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of the soul, we are illuminated by the light of knowledge, and we are freed from the passions of dishonor, and we are filled with every virtue, and we are illumined by the glory of God, and we are freed from all ignorance; and praying the things of Christ, we are heard, and we shall have God with us always, and we are filled with desire according to God.

42. Let us love one another, and we shall be loved by God. Let us be long-suffering with one another, and He is long-suffering with our sins. Let us not return evil for evil, and we will not receive according to our sins. For we find the forgiveness of our trespasses in the forgiveness of our brothers. And the mercy of God is hidden in mercy to our neighbor. For this reason the Lord said: Forgive, and you will be forgiven. And, If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive your trespasses. And again: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. And, With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. Behold, the Lord has granted us a way of salvation, and has given us eternal authority to become children of God; and so our salvation is in our will.

43. Let us then give ourselves entirely to the Lord, that we may receive Him entirely. Let us become gods through Him; for this is why He became man, being by nature God and Lord. Let us obey Him, and He will tirelessly defend us from our enemies; If my people had heard me, He says, if Israel had walked in my ways, I would have humbled their enemies to nothing, and I would have laid my hand upon those who afflict them. Let us place all our hope on Him alone. And let us cast all our care on Him alone, and He will deliver us from every affliction; and He will sustain us all our life. Let us love every man from the soul; but let us place our hope in no man; for as long as the Lord preserves us, all our friends care for us, and all our enemies are powerless against us. But when the Lord abandons us, then all our friends abandon us, and all our enemies prevail against us. But he who trusts in himself will fall a dreadful fall; but he who fears the Lord will be exalted. For this reason David said: For I will not trust in my bow, and my sword shall not save me. For you have saved us from those who afflict us, and have put to shame those who hate us.

44. Let us not tolerate the thoughts that diminish our sins, and that divine that their remission has occurred. For concerning them the Lord, making us safe, said: Beware of false prophets, who will come to you in sheep's clothing; (956) but inwardly, they are ravenous wolves. For as long as our mind is troubled by sin, we have not yet obtained its forgiveness; for we have not yet produced fruits worthy of repentance. The fruit of repentance is dispassion of the soul; and dispassion is the wiping away of sin. But we do not yet have perfect dispassion, being sometimes troubled by the passions, and sometimes not troubled. Therefore, we have not completely obtained the remission of sins. For we were freed from the ancestral sin through holy baptism; but from what has been dared after baptism, we are freed through repentance.

45. Let us therefore repent genuinely, so that being freed from the passions, we may obtain the remission of sins. Let us despise temporary things, so that by fighting with men over them, we may not transgress the commandment of love, and of the

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ψυχῆς, τῷ φωτί τῆς γνώσεως περιλαμπόμεθα, καί τῶν παθῶν τῆς ἀτιμίας ἐλευθερούμεθα, καί πάσης ἀρετῆς πληρούμεθα, καί ὑπό τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ καταλαμπόμεθα, καί πάσης ἀγνοίας ἐλευθερούμεθα· καί προσευχόμενοι τά Χριστοῦ, εἰσακουόμεθα, καί τόν Θεόν μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν ἔξομεν διά παντός, καί τῆς κατά Θεόν ἐπιθυμίας πληρούμεθα.

μβ΄. Ἀγαπήσωμεν ἀλλήλους, καί ἀγαπώμεθα ὑπό τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μακροθυμήσωμεν ἐπ᾿ ἀλλήλοις, καί μακροθυμεῖ ἐπί ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν. Μή ἀποδῶμεν κακόν ἀντί κακοῦ, καί οὐκ ἀπολαμβάνομεν κατά τάς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν. Τήν γάρ συγχώρησιν τῶν παραπτωμάτων ἡμῶν, ἐν τῇ συγχωρήσει τῶν ἀδελφῶν εὑρίσκομεν. Καί τό ἔλεος τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν τῇ ἐλεημοσύνῃ τοῦ πλησίον ἐγκέκρυπται. ∆ιά τοῦτο ὁ Κύριος ἔλεγεν· Ἄφετε, καί ἀφεθήσεται ὑμῖν. Καί, Ἐάν ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τά παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, καί ὁ Πατήρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος ἀφήσει ὑμῶν τά παραπτώματα ὑμῶν. Καί πάλιν· Μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεημόνες, ὅτι αὐτοί ἐλεηθήσονται. Καί, ᾯ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε, ἀντιμετρηθήσται ὑμῖν. Ἰδού ἐχαρίσατο ἡμῖν ὁ Κύριος τρόπον σωτηρίας, καί ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ἐξουσίαν αἰώνιον τοῦ γενέσθαι τέκνα Θεοῦ· καί ἐν τῷ θελήματι ἡμῶν ἐστι λοιπόν ἡ σωτηρία ἡμῶν.

μγ΄. ∆ῶμεν οὖν ἑαυτούς τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐξ ὁλοκλήρου, ἵνα ὁλόκληρον αὐτόν ἀντιλάβωμεν. Γενώμεθα θεοί δι᾿ αὐτόν· καί γάρ τοῦτο ἄνθρωπος γέγονε, φύσει ὤν Θεός καί ∆εσπότης. Ὑπακούσωμεν αὐτῷ, καί αὐτός ἀκαμάτως ἀμύνεται τούς ἐχθρούς ἡμῶν· Εἰ ὁ λαός μου ἤκουσέ μου, φησίν, Ἰσραήλ ταῖς ὁδοῖς μου εἰ ἐπορεύθη· ἐν τῷ μηδενί ἄν τούς ἐχθρούς αὐτῶν ἐπαπείνωσα, καί ἐπί τούς θλίβοντας αὐτούς ἐπέβαλον ἄν τήν χεῖρά μου. Πᾶσαν τήν ἐλπίδα ἡμῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν μόνον θήσωμεν. Καί πᾶσαν τήν μέριμναν ἡμῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν μόνον ῥίψωμεν, καί ἐκ πάσης θλίψεως, αὐτός ἡμᾶς ῥύσεται· καί πάντα τόν βίον, αὐτός ἡμᾶς διαθρέψει. Πάντα μέν ἄνθρωπον ἐκ ψυχῆς ἀγαπήσωμεν· ἐπί μηδενί δέ ἀνθρώπων τήν ἐλπίδα θήσωμεν· ὅτι ἐφ᾿ ὅσον ὁ Κύριος συντηρεῖ ἡμᾶς, καί οἱ φίλοι πάντες ἡμᾶς περιέπουσι, καί οἱ ἐχθροί πάντες πρός ἡμᾶς ἀδυνατοῦσιν. Ἐπάν δέ ὁ Κύριος ἡμᾶς ἐγκαταλείπῃ, τότε καί οἱ φίλοι πάντες ἐγκαταλείπουσι, καί οἱ ἐχθροί πάντες καθ᾿ ἡμῶν ἰσχύουσιν. Ἀλλά καί ὁ εἰς σεαυτόν θαῤῥῶν, πεσεῖται πτῶμα ἐξαίσιον· ὁ δέ φοβούμενος τόν Κύριον, ὑψωθήσεται. ∆ιά τοῦτο ∆αβίδ ἔλεγεν· Οὐ γάρ ἐπί τῷ τόξῳ μου ἐλπιῶ, καί ἡ ῥομφαία μου οὐ σώσει με. Ἔσωσας γάρ ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν θλιβόντων ἡμᾶς, καί τούς μισοῦντας ἡμᾶς, κατῄσχυνας.

μδ΄. Μή ἀνασχώμεθα τῶν λογισμῶν τῶν σμικρυνόντων ἡμῶν τάς ἁμαρτίας, καί τήν ἄφεσιν αὐτῶν γεγονέναι μαντευομένων. Περί αὐτῶν γάρ ὁ Κύριος ἀσφαλιζόμενος ἡμᾶς, ἔλεγε· Προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς ἀπό τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἐλεύσονται πρός ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων· (956) ἔσωθεν δέ, εἰσί λύκοι ἅρπαγες. Ἐφ᾿ ὅσον γάρ ὁ νοῦς ἡμῶν ὑπό τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὀχλεῖται, οὔπω τῆς συγχωρήσεως αὐτῆς ἐτύχομεν· οὐδέπω γάρ καρπούς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας πεποιήκαμεν. Καρπός μετανοίας ἐστίν, ἀπάθεια ψυχῆς· ἀπάθεια δέ, ἐξάλειψις ἁμαρτίας. Οὔπω δέ ἔχομεν τελείαν ἀπάθειαν, ποτέ μέν ὀχλούμενοι ὑπό τῶν παθῶν, ποτέ δέ μή ὀχλούμενοι. Οὐκ ἄρα τῆς τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἀφέσεως τελείως ἐτύχομεν. Τῆς μέν γάρ προγονικῆς ἁμαρτίας, διά τοῦ ἁγίου βαπτίσματος ἐλευθερώθημεν· τῆς δέ μετά τό βάπτισμα τολμηθείσης, διά τῆς μετανοίας ἐλευθερούμεθα.

με΄. Μετανοήσωμεν οὖν γνησίως, ἵνα τῶν παθῶν ἐλευθερούμενοι, τῆς τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἀφέσεως τύχωμεν. Περιφρονήσωμεν τῶν προσκαίρων, ἵνα μή δι᾿ αὐτά τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μαχόμενοι, τήν ἐντολήν τῆς ἀγάπης παραβῶμεν, καί τῆς τοῦ