Letter 829: Scripture speaks with precision to those who read carefully.

To the Same: For the things which they did thinking they would escape — having said, "If we leave him alone, the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation" — these very things, because they did them, they did not escape. For after they had killed the Lord, the Romans came and destroyed both the city and the nation, fulfilling the very prophecy they had sought to prevent. Thus the wicked, by their very efforts to avoid divine judgment, hasten its arrival. They killed the innocent one to preserve their earthly power, and in doing so they lost both the innocent one and the earthly power. For God turns the counsels of the ungodly against themselves, and the pit they dig for others becomes their own grave. Let this be a warning to all who think they can outwit the divine economy: the more they struggle against providence, the more tightly they are bound by its decrees.

ΡΚΗ΄. – ΤΩ ΑΥΤΩ. γοῦν ὅμως. "Α γὰρ ὡς διαφευξόμενοι ἔδρασαν, φή- σαντες· · Ἐὰν ἀφῶμεν αὐτὸν, ἐλεύσονται οἱ 'Ῥω- μαῖοι, καὶ ἀροῦσιν ἡμῶν καὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸ ἔθνος· » ταῦτ᾽, ἐπειδὴ ἔπραξαν, οὐ διέφυγον. Τῆς γὰρ πό- λεως αὐτῶν ἀλούσης ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων, καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ · καθαιρεθέντος, αὐτοὶ ὥσπερ μαστιγίαι τινὲς καὶ δραπέται, ἄτιμοί τε καὶ ἀλῆται πανταχοῦ διεσπάρη- σαν. Δώσουσι δὲ κἀκεῖσε τὴν ἀξίαν. Μὴ ἐπιγνόντες γὰρ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν, εἴσονται τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἧς κἀνταῦθα πεῖραν βραχείαν εἰλήφασι. ΡΚΘ. – ΤΟ ΑΥΤΟ. Εἰς τὸ· · Ἀπηνήνατο παρακληθῆναι. » Τὴν ὑπὸ λύπης βεβαπτισμένην ψυχὴν οὐδὲν οὖν τως εὐφρᾶναι δύναται, ὡς ἡ θεία μνήμη. Καὶ τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἄρα ὅπερ ἠθέλησας μαθεῖν, « ᾿Απηνήνατο παρακληθῆναι ἡ ψυχή μου· ἐμνήσθην τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ εὐφράνθην. » Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ ἀκένωτον, καὶ δυσμετα- χείριστον ἰατροῖς, τῆς αἰμοββοούσης πάθος, ἐν ἀχα- ριαίᾳ ῥοπῇ ἀπηλάθη (ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἥψατο, ὁ δὲ ἡν- ἐσχετο, τὸ δὲ ἐδραπέτευσεν)· οὕτω καὶ ἡ λύπη ἀν- θρωπίνη παράκλησιν ἀπωθουμένη, ὅτε πάσῃ παρα- μυθίᾳ δυσμεταχείριστος, ὑπὸ τῆς θείας μνήμης μό- νης ῥᾳδίως οἶχεται, καὶ εἰς τὸ μὴ ὂν χωρεῖ. ΡΛ'. – ΕΡΜΟΓΕΝΕΙ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟ (781. Εἰ ὡραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώ- πων ὁ Κύριος ἐν τῷ Δαβίδ λέγεται, πῶς λέγει πάλιν Ἡσαΐας, « Εἶδομεν αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν κάλλος, οὐδὲ εἶδος;» Οὐ τἀναντία ἑαυτῇ, ὦ ἱερὰ κεφαλὴ, δογματίζει ἡ θεία Γραφὴ περὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος διδάσκουσα, ἀλλ' ἑκάστῳ πράγματι τὸ οἰκεῖον καὶ πρέπον νέμει. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τὴν θεότητα βλέπει, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τὰ ἑκούσια πάθη. Φῶς μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀληθινὸν εἶπε, καὶ ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης, χαρακτηρὰ τε τῆς πατρικῆς ὑποστάσεως · τὸ μὲν διὰ τὸ φαιδρὸν τῆς οὐσίας, τὸ δὲ διὰ τὸ ἀἴδιον, μᾶλλον δὲ συναΐδιον· τὸ δὲ διὰ τὸ ἐνυπόστατον, καl διὰ τὸ γνησίοις χαρακτῆρσιν ἐμπρέπειν. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ τὸ ἀπαύγασμα ἀνυπόστατον νομισθῇ, ὁ χαρακτήρ τὴν ὑπόστασιν ἐγγυᾶται. Ὡραῖον δὲ παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ὡραῖον ἐν στολῇ, διὰ τὴν τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως ἔνθεον καὶ ἅπταιστον ἀρετὴν · οὐκ ἔχοντα εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, δυοῖ ἕνεκεν· ἑνὸς μὲν, ἐπειδὴ τὴν Δεσποτικὴν μορφὴν κρύψας, τὴν τοῦ δού- λου ἐπεδείκνυτο· ἑτέρου δὲ, διὰ τὸ ἐν τῷ πάθει, ὁ ἑκουσίως ὑπέστη, πᾶσαν παροινίαν κεκινῆσθαι. Ἐκρέματο γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἰκρίου, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μέσῃ, καὶ ἐν μητροπόλει, καὶ ἐν ἑορτῇ μεγίστῃ, καὶ ἐν ᾗ οὐ- δένα εἰκὸς ἦν ἀπολειφθῆναι · καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐκωμῴδουν, οἱ δὲ ἐχλεύαζον· οἱ μὲν ὠνείδιζον, οἱ δὲ ὅξος προσ- ```