118

He will come; a fire shall be kindled before him, and round about him a mighty tempest. A fire shall go before him, and shall burn up his enemies round about. The day of the Lord as a burning furnace. And no one takes these things to heart, but these dreadful and terrible things have been despised more than myths, and have been trampled upon. He who hears, no one; but those who laugh and mock, everyone. What recourse will we have? From where shall we find salvation? We are lost, we are consumed, we have become a laughingstock to our 63.165 enemies, and a mockery to the Greeks and to demons. 4. The devil now thinks highly of himself, he is exultant and rejoices; in shame are all the angels entrusted with us, in dejection; no one is turning back, all has been spent on us in vain, and we seem to you to be talking nonsense. It is opportune even now to call upon heaven, because no one is listening, to call the elements to witness; Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. Give a hand, reach out, you who have not yet been submerged by drunkenness to those who are lost, you who are healthy to those who are sick, you who are sober to those who are raving, you who are steadfast to those who are being tossed about; let no one, I beseech you, put favor before the salvation of his friend, and let both insult and rebuke look to one thing only, his benefit. When a fever takes hold, even slaves overpower their masters. For when the latter is burning, confounding his soul, and a swarm of servants stands by, no one recognizes the master's law in the master's harm. Let us rally ourselves, I beseech you; daily wars, shipwrecks, countless destructions round about and from all sides the wrath of God surrounds us. But we, as if we were pleasing, are thus in security; we all ready our hands for greed, no one for helping; all for plunder, no one for protection; each one is eager how he will make his possessions more, no one how he will help the one in need; each one has great concern for how he might add to his money, no one for how he might save his own soul; one fear possesses all, Lest we become poor, he says; but lest we fall into Gehenna, no one struggles and trembles. These things are worthy of lamentations, these of accusations, these of slander. But I did not wish to say these things, but I am forced by anguish; forgive me; by grief I am compelled to utter many things, even those I do not wish. I see the wound is grievous, the misfortune inconsolable, the terrible things that have befallen us are greater than any consolation, we are lost. Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, that I may lament? Let us weep, beloved, let us weep, let us groan. Perhaps there are some here 63.166 saying: He tells us all of lamentations, all of tears. I did not wish to, believe me, I did not wish to, but to go through encomiums and praises; but now is the time for these things. It is not lamenting, beloved, that is difficult, but doing things worthy of lamentation; it is not wailing that is dreadful, but doing the things that are worthy of wailing. Do not be punished, and I will not mourn; do not die, and I will not weep. But if the body lies dead, you call everyone to grieve with you, and you consider those who do not mourn to be unsympathetic; but when the soul is perishing, you say not to mourn? But I cannot be a father without weeping; I am a loving father. Hear what Paul cries out: My little children, for whom I am again in labor. What mother in childbirth utters such bitter cries as he did? If only it were possible to see the very fire of his mind, and you would see that I burn more than any woman or maiden who has endured untimely widowhood. That woman does not so mourn her own husband, nor a mother her son, as I this multitude among us. I see no progress, everything leads to slanders and accusations; no one makes it his work to please God; but, Let us speak ill of so-and-so, he says, and of so-and-so; so-and-so is unworthy of the clergy, so-and-so lives irreverently. We who ought to mourn our own evils, judge others, though we ought not to do this even when we are clean of sins. For who makes you different? he says; and what do you have that you did not receive? and if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it, But why do you judge your brother, when you yourself are full of countless evils? When you say, So-and-so is wicked, and

118

ἥξει· πῦρ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καυθήσεται, καὶ κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ καταιγὶς σφοδρά. Πῦρ ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ προπορεύσεται, καὶ φλογιεῖ κύκλῳ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ. Ἡ ἡμέρα Κυρίου ὡς κλίβανος καιόμενος. Καὶ οὐδεὶς ταῦτα εἰς νοῦν βάλλεται, ἀλλὰ μύθων μᾶλλον καταπεφρόνηται τὰ φρικώδη ταῦτα πράγματα καὶ φοβερὰ, καὶ πεπάτηται. Ὁ ἀκούων, οὐδείς· οἱ δὲ γελῶντες καὶ χλευάζοντες, πάντες. Τίς ἔσται ἡμῖν πόρος; πόθεν σωτηρίαν εὕρωμεν; Ἀπολώλαμεν, παρανηλώμεθα, γεγόναμεν τῶν 63.165 ἐχθρῶν ἡμῶν κατάγελως, καὶ χλευασμὸς τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων. δʹ. Μέγα φρονεῖ νῦν ὁ διάβολος, γαυροῦται καὶ χαίρει· ἐν αἰσχύνῃ οἱ πιστευθέντες ἡμᾶς ἄγγελοι πάντες, ἐν κατηφείᾳ· οὐδεὶς ὁ ἐπιστρέφων, εἰκῆ πάντα ἡμῖν ἀνήλωται, καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν δοκοῦμεν ληρεῖν. Εὔκαιρον καὶ νῦν καλέσαι τὸν οὐρανὸν, ὅτι οὐδεὶς ὁ ἀκούων, διαμαρτύρασθαι τὰ στοιχεῖα· Ἄκουε, οὐρανὲ, καὶ ἐνωτίζου, ἡ γῆ, ὅτι Κύριος ἐλάλησε. ∆ότε χεῖρα, ὀρέξατε οἱ μηδέπω καταβαπτισθέντες τοῖς ὑπὸ τῆς μέθης ἀπολωλόσιν, οἱ ὑγιαίνοντες τοῖς κάμνουσιν, οἱ νήφοντες τοῖς μαινομένοις, οἱ ἑδραῖοι τοῖς περιφερομένοις· μηδεὶς, παρακαλῶ, χάριν τῆς σωτηρίας τοῦ φίλου προτιμάτω, καὶ ἡ ὕβρις καὶ ἡ ἐπιτίμησις εἰς ἓν ὁράτω μόνον, αὐτοῦ τὴν ὠφέλειαν. Ὅταν πυρετὸς καταλάβῃ, καὶ δοῦλοι κρατοῦσι δεσποτῶν. Ὅταν γὰρ ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἐπικαίηται τὴν ψυχὴν συγχέων, ἀνδραπόδων δὲ ἐσμὸς παραστήκῃ, οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν νόμον τὸν δεσποτικὸν ἐν τῇ βλάβῃ τοῦ δεσπότου. Συστρέψωμεν ἑαυτοὺς, παρακαλῶ· πόλεμοι καθημερινοὶ, καταποντισμοὶ, ἀπώλειαι μυρίαι κύκλῳ καὶ πάντοθεν ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμᾶς περιστοιχίζεται. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ὡς εὐαρεστοῦντες, οὕτως ἐσμὲν ἐν ἀδείᾳ· πάντες τὰς χεῖρας εἰς πλεονεξίαν εὐτρεπίζομεν, οὐδεὶς εἰς βοήθειαν· πάντες εἰς ἁρπαγὴν, οὐδεὶς εἰς προστασίαν· ἕκαστος πῶς πλείονα τὰ ὄντα ποιήσει ἐσπούδακεν, οὐδεὶς πῶς βοηθήσει τῷ δεομένῳ· ἕκαστος πῶς προσθῇ τοῖς χρήμασι, πολλὴν ἔχει τὴν μέριμναν, οὐδεὶς ὅπως τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ διασώσῃ· φόβος εἷς ἔχει πάντας, Μὴ πενιχροὶ, φησὶ, γενώμεθα· μὴ εἰς γέενναν δὲ ἐμπέσωμεν, οὐδεὶς ἀγωνιᾷ καὶ τρέμει. Ταῦτα θρήνων, ταῦτα κατηγοριῶν, ταῦτα διαβολῆς ἄξια. Ἀλλ' οὐ ταῦτα ἐβουλόμην λέγειν, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῆς ὀδύνης βιάζομαι· σύγγνωτε· ὑπὸ τοῦ πένθους ἀναγκάζομαι πολλὰ καὶ ὧν οὐ βούλομαι φθέγξασθαι. Χαλεπὴν ὁρῶ τὴν πληγὴν, ἀπαραμύθητον τὴν συμφορὰν, παρακλήσεως μείζονα τὰ καταλαβόντα ἡμᾶς δεινὰ, ἀπολώλαμεν. Τίς δώσει τῇ κεφαλῇ μου ὕδωρ, καὶ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου πηγὴν δακρύων, ἵνα θρηνήσω; Κλαύσωμεν, ἀγαπητοὶ, κλαύσωμεν, στενάξωμεν. Τάχα τινές εἰσιν ἐνταῦθα 63.166 λέγοντες· Πάντα θρήνους ἡμῖν λέγει, πάντα δάκρυα. Οὐκ ἐβουλόμην, πιστεύσατε, οὐκ ἐβουλόμην, ἀλλ' ἐγκώμια καὶ ἐπαίνους διεξιέναι· νυνὶ δὲ τούτων ὁ καιρός. Οὐ τὸ θρηνεῖν, ἀγαπητοὶ, χαλεπὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θρήνων ἄξια ποιεῖν· οὐ τὸ ὀδύρεσθαι ἀποτρόπαιον, ἀλλὰ τὸ τὰ ὀδυρμῶν ἄξια πράττειν. Μὴ κολασθῇς, καὶ οὐ πενθῶ· μὴ ἀποθάνῃς, καὶ οὐ κλαίω. Ἀλλ' ἐὰν μὲν τὸ σῶμα κέηται νεκρὸν, πάντας παρακαλεῖς συναλγεῖν, καὶ ἀσυμπαθεῖς ἡγῇ τοὺς μὴ πενθοῦντας· τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς ἀπολλυμένης, λέγεις μὴ πενθεῖν; Ἀλλ' οὐ δύναμαι πατὴρ εἶναι μὴ δακρύων· πατήρ εἰμι φιλόστοργος. Ἀκούετε οἷα βοᾷ ὁ Παῦλος· Τεκνία μου, οὓς πάλιν ὠδίνω. Ποία μήτηρ κύουσα οὕτω πικρὰς ἀφίησι φωνὰς, ὡς ἐκεῖνος; Εἴθε ἐνῆν τὴν πυρὰν αὐτὴν τῆς διανοίας ἰδεῖν, καὶ εἶδες ἂν, ὅτι πάσης γυναικὸς καὶ κόρης χηρείαν ἄωρον ὑποστάσης πλέον καίομαι. Οὐχ οὕτως ἐκείνη τὸν ἄνδρα πενθεῖ τὸν ἑαυτῆς, οὐδὲ μήτηρ υἱὸν, ὡς ἐγὼ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦτο τὸ παρ' ἡμῖν. Οὐδεμίαν ὁρῶ προκοπὴν, πάντα εἰς διαβολὰς καὶ κατηγορίας· οὐδεὶς ἔργον τίθεται ἀρέσκειν Θεῷ· ἀλλὰ, Τὸν δεῖνα, φησὶν, εἴπωμεν κακῶς, καὶ τὸν δεῖνα· ὁ δεῖνα ἀνάξιος τοῦ κλήρου, ὁ δεῖνα ἀσέμνως βιοῖ. Ὀφείλοντες τὰ ἡμέτερα πενθεῖν κακὰ, κρίνομεν ἑτέρους, οὐδὲ ὅτε καθαροί ἐσμεν ἁμαρτημάτων ὀφείλοντες τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Τίς γάρ σε διακρίνει; φησί· τί δὲ ἔχεις ὃ οὐκ ἔλαβες; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔλαβες, τί καυχᾶσαι ὡς μὴ λαβών, Σὺ δὲ τί κρίνεις τὸν ἀδελφόν σου, μυρίων αὐτὸς γέμων κακῶν; Ὅταν εἴπῃς, Ὁ δεῖνα πονηρός ἐστι, καὶ