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by experience the bones of the righteous are crushed, of those who, for their testimony to Christ, have given themselves over to all kinds of sufferings. For the persecutors have already broken the legs of some, and have often pierced 29.384 hands and heads with nails. And yet who would deny that those who have been perfected in martyrdom are the most just of all? But perhaps, just as "man" is spoken of, that is, the soul and the human mind; so also his members are named homonymously with those of the flesh; as Scripture often names those of the hidden man, in saying: The eyes of the wise man are in his head; that is, the hidden part of the wise man is provident and circumspect. And again it likewise speaks of eyes both of the soul and of the flesh, not only in the text we have quoted, but in asserting that the commandment of the Lord is far-shining and enlightens the eyes. And what need is there to speak of, He who has ears to hear, let him hear? For it is clear that some possess better ears, able to hear the words of God. But to those who do not have those ears, what does it say? You deaf, hear, and you blind, look up; and, I opened my mouth, and drew in breath; and, You have broken the teeth of sinners. For all these things are said with reference to the ministering powers for intelligible food and intelligible reason. Of such a kind also is, My bowels are in pain; and, The foot of the just man shall not stumble. For all such things are counted with reference to the inner man. And according to the same reasoning there would also be certain bones of the hidden man, in which the bond and harmony of the soulish powers is constituted. And just as the bones with their own strength envelop the tenderness of the flesh, so also in the Church there are some who through their own firmness are able to bear the weaknesses of the infirm. And just as the bones are joined to one another at the joints by sinews and ligaments growing on them, so also would be the bond of love and of peace, working a certain connaturality and union of the spiritual bones in the Church of God. Concerning these bones which are loosened from their harmony, and become as it were dislocated, the Prophet says: Our bones were scattered by the side of Hades. And if ever a disturbance and shaking should seize them, he says in prayer: Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. But when it preserves its own harmony, being kept by the Lord, not one of them shall be broken, but they are worthy to offer glory to God. For all my bones, he says, shall say: Lord, Lord, who is like you? Have you seen 29.385 the nature of rational bones? Perhaps the Church might say this, the, All my bones shall say, according to the mystery of the resurrection. For thus, he says, says the Lord to these bones: Behold, I bring upon you the spirit of life, and I will put sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. These bones, therefore, having received life, giving thanks to the one who raised them, will say: Lord, Lord, who is like you? It is precisely added, The death of sinners is evil; because there is a death for the righteous which is not evil in its nature, but good. For those who have died with Christ have come to be in a good death; and those who have died to sin have died the good and saving death. The death of sinners, however, is evil. For punishment succeeds them, as also the rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. And those who hate the just man will transgress. And because they live in transgressions, they hate the just man; as by the uprightness in the rule, by the manner of the just man, so they themselves are reproved by the comparison with what is better. And because they live in sins, they behave hatefully towards the just man for fear of reproofs; and because they hate, they again surround themselves with sins. For many are the pretexts for which the just man might be hated; and the boldness in reproofs. For they hate him who reproves in the gates, and

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τῆς πείρας ὀστᾶ δικαίων συντετριμμένα, τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν μαρτυρίας παραδόντων ἑαυτοὺς παντοίοις εἴδεσι παθημάτων. Ἤδη γάρ τι νων καὶ σκέλη κατέαξαν οἱ διώκοντες, καὶ χεῖ 29.384 ρας καὶ κεφαλὰς διέπειραν τοῖς ἥλοις πολλάκις. Καί τοι τίς ἀντερεῖ μὴ οὐχὶ πάντων εἶναι δικαιοτάτους τοὺς ἐν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ τετελειωμένους; Ἀλλὰ μήποτε, ὥσπερ ἄνθρωπος λέγεται, τουτέστιν, ἡ ψυχὴ, καὶ ὁ νοῦς ὁ ἀνθρώπινος· οὕτω καὶ τὰ μέλη αὐτοῦ ὁμωνύμως ὀνομάζεται πρὸς τὰ τῆς σαρκός· ὡς πολ λάκις ὀνομάζει ἡ Γραφὴ τοῦ κρυπτοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἐν τῷ λέγειν· Τοῦ σοφοῦ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἐν κεφαλῇ αὐτοῦ· τουτέστι προορατικόν ἐστι καὶ περιεσκεμμέ νον τὸ κρυπτὸν τοῦ σοφοῦ. Καὶ πάλιν ὀφθαλμοὺς ὁμοίως λέγει τούς τε τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς, οὐ μόνον ἐν ᾗ παρεθέμεθα λέξει, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ φάσκειν τὴν ἐντολὴν Κυρίου τηλαυγῆ εἶναι καὶ φωτίζουσαν ὀφθαλμούς. Τί δὲ δεῖ λέγειν περὶ τοῦ, Ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν, ἀκουέτω; ∆ῆλον γὰρ, ὅτι κέκτηνταί τινες ὦτα κρείττονα δυνάμενα ἀκούειν λόγων Θεοῦ. Πρὸς δὲ τοὺς μὴ ἔχοντας ἐκεῖνα τὰ ὦτα τί φησιν; Οἱ κω φοὶ, ἀκούσατε, καὶ οἱ τυφλοὶ, ἀναβλέψατε· καὶ, Τὸ στόμα μου ἤνοιξα, καὶ εἵλκυσα πνεῦμα· καὶ, Ὀδόντας ἁμαρτωλῶν συνέτριψας. Ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα εἴρηται πρὸς τὰς ὑπουργούσας δυνάμεις ἐπὶ τὴν νοη τὴν τροφὴν καὶ τὸν νοητὸν λόγον. Τοιοῦτον δὲ καὶ τὸ, Τὴν κοιλίαν μου ἀλγῶ· καὶ τὸ, Ὁ ποῦς τοῦ δι καίου οὐ μὴ προσκόψῃ. Πάντα γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἔσω ἀνθρώπου κατείλεκται τὰ τοιαῦτα. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν αὐ τὸν λόγον καὶ ὀστᾶ τινα ἂν τοῦ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, ἐν οἷς ὁ σύνδεσμος καὶ ἡ ἁρμονία τῶν ψυχικῶν ἐστι δυ νάμεων συγκροτουμένη. Καὶ ὥσπερ τὰ ὀστᾶ τῇ οἰκείᾳ εὐτονίᾳ τῶν σαρκῶν περιστέλλει τὴν ἁπαλότητα, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ εἰσί τινες, οἳ διὰ τὴν οἰκείαν στεῤῥότητα τὰ ὑστερήματα δύνανται τῶν ἀσθενούν των βαστάζειν. Καὶ ὥσπερ τὰ ὀστᾶ συνάπτεται ἀλ λήλοις κατὰ τὰς διαρθρώσεις νεύροις καὶ συνδέσμοις ἐπιπεφυκόσιν, οὕτως ἂν εἴη καὶ ὁ τῆς ἀγάπης καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης σύνδεσμος, συμφυΐαν τινὰ καὶ ἕνωσιν τῶν πνευ ματικῶν ὀστέων ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατεργαζό μενος. Περὶ τούτων τῶν ὀστέων τῶν λυομένων ἀπὸ τῆς ἁρμονίας, καὶ οἱονεὶ ἐξάρθρων γινομένων, φησὶν ὁ Προ φήτης· ∆ιεσκορπίσθησαν τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸν ᾅδην. Καὶ ἐάν ποτέ γε ταραχὴ αὐτὰ καὶ κρα δασμὸς καταλάβῃ, εὐχόμενος λέγει· Ἴασαί με, Κύ ριε, ὅτι ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου. Ὅταν δὲ σώζῃ τὴν οἰκείαν ἁρμονίαν, φυλαττόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου, οὐδὲ ἓν αὐτῶν συντριβήσεται, ἀλλ' ἄξιά ἐστι δόξαν ἀνα φέρειν τῷ Θεῷ. Πάντα γὰρ, φησὶ, τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐροῦσι· Κύριε, Κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι; Εἶδες 29.385 λογικῶν ὀστέων φύσιν; Τάχα δ' ἂν τοῦτο ἡ Ἐκκλησία λέγοι, τὸ, Πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐροῦσι, κατὰ τὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μυστήριον. Τάδε γὰρ, φησὶ, λέγει Κύριος τοῖς ὀστέοις τούτοις· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ φέρω εἰς ὑμᾶς πνεῦμα ζωῆς, καὶ δώσω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς νεῦρα, καὶ ἀνάξω ἐφ' ὑμᾶς σάρκας, καὶ ζήσεσθε, καὶ γνώσεσθε, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος. Ταῦτα οὖν τὰ ὀστᾶ, ἀπολαβόντα τὴν ζωὴν, εὐχαριστοῦντα τῷ ἀναστήσαντι, ἐροῦσι· Κύριε, Κύριε, τίς ὅμοιός σοι; Ἀκριβῶς πρόσκειται τὸ, Θάνατος ἁμαρτωλῶν πονηρός· διότι ἐστί τις ἐπὶ τῶν δικαίων θάνατος οὐ πονηρὸς τὴν φύσιν, ἀλλ' ἀγαθός. Οἱ γὰρ συναποθα νόντες τῷ Χριστῷ ἐν ἀγαθῷ θανάτῳ γεγόνασι· καὶ οἱ ἀποθανόντες τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ τὸν ἀγαθὸν καὶ σωτήριον ἀποτεθνήκασι θάνατον. Ὁ μέντοι τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν πονηρός. ∆ιαδέχεται γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἡ κόλασις, ὡς καὶ τὸν πλούσιον τὸν ἐνδεδυμένον πορφύραν καὶ βύσ σον, καὶ εὐφραινόμενον καθ' ἡμέραν λαμπρῶς. Καὶ οἱ μισοῦντες τὸν δίκαιον πλημμελήσουσιν. Οἳ καὶ διὰ τὸ ἐν πλημμελείαις ζῇν μισοῦσι τὸν δίκαιον· ὡς ὑπὸ τῆς ἐν τῷ κανόνι εὐθύτητος, τῷ τρόπῳ τοῦ δικαίου, οὕτως αὐτοὶ τῇ παραθέσει τοῦ βελτίονος ἐλεγχόμενοι. Καὶ διότι ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ζῶσι, μισητικῶς διάγουσι πρὸς τὸν δίκαιον φόβῳ τῶν ἐλέγχων· καὶ διότι μισοῦσι, πάλιν ἁμαρτίαις ἑαυτοὺς περιβάλλουσι. Πολλαὶ γὰρ αἱ προφάσεις δι' ἃς ἂν μισηθείη ὁ δί καιος· ἥ τε παῤῥησία ἡ ἐν τοῖς ἐλέγχοις. Μι σοῦσι γὰρ ἐν πύλαις ἐλέγχοντα, καὶ