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may we be deemed worthy to attain such measures quickly and to see and enjoy the ineffable good things from here already, of the divine light, if not completely, yet in part and as much as we have capacity for, according to the proportion of our purification. For thus we shall unite ourselves to God, and may God be united to us, and to those who draw near we shall be light and salt and for a great benefit in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory unto the ages. Amen.

Concerning contemplation and revelation and illumined prayer. And how he who is seized by the love of God and has arrived at the depth of humility,

is energized by the Holy Spirit.

Discourse 17. (238) Brothers and fathers, great is the condescension and love for mankind of God toward

men. Wherefore, being astonished at the ineffable goodness of God, I cry out thus in amazement: "O wonder of wonders and power of the commandments of God, what manner of men they produce who do and keep them! "

For having once made a beginning in them, having recovered a little from the depth of evils and darkness, on the one hand I was held by fear, being constrained by my evils, but on the other, love truly and the desire for the good for the most part turned me toward it.

And the whole that was being accomplished was a flight from evils, pushing me toward good things. One thing only in the midst of these was disgusting to me, the habit of preconceptions and an evil and pleasure-loving character, which disappears by the persistent work of prayer and the study of the divine oracles and by becoming habituated to good things. For just as when the sun rises little by little the darkness retreats and vanishes, (239) so also when virtue dawns, evil, like darkness, is driven away and is shown to be without substance, and then we remain good forever, just as formerly we were wicked. Through a little patience, therefore, and the slightest good intention, or rather, by the help of the living God, we are refashioned and renewed, being purified in soul and body and mind, and we become that which we are, though we are ignorant of it, being veiled by the passions, and we receive what we are not worthy of.

From these things I also received, I who am the most worthless and useless of all - for it is good to proclaim thankfully the benefactions of the God who loves mankind, by the grace of my Savior Jesus Christ. And I received grace for grace, and benefaction for benefaction, and fire for fire, and flame for flame, and to the ascent were added ascents for me, and at the end of the ascent, light, and to the light, a clearer light. And in the midst of this again a bright sun shone, and from it a ray appeared, and this filled all things and what was perceived was incomprehensible, wherein I remained, weeping most sweetly and marveling at the unutterable things. And a divine mind communed with my mind and taught, saying thus: "Have you known what my power has lovingly made of you, through faith and a little patience, confirming your love? Behold, being under death, you have become immortal, and being held by corruption, you are found above it. You inhabit the world and you exist with me, you have put on a body and are not dragged down by any of the pleasures of the body. You are small in what is seen, yet you see with the mind. Assuredly I brought you from non-being into being".

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ἡμεῖς ἀξιωθῶμεν ἐλάσαι ποτέ εἰς μέτρα συντόμως τοιαῦτα καί ἰδεῖν καί ἀπολαῦσαι τῶν ἀπορρήτων ἀγαθῶν ἔνθεν ἤδη τοῦ θείου φωτός, εἰ καί μή τελείως, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ μέρους καί ὅσον χωροῦμεν κατά τήν ἀναλογίαν τῆς καθάρσεως ἡμῶν. Οὕτω γάρ καί ἑαυτούς ἑνώσομεν τῷ Θεῷ καί ὁ Θεός ἑνωθείη ἡμῖν καί τοῖς ἐγγίζουσιν ἐσόμεθα φῶς καί ἅλας καί εἰς μεγάλην ὠφέλειαν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τούς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.

Περί θεωρίας καί ἀποκαλύψεως και πεφωτισμένης εὐχῆς. Καί ὅπως ὁ ὑπό τῆς ἀγάπης κατασχεθείς τοῦ Θεοῦ καί εἰς βάθος ταπεινοφροσύνης ἐλάσας,

ἐνεργεῖται ὑπό τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ Ἁγίου.

Λόγος ΙΖ΄. (238) Ἀδελφοί καί πατέρες, πολλή ἡ συγκατάβασις καί ἡ φιλανθρωπία Θεοῦ πρός

ἀνθρώπους. ∆ιό καί ἐκπληττόμενος εἰς τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄφατον ἀγαθότητα, οὕτω πως καταπληκτικόν ἀνακράζω· "Ὤ θαύματος ἔκπληξις καί ἐντολῶν Θεοῦ δύναμις, οἵους ἀπεργάζονται τούς ποιοῦντας καί φυλάσσοντας αὐτάς! "

Ἀρχήν γάρ ποτε βαλών ἐν αὐταῖς, μικρόν ἀνανήψας ἐκ βάθους κακῶν καί σκοτώσεως, φόβῳ μέν συνειχόμην τοῖς κακοῖς μου σφιγγόμενος, ἀγάπη δέ ὡς ἀληθῶς καί τοῦ καλοῦ με ἡ ἔφεσις πρός αὐτό τό πλεῖστον ἐπέστρεφεν.

Ὅλον δέ ἦν τό τελούμενον φυγή κακῶν, πρός τά καλά συνωθοῦσά με. Ἕν μόνον ἐν μέσῳ τούτων ὑπῆρχε τό ἀηδίζον με, τῶν προλήψεων ἡ συνήθεια καί ἦθος κακόν καί φιλήδονον, ὅπερ τῇ ἐπιμόνῳ τῆς εὐχῆς ἐργασίᾳ καί τῇ μελέτῃ τῶν θείων λογίων καί τῷ ἐν ἕξει γενέσθαι τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀφανίζεται. Ὥσπερ γάρ τοῦ ἡλίου κατά μικρόν ἀνετέλλοντος ὑποχωρεῖ τό σκότος καί ἀφανίζεται, (239) οὕτω καί ἀρετῆς αὐγαζούσης οἵα δή σκότος ἡ κακία ἐλαύνεται καί ἀνυπόστατος δείκνυται, καί τηνικαῦτα μένομεν διαπαντός ἀγαθοί, καθά πρώην ὑπήρχομεν πονηροί. ∆ιά μικρᾶς οὖν ὑπομονῆς καί προαιρέσεως ἐλαχίστου ἤ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν Θεοῦ βοηθείᾳ τοῦ ζῶντος ἀναπλαττόμεθα καί ἀνανεούμεθα, ψυχήν καί σῶμα καί διάνοιαν καθαιρόμενοι, καί γινόμεθα ἅπερ ἀγνοοῦντες τυγχάνομεν, ὑπό τῶν παθῶν καλυπτόμενοι, καί προσλαμβάνομεν ἅ οὐκ ἐσμέν ἄξιοι.

Ἐξ ὧν ἔλαβον κἀγώ, ὁ πάντων εὐτελέστερος καί ἀχρεῖος - καλόν γάρ ἀνακηρύττειν εὐγνωμόνως τάς εὐεργεσίας τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ φιλανθρώπου , τῇ τοῦ ἐμοῦ Σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ χάριτι. Ἔλαβον δέ τῇ χάριτι χάριν καί τῇ εὐργεσίᾳ εὐεργεσίαν καί τῷ πυρί πῦρ, φλόγα δέ τῇ φλογί καί τῇ ἀναβάσει προσετέθησαν ἀναβάσεις μοι, τῷ δέ τέλει τῆς ἀναβάσεως φῶς καί τῷ φωτί φῶς τρανότερον. Καί μέσον τούτου πάλιν φαιδρός ἔλαμψεν ἥλιος καί ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐφάνη ἀκτίς καί αὕτη τά πάντα ἐπλήρωσε καί τό νοούμενον ἀκατάληπτον, ἐν οἷς ἔμεινά τε ἐγώ δακρύων ἡδύτατα καί θαυμάζων τά ἄφραστα. Νοῦς δέ θεῖος τῷ ἐμῷ νοΐ προσωμίλει καί οὕτω λέγων ἐδίδασκεν· "Ἔγνως οἷόν σε ἡ ἐμή δύναμις ἀπετέλεσε φιλανθρώπως δία πίστιν καί ὑπομονήν μικράν, τήν ἀγάπην σου βεβαιοῦσαν; Ἰδού ὑπό θάνατον ὤν, ἐγένου ἀθάνατος καί κρατούμενος τῇ φθορᾷ, εὑρίσκῃ ταύτης ἐπάνω. Κόσμον οἰκεῖς καί σύν ἐμοί ὑπάρχεις, σῶμα ἐνδέδυσαι καί οὐδεμιᾷ τῶν τοῦ σώματος ἡδονῶν ὑποσύρῃ. Μικρός εἶ τό ὁρώμενον καί νοερῶς ὁρᾷς. Πάντως ἐγώ σε ἐκ τοῦ μή ὄντος εἰς τό εἶναι παρήγαγον".