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if he transgresses and apostatizes from the faith, and from the works befitting the faith, he has become an orphan of God, being bereft of His providence. But it is necessary to bring this one back from where he has fallen, with moderate reproof and with fitting words. But also he who does evil things has the devil as his father, from whom having departed he has become a good orphan, and he needs one to guide him by the hand to the true Father, God, wishing to be born again through the Gospel. Let him receive, therefore, the fitting care from those who administer the common affairs. And the widow who is truly a widow, and bereft of all help, and devoted to the service of God; and the soul analogous to her, a widow of the bridegroom, the Word, having gone out to the demons, each ought to receive fitting help accordingly. And you might call a widow also the Church of the Israelites according to the flesh, having put off the yoke of the law, so as no longer to be called an adulteress for having become another husband's, Christ's, whom it is necessary to be justified by us, learning the righteousness of the Gospel. All these things must be present in us before God, not for outward appearance, nor so as to be ravenous wolves within. Nor that someone, according to Jeremiah, "speaks peaceful things with his mouth, and in himself has enmity." Concerning whom, David says: "His words were smoother than oil, and yet they are darts." For even if these should strive to be hidden; but He who dwells in the heavens will laugh at them, and the Lord will mock them, knowing the kidneys and hearts. Wherefore also Paul says: "Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men." But if someone removes wickednesses from before the eyes of the Lord, he becomes a Nathanael, truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile. And such a one, having somehow taken confidence, comes to the tribunal of God. For He deigns through philanthropy towards us to be brought to trial, showing how many good things He has done and how many things He has suffered from us. And yet He grants an amnesty for the aforesaid, and cleanses us who are stained with blood through the 1853 of the bath of regeneration, and promises the kingdom of heaven. To whom we will say, being reproved [here], "What shall I render to the Lord for all the things which He has rendered to me?" And in many places of Scripture we have it that God condescends to judgment with men as an equal." For He Himself says: "The Lord will come into judgment with the elders of the people, and with their rulers." And Micah also says, "Hear the word of the Lord; The Lord said: Arise and plead your case with the mountains, for the Lord has a controversy with His people, and He will reason with His people." For a judgment befitting God is one that is communal rather than tyrannical, giving a place for defenses to those being judged. And these things of Scriptural personification instill in us a concern for the defense that comes from works. For we will not hear something and then speak. But the judgment is among the thoughts accusing or even defending on the day when God will judge the secret things of men. The books spoken of also in Daniel signify this, teaching that the impressions of things that have been done are stirred up in the memory of men, with each one remembering and seeing on account of which we are punished. The reproof, therefore, is not of us being judged by the Master (for He will be justified in His words, and will prevail when He is judged. For no one is clean from filth, nor will he boast that he has a pure heart), but rather of being reproved within ourselves, as "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." And the divine bath, some say is sufficient for whitening us as snow. For they say nothing is hard to wash out when God scrubs it. According to Paul who said: "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." And, "God who justifies, who is he that condemns?" But others say it only cleanses, but that deeds are needed for such great brightness, such as judging the orphan and justifying the widow. But the scarlet of the crimson is redder, whence the one corresponds to snow, and the other to wool. And He has likened sins to a red color, as the crimson stains of our souls. But the one

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παραβὰς ἀποστατήσῃ τῆς πίστεως, καὶ τῶν πρεπόντων ἔργων τῇ πίστει, γέγονε μὲν ὀρφανὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῆς αὐτοῦ προνοίας ἔρημος ὤν. ∆εῖ δὲ τοῦτον ἐπαναγαγεῖν, ὅθεν ἐκπέπτωκεν, ἐπιτιμήσει μετρίᾳ, καὶ λόγοις προσήκουσιν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ τὰ πονηρὰ πράσσων πατέρα ἔχει τὸν διάβολον, οὗπερ ἀποστὰς γέγονεν ὀρφανὸς ἀγαθὸς, καὶ δεῖται τοῦ χειραγωγοῦντος πρὸς τὸν ὄντως Πατέρα Θεὸν, ἀναγεννηθῆναι διὰ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου βουλόμενος. Τυγχανέτω οὖν τῆς προσηκούσης οἰκονομίας παρὰ τῶν τὰ κοινὰ διοικούντων. Καὶ ἡ χήρα δὲ ἡ ὄντως χήρα, καὶ πάσης ἔρημος βοηθείας, καὶ προσκειμένη λειτουργίᾳ Θεοῦ· καὶ ἡ ἀναλόγως ταύτῃ χήρα, τοῦ νυμφίου Λόγου, ψυχὴ ἐκπορευθεῖσα τοῖς δαίμοσιν, τῆς προσηκούσης ἀναλόγως ἑκατέρα βοηθείας ὀφείλει τυχεῖν. Εἴποις δ' ἂν χήραν καὶ τὴν κατὰ σάρκα τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν Ἐκκλησίαν ἀποθεμένην τὸν τοῦ νόμου ζυγὸν, ὥστε μηκέτι μοιχαλίδα χρηματίζειν γενομένην ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ Χριστῷ, ἣν δεῖ παρ' ἡμῶν δικαιοῦσθαι, τὴν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου δικαιοσύνην μανθάνουσαν. Ταῦτα πάντα δεῖ προσεῖναι ἡμῖν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐ κατ' ὀφθαλμοφάνειαν, οὐδ' ὡς ἔνδοθεν εἶναι λύκους ἅρπαγας. Οὐδ' ἵνα τις, κατὰ τὸν Ἱερεμίαν, "Τῷ στόματι λαλῇ εἰρηνικὰ, καὶ ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἔχῃ τὴν ἔχθραν." Περὶ οὗ, φησὶν ὁ ∆αβίδ· "Ἡπαλύνθησαν ὁ λόγοι αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ ἔλαιον, καὶ αὐτοί εἰσι βολίδες." Κἂν γὰρ λανθάνειν οὗτοι σπουδάζοιεν· ἀλλ' ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἐκγελάσεται αὐτοὺς, καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐκμυκτηριεῖ αὐτοὺς, νεφροὺς καὶ καρδίας εἰδώς. ∆ιὸ καὶ Παῦλός φησι· "Προνοούμενοι καλὰ οὐ μόνον ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐνώπιον ἀνθρώπων." Ἐὰν δέ τις ἐξάρῃ τὰς πονηρίας ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν Κυρίου, γίνεται Ναθαναὴλ ἀληθῶς Ἰσραηλίτης, ἐν ᾧ δόλος οὐκ ἔστιν. Ὁ δὲ τοιοῦτος, παῤῥησίαν πως λαβὼν, εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον ἀπαντᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἀξιοῖ γὰρ διὰ φιλανθρωπίαν πρὸς ἡμᾶς διελέγχεσθε, δεικνὺς ὅσα εὐεργετήσας ὅσα πέπονθεν ὑφ' ἡμῶν. Καὶ ὅμως ἀμνηστίαν ποιεῖται τῷ προειρημένῳ, καὶ αἵματι πεφοινιγμένους καθαίρων ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς 1853 τοῦ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας, καὶ βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν ἐπαγγέλλεται. Πρὸς ὃν λέξομεν ἐλεγχόμενοι [ὧδε], "Τί ἀνταποδώσω τῷ Κυρίῳ περὶ πάντων, ὧν ἀνταπέδωκέ μοι;" Πολλαχοῦ δὲ τῆς Γραφῆς ἔχομεν ὡς ὁμοτίμως τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εἰς κρίσιν συγκαταβαίνοντες." Φησὶ γὰρ αὐτός· "Κύριος ἥξει εἰς κρίσιν μετὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων αὐτοῦ." Καὶ Μιχαίας δέ φησιν, "Ἀκούσατε λόγον Κυρίου· Κύριος εἶπεν· Ἀνάστηθι καὶ κρίθητι πρὸς τὰ ὅρη, ὅτι κρίσις τῷ Κυρίῳ πρὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ διελεγχθήσεται." Θεῷ γὰρ πρέπουσα κρίσις ἡ κοινωνικὴ μᾶλλον, ἢ τυραννικὴ, τόπον ἀπολογίαις τοῖς κρινομένοις παρέχουσα. Γραφικῆς δὲ ταῦτα προσωποποιίας μέριμναν ἡμῖν ἐμποιούσης τῆς ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἀπολογίας. Οὐ γὰρ ἀκούσομέν τι καὶ λέξομεν. Ἡ δὲ κρίσις μεταξὺ τῶν λογισμῶν κατηγορούντων, ἢ καὶ ἀπολογουμένων ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, ἐν ᾗ κρινεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὰ κρυπτὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Τοῦτο καὶ παρὰ τῷ ∆ανιὴλ λεγόμενον σημαίνουσι βίβλοι, ἐν τῷ μνημονευτικῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀνακινεῖσθαι διδάσκουσαι τῶν πεπραγμένων τοὺς τύπους, μνημονεύοντος ἑκάστου καὶ βλέποντος δι' ὃ κολαζόμεθα. Ὁ τοίνυν ἔλεγχος οὐχ ὡς κρινομένων ἡμῶν τῷ ∆εσπότῃ (δικαιωθήσεται γὰρ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ νικήσει κρινόμενος. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ καθαρὸς ἀπὸ ῥύπου, οὐδὲ καυχήσεται ἁγνὴν ἔχειν τὴν καρδίαν), ἐλεγχομένων δὲ μᾶλλον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, ὡς "Οὐκ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς." Τὸ δὲ θεῖον λοῦτρον οἱ μέν φασιν ἀρκεῖν πρὸς τὸ λευκαίνειν ἡμᾶς ὡς χιόνα ∆υσέκπλυτον γὰρ οὐδέν φασι Θεοῦ διασμίχοντος. Κατὰ Παῦλον εἰπόντα· "Οὐ δὲ ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν ἡ χάρις." Καὶ, "Θεὸς ὁ δικαιῶν, τίς ὁ κατακρίνων;" Οἱ δέ φασιν καθαίρειν μόνον, πράξεων δὲ χρῆναι πρὸς τὴν τοσαύτην λαμπρότητα, ὁποία ἡ ὀρφανοῦ κρίσις, καὶ χήρας δικαίωσις. Τοῦ δὲ φοινικοῦ τὸ κόκκινόν ἐστιν ἐρυθρότερον, ὅθεν ἀναλογεῖ τὸ μὲν πρὸς χιόνα, τὸ δὲ πρὸς ἔριον. Ἐρυθρῷ δὲ χρώματι τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἀπείκασεν, ὡς φοίνικας τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν. Ἀλλ' ἡ μέν