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that clothes him in God, the only good and true, who is beyond all being and thought.

Such a mind, having come into being through the various progressions of the virtues, when it departs after the victory from Darius the king, that is, from the natural law, having shown to it the power of love and truth, according to the comparison of the virtues to the passions; and receives a lawful vote, ratifying its own proposal, but invalidating those of its opponents; discerning from where the grace of victory came to it, Lifts its face to heaven toward Jerusalem, and blesses the King of heaven.

The face, therefore, of such a mind is the disposition conceived in the secret part of the soul, in which all the marks of the virtues exist; which it lifts to heaven, that is, to the height of contemplation; toward Jerusalem; that is, of dispassion as a state.

Or again, to heaven toward Jerusalem (512) seeking the dwelling place that is in heaven, and the city of those who are enrolled in heaven; concerning which, Glorious things have been spoken, says David.

For it could not otherwise bless God, without having raised to the height of contemplation and knowledge in the state of dispassion, that is, of the harmless, peaceful condition, the face of the disposition of the soul, which is composed, as it were, of the marks of many and various virtues.

And what does it say, lifting its face? From you is the victory; signifying through victory the goal of the practical life against the passions, and as it were a prize for the divine struggles against sin. And from you is wisdom; the goal through contemplation, that is, through knowledge, which removes all ignorance from the soul. And to you is the glory; having called glory the beauty revealed from these things, of the divine comeliness, as is right; which is the union of victory and wisdom, and of practice and contemplation, of virtue and knowledge, of goodness and truth. For these, being united with one another, flash forth one glory, and that of God; wherefore it fittingly adds, saying, And I am your servant; knowing that God accomplishes in us, as in instruments, all practice and contemplation, virtue and knowledge, victory and wisdom, and goodness and truth; while we contribute nothing at all except the disposition that wills what is good; which the great Zerubbabel, having, says in addition to what has been said: Blessed are you, saying to God, who have given me wisdom; and to you I give thanks, O Lord of the fathers. As a grateful servant, he ascribed everything to God, who had given everything; from whom he received and had wisdom, confessing to him as the Lord of the fathers, the power of the good things given by grace. And he calls God blessed, as possessing infinite wisdom; or rather, as being wisdom itself; from whom he, having received, confesses the grace.

And he addresses him as Lord of the fathers, wishing to show that all the achievements of the saints were manifestly gifts of God; with no one having anything at all, except the good given as from the Lord God, measured according to the proportion of the gratitude and good will of the one receiving; and possessing only those things which are presented to the Lord who gives them.

And 'fathers' he calls the saints from of old; whose faith he received and whose life he imitated, and by wishing to be born of them in spirit, he succeeded; a voluntary son born of voluntary parents; which, compared to fathers and sons who come into being from the flesh against their will, is so much more precious to God, by as much as the soul in its essential superiority has surpassed the flesh.

This Zerubbabel is one of the young men standing before Darius the king; I mean, before the natural law, and all the divine goods among men with two

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αὐτόν ἐνδυσάσης τόν Θεόν, τόν μόνον ἀγαθόν καί ἀληθινόν καί ὑπέρ πᾶσαν οὐσίαν ὄντα καί νόησιν.

Ὁ τοιοῦτος ταῖς διαφόροις προκοπαῖς τῶν ἀρετῶν γενόμενος νοῦς, ὅταν ἐξέλθῃ μετά τήν νίκην ἀπό ∆αρείου τοῦ βασιλέως, τουτέστι, τοῦ φυσικοῦ νόμου, δείξας αὐτῷ τῆς ἀγάπης καί τῆς ἀληθείας τήν δύναμιν, κατά τήν τῶν ἀρετῶν πρός τά πάθη σύγκρισιν· καί λάβῃ ψῆφον νομίμως, τήν μέν αὐτοῦ προβολήν ἐπικυροῦσαν· τάς δέ τῶν ἐναντίων ἀκυροῦσαν· διαγινώσκων πόθεν τῆς νίκης αὐτῷ γέγονεν ἡ χάρις, Αἴρει τό πρόσωπον εἰς τόν οὐρανόν ἐναντίον Ἱερουσαλήμ, καί εὐλογεῖ τόν Βασιλέα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.

Πρόσωπον οὖν ἐστι τοῦ τοιούτου νοός, ἡ κατά τό κρυπτόν τῆς ψυχῆς νοουμένης διάθεσις· ἐν ᾗ τῶν ἀρετῶν πάντες ὑπάρχουσιν οἱ χαρακτῆρες· ἥν πρός τόν οὐρανόν αἴρει, τό ὕψος δηλαδή τῆς θεωρίας· ἐναντίον Ἱεουσαλήμ· τουτέστι, τῆς κατά τήν ἕξιν ἀπαθείας.

Ἤ πάλιν, εἰς τόν οὐρανόν ἐναντίον Ἱερουσαλήμ (512) τό οἰκητήριον τό ἐν οὐρανῷ ἐπιζητῶν, καί τήν πόλιν τῶν ἀναγραφομένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς· περί ἧς, Τά δεδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη, φησίν ὁ ∆αβίδ.

Οὐ γάρ ἄλλως ἠδύνατο τόν Θεόν εὐλογεῖν, μή ἄρας πρός ὕψος θεωρίας καί γνώσεως κατά τήν ἕξιν τῆς ἀπαθείας· ἤγουν τῆς ἀπήμονος εἰρηνικῆς καταστάσεως· τό κατά ψυχήν τῆς διαθέσεως πρόσωπον· τό ἐκ πολλῶν καί διαφόρων ἀρετῶν χαρακτήρων δίκην συγκείμενον.

Καί τί λέγων αἴρει τό πρόσωπον; Παρά σοῦ ἡ νίκη· τό κατά παθῶν τῆς πρακτικῆς τέλος διά τῆς νίκης δηλῶν, καί οἷον ἔπαθλον τῶν κατά τῆς ἁμαρτίας θείων ἀγώνων. Καί παρά σοῦ ἡ σοφία· τό διά θεωρίας, κατά τήν γνῶσιν δηλαδή, τέλος, τό πᾶσαν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀφαιρούμενον ἄγνοιαν. Καί σοί ἡ δόξα· τό ἐκ τούτων ἀναδεδειγμένον κάλλος, τῆς θείας, κατά τό θεμιτόν, ὡραιότητος, δόξαν καλέσας· ὅπερ ἐστίν ἕνωσις νίκης καί σοφίας, καί πράξεως καί θεωρίας· ἀρετῆς τε καί γνώσεως· ἀγαθότητός τε καί ἀληθείας. Αὖται γάρ ἀλλήλαις ἑνούμεναι, μίαν ἀπαστράπτουσι δόξαν, καί αὐτήν τοῦ Θεοῦ· διό προσφόρως ἐπάγει, λέγων, Καί ἐγώ σοί οἰκέτης· εἰδώς ὅτι πᾶσαν ἐν ἡμῖν ὡς ὀργάνοις ὁ Θεός ἐπιτελεῖ πρᾶξιν καί θεωρίαν· ἀρετήν τε καί γνῶσιν, καί νίκην καί σοφίαν καί ἀγαθότητα καί ἀλήθειαν· μεδέν ἡμῶν συνεισφερόντων τό σύνολον πλήν τῆς θελούσης τά καλά διαθέσεως· ἥν ἔχων ὁ μέγας Ζοροβάβελ, πρός τοῖς εἰρημένοις φησίν· Εὐλογητός εἶ, πρός τόν Θεόν λέγων, ὅς ἔδωκάς μοι σοφίαν· καί σοί ὁμολογῶ, ∆έσποτα τῶν πατέρων. Ὡς εὐγνώμων οἰκέτης πάντα τῷ Θεῷ ἀνέθετο, τῷ πάντα δωρησαμένῳ· ἐξ οὗ λαβών εἶχε τήν σοφίαν, αὐτῷ ὁμολογῶν ὡς ∆εσπότῃ τῶν πατέρων, τῶν κεχαρισμένων ἀγαθῶν τήν δύναμιν. Εὐλογητόν δέ καλεῖ τόν Θεόν, ὡς ἄπειρον ἔχοντα τήν σοφίαν· μᾶλλον δέ αὐτοσοφίαν· ἐξ οὗ λαβών, ὁμολογεῖ τήν χάριν.

∆εσπότην δέ αὐτόν τῶν πατέρων προσαγορεύει, παραστῆσαι θέλων, ὅτι πάντα τά τῶν ἁγίων κατορθώματα, Θεοῦ προδήλως ὑπῆρχον χαρίσματα· μηδενός τό παράπαν ἔχοντος μηδέν, ἤ τό δοθέν ἀγαθόν ὡς παρά ∆εσπότου τοῦ Θεοῦ, πρός ἀναλογίαν τῆς εὐγνωμοσύνης τε καί εὐνοίας τοῦ δεχομένου μετρούμενον· κἀκεῖνα μόνα κεκτημένου, ὅσα τῷ ∆εσπότῃ δωρουμένῳ παρίσταται.

Πατέρα δέ καλεῖ, τούς ἀπ᾿ αἰῶνος ἁγίου· ὧν τήν πίστιν δεξάμενος, καί μιμησάμενος τόν βίον, τό ἐξ ἐκείνων γεννηθῆναι τῷ πνεύματι θέλων κατώρθωσε· γονέων υἱός γεγεννημένος αὐθαιρέτων αὐθαίρετος· ὅπερ τῶν παρά βούλησιν γινομένων ἀπό σαρκός πατέρων τε καί υἱῶν, τοσοῦτόν ἐστι τῷ Θεῶ τιμιώτερον, ὅσον σαρκός ψυχή κατ᾿ οὐσίας ὑπεροχήν διενήνοχεν.

Οὗτος ὁ Ζοροβάβελ εἷς ὑπάρχει τῶν παρισταμένων νεανίσκων ∆αρείῳ τῶ βασιλεῖ· τῷ φυσικῷ λέγω νόμῳ, καί πᾶσαν τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις θείων ἀγαθῶν δυσί