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bread indicating the benefit, and salt the labor, without which it is impossible for virtue to be achieved. From the same thought165 also is the saying: "but is there also taste in empty words?". Every word deprived of virtuous action is vain and empty. Representative of this is the saying: "for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." Not in empty promises, but in an active word do the matters of salvation exist. Therefore do not think I utter empty words, nor you, o friends, emulate this. For because of this, since nothing empty and vain has been done by me, "my soul cannot cease" from the struggle against the adversary; for my purpose is not empty, but has a hope of salvation. For if our food is filled both by the stench of the wound and the roaring of a lion, my soul will not cease. For nothing "shall separate us from the love of Christ, tribulation or distress or persecution or famine" and the rest. For all the saints cry out in Paul. But if it should also signify the opposition of the devil against him, wishing to hinder his virtue, by means of the roaring which has become his accustomed food, consider also. "For if he would grant that my request would come, and the Lord would grant my hope, let the Lord begin and wound me, but not 166 utterly destroy me." He who asks for a wound against himself prays for his request to come, not growing weary, but for his own purpose to be fulfilled. And this was to achieve the end of the accomplishment, or also for the cause of his sufferings to be revealed to his friends for their benefit, that they were brought on for the sake of a contest. For thus they would not have sinned against the just man, but would also have received a divine zeal, hastening to imitate the patience and courage achieved by the holy one, for which reason he also said: "For if he would grant"—instead of: O that the Lord would grant—"and my request would come, and the Lord would grant my hope". For he prays for both reasons, so that he himself might receive the crown of the contest and that they might not consider the endurance of his sufferings to be in vain. One can see and marvel at his courage even in such great sufferings, that first, he did not refuse a response to his friend, having as an excuse his preoccupation with his sufferings, but again like a noble athlete he speaks, standing warlike against the 167 adversary and knowing that the trial against him did not happen without God's permission, he says: "let the Lord begin and wound me, only let him not utterly destroy me", instead of: may he grant me to endure the outcome of the tribulations. Similar to this is the saying: "and lead us not into temptation", which is often interpreted as meaning: may it not happen that we fall prey to those who deceive. And see also the divine assurance. That he hopes the things he prays for will come to pass, something not everyone knows—whether he prays advantageously—but only the saints. Living according to the will of God, they also receive "the full assurance of hope". And that he does not say "but not utterly destroy me" out of fear for his life here, is clear from his having said: "death is a rest for a man." The saint therefore, being perceptive, awaits a wound from God, knowing him to be the best instructor, not as one to be punished, but as one asking for a test, as the psalmist says: "Examine me, O Lord, and test me", and also the proverbial saying: "for he scourges every son whom he receives." And this happens, so that he may not 168 become one to be punished by not being aware of the discipline. For the saint does not refuse reproof, having given his whole self to God, "knowing that tribulation produces patience, and patience, experience, and experience, hope; and hope does not put to shame". "And may the tomb be my city, on which I leaped upon the walls; upon it, I will not spare." He who has despised all human glories and states and similar things, "considering" all things "refuse" for the sake of the hope of salvation, considers political glories "a tomb," having died to them, as Paul who says: "yet I live, no longer I

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ἄρτος δηλῶν τὴν ὠφελίαν, τὸ δ' ἅλας τὸν πόνον, οὗ χωρὶς ἀρετὴν κατορθωθῆναι ἀδύνατον. ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς διανοί165 ας καὶ τό· "εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔστιν γεῦσις ἐν ῥήμασι κενοῖς;". ἅπας λόγος πράξεως ἐστερημένος ἐναρέτου μάταιός ἐστιν καὶ κενός. τούτου παραστατικόν ἐστιν τό· "οὐ γὰρ ἐν λόγῳ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλ' ἐν δυνάμει." οὐκ ἐν διακένοις ὑποσχέσεσιν, ἀλλ' ἐν λόγῳ ἐνεργεῖ τὰ τῆς σωτηρίας ὑπάρχει. μὴ τοίνυν ἐμὲ νομίζετε διακένους προφέρειν λόγους μηδὲ ὑμεῖς, ὦ φίλοι, του῀̣τ̣ο ζηλοῦτε. διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν κενὸν ἐμοὶ καὶ μάταιον πέπρακ̣ται, "οὐ δύναταί μου παύσασθαι ἡ ψυχὴ" τοῦ τόνου τοῦ πρὸς τὸν ἀντίπαλον· σκοπὸς γάρ μοί ἐστιν οὐ κενός, ἀλλ' ἐλπίδα σωτήριον ἔχων. ε̣ι᾿̣ γὰρ τὰ σῖτα τὰ ἡμέτερα καὶ διὰ τὸ δυσῶδες τοῦ τραύματος βρόμου λέοντος πεπλήρωται, οὐ παύσεταί μου ἡ ψυχή. οὐδὲν γὰρ "ἡμᾶς χωρίσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ, θλῖψις ἢ στενοχωρία ἢ διωγμὸς ἢ λιμὸς" καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. πάντες γὰρ ἅγι οι ἐν Παύλῳ ἀναβοῶσιν. εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ διαβόλου κατ' αὐτοῦ ἔνστασιν ἐμποδίζειν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀρετὴν βουλομένου σημαίνοι διὰ τὸν βρόμον εἰωθότα σῖτα αὐτοῦ ὑπάρχειν, συνεπίσκεψαι. "εἰ γὰρ δῴη καὶ ἔλθῃ μου ἡ αἴτησις καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα μου δῴη ὁ κύριος, ἀρξάμενος ὁ κύριος τρωσάτω με, εἰς τέλος 166 δὲ μή με ἀνελέτω." ὁ τρῶσιν καθ' ἑαυτοῦ αἰτούμενος οὐκ ἀποκάμνων τὴν αἴτησιν ἑαυτοῦ ἐλθεῖν εὔχεται, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἴδιον ἀποπληρωθῆναι σκοπόν. ἦν δὲ οὗτος τὸ πέρας τοῦ κατορθώματος ἀνύσαι ἢ καὶ φανῆναι τοῖς φίλοις διὰ τὴν αὐτῶν ὠφελίαν τὴν αἰτίαν τῶν πόνων, ὅτι ἀγωνίσματος χάριν ἐπήχθησαν. οὕτω γὰρ ἂν οὐδὲ εἰς τὸν δίκαιον ἡμάρτανον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ζῆλον θεῖον ἐδέχοντο μιμήσασθαι σπεύδοντες ὑπομονὴν καὶ ἀνδρείαν τῶι ἁγίωι κατορθουμένην, δι' ἣν καὶ ἔλεγεν· "εἰ γὰρ δῴη"-ἀντὶ τοῦ· εἴθε γὰρ δῴη κύριος-"καὶ ἔλθῃ μου ἡ αἴτησις, καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα μου δῴη ὁ κύριος". δι' ἀμφότερα γὰρ εὔχεται, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς τὸν στέφανον τοῦ ἀγῶνος δέξηται κἀκεῖνοι μὴ ματαίαν τὴν ὑπομονὴν τῶν ἐπιπόνων νομίσωσιν. ἰδεῖν δὲ αὐτοῦ ἔστιν καὶ θαυμάσαι τὸ καὶ ἐν τοῖς τηλικούτοις πόνοις ἀνδρεῖον, ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν οὐκ ἀπείρηκεν τὴν πρὸς τὸν φίλον ἀπόκρισιν ἔχων πρόφασιν τὴν περὶ τοὺς πόνους σχολήν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάλιν καθάπερ γενναῖος ἀθλητὴς φησιν πολεμικῶς κατὰ τοῦ ἀν167 τικειμένου ἱστάμενος καὶ εἰδώς, ὅτι οὐ χωρὶς τῆς ἐκ θεοῦ συνχωρήσεως γέγονεν ἡ κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐπαγωγή, φησίν· "ἀρξάμενος ὁ κύριος τρωσάτω με, μόνον μὴ εἰς τέλος ἀνελέτω με", ἀντὶ τοῦ· τὴν ἔκβασιν τῶν θλίψεων ὑπενεγκεῖν χαρισάσθω. τούτῳ ὅμοιόν ἐστιν τό· "καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν", ὅπερ ἑρμηνεύεται πολλάκις ἀντὶ τοῦ· μὴ ὑποπεσεῖν τοῖς ἀπατῶσιν ἐνγένηται. ὅρα δὲ καὶ τὴν θείαν πληροφορίαν. ὅτι ἔλθει τὰ τῆς εὐχῆς ἐλπίζει, οὐ παντὸς εἰδότος, εἰ συμφερόντως εὔχεται, ἢ μόνον τῶν ἁγίων. κατὰ τὸ βού λημα τοῦ θεοῦ ζῶντες δέχονται καὶ "πληροφορίαν τῆς ἐλπίδος". ὅτι δὲ οὐ περὶ τῆς ζωῆς τῆς ἐνταῦθα φοβούμενος λέγει τό· "εἰς τέλος δὲ μή με ἀνελέτω", σαφὲς ἐκ τοῦ εἰρηκέναι αὐτόν· "θάνατος ἀνδρὶ ἀνάπαυσις." αἰσθητικὸς ὢν οὖν ὁ ἅγιος τρῶσιν ὑπὸ θεοῦ ἐκδέχεται παιδευτὴν αὐτὸν ἄριστον ἐπιστάμενος οὐχ ὡς κολαστέος, ἀλλ' ὡς δοκίμιον ἐξαιτούμενος, καθὸ ὁ ψαλμῳδός φησιν· "δοκίμασόν με κύριε καὶ πείρασόν με", καὶ τὸ παροιμιῶδες δὲ λόγιον· "μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται." τοῦτο δὲ γίνεται, ἵνα μὴ 168 κολαστέος γένηται οὐ συνεπαισθηθεὶς τῇ παιδεύσει. οὐ γὰρ παραιτεῖται ἔλεγχον ὁ ἅγιος ὅλον αὑτὸν τῷ θεῷ ἐκδούς, "εἰδὼς ὅτι ῃαξατ ἡ θλῖψις ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται, ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμήν, ῃαξατ ἡ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα· ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει". "εἴη δέ μου πόλις τάφος, ἐφ' ἧς ἐπὶ τειχέων ἡλλόμην ἐπ' αὐτῆς, οὐ μὴ φείσωμαι." ὁ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἁπάντων δοξῶν τε καὶ πολιτειῶν καὶ τῶν ὁμοίων καταφρονήσας "σκύβαλα" τὰ πάντα διὰ τὴν σωτήριον ἐλπίδα "ἡγούμενος" τὰς πολιτικὰς δόξας "τάφον" οἴεται ἀποθανὼν αὐταῖς ὡς Παῦλος ὁ λέγων· "ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι