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and you did not give me a drink; I was a stranger, and you did not take me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit me; and they will not be in the portion of those who bless God. But someone may say: Does the blessed Prophet, then, curse those who are in sins, and wish for all to perish and disappear? And yet it was more fitting for him, being holy and Spirit-bearing, to pray for those who have grown weak. Listen, then, for I will speak briefly: before the coming of the Savior, we were all in sins, Satan ruled over everything under heaven, there was no one who did good, not even one; all turned aside, together they became worthless. For the Greeks, the worshipers of idols, did not know the ways of gentleness, they did not understand the path of the good life; rather, they did not even know at all the Creator of all things and Savior, Christ; The Jews, on the other hand, had the law as a tutor; but it was not possible for man to be justified in the law. Therefore, we were all in sins, the earth was full of lawlessness. But when the only-begotten Word of God appeared and became man, the sinners ceased, those who were in lawlessness have ceased to exist. How or in what way? For He has justified all, released them from their offenses, declared them free and cleansed. Therefore, few are those who are in sins, but very many are those who have been justified; so that here he does not pray for the substance to be destroyed, nor for the people to be given over to utter destruction; but that the sinner might abandon wickedness, so as not to be a sinner, but to be transferred; that the lawless man may not exist, but be changed. For such prayers do the souls of the saints offer up not only for themselves, but for the entire inhabited world. And so now David, having traversed the divine beauty according to its ineffable richness, as was possible for human nature, desired all people to share in the same knowledge, and supplicates for the company of sinners to cease entirely; not asking for them to perish, but begging for them to be changed, and imploring that their throng might cease, having been reordered and having learned the divine things. So that the contentious in vain quote such sayings in defense of their own bitterness: David longing for the sinner to cease, and praying for shame and confusion on his enemies; Jeremiah desiring to see vengeance from God upon his adversaries; Hosea begging for a barren womb and dry breasts to be given to his enemies; and many such things scattered throughout the divine Scriptures are collected, insisting that it is necessary to curse one's adversaries, and to make the goodness of God an accomplice to their own bitterness. 23.1293 But none of the truly holy ones, whose sayings according to the divine economy were written down for the admonition of those who followed, will be shown to have zeal for any evil thing, but their entire purpose of words looks to the correction of the malice that dwells in our nature. Therefore, just as he who prays for there to be no sick people, no poor people, does not desire the annihilation of the people, but the disappearance of the sickness and poverty to occur; so also each of the saints prays for that which is hostile to nature to come to destruction. For when the Psalmist says: Let sinners cease from the earth and the lawless, so that they exist no more, he prays for sin and lawlessness to cease. For man is not hostile to man, but the movement of the will according to wickedness has placed what is conjoined by nature in the rank of an enemy. Therefore, he prays for evil to cease; but man is not evil. For how could the likeness of the Good be evil? Thus, even if he prays for shame and confusion on his enemies, he shows you the throng of adversaries from the invisible world warring against human life. That he does not curse men, but demons, the

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καὶ οὐκ ἐποτίσατέ με· ξένος ἤμην, καὶ οὐ συνηγάγετέ με· γυμνὸς, καὶ οὐ περιεβάλετέ με· ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἐν φυλακῇ, καὶ οὐκ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με· καὶ οὐκ ἔσονται ἐν τῇ μερίδι τῶν εὐλογούντων τὸν Θεόν. Ἀλλ' ἐρεῖ τις τυχόν· Ἆρ' οὖν ὁ μακάριος Προφήτης κατεύχεται τῶν ὄντων ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, καὶ πάντας ἀπολέσθαι καὶ ἀφανισθῆναι βούλεται; Καίτοι μᾶλλον ἐχρῆν ἅγιον ὄντα καὶ πνευματοφόρον ὑπερεύχεσθαι τῶν ἠσθενηκότων. Ἄκουε λοιπὸν, ἐρῶ γὰρ διὰ βραχέων· πρὸ μὲν τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπιδημίας ἅπαντες ἦμεν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, κατεκράτει τῆς ὑπ' οὐρανὸν ὁ Σατανᾶς, οὐκ ἦν ὁ ποιῶν χρηστότητα, οὐκ ἦν ἕως ἑνός· πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἅμα ἠχρειώθησαν. Ἕλληνες μὲν γὰρ οἱ τῶν εἰδώλων προσκυνηταὶ, τοὺς τῆς ἐπιεικείας οὐκ ᾔδεισαν τρόπους, τῆς εὐζωΐας τὴν ὁδὸν οὐκ ἠπίσταντο· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ αὐτὸν ἐγίνωσκον ὅλως τὸν τῶν ὅλων γενεσιουργὸν καὶ Σωτῆρα Χριστόν· Ἰουδαῖοι δὲ πάλιν εἶχον μὲν νόμον τὸν παιδαγωγόν· ἀλλ' οὐκ ἦν ἐν νόμῳ δικαιωθῆναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Οὐκοῦν ἅπαντες ἦμεν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, ἀνομίας ἦν πλήρης ἡ γῆ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐπέφανεν ὁ μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, καὶ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, ἐξέλιπον οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ, ἐκλελοίπασιν οἱ ὄντες ἐν ἀνομίαις. Πῶς ἢ τίνα τρόπον; δεδικαίωκε γὰρ ἅπαντας, ἀπήλλαξε τῶν πεπλημμελημένων, ἐλευθέρους ἀπέφηνε καὶ διεσμηγμένους. Οὐκοῦν ὀλίγοι γεγόνασιν οἱ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, πολλοὶ δὲ λίαν οἱ δεδικαιωμένοι· ὥστε ἐνταῦθα οὐ τὴν οὐσίαν ἀφανισθῆναι εὔχεται, οὔτε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πανολεθρίᾳ παραδοθῆναι· ἀλλὰ τὴν πονηρίαν ἐκλίποι ἁμαρτωλὸς, ὥστε μὴ εἶναι ἁμαρτωλὸς, ἀλλὰ μετατεθῆναι· μὴ ὑπάρχοι ὁ ἄνομος, ἀλλὰ μεταβληθῆναι. Τοιαύτας γὰρ αἱ τῶν ἁγίων ψυχαὶ οὐχ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτῶν μόνον, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης τὰς δεήσεις ἀναφέρουσι. Καὶ νῦν τοίνυν ὁ ∆αυῒδ, τὸ θεῖον κάλλος κατὰ τὸν ἀπόῤῥητον πλοῦτον, ὡς ἐνῆν ἀνθρωπείᾳ φύσει διεξελθὼν, πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἱμείρετο τῆς αὐτῆς μεταλαχεῖν γνώσεως, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν πάμπαν ἐκλεῖψαι συμμορίαν ἱκετεύει· οὐκ αὐτοὺς ἀπολέσθαι παρακαλῶν, ἀλλὰ μεταβληθῆναι δεόμενος, καὶ παύσασθαι αὐτῶν τὸ στίφος ἀντιβολῶν, μεταταξαμένων καὶ μεταμαθόντων τὰ θεῖα. Ὥστε μάτην οἱ ἐριστικοὶ εἰς συνηγορίαν τῆς ἑαυτῶν πικρίας τὰς τοιαύτας φωνὰς παρατίθενται· τὸν ∆αυῒδ ἐκλείπειν τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν ποθοῦντα, καὶ αἰσχύνην καὶ ἐντροπὴν τῶν ἐχθρῶν κατευχόμενον· τὸν Ἱερεμίαν ἰδεῖν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκδίκησιν ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐπιθυμοῦντα· τὸν Ὠσηὲ μήτραν ἀτεκνοῦσαν καὶ μαστοὺς ξηροὺς δοθῆναι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς δεόμενον· καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα σποράδην ἐγκείμενα ταῖς θείαις Γραφαῖς ἀναλέγονται, συνιστάμενοι τῷ δεῖν τῶν ἐναντίων κατεύχεσθαι, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν πικρίας συνεργὸν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθότητα. 23.1293 Ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀληθῶς ἁγίων, ὧν αἱ ῥήσεις κατὰ θείαν οἰκονομίαν εἰς νουθεσίαν τῶν ἐφεξῆς ἀνεγράφησαν, ἐπί τινι κακῷ τὴν σπουδὴν ἔχων ἐπιδειχθήσεται, ἀλλὰ πᾶς αὐτοῖς ὁ σκοπὸς τῶν λόγων πρὸς διόρθωσιν τῆς ἐμπολιτευομένης τῇ φύσει κακίας βλέπει. Ὥσπερ τοίνυν ὁ εὐχόμενος μὴ εἶναι νοσοῦντας, μὴ εἶναι πτωχεύοντας, οὐ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀναίρεσιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς νόσου καὶ τῆς πτωχείας ἀφανισμὸν ἐπιθυμεῖ γενέσθαι· οὕτω καὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἕκαστος τὸ τῇ φύσει πολέμιον, εἰς ἀφανισμὸν ἐλθεῖν εὔχονται. Ὅταν γὰρ ὁ Ψαλμῳδὸς εἴπῃ· Ἐκλίποισαν ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἄνομοι, ὥστε μὴ ὑπάρχειν αὐτοὺς, τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκλιπεῖν καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν εὔχεται. Οὐ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπῳ πολέμιος, ἀλλ' ἡ κατὰ κακίαν τῆς προαιρέσεως κίνησις εἰς ἐχθροῦ τάξιν τὸ τῇ φύσει συνημμένον κατέστησε. Τὸ κακὸν τοίνυν ἐκλιπεῖν εὔχεται· ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος κακὸν οὐκ ἔστι. Πῶς γὰρ ἂν εἴη κακὸν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τὸ ὁμοίωμα; Οὕτως κἂν αἰσχύνην καὶ ἐντροπὴν τῶν ἐχθρῶν κατεύχηται, δείκνυσί σοι τὸ στίφος τῶν ἐναντίων, ἐκ τοῦ ἀοράτου τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ προσπολεμούντων ζωῇ. Ὅτι δὲ οὐκ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ δαιμόνων κατεύχεται, δηλοῖ τῆς