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Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged. Another, Woe is me, I have become a stranger in a distant land. These things, then, they lament concerning the captivity in Babylon; but Paul, concerning the sojourn here, says: For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened And, And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves. For the present life is a sojourning. And why do I say a sojourning, when it is a thing more insignificant even than a sojourning? Wherefore Christ also called it a way, saying: Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life. For this is the best and indeed the first lesson, to know that we are sojourners in the present life. Wherefore the ancients also confessed this, and for this reason they were especially admired. Paul also, declaring this, said in writing: For this cause God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God. What cause? Tell me. That they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims. This is the root and foundation of all virtue. For he who is a stranger to the things here will be a citizen of the things above. He who is a stranger to the things here will not linger among present things; he will not care for houses, 55.342 for money, for food, nor for any 55.342 other such thing; but just as those who sojourn in a foreign land do and busy themselves with all things for their return to their own country, and every day they hasten to see the day that bore them; so also he who loves the things to come, will neither be humbled by present sorrows, nor elated by good things, but will run past both, as one walking a road, For this very reason we are also commanded to say in prayer, Thy kingdom come, so that by turning the longing and desire for that day, and having it before our eyes, we may not even see the present things. For if the Jews, desiring Jerusalem, lament the past, even after being set free, what excuse could we have, what defense, if we are not possessed by a strong longing for the Jerusalem above? 3. See, then, how they lament their sojourn with those people, saying, I have dwelt with the tents of Kedar; my soul has long been a sojourner. For here they lament not only their sojourn in a foreign land, but also their life among barbarians. This, indeed, other prophets also did, lamenting over the present life, and saying: Woe is me, for the godly man has perished from the earth, and there is none who does right among men; and this one himself also, saying: Save me, O Lord, for the godly one has failed. For life is not only toilsome in this respect, that it has much vanity and unseasonable cares, but also because the throng of the wicked is great. And nothing is more burdensome and difficult than conversation with such people. For smoke and drought are not so accustomed to weigh down the eyes, as the company of the wicked prepares souls to be distressed. Do you not see also our Lord Jesus Christ showing the difficulty of such a life? For when He says, How long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? he says this alluding to, I have dwelt with the tents of Kedar. This is a barbarous race, disposed more beast-like toward those they have overcome, using tents and huts and having fallen to the wildness of beasts. But much more difficult than these are the rapacious, the covetous, those living in licentiousness, those in luxury. My soul has long been a sojourner. And yet it was not long; for it was only seventy years; but he calls them many not by their number, but by the difficulty of the circumstances. For even if they are few, they seem many to the afflicted. So also ought we to be disposed, even if we live few years here, to consider them many by our desire for the things to come. Saying these things, not of the

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Οἴμοι ὅτι παροικῶν παρείλκυσα. Ἄλλος, Ὢ ἐμοὶ, προσηλύτευσα ἐν μακρυσμῷ. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οὗτοι θρηνοῦσιν ὑπὲρ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τῆς ἐν Βαβυλῶνι· ὁ δὲ Παῦλος ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐνταῦθα διατριβῆς λέγων· Καὶ γὰρ οἱ ὄντες ἐν τῷ σκήνει τούτῳ, στενάζομεν βαρούμενοι Καὶ, Οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἔχοντες, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς στενάζομεν. Καὶ γὰρ παροικία ὁ παρὼν βίος. Καὶ τί λέγω παροικίαν, ὅπου γε καὶ τῆς παροικίας ἐστὶν εὐτελέστερον πρᾶγμα; Ὅθεν αὐτὴν καὶ ὁδὸν ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Χριστὸς, λέγων· Στενὴ ἡ πύλη, καὶ τεθλιμμένη ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἐπάγουσα εἰς τὴν ζωήν. Καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο ἀρίστη διδασκαλία μάλιστα καὶ ἡ πρώτη, τὸ εἰδέναι ὅτι πάροικοί ἐσμεν κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον. ∆ιὸ καὶ οἱ παλαιοὶ τοῦτο ὡμολόγουν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα ἐθαυμάσθησαν. Τοῦτο καὶ Παῦλος δηλῶν, ἔλεγε γράφων· ∆ιὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἐπαισχύνεται αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς, Θεὸς αὐτῶν καλεῖσθαι. Ποίαν αἰτίαν; εἰπέ μοι. Ὅτι ὡμολόγησαν ξένοι καὶ παρεπίδημοι εἶναι. Τοῦτο ἀρετῆς ἁπάσης ῥίζα καὶ ὑπόθεσις. Ὁ γὰρ τῶν ἐνταῦθα ξένος τῶν ἄνω πολίτης ἔσται. Ὁ τῶν ἐνταῦθα ξένος οὐκ ἐμφιλοχωρήσει τοῖς παροῦσιν· οὐκ οἰκίας ἐπιμελήσεται, 55.342 οὐ χρημάτων, οὐ τροφῆς, οὐκ ἄλλου τῶν τοιούτων 55.342 οὐδενός· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ διατρίβοντες, πάντα ποιοῦσι καὶ πραγματεύονται πρὸς τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ πατρίδι ἀποκατάστασιν, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην ἐπείγονται τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἐνεγκοῦσαν ἰδεῖν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ τῶν μελλόντων ἐρῶν, οὔτε τοῖς λυπηροῖς ταπεινωθήσεται παροῦσιν, οὔτε τοῖς χρηστοῖς ἐπαρθήσεται, ἀλλ' ἑκάτερα παραδραμεῖται, καθάπερ ὁδὸν βαδίζων, ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ κελευόμεθα λέγειν, Ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου, ἵνα τὸν πόθον καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης στρέφοντες, καὶ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτὴν ἔχοντες, μηδὲ ὁρῶμεν τὰ παρόντα. Εἰ γὰρ Ἰουδαῖοι τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπιθυμοῦντες θρηνοῦσι τὰ παρελθόντα, καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἀπαλλαγῆναι, τίνα ἂν σχοίημεν ἡμεῖς συγγνώμην, ποίαν δὲ ἀπολογίαν, μὴ σφοδρῷ κατεχόμενοι τῷ πόθῳ τῆς ἄνω Ἱερουσαλήμ; γʹ. Ὅρα γοῦν πῶς δὲ οὗτοι θρηνοῦσι τὴν μετ' ἐκείνων διατριβὴν, Κατεσκήνωσα, λέγοντες, μετὰ τῶν σκηνωμάτων Κηδάρ· πολλὰ παρῴκησεν ἡ ψυχή μου. Ἐνταῦθα γὰρ οὐ τὴν ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ διατριβὴν θρηνοῦσι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν μετὰ βαρβάρων διαγωγήν. Ὃ δὴ καὶ ἄλλοι προφῆται ἐποίουν ὑπὲρ τοῦ παρόντος βίου θρηνοῦντες, καὶ λέγοντες· Οἴμοι ὅτι ἀπόλωλεν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς εὐλαβὴς, καὶ ὁ κατορθῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐκ ἔστι· καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ οὗτος, λέγων· Σῶσόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐκλέλοιπεν ὅσιος. Οὐ γὰρ ταύτῃ μόνον ἐπίπονος ὁ βίος, ὅτι πολλὴν ἔχει τὴν ματαιότητα, καὶ ἀκαίρους φροντίδας, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ πολλὴ τῶν πονηρῶν ἡ φορά. Οὐδὲν δὲ ἐπαχθέστερον καὶ δυσκολώτερον τῆς πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους ὁμιλίας. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτω καπνὸς καὶ αὐχμὸς βαρύνειν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς εἴωθεν, ὡς ἡ τῶν πονηρῶν ὁμιλία τὰς ψυχὰς ἀλύειν παρασκευάζει. Οὐχ ὁρᾷς καὶ τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸ δυσχερὲς ἐνδεικνύμενον τῆς τοιαύτης διαγωγῆς; Καὶ γὰρ ὅταν λέγῃ, Ἕως πότε ἔσομαι μεθ' ὑμῶν; ἕως πότε ἀνέξομαι ὑμῶν; τοῦτο αἰνιττόμενος λέγει, Κατεσκήνωσα μετὰ τῶν σκηνωμάτων Κηδάρ. Βάρβαρον τοῦτο τὸ γένος ἐστὶ, θηριωδέστερον πρὸς τοὺς κεκρατημένους διακεῖσθαι, σκηναῖς καὶ καλύβαις κεχρημένων καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν θηρίων ἀγριότητα ἐκπεπτωκότων. Ἀλλὰ τούτων πολλῷ χαλεπώτεροι οἱ ἅρπαγες, οἱ πλεονέκται, οἱ ἐν ἀσελγείαις, οἱ ἐν τρυφαῖς ζῶντες. Πολλὰ παρῴκησεν ἡ ψυχή μου. Καὶ μὴν οὐ πολλά· ἑβδομήκοντα γὰρ ἔτη μόνον ἦν· ἀλλ' οὐ τῷ πλήθει αὐτὰ πολλὰ καλεῖ, ἀλλὰ τῇ δυσκολίᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων. Κἂν γὰρ ὀλίγα ᾖ, πολλὰ τοῖς θλιβομένοις φαίνεται. Οὕτω καὶ ἡμᾶς διακεῖσθαι χρὴ, κἂν ὀλίγα ἔτη ζήσωμεν ἐνταῦθα, πολλὰ νομίζειν αὐτὰ τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ τῶν μελλόντων. Ταῦτα λέγων οὐ τῆς