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was not quenched, but leaped forth, and coming to an evil work, corrupted all his virtue. The blessed thing, therefore, is to not receive the evil thought at all; which indeed the prophet also said: "Lord, my heart was not exalted." And he did not say: It was exalted, but I suppressed it, but, It was not exalted in the beginning, that is, I have kept my soul inaccessible to evil always. The blessed thing, therefore, is this; and the next after that, to quickly push away the thoughts that have entered and not allow them to linger longer, so that they may not work an evil pasturage in us. But if we should be negligent even up to this point, through the loving-kindness of God there is a consolation even for this negligence, and many remedies have been prepared for such wounds by that ineffable and great goodness. But come now, let us bring the discourse to a close, lest this, which we feared at the beginning, should happen now and its length should harm your memory. For which reason it is necessary to recapitulate briefly what has been said. For so mothers also do; when they put fruits or sweetmeats or some such thing into a child's lap, so that nothing of what was given them should fall out through the children's carelessness, they gather up the tunic all around and secure it with the safety of the belt. Let us also do this; let us condense the discourse which has been extended to length, and commit it to the keeping of memory. You have heard how we ought to do nothing for the display of men, and how great an evil negligence is, how it easily tripped up even the one living a precise life. You have learned how much earnestness we need, and especially toward the very end of life, and how one must neither despair over the stumblings of the one who changes, nor be confident over the right actions of the one who has grown negligent. We have discoursed to you concerning the difference of sins, concerning not gaping at the splendors of bodies, and how great an evil comes from this we have shown. Remember what was said to you concerning desperation, concerning evil thoughts. Keeping these things, let us depart for home; or rather, keeping these things, let us also receive the more perfect exhortation of the good teacher. For our words, of whatever sort they may be, have the marks of youth; but his, of whatever sort they are, are adorned with grey-haired wisdom. And our words are like a torrent rushing noisily along; but his are like a spring sending forth rivers with great tranquility, imitating the course of oil rather than of waters. Let us therefore receive the streams, that there may be in us "a spring of water welling up to eternal life"; of which may it be granted to us all to attain, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

4.t On the saying of the prophet Isaiah which says: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up," and a praise of the city of Antioch, and against

those who forbid marriage an inspired demonstration. 4.1 Splendid has our theater become today and cheerful the assembly. What then is the cause? The fruit of yesterday's seeds is today's harvest. Yesterday we planted and today we reap. For we do not cultivate lifeless earth, that it should be slow, but rational souls. It is not nature that delays, but grace that hastens. Our people are orderly, the congregation is eager to hear. Yesterday they were called and today they are crowned. The fruit of yesterday's exhortation is today's obedience. For this reason we also cast the seeds with eagerness, because we see the field is clean, nowhere choking with thorns, nor a path

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κατεσβέσθη, ἀλλ' ἐξεπήδησεν, καὶ πρὸς ἔργον ἐλθοῦσα πονηρόν, πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ διέφθειρε τὴν ἀρετήν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν μακάριον, μηδὲ ὅλως δέξασθαι τὸν πονηρὸν λογισμόν· ὅπερ οὖν καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἔλεγεν· "Κύριε, οὐχ ὑψώθη ἡ καρδία μου." Καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν· Ὑψώθη μέν, κατέστειλα δὲ αὐτήν, ἀλλ' Οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑψώθη, τουτέστιν, ἄβατον διὰ παντὸς ἐτήρησα τῇ κακίᾳ τὴν ψυχήν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν μακάριον, τοῦτο· τὸ δὲ μετ' ἐκεῖνο, ἐπεισελθόντας τοὺς λογισμοὺς ταχέως ἀπώσασθαι καὶ μὴ συγχωρῆσαι ἐνδιατρῖψαι πλέον, ὥστε μὴ πονηρὰν ἐν ἡμῖν ἐργάσασθαι τὴν νομήν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ μέχρι τούτου ῥᾳθυμήσαιμεν, ἔστι διὰ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ ταύτης τῆς ῥᾳθυμίας παραμυθία, καὶ πολλὰ παρὰ τῆς ἀγαθότητος ἐκείνης τῆς ἀφάτου καὶ μεγάλης τοῖς τοιούτοις τραύμασι κατεσκεύασται τὰ φάρμακα. Ἀλλὰ φέρε λοιπὸν τὸν λόγον καταπαύσωμεν, ἵνα μὴ τοῦτο, ὅπερ ἐδείσαμεν ἐν ἀρχῇ, γένηται νῦν καὶ τὸ πλῆθος λυμήνηται τὴν μνήμην ὑμῶν. ∆ι' ὃ καὶ διὰ βραχέων ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι τὰ εἰρημένα ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ αἱ μητέρες ποιοῦσιν· ἐπειδὰν ὀπώρας ἢ τραγήματα ἤ τι τοιοῦτον εἰς τὸν παιδικὸν ἐμβάλωσι κόλπον, ὥστε μὴ τῇ ῥᾳθυμίᾳ τῶν παιδίων ἐκπεσεῖν τι τῶν δοθέντων αὐτοῖς, περιστείλασαι πάντοθεν τὸν χιτωνίσκον ὑποβάλλουσι τῇ τῆς ζώνης ἀσφαλείᾳ. Τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς ποιήσωμεν, εἰς μῆκος ἐκταθέντα τὸν λόγον συστείλωμεν καὶ τῇ τῆς μνήμης παρακαταθώμεθα φυλακῇ. Ἠκούσατε πῶς οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν ἀνθρώπων χρὴ ποιεῖν καὶ πόσον ῥᾳθυμία κακόν, πῶς καὶ τὸν ἐν ἀκριβεῖ ζῶντα βίῳ ῥᾳδίως ὑπεσκέλισεν. Ἔγνωτε πόσης ἡμῖν δεῖ τῆς σπουδῆς, καὶ μάλιστα πρὸς αὐτὰ τοῦ βίου τὰ τέλη, καὶ πῶς οὔτε ἀπογινώσκειν ἐπὶ τοῖς παραπτώμασι τὸν μεταβαλλόμενον, οὔτε θαρρεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς κατορθώμασι τὸν ῥᾳθυμήσαντα χρή. ∆ιελέχθημεν περὶ διαφορᾶς ἁμαρτημάτων ὑμῖν, περὶ τοῦ μὴ κεχηνέναι πρὸς τὰ λαμπρὰ τῶν σωμάτων καὶ πόσον ἐκ τούτου κακὸν ἐδείξαμεν. Τὰ περὶ ἀπονοίας εἰρημένα ὑμῖν μέμνησθε, τὰ περὶ τῶν πονηρῶν λογισμῶν. Ταῦτα φυλάσσοντες ἀναχωρήσωμεν οἴκαδε· μᾶλλον δὲ ταῦτα φυλάσσοντες δεξώμεθα καὶ τὴν τελειοτέραν τοῦ καλοῦ διδασκάλου παραίνεσιν. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἡμέτερα, οἷα ἂν εἴη, ἔχει τὰ τῆς νεότητος δείγματα· τὰ δὲ τούτου, οἷα ἂν ᾖ, πολιῷ κεκόσμηται τῷ φρονήματι. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ἡμέτερα προσέοικε ῥύακι ῥοιζηδὸν φερομένῳ· τὰ δὲ τούτου προσέοικε πηγῇ ποταμοὺς ἀφιείσῃ μεθ' ἡσυχίας πολλῆς, ἐλαίου μᾶλλον ἢ ὑδάτων μιμουμένῃ τὸν δρόμον. ∆εξώμεθα οὖν τὰ νάματα, ἵνα γένηται ἐν ἡμῖν "πηγὴ ὕδατος ἁλλομένου εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον"· ἧς γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ δόξα, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

4.τ Εἰς τὸ ῥητὸν τοῦ προφήτου Ἡσαΐου τὸ λέγον· "Ἐγένετο τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, οὗ ἀπέθανεν Ὀζίας ὁ βασιλεύς, εἶδον τὸν Κύριον καθήμενον ἐπὶ θρόνου ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐπηρμένου", καὶ ἔπαινος τῆς πόλεως τῆς Ἀντιοχείας, καὶ κατὰ

κωλυόντων τὸν γάμον ἔνθεος ἀπόδειξις. 4.1 Λαμπρὸν ἡμῖν τήμερον τὸ θέατρον γέγονε καὶ φαιδρὸς ὁ σύλλογος. Τί ποτε ἄρα τὸ αἴτιον; Τῶν χθὲς σπερμάτων καρπὸς ὁ σήμερον θερισμός. Χθὲς ἐφυτεύσαμεν καὶ σήμερον τρυγῶμεν. Οὐ γὰρ γῆν ἄψυχον γεωργοῦμεν, ἵνα βραδύνῃ, ἀλλὰ ψυχὰς λογικάς. Οὐκ ἔστι φύσις ἡ μέλλουσα, ἀλλὰ χάρις ἡ ταχύνουσα. Εὔτακτος ἡμῖν ὁ λαός, φιλήκοος ὁ δῆμος. Χθὲς ἐκλήθησαν καὶ σήμερον στεφανοῦνται. Τῆς χθὲς παραινέσεως καρπὸς ἡ σήμερον ὑπακοή. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς μετὰ προθυμίας τὰ σπέρματα καταβάλλομεν, ὅτι καθαρὰν ὁρῶμεν τὴν ἄρουραν οὐδαμοῦ ἄκανθαν ἀποπνίγουσαν, οὐδὲ ὁδὸν