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to even touch the works of virtue? Or was that blessed man not of the same nature as us? For I am inflamed with longing for the man, and for this reason I do not cease continually turning to him; and as if looking at some archetypal image, at his soul, I consider the disdain for sufferings, the excess of courage, the burning love for God; and I am astonished how one man, by his will, achieved the whole collection of virtues, while each of us does not even wish to achieve a chance thing. Who then will deliver us from the inescapable punishment, when Paul showed such a greatness of virtue, who shared the same nature as us, who was subject to the same passions, who lived in such a difficulty of times, and was every day, so to speak, dragged, torn, and publicly hauled about by those who warred against the preaching? And so that you may not hear from our tongue the achievements of this blessed man and the courage which he displayed daily for the preaching of piety, it is necessary to hear him saying: But wherein any one is bold (I speak foolishly), I am bold also. Observe a soul that loves God. He calls the matter not only boldness, but also foolishness, teaching us not to parade simply without necessity, with no one compelling, the things done by us, if indeed any of us should be found to have done something good. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. On these things, he says, do they pride themselves? Let them not think that we are left behind; for we too share in the same things. Then he added: Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more. Behold for me here the virtue of this blessed man's soul. For since he called what was done by him both boldness and foolishness, although having come into such necessity, not even so was he content with what was said; but when he was about to show himself surpassing them by a great measure, so that no one might think he was uttering these things from self-love, he again calls what was said by him foolishness; all but saying: For do I not know that I am doing something that appears so to many and is not becoming for me? But the great necessity that has pushed me into this compels me; wherefore, pardon me, he says, for uttering the words of foolishness. Let us imitate even the shadow of this man, we who have such burdens of sins laid upon us, and often achieving one small thing, and not even enduring to keep this in the storehouses of the mind, but because we hunt for the glory from men, we pub- 63.818 lish it abroad, and set it forth in the midst, and through this untimely foolish talk deprive ourselves of the reward from God. But this blessed man did not suffer any such thing, but having said, I am more, he then recounts the achievements of his courage, and says: In labor and toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, besides those things that are without. See again another sea of temptations being opened up for us; for in saying, Besides those things that are without, he hinted that the things omitted were likely more numerous than the things mentioned. And he did not stop even at this, but again teaches us the press of crowds and the conspiracies which he endured, saying thus: That which comes upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Behold, this again is a sufficient achievement, even if it were the only one, to lead him to the very summit of virtue. The care, he says, of all the churches; not of one and two and three, but of all the churches throughout the inhabited world, as much land as the sun traverses sending forth its rays; such was the care and concern this blessed man had. Have you seen the breadth of his soul? Have you seen the greatness of his mind? And what follows next again conceals, so to speak, all that has been said: For who is weak, he says, and I am not weak? who is made to stumble, and I do not burn? Alas, how great is the tender affection of this man! how great the

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μήτι γε τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔργων ἐφάπτεσθαι; Ἢ οὐχὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμῖν φύσεως ἦν ὁ μακάριος ἐκεῖνος; Ἐκκαίομαι γὰρ εἰς τὸν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς πόθον, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο συνεχῶς αὐτὸν περιστρέφων οὐ παύομαι· καὶ ὥσπερ εἰς ἀρχέτυπόν τινα εἰκόνα, εἰς τὴν τούτου ψυχὴν ἀφορῶν, λογίζομαι τῶν παθῶν τὴν ὑπεροψίαν, τῆς ἀνδρείας τὴν ὑπερβολὴν, τοῦ φίλτρου τοῦ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν τὸ διάπυρον· καὶ ἐκπλήττομαι, πῶς πᾶσαν μὲν τῶν ἀρετῶν τὴν συναγωγὴν εἷς ἄνθρωπος βουληθεὶς κατώρθωσεν, ἡμῶν δὲ ἕκαστος οὐδὲ τὸ τυχὸν κατορθοῦν βούλεται. Τίς οὖν ἡμᾶς ἐξαιρήσεται τῆς κολάσεως τῆς ἀπαραιτήτου, Παύλου τοσοῦτον μέγεθος ἀρετῆς ἐπιδειξαμένου, τοῦ τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμῖν κοινωνοῦντος φύσεως, τοῦ τοῖς αὐτοῖς πάθεσιν ὑποκειμένου, τοῦ ἐν τοσαύτῃ καιρῶν δυσκολίᾳ γεγονότος, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἑλκομένου, σπαραττομένου, καὶ δημοσίᾳ συρομένου ὑπὸ τῶν τῷ κηρύγματι πολεμούντων; Καὶ ἵνα μὴ παρὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας γλώττης ἀκούητε τὰ παρὰ τοῦ μακαρίου τούτου κατορθώματα καὶ τὴν ἀνδρείαν, ἣν ὑπὲρ τοῦ τῆς εὐσεβείας κηρύγματος καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπεδείκνυτο, ἀναγκαῖον αὐτοῦ ἀκοῦσαι λέγοντος· Ἐν ᾧ δ' ἄν τις τολμᾷ, ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ λέγω, τολμῶ κἀγώ. Σκόπει ψυχὴν φιλόθεον. Οὐ μόνον τόλμαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀφροσύνην τὸ πρᾶγμα καλεῖ, παιδεύων ἡμᾶς μὴ ἁπλῶς ἄνευ ἀνάγκης, μηδενὸς καταναγκάζοντος, τὰ ὑφ' ἡμῶν γεγενημένα ἐκπομπεύειν, εἴγε τινὲς ἐξ ἡμῶν εὑρεθεῖεν ἀγαθόν τι ἐργασάμενοι. Ἑβραῖοί εἰσι; κἀγώ· Ἰσραηλῖταί εἰσι; κἀγώ; σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ εἰσι; κἀγώ. Ἐπὶ τούτοις, φησὶ, μέγα φρονοῦσι; μὴ νομιζέτωσαν λείπεσθαι ἡμᾶς· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς τῶν αὐτῶν μετέχομεν. Εἶτα ἐπήγαγε· ∆ιάκονοι Χριστοῦ εἰσι; παραφρονῶν λαλῶ, ὑπὲρ ἐγώ. Θέα μοι ἐνταῦθα τοῦ μακαρίου τούτου τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν ἀρετήν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ καὶ τόλμαν καὶ ἀφροσύνην ἐκάλεσε τὸ γεγενημένον ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, καίτοι εἰς τοσαύτην ἀνάγκην καταστὰς, οὐδὲ οὕτως ἠρκέσθη τοῖς εἰρημένοις· ἀλλ' ὅτε ἔμελλεν ἑαυτὸν δεικνύναι πολλῷ τῷ μέτρῳ ἐκείνοις ὑπερακοντίζοντα, ἵνα μή τις νομίσῃ ἀπὸ φιλαυτίας αὐτὸν ταῦτα φθέγγεσθαι, πάλιν παραφροσύνην καλεῖ τὸ παρ' αὐτοῦ λεγόμενον· μονονουχὶ λέγων· Μὴ γὰρ οὐκ οἶδα ὅτι πρᾶγμα ποιῶ τοῖς πολλοῖς παριστάμενον καὶ οὐκ ἐμοὶ πρέπον; ἀλλ' ἡ πολλή με ἀνάγκη εἰς τοῦτο συνωθήσασα ἐκβιάζεται· διὸ σύγγνωτέ μοι, φησὶ, παραφροσύνης ῥήματα φθεγγομένῳ. Τούτου κἂν τὴν σκιὰν μιμησώμεθα ἡμεῖς, οἱ τοσαῦτα φορτία ἁμαρτημάτων ἔχοντες ἐπικείμενα, καὶ πολλάκις ἕν τι βραχὺ κατορθοῦντες, καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦτο εἰς τὰ ταμιεῖα τῆς διανοίας φυλάττειν ἀνεχόμενοι, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ τὴν παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων θηρᾶσθαι δόξαν ἐκπομ 63.818 πεύοντες, καὶ εἰς μέσον προτιθέντες, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀκαίρου ταύτης φλυαρίας τῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀμοιβῆς ἑαυτοὺς ἀποστεροῦντες. Ἀλλ' οὐχ ὁ μακάριος οὗτος τοιοῦτόν τι πέπονθεν, ἀλλ' εἰπὼν, Ὑπὲρ ἐγὼ, ἀπαριθμεῖται λοιπὸν τὰ τῆς ἀνδρείας αὐτοῦ κατορθώματα, καί φησιν· Ἐν κόπῳ καὶ μόχθῳ, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις πολλάκις, ἐν λιμῷ καὶ δίψει, ἐν νηστείαις πολλάκις, ἐν ψύχει καὶ γυμνότητι, χωρὶς τῶν παρεκτός. Ὅρα πάλιν ἄλλο πέλαγος ἡμῖν πειρασμῶν παρανοιγόμενον· εἰπὼν γὰρ, Χωρὶς τῶν παρεκτὸς, ᾐνίξατο, ὅτι τὰ παραλειφθέντα πλείονα εἰκὸς εἶναι τῶν εἰρημένων. Καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι τούτου ἔστη, ἀλλὰ πάλιν ἡμᾶς διδάσκει τὰς ἐπισυστάσεις καὶ τὰς συστροφὰς, ἃς ὑπέμεινεν, οὕτω λέγων· Ἡ ἐπισύστασίς μου ἡ καθ' ἡμέραν, ἡ μέριμνα πασῶν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν. Ἰδοὺ πάλιν καὶ τοῦτο ἱκανὸν κατόρθωμα, εἰ καὶ μόνον τυγχάνει, εἰς αὐτὴν αὐτὸν ἀνάγων τὴν κορυφὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς. Ἡ μέριμνα, φησὶ, πασῶν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν· οὐχὶ μιᾶς καὶ δύο καὶ τριῶν, ἀλλὰ πασῶν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τῶν κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅσην ὁ ἥλιος διατρέχει γῆν τὰς οἰκείας ἀκτῖνας ἀφιείς· τοσαύτην ὁ μακάριος οὗτος εἶχε τὴν μέριμναν καὶ τὴν φροντίδα. Εἶδες πλάτος ψυχῆς; εἶδες διανοίας μέγεθος; Καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς δὲ ἐπαγόμενον πάλιν ἅπαντα, ὡς εἰπεῖν, τὰ εἰρημένα ἀποκρύπτει· Τίς γὰρ ἀσθενεῖ, φησὶ, καὶ οὐκ ἀσθενῶ; τίς σκανδαλίζεται, καὶ οὐκ ἐγὼ πυροῦμαι; Βαβαὶ, πόση τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τούτου ἡ φιλοστοργία; πόση ἡ