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of the beauty of the bride. For he who prepares himself for the Father who sees in secret, and prays, and does all things not to be seen by men, but to be made manifest to God alone; this one has all his glory from within, like the king's daughter. Therefore also the golden tassels, with which she is all robed and adorned, are from within. Seek nothing in external gold and bodily adornment; but understand a certain clothing worthy to adorn the one according to the image of the creator, as the Apostle says: Having put off the old man, and having put on the new, which is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him that created him. And he who has put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, longsuffering, meekness, is robed from within, and has adorned the inner man. And Paul also exhorts to put on the Lord Jesus, not according to the outward man, but that the memory of God may cover our mind. But I think that the spiritual garment is woven when corresponding action is interwoven with the teaching word. For just as the physical garment is woven when the woof is interwoven with the warp; so, when the word is pre-established, if actions are brought in correspondingly, a most venerable clothing of the soul would be made, having the life according to virtue completed in word and deed. And tassels hang from the garment, these too being spiritual; for this reason they are also said to be of gold. Since the word is more than the deed, it is, as it were, a tassel that is surplus from the fabric woven for action. And certain souls follow the bride of the Lord, those who have not received the seeds of strange words, who will be brought to the king, following the bride. Let also those who profess virginity to the Lord hear that virgins will be brought to the king; virgins, that is, who are near the Church, who follow behind her, and do not wander from the ecclesiastical good order. And the virgins will be brought with gladness and rejoicing, they will be led into the temple of the king. Not those who have undertaken virginity by compulsion, nor those who 29.413 have accepted the venerable life out of grief or necessity, but those who rejoice in gladness and rejoicing at such an achievement, these will be brought to the king, and will be led not to some ordinary place, but into the temple of the king. For the priestly vessels, which human use has not defiled, will be brought into the holy of holies, and will have authority for passage into the innermost sanctuary, where profane feet will not walk. And how great a thing it is to be led into the temple of the king, the Prophet shows, praying for himself and saying: "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to visit his temple." Instead of your fathers, your sons were born; you will make them princes over all the earth. Since she was commanded above to forget her people, and her father's house, as a reward for her obedience she now receives sons instead of fathers, excelling in such great dignities, that they are appointed princes over all the earth. Who then are the sons of the Church? Either the sons of the Gospel, who ruled all the earth. For, it says, "their sound went out into all the inhabited world;" and, "They will sit on twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel." But if one takes the patriarchs as the fathers of the bride, even so the word concerning the apostles does not fail. For instead of them, sons were born to her through Christ, those who do the works of Abraham; and for this reason being of equal honor with them, from having done the same things as those, for which the fathers were deemed worthy of great honors. Moreover, the saints are rulers of all the earth through their affinity for the good, as the very nature of the good bestows the primacy upon them, as

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ὄντος τοῦ κάλλους τῆς νύμφης. Ὁ γὰρ εὐ τρεπίζων ἑαυτὸν τῷ Πατρὶ τῷ βλέποντι ἐν τῷ κρυ πτῷ, καὶ προσευχόμενος, καὶ πάντα πράσσων οὐ πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ μόνῳ φανερωθῆναι Θεῷ· οὗτος ἔχει πᾶσαν τὴν δόξαν ἔσω θεν, ὡς καὶ ἡ θυγάτηρ τοῦ βασιλέως. Καὶ τὰ κροσσω τὰ τοίνυν τὰ χρυσᾶ, οἷς περιβέβληται καὶ πεποί κιλται ὅλη, ἔσωθεν. Μηδὲν ζήτει ἐν τῷ ἔξω χρυσῷ καὶ τῇ σωματικῇ ποικιλίᾳ· ἀλλὰ περιβολὴν νόει τινὰ ἀξίαν κοσμῆσαι τὸν κατ' εἰκόνα. τοῦ κτίσαντος, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· Ἐκδυσάμενοι τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν νέον, τὸν ἀνα καινούμενον εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν κατ' εἰκόνα τοῦ κτί σαντος. Καὶ ὁ ἐνδυσάμενος δὲ Σπλάγχνα οἰ κτιρμοῦ, χρηστότητα, ταπεινοφροσύνην, μακρο θυμίαν, πραότητα, ἔνδοθεν περιβέβληται, καὶ τὸν ἔσω ἄνθρωπον κεκόσμηται. Καὶ ὁ Παῦλος δὲ παραινεῖ ἐνδύσασθαι τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν, οὐ κατὰ τὸν ἔξω ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλ' ἵνα τὸν νοῦν ἡμῶν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ μνήμη περισκεπάζῃ. Οἶμαι δὲ τὸ πνευματικὸν ἱμάτιον ἐξυφαίνεσθαι, ὅταν τῷ διδακτικῷ λόγῳ ἡ ἀκόλουθος ἐπιπλέκηται πρᾶξις. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τῷ στήμονι τῆς κρόκης ἐπιπλεκομένης τὸ σωματικὸν ἱμάτιον ἐξυφαί νεται· οὕτω τοῦ λόγου προϋφεστῶτος, εἰ ἀκολούθως αἱ πράξεις ἐπάγοιντο, σεμνοτάτη τις ἂν γένοιτο πε ριβολὴ τῆς ψυχῆς, λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ τὸν κατ' ἀρετὴν βίον συμπεπληρωμένον ἐχούσης. Κροσσοὶ δὲ ἀπαιω ροῦνται τοῦ ἱματίου, νοητοὶ καὶ οὗτοι· διὸ καὶ χρυσοῖ εἶναι λέγονται. Ἐπειδήπερ ὁ λόγος πλείων ἐστὶ τοῦ ἔργου, οἱονεὶ κροσσός τίς ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ πρὸς τὴν πρᾶξιν ὑφάσματος περισσεύων. Ἕπονται δὲ τῇ νύμφῃ τοῦ Κυρίου ψυχαί τινες, αἱ μὴ παρα δεξάμεναι σπέρματα λόγων ἀλλοτρίων, αἵτινες ἀπενεχθήσονται τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἀκολουθοῦσαι τῇ νύμ φῃ. Ἀκουέτωσαν δὲ καὶ αἱ τὴν παρθενίαν ἐπαγγελ λόμεναι τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι παρθένοι ἀπενεχθήσονται τῷ βασιλεῖ· παρθένοι δὲ, αἱ πλησίον οὖσαι τῆς Ἐκκλη σίας, αἱ ὀπίσω αὐτῆς ἑπόμεναι, καὶ μὴ ἀποπλανώ μεναι τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς εὐταξίας. Ἀπενεχθήσον ται δὲ αἱ παρθένοι ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ καὶ ἀγαλλιά σει, ἀχθήσονται εἰς ναὸν βασιλέως. Οὐχ αἱ κατ ηναγκασμένως ὑπελθοῦσαι τὴν παρθενίαν, οὐδὲ αἱ 29.413 ἐκ λύπης ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης καταδεξάμεναι τὸν σεμνὸν βίον, ἀλλ' αἱ ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ καὶ ἀγαλλιάσει ἐπὶ τῷ τοιούτῳ κατορθώματι χαίρουσαι, αὗται ἀπ ενεχθήσονται τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ ἀχθήσονται οὐκ εἰς τὸν τυχόντα τόπον, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ βασιλέως. Τὰ γὰρ ἱερατικὰ σκεύη, ἃ οὐκ ἐμόλυνεν ἀνθρωπίνη χρῆσις, εἰς τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων εἰσενεχθήσεται, καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἕξει τῆς εἰς τὰ ἄδυτα παρόδου, ὅπου βέ βηλοι πόδες οὐ περιπατήσουσιν. Ἡλίκον δέ ἐστι τὸ ἀχθῆναι εἰς ναὸν βασιλέως, ὁ Προφήτης δείκνυσιν, ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ προσευχόμενος καὶ λέγων· Μίαν ᾐτησάμην παρὰ Κυρίου, ταύτην ζητήσω· τὸ κατοικεῖν με ἐν οἴκῳ Κυρίου πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς μου, τοῦ θεωρεῖν με τὴν τερπνότητα Κυρίου, καὶ ἐπισκέπτεσθαι τὸν ναὸν αὐτοῦ. Ἀντὶ τῶν πατέρων σου ἐγεννήθησαν οἱ υἱοί σου· καταστήσεις αὐτοὺς ἄρχοντας ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. Ἐπειδὴ ἄνω προσετάχθη ἐπιλαθέσθαι τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρὸς, εἰς ἀντίδοσιν τῆς ὑπακοῆς νῦν ἀντὶ τῶν πατέρων λαμβάνει υἱοὺς, ἐν τηλικούτοις ἀξιώμασι διαπρέποντας, ὥστε κα ταστῆναι αὐτοὺς ἄρχοντας ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. Τίνες οὖν οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας; Ἤτοι οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, οἱ πάσης τῆς γῆς ἄρξαντες. Εἰς πᾶσαν γὰρ, φησὶ, τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν· καὶ, Καθεσθήσονται ἐπὶ δώδεκα θρόνους, καὶ κρινοῦσι τὰς δώδεκα φυλὰς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Ἐὰν δέ τις πατέρας τῆς νύμφης λάβῃ τοὺς πατριάρχας, καὶ οὕτως ὁ λόγος τῶν ἀποστόλων οὐ διαπίπτει. Ἀντὶ γὰρ ἐκείνων ἐγεννήθησαν αὐτῇ υἱοὶ διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, οἱ ποιοῦντες τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἰσότιμοι αὐτοῖς χρηματί ζοντες, ἐκ τοῦ πεποιηκέναι τὰ αὐτὰ ἐκείνοις, ἀφ' ὧν τῶν μεγάλων τιμῶν ἠξιώθησαν οἱ πατέρες. Ἄρχοντες μέντοι εἰσὶν ἁπάσης τῆς γῆς οἱ ἅγιοι διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸ καλὸν οἰκείωσιν, αὐτῆς τῆς τοῦ καλοῦ φύσεως περιτιθείσης αὐτοῖς τὸ πρωτεῖον, ὡς περι