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8.

To whom God reveals Himself and who come to possess the good through the working of the commandments. (61)

How do you see, being hidden, how do you watch over all things, how are you not seen by us, yet you see us all? But not all whom you see, do you also know, my God, but only those who love you do you know with love and in a special way you reveal yourself to them; a sun hidden from all mortal nature, you rise up in your own, you are seen by them, and in you rise up those formerly darkened: fornicators, adulterers and the profligate, sinners, tax collectors. Repenting, they become sons of your divine light; and light surely begets light, so they too become light, children of God, as it is written, and gods by grace. All who keep your divine commandments well, all who will deny the vain and deceitful world, all who will hate parents and brothers without malice, considering them as strangers, sojourners in life, all who will become naked of wealth and possessions and will deny their attachment to them completely, all who the empty glory, the praises of men, will abhor from their soul for the sake of the glory above, (62) all who have cut off their own will completely and have become like innocent sheep to their shepherds, all who are dead in the body to every evil deed, having become so by sweating in the labors of virtues, and living by the will of the pilot alone, being put to death by obedience, and made alive again, all who in the fear of God and the remembrance of death weep every night and day and spiritually fall at the feet of the Master, asking for mercy and forgiveness of their faults; these come to possess the good through every working of good things, lamenting every day and knocking persistently, they draw down mercy. These, by frequent prayers, and by unutterable cries, and by floods of tears, cleanse their soul; and seeing it being cleansed, such men receive a fire of longing and a fire of desire,

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Η'.

Τίσι Θεός ἐμφανίζεται καί τίνες ἐν ἕξει γίνονται τοῦ καλοῦ διά τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐργασίας. (61)

Πῶς βλέπεις κεκρυμμένος ὤν, πῶς ἐφορᾷς τά πάντα, πῶς οὐχ ὁρᾶσαι παρ᾿ ἡμῶν, ἡμᾶς ὁρᾷς δέ πάντας; Ἀλλ᾿ οὐχί πάντας, οὕς ὁρᾷς, καί γινώσκεις, Θεέ μου, ἀλλά τούς ἀγαπῶντάς σε μόνους φιλῶν γινώσκεις καί κατ᾿ ἐξαίρετον αὐτοῖς σεαυτόν ἐμφανίζεις˙ ἥλιος κεκρυμμένος ὤν πάσῃ βροτείᾳ φύσει ἐξανατέλλεις ἐν τοῖς σοῖς, ὁρᾶσαι παρ᾿ ἐκείνων, καί ἀνατέλλουσιν ἐν σοί οἱ πρίν ἐσκοτισμένοι πόρνοι, μοιχοί καί ἄσωτοι, ἁμαρτωλοί, τελῶναι. Μετανοοῦντες γίνονται υἱοί φωτός σου θείου˙ τό φῶς δέ φῶς πάντως γεννᾷ, φῶς οὖν καὐτοί τελοῦσι, τέκνα Θεοῦ, ὡς γέγραπται, θεοί τε κατά χάριν. Ὅσοι καλῶς φυλάξουσι τάς θείας ἐντολά σους, ὅσοι κόσμον ἀρνήσονται τόν μάταιον καί πλάνον, ὅσοι γονεῖς καί ἀδελφούς μισήσουσιν ἀμίσως, ὡς ξένους ἡγησάμενοι τῷ βίῳ παροδίτας, ὅσοι γυμνοί γενήσονται πλούτου τε καί χρημάτων καί τήν προσπάθειαν αὐτῶν ἀρνήσονται εἰς ἅπαν, ὅσοι τήν δόξαν τήν κενήν, ἀνθρώπων τούς ἐπαίνους, ἀπό ψυχῆς βδελύξονται διά τήν τῶν ἄνω δόξαν, (62) ὅσοι θέλημα ἴδιον ἐξέκοψαν τελείως καί ὡς ἄκακα πρόβατα ἐγένοντο τοῖς ποιμέσιν, ὅσοι νεκροί τῷ σώματι πρός πᾶσαν κακήν πρᾶξιν γεγόνασιν ἱδρώσαντες εἰς ἀρετῶν τούς πόνους καί μόνῳ τῷ θελήματι ζῶντες τοῦ κυβερνήτου, ὑπακοῇ νεκρούμενοι, ζωούμενοί τε αὖθις, ὅσοι τῷ φόβῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί μνήμῃ τοῦ θανάτου καθ᾿ ἑκάστην δακρύουσι νύκτα τε καί ἡμέραν καί νοερῶς προσπίπτουσι τοῖς ποσί τοῦ ∆εσπότου ἔλεος ἐξαιτούμενοι καί ἄφεσιν σφαλμάτων˙ οὗτοι ἐν ἕξει γίνονται τοῦ καλοῦ διά πάσης τῆς ἐργασίας τῶν καλῶν θρηνοῦντες καθ᾿ ἑκάστην καί ἐπιμόνως κρούοντες ἔλεος ἐπισπῶνται. Οὗτοι δεήσεσι συχναῖς, φωναῖς τε ἀλαλήλοις καί τῶν δακρύων ταῖς ῥοαῖς ψυχήν ἐκκαθαίρουσι˙ καθαιρομένην δέ αὐτήν βλέποντες οἱ τοιοῦτοι πῦρ πόθου προσλαμβάνονται καί πῦρ ἐπιθυμίας,