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Horses, and the pack of beast-slaying hounds, I have given to others, having shaken off all that prosperity, I placed my neck under firm self-control, Which cared for me and loved me and raised me to great glory, And readily placed me in the hands of Christ. But, Father, and Word of the Father, and shining Spirit, The support of our ill-fated life, Do not leave me to be subdued by the grievous hands Of the enemy, the rival of your hope. Nor as a black ship, well-sailing, running straight, Already flying near the harbors, 1376 A storm of woeful winds, darting upon it with unfurled sails, should suddenly backward Send it back upon the broad back of life, Tossed here and there by great evils, Lest it be broken somewhere against hidden reefs. For such is the mind of envious Beliar; He always detests the race of mortals, nor does he wish them, from earth, to be heavenly, since from heaven He himself through his own design was cast down to this earth; Unhappy one, who, desiring to have the boast of the first beauty, and the great royal honor of God, In place of light, clothed himself in hateful darkness. For this reason he is always delighted by dark deeds, And here he has the strength of gloomy evil. He is twofold in form, and crooked in thought, Coming now upon one kind of snare, now another. 1377 Truly he is supreme darkness; but if you should find him, He quickly transforms into an angel of light, And laughing gently, he fawns upon the mind. There especially It is for the prudent one not to approach death instead of light. For to flee evil is the mark even of a lesser man; For open evil is hateful to many. But I praise him who exposes the one lying in ambush, and the one who is unseen, Seeing with the sharpest eyes of the Spirit. But save also my old age and my gray head, May you bring a gracious end to my life, as before You lovingly cherished me, and day after day you brought a better day, bearing me forward with better hopes; And from enemies and grievous cares, May you lead me to the fair-weathered harbor of your kingdom, 1378 So that, honoring you with the ever-living lights, I may have a share of heavenly glory, O Lord.

46. Against the flesh. Pernicious flesh, dark surge of evil-minded Beliar, Pernicious flesh, root of many-branching passions, Pernicious flesh, companion of the downward-flowing world, Pernicious flesh, rival of the heavenly life, Flesh both hostile and friendly, sweet toil, untrustworthy good, Ever tasting of the man-slaying plant; O filth, o muddy fetter, o heavy piece of lead, O untamable beast, offspring of warring matter, Evil surge, and tomb and chain of your mistress, The heavenly image, which we received from God, Will you not cease from shameless evil? Will you not yield To the Spirit and to reason, wretched, evil-minded one, 1379 Which Christ alone formed with his own hands, When He by the Word made the unadorned cosmos of matter, And last of all mingled it with divinity, that He might save His dear creation, the heir of great life, Worn out by the passions of blinding Beliar, And by death He rescued it from pitiless death, For this reason, reverence me, and restrain your frenzies, And do not have unceasing madness against my soul. I call to witness the hand of immortal God, and that evil Day, which brings the final things of mortals together into one. Thus I will subdue you, and bending you with all kinds of pains, I will make you weaker than the dead, If you do not stop for me your recklessness and your flux, Having taken hold of the pure tassels of Christ. Come to me, O purifying spring of tears from below, 1380 And toilsome wakefulness of body and of mind, So that you may cool my flame, and cast away The rotting decay of grievous passions. And you, belly, send away satiety, and may my knees, lying on the ground, Grow hard, and may dust be my food. And may a rough sackcloth be stretched around my tender limbs, A defense for my driven soul. Come, downcast care, tamer of dust, Ever foreseeing the coming scourges. Such are my remedies for folly. But from you, O Christ, Come both a pure life, and life from the dead. Who received the ancestor of our evil and blood, When he lamented the taste and the deceit? Who purified the crooked king Manasseh through his laments? Who

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Ἵππους, ἠδὲ κυνῶν θηροφόνων ὁμαδὸν Ἄλλοισιν παρέηκα, τὰ δ' ὄλβια πάντα τινάξας, Αὐχέν' ὑπὸ στερεῇ θῆκα σαοφροσύνῃ, Ἥ μ' ἐκόμει τ' ἐφίλει τε καὶ ἐς μέγα κῦδος ἄεξεν, Ἐν δ' ἐτίθει Χριστοῦ χείρεσι προφρονέως. Ἀλλὰ, Πάτερ, Πατρός τε Λόγος, καὶ Πνεῦμα φαεινὸν, Ζωῆς ἡμετέρης ἕρμα κακοσταθέος, Μή με λίπῃς χείρεσσιν ὑπ' ἀργαλέῃσι δαμῆναι ∆υσμενέος, τῆς σῆς ἐλπίδος ἀντιπάλου. Μηδ' ὡς νῆα μέλαιναν, ἐΰπλοον, ὀρθὰ θέουσαν, Ἤδη καὶ λιμένων πλησίον ἱπταμένην, 1376 Λαίφεσι πεπταμένοισιν ἐπαΐξασα θύελλα Λευγαλέων ἀνέμων, ἐξαπίνης ὀπίσω Πέμψειεν παλίνορσον ἐπ' εὐρέα νῶτα βίοιο, Ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα κακοῖς βρασσόμενον μεγάλοις, Μή που δὲ κρυπτῇσι ποτὶ σπιλάδεσσιν ἐάξῃ. Τοῖος γὰρ Βελίου τοῦ φθονεροῖο νόος· Αἰὲν ἀπεχθαίρει μερόπων γένος, οὐδ' ἀπὸ γαίης Βούλεται οὐρανίους ἔμμεναι, οὐρανόθεν Αὐτὸς ἑὴν διὰ μῆτιν ἐπὶ χθόνα τήνδε τιναχθείς· ∆ύσμορος, ὃς πρώτου κάλλεος εὖχος ἔχειν Ἱέμενος, μεγάλην τε Θεοῦ βασιληΐδα τιμὴν, Ἀντὶ φάους στυγερὴν ἀμφέσατο σκοτίην. Τοὔνεκα καὶ σκοτίοισιν ἰαίνεται αἰὲν ἐπ' ἔργοις, Καὶ ζοφερῆς κακίης ἐνθάδε κάρτος ἔχει. ∆ιπλοῦς δ' αὖ μορφὴν τελέθει, σκολιός τε νόημα, Ἄλλοτ' ἐπ' ἀλλοίην ἐρχόμενος παγίδα. 1377 Ἤτοι ὁ μὲν σκότος ἐστὶν ὑπέρτατον· ἢν δέ μιν εὕρῃς, Ἄγγελον ἐς φωτὸς ὦκα μεταστρέφεται, Καί ῥ' ἁπαλὸν γελόων, σαίνει φρένας. Ἔνθα μάλιστα Φράδμονος, ἀντὶ φάους μὴ θανάτῳ πελάσαι. Τὴν μὲν γὰρ κακότητα φυγεῖν, καὶ χείρονος ἀνδρός· Πολλοῖς γὰρ κακίη ἔχθεται ἀμφαδίη. Αἰνῶ δ' ὃς λοχόοντα, καὶ ὃς ἀΐδηλον ἐλέγχει, Πνεύματος ὀξυτάτοις ὄμμασι δερκόμενος. Ἀλλὰ σάω καὶ γῆρας ἐμὸν πολιόν τε κάρηνον, Τέρμα φέροις ζωῆς ἵλαος, ὥς με πάρος Ἐνδυκέως ἀγάπαζες, ἐπ' ἤματι δ' ἦμαρ ἄριστον Ἦγες, χρηστοτέραις ἐλπίσι πρόσθε φέρων· Καί μ' ἐκ δυσμενέων τε καὶ ἀργαλέων μελεδώνων, Εὔδιον ἐς λιμένα σῆς βασιλείας ἄγοις, 1378 Ὄφρα σε σὺν φαέεσσιν ἀειζώοισι γεραίρων, Κύδεος οὐρανίου μοῖραν ἔχοιμι, ἄναξ.

Μςʹ. Κατὰ σαρκός. Σὰρξ ὀλοὴ, Βελίαο κακόφρονος οἶδμα κελαινὸν, Σὰρξ ὀλοὴ, παθέων ῥίζα πολυσχιδέων, Σὰρξ ὀλοὴ, κόσμοιο κάτω ῥείοντος ἑταίρη, Σὰρξ ὀλοὴ, ζωῆς ἀντίπαλ' οὐρανίης, Σὰρξ ἐχθρὴ φιλίη τε, γλυκὺς μόθος, ἐσθλὸν ἄπιστον, Ἀνδροφόνοιο φυτοῦ πάντοτε γευομένη· Βόρβορε, ἰλυόεσσα πέδη, βρίθουσα μολυβδὶς, Θὴρ ἀδάμασθ', ὕλης ἔκγονε μαρναμένης, Βράσμα κακὸν, καὶ σῆμα τεῆς καὶ δεσμὸς ἀνάσσης, Εἰκόνος οὐρανίης, τὴν λάχομεν Θεόθεν, Οὐ λήξεις κακότητος ἀναιδέος; οὐχ ὑποείξεις Πνεύματι καὶ πολιῇ, δύσμορε, κακοφραδὲς, 1379 Ἣν Χριστὸς παλάμῃσιν ἑαῖς μορφώσατο μούνην, Ἡνίκ' ἄκοσμον ὕλης κόσμον ἔθηκε λόγῳ, Καὶ πύματον θεότητι κεράσσατο, ὥς κε σαώσῃ Πλάσμα φίλον, ζωῆς κληρονόμον μεγάλης, Τειρόμενον παθέεσσιν ἀμερσινόου Βελίαο, Καὶ θανάτῳ θανάτου ῥύσατ' ἀπηλεγέος, Τοὔνεκεν ἄζεό μοι, καὶ ἴσχεο μαργοσυνάων, Μηδ' ἐπ' ἐμῇ ψυχῇ λύσσαν ἄληκτον ἔχειν. Μαρτύρομ' ἀθανάτοιο Θεοῦ χέρα, καὶ τὸ πονηρὸν Ἦμαρ, ὃ τὰ θνητῶν ὕστατον εἰς ἓν ἄγει. Ὥς σε καταιχμάζων, καὶ ἄλγεσι παντοδαποῖσι Κάμπτων, καὶ νεκύων θήσομ' ἀκιδνοτέρην, Εἰ μή μοι στήσειας ἀτασθαλίην τε ῥόον τε, Τῶν καθαρῶν Χριστοῦ δραξαμένη θυσάνων. Ἐλθέ μοι, ὦ δακρύων τε καθάρσιε νειόθι πηγὴ, 1380 Κἀγρυπνίη μογερὴ σώματος ἠδὲ νόου, Ὄφρα καταψύξειας ἐμὴν φλόγα, καὶ μυδόωσαν Ῥύψειας παθέων σηπεδόν' ἀργαλέων. Καὶ γαστὴρ, ἀπόπεμπε κόρον, καὶ κείμεν' ἔραζε Γοῦνα κατεσκλήκοι, καὶ κόνις εἶδαρ ἔοι. Καὶ τρηχὺς ἁπαλοῖσι περί ῥ' ῥεθέεσσι τετάσθω Σάκκος, ἐμῆς ψυχῆς ἄλκαρ ἐλαυνομένης. Ἐλθὲ, κατηφιόωσα χοὸς δμήτειρα μεληδὼν, Αἰὲν ἐπερχομένας μάστιγας ὀσσομένη. Τοῖα μὲν ἀφραδίης ἐμὰ φάρμακα. Σεῖο δὲ, Χριστὲ, Καὶ ζωὴ καθαρὴ, καὶ βίος ἐκ νεκύων. Τίς πρόγονον κακίης τε καὶ αἵματος ἡμετέροιο ∆έξατ', ἐπεὶ γεῦσιν μύρατο καὶ ἀπάτην; Τίς σκολιὸν βασιλῆα γόοις ἐκάθηρε Μανασσῆ; Τίς