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being able to breathe, nor to live the life of men, but like fish borne about in the waters, if it were not preserved by the protection of God? And how would they, having fallen into this unfamiliar place, and from the warmth in the womb being chilled by the air, have lasted even for a short time, if they were not saved by God? The Lord therefore protects the infants; I was brought low, and he saved me. Or you will also understand the saying thus: That because I turned, and became as an infant, and I received the kingdom of heaven as a little child, and through guilelessness brought myself down to the humility 29.492 of children; The Lord who protects the infants, because I was brought low, saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. The good champion directs these words of encouragement to himself, saying similarly to Paul: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. These things the Prophet also says to himself: Since you have sufficiently completed the long race of this life, Return, then, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For eternal rest is set before those who have lawfully competed in the life here, not given as a debt for works, but granted by the grace of the greatly-giving God to those who have hoped in him. Then, before recounting the good things there, describing the escape from the troubles of the world, for these things he gives thanks to the liberator of souls, who delivered him from the varied and inescapable slavery of the passions. And what are these things? That he has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from slipping. By a comparison of things here he depicts the future rest. For here, he says, the pangs of death encompassed me; but there he delivered my soul from death. Here the eyes pour forth the tear from affliction; but there no longer a tear overshadows the eyes of those who rejoice in the vision of the beauty of the glory of God. For God has wiped away every tear from every face. Here the danger of slipping is great; wherefore Paul also said: Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. But there the foundations are firm; life is unchangeable; no longer is there danger of being carried away into sin. For there is neither rebellion of the flesh, nor a woman's cooperation toward sin. Because there is neither male nor female in the resurrection, but there is one life and one way, of those who are well-pleasing to their own Master, who dwell in the land of the living. This world is itself mortal, and a place of those who are dying. For since the constitution of visible things is composite, and everything composite is by nature dissolved, we who are in the world, being parts of the world, necessarily partake of the nature of the whole. For this reason, even before the soul is separated from the body by death, we humans often die. And let what is said not seem strange 29.493 to you, but consider the truth of the matter. For in three seven-year periods man is wont to undergo three alterations and changes of ages and lives, and in each seven-year period a particular boundary marks off what has passed, and provides a clear transformation. The age of the young child is bounded in the first seven-year period by the loss of teeth. Then, the term for the boy who is fit for learning is until puberty. The youth, having completed up to his twenty-first year, when he begins to shadow his cheeks with down, imperceptibly vanishes, with the young man already changing into the man. When, therefore, you see a man who has put away the progress of growth according to age, and is already established in his reasoning, and bears no trace of youth, will you not reckon that what has passed has died in him? Again the old man, having been transformed to another form and disposition of soul, is manifestly different from his former selves. So that also the life of the

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ἀναπνεῖν δυνάμενα, οὔτε ζῇν τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζωὴν, ἀλλὰ δίκην ἰχθύων τοῖς ὑγροῖς ἐμφερόμενα, εἰ μὴ τῇ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ φυλακῇ διεκρατεῖτο; Πῶς δ' ἂν εἰς τὸν ἀήθη τοῦτον ἐκπεσόντα τόπον, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τῇ μήτρᾳ θερμότητος τῷ ἀέρι περιψυχόμενα κἂν πρὸς τὸ βραχὺ διήρκεσεν, εἰ μὴ παρὰ Θεοῦ διεσώζετο; Φυλάσσων οὖν τὰ νήπια ὁ Κύριος· ἐταπεινώθην, καὶ ἔσωσέ με. Ἢ καὶ οὕτω νοήσεις τὸν λόγον· Ὅτι ἐπειδὴ ἐστράφην, καὶ ἐγενόμην ὡς τὸ νήπιον, καὶ ἐδεξάμην τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ὡς παιδίον, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀκακίας ἐμαυτὸν εἰς τὴν τῶν παιδίων ταπεί 29.492 νωσιν κατήγαγον· Ὁ φυλάσσων τὰ νήπια Κύριος, ἐπειδὴ ἐταπεινώθην, ἔσωσέ με. Ἐπίστρεψον, ψυχή μου, εἰς τὴν ἀνάπαυ σιν σου, ὅτι Κύριος εὐηργέτησέ σε. Ἑαυτῷ προσ άγει τοὺς παρακλητικοὺς λόγους ὁ καλὸς ἀγωνιστὴς, παραπλησίως τῷ Παύλῳ λέγων· Τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸν κα λὸν ἠγώνισμαι, τὸν δρόμον τετέλεκα, τὴν πίστιν τετήρηκα· λοιπὸν ἀπόκειταί μοι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύ νης στέφανος. Ταῦτα λέγει καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ὁ Προφήτης· Ἐπειδὴ ἱκανῶς τοῦ βίου τούτου τὸν δολιχὸν ἐξεπλήρωσας, Ἐπίστρεψον λοιπὸν εἰς τὴν ἀνάπαυσίν σου, ὅτι Κύριος εὐηργέτησέ σε. Πρό κειται γὰρ ἀνάπαυσις αἰωνία τοῖς νομίμως τὸν ἐν ταῦθα διαθλήσασι βίον, οὐ κατὰ ὀφείλημα τῶν ἔργων ἀποδιδομένη, ἀλλὰ κατὰ χάριν τοῦ μεγαλοδώ ρου Θεοῦ τοῖς εἰς αὐτὸν ἠλπικόσι παρεχομένη. Εἶτα, πρὶν τὰ ἐκεῖ ἀγαθὰ διηγήσασθαι, τὴν ἀποφυγὴν τῶν τοῦ κόσμου ὀχληρῶν διηγούμενος, ἐπὶ τούτοις εὐχα ριστεῖ τῷ ἐλευθερωτῇ τῶν ψυχῶν, τῷ τῆς ποικίλης αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπαραιτήτου δουλείας τῶν παθημά των ἐξαιρουμένῳ. Τίνα δέ ἐστι ταῦτα; Ὅτι ἐξ είλετο τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐκ θανάτου, τοὺς ὀφθαλ μούς μου ἀπὸ δακρύων, καὶ τοὺς πόδας μου ἀπὸ ὀλισθήματος. Συγκρίσει τῶν ὧδε τὴν μέλλουσαν ἀνάπαυσιν διαγράφει. Ἐνταῦθα γάρ με, φησὶ, πε ριέσχον ὠδῖνες θανάτου· ἐκεῖ δὲ ἐξείλετο τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐκ θανάτου. Ἐνταῦθα οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ τὸ ἐκ τῆς θλίψεως προχέουσι δάκρυον· ἐκεῖ δὲ οὐκέτι δά κρυον ἐπισκοτοῦν ταῖς κόραις τῶν εὐφραινομένων τῇ θεωρίᾳ τοῦ κάλλους τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἀφεῖλε γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς πᾶν δάκρυον ἀπὸ παντὸς προσώπου. Ἐνταῦθα πολὺς ὁ κίνδυνος τοῦ ὀλισθήματος· διὸ καὶ Παῦλος ἔλεγεν· Ὁ δοκῶν ἑστάναι βλεπέτω μὴ πέσῃ. Ἐκεῖ δὲ πάγιοι αἱ βάσεις· ἀπερίτρεπτος ἡ ζωή· οὐκέτι κίνδυνος πρὸς ἁμαρτίαν ὑπενεχθῆναι. Οὔτε γὰρ σαρκὸς ἐπανάστασις, οὔτε γυναικὸς συνεργία πρὸς ἁμαρτίαν. ∆ιότι οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐν τῇ ἀναστά σει, ἀλλὰ μία τίς ἐστι ζωὴ καὶ μονότροπος, εὐ αρεστούντων τῷ ἑαυτῶν ∆εσπότῃ τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῶν ζώντων. Ὁ κόσμος οὗτος αὐτός τέ ἐστι θνητὸς, καὶ χωρίον ἀποθνησκόντων. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ σύνθετός ἐστι τῶν ὁρωμένων ἡ σύστασις, τὸ δὲ σύνθετον ἅπαν διαλύεσθαι πέφυκεν, οἱ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὄντες, μέρη ὄντες τοῦ κόσμου, ἀναγκαίως τῆς τοῦ παντὸς φύσεως ἀπολαύομεν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ πρὶν θα νάτῳ τὴν ψυχὴν διαζευχθῆναι τοῦ σώματος, ἀπο θνήσκομεν πολλάκις οἱ ἄνθρωποι. Καὶ μὴ παράδοξον 29.493 φανῇ σοι τὸ λεγόμενον, ἀλλὰ σκόπει τοῦ πράγμα τος τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Ἐν τρισὶ γὰρ ἑβδομάσιν ἐτῶν τρεῖς ὑφίστασθαι πέφυκεν ἀλλοιώσεις καὶ μεταβολὰς ἡλικιῶν καὶ βίων ὁ ἄνθρωπος, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἑβδομάδα ἴδιος ὅρος περιγράφων τὰ παρελθόντα, καὶ ἐναργῆ παρέχων τὴν μεταποίησιν. Τοῦ παιδίου ἡ ἡλι κία ἐν τῇ τῶν ὀδόντων ἀποβολῇ κατὰ τὴν πρώ την ἑβδομάδα περιορίζεται. Τοῦ παιδὸς λοιπὸν τοῦ πρὸς τὰς μαθήσεις ἐπιτηδείου ἡ προθεσμία ἐστὶ μέχρι τῆς ἐφηβείας. Ὁ ἔφηβος, μέχρι πρώτου καὶ εἰκοστοῦ ἕτους συμπληρωθεὶς, ὅταν ἰούλοις ἄρξηται κατασκιάζειν τὰς παρειὰς, ἀφανίζεται λεληθότως, πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα ἤδη τοῦ νεανίσκου μεθισταμένου. Ὅταν τοίνυν ἴδῃς ἄνδρα ἀποθέμενον μὲν τὴν ἐπίδοσιν τῆς καθ' ἡλικίαν αὐξήσεως, βεβηκότα δὲ ἤδη τοῖς λογισμοῖς, καὶ μηδὲν ἴχνος τῆς νεότητος φέροντα, οὐχὶ τεθνηκέναι ἐν αὐτῷ λογίσῃ τὰ παρελθόντα; Πάλιν ὁ πρεσβύτης, πρὸς ἕτερον σχῆμα καὶ ψυχῆς διάθεσιν μεθαρμοσθεὶς, ἕτερός ἐστι προδήλως παρὰ τοὺς προτέρους. Ὥστε καὶ ἡ ζωὴ τῶν