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of the Spirit, will he deign at all to be with you when you have inclined thus and not immediately abandon you? It is entirely clear.

But if you will do none of all these things, but will drive every passion from you and cast all malice far away, banish every desire from you, abandon all affection and natural love for every man and kinsman and arrive at perfect sinlessness and purity, as we have described above, and in addition to these things, you will have the whole in yourself—so that what I am about to say may be clear to all again—the one who is above all the heavens, being neither troubled from any source nor inclining to anyone else, but living with God, having your mind above in the kingdom above the heavens, and suddenly someone called you and showed you here a great city and a numerous people in it, houses and palaces both varied and spacious, temples both immense and very beautiful, priests, high priests, a king with his sacred senate and his rulers and bodyguards; then, so that I may leave aside every other impassioned cause and way, if by all those, I mean by the king and the rulers and the whole populace of the city, you are tearfully invited and entreated to undertake their care and to shepherd and benefit them, (333) before being prompted by God, who appointed you to reign with him, you scornfully abandon the things above and the eternal good things given to you by him, and, having come down to seditious things, you associate here with these corruptible and visible things with those who have invited you, will he not justly deprive you of all those things and leave you to have your lot and possession in these alone, both while you live and after your departure from your body?

Therefore, when He was speaking and commanding you to go down to shepherd souls, you should have fallen down and wept and said to him in great affliction and fear: 'Master, how shall I abandon you and go away to that vanity and toilsome life? By no means, Lord. Be not angry with me, your servant, and cast me down from so great a height into that chaos. Do not, Master, do not deprive me of such a light of your glory and bring me, the wretched and miserable one, down into so great a darkness. Have I sinned in some way through ignorance, Master, and for this reason you are turning me back to the place from which you, O merciful one, philanthropically drew me up? Do not turn away from me to such an extent, you who have taken away my many sins and iniquities? But if anything has happened and I have sinned, punish me here; you, even cut me limb from limb, if you command, only do not send me out there.'

And if he added, saying to you: 'Go, feed my sheep. Go, restore your brothers,' you should have said to him again: 'Woe is me, Master, shall I, the unworthy one, be separated from you?' And if in addition to this he said again to you: 'No, but I will be there with you,' you should have fallen down again, you should have wept and (334) mentally wet his immaculate feet with your tears and said thus: 'How will you be with me, Master, if, having gone down there, I shall be darkened? How will you abide with me, if the inclination of my heart, being changeable, turns toward the flattery and praises of men? How will you deign, if I am wickedly exalted to pride? How will you not flee, if I do not rebuke kings and potentates with boldness for the sake of justice and against injustice and lawlessness? And how shall I do these and the other things to please you, so that you may both be with me and strengthen me and not abandon me when I have stumbled, and be separated from me, the unworthy one, leaving me lying there below alone? I fear lest parsimony, lest avarice take hold of me; I fear lest the rebellion of the flesh rule over me, lest pleasure deceive me, lest

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Πνεύματος, καταδέξεται ὅλως συνεῖναί σοι οὕτω νεύσαντι καί οὐκ εὐθύς καταλείψει σε; Πάντῃ που δῆλον.

Εἰ δέ καί τούτων ἁπάντων ποιήσεις οὐδέν, διώξεις δέ πᾶν πάθος ἀπό σοῦ καί πᾶσαν κακίαν μακράν ἀπορρίψεις, πᾶσαν ἐπιθυμίαν ἀπό σοῦ ἐξορίσεις, πᾶσαν προσπάθειαν καί φυσικήν ἀγάπην παντός ἀνθρώπου καί συγγενοῦς καταλείψεις καί φθάσεις εἰς τελείαν ἀναμαρτησίαν καί καθαρότητα, καθώς ἄνωθεν διεγράψαμεν, καί πρός τούτοις ὅλον ἐν σεαυτῷ ἕξεις, ἵνα πάλιν ὅ μέλλων εἰπεῖν γένηται πᾶσι σαφές, τόν ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν, μηδαμόθεν ἤ ὀχλούμενος ἤ πρός ἄλλον ἀπονεύων τινά, ἀλλά καί διάγων μετά Θεοῦ, ἄνω τόν νοῦν ἔχων ἐν τῇ ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείᾳ, αἴφνης δέ τινός σε καλέσαντος καί ἐνταῦθα πόλιν μεγάλην καί λαόν πολύν ἐν αὐτῇ ὑποδείξαντος, οἴκους καί παλάτια ποικίλα τε καί εὐρύχωρα, ναούς παμμεγέθεις τε καί περικαλεῖς, ἱερεῖς, ἀρχιερεῖς, βασιλέα σύν τῇ ἱερᾷ συγκλήτῳ καί τῶν ἀρχόντων καί ὑπαστιστῶν αὐτοῦ, εἶτα, ἵνα πᾶσαν ἄλλην αἰτίαν καί τρόπον ἐμπαθῆ καταλείψω, ἐάν ὑπ᾿ ἐκείνων πάντων, λέγω δή τοῦ βασιλέως καί τῶν ἀρχόντων καί ὅλου τοῦ πλήθους τῆς πόλεως, μετά δακρύων προσκαλούμενος καί παρακαλούμενος ἀναδέξασθαι αὐτῶν τήν φροντίδα καί ποιμᾶναι καί ὠφελῆσαι αὐτούς, (333) πρό τοῦ προτραπῆναί σε παρά Θεοῦ, τοῦ συμβασιλεύειν αὐτῷ σε τάξαντος, καταφρονήσας ἐγκαταλείψῃς τά ἄνω καί τά δοθέντα σοι παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ αἰώνια ἀγαθά καί, περί τά στασιώδη κατελθών, ὧδε τά φθαρτά καί ὁρώμενα συναναστρέφῃ μετά τῶν προσκαλεσμένων σε, οὐχί δικαίως ἁπάντων ἐκείνων ἀποστερήσει σε καί ἐν μόνοις ἐάσει σε τούτοις τόν κλῆρον ἔχειν καί τήν κατάσχεσιν, καί ζῶντός σου καί μετά τήν ἀπό τοῦ σώματός σου ἐκδημίαν;

Ἔδει σε οὖν, κἀκείνου λέγοντος καί προστάσσοντός σοι κατελθεῖν εἰς τό ποιμᾶναι ψυχάς, προσπίπτειν καί κλαίειν καί λέγειν ἐν θλίψει καί φόβῳ πολλῷ πρός αὐτόν· «∆έσποτα, πῶς ἐγκαταλείψω σε καί πρός τήν ματαιότητα ἐκείνην καί πολύμοχθον διαγωγήν ἀπελεύσομαι; Μηδαμῶς Κύριε. Μή ὀργισθῇς με, τόν δοῦλόν σου, καί ἀπό τοῦ τοσούτου ὕψους εἰς τό χάος ἐκεῖνο ἀπορρίψῃς με. Μή, ∆έσποτα, μή ἀποστερήσῃς με τοῦ τοιούτου φωτός τῆς δόξης σου καί εἰς τοσοῦτον καταγάγῃς με σκότος, τόν ἄθλιον καί ταλαίπωρον. Μή τι ἥμαρτον κατά ἄγνοιαν, ∆έσποτα, καί διά τοῦτο ἐκεῖ ἀποστρέφεις με ὅθεν φιλανθρώπως ἀνείλκυσάς με, ὁ εὔσπλαγχνος; Μή ἐπί τοσοῦτον ἀποστραφῇς με, ὁ πολλάς μου ἁμαρτίας καί ἀνομίας ἀράμενος; Ἀλλ᾿ εἴ τι συνέβη καί ἥμαρτον, σύ με ὧδε τιμώρησον, σύ με καί μεληδόν, εἰ κελεύεις, κατάτεμε, μόνον ἐκεῖ μή ἐκπέμψῃς με».

Εἰ δέ προσέθετο εἰπεῖν σοι· «Ἄπελθε, τά ἐμά πρόβατα ποίμανον. Ἄπελθε, τούς ἀδελφούς σου ἐπίστρεψον», ἐχρῆν σε πάλιν εἰπεῖν πρός αὐτόν· «Οἴμοι ∆έσποτα, καί σοῦ χωρισθήσομαι ὁ ἀνάξιος;». Εἰ δέ καί πρός τούτοις ἔφη πάλιν πρός σέ· «Οὐχί, ἀλλ᾿ ἐγώ κἀκεῖ μετά σοῦ ἔσομαι», αὖθις ἔδει σε προσπεσεῖν, ἔδει σε κλαῦσαι καί τούς (334) ἀχράντους πόδας αὐτοῦ νοερῶς τοῖς δάκρυσι βρέξαι καί οὕτως εἰπεῖν· «Πῶς συνέσει μοι, ∆έσποτα, εἰ κατελθών ἐκεῖ σκοτισθήσομαι; Πῶς συνδιάξεις, εἰ πρός κολακείας καί ἐπαίνους ἀνθρώπων ἐκκλίνῃ ἡ ῥοπή τῆς καρδίας μου, τρεπτή οὖσα; Πῶς καταδέξῃ, ἐάν πρός ὑπερηφανίαν κακῶς ὑψωθῶ; Πῶς οὐ φεύξῃ, εἰ μή βασιλεῖς καί δυνάστας ὑπέρ δικαιοσύνης καί ἀδικίας καί παρανομίας μετά παρρησίας ἐλέγξω; Πῶς δέ ταῦτα καί τά λοιπά ποιήσω πρός ἀρέσκειαν σήν, ἵνα καί συνῇς μοι καί ἐνισχύσῃς με καί μή καταλείψῃς με πταίσαντα καί χωρισθῇς ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἀναξίου, ἐάσας με μόνον ἐκεῖ κάτω κείμενον; ∆έδοικα μή φειδωλία, μή φιλαργυρία κρατήσῃ μου· φοβοῦμαι μή τῆς σαρκός ἡ ἐπανάστασις κυριέυσῃ μου, μή ἡδονή ἀπατήσῃ με, μή