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[HOMILY 7.] But on the fourth day of our sojourn in Tyre, around dawn, as Peter came forth, not a few from the neighborhood and very many from Tyre itself met him and were crying out, saying: May God have mercy on us through you, may he heal us through you. And Peter stood upon a certain high stone, so that he could be seen by all, and having greeted them in a pious manner, he began thus: God, the creator of heaven and the universe, does not lack an occasion for the salvation of those who wish to be saved. Wherefore let no one rashly accuse him, on account of what seem to be evils, of not being benevolent. For the outcomes of the things that happen to a person are unknown to men, and are suspected to be for evil, but to God they are known as turning out happily. For example, at once Simon, being the left hand power of God and having the power for doing evil to those who do not know God, was able to afflict you with diseases, which diseases, having been permitted to occur through the good providence of God, compelled you, after looking for and finding the one who is able to heal, on the pretext of the healing of the body, to undertake what seems good to God and to be persuaded to think rightly, so that in this way, along with your bodies which are to be saved, you might also have your souls sound. I learn, therefore, that after sacrificing an ox he feasted you in the middle of the marketplace, and so you, being overcome by much wine, paid court to their ruler together with the wicked demons, and in this way most of you were seized by the affections, because of ignorance drawing upon yourselves with your own hands the sword of destruction. For the demons would not have had power over you, if you had not previously become table-companions with their ruler. For thus from the beginning a law was established by God who created all things for the two rulers in each case, of the right and the left, that neither of them has power, unless he first becomes a table-companion with someone whom he wishes to treat well or ill. Just as, therefore, by partaking of the sacrifices offered to demons you were enslaved to the ruler of evil, so also, if, ceasing from these things, you flee for refuge to God through the good and right-hand ruler, doing what he wishes with unbloody honors, know well that along with the healing of the body you will also have your souls healthy. For he alone, while slaying through the left hand, is able to make alive through the right hand, and likewise also both to strike and to raise up the one who is fallen. For this reason, having been deceived beforehand by his forerunner Simon, you first died in your souls to God and were smitten in your bodies; but likewise in the second place you are able, through repentance (as I said), by undertaking the things that are pleasing to God, both to recover your bodies and to regain your souls. And the things that are pleasing to God are these: to pray to him, to ask of him as one who gives all things by a law of judgment, to abstain from the 'table of demons,' not to taste dead flesh, not to touch blood, to be washed from all pollution. And for the rest, in one word, as the God-fearing Jews have heard, you also, all of you, hear, though in many bodies, having adopted one mind: Whatever good things each person wishes for himself, let him intend the same things also for his neighbor. And thus each of you might understand—

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[OΜIΛIA Ζ.] Τετάρτῃ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἐν Τύρῳ ἡμῶν ἐπιδημίας ὑπὸ τὸν ὄρθρον προεληλυθότι τῷ Πέτρῳ ἀπήντων πλησιόχωροί τε οὐκ ὀλίγοι καὶ αὐτῆς Τύρου πάνπολλοι καὶ ἐπεφώνουν λέγοντες· Ὁ θεὸς διὰ σοῦ ἡμᾶς ἐλεείτω, διὰ σοῦ θεραπευέτω. ὁ δὲ Πέτρος ἔστη ἐπὶ λίθου τινὸς ὑψηλοῦ πρὸς τὸ δύνασθαι πᾶσιν ὁρᾶσθαι καὶ προσαγορεύσας θεοσεβεῖ νόμῳ οὕτως ἤρξατο· Θεῷ τῷ κτίσαντι τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸ σύμπαν οὐ λείπει πρό- φασις πρὸς σωτηρίαν τῶν σσζεσθαι θελόντων. ὅθεν μηδὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς δο- κοῦσιν φαύλοις ὑπὸ προπετείας τις αὐτὸν ὡς μὴ φιλάνθρωπον αἰτιάσθω. τῶν γὰρ συμβαινόντων ἀνθρώπῳ τὰ τέλη ἀνθρώποις μὲν ἄγνωστα, ὡς ἐπὶ κακῷ ὑποπτευόμενα, θεῷ δὲ ὡς ἀποβησόμενα εὐτυχῶς γνώριμα. αὐτίκα γοῦν Σίμων ἀριστερὰ τοῦ θεοῦ δύναμις ὢν καὶ τῶν τὸν θεὸν οὐκ εἰδότων ἐπὶ κακοποιίᾳ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἔχων νόσοις ὑμᾶς περιβαλεῖν ἠδυνήθη, αἵτινες διὰ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγαθὴν πρόνοιαν γενέσθαι συγχωρη- θεῖσαι ἠνάγκασαν ὑμᾶς, τὸν ἰᾶσθαι δυνάμενον περιβλεψαμένους καὶ εὑρόντας, προφάσει τῆς τοῦ σώματος θεραπείας τὰ θεῷ δοκοῦντα ἀνα- δεξαμένους πεισθῆναι φρονεῖν, ἵνα οὕτως ἅμα τοῖς σώμασι σωθησομένοις καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς σώας ἔχητε. μανθάνω οὖν ὡς βουθυτήσας εἱστίασεν ὑμᾶς ἐν μέσῃ τῇ ἀγορᾷ καὶ οὕτως ὑμεῖς οἴνῳ πολλῷ παρενεχθέντες ἅμα τοῖς πονηροῖς δαίμοσιν τὸν ἄρχοντα αὐτῶν ἐφιλοφρονεῖσθε καὶ οὕτως ὑμῶν οἱ πλεῖστοι ὑπὸ τῶν παθῶν κατελήφθησαν, ἀγνοίας αἰτίᾳ καθ' ἑαυτῶν ἰδίαις χερσὶν ἐπισπασάμενοι τὸ τοῦ ὀλέθρου ξίφος. οὐ γὰρ ἂν τὴν καθ' ὑμῶν ἔσχον ἐξουσίαν οἱ δαίμονες, εἰ μὴ πρότερον τῷ ἄρχοντι αὐτῶν ὁμοδίαιτοι ἐγεγόνειτε. οὕτω γὰρ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ πάντα κτίσαντος θεοῦ δυσὶν ἑκάστοτε ἄρχουσι, δεξιῶν τε καὶ εὐωνύμων, ὡρίσθη νόμος, μὴ ἔχειν ἑκάτερον αὐτῶν ἐξουσίαν, ἐὰν μὴ πρότερόν τινι ὁμοτράπεζος γένηται, ὃν εὖ ποιῆσαι ἢ κακῶσαι βούλεται. ὥσπερ οὖν τῶν δαίμοσιν ἀποδεδομένων θυμάτων μεταλαβόντες τῷ τῆς κακίας ἡγε- μόνι κατεδουλώθητε, οὕτως, ἂν τούτων παυσάμενοι τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ καὶ δεξιοῦ ἡγεμόνος προσφύγητε, ἀθύτοις τιμαῖς ποιοῦντες ἃ βούλεται, εὖ ἴστε ὅτι σὺν τῇ τοῦ σώματος ἰάσει καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ὑγιαι- νούσας ἕξετε. αὐτὸς γὰρ μόνος διὰ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς ἀναιρῶν διὰ τῆς δε- ξιᾶς ζωοποιῆσαι δύναται, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ πατάξαι καὶ ἀναστῆσαι κεί- μενον. διὰ τοῦτο πρῶτον ὑπὸ τοῦ προδρόμου Σίμωνος προαπατηθέντες, θεῷ τὰς ψυχὰς ἀπεθάνετε καὶ τὰ σώματα ἐπατάχθητε· δύνασθε δὲ ὁμοίως τὸ δεύτερον διὰ τῆς μετανοίας (ὡς ἔφην) τὰ θεῷ ἀρέσκοντα ἀναδεξάμενοι καὶ τὰ σώματα ἀναρρῶσαι καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ἀναλαβεῖν. ἔστιν δὲ τὰ ἀρέσκοντα τῷ θεῷ τὸ αὐτῷ προσεύχεσθαι, αὐτὸν αἰτεῖν ὡς πάντα νόμῳ κριτικῷ διδόντα, «τραπέζης δαιμόνων» ἀπέχεσθαι, νεκρᾶς μὴ γεύεσθαι σαρκός, μὴ ψαύειν αἵματος, ἐκ παντὸς ἀπολούεσθαι λύματος. τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ ἑνὶ λόγῳ ὡς οἱ θεὸν σέβοντες ἤκουσαν Ἰουδαῖοι, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀκούσατε ἅπαντες ἐν πολλοῖς σώ- μασιν μίαν γνώμην ἀναλαβόντες· Ἅπερ ἕκαστος ἑαυτῷ βούλεται καλά, τὰ αὐτὰ βουλευέσθω καὶ τῷ πλησίον. οὕτω δ' ἂν ὑμῶν ἕκαστος νοή-