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to draw near to God, to hate the world, to imagine heaven, the good things laid up for the ages but also the sorrowful things; for such a preparation would not give the mind leisure to love pleasure and be dissipated passionately here and there, but rather strengthens the heart, pierces the eyes to weep tears, to long for the departure from the body as from some burdensome prison. Let us then consider what sort of people we are and, if so, very well, but if otherwise, let us turn back, let us be cleansed; let us flee the savage dragon, the devil, the fiery darts of bitter and deadly desire. It is not pleasure, but pain, not sweetness, but gall, not good feeling, but ill will, slavery, corruption, demonic possession, an alteration of the natural state. Since, if it were good and pleasant, how does it immediately show those whom it captures to be foolish, brutish, ashamed, servile, hopeless, dissolute, liable to eternal death; so that it bewitches, driving one out of his mind and altering him, not being as the chief sorceress pretends, just as with those possessed by demons, not understanding what they are suffering, except after they recover their senses. Let us then watch, beloved, our lodgings, our conduct, where and with whom; and if it is harmful there, we must move, and if it is with one who causes scandal, he must be cut off, and if it is with no one, someone must be taken on, since being alone is accursed, so long as a compelling reason is not present. The other things must be watched, food, drink, sleep, work, so that all things are in measure, enabling the body to serve the commandments, but not making it run wild to rise up against the soul. It is a colt; if it is overfed, it is unruly, it throws down its rider, the mind. We speak of your affairs from our own, since all men have likewise received from God the reins of free will with full authority, even though there is always a war between soul and body opposing each other. Let this suffice for the discourse concerning this; but what follows? The faith, unwavering, unswerving, as I handed it down to you and received it from the saints, or rather, we both from one and the same spirit. Christ is not Christ, if he is not depicted; for to say "Christ" is at the same time to conceive the mystery of his embodiment; for the Word would not be called Christ if conceived of as naked of a body. But since the Word is flesh, it is clear that he would also be circumscribed in the flesh and in the name "4Christ"5 the property of being circumscribed has been introduced and is conceived along with it. So that those who say he is not depicted, that is, portrayed in an icon, suppose him to be without flesh and are far from the court of Christ, even if they were Peter or Paul, as Peter and Paul themselves declared for our security; not that any of the apostles or of the saints after them has said that Christ is not circumscribed in the body (far from it), as the impious say, bringing forward spurious texts. Let us hold to this sincere faith, O brothers, let us confess this good confession, in no way being carried away. Those who do not hold this are deniers of Christ; those who resist are martyrs for Christ with the Forty, with the athletic assembly from the beginning of time. Ah! For the Maccabees not to taste swine's flesh unlawfully at that time was martyrdom, and are you, dying for not denying the depicted Christ, not a martyr? John the Forerunner, for his truthful rebuke of Herod, having been beaten to death, is the adornment of martyrs, and you, dying for Christ, are not among the martyrs? Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. The one who confesses is an incontestable martyr and so much the more, inasmuch as he abounds in sufferings. Let not the prevalence of the persecution shake you; we have not yet endured for many years like the confessors before us, we have not yet been set ablaze by the lasting fire of the most approved trial; there is still lead mixed in, still a sinful wrinkle. Who are you, who enters into the depths of unsearchable judgments? What was commanded you, these things consider. God arranged for the seed promised in the blessing of God to Abraham to inherit the holy land, to be enslaved beforehand for four hundred and thirty years under the hand of Pharaoh.

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ἐγγίζειν τῷ θεῷ, μισεῖν κόσμον, φαντάζεσθαι οὐρανόν, τὰ εἰς αἰῶνας ἀποκείμενα ἀγαθὰ ἀλλ' οὖν καὶ σκυθρωπά· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν ἡ τοιαύτη παρασκευὴ δίδωσι σχολὴν τῷ νῷ φιληδονεῖν καὶ διαχεῖσθαι προσπαθῶς ὧδε κἀκεῖσε, ἀλλὰ νευροῖ μᾶλλον τὴν καρδίαν, κατανύσσει δακρυρροεῖν τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, ἐφίεσθαι τὴν ἀπὸ σώματος ἔξοδον ὡς ἔκ τινος δεσμωτηρίου ἐπαχθοῦς. σκοπῶμεν οὖν λοιπὸν ὁποῖοί ἐσμεν καί, εἰ οὕτως, εὖγε μάλα, εἰ δ' ἄλλως, ἐπαναγώμεθα, καθαιρώμεθα· φεύγωμεν τὸν ἀνήμερον δράκοντα διάβολον, τὰ πεπυρωμένα τῆς πικρᾶς καὶ θανασίμου ἐπιθυμίας βέλη. οὐκ ἔστιν ἡδονή, ἀλλ' ὀδύνη, οὐχ ἡδύτης, ἀλλὰ χολή, οὐκ εὐπάθεια, ἀλλὰ δυσμένεια, δουλεία, φθορά, δαιμονισμός, ἀλλοίωσις τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἕξεως. ἐπεί, εἰ καλὴ καὶ ἡδεῖα, πῶς οὓς ἕλῃ εὐθὺς δείκνυσι μωρούς, κτηνώδεις, ᾐσχυμμένους, δουλοπρεπεῖς, δυσελπίστους, ἐκλελυμένους, ὑποδίκους θανάτου αἰωνίου· ὥστε φαρμακεύει ἐξιστῶσα καὶ ἀλλοιοῦσα, οὐκ οὖσα ὡς ὑποτίθεται ἡ ἀρχιφάρμακος, καθάπερ τοὺς δαιμονῶντας, οὐ συνιόντας ὃ ὑφίστανται, εἰ μὴ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάνηψιν. βλέπωμεν οὖν λοιπόν, ἀγαπητοί, τὰ καταγώγια ἡμῶν, τὰς ἀναστροφὰς ποῦ καὶ μεθ' οὗ· καὶ εἰ βλαβερὸν ἐκεῖ, μεταστατέον, καὶ εἰ μετὰ σκανδαλίζοντος, ἐκκοπτέον, καὶ εἰ οὐ μεθ' οὐδενός, προσληπτέον, ἐπείπερ ἀρατὸν τὸ μεμονωμένον, ἕως ἂν ἀναγκαῖος τρόπος οὐ πάρεστιν. τηρητέον τἆλλα, τὴν βρῶσιν, τὴν πόσιν, τὸν ὕπνον, τὴν ἐργασίαν, ὡς ἂν τὰ πάντα στάθμια, δυνατοῦντα τὸ σῶμα ὑπουργεῖν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐξαγριοῦντα κατεξαναστῆναι τῆς ψυχῆς. πῶλός ἐστιν· ἐὰν ὑπερμαζῇ, ἀτακτεῖ, φέρει κάτω τὸν ἀναβάτην νοῦν. ἀφ' ἡμῶν καὶ τὰ ὑμῶν ἐξηγοροῦμεν, ἐπεὶ πάντες ἄνθρωποι τὰς ἡνίας τοῦ αὐτεξουσίου ὁμοίως πρὸς θεοῦ εἰληφότες αὐτοκρατορικῶς, κἂν ἀεὶ πόλεμος ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἀντικαθεζομένων. Ὁ μὲν δὴ περὶ τούτου λόγος ἐχέτω ταῦτα· τί δὲ τὰ ἑξῆς; ἡ πίστις ἀκλινής, ἀπερίτρεπτος, καθὼς παρέδωκα ὑμῖν καὶ παρέλαβον παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀμφότεροι ἀφ' ἑνὸς καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πνεύματος. Χριστὸς οὐ Χριστός, εἰ μὴ ἐγγράφοιτο· ἅμα γὰρ εἰπεῖν Χριστὸν ἐννοεῖν ἐστι τὸ τῆς σωματώσεως αὐτοῦ μυστήριον· οὐ γὰρ ἂν Χριστὸς λέγοιτο γυμνὸς σώματος ὁ λόγος ἐννοούμενος. ἐπεὶ δὲ σὰρξ ὁ λόγος, σαρκὶ δῆλον ὅτι καὶ περιγράφοιτο καὶ τῷ "4Χριστὸς"5 ὀνόματι καὶ τὸ τῆς περιγραφῆς συνεισήνεκται καὶ συνεπινενόηται ἰδίωμα. ὥστε οἱ μὴ λέγοντες αὐτὸν γράφεσθαι, ἤγουν εἰκονίζεσθαι, ἄσαρκον αὐτὸν ὑπολαμβάνουσιν καὶ πόρρω τῆς αὐλῆς Χριστοῦ, κἂν Πέτρος εἶεν κἂν Παῦλος, ὡς αὐτὸς Πέτρος καὶ Παῦλος ἀπέφηνεν πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν ἡμετέραν· οὐχ ὅτι τις τῶν ἀποστόλων ἢ τῶν μετ' αὐτοὺς ἁγίων εἴρηκεν μὴ περιγραφόμενον σώματι Χριστὸν (ἄπαγε), ὡς οἱ δυσσεβεῖς τὰ νόθα προφέροντες λέγουσιν. Ταύτην τὴν εἰλικρινῆ πίστιν κατέχωμεν, ὦ ἀδελφοί, τήνδε τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν ὁμολογῶμεν, μηδόλως παραφερόμενοι. ἀρνησίχριστοι οἱ μὴ οὕτως ἔχοντες· χριστομάρτυρες οἱ ἐνιστάμενοι μετὰ τῶν τεσσαράκοντα, μετὰ τῆς ἀπ' αἰῶνος ἀθλητικῆς ὁμηγύρεως. οὐά· ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἀπογεύσασθαι ὑείων κρεῶν τὸ τηνικαῦτα παρανόμως τοὺς Μακκαβαίους, μαρτύριον, καὶ σὺ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἐξαρνήσασθαι Χριστὸν ἐγγεγραμμένον πανθάνων οὐ μάρτυς; Ἰωάννης ὁ Πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἐλεγμοῦ ἀληθείας τῆς πρὸς Ἡρώδην τυμπανισθεὶς μαρτύρων διάκοσμος, καὶ σὺ οὐκ ἐν μάρτυσι θνήσκων ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ; μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατάτω κενοῖς λόγοις, δι' οὓς ἔρχεται ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας. μάρτυς ἀπαράγραπτος ὁ ὁμολογῶν καὶ τοσοῦτον, ἐφ' ὅσον καὶ πλεονάζει τοῖς παθήμασιν. μὴ σαλευέτω ὑμᾶς ἡ ἐπικράτησις τοῦ διωγμοῦ· οὔπω ἐπολυετήσαμεν κατὰ τοὺς προλαβόντας ὁμολογητάς, οὔπω ἐπυρώθημεν τῷ διαρκεῖ πυρὶ τῆς δοκιμωτάτης πείρας· ἔτι μόλιβδος ἐμμιγής, ἔτι ῥυτὶς ἁμαρτητική. σὺ τίς εἶ, ὁ ἐμβατεύων ἐν τοῖς τῶν ἀθεωρήτων κριμάτων βάθεσιν; ἃ προσετάγη σοι, ταῦτα διανοοῦ. τὸ ἐπαγγελθὲν σπέρμα ἐν εὐλογίᾳ θεοῦ Ἀβραὰμ κληρονομεῖν τὴν ἁγίαν γῆν, τετρακόσια τριάκοντα ἔτη ὑπὸ χεῖρα Φαραὼ προδεδουλῶσθαι ᾠκονόμησε θεός.