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human weakness. The Savior himself says this: "it were good for him if that man had not been born," and in Ecclesiastes it is shown: "better than both these is he who has not yet been." But if a good thing happens to the one not yet born, evidently according to this birth, it does not happen without substance. "But let him who curses that day curse it, he who is about to subdue the great sea-monster." This is the prayer for the loosing of the cause of what has happened, of evils for those who by themselves came into the path of generation, and of toils for those who did so through others. He prays, therefore, that the cause of the human calamity, which is truly worthy of a curse, may fall under a curse, so that those who are in it, recognizing that it is full of a curse, may flee it as something cursed by God. And it is well to connect with God who curses not another of his activities but the one according to the economy. For he did not say: "But let him who curses that day curse it," and add "the creator" or "the teacher"—these things do not follow—but "he who is about to subdue the great sea-monster." For since the devil, who is also called a sea-monster, became the cause of the fall of men, and he offers the prayer for this, that it might be loosed, he uses the prophecy accordingly, as "the devil who has the power of death will be destroyed," for he foresaw this with the purity of his soul, moved by the Holy Spirit, so that authority was also given to the saints "to tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy," so that others, recovering from these things, might be delivered from the encompassing sin, so as to hear because of their progress in virtue: "you shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon," who is the devil. For it is said of him: "our adversary the devil walks about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour," and again: "you have crushed the heads of the dragon." And "he who is about to" is well said, signifying that which is according to the incarnation. For it was not fitting for divinity alone to destroy the devil, but through this temple of the Word having come into being, which is from the seed 64 of the one who was deceived and harmed by the devil. For it would have been a boast for him if he had subdued him with divinity alone. The different names of the devil signify his different activities, not essences. For he is called devil and adversary and evil one and lion and dragon and serpent and sea-monster on account of his manner, as his malice works in different ways, which is subversive of the Manichaean dogma. "Let the stars of that night be darkened; let it not wait, and let it not come to light, and let it not see the morning star rising." The stars that came into being on the fourth day—the same until the consummation—belong to every night and not these to this night, and those to that, so that the addition of "that" leads us away from the literal account; for one night does not have its own different stars, so that it might be said of them that they should be darkened. And otherwise, how is it not inconsistent for a wise man to pray that the stars be darkened, which God made to give light, and to pray this because of the circumstances that befell him, which is destructive of his manliness. Therefore, they must be interpreted according to what has been previously 65 stated. The saint prays, therefore, that men not consider desirable the things that are not desirable. Since souls that love sin have certain things that lead them to evil, either the teaching of evil things or reasonings leading to them, which are called a light from it because in a certain way they produce progress in evil, he prays that these things not concur nor be a pretext for those who proceed to evil, saying: "Let the stars of that night be darkened," speaking of the night as the path to the human condition. Let nothing appear bright to souls nor leading them to it, so that it may become a bond of many evils in it. Let it not be enduring, with rational beings now turning away from it on account of its lack of light, that is, on account of not

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ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν. τοῦτο αὐτὸς ὁ σωτήρ φησιν· "καλὸν ἦν αὐτῷ εἰ οὐκ ἐγεννήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος", καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἐκκλησιαστῇ δείκνυται· "ἀγαθὸς ὑπὲρ τοὺς δύο τούτους ὃς οὔπω ἐγένετο." τῷ δὲ μήπω γεγεννημένωι κατὰ τήνδε δηλονότι τὴν γέννησιν εἰ ἀγαθὸν συμβαίνει, οὐκ ἀ νυποστάτως συμβαίνει. "ἀλλὰ καταράσεται αὐτὴν ὁ καταρώμενος τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην, ὁ μέλλων τὸ μέγα κῆτος χειρώσασθαι." αὕτη ἡ εὐχὴ ὑπὲρ λύσεως τῆς αἰτίας τῶν συμβάντων, κακῶν μὲν τοῖς παρ' ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ἐλθοῦσιν τῆς γενέσεως, πόνων δὲ τοῖς δι' ἑτέρους. εὔχεται οὖν κατάρᾳ ὑποπεσεῖν τὴν τῶι ὄντι ἀξίαν κατάρας αἰτίαν τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου συμπτώματος, ἵνα καὶ οἱ ἐν αὐτῇ γιγνόμενοι ἐπιγνόντες ὅτι κατάρας ἐστὶ πλήρης φύγωσι ταύτην ὡς θεοῦ καταρωμένου. εὖ δὲ καὶ τὸ συνάψαι τῶι καταρωμένῳ θεῶι οὐχ ἑτέραν ἐνέργειαν αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ τὴν κατὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν. οὐκ εἶπεν γάρ· "ἀλλὰ καταράσεται αὐτὴν ὁ καταρώμενος τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκεί63 νην" καὶ ἐπήγαγεν «ὁ δημιουργός» ἢ «ὁ διδάσκων»-οὐ καὶ ταῦτα ἕπεται, ἀλλ' "ὁ μέλλων τὸ μέγα κῆτος χειρώσασθαι". ἐπεὶ γὰρ ὁ διάβολος ο καὶ κῆτος εἴρηται αἴτιος τῆς πτώσεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων γεγονώς, ὑπὲρ δὲ ταύτης, ἵνα λυθῇ, τὴν εὐχὴν ἀναφέρει, ἀκολούθως τῇ προφητείᾳ χρῆται, ὡς "καταργηθήσεται ὁ τὸ κράτος ἔχων τοῦ θανάτου διάβολος," καὶ γὰρ τοῦτον προεῖδεν τῆι καθαρότητι τῆς ψυχῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος κινούμενος ὡς καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις δοθῆναι ἐξουσίαν "πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ", ἵνα καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ἐκ τούτων ἀνανήψαντες ἀπαλλαγῶσι τῆς ἀντεχούσης ἁμαρτίας ὡς διὰ τὸ προκόψαι ἐν ἀρετῇ ἀκοῦσαι· "ἐπ' ἀσπίδα καὶ βασιλίσκον ἐπιβήσῃ καὶ καταπατήσεις λέοντα καὶ δράκοντα", ὅς ἐστιν ὁ διάβολος. εἴρηται γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ· "ὁ ἀντίδικος ἡμῶν διάβολος ὥστε λέων περιπατεῖ ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ", καὶ πάλιν· "συνέτριψας τὰς κεφαλὰς τοῦ δράκοντος." καλῶς δὲ τὸ "ὁ μέλλων" εἴρηται, δηλοῦν τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν. οὐ γὰρ ἥρμοζε γυμνῇ θεότητι καταργῆσαι τὸν διάβολον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τούτου ναοῦ τοῦ λόγου γεγενημένου, ὃς ἐκ σπέρματος 64 τοῦ ἀπατηθέντος καὶ βλαβέντος ὑπὸ διαβόλου γεγένηται. καύχημα γὰρ αὐτῷ ἦν εἰ γυμνῇ θεότητι χειρωσάμενος αὐτὸν ὑπῆρχεν. τὰ διάφορα δὲ ὀνόματα τοῦ διαβόλου ἐνεργείας αὐτοῦ διαφόρους, οὐκ οὐσίας δηλοῖ. διάβολος γὰρ καὶ ἀντικείμενος καὶ πονηρὸς καὶ λέων καὶ δράκων καὶ ὄφις καὶ κῆτος διὰ τὸν τρόπον λέγεται, διαφόρως αὐτοῦ τὴν κακίαν ἐνεργοῦντος, ὅπερ ἀνατρεπτικόν ἐστιν τοῦ Μανιχαϊκοῦ δόγματος. "σκοτωθείη τὰ ἄστρα τῆς νυκτὸς ἐκείνης καὶ μὴ ὑπομείναι καὶ εἰς φωτισμὸν μὴ ἔλθοι, καὶ μὴ ἴδοι ἑωσφόρον ἀνατέλλοντα." τὰ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τετάρτῃ γεγενημένα ἄστρα-ταὐτὰ ἄχρι τῆς συντελείας-πάσης ἐστὶν νυκτὸς καὶ οὐ τῆσδε μὲν τάδε, τῆσδε δὲ τάδε, ὥστε τὸ "ἐκείνης" προσκείμενον τῆς ἱστορίας ἡμᾶς ἀπάγει· οὐ γὰρ μία νὺξ ἰδικῶς ἕτερα ἄστρα ἔχει, ἵνα καὶ περὶ αὐτῶν λεχθῇ ὅπως σκοτωθῶσιν. ἄλλως δέ, πῶς οὐκ ἀπᾷδον ἀνδρὸς σοφοῦ τὸ εὔχεσθαι σκοτωθῆναι ἄστρα ἃ ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸ φαί νειν ἐποίησεν τοῦτό τε εὔχεσθαι διὰ τὰ περιστατικὰ τὰ αὐτῶι συμβάντα, ὅπερ τῆς ἀνδρείας αὐτοῦ ἐστιν καθαιρετικόν. διόπερ ἀνακτέον αὐτὰ κατὰ τὰ προ65 αποδοθέντα. εὔχεται οὖν ὁ ἅγιος μὴ αἱρετὰ λογίζεσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὰ μὴ ὄντα αἱρετά. ἐπειδὴ αἱ ψυχαὶ αἱ φιλαμαρτήμονες ἔχουσί τινα τὰ πρὸς κακίαν χειραγωγοῦντα, ἢ διδασκαλίαν τῶν κακῶν ἢ λογισμοὺς εἰς ταῦτα ἄγοντας, ἅπερ φῶς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ λέγεται διὰ τὸ τρόπον τινὰ προκοπὴν εἰς κακίαν ἐνποιεῖσθαι, εὔχεται ταῦτα μὴ συνδραμεῖν μηδὲ ὑπόθεσιν εἶναι τοῖς ἐπὶ κακίαν χωροῦσιν, λέγων· "σκοτωθείη τὰ ἄστρα τῆς νυκτὸς ἐκείνης", νυκτὸς λέγων τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς εἰς τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην κατάστασιν. μηδὲν φαινέσθω ταῖς ψυχαῖς λαμπρὸν μηδὲ χειραγωγοῦν ἐπ' αὐτήν, ἵνα πολλῶν δεσμὸς γένηται κακῶν ἐν αὐτῇ. αὐτὴ μὴ ἔστω παράμονος ἀποστραφέντων αὐτὴν λοιπὸν τῶν λογικῶν διὰ τὸ ἀφώτιστον, ὅ ἐστιν διὰ τὸ μὴ