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you do in deed. But if you keep the commandment, show the things of love and if you are able, help, so that you may deliver him from evil.

4.84 (πδ') Christ does not want you to have hatred toward a person, or grief, or anger, or remembrance of wrongs at all, in any way, or for any temporary matter; and the four Gospels proclaim this everywhere.

4.85 (πε') Many of us are those who speak, but few are those who do; but still, no one ought to adulterate the word of God because of his own negligence, but rather to confess his own weakness, and not to hide (14__344> the truth of God; so that we may not become liable both for the transgression of the commandments and for the misinterpretation of God.

4.86 (πστ') Love and self-control free the soul from passions; reading and contemplation deliver the mind from ignorance; and the state of prayer presents it to God Himself.

4.87 (πζ') When the demons see us despising the things of the world, so that we might not hate people on account of them and fall from love, then they stir up slanders against us, so that, unable to bear the grief, we might hate those who slandered us.

4.88 (πη') There is no pain of the soul heavier than slander, whether one is slandered regarding faith or life; and no one is able to despise it, except only the one who looks to God, like Susanna, who alone is able both to deliver from distress, as He did her, and to fully convince people, as He did concerning her, and to comfort the soul with hope.

4.89 (πθ') Insofar as you pray from the soul for the one who slandered you, so much also does God fully convince those who were scandalized.

4.90 (ƒ') Good by nature, is God alone; and good by will, is the God-imitator alone; for his purpose is to join the wicked to the one who is good by nature, so that they may become good. For this reason, being reviled by them, he blesses, being persecuted, he endures, being blasphemed, he entreats, (14__346> being killed, he prays for them; he does all things, so that he may not fall from the purpose of love, which is our God Himself.

4.91 (ƒα') The commandments of the Lord teach us to use intermediate things reasonably; and the reasonable use of intermediate things purifies the state of the soul; and the pure state begets discernment; and discernment begets dispassion, from which perfect love is born.

4.92 (ƒβ') He does not yet have dispassion who is unable, due to the occurrence of a temptation, to overlook a friend's fault, whether real or apparent. For the passions lying in the soul, when stirred up, blind the mind and do not allow it to see into the rays of truth nor to distinguish the better from the worse. Therefore such a one has not acquired perfect love, which casts out the fear of judgment.

4.93 (ƒγ') There is no exchange for a faithful friend, since he considers the misfortunes of his friend as his own and endures hardship with him until death.

4.94 (ƒδ') Many are the friends, but in time of prosperity; but in time of temptation, you will barely find even one.

4.95 (ƒε') Every person must be loved from the soul; but one must place hope in God alone and serve Him with all one's strength. For as long as He preserves us, all our friends care for us and all our enemies are powerless against us; but when He abandons us, all our friends turn away from us and all our enemies prevail against us.

(14__348> 4.96 (ƒστ') There are four general types of abandonment: the providential, as in the case of the Lord, so that through the apparent abandonment the

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ποιεῖς σὺ τῷ ἔργῳ. Εἰ δὲ τὴν ἐντολὴν φυλάττεις, τὰ τῆς ἀγάπης ἐπίδειξαι καὶ εἴ τι δύνασαι, βοήθησον, ἵνα τοῦ κακοῦ αὐτὸν ἀπαλλάξῃς.

4.84 (πδ') Οὐ θέλει σε ὁ Χριστὸς μῖσος ἔχειν πρὸς ἄνθρωπον ἢ λύπην ἢ ὀργὴν ἢ μνησικακίαν τὸ σύνολον καθ᾽ οἱονδήποτε τρόπον ἢ δι᾽ οἱονδήποτε πρᾶγμα πρόσκαιρον· καὶ τοῦτο πάντῃ βοῶσι τὰ τέσσαρα Εὐαγγέλια.

4.85 (πε') Πολλοί ἐσμεν οἱ λέγοντες, ὀλίγοι δὲ οἱ ποιοῦντες· ἀλλ᾽ οὖν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐδεὶς ὤφειλε νοθεύειν διὰ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀμέλειαν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁμολογεῖν μὲν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀσθένειαν, μὴ ἀποκρύπτειν (14__344> δὲ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀλήθειαν· ἵνα μὴ ὑπόδικοι γενώμεθα μετὰ τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν παραβάσεως καὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ παρεξηγήσεως.

4.86 (πστ') Ἀγάπη καὶ ἐγκράτεια παθῶν τὴν ψυχὴν ἐλευθεροῦσιν· ἀνάγνωσις καὶ θεωρία ἀγνοίας τὸν νοῦν ἀπαλλάττουσιν· ἡ δὲ τῆς προσευχῆς κατάστασις αὐτῷ παρίστησιν αὐτὸν τῷ Θεῷ.

4.87 (πζ') Ὅταν ἴδωσιν ἡμᾶς οἱ δαίμονες τῶν πραγμάτων τοῦ κόσμου καταφρονοῦντας, ἵνα μὴ δι᾽ αὐτὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους μισήσωμεν καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης ἐκπέσωμεν, τότε συκοφαντίας καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐγείρουσιν, ἵνα τὴν λύπην μὴ φέροντες τοὺς συκοφαντήσαντας μισήσωμεν.

4.88 (πη') Οὐκ ἔστι πόνος ψυχῆς βαρύτερος συκοφαντίας, κἄν τε εἰς πίστιν κἄν τε εἰς βίον τις συκοφαντῆται· καὶ οὐδεὶς ταύτην καταφρονεῖν δύναται, εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἀποβλεπόμενος ὡς ἡ Σουσάννα, τὸν μόνον δυνάμενον καὶ ἐξ ἀναγκῶν ῥύσασθαι, ὥσπερ κἀκείνην, καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πληροφορῆσαι, ὡς καὶ περὶ ἐκείνης, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν τῇ ἐλπίδι παραμυθήσασθαι.

4.89 (πθ') Ὅσον σὺ ἐκ ψυχῆς εὔχῃ ὑπὲρ τοῦ συκοφαντήσαντος, τοσοῦτον καὶ ὁ Θεὸς πληροφορεῖ τοὺς σκανδαλισθέντας.

4.90 (ƒ') Φύσει ἀγαθός, μόνος ὁ Θεός· καὶ γνώμῃ ἀγαθός, μόνος ὁ θεομίμητος· σκοπὸς γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐστι τῷ φύσει ἀγαθῷ τοὺς πονηροὺς συνάψαι, ἵνα γένωνται ἀγαθοί. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν λοιδορούμενος εὐλογεῖ, διωκόμενος ἀνέχεται, βλασφημούμενος παρακαλεῖ, (14__346> φονευόμενος ὑπερεύχεται· πάντα ποιεῖ, ἵνα τοῦ σκοποῦ τῆς ἀγάπης μὴ ἐκπέσῃ, ἥτις ἐστὶν αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν.

4.91 (ƒα') Αἱ μὲν ἐντολαὶ τοῦ Κυρίου διδάσκουσιν ἡμᾶς τοῖς μέσοις εὐλόγως χρήσασθαι πράγμασιν· ἡ δὲ εὔλογος τῶν μεσῶν χρῆσις τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς καθαίρει κατάστασιν· ἡ δὲ καθαρὰ κατάστασις τίκτει τὴν διάκρισιν· ἡ δὲ διάκρισις τίκτει τὴν ἀπάθειαν, ἐξ ἧς τίκτεται ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη.

4.92 (ƒβ') Οὔπω ἔχει ἀπάθειαν ὁ διὰ σύμβασιν πειρασμοῦ τὸ ἐλάττωμα τοῦ φίλου παραβλέπειν μὴ δυνάμενος ἢ ὂν τυχὸν ἢ εἶναι δοκοῦν. Τὰ γὰρ ἐγκείμενα τῇ ψυχῇ πάθη ἐκταρασσόμενα ἐκτυφλοῖ τὴν διάνοιαν καὶ οὐκ ἐᾷ διαβλέψαι εἰς τὰς τῆς ἀληθείας αὐγὰς οὐδὲ διακρῖναι τὸ κρεῖττον ἀπὸ τοῦ χείρονος. Οὐκ ἄρα οὖν οὐδὲ τὴν τελείαν ἀγάπην ὁ τοιοῦτος ἐκτήσατο, τὴν ἔξω βάλλουσαν τὸν φόβον τῆς κρίσεως.

4.93 (ƒγ') Φίλου πιστοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀντάλλαγμα, ἐπειδὴ τὰς τοῦ φίλου συμφορὰς ἰδίας λογίζεται καὶ συνυποφέρει αὐτῷ μέχρι θανάτου κακοπαθῶν.

4.94 (ƒδ') Πολλοὶ μὲν οἱ φίλοι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν καιρῷ εὐημερίας· ἐν δὲ καιρῷ πειρασμοῦ, μόλις κἂν ἕνα εὑρήσῃς.

4.95 (ƒε') Πάντα μὲν ἄνθρωπον ἐκ ψυχῆς ἀγαπητέον· ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ δὲ μόνῳ τὴν ἐλπίδα θετέον καὶ ἐξ ὅλης ἰσχύος αὐτὸν θεραπευτέον. Ἐφ᾽ ὅσον μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς συντηρεῖ, οἵ τε φίλοι πάντες ἡμᾶς περιέπουσι καὶ οἱ ἐχθροὶ πάντες πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀδυνατοῦσιν· ἐπὰν δὲ αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς ἐγκαταλίπῃ, οἵ τε φίλοι πάντες ἡμᾶς ἀποστρέφονται καὶ οἱ ἐχθροὶ πάντες καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἰσχύουσι.

(14__348> 4.96 (ƒστ') Τέσσαρές εἰσι γενικοὶ ἐγκαταλείψεως τρόποι· ἡ μὲν οἰκονομική, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ Κυρίου, ἵνα διὰ τῆς δοκούσης ἐγκαταλείψεως οἱ