Letter 625

To Memnon the Schoolmaster. God wishes to take from us only a small pretext, and thereafter he himself supplies the whole of what pertains to our salvation. Therefore we ought to condemn ourselves for our faults, and to confess to the Lord, and to ask for his mercies before death. For what toil is it, tell me, what hardship is it for us to persuade the sinner himself that he is a sinner, and to say this to God, and to ask for pardon?

Μικρὰ, παρ' ἡμῶν Θεὸς ἐπιλάβεσθαι προφάσεως βούλεται, καὶ τὸ πᾶν αὐτὸς εἰσφέρει λοιπὸν εἰς τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν ἡμετέραν. Διόπερ καταγνῶναι ὀφείλομεν ἑαυτῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀπταισμένοις, καὶ ἐξομολογήσασθαι τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ οἰκτιρμοὺς αἰτήσασθαι πρὸ θανάτου. Ποίας γὰρ, εἰπέ μοι, πόνος, ποῖος ἡμῖν τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν πεῖσαι ἑαυτὸν, ὅτι ἐστὶν ἁμαρτωλὸς, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, καὶ αἰτῆσαι συγγνώμην;