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Sacra parallela (recensiones secundum alphabeti litteras dispositae, quae tres libros conflant) (fragmenta e cod. Vat. gr. 1236)

PROLOGUE TO THE PARALLELS.

Virtue is a precious possession, uniting one to God, and procuring the kingdom of heaven. And the means to acquire it is the keeping of the divine commandments. For the Lord says in his promises to the people in Egypt: If you will obey my voice and keep my commandments, you will be to me a peculiar people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. And he has declared that those who obey his commands become sons of God. How great a good this is, speech is unable to explain. For the grace is beyond our nature; the dignity of adoption is beyond hope. It is fitting, therefore, for us to eagerly carry out what has been commanded for the sake of such good things. And we will have an easy choice of what is profitable by placing in parallel the virtues, and their opposing and contrary vices, and whatever has been said about them in the divine Scripture and by our holy and God-bearing Fathers. For from this we shall know both the splendid distributions to the just, and the punishments threatened against those who transgress. But it should be known that maxims have also been gathered from the works of Philo and Josephus for the glory of our truth. Both are Hebrews and learned men; therefore it is fitting to treat their narratives and sayings with all accuracy, as they not only do not miss the mark of our most faithful and blessed men at all, but even display great equality and similarity of language both in words and in character, thus confirming, rather than diminishing, the oracles of these men that will be spoken by the Father.

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS JOHN OF DAMASCUS ON THE SACRA PARALLELA.

The practice of the divinely-inspired Scripture surpasses wealth, glory and power, and all

that the mortal race embraces, bestowing upon us the provisions for salvation. And this present work endeavors to make it easier to bear the labors resulting from it. For of things greatly admired, things still exceedingly better can be found in it, and no satiety of hearing comes to those who apply themselves to it. For the choice selection of the beauty of its contents draws to itself those who read it, not allowing those who long to hear what comes next to grow weary, and as is sung in metrical sayings: They that eat me shall yet be hungry, and they that drink me shall yet be thirsty. For truly lovely is the sweetness of spiritual teachings, sanctifying, and increasing, and nourishing souls; and it has comprised whatever morally, or sententiously, or exhortatively [the crooked memory] has been said for every cause and subject in both the Old and New Scripture of the sacred oracles, and by our holy and God-bearing Fathers; whose great glory is proclaimed and hymned throughout the whole world; and the sayings concerning these things that lie scattered have been collected as an anthology, and have been set forth under their own titles. The entire treatise has been written in three books; and of these the first is composed of those things from which it is most fitting for Christians always to make a beginning, from God, the triadic monad enlightening us from the very beginning. The second speaks of the constitution and condition of human affairs; and the third has specifically comprised the things concerning virtue and vice. And for the sake of easy comprehension, and of finding what is sought with ease, the table of the chapters, that is the titles, is composed alphabetically; and each

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Sacra parallela (recensiones secundum alphabeti litteras dispositae, quae tres libros conflant) (fragmenta e cod. Vat. gr. 1236)

ΠΡΟΛΟΓΟΣ ΤΩΝ ΠΑΡΑΛΛΗΛΩΝ.

Κτῆμα τίμιον ἡ ἀρετὴ, Θεῷ συνάπτουσα, καὶ βασιλείας οὐρανῶν προξενοῦσα. Πορισμὸς δὲ ταύτης ἡ τῶν θείων ἐντολῶν τήρησις γίνεται. Φησὶ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ἐν ἐπαγγελίαις πρὸς τὸν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ λαόν· Ἐὰν ἀκούσητέ μου, καὶ φυλάξητε τὰς ἐντολάς μου, ἔσεσθέ μοι λαὸς περιούσιος, βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, ἔθνος ἅγιον. Καὶ υἱοὺς Θεοῦ γενέσθαι τοὺς πειθαρχοῦντας τοῖς προστάγμασιν ἀπεφήνατο. Ἡλίκον δὲ τοῦτο ἀγαθὸν λόγος ἑρμηνεῦσαι οὐ δύναται. Ὑπὲρ γὰρ τὴν ἡμετέραν φύσιν ἡ χάρις· ὑπὲρ ἐλπίδα τὸ τῆς υἱοθεσίας ἀξίωμα. Προσήκει τοίνυν ἡμᾶς ὑπὲρ τῶν τοιούτων ἀγαθῶν τὰ ἐντεταλμένα προθύμως ἐκτελεῖν. Ῥᾳδίαν δὲ τὴν τοῦ συμφέροντος αἵρεσιν ἕξομεν, παραλλήλους θέντες τὰς ἀρετὰς, καὶ τὰς ἀντιζύγους καὶ ἀντιθέους αὐτῶν κακίας, καὶ ὅσα περὶ αὐτῶν λέλεκται τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ καὶ τοῖς ἁγίοις καὶ θεοφόροις ἡμῶν Πατράσιν. Εἰσόμεθα γὰρ ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὰς λαμπρὰς τῶν δικαίων διανομὰς, καὶ τὰς ἠπειλημένας κατὰ τῶν ἀθετούντων κολάσεις. Ἰστέον δὲ, ὅτι καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν Φίλωνος καὶ Ἰωσήππου συνταγμάτων ἠθροίσθησαν γνῶμαι εἰς κλέος τῆς παρ' ἡμῶν ἀληθείας. Ἑβραῖοι δὲ ἄμφω καὶ λόγιοι ἄνδρες· διὸ προσήκειν δεῖ μετὰ πάσης ἀκριβείας τοῖς διηγήμασι, καὶ ἀποφθέγμασι τούτων, ὡς οὐ μόνον τοῦ σκοποῦ τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν πιστοτάτων καὶ μακαρίων ἀνδρῶν οὐδ' ὅλως διαμαρτάνουσιν· ἀλλά γε καὶ πολλὴν τὴν ἰσότητα, καὶ ὁμοιολεξίαν ἔν τε λόγοις καὶ ἤθεσι ἐπιδείκνυνται, βεβαιοῦντα μᾶλλον, οὐκ ἐλαττοῦντα τούτων παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ῥηθησόμενα λόγια.

ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΤΟΥ ∆ΑΜΑΣΚΗΝΟΥ ΕΙΣ ΤΑ ΙΕΡΑ ΠΑΡΑΛΛΗΛΑ.

Τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς ἡ ἄσκησις, πλούτου δόξης καὶ ἀρχῆς, καὶ πάντων

ὅσα τὸ θνητὸν ἀσπάζεται γένος, ὑπερέχει, σωτηρίας ἡμῖν ἐφόδια χαριζομένη. Τὸ δὲ ῥᾷον φέρειν τοὺς ἐξ αὐτῆς πόνους, τὸ παρὸν ἡμῖν πραγματεύεται σύνταγμα. Τῶν γὰρ λίαν θαυμαζομένων, τὰ ἔτι καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ἀμείνω ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ἐν αὐτῷ, καὶ κόρος οὐδεὶς ἀκοῆς τοῖς ἐπισκήπτουσι γίνεται. Ἡ γὰρ τοῦ κάλλους τῶν ἐγκειμένων ἐκλογὴ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἕλκει τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας, οὐκ ἐῶσα καμεῖν τὸ μέλλον ἀκοῦσαι ποθοῦντας, καὶ ὡς ἐν στιχηραῖς ᾄδεται ῥήσεσιν· Οἱ ἐσθίοντές με, ἔτι πεινάσουσι, καὶ οἱ πίνοντές με, ἔτι διψήσουσιν. Ἐπέραστος γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἡ γλυκύτης τῶν πνευματικῶν μαθημάτων ἁγιάζουσα, καὶ αὐξάνουσα, καὶ τρέφουσα τὰς ψυχάς· περιείληφεν δὲ ὅσα ἠθικῶς, ἢ γνωμικῶς, ἢ παραινετικῶς [ἡ μνήμη ἀγκναία] πρὸς πᾶσαν αἰτίαν τε, καὶ ὑπόθεσιν τῇ τε Παλαιᾷ, καὶ Νέᾳ τῶν ἱερῶν λογίων Γραφῇ λέλεκται, τοῖς δὲ ἁγίοις καὶ θεοφόροις ἡμῶν Πατράσιν· ὧν τὸ μέγα κλέος, κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην διαβεβόηται καὶ ὕμνηται· καὶ τὰ περὶ τούτων σποράδην κείμενα ἀποφθέγματα ἠνθολόγηνται, καὶ ἰδίοις τίτλοις παρατέθεινται. Πᾶσα δὲ ἡ πραγματεία ἐν τρισὶ βίβλοις ἀναγέγραπται· καὶ τούτων ἡ μὲν πρώτη σύγκειται ἀφ' ὧν μάλιστα προσήκοι Χριστιανοῖς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀεὶ ποιεῖσθαι, ἀπὸ Θεοῦ, τὴν τριαδικὴν μονάδα φωτίζουσαν ἐκ προοιμίων ἡμᾶς. Ἡ δὲ δευτέρα, περὶ συστάσεως καὶ καταστάσεως τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων φησίν· ἡ δὲ τρίτη, ἰδίως τὰ περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας περιείληφεν. ∆ιὰ τὸ εὔληπτον δὲ, καὶ ῥᾳδίως εὑρίσκειν τὰ ζητούμενα, ὁ πίναξ τῶν κεφαλαίων, ἤγουν οἱ τίτλοι, κατὰ στοιχεῖον σύγκειται· καὶ ἕκαστον