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Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy. You said great, say how much; for I know it is great, but I cannot measure or comprehend it; I have stretched myself out upon the sea of my Master’s love for mankind. And what do you say? Tell me. You have heard the prophet saying, And the Lord has put away your sin. What more do you seek? I do not seek this alone, he says, but I seek my beauty, I seek my confidence; Wash me more and more from my iniquity. Do you see what he seeks? and he seeks still greater radiance and a greater purity. And what do you give, O David, that you seek these things? What do I give? That I know my iniquity. You give this? And what person does not recognize their own sin? Yes, he says, how many are there who sin and speak boldly? how many oppress their neighbors and do not mourn? But I know my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. O nobility of soul; he did not surrender the memory of the sin to forgetfulness, but even after it was forgiven, he inscribed it as in an icon upon his conscience; and see what happens. If you remember it, God does not remember it; but if you forget it, God remembers it. Have you done something evil? Remember it, so that your Master may forget it. Have you done something good? Forget it, so that your Master may speak of it; for you do not speak of your good deeds in the same way as he does; and how, listen, If you give to a poor man, when asked you say, I saw a poor man hungry, and I fed him; but your Master not so, but how? You saw me hungry and you fed me. Therefore, whenever you sin, do not wait for accusation from another, but before you are accused, condemn what you have done; for if another convicts you, then the good deed is no longer from your confession, but the correction is from his accusation. For to confess is not this, to accuse oneself after the convictions, but to be the first to accuse oneself, and not to wait for convictions from others. For indeed Peter after that harsh denial, since he quickly reminded himself of his sin, and with no one accusing him, he both spoke of his offense, and wept bitterly, thus he washed away the denial, so as to become the first of the apostles, and to be entrusted with the whole world. For if the priest has received authority to loose sins against God, much more will he be able to remove and abolish those committed against man. He too is a ruler, and a ruler more venerable than the king. For the sacred laws have brought and subjected the royal head itself to these 63.742 hands; and whenever some good is needed from above, the king is accustomed to flee to the priest, not the priest to the king. For this reason God did not bring down angels from the heavens and make them teachers of human nature, so that, because of their superior nature and ignorance of human weakness, they might not make their reproofs against us more unsparingly; but he gave mortal men as teachers and priests, men clothed in weakness, so that this very thing—that both the one speaking and the listeners are liable to the same things—might become a bridle to the tongue of the one speaking, not allowing the accusations to be made beyond measure. And for what reason did I say these things? So that you may not say. that You, being pure from sins, freed from the pain of reproof, with great authority inflict on us a heavier cut. For I first feel the pain, since I myself am also liable to sins; For we are all under penance, and no one will boast of having a pure heart. So I do not make these reproofs by philosophizing on others' evils, nor out of any inhumanity, but from great solicitude. For in the case of those who heal bodies, the one inflicting the wound receives no sensation of the wound, but the one being cut is the one who is torn apart by the pain alone; but in the case of those who treat souls it is not so; unless indeed I am mistaken in judging the things of others from my own case; but the one speaking is the first to suffer pain, whenever to others

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Ἐλέησόν με, ὁ Θεὸς, κατὰ τὸ μέγα ἔλεός σου. Εἶπες μέγα, εἰπὲ πόσον· ὅτι μέγα οἶδα, μετρῆσαι δὲ ἢ καταλαβεῖν οὐ δύναμαι· ἐπὶ τὸ πέλαγος ἐμαυτὸν ἥπλωσα τῆς τοῦ ∆εσπότου μου φιλανθρωπίας. Καὶ τί λέγεις; εἰπέ μοι. Ἤκουσας τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος, Καὶ Κύριος ἀφεῖλε τὸ ἁμάρτημά σου. Τί πλέον ζητεῖς; Οὐ τοῦτο ζητῶ μόνον, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ τὸ κάλλος μου ζητῶ, τὴν παῤῥησίαν μου ζητῶ· Ἐπὶ πλεῖον πλῦνόν με ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνομίας μου. Ὁρᾷς τί ζητεῖ; καὶ ἔτι πλείονα ζητεῖ λαμπηδόνα καὶ μείζονα καθαρότητα. Καὶ τί δίδως, ὦ ∆αυῒδ, ὅτι ταῦτα ζητεῖς; Τί δίδωμι; ὅτι τὴν ἀνομίαν μου ἐγὼ γινώσκω. Τοῦτο δίδως; καὶ τίς ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος μὴ ἐπιγινώσκων αὑτοῦ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν; Ναὶ, φησὶ, πόσοι εἰσὶν ἁμαρτάνοντες καὶ παῤῥησιαζόμενοι; πόσοι θλίβουσι τοὺς πλησίον καὶ οὐ πενθοῦσιν; ἀλλ' ἐγὼ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου γινώσκω, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία μου ἐνώπιόν μού ἐστι διαπαντός. Ὢ εὐγένεια ψυχῆς· οὐ παρέδωκε τῇ λήθῃ τὴν μνήμην τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ συγχωρηθεῖσαν αὐτὴν ἔγραψε καθάπερ ἐν εἰκόνι τῷ συνειδότι· καὶ βλέπε τί γίνεται. Ἐὰν σὺ αὐτῆς μνημονεύσῃς, ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῆς οὐ μνημονεύει· ἐὰν δὲ σὺ ἐπιλάθῃς, ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῆς μέμνηται. Ἐποίησάς τι κακόν; μνήσθητι, ἵνα ὁ ∆εσπότης σου αὐτοῦ ἐπιλάθηται. Ἐποίησας ἀγαθόν τι; λάνθανε, ἵνα ὁ ∆εσπότης σου αὐτὸ εἴπῃ· οὐ γὰρ οὕτω σὺ λέγεις τὰ κατορθώματά σου, ὡς ἐκεῖνος· καὶ πῶς, ἄκουε, Ἐὰν δῷς πτωχῷ, ἐρωτώμενος λέγεις, Εἶδον πτωχὸν πεινῶντα, καὶ ἔθρεψα αὐτόν· ὁ δὲ ∆εσπότης σου οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ πῶς; Πεινῶντά με εἴδετε καὶ ἐθρέψατε. Ἐπειδὰν οὖν ἁμάρτῃς, μὴ τὴν παρ' ἑτέρου κατηγορίαν ἀνάμενε, ἀλλὰ πρὶν ἢ κατηγορηθῇς σὺ, καταγίνωσκε τῶν δρωμένων· ὡς ἐὰν ἕτερος ἐλέγξῃ, λοιπὸν οὐκέτι τῆς σῆς ἐξομολογήσεως τὸ κατόρθωμα γίνεται, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐκείνου κατηγορίας ἡ διόρθωσις. Οὐ γὰρ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἐξομολογεῖσθαι, τὸ κατηγορεῖν ἑαυτοῦ μετὰ τοὺς ἐλέγχους, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρῶτον ἑαυτοῦ κατηγορεῖν, καὶ τὸ μὴ ἀναμένειν τοὺς παρ' ἑτέρων ἐλέγχους. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ Πέτρος μετὰ τὴν ἄρνησιν ἐκείνην τὴν χαλεπὴν, ἐπειδὴ ταχέως ἑαυτὸν ἀνέμνησε τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ μηδενὸς κατηγοροῦντος, καὶ τὴν πλημμέλειαν ἔλεγε, καὶ πικρῶς ἔκλαυσεν, οὕτω τὴν ἄρνησιν ἀπενίψατο, ὡς καὶ πρῶτος γενέσθαι τῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐγχειρισθῆναι ἅπασαν. Εἰ γὰρ τὰς εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἁμαρτίας λύειν ἔλαβεν ἐξουσίαν ὁ ἱερεὺς, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τὰς εἰς ἄνθρωπον γινομένας ἀνελεῖν καὶ ἀφανίσαι δυνήσεται. Ἄρχων ἐστὶ καὶ οὗτος, καὶ ἄρχων τοῦ βασιλέως σεμνότερος. Καὶ γὰρ αὐτὴν τὴν βασιλικὴν κεφαλὴν οἱ ἱεροὶ νόμοι ταῖς 63.742 τούτου χερσὶ φέροντες ὑπέταξαν· καὶ ὅταν τι δέοι χρηστὸν γενέσθαι ἄνωθεν, ὁ βασιλεὺς πρὸς τὸν ἱερέα, οὐχ ὁ ἱερεὺς πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καταφεύγειν εἴωθε. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀγγέλους ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν καταγαγὼν ὁ Θεὸς τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσεως διδασκάλους ἐποίησεν, ἵνα μὴ διὰ τὸ τῆς φύσεως ὑπερέχον καὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἀσθενείας τὴν ἄγνοιαν ἀφειδέστερον ποιῶνται τὰς καθ' ἡμῶν ἐπιτιμήσεις· ἀλλ' ἀνθρώπους θνητοὺς ἔδωκε διδασκάλους καὶ ἱερέας, ἀνθρώπους ἀσθένειαν περικειμένους, ἵνα αὐτὸ τοῦτο τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὑπεύθυνον εἶναι καὶ τὸν λέγοντα καὶ τοὺς ἀκούοντας, χαλινὸς γένηται τῇ τοῦ λέγοντος γλώττῃ μὴ συγχωρῶν πέρα τοῦ μέτρου ποιεῖσθαι τὰς κατηγορίας. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν ταῦτα εἶπον; Ἵνα μὴ λέγητε. ὅτι Σὺ καθαρὸς ὢν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἀπηλλαγμένος τῆς ὀδύνης τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἐπιτίμησιν, μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ἐξουσίας ἐπιφέρεις ἡμῖν βαρυτέραν τὴν τομήν. Ἐγὼ γὰρ πρότερος αἰσθάνομαι τῆς ὀδύνης, ἐπειδὴ καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπεύθυνός εἰμι τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι· Πάντες γάρ ἐσμεν ἐν ἐπιτιμίοις, καὶ οὐδεὶς καυχήσεται ἁγνὴν ἔχειν τὴν καρδίαν. Ὥστε οὐκ ἐν ἀλλοτρίοις φιλοσοφῶν κακοῖς, οὐδὲ ἐξ ἀπανθρωπίας τινὸς, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ κηδεμονίας πολλῆς τοὺς ἐλέγχους ποιοῦμαι. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν τὰ σώματα ἰατρευόντων, ὁ μὲν ἐπάγων τὴν πληγὴν οὐδεμίαν λαμβάνει τῆς πληγῆς αἴσθησιν, ὁ δὲ τεμνόμενος οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ διασπώμενος ταῖς ἀλγηδόσι μόνος· ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ψυχὰς θεραπευόντων οὐχ οὕτως· εἰ μήτι γε σφάλλομαι ἀπ' ἐμαυτοῦ τὰ τῶν λοιπῶν δοκιμάζων· ἀλλ' αὐτὸς πρότερος ὀδυνᾶται ὁ λέγων, ἡνίκα ἂν ἑτέροις