Canonical Letter to Letoius
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Chapter 221
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Ἕν καὶ τοῦτο τῶν εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν ἑορτὴν συντελούν- ἢ κων ἐστὶ, τὸ χατανοῇσαι ἡμᾶς τὴν ἔννομόν τε καὶ χανονιχὴν ἐπὶ τῶν πεπλημμεληχότων οἰχονομίαν " ὅπως ἂν θεραπευθείη πᾶν ἀῤῥώστημα ψυχιχὸν, τὸ διά τινος ἁμαρτίας ἐπιγινόμενον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡ καθολιχὴ καὶ αὔτη τῆς χτίσεως ἑορτὴ κατὰ τὴν τεταγμένην περίοδον τοῦ ἐνιαυσιαίου χύχλου χσθ᾽ ἕχαστον ἔτος, ἐν παντὶ πληρουμένη τῷ χόσμῳ, ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναστάσει τοῦ πεπτωχότος ἐπιτελεῖται " πτῶσις δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀνάστασις δὲ ἢ ἐχ τοῦ πτώματος τῆς ἁμαρ.τίας ἀνόρθωσις" χαλῶς ἂν ἔχοι κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην, οὐ μόνον τοὺς ἐχ παλιγγενεσίας μετάστοιχειουμένους διὰ τῆς τοῦ λουτροῦ χάριτος τῷ θεῷ προσάγειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς διὰ τῆς μετανοίας τε καὶ ἐπιστροφῆς ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν ἔργων εἰς τὴν ζῶσαν ὁδὸν πάλιν ἐπανιόντας, καὶ τούτους χειραγωγεῖν πρὸς τὴν σώζουσαν ἐλπίδα, ἧς διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπεξενώθησαν. Ἔστι δὲ οὐ μιχρὸν ἔργον, τὸ τοὺς περὶ τούτων λόγους οἰκονομῇσαι ἐν τῇ ὀρθῇ τε καὶ δεδοχιμασμένῃ χρίσει, κατὰ τὸ παράγγελμα τοῦ Προφήτου, τὸ χελεῦον δεῖν οἰχογομδῖν τὸυς (όγους ἐν κρίσει, ἵνα, χαθὼς ἔχει τὸ λόγιον, μήτε σαλευθῇ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, καὶ εἰς μγημόσυνον αἰώνιον γένηται δίκαιος.
Hen kai touto tōn eis tēn hagian heortēn synteloun- ē kōn esti, to chatanoę̄sai hēmas tēn ennomon te kai chanonichēn epi tōn peplēmmelēchotōn oichonomian " hopōs an therapeutheiē pan arrhōstēma psychichon, to dia tinos hamartias epiginomenon. Epeidē gar hē katholichē kai autē tēs chtiseōs heortē kata tēn tetagmenēn periodon tou eniausiaiou chychlou chsth᾽ hechaston etos, en panti plēroumenē tǭ chosmǭ, epi tę̄ anastasei tou peptōchotos epiteleitai " ptōsis de estin hē hamartia anastasis de ē ech tou ptōmatos tēs hamar.tias anorthōsis" chalōs an echoi kata tēn hēmeran tautēn, ou monon tous ech palingenesias metastoicheioumenous dia tēs tou loutrou charitos tǭ theǭ prosagein, alla kai tous dia tēs metanoias te kai epistrophēs apo tōn nekrōn ergōn eis tēn zōsan hodon palin epaniontas, kai toutous cheiragōgein pros tēn sōzousan elpida, hēs dia tēs hamartias apexenōthēsan. Esti de ou michron ergon, to tous peri toutōn logous oikonomę̄sai en tę̄ orthę̄ te kai dedochimasmenę̄ chrisei, kata to parangelma tou Prophētou, to cheleuon dein oichogomdin tous (ogous en krisei, hina, chathōs echei to logion, mēte saleuthę̄ eis ton aiōna, kai eis mgēmosynon aiōnion genētai dikaios.
[0] This too is one of the things that contribute to the holy feast: that we consider the lawful and canonical dispensation concerning those who have sinned, so that every sickness of the soul that arises through some sin may be healed. For since this universal feast of the creation, which is fulfilled each year throughout the whole world in the appointed revolution of the yearly cycle, is celebrated for the resurrection of him who had fallen (and the fall is sin, while the resurrection is the raising up again from the fall of sin), it would be well on this day not only to bring to God those who are refashioned by rebirth through the grace of the washing, but also to lead by the hand toward the saving hope, from which they were estranged through sin, those who are returning again by repentance and conversion from dead works to the living way. It is no small task to order the discourse about these matters with right and tested judgment, according to the precept of the prophet which bids us order our words with judgment, so that, as the saying runs, the righteous man “shall not be shaken for ever” and “shall be in everlasting remembrance.”
Chapter 223
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σχοπὸς τῆς ἰατριχῆς εἷς ἐστι, τὸ ὑγιᾶναι τὸν χάμνοντα’ τὸ δὲ εἶδος τῆς ἐπιμελείας διάφορον " κατὰ γὰρ τὴν κοικιλίαν τῶν ἀῤῥωστημάτων καταλλήλως καὶ ἡ θεραπευτικὴ μέθοδος ἑκάστῳ τῶν νοσημάτων προσάγεταν" οὕτω πολλῆς οὔτης καὶ ἐν τῇ φυχιχῇ νόσῳ τῆς τῶν παθῶν ποικιλίας, ἀναγκαίως πυλνειδὴς γενήσεται ἡ θεραπευτιχὴ ἐπιμέλεια, πρὸς λόγον τοῦ πάθους ἐνεργοῦσα τὴν ἴασιν. Ὡς δ' ἂν γένοιτό τις τεχνικὴ μέθοδος περὶ τοῦ προχειμένου προδλήματος, οὕτω τὸν. Τρία ἐστὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν θεωρούμενα χατὰ τὴν πρώτην διαίρεσιν τό τε λογιχὸν, καὶ τὸ ἐπιθυμητιχὸν, καὶ τὸ θυμοειδές. Ἐν τούτοις ἐστὶ καὶ τὰ χατορθώματα τῶν κατ᾽ ἀρετὴν βιούντων, καὶ τὰ πτώματα τῶν εἰς χαχίαν ἀποῤῥεόντων. Διὸ προσἥκει τὸν μέλλοντα τὴν χατάλληλον θεραπείαν προσἄγειν τῷ νενοσηχότι τῆς ψυχῆς μέρει, πρότερον μὲν ἐπισχέπτεσθαι ἐν τίνι συνέστη τὸ πάθος " εἶθ᾽ οὕτω πεπονθότι προσάγειν ἁρμοδίως τὴν θεραπείαν " ὥστε μὴ δι᾽ ἀπειρίαν τῆς θεραπευτικῆς μεθόδον, ἄλλο μὲν ἧ τὸ νοσῇσαν μέρος, ἕτερον δὲ τὸ τὴν θεραπείαν δεχόμενον" ὥσπερ ἀμέλει βλέπομεν πολλοὺς τῶν ἰατρῶν ἐν ἀπειρίᾳ τοῦ πρωτοπαθοῦντος μέρους προσεπιτρίἔοντας τὴν νόσον δι᾽ ὧν θεραπεύουσι. Τῆς γὰρ ἀῤῥωστίας οὔσης πολλάχις κατὰ θερμοῦ ἐπιχράτησιν, ἐπειδὴ τοῖς κατὰ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ ψυχροῦ χεχαχωμένοις χρήσιμον τὸ θερμαῖνόν τε καὶ ἀναθάλπον ἐστὶ, τὸ τούτοις χατὰ λόγον συνενεγχὸν, ἀπερισχέπτως τὸ αὐτὸ τοῖς ἐν ἀμετρίᾳ θερμότητος ἐχκαιομένοις ἐπἀγαγόντες, δυσίατον τὸ πάθος ἐποίησαν. "Ὥσπερ τοίνυν ἀναγχαιοτάτη τοῖς ἰατροῖς ἐνομίσθη ἡ κατανόησις τῆς τῶν στοιχείων ἰδιότητος, ὅπω; ἂν ἑκάστου. τῶν εὖ ἣ χαχῶς διαχειμένων γένοιτο τοῦ παρὰ φύσιν διατεθέντος ἡ ἐπανόρθωσις - οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ ταύτην ἀναδραμόντες τὴν διαίρεσιν τῶν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ θεωρουμένων, ἀρχὴν καὶ ὑπόθεσιν τῆς χαταλλήλου. τῶν παθῶν θεραπείας ποιησώμεθα τὴν γενικὴν θεωρίαν. Οὐχοῦν τριχῆ, χαθὼς ἔφαμεν:, διῃρημένης τῆς ἰδίοτητος τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς χινημάτων:, εἰς τὸ λογιστιχόν τε καὶ ἐπιθυμητιχὸν καὶ θυμοειδές " χατόρθωμα μὲν τοῦ λογιστιχοῦ μέρους τῆς ψυχᾶς ἐστιν, ἡ εὖσεδὴς περὶ τὸ Θεῖον ὑπόληψις, καὶ ἢ τοῦ καλοῦ τε καὶ χαχοῦ διαχριτιχὴ ἐπιστήμη, κκαὶ ἡ τρανὴν τε καὶ ἀσύγχυτον ἔχουσα περὶ τῆς φύσεως τῶν ὑποκειμένων τὴν δόξαν " τί μέν ἐστιν αἱρετὸν ἕν τοῖς οὖσι - τί δὲ βδελυχτὸν καὶ ἀπόδλητον, Καὶ πάλιν ἐχ τοῦ ἕναν τίου πάντως ἡ ἐν τῷ μέρει τούτῳ χαχία θεωρηθὲ σεται, ὅταν ἀσέθεια μὲν ἣ περὶ τὸ Θεῖον, ἀχρισία δὲ περὶ τὸ ὄντως καλόν" ἐνηλλαγμένη δὲ καὶ ἐσφαλμένη ἡ περὶ τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων φύσιν ὑπόληψις, ὥστε τιθέναι τὸ ρῶς σκότος, καὶ τὸ σκότος φῶς, χαθώς φησιν ἡ Γραφή. Τοῦ δὲ ἐπιθυμητικοῦ μερους. ἡ μὲν ἐνάρετός ἔστι χίνησις τὸ πρὸς τὸ ὄντως ἑπυθυμητιχὸν, καὶ ἀληθῶς χαλὸν ἀνάγεσθαι τὸν πόθον " καὶ εἴ τις ἐν ἡμῖν ἐρωτιχὴ δύναμίς τε καὶ διάθεσις, ἐκεῖ. κατασχολεῖσθαι πᾶσαν, ἐν τῷ πεπεῖσθαι μηδὲν
schopos tēs iatrichēs heis esti, to hygianai ton chamnonta’ to de eidos tēs epimeleias diaphoron " kata gar tēn koikilian tōn arrhōstēmatōn katallēlōs kai hē therapeutikē methodos hekastǭ tōn nosēmatōn prosagetan" houtō pollēs outēs kai en tę̄ phychichę̄ nosǭ tēs tōn pathōn poikilias, anankaiōs pylneidēs genēsetai hē therapeutichē epimeleia, pros logon tou pathous energousa tēn iasin. Hōs d' an genoito tis technikē methodos peri tou procheimenou prodlēmatos, houtō ton. Tria esti ta peri tēn psychēn hēmōn theōroumena chata tēn prōtēn diairesin to te logichon, kai to epithymētichon, kai to thymoeides. En toutois esti kai ta chatorthōmata tōn kat᾽ aretēn biountōn, kai ta ptōmata tōn eis chachian aporrheontōn. Dio prosēkei ton mellonta tēn chatallēlon therapeian prosagein tǭ nenosēchoti tēs psychēs merei, proteron men epischeptesthai en tini synestē to pathos " eith᾽ houtō peponthoti prosagein harmodiōs tēn therapeian " hōste mē di᾽ apeirian tēs therapeutikēs methodon, allo men hē to nosę̄san meros, heteron de to tēn therapeian dechomenon" hōsper amelei blepomen pollous tōn iatrōn en apeirią tou prōtopathountos merous prosepitrieontas tēn noson di᾽ hōn therapeuousi. Tēs gar arrhōstias ousēs pollachis kata thermou epichratēsin, epeidē tois kata pleonasmon tou psychrou chechachōmenois chrēsimon to thermainon te kai anathalpon esti, to toutois chata logon synenenchon, aperischeptōs to auto tois en ametrią thermotētos echkaiomenois epagagontes, dysiaton to pathos epoiēsan. "Hōsper toinyn ananchaiotatē tois iatrois enomisthē hē katanoēsis tēs tōn stoicheiōn idiotētos, hopō? an hekastou. tōn eu hē chachōs diacheimenōn genoito tou para physin diatethentos hē epanorthōsis - houtō kai hēmeis epi tautēn anadramontes tēn diairesin tōn en tę̄ psychę̄ theōroumenōn, archēn kai hypothesin tēs chatallēlou. tōn pathōn therapeias poiēsōmetha tēn genikēn theōrian. Ouchoun trichē, chathōs ephamen:, dię̄rēmenēs tēs idiotētos tōn tēs psychēs chinēmatōn:, eis to logistichon te kai epithymētichon kai thymoeides " chatorthōma men tou logistichou merous tēs psychas estin, hē eusedēs peri to Theion hypolēpsis, kai ē tou kalou te kai chachou diachritichē epistēmē, kkai hē tranēn te kai asynchyton echousa peri tēs physeōs tōn hypokeimenōn tēn doxan " ti men estin haireton hen tois ousi - ti de bdelychton kai apodlēton, Kai palin ech tou henan tiou pantōs hē en tǭ merei toutǭ chachia theōrēthe setai, hotan asetheia men hē peri to Theion, achrisia de peri to ontōs kalon" enēllagmenē de kai esphalmenē hē peri tēn tōn pragmatōn physin hypolēpsis, hōste tithenai to rōs skotos, kai to skotos phōs, chathōs phēsin hē Graphē. Tou de epithymētikou merous. hē men enaretos esti chinēsis to pros to ontōs hepythymētichon, kai alēthōs chalon anagesthai ton pothon " kai ei tis en hēmin erōtichē dynamis te kai diathesis, ekei. katascholeisthai pasan, en tǭ pepeisthai mēden
… the aim of the healing art is one, to make the sick person well, but the form of the care differs; for according to the variety of illnesses the therapeutic method is applied suitably to each of the diseases. So, since in the sickness of the soul too the variety of passions is great, the therapeutic care will necessarily take many forms, effecting the cure in proportion to the passion. That there may be some methodical approach to the problem before us, [we shall proceed] thus. [1] Three things are observed in our soul according to the first division: the rational, the desiring, and the spirited. In these lie both the right actions of those who live according to virtue and the falls of those who slip away into vice. Therefore one who is to apply the suitable treatment to the part of the soul that has fallen sick must first examine in which part the passion has arisen, and then apply the treatment fittingly to what has suffered, so that through inexperience of the method of healing it is not one part that is sick and another that receives the treatment. So indeed we see many physicians, through ignorance of the part first affected, aggravating the disease by the very means with which they treat it. For when the illness is often due to a predominance of heat, since for those harmed by an excess of cold what warms and heats is useful, they thoughtlessly apply the same remedy that reasonably benefited the latter to those who are burning with excessive heat, and so make the condition hard to cure. Just as, then, physicians have held it most necessary to understand the property of the elements, so that the correction of whatever is in a state contrary to nature may come about in each of those who are well or ill disposed, so we too, going back to this division of what is observed in the soul, shall make the general theory the starting point and foundation of a treatment suited to the passions. Since, then, as we said, the property of the movements of the soul is divided threefold, into the reasoning, the desiring and the spirited, the right action of the reasoning part of the soul is a pious conception of the Divine, the knowledge that discerns good and evil, and a clear and unconfused opinion about the nature of things: what among beings is to be chosen, and what is loathsome and to be rejected. And again, from the contrary, the vice in this part will certainly be observed when there is impiety toward the Divine, lack of judgment about what is truly good, and a perverted and mistaken conception of the nature of things, so as to “put light for darkness and darkness for light,” as the Scripture says. Of the desiring part, the virtuous movement is to raise one's longing toward what is truly desirable and really good, and, if there is in us any power and disposition of love, to spend it all there, in being persuaded that nothing
Chapter 225
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ὁρεχτὸν εἶναι τῇ ἑαυτοῦ φύσει ἄλλο, πλὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς, καὶ τῆς τὴν ἀρετὴν πηγαζούσης φύσεως. Παρατροπὴ δὲ καὶ ἁμαρτία τοῦ τοιούτου μέρους ἐστὶν, ὅταν τις μεταγάγῃ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν πρὸς τὴν ἀνυπόστατον κενοδοξίαν" ἢ πρὸς τὸ ἐπιχεχρωσμένον τοῖς σώμασιν ἄνθος " ὅθεν γίνεται ἡ φιλοχρηματία, καὶ ἡ φιλοδοξία, καὶ ἣ φιλῃδονία, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὅσα ποῦ τοιούτου ἤρτηται τῆς χαχίας γένους. Πάλιν δὲ τῆς θυμώδους διαθέσεως χατόρθωμα μέν ἐστιν ἡ πρὸς τὸ χαχὸν ἀπέχθεια, καὶ ὁ πρὸς τὰ πάθη πόλεμος, καὶ τὸ πρὸς ἀνδρείαν ἐστομᾶσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν, ἐν τῷ μὴ καταπτήσσειν τὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς φοδερὰ μενα, ἀλλὰ μέχρις αἵματος πρὸ; τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνκαὶ ἀλγεινῶν χολαστηρίων, καὶ τῆς τῶν ἡδίστων διαζεύξεως, καὶ πάντων ἅπαξ τῶν διά τινος συνηθείας Β καὶ προλήψεως ἐν ἡδονῇ τοὺς πολλοὺς χατεχόντων χρείττονα γενέσθαι, τῆς τε πίστεως καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς προμαχόμενον. Τὰ δὲ ἀποπτώβματα τοῦ τοιούτου μέρους ὀστὶν ἅπασι πρόδηλα, ὁ φθόνος, τὸ μῖσος, ἡ μῆνις, αἱ λοιδορίαι, αἱ συμπλοκαὶ, αἱ ἐμφιλόνειχοί τε καὶ ἀμυντικαὶ διαθέσεις, αἱ μέχρι πολλοῦ παρατείνουσαι τὴν μνησιχαχίαν, καὶ πολλοὺς εἰς φόνους καὶ αἵματα χαταθήγουσαι. Μὴ γὰρ εὑρὼν ὁ ἀπαίδευτος λογισμὸς ὅπου χρήσηται λυσιτελῶς τῷ ὅπλῳ, ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν τρέπει τὴν τοῦ σιδήρου ἀχμὴν " καὶ γίνετα! τὸ ἐχ Θεοῦ δοθὲν ἡμῖν ἀμυντήριον ὅπλον τῷ χα- Τούτων τοίνυν κατὰ τὸν εἰρημένον διαχρινηθέντων τρόπον, ὅσα μὲν ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ λογιστιχοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς ἅπτεται μέρους, χαλεπώτερα παρὰ τῶν Πατέρων ἐχρίθη, καὶ μείζονος καὶ διαρχεστέρας καὶ ἐπιπονωτέρας τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς ἄξια - οἷον εἴ τις ἢρνήσατο τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν, ἣ πρὸς Ἰουδαϊσμὸν, ἣ πρὸς εἰδωλολατρείαν, ἣ πρὸς Μανιχαϊσμὸν, ἣ πρὸς ἄλλο τι ποιοῦτον ἀθεῖας εἶδος αὐτομολήσας ἐφάνη, ὁ μὲν ἐχουσίως ἐπὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον ὁρμήσας καχὸν, εἶτα χαταγνοὺς ἑαυτοῦ, χρόνον τὸν τῆς μετανοίας ἔχει, ὅλον τὸν τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ. Οὐδέποτε γὰρ μυστικῆς ἐπιτελουμένης εὐχῆς, μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ προσχυνῇῆσαι τὸν Θεὸ» καταξιοῦται, ἀλλὰ καταμόνας μὲν εὔξεται - τῆς δὲ χοινωνίας τῶν ἁγιασμάτων χαθόλου ἀλλότριος ἕσται " ἐν δὲ τῇ ὥρᾳ τῆς ἐξόδου αὐτοῦ, τότε τῆς τοῦ ἀγιάσματος μερίδος ἀξιωθήσεται. Εἰ δὲ συμβαίη παρ᾽ ἐλπίδας ζῆσαι αὐτὸν, πάλιν ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ κρίματι διαδιώσεται, ἀμέτοχος τῶν μυστικῶν ἁγιασμάτων μέχρι τῆς ἐξόδου γινόμενος. Οἱ δὲ βασάνοις καὶ τιμωρίαις χαλεπαῖς αἰχισθέντες, ἐν ῥητῷ χρόνῳ ἐπετιμήθησαν, οὕτω τῶν ἀγίων Πατέρων φιλανθρωπίᾳ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν χρησαμένων, ὡς οὐχὶ ψυχῆς γεγενημένης ἐν πτώματι, ἀλλὰ τῆς σωματικῆς ἀσθενείας πρὸς πὰς αἰκίας οὐχ ἀντισχούσης. Διὸ τῷ μέτρῳ τῶν ἐν πορνείᾳ πλημμελησάντων, καὶ ἡ βεόδιασμένη τε καὶ Οἱ ὃὲ πρὸς γόητας ἀπιόντες, ἢ μάντεις, ἣ τοὺς διὰ δαιμόνων χαθάρσιά τινα καὶ ἀποτροπιασμοῦς ἐνεργεῖν ὑπισχνουμένους, οὗτοι ἐρωτῶνται δι᾽ ἀχριθεία; καὶ ἀναχρίνονται, πότερον ἐπιμένοντες τῇ εἰς
horechton einai tę̄ heautou physei allo, plēn tēs aretēs, kai tēs tēn aretēn pēgazousēs physeōs. Paratropē de kai hamartia tou toioutou merous estin, hotan tis metagagę̄ tēn epithymian pros tēn anypostaton kenodoxian" ē pros to epichechrōsmenon tois sōmasin anthos " hothen ginetai hē philochrēmatia, kai hē philodoxia, kai hē philę̄donia, kai panta ta toiauta, hosa pou toioutou ērtētai tēs chachias genous. Palin de tēs thymōdous diatheseōs chatorthōma men estin hē pros to chachon apechtheia, kai ho pros ta pathē polemos, kai to pros andreian estomasthai tēn psychēn, en tǭ mē kataptēssein ta tois pollois phodera mena, alla mechris haimatos pro? tēn hamartian ankai algeinōn cholastēriōn, kai tēs tōn hēdistōn diazeuxeōs, kai pantōn hapax tōn dia tinos synētheias B kai prolēpseōs en hēdonę̄ tous pollous chatechontōn chreittona genesthai, tēs te pisteōs kai tēs aretēs promachomenon. Ta de apoptōbmata tou toioutou merous ostin hapasi prodēla, ho phthonos, to misos, hē mēnis, hai loidoriai, hai symplokai, hai emphiloneichoi te kai amyntikai diatheseis, hai mechri pollou parateinousai tēn mnēsichachian, kai pollous eis phonous kai haimata chatathēgousai. Mē gar heurōn ho apaideutos logismos hopou chrēsētai lysitelōs tǭ hoplǭ, eph᾽ heauton trepei tēn tou sidērou achmēn " kai gineta! to ech Theou dothen hēmin amyntērion hoplon tǭ cha- Toutōn toinyn kata ton eirēmenon diachrinēthentōn tropon, hosa men hamartēmata tou logistichou tēs psychēs haptetai merous, chalepōtera para tōn Paterōn echrithē, kai meizonos kai diarchesteras kai epiponōteras tēs epistrophēs axia - hoion ei tis ērnēsato tēn eis Christon pistin, hē pros Ioudaïsmon, hē pros eidōlolatreian, hē pros Manichaïsmon, hē pros allo ti poiouton atheias eidos automolēsas ephanē, ho men echousiōs epi to toiouton hormēsas kachon, eita chatagnous heautou, chronon ton tēs metanoias echei, holon ton tēs zōēs autou. Oudepote gar mystikēs epiteloumenēs euchēs, meta tou laou proschynę̄ēsai ton Theo» kataxioutai, alla katamonas men euxetai - tēs de choinōnias tōn hagiasmatōn chatholou allotrios hestai " en de tę̄ hōrą tēs exodou autou, tote tēs tou agiasmatos meridos axiōthēsetai. Ei de symbaiē par᾽ elpidas zēsai auton, palin en tǭ autǭ krimati diadiōsetai, ametochos tōn mystikōn hagiasmatōn mechri tēs exodou ginomenos. Hoi de basanois kai timōriais chalepais aichisthentes, en rhētǭ chronǭ epetimēthēsan, houtō tōn agiōn Paterōn philanthrōpią ep᾽ autōn chrēsamenōn, hōs ouchi psychēs gegenēmenēs en ptōmati, alla tēs sōmatikēs astheneias pros pas aikias ouch antischousēs. Dio tǭ metrǭ tōn en porneią plēmmelēsantōn, kai hē beodiasmenē te kai Hoi hoe pros goētas apiontes, ē manteis, hē tous dia daimonōn chatharsia tina kai apotropiasmous energein hypischnoumenous, houtoi erōtōntai di᾽ achritheia? kai anachrinontai, poteron epimenontes tę̄ eis
is desirable by its own nature except virtue and the nature that is the source of virtue. The deviation and sin of this part is when someone transfers desire to empty vainglory or to the bloom that colours bodies; from this arise love of money, love of glory, love of pleasure, and all such things as depend on this kind of vice. Again, the right action of the spirited disposition is hatred of evil, war against the passions, and the steeling of the soul to courage, so as not to cower before what the many find frightening, but [to resist] sin even to blood … and painful punishments, and separation from what is dearest, and, in a word, to become stronger than everything that holds the many fast in pleasure through some habit and preconception, fighting in defence of faith and virtue. The failings of this part are plain to all: envy, hatred, wrath, abuse, brawls, contentious and vengeful dispositions which prolong resentment for a long time and drive many to murders and bloodshed. For untrained reason, not finding where to use the weapon profitably, turns the edge of the iron against itself, and the weapon of defence given us by God becomes [a weapon] for … [2] These things having been distinguished in the manner stated, the sins that touch the reasoning part of the soul were judged by the Fathers more grievous, and deserving of a greater, longer and more laborious conversion: for example, if someone denied faith in Christ and was found to have deserted to Judaism, or to idolatry, or to Manichaeism, or to some other such form of godlessness. The one who rushed into such an evil willingly and then condemned himself has as the time of his repentance the whole time of his life. For he is never deemed worthy to worship God with the people when the mystical prayer is performed, but will pray by himself, and will be wholly excluded from the communion of the holy things; but in the hour of his departure he will then be deemed worthy of a share in the holy thing. And if it should happen that he lives beyond expectation, he will again live under the same judgment, having no share in the mystical holy things until his departure. But those who were tormented with tortures and grievous punishments were given a penance for a fixed time, the holy Fathers using such kindness toward them because it was not the soul that had fallen, but the body's weakness had not held out against the torments. Therefore by the measure of those who have sinned in sexual immorality the forced and … [3] Those who go to sorcerers or diviners, or to those who promise to perform certain purifications and averting rites through demons, are questioned and examined with exactness whether, remaining in the
Chapter 227
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Χριστὸν πίστει, ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγχης τινὸς συνηνέχθησαν ἐχείνῃ τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, καχώσεώς τινος, ἢ ἀφορήτου ζημίας ταύτην αὐτοῖς τὴν ὁρμὴν ἐμποιησάσης " ἣ καθόλου καταφρονήσαντες τοῦ πεπιστευμένου παρ᾽ ἡμῶν μαρτυρίου, τῇ τῶν δαιμόνων συμμαχίᾳ προσἐδραμον. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀθετήσει τῆς πίστεως καὶ πρὸς τὸ μὴ πιστεύειν εἶναι Θεὸν τὸν παρὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν προσχυνούμενον, ἐχεῖνο ἐποίησαν, δηλαδὴ τῷ χρίματι τῶν παραδάντων ὑπαχθήσονται. Εἰ δέ τις ἀδάαὐτῶν, εἰς τοῦτο προσήγαγε διά τινος ἡπατημένης ἐλπίδος παραχρουσθέντα:, ὡσαύτως ἔσται καὶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἡ φιλανθρωπία, καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα τῶν πρὸς τὰς βασάνους ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς ὁμολογίας ἀντισχεῖν μὴ δυνηθέντων. ἁμαρτημάτων τοιαύτη ἐστὶν ἡ διαίρεσις " τὸ μὲν γὰρ χαλεῖται μοιχεία, τὸ δὲ πορνεία. Τισὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἀχριδεστέρων ἤρεσε καὶ τὸ κατὰ πορνείαν πλημμέλημα, μοιχείαν εἶναι νομίζειν. Διότι μία ἐστὶν ἡ νόμίμος συζυγία,, καὶ γυναιχὶ πρὸς ἄνδρα, καὶ ἀνδρὶ πρὸς γυναῖχα. Πᾶν οὖν τὸ μὴ νόμιμον παράνομον πάντως, καὶ ὁ μὴ τὸ ἴδιον ἔχων, δηλαδὴ τὸ ἀλλότρῖον ἔχει " τῷ γὰρ ἀνθρώπῳ μία δέδοται παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ βοηθὸς, καὶ τῇ γυνα:χὶ μέα ἐφήρμοσται χεφαλή. Οὐχοῦν εἰ μέν τις τὸ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ σχεῦος., χαθὼς ὀνομάζει ὁ θεῖος ᾿Απόστολος, ἑωυτῷ συγχωρεῖ ὁ νόμος τῆς φύσεως τὴν δικαίαν χρῆσιν. Εἰ δέ τις ἕξω τοῦ ἰδίου τραπείη, ἐν ἀλλοτρίῳ πάντως γενήσεται ἀλλότριον δὲ ἑχάστῳ πᾶν τὸ μὴ ἴδιον, χἂυ μὴ ὁμολογούμενον ἔχε: τὸν χυριεύοντα. Οὔχουν πόῤῥω τοῦ χατὰ τὴν μοιχείαν πλημμελήματος, καὶ ἡ πορνεία τοῖς τὸν ἀχριδέστερον ἐξετάζουσι λόγον ἐδείχθη, λεγούσης καὶ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς " ὅτε Μὴ πολὺς ἴσθι πρὸς ἀλλοτρίαν " πλὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τοῖς ἀσθενεστέροις ἐγένετό τις παρὰ τῶν Πατέρων συμπεριφορὰ, διεχρίθη τὸ πλημμέλημα τῇ γενιχῇ διαιρέσει ταύτῃ, ὡς πορνείαν μὲν εἶναι καὶ λέγεσθαι, τὴν χωρὶς ἀδιχίας ἑτέρου γινομένην τισὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐκπλήρωσιν " μοιχείαν δὲ, τὴν ἐπιδουλήν τε καὶ τὴν ἀδιχίαν τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου. Ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ καὶ τὴν ζωοφθορίαν καὶ τὴν παιδεραστίαν εἶναι λογίζονται " διότι καὶ ταῦτα φύσεώς ἔστι μοιχεία. Εῤς γὰρ τὸ ἀλλότριόν τε καὶ παρὰ φύσιν γίνεται ἡ ἀδιχία. Ταύτης Ὁ τοίνυν τῆς διαιρέσεως καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ εἶδε: τῆς ἁμαρπίας γεγενημένης, χαθολιχὴ μέν ἔστι θεραπεία, τὸ τῆς ἐμπαθοῦς λύσσηφ, τῆς περὶ τὰς τοιαύτας ἡδονὰς, χαθαρὸν ἐχ μεταμελείας γενέσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον " ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἐν πορνείᾳ μολυνθέντων ἀδιχία τις τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ταύτῃ οὐ καταμέμιχται " διὰ τοῦτο διπλάσεον ὡρίσθη τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς ὁ χρόνος τοῖς ἐν μοιχείᾳ μιανθεῖσι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς ἀπηγορευμένοις χαχοῖς, ζωοφθορίᾳ τε καὶ τῇ χατὰ τοὺς ἄῤῥενας λύσσῃ " διπλασιάζεται γὰρ, ὡς εἶπον, ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἣ ἁμαρτία. Μία μὲν ἣ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου ἀδιχίαν συνισταμένη. Διαφορὰ δέ τίς ἐστιν ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς μετανοίας, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ ἡδονὴν πλημμελούντων
Christon pistei, hyp᾽ ananchēs tinos synēnechthēsan echeinę̄ tę̄ hamartią, kachōseōs tinos, ē aphorētou zēmias tautēn autois tēn hormēn empoiēsasēs " hē katholou kataphronēsantes tou pepisteumenou par᾽ hēmōn martyriou, tę̄ tōn daimonōn symmachią prosedramon. Ei men gar athetēsei tēs pisteōs kai pros to mē pisteuein einai Theon ton para tōn Christianōn proschynoumenon, echeino epoiēsan, dēladē tǭ chrimati tōn paradantōn hypachthēsontai. Ei de tis adaautōn, eis touto prosēgage dia tinos hēpatēmenēs elpidos parachrousthenta:, hōsautōs estai kai ep᾽ autōn hē philanthrōpia, kath᾽ homoiotēta tōn pros tas basanous en tǭ kairǭ tēs homologias antischein mē dynēthentōn. hamartēmatōn toiautē estin hē diairesis " to men gar chaleitai moicheia, to de porneia. Tisi men oun tōn achridesterōn ērese kai to kata porneian plēmmelēma, moicheian einai nomizein. Dioti mia estin hē nomimos syzygia,, kai gynaichi pros andra, kai andri pros gynaicha. Pan oun to mē nomimon paranomon pantōs, kai ho mē to idion echōn, dēladē to allotrion echei " tǭ gar anthrōpǭ mia dedotai para tou Theou boēthos, kai tę̄ gyna:chi mea ephērmostai chephalē. Ouchoun ei men tis to idion autou scheuos., chathōs onomazei ho theios ᾿Apostolos, heōytǭ synchōrei ho nomos tēs physeōs tēn dikaian chrēsin. Ei de tis hexō tou idiou trapeiē, en allotriǭ pantōs genēsetai allotrion de hechastǭ pan to mē idion, chau mē homologoumenon eche: ton chyrieuonta. Ouchoun porrhō tou chata tēn moicheian plēmmelēmatos, kai hē porneia tois ton achridesteron exetazousi logon edeichthē, legousēs kai tēs theias Graphēs " hote Mē polys isthi pros allotrian " plēn all᾽ epeidē tois asthenesterois egeneto tis para tōn Paterōn symperiphora, diechrithē to plēmmelēma tę̄ genichę̄ diairesei tautę̄, hōs porneian men einai kai legesthai, tēn chōris adichias heterou ginomenēn tisi tēs epithymias ekplērōsin " moicheian de, tēn epidoulēn te kai tēn adichian tou allotriou. En tautę̄ de kai tēn zōophthorian kai tēn paiderastian einai logizontai " dioti kai tauta physeōs esti moicheia. Ers gar to allotrion te kai para physin ginetai hē adichia. Tautēs Ho toinyn tēs diaireseōs kai en toutǭ tǭ eide: tēs hamarpias gegenēmenēs, chatholichē men esti therapeia, to tēs empathous lyssēph, tēs peri tas toiautas hēdonas, chatharon ech metameleias genesthai ton anthrōpon " epi de tōn en porneią molynthentōn adichia tis tę̄ hamartią tautę̄ ou katamemichtai " dia touto diplaseon hōristhē tēs epistrophēs ho chronos tois en moicheią miantheisi, kai en tois allois tois apēgoreumenois chachois, zōophthorią te kai tę̄ chata tous arrhenas lyssę̄ " diplasiazetai gar, hōs eipon, epi tōn toioutōn hē hamartia. Mia men hē kata tēn tou allotriou adichian synistamenē. Diaphora de tis estin en tǭ logǭ tēs metanoias, kai epi tōn kata hēdonēn plēmmelountōn
faith in Christ, they were drawn into that sin by some necessity, some affliction or unbearable loss having produced this impulse in them, or whether, wholly despising the testimony entrusted to us, they ran to the alliance of demons. For if they did this in rejection of the faith, so as not to believe that the God worshipped by Christians exists, they will clearly be brought under the judgment of the apostates. But if someone … of them, led to this, deceived by some false hope, there will likewise be kindness in their case too, after the likeness of those who could not hold out against tortures in the time of confession. [4] … the division of [the] sins [of the desiring part] is this: the one is called adultery, the other sexual immorality. Some of the more exact have thought fit to regard even the offence of sexual immorality as adultery, because there is one lawful union, of a woman to a man and of a man to a woman. Everything that is not lawful is therefore certainly unlawful, and he who does not have his own clearly has what belongs to another; for to the man one helper has been given by God, and to the woman one head has been fitted. So if someone [has] his own vessel, as the divine Apostle names it, the law of nature allows him its just use. But if someone turns aside outside his own, he will certainly be in what belongs to another; and everything that is not one's own belongs to another, even if it has no acknowledged master. So sexual immorality was shown by those who examine the matter more exactly to be not far from the offence of adultery, since the divine Scripture too says: “Do not be much with a strange woman.” Nevertheless, since some accommodation was made by the Fathers for the weaker, the offence was distinguished by this general division: sexual immorality is, and is called, the fulfilment of desire by some persons that takes place without wrong to another; adultery is plotting against and wronging what belongs to another. In this [class] they reckon also bestiality and pederasty, because these too are adultery against nature; for the wrong is done to what is another's and contrary to nature. With this division made in this form of sin too, the general treatment is that the person become pure, through repentance, of the passionate frenzy for such pleasures; but in the case of those defiled by sexual immorality no wrong is mixed with this sin. For this reason the time of conversion was set at double for those stained with adultery and with the other forbidden evils, bestiality and the frenzy for males; for, as I said, in such cases the sin is double: one … that which consists in wronging what is another's. There is also a difference in the account of repentance even among those who sin by pleasure, as follows.
Chapter 229
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τοιαύτη. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἐξαγόρευσιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁρμήσας, αὐτῷ τὸ καταδέξασθαι δι᾽ οἰχείας ὁρμῆς γενέσθαι τῶν χρυφίων χατἤγορος " ὡς ἤδη τῆς θεραπείας τοῦ πάθους ἀρξάμενος, καὶ σημεῖον τῆς πρὸς τὸ χρεῖττον μεταδολῆς ἐπιδειξάμενος, ἐν φιλανθρωποτέροις γίνεται τοῖς ἐπιτιμίοις. Ὁ δὲ φωραθεὶς ἐπὶ τῷ χαχῷ, ἣ διά τινος ὑποψίας ἣ χατηγορίας ἀχουσίως ἀπελεγχθεὶς, ἐν ἐπιτεταμένῃ γίνεται τῇ ἐπιστροφῇ " ὥστε χαθαρισθέντα δι᾽ ἀχριδείας αὐτὸν, οὕτως ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ἁγιασμάτων χοινωνίαν παραδεχθῆναι. "Ἔστι τοίνυν ὁ χανὼν τοιοῦτος, ὥστε τοὺς ἐν πορνείᾳ μολυνθέντας, ἐν τρισὶ μὲν ἕτεσι χαθόλου τῆς εὐχῆς ἀποδλήτους εἶναι" ἐν τρισὶ δὲ τῆς ἀχροάσεως μετέχειν μόνης, ἐν ἄλλοις δὲ τρισὶν ἔτεσι μετὰ τῶν ἐν τῇ ἐπιστροφῇ ὑποπιπτόντων προσεύχεσθαι, καὶ τότε μετέχειν τῶν ἁγιασμάτων. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν σπουδαιότερον χεχρημένων τῇ ἐπιστροφῇ, καὶ τῷ βίῳ δεικνύντων τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐπάνοδον, ἔξεστι τῷ οἰχονομοῦντι πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον τὴν ἐχχλησιαστιχὴν οἰχονομίαν, συντεμεῖν τὸν χρόνον τῆς ἀχροάσεως, καὶ τάχιον εἰς ἔπιστροφὴν ἀγαγεῖν, καὶ πάλιν καὶ τοῦτον συντεμεῖν τὸν χρόνον, καὶ τάχιον ἀποδοῦναι τὴν χοινωνίαν, ὅπως ἂν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ δοχιμασίᾳ ἐχχρίνῃ τὴν τοῦ θεραπευομένου χατάστασιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ τοῖς χοίροις ῥίπτειν τὸν μαργαρίτην ἀπείρηται, οὕτω τὸ ἀποστερεῖν τοῦ τιμίου μαργαρίτου τὸν ἤδη ἄνθρωπον διὰ τῆς χαθαωρότητός τε καὶ ἀπαθείας γενόμενον, τῶν ἀτόπων ἐστίν. Ἡ δὲ χατὰ μοιχείαν ἧτοι καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ εἴδη τῆς: ἀκαθαρσίας γενομένη παρανομία, χαθὼς προείρῆται, κατὰ πάντα ἐν τῷ αὑτῷ χρίματι θεραπευθήσεται, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὸ τῆς πορνείας ἄγος " τῷ δὲ χρόνῳ διπλασιάζεται. Παρατηρηθήσεται δὲ καὶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ ἡ ποὔ θεραπευομένον διάθεσις, ὃν τρόπον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν τῷ μολυσμῷ τῆς πορνείας συνενεχθέντων, ὥστε ἣ θᾶττον ἣ βραδύτερον γενέσθαι αὐτοῖς τὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μετουσίαν. Λείπεται πρὸς τούτοις τὸ θυμοειδὲς τῆς ψυχῆς προθεῖναι εἰς ἐξέτασιν, ὅταν παρασφαλεῖσα τῆς ἀγαθῇς τοῦ θυμοῦ χρήσεως, εἰς ἁμαρτίαν ἐχπέσῃ. Πολλῶν πε ὄντων χατὰ θυμὸν εἰς ἁμαρτίαν ἐνεργουμένων, καὶ πάντων χαχῶν, ἤρεσέ πως τοῖς Πατράσιν ἡμῶν, ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις μὴ λίαν ἀχριδολογεῖσθαι, μηδὲ πολλῆς ἄξιον ἡγεῖσθαι σπουδῆς, τὸ θεραπεύειν πάντα τὰ ἐχ ἢ) θυμοῦ παραπτώματα " καί τοί γε τῆς Γραφῆς, οὐ μόνον τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπαγορενούσης πληγήν ᾿ ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαν λοιδορίαν, ἣ βλασφημίαν, καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τοιοὔτον ὁ θυμὸς ἀπεργάζεται" μόνον δὲ τοῦ χατὰ τὸν φόνον ἄγους τὴν παραφυλαχὴν ἐποιήσαντο, διὰ τῶν ἐπιτιμίων. Διήρηται δὲ τὸ τοιοῦτον χαχὸν τῇ διαφορᾷ τοῦ ἑἐχουσίου τε καὶ ἀχουσίον, ἐν οἷς ἐχούσιος μέν ἐστι φόνος. Πρῶτον μὲν, ὁ ἐκ παρασχευῆς τετολμημένος τοῦ εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο εὐτρεπισαμένου, ὅπως ἂν τὸ ἄγος ἐργάσηται. Ἕπειτα δὲ χἀχεῖνος ἐν τοῖς ἐχουσίοις ἐνομίσθη, ὅταν τις ἐν συμπλοχῇ καὶ μάχῃ, τύπτων τὰ καὶ τυπτόμενος, ἐνέγχῃ κατά τινος καιρίου τὴν διὰ τῆς χειρὸς πληγήν. Ὁ γὰρ ἅπαξ τῷ θυμῷ κρατηθεὶς, καὶ τῇ ὁρμῇ τῆς ὀργῆς χαριζόμενος, οὐδὲν ἂν παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πάθους τῶν ἀναχόψαι τὸ χαχὸν δυναμένων
toiautē. Ho men gar aph᾽ heautou pros tēn exagoreusin tēs hamartias hormēsas, autǭ to katadexasthai di᾽ oicheias hormēs genesthai tōn chryphiōn chatēgoros " hōs ēdē tēs therapeias tou pathous arxamenos, kai sēmeion tēs pros to chreitton metadolēs epideixamenos, en philanthrōpoterois ginetai tois epitimiois. Ho de phōratheis epi tǭ chachǭ, hē dia tinos hypopsias hē chatēgorias achousiōs apelenchtheis, en epitetamenę̄ ginetai tę̄ epistrophę̄ " hōste chatharisthenta di᾽ achrideias auton, houtōs epi tēn tōn hagiasmatōn choinōnian paradechthēnai. "Esti toinyn ho chanōn toioutos, hōste tous en porneią molynthentas, en trisi men hetesi chatholou tēs euchēs apodlētous einai" en trisi de tēs achroaseōs metechein monēs, en allois de trisin etesi meta tōn en tę̄ epistrophę̄ hypopiptontōn proseuchesthai, kai tote metechein tōn hagiasmatōn. Epi de tōn spoudaioteron chechrēmenōn tę̄ epistrophę̄, kai tǭ biǭ deiknyntōn tēn pros to agathon epanodon, exesti tǭ oichonomounti pros to sympheron tēn echchlēsiastichēn oichonomian, syntemein ton chronon tēs achroaseōs, kai tachion eis epistrophēn agagein, kai palin kai touton syntemein ton chronon, kai tachion apodounai tēn choinōnian, hopōs an tę̄ heautou dochimasią echchrinę̄ tēn tou therapeuomenou chatastasin. Hōsper gar to tois choirois rhiptein ton margaritēn apeirētai, houtō to aposterein tou timiou margaritou ton ēdē anthrōpon dia tēs chathaōrotētos te kai apatheias genomenon, tōn atopōn estin. Hē de chata moicheian hētoi kai ta loipa eidē tēs: akatharsias genomenē paranomia, chathōs proeirētai, kata panta en tǭ hautǭ chrimati therapeuthēsetai, en hǭ kai to tēs porneias agos " tǭ de chronǭ diplasiazetai. Paratērēthēsetai de kai ep᾽ autǭ hē pou therapeuomenon diathesis, hon tropon kai epi tōn tǭ molysmǭ tēs porneias synenechthentōn, hōste hē thatton hē bradyteron genesthai autois tēn tou agathou metousian. Leipetai pros toutois to thymoeides tēs psychēs protheinai eis exetasin, hotan parasphaleisa tēs agathę̄s tou thymou chrēseōs, eis hamartian echpesę̄. Pollōn pe ontōn chata thymon eis hamartian energoumenōn, kai pantōn chachōn, ērese pōs tois Patrasin hēmōn, en tois allois mē lian achridologeisthai, mēde pollēs axion hēgeisthai spoudēs, to therapeuein panta ta ech ē) thymou paraptōmata " kai toi ge tēs Graphēs, ou monon tēn psychēn apagorenousēs plēgēn ᾿ alla kai pasan loidorian, hē blasphēmian, kai ei ti allo toiouton ho thymos apergazetai" monon de tou chata ton phonon agous tēn paraphylachēn epoiēsanto, dia tōn epitimiōn. Diērētai de to toiouton chachon tę̄ diaphorą tou heechousiou te kai achousion, en hois echousios men esti phonos. Prōton men, ho ek parascheuēs tetolmēmenos tou eis auto touto eutrepisamenou, hopōs an to agos ergasētai. Hepeita de chacheinos en tois echousiois enomisthē, hotan tis en symplochę̄ kai machę̄, typtōn ta kai typtomenos, enenchę̄ kata tinos kairiou tēn dia tēs cheiros plēgēn. Ho gar hapax tǭ thymǭ kratētheis, kai tę̄ hormę̄ tēs orgēs charizomenos, ouden an para ton kairon tou pathous tōn anachopsai to chachon dynamenōn
The one who of his own accord comes forward to confess the sin, in that by his own impulse he accepted to become the accuser of his hidden deeds, as one who has already begun the cure of the passion and shown a sign of change for the better, is placed under more lenient penalties. But the one caught in the evil, or convicted against his will through some suspicion or accusation, is placed under a stricter conversion, so that he is received into the communion of the holy things only after being cleansed with exactness. The canon, then, is this: those defiled by sexual immorality are for three years wholly excluded from the prayer; for three they share only in the hearing; for another three years they pray with those who prostrate themselves in conversion; and then they share in the holy things. But in the case of those who have pursued conversion more earnestly and show by their life their return to the good, it is permitted to the one who administers the church's dispensation for their benefit to shorten the time of hearing and bring them sooner to the [stage of] conversion, and again to shorten this time too and restore communion sooner, as he judges by his own examination the state of the one being healed. For just as throwing the pearl to swine is forbidden, so to deprive of the precious pearl one who has already become [a new] man through purity and freedom from passion is absurd. But the transgression committed by adultery, or by the other forms of uncleanness, as was said before, will be treated in every respect under the same judgment as the pollution of sexual immorality, but in time it is doubled. In this case too the disposition of the one being healed will be observed, in the same way as with those who fell into the defilement of sexual immorality, so that the share in the good comes to them either sooner or later. [5] It remains, besides these, to set the spirited part of the soul up for examination, when, having slipped from the good use of anger, it falls into sin. Though there are many sins worked through anger, and all of them evil, it pleased our Fathers somehow not to be very exact about the others, nor to think it worth much effort to treat all the faults that come from anger, although the Scripture forbids not only the mere blow, but also every abuse or blasphemy and whatever else of the kind anger produces; they made provision by penalties only against the pollution of murder. This evil is divided by the difference between the voluntary and the involuntary. Among these, voluntary murder is, first, that dared out of preparation by one who has equipped himself for this very purpose, so that he may commit the pollution. Next, this too was reckoned among the voluntary: when someone in a scuffle and fight, striking and being struck, brings down the blow of his hand on some vital part. For one who has once been mastered by anger and gives way to the impulse of wrath would take no thought, in the moment of passion, of anything that could check the evil …
Chapter 231
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πέλεσμα τοῦ φόνου, εἰς ἔργον προαιρέσεως, καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἀποτυχίαν ἀνάγεται. Οἱ δὲ ἀχούσιοι φανερὰ ἔχουσι πὰ γνωρίσματα " ὅταν τις πρὸς ἕτερόν τι τὴν σπουδὴν ἔχων, ἐξ ἀποτυχίας τι τῶν ἀνηχέστων δράσῃ. Ἐπὶ τούτων τοίνυν ὁ μὲν φόνος, εἰς τριπλασίονα χρόνον παρατείνεται, τοῖς δι᾽ ἐπιστροφῆς θεραπευομένοις τὸ ἑχούσιον ἄγος. Τρισεννέα γάρ εἰσιν ἐνιαυ-ποὶ, καθ᾽ ἕκαστον βαθμὸν τῆς ἐννάδος τῶν ἐτῶν ὀρι-» σθείσης, ὥστε ἐν μὲν τῷ παντελεῖ ἀφορισμῷ, χρόνον διαγενέσθαι ἀπειργόμενον τῆς Ἐχχλησίας" ἄλλα δὲ τοσαῦτα ἔτη ἐν τῇ ἀχροάσει παραμεῖναι, μόνης τῶν διδασχάλων καὶ τῆς τῶν Γραφῶν ἀχροάσεως, καὶ μετὰ τῆς τοῦ λαοῦ συστάσεως ἀξιούμενον, ἐν δὲ τρίτῃ ἐννάδι, μετὰ τῶν ὑποπιπτόντων ἐν τῇ ἐπιστροφῇ προσευχόμενον, οὕτως ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν μετουσίαν τοῦ ἁγιάσματος " δηλαδὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ τοιούτου, ἡ αὐτὴ προπστήρησις ἔσται παρὰ τοῦ οἰχονομοῦντος τὴν Ἐχχλησίαν, καὶ πρὸς λόγον πῆς ἐπιστροφῆς συντμηθήσεται αὐτῷ καὶ ἦ τοῦ ἐπιτιμίου “παράτασις, ὥστε ἀντὶ ἐννέα ἑτῶν, ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστῳ βαθμῷ ὀχτὼ ἢ ἑπτὰ ἢ ἕξ, ἣ καὶ πέντε μόνα γενέσθαι" εἴπερ τὸ μέγεθος τῇς ἐπιστροφῇς νιχοίη τὸν χρόνον, καὶ ὑπερδάλλουτο τῇ σπουδῇ τῆς διορθώσεως τοὺς ἐν τῇ μαχρᾷ προθεσμίᾳ ῥᾳθυμότερόν πως ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς χηλίδος χαθαίροντας. Τὸ δὲ ἀκούσιον, συγγνωστὸν μὲν, οὐ μὴν ἐπαινετὸν ἐκρίθη. Τοῦτο δὲ εἶπον, ὥστε δῆλον γενέσθαι, ὅτι χἂν ἀχουσίως τις γένηται ἐν τῷ τοῦ φόνου μιάσμασι, ὡς ἤδη βέδηλον αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄγους γενόμενον, ἀπόδλητον χάριτος ὁ κανὼν ἀπεφήνατο " ὅσος δὲ ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῇ Ψιλῇ πορνείᾳ τοῦ χαθαρσίου ὁ χρόνος, τοσοῦτος καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀχουσίως πεφονευχότων ἐδοκιμάσθη καλὸν ἔχειν, δηλαδὴ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τῆς προαιρέσεως τοῦ μεἡ ἐπιστροφὴ, μὴ πάντως παραφυλαχθῇναι τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἐτῶν, ἀλλὰ διὰ συντομία: ἀγαγεῖν αὑτὸν εἰς τὴν τῆς Ἐχχλησίας ἀποχατάστασιν, καὶ εἰς τὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μετουσίαν. Εἰ δέ τις μὴ πληρώσας τὸν χρόνον τὸν ἐκ τῶν κανόνων ἀφωρισμένον, ἐξ'δεύοι τοῦ βίου " χελεύει ἡ τῶν Ἡατέρων φιλανθρωπία μετασχόντα τῶν ἁγιασμάτων, μὴ χενὸν τοῦ ἐφοδίου πρὸς τὴν ἐσχάτην ἐχείνην καὶ μαχρὰν ἀποδημίαν ἐχπεμφθῆναι. Εἰ δὲ μετασχὼν τοῦ ἁγιάσματος, πάλιν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν νῳ τῷ βαθμῷ γενόμενον, ἐν ᾧ ἣν πρὸ τῆς κατὰ ἀνάγκὴν αὐτῷ δοθείσης χοινωνίας. Τὸ δὲ εἶδος τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας - οὕτω γὰρ ὀνομάζει τὴν πλεονεξίαν ὁ θεῖος ᾿Απόστολος" οὐχ οἶδα ὅπως ἀθεράπευτον ὑπὸ τῶν Πατέρων ἡμῶν περιώφθη. Καί τοί γε δοχεῖ τὸ τοιοῦτον χαχὸν τῆς τρίτης ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ καταστάσεως πάθος εἶναι. Καὶ γὰρ λογισμὸς τῆς τοῦ χαλοῦ χρίσεως ἁμαρτάνων, ἐν τῇ ὕλῃ τὸ χαλὸν εἶναι φαντάζεται, οὐ πρὸς τὸ ἄῦλον ἀναθλέπων χάλλος, καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία πρὰς τὰ κάτω δεῖ, τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ὀρεχτοῦ ῥέουσα. Καὶ ἡ φιλόνειχός τε καὶ θυμώδης διάθεσις, πολλὰς ἐκ «ἧς τοιαύτης ἁμαρτίας τὰς ἀφορμὰς λαμ-
pelesma tou phonou, eis ergon proaireseōs, kai ouk eis apotychian anagetai. Hoi de achousioi phanera echousi pa gnōrismata " hotan tis pros heteron ti tēn spoudēn echōn, ex apotychias ti tōn anēchestōn drasę̄. Epi toutōn toinyn ho men phonos, eis triplasiona chronon parateinetai, tois di᾽ epistrophēs therapeuomenois to hechousion agos. Trisennea gar eisin eniau-poi, kath᾽ hekaston bathmon tēs ennados tōn etōn ori-» stheisēs, hōste en men tǭ pantelei aphorismǭ, chronon diagenesthai apeirgomenon tēs Echchlēsias" alla de tosauta etē en tę̄ achroasei parameinai, monēs tōn didaschalōn kai tēs tōn Graphōn achroaseōs, kai meta tēs tou laou systaseōs axioumenon, en de tritę̄ ennadi, meta tōn hypopiptontōn en tę̄ epistrophę̄ proseuchomenon, houtōs elthein epi tēn metousian tou hagiasmatos " dēladē kai epi tou toioutou, hē autē propstērēsis estai para tou oichonomountos tēn Echchlēsian, kai pros logon pēs epistrophēs syntmēthēsetai autǭ kai ē tou epitimiou “paratasis, hōste anti ennea hetōn, eph᾽ hekastǭ bathmǭ ochtō ē hepta ē hex, hē kai pente mona genesthai" eiper to megethos tę̄s epistrophę̄s nichoiē ton chronon, kai hyperdallouto tę̄ spoudę̄ tēs diorthōseōs tous en tę̄ machrą prothesmią rhąthymoteron pōs heautous apo tēs chēlidos chathairontas. To de akousion, syngnōston men, ou mēn epaineton ekrithē. Touto de eipon, hōste dēlon genesthai, hoti chan achousiōs tis genētai en tǭ tou phonou miasmasi, hōs ēdē bedēlon auton apo tou agous genomenon, apodlēton charitos ho kanōn apephēnato " hosos de estin epi tę̄ Psilę̄ porneią tou chatharsiou ho chronos, tosoutos kai epi tōn achousiōs pephoneuchotōn edokimasthē kalon echein, dēladē kai en toutǭ tēs proaireseōs tou meē epistrophē, mē pantōs paraphylachthę̄nai ton arithmon tōn etōn, alla dia syntomia: agagein hauton eis tēn tēs Echchlēsias apochatastasin, kai eis tēn tou agathou metousian. Ei de tis mē plērōsas ton chronon ton ek tōn kanonōn aphōrismenon, ex'deuoi tou biou " cheleuei hē tōn Hēaterōn philanthrōpia metaschonta tōn hagiasmatōn, mē chenon tou ephodiou pros tēn eschatēn echeinēn kai machran apodēmian echpemphthēnai. Ei de metaschōn tou hagiasmatos, palin eis tēn zōēn nǭ tǭ bathmǭ genomenon, en hǭ hēn pro tēs kata anankēn autǭ dotheisēs choinōnias. To de eidos tēs eidōlolatreias - houtō gar onomazei tēn pleonexian ho theios ᾿Apostolos" ouch oida hopōs atherapeuton hypo tōn Paterōn hēmōn periōphthē. Kai toi ge dochei to toiouton chachon tēs tritēs en tę̄ psychę̄ katastaseōs pathos einai. Kai gar logismos tēs tou chalou chriseōs hamartanōn, en tę̄ hylę̄ to chalon einai phantazetai, ou pros to aulon anathlepōn challos, kai hē epithymia pras ta katō dei, tou alēthous orechtou rheousa. Kai hē philoneichos te kai thymōdēs diathesis, pollas ek «hēs toiautēs hamartias tas aphormas lam-
… the outcome of the murder is referred to an act of choice, and not to accident. Involuntary [murders] have clear marks: when someone, intent on something else, does something irreparable by accident. In these cases, then, murder, the voluntary pollution, is extended for those healed by conversion to three times the time. For there are thrice nine years, a nine-year period being set for each stage: so that in complete excommunication he spends [that] time excluded from the church; remains as many years again in the hearing, deemed worthy only of hearing the teachers and the Scriptures, together with the standing [?] of the people; and in the third nine-year period, praying with those who prostrate themselves in conversion, so comes to participation in the holy thing. Clearly in such a case too the same observation will be made by the one who administers the church, and in proportion to his conversion the extent of the penalty will be shortened for him, so that instead of nine years at each stage there are eight, or seven, or six, or even only five, if the greatness of his conversion overcomes the time, and in zeal for amendment he outstrips those who in the long term cleanse themselves from the stain somewhat more lazily. The involuntary was judged pardonable, but not praiseworthy. I have said this to make it clear that even if someone has become involved in the pollution of murder involuntarily, the canon has declared him excluded from grace, as one already made profane by the pollution. And the time of purification that applies to simple sexual immorality was judged good also for those who have killed involuntarily; clearly in this case too, if the conversion of the will is …, the number of years need not be strictly observed, but [the administrator may] by a shortening bring him to restoration to the church and to participation in the good. But if someone departs this life without completing the time determined by the canons, the kindness of the Fathers bids that he share in the holy things and not be sent away empty of provision for that last and long journey. But if after sharing in the holy thing he returns again to life, … in the stage in which he was before the communion given him out of necessity. [6] As for the form of idolatry (for so the divine Apostle names covetousness), I do not know how it was overlooked by our Fathers without treatment. And yet such an evil seems to be a passion of the threefold state in the soul. For reason, erring in its judgment of the beautiful, imagines that beauty is in matter, not looking up to immaterial beauty; and desire flows down to things below, away from what is truly desirable; and the contentious and spirited disposition takes many occasions from such a sin.
Chapter 233
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Θάνε:. Καὶ τὸ ὅλον εἰπεῖν, συμφωνεῖ ἡ τοιαύτη νόσος Α ν6ΓῸ οἱ τῷ ἀποστολιχῷ τῆς πλεονεξίας ὄρῳ. Ὁ γὰρ θεῖος ᾿Απόστολος, οὐ μόνον αὐτὴν εἰδωλολατρείαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ῥίζαν πάντων τῶν χαχῶν ἀπεφήνατο" καὶ ὅμως τὸ τοιοῦτον εἶδος παρώφθη τῆς νόσου ἀνεπίσχεπτόν τε καὶ ἀτημέλητον " διὸ καὶ πλεονάζει χατὰ τὰς Ἐχχλησίας, τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀῤῥώστημα, καὶ οὐδεὶς τοὺς ἐπὶ τὸν κλῆρον ἀγομένους περιεργάζεται, μήπως τῷ τοιούτῳ εἴδει τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας χατεμιάνθησαν. ᾿Αλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων, διὰ τὸ παρεῖσθαι τοῖς Πατρᾶσιν ἡμῶν, ἀρκεῖν ἡγούμεθα τῷ δημοτίῳ τῆς διδασχαλίας λόγῳ, ὅπως ἂν οἷόν τε ἧ, θεραπεύειν, ὥσπερ τινὰ πάθη πληθωριχὰ, τὰς πλεονεχτικὰς ἀῤῥωστίας διὰ τοῦ λόγου καθαίροντας. Μόνην δὲ τὴν χλοπὴν καὶ τὴν τυμδωρυχίαν, καὶ τὴν ἱεροσυλίαν πάθη νομίξομεν, διὰ πὸ οὕτως ἐχ τῆς τῶν Πατέρων ἀχολουθίας τὴν παρά- Β δοσιν ἡμῖν περὶ τούτου γενέσθαι. Καί τοί γε παρὰ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ, καὶ ὁ πλεονασμὸς, καὶ ὁ τόχος, τῶν ἀπειρημένων ἐστὶ, καὶ τὸ ἐχ δυναστείας τινὸς τῇ ἰδίᾳ κτήσει προσαγαγεῖν τὰ ἀλλότρια, χἂν ἐν προσχήτι πραγματείας τὲ τοιοῦτον τύχῃ γινόμενον. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὸ χαθ᾽ ἡμᾶς, εἰς ἐξουσίαν κανὼν ἀξιόπιστος, τὴν ἐπὶ τῶν ὁμολογουμένως ἀπηγορευμένων χανονιχὴν χρέσιν ἤδη τοῖς εἰρημένοις προσθήσομεν. Διήρηται οὖν ἢ χλοπὴ εἴς τε λῃστείαν καὶ εἰς τοιχωρυχίαν " καὶ εἷς μὲν ἐπ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων σχοπὸς, ἡ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἀφαίρεσις " πολλὴ δὲ κατὰ τὴν γνώμην αὐτῶν ἡ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐστὶ διαφορά. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ λῃστὴς, καὶ τὴν μιαιφονίαν εἰς συμμαχίαν τοῦ σπουδαζομένον παραλαμθάνει, πρὸς αὐτὸ τοῦτο παρασχεναζόμενος καὶ ὅπλοις καὶ πολυχειρίᾳ, καὶ τοῖς ἐπικαίροις τῶν τόσπῶὼν "ὥστε τὸν τοιοῦτον, τῷ χρίματι τῶν ἀνδροφόνων ὑπάγεσθαι, εἰ διὰ μεταμελείας ἑαυτὸν πρὸς τὴν Ἐχχλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπανάγοι. Ὁ δὲ δι᾽ ὑφαιρέσεως λανθανούσης σφετεριζόμενος τὸ ἀλλότριον, εἶτα δι᾿ ἐξαγορεύσεως τὸ πλημμέλημα αὐτοῦ τῷ ἱερεῖ φανερώσας, τῇ περὶ τὸ ἐναντίον τοῦ πάθους σπουδῇ θεραπεύσει τὴν ἀῤῥωστίαν" λέγω δὲ διὰ τοῦ τὰ προσόντα παρέχειν τοῖς πένησιν, ἵνα τῷ προέσθαι ἃ ἔχει, φανερὸς γένηται καθαρεύων τῆς χατὰ πλεονεξίαν νόσου. Εἰ δὲ μηδὲν ἔχοι, μόνον δὲ τὸ σῶμα ἔχοι, χελεύει ὁ ᾿Απόστολος διὰ τοῦ σωματιχοῦ χόπου τὸ τοιοῦτον ἐξιλάσασθαι πάθος. Ἔχε: δὲ ἡ λέξις οὕτως: Ὁ κλέπτων, μηκέτι κιλεπτέτω"- μᾶλλον δὲ κοπιάξω ἐργαζόμενος τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ἵνα ἔχῃ μεταδιδόναι τῷ χρείαν ἔχοντι. Ἢ δὲ τυμδωρυχία, καὶ αὐτὴ διήρηται εἰς τὸ συγγνωστόν τε καὶ ἀσύγγνωστον. Εἰ μὲν γάρ τις τῆς οὐσίας φειδόμενος, καὶ ἄσυλον ἀφεὶς τὸ χεχρυμμένον σῶμα, ὡς μὴ ἀναδειχθῆναι ἡλίῳ τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην τῆς φύσεως, λίθοις τισὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ τάφῳ προδεδλημένων σαιτο εἰς ἔργου τινὸς χατασχευὴν, ἐπαινετὸν μὲν οὐδὲ τοῦτό ἐστι " πλὴν ἀλλὰ συγγνωστὸν ἐποίησεν ἧ συνήθεια, ὅταν εἰς προτιμότερόν τι καὶ χοινωφελέστερον ἡ τῆς ὕλης μετάθεσις γίνηται, Τὸ δὲ διερευνᾶσθαι τὴν κόνιν ἀπὸ τῆς γεωθείσης σαρχὸς, καὶ ἀναχινεῖν τὰ ὀστᾶ, ἐλπίδι τὸν κόσμον τινὰ τῶν συγχατ-
Thane:. Kai to holon eipein, symphōnei hē toiautē nosos A n6GO hoi tǭ apostolichǭ tēs pleonexias orǭ. Ho gar theios ᾿Apostolos, ou monon autēn eidōlolatreian, alla kai rhizan pantōn tōn chachōn apephēnato" kai homōs to toiouton eidos parōphthē tēs nosou anepischepton te kai atēmelēton " dio kai pleonazei chata tas Echchlēsias, to toiouton arrhōstēma, kai oudeis tous epi ton klēron agomenous periergazetai, mēpōs tǭ toioutǭ eidei tēs eidōlolatreias chatemianthēsan. ᾿Alla peri men toutōn, dia to pareisthai tois Patrasin hēmōn, arkein hēgoumetha tǭ dēmotiǭ tēs didaschalias logǭ, hopōs an hoion te hē, therapeuein, hōsper tina pathē plēthōricha, tas pleonechtikas arrhōstias dia tou logou kathairontas. Monēn de tēn chlopēn kai tēn tymdōrychian, kai tēn hierosylian pathē nomixomen, dia po houtōs ech tēs tōn Paterōn acholouthias tēn para- B dosin hēmin peri toutou genesthai. Kai toi ge para tę̄ theią Graphę̄, kai ho pleonasmos, kai ho tochos, tōn apeirēmenōn esti, kai to ech dynasteias tinos tę̄ idią ktēsei prosagagein ta allotria, chan en proschēti pragmateias te toiouton tychę̄ ginomenon. Epeidē toinyn to chath᾽ hēmas, eis exousian kanōn axiopistos, tēn epi tōn homologoumenōs apēgoreumenōn chanonichēn chresin ēdē tois eirēmenois prosthēsomen. Diērētai oun ē chlopē eis te lę̄steian kai eis toichōrychian " kai heis men ep᾽ amphoterōn schopos, hē tōn allotriōn aphairesis " pollē de kata tēn gnōmēn autōn hē pros allēlous esti diaphora. Ho men gar lę̄stēs, kai tēn miaiphonian eis symmachian tou spoudazomenon paralamthanei, pros auto touto paraschenazomenos kai hoplois kai polycheirią, kai tois epikairois tōn tospōōn "hōste ton toiouton, tǭ chrimati tōn androphonōn hypagesthai, ei dia metameleias heauton pros tēn Echchlēsian tou Theou epanagoi. Ho de di᾽ hyphaireseōs lanthanousēs spheterizomenos to allotrion, eita di᾿ exagoreuseōs to plēmmelēma autou tǭ hierei phanerōsas, tę̄ peri to enantion tou pathous spoudę̄ therapeusei tēn arrhōstian" legō de dia tou ta prosonta parechein tois penēsin, hina tǭ proesthai ha echei, phaneros genētai kathareuōn tēs chata pleonexian nosou. Ei de mēden echoi, monon de to sōma echoi, cheleuei ho ᾿Apostolos dia tou sōmatichou chopou to toiouton exilasasthai pathos. Eche: de hē lexis houtōs: Ho kleptōn, mēketi kileptetō"- mallon de kopiaxō ergazomenos to agathon, hina echę̄ metadidonai tǭ chreian echonti. Ē de tymdōrychia, kai autē diērētai eis to syngnōston te kai asyngnōston. Ei men gar tis tēs ousias pheidomenos, kai asylon apheis to chechrymmenon sōma, hōs mē anadeichthēnai hēliǭ tēn aschēmosynēn tēs physeōs, lithois tisi tōn en tǭ taphǭ prodedlēmenōn saito eis ergou tinos chatascheuēn, epaineton men oude touto esti " plēn alla syngnōston epoiēsen hē synētheia, hotan eis protimoteron ti kai choinōphelesteron hē tēs hylēs metathesis ginētai, To de diereunasthai tēn konin apo tēs geōtheisēs sarchos, kai anachinein ta osta, elpidi ton kosmon tina tōn synchat-
And, to sum up, such a disease agrees with the Apostle's definition of covetousness. For the divine Apostle declared it not only idolatry but also the root of all evils; and yet this form of the disease was overlooked, unexamined and untended. That is why this sickness abounds in the churches, and no one inquires of those brought into the clergy whether they have been defiled by such a form of idolatry. But concerning these, since they were passed over by our Fathers, we think it enough to heal them, as far as possible, by the public word of teaching, cleansing covetous illnesses by the word like certain plethoric passions. Only theft, grave-robbing and sacrilege do we regard as passions [for penance], because the tradition about them has come down to us thus from the succession of the Fathers. And yet in the divine Scripture both increase and interest are among the things forbidden, and bringing what belongs to others into one's own possession by some power, even if this happens under the pretext of a business transaction. Since, then, … a trustworthy canon …, we shall now add to what has been said the canonical judgment on the things acknowledged to be forbidden. Theft, then, is divided into robbery and housebreaking; both have one aim, the taking of what belongs to others, but in intention there is a great difference between them. For the robber takes even bloodshed as an ally of his pursuit, equipping himself for this very thing with weapons, a band of men and advantageous positions, so that such a man is brought under the judgment of murderers, if through repentance he brings himself back to the church of God. But the one who appropriates what belongs to another by secret pilfering, and then makes his offence known to the priest by confession, will heal the illness by zeal for the opposite of the passion: I mean, by giving what he has to the poor, so that by giving up what he has he may be seen to be clean of the disease of covetousness. But if he has nothing, but has only his body, the Apostle bids him atone for such a passion by bodily labour. The wording runs thus: “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather labour, working at what is good, so that he may have something to share with the one in need.” [7] Grave-robbing too is divided into the pardonable and the unpardonable. If someone, sparing the remains and leaving the hidden body inviolate, so that the shame of nature is not exposed to the sun, uses some of the stones laid at the tomb for the construction of some work, not even this is praiseworthy; but custom has made it pardonable, when the material is transferred to something more honourable and of common benefit. But to search the dust of the flesh that has turned to earth and to disturb the bones in the hope of [taking] some ornament buried with it …
Chapter 235
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ἐδικάσθη, ᾧ καὶ ἡ ψιλὴ πορνεία, χαθὼς καὶ ἐν τῷ τοῦ οἰχονόμου ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ βίου τὴν ἰατρείαν τοῦ θεραπενομένου, ὥστε συντεμεῖν τὴν ἐχ τῶν χανόνων ὁρισθεῖσαν τοῦ ἐπιτιμίου προθεσμίαν. Ἡ δὲ ἱεροσυλία, παρὰ μὲν τῇ ἀρκαίᾳ Γραφῇ, οὐδὲ Ὁμοίως γὰρ ὅ τε ἐπὶ φόνῳ ἁλοὺς, καὶ ὁ τὰ ἀνατεθέντα τῷ Θεῷ ὑφελόμενος, τὴν διὰ τῶν λίθων τιμωρίαν ὑπέσχον. Ἐπὶ δε τῆς ἐχχλησιαστιχῆς συνηθείας οὐχ οἶδα πῶς συγχατάθδασίς τις ἐγένετο, καὶ συμπεριφορὰ, ὥστε ἀνεχτότερον νομισθῆναι τὸ τῆς τοιαύτης νόσου χαθάρσιον" ἕν ἐλάττονι γὰρ χρόνῳ παρὰ τὴν μοιχείαν, τοῖς τοιούτοις τὸ ἐπιτίμιον διετάξατο ἡ τῶν Πατέρων παράδοσις. Πανταχοῦ καὶ ἐν πλημμελήματος εἴδει τοῦτο χαθορᾷν προσήχει πρὸ πάντων, οἵα ἐστὶ τοῦ θεραπευομένου διάθεσις, μὴ τὸν χρόνον οἴεσθαι πρὸς θεραπείαν ἀρκεῖν " τίς γὰρ ἂν ἐχ τοῦ χρόνου ἴασις γέγοιτο; ἀλλὰ τὴν προαίρεσιν τοῦ ἑαυτὸν δι᾿ ἐπιστροφῆς ἰατρεύοντος. Ταῦτά σοι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ πολλὴν σπουδὴν ἐχ τῶν προχείρων συνθέντες, διὰ τὸ δεῖν τοῖς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐπιτάγμασι πείθεσθαι, χατὰ σπουδὴν ἀπεστείλαμεν. Σὺ δὲ τὰς συνήθεις ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εὐχὰς τῷ Θεῷ προσάγων μὴ διαλείπῃς. Χρεωστεῖς γὰρ ὡς εὐγνώμων υἱὸς, τῷ κατὰ Θεόν σε γεννήσαντι, τὴν διὰ τῶν προσευχῶν Ὑηροχομίαν, κατὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν τὴν κελεύουσαν τιμᾷν τοὺς γονέας, ἵνα εὖ σοι γένηται, καὶ ἔσῃ μακροχρόνιος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Δῆλον δὲ ὅτι ὡς σύμδολον ἱερατικὸν, δέξῃ τὸ γράμμα, καὶ οὐχ ἀτιμάσεις τὸ ξένιον, κἄν τι μιχρότερον τῆς σῆς μεγαλοφυῖας εἴη.
edikasthē, hǭ kai hē psilē porneia, chathōs kai en tǭ tou oichonomou ex autou tou biou tēn iatreian tou therapenomenou, hōste syntemein tēn ech tōn chanonōn horistheisan tou epitimiou prothesmian. Hē de hierosylia, para men tę̄ arkaią Graphę̄, oude Homoiōs gar ho te epi phonǭ halous, kai ho ta anatethenta tǭ Theǭ hyphelomenos, tēn dia tōn lithōn timōrian hypeschon. Epi de tēs echchlēsiastichēs synētheias ouch oida pōs synchatathdasis tis egeneto, kai symperiphora, hōste anechtoteron nomisthēnai to tēs toiautēs nosou chatharsion" hen elattoni gar chronǭ para tēn moicheian, tois toioutois to epitimion dietaxato hē tōn Paterōn paradosis. Pantachou kai en plēmmelēmatos eidei touto chathorąn prosēchei pro pantōn, hoia esti tou therapeuomenou diathesis, mē ton chronon oiesthai pros therapeian arkein " tis gar an ech tou chronou iasis gegoito? alla tēn proairesin tou heauton di᾿ epistrophēs iatreuontos. Tauta soi, ō anthrōpe tou Theou, kata pollēn spoudēn ech tōn procheirōn synthentes, dia to dein tois tōn adelphōn epitagmasi peithesthai, chata spoudēn apesteilamen. Sy de tas synētheis hyper hēmōn euchas tǭ Theǭ prosagōn mē dialeipę̄s. Chreōsteis gar hōs eugnōmōn huios, tǭ kata Theon se gennēsanti, tēn dia tōn proseuchōn Hyērochomian, kata tēn entolēn tēn keleuousan timąn tous goneas, hina eu soi genētai, kai esę̄ makrochronios epi tēs gēs. Dēlon de hoti hōs symdolon hieratikon, dexę̄ to gramma, kai ouch atimaseis to xenion, kan ti michroteron tēs sēs megalophuias eiē.
… [it] was judged [by the same measure] as simple sexual immorality, as also in the [judgment] of the administrator [is] the healing of the one being treated, from his very life, so as to shorten the term of penalty fixed by the canons. [8] Sacrilege, in the ancient Scripture, … not …; for both the one convicted of murder and the one who stole the things dedicated to God underwent alike the penalty of stoning. But in the church's custom I do not know how a certain condescension and accommodation came about, so that the purification of such a disease was thought more tolerable; for the tradition of the Fathers appointed the penalty for such people for a shorter time than for adultery. Everywhere, and in every form of offence, it is fitting to look before all at what the disposition of the one being healed is, and not to think that time suffices for healing (for what healing could come from time?), but the will of the one who heals himself through conversion. These things, O man of God, we have put together with much zeal from what was at hand and sent to you in haste, because one must obey the commands of brothers. Do not cease to offer to God your accustomed prayers on our behalf. For as a grateful son you owe to him who begot you according to God the care of his old age through prayers, according to the commandment that bids us honour parents, that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. Clearly you will receive the letter as a priestly token and will not dishonour the gift, even if it is somewhat smaller than your greatness.