13

we shall be content." And if we need anything more than these, He will certainly provide it for us, for those who hope in Him and believe, He who has granted greater things and fills every living creature with His good pleasure. Only let us forsake all other things of this temporary life, I mean vainglory, envy, strife toward one another, deceit, murmuring, rivalry and all things which are abominable to God and bring the soul into danger. But let us long from the soul for those things which God commands us to embrace, (42) poverty of spirit, which the word calls humility, unceasing mourning by night and day, from which springs the joy of the soul and consolation at every hour for those who love God. For from this, meekness is also accomplished for all who struggle in truth, who hunger and thirst for righteousness and who always seek the kingdom of God, which surpasses all human understanding. And not only this, but also to become merciful, pure in heart, full of peace and a peacemaker, and brave in temptations, comes from this, from mourning every day. From here also comes our hating evil, from here divine zeal is kindled in the soul, which does not allow it to rest at all or to incline with evil men toward evil things, but fills it with courage and power to persevere in terrible things until the end.

Let us flee, therefore, the world and the things in the world, beloved brethren. For what have we to do with the world and with the people in the world? Let us run, let us pursue, until we lay hold of something that is stable and not fleeting. For all things perish and pass away like a dream, and there is nothing permanent or certain in the things that are seen. The sun, the stars, the heaven and the earth all pass away, but man alone remains of all things. What, therefore, of the things that are seen can benefit us in the necessary hour of death, when we are departing from here to the repose of that age beyond, while they are left behind? And if the things that are seen will thus pass away, what is our gain when we depart, leaving the body dead? For after the soul leaves its own body, (43) it can neither see through it nor be seen by another, but from then on it is concerned only with invisible things, and it has no care for the things here, having a twofold life and struggle there, either of the kingdom of heaven and eternal glory, or again of Gehenna and the punishment of fire. For it receives one of these as an eternal inheritance from God, according to the worth of what it did here.

Therefore, for these reasons, I entreat you, let us flee the world. Let us flee the deceit of this life and its supposed gladness, and let us run to Christ alone, the Savior of souls. Let us be zealous to find Him who is present everywhere, and having found Him, let us fall down and hold fast His feet, and let us kiss them with fervor of soul. Yes, I beseech you, let us be zealous while we are still living to see Him and to behold Him. For if we are deemed worthy to see Him here with our senses, we will not die; death will not have dominion over us. For let us not wait to see Him in the future, but let us struggle now to behold Him, since John the Theologian also says thus: "And we know that we have God in our hearts, from the Spirit which we have received from Him". As many of you, therefore, as have shown your faith in Him through your works to be unbreakable and firm, having discerned accurately and well the things said by us above, see that you do not deceive yourselves by thinking you have Christ in yourselves when you have nothing, and depart from this life with empty hands and hear, which I pray may not happen, that dreadful voice: "Take what the evil one thinks he holds, and give it to the one who has more," and then you will weep and (44) and you will mourn and you will have sorrow for an endless age.

But may it not be that we who have denied the whole world and the things in the world and have run to Christ should hear such a voice and suffer such a thing, but may it be that, having kept the commandments of God, our hearts may be purified through tears and repentance, so that we may see even from here the divine light, Christ Himself, and abiding

13

ἀρκεσθησόμεθα". Εἰ δέ καί πλέον τι τούτων χρήζομεν, πάντως ἐκεῖνος παρέξει ἡμῖν, ἐλπίζουσιν εἰς αὐτόν καί πιστεύουσιν, ὁ τά μείζω χαρίσας καί ἐμπιπλῶν πᾶν ζῷον εὐδοκίας. Μόνον καταλείψωμεν τά ἄλλα πάντα τῆς προσκαίρου ζωῆς, δόξαν φημί τήν κενήν, τόν φθόνον, τήν εἰς ἀλλήλους ἔριν, τόν δόλον, τόν γογγυσμόν, τήν ἐρίθειαν καί πάντα ὅσα τῷ Θεῷ ἀποτρόπαια καί εἰς κίνδυνον φέρει ψυχῆς. Ποθήσωμεν δέ ἐκ ψυχῆς ἅ κελεύει Θεός ἡμῖν κατασπάζεσθαι, (42) φτωχείαν πνευματικήν, ἥν καλεῖ ὁ λόγος ταπείνωσιν, πένθος ἀένναον ἐν νυκτί καί ἡμέρᾳ, ἐξ οὗ πηγάζεται ἡ χαρά τῆς ψυχῆς καί ἡ παράκλησις καθ᾿ ὥραν τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τόν Θεόν. Ἐκ τούτου γάρ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καί ἡ πραότης κατορθοῦται, πεινῶσι καί διψῶσι τήν δικαιοσύνην καί ζητοῦσιν ἀεί τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείαν, τήν ὑπερέχουσαν πάντα νοῦν ἀνθρώπινον. Οὐ μόνον δέ ἀλλά καί τό γενέσθαι τινά ἐλεήμονα, καθαρόν τήν καρδίαν, εἰρήνης μεστόν καί εἰρηνοποιόν καί ἀνδρεῖον εἰς τούς πειρασμούς, ἐντεῦθέν ἐστιν ἐκ τοῦ πενθεῖν καθ᾿ ἑκάστην. Ἐντεῦθεν καί τό μισεῖν ἡμῖν ἐπιγίνεται τά κακά, ἐντεῦθεν ὁ θεῖος ζῆλος ἀνάπτεται εἰς τήν ψυχήν, ὅς οὐκ ἐᾷ ἠρεμῆσαι αὐτήν ὅλως ἤ συνεκκλῖναι πρός τά κακά τοῖς κακοῖς, ἀλλά πληροῖ ταύτην ἀνδρείας καί δυνάμεως εἰς τό μέχρι τέλους ἐγκαρτερεῖν τοῖς δεινοῖς.

Φύγωμεν οὖν τόν κόσμον καί τά ἐν κόσμῳ, ἀγαπητοί ἀδελφοί. Τί γάρ ἡμῖν καί τῷ κόσμῳ καί τοῖς ἐν κόσμῳ ἀνθρώποις; ∆ράμωμεν, διώξωμεν, ἕως οὗ δραξόμεθά τινος τῶν ἑστώτων καί μή ῥεόντων. Τά γάρ πάντα φθείρεται καί ὡς ὄναρ παρέρχεται καί οὐδέν μόνιμον ἤ βέβαιον ἐν τοῖς ὁρωμένοις. Ὁ ἥλιος, τά ἄστρα, ὁ οὐρανός καί ἡ γῆ πάντα παρέρχονται, μόνος δέ πάντων μένει ὁ ἄνθρωπος. Τί τοίνυν ἐκ τῶν ὁρωμένων δύναται ἡμᾶς ὠφελῆσαι ἐν καιρῷ ἀνάγκης θανάτου, ἡμῶν ἀπερχομένων ἐντεῦθεν πρός τήν ἐκεῖθεν κατάπαυσιν τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐκείνου, αὐτῶν δέ ὄπισθεν καταλιμπανομένων; Εἰ δέ καί οὕτω τά ὁρώμενα παρελεύσεται, τί τό κέρδος ἡμῶν ἀπιόντων καί τό σῶμα καταλιμπανόντων νεκρόν; Ἀφ᾿ οὗ γάρ ἡ ψυχή καταλίπῃ τό ἴδιον σῶμα, (43) οὔτε βλέπειν δύναται δι᾿ αὐτοῦ οὔτε βλέπεσθαι παρ᾿ ἑτέρου, ἀλλ᾿ ἔκτοτε πρός μόνα τά ἀόρατα ἔχει καί φροντίς οὐδεμία ἐστίν αὐτῇ περί τῶν ὧδε, διπλοῦν ἐκεῖθεν ἐχούσῃ τόν βίον καί τόν ἀγῶνα, ἤ βσιλείας οὐρανῶν καί αἰωνίου δόξης ἤ γεέννης πάλιν καί τιμωρίας πυρός. Ἕν γάρ τούτων εἰς κληρονομίαν αἰώνιον, κατ᾿ ἀξίαν ὧν ἔπραξεν ἐνταῦθα, ἀπολαμβάνει παρά Θεοῦ.

Τοιγαροῦν φύγωμεν, ἀξιῶ, διά ταῦτα τόν κόσμον. Φύγωμεν τήν ἀπάτην τοῦ βίου καί τήν νομιζομένην εὐφροσύνην αὐτοῦ καί μόνῳ προσδράμωμεν τῷ ψυχοσώστη Χριστῷ. Τοῦτον σπουδάσωμεν εὑρεῖν τόν πανταχοῦ παρόντα, καί εὑρόντες κρατήσωμεν προσπεσόντες τούς πόδας αὐτοῦ, καί αὐτούς ἐν θέρμῃ ψυχῆς ἀσπασώμεθα. Ναί παρακαλῶ, σπουδάσωμεν ἔτι περιόντες ἰδεῖν αὐτόν καί θεάσασθαι. Ἐάν γάρ αὐτόν ἀξιωθῶμεν ἐνταῦθα αἰσθητῶς ἰδεῖν, οὐκ ἀποθανούμεθα, θάνατος οὐ κυριεύσει ἡμῶν. Μή γάρ εἰς τό μέλλον ἐκδεξώμεθα τοῦτον ἰδεῖν, ἀλλά νῦν ἀγωνισώμεθα θεάσασθαι αὐτόν, ἐπεί καί Ἰωάννης ὁ Θεολόγος οὕτω φησίν· "Οἴδαμεν δέ ὅτι ἔχομεν τόν Θεόν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν, ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος οὗ ἐλάβομεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ". Ὅσοι οὖν τήν πίστιν εἰς αὐτόν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἐδείξατε ἀρραγῆ καί βεβαίαν, τά παρ᾿ ἡμῶν ἄνωθεν ῥηθέντα ἀκριβῶς καί καλῶς διακρίναντες, ὁρᾶτε μή λάθητε ἑαυτούς ἐν τῷ δοκεῖν Χριστόν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, μηδέν ἔχοντες, καί κεναῖς ταῖς χερσίν ὑπεξέλθητε τόν βίον καί ἀκούσητε, ὅπερ ἀπεύχομαι, τῆς ἀπευκταίας ἐκείνης φωνῆς· "Ἄραντες ὁ δοκεῖ κατέχειν ὁ πονηρός, δότε τῷ πλεῖον ἔχοντι", καί τότε κλαύσετε καί (44) καί πενθήσετε καί λύπην ἕξετε εἰς αἰῶνα ἀπέραντον.

Ἀλλά μή γένοιτο φωνῆς ἀκοῦσαι καί τοιοῦτον παθεῖν τούς ἀπαρνησαμένους ἡμᾶς κόσμον ἅπαντα καί τά ἐν κόσμῳ καί προσδραμόντας Χριστῷ, γένοιτο δέ τάς ἐντολάς τηρήσαντας τοῦ Θεοῦ, διά δακρύων καί μετανοίας καθαρθῆναι τάς καρδίας ἡμῶν, ὡς ἄν καί τό θεῖον φῶς, αὐτόν τόν Χριστόν, ἐντεῦθεν ὀψώμεθα καί μένοντα