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who deigned to be called, and we might be glorified by Him with the glory of Jesus, which He had from Him before the world came to be. These are the cross, that is, the mortification of the whole world, the tribulations, the temptations, and whatever else of the sufferings of Christ; which, bearing with much patience, we imitate the sufferings of Christ and through them we will glorify our Father and God, as His sons by grace and co-heirs with Christ.

πβ'. (447) A soul that is not completely and consciously released from its relationship with and passion for visible things cannot bear without grief the sorrowful things that befall it and the injuries that come upon it from both demons and men, but, being as it were bound to the passion for human affairs, it is stung by financial losses and is burdened by deprivations of things and is severely pained by the blows inflicted on its body.

πγ'. If someone has torn his soul from its relationship with and desires for sensible things and has bound it to God, not only will he despise the money and possessions around him and be disposed without grief when deprived of them as if they were alien and foreign, but he will also endure the painful things inflicted upon his body with joy and fitting thanksgiving, always seeing, according to the divine apostle, the outer man perishing, but the inner one being renewed day by day. Otherwise, it is not possible to bear the tribulations according to God with joy, for in these things there is need of perfect knowledge and spiritual wisdom; but he who is deprived of these things always walks in the darkness of ignorance and hopelessness, unable to see the light of patience and of consolation at all.

πδ'. Every conceited person from the mathematical sciences will never be deemed worthy to peer into and see the mysteries of God, until he is first willing to be humbled and to become a fool, casting off along with his conceit also the knowledge which he possesses. For he who does this and follows the wise in divine things with unhesitating faith, being guided by them, enters with them into the city of the living God, and being led and enlightened by the divine Spirit, sees and is taught things which none of other men has seen (448) or can ever see or learn, and at that time he becomes taught by God.

πε'. Those taught by God the disciples of the wise men of this age consider to be fools, being themselves in truth fools, having been tempered by the foolish wisdom from without, which God made foolish, according to the divine apostle, and which the theological voice knows to be earthly, unspiritual, demonic, full of contention and envy. For such men, being outside the divine light, unable to see the wonders within it, reckon as deluded those who dwell in the light and who see and teach the things in it, being themselves deluded and without a taste of the ineffable good things of God.

πστ'. For this reason alone do those who are filled with grace and perfected in the knowledge and wisdom from above wish to associate with and see those in the world, in order that they might procure for them some reward through reminding them of the commandments of God and through good works, if perhaps they will hear, if perhaps they will understand and be persuaded, since those who are not led by the Spirit of God walk in darkness and know neither where they are going, nor what they are stumbling over. For perhaps, having recovered from the conceit that surrounds them, they will receive the true teaching of the Holy Spirit and having heard the will of God unadulterated and uncorrupted, they will repent and, having done it, they will partake of some spiritual gift. But if they are not able to be agents of such benefit to them, lamenting the hardness of their hearts they return to their nests, of the night and

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κληθῆναι καταδεξάμενον, καί δοξασθῶμεν παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ᾗ εἶχε πρό τοῦ τόν κόσμον γενέσθαι παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ˙ τάδε εἰσίν ὁ σταυρός, ἤγουν ἡ νέκρωσις τοῦ κόσμου παντός, αἱ θλίψεις, οἱ πειρασμοί καί εἴ τι ἕτερον τῶν παθημάτων Χριστοῦ˙ ἅ ὑποφέροντες ἐν ὑπομονῇ πολλῇ, μιμούμεθα τοῦ Χριστοῦ τά παθήματα καί δοξάσομεν δι᾿ αὐτῶν τόν Πατέρα ἡμῶν καί Θεόν, ὡς υἱοί αὐτοῦ χάριτι καί συγκληρονόμοι Χριστοῦ.

πβ'. (447) Ψυχή ἡ μή τελείως τῆς σχέσεως καί προσπαθείας τῶν ὁρωμένων εὐαισθήτως ἀπαλλαγεῖσα, τά ἐπισυμβαίνοντα αὐτῇ λυπηρά καί τάς ἐπερχομένας αὐτῇ ἐπηρείας παρά τε δαιμόνων καί ἀνθρώπων ἀλύπως φέρειν οὐ δύναται, ἀλλ᾿ οἷον συνδεδεμένη τῇ προσπαθείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων, ζημίαις δάκνεται χρημάτων καί ἀποστερήσεσιν ἄχθεται πραγμάτων καί πληγαῖς ἐπιφερομέναις αὐτῆς σώματι σφοδρῶς ὀδυνᾶται.

πγ'. Εἴ τις σχέσεως καί ἐπιθυμίαις τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀπέρρηξε τήν ψυχήν αὐτοῦ καί Θεῷ ταύτην συνέδησεν, οὐ μόνον τῶν περί αὐτόν χρημάτων καί κτημάτων καταφρονήσει καί ὡς ἐπί ἀλλοτρίοις καί ξένοις στερούμενος αὐτῶν ἀλύπως διατεθῇ, ἀλλά καί τά ἐπιφερόμενα τῷ σώματι αὐτοῦ ἀνιαρά μετά χαρᾶς καί τῆς προσηκούσης εὐχαριστίας ὑπομενεῖ, βλέπων ἀεί, κατά τόν θεῖον ἀπόστολον, τόν μέν ἔξω φθειρόμενον ἄνθρωπον, τόν δέ ἐντός ἡμέρᾳ καί ἡμέρᾳ ἀνακαινούμενον. Ἄλλως δέ οὐκ ἔνι τάς κατά Θεόν θλίψεις μετά χαρᾶς ὑπενεγκεῖν, γνώσεως γάρ τελείας ἐν τούτοις χρεία καί σοφίας πνευματικῆς˙ ὁ δέ τούτων ἐστερημένος ἐν σκότει ἀγνωσίας καί ἀνελπιστίας ἀεί πορεύεται, μή δυνάμενος τό φῶς τῆς ὑπομονῆς καί τῆς παρακλήσεως ὅλως θεάσασθαι.

πδ'. Πᾶς δοκησίφρων ἐκ μαθηματικῆς ὤν ἐπιστήμης μυστήρια Θεοῦ παρακύψαι καί ἰδεῖν οὐκ ἀξιωθήσεταί ποτε, ἕως ἄν ταπεινωθῆναι πρῶτον θελήσῃ καί μωρός γένηται, σύν τῇ οἰήσει καί ἥν κέκτηται γνῶσιν ἀποβαλών. Ὁ γάρ τοῦτο ποιῶν καί σοφοῖς τά θεῖα ἐν ἀδιστάκτῳ πίστει ἀκολουθῶν, ὑπό τούτων χειραγωγούμενος, συνεισέρχεται μετ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐν πόλει ζῶντος Θεοῦ, καί ὑπό τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος ὁδηγούμενος καί φωτιζόμενος, ὁρᾷ καί διδάσκεται ἅπερ οὐδείς τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων εἶδεν (448) ἤ ἰδεῖν ἤ μαθεῖν ποτε δύναται, καί τηνικαῦτα γίνεται Θεοῦ διδακτός.

πε'. Τούς διδακτούς Θεοῦ οἱ μαθηταί τῶν σοφῶν τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἀνθρώπων ἡγοῦνται μωρούς, αὐτοί ὄντες ἐν ἀληθείᾳ μωροί, ἐκ μεμωραμένης σοφίας στομωθέντες τῆς θύραθεν, ἥν ἐμώρανεν ὁ Θεός, κατά τόν θεῖον ἀπόστολον, καί ἥν ἡ θεολόγος φωνή ἐπίγειον οἶδε, ψυχικήν, δαιμονιώδη, μεστήν ἐριθείας καί φθόνου. Ἔξω γάρ ὄντες οἱ τοιοῦτοι τοῦ θείου φωτός, τά ἐν αὐτῷ ἰδεῖν μή δυνάμενοι θαύματα, τούς αὐλιζομένους ἐν τῷ φωτί καί τά ἐν αὐτῷ βλέποντας καί διδάσκοντας ὡς πεπλανημένους λογίζονται, πεπλανημένοι ὄντες αὐτοί καί ἄγευστοι τῶν ἀπορρήτων ἀγαθῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ.

πστ'. ∆ιά τοῦτο μόνον παραβάλλειν καί βλέπειν τοῖς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ θέλουσιν οἱ χάριτος πεπληρωμένοι καί τετελειωμένοι τῇ γνώσει καί σοφίᾳ τῇ ἄνωθεν, ἵνα μισθόν τινα προξενήσωσιν αὐτοῖς δι᾿ ὑπομνήσεως τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ καί δι᾿ ἀγαθοεργίας, εἴ ἄρα γε ἀκούσωσιν, εἰ ἄρα γε συνήσουσιν καί πεισθήσονται, ἐπειδή οἱ μή τῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγόμενοι Πνεύματι ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ περιπατοῦσι καί οὐκ οἴδασιν οὔτε ποῦ ὑπάγουσιν, οὔτε ἐν τίσι προσκόπτουσι. Τάχα γάρ ποτε ἀνασφήλαντες ἐκ τῆς περιεχούσης αὐτούς οἰήσεως, δέξονται τήν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἀληθῆ διδασκαλίαν καί τό τοῦ Θεοῦ θέλημα ἀνοθεύτως καί ἀκαπηλεύτως ἀκούσαντες μετανοήσουσι καί ποιήσαντες αὐτό μεταλάβωσί τινος χαρίσματος πνευματικοῦ. Εἰ δέ μή τοιαύτης ὠφελείας γενέσθαι δυνηθῶσιν αὐτοῖς πρόξενοι, θρηνοῦντες τήν πώρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν ὑποστρέφουσιν εἰς τάς καλιάς αὐτῶν, νυκτός καί