41 Sermons

XXXIX. On the most holy Annunciation of the Theotokos. ^A XL. On the Transfiguration of our Lord, and God, and Savior Jesus Christ. By the same: Two books on the life and miracles of the holy virgin-martyr Thecla. We have omitted these five orations because they are found in St. John Chrysostom’s [homilies] on John. On the passage: "Now there was a certain man sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment." On the passage: "Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him. The Jews therefore, who were with her in the house," etc. That the apostles surpassed the [pagan] philosophers from without by faith. And that faith without works does not perfect [a man]. And on fornication and adultery. On the passage: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me." On envy and avarice.

BASIL OF SELEUCIA: ORATIONS

ORATION I

1. The entire life of men is set forth as a training ground for virtue, and the intervals of life look toward the doctrines that lead to the knowledge of God. For what profit is it for a man to have been fashioned by God, yet to remain ignorant of the hand that fashioned him? To be appointed king of creation, yet to be ignorant of the Creator as if He did not exist? To cast one's eyes upon the beauty of creation, yet to be blind toward the Author of the world? But although the life of men has been raised up by a pattern of governance toward the divine spirits, ^B yet the trumpet of fasting possesses the common [good] as something excellent and peculiar. For by sounding its own solemn melody to the ears of the soul, it rouses them to the stadium of struggles, making those who are lovers of divine learning more zealous, and, having wiped away the rheum from the eyes within on all sides, it reveals more clearly the rays of the knowledge of God. For just as it dulls the passions of the body, so it sharpens the power of the soul toward the contemplation of the Divine, and once the heat of the flesh has been lulled to sleep, it secures tranquility for the soul, and to it ^C

^A it entrusts the helm against the body; and it cuts off rebellion, extending power over the passions, and having extinguished the fire of love for the body, it kindles the lamp of love for God. Come, then, let us also, obeying the heavenly trumpet, philosophize upon divine things, and ascend through creation to the Lord of creation. For God has fashioned an ascent, constructing it like a ladder. ^B 2. Grace, descending upon the Mosaïc tongue, leads us by the hand toward the ascent: what does it say? what does it cry out? “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Do you see, he says, the breadth of the heavens, and their magnitude, and their beauty, which by their wonder surpass the measures of the eyes? God produced this by a nod, and holds it together by a command; not by props extending from below to the highest parts, nor indeed is any bond let down from above upon the summit of the heavens to force it to remain on high—but the weight of the earth, in its boundless intervals, where does it hang? But even if you find a foundation beneath it, you seek again for its root, and after that, what is beneath that, until the mind, instructed by the depth of inquiry, cries out: “This is the finger of God.” ^C And indeed miracle follows miracle. Heaven and earth were produced, carrying the abyss in their womb, and they stood bearing the seas, not slipping toward a fall by their weight. And just as a pregnant belly, swelling with the revolution of the months, announces the impending labor pains, in the same way the suspended heaven bore such a nature of the waters without turning; for it remained unshaken while it was held constricted by the nod of the Creator. But just as one who constructs a house, having first brought forth the body of the creation as yet unadorned, afterwards introduces its ornamentation, having contrived a beauty equivalent to the miracle of its magnitude. For just as the apprentices of painters, by first whitening the walls, plant the flowers of color through their art, so the Creator, hastening toward the adornment of the world, first whitens the walls of creation with light. For God said, he says, “Let there be light.” ^D The first voice was now being sent from God, and the light was being born: a voice was heard, and a nature was produced: a calling took place, and the creation was fashioned. For could He not have done whatever He willed in silence? Would the work not have followed His nod? But the heaven was produced, and the earth with the waters, without any voice preceding. But concerning the production of light, God preceded it with a voice. What, then, was the voice, and what was the cause of the voice

Let us learn to listen when Scripture is silent, and to be instructed when it speaks. For since the myriads of angels, having just been created, saw the things that were being made but were unable to see Him who was making them (for the invisibility of the Divine Essence surpasses ^A even the eyes of angels), it is reasonable that He now brings forth a voice to [the realm of] perception, stirring the hosts of angels to wonder at what was happening, so that, seeing that which was being created accompany the command, and being struck with the sight, they might be turned to the knowledge and praise of the Creator. Who is this? God Himself says, conversing with His own athlete, Job: "When I made the stars, all my angels praised me with a loud voice 4." For, seized with amazement at the spectacle, they followed the Creator with repeated auspicious acclamations for each thing that was being done.

Then, within the waters, He extended the firmament, just like a surface well-suited for a painting. After this, He strips the backs of the land of their waters, enclosing the seas in certain cells, as it were, while He uses the command as a barrier for the abyss, and contains the sea with sand as if with a bridle, keeping the land free ^B from the deluge of the deep; and even if the sea is driven against the land by the force of the winds, it is carried along, indeed, lifted high by its waves, but when it reaches the boundaries, it turns back and retreats. And when it has seen the voice of the Master inscribed upon the shores, it adores the One who set its boundaries with its curved waves; and though it strikes the land with force, it is struck in return, retreating in flight, mindful of the command. Therefore, it gently purples and fawns upon the neighboring continent, as if it were eager to embrace the land with soft arms, always restrained by the command of the Master, and almost every moment appearing to hear: "Let the waters be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear 5." And it remains mindful of the command, bound by the sand through the fear of Him who bound it; it does not violate the bonds, confirming the prophetic voice: "You have set a boundary which it shall not pass." ^C

Following these things, He fastens the lights of the stars in the heavens, and sows the firmament with luminous flowers, producing them for the grace and use of those who dwell on the earth. Furthermore, He adorned the floor of the creation with flowering meadows; and drawing forth the generations of animals from the earth, He established it as the mother and nurse of creatures. In this manner, when He had crowned the dry land with the sea, He did not show the sea itself to be useless for our needs, nor even… [alt-version omitted]

for the generation of offspring. For it was fitting that it should not be seen as inferior to the neighboring land in its capacity to bring forth. He sent forth the command, and the abyss immediately overflowed with swimming creatures, and the air was filled with birds; and the world was completed by his miracle, crying out: "How magnified are thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast thou made them all." ^A

3. But the creation was completed, silently proclaiming the wisdom and power of the Creator, woven together in diverse natures: for some are mortal, while others are adorned with immortality; some are beyond the reach of sight, others measured by the senses; some are endowed with reason, others possessed by a lack of reason; some are breathing and animate, while others are devoid of soul and sensation; and some leap with movements, while others are fastened to the earth by the bond of nature. For it was fitting that the wealth of creation should be made manifest in the things that were being created. The house of creation, therefore, as I have said before, had been beautifully completed, like a royal throne adorned and waiting for the one who would reign. It was fitting, then, that a human being should also be brought forth who would be worthy ^B of that royal throne. What, then, does the all-wise Creator do? Pulling together both parts of creation into one, He fashioned his body from the earth, and by breathing the invisible soul, as if into a beautifully wrought statue, into the body, He set up an animate image, containing within itself all of creation. For the angelic community recognizes him, enrolling him among the hosts above by the kinship of the soul; and the choir of visible things embraces him, acknowledging by its works the kinship of nature, and providing for his needs, bears witness to his race. For this reason, even before the human being is fashioned, he is honored by the foresight of the Creator and is magnified by divine deliberations: "Let us make man according to our image, and according to ^C likeness." He receives the honor before his very formation. Thus the clay is joined together and the throne is prepared. "Let us make man," a dwelling place for the Only-Begotten God; "let us make" Adam, from whom a certain second Adam will sit with the Creator. "Let us make man according to our image, and according to likeness." Here, my beloved, direct your attention to me; for we are mining the treasure of our kindred nature. "Let us make man according to..." ^D

our image, and according to likeness." ^A There is one image, but it is not a monument to a single person, but to three hypostases; for what is fashioned is a common work of the Godhead. It reveals the Trinity that fashions it, and yet there is one image of the Trinity. But if there is one image of the Trinity, the nature of the three hypostases is one. For the unity of the image proclaims the identity of the essence. For where, in one image, will a difference of the archetypal nature be found? One Godhead has established one image of itself according to nature. For this reason, He adorned him whom He honored with the dignity of the image with the very structure of the formation. For the other living creatures either sweep the earth with their whole body, having been allotted by the law of nature the power of crawling rather than walking, or else they incline toward the earth, testifying by their very shape that they have no claim to an inheritance in heaven. ^B But man alone displays his nobility through his formation. He stands upright, stretched toward heaven; while he touches the earth with his feet, as if lingering there for a time, he raises his face toward the heavenly vaults. And now, stretching forth his hands, he imagines his fatherland in heaven, crying out the voice of Paul before Paul: "Our citizenship is in heaven." As if sitting on a throne, he shows by his actions and by his dignity the image of the Creator, imitating the One who made him with deeds as if they were colors. For he, too, attempts to create, and desires to fashion; he constructs a house, builds a ship, fits together beds, fashions a table; and playing within creation, he mimics the hands of the Creator. Again, man becomes ^C a father, and a son is born, honored alone with divine dignities and names; he imitates the intemporal Father in time and by title, and a son is named after the pains of birth, representing the Son who is without passion, while he himself suffers. He is also a true king and lawgiver, like God, to whom ten thousand myriads of angels minister, and ten thousand myriads obey as he commands. He, too, shows power over his subjects, and a law binds the army, and man judges the transgressions of men; he brings forth a word, and glories in the passing of sentence, ^D within the shadow of things [beholding] the true sentence.

basileia schēmatizomenos. But the wealth of the ^A Creator flows around humanity and surges in the hands. But for us now, the time shortens the discourse. But again, we shall pay the debt to you, with grace working in Christ Jesus; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Oration II. By the same, on Adam.

1. Just as those who look upon the images of kings, which cast a radiance from the splendor of their colors: the purple, which shines with the sea-bloom; the diadem, which flashes with the lights of jewels and encircles the head; the right hand, which is believed to carry the orb of the world in the shape of a globe with its fingers; are immediately seized by admiration at that spectacle, and represent to themselves the beauty of the archetype, which they do not see with their eyes, but with the aid of the blooming colors: so also do I think that those who gaze upon man in the midst of the universe as a living statue of the Creator, ambitiously turned, marvel at the dignity of the recently fashioned image; ^B but are even more astonished at the dexterity of the Creator, who fashioned the work of varied art with all wisdom and equal benevolence. Come now, let the discourse, by narrating the elegance of the statue piece by piece, proclaim the stupendous work of the sculptor: and now, traversing the miracles of creation in its circuit, and having admired the skill of the craftsmanship in each one, the discourse has hastened to ^C those who are contained by a certain kinship of nature, and having recognized the parity of nature, it has refrained from reproach; and when it saw man formed by the hand of God, having conceived great joy for the honor given to him, it has turned to giving thanks to the Creator. It saw man not needing a womb, not flesh sculpted in a matrix, not a muddy embryo in the workshop of nature, nor naturally obsessed by the narrowness of a place, not designating accretion by the swelling of the womb, not ^D

increase, not ^A awaiting the pains of childbirth with hands agile for the rays; nor waiting for the time when he might be released as a captive from the prison of the womb, nor reformed after birth by the netting of swaddling clothes, nor disgraced by a shameful gait upon the earth, nor admitted with labor to the stages of an imperfect age. But he saw man brought forth by an immortal hand, using the Creator's hand instead of a womb, and a perfect and absolute image perfected by the finger of God from the moment of creation; he saw him created and made king at the same time. For let him have dominion, he says, over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the beasts of the earth. (Gen. I, 28). He places a creature in the hand of a creature; by grace he creates a fellow-servant of nature as a lord by benefit, he subjects the sea, imposes servitude upon the continent, ascribes the air to his gifts, and finally man becomes the possessor of those things of which he had not been the founder. He was indeed the last ^B in construction, but he shone forth first in dignity. Thus, furthermore, the shower of divine goodness having been brought down, the later gifts obscure the former. For just as if giving birth to the gifts of His own magnificence, and unable to keep the treasure closed up within Himself, He is not content with the former things, nor does He circumscribe His gifts with things previously bestowed, nor did the whole earth and the granted sea satisfy the desire of the Giver; but He granted to the beloved a paradise constructed by His own hand, a delightful seat. What need is there for me to recount the beauty of paradise? Whose cultivator is its founder, and cultivating the gift with the extraordinary cultivation of the field, He gave an extraordinary seat to the formed man. God fashioned man outside of paradise and led him inside, so that he might approach a possession of which he was not a part, nor would he ascribe the gift to the kinship ^C of nature, but rather to gratuitous munificence. But rise up in spirit to the rest of your dignity, Adam, and confirm your dominion by the naming of living creatures; imitate the dignity of the Maker; He creates the natures, you be the nomenclator. And it was possible to see an orderly secret token being brought to all the animals, which ^D [alt-version omitted]

which ^A when they flowed to Adam, confessed their servitude by that very accession. For he says, God brought all the living creatures of the earth, and the birds of the sky, to Adam, that he might see what he would call them. Be it so, Adam, be the artificer of names, since you cannot be of the things. Let those things which have been created be formed by me, and named by you; let us share the glory of this creative skill; let them know me as the artificer by the law of nature, let them understand you as the lord by the name of the appellation: from there the name, to which I gave the essence: I do not overturn the appellation, I do not refashion the grace. For everything that Adam called it, that is its name. Not even the transgression itself could shake the names, nor could the violation of the law alienate the appellations. But the lion stands by, leaping gently, the wolf acted peacefully among the sheep, and the serpent was subject to the will of man: for thus it came to pass that the tongue was lent to the devil, for the sake of introducing confusion. When he had not yet been disobedient to God, he had the whole crowd of those lacking reason listening to him. Thus, therefore, the Lord of this universe ^B granted the distribution of all things to man.

4. But, living in such an abundance of all good things, Adam did not have anyone with whom to share his happiness: and lacking a companion for his pleasure, he was seized by a sense of more imperfect joy: For, he says, there was not found a helper like him. For while he had the services of another kind, he did not see solace from a congeneric nature in the universe. He was a wandering guest, a lord wandering in the middle of paradise, afflicted by the desolation of an equal society. What then did the most wise Maker? what the most humane artificer of nature? It is not good, he says, for man to be alone. Let us make him a helper like himself. Again deliberation, again counsel, again ^C

DAUSQUE'S NOTES

^A He said: "Let us make man according to our image and likeness," and here again: "Let us make for him a help meet for him." The plans are alike; for the things fashioned are of the same kind, and the forms are alike, since the things created are of equal honor. Again, therefore, there is a deliberation, that what was being fashioned might be in honor. Let us fashion man ^B as equal in honor, let us join to him one equal in glory, that the woman may not be lacking in equal honor, lest the work be disgraced by a base genus. For the account of piety is truly equal for men and women, and the stadium for pursuing virtue is laid out equally for both. For faith does not distinguish by gender. Thus Paul defines it, saying: "Neither is the man without the woman 16 in the Lord, nor the woman without the man"; for the course ^C of virtue does not know a difference of nature. It knows that the female genus can act manfully in the struggles of faith; it knows how to seize the crown in the arena of piety 27. For those whose formation He fashioned as equal, they deem it a shame to be left behind in the race 28. Look at Paul for me, traversing the stadiums of the inhabited world, showing the world to be a small thing by the race undertaken for the faith 29, exhorting women and admiring their race: "I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche, and you, true yoke-fellow, help those women who ^D labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-laborers 18." Do you see the female gender also competing in the races of Paul, and imitating the apostolic labors in the stadium of the world? "Let us make for him a help meet for him." You surely recognize also the words: "Let us make." Again, the word, being expanded, hints at the hypostases of the Divinity 30, the knowledge of the Trinity.

Let that knowledge, therefore, be coeval with the creation, and let it not be received later as something foreign by men, in whose generation it was mentioned. ^A And the Lord God, it says, took one of his ribs and built the rib 31 which He had taken into a woman. For what reason, tell me, was the woman fashioned after Adam and not with Adam? Why was not the workmanship of both simultaneous? In all other things, one word sufficed to represent the natures and to determine the sex, when male and female were fashioned together. But Adam alone was left without a female, and the order separates the fashioning, and the bodies are not even called forth from the earth, nor is the earth inscribed as the mother of both 32; but the one was finished 33, while the other had not even begun. This is because God wishes to create in the sight of Adam, and desires that his own image should become a spectator of His creative art. For Adam had not yet seen God creating. "God created the heaven and the earth," but Adam did not see Him creating, having received his own fashioning ^B subsequent to the creation of the heaven. He stretched out the firmament, He kindled the lamps of light, He brought about the growing of herds of animals from the earth; but those things were older than the sight of him. He himself, while being fashioned, did not receive the perception of the One fashioning. How then could he learn of a Maker, whom he did not know in the act of making? How could he recognize a Creator, whom he did not behold creating? For this reason, He constructs the female before his eyes and makes him a spectator of a nature like his own, so that in her, gazing at what concerns himself, he might learn, from the things he saw, that which he had not seen.

NOTES OF CLAUDIUS DAUSQUE

The Hebrews customarily connect the verb [latin omitted: in the singular]. What if they connect it for this reason, because the nature is one, the essence is one, of the three persons? But even when angels are understood, what if it happens that the diction is uniform? (31) [Gk quoted]: He exaggerated and amplified. Plautus said in the *Trinummus*: "Whoever might build his unfinished sloth, or increase it." Livy, referring to Macrobius, book VI, c. 1, *Saturn.*: "He built" is a term. Nor is it strange that the verb is adapted to the fashioning of the human body, since the ancients called the body the dwelling-place of the soul and a house. Dismissing Plato and the sacred writers, Apuleius in his *Apology* says: "That in him (the boy) the divine power might dwell as in a good house." And without any addition, Plautus makes Sceledrus say in the *Miles Gloriosus*: "If the soldier should know of this? I believe, by Hercules, he would tear down this whole house, and from here to [the cross." Where he speaks thus. An Apollonian scholiast explains in a certain place the composition and color of the body. Persius, *Sat.* 5: "You must shake out the house of your heart, and how much of you is the soul of Cornutus." The Apostle calls the human body a house, 2 Cor. ch. V, v. 1. (31*) [Gk quoted]: A man of exact judgment. (32) [Gk quoted]: The translator looked at that in the tenth book of Silius. "For it is not a fraud to men Who inscribe Mars to their race." Who refer their race to Mars. Thus, it is that not both were born from the earth, or extracted by the command of God; see above: [Gk quoted]. (33) [Gk quoted]: Perfectly finished, or absolutely perfect. For the preposition does not bring an addition of perfection. In the *Oration on Lazarus*, when the apostles were turning Christ away from the journey because of the proposed stoning, they heard "not yet [Gk quoted]," not yet quite perfect. Damascenus, on the transfiguration of Christ: that is, it is perfectly integrated. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, p. 57, takes it so; the same force prevails in others: among the Pisidians "hardened stones." In the New Testament, it signifies perfect and most full redemption. (34) [Gk quoted]: A popular argument. But if you wish to refer it to knowledge, which is compared with the aid of the senses; to a knowledge more easy and more certain, with which it was fitting that Adam should be instructed.

^A And God took one of his ribs and built the rib which He had taken into a woman; and having fashioned her, He showed her, and bestowed as a bride the one from his side. For this reason, He did not call forth both to birth with a single voice, but He appoints a definite interval of time for the formation, bestowing it upon his knowledge: so that, beholding a nature being fashioned that was like his own, he might be taught that He is the Creator of both. And it is not from the earth, but from the rib, that the member is borrowed. He divides the body so that He may bind together the mind, and one nature is divided by the art of the Fashioner, that one mind may be formed in imitation of nature. ^B Adam, therefore, beholding the wondrous growth of his own member, and that a member was being taken away and a living being was being fashioned, cried out with great joy: “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” I recognize the member, and I embrace the gift, and the wound in my side is transformed into desire for me: “This is now bone of my bones,” this truly is what is now beheld, not those former things which, when they were in my power, I did not in the least desire to see, but this [one], which now looks upon me, and being looked upon with desire, has put an end to my wandering gaze, [this] formation of her. Among such throngs of animals, I did not see one that was of the same nature as I; in such a multitude, I lamented my solitude; dwelling in such abundance of things, I lived as in a wilderness: yet, though severed from the member, I am bound by an attraction; separated in place, I am joined by desire. He who separated the bodies has brought our souls into one. How shall I deem her alien, who did not take her origin from without, but from me? How, therefore, shall we not be again one flesh, conglutinated by the force of nature, we who were previously joined? “And God built the rib which He had taken into a woman.” Such a work is a teacher of concord and continence. ^C By joining one wife to one man, He indicates the law of continence. In taking the woman from the side, He commands that the woman be cherished and sheltered by the man: for the rib that lies beneath is at once cherished and sheltered by the hand. He also makes the subjection of the woman witnessed in silence. For she, considering from what place she was fashioned, should bend her will to obedience, so that, as a rib, she may be joined, and as such, be cherished. This manner of creation is a silent exhortation. Let us therefore follow the will of the Creator; let us revere the Lord of nature, turning away from the paths of lust. Let us not ^D be ashamed to hear even the silent Scripture.

NOTES OF CLAUDE DAUSQUE

(35) *In this relationship.* He had said before, to hear the silent Scripture. Pisidas [says] of the turtle-dove wasting away and not singing from hunger: *With silent voice it instructs the life.* He likewise [says] of the fervor of the mind of the patriarch Sergius: *And not by speaking did he give a great sound within.* Basil more than once joined silence to instruct the life. And Tully, *De judicibus*: While they are silent, they cry out. That [saying]: *Often the silent face has a voice and words.*

the Lord of nature, let us turn away from the paths of licentiousness. Let us not insult the majesty of our creation with the corruption of our will. Let us love Him who honored our race with boundless honor; let us love Him as the lover of mankind, and honor Him as the lover of honor. Let us not defile our worthiness with unworthy practices. We were fashioned by the hands of God; let not the beauty of our structure be obscured by the wickedness of our deeds; let us not insult the Creator by the transgression of our affairs; let us not provide fuel for the fire by obeying the serpent; let us not suffer what the root of our race has suffered. But for now, let us check the course of our discourse, because of the satiety of those who hear. With the grace of God assisting, we shall add the remainder of the history, so that we may learn what a drama the devil wove against the first-formed man, and by learning what he suffered, let us be brought to our senses by his sufferings; and with a more ardent love let us love Christ, by whom he who had fallen arose, and the striker was laid low, by the grace of Christ Himself, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

ORATIO III. The same on Adam.

^A 1. I know that I am held by the bond of the teaching concerning Adam, and recognizing the debt, I am troubled by the magnitude of the debt. But since you are eager lovers of learning, and insistent demanders of this promise, while we are unequal to the payment: come, let us entreat Christ the Lord to be our cooperator in the rendering of it. For if He takes pleasure in tearing up the written papers of sins, he rejoices much more in discharging the debts of teaching with us. Come then, beloved, let us occupy our mind with the history of Adam. For the account concerning this is opportune during the fast, since Adam had received this in paradise to observe along with other plants, and along with the more unrestrained use of pleasurable things, the law of the fast was written for him: "Of every tree of the paradise eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat."

^B 2. The first ordinance of the King granting food, and legislating the fast. "Have," He says, "authority over all things; abstain from one only." Let the hand be extended toward all, and be withdrawn toward one. "I have not forbidden the enjoyment out of envy, nor reserving the eating for Myself (for My nature is indigent of nothing, and invincible to every passion), but that by recognizing the one who forbade, you might recognize the one who provided; and the deprivation of the one might become for you a reminder of the One who gave all things; so that the luxury flowing from every side might not strip away the memory of the benefit; so that you might not, by the insatiability of eating, slip into ignorance." Shaping the other tribes and kinds of living creatures, the Creator bound them with immutable laws of nature. And there is no choice for them to distribute the power toward both, nor ^C any discernment of reasoning, which, as if in an equi-

-^Alibrium, might weigh the choice of actions. But nature commands everything at once, and urges them to act without a curious examination of the precept. Man, however, is honored with reason, adorned with power of choice, and shines with the autonomous power of mind, having his judgment unenslaved in will, his intention self-mastering, and demonstrating an indistinct choice of things to be done. Hence, one thing is chosen, while another is set aside for what seems best; one thing is turned away from, and another is embraced. And, reigning with autonomous resolve, he abounds in the choices of his own mind. For this reason, God, in giving the law, does not impose a necessity to act, but commands what seems good, and leaves the action to the will. And even if the one commanded passes over the command, He does not therefore change his nature, nor does He bind the disobedient with the laws of necessity, nor does He forcibly take away grace, nor does He withdraw the gift by some necessity, nor does He corrupt the mind by subverting nature; but, leaving the autonomy of his reasoning intact, He calls the offender back to wisdom through punishments. To the ruling reason, He has entrusted the reins of the body 38; and, having placed the soul as a charioteer over the body as if it were a chariot, He commands it to drive the course of virtue. Here, then, if the reasoning is sober and holds the reins of the body, it runs the course that procures the crown; but if it nods off, as if to the passions acting as horses, it is carried unawares over precipices and rough terrain; and, being cast down at the end, it is dragged along, covered in dust, becoming a captive of its own chariot, and, being dragged, it cries out: *Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?* For having betrayed its sovereignty through sloth, it becomes a slave to the passions; and having surrendered the throne to irrational passions, the reasoning is condemned as a slave to those whom it was born to rule. Furthermore, in addition to the other things with which God appears to have honored man, and having clothed him with the gift of autonomous reasoning, He has given him a law, exercising his power of choice; and, having written down the commandment on the plant as if on a tablet, He awakened the discernment hidden within, having inscribed on the wood the distinction between obedience and disobedience. Hence, it is known as the tree of good and evil; for from those things which it learned here, the tree was called such, and the instruction of this tree was [the cause of] that naming. Indeed, there,

as I said, knowledge was practiced by Adam and his reason was exercised: ^A *From every tree in the paradise you shall eat; but from the tree of knowing good and evil you shall not eat.* Have enjoyment without measure; only stay your hand, which is hastening toward an improper eating. Show forth, by the keeping of the law, the honor you hold for the Lawgiver. Let me see your resolve, that I may admire your deep affection. Grant me this favor by drawing back your hand; prefer the Giver of the entire paradise to a single tree; I have appointed you the judge of my honor; repay the Benefactor with the contempt of your taste. For this reason have I brought to you, in the law, the fear of death, to aid you against unlawful craving, so that even if the mind should slip toward it, it might be steadied by fear; for the fear of transgression is the sinew of self-control. But you, do not bring me honor through fear, but through love. Become a plant greater, more brilliant than the paradise; I, too, will pluck your obedience as a good fruit of your free choice. Offer to me the gift of your resolve: *From every tree in the paradise you shall eat.* Extend the limits of your desire; for the abundance of the supply overcomes your need; let the paradise be substituted for wealth in your desires. But where you see the law written, there restrain your desire; there refuse the touch of the food, as it is the poison of life. Avert your eyes, lest they lead you into transgression; flee from looking, that you may be saved: *From every tree in the paradise you shall eat.* The law is harmonious with the time. The commandments are fitting for the occasion. For what kind of law would have been suitable? “Do not kill” — whom? why? “Do not steal” — of whom? whose? “Do not commit adultery” — with whom? whose? ^B For what other bolt of beauty could have been shot at him—or rather, what other arrow could have been shot—so that by avoiding the strike, he might become a guardian of the commandment?

3. So long as Adam enjoyed [the paradise] without danger, his delight was harmless and free from the admixture of the serpent’s venom. But the sight aroused the devil to envy, and wounded by what he saw, he attempted to strike back at the one who had struck him. He saw absolute power over all creation; he saw dominion over the sea entrusted to him; he saw flocks of animals subject to him; the paradise as his home; a bride fashioned by the hand of God; the creation given as her dowry; God presiding over the marriage. ^C And being struck by envy, this bestial creature puts on a serpent: the charioteer of the serpent, after the charioteering of the air, is established, dragging himself dishonorably through dishonorable deeds. For he who offends God has, even before the punishment, the dishonor as his punishment. Thus, then, having become a pretender in the guise of a serpent, he approaches those he plots against, imitating the guardian, and, for the time being, leaving aside the matter of Adam’s marriage as something readily handled, he goes around to another part, under the man’s side ^D structural sub-

-^Aarch: for what reason did God say: "You shall not eat from the tree that is in paradise?" He feigns a love for mankind, he who has run to ruin, and he attempts to pit the servant against the Master under the pretext of sympathy. "I saw you," he says, "in the abundance of good things, not daring to enjoy them, and I have come out of sympathy. I saw you starving in the midst of paradise, and I have come to share in your sadness." Tell me, for what purpose did God forbid the food? By showing the sight of it, why did he deprive you of the experience? For whom is he keeping the enjoyment? For whom is he saving the gift by stripping it away from you? It would have been better if he had not given it at all than to have forbidden it once given. He gave the paradise, but did not allow the food.

By these words he undermines the hearing, ^Bbesieges the reason, and makes the mind fluctuate; he strikes it, so that he may wound the conscience. But the woman answers the plotter, and she wishes to correct the one laying the plot. Why, O woman, do you pollute yourself with hypocrisies? You have heard a lie; flee from the worker of the lie, turn away from the father of the lie, oppose his machinations with silence; render his dart ineffective by stopping up your ears. "From every tree," she says, "which is in the paradise we shall eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God said, 'We shall not eat of it; and in whatever day you eat of it, you shall die the death.'" You have stripped yourself, O woman, of your armor by entrusting the voice of God to the devil. What, then, does he do? "You shall not die the death," he says. O hateful judgment and ^Cbold voice! God sentences transgressors to death, and the devil promises life to those who act unlawfully. "You shall not die the death." He stealthily removes the fear of death so that he might plunder the safeguards of the law; he adulterates the penalty so that he might propel her to break the law; having shaken off the fear and removed the penalty, he sparks a war against God: "For God knows that in whatever day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil." He says that out of envy, not out of love, he forbade the tree; he deprived you of the eating so that he might block your access to divinity. Why, then, do you flee, O woman, the plant by the aid of which you will be God? Why do you reject the food through which you might be equal to the One who commands? Truly, he was a murderer from the beginning. For after he saw Adam fortified by these two things—the fear of death and the promises of life with which God had occupied himself in fortifying him—the demon imitates the same. And indeed, as for that death... ^D

he puts forward ^A the word, "You shall not die," and instead of the tree of life, he sets her fluttering with hopes of becoming equal to God; in order that, having dissolved the fear and captivated her with those hopes, he might easily plunder the order, making the paradise a workshop of transgression. "You shall be as gods." Observe for me, brother, the treachery of this phrase, which exists as the mother and root of all impiety. For Hellenism sprouted from it, and from this point the heresies of impiety were born. This became his primary engine against the truth: to be able to persuade men that the Divine is something created. This brought the invocation of God down to the abasement of idols ^B. Because of this voice, they imagined the creation to be God. Because of this, Arius dared to claim that the Son is a creature; because of this, Eunomius declared the Son to be from things that do not exist; because of this, Apollinarius thought that God had become man. Take away the "You shall be as gods," and Hellenism is torn out by the roots. Take away the notion of the Divine being a creature, and every heresy that battles against the Son falls. Those who attach generation, composition, and passion to the Divine have that one ^C as their workman: "You shall be as gods." He implants the notion of divinity in order to condemn the man to mortality; he said what he wished. "For the woman saw that the tree was good for food." In truth, she was looking even before, but at that time her gaze was cleansed of passion. She held her reason unenslaved in its purity; but once the soul was fettered, the sight shared in the passion. For such as are the counsels of the soul, such are the movements of the body. She saw that the tree was good for food. She wondered at the taste of things she had not yet tested. "And taking of its fruit, she ate, and gave also to her husband." What are you doing, O woman? You were ordered to cherish, and you have arrived at treachery? You were formed for the fellowship of life, and you have been found the procurer of death? You were taken as a limb, and you were sent out as an arrow? What is the final result of the matter? "And when they knew that they were naked, they sewed fig leaves, and made for themselves loincloths." Now they have harvested the fruit of the seduction. They sewed fig leaves. They themselves, being stripped, strip the trees; having transgressed around the tree, they borrow their covering from the tree. And so, in this state of the race...

the devil laughed, having defiled the image of God with shame. For such are the devil’s machinations: he wounds with pleasure and convicts with shame. He pushes toward the fall and brands those who fall. But God, taking pity on the deception, hastened toward correction. He hastened, not by changing place, but by testifying to his presence through a sort of fearful appearance. But they, struck by terror, showing themselves to be the accusers and witnesses of their transgression, vote for their own exile. ^B Having struck fear with the sound of his walking, God uses his call to show his love for humanity, saying: "Adam, Adam, where art thou?" (Gen. III, 9). O the philanthropy of the Master! As one ignorant he seeks him whom he himself put to flight; and as one who does not see, he calls him who is present to all. Adam, Adam, where art thou? Where is the workmanship of my hands? Where is the ensouled statue of my dignity? Where is the guardian of my paradise? Adam, Adam, where art thou? The call is full of mourning from affection: Where art thou? Where for you is the boldness of my conversation? Where is the confidence of your familiarity with me? Where is the height of your dignity? Instead of a friend, you are a fugitive? Appear before one who calls you. Show the physician the ulcer of transgression; show the wound of nakedness. For I have medicines more powerful than the wound; I have remedies by which I heal the bites of the serpent. Trusting in these words, he who was hiding looks out, and dares to offer a response, having pondered such things with himself: "God deigns to call me, and summons me with his voice; he does not hurl a violent thunderbolt at me, nor does he inflict the death with which he had previously threatened me. Shall I not therefore heed the one calling, when I did not heed the one legislating?" "I heard thy voice, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself" (Gen. III, 10). There is no need for an accusation structured with words; my nakedness is a most truthful accuser, not a masked one. What, then, does God do? "Who told thee that thou wast naked, unless thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?" (Gen. III, 11). He came as a Judge, and he asks as a physician; and when he had come to pass judgment, he reproaches as a friend. "Is this," he says, "the thanks returned for my beneficence? Is this the gift for the favors you have received?" Here there is a need for a response, to hesitate, to transfer the bold deed to the woman, to blame and accuse the life-partner; she, in turn, derives the blame for the fall onto the serpent. But God, wishing to recall those deceived to wisdom from their error, punishes the seducer; for the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed among all..." ^{C D}

the exchanges of gifts? Are these the thanks for those things bestowed? He indeed lacks an apology, and transfers the boldness to the woman, having made the partnership of life the cause of the crime; and she transfers the faults to the serpent. But God, correcting those who were deceived, punishes the deceiver. For the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you are cursed above all the cattle of the earth." The sentence is indeed brought against the visible serpent; but the punishment of the sentence is sent against the adversary. For by that through which he deceived, by that he is punished. And to the woman He said: "In pain you shall bring forth children." You who did not spare the fruit of the commandment, will be miserably tormented by the fruits of your own womb. And to Adam He said: "Cursed is the ground in your works." You have shown yourself unworthy of luxury; you shall be subject to the sweat of the earth, and having measured the time of your life with labors, you shall find the grave as the successor to your life.

^B 4. This is the sentence of condemnation upon our ancestors. Do not you, however, cast away the hopes of salvation; for God did not fix matters at the curse; God did not leave nature destitute of good hope. For the advent of Christ is stronger than the gluttony of the first-created man; and the only-begotten Son clothed Himself with the first-fruits of humanity that had been deceived through the lawless eating; and He is wrapped in the second Adam, healing the wounds with contrary medicines. He set the wilderness against paradise; fasting against luxury; against the deception through sight, the trophy through man against the devil; instead of Eve, a Virgin giving birth without the bitterness of the curse, and a virginal birth free from the ancient grief, and an unwed maiden who gave birth to an immortal Bridegroom. This second Adam was brought forth, and instead of paradise was taken up into heaven. From there He strikes the serpent, hearing from the Father: "Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies ^C your footstool," to Whom be glory forever. Amen.

ORATION IV.

By the same, on Cain and Abel.

1. Again the law of instruction rouses us to speak; again it compels us to irrigate our spiritual paradise with our small drizzle. Again it exhorts us, who are poor, to become hosts of a splendid hearth. But the grace is not poverty-stricken, nor is the provider helpless, who, seeing the faith of the audience, provides the tongue ^D so that through us it might pour forth spiritual waters into you.

^A When it once pleased Him, He turned the dry, waterless desert into a place flowing with rivers, and gave that parched land to those who thirsted as a remedy, and He made the rock that was destitute of moisture the mother of fountains. For such is the disposition of the Divine: while He conquers by power, He is conquered by love for men. For this reason, He also subjects wickedness to punishments, through which He chastens the mind, healing the disease. For He is not ashamed to become the physician of those of whom He is the Creator. Everywhere, then, in the Scripture, He has sown the medicines of the mind fittingly, but especially where He arranged the account of Cain and Abel, and demonstrated, as if upon monuments, the intention of each, leaving behind an incentive to virtue and an avoidance of vice for those who come after.

For those who contemplate the images of men of old hunt for the mind of each one through epigrams; although time has often erased the memory of many of them, the art of painting, by blending colors and refashioning the aged nature, brings it before the eyes as if it were young. Thus, too, perhaps the strength of brass is softened by the violence of fire, and, having complied with the laws of the art, it receives the forms ^B and, by its configurations, proclaims the life-styles and transmits ancient deeds along with time, leaving behind a monument both delightful and accommodating for the instruction of those who see it, and by this pleasure, it encourages the onlookers toward imitation.

Thus, too, the great Moses, the scribe of the divine voice, by substantiating the materials of virtue through history, inscribed the images of his ancestors, not calling upon the help of fading colors, but having his tongue watered by the grace of the prophet, he wrote down the instruction of virtue for those who come after. Count, therefore, if it also seems good to you, the fruits of the present history. Behold the manifold fruit springing up from this: first, God, through corporal appearances, condescending to men; ^C second, accepting sacrifices, not that He is gratified by a craving—for the Divine is in need of nothing—but that He might instruct the mind of those who offer them, by pretending to be honored by those things through which they themselves think they are honoring God. Finally, He teaches how great His care for the righteous is, even after death. For He would not have punished Cain for murder, had He not been concerned for Abel even after he was slaughtered. For although the righteous are deprived of mortal life when they are murdered, they are not cast out from the hope of good things even after they have died; rather, they are then even more powerful, having death as an advocate against the one who has acted unjustly. And the greatest of all things, they ^D announce to men the liberation from death and the promise of resurrection. For the righteous Abel...

^A is the shadow of Christ, speaking better by his blood than Abel. For it was fitting that the columns of the resurrection should be foreshadowed by the blood of the righteous. For if the cause of death is transgression, he who did not provide the matter for death remains free even among the dead by his own resolve. O paradoxical things! In the vestibule of death is read the writing of the resurrection. For why did Adam not first enter the gates of death, although he himself, by his transgression against nature, called death upon himself? And why was the writ of execution not first dictated against Eve, by whom nature was condemned? "You are dust, and to dust you shall return." Yet God allows Abel to be taken away first—allows, but does not betray; for God did not deliver the righteous man to death, but He did not defend him against death as it came upon him, so that He might use the one who attacked wickedly for a good end, so that by laying a rotten foundation for death, the writ of death might be rendered invalid. For a righteous man, held unjustly by death, makes Hades destitute of a legal defense, and pledges the destruction of death as a prelude to death. For Christ, having taken this judgment upon Himself on behalf of men, and having shown the power of death to be unjust, justly destroyed it. For when Hades unjustly drew into itself sinless flesh ^B and the righteous whom it held, through it, it vomited them forth. So great a treasure does the narrative concerning Abel cover! But let us, if it seems good, direct our attention to the text itself.

2. "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bore Cain." And who does not know that marriage, the begetter of creatures, precedes birth? But since Adam was fashioned from dust, and the earth was turned to the nature of man, and his side brought forth Eve, and it was not the law of nature that united them, but the power of a command, that you might not suppose this generation to be similar to those others, he interprets the laws of nature. God indeed commands, but nature henceforth... ^C

proceeds by serving. ^A Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. Hence there is the womb, and conception, and birth pangs, and offspring—the broad highway of nature, the legitimate cultivation of the generation of men. From this, nature began to sprout forth rational stalks (61). She conceived and bore, not from the earth, not from a rib, but from the womb the sprout came forth. This made the parents astonished. Eve saw a spectacle beyond expectation, nature multiplied in number, and bodies divided, and in proclaiming the wonder she bears witness to the Creator: "I have possessed a man through God." She acknowledges the Fashioner, offering the work to God. And rightly so: "through God" she declares him the Fashioner, not a subaltern. You, O Arian, revere Eve, and cease to contend with syllables against the Son of God: revere the common mother of men, who looked up to the Creator with her voice, not bringing an insult against him. Cease to imitate the sacrifice of Cain while you chant praises: for you pursue with insults the God whom you flatter with sacrifice; you rob of his dignity the one to whom you pretend to offer honor. By the example of Cain you bring honor to the Creator without honor. You confess him God, and make of him a creature, and a little later you proclaim him again to have become a man, transforming the Creator from creature to creature, and calling origin to succeed origin. And hearing that when he had taken on ensouled flesh he accomplished the economy for the human race, you refer the conception to [the necessity of] nature, and interpret the manifestation of Christ, with the greatest impiety, according to its essence. But not so Eve; for she says, "I have possessed a man through God." I know, she says, my transgression of the divine command; I know that I fell from paradise. By the things I have suffered, I have been taught. I acknowledge the one who punished me; I accepted the penalty, which, as a teacher, vindicated me from error. The dangers of the seduction are sufficient; I do not admit a second snare. ^B

3. *And she conceived and bore Cain.* The first-born was brought forth, ^C he who was the first to be hostile to nature; who first opened the path for childbirth, and first threw open the gates to death; who by the gift of nature came first to life, and first by the vice of the will rushed into slaughter. Abel succeeds this birth, a brother in nature, but not a brother in intent. For the sacrifice revealed the difference of their minds. The one was revealed as a lover of self, the other, through it, as a lover of God. For Cain, judging the sacrifice a loss, offered honor to the One being honored from among things that were inadmissible, peddling the price with an adulterated mind. But Abel was far different; for when he… ^D

NOTES OF CL. DAUSQUEIUS

(61) *Hence nature began to sprout forth rational stalks.* This manner of speaking involves a very rich yield of men, which I refer to the *Phoenissae* of Euripides: "What land has committed to us of the Spartoi a new harvest glistening with golden helmets..."

(62) *Judging...* [This] signifies from the manifestation of Christ regarding his nature.

^A Abel was not so. Being wholly given to his gift, he worshiped the Superior with a sincere mind, and honored the Giver of the flock with the finest parts of the flock, joining the virtue of his disposition to his gifts, and offering his very soul together to the One receiving them. The chronicler, weighing the intent of each as if on the scale of history, said: "Cain offered of the fruits gifts unto God" (Gen. iv, 3). A fruitless disposition offers fruits to God; a soul devoid of life brings forth fruit, and it is fitting that Cain, with a fruitless soul, should be—and so his honor is unacceptable. Refrain from a sacrifice conjoined with impiety. Abel also "offered of the firstlings" (Gen. iv, 4), in which the best of nature was commended, [and] the spirit was proved. Therefore the outcome was concordant for each: "And God looked upon Abel, and upon his gifts" (Gen. iv, 4). Seeing the one who makes the offering, He then accepts ^B the thing offered; He first looks upon the disposition, and then accepts the giving. But upon Cain, and upon his sacrifices, He did not look; seeing the manner of it, He abhors the sacrifice; He looks first at the hand that offers. For this reason, those of Abel He calls "gifts," but those of Cain He denominates "sacrifice"; for what God hates, He called a sacrifice, turning away from the sacrifice with a term of disapproval; but what God admits, these He has called "gifts." He changed the naming contrary to nature, changing also with them the disposition of the One who receives. But it grieved Cain exceedingly. Would that the pain had been for repentance, and not for fratricide! Cain offered the pain of repentance, which was more precious than the preceding sacrifice. For God accepts the gift—the acknowledging of the disposition. But envy was the father of the pain, and anger was the prelude to the murder. God therefore softens by Himself the things of the pain, after ^C the manner of humane doctors, who, even if they despair of the malady, yet do not despair of the remedies. He shares His voice, and bestows discourse, and becomes a counselor. "Why art thou grieved, Cain? and why is thy countenance fallen?" (Gen. iv, 5). I did not avenge myself on thee, He says, for having insulted me, nor did I consume the insolent one with fire. "Unto thee is his turning" (Gen. iv, 7), I have given thee the enjoyment of thy own gifts. The turning away of the sacrifice is sufficient for thee for conversion. Luxuriate with thy own gifts. I do not accept an insulting sacrifice. Do not any longer...

^A augment your previous lapses; do not add murder to your envy; do not arm your hand in accordance with your intent; cease the birth-pangs of murder within your very thoughts. But Cain, as it seems, was an untamable beast; both stumbling and raging, not even for a time would he soften his passion, but his will remained, laboring at the slaughter, until the flame of anger, ignited by envy, gave birth to the murder. He rose up, it says, Cain against Abel his brother, and slew him. ^B What are you doing, O Cain? Why do you taste human blood? Why do you teach the way of death, which you have not yet learned? Why do you yield the spoils of nature to the executioner of men? Why do you open its insatiable belly? Do you send your brother on to Hades as an earnest payment against yourself? Perhaps a diligent listener, moved by the discernment of his reason, might inquire from where it was that Cain had been taught to commit murder; from where he knew that a blow brought about death. He had seen no dead man. He had drawn from no spectacle of any murder that had preceded his own audacity, which might invite him to imitation. How, then, does he become the author of death, who had not yet been a spectator of death? What then shall we say? He had not previously seen the slaughter of men, but he had often seen the death ^C of animals from a blow; he had learned in those that nature is mortal, and having become a bold disciple of an unnatural spectacle, he transfers the passion to Abel. But God was not negligent regarding the slaughter of the righteous one, and first, by making an inquiry concerning the murder, He honors the one who had been slain. Where, He says, is Abel your brother? He excites a memory of nature, so that he might stir him toward an awareness. What then does he say? Am I my brother’s keeper? Having been discipled by the serpent, he speaks the things of the serpent. That one used to say, confusing him with error: "You shall not surely die." This one, being questioned, says: "I do not know." Related is the voice, possessing the same master, and he hides from God, who was present at his audacity, imagining he can steal knowledge from Him with a lie. Granted, you ^D lent your right hand to the devil; why did you also lend your tongue? "Am I my brother’s keeper?" O voice more loathsome than the murder itself! O impious judgment, and worse in its ungodliness than the tongue! Nor indeed did he quiet his envy through the murder itself; but he even yet renews his hatred, and while he does not see the hated Abel, he is indignant at the intent of Abel, and is grieved, perhaps, that he is no longer able to inflict a second slaughter upon the one who has died.

^A “Am I my brother's keeper?” Truly you are not a keeper, but a slayer. Were you not appointed to keep him, and forbidden to kill? The voice of your brother cries to me from the earth. You took away his life, but you did not take away his voice. You armed against yourself the accuser with the blood; by the slaughter you have made your adversary immortal. ^B And now, cursed is the earth in your works, which opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand. You have irrigated the earth with fraternal blood. You have released upon it unlawful fermentations; receive back crops that match them. Groaning and trembling you shall be upon the earth; you did not accept the exhortation, be bound by your passions, and let your trembling become a law to those who come after; walk about trembling, a living law to those who behold you, a breathing monument turning away [men] from the like, a law written in trembling instead of in ink, a suffering that cannot be spoken, a warning to those who see it, and let trembling nature proclaim silence. ^C Cain perceived his transgression through his punishment, and he hastens to flee toward death. “And everyone who finds me, will kill me.” Why do you flee, O Cain, from the punishment? Why, by fleeing from the penalty, do you flee toward death? “Whoever kills Cain, seven things shall be dissolved.” Death will not lighten the suffering, nor will the end heal the trembling, nor will the slaughter be for you a medicine for your disaster. Enjoy the life of which you lawlessly deprived your brother. For I will not permit the great vengeance of Abel to be dissolved. No one shall do injustice to Abel by healing your trembling through death. A sevenfold vengeance will be undone. The number now, however, does not signify a quantity of punishments, but a magnitude of torments. Let the suffering be broadened for you with the spaces of your life. You brought a swift death upon Abel; you shall be a slow corpse, being tormented throughout your life. These are the wages of the wickedness of Cain; this is the fruit of envy, this the harvest of hatred of one's brother. Let us imitate the ^D equality of spirit of Abel.

NOTES OF CLAUDE DAUSQUE

(70) “The earth opened its mouth” (Gen. IV). The poet says: *... Tellus effusa dehiscat* [Let the earth, poured forth, gape open]. Plato in the second book *De Legibus* speaks of the earth gaping, referring to the story of Gyges. Erasmus, in his commentary on Cicero’s *De Officiis*, instead of *dehiscere* [to gape], suggests *discedere* [to part]. Granted, let Virgil have his way, but is Cicero therefore wrong? Nay, he rather followed Plato, from whom he had learned that fable. Nonnus, in his *Bessarica*, calls the earth *late hiantem* [gaping wide].

(70') “Groaning and trembling.” The Vulgate version: *Vagus et profugus* [Vagabond and fugitive], and from which the opinion of Basil compels me to depart from my custom.

(71) “A breathing monument,” or perhaps an image is clearer. But just as it is generally useful to draw a metaphor from almost everything, so it is the interest of the interpreter and the reader to know whence it was drawn. For he has regard for the severity of judges, who used also to brand proscribed men with their names, and the causes of their exile were publicly set forth on a column. Isocrates in *De Bigis* [On the team of horses]: “And they came to such a pitch of insolence that they persuaded you to drive him out of all Greece, and to inscribe a column.” Another orator in the third *Philippic*: “I shall not speak using my own words, but showing the writings of your ancestors, which they deposited in a bronze column, having inscribed it and placed it on the Acropolis,” to make them column-dwellers. That the history of which the book of the Gospels marveled, even now, when it cries out, demonstrates—and keeps the cry in the writing just as if on a column. To be set up in a column is mentioned of Goliath in I Reg. XVII, because he stood unterrified like a column in the sight of the Israelites. [index: entries preserved]

grateful and thankful toward the benefactor; let us offer up to him a sacrifice from virtues, let us present to him our souls as a gift. To him be glory unto the ages. Amen.

ORATION V. The same, on Noah.

1. How much God seeks out justice, and how much he hates injustice, the narrative concerning Noah clearly proclaims. For he alone was preserved in the shipwreck of all creation, having found justice as a companion for his salvation; at that time, populous nations were poured out and engulfed by floods, submerged by the punishments of injustice. And it seems to me that God, wishing to lead humans to the faith and memory of future judgments and of the extreme and terrifying day, desired to create that peril common to all peoples, so that the sight, providing evidence to those sufferings, might guard their fear as a provision for salvation; so that, recognizing impiety as the mother of such great punishment, men might manage their flight by the fear of penalties. For if at that time, during the season of struggles and the stadium of life, such great peril was offered to those who had offended, what kind or what amount of punishment will the retribution for one’s actions in this life bring upon each person! For when the measure of wickedness has overflowed, then the Judge not infrequently begins to inflict punishments from that point onward—not moved by inhumanity, for he is the lover of mankind, but wishing to check the wickedness that has increased.

Therefore, when the entire human race of that time had inclined toward impiety and had gathered in one single conspiracy to form a battle line against its Creator, no daring, however untimely and barbarous, was left unattempted; ^B but all paths of greed were being cut through and entered, and the custom of wickedness itself was being renewed. And having armed their souls on all sides with daring and cruelty as if with weapons, they used these as instruments against one another. For what species of injustice, what mode of intemperance did not flourish among them! What lawlessness was not considered law among them! Abounding in the strength of their bodies, they insulted the Giver of their power through haughtiness and insolence. Then there was corruption of the earth, and a living plague, needing only a flood for its purification. Cain truly had all as his imitators and heirs, nor did that trembling that was fixed upon his body ^C restrain those who saw him, ^D

^A but because of the depravity of their minds they even looked askance at the fear of evil. There was no one among them who emulated the God-loving Abel; instead, they considered virtue to be dead, which nevertheless spoke even in his dead body. And if any remnant of virtue had been left in them, this too was quickly extinguished through social intercourse, and the imitation of those perverse things erased every trace of goodness. When the creation was being held fast by such a destructive plague and was being defiled by the gore of souls and bodies, the ranks of the angels were heavy-hearted ^B and lamented the conflagration of iniquity; they were indignant that the punishment was delayed, and they desired to curb the good counsels of creation, according to the voice of Paul: "For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly."

§ 2. Since, therefore, the evil was incurable and the disease was increasing, and the progress of impiety was advancing, the Divinity was moved to purge what was being done, and He proclaimed a flood, wishing to stop the currents of impiety with fear. And He preordained the time, and fixed the measures of repentance, and anticipated the punishment, contriving to see a change of behavior. And what does He say? "My Spirit shall not remain in these men forever, because they are flesh." This is the terror of the punishment; and He introduces the limit of repentance, saying: "And their days shall be ^C one hundred and twenty years." I give, He says, the time for repentance, so that I may see their way of life changed, and I extend the intervals of My philanthropy to match the preceding wickedness. By as much as the passion has hardened, by so much do I bring the medicine of repentance. Let a long-standing disease be met with long-standing repentance; I hold back the birth-pangs of the flood; I postpone the punishment by a term of grace; for I await a voluntary healing. Such indeed was the philanthropic grace, drawing them to repentance by the change of punishment; yet the passion did not reject [or: require?] philanthropy. The whole time of repentance was thus consumed, and the disease of impiety did not cease. To the Ninevites, ^D however, a three-day interval of repentance served later as a journey toward salvation, and by changing their behavior they overcame the narrowness of the time limit, tempering the prophetic judgment and pacifying the divine threat with tears. But these men overlooked such a multitude of years that passed in vain, turning the very time of repentance into a collaborator for impiety, having the postponement of wickedness be an intensification of punishment. And then, at that time, He takes up Noah, having seen him shining like gold in the mud and a treasure of virtues hidden in foul-smelling tombs, and He commands the ark to be built, and as the impiety looked on, [he began to prepare for the deluge...]

And yet, even this was a divine device for the sake of mankind, calling them to repentance. For it was easy ^B for God to save Noah even without wood. But He first establishes him as a builder of the ark for a long time, so that the sight, by striking fear, might perhaps draw the onlookers toward repentance. Yet this sight became a subject of mockery for them, and the fear was turned into an occasion for laughter. They mocked Noah ^C as he labored, and as they watched him serving the divine commands, they ridiculed him. And some, perhaps, living in such derision of one another, would say, "This prophet of the deluge here is arraying himself against the deluge, and is hurrying to defend himself against the peril with wood, and hoping for a deluge of waters, he is overwhelmed by a deluge of calamities and drenched with his own sweat, his limbs mangled by ^D endless labor, and he is suffering infinite exhaustion. Hasten, you decrepit old man, lest the rushing deluge forestall your craft." Meanwhile, the diverse species of wild beasts were seen running to Noah, and the savage nature of them was not turned aside; flocks of birds were flying down as to some common hostelry and shelter, and they ignored the miracle. But all things were held in confusion and fear, and the sentence of the deluge was already running its course. Yet God, even during those very hours of peril, puts forward other covenants of love, and again defers it for a little while, saying: "For yet seven days, and I will bring a deluge" 77. For the divine nature is insatiable toward love for mankind, and works out so many opportunities for salvation, if by chance He might find someone wishing to be saved! "For yet seven days." "A short time is enough for me," He says, "for the salvation of sinners. Let them only turn toward repentance, and I will dissolve the sentence; I will blot out the threat, if..."

^A perchance I may see a changing mind. For yet seven days, and I shall bring on the flood." Abandon that loose delay, and abstain for even a modestly defined time, so that you may escape the danger. Truly, in such and so just an anger, there was such a superabundance of God’s love for mankind! But when every art of healing was refuted, and the rot of their intentions was devouring them, God finally sent forth the punishments, overwhelming strange maladies with strange seas. From above, the heaven fired down torrents; from below, the earth sent up abysses; and creation was being reduced ^B towards the nature of water. No longer was there a distinction between dry land and sea; all things were contained within a single current. No longer were springs, and lakes, and fountains flowing with grace, but all things were being submerged by wild seas. Not the beauty of crops and the blossoms of trees, not cities, not plains, not even the summits of the mountains—but everything was shipwrecked by the waves, covered by a common tomb. The populous throngs, together with the wickedness of their minds, were tumbling about in a monument; for they did not deem it worthy to die away from that which they had polluted while living. Thus, therefore, having been caught in the net of the flood ^C, they were tossed about in the blows of the waves, carried off toward a pitiable manner of death, punished by the misfortunes of one another. Some, suddenly overwhelmed by the waters, were shown to be dead quickly; others, still breathing, endured a long death through the perception of their suffering. Others, having held out for a short time, endured a punishment of death more protracted still. How many, having rushed to the summits of the mountains, revealed their fear by an untimely flight! How many, having crawled to the crests of trees, were overtaken—as if by a wing—by the speed of the current! The flood kept pursuing, climbing up to the heights; it was carrying everything along behind it, until, having bound everyone together, the same thing became both death and tomb. Reptiles ^D were floating alongside the dead humans. A nature devoid of reason was held fast together with those who had reason; dogs and men, covered by the same wave and henceforth rolling about near one another, together laid down their lives. Noah alone, in the midst of a death common to all, enjoyed a miraculous life, just like some pilot in the center of the ship, managing the rudders of faith, and with...

and remained unconsumed, being encompassed on every side by the deluge, he ^A who preserved the remnants of creation, who was appointed as guardian of God's creatures, who ran his course in the ark as if in a citadel, who sailed alone and tranquilly while creation was suffering shipwreck, who by faith and by wood mastered the deluge. O things beyond expectation! How is it that the ark was not dashed against the mountains? "The ark was borne," it says, "upon the water," as if carried along the waves on a carriage; not cleaving the depths of the waves, but riding upon the waves as if upon dry ground, having the sea as its foundation, and the deluge was spread out beneath it like a public road. This is the vehicle of faith! This is the safeguard of nature! O ark, firmer than paradise! For there, the serpent sailed along with the others; there, wood became the instrument of death; here, wood was the helm of salvation. There, it taught Adam to transgress; here, it seeks Noah as a refuge. O forefather of the human race, to be preferred over Adam! O firmer preserver of the image of God! O you who became at once the end and the beginning to nature! O blessed boundary of humanity! O you who have shone forth as a more secure guarantor of divine goodness! O you who halted the curse ^B that was advancing through the human race! O destruction of impiety, and root of faith! O you who restored the obliterated features of that image! O you who preserved the seeds of God's creation! O you who gathered in yourself the causes of nature! O you by whose aid the spark of nature revived! O you who are more violent than the deluge! O most secure guardian of faith! For when the dry land was flooded, you made the sea like dry land ^C; you stilled the fear of a second deluge by means of the sacrifice; you received from God the pledges of future security; you rescued creation from the expectation of destructive things, and you revealed that religion is dear to God; you were held in greater esteem by God, and that by the merit of faith. O master of virtue! O you who taught men in what way the Divine is to be honored: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

ORATION VI

Of the same, on Noah

1. Neither has the desire of your hearing, which is inclined toward God, failed the divine words, nor has the fear which our poverty of language creates been diminished. But although you have demonstrated the virtue of humility by this fact, that you desire one who is poor in words: yet for us, arguments can no longer suffice for your divine appetite. But He who fed as many as five thousand men with five loaves, and raised the poverty of the disciples with the riches of grace, He Himself will also spread for you, through us, the table of doctrine. Previously, therefore, for you... ^D

having brought forth into our midst the narrative according to Noah, and having made mention of the dreadful calamity of the flood, we were unable to reach the end of our discourse regarding that infinite judgment. ^A But the discourse, beholding the entire world drowned along with its people, and having been tossed by the waves of wickedness even before the flood, was struck silent by the very recollection of it, when the ark was shielding the spark of nature as if in its arms; when the heaven was roaring with thunder as if with judicial voices, shouting at those who were held guilty; when the earth was again enveloped by the abyss and by darkness, and the world was returning to its ancient disorder; when the sun was blocked off by clouds, when it completed its course devoid of light, and there was neither the grace of the moon nor the sight of the stars, but night succeeded night, and the universe was widowed of the day, and the boundaries ^B of nature were disturbed as they were arrayed against impiety. But up to this point our discourse has stood firm, not fleeing from the fear of the narrative. Now, however, again relying upon your prayers, we have taken up the account concerning them, mining the depth that is in the Scripture. For truly, if someone were to compare the Scripture to immeasurable seas, he would not miss the mark. For the surface of the reading of Scripture offers grace, while its depth, being measured by the intellect, strikes the mind with immeasurable wonder.

2. Therefore, first determining the cause of such an upheaval against the impious, it says this: ^C *And it came to pass when men began to multiply upon the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God, seeing the daughters of men that they were fair, took to themselves wives from all whom they chose.* How then could this be worthy of such a punishment? For those whose beauty they admired, they embraced their marriage. If indeed one places the law before marriage, ^D even the beauty will be found free from reproach. But when the Scripture accuses, let us not hear the word perfunctorily; let us see the magnitude of the crime, so that we may learn what humanity shone forth in the avenging of it.

^A “And they saw,” it says, “the sons of God the daughters of men.” It is necessary first to inquire who these sons of God are, whom the divine Scripture sets forth. Some indeed have imagined (90) that angels are signified by this name, uttering a voice of folly that wars against nature. For how could the fleshless nature of angels be captivated by the desire of bodies? For the Creator has fortified every nature with appropriate laws, and has fixed the creatures within their own measures and limits. To mortal bodies, therefore, He gave food for support (91), and by succession He devised the preservation of the race, having fashioned the male, the female, and the forms most perfectly adapted for succession. But the invisible nature is in need of no food, is not divided into male and female, nor is it propagated by marriage, birth, or succession. For the fleshless nature is not joined to bodies (92), even if the Greeks ^B write myths about the marriages and loves of demons (95). Therefore, this is also a demonic artifice. The demons, by adorning their own malady with discourse, even carry the passion up to themselves, kindling the unbridled flame in men, and by the incitement of their own ^C defilement, they propagate it.

NOTES OF CL. DAUSQUEIUS

(90) Some indeed imagined that angels were signified here by the name. These are the wicked ones, who, assuming the name of angels, and ignorant of the daughters of right reason, that is, of knowledge and virtues, pursued the mortal descendants of men... “That the Divinity is unchangeable.” Moreover, some angels also, having become incontinent and having been overcome by desire, have fallen down hither from heaven. For many angels of God, having mingled with women, begat insolent sons, and all of them arrogant ones, because of their confidence in their own power. Those indeed, falling into the desire of virgins, and having been found weaker than the flesh... For how could the fleshless nature of angels be captivated by desire for bodies? But not even is any one of the angels called a son of God; men alone are honored with this title... ^D and this not without our assent. But Basil and Chrysostom reason correctly; for they follow the version of the Septuagint, which has “angels of God,” not the Chaldean or the common version. Finally, by the power of Scripture, it must be determined for us that it is impossible in the least for angels to unite in a bond of flesh; and this from this chapter alone. First, God promises regarding that carnal filthiness that His Spirit shall not remain in man: and if there is the sin of angels, let there also be punishment. Second, He adds the reason: “Because he is flesh” (Gen. vi, 3). But an angel is fleshless... Third, the decree concerning the flood was made when God had already seen: “That the great malice of men was upon the earth” (ibid. 5); and: “God saw that the earth was corrupted” (ibid. 12); and: “For all flesh had corrupted its way” (ibid.); all of which cannot be attributed to angels...

(91) *To mortal bodies He gave food for support.* Horace, Lib. ii, Sat. iii: *Lest the veins fail the needy one, unless food and Great support approach the failing stomach.* ...

(92) *For the fleshless nature is not joined to bodies.* Not dissimilar is that of Seneca in *Hercules Furens*: *A mortal race cannot be joined to the heavens.*

(95) *Even if the Greeks write myths about the marriages and loves of demons.* Athenagoras in his embassy for the Christians, and Justin Martyr in more than one place, teach that from these fables not even a decent physiology or allegory can be extracted... Cicero, *De legibus*, Lib. ii: “A greatly audacious plan did Greece undertake, which consecrated the images of desires and loves in the gymnasia.”

^A They bring forward their own suffrage against nature, so that they might drive the wretched of mankind to revel in [the unrestrained] passions of love. It is not, therefore, the angels that the divine Scripture touches upon here; nay, not one of the angels has been called a son of God; only men glory in this title. For in those in whom the dignity of the image shines forth, in them the gift of adoption concurs. What, then, is that which it says: "And the sons of God saw the daughters of men"? The human race was divided by divine command. For two children, taken from Adam—Cain and Seth—each gave rise to the principle of nature from himself. But Cain, having stained his brotherly right hand with brotherly blood, is himself condemned to long-lasting torment, becoming himself a law concerning murder for those who look upon it after the murder; and having acquired a progeny of lawless ways, he left his descendants also heirs of the curse. Seth, however, having found the Master as the praiser of his virtue, and having advanced toward Abel in his ways, received as a reward for virtue that his children should be called sons of God; and the title, surpassing nature, proclaimed [their] dignity. Therefore, even if they were joined by race, they were, nonetheless, separated by their way of life. Just as later the law separated the Israelites from intercourse with the nations and a decree, acting as a wall thrown between them, isolated them from their custom, in order that it might curb the imitation of idolatry—so also did God legislate for the first of men, preserving virtue unpolluted through the separation from wickedness. The sons of Seth, therefore, are named sons of God, themselves bearing the title as a token of familiarity begun with God. The children of Cain, on the other hand, held the title of "men," having drawn the name of nature stripped of any dignity. And two ^B streams of the race burst forth, separated from one another. But a long time passed in the interval, and the descendants of Seth, who had obtained the better portion, and who were honored by the title, and were heirs of the paternal blessing, seeing the daughters among the descendants of Cain to be beautiful, brilliant, and flourishing in graces, and having surrendered their reason as a captive to [their] desires, they trample upon the commandments of God and are mingled in the unions of the cursed, preferring mortal enjoyment to eternal longing; they corrupt the nature which was accustomed to walk the paths of virtue, and nature is enslaved to iniquity. For by obeying desire, they imitated their ways, which is what also happened later to Israel. For having defeated the Midianites ^C in battle, they were captured by love for the women as if on the battlefield, and the price paid for intemperance was the veneration of idols ^D that was demanded of them. Indeed... [index: entries preserved]

Having reaped the harvest of impiety, they fell under their own eyes; and while they were victorious with weapons, they were struck down by the arrows of beauty. But those of the line of Seth were being purified by their blood; yet for the posterity of Cain, a flood was being prepared to purge their wickedness. The danger was now being created, the flood was being mobilized. And irrational nature was being condemned along with the rational. For things that had been produced for the sake of man faced danger alongside man, and as the master fell, those subject to him were snatched away.

The Lord of nature, confiding the principles of nature to Noah, said: "Enter thou, and thy house into the ark, for I have seen thee righteous before me in this generation. Of all clean beasts thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, male and female; but of the unclean beasts bring in two and two. ^A Preserve for me the remnants of my creation; I make you the guardian of my works, become a disciple of my hand."

3. But someone might say: "How is it reasonable that some animals are clean, while others are defiled by the name of 'unclean'?" Yet the Prophet clearly cried out before this: "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." If it is God who fashions, how can the fashioned thing be unclean? ^B If one summons brought all things into existence, and one hand fashioned all things, how is it that some are honored by their nature, while others are disparaged by their name? Or how is the Creator not insulted together with the unclean? For the disparagement of the works is an insult to the One who fashioned them. But if you seek the reason for the name, you will find the wisdom of the One who made the judgment. For the Hebrews, having recently left Egypt, still bore the stench of idolatry, to the point that they defiled divine worship down to the level of irrational animals. For among the Egyptians, ^C the insanity of superstition held the force of law. For a god of their own was considered among them [the Egyptians].

^D

CL. DAUSQUEIUS' NOTES

(98) *And thy house.* In this passage, this accords well with the common version, which has: *Et domus tua*; the Royal Bible and the Septuagint do not read otherwise, if you regard the word and the mode of speaking, though not if you regard the sense, *Et pas o oikos sou*. (99) *In this generation.* In places where passages are often omitted by Basil, or because they were not necessary, or because they fell away in the heat of speech, I too pass over them: but where reason demands otherwise, I sometimes supply the supplement. Thus, therefore, you supply this place: for from these he seizes the occasion of the question. ^D *Klesis* (summons) here is a more imperious word, and endowed with authority. *Aeneid*, VII: *Ille intra tecta vocari / Imperat.* The Apostle to the Romans IV: *Who vivifies the dead and calls the things that are not, as though they were.* To this example belongs that of Basil in his Oration on Jonah concerning God: *Who calls the things that are not into being.* *Klesis* gave birth to the daughters of right reason, which are the sciences and virtues. Philo said they are the daughters of right reason. *Nosos* (disease) is so called from being deprived of being whole, *soou*. *Nosos*: to have *nosos* instead of to have depraved morals. *Threskeia* is named from the diligence of the Thracians. The word is ambiguous, meaning either glory or disgrace. In this place, it is a symbol of a worse religion, and so it is most frequently taken by Epiphanius, *Against Heresies*, and by others: sometimes it is taken in a better sense, and accommodated to the worship of the true name. See St. Augustine, Book X *De civitate Dei*, chapter one, who treats *thriskeia* as synonymous with *theosebeia*, / worship of God.

^A Among them the Ibis is by law established as a god, and the dog, and along with these the crocodile is brought for sacrifice, and the sheep is worshipped. Nor was the race of the Hebrews exempted from this malady, but the wilderness branded the affliction. For they worshipped the calf in the desert, just as in Egypt. And the sea was split for their sake against nature; but the people were not split away from impiety, but rather deserted in their ways back toward Egypt. Here, then, God most wisely set up a remedy against the disease; and by distinguishing the nature of irrational creatures through His ordinances, He called some clean and others He termed unclean: so that, abominated as unclean on one hand, and eaten as clean on the other, they might be deterred from worshipping both, that the precept of the Law might become a healing for the soul; and God brings the insult toward created things to the level of names, in order to heal the sickness of men, that He might hinder idolatry that was proceeding even as far as animals. And He attaches the unclean designation to created things, that He may preserve the intention of men pure from impiety. Such, therefore, is held to be the cause of the distinction. Thus, that which is clean ^B is readily held in contempt due to being eaten, but as for that which is called unclean by the Law, the designation robbed it of its veneration. For I concur with you concerning Noah hunting. If, then, the ordering of animals came through Moses, but Noah was prior in time to the giving of the Law, whence did he have the knowledge of those whose discernment he had not received? And, of those whose distinction he was not taught, how was he entrusted with their selection? "Of the clean, seven and seven...

^A forced to keep them. And another question is connected to this: How did a man become a single hunter of such animals? Of the birds in the air, and of all ^D the animals hiding on the earth; of the land-dwellers and the winged creatures, of which there are countless types; of the tame and the wild; some of which escape hunting by their speed, others by their strength, others by their flight? But God does not command this; rather, he bids him to open wide the ark and receive those that take refuge in it. For a mysterious impulse ^B and a divine signal and an unbidden course of the animals took place. Noah stood there hosting those that came running to him. And he had, as he saw them, the knowledge of those approaching. Those approaching him two by two, he judged to be reckoned among the unclean; but seeing those walking in seven by seven, he was taught that they were a clean catalog. And there was an unwritten distinction of the animals, measured by his gaze; he did not need a teaching voice, having as his tutor the number of those seen. God, declaring this, said: "You shall bring them in with you"—that is, you shall not hunt, you shall not labor; receive those taking refuge, do not hunt those fleeing. "For I will bring the animals to you, just as I did formerly for the protoplast; but for them, in place of the paradise, open the ark wide. Become a master of the animals more honorable than Adam. He gave them their names, you grant them their salvation." Why then does he contract the number of the unclean, ordering them to be brought in two by two, but extend that of the clean, ordering the race to be kept in sevens? ^C For if he wishes for the traces of nature to be saved equally, why does he not maintain an equal measure of number for both? And surely, this is with the highest wisdom. For among those whose use is more frequent among men—consuming them for sacrifice or eating them—there, a more bountiful supply from nature should exist. But where that which remains was enough in itself as a memorial of creation, there a small number was appropriate for the preservation of the race. It was easy for God, even if he had abandoned the care of the animals being saved, to fill the whole world with animals again; for at the mere word of God, the creation would again be found to be a procreator of offspring; and the difference resulting from the flood would have been overcome by the power of the Word.

^A Yet He does not do this—and indeed, He acts with all-wise deliberation. He does not condemn nature to a common destruction, lest He bring in a new creation over those that preceded, and lest the second formation become a condemnation of the first; nor that the Creator might be seized by a sense of repentance, passing from one state to another; perhaps even a different, more benevolent creator might be falsely suspected by some, while the first maker would be held in doubt, since no remnant of the ancient creation would exist. Therefore, He preserves the symbols of the ancient creation, and makes new things grow from previous ones, even though the flood had been most destructive. The root of the race was preserved, so that the original rights of the ancient work might be maintained with dignity, and the Maker might be admired for His love of humanity, having bridled the flood and elevated the rational animal.

^B 4. But tell me, how did the ark receive such a variety of animal kinds? How did those that were at war with one another by nature enter into new treaties among themselves? How was the nature of reptiles made peaceful? By what reins were the kinds of wild beasts restrained from one another? How did the flesh-eating animals dwell with the grass-eating ones? What were the foods for these, and how much, and from where, were they supplied, so as to suffice for the whole year for those being guarded? And even before these things, how did Noah construct the ark, when the art of shipbuilding had not yet received its beginning? How did he distinguish the kinds of timber suitable for sailing? How did it suffice for the ark to set itself against such a great flood, so that even the traces of nature might be preserved? But the order of events transcends nature; and reason, being struck with awe at things beyond reason, should not inquisitively scrutinize the facts. ^C The ark is a likeness of the inhabited world, preserving the deposit of animals, a sailing city, carrying the creation, bearing within itself the common labor pains, carrying around the whole world as its own embryo; one belly encompassing the diverse offshoots of creation, an inanimate mother existing for the animate; a tower stronger than the flood, a wall higher than the mountains. Let us add to what has been said a more wonderful sign of the creating Wisdom. For it was in summer that the flood both began, and rose, and submerged the peaks of the mountains. But in the middle of winter, the multitude of waters ceased, having received an order contrary to the law of nature, so that no one in later times, hearing of the flood, might attribute the terror to chance, or imagine it was the air of rains, and corrupt ^D the fear by calculating the flood during the seasons of winter, and...

^A thus misinterpret the divine recreation through the suggestion of the seasons. For this reason, He overturns the boundaries of nature and dissolves the laws of custom, compelling the turnings of summer to serve the flood, and contriving a dryness of the air in winter, working wonders ^B in both directions. And the writer, wisely admiring this, recorded it by setting forth the months, and numbering the days, and the change of the turnings, when it began, and for how long it increased, and when ^C it again proceeded toward cessation, and when, once the water had diminished, the ark landed. For in the tenth month, he says, it landed on the tops of the mountains. ^D Now Scripture knows the month of the Pasch as the beginning of the months; but it calls the tenth month the one that is the very middle of winter, in which, once the water had diminished, the ark landed, finding as a seat the highest parts of the mountains, by the height of its seat measuring the fear of the flood, preserving for posterity the monument of ancient punishment, the fresh threat, and keeping the general ^D warning for those who came after. And even unto this day the miracle remains among the Armenians, transmitted by the passage of time, and preserved in the inaccessible mountains.

preserved upon the mountains, and looked upon from afar with the eyes, while the approach of the feet is denied by the difficulty of the place. A divine contrivance, therefore, is this: that the sight should preserve the faith of the miracle, and that the hands of unbelievers, not touching it, should not by little and little wear it away, nor corrupt a thing so worthy of being seen. O ark, school of virtue! O preserver of the pledge of nature while it was in jeopardy! O vessel, marvelous shadow and image of the saving wood! O thou who didst provide the use of the cross to those who sail! O ^A thou who didst anticipate the grace of the cross in time, saving in the waters and snatching from the waters! O thou who didst preserve the great merchant of justice! O thou who didst transport the treasure of virtue without danger! O accuser of wickedness! Let us keep the memory of this miracle; let us be lovers of justice, let us cast away the abominable sin. Let us make use of repentance, which is the remedy for those who sin; let us extinguish vices with tears; let us forestall wrath by a change of purpose; let us spend the time of patience as is fitting; let us believe God, who out of His excessive love for us swears: "I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he should be converted to me, and live" ^B. To Him be glory. Amen.

Oration VII. By the same, on Abraham.

1. Today we shall recount the memorable deeds of the God-loving Abraham, to whom God became the judge of his divine love, while nature was his adversary, armed with paternal stings. The arena was the slaughter of Isaac, awaiting the iron-ready right hand of his most loving parent. Toward such a struggle did God provoke the athlete of divine love, and cast him into the midst of the stadium of the world, having schooled him beforehand with many experiments of virtue, as if in a wrestling school. But now, after those thousand sweats, He encourages him as if in a public theater, so that having stripped for this also, as a son...

^{C D}

^A worthy of the crown, he might be proclaimed an athlete, and might receive as a partner in his victory God himself, who had chosen him for these trials. What, then, is the first exercise He proposes to him in the wrestling school? "Go forth from your land, and from your kindred 24 and to the land that I will show you." Show yourself to me naked of your familiar bonds; break off your ties of kinship; withdraw from the land in which you were born; depart from your father and your homeland. Overcome the anchor of nature while training for virtue, and come to the land that I will show you. He conceals the place so that he might train his intensity; He hides the goal so that he might quicken the race; He withdraws knowledge so that He might rouse his desire to pursue the race undertaken upon the earth. In short, receive the watchword from heaven. Abraham was not slower than the divine commands, but runs with eagerness according to the commands from heaven 25. Again, He overflows him with wealth, yet does not ^B grant him an heir, but keeps him suspended by hopes, that He might test his faith. Great wealth was flowing in from everywhere, but nature’s poverty denied the fruit of birth, and Sarah’s barrenness prohibited the enjoyment of such great riches. Times were flowing by, and there was no heir; riches were increasing, yet no successor was hoped for. Old age approaching was harvesting the hopes of childbearing; the misfortune of barrenness had extinguished the expectation of progeny, yet faith was rejuvenating. The barren woman forgot her condition; while nature is renewed by hope, it forgets old age. Having received the promise, he possessed the son before the son’s birth, and hope itself gave birth to Isaac before anyone else. "For he believed," it says, "Abraham in God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness [*72*]." "I no longer look," he says, "at the barrenness of Sarah; not looking at the deadness of my body, I have accepted a voice more powerful than either. You spoke, and the heir is near." The facts, therefore, followed upon his hopes. God gave the one desired before his birth. He received, he rejoiced, he embraced the gift. The infant was born as a matter for an exercise of faith, and an arena of love for God was opened. Abraham did not know, when the infant was born, that he was being preserved for other trials. For God was about to prepare the offspring as a subject for a trial ^C for the righteous man, and through the child, He was about to weigh the courage of the excellent man. For as the infant grew, and with his babbling wounded the love of his parents, the affection of the parents grew along with the infant, and all the undivided love of the parents was conferred upon the one, and all the hopes of their race were bound up in the one child.

2. Look now, I pray, at the father being called to the struggles: "And it came to pass after these words, ^D God tested," he says, "Abraham [*26*]." What then? Was He ignorant of his virtue, that He should test it?

^A God was awaiting the proof, that He might learn the intention? He tests, therefore, not because He himself is ignorant, but that He may make the righteous man public, that He may make the witnesses of the Servant's virtue many. By the trial, He polishes the statue of patience, so that, having shown the work more brilliantly, He may call those who behold it to wonder. He tosses the boat with winds, so that you may admire the art of the pilot. He rouses the onset of the waves, so that you may be astonished at how he is unmoved by the trial. He brings up the siege engines, testing the solidity of the wall; He raises the waves of nature against the righteous man, so that you may admire the merchant of the love of God. "Take your beloved son, whom you loved, Isaac." He sharpened the weapons of nature, and exhausted all the shafts of affection; for He did not say simply: "Give back what I gave," or "Sacrifice what you received"; but, "Your beloved son, whom you loved." He strikes the soul with the terms of deep affection. He extends the summons, ^B so that He may kindle the flame more intensely; He poured out all the snows of nature upon him. "And bring him up for a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I shall tell you." He does not even make known to him the place of the slaughter. He extends the numbers, testing (the) manner. "And bring him up for a burnt offering on one of the mountains." How did he not shudder at the voice? How was his soul not shrunk by the striking of the voice? How did he not anticipate the slaughter of the child with death? But oh, for the steadfast soul! He did not groan, he did not weep, he did not yield to nature, he was not divided in his counsels, he did not change his countenance, he did not let out a fatherly cry, being asked for the slaughter of a child, he did not say what nature would have wished: "O strange commands! O ^C instructions contrary to nature! The slaughter of a child is requested of me, and I am ordered to become the executioner of my son! A slow father, and a swift killer of my child. With how many and what hopes was I keeping the most beloved one! When the suffering of childlessness was loosened for me, then again I lament childlessness. This desolation of the child was not grievous to me before the trial. Not yet wounded by the enjoyment, I was ignorant of what I did not have; but now, bound by nature, and nailed by longing, I cannot bear the pain of the removal. Why then, having shown me to be a father, do you make me perform child-murder? Why did you teach me to rejoice in birth pangs, having taught me subsequently to lament? Why do you change longing into mourning? Why do you transform affection into a dirge? I shall stain my right hand with the blood of the child, for whose sake many times to you ^D

^A I extended my hands. Having received paternal supplications, you arm the father for the destruction of the infant. Look upon your promises, O Master. You promised an heir, and you make me a child-killer? And do you demand as a sacrifice him whom you granted as a successor? But I, O child, was planning bridal chambers and a marriage bed for you; yet I was ignorant that I was nurturing my dearest one for fire and steel. Behold, an altar instead of a bridal chamber; instead of the nuptial fire, the flame of the altar. Would that I had never asked for progeny; would that my vow of procreation had remained unfulfilled; would that I had not seen this miraculous child, so that I might not have come to this unexpected warfare! But the most bitter thing of all to me is that you command me to be the actual perpetrator of the murder, and you desire the one who begat him to see the slaughter of the infant. Therefore, let him be surrendered to the hands of enemies; let hostile men carry out the slaughter; let a right hand freed from the bonds of affection perform the killing. But since I am a father, I cannot endure to hear of it, much less to slaughter him. Nature rejects the sword; the right hand faints at such a brutal act; the eyes flee from the sight; you know with what affections you have armed nature. Nothing of these things escaped the noble Abraham, nor did they enter his mind; but, as one truly required to sacrifice a sheep, he prepared himself for the slaughter, he who was well-trained in divine commands, and he did not turn toward the nature that would have halted his course. ^B Therefore, having taken silence as an ally, he became wholly one with the command. He conceals the daring deed from Sarah; he does not reveal the mandate to her who bore him. For what reason? "She is," one might say, "a lover of God; but I, while I respect her disposition, am wary of her nature." I contemplate the mother's inclination toward God, but I fear her affection for her children: the woman is a lover of God, but she is a mother. Women, overcome by the weakness of nature, are troublesome matters. I fear lest, by stealth, she might remove the material for obeying the God who commands; I fear lest she might stain the sacred rites with tears, lest by lamenting the boy she might insult Him who commanded it; lest by tearing at her face, she might cast away the sacrifice and provoke God; lest by breaking her resolve, she might plunder the grace of the miracle. I, after the slaughter, shall console the one who laments; I shall heal her as she weeps, speaking thus to her: "Cease lamenting; do not weep for the child who has been honored by this slaughter; his birth was a gift that brought forth labor pains. The father does not destroy the child when he benefits him more, nor does the sword pass through the midst of natural affection in vain. ^C The right hand that dared to perform the sacrifice guarantees the benefit. He asked for the one He gave; He sought again the one He fashioned; He took back after asking him whom He had given when asked; and, having wished, He will return him, hindered by no one. For He who gave when he was not, will also grant him when he has been put to death. He who showed you a barren womb having become a mother, will also summon the slaughtered child back to life." ^D

^A And the most important thing for consolation, O woman, is that the one who has power over the infant has come to demand the sacrifice. You lately offered a calf; having offered Isaac, what good things do you not hope for? With such youthful reasonings the old man stopped the mouth of nature as it complained, and whetted his mind, and tempered his hand; and taking the victim from his own bowels, he ran speedily to the mountain, teaching his aged foot to be young in the race. For nature was overcome, and passion by passion—and old age by the tension of piety; and everything was put to the test, yielding to the fire of the love of God. He sprang up toward the mountain, taking as an assistant of the sacrifice that very wonder. For he himself carried the fire and the sword; but upon the woods of the sacrifice he loaded the beautiful sacrificial victim, Isaac—and the victim became an assistant in the sacrifice. And Isaac, co-operating with his father in the sacrifice, and sharing the care with his parent, offers a question that wounds the father: "Behold," he says, "the fire and the woods, but where is the sheep for the whole burnt offering?" Again he reminds his father, as if he were overcome by forgetfulness. "See, father, lest the speed of your eagerness has stolen from you the perception of what is missing." ^B O words, piercing the very heart of the father, yet not touching Abraham! At any rate, he answers Isaac without tears, and used the voice of a priest, not of a father: "God," he says, "will see for Himself the sheep for a whole burnt offering, my child." Not knowing, he prophesies the future; and while misleading the boy, he happens to speak the truth. He calls his son a sheep (30), whom he hastens to offer as a sheep. How did he break forth in speech? With what bowels did he answer? How did his tongue not hesitate at the word? How, without lamenting and embracing the boy, did he cast away in grief the symbols of the sacrifice? Now already on the summit of the mountain, both the altar was being prepared, the woods were being brought forward, Isaac was being bound, the sword was being seized. O fearsome sight! Natural affection is judged against the love of God; and the sword-bearing judge Abraham stands there, and records the verdict with the sword, and grants the victory to the love of God, sealing it with blood, making the sacrifice a witness of the victory. How did his hand not grow numb? How, having taken the blade, did he not then groan and drop it? O power of the love of God! O pious fire, that overcame the flame of nature! But he manfully extends his right hand toward the slaughter of the child; but from above, a voice restrains the hand. The voice outstripped the slaughter; the calling became swifter than the sword; a word was sent, and the hand was restrained; above ^{C D}

NOTES BY CL. DAUSQUEIUS

...to gather, and the seed, being one and simple, to divide into many, and to articulate the inarticulate, and to give life to that which does not live is of the same [power], and to unite that which is dissolved, and to raise up that which is lying prone. And to make that which is dead live again, and to change that which is corruptible into incorruptibility... and the simplicity of the most obedient Isaac. The ancients used to call a sheep anyone who was either foolish or exposed to fraud. Plautus in the *Bacchides*: *Who has driven these sheep hither?* Fabius Maximus, because he seemed from boyhood of slower understanding, found the nickname "Ovicula" (little ewe). And he who was well-monied [rich], but whom Suada and the Muses did not adorn… Diogenes called a golden sheep, and M. Sulla, Caligula called, according to Dio.

(30) *He calls his son a sheep.* For both the sheep and the most obedient Isaac’s simplicity...

precedes the sacrifice, and the call reaches the ears before the sword has sunk into the neck; the voice was sent forth, and the hands were bound. He ^A holds the hand that was rushing to strike, and doubles the call so that he might restrain it. For although he was entirely fixed upon the task, and was but a hair's breadth away from plunging the iron into his son’s blood, he restrains him, turning him back with a call, bridling his impulse with a word, drawing him to himself like a horse impatient of the bit: "Abraham, Abraham." And he, having finally turned, says, "Here am I." Did I then defile my sacrifice with slowness? Why then the voice? "By myself have I sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not spared your beloved son for my sake, in you and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." Did you disregard one? Be the father of the inhabited world; take the nations as children along with Isaac; in one sacrifice, take the world; be the father of nations. For you shall be the father of Christ, whose possession the nations are. Instead of your only-begotten, let the sheep be sacrificed; my Only-Begotten will deliver to death the Lamb who bears [the sins of others]. Let not the sword touch your only-begotten; for the cross shall not touch the divinity of my Only-Begotten. Let the sacrifice concern the sheep, let the passion concern the economy of Christ. Let the sheep and the flesh be nailed ^B to the wood, lest you disturb the imitation by casting your own equal-in-essence into death; let the sheep fall, which bears the image of the Lamb fixed to the cross. Behold the ram as if hanging upon the cross on the bush. It awaits the nails; it is the salutary victim for the world. For the temple of the indwelling God suffers, according to the voice of the Lord himself: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen.

ORATIO VIII. The same on Joseph

1. For those sailing the vast seas, the movements of the more conspicuous stars are a sign for their course; and the helmsman, leaning upon the rudder, lifts his eyes to heaven, steering the ship by the motion of the stars, and guiding its course through the sea by the light of the heavens, he is borne into harbor. But those who desire to traverse well the sea of life, and long to cut through the waves of a life lived according to God, do not look to the stars; but they look to the choir of the just, and setting their feet in their footsteps and following their way of life ^C as if by a measured tread, they direct their own lives. For those sailing do not—

^A avoid the assaults of dangers, just as the hardships of life overwhelm those who are engaged in the pursuit of virtue. For who among the just has navigated this life in calm? First, Abel, a lover of faith, was torn apart by a brother's hand. Noah, after the long-standing wickedness of the ungodly, was tossed by the waves for an entire year. Abraham, out of longing for God, disregarded the laws of nature, persuading his right hand rather to commit filicide than to disobey God who commanded. Isaac was carried as a sacrificial victim, bound. Jacob lived as a fugitive far from his parents, alienated from those who gave him birth by fraternal terror. But our discourse turns to the virtuous Joseph, whose beauty the Scripture, having admired, recorded the labors he underwent for the sake of virtue, so that those who look toward him may be inscribed thereby. Regarding him, ^B David also, singing, played his instrument, marveling at his prudence: "To instruct his princes as himself, and teach his elders wisdom" (Ps. CTV, 22). What dangers the young man endured for the sake of virtue! How many assaults of waves he repelled! How many precipices he crossed over without slipping! And yet, some, marveling only at the young man's temperance, occupy their praise with that alone, compressing the whole swarm of his struggles into one virtue in their account. But if anyone wishes to walk by the right way, and to envision the beginning of the contests before the end, he will find the stadium unfolded from his own domestic virtue. And first, the war from his brothers broke out. For envy, acting as their commander, persuaded nature to rage against itself; envy, the father of murder, ^C ever wounded by those who are virtuous. And what were the causes of this envy? A father's love for a child stirred up his children, and sets the dearest ones in conflict against themselves, being drunk with hatred. The Scripture, however, the excess of love ^D [Notes omitted]

^A in admiring that affection, reveals the cause of the passion: Israel, it says, loved Joseph, because he had borne him in his old age. Yet Benjamin was the youngest of Jacob’s children, and was a neighbor to his old age, and was the end of his birth-pangs; how then is Joseph called the child of old age? But the child of old age is one who takes care of old age; and by easing the burden of his father’s years with his service, he drew to himself a natural affection through the hopes of cherishing his old age, and through his service he cultivated a warmer love for the struggle ahead. But his brothers, struck by envy, were filled with it, nor could they endure the boy’s success that arose from dreams; but they extended the sting of envy even to his dreams, and catching an opportunity, they plotted murder—and having hunted the boy, stripped of his father’s embraces, they entrusted him, as one condemned to death, to a mountain cistern. ^B And the cistern became more humane than the brothers’ envy; for being void of water, it kept Joseph alive, just as the sea-monster did Jonah amid the waves. But the sale succeeded their plots for murder, and as if he were some spoil of murder, the brothers traded their brother; and greed, having conquered the murder, proved to be a savior of the one born of the same seed, in place of death, by leading him into open slavery. Thus is envy accustomed to act toward those it envies with a show of humanity. But (O divine providence!) true is He who catches the wise in their own craftiness. For those dreams which they envy, they unknowingly serve by their actions; unwillingly they cooperate with Joseph’s visions, preparing the way for their outcome through this sale. For when men desire to oppose divine counsels, God allows them to act as they have intended, and by allowing their ^C mind to appear, He stigmatizes their behavior; He makes them unwilling servants of His own purpose, so that the things they wish to prevent, they appear to bring about; and through the means by which they strive to arrest His plans, they are found to be co-workers, with the result that their struggling and their subservience are both exposed. Thus, Joseph’s brothers, arraying themselves against his dreams even to the point of bloodshed, rouse those dreams into reality through the sale, and having become the cruel merchants of their own kin, ^D a little later they become beggars for food, and while hating the sheaves of the dreams, they soon become suppliants to the true sheaves. [alt-version omitted]

^A They, therefore, who make merchandise of nature, as they thought, condemn the boy to a bastard slavery. And fashioning his tunic into an image of murder, as if they could not quench their envy without blood, they present it to his father’s hands, falsely claiming his death, and kindling the old man to true mourning, demanding from his sire the price of his child’s love.

2. This is the prelude to the contests of Joseph. But the young man, carrying the first fruits of his perils with a grateful intent, honors the umpire of the games. Having sailed through the waves of envy, he reaches Egypt, and he who is unenslaved in spirit becomes a slave in body; casting off, together with his garment, the nobility of his soul, he did not even then betray his freedom to violent circumstances. For he did not allow his resolve to change with his fortunes, nor did he by the habit of slavery gradually pillage his own freedom; but even while enslaved, he was a scion of the Abrahamic nobility. And he bore the hatred of his brothers, while his mistress cherished a lustful love more harsh than hatred. And again, there are contests, and wrestling-pits, ^B and Joseph is crowned. The struggle, then, is of such a kind. But the one wrestling against him is a youth, whose age is a traitor to temperance, easily captured by the violence of pleasure; the humiliation of slavery, bringing down his noble spirit; the continuous flatteries of his mistress, which by various hopes would dissolve his constancy ^C (41). And I pass over the externals, the contrivances, as of a woman, of colors, of words, of gestures, the deceits through the eyes, and the stones through the sense of smell (42), and the sieges of the soul through the ears, the breakings of the body through nature. For through all these he walked…

NOTES OF CL. DAUSQUE

(40) *They who make merchandise of nature.* We translate as *naturam cauponantes*. Aeschylus once said of *making merchandise of war*. Hor. *A covetous buyer of disgrace*. St. Ignatius the martyr, whom for his elegance I cannot pass over, speaks thus disparagingly in his Epistle to the Trallians of certain simpletons who held all rights, especially divine ones, for sale: *For there are some empty-talkers and deceivers, not Christians, but Christ-merchants, carrying about the name of Christ for the sake of the fraud of the encounter, and making merchandise of the word of the Gospel.*

(41) *Dissolving the tension through hopes.* Those smitten by the shafts of Cupid are unequal to the task of either turning away or bearing the arrows of Mars, owing to their weakness, the nerve of virtue being severed. You may learn of the harm brought upon their powers by this love from Plautus’s *Mercator*: *By the power of love to be dissipated and destroyed.*

(42) *And those through the sense of smell, stones.* Is he then accessible through stones? Certainly to me the stones seem to speak, whoever it is that speaks these things. My ignorance of the stones that are so well redolent is indeed very vexing to me in this place. I know what powers Orpheus attributes to the Ophite and the Gagates. But one must seek the stones that are pleasing to the nurslings of Venus, of exquisite scent, and held in delight. Andr. Hoius recalls me, stuck, to the wall-assailing engines, so that one may persist in the metaphor from military affairs: Hic me Dausqueium varios incerta per aestus / Mens rapit undantem curis ac pauca novantem / et novare parantem. Those stones can be taken for stone vessels, or small boxes and alabasters, in which they used to store various ointments and perfumes, which [is] more poetic than *lithous* [stones]. Maybe *lecythois* [oil flasks]? *Alabastrum* and *alabaster*, a stone oil-flask for the storage of perfumes; *Lecythus*, and a perfume-box, a glass jar. *Phoros*. *Bikion*. *Autolecythi*. *Autolecythos*, a poor man, from the fact that they brought their own oil-flasks to the baths... *Olpe*, properly a leathern oil-flask, through which one might roast the oil, but now perhaps he calls the bronze one a *lecythos* because of the Doric [dialect] saying instead of the Corinthian; for Corinthian bronzes are renowned. Indeed, of gold and silver…

^A And all [was driving] toward one goal, [driving] the youth. But he who was being struck from every side by such weapons possessed as a shield against everything the memory of his Creator. She, indeed, kept an unwatched look, hoping to plunder Joseph’s temperance; setting an ambush for the times, watching for opportunities, constantly entreating; for, having been sold to passion, she expected to drag the temperate man down into the slavery of licentiousness. The devil, assisting the woman’s plots, brought about a solitude of people, by means of a demonic festival ^B. For it happened, [says the scripture]...

NOTES OF CLAUDIUS DAUSQUEIUS

(43) *Of the siege of the siege*, the fractures of the body through nature. For through all the senses passed those things that had the power to entice; and all things were driving the youth toward one goal. But he who was being struck from every side by such weapons possessed as a shield against everything the memory of the Creator. She, indeed, kept an unwatched [look], hoping to plunder Joseph’s temperance; setting an ambush for the times, watching for opportunities, constantly entreating; for, having been sold to passion, she expected to drag the temperate man down into the slavery of licentiousness. The devil, assisting the woman’s plots, brought about a solitude of people, by means of a demonic festival. ^B "For it happened," [he says], I will teach shortly. By custom and usage, this is what Aristophanes writes to the assembly about the noble harlot Phryne: "Phrynen habentem lecythum ad malus suas." Like one praying, which permeated the pores more subtly. A *lecythos* is vessel holding oil, from the fact that it hides the oil, so that it might be a "lecythos." The fact that it is a *lecythos*, and is also called a *olpe*, is brought into use by a graceful Athenian poet, saying, and that *lecythoi* were also made of precious material, for instance, Stephanus and a *dilecythos* of gold and silver perfume container. And those vessels used for stones smelling of perfume—for perfume causes effeminacy—the Phoenician merchants bring to them, an Egyptian stone... ^C It besieges the reason. Such uprisings of dangers besiege those who are sailing. [He] was driving. A crag. For not in the whole [world]... "Equal share for all men did the demon place." Honor the demon, the *daimonion*, from the fact of "causing fear," a *daimon* is "knowing" from "to know," ^D a demon of evil or of good, of one who has found, or of one who is heavy. *Daimon*... "To every man at his birth, a demon is present as a guide of life." "The demons are, by the counsels of great Zeus, good earthly guardians of mortal men." Other philosophers [call them] demons, but the holy Word is accustomed to call them angels, using a name more fitting to their nature. For the divine oracles among us do not know at all how to call a demon "good," but that the word and the very designation are entirely partakers of evil things. Hence, a bad reputation...

^A one day, as Joseph entered the house to do his work, and there was no one inside the house (47), and she caught the hem of his garment, saying to him: "Sleep with me." O, the worth of temperance! O, the greatness of the crown of chastity! How the slave was sold, and like a master he is besought by a mistress! O, how great is the fall of intemperance! For she showed the master to be the slave of the slave. For she who sold her soul to passion also lost her dignity from without. "Sleep with me." O, the unbridled tyranny! She holds the temperate one captive, and with the flattery of words she mixed the violence of hands. O, the impossible evils! O, the inextricable calamity! The righteous one was left as prey in the midst of nets (48). And what did the righteous one do? Let us see the arts of temperance in dangers, and with it, let us learn to conquer. First, he tries to bridle the passion, and to curb the unbridled manner with the gravity of words. "If my Lord knows nothing because of me," and the rest. "The master established me as an overseer of the house, he subjected the servants, he entrusted his money to me, he spread my cares over his own possessions. What, then? Shall I plunder what I am in charge of? Shall I insult the table of him who guards the creation (49)? Am I to be an enemy regarding the portion of him who is kind to my possessions? And how shall I look towards God? With what eyes shall I gaze upon my benefactor? How shall I commit this deed? I shudder, woman, at the voice: are you asking me for this act? I am wounded ^B in my hearing (50), by your word as if by a sword. How shall I do it? How shall I heal my ears, which have been defiled? How shall I wipe away the filth of your words?" Using such spells of temperance (51), the righteous man did not persuade the unbridled beast.

CL. DAUSQUEIUS' NOTES

Cap. 14. *Demonic festival*, so that we might return to Basil's jest, might be some festival sacred to the demons of Egypt, at whose sacrifice, or procession, or game, that adulterous woman, having poured out from the house, stayed away on account of her foul desires. At first, I arrived at the conjecture that it had been the festival of the woman’s own genius (for a genius can be interpreted from elsewhere: hence also for the "well-fortuned" and "ill-fortuned"), but on such a day the house would not have been empty, or if some solemn act had been done elsewhere, she would not have been missing. "No one was inside the house." Plautus: "There was no one born in the house." Which is in the text of the Septuagint interpreters, with an exception: "No one of the domestics was within." Therefore, by Basil’s patronage, one may accept the reading of the Scripture, and the truth long since established: "Without witnesses"; whether they be family, or strangers. ^C "...he was taken... he was left behind"; I write "taken," it corresponds better with the prescribed word with which it least agrees; for if he were led away, since Joseph had been anointed and soothed with flattery and softness, he would certainly not be free of some fault. "He established him as lord of his house and ruler of all his possession"; then, because Basil seems to have written this from the things immediately following the judgment: which I would also willingly write, or it is, "about the wife," who among the things possessed by the husband is numbered as the most important part, and therefore he who defiles himself through the side of the woman is the corrupter of the house. Hesychius: The affinity of these vowels has introduced various readings and interpretations. Proverbs, viii, many all read in Greek: *estise me*, *ektise*, etc. "The ox knew its possessor"; for the creator is indeed the possessor; but the statement is not truly reciprocated. From the same source error has flowed into my Damascene codex, lib. iii, cap. 5: "For every creature is defined by its Creator." I rewrite: "Creator." ^D (50) "I am wounded in my hearing"; Aeneid, lib. viii: "A more grievous messenger wounds the ears." (51) "Using such spells of temperance"; thus he used it as an amulet of temperance.

^A And he also laid hands upon him, armed with passions. The devil, the arbiter of the adultery and the groomsman of unchastity, was present as an ally of the woman; yet he was unaware that he was wrestling against an athlete of temperance. By throwing off the garment which the woman’s hand was clutching, he escaped her unchaste grasp, using flight as a weapon to achieve distinction; and he became the betrayer of the tunic, that he might be the guardian of temperance; and he ran naked, having run the race on behalf of virtue; and he is stripped of his garment, that he might not be stripped of his temperance. ^B But the commander of unchastity, the devil, having been defeated along with the woman (52), arms himself again in another way, and transforms the charm into wrath; he forges desire into a weapon, raises up the tongue as an accuser, and the tunic is believed as a witness. O paradoxical slander, and barbaric folly! Bearing the tunic of the hands—an accuser (53)—it is believed by a tongue that accuses; and Joseph was held in prison, being both a servant and a prisoner. But the young man, drained by such waves of adversity, remained in soul unconsumed. For he did not utter a bitter cry, complaining of divine providence; "Are these," he said, "the rewards for virtue? Is this the fruit of temperance? Is this my wage for the care I gave my father? Envy, and being sold, and serving among barbarians? And in place of a house, a prison, and to be bound in iron? And after having overcome the act of adultery, are we kept for the punishments of those caught in adultery?" ^C None of these things did he utter with his tongue, but opposing patience to all, he bore the dangers with a grateful mind; and although silent, he was condemned, reserving the judgment for the just Judge, and he persuaded his tongue to be silent, entrusting his vindication to eyes that never die.

3. If you marvel at this, beloved, be still more amazed. For behold the magnanimity of the youth; behold the loftiness of divine philosophy, so that you too, by imitating his resolve, may be pleasing to the Creator. For having suffered such things, he neither avenged himself with a word against those who had wronged him, nor did he let slip a bitter voice against those who surrounded him with bitter calamities. For he was living in the prison with the king's captives; and when he had resolved the inexplicable riddles of their dreams, he was forced to recount his own misfortunes, and to explain the causes of his own chains. And he says: "Because I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing." ^D

^A What tongue could praise such a discourse as it deserves? He who treated even his enemies with the humanity of words, not remembering the envy, not accusing his brothers of cruelty, not recounting the sale, not exposing the meditation of envy, not the immoderate love of the woman, not his own temperance, nor her importunity: O tongue of David that meditated on this in prison: "O Lord my God, if I have done this, if I have rendered evil to those who returned evil to me!" [Ps. VII, 5] Thus, passing through all the grades of the virtues, and like one refined in the fire by temptations, and appearing as a most approved athlete, he receives the kingdom as the prize of virtue; the throne succeeds the prison, and he who was the captive of the adulteress becomes the lord of Egypt; the guardian of the abundance and the governor during the famine. For he becomes the executioner and judge of fraternal envy; and he brings sustenance to the domestics 55, those who had been nourished by his sale; and the visions of the dreams are fulfilled. Having therefore received the power of taking vengeance, let us see what kind of man he became. ^B Did he dim the shining marks of virtue? Did his success become a lapse and loss of his noble deeds? By no means. For having those who wronged him under his hand, and being able to punish them not as brothers, but as enemies, what does he do? See the strange manner of vengeance. He avenges envy, and the sale, and beastly madness with the services of humanity; he plays with fear, and acts out a threat, and feigns anger. And not being able to endure even the dissimulation of anger, he dissolves the performance with true tears; and overcome by longing, he reveals his fictions; the one who was wronged seeks a defense for those who wronged him; and having uncovered his soul, he sincerely embraces his brothers; and with genuine lips he kisses 56 those who had mercilessly torn him with their teeth. ^C 4. You have the life of Joseph, a teacher of all virtue; you have seen a caretaker of his father's old age, following divine commands; loving those who hated him; proclaiming the conduct of the New Testament; a gentle slave, enduring servitude without the loss of his liberty; struck by the eyes of his mistress, and overcoming lewd desire with a longing for temperance; slandered and silent; humane in power, and most mild in authority, an imitator of divine goodness; ^D of which may we, having become disciples, be found worthy of the heavenly goods, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power, unto the ages. Amen.

ORATIO IX. By the same, on Moses.

1. ^A Many are the things that move men to the praise of God, and many are those that lead the grateful to offer thanks. For wherever one may turn his gaze, he sees the fountains of beneficence always flowing. The sun, running at the divine command and shedding its rays upon those who walk the earth; the moon, lighting the way with its radiance and softening the gloom of night, and, by its varied waxing and waning, creating moderate temperaments for the air; the stars, traversing the heavens, existing as signs of the seasons for men; while the earth, providing a base for our feet [(57)], has been spread out for the power and needs of men, and brings forth its fruits for man alone. For even if the nature of brute animals partakes of this gift, nevertheless, the table of the earth has been prepared primarily for man. ^B And the lyric-prophet, striking his lyre, clearly knows this: "Bringing forth," he says, "grass for the cattle, and herb for the service of men" (Ps. CIII, 14). He feeds the races of brute animals as servants of man, so that the sustenance of these serves as a resource for man. Therefore, man alone has become the debtor for thanksgiving on account of these things, and he alone is the debtor of gratitude to the Master. There are many things, I say, which move one to sing hymns to the Creator; but it happens through malice of mind that men often accuse God, who merits well, as a plotter. Some attribute the causes of his benefits to idols, while others stretch out their tongues to speak evil. Some ^C strive most imprudently to wage war with divine providence, and there are not wanting those who violently attempt to grasp divine counsels with the machines of their own reasoning. Let the events in Egypt be brought forward as a witness to us of such things: the defiance of Pharaoh against God, and the birth of Moses, in fighting against which the Egyptians have fallen. For God, having once admired the God-loving nature of Abraham’s mind, rewarded his conduct with the nobility of his race; and, having inscribed him as "father of many," he equaled the number of his descendants ^D to the sand of the sea and the stars of the heaven, and confirmed his promises with deeds. Nature, following its Creator, was bringing forth a very numerous offspring. Egypt, meanwhile, was battling with God, and Pharaoh, contending with God, was attempting to curtail the increase of the race: "Come," he says, "let us deal wisely with them; if it be a male, cast it into the river; if a female, preserve it alive" (Exod. I, 10, 16). As

^A he condemns the male offspring with some show of humanity, partly while he cuts off the causes of generation, and partly while he waits for the development of the womb by his decree. And the king’s edict besieged every nature; and it was a wondrous sight. The hands of the Creator were fashioning, but the hands of the king were obliterating the creation with the waters. Everywhere there were spies of the births, and the river was appointed as the executioner of those being born. The law was being written, and nature was being chastened; judgment was being passed on the act of procreation, the pangs of labor were being condemned, the delivery was being put to the test, and the freedom of nature was being held captive. The river went to meet those being born, and the river’s bed took the place of the mothers' wombs. An infant was just being born, and before it even looked upon the sun's rays, it was sent to the pangs of the river. ^B A thing most pitiable of all! The river became at once both murderer and tomb of those being born, and birth was contemporaneous with death; destruction ran alongside creation. Mothers who had come to the point of labor prayed that they might not become mothers, praying that their labor pains might cease in ignorance of what was being born, desiring to forestall the birth with death, so that they might not become mothers to the river. There was grief for them before the birth of that which was being born, and their wombs were found fruitless after procreation and labor. And while they received the arrows of labor pains, they were unable to show the fruits of their pains; they endured the labor pains, yet did not receive the fruit of the labor pains: the unripe grapes of nature were being harvested.

2. Such, then, was the strife of men ^C against God. God, for the time being, endured being hindered by men, and seeing injury being done to His promise, He remained patient, delaying the punishment in the hope of repentance, withholding the chastisement, so that He might bring them to perception. But seeing the stubbornness of their will remaining unchanged, He turned His devices in another direction; and He arranged for Moses, when he was born, to be reared by him who forbade the birth. For the parents, fearing the investigation after the birth, having divided the infant between fear and love, and having entrusted him with the ark to the river's flow, having walled in the infant with this invention, he is borne safely upon the current, preserved against the hostile law.

For the river spared the infant, the river upon whose staff not long after even the sea was divided; the river spared the infant, whose own staff, when struck, changed its current into blood. ^A Since therefore the infant was sailing beyond all expectation, the daughter of the unjust lawgiver was sent to watch; and having been captivated by the sight, she became a mother through longing, and the infant lived with Pharaoh, no longer fearing the danger. Truthful is He who catches the wise in their craftiness. He who slaughtered through the law, who did not allow those giving birth to be mothers, allowed her who had not given birth to become a mother; and the infant was saved, and the law was annulled, unable to master the child. O for the unspeakable and divine economy thus! Another legislator of kindness was being nurtured against the Egyptians. ^B Fear was outside, and courts against nature; and he who was born was punished, bearing the crime of his birth, because he had come forth from the womb as one to be punished; and the Egyptian law waged war against the law of nature. But within, Moses was turning in the arms of those who brought fear, showing life as an antagonist to the child-killing law; and trampling upon the tyranny of Pharaoh, he was cherished by those who were being trampled. And the infant, having grown, becomes one who deserts to his own race, and casting off the hopes of royal dignity, he longed for the kinship from Abraham, and deemed pious poverty preferable to impious wealth. Nor did he draw any vice of soul from his upbringing, nor did time change his character; ^C but he was a lover of divine worship, and gave to Paul the occasion to speak concerning him: "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin." The anger of the king followed from this, having piety as its pretext. But Moses was in flight, changing his place rather than his character. God is revealed to him while he is herding on the mountain. For God permits him even to herd, so that from a shepherd of sheep He might reveal him as a shepherd of Israel; and that having practiced shepherding in small things, he might entrust to him the leadership of his kinsmen. ^D Being among the flocks, God is revealed to him, and grants the invisible sight as a prize for the labors undertaken for the sake of piety; and He shows a fire burning upon a bush, and not producing the effects of fire; a flower crowned with fire, and a lowly plant standing as an opponent to the flaming fire. A voice was borne, which armed Moses against the Egyptians with imperial...

^A authority, giving the signal on behalf of the people. Provoked by these things, Moses demanded the release of the people; but as Pharaoh resisted again, Egypt was wounded by divinely-inflicted scourges. There, the river, struck by the rod, turned blood-red; there, watery battalions of frogs came against the Egyptians; from the air, clouds of locusts imitated by their flight; again, darkness overcame the light, and the time of the day was consumed by the useless expenditure of night; there, hail was dashed together with fire, and things that by nature are in conflict were in agreement against nature, directing the war of nature against the Egyptians; there, death fed upon the firstborn of the initial pangs, and the order of births became a summoning of death ^B. And the course of the scourges proceeded as far as the sea, which, struck by the rod, became a path for some and a tomb for others; and the deep solidified into a road for those from the line of Abraham toward the mainland, but ensnared the others in its waves; that which was navigable was trodden upon, and the dusty feet of men walked upon the depths of the sea. Thus, God knows how to tolerate those who oppose Him, owing to His long-suffering, providing a set time for repentance through the postponement of punishment; but when He sees that they do not yield to the remedy of His philanthropy, He changes from physician to judge, and corrects with punishments those who have despised His counsels.

3

^A of the demons, it lifts up the soul that had been cast down. For what part of the creation existed that was not worshipped by men as God? Since they even brought down the worship of the Creator to reptiles and beasts of burden, and nature lacking reason was worshipped by those possessed of reason. And among the Egyptians the affliction had an intensification. For they were not content with those on the continent, but borrowed gods also from the water; and everything among them was God. Perceiving this disease lurking also among the Hebrews, Moses, removing the evil, cried out: *The Lord thy God, the Lord is one*. For it was not yet the time to proclaim the Trinity, nor was he yet able to proclaim the hypostases; he still nourishes with the milk of the knowledge of God those who are infantile in their perception. He was content solely with the teaching of the knowledge of God, suggesting to them that there is one nature of deity, so that he might banish from their soul the whole ^B crowd of gods. For it sufficed for those who were being torn away from such an error to have the first lessons of the knowledge of God. For this reason, having taught the unity of the nature, he put off teaching the trinity of the hypostases until the proper time; for the soul that is ill-affected easily slips in its search for the truth. For he fears that, by teaching a Trinity of deity, he might be thought to be preaching a multitude of gods to the Jews. By riddles alone, therefore, he guides his hearers, and ceased after opening a little the light of radiance. Just as those who teach those who have just ceased from an affliction of the eyes to contend with the light, they thus keep those so affected away from the solar rays, and by means of some veil they allow the light to rest gently upon the eyes, ^C just so does the blessed Moses act; and while healing the people who were blinded by the affliction of idolatry through the knowledge of God, he does not yet dare to expand the entire light of knowledge; but using the dim light of riddles, he slightly opens the light of the Trinity. For what does he say? *The Lord thy God, the Lord is one*. He makes manifest one, and additionally names a third; he speaks of one, and triples the expression, in testimony to the hypostases: *The Lord thy God, the Lord is one*. He all but says: While the nature is one, it is in three hypostases. And again elsewhere: *Let us make man according to our image and likeness* (Gen. 1, 26). By the utterance of the word he hints at the hypostases. And again: *Come, let us go down and let us confound there their language* (Gen. xi, 7). And in many places of the divine Scripture he scatters such sparks, ^D not yet unfolding the light to weak eyes; but for the perfect, he keeps in reserve the enjoyment of solid food. But do not wonder when you see a Jew persisting in the folly corroborated by long usage; since even after Moses, and the prophets, and after the presence of Christ, and after the knowledge of the sacraments...

the knowledge of the mysteries, the host of heretics wars against the Creator, calling the Creator a subordinate craftsman, and terming the Master a servant. ^B Others have undertaken war against the Holy Spirit, and bear the name of the battle as their badge. Others have imagined that God becomes man, by another path dragging the Creator down to the nature of created things, assuming the assumption of flesh to be the birth of the One who assumed it, and condemning the impassible One to human passions. But let us clearly cry out against them with the voice of the blessed Paul: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." Taking it for our sake, he did not become what we are. For he remained what he was, taking what he was not; as the Gospel says, "And the Word was made flesh." Clearly, the One who was not became flesh, remaining what he was. And thus it is decreed by the God-bearing teachers according to the saying of the prophet: "But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen.

ORATION X

By the same, on the prophet Elisha, and on the Shunammite

1. Of the prophets, some proclaimed Christ by word, others demonstrated the things concerning Him by deeds; others became a type of the economy, as if showing beforehand in a sketch the image of the things to come. And Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the dozen with them proclaimed Him by word; but Elijah the Tishbite and Elisha his disciple demonstrated Him by deeds. And Jonah the prophet became a type of the economy. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale ^C three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. And for the time being, deferring the matters concerning Jonah, and reserving Elijah for another instruction, let us bring Elisha into the midst, and let us inquire why he did not raise the son of the Shunammite to life by prayer, as Peter raised Dorcas, but rather applied himself spread over the dead body of the boy. For he placed his mouth upon the mouth of the boy, he applied nose to nose,

and forehead to forehead, and extended his feet along with his feet, and chest lay upon chest, and eyes approached eyes; and simply, the prophet’s member touched each member of the boy, bestowing life. Why then did he not raise the dead man by prayer, but instead cast himself upon the corpse? These things happened as types for them: but they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Let us inquire of whom Elisha was a type, and who the Shunammite was, and who the son of the Shunammite who died was. Elisha bears the type of Christ; but the people of the nations was he, who was dead through sin. The spiritual Elisha came; he found all his members dead—the mouth, the eyes, the hands, the feet—and simply, the body was dead, not opening itself to the glorification of God ^B (77-78), but saying to the wood: "You are my father," and to the stone: "You have begotten me." The eyes were dead, not looking to the God of all, but worshipping the creation instead of the Creator. The hands were dead, bearing fruit for the demons; the feet were dead, bowing in worship to the devil. The whole body was decayed, it needed a mighty physician, a physician capable of raising even the dead. The sought-for physician, the spiritual Elisha, the Master Christ, came; he found the body dead. What does he do? He set his whole self upon the whole body. What is it that we say? The whole fullness of the deity wore our whole man, in whom dwelt, as the Apostle says, the whole fullness of ^C the deity bodily. He had eyes as a human, hands likewise, feet likewise. It was not a phantom that was seen, but the seen thing was true. For he did not deem it robbery to be equal to God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. And Life wore the dead garment, so that it might change the death into its own incorruption. For when the deity had descended ^D into the body, all the limbs were subsequently sanctified and brought over to a better use. The mouth indeed was taught to say: "O Lord, you shall open my lips, and my mouth shall announce your praise." The eyes learned the praise of God: "The eyes of all hope in you, and you give them food in due time." Hands to the Lord indeed—

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DAUSQUEIUS’S NOTES

^A unto the body, all the members were subsequently sanctified and transformed to a better use. And the mouth was taught to say: *O Lord, thou shalt open my lips, and my mouth shall declare thy praise*. And the eyes learned the doxology to God: *The eyes of all hope in thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season*. The hands, stretched out toward God, bless their Lord: *In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless the Lord* and *the lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice*. The feet, standing in the church, offer thanksgiving, saying: *Our feet were standing in thy holy places*; and again: *Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem*. You have mentioned the doxology of the outer members. What then? Do the inner members remain without a ministry? By no means. The soul, in turn, with the inner members cried out to the Master: *Bless, O my soul, the Lord, and all things within me his holy name*.

β'. Leaving aside, then, that widow of Shunem ^B along with the miracles of Elisha the prophet—which existed as a shadow of the arrival of Christ among us—let us turn our discourse to the miracles of the new grace, and let us behold the Only-begotten Son from the Father alone, before the ages, and the same Only-begotten one in the last times, born of a mother alone without seed, and the Only-begotten Son raised from the dead through compassion. But let us run back to the tears of the widow and to her entreaty regarding her Only-begotten son who had died, for the sake of the Master who came for our salvation. For the tears of the widow drew the Only-begotten today to the resurrection of the only-begotten. For the One, who is abundant in compassion ^C, having seen the immoderateness of the sorrow, having arrived unbidden to the widow, bedewed the flame of her pain with the springs of his philanthropy (for, he says, the dew from thee is a healing unto them), and grafted on the broken branch again like a skilled nurseryman. For what heart would not be wounded then? ^D

^A What heart would not be moved to tears? This suffering brought the whole city into mourning. Widows wept with the widow, mothers lamented the childless woman; fathers mourned the youth, young men wept for the youth—some as for their own child, others as for a brother—and the suffering touched everyone, though it was kindled most fiercely in the heart of the mother. For the memory of the child, falling upon her vitals like a flint stone, kindled the flame [(85)] and produced for her more bitter pains. For nothing so saddens a mother as the remembrance of a deceased child. Constantly tearing her hair, and wounding her cheeks with her nails, and pouring forth rivers of tears, she uttered piteous cries over the dead, and such as grief would naturally dictate: To whom do you leave me, a widow and bereaved of children, O my son? To whom have you left your mother in her hopelessness? Who will cover my widowhood from now on? Who will be my patron, looking upon me after you? Where shall I lean my staff? Whom shall I invent as a defender hereafter? My husband has departed ^B before me; my son is no more. How shall I bear the burning heat of childlessness? How shall I escape the winter of widowhood? Until now I was broken by the burden of widowhood; now the darkness of childlessness has also enveloped me. I possessed two bright lights, my husband and my son. But death has gouged out both of my lights [(86)]. Who then, O my son, will send your deceased mother to the tomb? Who will perform the customary rites? I weep beforehand for him who ought to have lamented me; I bury him who ought to have buried me. I shall no longer enjoy your embraces; I shall no longer enjoy your kisses, sweeter to me than honey and the honeycomb. You ought rather, O death, to have snatched away the mother before the son; for this is the order of nature, that children should send their parents on their way. But since you have inverted the order, gratify me as quickly as possible, and do not delay to add me also to those who have departed ^C [(87)]. For it is better for me to be buried in the same tomb than to enjoy this fleeting ray of light without him. For what use is life to me, when he through whom [(88)] I desired to live is no longer alive? While the child lived, I did not bear the burning pain of my widowhood with difficulty; we were sufficient for each other’s consolation. Neither did childlessness wear him down, nor through him did widowhood... ^D elegantly applied to the dead. Continuing on the same path, "The man has departed first, he has died before," is another way of saying what Basil says. Chrysostom, *On the Priesthood*, book 6, ch. 4: "Of those who are not among the living only, but also of those who have departed, it is necessary to hold a certain... What do the bright lamps signify? What do the hymns mean? Is it not that we glorify God and give thanks that He has now crowned the one who has departed." Where to depart is used by the ancients to mean to be absent.

... of the departed king. *Where the Scholiast says: that is, of the dead, just as to be among the living is to be of the survivor, and to depart is to die.* [(88)] Or, "I would prefer," that is, for whom I would wish to live. Afterwards I discovered that the Latin translator rendered it otherwise, for what reason...

the fever of widowhood I bore without pain. We were each other’s consolation; for neither did his own orphanhood crush him, nor did widowhood weigh so heavily on me for his sake. ^A For the anticipation of widowhood had little by little stolen away from my memory the calamity concerning my husband. But this unjust death quickly made my widowhood vain; and it turned the great feast into unbearable pain. For what kind of things have happened to me instead of what kind of things! Daily I awaited his wedding; but instead of a bridal chamber, I prepared a tomb. When I was thinking of a bridegroom, then I made ready a monument. When I was issuing a marriage contract, then I was bearing a sealed will. For he wrote the mother who was to have had no heir as the heir. Whenever I began to prepare the bridal garment for him, then I wrapped the corpse, like Lazarus (89), in grave-bands. And rightly did I mention Lazarus here, since this Lazarus, too, was destined to return from the dead. What kind of things have happened to me instead of what kind of things! There is no pain like my pain (90), nor calamity like my calamity. No one can heal my ulcer; no one treats the wound; there is no such doctor in the city; there is, it seems, no one. Shall I perhaps find someone before the gate? ^B While the woman was still speaking, the one sought stood at the gate; the Patron of widows encounters the widow; the Father of the orphans was calling the young man; the Giver of life, Life itself, was restoring the dead, and the merciful One was stilling the tears of the childless mother. For when the Lord saw her, He was moved with compassion for her, and says to her: Woman, do not weep. For as He drew near to the gate of the city, as the evangelist says, behold, a dead only son was being carried out for his mother. The dead man, going out, met Life, who was entering. And when the Lord saw her (he says), He was moved with compassion for her, and said to her: Do not weep. Death, which waged war against you, has been defeated; do not weep. Hades, being scourged, is returning the soul of your child; do not weep. It rejoiced as if about to swallow its prey; now it groans, having missed the mark. And that you may learn how truthful the promise is, receive by deed the proof of the resurrection. Young man, I say to you, arise. And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. Young man, I say to you, arise. Why did He add "to you"? For it would have been simpler to say: Dead man, arise. For the voice of the Savior was destined to be able to raise other dead men also by its power. Therefore, for this reason He added "to you," in order that He might extend the grace of His power only to that dead young man. ^C He did this also in the case of Lazarus (91); He did not say, "Ho, you dead man, come here," but He called the dead man by name: Lazarus, come out. He did this, moreover, so that the voice of the Giver of life might not restore many dead men to life. And he sat up. ^D

who was dead, and began to speak: "If the Lord had not helped me, my soul had almost dwelt in hell"; and again: "The Lord brought me out of the pit of misery, and out of the mire and clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps." This is what we too should do, crying out in the swell of temptations, and offering glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the endless ages of ages. Amen.

ORATION XI. By the same, on Saint Elijah.

1. That blessed and great prophet Elijah, who was higher than the clouds, ^B the most praiseworthy widow, who once possessed but a handful of flour, received with great honor, her ardor for hospitality overcoming the depths of poverty. But now, compelled to receive such a flock of the Lord, being beyond my power, and bearing a voice poorer than a handful of flour, what kind of table shall I spread? What kind of cruse ^C flowing with abundance shall I find, so that I may receive the bride of Christ at present? Lend us, therefore, O blessed widow, a little of the flour of faith. Or rather, you yourself, O blessed Elijah, who in turn nourished that widow who nourished you, dictate to us an unfailing word of charity. For this people is Christ’s, who with Moses on the mountain celebrated the Incarnation; ^D not that people of Moses, harsh toward their benefactor, for whose ingratitude you exacted penalties, and whom you subjected to your judgments. For the prophet, seeing the people of the Jews luxuriating immoderately in blessings both from heaven and from earth, yet ignoring the author of their food, and turning the charity of God toward them into material for impiety, and transferring the worship due to God unto demons, his anger being assisted by piety, sent forth a voice by which he imposed a law of drought upon heaven, and confirming the sentence with an oath, he laid bars upon the clouds: "The Lord liveth, there shall not be dew or rain upon the earth during these years." O anger full of piety! O tongue that bridles the heaven! O charity of the Lord toward men! He permits the servant, res con-

^Atituted to govern the creation. He reverenced indeed the ardor of piety, and entrusted the reins of creation to Elijah. "The Lord lives": he swears by the Creator, so that, through fear and reverence for the oath, the creation might repress its power. "The Lord lives." Since, he says, the Jews have inclined toward the worship of idols, since they have abandoned the Author of life and surrendered themselves to demons, the authors of death, let them be taught, through their own calamities, to recognize the Living One, and let them learn, through that by which they are dying, the lesson of death; let them receive famine as a pedagogue of piety, and let them learn who is the Provider of rains, being struck by the lack of rain. But I fear the benevolence of God. For I know Him to be quickly persuaded by tears, I know Him to be bent by supplications, I know Him to be inclined to shorten punishments upon a small repentance, lest He bring the end of the drought prematurely and the remedy of the punishment become ineffectual, and the ungrateful people remain once more despising the kindness of the Master. What then shall I do? I shall force even the charity of God itself with an oath. And if God says to me, being entreated by them, "Shall I provide rain for men, Elijah?" I shall answer Him, "By no means. The Lord lives, there will be no dew or rain upon the earth during these years, except by my mouth." ^B He measures his words to nature. "So be it," you hold back the heaven, but why do you also hold back the charity of God? "So be it," against your fellow servants you extend your decree, but why do you also steal the power of the Master? You have bound the clouds, but allow even the Creator the right to speak. "No; the Lord lives, except by my mouth." "You have sent me," he says, "as a pedagogue of piety to the people, you have established me as a teacher of an impious multitude, give me also the power of punishing; I know the measure of punishment worthy for the impious. Except by the word of my mouth." God, being constrained, gives the power to Elijah; pitying indeed those who are justly punished, yet reverencing the zeal of the prophet. Elijah, and bound to them, what does the Lord of all do? He manages the need by mixing it with the goodness of Wisdom. For He gives the prophet the power of the drought, but softening his anger, He makes him a participant in the punishment, and condemns the prophet along with the people, persuading him, even against his will, to become a philanthropist toward his kinsmen. But ^C lest the pious perish equally with the impious by famine, by secretly providing him food, He induces him to change his mind. [...] ^D Many dead shall He raise. The deed follows the command; for when God had but spoken, creation was found being made anew, and the flow of the Word would have overcome the difference from the flood.

^A For He nourishes him by the works of ravens, that he, abominating the food of an unclean beast, might resolve the decrees of famine. “And I have commanded the ravens,” He says, “to feed you.” Behold for me the divine wisdom. The raven is reproached in Scripture as a creature that hates its own young; for they cast out their brood and reject them, taking no care for the feeding of their children. But the divine providence governing all creation 99 provides food for the chicks in an ineffable way through certain small animals (1). And singing of this, the prophet David melodies: “And to the young of the ravens which call upon him.” “I have commanded,” He says, “the ravens to feed you.” They, the traitors of their offspring, are the providers of your food. Do not, therefore, become worse than the child-hating ravens; do not imitate their cruelty toward the Jews, but imitate their care toward you. They overcame their nature through their ministry to you; overcome also yourself, by humanity, the wickedness of the Jews, and do not become more inhuman than the ravens toward those of your own race; show respect to the ravens who have become ambassadors of humanity.

^B But when God saw Elijah unyielding, He stays those who were ministering and withholds the food, so that He might force his judgment. And yet, the giving of rain is easy for God even without the prophet; but He did not wish to undo the decree of His loving servant, but while pitying those who were being punished, He did not insult Elijah. Wisely, then, He managed the matters concerning the prophet. For as He saw, as I said, that he would not yield, and that he was overcoming the violence of hunger by the strength of his resolve—or rather, as He saw him taking pleasure in the punishment of the ungodly—He commands him to change one place for another, and urges his journey into Sarepta; and He sends him to a widow woman, he who had widowed creation by his word. “I have commanded,” He says, “a widow woman to feed you.” As if to say: “If you are not ashamed of the food, do not extinguish your indignation.” He names a widow, and a poor woman, and in addition a Gentile, ^C so that he might either pity her poverty, or, as a Gentile’s, turn away from the food, and become humane even against his will, and release the clouds bound by his silence. But Elijah does not refuse to go to the widow. She reveals her poverty by her appearance; for she was preparing food, and what was necessary for burial

^A. And yet, there comes to the widow as a beggar the man who had locked the gates of heaven with his lips. And what does she say? "The Lord thy God liveth" (4). Do you honor as a prophet him whom you see as a beggar? Where did you get the knowledge of the prophet? Remind yourself, beloved, of the words of God to Elijah: "I have commanded," He says, "a widow woman to sustain thee." And it is clear that the presence of the prophet was made known to the widow by revelation. And the sight of him with her eyes was a reminder of the vision seen in her dreams. Therefore, having recognized the dignity of the one present, she lamented her poverty. "The Lord thy God liveth," she says, "I have no hearth-cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, and I will go in, and make it for me and my children, and we may eat it, and die." The end of our food is the beginning of our death. "This last table I shall set; the measure of our life is established by the handful of meal; we await one single appointed time for both food and death; after this meal, we ourselves shall be the meal of death." The prophet was moved by this voice. He pities the mother starving with her children; he sees the bowels of the mother convulsed by the hunger of her children, and he utters a voice that has the moisture of philanthropy: "Thus saith the Lord: The barrel of meal shall not fail, neither shall the cruse of oil decrease, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth" (5). For the time being He promises the rain, He prepares the clouds with hopes, and He makes the barrel a fountain of food; and as much as the day required, so much did the barrel provide; every day, that which the widow desired, she harvested as a crop from the barrel. ^B

3. But this also lasted for a time, and the famine prevailed; and the creation was hardened, and the prophet was not softened. What therefore does the fountain of philanthropy do? He applies a third device to the prophet, by which Elijah, being defeated, might, even against his will, be bent toward philanthropy. For a disease was in the midst, and the son of the widow was being snatched away. By the decree of God, the soul was commanded to pass from the body; and the widow surrounds the prophet: "What have I to do with thee, O man of God? Thou art come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son!" (6). "Would that," she says, "I had perished beforehand by the famine! Would that death, forestalling the decease of my child, had snatched me away! But now, having provided me with food, you have reserved me for such spectacles as these?" Elijah remained in doubt in such a case, ^D

^A regarding the event, and wondering at the hospitality of the woman; he sought the cause of the child’s death, and seeking, he discovered it to be a stratagem of God against him regarding the child. And he falls before God and declares the trickery: "Woe is me, O Lord, the witness of the widow, have you also afflicted the widow, so as to put her son to death? I have recognized your stratagem against me; I have perceived the snares with which I have been surrounded by you. You ask me to respond with humanity, so that when I entreat you concerning the widow’s child, 'Release, O Creator, the child from death,' you may yourself counter with this to me: 'Release, then, you too, my child Israel from the decree of drought.' I become, therefore, a disciple of your humanity, a most gentle minister; show, O Master, death becoming gentle toward men; let the signs of your humanity be known; let the doctrines of your goodness reach even to Hades; let the punishment of the living be released, and the prisons of the dead." ^B The life of the child followed the prayer of the prophet; and death, hitherto unconquerable against men, learned its own defeat through Elijah, and being constrained by the prophetic tongue, it lamented. For the first time, dead from whom he was being snatched away learned, in human fashion, to lament: "What is this," he said, "this change of affairs beyond hope? The dead return to life, and souls are settled back into their own bodies after death; and the law of death, written in paradise, is being dissolved. I hold as a pledge of my dominion the offenses of those who have been defeated; men's offenses are weapons for me against men. So great is the cloud of just men with me, and none has escaped my nets; myriads of sinners are held in my prisons. It grieved me alone that Enoch had trodden upon my scepters by the experience of life, because, though he was a portion of nature, he proved superior to the sentence. ^C But now, even those whom I once held in my possession—their life is being demanded back from me. I cherished vain hopes, believing that the anger of God against men would be indissoluble. Perhaps, being entreated part by part, He will also release that which was said: 'You are dust, and to dust you shall return.' For if, having been moved by the voice of one just man, He has stripped me of the dominion of the dead, I fear lest men, dancing over us, should say: 'O death, where is your victory? O Hades, where is your sting?'" The son of the widow, therefore, was given back to his mother's embraces. But Elijah, having been turned toward humanity by the machinations of God, gave rain for the benefit of mankind through the clouds, and again the heaven was clothed with clouds; at once the earth put off the sterility of its fruits, and the stored things were renewed by the aid of the rains. Since, however, the sins of men were not at all diminished, God, seeing Elijah ^D

relenting towards human loving-kindness, bestowed rain upon men by means of clouds, and again the heaven is clothed in clouds; and the earth laid aside the widowhood of barrenness 11, and again creation blossomed because of the showers, yet the transgressions of men were in no way lessened. But God, seeing Elijah again inflamed with righteous zeal against the ungodly, and reaping the crowd of false prophets with the sword, removes him from the sight of the impious in a chariot of fire, as if speaking these very things to the prophet: "I marvel, indeed, at your zeal, Elijah, and I approve of your virtue; but the races of men are prone toward sin 12. And if I were to bring punishment alongside their sins, the race would come to an end, not being carried by loving-kindness. To you, the sight of those sinning is grievous; but to Me, being the Master, the law of loving-kindness is unwritten. I have made Myself the debtor of goodness by contract. And even if I ever look toward punishment because of sin, I am moved by the writings of loving-kindness, which say: 'I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he return to Me, and live.' Do you, therefore, go up to a lodging free from sin, and commune with the angels, clothed in flesh; but I shall come to men through the Incarnation, I shall run to their salvation. I shall take up a nature drawn from men, and by suffering I shall heal the sufferings of mortals, and by death I shall dissolve death. For these things the prophet Isaiah, who was before you, preached as good news to men, saying: 'By His stripes we were healed' 13. To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen."

ORATION XII. The same, On Jonah.

12 1. The entire order of creation is an image of divine loving-kindness, educating the eyes themselves to the goodness of the Creator. For this very first thing—to come to creation, and to give to things that were not the means of existing—is a token of His goodness. There was no heaven, there was no earth, there existed no seas; not a trace of light was to be seen. And why do I say these things? The hosts of angels were deprived of their existence; for God alone had existence. God is the fountain of existence, the treasure of life, needing no origin, brimming with goodness. He calls things that are not into existence; not asked, not entreated, He grants existence to things that are not. For how could that which did not exist exhort Him who is, that it might exist? But the overflowing of divine goodness

pouring itself out toward the creation of things that were not, as if partitioning the generations of beings in distribution, did not neglect them. But, as soon as they were created, He moved them to operation and made the creature an instrument of His own goodness. On this account, He commanded the earth to be cultivated by the hands of men, the sea to submit its back to those who sail, the air to be consumed by the respiration of living beings, the sun to move in perpetual motion and emit its common ray, and to kindle the light-bearing torches for the use of mortals. ^B He wishes men also to be seen as imitators of this goodness of His among one another. For He delights not only in being the creator of men, but also their instructor. Wherefore, drawing them to His own imitation, He cried out in the Gospels: "If you have love for one another, you are my disciples"; and again: "Be merciful, as your heavenly Father is also merciful," not that we might be brought up to an equal height of dignity, but that we might adorn ourselves with the riches of probity according to the measure of our own capacity. Through these, He turns back even those men who are unfeeling, and He does not spare even the prophet who is unwilling to grant pardon to those who have sinned, nor does He revere the justice of those who labor under inhumanity. Jonah the prophet knows what I am saying, he who, having perceived it through events, has experience as the teacher of piety; having against the wicked become more vehement in zeal, he was himself caught, afflicted by the vice of inhumanity. And if it is your wish, let us run through the history concerning him, that from it we might learn how God brings the afflicted prophet to his senses, and how He turns back sinners and leads them to repentance.

2. The city of Nineveh was among the Assyrians, most populous, exceeding the bounds of nature in its sins, yet not exceeding the bounds of divine clemency. ^C It was indeed feverish with the heat of impiety, but it was healed by the medicines of repentance. When the most humane Creator saw that it was sick, He sends Jonah, that he might heal the disease. For even if He hates a mind that acts wickedly, yet He pities a nature changed by disease, and recognizes the figment of His own hand. Therefore, having entrusted the curing of the evil to the prophet, He commands him to approach the fields before the disease, having grown, might confirm the sentence of death: "Arise," He says, "and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it, because its wickedness has ascended before me." — "Arise and go to Nineveh, the great city." In the threatening of punishments are contained words full of commiseration, a promise of punishment and a demonstration of affection, the voice of one who hates, and the mind of one who has mercy. Already He offers pardon to the city; while indignant, He has mercy, and while threatening, He intends to save.

Jonah the prophet, perceiving this even though it was hidden, and refusing to be the minister of such mercy toward those who sin—fearing the One who gives the order, yet not enduring to carry out what was commanded—contrives to delay the mandate and plans to evade the command through flight. For he was revolving thoughts by which he hunted for the hidden goodness of God: "If," he says, "punishment were to befall the Ninevites, I would gladly have obeyed the commands; I would have been a minister serving for the chastisement of the ungodly. For I hate the city of the ungodly; I loathe the abode of those who act impiously, that factory of sinners; I hate a populace that is a worker of license, a stranger to temperance, a farm of covetousness. For this people is one that carries the tongue as a weapon against God, a city loving idols, a servant of demons, ignorant of the Creator. But now, as I suspect, the Lord threatens to punish it, but will exchange the punishment for terror. I suspect that the threat will turn out to be a mother to mercy. For why does He proclaim the destruction if He truly wishes the punishment? If He wishes to punish, why does He announce the danger? Why does He anticipate the blow with a warning? But I know the arts of the Lover of mankind: He feigns anger, desiring to release them from the punishment before they experience it. But if I proclaim destruction, I shall be found a liar, and I shall be grieved by these two evils: I shall be seen as a liar, and I shall see the enemy city preserved from misfortune. The impious people might be found without harm, but I shall be covered with the shame of having lied. What, then? Shall I alleviate this lack of counsel by flight? Let another serve God as He reveals His love for men; let the time of flight be a refusal of duty." ^B Saying these things, he boards the ship, and in his folly he encounters a force much stronger than his own design—namely, God's providence, which is solicitous for sinners.

For suddenly, God's decree stirred the sea to its search. "Restrain, O sea," it said, "my prophet who is fleeing. Bring my servant into bonds; let him understand, bold as he is, what a wicked deed he has undertaken. Let the ship be besieged by the waves, and let the vessel be driven toward danger by the winds, until they surrender the one who is sought." Armed with these commands, the sea thoroughly troubled the sailors; mountains of waves surrounding them demanded the prophet. But the sailors, ignorant of the holy man, fought against the tempest with their skill, and hoped to repel the danger with their helms; they fought a naval battle against the sea, and in vain threw their cargo into the waves, while they kept the cause of the storm with them. ^C But when their skill had despaired of safety, and they were, in their hopes, shipwrecked even before the ship was, they seek by lot the author of the surge. What are you saying? The sea is tossing, and you call for the lot in the midst of it, and you let the author of the tempest go free? Have you deemed the lot to be an anchor? Do you hope that this will be your helmswoman in the storm? What, then, shall we learn from this? That the agitation of the sea was, it appears, partial, and that the storm was tossing this one ship, and the waves were impinging upon the vessel from all sides; and that, while the sea was calm for others, it was [stormy] against these alone.

And while it let the others pass by in calmness, the storm ran to meet these, seeking the fugitive. Upon this, the sailors, coming to understanding, seek by lot the will behind the storm; and the lot proved to be a truthful judge, and the prophet was rebuked as a runaway, and the sea monster took up the vote. And Jonah was immediately borne in a living tomb ^B (17), inhabiting a swimming prison, moved about in abysses, a place of death for the living, a lodging for the dead, not for the living, inhabiting a womb that is the mother of death. Thus the prophet was being taught to sympathize; thus he who had been unmerciful toward sinners was being bent toward philanthropy, God saying these things to him, as it were, within the monster, and he is persuaded: "But do you consider whom you have disobeyed ^C (18), whose voice even the sea monster respects? Therefore, having been released by him who holds you, preach to the Ninevites, threaten them with catastrophe, and behold the change of their ways; compare the disciples of Moses with the impiety of the Ninevites. How often have you preached to the Jews, and not turned their ears? How often have you cried out, and poured forth your prophecies in vain? Look at a city sinning, yet repenting; wrap it in the fear of the threat, just as you were cast into the sea monster."

3. The prophet was bent by the prayer and was reaching Nineveh. And, he says, Jonah began to enter the city, and he cried out, ^D and he began, he says, Jonah to...

NOTES OF DAUSQUE

(17) Page 133, in the sixth verse, regarding the intestines of Goliath: *he threatened to make the bellies of dogs a sepulchre for him*. The ancients, with similar wit of expression, asserted that those who had fallen as prey to wild beasts were buried in them, and called the beasts themselves "living sepulchres." The Emperor M. Antoninus, book iv: Eustathius, page 564: One is said to be buried by the sea, if submerged therein, and in the bellies of beasts, if they consume him. And thus even vultures "bury" in their bellies, as if in tombs, those whom they have torn apart and thus consumed. Therefore some have dared to call them living sepulchres. But if also the rapacious attempt to "bury" in a more figurative sense those whom they wrong, they themselves would be buried literally, as they would not wish to be: *He buried the fleshless morsel with a tomb, feasting upon the wretched gristle*. He buried in a tomb; he buried within the tomb symbolically, instead of saying, he ate; and he calls her belly a tomb now. For *with the bowels of many it will be entombed, eaten by the many-rowed jaws of the snapping ones, an innumerous swarm.* The Massagetae, having cut up their parents, ate them, and the most beautiful tomb is considered to be to be buried within them. Rather, flatter the beasts, that they may become a tomb for me.

(18) *And he is persuaded, but do you consider whom you have disobeyed.* The particle *non* [not] is not accustomed to begin a sentence. Perhaps the first prayer of God is missing: perhaps there is a defect in the preceding word, for it does not sufficiently cohere with the preceding [words], nor with those following. Ought it to be written *non paruisti* [you did not obey], but *vide* [see] whom you have not heard? Or ought it to be rewritten and *interrogat* [he asks], God naturally? But then... Or ought that to be read with the preceding [words]? He is bent toward philanthropy, and is persuaded, and is changed toward humanity, and obeys. I have changed nothing concerning a doubtful matter, but I have translated it verbatim, as if Basil, apprehending in his mind the force of God's discourse, had placed that word before that prayer. [index: entries preserved]

^A And he went to the city, and he preached, and said, "Yet three days 19, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." And the men of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the least of them even unto the greatest of them 20. Observe the measures of repentance: "From the least of them even unto the greatest of them." Fear traverses every age; all submit to the yoke of repentance; all call upon the physician of the danger. "Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Narrow is the limit of the threat, but broad is the power of repentance. A stranger threatens, and the whole city changes its manner in response to the discourse; he spoke as a stranger, and they feared as though he were speaking from heaven; and with one voice, mourning was cultivated. And the discourse reached the king of Nineveh. What then? Does he, looking to his own dignity, despise the prophecy? "And he arose," it says, "from his throne, and he covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes 20." He had anticipated the evangelical utterance: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." He sat in ashes. He brought forth the weapons of repentance to storm sin, and by edict the mourning increased: "Let men and beasts, and oxen, and sheep taste nothing, and let them not drink water." Let the nature of the irrational ones sympathize with the rational; let there be a common lamentation for a common calamity. For one Creator of all, one hand fashioned the whole, one providence is extended to all; let them call through fasting upon Him whom they cannot reach through speech, so that, pitying their dejection, He might dissolve the sentence. And they were covered with sackcloth, and they cried earnestly unto God, and turned every one from their evil way. These are the marks of true repentance: a mourning soul, weeping eyes, a change of wickedness, flight from impiety, contrition of the flesh, shrinking of the soul, departure from injustice. By these, iniquity is cleansed, by these, the divine vote is not ashamed to give way, and God dissolves the decree, and alters the danger. For a philanthropic eye respects approaching repentance, and ^{B C}

^A causes the mourner to cease, and suffers with her who laments, and sends forth a conqueror. For God, he says, saw their works, that they turned from their evil ways, and God repented (21) concerning the evil which he promised to do unto them (22). Repentance begat repentance; men change, and God has relented. O, to how great a dignity has the divine goodness brought repentance! Men weep, and God is changed; mortals mourn, and the Immortal dissolves his plan. For he does not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should turn toward Him and live. The Ninevites, therefore, the decree against them being dissolved, did not let go of repentance, the ally of their salvation. But the fact that Nineveh was saved caused Jonah grief again (23). For, sitting at a distance, he was watching for the destruction of the city. But when he saw that philanthropy had prevailed, he mourned over the ending of the mourning, and the gloom transitioned to the prophet of the Ninevites. And Jonah, he says, was grieved with a great grief, and was confused (24), and he prayed to the Lord and said: O Lord, were these not my words when I was still in my land? For this reason I anticipated it by fleeing to Tarshish, because I knew that you, O Lord, are ^B merciful, longsuffering, and of great kindness. This is the occasion of my flight; pondering your philanthropy, I declined the prophetic office. I knew that with a few tears of sinners you cease to be indignant; I did not believe you were angry, considering your innate compassion. And now I am thought of as a liar; the Ninevite mocks my prophecy, and has halted your decree. What, then, does God do, who takes pity on sinners and guides the just toward philanthropy? He did not overlook the prophet, gripped by the disease of lack of sympathy. And why, he says, do you find fault with my philanthropy, O prophet? Do you still accuse me of kindness? Did the terror of the sea-monster not soften you? Are you still unmerciful toward sinners? Do you have no pity for those who repent? Do you not change your own judgment? Shall the gourd (25) expose your rigidness, and I not spare the city? Will you mourn the loss of a flower, while I deliver so many myriads of men? There was night in the middle, and the greening gourd, like a garland, encompassed Jonah, and it was a sort of meadow hanging over ^C his head, and flowers and fruits were spread out on all sides, ^D and they were viewed as a delight, and they warded off the sun’s ray like a wall. Jonah was delighted by the prospect; the flower diminished his sadness, and the grass filled his mind with joy in his little hut.

^A Since God saw he was pleased with the gourd, He sent the worm, and the plant was dry in an instant; it suffered destruction faster than its growth. The prophet was stripped of his shelter; the improvised hut was dissolved. The flame of the heat, blowing more fiercely, scorched his head; despondency succeeded desire. Seeing Jonah struck by grief, God again proceeds to make him a judge of divine philanthropy, and says: "If you are deeply grieved over the gourd, and have taken the loss of the gourd to heart, O prophet, and if the plant, which could no longer flourish, has grieved you, what do you think I suffer for perishing men? You pity a flower; shall I not spare a city? You did not till it, nor did you plant it; but these are the plants of my husbandry, the fruits of my right hand. You look at those who are sinning, but I see more than twelve myriads, for whom the time of sin hasn't even begun. You pity the fruit of the gourd, but shall I not spare the clusters of nature that are being cut down? ^B Let it be; you condemn other men, but what charges can you bring against those newly born? What ground for blame have the beasts given you? Either revere the sinners as they repent, or take into account those newly born, as I implore you." Let us, who are sinners, desire the Giver of salvation; let us love the Physician who, instead of fire and iron, heals the soul with a medicinal balm. ^C We are all in need of this healing; let us apply the common remedy to our common malady. Let us hear John crying out: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Let us approach the Savior, who extends His hands, draws us to Himself, and says: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." To Him be glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen.

NOTES BY CL. DAUSQUEIUS

laboring and are burdened, and I will give you rest. To Him be the glory and the power unto the ages of ages. Amen. ^B

ORATION XIII

By the same, on the same, Jonah.

1. Those who clear out the springs of wells, by how much the more they dig them through, by that much more do they make them yield water that is cleaner and more abundant. For the womb of the waters, being widened by the motion, brings forth the gushing streams which it travails with. Such is the fountain of holy Scripture. For if any should desire to dig through the heavenly veins in it with the Word, he will see the storehouse of grace the more laid bare. Have you heard the history of Jonah? Have you beheld the power of repentance? Have you seen a king mourning, in ashes and sackcloth, and with humility of soul, bribing the King in heaven? Have you seen immortal wrath being done away by mortal tears? Have you seen the contentiousness of a prophet, and the philanthropy of God? Have you seen a prophet being carried in a whale, and being taught compassion toward sinners? Come then, and let us contemplate the other treasure in the prophet; for the treasure of the prophets is Christ the Lord, whom the prophets, proclaiming with prophetic trumpets, showed forth the rays of His coming rising before Him. Jonah, however, did not preach Christ with words, but imitated Him in His sufferings; he did not foretell the Lord’s tomb with voices, but, having been buried in the whale and released after three days without corruption, he taught all men that death is the beginning of immortality, and that life blossoms from the tomb. And Christ, claiming these voices of his through deeds, cries out to the unbelieving people of the Jews: A wicked and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign shall be given to it, except the sign of Jonah. ^C

CL. DAUSQUIUS' NOTE.

": ^A An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign shall be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale ^B three days and three nights, so must the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth. For he preaches the truth in the shadow; the type prefigures the things themselves, and the passions are painted in advance by other passions. Let us indeed take up a little with our discourse, and show that it was long ago dear to God, as in the case of some ancient image, to outline the dead accomplishments of grace. For since the things that conquer the laws of nature are incredible to the ears and eyes of men, for this reason God lays down beforehand the images of miracles ^C, so that when we have examined their vision in these things, and behold the dimmer shadows of the miracles, we might believe in those things that are above nature by an innate contemplation, as if in a mirror.

2. Just as, therefore, those who labor over the natures of visible things with art and colors ^D draw them out with shades before they blossom with colors; in the same way, the most wise craftsman of the world outlined in advance the more complex images with simpler ones; for instance, the passion and saving cross of Christ was about to shine forth to men, and God, taking the lead, fixed the miracles in the type; and Abraham the elder is commanded to imitate the passion by his own labors. Isaac labored with his father in the work, and the victim shared with the sacrificer in the meditation of the sacrifice. The altar was being fixed, the flame was rising, the boy was being prepared for the slaughter, the sword was being carried, the neck was being readied for the reception of the blow. But a voice from heaven restrained the sword, and in place of the boy a lamb caught by its horns was introduced, and the sheep was brought in substitution for the slaughter of the Only-Begotten. And Isaac remained without suffering, but the sacrifice received the passion. "Behold, for," he says, "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"; for the passion was of the appearing flesh, not of the understood divinity. Again, a Virgin was to give birth, obeying grace rather than the laws of nature; so that they might not say, "The birth is incredible, alien to nature," for this reason, barren women beforehand studied the miracle, and Sarah, in her old age and deadness together, brought forth faith in the future birth of the Virgin. Again, saving blood was about to be granted to men, so that the strangeness of the miracle might not become a pretext for unbelief.

ORATION XIII

^A it forced the blood of a sheep smeared on the doors to keep the destroyer outside; an angel armed for death was driven to flight by the sight of the blood. And he who was reaping the firstborn of nature in Egypt would not touch a house where he recognized the seal of blood. Again, baptism was about to be bestowed upon men, promising an escape from death and a refuge of resurrection. Look, then, how the sea serves as a figure: the waves beaten by the rod, the deep measured out by footsteps! And hear Paul crying out: *Through the sea they passed, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.* He calls the sea baptism; for it was a flight of death fulfilled through water. For in every way the tomb of Christ was about to release the dead, and death was to be the destruction of death, and the passion was to be found a medicinal workshop for our passions. Do not, therefore, O Jew, because of your unbelief, slander the miracle; consider your own Moses in the wilderness forging an image of this very thing. A serpent struck, and a serpent healed; a serpent cured the suffering caused by a serpent. Who, then is indicated by this symbol? Who? Hear the Lord clearly interpreting his own matters: *And as Moses lifted up*, he says, *the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.* ^B Christ was also to drag the dead from the dead: *For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise incorruptible.* Since you do not believe, O Jew, in Paul preaching, for this reason Elijah formerly rescued a dead man from death first, and though dead himself, he raised the dead man to flight by his touch. For this reason Enoch remained outside the snare of death, and Elijah did not obey the laws of nature. For all things are a figure, all things are a shadow, all things are premonitions of the truth. Consider Paul preaching to me about this: *Now all these things happened to them by way of figure: but they were written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come.* But Jonah awaits our speech, and it is time to show how his affairs also stand as a figure of the things which came to pass in Christ. ^C 3. There was, therefore, much despair among the holy prophets regarding the salvation of men, with the Jews acting senselessly and the Gentiles practicing idolatry. Nothing of nature was sound. But the prophets pitied the Jews, who had violated the law, yielding to sympathy for their own race; yet they were angry with the Gentiles for the sickness ^D of their being subject to the servitude of idols; the salvation of humanity was quite despaired of by the holy prophets. But when the evil of idolatry began to increase

^A seeing it, they were angry with the nations. Everywhere were idols, but God was nowhere among them. Yet the healing of Christ was not destined to be defeated by the passions. For even if the sickness urged the tongues of the prophets to speak, every prophet was nevertheless a fellow-servant to those suffering; but with Christ present, idolatry was vanishing. Since, therefore, Christ was about to ensnare the nations with tongues, and to gather the circle of the inhabited world, which was held by impiety, into the discipleship of piety; and since it was unbelievable to prophetic ears that the nations could be brought back to piety, God persuades the incredulous by the events themselves, and reveals the future through visions. For this reason He now sends Jonah, opening wide the gates of salvation to the nations, wishing to teach the prophets how much more responsive to salvation the nations would be than the Jews, and how much more fervent the Greeks were toward faith than the Israelites. "Go," He says, "to Nineveh, the great city," the image of the world, "and preach in it." What, he says, is more impious than the Ninevites? What is more frenzied in its idolatry? Do you, however, ^B send forth a voice threatening destruction, and behold the change of purpose, swifter than my decree; behold weapons of repentance more powerful than my wrath; behold how they know how to reconcile an angered Lord. But Jonah, it seems, was not a willing minister of philanthropy; but observing that God threatened with words, yet in actual deed desired to save, he preferred to flee rather than to prophesy, out of hatred for the nations, and he proclaimed his enmity toward the nations by his deeds; he hid the medicine which he had received for healing. But he was ignorant that the defender of sinners is wiser than his own craft. For in fleeing, he was fettered by the waves of the sea, when the sea, encompassing the ship that served his flight, sought for its fellow-servant who was hiding, and the sea accused him of his stealthy flight through the surge; and the storm denounced the suffering of the prophet hidden in his mind, and the vessel became to him a theater of his boldness, and a tribunal was assembled upon the ship, and the lot exposed the culprit, and the sailor judged the prophet. "Tell ^C us," they said, "who you are, and whence you come, and what is your work; whence do you come, and whither do you go?" What, then, does Jonah say? "I am a servant of the Lord." He became his own accuser; and, "I revere the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." ^D Defending himself for his flight, he became a herald of the knowledge of God, and he turned the ship into a school of piety. "I revere the Lord, the God of heaven. There is a God, O sailors, the Lord of the mainland, and the worker of the sea, of whose fingers the heaven is the handiwork; I am His servant, and the sea pursues my flight, serving the Lord; it seizes me, its fellow-servant; I am the cause of the storm; the slave that is sought by the sea is here, acting under orders.

Hand me over, and be saved; you possess within yourselves the calm, if you wish; purchase the salvation of one body. I fear the Lord God of heaven. If you had sent these words, O prophet, to the Ninevites, flight would have been completely unnecessary for you; nor would you have needed to flee if you had been persuaded to announce these things to those condemned. Before teaching the Ninevites, you saved the sailors from error; those sailing with you are a portion of the Gentiles—among them, learn the faith of the Ninevites. You have taught true religion to the judges of your flight. ^B And they took Jonah, and cast him into the sea, and the sea stood still from its raging. For there was no longer need for the storm, now that the fugitive had been apprehended; there was no longer need for search, now that the runaway had been caught. And the men feared the Lord with a great fear, and offered sacrifices to the Lord, and made vows. But Jonah, fleeing, traded away the salvation of men. Why, then, O prophet, do you prohibit the healing of the Gentiles' wickedness? You spoke only a little, and you persuaded your seafaring companions; you spoke, and you begot faith; you uttered a voice, and you subdued a soul. And the Lord commanded a great whale to swallow Jonah. In this way did God, having demonstrated the prophet to be a prisoner and having conquered his flight, while enclosing him in the tomb of the whale, use, as it were, these words: "Do you still wish to flee, O prophet? Do you still prefer flight to the salvation of the Gentiles? Do you overlook those perishing? Do you rejoice at seeing them punished? Do you not wish to be a minister of the calling? Then, undergo a three-day burial. Endure the sufferings of the Lord's dispensation; learn how all the Gentiles shall be called; let the whale be a tomb; endure the imitation of my dispensation, through which not only the Ninevites, but the whole world of men will be saved through piety. Wear the symbols of the resurrection; cast off the whale just as a tomb; persuade your own Jews so that tombs might be dissolved. It is no less a miracle to escape the belly alive, and the belly of death. Be a spectator of my dispensation. For my Son shall take a temple from men, and shall put on a garment subject to the same sufferings as men; he will be clothed in flesh derived from men, for the sake of men. This the Jews will condemn to death, and will clothe it with the cross, through which they might fruitfully be delivered from evils—and they will deliver to death that through which the dead will learn to rise to life, through which he will return from Hades to life as a victor; he will be delivered to a tomb, and will receive

monument, just as the sea-monster was for you, O prophet. The belly of the monster sent you back unharmed, and preserved you; the sea-monster was powerless to destroy you, and death will be equally powerless there; He will break the laws of death, which the ancient transgression dictated, and will blot out the laws of death; for his decree will curb the one who speaks against men, and will spread to all the nations the hopes of salvation. Then also the City ^A called Nineveh will be saved, and will exchange the name of Christ for that of idols. O the philanthropy of the Master! Which loves the prophets, and spares the sinners, and instructs the just, and turns back the wicked. For God has concluded all in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all: to Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

ORATION XIV. By the same, on the history of David.

1. ^B Some are established as teachers of various arts for mankind, and they adorn the hands of their students with manifold skills, to flatter the needs of life. The physician explains the medical art, teaching how to combat diseases by means of drugs. Another, contending with bronze or iron, and subduing nature by art, transfers the learning to those who are lovers of the art, teaching by what methods the bronze may become obedient to our ^C wills. If you should look at a farmer, you will see him now disturbing the furrows of the earth with a plow, and measuring the depth of the incision with trenches: and now, as the vine is weighed down by its own burden, he prunes away the shoots, and accurately levels the fountains of the vineyard by the number of the streams, lest by exhausting the riches of nature all at once, he may bring forth drier and poorer fountains. Then, carefully intertwining the ^D tendrils sprouting from the vine, and adorning them, he teaches his own children to mine the treasure of the vine little by little, and not to follow the vainglory of nature, and through a love of greed, to become teachers of poverty to the plant. But men teach men human arts, the use of which circulates throughout the whole life, but the fruit of which is circumscribed by the present time. Divine Scripture, however, having snatched men away from lower human conversations, opens the workshops of the knowledge of divine things, and teaches a discipline of which the profit...

[The lower section of the page in the facsimile contains scholarly notes by C. Dausqueius on the definitions of words like Polis, Astu, and Metropoles, and a note on Romans 11:32 concerning "all" and "unbelief".]

".] ^A The God-inspired Scripture, drawing men away from human pettiness, opens up workshops of piety. It teaches a learning whose gain is immortality: by what cultivation a paradise is piously tilled, how heaven is taken by the net, how one might trade for the treasures in heaven, how one shall inherit Christ, how one shall reign with Christ, how one shall escape Gehenna, how one shall overcome the coming fire, how one, having avoided judgment, might stand as a friend to the Judge. Scripture presides as teacher of such arts; it cries aloud these things and instructs its disciples, not content with precepts alone, but dwelling more upon the deeds themselves. For it incites to imitation by the memory of men who achieved virtue; it brings into the midst, through narratives, the brilliant athletes of piety, enticing them to a likeness of purpose by the likeness of nature. For this reason, not even the first man nature produced as just did it leave in silence, but it clearly proclaimed the affairs of Abel, sketching a character of righteousness for posterity—that he offered to God his intent before the gift, and that he pleased the One who invisibly sees with invisible offerings, before he pleased Him with visible gifts. And what shall you say of Enoch? Who, raised up by the wing of righteousness, stepped over the bounds of nature, being the first to show the decree of death ineffectual. You have again in Scripture Noah celebrated, who was saved as pilot in a universal shipwreck, pushing back the violence of the flood with the rudder of righteousness. And what shall you say of Abraham? Who trampled the laws of nature and stood ready to be the slaughterer of his only-begotten son, revering the Master of nature; having shown the desire for God to be stronger than the tyranny of nature, and ^B the sentiment sharper than a blade. Pass with me in your thought to the prophet David, and see whole meadows of virtues planted in his soul; who, while still a youth, was flourishing with a wealth of good things: imperfect indeed by the time of his youth, yet raised to the summit of the divine cult. His character God admired, even in the midst of the flock, and adorns him with royal sceptres, and crowns with a diadem him who was still following the sheep, having appointed the great Samuel as minister for the sake of confirming the boy. And He exchanges the beggar’s pouch for purple, and the staff for the sceptre, and instead of a flock of unreasoning animals, He commanded him to shepherd the flocks of Israel. Come then, if it seems good, let us devote our instruction today to this, and let us learn virtue both honoured here and crowned in heaven; and let us become disciples of David, following in the footsteps by which he himself fled for refuge to heaven.

2. And the Lord said to Samuel: Fill thy horn with oil, and come: I will send thee to Bethlehem ^C to Jesse; for I have seen in his sons a king for myself. God proclaims the ^D young lad, and to the prophet concerning

^A the prophet He speaks: "I have seen, O prophet, a soul receptive of grace; I have seen, O prophet, a soul well-prepared for the reception of the Spirit; He adorned my creation with noble deeds, He added to the art of creating the beauty of the mind. This one I have seen for myself as king." Not simply, "I have seen," but "for myself as king." The expression contains some hidden mystery: "I have seen in the sons of Jesse a king for myself." For since Christ according to the flesh comes from David—the true kingdom, the heavenly scepters, the saving birth, the unceasing grace—He says: "I have seen in the sons of Jesse a king for myself," virtually saying: "I reckon the kingdom of this child to be mine." O immortal wisdom! O ^B secret working of the miracle! And He hides the child. He did not say clearly, "Let David be anointed king for me," but, "I have seen in the sons of Jesse." For that the anointing might not appear to be of human grace, nor the placing of the kingdom the choice of Samuel, He hides the child under the common name of the sons, and sends the anointer to the people. "There, O prophet, await the anointing of grace; let not the public proclamation of the king now become a diminution of his dignity, nor let the knowledge of the one who is to reign adulterate the glory." O incredible things! David is lodging with sheep, and God in heaven is deliberating about the kingdom; David is shepherding and is anxious, and God is preparing the throne. But Samuel was present, and the chorus of the sons of Jesse stood by, and after the sacrifice ^C he was preparing for the anointing, and the manner of judging the anointing was unknown, and Samuel stood in the midst, doubting whom he should choose, wandering in his view, and not knowing the judgment; casting his eye upon all, he awaited where grace would send the arrow. He marvels at the man, having measured the one being viewed with human eyes. But grace rejected what was seen, knowing the intention. And Samuel, marveling at what he had seen, contended with grace, saying: "Is his anointed before the Lord?" And tilting the horn, he was forcing the rejected one to be anointed. But the oil was reluctant to flow, so as not to ^D cooperate with the wandering prophet, and the flowing nature was held back above, obeying the laws of grace, and leaving dry the head from which grace recoiled. The second was present, and he drew upon himself the same disgrace as the first. The third also, with his brothers, bore a kindred and twin rejection. The order called the fourth, with grace silent; the order of calling followed the order of birth, and grace did not find its own. What need of words? The fertility of the womb was consumed.

and the fruit of grace was not harvested! ^A Samuel was perplexed at what he saw, saying: "What is this appearance? What has happened? The One who commanded is God; the one commanded is the chorus of children. The One who commanded is truthful, but the vote does not follow those commanded; the horn does not keep pace with the vision. The number of children steals from me the one sought. To you then, O father, is my discourse; the boys have run out; but even if you assent, I am not persuaded. For the decision seeks the one who is hidden. He who gave knows, though he who received does not understand what he has received." "There is, he says, the younger one, and behold, he is tending the sheep." Why do you seek for the kingdom one who does not even suffice to tend the flock? Why, having learned the task, do you strive to append the dignity? The one left behind is younger. But the ignorance of the begetter did not prevail against the vote of God. Immediately ^B the lad David is brought forward, small in age, great in spirit. He was mild in aspect, milder in spirit, his mouth sweet-speaking, his spirit candid, behind his body, which was well-colored, carrying more joyously the beauty of the soul. Need there be words? I have the Creator Himself as witness: "Beautiful in aspect," He says. He draws the eyes of the Creator to commendation, just as if God were saying to Samuel: "You, measuring the magnitude of the body with a mortal eye, were amazed; but I examine the beauty which is apparent to Me alone. For where I find the treasure of a soul, there I send the wonder of the gaze." Grace immediately moved the hand to the anointing. The horn was not yet tilted, and the oil was already ^C hastening down, and the anointing confirmed the vote; and David was king, having been promoted to the kingdom by a prophetic hand, receiving the dignity with a heavenly seal. And immediately, the last of the brothers was found to be the first, and the order of nature yielded to grace, and the progeny of the law bowed down; and the beginnings of the kingdom were secret, and the power shone forth from the very nature of things. For the brothers were departing from the primacy.

^A Saul was being extinguished; as therefore the rising sun drives away the night and in the gathering of the night distributes light to the world with its rays, so as David’s principate began to rise, Saul’s kingdom verged toward sunset. The demon, having found Saul’s soul deserted by grace and uninhabited, made it his own dwelling, and gave tokens of his arrival by the outcome of events. Prudence was cast down from the citadel of the mind, the pupils of his eyes were driven sideways, he was confounded by demonic agitations, and was swept in whatever direction the demon willed. But having seized a brief respite from the demon’s siege, Saul became a suppliant to David through his attendants; and legates are sent from him, who held the office in outward form, to him who was truly reigning, and in place of gifts they brought petitions for the time being, proclaiming David’s worthiness with entreaties, narrating that the invisible enemy was a demon, announcing the king’s misfortunes, and confessing that he no longer reigned. “Release,” they cried, “and cease this invisible siege: who does not know that he is a captive? Repress the enemy who lashes out only with his deeds. We ourselves do not see him fighting, but we perceive him by the wound of his darts.” David receives the embassy, and was at once in the armor of the Spirit. ^B For a psalm and a lyre and grace are weapons against demons. He spoke only, and the enemy was bound, and the melody of the lyre was hurled like a dart against the demon. Who has heard of a trophy raised by means of songs? But do not marvel if, along with the kingdom, he also received power against the demon. For David was the father of Christ according to the flesh; and along with the royal dignity, he received the promises of the Lord’s incarnation. For where there is a memory of Christ, there is the destruction of demons. Where the heavenly seal is, there is the ruin of the devil. In him first after Abraham, God implanted the incarnation of Christ, nor did He bring forth this good news without an oath: “I have sworn to David my servant: Even unto eternity I will prepare thy seed, and I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation” (Ps. LXXXVIII, 36, 37). And again, by the addition of promises, He affirms the oath: “His seed shall remain for ever, and his throne as the sun in my sight” (ibid. 58). When Peter, the leader of the apostles, agreeing with these things, cried out: “God swore to David that of the fruit of his loins he should sit upon his seat” (Act. II, 30). For if Christ is this fruit, how can the ^C beginnings of the kingdom not be impregnable? The power did not shine forth from nature itself. ^D You should acknowledge that he rejects lawful marriages, and calls every generation both evil and of the evil one.

root? when the prophets themselves also spread his reputation: "And there shall be a root of Jesse, who shall rise to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope" ^A: to whom be glory, and power for ever and ever. Amen.

ORATION XV.

By the same, on David.

1. Nor is the sailor who touches the sea secure from danger ^A because of the calm, but he who, with the sails of his ship spread, calls upon the Lord of the sea, that He may give wind to the stern, while having crossed the course of the sea he brings the ship into the harbors; nor is he who has the purpose of raising a tower, considering the shameful reproach of the spectators, and lacking the desired object, willing to omit the half-finished work; nor does the painter, or the sculptor—the one with colors, the other with bronze—while he expresses manly deeds, then cease his art with the work suspended, when his right hand follows the traces of nature in its own progression. ^B Come at last, since we have touched upon the good deeds of David, we have seen the sea of grace, we have beheld the harbors in the soul of the just man, we have watched the singular form of the tower, and finally the strenuousness of the new king and prophet against the demons from the beginning. Come now, and let us come to the marrow of the history, let us see the contention of the soul and grace, the virtue of the soul, and the miracles of grace, the soul obedient to grace, ^C and grace crowning the martyr seen in his soul.

2. Already, therefore, Saul had been freed from the demonic vexation, and by the striking of the lyre, David had broken the domination of the impure spirit and had loosened the bound soul.

^A But in place of the war of the demons, there followed the battle of Goliath, and Grace again put its own soldier into the field, so that David might be declared not only the savior of the king, but from that moment the benefactor of all Israel, and so that the sovereignty

might be proclaimed by the salvation of the subjects

than by the laws you name? ^B For he is a warrior, while I am inexperienced in battle; that is why I take heart, because I enter the ranks not by my own hands, but by grace. God is insulted, and who would not arm himself for battle? I have Him who is insulted as my ally; I hold the very blasphemous tongue of the enemy as a pledge of victory. He trusts in body and breastplate, but I am fortified by an immortal defense; he sets forth a shield, but how much more do I, who set forth heaven as my shield? I do not fear the enemy who is being fought by God. I lend my hand to the Master who joins the ranks; I shall be a visible instrument of battle for him who shoots invisible arrows. David is weak, but the One who stands by me in the battle is strong; David is a boy, but the One who fights is eternal. He appears as a shepherd, but He who prepares me for battle is the Maker of all. Faith is sufficient for me for victory.

Saul is eventually persuaded by these words and, losing his fear, he puts armor on David ^C with his own weapons, stripping off the royal war-garment and clothing David in it; at the same time, he himself publicly acknowledges David's royal power. Though imprudent, Saul was obeying the decree of divine grace, and while he adorned with armor one whom grace had already adorned, he was stripping away the ornaments of dignity. But when David was armed in both a royal and a military fashion, God declares that there is no need for weapons when God assists in the war. Therefore, David casts off the weapons as hindrances to victory. He refuses the breastplate, throws aside the helmet, puts down the shield, frees his hand from the spear, shakes off the military robe, and arms himself with his shepherd's cloak, his staff, and his pouch, the very things through which grace promoted him to the kingdom. It is as if grace were saying to him: "There is no need for such weapons for you, which would claim a share of the glory of the battle for themselves. Let the honor of the battle be shared between us, O David, so that the power of weapons may not drag the glory of the victory to itself. Let me see you fighting in the habit of a shepherd; let the trophy be ascribed to grace, not to arms." David, mysteriousley led by this secret tenor of words, rushes into battle in such an attire against the champion of the aliens. Then Goliath, seeing the boy inflamed with the desire for battle, the elegance of his eyes, the bloom of his cheeks, and the appearance so alien to the studies of war, burst into laughter.

^A considering the spectacle a jest in the face of the battle-line; for he had not the eye of faith to behold the invisible ally. And indeed, puffed up by the demons, he struck terror with his words, promising to make the bellies of dogs his tomb. But David countered his words by proclaiming his Ally, ^B showing him the Adversary from heaven, prophesying the victory, and testifying to the Victor; a grateful servant, offering the fruit of the work to the Master before the work itself. "For you come to me," he said, "with sword, and spear, and shield; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel" (I Reg. xvii, 45). "You indeed, O warrior, look at what is cheap and visible, and you measure the hopes of battle by the things you see; but I set God against you as your enemy. You will know the right hand of God battling successfully from the unseen. I am armed not with these hands of mine, but with those of God, and I will take your head from you along with your life; for it is not right that even the things you will endure after death should be unknown to you; I will inflict upon you a punishment more lasting than death. For I believe in the victory, and through this I foretell the manner of the victory." O words full of divine love, possessed of victory even before the victory! The tongue was philosophizing about faith to an unbeliever, while the hand was preparing the sling, serving the struggles of faith. ^C The stone was sent, the helmet was shattered, the head received the blow, and the soul fled from the body; and Goliath lay dead with the swiftness of the suffering, robbed of the sensation of death—the tower of the aliens was thrown down. This is the spoil of faith, the trophy of grace, the token of the aid from above, the refutation of blasphemy, the pillar index of extinguished arrogance. What, then, of David concerning these things? He, who attributed all things to grace, taking no sword into the battle—an unarmed fighter—stripped Goliath of his sword, and divided the master of the sword, finding this use for the weapon that was appropriate. Goliath, therefore, did not know that he was forging arms for David, and becoming the baggage-carrier of his own slayer, under the guise of an enemy, he was coming to David as an assistant. Here, observe for me the gratitude of David, and imitate his manner, that you may attain the grace. For having cut off his head, he offers it as a gift, along with the sword that cut it, to the One who granted the victory; he confesses the Victor, offering up the things he had conquered. O you who have shown that faith needs no arms for battle! O you who have shown in yourself the prowess of faith! O you who have shown that men ought to do battle for God! Such souls grace knows how to choose; for this reason it also called him from the care of the flock to the kingdom. For having recognized the disposition of his mind, it is not in the least ashamed of his craft. God is pleased, having caught sight of the pearl hidden in a despised body.

^B

3. You have seen David acting heroically, and you are amazed? But the subject matter brings along for the Prophet contests of greater magnitude. Witnessing, beloved, the eagerness of your hearing in full bloom, I do not wish to curtail the discourse; seeing you rejoice together with the victory of grace, I am ashamed to restrain the joy. After Goliath, a far more grievous enemy rises up against the Prophet: the king’s envy, an antagonist to the victor, so much heavier than the one who had fallen, insofar as Goliath was a visible enemy and a known adversary, and by displaying his weapons, he challenged to a lawful battle with a loud voice; but this hidden soldier, an enemy lying in ambush, is a "hostile thought hidden in the soul" (65), cruel, malevolent, armored in the mask of friendship, shooting from an unseen place at one who is exposed through ignorance. It is necessary, then, to say what the root of envy is, and from where the passion takes its beginning. For since the disposition of the enemies had fallen together with the one who fell, and a trophy stood, and the enemies turned their backs to the missiles as they fled, carrying the places of their wounds as witnesses of their flight; and since Israel was liberated from the fear of slavery, and all were victorious along with David, the victory stirred even the women to acclamations. These women, having woven the pleasure of the victory into melody, proclaimed the joy with their voices. These voices struck Saul, and their songs were wounds to the king. And that same wound was a hidden weapon being sharpened upon his soul, and it became an instrument for envy. And again, the beginnings of contests, again the practice of dangers for the righteous man, and the preludes to other fears; and he who had conquered was hated as if he had been defeated, and he who had bestowed liberty was looked upon as a traitor to liberty; and he who had rescued his kin from the waves of war was alone tempest-tossed in the waves of envy. But let it not seem paradoxical to you, beloved, if David, being of such great grace and dear to God, was exposed to the darts of envy. For since God could have destroyed envy by destroying the envious man, one must not think that God had no reason for the just man, nor care for David. For thus God also took away Nabal, granting a favor to David, in that He avenged his insults with death. Thus God exacted the penalties for the madness of Absalom against his father, showing him who had raged against nature hanging by his hair contrary to nature, and handing him over to the tree as an executioner, He demonstrated the tree’s tyranny over the tyrant. God permits David, however, to struggle against the movements of Saul, so that the athlete might emerge victorious over envy through divine aid: He permits the temptation, that He may crown his mind. He knew ^D

this again, Job, the leader of the athletes, upon whom the devil cast such snowstorms of calamities that no space of time 67 was left for grief. What, then, is the fruit of the permission of evils? The world became for him a theatre of contests; heaven wove the crown of victory. He could have shown Joseph effortlessly governing all of Egypt, but we would not have known the servant by rank to be a master in affairs; Egypt would not have seen a champion of self-control, and the servant of an intemperate mistress becoming a master through self-control. David is the heir to these, for whose ways he embraced, whose temptations he receives, and in whose contests he is involved. Goliath, then, had been slain by the slaughter, and Saul was wounded by envy; but after the victory, David displays the immense gentleness, kindness, and goodness befitting a prophet. For again Saul was in a frenzy, the king was in a transport of rage, and again David handles the lyre of healing, applying melody to the passion instead of medicine. O, the prophetic goodness! He is not angry at the one envying, he does not store up hatred against the one hating, he does not retaliate while being punished. And why do I say this? He did not even come slowly to the lyre, but as a benefactor healing, he hastened, raising a psalm as an ally against the demon. But kindness did not overcome wickedness. For Saul, having recovered a little from the setting of the demon 68, and casting aside the mist of the passion, recognizing him who was present, sent the sword 69, rewarding the healing with murder, as if having become sober for this very purpose: to serve envy again. Envy is changed again, and the sickness passes into sickness, and he calls the demon again through envy, and he casts a spear at David, showing his anger. But the wall receives the blow, branding the impeachment. For the eye that sees all did not neglect its care, nor did the sword outstrip divine providence. Thus David was snatched away, and the stone received the blow, becoming a monument of the murderous hand through the passion, and bearing the symbols of the murder upon a nature insensible to the boldness

ruling prosecutor. Why do you dare such things, O Saul, why do you ^B call the sword against yourself? If you kill David, how will you drive out the demon? Why do you struggle to destroy the only remedy of salvation you have? But the wisdom of David was not overcome, nor did the fear of threats violate his gentleness. He, indeed, when he missed the mark, revealed his own character; but the other held to the constancy of his mind, nor could he be cast down from the station of virtue. Do you see how wisely grace makes its choice? Do you see how justly it chose before his brothers, when it turned away from those who were conspicuous in body, and upon the humble one, at the sight of him, bore the seal of anointing? In these God rejoices, in these grace is delighted, the heavens receive such as these. Such too will be the profit of this history for us, if we cherish imitation, if we admire this wisdom, if we pursue this kindness. Let us not pursue our enemies with hatred; let us look toward Christ, who says: *Learn, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls.* To Him be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ORATION XVI.

The same, on the same David.

1. When grace finds a readiness of hearing, then it also grants utterance to the tongue, and strength to the speaker. For He who provides food for all flesh, desires also to nourish the soul. But the food of the soul is the feast of God’s words. For the flesh is nourished by bodily feasts, and through corruptible things the corruptible flesh receives its increase; but the food of the soul is the knowledge of truth, the understanding of the Creator, to be filled with the narration of divine things. And teaching men to spend more labor on food of this kind, the Lord cried out: *My food is that I might do the will of Him who sent me.* For this reason, also in the desert for the Israelites, He provided bodily food through the air, the manna; but He set forth the spiritual table through the teaching of Moses. For lest that which is lesser in nature should suffer from poverty, and the soul, the better part, should become brutish, oppressed by hunger, the Creator distributes food in a befitting way, nourishing both: the body indeed with the things it is accustomed to be nourished by, which are akin to it; but the soul with the lawful writings; for what Moses [received] from God

spoke, his soul garnered. Again, the land of promise rendered its fruits to bodies, while grace, irrigating the tongues of the prophets, prepared food for the soul. For this reason, the monuments of literature, encompassing the lives of the saints, transmit knowledge to posterity, to entice them to imitation; and while preparing a treasure for those not yet born, they offer a storehouse of virtue useful for the conduct of life. We, however, have begun the history of David in what went before. Come, let us even now set the table of instruction from his own accomplishments.

^B 2. Since, therefore, David had been preferred before his brothers, and was deemed worthy of the kingdom, and had put on the sacred anointing, being inferior in the order of age, but appearing superior by the law of grace—as grace eagerly strove toward all, demonstrating by its works that it does not choose in vain—it brings the man ^C at last into the struggles, bringing into the light the treasure hidden in the youth. Let us consider, therefore, that grace gives an accounting for the choice of David, inasmuch as, looking upon him alone, it overlooked all other men. For the calm of the sea does not demonstrate the skill of a helmsman, nor does it when the wind, blowing from the stern, sends the ship along like a wing; but when there are the onsets of winds and the uprisings of waves, when there arises a battle between the sea ^D and the ship, then the skill of the helmsman is made clear, then the wisdom that conquers the tyranny of the surge is revealed. In the same way, the art of the physician is admired when, seeing a disease growing stronger, he condemns the suffering with medicines. And fire tests gold, but the afflictions of life smelt the virtue of a man. Let us see, therefore, what dangers surrounding David uncovered the treasure of the youth.

He had formerly conquered the alien, unarmed, when he stood in battle array against Goliath, and it was a victory of grace; but faith had called for that grace. He freed the king from fear; he warded off the yoke of slavery before his fellow tribesmen experienced it; and the end of the victory was envy, danger, and the plotting of murder. And Saul laments the victory as a defeat, and mourns the trophy, and bewails the common joy, and considered the festival established for the sake of the victory a calamity through envy. But while he was in such a state, and contriving murder against David, he himself became suddenly a dwelling-place for a demon, his perversity of character calling the demon to its work. Then grace, driven away by envy, yielding the dwelling-place to the demon. For the soul...

having cast off virtue and put on wickedness, calls to dwell within it him who delights in such passions. ^A Such was Saul, having the enemy as his dweller. But David, seeing him who thus envied him, did not overlook the passion of such enmity, but called upon grace as a weapon against the demon. He, therefore, took up the lyre, driving away the demon with his melody; but he who was being healed sent the spear against his healer; and the physician would have been slain, had not grace snatched away its own servant. O strange and injurious wickedness! The demon was being driven out, and he who had been freed from the demon was arming himself. The demon was defeated, and the man’s character grew bold. But failing in his attempt to kill him with the sword, he turned to another plan, and wishes to give his daughter to the one who was envied, not to honor the man he hated, but to purchase his murder with the marriage of his child; and he sends ambassadors to propose the nuptials, using this marriage chamber as a veil for his treachery. But David does not rush headlong into the gift, rejecting the royal marriage through moderation of character. ^B And since the dowry—the gifts for the women before the marriage of the maiden—stipulated the slaughter of the foreigners, he is persuaded by the words of the alliance, trusting in grace and making the marriage the prize of his valor. For, he says, the king does not desire a dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the foreigners [(78)]. The Scripture, refuting his wickedness, exposes his character: For it says, He was thinking to cast David into the hands of the foreigners. Not that he might see the bridegroom as a victor before the marriage, but that before the bridal chamber the bridegroom might be consumed, and that death might forestall the marriage, making the foreigners the weapon of his envy. The king does not desire a dowry, but asked for a hundred foreskins. A wicked character, a fraudulent thought. For he thought that David, having cut off the heads of his own countrymen, for that is... ^C ...the more insolent, is little pleasing. When work is extracted from work, and business from business, only then can that adventitious matter be spoken of. *At the door of the Beautiful Gate*: The miracle of the healing of the lame man was a secondary thing. Accession of a kind was the prayer: for the apostles were intending to enter the temple there to pray, being entirely incurious of the miracle which they performed by occasion, and that was the secondary thing. Similarly Athanasius in *S. Parasceuen*: O you who by the torture of the cross have obtained heaven, taking one thing from another, and gain from loss. Better and sufficiently convenient is that discretion. But because the character of Saul, although most distorted, did not call the demon to his aid against David, but deserved that God should send a demon to Saul as an assessor, and this seems to be the genuine understanding of this place: therefore I have written that the demon did not merely vex Saul from the outside, but took a seat in his innermost heart. Saul’s own spirit animated him, but the evil spirit merely sat beside him; whence the usage has prevailed among the Latins that such are called possessed and obsessed by a demon.

[(78)] The common copies agree. It is slightly different in the Septuagint: The king does not desire a dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the foreigners. That other thing is far different, nor does it admit of an easy interpretation. What if we divide it in this way, which perhaps some unskilful hand has joined: Does he not ask for any gift, however small? These things are, 1 Reg. xviii, requested by Saul, the foreskins for a surer proof of the slaughter of the Philistines, which Saul did not desire so much as to have David fall in the midst of the combat. If he had brought back the heads of the slain, as the most frequent slayers of men do in almost every history, he could have come into suspicion with the enemy regarding the slaughter of the Israelites, or even of his own household, as Basil says, which is to be understood conveniently as the members of David’s own household unknown to Saul: otherwise the fraud mixed with the wickedness would not have been hidden in the least. Saul was therefore more cruel against David than against the Philistines. The most humane poet notes a similar inhumanity in Echetus, *Odyssey*, book xviii: ...a plague to all mortals, / Who would cut off the noses and ears with pitiless bronze, / And having plucked out the private parts, give them to the dogs to devour alive.

^A ...the mode [of action ], a wicked intention. For he supposed that while he might be able to steal away the danger [by means of ] trickery, since nature created no distinction of form between enemies and friends—for only circumcision was able to separate Israel from the foreigners, and that mark was a sign of the difference of the law—he therefore gives his daughter to David, making the child a collaborator in murder. O the wretchedness of such thoughts! He condemns his daughter to widowhood, so that he might gratify the passion of envy, and, overcome by envy, he raves against nature. Relationships did not dissolve the hostility, nor did the bond of nature defeat the envy. He commands his daughter to keep guard over her husband for death. ^B O sightless wickedness! He commands widowhood for the maiden and arms the wife against the man she married; and custom refuses, and nature does not accept it. He was ignorant that he had given a helper, not a plotter, and a guardian of life, not a companion of death. She, however, condemning the fury of the begetter, sends her husband away, snatching him from the slaughter by flight, and by a husband-loving mind she conquers the envy of her begetter. Saul, then, awake with fury, sent out his servants for the murder; but the child pretends the husband is ill, hoping by pity to steal away the father’s wrath and contriving a season of flight for the fugitive. But O the husband-love and wisdom of the woman! She even persuaded the bed to play a part in the simulation of illness. For an image of a man, fashioned by its shape upon the bed, deceived those who saw it by the fiction of the form; and with the liver of a freshly slaughtered goat hidden under the clothes, the matter appeared more credible. For the liver was still quivering, and by emitting its final palpitations, it mimicked the breaths of a man, stealing away the perception of those looking on. The woman knew how to perform such dramas from her love for her husband. An ensnarer was given, and a helper was revealed; a pirate was sent, and a navigator was found. But not even the maiden's drama softened the ferocity of the father; but, supposing that the falsehood of the illness was truly real, he ordered him to be carried in the litter. For why, having spared, am I not preparing the murder? I hold the hated one in chains, the prey is in my hands, he can be slaughtered. To this point now has my discourse arrived, not so much of accusing Saul, who was bloodied by slaughter, as of revealing the fortitude of David. For the complication of that wickedness...

was an accurate demonstration of David’s virtue. For he who had often saved [others] was being pursued by the one who had been saved, receiving death as a reward for life, being besieged in the wilderness and in wanderings unto his execution. ^B 3. Let us identify with his suffering, and let us contemplate the depth of his despondency, so that we may understand the magnitude of David’s philosophy. For he who has committed an injustice and is then pursued, finds solace for his suffering in the boldness of what he has done, and carrying about his conscience as an accuser of himself, he inwardly supports his pursuer, and judging his own deed, he does not complain of the punishment. But he who has saved another many times, and is hunted unto death by the one who was saved, carries an unbearable sting of despondency, being struck by the memory of his beneficence, in that he armed his enemy against himself. By such circumstances was David besieged; and the danger did not stop even at flight. For Saul was not satisfied by David’s flight, nor did his running lessen his jealousy, but hearing that the one envied was still alive inflamed him all the more. And so, having gathered the armies of the kingdom, he seeks out the one hiding nearby, and he tracked the glens 84, and searched the ravines with a net, and investigated the mountain peaks, becoming an unjust hunter of the righteous man. The Psalms proclaim his sufferings, the odes announce his calamities: «I have trusted in the Lord; how will you say to my soul, "Flee to the mountains like a bird?"» Do you see the soul wandering in thoughts, and fleeing for refuge to the unerring help, the Lord 85? Who, having come to such straits, and being mastered by anger and despondency, would not have said: ^C «Does Saul repay me with these things 86? Whom I snatched from a demon? Whom I delivered from the fear of Goliath? For whom I guarded the kingdom? Whom I released from servitude? For why did I strike the lyre of grace? And why did I strike the demon troubling him with melodies? If he had been crushed and consumed by the demon, he would not now be pursuing me to my destruction; then death would have forestalled his envy 87. He cast his spear at me while I was psalm-singing, but I did not cease the medicine of the song; he was angered at the one healing him, but I, with a contentious philanthropy, was saving the inhuman man.» David said none of these things, nor did he even conceive of them; but looking toward heaven, he called down the ally from there 88. Having come to this point, see for me the secret dispensation of these things; see for me also the divine philanthropy, and the...

^A prophet’s philosophy. Evening had fallen, and since the danger had not yet reached its end—the sun having reached its own setting, but envy not yet having found its sunset—David enters a neighboring cave. Saul also enters, possessed by ignorance and driven by the pressure of the hour; having entered, he is bound by sleep, along with his guards. The fugitives with David, thinking their pursuer an easy catch, incite David: "Behold this day, of which the Lord said to you: Behold, I give your enemy into your hands." What? Would anyone, having found such an enemy become prey through sleep, not have ended his own danger with a single blow? But David was not like this. But what does he say? "May the Lord be propitious to me, that I should not do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to lay my hand upon him, for he is the Lord’s anointed." His friends provoked him; his passions armed them; the fear of the future sharpened his hand; but David’s judgment could not be overcome. O noble soul, and one that knew how to serve grace alone! And he persuaded his men with these words. Who has known a guardian ^B of the one who is waging war against the one being warred upon? Who shows philanthropy as a benefactor toward one who is acting unjustly? "God has delivered him," he says, "into your hands." Nor did the memory of God incite the prophet to murder. Human slaughter is not a gift from God, nor does the divine gaze delight in such things. Even if He Himself delivered the enemy, yet I know that my Master delights in philanthropy. I shall repay the benefit with goodness. Instead of a human sacrifice, let us offer Him the sacrifice of gentleness. He delivered the enemy, but I shall not insult the gift with murder; I shall not pollute grace with blood. Let him seek me again, and let him pursue; patience is more advantageous than slaughter. Even if he pursues again, we have learned to fly. If he pursues me, he cannot pursue God. And he persuaded, it says, the men with these words. How many right hands rushing toward slaughter did one philanthropic judgment restrain! Cain cried out to God: "Am I my brother's keeper?" But David was the guardian of Saul, even when he was being wronged; he spared him both when he was sleeping and when he was warring; he cared for him when he was envying, and saved him when he was hating, practicing the policies of grace, ^C pursuing the things of grace in the times of the Law. "It was said to you: You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you: Love your enemies." And there was a struggle of philanthropy and wickedness, of justice ^D and injustice, of ferocity and gentleness; the whole point was for him to preserve the one who was attacking.

and injustice, of ferocity and of gentleness: the one that he might save the one being attacked, the other that he might destroy the one who had rescued him. Such teachers of gentleness and philanthropy has the Lord appointed for us; such a teacher of goodness has the divinely inspired Scripture written for us, so that we might be philanthropic even toward our enemies, and kindly toward those who hate us. For "Be," he says, "merciful, just as your Father who is in heaven, who causes his sun (91) to rise on the just and the unjust, and rains on the good and the bad." To Him be glory and power, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ORATION XVII. By the same, on David.

1. Since in the days that are past, the remembrance of the achievements of David has made us leap for joy, and rejoice along with the righteous man in the abundance of his good things, and admire the imitation of his ways, and become lovers of his gentleness; it is right that we should repay the struggles of the righteous man with acclamations of our own. We know how Scripture presents to us such a brilliant champion—who had already many times crushed the throat of the devil—as wounded, and as showing ^A his wound, and as proclaiming what he suffered. But on hearing that he was wounded, do not be cast down in your mind; on hearing that he was struck, do not be confused in your understanding. He is a champion who, being wounded, strikes back with the very weapon by which he was struck. For even having become wounded, he did not cease from conquering; he, who even when fallen in the midst of the battle array (92), showed his rising from the fall to be swifter than the fall itself. Great indeed, then, is ^B a champion who is always victorious and remains unscathed in the midst of enemies; but it is more admirable not to betray the battle when wounded, and not to show the one who struck him rejoicing. For from this he becomes a teacher to those who see him, that one ought not to betray victory even when struck, nor, being wounded, to limp in one’s duty, nor, having fallen, to lie there and await a second blow, nor to provide an occasion for the striker to boast. For this reason, the divinely inspired ^C Scripture, the instructress of the virtues, does not only recount the achievements of the righteous, but often exposes their lapses as well; so that mortals, looking not only at the height of their achievements, might not grow sluggish in their imitation, but rather, by the memory of their faults, recognizing their nature, and blushing at their nobility, might be stirred up toward a zeal for the virtues. And we have seen this proclaimed from various places. You heard the evangelist Matthew; you are afraid of his faith, his insight, his piety, ^D

and you avoid imitating him—but hear how, from the life of a tax collector, he advanced to the evangelical life, having pursued by his way of life those things which are by nature stable. ^A You heard Paul, winged by the feather of justice, soaring to the third heaven; yet he was a persecutor beforehand, and he was transformed into a herald. Peter, the chief of the apostles, the leader of Christ’s disciples, the accurate interpreter of the revelations from the Father, the walker upon the waves of the sea—yet in a moment of distress, his tongue became an instrument of denial; and the very things his mind did not conceive, his tongue uttered of its own accord, serving fear [(93)]. Again, the robber proclaimed Christ even as he was being crucified, and the condemned man was an evangelist, not calculating the pain of the nails due to his longing for the Master. But neither did Matthew remain a tax collector, nor did Paul persist in persecuting until the end; and Peter extinguished his denial with repentance, and washed away his sin with the waves of his tears. The robber changed his way of life; for he continued until the end doing violence to heaven. Thus, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. ^B For this reason, as I said before, Scripture weaves faults together with good deeds, so that those whom miracles deter from imitation, errors may persuade.

2. Thus, even now, Scripture reveals David to us; though he was delighted by countless good deeds, and though he had struck often—just as he tore apart the devil—he was himself finally struck, having received a blow in the scheme of the battle. For when the adversary saw David winning glory and a name in all things, being preferred before his brothers, serving the prophet for the unexpected anointing, being moved by grace, striking the demon with a psalm, and being an insatiable benefactor to his enemies, he could not bear it with indifference, seeing a plant of virtue striking roots in the Law. ^C But first he stirs up against him the man who had been benefited, with envy, and then he kindles the envy toward murder, and creates Saul as a disciple of Cain, desiring to trip up the course of virtue. But all these passions of envy provided material for David’s gentleness. After this, he makes him a fugitive and drives him into the wilderness, setting Saul as a persecutor, so that the righteous man, having grown numb, might cast off... ^D [Note: [index: entries preserved]]

the shield of virtues. ^A Yet the harsh trials of life were, in fact, exercises in the love of God. For having found his pursuer in a cave, he spares him, and having captured the envious man, he treats him with philanthropy. He spared Saul, but, as it seems, through this sparing of him, he struck the devil; and having kept his right hand pure from an enemy’s blood, he wounded the common enemy of all men, mastering his anger, trampling upon hatred, blunting the edge of the sword, saving his persecutor from hatred, and responding to envy with gentleness—the only goads by which the devil is stung. Did the persecutor, then, desist at these things? Not at all; but chasing him again, he was again caught. For it was the middle of the night, and again Saul was hunted by the bonds of sleep, and the pursuer became the spoil of the one being pursued. ^B Here, what rock would the onset of anger not have shaken? What tower of folly would its violence not have swayed? What calm of philanthropy would it not have ruffled with its waves? Yet he widened the intervals of virtue even further in time. He mourned Saul deeply when he was taken away, honored him with a tomb, adorned the grave with lamentations, and though he succeeded to the scepter, he did not inherit the character; for walking in the path of philanthropy, he extended his acts of kindness even to the relatives of his adversary, and sent his own philanthropy as a companion to the kin who came to him.

3. Seeing these things, the common enemy of mankind, struck by each of his successes, persisted, yet he did not withdraw. ^C But, showcasing a sleepless wickedness in an immortal nature, he observed the actions of the righteous man by day and by night, the reins of his life, the cares of his kingdom, and the uprisings of his enemies; watching to see if he might utter a bitter word, or one sweet to himself; how he might wound him with anger, how he might shoot him with the arrow of desire, how he might find him neglecting the love of God. And he did not cease lying in ambush for the life of the righteous man until he saw him turn his eyes aside for a brief moment, and quickly shot him with a woman’s beauty. For David, once having feasted royally and having had his mind softened by a bright table, was enjoying his midday strolls. Then, indeed, when the adversary saw the string of his reasoning slacked, and the mind—the charioteer of the passions—not holding the reins tightly, or that he had been stripped of his armor in some small part by his eyes, he seized and struck the hero, using the very eyes of the righteous man as a weapon, and having snatched him from the path of virtue, he cast him into the precipice of adultery. ^D And seeing the one who had acted feeling shame for the deed, and wishing to hide the ulcer of his disgrace, he takes this shame and makes it a fellow-merchant of another transgression. For he heaped evil upon evil; so that, wishing to hide adultery with murder, he is caught as the perpetrator of both. Thus he who had so often performed feats of excellence lay stricken; and he who struck boasted, considering the fall of the righteous man a relief from his own labors. But the malice against the king did not escape the all-seeing eye of God. For the One who sees the intention before the act, and the purpose before the deeds, pities indeed the

one who was deceived by the secret machinations of the devil; He secretly aids the oppressed, and does not permit the victory to remain with the assailant. He Himself takes the position of the fallen one, and exhorts him to recover from that offense by a struggle. He gives his hand and raises the one who has slipped; He examines where he has struck; out of ^A humanity, He treats the sore from every side and remits the punishment. It is worth seeing the manner of the healing, and learning the height of God’s love for man. For from this, a public hospital is opened for sinners; and the medicine of repentance, prepared in the name of David, is bestowed upon all who are in need. ^B God sends Nathan the prophet to become the physician of the prophet; having commanded him to uncover the wound and to show to the eyes of the one who has suffered what he has suffered—a man humble in appearance to the one seated upon the throne, one nurtured in poverty to the one adorned with scepters—saying, as it were: “Do not fear, O man, the rank; I know my servant, I know my warrior, who did not turn his back to the enemy, but was wounded while fighting. His trial did not change his mind, nor did the deed alter his purpose; deceived, not forced, he has been brought down; a warrior, not a deserter, he has been struck. Go; for he is a chosen vessel for me. But if you fear the kingship, I will forge your tongue, I will sharpen the lancet of healing for your words.” ^C Nathan comes to David, and weaves a fable wisely, and hides the reproach of his words, and conceals the iron within the narrative. Under his tongue he carries the medicine, and deceives the senses, so that he may rouse him to perception. “Declare to me,” he says, “this judgment, O king.” By his word he paints a tribunal, and sets David himself as judge against David. “There were two men in one city, one rich, and the other poor. And the rich man had flocks and herds very many; but the poor man had ^D nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and possessed, and had reared, and it had grown up with him, and with his children; it ate of his bread, and drank of his cup, and slept in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter.” He feeds the desire to hear with his speech, in order to increase the injustice; he widens the poor man’s affection, so that he may stir up David to anger. But when his [index: entries preserved]

^A wrath was kindled, a traveler [(99)] came to the rich man. The term “traveler,” “guest,” “stranger” is well used. For David has now fallen into a passion, like a stranger, and has been brought down by an unconsidered transgression. He came, the traveler; for he is smitten by a sudden dart. And he refrained from taking from his own flocks and from his own herds to make a banquet for that guest [(1)] who had come to him; and he took the ewe of the poor man, and he sacrificed it for the man who had come. David heard the story against David. And David was enraged greatly, and said: “The Lord lives, that the man who has done this is worthy of death. And he shall restore the ewe fourfold.” He suffered as though over the affairs of others; he pronounces judgment royally upon his own crimes, and David brings the verdict against David: he is worthy of death. The tongue sharpened the sword against itself. What then does Nathan do? He reveals the secret; he shows him the mirror of his speech; he strips the accused, he makes clear the fault, he points it out [(2)]: “You are the man, O king, who has done this.” He is saying almost: “You have pronounced judgment royally, O king; anger is the advocate of justice; but I did not wish the verdict to be brought against you. Recognize your own act; see who it is that lies beneath your sentence. I wished you to be a judge, not a defendant; to pronounce [judgment], not to be held accountable. You heard the account; the story stirred you to anger; but you are the worker of the words, you have fueled the materials with such great rage, you are the slaughterer of the strange ewe, O king; you took away the poor man's only consolation; you took away at once the possession and the possessor. ^B Look at your letter written in blood [(3)]; look at the sword reddened by the deeds. Behold here the philosophy of David for me; for he did not grow angry like a king who has been reproved, nor did he grow harsh by looking at his own dignity, nor does he hate the one who stripped bare his lawlessness, nor did the king, accused by a private man, rise up in anger. But having recognized his sin, he casts down his boldness, forgetting his status. He hides, and yet he does not hide. He bows toward the earth, and his mind contracts, and he laments the wound, and with tears he cries out [(4)], proclaiming his sin: “I have sinned against the Lord.” I do not need outside reproofs; I become my own accuser; I am the witness of the transgression; I do not deny the deed which my conscience ^C makes public; I do not amplify the sin by denial. What profit, therefore, from the confession? “The Lord has taken away your sin.” ^D The Lord, who is mistress over the law...

(from the previous page) …the law had drawn its sword, for it knew the penalty of adultery, and repays murder with murder; but the Lord has taken away your iniquity. Grace overcame the debt, and kindness put an end to the punishment; the judge has been transformed into a physician, and instead of iron, he is content with the medicine of repentance. O great and sudden goodness! ^B Absolution follows immediately upon the confession of sin; it shows how great is the power of repentance. Thus, learned in this, David, even after receiving grace through his confession, did not cease, but held fast to the course of repentance he had begun. He did not cast away the medicine even after his cure, but weeping, stretching himself toward heaven, he cried out throughout his whole life: "I will wash my bed every night" (Ps. vi, 7). By the very means through which he stumbled, by those same means he made his defense; for sin is cured by tears, sin is purged by lamentations, and the filth of the soul is wiped away by the streams of the eyes. And, calling upon the creation beneath the sky, and daily gathering the theater of the inhabited world, he makes his fault public, and puts the words of confession into the mouths of all, and makes everyone partakers in his defense, so that he may make them partakers in his repentance. For the tears of the prophet are the law of repentance. He showed how the wounds of the soul are healed; he showed what is the antidote for sin; he showed that tears are directed against the devil; he shot back through his eyes, and with his tears he wounded the devil; he fought back in his defeat with tears, he provides himself with victory through lamentations, and he draws grace to himself through groans; he heals one grief with another. Did you see the champion struck, and not even after the blow ceasing from his championship? Did you see him immediately fall, and quickly rise again? Did you see how, having fallen, he raised up many with himself? How he gave a hand to those who had fallen? How he taught that he who has fallen is able to rise? We have known the power of repentance; we have known the use of the medicine. Let us not fail to use this gift as we stumble and are healed in turn. Let us not, through sloth, offer an insult to grace. Nor let us hide the incurable abscesses of our sins; nor let us wait to be healed by fire. Let us also cry out: "I have sinned against the Lord," so that we, too, may obtain from the humane King the same sentence which says: The Lord has taken away your iniquity. To Him be glory and power for ages of ages. Amen.

ORATION XVIII

By the same, on Herodias

1. The dancing of Herodias, the [account of the] Gospels…

publicly proclaims the atheistic madness of those women, Herod held captive under the yoke of lust, the Baptist beheaded for the sake of temperance, and not even in death enduring silence. For such are the achievements of the just, shining more brightly after death and becoming more active after they have passed away. This tragedy the devil devised, Herod carried it out, Herodias danced, the Baptist struggled, the evangelist narrated. For the devil, having recently seen John washing away the sins of men in the streams of the Jordan ^A and freeing those liable to the Mosaic sword, and seeing the threat of the Law being blunted in the water and changing [his state] for the better by the decree of repentance, was again seized by ancient envy, and filled with fear lest his chief engine against men be dissolved. And seeing, in addition to this, the rays of adoption planted in the water by Christ, and John standing in the waters as a tiller of philanthropy, he was urged to take vengeance on their minister ^B and set out to demand the price for such a philanthropic service. And first, indeed, he clashes with Christ who had been baptized, and as if he had hurled [a shaft] against a fellow servant, he is struck by the Master. But having despaired of victory there, he turns his weapons against John, and using as arms the passions of Herod, he plots the death of the Baptist. O the beauty of the madness contrived by the devil! He appoints the king himself as the executioner against John. He saw Herod as a master of men, yet existing as a slave to his passions; he saw a king as a thrall to intemperance, and in the schema of dominion a tyrant, yet one tyrannized by the sickness of his soul. And behold the gaze ^C of the devil’s art, which draws [one] toward impiety from lighter errors. First he showed him to be a burglar of his brother’s marriage bed, so that from the pits of adultery he might leap to the murder of the Baptist. And as for the evil, [it was] nurtured by time and grew into whatever license it wished. Therefore, while [the brother] was living, he appropriates his wife, using the power of the kingdom as an aid to intemperance, and with customary daring conglutinating a nefarious purpose of the soul. But the appellation of "brother," proceeding through the midst of the injuries, was augmenting the crime of adultery with a new crime, and injury was being heaped upon injury by the addition of injury. For kinship increases the injury. For from whom the benevolence owed by nature was expected, in his case the crimes that are to be accused are greater. But the oration, hurrying toward the woman, pauses, [thinking of] whom it might strike most of all. So ^D

^A for he who looks upon the scales in exact balance sees them at rest, and perceives the equality of the items being weighed by their very position, and he confirms them by the appearance; in this same fashion the oration, weighing the lawlessness on either side, cedes the victory to those who have conquered through iniquity. He, for his part, was not ashamed to defile his brother's bed with injury; and she, raging against her husband, turned away to an adulterous couch, and leaping down from the lawful bridal chamber, embraced a detestable one. Where now are the compacts of friendship with your husband? Where are the bonds of your soul? Where is the supreme power of your indissoluble vows? Where is the preservation of most praiseworthy love? Together with your husband, O woman, you have stripped off the modesty of nature! You have surpassed the ferocity of wild beasts: they, indeed, revere the laws implanted by nature, they love their mate, and even after death they do not break off their love for the male, who is frequently a witness to their harmony. We have never heard of a lioness acting in rivalry to your lust ^B; does the nature of reptiles know how to violate the law of marriage? The race of dragons is free from the insanity of love. There is some fame that marvels at the turtledove for its imitation of human beings, which, even after the death of its mate, cannot be forced to betray its bed, and as long as it lives, it indicates by its lament that the memory of the dead [one] lives. Be ashamed of such lost love, which the birds convict; shudder at a thing that is above the cruelty of reptiles. The procurer of these nuptials was the devil, who stirred up an occasion for such a tempest, while he prepares death for the Forerunner.

2. Such is the spectacle that the devil has now brought into the palace, having provided Herod as the material for the drama. ^C Seeing these things, the Baptist, the summit of the prophets, the end of the law, the mediator of the Old and simultaneously of the New Testament—for the law and the prophets were until John the Baptist 98—the citizen of the desert, the laborer of temperance, seeing the queen as the minister of lust, acting against the dignity and the na- ^D [index: entries preserved]

of justice, and turning nature into a theater of iniquity; seeing these things, he again echoed the voices he had once uttered in the wilderness: *The voice of one crying in the wilderness* (20). He sent forth the voice as the incision of passion; he sent forth a voice as a cautery for the diseased soul: *It is not lawful for you to have her* (21). The Lawgiver [was speaking] to the king who transgressed the law. O the boldness that does not fear a queen acting wickedly! He wielded his tongue just as he had formerly leaped in the womb; then he pushed nature toward the birth-pangs, and accused the slowness of the birth before the birth occurred; and now he accuses nature being defiled, and sends forth a voice flashing with temperance. But the passion was stronger than the medicine of the voice, and ^B just as those who are seized by madness, when in their insanity they perceive no sense of the cure, threaten the physician with a sword, avenging themselves upon the physician as if he were an enemy; so Herod, although possessed by a murderous rage, yet fearing the opinion which was held regarding John, deferred the punishment, exercising a humanity that was contrary to his inclination for the time being, and not so much sparing the man as reserving him for death.

At length, the time of Herod’s birthday arrived, and his table was splendid, as is likely for a profligate king, and a banquet characteristic of royal luxury, at which intoxication ran riot and the fellowship of demons celebrated the time of the birth. Although it was fitting rather to yield to sadness and to spend the day in mourning, since the product of such a rare adultery had been brought forth, they nevertheless celebrated the memory of the birth universally and publicly. Herodias, meanwhile, having prepared the dance, leaped into the theater of the banquet. And Herodias, the daughter, exhibiting the arts of her mother in her demeanor—an exact image of maternal lust with impudent gaze, with a broken body, with a soul dissolving, casting her hands to the heavens, lifting her feet on high, in a half-naked state, publicly proclaiming her own indecency—indeed attracted the eyes of all by her dancing. And Herod was captivated by the wonder of the dance, and offered himself as the reward for the spectacle, permitting the girl to choose the gifts, and confirming the gifts with an oath; and half of the kingdom was proposed as the honorarium for the dance. ^C Finally, the girl calls her mother into the council. Having obtained the role of judge, she lends her vote to the devil, and grants to him the favor of the murderous plot against John, having cried out to the girl in such terms: "What are you deliberating? What is there to do, my child? Even when the prerogative is in your hands, do you not know what you are seeking? Does the consideration of the petition bring delay to you? For what, [compared to] the head of John... ^D

is more desirable to us, or what other thing [compared to] his slaughter is more delicious for our feast? Let the platter bring the head: let us feast with our eyes, since we cannot with our teeth. He deprives ^A us of our royal bed: let him himself be deprived of his own head. He draws me away from my desires; he combats my pleasure: let him receive the sword, sharpened by my anger. He sent forth his tongue as a spear: let the instrument of his words be cut off together with his head. This is the moment I have long desired, and even before the power was mine, I had dreamed of this desire. Pay me back, child, the rewards for your instruction; pay me back the prizes for the labors undertaken for your sake. Let the death of my enemy be the fruit of your dancing; I do not reject his voice, I am contriving his silence. Let it be brought quickly while the banquet is in full swing, while the feasting is at its height; let the Baptist's head be for me part of the feast: I will slake my thirst with his blood. Let me see the slaughtered man brought as food, let his blood become my drink. O impious mother, and far more impious teacher! The girl, armed with such instigations from her mother, ran to Herod, the praiser of her dance, to demand as the prize for her dancing a murderous reward. What then of Herod? ^B He feigns grief, and while delighting deep within at the banquet, he wears a gloomy face to those without; he dances back against the girl with the appearance of grief and a downcast countenance, rejoicing indeed that he is taking vengeance in person upon his enemy, yet perhaps sad at the delay of the slaughter. He puts forward his oath, a patron of the murder, and deceives those present, calling them witnesses to his perjury-stained murder—he who did not refuse to harbor the hatred of adultery. Oh, the monstrous tragedy! He pretends religious respect for an oath. For that he went to the murder quite willingly and most eagerly, not unwillingly or with any distress, he clearly revealed by what he said. For come now, when he had promised half his kingdom, and the head of John was demanded in return for his gifts, what injury would he have suffered if he had spoken as follows: "I, maiden, admiring the art of your dancing, promised half my kingdom as a reward for the pleasure I received; ^C but you are seeking the head of the Baptist, which is far more precious than all my kingdom, and shines more brightly than my scepters, and is far more excellent in dignity than my own? Either show me another Baptist, and another John remaining in my kingdom, or, as it seems, you desire to plunder all my kingdom from me. For just as when you took the final portion of my possessions or wealth, you left me an equal share, so now, in asking for the Baptist, show me another such, one remaining. But as long as you do not see another equal to him in virtue, you are, unknowingly, O woman, confiscating my entire kingdom by the name of John." But he made use of a welcome silence and rejoiced at heart; yet externally he grieved, and under the mask of inhumanity he played the part of humanity. Gladly he accedes to the requests; he confirms with the sword the death he had ^D meditated, and he who held him in chains, whose tongue he himself hated, he delivered to death. The speech turned into action, and the girl promised the slaughter.

was looking on. While the feast was still spread, some attendant ^A arrived, bringing in a platter the head raised aloft, and he carried the head severed from the rest of the body through the midst of the delicacies: a spectacle indeed to others terrifying, but to Herod alone, due to his intemperance, appearing delightful. The girl holds out her hands, receives the reward appropriate to her licentiousness, and setting out from her impudence, brings the gifts to her mother. "Behold for you, mother," she says, "the earnings of the dancing instruction: accept the gift conferred for the sake of the dance, the way to licentiousness is now open to you." But in truth, the head was indeed severed; yet the voice of John is not silent, it will speak eternally after death. You have armed, O woman, an accuser against yourself; for you did not sever the voice along with the head; the accuser remains for you even after the slaughter; the earth is full of your crimes, the seas themselves marvel at your audacity, the heaven above cries out along with John. You took away one tongue, but in place of the tongue of John the whole world exists; the creation is filled with a voice for your accusation. And I do not yet speak of that immortal tribunal; the tribunal which by no means can be deceived, the terror of eternal punishment, the outer darkness, when Christ himself, who was bathed by John, will avenge the one who baptized him, when the deeds of each shall stand naked; angels shall stand by, swiftly executing the sentences pronounced against each one. May these things become a tempering for the hearers. This is the intent of the evangelical history. Let the words of the Gospels become a ^B healing medicine for salvation. May the accusation of Herodias be the salvation of those who hear, so that standing with confidence at the tribunal of Christ, we may enjoy eternal goods with Christ, to whom be glory and power unto the ages. Amen.

ORATION XIX. By the same, on the centurion.

1. The trumpet of the Gospels, having just now sounded forth a spiritual tune, has sharpened my tongue also to speak. I saw just now in evangelical mouths the Lord performing miracles, and, strengthened by the miracles, I loosen the trembling of my tongue. I saw the centurion rolling himself at the footsteps of the Lord; I saw the nations sending their own firstfruits to the Savior. The cross was not yet fixed, and the nations were hastening to the Lord; that command had not yet been heard, "Go, teach all nations," and the nations were flying together to the Lord; they were outrunning the calling in their course, ^{C D}

^A travailing with the desire for the Lord. The preaching does not yet shine forth, and yet they are running to the one who is being preached. Peter is still being carried in the womb to be instructed, and the nations are running together to the Lord. Paul had not yet campaigned by means of the lightning, and yet the nations were eager to worship the King. Behold, he says, the centurion beseeching Him and saying: "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering terribly." O, the miracle, now beyond expectation! The servant, lying there with his limbs dissolved, becomes a guide for his master to the Lord. The sickness of the servant became the cause of healing for his master. Seeking healing for a slave, he discovered the Master; and while hunting for a cure for the servant, he himself becomes the prey of the Master. The slave lies sick unto death, and the master receives healing before the slave. The slave is sick in body, and the master is sanctified in soul; interceding for his servant, he consumes the medicine for himself first. He did not despise the servant whose body was wasting away with the disease; he did not overlook the servant's suffering, being possessed by masterly pride; nor did he forget the immobile boy while reveling in the multitude of his guards, but instead, he went about seeking a remedy for the danger. He did not cease seeking until he himself chanced upon the very fountain of healing, ^B and philanthropy became the path to piety. And having found the physician, he narrates the calamity, and describes the suffering in tragic terms, calling upon the Philanthropist for mercy: "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering terribly." Even if the one suffering is a slave, he is a man, he says, the one gripped by the affliction. Do not look to the worthlessness of the slavery, but rather consider the greatness of the disease. He is laid low, paralyzed; he is laid low, a prisoner of disease; bound by the dissolution of his body, he is suffering terribly; as if a corpse, he is falling apart, and as if a corpse, he is in abasement, and he carries the calamities of death about in a living body. With such pitiable laments the centurion was drawing the Master. What, therefore, does the boundless Goodness reply to him? "I," He says, "having come, will heal him." I, who for the sake of philanthropy clothed Myself in man, I who came for all, will not despise even one; I will heal him. He anticipates the supplications with benefits. What then, tell me, O Lord? Did the daughter of the Canaanite woman not obtain the same readiness, even though she was entreating through her mother? But she, while begging, had to be ranked with the dogs, and while seeking a harbor, she experienced waves, and added to the wound of her soul, she was rebuked by Your voice: "It is not good to take the bread of the children and throw it to the little dogs." ^C But this one, near before the supplication to be finished, brings back the healing; the master, asking for his servant, was a successful petitioner, while the mother, begging for her daughter, took a rebuff. But, O fountain of wisdom, and O Spirit of understanding! ^D

O magnitude of humanity appearing in both—yet differently! ^B For He intends the faith of the Gentiles to be made manifest to the eyes of the Jews, and to set the ungrateful Jews as witnesses of Gentile gratitude. For this reason, He delays the Canaanite woman who is begging, so that the one, through that very delay, might stir herself to exclaim: *Lord, even the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the table*; and that the other, through his readiness, might speak: *Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof*. He uses now speed and now slowness as the situation requires; and the Governor of the universe imitates a helmsman, who, sitting in the higher part of the ship, at once pulls the sail with the navigator, and again moves the tiller according to the impulse of the waves, directing the same course of the ship to either side by guiding the rudder now this way and now that. Thus, the Master of all, wishing to lay bare the faith hidden in souls, now holds back the gift, and now runs to the aid of the suffering. And now He pretends to hold back the flow of blood, and again He wishes to forestall the disease with medicine, so that by variously shaking the souls, He may expose the hidden faith through miracles, that the Jew, the observer of these miracles, may become—even if he is unwilling—a disciple of the faith of the Gentiles. *I will come and heal him.* By the speed of the promise He excites the course of faith. *No, Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.* Do you see the Master’s artifice, by which He hunts out the faith that was hidden in the depths? *I am not worthy.* The narrower spring does not contain the riches of the sea. Do not further rebuke the unworthiness of my ways; I cannot bear it. Speak only with a word, and the disease will soon be driven away; the disease knows you merely willing it, and what is in the disease will be healed. Why do you delay my feet? It is enough for me if your word goes forth. Let me see the one who promises, and I shall obtain what is desired. Speak the word, and the servant will be free from the passion, having cast off the slavery of the ailment. *For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under myself; and I say to this one: Go, and he goes.* I know the power of your authority, having learned it from those things I ^C possess which are above me. I too see the ranks of your healings; I see the powers of your miracles waiting only for you to nod. Send, as I do, a soldier; do you yourself launch the command against the disease; imitate in small things the lesser; show to yours, on our behalf, things that are ours; let God imitate men, for the sake of the benefit of men. And indeed, while he was saying these things, he did not yet know that He, whom his humanity made manifest, was God; for he had not yet recognized God dwelling in the form of a servant and a home, and managing human affairs for the sake of men. For, it is said, his disciples did not yet believe in him. ^D But let us admire above all the faith, the prudence, the religion. Faith is the table of healing in a single word: religion is the refusal of the freedom of speech,

proclaiming fear. Prudence reasoned out the things concerning the Master from those things concerning itself. And why do I minimize the praise, when the Master himself clearly, in the midst of the Jewish ^A crowds, praised the gentile? For Jesus, he says, marveled and said: "I have not found so great faith, not even in Israel" (Matt. VIII, 10). The stranger to the calling, the alien to the Covenant, he who was a stranger to the miracles through Moses, uninitiated in his laws, and untried by the prophetic tongue, has surpassed the Jew in faith. What profit to you are the miracles performed in Egypt? What is the utility of the achievements of the Mosaic rod? The air was changed through fire into ether, wishing to change your heart; day yielded its intervals to day, teaching you to obey the Master; the sea was split against the laws of nature, so that it might teach you to believe; by means of fire, God calls you to think better, contriving to soften your hardness and contumacy with fear; above, the heaven was occupied with preparing food for you; below, the rock unexpectedly adorned symposia ^B of waters. What profit to you is the fruit of such great lessons? A single gentile has raised himself by faith above the entire multitude of the Jews. Be a disciple of the gentile: for you did not listen to Moses laying down the law; follow the incredulous, that you may believe. "Not even in Israel." The name, which bestows upon you the appellation of knowledge of God, is a message, so that it may the more expose your unbelief. Why do you insult the appellation, the power of which you do not possess? Why do you carry about a surname that is an accuser of your own person? You slander the name you bear, fighting against your calling by your deeds. "But I say to you, that many shall come from the east and the rest ^C and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness" (Matt. VIII, 11).

2. And to me, considering the present gospel reading

the terror of the future judgment is depicted before my very eyes, at the time when the Judge of all—the Lord—descending from the midst of heaven, surrounded on all sides by most fearful lightnings as if by an escort, sits upon the heavenly throne and passes sentence upon the life of each person.

He therefore anticipates time with His words, and, by adumbrating the judicial verdict, He admonishes in the manner of a prophet and a judge, so that if the word should arrive in time to turn the mind, they might be spared from punishments; but if the prophecy should prove ineffective in the souls of the hearers, a righteous judgment, following after, might bring about a matching retribution. "I say to you," He declares, "that many shall come from the east and the west." O words that confirm the very things ^B before our eyes! O voice, the end of which is truth! For this reason we see the inhabitants of the world casting off their godless polytheism and throwing away the demon-worship that had been spread abroad; they invoke Abraham, disowning the fathers of their nature, and finding instead their forefathers through grace.

But the manner of the Jews, having corrupted their hopes, made them disinherited; for by those whose faith they denied, from their kinship they have been cast out. Abraham heard a voice brought down from heaven: "In you and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And regarding the word as a deed, he contemplated the presence of Christ; anticipating it with his hopes, he looked forward. He foresaw God ordering all things; he ^C foresaw God of the same nature preparing the temple of the incarnation; he foresaw a star rising out of Jacob. He believed that the scepter would not depart from Judah, nor the ruler from his loins, until He should come to whom it is set aside, and He Himself would be the expectation of the nations. "Abraham," He says, "desired to see my day, and he saw it and rejoiced" (John VIII, 56). O the power of faith! What nature did not teach, this faith adumbrated.

Yet the Jews, not possessing the faith of him whose possession they rashly hope for, are deceived. But the Church gathered from the nations, having imitated his faith, pushes aside the children; the Church, relying on the laws of faith, has entered ^D as an heir in their place. And having prevailed, and having received the suffrage, she hastens toward the Savior-Bridegroom, the horn of faith, confirming the words of the Lord through her deeds: "Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob." What then is the proof of these things, O Lord? For You anticipate events with Your word, and You proclaim some blessed and others wretched, and You distribute to both what is conducive, and You foretell the future. Yet the present-day Jew does not believe Your words, and, with envy...

and diluted thy words with deeds. He shows the truth of his words by his deeds. Then He says to the centurion: "Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." And his servant was healed in that hour. ^A O faith, handmaid of the miracle! The healing of the servant is the witness to the centurion’s faith, and the driven-away evil proclaims the faith of the suppliant: for the measure of the healing was the measure of the faith. “Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” O the Lord’s philanthropy! He takes the suppliant as a fellow-worker in what is being accomplished. “Within thyself,” He says, “thou bearest the medicine of the healing; the disease fears thy faith.” Let us approach faith, beloved of the Lord; let us love faith, the mother of miracles. Let us flee ^B unbelief, the end of which is destruction. For thus, if we too supplicate the Lord, we shall hear the same voice as the centurion: “Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” To Him be glory unto the ages. Amen.

ORATION XX. By the same, on the Canaanite woman.

1. Calamity was, therefore, the subject matter of the greatest gladness, and mourning the cause of joy, and grief the provision for overflowing happiness; for where Jesus is present, even mourning is changed into pleasure, and the pouring of tears is altered into gladness. The Canaanite woman, ^C crying out, bears witness to these words, whose history the book of the Gospels admires, and shows her still crying out even now; and it preserves her cry in Scripture as if on a column, lest the envy of time should steal away the memory; for the fruit of faith is more powerful. And departing thence, Jesus, it says, came into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. God is indeed present everywhere, and no place has dared to circumscribe God. Yet, though He is invisible by nature, He confirms His presence by bearing the temple He wears as an object to those who see. He came into the parts of Tyre and Sidon, ^D once the dwellings of demons, the resting-places of idols, the seats of idol-worship, the subject of the prophets’ accusations. From Judaea to Sidon and Tyre, from the workshop of piety to the foundation of impiety, from the disciples of Moses to the workers for demons! And for what reason does He perform these departures? The Lord’s departure is the condemnation of the Jews. The Savior goes about as both benefactor and judge. For the recognition of the Gentiles is in truth an unpardonable condemnation of the Jews. For since the frequent rain of miracles did not bend the Jewish people toward faith, but the wondrous net of healing was spread out—and yet the race of Jews alone, through the savagery of envy, fled from the gate of salvation—what has the wise physician done? He transfers the medicines of healing to Sidon, so that by the comparison of the Gentiles He may provoke the faithless Jew to a better mind. For this is an ancient custom, I think, of the Lord

^A to humble the senseless by a comparison with those who are inferior. Once, wishing to expose the disobedience of the Jews, He magnified the evidence against them by the comparison of the Ninevites, and sent Jonah, a surveyor of that deserted impiety, and designated the prophet of the Jews as the instrument of the accusation against the Jews. But he, sparing his own tribe intemperately, hid the charge and fled from the One who sent him. Yet he was ignorant that, having been caught by the whale, he would again be presented as a prisoner before the Lord. And so again, a spectator of Gentile goodness, he is humbled, and by uttering a single cry, he conquered the minds of all. And he was very nearly caught in false prophecy, learning by deeds how great is the difference between the Gentiles and the Jews in the matter of persuasion; for whereas those people were butchering the prophets in their midst, these others, even when they did not know if He was present, trembled at His speaking. When a change of mind stopped the prophetic sentence, it quieted the shaken walls of the city, restrained the sword hanging from above, and the death sentence retreated, showing reverence for the faith of those condemned, which by its goodness had conquered. Thus indeed even now the Savior goes from Judea to Sidon and Tyre, exposing Jewish hypocrisy by the comparison of the impious.

2. And look at the evangelist boasting in the narrative, and revealing the reason for the Lord’s journey: ^B *And Jesus went out from thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon.* Thence, from where? Where, while He was performing miracles, He was slandered; where, while He was healing, He was insulted; and while He was doing good, He was disbelieved. *And behold, a woman from those borders cried out, saying, Have mercy on me, O Son of David.* She was a Canaanite woman, but by the probity of her mind she refuted her lineage: faith conquered nature. Let no one, He says, any longer accuse the Canaanites; the woman loosed the charges against her ancestors; she becomes the beginning of piety for the pious, crying out: *Son of David, have mercy on me.* Oh, to how many myriads of Jews did Christ show mercy, and from those very same people who had been healed, He heard this said in reply: *Whence is this man? We do not know.* But the Canaanite woman, even before her healing, winged by faith, arrived at the dignity of an evangelist: *Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.* A piteous mourning, and a sight to a mother more bitter than death. The devil, an adversary, is grappling with the girl, and an unseen enemy goes forth into battle against the maiden. How shall I express the gravity of the matter? How shall I proclaim the suffering? I do not ^D possess the strength for such a spectacle.

^A Exiting her home, she wanders through the city, stretching her hands toward the heavens, with eyes askew and disheveled hair. She gave birth to a child who became a lodging for a demon. The calamity casts off shame, and the affliction has taken captive her natural modesty. She lets out howls not unlike the barking of dogs; she is seen yet does not see, she is carried along in a run, her silence is pitiable, and her speech is more terrible still. Her punishment has no appointed time; she spends her nights without sleep, and she finds her days more grievous than her nights, leaping from her bed and suddenly crying out her affliction. "Have mercy on me, who am scourged by means of my daughter! It is her suffering, but my pain. The demon displays her, but nature casts the weapon at me through her; the demon has entered the daughter against the mother, and through her the arrows are aimed at me." Would that nature had not brought forth these pangs upon me! Would that death had followed upon her birth! Death would have been a consolation ^B for the law of nature. "Have mercy on me." But He did not answer her a word. O silence of the Lover of mankind, under the guise of inhumanity! O silence, a most vocal accuser of the Jews! For by it He was speaking such things to the Jews: "Do you see, O Jew, the nobility of the Canaanite? Do you see fruit praised from an evil root? She did not receive Moses, your lawgiver, yet she has recognized the Master of Moses; she does not know the prophets, yet she believes in Him who was foretold by the prophets; she has not seen signs, yet she confesses the son of David. You, O Jew, denied God after miracles, but she believed in Him before miracles. ^C But behold, for your sake, I overlook her as she weeps, and although I pity her mourning, I hide my mercy. I cast her off as she cries out, as if she were a Gentile, cutting off any occasion for your unbelief. I do not yet resolve the evil, lest I stir up envy in you; I delay the healing, lest I provide material for your unbelief, lest you, being accused as an unbeliever, say: 'Why did you pity the Canaanite? Why did you heal the enemies of Moses?' Behold, I look at her as she mourns from the threshold, and out of respect for you, I disregard a mother tormented by her daughter's sufferings! O Son of David, have mercy on me." But He did not answer her a word. The delay of the healing was a test of her faith; the postponement of the cure was a refining furnace for the woman’s resolve; or rather, the silence of the Master was a commendation ^D of the Canaanite woman. Meanwhile, the choir of the apostles, neither knowing the wisdom of the Master's silence nor being able to endure the woman’s cries, becomes an intercessor before the Savior. The disciples of Christ become advocates for the woman, and having taken up her prayers, they entreat the Lord: "Send her away, for she is crying out behind us." What, then, is this unspeakable love for mankind? What is this inexplicable wisdom? It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.

^A While seemingly holding back the gift, He is arranging to bestow it; and being more eager to give than the woman was to receive, He—the one falling before Him—is holding back the springs of his own philanthropy through wisdom. *It is not lawful to take the bread of the children and cast it to the dogs.* The response is heavier than the silence, yet it is suited to the faith of the Canaanite. For if the woman had not been such as she was, perhaps she would have turned away, having condemned the Savior of inhumanity or weakness. O terrible inhumanity! He did not pity her as she mourned; He did not console a mother being lacerated by the sufferings of her child; He did not pity the drama of nature. He was turning away from her who was beseeching Him, and fleeing from her who was crying out. And first, indeed, He repelled her cries with silence. But I did not stir Him—who was silent—by crying out, even when I had good hopes of a cure, even when my suffering had won for me advocates, even when I expected a philanthropic word, even when, from His voice alone, I dreamed of a solution. I was gaping, waiting for a voice that would be the harbinger of relief; then, when He spoke, He destroyed my hopes. It would have been better for Him to be silent than to speak. I depart having received sorrow; He added insults as an increase to my calamities. I, a dog, am heard in such a great crowd! ^B Perhaps He Himself resigns the judgment to the demon. Perhaps the calamity of my daughter has even overcome His power. Perhaps He hides the confession of his defeat through insults. This is the one gain I have won from my petition: I have increased the indignation of the executioner of my daughter; I have fanned his anger by the cries I cast against him; I have rendered the adversary more savage toward the child. But she did not slide into such base words, nor did the firmness of her faith weaken under the insults. O faith of a woman inscribed in the Gospels! *It is not lawful to cast the bread of the children to the dogs.* But she retorted with wisdom to the words of the Master: "Yes, Lord; I hold the insult ^C as a means of gaining..."

CL. DAUSQUEIUS' NOTES

(40) *A dog in such great crowds I hear.* Let us unroll what the response of Christ was secretly concealing. "It is not good to take the bread of children and to cast it to the dogs"—what then? Thou art a dog; therefore it is not good to cast it to thee. This reproach was grave among the ancients, and a mark of many vices. To the "hunger-driven" and "dog-seeking" [types], which fits in perfectly with the place, when they were hunting for feasts with too much anxiety and ambition. Lucian in *Nigrinus*: "You see the name of dog is a reproach for a captator." Concerning impudence, Terence in the *Eunuch*: "Truly, you dog?" Martial lib. IV, epigr. 53: "You think you are a Cynic, deceived by a false image. He is not a Cynic, Cosmus; what then? A dog." ^D From this the appellation of the Cynics flowed. *Iliados* X, Achilles to Hector: "Stand, dog, do not flee, Corymbas." *Dog, I am of a dog...* *The dog lies upon the gold of the female.* Hector and Corymbasus are accused because they dare to engage impudently with their superiors, which is the act of precipitous audacity. Concerning impudence: Helena was habitually called a dog, nor does she herself deny it in *Iliados* Z. Wherefore also Eustathius on *Odyssey* P. Concerning *Maledicence*: Among Plautus, when the woman had said about Menechmus, "O the impudent audacity of the man!" he retorts, "Do you not know, woman, why the Greeks predicted Hecuba to be a dog?" Mul: "I do not indeed know." Menechmi: "Because Hecuba was doing the same as you are doing now: she was heaping all evils upon whomever she beheld; and so she began to be called 'dog' by right." Suetonius, in *Vespasianus*, cap. 15: "He deemed it enough to call Demetrium the Cynic, who met him on the road after his reign, and neither arose nor deigned to greet him, but was even barking I know not what, a 'dog'." See Philostratus in *Life of Apollonius*.

[English so far ends] ^A promise of healing. "Even so, Lord, for I hold the insult as a pledge of the cure. For the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." The very name of "dog" guarantees my salvation; let the measure of the insult be the measure of the gift. You have called me a dog; I shall enjoy a portion of the Master's table. The dog has its share of crumbs among the children. I do not snatch the bread; I seek the crumb. I do not leap upon the table; I lay hold of the crumbs. I do not speak of the feast; let the heir enjoy that table of yours; from your hand, let a crumb fall even to us. O faith! O wisdom! O piety of the Canaanite! What then does the Savior do? He reveals the travail of his silence: "O woman, great is your faith!" For this reason I delayed the grace, that I might show your faith. I did not look at you like an inhuman person, but as one who knows the future, I remained silent; I was waiting for your whole faith to be shown. I wished the bystanders to be taught what a pearl lay hidden in the Canaanite. I open to you the whole table of healing; not as to a dog do I grant the crumb, but as to a daughter I grant the bread. You have indeed conquered the Jews by your faith; and I, by my gift, confirm your petition. Be it done to you as you desire; become yourself the physician of your daughter; within yourself you carry the medicine of the cure. Go, victor over the Jews and the demon; carry away as the prize of your faith the healing of your kin. Let us pursue faith, the crown of the Church ^B. Let us love faith, the foundation of adoption, faith, whose lightning the demons cannot bear; faith, the primary ornament of the disciples of Christ. Let us hear Paul crying out: "Stand fast in the faith" (1 Cor. XVI, 13). "Pray without ceasing," that the Lord may utter this voice to us also: "Be it done to you as you desire." To Him be glory and power for ages of ages. Amen.

ORATION XXI

On the lame man sitting at the Beautiful Gate

1. Those who teach these minor and meaner arts ^C best prove the perfection of their students' mastery when, without the teacher's hand, they themselves produce the teachers' brilliant works by their own imitation. The painter, by his lines and paints, represents nature; the shipwright…

having constructed the vessel, machinates a course through the flowing element of the sea. ^A Yet the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, having bestowed the power of miracles upon his disciples, he himself flew up into the heavens, having assumed the seat at the right hand of the Father, yet he accompanies his disciples with an invisible hand as they work miracles. Let us today, therefore, see the disciples, after the Savior, tasting the art of miracles and not shrinking back from that vast sea. For because the gift of returning to life from the dead seemed incredible, and the kingdom of heaven, being proclaimed as a strange and unheard-of thing, did not at once create faith in the mind, therefore he anticipated it with miracles, by which eyes might be persuaded, infidelity might be driven away, and resisting and stubborn reason might be bent, so that those whom the preaching tongue did not persuade, the testifying eyes might convict. Those vain and foolish lovers of adulterated wisdom, who cultivate wisdom only with the tongue, have brought in a raving insanity through the fallacies of their own doctrine, which produces a thousand gods, and by clothing lies with the colors and deceptive pretense of truth, they have bound and swept away those who were persuaded. But Christ, the teacher of truth, having mingled miracles with his words, begot faith that hunts down divine things. Following him, the apostles preached with words and confirmed the preaching with works.

2. "For about the same time," he says, "Peter and John were going up into the temple, about the ninth hour of prayer. And a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was being carried." ^C In what is said here, it is necessary to see first: that the apostles, having reached such a height of dignity, did not neglect prayer; for being human themselves, they also needed the security sought from thence. But if the apostles do not cast off the medicine of prayer, but show instead by constant use that supplication is necessary for the matter, how much blame do we incur, who through negligence cast aside this so salutary viaticum? For it is not the case that it is a viaticum for sinners and less appropriate for the just; rather, it yields things beneficial to both orders. To the just, it offers the security of justice; to sinners ^D [it offers] the removal of sins; and for the just, it marks out against sin...

NOTES BY DAUSQUEIUS

(45) *Clothing deception with the colors and deceptive pretense of truth.* Pindar: "And somewhere, mortals' minds, adorned with varied lies beyond the true word, are deceived by myths."

(46) *This so salutary viaticum.* Commendably and customarily Gellius, lib. XVII, cap. 2, cites here from Claudius Quadrigarius: "He excelled equally in form, deeds, eloquence, dignity, acrimony, and confidence, so that it was easy to understand it as a great viaticum." Then he performs the office of an expositor: "A great," he says, "viaticum, for a great..." and, having followed the Greeks, who translate *viaticum* to the preparation of other things as well, they often designate by it that which is to institute and instruct. Persius, Sat. V: "Seek from here, young and old, a certain end for the mind, and viatica for miserable old age." In the *Oration on Moses* he has that equivalent elegance: "For he wished that those departing from Egypt should carry away no *viaticum* of Egyptian impiety, and God granted the *viaticum* in reality as booty." Also in *Chanaanam*: "For as Isocrates philosophizes: Sorrow is a *viaticum* of surpassing joy. Sorrows have followed upon pleasures."

^A And He determines the righteous against sin. *At about the hour of prayer, the ninth, Peter and John were going up; and a certain man who was lame from his mother's womb was being carried.* The healing of the lame man becomes a secondary task to prayer, for the path toward prayer grants an unpracticed course to him who was lying there. *A certain man who was lame from his mother's womb was being carried.* In the workshop of nature he brought forth a harvest. The infirmity did not wait for the birth, but the injury anticipated the physical struggle, and the formation refutes the flawed nature. For often nature is deceived while it is forming, so that it may be shown to be a minister of the commanding God, not also a creator. For God commands nature, and that which is unequal to the command confesses its servitude, and awaits the divine hand, invoking it as a helper in the creation. ^B *And a certain man who was lame from his mother's womb was being carried.* The lame man was borrowing the hands of others, according to custom; and stepping with the hands of others as if they were feet, he was confined to one place, bound by the infirmity. Just as some stone cast down in the vestibule. *Whom they laid,* he says, *daily at the gate of the Temple.* They were placing the lame man there as if he were some inanimate nature; and they were casting him down at the gate like some heavy burden, so that he might ask for alms from those entering into the Temple. To the poverty of nature, the lack of money was joined, and the wretched man’s calamities were divided: for the one brought him forth in shackles, the other made him a beggar. But up to this point the poor man was pitiable; ^C but after this he was most blessed, having harvested the fruit of Peter’s right hand in a miracle.

3. *For as he saw Peter,* he says, *and John, about to enter into the Temple, he asked to receive alms.* And Peter, looking intently at him with John, said, *Look at us.* Rightly. For the work of the miracle is common to both; and from both the grace of the healing proceeds. For even if Peter speaks alone, yet the Apostle is a helper. *Look at us,* O hunter of obols. He commands the lame man sitting there to neglect his hunt for a little while. "Cease," he says, "from seeking obols at the present time. Become a beggar of grace, not of money. If you seek money, you are asking those who are poorer. *Silver and gold I have not; but what I have, this I give to you.* Do not seek money, of which I do not have the power to give. Ask for deliverance from the ailment, for which I have the grace." ^D And you, compare—

what is given to you by us with the gold-laden ^A treasures. In the name of Jesus Christ, arise [(52)] and walk. Instead of an obol, receive the legs; instead of a little bread, receive the supplement of nature; instead of other comforting, the activity of limbs. This is my wealth; this is Peter's gold; this is the gift of the apostles. Arise and walk. The Nazarene left this treasure to us as an inheritance. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, arise and walk. Leap away from the suffering, as he did from the grave. Show the Jews who slander the resurrection that He has truly risen; testify with your works to Him who rose; preach with your feet what we are disbelieved for preaching with our tongues; heal the limping opinions of the Jews. Since, therefore, the Jews dispute with us and begrudge us that we proclaim Christ to have risen from the dead, become a judge to both parties, ^B bringing forth the vote of truth from your own suffering, and let the suffering judge with an incorruptible voice. Let Christ, who is disputed among the Jews, be celebrated by your feet. If, then, after the invocation the suffering remains, if the calling of Christ does not raise the one lying down, then Christ has not risen, the tomb is indissoluble, and the proclamation of the resurrection is a fable. But if, by the mere calling of Jesus, they see the resurrection of the dead in fact, let them no longer rail against the truth. But why do I begin this trial? Look upon us; do not, because you see what is before you, become an attacker, but a judge of the resurrection. In the name of Jesus Christ, arise and walk. If the one named is dead, let the suffering remain; if Christ is in the tomb, let the ailment hold your feet even after He is invoked. But if Christ has arisen, having trodden down death, ^C witness to the suffering by your works, as one having cast off the grave, so that seeing what they reproach, they may approach the One who was crucified. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, arise and walk. I speak these very signs of the One crucified by you; I do not ascend in my words to the height of Divinity, but offer the tokens of the flesh. O the wisdom and boldness of Peter! Inside the temple, the Jews were present, and Peter forged the lame man—a statue of the resurrection—against the resurrection of the Crucified, opposing feet that spoke the truth to tongues that lied. Arise and walk. It is not enough to say "arise"; he added the other: "and walk." Become a dual witness of a dual miracle. For since the assumption succeeded the resurrection, he commands the suffering through both, so that the flight of this suffering may be a witness ^D to the truth-speaking voice of those things said. And having grasped his right hand, he lifted him up. He sent forth his voice, he sent in the power of touch, and he expressed the deliverance from evil by a certain imitation.

[alt-version omitted]

NOTES OF DAUSQUEIUS

^A His right hand raised him. He let out a voice, he applied the touch, he imitated the flight of the suffering.

^A Immediately his bases and ankles were strengthened. What nature had provided, he was ignorant of. Through the hand of Peter you have learned to run, you who were previously a spectator and were desiring, but were not attaining it. Immediately his bases were strengthened. A manner of healing without delay, for the grace was not slower than the tongue of Peter. Having received the signal of the race, the lame man leaped; nature learned to obey the command. The formation recovered its bounds; and he entered with those who had healed him into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. With leaps he proclaimed the grace; a hymn signified the joy; the dancing feet ratified what the tongue was pronouncing. And he entered with them into the temple, having measured a strange path with a strange gait, having first imprinted the entrance with his own footprints, ^B and the multitudes flowed together, and the one who had been healed was a spectacle of grace. And they recognized him, it says, that he was the one who was sitting at the Beautiful gate. For that suffering made him known to them; and the infirmity being congenital, it showed the one who had suffered to be manifest to all, and that suffering was a name before the name itself. Because of these things, Peter netted many for salvation, proposing the healing of the lame man as a kind of bait; for he was straightening the feet of that man, but the minds of these people. The priests and the rulers of the people, and the Sadducees, therefore arose, being annoyed. Again they were leading the physicians to the tribunal, ^C to bring envy upon the Lord and the apostles: They said, What shall we do? They were inflamed [alt-version omitted] CL. DAUSQUEII NOTA. ... D. Lucas cap. iv: magistratus templi. Si apud Basilium reponas ... quod ea verba e versu octavo usurpaverit: ut præter sacerdotes et Sadducæos, populi principes in unum convenerint ad apostolorum auctoritatem frangendam, et doctrinam elevandam. Pridem factum, ut vocum istarum altera alterius locum occuparit. Eustathius litteratorum magister prope unus in Iliada P: Stratonicus citharodus animadvertens, multa Mylassa esse templa, homines paucos, stans medio foro dixit: Audite, ναοί, id est, templa; modice illud versum insonans, audite, λαοί, id est, populi. Verum ille de industria.

^A by envy, and having pondered upon the apostles: What shall we do? they say. They are angry when being healed, they are indignant when receiving benefits, they threaten when getting well; they consider the feast a disaster, the cure a punishment, salvation a destruction. Their manner of life perverts for them the very nature of things. What shall we do? You ask what you shall do? Cast away envy, and adore the Crucified; put off these ways, and acknowledge your Benefactor. But what shall we do? Since indeed known sign has been done by them before all who inhabit Jerusalem: it is manifest, and we cannot deny it. The evidence of the good deed, he says, stops our mouth, and the magnitude of the cure rebuts the slander; the power of the miracle shuts the mouth of wickedness. Would that the miracle had occurred even on the Sabbath! ^B For we would have had the occasion as an advocate for our slander, and we would have hidden the miracle under the pretext of transgressing the law. But what shall we do? Let us threaten them not to speak any more in this name. O blinded souls, and minds immersed and drunk with the wine of unbelief! But let us, turning away from the wickedness of the Jews, together with the man who was healed, praise God with hymns, and having become disciples of the apostles, let us adore Christ, the bestower of apostolic power: to Him be glory and power unto ages of ages. Amen.

ORATION XXII

1. Birds that cleave the air with their flight and by nature, warm their own nestlings just hatched, and care for them warmly, and procuring food by their own labors, offer the enjoyment to their offspring without any labor of theirs. But when they see them adorned with feathers, they lead them out from the nest and train them to fly; and they themselves, ^C swimming along in the air at the same time, grant to those still tender in years a safe practice of flight: sometimes they even leave them flying in the meantime, so that they may take a trial of the virtue of flight. Thus, then, also the Lord Christ, having instructed His own disciples much concerning faith, now, as if wishing to exact an account of the doctrine, keeps them suspended between hope and fear; He prepares the sea as a stadium for the apostles of the faith, and having taken the disciples, He sailed to the other side. For sometimes He sails, and sometimes He walks, adapting His power to His own will. But when the boat was in the midst of the waves, He, giving place for experience, was sleeping. ^D Yet an unusual tempest suddenly rises with a roar, and the whirlwinds of the winds, recurrently in turn, were borne against the boat; even the most uplifted waves were hurling themselves into the heaven; and the rising surge threatened to sink the boat. While such a tempest was warring against the disciples, the Lord was sleeping. What is this great battle for those sailing? Sleep, raised winds, the roar of the waves: the boat was being twisted, the rigging with the sail collapsing were being crushed, the disciples running around—

ORATION XXII

^A ...and the ship was being swamped; the ropes colliding with the sail were shattered; the disciples were running to and fro, encouraging one another, and the Master was sleeping. O marvelous sleep, which prepared the one sleeping to awaken faith in the midst of the sea's tempest! See another storm rising against piety. For the Master sleeps, and the heretic quickly seizes upon the sleep: Apollinarius, Arius, Eunomius, and their kindred phalanx are armored against the Only-Begotten. For hearing that the Master is sleeping, they attempt to steal the dogmas of truth, and as if He were unaware of what they are doing, they trample upon Him, crying out: "Do you see that the one who sleeps is not God? Do you see that the Son, to whom such things happen, is not of the same essence as the Father, to whom these things do not happen?" ^B But, O truly more savage than the sea, and more unlearned than the fish, do you see a governing economy sleeping, and do you slander Him who governs? "No one has ever seen God" (John I, 18). Consequently, no one has ever seen Him sleeping. For sleep has not learned to hold the One who is beyond sight and free from passion. Therefore, the temple of the Word of God sleeps, through which God is believed to be present, and He sleeps only so much as the need of the economy allows. The Master’s rebuke against the sea is also fitting for you: "Be silent, be muzzled" (Mark IV, 39). For whose storm you imitate with your tongues, receive the rebuke of that same one. Thus, with the heretical error curbed by divine cooperation, let us come to the anguish of the disciples; let us see the laborers of the sea struggling, let us see Peter daring against the waves, and terrified in the boat.

^C 2. Thus, he says, the sea having risen, the Master sleeps. The Savior was sleeping, as it were, reasoning with the sea: "Often on land the disciples have watched Me working miracles; but that they might not think My power is confined only to the straits of the dry land, let them learn that I am also the Master of the sea; let them learn that I am also the Creator of this liquid nature, while being hidden in the visible; let them learn not to look at a man, but to look up at God; let them learn that the Creator of all dwells in this visible dwelling of the body." Be for me, O sea, an instructor of the disciples in place of whips, and cast fear upon them with your waves. Let your waves be crested, and the winds be armed, let the boat be tossed on every side, let ^D shipwrecks be threatened, let the expectation of death be shown. Yet let the fear stand only up to the point of hope; for I wish them to be afraid, not to be killed. Behold, I show you My own temple sleeping. Take the sleep of the body as an appointed time until I arise. The Master, then, was sleeping upon these things; and the sea, obeying His commands, little by little...

^A lifted the terror to the waves, the wind whistling against the ship was hurled like a javelin, and the boat was tossing, shaken by the waves. The disciples were hurrying to save it through art, but their hands were powerless. They were fighting against the storm, and they were warring at sea against the winds. But as the swell became stronger, and the sea did not yield to their art—but rather, fearing that it would be defeated, and by its fear stirring up more fear—the disciples, being defeated and having sent away the hopes of their art as if they were already shipwrecked, ran to the harbor [who was] in the boat, and standing by Him, cried out: "Master, Master, save us, we are perishing." ^B O fear, the teacher of nature! O danger, which teaches where the anchor of salvation is! O sea, reconciling the distraught [(61)] disciples to their Teacher! "Master, Master." The agitation of the soul doubles the voice, and the word exposes the fear. "Save us; we are perishing. You alone are our hope of salvation; for all our wisdom has been swallowed up, and our hands have been proven useless for assistance." For the violence of the swell exposed the weakness of their art. "Show Yourself to be awake, and the sea will revere You. Reconcile this sea that wars against us. Extinguish the storm with Your voice. Speak peace to the waves. Have mercy on Your disciples, who are oppressed by the tyranny of the sea. Only let it see You speaking, and it will turn toward stillness; it awaits Your voice, it accepts Your word as an anchor." What, then, does the Master do? Having quietly shaken off His sleep, and not behaving as those who are asleep do with the suddenness of His waking, He rebuked the disciples before the sea. "Why," He says, "are you so little-faithed [(62)]?" ^C Fear is the proof of unbelief. The agitation is the accuser of the agitated. "Did the moving sea shake your faith? And did the boat, played with by the waves, strip you of your faith? And did the swell of the sea leap up as far as your soul? For why were you not fortified with faith?" O worthy words of the Master! He wishes to teach that the power of faith is stronger than the created order, and that all despair [(63)] is driven out of the soul whenever faith is present. He transfers the rebuke to the sea, saying: "Be silent, be muzzled; be content with the voice, and do not wait for the experience of the lash." The nature of the water shuddered at the rebuke, and stiffened [(64)] at the terror of the voice. The winds were fleeing, the waves were being restrained; the sea was being lulled to sleep, and it was bowing the neck of its own billows. For that which once fled from Moses, and worshipped the Lord of Moses, as

it quieted the waves, the sea was lulled to sleep, and the sea bent the neck of the wave. For it fled from Moses, and was ashamed before the Master of Moses, like a disobedient handmaid. By the threat of the voice he stills the sea; and by a small word the great element was bridled. For it recognized the ancient voice, it was reminded of the ancient commands: *Let the waters be gathered together into one gathering, and let the dry land appear.* Then it yielded to the earth desiring the command; now it imitates the earth by the solidification of its nature, it contracts the waves, gathers the winds, puts off the storm, and succeeded the terror of the disciples; it made apology to the disciples; becoming quiet, it puts forth silence instead of supplication. O the wisdom of the Master and the proclamation of the Teacher! He stirred up the sea, he showed hopes of shipwreck; he made the sea a training school of faith. What profit, therefore, was the fear to the disciples? And they marveled, he says, the disciples, saying: *What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?* From the things of which they were afraid, they were taught. They recognized the charioteer of the elements, they recognized the governor of creation; the fear of the sea increased their knowledge. *What manner of man is this?* If you seek this, this is the Son of the living God; to him be the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. ^B

ORATIO XXIII. Of the same, on the person possessed by a demon.

1. Great indeed are the snares of the demons against men; but manifold more is the help provided to men by God. For if an auxiliary from above were not armed for the sake of men, the human race would have long ago perished, besieged by the demons. For what occasion or time have they left free from vexation? When have they not stood as hunters weaving nets against our nature, and as designers of our calamities? For since the devil was not of an evil nature, but became wicked by a depraved will, and received from the Creator the administration of the air, as Paul, the hearer of heavenly things, narrated to us, saying: *According to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience;* then, being lifted up to such a nature, he slipped from his dignity, having been cast down from the altitude of his dignity through the height of his mind; and he became ^C the pride of imperfect use, the thing still hanging in the balance. Matthew 4: ^D *And angels came and ministered unto him.* Where note that to have "come" is a sign of extreme promptness for obedience; to "minister" signifies constancy in work.

^A ...as much as the spirit could grasp. But furthermore, it [the devil] brooded in its thought against men, and, abominating the Maker of all things, it employed various machines to obliterate the image of God. For since it is not strong enough to wage war openly against God, it initiates the battle by another way, by teaching the creatures to revolt against their Creator. Thus, from the beginning, it exhorted the newly fashioned [the first-formed], who bore the characters of the divine image, to meditate rebellion against God, saying: *In whatever day you eat of it, you shall be as gods.* But as the human race extended, it introduced thoughts of idolatry; and, as if in the night, the creature worshipped the creature, ignoring the Creator. And everywhere were altars, and temples, and images of idols, and outpourings of blood, and the revelries of demons ^B made up the whole. Nor were the demons content with these things devised against men, nor did they consider it enough to punish the wretched by the honors bestowed upon themselves; but, furtively slipping into them, they became the inhabitants of men. But God does not overlook the race of mortals naked of aid; having used various methods for its cure, He finally introduces the wisdom according to Christ, preparing the shipwreck of the demons themselves in place of the shipwreck of men, preaching liberty by His words, and confirming the promise by miracles. This narrative from the Gospels, which has just now been read, represents this clearly to us, in that it expounds the importunity of the demons and points out the aid supplied to men by God. *For when they had gone forth*, he says, *there met him a certain man from the city*, who had demons for many times, and did not wear a garment, and did not remain in a house, but in the tombs. This is the rage of demons against men. They are equally ardent to circumvent them all; but because they are not able to commit ^C the same thing against all, they lose heart. A man met him from the city. One misery is more grievous than another. For whereas he himself had become a house for demons, he had the tombs for a house; so that he was forced to dwell together with the dead, both as an inhabitant and as one inhabited; or rather, he was sentenced to sustain a life more grievous than death. For to those whom death has overtaken, it deprives of the sense of pain, and the grave frees the dead from those things which cause pain. But he, while dead in all other respects, lived only in the sense that he was tortured by his own misery, and that without intermission. And *he did not wear a garment*. O the perverse malice of the devil! Adam, indeed, when he was honorably naked, he clothed with shame; but this man, who was honorably clothed, he stripped naked. And chains, he says, already ^D was he not at rest. And he did not wear a garment. O the contrary malice of the devil! Adam, indeed, well stripped—he shrouded in shame.

^A For he says he shattered the chains. He was, in fact, transferring power to the sufferer, that he might also strip off that which had betrayed him; for even iron yields to the malady, being proved the weaker. He also rendered the place inaccessible to those dwelling nearby, the demon setting the man upon them like some wild beast raving against humans. For having fettered the one possessed by such calamities, the demon was nonetheless unable to prevent an encounter with the Master. And this is the first method of Providence for him. For the demons, not bearing the lightning of his presence, raised a clamor: "What have we to do with thee, Jesus?" They are disturbed by the appearance of the flesh, ignorant of the divinity hidden within the flesh. For where would a slave cry out to a master: "What have I to do with thee?" They despise the one visible, not seeing the one who causes them torment. "What have we to do with thee?" O, how many righteous men have we passed by in this life, and we have not experienced such a scourge from them! The enemy who attacks us is unbearable; his weapons against us are intolerable. "What have we to do with thee?" From thy birth, the war thou hast stirred up against us has endured: thou hast stripped us of our possessions; Magi saw thee born and, having put us to flight, worshipped thee; tax collectors heard thee speaking, and they flee from our collection of taxes; harlots—our prey—thou hast hunted for thyself through repentance. We had only one remaining consolation: the afflictions of men, and thou art tearing us away from these delights. There, thou didst bind up those broken by paralysis; there, thou didst deliver the deaf from their misery; there, thou didst restore solar rays to the blind; there, thou didst loose the dead from the tombs; ^B thou didst make the dungeon of death, which we had built with much labor, ruinous. As many as were the cures thou hast provided to men, so many are the punishments thou hast brought upon us. "What have we to do with thee, Son of God?" They call him Son of God, yet meanwhile, they do not know the Son is God. For even those who, through the height of virtue, have attained familiarity with God are called sons of God. Such is that saying: "Israel is my firstborn son." And again: "I said: Ye are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High." And again: "The sons of God, seeing the daughters of men." For the name is a token not of nature only, but also of familiarity. This ignorance the devil also displayed at the time of the Jordan. For hearing the voice borne from heaven: "This is my beloved Son," he was saying to him through ignorance: "If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down." ^C In truth, if he speaks to God, whom he knew, how does he endeavor to terrify him with the prospect of his own fall? Since the nature of God knows neither height nor depth. Thus also

the other evangelist recounted the voices of the demons: "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Nazarene?" They did not call him the creator of men, but a citizen of Nazareth. "Act accordingly," they say, "for we see you in the form that appears to us, and we receive you as if coming from God; as one who has descended from heaven, and not as one having come forth from Nazareth, you bring lashes—make your nature known by your deeds." "What have we to do with thee, Son of God? Art thou come hither before the time to torment us?" What are you saying, O devil? Do you cry out against the one who fixed the measures of time and set the boundaries of judgment: "Have you come now?" But he does not know the immortal nature which, in the form of a servant, is ratifying its arrival; he does not know God, the Lord of all, being invested with the robe of David. Therefore, being provoked by the sight to contention, but being scourged by the invisible command of his divinity, he mingles expressions of boldness and supplication at the same time. "What have we to do with thee, Jesus? I pray thee, do not torment me." He sends forth voices of fear and boldness at the same time: powerful, indeed, as a stubborn servant, but supplicating as a guilty one being flogged. ^B "Art thou come hither before the time?" Whence, then, do they know the time of judgment is not yet present? How do they know they are being tormented before the time? They know it from the punishments they are undergoing; they are aware they are subject to torments. And the perversity of their ways did not have so much power over them that it could induce forgetfulness of the punishment for the crimes they commit. But now they saw him not inflicting punishment, but instead causing a departure from men. Therefore, because they are not being tortured, they reason that the time of punishment has not yet arrived. Meanwhile, they take it hard that they are ordered to refrain from human penalties before the time of judgment. For he was commanding them to depart from him. He was not yet dragging them to judgment; he was not yet showing the terror of the tribunal; he was not yet kindling the flame of judgment; but he was restraining their unbridled impulses by threats alone—such was the intensity of the evil! But when the Lord had decided in his own mind to show to those who were present, even in the midst of adversities, his secret providence for man, he asks: "What is thy name?" And he says: "Legion, for we are many." He did not use this interrogation himself as if out of necessity due to ignorance, but he taught us how, among so many carnivorous demons to whom the human body was delivered, it was not destroyed; since the multitude of demons, armed as one, was not able to destroy it. They did not cast him down precipices, they did not tear him limb from limb, they did not rend the man with iron weapons; but by a more occult power he stood firm, and resisted the storms stirred up by the demons, being guarded even in the midst of punishments. And what is greater, the evangelist added with deliberate effort: "For many times it/he took hold of him." O, ^D insurmountable concern! For at once they were tormenting, and at once the demons were being tormented: in one way panting for slaughter, yet they were not permitted to fulfill their lust in deed, until the open...

for in past times it had seized him. ^A O, incomparable providence! For the demons were punishing no less than they were being punished, since although they were raging in their manner, they were not permitted to put their desire into effect until the manifest decree of the King came, granting absolute freedom to the sufferer. The herd, he says, was feeding on the mountain, and they begged him to allow them to enter into them. And the demons having gone out of the man, entered into the swine, and the herd rushed down the precipice and was choked. Why, then, Lord, do you permit this to the demons? And why, knowing their wickedness, did you allow yourself to be persuaded by their pleas? It is so that we, as men, might learn that we are stronger than even swine when God protects us. Furthermore, he wishes to teach men that the destruction of humans is a joy to the demons, and that they delight in our evils. For those who do not even spare the human creation, but demonstrate their hostility even against the swine—what would they not have done against men, had they been permitted? So that, knowing their hatred, we might hate their inhumanity, and avoid the counsels whose snares we cannot endure. Besides this, ^B he taught us God’s providence toward men. For all things would have utterly perished, and not one of existing things would have been left, torn apart by demonic furies, were they not walled in by the hidden and invincible hand of God. Therefore, he permits lesser things so that we may recognize greater things; and he yields us slowly to difficulties so that we may have a sense of greater boons. He would not have allowed us to suffer even minor things, had we not been forgetful of divine care. He permitted the loss of the swine to occur so that we might learn the benefit conferred upon men. Let us therefore acknowledge the providence we enjoy; let us sing hymns to the providence by which we are preserved; let us proclaim the help of God by which we are defended; let us hang upon it, and looking toward it at all times, let us cry out: "You, O Lord, are our helper and protector." ^C To Him be glory unto all ages. Amen.

ORATIO XXIV. Of the same, on the text: "Say that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left."

The battle line drawn up by men against men, joined together with arms and missiles, is something heavy and savage; for nature, by an evil will...

brings about its own destruction. Yet some wish for the struggle to have a veneer of reasonableness. For either some, having been injured first, call the conflict a judgment of injustice against those who have done them wrong; or, out of a love of glory and a desire for trophies, they arm their hands against each other, calling their slaughter a display ^A of courage. But when some, leaving aside the battle lines formed against them, arm their tongues instead of their hands against the Creator, making the insult to the One who honored them the pretext for a war, what discourse could grant pardon, or what reasonable excuse could permit such things for eternal punishment? When the heavens declare the glory of God, and the angels are occupied with the hymn of the Creator, and all nature, endowed with reason or lacking it, is stretched out in hymns, declaring by the continuity of the act that its praises are insufficient; while men, having obtained a life of reason and honor equal to that of God, and having been fashioned toward the imitation of the One who fashioned them, having clothed themselves in the Creator by the measure of the image, seek for the Creator ^B greater and lesser measures according to the divinity. Why, O man, do you transfer the weakness of your own forms to heaven? Why to the essence of the deity itself? Why do you measure with the measures of a body the One who is bodiless? Why do you clothe nature, which is under no master, in servile forms? You hear "Son," do you make a slave? Having known the Father as unbegotten, do you deem the Son a creature? The Father as unenslaved, and the One begotten as a slave? There is no harmony in your discourse with nature. You say "Son"? You have manifested the paternal essence. You call Him "Father"? You proclaim the identity which is with the Son. For if He is Son, He is not a creature; if He is a creature, He is not a Son. For the argument ^C turns back, being carried along without hindrance due to the similarity of the essence. But you mix things that cannot be mixed, and bring together things that are incompatible. If the Son is a slave, who is the liberator of the creation? Why, then, did He Himself cry out: "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed"? Why do you steal freedom from yourself through blasphemy, and why do you slander the Lord, and condemn yourself to eternal slavery? For the whole creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. Yet shall the Son remain a slave, a possessor of no liberty? If, while you proclaim God, you establish a creature, Paul cries out against your impiety, saying: "And they worshiped the creature rather than the Creator." ^D

^A Do you call God a creature? He will be known to draw your kinship. Great is God, ^B and among them he is found small. You bring war upon the Godhead, contriving a difference of essence. Hear his voice, and be ashamed: "I and the Father are one." Do not sunder the one; do not measure that which is beyond measure; do not partition a substance that cannot be partitioned. The heaven praises him, and do you measure him? The Cherubim bow down, and do you weigh him in a balance? Gabriel stands by trembling, and do you stand by with blasphemies? Be ashamed before the woman of the Gospel, who ascribes kingly dignity, not servitude, to her Christ by her testimony. Behold her who bore the sons to Zebedee. For it is said: "The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him, worshiping and asking something of him." And when the Lord permitted her: "Say," he says, "that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left, in your kingdom." The woman proclaims a kingdom, ^C and Arius acknowledges servitude. "Say that they may sit." O mother who loves intensely, and pious woman! Nature found the material so that she might gratify her children. But let us see with precision the wording by which the faith of the woman shines forth; let us contemplate the evangelist as the praiser of the woman. "Then," he says, "the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him." Do you wish, he says, to see the faith of the woman? Look for the time of the supplication. When does she bring forward the petition? What was the time of the request? The cross was prepared, the passion was approaching, the army of the Jews was readied; the Lord is discoursing about death, the disciples are in a ferment, they grow pale at the mention of the passion before the passion, they are struck in their ears, they are troubled in their soul; and then the mother rushes in, cutting through the choir of the apostles, seeking the kingdom, and asking for a throne for her children. What are you saying, O woman? ^D You hear of a cross, and you ask for a throne? The discourse is about the passion, and you long for a kingdom? Allow the disciples to be at leisure for their fear, to divide their anxieties on account of the danger. Whence this quest for high honor in you? What of the things being said or done excited you toward the request for a kingdom? The memory of the passion? The expectation of the cross prompted you to ask for such things? "I see," she says, "the passion, yet in my soul I foresee the resurrection. I see the cross being fixed, but I behold heaven being opened. I see the nails, but I imagine also the throne. I saw long ago the Virgin mother, who bore a birth not from nature, but from grace, and a delivery of economy, not of custom. I saw the star that moved the Persians toward this birth. I heard John crying out: 'Behold the Lamb'"

^A of God, who takes away the sin of the world.' I saw the snowflakes of miracles; I saw the power of His command, having heard Him saying: 'You shall sit on twelve thrones.' I behold the things that are to come with the eyes of faith. The woman, it appears, anticipated even the words of the thief. He on the cross offered these prayers: 'Remember me in thy kingdom.' She, before the cross, implores for a kingdom: 'Command that these my two sons may sit, one at thy right hand, and one at thy left.' O desire that conquers passion! O desire that contemplates only the future! What time removed from knowledge, faith beheld. What then does the Savior do? Leaving the mother, He speaks to the sons: 'Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink, and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?' The mother had asked, thinking the kingdom an easy find, and hoping that what was sought would be obtained from the mere asking. The Lord Christ was teaching the boys the manner of acquisition: 'Are you able to drink the cup?' The throne is the fruit of labors, and the gift of asking ^B is the reward of toil. 'Are you able to be baptized?' The way is the Passion; dangers undertaken for the sake of piety are the precursors of the kingdom. It is not some mere asking, but the imitation of the Passion that betroths the kingdom. If you desire the dignity, approach the fellowship of the Passion, show yourself crucified with Christ, and you shall be seen seated in the company of the kingdom. Purchase the heights with the depths. 'Are you able to be baptized?' What then the boys? 'We are able.' Desire draws even to suffering. What then the Lord? 'The cup indeed you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you shall be baptized; but to sit at my right hand, or at my left, is not mine to give.' What do you say, O Master? Suffering for your sake, shall we not obtain the rewards from you? You anoint us and expose us to danger, and are you not able to render a return for merit? Is it not yours to give? How then did you cry out: ^C 'All things whatsoever the Father has are mine'? And in all these things surely there is the donation of the kingdom. Or how did you say: 'The Father has given all judgment to the Son'? And yet that 'He has given' refers to your incarnation. For being Son by nature, you have the right of possession in your nature. But where there is the dignity of judgment, there is also the power of remuneration. Did you not yourself say: 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you'? Did you not just now cry out: 'You shall sit on twelve thrones'? And now you say: 'It is not mine to give'? What does 'It is not mine' mean for you? Why did you add a saying that provides an occasion of impiety for Arius? Why does he grow insolent against you with your own words? Why does he borrow a lie from the truth? You who brought the world into being, are you unequal to the task of rewarding?

^A Does the creator not crown his own creation after its victory? We possess your words as a pledge of your power. We heard you shouting: *That all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father* (John v, 23). The equality of honor corresponds to the equilibrium of power. And again: *For whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does likewise* (John v, 19). You act likewise with the Father, and do you not have the power to give, as the Father does? Did you not yourself say: *As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wills* (John v, 21)? Why then, you who are co-creator with the Father, who sit with the Father, who govern together with the Begetter, who raise from the dead as he does, who give life to whom you will as he does, do you now say: *It is not mine to give* (Matt. xx, 23)? Why? Because the gift follows the merit of the recipient, not merely the power of the giver. The throne is a reward for struggles, not a gratuitous gift of ambition. The throne is obtained from right deeds; the giving does not follow a mere request. Show me your merit (90), and behold my power. If a sinner mourns for his transgressions, I lighten the malady and cancel the debt; if a harlot weeps, I grant forgiveness; if a tax collector beats his breast, I do not record his errors; if a leper seeks healing, I display my power: *I will; be clean* (Matt. viii, 3); if a dead man must rise from the tomb, I bring forth the power: *Lazarus, come forth* (John xi, 43); if a blind man laments the loss of light: *According to your faith let it be done to you* (Matt. ix, 29). But if someone asks for a throne, and seeks a kingdom, and longs for a seat at the right hand, then I carefully scrutinize my power; I call upon the sweat shed for piety as my witnesses. For the seat with me is the reward for these things. And if I find one worthy of these, it is mine to give; for the merit of the recipient invokes the power of the giver. For this reason it is not mine to give, but belongs to the Father (92) to give, *but for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father* (Matt. xx, 23). The Father makes it ready while testing, not simply bestowing it; he awaits the character, while making the gift ready. He does not pour out grace simply, but stores it for the worthy. *It is not mine to give.* For it is not the Father's way either to bestow such things rashly and gratuitously. For this reason, to the one who bears witness, I grant the kingdom: *Today you will be with me in paradise* (Luke xxiii, 43). For seeing the longing, I provide the gift. Therefore I say: *Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit* (Matt. xxviii, 19). For there is one instruction, the same baptism, the same ^{B C D}

grace of the gift; the power of the Persons granting it is one. By keeping the faith in this, may we be deemed worthy of the kingdom of heaven in Christ, to whom be glory and power unto the ages. Amen.

ORATION XXV

By the same, on that saying: "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?"

^A 1. Moses, the instructor of the Hebrews, being about to deliver the lesson of the knowledge of God to the children of the Jews, first strikes the souls of his pupils with the plagues of Egypt, and transforms the creation by the command of God, so that he may prepare their minds to be ready for his teachings; and he uses force against the laws of all nature, so that he might draw forth wicked ways. For he who, as I have said, was about to teach in the wilderness: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. i, 1), knowing that they would with difficulty believe his words, first bends their reason by the sight of miracles. For he shows them God transforming the creation, so that he may establish with faith that He is the Creator. For this reason, by day night is introduced, darkness is mingled with light, fire is mixed with hail, a river is turned into another form, the sea is divided and traversed on foot, the nature of the waves is taught to bear the footprints of men, and nature unlearns its own laws, so that God may be believed by men to be the Creator.

^B In this manner the Mosaic affairs proceed. But our Lord Jesus Christ, while proclaiming the lesson of piety to the choir of the apostles, does not teach them by those things through which He punishes others; but, by opening the fountains of His miracles and His humanity, and by opening a common hospital through the power of miracles, He leads souls as if by the hand to the knowledge of God. For those who received liberation from the sicknesses that were in the body received in their souls the knowledge of the Liberator; and whoever was held by a disease cast off the disease he had, and acquired the knowledge he did not have. Hence it happened that one overcome in his limbs by paralysis found healing to be the way to knowledge. Another, born in deepest blindness, while his eyes lacked the ordinary power of sight, became sighted in both body and soul; for outside, his eyes were reformed with clay, but inside, he was fashioned by a voice. ^C For there was added, moreover, as it were a second remedy, a discourse full of doctrine: "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" (John ix, 35). And from the light of knowledge a confession shone forth: "Lord, I believe," and he worshipped Him (John ix, 36). From thence it happened that a demon was driven out, crying: "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?" (Matt. viii, 29). Unwillingly

^A preachings through which he strove to keep his identity hidden. Hence it came to pass that the dead man leapt up, having been taught by deeds the defeat of death. Hence the sinner, weeping and recognizing Him who takes away the sin of the world (John i, 29), cast off the weight of his soul. And this was a path toward greater miracles. The eye marveled, and faith was nourished. For He did not teach by punishing, as I said, but by healing, as He Himself says somewhere: *The Son of man came not to judge the world, but that

^A with the Lord. He was raging against his fellow-servants, but they, through fear, abandoning the helm, flee to the Master: "Master, save us, we perish." 91 Woken by these cries, Christ restrained the reins of creation and checked the fury of the sea; He commanded peace to the winds. Yet the disciples, while bearing witness to the miracle, did not know the worker of the miracle; but tossed by the fluctuation of their minds through ignorance, and disturbed by the miracles no less than by the tempest of the waves, they muttered among themselves: "Who, then, is this, that He commands even the winds and the sea?" 92 For, stumbling at the external appearance of the body, they were ignorant of the hidden and abstruse divinity. For they would never have been so struck with wonder if they had known that He whom they saw commanding the creatures was the Creator of the creatures. Moreover, the Master also cried out to the Jews: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 93 The disciples did not know what was meant. "For when," he says, "He rose from the dead, then they knew" 94 that He spoke concerning the temple of His body; and the resurrection became a source of knowledge, dispelling ignorance through the experience of the miracle.

^C 3. Again, in the hands of the Master, nature brought forth bread, and the whole wilderness, pressed by the multitude of those eating, did not suffice for the consumption of such a great provision. What, then, does Luke say about them? "For their heart," he says, "was hardened regarding the loaves." 95 The magnitude of the miracle became an occasion for passion. Do you wish to learn of the ignorance of the apostles from another source? Let us look at Peter. Peter, the chief of the apostles, after Christ had at one time on the mountain changed his appearance and aspect, and by the brilliance of that vision had eclipsed the sun, and immediately Moses and Elias were present—the one not yet having tasted death, the other the first-fruits of the dead in the Law—proclaiming the Judge and Lord of the living with their hymns; then Peter, greatly astonished at the sight, does not measure what is seen by its standard, but, esteeming the servants of equal value, says: "Let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elias." 96 Upon which immediately a cloud descended from above, hiding them, but correcting the ignorance of this man, and with a fearful voice stopped the tongue of Peter: "This is My beloved Son; listen to Him." 97 They, therefore, flee at that voice. But Luke, the disciple of Peter, publishes the ignorance of Peter: "These things," he says, "he was saying, not knowing what he was saying." 98

^A Afterward, those who had become more skillful exposed their mutual ignorance, not by inveighing against one another with abusive tongues, but by marveling at the grace, by whose aid their minds were changed. Beside this, Christ resounded in the ears of the disciples: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." Therefore, by making progress in doctrine little by little, he made teachers out of disciples; for the human mind cannot bear a doctrine presented all at once. Wherefore, ^B fitting and rousing their minds as if with wings by means of miracles and teachings, he incites them to fly up to the summit of a higher discipline; and having gathered them all together, he asked, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" Rightly, "the Son of man," since the Son was God, and had existed formerly as the Creator of the creature with the Father; he who, through his mercy for men, put on humanity from men, so that by the spectacle of a uniform nature they might be led to the knowledge of his own proper nature. But ^C while he proves to those who looked on that what was seen was of the same nature as men, he acts out his humanity in human ways, indwelling without confusion, yet governing divinely, and claiming for himself without passion those things which come to pass. They who saw him eating, and walking, and sorrowing, understood what was apparent, measuring his nature by its experiences; but those who were amazed by his miracles were divided in their surmises. Some called him a prophet, others thought he was Elijah, others dreamed he was some just man. Others, who confessed him to be the Christ, ^D dishonored the name with a certain empty and thin cognition they had received of him. For they suspected Christ was some certain man, since they had no notion of the divinity of the Only-begotten. Since, therefore, such great ignorance was feeding upon the souls of men concerning Christ, even the choir of the apostles was not free from that ignorance. Wherefore, he most wisely instructed them with knowledge. For he does not speak from himself, nor does he proclaim himself God openly, assuming the title of Master to himself. For it would have been possible to say, if he had so wished: "I am God of God, and together with the Father I fashioned the heaven, and I fixed the earth in the errant element of water, having established its nature as immovable, and I poured out the air and kindled the rays of the sun." But the lowliness of the flesh curtailed such speech, and their eyes, offended by the appearance, were sent away from the discipline of higher things. The weakness of their eyes, measuring the power of his words, was seized by unbelief, as if by a mist. What then does he do? First, he commands others to proclaim the things concerning himself, having entrusted the preaching to the voices of others. For this reason, from the very beginning, miracles accompanied his birth. A star by a strange path declared the paradoxical birth; Magi, having left Babylon behind, sought out him who was in swaddling clothes; Simeon shouted: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart, O Lord." From another source, Anna the prophetess, stirred by grace, gave utterance to prophecies.

^A On these matters John, pointing Him out to all, cried aloud: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."

4. So many are the witnesses; and He Himself remains silent concerning Himself. For He knows that an opportune silence can become a loud-voiced herald. And since the time finally called Him also to teach, He first stirs men up by miracles and prepares their eyes as witnesses of what is said, and only then unlocks the treasure with words, although He never clearly declares and asserts: "I am the Son of the living God." But how? "Whom do men say that I am?" It is a matter very familiar to wisdom to begin instruction through questioning. Thus, indeed, when the Creator drove Adam into flight because of his sin through the din of his conscience, He called out to him as if ignorant, ^B calling him who was hiding: "Adam, Adam, where art thou?" Thus He asks of Cain concerning his parricidal audacity: "Where is Abel thy brother?" Thus: "How many loaves have ye?" He who multiplies loaves like a fountain inquires after the number. Thus concerning the affairs of Lazarus: "Where have ye laid him?" He who was about to release him from the grave asks for the place. Thus concerning the woman with the issue of blood: "Who is it that touched me?" Thus also now: "Whom do men say that I am?" Since He purposed to teach, He questions those who are learning. He rightly calls Himself the Son of man, saying as it were this: "For the sake of men I have put on humanity, ^C and being Lord, I appear in the form of a servant; and from a mother I have put on this body—that which came from David—by human design, and I have encompassed myself with a man from Adam on account of the progeny of Adam, and I conceal my dignity, restrained by humanity. Whom do men say that the Son of man is?" He was posing a question to the disciples that was for the time being free from danger. For a question about others seeks a very easy answer. Therefore the band of apostles readily replied: "Some say Elias, others John, others one of the prophets." But by pressing the second question, He exposed their ignorance: "But whom do you say that I am?" And by His silence He kept them all in suspense; for not all of them knew. But although He asked, knowing their ignorance, He divinely provides the answer to Peter; and He inclines the chief apostle towards the voice by which he was moved, ^D as if

The Disciple of Christ as a Divinely Played Lyre

^A may be rendered acceptable. And while Peter was being taught along with the other disciples, he at the same time voiced his own conviction and ascribed glory to the Master: thus, he himself was being taught at the moment he appeared to be teaching. "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona." The praise of his response is yet another teaching. For it was not his simple intent to praise, but rather, through the things for which he praises, to reveal the exact nature of the dogma. *Bar-jona*, that is, Son of Jonah. Why then does he introduce the mention of a parent for the sake of praise? Because, he says, "Since you have called me the Son of God, learn of my nature from your own. For just as you, being man, are of man, so I bear a nature of the same kind toward my own Father." *Simon, son of Jonah.* A relationship of nature that is indistinguishable. "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." For this is what the argument concerning his essence demands. Thou art the Christ, the One who holds the name *from the dispensation*. For He who clothed Himself in the anointed form of a servant, together with what was carried, also assumed the name attached to it. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, as bearing the identity of essence with the One who begat Him; but Christ, as wearing a garment anointed by the Spirit. Now the former *[title, Son of God]* sets forth his essence, while the latter *[Christ]* brings in along with the One who wears it, that which is worn. Yet the creature is not by nature mingled with the Uncreated, nor is the ingenerate essence composed by nature with the generate; the Son is uncreated, He *has* the creature as a temple; the Son is uncreated, He bears the flesh through the dispensation, as a purple robe worn, inseparable, and filling Him. For that which is worn does not become a member or a part of the One who wears it; ^B for the Divine is partless and devoid of a generate nature. Having termed this confession a Rock, Christ names the one who made the confession Peter, regarding the name as a token of the confession. For this is the true rock of religion, this is the foundation of salvation, this is the wall of faith, this is the foundation of truth; "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. iii, 11). To Him be the glory and the power unto the ages of ages. Amen. ^C

NOTES OF CL. DAUSQUEIUS

(9) *He joined in searching* (συνεξερεύγετο). Read γ, and write συνεξερεύγετο.

(10) *The Son bears the flesh by dispensation*. Preferably: *He maintains the economy, according to the economy*.

(11) *Not a member, nor a part*. The term *member* is carried further here than *part*: for a member is an arrangement of a part strictly bound by certain figures; whence in the Odyssey, *dias* is used, which Plautus translates as *deartuare*. It is also attributed to congeneric parts; whence "fine-parted fire" is spoken of, and Lucretius, book I: *Now let us examine the "homoeomery" of Anaxagoras,* *Which the Greeks recount, though our own tongue does not* *Allow us to speak of it, for lack of native words.* I observe that Anaxagoras in several places calls parts (*mere*) and portions (*moria*), provided that the term for member and part remains. — *Lib. De resurrectione*: Knowing these things beforehand, I find that M. Antoninus the Emperor philosophized in the same way in his book vii, *Of His Own Life*, where he stimulates everyone to duty by the sting of this thought: inasmuch as you consider yourself only a part, and not a member; for the fellowship of member with member is more excellent than the coupling of part with part. Yet this distinction is not perpetual, not even in Basil himself in several places.

ORATION XXVI

^A 1. A shepherd is a pleasant thing, pasturing flocks of sheep in the mountains, and stirring the flocks toward pasture with the sound of a pipe; he is one who takes delight in the melodies of the reed, and who is prepared against the incursions of wild beasts, being armed against them with a club and weapons. Such is this great shepherd of the flock of Christ. For while he nourishes the flocks with the melodies of piety, he does not neglect the weapons that serve for the overthrow of impiety. Indeed, chanting those things which are of the Spirit, he also takes up arms against wolves. For he rejoices to see the flock increasing, yet he has prepared himself so that no wolf—that is, a heretic—might devour a sheep, having corrupted its soul with a narrative of unbelief; rather, he offers the care he has assumed for the flock as a gift to the heavenly Shepherd. ^B Thus Abel, the first who shepherded, came into the admiration of the Creator of the sheep, and God gladly accepted the sacrifice of the shepherd, esteeming the intention more than the animal offering, and He repaid the worship with the acceptance of the honor, and in turn rendered back honor to the one who sacrificed. Scripture also admires Jacob, who pastured the sheep of Laban, as he recounts the labors endured for the sake of the flock: "By day," he says, "and by night I was burned by the heat and the frost." I was known, he says, by the endurance of nocturnal rigor and the burning heat of the day. And as if standing in battle fighting, he provided security for the sheep. To a man so laborious, God, by means of the colors of the animals he had pastured, assigned the tablet of remuneration. Moses, too, was a shepherd in the mountains^C.

of Midian, and became a curator of the sheep of Jethro, having preferred, after the kingdom of Egypt, rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin. ^A And God, wondering at his choice, showed him as a reward for his intent His own manifestation, and intervened in the vision for the spectator, with the fire resting harmlessly upon the bush and the flowers. And after this vision, he did not cease to tend the sheep; but, holding the staff, he commanded the elements, and a voice, carried through a fellow-servant, tended Israel. David, too, the psalmist of the Spirit, tended sheep while he was a youth, and was armed as a shepherd of sheep against wolves; and the mouth of the lion yielded to the sheep, and the wisdom of the shepherd snatched what had been seized from the teeth of the beast. But the flock did not prevent the throne, nor did the sheep hinder the kingdom; but the rod was changed into a scepter, and a diadem succeeded it; and Samuel anointed him, and grace ran along with it, and the Spirit of grace was poured out together with the oil, and Goliath was seized, struck by shepherd’s stones; for grace cast the stone with him, and the Spirit cooperated in the throw, and the shepherd of sheep was a soldier of the Spirit, and Israel was snatched like some sheep from the teeth of Goliath; for David struck Goliath with the same things with which he used to cast down the wild beasts. And do not marvel if, before God, shepherds also are of some account; for God is not ashamed to shepherd men. For, “The Lord shepherds me, and nothing will be wanting to me.” And again: “Thou who shepherdest Israel, attend, Thou who leadest Joseph like a sheep.” For it does not irk God to shepherd men; for those whom He fashions, He is not ashamed of. But the Pharisees were not such shepherds; those appointed to shepherd ^B became the slaughterers of the flocks. Therefore, God sharpened the tongues of the prophets against them, Himself resounding through them, and saying: “Son of man, prophesy, and say: O shepherds of Israel, do not the shepherds shepherd themselves?”

Do not the shepherds shepherd the sheep? Behold, you eat the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the fat, and you do not shepherd my sheep? The infirm you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and the broken you have not bound up; and you have not brought back that which had strayed; and that which was ill you have not brought to life, and you have accomplished [thy work] with labor.” ^B 2. But such indeed are these, wolves in their manner, awaited by the punishments of wolves. We, however, let us look to our Shepherd, Christ. Let us observe His art, full of humanity and gentleness, which surpasses even the placidity of sheep. He rejoices in those present, and seeks that which wanders. He does not refuse to traverse glens and forests; He goes around precipices; and He shares in the wandering of the one wandering. And if He finds it suffering, He does not hate it because of its manner, but pities it because of its distress; and, placing His shoulders beneath it, He treats the sheep’s pain with His own labor; and He rejoices in the toil, reckoning the finding of the sheep as a relief for his weariness. For who, He says, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go to that which was lost, until He finds it? For the destruction of the one removes the joy of those being saved, and the grief for the one cuts short the joy for the whole. And as He goes about, He weeps, proclaiming His unquenchable longing, saying: “Where is my beloved sheep? Where is the most beautiful of the flock?” I do not so much rejoice in those present, as I am consumed by the absence of one; by what means shall I put an end to its wandering? Let it only appear, and let it mount upon my shoulders. For having found it, He says, He places it ^C upon His shoulders rejoicing; and having come to the house, He calls together His friends and neighbors, saying: “Rejoice with me."

^A From the very beginning, sympathy and the great joy of the find healed the sorrow. Christ, being such a shepherd, rightly cried out: “I am the good shepherd.” For I am He who strengthens that which is weak, and heals that which is sick, and binds that which is fractured, and brings back that which is wandering, and seeks that which is lost. I saw the flock of Israel captive to diseases; I saw it becoming a lodging-place for demons; I saw it being torn by demons as if by wolves; and what I saw, I did not overlook. From there, I snatched away him who had withered his hand, seized by his affliction just as one is by a wolf; from there, I saved her who was suffering a shipwreck of blood, as if in the waves of a womb; from there, I set free her who was imprisoned by fever; from there, I dissolved the long imprisonment of the paralytic; from there, I taught him who was sightless from the womb to see after the womb; from there, I drew up Lazarus, who had been held in the tomb for four days. The other one had become a home for demons and a fellow-lodger of the dead; but I delivered him from both, for he was resting in tombs and possessed by demons. For I am the Good Shepherd, not those Pharisees who envy the sheep; not those who consider the benefits ^B of the flock to be their own punishment; not those who mourn the dissolution of sufferings and lament the departure of diseases. A dead man rose, and a Pharisee mourns; a paralytic was healed, and scribes were lamenting; a blind man obtained sight, and the council was indignant; a leper was set free, and the priests were complaining. O shepherds who are nourished by the sufferings of the flock, and who consider calamity to be a delicacy! I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his soul for the sheep. Pilate knew the shepherd; the Jews knew Him who was being crucified for the flock. The gatherings of the prophets also knew these things, when, before the passion, they announced whatever of bitterness was to come: “As a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth.” The shepherd is slaughtered for the sheep as a sheep; not speaking against the passion, not holding back the judgment, not destroying those who were crucifying Him; for the passion was not a matter of necessity, but by His own will He accepted the death for the sake of the sheep: “I have power to lay down my soul, and I have power ^D to take it up again.” He dissolved suffering with suffering; He cured... [alt-version omitted]

calamity, and by death cures death; he empties the tomb, pulls out the nails, and undermines ^A the foundations of hell. So long did death hold its empire, as long as Christ accepted death; so long were the graves heavy, and the prison indissoluble, until the Shepherd descended and brought the good news of liberation to the sheep already captive. He was seen by those in the underworld, acting as a token of return; he was seen by those there, renewing the recall from hell to life. "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." In this way he seeks to be loved by the sheep in return. And one loves Christ when one does not heedlessly accept his voice. The shepherd knows how to separate the goats from the sheep. "For all the nations will be gathered," he says, "before him, and he will separate them from one another, just as the good shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left." Then the king will say to those at his right: "Come, you blessed of my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." What compensation is this invitation? "For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me; I was naked, and you clothed me." ^B For what you provide to my own, you cultivate for me. I am, for their sake, naked, and a guest, and a wanderer, and a pauper; the gift belongs to them, but the grace is mine. I am afflicted by their supplications. Before the judgment, bribe the Judge. Offer him occasions to exercise benevolence; suggest to him the materials for forgiveness. Let us not await his hostile voices: "Then he will say to those on the left: Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels." What crimes, therefore, condemn us with the devil? "For I was hungry, and you did not give me food; I was thirsty, and you did not give me drink; I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me; I was naked, and you did not clothe me." Who despises his own shepherd when he is hungry? Who scorns the naked one who will soon be judge? Who condemns the judge of the universe to thirst? ^C Christ knows how to be captured by the hands and gifts of the poor; he knows how to remit long punishments with a small gift. Let us extinguish the fire with mercy; let us avert the threats cast against us by the observation of mutual friendship; let us open the bowels of mercy to one another, gratifying ourselves, just as God did in Christ. To him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

ORATION XXVII. The Same, on the Olympia.

^D 1. Pleasant is the passing of time, and fearful. Pleasant, because it creates in men the persuasion that they may enjoy it; fearful, because it quietly brings along the reckonings of one's past life. For life is a contest for men, and the Creator is the umpire, distributing to each, after his life is finished, a fitting end: weaving crowns for virtue, but preparing judgment for vicious ways. For not in vain does man

teach the creation to pay tribute, nor was the entire world commanded to serve his uses without cause. For if you speak of the sun, it has been ordered to run its course for this reason; the earth has been commanded to bear fruit for man; the sea has been smoothed for his journeys; the air, stirred by its own breezes, carries them aloft, so that man, enjoying the creation, may see the Creator, and respond with gratitude to the One who bestowed these gifts. ^A But if man, having indulged in the gifts of the creation, looks past the Creator with a perverse mind, and gladdens the devil by doing what is pleasing to him, and flees from his Benefactor, while running to the one who wars against Him—what sort of end is this? Let the guilty one himself be the judge. For the confession of the matter is so great that even the adversary, now himself a defendant, must yield to the truth. For everyone has within himself, even against his will, an accusing conscience. ^B What is the intention of my speech? You know it thoroughly, even if I do not disclose it; you know my purpose and my aim. Once again, the season has brought forth a panegyris—that mother of miseries—a ruinous feast for those who celebrate it, a delectable poison of death, an amusement that brings about destruction, a pleasure that is a path to Gehenna, a machine of impiety for pious souls, a Hellenism hidden behind the mask of Christianity, so that those who carry the seal of Christ may dance for the devil. For what other thing is the Olympic contest ^C than a festival of demons insulting the Cross? O intolerable evils! Those whom the Cross had liberated, the devil captures again; those whom Christ freed with His blood, the tyrant shows off as captives once more. He shudders at the power of the Cross, but he makes the disciples of the Crucified his own lovers. He is a certain adulterer, and is so named even by his own worshippers, acting out the guise of temperance, while he lures the soldiers of Christ toward an unseemly spectacle—or rather, he arms them for a war against the Creator. He feigns chastity, but drags them toward intemperance; he pretends to hunt down harlots, and puts on the guise of purity, not desiring temperance, but ^D a slower path to the female, raging all the more fiercely against the masculine nature, and what nature commanded to be hidden, these he shamelessly displays before the eyes of all in the theater. Such is his most trivial amusement, and one hostile to gravity, displayed brazenly before the eyes of all.

^A Pleasure without restraint, and the destruction of gravity! And the accusers of the actions that take place there are the pious, ^B who denounce in their own writings what their god is not ashamed to perform. How many poets’ tongues sing of his adulteries! And after this, they denounce the madness regarding Ganymede. He, so pure, commands gravity to Christ’s multitudes, and—supposedly—persecutes women. Why do you do these things under the pretext of temperance? Why do you drive away the chaste women along with the profligate? But if you utterly abhor them, ^C why do you once again entrust the feigned decree of tranquility to a woman’s voice, and, having raised the maiden on high, command her to sing tragical, war-loving peace, and whet the hearers for war? For what kind of battle is left out after that voice? What part of the city is free from war? They are smitten with hatred and love; ^D with demonic hatred and treacherous love they are driven against one another; and the city, which was previously adorned with concord, is torn in its mind against itself. Strangers are hated by these, and desired by those, and again the ranks are turned against one another by each side, and no remnant of peace is left with anyone; but war is against all, unyielding from all. For, armed with the love of strangers, they look upon former friends as antagonists; and those whom they previously called brothers, they abhor as enemies. And the souls, seditious in every way against one another, expend the time of their life in war and battle, as if in a night-battle they arm themselves against one another. “Tranquility,” he says, “in the world”: it was an appeal for peace, but actions of war were performed. No youth respects an elder, nor does an elder, blushing at the gray hairs he wears, refrain from clashing with the youth; there is no high station held in reverence by those who look on; no poor man is constrained by poverty. Long ago, the Prophet, proclaiming these things with lamentations, cried out: “The child shall strike against the honorable” [Isa. III, 5]. He anticipates time with his word, so that he might bridle the way of life. Thus the demon stirs everyone to frenzy against one another; thus the devil makes the city of the faith a place of madness and a workshop of impiety. And the prize for all these things is a crown of leaves, a matter of dishonor.

^A And it produces fruit, but the fruit it bears is punishment; and for the sake of the shadow of leaves, this entire war is blown up. And tongues are armed for blasphemy, and the Creator of all is struck by the insults they hurl at one another through blasphemy; and anger, bursting forth, sends words up to heaven. What groaning is this worthy of, even up to the unbelievers, for such a kind of calamity? ^B

Oration XXVII

2. But indeed, these things are the religion of the Greeks, the exercise of the Jews, who through imitation lead those who perceive them toward the impiety of idolatry. Woe is me for the labor pains! The disease even touches the sheep of Christ. And those who have been honored with the seal of Christ, and the sons of the baptismal font of the Spirit, embrace the devil’s net; and the children of grace dance together with the demons who are enemies of grace; ^C and he whose feet are accustomed to dance with the Greeks is a worshiper of the sacrifice of Christ, not listening to Paul who cries out: "For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?" (II Cor. vi, 14-16). If, while you are watching the spectacles that should not even be seen, you were snatched away by death (for death, as you yourselves know, steals away the living, and not even the end knows a set deadline), in what order would Christ place you? In the order of the Greeks? But you carry about the symbol of the faith. In the order of the believers? But how will he do this for one who dances together with the Greeks? But perhaps these words seem like chatter to the heedless, and the voice of those who instruct like nonsense, and the words of exhortation a subject for laughter. But if we were inexperienced in divine wrath, perhaps infidelity might have an excuse; but if we have already reaped the first fruits of the coming wrath and look upon the city that once vied with the sun’s rays in beauty, now laid low upon the ground; if we are not instructed by the things we see, I fear we shall fall into those things we do not see. How many have our circumstances made wise! The report of our evils has gone out into all the earth, and as the report ran like thunder, the inhabitants of the world were struck with amazement and terror, and having taken up mourning, they turned toward good sense, and by the fear caused by that report, they walled off the paths of wickedness. Shall we, therefore, have our own punishment be without fruit, and shall our reasoning remain unbridled and prompt toward malice? Shall we [ignore] the most humane Lord?

[continued from previous page] ...are we bringing [our] reasoning *against* evil? Let us not force the philanthropic Master to greater indignation. Let us not prepare the Benefactor, who yearns for us, to become occupied with striking; for if we pursue those things He does not wish, we shall certainly participate in those things we do not wish. Let us not, by honoring the devil with diabolical wonders ^A becoming heirs of the devil. Let us turn our mind away from diabolical amusements. We have renounced the devil; let us not again technically enlist with him. We have enlisted with Christ; let us not again demonically renounce Him. Brief is this life, beloved, and death [comes] once, and the calamities of cities are before our eyes. Let us flee the ancient adversary of mankind; and let us run to Christ, who is always philanthropic. For is it not the case that for people, the ranks are limited only to the present life? ^B A reckoning awaits us, and a judgment that cannot be perverted, and a fearful judge, either calling us to the kingdom or casting us into Gehenna. Whatever portion we choose for ourselves here, that is the possession we must necessarily enter into there: whatever lot we make for ourselves here, that we shall undoubtedly enjoy there. Let us flee eternal darkness, let us love the heavenly kingdom; let us flee the unsleeping worm; let us run toward the crowns of incorruption. Let us flee unquenchable fire; let us take refuge with the good and philanthropic Master. These things we say, these things we advise, ^C these things we proclaim with Paul: Let us walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called in Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

ORATION XXVIII

1. The Lord God deals with the human race through multiform calling, opening many paths to salvation, overcoming the manifold minds of men. And just as the best of physicians weave various methods by which they conquer diseases, so the good Creator of men, ^D [seeing] the voluntary diseases of the souls...

Himself provides various medicines of philanthropy, working the salvation of each through each one. If He sees a tax collector defiled by the gains of tax collecting, He gives a remedy that purges the will; if He sees a shape trafficking in pleasures, He transforms the passion into a love that is truly divine; if He sees a thief regretting his former life, He draws him through faith; if He sees a persecutor raging in ignorance, He ensnares him through a flash of lightning; if He sees a faithful soldier, He draws him through mercy. One man, having adorned his members with virginity, has appeared more precious to the Maker; another, having fallen in love with gentleness, is admired for his study of the sacred Scriptures; another, armed with divine zeal, has secured the Creator as his praiser. But even if the modes of salvation are various, the ornament of humility is appropriate for all; with it, temperance is admired, and faith becomes more lovable, and justice more pure, and the fruit of mercy more true; and repentance is then believed to be genuine, when it is yoked to humility. For this reason, the leaders of the saints, whenever they are deemed worthy of things beyond nature, then they look most especially toward humility. The creature therefore once conversed with God, and discourse was sent back and forth like a response from ^B equality, and it was possible to see an extraordinary thing: a tongue made of clay daring to speak heavenly things, and God not hesitating to respond to one on earth; for such are the gains of humility—it raises men to the height and persuades God to converse with men. When, therefore, Abraham prefixed to his own words: "I am dust and ashes" (Gen. XVIII, 27), then most especially, by the acknowledgment of his nature, he transcended the limits of nature according to his worth. Thus also Moses, the successor of the virtues of Abraham, honored by the discourse with God, cast himself down as vile: "I am slow of speech and slow of tongue" (Exod. IV, 10). For as much as one restrains [their] pride, by that much [they] draw in grace; and the force of humility becomes the measure of the increase of grace. For even the Creator of men, as something becoming to Him in power, adopts humility, and having hidden His divinity, puts on the form of a servant. ^C For this reason, Paul also urges the hearers with the example according to Christ: "Think this," he says, "in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. II, 5). Christ also inculcates this in the Gospels, training His disciples in various ways: sometimes crying out, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matt. V, 3), who have hated the arrogance of their ways, promising the wealth of heaven as the fruit of such poverty; at other times, "For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled," and "he who humbles himself shall be exalted" (Luke XIV, 11). ^D

^A bant, not yet fixed in the minds of the disciples. But after they brought forward words about the kingdom, by the very mention of the kingdom they stirred up desire. Then the disciples approached and asked, saying: "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (Matt. XVIII, 1). The desire for the kingdom gave birth to an affection, and the desire for first place, and the proof of that affection, is the question: "Who then is the greatest?"

2. Do not be surprised if the speech of the disciples is enslaved to passions; for, being humans, grace gathered them as its own disciples, so that, having recognized your nature, you might also change your ways, just as they did; and since they were humans, it made them teachers of humans, so that by the similarity of error it might show them to be forgiving instructors, and that by the sharing of passions they might add human kindness to their teaching. For this reason, by a gradual exercise, they are led toward the minds of more perfect ones, so that they might learn to teach as they were taught before. Thus, once upon a time, regarding Peter, who had denied the Lord through fear of a girl, He let go of the rebuke and granted pardon, teaching how one must bear with those who err: "Peter," He says, "do you love Me?" "You," he says, "know that I love you." "Feed my sheep" (John XXI, 17). Did you perceive the weakness of your own infirmity? Did you recognize the slip of your arrogance? Have you been taught by experience not to trust in yourself? Have you recognized the boundaries of nature? Have you learned how grace is necessary everywhere? Grant the pardon of which you know you yourself have had need. Do not hold in low regard the remedy of repentance, the rock of which you have admired: "Feed my sheep."

^B Thus, therefore, even now they approached and asked: "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" What then does the Savior do? He bears with the offense and corrects their character; for, avoiding a direct answer, He proceeds to an admonition, and He corrects their childish reasoning with childish examples. For, calling a child ^C and setting him in their midst, He said to them: "Unless you are converted and become as a little child, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. XVIII, 1–2). A sight strange to the business at hand. Being asked who is greater, He stands a child in the midst and deems the question unworthy of an answer? For it is the manner of the Lord not so much to look at what is asked as to meet the characters of those who ask. ^D A Pharisee, therefore, someone or other, burning with the disease of avarice and seeing a multitude of miracles, is drawn by the love of increasing his own wealth, and as a disguised disciple he approaches the Lord, so that, having learned the art of miracles, he might turn miracles into a profitable trade. "I will follow you," he says, "wherever you go" (Matt. VIII, 19).

^A The Lord answers not to the words but to the intention, training his conduct by his discourse. "Foxes," he says, "have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." Why do you feign a desire for miracles, when you are mastered by the love of money? Why, seeking riches, have you come to the Lawgiver of poverty? Miracles are not increased by money. Consider me, the worker of miracles, poorer than the birds. Gold is not gathered from miracles, nor is this our field for wondrous gain. In this same way now, he does not answer the disciples' question, but counsels those who ask him what is fitting.

^B "Who, then, is greatest?" Why, he says, do you demand from me a premature decision about the future? Do you attempt to force me to set up a tribunal before the right time? Why do you furtively snatch, through your questioning, at the throne of judgment? The time is for exhortation, not for judgment; the time is for contests, not for the rewarding of the contestants. Why do you struggle to force me now, before the contests, to become the judge? Let me first see the labor, and then I will offer the crown; let me see the works, and then I will decree the merit and honor. "Unless you turn and become like children." Why do you contend for primacies, having abandoned the care and the way of obtaining the heavenly kingdom? Why, not yet having grasped your calling, do you aspire to reach the first place? This alone is the way to the heavenly kingdom, this is the ladder: "Unless you turn and become like children"—not that you should force your nature to bend back, nor that you should prepare to call back the age already passed contrary to the order of nature, nor that you should teach the course of time to run in reverse; but change your ways, not the times.

^C Nicodemus, therefore, who came by night for instruction, drawing to himself a helper, the disciple of the night who healed his fear with darkness, having at one time heard from the Savior: "Unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven" (John III, 5), sets up nature as the opponent of the times and takes refuge in time, not considering the grace. "And how can a man," he says, "when he is old, enter into his mother's womb?" Look, O Nicodemus, at the reasons of grace; it knows how to refashion even the old and to grant birth to the aged. But the birth that comes from nature spreads out the earth beneath the one born; but the pangs of grace ^D enroll the one born in heaven. Do not, I pray, you also, O disciples, imitate the words of Nicodemus, nor hold to his unbelieving speeches: "How can we become children? How can we undergo nature's return again?" Do you wish to become children? Imitate the character of children, take up a simple manner of life. They have no voice regarding status, they do not covet the first place, they do not suffer from this sickness, they do not know of the flourishing nobility of parents, they do not boast in vain pride over riches, nor over the abundance of ancestral honors. Furthermore, they are accustomed to those who are of the same age with them: you will see master and servant conversing together in all things.

^A You will see a poor child and a rich one, having no knowledge of their mutual difference—no difference in seating, no shift in education. Rather, their nature still remains pure from passion, free of malice in inclination, and their will free from craftiness. Their reason is a stranger to wickedness; their soul is unpracticed in vice; for time has not yet swelled their reason, nor has it yet generated a sense of money; they have not yet learned to delight in the flowers of nobility, nor has their hearing yet been struck by ancestral achievements. They are not yet stained by the passions of rank; they do not yet deem any created thing to be of great importance; their nature does not yet revel in honors; their character is not yet hunted by the ambition for glory, but the mint-mark of nature still remains unstamped by adulterate characters. ^B *Unless you turn and become like children.* And, emphasizing the necessity of this advice, He says, *You cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.* Cast away hopes of any other path, and lay aside words of seeking preeminence. For it is not possible to love rank and the kingdom at the same time. The kingdom of heaven casts off an ambitious lover and repels a competitive desire; it is a reward for humility, not a lodging-place for ambition. ^C Is the argument then, O Lord, addressed only to them? Does heaven receive only the apostles, and do You limit the gift to them alone? *Whoever, therefore,* He says, *humbles himself as this little child.* The state of humility is common; the path to the kingdom is common; the imitation of their character draws to itself the possession of the kingdom. For heaven does not admit a proud possessor; it hates that state of mind, even if it feigns a desire for heaven; it hates those ways, even if it lies about loving them. *Whoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.* Why do you inquire about primacy? Take the rule of knowledge, learn the path to dignity: be more submissive in your character, and you shall be crowned by grace.

4. Why then, O Lord, do You command us to be children in truth in our character; and what is the fruit of this childlike intent? *Whoever receives one such child in my name,* He says, *receives me.* I share My honor with him, I define My own care in these. For he who cares for them for My sake, embraces Me lovingly through them; let them look for the honors of Him whose commands they embrace. ^D What, then, if they be savage in their ways? By the savagery of those so disposed, He exercises their gentleness, while providing material for malice. If they assail with insults, if they inflict lashes, what kind of remedy for their injustice will there be for them? *Whoever,* He says, *shall cause to stumble*

"Whoever, he says, shall scandalize one of these little ones who believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone be hung about his neck and he be drowned in the depth of the sea ^A. For those whose honors I deem my own, their insults I do not pass over; for punishment will follow the reviling. He who carries a millstone bound to his neck and is thrown into the deep, by the swiftness of death escapes the sensation of punishment; but he who has sinned against my little ones receives a penalty that has no end. Let us therefore embrace the gentleness of words which Christ has so terribly fortified with walls. Let us cherish the plant of humility, whose fruit is heaven. Let us flee the lofty mind, which is prone to falling. Let us be nourished by the prophetic voices, which say: A broken and humbled heart, God will not despise ^B. Let us believe him who says: He that exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted; to whom be glory forever. Amen.

ORATION XXIX

1. The kings of the earth, having subdued the army of their enemies, force those who resisted into a more hateful slavery and compel the captive to lower his spirit, exacting penalties for his audacity through a change in his way of life. But Christ, the true King, having by the laws of war and the wisdom of the economy overcome the tyranny of the devil, calls to freedom those who had thought against the Lord under him, and summons them to the enjoyment of his kingdom; with a calm gaze, with outstretched hands, and beckoning toward himself, and with humanitarian voices he draws them, saying: "Come unto me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you." Having become a sea of humanity, he inundates everyone with abundant waters. "Come unto me, all you that labor," you who had fortified the line of the devil against me, enjoy my goods and delights with me; you who have been worn out by the wars you incited against me, finding rest when I grant it, exchange the diabolic servitude for my kingdom. He wearied you for the arrays against me; the Enemy armed you with the violation of the law, clothed you in the panoply of impiety, wrapped around you a breastplate defiled by slaughter, bound your hands with the arrows of iniquity, stirred up ^D your waves toward libidinous actions, recruited you for the service of idols, cut you down with internecine wars, and there was no respite for you who were fighting against me. But behold, I am present, calling to you: "Come unto me, all you that labor and are burdened." This ancient law of humanity went round the ages of men. For unless God had from the beginning set the shield of clemency before his own; never would nature,

having begun from disobedience, have advanced; but it would have remained until the first. ^A He fashioned Adam, drawing him forth with His hands, having fashioned for him a body from the earth, and having created an immortal soul from nothing; He invested him with the marks of royal dominion; He gave him the paradise of delight as a dwelling; He placed the herds of animals beneath his feet; He gave him the power of forging names as if they were his own possessions, and He brought forth the natures of the beasts, which had not existed. Adam attached the appellation to the things fashioned. And God indeed brought them forth by command; but he adorned the things brought forth with names, and shared in the honor of the Creator by the zeal of ordering the creation. ^B And paradise became a bridal chamber, and the bride was produced from his ribs; and God was found to be the Groomsman of those fashioned, joining the pairs in marriage by the laying on of His hands, and He made those fashioned into parents of the nature, and a root of the plant for men, from which the race sprouted. What then is the limit of such beneficence? The one who had been honored did not honor the Benefactor by the abstaining from one plant; but he endured the devil speaking words against God, and became a listener to words by which the Creator of the world was disparaged with the opinion of being a plotter, and the hand that touched the food, which was reserved for God alone, made that rashness manifest. Such a bold deed, therefore, demanded the ultimate punishment. But Adam, struck by conscience, confirmed the condemnation by flight; and not enduring to see God with upright eyes, he fled and hid himself. What then? The Lord, having suddenly appeared, showed Himself more merciful than was hoped for, and rendered to him the voice of a father, not of a judge. ^C "Adam, I seek my object of honor, the living statue of my own dignity. I know the machinations of the devil against you; I know the envy, by which, being wounded, you have fallen from your boldness of speech; he showed him an ignoble fugitive who was honored by the fellowship of God; and the image which I had set in the midst of creation, this he caused to flee and hid by means of the middle plant; he pierced it with the darts of deception, he laid upon it the burden of transgression, he taught it to wage war against the Author of good, he showed one who was a servant of piety to have been made a slave of sin. But only appear, and accept the healing of the one who troubles you; receive the medicine for your fall in repentance." Where are you?

^D 2. Such were His words when speaking to one who had fallen. Now, however, He extends the words of His philanthropy to the whole generation of men: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened." Rightly, "All." Let no one condemn the Lord for a narrow utterance; with me there is an unfailing fountain of philanthropy, and one capable of sweeping away every form of sin. How many provoke me with daily transgressions! How many do injury to my laws by the enticements of their sins! One pursues the seizure of monies; another weaves deceits to...

^A plunder justice; another gathers wealth from perjury; another, while harboring in his soul an intent to kill another, flatters with his tongue; another aims the arrow of envy at his neighbor; another glories in doing harm, and regards injustice as power. But, "Come, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." Only turn toward me, and adorn yourselves with healing. With you are the sins, with me are the cures; with you are the wounds, with me are the medicines. I seek only repentance, and I heal the ulcer. Show me a change of behavior, and obtain the removal of your grief. The Law of Moses, indeed, sharpens the sword for every transgression, and fear stands as its co-assessor with death, and it immediately launches the stones of the curse. It accepts no sharing in a fault, turns away from the tears of repentance, and destroys the transgressor together with his transgression. But I hate the sin, yet I have mercy on the sinner who repents; and if I see tears flowing, I remit the debt. What I see, I overlook, looking toward the change of character; I cross out the present offense, hoping for the future achievement, and with the later deeds I wipe away the former. "For learn from me," he says, "for ^B I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." For I search out the disposition, and I seek the intention, and I define justice by the sole desire of the soul. I know how to grant pardon even to involuntary acts, and I dismiss offenses that arise from ignorance. The prophet David enjoyed such philanthropy of mine, anticipating by experience the time of grace, he who, having let his reasoning slip for a moment, was wounded by the devil with the arrow of adultery. For this reason the Law threatened punishment, and was sharpening its sword against the prophet; for the Law does not know how to weigh a transgression by intention, but judges only the visible crime, not showing respect for a multitude of prior good deeds ^C, which it considers only as what has been committed. It vindicates. He heard, "Come to me, all you who labor,"

and run, thinking that that voice was uttered for his own sake. I am one of those, he says, who are burdened by the loads of the publicans; I go under your yoke, I kiss your net. And the publican became an expiation for [other] publicans. Nor did the efficacy of Christ’s voice stop there. As a wide seine, spread out into the broad sea, turns the shoals of fish from every side, so too the crowds of sinners run into the saving seine of that voice. For many, he says, were publicans and sinners reclining with Jesus ^B as he cried out: *Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened.* I am not cramped by the multitude itself, I do not grow weary; come, I shall receive you all. The sea of my kindness is not so small that it is reduced to a narrow place, even though the torrents of the wicked flood into it. I possess the world as a place of rest. For the Lord's voice cannot remain ineffectual: *Come to me, all you that labor.* The choir of the apostles obtained the inheritance of this voice; having this in their hands, they did not inflate a trumpet, but made heaven accessible to men. That voice pervaded whole lands; the calling occupied islands; without force cities were captured, provinces flocked to it, Greece surrendered as booty, barbarity admitted that voice, kings adored, emperors subjected their necks to the yoke, peoples made that voice their own, idols collapsed, altars were overturned, demons fled, yielding their place to the voice. Was there anyone a little while before who worshiped demons? As soon as he submitted to the yoke of Christ, he appeared formidable even to the idolaters. O voice, which set up a certain common trophy over ^C humanity! O voice, fountain of salvation! O Word that captured the earth by a single assent! O prayer that cleanses the world! O Word, that confirmed the things of the Word on account of the Word! Let us share in this voice; with the fruit of good things let us follow the rest of the saints, according to the words of Christ: *Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you:* to whom be glory and empire, forever and ever. Amen.

ORATION XXX

^D 1. The wise among physicians then manifest the wonder of their art, not when they subdue the affliction with iron and fire after the manner of war, but when, by soothing the aching part with mild medicines, they skillfully

^A restrain the harsher precepts of their art, and having lulled the pain with a mild and familiar regimen, show the patient free from the ailment. Thus the all-wise physician and King, our Lord Jesus Christ, beholding the world laboring under the disease of impiety and inflamed with worldly deceptions toward idol-mania, does not release a rain of fire from heaven, nor command the waves of the sea to make an assault upon the dry land, nor arm the violence of the elements against impiety; but He persuades with miracles, and draws with acts of kindness, and with heavenly words He changes the inflamed passions of the soul. Indeed, He chooses even disciples of the lowest value, and trusts the healing of the world to their hands and tongues. For, walking, He says, by the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, ^B casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen; and He says to them: Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they, having left their nets, followed Him. O truly great counsel, and immortal wisdom! Desiring to teach men a foreign thing, and a new doctrine, and a polity brought down from heaven, and seeking suitable ministers of such doctrines, He looked past cities, He wrote off peoples, He turned aside from the service of kingdoms, He loathed the powers of wealth, He hated the might of rhetoricians, He did not desire the tongues of philosophers. He traversed nations, and chose neither the equipment of arms, nor the dexterity of hands, nor the swiftness of feet for running. And why do I recount the advantages of men? Leaving the orders of angels to pursue their perpetual rest, He went about the harbors, and rivers, and shores, and workshops, having decreed to borrow from these the ministers of His doctrine. And standing by, He exhorted them, saying: Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. You, He says, I have come to hunt. I seek fishermen, not kings; I exhort sailors, not dynasts: cease engaging in a struggle with the soulless sea; transfer to Me on the dry land your art of hunting. The earth contains a sea of impiety. There, having cast your nets for Me, catch a prey of piety. Come after me, my disciples, and teachers of the world; grant Me your art to be used for the commerce of heaven ^C and of the skies. A sea of idolatry is poured out; the creation is covered by a cloud of polytheism; an abyss of impiety inundates all things; mortals have been drenched by demonic waves; the world gives off the stench of blood, and is defiled by mortal sacrifices. I will appoint fishermen for them to act as physicians. The state of affairs itself calls for your art; let us provide a saving medicine for the creation that is in danger. Come after me. And they, having left the nets, followed Him. The band of disciples, running together with the desire of the Master, followed Him. For they did not deem the calling to be something imaginary, ^D nor

did the magnitude of the promise make their hopes to tremble, nor did it force them to utter such words to the Master: Why do you mock us, O man, who struggle with the waves? Why do you ridicule our toil with words of laughter? You see us working the sea, our very craft proclaims how despicable we are, and you say: "Come, I will make you fishers of men"? tell us, with what profusion of riches poured out before the faces of men shall we win them over? Or are we to show them torn nets, and hook the nations like wild beasts? Using what tongue, with what ornament of speech shall we ensnare the hearer? Or shall we handle the souls of kings with nautical terms? We have practiced our art for fish, not for men. They said nothing of the kind, they pondered nothing of the kind, but in very truth, having been pierced by the hook of the Word, they followed the speaking Master, and were taught the manner of fishing within themselves. They were learning to fish, and what they were about to perform, they first experienced in deed. He said: Come, and they followed as they were called. O proof of words by means of deeds! Come: I will weave the bait into your words; I will turn nations and cities by your voices; I shall make you the first-fruits of my net. For I myself perform the work in you and through you. It was permitted me to use kings as ministers; it was permitted me to draw the tongues of orators to be dispensers of the doctrine; I could have entrusted the proclamation to the ranks of the angels; but then the splendor of the servants would seize for itself the glory and the fame. For from the reputation of him who performs a task, the power of those who serve it detracts something hidden. I refuse the service of riches, lest, if they contribute their labor, they might diminish so wondrous a work. You I find to be faithful guardians of my miracles. For in those who possess no human advantage, the power of the Godhead is kept more intact. For thus even a soldier is admired when he uses worthless arms for victory. For excellence wishes to share the glory of the achievement with the one who achieves it. Let the words of infidelity be checked, let the tongue be stopped, having no room for calumny. Let no impious man say, when he sees countries and cities together fleeing of their own accord to the preaching of the Gospel: "How could Christ not persuade? He sent forth most ingenious heralds, He joined souls to himself by the terror of arms, He baited the eyes with the gleaming object of money, He procured consent for Himself by fear, He subjected forces to forces." Stripped of all these, do you refute the sycophants who are bare of accusations. Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. Having left the sea, be a land-fisherman, let the earth be surrounded by nets; be fishers of men. For since men have known the assaults of fish against one another, let them fall into your nets; let them await outcomes equal to those of the fish, for their salvation.

^B With these words, as if they had had their ears pierced by a hook, they followed Him who hunted them of His own will. Bidding a long farewell to their nets and casting off the sea, they followed the signals of the Savior. Having thus been drawn into the nets of Jesus and having become disciples of the most extraordinary fishing, once the Lord had ascended back to heaven, the disciples caught the races of mankind with the nets of grace. First, therefore, they cast their traps against the Jewish assemblies and immediately caught three thousand. Then there was a second cast of the dragnet, and it snatched up five thousand. Perhaps you wish to know the bait they used to catch those five thousand? There was a lame man before the Beautiful Gate, whom nature had deprived of the use of his feet through infirmity, but whom grace gave to be fashioned as it willed. Peter, having fastened him with the hook of faith, made a whole multitude of people captive through his own tongue. That great Cornelius also became prey for this dragnet. Having thus fished among those in Palestine, they brought the art of grace to the islands, casting their nets from the mainland into the sea. They visited Cyprus and occupied Antioch. Pamphylia was subsequently held; Macedonia was laid waste; Thrace ran to them, and Greece was caught together with her eloquence. Rome, having suppressed her diadem, embraced the preaching of the Cross. With very dense order, cities gave themselves up of their own accord as prey to the apostolic nets. They did not cease casting until the circuit of the earth was comprehended by the nets of the Lord. But, oh, these marvelous things that surpass nature! For since the devil was struck by what he saw and could not bear to see salvation so widely diffused, he encompassed the heralds with death, inciting certain harsher fish against the fishermen. Yet they accepted death, nor did they cease from their fishing even when dead; rather, they worked the command of the Lord even after death, and though hidden in the tomb, they did not forget their prey. For even tombs speak when grace so wills. For He is truthful who said: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men"—to Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

ORATION XXXI

On the text: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of sinners."

^D 1. The eagerness of the listeners to hear increases the tension of the tongue, and the custom of the Church, together with the desire to grasp divine teachings, has made the undertaking of the Word more formidable. For this reason, moderating the fear of the Word by proposing a beatitude, the Lord cried out: "Blessed are those who speak to the ears of those who hear," who cast the seed of instruction into fruitful soil.

^A laying up on the threshing floors of the soul the harvest of the soul, heaving together their grain—that is, the fruits of good doctrines—since the present life is a ready storehouse and holds in reserve the enjoyment of rest for those who have labored. For among the Jews, even to prophesy was a thing to be avoided, and to offer counsel was found to be a nuisance to the prophets themselves. “Lord,” he says, “who has believed our report?” Jeremiah, indeed, seized upon a plausible excuse for shrinking from his duty, pleading his age: “I am a child, and I do not know how to speak.” Moses, when called to lead the people, avoided the dignity and resisted it, casting his own vote against himself: “I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” For the refusal of those sent to them proves the stubbornness of the Jewish character. For the race was always God-defying and contrary to divine benefits. Once, they groaned under the slavery in Egypt, and having been delivered from it, they heaped insults upon their deliverer: “Because there were no graves in the land of Egypt, he has led us out to kill us in the desert.” They traversed the sea as if it were a public highway, walking across the deep with dusty feet, and, shouting, they offered thanks to the calf for their worshiping: “These are your gods, O Israel, who led you out of the land of Egypt.” ^B Again, heaven sent down the snowy abundance of manna, and from below they broke out into blasphemies, crying: “Our soul finds no satisfaction in this meager food.” A rock also followed them, which inundated the wilderness with rushing torrents, and the striking of a single rod brought forth frequent fountains of water; but it did not cleanse their ungrateful tongue, they who, even while enjoying the benefit of the water, said: “Since he struck the rock, and waters flowed out, and torrents surged, can he also provide bread?” Again, while they were ignorant of the way, a cloud accompanied them, both to dispel their ignorance and to ward off the burning heat of the sun. A pillar of fire illuminated the night. But, though honored by so many miracles from God, they dishonored him with curses: “Let us appoint for ourselves a leader, and let us return to Egypt.” The air cast down clouds of birds, preparing provisions as if for foreign travelers. For forty whole years, their clothing, though worn, persistently displayed the appearance of new workmanship, overcoming the ravages of time by its nature; at the same time, the need for footwear ^C was renewed along with the clothing.

^A The elements assisted them, for when the sun was taught to delay, it hastened the victory for them in its rapid course: it prolonged the intervals of the day, so that it might produce the trophy for the combatants on that very day; it extended the course, to shorten the time of the victory, or rather it drew out the time, that it might not cause distress to the weary with a victory that outlasted the day. The currents of the Jordan stood still after the sun, and the surge was reined in, giving space to those crossing; and it stood still for the laws ^B of the current, awaiting their passage. Kings were troubled at the report, and cities submitted of their own accord. Jericho, being besieged, cast off the circuit of its walls, as if fleeing its inhabitants and running toward the Israelites. What, then, is the grace of these things? "Let us appoint a captain," they said, "and let us return to Egypt." And the things that followed were more grievous than those that went before: a Moabite idol was worshipped, and the victors worshipped the idols of the conquered; there was a shedding of prophetic blood, a burning of the Mosaic books, an hatred of the religion pleasing to God, and the establishment of demoniacal statues.

2. But these things were ancient and of old. ^C But at the time of the Savior's incarnation, what was their manner? Christ, having compassion on men, came extending a saving hand to the race. They did not change their ways out of reverence for the miracles, but their disposition kept pace with the time of their ancestors, finding its heirs. There were snowfalls of miracles, seas of healings, a flood of all kinds of good things; but they grieved while being benefited, and they proclaimed the poverty of their souls with these words: "What shall we do, for this man does such signs?" Seeing diseases being driven away, they were wounded in their soul by the passion of envy; and the solution of others' calamities became the source of their own mourning. The paralytic was braced, the blind man received his sight, the dead man was raised ^D from the defeat of Hades, yet the physician was blamed. Those freed from demoniacal hands—and to call him who frees them from demons one who is himself possessed by a demon was not [the behavior of sane men].

^A And again, they rehearse the words of those lamenting: "What are we to do, seeing that this man performs such signs?" The character of the Jews is a common plague of nature. Because they could not bear to wait for his passion until the killing, they devised an ignominious death; they plot the cross, and by casting shame because of the miracles upon the violated law, they were serving their own envy. But these things did not escape Christ, who of his own accord underwent the passion, who formerly by the oracles of the prophets had threatened death: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The passion did not escape him who said: "I have power to lay down my soul, and I have power to take it again." For the passion of the incarnate God, while wickedly and audaciously undertaken by the Jews, was ordained by God for salvation.

But the Christ-loving choir of the apostles was failing in spirit ^B at hearing of the passion, and, struck in their souls by his speech, they were tasting the bitterness of the passion beforehand. But the Savior, softening the excess of their grief, tempered the mention of his death with the prediction of his resurrection, and by clothing the passion itself in mysterious words, and by expounding the narration with more deliberation, he rendered it lighter: that, struck by an unforeseen spectacle, their spirits might not be overwhelmed by greater sadness. Wherefore the Savior, sounding forth these words about the passion even before the passion, says: "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of the elders and scribes, and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise again." He shows both the knowledge of the time and that the passion is voluntary. "It was within my power," he says, "to refuse the passion by staying my course, and to avoid the killing by avoiding the place of slaughter; but the time demands the cross, and necessity itself brings forth the passion, and the appointed time is present which seeks the cause of my coming. Therefore I previously refused the casting ^C and striking of stones, awaiting the cross; for that reason I avoided the snares laid around the precipices, because I had come to heal the death brought by Adam on the tree, that, being nailed to the tree, I might remove the access of evils caused by the tree. And the ministers of my passion are the Pharisees, and the scribes, and the elders—the heads of the Law, who, adorned through ambition with the throne of Moses, act in collusion with the devil; who, though they were disciples of the lawgiver, are the armor-bearers of the transgressor. But to you, who are my own, I foretell the passion, and I heal your grief by pre-announcing the resurrection. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man...

shall be delivered into the hands of the elders and scribes, and they shall kill him, and on the third day he shall rise again. If you are grieved by the passion, let the resurrection heal your grief; if you shudder at the cross, rejoice because of the victory. On the third day I will rise. I will go forth to an easy victory; I will quickly fashion a trophy; I will take up the crown appointed for a set time. I die, in order that I may enact a law for death, ^A that it may not hold the immortal part of man forever. And I shall arise from the tomb, renewing the resurrection. I will teach Hades to await the successor of the kingdom, the resurrection. For in me death ceases, and immortality is sown. Brief will be the interval between the end and the life. For I do not descend as a debtor to sin, but as its destroyer.

5. These things your souls could not endure at the sound of the disciples’ words, but, dejected at the mention of the passion, they all kept the most profound silence. But Peter, amazed at this discourse, and not bearing the passion because of his love, grasping the Lord’s hand, says: "Far be it from you, Lord; this shall never happen to you." This voice indicates the wounding of his soul. What are you saying, O Master? Is this mention of the cross, and is it a hope of the passion altogether? Or does death youthfully rush against you, whose voice Hades could not withstand? Long ago you called the dead son of the widow, and death fled, powerless to accompany him even as far as the tomb, whom he had conquered; how then will death seize Him whom he fears? Away with those words, O Master. Elias escaped death, Enoch, by translation, avoided Hades; and how shall Christ lie under death? The Lord stops the mouth of Peter, who is arguing in this way about the passion, ^B bringing against him a sharp rebuke: "Get behind me, Satan; you are a scandal to me, for you do not mind the things of God, but those of men." What are you saying, O Peter? Do you ward off death? Do you not then await the resurrection? Do you ward off the cross? By what reason will the victory shine forth? Shall the passion not happen? What then will be the place for impassibility? Shall I not fasten my body with nails to the wood? How then will the handwriting of sins be broken through the wood? Shall I not be lifted up to the heights? How then shall I triumph over the devil? Shall I refuse the sepulcher? How then shall the graves be opened? Might I not descend to the dead? How then shall I put chains on Hades? How shall I grant release to those in bonds? Shall I refuse the cross? How then shall I heal the wounds of Adam? What other method of healing might the transgression of the first-formed accept? Unwillingly, O Peter, you speak for the devil. ^C Shall I refuse death? How then will the prophecies of the prophets have their fulfillment? Isaiah will cry out against your words more vehemently, exclaiming: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb." ^D

^A Jeremiah also, by proposing an image of the Passion, will condemn you: "Behold, as an innocent lamb led to be sacrificed, he did not know." ^B From another side, David will challenge you, playing on his lyre the precious fragrance of the Passion: "Myrrh, and stacte, and cassia from your garments." Zachariah will press and crowd upon you, saying: "And they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced." ^C Another says from another side: "And the sun shall set at midday." And again: "It shall not be day, nor night, and at evening time there shall be light." ^D Wait, O Peter, and you shall see the realities of the words: the sun snatched away at midday, a premature night spread over the creation; rocks rent asunder, hell despoiled; death made void; the devil cast down from his tyranny; the throng of the dead set free. ^A Shall I prevent these things, Peter? Shall I stop them? Shall I take away the coming of these? "Get behind me, Satan: for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." What then is the harshness of these words, O Lord? What is this fearful rebuke now against Peter? Just now he heard: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona," and now you call the apostle Satan? Just now you said: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church"; and now you call him a scandal and an instrument ^B of the devil? And Judas is not rebuked; although he plots the sale, commits murder, and enters into a compact against you with the Jews: he sees you honored with ointment, he is indignant, and skillfully calls the loss of the price: "To what purpose is this waste? It could have been sold for much"; by his words he exposes his own character: yet you are not angry, nor do you rebuke him. On the contrary, you disperse his anger with a pitiable speech: "Why do you trouble this woman? For she has wrought a good work upon me: ^C for in pouring this ointment upon my body, she has done it for my burial." You said almost this to Judas: Do not grudge me my burial rites, even if you have despoiled me of my life. For the woman anticipates by this sepulchral rite the death of which you are the author to me. Consider this to be an honor for my burial: and if you are preparing my murder, at least grant me a tomb. You saw him, O Lord, when he came to attack with soldiers, and arms, and clubs, and you did not say: "Get behind me, Satan"; you did not turn him back with words, you did not terrify him with deeds; but rather you encouraged him to his undertakings: "Friend, ^D for what are you come?" Pursue the work, do not delay so bold a crime, confirm the sale with the deed. And toward Judas you are such as this? And does Peter receive insult as the reward of his love? Is he who spares you struck? And does he who offends out of ignorance get beaten with words? Nay, says the most humane Savior: for where there is a sore...

incurable, there the medicine is useless; but where there is hope of healing, I bring in the incision for the sake of the cure. When I recognize a disciple, even if I reproach him, I instruct him; but when the ways are alien, the disease is incurable: and I heal the ignorance of the one, and I apply force to the pride of the other. You indeed, Peter, advise me to avoid the passion; I, however, advise you to imitate my death, to undergo the cross, to endure the passion, to emulate the danger. For if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me*. Passion is the way to salvation; and the cross is the procurer of the kingdom. Show your discipleship by sharing in the passions. For thus, having suffered for me, you shall reign with me. To Him be glory and power unto the ages. Amen.

ORATION XXXII.

1. The trumpet, when it has sounded a martial melody, stirs up the hand and the mind of the soldier for battle; and the Evangelical tongue, recording the voice of the Lord, anoints those who are struggling for the faith and arms them against dangers, since they hold to a noble cause of piety. And now the voice of the Gospels dictates to us, the soldiers of the faith, the passion in those words by which the Lord, setting out on the journey to suffering, and in the remaining hours encouraging his disciples, was making his prayer, or rather his teaching, calling out: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done*." The cross, and the nails, and the betrayer, and the accuser, and the tribunal dramatically conjured up by the devil and staged by the Jews—and Christ, bringing himself into all these things—grant teaching to those who wish to suffer for Christ; so that, having longed for Him who suffered for our sake, we may repay like for like in the evils endured for Him, giving thanks to Him who opened a way to grace, who by the price of blood redeemed those who were sold into evil, according to the voice of Paul: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us*." But Christ, by suffering, dissolved the curse of the law. Arius and Eunomius, however, that diabolical pair, confederates of Judas, wove the passion of Christ into a canvas of impiety; they labored with the greatest contention to turn the medicine of salvation into a deadly poison, and showed the proof of their hatred against Christ by their deeds, running through the Scriptures on all sides, catching at phrases, searching out little words, wherever they might find some syllables that might more obscurely conceal the equality of the Son with the Father. But he who discovers the identity of essence being proclaimed overlooks it and is silent, and passes by what is written, pressing down the truth with a feigned blindness. If, however, he finds words posited on the occasion of the incarnation,

^A of which the outward appearance offers what is lowly by reason of necessity, while in their depths they preserve the sublime—things for which one ought to admire that love for man—he makes that very love for man a pretext for calumny. They see it written: "I and the Father are one," and they hate this saying as the mother of truth. They hear: "For whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner," and they imagine the letter 93 to be black. They hear: "As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he wills," and they pass over what is said. They hear: "He who has seen me has seen the Father also," and shuddering at the text, they calumniate the meaning. They hear Him crying out to the leper: "I will, be thou clean," and they become more intractable than the diseases 94—insofar as those diseases, reverencing the One who commanded, yielded to the word and declared their servitude by fleeing; but these men, stopping their ears, cast their votes with a rash tongue for the servitude of the Master. The voice of the prophet is timely in crying out: "God gave them a spirit of compunction, ^B eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day." If they happen to catch sight of words concerning the economy, which have our condescension as their cause, they immediately seize upon the economy as an advocate for impiety, and they exult as if they had conquered the Son. For example, he says, "My Father who sent me is greater than I." You deaf, hear, and you blind, look up and see. "My Father who sent me." Do you look at the "having sent"? Consider what is being sent. That which is sent is circumscribed by place; it is contained by space. But the Son, being God, is uncircumscribed. Therefore, the circumscription belongs to the flesh, not to the divinity. Heretical are these interpretations! The incarnation arose from love for the human race, from goodness; ^C these words look to the economy, not to the essence. Do not, therefore, let the magnitude of this love be turned into a detraction of nature; nor let us impute a crime to Him who provided salvation, regarding that very salvation.

2. Driven, then, by this insatiable ill-will, they have waged a laughable war; and they form their battle line against us—as if we were Christ’s soldiers—against Christ Himself, discharging words instead of weapons, and demanding answers from us, who undertake the defense of Christ. "Father," He says, "if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." You see, he says, "If it is possible," ^D

regarding the fear of the passion? Do you see the deprecation of the cross? Do you see the abasement of the Son? And they contrive sophistical arguments ^A in order to slander the Son. But if you accuse the Son by these words, it is time for you to convict the Father also of weakness. For "Father," He says, "if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." Where the relief is doubtful, the weakness is manifest. For He did not say, "Transfer it, Father: for you are able," but, "If it is possible, let it pass." If you enslave yourself to the wording, you accuse the Father beforehand; if you disparage the Son, you disparage the Spirit beforehand. For the honor of those whose honor is undivided is one, and their insult is common, according to the very voice of the Lord to the Father: "All mine are yours, and yours are mine" (96). But they oppose to us the following: "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done." Here is another division of wills, so that not only nature might have a difference, but ^B the will also might have its adversary: "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done." You see, he says, how He enters the passion reluctantly? But if the passion is involuntary, the resurrection is also without will. If the cross is against His will, grace is by force; salvation is not by will—He did not save willingly. What then did Paul want when he was giving thanks and crying out, "Christ came into the world to save sinners" (97)? And what again did the Savior Himself (98) want, saying, "I have authority to lay down my soul, and I have authority to take it up again"? An authority higher than servitude, an authority that is the mother of dignity, an authority that is a witness of an unmastered nature. And what was He saying? "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my soul for the sheep." Is the incentive of love voluntary, and the passion not? Where then does this luminous voice have a place: "The good shepherd lays down His soul for the sheep"? Why do you steal both the ^C diligence of the shepherd and the grace of the passion? Paul indeed, struggling for the salvation of the Jews, said: "I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my kinsmen" (99) according to the flesh. But does Christ save the creation involuntarily, for whom, that He might save it, He endured the passion?

3. Accept also another Dominical voice indicating the will: "When I am lifted up, I will draw all men (1)"—to myself. How then does He grant to others, that which He ^D

^A receives while turning away? But be patient: He is urging the disciples to endure the sight of the passion with a manly spirit: "Behold," He says, "we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men." He anticipates the intent of the Jews with alacrity. For He is bringing forth the passion, so that He may loosen the graves. Again, He rebukes Peter, who was impeding the passion out of love. "God forbid, Lord," he says, "this shall not happen to you." To whom the Master says: "Get behind me, Satan, for you are a scandal to me." If the passion is involuntary, why does He disgrace the disciple who is approaching Him? Again, when the Jews, through envy of His miracles, were trying to drive away the miracle-worker, He says: "Tell that fox (2)—today and ^B tomorrow I perform healings (3), and on the third day I am perfected." If the victory is manifest, why is the passion refused? Or, so that He may hinder the ascent, does Christ endure the passion against His will? Praise the prophets, O man, because with the eyes of grace they saw the things to come (4) and celebrated in hymns Him who was being crucified for the world. Revere the grace of Abraham, who in Isaac prefigured the image of the passion. "For Abraham," He says, "your father longed to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad"; he who, bent by old age, with an undaunted hand brandishes the sword against his most beloved offspring, and through the love of the commanding God overcomes the difficulty of nature, so that although the victim was not slain, he might imitate the Master's sacrifice. Observe in Isaac the constancy of soul, who, bound for slaughter, was ready for the gliding iron, that he might put on the image of the passion. Revere the serpent of Moses hanging in the desert, which, to the eyes of the unbelievers, portrayed Him who was hanging upon the tree. Christ makes the image known (5) and explains the mystery to the disciples. This, then, is one reason for the words of the Savior, when He says: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me"—a reason which is adapted to divine decrees. There is a second reason, and it is no less significant. For by teaching the disciples how to approach the struggles for religion with alacrity, Christ sets a limit, circumscribing all rashness—namely, that they should not precipitate themselves into suffering, nor rise up too insolently against dangers, being aware of human weakness, nor should they stretch themselves ^D out in rashness against perils; for this is to give a handle (6) to the devil for immediate ruin. But rather, one should push back against...

^A perils with prayers, that the confession of weakness may draw down the Invincible one as an ally. For it belongs to the weak, first, not to think too highly of themselves against suffering. But if the storm is unavoidable, and the nets are drawn tight, then it is preferable to suffer in a way pleasing to God than not to suffer at all. Teaching these things, Christ cried out: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me! Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." The Master prays, so that he may exhort the disciples to struggle. But someone will say: "Why then are the disciples armed with joy against perils for Christ’s sake, rejoicing in their scourgings, while Christ ^B receives the cross with agony, and fear anticipates the suffering?" Why? Because Christ is campaigning against death while it is still living, and he is grappling with it while its tyranny is not yet broken; for still, even then, Hades was boasting of its dominion over men from the time of Adam. When Christ had put death to death, he handed it over to those who came after him for the struggle as something already dead. For this reason, he himself, as one marshalling forces against a living foe, makes the suffering a reality. But the Apostles, trusting very well in the fact that death has been defeated, and is as though slaughtered and sown, advance against it, as Paul proclaims: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and he was buried." With precision he writes of the death. "And he rose again the third day, and was seen by Cephas, then by the five hundred brethren" at once; "from whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some have fallen asleep." No longer, you see, have they died. ^{C D}

and [from which] many remain even until now, while some have fallen asleep. No longer are they dead. For once the cross was fixed, death became sleep: before the cross, it was formidable, and after the cross, it became contemptible. And again: "That Jesus suffered, and died, and rose again: so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus." He called Christ’s end "death," for the war against the living death was His; but the end after Christ, he knows as "sleep," not death. Hence we see men contending for piety; lads laughing at death, maidens going to it as if playing, when Christ proclaims the prize of life after death. In light of which, all sing the victory hymn: "O death, where is your victory? O grave, where is your sting?" In Jesus, to whom be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen. ^B

ORATION XXXIII

By the same, on the five thousand fed from the five loaves.

1. I applaud your persistent desire for hearing, I embrace your steadfast zeal in divine matters: but I know whence this most beautiful ardor has been born within you; I know the teacher of your virtue, who is at once father, and shepherd, and physician, and governor, excelling in the evangelical way of life, and breathing apostolic grace, who leads you safely with spiritual whistles to the heavenly meadows, who is a treasury of divine letters, who is a living and animate image of humanity: who has amplified the gentleness of the Law, who is unsubdued by anger, unassailable by all pleasures, shining with wisdom, and crowned with virtues. But although the accusation of death can be constructed richly and copiously, and your ardor for hearing, as I said, is broad: yet I, how shall I set before you a meager table? ^C

How shall a poor tongue suffice to gladden such a people? Or how shall I fittingly invoke the voices of the apostles: "Whence to us in the desert so many loaves," that the rich Master, having again stripped away poverty, might bestow abundance? A great crowd, he says, followed the Savior; the sheep followed the shepherd, the sick followed him who drives away diseases, the servants followed the liberator of souls. They saw one path free from error, and all flowed toward it; he who willed followed, the sick was relieved of his sickness; the fountain of philanthropy was spread out, and all enjoyed it. Consequently, they did not realize they had extended their journey as far as the desert. Of old, indeed, in the desert, while God was giving the law through Moses, he wrapped Mount Sinai in fire ^B and the flame ignited and darted towards heaven; and fear, and darkness, along with trumpets and howling sounds, terrified those who saw it. But now, the Master, having let go of fear, put on the form of a servant, demonstrating his philanthropy in the nature of humanity. For of old it heard, "Let the earth bring forth the grass of the herb," but now the table of the continent receives the fruit-bearing Master.

β. Therefore, the Master, having taken the loaves, looking up to heaven, blessed them. For does he ask for the supply as one in need? Does he summon help from heaven by the raising of his eyes? Does he borrow the power of benevolence from elsewhere, and does he provide material to Arius, and arm the tongue of Eunomius, which hunts for blasphemies against the Son? ^C Not at all; but he is occupied with suppressing the calumny of the Jews; for the Jew is always fond of accusation, and out of those things from which he receives fruit, he catches at complaints. Since, therefore, God, once bestowing manna on the Israelites in the desert, and spreading a heavenly table for those walking on the earth, and teaching the rock to release rain, and the jagged stone to imitate the nature of a cloud, heard in return the ungrateful voices of these men: "Since he struck the rock and the waters flowed, can he also give bread?"—Christ, lest their descendants take the magnitude of the miracle as a pretext for slander, as if he were eagerly striving to show himself ^D greater than the Father, or that they should devise again the customary slander of contradiction—for this reason he now attributes the accomplishment to the Father by the raising of his gaze to heaven, snatching the accusation away from the Jewish tongue. For thus does Christ always handle Jewish wickedness. Thus, at another time, having healed the leper, and on account of the sickness

^A [Christ] freed him by his authority, [and yet] remits him to the Law. Offer, he says, your gift to the priest as a testimony. Let the Law be to me a witness of the healing, and let the tongue of iniquity be stopped. Therefore, even now, he looks up to heaven, stopping the mouth of the accuser of that contradiction; yet not only this, but also teaching men, while they take food, to recognize the Author of the enjoyment. For that look toward heaven is a confession of the One who is looking. Having therefore taken the loaves, he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowds; and they all ate, and were filled. Oh, the things that were seen then! Loaves were bringing forth loaves, and the tables were overflowing with spontaneous food. Loaves free from the sweat of the rustic, not sprouting from the ears of corn, but blossoming from the ^B hands of the Master. And yet, how many things precede human food! Such as the plowing of the ground, the labor of the farmers, the change of the air into clouds, the generation of rains, the blowing of nourishing winds, the shifts of seasons, the changes of the moon, the trembling rays of the stars [(22)], the springing up of the ears of corn, the opportune ripening of the verdant crop, the hard labor of the harvest, the misery of the threshing floor, the activity of the mill, the removal of the bran, the shaping of the art, [and] the cooperation of fire. All of which things the touch of the Master’s hand alone now accomplished. For he was present who stirs the flanks of the earth to fruitfulness; he was present who covers the heaven with clouds; he was present who bestowed the industry of art upon mortals; he was present who carries all things by the word of his mouth 39; he was present, who in the flesh which he bore, giving proof of his presence, revealed by one miracle who it is that holds the reins of created things. He dissolved the ancient accusation of the Jews and their insatiable voracity. For they were no longer able to say: Can he also provide bread 40? For behold, the desert is constrained by the abundance of bread. Let the ^C kinship of the miracles, O Jew, also teach you about their provider. And they ate, he says, and were filled, and they took up the remainder of the fragments, twelve baskets full 41. For the baskets are equal in number to the apostles, so that each, by carrying one, might act as a witness to the labor of the miracle, and the shoulder, while it is rubbed, might imprint the sense of what was done, and the toil might preserve the memory. For that the mind, [not] being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the miracle, might [not] think that what it saw was something imaginary, nor, since it could not sufficiently admire so strange a miracle, slowly suspect that what took place in reality ^D was a dream; by the multitude of the remains, he extends the memory of the fact: in order that [the mind], lest it be overwhelmed by the greatness of the miracle and think the sight [to be] a phantasm, might not begin to look away from the facts.

to the strangeness of the miracle, he might dreamily perceive the event by degrees; for this reason, he extends the memory of what happened to the multitude of the leftovers, so that their daily bread might meditate on the knowledge, and share {the memory}. Receive for me the Evangelist as an advocate for what is being said. For he says, their heart was hardened ^B regarding the loaves. He proclaims the passion, so that he may herald the miracle. It is a great thing that five loaves alone sufficed for so many thousands; but that such a multitude of leftovers also came to be, not only generated in the disciples the memory of the miracle, but also made manifest the power of Him who performed it. For if He had measured the gift according to the need, the grace of the generosity would have been adulterated, and He who had done it would not yet have been clearly recognized as Lord, since He would have appeared merely to be serving a need. But now, the supply having become more expansive than the need, it testifies to the authority of Him who performed it. And let us learn clearly from another source what is being said: once, the manna was given to the Israelites from heaven through Moses. But since the minister of the miracle was a servant, he used to adapt the gift to the need, and the remainder would vanish. And a hand that had contracted greed regarding the collection forced the gift to contract with it, and heaven used to send down the food to the Jews by weight; and time would overcome the gift, and the grace had a deadline. For just as their journey through the wilderness had an end, and the earth finally provided the bread customary to nature, then the manna was withdrawn, and the storehouse from heaven was closed to men. Transfer your mind to another servant commanded to perform miracles within a deadline: Elijah the Great, who by oath barred the heavens, and with his lips fettered the air, and with a word condemned creation to idleness; this man persuaded the hospitable widow’s oil to spring forth; and the scarcity of the flour was not lessened by time; but as much as nature consumed, so much did grace restore. When the rain fell, Elijah's gifts flew away. When he healed, he performed the work in the manner of a supplicant, ^C as a servant, never as Lord being honored. For this reason, now the Lord multiplies the loaves beyond necessity, putting forward His authority, and providing to all the opportunity to learn who it is that gives food to all flesh. To Him be glory and power, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ORATIO XXXIV. On the text: "Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another?"

1. When I look toward the meadow of the Church, I am exceedingly astonished at the cultivator of this paradise—I mean the Lord Christ; when I behold the spiritual sea, I am greatly amazed at the skill of the Pilot; when I [see] the guidance unto the knowledge of God, I praise the wisdom of the Teacher. But the instructor...

and the Maker of men, having approached both by an excess of philanthropy. Having made the first man, God enclosed the broad boundaries of nature within a single person, and having planted the rich springs of the human race in one man, he did not leave him destitute of instruction in divine knowledge; but, neglecting his own dignity, the Creator approaches as an instructor of one. And being invisible, he speaks as if visible, not by changing his nature, but by tempering both his voice and his appearance to the newly-instructed protoplast, he delivers laws of obedience, bestowing knowledge in his eating. For this reason he also accepts the sacrifices offered, so that those offering them might proclaim their Lord through the things they offer; and of things of which he has no need, he becomes the judge, and through visible sacrifices he weighs the invisible intentions. ^B Thus, for instance, that disparate pair of brothers, I speak of Abel and Cain, offered the first-fruits of their labors to God as to their Maker. But the one he rejected, while the other he accepted; for he looked upon the donation of the one because of his intention, but he turned away from the sacrifice of the other because of his character. Through frequent apparitions then, from the beginning, and through sacrifices, God instructed men in divine things. He appeared to Abraham, he conversed with Isaac, he acted as a teacher, he cast the roots of the teaching of religion; and when he had delivered it himself, he delegated men as teachers of men. He sent Moses as a master, and Moses presided as an instructor over the crowds of the Jews in the wilderness. But lest forgetfulness should steal the knowledge, or the swiftness of the voice should escape the sensation of the ears, he brought the words into the light through letters as well. He devised an immortal method of instruction, so that the tongue might provide the knowledge, ^C and the hand might record the memory through letters. Then the chorus of the prophets succeeds Moses, rising up one after another for the benefit of men like certain stars, flashing forth the light of the knowledge of God. Upon this was prepared the great and most holy mystery of the economy according to Christ, and it was brought to the generation of men. An economy more powerful than death, stronger than demons, the overthrow of idolatry, the mother of liberty, the citadel of immortality, the expulsion of servitude, the distribution of graces, the robe of the kingdom, life in heaven, expecting no succession; for Christ was present on earth, bestowing showers of good things upon his enemies. ^D Here is the consolation of Adam, the perfection of the Mosaic discipline, the fruit of the prophetic graces, through which John, enclosed by the law of nature in the womb, acts as a prophet, and what the tongue cannot do, he expresses by leaping for joy, he uses judgment, having addressed his fellow-servant: "I am ordered to run before with my feet; I advance, yet I fear slowness, lest if I wait for the terms of nature, I should be cast down from the preordained order of running. I have been sent as an attendant...

^A, lest I should be second because of slowness. For a star shining forth before the sun is bright, but if it runs after the sun, it is obscured by its rays. Lend me your tongue, Mother, that I may heal the father’s unbelief. I shall address Christ from the womb, when He Himself is still being carried in the virgin’s belly; I shall begin my proclamations by shouting out the divine economy. Let the gifts which are above nature be proclaimed beyond nature. But the miracle was moving toward the river Jordan. The river enclosed Christ, yet the heaven from above praised the One being baptized, so that the dignity of the Baptized might not escape those who were looking on; nor should you argue in words that He, who first instituted baptism in the currents of the Jordan, brought with Him a lack of grace. Therefore the Father proclaimed with a shout, and the Spirit indicated by its flight. And it was possible to see a paradoxical thing: in the waters a womb was being fashioned, bringing forth citizens of heaven. Oh, unapproachable mysteries! Water was giving birth, and heaven was being populated. For it was grace, not nature, that was fashioning; grace, not enslaved to laws, but reigning in the heavens. But John stood as a minister of grace, and together with his voice, extending his hand, he shouted: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." ^B Why then does my discourse here broadcast the account concerning the Baptist? Because, it says, after that premature leaping, after that paradoxical proclamation, hearing that Jesus was performing miracles, John sent some of his disciples to Him, asking—or rather waiting to hear the evangelical voice. And when John had heard, he sent some of his disciples to ask Him: "Are you He who is to come, or do we look for another?" What is the scope of your words? What is this unusual way of asking? We do not marvel as much at him leaping as we do now at him asking. ^C But it is necessary to speak to this Christ-loving theater of the Lord, what the profound meaning of this interrogation is. Let us tell the Church the secrets of the Church; we shall narrate to her the miracles that occurred for her sake. For it is for her sake that John also proclaims; for her sake also the prophets before John, and the apostles with John and the prophets. Thus the Apostle shouted: "God has set some in the Church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers." But, it says, when John heard in prison of the works of Christ, he sent some ^D of his disciples, saying: "If you are the Christ, tell us."

2. See for me first where John is staying in prison,[and] sent some of his disciples...

for at that time the drama of the dance through Herodias had recently been completed. The Baptist was occupying the prison, being kept as a prize for a licentious girl. Since, therefore, the time was at hand for his head to be cut off, and he saw his own disciples not approaching the doctrines of Christ, but on the contrary, out of ambition, arraying themselves against those things which the Master had proclaimed; and at times even progressing to accusations out of envy of Christ, they were calling out to John: "Behold, he to whom you bore witness is baptizing, and making more disciples." Do you see the envy in their words? To whom John rightly said: "He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom rejoices with joy." This is at once the Bridegroom of the Church and the Master; but I am a servant and a friend of the Bridegroom—a servant by nature, a friend by grace. "He must increase, but I must decrease." Therefore John feared lest the disciples, having accepted that He was living a life in heaven, might hold on to the ambition of glory, and under the pretext of longing for their master, leave Christ and, naming themselves after John, might consider themselves as a host hostile to the flock of Christ. For this reason he now sends them away, in appearance questioning Him himself, but in truth joining them to the Master, negotiating through the pretext of a question their familiarity with Christ. "Go, ask," as if to say: "Go and be taught. Learn Christ, and once having learned, serve Him. Leaving the servant, recognize the Master. No longer act as my disciples, but as my fellow-disciples." What then, does Christ do when asked? Behold the Master’s wisdom, towering above a servant’s prudence; He bestows the answer in works, not in words. For at that hour, He says, He healed many from diseases and scourges and evil spirits, and granted sight to the blind. And after this, He says: "Go, report to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Go report, or rather, be taught the marks of My power. Believe what you see; He sent you away as disciples, not as spectators. The speech is addressed to you, but the form of the speech is addressed to John: "And blessed is he who shall not be scandalized in me." ^D Do not, He says, go away incredulous after such a multitude of miracles; do not show the labor of your master to be useless; teach what you have learned. "Blessed is he who has not been scandalized in me." And even now, he is scandalized in Christ who subscribes to Christ’s divinity being passible; he is scandalized in Christ who attributes the passion of the flesh to the God who wears the flesh; he who fashions a mode of passion for his own passion, who asserts with violence not a passible flesh, but God passible through the flesh. For God remains im-

forcing into the notion that the flesh is passible, but rather that God is passible through the flesh. For God remains impassible, receiving passion neither of Himself nor through another. But He Himself saves us by the passion of His own economy—us who are held by passions—according to what was said: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. ^B

ORATION XXXV. On the Publican and the Pharisee.

1. Christ the Lord is a physician without pharmaceuticals, ^C who visited the suffering race of men. He did not make use of auxiliary instruments of art, nor did he invoke herbs as companions of his power, nor did he divide the glory of his wisdom with fire and iron, nor did he use a method of healing whose preliminaries involve punishment, nor did he prepare himself against diseases with the hope of wages. On the contrary, indeed, he promised heaven as a reward to those who were healed. For he appeared as the physician of those of whom he had been the creator; ^D bringing forth nature by his word, and again by his word ridding nature of its sicknesses. And one could see every kind of disease being driven away: a word was released, and the disease was put to flight. There, the judge of passion was stripped of the garment of condemnation, having obtained freedom. There, the paralytic was raised up, manifesting his joy with the dance of one leaping forth. There, one who had a withered hand—while living in the rest of his body—bore in his one member the open mark and title of the evil; but as he saw Christ, he received back the member. Thence, the four-day dead man leaped up, clothed in the symbols of death; and having cast off death, he had not discarded his burial shroud; but he stood up from the tomb as if born from it, and after birth, wrapped in swaddling bands, he was constrained by his wrappings. Elsewhere, one blind from the womb, carrying about his natural suffering, had a lack of eyes older than the creation itself; for he had not lost them after having them, but had sprouted with the infirmity from the womb; blind, therefore, not knowing how, and being taught by others to ask for what he needed, and yet unable to learn. He rejoiced for the name of light, and since he was ignorant of its nature, he sought to possess what he did not know. But the source of light, being present, bestowed light upon the blind man, crafting eyes now just as he once did for man, demonstrating by the creation of the part the art of the ^B—

^A nature. Again, a woman was being overwhelmed by her own blood, and was being submerged by an innate surge. But having touched only the hem, she succeeded in stilling the tempest of nature. And what need I to recount how many diseases were banished from bodies? For Christ was not providing aid to the body while it was in danger, while neglecting the soul as it suffered shipwreck; but rather the opposite. For by how much more violent were the diseases of the soul, by so much greater was the care and aid He brought for their healing. For since the soul is by nature immortal, by so much the more is it accountable because of its volition, having a purpose that is the mother of transgressions, using its own authority as a means to deviate, and turning the value of freedom into an occasion for sin. Many passions indeed surround the soul ^B, but pride is the citadel of diseases, warring against God, and ignorant of the things of nature, diseased with those of the devil. Through it, the race of virtue is rendered profitless; even if you should set the virtues in their entirety in the midst, pride, having looked down, has extinguished their lamps. There is no profit in fasting, if joined with pride. Virginity is useless, if defiled by the passion of pride. God turns away from justice that serves pride; He hates well-doing that is inflamed by the swelling of the soul. O unheard-of evil that stains the possession of good things! O disease alien to heavenly compassion! For as for those who sin in other ways, the Creator either has mercy on them when they repent, or punishes those who persist stubbornly in their crimes; but He resists the proud alone, considering them not as servants, but as enemies. For this reason, warning the apostolic band to depart far from this vice, Christ cried out: "When you have done everything, say: We are useless servants," ennobling the labors of the apostles with the beauty of humility. For humility alone is the opponent of pride. For the one strips the soul of the virtue with which it relied as an adornment. Humility, however, which alone pleads even for those held by the guilt of sin, grants a victory that prevails. Accept the reasoning of my discourse from the Dominical narrative.

NOTE OF CL. DAUSQUEIUS

"He came to the soul of Theban Tiresias ^C, holding a scepter." And so on, Apoll. lib. 11. ... "upon the mouth of the Thermodon." "In a fair-weather gulf, traversing the tip of Themiscyra of the broad mainland."

The Scholiast acknowledges: It is worth noting that, having spoken of the "mouth of the Thermodon," he added the masculine participle "traversing" [διαήμενος], showing that the "mouth of the Thermodon" and "Thermodon" itself are the same. And the fountain of Christ, or Christ himself, fashioning and showing. To understand the co-eternal radiance of the Father's glory, having been illuminated and clarified by the true light.

"Having the soul." I thought it should be inserted. Thus it stands.

"Serving." But so that you may learn how great a good it is to imagine nothing great concerning yourself, present to me two charioteers in your discourse, having come to the course and yoked the chariots—the one ^D justice and pride, the other sin and humility—and you will see the pair of sin outpacing justice, not because of their own power, but because of the strength of their partner, humility; and you will see the former being defeated again, not because of the weakness of justice, but because of the weight of pride and its bulk.

ORATION XXXV

ON THE NOTES OF DAUSQUEIUS

(39) "Two men." Luke XVIII: 10. These two do not differ in common usage. For *anēr* often signifies a human being. Eustathius says on the *Odyssey*: "That *anēr* also signifies, in the fifth sense, any human being generally, is clear both from that 'last of men,' and from those who trade in slaves and from slaves, and from murderers; for in these cases any human being can be signified by the name of *anēr*."

(40) "He weighs in the balance of the Word the just man who is proud, and the sinner who is humble." *Tapeinon* (humble) comes from *patein* (to tread), from which we have *tapes* (a rug) as something trodden underfoot. The great author of the *Etymologicum* ^D determines it thus: "It originates from that which is not prohibitive, and from *gē* (earth); being a great man, he does not always remain on the earth, but rises above it, and raises himself to a height."

(41) "A power of greed."

(42) "Perhaps expecting to be snatched up into the clouds." Basil does not rashly attribute this to the most proud man; for the proud, forgetful of mother earth and of their own humility, touch heaven with their mind, since they cannot with their feet. Concerning this sentiment, those lines have been elegantly composed by Rhianus: "But whoever is favored by God, and God grants him wealth and rule over many, he forgets that he treads the earth with his feet, and that he has mortal parents. But in his arrogance and sinful mind, he bellows, setting himself equal to Zeus, and carries his head above his shoulders, though he be small, and he courts the fair-armed Athena."

"He who is unequal to his play: He to whom God has given prosperity, and wealth above all, and rule over many, easily forgets that he treads the earth with his feet, forgets his mortal birth from the stock of men, his own origins, and in his pride and error of mind he sets himself equal to Zeus, and raises his head high above his shoulders: let him be the lowest, let him choose for himself the fair Pallas, and let him woo her." Such is the character of the proud described by Isaiah, chapter XIV, verses 13, 14.

^A nations, and a judge, and one pronouncing a sentence of death against all. "I am not as the rest." O tyrannical tongue! He thought himself to be everything, and held all others as a mere portion or a residue. "I thank thee, that I am not as the rest." He entered to reproach God. "Thou hast no other righteous one on the earth. I alone am the treasury of thy virtues; the earth would be devoid of justice, if I did not tread upon it. I am not as the rest, nor as this publican." He found material, and his present passion served it. Nor did he let the one who entered with him escape his pride of accusation. The Pharisee, appearing as a judge instead of a suppliant, shows himself to be sitting in judgment with God upon the publican: "Who perhaps pollutes my thanksgiving by his presence; whom I did not wish to see, that I might be reminded [of sin]. I fast twice in the week," as though relieving the burden of expenses. "I tithe ^B all that I possess." He reminds God as though he were a debtor to him regarding the debt. "I have surpassed the commandments given through Moses by my deeds; I have outstripped the law by my accomplishments; by my donations, this temple is the wealthier." Such, then, was the Pharisee, boasting in the recital of his virtues. Let us see also the publican himself. Does he pray while hiding somewhere?

3. Standing afar off, he says, neither did he dare to lift his eyes upward; for the consciousness of his sins had robbed him of the boldness of entrance. ^C He cast down his gaze, for the memory of what he had done restrained him. He heaved a heavy groan from his heart, beating his breast, punishing himself before the Judge; lacerating his soul with lamentations, striking his heart with his hand, becoming his own executioner; uttering the voice of a condemned man being scourged: "God be merciful to me a sinner." No deed of good works, he says, do I have to plead for me; I am wounded on all sides by sins; I am surrounded by the waves of iniquities; I see the seas of my evils. Who shall be the physician for my ills? Where shall I run to find help? What righteous deed shall I put forward, which I have not done even against my will? What good work shall I offer in place of my offenses? How shall I escape my true accusers? Whom shall I look upon? Whom shall I despise? What shall I keep silent about? What shall I say? For what shall I supplicate? ^D What shall I set down? What shall I suppress? What shall I mourn? Shall I look up to heaven, which I have violated with my iniquities? Shall I turn my eyes to God, whose blasphemies I have taken delight in? I find but one remedy for my miseries; by fleeing to mercy, I shall escape the danger. "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." It is sins, not justice, that I display. Do not, O Judge, follow the opinion of the Pharisee concerning me; do not loathe me along with this proud man. I acknowledge him who is just, who is the author; but him...

^A I do not know as a judge. I seek only the benevolence that is the salvation of sinners. I show the wounds; do you apply the healing. What, then, does the One who sees the supplications of all—what does the Judge say, having become the listener to both? Let us see what verdict He delivers while judging the humbled sinner and the boastful just man. “The publican,” He says, “went down justified rather than that Pharisee” (45). The order was reversed; the publican was seen by the just Judge as more just than the Pharisee. The nature of things was transformed: he who had been raised to the heights was cast down by pride; he who had attained to humility was raised up by the verdict. O merchant of the publican’s benevolence! O publican who has well collected the tolls for the good harbor! O sinner who has opened up frankness for sinners! You have even taught a collection of taxes stronger than righteousness; you did not cease collecting taxes until you had exacted taxes from Christ Himself. Pride is a grievous tax, grievous and hateful to the Creator. “I am not,” he says, “like this publican.” You speak the truth, O Pharisee; for that man obtained the verdict of victory, having found humility as an ally for the victory. “I fast,” you say, “twice in the week.” But in vain have you poured out the labor of your fasting because of your pride, but the passion of your soul has plundered ^B the gift. “I am not,” you say, “like the rest.” Did your forefather—or rather, the father of the publican (for his character attaches him to that lineage)—speak thus to the God of Abraham? Did he not, bowing down to the earth (46), say, “I am but dust and ashes”? Do you see how the acknowledgment of nature is a provision for [gaining] favor with God? And bowing down more in his mind than in his body, he conversed with God. Thus you have heard the lyre of David playing: “A heart that is broken and humbled, God will not despise.” Thus your teacher Moses conversed with God, saying, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?” Let us flee, beloved, the vice of the just man, and the Pharisee has been cast out from righteousness. Let us flee pride, by which even the devil has fallen. “I saw Satan,” He says, “falling like lightning.” The passion extinguished the lightning of nature. And pride produced a most evil food (50) (d). Thus the blessed Paul, so that he might not be puffed up and fall into the judgment of the devil, “There was given to me,” he says, “a thorn, ^C an angel of Satan,” and what follows (75). Let us hear the Lord also crying out: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

ORATION XXXVI

angel of Satan, and the rest. Let us hear the Lord crying out: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To Him be the glory and the power, for ever and ever. Amen.

ORATIO XXXVI. On the two blind men in the Gospel.

^B Those who cast their eyes upon a meadow filled with various flowers are struck by the beauty of the flowers from many places, and they do not know what they should praise first or what second. For when the eye admires one thing first, it is so carried away by the second that it is struck with amazement; and the third, capturing the vision, displays its beauty, and as the graces spring up in turn, they dazzle the eye that is distracted by the pleasure of the things seen. Something of this kind, it seems to me, has happened to me as I look upon the flowery and life-giving meadow of the evangelical miracles. For not yet having sufficiently admired the first according to its dignity, I am overwhelmed by the second, and I am sent from one miracle to another, and from that one again to another, and I have no place to rest my mind; and just like one who has entered a vast sea, my intellect is tossed by the sea of delightful miracles. ^C Just now a leper approaches, marked by various spots of disease, a culprit in body, carrying about an involuntary contagion, hateful to the law and to human judgment. But the leprosy which had exercised its tyranny up to the eyes of the Lord, ceased its tyranny at the sight of Him, and no longer appearing, quickly fled from the sufferer at the Lord's command. Another shows a dead hand, unable even to be stretched out. But God saw this evil; the physician, overflowing with humanity, saw it with humanity; Life saw death, the hand recovered life, nature recognized the limb. Another was an involuntary house for demons, himself bringing the occupant upon himself, becoming a weapon for the enemy, the wretched man providing an abode for the adversary. But the demons, not bearing the brilliance of the Lord's voice, proclaimed the blow by their flight. Another, bound for many years by the chain of paralysis, was ^D released from his bonds at the Lord's voice, and carrying his laborious bed upon his shoulders, and raising a trophy over his sickness, he drew a visible procession. Lazarus, four days dead, ran out from the tomb, following the voice of Him who called. The wedding of another was honored with miracles, and water was changed as if into the fountains of the vine. Again, the desert abounded with bread, and the Lord's hands corrected apostolic poverty. Elsewhere a publican yielded as booty, and he who lay in wait for those approaching fell, unaware, into the Lord's net. Elsewhere a harlot changed her life; so that deeds were words, and deeds a change of life; her hair and her soul

^A were released from the nets. Another, deprived of sight by nature, who had not even after the prison of the womb cast off his innate darkness, and for whom the long night had been a companion in life, received from Christ—who met him and restored to him the true light—the day. He granted him the organs of light, fashioning outside the womb what he had left behind within; and He makes a spectacle of his craft, so that He might hunt for faith; laying aside the workshop of faith, He makes public this creation, fashioning eyes before the eyes of the Jews, so that for the blind man, he might cause light to rise through his craft, while for the others, he might illuminate their mind through the miracle. From this same philanthropy, the Master went around the villages and cities, everywhere sowing miracles, and along with the body, healing the diseases of the soul. For the soul, moved to reverence by the miraculous healing of the flesh, partakes of the remedy, worshipping the physician.

^B 2. *And as He was passing by*, it says, *from Jericho, great crowds followed Him; and behold, two blind men sitting by the way, having heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out saying.* For since their eyes had died, hearing was forced to perform the function of the eyes for the body, and the neighboring sense offered aid in a measured way. Now, the injury of any single member of the body is burdensome to the whole; but the deprivation of the eyes makes life unlivable. For if legs are afflicted with the ailment, the body’s course is taken away, but the eyes in the meantime lighten the grief with their sight. And even if they ^C are bound by disease, the sight—drawing friends to help—pleads for them; and if hearing is robbed of its efficacy, this gaze consoles the need with nods. But when the eye is extinguished, the entire assembly of the senses is deadened; the body is shackled in inactivity; feet refuse the race, seeking the eye that acts as their guide; hands lose their crafts, being blinded along with the eye; hearing cannot signal the presence of someone who is silent; the tongue is bound, unable to learn to whom it should speak. For such a man, the sun—attended by stars—rises in vain, and the moon illuminating the night—he cannot be freed from the darkness by it; neither the sea, reddening and smiling with its waves, nor the earth, budding with meadows and flowers and crowned with the graces of spring, brings him any delight: but there is ^D [a life that is sustainable? ...]

a certain experience of a life so condemned, a life measured by a single night—the invisible world, the beauty of the world’s creation, unknown to him. For what the sun is in the world, the eye ^A is in the body. Therefore the Lord Christ also cried out: “The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be sound, your whole body shall be full of light” (Luc. XI, 34). Two blind men, overwhelmed by this misery, sat by the wayside, held fast by the forces of poverty and the lack of light. But as for the solace of the belly and of poverty... For envy knows, yes, it knows how to battle even against miracles. Therefore the Lord asks the blind men: “What will you that I should do to you?” (Matth. XX, 32). Clearly set forth your request to me; proclaim the affliction to the envious, that the Jews may learn the intent of your supplication. They say: “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” We know what we seek, even if the Jews look upon it with envy. We, as suppliants, beg to see the rays of light from the Light; we sit as beggars of eyes, as if from an ambush awaiting your arrival; here we linger, awaiting the rising of your sun. But Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately they received sight, and followed him (ibid. 34). O most humane physician! A merciful physician! Healing human passions with His own passions! He touched their eyes, and immediately they saw. The touch added brightness. The eyes were awaiting the hands of the Lord, and the miracle was accomplished ^B swifter than word. And rising up, they followed Him. They were liberated from blindness, and from sitting, and from an incurable malady, and from an interminable night. They followed Him who had granted salvation, telling of the miracles, bearing their eyes as heralds of the body. Let us also follow the Savior; let us follow, inclining toward us His hands, and in that posture crying out: “Come unto me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you” (Matth. XI, 28). Let us approach the fountain of humanity; let us learn the insatiability of His goodness. Being God from the beginning, He is clothed in our flesh, and for our sake He is invested with a mortal nature, which He afterwards showed to be immortal, not being completed by flesh. He took the form of a servant, that He might make servants into sons. For as many as received Him, He gave them power to become the sons of God (Joan. I, 12); to Whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ORATION XXXVII

Concerning the infants in Bethlehem destroyed by Herod.

1. Once again, I, an old man, ^D am drawn back to the stadium of discourse; again, like a mother who has labored through much child-rearing, the…

I am compelled by force to squeeze the weak and lean breast of my humility for the nourishment of such a crowd. And who is it that compels these things? That great river, the Euphrates; and for this reason I obey. For it is able from its own flood to channel to us some abundance of words, and as much as the capacity of my soul is able to contain. For the honeycombs of the Scriptures, brothers, are full of honey, and the hives gush forth the sweet dew; so that it is possible for the diligent, having pressed these out without labor, to introduce the wine of virtues into their own souls: a wine that is the mother of temperance, a wine that is the teacher of purity, a wine that keeps the eye of the mind ever-watchful, a wine ^B that stores the light of truth in souls that are always being filled; a wine that does not produce madness, nor make them weak from satiety, nor cause them to fall, but rather makes the limbs strong, and arms them with the weapons of justice against sin; a wine with which the choir of the apostles was filled, when each one, having received on his own tongue the dew of the Spirit flowing down from heaven, distributed to the ears of the gathered nations the power of his utterance, while the grace of the Spirit was refashioning the one voice of each person to suit the hearing of all the nations; so that the thread of the word, flowing forth from their lips, became familiar to all ears, with the sound being transformed by the Spirit into the idiom of each of those listening.

2. But I am still surrounded by the cries of the infants, and methinks I see these things—crying out ^C indistinctly in their terror, looking toward the flash of the swords, and in their fear shrinking back to their mothers' arms as to a place of safety, and then burying themselves in their very bosoms. And I also seem to see the mothers themselves, one running here and another there through the city with those piteous and sweet burdens, seeking a place of escape; one not even having been able to snatch a modest veil in the height of the calamities; another having lost what she had in the strange flight, and having cast it away; another casting her hair, disheveled in the confusion, over her child, hoping that by such a covering she might steal the infant away from its dangers; another being overtaken by those who were pursuing vigorously, then stopping in her flight, stricken by fear, and pouring forth tears, looking toward the lightning of the sword, dividing her gaze between ^D the rush of the blade and the child who was about to be struck, and eagerly offering herself to the force of the iron. And again, another one, unable even to move anywhere…

her feet bound by the shock, but having already perished from the fear of her own labor, and anticipating the one who strikes with a faint groan; and somewhere, with her hands already weakened and trembling violently, she holds the infant, and not knowing, the infant slips from her embrace, reaching the destruction from the sword by the swift death of the fall 64. I seem to hear and judge, and to nod gravely to those giving counsel, who plotted the harvest of the unripe ears. And since that man confirmed his inhuman intent with a ruthless decree, and already commanded the entire military to be grim in arms, and surrounded them with much iron 65, he portioned it out to captains and appointed generals, clever men at seeing what must be done at the right moment, and clever at using the spear. And perhaps he said such things to them, feeling no shame for what he said: "In many battles, soldiers, you have fought 66 and triumphed, and you have surrounded the borders of my rule with a wall 67. And now, if ever it is fitting that you hasten toward victory, do not hesitate. For the struggle is great, and the danger is immense. The evil arises for me from within 68. The power of my kingdom is being secretly undermined. No manifest war comes against me. An as yet unknown child despoils me of my scepters. Do you know Bethlehem? I have learned that in it a child was born, carrying off a pronouncement of kingship from God. Not yet two years of time have passed since he came forth from the womb 70. And no preparation disturbs me, but I fear the voices of the prophets regarding him. For indeed the Magi (you remember when they recently visited us), by some star that appeared to them 71, announced that they had learned of the birth of the child, and they searched for Bethlehem, so that they might see the child and offer honor befitting a king to the one born. I, however, wished to learn from them who this is, so that it might be easy for me, and free of long labors—the destruction of the tyranny. But since those who made agreements with me, I know not why, having lied, fled back to their own country, I am disturbed, [and scared --]

--] ^A I imagine the danger to be present. I look to you, therefore. Relieve my fear. Hasten to Bethlehem with your weapons, and surround its entire territory with thick nets of slaughter. Let the sword spare men who have grown old 72; bring no danger to those who have already arrived at adulthood 73. Arm yourselves only against the still small children. Mown down all of the first age without mercy. Do not pity a mother's tears; search for my enemy in the bosom of every one of them. Against those still fleeing to their mothers' breasts, thrust the iron; and let the blood of the slaughter be mingled with the milk. Even if you pierce the mothers themselves with the babies 74, as the iron, by the force of the wound, slips from the tender bodies into them, no one will stand as an accuser against you for such a slaughter. Only hurry, hurry into the city like lions. Let there be no satiety of slaughter for you, until that infant [who has been] detected appears. If you grant life to no one, he too will appear lying among all the rest; and he will not enjoy the honor of the Magi well or safely; but to me you will have given a life full of joy and free from care.

^B 3. Those things having been heard by them, and all compassion being uprooted from their own souls, they decide to compete with each other in wickedness: they were carried at a run toward the city, raising up their armed right hands, and falling upon the flocks of Bethlehem, they tore apart the tender lambs; and from every side, fountains of blood gushing forth profusely defiled the face of the earth. And nothing appeared sufficient for salvation to those who were perishing; no house was able to hide them as they slipped inside, no holy place caused any fear in the executioners, no hidden cave [afforded] a refuge. But from everywhere the children were tracked down as if they were enemies, and none of them escaped the sword, each one being sought in the blood of each, as if he himself were Christ. ^C But as many mothers as were bold and daring, pressing their hands against the edges of the swords, were struck in their own bodies in place of their children; but they benefited them nothing at all; rather, they made the time of danger for them longer. Yet others, being violently intercepted, were seen clutching whatever limbs of the children they happened to be holding with their hands, while their children were being torn away; they were seen afterward retaining only those limbs, while the iron, cutting and dividing the infant, was being pulled by the executioners and the mother. And one would flee away with a hand, another with a fragment of a foot, another with some other part, as if they were carrying back a whole child. Many, also, through the speed of their running ^D

^A falling back upon those who were already lying prostrate, and dashing their tender knees against the hard ground, had no need of a sword for the destruction of the children. There was even one woman who, anticipating the one about to strike, held out her child and, conjuring him by her own offspring, cried out through her tears: "Gratify me, soldier, in this one thing concerning the things being done by you, and do not show me the child lying here first; and do not sadden a mother's eyes with such a bitter spectacle. You surely have a mother somewhere, you have a wife who possesses a child; you know how the bowels of those who have given birth are torn apart by the sufferings of their children." His soul was softened, and a tear flowed down his cheeks, but being a slave to the grievance of Herod, ^B while her words were still being spoken, he slaughtered the child in the arms of her who gave birth, and a cry of mourning cut short her supplication.

4. As they dared and perpetrated these things, their rage was whetted to a greater madness; they leaped into the houses themselves and searched everything with eyes that were frenzied and breathing fear, and they ran up to the upper chambers. Then, if they found a child hiding perhaps under a bed or in some such place, betrayed only by his weeping ^C from his domestic hiding-place, they would drag him out and, just like a stone from a sling, they would hurl him into the streets, gratifying the king's fury with such an execrable death. A confused clamor arose, and a varied sound of grief prevailed: some of the older children were lamenting their brothers; fathers were bewailing those whom they had begotten; mothers were using sharp wailings for their sufferings; the elderly were crying out that they had never seen such a thing, not even in the incursions of enemies; all were cursing the bitter light of that day. Finally, once this so noble feat of arms was finished, and the army had dispersed as if after a brilliant victory, the mourning of the mothers flared up again; and having gained the opportunity to weep, each one began, with tears, to gather up the limbs of her child, some here and some there, ^D and by any means to assemble those that had been violently dismembered into one; and she would seek what was missing, and if she found anything, she would kiss it repeatedly, and gathering the remains of the whole body into her bosom, she would cry out loudly: "Alas!

My child, alas! It was not for such hopes that we nurtured you! How you sprouted up like a tender branch ^A (81), and with what beauty you flourished! But how, after having yielded to me the seeds of such good hope, you have suddenly flown from my hands! Arise, shake off this sleep which the king's envy has brought upon you; share with me your most delightful voice; stretch out toward the wretched breasts of her who bore you; draw the nipple you loved of old; hang yourself upon your mother's neck. Are you silent? Do you remain still? Woe is me for these evils! How shall I weave your limbs together again, which the sword has so mercilessly severed? What womb will serve me again for your bodily formation (82)? With what hands, then, shall I heap over you the necessary earth? And how shall I part myself from your form?" With such lamentations the city was filled, as women stirred one another to wailing, and the sight of the living kindled daily ^B mourning for the dead children. The king, meanwhile, was crowned as if for trophies, and he supposed that he had won a victory greater than any before. And having bound himself with such charges of bloody murder, and having cut down so many shoots of his own kingdom, he was puffed up with pride, and thought he was enjoying complete security; the totally senseless man did not know how that clever scheme of his had vanished. For he could not enclose in his snares Him whom he sought; but those whom, had he been sober, he would never have wished to harm, he wretchedly destroyed (84), doing injury to himself. But Christ, the Lord of all, brought the swiftest punishment upon that savage architect of impious crimes; and, placing the souls of the innocent children into the bosom of their father Abraham, He Himself with authority ^C departs into Egypt, wishing to purge the citadel of impiety (85), and with the rays of His own light to uncover the error of the idols hidden in the sanctuaries, and to make it manifest to those who had long been deceived, and to inflict the heaviest mourning upon the devil. For the devil, having thought that he had destroyed a few children of the Jews on account of Christ, knew not that he had settled them in inviolable meadows, and, having done no harm, he did not notice that he was already being stripped of his own tyranny, and being robbed of the most ancient portion of his dominion, while the prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled, which Christ Himself had placed upon the lips of the prophet, clearly demonstrating this descent of His long before, and thundering through ^D his tongue: "Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud, and will enter Egypt, and..."

commovebuntur simulacra Ægypti a facie ejus; ^A ipsi gloria, et imperium in sæcula. Amen. ^B

ORATIO XXXVIII. Demonstration against the Jews concerning the advent of the Savior.

1. Since there are many testimonies in the legal and prophetic writings concerning the advent of the Savior, which those among the Jews who are prudent cannot deny—asserting that he is to come, but has not yet arrived—we have deemed it fitting to construct a demonstration for them from the words of the archangel Gabriel, which were spoken with accurate calculation of the times to the prophet Daniel in the vision that appeared to him in the first year of the reign of Darius son of Ahasuerus of the blood of the Medes, who was king in the time of the kingdom of the Chaldeans, which was the tenth vision. We do this so that they may see that, the time having been completed under the empire of Augustus, Christ, who was foretold by the oracles of the prophets, having sojourned among us and been affixed to the cross, fulfilled all things written concerning him by the holy angels and prophets; so that, perhaps, reverencing the testimony of the archangel, they might cease to hang upon a vain expectation. For the prophet Daniel was one of those who desired to see our Savior present, concerning whom our Lord himself says: *Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.* Concerning whom the apostle Peter also says in his Catholic Epistle: *Searching into what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ within them was signifying when it testified beforehand* of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow, *to whom it was revealed that they were not serving themselves, but us, in these things.* For this Daniel, having accounted most accurately the rule of the seventy years of his own captivity, thought that the time of the prophecy of David had been fulfilled, concerning whom he had said: *Ascending on high, he led captivity captive.* Regarding which captivity David, full of the Spirit, prayed thus: *Turn, O Lord, our captivity as the torrents in the south.* ^C Similarly, Isaiah also said in the person of the Savior: *The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good tidings to the poor, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind.* These things were said concerning the captivity of our souls. ^D Therefore, in fasts, and in sackcloth, and in ashes he prayed, as if the time of the New Testament had already been completed, and the Savior himself was about to come from abroad, and also to turn away their captivity.

^A Concerning this, therefore, the accuracy of both the events and the times was revealed to him by means of a vision. It is necessary to consider these things, for the matters of the vision are as follows:

2. And behold, Gabriel (91), whom I saw in my vision at the beginning, flying, and he touched me [as if] at the hour of the evening sacrifice; and he instructed (92) me, and spoke with me, and said to me: "Daniel, now I have gone forth to instruct thee in understanding (95). At the beginning of thy supplications, the word went forth, and I have come to tell thee, for thou art a man of desires; therefore understand the word, and be instructed in the vision. Seventy weeks have been completed (94) upon thy people and upon the holy city, for the finishing of sin, and for sealing sin (95), and for blotting out iniquities (96), and for bringing in everlasting justice, and for sealing vision and prophecy, and for anointing the Saint of saints. Know, therefore, and understand from the going forth of the word to answer and to build Jerusalem until Christ the Prince, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. ^B And it shall return, and the street (98) shall be built (97), and the wall, and the times shall be emptied (99). And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointing shall be destroyed, and judgment shall not be in him. And they shall destroy the city and the sanctuary together with the coming Prince; and they shall be cut off in a flood; and even to the end of a war, desolations are determined by order. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the middle of the week [he shall cause to cease the altars and the sacrifices even to the wing from desolation, and even to the completion, and the libation by order of desolations (1), and he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; and in the middle of the week shall be taken away] ^C sacrifice and libation; and upon the temple shall be the abomination of desolations, even to the completion of the end, of the times of the end. Wherefore this word is necessary, which went forth from the beginning of his prayer, that they may know of whom the angel went forth to instruct him, and of whom he speaks concerning the completion of the times. Moreover, the prayer is after this manner: And I prayed,

^A to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said: O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and the mercy for those who love You, and for those who keep Your commandments: We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Since, therefore, the covenant with those who love God and keep His commandments—which covenant was perfected through the sprinkling of the blood of the holy Christ, concerning which the Apostle also says: ^B And to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than Abel—and the old covenant that was given to the Jews through Moses—which was sprinkled by the blood of bulls and goats, and of ashes, and of a heifer, and which had been forgotten—Daniel made his supplication in the beginning of his prayer. For the word that went forth from the mouth of Daniel himself was of the covenant with those who love Him, which the Lord called "new" through the prophet, saying: Behold, the days come, says the Lord, ^C and I will fulfill upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah a new covenant: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not abide in My covenant, and I neglected them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, giving My laws into their mind, and upon their heart I will write them. And after a little he says: For I will ^D be gracious to their sins, and of their lawlessness I will remember no more.

The interpretation of the oracle concerning the coming of the angel to Daniel

^A I shall be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more. Concerning this covenant, therefore, the angel says to Daniel: In the beginning of your prayer, the word went forth, that is, concerning you. And I have come to declare to you that you are a man of desires; desiring, he says, to see the coming of Christ. And understand the word (7). The word, he says, that came forth from your mouth. And understand the vision. Intelligibly, he says, understand the captivity of all according to the soul, which he who ascends upon the cross is about to redeem. As David said: Ascending into the height, he led captivity captive. Seventy weeks have been cut short upon your people and upon the holy city; that is, 490 years were defined for the people of the Jews, so that if they did not repent at the arrival of the Savior, they would perish with their city, once holy.

The angel relates next the grace that follows for those who believe in the Savior, and says thus: To finish the transgression, and to seal up sins. He speaks of the transgression that is being finished, that which reigned over us from Adam until the Savior, which the Law was not able to remove; but the Savior himself freed us from this through the holy stripe [suffered] for us. For by his stripe we were healed. Teaching us this, the Apostle says: For what was impossible to the Law, in which it was weak through the flesh, God sending his ^B own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in his flesh (8). And that he was also about to wipe away our other lawlessnesses and impieties, which we committed after the condemnation through Adam, by the bath of regeneration, as the Apostle says: Wiping out the handwriting that was against us, which was contrary to us; and he has taken it from the midst, nailing it to the cross; the angel says thus: And to seal up sins, and to wipe away sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity. Then he declares the appearing of the Lord himself, saying: And to bring in everlasting righteousness, there being no other than the Savior’s everlasting righteousness. Just as David says concerning his holy temple, which will be from the seed of David himself, with the divinity joined to the temple: Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth has sprung out of the earth; and righteousness has looked down from heaven.

Then the angel says following this: And to seal the vision and the pro^Cphet. To seal, he says, is to bring to a close the visions and the prophecies, bringing them to their end at the coming of the Savior. And again he speaks words concerning the Savior: And to anoint the Most Holy. For David, foretelling this anointing concerning the Savior, said: You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity: therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. And again: I have found David my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him. Just as the Savior himself says of himself through Isaiah the prophet: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach to the meek, to announce liberty to the captives. Then, the things that pertain to the covenant, whose prayer in the notes ^D of Dausqueius are discussed: one should not be satisfied only with the scriptures written in ink, but in the tablets of the heart also, the grace of God writes the laws of the Spirit, and the heavenly mysteries. See the divine Augustine, book 1 of the Confessions, ch. xvi.

(7) In your word. The Bible translations do not use the term. (8) In the flesh. The final word is absent from the Bible.

^A His proem he remembered Daniel, and the angel repeats saying: "Know and observe from the going forth of thy word that it is an answer," that is to say, that you may grasp the exact account of the New Testament and teach others. Then he accurately delivers the times to him. For since Jerusalem, built by Solomon, as Jeremiah the prophet narrates, had been overthrown by Nabuzardan, the chief of the cooks of the king of the Chaldeans, and was to be rebuilt again after seventy years of captivity had passed, according to the prophecy of the same Jeremiah, the angel says: "And Jerusalem shall be built," that is, after Jerusalem is built, until Christ the leader, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.

^B The angel, having therefore spoken of sixty-nine weeks of years until the assumption of the Savior, grants another one week for the repentance of the Jews, so that, having seen the signs and wonders after the resurrection, they might be induced to believe if by no other means. Which the Savior himself also said to the Jews: "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe." Therefore, having narrated what was to come before and after the resurrection, the angel proceeds to say thus: "And it shall return, and the street shall be built, and the wall in the narrowness of times." But he says "it shall return" instead of "it shall visit." That the Scripture signifies "to visit" by the phrase "for God to return" can be learned from the prophets, and most especially from David. For he speaks thus while supplicating for the people: "Return, O Lord, how long? And be entreated for thy servant." And again, as if for the vineyard, he asks on its behalf: "O Lord God of hosts, return, I beseech thee, look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine." Thus also the angel calls that "returning" a visiting, and he understands the things that are to happen after the capture in the age of Vespasian. For the Savior, having left the house with its outer fortification, according to His own most truthful words, says: "Behold, your house is left to you desolate." Likewise: "There shall not be left here a stone upon a stone, which shall not be destroyed."

^{C D}

Notes of Claude Dausque

^A And the saying, *There shall not be left one stone upon another here, that shall not be thrown down*, [12'] refers to a certain place outside the rampart, which they called the Place of a Skull, where a certain woman gave birth to a child having horns; from which sign some said that a royal house would be in that place, which also came to pass. For where the Lord deigned to be crucified, and buried, and to rise again, at the place called Golgotha; there also the holy Church of God was founded, bearing the name and the salvific passions of the Lord even until now; I mean the cross and the resurrection. According to the traditions of the Jews, as they say, the skull of Adam was found there; and Solomon had discerned this through the wisdom which surpassed him. For this reason, they say, that place was called the Place of a Skull. ^B And that which is said, *A street shall be built, and a wall*, signifies the street of the temple, and the wall of the one called Aelia, which Aelius Titus built in that very place, after the destruction of the temple that had been built, and the wall after the captivity, which the Jews had built in a hundred years. Which Vespasian tore down at the time of the capture, according to the account of Josephus. And that which is said, *And the times shall be emptied (cut short)*: because in this state the Jews shall be until the consummation of the times. Then the angel, taking up again the matters concerning the passion of the Lord, narrates: and because of the passion, the undoing of the ark, and of the holy things within it, and of the horn ^C in which kings, and prophets, and the judges of the people were anointed; then what would befall the Jews who nailed Christ to the cross; for he says thus: *After sixty-two weeks Christ shall be killed: and his power shall not be*

^A in him. He calls the "horn" that in which the kings and prophets who ruled the people and the city were anointed. *And they shall destroy the sanctuary, with the leader of those who are coming* (18). By the leader who is coming, he means the Savior. Regarding those who crucified him, he says thus: *And they shall be cut off in a deluge* (19); *and until the end of the war, shortened by a sentence of desolation.* He termed the war of Vespasian a deluge of desolation. That it is the custom of Scripture to call the great shedding of blood in war a "deluge," we may learn from the vision of Daniel. He speaks thus: *And [his] sons shall gather a great multitude of many forces* (20); *and he shall enter, coming and flooding.* And after a few words he says: *And peace shall come; and he shall prevail over the king in strongholds, and [those who follow] the arm of the one flooding shall be flooded* (21). Then, again, taking up the matters concerning the covenant with those who love God and keep his commandments, he says: *And he shall strengthen the covenant with many. One week.* For until the seventh year after the ascension of the Savior, as frequent and successive evils befell the Jews, many, observing the divine retribution, believed in the Savior ^B and were well-disposed toward the New Testament, applying that Scripture: *If so be there is a fruit for the righteous, surely there is a God judging them on the earth.* Therefore, adhering to the preaching of the apostles for the remission of sins and the obliteration of iniquities, according to the angel’s narration, they obtained baptism. David, again pronouncing them blessed, along with those who believed later in the Savior, said: *Blessed are those whose iniquities were forgiven, and whose sins were covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.*

4. Then the angel proceeds thus: *And in the midst of the week he shall make the altars and sacrifices to cease, until the wing of desolation, and even until the consummation and libation shall be ordered for the desolation* (16). The wording, "in the midst of the week," in which he caused the altars and sacrifices to cease, came to pass thus: For in the fourth year after the ascension of the Savior, upon the death of Tiberius, his successor placed an image of Augustus in Jerusalem, over which ^{C D}

CL. DAUSQUEIUS' NOTES

(18) *With the leader of those who are coming.* I write "coming" for "about to come." Such are not a few of the things translated as future. (19) *And they shall be cut off in a deluge.* This is most elegantly said, as if to denote something else. In Livy, book three, we read of the "ruined" affairs of the Volsci. Above, I have supplied [the reading] from Eustathius. Divinely, moreover, he calls the internecine war and the vast slaughter a "deluge." So too the divine poet: *Carried over those vast seas from that deluge.* From the same source is that of the interpreter of Isaiah XXVIII: *A flooding scourge,* for the storm and tempest of adverse things which the prophet speaks of. I advise that no one interpret this as the thinness of a lash. Therefore, those who write as if in a deluge are… (20) *Of many forces.* Correct with the Bibles: *of many forces.* (21) *And peace shall come, and he shall prevail over the king in strongholds, and the arm of the one flooding shall be flooded.* Much otherwise in the Septuagint and the royal edition: *And peace shall come, and he shall prevail over the kingdom in slippings, and the arm of the one flooding shall be flooded.* Daniel, chapter [II]. (22) *Fruit for the righteous.* Psalm LVII, *righteous fruit.* (23) *Added to the preaching.* Respects the eleventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.

^A And when he had set it up in Jerusalem (24), and many wars had arisen on this account from the Jews, Caius, having conquered them, completely demolished their altars (25), and took away the sacrifices [that were] according to the law together with the *pterygion*. By *pterygion* he means the high priest’s robe, or the *diploid*. For whereas those before Titus made it a source of revenue and guarded it under their own seal (27), and those who wished to hire it [did so], Titus, arriving, made it vanish (28), wishing that he alone should be worshipped (29). And that no vain hope of recovery might be left to the Jews, the angel added: ^B

CL. DAUSQUEIUS' NOTES

^A *‘until those things are destroyed,’* he added: ‘to destruction until the consummation.’ He refers to Titus—that "delight" of anger—adding, ‘and of the libation unto destruction.’ For greater certainty, the angel repeats the matters regarding the week and the half of the week, adding about the statue ^B which he established in their holy temple and caused them to worship. For this, the angel called the "abomination of desolation," because the desolate Jews themselves once detested it. This he called "desolation," just as the Savior Himself spoke concerning this: "When you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (Matt. XXIV, 15), know that its desolation has drawn near. The angel, indicating until when these things regarding them shall be, says this a second time: "Until the consummation of the season, a consummation shall be given upon the desolation"—here also calling the desolated Jews "a consummation." For since Jeremiah, prophesying ^C regarding the former captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, also revealed to them the time of the return, saying, "When the seventy years of Babylon are completed" (Jer. XXV, 11).

NOTES OF DAUSQUEIUS

Did he seek divine honors, he who attributed his victory to God? Josephus, book VI, chap. 45, reports that Titus, having already entered the city, began to admire the fortifications and the towers, and their solid construction, width, and magnitude, and then spoke these words: "We have waged war with God’s help, and it was God who cast down the Jews from such strongholds; for neither the hands of men nor machines can do anything against these towers." Shall we refer these words to someone else mentioned by name? To Vespasian, of course. But Vespasian did not desire this, who, when dying, even mocked the emperors. Whence the quip in Suetonius: "I suppose I am becoming a god," since, upon dying, those who had passed were referred to the gods. Adulators ^D indeed provided stimuli to Vespasian, so that he might wish to be considered a God, to perform miracles, which Tacitus and Suetonius assert he performed, by restoring a blind man and strengthening a weak leg; but whether Titus fell into the same madness, so as to arrogate to himself an unmerited divinity, I rightly doubt; indeed, I do not believe it true.

(30) *Titus, that "delight" of anger.* I have chosen to have respect for Titus in a difficult and slippery matter, rather than point out his disparagement. I have translated it as if I had read "joy," as the Latins say "delight of heart," or rather than "proud" or "exalted." It seems, however, that not one or another word is missing, but some passage of Scripture where Titus is named in such or such a way.

(31) *Regarding the statue.* Divine Jerome in his commentary on Matthew: "Or regarding the image of Caesar, which Pilate placed in the temple, or concerning the equestrian statue of Hadrian, which stood in the very place of the holy of holies until the present day." Josephus, *Jewish War*, book II: Josephus does not assert that they were placed in the temple, but smuggled into the city by night and displayed openly: for at daybreak, the people, seeing either the images or the standards, were struck with such observance of soul and religious concern that Pilate took care to have them removed from Jerusalem. And Philo does not write that the standards were imported into the city then, but shields, by which, however, you will understand the images of the prince. Furthermore, the same Philo writes that no standard, no image, no statue, was placed in the temple or in the city in many places, as long as Gaius was attempting to place his colossal statue in the temple. Shall we therefore refer that to the Emperor Hadrian? Indeed, hear Alexander on the *Finding of the Holy Cross*, where, having said that Aelia was inhabited by the Gentiles, and that by Hadrian's order the Jews were forbidden even to look upon Judea, he adds: [it is in the area in which before [the temple]] stood.

(52) *Abomination.* Abomination. Isaiah ch. II: "In that day a man shall cast away his abominations of silver and his idols of gold" (Isa. II, 20): abomination. See also Suidas under the word "abomination."

(53) *Shall be in the holy place.* I supply this from the Gospels.

(54) *When the seventy years of Babylon are completed.* A poorly mutilated passage: for it does not say that the Israelites were about to bear the yoke of servitude, nor that they were to be delivered from servitude, to signify which Basil invokes Scripture as his teacher. But it seems this passage of Jeremiah is cited (ch. XXV, v. 11): "And all this land shall be for a desolation, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for seventy years, and when the seventy years are completed, I will take vengeance upon the king of Babylon," etc.

^A The archangel Gabriel left them no vain hope, saying: "Until the consummation of times, a consummation shall be given upon the desolation." For these things happened to them because God abandoned them, on account of the impiety they committed against Christ; just as David also, prophesying about such impiety of theirs, says: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered together in one against the Lord, and against His Christ." And he goes on to speak as follows concerning their abandonment due to this transgression: "Let us break their bonds asunder, and let us cast away their yoke from us. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure." ^B Just as our Lord Himself also foretold through the prophet Jeremiah concerning such abandonment of theirs: "They have forsaken my land, they have abandoned my inheritance, I have given my beloved soul into the hands of her enemies."

5. Now that the demonstration has been made with power regarding the fulfillment of everything which was spoken by the archangel Gabriel concerning the presence of our Savior and the things which happened to the Jews after His ascension, it is also necessary to know from the time of the kings who reigned after the completion of the seventy years of captivity until the building of Jerusalem, the seventy weeks reaching unto Christ the leader, and the other single week in which the destruction of the Jews and of Jerusalem came to pass—as the angel says: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon the holy city," and so forth. ^C And it is as Josephus describes in the eleventh book of the History of Jewish Antiquities. Cyrus, the successor of Astyages, in whose time Bel was destroyed and the dragon was slain, in the first year of his reign, released the Jews from captivity and commanded them to build Jerusalem, providing them also with funds for the building. In this year, Daniel died in Babylon, according to the voice of the angel who was clothed in linen. For he says to him: "And thou, Daniel, go thy way and rest; for there are still days and hours until the completion of the end," just as is said about him at the beginning of the third vision: "And it was in the third year of Cyrus the king." In this year, therefore, they began the building and continued building until his death, which is thirty years. And when his son Cambyses held the kingdom, the building was prevented for six years due to the report of the local magistrates. ^D Similarly, while he who was called the Magian reigned, the work lay idle for a year. In the second year of King Darius after the Magian, again at the exhortation of Zorobabel, the work...

they finished the temple in the ninth year of Darius, on the twenty-third day of the second month, so that the total of the years of the building of the temple was 46, thus: 30 years of Cyrus, 6 years of Cambyses, 1 year of the Magian, and 9 years of Darius. Knowing this, the Jews said to the Savior: "Forty-six years has this temple been in building, and will you raise it up in three days?" After the building of the temple, Darius having lived another twenty-seven years, they continued building the outer walls. Now the nations round about Jerusalem ^B not only hindered the building of the outer wall and tore down the structures that stood built, but also continually plundered them, took them captive, and killed them up to the twenty-fifth year of the reign of Xerxes. But Nehemiah, being of Jewish descent and chief cupbearer to King Xerxes, upon learning this in Persia from the Jews who had traveled there, besought King Xerxes in the twenty-fifth year of his reign to allow him to go and build the remains of the wall of Jerusalem. And having received authority, he arrived at the places and completed the wall with much haste in the twenty-eighth year of King Xerxes in the ninth month, so that the total years of the building of Jerusalem were 100, thus: From the first year of Cyrus to the ninth year of Darius, when the temple was finished, there were 46 years, as is set forth above. And from the tenth of Darius to the twenty-eighth of Xerxes, there are 55 years minus three months. In total, the years of the building of Jerusalem according to Josephus are 100. But from the building of Jerusalem to the Ascension of the Savior there are 483 years ^C, as the angel says: "From the time that Jerusalem was built until Christ the leader there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks." Which came to pass in this way: For after the building of Jerusalem, Artaxerxes Longimanus reigned 41 years. According to Josephus (40), this is he who...

NOTES BY CL. DAUSQUEIUS

(38) Of the surroundings of Jerusalem. See *2 Esdras*. (39) From the building of Jerusalem according to Josephus to the Ascension of the Savior, 483 years. Four hundred and eighty-three years correspond to sixty-nine weeks: the seventieth week being added completes four hundred and ninety years up to the destruction of the city, and the calamity received from Titus.

^A Artaxerxes Longimanus, forty-one years. According to Josephus (40), this is he who took Esther, the daughter of Mordecai. In his time, Haman was crucified. After him, Xerxes for two months and seven days; Sogdianus for seven months; Darius Nothus for nineteen years; Artaxerxes, the brother of Cyrus the Younger, for forty years; Ochus, surnamed Artaxerxes, for twenty-five years and seven months; Arses Nothus for four years; Darius, whom Alexander overthrew, for six years. The reigns of the eight Persian kings together, after the building (41) of Jerusalem, amount to one hundred and thirty-six years. ^B Alexander, after he defeated Darius, for twelve years; Ptolemy son of Lagus for twenty years; he shackled the Jews and brought them to Egypt. Philadelphus for thirty-eight years (42). He, having released the Jewish captives, vied with himself in zeal to have the Hebrew books translated into the Greek tongue. Euergetes for twenty-five years; Philopator for seventeen years; Epiphanes for twenty-four years; Philometor for thirty-five years; Euergetes the second for twenty-two years; Soter for thirty-six years; Dionysius for twenty-nine years; Cleopatra, the daughter of Dionysius, for twenty-two years. The Ptolemies, after Alexander, from the time he defeated Darius, amount in total to two hundred and eighty-seven years.

Kings of the Romans (44): Augustus for forty-three years. In his reign, Christ was born according to the flesh, in the twenty-ninth year of his reign (45). Tiberius

...

[Dausqueius's Notes:] (40) According to Josephus. See Book II, ch. 6. (41) Building. I have written this. Buildings could also be understood. (42) Philadelphus for 38 years. Josephus, whom Basil follows in many places, in his Antiquities, Book XII, ch. 2: "He then took over the kingdom of Egypt and held it for thirty-nine years." But if other writers who treat of these things differ from Basil, in this oration, I shall present it, and by showing the uncertain I shall make the reader more uncertain, for I thought it my duty to represent Basil's opinion with great fidelity. Rightly calculate, and you will find it should be written 288 years, not 287. Moreover, there is very great disagreement among authors as to the number, order, designation, and duration of the reign of these kings. See Tertullian, Book Against the Jews, and Epiphanius. Strabo, Book XVII, agrees with Basil in his enumeration of these kings.

(44) Kings of the Romans. Florus writes in his second book that Brutus, desirous of a new liberty for the people, lest they might thereafter be swayed by prayers or royal gifts, bound the people by an oath that they would suffer no man to reign at Rome. Wherefore, as the same author recorded in Book XXVII: Scipio, having made silence through a herald, said that he himself possessed the greatest title of "imperator" that his soldiers could call him by: the regal title, elsewhere great, was at Rome intolerable, but he possessed the regal power in himself: if they deemed that the greatest thing in a man's genius, let them judge silently, and abstain from using the word. By this he surpassed his own greatness and happiness with the utmost modesty, when the surrounding multitude of Spaniards, both those who had surrendered before and those who had been captured the day before, called Scipio "king" with great consensus. When Augustus was being heaped with wondrous honors after the civil wars were extinguished and the Roman Republic had been settled, at Appian, Book of Civil Wars: Plutarch in his *Antony*, where he narrates that Caesar had refused the royal title during the Lupercalia not without the congratulations of the people, appends this censure: "Since, therefore, the power and authority of the consuls were being eroded day by day, and the 'imperatores' began to be above them, the 'imperator' differed very little from a king, especially if anyone of a more licentious sort held the authority of the senate in lower esteem. Yet the name of king was lacking, by which the 'imperatores' were subsequently addressed by Greek writers." Augustus by Dionysius: "The spear of the Ausonian king whom he had tamed." I think this proceeded from the adulation with which Nonnus in his *Bassarics* called Jove an "Ausonian," and Oppian in his first book of the *Cynegetica* called the Emperor Severus, and Herodian in his last book, and others did the same. This passage is corrupted by punctuation and by the botched writing of a single syllable, from which thereafter the fault in the sentence arises. For there are not twenty-nine years of the reign of Augustus, whether you begin the counting from the Actian victory or from the slaying of Julius. Indeed, since Basil had placed numbers before the years of the reign of Augustus, he will not sufficiently agree with himself if he places 29 years. So I correct it: 29th year. For since Basil counts the years of Augustus's rule from the Actian victory after Antony was defeated with Cleopatra, Eusebius in his first book establishes only twenty-nine years. Let it be a caution that the numbers above, scattered in these places, are for the most part oddly inconsistent: nor is correction easy, because one must look not so much at what truth requires, but at what Basil's opinion is.

^A Tiberius Caesar reigned 22 years. But in the eighteenth year of his reign, the Savior, having fulfilled the economy, having been crucified, and having risen from the dead, was taken up 483 years after the building of Jerusalem, according to the angel's prophecy, after sixty-nine weeks of years, in this manner: From the first year of Cyrus, successor to Astyages, in whose age Bel was overthrown and the dragon killed, to the building of Jerusalem is 100 years. From the building of Jerusalem until the slaughter of Darius, 136 years; and from when Darius was slain until Augustus, 287 years. Augustus reigned 43 years after the death of Cleopatra, for before her death he held the empire for three years, and therefore some say he reigned 46 years. Tiberius Caesar reigned 18 years, for in his 18th year the Lord was taken up, so that from the building of Jerusalem to the assumption of Christ there are 483 years, which is 69 weeks of years. And from the resurrection of the Savior until the third year of Gaius is another single week; so that there are 70 weeks of years according to the angel's prophecy. For this is the week of which he said: "He shall strengthen a covenant with many." For these are the weeks spoken of for the consummation of their sins, so that if they should wish to hear the voice of the trumpet of our Lord Jesus Christ, all their sins and iniquities might be easily blotted out. But if they did not admit his saving teaching, then the grace of the heavenly gift would pass to the nations which had obeyed his holy calling. Just as the Savior himself said through the prophet: ^B "And I said, Hear the voice of the trumpet; and they said, We will not hear." And the nations heard this, and they who pastured their flocks. For before the 483 years were completed, the Savior, moved by compassion toward them, would sometimes exhort his disciples, saying: "Go not into the way of the nations, and into the cities of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." To his own mother, regarding the time for offering pardon to the Jews, he revealed this sentiment, saying: "My hour is not yet come." Sometimes, telling the Syrophoenician woman: "It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs." Sometimes: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Sometimes, weeping over the city of Jerusalem, he addressed it: "If thou hadst known, even thou, and that in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! But now they are hidden from thine eyes." ^C And as to what their outcome would be, with truly lamentable tears he proclaimed: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill...

and with tearful lamentations, he would say ^A: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you! How often I have desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate." And when he knew that the time of pardon for them, lasting one hour, was fulfilled, as those sent with Judas came toward him, he said to them: "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me, as if for a robber? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness." Therefore, he also said to his own Father: "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son." For after the holy resurrection, when the completion of the four hundred and eighty years had come to pass, and they had not repented, he commands his holy disciples, saying: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Knowing this mystery of the completed times, the disciples said to the Jews: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you; but since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles; for so the Lord has commanded us." ^B Therefore, with the demonstration of the manifest presence of the Anointed One having been made clear through the teaching of the archangel Gabriel, let the Jews cease from the vain expectation by which they deceive the simpler-minded.

ORATION XXXIX. On the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos.

1. He who is about to praise the holy Virgin and Mother of God will find a most abundant store of praise. But I, knowing my own weakness, and that I am not capable of addressing the magnitude of the subjects, held myself back for a long time, struck with wonder. ^C For just as any person burdened with a heavy load, if ordered beyond his strength to cast himself into a boundless sea, retreats not without a struggle of a reluctant soul; so I, weighed down by sins, hesitate to take up the subject of such discourse, judging the matter to be for the most exceedingly perceptive of men, and for those who are clearly purified in body and soul, and also those who, having been abundantly illuminated by the effusion of divine grace, will satisfy the praise due to the Theotokos. But I, ^D bereft of such confidence, have no liberty of speech afforded to me from this source. For neither have my lips been purified with the divine coal, as they were for Isaiah, the spectator of the Seraphim, nor have I cast off the sandal from the feet of my soul, as did the divine Moses. Where, indeed, one can see even such men as these growing dizzy at the service of such towering matters.

^A For as that great Moses, the meekest of all men, though called by God and sent for the liberation of the people, ^B long declined such an undertaking—even though he had received proofs of help from above through divine and great signs—and even after his departure from Egypt was emboldened by the addition of greater miracles: whether when the sea, struck by his staff, gave the people passage on dry feet, and the fluid nature of the sea waters, like hewn rocks, was walled up ^C on both sides in a steady formation; or when a very dry and moistureless rock, by the blow of that same rod, flooded the wilderness with an abundance of riverine streams; or again, the bitterness of other waters was sweetened by the casting in of wood; or because an innumerable multitude was fed and sated by bread rained down unexpectedly from heaven; or because, besides these, other things greater than human understanding were done through him. And after so many miracles experienced, when he was ordered to ascend Mount Sinai to receive the tablets written by the finger of God, he ordered others to remain far from the foot of the mountain, though they had long been purified from intercourse with women; but the ministers of the holy tabernacle he commanded to ascend a little way, having separated them from the gathering of the people; and above these he invited the priests, instructing the subjects regarding how great the excellence of the priestly order and status is. But he placed Aaron, being the high priest, higher than all, yet outside the darkness: he alone approaches God, and learns from Him the proper ordering of heavenly things, and is instructed to display them as a pattern. And such a man, so great in virtue, hearing the sound of trumpets, and of thunders, and of lightnings, and experiencing other terrors, came to such an excess of agony ^D that he could not control his own thoughts, but cried out to all openly that he was terrified and trembling.

2. And these things happened to that Moses, who heard God speaking not in a vision and not in riddles, but conversing with the Lord mouth to mouth. But how great a fear, as is fitting, shall hem me in, wishing to offer praise to the Theotokos, lest I wander from the truth, and thinking to honor her through my words, I might inadvertently utter something unworthy of her? For the purpose is not to ascend a physical mountain, nor to pass through the air spread above the earth, and to be surrounded by the beautiful light of the ether; but, as far as possible, to surpass the order surrounding them, and having come near the heavenly vaults, not to stop at the most beautiful impulse of all, but to surmount even these as far as I am able, by the cooperation of the Spirit who guides unto divine things.

^A And to pass by the ranks of the angels, and to leave behind their commanders together with them; to ascend even above the radiance of the Thrones, and the honorable preeminence of the Lordships, the command of the Principalities, and the splendor of the Powers; and, furthermore, above the strength of the divine Virtues, the sagacity of the many-eyed Cherubim, and the motion of the six-winged Seraphim that is unimpeded in every direction; and if there is any other creature beyond these, not to pause in my course and my yearning. ^B But if it is permitted for a human being, bound by flesh, to fix a bold gaze with the most curious eyes of the mind, and to contemplate the co-eternal radiance of the Father’s glory—the Son, who shines forth and is made manifest by the true Light—to begin thence the praise of the Theotokos, whence she both is and is called Theotokos. For what subject could be higher than this? Surely no one could say, if he considers the middle ground between divine and human things. For just as it is not easy to conceive of and to speak of God—or rather, it is altogether impossible—so the great mystery of the Theotokos is superior to both mind and tongue. Since, then, she who bore the God made flesh is called Theotokos, I shall ascend to God by means of prayer, and make Him the leader of my discourse: Master Almighty, King of all creation, who ineffably illuminates the bodiless minds with Your intellectual light, ^C illuminate also my mind, that the matter at hand may be conceived without error, and what is conceived may be spoken piously, and what is spoken may be grasped securely. For he who attempts to speak about God incurs risk in three ways: either the mind is not illuminated, or the speech is powerless, or the hearing is not receptive. And do you, having purified your senses worthily, hear my speech about God in a manner worthy of Him. That God is, must be believed. For the more the human mind exerts itself, the more it perceives the unknown nature of its comprehension. And if one should strive to speak of anything magnificent, what is spoken will fall short of the truth. For who shall conceive the inconceivable? Who shall proclaim the unutterable? How shall clay, quickened by Him, and ignorant of the essence of its own soul, comprehend the God who breathed this into it? ^D Therefore, he who has learned to worship God does not superstitiously inquire into what God is; but rather, he considers that He is, drawing a notion of Him from the things made by Him. For "from the greatness and beauty of creatures," the one who fashioned them is known—He who is Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit; the beginningless beginning of all things; the rich fountain of all brilliance; the all-beautiful beauty of all that is beautiful.

A Trinity known in Unity, and a Unity honored in the Trinity of the Godhead. Man, having been made in the image of this supreme glory, ^A was rich in God-like radiance. But the defilement of sin obscured this beauty and transformed us into a beastly form. As the psalmist David says: "Man, being in honor, did not understand; he was compared to senseless beasts and became like them." Or rather, he even fell short of their likeness, according to the scripture: "The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib; but Israel does not know Me, and my people do not understand." Although we were urged by many means toward wisdom and duty, we did not turn our life to the better, but took pleasure in a worse way of life.

And yet, with these things admitted by us, the Master did not turn away from his slaves; but mindful of his own mercies, which he can never forget, he was moved to a greater excess of philanthropy, according to the scripture: "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." For when he saw us in despair, and that there was no help present from works—or rather, that the very destruction had proceeded from our works—and that nothing remained, having wasted away into nothingness, he felt compassion for us (if it is permitted to say this of Him who is by nature impassible), and changed the wrath justly deserved into an unmerited affection. ^B Therefore, he sent the Creator of the image to the image that had been corrupted, so that he might reshape it with the colors of goodness. For this reason, He who was in the form of God took the form of a servant, so that, having liberated the slaves of sin, he might lead them back to their former nobility and declare them sons of the heavenly Father, re-formed again according to His image. "For as many as received him," he says, "to them he gave the power to become children of God." And let no one among those present accuse me of shifting from what I had promised in the beginning to other things; for in honoring the Benefactor, we also honor his Mother—but let our discourse now return to Him.

3. Wishing, therefore, to cleanse the image and wishing to immortalize the flesh, ^C He clothes Himself in flesh, healing what is kindred by that which is kindred; and He becomes in all things a perfect man, so that He might perfectly save the man whom He had fashioned. For the first-fruits of our race having been condemned because of sin, it required a second first-fruits, sinless and fulfilling all righteousness, through which all the body, joined to the Head, was brought back to men; so that, just as in Adam we died, so in Christ we might live. For He could have saved ^D and

granted salvation ^A without incarnation, but He wished to show that the nature which had been cast down by the effect of sin was, in Himself, better and superior to sin; so that He might condemn sin in the flesh, and extend His own righteousness to all, and might exhaust the strength of him who held the empire of death, that is, the devil, as the divine Apostle also says: "For what was impossible for the law, in which it was weakened through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us." Since therefore the children have shared in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the empire of death, that is, the devil. ^B For He did not prepare Himself for the defense against the Enemy out of ambition—since as God He possesses an invincible and inaccessible power—but so that the defeated Adam might ascribe his own ruin to himself, He descended to the great mystery of the incarnation, wrapping Himself in the veil of the flesh, and through it conversed with those who are bound to flesh; that through Whom all things were made, through Him all things might be saved in abundance. But perhaps someone might say: "What then? Were human affairs neglected in the ages before this miracle?" I would say, by no means, my good friend. From the beginning, God cared for our race and gave it appropriate instruction. ^C While doing this, He opened a way to His invisible Godhead through visible creatures, as if through certain monuments. Then, through the law of nature, He implanted in us the knowledge of good and evil, and gave us reason as a mistress over ourselves, skilled in driving and an excellent guide. But since our ancestors did not use rightly what had been rightly instituted (for, admiring the beauty of created things, they put aside the honor of the Creator and served the creature rather than the Creator, and with the law of nature reversed, they turned to wickedness contrary to nature), He gave written laws, teachers of the true knowledge of God, and guides to a life lived according to virtue; ^D and in addition to these, judges, kings, prophets, and priests for the guidance toward a better life. But nonetheless, the souls of men remained sick, until that great Physician arrived, shining forth from the virginal bridal chamber.

4. At this part of the discourse, and toward the

^A greatness of the miracle, I am struck speechless and dumb, for I cannot find words equal to the facts. How shall I celebrate in a paradoxical manner the paradoxical grace? How shall I glorify the fountain of philanthropy? How shall I proclaim the river of philanthropy? How shall I dare to venture into the virginal sea and search the depth of this great mystery, unless you, O Theotokos, teach me as one might teach an inexperienced diver to put off the old man, who is corrupt according to the desires of deceit? Then, having filled the mouth of my mind with mercy ^B, to dive down to the depth of your childbearing, so that, shining with the light of your mercy, I might find the pearl of truth within you? Struggle together with me for the grasping of this, that, instructed by you, I may be able to speak concerning you, not how you gave birth to the incarnate Word—for the manner of your delivery is above the "how"—but that you became a mother and yet remained a virgin; just as He who was born of you was truly man and remained truly God, correcting the work of His own hands. For He is the One who fashioned man in the beginning, and in the last days refashioned him through Himself; He who took dust from the earth and fashioned Adam ^C, and enlivened him with His own breath. Yet He did not show him the manner of his fashioning, preemptively restraining his curious audacity, that, being ignorant of the composition of clay and soul, he would not search into the union of God and flesh, saying to him, as it were: "Do not dare to be lifted up to heaven, being earthbound. Know yourself—how you were fashioned, how you were formed, how you were ensouled, how that which is incorporeal dwells within your body." Does it extend to all its limbs, or does it encompass and perfect just one member? If it extends, much that is absurd follows, for it is the property of bodies to extend, but we all know that the soul is incorporeal. But if it is contracted, this is even more absurd, for the incorporeal will be found to be a body if it is contracted into any one part of the body, and the remaining limbs will ^D be shown to be dead, having departed from the soul that gives life. You see how the comprehension of these things cannot be grasped.

how then will you discover the things that are above you? For if you were comprehending your own existence, you would justly be investigating my incarnation; or rather, even then it would be a reckless thing to do; for the distance between God and men is infinite. If you do not even understand your own [existence], how will you understand that which is above it? Let the senseless then come to their senses, and let them depart from the Jewish intoxication; [those] who say that it is impossible for a woman to give birth without the union of a man. For what seems more unacceptable to them—to be born of a woman, or to be molded from the earth? That a virgin’s womb should contain [a child], or that the earth should be imbued with a soul, and see, and speak, and hear, and do all that it seemed good [for it to do]? In time past, God took dust and molded man; again, He took the dust from the Virgin—I mean the flesh which is from her—and as He knew how, He molded it for Himself, and He has become man. How then do those who believe the former contradict the latter? In the former case they testify to the omnipotence of God, but in this case they accuse Him of the impossible. For He Himself is the One who fashioned the former and renewed the latter. Let nothing, therefore, be called impossible with God; for where He acts, the impossible ceases to be.

^B But there is nothing shameful in human nature, in the judgment of those who are wise judges of the truth. For our whole body, having the rank of an instrument, does not understand how to do anything of its own accord, but submits to our wills; for through it the soul, like a musician, either strikes up the melodies of virtue or produces the tumults of vice. Let no one, therefore, deem the human body shameful, or disparage it as something alien to God; for it is not the molding that shames, but the action that condemns; for neither the eyes nor the hand nor any of the other members sin, but he who makes evil use of the hand, the eye, and the other members. Wherefore the Creator and Lord of all, being born of the Virgin and Theotokos, shared in the nature of men; for He truly wore animated flesh, but He did not share in the deeds of the lawless; for “He did no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.” O holy and God-containing womb! In which the bond of sin was torn asunder; in which God became man, remaining God, and He endured being carried in a womb, and He descended to our generation, without emptying the paternal bosom, while filling the maternal arms. For God is not divided when He does what He wills; but remaining rather undivided in all, He dispenses salvation to the world.

^C And Gabriel, indeed, when coming to the Virgin and Theotokos, leaves the heavens; but God the Word, who fills all things, even when He is being incarnate in her, is not separated from the worship in the heavens. When He again brings the First-born into the inhabited world, He says: “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”

For even as a word written upon paper is entirely in the paper, and entirely in the mind that generates it, and entirely in those who read it; so God the Word—or rather, a better comparison, which is known to the Word Himself—is wholly in His own body and wholly in God, and

^A filling the heaven and embracing the earth, and sustaining all created things. Who will object to God’s moderation? Who will reproach Him for the poverty assumed on our account, through which it is permitted to us to acquire the kingdom of heaven and its riches? What do they say, those who suffer from a superstitious religion and tremble with fear where there is no fear 44—fearing that God suffers, as they suppose, while He heals the passions of men without passion? And because of this, they are unbelieving, if the birth of the incarnate God was entrusted to a woman’s womb. In this way, God is honored more; in this way, He is shown to be more impassible, in that He was encompassed by a passible body and yet displayed the impassibility of His divinity. For if this sun, touching even foul and stinking places, does not suffer any stain to its purity, how much more does the Sun of Justice, shining into the immaculate Virgin and taking from her a holy body, remain in it impassible, as is worthy of God? For as mankind was utterly lost and had no hope of salvation, we needed ^B the visitation of God, which was proclaimed to us through the prophets; as it is possible to hear Isaiah saying: *Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel*, which is interpreted: *God with us* 45. Again: *A child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder*, and the rest, up to *the Father of the world to come* 46. And elsewhere, that same prophet, foreseeing the future fellowship of foreign nations in Christ, says thus: *Then the wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall rest with the kid; and the calf and the lion and the bull shall graze together* 47. And again: *Behold our God will come and will save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be clear* 48. One may hear Jeremiah also, through Baruch, shouting: *This is our God, and there shall no other be accounted in comparison of him. He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. Afterward he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men* 49. Micah also says this: *And thou Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, art little among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity* 50. Beyond these, Zechariah: *Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Sion: for behold I come, and will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall be my people* 51. Divine Daniel also, in announcing the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, relates the generation from the Virgin: *And I beheld so, until*

a stone was cut without hands from a mountain, and it struck the image. And after a little: *And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the earth*. Then, introducing the interpretation of the dream, he adds: *And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom which shall not be dissipated for eternity; and his kingdom shall not be delivered to another people. It shall crush and winnow all kingdoms, and it shall stand for the ages*. And the same one says again: *I beheld in a vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, as it were a Son of man he was coming, and he reached to the Ancient of days, and was brought into his presence. And to him was given dominion, and honor, and the kingdom; and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom shall not be corrupted*. And Zephaniah also says: *The Lord shall appear* ^B upon them; and he shall utterly destroy all the gods of the nations; and each one from his place shall worship him. And in addition to all these, or rather before all these, the prophet and king David has cried out: *He shall descend like rain upon a fleece, and like drops trickling upon the earth. And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the inhabited world*. And after other things: *His name shall be blessed unto the ages; before the sun his name remains. And all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed*.

5. But what need is there to bring into the midst all the things said by the prophets, who foretold the presence of Christ born from the Theotokos? What tongue, therefore, is so eloquent that it might worthily hymn her, since through her we have been deemed worthy of such great blessings? With what flowers of praise shall we weave the crown owed to her? For from her the flower of Jesse ^C sprouted, and crowned our race with glory and honor. What gifts, worthy enough, shall we bring to her, when all worldly things are beneath her dignity? For if Paul asserts concerning the other saints: *of whom the world was not worthy*; what shall we say concerning the Theotokos, who so far outshines all the martyrs as the sun outshines the stars? O virginity, through which the angels, having formerly turned away from the human race, now justly and deservedly rejoice, having been sent ^D for the service of men.

^A For the herald of the divine conception, the one trusted with the message, begins with joy and grace. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." Hail, thou who art full of grace; take on a bright countenance. For from thee the joy of all shall be born, and he will put an end to the ancient curse of these, breaking the power of death and granting to all the hope of resurrection. Hail, full of grace, o unfading paradise of purity, in which, once the tree of life is planted, it will sprout forth fruits of salvation for all, from whence the four-mouthed fountain of the Gospels will distribute rivers of mercy to those who believe. Hail, full of grace, mediatrix between God and men, so that the partition-wall of enmity may be destroyed and heavenly and earthly things may be united. The Lord is with thee: because thou truly existest as a temple worthy of God, well scented with the aromatics of chastity; the great High Priest will inhabit thee, who according to the order of Melchizedek is without mother and without father: without mother from God the Father; without father from thee the mother. ^B "And when she saw him," it says, "she was troubled at his word," that is, at the paradoxical nature of what was being said. And Gabriel, so that she might not be troubled through lack of understanding, anticipates her ignorance with a comforting word and says: "Fear not, Mary; for fear belongs to those who have offended; but thou hast found grace with God." ^C Then, demonstrating the grace which is above all grace, he continues, saying: "Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; he shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob ^D for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." And Mary said to the angel: "How shall this be, since I know not a man?" No method of conception among women, she says, has been perceived except by the union of a man; but for me, observing such purity, how shall this thing be possible? Thy message is paradoxical and possesses hard-to-accept credibility. How shall I, being without seed, sprout fruit? How, being unmarried, shall I bring forth a son? The archangel says: Thou askest justly, and I respond with indulgence; part of it I verify with testimony, and in part I yield regarding the mode. That which it is lawful for me to know is of this kind: this conception will not be from the sowing of a man, but the coming of the Holy Spirit and the overshadowing of the power of the Most High will accomplish it. Why then dost thou hold up the law of nature against the Lawgiver of nature? Couldst thou receive thy Creator without his power? Is thy womb broader than the heavens? Dost thou surpass the world in magnitude, for which, in order to contain him, he is not unbegotten? A nearby helper is at hand. "The power of the Most High shall overshadow thee." For if such power does not overshadow thee, thou wilt by no means be able to contain him who cannot be contained, unless the birth itself...

^A collaborates with thee; clay cannot bear its own maker. Since thou hast said again, "How shall I, not knowing man, bring forth fruit?" take this to heart so as to believe in the miracle. How, at the beginning of the creation of the world, did the earth bring forth fruits without seeds? For he who endowed it with the power for fruit-bearing will move thy womb toward procreation. It was said to the earth: "Let the earth bring forth the green herb," and the divine command became the nature of existing things, and he adorned everything with diverse fruits. But to thee it is said: *The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee; and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; therefore also that which is born shall be called holy, the Son of God.* To which the Virgin, running to meet the angel's words, says: *Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.* And then, the things pertaining to the divine conception were accomplished through the virginal womb. What speech can penetrate the impassable sea of a conception without marriage? What mind is so pure, so contemplative, as to gaze upon these invisible things? And these things are greater than any human voice, but rather [the result of] a divine inspiration truly opening the solution to these questions.

^B How the uncreated and incomprehensible essence of the Word, which is uncommunicable to every creature, upon which the Cherubim dare not gaze, even if it surpasses the other ranks [of angels], how this came into communion with the weak and earthen nature of humanity! And it became a mystery, which remains a mystery even to this day, and will never cease to be a mystery. Then creation saw what it had never seen before: son, the father of her who bore him; infant, pre-existing his mother; child, older than the ages. For he who was born was not a mere man; but God the Word, incarnate from the Virgin, clothing himself in flesh of the same essence as mine, so that by the similar he might save the similar. For if he had possessed a body other than mine, if he had not shared in my flesh, he would not have deigned to bestow life upon me; if he had not impoverished himself by [taking] my essence, I would not have been enriched with the divine kingdom. Emmanuel, therefore, came forth into this world which he himself had made of old—a child indeed in appearance, but God before the eternity—reclining in a manger, finding no room in the inn, though he had prepared the eternal ^C habitations; brought down in a cave, and manifested by a star; receiving gifts from the Magi, and bestowing ransoms for sins; carried in the arms of Simeon, and embraced in all things divinely; seen as an infant by the shepherds.

CL. DAUSQUEIUS' NOTES.

nothingness; for it is the Mother of the Lord of all, and truly the Theotokos, who ponders in her heart, as it is written, the additions of the paradoxical events concerning Him, who is filled inwardly with an overflowing joy by the arrival of these marvelous things, and who is at once radiant and struck with awe at the grandeurs of the Son and God appearing before her. ^B When, therefore, she looks upon that divine infant, seized, I imagine, by fear and longing, she alone conversed with Him alone in such ways: "What name shall I find for you, O child, that is fitting? That of a man? But your conception is divine. That of God? But you have taken on a human incarnation. What then shall I do with you? Shall I provide milk, or shall I speak of your divinity? Shall I care for you as a mother, or shall I worship you as a slave? Shall I embrace you as a son, or shall I pray to you as to God? Shall I offer milk, or shall I bring incense? What is this ineffable and greatest miracle? Heaven is your throne, and my bosom carries you. You are present in your entirety to those dwelling on earth, and yet you have not turned away at all from those on high; for your descent has not come about by a change of place, but a divine condescension has taken place. I proclaim your love for mankind, I do not scrutinize your incarnation."

6. ^C Do you see what kind of mystery was accomplished through her, a mystery that surpasses every tongue and thought? Who, therefore, would not marvel at the great power of the Theotokos, and how much it surpasses all the saints whom we honor? For if Christ ^D granted such grace to his servants that they not only healed the sick by touch, but also achieved the same by the projection of their shadow—for they used to set the sick forth in the middle of the marketplace, as the Book of Acts teaches, and the shadow of Peter drove away diseases, whereas of Paul, I know not what handkerchief 78 [was used].

CL. DAUSQUE'S NOTES

(76) *And on earth peace, good will among men.* Observe the tripartite prayer, which the common version has made bipartite. (77) *By the additions of the paradoxical events concerning him.* What are these most marvelous additions of events? To be born of a Virgin, which Saint Augustine, in Epistle 5, teaches is greater than the raising of the dead. And the same [author], in Sermon 9, on the Nativity: "O miracles, O prodigies, most dear brethren, the laws of nature are changed; God is born in man; a Virgin is made pregnant without a man; the Word of God unites where no man is known; she is made at once mother and virgin: made mother, but incorrupt; a virgin having a son without knowing a man, always sealed but not unfruitful." (78) *Paul's handkerchief.* *Encheirion* or *encheiridion*, whatever is in the hand, Gen. xxxviii, where the LXX have "the staff in your hand," Symmachus translates *encheiridion*, [meaning] a knife. The smaller books are easily grasped in the hands; see Pliny. I have explained this as a linen hand-cloth. It is what I believe Luke left written in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter xix, *soudaria*. So that "handkerchiefs or semicinctia [aprons] were carried away from his body to the sick." Where Theophylact [says]: "Both sudaria [napkins] and semicinctia [aprons] are of linen, except that sudaria are thrown over the head, while semicinctia are worn on the hands by those who, because they are in consular vestments, cannot wear oraria, to wipe away the moisture of the mouth, such as sweat, spittle, tears, and the rest." Hesychius: Pollux, book vii: Glossae semicinctium, and those who make them in the *Aulularia*, *semisomaria*. It also was called *encheirion*, and [was used for] wiping off sweat, and [was called] a *sudarium*, and a *semicinctium*. Pollux, book vii, chapter : Where the Scholiast says, Suetonius chapter : [index: entries preserved]

^A seized [it], and having wiped off the odor of his skin, he drove away the avenging demons through it. What power should we conceive to be in the Mother? Is it not far greater than that of those who are subject to her? It is known to everyone. And what is wonderful if the saints, while living, worked [miracles] by the power of miracles, since even when they are dead the earth has not covered up their power? For if even the stones that hide their bodies are able to give salvation to those in need, provided they approach them worthily; and if such things as these were granted to them to perform miracles, how great was the sustenance [prize] He gave to the one who bore Him, and with what gifts did He adorn her? ^B If Peter was called blessed, and was entrusted with the keys of the kingdom of heaven, why shall she who was deemed worthy to bear the One confessed by him not be called blessed above all others? If Paul was called a chosen vessel because he bore the holy name of Christ and preached it everywhere in the habitable world, how great a vessel must the Theotokos be? Not like the golden jar that contained the manna, but [she who] contained in her womb the heavenly bread, which is given to the faithful for food and strength. But I am cautious, lest while I wish to say more about her, [and] not reaching her dignity, I cause myself more shame. Therefore, having furled the sails of my discourse, I will steer into the safe harbor ^C of silence, having said a few things first to those who have gathered here. Since many good things for us—which no language can describe—have come about through the Theotokos, let us repay a return to our benefactor, which may redound upon us. What [return]? This, I say: love for one another, which is the fulfillment of the law. For the whole law, he says, is fulfilled in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." And again, "For the commandments: 'You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness,'" and if there is any other commandment, "it is summed up in this word, namely: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" But before all, let us keep the body of the Church unbroken, guarding the wealth of concord inviolate. Let us not ^D pretend to defend the true faith while we are avenging our mutual hatreds; masking evil under the guise of piety; nor let us, for the sake of base gain, depart from the true doctrines, seeking profit through loss, and peddling the truth. But let us join honorable actions to the true faith.

the truth; but let us also acquire a virtuous conduct along with orthodox faith, because the one without the other does not suffice for perfect approval. For faith without works is dead, as are works without faith. ^A And binding ourselves together with the chains of charity, let us offer such voices as these to the Theotokos: "O most holy Virgin, concerning whom he who speaks everything solemn and glorious does not indeed err from the truth, but does not do justice to her worth. ^B Look down upon us from above, be propitious. Rule us now in peace; but when we are brought without shame before the judgment throne, place us in that station which is at the right hand of your Son, that we may be caught up on high, and with the angels may sing the hymn to the unbegotten and consubstantial Trinity, which is known and praised in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit, now, and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen."

ORATION XL. On the Transfiguration of our Lord, and God, and Savior Jesus Christ.

1. As the sun, having just cast its rays upon the earth, clouds over the ranks of the stars, and obscures the splendor of the moon, by the ^C surpassing brightness of those luminaries snatching them from [our] view; it checks the course of the night, warding off darkness with light; and as if stripping all things of a black garment, it clothes them with the graces of light and reveals the backs of the continent crowned with flowers, and the reddening sea: and being one, it illuminates the face of the visible creation. Yet, although the sun is so great, it is not shown to have reached the height of light's splendor; for ^D mortal eyes dare to gaze upon it, and often the approach of a cloud prevents its solar flashes, and a shady thicket blocks the light; and night also, relying on the law of its Creator, divides the time equally with the sun. For because the life of men is both laborious and bound by toils, for this reason the Creator appointed the day for work; but night, rushing in and finding man exhausted, delivers him to a bed so that He may grant him rest; it indeed relaxes his limbs with sleep, while conceding to nature the solemn time in which it may gradually gather its strength. Great, therefore, and it...

and brilliant, but it is merely commensurate with human needs. Yet the radiance of the Lord is not of such a kind (for it is not right to compare the creature with the Creator), nor is it esteemed by comparison with solar rays, since it is not hidden by the succession of night; rather, this light is something astonishing to men and inaccessible to angels. Clothed in this light, the Lord Christ, like a trophy-bearer, will arrive from heaven, making His second appearance to men. For having then changed the ^B guise of war, He will be clothed in the vesture of the conqueror; for thus the prophet says: "Why is your clothing red?" For the juice of war had stained the garment of the warrior. Since the intent of every divine dispensation is philanthropic toward God regarding men, He brings His will to pass in various ways, and assumes lowly forms according to the need. Thus, walking in paradise, He calls the hiding first-formed man to conversation; thus again, a cloud mediated when He spoke to men. But in the last days, taking on humanity, He appears through the customs natural to it, validating the race through its sufferings: birth, and manger, and swaddling clothes, circumcision, and purification, and the surrender of the legal ransom; ^C and to these, the cross, and passion, and death. And so, the first things of the dispensation were in a lowly form, and the view was measured by the need; but at the time of His second manifestation, He changes the form—no longer lowly, as before, but making it formidable and radiant.

2. Being then desirous of disclosing the glory of that advent to His disciples, He spoke: "There are some of you who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming ^D in the glory of His Father." You, therefore, looking at the lowly state of His form and through the ignorance of your minds, do not perceive the depth of the hidden wisdom, and the measure of your vision becomes the measure of your knowledge. "For have I been with you for so long a time, and have you not known me?" Therefore, I shall reveal to you some part of my invisible majesty, and by this spectacle, the hope of the future... [index: entries preserved]

^A will be brought together. I spoke to you of [my] Passion, and you caused your soul to tremble; I said that I must be crucified, and [your] reason was cast down by fear. I said: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me;" but the memory of the Passion and its intensity broke [your resolve]. I said: "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world (91), and suffers the loss of his own soul?" And by this word I did not cast out your fear, but the Passion remained unconquerable. I introduced the Judge again, incorruptible, not trading away offenses for bribes, saying: "For what will a man give as an exchange for his soul?" And among you this word was ambiguous. I said: "The Son of man will come in his glory," and you thought I was speaking in myths. Since, therefore, the word is not protected [by understanding], things themselves shall teach [the truth]: "There are some of those who stand here who will not taste of death until they see the Son of man coming in the glory of his Father." The time of the coming second [advent] is not yet; for it is necessary that the cross be set up, that hell be brought into subjection, that the decrees of freedom be set forth for the dead, that I, having risen from the dead, ascend into the heavens—[this is] the struggle of the proclamation (92). It must be set forth to all, so that through the proclamation the Gospel might prevail; and then the one preaching the Gospel shall appear. But to you, my disciples, I hasten to grant a representation of the [future] coming, so that, having tasted of the vision beforehand, you may have faith in the future from what has already arrived. "There are some of those who stand here." "Some"—for not all; for I do not publish the vision to all; let that which is seen remain a mystery even after the vision. Having said these things, it says: "He takes three of his ^B disciples, Peter, and James, and John." Making these [men] spectators, he left the others as hearers; and he led them up to a high mountain. Rightly "high," so that the mountain might also possess the proximity from heaven (93), as Paul preached: "We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." He now seeks a place leveled with the clouds. They were indeed congruent spectators, but their eyes were expanded toward their hopes, and their soul with ^C their own...

fear was travailing in desire for the sight. As they were thus looking forward to what was to come, Christ is suddenly transfigured before the disciples, and He changes His form, and putting on a garment of light, displayed a flashing spectacle. O what a wonder! From a human form, rays were flashing forth, sent by divine energies; the sun saw what it had not learned before; it was taught by the brilliance of another light and was hidden. You stood still, O sun, once, awaiting the victory of the Hebrews; you revered Jesus who commanded as leader, and you honored the title of Master in your fellow servant; now you see a light which you did not see before. ^B The writers of the Gospels, relating this vision, struggle one in one way and another in another with the language, having no speech with which to represent the spectacle. For one says somewhere, "His face shone like the sun," as he had no other image that was brighter (94); but the other (95), "His garments shone like light"; for we draw comparisons, he says, from what we see. Let the creation itself also join in, as it finds no image for this vision; let the eyes be witnesses, for the tongue has not learned how to speak of it. The sight itself, dazzling those who saw it with the very brilliance of the things seen, obscurely signaled the future judge of the world. Moreover, there appeared with Him the first-fruits of the living and the dead in virtue, so that they might proclaim to those present that the Lord is the judge of both the living and the dead. For Moses, being a leader, an instructor in virtue, and a lawgiver, exchanged life for death. But Elijah, kindled with divine zeal, becomes a charioteer of fire, and riding through the air, he leaped over the laws of nature in his course, having found a path higher than death.

3. Being brought to this point in the discourse, call to ^C your own mind the Lord's questions and the disciples' answers: some were naming Elijah, others one of the prophets; but now seeing Him being worshiped by the prophets. . . . Moses makes entreaty, Elijah bows down, and they testify that the One present is Master, not a servant. But Peter . . .

even though he saw these things, yet because he was overwhelmed in his mind by the excellence of the miracles, did not yet grasp that teaching: for by the desire of seeing Him he forgets all things, and being seized with great joy, he is bound to the place. Let us make, he says, three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He rebukes his own ignorance ^B by numbering the Master with the servants, and he thought that the subjects were of equal honor with the Master. But Peter did not remain in the sickness of ignorance: for a peal of thunder crashing from above does not without terror heal his ignorance, as if shouting these things by its din: Why do you rank the servants with the Master? Do you wish to learn the difference? This is my beloved Son; those I created as servants, but this one I begat from my essence as Son; He is my Son, even if for your sake He has put on the form of a servant; He inhabits unapproachable light, even if for your sake He has tempered its splendor. O blessed eyes, which contemplated Christ dressed in the habit of the bridegroom! Blessed eyes, which looked upon the formidable day of judgment in a gentle aspect! For what others will see trembling, these saw with joy. For what power of eyes can be able to endure the terrible day of judgment, when the earth shall be shaken, and the sea, boiling, shall cast out the bodies of men born of Adam, and the people shall be set in motion along with others, not bearing the present terror? For heaven shall be rolled up ^C as if a king were approaching; suddenly his attendants shall draw back the curtains before the doors; but with the heaven removed, there appear the ranks of angelic powers with radiance, a thousand thousands of angels, and ten thousand times ten thousand running before; the Master is seen descending, as He shines brilliantly all around with excessive light. Who will be equal to seeing such a spectacle? Who will govern the terror? For if we do not bear the frequent flashes of lightning, and the splendor often strikes the onlooker to the ground, what then will he say, when he sees Him who casts the lightnings shining forth? When the sounds of trumpets shall summon the dead from the tombs; when the caskets and chambers of the graves shall be broken open and cast out their captives; ^D when judgments shall be exercised concerning intention, and deeds, and the reflections of the mind, when the devil, having been bound, is brought forth, being called to account in the judgment for his tyrannical reflections, when the flocks of men are divided, who will be alloted which portion? Who will be either

when living and dead assemble together? For there will be one call for all, since, according to the voice of the blessed Paul, ^A the swiftness of the resurrection will cause the dead to run with the changed at an equal pace: For we who are alive, who remain, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep; nor will the tomb make the dead any slower. And all shall await his judgment with fear, not knowing if they shall hear: Come, you blessed of my Father, or: Depart into the outer darkness, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Because, having weighed the deeds, he defines things with a fitting end. The Lord gave images of this spectacle to the apostles. Thinking upon this terror, let us change our way of life before the time, let us purchase freedom through good works, and before the time of judgment let us pre-calculate our defense; that we may not be condemned ^B together with our condemned adversary, but may ascend to heaven with Christ who loves us, as heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; to whom belongs the glory, and the honor, and the adoration with the Father who is without origin, and with the all-holy, and life-creating, and consubstantial Spirit, now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

SERMO XLI. Laudation of the holy protomartyr of Christ, Stephen, and concerning the discovery of his precious remains.

(From the edition of the Rev. Father Combefis in the book entitled: S. Chrysostomi de educandis liberis liber aureus etc. Paris, 1656, in-8°.)

The clear and ^C altogether radiant flashes of victory of the martyr of martyrs, and of the chief of all those who have contended; of the leader of the confession for Christ; of the crowned athlete of the inhabited world; of him who ascended above all the struggles, Stephen, who initiated martyrdom, the sacred books within the precincts of the churches proclaim daily, and have clearly made manifest. But since the glorious and everywhere-celebrated passion of the martyr for all the world shines with rays that are all-consuming, and the glorious crown of Stephen, shining throughout the world, never ceases to provoke the souls of the more pious; ^D justifiably, therefore, does he who would express his praises require that illumination and help from above, so that the eye of the mind, illuminated from thence, may be able to shine forth some small, partial character of his virtues. For the glorious of his miracles, shining more brightly than solar rays, dazzle the vision of those who encounter his sufferings. But since the memory of his deeds is ancient, and the small seal is accustomed to embrace the vastness of the bodies, the mortal tongue struggles to move the plectrums of speech in praise as much as desire avails, and as the zeal of religious piety permits. For what the pupil is in the eye, such is the much-suffering Stephen established among the martyrs everywhere, honored with royal sufferings. And, just as

the law of nature prepares the bee to be led by its leader, not flying out of the hive before the queen of the flight leads the way: so also the divine band of those who were to be martyrs after him would not have taken flight toward the heavens, nor would they have considered suffering, had the champion of piety not first run ahead and bound himself to suffering. ^A For during the time of his life upon earth he gushed forth piety, luxuriating in the blessed hope of the Christians; he brought forth the waters of teaching; he set the virtues of piety ablaze, kindling his senses with desires according to God; he sharpened his tongue for praises; with a wide-open mouth he occupied himself in psalms; day and night he raised the eye of his mind toward God. Spiritual things were his gain; food and drink were what is acceptable to God: a Christ-lover in his ways, wholly intent upon virtue, active in various works of piety, sleepless by night, vigilant in fear, awakened by reason, an unconquerable defender of the truth, an advocate of justice, an indefatigable teacher, an unceasing admonisher, teaching those things which belong to Christian piety: nothing delighted him as much as the passions of Christ; his one rest and refreshment was to die for piety; he rejoiced in dangers; he spoke freely about religious matters; he confounded the Jews; he refuted the Pharisees; he proved the sufferings of Christ wisely by prophetic oracles; he restrained the eloquence of the rhetoricians; he cut through the sea of idolatry; he patronized the faith; he exposed the blindness of ignorance; wickedness fled; knowledge of God enjoyed liberty; slaughters ceased: every loftiness was depressed by that wisdom of Stephen, and every lowliness was puffed up toward loftiness; he raised the needy from the earth, and the poor from the dunghill; he spoke to those who approached him; he rebuked, and did not deflect himself for their favor, imitating Paul before Paul—or rather, becoming the teacher of Paul himself (for the one was prior, the other posterior in the Christian philosophy; for Paul stood forth as a preacher of piety after Stephen, but Stephen flourished with the light of piety not long after the advent of Christ), a man shining forth with divine, most majestic speech and an unfractured spirit; he said, "Contend for the truth even unto death, and the Lord will fight for you." ^B He contended in voluntary contests; he endured a chosen martyrdom; he undertook a self-willed death: as the first of all to act as a martyr for Christ, he was also the first to receive the crowns from Christ.

O blessed immortal! For you even extinguished the most harsh and most stubborn wickedness of the Jews. Indeed, your divine face, when you were disputing, manifestly shone with angelic radiance, which clearly revealed the divine waters of the divine Scripture. For, it says, the Jews, looking into his face, saw it as the face of an angel. O earthly angel! O heavenly man! Living a common life with men, you exhibited the appearance of the virtues to the spectacle

^A of the world! You wrestled with the opposing powers; you conquered the warring demons. You were not struck with terror by the wiles of diabolical malice, nor by the battle line of the incorporeal demons. You did not tremble before the disorderly multitude of the Jews, nor before their sharpened swords. Being an imitator of the cornerstone, you wove for yourself the crowns of martyrdom through the casting of stones. And these things are indeed wonderful and highly illustrious, and fulfilled in the present age, but the martyrdom displayed by this blessed man is far more wonderful and truly more astonishing. For the preaching of piety was new, and at that time it was something altogether novel to proclaim faith in Christ. The customs of the Greeks were flourishing; the affairs of the Jews were abounding; the Pharisaic faction was burgeoning; there was no knowledge of God anywhere; and the darkness of idolatry was poured out upon everyone and everywhere. ^B Over the entire inhabited world reigned the gloom of slaughter. There was no pious king, no God-loving magistrate, no merciful leader. Everything was black night, and the madness of the demons was gorging itself. Stephen alone sat upon the mountain of philosophy, holding the torch of faith, though he was clouded over by the extreme wickedness of the inhabitants, who were all intoxicated by the error of ignorance of God. But this blessed man was a law unto himself, or rather, he appeared as a pillar of piety and a teacher of grace for those who were to come after. He had no manual, no leader, no one who had finished his martyrdom for Christ before him; no one had exhibited the confession through blood; no one had donned the mournful vestments of suffering for the sake of the Lord's incarnation. ^C This blessed man alone drew the archetype of martyrdom from his own volition. Becoming his own teacher, he showed the way of salvation. He legislated the disposition of [suffering] through blood for Christ; he set down laws that open the gates of heaven, with help from above co-operating with him. He decreed doctrines leading as a guide into paradise. He established ordinances bringing one to perfection through sufferings. Being pelted with stones, he cultivated piety. Being stoned, he prayed for those who were throwing the stones. The danger did not separate him from prayer. The murderous spirit of the Jews did not dissolve his confession. He was being stoned before the city, he who is the champion of every city. That impenetrable wall was being put to death before the walls. But the tongue of praise did not grow silent; the mouth of euphony did not grow quiet. The soul of theology did not cease. ^D And while the body was being shattered by the hail of stones, the spirit was being bound fast by thanksgiving. He was imitating his own Master, when he said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." ċ He also had this sacred acclamation. For opening his mouth, which was accustomed to speaking divine things, he pronounced these words: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." d

O all-celebrated blessed one! O thrice-blessed martyr! O eyewitness of the Only-Begotten! You who, while upon earth, saw with your eyes in the heights of the heavens the Son of Man—God the Word Himself—offering you the crown from above! That divine and awesome

^A mystery, as we contemplate it in your martyrdom, we are struck with amazement; we are beside ourselves as we look upon those gifts of yours, which are beyond this world, and which we see magnificently bestowing the marks of immortality. The heavens are rent asunder, prepared for your return. The heavenly hosts behold the immortal glory of your sufferings. The Chief Commander of the heavenly order looks upon the triumphs of your martyrdom. We are struck with amazement, O all-renowned blessed one, at your love for Christ; we are astonished at your fortitude; we embrace your patience. We worship your martyrdom; we clasp your contests to our hearts; we embrace your sufferings; we glorify your struggles; we sing the praises of the One who ordained the contest; we bless Him who offered the crowns; we give glory to the One who bestowed upon you that strength; we honor the One who granted you that power; we pray as suppliants to be gathered into your royal halls; we beseech you that, through your intercessions, we may obtain the forgiveness of our sins.

For you, O all-renowned blessed soldier of the great King, who endured death for the sake of piety, ^B were carried out by men who were devoted and filled with reverence, and they buried your remains in places adjacent to the new Jerusalem; a thing which the memory of the passing ages could not conceal. For, being a most precious treasure, though hidden in the earth, you shone in the heavens. For this reason, we are blessed, we who have been accounted worthy of the times in which your manifestation is proclaimed. Now, the discovery of this all-holy body came about in this way.

It lay in a certain field, called in the Hebrew tongue Pergamala; ^C hidden from the memory of men by the darkness of time, yet it held forth the torch of faith, illuminated by the most radiant beams of the Spirit. And while his earthen body had been dissolved according to the common law of nature, the flame of his martyrdom was set ablaze with radiant light, proclaiming the remains of the righteous one. And the harmony of the bones preserved the immortal memories of the martyr, according to that which is said in Scripture: *The Lord keepeth all their bones; not one of them shall be broken* (Ps. XXXIII, 21). There was, moreover, a slab placed upon the tomb, not unlike one of those which are read of in the history of Moses; and it bore a superscription, such as that which was written above the Lord’s cross. And just as there it was ^D inscribed in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, so too here was engraved the name of the martyr in the Hebrew dialect, which you interpret as Stephen; that is to say, a Crown. For it was fitting that he who for the sake of the cross had endured martyrdom should bear in all things the symbols of Him who had been affixed to the cross.

The blessed man, therefore, reveals himself. Like the morning light shining forth, he illuminated and shed his luminous rays upon the eyes of those who saw him; for he showed himself like a precious stone gleaming with flashes of light. Yet he appears particularly to the presbyter of that place, a man long diligent in the pursuits of piety, and one who fervently cultivated those things that pertain to religion. He appears also to the wise John, who thought on things holy, the bishop of the glorious city of Jerusalem, a man who, in truth, strenuously performed the will of God. With a similar...

^A rationale he makes himself visible to other bishops, men far advanced in piety. The blessed man appears as an angel of light, and admonishing them concerning the transferring of his relics, in a consistent series of words, in the same form, and in the same vision, he revealed himself to both. The relics of the blessed man were deposited, according to what Stephen himself had desired, before the walls of Jerusalem, in the place where, having been stoned and having departed this life with a glorious and celebrated proclamation throughout the whole world, he had carried off the illustrious crown of martyrdom. A church, worthy of his memory and of his labors and of his more than glorious contests, was erected by Juvenal, who now adorns the glorious and venerable throne of James—a man in whom the teaching, the customs, the life, the purity, the clarity, and the piety of that same James ^B are preserved, as an accurate image, being one who partakes of his godliness; who also began and completed the glorious and salutary and adorable celebration of the Lord's Birth, whose benefits the men of our age henceforth, if they only have diligence, or rather, if they deserve to obtain them through his prayers, are found worthy to enjoy.

O glorious victor! O most renowned and thrice-blessed and happy one! O Stephen, martyr, most fragrant with the flowers of piety! O workshop of virtues! O storehouse of spiritual achievements! O star rising in the morning! For even while living your life among men, you shone forth in brightness, displaying signs and wonders and various healings, chastising opposing powers and tormenting, through your operations, the demons who set themselves against virtues. ^C Leader of the martyrs, companion of the apostles, we praise your contests; we embrace your labors with love; we glory in your martyrdom. O spectator of the Only-Begotten with your own eyes, with the heavens opened, you saw the Son of man standing at the right hand of glory, as it was fitting for the first of the martyrs to see; and as in the Olympic games the judges of the games distribute prizes to the victors, so also the great Judge of the contests, Christ, for whom he also struggled in the contests and endured the trials, standing from above, was admiring and preserving the prizes and the crowns of his own athlete, whom he was encouraging, being astonished at his patience. Your poured-out blood redeemed the earth from the error of idolatry; it purified the air that had been darkened by stifling mists. Every place, gladdened by your relics, acquires holiness; every land, endowed with your blessings, shines. O illustrious martyrdom, shining with the Sun of righteousness! ^D Having finished your labors, you reign with the King of kings and Lord of lords. We adore his empire; we highly exalt his power; we venerate the Giver of all good things, that Star, the Redeemer, the beneficent, the abundant, the humane Lord who loves his servants, the crown of Stephen; to him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

O how much the multi-faceted devil struggled! That root of sin, that counselor of transgression! He cast the entire sea upon the righteous man; he incited the Jews; he disturbed the fierce customs of the Greeks; he drove the Pharisees into a frenzy for the murder of the blessed one. For some, indeed, were striking with stones; others, dishonoring him with blows and buffetings, were dragging him outside.

the walls, before the city, the volunteer athlete, ^A the invincible soldier, the column, the defender, the bulwark of piety. For the author of evil, the devil, moved everything; he stirred up dust, he confounded the air, he summoned the legions of demons so that he might change the martyr’s purpose, that he might displace him from piety, that he might lead him far astray from the confession of Christ. But the tireless one was not captured; the much-suffering one did not yield; the martyr was not struck with fear; he did not deny his piety even unto blood; he stood firm against sin. For this enraged the arch-evil demon to combat the martyr, so that, by building up in him a fear of these evils, he might cause him, having renounced his confession of Christ, to prefer the enjoyment of the present life to the delights of eternal life. He brought up triple waves, but he did not move the rock. He shook his armor, but he did not wound the soldier; he shot fiery darts, but he did not strike the champion. For he was struck, yet he was not cast down. He shook the tree, but he did not touch the fruit. The body was wounded, but faith thrived; blood was poured out, and faith flowed as from a fountain. ^B And faith showed its youthful vigor.

Do you see, O pious one, an equipped soldier? Do you see a rock unmoved? Do you see an unshaken wall? Do you see fruit being expanded? Do you see a tower that cannot be tunneled through? Do you see the devil put to shame? Do you see God glorified? Do you see the one who was not struck, being crowned? Do you see the confessor beaming with joy? Do you see the martyr being proclaimed? Do you see the crown-bearer being crowned? Stephen, I say, the leader of the martyrs, the summit of confessors, the citadel of those who struggle, the firm strength of those entering the contest, the example to those who take up the struggle against the savage demons; the fortified city, the invulnerable wall, the tranquil harbor of the religious mind, the glory and honor of men, the dwelling-place of the pious; to those who stand, security; to those who have fallen, amendment; the scourge of demons.

O immortal martyr, great is your boasting in Christ; great is your boldness through Christ; great is your confidence for Christ. The ends of the earth are adorned with your sufferings; you who are the healing of infirm bodies, the refuge of those who have fallen; nor is there a place, a region, a nation, or a corner that has not shared in the blessings of your assistance. ^D No one, whether stranger or native, whether Barbarian or Scythian, is there who does not perceive better things through your intercessions. The cross of Him who suffered for our sake magnificently honored you, strengthening the senses of your alacrity. He associated you with the angels; He enrolled you with the incorporeal Powers. You were added to the heavenly host; you shine more brightly than the sun; you blaze along with the heavenly choirs of stars, emitting more brilliant rays through the works of your virtues. For until the present, the human race, following after your virtues, is adorned by your crowns of martyrdom. For whether it be the Fathers, or the prophets, or the chorus of the apostles, distinguished by love, each one, being your imitator, has displayed thereafter a brave spirit in sufferings. You possessed all things in yourself so excellently,

these things in the sufferings showed a certain nobility. ^A You possessed all things within yourself with such excess, with which none of those whom each one possessed, possessed. You opened the racecourses of salvation. You showed how it behooves those who have desires for Christ even unto blood to make a display of them.

O teacher of those who compete after this! O unfading flower! O fragrant ointment! O most clear spring! O river Euphrates, producing beautiful-flowing waters, helper of those traveling, defender of those wandering, freedom of those enslaved, salvation of those imprisoned! For those sailing, you exist as a tranquil and undisturbed harbor. Deliver those smitten by passions; heal the one who is sick; rebuke demons, and free those to whom they are troublesome. By your memory you work, by your operations you cleanse, you illuminate those covered in darkness, you are known to those who know you, you appear to those who know you; you fortify the one standing, you help the one who has slipped, you intercede for the one who has sinned, you possess the boldness toward God, you possess the confidence for Christ, you speak freely by the power of the holy Spirit. Therefore we also who have written these few things, though they are great because of your sufferings, ask that you intercede for the things we have sinned before our common Master; to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen. ^B

BASIL OF SELEUCIA: ON THE LIFE AND MIRACLES OF THE HOLY VIRGIN AND MARTYR THECLA OF ICONIUM. TWO BOOKS.

Petrus Pantinus Tiletanus, Dean of Brussels, first rescued from the shadows, translated into Latin, and illustrated with notes.

— TO PHILIP III, PIOUS AND FORTUNATE KING OF THE SPANIARDS, GREETINGS.

225-227 The discipline of praiseworthy arts, O Greatest of Kings, is bound by almost the same condition as the vine. For just as this noble species of plant—most delightful in its use and appearance—even if by its own natural disposition and vigor it is carried upward, and as if despising the earth, aspires toward the sky; yet it is so weak and frail that unless it is assiduously helped and raised up by reeds, poles, stakes, and other supports of this kind, which the ancients called the "dowry of the vine," it falls to the ground and perishes. So, those arts, noble in every other way—and for the prudent administration of every part of the republic, for the constant enduring of every variety of fortune, and finally for living every age well and pleasantly, most useful—easily collapse and die amidst so many daily, cruel incursions of Barbarians against them, if they chance to be deprived of the necessary patronage of kings and princes. This state of affairs has long since compelled learned men—just as in the fables the eagle, queen of birds, so that she might protect herself and her offspring from the hostile attack of her persistent adversary, flew into the very bosom of Jove and deposited her eggs—