵνα καθ' ἑκάστην ὥραν καὶ ἡμέραν ἐκεῖνο βλέπων τὸ χωρίον, ὅθεν ἐξῆλθεν, ἔχῃ πάντοτε τὴν ὀδύνην ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ὧδε ἀλλήλοις μὴ συντύχωμεν, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖ οὐδεὶς ὁ κωλύων ἡμᾶς μετ' ἀλλήλων διάγειν. Καὶ ὀψόμεθα τοὺς ἐξορίσαντας ἡμᾶς, ὥσπερ ὁ Λάζαρος τὸν πλούσιον καὶ οἱ μάρτυρες τοὺς τυράννους. Μὴ οὖν ἀθύμει, ἀλλὰ μνημόνευε τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· μυκτηρισμὸν ἀνθρώπων μὴ φοβεῖσθε καὶ τῷ φαυλισμῷ αὐτῶν μὴ ἡττᾶσθε, ὥσπερ γὰρ ἔριον ὑπὸ σητὸς οὕτω βρωθήσονται. Κατανόησον δὲ καὶ τὸν δεσπότην, πῶς εὐθὺς ἀπὸ τῶν σπαργάνων ἐδιώκετο καὶ εἰς βαρβάρων γῆν ἀπερρίπτετο, ὁ τὸν κόσμον κατέχων τύπος ἡμῖν γινόμενος τοῦ μὴ