481

198. It is his to say: My heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation a fire will be kindled, (1448) of him who does not grow weary of following after God through prayer, nor desiring to see men for a day.

199. Let the practical soul also say, after putting aside evils, according to what is in the Song, concerning the evil demons and thoughts that again do violence to it, to look upon vanity and false madnesses: I have put off my tunic, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I soil them.

200. O God-loving soul, who dares to say to God, Tell me, O good shepherd, where you pasture your sheep, where you rest your lambs at noon; so that, following them, I may not become as one wandering among the flocks of your companions.

201. The practical [soul], seeking to grasp the word of prayer, and not being able, cries out such things to it, according to what is in the Songs: Upon my bed by night I sought him whom I loved; I sought him, and I did not find him; I called him, and he did not answer me. I will arise then through more laborious prayer, and going about in the city, in the squares and in the market places, I will seek him whom I loved. Perhaps he will be found by me, who is in all this, and outside of all. I will be satisfied when his glory appears to me.

202. When the whole soul begins to be filled with tears from the joy of prayer, then, speaking boldly, it also cries out as to its bridegroom: Let my beloved come down to his garden, and eat the comfort worked by me as fruit from the treetops.

203. When the practical soul begins to marvel at the Creator from the greatness and beauty of created things, and to delight in the pleasure from them, it also cries out these things in astonishment: How beautiful you have become, O bridegroom, paradise of your Father. (1449) A flower of the field, and its cedars, like the cedars of Lebanon. Under his shadow I desired, and I sat, and the fruit was found sweet in my throat.

204. If he who receives a king into his chamber is found so illustrious and glorious, and of all other. . . [perhaps: full of] joy, what would a soul suffer, which, on being purified, has received the King of kings according to his unfailing promise? And what will it permit, casting out what does not seem to him for repose; but bringing in what is for his pleasure?

205. He who expects to be called by a king tomorrow, what other care will he have, than the study of words that will be for his pleasure? Every soul observing this will not be seen unprepared for the judgment from thence.

206. Blessed is the soul that expects its Lord to come today, considering the labor of the whole day as nothing at all; nothing that of the night, because he will appear to it immediately in the morning.

207. God indeed sees all; but they see God, who contemplate nothing while praying. And as many as see God, are also heard by him. But blessed is he who believes that he is seen by God; for his foot will not be shaken for the sake of his pleasure.

208. The good things of the kingdom that is within us, the eye that loves the world has not seen; and the ear that loves honor has not heard, and it has not entered into a heart empty of the Holy Spirit; they are pledges of the good things that will be given to the just in the future kingdom of Christ; and he who does not delight in these, which are the fruits of the Spirit, cannot be in the enjoyment of those things.

209. The thoughts of the practical are like deer. For as they are sometimes up in the mountains because of the fear of hunters, and sometimes down in the valleys because of longing for what is in them; so too are these; neither can they always be in spiritual contemplation

481

ρ,τέσσ. ἀνοικ. η΄. Ἐκείνου ἐστίν τό λέγειν· Ἐθερμάνθη ἡ καρδία μου ἐντός μου, καί ἐν τῇ μελέτη μου ἐκκαυθήσεται πῦρ, (1448) τοῦ μή κοπιῶντος ὀπίσω Θεοῦ κατακολουθεῖν δι᾿ εὐχῆς, μηδέ ἡμέραν ἀνθρώπους ἐπιθυμοῦντος θεάσασθαι.

ρ.τέσσ.ἀνοικ. θ΄. Λεγέτω καί ψυχή πρακτική μετά τήν ἀπόθεσιν τῶν κακῶν, κατά τήν ἐν τῷ ᾌσματι ἐπί τῶν ἐκβιαζομένων αὖθις αὐτήν πονηρῶν δαιμόνων καί λογισμῶν, ἐπιβλέπειν εἰς ματαιότητα καί μανίας ψευδεῖς· Ἐξεδυσάμην τόν χιτῶνά μου, πῶς ἐνδύσομαι αὐτόν; ἐνιψάμην τούς πόδας μου, πῶς μολυνῶ αὐτούς.

σ΄. Ὤ ψυχῆς θεοφιλοῦς, τῆς λέγειν τολμώσης πρός Θεόν, Ἀπάγγειλόν μοι, ὁ ποιμήν ὁ καλός, ποῦ ποιμαίνεις τά πρόβατά σου, ποῦ κοιτάζεις ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ τούς ἄρνας σου· ἵνα τούτοις ἀκολουθοῦσα, μή γένωμαι ὡς πεπλανημένη ἐν ἀγέλαις ἑταίρων.

σα΄. Ζητοῦσα τόν τῆς εὐχῆς ἡ πρακτική κρατῆσαι λόγον, καί μή δυναμένη, τοιαῦτα, κατά τήν ἐν ᾌσμασι, καί αὐτῇ βοᾷ· Ἐπί κοίτην μου ἐν νυξίν ἐζήτησα ὅν ἠγάπησα· ἐζήτησα, καί οὐχ εὗρον αὐτόν· ἐκάλεσα αὐτόν, καί οὐχ ὑπήκουσέ μου. Ἀναστήσομαι δή δι᾿ εὐχῆς ἐπιπονωτέρας, καί κυκλώσασα ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις καί ταῖς ἀγοραῖς, ζητήσω ὅν ἠγάπησα. Ἴσως εὑρεθήσεταί μοι, ὁ ἐν παντί τῷδε ὤν, καί τοῦ παντός ἔξω. Χορτασθήσομαι ἐν τῷ ὀφθῆναί μοι τήν δόξαν αὐτοῦ.

σβ΄. Ὅταν ὅλη δακρύων ἐκ τῆς περί τήν εὐχήν χαρᾶς ἄρξηται γίνεσθαι ἡ ψυχή, τότε καί αὐτήν παῤῥησιαζομένη, ὡς πρός τόν ἑαυτῆς νυμφίον βοᾷ· Καταβήτω ἀδελφίδός μου εἰς κῆπον αὐτοῦ, καί φαγέτω τῶν ἐμῶν ὡς ἀκροδρύων τήν πονηθεῖσαν παράκλησιν.

σγ΄. Ὅταν ἡ πρακτική ψυχή ἐκ μεγέθους καί καλλονῆς κτισμάτων θαυμάζειν ἄρξηται τόν ∆ημιουργόν, καί τῆς ἐκ τούτων κατατρυφᾷν ἡδονῆς, ταῦτα καί αὐτή ἐκπληττομένη βοᾷ· Τί ὡραιώθης, νυμφίε, παράδεισε Πατρός σου. (1449) Ἄνθος τοῦ πεδίου, καί κέδροι αὐτοῦ, ὡς κέδροι τοῦ Λιβάνου. Ὑπό τήν σκιάν αὐτοῦ ἐπεθύμησα, καί ἐκάθισα, καί ὁ καρπός ὤφθη γλυκύς ἐν τῷ λάρυγγί μου.

σδ΄. Εἰ ὁ βασιλέα ὑποδεχόμενος εἰς τό δωμάτιον αὐτοῦ, οὕτω περιφανής εὑρίσκεται καί περίδοξος, καί πάσης ἄλλης. . . [ἴσ. ἔμπλεως] χαρᾶς, τί πάθοι ψυχή, ἡ τόν Βασιλέα τῶν βασιλέων ἐν τῷ καθαρθῆναι ὑποδεξαμένη κατά τήν ἀψευδῆ ἐκείνου ὑπόσχεσιν; Καί τί ἐάσει, ἔξω μέν βάλλουσα τό μή εἰς ἀνάπαυσιν ἐκείνῳ δοκοῦν· ἔνδοθεν δέ εἰσάγουσα τό εἰς ἐκείνου ἀρέσκειαν;

σε΄. Ὁ κληθῆναι προσδοκῶν παρά βασιλέως τῇ αὔριον, τίνος ἐν φροντίδι ἄλλου ἔσεται, ἤ λόγων μελέτης τῶν εἰς ἐκείνου εἶναι μελλόντων ἀρέσκειαν; Τοῦτο τηροῦσα πᾶσα ψυχή, οὐκ ὀφθήσεται ἀπαρασκεύαστος πρός τό ἐκεῖθεν κριτήριον.

σστ΄. Μακαρία ψυχή, ἡ διά τό σήμερον προσδοκᾷν ἥξειν τόν Κύριον ἑαυτῆς, μηδέν ἡγουμένη ὅλως τόν πόνον τῆς ἡμέρας πάσης· μηδέν τόν τῆς νυκτός, διά τό εὐθέως ἐπί τό πρωΐ τοῦτον μέλλειν αὐτῇ ἐμφανίζεσθαι.

σζ΄. Πάντας μέν ὁρᾷ ὁ Θεός· ὁρῶσι δέ τόν Θεόν, οἱ θεωροῦντες μηδέν ἐν τῷ εὔχεσθαι. Καί ὅσοι μέν ὁρῶσι τόν Θεόν, καί εἰσακούονται παρ᾿ αὐτόν. Μακάριος δέ, ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι βλέπεται ὑπό τοῦ Θεοῦ· οὐ σαλευθήσεται γάρ ὁ πούς αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀρεσκείας ἐκείνου χάριν.

ση΄. Τῆς ἐντός ἡμῶν οὔσης βασιλείας τά ἀγαθά, ὁ φιλόκοσμος ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδε· καί ἀκοή φιλότιμος οὐκ ἤκουσε, καί ἐπί καρδίαν κενήν Πνεύματος ἁγίου οὐκ ἀνέβη· ἀῤῤαβῶνές εἰσι τῶν μελλόντων δίδοσθαι τοῖς δικαίοις ἀγαθῶν ἐν τῇ μελλούσῃ βασιλείᾳ Χριστοῦ· καί ὁ μή ἐν τούτοις τρυφῶν, οἵτινές εἰσιν οἱ καρποί Πνεύματος, ἐν ἀπολαύσει ἐκείνων γενέσθαι οὐ δύναται.

σθ΄. Οἱ τῶν πρακτικῶν λογισμοί ἐλάφοις ἐοίκασιν. Ὡς γάρ ἐκεῖναι ποτέ μέν ἄνω εἰσίν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι διά τόν φόβον τῶν θηρατῶν, ποτέ δέ κάτω ἐν ταῖς κοιλάσι διά τόν πόθον τῶν ἐν αὐταῖς· οὕτω καί οὗτοι· οὔτε πάντοτε ἐν θεωρίᾳ πνευματική δύνανται