154

they endured ways of death, so that they might bring themselves together from the world, and to God, and unite in themselves the divisions of nature. This is the true and blameless divine wisdom of the faithful, whose end is the good and the truth; since the good is love for humanity, and the true is, according to faith, love for God; the characteristics of love; as it joins human beings to God and to one another, and for this reason possesses the unfailing permanence of good things.

You also, having become most genuine lovers of this divine and blessed (405) way, and blessed ones, have fought a good fight to come to the end, holding fast to those things by which the passage to its end is made; I mean love for humanity, love for the brethren, hospitality, love for the poor, sympathy, almsgiving, humility, meekness, gentleness of passion, endurance, freedom from anger, long-suffering, fortitude, kindness, forbearance, good-will, peace toward all; from which or through which the grace of love is fashioned, it leads to God the human being who has fashioned it, now made divine. For love, says the divine Apostle, or rather Christ who spoke these things through him, is long-suffering, is kind, is not jealous, does not boast, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; it endures all things. Love never fails, as it possesses God who alone is unfailing and unchangeable; and it makes the person who lives according to it such a one, so that having accepted you also, he might say through Jeremiah the prophet: I say to you, This is the way of my commandments, and the law that exists for eternity. All who hold to it, let us attain to life; but those who abandon it will die. Lay hold of it, my child, and journey toward the radiance opposite its light. Do not give your glory to another, nor what is profitable for you to a foreign nation. Blessed are you, because the things pleasing to God are known to you, and you have learned where there is prudence, where there is strength, where there is long life and life. Where there is light for the eyes and peace, and you have set foot on the way, and I was seen by you from afar. Therefore I will love you with an everlasting love, and I will have mercy on you with compassion, and I will build you up, and you will be built up; and you will go forth with an assembly of those who rejoice, because you have stood upon the ways; and you understood, and you asked for the eternal paths of the Lord; and you saw where the good way is, and you walked in it, and you found sanctification for your soul. And again through Isaiah: I am the Lord your God; I have shown you how to find the way of righteousness, in which you shall walk in it, and you have heard my commandments. Therefore your peace became like a river, and your righteousness like a wave of the sea. And I, exulting in your good things, will dare to speak with God, taking from the great Jeremiah: Blessed are you, because you have put off the garment of mourning of your affliction; I mean the old man, who is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit; and you have put on the comeliness of the glory from God for eternity, I mean the new man, who is being created in spirit according to Christ in the image (408) of the Creator; and you have clothed yourself with the double robe of righteousness from God; and you have placed upon your head the miter of eternal glory; being adorned both by the steady manner of the virtues and by the unerring word of wisdom. Therefore God will show your splendor to all under heaven and your name will be called Peace of righteousness, and glory of piety.

Of these words I possess nothing more for the demonstration of the unseen disposition of your soul; for I have nothing worthy of your good things to offer to God and to you, except to admire you according to my ability, and to accept your achievements, and to rejoice with you who propitiate God through good works; and through you to praise virtue;

154

τοῦ θανάτου τρόπους ὑπέστησαν, ἵνα πρός ἑαυτούς ἀπό τοῦ κόσμου, καί τόν Θεόν συναχρῶσι, καί τά τῆς φύσεως ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτῶν ἑνώσωσι ῥήγματα. Αὕτη ἐστίν ἡ ἀληθής καί ἀμώμητος τῶν πιστῶν θεοσοφία, ἧς τέλος τό ἀγαθόν ἐστι καί ἡ ἀλήθεια· εἴπερ ἀγαθόν τό φιλάνθρωπον, καί ἀληθές, τό κατά πίστιν φιλόθεον· τά τῆς ἀγάπης γνωρίσματα· ὡς Θεῷ καί ἀλλήλοις τούς ἀνθρώπους συνάπτουσα, καί διά τοῦτο τῶν ἀγαθῶν τήν διαμονήν ἀδιάπτωτον ἔχουσα.

Ταύτης ἐρασταί γνησιώτατοι τῆς θείας καί μακαρίας (405) ὁδοῦ, καί ὑμεῖς εὐλογημένοι γενόμενοι, πρός τό τέλος ἐλθεῖν ἀγῶνα καλόν ἀγωνίσασθε, τῶν οἷς ἡ πρός τό πέρας ταύτης διάβασις γίνεται, κραταιῶς ἀντεχόμενοι· φιλανθρωπίας λέγω, φιλαδελφίας, φιλοξενίας, φιλοπτωχίας, συμπαθείας, ἐλεημοσύνης, ταπεινώσεως, πραότητος, πραϋπαθείας, ὑπομονῆς, ἀοργησίας, μακροθυμίας, καρτερίας, χρηστότητος, ἀνοχῆς, εὐνοίας, εἰρήνης πρός πάντας· ἐξ ὧν ἤ δι᾿ ὧν ἡ τῆς ἀγάπης χάρις δημιουργημένη, πρός τόν Θεόν ἄγει θεουργηθέντα τόν δημιουργήσαντα ἄνθρωπον. Ἡ ἀγάπη γάρ, φησίν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος, μᾶλλον δέ ὁ δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα λαλήσας Χριστός, μακροθυμεῖ, χρηστεύεται, οὐ ζηλοῖ, οὐ περπερεύεται, οὐ φυσιοῦται, οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ, οὐ ζητεῖ τά ἑαυτῆς, οὐ παροξύνεται, οὐ λογίζεται τό κακόν, οὐ χαίρει ἐπί τῇ ἀδικίᾳ, συγχαίρει δέ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· πάντα ὑπομένει. Ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε πίπτει, ὡς θεόν ἔχουσα τόν μόνον ἀδιάπτωτον καί ἀναλλοίωτον· καί τόν κατ᾿ αὐτήν ζῶντα ἄνθρωπον τοιοῦτον ἀπεργαζομένη, ἵνα καί ὑμᾶς ἀποδεξάμενος εἴπῃ δι᾿ Ἱερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου· Λέγω ὑμῖν, Αὕτη ἡ ὁδός τῶν προσταγμάτων μου, καί ὁ νόμος ὁ ὑπάρχων εἰς τόν αἰῶνα. Πάντες οἱ κρατοῦντες αὐτήν, εἰς ζωήν καταντήσωμεν· οἱ δέ καταλιπόντες αὐτήν , ἀποθανοῦνται. Ἐπιλαβοῦ αὐτῆς ὁ παῖς μου, καί ὅδευσον πρός τήν λάμψιν κατέναντι τοῦ φωτός αὐτῆς. Μή δῷς ἑτέρῳ τήν δόξαν σου, καί τά συμφέροντά σοι, ἔθνει ἀλλοτρίῳ. Μακάριος εἶ, ὅτι τά ἀρεστά τῷ Θεῷ γνωστά σοί ἐστι, καί ἔμαθες ποῦ ἐστι φρόνησις, ποῦ ἐστιν ἰσχύς, ποῦ ἐστι μακροβίωσις καί ζωή. Ποῦ ἐστι φῶς ὀφθαλμῶν καί εἰρήνη, καί ἐπέβης τῆς ὁδοῦ, καί ὤφθην σοι πόῤῥωθεν. ∆ιά τοῦτο ἀγάπησιν αἰωνίαν ἀγαπήσω σε, καί ἐλεήσω σε εἰς οἰκτείρημα, καί οἰκοδομήσω σε, καί οἰκοδομηθήσῃ· καί ἐξελεύσῃ μετά συναγωγῆς εὐφραινομένων, ὅτι ἐπί ταῖς ὁδοῖς ἔστης· καί κατενόησας, καί ἠρώτησας τρίβους Κυρίου αἰωνίους· καί εἶδες ποῦ ἐστιν ἡ ὁδός ἡ ἀγαθή, καί ἐβάδισας ἐν αὐτῇ, καί εὗρες ἁγιασμόν τῇ ψυχῇ σου. Καί πάλιν διά Ἡσαΐου· Ἐγώ εἰμί ὁ Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου· δέδειχά σοι τοῦ εὑρεῖν τήν ὁδόν τῆς δικαιοσύνης, ἐν ᾗ πορεύσῃ ἐν αὐτῇ, καί ἤκουσας τῶν ἐντολῶν μου. ∆ιά τοῦτο ἐγένετο ὡς ποταμός ἡ εἰρήνη σου, καί ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου ὡς κῦμα θαλάσσης. Κἀγώ δέ ὁ τοῖς ὑμετέροις ἐπαγαλλόμενος ἀγαθοῖς, μετά τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγειν τολμήσω, παρά τοῦ μεγάλου λαβών Ἱερεμίου· Μακάριος εἶ, ὅτι ἐξεδύσω τήν στολήν τοῦ πένθους τῆς κακώσεώς σου· τόν παλαιόν φημι ἄνθρωπον, τόν φθειρόμενον κατά τάς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης· καί ἐνεδύσω τήν εὐπρέπειαν τῆς παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξης εἰς τόν αἰῶνα, τόν νέον φημί ἄνθρωπον, τόν ἐν πνεύματι κατά Χριστόν κτιζόμενον κατ᾿ εἰκόνα (408) τοῦ Κτίσαντος· καί περιεβάλου τήν διπλοϊδα τῆς παρά τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνης· καί ἐπέθου τῇ κεφαλῇ τήν μίτραν τῆς δόξης τῆς αἰωνίου· τῷ τε βασίμῳ τρόπῳ τῶν ἀρετῶν, καί τῷ τῆς σοφίας ἀπταίστῳ λόγῳ κοσμούμενος. ∆ιά τοῦτο δείξει ὁ Θεός τῇ ὑπ οὐρανόν πάσῃ τήν σήν λαμπρότητα καί καλέσει τό ὄνομά σου Εἰρήνη δικαιοσύνης, καί δόξα θεοσεβείας.

Τούτων ἐγώ τῶν λόγων οὐδέ πλέον πρός ἀπόδειξιν τῆς ἀφανοῦς κατά ψυχήν διαθέσεως κέκτημαι· οὐ γάρ ἔχω τι τῶν ὑμετέρων ἐπάξιον ἀγαθῶν, Θεῷ καί ὑμῖν προσενέγκαι, πλήν τοῦ θαυμάζειν ὑμᾶς κατά δύναμιν, καί ἀποδέχεσθαι κατορθοῦντας, καί συνήδεσθαι, Θεόν δι᾿ ἔργων ἀγαθῶν ἱλεουμένοις· καί δι᾿ ὑμῶν τήν ἀρετήν ἐπαινεῖν·