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DISCOURSE 7. (243)

Concerning those who serve God, who they are, of what sort, and of what kind. And who the penitent is and his work, and who is he that pursues the ascetic life and his work, and who is he that serves God and his work. And that, if we do not acquire the virtues, freedom from the passions alone will not benefit us at all.

Since, from the time of holy baptism, we consider ourselves Christians and faithful apart from works, believing in the consubstantial and undivided Trinity and in the One of this Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ and God, and from habit we simply style and call ourselves servants of God, and writing to others, we call ourselves this, writing it at the top, perhaps not knowing this very thing, what the service of God is and who is worthy to hear and to be a servant of God, I am moved by the Word to exercise my reason and I hasten to speak about those who serve God, who they are, of what sort, and of what kind, and what are the works done for the Lord's sake by such people, so that each person may know himself from his own actions, and he will know whom he serves through his own undertakings and to whom he is a servant, or whom he has ever served and to whom he has been a servant, lest anyone, indulging himself, think he is serving the Lord and not himself. But concerning those who live in the world and are under the yoke (244) of life, we have no discourse, as the holy Paul expressly cries out: "The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord, but the married man is anxious about the things of the world, how to please his wife" and the world, but our entire discourse will be about those who have renounced the world and the things in the world.

Those who have just entered the stadium of repentance of their own accord and willingly and, as far as possible, train themselves in bodily exercise, beginners, I say, and those who have spent time in it, think they are serving the Lord and hope to be justified by works. For not paying attention to the light of the divine Scriptures, but some of them always walking outside of this and being held in the darkness of their wicked thoughts, they do not know that there is a great difference between the penitent and those who strive in the training of virtue and those who serve the master Christ. For the penitent, repenting of the evil they have done, ask to receive forgiveness for their offenses, such as was the publican, the harlot, Peter himself, when, having been terrified and denied a third time, he wept bitterly, and anyone like that prodigal who squandered his paternal inheritance with harlots and publicans; for these and such as these are not said to serve the Lord, but being enemies and having offended, they are reconciled to him through repentance and confession. But those who pursue asceticism and are just now eagerly training for the exercise of virtue strive to conquer the passions after repentance, having evidently done it diligently and fervently for their past sins; (245) and not only that, but they also strive to acquire the virtues safely in place of the passions.

And the one who is just now repenting grieves, weeps, fasts, keeps vigil, sleeps on the ground, serves, and endures all afflictions, always considering his own evils and holding himself worthy of greater punishments, he endures all that comes upon him without disturbance, so that through such patience of his, his offenses may be forgiven him. But the good ascetic who is now striving, not for the payment of sins, but for the one against

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ΛΟΓΟΣ Ζ΄. (243)

Περί τῶν δουλευόντων Θεῷ, τίνες τε εἶεν και ὁποῖοι καί ποταποί. Καί τίς ἐστιν ὁ μετανοῶν καί ἡ ἐργασία αὐτοῦ, καί τίς ὁ τήν ἀσκητικήν ζωήν μετερχόμενος καί ἡ ἐργασία αὐτοῦ, καί τίς ὁ δουλεύων Θεῷ καί τό ἔργον αὐτοῦ. Καί ὅτι, ἐάν μή τάς ἀρετάς κτησώμεθα, οὐδέν ἡμᾶς ἀπαλλαγή μόνον τῶν παθῶν ὠφελήσει.

Ἐπειδήπερ ὅσον ἀπό τοῦ θείου βαπτίσματος χριστιανούς ἡμᾶς ἑαυτούς δίχα τῶν

ἔργων καί πιστούς λογιζόμεθα, εἰς τήν ὁμοούσιον καί ἀδιαίρετον Τριάδα πιστεύοντες καί εἰς τόν ἕνα ταύτης τόν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν καί Θεόν, καί δούλους ἑαυτούς ἐκ συνηθείας οὕτω πως ἁπλῶς ἐπιγραφόμεθα τοῦ Θεοῦ καί καλοῦμεν, καί γράφοντες πρός ἑτέρους τοῦτο αὐτοί ἑαυτούς ἄνωθεν γράφοντες ὀνομάζομεν , μή εἰδότες ἴσως αὐτό τοῦτο, τί ἐστι δουλεία Θεοῦ καί τίς ὁ ἀκούειν ἄξιος καί εἶναι δοῦλος Θεοῦ, τόν λόγον ὑπό τοῦ Λόγου κινοῦμαι γυμνάσαι καί εἰπεῖν ἐπείγομαι περί τῶν δουλευόντων Θεῷ τίνες τε εἶεν καί ὁποῖοι καί ποταποί, καί τίνα τά παρά τῶν τοιούτων διά Κύριον γινόμενα ἔργα, ὡς ἄν ἀπό τῶν ἑαυτοῦ πράξεων ἕκαστος γνώσεται ἑαυτόν, καί τίνα θεραπεύει διά τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ἐγχειρήσεων καί τίνι δουλεύει, ἤ τίνα ποτέ ἐθεράπευσε καί τίνι ἐδούλευσεν, εἴσεται, ἵνα μή ἑαυτῷ τις χαριζόμενος δοκῇ τῷ Κυρίῳ δουλεύειν καί οὐχ ἑαυτῷ. Ἀλλά περί μέν τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ διαγόντων καί ὑπό ζυγόν (244) ὄντων τοῦ βίου οὐδείς λόγος ἡμῖν, διαρρήδην τοῦ ἁγίου Παύλου βοῶντος· "Ὁ ἄγαμος μεριμνᾷ τά τοῦ Κυρίου πῶς ἀρέσει τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὁ δέ γαμίσας μεριμνᾷ τά τοῦ κόσμου πῶς ἀρέσει τῇ γυναικί" καί τῷ κόσμῳ, περί δέ τῶν ἀποταξαμένων τῷ κόσμῳ καί τοῖς ἐν κόσμῳ ἅπας ὁ λόγος ἔσται ἡμῖν.

Οἱ εἰς τό στάδιον ἄρτι τῆς μετανοίας ἐξ ἀκουσίου γνώμης καί αὐτοθελῶς εἰσερχόμενοι καί κατά τό ἐνόν εἰς τήν σωματικήν γυμνασίαν ἑαυτούς ἐγγυμνάζοντες, εἰσαγωγικοί τε, λέγω, καί οἱ ἐν ταύτῃ χρονίσαντες, οἴονται τῷ Κυρίῳ δουλεύειν καί ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦσθαι ἐλπίζουσι. Μή προσέχοντες γάρ τῷ φωτί τῶν θείων Γραφῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ἔξω τούτου ἀεί τῶν τοιούτων τινές πορευόμενοι καί ἐν σκότει τῶν πονηρῶν διανοιῶν αὐτῶν κατεχόμενοι, οὐ γινώσκουσιν ὅτι πολύ ὑπάρχει τό ἐν μέσῳ διάφορον τῶν τε μετανοούντων καί ἀγωνιζομένων εἰς τήν γυμνασίαν τῆς ἀρετῆς καί αὐτῶν τῶν τῷ δεσπότῃ δουλευόντων Χριστῷ. Οἱ μέν γάρ μετανοοῦντες, ὑπέρ ὧν κακῶς ἔπραξαν μεταμελόμενοι, συγχώρησιν τῶν ἐπταισμένων αἰτοῦνται λαβεῖν, οἷος ἦν ὁ τελώνης, ἡ πόρνη, ὁ Πέτρος αὐτός, ὅτε, πτοηθείς καί ἀρνησάμενος τρίτον, ἔκλαυσε πικρῶς, καί εἴ τις κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνον τόν ἄσωτον τόν μετά πορνῶν καί τελωνῶν καταδαπανήσαντα τόν κλῆρον τόν πατρικόν· οὗτοι γάρ καί οἱ τοιοῦτοι οὐχί δουλεύειν λέγονται τῷ Κυρίῳ, ἀλλά ἐχθροί καί προσκεκρουκότες ὑπάρχοντες, διά μετανοίας καί ἐξομολογήσεως καταλλάσονται αὐτῷ. Οἱ δέ τήν ἄσκησιν μετερχόμενοι καί ἄρτι πρός τήν γυμνασίαν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐκθύμως ἐγγυμναζόμενοι τά πάθη μετά τήν μετάνοιαν νικῆσαι σπουδάζουσι, σπουδαίως αὐτήν καί θερμῶς δηλονότι πεποιηκότες ὑπέρ τῶν προημαρτημένων αὐτοῖς· (245) οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλά καί τάς ἀρετάς ἀντί τῶν παθῶν κτήσασθαι ἀσφαλῶς ἀγωνίζονται.

Καί ὁ μέν ἄρτι μετανοῶν λυπεῖται, κλαίει, νηστεύει, ἀγρυπνεῖ, χαμευνεῖ, διακονεῖ καί πάσας ὑποφέρει τάς θλίψεις, ἀεί τά ἑαυτοῦ κακά λογιζόμενος καί ὡς μειζόνων κολάσεων ἄξιον ἑαυτόν ἔχων, ἀταράχως ὑπομένει πάντα τά ἐπερχόμενα, ἵνα διά τῆς τοιαύτης αὐτοῦ ὑπομονῆς ἀφεθῇ αὐτῷ τά ἐγκλήματα. Ὁ δέ ἀγωνιζόμενος ἄρτι καλός ἀσκητής οὐχί διά ἔκτισιν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἀλλά διά τόν πρός