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65

before swine, calling "holy" perhaps the intellectual part in us, as an image of divine glory, which he instructed not to allow to be wickedly disturbed by being barked at by the movements of anger, and "pearls" its divine and brilliant thoughts, with which everything precious is naturally adorned, which he commanded to be kept undefiled and free from the unclean passions of material desire; and this in what he says to his holy disciples being sent out to preach, when he prescribes how they should be well-ordered and unencumbered, he also says this among other things, "Take neither a bag for the road, nor a staff, nor sandals for your feet," as it is necessary for one who has undertaken the lofty journey according to knowledge to be free from every material burden, and pure from every passionate disposition according to desire and anger, as the bag and the staff indicate, the one signifying desire, the other anger, and especially naked of the malice of hypocrisy, which, like a sandal, covers the footprint of one's life, and conceals the passionate part of the soul with a pretense of gentleness; which the Pharisees, having foolishly put on, having a form of godliness, but not godliness, and though they thought to be hidden, were taught by being reproved by the Word.

69. A CONTEMPLATION ON THE LUNATIC

(14∆_270> A contemplation on the lunatic. From this material dyad, I mean that of anger and desire, the Lord again freed, I think, the lunatic, or rather, of the evil demon who wished to destroy him with fire for anger and with water for desire, he both checked and abolished the maddening rage (for the disposition of men who are overcome by material things towards what comes to be and ceases to be differs in nothing from the moon); which the passion-stirring demon, having seized, does not cease casting the mind as if into water and fire, into desire and anger, and drowning it therein, until the Word of God arrives and drives out the material and evil spirit (by which the old and earthly man is characterized), and frees the one possessed from the wicked tyranny, restoring and bestowing on him his natural moderation, through which the new man, created according to God, is manifested.

Thus, then, all the saints who have genuinely taken hold of the divine and unerring Word have passed through this age, resting the footprint of their soul on none of the pleasant things in it. For towards the highest principles concerning God accessible to men, I mean of goodness and of love, having gazed quite reasonably, by which they were taught that God, having been moved, both gave being to existing things and granted well-being (if indeed it is right to speak of motion in God who alone is unmoved, 1205 but not rather of will, which moves and brings into being and sustains all things, while itself being in no way ever moved), by these they also wisely conformed themselves, bearing in a well-imitated manner through their virtues the manifested quality of the unseen and invisible beauty of the divine majesty. For this reason they became good and lovers of God and lovers of man, compassionate and merciful (14∆_272>, and were shown to have one disposition of love towards the whole race, by which, firmly possessing throughout their whole life the most excellent form of the virtues, I mean humility, which is protective of good things, but destructive of their opposites, they became in no way capturable by the vexing temptations, both of the voluntary and of the principle within our power, and of the involuntary and

65

ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων, ἅγιον ἴσως καλῶν τό ἐν ἡμῖν νοερόν, ὡς θείας ἀπεικόνισμα δόξης, ὅπερ μή κακῶς ἐᾷν ὑπό τῶν θυμικῶν κινημάτων καθυλακτούμενον ἐκταράσσεσθαι παρηγγύησε, μαργαρίτας δέ τά θεῖα καί λαμπρά τούτου νοήματα, οἷς τίμιον ἅπαν κοσμεῖσθαι πέφυκεν, ἅπερ διαφυλάττειν ἀμόλυντα καί τῶν ἀκαθάρτων τῆς ὑλικῆς ἐπιθυμίας παθῶν ἐλεύθερα δεῖν παρεκελεύσατο· τοῦτο δέ ἐν οἷς πρός τούς ἁγίους αὐτοῦ μαθητάς ἀποστελλομένους ἐπί τό κήρυγμα περί τοῦ πῶς εὐσταλεῖς αὐτούς εἶναι καί ἀπερίττους διατυπῶν καί τοῦτο πρός τοῖς ἄλλοις φησί, Μή δέ πήραν αἵρετε εἰς τήν ὁδόν, μήτε ῥάβδον, μήτε ὑποδήματα εἰς τούς πόδας ὑμῶν, ὡς δέον τόν τῆς ὑψηλῆς κατά τήν γνῶσιν πορείας ἐπειλημμένον παντός μέν ὑλικοῦ βάρους ἐλεύθερον εἶναι, πάσης δέ τῆς κατ᾿ ἐπιθυμίαν καί θυμόν ἐμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως καθαρόν, ὡς δηλοῖ ἥ τε πήρα καί ἡ ῥάβδος, ἡ μέν τήν ἐπιθυμίαν, ἡ δέ τό θυμόν ἐπισημαίνουσα, μάλιστα δέ τῆς καθ᾿ ὑπόκρισιν γυμνόν κακουργίας, τῆς οἷον ὑποδήματος δίκην τοῦ βίου τό ἴχνος ἐπικαλυπτούσης, καί τό ἐμπαθές τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπικρυπτούσης ἐπιεικείας πλάσματι· ἥν ὑποδησάμενοι ἀφρόνως οἱ Φαρισαῖοι, μόρφωσιν εὐσεβείας, ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ εὐσέβειαν ἔχοντες, καί εἰ λαθεῖν ἐνόμιζον, ὑπό τοῦ Λόγου ἐλεγχθέντες ἐδιδάχθησαν.

ΞΘ (69). ΘΕΩΡΙΑ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ΣΕΛΗΝΙΑΖΟΜΕΝΟΥ

(14∆_270> Θεωρία περί τοῦ σεληνιαζομένου. Ταύτης τῆς ὑλικῆς δυάδος, τῆς κατά θυμόν λέγω καί ἐπιθυμίαν, πάλιν ὁ

Κύριος ἐλευθέρωσεν, ὡς οἶμαι, τόν σεληνιαζόμενον, μᾶλλον δέ τοῦ πυρί τῷ θυμῷ καί ὕδατι τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ αὐτόν βουληθέντος ἀπολέσαι πονηροῦ δαίμονος, ἐπέσχε τε καί κατήργησε τήν μανιώδη λύσσαν (σελήνης γάρ οὐδέν διενήνοχεν ἡ πρός τά γινόμενα καί ἀπογινόμενα σχέσις τῶν ἡττημένων τοῖς ὑλικοῖς ἀνθρώπων)· ἧς ἐπιλαβόμενος ὁ τά πάθη διεγείρων δαίμων ὥσπερ ὕδατι καί πυρί τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ καί τῷ θυμῷ ἐμβάλλων τόν νοῦν καί ἐναποπνίγων οὐ παύεται, ἕως τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος παραγενόμενος τό μέν ὑλικόν καί πονηρόν ἀπελάσει πνεῦμα (δι᾿ οὗ ὁ παλαιός τε καί χοϊκός χαρακτηρίζεται ἄνθρωπος), τόν δέ ἐνεργούμενον τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐλευθερώσει τυραννίδος, τήν φυσικήν αὐτῷ σωφροσύνην ἀποδούς καί χαρισάμενος, δι᾿ ἧς ὁ νέος καί κατά Θεόν κτιζόμενος ἄνθρωπος διαδείκνυται.

Οὕτω μέν οὖν πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι τοῦ θείου καί ἀπλανοῦς Λόγου γνησίως ἐπειλημμένοι τόν αἰῶνα τοῦτον διέβησαν, οὐδενί τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ τερπνῶν τό τῆς ψυχῆς ἴχνος ἐναπερείσαντες. Πρός γάρ τούς ἄκρους τῶν ἀνθρώποις ἐφικτῶν περί Θεοῦ λόγους, τῆς ἀγαθότητός τέ φημι καί τῆς ἀγάπης, μάλα γε εἰκότως ἐνατενίσαντες, οἷς κινηθέντα τόν Θεόν τό εἶναί τε δοῦναι τοῖς οὖσι καί τό εὖ εἶναι χαρίσασθαι ἐπαιδεύθησαν (εἴπερ κίνησιν ἐπί Θεοῦ τοῦ μόνον ἀκινήτου 1205 θέμις εἰπεῖν, ἀλλά μή μᾶλλον βούλησιν, τήν πάντα κινοῦσάν τε καί εἰς τό εἶναι καί παράγουσαν καί συνέχουσαν, κινουμένην δέ οὐδαμῶς οὐδέποτε), τούτοις καί αὐτοί σοφῶς ἐαυτούς ἀπετύπωσαν, τοῦ ἀφανοῦς καί ἀοράτου κάλλους τῆς θείας μεγαλοπρεπείας εὐμιμήτως φέροντες φαινομένην διά τῶν ἀρετῶν τήν ἰδιότητα. ∆ιά τοῦτο ἀγαθοί καί φιλόθεοι καί φιλάνθρωποι, εὔσπλαγχνοί τε καί οἰκτίρμονες (14∆_272> γεγόνασι, καί μίαν πρός ἅπαν τό γένος διάθεσιν ἔχοντες ἀγάπης ἐδείχθησαν, ὑφ᾿ ἧς τό πάντων ἐξαίρετον εἶδος τῶν ἀρετῶν, τήν ταπείνωσιν λέγω, διά πάσης αὐτῶν τῆς ζωῆς βεβαίαν κατασχόντες τήν φυλακτικήν μέν τῶν ἀγαθῶν, φθαρτικήν δέ τῶν ἐναντίων, οὐδενί τό παράπαν ἁλώσιμοι τῶν διοχλούντων γεγόνασι πειρασμῶν, τῶν τε ἑκουσίων καί τοῦ ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν λόγου, καί τῶν ἀκουσίων καί