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indefinitely, inasmuch as God, the author of this relation, is wont to draw to himself those who are bound to one another by the Spirit.

0620 Therefore loving you in this way, most beloved, I always have you inseparably present in my soul, impressed deeply in my spirit, even though the length of time is great, and the distance between the places is vast, never ceasing to see you with the mind and to greet you. Believing that I am loved by you equally, if not even more, I do not hesitate to write tirelessly about what is needed, knowing that through the Spirit one soul has come to be for both of us. and I know that you do not think it an insult to hear, considering the awesome condescension of God toward men, which is beyond mind and reason.

Receive kindly, therefore, the one bearing this present humble letter, and become all things to him, as He who legislated for men to share one another's misfortunes; and to make the neighbor so much your own, that he is not considered other, according to the disposition given in return by those who have been transformed for one another. For not only to rejoice with those who rejoice, but also to weep with those who weep; and not simply to love, but to love one’s neighbor as oneself, the divine word proclaims; not to mention the new commandment, which commands us even to lay down our lives for the sake of love for one another, when it is time to strive; which the Lord who gave it fulfilled in deed, not refusing to lay down his own life for us; an example for us of perfect pleasing, according to which the law of self-love is gently extinguished, which in the beginning through pleasure deceitfully led us away from God and from one another; and instead of one God, teaching us to believe there were many or none at all (15B_400> it completely shattered the power of the reason within us against the flesh, and having cut the one nature into many parts, for the sake of pleasure it brutalized the power of anger within us against one another.

Become, therefore, as I said, all things to him who needs your help, so that you may find God becoming such for you, who deigns to become all things to all for the sake of love for mankind.

LETTER 28. ... TO CYRISICIUS THE BISHOP. 28. Of the same, to Cyrisicius the bishop. (15B_402> Of the divine on earth according to the grace given to you 0621 of the

high priesthood, venerable Father, having been allotted to be an imitator of goodness, you have left none of the ways that characterize it unfulfilled; but having them all following one another in succession, you have hastened to adorn the mystery of the high priesthood with the tunic of virtues woven from above through the Spirit; which tunic the demons, crucifying you, are never able to tear, not even by a multitude of temptations. Strive, therefore, to gather into one the scattered children of God. For this too is a characteristic of the divine goodness; and having become the head of the precious body of the holy Church of God, join the members to one another through the architecture of the Spirit; and having been appointed a herald of the divine teachings, call with a loud voice both those who are far and those who are near; and bind them to yourself with the unbreakable bond of the love of the Spirit; if indeed the expectation of the enemies has fled and utterly vanished; because of which they were so greatly estranged from her who bore them; so that it may be possible for you also to say in a manner worthy of Christ: Behold, I and the children whom God has given me. But deem your humble and unworthy servant and suppliant worthy of your precious words concerning this, holy Father; and do not disdain to commend me to God through your prayers, offering a sacrifice of praise.

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ἀόριστον, ὅσον ὁ ταύτης τῆς σχέσεως αἴτιος πρός ἑαυτόν ἕλκειν τούς ἀλλήλων ἠρτημένους τῷ πνεύματι πέφυκε Θεός.

0620 Κατά τοῦτον τοίνυν τόν τρόπον ἀγαπῶν σε, λίαν ἠγαπημένε, διά παντός ἀχώριστον ἔχω συνόντα κατά ψυχήν, εἰς βάθος τετυπωμένον τῷ πνεύματι, κἄν πολύ τοῦ χρόνου μῆκός ἐστι, καί μέγα τό διαμέσου τῶν τόπων διάστημα, μηδέποτε τοῦ βλέπειν νοητῶς καί ἀσπάζεσθαι παυόμενος. Ὑφ᾿ οὗ κατά τό ἴσον, εἰ μή καί μᾶλλον ἀγαπᾶσθαι πιστεύων, ἀόκνως περί ὧν χρεία γράφειν οὐ παραιτοῦμαι, μίαν ἀμφοτέρων ἡμῶν γεγενῆσθαι ψυχήν γινώσκων διά τοῦ πνεύματος. καί οἶδα ὅτι οὐ νομίζεις ὑβρίζεσθαι τοῦ ἀκούων, τήν πρός ἀνθρώπους τοῦ Θεοῦ φοβεράν, καί ὑπέρ νοῦν καί λόγον συγκατάβασιν λογιζόμενος.

∆έχου τοίνυν τόν τήν παροῦσαν ἐπιφερόμενον μετρίαν συλλαβήν εὐμενῶς, καί γενοῦ αὐτῷ πάντα ἅπερ ὁ τάς ἀλλήλων ἐπιμερίζεσθαι συμφοράς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐνομοθέτησε· καί τοσοῦτον οἰκειώσασθαι τόν πέλας, ὅσον μή ἄλλον ἐκεῖνον νομίζεσθαι, κατά τήν ἀντιδοθεῖσαν τῶν εἰς ἀλλήλους μεταποιηθέντων διάθεσιν. Οὐ γάρ μόνον χαίρειν μετά χαιρόντων, ἀλλά καί κλαίειν μετά κλαιόντων· καί οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἀγαπᾷν, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἑαυτόν τόν πλησίον, ὁ θεῖος διαγορεύει λόγος· ἵνα μή λέγω τήν καινήν ἐντολήν, τήν καί αὐτάς ὑπέρ ἀλλήλων ἀγάπης χάριν, ἡνίκα καιρός ἐστιν ἀγωνίζεσθαι, τάς ψυχάς τιθέναι προστάσσουσαν· ἥν ὁ δούς ἔργῳ πεπλήρωκε Κύριος, ὑπέρ ἡμῶν θεῖναι τήν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχήν μή παραιτησάμενος· ἡμῖν ὑποτύπωσιν τελείας εὐαρεστήσεως, καθ᾿ ἥν ὁ τῆς φιλαυτίας ἠρέμα κατασβέννυται νόμος, ὁ κατ᾿ ἀρχάς δι᾿ ἡδονῆς ἡμᾶς ἀπατηλῶς Θεοῦ καί ἀλλήλων ἀπαγαγών· καί ἀνθ᾿ ἑνός Θεοῦ, πολλούς εἶναι ἤ οὐδένα τό σύνολον (15Β_400> νομισθῆναι διδάξας, παντελῶς τήν τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν λόγου πρός τήν σάρκα κατέραξε δύναμιν, καί εἰς πολλάς τήν μίαν φύσιν κατατεμών μοίρας, ὑπέρ ἡδονῆς κατ᾿ ἀλλήλων τήν τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν θυμοῦ δύναμιν ἐθηρίωσε.

Γενοῦ τοίνυν, ὡς εἶπον, πάντα τῷ χρῄζοντι τῆς σῆς ἐπικουρίας, ἵνα τοιοῦτον εὕροις τόν Θεόν σοι γινόμενον, τόν πάντα πᾶσι γίνεσθαι διά φιλανθρωπίαν καταδεχόμενον.

ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΚΗ'. ... ΠΡΟΣ ΚΥΡΙΣΙΚΙΟΝ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΝ. ΚΗ´Τοῦ αὐτοῦ πρός Κυρισίκιον ἐπίσκοπον. (15Β_402> Τῆς θείας ἐπί γῆς κατά τήν δοθεῖσά σοι χάριν 0621 τῆς

ἀρχιερωσύνης, τίμιε Πάτερ, μιμητής εἶναι λαχών ἀγαθότητος, οὐδένα τῶν χαρακτηριζόντων αὐτήν τρόπων ἀπλήρωτος εἴασας· ἀλλά πάντας ἀλλήλοις ἐφεξῆς συνομαρτοῦντας ἔχων, τῷ ἄνωθεν ἐξυφασμένῳ διά τοῦ Πνεύματος χιτῶνι τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐσπούδασας καλλωπίσαι τό τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης μυστήριον· ὅντινα χιτῶνα σχίσαι οὐδέποτε δύνανται, οὔτε πλήθει πειρασμῶν, ὑμᾶς σταυροῦντες οἱ δαίμονες. Σπούδασον οὖν τά διεσκορπισμένα τέκνα τοῦ Θεοῦ συναγαγεῖν εἰς ἕν. Χαρακτήρ γάρ καί τοῦτο τῆς θείας ἐστίν ἀγαθότητος· καί ὡς κεφαλή τοῦ τιμίου σώματος τῆς ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίας γενόμενος, τά μέλη συναρμολόγησον ἀλλήλοις διά τῆς ἀρχιτεκτονίας τοῦ Πνεύματος· καί κάλεσον φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ὡς κῆρυξ τῶν θείων διδιαγμάτων καταστάς, τούς τε μακράν, και τούς ἐγγύς· καί ἐν ἑαυτῷ κατάδησον τῷ ἀλύτῳ δεσμῷ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Πνεύματος· εἴπερ μέντοι ἀπέδρα, καί παντελῶς ἐξηφάνισται ἡ τῶν ἐχθρῶν προσδοκία· δι᾿ ἥν τοσοῦτον τῆς ἐνεγκούσης ἀπεξενώθησαν· ἵνα καί σοί ἐξόν ᾖ χριστοπρεπῶς λέγειν· Ἰδού ἐγώ, καί τά παιδία ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεός. Ἀλλ᾿ ἀξίωσον τόν σόν ταπεινόν καί ἀνάξιον δοῦλον καί ἱκέτην περί τούτου τιμίων σου συλλαβῶν, ἅγιε Πάτερ· καί δι᾿ εὐχῶν παραθέσθαι τῷ Θεῷ προσφέρων θυσίαν αἰνέσεως μή ἀπαξιώσῃς.