197

Amen.

48.

That for every man who is insulted and suffers evil for the sake of God's commandment, the dishonor for the sake of this same commandment of God is glory and honor. And a dialogue with one's own soul, teaching the inexhaustible riches of the Spirit. (348)

Give me the perception, O Christ, which You once granted, cover me with it, O Savior, hide me completely within and do not allow the perception of the world to approach me, nor to enter from within, nor to wound me at all, Your humble servant, whom You alone have pitied. For suddenly invading my good solicitude, the worldly perception immediately produced evil desires in my wretched soul; for it points out glory, it reminds of wealth, and it urges me to draw near to the kings of the earth, saying that this is great happiness. From these thoughts, therefore, just as a wineskin swells up from the wind and fire is kindled into a flame, so that soul, being puffed up, swells and is intensely strained by the desire for glory, wealth, and the ease of those who grovel below, it longs to be glorified with the glorified, and to appear illustrious with the illustrious, and to acquire wealth with those who acquire wealth, the very one whom You Yourself glorified with Your ineffable light, the very one whom You Yourself adorned with Your unspeakable glory, the very one whom You Yourself showed Your divine splendor. (349) The perception, having taken its mind captive, points to kings, reminds it of glory and points out the wealth of the present life, and makes it yearn for these things by thought alone. O darkness, O callousness, O vain thoughts, and of a sordid purpose and an insensible mind, that having forsaken the ineffable and incorruptible things to see, I consider and ponder the things on earth! Will a king not die? Will glory not pass away? Will wealth not be scattered like dust by the wind? Will bodies not decay in tombs and others will take possession of the goods on earth, and after them others, and after those, others? And for whom, tell me, O soul, has the wealth come to be, and who in the world has been able to gain one small thing, so as to take it with him, both in life and in death? You will surely be able to show me no one at all, except the merciful, those who have possessed nothing,

197

ἀμήν.

ΜΗ'.

Ὅτι δόξα καί τιμή ἐστι παντί ἀνθρώπῳ ὑβριζομένῳ καί πάσχοντι κακῶς διά Θεοῦ ἐντολήν ἡ ὑπέρ αὐτῆς τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀτιμία˙ καί διάλογος πρός τήν ἰδίαν ψυχήν, διδάσκων τόν ἀκένωτον πλοῦτον τοῦ Πνεύματος. (348)

∆ός μοι τήν αἴσθησιν, Χριστέ, ἥν ἅπαξ ἐδωρήσω, σκέπασον ταύτῃ με, Σωτήρ, κρύψον ἐντός με ὅλον καί μή ἐάσῃς αἴσθησιν ἐγγίζειν μοι τοῦ κόσμου, μή ἔνδοθεν εἰσέρχεσθαι, μή ὅλως με τριτρώσκειν, τόν δοῦλόν σου τόν ταπεινόν, ὅν ἠλέησας μόνος. Τῇ γάρ μερίμνῃ τῇ καλῇ αἴφνης ἐπεισπεσοῦσα ἡ αἴσθησις ἡ κοσμική κακάς ἐπιθυμίας εὐθέως ἐνεποίησε ψυχῇ μου τῇ ἀθλίᾳ˙ δόξαν γάρ ὑποδείκνυσι, πλούτου ὑπομιμνῄσκει, τοῖς βασιλεῦσί τε τῆς γῆς ἐγγίζειν ἐποτρύνει ὡς εὐτυχίαν λέγουσα εἶναι τοῦτο μεγάλην. Ἐκ τούτων οὖν τῶν λογισμῶν, ὥσπερ ὑπό ἀνέμου ἀσκός ὀγκοῦται καί τό πῦρ ἀνάπτεται εἰς φλόγα, οὕτως ἐκείνη ἡ ψυχή φυσωμένη ὀγκοῦται καί διατείνεται σφοδρῶς ἐπιθυμίᾳ δόξης, πλούτου τε καί ἀνέσεως τῶν κάτω συρομένων, ἐφίεται δοξάζεσθαι σύν τοῖς δοξασμένοις, περιφανής τε φαίνεσθαι σύν τοῖς περιφανέσι καί πλοῦτον κτᾶσθαι σύν αὐτοῖς τοῖς τόν πλοῦτον κτωμένοις, ἥνπερ ἐδόξασας αὐτός φωτί σου τῷ ἀρρήτῳ, ἥνπερ αὐτός ἐστόλισας δόξῃ σου τῇ ἀφράστῳ, ἥνπερ αὐτός παρέδειξας λαμπρότητά σου θείαν. (349) Ἡ αἴσθησις αἰχμάλωτον τόν νοῦν αὐτῆς λαβοῦσα ὑποδεικνύει βασιλεῖς, ὑπομιμνῄσκει δόξης καί πλοῦτον ὑποδείκνυσι τόν τοῦ παρόντος βίου, ὀργᾶν πρός ταῦτά τε ποιεῖ τῇ ἐνθυμήσει μόνῃ. Ὤ σκότους, ὤ πωρώσεως, ὤ λογισμῶν ματαίων, προθέσεώς τε ῥυπαρᾶς καί ἀναισθήτου γνώμης, ὅτι λιπών τά ἄρρητα καί ἄφθαρτα τοῦ βλέπειν τά ἐπί γῆς λογίζομαι καί ταῦτα ἐνθυμοῦμαι! Οὐ τελευτήσει βασιλεύς; Οὐχί παρέλθει δόξα; Οὐ πλοῦτος σκορπισθήσεται ὥσπερ χνοῦς ὑπ᾿ ἀνέμου; Οὐχί διαφθαρήσεται τά σώματα ἐν τάφοις καί ἄλλοι κυριεύσουσι τῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ χρημάτων καί μετ᾿ ἐκείνους ἕτεροι καί ἀπ᾿ἐκείνων ἄλλοι; Καί τίνος, λέγε μοι, ψυχή, ὀ πλοῦτος ἐγεγόνει, τίς δέ ἐν κόσμῳ ἴσχυσε μικρόν κερδῆσαι πρᾶγμα, ἵν᾿ ὥσπερ ζῶν τε καί θανῶν μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦτο λάβῃ; Πάντως οὐδένα οὐδαμῶς δεῖξαί μοι εὐπορήσεις, εἰ μή τούς ἐλεήμονας, τούς μηδέν κτησαμένους,