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God him; and if he gives thanks while being tempted, he receives the reward for thanksgiving. But if he is ungrateful, he is cleansed of the sins for which he is chastised; but he is exacted the penalty for his ingratitude. Then, whatever sins one commits against men, as the word has shown, (808) have many pretexts for forgiveness. For one who sins against a man, but does good to another man; the nature against which he sinned, has also made a defense. But blasphemy against the Spirit, which is unbelief, having no other pretext for forgiveness than to become faithful; reasonably for the one who has ended his life in unbelief, the sin of unbelief and godlessness will be forgiven neither here nor in the age to come.

QUESTION 27.

What does the riddle of Proverbs signify, that says: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."

Response. We have an enemy against the soul, our own body; always through the rebellion

of the passions warring against us. If, therefore, the mind of the flesh, being pressed by the conscience, hungers, that is, it longs for salvation; or thirsts for divine knowledge, it is necessary to feed it through continence and labors; and to give it drink with the study of the divine oracles. For thus are heaped upon its head, that is upon the mind, coals of fire: divine and spiritual thoughts.

QUESTION 28.

What does that which is said in the 101st Psalm signify, "I have become like a pelican of the wilderness." Response. This pelican is a bird; but the serpent, very (809) much hates the intelligible [Rrg.

the young ones] of it. But what does it devise? It fixes its nest on high, fencing it on all sides because of the serpent. What then does the evil-devising serpent do? It looks around from where the wind blows, and from there it breathes its venom upon the young ones, and they die. Then the pelican comes, and sees that its children have died; and it observes a cloud, and flies on high with its wings; and it strikes its own sides, and through the cloud it drips upon them, and they are raised. The pelican therefore is taken to be the Lord; and its children, Adam and Eve, our nature; and its nest, paradise; and the serpent, the apostate devil. The primeval evil serpent therefore breathed through disobedience upon the first-formed, and they became dead in sin. Our Lord and God, therefore, for his love toward us is lifted up on the precious cross; and having been pierced in the side, through the cloud of the Holy Spirit, he bestowed upon us eternal life.

QUESTION 29.

What is, "There the sparrows will nest?" Response. By sparrows he means either souls or the different virtues.

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αὐτόν ὁ Θεός· καί εἰ μέν εὐχαριστεῖ πειραζόμενος, τόν ἐπί τῇ εὐχαριστίᾳ μισθόν λαμβάνει. Εἰ δέ ἀχαριστεῖ, δι᾿ ἅς μέν ἁμαρτίας παιδεύεται, ἐκ τούτων καθαίρεται· τήν δέ ὑπέρ τῆς ἀχαριστίας εἰσπράττεται ποινήν. Ἔπειτα, ἅτινα εἰς ἀνθρώπους τις ἁμαρτάνει, ὡς ἔδειξεν ὁ λόγος, (808) πολλάς ἔχει προφάσεις συγχωρήσεων. Ἁμαρτάνων γάρ τις εἰς ἄνθρωπον, ἄλλον δέ ἄνθρωπον εὖ ποιῶν· εἰς ἤν φύσιν ἥμαρτεν, αὕτη καί ἀπελογίσατο. Ἡ δέ εἰς τό Πνεῦμα βλασφημία· ἔστι δέ ἡ ἀπιστία, μή ἔχουσα ἑτέραν πρόφασιν συγχωρήσεως, ἤ μή τό γενέσθαι πιστόν· εἰκότως τῷ ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ τόν βίον κατακλείσαντι, οὔτε ἐνταῦθα, οὔτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι ἀφεθήσεται τῆς ἀπιστίας καί ἀθεΐας ἡ ἁμαρτία.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΚΖ΄.

Τί δηλοῖ τό τῶν Παροιμιῶν αἴνιγμα, τό; "Ἐάν πεινᾶ ὁ ἐχθρός σου, ψώμιζε αὐτόν· ἐάν διψᾶ, πότιζε αὐτόν· τοῦτο γάρ ποιῶν, ἄνθρακας πυρός σωρεύσεις ἐπί τήν κεφαλήν αὐτοῦ."

Ἀπόκρισις. Ἐχθρόν ἔχομεν κατά τῆς ψυχῆς, τό ἡμέτερον σῶμα· ἀεί διά τῆς ἐπαναστάσεως

τῶν παθῶν πολεμοῦν ἡμᾶς. Ἐάν οὖν ἐκ τῆς συνειδήσεως πιεζόμενον τό τῆς σαρκός φρόνημα πεινᾷ, τουτέστιν ὀρέγεται σωτηρίας· ἤ διψᾷ θείαν γνῶσιν, δέον τρέφειν αὐτόν δι᾿ ἐγκρατείας καί πόνων· καί ποτίζειν τῇ μελέτῃ τῶν θείων λογίων. Οὕτως γάρ σωρεύονται ἐπί τήν κεφαλήν αὐτοῦ, τουτέστιν ἐπί τόν νοῦν, ἄνθρακες πυρός· θεῖοι καί πνευματικοί λογισμοί.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΚΗ΄.

Τί σημαίνει τό ἐν τῷ ρα΄ ψαλμῷ εἰρημένον, " Ὡμοιώθην πελεκᾶνι ἐρημικῷ." Ἀπόκρισις. Ὁ πελεκάς οὗτος ὄρνεόν ἐστιν· ὁ δέ ὄφις, πολύ (809) ἐχθραίνει τῶν νοητῶν [Rrg.

τοῖς νεοττοῖς] αὐτοῦ. Αὐτός δέ τί μηχανᾶται; Εἰς ὕψος πήγνυσι τήν καλιάν αὐτοῦ, πανταχόθεν περιφράσσων αὐτήν διά τόν ὄφιν. Τί οὖν ποιεῖ ὁ κακομήχανος ὄψις; Περισκοπεῖ ὅθεν πνέει ὁ ἄνεμος, κἀκεῖθεν ἐμφυσᾷ τοῖς νεοττοῖς τόν ἰόν αὐτοῦ, καί τελευτῶσιν. Ἔρχεται οὖν ὁ πελεκάν, καί θεωρεῖ ὅτι ἀπέθανον αὐτοῦ τά παιδία· καί σκοπεῖ νεφέλην, καί πετάται εἰς ὕψος μετά τῶν πτερύγων· τύπτει τε αὐτοῦ τάς πλευράς, καί διά τῆς νεφέλης ἐπιστάζει τούτοις, καί ἐγείρονται. Λαμβάνεται οὖν ὁ πελεκάν εἰς τόν Κύριον· τά δέ παιδία αὐτοῦ, ὁ Ἀδάμ καί ἡ Εὔα, ἡ ἡμετέρα φύσις· ἡ δέ καλιά αὐτοῦ, ὁ παράδεισος· ὁ δέ ὄφις, ὁ ἀποστάτης διάβολος. Ἐνεφύσησεν οὖν ὁ ἀρχέκακος ὄφις διά τῆς παρακοῆς τοῖς πρωτοπλάστοις, καί γεγόνασιν νεκροί τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. Ὁ γοῦν Κύριος ἡμῶν καί Θεός διά τήν πρός ἡμᾶς ἀγάπην ὑψοῦται ἐπί τοῦ τιμίου σταυροῦ· καί νυγείς τήν πλευράν, διά τῆς νεφέλης τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ζωήν ἡμῖν ἐδωρήσατο τήν αἰώνιον.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΚΘ΄.

Τί ἐστιν, " Ἐκεῖ στρουθία ἐννοσσεύσουσι;" Ἀπόκρισις. Στρουθία ἤ τάς ψυχάς, ἤ τάς διαφόρους ἀρετάς λέγει.