Eclogae ex diversis homiliis

Of our father among the saints John, Archbishop of Constantinople, Chrysostom, Selections from Various Discourses. Homily 1. On Love. Wishing, beloved, to bind all people to one another, our man-loving God has implanted such a necessity in things that in the neighbor's advantage the other's advantage is bound up. For the farmer does not sow as much grain as would suffice for himself alone—since long ago he would have destroyed both himself and others—and the soldier does not array himself for dangers in order to save himself, but in order to establish the cities too in safety; and the merchant does not bring as much as would suffice for himself alone, but as much as would suffice for many others as well. For since people would not otherwise have endured to seek the things of their neighbor, unless he had brought them into this necessity, for this reason God has thus yoked these things together, and he does not allow one to come first to one's own advantage without having traveled through the advantages of others. For it is not possible to be saved without having this; but even if you practice the utmost philosophy, yet neglect the rest while they perish, you will obtain no boldness of speech before God. For if I feed [the poor] with my possessions, says the divine Apostle, and hand over my body that it be burned, but have not love, I am profited nothing. But if you wish to learn how great a weapon it is to win over the brothers—even if some are unbelievers—and to be gentle and mild and to present a sweet manner, hear what this same blessed Paul says as he enters before an unbelieving judge to be judged: I consider myself blessed, since I am about to be judged before you.

He said this not to flatter him—far be it—but wishing to win him by gentleness. Therefore he also won him in part, and the one who had until then been considered a condemned man captured the judge, and the one who was overcome himself confesses the victory with a clear voice in the presence of all, saying: "In a little you persuade me to become a Christian." What then does Paul say? "I would pray to God that not only you but also all those present might become such as I am." When therefore that man demands so great a measure, and we do not provide even the lesser, of what forgiveness shall we be worthy? And do not consider it a shameful thing to be in need of another; for this has been the work of the ineffable wisdom of God. For if we need one another, and not even the compulsion of need draws us together into friendship—if we were self-sufficient, would we not be untamed beasts? By force and necessity God has subjected us to one another, and every day we clash with one another; if he removed this bridle, who would quickly fall in love with friendship for his neighbor? For this reason God gave us the world as one house, and lit one lamp for all, the sun, and stretched out one roof, the heaven, and set out one table, the earth. And he did not grant more and more honorable things to the rich man, and cheaper and less to the poor man, so that we might have a great and unbroken union with one another, and so that no one might have to say, "So-and-so is not my friend, nor my relative, nor my neighbor, nor do I have anything in common with him; how shall I approach him, how shall I converse with him?

We ought not to have toward one another only as much affection as friends are expected to show toward friends, but as much as one member has toward another member. For just as you could not say, “How is there any kinship or closeness between me and him?”—for that would be ridiculous—so neither could you say this about your brother. For even if he is neither a relative nor a friend, he is a human being, sharing the same nature as you, having the same Master, and having come into being in the same world. In the case of money, we praise those who owe nothing; but in the case of love, we welcome and admire those who are perpetually in debt. Let us therefore be persuaded and join ourselves to one another; and even if someone wishes to withdraw, do not you break away, nor utter that cold saying: “If he loves me, I love him; but if he does not love me, I will tear out my right eye.” Rather, when he does not wish to love you, then show the greater love, so that you may draw him to yourself. For he is a member; and when a member is severed from the rest of the body by some necessity, we do everything so as to unite it again, and we show greater care for it then. For the reward is greater when you draw in someone who does not wish to love. And if, at a banquet, he commands us to invite those who cannot repay us, so that the reward for the recompense may be increased, much more ought we to do this in the case of friendship. For the one who is loved and loves back has repaid you the recompense; but the one who is loved and does not love back has made God a debtor to you in his place. And apart from these things, when he loves you, he does not need much effort; but when he does not love you, then he has need of your help.

Do not, then, make the cause of your zeal a cause of laziness, and do not say, "Because he is sick, for this reason I neglect him." For sickness is the cooling of love. But you, warm what has grown cold. For to want to be loved greatly comes from loving greatly. For when we are not greatly disposed toward someone, we do not need that person's intense friendship either, even if he is great, even if he is distinguished; but when we love someone warmly and genuinely, even if the one loved is lowly, even if he is small, we account it the greatest glory to have that person's affection. But if you do not know how to treat a brother, when will you be able to treat a stranger well? If you do not know how to handle your own member, when will you be able to draw in the outsider and join him to yourself? Do you want not to be spoken ill of? Then do not speak ill either. Do you desire to be praised? Then praise. Do you want to be shown mercy? Then show mercy. Do you wish to obtain forgiveness? Then share it. Do you want not to be defrauded? Then do not seize. Let us become such toward our neighbors as we wish them to be toward us. For just as a soul without a body is not called a man, nor again a body without a soul, so neither is love toward God, unless it has love toward the neighbor as its companion. Do you want to serve a certain person? I do not forbid it, but not to the grief of another. For teachers were not given to us so that we might array ourselves against one another, but so that we might all array ourselves with one another. Why are you one? Why do you not make many? Why do you not become a craftsman of love? Why do you not construct friendship, the greatest praise of virtue?

For just as being evil by agreement provokes God all the more, so being good in concord gladdens him all the more. Do not join with the many in evil; make friends for yourself before your houses, before all other things. If the peacemaker is a son of God, how much more is the one who makes friends? If the one who merely reconciles is called a son of God, of what will the one who makes those who are reconciled into friends not be worthy? For if the devil commands us to become enemies to all, while God commands us to greet and love them; and the one, having nailed us down to clay and brickmaking (for this is wealth), does not even allow us to breathe a little during the nights, while the other releases us from this excessive and unprofitable anxiety and commands us to gather treasures in the heavens, not from injustice toward others but from our own righteousness; and the former, after many sweats and hardships, not only is unable to stand by us when we are punished there and suffer badly because of his own laws, but even intensifies the flame; while the latter, having commanded us to give even a cup of cold water, never allows us to lose the reward and recompense even for this, but repays with great abundance—how is it not the height of folly, when such a gentle mastery and one so full of good things is loved, to be enslaved to a thankless and senseless tyrant, and nothing either here

Nor is he able to benefit those who obey and belong to him there? Do not, then, be vexed at what has been said; for I too would say that the one who loves me loves me most not only when he praises me, but also when he reproves me so that I may be corrected. For to praise everything indiscriminately, both what is good and what is not good, is no longer the mark of one who loves, but of a deceiver and a dissembler; but to praise when something is done as it ought, and to reprove when something has gone wrong—this belongs to a friend and a guardian. Therefore I do not receive an enemy even when he praises, but I welcome a friend even when he reproves; the former, even if he loves me, is disagreeable; the latter, even if he wounds me, is longed for. For, it says, the wounds of a friend are more trustworthy than the willing kisses of an enemy. For the one, whether he reproves justly or unjustly, does this wishing not to reproach but to correct; but the other, even if he reproves justly, brings his accusations not to correct but rather eager to expose them publicly. So nothing is equal to concord, beloved; for thus the one is a fraction of the many. For if two or ten are of one mind, the one is no longer one, but each of them becomes tenfold; and you will find the one in the ten, and the ten in the one; and if they have an enemy, the one who attacks the one is caught just as if he had attacked the ten. The one was at a loss, but he is not in perplexity; for the perplexed part is overshadowed by the greater part. Each of these has twenty hands and twenty eyes and as many feet, and has ten souls; for he works all things not only with his own, but also with theirs. And if there should be a hundred, the same will be the case again.

The same man can be in Persia and in Rome, and what nature cannot do, the power of love has accomplished. If, then, he has a thousand friends or two thousand, consider where again the measure of his power will extend. For this is the wonderful thing, to make the one a thousand. Why, then, do we not acquire the power of love and establish ourselves in safety? Until when shall we confine it to one and two? For even if the man who has acquired friends is poor, he has become far more resourceful than the rich; for the things that he himself does not venture to say on his own behalf, his friend will say in his place; and whatever he cannot grant himself, he will grant through another. And it is not possible for the man guarded by so many bodyguards to suffer harm; for the king's bodyguards are not so exact as these. For the former display their guard by necessity and fear, but the latter by goodwill and love; and the king fears his guards, but this man trusts these more than himself. And besides: what wall so unbroken, fortified by the fitting together of great stones, becomes impregnable to the assaults of enemies, as the company of those who love one another and are bound together in unanimity? For it repels the attacks of the devil; and very reasonably so. For those who are drawn up together against him become invincible to his devices, and raise the splendid trophies of love. And just as the strings of a lyre, though many, when they are tuned to one harmony, sound a most delightful melody, so those who are blended into one mind strike up the sweet-sounding note of love.

For nothing could be sweeter than love. What would a genuine friend not do? How much pleasure would he not instill, how much benefit, how much security? Even if you were to speak of countless treasures, nothing is of equal worth to a genuine friend. And just as the bright bloom of bodies flows out to the places nearby, so too friends release their own grace upon whatever places they come to. Better, then, to live in darkness than to be without friends. For fever does not so habitually burn up the nature of the body as separation from those who are loved consumes souls. For such is the love of love that it makes us imagine each day those who are not present with us but absent and longed for; and it removes everything that is in our hands and binds the soul of the one who loves to the beloved alone. And if someone, seeing the beloved—or rather, remembering him—is stirred in his soul and becomes lofty in his understanding, and bears all things easily, delighting in the memory—the one who has in his mind the One who truly deigned to love us, and remembers Him, when will he ever feel anything painful, or fear anything fearful and dangerous? Never. For if, being loved by powerful men, we are fearsome to all, much more so being loved by God. And if money is needed, or bodies, or the soul itself, to give for this love, let us not spare it. For it is not enough to say with words that we love, but we must also show the proof from deeds; for He too showed His love not only through words but also through deeds.

For if in the houses of the great, a servant who has made his own things his master's has not made his own things his master's, but his master's things his own, and in like manner with him he uses his master's things, and many of the servants fear him more than they fear their master; and since he despised his own things, he did not despise his own things, but rather obtained greater things—how much more in spiritual matters. Let us not, then, be anxious about our own things in order that we may be anxious about our own things, but let us despise them in order that we may possess them. For if we despise them, God will take care of them; but if we take care of them, God will despise them. If anyone, then, wishes to love genuinely and to know the power of love, let him run to the one who nurtured it, the blessed Paul, and he will teach him how great a contest it is to endure separation from a beloved one, and how great a soul it requires. For this man, this man who stripped off the flesh and laid aside the body and, going about the world with almost a naked soul, and banishing every passion from his mind and imitating the impassibility of the incorporeal powers—all other things he bore easily, as though suffering in another's body: prisons and chains and abductions and scourges and threats and death and every form of punishment. But when he was separated from one beloved soul, he was so confounded and disturbed that, when in the place where he expected to see his beloved one he did not find him, he immediately leapt away even from the city. What is this, O blessed Paul?

Bound with wood, living in a prison, with lashes laid upon him, and his back streaming with blood, you were initiating and baptizing, and offering sacrifice, and you did not despise even one who was about to be saved; but when you came to Troas, and found the field cleared and ready to receive the seeds, did you cast away so great a gain from your hands, and leap away at once? Yes, he says; for I was seized by great despondency and tyranny, and the absence of Titus greatly confounded my mind; and it so mastered me and prevailed over me as to compel me to do this. Do you see how great a contest it is to be able to bear gently the separation from one who is loved? How painful and bitter a thing? How it needs a lofty and vigorous soul? For it is not enough for those who love merely to be bound together in soul, nor are they satisfied with this for consolation, but they also need bodily presence, and if this is not present, no small part of their gladness is cut off. Alas for the burning desire of love! Paul, who dared fire, the adamantine, the firm, the unbending, the inflexible, who says, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or famine, or persecution, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? who dared earth and sea, who laughed at the adamantine gates of death—this man, when he saw the tears of certain beloved ones, was so broken and crushed that he did not even hide his passion, but said at once: What are you doing, weeping and crushing my heart? O the marvel! The abyss of waters did not crush him, and a few tears crushed and broke him down?

Why do you weep and crush my heart? What are you saying? Tell me: did a tear have the strength to crush that adamantine soul? Yes, he says; for great is the strength of love; it prevails over me and holds me fast; for I withstand all things except love. Who would not be struck with amazement? Who would not marvel? Or rather, who could worthily be struck with amazement and marvel at that noble and heaven-reaching soul, because, bound and imprisoned, from so great a distance he wrote to the Philippians? For you know how great is the distance between Macedonia and Rome. But neither the length of the journey, nor the multitude of time, nor the crowd of affairs, nor danger, and the calamities following one upon another, nor anything else, cast out the love and the remembrance of the disciples, but he held them all in his mind. And his hands were not so bound by his chains as his soul was bound and fastened to the longing for his disciples. And just as a king, having ascended his throne at dawn and sat in the royal courts, immediately receives countless letters from everywhere, so too that man, sitting in prison as in royal courts, both received and sent far more letters continually—those from everywhere referring all their own affairs to his wisdom; and he administered so many more affairs than the king, as he had been entrusted with a greater rule.

For such is the power of love that it embraces and glues together and binds not only those present and near to us and seen, but also those who stand far off, and neither a multitude of years, nor a distance of roads, nor any other such thing could cut through and sever the friendship of the soul. For thus one must love the one who loves, so that even if his very soul were asked of him, and it were possible, he would not hold it back; for not even then is it worthy of a genuine friend. For the one who loves rejoices when he sees the beloved and is melted, and is entwined with him in an embrace that has an ineffable pleasure in the soul. And if he only remembers him, he is stirred up in his mind and takes wing, and seeing him each day he is not sated; nothing is to him that is not that man's; he prays for the same things for him as for himself. I know a certain man who, entreating the holy men on behalf of a friend, asked them first to pray for him, and then for himself. I know Paul too, gladly giving his own soul though not asked, and praying to fall into Gehenna on behalf of those he loved. For thus one must love with a disposition set on fire, so as not to seem to have the beloved as a debtor, but to be himself a debtor to him in having him as a debtor. For the one who loves wishes not only to command but also to be commanded; he rejoices more in being commanded than in commanding. The one who loves wishes to grant favors rather than to receive a favor; for he wishes to have his friend as a debtor, rather than himself to owe him. The one who loves both wishes to grant favors to the beloved and does not wish to seem to grant favors.

and to take the initiative in doing good himself, and not to seem to take the initiative in doing good. And do not think of friends in the ordinary sense—those who share our tables and are counted friends merely from the name; if anyone has a friend, such as I mean, he will recognize these words. A friend is sweeter than the present life. Many, at any rate, after the death of their friends have prayed to live no longer; for truly a friend is more desirable even than the light itself. For it is better for us that the sun be extinguished than to be deprived of friends; for many who see the sun are in darkness, while those who have an abundance of friends would never be in distress. But if anyone's friendship harms you, cut it off from yourself. For if we often cut off some of our own members, when they are incurably diseased and corrupt the rest, much more ought we to do this in the case of the soul. For nothing is so harmful as evil companionship; for whatever necessity cannot do, friendship often can, for harm and for benefit. But he who makes friends with the enemies of the king cannot be a friend of the king. For than the friendship that is for Christ's sake, the hatred that is for his sake is far better. For when we are loved for God's sake, we are his debtors for the honor; but when we are hated, he is our debtor for the honor. As many of us, then, as despise even money for Christ's sake—or rather for our own sake—let us shudder at the matter concerning

taking into our mind the love of Christ that Paul had. For he did not love Christ for the sake of Christ's own things, but for his sake the things that belong to him, and he feared only one thing: to fall away from the love that was toward him. For this was to him more fearful than Gehenna, just as remaining in it was more desirable than the kingdom. When, then, that man, out of longing for God, accepts even to fall into Gehenna and to fall away from the kingdom—if indeed both of these were set before him—while we do not even despise the present life, are we then worthy even of his sandals, so far removed are we from his greatness of mind? For this reason Christ also said: Whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it; and, Whoever confesses me before men, I also will confess him before my Father who is in heaven. For great is the toil of this achievement, and it almost surpasses nature itself; and those who have been deemed worthy of these crowns know this well, for no word will be able to set it forth; so noble is the deed of a soul, and wondrous beyond measure. But nevertheless Paul said that this wondrous thing, without love, is of no great profit, even if it has poverty joined to it. Why, then, he has spoken thus, I will now try to show, first inquiring into that question: how can the man who feeds all with his possessions be able to lack love? For it is perhaps possible for one who is ready to be burned and who has the gifts to lack love; but how does the man who not only gives his possessions but even feeds others not love? What, then, is one to say?

Or that he set down what does not exist as though it existed, which is what he always does when he wishes to set forth an excess: as when, writing to the Galatians, he says, "If we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be accursed"—although neither he himself nor an angel was going to do this; but to show the excess of the matter, he has set down even what would never happen at all. And again, when he writes to the Romans and says, "Neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers will be able to separate us from the love of Christ"—for neither were angels going to do this, but here too he sets down what does not exist; just as also in what follows he says, "Nor any other creature"—although there is no other creature; for he encompassed it all, speaking of all things both above and below; but nevertheless here too he sets down by hypothesis what does not exist, so as to show his love with excess. This indeed he also does here, saying, "Even if one gives all things, but has not love, he is profited nothing." Or this is to say, or that he wishes those who give to be joined closely to those who receive, and not simply to give without sympathy, but with mercy and being bowed down, bending forward, and suffering together with those in need. For this reason also almsgiving has been legislated by God; for God was able to feed the poor even without this; but in order to bind us together in love, and that we might be warmed toward one another, he commanded them to be fed by us. For this reason also elsewhere he says, "A good word is better than a gift"; and behold, a word is better than a good gift. And he himself says, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.

For since it is a custom that those who are benefited love, and those who are well treated are more intimately disposed toward their benefactors, he made this a bond of friendship and so legislated. And so that you may learn how great the achievement is, let us sketch it in words, since we do not see it appearing anywhere in practice, and let us consider: if this were everywhere with abundance, how many good things would have come about. For there would be no need of laws, nor of courts, nor of punishments, nor of penalties, nor of any other such thing. For if all loved and were loved, no one would have wronged anyone, but murders and battles and wars and factions and robberies and greed and all wicked things would have been removed, and evil would have been unknown even by name. Signs, however, would not have brought this about, but they even lift those who do not pay attention into vainglory and folly. And indeed the wondrous thing about love is that the other goods have evils yoked alongside them: for example, the man without possessions is often puffed up on this account; the man skilled in speaking is sick with love of glory; the humble-minded man, for this very reason, often thinks greatly of himself in his conscience. But love is freed from every such plague; for no one would ever be lifted up against the one he loves. And do not set before me one man loving, but all alike, and then you will see its virtue; or rather, if you wish, first set one man loved and one man loving—loving, however, as it is worthy to love. For such a man will inhabit the earth as heaven, enjoying calm everywhere, and weaving countless crowns for himself.

For such a person will keep his own soul pure from envy and anger and malice and folly and vainglory and evil desire and every unnatural passion, and from every disease. For just as no one would do any evil to himself, so neither would he to his neighbors. And being such a person, he will stand with Gabriel himself, walking upon the earth. And the one who has love is such a person. But the one who performs signs and has complete knowledge, without this love, even if he raises ten thousand dead, will profit nothing, having been severed from all and not enduring to mingle himself with any of his fellow servants. For this reason Christ also said that the sign of exact love for him is loving one's neighbor. For if you love me, he says, O Peter, more than these, feed my sheep. Do you see how from this too he hinted again that this is greater than martyrdom? For if someone had a beloved child, for whom he would even give up his own life, and then someone loved the father but paid no attention at all to the child, he would greatly provoke the father, and he would not perceive his own love, because of the contempt for the child. But if this happens in the case of a father and child, much more in the case of God and men; for God is more affectionate than all fathers. For this reason, having said, The first and great commandment: You shall love the Lord your God, he added, And the second, and he did not keep silent, but added like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And see how with nearly the same excess he requires this one too; for concerning God he says, With your whole heart.

And concerning your neighbor: "As yourself"—which is equivalent to "with your whole heart." For if this were kept with exactness, there would be no slave, no free man, no ruler, no subject, no rich, no poor, no small, no great, and the devil would never have been known. I do not say this one, but even if another such as he existed—or rather, even if a hundred and ten thousand such existed—they would have no power while that love remained. For grass more readily endures the onset of fire than the devil endures the flame of love. This is stronger than a wall, this is firmer than adamant; and even if you name some other material stronger than it, the firmness of love surpasses all. Wealth does not conquer it, nor poverty; or rather, there would be no poverty, no excess of wealth, if love were present, but only the goods that come from both. For we would have reaped the abundance that comes from wealth, and the freedom from care that comes from poverty, and we would have endured neither the anxieties of wealth nor the fear of poverty. And why do I speak of the gains that come from it? Consider how great the very act of loving is in itself, how much gladness it brings, in how much grace it establishes the soul—which is its most excellent feature. For the other parts of virtue have toil yoked to them—for example, fasting, chastity, vigil, envy, desire, contempt; but love, along with its gain, has much pleasure and no toil. And like a good bee, gathering good things from every side, it deposits them in the soul of the one who loves. And even if someone is a slave, love makes slavery sweeter than freedom. For the one who loves rejoices not so much in commanding as in being commanded—although commanding is pleasant.

But this love changes the nature of things, and having all things in its hands, it brings every good thing, gentler than any mother, richer in resources than any queen, and it makes labors light and most easy, showing virtue to be easy and vice to be most bitter to us. Consider: spending seems to be painful, and this love makes it pleasant; taking what belongs to others is pleasant, and it does not allow it to appear pleasant, but makes one flee from it as wicked. Again, speaking evil seems sweet to all; this love shows this to be bitter, but speaking well to be sweet; for nothing is so sweet to us as to praise the one we love. Again, anger has a certain pleasure; but here it is no longer so, but all its sinews have been destroyed; and even if the beloved grieves the one who loves him, anger appears nowhere, but tears and entreaties and supplications; so far is he from being provoked. And if he sees him sinning, he mourns and is in pain; but even this pain brings pleasure; for the tears and grief of love are sweeter than all laughter and joy. At any rate, those who laugh are not so refreshed as those who weep for friends; and if you do not believe it, stop their tears, and they are as distressed as if they had suffered irreparable things. But, he says, loving has an absurd pleasure. Away with you, and speak reverently, man; for nothing is so free from such pleasure as genuine love.

Do not speak to me of that vulgar and marketplace love, which is a disease rather than love, but of this love that Paul seeks, the love that looks to the advantage of the beloved, and you will see that these are more affectionate than fathers, and just as those who love money would not choose to spend their money, but would rather be in straits than see it diminished, so too the one who is kindly disposed toward someone would choose to suffer countless things rather than see the beloved harmed. What then, he says, if they are enemies and Greeks, should we not hate them? We should hate, not them, but the doctrine; not the man, but the evil deed, the corrupted mind. For the man is the work of God, but the error is the work of the devil. For if we must hate the enemies of God, we must hate not only the impious but also sinners, and thus we will be worse than wild beasts, turning away from all; and puffed up with folly, like that Pharisee. But Paul did not command thus, but how? Admonish the disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient toward all. What then, he says, when he says, If anyone does not obey our word through the letter, mark this man and do not associate with him? This is said especially concerning brothers; yet not this either without qualification, but this too with gentleness. For do not cut off what follows, but add also what comes after; for having said, Do not associate, he added, And do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. Do you see how he commanded us to hate the evil deed, not the man?

For it is the devil's work to tear us apart from one another; and he has been exceedingly zealous to destroy love, so that he might cut off the path of correction, and hold that one fast in error, and you in unbelief and hatred, and then in this way wall off the path of that one's salvation. For when the physician hates the sick man and flees from him, and the sick man turns away from the physician, when will the sick man rise, when neither does the one call him, nor does the other go to him? And for what reason do you turn away and flee from him? Because he is impious? Then for this very reason you ought to draw near and care for him, so that you may raise up the sick man. But if he is sick incurably, still you were commanded to do your own part; since Judas also was incurably sick, and God did not cease caring for him. Do not, then, you either grow weary; for even if after much zeal you do not deliver him from his impiety, you will receive the reward of one who has delivered him, and you will dispose him to marvel at your gentleness; and in this way all this glory will pass over to God. For even if you work wonders, even if you raise the dead, even if you accomplish anything whatever, the Greeks will never marvel at you so much as when they see you presenting a meek and gentle and sweet manner. And this too is no small achievement; for many will be completely delivered from evil. For nothing is so able to draw people, as love. For on account of those things they will even envy you—I mean the signs and the wonders; but on account of this they will also

They will marvel and love, and loving, they will lay hold of the truth as they advance step by step. But if he does not become a believer immediately, do not marvel, nor be impatient, nor seek everything at once, but allow him for a time to praise and to love, and advancing step by step he will come to this as well. Since, then, love is the creator of virtue, let us plant it in our own souls with all diligence, so that it may bring us many good things, and we may have its fruit flowing continually, ever flourishing and never withering. In this way, then, we shall also attain the eternal good things; may it come to pass that we all attain them, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the holy and good Spirit, be glory, unto the ages of ages. Amen. Homily 2. On Prayer. Prayer is a great good, if it is made with a grateful mind, if we train ourselves to give thanks to God not only when we receive but also when we do not receive. For sometimes he gives, and sometimes he does not give, and both are beneficial; so that whether you receive or do not receive, you have received in not receiving; and whether you succeed or do not succeed, you have succeeded in not succeeding. For there is a time when not receiving is more advantageous. For if not receiving had not often been to our advantage, he would certainly have given; but to fail advantageously is to succeed. Let us not, then, be vexed at the slowness of the giving of the things we ask for, but rather let us show great endurance and patience in this. For was God unable to provide even before we asked? But for this reason he waits, so that he may take from us an occasion to deem us worthy of his providence righteously.

So then, whether we obtain what we ask or do not obtain it, let us persist in the asking; and let us give thanks not only when we succeed but also when we fail. For to fail, when God so wills, is not less than to succeed; for we do not know what is for our good, as he himself knows. Therefore, whether we succeed or fail, we ought to give thanks and to receive with joy whatever he may approve. For God does not turn away from our requests and put them off many times, but he does so to make our perseverance wise, and because he wishes to draw us to himself; just as a loving father, though asked many times by his child, does not consent, not because he does not wish to give, but because by this means he draws out the child's perseverance. For being heard in prayer comes first from being worthy to receive, second from praying according to God's laws, third from praying continually, fourth from asking nothing worldly, fifth from contributing everything on one's own part, and again from seeking what is beneficial. Just as being heard comes from these things, so not being heard comes from the opposite, even if those who ask are righteous. For what has been more righteous than Paul? But because he asked for what was not beneficial, he was not heard: "Concerning this I besought the Lord three times," he says, "and he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you." And what again was more righteous than Moses? But neither was he heard, when God said, "Let it suffice you." For because he asked to enter the land of promise, and this was not beneficial, God did not permit it.

Along with these things there is also this: that we are not heard when we pray while persisting in our sins. This is what God also said to Jeremiah concerning the Jews: Do not pray for this people; or do you not see what they are doing? They have not ceased, he says, from their impiety, and you bring supplication on their behalf? But I will not hear you. Again, when we ask against our enemies, not only are we not heard, but we even provoke God. For prayer is a medicine, but if we do not know how the medicine ought to be applied, we never reap its power either. So great, then, is the good of persistence in prayer, as we are taught by that Canaanite woman: what Christ did not grant when the apostles asked it, she accomplished, and by her endurance she brought it to fulfillment. For he wishes that requests for our own affairs be made to him by us who are accountable, rather than by others on our behalf. For when we entreat human beings, we need expenditure of money and servile flattery and much going about and trouble; for it is not possible to give the favor directly to the masters themselves and to converse with them often, but one must first court their servants and stewards and overseers with money and words and every manner of attention, and then through them be able to obtain the request. But with God it is not so; for he does not need mediators for those who ask, nor, when entreated through others, does he grant the favor in such a way as when we ourselves make the request. For God wishes to be asked for many things by us, and he is greatly grateful for this.

For this debtor alone is grateful when repayment is demanded, and he gives what we did not lend. And if he sees the one demanding pressing hard, he pays back even what he did not receive from us; but if sluggishly, he too postpones, not because he does not wish to give, but because he is pleased to be asked by us. For God does not postpone the granting of what is asked out of hatred, nor out of turning away from us, but because by the delay of the gift he wishes to keep us continually with himself—just as affectionate fathers also do; for they too, by postponing the gift, train the more indolent children to continual attentiveness. Were you heard? Give thanks for this, because you were heard. Were you not heard? Persevere so that you may be heard. You have no need of mediators, nor of much running about and flattering others; but even if you are desolate, even if you have no protector, having entreated God yourself through yourself, you will certainly obtain your request. For if among men, even when we have offended in countless ways, whenever we appear at dawn, at midday, and in the evening to those who have been grieved against us, by our constancy and continual encounter of sight we easily dissolve their enmity, much more would this happen with God. For he is not so accustomed to nod assent when entreated by others on our behalf as when entreated by us ourselves who are in need, even if we are full of countless evils. Let those who pray with indifference, and are vexed at the delay of the gift, hear this. For when I say, Entreat God, beseech him, supplicate him, he says, I have entreated once, a second time, a third time, a tenth, a twentieth, and I have not received. Do not depart until you receive.

Then withdraw when you have received; or rather, not even then, but even then remain; and if you do not receive, ask so that you may receive; and when you have received, give thanks that you have received. Many enter the church, complete countless verses of prayer, and go out, and do not know what they have said; the lips move, but the hearing does not hear. You do not hear your own prayer, and you want God to hear it? I have knelt, you say. But your mind was flying outside; the body was inside, and your thought was outside; your mouth was saying the prayer, and your mind was counting interest, contracts, transactions, properties, gatherings of friends. For the devil, being wicked, and knowing that in the time of prayer we accomplish great things, then attacks (for often we lie on our backs in bed, and reckon nothing; we have come to pray, and then countless thoughts rush in), so that from that source he may make us empty and wholly ineffective; and often, having finished the prayer, we have gone away as if we had not even heard what we said. If, then, we perceive this, let us immediately take it up again; and even if we suffer the same thing again, and a third and a fourth time, let us say it again, and let us not cease praying until we pour it all out before God with a sober mind and attentive thought. And if the devil perceives that we do not withdraw until we have said it with earnestness and a sober mind, he will at last withdraw, watching in ambush, knowing that

No advantage will come to him from his plot, except that he forces us often to take up the same prayer. For if, when we approach a man, we show such earnestness that we often do not even see those standing nearby, but concentrate our mind and imagine only that one to whom we are approaching, much more ought we to do this in the case of God, and to persist in prayers, not turning our reasoning here and there. For if the tongue utters the words, but the mind wanders outside, looking around at things in the house, imagining things in the marketplace, there will be no benefit for us thereafter, but even greater condemnation. For if we attend upon men for so much time, serving as soldiers and enduring hardship, ministering in slavish fashion, and often at the end falling short even of hope itself, shall we not endure to attend upon our Master with the earnestness that is fitting, where it is altogether possible to receive a reward far greater than our labors? And how much punishment are these things worth? For even if it were possible to receive nothing, is not this very thing—conversing with him continually—the cause of countless goods? For prayer is a great good, and so is conversing with God through it. For if one who converses with a virtuous man reaps no small benefit from him, how many goods will he enjoy who has been deemed worthy to converse with God? How then is it not absurd that we command our servants to slave for us all the time, but do not assign even the lesser leisure to God? You do not know what is beneficial, O man; often you ask for things harmful and dangerous.

But that one who cares more for your salvation does not attend to your request, but before your request he provides what is beneficial for you. For if fleshly fathers do not always give whatever their children ask, not because they despise those who ask, but because they care more for them, how much more does God, who both loves more and knows better than all what is beneficial for us, do it. When, then, you grow weary in praying and do not receive, consider how many times you heard a poor man calling you and did not answer, and he was not indignant, nor did he insult you; and yet you do this out of cruelty, while God does it out of love for humanity. If, therefore, you yourself, not listening to your fellow servant out of cruelty, do not think you deserve to be blamed, do you blame the Master of the servant for not listening out of love for humanity? If, then, the blessed David, being a king and immersed in countless cares and dragged about from every side, called upon God seven times a day, what defense and pardon could we have, who enjoy so much leisure and do not continually entreat him, and that when we are about to reap so great a gain? For it is impossible, impossible, for a man who prays with the proper zeal and continually entreats God ever to sin.

For the one who has warmed his mind, and roused his soul, and transported himself to heaven, and thus called upon his own Master, and remembered his sins, and spoken with him about their forgiveness, and entreated him to become propitious and gentle—from his dwelling upon these words he lays aside every worldly care, and takes wing, and becomes higher than human passions. For the springs of streams do not make gardens so flourishing as the springs of tears water the plant of prayer, making the one who prays run back to the greatest height and preparing him to stand before the Lord; for from this especially comes being heard. Since, if while the body lies on the ground and the mouth babbles idly, the mind wanders everywhere through the house and the marketplace, how will such a one be able to say that he has prayed before God? For he prays before the Lord who gathers his soul from every side, and has nothing in common with the earth, but has transported himself to heaven itself, and has cast out every human reasoning from his soul. For the one who prays ought so to pray, as all of himself

gathering and concentrating the mind, to call upon God with a soul in pain, and not stretching out long words nor extending the supplication to great length, but speaking few and bare words; for being heard lies not in the abundance of words but in the sobriety of the mind. And this can be seen from the case of Samuel's mother, Hannah. For she says, "O Lord Adonai, Eloi Sabaoth, if thou wilt indeed look upon the lowliness of thy handmaid, and give to thy handmaid a man-child, I will give him before thee as a gift until the day of his death, and he shall not drink wine or strong drink, and no iron shall come upon his head." What abundance of words is this? But nevertheless, since she made this prayer with attention and sobriety, she accomplished all that she desired, and she corrected a crippled nature, and opened a closed womb, and brought herself to great boldness, having reaped a ripened ear of grain from a barren rock. It is necessary, then, that the one who prays not stretch out long words, and that he pray continually; for Christ and Paul both commanded that prayers be made short and frequent, with brief intervals. For if you extend your speech to great length, often growing careless, you give the devil great license to approach and trip you up and lead your mind away from what is being said; but if you make your prayers continual and frequent, occupying all the time with their frequency, you will be able easily to be sober-minded, and you will make the prayers themselves with great sobriety. Do you wish to learn the vigilance of prayer, and the sobriety, and the perseverance?

Go to Anna; learn what she did. They all rose, it says, from the table, and she immediately did not turn to sleep, nor to rest; whence it seems to me that even while sitting at the table she was light, and not weighed down by foods; for she would not have shed so many tears. For if we, being fasting and without food, scarcely pray thus, or rather never pray thus, much more would she not have prayed thus after the table, unless even at the table she had resembled those without food. Let us men be ashamed before the woman, let us who petition for a kingdom and yawn be ashamed before her who begs for a child and weeps. And observe from this her reverence: Her voice, it says, was not heard, but her lips were moving. Thus the one who wishes to succeed comes to God, not being soft, nor yawning, nor slackened, nor scratching himself, nor listless. For was God not able to give even without prayer? Did he not know the woman's desire even before the request? But if he had given before the request, the woman's eagerness would not have been shown, her virtue would not have become manifest, she would not have gained so great a reward from it. But let us see also her philosophy. For since Eli the priest reckoned her to be drunk, see also what she says to him: Do not give your servant as a daughter of pestilence, because out of the abundance of my talk I have stretched out until now. This is truly of a crushed heart, when we are not angered nor displeased at those who insult us, but even defend ourselves.

For nothing so makes the heart philosophical as grief and sorrow according to God. It is fitting, therefore, that we give thanks to God both when we begin the table and when we end it. For the one who has been prepared for this will never fall into drunkenness and insolence, never be burst apart by gluttony, but having the expectation of prayer set upon his thoughts like a bridle, he will touch all the things set before him with the proper measure, and he will fill his soul with much, and his body with much blessing. For a table that begins with prayer and ends in prayer will never be lacking, but will bring us all good things more abundantly than a spring. Let us not, then, pass by so great a gain. For it is absurd that our servants, if ever they receive some portion of the things set before them from us, give thanks to us and withdraw with words of good omen, while we, who enjoy so many good things, do not render even so much honor to God. For this reason many things happen to us contrary to our expectation, both in public and in private affairs, because we do not first devote our zeal to spiritual things, and then to the affairs of life. Do you not know that if you come and worship God, and share in the gathering here, the affairs in your hands become easier for you? But you have worldly cares? For these very things, then, come here, so that having drawn to yourself the goodwill of God through the gathering here, you may thus go out with safety; so that you may have him as an ally, so that you may become unconquerable by the demons, being helped by the hand from above.

For if you have enjoyed spiritual prayers, if you have shared in common prayer, if you have drawn down God's help, if you have gone out thus fenced with his weapons, not even the devil himself will be able to look you in the face any longer, much less wicked men eager to insult and slander. But if you go from your house to the marketplace and are found stripped of these weapons, you will be an easy catch for all who insult you. And let no one say to me that it is impossible for a man of the world, one nailed to the courtroom, to pray continually throughout the day and to run to church; for it is possible, and very easy. For even if it is not easy to run to church, it is possible to pray while standing there before the doors, even while nailed to the courtroom. And many have done this often: while the magistrate inside was shouting, threatening, straining, raging, they stood before the doors, made the sign of the cross, and prayed a few words in their mind; then entering, they changed him and softened him, and made him gentle instead of savage. And they were hindered in this prayer by nothing—neither by the place, nor by the time, nor by the silence. For there is no such need of voice as of mind, nor of the stretching out of hands as of a soul stretched taut, nor of posture, but of disposition. Since even Samuel's mother Anna was heard not because she let out a bright and loud voice, but because she cried out great things within, after her heart; for her voice was not heard, it says, and God heard her.

Let us not, then, make excuses by saying that it is not easy for someone to pray when occupied with worldly affairs and finding no house of prayer nearby. For wherever you may be, you can set up your altar; no place hinders it, no time obstructs it. Even if you do not bend your knees, even if you do not beat your breast, even if you do not stretch out your hands toward heaven, but only show a fervent mind, you have completed the whole of prayer. For it is possible, whether entering the marketplace or walking by yourself, to offer earnest prayers; it is possible, even sitting at a workshop and stitching leather, to raise your soul to the Master; it is possible, whether you are a servant or a buyer, going up or coming down, or standing by the kitchen, when it is not possible to come to church, to offer a prayer earnest and alert. For God is not ashamed of a place, but seeks only one thing: a fervent mind and a sober soul. Indeed Paul, not in a house of prayer but lying on his back in the prison, and not standing upright nor bending his knees—for the wood to which his feet were bound did not allow it—since he prayed with eagerness while lying down, shook the prison, convulsed its foundations, bound the jailer, and afterward led him by the hand to the sacred initiation.

And Hezekiah, not standing upright nor bending his knees, but lying on his back on the bed because of his illness, turned himself toward the wall, and since he called upon God fervently and with a sober-minded soul, he both revoked the sentence that had been issued and drew upon himself great favor, and returned to his former health. And the robber stretched upon the cross, by a few words obtained the kingdom of heaven; and Jeremiah in the mire and the pit, and Daniel in the pit and among the beasts, and Jonah in the very belly of the sea-monster, having called upon God, dissolved all the terrors that beset them and drew down favor from on high. What, then, ought you to say when you pray? The very thing the Canaanite woman said. For as she said, Have mercy on me, my daughter is grievously demon-possessed; so say also you, Have mercy on me, my soul is grievously demon-possessed. For sin is a great demon; the one who is demon-possessed is shown mercy; the one who sins is hated. Have mercy on me. The word is brief, and a sea of loving-kindness; for where mercy is, there are all good things. And even if you are outside the church, cry out and say, Have mercy on me—even if not moving your lips, yet crying out with your mind; for God hears even those who are silent. No place is sought, but the beginning of a manner of life. Jeremiah was in the mire, and he drew God to himself; and Job was on the dung-heap, and he made God propitious; Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster, and he had God obedient to him. And even if you are in the bathhouse, pray; wherever you are, pray. You are a temple; do not seek a place. There was sea in front, Egyptians behind, and Moses in the middle saying nothing; for great is the constraint in prayer.

And God says to him, Why do you cry out to me? And so you too, whenever a trial comes upon you, flee to God, call upon the Master. For is He a man, that you should go away to a place? God is always near. For while you are still speaking, I will say, Behold, I am present. You have not yet finished the prayer, and He Himself gives the healing. For if you keep your mind pure from disordered passions, whether you are in the marketplace, or on the road, or standing in a courtroom, or at sea, or in an inn, or standing at a workshop, or wherever you may be, you will be able to call upon God and obtain your request. For what does the stretching out of the hands in prayer mean? These hands serve many wicked deeds; and for this reason we are commanded to raise them, so that the service of prayer may become for them a bond against evil and a leading away from wickedness; so that, when you are about to snatch, or to defraud, or to strike another, you may remember that you are about to send these hands as advocates to God, and through them to offer up that spiritual sacrifice, and that you may not put them to shame, nor make them without boldness of speech, by the service of wicked work. Purify them, then, by almsgiving, by love of humanity, by the protection of those in need, and so lead them to prayer. For if you do not permit them to come to prayer unwashed, much more would you not be right to defile them with sins. If you have feared the lesser thing, to pray with unwashed hands, much more tremble at the greater. For to pray with unwashed hands is not so great an impropriety; but to bring them defiled by countless sins—this brings great wrath and destruction.

Do you wish to learn how great is the power of the prayer that is made in the church? Peter was once bound, and many chains were laid upon him. And a fervent prayer was being made by the Church on his behalf; and immediately it released him from the prison. What, then, could be more powerful than this prayer, which benefited the pillar and tower of the Church? And to the catechumens this has not yet been permitted, since they have not yet attained to this boldness; but to you it is enjoined to make supplications both for the whole inhabited world and for the Church that is spread to the ends of the earth, and for those who administer and oversee it. And obey with eagerness, bearing witness by deed that great is the power of the prayer that is offered in the Church by the people with one accord. For if among men, when condemned men are being led away to death, a people comes forward and begs them off, and the king, moved by the multitude, reverses his decision, how much more will the heavenly King, moved by you, grant the petition. Have you not heard that Peter was thus snatched from the prison because a fervent prayer was being made on his behalf? How much greater do you think it is than our own littleness to come forward on behalf of so great a people and to entreat God? For if I myself do not have the boldness to pray on my own behalf, how much less on behalf of others; for this belongs to those who are of good repute. When, then, I myself am also at enmity with God, how shall I pray on behalf of another? For one man on behalf of

To ask for many things is very bold and requires much confidence; but for many to come together and make supplication on behalf of one will not appear burdensome at all. For it is possible to pray even at home, but to pray thus, as in the church, is impossible—where there is so great a multitude of fathers, where a cry is sent up to God with one accord. You do not hear the Master so when you entreat Him by yourself as when you do so together with your brothers. For here is the greater part: the concord and harmony, the bond of love, and the prayers of the priests. For this reason the priests stand by, so that the prayers of the multitude, being weaker, may take hold of these stronger ones and come together with them into heaven. For if the prayer of the Church helped Peter and cast that pillar out of the prison, how do you despise its power, tell me? For just as the power of love is not separated by distance of place, so neither is the working of prayer; but just as that binds together those who are separated from one another, so this too will be able to benefit greatly those who are far away. For Moses too, even if he was not present in body with those who were fighting, contributed no less than those who fought—indeed much more—to that battle by the stretching out of his hands, lifting up the affairs of his own people and making them fearful to the enemy. For no achievement could be very great when its gain is not also passed on to others. For even if you remain fasting, even if you sleep on the ground, even if you eat ashes, even if you lament continually, and you benefit no one else, you accomplish nothing great.

For many and great wonders and signs were also worked through Moses; but nothing made him so great as that blessed utterance which he sent up to God, saying: If you forgive them their sin, forgive it; but if not, blot me out as well. And David too, showing this same thing, said: I, the shepherd, have sinned, and I have done wrong; and these, the flock, what have they done? Let your hand be upon me, and upon my father's house. These things are indeed great and worthy of an angelic way of life; but Paul's exceeds them greatly. For he prayed to fall from the glory to come for the sake of the salvation of others. But Jonah, since he sought his own advantage, both came into danger of perishing, and the city stood while he himself was being drowned. Great indeed are the other achievements of Moses' virtue; but the chief and crowning point of that holy soul is that he chose to be blotted out of the book for the sake of the salvation of the Jews. But Paul's surpassed it by far. For the one chose to perish together with others; but this one did not choose to perish together with them, but prayed that, while others were saved, he himself might fall from the boundless glory. It is good, then, to enjoy the prayer of the saints, but only when we ourselves are also active; since, if this is not present, not even the help of others benefits us, but even with it we perish. For what did Jeremiah benefit the Jews? Did he not approach God a third time, and a third time hear: Do not pray, and do not entreat for this people, because I will not hear you?

What benefit did Samuel bring to Saul by praying for him to the very last day and mourning over him? And what benefit did he bring to the Israelites? Did he not say, "Far be it from me to sin by ceasing to pray for you"? Did they not all perish? For hear God saying through the prophet: "Even if Noah and Job and Daniel should stand, they will not deliver their sons and their daughters, because their wickedness has prevailed." What then? Do prayers bring no benefit? They do bring benefit, and great benefit, but only when we also cooperate. And if you wish to learn how much they benefited, consider for me Cornelius, and Tabitha; and hear God also saying: "I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of David my servant." But when? In the days of Hezekiah the righteous. Since if prayers had power even over those who were exceedingly wicked, why did God not say this when Nebuchadnezzar came, but instead handed over the city? Because their wickedness prevailed the more. And again this same Samuel prayed for the Israelites and succeeded; but when? When they themselves were also well-pleasing to God, then he routed their enemies. And why do I need the prayer of others, he says, when I am well-pleasing to God? What are you saying, man? Did Paul say, "Why do I need prayer"? Did Peter say, "Why do I need prayer"—although those who were praying were not worthy of him, or rather not even equal to him? And you say, "Why do I need prayer"? Peter did not say, "Why do I need prayer?" For it was a prayer, it says, made earnestly by the Church to God on his behalf; and immediately it delivered him from his bonds. And you say, "Why do I need prayer"? For this very reason you need it, because you think you do not need it.

For if God were to examine our laziness in prayers and our negligence, and that when we stand before him and entreat him, we do not render him as much honor as slaves render to their masters, as soldiers to their rulers, as friends to their friends—for when you converse with a friend, you do this with attention; but when you approach God on behalf of sins, asking forgiveness for so many transgressions, and deeming yourself worthy of pardon, you are lazy, and while your knees lie on the ground, you often let your mind wander about the marketplace and the house, while your mouth babbles idly and in vain? And we suffer this not once or twice, but often. If God wished to examine this alone, would we obtain pardon? Would we be able to find a defense? I for one do not think so. And if God were to examine our meddlesome glances, and the evil desires we have in our mind, receiving shameful and unclean thoughts from the unexamined wandering of the eyes; if he were to bring into the open the slanders we speak wickedly against one another each day, and the untimely judgments by which we condemn our neighbor when we have no cause, and the deceits we stitch together against one another—now praising the brother in his presence and conversing as with a friend, but accusing him in his absence—would we not undergo the reckoning for these things? And what of the envy with which we often envy those who prosper, not only enemies but also friends? And we take pleasure when others suffer badly, and we think that the misfortunes of others are a consolation for our own calamity.

For if we are commanded to abstain from worldly and present things, how are we not wretched and miserable, asking from God those very things which he commanded us to cast out even when we have them? If we are enjoined to pray not only for the faithful but also for the unbelievers, consider how great an evil it is to curse one's brothers. What are you doing, man? You come to make God propitious, and you curse another? If you do not forgive, it will not be forgiven you; and not only do you yourself not forgive, but you even entreat God not to forgive? If the one who does not forgive is not forgiven, how will forgiveness be given to the one who begs the Master not to forgive? For if having enemies is a reproach, consider how great an evil it is to curse them. For when you ought to give an account of why you have enemies, you even bring accusations against them; and what pardon will you obtain, both reviling them and at such a time, when you have need of much mercy? For you have come asking mercy for your own sins. Do not, then, remember the sins of others, lest you remind him of your own. For if you say, Strike down the enemy, you have stopped your own mouth, you have no longer given boldness to your tongue: first, because you have provoked the judge right from the outset; second, because you ask things contrary to the form of your prayer. For if you come for the forgiveness of sins, how do you speak of punishment? You ought, on the contrary, to do the opposite, and to entreat on their behalf, so that we may also entreat boldly on our own behalf. For if you pray for them, even if you say nothing for your own, you have accomplished everything.

If, then, nothing is more defiled than a soul that utters curses, nor more unclean than a tongue that speaks such things, for what reason do you not do everything so as to utter nothing in prayer that provokes your Master? You are a man—do not vomit the venom of asps; you are a man—do not become a beast. For this reason a mouth has been given to you, not that you might bite, but that you might heal. Remember what I commanded you, says God: to forgive and to let go; but you even entreat me to become a partner in the overturning of my commandments, and you devour your brother, and you dye your tongue red, like those who in madness bite their own limbs. How do you think the devil rejoices and laughs when he hears such a prayer? How is God provoked and turns away and hates when you entreat such things? Consider to whom you come against your enemies, O man. Is it to some other god that you come? You come to that God who said, Pray for your enemies. How then do you cry out against them? How do you entreat God to dissolve his own law? This is not the posture of a suppliant; no one supplicates that another may perish, but that he himself may be saved. Why then do you wear the posture of a suppliant, but have the words of an accuser? And when we pray for ourselves, we scratch and yawn and fall into countless thoughts; but when against enemies, we do this soberly. For since the devil knows that we thrust the sword into ourselves, he does not drag us about or distract us then, so that he might harm us the more. But I have been wronged, you say, and I am oppressed. Therefore pray against the devil, who most of all wrongs us; for he is the one who gives birth to our enemies too.

But if you pray against enemies, you are praying the prayer that he wants, just as, if you pray for enemies, you are praying against him. For this is the implacable enemy; but a human being, whatever he does, is a friend and a brother. Why, then, leaving aside the true enemy, do you bite your own members? Knowing these things, then, beloved, let us strive to conduct our lives according to the commandments of the Lord and his wills, so that we may also attain the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Homily 3. On Repentance. For this reason I continually bring forward the word concerning repentance, so that neither the one who sins may despair, nor the one who succeeds may think highly of himself. Are you righteous? Do not fall. Are you a sinner? Do not despair. Even if you sin daily, repent daily—just as we do in old houses: when they have become decayed, we remove the decayed parts and repair them with new ones, and we never cease from continual care. If you have grown old from sin, renew yourself by repentance. And is it possible, someone says, for one who has repented to be saved? It is entirely possible. I have spent my whole life in sins, and if I repent, am I saved? Entirely so. From where is this clear? From the Master's love for humanity. Do not trust in your repentance alone; for does your repentance have the strength to wipe away so many evils? If repentance were alone, you would reasonably be afraid; but since the love of God for humanity is mingled with repentance, have confidence, because it prevails over your wickedness.

For God is very loving toward humanity, and so loving toward humanity that he did not spare the Only-Begotten, in order to buy slaves who are ungrateful. And do not say to me, "I have sinned many and great sins, and how can I be saved?" You cannot, but your Master can, and he blots out sins in such a way that not even a trace of them remains. For in the case of bodies this is not possible; but even if a physician strives ten thousand times, even if he applies medicines to the wound, he has removed the wound, but the scar has remained, carrying around the disfigurement of its appearance as a reproach of the wound; and the physician contends endlessly and cannot erase the scar; for the weakness of nature, the feebleness of the art, and the cheapness of the medicines resist him. But when God blots out sins, he leaves not even a scar nor permits a trace to remain, but along with health he also grants beauty, along with release from punishment he also gives righteousness, and he makes the one who has sinned equal to the one who has not

having sinned. For even if a man has ten thousand wounds and repents and does some good thing, God so blots them out that neither a scar nor a trace nor a mark of the sins appears. Just as in the body there are wounds and medicines, so also in the soul there are sins and repentance. And pay attention to what I say: wound and medicine, sin and repentance; the wound is sin, the medicine is repentance; the wound has the putrefaction, the medicine possesses the cleansing of the putrefaction. Is there putrefaction in the medicine? Is there healing in the wound? Do not these have their proper order, and those their proper order? Can this be changed into that, or that into this? By no means. Let us come also to the sins of the soul: sin has shame, repentance possesses boldness. Satan, then, knowing that sin has shame—a thing sufficiently able to repel the one who sins—and that repentance has boldness—a thing sufficient to draw the one who repents—exchanged the order, and gave shame to repentance, and boldness to sin; and in sin he does not allow him to be ashamed, for he knows that if he is ashamed, he flees from sin; but in repentance he makes him ashamed, for he knows that one who is ashamed does not repent. For the one who has repented of the terrible things he has done, even if he does not show repentance worthy of his sins, will nevertheless receive the recompense of this very thing. To those, then, who have not yet been seized by the passion, I advise that they not be caught; for it is easier to guard against falling in than, having fallen in, to depart from it.

To those who are held fast and broken down, if they wish to give themselves quickly to repentance, I promise great hope of salvation. For both good and evil things, when they abide in us longer, become stronger. A plant newly planted in the earth is easily pulled up, but once rooted by much time, no longer. A building newly built is easily overturned by those who trouble it, but once firmly set, it gives much trouble to those attempting to demolish it. A wild beast that has long haunted a place is driven out with difficulty. And just as a fever, when it attacks at the beginning, does not greatly inflame the sick with thirst, but once it has advanced and raised its flame, it thereafter makes them thirst incurably; and even if someone allows them to drink their fill, it does not quench but inflames the furnace—so too it happens with passion: if at the beginning, as it enters our soul, we do not hinder it nor shut the doors, once it has come in it renders the disease incurable for those who receive it. Just as the man sluggish and careless in soul, even if he takes much time for repentance, will accomplish nothing great, nor reconcile God to himself because of his laziness, so too the man who is awake and boiling with eagerness, and who displays repentance with great zeal, even in a brief moment of time will be able to wipe out the sins of much time. And how, listen. Did not Peter deny three times? Did he not deny three times with an oath? Did he not, fearing the words of a worthless maidservant? What then? Did he need much time for repentance? By no means; but in that very night he both slipped and rose again.

For after that grievous fall—for nothing is equal to the evil of denial—repentance brought him back again to his former honor, and entrusted to him the oversight of the Church throughout the whole inhabited world; and, what is greater than all, it showed him to us as having love for the Master greater than all the apostles. And what of the Ninevites? The prophet came to them, read the sentence like a royal letter, containing punishment, and cried out, saying: Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed. They heard these things, and did not disbelieve, did not despise them, but immediately there was a running of all—men, women, children—to the fast, and not even the nature of irrational beasts was without a share in this service; everywhere sackcloth, everywhere ashes, everywhere lamentation and wailing. For indeed the very one who wore the diadem, coming down from the royal throne, spread sackcloth beneath him and sprinkled ashes upon himself; and it was a fearful and paradoxical thing to see, that purple was outdone by sackcloth. For what the purple robe could not achieve, sackcloth achieved; what the diadem did not accomplish, ashes brought to pass. Let each of us, then, consider how great a burden of sins he has, and let us make our acts of love to mankind of equal weight—or rather, far more abundant, so that not only may our sins be quenched, but our almsgiving may be reckoned to us for righteousness. For if our good deeds are not so great as both to strip off our accusations and, from what remains over, to be reckoned to us for righteousness, no one will rescue us from punishment.

For when you are provoked by a man, you call upon friends and neighbors and doorkeepers, you spend money, and you wear out many days in approaching him and begging, and even if once, even if twice, even if ten thousand times he rebuffs you in his irritation, you do not altogether give up, but becoming more earnest you make your supplication greater. But when the God of all is provoked, we yawn and give up and live in luxury. And when shall we be able to propitiate him? How shall we not provoke him all the more by this very thing? For it is not the sinning but the not even grieving when we sin that makes him more indignant and angry. And do not say, "I have sinned much, and I cannot entreat God when he is angry." For if the widow bent that ruler who neither feared God nor was ashamed before men, much more will continual entreaty draw the good God. So even if you are not a friend, even if you are not demanding what is owed, even if you have devoured and consumed your father's goods, and have been out of sight for a long time—even if you approach him when he is angry, even when he is indignant, only be willing to return, and you will receive everything back, and you will quench his anger and your condemnation at once. For God's aim, brothers, is to be long-suffering toward those who sin. He is doubly gracious for salvation, wooing for them the salvation that comes from repentance, and storing up the benefit for their descendants who are going to advance in virtue. And to take up the argument again, God is long-suffering, so that the one who sins may repent, and so that he may not shut out salvation from those born from him.

For even if the sinner himself falls without repentance, he often spares the root, in order to preserve the fruits—often indeed, also awaiting their salvation; and how, listen. Tharra, the father of Abraham, was an idolater and a worshipper and maker of idols; but he did not give the penalty for his impiety here, and rightly so. For if God had anticipated and cut off the root, from where would such great fruit of faith have sprung up? What is more wicked than Esau? What more shameless than that evil? Was he not a fornicator and profane, as Paul says? Was he not a matricide and patricide? Was he not a murderer of his brother, as far as his intent goes? Was he not hated by God, as the Scripture testifies, saying, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau? If therefore he is a fornicator and a fratricide and profane and hated, why is he not destroyed? Why is he not cut off? Why does he not receive the fitting punishment immediately? Why? It is truly good, brothers, to state the reason. If he had been cut off, the world would have lost the greatest fruit of righteousness; and hear what kind. Esau begot Raguel, Raguel begot Zara, Zara begot Job. Do you see what a great flower of endurance was being destroyed, if God had anticipated and exacted punishment of the root? Let no one, therefore, who is in wickedness despair; let no one who is in virtue slumber. Neither let the former be confident—for often even the prostitute will surpass him—nor let the latter despair—for it is possible for him even to surpass the foremost. For when we return to the fervent love of God, he does not remember the former things. God is not like man; for he does not reproach the past, nor say, Why have you been left behind for so long a time? if we repent.

But he loves, when we come, only as we ought to come. For who is worse than Manasseh? Who more blessed than Solomon? But the one was able to propitiate God, while the other nodded off and fell. For this reason Esau also did not obtain forgiveness, because he did not repent as he ought; for his tears were not of repentance, but of spite and rage. Judas also repented, for he hanged himself. But if you wish to see exact repentance, hear the repentance of Peter after the denial. For since it was likely that he thought highly of himself, knowing in his conscience that he loved Christ more than the others, for this reason he went out and wept bitterly; and not only this, but afterward he exposed himself to countless dangers. The blessed David also repented, saying thus: I will wash my bed every night; I will drench my couch with my tears; and the sin committed long ago, after so many years, after so many generations, he mourned as though it had happened recently. For the one who repents ought not to be angry or fierce, but to be crushed as one condemned, as one having no boldness, as one sentenced, as one who ought to be saved by mercy alone, as one who has shown himself ungrateful toward his benefactor and worthless and deserving of countless punishments. Therefore let neither the one on the stage despair, nor the one in the church be confident; for to this one God says, Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall; and to that one, Does not the one who falls rise again? For the one needs to guard what he has, the other to become what he is not; the one to preserve his health, the other to be released from sickness; for he is ill.

To the one, then, he says, "See, you have become well; sin no more, lest something worse happen to you"; but to the other, "Do you wish to become well? Rise, take up your bed, and go to your house." For even if you have thirty-eight years, like that paralytic, and you are eager to become well, no one will hinder you; only will to rise up; only touch the road that leads there, and you will advance quickly; do not shut the doors, do not block the entrance. The present time is brief, the labor is small; but even if it were great, not even so should we give up. For if you do not undergo this most noble labor, the labor of repentance, in that world you will certainly labor and be distressed in another way. But if there is labor both here and there, why do we not choose this one, which has much fruit and a great reward? For if God benefits us when we are unworthy, and shows love to us when we have sinned, if we depart from wickedness and pursue virtue, of what good things will we not attain, of what good things will we not partake? For benefits draw those who have understanding to obedience to the commandments more than punishments do. If, then, even before we had shown any good—or rather, even after we had done things worthy of punishment—God deemed us worthy of such great beneficence, if we become grateful and show thanksgiving for what has gone before, and make the change for the better, of how great a generosity from him will he not again deem us worthy?

For if we, when our own servants have offended us, if it is reported that they have become better, both receive them and restore them again to their former honor, and often even grant them greater freedom of speech, much more will God do this for us, if we show repentance as a counterweight to our sins. And this is clear from the account of the blessed David. For when he had been tripped up and fell, caught in the charge of adultery and murder, he did not then remain lying in the fall, but rose up again and arrayed himself with God against the enemy; thus he wrestled him down bravely, so that even after death he stood as protector of his descendants. For to Solomon, who had dared that great transgression and had become worthy of countless deaths, God says that for David's sake he would forgive the whole kingdom, speaking thus: "I will surely tear the kingdom out of your hand, and I will give it to your servant; nevertheless in your days I will not do these things, for the sake of David your father; from the hand of your son I will take it." And to Hezekiah also, when he was about to be in danger

for the last things, although he was truly righteous, again because of that blessed man he said he would help: For I will shield this city, he says, for my sake, and for the sake of David my servant. Just as in the case of those who show their own good disposition, because of the goodness that is present in him God recalls his own decrees, and receives those who change, and delivers them from the punishment that lies upon them; so again, whenever he promises either to bestow certain good things, or a period of time for repentance, and sees that they have become unworthy, then again he recalls his own promises. For sinning is not so grievous as persisting in sins. For this reason God also, taking the lead, lays up benefits for us, and again deems those who have sinned worthy of forgiveness, and does not bring punishments at their very heels, so that through all things he may draw us to repentance, both through the things in which he benefits us and through the things in which he is long-suffering; and often also through the things in which he punishes some, he wishes to lead others, so that, disciplined by the fear of those, they may escape the experience of punishment. Have you sinned greatly? Stand firm from now on, turn back the opposite way, give thanks to God, because he did not snatch you away in the midst of your sins; do not seek another period of time for doing evil; do not say, There will be a time when one must turn back; many, while taking advantage in the meantime, were snatched away, and went off to manifest judgment; fear lest you too suffer this without defense. But God has given many a period of time to confess in extreme old age. What then, will he give it to you too? Perhaps he will give it, he says. What do you say, Perhaps, and Sometimes and Often?

Consider that you are deliberating about your soul, and set the opposite case before yourself as well, and reckon and say: What then, if he does not give? What then, if he does give? he says. He himself gave; yet this is safer and more profitable than that. For if you begin now, you have gained everything, whether you receive or do not receive, a fixed time; but if you always remain, for that very reason you will often not receive. You, when you go out to war, do not say, There is no need to make arrangements; perhaps I shall return; nor when deliberating about marriage do you say, Let me take a poor wife; many contrary to expectation have even so become rich; nor when building a house, Let me lay rotten foundations; many houses have even so stood; but when deliberating about your soul, do you set your hand to the more rotten things, putting the perhaps and sometimes and often, and entrust yourself to uncertainties? Not to uncertainty, you say, but to the loving-kindness of God; for God is loving-kind to man. I know it too; but this loving-kind God, as I said, snatched those men away as well. Do you wish to learn how good our Master is? The tax collector went up full of ten thousand evils, and having said only, Be propitious to me, he went down justified. And through the prophet God says: For a sin I grieved him a little; and I saw that he was grieved, and he went about sullen, and I healed his ways. What is equal to this loving-kindness? Only that he be sullen, and he forgave the sins. But we do not do even this very thing; therefore we especially provoke him to anger. For he who is propitiated even by small things, when he does not obtain even these, reasonably is indignant, and demands of us the ultimate punishment; for this is a mark of surpassing contempt. Who, then, was ever grieved on account of sin?

Who groaned? Who beat his breast? I, for my part, think no one; but people mourn for countless days over servants who have died, over loss of money, yet while we destroy our soul every day, we do not even take it to heart. How then will you be able to propitiate God, when you do not even know that you have sinned? Yes, he says, I have sinned. You say so to me with your tongue; say it with your mind, and groan together with the word, so that you may be set straight continually; for if we grieved over our sins, if we groaned over our transgressions, nothing else would distress us, since this pain pushes away all despondency. Just as a sparrow gains nothing from its wings when caught by the snare, but flutters in vain and to no purpose, so too your reasonings are of no benefit if you are caught by force by evil desire. For if we do not wish to be disgraced here before one person, what shall we do there before so many tens of thousands? For it is not only departing from former evils, but also displaying better good works, that is called repentance; for it says, Turn away from evil, and do good. For it is not enough for our health merely to remove the arrow, but also to apply medicines to the wound. And it happens that someone who has repented has set many great things right, but in between has sinned again with a sin that outweighs those right actions; and this especially is enough to cast him into despair, as though what was built has been torn down, and all those things have been labored over by him in vain and to no purpose.

But we must consider that point too, and drive out this reasoning, that if we had not first laid down a measure of good deeds balancing the sins committed afterwards, nothing would have prevented us from being utterly and completely sunk. But as it is, just as a strong breastplate receiving a sharp and bitter arrow did not let it work its effect, but was itself cut through and warded off the great danger from the body... It is not terrible, then, for the warrior to be wounded, but rather to despair after the blow and neglect the wound. No merchant, having once fallen into shipwreck and lost his cargo, gave up sailing, but again crosses the sea and the long expanses of ocean, and recovers his former wealth. Often we see athletes, after many falls, becoming crowned victors. Indeed, a soldier too has often fled, and at last was shown to be a hero, and prevailed over the enemy. And many even of those who denied Christ out of fear of torments fought again, and went away having bound on the crown of martyrdom. But if each of these had despaired from the former blow, he would not have enjoyed the second blessings. May we all attain these, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Word 4. On fasting and chastity. Do you wish to learn how great a world fasting is for human beings, how great a security and safeguard? Consider for me the blessed and wondrous race of monks. For they, having fled the tumults in their midst and run up to the peaks of the mountains, and having pitched their huts in the stillness of the desert as in some calm harbor, took fasting as their companion and sharer in their whole life. For this reason it made them angels instead of human beings; and not only those, but also in the cities, as many as it finds welcoming it, it leads up to the same height of philosophy. It gathered us even now to our father's house; it brought back today to their mother's hands those who before this were rather slack. But if, when only expected, it produced such zeal in you, when it appears and arrives, how great a devotion will it work in you? If Adam had listened to its voice, he would not have listened to the second voice that says, "You are earth, and to earth you shall return"; but since he disobeyed it, therefore came death and despondency and cares, and a life harsher than any death. And just as, when insulted, it brought death upon the one who insulted it, so again, when honored, it recalled death. For the great and wondrous city of the Ninevites, lying on its knee, bowing its head at the very brink, and about to receive the blow borne from above, it seized, as if some power from above had stood over it, out of the very hands of the executioner and brought it back to life. Let us see, then, how the Ninevites fasted, and how they were delivered from that wrath.

Let not humans and cattle and sheep and oxen graze," he says. What do you mean, tell me? Do even the irrational creatures fast, and are horses and mules clothed in sackcloth? Yes, he says; for just as when some wealthy man has died, his relatives clothe not only the household servants, nor the maidservants, but also the horses in sackcloth, and command them to follow to the tomb, displaying the magnitude of the calamity and drawing all to compassion, so indeed also when that city was about to perish, they clothed even the irrational nature in sackcloth and the yoke of fasting. The irrational creatures cannot learn the wrath of God by reason, he says; let them learn it through famine; for those who are to share in the punishment, let them share also in the fasting. But if some of those present here, hindered by bodily weakness, are unable to remain without food, to these I advise both to comfort their bodily weakness and not to deprive themselves of this spiritual teaching, but rather to show greater zeal in it. For it is for this reason that God commands abstinence from foods, so that by bridling the leaps of the flesh we may render it well-disciplined for the fulfillment of the commandments. But if we are to bring upon ourselves not even the help that comes from fasting because of the body's weakness, and to show greater negligence, we suffer the greatest loss. For if, even with fasting, the lack of good accomplishments profits us nothing, how much more, if we are unable even to use the medicine of fasting, shall we show greater negligence toward the fulfillment of the commandments.

For if those who engage in worldly affairs would never endure to undertake a practice without first looking carefully at the profit that comes from it, much more is it right for us to do this, and not simply to run past the weeks of the fasts, but to examine our own conscience, and to test our reasoning, and to consider what has been set right in this week, and what in the other, and what addition we have received for the day to come, and which of the passions within us we have corrected. For if we are not going to manage our own affairs in this way, and to take such great care of our own soul, there will be no benefit to us from the fast and the abstaining from food that we endure. If, then, because of bodily weakness, you are unable to continue the day without food, no one of sound mind will be able to accuse you on this account. For we have a gentle and humane Master, who seeks nothing from us beyond our strength. For he does not simply demand that the abstaining from foods and the fast be done by us, nor for this reason, that we remain without food only, but that, withdrawing ourselves from worldly affairs, we spend all our leisure on spiritual things. As if we were managing our life with a sober mind, and displaying all zeal for spiritual things, and approaching food so as to fulfill only the need, and consuming our whole life in good deeds, we would have no need of the help that comes from fasting.

But since human nature is lazy and gives itself over more to luxury and ease, for this reason, like a loving father, the humane Master devised for us the healing that comes from fasting, so that both the things of luxury might be cut off from us, and we might transfer our care for worldly things to the work of spiritual things. But there are many people who, as though about to box against fasting as against a wild beast, thus arm themselves with gluttony, and having burst themselves and darkened themselves, with great madness they receive the calm and gentle eye of fasting. And if I ask, for what reason do you run to the bath today, you say, So that with a clean body I may receive fasting; but if I ask, for what reason are you drunk, you will say, Because I am about to enter upon fasting. How then is it not absurd to receive this most beautiful fasting with a clean body but an unclean and drunken soul? Let us therefore accustom ourselves to eat as much as is only for living, not as much as to be torn apart and weighed down. For we were not born and do not live for this, that we might eat and drink, but for this

We eat so that we may live; for it is not that living exists because of eating, but from the beginning eating came to be for the sake of living. Brothers, our life has been measured out for need, not for pleasure. Therefore, having set aside what is superfluous to nature, let us embrace only what is necessary. For what could be holier than that table where drunkenness and gluttony and every kind of debauchery are driven away, and a wondrous rivalry concerning the keeping of God's laws is brought in instead? A man watches over his wife, and sees to it that she never fall into the pit of perjury; a wife guards her husband, and the greatest condemnation is laid up for the one who transgresses; and the master is not ashamed even to be reproved by his slaves, nor to correct his household in these matters. No one would err in calling such a house a church. For where there is such chastity that in a time of luxury they take thought for the divine laws, and all those present strive and contend with one another concerning this, it is clear that every evil power of demons has been driven away, and Christ is present at the noble rivalry of his servants. But, he says, great is the pleasure of vice, and great is the toil and sweat yoked to virtue. And what favor would you have had, what reward would you have received, if the matter had not been laborious? For I can point to many who by nature hate intercourse with women; shall we then call these temperate, or crown them? By no means; for temperance is self-control, and to prevail over pleasures that fight against us. For often waves of passions seize our mind, wilder than the waves of the sea, and produce in it great confusion.

But the easygoing and negligent man, as winter begins, is immediately thrown into confusion, disturbed, shaken; he looks on while his soul is sunk beneath the passions and endures shipwreck; but the steadfast and manly man, having seated his reason over the passions like a helmsman at the tiller, does not desist, doing all he can, until he steers the vessel toward the calm harbor of philosophy. Let us not then soften our strength nor cut the sinews of it by associating with women. For from this an unspeakable and great evil flows into our souls. For what if we do not perceive it, being drunk with affection? For this very thing is the most terrible of all, that we do not even know how we are being enervated and become softer than any wax. For just as if someone took a proud and fierce lion, then sheared off its mane, removed its teeth, and stripped away its claws, and made it shameful and ridiculous and easy for little children to overcome—the lion that was fearful and unbearable and that shook all things by its mere roar—so too these women make all whom they capture easy for the devil to handle: softer, more heated, shameless, foolish, quick to anger, bold, untimely, ignoble, harsh, slavish, illiberal, headstrong, babbling, and, to put it simply, bringing all the corrupted passions of women, they stamp them upon the souls of these men. It is impossible, then, for the man who lives with a woman with such sympathy and is nourished on their conversation not to be some vagabond and marketplace loafer and one of the rabble.

For even if he says something, he will say it all from the loom and the wool, his tongue having been dyed with the quality of women's words; and if he does anything, he does it with great servility, having removed himself far from the freedom that befits Christians, and having become useful for none of the great achievements. If, then, you wish to show us clearly that you do not take pleasure in speaking shameful things, do not endure to hear them either. But now, when will you be able to endure the sweats endured for chastity, slowly slipping away under laughter and these shameful words? For it is indeed desirable that a soul pure from all these things should be able to become reverent and chaste. And let no one say to me, "I cannot be saved unless I renounce a wife, unless I renounce children, unless I renounce affairs." For is marriage a hindrance? The wife has been given to you as a helper; is she then a plotter? Marriage is not base, but fornication is evil. I pledge your salvation at my own risk. But if she is base, do not make excuses; for Job's wife was wicked and base, and she advised him to blaspheme. What then? Did she shake the tower? Did she bring down the adamant? Did she prevail over the rock? By no means; but she struck against it, and the tower became more secure; the fruit was harvested, and the tree was not shaken; the leaves fell, and the root remained unshaken.

Just as a helmsman who causes a shipwreck in a harbor would obtain no pardon, so neither would a man, after the security that comes from marriage, who digs through the marriages of others, or who looks curiously at any woman whatsoever, obtain any defense, neither among men nor before God, even if he puts forward the desire of nature ten thousand times. For what pleasure could arise from such desire, when fear is present and agony and danger and fear of courts and of audits, and the anger of the judge is reckoned, and the sword and the executioner and the pit and abduction? For such a man suspects and is suspicious of shadows and walls and the very stones, as though they were uttering a voice, and he trembles and fears at everything, and by the expectation of so many terrors his soul is bitten through. So that marriage is not a hindrance, but rather a safeguard of chastity. For virginity is so great a matter, and needs so much labor, that Christ, having come down from heaven in order to make men angels and to plant the citizenship above here below, not even then dared to command this or to bring it into the rank of law; but he legislated to die for his sake—than which what could be heavier?—and to be crucified continually, and to benefit enemies; but he did not legislate to be virgin, but left it to lie in the free choice of the hearers, saying, "Let the one who is able to receive it, receive it." For great is the bulk of the matter, and this region of virtue is very much hidden. And those in the Old Testament who accomplished many things make this clear.

For that great Moses, the head of the prophets, the genuine friend of God, who enjoyed such great boldness of speech that he snatched six hundred thousand men who had become liable to punishment from a God-sent plague—that man, so great and so mighty, commanded the sea and split the deep, and rent the rocks, and changed the air, and turned the water of the Nile into blood, and transformed the whole creation, and displayed countless other wonders and many achievements of virtue; yet against these contests he had not the strength even to look, but he needed marriage and the security that comes from it; and he did not dare to give himself over to the sea of virginity, fearing the waves that come from it. And the patriarch too, the priest of his son, had the strength to wrestle down the most tyrannical passion of nature, and was able to slay his son—his son Isaac, in the very flower of his age, in the very prime of his youth, his only-begotten, his genuine son, given to him beyond all hope—and he had the strength to lead him up onto the mountain, and he seized the knife, and drove the sword through the child's throat; for he did drive it and drew blood. But nevertheless, he who had the strength to complete so great and so mighty a contest, going beyond nature itself, did not dare to strip for the contests of virginity, but he too feared these wrestling grounds, and drew to himself the consolation that comes from marriage. And the righteous Job, who cut off the devil's face—struck, not striking—endured every kind of trial, and each one with every excess.

For the things that seem to be painful and are so, all these were poured out into one body and were scattered over one soul, that man's. So great and so eminent a man, who trampled underfoot so many constraints of nature, did not himself dare to enter this contest, but he also enjoyed a wife and became the father of so many children. For God nowhere legislated celibacy; to whom belong glory and honor and worship, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. HOMILY 5. On good fortune and misfortune. Most people, when they are rich, when they are held in esteem, when everything flows for them with the current, when they prevail over their enemies, then they think they remember God; for this reason they do not even know when he forgets them. For those who do not know the sign of remembrance do not understand that of forgetfulness either. For nothing produces remembrance with God so much as the cultivation of virtue; just as nothing else produces forgetfulness than being in sins. And so you too, when you are in misfortunes, O man, do not say, "God has forgotten me," but when you are in sins—even if everything flows for you with the current—then all the more. For the sober and wakeful soul not only shows its own gratitude when affairs flow with the current, but even if some adverse circumstance of affairs follows, even then it offers up equal thanksgiving, being in no way puffed up by the change of affairs. For just as the stream of abundant waters, having received what flows in, stirs up bubbles, and some of them burst as soon as they are born, while others, swollen larger, afterward burst themselves as well—

In the same way, the sea of this life covered those who appeared for a little while, and those who endured longer it likewise plunged down. And why are you disturbed, it says, if a certain man has been cast out and a certain man brought in? Christ was being crucified, and Barabbas the robber was demanded, the murderer preferred to the Savior. For whenever a change occurs for the worse, then the masks are taken from the flatterers; then the chorus of hypocrites is exposed, and the pretense of the matter; the mouths of all are opened, saying, The foul one, the wicked one, the utterly wicked one—were you not flattering him yesterday? Were you not kissing his hands? Those things were a mask; the time came, and I threw off the mask and showed my mind. But many feel pain with their friends when they fare badly, yet do not rejoice with them when they are held in honor. For to rejoice with those who rejoice is no small achievement, but it is far greater than to weep with those who weep and to stand before those in danger. For many shared danger with those in danger, but did not rejoice with them when they were held in honor, but were even stung, and having endured the harder thing, they grew faint toward the easier. For nothing makes men so lawless and foolish as gaping after the glory of the many; and nothing makes them held in honor and adamantine as despising it. Therefore one who is to withstand so great a rush and violence of spirit needs a very manly soul. For when he prospers, he sets himself before all others; but when he endures the opposite, he wishes to bury himself, becoming submerged by his passion.

But the three children were cast into the furnace, and not even so did they forget their piety. Therefore the fire became a wall for them, and the flame a garment, and the furnace a fountain; and having received them bound, it delivered them loosed. It received mortal bodies, and kept away from them as from immortals; it did not recognize nature, but reverenced piety. The tyrant bound their feet, and their feet bound the operation of the fire. O strange wonder! The flame loosed those who were bound, and itself thereafter was bound by those who were bound. For the piety of the young men changed the nature of things; or rather, it did not change nature, but—which was far more wonderful—while nature remained, it stopped its operation. For it did not quench the fire, but made it burning yet idle. And what is wonderful and strange, this happened not only on the bodies of the saints, but also on their garments. And just as in the case of the apostles the garments of Paul drove out diseases and demons, and the shadows of Peter put death to flight, so also here the sandals of these children quenched the power of the fire. I do not know how to speak of it; for the wonder surpasses every narration of speech. For the operation was quenched, and was not quenched. For when it was in contact with the bodies of those saints, it was quenched; but when it was necessary to break the bonds, it was not quenched. At any rate, it broke the bonds, and did not touch their ankles. Do you see how great was the nearness, and the fire was not deceived, nor did it dare to proceed further within the bonds? And for what reason did he bind them when he was about to cast them in? So that the wonder might become greater; so that the sign might be shown more strange.

So that you may not think that what was seen was a deception of the eyes. For if that fire had not been fire, it would not have consumed the bonds, nor would it have snatched them as they sat outside; but now, in the things outside it displayed its power, and in the things inside it showed obedience. And when the tyrant saw that the children had suffered nothing terrible, hear how he changed: "Slaves of God the Most High, come out, and come here," he says. Not long before he was saying, "And who is the God who will be able to deliver you out of my hands?" What has happened? From where is this change? You saw those outside destroyed, and you call those inside? From where did it come upon you to philosophize such things? You saw how great a change came over the king. For this reason God also permitted all things to happen that the tyrant wished, in order to show that no one will be able to harm those who are guarded by him. For he did this also in the case of Job: he let the devil display all his power, and when he had emptied all his arrows, and no manner of plotting remained, then he brought the athlete up from the arena, so that the victory might be brilliant and beyond dispute. But also the blessed Paul, who enlightened the whole world, was once blinded at the time of his calling; but that blindness became the enlightenment of the world. For since he saw badly, God blinded him well, so that he might see again profitably; and since he persecuted the Church beyond measure, and was thus fierce and unapproachable, he receives a fiercer bridle, so that, being led by the rush of that zeal, he might not disobey what was said.

And so that you may learn whom he is fighting against—one whom he is unable to endure not only when he punishes, but even when he benefits. For it was not darkness that blinded him, but an excess of light that darkened him. And what of Peter? Jesus, it says, having boarded one of Simon's boats, asked him to put out a little from the land. Do you see how he who has no need of a boat steps aboard the boat, in order to gain the boat's master? For why does the Lord also entreat Simon? Why did Simon, having toiled through the whole night and accomplished nothing, remain without success? He was greatly distressed, washing his nets with empty hands and joining toil to toil, and having nothing to show for it, he was disheartened. For this reason the Lord, seeing him downcast, says to him: Lend me your little boat for a moment, sailor, so that, having boarded it, I may teach the multitude you see following me. But Simon, still steeped in the grief of his failure, says to the Lord: Where have you come from, man? Why do you trouble me? Look for another vessel, if indeed you wish to sail around the lake. Do you see me mourning, as one who cannot afford bread, and do you promise to supply the word of God? Shall I not look around for where I might borrow silver, so that I may feed my mother-in-law and my wife? But shall I spread out my little boat for you, so that I may labor in vain by day as by night? If you bring the fare, board my boat; but if you cannot bear it, go away, I beg you; for it is payment, not a word, that feeds me. But the Lord says to him: Do not be vexed, Simon; you truly speak like a sailor. Do not regard my presence as a loss to you, but rather as gain, or rather as the end of your want.

When Simon heard this, and was cheered for a little while in his face by the hope of payment, he receives the Lord into the boat. And Jesus, it says, sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat. But Simon, hearing, began to grumble and to say to himself: Am I expecting to receive a wage from this man? I have fallen into loss night and day. Has anyone met me today? This man discourses about poverty, he teaches that no one should have anything; perhaps he wants me to sell my boat too, so that I may distribute to the poor. Am I expecting to receive a wage from this man? Then, approaching the Lord, he says: Your words are good, and your voice is sweet, and your teaching is precious; but nevertheless, fulfill for me the matter of the payment. And the Lord to Simon: You seek to receive a wage from me; put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch. But Simon to the Lord: Shall I fish again, and let down nets, and endure toil? Would that I had not groped through the night with empty hands. For you are not more skilled than my seamanship; or do you possess something in the unseen deep? You are able to be a teacher; are you also a hunter of fish? Depart from me, for I see you carrying nothing. Why do I waste the time? Did I not testify these things to you from the beginning? But the Lord said to Simon: Do not attend to me as though I were resourceless, Simon; do not examine my hands and my bosom; it is not in my hands, but in my mouth that I carry your wage. Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch. But he says to him: Master, having toiled through the whole night, we took nothing.

But at your word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fish; and their nets were breaking. O the paradoxical things! Peter is not lacking in care. The net was breaking, and he was looking around at Christ, and observing the fish, and considering the wonder. He could not draw the load, and he pulled in helpers. For, it says, those in the other boat also, where James and John were, ran together, and they began to gather the fish, and as much as they gathered, so much the more they multiplied. For the fish were hastening, each to be first to serve the master's command; the small ones ran past the great, the middle ones swam over the larger, the great ones leaped over the small; they did not wait for the hands of the fishermen, but were tumbling themselves into the boat. The bottom of the lake had been emptied; none of the fish endured to remain below, but as the nets were breaking, some were tumbling themselves into the boat, and others stood outside the nets with mouths open to be caught, and not enduring to remain far from them. What then does Simon do? He who fell into two things, who toiled the night and caught nothing, and by day at the word of Jesus caught everything, when he saw these things, fell at the Lord's feet, saying, Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man; I have now known who you are. I never saw such a catch of fish. For it is the custom, Master, for the fish to be shut inside the dragnet; but I see the opposite wonder happening: the fish hold the dragnet from outside.

Hold back your divine command, then; leave in the lake at least two fish for breeding. Depart from me, Master—I do not reject you, but I bewail myself. Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. What then does Jesus say? Do not fear, Peter; from now on you will be catching men. O the power of the Lord! O the understanding of Peter! He only heard, and immediately he obeyed. He did not sell the fish, he did not take leave of his wife, but bringing the boat to land and leaving everything, he followed him. And it was for this reason that the rich man saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, so that just as the lying at the rich man's gate made his torment harder for him, and the seeing of another's goods, so now the being in Gehenna makes his punishment harder for him—the seeing of Lazarus's delight—so that not only by the nature of the torments, but also by the comparison of that man's honor, he might have his chastisement more unbearable. And just as when God cast Adam out of paradise, he settled him opposite paradise, so that the continual sight, renewing the passion, might give him a more exact sense of the loss of goods; so also he settled this man opposite Lazarus, so that he might know of what goods he

He was deprived. And for what reason did the rich man make his supplication not to Lazarus, but to Abraham? He was ashamed and blushed, and from his own circumstances he supposed that he would certainly bear a grudge. For if I, he says, enjoying such abundance and having been wronged in nothing, overlooked a man in such great evils and did not share even crumbs, much more will he himself, who was so greatly despised, not nod assent with grace. And he called upon Abraham, whom he supposed to be ignorant of what had happened, not knowing that the patriarch was not speaking from himself the things he said, but was reading divine laws to him; and he sought that finger which he had often allowed to be betrayed to the tongues of dogs. But see the affection of the righteous man: he did not say, Inhuman and cruel and utterly wicked man, having brought such great evils upon the man, do you now remember kindness and mercy and forgiveness? Are you not ashamed, do you not blush? He said none of these things, but what? Child, you received your good things; for do not disturb a humbled soul, he says; the things of his punishment are enough for him; let us not trample further upon his misfortunes. Of what I am lord, he says, I give you a share; but to depart from here to there is not ours. Let us hear what the rich man says to Abraham: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. Why then does he not make his entreaty to Lazarus, but to the patriarch? And reasonably so; for he did not dare even to look the poor man in the face.

For he was conscious of his own inhumanity, and reckoning up the mercilessness that he had shown toward him, he suspected that perhaps he would not even deem him worthy of an answer. Therefore he does not make his supplication to him, but entreats the patriarch. But nevertheless not even in this way did he gain anything more. Do you see of how great honor and preeminence the man who lay at the gate enjoys—the contemptible man, the poor man, the one who wrestled continually with hunger, the one besieged by his sores, the one thrown before the dogs? For I gladly turn these things over continually, so that no one of those in poverty, or of those in sickness and hunger, may despise himself and count himself miserable; but bearing all things with endurance and thanksgiving, let him already be nourished by good hopes, awaiting those ineffable recompenses and the repayments for his labors; which may we all obtain, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom befit glory, power, honor and worship, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY 6. On Teaching and Admonition. Yesterday we were accusing those who abandon the prayer and spend that time outside the church; but now I wish to accuse those who are inside—not because they remain inside, but because, while remaining, they are no better off than those spending their time outside, conversing with one another at that most awe-inspiring hour and disregarding the divine oracles. What are you doing, man? Do you see so many prisoners from among your brothers standing nearby? For the working of the demons is a wicked and grievous chain, harsher than any iron—and you are conversing about matters that do not concern you at all? Is the mere sight of it not enough to strike you with dismay and lead you to compassion? Your brother is in chains, and you are at ease? What excuse will you have, tell me, being so without compassion, so inhuman, so cruel? Do you not wish to grieve with your brother? At least pray for yourself and stand up. Are you not afraid that at some point, while you are conversing, at ease, and negligent, some demon may leap out from there, find your soul idle and swept clean, and enter in with great freedom, finding the house without a door? For it is not right that all alike should let fountains of tears flow at that hour, and

that the eyes of all are seen to be wet, and that there be lamentations and wailings over the whole Church? After the communion of the mysteries, after the enjoyment of the bath, after being joined to Christ, was that wolf able to snatch the lambs from the flock and to hold them with himself, and you, seeing the calamity, do you not weep? And where are these things worthy of defense? If you saw your neighbor's house set on fire, tell me, even if the neighbor were the most hostile of all, would you not have run to quench the blaze, fearing lest the fire, advancing along the road, should touch your own doorways? Do this also for the brothers who are being abused by the wicked demons. For the working of the demons is a fire and a grievous conflagration. Consider also your own soul, lest the demon, advancing along the road, seize it beforehand; and when you see him present, flee with great zeal to the Master, so that the demon, seeing your soul fervent and awakened, may reckon your mind henceforth to be inaccessible to him. For if he sees it yawning and sluggish, he will quickly enter in as into a deserted haunt; but if he sees it also stretched taut and awakened, and hanging upon the very heavens, he will no longer dare even to look back at it. So that even if you despise the brothers, spare yourself at least, and block the entrance against the wicked demon for your own soul. For nothing is so accustomed to wall off his assault against us as prayer and earnest supplication. But if you wish to learn how great a good it is to be able, along with one's own salvation, to gain another also, hear the prophet speaking in the person of God:

He who brings out the precious from the worthless is as my mouth. What he means is this: he who leads his neighbor by hand from error to truth, or guides him from vice to virtue according to human capacity, imitates me. For if he, being God himself and possessing that ineffable essence, accepted the cross and endured all the other human things for our sake and our salvation, why should we not be just in showing kindness to those of the same race and to our own members, so as to snatch them from the devil's throat and guide them by hand to the path of virtue? For if in the case of perceptible foods those who set aside the things of the table for their own acquaintances display the greatest proof of love, much more will this, when done in spiritual matters, bring us great praise. For he who is zealous to teach his neighbor benefits not that one so much as he procures for himself a greater reward, and reaps a double profit, enjoying a greater recompense from God, and himself, when he undertakes to teach his brother, coming to recollection and renewing the memory of the things spoken by him. For if someone sets up a lifeless image of a child or a friend or a relative, and thinks that the departed one is present, and through the lifeless image pictures him to himself, much more do we, through the divine Scriptures, enjoy the presence of the saints, having the images not of their bodies but of their souls. For the things spoken by them are images of their souls.

Just as physicians do not force the sick who lie on their little beds to be carried to their own houses, but themselves run to them to heal their sicknesses, so also do you, according to your ability, and display all zeal and forethought for the restoration of the brothers who are sick in soul, knowing that the present life is brief. And if we do not gain these gains, we will have no salvation there; for often one soul gained can destroy the bulk of ten thousand sins, and become for us on that day a soul in exchange. For if that Tabitha, having clothed widows and corrected poverty, came back again from death to life, and the tears of those who had been shown mercy brought a departed soul back into the body again, before the resurrection had yet appeared—what will the tears of men not accomplish, as many as are saved by you? For just as the widows standing around her showed her alive from the dead, so also then the ones saved now, standing around you, will cause you to enjoy much loving-kindness, and will snatch you from the fire of Gehenna. For if where there is an expenditure of money there are so many crowns, so great a reward, so great a recompense, where there is the benefit of a soul, how will we not have many good things? No one is able to set his own affairs right without the salvation of his neighbor. For indeed Paul also says: Let no one seek his own, but each the other's; knowing that one's own interest lies in the advantage of one's neighbor.

For just as those who do wrong and take advantage, having gone there and seen those who have suffered these things (for they will certainly see them, and this is clear from the rich man and Lazarus), will not be able even to open their mouth, nor to say anything and defend themselves, but filled with great shame and condemnation, they will depart from the sight of those others to their punishment; so also those who teach and admonish, having seen those who were saved by them advocating for them there, will be filled with great boldness. And let no one say to me, "What do I have in common with that person? He is a stranger and unknown." As long as he is a believer, and shares the same mysteries with you, and attends the same church, he is closer than all brothers and relatives. For just as not only those who steal, but also those who are able to prevent it but do not, give the same penalty as they do; so not only those who are impious, but also those who are able to lead away from impiety but do not wish to, will undergo the same punishment as they do. Let each of you save one of the brothers, look after him, busy himself about him, so that at the coming assembly we may appear with great boldness, bringing gifts to God, gifts more precious than all, having brought back the souls of those who have gone astray; and even if it is necessary to be insulted, even if to receive blows, even if to endure anything else whatsoever, let us do everything so as to recover them. For even the sick often kick and insult; but nevertheless we endure it, and we are not bitten by the insults, but we desire only one thing, to see the health of the one who behaves so shamefully.

How then is it not absurd that those who care for bodies exercise such great diligence, but are slack when so many souls are perishing, and consider it no terrible thing to suffer when our members rot? What are you doing, man? Do you see your brother, tell me, being carried down a precipice, having a neglected life, not seeing what is needful, and do you not extend a hand, do you not rebuke and reprove? But do you prefer not to offend him and appear burdensome over his salvation? And what forgiveness will you have before God, and what defense? Have you not heard what God commanded the Jews? Not to overlook the beasts of burden of enemies when they go astray, nor to run past when they have fallen. Then the Jews are commanded not to overlook the irrational beasts of their enemies, but shall we overlook the souls of our brothers being tripped up every day? And how is this not of the utmost cruelty and beastliness, not to assign to human beings as much care as those assign to irrational beasts? This has overturned everything, this has confounded our life, that neither do we bear being reproved nobly, nor do we wish to reprove others. For this reason we are also burdensome when we reprove, because we become beastly when reproved. For if the brother knew that having reproved you he would be praised by you, he too, when reproved, would have rendered the same recompense. Do you wish to correct your brother? Weep, pray to God, take him aside privately and admonish, advise, entreat, show love toward the one who has sinned, persuade him that it is out of care and concern, not wishing to expose him, that you remind him of his sin.

Hold his feet, kiss his hands, do not be ashamed, if indeed you truly wish to heal him. For doctors also often do this: kissing the sick who are in a disagreeable state, encouraging them, they persuade them to accept the saving remedy. And if it is necessary to die for the sake of bringing your brother to his senses, do not shrink back; this is a martyrdom for you; since John too was a martyr; although he was not commanded to sacrifice, nor to worship an idol, but for the sake of the sacred laws being outraged he laid down his head. And you therefore strive unto death for the truth, and the Lord will fight for you. One man fired with zeal is enough to set a whole people right. And let no one say to me, I have nothing in common with my brother. We have nothing in common with the devil only, but with men we have much in common: they partake of the same nature as we, they inhabit the same earth, and are nourished by the same food, they have the same Master, they have received the same laws. Let us not therefore say these things, but let us show the care that befits brothers. For how is it not absurd, if we should see a fight in the marketplace, to approach and reconcile those who are fighting—and why do I say a fight? If we should see a donkey fallen down, we all extend a hand and hasten to raise it up; but when brothers are perishing, to neglect them—how is this not dreadful? Do not therefore cease exhorting your brother when you see him perishing, even if he reviles you, even if he insults you, even if he threatens to become your enemy, even if he brandishes anything else at all; bear all things nobly, so that you may gain his salvation.

If this man becomes your enemy, God will be your friend, and on that day he will repay you with great good things. For it is a great good also to show mercy to the poor, but nothing is like delivering someone from error; for nothing is equal in value to a soul, not even the whole world. So even if you give countless sums of money to the poor, you will not accomplish as much as the one who turns back a single soul. For the one who does this becomes like Paul and Peter, not risking danger as they did, nor enduring famines and plagues and the other evils—for the present time is one of peace—but showing the same zeal. And why do I say Peter and Paul? He will be the mouth of Christ; for he says, The one who brings out the precious from the worthless will be as my mouth. It is possible, then, even for those sitting at home to work this fishing; if anyone has a friend and relative and household member, let him do these things, and he will be like Peter and Paul. And if you do not persuade him today, you will persuade him tomorrow; and if you never persuade him, you will have your reward complete; and if you do not persuade all, you will be able to persuade a few out of the many. For the apostles also, even if they did not persuade all, since they spoke to all, reaped the reward for all. Do not, then, because you cannot teach many, despise the few, nor by your desire for great things drag yourself away from small ones. And if you cannot manage a hundred, take care of ten; and if you cannot manage ten, do not despise five; and if you cannot manage five, do not overlook one. For God is accustomed to appoint the crowns not according to the outcome of the achievements, but according to the intention of those who achieve them.

For we who teach are not responsible for not persuading our hearers, but only for not advising them; for to exhort is our part alone, but to be persuaded is theirs. And just as, if we have not exhorted, even if they accomplish countless good things, the whole reward will be laid up for them alone, and there will be no gain for us, so if, when we have exhorted, they do not pay attention, the whole punishment will overtake them, and there will be no charge against us, but even a great reward will meet us from God; for we have fulfilled everything that was ours. For the one who speaks to those who pay attention has as consolation for speaking the obedience of his hearers; but the one who speaks continually and is not heard, and then does not cease from speaking, would be worthy of greater honor, because he fulfills all his own part, as pleases God, even when no one pays attention. But even if our reward is greater because of your obedience, nevertheless we desire that it be diminished rather, and that your salvation be increased, considering your good repute to be a great reward. Therefore, if you see someone in need of care for soul or body, do not say to yourself, For what reason did this man and that man not care for him? or, that I

I am a man of the world, I have a wife and children; these things belong to the priests, these belong to the monks. Tell me, then, if you find gold lying there, do you not say to yourself, For what reason did this man and that man not take it up? By no means; but you hasten to snatch it before the others. So also in the case of fallen brothers, reason thus, and consider that you have found a treasure in your care for them. For he who brings forth the precious from the worthless, he says, shall be as my mouth. And what could be equal to this? For what neither fasting, nor sleeping on the ground, nor anything else can accomplish, the salvation of a brother brings about. For it is not I who promise these things; God himself said this: For even if you bring forth one person, he says, your mouth shall be as my mouth. Let us not, then, as we pass by, say, Who has sinned? but let us strive to correct them; and let us not consider only this, whether those being led astray are many, but let us consider that, how we may lead them away. For to safeguard brothers before sin so that they do not fall brings us no small salvation; but to show great care for them even after sin provides no small praise. For physicians also tell people who are healthy what can preserve their health for them and ward off every disease; but when they have neglected the instructions and fallen into illness, they do not overlook them, but then especially show great forethought, so that they may free them from their sicknesses. And you, therefore, whenever you must correct a brother, even if you must give up your life, do not refuse. Our Master died for us;

But you do not even put forward a word? And what forgiveness will you have, what defense will you obtain? How will you stand at the judgment seat of Christ with boldness, tell me, when you overlook the destruction of so many souls? If only it were possible for me to know them, I would not have needed you, but I would have made the correction as quickly as possible. Tell me, then, if you saw someone being led away, condemned by a just verdict, and then you were able to snatch him from the executioner's hands—would you not have done everything so as to deliver him from being led away? But when you see your brother being dragged not by an executioner but by the devil toward the abyss of destruction, do you not even endure to offer counsel, so as to rescue him from this savage beast? And what forgiveness would you obtain? But he is stronger and more powerful than you? Make him clear to me, and I will choose to lay down my head rather than to allow him to set foot on the sacred thresholds. For how is it not absurd that we raise our children with hardship from the beginning toward pursuits whose beginnings are laborious but whose end is good, while we ourselves are disposed in the opposite way concerning spiritual matters? For if someone from outside stood by us and accurately understood both the commandments of Christ and the confusion of our way of life, I do not know whom else he would suppose to be greater enemies of Christ than us. For just as if we had been eager to go against his commandments, so have we traveled this road. For when the things he commands us to do are easy and very simple for those who wish it, but the things he forbids are hard and laborious, we, having abandoned what has been commanded, do the things that have been forbidden.

Will they not say that we sin against him by striving against him as enemies? But just as it is customary for the good to recommend to their neighbors those things through which they themselves have become good, so also it is customary for the wicked to suggest to their neighbors those things through which they themselves have become base (for this too is one and the same form of their wickedness); and they consider the destruction of others a consolation for their own punishment. Tell me, who among you, having entered a house, has taken a Christian book in his hands, and gone over what is in it, and searched the Scripture? No one could say this; but we will find dice and gaming-cubes at our neighbors' houses, but books nowhere, except among a few; and these too are in the same condition as those who do not have them, having tied them up and stored them away in chests continually; and all their zeal is about the fineness of the membranes and the beauty of the letters, not about the reading. For they have not made their acquisition for benefit or profit, but making a display of wealth and vainglory, they have been zealous about these things. So great is the excess of their vainglory. For I hear no one taking pride that he knows what is in them, but that he has them inscribed with golden letters. That eunuch, being a barbarian and beset by countless cares, not knowing what he was reading, nevertheless was reading while sitting in his chariot. But if on the road he displayed so much zeal, consider how much he would display while spending time at home; if he could not endure to remain without reading during the time of his journey, much more while sitting at home; if, knowing nothing of what he was reading, he did not desist from the reading.

much more after learning. For just as hunger is a sign of bodily good health, so also earnest devotion to the hearing of the divine oracles one would make the greatest proof of health of soul. For what reason, when we often raise certain questions for you, do we not bring their solution? Training you not to receive food always pre-chewed, but in many places to bring forth the solution of the meaning yourselves—which is what doves do. For they too, while their nestlings remain in the nest, feed them with their own mouth; but when they are able to lead them out of the nest, and see their feathers grown firm, they no longer do this, but carry the grain in their mouth and show it; and when the nestlings, expecting it, come near, the mothers let the food fall on the ground and bid them gather it for themselves. So we also do: taking the spiritual food in our mouth, we call you, as about to show you the solution in the usual way; but when you come forward and expect to receive it, we let the words fall, so that you may take up the meanings by yourselves. And just as lyre-players, taking the fingers of their students, gently bring them to the notes, and train them to touch with experience, teaching them from silent fingers and strings to produce a voice sweeter and more pleasant than any voice—so indeed we also do. For just as on the lyre the skilled man touches the strings, and the unskilled man also touches them;

And the one grieves the hearer, while the other delights and charms the soul; and yet they are the same fingers and the same strings, but the skill is not the same. So indeed it is also with the divine Scriptures: many come to the divine oracles, but not all profit, nor do all bear fruit; and the reason is that they neither delve deeply into what is said, nor do they touch the lyre with skill. For what skill is to lyre-playing, that the demonstration through works is to the laws of God. And just as in the case of the sick it is not necessary to set before them a brief and hastily prepared table, but one must prepare foods of various kinds, so that if the patient does not wish for this, he may take the other, and if he does not accept that, he may receive another, and if he rejects this one, he may lay hold of the other, and by the variety we may overcome his fastidiousness, and by the manifold nature of the table we may heal the disagreeableness of his disposition—so also must we do in the case of the spiritual banquet, when we are weak, so that from various and many examples the choice of what is beneficial may become easy for you. Do not then be burdened by the exhortation; for if anyone should be burdened, it should be I, who speak often and am not heard, and not you, who always hear and always disobey. Or do you not know that those who despise the divine hearing have through this contempt destroyed even their very being as human beings, and have fallen away from their own nobility?

The most loud-voiced Isaiah, having entered the populous metropolis of the Jews—I mean Jerusalem—standing in the midst of the marketplaces, with the whole people standing around him, wishing to show that the one who does not attend to the divine oracles is not a man, cried out saying: "I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was no one to answer." Therefore, since he came and there was no man, he called and there was no one to answer, he turns his word to the elements, and says: "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth." For I, he says, was sent to men, to men having understanding; but since they have neither reason nor perception, therefore I converse with the elements that have no perception, as an accusation against those honored with perception but not using the honor. And Jeremiah, standing in the midst of the multitude of the Jews in that very city, as though no one were present, cried out thus: "To whom shall I speak and testify? What do you say? Seeing so great a multitude, do you ask, to whom shall you speak? Yes, he says; for this multitude is a multitude of bodies that do not have ears; for their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear." But if the prophets say that those present, because they did not attend with zeal to what was being said, are not even men, what should we say about those who not only do not listen, but do not even endure to set foot on these sacred forecourts? For it is not the case that if someone has a human body and voice, this one is a man; but if someone has a human soul and disposition. I know that many listen with displeasure to words of admonition; but what is the gain of silence?

For even if I keep silent and cause no disturbance by words, it is impossible by this silence to free you from punishment; rather, the opposite of everything happens from this: the punishments are intensified, and such silence brings punishment not only to you but also to me. What, then, is the grace of words, when it does not help toward works, but even harms? What is the gain of gladdening with speech and grieving in deed? Of delighting the hearing and punishing the soul? Therefore it is necessary to grieve here, so that we may not pay the ultimate punishment there, and undergo the unbearable chastisement. It is not, then, right to be displeased at what has been said, but to accept and praise it. But if some are in a weaker condition and do not endure this defense of ours, I would say this to them: I do not expound to you laws of my own, but I read letters that came down from heaven; and it is necessary for the one entrusted with this ministry either to say everything with boldness that lies in the text, seeking everywhere what is beneficial, not what is pleasant, for the hearers, or, looking to the dislike of the hearers and betraying both his own salvation and theirs through this untimely graciousness. For that it is exceedingly dangerous both for the speaker and for the hearers to conceal any of the divine laws, and that teachers are judged liable for murders when they do not expound all the ordinances of God without dissimulation, I will again present Paul to you as a witness of these things. For this reason I continually flee for refuge over all things to that holy soul, because the words of Paul are certain divine oracles, laws of God.

For it is not Paul who is speaking, but Christ who moves that man's soul; for through him he utters all the things that he said. What then does he say? "I am clean from the blood of all." Why? "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." So that, if he had shrunk from declaring it, he would not have been clean from the blood, but would have been judged as a murderer; and quite reasonably so. For the murderer destroys only the body and hands it over to the present death; but the one who speaks to please the crowd and makes his hearers more careless destroys the soul and sends it on to deathless punishments and torments. Who then is so cruel and inhuman and unsympathetic as to bring a charge against the one who speaks and discourses continually about the wrath of God, when he is about to undergo so great a punishment if he keeps silent? For if I kept silent and by my silence concealed sins, each person would rightly be vexed and justly indignant, since I was not silent; but if, even when we are silent now, the offenses must by all means appear there, what benefit could come from silence? The one who looks to the advantage of his hearers, even if he praises him, not only does not

...is worthy to be accused, but also to be crowned; and if he keeps silent, then he is to be accused. For David too, if he had kept silent before Goliath, they would not have let him go out to the battle line, nor would he have set up that glorious trophy. For this reason I have already conversed with you many times, and now I forewarn you, no longer exhorting but commanding and giving orders: let the one who wishes hear, and let the one who does not wish disobey; for if you persist in the evils done by you, I will not endure it, nor will I receive you, nor will I allow you to set foot on these thresholds. For what need have I of a multitude of sick people? There were twelve disciples, and hear what Christ says to them: "Do you also wish to go away?" For if we flatter completely, when will we recover, when will we benefit? But there are, he says, many heresies, and they are being changed over. That saying is cold: Better is one who does the will of the Lord than ten thousand transgressors. Since, tell me, what do you wish—to have ten thousand runaway and thieving servants, or one well-disposed one? Let the one who wishes leap away; I tolerate no one. All these words have corrupted everything: "So that he may depart," he says, "and be transferred to another heresy—he is weak, condescend to him." Until when? Until when? Once and twice and three times? Not continually? Behold, I enjoin again and testify solemnly according to the blessed Paul, that "if I come again, I will not spare." And when I am about to be judged at the tribunal of Christ, you too will stand far off, and your favor with you, while I give an account. So it is profitable for those who sin to be bitten by the pain of words, so that they may be freed from the shame that comes through deeds.

I know that we are all under reproof, and that no one will boast of having a pure heart; but the dreadful thing is not this, that we do not have a pure heart, but that, not having such a one, we do not even come to him who is able to make it pure. I know that these words sting; but what am I to do? If we do not apply bitter medicines, the wounds will not be removed; if we apply bitter ones, you cannot bear the pain. I am hemmed in on every side. Nevertheless, it is now necessary to lift up the hand; for what has been said is sufficient for the correction of those who attend. But if we remain uncorrected, we shall be delivered into the very hands of the judge; and you surely know that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. For he who has accomplished nothing at all grows careless and quickly falls back; but he who is conscious within himself that he has fulfilled at least one commandment, having from this become hopeful, will proceed again with greater zeal to the rest; then, taking on another, he will pass on from one to another. For if in the case of money, the more a man acquires, the more he desires; much more might one see this happening in the case of spiritual achievements. Therefore I beg and entreat you, do not remember these words of mine only for the present day, but also at home and in the marketplace, and wherever you may spend your time. Would that it were possible for me to be with you always, and I would not have needed this long accusation; but now, since this is not possible, remember my words in my stead; and when you sit at table, think that I have come in and am standing by, and am pouring in these things which I am now saying here.

And wherever any mention of me is made among you, remember this one commandment in place of all others; and give me this recompense for my love toward you. And this too we exhort: that you stop your ears not only against those who speak evil, but also when others converse and you are listening, and imitate the prophet who says: "Him who secretly slandered his neighbor, this one I drove out." And say to the accuser: If you had something to praise and commend, I would have opened my ears and received the word; but if you wish to speak evil, I block the entrance to your words; for I do not endure to receive dung and filth. For what profit is it to me to learn that so-and-so is wicked? The greatest harm, indeed, and the utmost loss comes from this. For what defense or pardon shall we have, when, not even taking our own affairs into account, we thus busy ourselves and meddle with the affairs of others? For it is better to be ignorant well than to learn badly. For he who does not know the cause will quickly come to the reasonable one; but he, since he does not know the true one, fashioning the false one, will not be able easily to receive the true one; but he needs more toil and sweat in order to remove the former. And if you see someone having prepared sacred vessels, or any other adornment of the church on the walls and floor, do not order what is being made to be sold or overturned, lest you cripple his zeal; but if someone asks before he has finished making it, order it to be given to the poor. And despise both the pleasant things of life as not enduring, and the painful things as not harming.

For just as those who are sojourning in a foreign land do everything and transact all their business with a view to their settlement in their homeland, and day by day hasten to see the day that will bring them there, so too the one who longs for the things to come will neither be brought low by present sorrows nor elated by present blessings, but will pass by both, like a man walking along a road. In this way, then, we too ought to be disposed, and even if we live few years here, we should regard them as many because of our longing for the things to come. I say this not in accusation of the present life—God forbid, for this too is the work of God—but anointing you toward the love of the things to come, so that you may not linger fondly among present things, nor be riveted to the body, nor be disposed like the fainthearted among the many, who, even if they live ten thousand years, say that these are few. What could be more unreasonable than this? If heaven is set before us, and the good things in the heavens, which neither eye has seen nor ear has heard, and they gape at shadows, and do not wish to cross the strait of the present life, though they are tossed about in ceaseless waves and storm and shipwrecks. But Paul was not like this; rather he hastened and pressed on, and one thing alone possessed him: the salvation of men, and that they not fall away from the kingdom of God. May we all attain it, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Homily 7. On humility. When sin has been combined with humility, it runs with such ease as to surpass and outstrip righteousness that is with arrogance; but if you join it with righteousness, where will it not reach? How many heavens will it not pass through? It will certainly stand by the very throne of God, in the midst of the angels, with great boldness. For if those who confess their own sins procure for themselves such boldness, those who are conscious of many good things in themselves but humble their own soul—how many crowns will they not obtain? So then, even if you build countless things from above—even almsgiving, even prayers, even fastings, even every virtue—if this has not been laid as a foundation first, all will be built upon in vain and to no purpose. For there is nothing, none of our achievements, that will be able to stand without it; but whether you name chastity, or virginity, or contempt of money, or anything at all, all are unclean and accursed and abominable when humility is absent. For this reason God constructed us from two substances, so that when you are lifted up into arrogance, the cheapness of the flesh may bring you down; but when you think something unworthy and base of the honor given to you by God, the nobility of the soul may lead you up to the zeal of the heavenly powers. For it is a great good to examine one's own kinship and to know from what we are composed. For this teaching alone, the examination of nature, is sufficient, able to restrain all the passions and to make a calm in the mind.

Consider your nature and your makeup, and this is enough for you to be kept humble continually. Adam was formed from the earth, but he did not see how he was formed; for it was not fitting that he be present as a witness of what was happening, lest he exalt himself against God. For if, clothed in such great lowliness, he exalts himself and ignores the one who created him and rejects the one who formed him, if he had received what is beyond his nature, who could have contained the immensity of his pride? For this reason God, having formed man, both implanted great powers in the creature and many humiliations, so that through the power implanted in him the grace of the craftsman might be admired, and through the humiliations human pride might be kept down. He gave him a tongue that speaks, that hymns God, that sings of divine things, that interprets the beauties of creation. A little piece of flesh, the tongue, speaks about heaven and earth, though it has not even the measure of two fingers; and why do I say two fingers? Not even the tip of a nail; but that tiny tip speaks about heaven and earth. And so that it might not think that it is something great and exalt itself beyond its own nature, swellings and wounds are often entwined around it, so that it may learn that, being mortal, it speaks about immortal things, and that it ought to recognize what is the power of the one proclaimed and what is the weakness of the one proclaiming. He gave him an eye, that little millet-seed, and through it he beholds all creation. And so that, encompassing all creation with his sight, he might not exalt himself, ophthalmias and cataracts and tears and all the things that cloud the vision are often engendered in him.

so that from his weakness he might know himself, and from his creation he might extol the Craftsman. If then man, carrying about such weakness, thus forgets his own worthlessness, as even to be bold against the Creator—if he were wholly freed from this weakness, who could bear him when he exalts himself? Consider with whom you share, O man, puffed up and lifted up to arrogance, and ashamed to serve the stranger. And how could this be? says he. For if someone be well-born and distinguished and illustrious and eminent, shall he himself wash the feet of the stranger? And how is it not shameful? It is shameful rather not to wash. For even if you exalt his nobility ten thousand times, and his distinction and his splendor, he partakes of the same nature as the one being washed, and is a fellow-servant of the one being tended and of equal honor. Consider who washed the feet of the disciples, and cease discoursing about nobility. For not to think greatly of the things that are is useful not only for the things to come, but also for the things present. For nothing is so enviable as a man who is rich; but when folly is added to this, the precipice becomes double. But he who knows how to be moderate cuts off the tyranny of envy by humility, and possesses with safety what he possesses; such is its greatness. For it benefits us not only for the things to come, but even from here it already gives the recompenses. Let us not, then, think greatly of wealth, but neither of anything else. For if he who thinks greatly of spiritual things is ruined and destroyed, much more he who thinks greatly of fleshly things.