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but incorruptibility and immortality and countless good things. In that sowing, there are embraces and pleasures and sleep, but in this one, only a voice coming down from heaven, and all things are brought to completion at once; and the one who rises is no longer led to a life of much toil, but to where pain and grief and groaning have fled away. And if you seek protection, and for this reason you mourn your husband, take refuge in God, the common protector and savior and benefactor of all, in the invincible alliance, in the ready help, in the enduring shelter, which is present everywhere and walls us in from every side. But companionship is longed for and lovely. I know it too; but if you entrust the passion to reason, and consider with yourself, who it is that has taken him, and that by bearing it nobly you offer your will as a sacrifice to God, you will be able to run through this wave also; and what time does not accomplish, this philosophy will do; but if you grow soft, the passion will cease with time, but it will bring you no reward. And along with these reflections, also collect examples, those in the present life, those in the divine Scriptures; consider that Abraham slaughtered his own son, and neither wept, 63.888 nor uttered a bitter word. But he, you say, was Abraham. And yet you have been called to greater contests. And Job was grieved, but only so much as is fitting for a father who loves his children and cares deeply for the departed; for what we do now is the act of enemies and foes. For if someone were carried off to a palace and crowned, and you were beating yourself and wailing, I would not say you were a friend of the one crowned, but a bitter enemy and foe. But not even now do I mourn for him, you say, but for myself. But this too is not the mark of a loving person, to wish that he were still in the contest for your own sake, and subject to the uncertainty of the future, when it is possible for him to be crowned and come to anchor, rather than being tossed on the sea, when it is possible for him to be in the harbor. But I do not know where he has gone, you say. Why do you not know, tell me? For whether he lived rightly or otherwise, it is clear where he will go. For this very reason I lament, you say, because he departed a sinner. This is an excuse and a pretext. For if for this reason you were mourning the departed, you should have formed and disciplined him while he was alive; but you everywhere consider your own interests, not his. But if he also departed a sinner, for this reason too you ought to rejoice, because his sins were cut short, and he did not add to his wickedness, and you should help, as much as is possible, not by weeping, but by prayers and supplications and alms and offerings. For these things were not devised for nothing, nor is it in vain that we make remembrance of the departed at the divine mysteries, and approach on their behalf, praying to the Lamb who lies there, who took away the sin of the world, but so that some comfort may come to them from this. Nor is it in vain that the one standing at the altar when the awful mysteries are being celebrated cries out, for all those who have fallen asleep in Christ, and for those who are making commemorations for them. For if the commemorations were not for them, these things would not have been said. For our practices are not a stage-play, God forbid; for by the ordinance of the Spirit these things are done. Let us therefore help them, and make remembrance for them. For if the sacrifice of the father 63.889 purified the children of Job, why do you doubt, if we too, when we make offerings for the departed, some comfort comes to them? For God is accustomed to grant favors to some on behalf of others; and this Paul showed, saying: That for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf. Let us not then grow weary in helping the departed, and in offering complete prayers for them. For indeed the common purification of the whole world lies there. For this reason we pray with confidence for the whole world then, and we name them with the martyrs, with the confessors, with the priests. For we are all one body, even if some members are more glorious than other members; and it is possible to gather for them pardon from all sides, from the prayers, from the gifts on their behalf, from those who are named with them. Why then are you grieved, why do you lament, when it is possible to gather so much pardon for the departed? But that you

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τὴν δὲ ἀφθαρσία καὶ ἀθανασία καὶ τὰ μυρία ἀγαθά. Ἐπ' ἐκείνης τῆς σπορᾶς συμπλοκαὶ καὶ ἡδοναὶ καὶ ὕπνος, ἐπὶ ταύτης δὲ φωνὴ μόνον ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν καταβαίνουσα, καὶ πάντα ἀθρόως τελεσφορεῖται· καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος οὐκέτι λοιπὸν ἐπὶ βίον ἄγεται πολύμοχθον, ἀλλ' ἔνθα ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμός. Εἰ δὲ καὶ προστασίαν ἐπιζητεῖς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θρηνεῖς τὸν ἄνδρα, ἐπὶ τὸν κοινὸν πάντων προστάτην καὶ σωτῆρα καὶ εὐεργέτην κατέφυγε τὸν Θεὸν, ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμαχον συμμαχίαν, ἐπὶ τὴν εὔκολον βοήθειαν, ἐπὶ τὴν διαρκῆ σκέπην, τὴν πανταχοῦ παροῦσαν καὶ πανταχόθεν ἡμᾶς τειχίζουσαν. Ἀλλ' ἡ συνήθεια ποθεινὸν καὶ ἐπέραστον. Οἶδα κἀγώ· ἀλλ' ἐὰν ἐπιτρέψῃς τῷ λογισμῷ τὸ πάθος, καὶ λογίσῃ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν, τίς ὁ λαβὼν, καὶ ὅτι γενναίως ἐνεγκὼν θυσίαν τὴν γνώμην ἀναφέρεις τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τοῦτο τὸ κῦμα δυνήσῃ διαδραμεῖν· καὶ ὅπερ ὁ χρόνος οὐκ ἐργάζεται, τοῦτο ἡ φιλοσοφία ποιήσει· ἂν δὲ καταμαλακισθῇς, λήξει μὲν τῷ χρόνῳ τὸ πάθος, σοὶ δὲ οὐδένα τὸν μισθὸν οἴσει. Μετὰ δὲ τῶν λογισμῶν τούτων καὶ παραδείγματα σύλλεγε, τὰ ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ, τὰ ἐν ταῖς θείαις Γραφαῖς· ἐννόησον ὅτι ὁ Ἀβραὰμ κατέσφαξε τὸν υἱὸν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ οὔτε ἐδάκρυσεν, 63.888 οὔτε πικρὸν ῥῆμα ἐξέβαλεν. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνος Ἀβραὰμ, φησὶν, ἦν. Καὶ μὴν σὺ ἐπὶ μείζονα ἐκλήθης σκάμματα. Ὁ δὲ Ἰὼβ ἤλγησε μὲν, τοσοῦτον δὲ, ὅσον εἰκὸς πατέρα φιλόπαιδα καὶ σφόδρα κηδόμενον τῶν ἀπελθόντων· ὡς ἅ γε νῦν ποιοῦμεν ἡμεῖς, ἐχθρῶν καὶ πολεμίων ἐστίν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ, εἴ τινος εἰς βασίλεια ἀπενεχθέντος καὶ στεφανωθέντος, ἔκοπτες σεαυτὸν καὶ ἐθρήνεις, φίλον ἄν σε τοῦ στεφανωθέντος ἔφην εἶναι, ἀλλ' ἐχθρὸν σφόδρα καὶ πολέμιον. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ νῦν ἐκεῖνον θρηνῶ, φησὶν, ἀλλ' ἐμαυτόν. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τοῦτο φιλοῦντος, τὸ θέλειν ἔτι ἐναγώνιον εἶναι ἐκεῖνον διὰ σαυτὸν, καὶ ὑποκεῖσθαι τῇ ἀδηλίᾳ τοῦ μέλλοντος, παρὸν στεφανοῦσθαι καὶ προσορμεῖν, ἢ πελάγιον σαλεύειν, ἐξὸν ἐν λιμένι εἶναι. Ἀλλ' οὐκ οἶδα ποῦ κεχώρηκε, φησί. ∆ιὰ τί οὐκ οἶδας, εἰπέ μοι; εἴτε γὰρ ὀρθῶς ἐβίου, εἴτε ἑτέρως, δῆλον ποῦ χωρήσει. ∆ι' αὐτὸ γὰρ τοῦτο κόπτομαι, φησὶν, ὅτι ἁμαρτωλὸς ἀπῆλθε. Σκῆψις ταῦτα καὶ πρόφασις. Εἰ γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἀπελθόντα ἐθρήνεις, ζῶντα διαπλάσαι ἐχρῆν καὶ ῥυθμίσαι· ἀλλὰ τὰ σαυτοῦ σὺ πανταχοῦ σκοπεῖς, οὐ τὰ ἐκείνου. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ἀπῆλθε, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δεῖ χαίρειν, ὅτι ἐνεκόπη τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, καὶ οὐ προσέθηκε τῇ κακίᾳ, καὶ βοηθεῖν, ὡς ἂν οἷόν τε ᾖ, οὐ τῷ δακρύειν, ἀλλ' εὐχαῖς καὶ ἱκετηρίαις καὶ ἐλεημοσύναις καὶ προσφοραῖς. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ταῦτα ἐπινενόηται, οὐδὲ εἰκῆ μνήμην ποιούμεθα τῶν ἀπελθόντων ἐπὶ τῶν θείων μυστηρίων, καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν προσίεμεν δεόμενοι τοῦ ἀμνοῦ τοῦ κειμένου, τοῦ λαβόντος τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου, ἀλλ' ἵνα τις αὐτοῖς ἐντεῦθεν γένηται παραμυθία· οὐδὲ μάτην ὁ παρεστὼς τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ τῶν φρικτῶν μυστηρίων τελουμένων βοᾷ, ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν ἐν Χριστῷ κεκοιμημένων, καὶ τῶν τὰς μνείας ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐπιτελούντων. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν αἱ μνεῖαι ἐγένοντο, οὐδ' ἂν ταῦτα ἐλέχθη. Οὐ γάρ ἐστι σκηνὴ τὰ ἡμέτερα, μὴ γένοιτο· Πνεύματος γὰρ διατάξει ταῦτα γίνεται. Βοηθῶμεν τοίνυν αὐτοῖς, καὶ μνείαν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἐπιτελῶμεν. Εἰ γὰρ τοὺς παῖδας τοῦ Ἰὼβ ἐκάθαιρεν ἡ τοῦ πατρὸς 63.889 θυσία, τί ἀμφιβάλλεις, εἰ καὶ ἡμῶν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀπελθόντων προσφερόντων, γίνεταί τις αὐτοῖς παραμυθία; Εἴωθε γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ἑτέροις ὑπὲρ ἑτέρων χαρίζεσθαι· καὶ τοῦτο ἐδείκνυτο ὁ Παῦλος λέγων· Ἵνα ἐν πολλῷ προσώπῳ τὸ εἰς ἡμᾶς χάρισμα διὰ πολλῶν εὐχαριστηθῇ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. Μὴ δὴ ἀποκάμωμεν τοῖς ἀπελθοῦσι βοηθοῦντες, καὶ προσφέροντες ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν εὐχὰς τελείας. Καὶ γὰρ τὸ κοινὸν τῆς οἰκουμένης κεῖται καθάρσιον. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο θαῤῥοῦντες ὑπὲρ τῆς οἰκουμένης δεόμεθα τότε καὶ μετὰ μαρτύρων αὐτοὺς καλοῦμεν, μετὰ ὁμολογητῶν, μετὰ ἱερέων. Καὶ γὰρ ἓν σῶμά ἐσμεν ἅπαντες, κἂν λαμπρότερα μέλη μελῶν· καὶ δυνατὸν πάντοθεν συγγνώμην αὐτοῖς συναγαγεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν εὐχῶν, ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν δώρων, ἀπὸ τῶν μετ' αὐτῶν καλουμένων. Τί τοίνυν ἀλγεῖς, τί δὲ θρηνεῖς, ὁπότε τοσαύτην δυνατὸν συγγνώμην συναγαγεῖν τῷ ἀπελθόντι; Ἀλλ' ὅτι σὺ