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they may become good. For this reason, being reviled by them, he blesses; being persecuted, he endures; being defamed, he entreats; being killed, he prays for them. He does all things, so that he may not fall from the goal of love.

fourth. open. 1st. The commandments of the Lord teach us to make reasonable use of intermediate things; and the reasonable use of intermediate things purifies the state of the soul; and the pure state begets discernment; and discernment begets dispassion, from which is born perfect love.

fourth. open. 2nd. He does not yet have dispassion, who, because of some incidental temptation, is unable to overlook a friend's fault, whether real or only apparent. (1072) For the passions residing in the soul, when stirred up, blind the intellect, and do not allow it to gaze upon the rays of truth, nor to discern the better from the worse. Therefore, such a person has not acquired perfect love, which casts out the fear of judgment.

fourth. open. 3rd. There is no exchange for a faithful friend. Because he considers the misfortunes of his friend as his own; and suffering evil with him, he bears with him even unto death.

fourth. open. 4th. Many are the friends, but in time of prosperity; but in time of temptations, you will hardly find one.

fourth. open. 5th. Every man is to be loved from the soul; but one's hope must be placed in God alone, and He must be served with all one's strength. For as long as He preserves us, all our friends care for us, and all our enemies are powerless against us. But when He abandons us, all our friends turn away from us, and all our enemies prevail against us.

fourth. open. 6th. There are four general kinds of abandonment: one, providential, as in the case of the Lord, so that through the seeming abandonment, the abandoned may be saved; another, for testing, as in the case of Job and Joseph, so that the one might be revealed as a pillar of courage, and the other of self-control; another, for spiritual instruction, as in the case of the Apostle, so that by being humbled, he might preserve the abundance of grace; and another, by way of turning away, as in the case of the Jews, so that being punished they might be bent towards repentance. But all these kinds are salvific, and full of divine goodness and love for mankind.

fourth. open. 7th. Only the precise keepers of the commandments, and the genuine initiates of the divine judgments, do not abandon friends who are tempted by God's permission. But those who despise the commandments, and are uninitiated in the divine judgments, when a friend prospers, they enjoy it with him; but when he suffers evil while being tempted, they abandon him. And there are times when they even stand with his adversaries.

fourth. open. 8th. The friends of Christ love everyone genuinely. But they are not loved by everyone. And the friends of Christ maintain the continuance of love until the end; but the friends of the world, until they clash with one another over the things of the world.

fourth. open. 9th. A faithful friend is a strong shelter. Because to a prospering friend he is a good counselor and a like-minded co-worker; and to one suffering evil, a most genuine helper and a most sympathetic champion.

(1073) 100th. Many have said many things about love; but seeking it, you will find it only among the disciples of Christ; since they alone had true Love itself as the teacher of love, about which they said: If I have prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge, but do not have love, I am profited nothing. He, therefore, who has acquired love, has acquired God Himself; because God is love. To Him be the glory unto the ages. Amen.

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γένωνται ἀγαθοί. ∆ιά τοῦτο ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν λοιδορούμενος εὐλογῇ· διωκόμενος ἀνέχεται· βλασφημούμενος παρακαλεῖ· φονευόμενος ὑπερεύχεται. Πάντα ποιεῖ, ἵνα τοῦ σκοποῦ τῆς ἀγάπης μή ἐκπέσῃ.

τέσσ. ἀνοικ. α΄. Αἱ μέν ἐντολαί τοῦ Κυρίου, διδάσκουσιν ἡμᾶς τοῖς μέσοις εὐλόγως χρήσασθαι πράγμασι· ἡ δέ εὔλογος τῶν μέσων χρῆσις, τήν τῆς ψυχῆς καθαίρει κατάστασιν· ἡ δέ καθαρά κατάστασις, τίκτει τήν διάκρισιν· ἡ δέ διάκρισις, τίκτει τήν ἀπάθειαν, ἐξ ἦς τίκτεται ἡ τελεία ἀγάπη.

τέσσ. ἀνοικ. β΄. Οὔπω ἔχει τήν ἀπάθειαν, ὁ διά σύμβασιν πειρασμοῦ, τό ἐλάττωμα τοῦ φίλου παραβλέπειν μή δυνάμενος, ἤ ὅν τυχόν, ἤ δέ εἶναι δοκοῦν. (1072) Τά γάρ ἐγκείμενα τῇ ψυχῇ πάθη ἐκταρασσόμενα, ἐκτυφλοῖ τήν διάνοιαν, καί οὐκ ἐᾷ διαβλέψαι εἰς τάς τῆς ἀληθείας αὐγάς, οὐδέ διακρῖναι τό κρεῖττον ἀπό τοῦ χείρονος. Οὐκ ἄρα οὖν οὐδέ τήν τελείαν ἀγάπην ὁ τοιοῦτος ἐκτήσατο, τήν ἔξω βάλλουσαν τόν φόβον τῆς κρίσεως.

τέσσ. ἀνοικ. γ΄. Φίλου πιστοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀντάλλαγμα. Ἐπειδή τάς τοῦ φίλου συμφοράς, ἰδίας λογίζεται· καί συνυποφέρει αὐτῷ μέχρι θανάτου κακοπαθῶν.

τέσσ. ἀνοικ. δ΄. Πολλοί μέν οἱ φίλοι, ἀλλ᾿ ἐν καιρῷ εὐημερίας· ἐν δέ καιρῷ πειρασμῶν, μόλις ἄν εὑρήσεις ἕνα.

τέσσ. ἀνοικ. ε΄. Πάντα μέν ἄνθρωπον, ἐκ ψυχῆς ἀγαπητέον· ἐπί τῷ Θεῷ μέ μόνῳ τήν ἐλπίδα θετέον, καί ἐξ ὅλης ἰσχύος αὐτόν θεραπευτέον. Ἐφόσον γάρ αὐτός ἡμᾶς συντηρεῖ, οἵ τε φίλοι πάντες ἡμᾶς περιέπουσι, καί οἱ ἐχθροί πάντες πρός ἡμᾶς ἀδυνατοῦσιν. Ἐπάν δέ αὐτός ἡμᾶς ἐγκαταλίπῃ, οἵ τε φίλοι πάντες ἡμᾶς ἀποστρέφονται, καί οἱ ἐχθροί πάντες καθ᾿ ἡμῶν ἰσχύουσι.

τέσσ. ἀνοικ. στ΄. Τέσσαρές εἰσι γενικοί ἐγκαταλείψεως τρόποι· ἡ μέν, οἰκονομική, ὡς ἐπί τοῦ Κυρίου· ἵνα διά τῆς δοκούσης ἐγκαταλείψεως, οἱ ἐγκαταλελειμένοι σωθῶσιν. ἡ δέ, πρός δοκιμήν, ὡς ἐπί τοῦ Ἰώβ καί Ἰωσήφ· ἵνα ὁ μέν, ἀνδρείας· ὁ δέ, σωφροσύνης στῆλαι ἀναφανῶσιν. Ἡ δέ, πρός παίδευσιν πνευματικήν, ὡς ἐπί τοῦ Ἀποστόλου, ἵνα ταπεινοφρονῶν, τήν ὑπερβολήν φυλάξῃ τῆς χάριτος. Ἡ δέ κατά ἀποστροφήν, ὡς ἐπί τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἵνα κολαζόμενοι πρός μετάνοιαν κατακαμφθῶσι. Σωτήριοι δέ πάντες οἱ τρόποι ὑπάρχουσι, καί τῆς θείας ἀγαθότητος καί φιλανθρωπίας ἀνάμεστοι.

τέσσ. ἀνοικ. ζ΄. Μόνον οἱ ἀκριβεῖς τῶν ἐντολῶν φύλακες, καί γνήσιοι τῶν θείων κριμάτων μύσται, τούς κατά συγχώρησιν Θεοῦ πειραζομένους, οὐ καταλιμπάνουσι φίλοις. Οἱ δέ τῶν ἐντολῶν καταφρονηταί, καί τῶν θείων κριμάτων ἀμύητοι, ὅταν μέν ὁ φίλος εὐημερῇ, συναπολαύουσιν αὐτῷ· ἐπάν δέ πειραζόμενος κακοπαθῇ, καταλιμπάνουσιν αὐτόν. Ἔστι δέ ὅταν καί μετά τῶν ἐναντίων ἵστανται.

τέσσ. ἀνοικ. η΄. Οἱ μέν τοῦ Χριστοῦ φίλοι, πάντας ἀγαπῶσι γνησίως. Οὐχ ὑπό πάντων δέ ἀγαπῶνται. Καί οἱ μέν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, μέχρι τέλους τήν συνέχειαν τῆς ἀγάπης διατηροῦσιν· οἱ δέ τοῦ κόσμου, μέχρι οὗ ἀλλήλοις διά τά κόσμου προσκρούσωσι.

τέσσ. ἀνοικ. θ΄. Φίλος πιστός, σκέπη κραταιά. Ἐπειδή καί εὐημεροῦντι τῷ φίλῳ σύμβουλός ἐστιν ἀγαθός καί συνεργός σύμψυχος· καί κακοπαθοῦντι ἀντιλήπτωρ γνησιώτατος καί ὑπέρμαχος συμπαθέστατος.

(1073) ρ΄. Πολλοί μέν πολλά περί ἀγάπης εἰρήκασιν· ἐν μόνοις δέ τοῖς Χριστοῦ μαθηταῖς ταύτην ζητήσας, εὑρήσεις· ἐπεί καί μόνοι αὐτοί εἶχον τήν ἀληθινήν Ἀγάπην τῆς ἀγάπης διδάσκαλον, περί ἧς ἔλεγον· Ἐάν ἔχω προφητείαν, καί εἰδῶ τά μυστήρια πάντα, καί πᾶσαν τήν γνῶσιν, ἀγάπην δέ μή ἔχω, οὐδέν ὠφελοῦμαι. Ὁ οὖν κτησάμενος τήν ἀγάπην, αὐτόν τόν Θεόν ἐκτήσατο· ἐπειδή ὁ Θεός ἀγάπης ἐστίν. Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τούς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.