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by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, honor, power, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

A third discourse on Lazarus, and for what reason he did not say, 'You received your good things in your life,' but, 'You have received back in full'; and why the righteous often fall into dangers, but the sinners these

escape. 1. It is not in ordinary ways that the parable of Lazarus has benefited us, both

rich and poor, instructing the one to bear poverty with ease, and not permitting the other to think great things of their wealth, but teaching by the very deeds themselves, that more pitiable than all is the one who lives in luxury, and shares his possessions with no one. Come then, let us today take up the same subject again; since even those who work the mines, wherever they see many veins of gold, there they dig again, and do not leave off before, until they have exhausted all that is visible. Let us return, therefore, to where we previously left the discourse, so that we may take it up from there. For it was possible to lay out this whole parable for you in a single day; but we have not been eager to depart having said many things, but rather that, having received and retained what was said with exactness, you might receive some perception of spiritual benefit from this keeping. For indeed a loving mother, about to bring her milk-fed child to solid food, if she pours undiluted wine all at once into its mouth, she helps it not at all, as the child spits out what is given, and soaks its little tunic about the chest; but if she pours it gently and little by little, she sends down what is given without distress. So that you too, therefore, might not spit out what is given, we have not poured out for you the cup of teaching all at once, but we have broken it up for you over many days, allowing you to rest in these days in between from the labor of hearing, so that what has been sown may be fixed with security in the mind of your love, and you may receive what is about to be said with a relaxed and vigorous soul. For this reason also we often tell you the subject of what will be said many days beforehand, so that in these days in between, taking up the book, and going over the entire passage, and learning what has been said and what has been left out, you may make your mind more ready to learn for the hearing of what will be said afterwards. And this I always exhort, and I will not cease exhorting, that you not only pay attention48.992 to what is said here, but also when you are at home, you may continually engage in the reading of the divine Scriptures. This also to those who meet with us privately I have not ceased to always recommend. For let no one say to me those cold words, worthy of much condemnation, 'I am nailed to the law-court, I handle the city's affairs, I practice a trade, I have a wife, I am raising children, I am in charge of a household, I am a man of the world; it is not for me to read the Scriptures, but for those who have renounced the world, who have taken to the mountaintops, who have this life continually.' What are you saying, man? It is not your task to attend to the Scriptures, because you are distracted by countless cares? It is yours, therefore, more than theirs. For they do not need the help from the divine Scriptures as much as those who are tossed about in the midst of many affairs. For the monks, having been freed from the marketplace and the disturbances of the marketplace, and having fixed their huts in the wilderness, and having nothing in common with anyone, but philosophizing with freedom in the tranquility

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χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι δόξα, τιμὴ, κράτος, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

Εἰς τὸν Λάζαρον λόγος τρίτος, καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἔλαβες τὰ ἀγαθά σου ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου, ἀλλ', Ἀπέλαβες· καὶ διὰ τί οἱ μὲν δίκαιοι κινδύνοις πολλάκις περιπίπτουσιν, οἱ δὲ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τούτους

διαφεύγουσιν. αʹ. Οὐ τὰ τυχόντα ἡμᾶς ὤνησεν ἡ κατὰ τὸν Λάζαρον παραβολὴ, καὶ

πλουσίους καὶ πένητας, τοὺς μὲν εὐκόλως φέρειν τὴν πενίαν παιδεύσασα, τοὺς δὲ οὐκ ἀφιεῖσα μέγα φρονεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ πλούτῳ, ἀλλὰ δι' αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων διδάξασα, ὅτι πάντων ἐλεεινότερος ὁ τρυφῇ συζῶν, καὶ μηδενὶ τῶν ὄντων μεταδιδούς. Φέρε οὖν καὶ σήμερον τῆς αὐτῆς πάλιν ἁψώμεθα ὑποθέσεως· ἐπεὶ καὶ οἱ τὰ μέταλλα ἐργαζόμενοι, ἔνθα ἂν ἴδωσι πολλὰς τοῦ χρυσίου τὰς ἶνας, ἐκεῖ διασκάπτουσι πάλιν, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίστανται πρότερον, ἕως ἂν ἅπαν τὸ φαινόμενον ἐξαντλήσωσιν. Ἐπανίωμεν τοίνυν, ἔνθα πρώην κατελίπομεν τὸν λόγον ἵνα ἐκεῖθεν αὐτὸν ἀνελώμεθα. Ἐνῆν μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ πᾶσαν ὑμῖν ταύτην ἐξαπλῶσαι τὴν παραβολήν· ἀλλ' οὐχ ὅπως πολλὰ εἰπόντες ἀπέλθωμεν, τοῦτο ἐσπουδάκαμεν, ἀλλ' ὅπως μετὰ ἀκριβείας τὰ λεχθέντα δεξάμενοι καὶ κατασχόντες, λάβοιτέ τινα ἀπὸ τῆς φυλακῆς ταύτης αἴσθησιν ὠφελείας πνευματικῆς. Καὶ γὰρ μήτηρ φιλόστοργος μέλλουσα ἐπὶ στερεὰν τὸ γαλακτοτροφούμενον παιδίον ἄγειν τροφὴν, ἂν μὲν ἀθρόον ἐγχέῃ τῷ στόματι τὸν ἄκρατον, οὐδὲν ὀνίνησιν, ἀποβλύζοντος τοῦ παιδίου τὸ διδόμενον, καὶ διαβρέχοντος περὶ τῷ στήθει τὸν χιτωνίσκον· ἂν δὲ ἠρέμα καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν ἐγχέῃ, παραπέμπει τὸ δοθὲν ἀλύπως. Ἵν' οὖν καὶ ὑμεῖς τὸ δοθὲν μὴ ἀποβλύσητε, οὐκ ἀθρόον ὑμῖν ἐπεκλίναμεν τὸ τῆς διδασκαλίας ποτήριον, ἀλλ' εἰς πολλὰς ὑμῖν αὐτὸ κατεκερματίσαμεν ἡμέρας, ἐν ταῖς μεταξὺ ταύταις ἡμέραις διαναπαύεσθαι παρασχόντες ὑμῖν ἐκ τοῦ τῆς ἀκροάσεως πόνου, ἵνα καὶ τὰ καταβληθέντα παγῇ μετὰ ἀσφαλείας ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης, καὶ τὰ ῥηθήσεσθαι μέλλοντα ἀνειμένῃ καὶ ἀκμαζούσῃ δέξησθε ψυχῇ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν τῶν μελλόντων ῥηθήσεσθαι πολλάκις ὑμῖν προλέγομεν πρὸ πολλῶν ἡμερῶν, ἵνα ἐν ταῖς μεταξὺ ταύταις ἡμέραις τὸ βιβλίον λαβόντες, καὶ τὴν περικοπὴν ἅπασαν ἐπιόντες, καὶ καταμαθόντες τί μὲν εἴρηται, τί δὲ ὑπολέλειπται, εὐμαθεστέραν ὑμῶν ποιήσητε τὴν διάνοιαν πρὸς τὴν ἀκρόασιν τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα ῥηθησομένων. Καὶ τοῦτο ἀεὶ παρακαλῶ, καὶ παρακαλῶν οὐ παύσομαι, ἵνα μὴ μόνον ἐνταῦθα τοῖς λεγομένοις προσ48.992 έχητε, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἴκοι γινόμενοι, τῇ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν ἀναγνώσει συνεχῶς ἐνδιατρίβητε. Τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς ἰδίᾳ συγγινομένοις ἡμῖν οὐ διέλιπον ἀεὶ παρεγγυῶν. Μὴ γάρ μοι λεγέτω τις τὰ ψυχρὰ ῥήματα ἐκεῖνα, καὶ πολλῆς καταγνώσεως ἄξια, ὅτι ∆ικαστηρίῳ προσήλωμαι, τὰ τῆς πόλεως πράττω πράγματα, τέχνην μετέρχομαι, γυναῖκα ἔχω, παιδία τρέφω, οἰκίας προΐσταμαι, ἀνήρ εἰμι βιωτικός· οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν Γραφὰς ἀναγινώσκειν, ἀλλ' ἐκείνων τῶν ἀποταξαμένων, τῶν τὰς κορυφὰς τῶν ὀρέων κατειληφότων, τῶν τοῦτον τὸν βίον ἐχόντων διηνεκῶς. Τί λέγεις, ἄνθρωπε; οὐκ ἔστι σὸν ἔργον Γραφαῖς προσέχειν, ἐπειδὴ μυρίαις περιέλκῃ φροντίσι; Σὸν μὲν οὖν μᾶλλόν ἐστιν, ἢ ἐκείνων. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἐκεῖνοι χρῄζουσι τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν βοηθείας, ὡς οἱ ἐν μέσῳ στρεφόμενοι πραγμάτων πολλῶν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ μοναχοὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς καὶ τῶν ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀπαλλαγέντες θορύβων, καὶ τὰς καλύβας ἐν ἐρημίᾳ πηξάμενοι, καὶ πρὸς οὐδένα κοινὸν οὐδὲν ἔχοντες, ἀλλ' ἐμφιλοσοφοῦντες μετὰ ἀδείας τῇ τῆς ἡσυχίας