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For if even now sinners are cast out of the church and are completely forbidden to partake, and rather, those who are not holy are even deprived of the vision of divine things, alas, how then will they, being stained, be united to the all-blameless body of God and become members of Christ? This is not so, brothers, it will not happen at all! But those who are separated from the divine body, that is, from the church and the choir of the elect, say, where then will they go, into what kingdom, into what place, tell me, do they hope to dwell? For paradise, and the bosom of Abraham, and every place of rest is entirely for the saved; and the saved are certainly all holy, as all divine scripture testifies and teaches. For there are many mansions, but within the bridal chamber; for just as there is one heaven and in it stars differing from one another in honor and glory, so also is there one bridal chamber and one kingdom, but indeed, paradise and the holy city and every place of rest is God alone. For as a man who does not abide in God and God in him has no rest in this life, so also after death, outside of Him alone, I think, there will be no rest, no place without sorrow, no place free from groaning, or from affliction at all. Let us strive therefore, brothers, let us strive before the end (316) to cleave to God, the creator of all things, who for us wretched ones came down to earth, who bowed the heavens and was hidden from angels and dwelt in the womb of the holy Virgin and was incarnate from her unchangeably, ineffably, and came forth for the salvation of us all. And this our salvation certainly exists, as we have often said and will now say again, not we from ourselves, but the divine mouth has revealed the great light of the age to come. The kingdom of heaven has come down upon the earth, or rather the king of all things above and below has come, he wished to be made like you, so that all of us, partaking of him as of light, might be shown to be secondary lights, like indeed to the first,

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Εἰ γάρ καί νῦν ἐκβάλλονται τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἔξω καί μετασχεῖν κωλύονται ἁμαρτωλοί εἰς ἅπαν, μᾶλλον δέ καί τῆς τῶν θείων θέας ἀποστεροῦνται οἱ μή πέλοντες ἅγιοι, πῶς οἴμοι τότε ἄρα τῷ παναμώμῳ σώματι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἑνωθῶσι καί μέλη γένωνται Χριστοῦ ἐσπιλωμένοι ὄντες; Οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο, ἀδελφοί, οὐ γενήσεται ὅλως! Οἱ δέ τοῦ θείου σώματος ἤγουν τῆς ἀκκλησίας καί τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν χωριζόμενοι, λέγε, ποῦ ἄρα ἀπελεύσονται, εἰς ποίαν βασιλείαν, εἰς ποῖον τόπον, φράσον μοι, ἐλπίζουσι σκηνῶσαι; Πάντως γάρ καί παράδεισος, ὁ Ἀβραάμ τε κόλπος καί πᾶς τόπος ἀνέσεως τῶν σῳζομένων ἔστιν˙ οἱ δέ σῳζόμενοί εἰσιν ἅγιοι πάντως πάντες, ὡς πᾶσα θεία μαρτυρεῖ γραφή καί ἐκδιδάσκει. Πολλαί γάρ καί μοναί εἰσιν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐντός τοῦ νυμφῶνος˙ καθάπερ γάρ εἷς οὐρανός καί ἐν αὐτῷ ἀστέρες ἀλλήλων διαφέροντες ἐν τιμῇ τε καί δόξῃ, οὕτω καί εἷς νυμφών ἐστι καί μία βασιλεία, ἀλλά γάρ καί παράδεισος καί πόλις ἡ ἁγία καί πᾶς τόπος ἀνέσεως ὁ Θεός ἐστι μόνος. Ὡς γάρ οὐκ ἔχει ἄνεσιν ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῷ βίῳ, ὁ μή μένων ἐν τῷ Θεῷ καί Θεός ἐν αὐτῷ δέ, οὕτω καί μετά θάνατον ἐκτός ἐκείνου μόνου, οἴμαι, οὐκ ἔσται ἄνεσις, οὐ τόπος ἄνευ λύπης, οὐ στεναγμοῦ, οὐ θλίψεως ὅλως ἀπηλλαγμένος. Σπουδάσωμεν οὖν, ἀδελφοί, σπουδάσωμεν πρό τέλους (316) προσκολληθῆναι τῷ Θεῷ, τῷ ποιητῇ τῶν πάντων, τῷ κατελθόντι δι᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐπί γῆς τούς ἀθλίους, τῷ κλίναντι τούς οὐρανούς καί λαθόντι ἀγγέλους καί ἐν γαστρί σκηνώσαντι τῆς ἁγίας Παρθένου καί σαρκωθέντι ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀτρέπτως, ἀνεκφράστως καί προελθόντι εἰς ἡμῶν ἁπάντων σωτηρίαν. Ἡ σωτηρία δέ ἡμῶν αὕτη πάντως ὑπάρχει, καθώς πολλάκις εἴπομεν καί νῦν αὖθις ἐροῦμεν, οὐχί ἡμεῖς ἐξ ἑαυτῶν, ἀλλά τό θεῖον στόμα ἐπέφανε τό μέγα φῶς τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος. Ἡ βασιλεία οὐρανῶν ἐπί τῆς γῆς κατῆλθε, μᾶλλον δέ ὁ παμβασιλεύς τῶν ἄνω καί τῶν κάτω ἐλήλυθεν, ἠθέλησεν ὑμῖν ὁμοιωθῆναι, ἵν᾿ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ὡς ἐκ φωτός πάντες μεταλαβόντες φῶτα δειχθῶμεν δεύτερα, ὅμοιά γε τοῦ πρώτου,