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From all sides the wrath of God surrounds us. But we, as if we were pleasing Him, are thus at ease; we all ready our hands for greed, no one for help; all for plunder, no one for protection; each one is eager to make his possessions greater, but no one to help the one in need; each one has great anxiety about how he will add to his money, but no one about how he will save his soul. One fear possesses all, lest, he says, we become poor; but that we might fall into Gehenna, no one struggles and trembles. These things are worthy of lamentations, these of slander. But I did not wish to say these things, but I am compelled by pain. Therefore, forgive me; for I am forced by grief to utter many things, even what I do not wish. I see the wound is harsh, the calamity inconsolable, the terrible things that have befallen us are greater than any consolation; we are lost. Who will give water to my head 63.887, and fountains of tears to my eyes? Let us weep, beloved, let us weep, let us groan. Perhaps there are some here who say, You always speak to us of lamentations, always of tears. I did not wish it, believe me, I did not wish it, but to go through encomiums and praises; but now is the time for these things. It is not lamenting, beloved, that is hard, but doing things worthy of lamentation; it is not wailing that is dreadful, but doing things worthy of wailing. Be not punished, and I do not mourn; do not die, and I do not weep. But if your body is in pain, you call upon all to feel pain with you, and you consider those unsympathetic who do not suffer with you; but when your soul is perishing, you say not to mourn? But I cannot; for I am a father, and a loving father. Hear what Paul cries out, My little children, for whom I am again in labor. For what mother in childbirth utters such terrible cries as he did? If only it were possible now to see the fire of his mind, and you would see that I burn more than any woman or maiden who has endured an untimely widowhood. She does not mourn her husband so, nor a father a son, as I this multitude among us. For I see no progress; everyone to slanders and accusations, no one sets himself to the work of pleasing God, but, 'Let us speak ill of so-and-so,' he says, 'and of 63.888 so-and-so; so-and-so is unworthy of the clergy, so-and-so lives immodestly.' Though we ought to mourn our own sins, we condemn others; nor, even if we were clean of sins, ought we to do this. For who makes you different? he says. What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? Why do you judge your brother, being full of countless evils? When you say, 'So-and-so is wicked and a destroyer and evil,' consider yourself, and examine your own affairs precisely, and you will repent of what you have said. For there is not, there is no such exhortation to virtue, as the remembrance of sins. If we turn these two things over in our minds, we will be able to obtain the promised goods, we will be able to cleanse and wipe ourselves clean; only let us at some time take thought, let us be anxious about the matter, beloved; let us feel pain here in our reasoning, that we may not feel pain there in punishment, but that we may enjoy the eternal goods, where pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away; that we may obtain the goods which surpass the human mind, in Christ Jesus our Lord; for to Him be the glory and the power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. 63.887 HOMILY 45. On not mourning excessively for the dead. Let us not mourn bitterly, beloved, for the dead and for those departing from here, but rather let us lament and weep for those who have ended their own life badly. Since even a farmer, when he sees the grain decomposing, does not lament, but as long as he sees it remaining solid in the ground, he is afraid and trembles; but when he sees it has decomposed, he rejoices; for the decomposition is the beginning of the future sowing. So too let us rejoice then, when the corruptible house falls, when the man is sown. And do not be surprised if he called the burial a sowing; for this sowing is better. For that one is succeeded by deaths and toils and dangers and cares, but this one, if we live rightly, by crowns and prizes; and that one by corruption and death,

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πάντοθεν ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμᾶς περιστοιχίζεται. Ἡμεῖς δὲ ὡς εὐαρεστοῦντες, οὕτως ἐσμὲν ἐν ἀδείᾳ· πάντες τὰς χεῖρας εἰς πλεονεξίαν εὐτρεπίζομεν, οὐδεὶς εἰς βοήθειαν· πάντες εἰς ἁρπαγὴν, οὐδεὶς εἰς προστασίαν· ἕκαστος πλείονα τὰ ὄντα σπουδάζει ποιῆσαι, οὐδεὶς δὲ πρὸς τὸ βοηθῆσαι τῷ δεομένῳ· ἕκαστος πῶς προσθήσει τοῖς χρήμασι, πολλὴν ἔχει τὴν μέριμναν οὐδεὶς δὲ ὅπως τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ διασώσῃ. Φόβος εἷς ἔχει πάντας, μὴ πένητες, φησὶ, γενώμεθα· μὴ εἰς γέενναν δὲ ἐμπέσωμεν, οὐδεὶς ἀγωνιᾷ καὶ τρέμει. Ταῦτα θρήνων, ταῦτα διαβολῆς ἄξια. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐβουλόμην λέγειν, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ τῆς ὀδύνης βιάζομαι. ∆ιὸ σύγγνωτε· ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦ πένθους ἀναγκάζομαι πολλὰ καὶ ἃ οὐ βούλομαι φθέγγεσθαι. Χαλεπὴν ὁρῶ τὴν πληγὴν, ἀπαραμύθητον τὴν συμφορὰν, παρακλήσεως μείζονα τὰ καταλαβόντα ἡμᾶς δεινά· ἀπολώλαμεν· Τίς δώσει τῇ κεφαλῇ 63.887 μου ὕδωρ, καὶ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου πηγὰς δακρύων; Κλαύσωμεν, ἀγαπητοὶ, κλαύσωμεν, στενάξωμεν. Τάχα τινές εἰσιν ἐνταῦθα λέγοντες, Πάντοτε θρήνους ἡμῖν λέγεις, πάντοτε δάκρυα. Οὐκ ἐβουλόμην, πιστεύσατε, οὐκ ἐβουλόμην, ἀλλ' ἐγκώμια καὶ ἐπαίνους διεξιέναι· νυνὶ δὲ τούτων ὁ καιρός. Οὐ τὸ θρηνεῖν, ἀγαπητοὶ, χαλεπὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θρήνων ἄξια ποιεῖν· οὐ τὸ ὀδύρεσθαι ἀποτρόπαιον, ἀλλὰ τὸ τὰ ὀδυρμῶν ἄξια πράττειν. Μὴ κολασθῇς, καὶ οὐ πενθῶ· μὴ ἀποθάνῃς, καὶ οὐ κλαίω. Σὺ δὲ ἂν μὲν τὸ σῶμά σου ἀλγῇ, πάντας παρακαλεῖς συναλγεῖν, καὶ ἀσυμπαθεῖς ἡγῇ τοὺς μὴ συναλγοῦντάς σοι· τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς ἀπολλυμένης, λέγεις μὴ πενθεῖν; Ἀλλ' οὐ δύναμαι· πατὴρ γάρ εἰμι, καὶ πατὴρ φιλόστοργος. Ἀκούετε οἷα βοᾷ ὁ Παῦλος, Τεκνία μου, οὓς πάλιν ὠδίνω. Ποία γὰρ μήτηρ κύουσα οὕτω δεινὰς ἀφίησι φωνὰς, ὡς ἐκεῖνος; Εἴθε ἐνῆν νῦν αὐτῆς τῆς διανοίας τὴν πυρὰν ἰδεῖν, καὶ εἶδες ἂν, ὅτι πάσης γυναικὸς καὶ κόρης χηρείαν ἄωρον ὑποστάσης πλέον καίομαι. Οὐχ οὕτως ἐκείνη τὸν ἄνδρα πενθεῖ τὸν ἑαυτῆς, οὐδὲ πατὴρ υἱὸν, ὡς ἐγὼ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦτο τὸ παρ' ἡμῖν. Οὐδεμίαν γὰρ ὁρῶ προκοπήν· πάντας εἰς διαβολὰς καὶ κατηγορίας, οὐδεὶς εἰς ἔργον τίθεται ἀρέσκειν Θεῷ, ἀλλὰ, Τὸν δεῖνα, φησὶ, λέγωμεν κακῶς, καὶ τὸν 63.888 δεῖνα· ὁ δεῖνα ἀνάξιος τοῦ κλήρου, ὁ δεῖνα ἀσόμνως βιοῖ. Ὀφείλοντες τὰ ἡμέτερα πενθεῖν, κατακρίνομεν ἑτέρους· οὐδὲ, εἰ καθαροὶ ὦμεν ἁμαρτημάτων, ὀφείλομεν τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Τίς γάρ σε διακρίνει, φησί; Τί δὲ ἔχεις, ὃ οὐκ ἔλαβες; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔλαβες, τί καυχᾶσαι ὡς μὴ λαβών; Τί δὲ κρίνεις τὸν ἀδελφόν σου μυρίων γέμων κακῶν; Ὅταν εἴπῃς, ὁ δεῖνα μοχθηρός ἐστι καὶ λυμεὼν καὶ πονηρὸς, ἐννόησον σαυτὸν, καὶ ἐξέτασον τὰ σαυτοῦ ἀκριβῶς, καὶ μεταμεληθήσῃ ἐπὶ τοῖς λεχθεῖσιν. Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν, οὐκ ἔστι πρὸς ἀρετὴν προτροπή τις τοιαύτη, οἷον ἁμαρτημάτων ἀνάμνησις Ἐὰν ταῦτα τὰ δύο στρέφωμεν παρ' ἑαυτοῖς, δυνησόμεθα τυχεῖν τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἀγαθῶν, δυνησόμεθα καθαίρειν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ ἀποσμήχειν· μόνον λάβωμεν ἔννοιάν ποτε, μεριμνήσωμεν τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἀγαπητοί· ἀλγήσωμεν ἐνταῦθα τῷ λογισμῷ, ἵνα μὴ ἀλγήσωμεν ἐκεῖ τῇ κολάσει, ἀλλ' ἵνα ἀπολαύσωμεν τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν, ἔνθα ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμός· ἵνα τύχωμεν τῶν ὑπερβαινόντων τὸν ἀνθρώπινον νοῦν ἀγαθῶν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν· ὅτι αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, ἅμα τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 63.887 ΛΟΓΟΣ ΜΕʹ. Περὶ τοῦ μὴ πενθεῖν σφοδρῶς τοὺς τελευτῶντας. Μὴ πενθῶμεν πικρῶς, ἀγαπητοὶ, τοὺς τελευτῶντας καὶ τοὺς ἐνθένδε ἀπιόντας, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον θρηνήσωμεν καὶ κλαύσωμεν τοὺς κακῶς τὸν ἑαυτῶν βίον καταλύσαντας. Ἐπεὶ καὶ γεωργὸς, ὅταν ἴδῃ τὸν σῖτον διαλυόμενον, οὐ θρηνεῖ, ἀλλ' ἕως μὲν ἂν βλέπῃ στερεὸν ἐν τῇ γῇ μένοντα, δέδοικε καὶ τρέμει· ἐπὰν δὲ ἴδῃ διαλυθέντα, χαίρει· ἀρχὴ γὰρ τῆς μελλούσης σπορᾶς ἡ διάλυσις. Οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς τότε χαίρωμεν, ὅταν πέσῃ ἡ οἰκία ἡ φθαρτὴ, ὅταν σπαρῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος. Καὶ μὴ θαυμάσῃς, εἰ σπορὰν τὴν ταφὴν ἐκάλεσε· καὶ γὰρ αὕτη βελτίων ἡ σπορά. Ἐκείνην μὲν γὰρ διαδέχονται θάνατοι καὶ πόνοι καὶ κίνδυνοι καὶ φροντίδες, ταύτην δὲ, ἂν ὀρθῶς βιῶμεν, στέφανοι καὶ βραβεῖα· καὶ τὴν μὲν φθορὰ καὶ θάνατος,