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in a fitting manner, but also gives it to you with more abundance. For if you make a show of it now, you will be able to show it to only ten or twenty, or even a hundred people; but if you are eager to be hidden now, then God Himself will proclaim you, in the presence of the entire inhabited world. So if you especially want people to see your good deeds, hide them now, so that then all may see them with greater honor, when God makes them manifest and exalts and proclaims them before all. For now, those who see will even condemn you, as vainglorious; but seeing you being crowned, they will not only not condemn you, but all will even admire you. When, therefore, it is possible both to receive a reward and to reap greater admiration by waiting a short time, 57.276 consider what great folly it is to fall away from both of these, and while asking for a reward from God, and while God is watching, to call upon men for the display of what is being done. For if one must make a display, one must make a display to the Father before all; and especially when the Father is lord both of crowning and of punishing. And yet even if there were no punishment, one who desires glory ought not, having left this theater, to exchange it for that of men. For who is so wretched, that when the king is eager to come to the spectacle of his achievements, he dismisses him, and seats his theater with the poor and beggars? For this very reason He commands not only not to make a display, but also to be eager to be hidden. For it is not the same thing, not to be eager to be seen, and to be eager to be hidden. And when you pray, He says, you shall not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret. Again He calls these men hypocrites, and with good reason; because pretending to pray to God, they look around for men, not wearing the guise of suppliants, but of ridiculous men. For one who is about to supplicate, leaving all others, looks only to him who is lord to grant the request. But if, leaving him, you go about wandering and carrying your eyes everywhere, you will depart with empty hands. For you yourself willed this. For this reason He did not say that such men will not receive a reward, but that they have received it, that is, they will receive it, but from those from whom they themselves desire it. For God does not will it, but He Himself wanted to provide the reward from Himself; but they, seeking the one from men, would no longer be justified in receiving from Him, for whom they have done nothing. But you, consider for me the love of God for man, that even for the good things He asks from us, He promises to provide a reward. Having therefore discredited those who do not approach the matter fittingly, both from their place and from their disposition, and having shown them to be utterly ridiculous, He introduces the best manner of prayer, and again gives the reward, saying: Enter into your room. c. What then? in church, he says, must one not pray? Very much so, but with such an intention. For everywhere God seeks the purpose of what is done. Since even if you enter the room and shut the doors, but do it for display, the doors are of no benefit to you. See, at any rate, how here too He has set down the precise distinction, saying, That they may be seen by men. So that even if you shut the doors, He wants you to accomplish this before shutting the doors, and to shut the doors of your mind. For it is good to be rid of vainglory everywhere, but especially in prayer. For if even without this we wander and are carried about, if we enter having this disease as well, when will we hear what is said by us? and if we who are asking and entreating do not listen, how do we expect God to listen? But nevertheless there are some, who 57.277 after such and so many instructions, behave so unseemly in prayer, that even with the body being hidden, by their voice they make themselves manifest to all

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τῷ προσήκοντι, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ πλείονός σοι αὐτὸ παρέχει τῆς ὑπερβολῆς. Νῦν μὲν γὰρ ἂν ἐπιδείξῃ, δέκα καὶ εἴκοσιν, ἣ καὶ ἑκατὸν ἀνθρώποις ἐπιδείξασθαι δυνήσῃ μόνοις· ἂν δὲ σπουδάζῃς νῦν λαθεῖν, τότε σε αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς ἀνακηρύξει, τῆς οἰκουμένης παρούσης ἁπάσης. Ὥστε μάλιστα εἰ βούλει ἀνθρώπους ἰδεῖν σου τὰ κατορθώματα, κρύψον αὐτὰ νῦν, ἵνα μετὰ πλείονος τιμῆς τότε αὐτὰ πάντες θεάσωνται, τοῦ Θεοῦ φανερὰ ποιοῦντος καὶ ἐπαίροντος καὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνακηρύττοντος. Νῦν μὲν γάρ σου καὶ καταγνώσονται οἱ ὁρῶντες, ὡς κενοδόξου· στεφανούμενον δὲ ἰδόντες, οὐ μόνον οὐ καταγνώσονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ θαυμάσονται ἅπαντες. Ὅταν οὖν καὶ μισθὸν ᾖ λαβεῖν, καὶ θαῦμα καρπώσασθαι μεῖζον, ὀλίγον ἀναμείναντα χρόνον, 57.276 ἐννόησον ἡλίκης ἀνοίας ἐστὶν ἀμφοτέρων ἐκπεσεῖν τούτων, καὶ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν μισθὸν αἰτοῦντα, καὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁρῶντος, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καλεῖν πρὸς τὴν ἐπίδειξιν τῶν γινομένων. Εἰ γὰρ ἐπιδείκνυσθαι δεῖ, τῷ Πατρὶ πρὸ πάντων ἐπιδείκνυσθαι χρή· καὶ μάλιστα ὅταν καὶ τοῦ στεφανῶσαι καὶ τοῦ ζημιῶσαι κύριος ὁ Πατὴρ ᾖ. Καίτοι εἰ καὶ ζημία μὴ ἦν, οὐκ ἔδει τὸ θέατρον τοῦτο ἀφιέντα, ἀνταλλάξασθαι τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὸν δόξης ἐπιθυμοῦντα. Τίς γὰρ οὕτως ἄθλιος, ὡς τοῦ βασιλέως σπεύδοντος ἐπὶ τὴν θεωρίαν τῶν αὐτοῦ κατορθωμάτων ἐλθεῖν, ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἀφιέναι, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν πτωχῶν καὶ προσαιτῶν καθίζειν αὐτοῦ τὸ θέατρον; ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο οὐχὶ μόνον οὐκ ἐπιδείκνυσθαι κελεύει, ἀλλὰ καὶ σπουδάζειν λανθάνειν. Οὐδὲ γάρ ἐστιν ἴσον, μὴ σπουδάσαι φανῆναι, καὶ σπουδάσαι λαθεῖν. Καὶ ὅταν προσεύχησθε, φησὶν, οὐκ ἔσεσθε ὥσπερ οἱ ὑποκριταί· ὅτι φιλοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς γωνίαις τῶν πλατειῶν ἑστῶτες προσεύχεσθαι. Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσι τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν. Σὺ δὲ ὅταν προσεύχῃ, εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ ταμιεῖόν σου, καὶ κλείσας τὴν θύραν σου, πρόσευξαι τῷ Πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ. Πάλιν καὶ τούτους ὑποκριτὰς καλεῖ, καὶ μάλα εἰκότως· ὅτι Θεῷ προσποιούμενοι προσεύχεσθαι, ἀνθρώπους περισκοποῦσιν, οὐχ ἱκετῶν περικείμενοι σχῆμα, ἀλλ' ἀνθρώπων καταγελάστων. Ὁ γὰρ μέλλων ἱκετεύειν, ἅπαντας ἀφεὶς, πρὸς ἐκεῖνον μόνον ὁρᾷ τὸν κύριον ὄντα δοῦναι τὴν αἴτησιν. Ἂν δὲ τοῦτον ἀφεὶς, περιέρχῃ πλανώμενος καὶ πανταχοῦ περιφέρων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, κεναῖς ἀπελεύσῃ χερσί. Τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐβουλήθης. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ εἶπεν, ὅτι οὐ λήψονται μισθὸν οἱ τοιοῦτοι, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἀπέχουσι, τουτέστιν, ὅτι λήψονται μὲν, παρ' ὧν δὲ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν αὐτοί. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς βούλεται, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς μὲν τὴν παρ' ἑαυτοῦ παρέχειν ἤθελεν ἀμοιβήν· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ τὴν παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ζητοῦντες, οὐκέτ' ἂν εἶεν δίκαιοι λαβεῖν παρ' ἐκείνου, δι' ὃν οὐδὲν πεποιήκασι. Σὺ δέ μοι σκόπει τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν, ὅτι καὶ ὑπὲρ ὧν αἰτεῖται παρ' ἡμῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἐπαγγέλλεται μισθὸν παρέξειν. ∆ιαβαλὼν τοίνυν τοὺς οὐ προσηκόντως τῷ πράγματι χρωμένους, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τόπου, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς διαθέσεως, καὶ δείξας σφόδρα καταγελάστους ὄντας, εἰσάγει τὸν ἄριστον τῆς προσευχῆς τρόπον, καὶ πάλιν τὸν μισθὸν δίδωσιν, εἰπών· Εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ ταμιεῖόν σου. γʹ. Τί οὖν; ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ, φησὶν, οὐ δεῖ προσεύχεσθαι; Καὶ σφόδρα μὲν, ἀλλὰ μετὰ γνώμης τοιαύτης. Πανταχοῦ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς τὸν σκοπὸν ζητεῖ τῶν γινομένων. Ἐπεὶ κἂν εἰς τὸ ταμιεῖον εἰσέλθῃς, καὶ ἀποκλείσας, πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν αὐτὸ ἐργάσῃ, οὐδέν σοι τῶν θυρῶν ὄφελος. Ὅρα γοῦν καὶ ἐνταῦθα πῶς ἀκριβῆ τὸν διορισμὸν τέθεικεν, εἰπὼν, Ὅπως φανῶσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Ὥστε κἂν τὰς θύρας ἀποκλείσῃς, τοῦτο πρὸ τῆς τῶν θυρῶν ἀποκλείσεως κατορθῶσαί σε βούλεται, καὶ τὰς τῆς διανοίας ἀποκλείειν θύρας. Κενοδοξίας γὰρ πανταχοῦ μὲν ἀπηλλάχθαι καλὸν, μάλιστα δὲ ἐν εὐχῇ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τούτου χωρὶς πλανώμεθα καὶ περιφερόμεθα, ἂν καὶ ταύτην εἰσερχώμεθα τὴν νόσον ἔχοντες, πότε ἀκουσόμεθα τῶν παρ' ἡμῶν λεγομένων; εἰ δὲ ἡμεῖς οἱ δεόμενοι καὶ παρακαλοῦντες οὐκ ἀκούομεν, πῶς τὸν Θεὸν ἀξιοῦμεν ἀκούειν; Ἀλλ' ὅμως εἰσί τινες, οἱ 57.277 μετὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα παραγγέλματα οὕτως ἀσχημονοῦντες ἐν εὐχῇ, ὡς καὶ τοῦ σώματος κρυπτομένου, διὰ τῆς φωνῆς πᾶσιν ἑαυτοὺς καταδήλους