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being the very smallest, how will he have the strength to find it? But, O children, be gathered; but, O women, come here! But, O fathers, arrive before the end arrives, and with me mourn and weep, all of you, because in baptism, as little ones having received God, or rather having become infant sons of God, we who have sinned were cast out immediately from the house of David, and we have suffered this unfeelingly, and let us run through repentance! For from there all who were cast out enter, otherwise it is not possible to enter from within, do not be deceived, nor to see the things perfected in it, and now being perfected, and for endless ages in my Christ and God, to whom is due all glory, honor and worship, now and for ever. Amen.

XVI.

That only the Divine is by nature desirable and longed for, by partaking of which one has partaken of all good things (94)

O what is the thing hidden from every created substance, and what is the intelligible light, which is not seen by anyone, and what is the great wealth, which no one in the world has had the strength to find at all or to possess completely? For it is incomprehensible to all, uncontainable by the world, and it is desirable, inasmuch as God who fashioned these things Himself surpasses the things that are seen. By this I am wounded with love for Him; inasmuch as He is not seen by me, I am consumed in my senses, my mind and my heart burning, and groaning. I walk about and I burn, seeking here and there, and nowhere do I find the lover of my soul; and I look around often, to see my desired one, and He, as invisible, is not seen at all. But when I begin to mourn as one who has despaired, then He is seen by me and He sees me, He who sees all things; admiring, I am astonished at the beauty of His form, and how the Creator, having opened the heavens, stooped down and showed me His glory, which is ineffable and strange;

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σμικρότατον ὑπάρχοντα, πῶς εὑρεῖν ἐξισχύσει; Ἀλλ᾿, ὦ παῖδες συνάχθητε, ἀλλ᾿, ὦ γυναῖκες, δεῦτε! Ἀλλ᾿, ὦ πατέρες, φθάσατε, πρίν ἤ τό τέλος φθάσει, καί σύν ἐμοί θρηνήσατε καί κλαύσατε οἱ πάντες, ὅτι ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι μικροί Θεόν λαβόντες, μᾶλλον δέ υἱοί Θεοῦ νήπιοι γεγονότες, ἔξω οἱ ἁμαρτήσαντες ἐβλήθημεν εὐθέως ἀπό τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ ∆αυίδ καί τοῦτο ἀναισθήτως πεπόνθαμεν, καί δράμωμεν διά τῆς μετανοίας! Ἐκεῖθεν γάρ εἰσέρχονται οἱ ἐκβληθέντες πάντες, ἄλλως δ᾿ οὐκ ἔνι ἔνδοθεν εἰσελθεῖν, μή πλανᾶσθε, οὐδέ ἰδεῖν τά ἐν αὐτῷ τελεσιουργηθέντα, καί νῦν τελεσιουργούμενα καί εἰς ἀπείρους αἰῶνας ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ μου καί Θεῷ, ᾧ πρέπει πᾶσα δόξα, τιμή τε καί προσκύνησις νῦν καί εἰς τούς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.

ΙΣΤ'.

Ὅτι ποθεινόν τε καί ἐπιθυμητόν κατά φύσιν μόνον τό Θεῖον, οὗ ὁ μετέχων πάντων ἐν μετοχῇ γέγονε τῶν καλῶν (94) Ὤ τί τό πρᾶγμα τό κρυπτόν πάσῃ κτιστῇ οὐσίᾳ, καί τί τό φῶς τό νοητόν, ὅ τινι οὐχ ὁρᾶται, καί τίς ὁ πλοῦτος ὁ πολύς, ὅν οὐδείς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ εὑρεῖν ὅλως ἐξίσχυσεν ἤ κατασχεῖν εἰς ἅπαν; Ἔστι γάρ πᾶσιν ἄληπτος, ἀχώρητος τῷ κόσμῳ, ἔστι καί ἐπιθυμητός, καθ᾿ ὅσον ὑπερέχει τῶν ὁρωμένων ὁ αὐτά Θεός κατασκευάσας. Κατά τοῦτο τιτρώσκομαι τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἐκείνου˙ καθ᾿ ὅσον δ᾿ οὐχ ὁρᾶταί μοι ἐκτήκομαι τάς φρένας, τόν νοῦν καί τήν καρδίαν μου φλεγόμενος καί στένων. Περιπατῶ καί καίομαι ζητῶν ὧδε κἀκεῖσε καί οὐδαμοῦ τόν ἐραστήν εὑρίσκω τῆς ψυχῆς μου˙ καί περιβλέπομαι συχνῶς, ἰδεῖν τόν ποθητόν μου, κἀκεῖνος, ὡς ἀόρατος, οὐχ ὁρᾶται ὅλως. Ὅτε δέ ἄρξομαι θρηνεῖν ὡς ἀπελπίσας, τότε ὁρᾶταί μοι καί βλέπει με, ὁ καθορῶν τά πάντα˙ θαυμάζων καταπλήττομαι κάλλους τήν εὐμορφίαν, καί πῶς ἀνοίξας οὐρανούς διέκυψεν ὁ κτίστης καί δόξαν μοι παρέδειξε τήν ἄφραστον καί ξένην˙