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but in it to behold you, Master of all, and preoccupying the mind with contemplation of you, to persevere until death in your longing alone, and he ought not to look at all upon those who turn aside, nor upon those who deny you and turn back again to their former vomit, to their former deeds, (308) to the cares of things on earth and of wife and children, nor on any pretext whatsoever be bound by those things; for he no longer has authority over his own soul; wherefore many, though the prisons were opened by you and the bonds of the body were completely loosed, your servants did not choose to go out at all nor to flee, but remained as if they were bound -; so therefore, Savior, also those who are now in the world and renounce the world, all relatives together, friends, companions and every thing in the world, and their own wills before all these things, no longer have any authority at all over themselves, but even if they are not hindered by their superiors, they ought to keep their covenant with you, the Master. For they did not profess to keep obedience and servitude to men, but to God, to their superiors and to all the brothers practicing asceticism with them in the monastery. Therefore they ought to dwell as in a monastery that is an island in the middle of the sea and to consider the entire world to be completely inaccessible to them, since a great chasm has been fixed around their whole monastery, so that those in the world might not cross over to the monastery, nor those on the island cross over to those there and look with passion, nor turn the memory of these things in heart or mind, but as dead men they ought to be disposed toward the dead, having no feeling for them in their senses, and they become truly lambs offered of their own free will. At these most holy words of the martyrs, full of longing and filled with affection for the Master, the Cherubim, having heard, sang a hymn and in fear: Glory to you, they said, O King, glory to you, all-merciful, (309) who has shown forth martyrs on earth without tyrants, who bear witness every hour by their longing for you alone! Yes, said the Father again through the Son and the Spirit said: Truly, those who love God from the heart

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ἀλλ᾿ ἐν αὐτῇ σε καθορᾶν, ∆έσποτα τῶν ἁπάντων, καί τῇ πρός σέ ἀπασχολῶν θεωρίᾳ τάς φρένας, μέχρι θανάτου καρτερεῖν τῷ σῷ πόθῳ καί μόνῳ, καί οὔτε τούς ἐκκλίνοντας βλέπειν ὅλως ὀφείλει, οὐδέ τούς ἀρνουμένους σε καί στρεφομένους πάλιν ἐπί τόν πρῴην ἔμε τον, ἐπί τάς πρῴην πράξεις, (308) ἐπί μερίμνας τῶν ἐν γῇ καί γυναικός καί τέκνων, μηδέ προφάσει οἱᾳοῦν ἐν ἐκείνοις δεσμεῖσθαι˙ οὐκέτι γάρ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς ἐξουσιάζει˙ διό πολλοί τῶν φυλακῶν παρά σοῦ ἀνοιγέντων καί τῶν δεσμῶν τοῦ σώματος εἰς ἅπαν ἀνεθέντων, οὐχ εἵλοντο οἱ δοῦλοί σου ὅλως ἔξω γενέσθαι οὐδέ φυγεῖν, ἀλλ᾿ ἔμειναν ὡς δεδεμένοι ὄντες -˙ οὕτως οὖν, Σῶτερ, καί οἱ νῦν τυγχάνοντες ἐν κόσμῳ καί κόσμον ἀπαρνούμενοι, συγγενεῖς ὁμοῦ πάντας, φίλους, ἑταίρους καί πάντα πράγμα τά ἐν κόσμῳ, καί τά θελήματα αὐτῶν πρό γε τούτων ἁπάντων, οὐκέτι ὅλως ἑαυτῶν ἔχουσιν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλ᾿ εἰ καί μή κωλύωνται ὑπό τῶν ἡγουμένων, τήν συνταγήν ὀφείλουσι σοί τηρεῖν τῷ ∆εσπότῃ. Οὐ γάρ ἀνθρώποις ἔφασαν, ἀλλά Θεῷ, φυλάξαι ὑπακοήν καί δούλωσιν, ἡγουμένοις καί πᾶσι τοῖς μετ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ μονῇ ἀδελφοῖς συνασκοῦσι. Νῆσον οὖν ὥσπερ μονήν μέσον θαλάσσης οὖσαν ὀφείλουσί γε κατοικεῖν καί ἅπαντα τόν κόσμον αὐτοῖς εἰς ἅπαν ἄβατον νομίζειν καθεστάναι, ἅτε μεγάλου χάσματος ἐστηριγμένου κύκλῳ τῆς ἑαυτῶν πάσης μονῆς, ὡς μή τούς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ διέρχεσθαι πρός τήν μονήν μήτε τούς ἐν τῇ νήσῳ διαπερᾶν πρός τούς ἐκεῖ καί προσπαθῶς προσβλέπειν, μηδ᾿ ἐν καρδίᾳ ἤ νοΐ τήν τούτων στρέφειν μνήμην, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς νεκροί ὀφείλουσι πρός νεκρούς διακεῖσθαι ἀνεπαισθήτως πρός αὐτούς ἔχοντες τῇ αἰσθήσει, καί γίνονται ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐθελόθυτοι ἄρνες. Πρός ταῦτα τά πανάγια ῥήματα τῶν μαρτύρων, τοῦ πόθου πλήρη καί στοργῆς μεστά πρός τόν ∆εσπότην, ἀκούσαντα τά Χερουβίμ ὕμνησαν καί ἐν φόβῳ˙ ∆όξα σοι, εἶπον, βασιλεῦ, δόξα σοι, πανοικτίρμον, (309) ὁ δείξας μάρτυρας ἐν γῇ τῶν τυραννούντων δίχα, μόνῳ τῷ πόθῳ τῷ εἰς σέ μαρτυροῦντας καθ᾿ ὥραν! Ναί, εἶπε πάλιν ὁ Πατήρ δι᾿ Υἱοῦ καί τό Πνεῦμα ἔλεξεν˙ Ὄντως, οἱ Θεόν ἐκ καρδίας φιλοῦντες