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to walk in their footsteps, even if we are not able to reach them. But starting the account from the beginning, let us come down gradually to our own times.

What then was the great Antony doing, sitting in the tomb, even though he knew nothing at all yet of the spiritual work? Did he not shut himself up in the tomb as a dead man, bringing nothing of the world with him, nor having any care at all in it? Was he not entirely dead to the world, and lying in the tomb did he not seek God who is able to make alive and to raise up? Was he not content with bread and water alone? Did he not suffer many evils from the demons and lie half-dead from the unbearable beating? When he was carried away into the church as a (128) dead man, when he came to himself, did he not go back again of his own accord to his adversaries? For if he had not returned to them, but had remained in the world, and if he had not persevered to the end, having given himself over to death in his eagerness and resolve, he would not have been deemed worthy of the much-desired vision of his Master, nor would he have heard His sweet voice. But he sought with his whole soul, he knocked tirelessly, he endured to the end and received a worthy reward. For having died, as has been said, by his resolve for Christ, he lay as if dead, until He who gives life to the dead came and raised him from Hades, I mean from the darkness of the soul, and brought him out into the wondrous light of His face. Beholding this and being delivered from those sorrows and becoming filled with joy, he said: "Lord, where were You until now?" So, to say 'Where were You?' is certainly the question of one who does not know where He was; but to say 'Until now' declared the vision and perception and knowledge of the Master's presence. If, therefore, we are not willing to renounce in this way and do not choose to persevere and endure as he did, how shall we be deemed worthy to see God in the Holy Spirit as he did and be filled with exultation? In no way.

But let us direct our discourse to another, if you please. What did the great Arsenios accomplish from the very beginning of his renunciation? Did he not leave the palace and the emperors, the silk-clad servants and all his wealth, arriving alone at the monastery as a poor and destitute man, having been eager to remain unknown, (129) fleeing glory and human praise, that he might be glorified by God? Was he then content with these things alone? May it not be so; but what then? He did not even endure to rank himself as a lowly man among lowly men, but considered himself a dog. For when the abbot threw the bread to him and it fell upon the ground, he went on all fours, and not with his hand but with his mouth, like a dog he picked up the bread and ate it thus. And sitting in his cell, not only did he work, but he also spent much less than what his handiwork earned for his own needs, drinking water like the stench of mire. For this reason, both working and praying, he wept continually and was drenched in his own tears, and also he would stand praying from evening until morning and persevered in poverty and lowliness until the end. Why? So that he too might certainly suffer and see that which the great Antony was deemed worthy to see and to suffer. How then is it not written of him also, that he saw the Lord? Did he undertake the labors, but was not deemed worthy to see Him? No, but he too was deemed worthy to see God in this way, even if the one who wrote this did not state it so openly; and if you wish to learn this accurately, go through the chapters set forth by him himself, I mean by Saint Arsenios, and you will know from them that he too is truly a seer of God.

He, therefore, who imitates them in deed and labors will truly be deemed worthy of the same grace; but if one does not wish to imitate their humility and endurance, why does he call the matter impossible? And the deeds of Euthymius and Sabas and the succeeding saints, which are beyond human, who will recount? For whether (130) before

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πόδας ἐκείνων βαδίσαι, εἰ καί μή φθάσαι δυνηθῶμεν αὐτούς. Ἄνωθεν δέ τόν λόγον ἀρξάμενοι, κατ᾿ ὀλίγον ἕως ἡμῶν καταβαίνοντες ἔλθωμεν.

Τί οὖν ὁ μέγας Ἀντώνιος ἐν τῷ μνήματι καθεζόμενος ἔπραττε, καί τοι μήπω πνευματικήν ἐργασίαν ὅλως εἰδώς; Οὐχί ὡς νεκρόν ἑαυτόν ἐν τῷ μνήματι ἔκλεισε, μηδέν τῶν τοῦ κόσμου ἐπιφερόμενος, μηδέ μέριμναν ἔχων τήν οἱανοῦν ἐν αὐτῷ; Οὐχί ὅλος ἦν νεκρός ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, καί κείμενος ἐν τῷ μνημείῳ τόν ζωῶσαι καί ἀναστῆσαι δυνάμενον ἐζήτει Θεόν; Οὐχί ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ἠρκεῖτο καί ὕδατι; Οὐχί πολλά παρά τῶν δαιμόνων ὑπέστη κακά καί ἠμιθανής ἔκειτο ἐκ τοῦ ἀφορήτου δαρμοῦ; Οὐχί ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ὡς (128) νεκροῦ ἀπενεχθέντος αὐτοῦ, ἡνίκα ἦλθεν εἰς ἑαυτόν, πάλιν αὐθόρμητος πρός τούς ἀντιπάλους ἀπῆλθεν; Εἰ μή γάρ πρός ἐκείνους ὑπέστρεψεν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐνέμεινε τῷ κόσμῳ καί εἰ μή μέχρι τέλους ἐνεκαρτέρησεν, εἰς θάνατον ἐκδεδωκώς ἑαυτόν τῇ προθυμίᾳ καί προαιρέσει, οὐκ ἄν τῆς πολυποθήτου θέας τοῦ ∆εσπότου αὐτοῦ ἠξιώθη, οὐκ ἄν τῆς γλυκείας ἐκείνου φωνῆς ἀκήκοεν. Ἀλλά ἐζήτησεν ὁλοψύχως, ἔκρουσεν ἀόκνως, ὑπέμεινεν εἰς τέλος καί ἔλαβεν ἐπάξιον τόν μισθόν. Ἀποθανών γάρ, ὡς εἴρηται, τῇ προαιρέσει ὑπέρ Χριστοῦ, ἔκειτο ὡσεί νεκρός, ἕως οὗ ἦλθεν ὁ ζωογονῶν τούς νεκρούς καί ἀνέστησεν αὐτόν ἐκ τοῦ ᾅδου, τοῦ σκότους φημί τοῦ ψυχικοῦ, καί ἐξήγαγεν αὐτόν εἰς τό θαυμαστόν φῶς τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ. Ὁπερ θεασάμενος καί τῶν λυπηρῶν ἐκείνων ἀπαλλαγείς καί περιχαρής γεγονώς ἔλεγε· "Κύριε, ποῦ ᾗς ἕως ἄρτι; " Τό μέν οὖν εἰπεῖν "Ποῦ ᾗς;" ἀγνοοῦντος πάντως ἐστίν ὅπου καί ἦν· τό δέ εἰπεῖν "Ἕως ἄρτι" τήν θεωρίαν καί αἴσθησιν καί γνῶσιν τῆς τοῦ ∆εσπότου παρουσίας ἐδήλωσεν. Εἰ τοίνυν οὕτως ἀποτάξασθαι ἡμεῖς οὐ βουλόμεθα καί καρτερῆσαι ὁμοίως ἐκείνῳ καί ὑπομεῖναι οὐ προαιρούμεθα, πῶς τόν Θεόν ἐν Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἰδεῖν ἀξιωθῶμεν καί πληρωθῆναι ἀγαλλιάσεως; Οὐδαμῶς.

Ἀλλά γάρ καί πρός ἕτερον, εἰ δοκεῖ, τόν λόγον ἰθύνωμεν. Τί ὁ μέγας Ἀρσένιος διεπράξατο ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς ἀποταγῆς αὐτοῦ; Οὐχί τά βασίλεια καταλιπών καί τούς βασιλεῖς, τού σηρικοφόρους οἰκέτας καί πάντα τόν πλοῦτον αὐτοῦ, μόνος ὡς φτωχός καί πένης ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ ἀφίκετο, ὅστις ποτέ ἦν σπουδάσας λαθεῖν, (129) φεύγων τήν δόξαν καί τόν ἀνθρώπινον ἔπαινον, ἵνα παρά Θεῷ δοξασθῇ; Τί οὖν ἄρα τούτοις μόνοις ἔμεινεν ἀρκεσθείς; μή γένοιτο· ἀλλά τί; Οὐδέ ὡς εὐτελής μετά εὐτελῶν ἀνθρώπων ἑαυτόν κατατάξαι ἠνέσχετο, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς κύνα ἐλογίσατο ἑαυτόν. Ῥιφέντος γάρ αὐτῷ παρά τοῦ ἡγουμένου τοῦ ἄρτου καί πεσόντος τούτου ἐπί τῆς γῆς, αὐτός τετραποδίσας, οὐ τῇ χειρί ἀλλά τῷ στόματι, ὡς κύων ἄρας τόν ἄρτον, οὕτως αὐτόν ἔφαγεν. Ἐν δέ τῷ κελλίῳ καθήμενος, οὐ μόνον εἰργάζετο, ἀλλά καί πολύ ἔλαττον τοῦ ἐργοχείρου αὐτοῦ εἰς τήν ἑαυτοῦ χρείαν ἀνήλισκεν, ὕδωρ πίνων βορβόρου ὄζοντος ὅμοιον. ∆ιά τοῦτο καί ἐργαζόμενος καί εὐχόμενος διηνεκῶς ἔκλαιε καί τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ δάκρυσι κατεβρέχετο, ἀλλά καί ἀφ᾿ ἑσπέρας εὐχόμενος ἵστατο μέχρι πρωΐας καί τῇ πτωχείᾳ καί εὐτελείᾳ μέχρι τέλους ἐνεκαρτέρησε. ∆ιά τί ; ∆ιά τό παθεῖν πάντως καί ἰδεῖν καί αὐτόν, ὅπερ ὁ μέγας Ἀντώνιος ἰδεῖν καί παθεῖν ἠξιώθη. Πῶς οὖν οὐ γέγραπται καί ἐπί τούτου, ὅτι εἶδε τόν Κύριον; Μή τούς μέν κόπους αὐτός κατεβάλετο, ἐκεῖνον δέ ἰδεῖν οὐκ ἠξίωται; Οὐχί, ἀλλά καί αὐτός οὕτως ἰδεῖν τόν Θεόν ἠξιώθη, εἰ καί μή ὁ συγγραψάμενος τοῦτο οὕτως ἐδήλωσε φανερῶς· καί εἰ βούλει τοῦτο μαθεῖν ἀκριβῶς, τά παρ᾿ ἐκείνου αὐτοῦ, φημί τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀρσενίου, ἐκτεθέντα κεφάλαια δίελθε καί γνώσει ἐξ αὐτῶν ὅτι καί οὗτος θεόπτης ἐστίν ἀληθῶς.

Ὁ οὖν αὐτούς ἐκμιμούμενος ἔργῳ καί πόνοις τῆς αὐτῆς ὄντως καταξιωθήσεται χάριτος· εἰ δέ μή βούλεταί τις τήν ταπείνωσιν τούτων καί τήν ὑπομονήν ἐκμιμήσασθαι, τί καί λέγει τό πρᾶγμα ἀδύνατον; Εὐθυμίου δέ καί Σάβα καί τῶν καθεξῆς ἁγίων τάς πράξεις, τάς ὑπέρ ἄνθρωπον, τίς διηγήσεται; Εἴτε γάρ (130) πρό