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Ad Theodorum lapsum i

To the fallen Theodore, and on repentance, Discourse 1.

1 "Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyelids?" It is opportune for me also now to say this, and much more so than for that prophet then. For even if I am not about to mourn for many cities nor for entire nations, yet for a soul worthy of many such nations, or rather, even more precious. For if "better is one that does the will of God than ten thousand transgressors," then you also were formerly better than the myriads of the Jews, so that no one would blame me now, if I were to write down more lamentations than those in the prophet and display more vehement wailings. For I am not mourning the razing of a city, nor the captivity of lawless men, but the desolation of a sacred soul and the demolition and disappearance of a Christ-bearing temple. For if anyone had known well the adornment of your mind, which the devil has now burnt up, when it was shining, he would not have groaned at going through the lamentations of the prophet and hearing that barbarian hands both defiled the Holy of Holies and, setting it on fire, burned everything: the Cherubim, the ark, the mercy-seat, the stone tablets, the golden pot. For this, this calamity is so much more bitter than that one, by as much as the symbols deposited in your soul were more precious than those; this temple was holier than that one; for it shone not with gold and silver, but with the grace of the Spirit, and instead of the Cherubim and the ark, it had Christ and His Father and the Paraclete established within itself. But now no longer so, but it is desolate and stripped of that beauty and comeliness, having been disadorned of its divine and ineffable adornment, and desolate of all security and protection. And there is neither door nor bar, but it is opened to all the soul-destroying and shameful thoughts; whether the thought of arrogance, or of fornication, or of avarice, or if ones more defiled than these should wish to enter, there is no one to prevent it; whereas before, just as heaven is inaccessible to all these, so also was the purity of your mind. And perhaps I will seem to some to be saying unbelievable things, to those who now see your desolation and ruin; for because of this I beat my breast and mourn, and doing this I will not cease, until I see you again in your former brightness. For even if this seems to be impossible for men, yet with God all things are possible. For He it is "who raises the poor from the earth, and lifts up the needy from the dunghill, to seat him with princes, with the princes of his people." He it is "who makes the barren woman to dwell in a house, a mother rejoicing over her children." Do not, therefore, despair of the best change. For if the devil was strong enough to bring you down from that summit and height of virtue to the uttermost depth of wickedness, much more will God be able to draw you up again to that former confidence, and not only make you such as you were before, but even much more blessed. Only do not fall down, nor cut off your good hopes, nor suffer the fate of the impious. For it is not the multitude of sins that is accustomed to cast one into despair, but having an impious soul. For this reason Solomon did not simply say that "everyone who comes into the depth of evil despises," but "the impious man" only. For this affliction belongs to them alone, whenever they have come into the depth of evils. And this it is which does not permit them to look up and return from whence they have fallen. For this defiled thought, like a yoke, lying upon the neck of the soul and compelling it to bend downwards, prevents it from looking up to its Master. But it is the mark of a noble and wonderful man to shatter this piece of wood and the

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Ad Theodorum lapsum i

Πρὸς Θεόδωρον ἐκπεσόντα καὶ περὶ μετανοίας λόγος αʹ.

1 «Τίς δώσει τῇ κεφαλῇ μου ὕδωρ καὶ τοῖς βλεφάροις μου πηγὴν δακρύων;» Εὔκαιρον κἀμοὶ νῦν εἰπεῖν καὶ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ προφήτῃ τότε ἐκείνῳ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ μὴ πόλεις πολλὰς μηδὲ ὁλόκληρα ἔθνη μέλλοιμι πενθεῖν, ἀλλὰ πολλῶν τοιούτων ἐθνῶν ψυχὴν ἀνταξίαν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ τιμιωτέραν. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ «κρείττων εἷς τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ ποιῶν ἢ μυρίοι παράνομοι», κρείττων ἄρα καὶ σὺ πρότερον ἦσθα τῶν μυριάδων τῶν Ἰουδαϊκῶν, ὥστε οὐδεὶς ἄν μοι μέμψαιτο νῦν, εἰ καὶ θρήνους τῶν ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ κειμένων πλείονας ἀναγράψαιμι καὶ σφοδροτέρους ἐπιδείξαιμι ὀδυρμούς. Οὐ γὰρ πόλεως πενθῶ κατασκαφήν, οὐδὲ παρανόμων αἰχμαλωσίαν ἀνδρῶν, ἀλλὰ ψυχῆς ἐρήμωσιν ἱερᾶς καὶ ναοῦ χριστοφόρου καθαίρεσιν καὶ ἀφανισμόν. Τὸν γὰρ κόσμον τῆς διανοίας τῆς σῆς, ὃν κατέφλεξεν ὁ διάβολος νῦν, εἴ τις ὅτε ἔλαμπεν ᾔδει καλῶς, οὐκ ἂν ἐστέναξεν, τοὺς θρήνους ἐπερχόμενος τοῦ προφήτου, καὶ ἀκούων ὅτι χεῖρες βαρβαρικαὶ καὶ τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων ἐμόλυναν καὶ πῦρ ἐπαφεῖσαι πάντα κατέκαυσαν, τὰ Χερουβὶμ τήν τε κιβωτόν, τὸ ἱλαστήριον, τὰς πλάκας τὰς λιθίνας, τὴν στάμνον τὴν χρυσῆν. Αὕτη γάρ, αὕτη ἡ συμφορὰ τοσούτῳ πικροτέρα ἐκείνης ὅσῳ καὶ πολλῷ τιμιώτερα ἐκείνων σύμβολα εἰς τὴν σὴν ἐναπέκειτο ψυχήν· οὗτος ἁγιώτερος ἐκείνου ὁ ναός· οὐδὲ γὰρ χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἀπέστιλβε χάριτι καὶ ἀντὶ τῶν Χερουβὶμ καὶ τῆς κιβωτοῦ τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ τὸν τούτου Πατέρα καὶ τὸν Παράκλητον εἶχεν ἱδρυμένον ἐν ἑαυτῷ. Ἀλλὰ νῦν οὐκέτι, ἀλλ' ἔρημος μὲν καὶ γυμνὸς τοῦ κάλλους ἐκείνου καὶ τῆς εὐπρεπείας ἐστίν, τὸν θεῖον καὶ ἄρρητον ἀποκοσμηθεὶς κόσμον, ἔρημος δὲ ἀσφαλείας ἁπάσης καὶ φυλακῆς. Καὶ οὔτε θύρα, οὔτε μοχλός, ἀλλὰ πᾶσιν ἀνέῳκται τοῖς ψυχοφθόροις καὶ αἰσχροῖς λογισμοῖς· κἂν ὁ τῆς ἀλαζονείας, κἂν ὁ τῆς πορνείας, κἂν ὁ τῆς φιλαργυρίας, κἂν οἱ τούτων μιαρώτεροι βουληθῶσιν ἐπεισελθεῖν ὁ κολύσων οὐδείς· πρότερον δέ, καθάπερ ὁ οὐρανὸς τούτοις ἐστὶν ἄβατος ἅπασιν, οὕτω καὶ ἡ καθαρότης τῆς διανοίας τῆς σῆς. Καὶ τάχα ἄπιστα δόξω τισὶν λέγειν τοῖς νῦν τὴν ἐρήμωσιν καὶ τὴν καταστροφὴν ὁρῶσιν τὴν σήν· διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο κόπτομαι καὶ πενθῶ, καὶ τοῦτο ποιῶν οὐ παύσομαι, ἕως ἄν σε πάλιν ἐπὶ τῆς προτέρας ἴδω φαιδρότητος. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατον εἶναι δοκεῖ τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ τῷ θεῷ πάντα δυνατά. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν «ὁ ἐγείρων ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς πτωχόν, καὶ ἀπὸ κοπρίας ἀνυψῶν πένητα, τοῦ καθῖσαι αὐτὸν μετὰ ἀρχόντων, μετὰ ἀρχόντων λαοῦ αὐτοῦ». Αὐτός ἐστιν «ὁ κατοικίζων στεῖραν ἐν οἴκῳ, μητέρα ἐπὶ τέκνοις εὐφραινομένην». Μὴ τοίνυν ἀπογνῷς τῆς ἀρίστης μεταβολῆς. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ διάβολος τοσοῦτον ἴσχυσεν, ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς κορυφῆς ἐκείνης καὶ τοῦ ὕψους τῆς ἀρετῆς εἰς ἔσχατόν σε κακίας κατενεγκεῖν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ θεὸς ἰσχύσει πρὸς ἐκείνην σε πάλιν ἀνελκύσαι τὴν παρρησίαν· καὶ οὐ τοιοῦτον μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλῷ μακαριώτερον ἐργάσασθαι τοῦ πρότερον. Μόνον μὴ καταπέσῃς, μηδὲ τὰς χρηστὰς ἐκκόψῃς ἐλπίδας, μηδὲ πάθῃς τὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων πλῆθος εἰς ἀπόγνωσιν ἐμβάλλειν εἴωθεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ψυχὴν ἔχειν ἀσεβῆ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ Σολομὼν οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἴρηκεν ὅτι «πᾶς τις ἐλθὼν εἰς βάθος κακῶν καταφρονεῖ» ἀλλὰ «ὁ ἀσεβὴς» μόνος. Ἐκείνων γὰρ μόνων τοῦτο τὸ πάθος ἐστίν, ἐπειδὰν εἰς τὸ βάθος ἔλθωσιν τῶν κακῶν. Καὶ τοῦτ' ἔστιν ὅπερ αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἀφίησιν ἀναβλέψαι καὶ ἐπανελθεῖν ὅθεν ἐξέπεσον. Ὁ γὰρ μιαρὸς οὗτος λογισμός, καθάπερ τις κύφων, ἐπικείμενος ἐπὶ τὸν αὐχένα τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ κάτω νεύειν καταναγκάζων αὐτήν, κωλύει πρὸς τὸν ∆εσπότην ἀναβλέψαι τὸν αὐτῆς. Ἀνδρὸς δὲ γενναίου ἐστὶν καὶ θαυμαστοῦ συντρῖψαι τοῦτο τὸ ξύλον καὶ τὸν