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let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks the body of the Lord unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself"and again: "He who eats the body and blood of the Lord unworthily, (82) will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, not discerning the Lord's body ". But if he who has not shown forth the worthy fruits of repentance is convicted by all God-inspired Scripture of being unworthy, how, tell me, can anyone ever be cleansed without tears and worthily, as far as it is in his power, partake of the mysteries? For these are the first fruit of repentance, and, just as the loathsome discharge of the body and the, as it were, pleasurable union of the heart with every passion is brought by us as a kind of sacrifice to the devil, so again the tears poured forth from it are offered as an acceptable sacrifice to the Master and they wash away the shame of that impassioned pleasure, and making this clear David said: "A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a broken and humbled heart God will not despise". And rightly so; for when our soul is in such a state and is thus humbled every day, it never passes a single day without tears, according to what David said: "Every night I will wash my bed, I will drench my couch with my tears".

Therefore I beseech you also, my fathers and brothers, let each one diligently exercise his own soul in these and such works, which, being pricked with compunction and gradually transformed, becomes a spring gushing forth rivers of tears and compunction. But if we do not hasten to become thus pure, but wish to proceed in negligence and sloth and indolence, I will say nothing burdensome out of consideration for your love, (83) except this, that even if it should ever happen that someone perhaps receives communion with tears, that is, to weep either before the liturgy or during the divine liturgy or even at the very time of partaking of the divine gifts, but the remaining days and nights is not eager to do this, there will be no benefit for him from weeping once. For not only this immediately makes us worthy by cleansing us, but to mourn daily and unceasingly until death, as the Master himself commanded us to do, saying "Repent, ask and seek and knock". Until when? "Until you receive," he says, "and find and it is opened to you". What? The kingdom of heaven, clearly.

For this repentance, accomplished thus unceasingly, as we have said, until death with toil and affliction, little by little makes us pour forth bitter tears, through which it wipes away and cleanses the filth and defilement of the soul; and after these things it produces in us a pure repentance and changes the bitter tears into sweet ones and begets unceasing joy in our hearts and causes us to see the inaccessible light, which if we do not strive with all haste to attain, spiritual fathers and brothers, we would not be completely delivered from all the passions, we would not acquire all the virtues, we would not ever be able worthily or with tears according to God to partake of the divine mysteries daily or to behold the divine light that is with them. But we shall never have a pure heart, nor will the Holy Spirit dwell consciously in us, nor shall we be deemed worthy, like the saints, to see God, neither being here (84) nor there, it seems to me, departing blind, but as Gregory the Theologian says, we shall fall short of the vision of him "in proportion to each one's shortsightedness from here," inasmuch as we have voluntarily deprived ourselves of his light in the present life.

But may it be that all of us, being purified and having been purified, shall be deemed worthy to behold him. For those who depart from life outside of these two have an uncertain end of the judgment concerning them. But the uncertain and unconfirmed is without hope and without assurance; for he whose heart is not confirmed by grace from

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ἄρτου ἐσθιέτω καί ἐκ τοῦ ποτηρίου πινέστω. Ὁ γάρ ἀναξίως ἐσθίων καί πίνων τό σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου, κρῖμα ἑαυτῷ ἐσθίει καί πίνει"καί πάλιν·" Ὁ δέ ἀναξίως ἐσθίων τό σῶμα καί τό αἷμα τοῦ Κυρίου, (82) ἔνοχος ἔσται τοῦ σώματος καί αἵματος τοῦ Κυρίου, μή διακρίνων τό σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου ". Εἰ δέ ὁ μή ἀξίους τούς καρπούς τῆς μετανοίας ἐπιδειξάμενος, ἀνάξιος εἶναι ὑπό πάσης θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς ἀπελέγχεται, πῶς, εἰπέ μοι σύ, δίχα δακρύων ποτέ καθαρθῆναί τις δυνηθῇ καί ἀξίως, ὅσον τό ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ, τῶν μυστηρίων μεταλαβεῖν; Καρπός γάρ τῆς μετανοίας πρῶτος ταῦτά εἰσι καί, ὥσπερ ἡ βδελυρά τοῦ σώματος ῥύσις καί ἡ τῆς καρδίας πρός πᾶν πάθος οἱονεί ἐνήδονος μίξις τῷ διαβόλῳ οἵα τις θυσία προσάγεται παρ᾿ ἡμῶν, οὕτω τά ἐξ αὐτῆς χεόμενα πάλιν δάκρυα θυσία εὐπρόσδεκτος τῷ ∆εσπότῃ προσφέρονται καί τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς ἐκείνης ἡδονῆς τό αἶσχος ἀποκαθαίρουσι, καί τοῦτο δηλῶν ὁ ∆αυίδ ἔλεγε· "Θυσία τῷ Θεῷ πνεῦμα συντετριμμένον, καρδίαν συντετριμμένην καί τεταπεινωμένην ὁ Θεός οὐκ ἐξουδενώσει". Καί εἰκότως· ἐν ἕξει γάρ τοιαύτῃ γενομένη ἡμῶν ἡ ψυχή καί οὕτω καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ταπεινουμένη, ἡμέραν μίαν οὐ διέρχεταί ποτε ἄνευ δακρύων κατά τόν εἰρηκότα ∆αυίδ· "Λούσω καθ᾿ ἑκάστην νύκτα τήν κλίνην μου, ἐν δάκρυσί μου τήν στρωμνήν μου βρέξω".

∆ιά τοῦτο οὖν παρακαλῶ καί ὑμᾶς, πατέρες καί ἀδελφοί μου, ἐν σπουδῇ ἕκαστος τήν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν ἐν τούτοις καί τοῖς τοιούτοις ἐγγυμνασάτω ἔργοις, ἥτις κατανυγεῖσα καί μεταποιηθεῖσα κατά μικρόν, πηγή γίνεται ποταμούς δακρύων καί κατανύξεως ἀναβλύζουσα. Εἰ δέ μή οὕτω καθαροί γεγονέναι σπουδάσομεν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν ἀμελείᾳ καί ῥᾳθυμίᾳ καί χαυνότητι πορεύεσθαι θελήσομεν, ἐγώ μέν οὐδέν ἐρῶ φορτικόν φειδοῖς τῆς ἀγάπης ὑμῶν, (83) πλήν τοῦτο, ἵτι κἄν συμβῇ ποτέ τινα μετά δακρύων ἴσως κοινωνῆσαι, ἤγουν ἤ πρό τῆς λειτουργίας ἤ ἐν τῇ θείᾳ λειτουργίᾳ ἤ καί ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ καιρῷ τῆς τῶν θείων μεταλήψεως κλαῦσαι, τάς δέ λοιπάς ἡμέρας τε καί νύκτας οὐ προθυμεῖται τοῦτο ποιεῖν, οὐδέν αὐτῷ ἐκ τοῦ πρός ἅπαξ κλαῦσαι τό ὄφελος ἔσται. Οὐ γάρ τοῦτο μόνον ἀξίους ἡμᾶς εὐθύς ἀποκαθαῖρον ποιεῖ, ἀλλά τό καθ᾿ ἑκάστην καί ἀδιαλείπτως μέχρι θανάτου πενθεῖν, ὡς αὐτός ἠμῖν ὁ ∆εσπότης ποιεῖν προσέταξε "Μετανοεῖτε, λέγων, αἰτεῖτε καί ζητεῖτε καί κρούετε". Ἕως πότε; "Ἕως οὗ λήψεσθε, φησί, καί εὑρήσετε καί ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν". Τίς; Ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, δηλονότι.

Αὕτη γάρ ἡ μετάνοια καί ἡ οὕτως ἀπαραλείπτως, ὡς εἴπομεν, μέχρι θανάτου μετά πόνου καί θλίψεως ἐπιτελουμένη, κατά μικρόν μικρόν δάκρυα προχέειν ἡμᾶς ποιεῖ πικρά, δι᾿ ὧν ἀποσμήχει καί ἀποκαθαίρει τόν τῆς ψυχῆς ῥύπον καί μολυσμόν· μετά ταῦτα δέ μετάνοιαν ἡμῖν ἐμποιεῖ καθαράν καί εἰς γλυκέα τά πικρά δάκρυα μεταβάλλει καί χαράν ἀένναον ἀπογεννᾷ ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν καί τό ἄδυτον φέγγος ἰδεῖν προξενεῖ, ὅ εἰ μή πάσῃ σπουδῇ καταλαβεῖν ἀγωνισόμεθα, πνευματικοί πατέρες καί ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἄν τῶν παθῶν ἁπάντων τελείως ἀπαλλαγῶμεν, οὐ ἄν τάς ἀρετάς κτησώμεθα πάσας, οὐκ ἄν ἀξίως ἤ μετά δακρύων τῶν κατά Θεόν ἰσχύσωμεν ποτε τῶν θείων μυστηρίων καθ᾿ ἑκάστην μεταλαμβάνειν ἤ τό συνόν αὐτοῖς θεάσασθαι θεῖον φῶς. Ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ τήν καρδίαν ἕξομέν ποτε καθαράν, οὐδέ τό Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ἐνοικήσει γνωστῶς ἐν ἡμῖν, οὐδέ ἰδεῖν ἀξιωθησόμεθα, ὡς οἱ ἅγιοι, τόν Θεόν οὔτε ἐνταῦθα ὄντες (84) οὔτε ἐκεῖ μοί δοκεῖ, τυφλοί ἀπελθόντες, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ὁ Θεολόγος λέγει Γρηγόριος, τοσοῦτον τῆς ἐκείνου θέας ἐκπέσομεν "κατά τήν ἀναλογίαν τῆς ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ἀπεντεῦθεν ἀμβλυωπίας", καθ᾿ ὅσον τοῦ φωτός αὐτοῦ ἑκουσίως ἑαυτούς ὑστερήσαμεν ἐν τῇ παρούσῃ ζωῇ.

Ἀλλά γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς, καθαιρομένους τε καί καθαρθέντας, τοῦτον ἀξιωθήσεσθαι κατιδεῖν. Οἱ γάρ ἐκτός τῶν δύο τούτων τοῦ βίου ὑπεξερχόμενοι, ἄδηλον ἔχουσι τό πέρας τῆς περί αὐτούς ἀποφάσεως. Τό δέ ἄδηλον καί ἀβέβαιον, ἀνέλπιστον καί ἀπληροφόρητον· ὁ γάρ μή χάριτι τήν καρδίαν βεβαιούμενος ἐξ