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when we were together, you commanded me to set down in writing what was then discussed and send it to you. I for my part rightly admired you for your virtue, and I praised the all-radiant and sublime character of your Christ-like poverty according to it, or rather, I praised the Lord who is glorified in every way through you and in you, who both made you and reveals the power granted to you to become worthy of Him, a power made manifestly beautiful by His own properties through its very deeds and the truth, reaching even to me, who am small and worthless and ignorant and utterly bereft of all virtue and knowledge. Seeing you humbled in this matter, I forced myself to accept your command to the best of my ability, taking no account of being thought presumptuous by the many for your sake. But you too, as is your custom, grant your earnest prayers to me as I await to receive in return the beloved and lovely reward for obedience, so that Christ the God, the ready help of those who fear Him, may come to me as an ally in this discourse, or rather, so that as the Word He might supply the entire discourse of speaking piously. And I ask you, as you read, not to seek polished diction from me, for I do not have the words that make a display for the ear, and I do not know how to make them ring with elaborate phrasing. For being unpracticed in such studies, and being inexperienced in the practice of them, I consider it a desirable and (1065) prayer-worthy thing if I might grasp the mind of this holy and great teacher, even if in common phrasing, and that only to some degree, let alone presume to attempt a lengthy explanation. For this man, the Theologian, as you know, being brief in speech and rich in thought, compels anyone who wishes to unfold his purpose—even the most eloquent and philosophical—to proceed at length, and especially me, a layman. But if your God-loving zeal, as is its custom, should move you to refashion what is written with both conciseness and eloquence, or even to correct its whole meaning toward what is more sublime, you will receive a perfect reward: the prayers of the God-bearer to the Master of all, for not having allowed his divine and transcendent thoughts to be carried away by unsuccessful and grovelling attempts. And so, following your letter, I have made an inquiry concerning each chapter and set it down in this document, begging you to be good and kind judges of what is said.

From the sermon concerning the love of the poor, on the text, "I spare as a fellow worker, and I do not know how to flee the insurrection, or how not to fall from God, weighed down by fetters that drag down or hold fast to the ground."

By this blessed man, "to be held fast" is not understood as the same as "to be dragged down,"—do not think so, most excellent one, if you have been eager to understand something worthy of his magnanimity. Since he will thus appear redundant in his words and to have a mind not attending to his speech, if he is not thought to have determined in every way to lead his followers to what is most beautiful and useful, having placed the fitting idea in almost every syllable. But this is not so, far from it! But rather he joins speech to a wise mind, and to a lofty speech he applies a loftier mind, so that lofty may be announced by lofty, and the greatness of truth, hitherto inaccessible to the many or even to all, might be revealed to some extent through both. And so that the whole enigma of what is said may become clear to us, let us examine the sayings of the blessed one as they are. "I spare," he says, "as a fellow worker, and I do not know how to flee the insurrection, or how not to fall from God, weighed down by fetters, that drag down or

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ἡνίκα σύν ἀλλήλοις ἦμεν, ἀποδοθέντα τό τηνικαῦτα λόγου γραφῇ καταθεμένῳ στεῖλαι ὑμῖν κελεύουσαν, ὑμᾶς μέν εἰκότως τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐθαύμασα καί τῆς κατ᾿ αὐτήν χριστοπρεποῦς ὑμῶν πτωχείας τό παμφαές καί ὑψηλόν ἀνύμνησα, μᾶλλον δέ τόν κατά πάντα τρόπον δι᾿ ὑμῶν τε καί ἐν ὑμῖν δοξαζόμενον Κύριον, τόν καί ποιήσαντα ὑμᾶς καί τήν πρός τό ἀξίους αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι χαρισθεῖσαν ὑμῖν δύναμιν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ ἰδιώμασι δι᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων καί τῆς ἀληθείας ἀριδήλως ὡραϊσμένην ἐκφαίνοντα, μέχρις ἐμοῦ τοῦ μικροῦ καί μηδενός ἀξίου καί ἀμαθοῦς καί πάσης γυμνοῦ παντάπασιν ἀρετῆς καί γνώσεως. Περί τούτου ταπεινωθέντας θεώμενος ἑμαυτόν δέ καταδέξασθαι ὑμῶν τό ἐπίταγμα κατά δύναμιν ἐβιασάμην, μηδένα τοῦ προπετής νομισθῆναι τοῖς πολλοῖς ὑμῶν χάριν ποιησάμενος λόγον· ἀλλά καί ὑμεῖς τόν προσφιλῆ καί ἐράσμιον τῆς εὐπειθείας μισθόν ἀντιλαβεῖν ἐκδεχομένῳ τάς ὑμετέρας ἐκτενεῖς εὐχάς συνήθως χαρίσασθε, ὅπως Χριστός ὁ Θεός, ἡ ἑτοίμη τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτόν βοήθεια, ἔλθοι μοι τῷ λόγῳ σύμμαχος, μᾶλλον δέ τόν τοῦ λέγειν ὅλον εὐσεβῶς ὡς Λόγος χορηγήσοι λόγον. Ἀξιῶ δέ ὑμᾶς ἐντυγχάνοντας, μή τήν κεκομψευμένην ἐπιζητεῖν πρός ἐμοῦ λέξιν, τούς περικομποῦντας τήν ἀκοήν λόγους οὐκ ἔχοντος, καί ταῖς περιέργοις τομαῖς ἐμπεριηχήτους ποιεῖν ἀγνοοῦντος. Ἀτριβής γάρ ὤν τῶν τοιούτων μαθημάτων, καί τῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς μελέτης ἄπειρος τυγχάνων, ἀγαπητόν ἡγοῦμαι καί (1065) ἐπευκτόν, εἰ τῆς διανοίας τοῦ ἁγίου τούτου καί μεγάλου διδασκάλου, κἄν ἐν χυδαίᾳ φράσει, καί τοῦτο ποσῶς, καταστοχάσαιμι, μήτι δέ τῷ πολυστίχῳ τῶν ἐξηγήσεων ἐπισκήπτειν. Ὁ Θεολόγος γάρ οὗτος ἀνήρ, ὡς ἴστε, βραχυλόγος ὑπάρχων καί πολύνους ἀνάγκην δίδωσι τῷ ἐξαπλοῦν βουλομένῳ τόν αὐτοῦ σκοπόν, κἄν ὁ ῥητορικώτατος ᾗ καί φιλοσοφώτατος, διά πολλῶν ἰέναι, καί μάλιστα ἐμοί τῷ ἰδιώτῃ· εἰ δ᾿ ὑμᾶς συνήθως ὁ θεοφιλής ἀνακινήσοι ζῆλος πρός τό σύντομον ἅμα καί εὐφραδές τά γραφόμενα μετακομίσαι, ἤ καί τόν νοῦν ὅλον διορθώσασθαι πρός τό ὑψηλότερον, μισθόν αὐτοτελῆ λήψεσθε, τάς τοῦ θεοφόρου πρός τόν ∆εσπότην τῶν ὅλων εὐχάς, ἅτε μή συγχωρήσαντες αὐτοῦ τά θεῖα καί ὑπερφυῆ νοήματα ταῖς ἀποτεύκτοις καί χαμαιπετέσιν ἐπιβολαῖς παρασύρεσθαι. Ἀκολούθως δέ τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ ἐπιστολῇ τήν περί ἑκάστου κεφαλαίου ποιησάμενος ζήτησιν κατεθέμην τῷ γράμματι, χρηστούς καί φιλανθρώπους ὑμᾶς τῶν λεγομένων κριτάς γενέσθαι παρακαλῶν.

Ἐκ τοῦ περί φιλοπτωχίας λόγου, εἰς τό, "Φείδομαι ὡς συνεργοῦ, καί οὐκ ἔχω πῶς φύγω τήν ἐπανάστασιν, ἤ πῶς μή ἀπό Θεοῦ πέσω βαρηθείς ταῖς πέδαις κατασπώσαις ἤ κατεχούσαις εἰς ἔδαφος."

Οὐ ταυτόν τῷ κατασπᾶσθαι τό κατέχεσθαι νενόηται τῷ μακαρίῳ τούτῳ ἀνδρί, μή οὕτω νομίσῃς, δοκιμώτατε, εἴπερ τί σοι νοεῖν τῆς αὐτοῦ μεγαλονοίας ἄξιον διεσπούδασται· ἐπεί περιττός οὕτω τοῖς λόγοις καί τόν νοῦν τῷ λόγῳ μή ἐφιστάμενον ἔχων ἀναφανήσεται, εἴπερ μή πάσῃ συλλαβῇ σχεδόν τήν πρέπουσαν ἐνθέμενος ἔννοιαν πρός τά κάλλιστά τε καί χρήσιμα τούς ὀπαδούς ὁδηγεῖν παντί τρόπῳ διεγνωκέναι ὑποληφθῇ. Οὐχ οὕτω δέ ταῦτ᾿ ἔχει, πόθεν; ἀλλά καί νῷ λόγον σοφῷ συνίστησι, καί λόγῳ ὑψηλῷ νοῦν ἐφίστησιν ὑψηλότερον, ἵν᾿ ὑψηλός ὑψηλῷ διαγγέλληται, καί τῆς ἀληθείας ποσῶς δι᾿ ἀμφοῖν τό τέως τοῖς πολλοῖς ἤ καί πᾶσιν ἀνεπίβατον μέγεθος διαδειχθῇ. Ἵνα δέ φανερόν ἅπαν ἡμῖν γένηται τῶν λεγομένων τό αἴνιγμα, αὐτά ὡς ἔχει τοῦ μακαρίου σκοπήσωμεν τά ῥητά. Φείδομαι, φησίν, ὡς συνεργοῦ, καί οὐκ ἔχω πῶς φύγω τήν ἐπανάστασιν, ἤ πῶς μή ἀπό Θεοῦ πέσω βαρηθείς ταῖς πέδαις, κατασπώσαις ἤ