...with the Holy Spirit, now and forever, unto the ages of ages. Amen. ...and as we prepare for the things to come, let us spend all our efforts to please God, so that we may obtain the blessings to come, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
HOMILY VI. Homily delivered in the church of the Apostles, on the day of the Emperor Theodosius, against those who call themselves Cathari, after two other bishops had spoken.
A 1. How excellent is the pair of those who have spoken, the one drawing the ark by the ministry of oxen, the other offering the first-fruits of his sermon. For though their age is diverse, the standard of their husbandry is one; or rather, their age is not even diverse, for the young man possesses the gravity of age, and the aged man is instructed in the vigor of youth. So one would not be wrong to call them both old and young, not by reason of age, but by the condition of their design. Come, then, let us too at last bring our own contribution. For I see that you are insatiable in your desire to hear, and we are bound by no small duty toward the blessed Theodosius; not because he was an emperor, but because he was a pious man; not because he was girt with purple, but because he was clothed with Christ—a garment which never grows old—and he was girt with the breastplate of righteousness, and had shoes of the gospel of peace, and the sword of the Spirit, and the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation (Eph. 6:11). With these arms he overthrew tyrants, the former and the latter. The former he captured without labor or bloodshed and set up a trophy, without even the slightest slaughter of his army; the latter, however, he overcame in a set battle, single-handed. For since both armies on either side were drawn up in battle array, and because of the cloud of missiles being launched, as the enemies were pressing hard, his own men were already being turned to flight, he leaped from his horse, laid aside his shield, fell to his knees, and called upon the help of heaven. He made the place of the battle a place of prayer, fighting not with bows and missiles, not with spears, but with tears and petitions. And so, an onrush of wind suddenly arriving, the missiles of the enemies were carried back against the enemies themselves. And they, breathing fury and slaughter, when they saw this, were immediately transformed; they hailed him as Emperor and surrendered themselves, with their hands bound behind their backs.
B And the blessed Theodosius returned glorious, not only because of his victory, but because of the manner of his victory. For, as with other emperors, the soldiers did not share the trophy with him; the whole thing was his alone, and of his faith. Therefore, we do not call him dead either: for "He who believes in me," He says, "even if he dies, shall live; and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26). What then, you will say, has he not died? By no means; for I would not call this death, but a kind of sleep and a journey. For just as many who are alive have, as it were, buried their souls in their bodies as if in a tomb, so many who have died are living, shining in righteousness—just as this blessed one is. For death is most grievous, and truly death is that which is born of sin, of which He says that those who believe in Him shall never die. For "He who lives and believes in me," He says, "shall never die."
C ...and ran through land and sea, who brought countless nations to Christ, who became a participant in ineffable mysteries, who was caught up into the third heaven—did he dare to say any such thing about himself? By no means, but the exact opposite: he called himself an untimely birth and the last of the apostles, and did not think himself worthy to be called by that name. "I am not worthy," he says, "to be called an apostle" (1 Cor. 15:9). What then is this arrogance? What is this boasting? What is this madness? Being a man, do you call yourself a Catharus—that is, pure—and do you persuade yourself that you are pure? And how great is this madness? For when you call yourself pure, you do something like one who would say that the sea is pure from its waves, just as those waves never cease, so neither do our sins. Do you not know who we are? We, who are rejoicing, sorrowing, rich, poor, insulted, praised, driven away, attacked by war, enjoying rest, hungry, satisfied? Six hundred impulses and perturbations stir the soul, six hundred cares, six hundred bodily diseases, six hundred inequalities of circumstances; and do you dare to say that you are pure in such a whirlpool of storms? And what could be more impure than one who is so affected? And what am I speaking of the whole life? Tell me, will anyone be able to say that he is pure for even one day? For even if he does not fornicate or commit adultery, even if he does not sin in any such forbidden way, will he be able to boast that he has not been affected by vainglory, that he has not been affected by arrogance, that he has not looked with unchaste eyes, that he has not coveted the goods of his neighbor, that he has not lied, that he has not plotted deceit, that he has not cursed his enemies, that he has not envied his friend? D If, however, he who loves his friend will be no less than a tax-collector in this regard, what pardon will he be worthy of who envies his friend? Absorbed by so many evils, do you dare to call yourself pure? But the arrogance of these people is shown not only from this, but also from elsewhere. But I ask you and your charity, while considering all these things, to remove yourselves from their boasting and avoid their arrogance; and to take care with all diligence to wash away your committed sins and to repel those that are approaching. For even if countless evils surround us...
[GREEK COLUMN] : 493 And how shall this come to pass? Listen: if we betake ourselves to the church, if we groan for our transgressions, if we confess our sins, if we show mercy, if we manifest prayers, if we help those who are wronged, if we forgive our enemies their trespasses, if we shed tears for our sins; for all these things are medicines for sins. These things, then, all of them, I beg, let us make ready, day by day washing ourselves and cleansing; and with all these things let us blame ourselves, saying that we are unprofitable servants; for indeed this also is no small way of spending sins, that even when we do right, we should imagine nothing great concerning ourselves, lest we suffer what the Pharisee suffered. If we thus manage our own affairs, we shall be able to obtain mercy and forgiveness on that fearful day, and to be deemed worthy of the promised goods; of which may it be granted that we all partake, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
HOMILY VII. Homily delivered in the church of Saint Anastasia.
1. Small is the present gathering, but great is the desire; therefore the assembly is not small. For we do not seek multitudes of bodies, but a prepared disposition, a mind winged, a hearer becoming higher than all earthly things; and if one be such, he is sufficient for the speaker; since even the Samaritan woman was poor and impure and a foreigner, and yet she was deemed worthy of those long discourses by the Lord of the universe; and [Christ] had passed by Jewish crowds many times, either not conversing, or veiling the discourse; but with a woman who was a barbarian, and who had had five husbands, and who was living illegally with a sixth, he alone conversed, having sent the disciples on purpose into the market, so that he might not startle the prey. So great is the providence for even one soul to the Lord of the universe, if only he find a disposition and zeal adapted for the hearing of what is said; B which she also at that time exhibited. From a harlot, at any rate, she became an evangelist, after those reproofs crying out and saying: "Come, see a man, who told me all that I ever did: is this not the Christ?" He exposed her life, and brought into the midst the transgressions, saying: "For thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast, is not thy husband." But the reproof did not strike her down, but rather drew her to intimacy. For such are noble souls; by those things at which others are scandalized, by these are they corrected. For if she were another of the ungrateful sort, she would have been struck by the reproofs, even if she had fled, even if she had been roused to anger and indignation; but she, after the accusation, is rather made intimate with the Teacher, and questions him concerning greater mysteries; for she said, for "I perceive that thou art a prophet"; and from the knowledge of her own evils having learned, she admires even more and inquires. These were the things of a soul wishing to philosophize. For she does not ask anything concerning a worldly matter, nor about money, nor about health of body, nor about release from poverty, even though living in extreme poverty, but concerning the sacred laws, and concerning the conduct of ancestors, and the worship of fathers, saying: "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and how say ye that in Jerusalem is the place where it is fitting to worship?" And even in the preliminaries C she does the same thing, saying: "How dost thou ask of me to drink, being a Samaritan woman?" So preoccupied a soul had she, and adapted to be saved. For this reason too he who knows the secrets of the mind, having found a fertile soil, cast the seeds with a generous hand, raising her up little by little. These things have all been said by me, that you may learn that our assembly is not small. For if there one woman was a sufficient theater, how much more we, seeing so many men and so many women with such great zeal, have not despaired, but shall use the customary teaching. For if the Lord of the angels, whom the Cherubim dread, did not refuse to converse with a harlot woman alone, what apology could we have, and what forgiveness, if we pass by so great an assembly? Come, then, let us again prepare the customary table for you, and let us set up the mixing-bowl, and pour forth the unmixed wine, making a spiritual banquet. For these meats do not rend the belly, but wall in the mind; this wine does not make the hearer irrational, D but makes even the one who is drunk sober. Such is the nature of this table, which is able to suffice for us instead of a full panoply. For we also have need of weapons, since we are at war every day, not against fellow humans, but against invisible powers, against the phalanxes of the demons, against myriads of barbarian enemies, against an irreconcilable tyrant, and one who wages war against us without a truce, and neither signaling beforehand the time of the war, nor being seen, but striking from the unseen. Describing this war, the blessed Paul, the general of the universe, shouted, saying: "Finally, brethren, be strengthened in the Lord, and in the power of his might"; and again elsewhere: "For our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness of this age."
2. Did you see how he rubs the spirits of the soldiers? How he rouses the mind? How he arms the camp, both cutting off sloth and casting out fear? Since, for these two things especially in wars betray the soldiers, both to betray courage by cowardice, and, having become despondent, to increase sloth, and to give to the enemies to attack them unguarded; for neither would the one who fears immoderately be useful in war, becoming easily handled by the affliction, nor could the one who is entirely freed from fear, again, prevail over the enemies, by rashly trusting in...