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most grievous. For everywhere it is possible to see fire running about, resembling some 57.462 wild beast. For if here this sensible and material fire, like a beast leaping out of the furnace, sprang upon those sitting outside, what will that fire not do to those who have fallen into it? Hear the prophets speaking about that day: The day of the Lord is incurable, full of wrath and anger. For there will be no one standing by, no one to rescue; nowhere the gentle and calm face of Christ. But just as those who work the mines are handed over to certain harsh men, and they see none of their own people, but only those set over them; so it will be then indeed; or rather, not so, but much more grievous. For here it is possible both to approach and to beseech the king, and to release the one who has been condemned; but there, no longer; for it is not permitted; but they remain being fried, and having so much pain that it is not even possible to speak of. For if no word can describe the sharp pains of those who are burned here, much more of those who suffer these things there. For here the whole thing happens in a brief moment of time; but there, that which is burned is burned, but not consumed. What then shall we do there? For I say these things to myself as well. And if you, he says, the teacher, say these things about yourself, nothing matters to me anymore. For what is surprising if I am punished? Let no one, I beseech you, seek this consolation; for this is not a comfort. For tell me, was not the devil an incorporeal power? Was he not better than men? But nevertheless he fell. Is there anyone, then, who will receive consolation from being punished with him? By no means. And what of all those in Egypt? Did they not see those in authority being punished, and every house in mourning? Did they then take breath and were they comforted from this? Certainly not; and it is clear from what they did after this, as if scourged by some flame, rising up together against the king, and forcing him to cast out the people of the Hebrews. For this argument is exceedingly cold, to think that being punished with everyone brings consolation; to say, ‘As all, so I.’ For what must one say of Gehenna? Consider for me those who are afflicted with gout, who, when they are racked by sharp pain, even if you show them ten thousand suffering worse things, they do not even take it into their mind. For the intensity of the pain does not allow the reason to have any leisure to think of others and find consolation. Let us not, therefore, be nourished by these cold hopes. For to receive consolation from the evils of one's neighbor happens in commensurate sufferings; but when the torment is overwhelming, and everything within is full of a storm, and the soul no longer even knows itself, from where will it reap consolation? 5. So all these words are a joke, and are the fables of foolish children. For this, which you say, happens in despondency, and in a commensurate despondency, when we hear that so-and-so suffered the same thing; but there are times when not even in despondency; but if it has no force there, much more in unspeakable pain and toil, which the gnashing of teeth shows. And I know that I am being burdensome and grieving you through these words; but what can I do? For I did not 57.463 wish to say these things, but to be conscious of virtue in myself and in all of you; but since most of us are in sins, who might grant me to be able truly to grieve you, and to reach the mind of the hearers? Then I would thus be at rest. But now I fear that some may despise what is said, and the punishment may become greater on account of the contempt of hearing. For not even if, when some master was threatening, one of the fellow slaves who was listening despised the threat, would the indignant one have passed him by unpunished, but this would have become for him a reason for a greater punishment. Therefore I beseech you, let us be pierced to the heart when we hear words about Gehenna. For there is nothing more pleasant than this discourse, since of the realities there is nothing more bitter. And how is it pleasant to hear about Gehenna? he says. Because it is unpleasant to fall into Gehenna, which

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χαλεπωτάτης. Πανταχοῦ γὰρ πῦρ περιτρέχον ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, ἀγρίῳ 57.462 τινὶ θηρίῳ ἐοικός. Εἰ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὸ αἰσθητὸν τοῦτο καὶ ὑλικὸν πῦρ, ὥσπερ θηρίον ἐκπηδῆσαν τῆς καμίνου, ἐφήλατο τοῖς ἔξω καθημένοις, τί οὐκ ἐργάσεται ἐκεῖνο τοὺς ἐμπεσόντας; Ἄκουσον περὶ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης λεγόντων τῶν προφητῶν· Ἡμέρα Κυρίου ἀνίατος, θυμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς πλήρης. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἔσται ὁ παριστάμενος, οὐδεὶς ὁ ἐξαιρούμενος· οὐδαμοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ πρόσωπον τὸ ἥμερον καὶ γαληνόν. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ οἱ τὰ μέταλλα ἐργαζόμενοι χαλεποῖς τισι παραδίδονται ἀνθρώποις, καὶ οὐδένα τῶν οἰκείων βλέπουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἐφεστηκότας μόνους· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τότε· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλῷ χαλεπώτερον. Ἐνταῦθα μὲν γὰρ δυνατὸν καὶ προσελθεῖν καὶ δεηθῆναι τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ λῦσαι τὸν καταδικασθέντα· ἐκεῖ δὲ οὐκέτι· οὐ γὰρ ἐφίεται· ἀλλὰ μένουσιν ἀποτηγανιζόμενοι, καὶ τοσαύτην ὀδύνην ἔχοντες, ὅσην οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν δυνατόν. Εἰ γὰρ τῶν ἐνταῦθα καιομένων τὰς δριμείας ἀλγηδόνας οὐδεὶς δύναται παραστῆσαι λόγος, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τῶν ταῦτα ἐκεῖ πασχόντων. Ἐνταῦθα μὲν γὰρ ἐν βραχείᾳ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ τὸ πᾶν γίνεται· ἐκεῖ δὲ καίεται μὲν, οὐ δαπανᾶται δὲ τὸ καιόμενον. Τί τοίνυν ποιήσομεν ἐκεῖ; Καὶ γὰρ πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν ταῦτα λέγω. Καὶ εἰ σὺ, φησὶν, ὁ διδάσκαλος, περὶ σεαυτοῦ ταῦτα λέγεις, οὐδὲν ἐμοὶ μέλει λοιπόν. Τί γὰρ θαυμαστὸν ἐμὲ κολάζεσθαι; Μὴ, παρακαλῶ, μηδεὶς ταύτην ζητείτω τὴν παραμυθίαν· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν αὕτη παραψυχή. Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι, οὐχὶ ἀσώματος δύναμις ἦν ὁ διάβολος; οὐ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βελτίων; Ἀλλ' ὅμως ἐξέπεσεν. Ἆρ' οὖν ἔστιν ὅστις παραμυθίαν ἐκ τοῦ μετ' ἐκείνου κολάζεσθαι λήψεται; Οὐδαμῶς. Τί δὲ οἱ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πάντες; οὐχὶ καὶ τοὺς ἐν ἀρχαῖς ἑώρων κολαζομένους, καὶ ἑκάστην οἰκίαν πένθος ἔχουσαν; Ἆρ' οὖν ἐντεῦθεν ἀνέπνευσαν καὶ παρεκλήθησαν; Οὐ δῆτα· καὶ δῆλον ἐξ ὧν μετὰ ταῦτα ἐποίησαν, ὥσπερ ὑπό τινος φλογὸς μαστιζόμενοι, συνεπιστάντες τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ ἀναγκάσαντες ἐκβαλεῖν τῶν Ἑβραίων τὸν δῆμον. Καὶ γὰρ σφόδρα ψυχρὸς οὗτος ὁ λόγος, τὸ νομίζειν παραμυθίαν φέρειν τὸ μετὰ πάντων κολάζεσθαι· τὸ λέγειν, ὡς πάντες καὶ ἐγώ. Τί γὰρ χρὴ λέγειν τὴν γέενναν; Ἐννόησόν μοι τοὺς ὑπὸ ποδαλγίας κατεχομένους, οἳ ὅταν ὑπὸ δριμείας ὀδύνης κατατείνωνται, κἂν μυρίους δείξῃς χαλεπώτερα πάσχοντας, οὐδ' εἰς νοῦν λαμβάνουσι. Τὸ γὰρ ἐπιτεταμένον τῆς ἀλγηδόνος οὐ συγχωρεῖ τῷ λογισμῷ σχολήν τινα ἔχειν, εἰς τὸ λογίσασθαι ἑτέρους καὶ παραμυθίαν εὑρεῖν. Μὴ τοίνυν ταῖς ψυχραῖς ταύταις ἐλπίσι τρεφώμεθα. Τὸ γὰρ δέξασθαι παραμυθίαν ἐκ τῶν τοῦ πέλας κακῶν, ἐν τοῖς συμμέτροις γίνεται τῶν παθῶν· ὅταν δὲ ὑπερέχῃ ἡ βάσανος, καὶ ζάλης ᾖ πάντα μεστὰ τὰ ἔνδον, καὶ μηδὲ ἑαυτὴν εἰδέναι ἡ ψυχὴ λοιπὸν ἔχῃ, πόθεν καρπώσεται παραμυθίαν; εʹ. Ὥστε γέλως πάντα ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα, καὶ μῦθοι παίδων ἀνοήτων εἰσίν. Τοῦτο γὰρ, ὃ λέγεις, ἐν ἀθυμίᾳ συμβαίνει, καὶ ἐν ἀθυμίᾳ συμμέτρῳ, ὅταν ἀκούσωμεν, ὅτι ὁ δεῖνα τὸ αὐτὸ ἔπαθεν· ἔστι δὲ ὅτε οὐδὲ ἐν ἀθυμίᾳ· εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖ οὐδεμίαν ἰσχὺν ἔχει, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐν ὀδύνῃ καὶ πόνῳ ἀῤῥήτῳ, ἢν ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων δείκνυσι. Καὶ οἶδα μὲν φορτικὸς ὢν καὶ λυπῶν ὑμᾶς διὰ τῶν ῥημάτων τούτων· ἀλλὰ τί πάθω; Οὐ γὰρ 57.463 ἐβουλόμην ταῦτα λέγειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐμαυτῷ καὶ πᾶσιν ὑμῖν ἀρετὴν συνειδέναι· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐν ἁμαρτήμασίν ἐσμεν οἱ πλείους, τίς ἄν μοι δοίη ἀληθῶς δυνηθῆναι λυπῆσαι ὑμᾶς, καὶ καθικέσθαι τῆς διανοίας τῶν ἀκροωμένων; Τότε ἂν οὕτως ἀνεπαυσάμην. Νῦν δὲ δέδοικα μή τινες καταφρονήσωσι τῶν λεγομένων, καὶ μείζων ἡ κόλασις διὰ τὴν ὀλιγωρίαν τῆς ἀκροάσεως γένηται. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰ, δεσπότου τινὸς ἀπειλοῦντος, τῶν συνδούλων τις ἀκούων κατεφρόνει τῆς ἀπειλῆς, ἀτιμωρητὶ παρέδραμεν ἂν αὐτὸν ὁ ἀγανακτήσας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο ὑπόθεσις αὐτῷ κολάσεως ἂν ἐγένετο μείζονος. ∆ιὸ παρακαλῶ, κατανύξωμεν ἑαυτοὺς τῶν περὶ γεέννης ἀκούοντες λόγων. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἥδιόν ἐστί τι τῆς διαλέξεως ταύτης, ἐπειδὴ τῶν πραγμάτων οὐδὲν πικρότερον. Καὶ πῶς ἡδὺ τὸ περὶ γεέννης ἀκοῦσαι; φησίν. Ἐπειδὴ ἀηδὲς τὸ εἰς γέενναν ἐμπεσεῖν, ὅπερ