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is it possible for a human to look upon the substance of an angel with impunity? And so that you may learn that this is true, I shall bring forward a man who is a friend of God, having great confidence on account of his wisdom and righteousness, and attested for many other achievements, the holy Daniel, so that when I show him growing faint and dissolving and being torn apart by the presence of the angel, no one may think that he suffered this because of sins and a wicked conscience, but when the confidence of his soul has been shown, the weakness of his nature may be clearly demonstrated. This Daniel, therefore, fasted for three weeks of days, and ate no desirable bread, neither did wine and meat enter into his mouth, nor did he anoint himself with ointment. And then he saw that vision, when his soul was more suited for the reception of such a contemplation, having been made lighter and more spiritual by the fast. And what does he say? "I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold a man clothed in fine linen, that is, a sacred robe, and his loins were girded with gold of Ophaz, and his body was like Tharsis, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like lamps of fire, his arms and his legs like the appearance of gleaming bronze, the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I alone saw this vision, and those with me did not see, but a great ecstasy fell upon them and they fled in fear, and no strength was left in me, and my glory was turned into corruption." What is "My glory was turned into corruption"? The young man was comely; since, therefore, the fear of the angel's presence affected him just like those who are expiring, scattering much of his pallor and consuming the flower of his prime and destroying the entire healthy color of his countenance, for this reason he says: "My glory was turned into corruption." For just as, when a charioteer is frightened and drops the reins, all the horses fall on their faces and the entire chariot is overturned, so it is accustomed to happen to the soul when it is seized by some astonishment and agony. For being terrified and, like a kind of reins, drawing in its own energies from each of the body's senses, it leaves the limbs bereft; then they, being deprived of the power that holds them, fall down and are struck; which is what Daniel suffered then. What then did the angel do? He raised him up and says: "Daniel, a man of desires, understand these words which I speak to you, and stand in your place, for now I have been sent to you." And he stood up, trembling. And when the angel began to converse with him again and to say that "From the day that you gave your heart to be afflicted before God your words were heard, and I have come because of your words," he fell again to the ground; which is what also happens to those who faint. For just as they, when roused and having returned to themselves and looked up while we hold them and sprinkle their face with cold streams, often faint again in our very hands, so also the prophet suffered. For the soul, being frightened and not bearing the sight of the presence of its fellow servant, nor being able to endure that light, was agitated, as if hastening to break itself away from the bond of the flesh as from some chain. But he still held it in. Let those who pry into the Master of the angels hear this. Daniel, whom the eyes of lions respected, Daniel, who was able to do things beyond human power in a human body, could not bear the presence of a fellow servant, but lay breathless. "For," he says, "my inward parts were turned within me at the sight, and no breath was left in me." But those who are so far removed from the virtue of the righteous man promise that they know with all accuracy the very substance, the highest and first, which brought forth these myriads of angels, one of whom Daniel was not strong enough to see. But let us return the discourse to the former subject and show that God is invisible even to the powers above, and this when he condescends. For of what

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ἀγγέλου οὐσίαν δυνατὸν ἀνθρώπῳ μετὰ ἀδείας ἰδεῖν; Καὶ ἵνα μάθητε ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀληθές, ἄνθρωπον εἰς μέσον παράξω Θεοῦ φίλον, παρρησίαν ἔχοντα πολλὴν ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἐπὶ πολλοῖς ἑτέροις μαρτυρηθέντα κατορθώμασι, τὸν ἅγιον ∆ανιήλ, ἵνα ὅταν ἀποδείξω ἐξασθενοῦντα καὶ διαλυόμενον καὶ διασπώμενον ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἀγγέλου παρουσίας, μηδεὶς δι' ἁμαρτήματα καὶ πονηρὸν συνειδὸς τοῦτο αὐτὸν πεπονθέναι νομίζῃ, ἀλλὰ δειχθείσης τῆς κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ παρρησίας, ἡ τῆς φύσεως ἀσθένεια σαφῶς διελέγχηται. Οὗτος τοίνυν ὁ ∆ανιὴλ ἐνήστευσε τρεῖς ἑβδομάδας ἡμερῶν, καὶ ἄρτον ἐπιθυμιῶν οὐκ ἔφαγεν, οὐδὲ οἶνος καὶ κρέας οὐκ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ ἄλειμμα ἠλείψατο. Καὶ τότε εἶδε τὴν ὀπτασίαν ἐκείνην, ὅτε ἐπιτηδειοτέρα αὐτῷ ἦν ἡ ψυχὴ πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτης θεωρίας ὑποδοχήν, ὑπὸ τῆς νηστείας κουφοτέρα καὶ πνευματικωτέρα γενομένη. Καὶ τί φησιν; «Ἦρα τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ ἐνδεδυμένος βαδδίν, τουτέστι στολὴν ἱεράν, καὶ ἡ ὀσφὺς αὐτοῦ περιεζωσμένη χρυσίῳ Ὠφὰζ καὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ Θαρσεῖς, τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ ὅρασις ἀστραπῆς, οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ λαμπάδες πυρός, οἱ βραχίονες αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ σκέλη ὡσεὶ ὅρασις χαλκοῦ στίλβοντος, ἡ φωνὴ τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ ὡς φωνὴ ὄχλου. Καὶ ἐγὼ μόνος εἶδον τὴν ὀπτασίαν ταύτην, καὶ οἱ μετ' ἐμοῦ οὐκ εἶδον, ἀλλ' ἔκστασις μεγάλη ἔπεσεν ἐπ' αὐτοὺς καὶ ἔφυγον ἐν φόβῳ καὶ οὐχ ὑπελείφθη ἐν ἐμοὶ ἰσχὺς καὶ ἡ δόξα μου μετεστράφη εἰς διαφθοράν.» Τί ἐστιν· «Ἡ δόξα μου μετεστράφη εἰς διαφθοράν»; Εὐπρεπὴς ἦν ὁ νεανίας· ἐπεὶ οὖν ὁ φόβος τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ ἀγγέλου, καθάπερ τοὺς ἐκπνέοντας, οὕτως αὐτὸν διέθηκε, πολλὴν κατασκεδάσας τὴν ὠχρίαν καὶ ἀναλώσας τὸ ἄνθος τῆς ὥρας καὶ δαπανήσας τὴν εὔχροιαν τῆς ἐπιφανείας ἅπασαν, διὰ τοῦτό φησι· «Μετεστράφη ἡ δόξα μου εἰς διαφθοράν.» Καθάπερ γάρ, ἡνιόχου φοβηθέντος καὶ τὰς ἡνίας ἀφέντος, ἐπ' ὄψιν οἱ ἵπποι καταφέρονται πάντες καὶ τὸ ἅρμα ὁλόκληρον περιτρέπεται, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ψυχῆς συμβαίνειν εἴωθεν, ὅταν ὑπό τινος θάμβους καὶ ἀγωνίας κατέχηται· πτοουμένη γὰρ καὶ καθάπερ ἡνίας τινὰς τὰς οἰκείας ἐνεργείας συστέλλουσα ἀφ' ἑκάστου τῶν αἰσθητηρίων τοῦ σώματος, ἔρημα ἀφίησι τὰ μέλη· εἶτα ἐκεῖνα, ἐρημωθέντα τῆς κατεχούσης αὐτὰ δυνάμεως, διαπίπτει καὶ περικρούεται· ὅπερ καὶ ὁ ∆ανιὴλ ἔπαθε τότε. Τί οὖν ὁ ἄγγελος; Ἀνέστησεν αὐτὸν καί φησι· «∆ανιήλ, ἄνερ ἐπιθυμιῶν, σύνες ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις οἷς ἐγὼ λαλῶ πρὸς σὲ καὶ στῆθι ἐπὶ τῇ στάσει σου, ὅτι νῦν ἀπεστάλην πρὸς σέ.» Ὁ δὲ ἀνέστη ἔντρομος. Καὶ ἀρχομένου πάλιν πρὸς αὐτὸν διαλέγεσθαι τοῦ ἀγγέλου καὶ λέγειν ὅτι «Ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ἧς ἔδωκας τὴν καρδίαν σου κακωθῆναι ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἠκούσθησαν οἱ λόγοι σου, κἀγὼ ἦλθον ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου», πάλιν κατέπεσεν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν· ὅπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκλυομένων συμβαίνει. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι διεγερθέντες καὶ εἰς ἑαυτοὺς ἐπανελθόντες καὶ διαβλέψαντες κατεχόντων ἡμῶν αὐτοὺς καὶ ῥαινόντων τὸ πρόσωπον ψυχροῖς νάμασιν, ἐν αὐταῖς ἡμῶν πολλάκις ἐκλύονται μεταξὺ ταῖς χερσίν, οὕτω καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἔπασχεν. Ἡ γὰρ ψυχὴ φοβηθεῖσα καὶ τὴν ὄψιν τῆς παρουσίας οὐ φέρουσα τοῦ συνδούλου, οὐδὲ τὸ φῶς ἐκεῖνο δυναμένη βαστάζειν ἐθορυβεῖτο, καθάπερ τινὸς ἁλύσεως τοῦ δεσμοῦ τῆς σαρκὸς ἑαυτὴν ἀπορρῆξαι ἐπειγομένη. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος ἔτι κατεῖχεν. Ἀκουέτωσαν οἱ τὸν τῶν ἀγγέλων ∆εσπότην περιεργαζόμενοι. ∆ανιήλ, ὃν ᾐδέσθησαν ὀφθαλμοὶ λεόντων, ∆ανιήλ, ὁ τὰ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ σώματι δυνηθείς, συνδούλου παρουσίαν οὐκ ἤνεγκεν, ἀλλ' ἄπνους ἔκειτο. «Ἐστράφη γάρ, φησί, τὰ ἐντός μου ἐν ὁράσει μου, καὶ πνοὴ οὐχ ὑπελείφθη ἐν ἐμοί.» Οἱ δὲ τοσοῦτον τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀφεστηκότες τοῦ δικαίου αὐτὴν ὑπισχνοῦνται τὴν οὐσίαν εἰδέναι μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἁπάσης, τὴν ἀνωτάτω καὶ πρώτην καὶ τὰς μυριάδας τῶν ἀγγέλων τούτων παραγαγοῦσαν, ὧν ἕνα ὁ ∆ανιὴλ ἰδεῖν οὐκ ἴσχυσεν. Ἀλλ' ἐπαναγάγωμεν τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ τὴν προτέραν ὑπόθεσιν καὶ δείξωμεν ὅτι καὶ ταῖς ἄνω δυνάμεσιν ἀθέατός ἐστιν ὁ Θεός, καὶ ταῦτα συγκαταβαίνων. Τίνος γὰρ