163

reception. Thus then, receiving and thus touching the untouchable and thinking you eat, you remain not receiving, not eating, having absolutely nothing in yourself. For the unapproachable Word, the bread coming down from heaven, is not contained sensibly, but rather He Himself contains and touches and is unconfusedly united to those who are worthy and well-prepared for His reception. If you thus celebrate, and thus also partake of the divine mysteries, your whole life will be one feast, and not even a feast, but an occasion for a feast and one Pascha, the passage and departure from things seen to things understood, where every shadow and every type and the present symbols cease and we, the pure, shall purely enjoy the most pure victim eternally, in God the Father and the consubstantial Spirit, ever seeing Christ and being seen by Him, being with Christ, co-reigning with Christ, than whom nothing is greater in the kingdom of heaven, to whom is due all glory, honor and worship with the Father and His all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the endless ages of ages, amen.

DISCOURSE XV (375)

Concerning stillness and what sort of work he ought to occupy himself with who manfully perseveres in it. Being eager to say a few things concerning the more perfect of the virtues, I beg you, open your ears to me, you who love the measure of this virtue and are preparing to ascend to its height through progress and the ascent along the way of the other virtues, that is, by fixing your mind on the attention of what is said, so that, having been taught its work by the word, you may hasten, desiring its worth and its wealth, to present yourselves as worthy for its reception and its practice. I will begin from here and make such a beginning of the discourse in brief for the one who loves this virtue. Let the one who practices stillness and sits alone in a cell become, therefore, like the protomartyr Thekla; for she, sitting at the window and paying attention to the teaching of Paul, had clearly departed from worldly affairs and bodily needs (for she did not move away, it is said, but like a spider stuck to the window she did not get up either to eat or to drink, but was listening intently to Paul), she pursued him when he withdrew, employing flight alone and leaving parents and fiancé and all things, she sought him and ran after him with longing, not enduring to be mindful of any other at all (376) except Paul. For so great a longing for Paul took hold of her, that, rolling on the spot where Paul sat teaching, she kissed the ground where his feet had stood. Let none of these things seem to you to have been said idly; but if you have not found it, seek and you shall find. Let him become, if he wishes, also like the prostitute, mentally holding and kissing the feet of the Lord and wetting them with tears, looking to no one else but to the one who is able to forgive his sins. Let him become also like the handmaiden, whose eyes are on the hands of her mistress, so he too, gazing without blinking at the hands of his Lord and God. Let him become also as a bride, lying with the bridegroom Christ in union and rising with him to eternal life, or rather, ever remaining in him and carrying him who remains in him. Let him become, if he is able, also as one of the

163

ὑποδοχήν. Οὕτως οὖν λαμβάνων καί οὕτως ἁπτόμενος τῶν ἀψαύστων καί δοκῶν ἐσθίειν, μένεις μή λαμβάνων, μή ἐσθίων, μηδέν ὅλως ἔχων ἐν σεαυτῷ. Ὁ γάρ ἀπρόσιτος Λόγος, ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνων, οὐ περιλαμβάνεται αἰσθητῶς, ἀλλά συμπεριλαμβάνει μᾶλλον αὐτός καί ἅπτεται καί ἀσυγχύτως ἑνοῦται τοῖς ἀξίοις καί καλῶς εὐτρεπισμένοις πρός ὑποδοχήν τήν αὐτοῦ. Ἐάν οὕτω μέν ἑορτάζῃς, οὕτω δέ καί τῶν θείων μυστηρίων μεταλαμβάνῃς, ἔσται σοι ἅπας ὁ βίος ἑορτή μία, καί οὐδέ ἑορτή, ἀλλά ἑορτῆς ἀφορμή καί Πάσχα ἕν, ἡ ἐκ τῶν ὁρωμένων πρός τά νοούμενα μετάβασις καί ἐκχώρησις, ἔνθα πᾶσα σκιά καί ἅπας τύπος καί τά νῦν σύμβολα καταπαύουσι καί καθαροί καθαρῶς τοῦ καθαρωτάτου θύματος αἰωνίως ἐπαπολαύσομεν, ἐν Πατρί Θεῷ καί ὁμοουσίῳ τῷ Πνεύματι, Χριστόν ἀεί βλέποντες καί βλεπόμενοι πρός αὐτοῦ, Χριστῷ συνόντες, Χριστῷ συμβασιλεύοντες, οὗ μεῖζον οὐδέν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, ᾧ πρέπει πᾶσα δόξα, τιμή καί προσκύνησις σύν τῷ Πατρί καί τῷ παναγίῳ καί ζωοποιῷ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματι νῦν καί ἀεί καί εἰς τούς ἀτελευτήτους αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων ἀμήν.

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΙΕ΄ (375)

Περί ἡσυχίας καί ὁποίας ἐργασίας ὀφείλει ἔχεσθαι ὁ ἐν ταύτῃ ἀνδρείως προσκαρτερῶν. Περί τῆς τελεωτέρας τῶν ἀρετῶν ὀλίγα τινά προθυμούμενος εἰπεῖν, δέομαι ὑμῶν, ἀνοίξατέ μοι τά ὦτα, οἱ τοῦ μέτρου ταύτης ἐρῶντες καί εἰς τό ὕψος αὐτῆς διά τῆς προκοπῆς καί τῆς τῶν λοιπῶν ἀρετῶν καθ᾿ ὁδόν ἀναβάσεως ἀνελθεῖν προετοιμαζόμενοι, τόν νοῦν δηλαδή ἐφιστῶντες τῇ προσοχῇ τῶν λεγομένων, ἵνα, τό ἔργον αὐτῆς διδαχθέντες ὑπό τοῦ λόγου, σπεύσητε, τῆς ἀξίας ἐφιέμενοι αὐτῆς καί τοῦ πλούτου, ἀξίους ἑαυτούς παραστῆσαι εἰς τήν ὑποδοχήν καί τήν ἐργασίαν αὐτῆς. Ἄρξομαι δέ ἐντεῦθεν καί τοῦ λόγου τήν ἀρχήν τοιαύτην τῷ ταύτης ἐραστῇ ἐν ἐπιτόμῳ ποιήσομαι. Γενέσθω τοιγαροῦν ὁ ἡσυχάζων καί ἐν κελλίῳ μόνος καθήμενος ὡς ἡ πρωτομάρτυς Θέκλα αὕτη γάρ ἐπί τῆς θυρίδος καθημένη καί τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ τοῦ Παύλου προσέχουσα, τῶν κοσμικῶν δηλονότι ἐκστᾶσα πραγμάτων καί τῶν σωματικῶν ἀναγκῶν (οὐ γάρ ἀφίστατο, φησίν, ἀλλά δίκην ἀράχνης προσκολληθεῖσα τῇ θυρίδι οὔτε πρός τό φαγεῖν οὔτε πρός τό πιεῖν ἐξανίστατο, ἀλλ᾿ ἦν ἐπακροωμένη τοῦ Παύλου), ὑποχωρήσαντα αὐτόν κατεδίωκεν, μόνη φυγῇ χρησαμένη καί γονεῖς καί μνηστῆρα καί ἅπαντα λιποῦσα, ἐκεῖνον ἐζήτει καί ποθοῦσα κατέτρεχε, μή ἀνεχομένη ἑτέρου τινός ἐπιμνησθῆναι καθόλου (376) πλήν Παύλου. Τοσοῦτον γάρ αὐτῆς ὁ τοῦ Παύλου πόθος ἐκράτησεν, ὥστε, κυλινδουμένη ἐπί τοῦ τόπου οὗ ὁ Παῦλος διδάσκων ἐκάθητο, κατεφίλει τό ἔδαφος ἐν ᾧ ἵσταντο οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ. Μηδέν σοι τούτων παρέργως εἰρῆσθαι δόξῃ ἀλλ᾿ εἰ μή εὗρες, ζήτησον καί εὑρήσεις. Γενέσθω, εἰ βούληται, καί ὡς πόρνη, τούς πόδας τοῦ Κυρίου νοερῶς κρατῶν καί φιλῶν καί βρέχων τοῖς δάκρυσι, πρός μηδένα ἄλλον ἀποβλέπων εἰ μή πρός τόν τάς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ ἀφιέναι δυνάμενον. Γενέσθω καί ὡς ἡ παιδίσκη, ἧς οἱ ὀφθαλμοί εἰς χεῖρας τῆς κυρίας αὐτῆς, ἀσκαρδαμυκτί καί αὐτός ἀτενίζων εἰς χεῖρας τοῦ Κυρίου καί Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ. Γενέσθω καί ὡς νύμφη, τῷ νυμφίῳ Χριστῷ τῇ ἑνώσει συγκοιταζόμενος καί συνανιστάμενος τῇ αἰωνίῳ ζωῇ, μᾶλλον δέ ἀεί ἐν αὐτῷ μένων καί αὐτόν μένοντα ἐν αὐτῷ περιφέρων. Γενέσθω, εἰ δύναται, καί ὡς εἷς τῶν