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to see all things there and to teach others, is he not insensible and therefore more than this? For as a blind man contending with those who see and saying: The coin is bronze, the seal is another's, and the letters on it declare such and such, it is truly a strange wonder to those who hear and see the coin to be of very well-minted gold and the seal to be the true one of the king, showing his unaltered image, and the inscription declaring his name, so we, suffering thus, do not think we are suffering anything, (380) nor are we ashamed before anyone or the saints themselves and the angels who from above see our affairs, but the word of the Lord is fulfilled in us, who says that: Seeing they do not see, and again: Hearing they rather stop up the ears of their soul and do not hear at all the words of the Spirit, for with fleshly ears they hear bodily; they have spiritual ears, but their hearts are veiled, and they cannot hear God at all. For they are in no way able of themselves to lift the veil of arrogance and insensibility, for they have willingly placed this on themselves, and they want their eyes and ears to be covered, and for this reason they think that they both see and hear. And if someone says to them: Listen to me, children, and lift the veil from your heart; even at these words they grow savage, because he did not call them fathers, but addressed them as children, and they acquire more hatred toward him from his words and are not able to perceive the passion that is in them, or rather, the passions that darken the mind and senses and separate from God those who have already been overtaken, who, having willingly become slaves of conceit and pride and been taken captive, always fulfill their own will. These, having abandoned the laws of God, are a law to themselves, and they worship not God but themselves, O the audacity, seeking their own glory instead of the glory of God and hastening to establish it by all deeds and means. The glory of Christ, then, is the cross and the sufferings, which he endured for us, that he might glorify us;

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βλέπειν τε πάντα τά ἐκεῖ καί τούς ἄλλους διδάσκειν, οὐχί ἀναίσθητός ἐστι καί πλέον ἄρα τούτου; Ὡς γάρ τυφλός φιλονεικῶν τούς βλέποντας καί λέγων˙ Τό νόμισμα χαλκοῦν ἐστιν, ἡ σφραγίς ἄλλου πέλει, τά ἐν αὐτῷ δέ γράμματα δηλοῖ τάδε καί τάδε, ὄντως παράδοξόν ἐστι τοῖς ἀκούουσι τέρας καί τό νόμισμα βλέπουσι χρυσοῦν εὔροιζον πάνυ καί τήν σφραγῖδα ἀληθῆ τοῦ βασιλέως οὖσαν, ἀπαραποίητον αὐτοῦ δεικνῦσαν τήν εἰκόνα, καί τήν γραφήν τό ὄνομα δηλοῦσαν τό ἐκείνου, οὕτω γε πάσχοντες ἡμεῖς οὐ δοκοῦμέν τι πάσχειν, (380) οὐδ᾿ αἰσχυνόμεθά τινα ἤ αὐτούς τούς ἁγίους καί τούς ἀγγέλους ἄνωθεν τά καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ὁρῶντας, ἀλλά πληροῦται εἰς ἡμᾶς ὁ λόγος τοῦ Κυρίου, ὁ λέγων ὅτι˙ Βλέποντες οὐ βλέπουσι, καί αὖθις˙ Ἀκούοντες τά ψυχικά ὦτα βύουσι μᾶλλον καί οὐδαμῶς ἀκούουσι τοῦ Πνεύματος τούς λόγους, καί γάρ ὠσίν ἀκούουσι σωματικῶς σαρκίνοις, ὦτα πνευματικά καρδάς δέ κεκαλυμμένα ἔχουσι καί οὐ δύνανται ὅλως Θεοῦ ἀκούειν. Οὐδαμῶς γάρ ἰσχύουσιν ἀφ᾿ ἑαυτῶν διάραι κάλυμμα τῆς ἐπάρσεως καί τῆς ἀναισθησίας, αὐτοί γάρ τοῦτο ἑαυτοῖς ἐπέθεντο θελήσει, καί βούλονται καλύπτεσθαι ὀφθαλμούς τε καί ὦτα, καί διά τοῦτο οἴονται καί βλέπειν καί ἀκούειν. Εἰ δέ γε τις ἐρεῖ αὐτοῖς˙ Ἀκούσατέ μου, τέκνα, καί ἄρατε τό κάλυμμα ἐκ τῆς ὑμῶν καρδίας˙ καί πρός αὐτά τά ῥήματα ἀγριαίνουσιν, ὅτι μή πατέρας ἐκάλεσεν, ἀλλά τέκνα προσεῖπε, καί μῖσος μᾶλλον πρός αὐτόν ἐκ τῶν λόγων προσκτῶνται καί συνιδεῖν οὐ δύνανται τό προσόν αὐτοῖς πάθος, μᾶλλον δέ πάθη τά τόν νοῦν σκοτίζοντα καί φρένας καί τοῦ Θεοῦ χωρίζοντα τούς προληφθέντας ἤδη, οἵ δοῦλοι τῆς οἰήσεως καί ὑπερηφανίας θελήσει χρηματίσαντες καί αἰχμαλωτισθέντες τό θέλημα τό ἴδιον ἀεί ἀποπληροῦσιν. Οὗτοι ἀφέντες νόμους τοῦ Θεοῦ ἑαυτοῖς εἰσι νόμος, καί οὐ Θεῷ ἀλλ᾿ ἑαυτόῖς λατρεύουσιν, ὤ τόλμης, ἀντί τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ τήν ἰδίαν ζητοῦντες καί στῆσαι ταύτην σπεύδοντες πᾶσιν ἔργοις καί τρόποις. ∆όξα οὖν πέλει τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁ σταυρός καί τά πάθη, ἅ καθυπέστη δι᾿ ἡμᾶς, ἵνα ἡμᾶς δοξάσῃ˙