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adorning the marketplace with curtains, but brightening the soul with the garments of virtue, so that in this way we may be able to both receive the grace of the Spirit, and to accept the fruits that come from it. But what is the fruit of the Spirit? Let us hear Paul saying: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit,’ he says, ‘is love, joy, peace.’ See the precision of the word, the sequence of the teaching; he placed love first, and then he mentioned the things that follow; he set down the root, and then he pointed out the fruit; he laid the foundation, and then he brought on the building; he began from the source, and then he came to the rivers. For the occasion for joy cannot enter in before, unless we first consider the well-being of others to be our own, and reckon the good things of our neighbor as our own; and these things could never appear from anything else, unless the tyranny of love prevails. Love is the root and source and mother of all good things. For as a root it sends forth countless branches of virtue, and as a source it brings forth many streams, and as a mother it embraces within its own bosom those who take refuge in it. And indeed the blessed Paul, understanding this, called it the fruit of the Spirit; and elsewhere he bestowed on it such preeminence as to even call it the fulfillment of the law: ‘For the fulfillment of the law,’ he says, ‘is love.’ Moreover, the Lord of all, as a sufficient definition and a trustworthy characteristic for His own disciples to be recognized, set before us none other than that which comes from love, saying: ‘By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ Therefore, I beseech you, let us all take refuge in it, and let us embrace it, and with it let us receive this feast; for where there is love, the defects of the soul are inactive; where there is love, the irrational impulses of the mind have ceased. ‘Love,’ he says, ‘does not behave rudely, is not puffed up, does not behave unseemly.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; where love governs, there is no Cain slaying his brother. Take away the source of envy, and you have taken away the river of all evils; cut off the root, and you have destroyed the fruit along with it.

But I say these things caring more for those who envy than for those who are envied; for they are especially the ones who suffer the greatest losses, and bring great destruction upon themselves; since for those who are envied, being envied is also an occasion for crowns, if they so wish. And see for me how Abel the righteous is sung of, and is proclaimed each day, and the occasion of his slaughter has become for him a starting point for glory. And he, even after his death, speaks boldly through his blood, and with a clear voice accuses the mur50.469 derer; while the other, who supposedly triumphed, received the fruit of his works through the recompense of his works, and went about groaning and trembling on the earth; but the one who was slain and lay upon the earth showed greater boldness after his death. And just as sin made that one, even while living, to live more wretchedly than the dead; so virtue made this one to shine more brightly, even after his death. For this very reason we too, in order that we may acquire greater boldness both here and there, in order that we may reap more joy from the feast, let us strip off all the filthy garments of the soul, especially let us take off the cloak of envy. For even if we should seem to accomplish countless things, we will fall away from all of them, if this bitter and cruel plague troubles us; may it be that we all escape it, and 50.470 especially those who today, through the grace of the font, have put off the old garment of sins, and are able to shine back against the rays of the sun.

You, therefore, I beseech you, who today have been enrolled into the adoption, who have put on this brilliant garment, with all vigilance preserve the brightness in which you now are, walling off the entrance to the devil from every side, so that

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κοσμοῦντες τὴν ἀγορὰν παραπετάσμασιν, ἀλλὰ φαιδρύνοντες τὴν ψυχὴν τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς περιβολαίοις, ἵνα οὕτω δυνηθῶμεν καὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος τὴν χάριν ὑποδέξασθαι, καὶ τοὺς ἐντεῦθεν καρποὺς ἀποδέξασθαι. Τίς δέ ἐστιν ὁ καρπὸς τοῦ Πνεύματος; Ἀκούσωμεν Παύλου λέγοντος· Ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τοῦ Πνεύματος, φησὶν, ἀγάπη, χαρὰ, εἰρήνη. Ὅρα λέξεως ἀκρίβειαν, διδασκαλίας ἀκολουθίαν· προέταξε τὴν ἀγάπην, καὶ τότε τῶν ἑξῆς ἐμνημόνευσεν· ἔθηκε τὴν ῥίζαν, καὶ τότε τὸν καρπὸν ὑπέδειξε· κατέβαλε τὸν θεμέλιον, καὶ τότε τὴν οἰκοδομὴν ἐπήγαγεν· ἀπὸ τῆς πηγῆς ἤρξατο, καὶ τότε ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τοὺς ποταμούς. Οὐδὲ γὰρ πρότερον ἡ τῆς χαρᾶς ἐπεισελθεῖν ὑπόθεσις δύναται, ἂν μὴ πρότερον ἑαυτῶν εἶναι νομίσωμεν τὴν ἑτέρων εὐημερίαν, καὶ οἰκεῖα τὰ τοῦ πλησίον ἀγαθὰ λογισώμεθα· ταῦτα δὲ οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἐξ ἑτέρου φανείη τινὸς, ἂν μὴ τῆς ἀγάπης ὑπερβάλῃ ἡ τυραννίς. Ἡ ἀγάπη ῥίζα καὶ πηγὴ καὶ μήτηρ ἐστὶν ἁπάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Καὶ γὰρ ὡς ῥίζα μυρίους τοὺς κλάδους τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀναδίδωσι, καὶ ὡς πηγὴ πολλὰ τίκτει τὰ νάματα, καὶ ὡς μήτηρ εἴσω τῶν ἑαυτῆς κόλπων περισφίγγει τοὺς εἰς αὐτὴν καταφεύγοντας. Ὃ δὴ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος συνιδὼν, καρπὸν αὐτὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐκάλεσεν· ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ τοσοῦτον αὐτῇ τὸ προτέρημα ἐχαρίσατο, ὡς καὶ πλήρωμα αὐτὴν τοῦ νόμου προσειπεῖν· Πλήρωμα γὰρ νόμου, φησὶν, ἡ ἀγάπη. Ὁ μέντοι τῶν ἁπάντων ∆εσπότης καὶ ὅρον ἀρκοῦντα καὶ χαρακτῆρα ἀξιόπιστον, εἰς τὸ φανῆναι τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς, οὐχ ἕτερόν τινα, ἢ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης ἡμῖν προεβάλετο εἰπών· Ἐν τούτῳ γνώσονται πάντες ὅτι ἐμοὶ μαθηταί ἐστε, ἐὰν ἀγάπην ἔχητε ἐν ἀλλήλοις. ∆ιὸ, παρακαλῶ, ἐπ' αὐτὴν καταφύγωμεν ἅπαντες, καὶ ταύτῃ περιπλακῶμεν, καὶ μετ' αὐτῆς τὴν ἑορτὴν ταύτην ὑποδεξώμεθα· ὅπου γὰρ ἀγάπη, ἀργεῖ τῆς ψυχῆς τὰ ἐλαττώματα· ὅπου ἀγάπη, τὰ ἄλογα τῆς διανοίας σκιρτήματα πέπαυται. Ἡ ἀγάπη, φησὶν, οὐ περπερεύεται, οὐ φυσιοῦται, οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ. Ἡ ἀγάπη τῷ πλησίον κακὸν οὐκ ἐργάζεται· ὅπου ἀγάπη πολιτεύεται, οὐδαμοῦ Κάϊν φονεύων τὸν ἀδελφόν. Ἄνελε τοῦ φθόνου τὴν πηγὴν, καὶ ἀνεῖλες τῶν κακῶν ἁπάντων τὸν ποταμόν· ἀπότεμε τὴν ῥίζαν, καὶ συνανεῖλες τὸν καρπόν.

Ταῦτα δὲ λέγω τῶν φθονούντων κηδόμενος μᾶλλον ἢ τῶν φθονουμένων· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι μάλιστά εἰσιν οἱ τὰ μέγιστα ζημιούμενοι, καὶ πολὺν ἑαυτοῖς τὸν ὄλεθρον ἐπάγοντες· ἐπεί γε ὅτι τοῖς φθονουμένοις καὶ στεφάνων ὑπόθεσίς ἐστιν, εἰ βούλοιντο, τὸ φθονεῖσθαι. Καὶ ὅρα μοι πῶς Ἄβελ ὁ δίκαιος ᾄδεται, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἀνακηρύττεται τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ ἡ τῆς σφαγῆς ὑπόθεσις εὐδοξίας αὐτῷ γέγονεν ἀφορμή. Καὶ ὁ μὲν καὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν διὰ τοῦ αἵματος παῤῥησιάζεται, καὶ λαμπρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ κατηγορεῖ τοῦ μιαι50.469 φόνου· ὁ δὲ δῆθεν περιγενόμενος τὸν καρπὸν τῶν ἔργων διὰ τῆς ἀντιδόσεως τῶν ἔργων ἀπέλαβε, καὶ στένων καὶ τρέμων διῆγεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ὁ δὲ ἀνῃρημένος καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κείμενος μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν πλείονα τὴν παῤῥησίαν ἐπεδείκνυτο. Καὶ καθάπερ ἐκεῖνον ἡ ἁμαρτία καὶ ζῶντα τῶν νεκρῶν ἀθλιώτερον διάγειν παρεσκεύασεν· οὕτω τοῦτον ἡ ἀρετὴ, καὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν πλέον διαλάμπειν ἐποίησε. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἵνα μείζονα καὶ ἐνταῦθα κἀκεῖ τὴν παῤῥησίαν κτησώμεθα, ἵνα πλείονα τὴν εὐφροσύνην τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἑορτῆς καρπωσώμεθα, πάντα μὲν τὰ ῥυπαρὰ τῆς ψυχῆς περιέλωμεν ἐνδύματα, μάλιστα τοῦ φθόνου τὸ περιβόλαιον ἀποδυσώμεθα. Κἂν γὰρ μυρία κατορθοῦν δόξωμεν, πάντων ἐκπεσούμεθα, τῆς πικρᾶς ἡμῖν καὶ ὠμῆς ταύτης ἐνοχλούσης λύμης· ἣν πάντας ἡμᾶς διαφυγεῖν γένοιτο, καὶ 50.470 μάλιστα τοὺς τήμερον διὰ τῆς τοῦ λουτροῦ χάριτος, τὸ παλαιὸν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἔνδυμα ἀποθεμένους, καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἡλιακὰς ἀκτῖνας ἀντιλάμπειν δυναμένους.

Ὑμεῖς μὲν οὖν, παρακαλῶ, οἱ σήμερον εἰς τὴν υἱοθεσίαν ἐγγραφέντες, οἱ τὸ λαμπρὸν τοῦτο περιβόλαιον ἐνδυσάμενοι, πάσῃ φυλακῇ τὴν φαιδρότητα ἐν ᾗ νῦν ἐστε διατηρήσατε, πανταχόθεν ἀποτειχίσαντες τῷ διαβόλῳ τὴν εἴσοδον, ἵνα