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and the sandals of my feet are immediately loosed; (136) there a sea is parted and I pass through alone and I see enemies drowning in the waters; there I behold the wood cast into my heart and all bitter things are changed; there I enjoyed the rock gushing honey and my soul since then has not partaken of affliction; there I found Christ, the provider of these things, and I followed him with all my soul; there I ate the manna and the bread of Angels and no longer desired any of the things of men; there I both saw the dry rod of Aaron budding and marveled at the wonders of God; there I saw my barren soul bearing fruit and how the dry wood produces beautiful fruit; there I saw my filthy and profligate heart pure and chaste and virgin and hearing: Hail, you who are full of grace, for the Lord is with you and in you for ever! There I heard: Wash, in a pool of tears! and having done so I believed and suddenly I regained my sight; there I was buried in a tomb with perfect humility, and Christ came with immeasurable mercy and lifted the heavy stone from there of my evils and said: Come forth, as from the tomb of the world! There, I saw how he suffered, my impassible God, and how he became dead, being immortal, and rose from the tomb without breaking the seals. There I saw the life to come and incorruptibility, (137) which Christ bestows on those who seek him, and I found the kingdom of heaven being within me, which is the Father, the Son and the Spirit, an undivided godhead in three persons, which those who have not preferred above the whole world and have considered it glory and honor and wealth to worship, to minister and to attend only, happen to be unworthy both of the immaculate vision and of the delight and of the joy and of all good things, of which they shall not partake unless they have repentance, unless, as we have said, they are taught all things and do with diligence all that my God has said, and then only, with great fear and reverence, if God should command, let him touch the untouchable things. For it is not permitted for all to minister in such matters, but even if one receives all the grace of the Spirit and is pure of sin from his mother, unless it is by the command of God and by His election, who assures his soul with divine illumination and sets it afire with a longing for divine love,

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καί τῶν ποδῶν μου λύονται πέδιλα εὐθέως˙ (136) ἐκεῖ θάλασσα ῥήγνυται καί διέρχομαι μόνος καί ὁρῶ ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν ἐχθρούς ποντιζομένους˙ ἐκεῖ τό ξύλον θεωρῶ ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ καρδίᾳ βαλλόμενον καί τά πικρά πάντα μεταποιοῦνται˙ ἐκεῖ τήν πέτραν βλύζουσν μέλι ἐκαρπωσάμην καί ἡ ψυχή μου ἔκτοτε θλίψεως οὐ μετέσχεν˙ ἐκεῖ εὕρηκα τόν Χριστόν, τόν παροχέα τούτων, καί ἠκολούθησα αὐτῷ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς μου˙ ἐκεῖ τό μάννα ἔφαγον καί ἄρτον τῶν Ἀγγέλων καί οὐδενός ἐπεθύμησα τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἔτι˙ ἐκεῖ τήν ῥάβδον Ἀαρών τήν ξηράν ἐξανθοῦσαν εἶδόν τε καί ἐθαύμασα Θεοῦ τερατουργίας˙ ἐκεῖ τήν στεῖράν μου ψυχήν εἶδον καρποφοροῦσαν καί πῶς τό ξύλον τό ξηρόν ποιεῖ καρπόν ὡραῖον˙ ἐκεῖ τήν βορβορώδη μου καί ἄσωτον καρδίαν ἐθεασάμην καθαράν καί ἁγνήν καί παρθένον καί τό˙ Χαῖρε, ἀκούουσαν, ἡ κεχαριτωμένη, μετά σοῦ γάρ ὁ Κύριος καί ἐν σοί εἰς αἰῶνας! Ἐκεῖ τό˙ Νίψαι, ἤκουσα, κολυμβήθρα δακρύων! καί ποιήσας ἐπίστευσα καί ἀνέβλεψα αἴφνης˙ ἐκεῖ ἐτάφην μνήματι ταπεινώσει τελείᾳ, καί παρεγένετο Χριστός ἀμετρήτῳ ἐλέει καί λίθον ἦρε τόν βαρύν ἐκεῖθεν τῶν κακῶν μου καί εἶπε˙ ∆εῦρο, ἔξελθε ὡς ἐκ τάφου τοῦ κόσμου! Ἐκεῖ, πῶς ἔπαθεν, εἶδον, ἀπαθῶς ὁ Θεός μου καί πῶς νεκρός ἐγένετο ἀθάνατος ὑπάρχων καί ἀνέστη τοῦ μνήματος μή λύσας τάς σφραγίδας. Ἐκεῖ τήν μέλλουσαν εἶδον ζωήν καί ἀφθαρσίαν, (137) ἥν ὁ Χριστός χαρίζεται τοῖς αὐτόν ἐκζητοῦσι, καί βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν οὖσαν ἐντός μου εὗρον, ἥτις ὑπάρχει ὁ Πατήρ, ὁ Υἱός καί τό Πνεῦμα, θεότης ἀδιαίρετος ἐν τρισί τοῖς προσώποις, ἥν οἱ μή προτιμήσαντες ἀντί παντός τοῦ κόσμου καί δόξαν ἡγησάμενοι καί τιμήν τε καί πλοῦτον τό προσκυνεῖν, τό λειτουργεῖν καί παρίστασθαι μόνον ἀνάξιοι τυγχάνουσι καί τῆς ἀχράντου θέας καί τῆς τρυφῆς καί τῆς χαρᾶς καί τῶν καλῶν ἁπάντων, ὧν οὐ μή μεταλάβωσι μετάνοιαν μή σχόντες, εἰ μή πάντα ὡς εἴπομεν, γένωνται διδαχθέντες καί πάντα πράξωσι σπουδῇ, ἅ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός μου, καί τότε μόλις τις πολλῷ φόβῳ καί εὐλαβείᾳ, εἰ ὁ Θεός κελεύσειεν, ἁπτέσθω τῶν ἀψαύστων. Οὐδέ γάρ πᾶσιν ἔξεστι λειτουργεῖν τοῖς τοιούτοις, ἀλλ᾿ εἰ καί πᾶσαν δέξεται τοῦ Πνεύματος τήν χάριν καί καθαρός ἀπό μητρός ὑπάρχει ἁμαρτίας, εἰ μή Θεοῦ κελεύσματι καί ἐκλογῇ ἐκείνου, πληροφοροῦντος τήν αὐτοῦ ψυχήν ἐλλάμψει θείᾳ καί ἐμπυρίζοντος αὐτήν πόθῳ θείας ἀγάπης,