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desire. For example, the bride in the Song of Songs, having inquired about the bridegroom, where she might find him, the guards whom she asked, say this: "What is your beloved more than another beloved, O beautiful among women?"; tell of your beloved who is other than the many brethren. And she says: "My beloved is white and ruddy," he is not one, he is man and God. Then, going through his praises, she says at the end: "His throat is sweetness, he is altogether desirable." His word is sweet. You know that there are some things desirable not wholly, but they have some unpleasant things mixed in with them; for example, the drinking of sweet wine has something desirable. But when it is taken to satiety, it produces drunkenness and is not wholly desirable. Again, the sun, when seen, is sweet. But when its flame touches, it has something unpleasant. Therefore, there is nothing unpleasant about the word concerning the bridegroom; he is wholly desire, he is wholly love, according to the one who said: "My love has been crucified." But the loves of others have something painful mixed in. Therefore, just as he is "wholly desire," so too he is wholly love, and for this reason my soul, like the hart that destroys serpents, longs for God. When you see, then, a soul overcoming various pleasures, many thoughts ····· ····· ····· ····· · the old age of wickedness, the old man, is scraped away, and it puts on the new in his place, whether you wish to take it proverbially or literally. "Let a female deer and a foal of your graces associate with you." 298 Let the discourse be about a woman. The wife is a female deer in relation to her husband, if she destroys the pleasures suggested by hunters. And she is also a foal of graces; for she ought to be young in her prudence and to be a foal of graces, of virtues, so that the graces may mount upon her; for indeed the virtues themselves are often so called, according to what is written: "with a crown of graces," a crown of virtues. According to the concepts of his contests, being light and truth and righteousness, he is a multitude of graces. He does not have the multitude in his substance, but in his energies and desires. 3 My soul has thirsted for God, the strong and living. To thirst is often to receive love. So, for example, in another psalm he also says: "O God, my God, to you I rise early; my soul has thirsted for you"; for he who longs for something and asks to receive it, thirsts for it. "for God," therefore, "the living." Just as the divine men, those who are very much inspired and elevated to theology, always say, "As the Lord lives," so said Elisha: "As the Lord lives and as your soul lives." Thus your soul lives as he lives in whom you have partaken; but you indeed live thus as one who has partaken of him. It is good to consider a certain saying, which the Arians interpret badly: "As the living Father sent me, I also live because of the Father." And they took the example that: as if someone were to say that: "3as my father is rational, I too am rational, and as my father is a living being, I too am a living being"3. Since, therefore, my father is a living being, I also live through him because I am the son of a living being. Just as man is also said to be a living being through his father, since he is the son of a living being. 3 When shall I come and appear before the face of God? Men who are still in this life thirst for God as the hart for the springs of water. But they say that their desire does not stop at this point; for they are still far from God in a certain way in relation and disposition, not in place; for nothing is spatially far from God; for he "fills heaven and earth." Therefore the one who attends to him says: "Where shall I go from your spirit, and where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I descend into Hades, you are present." Those, therefore, in this life who have received a vision of the age to come thirst nobly for God, as if they see themselves far off, since indeed they are still burdened by the wickedness of the world and the weight of the world and what is corruptible. And this, since at the feasts of the Hebrews it was the custom for all to appear three times a year; for "three times

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ἐπιθυμία. αὐτίκα γοῦν ἡ νύμφη ἐν τῷ ᾄσματι τῶν ᾀσμάτων πυθομένη περὶ τοῦ νυμ̣φι´̣ου, ποῦ εὑρεῖν αὐτὸν δύναται, οἱ δορυφόροι ὧν ἐπυνθάνετο̣, λέγουσιν ὅτι· "τί ἀδελφιδὸς ὁ ἀδελφιδός σου, ἡ καλὴ ἐν γυναιξίν"; εἰπὲ τὸν σὸν τὸν ἄλλον παρὰ τοὺς πολ̣λοὺς ἀδελφούς. καὶ λέγει· "ἀδελφιδοῦς μου λευκὸς καὶ πυρρός", οὐχ εἷς ἐστιν, ἄνθρωπος καὶ θεός ἐστιν. εἶτα διεξερχομένη τὰ ἐγκ̣ώμια αὐτοῦ λε´̣γει ε᾿̣π̣ὶ τέλει· "λάρυγξ αὐτοῦ γλυκασμός, ὅλος ἐπιθυμία". ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ γλυκύς ἐστιν. οἶδας, ὅτι εἰσίν τινα̣ ἐπιθυμ̣ητὰ οὐχ ὅλα, ἀλλ' ἔχουσιν ἀηδῆ τινα παραμεμιγμένα· οἷον τοῦ γλυκέως οἴνου ἡ πόσις ἔχει ἐπιθ̣υμητόν τι. ὅταν δ̣ὲ εἰς κόρον ληφθῇ, μέθην ἐργάζεται καὶ οὔκ ἐστιν ὅλον ἐπιθυμία. π̣άλιν ὁ ἥλιος ὁρώμενος γλυκύς ἐστιν. ὅταν δὲ καθάψηται αὐτοῦ ἡ φλόξ, ἀηδὲς ἔχει τι. οὐδε`̣ν οὖν περὶ τὸν κατὰ τὸν νυμφίον λόγο̣ν ἀηδὲς ἔχει, ὅλος ἐπιθυμία ἐστίν, ὅλος ἔρως ἐστίν, κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα· "ὁ ἐμ̣ὸς ἔρως ἐσταύρωται". ἄλλων δὲ οἱ ἔρωτες ἔχουσίν τι παραμεμιγμένον ἐπίπονον. ὥσπερ οὖν "ὅλος ἐπιθυμία" ἐστίν, οὕτω καὶ ὅλος ἔρως ἐστίν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἡ κατὰ τ̣ὴν ἔλαφον ἀναιρετικὴ ὄφεων πρὸς θεόν. ὅταν ἴδῃς οὖν ψυχὴν περιγινομένην ἡδονῶν ποικίλων, πολλῶν λογισμῶν ····· ····· ····· ····· · ἀποξύεται τὸ γῆρας τῆς κακίας, τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ τὸν νέον ἐνδι̣δ̣ύσκεται ἀντ' αὐτοῦ, κἂν παροιμιωδῶς κἂν ἐπὶ ῥητοῦ αὐτὸ θέλῃς λαβεῖν. "ἔλαφος θήλεια καὶ πῶλος σῶν χαρίτων ὁμιλείτω σοι". 298 ἔστω περὶ γυναικὸς ὁ λόγος. ἡ γυνὴ ἔλαφος θήλειά ἐστιν ὡς π̣ρ̣ὸς τὸν ἄνδρα, ἐὰν ἀναιρῇ τὰς ὑποβαλλομένας ἡδονὰς ὑπὸ τῶν θηρευτῶν. ἔτι δ̣ὲ καὶ πῶλος χαρίτων ἐστίν· νέα γὰρ ὀφείλει εἶναι κατὰ τὸ σωφρονεῖν καὶ χαρίτων, τῶν ἀρετῶν, πῶλος εἶναι, ἵν' ἐπιβαίνουσιν αὐτῷ αἱ χάριτες· καὶ γὰρ πολλάκις αὐταὶ αἱ ἀρεταὶ οὕτω καλοῦνται κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· "στεφάνῳ δὲ χαρίτων", στεφάνῳ τῶν ἀρετῶν. κατὰ τὰς τῶν ἀγω´̣νων αὐτοῦ ἐπινοίας ὢν φῶς καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ δικαιοσύνη, πλῆθος χαρίτων ἐστίν. οὐ τῇ ὑποστάσει ἔχει τὸ πλῆθος, ἀλλὰ ταῖς ἐνεργείαις καὶ ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις. 3 ἐδίψησεν ἡ ψυχή μου πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὸν ἰσχυρὸν καὶ ζῶντα. τὸ διψ̣ῆσαι πολλάκις τὸ ἔρωτα λαβεῖν ἐστιν. οὕτω γοῦν καὶ ἐν ἄλλῳ ψαλμῷ λέγει· "ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός μου, πρὸς σὲ ὀρθρίζω· ἐδίψησέν σε ἡ ψυχή μου"· ὁ γὰρ ποθῶν τι καὶ αἰτούμενος ἵνα λάβῃ αὐτό, διψᾷ αὐτό. "πρὸς τὸν θεὸν" οὖν "τὸν ζῶντα". ὥσπ̣ερ οἱ θεῖοι ἄνδρες οἱ πάνυ γε πεπνευ̣ματισμένοι καὶ πρὸς θεολογίαν ἀνηγμένοι ἀεὶ λέγουσιν· "ζῇ κύριος", οὕτως ἔλεγεν ὁ Ἐλισαῖε· "ζῇ κύριος καὶ ζῇ ἡ ψυχή σου". οὕτως ζῇ ἡ ψυχή σου καθὼς ζῇ ὁ οὗ μετέσχες· ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν ὡς μετασχὼν α̣ὐτοῦ ζῇς οὕτως. εἴς τι ῥητο´̣ν, ὃ κακῶς οἱ Ἀρειανοὶ ἑρμηνεύουσιν, καλὸν θεωρῆσαι· "ὡς ἀπέστειλέν με ὁ ζῶν πατὴρ κἀγὼ ζῶ διὰ τὸν πατέρα". καὶ ἔλαβον παράδειγμα ὅτι· ὡς εἴ τις λέγοι ὅτι· "3ὡς ὁ λογικός μου πατὴρ κἀγὼ λογικός εἰμι, καὶ ὡς ὁ πατήρ μου ζῷόν ἐστιν κἀγὼ ζῷόν εἰμι"3. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ζῶον ἐστιν ὁ πατήρ μου κἀγὼ ζῶ δι' αὐτὸν διὰ τὸ ζῶντος εἶναι υἱός. ὡς καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος λέγεται ζῷον εἶναι διὰ τὸν πατέρα, ἐπεὶ ζῴου υἱός ἐστιν. 3 πότε ἥξω καὶ ὀφθήσομαι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ θεοῦ; οἱ ἔτι ἐν βίῳ τυγχάνοντες ἄνθρωποι διψῶσιν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὡς ἡ ἔλαφος ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων. οὐ μέχρι τούτου δὲ ἵστασθαι λέγουσιν ἑαυτῶν τὸν πόθον· μακρὰν γὰρ ἔτ̣ι εἰσὶν τοῦ θεοῦ τρόπον τινὰ σχέσει καὶ διαθέσει, οὐ τόπῳ· οὐδὲν δὲ τοπικῶς μακράν ἐστιν τοῦ θεοῦ· "πληροῖ" γὰρ "τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν". διὸ ο῾̣ προσχὼν αὐτῷ λέγει· "ποῦ πορευθῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματός σου καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου σου ποῦ φύγω; ἐὰν ἀναβῶ εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, σὺ εἶ ἐκεῖ· ἐὰν καταβῶ εἰς τὸν ᾅδην, πάρει". οἱ ἐν τῷ βίῳ οὖν τούτῳ θέαν λαβόντες τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος διψῶσιν γενναίως π̣ρὸς τὸν θεόν, ὥσπερ μακρὰν ἑαυτοὺς ὁρῶσιν ἅτε δὴ ἔτι ἐπηχθισμένο̣ι τὴν τοῦ κόσμου κακίαν καὶ τὸ τοῦ κόσμου βάρος καὶ τὸ φθαρτόν. καὶ τοῦτο δέ, ἐπεὶ ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς τῶν Ἑβραίων ἐ´̣θ̣ος πα῀̣σιν ἦν ὀφθῆναι τρεῖς καιροὺς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ· "τρεῖς" γὰρ "καιροὺς