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of the prison, he will be blessed and a friend of Christ. For if he who gives his possessions to the poor is perfect after the knowledge of divine things, how much more so he who does so for the sake of the martyrs; for such a one, having been worthy of God, will fulfill His will, by providing for those who confessed Him before nations and kings and the sons of Israel, concerning whom the Lord declared, saying: “Whoever confesses in Me before men, I also will confess in him before My Father who is in heaven.” And if they are such that they are testified to by Christ before the Father, you ought not to be ashamed to go to them in the prisons; for when you do this, it will be counted to you as a testimony, because for them the testimony was by trial, but for you for the time being by eagerness, as partakers in their contest. For somewhere the Lord says to such ones, stating: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.” Then the righteous will answer, saying: “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You drink? Or naked and clothe You? Or sick and visit You? Or a stranger and take You in? Or in prison and come to You?” And He will answer and say to them: “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” And these will go away into eternal life.” But if anyone, calling himself a brother, being deceived by the evil one, does evil and being convicted is condemned to death as an adulterer or as a murderer, separate yourselves from him, that you may be inviolate, and that none of you be suspected as a partaker of the abomination and that blasphemy not be poured out, as if all Christians rejoice in lawless deeds; therefore keep far away from them. But to those who for Christ’s sake are shut up in prison through the spite of the ungodly, or are delivered to death, or to bonds and exile, help with all eagerness, delivering your members from the hand of the lawless. And if anyone consorting with them is seized and subjected to tortures, he is blessed, because he has become a partaker with the martyrs and an imitator of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. For we also often for Christ’s sake by Caiaphas

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τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου, μακάριος ἔσται καὶ φίλος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Eἰ γὰρ ὁ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα πτωχοῖς δοὺς τέλειος μετὰ τὴν περὶ τῶν θείων γνῶσιν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ ὑπὲρ μαρτύρων· ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος, ἄξιος Θεοῦ ὑπάρξας, πληρώσει τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, χορηγήσας ἐκείνοις, οἵτινες αὐτὸν ὡμολόγησαν ἐνώ πιον ἐθνῶν καὶ βασιλέων υἱῶν τε Ἰσραήλ, περὶ ὧν ὁ Κύριος ἀπεφήνατο λέγων· «Ὃς ἂν ὁμολογήσῃ ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὁμολογήσω κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς.» Καὶ εἰ τοιοῦτοί εἰσιν, ὡς καὶ ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτοὺς μαρτυρεῖσθαι, ὑμεῖς οὐκ ὀφείλετε ἐπαισχυνθῆναι ἀπιέναι πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐν ταῖς φυλακαῖς· τοῦτο γὰρ ποιησάντων ὑμῶν, μαρτύριον ὑμῖν λογισθήσεται, ὅτι ἐκείνοις μὲν πείρᾳ τὸ μαρτύριον ὑπῆρξεν, ὑμῖν δὲ τέως προθυμίᾳ, ὡς κοινωνοῖς τῆς ἀθλήσεως αὐτῶν. Λέγει γάρ που ὁ Κύριος πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους φάσκων· «∆εῦτε οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου· ἐπείνασα γὰρ καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, ἐδίψησα καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με, ξένος ἤμην καὶ συνηγάγετέ με, γυμνὸς καὶ περιεβάλετέ με, ἀσθενὴς ἤμην καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με, ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην καὶ ἤλθετε πρὸς μέ. Τότε ἀποκριθήσονται οἱ δίκαιοι λέγοντες· Κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα καὶ ἐθρέψαμεν; Ἢ διψῶντα καὶ ἐποτίσαμεν; Ἢ γυμνὸν καὶ περιεβάλομεν; Ἢ ἀσθενῆ καὶ ἐπεσκεψάμεθα; Ἢ ξένον καὶ συνηγάγομεν; Ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ καὶ ἤλθομεν πρὸς σέ; Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ἐρεῖ αὐτοῖς· Ἐφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Καὶ ἀπελεύσονται οὗτοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.» Eἰ δέ τις, ἀδελφὸν λέγων ἑαυτὸν εἶναι, ἀπατηθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ κακοποιήσῃ καὶ ἐλεγχθεὶς κατακριθῇ θανάτῳ ὡς μοιχὸς ἢ ὡς φονεύς, χωρίζεσθε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ἦτε ἄσυλοι, καὶ μή τις ὑμῶν ὡς κοινωνὸς τοῦ μύσους ὑποπτευθῇ καὶ καταχέηται βλασφημίαν, ὡς πάντων χριστια νῶν χαιρόντων ἐπὶ τοῖς παρανόμοις ἔργοις· διὸ μακρὰν ἀπ' αὐτῶν χωρεῖτε. Τοῖς μέντοι διὰ Χριστὸν κατ' ἐπή ρειαν παρὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν συγκλειομένοις εἰς φυλακὴν ἢ πρὸς θάνατον ἐκδιδομένοις ἢ πρὸς δεσμὰ καὶ ἐξορίαν πάσῃ σπουδῇ βοηθεῖτε, τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν ·υόμενοι ἐκ χειρὸς ἀθέσμων. Καὶ ἐάν τις αὐτοῖς συγκείμενος κρατηθῇ καὶ αἰκίαις ὑποπέσῃ, μακάριός ἐστιν, ὅτι κοινωνὸς μαρτύρων ἐγένετο καὶ μιμητὴς τῶν τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παθημάτων. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς πολλάκις ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ ὑπὸ Καϊάφα