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may care not darken me, may the honor of rulers and kings not exalt me improperly, may the pomp of office, puffing me up against the brethren, not lift me up, may I not be carried away by luxury and drunkenness beyond what is fitting, may my flesh, which has been made thin, not be fattened for the soul by surfeiting, may the threats of men not frighten me and make me a transgressor of your commandments, may the entreaties of fellow bishops and friends not make me a partaker in injustice, either by being silent when they do wrong, or by becoming a collaborator with those who do evil and not rebuking them with boldness and demonstrating my opposition on behalf of your commandments. But how could I say everything, Master? And behold, there are countless things with me, which you know better than I, Lord. Therefore, do not make me a prey to so many evils, Lover of mankind. For you know the displeasure of men, their jests, their insults, their slanders, and especially those of the more learned and of those puffed up by the wisdom of the world which is being brought to nothing by your grace. Have mercy on me, therefore, Lover of mankind, and do not send me down there to be tossed about in the midst of such and so many evils.”

(335) These things, therefore, and more than these, you should have suspected and begged not to come down from heaven to the things here and to the earth. But if again he said to you, having accepted your love and your humility, the man-loving and all-good king: “Fear not,” he says. “For since I have promised to be with you, you will be overcome by none of all your adversaries; for you will have me as a helper in everything, and I will glorify you even more down there, and here you will return again with greater and more conspicuous brightness, and for the unending ages you will reign with me,” not even then should you have been bold or free from care at all, but with fear and trembling, as if being carried down from a height to the depth of some very deep well, which is full of all kinds of serpents and wild beasts, so should you have embarked on the metropolis or the patriarchate or some other office, perhaps of a bishopric or of the leadership of a people.

But if you do not confess yourself to be such as my discourse has depicted, but rather you think that you are ascending to a height from below, oh, the audacity, oh, the darkness, oh, the utter ignorance! For these are not the thoughts and sentiments of rational men, but of foolish and heathen men, or rather to say, of the dead, who do not see, do not perceive, are not living, who do not know God at all nor what the judgment of God is that is to receive us. That it is beneficial, then, to preside over a flock and to be anxious for the salvation of our neighbors, as being the perfection of love which is the sum of the law and the prophets, no one will deny; for indeed Christ also, having asked Peter a third time if he was loved by him, and when he had said, “Yes, Lord,” (336) “you know that I love you,” answered him, “Feed, he says, if you love me, my sheep.” But that one must not leap upon this ministry without purpose nor as any chance person, but must do this with careful consideration and fear, is surely clear to those whose eye of the soul is not completely darkened. For many, not even knowing what this word is, nor understanding what the manner is in which the Lord commanded Peter to shepherd his sheep, alas, boldly embark upon the office, and are not ashamed to preside shamelessly over the flock of Christ.

But let us see, if you please, and let us examine what this saying is and what is its power. When the Lord said this to Peter, “Feed, he says, my sheep,” was he speaking about a worldly leadership, but about care for the affairs or monies of life, that is, of his rational sheep, so that they might be safe for his

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μέριμνα συσκοτήσῃ με, μή τιμή ἀρχόντων καί βασιλέων ὑψώσῃ οὐ καλῶς, μή ἀρχῆς ὄγκος κατά τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑποφυσήσας ἐπάρῃ με, μή τρυφῇ καί μέθη τοῦ εἰκότος παρασύρομαι, μή κραιπάλῃ αἱ λεπτυνθεῖσαί μου σάρκες τῆς ψυχῆς παχυνθήσονται, μή ἀπειλαί ἀνθρώπων πτοήσουσι καί τῶν ἐντολῶν σου παραβάτην ἐργάσονται, μή συνεπισκόπων παρακλήσεις καί φίλων ἀδικίας με συγκοινωνόν ἀπεργάσονται, ἤ ἀδικούντων αὐτῶν σιωπῶντα, ἤ κακῶς πραττόντων συνεργόν γινόμενον καί μή τούτους ἐλέγχοντα παρρησίᾳ καί τήν ἔνστασιν ὑπέρ τῶν ἐντολῶν σου ἐπιδεικνύμενον. Ἀλλά πῶς πάντα ἐξείποιμι, ∆έσποτα; Καί ἰδού εἰσι παρ᾿ ἐμοί ἀναρίθμητα, ἅ μᾶλλον ἐπίστασαι σύ ἤ ἐγώ, Κύριε. Μή οὖν τοσούτοις κακοῖς ἔκδοτόν με ποιήσῃς, φιλάνθρωπε. Οἶδας γάρ τό τῶν ἀνθρώπων δυσάρεστον, τά σκώμματα τούτων, τάς λοιδορίας, τάς διαβολάς καί μάλιστα τῶν γνωστικωτέρων καί πεφυσιωμένων ὑπό τῆς καταργουμένης παρά τῆς χάριτός σου τοῦ κόσμου σοφίας. Ἐλέησον οὖν με, φιλάνθρωπε, καί μή κάτω με ἀποστείλῃς ἐκεῖ ἐν τοιούτοις καί τοσούτοις κακοῖς μέσον στρέφεσθαι».

(335) Ταῦτα τοίνυν καί τούτων πλείονα ἔδει σε ὑφορᾶσθαι καί παρακαλεῖν μή κατελθεῖν σε ἀπό τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πρός τά ὧδε καί πρός τήν γῆν. Εἰ δέ καί αὖθις πρός σέ εἶπεν, ἀποδεξάμενός σου τήν ἀγάπην καί τήν ταπείνωσιν, ὁ φιλάνθρωπος καί πανάγαθος βασιλεύς· «Μή φοβοῦ φησίν. Ἐπεί γάρ ὑπεσχόμην συνεῖναί σοι, ὑπ᾿ οὐδενός κυριευθήσῃ τῶν ἐναντίων ἁπάντων· ἕξεις γάρ με ἐν παντί βοηθόν καί μειζόνως καί ἐκεῖ κάτω δοξάσω σε καί ὧδε πάλιν ἐπανελεύσῃ μετά μείζονος καί περιφανεστέρας λαμπρότητος καί εἰς τούς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας συμβασιλεύσεις μοι», οὐδέ τότε θαρρῆσαι ἤ ἀμεριμνῆσαι ὅλως ἐχρῆν σε, ἀλλά μετά φόβου καί τρόμου, ὡς ἀπό ὕψους πρός βάθος που φρέατος βαθυτάτου καταφερόμενος, ἑρπετῶν παντοίων καί θηρίων ὄντος μεστοῦ, οὕτω τῇ μητροπόλει ἤ τῇ πατριαρχίᾳ ἤ τινι ἑτέρᾳ ἐπιβῆναι ἀρχῇ, ἐπισκοπῆς τυχόν ἤ προστασίας λαοῦ.

Εἰ δέ μή τοιοῦτον οἷον ὁ λόγος ἀνεζωγράφησε σεαυτόν εἶναι ὁμολογεῖς, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς πρός ὕψος ἀνέρχεσθαί σε ἀπό τῶν κάτω μᾶλλον δοκεῖς, ὤ τῆς τόλμης, ὤ τῆς σκοτώσεως, ὤ τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀγνοίας. Οὐ γάρ ἀνθρώπων εἰσί ταῦτα λογικῶν τά νοήματα καί φρονήματα, ἀλλά ἀνοήτων καί ἐθνικῶν, ἤ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν νεκρῶν, οὐ βλεπόντων, οὐκ αἰσθανομένων, οὐ ζώντων, οὐκ εἰδότων ὅλως Θεόν καί τί ἐστι τό μέλλον ὑποδέξασθαι ἡμᾶς κριτήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὅτι μέν οὖν τό προΐστασθαι ποίμνης καί ὑπέρ σωτηρίας μεριμνᾶν τῶν πλησίον ἡμῶν ὠφέλιμον, ὡς ἀγάπης τελειωτικόν τῆς νόμου καί τῶν προφητῶν οὔσης κεφάλαιον, οὐδείς ἀντερεῖ· καί γάρ καί τῷ Πέτρῳ ὁ Χριστός, τρίτον ἐρωτήσας εἰ φιλοῖτο πρός αὐτοῦ, κἀκείνου «Ναί, Κύριε,» (336) εἰρηκότος «σύ οἶδας ὅτι φιλῶ σε», «Ποίμανε, φησίν, εἰ φιλεῖς με, τά πρόβατά μου» πρός αὐτόν ἀνθυπέφερεν. Ὅτι δέ οὐκ ἀσκόπως οὐδέ παντί τῷ τυχόντι ταύτῃ τῇ διακονίᾳ ἐπιπηδᾶν χρή, ἀλλά μετά περισκέψεως ἀκριβοῦς καί φόβου τοῦτο ποιεῖν, πάντῃ που δῆλον τοῖς μή τελείως ἐσκοτισμένοις τόν τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμόν. Πολλοί γάρ, οὐδέ αὐτό τοῦτο εἰδότες τό ῥῆμα ὅπερ ἐστίν, οὐδέ τόν τρόπον ἐπιστάμενοι ὁποῖός ἐστι καθ᾿ ὅν ὁ Κύριος τῷ Πέτρῳ προσέταξε ποιμαίνειν τά αὐτοῦ πρόβατα, φεῦ, ἐπιβαίνουσι τολμηρῶς τῇ ἀρχῇ, καί τῇ ποίμνῃ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀναιδῶς ἐπιστατεῖν οὐκ αἰσχύνονται.

Ἀλλ᾿ ἴδωμεν, εἰ δοκεῖ, καί σκοπήσωμεν τί τό ῥῆμα τοῦτο καί τίς ἡ δύναμις αὐτοῦ. Λέγοντος αὐτό τοῦ Κυρίου τῷ Πέτρῳ «Ποίμανε, φησί, τά πρόβατά μου», περί προστασίας ἆρα λέγει βιωτικῆς, ἀλλά περί φροντίδος πραγμάτων ἤ χρημάτων τοῦ βίου, αὐτῶν δηλαδή τῶν λογικῶν προβάτων αὐτοῦ, ὅπως ἄν σῷα τῇ ἐκείνου