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stades and places. We, then, speak about those things, insofar as reason allows us to make clear those visible creations and their sizes and beauties. But the one who is reading, how will he become a beholder of these things from words alone? In no way, one might say. But if he cannot become a beholder, how can he become master of one of these? For it is possible to see them, or some of them in part, but not to possess them. For to see, or even to hear and then to tell others what was heard, is easy and simple for all, but to possess one of these things is bought for a price. And that which is given for the purchase of such things is not gold, nor even silver, but blood; for with blood each (324) of us who is willing buys them one by one. For in truth, unless someone is slaughtered like a sheep for the sake of one, even a chance virtue, and pours out his own blood for its sake, he will never possess it; for through death by intention God has ordained that we should receive eternal life. Die, and you shall live. You do not wish to? And behold, you are dead.

But let us see what sort and of what kind are the mansions and houses of the virtues, for which one ought to pour out his blood for their possession. The first house, then, is blessed humility; "For blessed," he says, "are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Therefore, the one who wishes to enter into this house and with it to possess the kingdom of heaven, unless before its gates, like a ram, bound hand and foot, he first gives himself over for slaughter to all who wish it and is sacrificed and completely put to death, having killed his own will, he will never enter inside it, nor will he possess it; and if not this one, then not another of the rest. For it is not possible for one who bypasses this one ever to be in another; for God has set these in order and rank. And just as certain islands in the expanse of the sea, so in the midst of life you will understand with insight these virtues to be, standing apart from one another and joined, as it were, by certain bridges, settled far from all earthly things and suspended, and one securely holding to the other. The beginning of all these, then, is blessed humility, in which he who has entered through repentance from the western gate and has tarried in it for a sufficient time, will go out to the eastern door and, walking upon the bridge, so comes to the dwelling and house of mourning; (325) and having tarried there, and having been washed and purified and having delighted in its beauty, he passes through to the lodging of meekness; and from there he runs swiftly to the place of thirsting and hungering for righteousness, and so he arrives at the palace of mercy and compassion; and having passed beyond this, or rather having been within it, he finds the royal storeroom of purity; and being in it he sees the king of glory sitting within, He who is invisible to all creation.

Understand for me, then, the body as a palace, and the soul of each of us humans as a royal storeroom, in which God, being joined through the working of the commandments, makes it entirely divine light and a god through His communion and grace. To this God-befitting state comes everyone who passes through the aforementioned way of the virtues, but to pass through from elsewhere and to bypass this or that house and to arrive at another by some device is utterly impossible. For thus the master Christ ordained the entrance to the kingdom of heaven to be, and it cannot be otherwise. For if the sea cannot overstep its own bounds, how much more will these things be kept inviolate and unalterable. Besides, the ascent of those hastening toward heaven is like a ladder and steps. Indeed, to be more earnest than another in one's resolve and to ascend it more quickly and to overtake one's neighbor, is our part; but not to begin from the first step and to ascend the ladder in order, but to bypass the first step from somewhere

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σταδίους καί τόπους ὑπάρχουσιν. Ἡμεῖς οὖν τά περί ἐκείνων λέγομεν, καθ᾿ ὅσον ὁ λόγος χωρεῖ σαφηνίσαι τάς ὁρωμένας ἐκείνας κτίσεις καί τά μεγέθη καί κάλλη αὐτῶν. Ὁ δέ γε ἀναγινώσκων, πῶς ἀπό μόνων τῶν λόγων θεωρός αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων γενήσεται; Οὐδαμῶς, εἴποι ἄν. Εἰ δέ θεωρός γενέσθαι οὐ δύναται, κύριος τούτων ἑνός πῶς γένηται; Ἔστι μέν γάρ ἰδεῖν αὐτά ἤ ἐξ αὐτῶν τινα μερικῶς, μή κτήσασθαι δέ. Τό μέν γάρ ἰδεῖν, ἤ καί ἀκοῦσαι καί ἑτέροις πάλιν τά ἀκουσθέντα εἰπεῖν, ῥᾴδιον τοῖς πᾶσιν ὑπάρχει καί εὔκολον, τό δέ κτήσασθαί τι τῶν τοιούτων τιμήματος ἀγοράζεται. Τό δέ εἰς ἀγοράν τῶν τοιούτων διδόμενον οὐ χρυσίον ἐστίν, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ ἀργύριον, αἷμα δέ· αἵματι γάρ ταῦτα ἕκαστος (324) ἡμῶν τῶν βουλομένων ἕνα καθ᾿ ἕνα ἐξαγοράζεται. Ἐν ἀληθείᾳ γάρ, εἰ μή τις ὡς πρόβατον σφαγιασθῇ ὑπέρ μιᾶς καί τῆς τυχούσης ἀρετῆς καί τό αἷμα ἐκχέῃ τό ἴδιον ὑπέρ αὐτῆς, οὐ κτήσεται ταύτην ποτέ· διά θανάτου γάρ τοῦ κατά πρόθεσιν ᾠκονόμησεν ὁ Θεός τήν ζωήν λαμβάνειν ἡμᾶς τήν αἰώνιον. Θάνε καί ζήσῃ. Οὐ βούλει; Καί ἰδού σύ νεκρός.

Ἀλλ᾿ ἴδωμεν τάς μονάς καί οἰκίας τῶν ἀρετῶν ποῖαί εἰσι καί τίνες, ὑπέρ ὧν ὀφείλει τις κενοῦν τό αἷμα αὐτοῦ εἰς τήν κτῆσιν αὐτῶν. Ἔστιν οὖν οἰκία πρώτη ἡ μακαρία ταπείνωσις· «Μακάριοι γάρ, φησίν, οἱ πτωχοί τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν». Ὁ τοίνυν βουλόμενος εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τήν οἰκίαν ταύτην καί σύν αὐτῇ κτήσασθαι τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, εἰ μή πρό τῶν πυλῶν αὐτῆς, ὥσπερ κριός, δεδεμένος χεῖρας καί πόδας αὐτοῦ, εἰς σφαγήν ἑαυτόν πᾶσι τοῖς βουλομένοις πρῶτον ἐκδῷ καί κατατυθήσεται καί τελείως τεθνήξεται, τό οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ ἀποκτείνας θέλημα, οὐκ εἰσελεύσεταί ποτε ἔνδοθεν αὐτῆς, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ κατάσχῃ αὐτήν· εἰ δέ μή ταύτην, οὐδ᾿ ἑτέραν τῶν ἄλλων. Οὐκ ἔστι γάρ τόν ὑπερβαίνοντα ταύτην ἐν ἑτέρᾳ γενέσθαι ποτέ· ἐν τάξει γάρ καί βαθμῷ ταύτας ἔθετο ὁ Θεός. Καί ὥσπερ νήσους τινάς ἐν πελάγει θαλάσσης, οὕτως ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ βίου καί ταύτας εἶναι τάς ἀρετάς ἐν συνέσει νοήσεις ἀλλήλων ἀφεστηκυίας καί γεφύραις τισίν οἷα δή συνημμένας, πάντων ἀπῳκισμέναις τῶν γηΐνων καί ἐξηρτημέναις καί ἑτέρας τῇ ἑτέρᾳ ἀσφαλῶς ἐχομέναις. Τούτων οὖν ἁπάντων ἀρχή ἡ μακαρία ταπείνωσις, ἐν ᾗ ὁ εἰσελθών διά τῆς μετανοίας ἀπό τῆς δυτικῆς πύλης καί ἐνδιατρίψας ἐφ᾿ ἱκανόν ἐν αὐτῇ, ἔξεισιν ἐπί τήν ἀνατολικήν θύραν καί, ἐπί τῇ γεφύρᾳ περιπατῶν, οὕτως ἔρχεται πρός τήν τοῦ πένθους καταμονήν καί οἰκίαν· (325) κἀκεῖ ἐνδιατρίψας, λουσάμενός τε και καθαρθείς καί ἐντρυφήσας τοῦ κάλλους αὐτοῦ, ἐπί τό τῆς πρᾳότητος διέρχεται καταγώγιον· κἀκεῖθεν ἐπί τό τῆς δικαιοσύνης διψητήριόν τε καί πεινατήριον διαβαίνει δρομαῖος, εἶθ᾿ οὕτω καταλαμβάνει ἐπί τό τοῦ ἐλέους καί συμπαθείας παλάτιον· καί ὑπερβάς τοῦτο, μᾶλλον δέ γεγονώς ἐντός τούτου, εὑρίσκει τό βασιλικόν τῆς καθαρότητος ταμιεῖον· καί ἐν αὐτῷ γενόμενος βλέπει τόν βασιλέα τῆς δόξης ἔνδον καθήμενον, ἐκεῖνον τόν ἀόρατον πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει.

Νόει μοι οὖν παλάτιον μέν τό σῶμα, ταμιεῖον δέ βασιλικόν τήν ἑκάστου ἡμῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχήν, ᾗ διά τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐργασίας συναφθείς ὁ Θεός, ὅλην φωτός θείου καί θεόν αὐτήν ἀπεργάζεται διά τῆς αὐτοῦ συνουσίας καί χάριτος.Εἰς ταύτην δή τήν θεοπρετῆ κατάστασιν πᾶς ὁ διά τῆς εἰρημένης τῶν ἀρετῶν ὁδοῦ διερχόμενος, ἔρχεται, ἄλλοθεν δέ διελθεῖν καί ὑπερβῆναι τήνδε ἤ τήνδε τήν οἰκίαν καί εἰς τήν ἑτέραν διά μηχανῆς γενέσθαι τινός παντελῶς ἀμήχανον. Οὕτως γάρ ἔταξε τήν εἴσοδον εἶναι τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν ὁ δεσπότης Χριστός καί οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως γενέσθαι. Εἰ γάρ ὅρια ἑαυτῆς θάλασσα ὑπερβῆναι οὐ δύναται, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἄτρωτα ταῦτα καί ἀπαράλλακτα διαφυλαχθήσονται. Ἄλλως δέ κλίμακι καί βαθμῖσιν ἡ ἄνοδος ἔοικε τῶν ἐπειγομένων πρός οὐρανόν. Τό γοῦν σπουδαιότερον τῇ προαιρέσει ἄλλον ἄλλου γενέσθαι καί συντομώτερον ἀνελθεῖν ἐν αὐτῇ καί προλαβεῖν τόν πλησίον, ἡμέτερόν ἐστι· τό δέ μή ἀπό τῆς πρώτης βαθμῖδος ἄρξασθαι καί κατά τάξιν ἀνέρχεσθαι τήν κλίμακα, ἀλλά ποθεν ὑπερβῆναι τήν πρώτην βαθμῖδα