122

another thing, such as to be in sins and covetousness and rapine. And you therefore, beloved, when you are in misfortunes, do not say, that God has forgotten me; but when you are in sins, and everything goes smoothly for you. For if you know this, you will quickly depart from wicked deeds. How long will you turn your face away from me? This is a prolonged forgetting. For from human forms he shows the actions of God, and describes His wrath and His punishment. And again God turns away His face when we do things unworthy of His commandments. For when you stretch out, he says, your hands, I will turn my eyes away from you. Then also the cause. For your hands are full of blood. But this again is of much solicitude, both the abandonment and the turning away of His face; and He does this, that He might draw us to Himself more intensely. For even a frantic lover leaves and abandons the beloved who scorns him, not casting him out of his mind, but wishing to turn him back and unite him to himself. But having spoken of the turning away, he also speaks of the forgetting, and the things that happened to him from it. What then are these things? What he adds, saying: How long shall I take counsel in my soul? For just as one who has left the harbor wanders everywhere, and one deprived of light stumbles over many things; so indeed also he who has fallen into forgetfulness of God is given over to cares, and anxieties, and pains continually. And this is no small thing for turning God back to oneself, to be anxious, to be concerned, to waste away, to be in pain, to take account of His turning away. Which Paul also, writing to the Corinthians about himself, says: And who is he that makes me glad, but he who is made sorry by me? For this is no small gain, beloved, to be sensible of God’s turning away, to feel pain, to be in anguish. For thus we shall quickly turn Him back to us. How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Look upon me, hear me, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep in death. For just as when God holds on to us and is with us, all grievous things are removed; so when He departs and forgets, the soul is cut asunder, and the heart is pained, and those who grieve us tread upon us, and everything is precipices and reefs. But these things are permitted profitably, so that those who are more slothful, being bitten by all things, may more earnestly return from whence they fell. For your apostasy, he says, shall correct you, and your wickedness shall reprove you. So that even the abandonment by God is a form of providence. For when, though providing and caring, He is despised, He leaves and abandons for a little while, so that then, when sloth has been cast out, the neglectful might become more earnest. Look upon, he says, see the enemy exalted over me; and if not for my own misery, yet for his arrogance and desperation hear 55.151 me. And what do you ask? To prevail over the enemies? He does not say this, but, that the eyes of the heart be enlightened, that the darkness that was poured over the clear-sightedness of my soul and darkened the intelligible eye, be driven away. This I ask, Enlighten my eyes. Lest my enemy say, seeing me brought down into the death of sin: Thus I have prevailed against him. I have overpowered him; what I wished to see has happened to me. What is, I have prevailed against him? That even if he is not simply strong, yet against me he has become strong. Our defeat bestows strength on him, shows him to be strong, and mighty, and invincible. 2. You see that when we sin, we not only shame ourselves, destroy ourselves, cast ourselves into death, but we also proclaim as mighty and powerful the enemies by whom we have been defeated; and not only this, but also in exultation and gladness

122

ἕτερον, ὡς τὸ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις εἶναι καὶ πλεονεξίαις καὶ ἁρπαγαῖς. Καὶ σὺ τοίνυν, ἀγαπητὲ, ὅταν ἐν συμφοραῖς ᾖς, μὴ λέγε, ὅτι Ἐπελάθετό μου ὁ Θεός· ἀλλ' ὅταν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ᾖς, καὶ πάντα σοι κατὰ ῥοῦν φέρηται. Ἂν γὰρ τοῦτο ᾖς εἰδὼς, ταχέως ἀποστήσῃ τῶν πονηρῶν πραγμάτων. Ἕως πότε ἀποστρέφεις τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀπ' ἐμοῦ; Τοῦτο ἐπιτεταμένη λήθη. Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων σχημάτων τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς ἐνεργείας δείκνυσι, καὶ τὴν ὀργὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν κόλασιν χαρακτηρίζει. Ἀποστρέφει δὲ πάλιν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, ὅταν ἀνάξια πράττωμεν τῶν ἐπιταγμάτων αὐτοῦ. Ὅταν γὰρ ἐκτείνητε, φησὶ, τὰς χεῖρας ὑμῶν, ἀποστρέψω τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου ἀφ' ὑμῶν. Εἶτα καὶ ἡ αἰτία. Αἱ γὰρ χεῖρες ὑμῶν αἵματος πλήρεις. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο πάλιν κηδεμονίας πολλῆς, καὶ ἡ ἐγκατάλειψις, καὶ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ τοῦ προσώπου· ποιεῖ δὲ τοῦτο, ἵνα σφοδρότερον ἡμᾶς ἐπισπάσηται. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐραστὴς μανικὸς τὸν ἐρώμενον ὑπερορῶντα ἀφίησι καὶ ἐγκαταλιμπάνει, οὐκ ἐκβάλλων αὐτὸν τῆς διανοίας, ἀλλὰ ἐπιστρέψαι αὐτὸν βουλόμενος, καὶ ἑαυτῷ συνάψαι. Εἰπὼν δὲ τὴν ἀποστροφὴν, λέγει καὶ τὴν λήθην, καὶ τὰ ἐξ αὐτῆς αὐτῷ προσγενόμενα. Τίνα δὴ ταῦτά ἐστιν; Ἃ ἐπάγει λέγων· Ἕως τίνος θήσομαι βουλὰς ἐν ψυχῇ μου; Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ τοῦ λιμένος ἐξελθὼν πανταχοῦ πλανᾶται, καὶ ὁ τοῦ φωτὸς ἀποστερηθεὶς πολλοῖς προσπταίει· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ εἰς λήθην ἐμπεσὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ, φροντίσι, καὶ μερίμναις, καὶ ὀδύναις ἐκδίδοται διηνεκῶς. Οὐ μικρὸν δὲ καὶ τοῦτο εἰς τὸ τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιστρέψαι πρὸς ἑαυτὸν, τὸ μεριμνᾷν, τὸ φροντίζειν, τὸ τήκεσθαι, τὸ ὀδυνᾶσθαι, τὸ λόγον ποιεῖσθαι αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀποστροφῆς. Ὃ καὶ Παῦλος Κορινθίοις γράφων περὶ ἑαυτοῦ φησι· Καὶ τίς ἐστιν ὁ εὐφραίνων με, εἰ μὴ ὁ λυπούμενος ἐξ ἐμοῦ; Οὐ μικρὸν γὰρ τοῦτο, ἀγαπητὲ, κέρδος, τὸ αἰσθάνεσθαι τῆς ἀποστροφῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸ ἀλγεῖν, τὸ ὀδυνᾶσθαι. Οὕτω γὰρ αὐτὸν ταχέως πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπιστρέψομεν. Ἕως πότε ὑψωθήσεται ὁ ἐχθρός μου ἐπ' ἐμέ; Ἐπίβλεψον, εἰσάκουσόν μου, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου. Φώτισον τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, μή ποτε ὑπνώσω εἰς θάνατον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἀντεχομένου τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ μεθ' ἡμῶν ὄντος, τὰ λυποῦντα ἐκποδὼν ἅπαντα γίνεται· οὕτως ἀποστάντος καὶ ἐπιλαθομένου, καὶ ψυχὴ διακόπτεται, καὶ καρδία ὀδυνᾶται, καὶ οἱ λυποῦντες ἐπεμβαίνουσι, καὶ πάντα κρημνοὶ καὶ σκόπελοι. Συγχωρεῖται δὲ ταῦτα συμφερόντως, ὥστε διὰ πάντων δακνομένους τοὺς ῥᾳθυμοτέρους σπουδαιότερον ἐπανελθεῖν, ὅθεν ἐξέπεσον. Παιδεύσει γάρ σε, φησὶν, ἡ ἀποστασία σου, καὶ ἡ κακία σου ἐλέγξει σε. Ὥστε καὶ ἡ ἐγκατάλειψις τοῦ Θεοῦ προνοίας εἶδός ἐστιν. Ὅταν γὰρ προνοῶν καὶ κηδόμενος καταφρονῆται, ἀφίησι μικρὸν καὶ ἐγκαταλιμπάνει, ἵνα τότε τῆς ῥᾳθυμίας ἐκβληθείσης, σπουδαιότεροι οἱ ὀλίγωροι γένωνται. Ἐπίβλεψον, φησὶν, ἴδε τὸν ἐχθρὸν ὑψούμενον ἐπ' ἐμέ· καὶ εἰ μὴ διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν ταλαιπωρίαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐκείνου ἀλαζονείαν καὶ ἀπόνοιαν εἰσ 55.151 άκουσόν μου. Καὶ τί αἰτεῖς; Κρατῆσαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν; Οὐ τοῦτό φησιν, ἀλλὰ, φωτισθῆναι τοὺς τῆς καρδίας ὀφθαλμοὺς, ἀποδιωχθῆναι τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐπιχυθέν μου τῷ διορατικῷ τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ σκοτίσαν τὸν νοητὸν ὀφθαλμόν. Τοῦτο αἰτῶ, Φώτισον τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου. Μή ποτε εἴπῃ ὁ ἐχθρός μου, ἰδών με κατενεχθέντα εἰς τὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίας θάνατον· Οὕτως ἴσχυσα πρὸς αὐτόν. Κατεκράτησα αὐτοῦ, ὅπερ ἤθελον ἰδεῖν, γέγονέ μοι. Τί ἐστιν, Ἴσχυσα πρὸς αὐτόν; Ὅτι εἰ καὶ μὴ ἁπλῶς ἰσχυρός ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἐμὲ ἰσχυρὸς γέγονεν. Ἡ ἡμῶν ἧττα ἰσχὺν αὐτῷ περιτίθησιν, ἰσχυρὸν ἀποφαίνει, καὶ κραταιὸν, καὶ ἀκαταμάχητον. βʹ. Ὁρᾷς, ὅτι ὅταν ἁμαρτάνωμεν, οὐ μόνον ἑαυτοὺς καταισχύνομεν, ἀπόλλυμεν, εἰς θάνατον ἐμβάλλομεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς κραταιοὺς καὶ δυνατοὺς, δι' ὧν ἡττήμεθα, ἀνακηρύττομεν· καὶ οὐ μόνον τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει καὶ εὐφροσύνῃ