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eternal. Keep the commandments that you received, incline your ear to the poor, when your hand is able to help, extend it to the one in need; the two mites of a poor widow surpassed all that was cast into the treasury. Let no oath lodge in your mouth; for the one who swears will not be saved, even if he seems to do every commandment. Visit a person in prison, so that you may be visited by the Lord. Pray with understanding and sing psalms in your heart, so that you may receive the Holy Spirit as a co-dweller. These are a few examples of love out of many, good commandments, which may we both practice and be saved in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory for ages of ages. Amen. 460 {1To Euphrosyne the abbess}1 How beautiful are the letters of your honor, both showing the sorrow at the falling asleep of the holy mother and containing the reminder of hope; for just as being entirely without sorrow and tears at the departure of those who have fallen asleep is condemned (for it is proof of insensibility), so too to be broken beyond measure by grief belongs to those who have no hope of resurrection. Come then, sister in the Lord, let us, having fulfilled our sufficient duty of mourning, come to ourselves, not that we should cast out from the heart the image of that holy woman (may it never be; for may it be in you a reminder of all consolation and governance), but that we should conduct ourselves more cheerfully and run the race of the ascetic life set before us. Your mother, therefore, did not leave you at a premature age, nor ignorant of divine things, nor inexperienced in matters of life, being in every way made sufficient by the grace of Christ, and experienced in life, and full of prudence, and rich in knowledge, and well-suited for administration, and of days completed for the life of humans. Take care then of your own safety, taking an assistant either from within, if there is one, or from without; for it is not impossible to find a woman for the entrustment of incidental and sometimes perplexing matters, the solution to which one mind is not able to give. Likewise, take care also of the governance of the sisters under your hand, leading in the Lord with all long-suffering, with sympathy, with seeking out of what is owed, neither oppressing them severely, but as a nurse cherishes her own children, longing for them, so as even to give her own soul for them, nor again relaxing completely the reins of the bridle; for this is a cause of dissolution, of disorder, and of lack of affection. You know how you acted when your mother was with you; you know that the eyes of all of them look to you as to God, seeing your face mediating for them the things pertaining to him. And if you are so, it is clear that it is owed by them to breathe nothing other than what you, the teacher, both love and command and prescribe, and simply as genuine children to a mother, as members in part to a head, as flowers to a rose garden; for to this end they have come to the same place, leaving behind the world and the things in the world, parents and brothers, relatives and friends, possessions and ties of the flesh, having loved the unmarried state and having been betrothed to Christ, so that, having lived holily and in a manner befitting virgins, they might inherit the kingdom of heaven and enter with Christ into that heavenly and ineffable bridal chamber. Such for them and for you, lady, is the contest and profession, to this let us attend, in this let us move and live, not looking here and there, that this monastery is so and that other monastery is so. This is harmful; one must measure oneself by the commandment, and not by one's neighbors. For from this one does not come to walk uprightly nor to proceed in a manner worthy of God, since the present generation is both negligent, having departed from the strict life, and to be regulated by it is stale and unprofitable; let us look there, where the holy life is, where pleasing the Lord has shone forth. Do you see, sister and spiritual mother, how love according to God has compelled me to speak freely to you? I would not have intended to do more, if I were to converse with my own mother and with my sisters according to the flesh; except that we are all a body

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αἰωνίου. τὰς ἐντολάς, ἃς ἔλαβες, φύλαττε, κλῖνον πτωχῷ τὸ οὖς σου, ἡνίκα ἔχει ἡ χείρ σου βοηθεῖν, ὄρεξον τῷ δεομένῳ· δύο λεπτὰ χήρας πτωχῆς ὑπερηκόντισαν πάντων τῶν ἐν τῷ γαζοφυλακίῳ ἐμβεβλημένων. ὅρκος ἐν τῷ στόματί σου μὴ αὐλιζέσθω· ὁ γὰρ ὀμνύων οὐ σωθήσεται, κἂν δοκῇ πᾶσαν ἐντολὴν ποιεῖν. ἐπι σκέπτου ἄνθρωπον ἐν φυλακῇ, ἵνα ἐπισκεφθῇς ὑπὸ Κυρίου. προσεύχου συνετῶς καὶ ψάλλε ἐν καρδίᾳ, ἵνα τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον ὑποδέξῃ σύνοικον. Ταῦτα ἐκ πολλῶν ὀλίγα δείγματα ἀγάπης, ἐντολαὶ ἀγαθαί, ἃς ἀμφότεροι πράξοιμεν καὶ σωθείημεν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ἀμήν. 460 {1Εὐφροσύνῃ ἡγουμένῃ}1 Ὡς καλὰ τὰ γράμματα τῆς τιμιότητός σου, καὶ τὸ λυπηρὸν ἐπιδεικνύμενα τῆς ἐπὶ τῇ ὁσίᾳ μητρὶ κοιμήσεως καὶ τὸ ὑπομνηστικὸν τῆς ἐλπίδος ἔχοντα· ὡς γὰρ τὸ πάντῃ ἄλυπον καὶ ἄδακρυ ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν κεκοιμημένων διαζεύξει κατηγορεῖται (ἀναισθησίας γὰρ τεκμήριον), οὕτω τὸ πέραν τοῦ μέτρου πάλιν κατακλᾶσθαι τῇ λύπῃ τῶν μὴ ἐχόντων ἐστὶν ἐλπίδα ἀναστάσεως. δεῦρο λοιπόν, ἀδελφὴ ἐν Κυρίῳ, τὸ ἱκανὸν τοῦ πένθους ἀφοσιωσάμενοι εἰς ἑαυτοὺς γενώμεθα, οὐχ ὅτι ἐκβαλεῖν τῆς καρδίας τὸ ἴνδαλμα τῆς ἁγίας ἐκείνης (μή τι γένοιτο· εἴη γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν ὑπόμνημα πάσης παρακλήσεως καὶ διακυβερνήσεως), ἀλλὰ τὸ ἄγεσθαι εὐθυμότερον καὶ διανύειν τὸν προκείμενον ἀγῶνα τῆς ἀσκήσεως. οὐκ εἴασεν οὖν σε ἐν ἀώρῳ ἡλικίᾳ ἡ μήτηρ οὐδ' ἀμαθῆ τῶν θείων οὐδ' ἄπειρον τῶν ἐν βίῳ, πάντοθεν χάριτι Χριστοῦ ἱκανουμένην καὶ βίου ἔμπειρον καὶ φρονήσεως ἔμπλεων καὶ γνώσεως εὔπορον καὶ διοικήσεως εὔθετον καὶ ἡμερῶν ἀπηρτισμένων τῇ ζωῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ἔχου δὴ τῆς οἰκείας ἀσφαλείας, λαμβάνουσα βοηθὸν εἴτε οἴκοθεν, ἄνπερ καὶ ἔστιν, εἴτε ἔξωθεν· οὐκ ἄπορον γὰρ εὑρεῖν γυναῖκα ἐπ' ἀναθέσει τῶν συμπιπτόντων ἔστιν ὅτε δυστεκμάρτων πραγμάτων, ὧν τὴν λύσιν εἷς νοῦς οὐχ οἷός τέ ἐστι δοῦναι. ἔχου δὴ ὁμοίως καὶ τῆς κυβερνήσεως τῶν ὑπὸ χεῖρα ἀδελφῶν, καθηγουμένη ἐν Κυρίῳ μετὰ πάσης μακροθυμίας, μετὰ συμπαθείας, μετὰ ἐκζητήσεως τῶν ὀφειλομένων, μήτε καταπιέζουσα σφοδρῶς, ἀλλ' ὡς ἂν τροφὸς θάλπῃ τὰ ἑαυτῆς τέκνα τὰ κατ' αὐτὰς ὀμειρομένη, ὡς καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν προέσθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, μηδ' αὖ ἀνεῖσα ὁλικῶς τὰς ἡνίας τοῦ χαλινοῦ· αἴτιον γὰρ τοῦτο διαλύσεως, ἀταξίας τε καὶ ἀφιλοτεκνίας. οἶδας ὅπως συνούσης τῆς μητρὸς ἐποίεις· οἶδας ὅτι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ πασῶν αὐτῶν εἰς σὲ ἀποβλέπουσιν ὡς εἰς θεόν, ὁρῶσαι τὸ πρόσωπόν σου μεσιτεῦον αὐταῖς τὰ πρὸς αὐτόν. εἰ δὲ αὐτὴ οὕτως, δῆλον ὅτι κἀκείναις ὀφειλόμενόν ἐστιν ἄλλο μηδὲν ἀναπνεῖν ἢ ὅπερ σὺ ἡ διδάσκαλος καὶ ἐρᾷς καὶ ἐντέλλῃ καὶ διαγορεύεις, καὶ ἁπλῶς ὡς τέκνα γνήσια πρὸς μητέρα, ὡς μέλη ἐκ μέρους πρὸς κεφαλήν, ὡς ἄνθη πρὸς ῥοδωνίαν· ἐπὶ τούτῳ γὰρ καὶ ἐληλύθεισαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, καταλιποῦσαι κόσμον καὶ τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ, γονεῖς τε καὶ ἀδελφούς, οἰκείους καὶ φίλους, ὑπάρξεις τε καὶ σχέσεις σαρκός, ἀζυγίαν ἀγαπήσασαι καὶ Χριστῷ νυμφευσάμεναι, ἵνα ὁσίως καὶ παρθενοπρεπῶς ζήσασαι κληρομήσωσι βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν καὶ τὸ μετὰ Χριστοῦ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν οὐράνιον ἐκεῖνον καὶ ἀνεκλάλητον νυμφῶνα. Τοιοῦτον καὶ αὐταῖς καὶ σοί, κυρία, τὸ ἀγώνισμα καὶ ἐπάγγελμα, τούτῳ καὶ προσέχωμεν, ἐν τούτῳ καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ διαζῶμεν, μὴ ἀποβλέπουσαι ὧδέ τε κἀκεῖ, ὅτι οὕτως ἐκεῖνο τὸ μοναστήριον καὶ οὕτως τὸ ἄλλο μοναστήριον. βλαβερὸν τοῦτο· τῇ ἐντολῇ δεῖν παραμετρεῖν ἑαυτούς, ἀλλὰ μὴ τοῖς πέλας. ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ οὐκ ἔρχεταί τις εἰς τὸ ὀρθοποδεῖν οὐδὲ θεοπρεπῶς πορεύεσθαι, ἐπειδὴ ἡ παροῦσα γενεὰ καὶ ὀλίγωρός ἐστιν, ἐκλελοιπυῖα τοῦ ἠκριβωμένου βίου, καὶ τὸ ἀπ' αὐτῆς κανονίζεσθαι ἕωλον καὶ ἀλυσιτελές· ἐκεῖ σκοπῶμεν, οὗ ὁ ἱερὸς βίος, ἔνθα ἔλαμψεν ἡ εὐαρέστησις Κυρίῳ. Ὁρᾷς, ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ πνευματική, ὅπως με ἠνάγκασεν ἡ κατὰ θεὸν ἀγάπη παρρησιασθῆναι ἐν ὑμῖν; οὐδὲν πλέον ἔμελλον ἂν ποιεῖν, εἰ πρὸς μητέρα τὴν ἐμὴν καὶ πρὸς ἀδελφὰς κατὰ σάρκα ἦν μοι διαλέγεσθαι· πλὴν ὅτι πάντες σῶμά ἐσμεν