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This same Samuel again prayed for the Israelites, and he prevailed; but when? When they also were well-pleasing, then he routed the enemies. And "What need have I of another's prayer," one says, "when I am well-pleasing?" What are you saying, O man? Paul did not say, "What need have I of prayer?" Peter did not say, "What need have I of prayer"; although those who were praying were not worthy of him, or rather not even his equals; and you say, "What need have I of prayer"; Peter did not say, "What need have I of prayer?" For prayer, it says, was made earnestly by the Church to God for him; and immediately He delivered him from his chains; and you say, "What need have I of prayer," For this reason you have need, because you think you have no need. For if God should examine our carelessness in prayers and our negligence, and how when we stand before Him and entreat Him, we do not even show Him as much honor as slaves do to their masters, as soldiers do to their commanders, as friends do to their friends; for when speaking with a friend, you do this with attention; but when petitioning God for your sins, asking for forgiveness for so many offenses, and deeming pardon worthy to be granted to you. you are careless, and with your knees on the ground, you often allow your mind to wander about the marketplace and the house, while your mouth utters nonsense idly and in vain? and this we suffer not once or twice, but often. If God should wish to examine this alone, will we have pardon? Will we be able to receive a defense? I do not think so. But if God should examine our curious glances, and the wicked desires which we have in our mind, receiving shameful and unclean thoughts from the unexamined wandering of our eyes, if He should bring into the open the evil reports which we speak wickedly to one another each day, and the untimely judgments by which we condemn our neighbor when we have no reason, and the deceits which we contrive against one another, now praising our brother when he is present, and speaking as to a friend, but accusing him when he is absent; will we not undergo the reckonings for these things? And what of the envy with which we often envy those who are well-regarded, not only enemies, but also friends? and we rejoice when others suffer evil, and we consider the misfortunes of others to be a consolation for our own calamity. For if we are commanded to abstain from the things of this life and of the present, how are we not wretched and miserable, asking these things from God, which He commanded us to cast out even when we have them? if we are commanded to pray not only for the faithful, but also for the unbelievers, consider how great an evil it is to pray against our brothers. What are you doing, O man? You approach to make God merciful, and you pray against another? If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven; and not only do you yourself not forgive, but you also entreat God not to forgive? If it is not forgiven to the one who does not forgive, how will it be forgiven to the one who even entreats the Master not to forgive? For if having enemies is a reproach, consider how great an evil it is to pray against them. For when you ought to make a defense for why you have enemies, you even accuse them? and what pardon will you obtain, both speaking evil and at such a time when you have need of much mercy? For you have come to pray for your own sins. 63.589 Therefore, do not remember the faults of others, so that you may not be reminded of your own. For if you say, "Strike the enemy," you have stopped your mouth, you have no longer given boldness to your tongue; first, because you have angered the judge right from the beginning; second, because you ask for things contrary to the form of prayer. For if you approach for the forgiveness of sins, how do you speak for punishment? On the contrary, therefore, one ought to do the opposite, and to pray for them, so that we may also entreat with boldness for ourselves. For if you pray for them, even if you say nothing for your own, you have accomplished everything. If, therefore, nothing is more abominable than a soul that curses, nor more unclean than a tongue that utters such things, for what reason do you not do everything, so as to say nothing in prayer of those things that provoke your Master? You are a man, do not vomit the venom of asps; you are a man, do not become a wild beast. For this reason a mouth was made for you, not that you might bite,

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αὐτὸς πάλιν οὗτος ὁ Σαμουὴλ ηὔξατο ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν, καὶ ἤνυσεν· ἀλλὰ πότε; Ὅτε καὶ αὐτοὶ εὐηρέστουν, τότε ἐτροπώσατο τοὺς ἐχθρούς. Καὶ τί μοι δεῖ τῆς παρ' ἑτέρων εὐχῆς, φησὶν, ὅταν ἐγὼ εὐαρεστῶ; Τί λέγεις, ἄνθρωπε; Παῦλος οὐκ εἶπεν, Τί μοι δεῖ εὐχῆς; Πέτρος οὐκ εἶπε, Τί μοι δεῖ εὐχῆς· καίτοι γε τῶν εὐχομένων οὐκ ὄντων ἀξίων αὐτοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ ἴσων· καὶ σὺ λέγεις, Τί μοι δεῖ εὐχῆς· Πέτρος οὐκ εἶπεν, Τί μοι δεῖ εὐχῆς; Εὐχὴ γὰρ ἦν, φησὶν, ὑπὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐκτενὴς γενομένη πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ· καὶ εὐθέως αὐτὸν ἐξείλετο τῶν δεσμῶν· καὶ σὺ λέγεις, Τί μοι δεῖ εὐχῆς, ∆ιὰ τοῦτό σοι δεῖ, ἐπειδὴ νομίζεις μὴ δεῖσθαι. Ἐὰν γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἐξετάσῃ τὴν ῥᾳθυμίαν ἡμῶν τὴν ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς καὶ τὴν ὀλιγωρίαν, καὶ ὅτε ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ ἑστῶτες καὶ παρακαλοῦντες αὐτὸν, οὐδὲ τοσαύτην αὐτῷ παρέχομεν τιμὴν, ὅσην τοῖς δεσπόταις οἱ δοῦλοι, ὅσην τοῖς ἄρχουσιν οἱ στρατιῶται, ὅσην τοῖς φίλοις οἱ φίλοι· φίλῳ μὲν γὰρ διαλεγόμενος, μετὰ τοῦ προσέχειν τοῦτο ποιεῖς· Θεῷ δὲ ἐντυγχάνων ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτημάτων, ὑπὲρ πλημμελημάτων τοσούτων συγχώρησιν αἰτῶν, καὶ συγγνώμην ἀξιῶν σοι γενέσθαι. ῥᾳθυμεῖς, καὶ τῶν γονάτων σου χαμαὶ κειμένων, πολλάκις περὶ τὴν ἀγορὰν καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν πλανᾶσθαι τὴν διάνοιαν ἐᾷς, τοῦ στόματός σου ληροῦντος εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην; καὶ τοῦτο οὐχ ἅπαξ οὐδὲ δὶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλάκις πάσχομεν. Ἐὰν τοῦτο μόνον θελήσῃ ὁ Θεὸς ἐξετάσαι, ἆρα ἕξομεν συγγνώμην; ἆρα δυνησόμεθα ἀπολογίας τυχεῖν; Οὐκ ἔγωγε οἶμαι. Ἐὰν δὲ τὰς περιέργους ἡμῶν ὄψεις ὁ Θεὸς ἐξετάσῃ, καὶ τὰς πονηρὰς ἐπιθυμίας ἃς ἔχομεν ἐν διανοίᾳ, αἰσχροὺς καὶ ἀκαθάρτους δεχόμενοι λογισμοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνεξετάστου τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν πλάνης, ἐὰν τὰς κακηγορίας ἃς καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀλλήλοις λέγομεν κακῶς, εἰς μέσον παραγάγῃ, καὶ τὰς κρίσεις τὰς ἀκαίρους ἃς κατακρίνομεν τὸν πλησίον μηδὲν ἔχοντες πρᾶγμα, τούς τε δόλους οὓς κατ' ἀλλήλων ῥάπτομεν, νῦν μὲν παρόντα ἐπαινοῦντες τὸν ἀδελφὸν, καὶ ὡς φίλῳ διαλεγόμενοι, ἀπόντα δὲ κατηγοροῦντες· ἆρα οὐχ ὑποστησόμεθα τὰς ὑπὲρ τούτων εὐθύνας; Τί δὲ τὴν βασκανίαν ἢν βασκαίνομεν πολλάκις εὐδοκιμοῦσιν, οὐ μόνον ἐχθροῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ φίλοις; καὶ ἡδόμεθα πασχόντων ἑτέρων κακῶς, καὶ νομίζομεν παραμυθίαν εἶναι τῆς οἰκείας συμφορᾶς τὰς ἀλλοτρίας δυσημερίας. Εἰ γὰρ τῶν βιωτικῶν καὶ παρόντων ἀπέχεσθαι κελευόμεθα, πῶς οὔκ ἐσμεν ἄθλιοι καὶ ταλαίπωροι, ταῦτα αἰτοῦντες παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἃ ἐκέλευσε καὶ ἔχοντας ἐκβάλλειν; εἰ οὐχὶ τῶν πιστῶν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀπίστων ὑπερεύχεσθαι προσταττόμεθα, ἐννόησον πόσον ἐστὶ κακὸν, κατεύχεσθαι τῶν ἀδελφῶν. Τί ποιεῖς, ἄνθρωπε; προσέρχῃ τὸν Θεὸν ἵλεων ποιῆσαι, καὶ ἑτέρου κατεύχῃ; Ἐὰν μὴ ἀφῇς, οὐκ ἀφεθήσεταί σοι· καὶ οὐ μόνον αὐτὸς οὐκ ἀφίης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν Θεὸν παρακαλεῖς μὴ ἀφεῖναι; Εἰ τῷ μὴ ἀφιέντι οὐκ ἀφίεται, τῷ καὶ τὸν ∆εσπότην παρακαλοῦντι μὴ ἀφιέναι, πῶς ἀφεθήσεται; Εἰ γὰρ τὸ ἔχειν ἐχθροὺς ὄνειδος, τὸ κατεύχεσθαι αὐτῶν ἐννόησον ἡλίκον κακόν. ∆έον γάρ σε ἀπολογήσασθαι διὰ τί ἐχθροὺς ἔχεις, σὺ δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ κατηγορεῖς; καὶ ποίας τεύξῃ συγγνώμης καὶ κακηγορῶν, καὶ ἐν καιρῷ τοιούτῳ, ὅτε ἐλέους σοι δεῖ πολλοῦ; καὶ γὰρ ὑπὲρ οἰκείων προσῆλθες ἁμαρτημάτων δεόμενος. 63.589 Μὴ τοίνυν μνημονεύσῃς τῶν ἀλλοτρίων, ἵνα μὴ τῶν ἰδίων ἀναμνήσῃς. Ἂν γὰρ εἴπῃς, Πάταξον τὸν ἐχθρὸν, ἐνέφραξάς σου τὸ στόμα, οὐκέτι παῤῥησίαν ἔδωκας τῇ γλώττῃ· πρῶτον μὲν, ὅτι παρώργισας τὸν δικαστὴν ἐκ προοιμίων εὐθέως· δεύτερον, ὅτι ἐναντία αἰτεῖς τῷ σχήματι τῆς εὐχῆς. Εἰ γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἀφέσεως ἁμαρτημάτων προσέρχῃ, πῶς ὑπὲρ κολάσεως διαλέγῃ; Τοὐναντίον μὲν οὖν ἔδει ποιεῖν, καὶ δεῖσθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, ἵνα καὶ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτῶν μετὰ παῤῥησίας παρακαλέσωμεν. Ἂν γὰρ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν εὔξῃ, κἂν μηδὲν ὑπὲρ τῶν σῶν εἴπῃς, τὸ πᾶν ἤνυσας. Εἰ τοίνυν οὐδὲν ψυχῆς ἀρωμένης μιαρώτερον, οὐδὲ γλώσσης τοιαῦτα φθεγγομένης ἀκαθαρτότερον, τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐ πάντα ποιεῖς, ὥστε μηδὲν εἰπεῖν εὐχόμενος τῶν παροξυνόντων σου τὸν ∆εσπότην; Ἄνθρωπος εἶ, μὴ ἀσπίδων ἰὸν ἐμέσῃς· ἄνθρωπος εἶ, μὴ γένῃ θηρίον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό σοι στόμα γέγονεν, οὐχ ἵνα δάκνῃς,