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77. When with all strength, eagerness, and resolve, with an unrestrained impulse, we fulfill the things taught and commanded to us by God Himself mystically and unknowingly, lacking nothing at all, then it is revealed to us manifestly, as to faithful and obedient ones, as to true disciples and friends, just as long ago it was revealed to His holy disciples and apostles and to all those who through them believed in His name; and then we become sons of God by grace, as Paul says: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And if sons, then heirs—heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ."

78. No one of those who have been deemed worthy to be with God in the communion of the Spirit and to taste His ineffable good things desires the dishonorable and contemptible glory offered to him by men, nor gold or raiment or stones considered precious by the foolish; he does not set his heart on flowing riches, he does not wish to be known by kings and rulers, who are not rulers but are ruled by many things; he does not consider such men as something great and lofty, nor does he think they are purveyors of greater glory to those who approach them, nor will he desire at all any other of the things that are eminent and brilliant to men, any more than someone would desire from wealth to descend into poverty, or from a great and conspicuous position of rule and authority to fall into utter obscurity and dishonor.

79. If you have received the remission of all your sins, whether through confession, or through the putting on of 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 ten thousand punishments, you were not only delivered from them but 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 Him who has honored you and forgiven your countless transgressions, but in all your works to glorify and honor Him, so that He may in turn glorify you more greatly, whom He has honored above all visible creation, and will name you His genuine friend.

80. Insofar as the soul is more honorable than the body, so much is the rational man superior to the whole world. For, observing the greatness of the creations within it, do not on this account consider them more honorable than you, O man, but looking to the grace given to you and understanding the worth of your intelligent and rational soul, praise God who has honored you above all visible things.

81. 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 through the things by which He glorified His own Father, the Son was also glorified by the Father through them, let us also do these things with zeal, so that through them we may glorify our Father who deigned to be called 'in heaven', and be glorified by Him with the glory of Jesus, which He had from Him before the world was made; these are the cross, that is, the mortification of the whole world, the afflictions, the temptations, and whatever else belongs to the sufferings of Christ; which enduring with great patience, we imitate the sufferings of Christ and through them we will glorify our Father and God, as His sons by grace and joint-heirs with Christ.

82. (447) A soul that has not been completely and consciously freed from relation to and passion for visible things, is not able to bear without grief the painful things that befall it and the abuses that come upon it from both demons and men, but as if bound by passion to human affairs, it is stung by financial losses and is burdened by deprivations of things and is violently pained by blows inflicted on its body.

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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 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.