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to receive it unplotted against. "You are God's field," he says, "God's building." The enemy shook this building; the Creator repaired the cracks that formed in it. Thus necessary was the fall because of sin, but great is the resurrection because of immortality. But they plotted to reject my honor; they ran 29.476 in thirst, with their mouth they blessed, but with their heart they cursed. The honor of man is the blood of Christ; "For you were bought," he says, "with a price; do not become slaves of men." Therefore, these soldiers of the evil one plotted to render this honor useless to us, leading those once freed back into slavery. They ran in thirst. He speaks of the intensity of the demons' plotting, that they run against us, thirsting for our destruction. With their mouth they blessed, but with their heart they cursed. There are many who approve of wicked deeds, calling the jester charming, and the user of obscene language sophisticated; they name the bitter and angry man formidable; they praise the frugal and unsociable man as economical, the prodigal as generous, the fornicator and licentious man as some pleasure-seeker and unrestrained; and in short, they give a euphemism to every vice from its adjacent virtue. Such men bless with their mouth, but curse with their heart. For in the fine-sounding words they bring every curse upon their life, making them liable to eternal condemnation through the things they approve. Again he speaks to the soul, intensifying its submission to God. "But to God," he says, "be subject, O my soul, for from him is my endurance." He shows the magnitude of the temptations, and says what the Apostle says: that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear. For from him is my endurance. In God is my salvation and my glory; the God of my help, and my hope is in God. Blessed is he who exults in none of the high things of this life, but has God as his glory; who has Christ as his boast; who is able to say according to the Apostle: "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of Christ." But now many are glorified in the body, those who have devoted themselves to gymnastic contests, or in general those who are vigorous in the prime of their age; and many in bravery in wars, who even consider the killing of their fellow men a virtue. For excellence in wars and the trophies raised by a general and by cities come about according to the abundance of killing. Others are glorified for surrounding cities with walls; 29.477 and others for the construction of aqueducts, and the great buildings of gymnasia. But a certain man, spending his wealth on beast-fighters, and exulting in the vain shouts of the people, is puffed up by the praises, and is proud, having his glory in his shame; who even shows his own sin in writing on tablets in the conspicuous places of the city. Another is glorified for wealth; and another, because he is a certain terrible and invincible orator, or experienced in worldly wisdom. It is fitting to pity the glory of all these; but to call blessed those who make God their glory. For if a certain man is proud because he is a servant of a king, being greatly honored by him; how much more fitting is it for you to be magnified in yourself, because you are a servant of the great King, called by Him to the highest intimacy, having received the Spirit of the promise, so that being sealed in Him you might be shown to be a son of God? But having known in himself the benefit of genuine hope in God, he exhorts the people to a zeal equal to his own, saying: "Hope in him, all you assembly of peoples, pour out your hearts before him." It is impossible for us to become receptive of divine grace without having first driven out the passions from wickedness that have taken possession of our souls. I have seen physicians not giving the saving medicines before they have emptied out by vomiting the disease-causing matter, which from wicked

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ἀνεπιβούλευτον ἀπολαβεῖν. Θεοῦ γεώργιον, φησὶ, Θεοῦ οἰκοδομή ἐστε. Τὴν οἰκοδομὴν ταύτην κατέσεισεν ὁ ἐχθρός· τὰ γενόμενα ἐν αὐτῇ ῥήγματα ἀνεσκεύασεν ὁ ∆ημιουργός. Οὕ τως ἀναγκαία μὲν ἡ πτῶσις διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, με γάλη δὲ ἡ ἀνάστασις διὰ τὴν ἀθανασίαν. Πλὴν τὴν τιμήν μου ἐβουλεύσαντο ἀπώσασθαι· ἔδραμον 29.476 ἐν δίψει, τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν εὐλόγουν, καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν κατηρῶντο. Τιμὴ ἀνθρώπου τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ· Τιμῆς γὰρ, φησὶν, ἠγοράσθητε· μὴ γί νεσθε δοῦλοι ἀνθρώπων. Ταύτην οὖν τὴν τιμὴν ἐβουλεύσαντο ἄχρηστον ἡμῖν καταστῆσαι, τοὺς ἅπαξ ἐλευθερωθέντας πάλιν εἰς δουλείαν ἐνάγοντες, οἱ στρατιῶται τοῦ πονηροῦ. Ἔδραμον ἐν δίψει. Τὸ σύντονον λέγει τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων ἐπιβουλῆς, ὅτι τρέχουσι καθ' ἡμῶν, διψῶντες ἡμῶν τὴν ἀπώλειαν. Τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν εὐλόγουν, καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν κατηρῶντο. Πολλοί εἰσι τὰς πονηρὰς πράξεις ἀποδεχόμενοι, καὶ χαρίεντα μὲν τὸν εὐτράπελον λέ γοντες, τὸν δὲ αἰσχρολόγον πολιτικόν· τὸν πικρὸν καὶ ὀργίλον ἀκαταφρόνητον ὀνομάζουσι· τὸν φειδω λὸν καὶ ἀκοινώνητον ὡς οἰκονομικὸν ἐπαινοῦσι, τὸν ἄσωτον ὡς ἐλευθέριον, τὸν πόρνον καὶ ἀσελγῆ ἀπολαυστικόν τινα καὶ ἀνειμένον· καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς πᾶσαν κακίαν ἐκ τῆς παρακειμένης ἀρετῆς ὑποκο ρίζονται. Οἱ τοιοῦτοι τῷ στόματι μὲν εὐλογοῦσι, τῇ δὲ καρδίᾳ καταρῶνται. Ἐν γὰρ τῇ τῶν ῥημάτων εὐφημίᾳ πᾶσαν κατάραν ἐπάγουσιν αὐτῶν τῇ ζωῇ, ὑποδίκους αὐτοὺς τῇ αἰωνίᾳ κατακρίσει δι' ὧν ἀποδέχονται καθιστῶντες. Πάλιν τῇ ψυχῇ διαλέ γεται, τὴν ὑποταγὴν αὐτῆς τὴν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐπι τείνων. Πλὴν τῷ Θεῷ, φησὶν, ὑποτάγηθι, ἡ ψυχή μου, ὅτι παρ' αὐτοῦ ἡ ὑπομονή μου. Ἐνδεί κνυται τὸ μέγεθος τῶν πειρασμῶν, καὶ τὸ τοῦ Ἀπο στόλου λέγει· ὅτι οὐκ ἐάσει ἡμᾶς πειρασθῆναι ὑπὲρ ὃ δυνάμεθα ὑπενεγκεῖν. Παρ' αὐτοῦ γὰρ ἡ ὑπομονή μου. Ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ τὸ σωτήριόν μου καὶ ἡ δόξα μου· ὁ Θεὸς τῆς βοηθείας μου, καὶ ἡ ἐλπίς μου ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ. Μακάριος ὁ μηδενὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον ὑψη λῶν ἐπαγαλλόμενος, ἀλλὰ Θεὸν ἔχων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δόξαν· ὁ καύχημα ἔχων ἑαυτοῦ τὸν Χριστόν· ὁ δυ νάμενος λέγειν κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον· Ἐμοὶ δὲ μὴ γένοιτο καυχᾶσθαι εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Νῦν δὲ πολλοὶ μὲν ἐνδοξάζονται σώματι, οἱ περὶ τοὺς γυμνικοὺς ἐσχολακότες ἀγῶνας, ἢ ὅλως οἱ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀκμῇ τῆς ἡλικίας σφριγῶντες· πολλοὶ δὲ τῇ κατὰ τοὺς πολέμους ἀνδρίᾳ, οἱ καὶ τὸ φονεύειν τοὺς ὁμο φύλους ἀρετὴν τιθέμενοι. Ἡ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις ἀριστεία καὶ τὰ τρόπαια ὑπὸ στρατηγοῦ καὶ πόλεων ἐγειρόμενα κατὰ τὴν τοῦ φονεύειν περιουσίαν γίνε ται. Ἄλλοι δοξάζονται, τείχη πόλεσι περιβάλλοντες· 29.477 καὶ ἄλλοι ἐν ὑδραγωγῶν κατασκευαῖς, καὶ γυμνασίων μεγάλων οἰκοδομήμασιν. Ὁ δεῖνα δὲ τὸν πλοῦτον ἑαυτοῦ θηριομάχοις προσαναλίσκων, καὶ ταῖς ματαίαις τῶν δήμων φωναῖς ἐπαγαλλόμενος, φυσᾶται τοῖς ἐπαί νοις, καὶ μέγα φρονεῖ, τὴν δόξαν ἔχων ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτοῦ· ὅς γε καὶ ἔγγραφον ἐν τοῖς περιφανέσι τῆς πόλεως τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίαν ἐπὶ τῶν πινάκων δείκνυ σιν. Ἄλλος ἐπὶ πλούτῳ δοξάζεται· καὶ ἄλλος, ὅτι ῥήτωρ ἐστὶ δεινός τις καὶ ἄμαχος, ἢ τῆς κατὰ τὸν κόσμον σοφίας ἔμπειρος. Ὧν πάντων ἐλεεῖν τὴν δόξαν προσῆκε· μακαρίζειν δὲ τοὺς τὸν Θεὸν ἑαυτῶν δόξαν ποιουμένους. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ δεῖνα μέγα φρονεῖ, ὅτι δοῦλός ἐστι βασιλέως, τιμώμενος παρ' αὐτοῦ τὰ με γάλα· πόσον σοι προσῆκεν ἐπὶ σαυτῷ μεγαλύνεσθαι, ὅτι δοῦλος εἶ τοῦ μεγάλου Βασιλέως, προσκληθεὶς παρ' αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἄκραν οἰκείωσιν, λαβὼν τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ὥστε σφραγισθεὶς ἐν αὐτῷ υἱὸς ἀποδει χθῆναι Θεοῦ; Ἐν ἑαυτῷ δὲ γνοὺς τὸ ὄφελος τῆς γνη σίας ἐπὶ Θεὸν ἐλπίδος, ἐπὶ τὸν ἴσον ἑαυτοῦ ζῆλον παρα καλεῖ τὸν λαὸν, λέγων· Ἐλπίσατε ἐπ' αὐτὸν, πᾶσα συναγωγὴ λαῶν, ἐκχέατε ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν. Ἀμήχανόν ἐστι χωρητικοὺς ἡμᾶς γενέ σθαι τῆς θείας χάριτος μὴ τὰ ἀπὸ κακίας πάθη προ κατασχόντα τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν ἐξελάσαντας. Εἶδον ἰατροὺς ἐγὼ μὴ πρότερον διδόντας τὰ σωτήρια φάρ μακα, πρὶν ἐμετοῖς ἀποκενῶσαι τὴν νοσοποιὸν ὕλην, ἣν ἐκ πονηρᾶς