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guarded by an angel. Be watchful in prayers, be sober in supplications, pass just judgment, show a benevolent eye to the poor, become a champion of the wronged, bearing moderation in both food and drink; for incontinence is the mother of evils. If others play and laugh, my lord, hear the Lord of all saying, woe to those who laugh, for they shall weep. If others use shameful language, you, I beg, should stop up your ears; for words happen to be a path to deeds. If others fill their right hands with gifts, my God-loving one, may you be content with your wages, to speak evangelically, with those given by custom from your office. If others act impiously, you act piously, keeping yourself as far as possible from reckless men; for you know that this life sends those who minister to it on their way like a dream. And what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? May it be far from me to think this of your honour, who have goodness inborn and love to serve God, who brought you from non-being into being and gives you life itself and movement and breath. So that the deposit, which He entrusted to you through the Holy Spirit, both faith and right action, you may guard and return to Him safe at the time of your departure, to hear from Him: Well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful in a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your Lord. And may it be yours to hear this voice and to be saved with all your household in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. 505 {1To Lycastus the consul}1 The very man carrying the letter to your honour announced to us the misfortune that has befallen you, and in truth the grief concerning you has touched us; for he is your own and a relative, at once an old friend and of the same age, and it is not possible for one who loves genuinely not to suffer with the one he loves, as also the opposite in joy. But oh, the dreadful news; the lady, the consul's wife, has left us, a woman, as it is said, among the praiseworthy, as we have heard from others and we ourselves have perceived with our eyes, first that she was devoted to her husband, which is outlined by the apostle as the most beautiful thing in marriage, prudent, a keeper at home, affable, approachable, pious, a lover of the poor, and what is greater, adorned with modesty and encased in orthodoxy, of whom the fruits, her children, are a testimony to the good life of you both. For just as a tree is known by its fruit, so too from the children are the parents known, what sort of people they are and how great. And having not yet had deep experience of that blessed woman, how could I extol her qualities? Or only having met her twice and come into conversation with her, I knew that God had granted you a wife who was truly a helper, not according to the ancient first mother a cause of deceit, but rather having become for you a foundation of salvation throughout your life. Oh, the misfortune! She is gone, she has flown from your eyes, she has left you half-dead, torn away from your good spouse. We cannot see with our eyes the comfort beyond all gladness, nor the solace in afflictions, nor the consolation in misfortunes, nor the reminder and helper and co-worker in all that was required. The sun of the hearth has set; who will meet us? who will be gracious? who will console? We have now become like a city shorn of its own ornament, like a lonely sparrow on the housetop, to speak in the manner of David. What then? Shall we grieve beyond measure and clothe ourselves in inconsolable mourning? By no means, then, by no means, O thrice-desired one, but, knowing that the God who first gave her to us for the fellowship of life is Himself the one who has now taken her, let us bear what has happened with thanksgiving, imitating the much-sung Job and uttering that blessed voice, which he uttered not at the loss of his wife, but at the death of ten children at once, along with the previous losses of all external things and the later plague on his body, the one who was formerly a king sitting on a dung-heap and scraping the discharge from his own flesh with potsherds, says these things: The Lord gave, the Lord

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ἀγγέλου φρουρούμενος. γρηγόρει ἐν προσευχαῖς, νῆφε ἐν δεήσεσιν, ἔκφερε ἔνδικον κρίμα, ἐπιδείκνυσο εὐμενὲς ὄμμα πτωχῷ, προασπιστὴς γενοῦ τῶν ἀδικουμένων, μετριότητα ἔν τε βρώσει καὶ πόσει φέρων· ἡ γὰρ ἀκρασία τῶν κακῶν μήτηρ. ἂν ἄλλοι παίζωσι καὶ γελῶσιν, ὁ κύριός μου, ἄκουε τοῦ Κυρίου πάντων λέγοντος, οὐαὶ οἱ γελῶντες, ὅτι κλαύσονται. ἂν ἄλλοι αἰσχρολογοῦσιν, αὐτός, παρακαλῶ, ἐπιφράσσαιο τὰ ὦτα· ὁδὸς γὰρ ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα οἱ λόγοι τυγχάνουσιν. ἂν ἄλλοι πληρῶσι δώρων τὰς δεξιὰς αὐτῶν, ὁ φιλόθεός μου, ἀρκούμενος εἴης τοῖς ὀψωνίοις, εὐαγγελικῶς εἰπεῖν, τοῖς κατὰ συνήθειαν ἀρχικῶς διδομένοις. ἂν ἄλλοι ἀσεβῶσιν, αὐτὸς εὐσέβει, ὅσον οἷόν τε στελλόμενος τῶν ἀτασθάλων ἀνδρῶν· οἶσθα γὰρ ὅτι ὁ βίος οὗτος ὀνείρου δίκην παραπέμπει τοὺς λειτουργοῦντας αὐτῷ. καὶ τί ὠφελήσει ἄνθρωπος, ἐὰν ὅλον τὸν κόσμον κερδήσῃ, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ζημιωθῇ; Ὅπερ ἀπείη περὶ τῆς τιμιότητός σου ἐννοεῖν, ἐχούσης ἔμφυτον τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ φιλούσης θεὸν θεραπεύειν, τὸν ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι παραγαγόντα σε καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ζῆν διδοῦντά σοι καὶ τὸ κινεῖσθαι καὶ ἀναπνεῖν. ὥστε τὴν παραθήκην, ἣν παρέθετό σοι διὰ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου, τήν τε πίστιν καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν πρᾶξιν φυλάξαι ἀποδοῦναι αὐτῷ σώαν ἐν καιρῷ ἐξόδου, ἀκούσων παρ' αὐτοῦ· εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστέ, ἐπὶ ὀλίγα ἦς πιστός, ἐπὶ πολλῶν σε καταστήσω· εἴσελθε εἰς τὴν χαρὰν τοῦ Κυρίου σου. καὶ γένοιτό σοι ταύτης τῆς φωνῆς ὑπακοῦσαι καὶ σωθῆναι πανοικὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν. ἀμήν. 505 {1Λυκάστῳ ὑπάτῳ}1 Αὐτὸς ὁ τὸ γραμμάτιον ἐπιφερόμενος τῇ τιμιότητί σου ἀπήγγειλεν ἡμῖν τὴν ἐπελθοῦσάν σοι συμφορὰν καὶ τῷ ὄντι καθήψατο ἡμῶν ἡ περὶ σὲ λύπη· ἴδιος γάρ σοι καὶ ἀγχιστεύων, ὁμοῦ τε φίλος ἀρχαῖος καὶ συνηλικιώτης, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι τὸν φιλοῦντα γνησίως μὴ συμπάσχειν τῷ φιλουμένῳ ὡς καὶ ἔμπαλιν ἐπὶ τῇ χαρᾷ. ἀλλ' ὢ τῆς ἀπευκταίας ἀγγελίας· ἀπολέλοιπεν ἡμᾶς ἡ κυρία ἡ ὑπάτισσα, τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον, γυνὴ τῶν ἐπαινουμένων, ὡς καὶ παρ' ἄλλων ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἡμεῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑπελάβομεν, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι φίλανδρος, ὃ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου ὑποτυποῦται κάλλιστον εἶναι ἐν συζυγίᾳ, φρό νιμος, οἰκουρός, εὐαπάντητος, εὐπροσήγορος, φιλευσεβής, φιλόπτωχος, τὸ μεῖζον, σωφροσύνῃ κατηγλαϊσμένη καὶ ὀρθοδοξίᾳ περιηργυρωμένη, ἧς καὶ οἱ καρποί, τὰ τέκνα, μαρτύριον τῆς ἀμφοτέρων ὑμῶν εὐζωίας. καὶ γάρ, ὥσπερ ἐκ τοῦ καρποῦ τὸ δένδρον ἐπιγινώσκεται, οὕτως κἀκ τῶν παίδων οἱ φύσαντες, ὁποῖοί εἰσι καὶ ἡλίκοι. καὶ οὔπω βαθεῖαν πεῖραν ἐσχηκὼς τῆς μακαρίας ἐκείνης πῶς ἂν δυναίμην ἐκθειάσαι τὰ κατ' αὐτήν; ἢ μόνον δὶς αὐτῇ συνοψισθεὶς καὶ εἰς ὁμιλίαν ἐλθὼν ἔγνων ὅτι γυναῖκα ἐχαρίσατό σοι ὁ θεὸς τῷ ὄντι βοηθόν, οὐ κατὰ τὴν πάλαι προμήτορα ἀπάτης αἰτία, ἀλλά γε σωτηρίας ὑπόθεσις γενηθεῖσά σοι διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου. ὢ τῆς συμφορᾶς· ᾤχετο αὕτη, ἀπέπτη ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν ὑμῶν, ἐγκατέλιπεν ὑμᾶς ἡμιθνεῖς, ἀπορραγέντας τῆς καλῆς ὁμοζύγου. οὐκ ἔχομεν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρᾶν τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν θυμηδίαν παραμύθιον, οὐ τὴν ἐν θλίψεσι παράκλησιν, οὐ τὴν ἐν συμφοραῖς παρηγορίαν, οὐ τὴν ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς ὀφειλομένοις ὑπόμνησιν καὶ συνεργὸν καὶ σύμπραξιν. ὁ ἥλιος τῆς ἑστίας ἔδυ· τίς ὁ ὑπαντήσων; τίς ὁ χαριούμενος; τίς ὁ παρακαλέσων; ἤδη ἐγενήθημεν ὡς πόλις ἀποκειραμένη τὸν ἑαυτῆς κόσμον, ὡς στρουθίον μονάζον ἐπὶ δώματι, ∆αυιτικῶς εἰπεῖν. Τί οὖν; λυπηθῶμεν πέρα τοῦ μέτρου καὶ περιβαλούμεθα ἀπαραμύθητον πένθος; οὐδαμῶς οὖν, οὐδαμῶς, ὦ τριπόθητε, ἀλλ', εἰδότες ὅτι ὁ δοὺς ἡμῖν αὐτὴν θεὸς τὰ πρῶτα εἰς κοινωνίαν βίου αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ νῦν προσλαβόμενος, οἴσωμεν εὐχαρίστως τὸ συμβάν, μιμούμενοι τὸν ἀοίδιμον Ἰὼβ καὶ ἐπιφθεγγόμενοι τὴν μακαρίαν ἐκείνην φωνήν, ἣν ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἐπὶ ἀποβολῇ γυναικός, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ παισὶ δέκα ὁμοῦ τεθνηκόσι σὺν ταῖς προτεραίαις τῶν ἐκτὸς πάντων ἀφαιρέσεσι καὶ αὐτῇ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ πληγῇ τοῦ σώματος, ἐπὶ κοπρίας ὁ πρὶν βασιλεὺς καθήμενος καὶ ξέων τοὺς ἰχῶρας τῶν ἑαυτοῦ σαρκῶν βώλαξι, τάδε φησίν· ὁ Κύριος ἔδωκεν, ὁ Κύριος