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he will run to the battle-array as if to a meadow. For things that are heavy by nature become light, when we do not consider the labors, but look also to their rewards. Do you want to learn how things that are heavy by nature become light? hear Paul 49.317 saying: For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. What has been said is a riddle: if it is affliction, how is it light? If it is light, how is it affliction? For these are opposites. But he solved the riddle by the addition, showing it to be light. How? While we look not at the things which are seen. He set forth the crown, and made the contest light; he showed the prize, and comforted the sweats. So you too, when you see a woman radiant in her appearance, bright in her dress, when you see desire tickling, when you see the soul desiring the sight; look up to the crown laid up for you above, so that you may run past such a sight. Did you see a fellow-servant? Think of the Master, and you will certainly stop the sickness. For if children following a tutor do not turn around, do not gape, are not fluttered, much more will you, if you see Christ present in your thoughts, suffer no such thing. Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. I gladly and more frequently read the letters of the law; if only it were possible to say this to you all day long, or rather, not to you, but to those who are liable to sin; or rather, also to you; for you will be safer, and those who are in sickness will quickly return to health. Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 3. The words, merely by being read, are sufficient to cleanse all the rottenness of sin. But forgive me; we are cleansing wounds, and he who cleanses wounds must also apply bitter medicines; by as much as you bear the words, by so much more is the poison cleansed. For just as the nature of fire, the more it associates with the nature of gold, the more it consumes the dross; so also the fear of these words, the more it resounds in your mind, the more it will cleanse all the sin of licentiousness. Let us purify it here with the word of teaching, so that we may not be compelled to purify it there with the fire of Gehenna. For the soul that departs from here pure, that fire will not harm at all; but the one that departs from here with sins, that fire will receive. For, it says, the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. Let us test ourselves now without pain, so that we may not be tested then with pain. Whatever you may say, he says, the law is burdensome. What then? Does God command us impossible things? I say not; be silent, do not accuse the Master; for this is not a way of defense, but an addition of sin more grievous than the first. But that it is a custom for many sinners to cast the blame upon the Master, hear. He who had been entrusted with the five talents came forward, and brought another five; he who had been entrusted with the two talents came forward, and brought another two; he who had been entrusted with the one talent came forward, and since he did not have 49.318 another talent to bring, instead of a talent he brought an accusation. What does he say? I knew you, that you are a hard man. O the ingratitude of the servant! He is not content with his sin, but also brings an accusation against the master: reaping where you did not sow, and gathering from where you did not scatter seed. So also in the present life, all who do no good make an accusation against the Master an addition to their own evils. Therefore, do not accuse the Master; He did not command impossible things. Do you want to learn that He did not command impossible things? Many surpass the commandments; and they would not have surpassed them of their own choice, if they were impossible.

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ὥσπερ εἰς λειμῶνα δραμεῖται τὴν παράταξιν. Τὰ γὰρ φύσει βαρέα, οὕτω κοῦφα γίνεται, ὅταν μὴ τοὺς πόνους λογιζώμεθα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἀμοιβὰς αὐτῶν σκοπῶμεν. Βούλει μαθεῖν πῶς τὰ φύσει βαρέα κοῦφα γίνεται; ἄκουσον τοῦ Παύλου 49.317 λέγοντος· Τὸ γὰρ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως, καθ' ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης ἡμῖν κατεργάζεται. Αἴνιγμα τὸ εἰρημένον ἐστίν· εἰ θλίψεως, πῶς ἐλαφρόν; εἰ ἐλαφρὸν, πῶς θλίψεως; ταῦτα γὰρ ἐναντία. Ἀλλ' ἔλυσε τὸ αἴνιγμα τῇ ἐπαγωγῇ δείξας ἐλαφρόν· πῶς; Μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα. Ἔθηκε τὸν στέφανον, καὶ κοῦφον ἐποίησε τὸν ἀγῶνα· ἔδειξε τὸ βραβεῖον, καὶ παρεμυθήσατο τοὺς ἱδρῶτας. Καὶ σὺ τοίνυν ὅταν ἴδῃς γυναῖκα λάμπουσαν ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψεως, φαιδρὰν ἀπὸ τῆς στολῆς, ἴδῃς ἐπιθυμίαν γαργαλίζουσαν, ἴδῃς τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπιθυμοῦσαν τῆς θεωρίας· ἀνάβλεψον πρὸς τὸν ἄνω σοι κείμενον στέφανον, ἵνα παραδράμῃς τὴν τοιαύτην ὄψιν. Εἶδες συνδούλην; ἐννόησον τὸν ∆εσπότην, καὶ πάντως καταπαύσεις τὸ νόσημα. Εἰ γὰρ παιδία παιδαγωγῷ ἀκολουθοῦντα οὐ περιστρέφονται, οὐ κεχήνασιν, οὐκ ἐπτόηνται, πολλῷ μᾶλλον σὺ τὸν Χριστὸν ἂν ἴδῃς τοῖς λογισμοῖς παρόντα, οὐδὲν πείσῃ τοιοῦτον. Ὁ ἐμβλέψας γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι, ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ. Ἡδέως καὶ συνεχέστερον ἀναγινώσκω τοῦ νόμου τὰ γράμματα· εἴθε καὶ διὰ πάσης τῆς ἡμέρας ἦν τοῦτο λέγειν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐχὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοὺς ὑπευθύνους τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν ὄντας· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς· καὶ γὰρ ὑμεῖς ἀσφαλέστεροι ἔσεσθε, οἱ δὲ ἐν τῇ νόσῳ ὄντες ταχέως πρὸς τὴν ὑγίειαν ἐπανήξουσιν. Ὁ ἐμβλέψας γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῆς, ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ. γʹ. Ἀρκεῖ πᾶσαν τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν σηπεδόνα καθᾶραι ψιλὰ ἀναγνωσθέντα τὰ ῥήματα. Ἀλλὰ σύγγνωτε· τραύματα καθαίρομεν, τὸν δὲ τραύματα καθαίροντα, ἀνάγκη καὶ πικρὰ ἐπιτιθέναι φάρμακα· ὅσῳπερ ἂν ἐνέγκητε τὰ ῥήματα, τοσοῦτον μᾶλλον ἐκκαθαίρεται ὁ ἰός. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τοῦ πυρὸς ἡ φύσις, ὅσῳπερ ἂν ἐπιπλέον ὁμιλήσῃ τῇ τοῦ χρυσοῦ φύσει, τοσοῦτον μᾶλλον δαπανᾷ τὸν ἰόν· οὕτω καὶ τῶν ῥημάτων τούτων ὁ φόβος, ὅσῳπερ ἂν ἐνηχηθῇ τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ διανοίᾳ, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον ἅπασαν ἐκκαθαριεῖ τῆς ἀκολασίας τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. Πυρώσωμεν αὐτὴν ὧδε τῷ λόγῳ τῆς διδασκαλίας, ἵνα μὴ ἀναγκασθῶμεν αὐτὴν ἐκεῖ πυρῶσαι τῷ πυρὶ τῆς γεέννης. Τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν ἀπελθοῦσαν καθαρὰν οὐδὲν ἐκεῖνο βλάψει τὸ πῦρ· τὴν δὲ μετὰ ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπελθοῦσαν ἐντεῦθεν ἐκεῖνο δέξεται τὸ πῦρ. Ἑκάστου γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸ ἔργον ὁποῖόν ἐστι τὸ πῦρ δοκιμάσει. ∆οκιμάσωμεν ἑαυτοὺς νῦν χωρὶς ὀδύνης, ἵνα μὴ δοκιμασθῶμεν τότε μετὰ ὀδύνης. Ὅσα ἂν εἴπῃς, φησὶν, ἐπίπονος ὁ νόμος. Τί οὖν; ἀδύνατα ἡμῖν ὁ Θεὸς προστάττει; Οὔ φημι· ἐπιστομίζου, μὴ κατηγόρει τοῦ ∆εσπότου· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἀπολογίας τρόπος, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτίας προσθήκη τῆς προτέρας χαλεπωτέρα. Ὅτι δὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων ἔθος ἐπὶ τὸν ∆εσπότην ἀφίειν τὰ ἐγκλήματα, ἄκουσον. Προσῆλθεν ἐκεῖνος ὁ τὰ πέντε τάλαντα πιστευθεὶς, καὶ προσήνεγκεν ἄλλα πέντε· προσῆλθεν ὁ τὰ δύο τάλαντα πιστευθεὶς, καὶ προσήνεγκεν ἄλλα δύο· προσῆλθεν ὁ τὸ τάλαντον πιστευθεὶς, καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἄλλο 49.318 τάλαντον προσενεγκεῖν οὐκ εἶχεν, ἀντὶ ταλάντου κατηγορίαν προσήνεγκε. Πῶς φησιν; Ἔγνων σε ὅτι σκληρὸς εἶ. Ὢ ἀγνωμοσύνης οἰκέτου· οὐκ ἀρκεῖται τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατηγορίαν εἰσάγει κατὰ τοῦ δεσπότου· Θερίζων ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρας, καὶ συνάγων ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισας. Οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ ὅσοι μηδὲν ἐργάζονται ἀγαθὸν, προσθήκην τῶν κακῶν ἑαυτῶν ποιοῦνται τὴν κατηγορίαν τοῦ ∆εσπότου. Μὴ τοίνυν κατηγόρει τοῦ ∆εσπότου· οὐκ ἐπέταξεν ἀδύνατα. Βούλει μαθεῖν ὅτι οὐκ ἐπέταξεν ἀδύνατα; Πολλοὶ τὰ προστάγματα ὑπερβαίνουσιν, οὐκ ἂν δὲ, εἰ ἀδύνατα ἦν, ὑπερέβησαν ἐξ οἰκείας προαιρέσεως.