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truly is God's love for humanity, so that the laziness and slothfulness of those who say these things may be exposed.

Our blessed and holy father Symeon labored so as to surpass many of the holy fathers of old, and he endured so many afflictions and temptations as to be made equal to many of the most renowned among the martyrs. For these reasons, therefore, he was glorified by God and became dispassionate and holy, having received in himself the whole Paraclete, (136) so to speak; and then, just as a father gives an inheritance to a son as a dowry, so also me, his unworthy servant, he filled with the Holy Spirit without toil and for free. For who among you, tell me, not to say has done, but is even able to understand well the things done by him and, as far as possible, spoken?

For first of all he wrote this, speaking thus as in the order of teaching: "Brother, consider this to be called the perfect withdrawal from the world: the complete putting to death of one's own will." O blessed voice, or rather, soul, that was deemed worthy to become so and to be separated from the whole world. To these, at any rate, and to such as these, the Lord Christ says: "You are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. Come to me and I will give you rest." For those who proceed in some other way in their own wills, even in any way or in what seem to be certain good things, will never see the life which those who are cut off from the world and have died to their own will behold.

If, then, you do not accept being humbled and subjected, afflicted and dishonored, scorned and reviled, and becoming as one of the obscure and foolish and lowly and fallen, brother, nor to be despised by every man and to be considered as one of the epileptics and beggars in the squares and streets of the city, how, tell me, will you become a stranger to your own will? For if God has commanded us all to bear these things with patience when they come for trial and testing, or rather, not for trial and testing, but brought on for (137) the purification of our souls, and we do not want to endure these things, but the unwillingness to suffer these things lives in us, which is the earthly mind of the flesh, how shall we become dead? In no way. And if we do not become dead to the world and to the things in the world, how shall we who have not become dead for God's sake live the life hidden in Christ? How, as the holy Symeon said, shall we behold God dwelling as light in us? In no way, brothers, let no one deceive you.

But do you consider the blessed Symeon a fool and are you ashamed to imitate his deeds? Imitate Christ the God. Suffer yourself for your own salvation, as He suffered for you. For they called him, as you hear, demon-possessed, a deceiver, a glutton and a drunkard. For they said: "You have a demon," and again: "Behold, a man who is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners." And these things our blessed father, the holy Symeon, also heard on our behalf, or rather because of us. Along with these things, you hear again of the Lord being dragged, bound as a murderer and an evildoer, and standing before Pilate as one of the lowly, receiving a blow from a slave, being thrown into prison and cast out of prison, being led by rod-bearing soldiers, being handed over to the people by Pilate, who said, "Take him yourselves and crucify him." Consider, then, how he was delivered into their midst, He who is above all the heavens and (138) holds all things in His hand, being pushed, pushed back, punched, slapped, mocked, scourged, being led into the praetorium, He who is unseen by all creation and by the Seraphim themselves, being stripped, bound to the pillar, forty

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ὄντως τοῦ Θεοῦ τό φιλάνθρωπον, ἵνα τῶν ταῦτα λεγόντων τό ὀκνηρόν καί ῥᾴθυμον ἀπελέγχηται.

Ἐκοπίασεν ὁ μακάριος πατήρ ἡμῶν καί ἅγιος Συμεών, ὡς πολλούς τῶν πάλαι ἁγίων πατέρων ὑπερβαλέσθαι, θλίψεις δέ πειρασμούς τοσούτους ὑπέμεινε, ὡς ἐξισωθῆναι πολλοῖς τῶν περιφανεστέρων ἐν μάρτυσι. ∆ιά ταῦτα οὖν ἐδοξάσθη ἀπό Θεοῦ καί ἐγένετο ἀπαθής καί ἅγιος, λαβών ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὅλον, (136) ὡς εἰπεῖν, τόν Παράκλητον· καί τότε, ὥσπερ προῖκα πατήρ υἱῷ κλῆρον δίδωσι, οὕτω κἀμέ τόν ἀνάξιον δοῦλον αὐτοῦ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου ἀκαματί καί δωρεάν ἔπλησε. Ποῖος γάρ, εἰπέ μοι, ἐξ ὑμῶν, μή ὅτι γε εἴπω διεπράξατο, ἀλλ᾿ ἔτι τά παρ᾿ ἐκείνου πραχθέντα καί ὡς δυνατόν ῥηθέντα, νοῆσαι καλῶς δύναται;

Πρῶτον γάρ πάντων τοῦτο ἔγραψεν, ὡς ἐν τάξει διδασκαλίας οὕτως εἰπών· "Ἀδελφέ, ταύτην ἡγοῦ λέγεσθαι ἀναχώρησιν τελείαν τοῦ κόσμου, τήν παντελῆ τοῦ ἰδίου θελήματος ἀπονέκρωσιν". Ὤ μακαρίας φωνῆς, μᾶλλον δέ ψυχῆς τῆς οὕτω γενέσθαι ἀξιωθείσης καί τοῦ κόσμου παντός χωρισθείσης. Πρός γοῦν τούτους καί τούς τοιούτους ὁ ∆εσπότης λέγει Χριστός· "Ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἐστέ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, ἀλλ᾿ ἐγώ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου. ∆εῦτε προς με κἀγώ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς". Οἱ γάρ ἄλλως πως ἐν τοῖς ἑαυτῶν θελήμασι κἄν ὁπωσοῦν ἤ ἔν τισι καλοῖς τό δοκεῖν πορευόμενοι, οὐ μή ἴδωσι τήν ζωήν, ἥν οἱ ἀποτμηθέντες τοῦ κόσμου καί τῷ ἑαυτῶν ἀποθανόντες θελήματι βλέπουσιν.

Εἰ οὖν σύ ταπεινωθῆναι καί ὑποταγῆναι, θλιβῆναί τε καί ἀτιμασθῆναι, ἐξουδενωθῆναι καί λοιδορηθῆναι καί ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀφανῶν καί ἀφρόνων καί εὐτελῶν καί παραπεσόντων, ἀδελφέ, οὐ καταδέχῃ γενέσθαι, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ καταφρονηθῆναι παρά παντός ἀνθρώπου καί ὡς εἷς τῶν ἐπιλήπτων καί προσαιτούντων εἰς τάς πλατείας καί ῥύμας τῆς πόλεως λογισθῆναι, πῶς, εἰπέ, γένῃ ξένος τοῦ ἰδίου θελήματος; Εἰ γάρ ταῦτα πρός δοκιμήν καί πεῖραν ἐπερχόμενα φέρειν ἐν ὑπομονῇ πᾶσιν ἡμῖν ὁ Θεός ἐνετείλατο, μᾶλλον δέ οὐ πρός δοκιμήν καί πεῖραν, ἀλλά πρός (137) κάθαρσιν τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν ἐπαγόμενα, ἡμεῖς ὑπομεῖναι ταῦτα οὐ θέλομεν, ἀλλά ζῇ ἐν ἡμῖν τό μή θέλειν ταῦτα παθεῖν, ὅπερ ἐστί τό γεῶδες φρόνημα τῆς σαρκός, πῶς νεκροί γενησόμεθα; Οὐδαμῶς. Εἰ δέ μή νεκροί τῷ κόσμῳ καί τοῖς ἐν κόσμῳ γενοίμεθα, πῶς οἱ μή γεγονότες διά Θεόν νεκροί ζήσομεν τήν ἐν Χριστῷ κεκρυμμένην ζωήν; Πῶς, ὡς ὁ ἅγιος εἶπε Συμεών, θεασόμεθα τόν Θεόν ἐνοικήσαντα ὡς φῶς ἐν ἡμῖν; Οὐδαμῶς, ἀδελφοί, μηδείς πλανάτω ὑμᾶς.

Ἀλλά μωρόν ἡγῇ τόν μακάριον Συμεών καί αἰσχύνῃ μιμήσασθαι τάς πράξεις αὐτοῦ; Μίμησαι Χριστόν τόν Θεόν. Πάθε καί αὐτός διά τήν σεαυτοῦ σωτηρίαν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἔπαθε διά σέ. Ἐκάλουν γάρ αὐτόν, ὡς ἀκούεις, διαμονῶντα, πλάνον, φάγον καί οἰνοπότην. Ἔλεγον γάρ· "∆αιμόνιον ἔχεις", καί πάλιν· "Ἰδού ἄνθρωπος φάγος καί οἰνοπότης, φίλος τελωνῶν καί ἁμαρτωλῶν". Ταῦτα δέ καί ὁ μακάριος πατήρ ἡμῶν, ὁ ἅγιος Συμεών, ὑπέρ ἡμῶν, μᾶλλον δέ δι᾿ ἡμᾶς ἤκουσε. Σύν τούτοις ἀκούεις πάλιν ὡς φονέα καί κακοῦργον δεδεμένον συρόμενον τόν Κύριον καί ὡς ἕνα τῶν εὐτελῶν παριστάμενον τῷ Πιλάτῳ, ῥάπισμα καταδεχόμενον ὑπό δούλου, εἰς φυλακήν ἐμβαλλόμενον καί ἀπό φυλακῆς ἐκβαλλόμενον, ὑπό στρατιωτῶν ῥαβδούχων ἀγόμενον, τῷ λαῷ ὑπό Πιλάτου παραδιδόμενον, "Λάβετε αὐτον" φάσκοντος "ὑμεῖς καί σταυρώσατε". Ἐννόησον οὖν πῶς ἦν ἀποδοθείς μέσον αὐτῶν, ὁ ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν καί τά (138) πάντα διακρατῶν τῇ χειρί αὐτοῦ, ὠθούμενος, ἀντωθούμενος, πυγμιζόμενος, ῥαπιζόμενος, ἐγγελώμενος, φραγγελόμενος, εἰς τό πραιτώριον εἰσαγόμενος, ὁ πάσῃ κτίσει καί αὐτοῖς τοῖς Σεραφείμ ἀθεώρητος, ἐκδυόμενος, τῷ κίονι προσδεσμούμενος, τεσσαράκοντα