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invincible, so as to even dare to act against God. But they conquered by using as their co-worker and helper the precious blood of Christ, and the word of their testimony for him, which they preferred over their own lives. When these things had happened, he says, rejoice, all you angels of God, having been delivered from the bitter neighborhood of Satan. Woe, he says, to the earth and the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has little time. And if it was going to be bad for the earth and the sea with the descent of Satan, someone might say: why did he descend? Because for those who are sober and have their hope in God, it has not only not been for harm, but also for benefit, training them like a trainer, and making them more approved through trials 145 and tempering them like iron. But he harms the sluggish and the dissolute, who perhaps even without the one who provokes them, would have been evil by nature, having transformed their passions. But when they say woe to the earth and the sea, they do not mean this: woe to the people who inhabit the earth and sail the sea, but rather those who are earth and dust according to what is written and earthly in their mindset? And also those who are fickle, and led about, and unstable in mind. For the common enemy, waging war against these, enslaves the weak who willingly submit to his tyranny. Knowing, he says, that he has little time. For little is the time from the fall of the Devil until his judgment and retribution, when compared with the endless ages. For this reason also Jacob the patriarch, although he was one hundred and thirty years old, said when asked something by Pharaoh, Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. And when the dragon saw that he was thrown to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. And to the woman were given the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished there for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river. And 146 the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth; and the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. The present things are a repetition of what has been said; for it does not say this, that after the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth, he immediately persecuted the woman, but because the dragon saw himself in the evils in which he exists, and that he has fallen from angelic dignity, he has become exceedingly bitter against men, and he persecuted the woman who bore the savior of men, in order to destroy her. And he persecuted the woman, since he knew that the one born of her was too strong to be captured, being jealous of men for the salvation from the Lord, and not bearing such a great change, if he himself was cast down from the heavens, while men from earth would ascend to heaven through virtue. And there were given, he says, to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, to her place, where she is nourished there for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. But not even the woman, he says, has come under the hand of Satan, but she has fled into the wilderness. And this is Egypt, according to what was said before. The prophet, therefore, sought wings like a dove's, so that having flown, he might rest in the wilderness; but to the all-holy virgin, more powerful wings are given, of the great eagle, he says. And he calls the wings of an eagle the visitation of the divine angel, who urged Joseph to take the child and his mother and flee into Egypt, through which visitation, as if on the wings of an eagle, they 147 reached Egypt. The dragon, therefore, having failed in this plot, which he had contrived through Herod, pursues another against the virgin, the destruction of her son, and

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ἀήττητον ὡς καὶ κατὰ Θεοῦ τολμῆσαι. ἐνίκησαν δὲ συνεργῷ καὶ βοηθῷ χρησάμενοι τῷ τιμίῳ αἵματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ μαρτυρίας, ἣν προέκριναν τῶν οἰκείων ψυχῶν. ὧν γενομένων, εὐφραίνεσθέ φησι πάντες ἄγγελοι Θεοῦ πικροῦ γειτονήματος ἀπαλλαγέντες τοῦ Σατανᾶ. οὐαί φησι τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν, ὅτι κατέβη ὁ ∆ιάβολος πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔχων θυμὸν μέγαν, εἰδὼς ὅτι ὀλίγον καιρὸν ἔχει. καὶ εἰ κακῶς ἤμελλε τῇ γῇ καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ, τῇ καθόδῳ τοῦ Σατανᾶ, εἴποι τίς ἄν· διὰ τί κατῆλθεν; ὅτι τοῖς μὲν νήφουσι καὶ τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ οὐ μόνον πρὸς βλάβης οὐ γεγένηται, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς ὠφελείας, διαγυμνάζων αὐτοὺς ὥσπερ παιδοτρίβης, καὶ τοῖς πειρασμοῖς δοκιμωτέρους ἐργαζόμενος 145 καὶ στομῶν ἴσα σιδήρῳ. ἀδικεῖ δὲ τοὺς νωθροὺς καὶ ἐξιτήλους, οἳ τάχα ἂν καὶ μὴ ὑπόντος τοῦ διερεθίζοντος, ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν ἦσαν κακοὶ εἰς φύσιν, τὰ πάθη μεταβαλόντες. λέγοντες δὲ οὐαὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν, οὐ τοῦτό φασιν, οὐαὶ τοῖς οἰκοῦσι τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν πλέουσιν ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ τοὺς τὴν γῆν ὄντας καὶ σποδὸν κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον καὶ γεώδεις τὸ φρόνημα; ἔτι δὲ τοὺς εὑριπίστους, καὶ περιαγομένους καὶ ἀστάτους τὸν νοῦν. κατὰ τούτων γὰρ ὁ κοινὸς ἐχθρὸς στρατευόμενος καταδουλοῦται τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς, ἑκόντας, ὑποκύπτοντας τῇ αὐτοῦ τυραννίδι. εἰδώς φησιν ὅτι ὀλίγον καιρὸν ἔχει. ὀλίγος γὰρ ὁ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ∆ιαβόλου καταπτώσεως καιρὸς ἄχρι τῆς κρίσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνταποδόσεως πρὸς τοὺς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας παραβαλλόμενος. τούτου χάριν καὶ Ἰακὼβ ὁ πατριάρχης, καίτοι ἑκατὸν ἄγων ἔτη πρὸς τοῖς τριάκοντα, ἔλεγεν ἐρωτῶν τι τῷ Φαραώ, μικραὶ καὶ πονηραὶ γεγόνασιν αἱ ἡμέραι τῶν ἐτῶν τῆς ζωῆς μου. καὶ ὅτε εἶδεν ὁ δράκων ὅτι ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἐδίωκε τὴν γυναῖκα ἥτις ἔτεκεν τὸν ἄρσενα. καὶ ἐδόθησαν τῇ γυναικὶ αἱ δύο πτέρυγες τοῦ ἀετοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου, ἵνα πέτεται εἰς τὴν ἔρημον εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς, ὅπου τρέφεται ἐκεῖ καιρὸν καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ὄφεως. καὶ ἔβαλεν ὁ ὄφις ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ὀπίσω τῆς γυναικὸς ὕδωρ ὡς ποταμόν, ἵνα αὐτὴν ποταμοφόρητον ποιήσει. καὶ 146 ἐβοήθησεν ἡ γῆ τῇ γυναικί, καὶ ἤνοιξεν ἡ γῆ τὸ στόμα αὐτῆς καὶ κατέπιε τὸν ποταμὸν ὃν ἔβαλεν ὁ δράκων ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ· καὶ ὠργίσθη ὁ δράκων ἐπὶ τῇ γυναικί, καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ποιῆσαι πόλεμον μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῆς, τῶν τηρούντων τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἐχόντων τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ. ἐπανάληψιν ἔχει τὰ παρόντα τῶν εἰρημένων· οὐ γὰρ τοῦτο λέγει, ὅτι μεθ' ὃ εἶδεν ὁ δράκων ὅτι ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν γῆν, εὐθὺς ἐδίωκε τὴν γυναῖκα, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ εἶδεν ἑαυτὸν ὁ δράκων ἐν οἷς ὑπάρχει κακοῖς, καὶ ὅτι ἐκπέπτωκε τῆς ἀγγελικῆς ἀξίας, πικρὸς γέγονε λίαν κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν τὸν σωτῆρα τῶν ἀνθρώπων γεννήσασαν ἐδίωκεν, ἵνα αὐτὴν ἀπολέσῃ. ἐδίωκε δὲ τὴν γυναῖκα, ἐπεὶ ἔγνω τὸν ἐξ αὐτῆς τεχθέντα κρείττονα εἶναι τοῦ ἁλῶναι, διαφθονούμενος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τῆς ἐκ τοῦ Κυρίου σωτηρίας, καὶ μὴ φέρων τὴν τοσαύτην μεταβολὴν, εἰ αὐτὸς μὲν ἐξ οὐρανῶν ἀπερρίφη, ἐκ τῆς γῆς δὲ οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἰς οὐρανὸν δι' ἀρετῆς ἀναφοιτήσειαν. καὶ ἐδόθησάν φησι τῇ γυναικὶ αἱ δύο πτέρυγες τοῦ ἀετοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου, ἵνα πέτεται εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς, ὅπου τρέφεται ἐκεῖ καιρὸν καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ὄφεως. ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἡ γυνή φησιν ὑπὸ χεῖρα γέγονεν τῷ Σατανᾷ, ἀλλὰ πέφευγεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον. αὕτη δέ ἐστι ἡ Αἴγυπτος κατὰ τὰ πρόσθεν εἰρημένα. ὁ μὲν οὖν προφήτης ἐζήτει πτέρυγας ὡσεὶ περιστερᾶς, ἵνα πετασθείς, καταπαύσῃ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· τῇ δὲ πανάγνῳ παρθένῳ δυνατώτεραι πτέρυγες δέδονται, τοῦ ἀετοῦ φησι τοῦ μεγάλου. πτέρυγας δὲ ἀετοῦ λέγει τὴν τοῦ θεσπεσίου ἐπιφοίτησιν ἀγγέλου, ὃς τὸν Ἰωσὴφ προυτρέψατο παραλαβεῖν τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ φεύγειν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, δι' ἧς ἐπιφοιτήσεως ὡς διὰ πτερύγων ἀετοῦ τὴν 147 Αἴγυπτον κατείληφαν. ταύτης οὖν τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ἀποτυχὼν ὁ δράκων, ἣν διὰ τοῦ Ἡρώδου κατεσκευάκει, ἄλλην μέτεισι κατὰ τῆς παρθένου τὴν τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτῆς ἀναίρεσιν, καὶ