34.2 But you, who have tasted of truth and been deemed worthy of the great redemption, be not deceived, but contrary to other men, enlist for yourself an army that is unarmed, unwarlike, bloodless, wrathless, undefiled, God-fearing old men, God-beloved orphans, widows armed with meekness, 34.3 men adorned with love. Acquire such as these with your wealth as bodyguards for both your body and your soul, whose general is God, through whom a sinking ship is lightened, steered by the prayers of the saints alone, and a raging disease is subdued, driven away by the laying on of hands, and an attack of robbers is disarmed, despoiled by pious prayers, and the violence of demons is shattered, convicted by earnest commands.

35.1 All these soldiers are active and are steadfast guardians, no one is idle,

no one is useless. One is able to ask for you from God, another to comfort you when you are weary, another to weep and groan with compassion for you to the Lord of all, another to teach something useful for salvation, another to admonish with boldness, another to counsel with goodwill, and all to love truly, without deceit, without fear, 35.2 without hypocrisy, without flattery, without pretense. O sweet ministrations of those who love, O blessed services of those who are confident, O sincere faith of those who fear God alone, O truth of words from those who cannot lie, O beauty of works from those persuaded to serve God, to persuade God, to please God: they seem to touch not your flesh, but each one his own soul, not to speak to a brother, but to the king of the ages dwelling in you.

36.1 All the faithful, therefore, are beautiful and worthy of God and of the name which

they wear like a diadem. Nevertheless, there are some who are even more elect than the elect, and all the more so as they are less conspicuous, in a way hauling themselves out of the surge of the world and bringing themselves to safety, not wishing to seem holy, and ashamed if someone says they are, hiding the ineffable mysteries in the depth of their mind, and disdaining for their own nobility to be seen in the world, whom the Word calls 'the light of the world' and 'the salt of the 36.2 earth.' This is the seed, the image and likeness of God, and his genuine child and heir, sent here as if to a foreign land by the great economy and providence of the 36.3 Father; for whom also the visible and invisible things of the world have been created, some for servitude, others for training, and others for his learning, and all things, as long as the seed remains here, are held together, and when it is gathered, all things will most quickly be dissolved.

37.1 For what more is needed? Contemplate the mysteries of love, and then you will behold the

bosom of the Father, which the only-begotten God alone has explained. 37.2 And God himself is love, and through love he was seen by us. And his ineffable aspect is Father, but his compassionate aspect toward us has become Mother. The Father, in loving, became feminine, and of this the great sign is he whom he himself 37.3 begot from himself; and the fruit born of love is love. For this reason he himself came down, for this reason he put on man, for this reason he willingly suffered human things, so that, having been measured against our weakness whom he 37.4 loved, he might in turn measure us against his own power. And being about to be offered and to give himself as a ransom, he leaves us a new covenant: 'I give you my love.' And what and how great is this? For each of us he laid down his life, which is worth all 37.5 things; this he requires of us in return for one another. If then we owe our lives to the brethren, and we have confessed such a compact with the Savior, shall we still hoard and keep locked up the things of the world, which are poor and foreign and passing away?

34.2 ἀλλὰ σύ γε μὴ ἐξαπατηθῇς, ὁ γεγευμένος ἀληθείας καὶ κατηξιωμένος τῆς μεγάλης λυτρώσεως, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐναντίον τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις σεαυτῷ κατάλεξον στρατὸν ἄοπλον, ἀπόλεμον, ἀναίμακτον, ἀόργητον, ἀμίαντον, γέροντας θεοσεβεῖς, ὀρφανοὺς θεοφιλεῖς, χήρας πραότητι 34.3 ὡπλισμένας, ἄνδρας ἀγάπῃ κεκοσμημένους. τοιούτους κτῆσαι τῷ σῷ πλούτῳ καὶ τῷ σώματι καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ δορυφόρους, ὧν στρατηγεῖ θεός, δι' οὓς καὶ ναῦς βαπτιζομένη κουφίζεται, μόναις ἁγίων εὐχαῖς κυβερ νωμένη, καὶ νόσος ἀκμάζουσα δαμάζεται, χειρῶν ἐπιβολαῖς διωκομένη, καὶ προσβολὴ λῃστῶν ἀφοπλίζεται, εὐχαῖς εὐσεβέσι σκυλευομένη, καὶ δαιμόνων βία θραύεται, προστάγμασι συντόνοις ἐλεγχομένη.

35.1 Ἐνεργοὶ οὗτοι πάντες οἱ στρατιῶται καὶ φύλακες βέβαιοι, οὐδεὶς ἀργός,

οὐδεὶς ἀχρεῖος. ὃ μὲν ἐξαιτήσασθαί σε δύναται παρὰ θεοῦ, ὃ δὲ παραμυθήσασθαι κάμνοντα, ὃ δὲ δακρῦσαι καὶ στενάξαι συμπα θῶς ὑπὲρ σοῦ πρὸς τὸν κύριον τῶν ὅλων, ὃ δὲ διδάξαι τι τῶν πρὸς τὴν σωτηρίαν χρησίμων, ὃ δὲ νουθετῆσαι μετὰ παρρησίας, ὃ δὲ συμ βουλεῦσαι μετ' εὐνοίας, πάντες δὲ φιλεῖν ἀληθῶς, ἀδόλως, ἀφόβως, 35.2 ἀνυποκρίτως, ἀκολακεύτως, ἀπλάστως. ὦ γλυκεῖαι θεραπεῖαι φιλούν των, ὦ μακάριοι διακονίαι θαρρούντων, ὦ πίστις εἰλικρινὴς θεὸν μόνον δεδιότων, ὦ λόγων ἀλήθεια παρὰ τοῖς ψεύσασθαι μὴ δυνα μένοις, ὦ κάλλος ἔργων παρὰ τοῖς θεῷ διακονεῖν πεπεισμένοις, πεί θειν θεόν, ἀρέσκειν θεῷ· οὐ σαρκὸς τῆς σῆς ἅπτεσθαι δοκοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς ἕκαστος, οὐκ ἀδελφῷ λαλεῖν, ἀλλὰ τῷ βασι λεῖ τῶν αἰώνων ἐν σοὶ κατοικοῦντι.

36.1 Πάντες οὖν οἱ πιστοὶ καλοὶ καὶ θεοπρεπεῖς καὶ τῆς προσηγορίας ἄξιοι, ἣν

ὥσπερ διάδημα περίκεινται. οὐ μὴν ἀλλ' εἰσὶν ἤδη τινὲς καὶ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν ἐκλεκτότεροι, καὶ τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ᾗ ἧττον ἐπίσημοι, τρόπον τινὰ ἐκ τοῦ κλύδωνος τοῦ κόσμου νεωλκοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς καὶ ἐπανάγοντες ἐπ' ἀσφαλές, οὐ βουλόμενοι δοκεῖν ἅγιοι, κἂν εἴπῃ τις, αἰσχυνόμενοι, ἐν βάθει γνώμης ἀποκρύπτοντες τὰ ἀνεκλάλητα μυστήρια, καὶ τὴν αὑτῶν εὐγένειαν ὑπερηφανοῦντες ἐν κόσμῳ βλέπεσθαι, οὓς ὁ λόγος "φῶς τοῦ κόσμου" καὶ "ἅλας τῆς 36.2 γῆς" καλεῖ. τοῦτ' ἔστι τὸ σπέρμα, εἰκὼν καὶ ὁμοίωσις θεοῦ, καὶ τέκνον αὐτοῦ γνήσιον καὶ κληρονόμον, ὥσπερ ἐπί τινα ξενιτείαν ἐνταῦθα πεμπόμενον ὑπὸ μεγάλης οἰκονομίας καὶ ἀναλογίας τοῦ 36.3 πατρός· δι' ὃ καὶ τὰ φανερὰ καὶ τὰ ἀφανῆ τοῦ κόσμου δεδημιούργη ται, τὰ μὲν εἰς δουλείαν, τὰ δὲ εἰς ἄσκησιν, τὰ δὲ εἰς μάθησιν αὐτῷ, καὶ πάντα, μέχρις ἂν ἐνταῦθα τὸ σπέρμα μένῃ, συνέχεται, καὶ συν αχθέντος αὐτοῦ πάντα τάχιστα λυθήσεται.

37.1 Τί γὰρ ἔτι δεῖ; θεῶ τὰ τῆς ἀγάπης μυστήρια, καὶ τότε ἐποπτεύ σεις τὸν

κόλπον τοῦ πατρός, ὃν ὁ μονογενὴς θεὸς μόνος ἐξηγήσατο. 37.2 ἔστι δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη καὶ δι' ἀγάπην ἡμῖν ἐθεάθη. καὶ τὸ μὲν ἄρρητον αὐτοῦ πατήρ, τὸ δὲ εἰς ἡμᾶς συμπαθὲς γέγονε μήτηρ. ἀγαπήσας ὁ πατὴρ ἐθηλύνθη, καὶ τούτου μέγα σημεῖον ὃν αὐτὸς 37.3 ἐγέννησεν ἐξ αὑτοῦ· καὶ ὁ τεχθεὶς ἐξ ἀγάπης καρπὸς ἀγάπη. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς κατῆλθε, διὰ τοῦτο ἄνθρωπον ἐνέδυ, διὰ τοῦτο τὰ ἀνθρώπων ἑκὼν ἔπαθεν, ἵνα πρὸς τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀσθένειαν οὓς 37.4 ἠγάπησε μετρηθεὶς ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν ἀντιμετρήσῃ. καὶ μέλλων σπένδεσθαι καὶ λύτρον ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδιδοὺς καινὴν ἡμῖν δια θήκην καταλιμπάνει· "ἀγάπην ὑμῖν δίδωμι τὴν ἐμήν." τίς δέ ἐστιν αὕτη καὶ πόση; ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἑκάστου κατέθηκε τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν ἀντα 37.5 ξίαν τῶν ὅλων· ταύτην ἡμᾶς ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων ἀνταπαιτεῖ. εἰ δὲ τὰς ψυχὰς ὀφείλομεν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, καὶ τοιαύτην τὴν συνθήκην πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα ἀνθωμολογήμεθα, ἔτι τὰ τοῦ κόσμου, τὰ πτωχὰ καὶ ἀλλότρια καὶ παραρρέοντα, καθείρξομεν ταμιευόμενοι;