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And just as a bridegroom adorned comes forth from the bridal chamber, so too does he who is fortified with these weapons; for he is at once a soldier and a bridegroom. But having said, that The day has drawn near, he does not leave it at being near, but already makes it present; for he says, Let us walk honestly, as in the day. For the day is already here. And from that by which the many are especially motivated, from this he also draws them, that is, from decency; for they have great regard for the opinion of the many. And he did not say, Walk, but, Let us walk, so as to make the exhortation unoppressive, and the rebuke light. Not in reveling and drunkenness; not forbidding drinking, but doing so without measure; not the enjoyment of wine, but with drunken insolence; just as he also puts the next phrase with the same measure, saying; Not in chambering and wantonness. For here he does not do away with uniting with women, but with fornication. Not in strife and envying. For he extinguishes the chief passions: desire and anger. Therefore he does away not only with them, but also their sources. 2. For nothing so kindles desire and ignites wrath as drunkenness and drunken insolence. For this reason, having first said, Not in reveling and drunkenness, he then added; Not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. And he did not stop here, but having stripped us of our wicked garments, hear how he then adorns us, saying; But put on our Lord Jesus Christ. He no longer said works, but exalted them more greatly. For when he spoke of vice, he called them works; but when of virtue, no longer works, but armor, showing that virtue establishes the one who has it in all security 60.624 and in all splendor. And he did not stop here, but leading his discourse to what is greater, which was far more awesome, he gives us the Master himself as a garment, the King himself. For he who is clothed with him has all virtue completely. And when he says, Put on, he bids us to clothe ourselves with him from all sides; just as elsewhere he says, But if Christ be in you; and again, That Christ may dwell in our inner man. For he wants our soul to be a house for him, and for him to be placed around us as a garment, so that he himself may be everything for us, within and without. For he himself is our fullness (for the fullness of him that fills all in all); and way and husband and bridegroom (For I have espoused you to one husband, a chaste virgin); and root and drink and food and life (For I live, he says, yet not I, but Christ lives in me); and apostle and high priest and teacher and father and brother and fellow heir, and partaker of his tomb and of his cross (For we are buried with him, he says, and we have been planted together in the likeness of his death); and petitioner (For we are ambassadors for Christ); and advocate with the Father (for he makes intercession, he says, for us); and house and inhabitant (For he who abides in me, and I in him), and friend (For you are my friends); and foundation and cornerstone; and we are his members and husbandry and building and branches and fellow workers. For what does he not wish to be for us, joining and uniting us in every way? which is the mark of one who loves exceedingly. Be persuaded, therefore, and having risen from sleep, put him on, and having put him on, offer to him the flesh as well-reined; for he hinted at this by saying, Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. For just as he did not forbid drinking, but being drunk, nor marrying, but being wanton; so too he did not forbid making provision for the flesh, but doing so for lusts, that is, to go beyond what is needful; since he does bid us to make provision for it, hear what he says to Timothy: Use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. So also here, make provision, but for health, not for wantonness. For this would no longer be provision, when you are kindling the flame, when you are making the furnace harsh. But so that you may learn more clearly what it is to make provision for it unto lust, and may flee such provision, those who are drunk, those who glut their belly, those who adorn themselves in garments, those who are effeminate, those who the
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Καὶ καθάπερ νυμφίος καλλωπιζόμενος ἀπὸ τῆς παστάδος πρόεισιν, οὕτω καὶ ὁ τούτοις φραττόμενος τοῖς ὅπλοις· καὶ γὰρ στρατιώτης ὁμοῦ καὶ νυμφίος ἐστίν. Εἰπὼν δὲ, ὅτι Ἡ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν, οὐδὲ ἐγγὺς εἶναι αὐτὴν ἀφίησιν, ἀλλ' ἤδη αὐτὴν ἐφίστησι· φησὶ γὰρ, Ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐσχημόνως περιπατήσωμεν. Ἤδη γὰρ πάρεστιν ἡ ἡμέρα. Καὶ ἀφ' ὧν μάλιστα οἱ πολλοὶ προτρέπονται, ἀπὸ τούτων καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐφέλκεται, τῆς εὐσχημοσύνης· πολὺς γὰρ αὐτοῖς τῆς παρὰ τῶν πολλῶν δόξης ὁ λόγος. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Περιπατεῖτε, ἀλλὰ, Περιπατήσωμεν, ὥστε ἀνεπαχθῆ ποιῆσαι τὴν παραίνεσιν, καὶ κούφην τὴν ἐπίπληξιν. Μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις· οὐ τὸ πίνειν κωλύων, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀμέτρως· οὐ τὸ ἀπολαύειν οἴνου, ἀλλὰ τὸ μετὰ παροινίας· ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς μετὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μέτρου τίθησι λέγων· Μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὸ μίγνυσθαι γυναιξὶν ἀναιρεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὸ πορνεύειν. Μὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ. Τὰ γὰρ καίρια τῶν παθῶν σβέννυσι τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν καὶ τὸν θυμόν. ∆ιόπερ οὐκ αὐτὰ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς πηγὰς αὐτῶν ἀναιρεῖ. βʹ. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν ἀνάπτει καὶ ὀργὴν ἐκκαίει, ὡς μέθη καὶ παροινία. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο πρότερον εἰπὼν, Μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις, τότε ἐπήγαγε· Μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις, μὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα ἔστη, ἀλλ' ἀποδύσας ἡμᾶς τῶν πονηρῶν ἱματίων, ἄκουσον πῶς καλλωπίζει λοιπὸν λέγων· Ἀλλ' ἐνδύσασθε τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. Οὐκέτι εἶπεν ἔργα, ἀλλὰ μειζόνως αὐτοὺς ἀνέστησεν. Ὅτε μὲν γὰρ περὶ τῆς κακίας ἔφησεν, ἔργα ἔλεγεν· ὅτε δὲ περὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς, οὐκέτι ἔργα, ἀλλ' ὅπλα, δεικνὺς ὅτι ἐν πάσῃ ἀσφαλείᾳ καθίστησιν 60.624 ἡ ἀρετὴ τὸν ἔχοντα αὐτὴν, καὶ ἐν πάσῃ λαμπρότητι. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἐνταῦθα ἔστη, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον ἄγων τὸν λόγον, ὃ πολλῷ φρικωδέστερον ἦν, αὐτὸν τὸν ∆εσπότην δίδωσιν ἡμῖν ἱμάτιον, αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα. Ὁ γὰρ τοῦτον περιβεβλημένος, ἅπασαν ἔχει καθόλου τὴν ἀρετήν. Ὅταν δὲ εἴπῃ, Ἐνδύσασθε, πάντοθεν ἡμᾶς αὐτὸν περιβαλέσθαι κελεύει· ὥσπερ ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν, Εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν· καὶ πάλιν, Εἰς τὸν ἔσω ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπον κατοικῆσαι τὸν Χριστόν. Καὶ γὰρ οἰκίαν αὐτῷ βούλεται εἶναι τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν ἡμετέραν, καὶ ὡς ἱμάτιον ἡμῖν αὐτὸν περικεῖσθαι, ἵνα πάντα αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ᾖ ἔσωθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν. Καὶ γὰρ πλήρωμα ἡμῶν αὐτός (καὶ γὰρ Πλήρωμα τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι πληρουμένου)· καὶ ὁδὸς καὶ ἀνὴρ καὶ νυμφίος (Ἡρμοσάμην γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἑνὶ ἀνδρὶ παρθένον ἁγνήν)· καὶ ῥίζα καὶ ποτὸν καὶ τροφὴ καὶ ζωή (Ζῶ γὰρ, φησὶν, οὐκέτι ἐγὼ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός)· καὶ ἀπόστολος καὶ ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ διδάσκαλος καὶ πατὴρ καὶ ἀδελφὸς καὶ συγκληρονόμος, καὶ τάφου κοινωνὸς καὶ σταυροῦ (Συνετάφημεν γὰρ αὐτῷ, φησὶ, καὶ σύμφυτοι γεγόναμεν τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ)· καὶ ἱκέτης (Ὑπὲρ γὰρ Χριστοῦ πρεσβεύομεν)· καὶ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα συνήγορος (καὶ γὰρ Ἐντυγχάνει, φησὶν, ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν)· καὶ οἶκος καὶ ἔνοικος (Ὁ γὰρ ἐν ἐμοὶ μένων, κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ), καὶ φίλος (Ὑμεῖς γὰρ φίλοι μού ἐστε)· καὶ θεμέλιος καὶ λίθος ἀκρογωνιαῖος· καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ μέλη καὶ γεώργιον καὶ οἰκοδομὴ καὶ κλήματα καὶ συνεργοί. Τί γὰρ οὐ βούλεται ἡμῶν εἶναι, παντὶ τρόπῳ συγκολλῶν καὶ συνάπτων ἡμᾶς; ὅπερ τοῦ σφόδρα φιλοῦντός ἐστι. Πείθου τοίνυν, καὶ ἀναστὰς ἐξ ὕπνων ἔνδυσαι αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐνδυσάμενος εὐήνιον αὐτῷ πάρεχε τὴν σάρκα· τοῦτο γὰρ ᾐνίξατο εἰπὼν, Τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιεῖσθε εἰς ἐπιθυμίας. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οὐ τὸ πίνειν ἐκώλυσεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μεθύειν, οὐδὲ τὸ γαμεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀσελγεῖν· οὕτως οὐδὲ τὸ προνοεῖν τῆς σαρκὸς, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἰς ἐπιθυμίας, οἷον τὸ τὴν χρείαν ὑπερβαίνειν· ἐπεὶ, ὅτι γε προνοεῖν αὐτῆς κελεύει, ἄκουσον τί φησι Τιμοθέῳ· Οἴνῳ ὀλίγῳ χρῶ διὰ τὸν στόμαχόν σου καὶ τὰς πυκνάς σου ἀσθενείας. Οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐνταῦθα προνόει μὲν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ὑγείαν, μὴ πρὸς ἀσέλγειαν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν εἴη τοῦτο πρόνοια λοιπὸν, ὅταν τὴν φλόγα ἀνάπτῃς, ὅταν χαλεπὴν τὴν κάμινον ποιῇς. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ σαφέστερον μάθητε, τί ποτέ ἐστι τὸ προνοεῖν αὐτῆς εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ φύγητε τὴν τοιαύτην πρόνοιαν, τοὺς μεθύοντας, τοὺς γαστριζομένους, τοὺς ἐν ἱματίοις καλλωπιζομένους, τοὺς θρυπτομένους, τοὺς τὸν