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having transcended the letter, let it be referred with prudence; in which exists the fullness of good things, and the hidden treasures of knowledge and wisdom; of which if anyone is revealed to be worthy to be within, he will find God Himself inscribed on the tablets of the heart through the grace in the Spirit, beholding with unveiled face the glory of God by the removal of the veil according to the letter.

CHAPTER 8.

Of what things the first entrance of the holy synaxis and the things performed after it are symbols.

Our discourse now arrives, after the brief exposition by the blessed elder of the aforementioned contemplations concerning the holy church, to make, as far as possible, an even briefer narrative concerning the holy synaxis of the Church. He taught, therefore, that the first entrance of the bishop into the holy Church during the sacred synaxis bears the type and image of the first coming through the flesh into this world of the Son of God and our Savior Christ; by which He freed and redeemed the nature of men, which had been enslaved to corruption and had suffered death by itself through sin, and was tyrannically ruled by the devil; He who was not responsible and sinless, paying every debt on its behalf as if He were responsible, led it back again to the grace of the kingdom from the beginning, giving Himself as a ransom and an exchange for us; and giving His life-giving passion in exchange for our corrupting passions, a healing remedy and salvation for the whole world; after which coming, His ascension into heaven and restoration to the super-celestial throne is symbolically prefigured through the entrance of the bishop into the sanctuary, and the ascent to the episcopal throne.

CHAPTER 9.

What the entrance of the people into the holy Church of God also signifies. And the entrance of the people into the Church taking place with the hierarch, the from

ignorance and error (689) the conversion of unbelievers to the full knowledge of God, and the change of believers from vice and ignorance to virtue and knowledge, the blessed elder said it signifies. For the entrance into the church not only signifies the conversion of unbelievers to the true God; but also the correction through repentance of each one of us who believe, but reject the commandments of the Lord through a conduct of an intemperate and unseemly life. For every man, whether a murderer, or adulterer, or thief, or proud, or boastful, or insolent, or covetous, or avaricious, or slanderous, or resentful, or easily led to temper and anger, or a reviler, or a calumniator, or a whisperer, or easily overcome by envy, or a drunkard; and simply, so as not to lengthen the discourse by enumerating all the kinds of vice, whoever is possessed by any vice, should cease from being willingly possessed by habit and from acting with intention, and should change his life for the better, choosing virtue instead of vice; such a one may be properly and truly understood and said to enter together with Christ the God and high priest into virtue, which is tropically understood as the Church.

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ὑπερβάς τό γράμμα, σωφρόνως ἀναφερέσθω· ἐν ᾧ τό πλήρωμα ὑπάρχειν τῶν ἀγαθῶν, καί οἱ θησαυροί τῆς γνώσεως καί τῆς σοφίας ἀπόκρυφοι· ὧν εἴ τις ἐντός ἄξιος γενέσθαι φανήσεται, τόν Θεόν αὐτόν εὑρήσει ταῖς πλαξί τῆς καρδίας ἐγγεγραμμένον διά τῆς ἐν πνεύματι χάριτος, ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξαν ἐνοπτριζόμενος τῇ περιαιρέσει τοῦ κατά γράμμα καλύμματος.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. Η´.

Τίνων εἰσί σύμβολα, ἥ τε πρώτη τῆς ἁγίας συνάξεως εἴσοδος, καί τά μετ᾿ αὐτήν τελούμενα.

Ἥκει δέ λοιπόν ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν, μετά τήν σύντομον ἔκθεσιν τῶν εἰρημένων περί τῆς ἁγίας ἐκκλησίας θεωριῶν παρά τοῦ μακαρίου γέροντος, συντομωτέραν καί τήν περί τῆς ἁγίας τῆς Ἐκκλησίας συνάξεως διήγησιν, ὡς οἷόν τε, ποιησόμενος. Τήν μέν οὖν πρώτην εἰς τήν ἁγίαν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ ἀρχιερέως κατά τήν ἱεράν σύναξιν εἴσοδον, τῆς πρώτης τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ διά σαρκός εἰς τόν κόσμον τοῦτον παρουσίας τύπον καί εἰκόνα φέρειν, ἐδίδασκε· δι᾿ ἧς τήν δουλωθεῖσαν τῇ φθορᾷ καί παθοῦσαν ὑφ᾿ ἑαυτῆς τῷ θανάτῳ δά τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καί βασιλευομένην τυραννικῶς ὑπό τοῦ διαβόλου τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσιν ἐλευθερώσας τε καί λυτρωσάμενος· πᾶσαν τήν ὑπέρ αὐτῆς ὀφειλήν, ὡς ὑπεύθυνος ἀποδούς ὁ ἀνεύθυνος καί ἀναμάρτητος, πάλιν πρός τήν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπανήγαγε τῆς βασιλείας χάριν, ἑαυτόν λύτρον ὑπέρ ἡμῶν δούς καί ἀντάλλαγμα· καί τῶν ἡμετέρων φθοροποιῶν παθημάτων τό ζωοποιόν αὐτοῦ πάθος ἀντιδούς, παιώνιον ἄκος καί παντός τοῦ κόσμου σωτήριον· μεθ᾿ ἥν παρουσίαν, ἡ εἰς οὐρανούς αὐτοῦ καί τόν ὑπερουράνιον θρόνον ἀνάβασίς τε καί ἀποκατάστασις συμβολικῶς τυποῦται, διά τῆς ἐν τῷ ἱερατείῳ τοῦ ἀρχειρέως εἰσόδου, καί τῆς εἰς τόν θρόνον τόν ἱερατικόν ἀναβάσεως.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. Θ´.

Τίνος ἔχει δήλωσιν καί ἡ τοῦ λαοῦ εἰς τήν ἁγίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίαν εἴσοδος. Τήν δέ τοῦ λαοῦ σύν τῷ ἱεράρχῃ γενομένην εἰς τήν Ἐκκλησίαν εἴσοδον, τήν ἐξ

ἀγνοίας καί πλάνης (689) εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν Θεοῦ ἐπιστροφήν τῶν ἀπίστων, καί τήν ἀπό κακίας καί ἀγνωσία εἰς ἀρετήν καί γνῶσιν, μετάθεσιν τῶν πιστῶν σημαίνειν, ὁ μακάριος ἔλεγε γέρων. Οὐ γάρ μόνον τήν ἐπί τόν ἀληθινόν Θεός ἐπιστροφήν τῶν ἀπίστων ἡ εἰς τήν ἐκκλησίαν εἴσοδος παραδηλοῖ· ἀλλά καί ἑκάστου ἡμῖν τῶν πιστευόντων μέν, ἀθετούντων δέ τάς ἐντολάς τοῦ κυρίου δι᾿ ἀγωγῆς ἀκολάστου καί ἀσχήμονος βίου, τήν διά μετανοίας διόρθωσιν. Πᾶς γάρ ἄνθρωπος, εἴτε φονεύς, εἴτε μοιχός, εἴτε κλέπτης, εἴτε ὑπερήφανος, εἴτε ἀλαζών, ἤ ὑβριστής, ἤ πλεονέκτης, ἤ φιλάργυρος, ἤ κατάλαλος, ἤ μνησίακακος, ἤ πρός θυμόν καί ὀργήν εὐάγωγος, ἤ λοίδορος, ἤ συκοφάντης, ἤ ψίθυρος, ἤ φθόνῳ εὐχείρωτος, ἤ μέθυσος· καί ἁπλῶς, ἵνα μή πάντα τά τῆς κακίας εἴδη ἀπαριθμούμενος μηκύνω τόν λόγον, ὅστις ὑφ᾿ οἱασδήποτε κακίας ἐνεχόμενος, ἐπόν τοῦ ἑκουσίως κατ᾿ ἐπιτήδευσιν ἐνέχεσθαι καί ἐνεργεῖν κατά πρόθεσιν παύσοιτο, καί μεταβαλοῖ τόν βίον ἐπί τό κρεῖττον, τῆς κακίας τήν ἀρετήν ἀνθαιρούμενος· ὁ τοιοῦτος κυρίως τε καί ἀληθῶς Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ καί ἀρχιερεῖ νοείσθω τε καί λεγέσθω συνεισιέναι εἰς τήν ἀρετήν, Ἐκκλησίαν τροπικῶς νοουμένην.