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and wonderful revelations. You do this also, O man, not only the woman. Let the house be a church, composed of men and women. For do not think it is an impediment that you are the only man, or that she is the only woman. For where two are gathered together in my name, He says, there am I in the midst of them. Where Christ is in the midst, there is a great multitude; where Christ is, there must also be angels, there must also be archangels and the other powers. You are not then alone, having the Master of all. And again, hear the prophet saying: Better is one who does the will of the Lord than ten thousand transgressors. Nothing is weaker than many transgressors, nothing is stronger than one living according to the law of God. If you also have children, rouse the children too, and let the house become a church through everyone during the night; but if they are tender and cannot bear the vigil, until one prayer and a second, and then let them rest; only rise up, only establish yourself in the habit. Nothing is better than that chamber which receives such prayers. Hear the prophet saying: If I remembered you upon my bed, in the morning I would meditate on you. But I am tired, he says, after many things during the day, and I cannot. These are an excuse and a pretext; for however much you toil, you will not labor like the coppersmith bringing down so heavy a hammer from a great height upon the sparks, and receiving the smoke with his whole body; and yet he spends the greater part of the night at this. You know, women also, if ever it was necessary for us to go to the country, or to go forth to an all-night vigil, how they stay awake through the whole night. Let there be for you, then, a spiritual 60.204 forge, not for pots or cauldrons, but to fashion your soul, which is much better than that of the coppersmith and the goldsmith. Bring the soul grown old with sins into the furnace of confession; bring down the hammer from a great height; that is, the condemnation of your words; kindle the fire of the Spirit. You have a much greater art. You are not shaping vessels of gold, but the soul more precious than all gold, just as the coppersmith shapes the vessel. For you are not shaping a bodily vessel, but you are freeing the soul from every worldly fantasy. Let a lamp be set before you, not this one that is burning, but the one the prophet had, saying: For your law is a lamp to my feet. Set the soul on fire through prayer; if you see it is ready, bring it out, mold it to whatever you wish. Believe me, fire is not so accustomed to cleanse away rust, as nocturnal prayer the rust of our sins. Let us be ashamed, if of no one else, of the night watchmen. For the sake of human law, they go about in the frost crying out loudly, and walking through the narrow streets, often getting wet, frozen, for you and your safety, and for the guarding of your possessions. He takes such great care for your possessions; but you do not, even for your own soul. And yet I do not compel you to go about in the open air like him, nor to cry aloud and strain yourself; but being in your very chamber, in your very bedroom, bend your knees, beseech the Master. Why did Christ Himself spend the night on the mountain? Was it not that He might become a model for us? Then the plants breathe, I say, in the night; then also the soul especially receives dew more than they do. What things the sun has burned during the day, these are cooled in the night. More than any dew, the tears of the night are sent down against desires and against every inflammation and burning heat, and do not permit one to suffer anything grievous. But if it does not enjoy that dew, it will be burned up during the day. But may it not happen that any of you become kindling for that fire, but having been refreshed and having enjoyed the loving-kindness from God, may we all thus be freed from the burden of our sins, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, dominion, honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

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καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις θαυμασταί. Τοῦτο ποίησον καὶ σὺ ὁ ἀνὴρ, μὴ μόνη ἡ γυνή. Ἔστω ἐκκλησία ἡ οἰκία ἐξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν συνεστηκυῖα. Μὴ γὰρ ὅτι σὺ μόνος εἶ ὁ ἀνὴρ, μηδὲ ὅτι αὕτη μόνη ἐστὶν ἡ γυνὴ, νομίσῃς κώλυμα εἶναι. Ὅπου γάρ εἰσι δύο εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα, φησὶ, συνηγμένοι, ἐκεῖ εἰμι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν. Ὅπου ὁ Χριστὸς μέσος, πολὺ πλῆθός ἐστιν· ὅπου ὁ Χριστὸς, ἀνάγκη καὶ ἀγγέλους εἶναι, ἀνάγκη καὶ ἀρχαγγέλους καὶ τὰς ἄλλας δυνάμεις. Οὐκ ἄρα μόνοι ἐστὲ τὸν πάντων ἔχοντες ∆εσπότην. Καὶ πάλιν ἄκουε τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· Κρείσσων εἷς ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα Κυρίου, ἢ μυρίοι παράνομοι. Οὐδὲν ἀσθενέστερον πολλῶν παρανόμων, οὐδὲν ἰσχυρότερον ἑνὸς κατὰ νόμον Θεοῦ ζῶντος. Εἴ σοι καὶ παιδία ἐστὶ, διανάστησον καὶ τὰ παιδία, καὶ γενέσθω διὰ πάντων ἡ οἰκία ἐκκλησία διὰ τῆς νυκτός· ἂν δὲ ἁπαλὰ ᾖ, καὶ μὴ φέρῃ τὴν ἀγρυπνίαν, μέχρι μιᾶς εὐχῆς καὶ δευτέρας, καὶ κατάπαυσον· μόνον διανάστηθι, μόνον ἐν συνηθείᾳ κατάστησον σαυτόν. Οὐδὲν τοῦ ταμείου βέλτιον ἐκείνου τοῦ τοιαύτας εὐχὰς δεχομένου. Ἄκουε τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· Εἰ ἐμνημόνευόν σου ἐπὶ τῆς στρωμνῆς μου, ἐν τοῖς ὄρθροις ἐμελέτων εἰς σέ. Ἀλλὰ κέκμηκα, φησὶ, μεθ' ἡμέραν πολλὰ, καὶ οὐ δύναμαι. Σκῆψις ταῦτα καὶ πρόφασις· ὅσα γὰρ ἂν κάμῃς, οὐ πονήσεις ὡς ὁ χαλκοτύπος σφῦραν οὕτω βαρεῖαν καταφέρων ἀπὸ πολλοῦ τοῦ ὕψους ἐπὶ τοὺς σπινθῆρας, καὶ τὸν καπνὸν ὅλῳ δεχόμενος τῷ σώματι· καὶ ὅμως τὸ πλέον ἐκεῖνος τῆς νυκτὸς εἰς τοῦτο ἀναλίσκει. Ἴστε καὶ γυναῖκες, εἴποτε εἰς ἀγρὸν ἡμῖν γέγονεν ἀνάγκη βαδίσαι, ἢ εἰς παννυχίδα προελθεῖν, πῶς δι' ὅλης τῆς νυκτὸς ἀγρυπνοῦσι. Καί σοι τοίνυν χαλκεῖον 60.204 ἔστω πνευματικὸν, οὐχ ὥστε χύτρας οὐδὲ λέβητας, ἀλλὰ τὴν ψυχὴν κατασκευάσαι τὴν σὴν, ἣ καὶ χαλκοτύπου καὶ χρυσοχόου πολλῷ βελτίων. Τὴν παλαιὰν γενομένην τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν εἰσάγαγε εἰς τὸ χωνευτήριον τῆς ἐξομολογήσεως· τὴν σφῦραν κατένεγκαι ἀπὸ πολλοῦ τοῦ ὕψους· τουτέστι, τῶν ῥημάτων τὴν κατάγνωσιν· ἄναψον τὸ πῦρ τοῦ Πνεύματος. Πολλῷ μείζονα τέχνην ἔχεις. Οὐ χρυσᾶ σκεύη ῥυθμίζεις, ἀλλὰ τὴν παντὸς χρυσίου τιμιωτέραν ψυχὴν, καθάπερ ὁ χαλκεὺς τὸ σκεῦος. Οὐ γὰρ σωματικὸν σκεῦος ῥυθμίζεις, ἀλλὰ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπαλλάττεις τῆς φαντασίας πάσης τῆς βιωτικῆς. Παρακείσθω σοι λύχνος, οὐχ οὗτος ὁ καιόμενος, ἀλλ' ὃν ὁ προφήτης λέγων εἶχε· Λύχνος γὰρ τοῖς ποσί μου ὁ νόμος σου. Πύρωσον διὰ τῆς εὐχῆς τὴν ψυχήν· ἂν ἴδῃς ἱκανῶς ἔχουσαν, ἐξάγαγε, τύπωσον πρὸς ὅπερ ἂν θέλῃς. Πίστευσόν μοι, οὐχ οὕτω τὸ πῦρ τὸν ἰὸν ἀποκαθαίρειν εἴωθεν, ὡς εὐχὴ νυκτερινὴ τὸν ἰὸν τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τῶν ἡμετέρων. Αἰδεσθῶμεν, εἰ μηδένα ἄλλον, τοὺς νυκτερινοὺς φύλακας. Ἐκεῖνοι δι' ἀνθρώπινον νόμον περιΐασιν ἐν κρυμῷ βοῶντες μεγάλα, καὶ διὰ τῶν στενωπῶν βαδίζοντες, βρεχόμενοι πολλάκις, πεπηγότες, διὰ σὲ καὶ τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν σὴν, καὶ τὴν τῶν χρημάτων τῶν σῶν φυλακήν. Ἐκεῖνος ὑπὲρ τῶν χρημάτων σου τοσαύτην ποιεῖται πρόνοιαν· σὺ δὲ οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς ψυχῆς τῆς σῆς. Καὶ μὴν ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀναγκάζω αἴθριον περιϊέναι καθάπερ ἐκεῖνος, οὐδὲ μεγάλα βοᾷν καὶ διαῤῥήγνυσθαι· ἀλλ' ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ταμείῳ ὢν, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ κοιτῶνι, κάμψον τὰ γόνατα, παρακάλεσον τὸν ∆εσπότην. ∆ιὰ τί αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστὸς διενυκτέρευεν ἐν τῷ ὄρει; οὐχ ἵνα τύπος ἡμῖν γένηται; Τότε ἀναπνεῖ τὰ φυτὰ, ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ λέγω· τότε καὶ ψυχὴ μάλιστα μᾶλλον ἐκείνων δρόσον δέχεται. Ἅπερ μεθ' ἡμέραν ὁ ἥλιος κατέκαυσε, ταῦτα ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ καταψύχεται. Πάσης δρόσου μᾶλλον τὰ τῆς νυκτὸς δάκρυα καὶ κατὰ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν καὶ κατὰ πάσης φλεγμονῆς καὶ καύσωνος καθίεται, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίησι χαλεπόν τι παθεῖν. Ἂν δὲ μὴ τῆς δρόσου ἀπολαύσῃ ἐκείνης, μεθ' ἡμέραν κατακαυθήσεται. Ἀλλὰ μὴ γένοιτο μηδένα ὑμῶν ὑπέκκαυμα τοῦ πυρὸς ἐκείνου γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ ἀναψύξαντας καὶ τῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας ἀπολαύσαντας, οὕτω πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐλευθερωθῆναι τοῦ φορτίου τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι δόξα, κράτος, τιμὴ, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.