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worthy; and through prayers, entrust to Christ, the only precious one, and to the one who, through himself, most preciously honored dishonored man; whom, as Master and Lord, you imitate in all things, you have made yourself another Him, by the grace of the Spirit, to those who see you.

EPISTLE 31. ... TO THE SAME. 31. From the same to the same. (15Β_408> Just as a ray gently draws the healthy 0625 sight

which naturally rejoices in light, and imparts its own brilliance, so also the true priesthood, being in all things a character of the blessed divinity for those on earth, draws to itself every soul that is by disposition God-loving and divine, and imparts its own knowledge, and peace, and love; so that, bringing each power of the soul to the goal of its proper activity, it may present to God those initiated by it, having been deified in all things. For the goal of the rational activity of the soul is true knowledge; of the desiderative, love; and of the irascible, peace; just as that of the true priesthood is to be deified and to deify through these. For we have the rational faculty by which to naturally seek God, and we received desire to long for Him alone, and we obtained spirit to strive for Him alone. And the goal of the seeking is true knowledge; of longing, is perpetual and fervent love; of the divine struggles, is the peace which surpasses all understanding.

(15Β_410> Knowing that you, the all-holy and all-blessed, are creators and teachers of these highest goods, the true servant of God, and daughter and mother, Eudokia the recluse, with her sacred flock, has returned to you, having shown you, the God-honored, to be victors over all those who were eager to have her for themselves. For she is truly a servant, as a fulfiller of the divine commandments; a daughter, as having through all things, by her disposition, an unchangeable resemblance to God; and a mother, as being generative of the disposition of virtue in others.

But rejoice henceforth and be glad, having received back the more precious part of your holy flock; and especially having also received my sanctified lord, George the presbyter, who is truly a divine field, and a most tested farmer of the divine and great George, competent in work and word before God and all the people, according to the agricultural science of souls, and for this reason most lovely to all who love the Lord. But since I for now have become half-dead and half-cut, torn from their beneficial company, either receive me also as a sick member, and heal me, or through prayers console me, and persuade me to bear the separation dispassionately. For this too is a property of the divine and true priesthood.

EPISTLE 32. ... TO ABBA POLYCHRONIOS. 32. From the same to Abba Polychronios. (15Β_412> Since we are about to celebrate the burial of the one who was put to death and buried for our sake according to

the flesh, Christ, and his resurrection, let us consider if we too have been put to death, and have been buried according to the old man who is corrupted according to the desires of deceit, and have risen according to the new man who is 0628 renewed according to the image of the one who created him. And a sign of the first

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ἄξιον· καί δι᾿ εὐχῶν παράθου τῷ Χριστῷ τῷ μόνῳ τιμίῳ, καί τόν ἄτιμον πολυτίμως δι᾿ ἑαυτοῦ τιμήσαντι ἄνθρωπον· ὅντινα ∆εσπότην καί Κύριον κατά πάντα μιμούμενος, ἄλλον ἐκεῖνον κατά χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος σεαυτόν τοῖς ὁρῶσι κατέστησας.

ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΛΑ'. ... ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΥΤΟΝ. ΛΑ´Τοῦ αὐτοῦ πρός τόν αὐτόν. (15Β_408> Ὥσπερ ἀκτίς ἐπισπᾶται προσηνῶς τήν ὑγιαίνουσαν 0625 ὄψιν

κατά φύσιν προσχαίρουσαν φωτί, καί τῆς οἰκείας λαμπρότητος μεταδίδωσι οὕτως καί ἡ ἀληθής ἱερωσύνη χαρακτήρ οὖσα διά πάντων τῆς μακαρίας θεότητος τοῖς ἐπί γῆς, πᾶσαν ψυχήν κατά τήν ἕξιν φιλόθεόν τε καί θείαν ἐφέλκεται πρός ἑαυτήν, καί τῆς ἰδίας μεταδίδωσι γνώσεως, εἰρήνης τε καί ἀγάπης· ἵνα πρός τό πέρας τῆς οἰκείας ἐνεργείας, ἑκάστην τῆς ψυχῆς ἐνέγκασα δύναμιν, Θεῷ παραστήσῃ διά πάντων θεωθέντας τούς ὑπ᾿ αὐτῆς μυσταγωγουμένους. Τέλος γάρ τῆς κατά ψυχήν λογικῆς ἐνεργείας, ἡ ἀληθής γνῶσίς ἐστι· τῆς ἐπιθυμητικῆς δέ, ἡ ἀγάπη· τῆς δέ θυμικῆς, ἡ εἰρήνη· ὥσπερ καί τῆς ἀληθοῦς ἱερωσύνης, τό διά τούτων θεοποιεῖσθαί τε καί θεοποιεῖν. Ἐφ᾿ ᾧ γάρ ζητεῖν τόν Θεόν ἔχομεν φυσικῶς τό λογίζεσθαι, καί αὐτόν μόνον ποθεῖν τήν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐλάβομεν, καί ὑπέρ αὐτοῦ ἀγωνίζεσθαι μόνον τόν θυμόν ἐκομισάμεθα. Τέλος δέ τῆς μέν ζητήσεως, ἡ ἀληθής γνῶσίς ἐστι· τοῦ δέ πόθου, ἡ διηνεκής καί διάπυρος ἀγάπη· τῶν δέ θείων ἀγώνων, ἡ πάντα νοῦν ὑπερέχουσα εἰρήνη.

(15Β_410> Τούτων ὄντας τῶν ἄκρων ἀγαθῶν ποιητάς τε καί διδασκάλους τούς παναγίους καί παμμακαρίστους ὑμᾶς γινώσκουσα ἡ ὄντως δούλη τοῦ Θεοῦ, καί θυγάτηρ καί μήτηρ Εὐδοκία ἡ ἐγκλειστή, μετά τῆς ἱερᾶς αὐτῆς ἀγέλης, πρός ὑμᾶς ἐπανῆλθε, νικητάς ἀποδείξασα τούς θεοτιμήτους ὑμᾶς πάντων τῶν πρός ἑαυτούς ἔχειν αὐτήν σπουδασάντων. ∆ούλη γάρ ἀληθῶς ἐστιν, ὡς τῶν θείων ἐντολῶν πληρωτική· θυγάτηρ δέ, ὡς διά πάντων κατά τήν ἕξιν ἀπαράλλακτον ἔχουσα πρός τόν Θεόν τήν ἐμφέρειαν μήτηρ δέ, ὡς καί τῆς κατ᾿ ἀρετήν ἐν ἄλλοις ἕξεως γεννητική.

Ἀλλ᾿ εὐφραίνεσθε τό λοιπόν καί ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, τό τιμιώτερον μέρος τῆς ὑμετέρας ἁγίας ἐπαναλαβόντες ποίμνης· καί μάλιστα προσλαβόμενοι καί τόν ἡγιασμένον κύριόν μου Γεώργιον τόν πρεσβύτερον, τό ὄντως θεῖον γεώργιόν τε, καί θείου καί μεγάλου Γεωργίου γεωργόν δοκιμώτατον, ἱκανόν ἐν ἔργῳ καί λόγῳ ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ καί παντός τοῦ λαοῦ, κατά τήν ψυχῶν γεωργικήν ἐπιστήμην, καί διά τοῦτο πᾶσιν ἐπέραστον τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τόν Κύριον. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπειδή τέως ἐγώ κατέστην ἡμιθνής καί ἡμίτομος, τῆς ἐπωφελοῦς αὐτῶν ἀπεῤῥωγώς συζυγίας, ἤ κἀμέ προσλάβετε ὡς μέλος νενοσηκός, καί θεραπεύσατε, ἤ δι᾿ εὐχῶν με παραμυθήσασθε, καί πείσατε ἀπαθῶς φέρειν τόν χωρισμόν. Καί τοῦτο γάρ τῆς θείας καί ἀληθοῦς ἱερωσύνης καθέστηκεν ἴδιον.

ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΛB'. ... ΠΡΟΣ ΑΒΒΑΝ ΠΟΛΥΧΡΟΝΙΟΝ. ΛΒ´Τοῦ αὐτοῦ πρός ἀββᾶν Πολυχρόνιον. (15Β_412> Ἐπειδή ταφήν τοῦ ὑπέρ ἡμῶν νεκρωθέντος καί ταφέντος κατά

σάρκα Χριστοῦ, καί ἀνάστασιν ἑορτάζειν μέλλομεν, σκοπήσωμεν εἰ καί ἡμεῖς ἐνεκρώθημεν, καί ἐτάφημεν κατά τόν παλαιόν ἄνθρωπον τόν φθειρόμενον κατά τάς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης, καί ἀνέστημεν κατά τόν καινόν ἄνθρωπον τόν 0628 ἀνακαινούμενον κατ᾿ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος. Σημεῖον δέ τῆς μέν τοῦ πρώτου