83

excelling in understanding, and I glorified our good God, who gathered you, so great a multitude, in the same place to serve him in the cross-bearing life in holiness and righteousness. Whom then shall I praise, the superior more, or you the followers and the subordinate? Both are full of encomiums, of laudations and praises; and not only according to the fellowship of the spiritual life, but also because, as I have learned, you are preserved in a disciplined life, both in self-control and in service among yourselves and in every ministry. Blessed are you in the Lord; blessed is your community; praiseworthy is your way of life. All are brides of Christ; each virgin is, to speak in the words of the Song, a garden enclosed, a sealed fountain, a rose of God's sweet fragrance, a lily of purity. O beautiful paradise! O meadow that delights God! Christ is in your midst, who is the tree of life. But since for the trial and testing of virtue there is also the forbidden plant, which is beautiful to the sight, yet is not what it appears to be, but is bitter and deadly in its partaking (and what is this but pleasure, by which Eve our foremother was captured?), we remind and advise you never to touch the deadly fruit, but to partake of the commandment of the all-beautiful and truly true fruit, using obedience and humility, love for one another and generosity, poverty and peacemaking. For by living thus you will glorify God in your body and in your spirit, as the holy apostle exclaims; thus you will be multiplied all the more; thus you will be named here with the name of holiness and in the age to come you will be glorified together; for if we suffer together, we shall also be glorified together, it is written. And what, then, is more beautiful than you? And what is more venerable than to be called daughters of God, holy offerings, temples of virginity? Since these things are so, rejoice, sisters, in the Lord, rejoice, hating the joy of the world, hating attachment to your own according to the flesh, hating to have an inheritance on earth, hating all the lovely things of the world. Since your citizenship is in heaven, and your inheritance is the kingdom of heaven, and your bridegroom is Christ himself, who has called you to follow after him and will lead you through perfection into the heavenly bridal chamber with the wise virgins. These things briefly, so that you may know that in the Holy Spirit we have considered you as sisters and we pray for better things. 66 {1To Maria, a virgin}1 Since we have managed to receive communications from your honor once and twice, we judged it necessary to greet your reverence not only with a bare address, but also by letter; and not so much on account of the communications, as on account of your reverence; for we learn that having chosen the life of virginity, you have accepted to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness. For what is better than virginity, whose care is how she will please the Lord, how she will obtain the good things to come, how she might be able to escape the intricate wiles of the devil? But she who is under marriage, on the contrary, how she will please her husband, how she might arrange well the things of the world, she who is washed over by the salty waves of life in caring for children and male and female slaves and, before these things, the matters concerning the pleasing of her husband, thus unable to rise above the turnings of the world and to be lifted up to the Lord on the wing of the mind. You, therefore, O most beautiful of women, are truly blessed and thrice-blessed, because you have chosen the good portion with that renowned Mary, sitting as it were at the feet of Jesus and hearing his word through a more tranquil life. You have sanctified yourself, having dedicated your life to God as a treasure. You have ennobled your blood in the Holy Spirit, setting yourself forth as a good example. For what will those under the yoke gain, unless perhaps they too should seek out and feel after God as much as is possible? Are not all marriages dissolved by death? Are not the beautiful things of the

83

συνέσει διαφέρουσα, καὶ ἐδόξασα τὸν ἀγαθὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν, ὃς συνήγαγεν ὑμᾶς τοσοῦτον πλῆθος ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τῷ σταυροφόρῳ βίῳ δουλεύειν αὐτῷ ἐν ὁσιότητι καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ. τίνα οὖν ἐπαινέσω, τὴν καθηγουμένην πλέον ἢ ὑμᾶς τὰς ἑπομένας καὶ ὑποτασσομένας; ἀμφότεραι ἐγκωμίων πλήρεις, αἴνων καὶ ἐπαίνων· καὶ οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὸ συναφὲς τῆς πνευματικῆς ζωῆς, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ βίῳ ἠκριβωμένῳ κατά τε ἐγκράτειαν καὶ τὴν ἐφ' ἑαυταῖς δουλείαν καὶ πᾶσαν διακονίαν, καθὰ μεμάθηκα, διατηρεῖσθε. Εὐλογημέναι ὑμεῖς ἐν Κυρίῳ· μακάριον τὸ σύνταγμα ὑμῶν· αἰνετὸν τὸ πολίτευμα ὑμῶν. πᾶσαι νύμφαι Χριστοῦ· ἑκάστη παρθένος, ᾀσματικῶς εἰπεῖν, κῆπος κεκλεισμένος, πηγὴ ἐσφραγισμένη, ῥόδον εὐοσμίας θεοῦ, κρῖνον ἀχραντίας. ὢ καλοῦ παραδείσου· ὢ λειμῶνος θεοτερποῦς. Χριστὸς ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν, ὅς ἐστι τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πρὸς πεῖραν καὶ δοκιμὴν ἀρετῆς ἔστι καὶ τὸ φυτὸν τὸ ἀπειρημένον, ὅπερ ὡραῖον εἰς κατανόησιν, οὐ μὴν ὅπερ φαίνοιτό ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ πικρὸν καὶ θανάσιμον τῇ μεταλήψει (καὶ τί τοῦτο ἀλλ' ἡδονή, ὑφ' ἧς ἑάλω Εὔα ἡ προμήτωρ;), ὑπομνήσκομεν καὶ παραινοῦμεν μήποτε ἅψασθαι ὑμᾶς τοῦ θανασίμου καρποῦ, ἀλλὰ μεταλαμβάνειν τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ πανωραίου καὶ ἀληθινοῦ ὡς ἀληθῶς καρποῦ, ὑπακοῇ καὶ ταπεινοφροσύνῃ κεχρημένας, ἀγάπῃ τῇ εἰς ἀλλήλας καὶ ἀφθονίᾳ, ἀκτημοσύνῃ καὶ εἰρηνοποιΐα. οὕτω γὰρ βιοῦσαι δοξάσοιτε τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῷ σώματι ὑμῶν καὶ ἐν τῷ πνεύματι, καθὰ βοᾷ ὁ ἱερὸς ἀπόστολος· οὕτω καὶ μᾶλλον πληθυνθήσεσθε· οὕτω κἀνταῦθα ὀνομασθήσεσθε ὀνόματι ὁσιότητος καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι συνδοξασθήσεσθε· εἴπερ γὰρ συμπάσχομεν, καὶ συνδοξασθησόμεθα, γέγραπται. καὶ τί λοιπὸν ὡραιότερον ὑμῶν; τί δὲ σεβασμιώτερον θυγατέρας θεοῦ καλεῖσθαι, ἀναθήματα ἱερά, ναοὶ παρθενίας; Ἐπεὶ οὖν ταῦτα, χαίρετε, ἀδελφαί, ἐν Κυρίῳ, χαίρετε, μισοῦσαι τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ κόσμου, μισοῦσαι τὸ πρὸς τοὺς κατὰ σάρκα ἰδίους προσπαθές, μισοῦσαι τὸ κλῆρον ἔχειν ἐπὶ γῆς, μισοῦσαι τὰ κατὰ κόσμον ἐραστὰ ἅπαντα. ἐπείπερ ὑμῶν τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς, καὶ κληρουχία ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ νυμφίος αὐτὸς Χριστός, ὁ κεκληκὼς ὑμᾶς ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ ἀκολουθεῖν καὶ εἰσάξων διὰ τελειώσεως εἰς τὸν ἐπουράνιον νυμφῶνα μετὰ τῶν φρονίμων παρθένων. Ταῦτα δὴ ἐπ' ὀλίγον, ὡς ἂν γνῶτε ὅτι ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ ὡς ἀδελφὰς ὑμᾶς λελογίσμεθα καὶ ἐπευχόμεθα τὰ κρείττονα. 66 {1Μαρίᾳ παρθενευούσῃ}1 Ἐπειδὴ καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς ἀποστολὰς ἐφθάσαμεν παρὰ τῆς τιμιότητός σου δέξασθαι, ἀναγκαῖον ἐκρίναμεν μὴ μόνον ψιλῇ προσρήσει, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ γράμματος προσαγορεῦσαι τὴν σεμνοπρέπειάν σου· καὶ οὐ τοσοῦτον διὰ τὰς ἀποστολάς, ὅσον διὰ τὴν σεμνότητά σου· μανθάνομεν γὰρ ὅτι τὸν ἐν παρθενίᾳ βίον εἱλαμένη δουλεύειν τῷ Κυρίῳ κατεδέξω ἐν ὁσιότητι καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ. τί γὰρ κρεῖττον παρθενίας, ἧς ἡ μέριμνα πῶς ἀρέσει τῷ Κυρίῳ, πῶς ἐπιτεύξεται τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, πῶς δυνηθείη διαδράσαι τὰς πολυπλόκους μεθοδείας τοῦ διαβόλου; ἡ δὲ ὑπὸ γάμον τελοῦσα τοὐναντίον, πῶς ἀρέσει τῷ ἀνδρί, πῶς τὰ τοῦ κόσμου εὖ διαθείη, ἡ περικλυζομένη τοῖς ἁλμυροῖς κύμασι τοῦ βίου ἐν τῷ φροντίζειν περὶ τέκνων τε καὶ δούλων καὶ δουλίδων καὶ πρό γε τούτων τὰ περὶ ἀρέσκειαν τοῦ ἀνδρός, οὕπω δυναμένη ὑπερανεστάναι τῶν στροφῶν τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τῷ τῆς διανοίας πτερῷ κουφίζεσθαι πρὸς Κύριον. Σὺ οὖν, ὦ καλλίστη γυναικῶν, μακαρία ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ τρισμακαρία, ὅτι τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξω μετὰ Μαρίαν ἐκείνην τὴν ἀοίδιμον, οἱονεὶ παρακαθεζομένη παρὰ τοὺς πόδας Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἀκούουσα δι' ἀπραγμονεστέρου βίου τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ. ἡγίασας ἑαυτὴν ὡς κειμήλιον θεῷ ἀναθεμένη τὴν ζωήν σου. ἐξευγένισας, τὸ αἷμά σου ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ, καλὸν ὑπόδειγμα ἑαυτὴν προθεμένη. τί γὰρ καὶ κερδήσουσιν αἱ ὑπὸ ζυγόν, εἰ μή τι ἄρα ἐκζητήσοιεν καὶ ψηλαφήσοιεν καὶ αὐταὶ τὸν θεὸν καθ' ὅσον οἷόν τε; οὐχὶ πᾶσαι συζυγίαι ἀποζεύγνυνται διὰ θανάτου; οὐχ ὡς ὄναρ τὰ ὡραῖα τοῦ