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and tears, having received what she asked for, thus she departed. Let us not, therefore, think the story is unprofitable for us; For these things, he says, were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come; but let us approach her, and learn how the malady was healed, and what she did again after it was healed, and how she used the gift given by God. She sat down, it says, and nursed Samuel. See how she henceforth saw that child not only as a child, but also as a dedicated offering; and her affection became twofold, the one from nature, the other from grace. And it seems to me that she even revered her own child; and rightly so. For if some people, when they are about to dedicate golden bowls and cups to God, after they receive them once they are made, and before the day of dedication store them at home, they no longer see them as common vessels, but as dedicated offerings, and do not dare to touch them simply and randomly, as they would other things; 54.655 much more did the woman, attending to the child with such a mind, even before she brought him into the temple, both love him more than as a child, and cared for him as a dedicated offering, believing that she was being sanctified through him; for her house became a temple, having the prophet and the priest within. And not only from what she promised for him, but also from the fact that she did not dare to set foot in the temple before weaning him, it is possible to see her piety. For she said, it says, to her husband: I will not go up until the child goes up with me; but when I have weaned him, he will appear before the face of the Lord, and will remain there forever. Do you see? To leave him at home and go up, she did not think was safe; for after the giving of the gift, she could not bear to appear without the gift; and having brought him up, she feared to take him and come down again. For this reason she waited for so long, so that she might appear with the gift. And so she brought him up, and left him, and neither did he, being torn from the breast, become distressed; and you know how children are accustomed to be fretful when being weaned; but neither was he fretful being torn from his mother, but he looked to the Master, who had also made her a mother, nor was she pained at being separated from the child; for grace, mediating, overcame the sympathy that comes from nature, and they seemed to be together with each other. And just as a vine planted in one place puts forth its branches a long way, and the cluster of grapes hanging from a great distance is connected to the root; so indeed it also was with this woman. For remaining in the city, she extended her branch to the temple, and there she hung the ripe cluster; and the distance of the place was no hindrance at all, as the love according to God united the child to the mother. For though his age was unripe, his virtue was ripe, and he became a teacher of great piety to all who went up into the temple. For by inquiring and learning the manner of his birth, they received sufficient comfort, the hope in God. And no one seeing the child went down in silence, but all glorified the one who had given him against all hope. For these reasons God postponed the birth, so as to intensify this pleasure, so as to make the woman more illustrious. For those who knew her misfortune became witnesses of the grace of God; so that her remaining childless for a long time both made her better known to all, and caused her to be called blessed and admired by all, and for God to be thanked through her. But I say these things, so that if we see holy women who are childless, or in some other such dreadful circumstance, we may not be displeased, nor be fretful, nor say to ourselves: Why ever has God overlooked a woman living with such virtue, and not given her a child? For these things do not come from one who overlooks, but from one who knows what is profitable for us more accurately than we ourselves. She went up, therefore, to the temple, and brought the lamb into the flock, and the calf into the herd, and into the meadow the rose freed from thorns, a rose never withering, but continually blooming, and able to run up to the very

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καὶ δάκρυα, ὅπερ ᾔτησε λαβοῦσα, οὕτως ἀπῆλθε. Μὴ τοίνυν νομίζωμεν ἀκερδὲς ἡμῖν εἶναι τὸ διήγημα· Ταῦτα γὰρ ἐγράφη, φησὶ, πρὸς νουθεσίαν ἡμῶν, εἰς οὓς τὰ τέλη τῶν αἰώνων κατήντησεν· ἀλλὰ προσέλθωμεν αὐτῇ, καὶ μάθωμεν, πῶς ἐλύθη τὸ νόσημα, καὶ τί μετὰ τὸ λυθῆναι πάλιν ἐποίησε, καὶ πῶς ἐχρήσατο τῷ δοθέντι δώρῳ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐκάθισε, φησὶ, καὶ ἐθήλασε τὸν Σαμουήλ. Ὅρα πῶς ἑώρα τὸ παιδίον ἐκεῖνο λοιπὸν οὐχ ὡς παιδίον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς ἀνάθημα· καὶ διπλοῦν αὐτῇ τὸ φίλτρον ἐγίνετο, τὸ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς χάριτος. Ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ καὶ αἰδεῖσθαι τὸ παιδίον τὸ ἑαυτῆς· καὶ εἰκότως. Εἰ γὰρ φιάλας καὶ ποτήρια χρυσᾶ μέλλοντές τινες ἀνατιθέναι τῷ Θεῷ, ἐπειδὰν κατασκευασθέντα λάβωσι, καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ἀποθῶνται οἴκοι, οὐχ ὡς κοινὰ λοιπὸν ὁρῶσι σκεύη, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀναθήματα, καὶ οὐδὲ τολμῶσιν ἁπλῶς καὶ εἰκῆ τούτων ἅψασθαι, καθάπερ καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν· 54.655 πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡ γυνὴ μετὰ τοιαύτης τῷ παιδίῳ γνώμης προσέχουσα, καὶ πρὶν εἰς τὸν ναὸν εἰσαγαγεῖν, καὶ ἐφίλει μειζόνως ἢ ὡς παιδίον, καὶ ἐθεράπευεν ὡς ἀνάθημα, ἁγιάζεσθαι δι' ἐκείνου νομίζουσα· καὶ γὰρ ἡ οἰκία αὐτῆς ναὸς ἐγένετο, τὸν προφήτην ἔνδον ἔχουσα καὶ τὸν ἱερέα. Οὐκ ἐξ ὧν ὑπέσχετο δὲ μόνον αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ὧν οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν ἐπιβῆναι τοῦ ναοῦ, πρὶν ἢ τῆς γαλακτοτροφίας ἀπαγαγεῖν αὐτὸν, τὴν εὐλάβειαν αὐτῆς ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Εἶπε γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς· Οὐκ ἀναβήσομαι, ἕως τοῦ ἀναβῆναι τὸ παιδάριον μετ' ἐμοῦ· ὅταν δὲ ἀπογαλακτίσω αὐτὸ, ὀφθήσεται τῷ προσώπῳ Κυρίου, καὶ καθίσεται ἐκεῖ ἕως αἰῶνος. Ὁρᾷς; Ἀφεῖναι ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας, καὶ ἀνελθεῖν, οὐκ ἐνόμιζεν εἶναι ἀσφαλές· μετὰ γὰρ τὴν τοῦ δώρου δόσιν, οὐκ ἠνείχετο χωρὶς τοῦ δώρου φανῆναι· ἀναγαγοῦσα δὲ πάλιν, καὶ λαβοῦσα αὐτὸ, κατελθεῖν ἐδεδοίκει. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἔμεινε χρόνον τοσοῦτον, ὥστε μετὰ τοῦ δώρου φανῆναι. Καὶ ἀνήγαγεν οὖν, καὶ κατέλιπε, καὶ οὔτε ἐκεῖνος τῆς θηλῆς ἀποσπασθεὶς ἐδυσχέρανεν· ἴστε δὲ πῶς ἀσχάλλειν εἴωθε τὰ παιδία τῆς γαλακτοτροφίας ἀπαγόμενα· ἀλλ' οὔτε ἐκεῖνος ἤσχαλλε τῆς μητρὸς ἀποσπώμενος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸν ∆εσπότην ἔβλεπε, τὸν καὶ ἐκείνην ποιήσαντα μητέρα, οὔτε αὕτη ἤλγει τοῦ παιδίου χωριζομένη· τὴν γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως συμπάθειαν μεσιτεύουσα ἡ χάρις ἐνίκησε, καὶ συνεῖναι ἀλλήλοις ἐδόκουν. Καὶ καθάπερ ἄμπελος ἐν ἑνὶ ἱδρυμένη χωρίῳ, μέχρι πολλοῦ προάγει τὰ κλήματα, καὶ ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ διαστήματος κρεμάμενος ὁ βότρυς τῇ ῥίζῃ συγγίνεται· οὕτω δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτης ἐγένετο τῆς γυναικός. Μένουσα γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως, τὸ κλῆμα αὐτῆς ἐξέτεινεν ἕως τοῦ ναοῦ, κἀκεῖ τὸν βότρυν ἐκρέμασεν ὥριμον· καὶ οὐδὲν τὸ διάστημα τοῦ τόπου διεκώλυσε, τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ἀγάπης συναπτούσης τῇ μητρὶ τὸ παιδίον. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἄωρος ἡ ἡλικία, ἀλλ' ὥριμος ἦν αὐτῷ ἡ ἀρετὴ, καὶ τοῖς ἀναβαίνουσιν εἰς τὸν ναὸν διδάσκαλος πᾶσιν ἐγίνετο θεοσεβείας πολλῆς. Περιεργαζόμενοι γὰρ καὶ μανθάνοντες τῆς γεννήσεως αὐτοῦ τὸν τρόπον, ἀρκοῦσαν ἐλάμβανον παράκλησιν, τὴν εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἐλπίδα. Καὶ οὐδεὶς ὁρῶν τὸ παιδίον, σιγῇ κατῄει, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἐδόξαζον τὸν παρ' ἐλπίδας αὐτὸ δεδωκότα. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα ὁ Θεὸς ἀνεβάλετο τὸν τόκον, ὥστε ἐπιτεῖναι ταύτην τὴν ἡδονὴν, ὥστε περιφανεστέραν τὴν γυναῖκα ποιῆσαι. Οἱ γὰρ τὴν συμφορὰν αὐτῆς ἐπιστάμενοι, μάρτυρες ἐγίνοντο τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτος· ὥστε τὸ πολὺν αὐτὴν ἐν ἀπαιδίᾳ μεῖναι χρόνον γνωριμωτέραν τε πᾶσιν ἐποίησε, καὶ παρὰ πάντων αὐτὴν μακαρίζεσθαι καὶ θαυμάζεσθαι, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν εὐχαριστεῖσθαι δι' αὐτῆς παρεσκεύασε. Ταῦτα δὲ λέγω, ἵνα κἂν ἡμεῖς ἴδωμεν ἁγίας γυναῖκας ἐν ἀπαιδίᾳ οὔσας, ἢ ἐν ἄλλῳ τινὶ δεινῷ τοιούτῳ, μὴ δυσχεραίνωμεν, μηδὲ ἀσχάλλωμεν, μηδὲ λέγωμεν πρὸς ἑαυτούς· Τί δήποτε περιεῖδεν ὁ Θεὸς μετ' ἀρετῆς τοσαύτης ζῶσαν γυναῖκα, καὶ παιδίον αὐτῇ οὐκ ἔδωκεν; Οὐ γὰρ περιορῶντος ταῦτά ἐστιν, ἀλλ' εἰδότος τὸ συμφέρον ἡμῖν ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἀκριβέστερον. Ἀνῄει τοίνυν εἰς τὸν ναὸν, καὶ τὸ ἀρνίον εἰς τὴν ποίμνην, καὶ τὸν μόσχον εἰς τὴν ἀγέλην εἰσήγαγε, καὶ εἰς τὸν λειμῶνα τὸ ῥόδον τὸ ἀκανθῶν ἀπηλλαγμένον, ῥόδον οὐδέποτε μαραινόμενον, ἀλλὰ διηνεκῶς ἀνθοῦν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν δυνάμενον ἀναδραμεῖν τὸν