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Isaiah, in the cleansing of the divine coal, every foul word and thought; for this reason he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Everyone, in the participation of the better, destroys everything conceived toward the opposite. Thus the temperate person destroys intemperance, the just person injustice, the moderate person arrogance, the benevolent person envy, the loving person enmity. For just as the blind man in the Gospel found what he did not have, by losing what he had; for when his blindness was taken away, the light of 5.403 the radiance entered in its place; and in the case of the leper, when the disease vanished, the grace of health returns, and in the case of those raised from the dead, death gave way to the presence of life; so also in the philosophy set before us, it is not possible to acquire any of the sublime things without having lost the zeal for earthly and lowly things. For in finding these things, the more valuable things are lost to us, and conversely, the loss of these things becomes the cause of finding the precious things. These things we have learned from the voice of the Lord: *He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it*. For the soul's being found in things zealously pursued according to matter becomes the cause of it not being found in the true goods, and conversely, the privation and loss of these things becomes the reality of the things hoped for. *For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?* *A time*, he says, *to seek, and a time to lose*. If, therefore, we have learned what is the gain that is sought, which is found by losing the things badly acquired, let us seek the one and lose the other; let us seek the good things, let us lose the bad things. And well and suitably to the things previously examined is the sequence of what is written also introduced. For he says: *A time to 5.404 keep, and a time to cast away*. What to keep? Clearly that which has been found by us from our seeking. What to cast away? That, certainly, whose loss was considered profitable. A right thought has come to you, a desire to see God has entered, your soul has thirsted for God, the mighty, the living, a longing has come to you to be in the courts of the Lord; and the courts of the Lord would be, according to my account, the virtues, in which the Word and everyone who follows the Word dwells. Guard these things, so that the wealth of the pure possessions of the mind does not flow away from you. Some contrary thought slips in, like some secret thief bringing about the disappearance of pure thoughts; this must be cast out and sent away from the mind. For in pushing that one away, the treasure of good things will be guarded for us in safety. But if the one who corrupts is not cast out, there will be no gain from the possession, as our prosperity flows away through the plot of housebreakers. Since, therefore, we have been taught the time for seeking, and *everyone who seeks finds*, so that what is found might remain, let us set a precise guard over the treasure. *With all vigilance*, he says, *keep your heart* after finding what was sought; for greater than finding is the guarding of the grace that has been found; just as he who approached the faith found the purity through the font, 5.405 but the labor is greater in guarding what he received than in finding what he did not have. Therefore, just as we said that the opportunity for seeking is not confined to some period of time, but that all of life is one season for that good seeking, so also we declare that the time for guarding is to be measured by all of life, citing now the same voice of prophecy that says: *My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net*. For in this is the inviolable protection, that the good possession is guarded for us by making God the guardian of our things. For when my eyes are ever toward the Lord, then the snares of the adversary become ineffective, through which he contrives his plot against the precious things in the soul. *Do not let your foot be moved*, he says, *and he who keeps you will not slumber*. Therefore, the present saying is consistent with the preceding argument. That one commanded to seek,

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Ἡσαΐας ἐν τῷ καθαρσίῳ τοῦ θείου ἄνθρακος πᾶν ῥυπαρὸν καὶ ῥῆμα καὶ νόημα· διὰ τοῦτο ἐπληρώθη τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύμα τος. ἀπόλλυσι πᾶς ἐν τῇ μεταλήψει τοῦ κρείττονος πᾶν τὸ πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον νοούμενον. οὕτως ὁ σώφρων τὴν ἀκολασίαν ἀπόλλυσι, τὴν ἀδικίαν ὁ δίκαιος, τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν ὁ μέτριος, ὁ εὔνους τὸν φθόνον, ὁ ἀγαπητικὸς τὴν ἀπέχθειαν. ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ τυφλὸς εὗρεν ὃ μὴ εἶχεν, ἐκ τοῦ ἀπολέσαι ὃ εἶχε· τῆς γὰρ τυφλότητος ἀφαιρεθείσης ἡ τοῦ 5.403 φωτὸς ἀντεισῆλθεν αὐγή· καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ λεπροῦ τοῦ πάθους ἀφανισθέντος ἡ τῆς ὑγείας ἐπανέρχεται χάρις, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκ θανάτου ἀνισταμένων ἡ νεκρότης τῇ παρουσίᾳ τῆς ζωῆς ὑπεχώρησεν· οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς προκειμένης ἡμῖν φιλοσοφίας οὐκ ἔστι τι τῶν ὑψηλῶν κτήσασθαι μὴ τὴν περὶ τὰ γήϊνά τε καὶ ταπεινὰ σπουδὴν ἀπολέσαντας. ἐν γὰρ τῷ ταῦτα εὑρίσκειν ἀπόλλυται ἡμῖν τὰ προτιμότερα, καὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν ἡ τούτων ἀπώλεια τῆς τῶν τιμίων εὑρέσεως πρόξενος γίνεται. ταῦτα παρὰ τῆς τοῦ κυρίου φωνῆς μεμαθήκαμεν· Ὁ εὑρὼν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσει αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ ἀπολέσας τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ εὑρήσει αὐτήν. τὸ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν ὕλην σπουδαζομένοις τὴν ψυχὴν εὑρεθῆναι αἴτιον γίνεται τοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἀληθινοῖς ἀγαθοῖς αὐτὴν μὴ εὑρεθῆναι, καὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν ἡ τούτων στέρησις καὶ ἀπώλεια τῶν ἐλπιζομένων ὕπαρξις γίνεται. Τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖται ἄνθρωπος, ἐὰν τὸν κόσμον ὅλον κερδήσῃ, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ζημιωθῇ; Καιρός, φησί, τοῦ ζητῆσαι καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀπολέσαι. εἰ τοίνυν ἔγνωμεν, τί ἐστι τὸ ζητούμενον κέρδος, ὃ διὰ τοῦ ἀπολέσαι τὰ κακῶς κτηθέντα εὑρίσκεται, τὸ μὲν ζητήσωμεν, τὸ δὲ ἀπολέσωμεν· τὰ καλὰ ζητήσωμεν, τὰ κακὰ ἀπολέσωμεν. Καλῶς δὲ καὶ προσφυῶς τοῖς προεξητασμένοις καὶ ἡ ἀκολουθία τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐπάγεται. φησὶ γάρ· Καιρὸς τοῦ 5.404 φυλάξαι καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἐκβαλεῖν. τί φυλάξαι; δηλονότι τὸ εὑρεθὲν ἡμῖν ἐκ τῆς ζητήσεως. τί ἐκβαλεῖν; ἐκεῖνο πάντως, οὗ ἡ ἀπώλεια λυσιτελεῖν ἐνομίσθη. ἐγένετό σοι νόημα δεξιόν, εἰσῆλθεν ἐπιθυμία τοῦ ἰδεῖν τὸν θεόν, ἐδίψησεν ἡ ψυχή σου πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὸν ἰσχυρὸν τὸν ζῶντα, πόθος ἐγένετό σοι τοῦ ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς τοῦ κυρίου γενέσθαι· αὐλαὶ δ' ἂν εἶεν τοῦ κυρίου, κατά γε τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον, αἱ ἀρεταί, αἷς ἐναυλίζεται ὁ λόγος καὶ πᾶς ὁ τῷ λόγῳ ἑπόμενος. ταῦτα φύλαξον, ὡς μὴ διαρρυῆναί σοι τὸν πλοῦτον τῶν καθαρῶν τῆς διανοίας κτημάτων. παρεισδύεταί τις λογισμὸς ἐναντίος, οἷόν τις λαθραῖος κλέπτης ἀφανισμὸν τῶν καθαρῶν νοημάτων ποιούμενος· ἐκβλητέος οὗτος καὶ ἀποπεμπτέος τῆς διανοίας. ἐν γὰρ τῷ ἐκεῖνον ἀπώσασθαι δι' ἀσφαλείας ἡμῖν ὁ τῶν ἀγαθῶν θησαυρὸς φυλαχθήσεται. εἰ δὲ μὴ ἐκβληθείη ὁ λυμαινόμενος, κέρδος οὐδὲν ἔσται τῆς κτήσεως, ἐν τῇ τῶν τοιχωρύχων ἐπιβουλῇ τῆς εὐπορίας ὑπορρεούσης. ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐδιδάχθημεν τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ ζητεῖν, Πᾶς δὲ ὁ ζητῶν εὑρίσκει, ὅπως ἂν τὸ εὑρεθὲν παραμείνειεν, ἀκριβῆ τινα τῷ θησαυρῷ τὴν φρουρὰν ἐπιστήσωμεν. Πάσῃ φυλακῇ, φησί, τήρει σὴν καρδίαν μετὰ τὸ εὑρεῖν τὸ ζητούμενον· μεῖζον γὰρ τοῦ εὑρεῖν τὸ φυλάξαι τὴν εὑρεθεῖσαν χάριν· οἷον εὗρεν ὁ προσελθὼν τῇ πίστει τὴν διὰ τοῦ λουτροῦ καθαρότητα, 5.405 ἀλλὰ μείζων ὁ πόνος ἐν τῷ φυλάξαι, ὃ ἔλαβεν, ἢ ἐν τῷ εὑρεῖν, ὃ οὐκ εἶχεν. ὥσπερ οὖν εἴπομεν μὴ χρόνῳ τινὶ τὴν τοῦ ζητεῖν εὐκαιρίαν περιορίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πάντα τὸν βίον ἕνα καιρὸν εἶναι τῆς ἀγαθῆς ἐκείνης ζητήσεως, οὕτως καὶ τὸν τῆς φυλακῆς καιρὸν πάσῃ τῇ ζωῇ μετρεῖσθαι ἀποφαινόμεθα, τὴν αὐτὴν φωνὴν τῆς προφητείας καὶ νῦν παραθέμενοι τὴν λέγουσαν· Οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου διὰ παντὸς πρὸς τὸν κύριον, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἐκσπάσει ἐκ παγίδος τοὺς πόδας μου. ἐν τούτῳ γάρ ἐστι τὸ ἄσυλον τὴν ἀγαθὴν κτῆσιν ἡμῖν φυλάσσεσθαι ἐν τῷ τὸν θεὸν φύλακα τῶν ἡμετέρων ποιήσασθαι. ὅταν γὰρ οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου ὦσι διὰ παντὸς πρὸς τὸν κύριον, τότε ἄπρακτοι γίνονται τοῦ ἀντικειμένου αἱ παγίδες, δι' ὧν ἐκεῖνος τῶν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τιμίων τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν τεχνάζεται. Μὴ δῷς, φησίν, εἰς σάλον τὸν πόδα σου, καὶ οὐ νυστάξει ὁ φυλάσσων σε. οὐκοῦν ἀκόλουθος ἡ παροῦσα ῥῆσις τῷ προάγοντι λόγῳ. ἐκεῖνος ἐκέλευσε ζητεῖν,