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to have expressed the same thought by another title, instead of, For those who will be changed, he himself said, For the lilies. He considered the short-lived nature of the flowers worthy of comparison to the perishable nature of human beings. But since the expression points to the future time (for it is said For those who will be changed, as if this change will be revealed to us at some later time), let us consider whether it perhaps hints to us of the doctrine of the resurrection, in which the change will be given to us: a change for the better and spiritual. For it is sown, he says, in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. Do you see the change? It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; when also all our bodily creation is changed along with it. For also The heavens will grow old like a garment, and like a robe God will change them, and they will be changed. Then also the sun will be seven times itself, according to Isaiah, and the moon according to the present size of the sun. But since the oracles of God are not written for all, but for those who have ears according to the inner man, he inscribed it To those who will be changed; as I think, for those who take care of themselves, and are always advancing to what is greater through the exercises of piety. For this is the most beautiful change, which the right hand of the Most High bestows; of which the blessed David was also aware, when, having tasted the good things of virtue, he stretched forward to the things that were before. For what does he say? And I said; Now I have begun; this is the change of the right hand of the Most High. So that he who is advancing in virtue is never not changing. For when I was, he says, a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. And again, having become a man, he did not cease from his activity, but Forgetting what was behind and stretching forward to what was ahead, he pressed on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call. Change, therefore, is of the inner man being renewed day by day. Since, therefore, he is about to declare to us the things concerning the beloved, who undertook the economy of the incarnation for our sake, the Prophet says that he has given this 29.392 song to the sons of Korah for those worthy of this grace. For it is a song, and not a psalm; because it was delivered with the unaccompanied voice, without an instrument sounding with it, with a melodious utterance. A song for the beloved. Shall I describe to you the beloved, whom the word says he is? or do you know even before our words, remembering the voice in the Gospel? This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to Him. For He is beloved to the Father as the Only-Begotten, but to all creation as a philanthropic father and a good protector. But that which is beloved is by nature also good. For some have already well defined the good as that for which all things strive. But it is not for the ordinary person to attain to the perfection of love, and to recognize the truly beloved; but for the one who has already put off the old man, who is being corrupted according to the deceitful lusts, and has put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of his Creator. Since he who loves money, and is fluttered about the corruptible beauty of bodies, and overvalues this paltry glory, having spent the power of loving on what is not fitting, has been blinded to the sight of the truly beloved. For this reason he says: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. But the phrase, With all, does not admit division to other things. For however much of your love you misspend on the things below, so much will necessarily be lacking to you from the whole. For this reason few of all have been called friends of God; as Moses is recorded to be a friend; as John; For the friend, he says, of the bridegroom, standing, rejoices with joy; that is, he who has the steadfastness and immovability of friendship toward Christ, this man is worthy of His friendship. Wherefore also to the

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τὴν αὐτὴν διάνοιαν δι' ἑτέρας προσηγορίας ἐκδεδωκέναι, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀλ λοιωθησομένων, εἰπὼν αὐτὸς, Ὑπὲρ τῶν κρίνων. Τὸ ὠκύμορον τῶν ἀνθέων ἄξιον ἐνόμισε συγκρί νεσθαι τῷ ἐπικήρῳ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἰς τὸν μέλλοντα χρόνον ἐγκέκλιται ἡ φωνὴ (εἴρη ται γὰρ Ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀλλοιωθησομένων, ὡς ὕστερόν ποτε τῆς ἀλλοιώσεως ταύτης ἀναφαινομένης ἡμῖν), ἐπισκεψώμεθα μήποτε τὸν τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἡμῖν παρ αινίσσεται λόγον, ἐν ᾗ ἡ ἀλλοίωσις ἡμῖν δοθήσεται· ἀλλοίωσις δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιον καὶ πνευματικόν. Σπεί ρεται γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν φθορᾷ, ἐγείρεται ἐν ἀφθαρ σίᾳ. Ὁρᾷς τὴν ἀλλοίωσιν; Σπείρεται ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, ἐγείρεται ἐν δυνάμει. Σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικὸν, ἐγείρεται σῶμα πνευματικόν· ὅτε καὶ πᾶσα ἡμῖν ἡ σωματικὴ κτίσις συναλλοιοῦται. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ Οἱ οὐρανοὶ ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἀλλάξει αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἀλ λαγήσονται. Τότε καὶ ὁ ἥλιος ἔσται ἑπταπλασίων ἑαυτοῦ, κατὰ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν, καὶ ἡ σελήνη κατὰ τὸ νῦν ὑπάρχον μέγεθος τοῦ ἡλίου. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐ πᾶσι γέ γραπται τὰ λόγια τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἔχουσιν ὦτα κατὰ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον, Τοῖς ἀλλοιωθησομένοις ἐπέγραψεν· ὡς οἶμαι, τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ἐπιμελομένοις, καὶ ἀεὶ διὰ τῶν γυμνασίων τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖ ζον προκόπτουσιν. Αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ καλλίστη ἀλλοίω σις, ἢν ἡ δεξιὰ χαρίζεται τοῦ Ὑψίστου· ἧς καὶ ὁ μακάριος ∆αβὶδ ἐπῄσθετο, ὅτε, γευσάμενος τῶν καλῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς, τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεξέτεινε. Τί γάρ φησι; Καὶ εἶπα· Νῦν ἠρξάμην· αὕτη ἡ ἀλ λοίωσις τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ Ὑψίστου. Ὥστε ὁ προκόπτων εἰς ἀρετὴν οὐκ ἔστιν ὅτε οὐκ ἀλλοιοῦται. Ὅτε γὰρ ἤμην, φησὶ, νήπιος, ἐλάλουν ὡς νήπιος, ἐφρό νουν ὡς νήπιος, ἐλογιζόμην ὡς νήπιος. Ὅτε δὲ γέγονα ἀνὴρ, κατήργηκα τὰ τοῦ νηπίου. Καὶ πάλιν γενόμενος ἀνὴρ, οὐχ ἵστατο τῆς ἐνεργείας, ἀλλὰ Τῶν ὄπισθεν ἐπιλανθανόμενος, καὶ τοῖς ἔμπρο σθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος, κατὰ σκοπὸν ἐδίωκεν ἐπὶ τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως. Ἀλλοίωσις οὖν ἐστι τοῦ ἔσω ἀνθρώπου ἀνακαινουμένου ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀπαγγέλλειν ἡμῖν μέλλει τὰ περὶ τοῦ ἀγα πητοῦ, ὃς τὴν οἰκονομίαν τῆς σαρκώσεως ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀνεδέξατο, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀξίων τῆς χάριτος ταύτης τὴν 29.392 ᾠδὴν ταύτην ἐκδεδωκέναι τοῖς υἱοῖς Κορέ φησιν ὁ Προφήτης. Ὠδὴ γάρ ἐστι, καὶ οὐχὶ ψαλμός· διότι γυμνῇ φωνῇ, μὴ συνηχοῦντος αὐτῇ τοῦ ὀργάνου, μετ' ἐμμελοῦς τῆς ἐκφωνήσεως παρεδίδοτο. Ὠδὴ δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ. Ἆρά σοι διηγήσομαι τὸν ἀγαπητὸν, ὅντινα ὁ λόγος εἶναί φησιν; ἢ καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἡμῶν λό γων ἐπίστασαι, μεμνημένος τῆς ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ φωνῆς; Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα· αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε. Ἀγαπητὸς γὰρ τῷ Πατρὶ μὲν ὡς Μονογενὴς, τῇ κτίσει δὲ πάσῃ ὡς πατὴρ φιλάνθρωπος καὶ ἀγαθὸς προστάτης. Τὸ αὐτὸ δέ ἐστι τῇ φύσει καὶ ἀγαπητὸν καὶ ἀγαθόν. ∆ιότι καλῶς ὡρίσαντο ἤδη τινὲς, ἀγαθὸν εἶναι οὗ πάντα ἐφίεται. Οὐ τοῦ τυχόντος δέ ἐστιν εἰς τὸ τέλειον χω ρῆσαι τῆς ἀγάπης, καὶ τὸν ὄντως ἀγαπητὸν ἐπιγνῶναι· ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐκδυσαμένου ἤδη τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, τὸν φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης, καὶ ἐνδυσαμένου τὸν νέον, τὸν ἀνακαινούμε νον εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν κατ' εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος. Ἐπεὶ ὅ γε χρήματα ἀγαπῶν, καὶ περὶ τὸ φθαρτὸν τῶν σω μάτων κάλλος ἐπτοημένος, καὶ τὸ δοξάριον τοῦτο ὑπερτιμῶν, τὴν τοῦ ἀγαπᾷν δύναμιν ἐφ' ἃ μὴ προσῆκεν ἀναλώσας, πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀληθινῶς ἀγα πητοῦ θέαν ἀπετυφλώθη. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν· Ἀγαπή σεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου. Τὸ δὲ, Ἐξ ὅλης, μερισμὸν εἰς ἕτερα οὐκ ἐπιδέχεται. Ὅσον γὰρ ἂν τῆς ἀγάπης παρ αναλώσῃς ἐπὶ τὰ κάτω, τοσοῦτόν σοι λείψει ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀπὸ τοῦ ὅλου. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὀλίγοι ἐκ πάντων φίλοι Θεοῦ προσηγορεύθησαν· ὡς Μωϋσῆς ἀναγέ γραπται εἶναι φίλος· ὡς Ἰωάννης· Ὁ γὰρ φίλος, φησὶ, τοῦ νυμφίου, ἑστὼς, χαρᾷ χαίρει· τουτέστιν, ὁ τὸ στάσιμον ἔχων καὶ ἀμετακίνητον τῆς εἰς Χρι στὸν φιλίας, οὗτος ἄξιος τῆς αὐτοῦ φιλίας. ∆ιὸ καὶ τοῖς