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having gnostically conceived in thought the things that lie ahead, and having brought forth the Word obedient to God, 1125 may be able to offer it, through pious devotion in contemplation, as a great and precious debt, judging she has nothing of her own, so as to show God alone both giving and receiving; as the law somewhere says, My gifts, my donations, my fruits, you shall take care to offer me, as from Him and to Him every good thing both begins and ends. For the Word of God is naturally constituted for those in whom he is begotten to set aside the movements of the flesh and to check the soul’s inclination towards them, and to fill it with all true discernment.

19. A CONTEMPLATION ON THE ONE WHO SETS APART THE UNCLEAN HOUSE

A contemplation on the one who sets apart the unclean house. For the priest, according to the legal ordinance, entering into the by

any means unclean house, and setting it apart, and giving directions for purification to its possessors, hearing this, I understand that the high priest, the Word, is signified through him, (14∆_148> entering into the soul like a most pure light, and uncovering the accursed counsels and thoughts along with the guilty actions, and wisely suggesting the ways of repentance and purification. This, I think, the woman who received the great prophet Elijah made clearer when she said, Man of God, you have come to me to bring my iniquities to remembrance.

20. A CONTEMPLATION ON SAINT ELIJAH, AND ON THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH

A contemplation on saint Elijah, and on the widow of Zarephath. For every soul that is widowed of good things and destitute of virtue and of the knowledge of God

whenever it receives the divine and discerning word, coming to the remembrance of its own sins is somehow taught to feed with the breads of virtue the Word who provides nourishment, and to give drink to the spring of life with the dogmas of truth, and to prefer the healing of nature itself, by which the flesh, as a water-jar, will furnish practical readiness in virtues, and the mind, as a cruse, will continually pour forth the contemplation of knowledge that preserves the light, and the innate reason, just like the widow’s son there, having laid aside its former passionate life will be deemed worthy to become a partaker of the divine and true life given by the Word.

21. A CONTEMPLATION ON THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD

A contemplation on the transfiguration of the Lord. Thus also some of Christ’s disciples, in addition to those mentioned, to whom it was granted to ascend with

and to be raised up with Him to the mountain of His revelation through the practice of virtue, having seen Him transfigured (14∆_150>, unapproachable in the light of His face, and astonished at the brightness of His garments, and having recognized that He had become more venerable by the honor of those with Him on either side, Moses and Elijah, 1128 passed over from the flesh to the spirit, before laying aside the life of the flesh, by the transformation of the operations of the senses which the Spirit worked in them, removing the veils of the passions from their intellective power, through which, their senses of soul and body having been purified, they are instructed in the spiritual principles of the mysteries shown to them. The all-blessed splendor of His face, shining radiantly, as conquering all sight

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τά ἔμπροσθεν γνωστικῶς δυνάμενον κατά διάνοιαν συλλαβοῦσα ὑπήκοον τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον καί τεκοῦσα 1125 προσενέγκαι δυνηθῇ, διά τῆς κατά τήν θεωρίαν εὐσεβοῦς προσεδρείας, ὡς μέγα χρέος καί τίμιον, μηδέν ἴδιον ἔχειν κρίνουσα, ὥστε δεῖξαι τόν Θεόν μόνον διδόντα τε καί δεχόμενον· καθά πού φησιν ὁ νόμος, Τά δῶρά μου, δόματά μου, καρπώματά μου, διατηρήσετε προσφέρειν μοι, ὡς ἐξ αὐτοῦ τε καί εἰς αὐτόν παντός ἀγαθοῦ καί ἀρχομένου καί λήγοντος. Πέφηκε γάρ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος οἷς ἄν ἐγγένηται τῆς τε σαρκός ἀθετεῖν τά κινήματα καί τῆς πρός αὐτά τήν ψυχήν ἀναστέλλειν ῥοπῆς, καί πάσης πληροῦν ἀληθοῦς διαγνώσεως.

ΙΘ (19). ΘΕΩΡΙΑ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΦΟΡΙΖΟΝΤΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΚΑΘΑΡΤΟΝ ΟΙΚΙΑΝ

Θεωρία εἰς τόν ἀφορίζοντα τήν ἀκάθαρτον οἰκίαν. Καί γάρ τόν ἱερέα κατά τήν νομικήν διαταγήν εἰσιόντα εἰς τήν καθ᾿

ὁντιναοῦν τρόπον ἀκάθαρτον οἰκίαν, καί ἀφορίζοντα αὐτήν, καί τά πρός κάθαρσιν διαστέλλοντα τοῖς κεκτημένοις ἀκούων τόν ἀρχιερέα Λόγον δι᾿ αὐτοῦ παραδηλοῦσθαι νοῶ, (14∆_148> φωτός δίκην καθαρωτάτου εἰσιόντα εἰς τήν ψυχήν, καί τά ἐναγῆ βουλεύματα καί διανοήματα μετά τῶν ὑπαιτίων πράξεων ἐκκαλύπτοντα, καί τούς τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς καί καθάρσεως τρόπους σοφῶς ὑποτιθέμενον. Ὅπερ, οἶμαι, σαφέστερον ἡ τόν μέγαν προφήτην Ἠλίαν ὑποδεξαμένη παραδηλοῦσα ἔλεγεν, Ἄνθρωπε τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἰσῆλθες πρός ἐμέ τοῦ ἀναμνῆσαί με τάς ἀδικίας μου.

Κ (20). ΘΕΩΡΙΑ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΓΙΟΝ ΗΛΙΑΝ, ΚΑΙ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΣΑΡΑΦΘΙΑΝ ΧΗΡΑΝ

Θεωρία εἰς τόν ἅγιον Ἠλίαν, καί εἰς τήν Σαραφθίαν χήραν. Πᾶσα γάρ ψυχή χηρεύουσά τε καλῶν καί ἀρετῆς ἔρημος καί γνώσεως Θεοῦ

ἐπειδάν τόν θεῖον καί διαγνωστικόν ὑποδέξηται λόγον, εἰς μνήμην ἐρχομένη τῶν αὐτῆς ἁμαρτημάτων διδάσκεταί πως ἀρετῶν ἄρτοις τόν διατρέφοντα τρέφειν Λόγον, καί ποτίζειν ἀληθείας δόγμασι τήν πηγήν τῆς ζωῆς, καί αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως τήν εἰς αὐτήν προκρίνειν θεραπείαν, δι᾿ ἧς τε ὑδρία σάρξ τήν ἐπί ταῖς ἀρεταῖς πρακτικήν συντομίαν χορηγήσει, καί ὁ καμψάκης νοῦς τήν τό φῶς συντηροῦσαν τῆς γνώσεως θεωρίαν διηνεκῶς πηγάσεις, καί ὁ ἔμφυτος λογισμός, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ τῆς χήρας ὁ υἱός, τήν ἐμπαθῆ προτέραν ἀποθέμενος ζωήν τῆς παρά τοῦ Λόγου διδομένης θείας καί ἀληθοῦς γενέσθαι μέτοχος ἀξιωθήσεται ζωῆς.

ΚΑ (21). ΘΕΩΡΙΑ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΜΕΤΑΜΟΡΦΩΣΙΝ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ

Θεωρία εἰς τήν μεταμόρφωσιν τοῦ Κυρίου. Οὕτω καί τῶν Χριστοῦ μαθητῶν πρός τοῖς εἰρημένοις τινές, οἷς συναναβῆναί

τε καί συνεπαρθῆναι αὐτῷ πρός τό ὄρος τῆς αὐτοῦ φανερώσεως δι᾿ ἀρετῆς ἐπιμέλειαν ἐξεγένετο μεταμορφωθέντα (14∆_150> θεασάμενοι, τῷ τε φωτί τοῦ προσώπου ἀπρόσιτον, καί τῇ τῶν αἰσθημάτων λαμπρότητι κατάπληκτοι, καί τῇ τῶν ἐκατέρωθεν συνόντων τιμῇ Μωσέως καί Ἠλίου γεγενημένον αἰδεσιμώτερον ἐπεγνωκότες, 1128 ἀπό τῆς σαρκός εἰς τό πνεῦμα μετέβησαν, πρίν τήν διά σαρκός ἀποθέσθαι ζωήν, τῇ ἐναλλαγῇ τῶν κατ᾿ αἴσθησιν ἐνεργειῶν ἥν αὐτούς τό Πνεῦμα ἐνήργησε, περιελόν τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς νοερᾶς δυνάμεως τῶν παθῶν τά καλύμματα, δι᾿ οὖ καθαρθέντες τά τῆς ψυχής καί σώματος αἰσθητήρια τῶν παραδειχθέντων αὐτοῖς μυστηρίων τούς πνευματικούς ἐκπαιδεύονται λόγους. Τήν μέν ἀκτινοφανῶς ἐκλάμπουσαν τοῦ προσώπου πανόλβιον αἴγλην, ὡς πᾶσαν ὀφθαλμῶν νικῶσαν