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For I am (268) in every way inseparable and indivisible, having the one even in the hypostases. If then you are in me somehow or somewhere, you would say that someone does not know. Inasmuch as I am one man and circumscribable, I am in a circumscription and a place, for the one from among us became circumscribable when He became mortal; but according to the nature in me, I am altogether invisible, uncircumscribable, formless, intangible, unsearchable, immovable, ever-moving, filling all things and being nowhere at all, not in you, not in any other of the angels or prophets of old or of those now approaching, to whom I was not seen at all, nor am I ever seen".

The one, therefore, who sees these things mystically and is initiated into things beyond angels, things beyond human comprehension, will such a one be able to be with men at all, either in sense or in thought? For if one who has once been deemed worthy to converse with a mortal king and stand beside him forgets all other things and hangs entirely on the king's words, how much more one who has been deemed worthy to see, as is possible for a man, that very Maker and Master and Lord of all "whom no one among men has seen or can see," and to converse with Him and to hear His voice who will judge the living and the dead, will he not be beside himself and truly become wholly outside the world and the flesh and long to be with Him, but, having departed from one such and so great, who is beyond everything such and so great, will he turn to worldly cares and trouble himself with things that are altogether perishing or passing away and flowing by? In no way do I think that any of the right-minded would deign to come to this at all.

For the good things in this life admittedly have consequences and have grief and despondency and pain allotted to them, but life (269) with God and conversation with Him and the contemplation of His ineffable good things surpasses all blessedness and is beyond all glory and good repute and joy and repose, as it rises above all honor and luxury and enjoyment of every supposed good of the present life. For just as resting on a costly and soft couch is superior to lying on a red-hot brazier, so much does the joy and exultation that arises in the soul from the company and conversation of God surpass all the gladness and enjoyment of life. For this very reason, one who has often, whether through ignorance or sloth, fallen away from better things and turned to the cares of the world, as soon as he perceives the bitterness and unbearable harm in them, he runs back to the things from which he came out, blaming himself much for being dragged down at all and coming into the midst of the thorns of life and of the fire that inflames the souls of men, yet he flees and runs back to his own Master; and if He were not a lover of mankind, receiving us when we return and not bearing a grudge or being angry, but rather approving of our return to Him, "no soul would be saved" of a saint, whether he be of a middle state or otherwise. For this reason all who have been perfected in holiness and virtue were saved by grace and not by works of righteousness; and not only these, but also those who are perfected after them, all will be saved in this way.

Since "it is not by works of the law, so that no one may boast," according to the divine Apostle, salvation comes to us who are faithful, one must not trust at all in works, I mean in fasts and vigils or sleeping on the ground and in hunger and thirst, not in nailing the body with irons, not in afflicting it with garments of haircloth. For these are nothing at all, (270) since many even of the evildoers and of the poor themselves, having suffered these things, remained the same, yielding nothing of their wickedness nor becoming better than their depravity. These things do contribute something, and they draw the body toward humility, or rather toward powerlessness and weakness; but this is not the only thing that the seeks

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ἀχώριστος γάρ εἰμι (268) πάντῃ καί ἄτμητος, τό ἕν κἀν ταῖς ὑποστάσεσιν ἔχουσα. Εἰ οὖν ἐν ἐμοί πως ἤ που πέλεις, μή εἰδέναι φαίης τινά. Καθό μέν ἄνθρωπος καί περιγραπτός εἷς, ὡς ἐν περιγραφῇ πέλω καί τόπῳ, περιγραπτός γάρ γέγονε βροτωθείς καί ὁ εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν· κατά δέ τήν ἐνοῦσάν μοι φύσιν πάμπαν ἀόρατος, ἀπερίγραπτος, ἀσχημάτιστος, ἀναφής, ἀψηλάφητος, ἀκίνητος, ἀεικίνητος, πάντα πληροῦσα καί οὐδαμοῦ τό σύνολον οὖσα, οὐκ ἐν σοί, οὐκ ἐν ἄλλῳ τινί τῶν πάλαι ἤ τῶν νῦν ἐγγιζόντων ἀγγέλων ἤ προφητῶν, οἷς οὐδ᾿ ὡράθην ὅλως, οὐδ᾿ ὁρῶμαί ποτε".

Ὁ γοῦν ταῦτα μυστικῶς ὁρῶν καί μυούμενος τά ὑπέρ ἀγγέλους, τά ὑπέρ τήν ἀνθρωπίνην κατάληψιν, ἆρα μετά ἀνθρώπων εἶναι ὁ τοιοῦτος τῇ αἰσθήσει ἤ τῇ διανοίᾳ ὅλως ἰσχύσει; Εἰ γάρ ὁ βασιλεῖ προσομιλῆσαι θνητῷ καί παρεστάναι ποτέ καταξιωθείς, τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἐπιλανθάνεται καί ὅλος τοῖς τοῦ βασιλέως ἀποκρέμαται ῥήμασι, πόσῳ γε μᾶλλον ὁ αὐτόν ἐκεῖνον τόν ποιητήν καί δεσπότην καί Κύριον τοῦ παντός "ὅν οὐδείς εἶδεν ἀνθρώπων οὐδέ ἰδεῖν δύναται" βλέπειν καταξιωθείς, ὡς ἀνθρώπῳ ἐφικτόν, καί προσομιλῆσαι αὐτῷ καί φωνῆς ἐκείνου ἀκούειν τοῦ μέλλοντος κρῖναι ζῶντας καί νεκρούς, οὐκ ἐκστήσεται ἑαυτοῦ καί ὅλος ἔξω κόσμου καί σαρκός ὄντως γένηται καί μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐπιποθήσει συνέσεσθαι, ἀλλά ἀποστάς τοῦ τοιούτου καί τηλικούτου, τοῦ ὑπέρ πᾶν τοιοῦτον ὄντος καί τηλικοῦτον, ἐπί μερίμνας ἔλθῃ βιωτικάς καί φθειρομένων ὅλως ἤ παρερχομένων καί ῥεόντων πραγμάτων φροντίσειεν; Οὐδαμῶς οἶμαι τῶν εὖ φρονούντων τινά εἰς τοῦτο ὅλως ἐλθεῖν καταδέξασθαι.

Τά μέν γάρ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ καλά συνεπομένων ὁμολογουμένως ἔχουσι καί συγκεκληρωμένην αὐτοῖς τήν λύπην καί τήν ἀθυμίαν καί τήν ὁδύνην, ἡ δέ μετά τοῦ Θεοῦ διαγωγή (269) καί ἡ ὁμιλία καί ἡ θεωρία τῶν ἀπορρήτων αὐτοῦ ἀγαθῶν πᾶσαν ὑπερβαίνει μακαριότητα καί πάσης ὑπέρκειται δόξης καί εὐκληρίας καί χαρᾶς καί ἀνέσεως, ὡς πάσης ὑπεραίρουσα τιμῆς καί τρυφῆς καί ἀπολαύσεως τοῦ νομιζομένου παντός ἀγαθοῦ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς. Καθόσον γάρ ὑπερέχει τό ἐν πολυτελεῖ καί ἁπαλῇ στρωμνῇ ἀναπαύεσθαι ὑπέρ τό ἐν ἐσχάρᾳ πεπυρακτωμένῃ ἀνακεῖσθαι, κατά τοσοῦτον ὑπερφέρει πάσης τοῦ βίου εὐφροσύνης καί ἀπολαύσεως ἡ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ συνουσίας καί ὁμιλίας ἐγγινομένῃ τῇ ψυχῇ χαρά καί ἀγαλλίασις. ∆ιά δή τοῦτο καί ὁ τῶν κρειττόνων πολλάκις καί κατά ἄγνοιαν ἤ ῥαθυμίαν ἀποστάς καί πρός τάς φροντίδας τοῦ κόσμου γενόμενος, ἐφ᾿ ὅσον τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς πικρίας καί ἀφορήτου βλάβης αἴσθηται, δρομαῖος πρός τά ἀφ᾿ ὧν ἐξελήλυθεν ἐπανέρχεται, πολλά ἑαυτόν μεμφόμενος ὅτι συγκατεσπάσθη ὅλως καί μέσον τῶν ἀκανθῶν τοῦ βίου καί τοῦ φλογίζοντος πυρός τάς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχάς ἐγένετο, ὅμως φεύγει καί πρός τόν ἑαυτοῦ ἀνατρέχει ∆εσπότην· καί εἰ μή ἦν φιλάνθρωπος, δεχόμενος ἐπανερχομένους ἡμᾶς καί μή μνησικακῶν ἤ ὀργιζόμενος, ἀλλά καί μᾶλλον τῆς πρός αὐτόν ἐπανόδου ἀποδεχόμενος, "οὐκ ἄν ἐσώθη πᾶσα ψυχή" ἁγίου, εἴτε καί μέσως ἤ ἄλλως ἔχοντος. ∆ιά τοῦτο πάντες οἱ τετελειωμένοι ἐν ἁγιωσύνῃ καί ἀρετῇ δωρεάν καί οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοσύνης ἐσώθησαν· καί οὐχ οὗτοι μόνον, ἀλλά καί οἱ μετά ταῦτα τελειούμενοι, πάντες οὕτω σωθήσονται.

Ἐπεί δέ "οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου, ἵνα μή τις καυχήσεται", κατά τόν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον, ἡ σωτηρία ἡμῖν ἐπιγίνεται τοῖς πιστοῖς, οὐ χρή τοῖς ἔργοις, νηστείαις λέγω καί ἀγρυπνίαις ἤ χαμευνίαις καί λιμῷ καί δίψει, ὅλως θαρρεῖν, οὐ σιδήροις τό σῶμα καθηλοῦν, οὐ τρυχίνοις ἐνδύμασι τοῦτο ταλαιπωρεῖν. Οὐδέν γάρ ὅλως ταῦτά εἰσιν, (270) ἐπειδή πολλοί καί τῶν κακούργων καί τῶν πενομένων αὐτῶν ταῦτα παθόντες οἱ αὐτοί διέμειναν, μηδέν τῆς κακίας ὑφιέντες αὐτῶν μηδέ τῆς πονηρίας βέλτιους γενόμενοι. Συμβάλλονται μέν καί ταῦτά τισι, καί τό σῶμα πρός ταπείνωσιν μᾶλλον δέ πρός ἀδυναμίαν καί ἀσθένειαν ἕλκουσιν· ἀλλ᾿ οὐ τοῦτο μόνον ζητεῖ ὁ