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De patientia et de consummatione huius saeculι

On patience, and on the consummation of this age, and the second coming, and the kingdom of the just that has no successor, and the unending punishment of sinners; and the subject of confession, and an exhortation to the study of the divine Scriptures, what are the methods of the Enemy, and

what is the benefit of quietness.

63.937 The life of the righteous is brilliant; but how is it made brilliant, except through patience? Having acquired this, love it, O brother, as the mother of courage; for the psalm advises, saying: Wait on the Lord, and keep His way. And Paul, so that you may acquire virtue, says: Tribulation works patience. Pursuing this, you will find the fount of good things, hope; And hope does not put to shame. Be subject therefore to the Lord, and supplicate Him, and from this you will find that, And may He grant you the requests 63.938 of your heart. What is more blessed than this, to have the gracious hearing of such a king? who would not wish to have the open and attentive ear of the judge? You are a worker of virtue, brother; Christ has hired you into His vineyard; as you have opportunity, work what is good.

Hear Paul saying: For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Sow in the spirit, that you may reap eternal life; For he who sows in the body, he says, will from the body reap corruption. Hear the good counselor say 63.939 ing: Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of life; do not grow weary in laboring, seeing hope before you. For where there are contests, there are also prizes; where there are wars, there are also honors; where the struggle is, there is also the crown. Looking to these things, anoint yourself through patience; always whisper to yourself, crying out with the saints: Be of good courage, and let your heart be strengthened, and wait on the Lord; Prepare your works for the departure, and make ready for the field; for this life is a field. Take the Old Testament. Bind your possession with thorns. With what kind? With fasting, with prayer, with teaching. If you have the fence, the beast will not enter, I mean the devil. Cultivate your soul as a good vine. And just as those who guard vineyards clap their hands, cry out with their voice, and by means of the noises stop those who plot against them; so also you, cry out in prayer, shout aloud in psalmody, and you will drive away the crafty beast, the fox, which is the devil; concerning which the Scripture said: Catch for us the little foxes, and the rest. Always watch the Enemy; if he comes to shoot your heart with an unfitting desire, and if he comes to sling at your soul, attacking with foul thoughts, set up the shield of faith, put on the helmet of hope, draw the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; and thus armed against the Enemy, be patient, and do not grow weary in the war, but be sober in all things. The Enemy brings at times ease, at other times tribulations. For he tests the prevailing disposition of a person, and against this he wages war and craftily sets his battle line.

Therefore, my brother, be soberly watchful, and strive always to cling to reading, that it may teach you how you must flee the snares of the Enemy, and lay hold of eternal life. For the reading of the divine Scriptures restrains the wandering mind, and grants knowledge of God; for it is written: Be still, and

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De patientia et de consummatione huius saeculι

Περὶ ὑπομονῆς, καὶ περὶ συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, καὶ δευτέρας παρουσίας, ἀδιαδόχου τε τῶν δικαίων βασιλείας, καὶ ἀτελευτήτου τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν κολάσεως· ὑπόθεσίς τε ἐξομολογήσεως, καὶ πρὸς τὴν τῶν θείων Γραφῶν μελέτην προτροπὴ, τίνες τε αἱ μεθοδεῖαι τοῦ Ἐχθροῦ, καὶ

τί τὸ τῆς ἡσυχίας ὠφέλιμον.

63.937 Λαμπρὸς ὁ βίος τῶν δικαίων· πῶς δὲ λαμπρύνεται, ἀλλ' ἢ διὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς; Ταύτην κτησάμενος ἀγάπησον, ὦ ἀδελφὲ, ὡς τῆς ἀνδρείας μητέρα· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ψαλμὸς παραινεῖ λέγων· Ὑπόμεινον τὸν Κύριον, καὶ φύλαξον τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ. Ὁ δὲ Παῦλος ὅπως κτήσῃ τὴν ἀρετὴν, λέγει· Ἡ θλῖψις ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται. Ταύτην μετερχόμενος, εὑρήσεις τὴν πηγὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν, τὴν ἐλπίδα· Ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνεται. Ὑποτάγηθι τοίνυν τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ἱκέτευσον αὐτῷ, καὶ εὑρήσεις ἐκ τούτου τὸ, Καὶ δῴη σοι τὰ αἰτήματα 63.938 τῆς καρδίας σου. Τί τούτου μακαριώτερον, τοῦ κεκτῆσθαι βασιλέως τοιούτου ἀκοὴν εὐμενῆ; τίς οὐ θελήσει ἀνεῳγμένην ἔχειν καὶ ὑπακούουσαν τοῦ κριτοῦ τὴν ἀκοήν; Ἐργάτης τυγχάνεις τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἀδελφέ· ἐμισθώσατό σε Χριστὸς εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα αὐτοῦ· ὡς καιρὸν ἔχεις, ἐργάζου τὸ ἀγαθόν.

Ἄκουσον τοῦ Παύλου λέγοντος· Ὃ δ' ἂν σπείρῃ ἄνθρωπος, τοῦτο καὶ θερίσει. Σπεῖρον εἰς τὸ πνεῦμα, ἵνα θερίσῃς ζωὴν αἰώνιον· Ὁ γὰρ σπείρων εἰς τὸ σῶμα, φησὶν, ἐκ τοῦ σώματος θερίσει φθοράν. Ἄκουε τοῦ καλοῦ παραινέτου λέγον 63.939 τος· Σπείρατε ἑαυτοῖς δικαιοσύνην, τρυγήσατε καρπὸν ζωῆς· μὴ ὀλιγώρει ἐν τῷ κάμνειν, ἔμπροσθεν ὁρῶν τὴν ἐλπίδα. Ὅπου γὰρ ἀγῶνες, ἐκεῖ καὶ βραβεῖα· ὅπου πόλεμοι, ἐκεῖ καὶ τιμαί· ὅπου ἡ πάλη, ἐκεῖ καὶ ὁ στέφανος. Εἰς ταῦτα ἀφορῶν, ἐπάλειφε σεαυτὸν δι' ὑπομονῆς· ὑποφώνει σεαυτῷ πάντοτε μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων βοῶν· Ἀνδρίζου, καὶ κραταιούσθω ἡ καρδία σου, καὶ ὑπόμεινον τὸν Κύριον· Ἑτοίμαζε εἰς τὴν ἔξοδον τὰ ἔργα σου, καὶ παρασκευάζου εἰς τὸν ἀγρόν· ἀγρὸς γάρ ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ βίος. Λάβε τὴν Παλαιὰν ∆ιαθήκην. Περίσφιγξον τὸ κτῆμά σου ἀκάνθαις. Ποίαις; Τῇ νηστείᾳ, τῇ προσευχῇ, τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ. Ἐὰν ἔχῃς τὸν φραγμὸν, οὐκ ἐμβήσεται τὸ θηρίον, τὸν διάβολον λέγω. Ὡς ἄμπελον καλὴν γεώργει σου τὴν ψυχήν. Καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ τοὺς ἀμπελῶνας φυλάσσοντες κροτοῦσι τῇ χειρὶ, βοῶσι τῇ φωνῇ, καὶ διὰ τῶν κτύπων ἱστῶσι τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας· οὕτω καὶ σὺ βόησον τῇ προσευχῇ, ἀλάλαξον τῇ ψαλμῳδίᾳ, καὶ ἀποδιώξεις τὸ δολερὸν θηρίον, τὴν ἀλώπεκα, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ διάβολος· περὶ οὗ ἔλεγεν ἡ Γραφή· Πιάσατε ἡμῖν μικροὺς ἀλώπεκας, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Τήρει πάντοτε τὸν Ἐχθρόν· ἐὰν ἔλθῃ κατατοξεῦσαί σου τὴν καρδίαν εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἄτοπον, καὶ ἐὰν κατασφενδονᾷν τὴν ψυχήν σου ἔλθῃ, προσβάλλων ῥυπαροὺς λογισμοὺς, ἀντίστησον τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς πίστεως, περιβαλοῦ τὴν περικεφαλαίαν τῆς ἐλπίδος, σπάσαι τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἥτις ἐστὶ ῥῆμα Θεοῦ· καὶ οὕτως ὁπλιζόμενος κατὰ τοῦ Ἐχθροῦ, ὑπόμεινον, καὶ μὴ ὀλιγώρει ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ, ἀλλὰ νῆφε ἐν πᾶσιν. Ἐπιφέρει ὁ Ἐχθρὸς ποτὲ μὲν εὐρυχωρίας, ποτὲ δὲ θλίψεις. Πρὸς ὃ γὰρ δοκιμάζει τὴν διάθεσιν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐγκειμένην, πρὸς αὐτὸ καὶ αὐτὸς στρατεύεται διὰ πανουργίας παρατάσσεσθαι.

∆ιὸ, ἀδελφέ μου, νῆψον ἀσφαλῶς, καὶ σπούδασον ἀεὶ τῇ ἀναγνώσει προσκολλᾶσθαι, ἵνα σε διδάξῃ πῶς δεῖ ἐκφυγεῖν τὰς παγίδας τοῦ Ἐχθροῦ, καὶ καταλαμβάνειν τὴν αἰώνιον ζωήν. Συστέλλει γὰρ ἡ ἀνάγνωσις τῶν θείων Γραφῶν τὸν νοῦν πλανώμενον, καὶ δωρεῖται γνῶσιν εἰς Θεόν· γέγραπται γάρ· Σχολάσατε, καὶ