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to those who curiously inquired into His affairs. And these things were also recorded in the Gospel. Therefore, He Himself commanded us to fast these six days because of the impiety and lawlessness of the Jews, commanding us to mourn and lament for them on account of their destruction; for He Himself also wept for them, who were ignorant of the time of their visitation. And He ordered us to fast on Wednesday and Friday, the one because of the betrayal, the other because of the passion; And He commanded us to break the fast on the seventh day at the crowing of the rooster, and to fast on the Sabbath itself, not because it is necessary to fast on the Sabbath, it being a rest from creation, but because on that day alone we must fast, while the Creator was still under the earth. For on their own feast day they seized the Lord, so that the saying might be fulfilled: "They set their signs in the midst of their feast, and did not understand." Therefore, it is necessary to mourn for them, because when the Lord came they did not believe in Him, but rejected His teaching, judging themselves unworthy of salvation. You, therefore, are blessed, who were once not a people, but are now a holy nation, delivered from the error of idols, from ignorance, from impiety; you who had not received mercy, but have now received mercy through the obedience of your heart. For to you, from the Gentiles, the gate of life has been opened, who once were not beloved, but are now beloved, a people appointed for God's own possession to declare His virtues, concerning whom the Savior said: "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me. I said, 'Behold, I am here,' to a nation that was not called by My name." For though you never sought Him, you were sought by Him, and you, believing in Him, obeyed His call, abandoning the madness of polytheism and taking refuge in the true monarchy, with God the Almighty through Jesus Christ, becoming the fullness of the number of those who are saved, ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands, as it is written in David. But to the unbelieving Israel He says: "All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people, who walk in a way that is not good, but after their own sins, a people that provokes Me to My face." See, therefore, how the people provoked the Lord by not believing in Him. Wherefore He says: "They provoked the Holy Spirit, and He turned to be their enemy." For blindness was poured out upon them because of their malevolence, because seeing

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περιεργαζομένοις τὰ κατ' αὐτόν. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ Eὐαγγελίῳ ἀνεγράφη. Παρήγγειλεν οὖν ἡμῖν αὐτὸς νηστεύειν τὰς ἓξ ἡμέρας ταύτας διὰ τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων δυσσέβειαν καὶ παρα νομίαν, πενθεῖν αὐτοὺς καὶ ὀδύρεσθαι παρακελευσάμενος ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπωλείᾳ αὐτῶν· καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς αὐτοῖς ἐπεδάκρυσεν, ἀγνοήσασι τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς αὐτῶν· τετράδα δὲ καὶ παρασκευὴν προσέταξεν ἡμῖν νηστεύειν, τὴν μὲν διὰ τὴν προδοσίαν, τὴν δὲ διὰ τὸ πάθος· ἀπονηστεῦσαι δὲ προσέταξεν τῇ ἑβδόμῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀλέκτορος φωνήσαντος, αὐτὸ δὲ νηστεῦσαι τὸ σάββατον, οὐχ ὅτι δεῖ τὸ σάββατον νηστεύειν, κατάπαυσιν δημιουργίας ὑπάρχον, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἐκεῖνο μόνον χρὴ νηστεύειν, τοῦ δημιουργοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ ἔτι ὑπὸ γῆν ὄντος. Ἐν αὐτῇ γὰρ αὐτῶν τῇ ἑορτῇ κατέσχον τὸν Κύριον. ὅπως πληρωθῇ ἐκεῖνο τὸ φάσκον λόγιον· «Ἔθεντο τὰ σημεῖα αὐτῶν ἐν μέσῳ τῆς ἑορτῆς αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἔγνω σαν.» ∆εῖ οὖν πενθεῖν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, ὅτι ἐλθόντος τοῦ Κυρίου οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν αὐτῷ, ἀλλ' ἀπεσείσαντο τὴν διδασκα λίαν αὐτοῦ, ἀναξίους κρίναντες ἑαυτοὺς σωτηρίας. Ὑμεῖς οὖν μακάριοι, οἵ ποτε οὐ λαός, νῦν δὲ ἔθνος ἅγιον ·υσθὲν ἀπὸ πλάνης εἰδώλων, ἀπὸ ἀγνοίας, ἀπὸ δυσσεβείας· οἱ οὐκ ἠλεημένοι, νῦν δὲ ἐλεηθέντες διὰ τὴν ὑπακοὴν τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν. Ὑμῖν γὰρ ἠνοίγη ἡ πύλη τῆς ζωῆς τοῖς ἐξ ἐθνῶν, οἵτινές ποτε οὐκ ἠγαπημένοι, νῦν δὲ πεφιλημένοι, λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν Θεοῦ τεταγμένος τῷ τὰς ἀρετὰς αὐτοῦ ἐξαγγέλλειν, περὶ ὧν εἶπεν ὁ σωτήρ· «Eὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν, εἶπα· ἰδού εἰμι, τῷ ἔθνει, οἳ οὐκ ἐκάλεσαν τὸ ὄνομά μου.» Μὴ ζητήσαντες γὰρ αὐτόν ποτε ἐπεζητήθητε παρ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὑμεῖς πιστεύσαντες εἰς αὐτὸν ὑπηκούσατε τῇ κλήσει αὐτοῦ, καταλείψαντες τὴν πολύθεον μανίαν καὶ τῇ ἀληθεῖ μοναρχίᾳ προσφυγόντες, τῷ παντοκράτορι Θεῷ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, πλήρωμα τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν σῳζομένων γενόμενοι, μύριαι μυριάδες καὶ χίλιαι χιλιάδες, ὡς ἐν τῷ ∆αυὶδ γέγραπται. Πρὸς δὲ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ τὸν ἄπιστον λέγει· «Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐξεπέ τασα τὰς χεῖράς μου πρὸς λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα, τοῖς πορευομένοις ἐν ὁδῷ οὐ καλῇ, ἀλλ' ὀπίσω τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν, λαὸν παροξύνοντά με ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ.» Βλέπετε οὖν, ὅπως παρώξυνεν ὁ λαὸς τὸν Κύριον, μὴ πιστεύσας αὐτῷ. ∆ιὸ λέγει· «Παρώξυναν τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ ἐστράφη αὐτοῖς εἰς ἔχθραν.» Ἀβλεψία γὰρ αὐτοῖς κατεχύθη διὰ τὴν κακόνοιαν αὐτῶν, ὅτι βλέποντες