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we will call upon; through the mighty works in visible things, understanding the principles in intelligible things, as far as is possible for men; and thus, artlessly through speechlessness having peeped into the holy of holies, we shall recognize our own worthlessness, being taught mystically through the oracles of the Spirit, how, being earth and ashes, we are transformed into divine glory, by the grace of Him who was well-pleased; and how that which is by nature worthless and contemptible, is refashioned into what blessedness; and so, amazed at the spectacles of the infinite, the strong bulwark of the virtues, I mean humility, the greatest and first gift of God, being the fruit of true philosophy, we shall reap; through which, mortifying the causes of the passions, I mean the senses, along with the natural affinity of sensible things for them, we cut ourselves off completely from the world; so as to be able to gaze upon intelligible things with an untroubled eye of the soul; from which, or after which, the soul, now truly formed by humility, and henceforth having become capable of receiving the image of a divine manifestation, divine love, taking it, makes us friends (15Β_224> instead of slaves; the chief point of the law, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 0508 and with all your soul," and what follows, bestowing, by not allowing any of the intellectual powers within us to be directed at all toward anything else, but to strain manfully toward God.

Let us strive, therefore, as we have the time set before us by God, to bring to fulfillment the aim of the pious and Christian profession. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, the unseen tyrants and enemies, who do not organize their battles in the open, but who engage in wars in the secret place of the heart, let us take up the whole armor of God, as the divine apostle exhorts us, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand; and having girded our loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, in which all the flaming darts of the evil one will be extinguished. Let us persevere with all prayer and supplication, and receive the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, that which divides, to put it briefly, the worse from the better, and teaches those who are pious the conduct proper for Christians, which is the work of perfect discernment; precision of the eyes, control of the tongue; discipline of the body; a humble mind, purity of thought; annihilation of anger, as the great Basil says somewhere; the soaring of the mind to God, and to add to temptations, for the sake of guarding precious things, to contend against them when compelled; not to go to law when defrauded; to repay hatred with love; to meet persecutions with forbearance; for blasphemies, (15Β_226> comfort; to be dead to sin; to be crucified with Christ; to transfer all love to God without reservation.

I have written these things, my blessed Master, not being ignorant of the firmness of your faith in Christ, and the solemnity that increases in Him through the commandments; but wishing you to know, what kind and how great a struggle I have for you, through a care that always sets my heart on fire; and I urge you to watch more soberly the champions of the heresies; lest one of them, deceiving you with the persuasive speech of falsehood, should be able to befoul the clear and life-giving stream of faith in you with the filth of their own impious doctrines, may this not happen. For they possess a two-edged sword and a sharpened razor for a tongue, which slaughters souls, and sends them to the pit of Hades, and the abyss of darkness, and deprives them of the life in Christ through their deceitful fair-speaking. But He Himself, our 0509 Lord and God Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word of God the Father, who

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ἐπικαλεσόμεθα· διά τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὁρατοῖς μεγαλουργῶν, τούς ἐν τοῖς νοητοῖς ὡς ἐφικτόν ἀνθρώποις κατανοοῦντες λόγους· καί οὕτως ἀτεχνῶς δι᾿ ἀφθεγξίας τῷ ἀδύτῳ τῶν ἀδύτων παρακύψαντες, τό ἑαυτῶν εὐτελές ἐπιγνωσόμεθα, διδασκόμενοι μυστικῶς διά τῶν λογίων τοῦ Πνεύματος, πῶς ὄντες γῆ καί σποδός, θείας μεταποιούμεθα δόξης, τῇ τοῦ εὐδοκήσαντος χάριτι· καί τό τῇ φύσει εὐτελές καί ἀπόπτυστον, πρός ποίαν μετασκευάζεται μακαριότητα· καί οὕτω τοῖς τοῦ ἀπείρου καταπλαγέντες θεάμασι, τό ἰσχυρόν φυλακτήριον τῶν ἀρετῶν, λέγω δή τήν ταπείνωσιν, Θεοῦ δῶρον μέγιστον καί πρῶτον, τῆς ἀληθοῦς φιλοσοφίας καρπόν οὖσαν, δρεψόμεθα δι᾿ ἧς νεκροῦντες τῶν παθῶν τά αἴτια, φημί δή τάς αἰσθήσεις, μετά τῆς πρός αὐτάς τῶν αἰσθητῶν συγγενοῦς οἰκειότητος, κόσμου παντελῶς ἑαυτούς ἀποτέμνομεν· ὥστε ἀνεπιθολώτῳ ψυχῆς ὄμματι ἐπιβάλλειν δύνασθαι τοῖς νοητοῖς· ἐξ ὧν, ἤ μεθ᾿ ἅ, τήν ψυχήν ἤδη ἀληθῶς τῇ ταπεινώσει ποιωθεῖσαν, καί λοιπόν ἱκανήν γενομένην θείας ἐμφάσεως δέξασθαι εἰκόνα, παραλαβοῦσα ἤ θεία ἀγάπη, φίλους (15Β_224> ἡμᾶς ἀντί δούλων ἐργάζεται· τό τοῦ νόμου κεφάλαιον, τό, Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τόν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου, 0508 καί ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου, καί τά ἑξῆς, χαριζομένη, ἐν τῷ μηδεμίαν τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν νοερῶν δυνάμεων πρός ἄλλο τι παντελῶς, ἤ πρός Θεόν ἀῤῥενωπῶς συγχωρεῖν ἀνατείνεσθαι.

Ἀγωνισώμεθα οὖν ὡς καιρόν ἔχομεν τόν προτεθέντα ἡμῖν παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῆς εὐσεβοῦς καί Χριστιανικῆς ἐπαγγελίας σκοπόν εἰς ἔργον ἀγαγεῖν. Ὅτι δ᾿ Οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρός αἷμα καί σάρκα, ἀλλά πρός τάς ἀρχάς, πρός τάς ἐξουσίας, πρός τούς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, τούς ἀφανεῖς τυράννους καί πολεμίους, οὐκ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ συγκροτοῦντας τάς μάχας, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ τῆς καρδίας τούς πολέμους συμπλέκοντας, Ἀναλάβωμεν τήν πανοπλίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς ὁ θεῖος ἡμῖν παρακελεύεται ἀπόστολος, ἵνα δυνηθῶμεν ἀντιστῆναι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πονηρᾷ, καί ἅπαντα κατεργασάμενοι στῆναι· καί περιζωσάμενοι τήν ὀσφύν ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, καί ἐνδυσάμενοι τόν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης, ἐν ᾧ πάντα τά βέλη τοῦ πονηροῦ τά πεπυρωμένα σβεσθήσεται. Προσκαρτερήσωμεν διά πάσης προσευχῆς καί δεήσεως, καί τήν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος δέξασθαι, ὅ ἐστι ῥῆμα Θεοῦ, τό διαιροῦν, ἵνα συνελών εἴπω, τῶν κρειττόνων τά χείρονα, καί διδάσκον τούς εὐσεβεῖν τήν πρέπουσαν Χριστανοῖς ἀγωγήν, ὅπερ τελείας ἔργον ἐστί διακρίσεως· ὀφθαλμῶν ἀκρίβειαν, γλώσσης ἐγκράτειαν· σώματος παιδαγωγίαν· φρόνημα ταπεινόν, ἐννοίας καθαρότητα· ὀργῆς ἀφανισμόν, ὥς πού φησιν ὁ μέγας Βασίλειον· νοῦ πρός Θεόν ἀνάπτησιν, καί τοῖς πειρασμοῖς, φυλακῆς χάριν τῶν τιμίων, ἀνταγωνίζεσθαι προστιθέναι ἀγγαρευομένους· μή δικάζεσθαι ἀποστερουμένους· μίσους ἀγάπην ἀντιμετρεῖν· ἀνοχήν διωγμοῖς ἐξισοῦν· βλασφημίαις, (15Β_226> παράκλησιν· νεκρωθῆναι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ· συσταυρωθῆναι Χριστῷ· ὅλην μεταθέσθαι πρός Θεόν ἀσχέτως τήν ἀγάπην.

Ταῦτα γέγραφα, ∆έσποτά μου εὐλογημένε, οὐκ ἀγνοῶν ὑμῶν τό στερέωμα τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ πίστεως, καί τήν ἐν αὐτῷ αὐξανομένην διά τῶν ἐντολῶν σεμνότητα· ἀλλ᾿ εἰδέναι ὑμᾶς βουλόμενος, ὁποῖον καί ὁπόσον ἔχω περί ὑμῶν ἀγῶνα, διά μερίμνης ἀεί μου ἐκκαίοντα τήν καρδίαν· καί παρατηρεῖσθαι νηφαλαιότερον παρακαλῶ τούς τῶν αἱρέσεων προμάχους· ἵνα μή τις αὐτῶν παραλογισάμενος ὑμᾶς πειθανολογίᾳ ψεύδους, τό ἐν ὑμῖν διαυγές καί ζωτικόν τῆς πίστεως νάμα τοῖς ἰδίοις τῶν ἀσεβῶν δογμάτων ἐπιθολῶσαι ῥύποις δυνηθῇ, ὅπερ μή γένοιτο. Ξίφος γάρ δίστομον καί ξυρόν ἠκονημένον τήν γλῶσσαν κέκτηνται, ψυχάς σφάζουσαν, καί εἰς πέταυρον ᾄδου, καί βάραθρον σκότους παραπέμπουσαν, καί τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ ζωῆς διά τῆς ἠπατημένης αὐτῶν χρηστολογίας ἀποστεροῦσαν. Αὐτός δέ ὁ 0509 Κύριος ἡμῶν καί Θεός Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός μονογενής Υἱός καί Λόγος, ὁ