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To the one who has, that is, the desire for things to come, it will be given, and the enjoyment of eternal good things will certainly be set before him.

For our God, being rich, never ceases distributing to those who love him the divine gifts of knowledge, which we are not even able to name in this age, on account of their height and greatness, if indeed the great Apostle speaks truly when he says concerning the final blessedness that it is above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come, hinting at the highest peak of good things which will be shown after every distribution and 14Ε_086 ascent of all the spiritual gifts, 1364 which cannot be spoken or known by any word or mind, unlike those things attainable by us in this age, and those that will be shown in the age to come, which can perhaps be named and known by us. For always Jesus, who has passed through the heavens, the Word of God, and has become higher than all the heavens, both transfers and translates those who follow him through practice and contemplation from lesser things to better things, and from these again to things yet higher than these, and, to speak simply, time will fail me to tell of the divine ascents and revelations of the saints according to the transformation from glory to glory, until each might receive the fitting deification in his own order.

This great teacher, therefore, knowing that we have the aforementioned natural desire for God, both exhorts and calls all through his teaching to the spiritual food of the lamb slain for us, and he proposes that we keep, distinctly and usefully, the harmony of his members, that is, of the lamb, unbroken and unconfused, so that we may not be condemned as those who tear apart and rend the well-ordered harmony of the divine body, either rashly, as being beyond one's capacity, or profanely, as being beneath one's capacity, eating the flesh of the lamb and Word; but let each partake of the divine Word according to his own power and order, and the grace of the Spirit that falls to him, according to the concept of each member. For instance, he who has acquired a faith that holds entirely without proof the doctrines of theology from undemonstrable principles will partake of the head, from which the whole body of virtues and knowledge, being joined together, grows with a spiritual growth. And he who receives the divine words spiritually with understanding will partake of the ears, and 14Ε_088 through them becomes compliant and obedient to God even unto death through his works; and of the eyes, he who spiritually perceives creation and gathers all the principles of both sense and intellect without stumbling into the one fulfillment of the glory of God. He who has filled his heart with theological contemplations, in the manner of the great evangelist John, will partake of the breast, and piously pouring forth to those who learn, like an ever-flowing spring, the comprehensive principle and manner of the providence for the universe. He who accomplishes none of the works according to the commandment slackly and negligently partakes fittingly of the hands, in turn, but has the entire energy of the soul in action ready and vigorous for the fulfillment of the divine laws; and of the belly, he who has the fertile part of the soul ever-gushing, and is multiplied by spiritual contemplations, and has acquired the unquenchable, most burning love of passionless desire for divine communion. He who searches out the depths of God with the more hidden seeking and knowledge of the mind, and is filled with ineffable mysteries, will partake fittingly of the inward parts.

1365The discourse will dare something greater. Let him partake with self-control of the lower parts of the Word, he who stands rationally against matter, and keeps the flesh along with the soul completely undefiled, and the whole to it without omission the

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τῷ ἔχοντι, δηλονότι τόν περί τῶν μελλόντων πόθον, δοθήσεται, καί προτεθήσεται πάντως ἡ τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν ἀπόλαυσις.

Πλούσιος γάρ ὑπάρχων ὁ Θεός ἡμῶν οὐδέποτε λήγει τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν τά θεῖα διανέμων δῶρα τῆς γνώσεως, ἅπερ οὐδ᾿ ὀνομάζειν κατά τόν αἰῶνα τοῦτον δυνάμεθα, διά τό αὐτῶν ὕψος καί μέγεθος, εἴπερ ἀληθεύει φάσκων περί τῆς ἐσχάτης μακαριότητος ὁ μέγας Ἀπόστολος ὑπεράνω παντός ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου αὐτήν εἶναι, οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλά καί ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι τήν μετά πᾶσαν πάντων τῶν χαρισμάτων 14Ε_086 διανομήν τε καί 1364 ἀνάβασιν δειχθησομένην τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀκροτάτην κορυφήν αἰνιττόμενος, τήν μηδενί λόγῳ ἤ νῷ ῥηθῆναι ἤ γνωσθῆναι δυναμένην, τόν τε κατά τόν αἰῶνα τοῦτον ἡμῖν ἐφικτῶν, τῶν τε κατά τόν μέλλοντα δειχθησομένων, καί ὀνομασθῆναι καί γνωσθῆναι τυχόν ἡμῖν δυναμένων. Ἀεί γάρ ὁ διεληλυθώς τούς οὐρανούς Ἰησοῦς, ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, καί ὑπεράνων πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν γενόμενος, τούς ἀκολουθοῦντας αὐτῷ διά πράξεως καί θεωρίας μεταβιβάζει τε καί μετατίθησιν ἀπό τῶν ἡττόνων ἐπί τά κρείττονα, καί ἀπό τούτων πάλιν ἐπί τά ἔτι τούτων ἀνώτερα, καί ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, ἐπιλείψει με ὁ χρόνος λέγοντα τάς θείας τῶν ἀγίων ἀναβάσεις τε καί ἀποκαλύψεις κατά τήν ἀπό δόξης εἰς δόξαν ἀλλοίωσιν, ἕως ἕκαστος τήν ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ τάγματι, ἁρμόζουσαν δέξοιτο θέωσιν.

Τόν τοίνυν προῤῥηθέντα περί Θεοῦ φυσικόν πόθον ἔχοντας ἡμᾶς εἰδώς οὗτος ὁ μέγας διδάσκαλος προτρέπει τε πάντας καί καλεῖ διά τῆς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας πρός τήν πνευματικήν βρῶσιν τοῦ ὑπέρ ἡμῶν σφαγιασθέντος ἀμνοῦ, φυλάξαι τε εὐκρινῶς καί εὐχρήστως ὑποτίθεται τῶν αὐτοῦ, τοῦ ἀμνοῦ δηλονότι, μελῶν τήν ἁρμονίαν ἄθραυστον καί ἀσύμφυρτον, ἵνα μή κατακριθῶμεν ὡς διασπῶντες καί διασπαράττοντες τήν εὔθετον ἁρμονίαν τοῦ θείου σώματος, ἤ θρασέως, ὡς ὑπέρ δύναμιν, ἤ ἀνιέρως, ὡς παρά δύναμιν, τοῦ ἀμνοῦ καί Λόγου τάς σάρκας ἐσθίοντες· ἀλλ᾿ ἕκαστος κατά τήν αὐτοῦ δύναμίν τε καί τάξιν, καί τήν ἐπιβάλλουσαν αὐτῷ χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος, μεταλαμβανέτω τοῦ θείου Λόγου κατά τήν ἑκάστου μέλους ἐπίνοιαν. Οἷον κεφαλῆς μέν ὁ ἐξ ἀναποδείκτων ἀρχῶν ἀφέτους παντελῶς ἔχουσαν τούς περί θεολογίας λόγους πίστιν κεκτημένος μεταλήψεται, ἐξ ἧς τό πᾶν σῶμα τῶν ἀρετῶν τε καί τῶν γνώσεων συμβιβαζόμενον αὔξει τήν πνευματικήν αὔξησιν. Ὤτων δέ μεταλήψεται ὁ τούς θείους λόγους πνευματικῶς μετ᾿ ἐπιστήμης ὑποδεχόμενος, καί 14Ε_088 εὐπειθής καί ὑπήκοος Θεῷ δι᾿ αὐτούς μέχρι θανάτου διά τῶν ἔργων γινόμενος· ὀφθαλμῶν δέ, ὁ τήν κτίσιν πνευματικῶς κατανοῶν, καί πάντας τούς κατ᾿ αἴσθησίν τε καί νοῦν λόγους ἀπροσκόπως εἰς μίαν δόξης Θεοῦ συνάγων ἐκπλήρωσιν. Στήθους δέ μεταλήψεται ὁ τήν καρδίαν θεολογικῶν πληρώσας θεωρημάτων, κατά τόν μέγαν εὐαγγελιστήν Ἰωάννην, καί πηγῆς ἀεννάου δίκην τόν περιεκτικόν τῆς τοῦ παντός προνοίας εὐσεβῶς προχέων τοῖς μανθάνουσι λόγον τε καί τρόπον. Χειρῶν δ᾿ αὖ μεταλαμβάνει δεόντως ὁ μηδέν τῶν κατ᾿ ἐντολήν ἀνειμένως ἔργων καί ἠμελημένως ἐπιτελῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ὅλην ἔχων ἑτοίμην καί εὔτονον πρός ἐκπλήρωσιν τῶν θείων νόμων τῆς ψυχῆς τήν κατά τήν πρᾶξιν ἐνέργειαν· κοιλίας δέ, ὀ τό γόνιμον τῆς ψυχῆς ἀείβλυστον ἔχων, καί πληθυνόμενος τοῖς πνευματικοῖς θεωρήμασι, καί ἀκατάσβεστον τόν καυστικώτατον τῆς πρός τήν θείαν συνουσίαν ἀπαθοῦς ἐφέσεως ἔρωτα κεκτημένος. Ἐνδοσθίων δέ μεταλήψεται προσηκόντως, ὁ τῇ κρυφιωτέρᾳ ζητήσει τε καί γνώσει τοῦ νοῦ τά βάθη τοῦ Θεοῦ διερευνώμενος, καί ἀποῤῥήτων ἐμφορούμενος μυστηρίων.

1365Τολμήσει τι μεῖζον ὁ λόγος. Τῶν κάτω τοῦ Λόγου μερῶν μεταλαμβανέτω σωφρόνως, ὁ λογικῶς κατά τῆς ὕλης ἱστάμενος, καί παντάπασιν ἀμόλυντον μετά τῆς ψυχῆς τήν σάρκα διατηρῶν, καί ὅλον ἀπαραλείπτως αὐτῇ τόν