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Anonymous. One must envy no one; for the good are worthy; but if the evil are fortunate, they live badly.

Themistocles, being a young man, said he was doing nothing brilliant; for he was not yet being envied. For just as beetles grow especially in flourishing grain, and in blooming roses; so envy fastens (964) especially on the good and those growing in virtue, and on those who have a reputation for character and personage.

DISCOURSE 55.

On the voluntary and involuntary. Luke 12. That servant, who knew his master’s will and did not do it,

will be beaten with many stripes; but he who did not know, will be beaten with few.

1 Corinthians 9. Woe is me, if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if unwillingly, I am entrusted with a stewardship.

Proverbs 10. An involuntary thing came forth from the face of one in power.

Proverbs 30. Churn milk, and there will be butter. But if you press the nose, blood will come out.

Sirach 18. Do not go after your lusts, and refrain from your appetites. For if you grant to your soul the pleasure of desire, you will make a cause of rejoicing for your enemies.

Of Basil. The evils in Hades do not have God as their cause, but ourselves. For the beginning and root of sin is what is in our power and free will.

We praise those who are good by choice, not those who have come to this out of some necessity. For where choice is ready, there is no hindrance.

For force or fear could never be the creator of virtue. For good things are voluntary, and not of necessity.

The voluntary painful thing is more honorable than the involuntary pleasant one.

Of the Theologian. For the voluntary is both more lasting and more secure; and the one is of him who compelled, but the other is our own; and the one is of God's clemency, but the other of tyrannical power.

That which is held by force loves to act freely when it gets the chance. A shepherd milks, if he wishes, even the male goats, But instead of milk, he will bring forth springs of blood. Chrysostom. not those who abstain from vice by necessity, but those by choice, he crowns

God.

Not by necessity and force, but by will and consent does God lead us to himself.

There is no fruit of necessity, but every reward is of choice. God does not reckon things done from necessity, but things accomplished from choice.

(965) Just as for the sparrow, its wings are of no use once caught in the trap, but it flutters randomly and in vain; so too for you, your thoughts are of no use, if you are completely caught by evil desire.

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Ἀνωνύμου. Οὐδενί φθονητέον· ἀγαθοί μέν γάρ ἄξιοι· κακοί δ᾿ ἄν εὐτυχῶσιν, κακῶς ζῶσιν.

Θεμιστοκλῆς μειράκιον ὤν, οὐδέν ἔφη πράττειν λαμπρόν· οὔπω γάρ φθονεῖσθαι. Καθάπερ γάρ αἱ κανθαρίδες ἐμφύονται μάλιστα τῷ ἀκμάζοντι σίτῳ, καί τοῖς εὐθαλέσι ῥόδοις· οὕτω ὁ φθόνος ἅπτεται (964) μάλιστα τῶν χρηστῶν καί αὐξανομένων πρός ἀρετήν, καί δόξαν ἠθῶν καί προσώπων κεκτημένων.

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΝΕ´.

Περί ἑκουσίου καί ἀκουσίου. Λουκ. ιβ´. Ἐκεῖνος ὁ δοῦλος, ὁ γνούς τό θέλημα τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ καί μή ποιήσας,

δαρήσεται πολλάς· ὁ δέ μή γνούς, δαρήσεται ὀλίγας.

Α´ Κορ. θ´. Οὐαί δέ μοί ἐστιν, ἐαν μή εὐαγγελίζωμαι. Εἰ γάρ ἑκών τοῦτο πράττω, μισθόν ἔχω· εἰ δέ ἄκων, οἰκονομίαν πεπίστευμαι.

Σολομ. ι΄ . Ἀκούσιον ἐξῆλθεν ἀπό προσώπου ἐξουσιάζοντος.

Παροιμ. λ´. Ἄμελγε γάλα, καί ἔσται βούτυρον. Ἐάν δέ ἐκπιέζῃς μυκτῆρα, ἐξελεύσεται αἷμα.

Σιράχ ιη´. Ὀπίσω τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν σου μή πορεύου, καί ἀπό τῶν ὀρέξεών σου κωλύου. Ἐάν γάρ χορηγήσῃς τῇ ψυχῇ σου εὐδοκίαν ἐπιθυμίας, ποιήσεις ἐπίχαρμα ἐχθρῶν.

Βασιλείου. Τά ἐν ᾅδου κακά οὐ Θεόν ἔχει τόν αἴτιον, ἀλλ᾿ ἡμᾶς αὐτούς. Ἀρχή γάρ καί ῥίζα τῆς ἁμαρτίας, τό ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν καί τό αὐτεξούσιον.

Ἐπαινοῦμεν τούς κατά προαίρεσιν ἀγαθούς, οὐ τούς ὑπό τινος ἀνάγκης εἰς τοῦτο ἥκοντας. Ὅπου γάρ προαίρεσις ἑτοίμη, τό κωλύον οὐδέν.

Βία γάρ ἤ φόβος, ἀρετῆς οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο δημιουργός. Ἐθελούσια γάρ, καί οὐκ ἀνάγκης τά καλά.

Τό ἑκούσιον λυπηρόν, τοῦ ἀκουσίου τερπνοῦ τιμιώτερον.

Θεολόγου. Τό μέν γάρ ἑκούσιον, μονιμώτερόν τε καί ἀσφαλέστερον· καί τοῦ μέν τοῦ βιασαμένου, τό δέ ἡμέτερον· καί τό μέν ἐπιεικείας Θεοῦ, τό δέ τυραννικῶς ἐξουσίας.

Φιλεῖ τό βίᾳ κρατούμενον ἐλευθεριάζειν καιροῦ λαβόμενον. Ποιμήν ἀμέλγει, εἰ θέλει, καί τούς τράγους, Ἀλλ᾿ ἀντί γάλακτος, αἱμάτων πηγάς οἴσει. Χρυσοστ. Οὐ τούς ἀνάγκῃ τῆς κακίας ἀπεχομένους, ἀλλά τούς προαιρέσει, στεφανοῖ

ὁ θεός.

Οὐκ ἀνάγκῃ καί βίᾳ, ἀλλά βουλήσει καί γνώμῃ προσάγεται ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεός.

Οὐδείς καρπός ἀνάγκης, ἀλλά πᾶς μισθός προαιρέσεως. Οὐ λογίζεται ὁ Θεός τά ἐξ ἀνάγκης, ἀλλά τά ἐκ προαιρέσεως κατορθούμενα.

(965) Ὥσπερ τῷ στρουθῷ τῶν πτερῶν ὄφελος οὐδέν, ὑπό τῆς παγίδος ἀλόντι, ἀλλ᾿ εἰκῆ καί μάτην πτερύσσεται· οὕτω καί σοί τῶν λογισμῶν οὐδέν ὄφελος, ἐάν κατακράτος ὑπό τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐπιθυμίας ἁλῶς.