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clothed in a tent, nor would they have been able to stand at all before the face of a man, nor to be seen, as I think, by anyone; and especially those who seem to excel others in knowledge and reason and who think they bear the royal character in themselves, who also, as wise and pious and prudent, are honored and revered by the many, are in no way different, according to the hidden movements of the soul, from those who live lavishly in wickedness.

But come now, you who wish to be taught, be willing to learn of the glory of men who are truly holy and dispassionate, that is, you who desire this and who ardently long to acquire it; for I will tell you an image representing their donning of armor and their splendor, and you will know, each comparing himself to those saints, in what state you are and how far we all fall short of their courage, worth, and power combined.

But come now, you who wish to be taught, be willing to learn of the glory of men who are truly holy and dispassionate, that is, you who desire this and who ardently long to acquire it; for I will tell you an image representing their donning of armor and their splendor, and you will know, each comparing himself to those saints, in what state you are and how far we all fall short of their courage, worth, and power combined.

Therefore, consider for me the heaven as it is on a clear and cloudless night and see for me in it the disk of the moon completely filled with pure and most clear light, and around it the circle that often forms about it; and having observed these things well, pass on with your mind also to what I am about to say next. Each of the saints, while still in the body, is like heaven, and their heart is like the disk of the moon. And holy love is the all-creating and all-powerful light, (201) much and incomparably brighter than this light of the sun, which, touching their hearts and like the light of the moon, but ever full of light, is preserved through the zeal and good works of the saints. And holy dispassion, like a circular crown and like a tent enclosing and encompassing them in the midst, shelters and guards them on all sides and keeps them invulnerable from every evil thought, not to mention from sin, and renders them unharmed and free from all enemies; and not only this, but it also makes them unapproachable to their adversaries.

Have you seen the glory, you who truly long for it? Have you understood the greatness of the image that has been described, and how much each of us falls short of the glory and splendor of the saints? For this image is a type of the things accomplished in us, not devised by us, God forbid, but pre-existing and made by God. For in creation the craftsman, the Word of God, as on a tablet prefigured the things that were later to come to pass for our salvation and recreation, so that seeing the type appearing in sensible things we might not disbelieve that the true reality is also spiritually accomplished and brought to pass in our own affairs, but knowing that each of us is brought forth by God as a second world, a great one in this small and visible world, as one of the theologians also bears witness for me, let us not wish to appear in any way worse than the irrational or even inanimate things made for our instruction by the philanthropic God, but let us emulate all good things, and let us flee with all our strength the imitation of their opposites.

And that I may pass over the rest, having said this alone for your remembrance, I will bring my discourse to a close. Let everyone who hears know that, just as from night we see day come, and from (202) day again, night, so it is necessary to believe and be persuaded that we who exist in the darkness of sin and have continued in it from birth are able through faith and the working of the commandments unto a divine day and illumination

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σκηνήν περικείμενοι, οὐδέ στῆναι εἰς πρόσωπον ὅλως ἀνθρώπου ἠδυνήθησαν ἄν, οὐδέ ὀφθῆναι, ὡς οἶμαι, τινί· καί μάλιστα οἱ προὔχειν δοκοῦντες τῶν ἄλλων ἐν γνώσει καί λόγῳ καί τόν βασιλικόν οἰόμενοι χαρακτῆρα ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἐπιφέρεσθαι, οἵ καί ὡς σοφοί καί εὐλαβεῖς καί σώφρονες παρά τῶν πολλῶν τιμώμενοι καί σεβόμενοι οὐδέν ἧττον κατά τάς ἀφανεῖς κινήσεις τῆς ψυχῆς τῶν τήν κακίαν πολυτελῶν διαφέρουσιν.

Ἀλλ᾿ ἄγε δή καί τήν δόξαν τῶν ὄντως ἁγίων καί ἀπαθῶν ἀνδρῶν οἱ βουλόμενοι διδαχθῆναι θελήσατε, οἱ ταύτης ἐφιέμενοι δηλαδή καί ταύτην ἐπικτήσασθαι ἐπιποθοῦντες θερμῶς· εἰκόνα γάρ ὑμῖν φράσω παριστῶσαν αὐτῶν τήν τῶν ὅπλων περιβολήν καί τήν ἐκείνων λαμπρότητα καί γνώσεσθε, ἕκαστος ἑαυτόν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐκείνοις συγκρίνων, ἐν οἵοις ἐστέ καί ὅσον τῆς ἐκείνων ἀνδρείας ὁμοῦ καί ἀξίας καί δυνάμεως πάντες ἀπολειπόμεθα.

Ἀλλ᾿ ἄγε δή καί τήν δόξαν τῶν ὄντων ἁγίων καί ἀπαθῶν ἀνδρῶν οἱ βουλόμενοι διδαχθῆναι θελήσατε, οἱ ταύτης ἐφιέμενοι δηλαδή καί ταύτην ἐπικτήσασθαι ἐπιποθοῦντες θερμῶς· εἰκόνα γάρ ὑμῖν φράσω παριστῶσαν αὐτῶν τήν τῶν ὅπλων περιβολήν καί τήν ἐκείνων λαμπρότητα καί γνώσεσθε, ἕκαστος ἑαυτόν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐκείνοις συγκρίνων, ἐν οἵοις ἐστέ καί ὅσον τῆς ἐκείνων ἀνδρείας ὁμοῦ καί ἀξίας καί δυνάμεως πάντες ἀπολειπόμεθα.

Τοιγαροῦν ἐννόησόν μοι τόν οὐρανόν οἷος ὑπάρχει ἐν αἰθρίᾳ καί ἀνεφέλῳ νυκτί καί βλέπε μοι ἐν αὐτῷ τόν τῆς σελήνης δίσκον ὅλον πεπληρωμένον τό εἰλικρινές καί καθαρώτατον φῶς, κύκλῳ δέ ταύτης τόν πολλάκις γινόμενον κύκλον περί αὐτήν· καί σκοπήσας ταῦτα καλῶς, μετάβηθι τῷ νῷ καί πρός ὅ μέλλω πάλιν εἰπεῖν. Τῶν ἁγίων ἐοίκασιν ἕκαστος, ἔτι ἐν σώματι ὄντες, οὐρανῷ, ἡ δέ καρδία αὐτῶν τῷ δίσκῳ ἔοικε τῆς σελήνης. Ἡ δέ ἁγία ἀγάπη τό παντουργόν ὑπάρχει καί παντοδύναμον φῶς, (201) πολύ τοῦ ἡλιακοῦ τούτου φωτός καί ἀσυγκρίτως λαμπρότερον ἥτις ἁπτομένη τῶν καρδιῶν αὐτῶν καί καθάπερ τό τῆς σελήνης φῶς, ἀλλ᾿ ὁλόφωτος ἀεί διά σπουδῆς καί ἀγαθοεργίας τῶν ἁγίων συντηρουμένη. Ἡ δέ ἁγία ἀπάθεια, ὥσπερ κυκλοειδής στέφανος καί ὡς σκηνή μέσον αὐτούς περιφέρουσα καί περιέπουσα, σκέπει πάντοθεν καί περιφρουρεῖ καί ἀτρώτους ἀπό πάσης ἐννοίας πονηρᾶς, μή ὅτι γε ἁμαρτίας, διατηρεῖ, καί ἀβλαβεῖς καί ἐλευθέρους ἐκ πάντων ἐχθρῶν ἀποκαθιστᾷ· οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλά καί ἀπροσίτους αὐτούς τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις ἐργάζεται.

Εἴδετε δόξαν οἱ ταύτην ὄντως ποθοῦντες; Συνήκατε τῆς λεχθείσης εἰκόνος τό μέγεθος καί ὅσον ἕκαστος ἡμῶν τῆς τῶν ἁγίων δόξης καί λαμπρότητος ὑστερεῖ; Ἡ γάρ εἰκών αὕτη τύπος τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν τελουμένων ἐστίν, οὐχ ὑφ᾿ ἡμῶν ἐπινοηθεῖσα, μή γένοιτο, ἀλλ᾿ ὑπό τοῦ Θεοῦ προϋποστᾶσα καί γενομένη. Ἐν γάρ τῇ κτίσει ὁ τεχνίτης Θεοῦ Λόγος ὡς ἐν πίνακι προεζωγράφησε τά ὕστερον μέλλοντα εἰς σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν καί ἀνάπλασιν γίνεσθαι, ἵνα τόν τύπον ἐν τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς φαινόμενον βλέποντες μή ἀπιστήσωμεν ὅτι καί ἐν τοῖς καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς πνευματικῶς τελεῖται καί περαιοῦται ἡ ὄντως ἀλήθεια, ἀλλ᾿ εἰδότες ὅτι ἕκαστος ἡμῶν δεύτερος κόσμος ὑπό Θεοῦ, μέγας ἐν τῷ μικρῷ τούτῳ κόσμῳ καί ὁρωμένῳ, παράγεται, καθά μοι καί τις τῶν θεολόγων συμμαρτυρεῖ, μή χείρονες ἐν μηδενί φανῆναι θελήσωμεν τῶν εἰς διδασκαλίαν ἡμῶν γενομένων ἀλόγων ἤ καί ἀψύχων ὑπό τοῦ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ, ἀλλά τά μέν καλά ζηλώσωμεν ἅπαντα, τῶν δέ ἐναντίων τήν μίμησιν φύγωμεν ὅση δύναμις.

Καί ἵνα τἆλλα παρήσω ὄντα, τοῦτο μόνον εἰς ὑπόμνησιν ὑμῶν λέξας, καταπαύσω τόν λόγον. Ἴστω πᾶς ὁ ἀκούων ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἀπό νυκτός ἡμέραν καί ἀπό (202) ἡμέρας πάλιν νύκτα γινομένην ὁρῶμεν, οὕτω πιστεύειν χρεών καί πεπεῖσθαι ὅτι οἱ ἐν σκότει τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὑπάρχοντες καί ἐν τούτῳ ἀπό γεννήσεως διατελοῦντες δυνάμεθα διά πίστεως καί τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐργασίας εἰς ἡμέραν θείαν καί φωτισμόν