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of him and the earth that first received the seed and the root upon which that incomprehensible and ineffable and life-giving plant was grafted.

οστ'. He who cuts off his own will for the fear of God, in a way unknown

that he knows not, God grants him His own will and indelibly to him

preserves it in his heart and opens the eyes of his mind so as to

recognize it and gives strength to (445) fulfill it. But these things the grace

of the Holy Spirit works, and without it nothing is done.

οζ'. When with all strength, zeal, and resolve, with an irresistible impulse, we fulfill the things taught and commanded to us mystically and unknowingly by God himself, lacking nothing at all, then to us, as to the faithful and obedient, as to true disciples and friends, it is revealed openly just as it was revealed of old to his holy disciples and apostles and to all who through them have believed in his name; and then we become sons of God by grace, as Paul says: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. And if sons, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”

οη'. Of those deemed worthy to be with God in the communion of the Spirit and to taste of his ineffable good things, no one loves the dishonorable and contemptible glory offered to him by men, nor of gold or raiment or stones considered precious by the foolish; he does not set his heart on flowing wealth, nor does he wish to be known by kings and rulers, who are not rulers but are themselves ruled by many; he does not consider such things great and lofty, nor does he think them to be sources of greater glory for those who draw near to them, nor will he desire anything else at all that is eminent and brilliant in the eyes of men, any more than one would desire to fall from wealth into poverty or from the greatest rule and power and a conspicuous office to fall into extreme disgrace and dishonor.

οθ'. If you have received forgiveness for all your sins, whether through confession, or through being clothed in the (446) holy and angelic habit, of how much love and thanksgiving and humility will this be a cause for you, that being worthy of countless punishments, not only were you freed from these but you were also deemed worthy of adoption and glory and the kingdom of heaven. Turning these things over in your mind and constantly remembering them, be ready and prepare yourself not to dishonor the one who has honored you and forgiven your countless transgressions, but in all your works to glorify and honor him, so that he too may glorify you in return even more, whom he has honored above all visible creation, and he will call you his genuine friend.

π'. Inasmuch as the soul is more honorable than the body, so much is the rational man superior to the whole world. For do not, by considering the magnitudes of the creations in it, for this reason think them more honorable than you, O man, but looking to the grace given to you and having learned the worth of your intelligent and rational soul, praise God who has honored you above all visible things.

πα'. Let us consider how we shall glorify God; for he is glorified by us in no other way than as he was glorified by the Son. For by the things through which he glorified his own Father, and the Son was glorified by the Father through them, those things let us also do with zeal, so that through these we may glorify our Father who is in heaven

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αὐτοῦ καί τήν προϋποδεξαμένην τόν σπόρον γῆν καί τήν ῥίζαν ἐφ᾿ ἥν ἐνεκεντρίσθη τό ἀκατανόητον καί ἄφραστον ἐκεῖνο καί ζωηφόρον φυτόν.

οστ'. Ὁ ἐκκόπτων τό ἴδιον θέλημα διά τόν τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβον, ἀγνώστως οὕτως

ὡς οὐκ οἶδεν, ὁ Θεός χαρίζεται αὐτῷ τό ἑαυτοῦ θέλημα καί ἀνεξάλειπτον αὐτῷ

διατηρεῖ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ καί διανοίγει τούς ὀφθαλμούς τῆς διανοίας αὐτοῦ τοῦ

ἐπιγινώσκειν αὐτό καί ἰσχύν δίδωσι τοῦ (445) ἐκπληροῦν αὐτό. Ταῦτα δέ ἡ χάρις

τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐνεργεῖ καί χωρίς αὐτῆς γίνεται οὐδέν.

οζ'. Ὅταν πάσῃ ἰσχύϊ, προθυμίᾳ καί προαιρέσει μεθ᾿ ὁρμῆς ἀκατασχέτου τά ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ μυστικῶς ἡμῖν καί ἀγνώστως διδασκόμενά τε καί ἐντελλόμενα ἐκπληρώσωμεν μηδέν ὅλως ἐλλείψαντες, τότε ἡμῖν, ὡς πιστοῖς καί ὑπηκόοις, ὡς ἀληθινοῖς μαθηταῖς καί φίλοις, ἀποκαλύπτεται φανερῶς καθώς πάλαι τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς καί ἀποστόλοις ἀπεκαλύφθη καί πᾶσι τοῖς δι᾿ αὐτῶν πιστεύσασιν εἰς τό ὄνομα αὐτοῦ˙ καί τότε γινόμεθα υἱοί Θεοῦ κατά χάριν, ὡς φησίν ὁ Παῦλος˙ «Ὅσοι Πνεύματι Θεοῦ ἄγονται οὗτοί εἰσιν υἱοί Θεοῦ˙ εἰ δέ υἱοί, καί κληρονόμοι, κληρονόμοι μέν Θεοῦ, συγκληρονόμοι δέ Χριστοῦ».

οη'. Τῶν καταξιωθέντων γενέσθαι μετά Θεοῦ ἐν τῇ συναφείᾳ τοῦ Πνεύματος καί τῶν ἀπορρήτων αὐτοῦ ἀγαθῶν ἀπογεύσασθαι οὐδείς δόξης τῆς ἀτίμου καί καταπτύστου ἐρᾷ προσφερομένης αὐτῷ παρά ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ χρυσίου ἤ ἱματισμοῦ ἤ λίθων τῶν νομιζομένων παρά τοῖς ἀνοήτοις τιμίων˙ οὐ πλούτῳ ῥέοντι προστίθεται τῇ καρδίᾳ, οὐ παρά βασιλέων καί ἀρχόντων γνωρίζεσθαι βούλεται, τῶν οὐκ ἀρχόντων ἀλλ᾿ ὑπό πολλῶν κυριευομένων˙ οὐ μέγα τι τούς τοιούτους ἡγεῖται καί ὑψηλόν, οὐδέ προξένους οἴεται εἶναι αὐτούς πλείονος δόξης τοῖς πλησιάζουσιν αὐτοῖς, οὐδέ τινος οὐδαμῶς ἑτέρου τῶν ἐπιφανῶν καί λαμπρῶν ἀνθρώποις ἐπιθυμήσει, ὡς οὐδέ πλούτου εἰς πενίαν τις κατελθεῖν ἤ ἀπό ἀρχῆς καί ἐξουσίας μεγίστης καί περιβλέπτους ἀξιώματος εἰς ἀδοξίαν ἐσχάτην καί ἀτιμίαν καταπεσεῖν.

οθ'. Εἰ πάντων σου τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τήν ἄφεσιν ἔλαβες, εἴτε δι᾿ ἐξαγορεύσεως, εἴτε διά τῆς ἀμφιάσεως τοῦ (446) ἁγίου καί ἀγγελικοῦ σχήματος, πόσης σοι τοῦτο ἔσται ἀγάπης καί εὐχαριστίας καί ταπεινώσεως αἴτιον, ὅτι μυρίων ὑπάρχων τιμωριῶν ἄξιος, οὐ μόνον τούτων ἀπηλλάγης ἀλλά καί υἱοθεσίας καί δόξης καί οὐρανῶν ἠξίωσαι βασιλείας. Ταῦτα στρέφων ἐν διανοίᾳ καί διά παντός ἐνθυμούμενος, ἕτοιμος ἔσο καί προπαρασκευάζου μή ἀτιμάσαι τόν σέ τιμήσαντα καί τά μυρίᾳ συγχωρήσαντα πταίσματα, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν πᾶσιν ἔργοις σου δοξάσαι καί τιμῆσαι αὐτόν, ἵνα καί αὐτός σε μειζόνως ἀντιδοξάσῃ, ὅν τιτίμηκεν ὑπέρ ἅπασαν τήν ὁρωμένην κτίσιν, καί φίλον αὐτοῦ γνήσιον ὀνομάσει σε.

π'. Ὅσῳ ψυχή τιμιωτέρα τυγχάνει τοῦ σώματος, τοσοῦτον ὁ λογικός ἄνθρωπος κρείσσων τοῦ παντός κόσμου ἐστί. Μή γάρ, τά μεγέθη τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ κτισμάτων κατανοῶν, διά τοῦτο τιμιώτερά σου ταῦτα εἶναι νόμιζε, ἄνθρωπε, ἀλλά πρός τήν δοθεῖσάν σοι χάριν ἀποβλέψας καί τῆς νοερᾶς καί λογικῆς σου ψυχῆς τήν ἀξίαν καταμαθών, ἀνύμνει τόν ὑπέρ τά ὁρώμενα ἅπαντα τιμήσαντά σε Θεόν.

πα'. Σκοπήσωμεν πῶς δοξάσομεν τόν Θεόν˙ δοξάζεται δέ παρ᾿ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἄλλως ἤ ὡς παρά τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐδοξάσθη. ∆ι᾿ ὧν γάρ ἐκεῖνος τόν ἑαυτοῦ Πατέρα ἐδόξασεν, ἐδοξάσθη δέ καί ὁ Υἱός παρά τοῦ Πατρός δι᾿ αὐτῶν, κἀκεῖνα καί ἡμεῖς σπουδῇ πράξωμεν, ἵνα διά τούτων δοξάσωμεν τόν Πατέρα ἡμῶν τόν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς