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still pursue the divine and ineffable logos of the phenomena; and the union of its powers with the soul, and the simplicity that grasps in a unified way, according to the mind, the logos of providence.
And the unceasing sanctifying doxology of the Trisagion of the holy angels, signifies generally the equal way of life and conduct and harmony of the divine doxology of the heavenly and earthly powers, which will happen at the same time and in the same way in the age to come, the body of men having been made immortal through the resurrection, and no longer weighing down the soul by corruption, nor being weighed down; but through the change into incorruptibility having received both the power and fitness for the reception of the presence of God; but specifically, for the faithful, the theological rivalry with the angels according to faith; for those in the active life, the angelic splendor in their way of life, as far as is possible for men, and the vigor of theological hymnody; and for the gnostics, the angelic conceptions, hymns, and perpetual movements concerning the Godhead, as far as is possible for men.
And the blessed invocation of the great God and Father, and the exclamation of, One is Holy, and of what follows; and the communion of the holy and life-giving mysteries, reveals the adoption as sons, the union and intimacy, and the divine likeness and deification which will be upon all and over all the worthy through the goodness of our God; through which God Himself will be all in all to those who are saved, in like manner; as archetypal beauty, being conspicuous by cause in those who, through virtue and knowledge, are by grace likewise fittingly conspicuous in Him.
And he called them faithful and virtuous and gnostics, the beginners and the progressing and the perfect, that is, slaves and hirelings and sons: the three orders of those being saved. For slaves are the faithful who, through fear of what has been threatened, fulfill the commandments of the master, and benevolently labor at what was entrusted to them; and hirelings are those who, with a desire for the promised goods, bear with patience the burden of the day and the heat; that is, the affliction innate and conjoined to the present life from the ancestral condemnation, and the trials upon it for the sake of virtue (712); and who wisely exchange life for life by their own choice, the future for the present. And sons are those who, neither by fear of what has been threatened, nor by desire for what has been promised, but by the character and disposition of the soul's inclination and resolve toward the good, are never separated from God; like that son, to whom it was said, Child, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours; becoming this potentially by position in grace, which God is and is believed to be by nature and cause.
Let us not then fall away from the holy Church of God, which so greatly fashions our salvation for us, conducted most excellently according to the holy arrangement of the divine symbols being celebrated, analogously to itself according to Christ, and brings to manifestation the gift of adoption as sons given through holy baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is lived according to Christ; but with all power and zeal let us present ourselves worthy of the divine gifts, pleasing God through good works; not conducting ourselves like the gentiles, who do not know God, in the passion of desire; but, as the holy Apostle says, Having put to death the members that are on the earth, fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; because of which things the wrath comes upon the sons of disobedience; and all anger, and wrath and obscene talk and falsehood; and, to speak concisely, the whole old man, who is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit,
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τῶν φαινομένων ἔτι τόν θεῖον καί ἄῤῥητον μεταδιώκουσι λόγον· καί τήν πρός τήν ψυχήν τῶν αὐτῆς δυνάμεων ἕνωσιν, καί τήν κατά νοῦν ἑνοειδῶς συλλαμβάνουσαν τόν τῆς προνοίας λόγον ἁπλότητα.
Ἡ δέ τοῦ Τρισαγίου ἄπαυστος τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων ἁγιαστική δοξολογία, γενικῶς μέν σημαίνει τήν ἅμα τε καί ἐν ταὐτῷ γενησομένην κατά τόν αἰῶνα τόν μέλλοντα τῶν οὐρανίων και ἐπιγείων δυνάμεων ἴσην καί πολιτείαν καί ἀγωγήν καί συμφωνίαν τῆς θείας δοξολογίας, ἀθανατισθέντος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τοῦ σώματος διά τῆς ἀναστάσεως, καί μηκέτι βαροῦντος τήν ψυχήν τῇ φθορᾷ, καί βαρουμένου· ἀλλά διά τῆς εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν ἀλλαγῆς πρός ὑποδοχήν παρουσίας Θεοῦ λαβόντος καί δύναμιν καί ἐπιτηδειότητα· ἰδικῶς δέ, τῶν μέν πιστῶν τήν πρός ἀγγέλους κατά τήν πίστιν θεολογικήν ἄμιλλαν· τῶν δέ πρακτικῶν, τήν ἰσάγγελον, ὡς ἐφικτόν ἀνθρώποις, κατά τόν βίον λαμπρότητα, καί τήν εὐτονίαν τῆς θεολογικῆς ὑμνολογίας· τῶν δέ γνωστικῶν, τάς ἰσαγγέλους κατά τό δυνατόν ἀνθρώποις περί θεότητος νοήσεις τε καί ὑμνήσεις καί ἀεικινησίας.
Ἡ δέ μακαρία τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ καί Πατρός ἐπίκλησις, καί ἡ τοῦ, Εἷς ἅγιος, καί τῶν ἑξῆς ἐκφώνησις· καί ἡ τῶν ἁγίων καί ζωοποιῶν μυστηρίων μετάληψις, τήν ἐπί πᾶσι καί ἐπί πάντων τῶν ἀξίων ἐσομένην διά τήν ἀγαθότητα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν υἱοθεσίαν, ἕνωσίν τε καί οἰκειότητα, καί ὁμοιότητα θείαν καί θέωσιν δηλοῖ· δι᾿ ἧς πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν ἔσται τοῖς σωζομένοις αὐτός ὁ Θεός, ὁμοίως· ὡς κάλλος ἀρχέτυπον κατ᾿ αἰτίαν ἐμπρέπων τοῖς αὐτῷ δι᾿ ἀρετῆς καί γνώσεως κατά χάριν ὁμοίως συμπρέπουσι.
Πιστούς δέ καί ἐναρέτους καί γνωστικούς ἐκάλει, τούς εἰσαγομένους καί τούς προκόπτοντας καί τούς τελείους, ἤγουν δούλους καί μισθίους καί υἱούς· τάς τρεῖς τάξεις τῶν σωζομένων. ∆οῦλοι γάρ εἰσι, πιστοί, οἱ φόβῳ τῶν ἠπειλημένων ἐκπληροῦντες τοῦ δεσπότου τάς ἐντολάς, καί τοῖς πιστευθεῖσιν εὐνοϊκῶς ἐπεργαζόμενοι· μίσθιοι δέ, οἱ πόθῳ τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἀγαθῶν βαστάζοντες μεθ᾿ ὑπομονῆς τό βάρος τῆς ἡμέρας καί τόν καύσωνα· τουτέστι, τήν ἔμφυτον καί συνεζευγμένην τῇ παρούσῃ ζωῇ ἐκ τῆς προπατορικῆς καταδίκης θλῖψιν, καί τούς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ ὑπέρ (712) τῆς ἀρετῆς πειρασμούς· καί ζωῆς ζωήν σοφῶς κατ᾿ αὐθαίρετον γνώμην ἀνταλλάσσοντες, τῆς παρούσης τήν μέλλουσαν. Υἱοί δέ, οἱ μήτε φόβῳ τῶν ἠπειλημένων, μήτε πόθῳ τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων, ἀλλά τρόπῳ καί ἕξει τῆς πρός τό καλόν κατά γνώμην τῆς ψυχῆ ῥοπῆς τε καί διαθέσεως, μηδέποτε τοῦ Θεοῦ χωριζόμενοι· κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνον τόν υἱόν, πρός ὅν εἴρηται, Τέκνον, σύ πάντοτε μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ εἶ, καί τά ἐμά πάντα σά ἐστι· τοῦτο κατά τήν ἐν χάριτι θέσιν ἐνδεχομένως ὑπάρχοντες, ὅπερ ὁ Θεός κατά τήν φύσιν καί αἰτίαν καί ἔστι καί πιστεύεται.
Μή τοίνυν ἀπολειφθῶμεν τῆς ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίας, τοσαῦτα κατά τήν τῶν τελουμένων θείων συμβόλων ἁγίαν διάταξιν τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν καλῶς μάλιστα πολιτευόμενον ἀναλόγως ἑαυτῷ κατά Χριστόν δημιουργοῦσα, τό δοθέν διά τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ χάρισμα τῆς υἱοθεσίας, εἰς φανέρωσιν ἄγει κατά Χριστόν πολιτευόμενον· ἀλλά πάσῃ δυνάμει τε καί σπουδῇ παραστήσωμεν ἑαυτούς ἀξίους τῶν θείων χαρισμάτων, δι᾿ ἔργων ἀγαθῶν εὐαρεστοῦντας τῷ Θεῷ· μή ἀναστρεφόμενοι κατά τά ἔθνη, τά μή εἰδότα Θεόν, ἐν πάθει ἐπιθυμίας· ἀλλά, καθώς φησιν ὁ ἅγιος Ἀπόστολος, Νεκρώσαντες τά μέλη τά ἐπί τῆς γῆς, πορνείαν, ἀκαθαρσίαν, πάθος, ἐπιθυμίαν κακήν, καί τήν πλεονεξίαν, ἥτις ἐστίν εἰδωλολατρεία· δι᾿ ἅ ἔρχεται ἡ ὀργή ἐπί τούς υἱούς τῆς ἀπειθείας· ὀργήν τε πᾶσαν, καί θυμόν καί αἰσχρολογίαν καί ψεῦδος· καί, συντόμως εἰπεῖν, πάντα τόν παλαιόν ἄνθρωπον, τόν φθειρόμενον κατά τάς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης,