Fragments

FRAGMENTA. CLEMENTIS ALEXANDRINI FRAGMENTA.

I. OUTLINES ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. PETER.

^A These little commentaries on the first canonical Epistle of St. Peter, the Epistle of St. Jude, and two Epistles of St. John, Cassiodorus seems to have translated; he makes mention of them in his book, *De Institutione Divinarum Litterarum*, where he says: “Clement of Alexandria interpreted the first Epistle of St. Peter, the first and second of St. John, and that of James (more correctly, Jude), in the Attic tongue.” Furthermore, he adds that, if Clement spoke there many things subtly but some things incautiously, he saw to it that they were translated into Latin in such a way that, with certain stumbling blocks removed, his purified doctrine might be drawn from more safely. He professes, naturally, that he used the right of a censor rather than a translator; and, by an unfortunate and—I hope—singular example, while he was eager to remove errors from the little book, he undermined its authority completely. This work appears in the *Bibliotheca Patrum* under the name *Adumbrationes* (Adumbrations), by which title it is praised by Faber Stapulensis in his *Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles*, which title it also bears in a very ancient manuscript codex of the monastery of St. Mary of the Mount of God, as Philippus Labbeus reports in his *Dissertatio historica de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis*. It is fair to believe that these commentaries were a portion of the *Hypotyposeis* of Clement, and that Cassiodorus—who translates [Clement’s] *Stromateis* as *contextor* (weaver)—rendered *Hypotyposeis* as *Adumbrationes*. From the same sources of the *Hypotyposeis*, we receive that not-to-be-despised fragment which the Greek catena of Nicetas on Job, edited a few years ago from our Bodleian library by Patricius Junius, has preserved for us; to which follow those things which are held in the Catena on Luke, which Corderius edited in Latin. Fell.

368 ^A Cap. 1, vers. 3.—*Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his great mercy has regenerated us.* For if God gave us birth from matter, afterwards, however, according to the progress of life, he regenerated us. The Father of our Lord, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; according to your faith, he is rising in us. Just as, conversely, he dies in us—our infidelity causing it. He said, moreover, again, that the soul never returns to a body a second time in this life; nor does it become unjust, which has been made angelic, nor malignant, lest it should again receive an occasion for sinning through the taking on of flesh: in the resurrection, however, both return into the body, they are joined together to one another according to their own kind, adapting themselves to each other according to the composition of the other by a certain congruence, like a fishing net, or the building of stones. Therefore Peter says (cap. II, v. 5): *And you yourselves as living stones are built up into a spiritual house*; signifying, of course, the place in heaven guarded for the angelic seat. *In you*, he says (cap. I, v. 5, 9), *who by the power of God are guarded by faith and speculation, about to receive the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.* Hence it appears that the soul is not naturally incorruptible, but by the grace of God, through faith and justice and through the intellect, it is made perfect and incorruptible. *Concerning which salvation*, he says (v. 10), *the prophets sought and searched,* and the rest which follows. It is declared by this that the prophets spoke with wisdom, and that the spirit of Christ was in them according to the possession and subjection of Christ; for through the archangels and the near angels who are called Christ- ^B -’s spirit, the Lord operates. Which, he says (v. 12), *were announced to you by those who evangelized you.* The old things, he says, which were done through the prophets and were hidden from the many, are now revealed to you through the evangelists. For to you, he says (ibid.), *they are manifest through the Holy Spirit who was sent*: this is the Paraclete, concerning whom the Lord said: *Unless I go, he will not come*. *Into which*, he says (ibid.), *the angels desire to look*; not apostate angels, as many suspect; but, as is true and divine, angels who desire to attain the progress of that perfection. *With the precious blood*, he says (v. 19), *as of a lamb unblemished and spotless.* Here he touches upon the Levitical and priestly ancient celebrations; he signifies, however, the soul made clean through justice, which is offered to God. *Foreknown indeed*, he says (v. 20), *before the foundation of the world.* For Christ was indeed foreknown before every creature as to what he was. *Manifested, however, in the last times, through a generated body. Regenerated not of corruptible seed* (v. 23). Corruptible, therefore, is the soul which is poured out together ^C with the body, as some think. The Word of the Lord, he says (v. 25), *remains forever*; as much the prophecy as the divine doctrine. (Cap. II, v. 9): *You, however, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood.* For that we are a chosen race by the election of God is abundantly clear. *Royal*, however, he said, because we have been called to the kingdom of Christ. *Priesthood*, however, on account of the oblation which is made by prayers and doctrines, by which are acquired the souls which are offered to God. Who, when ^D we are...

he was reviled, he says (v. 23), did not revile; when he suffered, he did not threaten. The Lord did this truly through goodness and patience. He delivered himself, however, to him who was judging him unjustly (ibid.), or rather, if we consider it a hyperbaton, it is as follows: he delivered himself to those judging him according to an unjust law; because he was useless to them, being as he was righteous: or he delivered those who were judging unjustly unto God, that is, those who were most wickedly condemning him, and were pressing for his death without cause, in order that, by suffering punishments, they might be instructed. For who wishes to love life, he says (ch. III, v. 10), and to see good days; ^A that is, who wishes to be eternal and incorruptible. By "life," he means the Lord; by "good days," he means the holy ones. Because the eyes of the Lord, he says (v. 12), are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers. He signifies the multiform contemplation of the Holy Spirit: The face of the Lord is against them who do evil (v. 12), this refers either to judgment, or vengeance, or manifestation. But the Lord Christ, he says (v. 15), sanctify in your hearts. You have this same in the Lord’s Prayer: Hallowed, he says, be thy namea. For Christ, he says (v. 18), once died for our sins, the just for the unjust, that he might offer us to God, put to death, indeed, in the flesh, but vivified in the spirit. He says this, reducing it to the faith of those who heard. That is: he has been vivified in our spirits. Coming, he says (v. 20), he preached to those who were once incredulous; they did not see his form, but they heard the sound of his voice. While he endures, he says (ibid.), the long-suffering of God. So good is God that he produces an effect even through the instruction of salvation. Through the resurrection, he says (v. 21), of Jesus Christ; namely, that which has been produced in us through faith. Angels being subject to him (v. 22), who are the first order: and authorities being subject, who are of the second order: and also powers being subject, ^B which are declared to belong to the third order. Who shall render, he says (ch. IV, v. 5), an account to him who is prepared to judge the living and the dead. These are instructed according to the preceding judgments. For this reason he also adds (v. 6): For there were those who were formerly unbelievers, and for this reason the Gospel was also preached to the dead, to us who were formerly infidels. That they should be judged indeed according to man, he says (ibid.), in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. That is, those who had fallen from the faith; while they are still in the flesh, they are judged according to previous judgments, that they may repent. Therefore he also adds, saying: Let them live in the spirit according to God. So also Paul; for he himself says something of the sort, when he says that I have delivered [him] to Satan, that he might live in the spiritb. (Ch. IV, v. 10): As good, namely, stewards of the multiform grace of God. Similarly also Paul: In many ways, he says, and in many modes, God formerly spoke to our fathersc. Rejoice, he says (v. 13), communicating in the passions of Christ; that is, if you are righteous, you suffer for righteousness, just as Christ suffered for righteousness. Blessed, he says (v. 14), because the Spirit of his honor and of the power of God rests upon you. This possessive "his" signifies the angelic Spirit: for the glory of God, they are those through whom, according to faith and justice, he is glorified unto a glorious glory, according to the progress of the initiated faithful. It can also be understood in this way: the Spirit of God [rests] upon us; ^C that is, the one who comes upon the soul according to faith, like a certain luster of the mind and beauty of the spirit. For, he says (v. 17), the time for judgment [is] to begin from the house of the Lord. For those settled in persecutions will follow judgment. But God, he says (ch. V, v. 10), of all grace. He said "of all grace," because he is good, and he himself is the giver of all good things. Mark my son greets you (v. 14). Mark, a follower of Peter, as Peter was publicly preaching the Gospel in Rome before certain soldiers of the Emperor, and bringing forth many witnesses of Christ; that they might be able to commit to memory what was being said, he wrote from those things which were spoken by Peter, the Gospel which is called according to Mark. Just as Luke also, and the Acts of the Apostles, pursued the style he recognized, and translated the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews.

II. OF THE SAME, ADUMBRATIONS ON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE.

369 Judas, who wrote the Catholic Epistle, being a brother of the sons of Joseph, very religious; although he knew the relationship of the Lord, he still did not say that he himself was his brother; but what did he say (ch. I, v. 1)? Judas a servant of Jesus Christ, as of the Lord; but a brother of James. For this is true; he was his brother, [namely, of] Joseph. For some men have entered in by stealth, he says (v. 4), ungodly men who were long ago written down and predestined for the judgment of our God, not that they were made ungodly, but being already ungodly, they were written down for judgment. ^D For since the Lord God once, he says (v. 5), delivered the people from the land of Egypt, subsequently he destroyed those who did not believe; that he might instruct them through punishment. In the present time, indeed, they are punished and perish for the sake of those who are saved, until they are converted to the Lord. But the angels, he says (v. 6), who did not keep their own principality, namely, that which they had received according to their progress, but abandoned, he says (ibid.), their own habitation, signifying the heaven and the stars, they became apostates and

reserved them unto the judgment of the great day in everlasting chains under darkness. By the place near to the earth, he signifies the dark air. By chains, he means the loss of the honor in which they had been established, and the desire for base things; for those bound by their own lusts cannot be converted. Even as Sodom, he says (v. 7), and Gomorrha — by these the Lord signifies that their punishment is more lenient, and that they have been instructed to repent. ^A Likewise these also, he says (v. 8), dreamers: namely, those who dream up by their own imagination pleasures and reprobate desires, thinking them to be good, whereas they are not what is truly good, nor are they superior to any good. They defile the flesh, he says (ibid.), yet they despise the lordship and blaspheme the majesty; that is, the only Lord who is truly our Lord, Jesus Christ, and who alone is to be praised. By majesty, he says, they blaspheme the angels. (V. 9): When Michael the archangel, disputing with the devil, argued about the body of Moses: this confirms the assumption of Moses. And here Michael is spoken of as he who was arguing with the devil through the angel who is near to us. But these men, he says (v. 10), blaspheme whatever they do not understand. And whatever they know naturally like irrational animals, in these they are corrupted. He signifies that they eat and drink and indulge in sexual matters, and says they perpetrate other things that are common with animals that lack reason. Woe unto them, he says (v. 11), for they have gone in the way of Cain. So also we are subject to the sin of Adam according to the likeness of the transgression. Clouds, he says (v. 12), without water; that is, those who do not possess within themselves the divine and fruitful Word. For this reason, he says (ibid.), such men are carried about by winds and violent spirits. Trees, he says (ibid.), of autumn, unfruitful, and indeed unfaithful, who bring forth no fruit of fidelity. Twice dead, he says (ibid.); once, namely, when they sinned by transgressing; and secondly, when they are handed over to punishments according to the predestined judgments of God: for it is to be reckoned as death even when one does not immediately merit an inheritance. Waves, he says (v. 13), ^C of a fierce sea. By these words he signifies the life of the Gentiles, whose end is of abominable ambition. Wandering stars, this signifies those who stray and are apostates: from among such stars are those who have fallen from the settlements of the angels, for whom, on account of their apostasy, the gloom of darkness is reserved for eternity. ^B And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied concerning these, he says (v. 14). By these words he confirms the prophecy. These, he says (v. 19), who separate the faithful from the unfaithful, have been refuted for their own infidelity. And again, discerning from the flesh. Sensual, he says (ibid.), not having the Spirit: the Spirit, namely, which comes upon those who live according to the exercise of righteousness through faith. But you, he says (v. 20), most beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith in the Holy Spirit. But some, he says (v. 21), save, snatching them from the fire (v. 22); but on others have mercy in fear, that is, those who are falling into the fire, teach them how they may free themselves. Hating, he says (v. 23), even the garment spotted by the flesh; the spot on the garment of the soul is clearly the spirit polluted by carnal concupiscences. But to Him, he says (v. 24), who is able to keep you without stumbling, and to establish you before the presence of His glory, spotless in joy. In the presence of His glory, he says, before the angels. And when he says they are to be established ^D spotless, he means that they are made like the angels, just as when Daniel speaks of the people, *and he comes into the presence of the Lord*, he does not say this because he saw God; for it is impossible that anyone should see God without a clean heart: but he says this because everything the people were doing was in the sight of God, and stood manifest to Him; that is, because nothing is hidden from the Lord. But in the Gospel according to Mark, when the Lord is asked by the high priest if He is Christ the Son of the Blessed, answering He said: *I am, and you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power* [Mark 14]. By powers, He signifies the holy angels. Hence, even when He says *at the right hand of God*, He refers to these same ones because of the equality and likeness of the holy and angelic powers who are called by the name of God. He says, therefore, that He sits on the right hand, that is, that He rests in eminent honor. But in the other Gospels it is said that to the high priest asking if He were the Son of God, He did not answer in the contrary. But what did He say? *You say*. Answering quite well. For if He had said, "as you understand," He would surely have lied by not confessing Himself to be the Son of God, for they did not think so of Him; but by saying *you say*, He spoke truly. For what they did not understand, they said in words; that He confessed to be the truth.

III. OF THE SAME, ADUMBRATIONS ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

370. Cap. 1, v. 1 — That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have heard. Consequent to the Gospel according to John, and agreeing with it, this Epistle also contains a spiritual beginning. Therefore, what he says *from the beginning*, the presbyter explained in this way, that the beginning of generation is not separate from the beginning of the Creator. For when he says *that which was from the beginning*, he touches upon the beginningless generation of the Son existing simultaneously with the Father: the Word was therefore the signifier of eternity, not having a beginning, just as the Word itself...

consists as one with the Father in regard to the equality of substance, being eternal and uncreated; for that He always was the Word is signified by saying, *In the beginning was the Word*. But as to what He said, *which we have seen with our eyes*, He signifies the Lord’s presence in the flesh, and *our hands*, he says (ibid.), *have handled concerning the Word of life*. He signifies not only His flesh, but also the powers of the same Son, just as a ray of the sun passing down to these lowest places, which ray, coming in the flesh, was made palpable to the disciples. It is reported, therefore, in the traditions that John, touching the body itself which was external, cast his hand into the depths, and that the hardness of the flesh offered no resistance at all, but rather provided a place for the disciple’s hand. Because of this he adds: *And our hands have handled concerning the Word of life*; for He who came in the flesh has indeed been made touchable, just as the life which was manifested (v. 2). For even in the Gospel it says thus: *And that which has been made, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men*. And *we announce*, he says (ibid.), *to you the eternal life which was with the Father, and was made plain unto you*. By the appellation of the Father, he signifies that the Son also was always without beginning. *For God*, he says (v. 5), *is light*; he does not express the divine essence, but wishing to declare the majesty of God, he adapted to the divinity what is better and more excellent among men. Thus also Paul calls Him *unapproachable light*. But John himself also, in the same Epistle, says, *God is love*; signifying the virtues of God, that He is clement and merciful, and that He is light, that is, he constitutes the righteous according to the progress of the soul through charity. God therefore is light, who is ineffable according to the nature of His substance: *And darkness*, he says (ibid.), *is not in Him*, that is, no wrath, no passion, no holding of evil against anyone, destroying nothing, but granting salvation to all. But light signifies either the precepts of the law, or faith, or doctrine. Darkness truly is the contrary of these, not as if it were another path. For there is indeed one path according to the divine precepts. For the Monad is the work of God, but the Dyad, and whatever exists besides the Monad, comes about from the perversity of life. ^B And *the blood of His Son*, he says (v. 7), *cleanses us*. The doctrine of the Lord, indeed, which is very strong, has been called His blood. *But if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us* (v. 9). His doctrine, that is to say or the Word, is truth. And *if anyone*, he says (cap. II, v. 1), *has sinned, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ*. For just as the Lord is an advocate for us before the Father, so also is the advocate whom He deigned to send after His assumption. For these primitive virtues, both first created and existing immovable according to substance ^C and with the subject angels and archangels, with whom they are called equivocally, perform various operations. Thus also Moses calls the virtue of the angel Michael through the angel nearest to and lowest than himself. Similarly, we also find this in the holy prophets, but to Moses, indeed, a near and neighboring angel appeared. He heard him, and Moses spoke to him, manifestly face to face. But to other prophets, a certain movement occurred according to the operation of the angels, as it were of those hearing and seeing. Therefore they alone heard, and they alone perceived, as is also manifested in Samuel; Elisha also alone heard the voice by which he was called. But if it were a manifest and common voice, it would be heard by all present; now, however, it was heard by him alone in whom the movement that was made by the angel was operating. Moreover, he says (v. 2), the Lord is not only a propitiator for our sins, that is, of the faithful, but also for the whole world; therefore He saves all, but some by converting them through punishments, others by following of their own spontaneous will, and with the dignity of honor, so that *every knee should bow to Him, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth*; that is, angels, men, and souls who migrated from this temporary life before His advent. And in this we know that we have known Him, *if we keep His commandments* (v. 3); for he who is intellectual, he certainly also performs the works which pertain to the office of virtue. But he who performs works ^D is not immediately also intellectual. For he can be a knower of right operations, yet not of intelligible mysteries; but knowing finally that certain works are performed out of fear of punishment, others truly for the sake of the promise of reward, he teaches the perfection of the intellectual man completing works through charity; therefore he subjoins and says (v. 5): *But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the charity of God is perfected*. For in this we know that we are in Him according to faith and according to charity. *I am not writing a new commandment to you, but the old commandment which you have had from the beginning* (v. 7), through the law, namely, and the prophets. Where it is said that God is one. Therefore he also adds (ibid.): *For the old commandment is the word which you have heard*. But again he says (v. 8): *But this is the commandment that the darkness has passed away*, of perversion, that is to say, *and the true light, behold, already has shone*; according to faith, that is, according to intellect, according to the testament, working according to the judgments prepared in men. *He who says*, he says (v. 9), *that he is in the light, he says he is in the light in truth. And hates his brother*, he says (ibid.). He says "brother," clearly, not only a neighbor, but also the Lord. For the unfaithful hate Him, and those not keeping His commandments. Because of which he also adds (v. 10): *He who loves his brother, remains in the light, and there is no scandal in him*. Then progress and pro-

- ^Agress signifies the souls still placed in the flesh, and he calls them "little children" to whom sins have been remitted for the name of the Lord; for many believe only in the name. But he calls "fathers" the perfect, those who have understood what was from the beginning, and have perceived it intellectually (v. 13). Specifically, the Son of whom he spoke above, that He was from the beginning. "I write," he says (ibid.), "to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one." The strong young men are those who despise pleasures; "the evil one" signifies the pride of the devil. But the "children" know the Father, as those who have fled from idols and been called to the one God. "Because the world," he says (v. 15), "is in the evil one." Are not the world and all things that are in the world called God's creation, and are these not very good? But the covetousness of the flesh and of the eyes, and the ambition of the age (v. 16), which come about from the perversion of life, are not from the Father, but are from the world and from you. Therefore the world also "passes away and its concupiscence" (v. 17): "but he who does the will of God and His commandments remains forever." "They went out from us," he says (v. 19), "but they were not of us; not that the angels apostatized, nor that men fell, but that it might be made manifest that they are not of us" (88). He distinguishes clearly enough the race of the elect and the lost, and that indeed which, remaining in the faith, has the anointing from the Holy One, which occurs according to faith. He who does not truly remain in the faith is a liar and an antichrist. "He who says," he says (v. 22), "that Jesus is not the Christ." For Jesus is the Savior and deliverer and Christ the King: he who denies the Son (v. 23), by being ignorant of Him, has neither the Father, ^B nor does he know Him. But he who knows the Son knows the Father also according to knowledge; when the Lord has been manifested, in the second advent, he will have confidence and will not be put to shame. Which shame is a great punishment. "Everyone," he says (v. 29), "who does justice, is born of God," that is to say, born again according to faith. (Cap. III, v. 1): "Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." He calls the world those living in worldly pleasures. "Beloved," he says (v. 2), "now we are the children of God, not by natural affection, but because we have God as Father." For charity is greater, that although we have no kinship with God, He nonetheless loves us, and calls us His children. (Ibid.): "And it has not yet appeared what we shall be: that is, to what glory we are to attain: for if He should be mani- ^Dfested, that is, if we should have become perfect, we shall be like Him, as if resting and justified in the ^Cvirtue, so that we may see His very face as it is, comprehensibly. (V. 8): But he who does injustice is of the devil, that is, of the father the devil, both pursuing and choosing the same thing. "From the beginning," he says (ibid.), "the devil sins." From the beginning, that is, from which he began to sin, persisting in sinning inconvertibly. "Everyone," he says (v. 9), "who is born of God, does not sin, because His seed remains in him." His Word, namely, in him who has been born again according to faith. (V. 10): Thus we understand the children of God just as also the children of the devil, choosing things similar to the devil; so it is also said to be "of the evil one." (V. 15): "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer." For in this, according to infidelity, Christ dies; rightly therefore he adds, saying (ibid.): "And you know that every murderer and infidel does not have eternal life remaining in himself." For in the faithful mind living Christ remains, for He Himself "for us" (v. 16), that is, for the believers, "laid down His soul"; that is, for the apostles. If therefore He laid down His soul for the apostles, yet he calls the apostles themselves—as if he were saying: "We, I say, the apostles, for whom He laid down His soul, ought to lay down our souls for our brethren" (ib.); for the salvation of neighbors was the glory of the apostles, "because," he says (v. 20), "God is greater than our heart," that is, the virtue of God is the conscience which will follow the soul, for which reason he adds and says (ibid.): "Because He knows all things." (V. 21): "Beloved, if our heart does not accuse us, we shall have confidence before God." (Cap. IV, v. 2): "In this we know that He remains in us, from the Spirit whom He gave to us according to the episcopate, that is, and the providence of future things." "Perfect," he says (v. 18), "charity casts out fear." For the perfection of the faithful man is charity. "This is He," he says (cap. v, v. 6), "who came by water and blood; and again (v. 7), because there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, which is life, and the water, which is regeneration and faith, and the blood, which is knowledge, and these three are one." In the Savior, indeed, these are the salutary virtues, and life itself exists in His Son Himself. (V. 14): "And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." He did not say absolutely whatever we might ask, but what it is necessary to ask. (V. 19): "And the whole world is set in the evil one"; not the creation, but worldly men, and those living according to concupiscences. (V. 20): "And the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding," according to the faith, namely, coming into us, which is also called the Holy Spirit.

OF THE SAME: ADUMBRATIONS ON THE SECOND EPISTLE OF JOHN

The second Epistle of John, which is written to the virgins, is very simple. It is written, however, to a certain Babylonian named Electa, but it signifies the election of the holy Church. He asserts in this Epistle that the persecution of the faith is not outside of charity, and that no one should divide Jesus Christ; but one must believe in one.

^A Such conduct is not inhumane, nor does it discourage or refrain from debating with such people, but it warns those who are not capable of treating divine matters intelligibly, lest they be led astray from the doctrine of truth by plausible arguments. I consider, however, that one ought not even to pray with such people, since the greeting in a prayer made at home, after rising from prayer, is a sign of joy and peace.

V. FROM NICETAS OF HERACLEA, METROPOLITAN, ON THE EXEGESIS OF JOB.

FROM NICETAS’ CATENA ON JOB. (Chap. 1, verse 21.)

^B Job’s words can be understood even more elegantly: "Naked of vice and sin," as if formed from the earth like the womb of my mother at the beginning, "naked I shall return" into it; not, however, naked of possessions—for that would be trivial and common—but of vice and sin, and of that dark idol which receives those who have lived unjustly. According to that which is familiar and evident to all, we are all born naked, and we are carried forth naked, bound only by the swaddling clothes which are applied to the human bodies of the dead. For God has prepared another life for us, and has constructed the present life as a road toward the course ^C of that one, establishing those possessions as provisions to serve our necessity. But when we have once traveled this road, all company of wealth and riches deserts us. For nothing of what we possessed in life can be called our own, with the exception of piety, which is our certain possession; this, death approaching will not snatch from us, but it will strip us of all other things, even against our will. We receive riches for the support of this life, and once each person has plucked only the fruit of these, he departs, leaving behind a small monument of his life; this is the end of all prosperity, this is the conclusion of all the "good things" that are in life. Rightly, then, an infant, upon emerging from the mother’s womb, begins not with laughter but with lamentations; for he cries out as if ^D lamenting life, from which he tastes deadly and fatal gifts from the very beginning. For as soon as he is brought into the light and received, his hands and feet are bound in swaddling clothes, and constrained by bonds he enjoys the breast. O beginning of life, precursor of death! The infant has just entered life, and without any delay

it is clothed in the shrouds of the dead; for nature recalls the memory of the end to those who are born. ^A To this belongs the wailing of the newborn infant, as if with a tearful voice it laments to its mother: "Why, O mother, did you bring me forth into this life, in which the prolongation of life is a progression toward death? Why did you bring me into an age of many troubles, in which swaddling clothes are the beginning for me as I am born? Why did you consign me to a life of this kind, in which even youth is pitiable, worn out and consumed by evils before old age, and old age is to be fled from as destructive?" How formidable, O mother, and grievous is this stadium of life, whose goal for those who run is destruction. We walk a calamitous path of life, which has the grave as its lodging; we sail a difficult and hostile sea of life, for which hell lies in wait like a pirate. Man alone of all creatures is born naked, protected by no innate kind of covering or clothing; not, however, because he is inferior to other living beings, but so that the consideration of our nakedness, and the fact that we have brought nothing into the world, might beget diligence within us; for diligence and solicitude reveal prudence, banish sloth, introduce the arts to avoid destitution, and ^B beget a diversity of crafts. For he who is naked, driven by need as if by a goad, discovers and fashions many things: how the rains are to be avoided, how the cold is to be prudently kept off, how one must be armed to repel blows, how the land is to be cultivated, how fear is to be struck into wild beasts, and how stronger animals are to be tamed. Drenched by rain, he fashioned roofs; afflicted by more intense cold, he devised garments; struck by blows and wounded, he invented the breastplate; when his hands, occupied in agriculture, were bloodied by thorns, he devised the aid of rustic tools; remaining naked and food for beasts, he invented an art that would strike fear into things that are formidable. Nakedness begat one ingenuity after another, so that now nakedness is a gift of the Lord, and a grace granted by Him. Having been stripped, therefore, of his wealth, his possessions, his ^C skill, and his numerous offspring, and in a short space of time despoiled of all these things, Job exclaimed with this voice full of gratitude: "Naked I came out from the womb, and naked I shall return thither"—that is, to God, and to that blessed lot and rest.

VI. EX NICETÆ CATENA IN JOB (90). (Cap. xxiv, v. 7.)

^D The tranquility of mind is by far the most precious of all things; such, the Word portrays for us in the blessed Job. For it has been said concerning him: "Who is a man like Job, drinking mocking as water?" For he is truly worthy of emulation, and, I think, worthy of all admiration, if anyone attains to such a degree of patience that, with sorrow, which is bitter in itself from the injury inflicted, and which cannot be overcome by whatever things occur, he may be able to contend with ease.

VII.

FROM NICETAS’ CATENA ON MATTHEW

* Ex eadem in cap. XIII, v. 31, 32. The word that announces the kingdom of heaven is indeed sharp and biting, like mustard, and it is a digester of bile—that is, of irascibility—and a cutter of phlegm—that is, of pride—from which word the true health of the soul and a perpetual temperament arise. To such a great increase, however, did the sprout of the word arrive, that the tree born from it—this would be the Church of Christ established everywhere on earth—filled all things, so that in its branches the birds of heaven might dwell, namely, the divine angels and the souls that are on high. (91) ^B

Ex eadem in cap. XII, v. 46. Jesus, too, is a pearl, pellucid and most pure, whom the Virgin conceived from the divine splendor. For just as the pearl, being in the flesh and in the shell and in the fluid, is seen to be a body that is clear and liquid, full of light and spirit, so also the incarnate Word of God is a spiritual light, shining forth through a clear and liquid body. (92)

VIII.

FROM THE CATENA ON ST. LUKE EDITED BY CORDERIUS

IX. FRAGMENTA

FROM THE BOOKS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, THE OUTLINES (HYPOTYPÔSEIS)

^A they scandalize them; for they who are truly angels, even in the heavens, see her even when covered.

Ex lib. IV. — Ap. eumdem in II ad Cor., v, 16. Porro etiam si cognovimus Christum secundum carnem. Just as with us, "according to the flesh" refers to being in sins, and outside of these, not being "according to the flesh"; so also with Christ, being "according to the flesh" is said to mean being subject to natural passions; but not to be subject, means not to be "according to the flesh." But just as he, he says, has been liberated, so also are we.

Ex lib. IV. — Ap. eumdem in II ad Cor., vi, 11. Cor nostrum dilatatum est. To teach you all things; but you are straitened in your own bowels, that is, in the love towards God with which you ought to love me. ^B

Ex lib. V. — Ap. eumdem in Ep. ad Galatas, v, 24. Hi autem Christi carnem. And why, he says, do I speak of each kind of virtue individually? For there are some who have crucified themselves as regards their passions, and their passions as regards themselves. According to this interpretation, the *de* is not redundant, but the sense is: "and they who belong to Christ," that is, those who stretch forward, have crucified their own flesh.

Ex lib. V. — Ap. Moschum Prati spiritualis cap. 176. Sane illi (the apostles) baptizati sunt, just as Clement the Stromatist mentions in the fifth book of the *Hypotyposeis*. For he says, explaining the apostolic saying which runs, "I thank God that I baptized none of you": Christ is said to have baptized Peter alone, Peter baptized Andrew, Andrew baptized James and John, and they baptized the rest.

Ex lib. VI. — Ap. Euseb. Hist. eccl., II, 1. Clemens certe in sexto Institutionum libro ita tradit. For he says ^C that after the Ascension of the Savior, Peter, James, and John, although they had been preferred by the Lord to the others, did not on that account contend for the first rank of honor, but chose James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem.

Ex eodem libro VI. — Ap. Euseb., ibid. c. 15. Igitur cum Dei doctrina Romanos adventu suo illustrasset, the power and influence of Simon with the author himself was shortly extinguished and destroyed. But such a brilliance of truth shone upon the minds of those who had heard Peter, that they were not content with having heard him once, nor satisfied with the unwritten teaching of the divine gospel; but with all kinds of entreaties they exhorted Mark, whose Gospel is carried about, as he was a follower of Peter, that he should leave behind with them a written record of the teaching which had been delivered to them by word of mouth; nor would they desist until they had prevailed upon the man, and thus became the ^D authors of the writing of the Gospel known as that according to Mark. And having learned of what happened, they say...

the Apostle, the Spirit having revealed it to him, was pleased by the eagerness of the men, and confirmed the writing for reading in the churches. Clement in the sixth book of his *Hypotyposes* records the story. ^A

*From the same book. — As Eusebius relates, ibid.*

Then, as holy Scripture tells us, Herod, upon the killing of James, seeing that the deed was pleasing to the Jews, set upon Peter also. And having cast him into bonds, he was already about to condemn him to capital punishment, had he not been delivered from his chains, beyond all hope, by divine power—that is to say, by the help of an angel appearing to him by night—and dismissed for the ministry of preaching. ^B

*From the same book. — As Eusebius relates, Hist. eccl. VI, 14.*

The same (Clement), in the books of the *Hypotyposes*, to sum it up in one word, has prepared a compendious narration of all the canonical Scriptures, not even omitting those that are disputed—I mean the Epistle of Jude and the remaining Catholic Epistles, and the Revelation known as that of Peter. He asserts that the Epistle to the Hebrews is indeed by Paul, but that it was written for Hebrews in the Hebrew language; and that Luke, having studiously translated it, published it for the Greeks. Whence the same stylistic color is found in the translation of this Epistle and of the Acts. And he observes that the inscription "Paul the Apostle" was rightly and orderly omitted for this reason. ^C

*From Book VII. — As the same relates, in I Tim. II, 6.*

"In his own times." That is, when men were rightly disposed toward the faith.

*Chap. III, v. 16.*

"He was seen by angels." (O mystery! The angels saw Christ with us, having not seen Him before.) Not as by men.

*Chap. V, v. 8.*

"And especially of those of his own household." He provides for his own and those of his household, who not only has care of those things which in some way affect others, but also of himself, by cutting away his own passions. ^D

*Chap. V, v. 10.*

"If he has washed the feet of the saints." This means if he has performed the lowest services for the saints without shame.

*Chap. V, v. 21.*

"Without prejudging." This is taking care not to become subject to judgment and the vengeance of disobedience by offending in anything.

*Chap. VI, v. 13.*

"Who witnessed under Pontius Pilate." He witnessed by those things which He did, that He Himself was Christ the Son of God.

FRAGMENTS. The Same, in II Tim., ii, 2.

From the same book, Book VII. — In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., Book II, ch. 1.

From the same book. — In the same place, ch. 2.

From the same book. — In the same, Hist. Eccl., Book VI, ch. 14.

From the same book. — In the same place, a little later.

X. FRAGMENTS. From the book of Clement of Alexandria, *On Providence*. In St. Maximus, Works, vol. II, p. 144.

^A Nature is the truth of things, their being-in-substance; according to others, it is the generation and origin of those things that come into being; but according to others, it is the providence of God, imparting to the things that come to pass their being and the mode of their being.

Will is the natural faculty possessing the power of desiring that which is according to nature. Will is a natural appetite, appropriate to the nature that uses reason. Will is the free [impulse] of a mind possessing self-rule, or a mind moving itself freely toward something. Self-rule is a mind moving according to nature, or the intellectual impulse of the soul, possessing self-mastery.

XI. FRAGMENTS.

From the book of Clement of Alexandria, *On the Soul*.

^B All souls breathe and have life, and though they exist separated from the body and are carried away by the desire for it, yet they fly away as immortals into the bosom of God; just as in winter the vapors of the earth, drawn up by the rays of the sun, are carried toward it.

This sentiment is also read in *Codex Barocc.* 143, chap. *On the care of the soul*, fol. 181, p. 1.

All souls are immortal, even those of the impious, for whom it would be better not to be incorruptible. For being tormented by inextinguishable fire with endless punishment, and not dying, they cannot find any end to their misfortune.

XII.

Fragment from the book of Clement of Alexandria, *On Detraction*.

Never stand in awe of him who speaks against another in your presence, but rather admonish him thus, saying: "Stop, brother; I daily stumble in more grievous matters, and how can I condemn him?" For you will gain two things, healing both yourself and your neighbor with one plaster.

^C These things are nowhere to be found in the books of Clement which we have extant, and hence it is easy to conclude that this sentence is a fragment of the lost book *On Detraction*, which Eusebius lists among the works of Clement of Alexandria, since it is cited by Antonius in his *Sermon*. Furthermore, he who applies the words prescribed by Clement in the aforementioned case is said to heal himself while he confesses his own sins, and his neighbor, while he rightly rebukes him: he shows what is truly evil. Wherefore God has wisely ordained that, by these arguments, the disposition of each person might be shown.

FRAGMENTA

From the sermons of Maximus, 59, p. 669, and John Damascene, book 2, Parallels, c. 76, as well as Antonius Melissa, book 1, serm. 64, and book 2, serm. 87.

The faithful is not justified merely by abstaining from evil deeds, but by the chastity and pure sincerity of his thoughts ^A.

XIII. OTHER FRAGMENTS FROM ANTONIUS MELISSA. Book 1, serm. 17, On penitence and confession, Greek serm. 179, p. 300.

Penitence then abolishes every sin, when, upon some error arising in the soul, it admits no delay, nor does it pass the passion over to any length of time. For thus evil will have no power to leave a trace in us, since at its very first entry it is torn away, like a plant before it takes root.

As crabs are easily caught, since they move now forward, now backward; so also the soul, now given to laughter and delights, soon to mourning, can make no progress.

He who at one time mourns, and at another lives in luxury and laughs, is like a man who throws bread at the dog of sensuality, as if it were a stone; by the gesture he drives it away, but by the act he urges it to remain.

From book 1, serm. 51, On praise, Greek serm. 51, p. 77.

Some were calling a certain wise man blessed, and he said to them: "If you cease to praise me, from your withdrawal I will consider myself someone of great importance; but if you do not cease to praise me, from your praise I infer my own impurity." ^B

A feigned praise is more dishonorable than a true rebuke.

From book 2, serm. 46, On those who hate labor and are slothful, Greek serm. 90, p. 151.

To the weak and feeble, even that which is mediocre appears to be beyond their strength.

From book 2, serm. 55, On one's neighbor, that his burdens are to be borne, and that he should be helped, and that it is fitting to rebuke a friend if he has done anything unbecoming, etc., Greek serm. 74, p. 128.

Faithful indeed is the rebuke that is given with knowledge; since the knowledge of those who are condemned is the most perfect demonstration.

From book 2, serm. 74, On the proud and those who are greedy for empty glory, Greek serm. 33, p. 52.

To the one who exalts and magnifies himself, a sudden change and fall toward humiliation is attached, as the divine word teaches. ^C

From book 2, serm. 87, Greek serm. 82, p. 141.

Pure speech and an unspotted life are the true throne and temple of God. ^D

XIV. FRAGMENT OF THE DISCOURSE ON MARRIAGE, OR BOOKS ON NUPTIALS.

XV. FRAGMENTS OF VARIOUS LOST BOOKS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.

*From Maximus, serm. 13, p. 574, and Antonius Melissa, bk. I, serm. 34, Greek-Latin serm. 32, p. 45, and serm. 33, p. 47.* Lovers of sobriety avoid luxury as a disease of both mind and body. The possession and use of necessary things does not have a harmful quality, but rather the quantity which exceeds measure. A small amount of food is a necessary good.

*From Maximus, serm. 52, p. 654, and Antonius Melissa, bk. I, serm. 54.* A clear and vivid memory of death in the mind cuts off the appetite for food; and by the cutting off of food in humility, passions are cut off along with it.

*From Maximus, serm. 55, p. 661.* Least of all is it permitted to Christians to correct the faults of sins by force. For God does not crown those who abstain from evil out of necessity, but those who do so by the intent of their mind. It is not possible for anyone to be firmly good in any other way than by his own will. For he who is rendered good by the coercion of another is not good, because he is not what he is by his own volition. For the freedom in which everyone excels is what produces that which is truly good, and brings forth that which...

is good.

XVI. Fragments which are read in Greek only in the Oxford edition.

^A In previous years, the Lord, in celebrating the Passover, had eaten what was sacrificed by the Jews. But since he had proclaimed that he himself was the Passover, the Lamb of God, as a sheep led to the slaughter, he immediately taught his disciples the mystery of the type on the thirteenth day, on which they also ask him, "Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?" On that day, therefore, the sanctification of the unleavened bread and the preparation for the feast took place. Hence, John in keeping with this day, as if the disciples were already preparing, writes that their feet were washed by the Lord. Our Savior suffered on the following day, himself being the Passover, sacrificed by the Jews.

^B Accordingly, on the fourteenth day, when he also suffered, the chief priests and the scribes, leading him in the morning to Pilate, did not enter the praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover in the evening without hindrance. To this precise computation of the days all the Scriptures agree, and the Gospels harmonize. The resurrection also bears witness to it; for on the third day he rose again, which falls on the first of the weeks of the harvest, in which the law had commanded the priest to offer the sheaf of grain.

From Macarius Chrysocephalus, Oration XI on Luke, towards the end. — From the Bodleian Manuscript, Cod. 211, Barocc.

^C 1. What a gathering and panegyric there is in heaven, when anyone has become an exile and a fugitive from the polity under the Father, not knowing that those who distance themselves from him must perish! After the son has squandered the bounty, the possession, and the paternal inheritance, when one's faith fails and hope has been impoverished, he runs among the nations into the same excess of profligacy; then, being famished and in need, and not even being satisfied with what the pigs are fed, he arises and goes to his father. But the good Father does not wait until the son comes to him; for perhaps he would not be able, and fearing that he might not find him propitious, he would not dare to approach. Therefore, as soon as he is willed, and has begun, and has taken the first impulse, while he is still far off, the Father, moved with compassion, runs and falls upon his neck and kisses him. ^D And then the son, taking courage, confesses the things he had done. And so the Father to him...

restores the glory and honor that was due and fitting, ^A clothing him with the first robe, (which is) incorruptibility, and a ring, a royal badge and divine seal, the express figure of holiness, the signet of glory, the faithful proof of testimony: "for he who has received his testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true" (John iii, 33). He also puts on shoes, not corruptible ones—such as he is commanded to put off if he is to tread upon holy ground (Exod. iii, 5), and such as he who is sent to preach the kingdom of heaven is forbidden to wear (Matt. x, 10)—but incorruptible ones, suited for the journey into heaven, and becoming, and adorning the heavenly path; such as are never put on unwashed feet, but only on those which our Master, the Lord, has washed (John xiii, 8). Many, indeed, are the shoes of the wicked soul by which it is fettered and constrained; for each one is tightened by the cords of his own sins. And for this reason Abraham swears to the king of Sodom: "From a thread even to a shoelatchet I will not take of all that is yours" (Gen. xiv, 23). Therefore, worldly and corrupt habits—namely, all injustice and greed—occupy life on earth, as the Lord rebukes Israel through Amos, saying: "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away from him; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes that tread upon the dust of the earth" (Amos ii, 6).

2. But the Father commands that shoes be given to the son who has repented and fled to him, which are not flat nor do they drag upon the earth—for the earthly tabernacle weighs down the anxious mind—but rather are lofty and upward-tending, carrying one to heaven, ^B of the kind of ascent ^C and vehicle that he requires who prepares to approach the Father from within. For ^D all these things, the one who is beautiful is first beautifully adorned outwardly before he enters into inner gladness. For He said, "Bring forth," having previously said, "When he was yet a great way off, he ran and fell upon his neck." From this point on, all the preparation for the entry into the marriage to which we have been called must be completed. Whoever, therefore, enters prepared will say: "This my joy is fulfilled" (John iii, 29). But the ugly and misshapen one will hear: "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?" (Matt. xxii, 12). And the rich and sumptuous food, and the great and abundant delights of the blessed, is the fatted calf that is slain—which is elsewhere called the Lamb—not simply, lest anyone think of it as small, but the great and greatest. For the Lamb of God is not small, who takes away the sin of the world (John i, 29); who was "led as a lamb to the slaughter"; the marrow-filled victim, of which according to the holy law all the fat is due to the Lord (Levit. iii, 16); for all is consecrated and devoted to the Lord. Thus it is well-fed and grown, so that it may reach and suffice for all, and satisfy those who eat of it and enjoy it; for it is both flesh and bread, and being both, offers itself to us to eat. To the sons, therefore, who approach, the Father gives the calf, which is slain—

and eaten. But those who do not approach, He pursues and rejects, and he is found to be a most valiant bull; for because of his greatness and courage, it has been said concerning him: "His glory is as that of a unicorn."^A And the prophet Habakkuk also sees him bearing horns, and sings of the manner of his vengeance: "Horns in his hands." Therefore, this sign also shows his power and authority: for the horns strike on both sides, or rather, from every direction and through all things. And those who eat are strengthened in this way, and derive such great force from that vivifying food within themselves, that they themselves are strong against enemies and are armed with the very horns of the bull. As he says: "In thee we will push down our enemies with the horn."^B

3. Thence joy and harmony and choirs; although the elder brother, who had always adhered to the father and had been obedient to him, and had by no means given himself over to debauchery and dissipation, was now annoyed at seeing the other, who had deserved punishment, faring well. The father, therefore, gently appeals to him, saying: "Son, thou art always with me." And what greater joy and festival and assembly is there than to be always present and to stand and serve God? "And all that is mine is thine." Blessed is the heir of God, for whose use the Father possesses His own: the faithful man, whose is the whole world of riches. "But it was meet to make merry and be glad, because this thy brother was dead, and is alive again." Good Father, who givest life to all, and raisest the dead! "And he was lost, and is found." Blessed is he whom Thou hast chosen and taken unto Thee, and whom Thou findtest by seeking. Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.^C But to repent of sins is human; and let this be done with an unrestrained conversion; for he who does not do so will be disgraced, because he did not return with his whole heart, but only with a sudden impulse. And it is our duty to take refuge with God, and to this we should unceasingly and earnestly press on. "For come," He says, "to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you." And to beseech and to confess with humility is placed within our own will. Wherefore He commands: "Tell thy sins first, that thou mayest be justified." But as to what we shall obtain and what we shall become because of these things, we are not the judges.

4. The parable is also accurately understood: the son who repents and comes to the merciful father, not having ever hoped for these things—the first robe, and the ring, and the sandals, nor to taste of the fatted calf, nor to share in the joy, nor to enjoy harmony and choirs; but it was enough for him to obtain what he had desired for himself, and he had intended to say: "Make me as one of thy hired servants." When, however, he saw the kindness of the father meeting him beforehand, ^D and...

^A he kept silent; but he said what he had previously meditated in his mind: "I have sinned against heaven and before thee." This humility and his own condemnation became for him the cause of justification and glory; for the just man is his own accuser in the first instance. Thus also the publican departed justified rather than the Pharisee. The son did not know either how to accept what he was obtaining, nor how to use them, nor how to apply to himself the things given. For he did not take the robe and put it on himself; but, "Clothe him," He says. He did not himself place the ring on his hand, but those who were commanded: "Give a ring into his hand." Nor did he put shoes on himself, but those who heard: "and sandals on his feet." And these things were perhaps unbelievable and unhoped for to him and to others before they happened; but once they were bestowed, they were welcome and admirable. ^B

5. The parable shows this meaning, as the exercise of reason has been granted to everyone. Therefore the prodigal is brought in, demanding from his father a portion of his possessions; that is, of his rational state. For the possession of the rational faculty has been given to all, in order that they may observe what is good and abstain from what is evil. But many who have been adorned with this by God use the given knowledge badly, so that they may live luxuriously in wicked actions, and they dissipate the wealth of their rational faculty badly: the sight for disgraceful contemplations, the tongue for blasphemous utterances, the sense of smell for the foul lusts of pleasures, the mouth for swinish gluttony, the hands for robberies, the feet for a race toward traps, the thoughts for impious counsels, the reasoning for the habit of sloth, the mind for beastly delights: they observe nothing of their rational faculty which they do not dissipate. Such a person, therefore, Christ introduces in the parable—as one who is rational but darkened, and demanding from the divine nature the things appropriate to the Word; and then, having obtained these from God, he uses them badly, and ^C especially the good things granted by baptism, whence He also calls him "prodigal." Then, after the dissipation of the things given, [He shows] again the restoration provided to him by God through repentance and kindness.

6. "Bring," He says, "the fatted calf, and slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry; because this my son," a name of highest intimacy and one indicative of what is given to the faithful, "was dead and lost," an appellation of highest alienation. For what is more alien to the living than that which is dead and lost? For neither can be possessed any longer. But he had fallen from the highest intimacy into the highest alienation, and returns again to highest intimacy through repentance. "Clothe him," he says, "with the first robe," which he had immediately when baptism happened to him—I mean the glory of baptism, the remission of sins, and the granting of other goods, which he obtained as soon as he touched the laver. "And give a ring into his hand"; the enigma of the Holy Trinity is indicated here; ^D for that [Trinity] is signified to the faithful.

^A And put shoes on his feet, so that they may be prepared for the Gospel of peace, and [may have] a complete course of good works.

7. But those whom Christ finds again, lost after the sin committed in baptism, these the God-hating Novatus wishes to destroy. Therefore, let us not despair of ourselves if we have repented of any fall; but let us beware of falling, and if we have fallen, let us return. Fearing to stumble, after we have stumbled, let us flee from despair, and hasten to be established and hurry to be raised up when we have been tripped. Let us obey the Lord who cries to us: "Come to me, all you who labor, and I will give you rest." Let us acquire the gift of the Word for works of gratitude. Let us learn here to abstain from evils, so that in the things to come we may not be unwilling learners. Let us use life as an exercise for good things; let us kindle within ourselves a greater and greater hatred for sin. Let us carry around a deep love for the Creator, let us cleave to Him with all our heart, and not, like the example of the wicked son, waste the gift of reason poorly. Let us acquire that glory laid up for us, regarding which Paul, exulting, cries out: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" ^B To Him belong glory and honor with the Father and the Holy Spirit, to the ages of ages. Amen.

*From the same Macarius Chrysocephalum, homily VIII on Matthew, ch. VIII, from codex Barocc. 156, and book VII on Luke, ch. XIII, from codex Barocc. 211.*

God does not assume a human likeness here, ^C but that of a dove, because He wished to indicate the simplicity and gentleness of the new manifestation of the Spirit by the likeness of a dove. For the Law was burdensome and punished with the sword, but grace is cheerful and uses the word of gentleness for correction. Hence the Lord said to the apostles, when they had said that He should punish with fire, according to the example of Elijah, those by whom they had not been received: "You do not know," He says, "of what spirit you are."

*From the same Macarius, book XIII, on Matthew, ch. IX*

Perhaps by the iota and the apex His justice is crying out: ^D "If you come to Me upright, I also will be upright toward you; but if you go crookedly, I also will be crooked," says the Lord of hosts. He is hinting at the crooked paths of sinners; for the straight and natural path, which the iota of Jesus points to, is His goodness, which is immovable and stable toward those who have believed out of obedience. Therefore, not one iota or one apex shall pass from the Law, that is, neither the promise responding to the upright, nor [the lot] of those who walk crookedly.

^A For the Lord is good to the upright, but those who turn aside to crooked paths He leads away with those who work iniquity. And with the innocent He is innocent, and with the perverse He is perverse, and to the crooked He sends crooked ways.

Another Allegory of Clement

God imprinted His own splendid form, as with a great seal, upon man made in His likeness, so that he might rule and have dominion over all things, and all things might serve him. Therefore, God judges that He Himself in His entirety, and man as His image, are one. Whatever, therefore, anyone might do to a man, whether good or evil, is referred back to Him. Therefore, judgement will proceed from Him, distributing to everyone according to his merit; for He vindicates His own image. ^B

XVII.

Fragments which are wanting in the Oxford edition.

In St. Anastasius the Sinaite, Question xcvi, page [401] of the latest edition.

How can it be that even now man might form man, in the same way in which Adam was formed? Yet this does not happen, because He granted to man the power to beget men, having spoken to our nature: "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth." Thus, by His omnipotent and providential power, He permitted and committed the resolution and corruption of bodies to the change of elements in a certain natural series and sequence, according to the cognition and comprehension of His essence implanted within [all things]. ^C

John Veccus, Patriarch of Constantinople, On the Procession of the Holy Spirit. — In Leo Allatius, Græcia Orthodoxa, vol. I, page 248.

But also Clement the Stromateus, in the various definitions which he has composed, and by which the principles of every pious dogma are prescribed for him who wishes to pursue theology, defining what spirit is and in how many ways it is spoken of, says: "Spirit is a most subtle and immaterial and formless, proceeding substance."

From the Antirhetic [work] of Nicephorus of Constantinople against the Iconoclasts. — Published in Greek and Latin by V. C. Nicolaus le Nourry in the Apparatus to the Library of the Holy Fathers, vol. I, page 1334. A. B.

From the book of Clement the Presbyter of Alexandria, Against those who follow Jewish errors.

Solomon, the son of David, in the books of Kingdoms, when he perceived that the structure of the true temple was not only heavenly and spiritual, but also referred to the flesh, which the son of David and Lord was about to build, and that this same structure [referred] to His presence ^D

where He had determined to set it up, as it were an animated statue, and also to the Church being raised up according to the consensus of faith, he uses these words: "Will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?" ^A He does indeed dwell upon the earth, clothed in flesh, and His dwelling with men comes about in the composition and harmony which is among the just, while He fashions and raises up a holy temple. For the just are earth, while they still carry about the earth; and they are earth if compared to the magnitude of the Lord. These things the blessed Peter also does not hesitate to say: "And you yourselves as living stones are built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." ^B And with respect to the body, in accordance with [the idea of] a circumscribed place, the Lord consecrated it for Himself upon the earth as a divine place: "Destroy," He said, "this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews therefore said: "Forty-six years was this temple in building, and will you raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. ^C

From the most holy and blessed Clement, presbyter of Alexandria, author of the Stromata, from the book On Providence.

What is God? God is, as the Lord also says, spirit. But spirit is properly an incorporeal and uncircumscribed substance. That is incorporeal which does not consist of body, or which is not [measured] according to length, breadth, and depth. And that is uncircumscribed which is not a place; for there is no place that is through all things, in all things, and whole in each, and the same in itself.

From the same paper codex, after another fragment which already exists in the first volume of the Oxford edition of the works of St. Maximus, these things are subjoined.

Nature is spoken of from "that which is born." The first substance is everything that subsists by itself, just as a stone is called a substance. The second substance is that which has power of growth, in that it grows and withers, such as a plant. The third substance is that which is animate and endowed with sensation, such as an animal and a horse. The ^D fourth substance is animate, endowed with sensation, and rational, such as man: in this way each of us has been fashioned, so that he is composed of all these, and has a soul that is not material, and a mind that is the image of God.

In St. John Damascene, Sacra Parallela, vol. II, p. 307.

The fear of the passionless God is passionless. For one does not fear God, but [fears] falling away from God. And he who fears this does not fear evils themselves, but fears to fall into evils. But he who fears a fall desires to be immune from destruction and suffering.

^A Let this law be established, that against those who desire to behold holy and divine things not holily and as is worthy of God, one should inflict the punishment of blindness.

^B In general, the Christian is a friend of solitude, and withdrawal, and tranquility, and peace.

[From the Catena on the Pentateuch, edited in Latin by François Zufferey, p. 146.]

That mystical name which they call the Tetragrammaton, with which alone those were protected to whom the sanctuary was accessible, sounds "Jehovah," which is interpreted "He who is and who shall be"; but the candelabrum which stood at the southern side of the altar represented the seven planets, which we see revolving in the southern region: to which three branches rise up on either side, since the sun, as if it were the candelabrum of the world, positioned in the midst among the other planets, balanced by divine wisdom, illuminates the upper and lower regions with its light. On the other side of this altar was placed a table, on which loaves of bread were set forth, because from that part of the heavens vital and nourishing breezes breathe upon us.

Other fragments are offered by the Catena of the Greek Fathers on the New Testament, which J. A. Cramer, S.T.P., published at Oxford according to the faith of the manuscripts (1840, 8 volumes in 8°). ED. PATR. — Volume III, which contains the Catena on the Acts of the Apostles, contains these things on chapter V, verses 24, 25, which do not exist in the works of Clement:

The mystics say that [Moses] struck the Egyptian with a word alone, just as afterwards it is narrated in the Acts that those who had hidden part of the price of a certain field, and had lied, [Peter] killed with a word.

Volume IV, p. 291, in the exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, chapter VIII, verse 38:

Whether life (says St. Paul) which is of the present time, and death which rages with the fury of persecutors, or angels and principalities and powers, spirits sent by God. ^C

And on the same chapter of the same Epistle, verse 3, p. 369:

And not knowing, nor doing the purpose of the law, they thought that whatever pleased them, this same thing the law wished; nor did they believe the law as one prophesying, but they followed it by mere word and fear, and not by disposition and faith.

Volume VI, p. 385, in the Catena on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, on these words of verse 16 of chapter V: "Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh."

And to such an extent, he says, no one yet lives according to the flesh, for that is not life but death, because even Christ [does not]—to show that for him living according to the flesh had ceased. How? By abandoning the body—far from it! For with that same body of his he will come as the Judge of all; but [he is] freed from all physical infirmities, namely hunger, thirst, sleep, and fatigue: ^D for now he possesses a body impassible and immune from sorrows.

Just as with us, he says, "being according to the flesh" is said to be being in sins; and being without these is said to be "not according to the flesh": so also with Christ, "being according to the flesh" is said to be subject to natural affections; but not to be subject [to them], [is to be] "not according to the flesh." But just as, he says, he was liberated, so also are we. No longer, he says, let there be subjection to the flesh. Thus also Clement in the fourth book of the Hypotyposes.

Fragments

From the same volume, p. 391, on these words of the Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter VI, verse 11: *Our heart is enlarged.*

As heat is accustomed to expand, so ^A also is charity; for charity is an ardent thing. As if he said: "I love you not only with my mouth, but with my heart, and I hold you all within my breast." Therefore he says: "You are not restricted in us," while love expands his soul; "our heart is enlarged," to teach you all things, "but you are restricted in your" bowels, that is, in the charity according to God with which you ought to love me. Thus Clement in the fourth book of the Hypotyposes.

From the Catena on the Epistles of Paul, vol. VII, p. 286, on these words of the Epistle to the Hebrews I, 1: *God, who at sundry times and in divers manners,* etc.

Clement. Since indeed our Lord, being the Apostle of the Omnipotent, was sent to the Hebrews, ^B out of modesty Paul does not write himself the Apostle of the Hebrews, in order to render legitimate honor to the Lord, and because he was indeed a herald and apostle of the Gentiles, but wrote to the Hebrews out of superabundance.

In the same volume, under the name of Clement, the following fragments are to be found. The first (page 426) begins: *Clement, Megalodoros... Pedagogus book I, ch. 9, no. 85*; ends: *...to die for them, and to show the trophy against death,* in a way different from the printed edition. The second fragment (p. 455): ends as in the edition. The third fragment (p. 490): *Clement, Pedagogus. First-born,* etc. It differs in many things from the printed edition; for which reason we have thought it right to publish it here at least in Greek.

From Clement's Pedagogus

The blood that is found in man is first-born; this blood, being transformed by natural digestion, sympathizes with the mother's affection when she is stirred, blooms, and grows old for the child's security. And the blood is indeed thinner than the flesh, as the flesh is a kind of moist substance, but milk is more savory and finer than blood. For whether the blood supplied to the fetus is first sent through the umbilical cord, or whether it is the menstrual blood itself, excluded from its own course by a natural effusion, it is ordered by the nourisher and progenitor of all to go to the breasts that are already inflamed, and being altered by warm spirit, it is prepared as the desirable food for the infant, which is the blood transforming itself. For the breasts are sympathetic to the womb more than all other members. When, therefore, at the time of birth, the vessel is severed through which the blood was carried to the fetus, the passage is closed, and the blood takes its momentum towards the breasts; and a copious influx occurring, they are distended, and the blood changes into milk, analogously to the transformation of blood into pus in the case of a sore. Or if it is transmitted from the veins lying in the breasts, which are opened during the distensions of pregnancy, into the natural canals of the breasts; and there, being mixed with the spirit sent down from the neighboring arteries, while the underlying integral substance of the blood still remains, it is agitated and whitened, and by such an interruption is transformed through foaming—having suffered something similar to the sea, which the poets say, upon the impact of the ^C winds, spits out the froth of salt; but nevertheless it has blood as its substance. In this way also rivers, borne along with a rush, when curdled by the interception of the surrounding air, foam and froth, and our liquid, at the mouth, is whitened by the spirit. What then is the allotment, if not to admit that even the blood is turned by the spirit into the most luminous and whitest substance? It undergoes, however, the change in quality, not in substance. Indeed, you would find nothing more nourishing, nor sweeter, and certainly nothing whiter, than milk. Entirely does this resemble spiritual food, which is sweet because of grace, nourishing as life, and white as the day of Christ. Therefore, milk is provided for the infant, arranged for the birth. And the breasts, which were previously erect looking at the man, now incline toward the child, being taught to provide the food prepared by nature, easily grasped, for the nurture of salvation; for the breasts are not like springs full of ready-flowing milk, but changing the food, they produce milk within themselves and exhale it. And this food, consistent and suitable for the newborn and newly-planted child, prepared by God the nourisher and father of those born and reborn, as manna was poured from heaven for the ancient Hebrews, the heavenly food of the Angels—indeed, even now nurses have called the first-poured drink of milk, homonymously, the same as that food. But one must understand nature; for indeed, food in winter ^D

as the surrounding air thickens and does not allow passage, is shut up within, and being seethed and digested by the heat, it is turned into blood and departs into the veins. Those which do not encounter the breath, being filled to the utmost, become stretched and pulse; and this is why breasts become most full of milk at those times. ^A It has been demonstrated to us a little before that blood in pregnant women passes over into milk, by a change, not in substance. Just as, indeed, blond hair in those who age changes into gray. In summer, on the other hand, the body being more porous provides for the food to be more easily digested, and the milk is least abundant, since the blood is not; for neither is all the food retained. If, therefore, the digestion of food is turned into blood, and the blood is transformed into milk, the preparation of milk becomes blood, just as human blood is, or the seed of the vine.

Paul, therefore, allegorizing the Word and calling it milk, adds, "I gave you to drink." For the Word is drunk—the food of truth; indeed, even liquid is called food. It is possible for the same thing to be both food and drink in a way, being understood in relation to different things; just as cheese is the curdling of milk, or milk dried; for I am not concerned with word-hunting at present, except that one essence ministers both foods. But for infants, milk is sufficient to be both drink and food. ^B Many are the allegories of the Word: he is also food, and flesh, and nourishment, and bread, and blood, and milk—the Lord is all things for the enjoyment of us who believe in him. But indeed, even the flesh is blood to the milk, being nourished and increased by a kind of reciprocal affection. And indeed, the formation of what is conceived, with the pure residue left over from the monthly cleansing, happens when the seed is mingled. For the power within this, clotting the nature of the blood, in the way that planting establishes it, produces the substance of milk for formation; for the temperament is flourishing, but the extreme is dangerous, leading to barrenness. For even with the earth itself, the seed is washed away by excessive rain, but is dried up by a drought of moisture. The fluid, being sticky, holds the seed and makes it grow. Some suppose that even the seed of the animal is, in substance, the foam of the blood; which, being stirred up by the innate heat of the male during intercourse, being beaten, becomes foamy and is deposited in the seminal vessels; hence also it is called aphrodisia. It is, therefore, evident from all these things that blood is the substance of the human body, but also that after birth the child is nourished again by the same blood. For the nature of milk is the nature of blood, and milk is the fount of nourishment, by which exactly a woman who has truly given birth is known as a mother, through whom she also receives the bond of affection.

^C For this reason, therefore, the Holy Spirit in the Apostle, using the voice of the Lord, says, "I gave you milk to drink." For if we have been reborn into Christ, he who has reborn us nourishes us with his own milk, the Word; for anything that has given birth seems immediately to provide food for what is born. And just as the rebirth is proportional, so too the food has become entirely spiritual for man. Therefore, we also all make ourselves intimate with Christ, both into kinship through his blood by which we are redeemed, and into sympathy through the nourishment from the Word, and into incorruptibility through his instruction. "To nourish," indeed, among mortals, often procures greater bonds of affection than the begetting of children.

That milk is produced from blood by change is already plain; not only so, but it is possible to learn this from the flocks and the cattle. For these animals, during the season of the year which they call spring, when the surrounding air has become more humid, and the fodder and pastures are at that time succulent and full of juice, are filled with blood beforehand, as is shown by the distension of the veins as the vessels become curved. From the blood, milk is poured more copiously. In summer, on the other hand, being scorched and parched by the heat, the blood halts the transformation, and for this reason, they are milked less. ^D Nay, milk also has a certain natural affinity to water, just as, indeed, the spiritual bath does to the spiritual Word. Those, for instance, who pour a little cold water into milk are benefited immediately. For it is not that the milk is curdled by the union with water, not by any antipathy, but by natural affinity, it is welcomed. And such a relationship as the Word has to baptism, this milk has in its exchange with water. For this alone of liquids, when taken, receives mixture with water for purification, just as baptism is for the remission of sins. It is mixed also with honey naturally, and this again for purification, with the sweetness of delight; for the Word, being mixed with humanity, heals the passions at the same time and purifies the sins. Milk is mixed also with sweet wine. And the mixture is beneficial, the passion being stirred up into incorruptibility. For the milk is purified by the wine and is separated; and whatever in it is base, this is discharged. In the same way, the spiritual communion of faith, purging the carnal desires of the suffering man, contracts the man into immortality, making him immortal with things divine. Many even use the fat of the milk, which they call butter, for a lamp, clearly clarifying the oil-rich Word by means of a riddle, as the only one who rightly both nourishes and increases and illuminates the infants. So much for milk and its allegory.