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the desire of the soul; (15Γ_270> from which, having become free of material things, the one who is meek by habit is sensible neither of those who praise nor of those who blame, as one who is affected.

3. He speaks of unequal dispositions, the movements of both anger and desire which form the soul according to themselves; from which the disciple of Christ must be free; neither slipping towards pleasures by the effusion of the blood around the heart, nor raging into angers by the boiling of the blood around the heart.

4. That is, of Hellenic and Judaic reasonings; of which in Christ there is absolutely none. For the word of Christ is equally pure of polyarchy, and of the monarchy circumscribed in one person.

5. For not according to generation, or procession, or manifestation. 6. How can one forgive the debtors their debts? 7. Divine justice is fittingly applied to the dispositions of our souls,

becoming for us such as we have made ourselves to one another; and rendering God to us such as we have first disposed ourselves toward those of like passions.

8. The principle of nature, he says, also becomes the law of nature, taking the consenting will for the activation of the powers according to nature.

ON THE LIFE AND STRUGGLE OF OUR HOLY FATHER AND

CONFESSOR MAXIMUS I. (15Γ_274> 0068 And indeed the Life of all who have lived according to God is

profitable and beneficial; as it urges towards virtue, and sharpens one for the imitation of the good; but that of the divine Maximus the Confessor, by as much as it is great and universally illustrious, by so much is it more effective for anointing one for courage, and most excellent of all for benefiting the soul. For that man had not only a supernatural life, but also delightful discourse, and a noble and steadfast struggle; of whom even the memory alone is able to bring much pleasure, and instills a great love of virtue in God-loving souls. Wherefore also the present discourse, being about to speak of matters concerning him, wishes and holds it in high regard to set forth and present the details of what was accomplished by him; so that it might itself become more pleasant by the memory of these things, and might bestow a great favor upon the hearers; but it is not possible either to contain a summary of everything all at once, or, even for what it contains in summary, to speak the praise owed to these things, since even the least of the deeds of this admirable man happen to be better than the power of words. Therefore, since it is not easy nor simple for the discourse to go through all things, I think I myself will reasonably omit some things, being in no way accused for the omission; because up to now no one else before us, at least as far as we are aware, has applied himself to all the man's affairs, seeing the undertaking to be clearly difficult and hard to achieve. But so that, for the rest, we might not seem to be completely (15Γ_276> passing over so great a subject, and because it is not possible for us to grasp the whole, we would then leave out the whole, which I think is unprofitable, and not free from blame; it is therefore necessary for me to introduce the present discourse, even if I know it to be very small, and falling far short of the facts. For in this way we would both fulfill what has come to us, and we would pay our debt to you, who demand the account of him, if anything else, inexorably. And if in the midst of it the account should also commemorate certain other things done at that time, yet this is by no means extraneous to the account, nor is it unlikely; since the times then had stirred up much, as you know, the 0069 against the

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ψυχῆς τήν ἐπιθυμίαν· ἧς (15Γ_270> ἀπογενομένης τῶν ὑλικῶν, οὔτε τῶν ἐπαινούντων, οὔτε τῶν ψεγόντων ὡς πάσχων, ὁ καθ᾿ ἕξιν πρᾶος αἰσθάνεται.

3. Ἀνίσους διαθέσεις λέγει, τάς πρός ἑαυτάς τήν ψυχήν μορφούσας, τοῦ τε θυμοῦ καί τῆς ἐπιθυμίας κινήσεις· ὧν ἐλεύθερον εἶναι δεῖ τόν Χριστοῦ μαθητήν· μήτε χύσει τοῦ περί καρδίαν αἵματος πρός ἡδονάς ὀλισθαίνοντα, μήτε ζέσει τοῦ περί καρδίαν αἵματος πρός ὀργάς ἐκμαινόμενον.

4. Λόγων δηλονότι Ἑλληνικοῦ καί Ἰουδαϊκοῦ· ὧν ἐν Χριστῷ παντελῶς οὐδείς. Ἐπίσης γάρ τῆς πολυαρχίας, καί τῆς ἑνί προσώπῳ περιγραφομένης μοναρχίας, ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καθαρεύει λόγος.

5. Οὐ γάρ κατά γέννησιν, ἤ πρόοδον, ἤτοι ἔκφανσιν. 6. Πῶς τις δύναται ἀφιέναι τοῖς ὀφειλέταις τά ὀφειλήματα; 7. Ταῖς τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν διαθέσεσιν ἡ θεία δεόντως ἐφαρμόζεται

δικαιοσύνη, τοιαύτη ἡμῖν γινομένη, οἵους ἀλλήλοις ἑαυτούς πεποιήμεθα· καί τοιοῦτον ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς τόν Θεόν καθιστῶσα, οἵους φθάσαντες τούς ὁμοιοπαθέσιν ἑαυτούς διεθήκαμεν.

8. Ὁ τῆς φύσεως λόγος, φησί, καί νόμος γίνεται φύσεως, λαμβάνων συμφωνοῦσαν τήν γνώμην εἰς ἐνέργειαν τῶν κατά φύσιν δυνάμεων.

ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΒΙΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΝ ΑΘΛΗΣΙΝ ΤΟΥ ΟΣΙΟΥ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΚΑΙ

ΟΜΟΛΟΓΗΤΟΥ ΜΑΞΙΜΟΥ Α´. (15Γ_274> 0068 Καί πάντων μέν τῶν κατά Θεόν πολιτευσαμένων ὁ Βίος,

λυσιτελής καί ὠφέλιμος· οἷα δή προτρέπων εἰς ἀρετήν, καί παραθήγων πρός τήν τοῦ καλοῦ μίμησιν· ὁ δέ γε τοῦ θείου Μαξίμου καί ὁμολογητοῦ, ὅσῳ μέγας καί τοῖς ὅλοις περιφανής, τοσούτῳ καί πρός ἀνδρείαν ἀλεῖψαι ἀνυσιμώτερος, καί ψυχήν ὠφελῆσαι πάντων διαφορώτατος. Ἀνήρ γάρ ἐκεῖνος οὐ μόνον βίον ἔχων ὑπερφυῆ, ἀλλά καί λόγον ἐπιτερπῆ, καί ἄθλησιν γενναίαν καί ἀπαράθετον· οὗ καί μόνη ἡ μνήμη, πολλήν μέν οἶδε φέρειν τήν ἡδονήν, πολύν δέ ταῖς φιλοθέοις ψυχαῖς τόν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐνίησιν ἔρωτα.Ὅθεν καί ὁ παρών λόγος τά κατ' ἐκεῖνον μέλλων εἰπεῖν, βούλεται μέν καί διά πολλοῦ ἔχει, τό τά καθ' ἕκαστα τῶν αὐτῷ πεπραγμένων εἰς μέσον θεῖναι καί παραστήσασθαι· ὡς ἄν αὐτός τε ἡδίων τῇ τούτων γένηται μνήμῃ, καί τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις μεγάλην τήν χάριν κατάθηται· οὐκ ἔχει δ' ὅπως ἤ πάντων ὁμοῦ τήν περίληψιν σχεῖν, ἤ καί ὧν ἔχει ἐν περιλήψει τόν ὀφειλόμενον ἐπί τούτοις ἔπαινον εἰπεῖν, τῷ κρείττω ἤ κατά λόγου δύναμιν καί τά ἐλάχιστα τῶν εἰργασμένων τῷ θαυμασίῳ τυγχάνειν. Οὐκοῦν ὡς μέν οὐ ῥᾴδιον τῷ λόγῳ οὐδ' εὔπορον, τό τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐπεξιέναι, παρήσειν καί αὐτός εὐλόγως δοκῶ μοι· μηδέν πάντως ἐγκαλούμενος ἐπί τῷ παραλιπεῖν· ὅτι μηδ' ἄλλος τέως τῶν πρό ἡμῶν, ὅσα γε αὐτοί σύνισμεν, εἰς ἅπαντα τά τοῦ ἀνδρός καθῆκεν αὑτόν, τῷ χαλεπήν δηλαδή καί δυσέφικτον ὁρᾷν τήν ἐγχείρησιν.Ὡς ἄν δέ λοιπόν μή φαινώμεθα παντελῶς (15Γ_276> τηλικαύτην ὑπόθεσιν παρατρέχοντες, καί ὅτι μή ἐξόν ἡμῖν τοῦ παντός ἐφικέσθαι καί τό πᾶν ἐλλιμπάνοιμεν, ὅπερ ἀσύμφορον οἶμαι, καί οὐδ' ἔξω πίπτον αἰτίας· ἀναγκαῖον ἄρα ἐμοί τόν παρόντα λόγον εἰσενεγκεῖ, κἄν ἐλάχιστον οἶδα τοῦτον, κἄν παρά πολύ τῶν πραγμάτων λειπόμενον. Οὕτω γάρ ἄν καί τό τε εἰς ἡμᾶς ἧκον ἀποπληρώσοιμεν, καί ὑμῖν τό χρέος ἀφοσιώσοιμεν, τόν περί ἐκείνου λόγον, εἴπερ τι ἄλλο, ἀπαραιτήτως εἰσπράττουσιν. Εἰ δέ καί ἄλλα τινά τῶν τηνικαῦτα πραχθέντων ἐν τῷ μεταξύ διαμνημονεύσοι ὁ λόγος, ἀλλά τοῦτο οὐκ ἔξω πάντως τοῦ λόγου, οὔτε μή τοῦ εἰκότος· τῶν τότε καιρῶν πολλήν κεκινηκότων, ὡς ἴστε, τήν 0069 κατά τῆς