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to be called blessed, not those who are always mourning; just as by way of example, in comparing the state of illness, we call blessed those who have been healed, not those who are always being healed. For the prolongation of the cure also indicates the chronicity of the illness. And in another way, too, it seems good to me not to set it down with this meaning alone, as if the Word bestows the blessing upon those who mourn for their sins. For we will find many who have had a blameless life, and have been attested by the divine voice itself for all that is better. For what avarice did John have? What idolatry did Elijah have? What transgression, small or great, in their lives does history know? What then? Will the saying suppose them to be outside of blessedness, those who were neither sick in the first place, nor came to need this medicine, I mean the mourning that comes from repentance? Or would it be absurd to think such men rejected from the divine blessedness, because they neither sinned, nor healed their sin with mourning? Or in this way would sinning be more honorable 44.1224 than living sinlessly, if the grace of the Comforter has been allotted only to those who repent? For, he says, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Therefore, following as far as is possible, as Habakkuk says, Him who sets us upon the high places, let us again seek the meaning contained in what has been said, so that we may learn for what sort of mourning the comfort of the Holy Spirit is set forth. Let us consider, then, in human life, what first is this mourning itself, and on what occasions it occurs. Therefore it is manifest to all that mourning is a gloomy disposition of the soul, occurring upon the deprivation of something desirable; which has no place to occur among those who live in good cheer. For example, someone is prosperous in life, all his affairs flow smoothly with pleasant things, he rejoices in his wife, he exults in his children, he is fortified by the alliance of his brothers, is respected in the marketplace, honored by those in power, feared by his opponents, not despised by his subordinates, accessible to his friends, boasting in wealth, given to pleasure, pleasant, without grief, strong in body; having all things that are considered honorable in this world. Such a person is completely gladdened with cheerfulness by each of the things he possesses. But if some change should touch this prosperity, bringing either a separation from loved ones, or a loss of possessions, or some maiming of bodily well-being from some evil misfortune, then by the removal of what brings cheer, the opposite disposition comes about, which we call mourning. Therefore the definition given of it is true, that mourning is a painful sense of the deprivation of things that bring cheer. If, then, we have understood human mourning, let what is evident become a guide to what is unknown, so that it may become clear what the mourning is that is called blessed, which comfort follows. For if the deprivation of present goods causes mourning here, one would not lament the loss of what is unknown; it is fitting first to know the good itself, what it truly is, and then to understand human nature. For through this it will come about that the blessed mourning is achieved. For it is as with those who live in darkness, when one is born in the gloom, and another, accustomed to the enjoyment of the light outside, becomes shut in by some malice, the present misfortune does not affect them both in the same way (for the one, knowing what he has been deprived of, considers the loss of the light a heavy one; but the other, not having known such a grace at all, will live without grief, considering that he has fallen from no good thing, because of his upbringing in the gloom; and from this, the desire for the enjoyment of the light will lead the one to every device and contrivance to see again that of which he was maliciously deprived; but the other will grow old living in the gloom, judging the present thing to be good for himself, because he has not known the better thing); so also in the case of the present thought, he who has been able to perceive the truly good, then 44.1225 the poverty of human

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μακαρίζεσθαι, οὐ τοὺς εἰσαεὶ πενθοῦντας· ὡς ἐπὶ ὑποδείγματος συγκρίσει τῆς ἐν τῇ νόσῳ διαγωγῆς τοὺς θεραπευθέντας μακαρίζομεν, οὐ τοὺς εἰσαεὶ θεραπευομένους. Ἡ γὰρ παράτασις τῆς θεραπείας, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας διηνεκὲς συν ενδείκνυται. Καὶ ἄλλως δέ μοι δοκεῖ καλῶς ἔχειν μὴ τῷ τοιούτῳ μόνῳ νοήματι τίθεσθαι, ὡς τοῦ Λόγου τοῖς ἐφ' ἁμαρτίαις πενθοῦσιν τὸν μακαρισμὸν νέμον τος. Πολλοὺς γὰρ εὑρήσομεν ἀκατηγόρητον ἐσχηκό τας τὸν βίον, καὶ ὑπ' αὐτῆς τῆς θείας φωνῆς μεμαρ τυρημένον ἐπὶ παντὶ τῷ βελτίονι. Ποία γὰρ πλεον εξία τοῦ Ἰωάννου; ποία εἰδωλολατρεία τοῦ Ἠλίου; Τί μικρὸν ἢ μεῖζον κατὰ τὸν βίον ἐκείνων οἶδεν ἡ ἱστορία πλημμέλημα; Τί οὖν; Ἆρα ἔξω τῆς μακα ριότητος εἶναι ὁ λόγος αὐτοὺς ὑποθήσεται, τοὺς μήτε τὴν ἀρχὴν νενοσηκότας, μήτε τοῦ φαρμάκου τούτου, λέγω δὲ τοῦ ἐκ μετανοίας πένθους, εἰς χρείαν ἐλθόν τας; Ἢ ἄτοπον εἴη τοὺς τοιούτους τῆς θείας μακα ριότητος ἀποβλήτους οἴεσθαι, ὅτι μήτε ἥμαρτον, μήτε πένθει τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἰάσαντο; Ἢ οὕτω γ' ἂν εἴη τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν τοῦ ἀναμαρτήτως ζῇν προτιμότε 44.1224 ρον, εἰ μόνοις τοῖς μετανοοῦσιν ἡ τοῦ Παρακλήτου χάρις ἀποκεκλήρωται; Μακάριοι γὰρ, φησὶν, οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται. Οὐκοῦν ὡς ἔστι δυνατὸν ἑπόμενοι, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀμβα κοὺμ, τῷ ἐπὶ τὰ ὑψηλὰ ἐπιβιβῶντι, πάλιν τὴν ἐγκει μένην διάνοιαν τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἀναζητήσωμεν, ὡς ἂν μάθοιμεν ποίῳ πένθει πρόκειται ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου παράκλησις. Σκοπήσωμεν τοίνυν ἐν τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ ζωῇ, τί ποτε πρῶτον αὐτὸ τὸ πένθος ἐστὶ, καὶ ἐπὶ τίσιν συνίστα. Οὐκοῦν πρόδηλον ἅπασιν τὸ τοιοῦτον, ὅτι πένθος ἐστὶ σκυθρωπὴ διάθεσις τῆς ψυχῆς, ἐπὶ στερήσει τινὸς τῶν καταθυμίων συνισταμένη· ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐν εὐθυμίᾳ διαβιούντων συνίστασθαι χώραν οὐκ ἔχει· οἷον, εὐπραγεῖ τις κατὰ τὸν βίον, πάντα κατὰ ῥοῦν αὐτῷ διὰ τῶν ἡδέων τὰ πράγματα φέρεται, τῇ γαμε τῇ ἐπευφραίνεται, τοῖς παισὶν ἐπαγάλλεται, διὰ τῆς τῶν ἀδελφῶν συμμαχίας ὠχύρωται, σεμνὸς κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν, τίμιος τοῖς δυναστεύουσιν, φοβερὸς τοῖς ἀν τιτεταγμένοις, ἀκαταφρόνητος τοῖς ὑποχειρίοις, φί λοις εὐπρόσιτος, πλούτῳ κομῶν, ἀπολαυστικὸς, ἡδὺς, ἄλυπος, σθεναρὸς τῷ σώματι· πάντα ἔχων, ὅσα τί μια κατὰ τὸν κόσμον τοῦτον εἶναι δοκεῖ· ὁ τοιοῦτος πάντως ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ ἑκάστῳ τῶν παρόντων ἐπιγαν νύμενος. Εἰ δέ τις μεταβολὴ τῆς εὐημερίας ταύτης καθάψαιτο, ἢ διάζευξιν τῶν φιλτάτων, ἢ ζημίαν τῶν προσόντων, ἤ τινα πήρωσιν τῆς σωματικῆς εὐκλη ρίας, ἐκ πονηρᾶς τινος συντυχίας ἐπάγουσα, τότε τῇ ὑπεξαιρέσει τοῦ εὐφραίνοντος, ἡ ἐναντία διάθεσις γίνεται, ἣν πένθος προσαγορεύομεν. Οὐκοῦν ἀληθὴς ὁ ἀποδεδομένος περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγος, ὅτι πένθος ἐστὶν αἴσθησίς τις ἀλγεινὴ τῆς τῶν εὐφραινόντων στερή σεως. Εἰ δὴ νενόηται ἡμῖν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον πένθος, γενέσθω τις ὁδηγία τῶν ἀγνοουμένων τὰ πρόδηλα, ὡς ἂν φανερὸν γένοιτο, τί τὸ μακαριζόμενόν ἐστι πέν θος, ᾧ ἐπακολουθεῖ ἡ παράκλησις. Εἰ γὰρ ἡ τῶν προσόντων ἀγαθῶν στέρησις ἐνταῦθα τὸ πένθος ποιεῖ, οὐκ ἂν δέ τις τοῦ ἀγνοουμένου τὴν ζημίαν ἀπολοφύ ραιτο· γνῶναι προσήκει πρότερον αὐτὸ τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστι κατὰ ἀλήθειαν, εἶθ' οὕτως τὴν ἀνθρω πίνην φύσιν κατανοῆσαι. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο συμβήσεται τὸ μακαριζόμενον πένθος κατορθωθῆναι. Οἷον γάρ ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῶν ἐν σκότῳ βιοτευόντων, ὅταν ὁ μὲν ἐν τεχθῇ τῷ ζόφῳ, ὁ δὲ τῇ ἀπολαύσει τοῦ ἔξω φωτὸς συνειθισμένος, ἐξ ἐπηρείας τινὸς κατάκλειστος γένη, οὐχ ὁμοίως ἀμφοτέρων ἡ τῶν παρόντων καθά πτεται συμφορὰ (ὁ μὲν γὰρ εἰδὼς οὗ ἐστέρηται, βαρεῖαν ποιεῖται τοῦ φωτὸς τὴν ζημίαν· ὁ δὲ μηδὲ ὅλως ἐγνωκὼς τὴν τοιαύτην χάριν, ἀλύπως διαβιώσε, διὰ τὴν τροφίαν τοῦ ζόφου μηδενὸς ἐκπεπτωκέ ναι τῶν ἀγαθῶν λογιζόμενος· ἐκ δὲ τούτου τὸν μὲν ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς τοῦ φωτὸς ἀπολαύσεως, εἰς πᾶσαν ἄξει μηχανὴν καὶ ἐπίνοιαν τοῦ πάλιν ἰδεῖν οὗ ἐξ ἐπηρείας ἀπεστερήθη· ὁ δὲ καταγηράσει τῷ ζόφῳ διαβιῶν, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐγνωκέναι τὸ βέλτιον, ἀγαθὸν ἑαυτῷ τὸ παρὸν κρίνων)· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ προκειμένου νοή ματος, ὁ τὸ ἀληθῶς ἀγαθὸν κατιδεῖν ἰσχύσας, ἔπειτα 44.1225 τὴν πτωχείαν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης