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The foxes have dens indeed and all the birds have nests, but I have nowhere to lay my head, I who have been deemed worthy to be a servant of Christ. For he ought to have or possess absolutely nothing of his own from the world, (418) except only what the body needs, but all other things belong to the poor and to strangers and to their own church. But if again he dares to use these things unseasonably for his own expenses with authority and to grant to his relatives the things meant for strangers, and to build houses and buy fields, and to gather a multitude of slaves, alas, what a condemnation is his! Indeed, such a man is compared to one who has wickedly squandered his own wife's entire dowry out of foolishness; who then, when he is seized and does not have the money to repay it when it is demanded, is, in addition to losing his own wife, also sent to prison to be confined. So then shall we be, we priests and servants, who misuse the revenues of the churches for ourselves and our relatives and friends and take no thought for the poor at all, but build houses, baths, monasteries, towers, provide dowries, arrange weddings, and despise our own churches as if they were foreign, and neglect them and are separated from them for long periods of time, we who also sojourn in a foreign land leaving our own wives as widows, taking no care of them; while others, who do persevere and dwell in them, do so not because we are held by love for them, but only so that we may live lavishly from their revenues and squander them. (419) But as for the beauty of the soul of Christ's bride, which one of us priests cares? Show me one and I will be content with him. But, woe to us, of the seventh age

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Αἰ ἀλώπεκες ἔχουσι φωλεούς πάντως καί τά πετεινά κατασκηνώσεις πάντα, ἐγώ δ᾿ οὐκ ἔχω, τήν κεφαλήν ποῦ κλίνω, ὁ Χριστοῦ λάτρης ἠξιωμένος. Οὐδέν γάρ ὅλως αὐτός ἴδιον ἔχειν οὐδέ κεκτῆσθαι ὀφείλει τι τοῦ κόσμου, (418) εἰ μή τήν τοῦ σώματος χρείαν καί μόνον, τά δ᾿ ἄλλα πάντα τοῖς πένησι καί ξένοις καί τῇ ἑαυτῶν προσήκει ἐκκλησίᾳ. Εἰ δ᾿ αὖ τολμήσει εἰς ἰδίας ἐξόδους ἀκαίρως χρῆσθαι τούτοις μετ᾿ ἐξουσίας καί συγγενέσι τά τῶν ξένων χαρίζειν, οἴκους τε κτίζειν καί ἀγρούς ἀγοράζειν, καί ἀνδραπόδων ἐπισύρεσθαι πλῆθος, οὐαί, ὁποῖον τό κατάκριμα τούτου! Πάντως ἀνθρώπῳ παρεικάζεται οὗτος τήν τῆς ἰδίας γυναικός ὅλην προῖκα καταφαγόντι κακῶς ἐξ ἀφροσύνης˙ ὅε ἄρα κρατηθείς καί μή ἔχων τοῦ δοῦναι ταύτην ἀπαιτούμενος χρήματα πάντως πρός τῇ στερήσει τῆς ἑαυτόῦ συζύγου καί εἰς φυλακήν πέμπεται καθειρχθῆναι. Οὕτως οὖν ἐσόμεθα οἱ ἱερεῖς καί λάτραι, οἱ εἰς ἑαυτούς καί συγγενεῖς καί φίλους καταχρώμενοι ταῖς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν εἰσόδοις καί τῶν πενήτων μή φροντίζοντες ὅλως, ἀλλ᾿ οἴκους, βαλανεῖα, μοναστήρια, πύργους κτίζοντες, προικίζοντες, γάμους ποιοῦντες καί τῶν ἰδίων ἐκκλησιῶν ὡς ξένων καταφρονοῦντες καί ἀμελοῦντες τούτων καί ἐπί μακρούς χωριζόμενοι χρόνους, οἵ καί διατρίβομεν ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ χώρᾳ ἐῶντες χήρας τάς ἑαυτῶν γυναῖκας, πρόνοιαν αὐτῶν οὐδεμίαν ποιοῦντες, οἱ δέ καί καρτεροῦντες εἰς αὐτάς καί οἰκοῦντες, οὐχ ὄτι τούτων κρατούμεθα τῷ πόθῳ, ἀλλ᾿ ὅπως μόνον ζῶμεν ἐκ τῶν προσόδων ἀφθόνως αὐτῶν καί κατασπαταλῶμεν. (419) Περί δέ ψυχῆς κάλλους τῆς Χριστοῦ νύμφης, ποῖος ἐξ ἠμῶν τῶν ἱερέων φροντίζει; Ἕνα μοι δεῖξον καί εἰς τοῦτον ἀρκοῦμαι. Ἀλλ᾿, οὐαί ἡμῖν, τοῦ ἑβδόμου αἰῶνος