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I must do, so that I may be able to love him from the heart, or even the one who in any way whatsoever afflicts and plots against me.

(920) And the elder answered: It is impossible for one to love the one who afflicts him, even if he has seemed to renounce the matter of the world, unless he knows in truth the purpose of the Lord. But if, by the Lord's grace, he is able to know, and hastens to walk according to it, he is able to love from the heart the one who hates and afflicts him, just as the apostles, having known, also loved.

10. And the Brother said: And what was the purpose of the Lord? I ask to know, Father. And the elder said: If you wish to know the purpose of the Lord, listen with understanding. Our Lord Jesus Christ, then, being God by nature, and having deigned to become man through love for mankind, born of a woman [Another Fr. M. born], became under the law, according to the divine Apostle; so that as a man, by keeping the commandment, He might overturn the ancient curse of Adam. The Lord, therefore, knowing that the whole law and the prophets hang on the two commandments of the law, namely, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,' and 'your neighbor as yourself'; He hastened to keep these in a manner befitting a man from the beginning to the end. But the one who deceived man from the beginning, and for this reason had power over death, the devil, seeing Him at His baptism being testified to by the Father, and receiving the kindred Holy Spirit from heaven as a man, contrived for him to be tempted by him in the desert, if somehow he might be able to make Him also prefer the matter of the world to the love for God. The devil, therefore, knowing that these are the three things by which all human things [alt. everything human] are shaken, foods, I mean, and money, and glory, by which he has always led man down [alt. leads down. Fr. led down] into the abyss of destruction; on these three things he tempted Him in the desert, of which our Lord, appearing superior, commanded the devil [alt. the devil] to go behind Him.

11. This, therefore, is the sign of love for God, whose commandment he was not able to persuade Him to transgress through the things he promised; therefore, when He came into the world, he struggled, working through the lawless Jews, by his contrivances to make Him transgress the commandment of love for neighbor. For this reason, when He was teaching the ways of life, and showing by deed the heavenly way of life, and proclaiming the resurrection of the dead, and promising eternal life and the kingdom of heaven to those who believe; but threatening eternal punishment to the unbelievers, and for the confirmation of what was said displaying the wondrous signs from God, and calling the crowds to faith, he stirred up the lawless Pharisees and Scribes to various plots against Him; so that being unable, as he thought, to bear the temptations, He might be turned aside to hatred of those who were plotting against Him; and thus the avenger might achieve his purpose, having shown Him to be a transgressor of the commandment of love for neighbor.

(921) 12. But the Lord, since He is God, knowing his thoughts, did not hate the Pharisees who were being worked upon by him (for how could He, being good by nature?), but through love for them, He defended Himself against the one who was working; and as for those being worked upon, since they were able not to be worked upon but were voluntarily enduring the one working through their negligence, He admonished, reproved, rebuked, pronounced woes upon them, He did not cease doing good, being blasphemed, He was long-suffering, suffering, He endured, He showed all the works of love toward them. But He defended Himself against the one working through His love for mankind toward those being worked upon; O paradoxical war! instead of hatred, showing love, and with goodness striking the father of wickedness. For this reason, having endured so many evils from them, or rather to speak more truly, for their sake, until death for

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ὀφείλω ποιῆσαι, ἵνα δυνηθῶ αὐτόν ἐκ καρδίας ἀγαπῆσαι, ἤ καί τόν καθοιονδήποτε τρόπον θλίβοντα καί ἐπιβουλεύοντα.

(920) Καί ἀπεκρίθη ὁ γέρων· Ἀδύνατόν τινα ἀγαπῆσαι τόν θλίβοντα, κἄν τῇ ὕλῃ τοῦ κόσμου ἔδοξεν ἀποτάξασθαι, ἐάν μή τόν σκοπόν τοῦ Κυρίου ἐν ἀληθείᾳ γινώσκῃ· ἐάν δέ τοῦ Κυρίου αὐτῷ χαριζομένου δυνηθῇ γνῶναι, καί σπεύδῃ κατ᾿ αὐτόν περιπατεῖν, δύναται ἐκ καρδίας ἀγαπῆσαι τόν μισοῦντα καί θλίβοντα, ὥσπερ καί οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἐγνωκότες ἠγάπων.

ι΄. Καί εἶπεν ὁ Ἀδελφός· Καί τίς ὁ σκοπός τοῦ Κυρίου ἦν, παρακαλῶ γνῶναι, Πάτερ. Καί εἶπεν ὁ γέρων· Ἐάν τόν σκοπόν τοῦ Κυρίου γνῶναι θέλῃς, συνετῶς ἄκουσον. Ὁ οὖν Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστός, φύσει Θεός ὤν, καί ἄνθρωπος διά φιλανθρωπίαν γενέσθαι καταξιώσας, ἐκ γυναικός τεχθείς [Fr. altergue M. γεννηθείς], ὑπό νόμον ἐγένετο, κατά τόν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον· ἵνα ὡς ἄνθρωπος τήν ἐντολήν φυλάξας, τήν ἀρχαίαν τοῦ Ἀδάμ ἀνατρέψῃ κατάραν. Εἰδώς οὖν ὁ Κύριος, ὅτι ὅλος ὁ νόμος καί οἱ προφῆται ἐν ταῖς δυσί τοῦ νόμου κρέμανται ἐντολαῖς, ἐν τῷ, Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τόν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου, καί τόν πλησίον ὡς ἑαυτόν· ταῦτα ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς καί μέχρι τέλους φυλάξαι ἀνθρωποπρεπῶς ἔσπευσεν. Ὁ δέ ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς ἀπατήσας τόν ἄνθρωπον, καί διά τοῦτο κράτος ἐσχηκώς τοῦ θανάτου, διάβολος, ἰδών αὐτόν ἐπί τοῦ βαπτίσματος ὑπό τοῦ Πατρός μαρτυρούμενον, καί τό συγγενές ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ὡς ἄνθρωπον ἀπ᾿ οὐρανῶν δεχόμενον, καί εἰς τήν ἔρημον πρός τό πειρασθῆναι ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ συνεκρότει, εἴ πως δυνηθῇ καί αὐτόν ποιῆσαι τήν τοῦ κόσμου προτιμῆσαι ὕλην τῆς εἰς Θεόν ἀγάπης. Εἰδώς οὖν ὁ διάβολος ὅτι τά τρία ταῦτά εἰσιν, ἐν οἷς πάντα δονεῖται τά ἀνθρώπινα [al. πᾶν τό ἀνθρώπινον], βρώματα, λέγω καί χρήματα, καί δόξα, δι᾿ ὧν καί εἰς τό βάραθρον τῆς ἀπωλείας ἀεί κατήγαγε [al. κατάγει. Fr.κατῆγε] τόν ἄνθρωπον· εἰς ταῦτα τά τρία αὐτόν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἐπείρασεν, ὧν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν κρείττων φανείς, εἰς τοὐπίσω χωρεῖν τῷ διαβόλῳ [al.τόν διάβολον] προσέταττε.

ια΄. Τοῦτο οὖν τό γνώρισμα τῆς εἰς Θεόν ἀγάπης, ἧς τήν ἐντολήν δι᾿ ὧν ἐπήγγελτο πεῖσαι αὐτόν παραβῆναι μή δυνηθείς, τῆς εἰς τόν πλησίον λοιπόν ἀγάπης τήν ἐντολήν, εἰς τήν οἰκουμένην ἐλθόντα, διά τῶν παρανόμων Ἰουδαίων ἐνεργῶν, παραβαίνειν αὐτόν δι᾿ ὧν ἐμηχανᾶτο ἠγωνίζετο. Τούτου χάριν διδάσκοντα αὐτόν τάς ὁδούς τῆς ζωῆς, καί ἔργῳ ὑποδεικνύοντα τήν οὐράνιον πολιτείαν, καί ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν καταγγέλλοντα, καί ζωήν αἰώνιον καί βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐπαγγελλόμενον· τοῖς δέ ἀπίστοις κόλασιν αἰώνιον ἀπειλοῦντα, καί πρός βεβαίωσιν τῶν λεγομένων τάς παραδόξους θεοσημίας ἐπιδεικνύμενον, καί εἰς πίστιν τούς ὄχλους προσκαλούμενον, συνεκίνει τούς παρανόμους Φαρισαίους καί Γραμματεῖς, εἰς τάς κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ ποικίλας ἐπιβουλάς· ἵνα τούς πειρασμούς ὑπενεγκεῖν, ὡς ᾤετο, μή δυνάμενος, εἰς μῖσος τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων παρατραπῇ· καί οὕτως τοῦ σκοποῦ ὁ ἀλάστωρ ἐπιτύχῃ, παραβάτην τῆς ἐντολῆς τῆς εἰς τόν πλησίον ἀγάπης ἀποφήνας.

(921) ιβ΄. Ὁ δέ Κύριος, ἅτε Θεός, εἰδώς αὐτοῦ τά ἐνθύμια, οὐ τούς ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐνεργουμένους ἐμίσησε Φαρισαίους (πῶς γάρ φύσει ἀγαθός ὤν;), ἀλλά διά τῆς εἰς αὐτούς ἀγάπης, τόν ἐνεργοῦντα ἠμύνετο· καί τούς μέν ἐνεργουμένους, ἅτε δυναμένους μή ἐνεργεῖσθαι· ἑκουσίως δέ τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος διά ῥαθυμίαν ἀνεχομένους, ἐνουθέτει, ἤλεγχεν, ὠνείδιζεν, ἐταλάνιζεν, εὐεργετῶν οὐκ ἐπαύετο, βλασφημούμενος ἐμακροθύμει, πάσχων ὑπέμενε, πάντα τά τῆς ἀγάπης ἔργα εἰς αὐτούς ἐνεδείκνυτο· τόν δέ ἐνεργοῦντα, τῇ εἰς τούς ἐνεργουμένους φιλανθρωπίᾳ ἠμύνετο· ὤ παραδόξου πολέμου! ἀντί τοῦ μίσους, τήν ἀγάπην ἐπιδεικνύμενος, καί ἀγαθότητι βάλλων τόν τῆς κακίας πατέρα. Τούτου χάριν τά τοσαῦτα κακά παρ᾿ αὐτῶν ὑπομείνας, μᾶλλον δέ ἀληθέστερον εἰπεῖν, δι᾿ αὐτούς, μέχρι θανάτου ὑπέρ