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instead of his 63.191 curse on this day. But you, when speaking about yourself and an excess of evils, if you do not hear the praises of the great righteous from others, you become savage. Do you see that you are playing with matters not to be played with? For we reject praises out of a desire for other praises, so that we may again receive greater encomiums, so that we may be more admired. So, not accepting the 63.192 encomiums in order to increase them, this is what we do; and all things are done by us for glory, not for truth. For this reason, all things are empty, all are without resource. Therefore I beseech you, at least now, to depart from the mother of evils, vainglory, and to live according to what seems good to God; so as to attain also to the good things to come, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

HOMILY 28. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted,

tormented; of whom this world was not worthy; wandering in deserts, and in mountains, and in caves, and in the holes of the earth. 1. Always, but especially when I think of the achievements of the saints, then it comes to me to give up on my own affairs, because not even in a dream have we experienced what those men spent all their time in, not paying the penalty for sins, but always succeeding, and always being afflicted. For consider Elijah, to whom our discourse comes today; for concerning him he says here, 'They went about in sheepskins,' and in him the examples end, not leaving even this out; which was proper to them. And having spoken of the things concerning the apostles, that they died by the slaughter of the sword, that they were stoned, he goes up again to Elijah, who suffered the same things as these. For since it was likely that they did not yet have so great an opinion of the apostles, he brings the exhortation and the comfort from him who was taken up and most especially admired. For 'they went about,' he says, 'in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom this world was not worthy.' They did not even have a cloak, he says, to throw around themselves in the excess of their afflictions, not a city, not a house, not a lodging; this is what Christ said: 'But the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.' What am I saying, not a lodging? Not a place to stand; for not even having reached the desert did they have quiet; for it does not say, 'They sat in the desert,' but even being there they were fleeing and were driven from there, not only from the inhabited world, but also from the uninhabited. And he reminds them of the places where they sat, and of the things that happened there: 'Being destitute, afflicted.' Then, he says, they brought charges against you because of Christ, and they did these things to Elijah; having what to accuse him of, did they drive him out and persecute him, and compel him to struggle with hunger? Which these also were suffering then; for this reason he said elsewhere: 'The brethren determined to send to the afflicted disciples; for as anyone was able, each of them determined to send for the ministry to the brethren who dwelt in Judea.' [Which was also their lot.] Tormented, he says; that is, suffering evil, in their journeys, in dangers; which also was 63.192 their lot. But what is [They went about]? 'Wandering in deserts, and mountains and caves, and, the holes of the earth.' It shows nothing else than this very thing, that they went about like fugitives and migrants, as if convicted of the most shameful things, as if not worthy to see the sun, and not even from the desert did they find refuge, but they had to flee always, they had to seek hiding places, they had to bury themselves alive in the earth, to be always in fear. And all these, having obtained a good report through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. What then is the reward, he says, of so great a hope? What is the recompense? Great, and so great that it cannot even be declared by word; for 'What,' he says, 'eye has not seen, nor ear heard,'

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ἀντὶ τῆς κατάρας αὐ 63.191 τοῦ τῆς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ. Σὺ δὲ περὶ σαυτοῦ λέγων καὶ ὑπερβολὴν κακῶν, ἐὰν μὴ τὰ τῶν μεγάλων δικαίων ἐγκώμια παρ' ἑτέρων ἀκούῃς, ἀγριαίνεις. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι παίζεις ἐν οὐ παικτοῖς πράγμασι; καὶ γὰρ τοὺς ἐπαίνους ἐπαίνων ἑτέρων ἐπιθυμίᾳ διακρουόμεθα, ἵνα μειζόνων πάλιν τύχωμεν ἐγκωμίων, ἵνα μᾶλλον θαυμασθῶμεν. Ὥστε, οὐ προσιέμενοι τὰ 63.192 ἐγκώμια, ἵνα αὐξήσωμεν αὐτὰ, τοῦτο ποιοῦμεν· καὶ πάντα πρὸς δόξαν ἡμῖν γίνεται, οὐ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πάντα κενὰ, πάντα ἄπορα. ∆ιὸ παρακαλῶ νῦν γοῦν ἀποστῆναι τῆς μητρὸς τῶν κακῶν, τῆς κενοδοξίας, καὶ ζῆσαι κατὰ τὸ τῷ Θεῷ δοκοῦν· ὥστε καὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἐπιτυχεῖν ἀγαθῶν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν.

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΚΗʹ. Περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι,

κακουχούμενοι· ὧν οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ὁ κόσμος οὗτος· ἐν ἐρημίαις πλανώμενοι, καὶ ὄρεσι, καὶ σπηλαίοις, καὶ ταῖς ὀπαῖς τῆς γῆς. αʹ. Ἀεὶ μὲν, μάλιστα δὲ ὅταν τῶν ἁγίων ἐννοήσω τὰ κατορθώματα, τότε μοι ἐπέρχεται ἀπαγορεύειν τὰ κατ' ἐμαυτὸν, ὅτι οὐδὲ ὄναρ πεῖραν ἐλάβομεν οἷς ἐκεῖνοι τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον ἐνδιέτριψαν ἄνδρες, οὐχ ἁμαρτημάτων τίνοντες δίκην, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ κατορθοῦντες, καὶ ἀεὶ θλιβόμενοι. Ἐννόησον γάρ μοι τὸν Ἠλίαν, εἰς ὃν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος περιήκει τήμερον· περὶ αὐτοῦ γάρ φησιν ἐνταῦθα τὸ, Περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν αὐτῷ τελευτᾷ τὰ ὑποδείγματα οὐδὲ αὐτὸ καταλιπών· ὅπερ οἰκεῖον αὐτοῖς ἦν. Καὶ εἰπὼν τὰ κατὰ τοὺς ἀποστόλους, ὅτι ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρας ἀπέθανον, ὅτι ἐλιθάσθησαν, ἄνεισι πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἠλίαν, τὸν τὰ αὐτὰ παθόντα τούτοις. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς οὐδέπω περὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων δόξαν ἔχειν τοσαύτην, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναληφθέντος, καὶ μάλιστα θαυμασθέντος, φέρει τὴν παράκλησιν καὶ τὴν παραμυθίαν. Περιῆλθον γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχούμενοι· ὧν οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ὁ κόσμος οὗτος. Οὐδὲ ἱμάτιον εἶχον, φησὶ, περιβαλέσθαι τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῶν θλίψεων, οὐ πόλιν, οὐκ οἰκίαν, οὐ καταγώγιον· τοῦτο, ὅπερ ὁ Χριστὸς ἔλεγεν· Ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἔχει ποῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν κλίνῃ. Τί λέγω, οὐ καταγώγιον; οὐ στάσιν· οὐδὲ γὰρ τὴν ἔρημον καταλαβόντες, ἡσυχίαν ἦγον· οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, Ἐν ἐρήμῳ ἐκάθηντο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκεῖ ὄντες ἔφευγον καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἠλαύνοντο, οὐκ ἐκ τῆς οἰκουμένης μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἀοικήτου. Καὶ ἀναμιμνήσκει τόπων αὐτοὺς ἔνθα ἐκάθηντο, καὶ πραγμάτων ἐκεῖ γενομένων· Ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι. Εἶτα, φησὶν, ὑμῖν ἐνεκάλουν διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν, καὶ ταῦτα ἐποίουν τῷ Ἠλίᾳ· τί ἔχοντες ἐγκαλεῖν, ἤλαυνον αὐτὸν καὶ ἐδίωκον, καὶ λιμῷ παλαίειν ἠνάγκαζον; Ὃ καὶ οὗτοι τότε ἔπασχον· διὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγεν ἀλλαχοῦ· Ἔκριναν γοῦν πέμψαι οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῖς θλιβομένοις τῶν μαθητῶν· Καθὼς γὰρ ηὐπορεῖτό τις, ὥρισαν ἕκαστος αὐτῶν εἰς διακονίαν πέμψαι τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ἀδελφοῖς. [Ὃ καὶ τούτων ἦν.] Κακουχούμενοι, φησί· τουτέστι, κακῶς πάσχοντες, ἐν ταῖς ὁδοιπορίαις, ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις· ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ 63.192 τούτων ἦν. Τὸ δὲ, [Περιῆλθον, τί ἐστιν;] Ἐν ἐρημίαις πλανώμενοι, καὶ ὄρεσι καὶ σπηλαίοις, καὶ, ταῖς ὀπαῖς τῆς γῆς. Οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ τοῦτο μονονουχὶ ἐμφαίνει, ὅτι περιῆλθον καθάπερ φυγάδες καὶ μετανάσται, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τοῖς αἰσχίστοις ἑαλωκότες, καθάπερ οἱ οὐδὲ τὸν ἥλιον ὁρᾷν ἄξιοι, καὶ οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρημίας εὕρισκον καταφυγὴν, ἀλλ' ἔδει φεύγειν ἀεὶ, ἔδει καταδύσεις ζητεῖν, ἔδει ζῶντας εἰς τὴν γῆν κατορύττειν ἑαυτοὺς, ἀεὶ ἐν φόβῳ εἶναι. Καὶ οὗτοι πάντες μαρτυρηθέντες διὰ τῆς πίστεως οὐκ ἐκομίσαντο τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν, τοῦ Θεοῦ περὶ ἡμῶν κρεῖττόν τι προβλεψαμένου, ἵνα μὴ χωρὶς ἡμῶν τελειωθῶσι. Τίς οὖν ὁ μισθὸς τῆς τοσαύτης, φησὶν, ἐλπίδος; τίς ἡ ἀνταπόδοσις; Μεγάλη, καὶ οὕτω μεγάλη, ὡς μηδὲ λόγῳ δύνασθαι δηλωθῆναι· Ἃ γὰρ, φησὶν, ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε, καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν,