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The facts bear witness. For not even after the denial did he endure to abandon the teacher; but he wept bitterly, as the story teaches, and lamented his defeat and weakness; but he remained close, held by the bonds of affection. And indeed, when he received the good news of the resurrection, he was the first to reach the tomb; and again, while fishing in Galilee, then learning that it was the Lord standing on the shore and speaking with them, he did not endure the boat cutting the back of the sea too slowly; but he longed, becoming winged, to reach the shore as quickly as possible through the air. But since nature was deprived of wings, he used the waters instead of the air, and his hands instead of wings. And swimming through, he reaches the beloved one, and receives the prize of the race, the preference over the others; for when he commanded them to sit down and distributed the food that was found, he immediately began a conversation with him, asking, as it were, and inquiring how much affection he had, but revealing to the others the love of the great Peter: "Simon Peter," he said, "do you love me more than these?" And he called him to witness his affection: "Lord," he said, "you know that I love you"; for you enter into the souls of men, and you know clearly the movements of the mind, and nothing of human affairs escapes your notice. "For you know all things, the last and the first." To this the master added: "Feed my sheep." "For I," he says, "am in need of nothing; but I consider the care of my sheep the greatest beneficence, and I receive the care for them as care for myself. It is fitting, therefore, for you to share the providence you enjoy with your fellow servants, and to feed as you are fed, and to shepherd as you are shepherded, and to pay the debt you owe me through them. 31.11 These things the master asked again and a second time, and a second time the great Peter answered, and a second time he received the ordination of a shepherd. But when the question was put a third time, the blessed Peter no longer answers with the same confidence and fearlessness, but is filled with dread, and admits turmoil into his soul, and is distressed by the judgment, and fears, suspecting that the master, foreseeing another denial, is mocking the words of love; for his mind ran back to what had gone before, and reminded him how he had already previously insisted many times that he would not abandon the teacher even unto death, but heard that before the rooster crowed, he would deny him three times. And he found not his own promise being fulfilled, but the master's prophecy being confirmed. The memory of these things frightened him, and did not allow him to offer a fitting response with confidence. But he received the sharp and bitter barbs; yet he yielded to the master's knowledge, not contradicting as before, nor saying: "Even if I must die with you, I will not abandon you." But stating that the master was witness to his love, he confessed that the accurate knowledge of all things belonged to him alone, the maker of all things: "For Lord," he said, "you know all things, you perceive all things, you know that I love you." That I love, you both know and bear witness. But whether I will continue to love, you yourself know more clearly. For I will say nothing about the future, nor will I contend about things I do not know; I have learned by experience not to contradict the master. You are the fountain of truth, you are the abyss of knowledge; I have been taught to abide by your decrees. 31.12 The master, seeing this fear of his, and knowing precisely his affection, dispels the fear by foretelling his death, and gives testimony to his love, and confirms Peter's confession, and applies the remedy of confession to the wound of denial. For this reason, I think, he also required this threefold confession; in order to apply remedies equal in number to the wounds, and to lay bare to the disciples who were present the

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πράγματα μαρτυρεῖ. Οὐδὲ γὰρ μετὰ τὴν ἄρνησιν καταλιπεῖν ἠνέσχετο τὸν διδάσκαλον· ἀλλ' ἔκλαυσε μὲν πικρῶς, ὡς ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει, καὶ τὴν ἧτταν καὶ ἀσθενείαν ἀπωδύρατο· προσήδρευσε δὲ τοῖς τοῦ φίλτρου δεσμοῖς κατεχόμενος. Καὶ μέντοι καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως δεξάμενος εὐαγγέλια, πρῶτος τὸν τάφον κατέ λαβε· καὶ ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ δὲ πάλιν ἁλιεύων, εἶτα μαθὼν αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν κύριον τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς ἠϊόνος ἑστῶτα καὶ προσδιαλεγόμενον, οὐκ ἠνέσχετο μὲν τοῦ πορθμίου σχολαιό τερον διατέμνοντος τῆς θαλάττης τὰ νῶτα· ἐπόθησε δὲ ὑπόπτερος γενόμενος διὰ τοῦ ἀέρος ὅτι τάχιστα καταλαβεῖν τὴν ἀκτήν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πτερῶν ἡ φύσις ἐστέρητο, χρῆται μὲν ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀέρος τοῖς ὕδασιν, ἀντὶ δὲ πτερῶν ταῖς χερσίν. ∆ιανηχόμενος δὲ καταλαμβάνει τὸν ἀγαπώμενον, καὶ ἆθλον λαμβάνει τοῦ δρόμου, τὴν τῶν ἄλλων προτίμησιν· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ καθίσαι προσέταξε, καὶ τὰ εὑρεθέντα σιτία διένειμε, τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐθὺς ἤρξατο διαλέξεως, ἐρόμενος μὲν δῆθεν, καὶ πυθόμενος πόσον ἔχοι τὸ φίλτρον, ἀποκαλύπτων δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῦ μεγάλου Πέτρου τὸν ἔρωτα· "Σίμων γὰρ Πέτρε, ἔφη, φιλεῖς με πλέον τούτων;" Ὁ δὲ αὐτὸν εἰς μαρτυρίαν ἐκάλεσε τοῦ φίλτρου· "Κύριε, γάρ, εἶπε, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε"· ἐμβατεύεις γὰρ εἰς τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχάς, καὶ σαφῶς ἐπίστασαι τὰ τῆς διανοίας κινήματα, καὶ οὐ λανθάνει σε τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων οὐδέν. "Γινώσκεις γὰρ πάντα, τὰ ἔσχατα, καὶ τὰ ἀρχαῖα." Τούτοις ὁ δεσπότης ἐπήγαγε· "Ποίμαινέ μου τὰ πρό βατα." Ἐγὼ μὲν γάρ, φησίν, ἀνενδεής· εὐεργεσίαν δὲ μεγίστην ἡγοῦμαι τῶν ἐμῶν προβάτων τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, καὶ τὴν εἰς ἐκεῖνα κηδεμονίαν εἰς ἐμαυτὸν ἀναδέχομαι. Προσήκει τοίνυν σε ἧς ἀπολαύεις προμηθείας μεταδιδόναι τοῖς ὁμοδούλοις, καὶ βόσκειν ὡς βόσκῃ, καὶ ὡς ποιμαίνῃ ποι μαίνειν, καὶ ἣν ὀφείλεις μοι χάριν, δι' ἐκείνων ἐκτιννύειν. 31.11 Ταῦτα πάλιν καὶ δὶς ὁ δεσπότης ἤρετο, καὶ δὶς ὁ μέγας ἀπεκρίνατο Πέτρος, καὶ δὶς τοῦ ποιμένος τὴν χειρο τονίαν ἐδέξατο. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τρίτῃ προσηνέχθη πεῦσις, οὐκ ἔθ' ὁμοίως θαρραλέως καὶ ἀδεῶς ὁ μακάριος ἀποκρίνεται Πέτρος, ἀλλὰ δέους ἐμπίπλαται, καὶ θόρυβον εἰσδέχεται τῇ ψυχῇ, καὶ ἀγωνιᾷ τῇ ψήφῳ, καὶ δέδοικεν, ὑφορώμενος μὴ ἑτέραν ἄρνησιν ὁ δεσπότης προθεωρῶν, τῶν τῆς ἀγάπης ῥημάτων καταγελᾷ· ἀνέδραμε γὰρ ὁ νοῦς εἰς τὰ πρότερα, καὶ ἀνέμνησεν αὐτὸν ὡς καὶ ἤδη πρότερον πολλάκις μὲν μέχρι θανάτου μὴ καταλιπεῖν ἰσχυρίσατο τὸν διδάσκαλον, ἤκουσε δὲ ὡς πρὶν ἀλέκτορα φωνῆσαι, τρὶς ἀπαρνήσεται. Καὶ εὗρεν οὐ τὴν οἰκείαν ὑπόσχεσιν περατουμένην, ἀλλὰ τοῦ δεσπότου βεβαιουμένην τὴν πρόρρησιν. Ἡ τούτων αὐτὸν ἐδεδίττετο μνήμη, καὶ οὐκ εἴα θαρραλέως τὴν ἁρμο δίαν προσφέρειν ἀπόκρισιν. Ἀλλ' ὀξείας μὲν καὶ πικρὰς ἐδέξατο τὰς ἀκίδας· παρεχώρησε δὲ ὅμως τῷ δεσπότῃ τῆς γνώσεως, οὐκ ἀντιτείνων, ὡς τὸ πρότερον, οὐδὲ λέγων· "Κἂν δέῃ με σύν σοι ἀποθανεῖν, οὐ μή σε καταλίπω." Ἀλλὰ τῆς μὲν ἀγάπης αὐτὸν ἔχειν τὸν δεσπότην συνίστορα φάσκων, τὴν ἀκριβῆ δὲ τῶν ὅλων γνῶσιν παρ' αὐτῷ εἶναι μόνῳ τῷ ποιητῇ τῶν ὅλων ὁμολογῶν· "Κύριε γάρ, ἔφη, σὺ πάντα οἶδας, σὺ πάντα γινώσκεις, σὺ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε." Ὅτι μὲν γὰρ φιλῶ, καὶ οἶδας, καὶ μαρτυρεῖς. Εἰ δὲ καὶ διαμενῶ φιλῶν, σαφέστερον οἶδας αὐτός. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐγὼ περὶ τῶν ἐσομένων ἐρῶ, οὐδὲ ζυγομαχήσω περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἐπίσταμαι· ἔμαθον τῇ πείρᾳ μὴ ἀντιλέγειν δεσπότῃ. Σὺ τῆς ἀληθείας πηγή, σὺ τῆς γνώσεως ἄβυσσος, τοῖς σοῖς ὅροις ἐμμένειν δεδίδαγμαι. 31.12 Τοῦτο τὸ δέος αὐτοῦ θεασάμενος ὁ δεσπότης, καὶ τὸ φίλτρον δὲ ἀκριβῶς ἐπιστάμενος, τῇ προαγορεύσει τῆς τελευτῆς λύει τὸν φόβον, καὶ δίδωσι τῇ ἀγάπῃ τὴν μαρτυ ρίαν, καὶ τοῦ Πέτρου τὴν ὁμολογίαν κυροῖ, καὶ τῷ ἕλκει τῆς ἀρνήσεως προσφέρει τῆς ὁμολογίας τὸ φάρμακον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ τριπλῆν ταύτην ἀπῄτησεν· ἵν' ἰσάριθμα τοῖς ἕλκεσιν ἐπιθῇ τὰ φάρμακα, καὶ γυμνώσῃ τοῖς παροῦσι τῶν μαθητῶν τῆς