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showing that he considers both temptation and death to be nothing else than their stumbling block, where indeed he considers their progress as life. How could anyone else have shown either the grief at the weakness of the disciples, or the joy? He did not say, we rejoice, but, We live, speaking of the life to come. 3. So that without this we do not even consider living to be life. Thus teachers ought to be disposed, and thus the disciples, and nothing amiss will ever happen. Then, insisting on it, see what he says: For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sakes before our God, night and day praying exceedingly to see your face, and to complete what is lacking in your faith? You have become the cause not only of life to us, he says, but also of much gladness, and so great, as to not even be able to give thanks to God worthily. We consider your right doing to be a gift of God, he says; you have done such good things for us 62.419 as to consider them to be of God; or rather, even a work of God; for so great a mind is not of a human soul nor of zeal. Night, he says, and day praying exceedingly. And this is a sign of joy. For just as some farmer, hearing about his own land that has been worked by him, that it is heavy with fruits, longs to see with his own eyes so great a pleasure; so also Paul longs to see Macedonia. Praying exceedingly. See the hyperbole. To see your face, and to complete what is lacking in your faith. Here is a great question. For if you now live because they stand fast, and Timothy brought you the good news of their faith and love, and you are full of so much joy as not to be able to give thanks to God worthily, how do you say here that there are things lacking in their faith? Are those words then not flattery? By no means; may it not be so. For he testified beforehand that they endured many struggles, and were disposed no worse than the Churches in Judea. What is it then? They did not receive all the teaching, nor did they learn as much as they ought to have learned; and this he makes clear towards the end. And perhaps there was also a question among them about the resurrection, and there were many who were troubling them, no longer with temptations, nor with dangers, but by pretending to be teachers. This he says, What is lacking in faith; and for this reason he expressed it so, and did not say, to be established, but, To complete. For where he was afraid concerning their faith itself, I sent, he says, Timothy to establish you; but here, he speaks of completing what is lacking, which is a matter of teaching rather than of confirmation; just as he also says elsewhere: That you may be complete for every good work. Now that is "completed" which lacks some little thing; for this is what is completed. Now may God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you to increase, and abound in love toward one another and toward all, just as we do to you. This is of exceeding love, to not only pray by oneself, but also to include the prayer in the letter; this is of a fervent soul, and truly impatient; this is a proof also of the prayers that have been made there; and at the same time also an apology, that it is not willingly, nor out of sloth, that they do not come. As if he were to say: May God Himself cut off the temptations which everywhere drag us about, so that we may come straight to you. And may the Lord make you to increase, and abound. Do you see the unrestrainable madness of love, which is shown through the words? To increase, he says, and to abound, instead of, to grow. As one might say, Out of abundance, in a way, he desires to be loved by them. Just as, he says, we also to you. That is, Our part already exists; but we ask that your part may come to be. Do you see where he wishes love

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δεικνὺς ὅτι καὶ πειρασμὸν καὶ θάνατον οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἡγεῖται, ἢ τὸ σκάνδαλον τὸ ἐκείνων, ὅπου γε καὶ ζωὴν τὴν ἐκείνων προκοπήν. Πῶς ἂν ἄλλος τις ἢ τὴν λύπην τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν μαθητῶν ἀσθενείᾳ, ἢ τὴν χαρὰν ἐδήλωσεν; Οὐκ εἶπε, χαίρομεν, ἀλλὰ, Ζῶμεν, ζωὴν λέγων τὴν μέλλουσαν. γʹ. Ὥστε ἄνευ τούτου οὐδὲ ζῇν τὸ ζῇν ἡγούμεθα. Οὕτω τοὺς διδασκάλους διακεῖσθαι χρὴ, οὕτω τοὺς μαθητὰς, καὶ οὐδὲν ἄτοπον ἔσται ποτέ. Εἶτα προσλιπαίνων αὐτὸ, ὅρα τί φησι· Τίνα γὰρ εὐχαριστίαν δυνάμεθα τῷ Θεῷ ἀνταποδοῦναι περὶ ὑμῶν ἐπὶ πάσῃ τῇ χαρᾷ, ᾗ χαίρομεν δι' ὑμᾶς ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ δεόμενοι εἰς τὸ ἰδεῖν ὑμῶν τὸ πρόσωπον, καὶ καταρτίσαι τὰ ὑστερήματα τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν; Οὐχὶ ζωῆς, φησὶν, αἴτιοι ἡμῖν γεγένησθε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐφροσύνης πολλῆς, καὶ τοσαύτης, ὡς μηδὲ εὐχαριστῆσαι δύνασθαι τῷ Θεῷ κατ' ἀξίαν. Τὸ ὑμῶν κατόρθωμα δῶρον εἶναι, φησὶ, τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡγούμεθα· τοιαῦτα ἡμᾶς 62.419 εὐηργετήσατε, ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ νομίζειν εἶναι· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἔργον Θεοῦ· οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρωπίνης ψυχῆς οὐδὲ σπουδῆς τοσοῦτον φρόνημα. Νυκτὸς, φησὶ, καὶ ἡμέρας ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ δεόμενοι. Καὶ τοῦτο τῆς χαρᾶς σημεῖον. Καθάπερ γάρ τις γεωργὸς, ἀκούων περὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ χώρας τῆς πονηθείσης αὐτῷ, ὅτι βρίθεται τοῖς καρποῖς, ποθεῖ κατ' ὄψιν τὴν τοσαύτην ἰδεῖν ἡδονήν· οὕτω καὶ Παῦλος τὴν Μακεδονίαν. Ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ δεόμενοι. Ὅρα τὴν ὑπερβολήν. Εἰς τὸ ἰδεῖν ὑμῶν τὸ πρόσωπον, καὶ καταρτίσαι τὰ ὑστερήματα τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν. Ἐνταῦθα πολὺ τὸ ζήτημα. Εἰ γὰρ νῦν ζῇς ὅτι ἑστήκασι, καὶ Τιμόθεος εὐηγγελίσατό σε τὴν πίστιν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην, καὶ τοσαύτης εἶ χαρᾶς μεστὸς, ὡς μηδὲ δύνασθαι τῷ Θεῷ κατ' ἀξίαν εὐχαριστῆσαι, πῶς ἐνταῦθα τὰ ὑστερήματα τῆς πίστεως αὐτῶν εἶναι φῄς; ἆρα μὴ κολακείας τὰ ῥήματα ἐκεῖνα; Μηδαμῶς· μὴ γένοιτο. Προλαβὼν γὰρ ἐμαρτύρησεν, ὅτι πολλοὺς ἄθλους ὑπέμειναν, καὶ οὐδὲν χεῖρον διετέθησαν τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ Ἐκκλησιῶν. Τί οὖν ἐστιν; Οὐ πάσης ἀπέλαυσαν τῆς διδασκαλίας, οὐδὲ ὅσα ἐχρῆν μαθεῖν ἔμαθον· καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῖ πρὸς τῷ τέλει. Ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἐζητεῖτο παρ' αὐτοῖς περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως, καὶ πολλοὶ ἦσαν οἱ θορυβοῦντες αὐτοὺς, οὐκέτι τοῖς πειρασμοῖς, οὐδὲ τοῖς κινδύνοις, ἀλλ' ὑποκρινόμενοι τοὺς διδασκάλους. Τοῦτό φησι, Τὰ ὑστερήματα τῆς πίστεως· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὕτως ἐνέφηνε, καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, εἰς τὸ στηριχθῆναι, ἀλλὰ, Καταρτίσαι. Ἔνθα μὲν γὰρ περὶ αὐτῆς τῆς πίστεως ἐδεδοίκει, Ἔπεμψα, φησὶ, Τιμόθεον εἰς τὸ στηρίξαι ὑμᾶς· ἐνταῦθα δὲ, τὰ ὑστερήματα λέγει καταρτίσαι, ὃ διδασκαλίας μᾶλλόν ἐστιν, ἢ βεβαιώσεως· καθάπερ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν· Ἵνα ἦτε κατηρτισμένοι εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθόν. Τὸ δὲ κατηρτισμένον ἐκεῖνό ἐστιν, ᾧ ὀλίγον τι λείπει· τοῦτο γὰρ καταρτίζεται. Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ ἡμῶν, καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς κατευθύναι τὴν ὁδὸν ἡμῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς. Ὑμᾶς δὲ ὁ Κύριος πλεονάσαι, καὶ περισσεύσαι τῇ ἀγάπῃ εἰς ἀλλήλους καὶ εἰς πάντας, καθάπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς ὑμᾶς. Τοῦτο ὑπερβαλλούσης ἀγάπης, τὸ μὴ μόνον καθ' ἑαυτὸν εὔχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ τὴν εὐχὴν ἐντίθεσθαι· τοῦτο ζεούσης ψυχῆς, καὶ ὄντως ἀκαρτερήτου· τοῦτο δεῖγμα καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ γεγενημένων εὐχῶν· ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἀπολογία, ὅτι οὐχ ἑκόντες, οὐδὲ ῥᾳθυμοῦντες οὐ παραγίνονται. Ὡς ἂν εἰ ἔλεγεν· Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ἐκκόψαι τοὺς πειρασμοὺς τοὺς πανταχοῦ περιέλκοντας ἡμᾶς, ὥστε ὀρθὴν ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς. Ὑμᾶς δὲ ὁ Κύριος πλεονάσαι, καὶ περισσεύσαι. Ὁρᾷς τὴν μανίαν τῆς ἀγάπης τὴν ἀκάθεκτον, τὴν διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων δεικνυμένην; Πλεονάσαι, φησὶ, καὶ περισσεύσαι, ἀντὶ τοῦ, αὐξήσαι. Ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, Ἐκ περιουσίας πως ἐπιθυμεῖ φιλεῖσθαι παρ' αὐτῶν. Καθάπερ, φησὶ, καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς ὑμᾶς. Τουτέστι, Τὸ μὲν ἡμέτερον ἤδη ἐστί· τὸ δὲ ὑμέτερον ἀξιοῦμεν γενέσθαι. Ὁρᾷς ποῦ βούλεται τὴν ἀγάπην