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father, although there were many things hindering him; but if he did not care for our salvation, he would not have persuaded him, but would have even prevented him when he wished to go out.

3. I have a third thing to say that can persuade you to be of good courage, the present festival, which nearly all unbelievers also respect, which the God-loving emperor himself so respected and honored, as to surpass all the emperors who ruled with piety before him. For in these days, having sent a letter in honor of the festival, he released almost all who were living in the prison; and our priest, going in, will read this letter to the emperor, and will remind him of his own laws, and will say to him, that 'Exhort yourself, and remember your own deeds; you have the example of philanthropy from home; you did not choose to commit a just murder, and will you endure to commit an unjust one? You released those who were convicted and condemned, out of respect for the festival, and will you condemn, tell me, those who are not liable and have dared nothing, and this while the festival is present? By no means, O emperor. You, conversing with all the cities through this letter, said: 'Would that it were possible for me even to raise the dead.' We ask for this philanthropy, we ask for these words now. Conquering enemies does not make rulers so glorious as conquering temper and anger; for in the former case the achievement belongs to the arms and the soldiers, but in this case the trophy is yours alone, and you have no one to share with you the glory of this philosophy. You have conquered a barbaric war, conquer also a kingly temper; let all the unbelievers learn that the fear of Christ can bridle all authority; glorify your Master, by forgiving the sins of your fellow-servants, so that He also may glorify you more greatly, so that on the day of judgment He may show you a gentle and serene countenance, remembering this philanthropy of yours.' These things and more than these he will say, and he will certainly deliver us 49.85 from his wrath. But this fast is our greatest alliance not only for persuading the emperor, but also for bearing nobly what happens; for we reap no ordinary consolation from this season. For the very fact of gathering every day, and enjoying the hearing of the divine Scriptures, and seeing one another, and lamenting to one another, and praying and receiving blessings, and so going home, cuts off the greater part of our pain. Let us not, therefore, be cast down, nor betray ourselves by anxiety, but let us remain expecting good things, and let us attend to what is about to be said. For today I wish to discourse again on the contempt of death. I told you yesterday that we fear death, not because it is fearful, but because neither has the love of the kingdom kindled us, nor has the fear of hell taken hold of us, and in addition to these, because we do not have a good conscience. Do you wish that I also state a fourth cause of this untimely anxiety, no less true than the former ones? We do not live with the hardship befitting Christians, but we have emulated this soft, dissolute, and loose life; wherefore we are also reasonably attached to present things. For if we were to spend this life in fasts and all-night vigils and meanness of diet, cutting off our unseemly desires, preventing pleasures, enduring the toils of virtue, according to Paul's word, buffeting the body and bringing it into subjection, making no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts, traveling the narrow and afflicted way, we would quickly have desired the things to come, hastening to be delivered from present toils. And that our word is not false, go up to the tops of the mountains, and observe the monks there, those in sackcloth, those in bonds, those in fasts, those shut up in darkness, and you will see all of them desiring death, and the thing a rest

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πατέρα, καίτοι πολλῶν ὄντων τῶν κωλυόντων· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἐφείδετο τῆς σωτηρίας τῆς ἡμετέρας, οὐκ ἂν ἐκεῖνον ἔπεισεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ βουλόμενον ἐξελθεῖν ἐκώλυσεν ἄν.

γʹ. Ἔχω τι καὶ τρίτον εἰπεῖν δυνάμενον ὑμᾶς πεῖσαι θαῤῥεῖν, τὴν παροῦσαν ἑορτὴν, ἣν καὶ ἄπιστοι αἰδοῦνται σχεδὸν πάντες, ἣν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ θεοφιλὴς βασιλεὺς οὕτω; ᾐδέσθη καὶ ἐτίμησεν, ὡς ἅπαντας τοὺς πρὸ αὐτοῦ μετ' εὐσεβείας κρατήσαντας ὑπερβαλέσθαι βασιλέας. Ἐν ταύταις γοῦν ταῖς ἡμέραις πέμψας ἐπιστολὴν εἰς τιμὴν τῆς ἑορτῆς, τοὺς τὸ δεσμωτήριον οἰκοῦντας σχεδὸν ἀφῆκεν ἅπαντας· καὶ ταύτην ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ ἡμέτερος εἰσελθὼν ἀναγνώσεται τὴν ἐπιστολὴν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ τῶν οἰκείων αὐτὸν ἀναμνήσει νόμων, καὶ ἐρεῖ πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὅτι Σὺ σαυτὸν παρακάλεσον, καὶ τὰ σαυτοῦ μέμνησο· οἴκοθεν ἔχεις τὸ παράδειγμα τῆς φιλανθρωπίας· δίκαιον οὐχ εἵλου ποιῆσαι φόνον, καὶ ἄδικον ὑπομενεῖς ἐργάσασθαι; τοὺς ἐληλεγμένους καὶ καταδικασθέντας τὴν ἑορτὴν αἰδεσθεὶς ἀφῆκας, καὶ τοὺς ἀνευθύνους καὶ μηδὲν τετολμηκότας κατακρινεῖς, εἰπέ μοι, καὶ ταῦτα τῆς ἑορτῆς παρούσης; Μηδαμῶς, βασιλεῦ. Σὺ διὰ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς ταύτης διαλεγόμενος ταῖς πόλεσι πάσαις ἔλεγες· Εἴθε μοι δυνατὸν ἦν καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς ἀναστῆσαι. Ταύτης δεόμεθα τῆς φιλανθρωπίας, τούτων δεόμεθα τῶν ῥημάτων νῦν. Οὐχ οὕτω τὸ κρατῆσαι πολεμίων λαμπροὺς ποιεῖ τοὺς βασιλεύοντας, ὡς τὸ κρατῆσαι θυμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς· ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ὅπλων καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τὸ κατόρθωμα γίνεται, ἐνταῦθα δὲ γυμνὸν σόν ἐστι τὸ τρόπαιον, καὶ οὐδένα ἔχεις τὸν μεριζόμενον μετὰ σοῦ τὴν τῆς φιλοσοφίας δόξαν. Ἐκράτησας πολέμου βαρβαρικοῦ, κράτησον καὶ θυμοῦ βασιλικοῦ· μαθέτωσαν οἱ ἄπιστοι πάντες ὅτι ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ φόβος πᾶσαν ἐξουσίαν δύναται χαλινοῦν· δόξασόν σου τὸν ∆εσπότην, τοῖς συνδούλοις ἀφεὶς τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ἵνα καὶ αὐτός σε δοξάσῃ μειζόνως, ἵνα ἥμερόν σοι κατὰ τὴν τῆς κρίσεως ἡμέραν δείξῃ τὸ ὄμμα καὶ γαληνὸν, ταύτης μεμνημένος σου τῆς φιλανθρωπίας. Ταῦτα καὶ πλείονα τούτων ἐρεῖ, καὶ πάντως ἡμᾶς ἐξαιρήσεται 49.85 τῆς ὀργῆς. Οὐκ εἰς τὸ πεῖσαι δὲ μόνον τὸν βασιλέα μεγίστη παρὰ τῆς νηστείας ταύτης ἡμῖν ἡ συμμαχία, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὸ γενναίως ἐνεγκεῖν τὰ συμβαίνοντα· καὶ γὰρ παράκλησιν οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν ἀπὸ τοῦ καιροῦ τούτου καρπούμεθα. Αὐτὸ γὰρ τὸ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν συλλέγεσθαι, καὶ τῆς τῶν θείων Γραφῶν ἀκροάσεως ἀπολαύειν, καὶ ἀλλήλους βλέπειν, καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὀδύρεσθαι, καὶ εὐχομένους καὶ εὐλογίας δεχομένους, οὕτως οἴκαδε ἀπιέναι, τὸ πλέον ἡμῖν ὑποτέμνεται τῆς ὀδύνης. Μὴ τοίνυν καταπέσωμεν, μηδὲ προδῶμεν ἑαυτοὺς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγωνίας, ἀλλὰ μένωμεν τὰ χρηστὰ προσδοκῶντες, καὶ προσέχωμεν τοῖς ῥηθήσεσθαι μέλλουσι. Καὶ γὰρ βούλομαι σήμερον περὶ ὑπεροψίας θανάτου διαλεχθῆναι πάλιν. Εἶπον χθὲς ὑμῖν ὅτι τὸν θάνατον δεδοίκαμεν, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ φοβερός ἐστιν ἐκεῖνος, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ οὔθ' ὁ τῆς βασιλείας ἡμᾶς ἔρως ἀνῆψεν, οὔτε ὁ τῆς γεέννης φόβος κατέσχεν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις, ὅτι τὸ συνειδὸς οὐκ ἔχομεν ἀγαθόν. Βούλεσθε καὶ τετάρτην εἴπω αἰτίαν τῆς ἀκαίρου ταύτης ἀγωνίας οὐκ ἐλάττονα, τῶν προτέρων ἀληθεστέραν; Οὐ ζῶμεν μετὰ τῆς προσηκούσης τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς σκληραγωγίας, ἀλλὰ τὸν ὑγρὸν τοῦτον καὶ διαλελυμένον καὶ χαῦνον ἐζηλώσαμεν βίον· διὸ καὶ εἰκότως τοῖς παροῦσιν ἐμφιλοχωροῦμεν πράγμασιν. Ὡς εἴ γε ἐν νηστείαις καὶ παννυχίσι καὶ εὐτελείᾳ διαίτης τὴν ζωὴν διηνύομεν ταύτην, τὰς ἐπιθυμίας ἡμῶν ἐκκόπτοντες τὰς ἀτόπους, τὰς ἡδονὰς κωλύοντες, τοὺς ἱδρῶτας τῆς ἀρετῆς ὑπομένοντες, κατὰ τὸν Παύλου λόγον ὑποπιέζοντες τὸ σῶμα καὶ δουλαγωγοῦντες, τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιούμενοι εἰς ἐπιθυμίας, τὴν στενὴν καὶ τεθλιμμένην ὁδὸν ὁδεύοντες, ταχέως ἂν τῶν μελλόντων ἐπεθυμήσαμεν, τῶν παρόντων πόνων ἀπαλλαγῆναι σπεύδοντες. Καὶ ὅτι οὐ ψευδὴς ὁ λόγος ὁ ἡμέτερος, ἀνάβηθι πρὸς τὰς κορυφὰς τῶν ὀρέων, καὶ κατάμαθε τοὺς ἐκεῖ μοναχοὺς, τοὺς ἐν σάκκῳ, τοὺς ἐν δεσμοῖς, τοὺς ἐν νηστείαις, τοὺς ἐν σκότῳ κατακεκλεισμένους, καὶ ὄψει πάντας αὐτοὺς τῆς τελευτῆς ἐπιθυμοῦντας, καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν τὸ πρᾶγμα