40

He will say: "Did you not live where these served and were slaves to me, and did you not sit on their thrones? Why did you not also imitate their life and conduct? Why were you not afraid to hold and to eat Me, the undefiled and unblemished, with unclean hands and even more unclean souls? Did you not shudder at all, did you not tremble? Why did you spend the goods of the poor on your pleasures and on your own family and relatives? Why did you sell Me for gold and silver, like Judas? Why, having bought me off as a worthless slave, did you misuse me to serve the desires of the flesh? As, therefore, you did not honor me, neither will I spare you. Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, depart! ".

Thus, therefore, fathers by fathers, friends and relatives by friends and relatives, brothers by brothers, slaves and free by slaves and free, rich and poor by rich and poor, those in marriage by those who excelled in marriage, those in freedom by those who lived in freedom, and simply, every sinful man on the fearful day of judgment will see before him his counterpart entering (111) into eternal life and into that ineffable light, and will be judged by him. What do I mean? Each of the sinners looking at his like, a king at a king, a ruler at a ruler and an unrepentant fornicator at a repentant fornicator, a poor man at a poor man and a slave at a slave, and remembering that that man too was human, having the same soul, the same hands, the same eyes, and simply all other things equally, and was with him in life and had a similar rank, skill, profession, but he did not wish to imitate him, immediately his mouth is shut and he remains without excuse, having nothing at all to say.When therefore the worldly see the worldly and the sinful kings see holy kings at the right hand, and the rich and those under the yoke of life see holy ones, and all those in torments see their likes in the kingdom of heaven, and then they are ashamed and found without excuse, just as that rich man saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, while he was being tormented in the fire.

What then shall we do, we monks, those like me, I say, slothful and sinful, what shame then and torment will seize us, when we see those in the world who have wives and female and male servants, dancing together with wives and children with one accord in the kingdom of heaven? when we see those who were pleasing to God in high positions and wealth, when we see simply from all those in the world those who have achieved every virtue and lived in repentance and tears for the fear of the Lord and are standing in the joy and radiance of the just? (112) For when we consider that we left fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters and the whole world in order to save our souls, and others of us left wives and children, and still others along with these also wealth and honors and all the other pleasant things that life has, and having withdrawn we became poor and having been tonsured we became monks for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, but because of a little sloth and wickedness and because of our wicked desires we ranked ourselves with the worldly and fornicators and adulterers and those who lived wantonly according to the world, what fear and trembling and shame will cover us then! Believe me when I say, brothers, that our shame will be a worse torment than the eternal punishment of the worldly. For when I, who renounced with all my soul, am about to stand with the worldly, let us say, who now have children, and are involved in public affairs or serving in the army, and am about to receive the same punishment as they, these, turning and seeing me, might say to me: "You too, monk, who left the world, are you standing here with us the worldly? And you, why?"what then shall I say in my defense, what shall I say to them? For who, brothers,

40

ἐρεῖ· "Οὐχί ἔνθα οὗτοι ἐθεράπευσαν καί ἐδούλευσάν μοι, ἐκεῖ καί ὑμεῖς ἐβιώσατε καί εἰς τούς θρόνους αὐτῶν ἐκαθίσατε; ∆ιά τί μή καί τόν βίον καί τήν πολιτείαν αὐτῶν ἐμιμήσασθε; ∆ιά τί ἀκαθάρτοις χερσί καί ἀκαθαρτοτέραις ψυχαῖς τόν ἄχραντον ἐμέ καί ἀμόλυντον κρατεῖν καί ἐσθίειν οὐκ ἐφοβήθητε; Οὐκ ἐφρίξατε ὅλως, οὐκ ἐτρομάξατε; ∆ιά τί τά τῶν πενήτων εἰς τάς ὑμετέρας ἡδονάς καί εἰς τούς ἰδίους καί συγγενεῖς ὑμῶν ἀναλώσατε; ∆ιά τί με χρυσίῳ καί ἀργυρίῳ, ὡς ὁ Ἰούδας, ἀπεμπολήσατε; ∆ιά τί με καί ὡς δοῦλον ἀχρεῖον ἐξαγοράσαντες, εἰς τά τῆς σαρκός με θελήματα διακονεῖν ἀπεχρήσασθε; Ὡς οὖν ὑμεῖς με οὐκ ἐπιμήσατε, οὐδέ ἐγώ φείσομαι ὑμῶν. Ἀπέλθατε ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ οἱ ἐργάται τῆς ἀνομίας, ἀπέλθατε! ".

Οὕτω τοίνυν πατέρες παρά πατέρων, φίλοι καί συγγενεῖς παρά φίλων καί συγγενῶν, ἀδελφοί παρά ἀδελφῶν, δοῦλοι καί ἐλεύθεροι παρά δούλων καί ἐλευθέρων, πλούσιοι καί πένητες ὑπό πλουσίων καί πενήτων, οἱ ἐν γάμῳ παρά τῶν ἐν γάμῳ διαπρεψάντων, οἱ ἐν ἐλευθερίᾳ παρά τῶν ἐν ἐλευθερίᾳ βιωσάντων, καί ἁπλῶς πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ἁμαρτωλός ἐν τῇ φοβερᾷ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως ἀπεναντίας αὐτοῦ εἰς τήν (111) εἰς τήν αἰωνίαν ζωήν καί εἰς τό ἀνεκλάλητον ἐκεῖνο φῶς ὄψεται τόν ὅμοιον αὐτοῦ καί κριθήσεται παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ. Οἷόν τι λέγω; Ἀπιδών ἕκαστος τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν πρός τόν ὅμοιον αὐτοῦ, βασιλεύς πρός βασιλέα, ἄρχων πρός ἄρχοντα καί πόρνος μή μετανοήσας πρός πόρνον μετανοήσαντα, φτωχός πρός φτωχόν καί δοῦλος πρός δοῦλον, καί μνησθείς ὅτι καί αὐτός ἐκεῖνος ἄνθρωπος ἦν, τήν αὐτήν ψυχήν ἔχων, τάς αὐτάς χεῖρας, τούς αὐτούς ὀφθαλμούς καί ἁπλῶς τἆλλα πάντα ἐξ ἴσης καί συνῆν αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βίῳ καί ὅμοιον εἶχε τό ἀξίωμα, τήν τέχνην, τό ἐπιτήδευμα, μιμήσασθαι δέ αὐτόν οὐκ ἠθέλησεν, εὐθύς ἐμφράσσεται τό στόμα αὐτοῦ καί μένει ἀναπολόγητος, μή ἔχων ὅλως τι φθέγξασθαι.Ὅταν οὖν οἱ κοσμικοί κοσμικούς ἴδωσι καί οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί βασιλεῖς βασιλεῖς ἁγίους ἐκ δεξιῶν, πλουσίους τε καί ὑπό ζυγόν ἁγίους οἱ ὑπό ζυγόν βίου, καί οἱ ἐν βασάνοις πάντες ὁμοίους αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, καί τηνικαῦτα αἰσχυνθῶσι καί ἀναπολόγητοι εὑρεθῶσιν, ὥσπερ ὁ πλούσιος ἐκεῖνος ἐν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ Ἀβραάμ τόν Λάζαρον, ἐκεῖνος ἀποτηγανιζόμενος ἐν τῷ πυρί.

Τί ποιήσωμεν ἡμεῖς ἄρα οἱ μοναχοί, οἱ κατ᾿ ἐμέ, λέγω, ῥάθυμοι καί ἁμαρτωλοί, ποία ἄρα αἰσχύνη ἡμᾶς καί βάσανος λήψεται, ὅταν τούς ἐν βίῳ καί γυναῖκας καί οἰκέτιδας ἔχοντας καί οἰκέτας, μετά γυναικῶν ὁμοῦ καί τέκνων θεασώμεθα ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν ὁμοθυμαδόν συγχορεύοντας; ὅταν τούς ἐν ἀξιώμασι καί πλούτῳ εὐαρεστήσαντας, ὅταν ἁπλῶς ἐκ πάντων ἴδωμεν τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ πᾶσαν κατορθωκότων ἀρετήν καί ἐν μετανοίᾳ καί δάκρυσι πολιτευσαμένων διά τόν φόβον τοῦ Κυρίου καί ἱσταμένους ἐν τῇ χαρᾷ καί φαιδρότητι τῶν δικαίων; (112) ὅταν γάρ ἐννοήσωμεν ὅτι πατέρας καί μητέρας καί ἀδελφούς καί ἀδελφάς καί κόσμον ὅλον διά τό σῶσαι ἡμῶν τάς ψυχάς κατελείψαμεν, οἱ δέ καί γυναῖκας καί τέκνα, ἄλλοι σύν τούτοις καί πλοῦτον καί ἀξιώματα καί ἄλλα ὅσα ὁ βίος ἔχει τερπνά, καί ἀναχωρήσαντες ἐπτωχεύσαμεν καί ἀποκειράμενοι γεγόναμεν μοναχοί διά τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, διά δέ μικράν ῥᾳθυμίαν καί πονηρίαν καί διά τάς πονηράς ἡμῶν ἐπιθυμίας κατετάξαμεν ἡμᾶς ἑαυτούς μετά κοσμικῶν καί πόρνων καί μοιχῶν καί βιωσάντων ἀσώτως κατά τόν κόσμον, ὁποῖος τότε φόβος καί τρόμος καί αἰσχύνη καλύψει ἡμᾶς! Πιστεύσατέ μοι λέγοντι, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι χείρων βάσανος ἡ ἐντροπή ἡμῶν ἔσται ὑπέρ τήν τῶν κοσμικῶν αἰωνίαν κόλασιν. Ὅταν γάρ ἐμέ τόν ἀποταξάμενον πάσῃ ψυχῇ, μετά κοσμικῶν, φέρε εἰπεῖν, νῦν τέκνα ἐχόντων, καί δημοσίοις πράγμασιν ἐμπεπλεγμένων ἤ καί στρατιᾷ ἐκδουλευόντων, ἵστασθαι καί τήν ἴσην ἐκείνοις κόλασιν λήψεσθαι μέλλοντα, στραφέντες οὗτοι καί ἰδόντες με, εἴπωσι πρός με· "Καί σύ, μοναχέ, ὁ τόν κόσμον ἀφείς, ὧδε μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν τῶν κοσμικῶν ἵστασαι; Κἄν σύ διά τί;"τί ἄρα ἀπολογήσομαι, τί ἐρῶ πρός αὐτούς; Τίς γάρ, ἀδελφοί,