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existing, was free from the circumstantial necessity of skills because of need; and being wise, he was established above the contemplation concerning nature because of knowledge.

5.100 (ρ΄) God, who with wisdom established all nature, and secretly placed His knowledge in them according to the capacity of each of the rational essences, has also given to us men, as a magnanimous Master, according to nature the desire and love for Him, naturally interweaving with it the power of reason; whereby we might be able to know with ease the ways of the fulfillment of desire, and not, having stumbled, miss that which we strive to attain. Moved, therefore, by this desire, we are led to seek concerning both truth itself and the wisdom and administration manifested in an orderly way in all things, striving through these things to attain Him for whose sake we received the desire.

End of the divine chapters of Maximus. OTHER CHAPTERS * VERSES A flowing spring, the dew of moral words, Here you will find, if you pursue genuinely, The labors of Maximus the Confessor, friend. Embrace them, and you will learn the profit. (15∆_320> 1.1 (α΄) It is incumbent on every Christian who rightly believes in God,

not to be without care; but always to expect and await temptation; so that when it comes, he may not be surprised nor troubled; but to endure with thanksgiving the labor of affliction, and to understand what he says, chanting with the Prophet: Examine me, Lord, and test me. And he did not say: That your discipline has destroyed me, but, it has raised me up completely.

1.2 (β΄) The beginning of the good is the fear of God; and the end, the desire for Him. The beginning of every good is reason in action, and action informed by reason. Therefore, neither is action without reason good; nor is the word that comes forth without action.

1.3 (γ΄) Action of the body is fasting and vigil; of the mouth, psalmody; but better than psalmody is prayer; and silence is more precious than speech. And the action of the hands is that which is done by them without grumbling. And of the feet, that which is accomplished by them from the first command (15∆_322> The action of the soul is self-control with simplicity, and simplicity activated by self-control. And of the mind, prayer in contemplation, and in prayer, the contemplation of God.

1.4 (δ΄) Mercy and truth precede all virtues, of which the offspring is humility, and the discernment that comes from this, according to the Fathers. Without which, no other virtue will be able to see its own end.

1.5 (ε΄) Action, for its part, dishonoring the yoke of reason, 1404 is found wandering hither and thither concerning unprofitable things, like some heifer; but reason, rejecting the honorable tunics of practice, is not comely, even if it is somehow fashioned to appear so.

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ὑπάρχων, τῆς περί τέχνας περιστατικῆς ἀνάγκης διά τήν χρείαν, ἐλεύθερος ἦν· καί σοφός ὤν, τῆς περί τήν φύσιν θεωρίας ὑπεράνω καθειστήκει διά τήν γνῶσιν.

5.100 (ρ΄) Ὁ πᾶσαν μετά σοφίας τήν φύσιν ὑποστήσας Θεός, καί πρός τήν ἑκάστου τῶν λογικῶν οὐσιῶν δύναμιν τήν αὐτοῦ γνῶσιν κρυφίως ἐνθέμενος, δέδωκε καί ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὡς μεγαλόδωρος ∆εσπότης, κατά φύσιν τόν εἰς αὐτόν πόθον καί ἔρωτα, συνεπιπλέξας αὐτῷ φυσικῶς τοῦ λόγου τήν δύναμιν· ἐφ᾿ ᾧ δυνηθῆναι μετά ῥαστώνης γνῶναι τούς τρόπους τῆς τοῦ πόθου πληρώσεως, καί μή παρασφαλέντας διαμαρτεῖν οὗ τυχεῖν ἀγωνιζόμεθα. Κατά τοῦτον οὖν κινούμενοι τόν πόθον, περί τε τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτῆς καί τῆς εὐτάκτως τοῖς ὅλοις ἐμφαινομένης σοφίας τε καί διοικήσεως, ζητεῖν ἐναγόμεθα, ἐκείνου τυχεῖν διά τούτων γλιχόμενοι, οὗ χάριν τόν πόθον ἐλάβομεν.

Τέλος Μαξίμου τῶν θείων κεφαλαίων. ΕΤΕΡΑ ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΑ * ΣΤΙΧΟΙ Πηγήν νάουσαν ἠθικῶν δρόσον λόγων, Ἐνταῦθ᾿ ἐφεύρεις, εἰ μετέλθῆς γνησίως, Ὁμολογητοῦ Μαξίμου πόνους, φίλε. Ἀσπάζου δ᾿ αὐτούς, καί μαθήσῃ τό κέρδος. (15∆_320> 1.1 (α΄) Ἔπεστι παντί Χριστιανῷ τῷ ὀρθῶς πιστεύοντι εἰς Θεόν,

μή ἀμεριμνεῖν· ἀλλά πάντοτε προσδοκᾶν καί ἐκδέχεσθαι πειρασμόν· ἵνα ὅταν ἔλθῃ, μή ξενίζηται μηδέ ταράσσηται· ἀλλ᾿ εὐχαρίστως ὑπομένειν τόν κόπον τῆς θλίψεως, καί ἐννοεῖν τί ψάλλων σύν τῷ Προφήτῃ λέγει· ∆οκίμασόν με, Κύριε, καί πείρασόν με. Καί οὐκ εἶπεν· Ὅτι ἡ παιδεία σου κατέστρεψέ με, ἀλλά, ἀνώρθωσέ με εἰς τέλος.

1.2 (β΄) Ἀρχή μέν καλοῦ, φόβος Θεοῦ· τέλος δέ, ὁ πόθος αὐτοῦ. Ἀρχή παντός ἀγαθοῦ λόγος ἔμπρακτος, καί πρᾶξις ἐλλόγιμος. ∆ιό, οὔτε πρᾶξις λόγου χωρίς, ἀγαθή· οὔτε λόγος πράξεως ἄνευ, ὁ προερχόμενος.

1.3 (γ΄) Πρᾶξις ἐστί, σώματος μεν, νηστεία καί ἀγρυπνία· στόματος δέ, ψαλμῳδία· ψαλμῳδίας δέ κρεῖττον, εὐχή· καί σιωπή, λόγου τιμιωτέρα. Καί χειρῶν πρᾶξις, τό ὑπ᾿ ἐκείνων ἀγογγύστως γινόμενον. Ποδῶν δέ, τό δι᾿ αὐτῶν ἐκ πρώτης ἐπιτροπῆς (15∆_322> ἀνυόμενον. Ψυχῆς δέ πρᾶξις, ἐγκράτεια σύν ἁπλότητι, καί ἁπλότης τῇ ἐγκρατείᾳ ἐνεργουμένη. Τοῦ δέ νοός, ἡ ἐν θεωρίᾳ εὐχή, καί ἐν εὐχῇ θεωρία τοῦ Θεοῦ.

1.4 (δ΄) Προηγεῖται πασῶν ἀρετῶν, ἔλεος καί ἀλήθεια, ὧν κύημα ἡ ταπείνωσις, καί ἡ ἐκ ταύτης κατά τούς Πατέρας προσγινομένη διάκρισις. Ἧς ἄνευ, οὐδ᾿ ἑτέρα τό αὐτῆς ἰδεῖν πέρας δυνήσεται.

1.5 (ε΄) Ἡ μέν πρᾶξις τόν τοῦ λόγου ζυγόν ἀτιμάζουσα, 1404 ᾧδε κἀκεῖσε περί τά ἀνωφελῆ, οἷά τις δάμαλις περιπλανωμένη εὑρίσκεται· ὁ δέ λόγος, τῆς πρακτικῆς τούς ἐντίμους χιτῶνας ἀποποιούμενος, οὐκ εὐσχήμων, κἄν τοιοῦτος εἶναι πως τό δοκεῖν σχηματίζεται.