Letter 955

To Gaudentius the Silentiarius. [a silentiarius was an usher of the imperial court, charged with keeping silence in the palace] "Come down," it says, "into the mystical garden, and eat the tree-fruits." [Song of Songs] If, then, we have come to know that the Lord descended, by His dispensation, into the garden created by Him and through Him, that is, into the world that is among us, let us bear for Him evangelical fruits, which He also eats most gladly, such as joy, love, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and above all self-control, against which there is no law [Galatians 5:22-23]; for we are not under law, but under grace [Romans 6:14], as certain genuine and obedient sons of all that is the Father's.

Κατάδηθι, φησίν, εἰς τὸν μυστικόν, κῆπον, καὶ φάγε ἀκρόδρυα. Εἰ τοίνυν ἔγνωμεν τὸν Κύριον καταβάντα οἰκονομικῶς εἰς τὸν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ κτισθέντα κῆπον, τουτέστιν εἰς τὸν παρ᾽ ἡμῖν κόσμον, καρποφορήσωμεν αὐτῷ καρποὺς εὐαγγελικούς, οὓς καὶ ἥδιστα ἐσθίει, οἷον χαρὰν, ἀγάπην, εἰρήνην, μακροθυμίαν, χρηστότητα, ἀγαθωσύνην, πίστιν, πραότητα, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἐγκράτειαν, καθ᾽ ὧν οὐ κεῖται νόμος· οὐ γάρ ἐσμεν ὑπὸ νόμον, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ χάριν, ὡς υἱοί τινες γνήσιοι καὶ εὐείκει τῶν πατρικῶν πάντων.