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to appear most bitter; and no one, neither of the servants, nor of the friends, would then dare to utter a sound concerning matters in this world, even very pressing ones; for all things, getting out of the way, give place to discourses on philosophy, the soul then, through mourning, being instructed as if in some sacred place in the nothingness of human nature, the fleeting nature of the present age, the perishable and unstable nature of the things of this life, the hypocrisy of the stage of events. Then there is great contempt for money, then the destruction of anger, then disregard for ambition, and neither could envy lurk, nor pride rage in one who has been crushed by grief, nor does desire inflame the intemperate, but with all these things banished from there, one thought alone takes up residence, the one that continually holds the image of the deceased; this is both food, and drink, and sleep, and pleasure, and rest, and great comfort; this is glory, and wealth, and power, and luxury.

ιʹ. Thus ought we to mourn the loss of our salvation, to say nothing more; with such longing and eagerness should the eye of the soul of all be fixed there, and her memory and image should be everything to us. But now, those who have lost children and wives occupy their mind with nothing else than imagining those who have been torn from them; but we who have lost the kingdom of heaven think of everything rather than this. And none of them, even if he happens to be of the most royal lineage, is ashamed of the law of mourning; but he even sits on the ground, and will lament bitterly, and will change his clothing, and will undergo all the other things of that penalty with great eagerness; and he will consider neither his upbringing, nor the condition of his body, nor the diseases after these things, which come from that suffering, but will bear everything with great ease. And these things not only men, but also women, even if they are very weak, demonstrate, and even more than these. But we, mourning not for children, nor for wives, but for the loss of a soul, not another's soul, but our own, we make excuses, alleging the weakness of the body 47.410 and the softness of our upbringing. And would that this were the only terrible thing! But now we do not even do those things in which we need no activity of the body. For where, tell me, is there need of bodily strength, when it is necessary to crush the heart, when to pray soberly and alertly, when to consider our sins, when to destroy pride and despair, when to humble our thoughts? For these are the things which also make God merciful to us, and do not require much labor; and we do not even do these things. For neither the wearing of sackcloth, nor shutting oneself up in a small house, nor sitting in darkness, this alone is to mourn, but to continually bring back the memory of one's own evils, and to torment the conscience with these thoughts, to constantly measure the length of the road, how far we are left behind from the kingdom of heaven. And how will this be? he says. How? If we have Gehenna always before our eyes, and the angels then running everywhere, and gathering from the whole world those who are about to be led away into Gehenna; if we consider the fall from the kingdom, how great an evil, even apart from Gehenna. For even if that fire had not been threatened to us, nor eternal punishments awaited us, the mere fact of being alienated from Christ, the gentle and man-loving one, who gave himself up to death for us, and suffered all things, that he might deliver us from that punishment, and reconcile us to his Father when we were enemies by our offenses, even if we were not about to fall from those unspeakable and immortal goods set before us, is greater than any punishment, and sufficient to rouse souls, and to persuade them to be sober always. For if, just by reading the example of the five virgins, whom the lack of oil shut out of the bridechamber, we feel pain equally with them for their evils, and

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πικρότατα φαίνεσθαι· καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν οὔτε τῶν οἰκετῶν, οὔτε τῶν φίλων τολμήσειε τότε ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ, καὶ σφόδρα κατεπειγόντων, ῥῆξαι φωνήν· πάντα γὰρ ἐκποδὼν γινόμενα παραχωρεῖ τοῖς περὶ φιλοσοφίαν λόγοις, τῆς ψυχῆς διὰ τοῦ πένθους τότε καθάπερ ἐν ἱερῷ τινι τόπῳ παιδευομένης τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως τὴν οὐδένειαν, τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος τὸ ἐπίκαιρον, τῶν βιωτικῶν τὸ εὔφθαρτόν τε καὶ ἄστατον, τῆς σκηνῆς τῶν γινομένων τὴν ὑπόκρισιν. Ὑπεροψία χρημάτων τότε πολλὴ, τότε ὀργῆς ἀναίρεσις, τότε ὀλιγωρία φιλοτιμίας, καὶ οὔτε φθόνος ἐμφωλεῦσαι, οὐ τῦφος ἐκβακχεῦσαι τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ πένθους συντριβέντα δύναιτ' ἂν, οὐκ ἐπιθυμία ἐμπίπρησι τὸν ἀκόλαστον, ἀλλὰ πάντων τούτων φυγαδευθέντων ἐκεῖθεν, εἷς μόνος κατοικίζεται λογισμὸς, ὁ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ τετελευτηκότος διακρατῶν συνεχῶς· τοῦτο καὶ σῖτα, καὶ ποτὸς, καὶ ὕπνος, καὶ ἡδονὴ, καὶ ἀνάπαυσις, καὶ παραμυθία πολλή· τοῦτο δόξα, καὶ πλοῦτος, καὶ δυναστεία, καὶ τρυφή.

ιʹ. Οὕτως ἡμᾶς ἐχρῆν τὴν ἀποβολὴν τῆς σωτηρίας τῆς ἡμετέρας πενθεῖν, ἵνα μηδὲν εἴπω πλέον· μετὰ τοσούτου πόθου καὶ προθυμίας ἔδει πάντων ἐκεῖ τετάσθαι τὸ ὄμμα τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ πάντα ἡμῖν τὴν ἐκείνης εἶναι μνήμην καὶ ἀνατύπωσιν. Νῦν δὲ οἱ μὲν παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκας ἀποβαλόντες πρὸς οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἀπασχολοῦσι τὸν νοῦν, ἢ πρὸς τὸ φαντάζεσθαι τοὺς ἀποσπασθέντας αὐτῶν· ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ βασιλείαν ἀπολέσαντες οὐρανῶν, πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ ταύτην διανοούμεθα. Καὶ ἐκείνων μὲν οὐδεὶς, κἂν βασιλικωτάτου τύχῃ γένους, τῷ τοῦ πένθους αἰσχύνεται νόμῳ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπ' ἐδάφους καθιεῖται, καὶ θρηνήσει πικρὸν, καὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα μεταβαλεῖ, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα μετὰ πολλῆς ὑποστήσεται προθυμίας τὰ τῆς τιμωρίας ἐκείνης· καὶ οὔτε ἀνατροφὴν, οὔτε σώματος ἕξιν, οὐ τὰς μετὰ ταῦτα λογιεῖται νόσους, τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς ταλαιπωρίας ἐκείνης, ἀλλὰ μετὰ πολλῆς ἅπαντα οἴσει τῆς εὐκολίας. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὐκ ἄνδρες μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναῖκες, κἂν σφόδρα ἀσθενεῖς ὦσιν, ἐπιδείκνυνται, καὶ τούτων πλείονα. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ παῖδας, οὐ γυναῖκας, ἀλλὰ ψυχῆς ἀπώλειαν πενθοῦντες, ψυχῆς οὐκ ἀλλοτρίας, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας, σκηπτόμεθα προφασιζόμενοι σώματος 47.410 ἀσθένειαν καὶ ἀνατροφῆς ἁπαλότητα. Καὶ εἴθε τοῦτο μόνον ἦν τὸ δεινόν! νῦν δὲ οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνα πράττομεν ἐν οἷς οὐδὲν τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἐνεργείας δεόμεθα. Ποῦ γὰρ, εἰπέ μοι, σωματικῆς χρεία δυνάμεως, ὅταν συντρίψαι δέῃ καρδίαν, ὅταν εὔξασθαι νήφοντα καὶ διεγηγερμένον, ὅταν ἀναλογίσασθαι τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ὅταν καταλῦσαι τῦφον καὶ ἀπόνοιαν, ὅταν ταπεινῶσαι λογισμόν; Ταῦτα γάρ ἐστιν ἃ καὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἵλεων ἡμῖν καθίστησι, καὶ οὐ πολλοῦ δεῖται πόνου· καὶ οὐδὲ ταῦτα πράττομεν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ σάκκου περιβολὴ, οὐδὲ τὸ ἐν οἰκίσκῳ κατακλεῖσαι ἑαυτὸν, οὐδὲ τὸ καθίσαι ἐν σκότῳ, τοῦτο μόνον ἐστὶ τὸ πενθεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸ διαπαντὸς τὴν μνήμην τῶν οἰκείων ἀναστρέφειν κακῶν, καὶ βασανίζειν τὸ συνειδὸς τούτοις τοῖς λογισμοῖς, τὸ συνεχῶς ἀναμετρεῖν τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ μῆκος, ὅσον ἀπολειπόμεθα τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν. Καὶ πῶς τοῦτο ἔσται; φησί. Πῶς; ἂν τὴν γέενναν ἔχωμεν ἀεὶ πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ τοὺς πανταχοῦ τότε διατρέχοντας ἀγγέλους, καὶ συνάγοντας ἐκ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης τοὺς ἐν τῇ γεέννῃ ἀπαχθήσεσθαι μέλλοντας· ἂν τὴν ἔκπτωσιν λογισώμεθα τῆς βασιλείας, ὅσον κακὸν, καὶ τῆς γεέννης χωρίς. Καὶ γὰρ, εἰ μὴ τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο ἠπείλητο ἡμῖν, μηδὲ ἀθάνατοι κολάσεις ἡμᾶς ἔμενον, αὐτὸ μόνον τὸ ἀλλοτριωθῆναι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ πράου καὶ φιλανθρώπου, τοῦ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰς θάνατον, καὶ πάντα παθόντος, ἵνα ἡμᾶς ἐξαιρήσηται τῆς κολάσεως ἐκείνης, καὶ καταλλάξῃ ἡμᾶς τῷ ἑαυτοῦ Πατρὶ ἐχθροὺς ὄντας τοῖς πταίσμασιν, εἰ καὶ μὴ τῶν προκειμένων ἐκείνων ἀνεκλαλήτων ἀγαθῶν καὶ ἀθανάτων ἐκπίπτειν μέλλομεν, πάσης κολάσεως μεῖζόν ἐστι, καὶ ἱκανὸν διεγεῖραι ψυχὰς, καὶ πεῖσαι νήφειν διαπαντός. Εἰ γὰρ ἀναγινώσκοντες μόνον τὸ ὑπόδειγμα τῶν πέντε παρθένων, ἃς ἔξω τοῦ νυμφῶνος ἡ τοῦ ἐλαίου σπάνις ἀπέκλεισεν, ἐξ ἴσης ἐκείναις αὐταῖς ἀλγοῦμεν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐκείνων κακοῖς, καὶ