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or to receive the breath of the Spirit who gives life and moves the body and the members, and to partake of wholly incorruptible food. For this reason, then, that we may not leave the measure of the stature of Christ incomplete, we place holy love upon it as a veritable head, not having conceived or contrived this from ourselves, far from it, but having been taught it by that Holy Spirit, possessed by the one who said: "But these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the greatest of all is love," and again: "If I have all faith, so as to move mountains, and if I have all knowledge and know all mysteries, and if I give away all my possessions, and if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I am profited nothing." For faith, through hope as a mediator, invisibly and imperceptibly—I speak of those still infants—being made eager and taught and empowered by holy love, accomplishes all the things aforesaid; and in accomplishing them (193) it nourishes and heals and makes the head grow through such things, that is, love itself; and this love, being healed and growing, provides greater strength in proportion to the rest of the body of virtues and prepares it to stretch forward more fervently to the things that lie ahead.

And thus all the members of the spiritual body grow little by little, like bone to bone and joint to joint, being put together and fitted and bound together by holy love. And this love, or rather the head of all the virtues, is Christ and God, who for this reason came down to earth and became man, partaking of our earthly flesh, that He might impart His own divinity to us essentially, and having made us spiritual and rendered us incorruptible, might bring us up to the heavens. This is the love which the divine Apostle says has been poured out richly in our hearts, that is, the partaking and participation in His divinity, through which we are united to God. Concerning this John the Theologian also says: "Perfect love casts out fear," and that: "He who fears has not been made perfect in love," and again: "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God." Here he calls the Holy Spirit of God "love," through whom we also receive adoption as sons.

This love, then, no man has been able to see or to receive or to be joined to, unless, as we have said, he has kept his faith in Christ firm and unshakeable and upon this faith has built up with diligence all the aforementioned practices; but he who has not beheld it, nor been joined (194) to it, nor partaken of its sweetness, cannot even love it worthily. For one whom a person has not seen, how can he love him? "For he who does not love his brother," it says, "whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" Again, if one does not first love Him with all his soul, with all his heart, according to the natural concepts and according to the friendly love and disposition we possess, he is not counted worthy to see Him. "For he who loves me," He said, "will be loved by my Father," and then He adds: "and I will love him and manifest myself to him." From which it is clearly shown that, unless someone first loves God with all his soul and demonstrates his love for Him in the denial of himself and of the whole world, he is not mystically counted worthy of His manifestation in the revelation of the Holy Spirit, nor does he possess Him as his head, but he is a dead body in spiritual works, deprived of the life of all, Christ.

Those, then, who have been counted worthy to be joined to Him and to acquire Him as their head—pay attention to the argument, I beg you—these too become gods by adoption, like the Son of God. O the wonder! For the Father clothes them in the first robe, the garment of the Lord which He wore before the foundation of the world. "For as many of you," it says, "as were baptized into Christ,

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ἤ ἀναπνοήν τοῦ ζωοποιοῦντος καί κινοῦντος τό σῶμα καί τά μέλη Πνεύματος δέξασθαι καί τροφῆς ὅλως ἀφθάρτου μεταλαβεῖν. ∆ιά δή τοῦτο, ἵνα μή ἀτελές τό τῆς ἡλικίας Χριστοῦ μέτρον ἐάσωμεν, ὥσπερ κεφαλήν τῷ ὄντι τήν ἁγίαν ἀγάπην ἐπιτίθεμεν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ, οὐκ ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτῶν τοῦτο νοήσαντες ἤ συσκευάσαντες, ἄπαγε, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ τοῦ Ἁγίου ἐκείνου Πνεύματος διδαχθέντες, οὗ εἶχεν ὁ εἰπών· "Μένει δέ τά τρία ταῦτα, πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη· μείζων δέ πάντων ἡ ἀγάπη", καί αὖθις· "Ἐάν ἔχω πᾶσαν τήν πίστιν, ὥστε ὄρη μεθιστάνειν, καί ἐάν ἔχω πᾶσαν τήν γνῶσιν καί εἰδῶ τά μυστήρια πάντα καί ἐάν ψωμίσω πάντα τά ὑπάρχοντά μοι καί ἐάν ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαλῶ καί τῶν ἀγγέλων καί ἐάν παραδῶ τό σῶμά μου ἵνα καυθήσωμαι, ἀγάπην δέ μή ἔχω, οὐδέν ὠφελοῦμαι". Ἡ γάρ πίστις διά τῆς ἐλπίδος μεσιτευούσης ὑπό τῆς ἁγίας ἀγάπης ἀοράτως καί ἀνεπαισθήτως, ἐν τοῖς νηπίοις ἔτι λέγω, προθυμουμένη καί διδασκομένη καί ἱκανουμένη, πάντα τά προειρημένα ἐπιτελεῖ· ἐπιτελοῦσα δέ (193) τρέφει καί θεραπεύει καί αὐξάνειν ποιεῖ διά τῶν τοιούτων τήν κεφαλήν, αὐτήν, φημί, τήν ἀγάπην· αὕτη δέ θεραπευομένη καί αὐξάνουσα, πλείονα κατά ἀναλογίαν παρέχει τῷ λοιπῷ τῶν ἀρετῶν σώματι τήν ἰσχύν καί τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν προσεπεκτείνεσθαι παρασκευάζει θερμότερον.

Καί οὕτως αὐξάνουσι κατά μικρόν ὅλα τά μέλη τοῦ πνευματικοῦ σώματος, ὥσπερ ὀστοῦν πρός ὀστοῦν καί ἁρμονία πρός ἁρμονίαν, ὑπό τῆς ἁγίας ἀγάπης συντιθέμενα καί συναρμολογούμενα καί συνδούμενα. Ἡ δέ ἀγάπη αὕτη, εἴτ᾿ οὖν ἡ κεφαλή πάντων τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐστίν ὁ Χριστός καί Θεός, ὅς διά τοῦτο κατῆλθεν ἐπί τῆς γῆς καί γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, μεταλαβών τῆς ἡμετέρας γεώδους σαρκός, ἵνα μεταδῷ τῆς αὐτοῦ θεότητος οὐσιωδῶς ἡμῖν καί πνευματικούς ἡμᾶς ἐργασάμενος καί ἀφθάρτους ἀποτελέσας εἰς οὐρανούς ἀνενέγκῃ. Αὕτη ἐστίν ἡ ἀγάπη ἥν λέγει ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος ὅτι ἐκκέχυται πλουσίως ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν, ἤγουν ἡ μετουσία καί μέθεξις τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ, δι᾿ ἧς ἑνούμεθα τῷ Θεῷ. Περί ταύτης καί ὁ Ἰωάννης φησίν ὁ θεολόγος· "Ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη ἔξω βάλλει τόν φόβον", καί ὅτι· "Ὁ φοβούμενος οὐ τετελείωται ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ", καί πάλιν· "Ἴδετε ποταπήν ἀγάπην δέδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ Πατήρ, ἵνα τέκνα Θεοῦ κληθῶμεν". Ἀγάπην ἐνταῦθα τό τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἅγιον καλεῖ Πνεῦμα, δι᾿ οὗ καί τήν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπολαμβάνομεν.

Ταύτην οὖν τήν ἀγάπην οὐδείς ἀνθρώπων ἰδεῖν ἤ λαβεῖν ἤ συναφθῆναι ἠδυνήθη, εἰ μή τήν εἰς Χριστόν πίστιν, ὡς εἴπομεν, στερράν ἐτήρησε καί ἀκράδαντον καί ἐπί ταύτῃ τῇ πίστει τάς εἰρημένας ἁπάσας πράξεις ἐπῳκοδόμησεν ἐν σπουδῇ· ὁ δέ γε μή θεασάμενος, μήτε συναφθείς (194) αὐτῇ, μήτε τῆς γλυκύτητος αὐτῆς μετασχών, οὐδέ ἀγαπῆσαι ταύτην ἀξίως δύναται. Ὅν γάρ οὐκ ἴδῃ τις, πῶς ἀγαπᾶν αὐτόν δύναται; "Ὁ γάρ μή ἀγαπῶν τόν ἀδελφόν αὐτοῦ, φησίν, ὅν ἑώρακε, τόν Θεόν ὅν οὐχ ἑώρακε πῶς δύναται ἀγαπᾶν;" Πάλιν δέ εἰ μή ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς, ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας, κατά τάς φυσικάς ἐννοίας καί κατά τήν προσοῦσαν ἡμῖν φιλικήν ἀγάπησιν καί διάθεσιν, ἀγαπήσει αὐτόν πρότερον, ἰδεῖν οὐ καταξιοῦται αὐτόν. "Ὁ ἀγαπῶν με γάρ, εἶπεν, ἀγαπηθήσεται ὑπό τοῦ Πατρός μου", καί τότε ἐπιφέρει· "καί ἐγώ ἀγαπήσω αὐτόν καί ἐμφανίσω αὐτῷ ἐμαυτόν". Ἐξ ὧν δείκνυται φανερῶς ὅτι, ἐάν μή πρότερον ἐξ ὅλης αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγαπήση τις τόν Θεόν καί τήν πρός αὐτόν ἀγάπην ἐν τῇ ἀπαρνήσει ἑαυτοῦ καί τοῦ κόσμου παντός ἐπιδείξηται, τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐμφανείας ἐν ἀποκαλύψει Πνεύματος Ἁγίου μυστικῶς οὐκ ἀξιοῦται οὐδέ τήν κεφαλήν ἑαυτοῦ αὐτόν κέκτηται, ἀλλά σῶμά ἐστι νεκρόν ἐν τοῖς πνευματικοῖς ἔργοις, τήν ζωήν τῶν ἁπάντων ἐστερημένον, Χριστόν.

Οἱ γοῦν ἀξιωθέντες αὐτῷ συναφθῆναι καί κεφαλήν αὐτόν κτήσασθαι, πρόσεχε τῷ λόγῳ, παρακαλῶ, γίνονται καί οὖτοι θέσει θεοί, ὅμοιοι τῷ Υἱῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὤ τοῦ θαύματος! Ἐνδύει γάρ αὐτούς ὁ Πατήρ τήν πρώτην στολήν, τό τοῦ Κυρίου ἱμάτιον ὅ πρό καταβολῆς κόσμου ἐνεδιδύσκετο. "Ὅσοι γάρ, φησίν, εἰς Χριστόν ἐβαπτίσθητε,