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to show what is invincible, and of falsehood to expose the futility. 48 TO EUSTATHIUS, BISHOP OF BERYTUS. I have received the accusation gladly, although I am able to refute the charge easily. For I have written not only three times, but even four. And I suspect one of two things: either that those who promised to deliver the letters are at fault in the delivery, or that your piety, having received them, then desiring more, weaves a charge of laziness against us. But, as I said, the accusation does not pain me; for it indicates to me a spark of affection. Persist therefore in this art, and do not cease from making accusations, and thereby procuring for us this pleasure. 49 TO DAMIAN, BISHOP OF SIDON. Mirrors are naturally fashioned to reflect the appearances of those who look into them. Therefore those looking into them see their own forms. And the pupils of the eyes do this very same thing; for they impress upon themselves the features of others. Your holiness has experienced something like this. For you have not seen our ugliness, but you have seen and admired your own beauty. For nothing of what you have said pertains to me. Yet I pray nevertheless that those words might be confirmed by deeds; and I beseech your love of God to assist with prayers, so that these words of praise may not limp, being stripped of the truth. 50 TO GERONTIUS THE ARCHIMANDRITE. Words often paint the characters of souls, and reveal their unseen forms; just as indeed now the letters of your piety have conveyed the piety of your sacred soul. For awaiting that judgment, and fearing, and looking about for advocates, and preparing a defense beforehand, clearly proclaims the soul's zeal concerning divine things. But we are sluggish and sleepy, and brought up in laziness and in need of much assistance from prayers. Extend these, therefore, most God-beloved, so that having been roused up now at last, we may take some care of our souls. 51 TO AGAPIUS THE PRESBYTER. The achievements of virtue are admirable even in and of themselves; but they appear more admirable when they find a tongue able to recount them brilliantly. The most God-beloved bishop, the lord Thomas, has missed neither of these; but he himself has undergone the toils for the sake of piety; and he has had a tongue praising his toils worthily, that of your love of God. And we saw him more gladly when he arrived with such a testimony; and having shared his company for a short while, we sent him on to the city entrusted to him. 52 TO IBAS, BISHOP OF EDESSA. Taking thought, I believe, for the common salvation, the God of all brings certain misfortunes upon some, so that for those who have sinned, discipline might become a remedy against evil, and for the athletes of virtue, an occasion for endurance, and for those who behold these things, a beneficial archetype. For we are naturally filled with fear when we see others being punished. Considering these things, I regard the evils of Libya as a gain

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δεῖξαι τὸ ἄμαχον, τοῦ δὲ ψεύδους ἐλέγξαι τὸ μάταιον. 48 ΕΥΣΤΑΘΙΩ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ ΒΗΡΥΤΟΥ. ∆έδεγμαι τὴν κατηγορίαν ἀσμένως, καίτοι διαλῦσαι ῥᾳδίως δυνάμενος τὴν γραφήν. Ἔγραψα γὰρ οὐ τρὶς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τετράκις. ∆υοῖν δὲ θάτερον ὑποπτεύω· ἢ τοὺς τὰ γράμματα κομίζειν ὑπισχνουμένους περὶ τὴν ἀπόδοσιν ἀδικεῖν, ἢ τὴν σὴν θεοσέβειαν δεχομένην, εἶτα πλειόνων ὀριγνωμένην, ῥᾳστώ νης καθ' ἡμῶν ὑφαίνειν γραφήν. Ἐμὲ δέ, ὡς ἔφην, οὐκ ἀλγύνει τὸ κατηγόρημα· φίλτρου γὰρ ἐμπύρευμά μοι παραδηλοῖ. Ἔχου τοίνυν τῆς τέχνης, καὶ μὴ παύσῃ γραφόμενος, καὶ τὴν ἐντεῦ θεν ἡμῖν πραγματευόμενος ἡδονήν. 49 ∆ΑΜΙΑΝΩ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ ΣΙ∆ΩΝΟΣ. Τὰ κάτοπτρα τῶν εἰσορώντων τὰς ὄψεις ἐκμάττεσθαι πέφυκεν. Οἱ τοίνυν εἰς ταῦτα βλέποντες τὰς οἰκείας ὁρῶσι μορφάς. Ταὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ αἱ κόραι ποιοῦσι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν· τοὺς γὰρ ἀλλοτρίους χαρακτῆρας ἐν ἑαυταῖς ἐκτυποῦσι. Τοιοῦτό τι καὶ ἡ σὴ πέπονθεν ὁσιότης. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ ἡμέτερον ἑώρακεν εἰδεχθές, ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ὥραν εἶδεν καὶ τεθαύμα κεν. Ἐμοὶ γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐκείνων ὧν εἴρηκας πρόσεστιν. Εὔχομαι δὲ ὅμως τοὺς λόγους ἐκείνους βεβαιωθῆναι τοῖς ἔργοις· ἀντι βολῶ δὲ καὶ τὴν σὴν φιλοθεΐαν ἐπαρκέσαι ταῖς προσευχαῖς, ἵνα μὴ χωλεύωσιν αἱ εὐφημίαι τῆς ἀληθείας γεγυμνωμέναι. 50 ΓΕΡΟΝΤΙΩ ΑΡΧΙΜΑΝ∆ΡΙΤΗ. Ζωγραφοῦσι πολλάκις τοὺς τῶν ψυχῶν χαρακτῆρας οἱ λόγοι, καὶ τὰς ἀοράτους ἐκείνων εἰδέας ἀποκαλύπτουσιν· ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ νῦν τῆς σῆς θεοσεβείας τὰ γράμματα τῆς ἱερᾶς σου ψυχῆς παρέδωκε τὴν εὐσέβειαν. Τὸ γὰρ προσμένειν ἐκεῖνο τὸ κριτήριον, καὶ δειμαίνειν, καὶ συνηγόρους περισκο πεῖν, καὶ προϋφαίνειν ἀπολογίαν, κηρύττει σαφῶς τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν περὶ τὰ θεῖα σπουδήν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ νωθεῖς τινες καὶ ὑπνηλοί, καὶ ῥᾳστώνῃ συντεθραμμένοι καὶ πολλῆς προσευχῶν ἐπικου ρίας δεόμενοι. Ὄρεξον τοίνυν ταύτας, θεοφιλέστατε, ἵνα διαναστάντες νῦν γοῦν, ἐπιμέλειάν τινα τῆς ψυχῆς ποιησώ μεθα. 51 ΑΓΑΠΙΩ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΕΡΩ. Ἀξιάγαστα μὲν καὶ αὐτὰ καθ' αὑτὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς τὰ κατορ θώματα· ἀξιαγαστότερα δὲ φαίνεται γλώττης ἐπιτυχόντα διηγεῖσθαι λαμπρῶς αὐτὰ δυναμένης. Τούτων οὐδετέρου διή μαρτεν ὁ θεοφιλέστατος ἐπίσκοπος ὁ κύριος Θωμᾶς· ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας αὐτὸς εἰσενήνοχε πόνους· ἔσχε δὲ καὶ γλῶτταν ἐπαινοῦσαν ἀξίως τοὺς πόνους, τῆς σῆς φιλοθεΐας. Ἡμεῖς δὲ αὐτὸν ἥδιον ἐθεασάμεθα μετὰ τοιαύτης ἀφικόμενον μαρτυρίας· καὶ πρὸς ὀλίγον αὐτοῦ μετασχόντες τῆς συνουσίας, εἰς τὴν ἐγχειρισθεῖσαν προεπέμψαμεν πόλιν. 52 ΙΒΑ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩ Ε∆ΕΣΗΣ. Τῆς κοινῆς, οἶμαι, προμηθούμενος σωτηρίας, ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς συμφορὰς ἐπιφέρει τισί τινας, ἵνα τοῖς μὲν ἡμαρτη κόσιν ἀλεξίκακον ἡ παιδεία γένηται φάρμακον, τοῖς δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀθληταῖς καρτερίας ὑπόθεσις, τοῖς δέ γε ταύτας θεω μένοις ἀρχέτυπον ὀνησιφόρον. Πεφύκαμεν γάρ πως ἀνα πίμπλασθαι δέους, ἄλλους τιμωρουμένους ὁρῶντες. Ταῦτα λογιζόμενος, τὰ τῆς Λιβύης κακὰ κέρδος ὑπολαμβάνω