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can be shown from "Cleanse me from my secret faults." If therefore a confession should be made even concerning that which is so as to be suspected whether it perhaps exists, then the remnant of man's thought, found outside of all evil, will celebrate; or because the doubt about him has been removed, his purity being demonstrated, the holy one celebrates, not sometimes yes and sometimes no, but uninterruptedly and always, knowing the truth and acting according to righteousness. For this is truly a feast according to the apostle who said, "So let us keep the feast, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 791a Ps 75,13 Being feared among the kings of the earth, he drowned Pharaoh, he drove Nebuchadnezzar from men, changing his mind so that he would live with wild beasts, he took away the spirit from Saul when, having scorned Samuel, he transgressed the covenant of God; for it is said that "The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him," sent to him by judgment and decree. And if these things are to be understood also concerning ecclesiastical rulers, pay attention to the divinely inspired scripture. For Paul, having called the elders of Miletus, said to them, "Take heed to yourselves and to the flock, in which the Holy Spirit of God has made you overseers," and after other things, "And from among your own selves will arise some speaking perverse things," that is, the divine spirit being taken away from them by the fearful judge.

792a Ps 76,2-4 But when he who speaks stands far from him to whom the word is addressed,

there is need of a strained voice. Since, therefore, the created substance is separated from its maker, a cry of the mind is needed. And he calls him God because he has made all things, and Lord because he is master of the things that have come from him. And one might say God is the Father, and Lord is the Son. The day of affliction for the speaker is either his whole life, that is, the present age in which he seeks God in order to be delivered, as one might call a physician for a troubling sickness. And he seeks by deed and disposition, not being deceived like those who are ignorant of the end of their circumstances, as Saul was deceived when he went to a ventriloquist. But the holy one, insofar as he is troubled, seeks God in the ignorance of circumstances called night, according to what is in Isaiah... My soul refused to be comforted by any mortal, the memory of God being sufficient for all consolation. To this you will also take what is in Isaiah, "In the affliction of the Lord I remembered." According to the custom of the many, the word "I talked" denotes something blameworthy, but in the scripture it is also used of something praiseworthy; that is, Hannah, praying genuinely to God, being called by the priest's servant to persist in prayer, answers, "Out of the abundance of my talking I have been spent until now"; and concerning Isaac, that "He went out to talk in the field." But you will take it in a blameworthy sense in "The lawless have told me tales." If, therefore, this word is ever said in the divine oracles, by paying attention to the context and the person speaking we shall take the word either for better or for worse. Now, therefore, both the person and the word are praiseworthy, where "the spirit fainted" signifies the soul; for so also Stephen said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit"; but having despaired on account of his pressing enemies, he gave himself to God. 793a Ps 76,5 My eyes anticipated the watches. Another scripture is reported as having it thus: All my enemies anticipated the watches. While many watches were about me, I kept the commandment which says, "With all watchfulness guard your heart." all my enemies anticipated them, inasmuch as I had fainted in spirit; for not one but many, or rather all together, were filled against me. Therefore, seeing that they had become stronger, I have been in a certain pre-passion so as to endure disturbance, but I did not utter anything disturbing nor in any disposition

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δηλοῦσθαι δύναται ἐκ τοῦ ̓Απὸ τῶν κρυφίων μου καθάρισόν με. ̓Εὰν ουν καὶ περὶ τοῦ ουτως εχοντος ωσθ' ὑπονοεῖσθαι μὴ αρα ὑπάρχῃ ἐξομολόγησις γένηται, ἑορτάσει λοιπὸν τὸ ἐγκατάλειμμα τοῦ ἐνθυμίου τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὑρεθὲν πάσης κακίας ἐκτός· η τῷ ἀπειλῆφθαι τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀμφιβολίαν, ἀναδειχθείσης καθαρότητος, ἑορτάζει ὁ αγιος, οὐ ποτὲ μέν, ποτὲ δὲ οὐ, ἀλλ' ἀδιαστάτως καὶ ἀεὶ γινώσκων τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ ἐνεργῶν κατὰ δικαιοσύνην. αυτη γὰρ κυρίως ἑορτὴ κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον εἰρηκότα Ωστε ἑορτάζωμεν μὴ ἐν ζύμῃ κακίας καὶ πονηρίας ἀλλ' ἐν ἀζύμοις εἰλικρινείας καὶ ἀληθείας. 791a Ps 75,13 Φοβερὸς ων παρὰ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τῆς γῆς τὸν Φαραὼ κατεπόντισεν, τὸν Ναβουχοδονόσορ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐδίωξεν ἀλλοιώσας αὐτοῦ τὸ φρονοῦν ὡς μετὰ θηρίων τὴν διατριβὴν εχειν, ἀφῄρηκε πνεῦμα ἀπὸ Σαοὺλ οτε ἐξουθενήσας τὸν Σαμουὴλ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ διαθήκην παρέβη· ειρηται γὰρ ὡς ̓Απέστη πνεῦμα κυρίου ἀπὸ Σαούλ, καὶ επνιγεν αὐτὸν πνεῦμα πονηρὸν παρὰ κυρίου, κρίσει καὶ ψήφῳ ἐπιπεμφθὲν αὐτῷ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ περὶ ἐκκλησιαστικῶν ἀρχόντων ἐκδεκτέα ταῦτα, ἐπίστησον τῇ θεοπνεύστῳ γραφῇ. εφη γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς Μιλήτου πρεσβυτέρους ὁ Παῦλος καλέσας αὐτοὺς Προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ ἐν ῳ ὑμᾶς εθετο τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ αγιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπισκόπους, καὶ μεθ' ετερα Καὶ ἐξ ὑμῶν ἀναστήσονταί τινες λαλοῦντες διεστραμμένα, δηλαδὴ τὸ θεῖον πνεῦμα τοῦ φοβεροῦ τούτους ἀφαιρουμένου κριτοῦ.

792a Ps 76,2-4 Οτε δὲ πόρρω διέστηκεν ὁ λέγων τοῦ πρὸς ον ὁ λόγος,

ἐπιτεταμένης χρεία φωνῆς. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν τοῦ ποιήσαντος ἡ γεννητὴ οὐσία κεχώρισται, κραυγῆς τῆς κατὰ διάνοιαν δεῖ. θεὸν δὲ καλεῖ τῷ πάντα πεποιηκέναι, κύριον δὲ τῷ δεσπόζειν τῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγονότων. λέγοι δ' αν καὶ θεὸν μὲν τὸν πατέρα, κύριον δὲ τὸν υἱόν. ̔Ημέρα δὲ τῷ λέγοντι θλίψεως η πᾶς ὁ βίος αὐτοῦ ηγουν αἰὼν ὁ ἐνεστηκὼς ἐν ῳ πρὸς τὸ ῥυσθῆναι ζητεῖ τὸν θεὸν ὡς αν τις ἰατρὸν ἐπὶ νόσῳ διενοχλούσῃ καλῶν. ζητεῖ δὲ πράξει καὶ διαθέσει, μὴ ἀπατώμενος κατὰ τοὺς τῶν περιστατικῶν ἀγνοοῦντας τὸ τέλος, ὡς ὁ Σαοὺλ πρὸς ἐγγαστρίμυθον ἀπελθὼν ἠπατήθη. ὁ δὲ αγιος οσον ἐνοχλεῖται ζητεῖ τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῇ τῶν περιστατικῶν ἀγνοίᾳ καλουμένῃ νυκτί, κατὰ τὸ παρ' ̔Ησαΐᾳ ... ̓Απηνήνατο πρός τινος θνητοῦ παρακληθῆναι ἡ ψυχή μου, αὐτάρκους ουσης πρὸς πᾶσαν παραμυθίαν τῆς περὶ θεοῦ μνήμης. εἰς τοῦτο λήψει καὶ τὸ ἐν ̔Ησαΐᾳ ̓Εν θλίψει τοῦ κυρίου ἐμνήσθην. Κατὰ μὲν τὴν τῶν πολλῶν συνήθειαν ψεκτόν τι δηλοῖ ἡ ̓Ηδολέσχησα φωνή, κατὰ δὲ τὴν γραφὴν καὶ ἐπὶ ἐπαινετοῦ κεῖται· ηγουν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν γνησίως προσευχομένη Αννα, καλουμένη ἀπὸ παιδαρίου τοῦ ἱερέως ἐπιμένειν τῇ εὐχῇ, ἀποκρίνεται ̓Εκ πλήθους ἀδολεσχίας μου ἐκτέτηκα εως τοῦ νῦν· καὶ περὶ τοῦ ̓Ισαὰκ δὲ οτι ̓Εξῆλθεν ἀδολεσχῆσαι εἰς τὸ πεδίον. ἐπὶ ψεκτοῦ παραλήψῃ δὲ τὸ ∆ιηγήσαντό μοι παράνομοι ἀδολεσχίας. ει ποτε γοῦν λέγοιτο ἡ λέξις αυτη ἐν τοῖς θείοις λογίοις, τῇ ἀκολουθίᾳ καὶ τῷ λέγοντι προσώπῳ ἐπιστήσαντες τὴν φωνὴν ληψόμεθα η ἐπὶ βελτίονος η ἐπὶ κακοῦ. νῦν τοίνυν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον καὶ ἡ λέξις ἐπαινετὰ ου τὸ πνεῦμα ὠλιγοψύχησεν δηλοῦν τὴν ψυχήν· ουτω γὰρ καὶ Στέφανος ελεγε Κύριε ̓Ιησοῦ, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου· ὀλιγωρήσας δὲ διὰ τοὺς ἐπικειμένους ἐχθροὺς ἐπέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν τῷ θεῷ. 793a Ps 76,5 Προκατελάβοντο φυλακὰς οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου. αλλη γραφὴ φέρεται ουτω εχουσα· Προκατελάβοντο φυλακὰς πάντες οἱ ἐχθροί μου. Πολλῶν φυλακῶν περὶ ἐμὲ τυγχανουσῶν, ἐφύλαττον τὴν λέγουσαν ἐντολὴν Πάσῃ φυλακῇ τήρει σὴν καρδίαν. προκατελάβοντο αὐτὰς τὸ οσον ἐπὶ τῷ ὠλιγοψυχηκέναι με πάντες οἱ ἐχθροί μου· οὐ γὰρ εις ἀλλὰ πολλοί, μᾶλλον δὲ πάντες αμα ἐπλήσθησαν κατ' ἐμοῦ. διὸ καὶ ἐπικρατεστέρους αὐτοὺς γενομένους ἑωρακὼς ἐν προπαθείᾳ τινὶ γεγένημαι ὡς τάραχον ὑπομεῖναι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐφθεγξάμην τι ταραχῶδες οὐδ' ἐν διαθέσει τινὶ