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Therefore God the Word took flesh from the pure Theotokos and gave in exchange for it not flesh, but the Holy Spirit in substance. And first He vivified by this her precious and all-pure soul, raising it from death; and He did this because Eve first died the spiritual death. And having become incarnate, He became man, possessing in Himself an intelligent body with a soul; for He ineffably assumed this flesh, both then from Adam and now from the Theotokos, ensouled, and thus He mystically renewed our whole nature. (147) And having been born ineffably, as He Himself knows, He entered into the world. For what reason and why? So that He might seek Adam, who was exiled in this world, and having found him, refashion him. And behold for me from this, as I repeat what was said before, the awesome mystery of the economy.

While still in paradise, Adam was called to repentance; for God says to him: "Adam, where are you?" and "Who told you that you are naked, unless from the tree of which I commanded you alone not to eat, you have eaten from it?" And yet, having heard these things, he did not wish to repent or to weep and ask for forgiveness. But what? He makes the woman the cause of his foolishness and sin; for which reason he is rightly cast out of paradise. And since Adam did not wish to repent then, this too by the plotting of the evil demon, for this reason God, having come to the earth, again calls all to Himself through repentance and says: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It is at hand, it stands before the gates of your hearts and your mouths; open your hearts through faith and straightway it will enter, and immediately your mouths will be opened and you will cry out: "We have the treasure of the Spirit within us, we have it; we have possessed eternal life in our hearts." But consider: God first called the Jews and they were not persuaded to come; last of all He calls all the nations through the Son, and being persuaded they fled to Him and ran to Him. For this reason He also says to His apostles: "Go out quickly into the squares and streets of the city, and bring in here all the poor and maimed, both lame and blind," calling this whole world a city, and the squares and streets (148) the tribes of the nations and the hidden countries far away, and the poor and maimed, both lame and blind, those who are crushed by many sins and various offenses and iniquities and blinded by ignorance of God.

Therefore He calls everyone from east to west, I mean Hebrews and Greeks. But as God, He foreknew, as we have often said, the disobedience of the Hebrews from unbelief and the conversion of the nations from faith; and before the ages He predestined that as many as would believe in Him and be baptized in His name, that is, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and would eat the immaculate body of His Son and drink His precious blood, should be justified from sin, that is, be set free and glorified and become partakers of eternal life, just as He Himself, the Master of all, says: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life; and he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." Behold, therefore, you too were foreknown by God, O brother, and predestined and called and glorified and justified and recalled to eternal life through faith in Christ and holy baptism; and you were brought not into a sensible paradise, as Adam was before, but into heaven and the good things in the heavens, "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man." Therefore, practice the virtues and keep the commandments of God, or rather, through the commandments keep yourself from transgressing any of what was commanded you, and you will suffer the fate of Adam or rather even worse, of greater and

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Τοιγαροῦν ἔλαβε σάρκα ὁ Θεός Λόγος ἐκ τῆς ἁγνῆς Θεοτόκου καί δέδωκεν ἀντ᾿ αὐτῆς οὐ σάρκα, ἀλλά Πνεῦμα οὐσιωδῶς Ἅγιον. Καί ἐν πρώτοις ἐζωοποίησε τούτῳ τήν τιμίαν καί ὑπεράμωμον ταύτης ψυχήν, ἀναστήσας αὐτήν ἐν τοῦ θανάτου· τοῦτο δέ ἐποίησεν, ἐπειδή ἡ Εὔα πρώτη τῷ ψυχικῷ θανάτῳ ἀπέθανε. Σαρκωθείς δέ ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος, σῶμα καί ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἔννουν μετά ψυχῆς κεκτημένος· ταύτην γάρ τήν σάρκα καί τότε ἐκ τοῦ Ἀδάμ καί νῦν ἐκ τῆς Θεοτόκου ἐψυχωμένην ἀπορρήτως ἀνέλαβε καί οὕτως πᾶσαν τήν φύσιν ἡμῶν μυστικῶς ἀνεκαίνισε. (147) Γεννηθείς δέ ἀφράστως, ὡς οἶδεν αὐτός, εἰς τόν κόσμον εἰσῆλθε. Τίνος χάριν καί διά τι; Ἵνα τόν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ κόσμῳ ἐξορισθέντα Ἀδάμ ζητήσῃ καί εὑρών ἀναπλάσῃ αὐτόν. Καί θέα μοι ἐντεῦθεν, ἐπανάληψιν τῶν προειρημένων ποιουμένῳ, τό φρικτόν τῆς οἰκονομίας μυστήριον.

Ἔτι ὤν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ἐκλήθη ὁ Ἀδάμ εἰς μετάνοιαν· φησί γάρ ὁ Θεός πρός αὐτόν· "Ἀδάμ, ποῦ εἶ" καί "Τίς ἀνήγγειλέ σοι ὅτι γυμνός εἶ, εἰ μή ἀπό τοῦ ξύλου οὗ ἐνετειλάμην σοι τούτου μόνου μή φαγεῖν, ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἔφαγες;" Καί ὅμως ταῦτα ἀκηκοώς οὐκ ἠβουλήθη μετανοῆσαι ἤ κλαῦσαι καί συγχώρησιν ἐξαιτήσασθαι. Ἀλλά τί; Αἴτιον τῆς ἀφροσύνης αὐτοῦ καί τῆς ἁμαρτίας τήν γυναῖκα ποιεῖται· διό καί τοῦ παραδείσου εἰκότως ἐκβάλλεται. Ἐπειδή δέ τηνικαῦτα μετανοῆσαι ὁ Ἀδάμ οὐκ ἠβουλήθη, τῇ τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος καί τοῦτο ἐπιβουλῇ, διά τοῦτο πάλιν προσκαλεῖται πάντας διά τῆς μετανοίας πρός ἑαυτόν ἐλθών ἐπί τῆς γῆς ὁ Θεός καί φησι· "Μετανοεῖτε· ἤγγικε γάρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν". Ἤγγικε, πρό τῶν πυλῶν ἵσταται τῶν καρδιῶν καί τῶν στομάτων ὑμῶν· ἀνοίξατε διά τῆς πίστεως τάς καρδίας ὑμῶν καί εὐθέως εἰσελεύσεται καί αὐτίκα διανοιχθήσονται τά στόματα ὑμῶν καί βοήσετε· "Ἔχομεν τόν θησαυρόν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐν ἡμῖν, ἔχομεν· τήν ζωήν κεκτήμεθα ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν τήν αἰώνιον". Σκόπει δέ· τούς Ἰουδαίους ἐν πρώτοις ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Θεός καί οὐκ ἐπείσθησαν ἀπελθεῖν· καλεῖ πάντα τά ἔθνη διά τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἔσχατον, καί πεισθέντα προσέφυγον αὐτῷ καί προσέδραμον. ∆ιό καί πρός τούς αὐτοῦ ἀποστόλους φησίν· "Ἐξέλθετε ταχέως εἰς τάς πλατείας καί ῥύμας τῆς πόλεως καί πάντας τούς φτωχούς καί ἀναπήρους, χωλούς τε καί τυφλούς, εἰσαγάγετε ὧδε", πόλιν λέγων τόν κόσμον ἅπαντα τοῦτον, πλατείας δέ καί ῥύμας (148) τάς φυλάς τῶν ἐθνῶν καί τάς ἀνακεκρυμμένας χώρας τάς μακράν, πτωχούς δέ καί ἀναπήρους, χωλούς τε καί τυφλούς, τούς ὑπό πολλῶν ἁμαρτημάτων καί διαφόρων πταισμάτων καί ἀνομημάτων συντεθλασμένους καί ὑπό ἀγνωσίας Θεοῦ τετυφλωμένους.

Πάντας οὖν προσκαλεῖται ἀπό ἀνατολῶν ἕως δυσμῶν, Ἑβραίους λέγω καί Ἕλληνας. Προέγνω δέ, ὡς Θεός, τῶν Ἑβραίων, ὡς πολλάκις ἔφημεν, τήν ἐξ ἀπιστίας ἀπείθειαν καί τήν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐκ πίστεως ἐπιστροφήν· καί πρό τῶν αἰώνων προώρισεν ἵνα ὅσοι πιστεύσωσιν εἰς αὐτόν καί βαπτισθῶσιν εἰς τό ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, ἤγουν εἰς ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρός καί τοῦ Υἱοῦ καί τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, καί φάγωσι τό ἄχραντον σῶμα τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καί πίωσι τό τίμιον αἷμα αὐτοῦ, δικαιωθῶσιν ἀπό τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἐλευθερωθῶσι δηλονότι καί δοξασθῶσι καί ζωῆς αἰωνίου μέτοχοι γένωνται, καθώς αὐτός ἐκεῖνος ὁ τῶν ἁπάντων ∆εσπότης φησίν· "Ὁ τρώγων μου τήν σάρκα καί πίνων μου τό αἷμα ἔχει ζωήν αἰώνιον· καί εἰς κρίσιν οὐκ ἔρχεται ἀλλά μεταβέβηκεν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τήν ζωήν". Ἰδού τοιγαροῦν καί προεγνώσθης ὑπό Θεοῦ, ἀδελφέ, καί προωρίσθης καί ἐκλήθης καί ἐδοξάσθης καί ἐδικαιώθης καί εἰς ζωήν αἰώνιον δά τῆς εἰς Χριστόν πίστεως καί τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος ἀνεκλήθης· καί οὐκ ἐν παραδείσῳ αἰσθητῷ, ὡς πρίν ὁ Ἀδάμ, εἰσηνέχθης, ἀλλ᾿ εἰς τόν οὐρανόν καί τά ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἀγαθά, "ἅ ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδε καί οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε καί εἰς καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη". Ἐργάζου τοίνυν τάς ἀρετάς καί φύλασσε τάς ἐντολάς τοῦ Θεοῦ, μᾶλλον δέ σεαυτόν διά τῶν ἐντολῶν φύλαττε τοῦ μή παραβῆναί τι τῶν ἐνταλθέντων σοι, καί πείσῃ τό τοῦ Ἀδάμ ἤ μᾶλλον καί χείρω, τῶν μειζόνων καί