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shames, because having taken the enemy captive, it spares him; and just as a loving mother has hidden him under her curtains, and has stood against royal anger, and against the people's wrath, and against unbearable hatred. This is the adornment of the altar. What kind of adornment, he says, is it for the accursed, and the greedy, and the robber to touch the columns of the altar? Do not say these things; since the prostitute also touched the feet of Jesus, she who was exceedingly accursed and unclean, and it was not a charge against Jesus. For the unclean one did not harm the pure one, but the pure one made the accursed prostitute blameless through the touch; and do not bear a grudge, O man, against that one. We are servants of the crucified Master, who says: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. But he walled off the refuge here with various letters and laws; but behold, through his deeds he learned what he had done, and he himself was the first to break the law through what he suffered, and he has become a spectacle for the world. And being silent from here he sends forth a voice, exhorting all, and saying: Do not do such things, so that you may not suffer such things. And being silent he was shown to be a teacher through his misfortune. And the altar sends forth a great radiance. Now it is most fearsome, because it holds the lion bound. And for a royal image it would be a great adornment; not when he sits upon the throne clothed in purple, and a diadem only, but also if at the two royal feet Barbarians, bound behind, lie bowing their heads. And you all have run together here, so that you may see human nature being refuted. For seeing this man brought down from such a height, the one who shook almost the whole world, constrained, and become more timid than a hare and a frog, and without bonds nailed to this column, and gripped by fear more than any chain, and being afraid, and trembling, you check your passion, and you take down your pride, having philosophized, that All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withered, and the flower fell, because Like grass they will quickly be withered, and like the green herbs they will quickly fall away; because Man 95.1132 is like to vanity, and his days are like smoke. Man is troubled, and in the end he perishes. He is troubled, he vanishes as if he had not been. He is troubled, and before he is established he is swallowed up; like a fire he is kindled, and like stubble he is turned to ashes; like a tempest he passes over, and like dust he disappears, like a flame he is fanned, like smoke he is dispersed, like a flower he blooms, and like grass he withers; like a cloud he spreads over, and like a drop he diminishes; like a bubble he swells, and like a spark he is extinguished. He is troubled, and of his wealth he carries away only the mire. He is troubled, to gain the stench. He is troubled, and taking nothing from his troubles he departs. His are the troubles, and others' the luxuries; his are the labors, and others' the treasures; his are the cares, and others' the joys; his are the afflictions, and others' the enjoyments; his are the robberies, and others' the pleasures; his are the curses, and others' the services; against him are the groans, and with others the gains; against him are the tears, and with others the riches. He is punished in Hades, and others often, feasting on his things, sing psalms; but every living man is troubled in vain. Man, the temporary loan of life, the unpostponable debt of death, the creature untameable by choice, the self-taught piece of wickedness, the spontaneous plot, the artful one for evil-doing, the resourceful one for injustice, the one ready for greed, the insatiable one for covetousness, the boastful spirit, the great-speaking boldness, the easily-changed arrogance, the easily-captured daring; the arrogant clay, the proud dust, the puffed-up ash, the easily-extinguished spark, the easily-withered flame, the easily-fanned herb, the ready-to-perish leaf, the easily-withered grass, the easily-deadened green shoot, the ever-consumed nature. He who today threatens, and tomorrow

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καταισχύνει, ὅτι τὸν πολέμιον αἰχμάλωτον λαβοῦσα φείδεται· καὶ καθάπερ μήτηρ φιλόστοργος ὑπὸ τὰ παραπετάσματα αὐτῆς ἔκρυψεν, καὶ πρὸς βασιλικὴν ὀργὴν ἀντέστη, καὶ πρὸς δήμου θυμὸν καὶ πρὸς μῖσος ἀφόρητον. Τοῦτο τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου κόσμος. Ποῖος κόσμος, φησὶ, τὸν ἐναγῆ, καὶ πλεονέκτην, καὶ ἅρπαγα τῶν κιόνων ἅπτεσθαι τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου; Μὴ λέγε ταῦτα· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἡ πόρνη ἥψατο τῶν ποδῶν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἡ σφόδρα ἐναγὴς καὶ ἀκάθαρτος, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἔγκλημα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. Οὐ γὰρ τὸν καθαρὸν ἔβλαπτεν ἡ ἀκάθαρτος, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐναγῆ πόρνην ὁ καθαρὸς εἰργάσατο ἄμωμον διὰ τῆς ἁφῆς· μηδὲ μνησικακήσῃς, ἄνθρωπε, ἐκείνου. Οἰκέται ἐσμὲν τοῦ ∆εσπότου τοῦ ἐσταυρωμένου, τοῦ λέγοντος· Πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς· οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τί ποιοῦσιν. Ἀλλ' ἀπετείχισεν τὴν ἐνταῦθα καταφυγὴν γράμμασι καὶ νόμοις διαφόροις· ἀλλ' ἰδοὺ διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἔμαθεν, ὅπερ ἐποίησεν, καὶ τὸν νόμον ἔλυσε πρῶτος αὐτὸς δι' ὧν ἔπαθεν, καὶ γέγονε τῆς οἰκουμένης θέατρον. Καὶ σιγῶν ἐντεῦθεν ἀφίησι φωνὴν ἅπασιν παραινῶν, καὶ λέγων· Μὴ ποιῆτε τοιαῦτα, ἵνα μὴ πάθητε τοιαῦτα. Καὶ διδάσκαλος ἐνεδείχθη σιγῶν διὰ τῆς συμφορᾶς. Καὶ λαμπηδόνα μεγάλην ἀφίησι τὸ θυσιαστήριον. Νῦν φοβερὸν μάλιστα, ὅτι τὸν λέοντα δεδεμένον ἔχει. Καὶ βασιλικῇ εἰκόνι μέγας γένοιτ' ἂν κόσμος· οὐχ ὅταν ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου κάθηται πορφυρίδα περιβεβλημένος, καὶ διάδημα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ὑπὸ τὼ βασιλικὼ ποδὲ Βάρβαροι ὀπίσω δεδεμένοι, κατὰ τὰς κεφαλὰς νεύωσι κείμενοι. Καὶ πάντες ἐνταῦθα συνεδράμετε, ἵνα τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φυσὶν ἴδητε διελεγχομένην. Ὁρῶν γὰρ τοῦτον ἐκ τοσαύτης κορυφῆς κατενεχθέντα, τὸν σείοντα σχεδὸν τὴν οἰκουμένην πᾶσαν συνεσταλμένον, καὶ λαγωοῦ, καὶ βατράχου δειλότερον γεγενημένον, καὶ χωρὶς δεσμῶν τῷ κίονι τούτῳ προσηλωμένον, καὶ ἄν τι ἀλύσεως τῷ φόβῳ περισφιγγόμενον, καὶ δεδοικότα, καὶ τρέμοντα καταστέλλετε τὴν φλεγμονὴν, καὶ καθαιρεῖτε τὸ φύσημα, φιλοσοφήσαντες, ὅτι Πᾶσα σὰρξ χόρτος, καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου. Ἐξηράνθη ὁ χόρτος, καὶ τὸ ἄνθος ἐξέπεσεν, ὅτι Ὡσεὶ χόρτος ταχὺ ἀποξηρανθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ λάχανα χλόης ταχὺ ἀποπεσοῦνται· ὅτι Ἄνθρω 95.1132 πος ματαιότητι ὡμοιώθη, καὶ ὡσεὶ καπνὸς αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ. Ταράσσεται ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τὸ τέλος ἀπόλλυται. Ταράσσεται, ὡς μὴ γενόμενος ἀφανίζεται. Ταράσσεται, καὶ πρὶν καταστῆναι καταποντίζεται· ὡς πῦρ ἀνακαίεται, καὶ ὡς καλάμη ἀποτεφροῦται· ὡς θύελλα ὑπεραίρεται, καὶ ὡς κόνις ἐξαφανίζεται, ὡς φλὸξ ἀναῤῥιπίζεται, ὡς καπνὸς διαλύεται, ὡς ἄνθος ὡραΐζεται, καὶ ὡς χόρτος ξηραίνεται· ὡς νέφος ὑπεραπλοῦται, καὶ ὡς σταγὼν ἀπομειοῦται· ὡς πομφόλυξ ὀγκοῦται, καὶ ὡς σπινθὴρ ἀποσβέννυται. Ταράσσεται, καὶ τοῦ πλούτου μόνον τὸν βόρβορον ἀποφέρεται. Ταράσσεται, κερδάναι τὴν δυσωδίαν. Ταράσσεται, καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ταραχῆς οὐδὲν λαμβάνων ἀπέρχεται. Αὐτοῦ αἱ ταραχαὶ, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ τρυφαί· αὐτοῦ οἱ πόνοι, καὶ ἄλλων οἱ θησαυροί· αὐτοῦ αἱ φροντίδες, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ εὐφροσύναι· αὐτοῦ αἱ θλίψεις, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ ἀπολαύσεις· αὐτοῦ αἱ ἁρπαγαὶ, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ ἡδοναί· αὐτοῦ αἱ κατάραι, καὶ ἄλλων αἱ θεραπεῖαι· κατ' αὐτοῦ οἱ στεναγμοὶ, καὶ παρ' ἑτέροις οἱ πλεονασμοί· κατ' αὐτοῦ τὰ δάκρυα, καὶ παρ' ἑτέροις τὰ χρήματα. Αὐτὸς ἐν ᾅδῃ κολάζεται, καὶ ἄλλοι πολλάκις ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῦ τρυφῶντες ψάλλουσι· πλὴν μάτην ταράσσεται πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ζῶν. Ἄνθρωπος, τὸ τῆς ζωῆς πρόσκαιρον δάνεισμα, τὸ τοῦ θανάτου ἀνυπέρθετον ὄφλημα, τὸ ἐκ προαιρέσεως ἀδάμαστον ζῶον, τὸ αὐτοδίδακτον πονήρευμα, τὸ αὐτοματὲς ἐπιβούλευμα, τὸ εὔτεχνον εἰς κακουργίαν, τὸ εὐμήχανον εἰς ἀδικίαν, τὸ ἕτοιμον εἰς πλεονεξίαν, τὸ ἀκόρεστον εἰς ἀπληστίαν, τὸ ὑπέρκομπον πνεῦμα, τὸ μεγαλοῤῥῆμον θράσος, τὸ εὐδιάλλακτον φρύαγμα, τὸ εὐάλωτον τόλμημα· ὁ πηλὸς ὁ αὐθάδης, ἡ κόνις ἡ μεγαλόφρων, ἡ σποδὸς ἡ πεφυσιωμένη, ὁ σπινθὴρ εὐκατάσβεστος, ἡ φλὸξ ἡ εὐμάραντος, ὁ εὐρίπιστος λάχνος, τὸ ἑτοιμόφθορον φύλλον, ὁ εὐξήραντος χόρτος, ἡ εὐνέκρωτος χλόη, ἡ ἀεὶ δαπάνητος φύσις. Ὁ σήμερον ἀπειλῶν, καὶ αὔριον