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plowing and digging and casting seeds into the earth, but it is a gift of God for these to grow and to give late and early fruit, so also you will find it happening in truth in spiritual matters. For it is ours to pursue every action and with intense pain and labor to cast the seeds of the virtues, but it is a gift and mercy of God alone to rain down the rain of His philanthropy and grace and to render fruitful the unfruitful earth of our hearts, so that the grain of the word that has fallen into our souls might partake of the moisture of divine goodness and, having sprung up, might grow and reach a great tree, that is, to become the manly perfection of the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Therefore you, the shepherd of Christ's sheep, must, as has been said, possess every bodily and spiritual virtue, as the head of the rest of the body of the Israelite church under you, so that the brothers, looking to you as to a good archetype, might themselves also engrave in themselves good and most royal characters. Therefore, let the trumpet in you never be silent from sounding, but to some, foretell the coming sword upon the disobedient and stubborn, so that even if you are not heard, you may rescue your soul (258) from the terrible wrath of God, but others admonish, teach, exhort, and at times be ready in season and out of season for those who need refutations and rebukes, rebuking, censuring and checking their undertakings for evil, as the divine apostle commands you. Open your heart equally to all your brothers, and you will have equal love for the whole brotherhood in you, but you will render honor worthily to each one according to the worth and magnitude of his virtue, not preferring even him whom you have as first in the ministries of your flock over the spiritual and virtuous one. For those who minister bear the dignity of the seven deacons written in the Acts of the Apostles, who are also as ministering spirits sent forth to minister, and they will reasonably receive a great reward from here and there, ministering without deceit and faithfully like them, without any shameful gain. But those who persevere in prayer and quiet and the ministry of the word in the patience of the asceticism of the best works, bear with you the dignity of the apostles and leaders themselves, whom you will also have as coworkers in the Gospel of your spiritual teaching, taking up the burdens of the brothers and relieving you of your labors, that is, rolling among the rest like precious stones.

There is no rest of body for you in this work, no enjoyment. The nights equally with the days (359) will be spent by you in the care of the souls entrusted to you, so that not one of them may become prey to wild beasts, either devoured by the bear of desire or swallowed by the dragon of anger or divided by the vultures of the thoughts of pride, and the one become many and of the one, being divided into otherness, but that you may bring back safe and very fruitful your flock to the chief shepherd Christ God, wholly fruitful, full of virtues, enlightened by divine knowledge, not bringing it mangy or with cropped ears or lame at all. For thus you will also save many, making them perfect in perfect works, lacking in nothing at all, bringing them all chaste, pure from defiled works, to your Christ, and you will make yourself worthy of great rewards from above, becoming a fellow-dweller of the apostles and shepherds of Christ and reigning together with the Son of God Himself for endless ages.

Let your life be a straight rule set before your brothers and fathers, so that the crooked things of others may be straightened by it, not a lover of material things, not a lover of glory, not a lover of pleasure, not a lover of the table, not a lover of wine, not boastful or given to jesting or

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ἀροτριῶν καί σκάπτων καί καταβάλλων εἰς γῆν τά σπέρματα, Θεοῦ δέ δῶρον τό καί φυῆναι ταῦτα καί δοῦναι καρπόν ὄψιμόν τε καί πρώϊμον, οὕτω καί ἐπί τῶν πνευματικῶν εὑρήσεις ἐν ἀληθείᾳ γινόμενον. Ἡμέτερον μέν γάρ ἐστι τό πᾶσαν πρᾶξιν μετελθεῖν καί μετά πόνου καί κόπου σφοδροῦ τά σπέρματα τῶν ἀρετῶν καταβαλεῖν, Θεοῦ δέ μόνου δῶρον καί ἔλεος τό καί βρέξαι ὑετόν τῆς αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίας καί χάριτος καί καρποφόρον ἀποτελέσαι τήν ἄκαρπον τῶν καρδιῶν ἡμῶν γῆν, ὡς ἄν ὁ καταπεσών τοῦ λόγου κόκκος ἐν ταῖς ἡμετέραις ψυχαῖς νοτίδα θείας μεταλάβῃ χρηστότητος καί φυείς αὐξηθῇ καί εἰς δένδρον μέγα φθάσῃ, γενέσθαι εἰς ἀνδρικήν δηλαδή τελειότητα τοῦ μέτρου τῆς ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ.

Χρή οὖν σέ, τόν ποιμένα τῶν προβάτων Χριστοῦ, πᾶσαν, ὡς εἴρηται, κεκτῆσθαι σωματικήν τε καί πνευματικήν ἀρετήν, ὡς κεφαλήν τοῦ λοιποῦ σώματος τῆς ὑπό σέ Ἰσραηλιτικῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἵνα ὡς εἰς ἀρχέτυπον καλόν πρός σέ οἱ ἀδελφοί ἀποβλέποντες, καλούς καί αὐτοί τούς χαρακτῆρας καί βασιλικούς ὅτι μάλιστα ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἐγχαράξωσι. Μή δή οὖν ἡ ἐν σοί σάλπιγξ ἠχεῖν ἡσυχάσῃ ποτέ, ἀλλά τοῖς μέν τήν ἐρχομένην ῥομφαίαν ἐπί τούς ἀπειθεῖς καί ἀτεράμονας πρόλεγε, ἵνα κἄν τήν σήν παρακουόμενος ῥύσην ψυχῆς (258) τῆς φοβερᾶς ὀργῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ, τούς δέ νουθέτει, δίδασκε, παρακάλει, ἐσθ᾿ ὅτε καί δεομένους ἐλέγχων καί ἐπιπλήξεων εὐκαίρως ἀκαίρως ἐπίστηθι, ἐπιπλήσσων, ἐπιτιμῶν καί ἀνακόπτων τάς ἐπί κακῷ ἐγχειρήσεις αὐτῶν, καθό σοι ἐντέλλεται ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος. Ἄνοιξόν σου τά σπλάγχνα ἐπί πάντας ἐπίσης τούς σούς ἀδελφούς, καί τήν μέν ἀγάπην ἴσης ἕξεις ἐπί πάσῃ τῇ ἐν σοί ἀδελφότητι, τήν δέ τιμήν ἑνί ἑκάστῳ κατά τήν ἀξίαν καί τό μέγεθος τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀπονέμεις ἀξίως, μή προτιμῶν τοῦ πνευματικοῦ καί ἐναρέτου μηδέ αὐτόν ὅν ἔχεις πρῶτον ἐν ταῖς διακονίαις τῆς ποίμνης σου. Οἱ μέν γάρ διακονοῦντες τήν ἀξίαν ἐπιφέρονται τῶν ἐν ταῖς Ἀποστολικαῖς Πράξεσιν ἀναγραφομένων ἑπτά διακόνων, οἵ καί ὡς πνεύματά εἰσι λειτουργικά εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα, καί τόν μισθόν εἰκότως, ἀδόλως ὡς ἐκεῖνοι καί πιστῶς διακονοῦντες, δίχα πάσης αἰσχροκερδίας, μέγαν ἔνθεν τε κἀκεῖσε κομίσονται. Οἱ δέ τῇ προσευχῇ καί τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ καί τῇ διακονίᾳ προσκαρτεροῦντες τοῦ λόγου ἐν ὑπομονῇ ἔργων ἀρίστων ἀσκήσεως, αὐτῶν τῶν ἀποστόλων καί κορυφαίων τήν ἀξίαν σύν σοί ἐπιφέρονται, οὕς καί ὡς συνεργούς ἕξεις ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ τῆς πνευματικῆς σου διδασκαλίας, ἀναδεχομένους τά βάρη τῶν ἀδελφῶν καί ἀνακουφίζοντάς σε τῶν πόνων, μέσον δηλαδή τῶν λοιπῶν κυλιομένους ὡς λίθους τιμίους.

Οὐκ ἔστι σοι ἀνάπαυσις σώματος ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ἔργῳ, ἀπόλαυσις οὐδεμία. Αἱ νύκτες ἴσα καί ἡμέραις (359) δαπανηθήσονταί σοι εἰς τήν φροντίδα τῶν καταπιστευθεισῶν σοι ψυχῶν, ἵνα μή θηριάλωτος μία ἐξ αὐτῶν γένηται, ἤ τῇ ἄρκτῳ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας καταβρωθεῖσα ἤ τῷ δράκοντι τοῦ θυμοῦ καταποθεῖσα ἤ τοῖς γυψί τῶν λογισμῶν τῆς ἐπάρσεως διαμερισθεῖσα, καί πολλαί ἡ μία καί τοῦ ἑνός γένηται εἰς ἑτερότητα διαμερισθεῖσα, ἀλλ᾿ ἵνα σῶον τό ποίμνιόν σου καί πολύτοκον ἀνασώσῃς τῷ ἀρχιποιμένι Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ, ὅλον καρποφόρον, ἀρετῶν πλῆρες, γνώσει πεφωτισμένον τῇ θείᾳ, μή ψωραλέον ἤ ὠτότμητον ἤ χωλόν ὅλως ἐπιφερόμενον. Οὕτω γάρ καί πολλούς σώσεις, τελείους ἐν τελείοις τοῖς ἔργοις ἀπεργαζόμενος, ἐν μηδενί μηδαμῶς λειπομένους, ὅλους ἁγνούς, καθαρούς ἀπό ῥυπαρῶν ἔργων τῷ Χριστῷ σου προσάγων, καί ἑαυτόν μεγάλων ἀξιώσεις τῶν ἄνωθεν ἀμοιβῶν, ὁμόσκηνος τῶν ἀποστόλων καί τῶν ποιμένων Χριστοῦ γενόμενος καί συμβασιλεύων αὐτῷ τῷ Υἱῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς ἀπεράντους αἰῶνας.

Κανών εὐθύς ὁ σός ἔστω βίος προκείμενος μέσον τῶν ἀδελφῶν καί πατέρων σου, ἵνα τά τῶν ἄλλων σκαμβά ἐν αὐτῷ ἀπευθύνωνται, μή φιλόϋλος, μή φιλόδοξος, μή φιλήδονος, μή φιλοτράπεζος, μή φίλοινος, μή πέρπερος ἤ εὐτράπελος ἤ