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exhortation and counsel, for correction and admonition. For this reason she did not say, My tongue was sharpened against my enemies, but, It was enlarged. I enjoyed relief, she says, I am able to speak freely. Now I have driven away shame, I have returned to boldness. And not even here did she name the rival woman, but simply with the indefiniteness of the address, as with a mask she concealed the one who had grieved her so much. She did not say, what many women say: God has put her to shame, has shattered and cast down the defiled and arrogant and boastful one; but simply, My mouth is enlarged over my enemies; I have rejoiced in your salvation. See how she maintains the same law throughout the whole prayer. For just as in the beginning she said, My heart is established in the Lord, my horn is exalted in my God, my mouth is enlarged over my enemies; so also here, I have rejoiced in your salvation. Not simply, in salvation, but, In your salvation; For not because I was saved, she says, but because I was saved through you, for this reason I rejoice and exult. Such are the souls of the saints; they rejoice more in the God who has given than in the gifts; for they do not love him for his own things, but those things for his sake. This is the mark of grateful servants, this of thankful slaves, to prefer their Master to all their own things. So, I beseech you, let us also be disposed; if we sin, let us not grieve because we are punished, but because we have provoked the Master; if we do right, let us not rejoice because of the kingdom of heaven, but because we have pleased the king of heaven. For to one who has understanding, to offend God is more fearful than all of Gehenna, just as to please God is more desirable than any kingdom. And do not be surprised if one ought to be so disposed toward God, when indeed many are so disposed toward men. For we often have legitimate sons; if we unwillingly do them some harm, we punish and 54.672 chastise ourselves; and we do this for friends as well. But if, in the case of friends and sons, we consider grieving them to be much harder than being punished, much more ought we to be so disposed toward God, and to consider doing something that is not pleasing to him to be more grievous than all of Gehenna. Such was the blessed Paul; for this reason he said: I am persuaded that neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And when we call the holy martyrs blessed, we first call them blessed for their wounds, and then for their prizes; for their stripes, and then for the crowns laid up for them. For from the wounds the prizes, not from the prizes the wounds, take their beginning and cause. 3. So also the blessed Paul, before the good things laid up for him, rejoiced in the sorrows that befell him for Christ's sake, and cried out, saying, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake; and again, And not only so, but we also glory in tribulations; and again, For to you it has been granted by God, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. For it is truly a very great grace, to be counted worthy to suffer something for Christ, and a perfect crown, and a reward no less than the future recompense; and all who know how to love Christ genuinely and fervently know this. Such a one was this woman also, having a fervent longing for God, and a burning affection; for this reason she said, I have rejoiced in your salvation. For she had nothing in common with the earth, but she looked beyond all human help, and was winged by the grace of the Spirit, and was uplifted, and in all things she looked to God, and from there she sought the solution to her pressing troubles. For she knew, she knew clearly, that human things, whatever they may be, imitate the nature of those who gave them; but we always need the impulse from above, if we are to ride at a safe anchor. For this reason she also took refuge in him in all things, and having received the grace, she rejoiced more in the giver, and

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παραίνεσιν καὶ συμβουλὴν, πρὸς διόρθωσιν καὶ νουθεσίαν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἠκονήθη ἡ γλῶσσά μου ἐπ' ἐχθρούς μου, ἀλλ', Ἐπλατύνθη. Ἀνέσεως ἀπέλαυσα, φησὶν, ἐλευθεροστομεῖν δύναμαι. Νῦν ἀπεκρουσάμην τὴν αἰσχύνην, πρὸς παῤῥησίαν ἐπανῆλθον. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα εἶπεν ὀνομαστὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν ἀντίζηλον, ἀλλὰ ἁπλῶς τῷ τῆς προσηγορίας ἀδιορίστῳ, καθάπερ προσωπείῳ κατέκρυψε τὴν τοσαῦτα λυπήσασαν. Οὐκ εἶπεν, ὃ πολλαὶ λέγουσι γυναῖκες· Κατῄσχυνεν αὐτὴν ὁ Θεὸς, κατέῤῥαξε καὶ κατέβαλε τὴν μιαρὰν καὶ ἀλαζόνα καὶ μεγαλήγορον· ἀλλ' ἁπλῶς, Ἐπλατύνθη στόμα μου ἐπ' ἐχθρούς μου· εὐφράνθην ἐν σωτηρίᾳ σου. Ὅρα πῶς τὸν αὐτὸν διατηρεῖ νόμον διὰ τῆς εὐχῆς ἁπάσης. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν ἀρχῇ ἔλεγεν, Ἐστερεώθη ἡ καρδία μου ἐν Κυρίῳ, ὑψώθη κέρας μου ἐν Θεῷ μου, ἐπλατύνθη στόμα μου ἐπ' ἐχθρούς μου· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα, Εὐφράνθην ἐν σωτηρίᾳ σου. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἐν σωτηρίᾳ, ἀλλ', Ἐν σωτηρίᾳ σου· Οὐ γὰρ ἐπειδὴ ἐσώθην, φησὶν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ διὰ σοῦ ἐσώθην, διὰ τοῦτο χαίρω καὶ ἀγάλλομαι. Τοιαῦται τῶν ἁγίων αἱ ψυχαί· τῶν δώρων μᾶλλον χαίρουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ δεδωκότι Θεῷ· οὐ γὰρ αὐτὸν διὰ τὰ αὐτοῦ φιλοῦσιν, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνα δι' αὐτόν. Τοῦτο οἰκετῶν εὐγνωμόνων, τοῦτο δούλων εὐχαρίστων, πάντων τῶν ἑαυτῶν τὸν ∆εσπότην τὸν ἑαυτῶν προτιθέναι. Οὕτω, παρακαλῶ, καὶ ἡμεῖς διακεώμεθα· κἂν ἁμάρτωμεν, μὴ ἀλγῶμεν, ἐπειδὴ κολαζόμεθα, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ παρωξύναμεν τὸν ∆εσπότην· κἂν κατορθώσωμεν, μὴ χαίρωμεν διὰ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἠρέσαμεν τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν οὐρανῶν. Τῷ γὰρ νοῦν ἔχοντι γεέννης ἁπάσης φοβερώτερον τὸ προσκροῦσαι Θεῷ, ὥσπερ καὶ βασιλείας ἁπάσης ποθεινότερον τὸ ἀρέσαι Θεῷ. Καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς εἰ ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὕτω διακεῖσθαι χρὴ, ὅπου γε καὶ ἐπ' ἀνθρώπων οὕτω πολλοὶ διάκεινται. Υἱοὺς γοῦν ἔχομεν πολλάκις γνησίους· κἂν ἄκοντες αὐτοὺς διαθῶμέν τι κακὸν, ἑαυτοὺς τιμωρούμεθα καὶ 54.672 κολάζομεν· καὶ ἐπὶ φίλων δὲ τοῦτο ποιοῦμεν. Εἰ δὲ ἐπὶ φίλων καὶ υἱῶν τοῦ κολασθῆναι τὸ λυπῆσαι ἐκείνους πολλῷ χαλεπώτερον εἶναι νομίζομεν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὕτω διακεῖσθαι χρὴ, καὶ γεέννης ἁπάσης χαλεπώτερον εἶναι νομίζειν τὸ ποιῆσαί τι τῶν μὴ δοκούντων αὐτῷ. Τοιοῦτος ἦν ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος· διὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγε· Πέπεισμαι ὅτι οὔτε ἄγγελοι, οὔτε ἀρχαὶ, οὔτε δυνάμεις, οὔτε ἐνεστῶτα, οὔτε μέλλοντα, οὔτε ὕψωμα, οὔτε βάθος, οὔτε τις κτίσις ἑτέρα δυνήσεται ἡμᾶς χωρίσαι ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν. Καὶ ἡμεῖς δὲ τοὺς ἁγίους μάρτυρας ὅταν μακαρίζωμεν, ἀπὸ τῶν τραυμάτων πρότερον μακαρίζομεν, καὶ τότε ἀπὸ τῶν βραβείων· ἀπὸ τῶν πληγῶν, καὶ τότε ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποκειμένων στεφάνων. Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν τραυμάτων τὰ βραβεῖα, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν βραβείων τὰ τραύματα τὴν ἀρχὴν λαμβάνει καὶ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν. γʹ. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος πρὸ τῶν ἀποκειμένων ἀγαθῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβαίνουσιν αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν λυπηροῖς ἔχαιρε, καὶ ἐβόα λέγων, Χαίρω ἐν τοῖς παθήμασιν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν· καὶ πάλιν, Οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ καυχώμεθα ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσι· καὶ πάλιν, Ὅτι ἡμῖν ἐχαρίσθη ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐ μόνον τὸ εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πάσχειν. Καὶ γὰρ ὄντως χάρις μεγίστη, τὸ καταξιωθῆναι διὰ Χριστόν τι παθεῖν, καὶ στέφανος δὲ ἀπηρτισμένος, καὶ ἀμοιβὴ τῆς μελλούσης ἀντιδόσεως οὐκ ἐλάττων· καὶ τοῦτο ἴσασιν ὅσοι γνησίως καὶ θερμῶς φιλεῖν ἴσασι τὸν Χριστόν. Τοιαύτη τις ἦν καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη, θερμὸν ἔχουσα περὶ τὸν Θεὸν πόθον, καὶ φίλτρον διακαές· διὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγεν, Εὐφράνθην ἐν σωτηρίᾳ σου. Οὐδὲν γὰρ κοινὸν αὐτῇ πρὸς τὴν γῆν ἦν, ἀλλ' ὑπερεώρα ἀνθρωπίνης βοηθείας ἁπάσης, καὶ ἐπτέρωτο τῇ τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριτι, καὶ μετάρσιος ἦν, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐν ἅπασιν ἔβλεπε, καὶ τῶν ἐπικειμένων δεινῶν τὴν λύσιν ἐκεῖθεν ἐζήτει. Ἤδει γὰρ, ᾔδει σαφῶς, ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἀνθρώπινα, οἷα ἂν ᾖ, μιμεῖται τὴν φύσιν τῶν δεδωκότων· δεῖ δὲ πανταχοῦ τῆς ἄνωθεν ἡμῖν ῥοπῆς, εἴγε μέλλοιμεν ἐπ' ἀσφαλοῦς ὁρμεῖν τῆς ἀγκύρας. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐν ἅπασι κατέφευγε, καὶ λαβοῦσα τὴν χάριν, ἐπὶ τῷ δεδωκότι μᾶλλον ἔχαιρε, καὶ