1

Prologus 3 (prooemium in regulas brevius tractatas)

PREFACE TO THE ABRIDGED RULES.

31.1080.31 The philanthropic God, who teaches man knowledge, commands those entrusted with the gift of teaching through the Apostle to persevere in teaching, but to those who need edification from the divine teachings he exhorts through Moses, saying: Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will tell you. Therefore it is necessary for us, who have been entrusted with the ministry of the word, to be eager at all times for the perfecting of souls; and to testify some things in common to the whole Church; and to offer ourselves privately to each one who approaches to ask questions freely, both those things for the health of the faith and the truth of the way of life according to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, from both of which the man of God is surely perfected; and for you to let nothing be fruitless, nothing idle for yourselves, but in addition to what you learn in common, also to ask privately about what is expedient, and to arrange every leisure of life for what is useful. If, therefore, God has gathered us for this, and there is great quiet from outside disturbances, let us neither turn to any other work, nor again give our bodies over to sleep, but let us spend the remaining part of the night in the care and examination of necessary things, fulfilling what was said by the blessed David, that on the law of the Lord he will meditate day and night.

1

Prologus 3 (prooemium in regulas brevius tractatas)

ΠΡΟΟΙΜΙΟΝ ΤΩΝ ΚΑΤ' ΕΠΙΤΟΜΗΝ ΟΡΩΝ.

31.1080.31 Ὁ φιλάνθρωπος Θεὸς, ὁ διδάσκων ἄνθρωπον γνῶσιν, τοῖς μὲν τὸ διδασκαλικὸν πεπιστευμένοις χάρισμα παραγγέλλει διὰ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου ἐμμένειν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ, τοῖς δὲ χρῄζουσι τῆς ἐκ τῶν θείων διδαγμάτων οἰκοδομῆς διὰ Μωϋσέως παραινεῖ λέγων· Ἐπερώτησον τὸν πατέρα σου, καὶ ἀναγγελεῖ σοι· τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους σου, καὶ ἐροῦσί σοι. ∆ιόπερ ἀνάγκη ἡμᾶς μὲν, τοὺς τὴν διακονίαν τοῦ λόγου πεπιστευμένους, ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ προθύμους εἶναι πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ψυχῶν· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν κοινῷ τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ πάσῃ διαμαρτύρασθαι· τὰ δὲ ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ τῶν προσιόντων παρέχειν ἑαυτοὺς κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἐπερωτᾷν, τά τε πρὸς ὑγείαν τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἀλήθειαν τῆς κατὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πολιτείας, ἐξ ὧν ἀμφοτέρων ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος βεβαίως τελειοῦται· ὑμᾶς δὲ μηδὲν ἄκαρπον παριέναι, μηδὲν ἀργὸν ἑαυτοῖς, ἀλλὰ πρὸς οἷς ἐν τῷ κοινῷ μανθάνετε, καὶ ἰδίᾳ περὶ τῶν συμφερόντων ἐπερωτᾷν, καὶ πᾶσαν σχολὴν τοῦ βίου πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον διατίθεσθαι. Εἰ οὖν εἰς τοῦτο συνήγαγεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἡσυχία πολλὴ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔξωθεν θορύβων ἐστὶ, μήτε πρὸς ἑτέραν τινὰ ἐργασίαν τρεπώμεθα, μήτε ὕπνῳ πάλιν παραδῶμεν τὰ σώματα, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ μερίμνῃ καὶ ἐξετάσει τῶν ἀναγκαίων τὸ λειπόμενον μέρος τῆς νυκτὸς διενέγκωμεν, πληροῦντες τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ μακαρίου ∆αβὶδ, ὅτι ἐν νόμῳ Κυρίου μελετήσει ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός.