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62.172 of God. The word of God he says here is either the commandment, or the command; which the apostles also, working wonders everywhere in the name of Jesus Christ, would say. Only let us too in all things keep the commandments of God; for if we do them, through these we will take up and kill the dragon, the crooked serpent. And consider for me Paul's understanding here. For since he said, You will be able to quench the fiery darts of the devil, lest he might puff them up, he shows that they especially need God for this. For what does he say? With all prayer and supplication. As if he were saying: These things will be, and you will accomplish everything by praying; but never approach asking only for yourself, and thus you will have God be merciful. Praying, he says, with all prayer and supplication at all times in the Spirit, and to that end keeping alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Do not set for me times of the day; for hear what he says: Approach at all times. Praying without ceasing, he says. Have you not heard of that widow, how she prevailed by her persistence? Have you not heard of that friend who at midnight prevailed by his earnestness? Have you not heard about the Syrophoenician woman, how by the constancy of her intercession she won over the Master? All these accomplished it by persistence. Praying, he says, at all times in the Spirit. That is, let us seek the things of God, nothing worldly, nothing of this life. Therefore, there is need not only to pray without ceasing, but also to be watchful; And to that end, he says, keeping alert. Whether he here means all-night vigils, or the sobriety of the soul, I accept both. Do you see how that Canaanite woman kept alert, that even when the Lord did not answer, but even shook her off, and called her a little dog, she said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table; and she did not depart until she obtained her request? And how that widow cried out, and persisted to such a degree, until she was able to move the judge, who neither feared God nor respected man? And how the friend persisted, staying late into the night, until he made him get up, having moved him by his persistence? This is to keep alert. Do you wish to learn the watchfulness of the soul? Go to Hannah, hear her very words: Adonai, Eloi Sabaoth. Rather, hear what came before the words. They all rose, it says, from the table, and she immediately did not turn to sleep, nor to rest. Whence it seems to me that even while sitting at the table, she was someone light, and not weighed down by any food; for she would not have shed so many tears. For if we, while fasting and without food, barely pray so, or rather never pray so, much more would she not have prayed so after a meal, unless even at the table she was like those who have not eaten. Let us men be ashamed of the woman, let us who supplicate and yawn for a kingdom be ashamed of her who begs and weeps for a child. And she stood, it says, before the Lord, and what does she say? Adonai Lord, Eloi Sabaoth. And this, being interpreted, is, Lord the God of hosts. 62.173 Her tears ran before her tongue; with these she hoped to bend God. Where there are tears, there is certainly also affliction; where there is affliction, also much philosophy and attention. If you will indeed listen, she says, to the prayer of your handmaid, and give me a son, I will give him as a gift to the Lord all his time. She did not say, for only a year or two, as we do; nor did she say, If you give me a child, I will give money; but, I give back the whole gift itself, the firstborn, the son of the prayer. This was a daughter of Abraham. He, being asked, gave; but she gives even before the asking. But see from this also her piety. Her voice, it says, was not heard, but her lips moved. Thus one who wishes to accomplish something approaches God, not being soft nor yawning nor dissolute nor scratching nor despondent. For was God not able even without

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62.172 Θεοῦ. Ῥῆμα Θεοῦ ἤτοι τὸ πρόσταγμά φησιν ἐνταῦθα, ἢ τὸ κέλευσμα· ὅπερ καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι θαυματουργοῦντες πανταχοῦ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἔλεγον. Μόνον καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν πᾶσι τὰ προστάγματα τοῦ Θεοῦ διατηρῶμεν· ἐὰν γὰρ ποιῶμεν αὐτὰ, διὰ τούτων αὐτὸν ἀνελοῦμεν καὶ κτενοῦμεν τὸν δράκοντα, τὸν ὄφιν τὸν σκολιόν. Καὶ σκόπει μοι σύνεσιν ἐνταῦθα τοῦ Παύλου. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἶπε, ∆υνήσεσθε τὰ βέλη τοῦ διαβόλου τὰ πεπυρωμένα σβέσαι, ἵνα μὴ αὐτοὺς φυσήσῃ, δείκνυσι μάλιστα πάντων πρὸς τοῦτο τοῦ Θεοῦ δεομένους. Τί γάρ φησι; ∆ιὰ πάσης προσευχῆς καὶ δεήσεως. Ὡσεὶ ἔλεγε· Ταῦτα ἔσται, καὶ κατορθώσετε τὸ πᾶν προσευχόμενοι· μηδέποτε δὲ προσιὼν, ὑπὲρ σαυτοῦ μόνου ἀξίου, καὶ οὕτω τὸν Θεὸν ἵλεων ἕξεις. ∆ιὰ πάσης, φησὶ, προσευχῆς καὶ δεήσεως προσευχόμενοι ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ, ἐν πνεύματι, καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἀγρυπνοῦντες ἐν πάσῃ προσκαρτερήσει, καὶ δεήσει περὶ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων. Μή μοι καιροὺς ὅριζε τῆς ἡμέρας· ἄκουε γὰρ τί φησιν· Ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ πρόσιθι. Ἀδιαλείπτως, φησὶ, προσευχόμενοι. Οὐκ ἤκουσας τῆς χήρας ἐκείνης, πῶς τῇ προσεδρείᾳ περιεγένετο; οὐκ ἤκουσας τοῦ φίλου ἐκείνου τοῦ μέσων νυκτῶν τῇ εὐτονίᾳ δυσωπήσαντος; οὐκ ἤκουσας περὶ τῆς Συροφοινίσσης, πῶς τῇ συνεχείᾳ τῆς ἐντεύξεως τὸν ∆εσπότην ἐξεκαλέσατο; Οὗτοι πάντες τῇ προσεδρείᾳ ἤνυσαν. Προσευχόμενοι, φησὶν, ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ ἐν πνεύματι. Τουτέστι, Τὰ κατὰ Θεὸν ζητῶμεν, μηδὲν κοσμικὸν, μηδὲν βιωτικόν. Οὐ τοίνυν τοῦ ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθαι χρεία μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγρυπνοῦντας· Καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ, φησὶν, ἀγρυπνοῦντες. Εἴτε παννυχίδας ἐνταῦθα λέγει, εἴτε τὴν νῆψιν τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀμφότερα δέχομαι. Ὁρᾷς πῶς ἠγρύπνει ἐκείνη ἡ Χαναναία, ὅτι καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου μὴ ἀποκρινομένου, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποσειομένου, καὶ κυνάριον αὐτὴν καλέσαντος, ἐκείνη ἔλεγε, Ναὶ, Κύριε, καὶ τὰ κυνάρια ἐσθίει ἀπὸ τῶν ψιχίων τῶν πιπτόντων ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης τῶν κυρίων αὐτῶν· καὶ οὐκ ἀφίστατο, ἕως ἐπέτυχε τῆς αἰτήσεως; πῶς δὲ ἡ χήρα ἐκείνη ἔκραζε, καὶ μέχρι τοσούτου ἐπέμεινεν, ἕως ὅτου τὸν ἄρχοντα, τὸν μήτε τὸν Θεὸν φοβούμενον, μήτε ἄνθρωπον αἰδούμενον ἠδυνήθη δυσωπῆσαι; πῶς δὲ ὁ φίλος ἐπέμενεν ἀωρὶ τῶν νυκτῶν παραμένων, ἕως ὅτου ἐγερθῆναι παρεσκεύασε, δυσωπήσας ἐκεῖνον τῇ προσεδρείᾳ; Τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀγρυπνεῖν. Βούλει μαθεῖν ἀγρυπνίαν ψυχῆς; ἄπιθι πρὸς τὴν Ἄνναν, ἄκουσον αὐτῶν τῶν ῥημάτων αὐτῆς· Ἀδωναῒ, Ἐλωῒ Σαβαώθ. Μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ πρὸ τῶν ῥημάτων ἄκουσον. Ἀνέστησαν, φησὶ, πάντες ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης, καὶ ἐκείνη εὐθέως οὐ πρὸς ὕπνον ἐτρέπετο, οὐ πρὸς ἀνάπαυσιν. Ὅθεν μοι δοκεῖ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης καθημένη, κούφη τις εἶναι, καὶ μὴ βεβαρῆσθαι σιτίοις τισίν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τοσαῦτα ἠφίει δάκρυα. Εἰ γὰρ ἡμεῖς νήστεις ὄντες καὶ ἄσιτοι, μόλις οὕτως εὐχόμεθα, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδέποτε οὕτως εὐχόμεθα, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐκείνη μετὰ τράπεζαν οὐκ ἂν οὕτως ηὔξατο, εἰ μὴ καὶ ἐν τῇ τραπέζῃ τοῖς ἀσίτοις ἐῴκει. Αἰσχυνθῶμεν οἱ ἄνδρες τὴν γυναῖκα, αἰσχυνθῶμεν οἱ ὑπὲρ βασιλείας ἱκετεύοντες καὶ χασμώμενοι τὴν ὑπὲρ παιδίου δεομένην καὶ δακρύουσαν. Καὶ κατέστη, φησὶν, ἐνώπιον Κυρίου, καὶ τί φησιν; Ἀδωναῒ Κύριε, Ἐλωῒ Σαβαώθ. Τοῦτο δὲ ἑρμηνευόμενόν ἐστι, Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς τῶν δυνάμεων. 62.173 Προέτρεχε τῆς γλώττης τὰ δάκρυα· τούτοις ἐπικάμπτειν τὸν Θεὸν ἤλπιζεν. Ἔνθα δάκρυα, πάντως ἐκεῖ καὶ θλῖψις· ἔνθα θλῖψις, καὶ φιλοσοφία πολλὴ καὶ προσοχή. Ἐὰν ἀκούων εἰσακούσῃ, φησὶ, τῆς προσευχῆς τῆς δούλης σου, καὶ δῷς μοι υἱὸν, δώσω αὐτὸν δοτὸν τῷ Κυρίῳ πάντα τὸν χρόνον. Οὐκ εἶπεν, ἐνιαυτὸν μόνον ἢ δύο, καθάπερ ἡμεῖς· οὐδὲ εἶπεν, Ἐὰν δῷς μοι παιδίον, δίδωμι χρήματα· ἀλλ', Ὁλόκληρον αὐτὸ τὸ δῶρον ἀντιδίδωμι, τὸν πρωτότοκον, τὸν τῆς εὐχῆς υἱόν. Αὕτη θυγάτηρ ἦν τοῦ Ἀβραάμ. Ἐκεῖνος αἰτηθεὶς, ἔδωκεν· αὕτη δὲ καὶ πρὸ τῆς αἰτήσεως δίδωσιν. Ἀλλ' ὅρα καὶ ἐντεῦθεν αὐτῆς τὴν εὐλάβειαν. Φωνὴ αὐτῆς, φησὶν, οὐκ ἠκούετο, τὰ δὲ χείλη αὐτῆς ἐκινεῖτο. Οὕτως ὁ βουλόμενος ἀνύσαι προσέρχεται τῷ Θεῷ, οὐ μαλακιζόμενος οὐδὲ χασμώμενος οὐδὲ ἐκλελυμένος οὐδὲ κνώμενος οὐδὲ ἀκηδιῶν. Μὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἠδύνατο ὁ Θεὸς καὶ χωρὶς