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I bring it into subjection, lest with my blood being healthy and boiling over, an abundance of flesh become an occasion for sin. Do not flatter your flesh with sleeps and baths and soft beds, always saying this word: What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to corruption? Why do you care for that which a little later will be corrupted? why do you fatten yourself and cover yourself with flesh? Or are you ignorant, that the fatter you make the flesh for yourself, the heavier a prison you construct for the soul? Shall dust give praise to you, or declare your truth? For how shall the man of dust and of flesh give praise to you, O God? and how shall he declare the truth, who has neither given time to studies, and has his mind buried in so great a weight of flesh? For this reason, therefore, I waste away my flesh, and am unsparing of the blood which is naturally transformed into flesh, so that nothing may be an impediment for me to giving praise or to the understanding of the truth. The Lord heard, and had mercy on me; the Lord became 29.321 my helper. After recounting what things he had cried out to God, immediately perceiving the help of God, urging us to the petition of like things, The Lord, he says, heard, and had mercy on me; the Lord became my helper. Let us therefore also pray, and let us cry out the spiritual cry, asking for great things, not making provision for the flesh (For those who are in the flesh cannot please God), so that the Lord may also hearken to us, having mercy on our weakness, and having enjoyed the divine help, we too may say: You have turned my mourning into joy for me. Joy from God does not come to any soul, but if one has greatly lamented his own sin, with strong wailings and continual lamentations, as if he made a mourning for himself as for one dead, such a one's mourning is turned into joy. That it is praiseworthy to mourn, the children sitting in the marketplaces make clear, who say: We mourned to you, and you did not lament; we played the flute for you, and you did not dance. Now the flute is a musical instrument which uses cooperating breath for the melody. Wherefore I think every holy prophet is tropologically called a flute because of the motion from the Holy Spirit. Wherefore, he says, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. For the prophetic words exhort us to the well-ordered activity of holy prophecy, which is called dancing. But the prophets also mourn for us, summoning us to lamentation, so that, coming to an awareness from the prophetic words concerning our own sins, we might mourn our destruction, having oppressed our flesh with toils and labors. For such a one, therefore, the garment of mourning is torn off, which he had put on while mourning his own sin. And there is put on him the tunic of gladness, and the garment of salvation, these bright and wedding garments, adorned with which one will not be cast out of the bridechamber. You have torn off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. Sackcloth is an aid to repentance, being a symbol of humiliation. For they would have repented long ago, he says, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And since the Apostle with unveiled face is being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, the grace given to him from the Lord he calls his own glory. So that my glory may sing praise to you. The glory of a righteous man is the spirit in him. Therefore let him who sings with the spirit, say: So that 29.324 my glory may sing praise to you, and I will not be pierced with sorrow. No longer, he says, will I do things worthy of my heart being pierced with sorrow and stabbed at the remembrance of my sin. O Lord my God, I will give praise to you forever; instead of, I will give thanks. For since you have given me forgiveness from repentance, and have led me back to glory, having removed the shame from my sins, for this reason I will give praise to you forever. For what

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δουλαγωγῶ, μήπως εὐεκτοῦντος καὶ ὑπερζέοντός μοι τοῦ αἵματος, ἀφορμὴ πρὸς ἁμαρτίαν ἡ πολυσαρ κία γένηται. Μὴ κολάκευέ σου τὴν σάρκα ὕπνοις καὶ λουτροῖς καὶ μαλακοῖς στρώμασιν, ἀεὶ ἐπιλέγων τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο· Τίς ὠφέλεια ἐν τῷ αἵματί μου, ἐν τῷ καταβαίνειν με εἰς διαφθοράν; Τί περιέπεις τὸ μικρὸν ὕστερον φθαρησόμενον; τί καταπιαίνεις σεαυ τὸν καὶ περισαρκοῖς; Ἢ ἀγνοεῖς, ὅτι ὅσῳ παχυτέραν τὴν σάρκα σεαυτῷ ποιεῖς, τοσούτῳ βαρύτερον τῇ ψυχῇ κατασκευάζεις τὸ δεσμωτήριον; Μὴ ἐξομολο γήσεταί σοι χοῦς, ἢ ἀναγγελεῖ τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου; Πῶς γὰρ ὁ χοϊκὸς ἄνθρωπος καὶ σάρκινος ἐξομο λογήσεταί σοι τῷ Θεῷ; πῶς δὲ καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὁ μήτε μαθήμασι καιρὸν δοὺς, καὶ ἐν τοσούτῳ βάρει τῆς σαρκὸς τὸν νοῦν ἑαυτοῦ συγ κεχωσμένον ἔχων; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν ἐκτήκω μου τὴν σάρκα, καὶ ἀφειδῶ τοῦ αἵματος ὅπερ εἰς σάρκα πέ φυκε μεταπήγνυσθαι, ἵνα μηδέν μοι ᾖ πρὸς ἐξομολόγησιν ἢ πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας κατανόησιν ἐμ ποδίζον. Ἤκουσε Κύριος, καὶ ἠλέησέ με· Κύριος ἐγε 29.321 νήθη βοηθός μου. Μετὰ τὸ διηγήσασθαι τίνα ἦν ἃ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐκέκραξεν, εὐθὺς αἰσθόμενος τῆς ἀν τιλήψεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, παρορμῶν ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὁμοίων αἴτησιν, Ἤκουσε, φησὶ, Κύριος, καὶ ἠλέησέ με· Κύριος ἐγενήθη βοηθός μου. Εὐχώμεθα οὖν καὶ ἡμεῖς, καὶ κράζωμεν τὴν πνευματικὴν βοὴν, αἰτούμενοι τὰ μεγάλα, μὴ ἀντιποιούμενοι τῆς σαρκὸς (Οἱ γὰρ ἐν σαρκὶ ὄντες, Θεῷ ἀρέσαι οὐ δύνανται), ἵνα καὶ ἡμῶν ἐπακούσῃ ὁ Κύριος, ἐλεήσας ἡμῶν τὸ ἀσθενὲς, καὶ τῆς θείας βοηθείας ἀπολαύσαντες καὶ ἡμεῖς εἵπωμεν· Ἔστρεψας τὸν κοπετόν μου εἰς χαρὰν ἐμοί. Οὐ τῇ τυχούσῃ ψυχῇ ἡ ἀπὸ Θεοῦ χαρὰ ἐγγίνεται, ἀλλ' εἴ τις πολλὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τὴν ἑαυ τοῦ ἀπεκλαύσατο, ἰσχυροῖς ὀδυρμοῖς καὶ θρήνοις διηνεκέσιν, ὡς ἐπὶ τεθνεῶτι ἑαυτῷ κοπετὸν ἐποιή σατο, τοῦ τοιούτου ὁ κοπετὸς εἰς χαρὰν στρέφεται. Ὅτι δέ ἐστιν ἐπαινετῶς κόψασθαι, δηλοῦσιν οἱ ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς καθήμενοι παῖδες, οἱ λέγοντες· Ἐθρη νήσαμεν ὑμῖν, καὶ οὐκ ἐκόψασθε· ηὐλήσα μεν ὑμῖν, καὶ οὐκ ὠρχήσασθε. Ἔστι δὲ ὁ αὐλὸς ὄρ γανον μουσικὸν πνεύματι συνεργῷ πρὸς τὴν μελ ωδίαν χρώμενον. ∆ιόπερ οἶμαι πάντα ἅγιον προφήτην αὐλὸν τροπικῶς ὀνομάζεσθαι διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος κίνησιν. ∆ιόπερ, φησὶν, Ηὐλήσαμεν ὑμῖν, καὶ οὐκ ὠρχήσασθε. Οἱ γὰρ προφητικοὶ λόγοι προτρέπονται ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν εὔρυθμον τῆς ἁγίας προφητείας ἐνέργειαν, ἥτις εἴρηται ὄρχησις. Ἀλλὰ καὶ θρηνοῦσιν ἡμῖν οἱ προφῆται, εἰς κοπετὸν ἡμᾶς προκαλούμενοι, ἵνα, εἰς συναίσθησιν ἐλθόντες ἐκ τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων ἐπὶ τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ἁμαρτήμασι, κα ταπενθήσωμεν ἡμῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν, ἐν κόποις καὶ μόχθοις τὴν σάρκα ἡμῶν καταπιέσαντες. Τῷ τοιούτῳ τοίνυν περιῤῥήγνυται μὲν τὸ πενθικὸν ἔν δυμα, ὃ καταπενθῶν ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν περιεβά λετο. Περιτίθεται δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ χιτὼν τῆς εὐφροσύνης, καὶ τὸ ἱμάτιον τοῦ σωτηρίου, τὰ φαιδρὰ ταῦτα καὶ γαμικὰ ἐνδύματα, οἷς ὁ κεκοσμημένος ἐκ τοῦ νυμφῶ νος οὐκ ἐκβληθήσεται. ∆ιέῤῥηξας τὸν σάκκον μου, καὶ περιέζωσάς με εὐφροσύνην. Συνεργὸς εἰς μετά νοιαν ὁ σάκκος, ταπεινώσεως ὑπάρχων σύμβολον. Πάλαι γὰρ ἂν ἐν σάκκῳ, φησὶ, καὶ σποδῷ καθ ήμενοι μετενόησαν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν αὐτὴν εἰκόνα μετα μορφοῦται ἀπὸ δόξης εἰς δόξαν, τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτῷ χάριν ἀπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου ἰδίαν λέγει δόξαν. Ὅπως ἂν ψάλῃ σοι ἡ δόξα μου. ∆όξα δικαίου τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ. Ὁ οὖν ψάλλων τῷ πνεύματι, λεγέτω· Ὅπως 29.324 ἂν ψάλῃ σοι ἡ δόξα μου, καὶ οὐ μὴ κατανυγῶ. Οὐκέτι μὴ, φησὶ, ποιήσω ἄξια τοῦ κατανύσσεσθαι καὶ κατακεντεῖσθαι τὴν καρδίαν ἐπὶ τῇ ὑπομνήσει τῆς ἁμαρτίας μου. Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι· ἀντὶ τοῦ, Εὐχαριστήσω. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔδωκάς μοι τὴν ἐκ τῆς μετανοίας συγ χώρησιν, καὶ ἐπανήγαγές με εἰς δόξαν, τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων αἰσχύνην περιελὼν, διὰ τοῦτο εἰς πάντα τὸν αἰῶνα ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι. Τί γὰρ ἂν