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Therefore, the one carrying the pitcher of water appropriately meets them first, signifying by himself all those who according to practical philosophy bear on the shoulders of the virtues, as in a pitcher, 14Β_064 the grace of the Spirit which cleanses them of defilements through faith, a grace guarded by the mortification of the body’s earthly members; then after him, a second, the master of the house who shows the furnished upper room, likewise teaching by himself all those who according to contemplation have prepared the height of their own pure and magnanimous intellect, like an upper room, for the reception of the great Word, having furnished it in a manner befitting God with gnostic concepts and doctrines. The house is the disposition according to piety, towards which the practical mind journeys, governing virtue, but the mind illuminated by the divine light of mystical knowledge is master of this, having finally acquired it as its own by nature, and for this reason, together with the practical mind, is deemed worthy of the supernatural presence and banquet of the Savior, the Word.

The man, then, is said to be one and two, since one is written as carrying a pitcher, while the other is proclaimed as the master of the house; one, as I said, perhaps because of the one nature, but two because this nature is divided according to piety into the practical and the contemplative; whom the Word, mixing them again through the Spirit, both calls and makes one.

And if someone should wish to contemplate the things said in relation to each individual person, he has not departed from the truth. For the soul of each person is a city, into which the teachings concerning virtue and knowledge are constantly sent, as disciples of the Word and God. The one carrying the pitcher of water is the steadfast way and reasoning that holds undefiled upon the shoulders of continence the grace of faith given in baptism. The house is the state and disposition of the virtues, built from many and various, like stones, firm and manly habits and reasonings. The upper room is the broad and spacious intellect and aptitude for knowledge, adorned with divine visions of mystical and secret doctrines. The master of the house is the mind that is expanded 14Β_066 by the splendor of the house according to virtue and by the height, beauty, and greatness of knowledge; to which the Word, dwelling with his disciples, that is, with the primary and spiritual concepts concerning nature and time, imparts himself. For the Passover is truly the passage of the Word to the human mind, during which the Word of God, arriving mystically, grants the fullness to all the worthy through participation in his own good things.

D (4). CONCERNING NOT ACQUIRING TWO TUNICS. 4. QUESTION 4. How did the Lord command the disciples not to acquire two tunics, when he himself

possessed five according to the holy evangelist John, as is clear from those who divided them. And what sort of garments are these?

Response. The Savior did not have five tunics but one on his body and the outer

garment, of which the inner one on the body they call a chitonion, and the outer garment they call a himation. But mystically, to the literal account of the story, the great evangelist John, through the Spirit, has set forth the ineffable element of contemplation, so that he might guide our mind through the things narrated to the truth of the things understood. The Savior’s tunic, therefore, woven from the top throughout, which those who crucified him did not tear, even though they were permitted to strip him of it, is the inseparable coherence and interweaving of the virtues one with another, and by our account is suitable and

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∆ιὸ προσφόρως ὑπαντᾷ πρῶτος αὐτοῖς ὁ τὸ κεράμιον βαστάζων τοῦ ὕδατος, σημαίνων δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ πάντας τοὺς κατὰ τὴν πρακτικὴν φιλοσοφίαν τοῖς ὤμοις τῶν ἀρετῶν, ὡς ἐν κεραμίῳ, 14Β_064 τῇ νεκρώσει τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς μελῶν τοῦ σώματος φρουρουμένην βαστάζοντας τὴν διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῶν μολυσμῶν αὐτοὺς ἐκκαθαίρουσαν χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος, εἶτα μετὰ τοῦτον δεύτερος ὁ τὸ ἀνώγαιον τὸ ἐστρωμένον δεικνὺς οἰκοδεσπότης, διδάσκων ὡσαύτως δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ πάντας τοὺς κατὰ τὴν θεωρίαν τὸ ὕψος τῆς ἑαυτῶν καθαρᾶς καὶ μεγαλοφυοῦς διανοίας, ὥσπερ ἀνώγαιον, πρὸς ὑποδοχὴν τοῦ μεγάλου Λόγου θεοπρεπῶς γνωστικοῖς νοήμασί τε καὶ δόγμασι καταστρώσαντας. Ἡ δὲ οἰκία ἐστὶν ἡ κατ᾽ εὐσέβειαν ἕξις, πρὸς ἣν ὁ μὲν πρακτικὸς ὁδεύει νοῦς τὴν ἀρετὴν διέπων, δεσπόζει δὲ ταύτης, ὡς ἰδίαν λοιπὸν φύσει κτησάμενος, ὁ τῷ θείῳ φωτὶ τῆς μυστικῆς γνώσεως καταλαμπόμενος νοῦς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο, σὺν τῷ πρακτικῷ, τῆς ὑπερφυοῦς τοῦ Σωτῆρος Λόγου παρουσίας τε καὶ εὐωχίας ἀξιούμενος.

Εἷς μὲν οὖν ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἴρηται καὶ δύο, εἴπερ ὁ μὲν κεράμιον βαστάζων γέγραπται, ὁ δὲ οἰκοδεσπότης ἀνηγόρευται· εἷς μέν, ὡς ἔφην, τυχόν, διὰ τὴν μίαν φύσιν, δύο δὲ διὰ τὸ ταύτην τὴν φύσιν τοῖς πρακτικοῖς κατ᾽ εὐσέβειαν διῃρῆσθαι καὶ θεωρητικοῖς· οὓς πάλιν διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος μιγνὺς ὁ Λόγος ἕνα καλεῖ τε καὶ ποιεῖ.

Εἰ δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸν καθέκαστον ἄνθρωπον θέλοι τις τὰ εἰρημένα θεωρῆσαι, τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἐκβέβηκε. Πόλις γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ καθέκαστον ψυχή, εἰς ἣν διαπαντὸς ἀποστέλλονται, ὡς μαθηταὶ τοῦ Λόγου καὶ Θεοῦ, οἱ περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ γνώσεως λόγοι. Ὁ δὲ τὸ κεράμιον βαστάζων τοῦ ὕδατός ἐστιν ὁ ἀνέχων τοῖς ὤμοις τῆς ἐγκρατείας ἀκαθαίρετον τὴν ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι δοθεῖσαν χάριν τῆς πίστεως καρτερικὸς τρόπος τε καὶ λογισμός. Ἡ δὲ οἰκία ἐστὶν ἡ ἐκ πολλῶν καὶ διαφόρων, ὥσπερ λίθων, στερρῶν τε καὶ ἀνδρικῶν ἠθῶν τε καὶ λογισμῶν οἰκοδομηθεῖσα κατάστασίς τε καὶ ἕξις τῶν ἀρετῶν. Τὸ δὲ ἀνώγαιον ἡ πλατεῖα καὶ εὐρύχωρός ἐστι διάνοιά τε καὶ ἐπιτηδειότης τῆς γνώσεως, θείοις μυστικῶν τε καὶ ἀπορρήτων δογμάτων κατακοσμηθεῖσα θεάμασιν. Ὁ δὲ οἰκοδεσπότης ἐστὶν ὁ νοῦς ὁ τῷ 14Β_066 λαμπρῷ τῆς κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν οἰκίας καὶ τῷ ὕψει κάλλει τε καὶ μεγέθει τῆς γνώσεως ἐμπλατυνόμενος· πρὸς ὃν μετὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν, τουτέστι τῶν περὶ φύσεως καὶ χρόνου πρώτων καὶ πνευματικῶν νοημάτων, ἐνδημῶν ὁ Λόγος ἑαυτὸν μεταδίδωσιν. Πάσχα γὰρ ἀληθῶς ἐστιν ἡ πρὸς τὸν ἀνθρώπινον νοῦν τοῦ Λόγου διάβασις, καθ᾽ ἣν τὸ πλῆρες ἅπασι χαρίζεται τοῖς ἀξίοις διὰ τῆς τῶν οἰκείων ἀγαθῶν μετοχῆς παραγινόμενος μυστικῶς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος.

∆ (4). ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ΜΗ ΚΤΗΣΑΣΘΑΙ ∆ΥΟ ΧΙΤΩΝΑΣ. 4. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ∆' Πῶς τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἐνετείλατο ὁ Κύριος μὴ κτήσασθαι δύο χιτῶνας, αὐτὸς

πέντε κεκτημένος κατὰ τὸν ἅγιον εὐαγγελιστὴν Ἰωάννην, ὡς ἐκ τῶν μερισαμένων αὐτὰ δῆλόν ἐστι. Καὶ τίνα ταῦτα τυγχάνει τὰ ἱμάτια;

Ἀπόκρισις. Ὁ Σωτὴρ οὐκ ἔσχε πέντε χιτῶνας ἀλλ᾽ ἕνα τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος καὶ τὴν ἔξω

περιβολήν, ὧν τὸ μὲν ἐντὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος καλοῦσι χιτώνιον, τὴν ἔξω δὲ περιβολὴν προσαγορεύουσιν ἱμάτιον. Ἀλλὰ μυστικῶς τῷ ῥητῷ τῆς ἱστορίας τὸ τῆς θεωρίας ἄρρητον ὁ μέγας ἐξέδωκε διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος εὐαγγελιστὴς Ἰωάννης, ἵνα τὸν ἡμέτερον νοῦν διὰ τῶν ἱστορουμένων ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὁδηγήσῃ τῶν νοουμένων. Ὁ μὲν οὖν ἄνωθεν ὑφαντὸς διόλου χιτὼν τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ὃν οὐκ ἔσχισαν οἱ σταυρώσαντες, κἂν ἐκδύσαι συνεχωρήθησαν, ἡ διάλληλος τῶν ἀρετῶν ἀδιάστατός ἐστι συνοχή τε καὶ συμπλοκὴ καὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῶν τῷ λόγῳ κατάλληλος καὶ