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they will sing melodiously. For just as music from various strings produces a sweeter melody than a single string, so also the voice of the poor, coming from various people, will sound something sweet and lovely to God who hears the voice of the poor. Erect for yourself and for God such a monument, for Him a reminder of His beneficence, for yourself a proof of your thanksgiving, of your gratitude, a symbol of the perpetual memory which, always holding in your heart, has directed your life; or rather, let us direct it, that we may become worthy also of the inheritance of good things from thence, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

ON THE 41ST PSALM.

“As the hart longs for the fountains of waters.” And for what reason the psalm, having been brought into our life, is sung with a song. And concerning the

long-suffering of God. 1. You were amazed at us formerly, when we broached the subject of Melchizedek, on account of the length of what was said; but I was amazed at you for the eagerness and understanding of your listening, and because, though the discourse went on for a great length, you followed us to the very end; and yet the discourse was not only long, but also had much difficulty. But neither the length nor the difficulty tested your eagerness. Come then, let us give you a reward for that labor, by making our discourse clearer to you today. For it is not right to always strain the minds of the listeners, for it quickly breaks, nor to always loosen and relax them; for from this, it becomes sluggish again. Therefore, it is necessary to vary the form of the teaching, and now to take up more festive discourses, and now more controversial ones. Just as I said then, that shepherds, when wolves attack the flock, setting aside the pipe, take up the sling; so now, with the Jewish feasts having passed, which are more dangerous than all wolves, let us set aside the sling again, and return to the pipe; and having rested from the more controversial discourses, let us take up some others that are clearer, handling the very harp of David, and bringing forth the response, which we all chanted today. What then is the response? As the hart longs for the fountains of waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. 55.156 But rather it is necessary to say first, for what reason the psalm has been introduced into our life, and why especially this prophecy is said with a song. For what reason then it is said with a song, listen: God, seeing that many men were rather lazy, and were disinclined to the reading of spiritual things, and did not gladly endure the labor from it, wishing to make the labor more desirable, and to cut short the feeling of weariness, mixed melody with the prophecy, so that all, being charmed by the rhythm of the melody, might with much eagerness send up the sacred hymns to Him. For nothing, nothing so raises the soul, and gives it wings, and releases it from the earth, and frees it from the bonds of the body, and makes it philosophize, and to scorn all worldly things, as a harmonious melody, and a divine song composed with rhythm. Thus, at any rate, our nature has a pleasant and familiar disposition towards songs and melodies, just as even nursing children, when they are whimpering and fretful, are in this way lulled to sleep. At any rate,

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ἐκεῖνοι μελῳδήσουσιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ ἀπὸ διαφόρων χορδῶν τῆς μονήρους ἥδιον μέλος ἀποτελεῖ, οὕτω καὶ ἡ τῶν πενήτων ἐκ διαφόρων οὖσα, τῷ εἰσακούοντι τῆς φωνῆς τῶν πενήτων Θεῷ ἡδύ τι καὶ ἐράσμιον ἠχήσει. Στῆσον σεαυτῷ καὶ Θεῷ τοιοῦτον μνημεῖον, αὐτῷ μὲν ὑπόμνημα τῆς εὐεργεσίας, σαυτῷ δὲ ἀπόδειξιν τῆς εὐχαριστίας, τῆς εὐγνωμοσύνης, σύμβολον τῆς διηνεκοῦς μνήμης, ἣν ἐγκάρδιον ἔχων ἀεὶ, κατεύθυνέ σου τὸν βίον· μᾶλλον δὲ κατευθύνωμεν, ἵνα γενώμεθα καὶ τῆς ἐκεῖθεν ἄξιοι κληρουχίας τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΜΑʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΝ.

«Ὃν τρόπον ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ἔλαφος ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων.» Καὶ τίνος χάριν ὁ ψαλμὸς εἰς τὸν βίον εἰσενεχθεὶς μετ' ᾠδῆς ψάλλεται. Καὶ περὶ τῆς

τοῦ Θεοῦ μακροθυμίας. αʹ. Ὑμεῖς μὲν ἡμᾶς ἐθαυμάζετε πρώην, ὅτε τὸν περὶ τοῦ Μελχισεδὲκ ἐκινήσαμεν λόγον, ἐπὶ τῷ μήκει τῶν εἰρημένων· ἐγὼ δὲ ὑμᾶς ἐθαύμαζον ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς ἀκροάσεως προθυμίᾳ τε καὶ συνέσει, καὶ ὅτι μακροτέρου τοῦ λόγου προελθόντος, μέχρι τέλους παρηκολουθήσατε ἡμῖν· καίτοι γε οὐ μακρὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ δυσχέρειαν εἶχε πολλήν. Ἀλλ' οὔτε τὸ μῆκος, οὔτε ἡ δυσκολία τὴν ὑμετέραν ἤλεγξε προθυμίαν. Φέρε οὖν ὑμῖν ἀμοιβὴν ἀποδῶμεν ἐκείνου τοῦ πόνου, σαφεστέραν πρὸς ὑμᾶς τήμερον ποιησάμενοι τὴν διάλεξιν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐπιτείνειν ἀεὶ δεῖ τὴν διάνοιαν τῶν ἀκροατῶν διαῤῥήγνυται γὰρ ταχέως, οὔτε χαλᾷν ἀεὶ καὶ ἀνιέναι· καὶ γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν ἀργοτέρα γίνεται πάλιν. ∆ιὸ ποικίλλειν χρὴ τὸ τῆς διδασκαλίας εἶδος, καὶ νῦν μὲν πανηγυρικωτέρων, νῦν δὲ ἀγωνιστικωτέρων ἅπτεσθαι λόγων. Ὥσπερ οὖν τότε ἔλεγον, ὅτι οἱ ποιμένες, τῶν λύκων ἐπιόντων τῇ ποίμνῃ, τὴν σύριγγα ἀφέντες, τὴν σφενδόνην μεταχειρίζονται· οὕτω νῦν δὴ παρελθουσῶν τῶν ἑορτῶν τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν, οἳ λύκων ἁπάντων εἰσὶ χαλεπώτεροι, τὴν σφενδόνην πάλιν ἀφέντες, ἐπὶ τὴν σύριγγα ἐπανίωμεν· καὶ τοὺς ἀγωνιστικωτέρους ἀναπαύσαντες λόγους, ἑτέρων τινῶν σαφεστέρων ἁψώμεθα, τὴν κιθάραν αὐτὴν τοῦ ∆αυῒδ μεταχειριζόμενοι, καὶ τὴν ὑπακοὴν εἰς μέσον ἄγοντες, ἣν ἅπαντες ὑπεψάλαμεν τήμερον. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ἡ ὑπακοή; Ὃν τρόπον ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ἔλαφος ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων, οὕτως ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου πρὸς σὲ, ὁ Θεός. 55.156 Μᾶλλον δὲ ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν πρῶτον, τίνος ἕνεκεν ὁ ψαλμὸς εἰς τὸν βίον εἰσενήνεκται τὸν ἡμέτερον, καὶ μετ' ᾠδῆς μάλιστα αὕτη ἡ προφητεία λέγεται. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν λέγεται μετ' ᾠδῆς, ἄκουσον· Πολλοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων κατιδὼν ὁ Θεὸς ῥᾳθυμοτέρους ὄντας, καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν πνευματικῶν ἀνάγνωσιν δυσχερῶς ἔχοντας, καὶ τὸν ἐκεῖθεν οὐχ ἡδέως ὑπομένοντας κάματον, ποθεινότερον ποιῆσαι τὸν πόνον βουλόμενος, καὶ τοῦ καμάτου τὴν αἴσθησιν ὑποτεμέσθαι, μελῳδίαν ἀνέμιξε τῇ προφητείᾳ, ἵνα τῷ ῥυθμῷ τοῦ μέλους ψυχαγωγούμενοι πάντες, μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς προθυμίας τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἀναπέμπωσιν αὐτῷ ὕμνους. Οὐδὲν γὰρ, οὐδὲν οὕτως ἀνίστησι ψυχὴν, καὶ πτεροῖ, καὶ τῆς γῆς ἀπαλλάττει, καὶ τῶν τοῦ σώματος ἀπολύει δεσμῶν, καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν ποιεῖ, καὶ πάντων καταγελᾷν τῶν βιωτικῶν, ὡς μέλος συμφωνίας, καὶ ῥυθμῷ συγκείμενον θεῖον ᾆσμα. Οὕτω γοῦν ἡμῶν ἡ φύσις πρὸς τὰ ᾄσματα καὶ τὰ μέλη ἡδέως ἔχει καὶ οἰκείως, ὡς καὶ τὰ ὑπομάζια παιδία κλαυθμυριζόμενα καὶ δυσχεραίνοντα, οὕτω κατακοιμίζεσθαι. Αἱ γοῦν