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And the end of the good things of the hoped-for inheritance 23.120 is the crown of righteousness, which those will attain who are able to say with Paul: Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness; which God was pleased to use as a protective weapon against every assault of enemies coming against his own. A PSALM OF DAVID 6. To the end, in hymns, for the eighth. The eighth is the resurrection day of the Savior, the saving Lord's day, on which we believe there is a purification of all sins; on which symbolically every infant was circumcised, but in truth every soul born in God is purified through regeneration. It is so much better than the seventh, that on it the law concerning the sabbath is loosed, if the infant's eighth day should fall on it; for a person is circumcised on the sabbath. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor chasten me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. For every sin comes from weakness, as the soul always yields to passion; therefore he flees to the Savior and physician, the Son of God. For being engendered in the rational soul, as the Word of God he takes away its irrationality; and as wisdom he delivers it from foolishness, and as righteousness from unrighteousness, and as truth he frees it from falsehood. But he indicates the youthful powers of the soul, by saying that his bones were troubled, through which he is accustomed to resist passions manfully; which, clarifying, he added: And my soul was exceedingly troubled. And the healing of the soul's weakness is the power from God; he who has obtained it says: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And that the bones are not entirely perceptible, he makes clear by, All my bones shall say: Lord, who is like you? And, Our bones are scattered by the side of the grave. And you, O Lord, how long? He shows the long-term extension of his repentance. For the wise physician of souls does not immediately hear the one who prays at the first turning, so that he may be in a lasting state of goodness, having shown steadfast repentance; and after sufficient endurance in confession; you persuaded, he says: in an acceptable time I have heard you. For to those who call upon him not out of sin, he will say: While you are still speaking, Behold, I am here. For there is no one in death who remembers you, and in Hades who will confess to you? I have grown weary with my groaning, I will wash my bed every night, I will drench my couch with my tears. David, being wise, was not ignorant that the present life is a time for healing, after which no one succeeds; and he does everything, wanting 23.121 to be healed, before being overtaken by the common lot. Therefore he says: Instead of the one night in which I sinned, I confess all the nights, trying to wash myself and the bed on which I sinned with tears of repentance. For I know that even if he should happen to be promised forgiveness, he will not have an end of tears. And the phrase, "Who will confess to you?" stands for "no one"; for it does not now signify rarity. My eye was troubled by anger, I have grown old among all my enemies. The memory, he says, of your anger and your wrath has troubled my mind; which the Savior, teaching, said: The lamp of the body is the eye. For it is not possible for one of the two eyes of the body to be the lamp; nor is a physical eye troubled by the anger of God. But instead of an achievement, he recounts his own hardships; in which also the affliction and humiliation, which for a very long time he underwent in the midst of his own enemies. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord my prayer

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Καὶ τέλος δὲ ἀγαθῶν τῆς ἐλπιζομένης κληρονομίας 23.120 ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος, οὗ τεύξονται οἱ κατὰ Παῦλον λέγειν δυνάμενοι· Λοιπὸν ἀπόκειταί μοι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος· ᾧπερ ηὐδόκησεν ὁ Θεὸς ὅπλῳ χρήσασθαι φυλακτικῷ πάσης ἐφόδου πολεμίων ἐπιούσης κατὰ τῶν οἰκείων αὐτοῦ. ΨΑΛΜΟΣ ΤΩ ∆ΑΥΙ∆ ʹ. Εἰς τὸ τέλος ἐν ὕμνοις ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης. Ὀγδόη ἡ ἀναστάσιμος τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμέρα κυριακὴ σωτήριος, ἐν ᾗ πάντων ἁμαρτημάτων καθάρσιον εἶναι πιστεύομεν· ἐν ᾗ συμβολικῶς μὲν ἅπαν περιετέμνετο βρέφος, κατὰ δὲ τὸ ἀληθὲς καθαίρεται δι' ἀναγεννήσεως πᾶσα ἐν Θεῷ ψυχὴ γεννωμένη. Τοσοῦτον δὲ κρεῖττον αὐτὴ τῆς ἑβδόμης, ὡς ἐν αὐτῇ λύεσθαι τὴν περὶ τοῦ σαββάτου νομοθεσίαν, εἰ καταλάβοι κατ' αὐτὴν ἡ τοῦ βρέφους ὀγδόη· περιτέμνεται γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἐν σαββάτῳ. Κύριε, μὴ τῷ θυμῷ σου ἐλέγξῃς με, μηδὲ τῇ ὀργῇ σου παιδεύσῃς με. Ἐλέησόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἀσθενής εἰμι· ἴασαί με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου. Ἐξ ἀσθενείας γὰρ ἅπαν ἁμάρτημα γίνεται, πρὸς τὸ πάθος ἀεὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἐνδιδούσης· διὸ καταφεύγει πρὸς τὸν Σωτῆρα καὶ ἰατρὸν, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐγγενόμενος γὰρ ψυχῇ τῇ λογικῇ, ὡς μὲν λόγος Θεοῦ τὴν ἀλογίαν αὐτῆς ἀφαιρεῖται· ὡς δὲ σοφία τῆς ἀφροσύνης αὐτὴν ἀπαλλάττει, καὶ ὡς δικαιοσύνη τῆς ἀδικίας, καὶ ὡς ἀλήθεια τοῦ ψεύδους ἐλευθεροῖ. Τὰς νεανικὰς δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς ὑποφαίνει δυνάμεις, τεταράχθαι φήσας αὐτοῦ τὰ ὀστᾶ, δι' ὧν εἴωθεν ἀντιβαίνειν τοῖς πάθεσιν ἀνδρικῶς· ὃ δὴ σαφηνίζων ἐπήγαγε· Καὶ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐταράχθη σφόδρα. Ἴασις δὲ ἀσθενείας ψυχῆς ἡ ἐκ Θεοῦ δύναμις· ἧς ὁ τυχών φησι· Πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με Χριστῷ. Ὅτι δὲ μὴ πάντως αἰσθητὰ τὰ ὀστᾶ, δηλοῖ τὸ, Πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐροῦσιν· Κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι; Καὶ τὸ, ∆ιεσκορπίσθη τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸν ᾅδην. Καὶ σὺ, Κύριε, ἕως πότε; Τὴν ἐπὶ μακρῷ χρόνῳ παράτασιν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ μετανοίας ἐμφαίνει. Ὁ γάρ τοι σοφὸς τῶν ψυχῶν ἰατρὸς οὐ παραχρῆμα κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ἐπιστροφὴν ἐπακούει τοῦ δεομένου, ὡς ἐν ἕξει παραμόνῳ γένηται τἀγαθοῦ, βεβαίαν δείξας μετάνοιαν· καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἱκανὴν καρτερίαν τὴν ἐν ἐξομολογήσει· φησὶν ἐνέπεισας· καιρῷ δεκτῷ ἐπήκουσά σου. Τοῖς γὰρ μὴ ἐξ ἁμαρτίας αὐτὸν ἐπικαλουμένοις ἐρεῖ· Ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου, Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι. Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ ὁ μνημονεύων σου, ἐν δὲ τῷ ᾅδῃ τίς ἐξομολογήσεταί σοι; Ἐκοπίασα ἐν στεναγμῷ μου, λούσω καθ' ἑκάστην νύκτα τὴν κλίνην μου, ἐν δάκρυσί μου τὴν στρωμνήν μου βρέξω. Σοφὸς ὢν ὁ ∆αυῒδ οὐκ ἠγνόει τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν θεραπείας εἶναι καιρὸν, μεθ' ὃν οὐ δεὶς κατορθοῖ· καὶ πάντα πράττει θεραπευθῆναι βου 23.121 λόμενος, πρὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ καταληφθῆναι. ∆ιό φησιν· Ἀντὶ μιᾶς νυκτὸς καθ' ἣν ἥμαρτον, πάσας ἐξομολογοῦμαι τὰς νύκτας, ἀποπλῦναι πειρώμενος ἐμαυτὸν καὶ τὴν ἐφ' ἣν ἥμαρτον κλίνην δάκρυσι μετανοίας. Οἶδα γὰρ δὲ κἂν τύχῃ τῆς ἀφέσεως ἐπαγγέλληται, δακρύων πέρας οὐχ ἕξειν. Τὸ δὲ, Τίς ἐξομολογήσεταί σοι; ἀντὶ τοῦ, οὐδείς, κεῖται· νῦν γὰρ οὐ σημαίνει τὸ σπάνιον. Ἐταράχθη ἀπὸ θυμοῦ ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου, ἐπαλαιώθην ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου. Ἡ μνήμη, φησὶ, τοῦ θυμοῦ σου καὶ τῆς ὀργῆς τὸν ἐμὸν ἐτάραξε νοῦν· ὃ δὴ διδάσκων ὁ Σωτὴρ ἔλεγεν· Ὁ λύχνος τοῦ σώματος ἐστὶν ὁ ὀφθαλμός. Οὐ γὰρ ἐγχωρεῖ ἕνα τῶν δυεῖν ὀφθαλμῶν τοῦ σώματος λύχνον εἶναι· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ σωματικὸς ὀφθαλμὸς ὑπὸ θυμοῦ ταράσσεται τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἀντὶ κατορθώματος δὲ καταριθμεῖται τὰς ἰδίας κακοπαθείας· ἐν αἷς καὶ τὴν κάκωσίν τε καὶ ταπείνωσιν, ἣν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον χρόνον ἐν μέσοις ἐποιεῖτο τοῖς ἰδίοις ἐχθροῖς. Ἀπόστητε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, πάντες οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν, ὅτι εἰσήκουσε Κύριος τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ κλαυθμοῦ μου. Εἰσήκουσε Κύριος τῆς δεήσεώς μου, Κύριος τὴν προσευχήν μου