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a great many virgins, whom she herself had given birth to through spiritual pangs and was leading to perfection through every care, she imitated the life of the 19.8 angels in a human body. There was in her no distinction of night and day, but even night was shown to be active in the works of light, and day counterfeited the quiet of night by the tranquility of her life; her dwelling was vocal for all time, night and day 19.9 resounding with psalms. You would have seen a thing even unbelievable to the eyes: flesh not seeking its own things, a stomach rendered inactive towards its proper impulses, as we suspect it will be in the resurrection, streams of tears disciplined to the measure of drinking, a mouth meditating on the law throughout, an ear devoted to divine things, a hand ever-moving towards the commandments; and how could one bring before the eyes a matter that surpasses description by words? 19.10 When, then, I came from you to the Cappadocians, immediately a certain report about her disturbed us. The journey in between was of ten days, and having completed all of it with possible haste, I arrived in Pontus and I saw and was seen; but just as if someone traveling at midday and having his body parched by the sun, running up to a certain spring, before touching the water, before cooling his tongue, might find the water had become dust, the spring having suddenly dried up for him, so I also, in the tenth year, seeing her who was longed for by me as a mother and teacher and every good thing, before satisfying my longing, on the third day, after burying her, I returned. These were for me the entry-gifts from my homeland after my return from Antioch. 19.11 Then for me, before the disaster was digested, the Galatians bordering on my church, having secretly sown in many parts of my church their usual sickness concerning heresies, furnished no small struggle, so that everywhere, for God's sake, I was barely strong enough to over19.12 come the affliction. Then, on top of these things, others. Ibora is a city situated <in> the borders of Pontus, having from ancient times a tendency towards us and towards the sound faith. And since its bishop had recently departed this life, the whole population sent an embassy to us, not to overlook it being given up to be torn apart by the hands of the adversaries. 19.13 Tears, prostrations, wailings, supplications, all such things, through which came upon us the train of present evils. For when we were in Pontus, and had, through the cooperation of God, taken care of their church in the fitting manner, immediately embassies of a similar kind reach us on the spot from the multitude of the Sebastenoi, asking us to forestall the attack of the heretics. 19.14 And the things after this are worthy of silence and of unutterable groanings and of continuous dejection and of a grief that does not await its release from time; for men bear the rest of evils more easily through habituation, but the evil here, as time goes on, increases together with the inventions of more disagreeable things. 19.15 But in due course I arrive with the other bishops who had been summoned for this very purpose, as one who would receive the votes for the ordination, but the vote was me, and I, wretched man, was unaware, being caught by my own wings. 19.16 After this, factions, compulsions, tears, prostrations, imprisonments, a military detachment and the count himself set over them leading the campaign against us, and moving the governor's power against us, and gathering every pretext for tyranny against us, until he let us loose to the 19.17 Babylonian evils *** among whom there has been from ancient times such a great difference of opinion among the people concerning the faith, that the disease has become hardened in them and is difficult to dissolve, and they fight against those who try to cure the affliction. 19.18 Being otherwise ignorant and in language more than barbarians, with rough voices and a beastly way of life, they have been so trained in cunning for evil, after the fashion of treacherous beasts, that Archimedes is nothing to them, or rather

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αὐτὴν παρθένων πολύς, ἃς αὐτὴ διὰ τῶν πνευματικῶν ὠδίνων γεννήσασα καὶ εἰς τελείωσιν διὰ πάσης ἐπιμελείας προάγουσα, τὴν τῶν 19.8 ἀγγέλων ἐμιμεῖτο ζωὴν ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῳ τῷ σώματι. οὐκ ἦν διάκρισις ἐν αὐτῇ νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας, ἀλλὰ καὶ νὺξ ἐνεργὸς ἐν τοῖς τοῦ φωτὸς ἔργοις ἐδείκνυτο καὶ ἡμέρα τὴν νυκτερινὴν ἡσυχίαν τῷ ἀταράχῳ τῆς ζωῆς ὑπεκρίνετο· φωνῆεν ἦν αὐτῇ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου τὸ οἴκημα νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ταῖς 19.9 ψαλμῳδίαις περιηχούμενον. εἶδες ἂν πρᾶγμα καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀπιστούμενον, σάρκα μὴ ζητοῦσαν τὰ ἴδια, γαστέρα, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ὑποπτεύομεν, πρὸς τὰς οἰκείας ὁρμὰς κατηργημένην, δακρύων λιβάδας πρὸς τὸ τῆς πόσεως μέτρον ἐξησκημένας, στόμα μελετῶν δι' ὅλου τὸν νόμον, ἀκοὴν τοῖς θείοις σχολάζουσαν, χεῖρα πρὸς τὰς ἐντολὰς ἀεικίνητον· καὶ πῶς ἄν τις ὑπ' ὄψιν ἀγάγοι πρᾶγμα ὑπερβαῖνον τὴν διὰ τῶν λόγων γραφήν; 19.10 Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἐπέστην παρ' ὑμῶν τοῖς Καππαδόκαις, εὐθύς τις ἡμᾶς ἀκοὴ περὶ αὐτῆς διετάραξε· δέκα δὲ ἦν ἡμερῶν ἡ διὰ τοῦ μέσου ὁδός, καὶ ταύτην πᾶσαν διὰ τῆς ἐνδεχομένης ἐπείξεως διανύσας γίνομαι κατὰ τὸν Πόντον καὶ εἶδον καὶ ὤφθην· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ εἴ τις διὰ μεσημβρίας ὁδεύων καὶ καταφρυγεὶς τῷ ἡλίῳ τὸ σῶμα, ἐπί τινα κρήνην ἀναδραμών, πρὶν ἐπιψαῦσαι τοῦ ὕδατος, πρὶν καταψῦξαι τὴν γλῶσσαν, ἀθρόως αὐτῷ τῆς πηγῆς ὑποξηρανθείσης κόνιν εὕροι τὸ ὕδωρ γενόμενον, οὕτω καὶ αὐτός, ἐνιαυτῷ δεκάτῳ τὴν ἀντὶ μητρός μοι καὶ διδασκάλου καὶ παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ ποθουμένην ἰδών, πρὶν ἀποπληρῶσαι τὸν πόθον, ἡμέρᾳ τρίτῃ κηδεύσας ὑπέστρεφον. ταῦτά μοι τῆς πατρίδος μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδόν μου τὴν ἐξ Ἀντιοχείας τὰ 19.11 εἰσιτήρια. εἶτά μοι, πρὶν καταπεφθῆναι τὴν συμφοράν, οἱ πρόσχωροι τῆς ἐμῆς ἐκκλησίας Γαλάται, τὸ σύνηθες αὐτοῖς περὶ τὰς αἱρέσεις ἀρρώστημα πολλαχοῦ τῆς ἐμῆς ἐκκλησίας κατὰ τὸ λεληθὸς ὑποσπείραντες, ἀγῶνα παρέσχον οὐ μικρόν, ὥστε πανταχοῦ διὰ θεὸν μόγις ἐξισχῦσαι περι19.12 γενέσθαι τοῦ πάθους. εἶτα ἐπὶ τούτοις ἄλλα· Ἴβωρα πόλις ἐστὶν <ἐν> τοῖς ὁρίοις τοῦ Πόντου κατῳκισμένη, ἔχουσα πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξ ἀρχαίου καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὑγιαίνουσαν πίστιν ἐπιρρεπῶς· καὶ τοῦ ἐπισκοποῦντος αὐτὴν προσφάτως ὑπεξελθόντος τὸν βίον, πανδημεὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπρεσβεύσαντο μὴ περιιδεῖν αὐτὴν ἔκδοτον ταῖς χερσὶ τῶν ἐναντίων 19.13 σπαρασσομένην. δάκρυα, προσπτώσεις, οἰμωγαί, ἱκετηρίαι, πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, δι' ὧν ἐγίνετο ἡμῖν ἡ τῶν παρόντων κακῶν ἀκολουθία. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐγενόμεθα κατὰ τὸν Πόντον καὶ κατὰ τὸν προσήκοντα τύπον τῆς παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐκκλησίας ἐπεμελήθημεν συνεργίᾳ θεοῦ, εὐθὺς ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου καταλαμβάνουσιν ὁμοιότροποι πρεσβεῖαι παρὰ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν Σεβαστηνῶν φθάσαι τὴν τῶν αἱρετικῶν ἐπιδρομὴν 19.14 ἀξιούντων. τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις σιωπῆς ἄξια καὶ στεναγμῶν ἀλαλήτων καὶ κατηφείας διηνεκοῦς καὶ πένθους τὴν ἐκ τοῦ χρόνου λύσιν οὐκ ἀναμένοντος· τὰ μὲν γὰρ λοιπὰ τῶν κακῶν τῷ προσεθισμῷ ῥᾷον οἱ ἄνθρωποι φέρουσι, τὰ δὲ ἐνταῦθα προϊόντι τῷ χρόνῳ ταῖς ἐφευρέσεσι τῶν ἀηδεστέρων συναύξεται. 19.15 Ἀλλὰ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ἀκολουθίαν γίνομαι μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐπισκόπων τῶν εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο συγκεκλημένων ὡς ψήφους ὑπὲρ χειροτονίας δεξόμενος, ἡ ψῆφος δὲ ἤμην ἐγὼ καὶ ἠγνόουν ὁ δείλαιος τοῖς ἐμαυτοῦ πτεροῖς ἁλισκόμενος. 19.16 στάσεις ἐπὶ τούτοις, ἀνάγκαι, δάκρυα, προσπτώσεις, φυλακαί, τάγμα στρατιωτικὸν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ἐπιτεταγμένος αὐτοῖς κόμης καθ' ἡμῶν στρατηγῶν καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἡγεμόνος δυναστείαν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς κινῶν καὶ πᾶσαν ἀφορμὴν πρὸς τὴν τυραννίδα τὴν καθ' ἡμῶν συναγείρων, ἕως ἐναφῆκεν ἡμᾶς τοῖς 19.17 Βαβυλωνίοις κακοῖς *** παρ' οἷς τοσαύτη τις γέγονεν ἡ περὶ τὴν πίστιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκ παλαιῶν χρόνων διαφορά, ὥστε αὐτοῖς ἐνσκιρωθῆναι τὴν νόσον καὶ δυσδιάλυτον εἶναι, καὶ μάχεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς θεραπεύειν ἐπιχει19.18 ροῦντας τὸ πάθος. ἀμαθεῖς δὲ ἄλλως ὄντες καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν πλέον ἢ βάρβαροι δασεῖς τε τὴν φωνὴν καὶ θηριώδεις τὴν δίαιταν, κατὰ τὰ δολερὰ τῶν θηρίων τὴν πρὸς τὸ κακὸν εὐμηχανίαν οὕτως ἐξήσκηνται, ὡς μηδὲν αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὸν Ἀρχιμήδην, μᾶλλον δὲ