the old pearls, to bear the new. Do you see the freshness of my youth, yet look upon the grey-haired character of my conduct? Nature gave me a younger appearance, but the Law has produced grey hair in my heart. Do not be deceived, woman, you will not overcome my virtue; you will not overcome Joseph, the son of Jacob—that Jacob who, while still in the womb, tripped his brother, and afterwards was able to wrestle with an angel. Do not be deceived, I wrestle with the same struggles as my father. But you think to cajole me with promises. What is there that you can promise me, tell me, that is comparable to temperance? What kingdom is equal to it, what treasure is equivalent to it? Or do you not know that temperance is a heavenly possession, an angelic reality, a gift of God? Keep your honors for yourself; your honors are the harbingers of dishonor; your honors, which you promise, are the firstfruits of shame; your gold is a product of the earth, and the expense of it perish; but my gold is the product of God, an eternal sprout. But you think to escape notice in this matter. Are you ignorant of the unsleeping eye of God, who beholds everything that is done in darkness? And how many angels do you think are standing here now? Under how many witnesses are these things being done? Consider, woman, your husband, your brothers, your friends, your neighbors, your kinsmen—those who boast of your modesty. Consider the angels now present, and either be ashamed before them, or turn in reverence from the humans who are absent. With what eyes will you look upon your husband, whom you have resolved to plot against? With what arms will you embrace him, whom you have desired to slay? With what words will you flatter him, whose bed—so far as it concerned you—you have defiled? Remember what you promised him: how you swore to preserve your faith in temperance toward him, how you assured him that you loved him more than yourself with oaths. Imitate the turtledove, woman; for that bird, once mated to one husband, does not mix with another; and if it happens that her male is hunted by a predator or devoured by an eagle, she does not mix with another male, but remains, always awaiting the one she desired, and dies in the memory of him. Let either the fear of God, or the Law of the Hebrews, or the noble way of life of the ancients, instruct you, woman. Having said these things, Joseph saw her still shamelessly clinging to his garments and burning all the more with inward frenzy (for loves are then more inflamed toward their object when they cannot attain it), and like a noble athlete, stripping off his clothes, and casting her down to the ground along with the garments, he leaped out of the arena naked, free from the defilement, B bearing away the victory of temperance. And the Egyptian woman held onto the leaves of disorder, while Joseph bore off the fruit of righteousness. There was joy in heaven over the victory of Joseph; the angels rejoiced, the demons wept, Joseph was crowned, the Egyptian woman was put to shame; she was stung by the victory; she turned to calumny, and slandered Joseph to his own husband, attaching shame to him, saying: "Why have you brought here a Hebrew boy to mock us?" The husband was indignant, and cast him into prison. For the lamp was necessary to those in darkness, the dispenser of grain to the hungry, the harbor for those tossed by the storm, the physician for the sick. Two of Pharaoh’s eunuchs were thrown into the same prison; they saw dreams; there was no one to interpret them; they reported them to Joseph; he made plain the hidden thing. The eunuchs were cast into the prison; the result came to them according to what Joseph had interpreted. King Pharaoh saw a dream; there was no one to interpret it; the eunuch reported about Joseph; he was brought forth from prison because of the dream. And witness for me, a mystery: by a dream he was sold, by a dream he was set free. For what? He interpreted the dream of Pharaoh, the king saw his foresight, and freed him to reign, entrusting to him all authority over Egypt. Having received that authority, Joseph in the time of famine provided for all: those from abroad, those at home, friends, enemies, strangers; his father came to Egypt; his mother also, along with his father, bowed down to him. For even if she died while coming along the way, yet in her husband she bowed down; for husband and wife are one flesh. His eleven brothers also came and bowed down to him; and the vision was fulfilled which Joseph had seen: "For I dreamed," he said, "that the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me." Why eleven? Because Judas had hanged himself; for the Joseph who was sold was a symbol of Christ who was sold by Judas. Do you see how through C temperance he was justified, and through temperance he reigns in the heavens? And these things have been said for us, so that you too, by imitating the same way of life, might gain the same glory from God. But we needed to speak also about the blessed Susanna, especially since we promised—but since it is better to depart thirsty, and not to vomit forth what those who were satisfied received, having kept the narrative for another day, God willing, let us now run to the chalice of mystical instruction, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
On Susanna
We are grateful debtors to you for the word, not paying as much as we owe, but giving as much as we have. For the readiness [to give] is bountiful and has been spread out to give more than what was owed; but the poverty of the word has been constrained; wherefore, we offer you little in place of many things. But if any of you should wish to extend our meager words with the readiness of your heart, we shall lack nothing of what is owed, for our readiness will supply the missing part of the words. For God, when He sees the small offerings of a poor man and the bountiful ones of a rich man, knows how to receive the honors equally; and often He receives those of the poor man more greatly; for He looks not at the bulk of the money, but at the readiness of the heart. A proof of what is being said is that poor widow who cast her two mites into the treasury; for her small offering outweighed before the Lord that of the rich who had cast in gold; because God has no need of money, but [seeks] a sincere and well-disposed heart. Come, therefore, let us too, having opened our hearts in sincerity, as if we were casting into the living treasury of God what word we possess from God, pay you the debt of the word. For I remember having promised you, on the previous day, the struggle of the blessed Susanna’s temperance, to proclaim it for the benefit of many; just as Joseph also struggled against the Egyptian, and demonstrated to us all the wrestling matches of temperance. Let Susanna, therefore, wrestle in this public theater, where God, and angels, and men, and women look on; let her wrestle, and let her teach how younger women must struggle unto death for temperance. This blessed Susanna, then, being noble by birth, dwelling in a chamber from her tender years, being comely in beauty, and practiced in a manner of devout life, when the beauty of her youth was in bloom, was joined in the bond of lawful marriage. And indeed, preserving the mystery of marriage inviolate for her own husband, she did not allow her restless eye to wander toward the sight of young and strange beauty; she did not open her ear to receive the sweet-sounding melody of harlotries; she did not permit the incense of young men’s garments to creep into her sense of smell; nor did she allow any other sense simply to be carried away, lest that which was in her heart...
being carefully guarded, should be overturned by the sweet charms of pleasure. For the greater part of our sins overcome our soul through the senses. For the soul is like a virgin in a bridal chamber, resting in the center of the heart, surrounded by five senses as if by handmaids. Which senses? Sight, of course, taste, smell, hearing, and touch. If, therefore, no sense is undermined and led astray, the soul is preserved pure and unharmed; but if it happens that the sight, having been left without control, wanders off to gaze at youthful beauty, and receives the violent billows of lust through the eyes into the innermost parts of the heart, it is immediately snatched up by a whirlwind of pleasures, carried away into the vortex of sin, and submerged—and having made shipwreck of chastity, it suffers what David, having suffered, said: "I have come into the depths of the sea, and a storm has submerged me" (Ps. LXVIII, 3). By the same reasoning, if the hearing, thrown open, admits the allurements of an elegant voice, when one has turned one's mind toward these things, one perverts one's whole self, beguiled by harlot-like songs. Taste, moreover, sated with gluttony and much wine, drags the corrupted soul to banquets and debauchery. The smell, finally, enticed and bound by the exquisite perfumes of young men, is accustomed to entangle the soul along with it. Thus, therefore, is the soul, like a certain virgin, seized by foolish handmaids—by the senses—and delivered over to the madness of intemperance. For sin, after all the senses have been lulled to sleep, enters like a thief into the secret chamber of the heart; once it has entered, it plunders and drains the whole treasury of chastity. Therefore, that blessed woman used to guard her eyes, her manner, her gait, her hearing, her sight, her smell, her taste, and her touch, and she was truly, according to the word of Wisdom, "a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed" (Cant. IV, 12). For the blessed one was like a garden, which no one could plunder, pouring forth the sweet odors of chastity; she was like a fountain sealed by faith, from which no petulant person could draw the beauty of chastity. B Into the desire for this woman had two elders of the people burned, who seemed to rule the people, and each of them, burning with the flame of lust, was ashamed to open the hidden fire of his heart to the other. And on a certain day, each of them went away secretly, without his companion, to watch Susanna; and when they had run into one another and had inquired, they mutually confessed the reason for which they were there; then, having entered into a partnership to commit the sin, they sought the opportunity for their wickedness, and watched for a time when they might find her alone. It happened, however, on a certain day that Susanna entered into her husband’s garden into the shade, as was her custom, to bathe, for it was hot; and when she had sent her handmaids out to bring the washing-lye, the elders suddenly running toward her seized her like wolves, wishing to tear her apart under the goad of lust. And Susanna was alone in the midst of two lions, and there was none to help, not a handmaid, not a slave, not a relative, not a friend, not a neighbor, except only God, who from the heavens was watching, who could indeed have forbidden it, but allowed the struggle to occur, so that He might reveal the hidden secret of their souls, and divulge both the chastity of Susanna and the shamelessness of the elders, and at the same time, that she might show to women the greatest school of Susanna’s struggle undertaken for the sake of virtue. Great was the battle, a vehement contest loomed over Susanna—and greater than that of Joseph. For he, indeed, being a man, was struggling with one woman; whereas she, being a woman, was struggling with two men. It was a great and pleasant spectacle, a woman struggling with two men; and this will seem wonderful when you hear where the arena was opened: in the garden, where the serpent had seduced Eve. C Therefore, as the struggle was prepared, the heavens were opened, the trumpet sounded, the contest was ready, the judge of the contest watched the struggle from heaven, and a crowd of angels was looking down; in the wicked, the serpent was active, in the chaste, faith held sway. Both were very anxious about the victory; the elders indeed, lest they be overcome by a woman; Susanna, lest she lose her chastity; for them, demons were preparing the pay of victory; for Susanna, the angels of chastity were preparing rewards. The wicked ones seize Susanna, and at first they struggled with her with words; what kind of words did they finally use? "We are the elders of the people, the laws have been entrusted to us, we have received the power to bind and to loose. No spectator is present here: come, lie with us; for we burn with desire for you. But if you will not, we will bear witness against you, that a young man was with you, and for this reason you sent your young women away from you" (Dan. XIII, 20-21). And see how many things were besieging Susanna: the calumny of intemperance, the fear of death, condemnation in the presence of so great a people, the hatred of her husband and kinsfolk, the mourning of her servants, and in general, the ruin of her entire house. But nothing of these things could overcome the purpose of the chaste woman: since her heart’s hope was placed in God. Therefore, groaning, she said: "Distress is on every side for me: for if I do this, it is death to me: whereas if I do not, I shall by no means escape your hands. Better it is for me to fall into your hands without the deed, than to sin in the sight of the Lord" (Ibid. v. 22-23). Woe is me! The shepherds I thought I saw, I see to be wolves: those whom I thought were harbors for those tossed by the storm, these have caused a shipwreck. You shall not defile my chastity; I will not afflict my parents with disgrace; I will not cast the stain of infamy upon my family; I will not inflict pain upon my husband; I will not break my union with him by a dishonest meeting; I will choose an unjust death rather than a dishonest marriage-bed. My husband is even now present with me, not by the presence of his body, but by the affection of my soul, and I myself carry the image of my parents with me. Fear God who sees these things; reverence the angels who are present; consider what you are; recognize the law which you read, the words of which are: "You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife" (Deut. V, 21). When she had said these things, she cried out, so that she might summon witnesses to their wantonness; but the two elders also cried out; the servants and handmaids of Susanna ran up; they see the two elders with her. But when the elders had brought those words against Susanna, the servants blushed vehemently, because such a discourse had never been spoken about Susanna (Dan. XIII, 27). D However, the greatest council was convoked on the following day; for the struggle was still under judgment, and reaching the victory to obtain the crown. The whole people of men, women, and children came together; again the theater was assembled; the men who were below did not know what they were discerning; but the angels in the heavens knew the matter. The elders, covered in crimes, came, calling for Susanna, as they indeed thought, to ignominy and death; but as the just Judge had predestined, to life and immortal glory. They say to the people: "Send for Susanna the daughter of Chelcias"; and they sent for her. She came, and her parents, and her husband, and her children (Ibid. v. 29-30). And Susanna came, as one about to die for the sake of chastity, groaning with much modesty, and afflicted—not because she was about to die, but because she might leave a sinister reputation to her parents, because she was about to inflict the mark of infamy upon her family; for she had no witness of the thing done in the garden. There were many who were weeping for her sake: friends, kinsfolk, parents, neighbors; her husband was mourning, her house was lamenting; then she herself, grieving, sad, weeping, and afflicted, is placed in the midst in great humility of heart. It was a public spectacle of God, angels, and men. Two elders rise up, wolves in the habit of shepherds; they lay their hands upon her, and in them the calumniator serpent was speaking. What was he speaking? "While we were walking alone in the garden, this woman entered, and sent away her young women, and a young man came to her, who was hidden, and lay with her. Moreover, when we were in the corner of the garden, and saw the iniquity that was being done, we ran to them; and him indeed we were not able to catch, because he was overcoming us with his strength, and he leaped out with the doors opened; but this woman, when we had caught her, we asked who the young man was, and she did not wish to reveal it to us. We testify to these things." And the multitude believed them as if they were elders of the people and judges; and they condemned her to death (Ibid. v. 36-41).