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has tightened. For in the case of those who are united carnally, if I may say so, inasmuch as the sensible causes of their union are taken away and cut off, to that extent their loves also grow cold and wither. But in the case of those who love according to Christ, to such an extent a fiery longing is kindled inwardly in the soul, as the material and visible things are extinguished by the kindling of the whole affection and of all the disposition, the inner chambers of the heart having been completely emptied. But may God kindle our longing yet and still more to a most conspicuous conflagration. But you, do not cease at all to give rest in every way, and to entertain, and to comfort our sweet, pleasant, and gracious master. But give rest, not yielding to carnal or natural laws, nor as to a brother and one who has shared the same birth-pangs with you (for this belongs to common people and to those on the ground and who are inclined only to earthly things), but for the sake of God Himself, for the sake of the good itself, and as a confessor and martyr of the truth, and as a defender of piety and a champion of the faith. May the grace of the Mighty One, O most excellent of brothers, preserve your love for God stronger and higher than every satanic assault and attack. 559 {1To certain saints in exile}1 The more the rising waves of temptations, greater and successive, shall terribly rush in upon us, my most divine master, the more they make us more approved and wiser and having more experience against the fierce assaults and contrary winds of the spirits; the more afflictions abound, the more the ever-flowing and abundant grace of the Spirit gushes forth for us. The more the sufferings of Christ the savior abound in you, the more also is the consolation added, being supplied more abundantly from Him, to speak according to the apostle. The more this perceptible man is destroyed in you by unceasing afflictions, the more the inner man has power, he says, to be renewed day by day, as the same apostle also teaches again. The more this clay statue weakens, the more the soul is strengthened and fortified against its adversaries by the connection and cooperation of the Spirit. The more your struggles for the good are extended, the more crowns are woven for you by the crown-giving right hand of the Mighty One. The more your contests and struggles increase, the more the prizes and the unfading rewards multiply. Inasmuch as you are persecuted and constrained from present goods, to that extent, therefore, you are uplifted soaringly toward God, the truly good, and drawing near to the good things to come you are filled with assurance and enlarged. Inasmuch as you trample upon falsely-named and trodden glory and reckon it as nothing, to that extent you draw to yourselves the true and heavenly glory. Inasmuch as poverty for God's sake and the lack of useful things wear you down and humble you, to that extent the treasures in heaven and the great and unimaginable storehouses of the promises will glorify and enrich and satisfy you, and will provide a relief and delight and enjoyment that cannot even be described. Therefore, you must be of good cheer, be bright, rejoice, dance, leap, exult, be poured out in every way, O divine master, because the present things are an outpouring of joy and exultation and gladness and soul-delighting cheerfulness; for it brings about the heavenly kingdom, the griefless and endless life, and becoming gods, the greater and the chief thing, so to speak, of the gifts of God, by grace and participation. For if we suffer with Him, says Paul speaking in Christ, we shall also be glorified with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him. And what does the great John, who thundered the ineffable and heavenly mysteries, say? "Now, beloved, we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." We suffer a few things now, but of great glory and

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συνέσφιγξεν· ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν σαρκικῶς, ἵν' οὕτω φαίην, συναπτομένων, ὅσον ἂν τὰ κατ' αἴσθησιν αἴτια τῆς ἑνώσεως περιαιρῆται καὶ περικόπτηται, τοσοῦτον καὶ οἱ ἔρωτες αὐτοῖς ψυχραίνονται καὶ μαραίνονται, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν κατὰ Χριστὸν φιλούντων, τοσοῦτον ὁ πόθος διάπυρος κατὰ ψυχὴν ἐντὸς ἀνακαίεται, ὅσον καὶ τὰ ὑλικὰ καὶ ὁρώμενα κατασβεννύονται ὑπεκκαύματι ὅλου τοῦ φίλτρου καὶ πάσης τῆς διαθέσεως, κενωθέντων ὁλοκλήρως τῶν καρδιακῶν ταμείων ἐντός. Ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν ἡμέτερον πόθον ἔτι καὶ ἔτι θεὸς πρὸς περιφανεστέραν πυρκαϊὰν ἐξανάψειε. σὺ δὲ καὶ ἀναπαύειν παντοίως καὶ ψυχαγωγεῖν καὶ παραμυθεῖσθαι τὸν δεσπότην ἡμῶν τὸν γλυκύν, τὸν ἡδύν, τὸν χαρίεντα μὴ διαλείπῃς τὸ σύνολον. ἀνάπαυε δὲ μὴ σαρκικοῖς ἢ φυσικοῖς εἴκων θεσμοῖς μηδὲ ὡς ἀδελφὸν καὶ τὰς αὐτὰς ὠδῖνας σοι διαλύσαντα (τοῦτο γὰρ τῶν τυχόντων καὶ τῶν χαμαὶ καὶ πρὸς τὰ γήινα μόνα νενευκότων ἐστίν), ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν θεὸν αὐτόν, δι' αὐτὸ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ὡς ὁμολογητὴν καὶ μάρτυρα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ὡς τῆς εὐσεβείας προασπιστὴν καὶ τῆς πίστεως πρόμαχον. ἡ χάρις τοῦ κρείττονος, κάλλιστε ἀδελφῶν, διαφυλάξειέ σου τὴν θεοφιλίαν κρείττω καὶ ἀνωτέραν πάσης σατανικῆς ἐπηρείας καὶ ἐπιθέσεως. 559 {1Πρός τινας ἁγίους ἐν ἐξορίᾳ ὄντασ}1 Ὅσον ἡμῖν, δέσποτά μου θειότατε, μείζω καὶ ἀλλεπάλληλα τὰ τῶν πειρασμῶν ἀνορθούμενα κύματα φοβερὸν ἐπεισφρήσουσι, τοσοῦτον πρὸς τὰς ἀγρίας ἐμβολὰς τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ ἀντιπνοίας δοκιμωτέρους καὶ σοφωτέρους καὶ πλείονα πεῖραν ἔχειν κατασκευάζουσι· ὅσον αἱ θλίψεις πλεονάζουσι, τοσοῦτον ἡμῖν καὶ ἡ ἀένναος χάρις ἄφθονος ἐπιβλύζει τοῦ πνεύματος. Ὅσῳ τὰ παθήματα περισσεύει ἐν ὑμῖν τοῦ σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ, τοσούτῳ καὶ ἡ παράκλησις, κατὰ τὸν ἀπόστολον φάναι, πλεῖον παρ' ἐκείνου χορηγουμένη προστίθεται. Ὅσον ὁ κατ' αἴσθησιν ἄνθρωπος οὗτος ταῖς ἀνενδότοις κακώσεσιν ὑμῖν διαφθείρεται, τοσοῦτον ὁ ἔνδον ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ ἀνακαινίζεσθαι, φησίν, δύναμιν ἔχει, καθὼς ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπόστολος καὶ πάλιν διδάσκει. Ὅσον ὁ πήλινος οὗτος ἀσθενεῖ ἀνδριάς, τοσοῦτον ἡ ψυχὴ κατὰ τῶν ἀντιμαχομένων νευροῦται καὶ ῥώννυται τῇ συνάρσει καὶ συνεργείᾳ τοῦ πνεύματος. Ὅσον ὑμῖν οἱ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἀγῶνες ὑπερεκτείνονται, τοσούτου πλείους παρὰ τῆς στεφοδότιδος τοῦ κρείττονος δεξιᾶς καὶ οἱ στέφανοι πλέκονται. ὅσον ὑμῖν οἱ ἆθλοι καὶ τὰ παλαίσματα ἐπαυξάνονται, τοσοῦτον καὶ τὰ ἔπαθλα καὶ τὰ ἀμάραντα βραβεῖα πληθύνονται. καθ' ὅσον ἐκ τῶν παρόντων ἀγαθῶν διώκεσθε καὶ στενοχωρεῖσθε, κατὰ τοσοῦτον ἄρα πρὸς θεόν, τὸ κυρίως καλόν, ἀνατατικῶς ἀνυψοῦσθε καὶ τοῖς μέλλουσιν ἀγαθοῖς πλησιάζοντες ἐμπληροφορεῖσθε καὶ ἐμπλατύνεσθε. Καθ' ὅσον τὴν ψευδώνυμον καὶ πατουμένην δόξαν καταπατεῖτε καὶ παρ' οὐδὲν ταύτην λογίζεσθε, κατὰ τοσοῦτον πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς τὴν ἀληθινὴν ἐφέλκεσθε καὶ οὐράνιον. Καθ' ὅσον ἡ διὰ τὸν θεὸν πτωχεία καὶ ἡ ἔνδεια τῶν χρησίμων ὑμᾶς κατατρύχουσι καὶ ταπεινοῦσιν, κατὰ τοσοῦτον καὶ οἱ ἐν οὐρανοῖς θησαυροὶ καὶ τὰ μεγάλα καὶ ἀνεννόητα τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ταμεῖα δοξάσουσι καὶ πλουτίσουσι καὶ κορέσουσι ἄνεσιν καὶ τρυφήν, καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν οὐδ' ὅσην εἰπεῖν ἐμπαρέξουσι. Τοιγαροῦν εὐθυμεῖν ὑμᾶς χρή, γάννυσθαι, χαίρειν, χορεύειν, σκιρτᾶν, ἀγάλλεσθαι, παντοδαπῶς διαχέεσθαι, θεσπέσιε δέσποτα, ὅτι καὶ χαρᾶς καὶ ἀγαλλιάσεως καὶ εὐφροσύνης καὶ θυμηδίας τερψιθύμου τὰ παρόντα τυγχάνουσι διαχύσεως· προξενεῖ γὰρ τὴν οὐράνιον βασιλείαν, τὴν ἄλυπον ζωὴν καὶ ἀπέραντον καὶ τὸ θεοὺς γενέσθαι, τὸ μεῖζον καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον ἵν' εἴποιμι τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ δωρεῶν, κατὰ χάριν καὶ μέθεξιν. εἰ γὰρ συμπάσχομεν, ὁ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλῶν Παῦλός φησιν, καὶ συνδοξασθῶμεν, εἰ ὑπομένομεν, καὶ συμβασιλεύσομεν. τί δὲ ὁ τὰ ἀπόρρητα καὶ οὐράνια μυστήρια βροντήσας Ἰωάννης ὁ πάνυ φησί; νῦν, ἀγαπητοί, τέκνα ἐσμὲν τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν. ὀλίγα πάσχομεν νῦν, μεγάλης δὲ δόξης καὶ