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(92) This one was not ashamed of the limbs of any person, nor to see anyone naked, nor to be seen naked; for he possessed the whole Christ, he himself was wholly Christ, and he always saw all his own limbs and the limbs of every other, one by one and all together, as Christ and he remained unmoved, unharmed, and passionless, as he himself was wholly Christ and saw all the baptized as Christ, having put on the whole Christ. But if you are naked and flesh touches flesh, you have become mad for women like a donkey or a horse, why then do you dare to slander the holy man and blaspheme against Christ, who was united to us and gave passionlessness to His holy servants? For He becomes a bridegroom—do you hear?—every day, and the souls of all are brides, with whom the Creator is united, and they in turn with Him, and the marriage takes place spiritually, as He mingles with them in a manner befitting God. He does not corrupt at all, far from it, but even if He should take them when they are corrupt and be united with them, He immediately makes them incorruptible, and they see all the holy things previously defiled by corruption as incorruptible, completely healed. They glorify the compassionate one, they long for the beautiful one, and with their whole being they cling wholly to His love, or rather, having received the holy seed, as we said, they acquire the whole God formed within themselves. Why then are these things not true, fathers? Did we not speak correctly about divine matters, did I not perhaps speak things unaltered from the scriptures? If, therefore, you have clothed yourself in the shame of your flesh and have not stripped your mind bare, have not unclothed your soul, and, being covered in darkness, have not had the strength to see the light, what could I do for you, how can I show you the awesome things, (93) and how, alas, can I bring you into the house of David? For it is indeed inaccessible to the negligent like me, it is wholly invisible to the blind who are like me, it is utterly far from the faithless and the lazy, far away from all the wicked, from all lovers of the world; and from the vainglorious it is so incomparably distant as is the height above heaven, the depth beyond the abyss. And who or how will ascend to heaven at all, or go down beneath the earth to search out the abysses? And seeking a pearl, like a mustard seed

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(92) οὗτος οὐκ ἐπῃσχύνετο μέλη παντός ἀνθρώπου οὐδέ γυμνούς τινας ὁρᾶν, οὐδέ γυμνός ὁρᾶσθαι˙ εἶχε γάρ ὅλον τόν Χριστόν, ὅλος αὐτός Χριστός ἦν, καί μέλη ἅπαντα αὐτοῦ καί παντός ἄλλου μέλη καθ᾿ ἕν καί πάντα ὡς Χριστόν οὗτος ἀεί ἑώρα καί ἔμενεν ἀκίνητος, ἀβλαβής, ἀπαθής τε, ὡς ὅλος ὤν Χριστός αὐτός καί Χριστόν πάντας βλέπων τούς βαπτισθέντας καί Χριστόν ὅλον ἐνδυσαμένους. Εἰ δέ γυμνός ὑπάρχεις σύ καί σάρξ σαρκός προσψαύσει, θηλυμανής γεγένησαι ὡς ὄνος ἤ ὡς ἵππος, ἵνα τί καί τόν ἅγιον τολμᾷς ἐνδιαβάλλειν καί βλασφημεῖς εἰς τόν Χριστόν, τόν ἡμῖν ἑνωθέντα καί δόντα τήν ἀπάθειαν δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἁγίοις; Καί γάρ νυμφίος γίνεται ἀκούεις; καθ᾿ ἑκάστην, καί νύμφαι πάντων αἱ ψυχαί, αἷς ὁ κτίστης ἑνοῦται, κἀκείνῳ πάλιν αὗται δέ, καί γίνεται ὁ γάμος πνευματικῶς, θεοπρεπῶς συμμιγνύμενος ταύταις. Οὐ φθείρει ὅλως, ἄπαγε, ἀλλ᾿ εἰ καί ἐφθαρμένας λάβοι καί ταύταις ἑνωθῇ, εὐθύς ποιεῖ ἀφθάρτους, καί βλέπουσι τά πρότερον φθορᾷ μεμολυσμένα ἅγια πάντα, ἄφθορα, ὅλως συνουλωμένα. Τόν εὔσπαγχνον δοξάζουσι, ποθοῦσι τόν ὡραῖον καί τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῇ αὐτοῦ ὅλῃ ὅλαι κολλῶνται, μᾶλλον δέ σπέρμα ἅγιον, ὡς εἴπομεν, λαβοῦσαι Θεόν ὅλον ἐντός αὐτῶν μεμορφωμένον κτῶνται. Τί οὖν οὐχί ἀλήθεια ταῦτά εἰσι, πατέρες; Οὐχί ὀρθῶς ἐξείπομεν περί πραγμάτων θείων, οὐχί ἀπαραποίητα ταῖς γραφαῖς ἴσως εἶπον; Εἰ τοίνυν σύ ἐνδέδυσαι σαρκός σου τήν αἰσχύνην καί νοῦν οὐκ ἀπεγύμνωσας, ψυχήν οὐκ ἀπεδύσω, τό φῶς ἰδεῖν οὐκ ἴσχυσας σκότει κεκαλυμμένος, ἐγώ σοι τί ποιήσαιμι, τά φρικτά πῶς σοι δείξω, (93) πῶς εἰς τόν οἶκον δέ, οἴμοι, τοῦ ∆αυίδ εἰσενέγκω; Ἔστι καί γάρ ἀπρόσιτος τοῖς κατ᾿ ἐμέ ῥᾳθύμοις, ἔστιν ὅλος ἀόρατος τυφλοῖς ἐμοί ὁμοίοις, ἔστι μακράν ἀπίστων τε καί ὀκνηρῶν εἰς ἅπαν, πονηρῶν πάντων πόρρωθεν, πάντων τῶν φιλοκόσμων˙ τῶν κενοδόξων δέ οὕτως ἀσυγκρίτως ἀπέχει ὡς ὑπέρ ὕψος οὐρανοῦ, ὑπέρ ἀβύσσου βάθος. Καί τίς ἤ πῶς εἰς οὐρανόν ἀναβήσεται ὅλως, ἤ ὑπό γῆν κατέλθοι δέ ἀνερευνῶν ἀβύσσους; Καί μαργαρίτην ἐκζητῶν, ὡς σινάπεως κόκκον