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196

of the powers, before whom I stood, since every sinner flees from standing before God; For the lawless shall not remain before his eyes. Indeed, Adam, together with his wife, after sinning, flees from the face of the Lord God, being ashamed, or rather, being afraid to be seen by him. For this reason also Cain the accursed goes out from the face of the Lord God, not because it is possible to escape God and be far from his face, but because the wicked, holding false opinions, have been deceived into thinking they can escape God's notice in the impious things they do; for even if they know that it is not possible to escape God's notice, yet they have such a disposition that if it were possible, they would wish to be far from God, being ashamed of the rays of his gaze. But the righteous, because of their great boldness and the freedom of their gaze, stand before God like genuine servants, saying, Look upon me and have mercy on me, and, The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. Do not be troubled if, when confession and beauty are before the Lord, we say that the one who confesses and has beauty is before the Lord, since often in scripture as well, those who have the characteristics are signified by the names of the characteristics; for the apostle, writing to men both about himself and them, says, That we might become (clearly in Christ himself) the righteousness of God. And since confession and beauty are before God, holiness and magnificence will be in his sanctuary. But it is a custom by ancestral tradition for those of the circumcision to call the temple of God a sanctuary. Since, then, the one who confesses and has beauty, having received God in himself, becomes his temple and sanctuary, it is fittingly said of such a one that he has holiness and magnificence, holiness on the one hand by partaking of the holiness of the present God and of Christ who is the sanctification of God but also of the Holy Spirit, and magnificence on the other hand by seeking what is fitting and comely in great and superior things; for magnificence is what is fitting in great things, and pettiness is what is fitting in small things. Therefore, as many as wish to be comely in human vanities and dignities and in perceptible things, strength and wealth, would be petty in the sanctuary of God which has been proclaimed according to what has been rendered in intelligible and spiritual virtues and piety, which, since they are all great, it seeks to be distinguished and in this way has magnificence as a consort to the holiness it has acquired. 933 Ps 95,7.8 Since, being slaves of Christ, we have his name called upon us through accomplishing all things wisely and rationally, justly and holily, let us bring glory to the name of Christ upon us. And it is well said, Bring sacrifices, that is, elevate the thought concerning sacrifices, not sacrificing oxen on the ground and slaughtering the other animals, but thinking loftily of what is signified through these things, the spiritual and heavenly sacrifices of which the sacrifices offered perceptibly are types and shadows. 934 Ps 95,9b-11a And every thought that has acquired an earthly quality from its sympathy with matter, being shaken, casts off its former and earthly disposition in order to take on a spiritual and heavenly state. For truly this would be the shaking of the earth, to be changed into heaven and to bear the image of the heavenly. Following these are the words, Say among the nations, The Lord has reigned. For having suffered and risen from the dead, he reigned among the nations, saying, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, as the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven, and as the Lord reigns among all the nations, the whole earth is shaken from his face in the aforesaid manner, so that it may take on the state of virtue, having been set aright by the Lord so that it is no longer shaken, having become an inhabited world instead of earth; for when the Lord reigns, it no longer remains simply earth but an inhabited world, since the Father and the Son dwell in it

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τῶν δυνάμεων ῳ παρέστην ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, παντὸς ἁμαρτάνοντος φεύγοντος τὸ ἐνώπιον ιστασθαι θεοῦ· Οὐ διαμενοῦσι γὰρ παράνομοι κατέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ. ἀμέλει καὶ ὁ ̓Αδὰμ αμα τῇ γυναικὶ μετὰ τὸ ἁμαρτεῖν φεύγει ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ αἰσχυνόμενος, μᾶλλον δὲ φοβούμενος ὀφθῆναι αὐτῷ. ταύτῃ καὶ Καὶν ὁ ἀλάστωρ ἐξέρχεται ἀπὸ προσώπου κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ, οὐχ οτι δυνατὸν διαδρᾶναι θεὸν καὶ πόρρω τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι, ἀλλ' οτι οἱ φαῦλοι ψευδοδοξοῦντες ἠπάτηνται ὡς οἰηθῆναι λανθάνειν θεὸν ἐφ' οις δυσσεβῶς ἐνεργοῦσιν· εἰ γὰρ καὶ ισασιν οτι λαθεῖν θεὸν οὐχ οιόν τε, ἀλλ' ουν γε διάθεσιν τοιαύτην εχουσιν ὡς εἰ δυνατὸν ὑπῆρχεν, ἠβούλοντο πόρρω θεοῦ ειναι αἰσχυνόμενοι τὰς αὐγὰς τῶν οψεων αὐτοῦ. οἱ δέ γε σπουδαῖοι διὰ πολλὴν παρρησίαν καὶ τὸ ἐλεύθερον τοῦ βλέμματος ἐνώπιον θεοῦ γνησίων θεραπόντων δίκην ἑστήκασι, λέγοντες ̓Επίβλεψον ἐπ' ἐμὲ καὶ ἐλέησόν με, καὶ ̓Οφθαλμοὶ κυρίου ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ωτα αὐτοῦ εἰς δέησιν αὐτῶν. Μὴ ταραττέτω σε εἰ ἐξομολογήσεως καὶ ὡραιότητος ἐνώπιον κυρίου τυγχανουσῶν ἡμεῖς τὸν ἐξομολογούμενον καὶ ὡραιότητα εχοντα ἐνώπιον κυρίου ειπομεν ειναι, πολλάκις καὶ κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν τῶν τὰς εξεις ἐχόντων σημαινομένων ταῖς τῶν εξεων προσηγορίαις· ἀνθρώποις γὰρ γράφων ὁ ἀπόστολος περί τε αὐτοῦ κἀκείνων φησὶν Ινα γενώμεθα (δηλονότι ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ Χριστῷ) θεοῦ δικαιοσύνη. ̓Εξομολογήσεως δὲ καὶ ὡραιότητος οὐσῶν ἐνώπιον θεοῦ, ἁγιότης καὶ μεγαλοπρέπεια ὑπάρξει τῷ ἁγιάσματι αὐτοῦ. ἁγίασμα δὲ θεοῦ καλεῖν εθος πατρίῳ συνηθείᾳ τοῖς ἐκ περιτομῆς τὸν θεοῦ ναόν. ἐπεὶ ουν ὁ ἐξομολογούμενος καὶ ὡραιότητα εχων δεξάμενος θεὸν ἐν ἑαυτῷ ναὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἁγίασμα γίνεται, εἰκότως περὶ τοῦ τοιούτου λέγεται τὸ ἁγιότητα καὶ μεγαλοπρέπειαν εχειν, ἁγιότητα μὲν μεταλαμβάνων τῆς ἁγιότητος τοῦ παρόντος θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ οντος θεοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, μεγαλοπρέπειαν δὲ ζητῶν τὸ πρέπον καὶ εὐπρεπὲς ἐν μεγάλοις καὶ ὑπερτέροις· μεγαλοπρέπεια γάρ ἐστι τὸ ἐν μεγάλοις πρέπον, μικροπρέπεια δὲ τὸ ἐν μικροῖς. οσοι γοῦν ἐν ἀνθρωπίνοις δοξαρίοις καὶ ἀξιώμασι καὶ ἐν αἰσθητοῖς ῥώμῃ καὶ πλούτῳ εὐπρεπεῖν θέλοντες, μικροπρεπεῖς ειεν τοῦ χρηματίσαντος ἁγιάσματος θεοῦ κατὰ τὰ ἀποδοθέντα ἐν νοητοῖς καὶ πνευματικοῖς ἀρεταῖς τε καὶ εὐσεβείᾳ, απερ πάντα μεγάλα τυγχάνει διαπρέπειν ζητοῦντα καὶ ταύτῃ μεγαλοπρέπειαν εχει σύζυγον ουσαν ῃ κέκτηται ἁγιότητι. 933 Ps 95,7.8 ̓Επεὶ δοῦλοι τυγχάνοντες Χριστοῦ εχομεν τὸ ονομα αὐτοῦ ἐπικληθὲν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς διὰ τοῦ σοφῶς καὶ λογικῶς δικαίως τε καὶ ἁγίως ἐπιτελεῖν πάντα, δόξαν ἐνέγκωμεν τῷ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ὀνόματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ευ δὲ καὶ τὸ φάναι Αρατε θυσίας, τουτέστι μετεωρίσατε τὸ περὶ θυσιῶν νόημα, μὴ χαμαιζήλως βουθυτοῦντες καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ σφάζοντες ζῷα ἀλλ' ὑψηλῶς τὰ διὰ τούτων δηλούμενα διανοούμενοι τὰς πνευματικὰς καὶ ἐπουρανίους θυσίας ων ὑποδείγματα καὶ σκιὰ αἱ αἰσθητῶς προσαγόμεναι θυσίαι. 934 Ps 95,9b-11a Καὶ πᾶσα δὲ διάνοια γεώδη ποιότητα ἐσχηκυῖα ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τὴν υλην συμπαθείας σειομένη ἀποβάλλει τὴν προτέραν καὶ γεώδη διάθεσιν ἐπὶ τῷ πνευματικὴν καὶ ἐπουράνιον εξιν ἀναλαβεῖν. ἀληθῶς γὰρ τοῦτ' ειη τὸ σαλευθῆναι τὴν γῆν τὸ εἰς οὐρανὸν μεταβαλεῖν καὶ φορέσαι τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου. ̓Ακόλουθα τούτοις καὶ τὰ ἐπιφερόμενα Ειπατε ἐν τοῖς εθνεσιν ̔Ο κύριος ἐβασίλευσε. παθὼν γὰρ καὶ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστὰς ἐβασίλευσεν ἐν τοῖς εθνεσιν, εἰπὼν ̓Εδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς. γινομένου λοιπὸν τοῦ θελήματος τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς, βασιλεύοντος δὲ τοῦ κυρίου ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς εθνεσι, σαλεύεται τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ, οπως τὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς εξιν ἀναλάβῃ κατορθωθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου εἰς τὸ μηκέτι σαλεύεσθαι οἰκουμένη ἀντὶ γῆς γεγενημένη· βασιλεύοντος γὰρ τοῦ κυρίου, οὐχ ἁπλῶς γῆ ετι μένει ἀλλ' οἰκουμένη, οἰκοῦντος ἐν αὐτῇ πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ