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human nature, and to partake in a measure 44.1232 of both that which grieves and that which rejoices. Since there are two ways of life, and a twofold life is seen distinctly in each of these ways, and likewise a twofold joy; the one in this life, and the other set before us in our hopes; it would be blessed to store up the portion of joy with the true goods for the eternal life; and to fulfill the function of grief in this short and temporary life, considering it a loss, not to be deprived of any of the pleasures of this life, but through the enjoyment of these to fall away from the better things. Therefore, if it is blessed to have joy that is unending and ever-extended through infinite ages; and human nature must by all means taste of the opposites; it is no longer difficult to perceive the meaning of the saying, why blessed are those who mourn now, for they will be comforted for infinite ages; and comfort comes from partaking of the Comforter. For the grace of comfort is the proper work of the Spirit; of which may we also be counted worthy, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON IV.

Blessed are they who hunger, and thirst for righteousness: for they

shall be filled. Those skilled in the medical art say that those with stomach ailments and poor appetites, from the flowing of certain bad humors and superfluities to the upper stomach, always seem to be full and sated, and for this reason are averse to beneficial food, their natural appetite having withered in this false fullness. But if some medical care were applied to them, by which what is trapped in the cavities of the stomach is washed away by some cutting draught, it so happens that, with the foreign matter no longer troubling nature, their appetite for beneficial and nourishing food returns; and this is a sign of health, to no longer take food by force, but with desire and impulse. What then is the purpose of my introduction? Since the discourse, proceeding in sequence, guiding us to the higher rungs of the ladder of beatitudes, which, according to the Prophet's voice, sets the beautiful ascents in our heart, after the ascents already accomplished, shows us another, a fourth ascent, saying: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled; I think it is well, having cleansed the satiety and fullness of the soul, as much as is possible, to create in ourselves the blessed appetite for such food and drink; 44.1233 for it is not possible for man to be strong, unless sufficient food supports his strength, nor to be filled with food without eating, nor to be nourished without appetite. Since, therefore, strength is a good thing in life, and this is preserved by sufficient satiety, and satiety comes through eating, and eating from appetite; blessed for the living would be appetite, the beginning and cause of the strength that arises in us. And just as with this sensible food we have, not all desire the same things, but the desire of those partaking is often divided according to the kinds of foods, and one person delights in sweet things, another has an impulse for pungent and heating things; another is pleased by salty things, and another by astringent things; and it often happens that the impulse for food in each person does not arise for what is beneficial (for according to some peculiarity of constitution, being prone to some ailment, one feeds the disease by the quality of the corresponding foods; but if one should have an impulse for beneficial things, one will by all means live in health, the food

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ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν, καὶ μετασχεῖν ἐν μέρει 44.1232 τοῦ τε λυποῦντος καὶ τοῦ εὐφραίνοντος. ∆ύο δὲ ὄντων βίων, καὶ διπλῆς τῆς ζωῆς καθ' ἑκάτερον τῶν βίων ἰδιαζόντως θεωρουμένης, ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ εὐφροσύνης διπλῆς· τῆς μὲν ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ, τῆς δὲ ἐν τῷ κατ' ἐλπίδας ἡμῖν προκειμένῳ· μακαριστὸν ἂν εἴη τὴν τῆς εὐφροσύνης μοῖραν τοῖς ἀληθινοῖς ἀγαθοῖς εἰς τὸν ἀΐδιον ἀποθέσθαι βίον· τῆς δὲ λύπης ἐκπληρῶσαι τὴν λειτουργίαν ἐν τῇ βραχείᾳ ταύτῃ καὶ προσκαίρῳ ζωῇ, ζημίαν ποιούμενον, οὐ τὸ στερηθῆναί τινος τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον τοῦτον ἡδέων, ἀλλὰ τὸ διὰ τῆς ἀπολαύσεως τούτων ἐν ἀποπτώσει τῶν ἀμεινόνων γενέσθαι. Οὐ κοῦν εἰ μακαριστόν ἐστιν τὸ ἐν τοῖς ἀπείροις αἰῶσιν ἀτέλεστόν τε καὶ εἰσαεὶ παρατεινομένην τὴν εὐφρο σύνην ἔχειν· δεῖ δὲ πάντως γεύσασθαι καὶ τῶν ἐναν τίων τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν· οὐκέτι χαλεπόν ἐστι συνιδεῖν τοῦ λόγου τὸ βούλημα, διὰ τί μακάριοι οἱ νῦν πενθοῦντες, αὐτοὶ γὰρ εἰς τοὺς ἀπείρους αἰῶνας παρακληθήσονται· ἡ δὲ παράκλησις, ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Πα ρακλήτου μετουσίας γίνεται. Ἰδία γὰρ τοῦ Πνεύ ματος ἐνέργεια ἡ τῆς παρακλήσεως χάρις ἐστίν· ἧς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀξιωθείημεν, χάριτι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώ νων. Ἀμήν.

ΛΟΓΟΣ ∆ʹ.

Μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες, καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιο σύνην· ὅτι αὐτοὶ

χορτασθήσονται. Τοὺς στομαχοῦντας καὶ κακοσίτους φασὶν οἱ τῆς ἰατρικῆς ἐπιστήμονες, πονηρῶν τινων χυμῶν τε καὶ περιττωμάτων ἐπὶ τὴν ἄνω γαστέρα συῤῥυέντων, ἀεὶ δοκεῖν πλήρεις τε καὶ διακορεῖς εἶναι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πρὸς τὴν ὠφέλιμον τροφὴν ἀλλοτρίως ἔχειν, τῆς φυσικῆς αὐτοῖς ὀρέξεως ἐν τῇ νόθῳ πλησμονῇ μαρανθείσης. Εἰ δέ τις αὐτοῖς ἐξ ἰατρικῆς ἐπιμέλεια προσαχθείη, διά τινος τμητικῆς φαρμακοποσίας ἀπο κλυσθέντων τῶν ἐναπειλημμένων ταῖς τοῦ στομάχου κοιλότησιν, οὕτως συμβαίνειν, τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου μη κέτι διοχλοῦντος τὴν φύσιν, τῆς ὠφελούσης τε καὶ τροφίμου βρώσεως αὐτοῖς ἐπανιέναι τὴν ὄρεξιν· καὶ τοῦτο τῆς ὑγιείας εἶναι σημεῖον, τὸ μηκέτι κατ ηναγκασμένως, ἀλλὰ μετ' ἐπιθυμίας τε καὶ ὁρμῆς τὴν βρῶσιν προσίεσθαι. Τί οὖν μοι βούλεται τὸ προοίμιον; Ἐπειδὴ προϊὼν δι' ἀκολουθίας ὁ πρὸς τὰ ὑψηλότερα τῆς τῶν μακαρισμῶν κλίμακος χειραγωγῶν ἡμᾶς λόγος, ὁ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Προφήτου φωνὴν, τὰς καλὰς ἀναβάσεις ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ἡμῶν διατιθέμενος, τοιαύτην ἡμῖν μετὰ τὰς προδιανυσθείσας ἀνόδους τετάρτην προδείκνυσιν ἄλλην ἀνάβασιν, λέγων· Μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐ τοὶ χορτασθήσονται· καλῶς ἔχειν οἶμαι, τὸ διακο ρές τε καὶ πλησμονικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐκκαθάραντας, ὡς ἔστι δυνατὸν, τῆς τοιαύτης βρώσεώς τε καὶ πό σεως τὴν μακαριστὴν ὄρεξιν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ἐμποιῆσαι· 44.1233 οὔτε γὰρ ἰσχύσαι δυνατόν ἐστι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, μὴ τῆς ἀρκούσης τροφῆς ὑποστηριζούσης τὴν δύναμιν, οὔτε δίχα τοῦ φαγεῖν ἐμπλησθῆναι τροφῆς, οὔτε τραφῆναι χωρὶς ὀρέξεως. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀγαθόν τι κατὰ τὴν ζωήν ἐστιν ἡ δύναμις· αὕτη δὲ τῷ ἀρκοῦντι συντηρεῖται κόρῳ· ὁ δὲ κόρος διὰ βρώσεως γίνεται· τὸ δὲ φαγεῖν ἐξ ὀρέξεως· μακαριστὸν ἂν εἴη τοῖς ζῶσιν ἡ ὄρεξις, ἀρχή τε καὶ αἰτία τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν γινομένη δυνάμεως. Ὥσπερ δὲ κατὰ τὴν αἰσθητὴν ταύτην τὴν τροφὴν ἔχο μεν, οὐ τῶν αὐτῶν πάντες ἐφίενται, ἀλλὰ μερίζεται πολλάκις πρὸς τὰ εἴδη τῶν ἐδωδίμων ἡ τῶν μετ εχόντων ἐπιθυμία, καὶ ὁ μέν τις ἐπιτέρπεται τοῖς γλυκαίνουσιν, ἄλλος πρὸς τὰ δριμύσσοντά τε καὶ θερμαίνοντα τὴν ὁρμὴν ἔχει· ἕτερος δὲ τοῖς ἁλμώ δεσι, καὶ ἄλλος τοῖς παραστύφουσιν ἥδεται· συμβαίνει δὲ πολλάκις μὴ κατὰ τὸ λυσιτελοῦν ἐγγίνεσθαι τὴν ὁρμὴν ἑκάστῳ τῆς βρώσεως (κατὰ γάρ τινα κράσεως ἰδιότητα πρός τι πάθος ἐπιῤῥεπῶς τις ἔχων, τρέφει τὴν νόσον τῇ τῶν κατ' ἀλλήλων βρωμάτων ποιότητι· εἰ δὲ πρὸς τὰ ὠφελοῦντα τὴν ὁρμὴν σχοίη, πάντως ἐν ὑγιείᾳ βιώσεται, τῆς τροφῆς