John of Euboea

JOANNIS EUBOEENSIS

^A Blessed are you, Joachim and Anna, for you have begotten a rational paradise. For she is blessed not only by men, but also by Angels, and by the Cherubim and the Seraphim; for she brought forth from her own immaculate womb the Creator of all creatures and of paradise.

XIII. And behold, when Anna heard from the Angel of the conception and birth of the all-immaculate maiden, she began to rejoice; yet the one who was expected was not yet present, namely, her beloved spouse.

When the just Joachim also had received the joyful message of the conception from his loins, he began to prepare double and triple rejoicings, and, rejoicing tenfold, he exulted; and after he had fulfilled all things as was his custom, offering gifts and sacrifices, the barren one conceived; and both awaited the fruit of the birth, and what the outcome would be.

Moreover, as the time of the most august nativity of the all-immaculate maiden and Mother of God was now drawing near, the prophetic oracle was fulfilled, which Isaiah spoke: Rejoice, O barren one who bearest not. And the blessed Anna rejoiced and exulted greatly, and said to the midwife: What have I brought forth? And the midwife said: A female.

[NOTA]

^B ...cetera; but (as you will note well) while this very thing is effected, she herself is not called heavenly, but is absolutely called heaven: for if she were called heavenly, she might be thought to have something in common with those who are said to become heavenly there, having previously been earthly; but while she is absolutely called heaven, it is not obscurely intimated that this was her own and, as it were, proper condition (God conferring upon her a store of His gifts for the singular dignity for which she had been chosen).

This is clearly confirmed by the fact that we know that the condition of Mary’s conception, expressed by this image, was very familiar in the Eastern Church. Thus George of Nicomedia (that I may at least mention this here), celebrating the Virgin’s conception, proclaims her to us as heaven, made radiant by grace (Orat. 3, in Concept. et Nat. Deip. Auct. Combefis. tom. I, col. 1043): Heaven more sublime (than earth) receives today the one born; heaven more lucid, in truth, and more spacious, heaven... which not by visible stars, but by the radiance of manifold spiritual light, shines. This same thing the whole Greek Church repeats in the sacred Offices of the Mother of God (Men. day 9 Dec. at the beginning of Matins): By the inspiration of God, the Creator of all, a new heaven is fashioned in the womb of Anna; from which he, who alone is the sincere lover of mankind, will shine forth like the sun that knows no setting, by the abundance of his charity, so that he may illuminate the whole world with the rays of his divinity.

Nor should it seem discordant that, in the aforementioned sense, Joachim and Anna are called earth and earthly ones, ^C otherwise most just: for there that which was of condition, not of reparation, is expressed. Moreover, this adds great force to the words: for if those most just ones were called earth and earthly, this is to be attributed not to their earthly conversation, but to their corrupted condition. Therefore, if the Mother of God had once been infected by the same vice of origin, she would have been called earth and earthly with equal right, not, however, heaven, as it were, by her own condition, through which her parents would even become heavenly, just as our Joannes indicates, and thus also Isidore, Bishop of Thessalonica, elegantly continues (Orat. de Nativ. Deip. n. 9): But Anna, when she gave birth, had need that she herself, the daughter, be born... Nor only she, who through prayers was mother to her, but also her progenitor had need of the same work, that they might attain her as, as it were, a mother.

(33) The author here, as if an explorer, supposes that the maiden, who was to be absolutely immaculate, had already been forewarned by the angel of her conception. And yet, in the angel’s speech that is put forward, you have nothing that looks to this, except that Mary is called heaven in opposition to all the others who are proclaimed as earthly; and that a little later Joachim and Anna are said to be about to beget a rational paradise (§ preceding). So that, therefore, the truth of the author’s own words may stand, it must be said that those appellations of both heaven and rational paradise, which the angel is claimed to attribute to the offspring to be conceived, signify, in the mind of the author himself, that total purity by whose grace the maiden is proclaimed truly immaculate.

And Anna said: I will offer her as a gift to the Lord God. ^A

XIV. Behold, therefore, clearly, Mary, Anna, and Joachim offering sacrifice to the Trinity. For when the girl had been brought to light and was progressing in age, they did not offer her at two years old, nor again at four, but at three years old, as the bride of the indivisible Trinity and an immaculate bridal chamber. Furthermore, they brought her by a common vow, since she was to be both things; and first, indeed, she was offered as a gift to God, and then also as a temple and a throne. With a prophetic spirit, therefore, they brought the Virgin into the temple of the Lord.

O truly wondrous thing! Into a temple built of stones, an animate temple and a throne of Cherubim is brought. ^B For many generations before, David had cried out concerning her, saying: "Hear, he says, O daughter of God, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house; and the king will desire your beauty." And again: "Virgins shall be brought to the king after her." How shall they be brought? Clearly in joy and exultation. What and how great is this, O Prophet? Since it was not fitting that the queen alone should be brought into the temple of the King, this was spoken of long before through the Holy Spirit as being sung. And again: "Her neighbors shall be brought to you." ^C Therefore, other virgins were brought along with the holy Virgin; it is manifest that they also partook of sanctification. For who of those who are in the retinue of a king or a queen would not receive gifts and rewards from them?

But there are also other virgins; yet, that we may not prolong the discourse, I shall touch upon them only briefly. These are they who have guarded their virginity as a royal treasure; they are always solicitous in their care for themselves, so that they might in no way become like the five foolish ones, but remain ever vigilant, guarding the royal house and pleasing their only Spouse. For He Himself commanded, saying: "No one can serve two masters." And many, indeed, attained a blessed end through martyrdom; but others were crowned, and are still being crowned, through holy exercises and the temptations of the flesh. ^D

^A XV. Wherefore, in another place, it says: "Let the daughters of Judah be glad" (35). This, then, is also spoken concerning the most holy Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, because she herself was about to go into the Holy of Holies, escorted by the daughters of Judah. For the women had not yet seen a young girl reared in the sanctuary, and since such a new and unexpected thing was being done, the daughters of Judah, according to the voice of the prophet, exulted when they beheld the most holy young girl Mary, like an immaculate dove, going into the Holy of Holies, and her parents Joachim and Anna offering her as a gift with ineffable joy, and the high priest opening his mouth beyond all expectation and praying well for her, and the rest of the priests with a loud voice, together with the elders and the whole people, crying out and saying: "Let it be, let it be, amen, let it be." While these things, as I said, were being performed in this way, the daughters of Judah exulted according to the prophet’s oracle, singing, as it were, triumphal hymns (36): "Exult and rejoice with gladness, O daughters of Judah, and not you alone, but all the families of the nations." For Mary is born, ^B and Eve is no longer ashamed (37). Mary is offered to the temple, and a new temple, this new girl, rises up—a temple capable of holding God; and this Davidic offspring shall be revealed not merely as a temple of God, but also as a cherubic throne. The temple of the Jews, however, shall be destroyed, just as the Lord truly pronounces in the Gospel: "Amen I say to you, there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be destroyed" (k). For always and everywhere it is the same kind of woman, whether she foretells the future, or lauds a king with praises, or conversely vituperates and receives him with insults; you make no further demand of them, as they belong to a weaker and fearful sex. For behold, they cry out about Saul in thousands, ^C and about David in ten thousands—virgins who, in the time of Saul, did not fear the king’s wrath, but cried out [against him].

XVI. "Truly Mount Sion rejoiced, and the daughters of Judah exulted" (m). When, he asks? At this very time, when the Temple of God was offered to God in the temple; when the immaculate girl, by an unheard-of example, hurried with swift step to the Holy of Holies, striving to fix her seat therein. Then the virgins, rejoicing in gladness, together with the Angels, [prepared] the spiritual feast.

(k) Matt. xxiv, 2. (l) I Reg. xviii, 7. (m) Psal. xlvii, 12.

were performing it. How? Certainly in joy and exultation, as those who were to be led into the temple of the King. Whither, and for what purpose, and to whom? Clearly to the immaculate one, to the Virgin Mary. For she herself is the temple of the great King; since the Queen was about to bring the virgins, as immaculate ones, into the temple of the King for her own honor and glory, for this reason the prophet cried out saying, "The virgins shall be brought" ^A *behind her*. Then they were brought; but other virgins also shall be brought again, when the Bridegroom shall come from her in His glory.

Look, look, O descendants of Ruben and his sons, that Joseph, whom you through envy sold in Egypt, having received a temporary kingdom, did not harbor resentment for the wickedness of your fathers, but rather fed them while they were wasting away with famine; but the Sun of justice, having risen from Juda, the eternal King, God glorified in the counsel of the saints, is great and ^B terrible over all who are round about Him; He is the Lord, mighty and powerful, the Lord powerful in battle; He the Creator, from the earth grown old, made a new heaven and an incombustible throne, and transformed the aged, earthy thing into a heavenly bridal chamber. "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth; sing to the Lord, bless His name," because a virgin girl is offered to the temple, so that He who sanctifies the temple may dwell in her, and having dwelt, may not burn her womb; but just as in the time of Moses He bedewed the bush with fire, so also God, having tabernacled in her, will save the world.

XVII.

^A the seat and dwelling-place of Emmanuel and of the supreme King, Christ.

Behold, a palace of the heavenly King is built without the hands of men, and this palace has its gate in Eden toward the east, and no one shall enter through this gate except the Lord God alone; and the gate shall be shut. ^B It is a palace altogether worthy of admiration, such that even the Virtues of the heavens themselves marvel at it. And the work truly surpasses every thought. For this palace, prepared without the craft of earth-born men, was shown to be higher than the heavens and broader than all creation; and no one has dwelt in it except the craftsman and Author and Creator of heavenly and earthly things. And who is this, that he alone created it, and alone dwelt in it? Never has this been heard: that the gate of that wonderful house shall never be opened to any other. ^C Who is this King? Does he not have an army and commanders of the camp? Does he not have guards?

^A Does he not have those who might perform their duty with fear and trembling? Does he not have royal prefects? He has them indeed, for every creature is his own. Thousands of thousands stand before him in heaven, and ten thousand times ten thousand minister to him (Dan. vii, 10).

XVIII. These things being thus, in the manner in which the Theotokos Mary conversed in the Holy of Holies, and through which she was shown to be more sublime than all other righteousness. O the hardness of the Jews! O their madness! O also the blasphemy of the heretics! O their darkened hearts! For those who strike out in contention and zeal, just like a potsherd against a cauldron, are no different from the perversity of the Jews. For they themselves collide and are shattered. Were the prophets not from among them? Even now (the Jews) confess that the prophets were born of their own lineage; yet the incredulous refuse to yield to their oracles. When, therefore, throughout the course of all generations, did they see a young girl nurtured in the Holy of Holies, or, again, a virgin after childbirth? Was it not they themselves who, when the Lord was declared high priest, with their own hands, some of them writing, confessed that the holy Mary was a Virgin? For when some of them ^B voted for the Lord to be high priest, so that the word which is written might be fulfilled: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. cix, 4); because he was growing in wisdom before God and men (Luc. ii, 52), and the holy Theotokos Mary was of royal and priestly lineage; they therefore did according to their custom. For as the priests progressed, they would seek out the father and the mother, and write their names in the register of the priesthood; and they asked the holy Virgin, saying: "Is Jesus your Son?" And she said: "Yes." And they said: "And who is his father?" And the all-immaculate one answered: "He has no father on earth; I gave birth to him as He himself knows. For God is his Father." And they said: "Shall we write him in the ^C register of the scroll as the Son of God?" And she said: "Write it." And they wrote in the scroll as follows: "Jesus, the Son of God, and Son of Mary, by the vote from above, shall be a priest forever." And that which was written was fulfilled as has been declared above: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." For after the Lord returned from the wilderness, he came to Nazareth, where he had been nurtured; and he entered according to custom on the day of the Sabbath into the synagogue, and stood up to read, and there was handed to him the book of Isaiah the prophet, and opening ^D

the book, he found the place where it was written: *The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me*, and so forth.

^B This scroll is therefore preserved among them even to this day; and at his second coming, this same scroll shall be read unto the confusion of the Jews. For they did not believe the prophets, nor did they listen to the Lord himself; but they shall be convicted by the very Scriptures written by the hands of their own priests. For they, being always deceivers and deceived, proclaim the truth to be error, yet they embrace error (as if it were truth), and with it they shall even depart into eternal punishment. For the Lord said to them: *I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive me; but if another comes in his own name, him you will receive*.

XIX. But you will reply to me, O Jew: How is a man the Son of God, and God? Listen. Since God created man after his own image ^C and likeness, the devil, having subverted him through fraud, subjected him to death. For this reason, first of all, he sent prophets to proclaim his coming beforehand. But when the fullness of time had come, he sent his only-begotten and beloved Son, who put on the flesh of Adam, so that by the flesh he might overthrow him who had tyrannized nature by the desire of the flesh, and might put to death the man-slaying devil.

For just as a king, after having ordered an expedition into a region or a city, if those who were sent were unable to subdue the enemy, then he himself, having taken on the guise of the inhabitants of that region, sets out to destroy the enemy; and the enemy, while expecting to prevail even against this one, by rushing upon a stronger man, is himself captured: ^D thus, in the exact same way, it befalls him who had stiffened his neck and boasted that he would place his throne in the midst of heaven and raise himself above the condition of the world, as he thought. For thus the shameless one said, having fallen from heaven like lightning, that by doing this he would be like the Most High. For he boasted, as he thought, as one who was powerful. Therefore, in order that the Savior might show his destructive artifices to be dead, and that he might entice him, just as a bloodthirsty dragon, with the divine hook, he brings him down; for the counsel of God dissipated his machinations just like a spider's web.

^A Since David understood these arts of his, he never ceased by day or by night from entreating God, as if acting in the person of all humanity, offering up prayers and supplications to God and saying: "O Lord, incline your heavens and descend!" And again: "O Lord, stir up your power and come to save us!" And again: "O Lord, do not despise the works of your hands."

XX. With this counsel of His, which abides forever, and the thoughts of His heart, which endure from generation to generation, He did not forget His poor, but remembered His mercies and His compassion, which are from of old; and He chose the tribe of Judah, that He might raise up the throne of David His servant. For even before the Law was given and the prophets preached, Judah had rescued Joseph from a bitter death, and he received a reward for this good deed a thousandfold greater; so that from his seed might spring forth those planted in the house of the Lord, in the courts of God, the all-laudable Theotokos, the holy Mary, from Joachim and Anna. Rejoice, therefore, Joachim and Anna, in the Lord, and confess the memory of His holiness. ^B

For Sion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judea rejoiced, ^C because Judah prevailed over the eleven tribes, and none of the rest of the brothers was blessed as was the one who sprouted forth our salvation. For the very appellations of the others passed over to Judah; for they are no longer called by the names of other tribes—neither Reubenites, nor Benjaminites, nor Issacharites, nor Zabulonites—nor are they reckoned according to another tribe, but all are called Jews. O wicked nation! O crooked and perverse generation! O blindness, and hearts wrapped in a veil! The names of all their tribes have passed over unto Judah (for all are called Jews), and yet they did not believe in the Lord who arose from Judah. And He bears witness to this word ^D as he dispenses salvation in the midst of the earth, and the sea which he had quieted, and shattered the heads of the dragons in it, and drew out the many-headed dragon with a hook... and again when Christ had placed a halter upon the nose of the dragon, and fastened a ring to his nostrils, and pierced his lips with a curb; and having taken that apostate and fugitive, he made him a perpetual slave, and, bound, bestowed him upon us like a sparrow to a child, that is, for the people who are in infancy in Christ.

^A Indeed, the Savior himself confirms the discourse, saying: *For salvation is from the Jews* (John iv, 22); which salvation I myself am, who speak with thee (ibid. 26), as the Lord said to the Samaritan woman.

XXI. Moreover, it is now time to begin the rejoicing, and to congratulate all the righteous from Adam up to Zacharias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar (Matth. xxiii, 35).

Exult, therefore, O Adam, because of Mary the Mother of God. For through a woman you were deceived by the serpent, and through a woman you shall trample the serpent. For the time is come that the arrows of the mighty one, sharpened (Psal. cxix, 4), might come from that very nature from which the enemy took his instruments of harm. For wood and a woman were the origin of your exile in paradise; now, however, a woman and wood are your restoration. A woman, indeed, fashioned by the hand of God, deceived you; but a woman born from the loins of Joachim and the womb of Anna, without seed, shall bring forth the victor over death, and the conqueror of him who led us away captive. And the wood, indeed, that was good for food and beautiful to the eyes and pleasant to behold (52) brought death upon us; but the dry and fruitless wood ^B shall both slay the dragon and procure eternal life for all those born of the earth.

You also, mother of mothers, Eve, rejoice; for your children shall no longer be born unto corruption, but shall possess incorruption. You also, Abel and Seth, break forth into songs, because the Most High prepares his tabernacle (53), and comes to bless the earth, which he had cursed. And you, Noah, show forth gladness, for the Lord is present: gather your dispersed children, that they may adore him who saved you in the flood. For the God of recompenses (Psal. xlvii, 12), the Lord, arrives on earth to renew Adam, having clothed himself in him, and to lead out all the prisoners from the netherworld. Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, with the lawgiver Moses and all the prophets, both of you exult, unfold your books, for your expectation is now present.

These are the exultations of the daughters of Judea, because the righteous Joachim and Anna brought the truly immaculate Mother of God into the Holy of Holies. For the mountain of Sion rejoiced, and the daughters ^C

of Judea ^A because of thy judgments, O Lord. For the virgins who accompanied the holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, had nothing of other or indecorous words to proclaim, but only spiritual things and things pleasing to God, which the Holy Spirit granted to them at that very hour. For what need had they of other words, except to duly praise the Queen in a manner altogether appropriate, and to sing and shout forth triumphal hymns to the King of the ages who was about to be born of her without seed, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance?

XXII. Let us also, beloved, all of us celebrate the festivals of the Mother of God, Mary, spiritually rejoicing and considering the oracle of the prophet: Keep your feasts, he says, O Judah; for he who breaths upon thy face has ascended, saving thee from tribulations. For she herself is of Judah, and the Lord is of her according to the flesh.

We must therefore in the divine and great feasts ^B also celebrate those of the Mother of God, our hope. So, beyond the completion of the ten feasts, we also celebrate her life-giving Dormition. This we celebrate after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven and the descent of the all-holy and life-giving Spirit upon the blessed apostles, which is called the last and great feast, as being the completion of the goodness of the Lord and of the divine dispensation and of all righteousness.

But the solemnities we mentioned above we celebrate according to the Decalogue of the Old and of the New Testament. For there are three series of ten words, just as we have been taught by the all-holy, consubstantial, and life-giving, and adorable Trinity. The first is contained in the law: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and the rest. And subsequently in the New ^C Testament.

ten solemnities, therefore, we celebrate with festive joy.

^A XXIII. And the first, although it may not be recognized by all, in which the blessed Joachim and Anna received the announcement of the birth of the ever-virgin and Theotokos Mary, we celebrate on the ninth day of the month of December.

And observe attentively, beloved, that what is handed down by our writing is not contrary to faith, nor is it empty. For if the dedications of churches are deservedly celebrated, how much more ought we, beyond any possibility of comparison, to perform this solemnity with zeal, piety, and the fear of God? In which ^B the foundation was not laid with stones, nor was the temple of God built by the hands of men; that is to say, the holy Mary, the Theotokos, was conceived in the womb, but by the good pleasure of the Father and the cooperation of the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, Christ the Son of God, the cornerstone, He Himself built it, and He Himself dwelt within her, that He might fulfill the law and the prophets, having come to save us. To Him be glory and honor and adoration together with the eternal Father, and with the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

VARIOUS READINGS.

Allatius reads: "ten as well; likewise, the 'Our Father'..." The text matches the Caesarean codex. A. reads "ten as well; and the 'Our Father'..." The context agrees better with the Caesarean codex. A. and Allatius. Both codices, Caes. A. and Barb., have "of men," but perhaps we should read "of mankind." Barb., and from it Allatius, have "good pleasure." Caes. A. adds here: "for the sake of thy name, O Lord."

NOTES.

(57) That there are ten petitions of the Lord's Prayer was not the singular opinion of John of Euboea. For we read the same thing in Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem in his Preface to the Miracles of the Holy Martyrs Cyrus and John (Mai, Spicil. Rom., Vol. III, p. 14): "The commandments also, ten in number, shone forth from God on the tablets of the Testament. The Lord also delivered ten words of prayer."

(58) Hence it appears that in our age, the custom of celebrating the Conception of the Theotokos with a solemn feast had not yet become universal and ubiquitous throughout the Churches, just as John of Thessalonica also affirms regarding the feast of the Dormition of the same Theotokos in an oration which I keep in manuscript. Nor does this seem strange to one who considers that the solemnities not only of the Theotokos, but also of our Savior and Lord, were accustomed to be received by the churches gradually, both in earlier and ^C later ages, and continued so to be received.

(59) It is evident that he is here professedly explaining the reason for celebrating the solemnity. And this reason is none other than the Conception of the Theotokos—a conception, moreover, not just any sort, but of such a kind that the Son of God Himself fashioned Mary by the good pleasure of God the Father and the cooperation of the all-holy and life-giving Spirit of God. To which fashioning pertains what the Church has in its prayers: "Almighty and everlasting God, who didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin Mother Mary, that she might merit to become a worthy dwelling-place for Thy Son, by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit." And in point of fact, under the name of preparation, more than once within this very prayer have we seen the Virgin's conception indicated.

BY JOHN, MONK AND PRIEST OF EUBOEA: A SERMON ON THE HOLY INNOCENTS SLAIN IN BETHLEHEM AND ON RACHEL

^A 1. Once again, miserable wretch that I am, I wish to turn my mind to Bethlehem, and in my contemplation to denounce the deeds unlawfully perpetrated there by Herod, the slayer of children. For an investigation of this kind is full of fear and tears—not our fear, but that of the mothers of those blessed children of that time, whose innocent offspring Herod, in his search for the newborn King, reaped like an untimely harvest with an unjust blade. For this has stirred my mind, and I see, as if before my very eyes, the lawless Herod, raving and grim-faced, seated upon his unrighteous throne, his heart agitated by many swords, hastening to rise up against the King of kings and Lord of lords, through whom kings reign and princes rule the earth. For the slander of the lawless Jews and the wrath of that most hostile and apostate Herod threw not only Bethlehem but also Jerusalem into turmoil. Seeing, then, that this pitiable man had been mocked by the wise Magi, he reels and is altered; he is troubled in his countenance and quails in his heart. He argues with the high priests and conspires with the Pharisees; he permits the law to be read and orders the prophets to be explained. ^B O foolish, wicked, and treacherous man! If the law and the prophets proclaimed from of old that the King who has been born would come, why are you troubled in vain? You are indeed troubled, yet you have no power. You are troubled, but you will only break yourself in pieces. Have you not heard in the Book of Psalms that "every man living is troubled in vain"? And what is more vain than to pursue Him who cannot be comprehended? O iniquitous and foolish man, even if you slay the children, you will not overtake the King. If the law and the prophets declare that the immortal King shall be born in Bethlehem, why do you slay the guiltless children? Your intention was written long ago by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and weeping and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." If you kill the children, will the King not have an army? ^C Or do you consider in your lawless heart that one of the murdered children will surely be the King? Even if you slay all the children of the entire world, the empire of the King who is born shall not have an end. O madness! O inhuman sentence of an iniquitous king! O impiety of a king! To whom will they flee if they suffer violence from him from whom, when afflicted by injustice, they ought to receive a just judgment?

^B

A Sermon on the Holy Innocents and on Rachel

Bethlehem, holy one, you are sanctified not only by the birth of the King, but you have also gained a double sanctification through the blood of the children who were unjustly slaughtered. For I ponder Herod, who sent out his armies, the commanders of the soldiers keeping watch lest any infant be hidden from them, the mothers watching for the most hateful death of their infants, the gates of the cities closed, the villages surrounded by the troops, the exits from the thoroughfares guarded, the soldiers circling around with swords drawn like rabid, crazed dogs, the private citizens shut up, and each one of them being questioned about the places where they were, who and where they had brought forth a child in those days, the parents being registered, so that no male child might be hidden from their sight. For he descended like an eagle upon the prey of a carcass, so that no male might be hidden from his eyes. And the fathers, fearing the terror of the king, like men drunken and inebriated with wine of every sort, did not know what they should do; but the mothers, each one taking her own infant, hastened to flee the wrath of the iniquitous king. And many of them, holding their only child in their arms like a little sparrow, and others two, were carrying and hastening to flee, like lambs moaning and crying out, and as they saw the swords flashing, they would flee from one place and stumble into another. Sometimes, indeed, they would try to offer money to the soldiers; lamenting, they said: “I adjure you by the law of Moses, clothe yourself with compassion, for a mother too gave birth to you, and perhaps you have a wife and children. I have no other hope or resource; this is my only infant—take this golden ornament and spare my child.” ^C

To those who would not bear this, but who rushed in mercilessly like hawks upon the chicks of doves or turtledoves, or like wolves tearing apart lambs, or like lions snatching tender calves from the udders of heifers and sparing them not, it was necessary for the mothers to wrap their hands and arms around the necks of the infants, and to adjure those savage guards: “I adjure you, man, by Him who raised you from an infant to a full-grown man; slaughter me first, and then the infant in my arms.” That iniquitous prince, powerless with envy and fear, sent spies behind them, ordering them to inquire whether, having accepted money, they had spared anyone; lest the parents, by alluring the soldiers with gifts, might drive them to insurrection. And those whom he sent stirred up those slaughterers with these mandates, and when they heard this, they boiled over with zeal all the more. Although I was not present at this spectacle—for seven hundred and forty-four years have since elapsed, seven hundred and four years from the birth of Christ, and seven hundred and forty-two years from the slaughter of the infants—yet as if I were standing here, these things rise into my mind, and I think I can see this cru- ^D

- ^A el king Herod stirring up his own counselors, the executioners who did not pity the tears of the fathers, nor spare the children, but cut the throats of some, and when the mothers resisted and would not let them go from their arms, they consumed their infants with the sword. Others tore them apart before the eyes of their parents; others, seizing them by their feet, dashed them against the rocks, and as their brains were scattered upon the ground, there was no consolation for the pitiful mothers. For what comfort could they have within themselves while seeing with their own eyes an untimely death? Their garments were dyed with blood upon their breasts, their bosoms torn by the pain of lactation, washing the children's clothes with their breasts. And some of them mourned for two-year-old children, others for year-old ones, others for those of six months or even younger, for the decree of the miserable and lawless Herod extended to two years, including those who had been born a single day before that wicked decree.

^C ٤. O, a thought filled with tears! O, infants altogether innocent, and slaughtered as if they were barbarian enemies! O, blood poured out unjustly upon the earth and, like rain, enriching it! O, deadly sickle that, before the time of harvest, captured the fields in the midst of their dance! O, the lamentation and sighing and great wailing of mothers, in which there was no consolation! For the prophet obscurely predicted the lamentation of all these mothers in the lamentation of one woman. For he says: "Lamentation and great wailing: Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they are not." And it is not that the children were sacrificed in the name of only one woman, no; rather, there were many mothers called Rachel. But since Rachel, the wife of Jacob, was the mother of mothers, for this reason the prophet proclaimed beforehand the name of the ancient Rachel because of the future harvest of infants and the grief concerning them. The mind, therefore, was full of mourning and sighing. For who would not mourn with those mothers? Or what heart would not burst into wails for such unjust blows? Or who, thinking of the babbling of those blessed infants, will not be filled with tears? For when they saw the swords wielded against them, and were snatched from their mothers' bosoms as if by wild beasts, they spoke to them and said: "Let me go, man; where are you taking me? I do not know you; I do not know who you are; you are neither my father, nor my brother, nor my mother's brother, nor my father's brother." And they did not know how, or even why, their life was being lifted from the earth. O, the lawlessness of the abyssal serpent, which had devoured the flesh of innocent children and was not satisfied! For even when the slaughter of the infants had been carried out without mercy, in fear and madness he was still looking for the newborn king; and he did not cease groaning and trembling until his soul was taken from him. ^D

There, the Lord, in the Gospels, reproving the madness of the Jews, said to Jerusalem: "O Jerusalem, that killest the prophets." But I say to holy Bethlehem—not reproving, but glorifying: O Bethlehem, Bethlehem, where was born Christ the great King, thou who, beyond kingly purple and fine linen, hast received the blood of the blessed infants! First, thou wert sanctified by Him who was born into thy borders—nay, not into thy borders, but within thee thyself—the One who came to save the world, who proceeded from the virgin womb, first receiving the Firstborn of all creation and the Creator of all. And a second sanctification thou didst receive through the blood of the innocent and blessed children. For they are truly innocent, whose blood, like that of guileless lambs, was poured out for our Creator. O blessed innocents, ^B who did not know the law of the Lord yet proceeded toward Him in the law of His! O rational chicks of wise turtledoves and simple doves, offered to God not according to legal ritual, but by the grace of Christ, for whose sake their innocent blood was shed! O calves, prophetically released from the bonds in which they were destined to live, and leaping with joy—with whom Christ our God shall grant us a portion and an inheritance; for to Him belong honor, glory, adoration, and majesty, now and always, and unto all ages of ages. Amen. ^C

ANALYTICAL INDICES

INDEX OF MATTERS

A Abdelmelichus the Caliph, vi, note. Acemetae monks addicted to Nestorius, LVIII. Suspected founders of various supposititious works, LI, LXVIII. Egyptian orthodox are reported to have offered unleavened bread, LXXXIII. Alexander, author of the oration on St. Barnabas, period of his writing, LIX. Alexander of Hierapolis, supporter of Nestorius, L. In the age of Alcuin, the Roman Church offered unleavened bread, LXXXVI. Amphilochius of Side, refractory to the Council of Chalcedon, XLV. Ammonius, master of the Alexandrian school, XLVIII. He destroys Julian of Halicarnassus by assuming the person of Paul of Samosata, ibid. His age is shown, ibid. Anastasius II of Antioch, author of homilies on the Hexaemeron, XLVII. *Anastasius, successor of Peter of Damascus, XXIII, note. Anathematisms falsely attributed to Gregory Thaumaturgus are to be restored to the Apollinarists, XXXVII. Anselm of Canterbury’s treatise on the procession of the Holy Spirit, v, XIX. Anselm of Havelberg, who held a formal colloquium with the Greeks, XX, LXXXV. Index of the works of Apollinaris written by his disciple Timothy, XXXIV, et seqq. His familiar expressions, XXXV, et seqq. His epistle to Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, XXXVI. Apollinaris, author of the saying, "One incarnate nature of God the Word," XXXI, et seqq. Cyril thought this proceeded from Athanasius, ibid. Articles for stitching together the union of both Churches approved by Innocent IV and Alexander IV, XXI. The exposition of faith on the incarnation to Jovian is not by Athanasius, XXXII. It is by Apollinaris, XXXI. Work falsely attributed to Athanasius, *Quod unus sit Christu*s, XLI. It is a product of the Apollinarists, ibid. Also another work on the incarnation of God the Word against Paul of Samosata, ibid. Conjecture as to why the name of Athanasius was prefixed to these books, XLIV. The author of the oration *On those who have fallen asleep in the faith* did not believe that Gentiles addicted to idolatry and other crimes were liberated by the Lord when He descended to the infernal regions, XLV. The author of the discourse *On the Philocosms* did not write accurately about John of Damascus, II, note.