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to be dishonored for His name. For to be counted worthy is truly both to be dishonored and to be bound. For if someone having a beloved considers it a gain to suffer something for that one, how much more so for Christ. Let us not then be vexed at tribulations for Christ's sake, but let us also remember the bonds of Paul, and let this be our exhortation; for instance, are you exhorting someone to give to the poor for Christ's sake? Remind them of Paul's bonds, and reproach both yourself and them, that he gave up even his body to bonds for His sake, while you do not even share your food. Have you been lifted up by your achievements? Remember Paul's bonds, and that you have suffered nothing of the sort, and you will no longer be lifted up. Have you desired what is your neighbor's? Remember Paul's bonds, and you will see how absurd it is for him to be in dangers, while you live in luxury. Have you again desired luxury? Take to mind the prison of Paul; you are his disciple, his fellow soldier. How is it reasonable for the fellow soldier to be in bonds, while you are in luxury? Have you fallen into tribulation, have you thought yourself abandoned? Hear the words of Paul, and you will see that being in tribulation is not a proof of abandonment. Do you want to wear silk garments? Remember Paul's bonds, and these will seem to you more worthless than mud-stained rags. Do you want to put on gold jewelry? Take to mind the bonds of Paul, and these will seem to you to be no better than an old rope. Do you want to style your hair, and appear beautiful? Consider the squalor of Paul in prison, and you will be inflamed for that beauty, and you will consider this the utmost ugliness, and you will groan bitterly, desiring those bonds. Do you want to put on powders and cosmetics for yourself, and all such things? Consider his tears; for three years, night and day, he did not cease from weeping. Adorn your cheek with this adornment; these tears make it radiant. I do not say that you should weep for others (for I want this too, but this is beyond you), but I advise you to do this for your own sins. Did you order a servant to be bound, and were you angry and provoked? Remember the bonds of Paul, and you will immediately cease your anger; remember that we are of those who are bound, but not of those who bind; of those with a contrite heart, but not of those who crush. Did you dissolve in and burst into loud laughter? Take thought of his lamentations, and you will groan; these tears show you to be far more radiant. Did you see people living in luxury and dancing? Remember his tears. What spring has gushed forth so many streams, as those 62.384 eyes did tears? Remember, he says, my tears, just as here my bonds. And he rightly said these things to them, when he summoned them from Ephesus to Miletus. For he was speaking to teachers; so he required of them also to gather together, but of these only to face danger. 3. What spring do you wish to compare to these tears? The one in paradise, which waters the whole earth? But you will say nothing is equal; for this spring of tears watered souls, not earth. If someone showed us Paul weeping and groaning, would it not have been much better to see, than ten thousand choirs cheerfully crowned? I am not speaking about you; but if someone, having dragged away one of the licentious from the theater and the stage, burning and frenzied with the love of bodies, were to show a maiden virgin in the very flower of her age, surpassing her peers in all other things, and in her face above her other members, having an eye tender and soft, set gently, turning gently, moist, tame, smiling serenely, and veiled in much modesty and much grace, crowned below and above with dark eyelashes, having, so to speak, a living pupil, a shining forehead, and again below, the cheek

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ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ ἀτιμασθῆναι. Καταξιωθῆναι γὰρ ὄντως ἐστὶ, καὶ τὸ ἀτιμασθῆναι καὶ τὸ δεθῆναι. Εἰ γὰρ ἐρώμενόν τις ἔχων, κέρδος ἡγεῖται τὸ δι' ἐκεῖνόν τι παθεῖν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὸ διὰ τὸν Χριστόν. Μὴ τοίνυν ἀσχάλλωμεν περὶ τὰς θλίψεις διὰ Χριστὸν, ἀλλὰ μνημονεύωμεν τῶν δεσμῶν Παύλου καὶ ἡμεῖς, καὶ τοῦτο ἔστω ἡμῶν προτροπή· οἷον, παραινεῖς τισι, πένησι δοῦναι διὰ Χριστόν; ἀνάμνησον αὐτοὺς τῶν Παύλου δεσμῶν, καὶ σαυτὸν κἀκείνους ταλάνισον, εἰ ἐκεῖνος μὲν καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἐξέδωκε δεσμοῖς δι' αὐτὸν, σὺ δὲ οὐδὲ τροφῆς μεταδίδως. Ἐπήρθης ἐπὶ κατορθώμασι; μνημόνευσον τῶν Παύλου δεσμῶν, καὶ ὅτι οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἔπαθες, καὶ οὐκέτι ἐπαρθήσῃ. Ἐπεθύμησας τῶν τοῦ πλησίον; μνημόνευσον τῶν Παύλου δεσμῶν, καὶ ὄψει πῶς ἄτοπον ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἐν κινδύνοις εἶναι, σὲ δὲ τρυφᾷν. Ἐπεθύμησας πάλιν τρυφῆς; ἐν νῷ λάβε τὸ δεσμωτήριον Παύλου· ἐκείνου μαθητὴς εἶ, ἐκείνου συστρατιώτης. Πῶς ἔχει λόγον, τὸν μὲν συστρατιώτην ἐν δεσμοῖς εἶναι, σὲ δὲ ἐν τρυφῇ; Ἐν θλίψει γέγονας, ἐνόμισας ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι; ἄκουε τῶν Παύλου λόγων, καὶ ὄψει ὅτι τὸ ἐν θλίψει εἶναι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεώς ἐστι τεκμήριον. Θέλεις σηρικὰ φορεῖν ἱμάτια; μνημόνευε τῶν Παύλου δεσμῶν, καὶ ταῦτά σοι φανεῖται τῶν ῥακίων ἀτιμότερα τῶν βεβορβορωμένων. Θέλεις χρυσία περιθέσθαι; ἐν νῷ λάβε τὰ Παύλου δεσμὰ, καὶ σχοίνου παλαιᾶς οὐδὲν ἄμεινόν σοι δόξει ταῦτα διακεῖσθαι. Θέλεις διαθεῖναι τὰς τρίχας, καὶ καλὴ φαίνεσθαι; ἐννόησον τὸν αὐχμὸν τοῦ Παύλου τὸν ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ, καὶ ἐκκαήσῃ πρὸς ἐκεῖνο τὸ κάλλος, καὶ τοῦτο ἐσχάτην ἡγήσῃ δυσείδειαν, καὶ στενάξεις πικρῶς ἐπιθυμοῦσα ἐκείνων τῶν δεσμῶν. Θέλεις ἐπιτρίμματα καὶ ὑπογραφὰς ἑαυτῇ περιθεῖναι, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα; ἐννόησον τὰ ἐκείνου δάκρυα· τριετίαν, νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν οὐκ ἐπαύετο δακρύων. Τούτῳ τῷ κόσμῳ καλλώπιζε τὴν παρειάν· ταῦτα τὰ δάκρυα λαμπρὰν αὐτὴν ἐργάζεται. Οὐ λέγω ἵνα ὑπὲρ τῶν ἄλλων δακρύῃς (βούλομαι μὲν γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο, ἀλλ' ἀνώτερόν σού ἐστι τοῦτο), ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τῶν σῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τοῦτο παραινῶ ποιεῖν. Ἐκέλευσας δεσμευθῆναι παῖδα, καὶ ὠργίσθης καὶ παρωξύνθης; μνημόνευε τῶν Παύλου δεσμῶν, καὶ εὐθέως παύσεις τὴν ὀργήν· ἀναμνήσθητι ὅτι τῶν δεδεμένων ἡμεῖς, ἀλλ' οὐ τῶν δεόντων, τῶν συντετριμμένων τὴν καρδίαν, ἀλλ' οὐ τῶν συντριβόντων. ∆ιεχύθης καὶ ἀνεκάγχασας μέγα; ἔννοιαν λάβε τῶν ἐκείνου ὀδυρμῶν, καὶ στενάξεις· πολλῷ σε λαμπροτέραν τὰ δάκρυα ταῦτα δείκνυσιν. Εἶδες τρυφῶντας καὶ ὀρχουμένους; μνημόνευσον αὐτοῦ τῶν δακρύων. Ποία πηγὴ τοσαῦτα ἀνέβλυσε νάματα, ὡς οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ 62.384 ἐκεῖνοι τὰ δάκρυα; Μνημονεύετέ μου, φησὶ, τῶν δακρύων, ὥσπερ τῶν δεσμῶν ἐνταῦθα. Καὶ εἰκότως ἐκείνοις ταῦτα εἶπεν, ἡνίκα ἀπὸ τῆς Ἐφέσου αὐτοὺς μετεστείλατο εἰς τὴν Μίλητον. ∆ιδασκάλοις γὰρ ἔλεγεν· ὥστε ἐκείνους μὲν καὶ τὸ συνάγειν ἀπαιτεῖ, τούτους δὲ τὸ κινδυνεύειν μόνον. γʹ. Ποίαν βούλει παραβαλεῖν πηγὴν τοῖς δάκρυσι τούτοις; τὴν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, τὴν ποτίζουσαν τὴν γῆν ἅπασαν; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ἴσον ἐρεῖς· αὕτη γὰρ ἡ τῶν δακρύων πηγὴ ψυχὰς ἐπότιζεν, οὐ γῆν. Εἴ τις ἡμῖν δεδακρυμένον ἔδειξε Παῦλον καὶ στενάζοντα, οὐ πολλῷ ἦν βέλτιον ἰδεῖν, ἢ χοροὺς μυρίους φαιδρῶς ἐστεφανωμένους; Οὐ λέγω περὶ ὑμῶν· ἀλλ' εἴ τις ἀπὸ τοῦ θεάτρου καὶ τῆς σκηνῆς ἀποσπάσας τινὰ τῶν ἀκολάστων ἐκκαιόμενον καὶ βακχευόμενον τῷ τῶν σωμάτων ἔρωτι, ἐδείκνυ κόρην παρθένον ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς ἡλικίας τῷ ἄνθει τά τε ἄλλα νικῶσαν τὰς ὁμήλικας, καὶ τῇ ὄψει ὑπὲρ τὰ λοιπὰ μέλη, ὀφθαλμὸν ἔχουσαν ἁπαλὸν καὶ μαλακὸν ἐγκαθήμενον ἠρέμα, περιστρεφόμενον ἠρέμα, ὑγρὸν, ἥμερον, γαληνὸν μειδιῶντα, καὶ πολλῇ μὲν περιεσταλμένον τῇ αἰδοῖ, πολλῇ δὲ τῇ χάριτι, βλεφαρίσι κυαναῖς κάτωθεν καὶ ἄνωθεν ἐστεφανωμένην, τὴν κόρην ἔμψυχον, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἔχουσαν, λάμπον τὸ μέτωπον, κάτωθεν πάλιν τὴν παρειὰν