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imploring, not those things that cure the disease, but those that feed the matter that is the mother of the disease. But the physician will not tolerate the supplication of the sick person, but even if he sees him weeping and wailing, he follows the law of his art rather than being swayed by his tears; and we call his disobedience not inhumanity, but philanthropy; for by obeying the sick person, and gratifying him for pleasure's sake, he does the work of an enemy against him; but by resisting and fighting against that man's desire, he has employed mercy and philanthropy. But also loving fathers, when their very young children seek knives or coals of fire, in no way endure to hand them over; for they know clearly that giving these things is harmful to them 63.655. So also God does not endure to give deadly things to those who ask for them as if they were beneficial, knowing that they will be for their harm. I think that the ancient physicians also did not legislate simply or irrationally for the public display of various instruments, but so that they might secure those who are healthy, by showing them beforehand how many things they will need if they are disorderly. Christ, therefore, must be more fearful to us than Gehenna, and more longed for than the kingdom; and if we should fall ill, it is better to remain in sickness than to fall into impiety for the sake of release from the weakness. For even if a sorcerer should heal, he has harmed more than he has helped; for he has often helped the body, which will certainly die a little later and is destined to decay, but he has harmed the immortal soul. For it is better for one who is not a physician not even to have medicines; for the one who does not have them neither saves nor destroys, but the one who has them destroys, not knowing how he should use them; since salvation lies not only in the nature of the medicines, but also in the skill of the one who administers them. To have the name of a physician, therefore, is not to be a physician. Have you heard about Lazarus, how he struggled all his life with famine and disease and desolation, so as to even end his life at the rich man's gate, being despised, starving, being set forth as food for the dogs? For his body was so enfeebled, that he was not even able to drive away the dogs as they came upon him and licked his sores; but nevertheless he did not seek an enchanter, he did not attach amulets, he did not resort to sorceries, he did not call sorcerers to himself, he did not do anything else of the forbidden things; but he chose rather to die amidst those evils, than to betray even a small part of his piety. What excuse, then, shall we have, when he suffered such terrible things and endured, if on account of a fever or wounds we call wizards and sorcerers into our own houses? For many are often sick, but are well supplied with necessary food; others live with extreme poverty, but enjoy health; but Lazarus was so weakened, that he was not even able to drive away the dogs, but lay like a living corpse, seeing them come upon him, but not being strong enough to defend himself; so were his limbs enfeebled, so was he wasted away by sickness, so was he consumed by the trial. And if each of these things by itself is unbearable and terrible, when they are intertwined together, how was the one enduring these things not like some adamant? For if, lying in the desert and the uninhabited land, he were suffering these things and was being overlooked, he would not have been so pained; for no one being present would persuade him, even unwillingly, to bear what was happening; but to lie in the midst of so many prosperous people and from no one to receive even the most ordinary care, made the feeling of the pains become sharper. Consider what it was likely for him to be like, seeing parasites, flatterers, going down, going up, going out, coming in, making a disturbance, being drunk. For we indeed, even if we suffer ten thousand terrible things, yet by looking to him, we are able to receive sufficient 63.656 consolation; for to find partners in one's own evils brings much consolation to those who are in pain; but he had no one else to see who had suffered the same things as he, but also thought that present affairs were confined to the present life; for he was of those before grace. But if now in our time, after so much knowledge of God, and the good [promises] of the

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παρακαλοῦντι, οὐχ ὅσα λύει τὴν νόσον, ἀλλ' ὅσα τρέφει τὴν ὕλην τὴν τῆς νόσου μητέρα. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀνέξεται ὁ ἰατρὸς τῆς τοῦ κάμνοντος ἱκεσίας, ἀλλὰ κἂν δακρύοντα ἴδῃ καὶ ὀλοφυρόμενον, τῷ νόμῳ τῆς τέχνης ἀκολουθεῖ μᾶλλον, ἢ τοῖς τούτου δάκρυσιν ἐπικάμπτεται· καὶ τὴν ἀπείθειαν οὐκ ἀπανθρωπίαν, ἀλλὰ φιλανθρωπίαν ὀνομάζομεν· πειθόμενος γὰρ τῷ νοσοῦντι, καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἡδονὴν χαριζόμενος, τὰ πολεμίων εἰς αὐτὸν ἐργάζεται· ἀντιτείνων δὲ καὶ τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ μαχόμενος τῇ ἐκείνου, ἐλέῳ κέχρηται ταὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ φιλόστοργοι πατέρες τοῖς κομιδῇ νηπίοις μαχαίρας ἐπιζητοῦσιν, ἢ πυρὸς ἄνθρακας, οὐδαμῶς ὀρέγειν ἀνέχονται· ἴσασι γὰρ σαφῶς βλαβερὰν οὖσαν αὐτοῖς 63.655 τὴν τούτων ἐπίδοσιν. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν ὡς ὠφέλιμα τὰ ὀλέθρια οὐκ ἀνέχεται δοῦναι, ὡς εἰς βλάβην αὐτοῖς γινώσκων ἐσόμενα. Οἶμαι καὶ τοὺς ἀρχαίους τῶν ἰατρῶν οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ ἀλόγως νομοθετῆσαι, δημοσιεύεσθαι τὴν τῶν ποικίλων ἐργαλείων ἐπίδειξιν, ἀλλ' ἵνα τοὺς ὑγιαίνοντας ἀσφαλίζωνται, προδεικνύντες αὐτοῖς, ὁπόσων ἀτακτοῦντες δεήσονται. Τὸν Χριστὸν τοίνυν καὶ γεέννης φοβερώτερον ἡμῖν εἶναι δεῖ, καὶ βασιλείας ποθεινότερον· κἂν νοσήσωμεν, βέλτιον ἐν ταῖς ἀῤῥωστίαις μεῖναι ἢ διὰ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν τῆς ἀσθενείας εἰς ἀσέβειαν καταπεσεῖν. Κἂν γὰρ θεραπεύσῃ γόης, μεῖζον κατέβλαψεν ἢ ὠφέλησεν· ὠφέλησε μὲν γὰρ πολλάκις τὸ σῶμα, τὸ πάντως ἀποθανούμενον μικρὸν ὕστερον καὶ σήπεσθαι μέλλον, κατέβλαψε δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν ἀθάνατον. Τὸν γὰρ οὐκ ἰατρὸν βέλτιον μηδὲ ἔχειν φάρμακα· ὁ μὲν οὖν μὴ ἔχων οὔτε σώζει, οὔτε ἀπόλλυσιν, ὁ δὲ ἔχων ἀπόλλυσιν, οὐκ εἰδὼς ὅπως χρήσεται· ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐν τῇ φύσει τῶν φαρμάκων ἐστὶν ἡ σωτηρία μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ τέχνῃ τοῦ προσάγοντος. Οὐκ ἄρα τὸ ὄνομα ἔχειν ἰατροῦ, ἰατρόν ἐστιν εἶναι. Ἤκουσας τὰ περὶ τοῦ Λαζάρου, πῶς λιμῷ καὶ νόσῳ καὶ ἐρημίᾳ πάντα τὸν αὑτοῦ χρόνον ἐπάλαισεν, ὡς καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ζωὴν καταλῦσαι ἐν τῷ τοῦ πλουσίου πυλῶνι, καταφρονούμενος, λιμώττων, τοῖς κυσὶ βορὰ προκείμενος; Οὕτω γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα παρεῖτο, ὡς μηδὲ τοὺς κύνας ἀποσοβεῖν δύνασθαι ἐπιόντας, καὶ τὰ τραύματα λιχμωμένους· ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ ἐπῳδὸν ἐζήτησεν, οὐ πέταλα περιῆψεν, οὐ μαγγανείας ἐκίνησεν, οὐ γόητας πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐκάλεσεν, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν κεκωλυμένων ἐποίησεν· ἀλλ' εἵλετο μᾶλλον ἐναποθανεῖν τοῖς κακοῖς ἐκείνοις, ἢ τῆς εὐσεβείας μικρόν τι προδοῦναι μέρος. Τίνα οὖν ἕξομεν συγγνώμην ἡμεῖς, τοσαῦτα πάσχοντος ἐκείνου δεινὰ καὶ καρτεροῦντος, εἰ διὰ πυρετὸν ἢ τραύματα φαρμακοὺς καὶ γόητας εἰς τὰς οἰκίας καλοῦμεν τὰς ἑαυτῶν; Πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ πολλάκις ἀῤῥωστοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἀναγκαίας εὐποροῦσι τροφῆς· ἄλλοι πενίᾳ συζῶσιν ἐσχάτῃ, ἀλλ' ὑγείας ἀπολαύουσιν· ὁ δὲ Λάζαρος οὕτως ἦν ἐξησθενηκὼς, ὡς μηδὲ τοὺς κύνας ἀποσοβῆσαι δύνασθαι, ἀλλὰ νεκρὸς ἔμψυχος ἔκειτο, ἐπιόντας μὲν αὐτοὺς θεωρῶν, ἀμύνασθαι δὲ οὐκ ἰσχύων· οὕτως αὐτῷ τὰ μέλη παρεῖτο, οὕτω τεταρίχευτο τῇ ἀῤῥωστίᾳ, οὕτω δεδαπάνητο τῷ πειρασμῷ. Εἰ δὲ καθ' ἑαυτὸ τούτων ἕκαστον ἀφόρητον καὶ δεινὸν, ὅταν ὁμοῦ συμπεπλεγμένα ᾖ, πῶς οὐκ ἀδάμας τις ἦν ὁ ταῦτα ὑπομένων; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐρήμου καὶ τῆς ἀοικήτου κείμενος ταῦτα ἔπασχε, καὶ παρεωρᾶτο, οὐκ ἂν οὕτως ἤλγησε· τὸ γὰρ μηδένα παρεῖναι καὶ ἄκοντα φέρειν ἔπειθε τὰ συμβαίνοντα· τὸ δὲ ἐν μέσῳ τοσούτων κείμενον καὶ εὐημερούντων παρὰ μηδενὸς μηδὲ τῆς τυχούσης ἐπιμελείας τυγχάνειν, δριμυτέραν ἐποίει τῶν ὀδυνῶν γίνεσθαι τὴν αἴσθησιν. Ἐννόησον οἷον εἰκὸς αὐτὸν εἶναι ὁρῶντα παρασίτους, κόλακας, καταβαίνοντας, ἀναβαίνοντας, ἐξιόντας, εἰσιόντας, θορυβοῦντας, μεθύοντας. Ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ, κἂν μυρία πάθωμεν δεινὰ, ἀλλ' ἔχομεν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἰδόντες, ἱκανὴν 63.656 δέχεσθαι παράκλησιν· τὸ γὰρ κοινωνοὺς εὑρίσκειν τῶν οἰκείων κακῶν, πολλὴν φέρει τοῖς ὀδυνωμένοις παράκλησιν· ἐκεῖνος δὲ οὐδένα ἕτερον εἶχεν ἰδεῖν τὸν τὰ αὐτὰ αὐτῷ παθόντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος βίου τὰ παρόντα ἐνόμιζε συγκεκλεῖσθαι πράγματα· τῶν γὰρ πρὸ τῆς χάριτος ἦν. Εἰ δὲ νῦν ἐφ' ἡμῶν μετὰ τοσαύτην θεογνωσίαν, καὶ τὰς χρηστὰς τῆς