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in every watch I meditated on you,” and according to Aquila who said, “in the watches I utter in you,” seems to indicate that the night hours are to be practiced in the meditations of the divine Scriptures. For the whole time of the night is divided into different watches; thus, at any rate, it is said in the Gospels that the Savior came to the disciples in the fourth watch. And elsewhere He Himself says: “Watch, for you do not know in which watch your Lord is coming;” and again: “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in which watch the thief was coming.” But the one who is God-loving and dedicated to God, remembering God upon his own bed, keeping it spotless and pure and undefiled, rising up in each watch of the night, attended to prayers and was trained in the divine teachings; which indeed, teaching according to Symmachus, he said: “Remembering you upon my bed, in each watch I meditated.” For I meditated upon you yourself, God, instead of every book and writing, my mind stretched upwards to you, meditating on and remembering how many benefits I was deemed worthy of by you, and how you have always been my helper, and how you saved me from countless temptations, and how you drew me out with your wings, that is, with the powers of your providence; recalling these things in my memory, I was filled with joy, or I praised you, God, according to Symmachus who said, “and being sheltered under your wings I praised.” And meditating on your words in each watch of the night, and then having heard the divine law that said: “You shall walk after the Lord your God,” and “cleaving” to him, or having disposed my soul, I became obedient to the law, and I was wholly devoted to the matter, and considering all things, or rather turning away from all things after God, I became superior and higher in the desire of my soul, and I was joined to you, my God, so as to say without falsehood: “My soul has cleaved after you.” But I drove on to such progress and advanced to such a magnitude of virtue, not using my own power, but your lordship; for you yourself by your mercy granted this to me. For seeing my desire for you and accepting it, you deemed me worthy, stretching out your right hand, to take hold of me and draw me up to yourself; for because of this my soul, having been helped by you, has been able to cleave after you; since “your right hand has upheld me.” For I would not otherwise have reached so great a height, if your right hand had not upheld me. But the Apostle teaches how one cleaves to the Lord, saying: “He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit; just as he who cleaves to a prostitute is one body.” And when David says to the Lord: “My soul has cleaved after you,” it was clear from this that he was devoted to purity and cleanness. “But they have sought my soul in vain.” 23.612 I, he says, attended to you, my Savior, and I joined my soul to you, and I meditated on your words, while I was in flight, and making my abode in desolate places. For I did not defend myself against those who persecuted me, nor, while being devoted to you, God, did I send up prayers against my enemies; but I attended to you alone, as I said. But they did not cease making a vain effort against my soul; for they sought it in vain, since it was undiscoverable to them because it had cleaved after you; wherefore they themselves do not know the things that await them, but the Holy Spirit decrees. Then, following these things, he cries out prophetically, saying: “They shall go into the lower parts of the earth.” For since they minded earthly things and have become of the things below, they will fittingly suffer the penalty for what they have done. For he who is joined to God, and has his soul cleaving to him, will have hopes of the kingdom of heaven; but those who have run the opposite way and have minded the things below, being brought down into the pit named elsewhere, will go into the lowest parts of the earth. For meanwhile every

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ἑκάστην φυλακὴν ἐμελέτων σε,» καὶ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν φήσαντα, «ἐν φυλακαῖς φθέγγομαι ἐν σοὶ,» δηλοῦν ἔοικε τὰς νυκτερινὰς ὥρας ἀσκεῖσθαι ταῖς τῶν θείων Γραφῶν μελέταις. ∆ιῄρηται μὲν γὰρ ὁ πᾶς τῆς νυκτὸς χρόνος εἰς φυλακὰς διαφόρους· οὕτω γοῦν εἴρηται ἐν εὐαγγελίοις τετάρτῃ φυλακῇ ἐληλυθὼς ὁ Σωτὴρ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητάς. Καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ αὐτός φησι· «Γρηγορεῖτε, ὅτι οὐκ οἴδατε ποίᾳ φυλακῇ ὁ Κύριος ὑμῶν ἔρχεται·» καὶ πάλιν· «Ἐκεῖνο δὲ γινώσκετε, ὅτι, εἰ ᾔδει ὁ οἰκοδεσπότης ποίᾳ φυλακῇ ὁ κλέπτης ἔρχεται.» Ὁ δέ γε θεοφιλὴς καὶ τῷ Θεῷ ἀνακείμενος, ἀναμιμνησκόμενος ἐπὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ στρωμνῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἄσπιλόν τε αὐτὴν καὶ ἁγνὴν, καὶ ἀμίαντον φυλάττων, καθ' ἑκάστην φυλακὴν τῆς νυκτὸς ἀνιστάμενος, εὐχαῖς προσεῖχε, καὶ τοῖς θείοις ἐνησκεῖτο μαθήμασιν· ὃ δὴ διδάσκων κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον ἔλεγεν· «Ἀναμιμνησκόμενός σου ἐπὶ τῆς στρωμνῆς μου, καθ' ἑκάστην φυλακὴν ἐμελέτων.» Εἰς σὲ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐμελέτων τὸν Θεὸν ἀντὶ πάσης βίβλου καὶ γραφῆς, ἄνω πρὸς σὲ τὸν νοῦν τεταμένος, μελετῶν τε καὶ ἀναμιμνησκόμενος ὅσων ἠξιώθην ὑπὸ σοῦ εὐεργεσιῶν, καὶ ὡς γέγονάς μου πάντοτε βοηθὸς, καὶ ἐκ μυρίων με πειρασμῶν διέσωσας, καὶ ὡς ἐκσπάσας με ταῖς σαυτοῦ πτέρυξι, δηλαδὴ ταῖς δυνάμεσι τῆς σαυτοῦ προνοίας· ἅτινα ἀναπεμπαζόμενος τῇ μνήμῃ, χαρᾶς ἐπληρούμην, ἢ ἀνηυφήμουν σε τὸν Θεὸν κατὰ τὸν Σύμμαχον φήσαντα, «καὶ σκεπόμενος ἐν ταῖς πτέρυξί σου ἀνηυφήμουν.» Μελετῶν δὲ τὰ σὰ λόγια καθ' ἑκάστην φυλακὴν τῆς νυκτὸς, κἄπειτα ἀκούσας τοῦ φήσαντος θείου νόμου· «Ὀπίσω Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ σου πορεύσῃ,» καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν «κολληθεὶς, ἢ διατεθεὶς τὴν ψυχὴν πειθήνιος γέγονα τῷ νόμῳ, ὅλος τε εἰχόμην τοῦ πράγματος, πάντα τε ἡγησάμενος, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀποστραφεὶς τὰ μετὰ τὸν Θεὸν πάντα, ἀνώτερος καὶ ὑψηλότερος τῷ πόθῳ τῆς ψυχῆς κατέστην, καὶ σοὶ τῷ Θεῷ μου συνήφθην, ὡς εἰπεῖν μὴ ψευσάμενον· «Ἐκολλήθη ἡ ψυχή μου ὀπίσω σου.» Εἰς τοσαύτην δὲ ἤλασα προκοπὴν καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτον μέγεθος ἀρετῆς προῆλθον, οὐκ ἐμαυτοῦ δυνάμει χρησάμενος, ἀλλὰ τῇ σῇ δεσποτείᾳ· σὺ γὰρ αὐτὸς τῷ σῷ ἐλέῳ τοῦτό μοι ἐδωρήσω. Ὁρῶν γάρ μου τὸν περὶ σὲ πόθον καὶ ἀποδεξάμενος αὐτὸν, κατηξίωσας τὴν σαυτοῦ δεξιὰν ἐκτείνας ἐπιλαβέσθαι μου καὶ ἀνελκῦσαι ἄνω πρὸς ἑαυτόν· διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ δεδύνηται ἡ ψυχή μου ὑπὸ σοῦ βοηθηθεῖσα κολληθῆναι ὀπίσω σου· ἐπειδήπερ «ἐμοῦ ἀντελάβετο ἡ δεξιά σου.» Οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἄλλως ἐφικνούμην τοῦ τοσούτου ὕψους, εἰ μὴ ἀντελάβετό μου ἡ δεξιά σου. ∆ιδάσκει δὲ ὁ Ἀπόστολος πῶς τις κολλᾶται τῷ Κυρίῳ, λέγων· «Ὁ κολλώμενος τῷ Κυρίῳ ἓν πνεῦμά ἐστιν· ὡς καὶ ὁ κολλώμενος· τῇ πόρνῃ ἓν σῶμά ἐστι.» Λέγων δὲ ∆αυῒδ τῷ Κυρίῳ· «Ἐκολλήθη ἡ ψυχή μου ὀπίσω σου, δῆλος ἦν καὶ ἐκ τούτου ἁγνείᾳ καὶ καθαρότητι σχολάζων. «Αὐτοὶ δὲ εἰς μάτην ἐζήτησαν τὴν ψυχήν μου.» 23.612 Ἐγὼ μὲν, φησὶ, σοὶ τῷ ἐμαυτοῦ Σωτῆρι προσεῖχον, καὶ σοὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχὴν συνῆπτον, τοῖς τε σοῖς ἐμελέτων λόγοις, ἐν φυγῇ τυγχάνων, καὶ ἐν ἐρημίαις ποιούμενος τὰς διατριβάς. Οὐ γὰρ ἠμυνόμην τοὺς ἐλαύνοντάς με, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ σοὶ τῷ Θεῷ σχολάζων εὐχὰς κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἀνέπεμπον· σοὶ δὲ μόνῳ προσεῖχον, ὡς ἔφην. Οἱ δὲ οὐ διέλειπον ματαίαν σπουδὴν κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς μου ποιούμενοι· εἰς μάταιον γὰρ ἐζήτουν αὐτὴν, ἀνεύρετον αὐτοῖς οὖσαν διὰ τὸ κεκολλῆσθαι ὀπίσω σου· διόπερ τὰ περιμένοντα αὐτοὺς αὐτοὶ μὲν οὐκ ἴσασι, τὸ δὲ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον θεσπίζει. Εἶθ' ἑξῆς τούτοις προφητικῶς ἀναφωνεῖ λέγων· «Εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὰ κατώτατα τῆς γῆς.» Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὰ τῆς γῆς ἐφρόνουν καὶ τῶν κάτω γεγόνασιν, εἰκότως τἀπίχειρα πείσονται οἷς ἔδρασαν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τῷ Θεῷ συναφθεὶς, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῷ προσκολληθεὶς, ἐλπίδας ἕξει βασιλείας οὐρανῶν· οἱ δὲ τὴν ἐναντίαν δραμόντες καὶ τὰ κάτω φρονήσαντες, εἰς τὸν ἀλλαχοῦ λάκκον ὠνομασμένον καταχθέντες, ἐν τοῖς κατωτάτω τῆς γῆς ἐλεύσονται. Τέως μὲν γὰρ πᾶς