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by the fulfillment of the Father's will making us fellow-worshippers with the angels, revealing by our conduct in life the heavenly good pleasure in a way easy to imitate; and from there again leading us on the highest ascent of divine things to the Father of lights, and making us partakers of the divine nature, by the participation in the Spirit according to grace, according to which we might be called children of God, He Himself [marg. Fr. Listen, Nilus] the author of this grace, and the Son of the Father by nature, whom we wholly, without circumscription, immaculately bear; from whom, and through whom, and in whom we have and shall have our being and movement and life.

Let the aim of our prayer be looking to this mystery of deification, that we may know, (908) from what sort of beings, into what sort of beings the emptying of the Only-Begotten through the flesh has made us; and from where to where, those who had taken the lowest place of all, to which the weight of sin had thrust us down, he has raised up by the power of a philanthropic hand; and that we may love more the one who so wisely prepared this salvation for us; and through what we do, let us show the prayer being fulfilled, and let us be seen proclaiming God as truly Father by grace; but not through the passions of dishonor, the evil one who always tyrannically attempts to dominate our nature, may we be clearly shown to have him as the father of our life, and may we not unknowingly exchange life for death; since each of them [marg. that is, God, and the devil] is wont to impart his own qualities to those who approach him; the one, granting eternal life to those who love him; the other, producing death in those who draw near by the suggestion of voluntary temptations.

For according to Scripture, the manner of temptations is twofold: the one, pleasant, the other, painful; and the one, voluntary, the other, involuntary. And the one is the begetter of sin, which we were commanded to pray not to enter, according to the Lord's teaching, who said: And lead us not into temptation. And, Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation; the other, the punisher of sin, chastising the sin-loving disposition with involuntary inflictions of pains; which if anyone endures, and especially one not pierced with the nails of wickedness, he will hear the great James crying out plainly: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, because the testing of your faith produces endurance; and endurance, proven character; and let proven character have its perfect work. And both temptations, the voluntary and the involuntary, the evil one maliciously attends; the one, by sowing and provoking the soul with the pleasures of the body, contriving to turn away the desire for divine love; the other he sophistically asks for, wishing to corrupt nature through pain, that he may compel the soul, cast down by the weakness of its pains, to move its thoughts toward slander against the creator.

But we, having recognized the intentions of the evil one, let us pray to be delivered from voluntary temptation, that we may not turn away the desire for divine love; and let us nobly endure involuntary temptation when it comes by God's permission, that we may be seen to have honored the creator of nature above nature. And may it be that all of us who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, be delivered from the present pleasures of the evil one, by participation in the substance according to the form of the good things to come (909), which has been revealed to us in Christ Himself our Lord, who alone with the Father and the Holy Spirit is glorified by all creation. Amen.

SCHOLIA. a. Fr. In God, counsel and will are the same. b. The reason, he says, which by nature is free from praise and blame, renders impassible

the one who chooses to live by reason alone; persuading him to separate from the corrupting things of the

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τῇ πληρώσει τοῦ Πατρικοῦ θελήματος τοῖς ἀγγέλοις ὁμολάτρας ἡμᾶς καθιστῶντος, τῇ κατά τόν βίον ἀγωγῇ τήν ἐπουράνιον εὐμιμήτως ἐμφαίνοντας εὐαρέστησιν· κἀκεῖθεν πάλιν ἐπί τήν ἀκροτάτην τῶν θείων ἀνάβασιν πρός τόν Πατέρα τῶν φώτων ἐνάγοντος, καί θείας ἀπεργαζομένου φύσεως κοινωνούς, τῇ κατά χάριν μεθέξει τοῦ Πνεύματος, καθ᾿ ἥν τέκνα Θεοῦ χρηματίσωμεν, αὐτόν τόν [marg. Fr. Ἄκουε, Νεῖλε] ταύτης αὐτουργόν τῆς χάριτος, καί κατά φύσιν τοῦ Πατρός Υἱόν, ὅλον ὅλοι δίχα περιγραφῆς ἀχράντως περικομίζοντες· ἐξ οὗ, καί δι᾿ οὗ, καί ἐν ᾧ τό εἶναί τε καί κινεῖσθαι, καί ζῇν ἔχομέν τε καί ἔξομεν.

Πρός τοῦτο δέ τῆς θεώσεως τό μυστήριον βλέπων ἡμῖν ἔστω τῆς προσευχῆς ὁ σκοπός, ἵνα γνῶμεν, (908) ἀνθ᾿ οἵων, οἵους ἡμᾶς ἡ διά σαρκός κένωσις τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἀπειργάσατο· καί πόθεν, ποῦ, τούς τό κατώτατον τοῦ παντός εἰληφότας χωρίον, εἰς ὅπερ ἡμᾶς τό τῆς ἁμαρτίας βάρος κατέωσε, δυνάμει φιλανθρώπου χειρός ἀνεβίβασε· καί πλέον ἀγαπήσωμεν τόν ταύτην οὕτω σοφῶς ἡμῖν τήν σωτηρίαν ἑτοιμασάμενον· καί δι᾿ ὧν πράττομεν, δείξωμεν τήν προσευχήν πληρουμένην, καί τόν ἀληθῶς κατά χάριν Πατέρα Θεόν φανῶμεν κηρύττοντες· ἀλλά μή διά τῶν παθῶν τῆς ἀτιμίας, τό ἀεί τυραννικῶς δεσπόζειν ἐπιχειροῦντα τῆς φύσεως πονηρόν, ἔχοντες τοῦ βίου πατέρα σαφῶς ἀποδειχθῶμεν, καί λάθωμεν ζωῆς ἀντικαταλλάτοντες θάνατον· ἐπειδήπερ τῶν προσόντων ἑκάτερος [marg. ὁ Θεός δηλονότι, καί ὁ διάβολος] τοῖς προσχωροῦσι ποιεῖσθαι μετάδοσιν πέφυκεν· ὁ μέν, ἀΐδιον ζωήν τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν χορηγῶν· ὁ δέ, θάνατον τῇ τῶν ἑκουσίων ὑποβολῇ πειρασμῶν τοῖς ἐγγίζουσιν ἐμποιῶν.

∆ιττός γάρ κατά τήν Γραφήν τῶν πειρασμῶν ὁ τρόπος· ὁ μέν, ἡδονικός, ὁ δέ, ὀδυνηρός· καί ὁ μέν προαιρετικός, ὁ δέ ἀπροαίρετος. Καί ὁ μέν τῆς ἁμαρτίας γεννήτωρ, εἰς ὅν εἰσελθεῖν, κατά τήν τοῦ Κυρίου διδαχήν, ἀπεύχεσθαι προσετάγημεν, φάσκοντος· Καί μή εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν. Καί, Γρηγορεῖτε, καί προσεύχεσθε, ἵνα μή εἰσέλθητε εἰς πειρασμόν· ὁ δέ, τῆς ἁμαρτίας τιμωρός, ἀκουσίοις πόνων ἐπιφοραῖς τήν φιλαμαρτήμονα κολάζων διάθεσιν· ὅν εἴ τις ὑπομείνῃ, καί μάλιστα κακίας ἥλοις οὐκ ἐμπεπαρμένος, ἀκούσεται τοῦ μεγάλου διαῤῥήδην βοῶντος Ἰακώβου· Πᾶσαν χαράν ἡγήσασθε, ἀδελφοί μου, ὅταν πειρασμοῖς περιπέσητε ποικίλοις, ὅτι τό δοκίμιον ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως ὑπομονήν κατεργάζεται· ἡ δέ ὑπομονή, δοκιμήν· ἡ δέ δοκιμή, ἔργον τέλειον ἐχέτω. Ἀμφοτέρους δέ τούς πειρασμούς, τόν ἑκούσιόν τε καί τόν ἀκούσιον, περιέπει κακούργως ὁ πονηρός· τό μέν, σπείρων καί διερεθίζων τήν ψυχήν ἡδοναῖς σώματος, ἀποστῆσαι τῆς θείας ἀγάπης τήν ἔφεσιν μηχανώμενος· τόν δέ σοφιστικῶς ἐξαιτεῖται, δι᾿ ὀδύνης φθεῖραι τήν φύσιν βουλόμενος, ἵνα βιάσηται τήν ψυχήν, ἀτονίᾳ πόνων καταβληθεῖσαν, πρός τήν τοῦ κτίσαντος διαβολήν κινῆσαι τούς λογισμούς.

Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπεγνωκότες ἡμεῖς τοῦ πονηροῦ τά νοήματα, τόν μέν ἑκούσιον ἀπευξώμεθα πειρασμόν, ἵνα μή τῆς θείας ἀγάπης τήν ἔφεσιν ἀποστήσωμεν· τόν δέ ἀκούσιον ἐπερχόμενον συγχωρήσει Θεοῦ γενναίως ὑπομείνωμεν, ἵνα φανῶμεν προτετιμηκότες τῆς φύσεως, τόν κτίστην τῆς φύσεως. Γένοιτο δέ πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπικαλουμένους τό ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου ἠμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τῶν τε νῦν ἡδέων τοῦ πονηροῦ λυτρωθῆναι, τῇ μεθέξει τῆς κατ᾿ εἶδος τῶν μελλόντων (909) ἀγαθῶν ὑποστάσεως, ἐποφθείσης ἡμῖν ἐν αὐτῷ Χριστῷ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, τῷ μόνῳ σύν Πατρί καί ἁγίῳ πνεύματι δοξαζομένῳ παρά πάσης τῆς κτίσεως. Ἀμήν.

ΣΧΟΛΙΑ. α΄. Fr. Ταυτόν ἐπί Θεοῦ βουλή καί βούλησις. β΄. Ἐπαίνου, φησί, καί ψόγου κατά φύσιν ὑπάρχων ὁ λόγος ἐλεύθερος, ἀπαθῆ

ποιεῖ τόν μόνον λόγῳ ζῇν προαιρούμενον· χωρίζειν πείθων τῶν φθοροποιῶν τῆς