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we will inherit what is inexpressible at least in the future. For the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, as we have heard. But also our light affliction, which is but for a moment, he says, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for those are temporary, but these are eternal and unshakable. Near are the crowns and the prizes, near is the glory, near is the expected rest from the boundless good things. Do not grow weary nor, falling back even a little, fall asleep; for the zeal of our opposing enemies, until they prevail, sleeplessly surrounds us on all sides. Wait yet a little while; for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. He will come, and may he most cheerfully deem you worthy of the just rewards for your many labors; He will come, and may he most graciously grant you the inheritance of the undefiled good things, which eye has not seen, nor has it entered into the heart of man, which he has prepared for those who have loved him with their whole soul. Endure (for you are servants of Christ) the present terrors. Yes, I beseech you, wait, and the presidences of patriarchs, the choir of prophets, the thrones of apostles, the orders of hierarchs, the army of martyrs, the communities of the holy, the flocks of ascetics and all the rest of the catalogue of the righteous from the beginning of time will undoubtedly receive you into their own indissoluble tents as having suffered the same things as they did, as having contended in the same contests, as having toiled youthfully in the same struggles, because we have learned that salvation belongs to him who endures in the contests to the end. Your separation and division from one another has filled us with no small despondency, my most honored head, casting into the soul from this the deceitful and resourceful work of Satan; for such is the way and ambush of that villain. 560 {1To the bishops and abbots who attacked Peter of Kalon Oros}1 It was necessary for you, O friends, knowing the Spirit-spoken oracles of the divine scriptures, not to sharpen your tongue against him who formed you; for both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one. But since, being overcome by ignorance or pierced by envy, you do not accept Peter, the worthy servant of Christ, as he sends forth his divine grace now through him as he did through the apostles in signs and wonders, but you parade him as a sorcerer and an impious man, not knowing to be silent about the irreproachable character of his life. For we, having investigated both his life and his faith, have found him erring in no way, but rather even surpassing many ascetics in our times; whom the faithful brethren who receive him are most accurate investigators of the holy liturgies and the evangelical oracles and most holy partakers of the church of Christ. But those who do not accept the things commanded by us, the humble, do not accept the God-spoken evangelical saying, which states most clearly, "He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do"; who, as being overcome by a zeal for ignorance and a word of impiety, are subjected to anathema by apostolic decree and patristic canon.

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ἀνεκφράστου κατά γε τὸ μέλλον κληρονομήσομεν. καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ ἄξια τὰ παθήματα τοῦ νῦν καιροῦ πρὸς τὴν μέλλουσαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς δόξαν, ὡς ἠκούσαμεν. ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ παραυτίκα, φησί, τῆς θλίψεως ἐλαφρὸν καθ' ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον δόξης βάρος ἡμῖν κατεργάζεται, μὴ σκοπούντων ἡμῶν τὰ βλεπόμενα, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ βλεπόμενα· ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ πρόσκαιρα, ταῦτα δέ γε αἰώνια καὶ ἀσάλευτα. ἐγγὺς οἱ στέφανοι καὶ τὰ γέρα, ἐγγὺς ἡ δόξα, ἐγγὺς ἡ προσδοκωμένη ἀνάπαυλα τῶν οὐ πεπερασμένων καλῶν. μὴ ἀποκάμητε μηδὲ βραχὺ γοῦν ἀναπεσόντες ὑπνώσητε· ἡ γὰρ τῶν ἀντιπάλων ἡμῶν ἐχθρῶν σπουδή, ἕως ἂν περιγένωνται, κυκλόθεν ἡμᾶς ἀγρύπνως περιστοιχίζουσι. μείνατε καὶ ἔτι μικρόν· ὅσον γὰρ ὅσον καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἥξει καὶ οὐ χρονιεῖ. ἥξει, καὶ τῶν δικαίων μισθῶν τῶν συχνῶν ἱδρώτων ὑμῶν λίαν ἱλαρῶς ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσειεν· ἥξει, καὶ τῶν ἀκηράτων ἀγαθῶν τὴν κληρονομίαν, ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ καὶ ἡτοίμασεν τοῖς ὁλοψύχως αὐτὸν ἀγαπήσασιν, εὐμενέστατα ὑμῖν χορηγήσειεν. ὑπομείνατε (θεράποντες γὰρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ) τὰ παρόντα δεινά. ναί, ἀντιβολῶ, μείνατε, καὶ πατριαρχῶν προεδρεῖαι, χορὸς προφητῶν, ἀποστόλων θρόνοι, ἱεραρχῶν τάξεις, στρατὸς μαρτύρων, ὁσίων δῆμοι, ἀσκητῶν ἀγέλαι καὶ πᾶς ὁ λοιπὸς τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος δικαίων κατάλογος εἰς τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἀκαταλύτους σκηνὰς ὑμᾶς ἀναμφιβόλως ἐκδέξονται ὡς τὰ αὐτὰ ἐκείνοις παθόντας, ὡς τοὺς αὐτοὺς διαγωνισαμένους ἀγῶνας, ὡς τοῖς αὐτοῖς παλαίσμασι νεανικῶς ἐνιδρώσαντας, διότι καὶ τοῦ μέχρι τέλους τοῖς ἄθλοις ἐγκαρτεροῦντος ἐμάθομεν εἶναι τὸ σῴζεσθαι. Οὐ μικρᾶς ἡμᾶς ἀθυμίας ἐνέπλησε, τιμιωτάτη μοι κορυφή, ἡ ὑμῶν ἀπ' ἀλλήλων διάζευξις καὶ διάστασις, βάλλοντας εἰς ψυχὴν ἐκ τούτου τὸ δολερὸν καὶ πολυμήχανον τοῦ σατάν· ἐκείνου γὰρ τοῦ πανούργου τρόπος τὸ τοιοῦτον καὶ ἔνεδρα. 560 {1Πρὸς τοὺς ἐπισκόπους καὶ ἡγουμένους, τοὺς καθαψαμένους Πέτρου τοῦ ἐν τῷ Καλῷ ὄρει}1 Ἔδει μὲν ὑμᾶς εἰδότας, ὦ φίλοι, τὰ τῶν θείων γραφῶν πνευματόφθεγκτα λόγια μὴ ἀκονᾶν τὴν γλῶσσαν κατὰ τοῦ πλάσαντος· ὁ ἁγιάζων γὰρ καὶ οἱ ἁγιαζόμενοι ἐξ ἑνὸς πάντες. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀγνοίᾳ κρατούμενοι ἢ φθόνῳ περινυττόμενοι τὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἄξιον θεράποντα οὐ προσδέχεσθε Πέτρον, τὴν θείαν χάριν αὐτοῦ ὡς διὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐν σημείοις καὶ τέρασι καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ νυνὶ ἐκπέμποντος, ἀλλὰ γόην καὶ δυσσεβῆ τοῦτον ἐκπομπεύετε, τὸ τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ἀνεπίληπτον μὴ γινώσκοντες σιωπῆσαι. ἡμεῖς γὰρ αὐτοῦ τόν τε βίον καὶ τὴν πίστιν διερευνήσαντες οὐδαμοῦ αὐτὸν σφαλλόμενον εὕρομεν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πολλοὺς ἐν τοῖς καθ' ἡμᾶς χρόνοις ἀσκητὰς ὑπερβαίνοντα· ὅντινα οἱ πιστῶς ἀδελφοὶ προσδεχόμενοι τῶν ἁγίων λειτουργιῶν καὶ τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν λογίων ἐρευνηταὶ ἀκριβέστατοι καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας Χριστοῦ κοινωνοὶ πέλουσιν ἱερώτατοι. οἱ δὲ τὰ ἐγκελευόμενα παρ' ἡμῶν τῶν εὐτελῶν μὴ δεχόμενοι τὴν θεόφθεγκτον εὐαγγελικὴν ῥῆσιν, τὴν λέγουσαν φανερώτατα, ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ τὰ ἔργα ἃ ἐγὼ ποιῶ κἀκεῖνος ποιήσει, καὶ μείζονα τούτων ποιήσει, οὐ προσδέχονται· οἵτινες ὡς ἀπαιδευσίας ζήλῳ καὶ ἀσεβείας λόγῳ κρατούμενοι ἀποστολικῇ ψήφῳ καὶ πατρικῷ κανόνι τῷ ἀναθέματι ὑποβάλλονται.