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Blessed David; for he, being a king and drawn by countless cares, but having cleansed his soul of all passions, said to God: I have hated and abhorred iniquity, but I have loved your law; seven times a day I praised you for the judgments of your righteousness; my soul has kept your testimonies and has loved them exceedingly; let my supplication come near before you, O Lord; according to your word, give me understanding. When you cry out thus, God will hearken; while you are still speaking, he will say, "Behold, I am here." If, then, you acquire such a prayer, you will be blessed; for it is impossible for a person who prays 298 and beseeches God with such eagerness not to advance daily in goodness and to soar above all the snares of the enemy. For one who has warmed his mind, as one of the saints said, And having roused his soul, and having removed himself to heaven, and having thus called upon his own Master, and having recalled his own sins, and having discoursed concerning their forgiveness, and having prayed with most fervent tears for the merciful One to be gracious to him, from dwelling upon these words and thoughts he lays aside all worldly care and becomes higher than human passions, and is deemed worthy to be called an intimate of God; and what could be more blessed or more exalted than this? May the Lord, then, deem you worthy to attain such blessedness. For behold, I have shown you the way of the Lord's commandments, and I have not shrunk from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. And I, for my part, have now completed my ministry to you; it remains for you, having girded up the loins of your mind, according to him who called you, to be holy yourself in all your conduct; "For you shall be holy, because I am holy," says the Lord. And the chief of the apostles also writes: "If you call on him as Father," he says, "who judges impartially according to each one's work, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from your futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." 300 Taking all these things to heart, therefore, be mindful 300 unceasingly, having always before your eyes the fear of God and His terrible judgment, both the radiance of the righteous which they are to receive in that age, and the dejection of sinners in the deepest darkness, both the weakness and vanity of present things and the unending nature of things to come, for "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass; the grass withers, and its flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever." Meditate on these things constantly; and may the peace of God be with you, enlightening you and giving you understanding and leading you into the way of salvation, and driving far from your mind every evil will, and sealing your soul with the sign of the cross, so that none of the devil's stumbling blocks may approach you, but that you may be deemed worthy in all perfection of virtues to attain the future unending and eternal kingdom, and to be illumined with the light of the blessed and life-creating Trinity, which is glorified in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. χχι Having thus admonished the king's son with such moral words, the most honorable elder departed to his own lodging. But the attendants and tutors of the young man, seeing his frequent entry into the palace, were amazed. And one of their leaders, whom the king had appointed over his son's palace as most faithful and prudent, 302 named Zardan, says to the king's son: "You know surely, O master, how great is my fear of your father and how great my faithfulness to him; for this reason he

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μακάριος ∆αυΐδ· οὗτος γὰρ βασιλεὺς ὢν καὶ μυρίαις ἑλκόμενος φροντίσι, πάντων δὲ τῶν παθῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ καθαρίσας, ἔλεγε πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· Ἀδικίαν ἐμίσησα καὶ ἐβδελυξάμην, τὸν δὲ νόμον σου ἠγάπησα· ἑπτάκις τῆς ἡμέρας ᾔνεσά σε ἐπὶ τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης· ἐφύλαξεν ἡ ψυχή μου τὰ μαρτύριά σου καὶ ἠγάπησεν αὐτὰ σφόδρα· ἐγγισάτω ἡ δέησίς μου ἐνώπιόν σου, Κύριε· κατὰ τὸ λόγιόν σου συνέτισόν με. Οὕτως βοῶντός σου ὁ Θεὸς ἐπακούσεται· ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου, ἐρεῖ· Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι. εἰ τοιαύτην οὖν κτήσῃ εὐχήν, μακάριος ἔσῃ· ἀμήχανον γὰρ ἄνθρωπον, μετὰ τοιαύτης προθυμίας εὐχόμενον 298 καὶ παρακαλοῦντα τὸν Θεόν, μὴ καθ' ἑκάστην προκόπτειν ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ πασῶν ὑπερίπτασθαι τῶν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ παγίδων. ὁ γὰρ διαθερμάνας αὐτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν, καθάπερ τις τῶν ἁγίων ἔφησε, Καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀναστήσας, καὶ πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἑαυτὸν μετοικίσας, καὶ οὕτω τὸν ∆εσπότην τὸν ἑαυτοῦ καλέσας, καὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτημάτων ἀναμνησθείς, καὶ περὶ τῆς συγχωρήσεως τούτων διαλεχθείς, καὶ δάκρυσι θερμοτάτοις δεηθεὶς ἵλεω γενέσθαι αὐτῷ τὸν φιλάνθρωπον, ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις καὶ διαλογισμοῖς τούτοις διατριβῆς πᾶσαν ἀποτίθεται βιωτικὴν φροντίδα καὶ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων παθῶν ὑψηλότερος γίνεται, καὶ Θεῷ συνόμιλος ἀξιοῦται κληθῆναι· οὗπερ τί γένοιτ' ἂν μακαριώτερον ἢ ὑψηλότερον; ἀξιώσαι σε οὖν Κύριος τῆς τοιαύτης ἐπιτυχεῖν μακαριότητος. Ἰδοὺ γάρ σοι τὴν ὁδὸν ὑπέδειξα τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ οὐδὲν ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαί σοι πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ. καὶ ἐγὼ μὲν ἤδη τὴν πρὸς σέ μου διακονίαν τετέλεκα· λοιπὸν αὐτὸς ἀναζωσάμενος τὴν ὀσφὺν τῆς διανοίας σου, κατὰ τὸν καλέσαντά σε ἅγιον, καὶ αὐτὸς ἅγιος ἐν πάσῃ ἀναστροφῇ γενοῦ· Ἅγιοι γὰρ γίνεσθε, διότι ἐγὼ ἅγιός εἰμι, λέγει Κύριος. γράφει δὲ καὶ ὁ κορυφαιότατος τῶν ἀποστόλων· Εἰ Πατέρα, φησίν, ἐπικαλεῖσθε τὸν ἀπροσωπολήπτως κρίνοντα κατὰ τὸ ἑκάστου ἔργον, ἐν φόβῳ τὸν τῆς παροικίας ὑμῶν χρόνον ἀναστράφητε, εἰδότες ὅτι οὐ φθαρτοῖς, ἀργυρίῳ ἢ χρυσίῳ, ἐλυτρώθητε ἐκ τῆς ματαίας ὑμῶν ἀναστροφῆς πατροπαραδότου, ἀλλὰ τιμίῳ αἵματι, ὡς ἀμνοῦ ἀμώμου καὶ ἀσπίλου, Χριστοῦ. 300 Ταῦτα οὖν πάντα ἐν καρδίᾳ τιθέμενος, μέμνησο 300 ἀδιαλείπτως, πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχων ἀεὶ τὸν φόβον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὸ φρικῶδες αὐτοῦ κριτήριον, τὴν φαιδρότητά τε τῶν δικαίων ἣν μέλλουσιν ἐν ἐκείνῳ ἀπολαβεῖν τῷ αἰῶνι, καὶ τὴν κατήφειαν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐν τῷ σκότει τῷ βαθυτάτῳ, τὴν ἀσθένειάν τε καὶ ματαιότητα τῶν παρόντων καὶ τὸ τῶν μελλόντων ἀτελεύτητον, ὅτι Πᾶσα σὰρξ χόρτος καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου· ἐξηράνθη ὁ χόρτος καὶ τὸ ἄνθος αὐτοῦ ἐξέπεσε, τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα Κυρίου μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. ταῦτα μελέτα διὰ παντός· καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Θεοῦ εἴη μετὰ σοῦ, φωτίζουσά σε καὶ συνετίζουσα καὶ εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ἄγουσα τῆς σωτηρίας, καὶ πᾶν θέλημα πονηρὸν πόρρω διώκουσα τοῦ νοός σου, σφραγίζουσα δὲ τὴν ψυχήν σου τῷ τοῦ σταυροῦ σημείῳ, ἵνα μηδέν σοι πλησιάσῃ τῶν τοῦ πονηροῦ σκανδάλων, ἀλλ' ἀξιωθῇς ἐν πάσῃ τελειότητι τῶν ἀρετῶν τῆς μελλούσης ἐπιτυχεῖν ἀτελευτήτου καὶ ἀδιαδόχου βασιλείας, καὶ τῷ φωτὶ περιλαμφθῆναι τῆς μακαρίας καὶ ζωαρχικῆς Τριάδος, τῆς ἐν Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι δοξαζομένης. χχι Τοιούτοις οὖν ἠθικοῖς ῥήμασι νουθετήσας ὁ τιμιώτατος γέρων τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως υἱόν, εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν ἀπῄει ξενίαν. οἱ δὲ ὑπηρέται τοῦ νέου καὶ παιδαγωγοὶ τὴν συχνὴν αὐτοῦ εἰσέλευσιν ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ ὁρῶντες ἐθαύμαζον. εἷς δὲ τῶν προεχόντων ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὃν ὡς πιστότατον καὶ εὐγνώ 302 μονα κατέστησεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ παλατίου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, Ζαρδὰν καλούμενος, φησὶ πρὸς τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως υἱόν· Οἶδας πάντως, ὦ δέσποτα, ὅσος ἐπ' ἐμοὶ ὁ τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς φόβος καὶ ὅση μου ἡ πρὸς αὐτὸν πίστις· διό με