Letter 766

To Theodulus the Presbyter. A certain prophet has cried out that "The naked man shall flee in that day" [Amos 2:16]. For the one who has been stripped naked of every temporal and vain care undoubtedly escapes the grasp of the adversaries. The naked man, therefore, will both flee and pursue: he will flee the plots and contrivances of the enemies, and then afterward, being yet more strengthened by the assistance and help from above, he will rise up against the foes, and, taking courage in the grace of God, he will in turn pursue those who formerly pursued him, according to what is written: that those whom you formerly feared as demons shall fear you, and shall flee, pursued by you along seven ways, those who beforehand entered against you in rank along the one highway and laid you waste.

Κέκραγέ τις προφήτης, ὅτι «Ὁ γυμνὸς φεύξεται, ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ.» Ὁ γὰρ γεγυμνωμένος πάσης προσκαίρου καὶ ματαίας μερίμνης, ἀναμφιβόλως ἐκφεύγει τὰς τῶν ἀντιπάλων λαβάς. Ὁ γυμνὸς τοίνυν, καὶ φεύξεται, καὶ διώξεται· φεύξεται μὲν τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς τῶν ἐχθρῶν καὶ μηχανὰς, εἶθ’ ὕστερον πλέον ἐνδυναμωθεὶς τῇ ἄνωθεν συνάρσει καὶ βοηθείᾳ, κατεξαναστήσεται τῶν πολεμίων, καὶ θαῤῥήσας τῇ χάριτι τοῦ Θεοῦ, διώξει πάλιν τοὺς πρὶν διώκοντας, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, ὅτι Θῦς πρῴην ἐφοβεῖσθε δαίμονας, φοβηθήσονται ὑμᾶς, καὶ φεύξονται ἑπτὰ ὁδοῖς διωκόμενοι ὑφ’ ὑμῶν, οἳ τὸ πρὶν στοιχηδὸν διὰ τῆς μιᾶς λεωφόρου πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰσελθόντες, καὶ ἐκπορθοῦντες ὑμᾶς.