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All these things therefore are now being done among mortals, for we all sin against one another; but he who brazenly makes merchandise of divine things and sells the grace of the Spirit, sins directly against God Himself. For he who is appointed to represent the Word ought to live just as He did and thus say to that one, “Follow me!” The foxes certainly have dens and all the birds have nests, but I, who have been deemed worthy to be a servant of Christ, have nowhere to lay my head. For he ought to have absolutely nothing of his own nor to possess anything of the world, (418) except only for the need of the body, and all other things belong to the poor and strangers and to their own church. But if, in turn, he should dare to use these things with authority for his own unseasonable expenses and to give to his relatives what belongs to strangers, and to build houses and buy fields, and to gather a multitude of slaves, woe, what a condemnation is his! This one is certainly compared to a man who has wickedly devoured the entire dowry of his own wife out of foolishness; who, then, having been seized and not having the means to give it back when the money is demanded, in addition to the loss of his own spouse is also sent to prison to be confined. Thus, therefore, shall we priests and servants be, who misuse the revenues of the churches for ourselves and our relatives and friends and care not at all for the poor, but build houses, bathhouses, monasteries, and towers, provide dowries, arrange marriages, and despise our own churches as if they were foreign, neglecting them and being separated from them for long periods of time, we who also sojourn in a foreign land leaving our own wives as widows, taking no care for them at all, while some of us, even though we persevere and dwell with them, it is not because we are held by longing for them, but only so that we may live lavishly from their incomes and squander them. (419) But concerning the beauty of the soul of the bride of Christ, which one of us priests cares? Show me one and I will be content with him.

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Ταῦτα οὖν πάντα πρός βροτούς νῦν τελοῦνται, εἰς ἀλλήλους γάρ ἁμαρτάνομεν πάντως˙ ὁ δέ τά θεῖα καπηλεύων θρασέως καί ἀπεμπολῶν τοῦ Πνεύματος τήν χάριν εἰς αὐτόν πάντως τόν Θεόν ἁμαρτάνει. Ὁ γάρ καταστάς εἰς πρόσωπον τοῦ Λόγου οὕτω βιοῦν ὀφείλει ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος καί οὕτως˙ ἀκολούθει! λέγειν ἐκείνῳ. Αἰ ἀλώπεκες ἔχουσι φωλεούς πάντως καί τά πετεινά κατασκηνώσεις πάντα, ἐγώ δ᾿ οὐκ ἔχω, τήν κεφαλήν ποῦ κλίνω, ὁ Χριστοῦ λάτρης ἠξιωμένος. Οὐδέν γάρ ὅλως αὐτός ἴδιον ἔχειν οὐδέ κεκτῆσθαι ὀφείλει τι τοῦ κόσμου, (418) εἰ μή τήν τοῦ σώματος χρείαν καί μόνον, τά δ᾿ ἄλλα πάντα τοῖς πένησι καί ξένοις καί τῇ ἑαυτῶν προσήκει ἐκκλησίᾳ. Εἰ δ᾿ αὖ τολμήσει εἰς ἰδίας ἐξόδους ἀκαίρως χρῆσθαι τούτοις μετ᾿ ἐξουσίας καί συγγενέσι τά τῶν ξένων χαρίζειν, οἴκους τε κτίζειν καί ἀγρούς ἀγοράζειν, καί ἀνδραπόδων ἐπισύρεσθαι πλῆθος, οὐαί, ὁποῖον τό κατάκριμα τούτου! Πάντως ἀνθρώπῳ παρεικάζεται οὗτος τήν τῆς ἰδίας γυναικός ὅλην προῖκα καταφαγόντι κακῶς ἐξ ἀφροσύνης˙ ὅε ἄρα κρατηθείς καί μή ἔχων τοῦ δοῦναι ταύτην ἀπαιτούμενος χρήματα πάντως πρός τῇ στερήσει τῆς ἑαυτόῦ συζύγου καί εἰς φυλακήν πέμπεται καθειρχθῆναι. Οὕτως οὖν ἐσόμεθα οἱ ἱερεῖς καί λάτραι, οἱ εἰς ἑαυτούς καί συγγενεῖς καί φίλους καταχρώμενοι ταῖς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν εἰσόδοις καί τῶν πενήτων μή φροντίζοντες ὅλως, ἀλλ᾿ οἴκους, βαλανεῖα, μοναστήρια, πύργους κτίζοντες, προικίζοντες, γάμους ποιοῦντες καί τῶν ἰδίων ἐκκλησιῶν ὡς ξένων καταφρονοῦντες καί ἀμελοῦντες τούτων καί ἐπί μακρούς χωριζόμενοι χρόνους, οἵ καί διατρίβομεν ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ χώρᾳ ἐῶντες χήρας τάς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας, πρόνοιαν αὐτῶν οὐδεμίαν ποιοῦντες, οἱ δέ καί καρτεροῦντες εἰς αὐτάς καί οἰκοῦντες, οὐχ ὄτι τούτων κρατούμεθα τῷ πόθῳ, ἀλλ᾿ ὅπως μόνον ζῶμεν ἐκ τῶν προσόδων ἀφθόνως αὐτῶν καί κατασπαταλῶμεν. (419) Περί δέ ψυχῆς κάλλους τῆς Χριστοῦ νύμφης, ποῖος ἐξ ἠμῶν τῶν ἱερέων φροντίζει; Ἕνα μοι δεῖξον καί εἰς τοῦτον ἀρκοῦμαι.