The Thorns Of The Body

Ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους ἀνατελεῖ σοι καὶ φάγῃ τὸν χόρτον τοῦ ἀγροῦ. Τί γαρ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἀκολουθίας οὐκ ἐπώδυνόν ἐστιν, ἡδονῶν τε καὶ μεριμνῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ φυομένων; Ταύτας γὰρ εἶναι τὰς ἀκάνθας ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐμήνυσεν, αἴτινες συμπνίγουσι τὸν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ καλούμενον σπόρον, ἐὰν ὁ δεξάμενος μὴ εἰς βάθος τοῦτον ὑποδέξηται. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Ἐκλογὴ Εἰς Την Γενεσιν Source: Migne PG 39.1112b

Thorns and thistles it shall yield to you, and you shall eat the grass of the earth. 1 For why should pain not attend the body from which grow pleasures and cares? And these the Saviour speaks of as those thorns which choke the seed which He says has been sown by Him, 2 if He who receives it does not keep it in the depths of his heart. Didymus the Blind, Fragment On Genesis 1 Gen 3.18 2 Mt 13.22