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we learn. In this way, then, most safely indeed you will send everything ahead to that place by the hands of those in need; for whatever you do for them, the Master makes His own and will repay you many times over; for He always overcomes with the reciprocation of gifts those who love Him. In this way, then, for the time being, having plundered the treasures of the darkness of this age, which you have long served in misery, you will be well provisioned from these things for the future, and having taken away from what is another's, you will store up everything for yourself beforehand, having purchased through these fleeting and temporary things those that are steadfast and abiding; then, with God working with you, you will understand the instability and unevenness of the world, and, having said farewell to all things, you will be moored towards the future, having run past the things that run past, you will be added to those things that are hoped for and that stand, and having left behind the darkness along with the shadow of death, and having hated the world and the ruler of the world, and having considered the perishable flesh an enemy to yourself, you may run to the unapproachable light, and, taking up the cross on your shoulders, you will follow Him without turning back, so that you may also be glorified with Him and be shown to be an heir of the life that no longer falls away nor is deceitful. And Ioasaph said: To disregard all things, therefore, and to take up so laborious a life, as you have said above, is this an ancient tradition handed down from the teaching of the apostles? or has it been recently devised by you, by the knowledge of your mind, as having chosen this as better? To which the elder said: I am not teaching you a law recently introduced (may it not be so), but one given to us long ago. For the Lord said to a certain rich man who asked Him, What must I do to inherit eternal life? and who boasted of having kept all the things written in the law, One thing, He said, you lack: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me, taking up the cross. But when he heard this, he became very sad; for he was extremely rich. And when Jesus saw that he had become very sad, He said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Therefore, all the saints, having heard this commandment, took care to be completely separated from such a difficulty of wealth; and having scattered everything, and through the distribution to the poor having stored up for themselves eternal wealth, they took up the cross and followed Christ, some being perfected through martyrdom, as I indeed told you, others striving ascetically, and lacking nothing of those in the practice of this true philosophy. Know, therefore, that this is a commandment of Christ our King and God, leading us away from perishable things and making us partakers of eternal things. 218 Since, then, says Ioasaph, this philosophy is old and so necessary, why do not many today emulate this life? And the elder said: Many have emulated it and do emulate it, but most hesitate and shrink back; For few, as the Lord says, are the travelers on the narrow and afflicted way, but most are on the relaxed and wide way. For those who have once been caught by the love of money and the evils of the love of pleasure, and who are attached to empty and vain glory, are with difficulty torn away from them, since they have willingly sold themselves as slaves to a foreign master, and stand in opposition to God who commands these things, and are held by him as captives. For a soul that has once despaired of its own salvation, giving its reins to irrational desires, is carried about everywhere. For this reason the Prophet, lamenting the folly poured out upon such souls, and mourning the thickness of the mist lying upon them, said, O sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? why do you love vanity and seek

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μανθάνομεν. οὕτως μὲν οὖν ἀσφαλέστατα λίαν ἐκεῖσε προπέμψεις πάντα ταῖς τῶν δεομένων χερσίν· ὅσα γὰρ εἰς τούτους ποιήσεις, ἑαυτῷ ὁ ∆εσπότης οἰκειούμενος πολυπλασίως σε ἀνταμείψεται· νικᾷ γὰρ ἀεὶ ταῖς τῶν δωρεῶν ἀντιδόσεσι τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας αὐτόν. τούτῳ μὲν οὖν τῷ τρόπῳ τέως τοὺς θησαυροὺς τοῦ σκότους τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου συλήσας, ᾧ τεταλαιπώρηκας πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον ἐκδουλεύων, καλῶς ἐκ τούτων πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἐφοδιασθήσῃ, καὶ τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου ἀφελόμενος σεαυτῷ πάντα προαποθήσῃ, διὰ τῶν ῥευστῶν τούτων καὶ προσκαίρων τὰ ἑστῶτα καὶ μένοντα ἐξωνησάμενος· ἔπειτα, τοῦ Θεοῦ συνεργοῦντός σοι, κατανοήσεις τὸ ἄστατον τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ἀνώμαλον, καί, χαίρειν πᾶσιν εἰπών, πρὸς τὸ μέλλον μεθορμισθήσῃ, παραδραμὼν μὲν τὰ παρατρέχοντα, τοῖς ἐλπιζομένοις δὲ καὶ ἱσταμένοις προστεθήσῃ, καὶ τὸ σκότος μὲν ἀπολιπὼν σὺν τῇ σκιᾷ τοῦ θανάτου, μισήσας δὲ τὸν κόσμον καὶ κοσμοκράτορα, καὶ τὴν φθειρομένην σάρκα ἐχθρὰν ἑαυτῷ λογισάμενος, τῷ φωτὶ προσδράμῃς τῷ ἀπροσίτῳ, καί, τὸν σταυρὸν ἐπ' ὤμων ἄρας, ἀκολουθήσεις αὐτῷ ἀμεταστρεπτί, ἵνα καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ δοξασθῇς καὶ τῆς οὐκ ἔτι μεταπιπτούσης ζωῆς οὐδὲ ἀπατηλῆς ἀναδειχθῇς κληρονόμος. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάσαφ· Τὸ πάντων οὖν, φησίν, ὑπεριδεῖν καὶ ἐπίπονον οὕτως ἀναλαβέσθαι βίον, κα 216 θάπερ εἴρηκας ἀνωτέρω, παράδοσίς ἐστιν ἀρχαία ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἀποστόλων κατιοῦσα διδαχῆς; ἢ ἔναγχος ὑμῖν ἐπινενόηται τῇ τοῦ νοὸς ὑμῶν ἐπιστήμῃ, ὡς κρεῖττον ἐκλεξαμένοις τοῦτο; Πρὸς ὃν ὁ γέρων ἔφη· Οὐ νόμον προσφάτως εἰσενεχθέντα διδάσκω σε (μὴ γένοιτο), ἀλλ' ἔκπαλαι δοθέντα ἡμῖν. εἶπεν γὰρ ὁ Κύριος πλουσίῳ τινὶ ἐπερωτήσαντι αὐτόν, Τί ποιήσας ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; καὶ καυχωμένῳ πάντα φυλάξαι τὰ γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, Ἕν σοι, φησίν, ὑστερεῖ· ὕπαγε, ὅσα ἔχεις πώλησον καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανοῖς· καὶ δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοι, ἄρας τὸν σταυρόν. ὁ δὲ ταῦτα ἀκούσας περίλυπος ἐγένετο· ἦν γὰρ πλούσιος σφόδρα. ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ Ἰησοῦς περίλυπον γενόμενον, εἶπε· Πῶς δυσκόλως οἱ τὰ χρήματα ἔχοντες εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. εὐκοπώτερον γάρ ἐστι κάμηλον διὰ τρυμαλιᾶς ῥαφίδος διελθεῖν, ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν. ταύτης οὖν τῆς ἐντολῆς πάντες ἀκούσαντες οἱ ἅγιοι ἀποχωρισθῆναι πάντη τῆς τοιαύτης τοῦ πλούτου δυσκολίας ἐφρόντισαν· καὶ πάντα σκορπίσαντες, καὶ διὰ τῆς τῶν πενήτων διαδόσεως πλοῦτον ἑαυτοῖς αἰώνιον προαποθέμενοι, ἦραν τὸν σταυρὸν καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ ἠκολούθησαν, οἱ μὲν μαρτυρικῶς, καθὰ δὴ καὶ εἶπόν σοι, τελειωθέντες, οἱ δὲ ἀσκητικῶς ἀγωνισάμενοι, καὶ μηδὲν ἐκείνων ἀπολιπόντες τῇ ἀγωγῇ τῆς ἀληθινῆς ταύτης φιλοσοφίας. ἐντολὴν οὖν ταύτην εἶναι γίνωσκε Χριστοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως ἡμῶν καὶ Θεοῦ, ἀπάγουσαν ἡμᾶς τῶν φθαρτῶν, καὶ τῶν ἀϊδίων μετόχους ἐργαζομένην. 218 Παλαιᾶς οὖν, φησὶν ὁ Ἰωάσαφ, καὶ οὕτως ἀναγκαίας οὔσης τῆς τοιαύτης φιλοσοφίας, πῶς οὐ πολλοὶ ζηλοῦσι σήμερον τουτονὶ τὸν βίον; Ὁ δὲ γέρων ἔφη· Πολλοὶ μὲν ἐζήλωσαν καὶ ζηλοῦσιν, οἱ πλεῖστοι δὲ ὀκνοῦσι καὶ ἀναδύονται· Ὀλίγοι γάρ, καθά φησιν ὁ Κύριος, οἱ τῆς στενῆς ὁδοῦ καὶ τεθλιμμένης ὁδοιπόροι, τῆς ἀνειμένης δὲ καὶ πλατείας οἱ πλείους. οἱ γὰρ καθάπαξ ὑπὸ φιλοχρηματίας καὶ τῶν τῆς φιληδονίας κακῶν ἁλόντες, τῇ κενῇ δὲ καὶ ματαίᾳ προστετηκότες δόξῃ, δυσαποσπάστως αὐτῶν ἔχουσιν, ὡς ἅτε δούλους ἑαυτοὺς ἑκουσίως ἀπεμπολήσαντες ἀλλοτρίῳ δεσπότῃ, καὶ ἀπ' ἐναντίας ἱστάμενοι τῷ ταῦτα ἐπιτάττοντι Θεῷ, καὶ δέσμιοι αὐτῷ κατεχόμενοι. ψυχὴ γὰρ καθάπαξ ἀπογνοῦσα τῆς οἰκείας σωτηρίας, τὰς ἡνίας αὑτῆς ἐνδοῦσα ταῖς ἀλόγοις ἐπιθυμίαις, πανταχοῦ περιφέρεται. διὰ τοῦτο ὀλοφυρόμενος ὁ Προφήτης τὴν περικεχυμένην ἄνοιαν ταῖς τοιαύταις ψυχαῖς, καὶ τῆς ἐπικειμένης αὐταῖς ἀχλύος τὴν παχύτητα θρηνῶν, ἔλεγεν Υἱοὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἕως πότε βαρυκάρδιοι; ἱνατί ἀγαπᾶτε ματαιότητα καὶ ζητεῖτε