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of them He saved them, and He narrates the manner of their salvation; and the narrative is plainly the gospel. For He sent, he says, his word and healed them, and delivered them from their corruptions. You see a living and animate Word being sent for the salvation of the perishing, and delivering from corruption the one who has come to be in it. What evangelist so nakedly proclaims the mystery? Therefore let grace, he says, be praised by those who have been well-treated, and let the praise be a hymn for the good deeds. For let them sacrifice to him, he says, a sacrifice of praise, and let them declare his works with rejoicing. After these things, again he sets forth the sufferings and again he brings on the grace of God after the sufferings. And he speaks of the foolishness of men, that having left the stable and untroubled life, they became seafarers by choice. For those who go down, he says, to the sea in ships, and instead of cultivating paradise, in which 5.59 they were previously placed, they make their work underwater. And he calls the sea this material life, which is disturbed by all the winds of temptation and is tossed by successive passions. For doing, he says, work in many waters. and They themselves saw the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. For having become deep in the evil of life and having often suffered the wicked shipwrecks of the soul, they saw in themselves the works of the loving-kindness of him who saved us from the depths. For he spoke, he says, and a stormy wind arose. But this thought must be referred not to God but to the enemy. For the voice of the adversary produces the spirit of the storm. And a storm is said to be a violent wind not falling straight on, but turning around itself in a sharp whirlwind, which, whenever it falls violently upon the water, as if some great rock were cast in, the sea, submerged by the weight, is necessarily split by the violence of the wind, wherever the wind may rush down heavily, as the impact of the weight spits up the water from this side and that. For this reason he adds, clearly describing the terrible things, that as soon as the spirit of the storm rushed in, the waves of the sea were lifted up, ascending to the heavens and descending to the abysses. For in reality the rising of such waves to the height, I mean the waves of passions, becomes the cause of the descent into the abyss. And we have learned in many places of scripture that the abyss is the dwelling place of demons. But those who are overwhelmed by this disturbance and the tossing of the waves become senseless from dizziness, 5.60 as if heavy-headed from the drunkenness of the unpleasantness of such a voyage; For they were troubled, he says, and they were shaken like a drunken man. But those who have once become bereft of their senses are at a loss for any counsel for salvation, but their wisdom is shipwrecked beforehand and perishes beforehand. For this reason he says that also All their wisdom was swallowed up. And again, when these things had occurred in so many evils, the release from this helpless misery becomes the voice to the divine. For they cried out, he says, to the Lord when they were afflicted, and he brought them out of their distresses. And immediately the storm was changed into a favorable and navigable wind, and the sea, smoothed from the waves, becomes calm through tranquility. For he made, he says, the storm a breeze, and its waves were silent. Perhaps by the word 'silence' he indicates that the waves are certain powers with free will; through which he shows the apostate nature, to which the Lord said in the gospel, "Be silent, be muzzled." And he calls the breeze the grace of the Spirit, which through the intelligible sails moors the soul in the divine harbor, with the Word steering and directing it toward the voyage. For he guided them, he says, to the harbor of his will. For these things again he exhorts the people and the church to praise the grace, all but describing in his word the present state of the churches, that in the seat of the leaders

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αὐτῶν ἔσωσεν αὐτούς, καὶ διηγεῖται τῆς σωτηρίας τὸν τρόπον· εὐαγγέλιον δὲ ἄντικρύς ἐστιν ἡ διήγησις· Ἀπέστειλε γάρ, φησί, τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐρρύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν· ὁρᾷς ζῶντα καὶ ἔμψυχον λόγον ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων ἀποστελλό μενον καὶ τῆς φθορᾶς τὸν ἐν αὐτῇ γεγονότα ῥυόμενον. ποῖος εὐαγγελιστὴς οὕτω γυμνῶς ἐκβοᾷ τὸ μυστήριον; οὐκοῦν ἀνευφημείσθω, φησί, παρὰ τῶν εὖ πεπονθότων ἡ χάρις, καὶ ὕμνος ἐπὶ ταῖς εὐεργεσίαις ἡ εὐφημία γινέσθω. Θυσάτω σαν γὰρ αὐτῷ, φησί, θυσίαν αἰνέσεως, καὶ ἐξαγγειλάτωσαν τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει. μετὰ ταῦτα πάλιν διασκευάζει τὰ πάθη καὶ πάλιν ἐπάγει τοῦ θεοῦ μετὰ τὰ πάθη τὴν χάριν. λέγει δὲ τὴν ἀβουλίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι καταλιπόντες τὴν σταθερὰν καὶ ἀκλυδώνιστον ζωὴν πελάγιοι τῇ προαιρέσει ἐγένοντο· Οἱ καταβαίνοντες γάρ, φησίν, εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἐν πλοίοις, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐργάζεσθαι τὸν παράδεισον, ἐν ᾧ 5.59 πρότερον ἐτάχθησαν, ὑποβρύχιον ποιούμενοι τὴν ἐργασίαν. θάλασσαν δὲ λέγει τὴν ὑλώδη ταύτην ζωὴν τὴν πᾶσι τοῖς τῶν πειρασμῶν ἀνέμοις ταρασσομένην καὶ τοῖς ἐπαλλήλοις πάθεσι κυμαινομένην. Ποιοῦντες γάρ, φησίν, ἐργασίαν ἐν ὕδασι πολλοῖς. καὶ Αὐτοὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα κυρίου καὶ τὰ θαυμάσια αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ βυθῷ. βύθιοι γὰρ ἐν τῇ κακίᾳ τοῦ βίου γενόμενοι καὶ πολλάκις τὰ πονηρὰ τῆς ψυχῆς παθόντες ναυάγια, εἶδον ἐφ' ἑαυτῶν τὰ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἔργα τοῦ ἐκ τῶν βυθῶν ἡμᾶς ἀνασώσαντος. Εἶπεν γάρ, φησίν, καὶ ἔστη πνεῦμα καταιγίδος. τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ εἰς τὸν θεὸν ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἀνακτέον τὸ νόημα. ἡ γὰρ τοῦ ἀντικειμένου φωνὴ τὸ τῆς καταιγίδος πνεῦμα ἐργάζεται. καταιγὶς δὲ λέγεται βίαιος ἄνεμος οὐκ ἐπ' εὐθείας προσπίπτων, ἀλλὰ περὶ ἑαυτὸν ἀνειλούμενος δι' ὀξείας στροφάλιγγος, ὃς ἐπειδὰν ἐμπέσῃ ποτὲ βιαίως τῷ ὕδατι, καθάπερ τινὸς πέτρας ἐγκαταβληθείσης μεγάλης, ὑποκλυσθεῖσα τῷ βάρει ἡ θάλαττα σχίζεται κατ' ἀνάγκην τῇ βίᾳ τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅπουπερ ἂν ἐνσκήψῃ βρίσας ὁ ἄνεμος, τῆς τοῦ βάρους ἐμπτώσεως ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν ἐπὶ τὸ ἄνω τὸ ὕδωρ ἀναπτυούσης. διὰ τοῦτο προστίθησιν ἐναργῶς ὑπογράφων τὰ φοβερά, ὅτι ὁμοῦ τῷ ἐνσκῆψαι τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς καταιγίδος Ὑψώθῃ τὰ κύματα τῆς θαλάσσης ἀναβαίνοντα ἕως τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ καταβαίνοντα ἕως τῶν ἀβύσσων. τῷ ὄντι γὰρ ἡ εἰς τὸ ὕψος τῶν τοιούτων κυμάτων ἔπαρσις, λέγω δὴ τὰ τῶν παθῶν κύματα, τῆς εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον καταβάσεως αἴτια γίνεται. ἄβυσσον δὲ πολλαχῇ τῆς γραφῆς τὸ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐνδιαίτημα μεμαθήκαμεν. οἱ δὲ τῇ ταραχῇ ταύτῃ καὶ τῷ σάλῳ τῶν κυμάτων ἐγκυματισθέντες ἔκφρονες ὑπὸ σκοτώσεως γίνονται, 5.60 καθάπερ ὑπὸ μέθης τῆς κατὰ τὸν πλοῦν τὸν τοιοῦτον ἀηδίας καρηβαρήσαντες· Ἐταράχθησαν γάρ, φησίν, καὶ ἐσαλεύθησαν ὡς ὁ μεθύων. οἱ δὲ ἅπαξ τοῦ φρονεῖν ἔξω γενόμενοι οὐδεμιᾶς εὐποροῦσι πρὸς σωτηρίαν βουλῆς, ἀλλὰ προναυαγεῖ αὐτῶν ἡ σοφία καὶ προαπόλλυται. διὰ τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι καὶ Πᾶσα ἡ σοφία αὐτῶν κατεπόθη. καὶ πάλιν καὶ τούτων ἐν τοσούτοις γεγονότων κακοῖς λύσις γίνεται τῆς ἀμηχάνου ταύτης ταλαιπωρίας ἡ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον φωνή. Ἐκέκραξαν γάρ, φησί, πρὸς κύριον ἐν τῷ θλίβεσθαι αὐτούς, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἀναγκῶν αὐτῶν ἐξήγαγεν αὐτούς. καὶ παραχρῆμα ἡ καταιγὶς εἰς πνεῦμα μετεβλήθη φορόν τε καὶ πλόϊμον, καὶ γαληνιάζει ἐκ τῶν κυμάτων καταστορεσθεῖσα δι' ἡσυχίας ἡ θάλασσα. Ἔστησε γάρ, φησί, τὴν καταιγίδα εἰς αὔραν, καὶ ἐσίγησαν τὰ κύματα αὐτῆς. τάχα τῷ τῆς σιγῆς ὀνόματι προαιρετικάς τινας εἶναι δυνάμεις σημαίνει τὰ κύματα· δι' ὧν τὴν ἀποστατικὴν φύσιν ἐνδείκνυται, πρὸς ἣν εἶπεν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ὁ κύριος Σιώπα, πεφίμωσο. αὔραν δὲ λέγει τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος χάριν, ἣ διὰ τῶν νοητῶν ἱστίων τῷ θείῳ λιμένι τὴν ψυχὴν ἐνορμίζει, κυβερνῶντος τοῦ λόγου καὶ πρὸς τὸν πλοῦν κατευθύνοντος. Ὡδήγησε γάρ, φησίν, αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ λιμένα θελήματος αὐτοῦ. ἐπὶ τούτοις πάλιν ἀνυμνεῖν τὴν χάριν διακελεύεται λαόν τε καὶ ἐκκλησίαν, μόνον οὐχὶ τὴν παροῦσαν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ὑπογράφων τῷ λόγῳ κατάστασιν, ὅτι ἐν τῇ καθέδρᾳ τῶν προηγουμένων