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Discourse 7. (141)

Concerning attachment to relatives. And what its deceit is and into what a pit and bond it leads those held fast by it. And concerning despair and the distinction within it. And what is the meaning of "He who has believed and has been baptized will be saved, but he who has disbelieved will be condemned". Brothers and fathers, how I wish I could always be silent, and I could lament my own evils and never attempt the work of a teacher or instruct your love or at all show others the paths of salvation, not as though the matter is contrary to the command of God, indeed it is rather even well-pleasing to Him, but nevertheless I happen to be unworthy of such a spiritual undertaking, for which reason I, the humble one, fear lest that Davidic saying be most fittingly spoken of me: "But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my statutes and take up my covenant in your mouth? But you have hated instruction and cast my words behind you".

(142) But let us see, if you please, who is the one who hates instruction and who is the one who casts His words behind him. The one who does not obey the laws of God hates the instruction from the words of the Lord and stops his ears so as not to hear a word of the final retribution of sinners or of that eternal fire and of the punishments of Hades and of that eternal condemnation, from which it is not possible for one who has once fallen into its punishments to escape. But the one who does not with all the strength and power of his soul always have the commandments of God before his eyes and keep them, but despises them, preferring and doing the things contrary to them, is the one who casts the words behind him. And to make the subject of the discourse clear to you from one example, when God commands and cries out explicitly: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" and again: "Strive to enter through the narrow gate", but the one who hears these things not only does not choose to repent and to force himself to enter through the narrow gate, but passing all the days of his life in distraction and dissipation of soul, adding evils to his own evils every hour and seeking bodily relaxation and care beyond what is necessary, which is a sign of the wide and broad way and not of the narrow and afflicted way that leads to eternal life, thus, then, such a one casts the words of God behind him and does his own will, or rather that of the devil.

(143) And these things I, the wretched one, am the first to fulfill, and lying in a pit of mire and being aware of my own evils, I cry out from below, calling out to all who pass by outside: "Keep far away from this most terrible pit, brothers, and travel the straight road, which is Christ! And let no one turn to the right or to the left lest he fall in here with me, the all-wretched and unfortunate, and be deprived of heavenly goods along with earthly ones". And since through his many devices the all-evil devil and enemy of our souls casts the majority or even almost all together, having gathered them as it were, into such a chasm at times, and it is also through this one thing, I mean attachment to relatives, by which, using it as a rope, the enemy binds it on the neck of each one and leads and leads around all who have accepted such a bond, to frightful cliffs and chasms of difficult and unpardonable sins and plunges them into the very pit of despair,

52

Λόγος Ζ΄. (141)

Περί προσπαθείας τῆς εἰς τούς συγγενεῖς. Καί τίς ἡ ἀπάτη αὐτῆς καί εἰς οἷον βόθρον καί δεσμόν κατάγει τούς κρατουμένους ὑπ᾿ αὐτῆς. Καί περί ἀπογνώσεως καί τῆς ἐν ταύτῃ διαφορᾶς. Καί τί ἐστι τό "Ὁ

πιστεύσας καί βαπτισθείς σωθήσεται, ὁ δέ ἀπιστήσας κατακριθήσεται". Ἀδελφοί καί πατέρες, ὡς ὤφελόν γε ἀεί σιωπᾶν, ἠδυνάμην καί τά ἐμαυτοῦ κακά

ἀποκλαίεσθαι καί μηδέποτε διδασκάλου ἔργῳ ἐπιχειρεῖν ἤ κατηχεῖν τήν ὑμετέραν ἀγάπην ἤ κἄν ὅλως ἄλλοις ὑποδεικνύειν τάς τῆς σωτηρίας ὁδούς, οὐχ ὡς ἐναντίου ὄντος τοῦ πράγματος τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντολῇ, μᾶλλον μέν οὖν καί εὐπροσδέκτου ὑπάρχοντος αὐτῷ, ἀλλ᾿ ὅμως ἐμοῦ ἀναξίου τυγχάνοντος τοῦ τοιούτου πνευματικοῦ ἐγχειρήματος, διό καί δέδοικα, ὁ ταπεινός, μή καί ἐπ᾿ ἐμοί τό ∆αυιτικόν ἐκεῖνο προσφορώτατα λεχθήσεται ῥῆμα· "Τῷ δέ ἁμαρτωλῷ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Ἵνα τί σύ ἐκδιηγῇ τά δικαιώματά μου καί ἀναλαμβάνεις τήν διαθήκην μου διά στόματός σου; σύ δέ ἐμίσησας παιδείαν καί ἐξέβαλες τούς λόγους μου εἰς τά ὀπίσω".

(142) Ἀλλ᾿ ἴδωμεν, εἰ δοκεῖ, τίς ἐστιν ὁ μισῶν παιδείαν καί τίς ὁ ἐκβάλλων τούς λόγους αὐτοῦ εἰς τά ὀπίσω. Ὁ μή πειθόμενος τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμοις μισεῖ τήν ἐκ τῶν λόγων τοῦ Κυρίου παιδείαν καί βύει τά ὦτα αὐτοῦ τοῦ μή ἀκοῦσαι λόγον τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀνταποδόσεως τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἤ τοῦ πυρός ἐκείνου τοῦ αἰωνίου καί τῶν κολάσεων τοῦ ᾅδου καί τῆς κατακρίσεως τῆς αἰωνίου ἐκείνης, ἀφ᾿ ἧς οὐκ ἔνι διαδρᾶσαι τόν ἅπαξ ἐμπεσόντα εἰς τάς τιμωρίας αὐτῆς. Ὁ δέ μή πάσῃ ἰσχύϊ καί δυνάμει ψυχῆς τάς ἐντολάς τοῦ Θεοῦ πρό τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ ἔχων ἀεί καί φυλάττων αὐτάς, ἀλλά καταφρονῶν μέν αὐτῶν, προτιμῶν δέ τά ἐναντία τούτων καί ποιῶν αὐτά, ἔστιν ὁ ἐκβάλλων τούς λόγους εἰς τά ὀπίσω. Καί ἵνα ἐξ ἑνός σαφές ὑμῖν ποιήσω τό τοῦ λόγου προκείμενον, ὅταν ὁ μέν Θεός προστάσσῃ καί διαρρήδην βοᾷ· "Μετανοεῖτε, ἤγγικε γάρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν" καί πάλιν· "Σπουδάσατε εἰσελθεῖν διά τῆς πύλης τῆς στενῆς", ὁ δέ ταῦτα ἀκούων οὐ μόνον οὐ προαιρεῖται μετανοεῖν καί βιάσασθαι ἑαυτόν εἰσελθεῖν διά τῆς στενῆς πύλης, ἀλλά διερχόμενος πάσας τάς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ἐν μετεωρισμῷ καί διαχύσει ψυχῆς, προστιθείς τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ κακοῖς καθ᾿ ὥραν κακά καί ἄνεσιν σώματος καί θεραπείαν ὑπέρ τήν δέουσαν χρείαν ἐπιζητῶν, ὅπερ τῆς πλατείας μᾶλλον καί εὐρυχώρου ὁδοῦ σημεῖόν ἐστι καί οὐχί τῆς στενῆς καί τεθλιμμένης, τῆς φερούσης εἰς τήν ζωήν τήν αἰώνιον, οὕτω τοίνυν καί ὁ τοιοῦτος ἐκβάλλει τοῦ Θεοῦ τούς λόγους εἰς τά ὀπίσω καί τά ἑαυτοῦ θελήματα, μᾶλλον δέ τά τοῦ διαβόλου, ποιεῖ.

(143) Ἅ κἀγώ πρῶτος, ὁ ταλαίπωρος, ἐκπληρῶν καί ἐν λάκκῳ βορβόρου κείμενος καί ἐν αἰσθήσει ὑπάρχων τῶν ἰδίων κακῶν, βοῶ κάτωθεν κράζων καί τούς ἔξωθεν παριόντας ἅπαντας προσφωνῶν· "Πόρρω που τοῦ δεινοτάτου τούτου λάκκου γίνεσθε, ἀδελφοί, καί τήν εὐθεῖαν ὁδόν, ἥτις ἐστίν ὁ Χριστός, πορεύεσθε! Καί μηδείς ἐκκλίνῃ δεξιᾷ ἤ ἀριστερᾷ καί ὧδε σύν ἐμοί τῷ παναθλίῳ καί δυστυχεῖ ἐμπεσεῖται καί στερηθείη μετά τῶν ἐπιγείων καί τά ἐπουράνια ἀγαθά". Ἐπειδή δέ διά πολλῶν τῶν ἑαυτοῦ μηχανημάτων ὁ παμπόνηρος διάβολος καί ἐχθρός τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν εἰς τό τοιοῦτον βάραθρον τούς πλείονας ἤ καί σχεδόν ἅπαντας ὁμοῦ, οἱονεί συμφορήσας, κατά καιρούς ἀπορρίπτει, ἔστι δέ καί διά μιᾶς ταύτης, τῆς πρός τούς συγγενεῖς λέγω προσπαθείας, ᾗ καί ὡς σχοινίῳ χρώμενος, ὁ ἐχθρός ἐφ᾿ ἑνός ἑκάστου τραχήλῳ ἀποδεσμῶν ἄγει καί συνπεριάγει πάντας τούς τόν τοιοῦτον καταδεξαμένους δεσμόν, εἰς κρημνούς φρικτούς τε καί βάραθρα ἁμαρτημάτων χαλεπά καί ἀσύγγνωστα καί εἰς αὐτόν καταποντίζει τόν τῆς ἀπογνώσεως λάκκον,