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embrace; such an embrace always has its time. And since the law is called the left hand, and the mind is called the head, and the evangelical teaching is called the right hand, and the whole Church is called the body, the Bride sang in the Song, saying: His left hand is under my head, and his right hand will embrace me. That is, the law benefits only the mind of the wiser. But the evangelical teaching, with a divine embrace, embraces the whole Church; for this embrace, it is never time to refrain. But in the ark, with dreadful things impending, it was a time to refrain from embracing; wherefore the males entered by themselves, and the women were divided by themselves. But in the exodus from the ark, Noah went out with his wife; for it was a time to embrace. In general, it is a time to refrain from evil, and to cleave to God. "A time to seek, and a time to lose." 93.513 According to its expression, the saying is inverted; for no one seeks what he has not lost. But according to its meaning, he who is in ignorance has a time to seek the truth. And having found it, he ought at the right time to lose the darkness of ignorance. Otherwise: Someone seeks his lost soul, and having found it and recovered from error, he ought, as far as evil is concerned, to die and be lost; and in martyrdom it is a time to lose one's soul, that we may find it. "A time to keep, and a time to cast away." The steward of money knows when to keep money, and when to spend it. But with respect to the mind, it is a time to keep, and not to cast the divine teaching before just anyone; and it is a time to cast away, when the hearers are well-disposed. For you ought, he says, to have put my money with the bankers, but not to give what is holy to the dogs, nor to cast your pearls before swine. Otherwise: A time to keep the evangelical commandments; and the same time also to cast away the shadows of the law. "A time to tear, and a time to sew." He who makes peace among those who fight, sews at the right time; but he who casts out of the Church the one who had his father's wife, tore at the right time. Otherwise: He who tears his heart before Christ through repentance, sews himself to the Church of the firstborn. "A time to keep silence, and a time to speak." He who has received the divine lessons in silence and in discipline, when he is deemed worthy to speak, the Lord gives a tongue of instruction in season, to know when he ought to speak a word; then he also speaks in season. For he who is being taught hears from the law: Hear, O Israel, and be silent; but the elder who has prudence will be permitted to speak, hearing: Speak, elder, for it is fitting for you. "A time to love, and a time to hate." The sinful woman, loving the feet of Jesus, that is, loving according to piety, hated completely the path of wickedness, as if it were one and the same time for both. Otherwise: The soul ought always both to love and to hate; to love her own bridegroom, the Word, through deeds, saying: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; and to hate the enemy and sower, the devil. "A time of war, and a time of peace." When one is at war with the spiritual forces of wickedness, he is at peace with God. And in this life it is a time for war against the principalities and powers; and the one who 93.516 conquers, will in the future revel opportunely in the abundance of peace. "What profit has the worker in that for which he labors?" After the things concerning times, he returns again to the human person; and he teaches that he who labors in human affairs has nothing more than the rest, since both pleasant and painful things are common to all, and especially the death that is over all. Therefore, only the wise man has something more. "So I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of men to be troubled withal; he has made everything beautiful in its time." It has already been said that travail is given by God to the sons of men, and not to the wise; so that by being occupied with intermediate, indifferent matters, they may not completely incline towards evil. Therefore all things also

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περιλάβῃ· ἡ τοιαύτη περίληψις ἀεὶ καιρὸν ἔχει. Καὶ τοῦ νόμου δι' ἀριστερᾶς λεγομένου, τοῦ δὲ νοῦ κεφαλῆς ὀνομαζομένου, καὶ τῆς μὲν εὐαγγελικῆς παιδεύσεως δεξιᾶς καλουμένης, σώματος δὲ ὅλης τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὀνομαζομένης, ᾖδε Νύμφη ἐν τῷ Ἄσματι λέγουσα· Εὐώνυμος αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλήν μου, καὶ ἡ δεξιὰ αὐτοῦ περιλήψεταί με. Τουτέστι, ὁ μὲν νόμος τῶν σοφωτέρων μόνον ὠφελεῖ τὸν νοῦν. Ἡ δὲ εὐαγγελικὴ παίδευσις θείᾳ περιλήψει τὴν ὅλην Ἐκκλησίαν περιλαμβάνει· ταύτης τῆς περιλήψεως οὐδέποτε καιρὸς τοῦ μακρυνθῆναι. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς κιβωτοῦ τῶν δεινῶν ἐπικειμένων, καιρὸς ἦν τοῦ μακρύνεσθαι ἀπὸ περιλήψεως· διὸ καὶ οἱ ἄῤῥενες καθ' ἑαυτοὺς εἰσῆλθον, αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες καθ' ἑαυτὰς διαιρεθεῖσαι. Ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐξόδῳ τῇ ἐκ τῆς κιβωτοῦ, μετὰ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐξῆλθεν ὁ Νῶε· καιρὸς γὰρ ἦν περιλήψεως. Καθόλου δὲ, καιρὸς μὲν τοῦ μακρύνεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας, προσκολλᾶσθαι δὲ τῷ Θεῷ. "Καιρὸς τοῦ ζητῆσαι, καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀπολέσαι." 93.513 Κατὰ μὲν τὴν προφορὰν ἀνάπαλιν κεῖται τὸ ῥητόν· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ζητεῖ ὃ μὴ ἀπώλεσε. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν νόησιν, ὁ ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ ὢν, καιρὸν ἔχει τοῦ ζητῆσαι τὸ ἀληθές. Εὐρὼν δὲ τοῦτο, εὐκαίρως ὀφείλει τὸ τῆς ἀγνοίας ἀπολέσαι σκότος. Ἄλλως· Ζητεῖ τις τὴν ἀπολομένην αὐτοῦ ψυχὴν, εὑρὼν δὲ αὐτὴν, καὶ ἀνανήψας ἐκ τῆς πλάνης, ὀφείλει, τὸ ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ κακίᾳ, ἀποθανεῖν καὶ ἀπολέσθαι· ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ μαρτυρίου καιρὸς τοῦ ἀπολέσαι τὴν ψυχὴν, ἵνα εὕρωμεν αὐτήν. "Καιρὸς τοῦ φυλάξαι, καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἐκβαλεῖν." Ὁ μὲν τῶν χρημάτων οἰκονόμος οἷδε πότε μὲν φυλάξει χρήματα, πότε δὲ δαπανήσει. Πρὸς δὲ διάνοιαν, καιρὸς τοῦ φυλάξαι, καὶ μὴ εἰς τοὺς τυχόντας ῥίπτειν τὴν θείαν διδασκαλίαν· καιρὸς δὲ τοῦ ἐκβαλεῖν, ὅταν ἐπιτηδείως ἔχωσιν οἱ ἀκούοντες. Ἔδει γάρ σε, φησὶ, βαλεῖν τὸ ἀργύριόν μου τοῖς τραπεζίταις, μὴ βαλεῖν δὲ τὰ ἅγια τοῖς κυσὶ, μηδὲ τὰς μαργαρίτας ἕμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων. Ἄλλως· Καιρὸς τοῦ φυλάξαι τὰς εὐαγγελικὰς ἐντολάς· αὐτὸς δὲ καιρὸς καὶ τοῦ ἐκβαλεῖν τὰς τοῦ νόμου σκιάς. "Καιρὸς τοῦ ῥῆξαι, καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ῥάψαι." Ὁ τοὺς μαχομένους εἰρηνεύων, ἐν καιρῷ συῤῥάπτει· ὁ δὲ τὸν τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πατρὸς ἐσχηκότα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐκβάλλων, εὐκαίρως ἔῤῥηξε. Ἄλλως· Ὁ διαῤῥήσσων τὴν καρδίαν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ τῆς μετανοίας, συῤῥάπτει ἑαυτὸν τῇ τῶν πρωτοτόκων Ἐκκλησίᾳ. "Καιρὸς τοῦ σιγᾷν, καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ λαλεῖν." Ὁ ἐν σιγῇ καὶ ἐν ἀσκήσει τὰ θεῖα παραδεξάμενος μαθήματα, ὄταν ἀξιωθῇ τοῦ λέγειν, Κύριος γλῶσσαν διαδίδωσι παιδείας ἐν καιρῷ, τοῦ γνῶναι ἡνίκα δεῖ εἰπεῖν λόγον· τότε καὶ ἐν καιρῷ λαλεῖ. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ διδασκόμενος ἀκούεται ἐκ τοῦ νόμου· Ἄκουε Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ σιώπα· ὁ δὲ πρεσβύτερος ὁ ἐσχηκὼς φρόνησιν, ἐπιτραπήσεται τοῦ λαλεῖν, ἀκούων· Λάλει, πρεσβῦτα, πρέπει γάρ σοι. "Καιρὸς τοῦ φιλῆσαι, καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ μισῆσαι." Φιλοῦσα ἡ ἁμαρτωλὸς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοὺς πόδας, τουτέστι κατ' εὐσέβειαν ἀγαπῶσα, πορείαν ὁλοτρόπως τῆ κακίας ἐμίσει, ὡς ἕνα ὄντα τὸν ἀμφοτέρων καιρόν. Ἄλλως· Ἀεὶ ὀφείλει ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ φιλεῖν καὶ μισεῖν· τὸν μὲν ἑαυτῆς νυμφίον φιλεῖν λόγον δι' ἔργων, λέγουσα· Φιλησάτω με ἀπὸ φιλημάτων στόματος αὐτοῦ· μισεῖν δὲ τὸν ἐχθρὸν καὶ ἐπισπορέα διάβολον. "Καιρὸς πολέμου, καὶ καιρὸς εἰρήνης." Ὅταν μάχην ἔχων πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, εἰρηνεύει πρὸς Θεόν. Καὶ ἐν μὲν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ καιρὸς τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ ἐξουσίας· καὶ ὁ 93.516 νικήσας, ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι εὐκαίρως κατατρυφᾷ ἐπὶ πλήθει εἰρήνης. "Τίς περισσεία τοῦ ποιοῦντος ἐν αὐτοῖς οἷς αὐτὸς μοχθεῖ;" Μετὰ τὰ περὶ καιρῶν, πάλιν ἄνεισιν ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον πρόσωπον· καὶ διδάσκει ὅτι ὁ περὶ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα μοχθῶν οὐδὲν πλέον ἔχει τῶν λοιπῶν, τῶν τε ἡδέων καὶ λυπηρῶν κοινῶν πᾶσι τυγχανόντων, καὶ διαφερόντως τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων θανάτου. Μόνος οὖν ὁ σοφὸς ἔχει τὶ περιττόν. "Εἶδον οὖν τὸν περισπασμὸν, ὂν ἔδωκε ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τοῦ περισπᾶσθαι ἐν αὐτῷ· τὰ σύμπαντα ἃ ἐποίησε, καλὰ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτῶν." Ἥδη λέλεκται ὡς τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ οὐχὶ τοῖς σοφοῖς πρὸς Θεοῦ δέδοται ὁ περισπασμός· ἵνα περὶ τὰ μέσα ἀδιάφορα ἐνασχολούμενοι μὴ τελείως εἰς κακίαν ἀποκλίνωσι. Πάντα οὖν καὶ