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blessed enjoyment; and from this clearly, if any 0092 other, delighting in the Lord Himself, how ever, and in what way you deign to attach this, even in mere word, let alone to offer it through your honorable and blessed letters to one who is inactive and cowardly, and has not at all been taught until now to move the practical powers of the mind, or the reasonings of the soul, like fingers on the hands, into the battle line of God, and His holy war for His sake, and in this way to nobly rout those who are puffed up by their words and dogmas against the Lord Almighty; and to drive them out of the good land, which is the Lord our God Himself, and the same Orthodox faith; the truly 15Α_122 solid foundation and substance of pious dogmas; and the ever-flowing fruitfulness and nature of the virtues. But you have done this in imitation of Christ; in order that, by manifestly showing a good-loving self-emptying toward me, who is separated from him by my will, and intentionally dwelling in a habit of evil as in some distant land from him, and nourishing the passions of dishonor like swine through my actions, and by showing the power of the divine achievements within you through the greatness of your condescension, you might arouse me to a longing for it, and unswervingly steel me for a certain sacred and blessed zeal, so that I might powerfully cast off the burden of sluggishness and negligence which weighs me down far more than all others; and having marveled at you, O blessed one, for the sake of your wise economy and providence concerning me, a poor man, I, though being a great sinner, earnestly besought the Lord our God with tears, that the preservation of you, our good and noble shepherd and father, in more years and more divine virtues, might be granted to me and to all; so that having you, especially now, when the truth in the outcome of events has clearly confirmed the prediction of the truth which is by nature and in reality; and a tribulation, such as has never once been from the foundation of the world, nor ever shall be, has overtaken everyone everywhere on account of our sins; strengthening and invigorating us with the all-powerful staff of your God-persuading prayers, and guiding and enlightening us well with the all-holy pipe of your God-wise teaching, and causing us to dwell through practice in a place of green pasture, the ever-living habit of the virtues; and nourishing us through knowledge at the water of rest, the ever-gushing streams of the sacred supply in the dogmas; and safely preserving us into a strong place and a high sheepfold, the Catholic Church, and the Lord who by His will joined her to Himself through His own life-giving blood, 15Α_124 we might be freed from the incursion of our adversaries; who, seizing the opportune moment of universal turmoil and confusion, contrive to confound the great and ineffable mystery of the saving economy for all people of Christ our God, which naturally circumscribes all ages and times, and those things in the ages and time, 0093; as if the holy flesh—which was taken from us, endowed with an intellectual and rational soul by Him, according to the good pleasure of the Father and the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, and united to Him in one and the same hypostasis—did not possess after the union the properties natural to it, apart from sin alone; because it was not even of nature; or rather, as if the incarnate Word Himself, who became man for our sake, did not perfectly preserve in His own person those things which essentially characterize our nature; but either transformed these into His own divine nature; and thereby showed a defect in His own divinity, as needing some addition for its essential perfection; or caused them to pass away completely into non-existence, as being not very good, and made the work of His own creation disappear by not having made them and united them to Himself hypostatically according to some reason and wisdom; since how can that which came to be through reason and wisdom not be inseparably preserved in that same reason and wisdom by union? or how, being preserved

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μακαρίαν ἀπόλαυσιν· κἀκ τούτου σαφῶς, εἰ καί τις 0092 ἄλλος, αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου κατατρυφῶν, πῶς ποτε, καί τίνι τρόπῳ ταύτην προσάπτειν, κἄν λόγῳ ψιλῷ, μή τί γε διά τιμίων σου καί μακαρίων προσάγειν καταδέχῃ γραμμάτων τῷ ἀδρανεῖ καί δειλῷ, καί μηδόλως εἰς παράταξιν Θεοῦ, καί τόν αὐτοῦ καί ὑπέρ αὐτοῦ, ἅγιον πόλεμον, τάς τοῦ νοῦ πρακτικάς δυνάμεις, ἤ τούς κατά ψυχήν ὡσεί τινας δακτύλους χειρῶν, λογισμούς, μέχρι καί νῦν δεδιδαγμένῳ κινεῖν, καί ταύτῃ τροποῦσθαι γενναίως τούς κατέναντι Κυρίου παντοκράτορος ῥήμασί τε καί δόγμασιν ἐπαιρομένους· καί τῆς ἀγαθῆς γῆς ἐξελαύνειν, ἥτις ἐστίν αὐτός ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν καί Θεός, καί ἡ ταυτόν ὀρθόδοξος πίστις· ἡ ὄντως 15Α_122 παγία τῶν εὐσεβῶν δογμάτων ἕδρα καί σύστασις· καί τῶν ἀρετῶν ἡ ἀένναος καρπογονία καί φύσις. Ἀλλά τοῦτο χριστομιμήτως πεποίηκας· ἵνα τήν τούτου προδήλως εἰς ἐμέ, τόν γνωμικῶς αὐτοῦ διεστηκότα, καί τήν μακράν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τῆς κακίας ὥσπερ τινά χώραν ἕξιν, ἐμπροθέτως οἰκοῦντα, καί τά πάθη τῆς ἀτιμίας καθάπερ χοίρους δι᾿ ἐνεργείας ἐκτρέφοντα, φιλάγαθον ἐπιδειξάμενος κένωσιν, καί τῶν ἐνόντων σοι θείων κατορθωμάτων τῷ μεγέθει τῆς συγκαταβάσεως ὑποδείξας τήν δύναμιν, εἰς ἔφεσιν ταύτης ἐγείρῃς, καί πρός ἱερόν τινα καί μακάριον ζῆλον, ἀτρέπτως στομώσῃς, τῆς πάμπολύ με παρά πάντας βαρούσης νωθείας τε καί ἀμελείας τόν φόρτον εἰς δύναμιν ἀποῤῥιψάμενον· καί σε τῆς περί ἐμέ τόν πτωχόν σοφῆς οἰκονομίας καί προμηθείας χάριν ἀποθαυμάσας, μακάριε, τήν ἐν πλείοσιν ἔτεσι καί ἀρεταῖς θειοτέραις διατήρησιν, σοῦ τοῦ καλοῦ καί ἀγαθοῦ ποιμένος τε καί πατρός, μετά δακρύων, καίτοι λίαν ὑπάρχων ἁμαρτωλός, χαρισθῆναι μοι καί πᾶσιν ἐντενῶς καθικέτευσα τόν Κύριον ἡμῶν καί Θεόν· ἵνα ἔχοντές σε μάλιστα νῦν, ὅ τε τῆς φύσει καί ὄντως ἀληθείας τήν πρόῤῥησιν, ἡ κατά τήν ἔκβασιν τῶν πραγμάτων ἀλήθεια σαφῶς ἐπιστώσατο· καί θλίψις, οἵα καθάπαξ οὐ γέγονεν ἀπό καταβολῆς κόσμου, οὐδ᾿ οὐ μή γένηται, πάντας πανταχῆ διά τάς ἁμαρτίας κατέλαβε· τῇ τε πανσθενεῖ βακτηρίᾳ τῶν θεοπειθῶν προσευχῶν δυναμοῦντά τε καί ῤωννύοντα, καί τῇ πανιέρῳ σύριγγι τῆς θεοσόφου διδασκαλίας ὁδηγοῦντα καλῶς καί φωτίζοντα, καί εἰς τόπον χλόης τῆς ἀειζώου τῶν ἀρετῶν ἕξεως κατασκηνοῦντα διά τῆς πράξεως· καί ἐπί ὕδατος ἀναπαύσεως τῆς ἀειβλύστου τῶν ἱερῶν ἐν τοῖς δόγμασι χορηγίας ναμάτων ἐκτρέφοντα διά τῆς γνώσεως· καί εἰς τόπον ὀχυρόν καί μάνδραν ὑψηλήν τήν καθολικήν Ἐκκλησίαν, καί τόν ταύτην δι᾿ αἵματος οἰκείου καί ζωοποιοῦ κατά θέλησιν ἁρμοσάμενον Κύριον 15Α_124 ἀσφαλῶς διασώζοντα, τῆς τῶν ἐναντίων ἐλευθερωθῶμεν καταδρομῆς· οἱ προσφόρου καιροῦ τῆς τοῦ παντός δραξάμενοι ταραχῆς καί συγχύσεως, τό μέγα τῆς τῶν ἁπάντων σωστικῆς οἰκονομίας Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί ἀπόῤῥητον, ὡς πάντας αἰῶνας καί χρόνους, καί τούς ἐν αἰῶσι καί χρόνῳ φυσικῶς περιγράφον, 0093 συγχεῖν μηχανῶνται μυστήριον· οἷα τῆς ἐξ ἡμῶν νοερῶς τε καί λογικῶς ἐψυχωμένης, ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ κατ' εὐδοκίαν Πατρός καί συνέργειαν ἁγίου Πνεύματος προσληφθείσης, καί αὐτῷ κατά μίαν καί τήν αὐτήν ὑπόστασιν ἑνωθείσης ἁγίας σαρκός, οὐκ ἐχούσης μετά τήν ἕνωσιν τά προσόντα κατά φύσιν αὐτῇ, δίχα μόνης τῆς ἁμαρτίας· ὅτι μηδέ τῆς φύσεως ἦν· μᾶλλον δέ, αὐτοῦ τοῦ σαρκωθέντος Λόγου, καί δι᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐνανθρωπήσαντος, τά τήν ἡμετέραν φύσιν οὐσιωδῶς χαρακτηρίζοντα καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς τελείως οὐ σώζοντα· ἀλλ᾿ ἤ ταῦτα πρός τήν ἑαυτοῦ θείαν μετασκευάσαντος φύσιν· καί ταύτῃ, τό ἐλλιπές τῆς οἰκείας θεότητος δείξαντος, δεομένης παρενθήκης τινός πρός τήν κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ἐντέλειαν· ἤ πάμπαν εἰς ἀνυπαρξίαν μεταχωρῆσαι ποιήσαντος, ὡς οὐ λίαν καλά, καί τῆς αὐτοῦ δημιουργίας τό ἔργον ἐξαφανίσαντος τῷ μή κατά λόγον τινα καί σοφίαν αὐτά ποιῆσαι, καί ἑνῶσαι πρός ἑαυτόν καθ᾿ ὑπόστασιν· ἐπεί πῶς, τό λόγῳ καί σοφίᾳ γενόμενον, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ καί τῇ σοφίᾳ καθ᾿ ἕνωσιν ἀδιασπάστως οὐ σώζεται; ἤ πῶς σωζόμενον