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having become the end and limit of all perceptible things, he has grasped, and has found the beginning of the knowledge of spiritual things.

(296) These, my brothers, are the wonders of God. For this reason God reveals His hidden saints, so that some may emulate them, and others may be without excuse. And those who wish to be in the midst of turmoil, living worthily in communities and mountains and caves, are saved and are deemed worthy of great blessings from God on account of their faith in Him alone, so that those who fail because of sloth may have nothing to say on the day of judgment. For He is not false, my brothers, who promised to save by faith in Him alone. Therefore have mercy on yourselves and on us who love you and often lament and shed tears for you - for the compassionate and merciful God exhorts us to be such -, and believing with your whole soul in the Lord, leave the earth and all things that pass away, and come to Him and cleave to Him, because in a little while both heaven and earth will pass away, and apart from Him there is no standing, nor limit, nor end to the fall of sinners. For God is uncontainable and incomprehensible; what place, then, will there be, tell me, if you can, for those who fall from His kingdom?

It comes upon me to lament and I am consumed in my heart and I waste away for our sake, when I consider that while having such a munificent and man-loving Master who, for faith in Him alone, grants us such things as transcend mind and hearing and thought and have never entered into the heart of man, we, like irrational animals, prefer only the earth (297) and the things from the earth which are given to us through His great compassion for the sufficient needs of the body, so that being nourished by these in due measure, our soul too might make its journey upward unhindered, being nourished itself, that is, on spiritual food, that from the Spirit, according to the measure of its purification and ascent.

For this is man and for this we were created and for this we were brought forth, so that having received small benefits here, through thanksgiving and goodwill toward God we might enjoy there the greater and eternal things. But alas, that caring not at all for the things to come, we are ungrateful even for the things in our hands and we become equal to demons or even worse, if the truth must be told. And for this reason we are in need of greater punishment, inasmuch as we have received greater benefits and we know God who became for our sake as we are, sin alone excepted, so that He might deliver us from error and free us from sin. But what must I say? In all these things we truly believe in word only, but in deeds we deny. Is not Christ named everywhere, in cities, in villages, in communities and mountains? Seek, if you please, and search carefully, whether they keep His commandments; and you will scarcely find, truly, among thousands and ten thousands, one who is a Christian in deed and word. Has not our Lord and God said through the holy Gospel: "He who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these will he do"? Who then among us dares to say: "I do the works of Christ and I believe rightly in Christ?" Do you not see, brothers, how we are to be found unbelievers on the day of judgment (298) and we shall undergo a worse punishment than those who do not even know the Lord? For it is necessary either for us to be condemned as unbelievers or for Christ to be shown a liar, which is impossible, my brothers, impossible.

But I have written these things not forbidding withdrawal, but rather encouraging a way of life in the midst of the world, but assuring all who read this narrative that he who wishes to do good in every place the power from God

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γενόμενος τέλος μέν καί πέρας τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἁπάντων κατείληφε, ἀρχήν δέ τῆς τῶν πνευματικῶν εὗρε γνώσεως.

(296) Ταῦτα ἀδελφοί μου, Θεοῦ τά θαυμάσια. ∆ιά τοῦτο κρυπτομένους φανεροῖ τούς ἁγίους αὐτοῦ ὁ Θεός, ἵνα οἱ μέν ζηλῶσι τούτους, οἱ δέ ἀναπολόγητοι γένωνται. Καί οἱ θέλοντες ἐν μέσῳ θορύβων εἶναι, ἐν κοινοβίοις τε καί ὄρεσι καί σπηλαίοις ἀξίως πολιτευόμενοι, σώζωνται καί μεγάλων παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ ὑπέρ μόνης τῆς εἰς αὐτόν πίστεως ἀξιοῦνται καλῶν, ὡς ἄν οἱ διά ῥᾳθυμίαν ἀποτυγχάνοντες μηδέν ἔχωσι λέγειν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως. Ἀψευδής γάρ ἐστιν, ἀδελφοί μου, ὁ ἐπαγγειλάμενος σῴζειν ἐκ μόνης τῆς εἰς αὐτόν πίστεως. Ἐλεήσατε οὖν ἑαυτούς καί ἡμᾶς τούς ὑμᾶς ἀγαπῶντας καί πολλάκις ὑπέρ ὑμῶν θρηνοῦντας καί δάκρυα χέοντας - τοιούτους γάρ ἡμᾶς ὁ συμπαθής καί ἐλεήμων Θεός παρακελεύεται -, καί πιστεύσαντες ὁλοψύχως ἐπί τόν Κύριον, ἄφετε γῆν καί πάντα ὅσα παρέρχονται, καί προσέλθετε πρός αὐτόν καί κολλήθητε αὐτῷ, ὅτι μικρόν ἔτι καί ὁ οὐρανός καί ἡ γῆ παρελεύσεται, καί ἐκτός ἐκείνου οὐκ ἔστι στάσις, οὔτε πέρας, οὔτε κατάληψις τῆς τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν πτώσεως. Ἀχώρητος γάρ ὁ Θεός ὑπάρχει καί ἀκατάληπτος· ποῖος οὖν ἔσται τόπος, εἰπέ, εἰ δύνασαι, τῶν ἐκπιπτόντων τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ;

Ἐμοί θρηνεῖν ἐπέρχεται καί τήν καρδίαν μου δαπανῶμαι καί δι᾿ ἡμᾶς τήκομαι, ὅταν ἐννοήσω ὅτι τοιοῦτον ∆εσπότην ἔχοντες μεγαλόδωρον καί φιλάνθρωπον ὡς διά μόνην τήν πρός αὐτόν πίστιν τοιαῦτα ἡμῖν χαριζόμενον ἅ καί νοῦν ὑπερβαίνει καί ἀκοήν καί διάνοιαν καί οὐδέ ἐπί καρδίαν ποτέ ἀνέβη ἀνθρώπου, ἡμεῖς ὥσπερ ἄλογα ζῷα προτιμῶμεν γῆν μόνην (297) καί τά ἀπό γῆς ἡμῖν δια πολλήν εὐσπλαγχνίαν ἀναδιδόμενα εἰς αὐτάρκη χρείαν τοῦ σώματος, ἵνα ἐκ τούτων συμμέτρως τρεφόμενοι, καί ἡ ψυχή ἡμῶν ἀνεμποδίστως τήν πρός τά ἄνω ποιῆται πορείαν, τρεφομένη καί αὐτή δηλονότι τήν νοεράν τροφήν, τήν ἐκ Πνεύματος, κατά τό μέτρον τῆς καθάρσεως καί τῆς ἀναβάσεως.

Τοῦτο γάρ ἄνθρωπος καί εἰς τοῦτο ἐκτίσθημεν καί διά τοῦτο παρήχθημεν, ἵνα ἐνταῦθα μικρά εὐεργετηθέντες, διά τῆς εὐχαριστίας καί τῆς πρός Θεόν εὐνοίας ἐκεῖσε τά μείζονα καί αἰωνίζοντα ἀπολαύσωμεν. Ἀλλ᾿ οἴμοι, ὅτι περί τῶν μελλόντων μηδόλως φροντίζοντες ἀχαριστοῦμεν καί περί τῶν ἐν χερσίν αὐτῶν καί ἴσοι δαιμόνων γινόμεθα ἤ καί χείρονες, εἰ δεῖ τήν ἀλήθειαν εἰπεῖν. Καί διά τοῦτο πλείονος καί τῆς τιμωρίας δεόμεθα, ὅσῳ καί πλεῖον εὐεργετήθημεν καί γνωρίζομεν Θεόν δι᾿ ἡμᾶς γενόμενον ὡς ἡμεῖς, ἁμαρτίας μόνης ἐκτός, ἵνα τῆς πλάνης ἡμᾶς ἀπαλλάξῃ καί τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐλευθερώσῃ. Ἀλλά τί δεῖ με εἰπεῖν; Πᾶσι τούτοις λόγῳ μόνῳ πιστεύομεν ἀληθῶς, τοῖς δέ ἔργοις ἀρνούμεθα. Οὐχί πανταχοῦ Χριστός ὀνομάζεται, ἐν πόλεσιν, ἐν κώμαις, ἐν κοινοβίοις καί ὄρεσι; Ζήτησον, εἰ δοκεῖ, καί ἐρεύνησον ἀκριβῶς, εἰ τηροῦσι τάς ἐντολάς αὐτοῦ· καί μόλις εὑρήσῃς ἐν χιλιάσιν, ὡς ἀληθῶς, καί μυριάσιν ἕνα, τόν ἔργῳ καί λόγῳ χριστιανόν ὄντα. Οὐχί διά τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐαγγελίου εἴρηκεν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν καί Θεός· "Ὁ πιστεύσας εἰς ἐμέ, τά ἔργα ἅ ἐγώ ποιῶ, κἀκεῖνος ποιήσει καί μείζονα τούτων ποιήσει"; Ποῖος οὖν ἐξ ἡμῶν τολμᾷ εἰπεῖν· " Ἔργα Χριστοῦ ἐγώ ποιῶ καί πιστεύω ὀρθῶς εἰς Χριστόν; ". Οὐχ ὁρᾶτε, ἐδελφοί, πῶς ἄπιστοι ἔχομεν εὑρεθῆναι ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως (298) καί χείρονα τῶν μηδέ εἰδότων τόν Κύριον ὑποστησόμεθα κόλασιν; Ἀνάγκη γάρ ἤ ὡς ἀπίστους κατακριθῆναι ἡμᾶς ἤ Χριστόν ψεύστην ἀποδειχθῆναι, ὅπερ ἀδύνατον, ἀδελφοί μου, ἀδύνατον.

Ταῦτα δέ ἔγραψα οὐχί κωλύων τήν ἀναχώρησιν, τήν δέ ἐν μέσῳ μᾶλλον τοῦ βίου διαγωγήν προτρεπόμενος, ἀλλά πάντας πληροφορῶν τούς ἐντυγχάνοντας τῷδε τῷ διηγήματι ὅτι ὁ θέλων ποιεῖν τό ἀγαθόν ἐν παντί τόπῳ ἐκ Θεοῦ τό δύνασθαι