45

is extinguished by a small tear; for a tear extinguishes a conflagration of sins, and washes away the stench of sin. The blessed David testifies, saying, and showing the power of tears, how great it is; For I will wash, he says, my bed every night, I will water my couch with my tears. And yet if he wished to show the abundance of tears, it would have been enough to say: I will water my couch with my tears. Why then did he place first, "I will wash"? So that he might show that tears are a bath and a purification of sins. 2. Sins are the cause of all evils. Because of sins there are sorrows, because of sins there are disturbances, because of sins there are wars, because of sins there are diseases, and all the hard-to-cure sufferings that befall us. Therefore, just as the best of physicians do not examine the apparent sufferings, but seek the cause of what is apparent; so also the Savior, wishing to show that sin is the cause of all the evils among men, says to the one paralyzed in body; since the physician of souls saw him paralyzed first in soul, and then in body, He says to him: See, you have become well, sin no more, lest something worse happen to you. Therefore, sin was also the cause of the preceding sickness; this is also a cause of loss; this also of sorrow, this also becomes the foundation of every 49.332 misfortune. But I marvel at this, how God, having given sorrow to man from the beginning because of sin, by that very sentence undoes the sentence, and by the condemnation casts out the condemnation; and how, listen. Sorrow was given because of sin, and through sorrow sin is undone. Pay close attention; God, threatening the woman, and bringing the punishment because of the transgression, says to her: In sorrow you shall bring forth children; and He showed the fruit of sin to be sorrow; but, O the great-Giver! what He gave for punishment, He changed into salvation. Sin begat sorrow; sorrow consumed the sin, and just as a worm born from wood consumes the wood itself; so also sorrow, having been born from sin, consumes sin, being brought on through repentance. For this reason Paul says: Godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Sorrow is good for those who genuinely repent; mourning for sin is fitting for sinners; For blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Mourn for sin, so that you may not bewail the punishment; make your defense to the judge, before you come to the tribunal. Or do you not know, that all who wish to entreat the judge do not attend to him during the very examination of the case, but before entering the tribunal, they attend to the judge either through friends, or through patrons, or by some other means? Therefore also in the case of God, at the time of the judgment seat it is not possible to persuade the judge; but before the time of judgment it is possible to entreat the judge. For this reason David said: Let us come before His presence with confession. There the art of orators does not deceive the great judge; power does not entreat; He is not persuaded by rank; He is not ashamed of any face; He is not corrupted by money, but the righteous judgment is fearsome and inexorable. Here, then, let us entreat the judge, and beseech Him; here let us supplicate with all our strength, but not with money; or rather, if one must speak the truth, the philanthropic One is persuaded even by money, not receiving it Himself, but through the poor. Give money to the one in need, and you have entreated the judge. And I say these things to make you familiar with it, since repentance without almsgiving is dead and wingless; repentance cannot be winged, not having the wing of almsgiving. For this reason, for Cornelius who repented well, almsgiving became the wing of his piety; For your alms, it says, and your prayers have gone up to heaven. As if repentance did not have the wing of almsgiving, it would not have gone to

45

ὀλίγῳ δακρύῳ σβέννυται· τὸ γὰρ δάκρυον σβέννυσι πυρκαϊὰν ἁμαρτημάτων, καὶ ἀποπλύνει δυσωδίαν ἁμαρτίας. Μαρτυρεῖ ∆αυῒδ ὁ μακάριος λέγων, καὶ δεικνύων τὴν δύναμιν τῶν δακρύων ὅσον ἰσχύει· Λούσω γὰρ, φησὶ, καθ' ἑκάστην νύκτα τὴν κλίνην μου, ἐν δάκρυσί μου τὴν στρωμνήν μου βρέξω. Καὶ μὴν εἰ τὴν ἀφθονίαν ἐβούλετο δεῖξαι τῶν δακρύων, ἤρκει τὸ εἰπεῖν· Ἐν δάκρυσί μου τὴν στρωμνήν μου βρέξω. ∆ιὰ τί οὖν προέταξε τὸ, Λούσω; Ἵνα δείξῃ ὅτι λουτρόν ἐστι καὶ καθάρσιον ἁμαρτημάτων τὰ δάκρυα. ʹ. Πάντων τῶν κακῶν αἴτια τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. ∆ιὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα λῦπαι, διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ταραχαὶ, διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα πόλεμοι, διὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα νόσοι, καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἡμῖν προσπίπτει δυσίατα πάθη. Ὥσπερ οὖν οἱ ἄριστοι τῶν ἰατρῶν οὐ τὰ φαινόμενα πάθη ἐξετάζουσιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν αἰτίαν τῶν φαινομένων ἐπιζητοῦσιν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ βουλόμενος δεῖξαι πάντων τῶν κακῶν τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις αἰτίαν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, φησὶ τῷ παραλελυμένῳ τὸ σῶμα· ἐπειδὴ εἶδεν αὐτὸν ὁ ἰατρὸς τῶν ψυχῶν πρότερον τὴν ψυχὴν παραλυθέντα, καὶ τότε τὸ σῶμα, λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἴδε, ὑγιὴς γέγονας, μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε, ἵνα μὴ χεῖρόν τί σοι γένηται. Οὐκοῦν καὶ τῆς προλαβούσης ἀῤῥωστίας αἴτιον ἡ ἁμαρτία· τοῦτο καὶ ζημίας αἴτιον· τοῦτο καὶ λύπης, τοῦτο καὶ συμφορᾶς 49.332 ἁπάσης ὑπόθεσις γίνεται. Πλὴν θαυμάζω ἐκεῖνο, πῶς τὴν λύπην ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ δοὺς ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τῇ ἀποφάσει τὴν ἀπόφασιν λύει, καὶ τῇ καταδίκῃ τὴν καταδίκην ἐκβάλλει· καὶ ὅπως, ἄκουε. Ἐδόθη λύπη διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ διὰ λύπης λύεται ἁμαρτία. Πρόσεχε ἀκριβῶς· τῇ γυναικὶ ἀπειλῶν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ διὰ τὴν παράβασιν τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐπάγων, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτήν· Ἐν λύπαις τέξῃ τέκνα· καὶ ἔδειξε καρπὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας, τὴν λύπην· ἀλλ', ὢ τοῦ μεγαλοδώρου! ὃ ἔδωκεν εἰς τιμωρίαν, μετέβαλεν εἰς σωτηρίαν. Ἁμαρτία λύπην ἐγέννησε· λύπη τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνάλωσε, καὶ ὥσπερ σκώληξ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τικτόμενος, αὐτὸ δαπανᾷ τὸ ξύλον· οὕτω καὶ ἡ λύπη τεχθεῖσα ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἀναλίσκει τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, διὰ τῆς μετανοίας προσαγομένη. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν ὁ Παῦλος· Ἡ κατὰ Θεὸν λύπη μετάνοιαν εἰς σωτηρίαν ἀμεταμέλητον ἐργάζεται. Καλὴ ἡ λύπη τοῖς γνησίως μετανοοῦσι· πρέπει τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσι τὸ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἁμαρτίας πένθος· Μακάριοι γὰρ οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται. Πένθησον τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ἵνα μὴ θρηνήσῃς τὴν τιμωρίαν· ἀπολόγησαι τῷ κριτῇ, πρὶν ἔλθῃς εἰς τὸ κριτήριον. Ἢ οὐκ οἶδας, ὅτι πάντες οἱ βουλόμενοι δυσωπῆσαι τὸν κριτὴν, οὐκ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἐτάσει τῆς δίκης θεραπεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ πρὶν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸ κριτήριον, ἢ διὰ φίλων, ἢ διὰ προστατῶν, ἢ δι' ἑτέρου τρόπου τινὸς τὸν δικαστὴν θεραπεύουσιν; Οὐκοῦν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τοῦ βήματος οὐκ ἔστι πεῖσαι τὸν δικαστήν· πρὸ δὲ τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς κρίσεως δυνατὸν δυσωπῆσαι τὸν κριτήν. ∆ιόπερ ἔλεγεν ὁ ∆αυΐδ· Προφθάσωμεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐξομολογήσει. Ἐκεῖ τὸν μέγαν κριτὴν οὐ παραλογίζεται ῥητόρων τέχνη· οὐ δυσωπεῖ δυναστεία· ἀξιώματι οὐ πείθεται· πρόσωπον οὐκ αἰσχύνεται· χρήμασιν οὐ διαφθείρεται, ἀλλὰ φοβερά ἐστι καὶ ἀδυσώπητος ἡ δικαιοκρισία. Ἐνταῦθα οὖν τὸν κριτὴν δυσωπήσωμεν, καὶ παρακαλέσωμεν· ἐνταῦθα παντὶ σθένει καθικετεύσωμεν, ἀλλ' οὐ χρήμασι· μᾶλλον δὲ, εἰ χρὴ τἀληθῆ λέγειν, πείθεται καὶ χρήμασιν ὁ φιλάνθρωπος, οὐκ αὐτὸς δεχόμενος, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν πενήτων. ∆ὸς πενομένῳ χρήματα, καὶ τὸν κριτὴν ἐδυσώπησας. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγω οἰκειούμενος ὑμᾶς, ἐπειδὴ μετάνοια ἐκτὸς ἐλεημοσύνης νεκρά ἐστι καὶ ἄπτερος· οὐ δύναται μετάνοια πτερωθῆναι, μὴ ἔχουσα πτερὸν ἐλεημοσύνης. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τῷ καλῶς μετανοήσαντι Κορνηλίῳ πτερὸν ἐγένετο τῆς εὐσεβείας ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη· Αἱ ἐλεημοσύναι σου γὰρ, φησὶ, καὶ αἱ προσευχαί σου εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνέβησαν. Ὡς εἰ μὴ εἶχε πτερὸν τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην ἡ μετάνοια, οὐκ ἂν εἰς