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'I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink,' He punishes these. And when He says, 'Depart into the eternal fire prepared for the devil,' He sends there those who are wickedly rich. And the wicked servant, who does not give his fellow servants the master's possessions, is of their portion; and the one who buried the talent, and the five virgins. And wherever you go, you will see the covetous being punished. And now they will hear, 'A chasm is between us and you'; now, 'Depart from me into the prepared fire'; and now, being cut in two, they will go away where there is the gnashing of teeth; and one would see them driven from every side, and having no place, but gathered only into Gehenna. 5. What then is the benefit of our orthodox faith for salvation, when we hear these things? There is the gnashing of teeth, and the outer darkness, and the fire prepared for the devil, and being cut in two, and being driven out; here are enmities, slanders, accusations, dangers, cares, plots, being hated by all, being loathed by all, even by those who seem to flatter. For just as not only the good but also the wicked admire the good, so not only the worthy but also the base hate the evil. And that this is true, I would gladly ask the covetous, if they are not displeased with each other, and consider them more hostile than those who have committed the greatest injustices, if they do not even accuse themselves, if they do not say the matter is an insult, whenever someone brings this reproach against them. For this is the ultimate reproach, and a proof of great evil. For if you cannot bear to overlook money, what will you ever overcome? Lust, and vainglory, and temper, and anger? And how could anyone be persuaded? For concerning bodily lust, and anger, and temper, many reason from the constitution of the flesh, and the disciples of physicians attribute the excesses; and they say the hotter and wetter man is more lecherous, but the one who has fallen into a drier imbalance is impetuous and quick-tempered and wrathful. But concerning covetousness 58.737, no one has ever heard them say anything of the sort. Thus the disease is of sloth alone and of an insensible soul. Therefore I beseech you, let us be eager to correct all such things, and to change to the contrary the passions that arise in us at each age. But if in each part of our life we sail past the labors of virtue, suffering shipwreck everywhere, having come to the harbor empty of spiritual cargo, we will suffer the last things. For the present life is an outstretched sea. And just as in this sea there are different gulfs, having different storms; and the Aegean is difficult because of the winds; the Tyrrhenian strait, because of its narrowness; Charybdis near Libya, because of the shoals; the Propontis outside the Euxine Sea, because of the rushing and roaring; the parts outside Gades, because of the desolation and the untrodden and unknown nature of the places; and another part for another reason; so also it is with our life. And first it is possible to see the sea of childhood, having much swell because of its foolishness, because of its impressionability, because it is not fixed. For this reason we also set tutors and teachers over them, supplying what is lacking in nature through care, just as there through the art of piloting. After this age follows the sea of youth, where the winds are violent, as in the Aegean, as our desire increases. And this age especially is devoid of correction; not only because it is troubled 58.738 more violently, but also because its sins are not reproved; for both teacher and tutor henceforth withdraw. When therefore the winds blow more violently, and the pilot is weaker, and there is no one to defend, consider the magnitude of the storm. After this again another part of life, that of men, comes on, in which the concerns of the household are pressing; when a wife, and marriage, and

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Ἐπείνων, καὶ οὐκ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψων, καὶ οὐκ ἐποτίσατέ με, τούτους κολάζει· καὶ ὅταν λέγῃ, Πορεύεσθε εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ, τοὺς κακῶς πλουτοῦντας ἐκεῖ παραπέμπει. Καὶ ὁ δοῦλος ὁ πονηρὸς, ὁ μὴ διδοὺς τοῖς συνδούλοις τὰ ὑπάρχοντα τὰ δεσποτικὰ, τῆς τούτων μερίδος ἐστί· καὶ ὁ τὸ τάλαντον κατορύξας, καὶ αἱ πέντε παρθένοι. Καὶ ὅπου δ' ἂν ἀπέλθῃς, τοὺς φιλαργύρους κολαζομένους ὄψει. Καὶ νῦν μὲν ἀκούσονται, Χάος ἐστὶ μεταξὺ ἡμῶν καὶ ὑμῶν· νῦν δὲ, Πορεύεσθε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον· καὶ νῦν μὲν διχοτομηθέντες ἀπελεύσονται ἔνθα ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων· καὶ πάντοθεν αὐτοὺς ἐλαυνομένους ἴδοι τις ἂν, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ χώραν ἔχοντας, ἀλλ' εἰς τὴν γέενναν μόνην συναγομένους. εʹ. Τί τοίνυν τῆς ὀρθῆς ἡμῖν πίστεως ὄφελος εἰς σωτηρίαν, ὅταν ταῦτα ἀκούσωμεν; Ἐκεῖ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων, καὶ σκότος ἐξώτερον, καὶ πῦρ τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ, καὶ τὸ διχοτομεῖσθαι, καὶ τὸ ἐλαύνεσθαι· ἐνταῦθα ἀπέχθειαι, κακηγορίαι, διαβολαὶ, κίνδυνοι, φροντίδες, ἐπιβουλαὶ, τὸ παρὰ πάντων μισεῖσθαι, τὸ παρὰ πάντων βδελύττεσθαι, καὶ παρ' αὐτῶν τῶν δοκούντων κολακεύειν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς οὐχ οἱ ἀγαθοὶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ πονηροὶ θαυμάζουσιν, οὕτω τοὺς κακοὺς οὐχ οἱ χρηστοὶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ φαῦλοι μισοῦσι. Καὶ ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀληθὲς, τοὺς φιλαργύρους ἡδέως ἂν ἐροίμην, εἰ μὴ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀηδῶς ἔχουσι, καὶ τῶν τὰ μέγιστα ἠδικηκότων πολεμιωτέρους εἶναι νομίζουσιν, εἰ μὴ καὶ ἑαυτῶν κατηγοροῦσιν, εἰ μὴ ὕβριν τὸ πρᾶγμά φασιν, ὅταν τις αὐτοῖς τοῦτο προσενέγκῃ τὸ ὄνειδος. Καὶ γὰρ ὄνειδος ἔσχατον τοῦτο, καὶ πολλῆς κακίας ἀπόδειξις. Εἰ γὰρ χρημάτων ὑπεριδεῖν οὐκ ἀνέχῃ, τίνος περιέσῃ ποτέ; ἐπιθυμίας, καὶ δοξομανίας, καὶ θυμοῦ, καὶ ὀργῆς; Καὶ πῶς ἄν τις πεισθείη; Ἐπιθυμίας μὲν γὰρ ἕνεκεν τῆς τῶν σωμάτων, καὶ ὀργῆς καὶ θυμοῦ, πολλοὶ καὶ τῇ τῆς σαρκὸς κατασκευῇ λογίζονται, καὶ τὰς ὑπερβολὰς ἀνατιθέασιν ἰατρῶν παῖδες· καὶ τὸν μὲν θερμότερον καὶ ὑγρότερον λαγνότερον εἶναί φασι, τὸν δὲ πρὸς ξηροτέραν ἐκπεσόντα δυσκρασίαν, ὁρμητίαν καὶ ἀκρόχολον καὶ θυμώδη. Φιλ 58.737 αργυρίας δὲ ἕνεκεν οὐδεὶς οὐδέποτε αὐτῶν ἤκουσεν οὐδὲν εἰρηκότων τοιοῦτον. Οὕτω ῥᾳθυμίας μόνης ἐστὶ καὶ ψυχῆς ἀναλγήτου τὸ νόσημα. ∆ιὸ παρακαλῶ, σπουδάζωμεν πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα διορθοῦν, καὶ τὰ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμῖν ἡλικίαν ἐπιγινόμενα πάθη πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον μετατιθέναι. Ἂν δὲ καθ' ἕκαστον μέρος τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν παραπλέωμεν τοὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς πόνους, πανταχοῦ ναυάγια ὑπομένοντες, ἐπὶ τὸν λιμένα ἐλθόντες ἔρημοι φορτίων πνευματικῶν, τὰ ἔσχατα ὑπομενοῦμεν. Πέλαγος γάρ ἐστι τεταμένον ὁ παρὼν βίος. Καὶ ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ ταύτῃ διάφοροι κόλποι, διαφόρους ἔχοντες χειμῶνας· καὶ ὁ μὲν Αἰγαῖος διὰ τὰ πνεύματά ἐστι χαλεπός· ὁ δὲ πορθμὸς ὁ Τυῤῥηνικὸς, διὰ τὴν στενοχωρίαν· ἡ δὲ Χάρυβδις ἡ πρὸς τῇ Λιβύῃ, διὰ τὰ τέλματα· ἡ Προποντὶς ἡ ἔξω τοῦ Εὐξείνου πόντου, διὰ τὸ ῥαγδαῖον καὶ ῥόθιον· τὰ ἔξω Γαδείρων, διὰ τὴν ἐρημίαν καὶ τὸ ἀτριβὲς καὶ τὸ ἀνιστόρητον τῶν τόπων· καὶ ἄλλο μέρος δι' ἕτερον· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ζωῆς τῆς ἡμετέρας. Καὶ πρῶτον πέλαγος ἔστιν ἰδεῖν τὸ τῆς παιδικῆς ἡλικίας, πολὺν ἔχον τὸν σάλον διὰ τὸ ἀνόητον, διὰ τὴν εὐκολίαν, διὰ τὸ μὴ πεπηγέναι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ παιδαγωγοὺς καὶ διδασκάλους ἐφιστῶμεν, τὸ λεῖπον τῇ φύσει διὰ τῆς ἐπιμελείας εἰσφέροντες, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ διὰ τῆς τέχνης τῆς κυβερνητικῆς. Μετὰ ταύτην τὴν ἡλικίαν ἡ τοῦ μειρακίου διαδέχεται θάλαττα, ἔνθα σφοδρὰ τὰ πνεύματα, καθάπερ ἐν τῷ Αἰγαίῳ, τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἡμῖν αὐξανομένης. Καὶ αὕτη μάλιστα ἡ ἡλικία διορθώσεως ἔρημος· οὐ διὰ τὸ ἐνοχλεῖσθαι μόνον 58.738 σφοδρότερον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὸ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα μὴ ἐλέγχεσθαι· καὶ γὰρ καὶ διδάσκαλος καὶ παιδαγωγὸς λοιπὸν ὑπεξίστανται. Ὅταν οὖν τὰ μὲν πνεύματα σφοδρότερον διαπνέῃ, ὁ δὲ κυβερνήτης ἀσθενέστερος ᾖ, καὶ ὁ ἀμύνων μηδεὶς ᾖ, ἐννόησον τοῦ χειμῶνος τὸ μέγεθος. Μετὰ τοῦτο πάλιν ἕτερον μέρος τῆς ἡλικίας, τὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἔπεισιν, ἐν ᾧ τὰ τῆς οἰκονομίας ἐπίκειται· ὅτε γυνὴ, καὶ γάμος, καὶ