we are deemed worthy of Christ, let us have communion with one another in all good things for the edification and benefit both of ourselves and of our neighbors and of all people; and thus fulfilling the law of Christ we will become worthy of eternal life. But that the work of prayer and of the word, when fittingly performed, is set before every virtue and commandment, the Lord himself testifies. For when he came to the house of Martha and Mary, and Martha was busy with her service, but Mary was sitting at the feet of the Lord and feeding her soul on the salvific teaching, and Martha complained that she did not help her and said to the Lord: Lord, tell my sister to come 288 and help me, because she has left me alone; the Lord preferred the first and more essential thing to the second, saying to her: Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things; but one thing is necessary; and Mary has chosen the good part. By saying this, the Lord indicated the first and greater work of virtue. For he did not regard the work of service as nothing. For if it were nothing, how did he himself partake of Martha's service and he himself perform the work, washing the feet of the disciples? And he exhorted them, saying: If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet; for I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you; and again: Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be servant of all and slave of all; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many; and Whatever you do for one of these, you did for me; and He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. But the apostles also in the Acts, being occupied with the physical service of tables, preferred the greater, to pursue the work of prayer and of the word. For it is not right, he says, that we should leave the word of God and serve 289 tables; but let us select men full of the Holy Spirit and appoint them over this business, while we will devote ourselves to the ministry of the word and to prayer. Do you see how they preferred the first things over the second, although both are shoots from one good root? Therefore let prayer be honored and striven for and preferred by you over the other commandments. only that all things be done in the love of God and with the aim of attaining through grace to passionless purity. Therefore, let us not, by occupying ourselves with bodily practices simply and randomly and without discernment, nor with outward forms (that is, of prayer or psalmody, fasting or service) which are not done for God alone, and with other external accomplishments, hide from ourselves through ignorance the truth itself, which is the love of God sought by God in the inner man and activated by the Spirit, placing our confidence in bodily observances alone, but let the aim of love for God, in a genuine conscience and sincere disposition, rule over all the commandments; And when this love universally takes precedence and is earnestly sought by the Spirit to be active in us with great longing, then consequently the prayer of kneeling is perfected and the service is acceptably fulfilled, and the practice of all 290 the commandments can be purely and sincerely accomplished by us through the cooperation of the Spirit. For to become sons of light and to be deemed worthy to be children of God and to be shown to be heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ, and to be sons of the heavenly bridechamber, and to be called brothers of Christ by divine grace according to the ineffable promises of the God-inspired and holy scriptures, which is the aim and the hope of Christians, by what accomplishments for us or what

τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀξιούμεθα, ἀλλήλοις κοινωνήσωμεν ἐν πᾶσιν ἀγαθοῖς εἰς οἰκοδομὴν καὶ ὠφέλειαν καὶ ἑαυτῶν καὶ τῶν πλησίον καὶ πάντων ἀνθρώπων· καὶ οὕτως ἀναπληροῦντες τὸν νόμον τοῦ Χριστοῦ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς ἄξιοι γενησόμεθα. Ὅτι δὲ τὸ τῆς εὐχῆς καὶ τοῦ λόγου ἁρμοζόντως τελούμενον ἔργον πάσης ἀρετῆς καὶ ἐντολῆς προτέτακται, αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος μαρτυρεῖ. ὅτε γὰρ ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν Μάρθας καὶ Μαρίας, καὶ Μάρθας μὲν περὶ τὴν διακονίαν ἀσχολουμένης, Μαρίας δὲ παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ κυρίου καθεζομένης καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς σωτηριώδους διδασκαλίας τὴν ψυχὴν τρεφομένης, μεμφομένης δὲ τῆς Μάρθας ὅτι οὐ συμβοηθεῖ αὐτῇ καὶ εἰρηκυίας πρὸς τὸν κύριον· Κύριε εἰπὲ ἵνα ἡ ἀδελφή μου ἐλθοῦσα 288 συναντιλάβηταί μοι, ὅτι μόνην με κατέλιπεν· ὁ κύριος τὸ πρῶτον καὶ κεφαλαιωδέστερον τοῦ δευτέρου προέκρινεν εἰρηκὼς αὐτῇ· Μάρθα Μάρθα, μεριμνᾷς καὶ τυρβάζῃ περὶ πολλά· ἑνὸς δέ ἐστι χρεία· Μαρία δὲ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο. τὸ πρῶτον καὶ μεῖζον τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔργον ὑπέδειξεν ὁ κύριος οὕτως εἰπών. οὐχὶ γὰρ ὡς οὐδὲν τὸ τῆς διακονίας ἔργον ἡγήσατο. εἰ γὰρ οὐδὲν ἦν, πῶς αὐτὸς τῆς διακονίας Μάρθας μετελάμβανε καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ ἔργον δι' ἑαυτοῦ ἐπετέλεσε, νίψας τῶν μαθητῶν τοὺς πόδας; καὶ παρῄνεσεν εἰπὼν αὐτοῖς· Εἰ οὖν ἐγὼ ὁ κύριος καὶ ὁ διδάσκαλος ἔνιψα ὑμῶν τῶν μαθητῶν τοὺς πόδας, ὀφείλετε καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀλλήλων νίπτειν τοὺς πόδας· ὑπόδειγμα γὰρ ἔδωκα ὑμῖν, ἵνα καθὼς ἐγὼ ἐποίησα καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιῆτε· καὶ πάλιν· Ὁ θέλων ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι πρῶτος, ἔστω πάντων διάκονος καὶ πάντων δοῦλος· καθὼς καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθε διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν· καὶ Ὅσα ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ἑνὶ τούτων, ἐμοὶ ἐποίησε· καὶ Ὁ δεχόμενος δίκαιον εἰς ὄνομα δικαίου, μισθὸν δικαίου λήψεται. ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι περὶ τὴν σωματικὴν διακονίαν τῶν τραπεζῶν ἀσχολούμενοι τὸ μεῖζον προέκριναν, τὸ τῆς εὐχῆς καὶ τοῦ λόγου μεταδιώκειν ἔργον. Οὐ δίκαιον γάρ, φησίν, ἐστὶν ἡμᾶς καταλιπόντας τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ διακονεῖν 289 τραπέζαις· ἀλλ' ἐκλεξάμενοι ἄνδρας πλήρεις ἁγίου πνεύματος καταστήσωμεν ἐπὶ τῆς χρείας ταύτης, ἡμεῖς δὲ τῇ διακονίᾳ τοῦ λόγου καὶ τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερήσωμεν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς τὰ πρῶτα ἀπὸ τῶν δευτέρων προέκριναν, καίπερ ἀμφότερα μιᾶς ὄντα ἀγαθῆς ῥίζης ἀποβλαστήματα. ὥστε ἡ εὐχὴ προτιμάσθω καὶ σπουδαζέσθω καὶ προκρινέσθω ὑμῖν τῶν λοιπῶν ἐντολῶν. μόνον ἐν ἀγάπῃ θεοῦ ἵνα πάντα γίνηται καὶ σκοπῷ τοῦ φθάσαι διὰ τῆς χάριτος εἰς τὴν ἀπαθῆ καθαρότητα. μὴ σωματικοῖς οὖν ἔθεσιν ἁπλῶς καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε καὶ ἀδιακρίτως μηδὲ τοῖς ἔξωθεν σχηματισμοῖς (ἤτοι εὐχῆς ἢ ψαλμῳδίας, νηστείας ἢ διακονίας) μὴ διὰ θεὸν μόνον γινομένοις καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἐξωτέροις κατορθώμασιν ἐμφιλοχωρούμενοι αὐτὴν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγάπη ἐν τῷ ἔσω ἀνθρώπῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπιζητουμένη καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐνεργουμένη, ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν ἀποκρύψωμεν δι' ἄγνοιαν, ἐν σωματικοῖς μόνον δικαιώμασι τὴν πεποίθησιν ἔχοντες, ἀλλὰ ὁ σκοπὸς τῆς ἀγάπης τῆς πρὸς θεὸν ἐν συνειδήσει γνησίᾳ καὶ εἰλικρινεῖ διαθέσει πασῶν τῶν ἐντολῶν κυριευέτω· ἧς καὶ καθόλου προηγουμένης καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν ἐνεργεῖσθαι ἐν πολλῇ ἐπιποθήσει ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος σπουδαζομένης, ἀκολούθως καὶ ἡ εὐχὴ τῆς γονυκλισίας καταρτίζεται καὶ ἡ διακονία εὐπροσδέκτως πληροῦται, καὶ ἡ πασῶν τῶν 290 ἐντολῶν ἐπιτήδευσις καθαρῶς καὶ εἰλικρινῶς ὑφ' ἡμῶν διὰ τῆς τοῦ πνεύματος συνεργίας ἐπιτελεῖσθαι δύναται. τὸ γὰρ υἱοὺς φωτὸς γενέσθαι καὶ τέκνα θεοῦ καταξιωθῆναι καὶ κληρονόμους μὲν θεοῦ, συγκληρονόμους δὲ Χριστοῦ ἀποδειχθῆναι καὶ υἱοὺς ἐπουρανίου νυμφῶνος εἶναι καὶ ἀδελφοὺς Χριστοῦ θείᾳ χάριτι προσαγορευθῆναι κατὰ τὰς ἀρρήτους ἐπαγγελίας τῶν θεοπνεύστων καὶ ἁγίων γραφῶν, ὅ ἐστιν ὁ σκοπὸς καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς τῶν Χριστιανῶν, διὰ ποίων ἡμῖν κατορθωμάτων ἢ ποίων