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the gain of reciprocation; but he who knows precisely that many will condemn and mock him, and even so does not desist from the reconciliation, will have a double and triple crown; and this is he, especially, who does this for God's sake. Do not tell me that he did such and such wrongs; for even if he displayed all the wickedness among men against you, even so God commanded you to forgive everything.

5. Behold, I foretell, and I testify, and I cry with a loud voice, let no one who has an enemy approach the holy table and receive the body of the Lord; let no one who approaches have an enemy. Do you have an enemy? Do not approach. Do you wish to approach? Be reconciled, and then approach and touch the holy thing. Rather, it is not I who say these things, but the Master himself who was crucified for us; so that He might reconcile you to the Father, He did not refuse to be slain, nor to shed His blood; and you, in order to be reconciled with your fellow servant, are you unwilling even to utter a word, or to run to him first? Hear what he says about those who are so disposed; If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you; he did not say, Wait for him to come to you, nor, Speak with some other mediator, nor, Exhort some other person, but, You yourself run to him; for 'Go,' he says, 'first be reconciled to your brother.' O what excess! He Himself does not consider it a dishonor for the gift to be left behind, and you think it is an insult to go first and be reconciled? And where are these things worthy of pardon, tell me? If you see your limb cut off, do you not do everything to unite it to the body? Do this also for your brothers; when you see them cut off from your friendship, hasten quickly to embrace them, do not wait for them to come first, but you yourself hasten first to receive the prize. We were commanded to have only one enemy, the devil; never be reconciled to him, but toward your brother never have hatred in your heart, but if any faint-heartedness occurs, let it be for a day only, and let it not go beyond the space of the day; For, he says, 'Let not the sun go down on your wrath.' For if you are reconciled before the evening, you have some pardon from God; but if you remain an enemy further, it is no longer of passion and anger that seizes you, but the hatred is of wickedness and of a defiled soul that practices evil 49.205. But not only is this the terrible thing, that you deprive yourself of pardon, but also that the good deed becomes more difficult; for when one day has passed the shame is greater, and when a second is added it increases again; and if it takes a third and a fourth, it will add also a fifth; thus the five become ten, the ten twenty, the twenty a hundred, and finally the wound will be incurable; for as time goes on, so much the more are we divided. But do not suffer any of these irrational passions, O man, nor be ashamed and blush, nor say to yourself, A short while ago we reviled each other so much, we said countless things, spoken and unspoken, and now shall I run to reconciliation? and who will not condemn my great inconsistency? No one with sense will condemn your inconsistency, but when you remain unreconciled, then everyone will laugh at you, then you will give much space to the devil. For the enmity becomes hard to dissolve not only from time, but also from the things that happen in between. For just as Love covers a multitude of sins, so enmity establishes even non-existent sins, and all accusers are trustworthy then, those who rejoice in others' evils, and those who parade the indecencies of others. Knowing all these things, therefore, forestall and hold fast to your brother, before he completely leaps away, even if it is necessary to run around the whole city on that day, even if you must go outside the walls, even if you must walk a long road, leaving everything in your hands, be for this one thing only: to reconcile your brother. For if the matter is laborious, consider that you suffer all these things for God's sake, and you will receive sufficient consolation; and the soul

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ἀντιδόσεως τὸ κέρδος· ὁ δὲ ἀκριβῶς ἐπιστάμενος, ὅτι πολλοὶ καταγνώσονται καὶ καταγελάσονται, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἀφιστάμενος τῆς καταλλαγῆς, διπλασίονα καὶ τριπλασίονα ἕξει τὸν στέφανον· καὶ οὗτος μάλιστά ἐστιν, ὁ διὰ τὸν Θεὸν τοῦτο ποιῶν. Μή μοι λέγε, ὅτι Τὰ καὶ τὰ ἠδίκησε· καὶ γὰρ εἰ πᾶσαν πονηρίαν τὴν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐπεδείξατο περὶ σὲ, καὶ οὕτω σοι πάντα ἀφεῖναι ἐκέλευσεν ὁ Θεός.

εʹ. Ἰδοὺ προλέγω, καὶ διαμαρτύρομαι, καὶ λαμπρᾷ βοῶ τῇ φωνῇ, μηδεὶς τῶν ἐχόντων ἐχθρὸν προσίτω τῇ ἱερᾷ τραπέζῃ καὶ δεχέσθω τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου· μηδεὶς προσιὼν ἐχθρὸν ἐχέτω. Ἐχθρὸν ἔχεις; μὴ προσέλθῃς· βούλει προσελθεῖν; καταλλάγηθι, καὶ τότε προσελθὼν ἅψαι τοῦ ἱεροῦ. Μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἐγὼ ταῦτα λέγω, ἀλλ' ὁ δι' ἡμᾶς σταυρωθεὶς ∆εσπότης αὐτός· ἵνα σε καταλλάξῃ τῷ Πατρὶ, οὐδὲ σφαγῆναι παρῃτήσατο, οὐδὲ τὸ αἷμα ἐκχεῖν· καὶ σὺ ἵνα καταλλαγῇς τῷ συνδούλῳ, οὐδὲ ῥῆμα προέσθαι βούλει, οὐδὲ πρότερος προσδραμεῖν; Ἄκουσον τί φησι περὶ τῶν οὕτω διακειμένων· Ἐὰν προσφέρῃς τὸ δῶρόν σου ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, κἀκεῖ μνησθῇς, ὅτι ὁ ἀδελφός σου ἔχει τι κατὰ σοῦ· οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἀνάμεινον ἐκεῖνον ἐλθεῖν πρὸς σὲ, οὐδὲ, Ἑτέρῳ τινὶ μεσίτῃ διαλέχθητι, οὐδὲ, Ἄλλον τινὰ παρακάλεσον, ἀλλ', Αὐτὸς σὺ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον δράμε· Ὕπαγε γὰρ, φησὶ, πρῶτον διαλλάγηθι τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου. Ὢ τῆς ὑπερβολῆς! αὐτὸς οὐχ ἡγεῖται ἀτιμίαν εἶναι, τοῦ δώρου καταλιμπανομένου, καὶ σὺ νομίζεις ὕβριν εἶναι τὸ πρότερος ἐπελθεῖν καὶ καταλλαγῆναι; Καὶ ποῦ ταῦτα ἄξια συγγνώμης, εἰπέ μοι; Ἐὰν ἴδῃς σου μέλος ἐκτετμημένον, οὐ πάντα ποιεῖς, ὥστε αὐτὸ ἑνῶσαι τῷ σώματι; Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ποίησον· ὅταν ἴδῃς αὐτοὺς ἐκτμηθέντας σου τῆς φιλίας, περιστεῖλαι σπεῦσον ταχέως, μὴ προτέρους ἀναμείνῃς ἐκείνους ἐλθεῖν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς πρότερος ἐπείχθητι λαβεῖν τὰ βραβεῖα. Ἕνα μόνον ἐχθρὸν ἐκελεύσθημεν ἔχειν τὸν διάβολον· πρὸς αὐτὸν μηδέποτε καταλλάττου, πρὸς δὲ τὸν ἀδελφὸν μηδέποτε κατὰ καρδίας ἀπεχθῶς ἔχε, ἀλλὰ κἂν γένηταί τις μικροψυχία, ἐφήμερος αὕτη μόνον ἔστω, καὶ μὴ ὑπερβαινέτω τὸ διάστημα τῆς ἡμέρας· Ὁ ἥλιος γὰρ, φησὶ, μὴ ἐπιδυέτω ἐπὶ τῷ παροργισμῷ ὑμῶν. Ἂν μὲν γὰρ πρὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας καταλλαγῇς, ἔχεις ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ τινα συγγνώμην· ἂν δὲ περαιτέρω μένῃς ἐχθρὸς ὢν, οὐκέτι θυμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς συναρπαζούσης, ἀλλὰ πονηρίας ἐστὶν ἡ ἀπέχθεια καὶ ψυχῆς μιαρᾶς καὶ κακίαν 49.205 μελετώσης. Οὐ τοῦτο δὲ μόνον ἐστὶ τὸ δεινὸν, ὅτι συγγνώμης ἑαυτὸν ἀποστερεῖς, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ τὸ κατόρθωμα δυσκολώτερον γίνεται· μιᾶς γὰρ παρελθούσης ἡμέρας πλείων ἡ αἰσχύνη, καὶ δευτέρας προσγινομένης αὔξεται πάλιν· κἂν ἐπιλάβῃ τρίτην καὶ τετάρτην, προσθήσει καὶ πέμπτην· οὕτως αἱ πέντε γίνονται δέκα, αἱ δέκα εἴκοσιν, αἱ εἴκοσιν ἑκατὸν, καὶ λοιπὸν ἀνίατον ἔσται τὸ ἕλκος· ὅσῳ γὰρ πρόεισιν ὁ χρόνος, τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον διιστάμεθα. Ἀλλὰ μηδὲν τούτων πάθῃς, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, τῶν παραλόγων παθῶν, μηδὲ αἰσχυνθῇς καὶ ἐρυθριάσῃς, μηδὲ εἴπῃς πρὸς σεαυτὸν, Πρὸ μικροῦ τοσαῦτα ἀλλήλους ἐλοιδορήσαμεν, μυρία ῥητὰ καὶ ἄῤῥητα εἴπομεν, καὶ νῦν δραμοῦμαι ἐπὶ τὰς καταλλαγάς; καὶ τίς οὐ καταγνώσεταί μου τὴν πολλὴν εὐκολίαν; Οὐδεὶς νοῦν ἔχων εὐκολίαν σου καταγνώσεται, ἀλλ' ὅταν μένῃς ἀκατάλλακτος, τότε σε πάντες γελάσονται, τότε πολὺ δώσεις τῷ διαβόλῳ τὸ διάστημα. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ χρόνου λοιπὸν δυσδιάλυτος ἡ ἔχθρα γίνεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν μεταξὺ γενομένων πραγμάτων. Ὥσπερ γὰρ Ἀγάπη καλύπτει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν, οὕτως ἔχθρα καὶ τὰ οὐκ ὄντα ἁμαρτήματα συνίστησι, καὶ πάντες ἀξιόπιστοι οἱ κατηγοροῦντες λοιπὸν, οἱ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις χαίροντες κακοῖς, καὶ τὰς ἑτέρων ἐκπομπεύοντες ἀσχημοσύνας. Ταῦτα οὖν ἅπαντα εἰδὼς, πρόλαβε καὶ κάτασχε τὸν ἀδελφὸν, πρὶν τέλεον ἀποπηδήσῃ, κἂν δέῃ πᾶσαν τὴν πόλιν περιδραμεῖν κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην, κἂν ἔξω τῶν τειχῶν ἀπελθεῖν, κἂν ὁδὸν βαδίσαι μακρὰν, πάντα τὰ ἐν χερσὶν ἀφεὶς, ἑνὸς τούτου μόνου γενοῦ τοῦ καταλλάξαι τὸν ἀδελφόν. Εἰ γὰρ ἐργῶδες τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἐννόησον ὅτι διὰ τὸν Θεὸν ταῦτα πάσχεις ἅπαντα, καὶ ἱκανὴν λήψῃ παράκλησιν· καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν