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by Jerusalem or the holy things of God or the altar and the gift or the gold of the temple or one's own head, for the custom is a Jewish corruption, wherefore it must also be forbidden, but He commands the faithful that their yes be yes, and their no be no, and says that what is more than these is from the evil one: how much more liable to judgment are those who swear by false names as if they were oaths and esteem things that are conventional instead of things that are true? Whom God, because of their wickedness, gave over to folly, to do those things which are not fitting. Keep the days of the feasts, brethren, and first of all the Nativity, which is to be celebrated by you on the twenty-fifth of the ninth month. After which let the Epiphany be most honored by you, in which the Lord made a manifestation to you of His own divinity; and let this also be on the sixth of the tenth month. After which, the fast of the forty days is to be kept by you, containing a commemoration of the Lord's life and legislation. Let this fast be celebrated before the fast of the Pascha, beginning on Monday, and being completed on Friday. After which, having completed the fast, begin the holy week of the Pascha, fasting it all with fear and trembling, praying in them for those who are perishing. For they began to plot against the Lord on the second day of the week in the first month, which is Xanthicus; and on the third day of the week the deliberation continued, but on the fourth they determined to kill Him by the cross. And Judas, knowing this, having long been perverted, and then also being struck by the devil himself with avarice, although he had long been entrusted with the money box and was stealing from the poor, he was not cast out by the Lord because of His long-suffering; but even once when we were dining with Him, wishing both to correct him and to teach us His foreknowledge, He says: "Amen I say to you, that one of you will betray Me." And when each of us said, "Is it I?" And the Lord was silent, I, one of the twelve, arose, being loved more than the others by Him, and embracing Him, I begged Him to say who it might be that would betray Him; and not even so did the good Lord tell us his name, but He gave two signs of the betrayer, one by saying, "He who dips with Me in the dish." And a second: "He to whom I shall give the morsel after I have dipped it." And although he said, "Is it I, Rabbi?" the Lord did not say, "Yes," but, "You have said it." And wishing to frighten him at this, He says: "Woe to that man, by whom

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μὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἢ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἅγια ἢ τὸ θυσιαστήριον καὶ τὸ δῶρον ἢ τὴν τοῦ ναοῦ χρύσωσιν ἢ τὴν οἰκείαν κεφαλήν, ἰουδαϊκῆς γὰρ παραφθορᾶς ἡ συνήθεια, διὸ καὶ ἀπαγορευτέα, εἶναι δὲ τὸ ναὶ ναὶ καὶ τὸ οὒ οὒ τοῖς πιστοῖς παρεγγυᾷ, καὶ τὸ τούτων περισσὸν τοῦ πονηροῦ εἶναι λέγει· πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὑπόδικοι οἱ τὰ ψευδώνυμα ὡς ὅρκια ἐπομνύμενοι καὶ τὰ νομιζόμενα ἀντὶ τῶν ἀληθῶν δοξάζοντες; Oὓς ὁ Θεὸς διὰ μοχθηρίαν παρέδωκεν εἰς ἀβουλίαν, ἐνεργεῖν τὰ μὴ δέοντα. Τὰς ἡμέρας τῶν ἑορτῶν φυλάσσετε, ἀδελφοί, καὶ πρώτην γε τὴν γενέθλιον, ἥτις ὑμῖν ἐπιτελείσθω εἰκοστῇ πέμπτῃ τοῦ ἐνάτου μηνός. Μεθ' ἣν ἡ ἐπιφάνιος ὑμῖν ἔστω τιμιωτάτη, καθ' ἣν ὁ Κύριος ἀνάδειξιν ὑμῖν τῆς οἰκείας θεότητος ἐποιήσατο· γινέσθω δὲ καὶ αὕτη ἕκτῃ τοῦ δεκάτου μηνός. Μεθ' ἃς ὑμῖν φυλακτέα ἡ νηστεία τῆς τεσσαρα κοστῆς, μνήμην περιέχουσα τῆς τοῦ Κυρίου πολιτείας τε καὶ νομοθεσίας. Ἐπιτελείσθω δὲ ἡ νηστεία αὕτη πρὸ τῆς νηστείας τοῦ πάσχα, ἀρχομένη μὲν ἀπὸ δευτέρας, πληρουμένη δὲ εἰς παρασκευήν. Μεθ' ἃς ἀπονηστεύσαντες ἄρξασθε τῆς ἁγίας τοῦ πάσχα ἑβδομάδος, νηστεύοντες αὐτὴν πάντες μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου, προσευχόμενοι ἐν αὐταῖς περὶ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων. Ἤρξαντο γὰρ τὴν κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐπιβουλὴν ποιεῖσθαι δευτέρᾳ σαββάτων μηνὶ πρώτῳ, ὅς ἐστι Ξανθικός· καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ τοῦ σαββάτου παρέτεινεν ἡ σκέψις, τῇ δὲ τετράδι διωρίσαντο σταυρῷ ἀνελεῖν αὐτόν. Καὶ Ἰούδας γνοὺς τοῦτο, ἐκ πολλοῦ μὲν διαστραφείς, τότε δὲ καὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ διαβόλου βληθεὶς φιλαργυρίᾳ, καίτοι πάλαι τὸ γλωσσό κομον ἐγκεχειρισμένος καὶ κλέπτων τὰ τῶν πενήτων, οὐκ ἀπεβλήθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου διὰ μακροθυμίαν· ἀλλὰ καί ποτε μὲν ἑστιωμένων ἡμῶν σὺν αὐτῷ, βουλόμενος καὶ αὐτὸν σωφρονίσαι καὶ ἡμᾶς παιδεῦσαι τὴν πρόγνωσιν αὐτοῦ, λέγει· «Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με.» Καὶ ἑκάστου ἡμῶν λέγοντος· «Μήτι ἐγώ;» Καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου σιωπῶντος, ἀναστὰς ἐγώ, εἷς ἐκ τῶν δώδεκα, φιλού μενος πλεῖον τῶν ἄλλων ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, ἐνστερνισάμενος αὐτὸν ἱκέτευον εἰπεῖν, τίς ἂν εἴη ὁ παραδώσων αὐτόν· καὶ οὐδ' οὕτως ἡμῖν εἴρηκεν αὐτοῦ τὸ ὄνομα ὁ ἀγαθὸς Κύριος, ἀλλὰ δύο σημεῖα τοῦ προδότου ἔδωκεν, ἓν μὲν εἰπών· «Ὁ ἐμβαπτόμενος μετ' ἐμοῦ ἐν τῷ τρυβλίῳ.» ∆εύτερον δέ· «Ὧι ἐγὼ βάψας τὸ ψωμίον ἐπιδώσω.» Καίτοι κἀκείνου λέγοντος· «Μήτι ἐγώ εἰμι, ῥαββί;» Oὐκ εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος, ὅτι ναί, ἀλλ' ὅτι «Σὺ εἶπας.» Καὶ φοβῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τούτῳ βουληθείς, φησίν· «Oὐαὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐκείνῳ, δι' οὗ