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once a servitude; I was under the commands of the law; I kept the observances of the commandments; but when grace appeared, I transferred my whole self from that to this. For the matter is no longer a transgression, “we having become another man’s”; so that no one could say this, that practicing one thing I advise another, nor that having considered my own safety, I cast you into danger. For if the matter were a danger, I would not have betrayed myself, nor would I have neglected my own salvation. Therefore, just as there, by setting the example from himself, he dispelled fear, so also here he casts out anxiety by putting himself in the middle.

36 That the apostle, speaking with moderation, calls virginity a spiritual gift. “But each one,” he says, “has his own spiritual gift, one in this way, and another in that.” Behold the apostolic humility, its character nowhere lost, but precisely shining everywhere. He calls his own good work a gift of God, and where he sweated much sweat, he attributes this whole thing to the Master. And what wonder is it if he does this regarding continence, when indeed, speaking also about his preaching, he used the same manner—about the preaching for which he bore countless toils, constant afflictions, unspeakable hardships, daily deaths? What then does he say about this? “I labored more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” He does not say that part is his and part is God’s, but the whole is God’s. This is of a grateful servant, to consider nothing his own but all the Master’s, to regard nothing as his own but all the Lord’s. This he also does elsewhere. For having said, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,” he went on to number leadership and acts of mercy and sharing among these. That these are good works and not spiritual gifts is surely clear to everyone. But I have said these things so that when you hear him say, “Each one has his own spiritual gift,” you might not become disheartened nor say to yourself: the matter does not need my effort; Paul called it a spiritual gift. For speaking with moderation, not wishing to count continence in the order of spiritual gifts, he says this. For he would not thus have contradicted both himself and Christ—Christ, on the one hand, saying, “There are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven,” and adding, “He who is able to accept it, let him accept it”; and himself, on the other hand, condemning those who chose widowhood but were not willing to persist in their purpose. For if it is a spiritual gift, for what reason do you threaten them, saying that “They have condemnation because they have set aside their first faith?” For nowhere did Christ punish those not having spiritual gifts, but everywhere those not demonstrating an upright life; and this is what is especially sought by him: an excellent way of life and irreproachable works. But the distribution of spiritual gifts does not lie in the choice of the one receiving but in the judgment of the one providing. For this reason, Christ nowhere praises those who work miracles, but even leads the disciples, who were proud of this, away from such pleasure, saying, “Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you.” For those who are called blessed everywhere are the merciful, the humble, the meek, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who do all these things and things like them. And Paul himself, when numbering his own good works, mentioned continence among them. For having said, “In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in labors, in tumults, in vigils, in fastings,” he added “in purity,” which he would not have done if the matter were a spiritual gift. What then? He even mocks those who do not have it, calling them incontinent. And why does he who does not give his own virgin in marriage do better? And for what reason is the widow more blessed if she remains so? For as I said before, blessings are not for miracles but for works, just as punishments are. And how does he persist again in exhorting about the same things, if the matter were not up to us and, after the inclination from God, did not also require our effort? Having said

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δουλείαν ποτέ· ἐγενόμην ὑπὸ τοῖς ἐπιτάγμασι τοῦ νόμου· ἐφύλαξα τῶν ἐντολῶν τὰς παρατηρήσεις· ἀλλὰ τῆς χάριτος ἐπιφανείσης ὅλον ἐμαυτὸν ἀπ' ἐκείνου πρὸς ταύτην μετέθηκα. Οὐκέτι γὰρ τὸ πρᾶγμα παράβασίς ἐστιν «ἀνδρὶ γενομένων ἡμῶν ἑτέρῳ»· ὥστε οὐδεὶς ἂν ἔχοι τοῦτο λέγειν ὅτι ἕτερα πράττων ἕτερα παραινῶ οὐδὲ ὅτι τὸ ἐμαυτοῦ σκοπήσας ἀσφαλὲς ὑμᾶς εἰς κίνδυνον ἐνέβαλον. Εἰ γὰρ κίνδυνος τὸ πρᾶγμα ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ἐμαυτὸν προὔδωκα οὐδ' ἂν τῆς οἰκείας ἠμέλησα σωτηρίας. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐκεῖ τὸ παράδειγμα παρ' ἑαυτοῦ θεὶς τὸν φόβον ἐξέλυσεν, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἀγωνίαν ἐκβάλλει μέσον ἑαυτὸν ἐμβαλών.

36 Ὅτι μετριάζων ὁ ἀπόστολος τὴν παρθενίαν χάρισμα καλεῖ. «Ἀλλ' ἕκαστος ἴδιον χάρισμα ἔχει», φησίν, «ὁ μὲν οὕτως, ὁ δὲ οὕτως.» Θέα τῆς ἀποστολικῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης οὐδαμοῦ τὸν χαρακτῆρα παραπολλύμενον ἀλλ' ἀκριβῶς πανταχοῦ διαλάμποντα. Χάρισμα Θεοῦ καλεῖ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ κατόρθωμα, καὶ ἔνθα πολὺν ἵδρωσεν ἱδρῶτα, τοῦτο ὅλον ἀνατίθησι τῷ δεσπότῃ. Καὶ τί θαυμαστὸν εἰ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐγκρατείας τοῦτο ποιεῖ, ὅπου γε καὶ περὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος διαλεγόμενος τῷ αὐτῷ κέχρηται τρόπῳ, περὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος ὑπὲρ οὗ μυρίους ἤνεγκε πόνους, θλίψεις συνεχεῖς, ταλαιπωρίας ἀφάτους, θανάτους καθημερινούς; Τί οὖν περὶ τούτου φησί; «Πλέον αὐτῶν πάντων ἐκοπίασα, οὐκ ἐγὼ δέ, ἀλλ' ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ σὺν ἐμοί.» Οὐ τὸ μὲν αὐτοῦ, τὸ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ φησιν ἀλλ' ὅλον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τοῦτο εὐγνώμονος οἰκέτου μηδὲν ἴδιον νομίζειν ἀλλὰ πάντα δεσποτικά, μηδὲν ἴδιον ἡγεῖσθαι αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ πάντα τοῦ κυρίου. Τοῦτο καὶ ἑτέρωθι ποιεῖ. Εἰπὼν γὰρ «Ἔχοντες χαρίσματα κατὰ τὴν χάριν τὴν δοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν διάφορα», προϊὼν προστασίας καὶ ἐλεημοσύνας καὶ μεταδόσεις ἐν τούτοις ἠρίθμησεν. Ὅτι δὲ κατορθώματα ταῦτα καὶ οὐ χαρίσματα παντί που δῆλόν ἐστιν. Ταῦτα δὲ εἶπον ἵν' ὅταν ἀκούσῃς αὐτοῦ λέγοντος «Ἕκαστος ἴδιον χάρισμα ἔχει», μὴ ἀναπέσῃς μηδὲ εἴπῃς πρὸς ἑαυτόν· οὐ δεῖται τὸ πρᾶγμα τῆς ἐμῆς σπουδῆς· χάρισμα αὐτὸ ὁ Παῦλος ἐκάλεσε. Μετριάζων γάρ, οὐκ εἰς τὴν τῶν χαρισμάτων τάξιν καταλέξαι τὴν ἐγκράτειαν βουλόμενος τοῦτό φησιν. Οὐκ ἂν γὰρ οὕτως ἠναντιώθη καὶ ἑαυτῷ καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ, τῷ μὲν Χριστῷ λέγοντι· «Εἰσὶν εὐνοῦχοι οἵτινες εὐνούχισαν ἑαυτοὺς διὰ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν», καὶ ἐπαγαγόντι· «Ὁ δυνάμενος χωρεῖν χωρείτω»· ἑαυτῷ δὲ καταδικάζοντι τὰς χηρείαν μὲν ἑλομένας οὐ βουληθείσας δὲ ἐπιμεῖναι τῇ προθέσει. Εἰ γὰρ χάρισμά ἐστι, τίνος ἕνεκεν αὐταῖς ἀπειλεῖς λέγων ὅτι «Ἔχουσι κρίμα ὅτι τὴν πρώτην πίστιν ἠθέτησαν;» Οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ τοὺς οὐκ ἔχοντας χαρίσματα ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκόλασεν ἀλλὰ πανταχοῦ τοὺς βίον οὐκ ἐπιδεικνυμένους ὀρθόν· καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ μάλιστα ἐπιζητούμενον παρ' αὐτῷ πολιτεία ἀρίστη καὶ ἔργα ἄληπτα. Τῶν δὲ χαρισμάτων ἡ διανομὴ οὐκ ἐν τῇ τοῦ λαμβάνοντος κεῖται προαιρέσει ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ τοῦ παρέχοντος κρίσει. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐδαμοῦ τοὺς τὰ θαύματα ἐργαζομένους ὁ Χριστὸς ἐπαινεῖ ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐπὶ τούτῳ μέγα φρονοῦντας ἀπάγει τῆς τοιαύτης ἡδονῆς λέγων· «Μὴ χαίρετε ὅτι τὰ δαιμόνια ὑμῖν ὑπακούει.» Οἱ γὰρ μακαριζόμενοι πανταχοῦ οἱ ἐλεήμονές εἰσιν, οἱ ταπεινοί, οἱ ἐπιεικεῖς, οἱ τῇ καρδίᾳ καθαροί, οἱ εἰρηνοποιοί, οἱ ταῦτα πάντα καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια πράττοντες. Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Παῦλος τὰ κατορθώματα ἀριθμῶν τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τούτοις καὶ τῆς ἐγκρατείας ἐμνημόνευσεν. Εἰπὼν γάρ· «Ἐν ὑπομονῇ πολλῇ, ἐν θλίψεσιν, ἐν ἀνάγκαις, ἐν διωγμοῖς, ἐν στενοχωρίαις, ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις», ἐπήγαγεν «ἐν ἁγνείᾳ», οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο ποιήσας εἰ χάρισμα τὸ πρᾶγμα ἦν. Τί δέ; Καὶ σκώπτει τοὺς οὐκ ἔχοντας αὐτὴν ἀκρατεῖς αὐτοὺς καλῶν. ∆ιὰ τί δὲ καὶ ὁ μὴ ἐκγαμίζων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ παρθένον κρεῖττον ποιεῖ; Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν μακαριωτέρα ἡ χήρα ἐὰν οὕτως μείνῃ; Ὅπερ γὰρ ἔφθην εἰπών, οὐ θαυμάτων ἀλλὰ ἔργων οἱ μακαρισμοὶ ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ κολάσεις. Πῶς δὲ καὶ ἐπιμένει πάλιν παραινῶν ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτῶν εἰ μὴ ἡμῖν τὸ πρᾶγμα ἦν καὶ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ῥοπὴν καὶ τῆς παρ' ἡμῶν ἐδεῖτο σπουδῆς; Εἰπὼν