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will be referred to man, and to the body of Christ, that is, the choir of martyrs composed of perfect souls; or his perfect Church, which he himself presented to himself, having no spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. He therefore who promised to build his Church upon the rock, so that the gates of hades should not prevail against it, will himself be both its guard and guardian, fencing it in and securing it, so that the gates of hades do not prevail against it. Wherefore to such a Church, and to such a choir of Christ's martyrs, which has no dwelling at all on earth, but is able to say, But our citizenship is in heaven, it will be said: He who dwells in the help of the Most High, will abide in the shelter of the God of heaven. Then he himself will say to the Lord, under whose shelter he chose to dwell: You are my helper and my refuge, my God, and I will hope in him. And to him who has acquired such a guard and such a savior and has claimed such a helper it will be said by the divine Spirit, that he has found for himself a good portion and a strong wall, and an invincible weapon in his own Lord. For having him he will dwell in safety and without care, as one who dwells in the help of the Most High, and abides in the shelter of the Mighty One. If ever, he says, the hunters of human souls, unseen and invisible powers, hiding snares secretly as is their custom, should attempt to attack you, they will gain nothing; for the Lord himself will deliver you from the snare of the hunters, The snare is broken, and we are delivered. And if they should attempt to make a disturbance with words, sending forth the venom of their impiety through their tongue, yet again from these very things the Lord will keep his own man unharmed. Lest the flame of men's life and the burning heat of wickedness, being kindled further, should ignite evils against the athlete of piety, the Word decrees, saying to him: He will overshadow you with his shoulders, and under his wings you will hope. And if hordes of enemies should hurl fiery and death-bearing arrows of false words and things contrary to the truth against the one indicated, he himself will be at rest, obeying the divine law that says: The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace; 23.1148 and it will be said to him in due time, His truth will surround you with a shield. For this truth of Christ's doctrines, possessing great power, will fence in the one who has it, surrounding him, and enveloping him with its own weapon, so that he fears neither when night comes on, nor when darkness overtakes him, nor is he disturbed by fears, nor does he care for the arrows sent by day. Through the night and the darkness he indicates the times of trial, in which he says that the one fenced in by the weapon of truth will fear nothing; and through the day he indicates the times of calm and fairness and peaceful state, in which the enemies are accustomed to send flying arrows against us from afar, their blasphemous and impious words. For in the times of persecutions, they do not send arrows standing far off, but rushing from nearby, they try to swallow us whole, as friends of death; which then prevailed and swallowed up. But we, being guarded by the weapon shown, will say: If it had not been that the Lord was with us, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive. Therefore, neither by day nor by night will the enemies be able to do anything against us, because of our champion, the Lord. Wherefore it has been said: You will not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the thing that walks in darkness; nor will we be afraid of the attack and the noonday demon. And if thousands and myriads of unseen or even seen enemies and foes should rise up against the people of Christ and against his Church,

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ἄνθρωπον ἀνενεχθήσεται, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ σῶμα δὲ Χριστοῦ, ἤτοι τὸν ἐκ τελείων ψυχῶν κατεσκευασμένον μαρτύρων χορόν· ἢ τὴν τελείαν Ἐκκλησίαν αὐτοῦ, ἣν αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ παρεστήσατο, μὴ ἔχουσαν σπῖλον ἢ ῥυτίδα, ἤ τι τῶν τοιούτων. Ὁ γοῦν ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν οἰκοδομήσειν ἐπηγγελμένος τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν αὐτοῦ, ὡς μὴ πύλας ᾅδου κατισχύσειν αὐτῆς, αὐτὸς αὐτῆς καὶ φύλαξ καὶ φρουρὸς ἔσται, περιφράττων αὐτὴν καὶ ἀσφαλιζόμενος, πρὸς τὸ μὴ τὰς πύλας τοῦ ᾅδου κατισχύειν αὐτῆς. ∆ιὸ τῇ τοιαύτῃ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ τῷ τοιούτῳ δὴ Χριστοῦ μαρτύρων χορῷ, τῷ κατοικίαν μὲν μηδαμῶς ἔχοντι ἐπὶ γῆς, δυναμένῳ δὲ λέγειν, Ἡμῶν δὲ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει, λεχθήσεται· Ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ Ὑψίστου, ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται. Εἶτ' ἐρεῖ μὲν αὐτὸς τῷ Κυρίῳ, οὗ εἵλατο κατοικεῖν ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην· Ἀντιλήπτωρ μου εἶ καὶ καταφυγή μου, ὁ Θεός μου, καὶ ἐλπιῶ ἐπ' αὐτόν. Κτησαμένῳ δὲ αὐτῷ τοιοῦτον φύλακα καὶ τοιοῦτον σωτῆρα καὶ βοηθὸν ἐπιγραψαμένῳ λεχθήσεται ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος, ὡς ἄρα εἴη καλὴν εὑράμενος ἑαυτῷ μερίδα καὶ τεῖχος ὀχυρὸν, ὅπλον τε ἄμαχον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Κύριον. Τοῦτον γὰρ ἔχων ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ καὶ ἀμερίμνως οἰκήσει, ἅτε κατοικῶν ἐν βοηθείᾳ τοῦ Ὑψίστου, καὶ ἐν σκέπῃ τοῦ ἱκανοῦ αὐλιζόμενος. Εἰ γοῦν ποτε, φησὶν, οἱ τῶν ἀνθρωπείων ψυχῶν θηρευταὶ, ἀφανεῖς καὶ ἀόρατοι δυνάμεις κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες αὐτοῖς παγίδας λαθραίως ἐγκρύπτοντες, προβάλλεσθαι κατὰ σοῦ πειρῷντο, οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἔσται πλέον· ὅτι αὐτὸς Κύριος ῥύσεταί σε ἐκ παγίδος θηρευτῶν, Ἡ παγὶς συνετρίβη, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐῤῥύσθημεν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ λόγοις θορυβεῖν ἐπιχειροῖεν ἱέντες ἑαυτῶν τὸν τῆς ἀσεβείας ἰὸν διὰ τῆς ἑαυτῶν γλώσσης, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων αὐτῶν πάλιν ὁ Κύριος ἀβλαβῆ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἄνθρωπον φυλάξει. Ἵνα μὴ ὁ φλογμὸς τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίου καὶ ὁ τῆς κακίας καύσων, ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐκκαυθεὶς, ἐξάψῃ τὰ κακὰ κατὰ τοῦ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀθλητοῦ, θεσπίζει φάσκων ὁ λόγος αὐτῷ· Ἐν τοῖς μεταφρένοις αὐτοῦ ἐπισκιάσει σοι, καὶ ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας αὐτοῦ ἐλπιεῖς. Εἰ δὲ καὶ πολεμίων στίφη πεπυρωμένα καὶ θανατηφόρα βέλη λόγων ψευδῶν καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐναντίων ἀκοντίζοι κατὰ τοῦ δηλουμένου, αὐτὸς μὲν ἡσυχάσει νόμῳ θείῳ πειθαρχῶν λέγοντι· Κύριος πολεμήσει ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, καὶ ὑμεῖς σιγή 23.1148 σεσθε· λεχθήσεται δὲ αὐτῷ κατὰ καιρὸν τὸ, Ὅπλῳ κυκλώσει σε ἡ ἀλήθεια αὐτοῦ. Αὕτη γὰρ ἡ ἀλήθεια τῶν Χριστοῦ δογμάτων, μεγάλην κεκτημένη δύναμιν, τὸν ἔχοντα αὐτὴν περιφράξει, κυκλοῦσα αὐτὸν, καὶ περιβάλλουσα τῷ ἑαυτῆς ὅπλῳ, πρὸς τὸ μήτε νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης, μήτε σκοτίας καταλαβούσης δεδιέναι, μηδ' ὑπὸ φόβων ταράττεσθαι, μήτε τῶν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πεμπομένων βελῶν φροντίζειν. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ διὰ μὲν τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ τῆς σκοτίας τοὺς περιστατικοὺς καιροὺς, καθ' οὕς φησι μηδὲν φοβηθήσεσθαι τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας ὅπλου περιπεφραγμένον· διὰ δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας τοὺς ἐν γαλήνῃ καὶ εὐδίᾳ καὶ εἰρηνικῇ καταστάσει, καθ' οὓς πόῤῥωθεν βέλη πετόμενα καθ' ἡμῶν πέμπειν εἰώθασιν οἱ ἐχθροὶ, τοὺς βλασφήμους καὶ ἀσεβεῖς ἑαυτῶν λόγους. Κατὰ γὰρ τοὺς τῶν διωγμῶν καιροὺς, οὐ πόῤῥωθεν ἑστῶτες βέλη πέμπουσιν, ἀλλ' ἐγγύθεν ὁρμῶντες, καταπιεῖν ἡμᾶς ὅλους οἷα θανάτου φίλοι πειρῶνται· ὃς κατέπιε τότε ἰσχύσας. Ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς γε, τῷ δηλωθέντι ὅπλῳ πεφυλαγμένοι, ἐροῦμεν· Εἰ μὴ ὅτι Κύριος ἦν ἐν ἡμῖν, ἐν τῷ ἐπαναστῆναι ἀνθρώπους ἐφ' ἡμᾶς, ἄρα ζῶντας ἂν κατέπιον ἡμᾶς. Οὔτ' οὖν ἡμέρας οὔτε νυκτὸς δυνήσονταί τι καθ' ἡμῶν οἱ ἐχθροὶ διὰ τὸν ὑπερμαχοῦντα ἡμῶν Κύριον. ∆ιὸ λέλεκται· Οὐ φοβηθήσῃ ἀπὸ φόβου νυκτερινοῦ, ἀπὸ βέλους πετομένου ἡμέρας, ἀπὸ πράγματος ἐν σκότει διαπορευομένου· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἀπὸ συμπτώματος καὶ δαιμονίου μεσημβρινοῦ φοβηθησόμεθα. Εἰ δὲ καὶ χιλιάδες καὶ μυριάδες ἀοράτων ἢ καὶ ὁρατῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ πολεμίων κατὰ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ κατὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ ἐπανασταῖεν,