up to the middle of the year 724. However the matter may stand, it seems certain that Saint Andrew wrote long before the author of the *Dialogue of a Christian with a Saracen*, which is commonly attributed to John of Damascus. I am led to this opinion by the fact that, as I have noted in its proper place, the latter seems to employ the former's words, and indeed as words long since widely known and enjoying public authority. Furthermore, since Saint John of Damascus died around the year 750, we judge that Oudin's opinion carries the least probability of all.
Next, since it is well established from the Synaxaries that Andrew was sent by Theodore of Jerusalem to the Sixth Synod at Constantinople, where he was made a deacon and orphanotrophus; and since that synod was held in the year 680, and Andrew himself speaks in his iambics to Agatho about the books of the Acts of that council as if they were recent and useful collections; unless we were to attribute to him a life of incredible length, we can in no way agree with Casimir that he survived until the year 724.
Various homilies and other works of his are extant. We have decided to exhibit only the most select. We have decided to present here, with our own version, the one which Fabricius (4) first edited, *On the Publican and the Pharisee*, lest the interpretation of the man’s Greek perhaps offend someone. As for the genuineness and sincerity of his work (as well as that which we provide, made public by Angelo Maria Riccio), we do not wish to settle this dispute. Certainly, the division of the Bibles into chapters seems more recent, such as he cites; besides the fact that he calls the sixth chapter of Proverbs the eleventh. But if Cave holds some of the opuscula, which have long circulated under the name of Andrew of Crete, to be suspect, the disagreement can easily be resolved if we say that either there were several Andrews of Crete at various times, or that orations composed by others from his words were also inscribed with his name. Of this latter conjecture, there are infinite examples even in other holy Fathers; but for the former, it may grant probability that perhaps, in order for our Andrew to be distinguished from others, it came about that he was often indicated by the ancients of the Greeks either by the appellation "of Jerusalem," or by the title of "Archbishop of Crete" *par excellence*.
SECOND NOTITIA
(FABRICIUS, *Bibliotheca Graeca*, vol. XI, p. 62, Harless edition.)Andrew, born in Damascus (1), lived the monastic life for some time at Jerusalem before setting out for Constantinople, for which reason he is called "the Jerusalemite" (3) in certain codices; but by Marcus Hopperus (4), Surius, Laurentius Cumdius, and Sixtus Senensis (5) he is wrongly sold as the Bishop of Jerusalem. Whether he was a contemporary of Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem, who died in the year 639, as is maintained in the Synaxary, let others judge (6): certainly, the Greeks themselves affirm in the Synaxary that he was sent by Patriarch Theodore (7) of Jerusalem to the Sixth Synod, celebrated at Constantinople in the year 680, as aid against the Monothelites, and that he was appointed in that city as deacon and orphanotrophus (8-9). There, Agatho the archdeacon and chartophylax, who shared with him the Acts of that synod held against those heretics for him to describe, received thanks from him in iambics, which Francis Combefis exhibits in Greek and Latin in the second volume of his *Novum Auctarium*, in the history of the Monothelites.
C It is a matter of agreement among many that he was made archbishop of Crete from that time. It is not equally well established—that which is added by Casimir Oudin D that he was translated to the see of Caesarea in Cappadocia and lived until the 14th of June, 724. Indeed, the menologia of the Greeks celebrate the memory of this Andrew on the 4th of July; but the general opinion of the learned distinguishes Andrew of Caesarea from this Cretan. [Life of Andrew, by the conjecture of Haeschelius, of Crete, in the codex August. Vindel. See Reiser, *Notitia bibliothecae Augustanae*, p. 30. HARL].
Published writings of Andrew of Crete
First, it is helpful to review those which were published together with the lucubrations of SS. Amphilochius and Methodius in Greek and Latin, with notes also added at the bottom of the volume and a glossary of peculiar words of Andrew, by Francis Combefis, Paris, 1644, fol. [Selected Orations of Andrew, eleven in number, are read in Galland, *Bibliotheca Patrum*, vol. XIII, p. 93 et seq. BECK]. These are, however: 1. *Encomium on the Nativity of the Theotokos*. In B. Mary's Nativity. It begins: *It is the beginning of our feast*, etc., from the ms. of the King of France, n. 275. Combefis later gave a more emended version of this homily from the Mazarin codex in the *Auctuarium novum Bibliothecae Patrum*, vol. I, p. 1289, Paris, 1648, fol. Fabr. See above in vol. X, p. 277, concerning this homily, which begins *It is the beginning*, and concerning another edited by Riccius, whose beginning is: *Other things then*, etc. This is also in the Coislin codex, to be lauded shortly. The former, however, was re-edited in Greek in *Patusae Encyclopaedia philologica*, Venice, 1710, 8, vol. II, p. 341 et seq. Three diverse ones in cod. Gali 32, 1, n. 5866 Caa. — Ms. Florent. in cod. Laurent. 45, n. 1, plut. 11; and in cod. 4, n. 1, plut 4. See Bandini, *Catalogus codicum Graecorum Laurentianorum* 1, p. 510 and 519. In Paris, in the public library, in seventeen codices, in the Coislin codex 2274, four diverse homilies of Andrew of Crete on the Nativity of Mary. See Montfaucon, *Bibliotheca Coisliniana*, p. 388. Ibid. p. 422, in cod. 306, n. 3, for the day of September 3, a homily; it begins: *The earth is shaken*, etc. Oudin, l. c. p. 181, denies that the orations on the Nativity and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be attributed to Andrew of Crete, because those feast days of Mary had not yet existed in his time. HARL. In Galland, p. 93 et seq.
NOTES. His age is also referred to the year 680, when he is said to have been present at the Constantinopolitan synod on account of the Monothelites. Oudin, in *Commentarius de Scriptoribus ecclesiasticis*, vol. II, col. 174-188, at the year 850, speaks at length about this Andrew, in the Prologue to the Great Canon, of which he was the author, and then discusses profusely in two chapters concerning the life and writings of Andrew, arguing bitterly against Cave, and strives to show from the writings of Andrew himself that he is not older than the year 840 or 850, led by these arguments: festivals into which he is read to have written homilies, namely, the Nativity of the Blessed Mary, the Circumcision, and on Basil, on the Exaltation of the Cross, on the Dormition of Mary, his principal canons and triodia, or nine odes, that those festivals were therefore established by the Greeks only after the year 842, by a solemn decree after the death of the emperor Theophilus, by the emperor Michael and his mother Theodora and Methodius, the patriarch of Constantinople, the cult of images had been sanctioned; (II) those minor works did not yet exist at the time of the Nicene synod, whose Fathers would otherwise not have omitted citing them; (III) from the *Oration on the Circumcision and on Saint Basil* at the end, p. 38, which Oudin thinks was pronounced in the year 842 or 843; and (IV) from the *Homily on the Apostle Titus* p. 175, that it is evident Andrew lived after the images were removed from the island of Crete, and under the emperor Porphyrogennetos, a great devotee of images, who is said to have killed his mother in the year 855, and he refutes many things: (V) from the canons of Andrew, the sacred canticles and troparia, which had become especially prevalent in the middle of the ninth century; (VI) finally, he opines that Agathon was not the one who wrote the Acts of the ecumenical council of 680 as a notary; but that another of the same name and a later age must be understood. Indeed, there is no need for us to demonstrate more fully that many of his arguments rest on a weak foundation. Then Oudin lists certain codices, especially the Viennese, from the commentaries of Lambecius, and names certain learned men who have treated the writings of Andrew of Crete. Schroeckh in *Historia ecclesiastica Christiana*, written in German, vol. XX, p. 135, where he excites Andrew's second oration for the day of Mary's Nativity, filled with inept and tumid flowers, and adds himself to those who place his life between the years 635 and 680. According to Bandini in the index to *Catalogus codicum Graecorum Laurentianorum* 3, p. 448 (but with no witness brought forward), Andrew of Crete died in the year 720 or 723. — His life is read in cod. Coislin. 38. See Montfaucon, *Bibliotheca Coisliniana*, p. 113. (Add above in this vol. p. 194 and 195 concerning him and other holy Andrews); and Anthony Eparchus in the Index below in this volume, p. 481, old ed. § 29, provided a few things concerning Andrew of Crete. You will read more in Flaminius Cornarius, *Creta sacra*, Venice, 1755, fol., where the Acts of Andrew of Crete, in Greek, were first edited. HARL. In the Prolegomena to Galland, *Bibliotheca Patrum* XIII, p. vi, it is briefly discussed, it is warned that either there were many Andrews of Crete, or orations were stitched together by others from the words of the archbishop of Crete, and inscribed under his name. BECK.
2. A *On the Annunciation of the most holy Theotokos*. Incipit: "The joy of all today," p. 11. It has appeared frequently in Greek and Latin with another version by Marcus Hopper, as in the *Micropresbyticon* of Basil, 1550, fol., and in the *Orthodoxographa* of both editions of 1555 and 1569, etc., and in the second volume of the *Auctarium Bibliothecae Patrum* of Ducaeus, Paris, 1624, and in the *Bibliotheca Patrum*, Paris, 1644, volume XI. I will not speak of the Latin editions in the *Bibliotheca Patrum*, Paris and Cologne. FABR. Cf. above, vol. X, p. 280, and another homily on the same subject, ibid., p. 281. Ms. in the Augustan codex of Vienna. See Reifer, *Notit.*, p. 8. Coislin 274. See Montfaucon, l. c., p. 389, in ten codices of the public library of Paris. Florentine, in the Laurentian codex 31, no. 10, shelf 9. See Bandini, *Cat. codd. Gr. Laur.* I, p. 442. HARL. In Galland, p. 98.
3. *On the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus*, and on St. Basil. Incipit: "All things for our sake, divine and human," p. 28. From two manuscripts, one royal and the other an ancient parchment codex. FABR. See above, vol. X, p. 140. Ms. in the Coislin codex 121, no. 24. See Montfaucon, *Bibl. Coisl.*, p. 196. In the public library of Paris, 1173, no. 24. HARL. In Galland, l. I, p. 108.
4. B *On the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ*. Incipit: "Those who through the emptying of the Word," p. 57. FABR. See above, vol. X, p. 244; add the Coislin codex 107, no. 2. See Montfaucon, *Bibl. cit.*, p. 183. Paris, in nine public library codices. Turin, in codices 70 and 80. See *Cat. codd. Gr. Taur.*, p. 166 and 175. In the Laurentian codex 33, no. 26, shelf 9. See Bandini, *Cat. cit.* I, p. 455. HARL. Gall. l. I, p. 114.
5. *On Lazarus risen on the fourth day*. Incipit: "Lazarus has assembled the present gathering," p. 56. FABR. Cf. above, volume X, p. 268. Paris, in fourteen public library codices. This and the following, and the second homily, are in Coislin codices 107, no. 1 and 29; and 285, 304. See Montfaucon, *Bibl. Coisl.*, p. 181, 182, 401, 402, 419. Turin, in codices 70, 115, and 320. See *Cat. cit.*, p. 165, 217, and 399. Moscow, in the synodal codex 5, this and the following homily. See Matthaei, *Cat. codd. Gr. Mosquens.*, p. 19, no. 9 and 13. In the codex of the Ge. Wheler 16, s. n. 9087, *Cat. mss. Angl.* II, 1. This and the following homily in the Thomas Roe codex 28, s. n. 274, *Cat.* I, 1. HARL. In Galland, p. 125.
6. C *On the Palms*. Incipit: "Come, let us go with the Master, Lazarus," p. 75. This sermon is mentioned in the Triodion. In this oration the author alludes to the *Pseudo-Gospel of James*, p. 77. C. FABR. See above, vol. X, p. 302, and at no. 1 and 5. In the Turin codices 115, 146, and 520. See *Cat. codd. Gr. Taur.*, p. 217 ff., 253 and 399. Paris, in thirteen public library codices. HARL. In Galland, p. 155.
7, 8. *An oration composed on the universal exaltation of the precious and life-giving Cross*. The first oration. Incipit: "We keep the feast of the Cross," p. 96. The second oration. Incipit: "Let us stir our lips, beloved, today like a lyre," p. 108. Both these orations were provided by Combefis with the version of Jacob Gretser, S.I., corrected in a few places; he had published them in Greek and Latin in volume II, *de Cruce*, p. 94 and 108, Ingolstadt, 1600, 4to. The work of Gretser was later reprinted in Ingolstadt, 1616, fol. These two orations (or rather one, incorrectly divided into two; see Lambecius, VIII, p. 288) [p. 612 ff. Kollar] were also reprinted in Latin, from Gretser's simpler version, in the *Bibliothecae Patrum* of Paris and Cologne. FABR. Cf. above, vol. X, p. 247, note d.d. therein, and p. 248. Florentine, in the Laurentian codex 31, no. 2, shelf 10, for the 14th of September. See Bandini, *Cat. codd. Gr. Laur.* I, p. 495. Paris, in twelve public library codices. In the Coislin codex 121, no. 302 and 304; no. 2 and 306, for the 17th of September. See Montfaucon, *Bibl. Coisl.*, p. 195, 418 and 422. Venice, in the Nanian codex 63, no. 14. See *Cat. codd. Gr. Nan.*, p. 105. Moscow, in the synodal codex 39, no. 1. See Matthaei's *Notit. codd. Gr. Mosq.*, p. 50. Turin, in codices 78 and 226. See *Cat. codd. Gr. Taur.*, p. 172 and 405. In the Augustan codex of Vienna. See Reiser's *Notit. mss. August.*, p. 32. HARL.
9. D *On the Dormition of the most holy Theotokos*, first homily. Incipit: "Those who respect this holy [day] of the Theotokos," p. 115. This second [homily] is in the Caesarean manuscript codex, concerning which Lambecius VIII, p. 130, and in the *Sacro itinere Cellensi*, p. 152. FABR. See above, in vol. X, p. 283 bis and 284 bis, where the beginning of the first is "Those who... in spirit the contemplation," and of the second, "Those who respect this holy [day]." There are, therefore, four homilies of Andrew on the Dormition of Mary. In the Coislin codex 34, two homilies; in codex 108, a homily which begins "Mystery..."; in codex 307, a homily whose beginning is "Those," etc. See Montfaucon, *Bibl. Coisl.*, p. 84, 183 and 425. Paris, in seventeen public library codices. At Florence in the Laurentian codex 31, no. 11, it begins "Mystery," etc., and 42, which is the fourth homily, which begins "Those who [carry] into spirit the contemplation of the immaterial." In codex 55, no. 36, 37 and 38, three homilies. In codex 11, no. 1, shelf 60, it begins "Those who respect this holy [day]." See Bandini, *Cat. codd. Gr.* I, p. 442, 456; and II, p. 600. HARL. In Galland, l. I, p. 147.
10. The second begins: "The mystery of the present feast," p. 151. From two royal codices. (Previously it was read only in Latin in Surius, August 15, and in the *Bibliotheca homiliarum Patrum* of Laur. Cumdium, tom. IV, p. 631). This first [homily] is in the Caesarean codex.
11. The third begins: "He calls us again to the assembly," p. 143. This also, but only in Latin, in Surius at the place cited and in Cumdium, p. 633. Andrew of Crete's *On the Dormition of the B. Virgin*, from the version of Ambrose Camaldulensis, saw the light at Venice, 1530, 8vo.
12. *On the holy and blessed and most famous apostle of Christ, Titus*.
A Titles. He begins: "To touch upon apostolic encomia," page 155. FABR. Consult above, vol. X, p. 341. Florence in cod. Laurent. 33, no. 41, plut. 9. See Bandini, loc. cit. I, p. 457. Paris, in four codd. publ. library. Harl. Galland, p. 456.
He begins: "It is necessary, indeed, that bright and all-praised [things be spoken of]," page 175. It is also read in the *Acta sanctorum* vol. III, April, page xx, from a Vatican manuscript. But the final part of this homily exists only in Latin in Lipomannus and Surius, April 23. In most cases, says Combefis, p. 358, having used the Regius codex, we correct the translator of Lipomannus, or rather we adorn a new version, as he is in truth less accurate, etc. FABR. See above, vol. X, p. 230. In the Nanian codex 220 (which contains canons, troparia, hymns, readings, and narratives to be recited on the feast day of St. George), no. 6, Andrew’s Encomium on George; but it begins: "The sun, indeed, rising every day." See Cat. Codd. Gr. Nanian. p. 412. Paris, in cod. 1197, no. 1, publ. library. Harl. B St. Nicholas, bishop in Lycia. He begins: "O man of God and servant," p. 188. FABR. See above, vol. X, pag. 298 seq. Paris, in five codd. publ. library — in cod. Coislin. 105, no. 11. See Montfaucon, *Bibl. Coisl.*, p. 179. Turin in cod. 320, fol. 44. See *Catal. codd. Gr. Taur.* p. 399. Harl.
15, 16, 17. *On the blessed Patapius and a partial account of his miracles*. On the B. Patapius, whose memory the Greeks celebrate December 8. He begins: "I see a bright and spiritual festival," page 196. And a particular narrative of his miracles. He begins: "Having rendered the praise of the encomia of this Father," page 206. Another encomium of the same Patapius, from the voice of Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, he begins: "It is worthwhile to believe all things that are truly divine," page 216. FABR. See above, in vol. X, pag. 504 seq. Paris, in cod. publ. library 1458, no. 13 and 14. Harl. C "Nothing, in truth, among human affairs possesses stability," page 229. J. Meursius was the first to publish this homily in Greek in *Variis divinis*, Lugd. Batav. 1619, 4, p. 39. The Greeks read it on the Saturday of the Apokreo, which immediately precedes Quinquagesima. FABR. Consult above, vol. X, pag. 218. Paris, in eight codd. publ. library. In the Bodleian library in cod. Th. Roe, 28 or no. 274, catalog of the codices of England, etc. Venice, in cod. 362. See the illustrious Morelli, *Bibl. ms. Gr. et Lat.* I, p. 255 seq. Munich in cod. Bavar. 66. See the illustrious Hardt in *Aretini Beytragen*, etc. a. 1804, part II, p. 34. Harl.
D extracted from ecclesiastical [books]. 9 Dec. Canon on the conception of the holy and grandmother of God (theopromētoros) Anna, page 252. FABR. See above, vol. X, p. 196. Harl. 8 Sept. On the Nativity of the most holy Mother of God, p. 258.
The Great (13) Canon, 250, consisting of troparia, which is recited by the penitent on the Thursday of the fifth week of the fast, page 265. With the insertion of a canon on Mary of Egypt, whose acrostic is this: "You, O holy Mary, help," and Combefis noted this in distinct words on page 268, although in the *Acta SS.* vol. 1, April, page 70, it is noted by Papebroch as if he had neglected this. You will observe, however, that it has been added here and there by other younger Greeks after Andrew’s age, by which the aid and intercession of Andrew himself are sought in prayers. As on page 263: "By your entreaties, Andrew, deliver us from base passions, and make those who hymn you with faith and longing, O famous one, participants now in the kingdom of Christ, we beseech you." Page 272: "By the intercessions of Andrew, O Savior, have mercy on us." Page 275: "By your entreaties, O Andrew, president of Crete, grant me also the forgiveness of my debts, for you are the best mystagogue of repentance." And page 280: "Andrew, glory of Patras! In your prayers do not be forgetful, standing by the transcendent Trinity, so that we may be delivered from punishment, we who call upon you, O all-blessed one, as our divine patron, the adornment of Crete." Page 282: "As the best of shepherds, wise Andrew, since you are preeminent, I ask with much longing and fear, to obtain through your intercessions salvation and eternal life." Page 284: "Recognizing you as shepherd and president of Crete and intercessor of the world, I run to you, Andrew, and cry out to you: Deliver me, Father, from the abyss of sin." And page 292: "On the rock of faith establish me by your intercessions, Father; hedging me in with fear in God, and grant me repentance, Andrew, I implore you, and deliver me from the snare of the enemies who seek me." Page 296: "As having boldness before the Lord, Andrew, sacred glory of Crete, I implore you, intercede that I may now find forgiveness for the bond of my iniquity by your prayers, as teacher of repentance, glory of the saints." We owe a new edition of this Great Canon to Chevillier, librarian of the Sorbonne, Paris, 1699, 12. FABR. The book is written in French: *Le grand canon, ou hymne de l'Eglise grecque qui contient la prière de l'Office Grec, où l'âme sollicite le pardon de ses péchés et s’anime à la vertu, avec le canon du pécheur qui a recours à la S. Vierge; version paraphraste sur le Grec, par André Chevillier, Paris, 1699, 12*. Andrew of Crete, Orations, selected Canons and Triodia, in *Bibl. max. Patrum*. Canon on those who are passing away, Florence in cod. Laurent. 17, n. 15, plut. 5. Inc. "Come, be gathered." See Bandini, *Cat. codd. Laur.* I, p. 40. Ibid. in cod. 6, no. 8, plut. 86, among the authorities of the Saints and Fathers concerning the foreknowledge and predestination of God is a passage from Andrew of Crete’s Triodion of the Great Monday, i.e., of the second day of the Great Week. See Bandini.
[Cited book, vol. III, p. 295.] — In the Moscow codex of the synod, 11, there is a Great Canon with a sufficiently ample and copious interpretation; it ends with the interpretation of troparion 255. After this, another troparion is read. See Matthæi’s Notitia of the Moscow manuscripts, p. 12 et seq., in octavo. Canon on Lazarus, for the Vespers of Holy Friday, before Palm Sunday, p. 301. Triodion for Palm Sunday, p. 311. Great Monday, p. 315; Tuesday, p. 318; Wednesday, p. 322. For the feast of Mid-Pentecost, p. 316. [See the cited Florentine Laurentian codex.] Idiomela for the Nativity of Christ, p. 334; On the Meeting of the Lord, ibid. On the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 14 Sept., p. 335. On the Nativity of John the Forerunner, ibid. Sticharium idiomelon on the Apostles Peter and Paul, p. 336. On St. Ignatius, 20 Dec. FABR. On the Girdle of the Blessed Virgin. See above, vol. X, p. 285. HARL. These homilies of Andrew heretofore enumerated, along with his hymns, were reprinted in Latin from the version of Combefis in the tenth volume of the Bibliotheca Patrum, edit. Lyons 1677. Most of them were also edited in better form by Combefis himself, partly by a revision of his own interpretation and partly by the collation of manuscript copies, in his Bibliotheca concionatoria, which he published in Latin at Paris in 1662, in eight folio volumes. The other works of Andrew that have seen the light of day are the following: 20. *Sermon on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary*. It begins: "If the earth, even for a span..." Heretofore it existed under the name of Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, in Greek and Latin with the version of Andrew Schott, S.J., in the Auctarium of the Ducian Bibliotheca Patrum, Paris 1624, folio, vol. II, p. 450, and in the Parisian Morellian Bibliotheca Patrum, 1644, vol. XII. Allatius, on page 312, attributes the same to George of Nicomedia. And the French King’s manuscript codex, no. 275, refers it to John of Damascus. Combefis prefers the testimony of the Mazarin codex to all these opinions, by which it is vindicated for Andrew of Crete; hence he published it under his name with a new version of his own, p. 130 of the new Auctarium of the Bibliotheca Patrum, Paris 1648, folio. It is also attributed to Andrew in the Imperial codices, about which see Lambecius, IV, p. 88 [p. 204, seq. Kollar]; VIII, 379, 380 [p. 515 Kollar], and in the codex of the Coislin library, p. 388. FABR. Compare above in vol. X, p. 278; and below, vol. X, old ed., p. 210, n. 7, on Germanus. — Florence, in Laurentian codex X, n. 92, plut. 5. — Cod. 31, n. 3, plut. 9; and cod. 41, n. 1, plut. 10. F. Bandini, Catalogus codicum Græcorum Laurentianorum, I, pp. 30, 441 (where he edited the end of the homily from the codex), and 495. HARL. 21. *On the Beheading of John the Forerunner*. It begins: "For the most part, age..." Lipomannus had edited it in Latin with a less accurate translation; thus, Combefis brought it forth in Greek and Latin with his new version in the same new Auctarium, vol. I, p. 1327. The Imperial library also preserves this, just as it does most of the other works of this Andrew; see Lambecius, VI, p. 530. FABR. [See p. 463, ed. Kollar, concerning codex 14, n. 72, in which codex, n. 12, 30, 31, 32, 65, there are several orations of Andrew of Crete, and others in not a few other codices in the same volume. See Index p. 1108 et seq., and the indices to the remaining volumes, which supply notice of many homilies of Andrew in the Viennese codices. Florence, in Laurentian codex 33, n. 45. See Bandini, loc. cit. I, p. 457. — In the Baroccian codex of the Bodleian library, 174, 199, with many other homilies of Andrew of Crete, and 234, fin. — In the Coislin codex 107, n. 32, and 305 (in which there are several other homilies of Andrew), n. 46. See Montfaucon, Bibliotheca Coisliniana, pp. 183 and 419. — Paris, in the public library codex 772, n. 59, in which several other homilies of Andrew of Crete exist. Conf. above, vol. X. — p. 260. HARL.] 22. *Idiomelon for the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary*. In the same new Auctarium, vol. I, p. 1365. 23. *Iambic Eucharistic Poem of 128 verses* to Agathon, archdeacon and chartophylax of the church of Constantinople, for those communicated for the description of the Acts of the Sixth Synod, edited in Greek and Latin by Combefis in the new Auctarium of the Bibliotheca Patrum, vol. II, or *History of the Monothelites*, Paris 1648, folio, pp. 235-240. Oudin writes that the same poem exists in the volumes of the councils of the Labbean edition, *De Script. eccles.*, page 191 (14). But I searched in vain for that poem in volume VI of Labbe, where the acts of the Sixth Synod are held, just as I did in the third volume of the Hardouin edition. Concerning the Imperial manuscript codex in which these iambics are contained, see Lambecius, VIII, p. 500. FABR. or p. 1042 seqq., ed. Kollar, concerning codex 59, and the note of Kollar there. Compare HARL. These iambics are read with a new and clearer Latin version in Galland’s *Bibliotheca Patrum*, XIII, 167 seqq. 24. *Computation or Method of how to find the cycle of the sun (and moon, as well as the date of Pascha), accurately elaborated for the benefit of scholars*. Edited in Greek and Latin by Dionysius Petavius from a copy of Andrew Schott, who had described it from a codex of the Vatican library. *Uranologium* of Petavius (15), in which many ancient Greek astronomical writings are commemorated. HARL.
NOTES. (14) In the Lipsian edition of 1712, folio, vol. II, p. 182, it is read that this poem exists in the volumes of the councils of the Labbean edition; but three other opuscula of Andrew, or the Cretan, or Caesar, are commemorated, inedited from Labbe’s *Nova Bibliotheca Ms. Librorum*, etc., Paris 1653, 4, part II, p. 82. HARL. (15) I reviewed other writings found in the *Uranologium* of Petavius in book II, chapter 5, p. 69 seq. [c. 18, vol. IV, p. 29, note ff, new edit.]
A existing in print, it saw the light at Paris, 1630, folio, and Antwerp (or rather Amsterdam), 1703, folio, in which later edition the calculation of Andrew of Crete on pages 211 and 212 is completed. 25. In the *Catena Graeca Patrum* on Luke, which Combefis collects and unfolds in the Mazarin codex, several excellent things are referred to under the name of the Hierosolymite, which he does not doubt to attribute to our Andrew, and most of them he rendered in Latin in his *Bibliotheca concionatoria*. FABR. In the *Catena Patrum* on the Gospel of Luke by Nicetas in the Coislin codex 201, Montfaucon testifies in the *Bibliotheca Coisliniana*, p. 231, that excerpts from Andrew of Crete are to be found. B Furthermore, passages from Andrew of Crete are cited by John Cantacuzenus against Palamas, and in the *Thesaurus orthodoxae fidei* in the Laurentian codices. See Bandini, *Catalogus codicum Graecorum Bibliothecae Laurentianae* 4, p. 347 and 432. HARL. — At Cambridge, in codex Coll. S. Benedicti 144, or no. 1421 of the Catalogue of English manuscripts, etc., I. 3. There is a historical exposition by Andrew (of this Cretan? or rather the presbyter mentioned above?) on the Pentateuch, Books of Kings, Chronicles, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Ibid., in codex 175, or no. 1450 of the cited catalogue, is Andrew on the Books of Kings, Maccabees, and Daniel. HARL. — In Turin codex 320, a sermon on the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary is attributed to Andrew of Crete, whose beginning is: "Καλή τις ἡ ἀπαρχῆς ὑπόθεσις;" which was edited in Greek and Latin under the name of George, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, by Combefis in volume I of the *Auctarium novum*, p. 1091. See the *Catalogue of Greek Codices of Turin*, p. 398 seq. HARL. — *Encomium of the Holy Martyrs of Crete*. Begins: "Ἐποτεῖτε τάχα τὴν ἡμετέραν ἐπάνοδον," in Turin codex 70. See the cited catalogue, p. 174. HARL. C Furthermore, in the codices of the Royal Public Library of Paris, in volume II of the catalogue of Greek manuscripts, there are Homilies by Andrew of Crete. — *In praise of the martyr Sergius*, in codex 771, no. 36, along with some other homilies of the same. — *On Saint John the Baptist*, in seven codices. — *Poem on the second coming of Christ*, in codex 396, no. 26. — *On the adoration of holy images*, in codex 1630, no. 55. — *On the place to which souls depart after death*, in codex 2314, no. 17, begins: "Καθώς φησιν ὁ μακάριος." Add Oudin, *Commentarii de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis antiquis* II, p. 182, who also reports from the *Glossary of Mediaeval and Inferior Greek* by Charles du Fresne, at the end in the Index of unedited authors, col. 24, that Eusebius Renaudot possessed a Greek manuscript of Andrew of Crete, *Eulogy for the holy and victorious ten martyrs, when, on account of the violence of the winter, having arrived from the turning back of his ship, he improvised the present speech.* Of the same, *Homily on the silence of Zacharias and the nativity of John*, in Coislin codex 304 (which besides contains six other homilies of Andrew of Crete), no. 40 init. "Ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν οὐδένα Ἰωάννην." — See Montfaucon, *Bibliotheca Coisliniana*, p. 419. — Fabricius below, vol. XIII, p. 806, note, mentioned a Homily of Andrew of Crete on the nativity of Christ, which begins: "Χριστοῦ τόκος ἀποτέλεσμα τῆς ἀφάτου τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας." — Concerning the manuscript book *On ecclesiastical music*, see above, vol. III, p. 654 end. HARL. — *Oration on the birth of the most holy Lady our Theotokos, with proof that she is descended from the seed of David.* In the Natal Day of our most holy Lady the Mother of God, wherein it is shown that she is derived from the seed of David, begins: "Ἄλλοι μὲν ἄλλας ἑορτῶν ὑποθέσεις," first edited by Angelo Maria Riccio, with his Latin version, corrected here and there in the notes provided, and repeated in Galland, *Bibliotheca Patrum* XIII, p. 175 seq. BECK.
Everywhere Andrew is a plainly flowery writer who speaks with greatness (16), and, if anyone might notice, it is stuffed—both with words and in sentiments—with Dionysian, Methodian, Gregorian, Amphilochian, and other ancient elements: except for Scripture, which he breathes, a truly Christian orator. Nothing is more delicate in rhetorical (17) flowers and sweet composition, nothing fuller in sense, nothing more solid in theology, nothing more sublime in mystical flight.
But since among the authors of hymns which the Greek Church uses, the name of this Andrew has stood for a long time in the first rank, whose *kalliepeteia* (fine speech) Theophanes Kerameus praises (p. 207), it pleases me in this place to append the Index of melodists, somewhat more complete than that which I once gave at the end of Allatius' *De libris ecclesiasticis Graecorum*, and at the same time to ask in the public name the Rev. Urban Gotfrid Siber, the very learned ecclesiast and professor at Leipzig, that he not begrudge us any longer the history of the melodists of the Greek Church and their poetic theology, which he undertook to set forth from the Menaia and the liturgical books of the Greeks in a *Schediasma* published at Leipzig in 1714, 4to. Whether Siber held to his promises, I for one do not know.
Index of twenty-one edited and nineteen unedited homilies of Andrew of Crete. D (The larger numbers denote the edited ones, of which above; the smaller denote the unedited, in the order of the Ms.) "Ἀεὶ μὲν λαμπρά." On Saint George, XIII. "Ἄνθρωπε τοῦ Θεοῦ." On Saint Nicholas, XIV.
NOTES (16) Combefis, *Notes on Andrew*, p. 340. (17) The same in his *Preface*, and Ellies du Pin, vol. VI, p. 100. The sermons of this author are not so much to be despised as the majority of those of the new Greeks; they are full of wit, doctrine, and morality, and do not lack eloquence and nobility. His discourse is full of compound and bold words, his narrations are free, his reflections just, his praises brilliant, his figures natural, and his instructions solid.
ST. ANDREW OF CRETE — NOTICE
Of Apostolic eulogies. On the Apostle Titus, VII. The beginning of our feasts. On the Nativity of St. Mary, I. It is the custom for the leaders of armies. On the prediction of the Lord’s Passion, ms. 12. If the earth is measured with a span. On the Nativity of Mary, XX. If the light-bringing [day] of the perceptible [world]. On the Presentation of Mary in the temple, ms. 8. Today the joy of all has arrived. On the Annunciation of Mary, II. The matter concerning the Publican and the Pharisee. On the Publican and the Pharisee, ms. 1. I present this below, complete in both Greek and Latin. Truly a sea of troubles. On the paralytic, ms. 9. John the Evangelist has gathered us today. On John the Evangelist, ms. 14. He calls us again. On the Dormition of Mary, third, XI. Let us move, beloved. On the Exaltation of the Cross, second, VII. Let the soul ascend. On the presentation of the three-year-old Mary in the temple, ms. 6. Our judgment comes to meet us today by our intention. On the Sunday of the Apocreos or Carnis privium, ms. B. Lazarus has assembled the present company. On Lazarus the four-day-dead, V. A brilliant spring is offered to us. On Mary returned to the temple, ms. 5. The present feast is a mystery. On the Dormition of Mary, second, X. The temple is truly the dual light of the Trinity today. On the Holy Unmercenaries (Cosmas and Damian), ms. 16. The purpose of fasting is for us. On the Sunday of the Cheesefare (Quinquagesima), by which an end is put to the eating of cheese and eggs, ms. 4. Truly the architect of all terrible things. On the lunatic, ms. 11. Truly the mercy of God exists as a work. On the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, ms. 2. Many things coincide with the homily of Chrysostom, p. 720, Gr. edit. Savil. vol. V. Truly praise of theology and economy. On Luke the Evangelist, ms. 15. Truly the way is narrow and afflicted. On the Cross to be taken up by a Christian in himself, ms. 10. As many as [share] in the emptying of the Word. On the Transfiguration of Christ, IV. As many as [honor] this venerable [day]. On the Dormition of Mary, first, VII. Nothing as truly. On human life and the departed, XVIII. Everything is worthy to be believed. On St. Patapius, XVII. Everything for our sake. On the Circumcision and St. Basil, III. And old age leaps for the most part. On the Decollation of the Forerunner, XXI. Today the temple of God enters into the temple. On the entry of Mary into the temple, ms. 17. We celebrate the feast of the Cross. On the Exaltation of the Cross, first, VI. The conception of the holy Anna today. On the Conception of St. Anna. Regarding the eulogies. On St. Patapius, XVI. A royal table. On the conception of St. Mary, ms. 7. Yesterday [the coming] of the Master to us. On Palm Sunday, VI. Let all creation dance. On the Nativity of Mary, ms. 18. The birth of Christ as a result. On the Nativity of Christ in time, ms. 19. Oh, brilliant and spiritual [feast]. On St. Patapius, XV. Just as those who [have suffered] the defeats of conflicts. On John the Theologian, ms. 13.
Out of these nineteen unpublished homilies of Andrew, which our friend Jo. Christianus Wolfius, distinguished for his erudition and talent, transcribed from the Bodleian manuscript and communicated to me out of his benevolence toward me, it pleases me to communicate the first one here for the sake of a specimen, with my own version annexed*; the rest, however, I resolve to save for another time and another occasion, that they may be brought to light—which I hope for—either by me or by the aforementioned Wolfius himself, as they are not unworthy of it. Whether they have been edited, I do not know, and I almost doubt it. Hence, having been uncertain for a long time what I should do, I preferred to retain the following oration in this place rather than to omit it or to prepare it for the total Supplement, the time of the publication of which I cannot determine, HARL. This homily is repeated in Galland, Bibl. PP. XIII, p. 170 seq. A new Latin version was added, however, lest the interpretation of the "external" man perhaps offend anyone, as is said in the Prolegomena. Namely, he counted the "internal" words more. BECK.
(*) You may see this homily below. We have followed Gallandius’s version. EDIT.
THE ORATIONS OF ST. ANDREW, ARCHBISHOP OF CRETE, SURNAMED THE HIEROSOLYMITE
ORATION I. Encomium on the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
A The present solemnity is the beginning of our feasts: it is the first of those things which pertain to the Law and the shadows, and yet it is also the entrance to those things which pertain to grace and truth. It is at once middle and final: having as its beginning the fulfillment of the Law; as its middle, the connection to the extremes; and as its end, the manifestation of the truth. For Christ is the end of the law, who does not so much lead us away from the letter as lead us forward to the spirit. For this is the perfection, just as the Giver of the Law himself, having finished and brought all things to a close, transferred the letter into the spirit, B recapitulating all things in himself, and effectively vivifying the law by grace. And having yoked the one and harmoniously joined the other, he did not mingle or confuse the properties of the one with the properties of the other; but rather, in a manner truly worthy of God, he converted what was heavy, servile, and captive into what is light and free, so that we may no longer be enslaved under the elements of the world, as the Apostle says, nor be held by the yoke of bondage of the legal letter. For this is the primary point of the benefits we have received from Christ. This is the manifestation of the mystery—
this is the emptying of nature, God and man, and the deification of the assumed human. Indeed, such a brilliant and most conspicuous appearance of God to men necessarily required some introduction to the joy through which should proceed that great gift of salvation to us. And this is the present festival: its prelude is the nativity of the Theotokos; its conclusion and end is the composition of the Word with the flesh A, through which that newest of all wonders, that report which is always being called forth, remains hard to grasp and invisible; for it is concealed by being manifested, and it is manifested by being concealed.
Hence, this divine, most weighty, and first festive day, carrying the light of virginity upon its head, and, as if from the unblemished flowers of the spiritual gardens of Scripture, gathering a wreath, proposes a joy common to all creation, saying: "Take heart; it is the Nativity festival, and the re-formation of the race." For today the Virgin is born and nurtured and formed, and is being prepared as the Mother for God, the King of all ages B. And concerning this, the spiritual theater has brought together for us David, along with David—the one, as the Mother of God, bringing forth her own divinely granted nativity; the other, demonstrating the happiness of the race and the sweetness of the new relationship of God with men. O the miracle! The former mediates between the height of the Godhead and the lowliness of the flesh, and becomes the mother of Him who formed her; while the latter prophesies what is to come as though it were already present, and by oath receives from God the glorious permanence and preservation of the race from his loins C. It is right, therefore, to celebrate the mystery of this day, and to offer to the Mother of the Word those very words—for there is nothing else pleasing to her, except the Word and the honor that is shown through words. Since also a double D benefit will be ours from this act.
A Gain, on the one hand, leading us back to the truth; and on the other, leading us away from the servitude and regime of the law in the letter.
How and in what manner? By the shadow yielding, of course, to the presence of the light, and by grace introducing the freedom of the letter in its place—of which this present festival stands as the boundary, yoking together the truth of the typical symbols, and introducing the new in place of the old. This is also what Paul, the divine trumpet of the Spirit, shouted out, saying: "If any be in Christ, a new creation; be renewed. The old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." For since "the law brought nothing to perfection, but there was an introduction of a better hope, by which we draw near to God," therefore the truth of grace shone forth clearly. The Lawgiver himself, descending ineffably into self-emptying, B proceeded economically as man, that he might fulfill what was lacking and bestow better and more perfect things in place of the lesser. This is what the sublime John, the thunderer of the Word, the theologian, would wish to signify most clearly, saying: "Of his fullness we all have received, and grace for grace." For when he himself had emptied himself, and then in a supernatural way had been fashioned from us in our own form, we received the fullness, and were enriched with the deification given in exchange for the compound that was taken.
Therefore, let all things rejoice today, and let nature leap for joy. "Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain down justice; let the mountains drop sweetness, and the hills, exultation," because "the Lord has had mercy on his people, having raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David his servant," through this most immaculate and virgin-untouched maiden, from whom Christ, the salvation and expectation of the nations, [is born]. Let every grateful soul lead the dance now, and let nature summon creation to the joy of its own renewal and restoration. Let the barren run quickly; C for she who was childless and barren has given birth to the God-child Virgin. Let mothers leap for joy; for the childless mother has brought forth the incorrupt mother and virgin. Let virgins rejoice; for the unplowed earth has brought forth without flux, in a manner more wonderful than can be told, him who is from the Father. Let women strike their hands in applause; for the woman who once rashly provided the occasion for sin has now brought in the first fruits of salvation; and she who was once guilty has been shown to be approved by divine judgment: a mother who knew no man, chosen by the Creator, and the restoration of the race.
Let, therefore, all creation sing and dance, and bring some offering worthy of this day. Let there be one common festival today for things in heaven and on earth; and let everything that exists in a state of coalition in the world and above the world celebrate together. For today the created shrine of the all-Creator has been built; and the creature is being innovatively prepared as a divine lodging for the Creator. D Today, nature, which had previously been exiled to earth, receives the divinity for the first time; and dust hastens to run upward, caught up toward the highest peak of glory. Today, from...
us and for our sake under the guise of first fruits, Adam offers to God, and he presents Mary as the first fruit, and through her, the undefiled portion of the whole dough is kneaded into bread, A for the reforming of the race. Today the great treasure of virginity is revealed, and the Church adorns herself in bridal fashion with the inviolable pearl of true incorruptibility. Today the pure nobility of men receives the gift of the first divine creation and returns unto itself; and whatever the ignobility of evil had darkened of the beauty’s grace, this, nature—looking toward the mother of the Beautiful one who is born—receives as a most excellent and most divine formation. And strictly speaking, this formation becomes a restoration; and the restoration, a deification; and this, a restoration to the ancient likeness. Today the barren one is found to be a mother beyond hope; and being a mother without a father, the mother of the Offspring, blooming from barren wombs, sanctifies the birth-throes of nature. Today the comely dye of the divine purple has been tinted; B and the poor nature of men is clothed in royal dignity. Today, according to the prophecy, the Davidic sprout has blossomed. A reed of eternal life, she has come to be, and having flowered forth for us the Christ, she has become a blossoming staff of power. Today from Judah and David a virgin maiden comes forth, sketching the figure of kingdom and priesthood, [she of] the order of Melchizedek, [where] Aaron served as priest. Today Grace, having made white the mystical ephod of the divine priesthood, has woven it beforehand in typical fashion for the Levitical seed; and God has purpled the royal purple with Davidic blood. And to summarize: today the transformation C of our nature begins, and the world, grown old, receiving a most godlike foundation, welcomes the preludes of a second divine creation. For since the first formation of men from common and spotless earth had been created by God, it vanished...
and nature, having been despoiled of grace by the slip of disobedience—by which we were cast out from the place of life and from the delights of paradise—exchanged its life for one subject to decay, inheriting as it were a paternal legacy that had come down to us, from which came death and the subsequent corruption of the race. Since all men had preferred the lower realm to the higher, every hope of salvation had been removed, and nature stood in need of help from the Highest. There was no law for the healing of the infirmity: neither the innate, nor the written, nor the fire-breathing, conciliatory word of the prophets, nor anything that knew how to restore human nature, nor any of those things by which it might perhaps have been easily led back to its former nobility.
At last, it seemed good to the Artificer of all, the God who creates, to exhibit once more, as if another most harmonious and newly-compacted world, B and for a time to curb the contagion of sin which had formerly spread, and from which death arises. And thus, to reveal to us a life that was strange and unenslaved, and truly most free from passions, to those of us who have been regenerated, of course, by the baptism of divine birth.
How, then, was it fitting for this benefit to come to us, being both great and most wondrous, and becoming to divine laws? Or was it not by God appearing to us through flesh, and coming to the laws of nature, and consenting in a new and becoming manner to live according to our own principles, as He knows how? And by what means could this be brought to its end, if not by a pure and untouched Virgin first ministering to the mystery, and then, by a law transcending the laws of nature, C carrying in her womb Him who is superior to substance? But who could this virgin be understood to be, except that one alone who was chosen before all generations by the Creator of all nature? This is Mary, the Theotokos, the God-called name, from whose womb the God who is above all appeared with flesh, whom He Himself set up, having superabundantly made her a temple for Himself; for she who gave birth did not violate the womb, nor did the one who was born require seed. For He was God, even if He chose to be born in a carnal manner, without labor and without birth-pangs; so that the Mother might escape the experiences of mothers, miraculously nursing Him whom she had produced without a man, and the Virgin, bringing forth a seedless offspring, remains a pure virgin, D safe and bearing the seals of virginity even after childbirth. In this way, also, she is rightly proclaimed Theotokos, and virginity is honored, and the birth is worshipped, and God, being united to men and then manifested in flesh, bestows the dignity of His own glory. For indeed, the female nature immediately receives the correction of that first curse, having become the beginning of salvation, just as it had been the beginning of sin.
The discourse has now come to us at last to the main point; and hence I have come forward today as the celebrant and splendid host of this sacred and most lavish feast, setting before you a common joy. For, I say, the Redeemer of the race, establishing a new
A birth and a secondary formation—just as there, having formerly taken clay from the untouched virgin earth, He fashioned the first Adam, so now here, performing His own incarnation, having chosen instead of another earth, so to speak, this pure and most immaculate Virgin of the material nature, and having renewed in her, by her, what is ours from ourselves, the Creator of Adam became a new Adam, that the recent might heal the ancient and timeless one. But who she was, and from what parents she was born, come, let us say briefly, having run through the history as much as possible.
This, then, the boast of all, is the daughter of David, but the seed of Joachim; a descendant of Eve, but the offspring of Anna. For Joachim was a man B meek, gentle, and nourished in the divine laws, living soberly and clinging constantly to God; thus continuing, he grew old childless, his nature indeed vigorous, but its vigor lacking the reward of offspring. Anna too was a lover of God, sober, but barren; a lover of her husband, but childless; and she had nothing else on her mind but to revere the law of the Lord. Being pricked daily by the goads of sterility, and suffering as it is fitting for those to be afflicted who have no children, she was troubled, she grieved, she suffered, unable to bear the bereavement of children.
While Joachim and his wife were thus sorrowing that no child was present to be a support for that lineage, the wick of their hope was not yet completely extinguished; for there was prayer on both sides C that a child might be granted to them for the raising up of seed. And so, both of them, imitating the famous Anna, devoted themselves to the Temple; and with supplications they entreated God to grant a release to their childlessness and a fruit to their sterility, and they did not cease until they had obtained what they desired. And indeed they did obtain it. For the Author of the gift did not disregard the gift of their hope. For to those thus crying out and supplicating the Divine, a power that is not slow arrived more quickly than could be hoped; and He strengthened the one for fruit-bearing and the other for child-bearing; and those channels of the generative organs that had previously been D withered, He moistened with the liquors of production, and made the barren fruitful. And thus, finally, from fruitless and dry sources, as if from well-watered trees, this most immaculate Virgin budded forth for us as a noble fruit. The bonds of sterility were loosed, and prayer appeared fruitful beyond hope: the barren became a parent of offspring and the childless a mother of children.
Since, then, she had come forth from a barren mother—she from whose womb the ear of immortality would spring—her parents, when she was in the first flower of her age, brought her to the Temple and dedicated her. And the priest who was exercising the ministry of the priesthood at that time, when he saw the dances of the virgins proceeding before and following after her, was glad and exceedingly rejoiced, as one who already beheld the divine events of those things that had been in hope; and he consecrated to God, as a divine gift, this most holy and worthy offering.
He deposited it in the very inner sanctuaries of the saints, where the girl walked among discourses as if in bridal chambers, to be fed on ambrosial food, until the time for the betrothal arrived—the time which had been fixed before all ages for Him A who was born of her through an ineffable compassion, and for Him who, before all creation and time and extent, divinely begat Him, and for His co-natural, co-enthroned, and adorable Spirit. As there is one Godhead of these, so also there is one nature and kingdom, undivided and unalienated, and in no way differing from itself, except for the property of the primordial hypostases. Therefore, I dance and keep the feast, and I offer to the Mother of the Word a festive gift, because her offspring has made known to me the head of the faith in the Trinity. For when the unoriginate Word and Son performs His own incarnation, the Father who begat Him is revealed as consenting, and the Holy Spirit as preceding and sanctifying the womb of her who conceived the Incomprehensible.
But now it is time to ask David: what did the God of all say to him with an oath? B Come then, O writer of canticles, O prophet: stir the lyre, shake the chords, speak clearly: What did the Lord swear to you? "What did the Lord swear to me? That He would set one from the fruit of my loins upon my throne." This He swore to me, and He did not break His word. He swore, and He sealed and confirmed his words with deeds: "Once," He says, "I have sworn by my holiness: if I shall lie to David; his seed shall remain for ever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon made perfect for ever; and the witness in heaven is faithful" (Ps. LXXXIX, 35-38). He fulfilled these oaths by His work; He confirmed these oracles: "For it is impossible for God to lie" (Heb. VI, 18). C Behold then, see! Christ, who is proclaimed my son according to the flesh, is praised as my Lord and Son, and all nations worship Him; for they see Him enthroned on virgin seats. Behold also this Virgin, who has just now sprung from my loins; from whose womb He who is before the ages, having become incarnate at the end of the ages, has come forth, and renewed the arrangement of the ages. And let these things be so. But we, the people of God, a holy nation, a sacred assembly, let us dance with ancestral joy, let us honor the power of the mystery; let each one, according to the grace given to him, contribute a gift worthy of the festival. Let fathers contribute the happiness of their lineage; mothers, the fruitful D childbearing of their children; let the barren contribute the fruitlessness of sin; let virgins contribute the double incorruption, of soul, I say, and of body; let those who are wedded contribute a praiseworthy moderation. If there is any father among you, let him propose to imitate the father of the Virgin. And even if he lacks offspring, let him harvest the fruitful prayer, gathering this as the fruit of a God-loving life. If there is any nursing mother, let her rejoice with the
A mother of Anna, who after her barrenness gives suck to a child according to her prayers. If there is any woman barren and unfruitful, lacking the fruit of blessing, let her draw near with faith to the offshoot of Anna, who was a gift of God, and let her cast off her infertility. If there is any chaste virgin, let her become a mother of the Word, adorning the state of her soul with the Word. If there is any man under the yoke, let him bring forth a rational sacrifice from the things he has obtained through prayer. At the same time, let the rich and the poor, young men and virgins, old men with the young, priests and Levites, queens and noblewomen—let all men and all women together shine forth for the young maiden and Mother of God and prophetess, from whom came forth He about whom the prophet Moses wrote, Christ our God, the Truth. Let us hasten to the entrances of the temple; let us run together with the maidens who go before, and let us approach the Holy of Holies together. For here, after her birth, after her suckling, after her infancy, her garments bloom in the beauty and splendor of a flower. And God prepared the place of upbringing as a bridal chamber, safeguarding for Himself that which is venerable and B august. Hence the virgins who are closest to her lead the dances and prepare the way for those to come. Hence the daughters of Zion, running before the queen, go out in the fragrance of her ointments. Hence also this temple unfolded its sacred doors, so that it might receive the royal glory of the universe. Then indeed, then at that time, were the Holy of Holies opened, embracing within the inner sanctum the all-holy mother of the Holy One. Her nourishment, moreover, is fresh, and He who is to be nourished by her milk a little later provides for her, as yet without human hand. And the Holy Spirit becomes the nurse of the Virgin until her manifestation in Israel. And when the time of her betrothal appeared, and Joseph, son of David, took in marriage her who was sprung from David, and instead of seed she received the word of Gabriel; and she became pregnant without having experienced carnal union, and she brought forth a Son whom no father sowed; and she remained C chaste, her womb not violated; and even after the birth, she who brought Him forth kept the seals of virginity, namely, Christ Jesus of Nazareth, who comes into the world. He is the true God and eternal life, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, honor, and adoration, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION II
On the Nativity of our all-holy Lady the Theotokos. It is demonstrated that she is descended from the seed of David.(Translated by Angelo Maria Riccio.)
Let others treat of other subjects of the festivals for those who wish to hear. For our part, in order that we may receive this day with joyful acclamations, let this be the task proposed for the present, the head of which is this—your most numerous assembly—as in* Psalm cxlviii, 12. D For let the topic proposed at this moment be that acclamation of which today’s solemnity is, as it were, the summary, which has as its primary cause the Mother of the Word, from whom the Spirit comes down upon all, and from whom the discourses gain their release, as it were, from the starting-gates. Hence, etc.
pulling back the reins of my discourse towards the goal, I shall go through the things that follow from those previously mentioned, being curtailed by fear of not speaking worthily of the end set before me, but longing to introduce what is worthy to the best of my ability. However, wherever I may turn, I shall confidently let loose the discourse, bringing with me the day as a fine help against my cowardice or boldness.
Now, in the previous discourse, we have already kept the feast worthily regarding the birth of the Theotokos—I, the leader of the feast, and you, and all that is transcendent praise. We visited with Joachim, we ran with the virgins, we were lifted up with David—I mean the patriarch and king, and forefather of God in both respects—and with Mary, the Mother of God, we were brought into the temple; and having spent time in the holy of holies, we partook of the mysteries themselves. And thanks be to Him who glorified His own, so that He might gather to Himself those who were once far off. B But now I do not consider it discordant or superfluous, by making a brief digression, to turn the discourse to the auspicious origin of the lineage from which the Virgin is descended, and to go through those things which it is fitting to say, and in which the present assembly delights. It delights in those things through which the Virgin, from whom the One above God came into temporal existence in a way that transcends nature, is shown to spring from the seed of David, and [it delights in] all those things, whatever they may be, which God, who spoke to us through the Law and the Prophets, has clearly foretold concerning her throughout the whole course of the Divine Scripture.
Statim igitur—therefore, having reflected as well as we can, let us descend into the arena for the contest, attacking the tongues of the Jews—both those of old and those of the present who rave with insults against Christ—cutting them off with frequent excisions, that the bitter root, springing up again, may no longer cause trouble to the sheep of the Church. C But I do not see how this could be accomplished as expeditiously as possible, except with the aid of a more diligent examination and inquiry. For I think it necessary to show first from the books of Moses that Christ, the Son of God, and He Himself God, blossomed from Judah, according to the Apostle, but appeared as the Son of the Virgin, according to the Gospel; and then, by bringing into the middle the prophetic voices, that we might touch upon both the distant and closer matters in this way. For by such caution and diligence, our discourse will obtain from every side that it may have firmness, and be refutable by no one, and that the types and signs of the antiquity which is in the Law may be preserved intact. Come, therefore, let Jacob, that most perceptive beholder of the lofty ladder, be brought into our midst, and before him Abraham the patriarch, to whom the promises were made. For Matthew, too, beginning his own Gospel, set him first, having mentioned David before him in his writing. Upon D
A referring to whom the origin of the genealogy, as each case of birth stands, he described it in turn, and then from there seamlessly weaving the history of the generation back again to Joseph, the descendant of David, he demonstrated that the Virgin, sprung from the Davidic stock and prepared for bearing God, was opportunely betrothed to Joseph, who was of David’s line, as being of the same tribe; for it was unlawful in ancient times for tribe to be mingled with tribe, or the scepter of one tribe to be grafted into the scepter of another.
The great patriarch, therefore, being commanded by God to depart from the land of Charran, was led to attain the B promises, the signs of which he had not yet received even in the slightest degree; for the symbols of future things are those which are demonstrated long before. Yet he did not fall away from the hope of the covenants, but obtained the land that was given to him by lot, having become master of it without any deception. "For to you," says the God of all to him, "and to your seed I will give this land; for in your seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed." For in truth, as it also seems to the divine Paul, God, promising to Abraham, because He had no one greater by whom He could swear, swore by Himself, saying: "Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." And so, he says, "having endured patiently, he obtained the promise." And how, and in what way, the things promised to him came to pass in reality, you may learn from this, if you consider the matter as it truly is. For since the God who formerly gave C responses said to him: "In Isaac shall your seed be called," and being fully persuaded that He who had promised is able also to perform, and though he considered his own body now as good as dead (for he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb, yet he did not waver regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.
Rightly, therefore, he obtained the promise, and gained the son who was promised, he who received the promised things; and when twin children were born to him, he bestowed the blessing upon the heir of the covenants, who—having stolen the promise by the stratagem of his mother—caused the twelve tribes to sprout forth fruitfully from different branches; and of these, God, with added honor, greatly preferred two D scepters, I mean the scepter of Levi and the scepter of Judah. To the one, He had long before entrusted the priestly robe, the divine ephod, the tiara, the holy plate, and the breastplate of manifestation, so that all these might be types and figures of a greater priesthood; to the other, the royal throne, the diadem of beauty, and the office of presiding over all the tribes; and furthermore, he was shown to be the leader of the people together with the anointing. He, the pre-eternal Son of God,
who brought forth all the ages, appearing to the world in the flesh, manifested himself in a new manner, yet not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, as the Apostle says, he conducted his life. He obtained an ambiguous dignity, though not according to the human—or, if one might say, the visible—mode, in which he is considered priest and king. Rather, he is attested by the power of an indissoluble life and by nature to possess both dignities, I mean of priesthood and of kingship. For remaining high priest forever, as priest, he possesses an immutable priesthood because he abides into the age. Whence he is also able to save to the uttermost those who approach God through him, always living to intercede for them. But as King and Prince of Peace and Leader in Israel, he is not shown to have sat upon the throne of David his father according to the visible. Rather, he has reigned over the house of Jacob unto the ages according to the intelligible, having received no end to his kingdom. B Such things being thus, who would not marvel at those who at once wrote these things about him, and at the same time testified to things contrary to these things? For they neither present him as a successor to David’s kingdom, nor do they recount that he sat upon David’s throne; nor, indeed, did he grasp for power like that of Herod or Pontius Pilate—unless, that is, one attempts to weigh these things according to the most mystical account of anagoge, according to that word: "My kingdom is not of this world."
Let now the great Jacob among the patriarchs come forward, for he is timely in recounting the matters concerning Christ. In those things where he writes in advance what was to befall his sons, he introduces Judah, and in a way portrays in him, through certain mystical colors, the image of Christ, so that from this it might be apparent that Judah is taken as the body, according to that which is reached by the senses, while David is understood as a certain color according to the contemplation of the mind. For from this it will be possible for us to reach the target: discovering David from the tribe of Judah, and from David, drawing out Christ. And this being clearly shown, we shall also find the Virgin to have come from the lineage of David, who sprouted from Judah, if indeed the offspring born be of the same race and the same tribe. Come, therefore, best and most prolific of the patriarchs, who is the distribution of the lots in the blessings which you bequeathed to your children? What is the portion of each of these? And what and what kind of things were those which, as you were dying, you assigned to them? "Yes," says the D patriarch, "the Spirit distributed to each of these, appropriately to each, the fitting things, according as each had of nature and order, and not without the target of the Providence which conducts all things. Nothing of what I have said has been philosophized out of my own mind, but as had been foreordained by it, I foretold the things of each one prophetically." And at any rate, let it be permitted to him who wishes...
A to turn over with his hands the Mosaic books, and from the very constitution of the individual tribes to know the lots which, as God breathed upon me, I designated for each of the sons while blessing them.
Now, however, it is our purpose to speak of one tribe alone, having passed over the others, so that by an easy method it may be demonstrated that Christ, born according to the flesh of the Virgin, is of the tribe of Judah, and that any rash mouth may be stopped which refuses to confess that Christ has descended from the seed of David. B What then, does the Seer say? For thus the Scripture knows how to call those who are sharp-sighted in mind: "Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hands shall be upon the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down to you. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the shoot, my son, you have gone up; having lain down, you went to sleep as a lion and as a whelp; who will rouse him? A ruler shall not depart from Judah, and a leader from his thighs, until he comes for whom it is reserved, and he shall be the expectation of the nations. Binding his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt to the choice vine; he shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape. His eyes are more joyful than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk."
We must observe, therefore, in whom and at what time the things of the prophecy have been fulfilled. Do we not clearly perceive that in Christ himself, who is the Savior of us all, through the Law and the prophets [the prophecy] was brought to its conclusion at that time when, in the last days, he who is the most high God, having put on human flesh, lived among us who are earthly and dwell in these lowest lands? For, wishing to carry out in reality that counsel which had been foreordained for him before the ages from the secret good pleasure of the Begetter and the congenerate Spirit, he sprouted like a flower from Judah and was born according to the flesh of the Virgin of the Davidic line. C For then all his brothers praised him—that is to say, all who have shared in the communion of his divinity through intimacy with him. But the multitude of those who have believed in Christ is immense and exceeds all number—people whom that sublime John also seemed to hint at, where he said: "But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become children of God, who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God." Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them his brothers with the best of rights, since he has participated in blood and flesh just as they have, as Paul cries out, and David, striking the spiritual reeds. The one, singing, says: "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing praise to you"; while the other cries aloud: "Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like to his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful High Priest before God." D He says, "I will declare your name...
to my brothers; in the midst of the Church I will praise you." But he truly says with a loud voice that he should be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful High Priest before God. A Whose hands, however, were ever so strongly stretched out against the necks of his enemies, as those of Christ alone? Just as the great David, moved again by the divine Spirit, sang: "He struck his enemies in the hinder parts." For when he said "hinder parts," he meant "necks." This he also made plain elsewhere, where he says: "Your right hand will find all who hate you; for you shall turn their back to him." And again, personating the Father, concerning the gifts of the Son, as he is man, and his exaltation and elevation to the kingdom: "My hand," he says, "shall help him, and my arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not profit against him, and the son of iniquity shall not continue to do him harm. And I will cut off his enemies from his face, and I will put to flight those who hate him." B And again: "Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down, and his enemies shall lick the dust." That, too, which is similar: "You have given me the back of my enemies, and have destroyed those who hate me"—to whom should we refer this more properly than to Christ alone? who says to the Father dwelling in heaven: "I will pursue my enemies, and I will overtake them, and I will not turn back until they fail. I will crush them, and they shall not be able to stand; they shall fall under my feet," and what follows thereafter.
Whom did the sons of his father adore, if not Christ alone, who came forth from a woman into the world? For as to what pertained to Joseph, it had by then reached its end, since his dreams, as was fitting, were proven by the outcome. C But what concerned Christ was destined to be a prefiguration of the Church gathered from the Gentiles; in which all of us, as many as have become children of God through her, adore him forever, with whom through mystical regeneration we have joined an affinity. For we are called his brothers because of the communion of his divinity by grace, and his riches of mercy toward us. Receiving all things which are his, we are received into a most intimate association and kinship with him, and into the same house, provided that we have not despised any of his commandments, which make us righteous. Just as he himself, having become a participant in the things that are ours, showed that he has the same nature as we: since he underwent the entire human condition just as we do, and all the properties of our nature, D yet nevertheless he most certainly escaped the censure of sin, and the condemnation of the first parent's ruin. But as to the fact that all nations have adored and still adore Christ, who would have such a hardened brow as to deny it, when he sees every region under heaven, even to the farthest ends of the earth, offering worship and obedience to him, and glorying in the illustrious name of him whom they worship, [to be] Christians?
Are you able to openly infringe upon the prophetic voices crying out, then that: *All nations shall serve him, and all kings of the earth shall adore him* A, then that: *Let all the earth adore thee, and sing psalms unto thee*. *All the nations whatsoever thou hast made shall come and shall adore before thee, O Lord*, and what follows? And again: *Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people*. And: *Let all the sons of God adore him*. Do you see, therefore, how the sons of his Father have adored Christ, those namely who have been enriched with the gift of the adoption of sons?
But let us proceed to the remaining parts of the prophecy. *A lion’s whelp, Juda, from the germ, my son, thou art gone up; resting thou hast lain down as a lion, and as a lioness: who shall rouse him?* B O truly magnificent prediction! He said "a lion’s whelp." Whom, therefore, does he clearly indicate by the name of the lion, if not Christ, who is descended from the royal seed, namely that of David? Nor is it absurd if you understand the lion as David, since the lion is a type of royal dignity. Accept the lion’s whelp as Christ, sprung from him according to the flesh; just as the consequential words of the prophecy clearly declare. *For from the germ*, he says, *my son, thou art gone up*. But whom, most beloved, would you properly consider the germ to be, from what follows, if not that holy one alone, holier than all the saints, who appeared wholly to the Whole [God] who dwelt in her both in body and spirit, pure and clean? I speak of Mary—a name and a reality truly great and worthy of all veneration—the Davidic shoot, the rod of Jesse, the ever-green and ever-flourishing germ C of Juda, from whom the Son of God most high, who was before the world and enjoyed eternity equal with Him who begat him, germinated according to the flesh.
But anyone may rightly marvel at the singular diligence of this prediction. For when he had clearly demonstrated the kinship of the lineage by the appellation of the lion and the whelp, he added: *From the germ, my son, thou art gone up*, that he might say that same thing which Isaiah beautifully said, stating: *There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root*, which surely manifestly looks to Christ and the Virgin. For the root is properly David; the rod is without doubt Mary; the flower, however, is understood to be Christ. Just as he himself in a certain page of the Canticles, sprinkling his own appellation as if with certain ornaments in which a mystic meaning lies hidden, says: *I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys*. But that Christ is King, and the most powerful of all kings, not even Jacob himself, who uttered the prophecy, was ignorant. For *resting*, he says, *thou hast lain down as a lion, and as a lioness: who shall rouse him?* By which words he seemed to signify the regal, and at the same time the terrible and inaccessible power of the divine dominion, against which it is permitted to no one to test his own strength. Which, that Christ himself might confirm, he cried out in the Gospel: *I have power D to lay down my soul, and I have power to take it up again*. For in truth all things have been accomplished by the Savior according to his power, as many as pertain to his universal dominion.
A For the Savior in very deed performed all things according to his own will and command, whatsoever, that is to say, he did while he dwelt upon the earth and walked among men, manifesting excellent and illustrious deeds. Wherefore, he says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." For they could not have destroyed that temple, I mean the temple of his most perfect body—which he himself built for himself without hands from the womb of this immaculate and most pure Virgin, at all times—unless he himself had willed it and, as it were, commanded the Hebrews to do so. And referring to this same life-giving sleep of his, when he accepted the voluntary B sleep of death for our sake, he speaks through David as a man, saying: "I laid me down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord will support me." And as for the words, "Who shall raise him up?" they clearly designate the Father, who raised and built up the temple of the body together with the Son, according to what is said in the Psalms by the person of the Son addressing the Father: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption." And again: "O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from hell; thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pit." For it was necessary that the Son, while performing the resurrection of his own body, should also manifest the Father as a co-worker, as one possessing the same nature and will as he, so that by this same-powered concurrence of operation, the consubstantiality might be preserved in all respects. C But now we must proceed to what follows: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes for whom it is reserved, and he is the expectation of the nations." Oh, what a marvelous prophecy! Not one part of the things foretold by the prophets has the event failed to prove true. For it has been demonstrated above that the Virgin sprang truly from the loins of David. Christ is the sprout of this, a leader and a prince, and one who takes away the spirit of princes. He is the one who reigns over the house of Jacob unto the ages, and who has received no end to his kingdom. For the kingdom of the Jews had been cast down even before the coming of Christ; indeed, it was clearly circumscribed up to the times of Jeconiah and the bitter deportation to Babylon. Yet the lineage did not fail, D but was honored and preserved even until Christ, retaining the imprints of its royal nobility. It remains, therefore, to understand what is meant by, "Until he comes for whom it is reserved, and he is the expectation of the nations," namely, the Christ of God, God himself and Lord himself, whom this most holy Virgin, the Davidic lineage, brought forth for us in a manner surpassing nature through virgin birth-pangs. For from the time that the principality of the Jews departed into nothingness, no other king according to the flesh has sat upon the visible throne of David; rather, the kingdom was shut up in utmost decline, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah who says thus: "Jeconiah is dishonored as a vessel of which there is no need. Why is he cast out and ejected into a land which he did not know? Earth, earth, hear"
A the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord: Write this man barren, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for there shall not be a man of his seed sitting upon the throne of David, and having power any more in Judah." B Since these things were declared by the prophet, whom else, I ask, should we consider to be the expectation of the nations, save only Christ, whom the prophet and the God-receiving elder Simeon had received an oracle that he would not see death before he saw Him who had come to these lands having put on human flesh? And indeed, the response of the oracle reached its end when the things that had been promised to him were in reality brought to a close. For he saw the infant, and with his aged arms he took Him from the maternal hands—Him who existed before the ages and who was begotten before the Mother herself—and immediately he leaped up with an old man’s dance; for even old age leaps, gathering strength and vigor through joy. With joyful voices he praised the divine child, called Him Lord, confessed Him to be the Savior, proclaimed Him the light of the nations, and preached Him as the glory of Israel—declaring Him, of course, to be the One who came into the world for the expectation of the revelation of the nations. For the Father made His Son manifest to the nations, as one may learn from another prophet who says most clearly: "Behold, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the nations." C And again: "Behold, nations that you did not know shall call upon you; and peoples who did not know you shall take refuge in you." And through another, again, he says: "I have set you as a light for the nations." And through another: "I will give you the nations as your inheritance; and all the nations shall call Him blessed; and in Him shall all the nations be blessed."
"Binding," he says, "to the vine his foal, and to the vine the foal of his ass." What is the vine? It is surely He appearing in the Gospels, crying out: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman." We would be His foal—we who have been united with Him and bound, as it were, with an indissoluble bond through the assumption of our nature; by which act He who is wealthiest, begging for our own, bestowed His own upon us who are most impoverished. By this very reason we have become gods through Him, while He, on our account, has been called man. Moreover, we may interpret His ass, in a more profound sense, as the all-venerable Church; by which manner of speech the calling of the nations, of which we are participants, is D
the covering of our irrationality, and having usefully wrapped our nakedness, He clothed us in the rational stole of His own Theosophy, which from above completely covered us; and, having ineffably bound us to Himself as if onto the tendril of the vine of salvation, He joined earthly things to the heavens. For this reason, even children reared in innocence—as they saw Him making His journey to Jerusalem, and voluntarily committing Himself to that life-giving and blessed passion, and to the salvation of the whole world, riding as upon a royal throne on a foal—spoke with one voice: "Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes, the King of Israel." This is what Zechariah had also previously proclaimed: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." And what, indeed, could one find clearer in proof of the truth than these things which were said? Furthermore, the text continues:
"He shall wash his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk." With what wine, therefore, will He who cleanses the world of sin—the true and most ripe bunch of the Church—wash His garment, if not, clearly, by washing us clean with the blood of His all-immaculate flesh, and cleansing as it were a soiled garment? For He truly put on our garment, on behalf of whom He also became man, having adaptively clothed Himself in our whole nature. With the blood of what grape will the Immaculate One wash His robe? Is it not with the life-giving and all-immaculate stream of His God-flowing side? For He was the most mystical bunch of the true Vine, pressed in the winepress of the pure Church, because He was fixed to the wood of the cross, that He might wash away our filth. For He truly donned a divinely-woven garment, the flesh from us and according to us, which, having been dyed with immaculate and virginal blood, He royally reddened in the Spirit, and, having slipped into it like a royal purple, He put on our lump; and this, like a tunic, was dyed red with blood, when the stream of blood from His life-giving side then dripped upon it. And Isaiah is a witness, introducing the powers around Him at the very passion, inquiring and saying such things: "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with red garments from Bosor?" And again: "Why are thy garments red, as from one treading in the winepress?" This, I think, He Himself reveals in the Song: "I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?"
A And whose eyes are more joyous than wine, except only Christ’s? Concerning Whom, again, the soul which has been wedded to God says in the Song: "Bring me into the wine-cellar," as if she were saying: "Bring me into the house of the Church, in which the cup of gladness is set forth, mingled for salvation in the blood of the Lamb." And when she has entered, "Show me," she says, "your face; and let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is comely." And as soon as she saw Him: "Behold," she says, "my beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands. His head is most fine gold, his locks are as branches of palm trees, black as a raven." Concerning Him, also, the great David sings: "The Lord has been awakened as one sleeping, like a mighty man recovering from wine." After His return from the dead to life, He met the women who had come with spices to anoint Him, saying, "Hail," receiving them with a pleasant address and dissolving the cloud of sadness that overshadowed their faces; and similarly, He announced the joyful word to the chosen disciples: "Take heart," He says, "I have overcome the world." And again: "Peace be to you, it is I, do not fear."
B And whose teeth are whiter than milk? Verily, His who says: "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth." For in truth, the words of Christ are whiter than milk and more brilliant than any snow. Unless, perhaps, someone might wish to understand the teeth of Christ as the utterances scattered throughout the divine Scriptures—in the Law, to be sure, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms—concerning Him, by which the Church of God, free from all error, grinds the word of sound doctrine as if it were solid food, breaking down the understanding of the more mystical contemplations and bringing them to digestion through the ruminating that proceeds by parts. For how can the word of piety, which is digested by diligent meditation, suffice kindly for the nourishment of the soul, if that word does not so preserve its food that it is not easily evaporated and dissipated; or if the word itself so enters the soul that it leaves behind nothing of certain utility, but immediately slips away and vanishes? C Indeed, the book of the Song of Songs, as if in the person of the Church (which the nations compose) and furthermore of the soul joined to God, singing a sort of epithalamium, says to the Bridegroom: "What are your cheeks like? Your teeth are like flocks of shorn sheep, which have come up from the washing, all of them bearing twins." And again: "My beloved is mine, and I am his. His cheeks are as beds of spices," wherein, as I think, He hints at the teeth through the cheeks.
And the explanation of the prophecy, which we have concluded in few words, is of this kind and stands thus. Do you therefore, dearly beloved, who have heard that the Lord was to descend from Judah and David—whom that great patriarch, under the whole mantle D of his blessing, as if in a writing tablet, depicted as the Son of David who had sprouted from Judah, predicting Him in accordance with all the remaining prophets—so that you may have no doubts, but with an unwavering mind, call Christ...
to be of the lineage of David, and acknowledge that He proceeded from it. For from this it will be possible to deduce by a most evident argument that she, who by an ineffable pregnancy became His mother according to the flesh, also flowed from the lineage of David. For who could ever deny that this is most certainly proven, when a tree is best known by its B fruit?
On the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. II.
But let us now return to the feast of her birthday, and for a little while, let us praise Anne as though playing a nuptial song; for she carried in her womb a daughter given by God, a pledge of the promise, and she bore her—obtained after sterility through prayer—who was able to give birth to God, who became manifest to men above the grasp of the human mind, and who conversed with them. For it is surely just that she who brought forth such a shoot should be extolled with the highest praises and received with divine acclamations. C The bedchamber of Anne seems therefore to be a bridal chamber inscribed with the names of two distinguished women, that is to say, of the one who gave birth and the one who was born, of whom the one has just now received release from childlessness, while the other will a little later, in a manner surpassing nature, undergo the birth of Jesus, who was made like us by divine design.
Rightly, then, does the divinely-inspired Anne, radiant and exultant in the state of her soul, cry out piercingly, saying: "Rejoice with me, for I have brought forth a shoot of promise from a barren womb, and I have nourished with my breasts D a fruit of blessing according to my prayers. I have cast off the garment of sterility, and I have put on the radiant mantle of fruitfulness. Let that famous Anne, the rival of Peninnah, rejoice with me today, and let her applaud the miraculous wonder that has happened to me, following the example that bears upon her. Let Sarah also lead the dances, leaping up in her old age and endorsing my conception, now that sterility has been removed. Let all likewise who are barren and have not given birth be present, and with me let them exalt the gift of divine beneficence, by which the Lord has deigned to visit me in a wondrous way. Let every mother who has borne children also say: 'Blessed is He who gave what was requested to those who asked, and who opened the door of the barren womb, and who granted as a fruit from seedless offspring His own most excellent mother according to the flesh, whose womb indeed became a heaven, since He who can be contained in no place made His dwelling within it.'"
In harmony with these things, let us also offer our praise to her who was once called barren, but who has now become the mother of the bridal chamber of the Virgin. Let us say to her, together with the sacred pages, let us say: "How happy is the house of David from which you have come forth! And how happy is your womb, in which God fashioned the ark of sanctification!"—namely, of her who would conceive Him without seed. You are truly blessed, and thrice-blessed, who have carried the God-blessed infant, Mary—that most precious name—from whom Christ, the flower of life, emerged: whose progress was glorious and whose childbirth most preeminent. We, too, offer you our congratulations, O most blessed one; for you have given birth to the God-given fruit of the promise, the hope of us all. You are blessed indeed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Through you, women who have suffered loss are called blessed, and those who were barren become fertile. A The tongue of the faithful magnifies your offspring, and every joyful word praises your childbearing. For you are truly and surpassingly worthy to be celebrated, you who were deemed worthy of the oracle from divine foresight and who produced for us such a great fruit, from whom the sweet Jesus has come forth, who is all sweetness, all desire, and the ultimate object of desire for all. Let us say that we shall live under his shade, and we shall find rest under his wings. He is truly the one proclaimed by the law and the prophets, Christ Jesus, who is God, Grace, and Truth; who came to save sinners and to call all back to their ancient nobility. To Him be glory, honor, and adoration offered by all of us, together with the Father who is without beginning, and His life-giving Spirit, now and unto the ages of ages. Amen. B
ORATION III. On the Nativity of our Immaculate Lady, the Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary. It is also shown, both from the history of the Old Testament and from various testimonies, that she descends from the seed of David.
Again a feast, and again a celebration, and again I am an accommodating host, celebrating the feast of my own salvation and inviting everyone to the spiritual banquet, over which the Mother of God presides, feeding her guests with a torrent of pleasure. In this, you, the bees of Christ, flying around in a divine manner, just as if from some hive distiling sweetness, come here having collected at home, as it were, honeycombs of honey. And who, indeed, would endure to be absent from such delights, especially those who have already tasted their good things? For when there are some who do not withdraw from a table generously filled with exquisite foods until they have gorged themselves even beyond satiety, how does it not seem utterly ridiculous to depart from the royal table before tasting these mysteries? For this banquet is royal, C and of the Queen who descends from royal seed. Come then, beloved, again receive our discourse, which leads you back to the same goal that, in the preceding address, I fully established for you, having clearly demonstrated that Christ took His origin from the Davidic root. And this having been shown, it will be established by a certain argument that she also, from whom He was born into the light according to the flesh, flowed from the same root. And it seems to me entirely superfluous to bring forward a second solution, when the one we have mentioned is more open and effective—for the truth, D which has already been somewhat more busily and broadly expounded by us—
A in confirmation. But that we may banish to the winds of falsehood the stubborn contention of the Jews who rail against the truth, come, let us prove that this Virgin herself also drew her origin from the very root of David, using the evangelists themselves as witnesses, and the very peculiar manner of speech of Holy Scripture. I think it worth the effort, having considered and, as it were, handled the generations of David according to the genealogy of Luke and Matthew, the one of which proceeds in reverse order and the other in direct order, to connect them through the mind and sense, and then to explain in a certain sequence that confusion by which the kinship of Joseph's parents was mingled, and to declare openly the manner in which the Virgin herself also flowed from David; so that nothing of those things which pertain to her may lack its proof. For I persuade myself that this praise, finally, is more excellent and more illustrious than any kind of eulogy, namely, to take up arms against impious tongues and to stop every mouth that raves against her. I will therefore begin from this point. B And let each of those who are present here, and who have cultivated literary studies, grant me pardon, seeing that I am unskilled in profane exercises, and am on that account vexed and tormented, as one who does not find a compendious path and one suited to the proposed argument. Nevertheless, relying on the help and assistance of the Holy Spirit, who teaches every man knowledge, I set about the subject at hand. Therefore, it was formerly ordained by law that no one of any tribe could take a wife from elsewhere than from his own tribe. But that this is true, hear the very words of the law, which are to this effect: And Moses commanded the sons of Israel by the commandment of the Lord, saying: You shall not pass from tribe to tribe: for every one C shall cleave to the inheritance of his paternal tribe: and every daughter having an inheritance near from among the tribes of the sons of Israel, shall be wife to one of the house of her father's tribe, and everyone of the sons of Israel shall receive his paternal inheritance by right of blood, as the Lord commanded Moses. And this was indeed observed for some time. For as long as the affairs of the Jews flourished, and the Mosaic precepts were in force, there was no rite among them that did not obtain its power according to the law. But after they began to tend toward destruction, and to fall away entirely into the contrary, and began gradually to dwindle, the ancestral happiness was no longer a concern to them, as they were instituting a life after the manner, in a way, of the Gentiles, nor did they count a matter of this D kind of much importance, although the law was decreeing it, the prophets were crying out, and the Lord Himself was testifying and admonishing through the whole of Scripture, that they should not be poured out in their souls, and should not corrupt the legitimate statutes. Since, therefore, the Jews paid no common penalty for their insults against God, and for the things in which they were often driven as if by a gadfly, and having departed from their ancestral piety...
they had rushed into extreme superstition, being tormented in various ways by God (20) (for the city was surrounded by siege, and the holy things were plundered in a profane manner, and the holy places were trodden by the feet of the impure and the wicked, and the nation itself was oppressed by the ravages of enemies, and their ancestral land was overturned, and they themselves, driven as exiles into a foreign land, presented a pitiable spectacle to those who saw them, and a wretched report to those who heard them, and being surrounded on every side they were involved in most grave and incurable calamities), nor was any diligence any longer able to be applied by which the lineages could be distinguished, inasmuch as the entire nation was oppressed by the mass of adverse circumstances and troubles encroaching daily; and then, in truth, the individual tribes lost the excellence and unique glory of their nobility. And yet this celebrated dignity of the lineage was not entirely wiped out. For the authority of this tribe remained, like a certain remnant, still thriving by succession in wealth and power up to this most illustrious Virgin, this one, I say, the only one among women betrothed to God as mother and virgin, whom now, as I set out to prove she is sprung from the Davidic tribe, I aim the shaft (21) of my discourse toward the scope of Scripture, if only God grants this to me, that I may be able to hold forth in a manner worthy of the subject. For, O blessed Matthew, I would have you explain to me what reason there may be why you, in those whose lineage you recount, differ from the holy Luke. "In no way," says Matthew, endowed with a mind B excellent for the recording of divine things, formerly a publican, now an interpreter of secret mysteries, "in no way, I say, is there any disagreement between us. For he, as if turning his discourse backwards, passed over the natural fathers and mentioned only the legal ones; but I have openly made mention of the natural fathers: not rashly, indeed, nor otherwise than as was worthy of the Spirit. For both of us, as if breathed upon by one and the same Spirit, commend and extol each other's writings without any change. But it is fitting, O beloved, to consider accurately the series of the lineage set forth by both, and from thence to catch at the solution of the question." Since, therefore, according to the voice of the evangelist, the certainty of the generation is demonstrated from both kinds, that is, from the natural and the legal, Matthew accordingly, beginning his work, says, *The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham* e. And indeed, for the perception of that which we seek, the beginning itself by itself was sufficient. But here not C D
e Matt. 1, 1.
A nor does it stop here. For his discourse has extended even to the betrothed of the Virgin. And Luke, after the declaration of the Savior’s baptism, diverting his account a little, writes as follows: "In which," he says, "Jesus himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, of Heli, of Mathan, of Levi, of Melchi," and so on, by reference, up to Seth, to Adam, to God. Now, a diligent mind is not ignorant of these things which have been examined, that it is customary for Scripture to call those fathers in the eye of the law who died without children, but were provided with offspring through the seed of a brother after their passing; and to call those fathers by nature who, for the most part, begat children for themselves for the succession of their lineage through their own seed, and sometimes, if they have brothers who have died childless, brought about the blessing for the brother through a surrogate seed. Indeed, of the evangelists, the one mentioned only the fathers by nature and passed over those by law; the other, conversely, passed over the natural ones and specifically mentioned those by law; and neither has failed in probability. I think it is also good to mention an ancient testimony regarding this, which we have received from a man of great learning, which says word for word: "Since B those who are recorded in the genealogies of the evangelists, some succeeded as sons to real fathers, while others, though born of others, were called the sons of others, yet the memory of both has been preserved—both of those who begat and of those who were as if they had begotten—thus neither of the Gospels is false, as it counts both nature and law; for the lineages were intertwined with one another at that time from Solomon and that from Nathan, through the raising up of children and second marriages." But so that what is said may be clear, I will narrate the intertwining of the lineages. Counting the generations from David through Solomon, the third from the end is found to be Mathan, who begat Jacob, the father of Joseph. And from Nathan the son of David, according to Luke, in the same way, the third from the end is Melchi. Therefore, our purpose being Joseph, it must be demonstrated how each is recorded as his father: both Jacob from Solomon, and Heli from Nathan, tracing C each lineage. And so indeed, both Mathan and Melchi, taking the same wife in turn, begat brothers of the same mother, the law not preventing a woman who is widowed or even divorced from being married to another. It has been handed down, therefore, that Mathan, the first who traced his lineage from Solomon, begat Jacob; and upon his death D
A, Melchi, who traced his lineage back to Nathan, took to wife the widow, being of the same tribe but, as I said, of a different family, and from her he begat a son, Heli. In this way, we shall find that Jacob and Heli were uterine brothers from two different families. One of them, that is Jacob, having taken the wife of his brother Heli when he died childless, begat from her a third, Joseph, by nature his own and, according to the literal account—whence it is also written, “Jacob begat Joseph”—but by legal standing, he was the son of Heli; for Jacob, being his brother, raised up seed to him. For this reason, the genealogy concerning him will not be obscured in the least: which Matthew the evangelist indeed recounts, saying, “Jacob begat Joseph,” but Luke in reverse order: “Who was, as was supposed” (for he also adds this), “the son of Joseph, of Heli, of Melchi.” For there was no way to commemorate a legal birth more significantly and clearly. And he omitted the word “begat” until the end of this lineage, making the attribution upwards as far as Adam, who was of God, by analytical reduction. — And after a few words: Therefore, Heli and Jacob were uterine brothers. For when Heli died childless, Jacob raised up seed to him, having begat Joseph, by nature his own son, but by law, Heli’s. Thus, in both respects, he was the son of Joseph. So much for this writer. B And indeed, with Joseph’s lineage being recounted in this way, by extension the Virgin herself and Mother of God, Mary, is shown to be of the same tribe as him, since by the law of Moses it was not permitted for one tribe to be intermixed with another. For it ordained that every tribe be united in marriage to one who was of the same tribe, lest perhaps the inheritance of the family lapse from one tribe to another. But if anyone should demand that the lineage of the most holy Virgin herself also be recounted properly and specifically, C such a person does not seem to me to act rightly, since the law neither permits nor commands this anywhere. For in what place among the ancients is it shown that the lineage of a woman was ever recounted, since in the recording of families the more excellent part is preferred? For it is more excellent for the nobility of a family to be known from the father than from the mother. But this will not hinder us at all. For it is not for us to tamper with ancient rules or to introduce new customs. Neither is it right to move the ancient boundaries which our fathers have set. D As for the things set forth a little earlier, let us not depart from them in the least. For if Moses speaks the truth in ordaining these things which have also been written (and he will certainly speak the truth, as one who, face-to-face with God who is Truth, spoke without witnesses), then she will be shown to be of the same tribe, and this God-called Mother of God, in accordance with the ineffable dispensation,
A is the Mother of God, whose husband, he who through the dispensation betrothed her—an act surpassing all speech—that is Joseph, is acknowledged to be of the Davidic tribe. If we concede that he descended from the seed of David, then it is necessarily incumbent upon us to confess that she, who was betrothed to him, is also of the same tribe. For to Joseph, the son of David, the angel who appeared to him in a vision—as he was distressed by the sorrow of soul caused by the miracle of the ineffable conception—said: "Do not fear to take Mary as your wife." Thus, Moses is not proven false, nor did David stray from the truth; for the former forbade the tribes from being mixed with one another, and the latter, by an oath, prophesied that Christ would be raised up from his loins. B Therefore, our discourse, running smoothly toward this end, has clearly established for us that Christ was born of Judah and David. I shall also attempt, by another means, to present to you the account concerning this matter, derived from ancient writings, for those of you who have drunk the unadulterated milk of the Church. Concerning others, I have no concern, since the prophet attacks their blindness and stupidity in this way: "They will grope," he says, "like the blind for a wall, and as if they had no eyes, they will grope." But for us, the divine Apostle will suffice, saying: "We speak wisdom among the perfect, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are being destroyed, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, which has been hidden, C which indeed the animal man cannot know. For it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand it, because it is examined spiritually."
Among the things done by Christ, there are some that escaped the notice of the many, as much as was usefully kept in silence by those of that time—for example, the things done by Him before His baptism, and the manner of life He pursued within the full thirty years, which no Scripture records. Thus, one of those things which were most especially kept silent was the miracle of His birth, which was unknown to almost everyone at the time when He assumed human nature—unknown to all but a few, as the holy man, Ignatius by name, says somewhere: "And the virginity of Mary and her offspring, likewise also the death of Christ, escaped the notice of the prince of this age. Three mysteries of clamor, which were accomplished in the silence of God." It was fitting, therefore, that at that time, the birth of Christ from the Holy Spirit was kept silent among the many. But Joseph was taken to be the father, D and from this, as was natural, He was genealogized as the son of Joseph.
A For if this had not happened, the boy would have been thought fatherless, not being genealogized from a father. Therefore, the marvelous evangelists necessarily genealogized Joseph at that time, as he was the one acknowledged by all to be the father of the Son. For if they had passed him over and genealogized Him through the mother, besides the fact that this would have been unseemly, it would also have been alien to the custom of the divine Scriptures, since no one is recorded as having been genealogized from a woman before. B Usefully, then, did the evangelists, by genealogizing Joseph from David for the reason already provided, at the same time show that the Virgin Mary also came from David, by bringing in the lineage of the spouse as that of the wife, according to the legislation of Moses which we brought up a little before, saying to the sons of Israel: "You shall not transfer from tribe to tribe," for "each of the sons of Israel shall be attached to the inheritance of his paternal tribe," and so forth. C And since these things are so, it is manifest that Joseph was a just man and lived according to the Law. Living lawfully, he did not seek a wife from anywhere other than the tribe from which he himself sprang. And that was the tribe of Judah, the same people and ancestry that was David’s. For such were the commands of the Law. If, then, Joseph was of Judah, of the same lot and ancestry as David, is it not also reasonable that Mary should have sprung from the same, being of that very same tribe of Judah, and of the lineage of David, from which Joseph also sprang, since the Law that was read out clearly forbade mixing with other tribes and expressly commanded that marriages be contracted from the lot and people of one’s own tribe? For "you shall not transfer," He says to the sons of Israel, "from tribe to tribe, for each of the sons of Israel shall be attached to the inheritance of his paternal tribe." D According to this, then, this famous Virgin was also of the seed of David, from which also the bridegroom was genealogized. For if the man is the head of the woman according to the great Apostle, and "the two shall be one flesh" according to the Law of Moses, and a woman betrothed to a man who commits adultery incurs the penalty prescribed by the Law, as she has already become the body of the bridegroom and has inscribed the man as her head, how does it not follow that when the head’s lineage is recorded, the body should be recorded along with the head? Therefore, it was necessary here too that the Virgin, as one joined to Joseph, should reasonably be included in the commemoration of the lineage, since it has been demonstrated that she was of his same tribe, and indeed of the lineage and ancestry of David. For even in the annunciation to her, Gabriel, while prophesying, said among other things: "And the Lord God will give unto him the throne of his father David." What was he teaching from this? That David was the forefather of Him who was to be born of her. And how, indeed, was it otherwise likely for the angel to say these things to the Virgin, or to confirm...
her as being from David? For had the angel not been speaking to the daughter of David, A why would the Virgin have asked, "Of what father?", while admitting that she did not know a man and had learned that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit? Hence, Luke says with good reason: "And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to be registered with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being with child" [Luke II, 4, 5], out of the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David. For we shall no longer read the passage presently at hand in a dubious sense, as if Mary had gone up only to be registered, but as one who, together with Joseph, was of the house and family of David. B Having the rationale of this interpretation from what follows in the text, I deem it clearly demonstrated that it is not in vain that the genealogy of Joseph is recounted by the evangelists; from this, it is understood by necessary consequence that the Virgin too was a descendant of David, and that Christ Jesus, the pre-eternal Son of God, who was born of her by a pre-eminent miracle, follows from this. And whoever attempts to argue against these things is attempting rather to sharpen the blade of the tongue against himself, and let him be cast outside the holy gates of our court. But for us, to whom the Word of God has been sent, and grace and truth, let it not be permitted to investigate anything beyond what has been said, the divine Scripture blocking for us the investigation of deeper things. For "what is commanded to you," it says, "that meditate upon, and do not seek things that are too high for you" [Eccli. III, 22]. C You, therefore, O Jew, understand the force of what has been said, and do not struggle against the truth. Put aside your doubtful mind, and without any discord, be initialized in the grace through which you shall be loosened from the bonds of the yoke of the law. Cast off the veil; receive the pure light of what is written; pass over the shadows, and abandon the types. Receive grace nakedly. Approach the truth without hesitation. Praise and hymn Him who has thus decreed these things. Say after the manner of Moses: "This is my God, and I will glorify Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him" [Exod. XV, 2]. To you, then, and to everyone who wishes it, let it be permitted to think these things and to teach them likewise. But for us, in whom the light of truth has been firmly sealed, there is no leisure to investigate more, and to spin out the discourse indefinitely, the truth having been demonstrated so very clearly and as easily as possible. For it is not fitting that those who wish to preach and celebrate the feasts should drive their orations into questionings. For that is by no means consistent. D Truly, let the discourse return to its course, and let it set forth the mysteries of the day, standing most of all within the gates.
A Rejoice and leap for joy; for that which is awaited is present. Before the gates is the recall, at the doors is the redemption, in our hands is salvation. How, and in what manner? Let us listen to David as he says: *God shall come manifestly.* From where shall He come, and how? From heaven, and as one of us. From heaven, indeed, in an incorporeal manner; but as one of us—that is, in habit, nature, and form similar to us. But how could this come to be, unless God were made flesh? For it was not possible for God to be seen in pure and naked divinity, unless, being woven together in union with our lump [of clay], He became as we are, apart from sin. Or is it not clear that for the sake of the entire creation, the Lord of creation is united with the creation, B in order to save the creation? Where, and at what time? In the virginal region, and at the end of the ages, when David foretold that He would come. And this is what we celebrate today with joyful hearts: namely, the Nativity of the Virgin, the precursor of the feasts, and the prelude to the mystery of Christ. For it was necessary that the palace be prepared first, and thus the King arrive; it was necessary that the royal swaddling clothes be woven first, and thus the royal infant be brought to light; and finally, it was necessary that the clay be mixed, and thus the Potter be present. Deservedly, therefore, the divine man Joachim and his wife Anna, called by divine Providence, received the fruit of prayer—this queen of nature, I say, the first-fruits of our lump, whose birthday we celebrate, and whose swaddling clothes we honor, and whom we revere as the rising and the restoration in full of our fallen race that C proceeded from this event. For now that which is kindred to us takes the beginning of deification. Now the bonds of the former barrenness are loosed, and she who was childless becomes a mother, and she who was without offspring is found to be a mother of a beautiful child, and Anna rejoices, nursing a virgin infant. Now the channels of barrenness are blocked, and the veins of child-bearing surge, and the birth of the childless woman anticipates the miracle of the Virgin. For if it is a great thing for a barren woman to give birth, how is it not much greater for a virgin to give birth? Yet, the one, having been shown to be a mother, no longer remained barren; but the other, having given birth without a man, remained a virgin again, in that she was neither corrupted in her womb, nor did she undergo those things that befall mothers; but the latter event came after, the former before. For the first was a pattern of the second. For it was fitting for Him through whom are all things, and in whom are all things—as Lord of nature—to perform the miracle afresh in His ancestress, and to show that she who was barren was a mother; and thus to innovate the laws of nature in the mother, and to show a virgin to be a mother, and to seal the signs of virginity. Such is the birth of the Virgin; this is the head of the feast, the reminder of the covenants of God D toward men, the proclamation of those things prophesied.
the manifestation of the hidden mystery and its end, the visitation of the whole human race, in which we, who once sat in darkness and the shadow of death, have been visited; and, through her, illuminated by the light that has risen for us from on high, that is, of Christ Jesus, our common Lord and God the Savior. To Him be the glory and the honor, and the power, with the Father who is without beginning and with His life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION IV. On the Holy Nativity of our all-holy Lady, the Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary.
A If the earth can be measured by a span, and the sea bounded by a cord; if the heaven can be compared by cubits, and the multitude of the stars numbered; if the drops of rain, and the clods of the earth, and the weight of the winds, and the quantity of the sand can be apprehended, perhaps then the subject now in our hands might also be comprehended. But the celebration of the Mother of God, and the birth of a child worthy of all veneration—a child who is ever-virgin, a child who is a stranger to wedlock, a queen, a prophetess—whose regal swaddling clothes the great David, B among prophets and kings, portraying with a regal gaze, cried out: "All the glory of the king's daughter is from within, clothed in gold-fringed garments, variegated." From afar, I think, and from her very swaddling clothes, he saw that bloom of beauty C bestowed upon her by God.
A signifying it through the various gifts of the Divine Spirit; for this is what the gold-woven apparel and the golden fringes represent, in my opinion, and I believe the royal swaddling clothes are likewise understood by those of sound mind to be free from worldly attachments. Seeing beforehand the inner beauty of these, and the loveliness shining forth from her from the external beauty of the Virgin, he speaks out with a bold voice: "Hearken," he says, "O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house, and the King shall desire your beauty." Although these words clearly refer to the Church of the Gentiles, it is not difficult to understand them as referring also to her who, by the miracle of the economy, was made a temple for the whole Spouse of the Church B in her own manifestation of the Incarnation. Come then, therefore, let us gather with David and applaud these praises for the Daughter of David, as for the Mother of God. Let us honor the splendor of the feast; let us offer to the Virgin the solemn accolades of virginity. Let us bring as gifts to the Queen of our race, like precious ointments, the prophetic oracles. Let us greet her with the salutation of Gabriel. Let us say to the parent of joy: "Rejoice, O gracious one; rejoice, magnificent in illustrious splendor, by whom darkness was driven away and life-giving light was brought in. Rejoice, O gracious one, by whom the law ceased and grace shone forth. Rejoice, the beginning of joy and the end of the curse. Rejoice, truly gracious; the Lord is with you; who is after you in time, yet before you in being; the former by power, the latter by act; the first, indeed, C preparing your womb as his guest-chamber, and the latter, building from you in the flesh the great mystery of the economy." Rejoice, you who alone embraced D the Blessing, even the Lord, that our first mother might cast off the ancient curse. Rejoice, the God-receiving treasury of virginity, from whom an incorrupt birth has come forth, and the wealth of virginity has remained inviolate. Rejoice, O chaste mother and nursing Virgin. Rejoice, diadem of beauty and Queen of our race and of mankind, magnificently adorned on every side with royal prerogatives. Rejoice, sacred temple of Christ, who alone and uniquely in the holy places of the heavens, according to the order of Melchizedek...
has performed priestly service. Rejoice, rod of Aaron, root of Jesse, scepter of David, royal garment, garland of graces, unwritten type of virginity A, plate of holiness, breastplate of revelations. Rejoice, mediatrix of the Law and of grace, seal of the Old and New Testaments, most manifest fulfillment of all prophecy, acrostic of the God-inspired truth of the Scriptures [(33)], and living and purest volume of God and the Word, in which, silently and unwritten, the Scribe himself, God and the Word, is read day by day. Rejoice, first-fruit of our restoration, and limit of God's promises and predictions to us, B the previously proclaimed sanctuary of divine glory, the long-awaited salvation of the nations [(34)]. Rejoice, true ladder of Jacob, smoking mountain, ark of sanctification; that is, the one covered on every side with gold, illuminated by the Holy Spirit; the golden urn, bearing Christ, the heavenly manna, and the immortal food of the whole universe. Rejoice, through whom that, “In sorrows you shall bring forth children” [v], has no longer any place, having been changed into birth in exultation. “Blessed are you among women,” through whom the believing nations cry out in recognition: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; God is the Lord, and he has shone upon us” [x]. “Blessed are you among women,” the mystical and God-planted vine, blossoming in the gathered assemblies of the Church [(56)], and sending forth to us C the ripe grape of incorruptibility from your womb. “Blessed are you among women,” the field tilled by God, which bore in your womb, as if in a threshing floor, the ear of our life, sown without seed and without moisture. “Blessed are you among women,” the truly desirable land, from which the Potter, taking the clay of our earthen nature, fashioned the vessel— D
A that had been broken by sin and restored it. “Blessed are you among women,” the new Shiloh, in which rested the intellectual Ark of the Incarnation of God and the Word; and furthermore, in which the whole “fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily.” “Blessed are you among women,” the truly divine Debir, in which the mystical guides of the holy Church, holding the oracle, received the responses of divine revelations concerning things to come. “Blessed are you among women,” the intelligible Bethlehem, which is both by position and by nature the most intellectual house of Him who is the Bread of Life, and having become and being called such. For having dwelt as He knows within you, and having been commingled without confusion with our heap of humanity, He fermented the whole of Adam for Himself, that He might become the enlivened and heavenly Bread. B “Blessed are you among women,” you who excel the legal and shadowy tabernacle, from which the great Bezalel, Christ, I mean, God himself—He, the Grace—built for Himself a temple with no handiwork: His own animated body, by the architectural art of the Spirit. But indeed, whatever we may say, my beloved, we shall not fulfill the nuptial hymn with the honor it deserves, unless, gathering the flowers mystically for her from the meadows of Scripture, we weave the crown of praises.
For there is nowhere, I say, nowhere one might not see, while traversing the divinely inspired Scripture, its names scattered about in various ways; and if you yourself were to discuss it with diligent study of the words, you would find more clearly expressed how great is the glory she has embraced, granted by God. See, therefore, how she is honored with multiform names, and clearly declared in many places of Scripture: C as when, for example, it names her virgin, maiden, prophetess; then nuptial chamber, house of God, holy temple, second tabernacle, holy table, altar, propitiatory, golden censer, Holy of Holies, Cherubim of glory, golden urn, tablets of the Testament, priestly rod, royal scepter, diadem of beauty, horn of the anointing oil, alabaster jar, candelabrum, vapor, little lamp, wick, chariot, bush, rock, earth, D paradise, region, field, spring, lamb, pasture,
ON THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED MARY. IV.
A garden, place, field, fountain; ewe, drop, and whatever else the illustrious interpreters of the Holy Spirit, according to the mystical contemplation in symbols, prophetically call her: for instance, a bush, as when Moses says: "I will go over and see this great vision, why the bush is burning, and is not consumed." And a rod, as when Isaiah says: "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise out of the root." She is called root: "And there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise up to rule the nations, in him the nations shall hope." Holy ground: "Moses, Moses, loose thy shoe from off thy feet; for the ground whereon thou standest is holy ground." Desirable land: "And they despised the desirable land." Land producing [truth]: "Truth is sprung out of the earth." The South: "God will come from the South." A mountain: "And the holy one from the shady, thick mountain." A stone was cut out of the mountain without hands. The mountain in which God is pleased to dwell. Olive: "But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God." Ark: "Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place: thou and the ark which thou hast sanctified." Throne: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated, and the whole house was full of his glory." Gate: "And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it, because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in and gone out by it: and it shall be shut." Sion: "There shall come out of Sion he that delivereth, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." The Lord hath chosen Sion; he hath chosen it for his habitation. She is called Mother: "Mother Sion shall say: A man, and a man is born in her, and the B Most High himself hath founded her." And: "Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" Litter: "King Solomon hath made himself a litter of the wood of Libanus." Bed: "Behold the bed of Solomon; threescore valiant ones of the most valiant of Israel surround it." Roll: "And I saw, and behold a hand extended to me, and in it a roll of a book, and he spread it before me, and there were written in it the things before and behind; and he said to me: Son of man, eat this roll." Book: "And all these words shall be to you, saith God, as the words of a book that is sealed, which when they shall give to one that knoweth letters, saying: Read this; and he shall answer: I cannot; for it is sealed." Volume: "And the Lord said to me: Take thee a great new volume, and write in it with a man's pen, to make quickly a plundering of spoils: for it is near." Tongs: "And there was sent to me one from the Seraphim, and in his hand he had a coal, which he took with tongs from the altar, and touched my mouth, and said: Behold this hath touched thy lips, D
and thy iniquity shall be purged. A
Virgin: "Behold a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel."
Prophetess: "And I went in unto the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son, and the Lord said unto me: Call his name, Make speed to take away the spoils; make haste to take away the prey: for before the child shall know to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria."
Queen: "The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety."
Neighbor: "Thou art all fair, O my neighbor; there is no spot in thee. Arise, come, my neighbor and spouse: come from Libanus: thou shalt come and pass on from the beginning of faith. Thy lips drop honey, O spouse, honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is as the smell of Libanus." B
Sister: "How beautiful are thine eyes, my sister, my spouse."
Garden: "A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed."
Daughter: "Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house; and the king shall desire thy beauty.—Many daughters have gotten wealth; many have done virtuously: but thou hast surpassed, and excelled them all."
Espoused: "The angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house and family of David: and the name of the virgin was Mary."
Cloud: "Behold the Lord will sit upon a light cloud, and will come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved." C
Vision: "I saw a vision of fire, and the brightness thereof round about, as the sight of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain; so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord."
Electrum: "And I saw as the appearance of electrum, as the aspect of fire within it, round about, from the appearance of his loins, and even down."
Day, night: "Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night showeth knowledge."
Heaven: "The Lord hath looked down from heaven: he hath seen all the children of men. The heaven of heaven is the Lord's."
East: "Sing to God, ye kingdoms of the earth: sing ye to the Lord, who mounteth above the heaven of heaven to the East."
West: "Prepare ye the way for him who mounteth upon the West: the Lord is his name." D
Sun: "In the sun he hath set his tabernacle, and he as a bridegroom coming out of his bride-chamber."
City: "Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God. The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful: God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved."
Brick: "And thou, son of man, take thee a brick: and thou shalt place it before thy face, and thou shalt describe in it the city Jerusalem; and thou shalt lay siege against it."
Place: "How terrible is this place: this is no other but the house of God; and this is the gate of heaven."
And the spirit took me up; and I heard behind me
A the voice of a great commotion: "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place." If I give sleep to my eyes, or slumbers to my eyelids, or rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. Fleece: "He shall come down like rain upon a fleece, and as drops distilling upon the earth." Woman: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. Blessed: "Blessed are you who believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told you from the Lord." And: "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the paps which you have sucked." Mary: "Fear not, Mary; for you have found favor with God." And, "Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; therefore also that which shall be born holy shall be called the Son of God." And Mary said, "My soul does magnify the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."
C And who would not marvel at one raised to such a height, that she should even become the Mother of God; a thing and a report that is truly most wonderful and novel? And believe me, let us return to the leader of this feast, that where the discourse has wandered a little, it may return there once again. Come, therefore, let us address the hymnody of the day, and when we have spoken a little to the gathered crowd, let us pause our course of prayer. Human nature, bruised by the ancient fall of our first parent, had need of one who would reform and restore it; and with a silent voice, it cried out aloud to the Creator: "Why, O Lord, have you stood afar off?" But more piercingly, through the prophets, it lamented in a mournful D fashion, saying: "Where are your old mercies, O Lord, which you swore to David in your truth?" What then did he, who wills mercy, do? He did not despise, he did not delay; he did not put off his promises for a long time. Which were those? "I will not fail you, nor forsake you." Which he also said later to his disciples, when he was returning from earth to heaven, from where
A he had not departed: "I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you." He promised this also before his ineffable incarnation through the prophets. Since these things were thus, and eventually the time called for an end to be put to the promise, see what He does, who manages our salvation, of our own lump, I say, managing our own affair. He did not bring in an instrument from the outside; he did not remodel a vessel from another substance; but from the same clay, and from the same lump, as one might say, drawing out the refuse and dross, he built for himself a temple, and that in a way truly beyond measure in its arcane and wondrous compaction: in which he himself, the first and only High Priest and King, by his dispensation, performing our reconciliation with his own Father according to the custom of the priesthood, took up our entire substance, in a way higher than substance, yet following substance, out of human substance. B Therefore God remembered his own creations: for all the nations are his creation. "He remembered his mercies which are from of old," the Lord of the ages; he remembered the covenant which he made with men. He remembered, and having remembered, he did not delay; but he immediately brought about the benefit. For having remembered David, and what he had promised him formerly, that he would raise up Christ from his seed, in whom he rebuilt the collapsed work of our race like a tabernacle, bringing in a new and strange miracle as a companion to a new and strange miracle.
Since, therefore, the sober and chaste Anna was held by the heavy anguish of grief; but especially, and this most bitterly, was she pressed by the lack of children, which also vexed her spouse: God solved the sterility of both, and being moved by their suppliant vows, he gave offspring to the barren woman, which prayer had previously sown; and to her husband he gave fruit, which hope had germinated; and finally, to those scorched and withered by the heat of infertility, he grants the flower of everlasting greenness: and she who was previously barren becomes a fertile mother, and the branch that previously brought forth no sprout turns green. For what could be more venerable than this procreation? And what could hold greater wonder than to see the Mother of God, from a womb without experience of seed, opened indeed but not corrupted, bringing forth the fruit of chastity, and a virgin sprouting from a barren and sterile woman? C To what end this result? Surely so that by her excellent miracle, he might confirm the miracle of the Mother. The latter, indeed, which had not yet been known to the human race, bringing forth a birth without a father, for whom no intercourse had gone before, introducing nature beyond nature, she conceived in her womb the very Author of nature in a way higher than nature, and became a mother, having avoided what belongs to mothers; nor did the infant have a father to call upon on earth, [the one] who had been conceived with no seed mediating, D nor had the one who gave birth brought forth having undergone corruption. But the former, although having many precedents of those who had been in barrenness, possessed, above all, the surpassing lot. For if
A indeed they also lived with the patriarchs as wives, and were deservedly accounted worthy of the like miracle to be released from the bonds of sterility—for indeed they were the foremothers of this divinely-born child—yet they possessed the kinship to the miracle pertaining to the divine economy at a very great distance and from very far off. But she, on the other hand, at a later time, but in the nick of time, and indeed at the very limit of the ages, when He who seeks the royal drachma—I mean the image of us—was already standing at the doors, so that He might cleanse the dust in which it had previously been hidden by the purification of the deifying Spirit, and thence, as within Himself, might kindly restore human nature.
Who, then, is the dust in which our nobility had been hidden? B Is it not clear from what has been said, even if we ourselves do not say it, that our Fashioner, searching for that dust from which we were first formed and later reformed, found what was sought? What is this? It is the archetype of the image, which He who is by nature impassible saw overwhelmed by the passions. He searched out the dust of Adam. Now the dust in which what was sought was found was indeed earth similar to our body, whose place is the most holy, virginal womb. For the life-giving ear of corn of ours found this as a field, in which, without seed and without cultivation, He sprouted and blossomed in a manner surpassing nature. This is the dust; this is the ear of corn; this is that region of the earth in which we were reformed in a new manner, and through which our reformed dust returned to its ancient dignity.
See how many mysteries the birth of Anne contains! How, by the miracle surpassing all others, she excelled those who were formerly barren in the glory of her child-bearing! C And what a God-called young Maiden, this most immaculate Mary herself, was accounted worthy to bear! And what other woman among women has ever been admired with such and so many glorious signs? Since, therefore, our discourse is too weak to be lifted to such a pinnacle of contemplation, and has nowhere further to advance, let us, once again, joyfully greeting the Mother of Joy, say a few things to her. For it is good to add the exclamation of joy to her. Rejoice, full of grace; rejoice, glorified One; rejoice, joy-bringing offering for the salvation of all. D Rejoice, the truly golden censer of spiritual aromatics, in which the spiritual incense, Christ, composed of both divine and human nature, showed forth the fragrance of the flesh animated and endowed with intellect for Him, in the fire of the Deity, inconfusedly and indivisibly. Rejoice, the tabernacle not made by hand, but made by God, into which, once in the consummation of the ages, the only God and first High Priest has entered, in order that in thee
A he might perform the sacred and mysterious office of mediator for all; another veil of the saints, in which the world’s propitiatory and the glorious overshadowing of the Cherubim [k-1], and how much more the very Lord of the sanctuaries, you have covered, carrying him within the womb as in a veil: lampstand of seven wicks and seven lamps, that is, of the seven gifts, illuminated by the gushing forth [m] of the Holy Spirit; an inextinguishable lamp, of the light that illuminates all things, which the oil of unction mystically nourishes. Rejoice, altar, on which is mystically offered the Lamb, Christ the life-giving whole burnt-offering; table of the divine table, of the liturgy that surpasses the mind, upon which Christ, the Bread from heaven, the Lamb for all, as incense [n] and slaughter-sacrifice is sacrificed, quickening those who partake; the treasure of all mystic worship, in which God is sacrificed in the flesh, and sanctifies all things, and mystically sojourning among men dwells within them, and is partaken of, and endures to be handled by the hands of sinners; and to be brought to clay-formed lips, and to be poured into the dust of our flesh, commingled, yet not vanishing by evaporation. O the ineffable emptying! O the goodness! That God granted these things to us through a woman of the same tribe, and of the same race, beyond nature and grace: through a woman, I say, whose beauty of soul was indeed raised up to such an immense degree, that Christ himself, that incomparable beauty, was moved to a desire for this beauty, and chose from her a second birth, and without a father 18; and thus also the becoming state of her body, reaching to such a degree of purity as to be able to contain even the incorporeal and incomprehensible majesty of the superessential nature, through one of its three hypostases. B C This is Mary the Theotokos, the common refuge of all Christians; the first restoration of the first fall of our first parents; the return to immutability of the corrupted human race; the vision mystically shadowed forth of old in the bush of Moses [n]; the fleece of Gideon [o], which he, seeing symbolically moistened by the drops from heaven in silence, turning the drama into a wonder, made the rain a sign and a certain conjecture of the reality in the sacrifice; the divinely-wrought purple of David, bestowing the assumed flesh as a purple robe upon the God of David incarnate; the Cherubic throne, that D pre-great, fiery, sublime one, which carried in its bosom the King, the Lord Sabaoth [p]; the lintel of the heavenly sanctuaries, where the Seraphim stood, covered with their wings, some veiling their faces, others their feet, and with others flying, crying out that great and terrible hymn, not bearing the sight of the unendurable glory. The gate of the heavens alone, through which the Lord of the heavens passed [q], granting entry to no one before her or after her. Rejoice,
≫ A heaven, for having imitated you, the Lord who cannot be contained by you was contained without being straitened. Exult, B earth, for the conception of it, by rendering your site and place heavenly, has made those who were of earth to be heavenly. Let the sea also celebrate the miracle of the Virgin with applause: for Christ, by entering her childbearing with a body, sanctified the fluid substance of the waters, himself being baptized in the waters. Let all creation therefore rejoice and dance and clap its hands. For today there was born to us a young maiden, out of whom comes salvation, and through whom comes the universal redemption, Christ Jesus, God and the Word, who is, and who was, and who is coming, and who remains unto the ages; in whom, as if from the great sea of the virginal Word, we may bring our own speech to rest. To God, to the Trinity, in the Father, and in the Son himself, with the Holy Spirit worshipped, offering up one glory and honor and worship in three sanctifications, now and unto all the unending ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION V
On the Annunciation of our most holy Lady, the Theotokos.
(Interpreted by Combefis.)The joy of all has arrived today, washing away the former curse. He who is everywhere has arrived, that he might fill all things with joy. But how did he arrive? Not with royal guards, not accompanied by hosts of angels, not boasting of his progress, but quietly and C gently; doing this so that he might escape the notice of the prince of darkness, so that by the craft of wisdom he might ensnare the serpent, and by deluding the mind of the dragon, the Assyrian, him who had every D [prey]
A snatched away the prize. B Being unable to endure that his boundless mercy towards us should lose so great a work—I mean man—for whose sake he had arched the heavens, established the earth, poured out the air, spread out the sea, and fashioned the entire visible creation; therefore God is on earth, God from heaven, God among men, God being borne in the womb of a Virgin, he whom no place can contain. Hence human nature receives the preludes of joy and takes the beginning of deification. Hence, having cast off the many-colored wealth of sin which it had laid up for itself, it is adorned as a bride for the Creator. Hence our original formation receives a new reformation; and the world, which had grown old, puts off the aging caused by sin. But, "Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness. Let the mountains distil sweetness, and the hills gladness, C for God has had mercy on his people." For today "the mystery hidden before the ages" is revealed, and "the recapitulation of all things in Christ" is received. Today the creative sovereign power of all things brings to an end the counsel previously determined by it concerning the formation of beings, in order to frustrate the counsel devised from the beginning against us by the prince of wickedness. For this reason the angels dance, men rejoice together, and the whole world, being renewed, returns to itself. What mind, or what tongue, shall contain these things? Or what speech could express them, or hearing receive them? The human nature that had enslaved itself [has been reclaimed].
On the present solemnity
Rightly, then, this present festal gathering is bright and joyful, celebrated today as it is, honoring the all-regenerating assumption of our dough. What is it, and what kind of thing is it? Of the whole creation, the D
joy, and the restoration of the race. Therefore, these are the joyful tidings of today: the message of God’s love for mankind, the festive delights of the world's salvation. Whence, and from whom, and to whom do they come? From heaven, and from God, and to a virgin betrothed to a man. A Who is the virgin? Who is the man? And what are their names? To the one, Mary; to the other, Joseph. Both were of the lineage of David. By whose ministry are these things brought about, and whence does he come? From the archangel Gabriel, sent from the Highest for the ministry of this miracle. For it was fitting that the minister of the Highest, having flown down from the heights to the earth, should manage a mystery wondrous above all wondrous things. What is this? The condescension of the Lord, the ineffable manifestation of the economy concerning us, the declaration and confirmation—hidden from the ages—of the divine counsel and foreknowledge. But where are these things, and when, and for what reason? B In Nazareth, a city of Galilee, in the sixth month, after that in which John was conceived, in order that he might herald Him who was about to be in the womb. Hence, Gabriel, having flown down from the ethereal heights to the earthly bridal chamber, arrived at Nazareth, and approaching the Virgin, he silently served the message of the ineffable economy. This is the mystery of the divine reconciliation with men. This is what we celebrate today: the union of God with men, the divinization of our assumption, the reformation of our image, the change for the better, the exaltation and ascent into the heavens.
For this reason, all things rejoice with joy today, and the intellectual hierarchy of the super-celestial powers serves the divine reconciliations for us. C For the restoration towards our God, and the progress and ascent toward a better state, is pleasing to them. For they are very sympathetic and philanthropic, inasmuch as they are sent for a ministry to those who are going to inherit salvation. Therefore, let all things exult with joy today, and let nature leap for joy. For heaven is opened, the earth silently receives the King of all. Nazareth, imitating Eden, embraces the planter of Eden. The Father of mercies betroths the human extremity to the only one born of Himself, through whom He has bound D [all things] with an indissoluble bond, so that He might carry the whole man within Himself, being about to save the whole, as the Fathers everywhere [maintain] against Apollinarius, etc., and Andreas himself [in his] Oration on the Transfiguration. The translator, wandering far from heaven, celebrates the most full expiation of our defilement.
A And Gabriel ministers to the mystery, and whispers 'Hail' to the Virgin, so that the joy which our foremother lost, the daughter of Adam, who sprang from David, might restore through herself. Today the Father of glory, coming to pity the human race, looks upon the nature corrupted in Adam B with merciful eyes. Today the Bestower of compassion reveals the abyss of his own most excellent bowels of mercy, and pours out compassion upon nature, as much water to cover the seas. For it was fitting that He from whom, and through whom, and in whom all things consist, should exchange the condemnation of our ancient injury for mercy; and that He should glorify by His own glory the nature that had lost its glory in Adam; and in truth should shake off the precipitous counsel of the father of lies, whose work is the first transgression, the fall C of the Adamite creature.
For which reason the great among kings, David, the ancestor of God, sang of old: "Mercy and truth have met together; justice and peace have kissed each other" (Ps. LXXXIV, 11). What does he mean by this, if not perhaps the mercy of the Son according to the good pleasure of the Father towards us, through which, having had mercy upon us, the Bestower of mercy became like unto us, sin alone excepted; that the transgression might be dissolved, and that He Himself might raise us, who had fallen from the lapse, and might refashion that which stumbled without fracture? By "truth," however, he means D the manifestation to men that occurred not by mere appearance. For He did not take upon Himself that assumption of our nature as something fashioned, as one might say, but in true reality, mercifully and at once in a human manner, since He who is above essence was consubstantiated from the substance of men; and having deified in Himself our entire assumption, He neither made the dispensation a mere phantasm, nor did He establish the truth of the flesh while His divinity remained unhurt by any ecstatic alteration. Since, therefore, "Mercy and truth have met together according to the prophecy," it is with good reason that "Justice and peace have kissed each other." Justice, indeed, is the verdict issued against him who wronged our first ancestors. When, and by whom? Today, and from the most high Father. According to which He who is by nature merciful justified on an equality with your own
nature, appearing in the same form of nature as us, condemned the adversary. But the peace, which the choir of angels suddenly celebrated with one voice from heaven for the birth in the flesh of the Son of the Prince of Peace, saying: «Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men.» Peace, which from Christ the human race has obtained, in that it has been raised A above the orbs of the heavens, and above every principality, and power, and virtue, as the great Apostle holds, has been exalted. Peace, which He himself as mediator and go-between reconciled, uniting earthly things with heavenly in a certain close bond, and by which He bestowed upon men placed on earth a new way of returning into the heavens. Finally, the good will, by which the Father himself sent His beloved Son to us who were guilty, with His good pleasure; that He, like the one will of the Father, having had the salvation well-pleasing in Him as the Father had, and having approved it, might fulfill it in us. This is that which we now celebrate in this festive gathering. This mandate committed to him Gabriel also fulfills today (50); and as mediator between God and men, he first announces to the Virgin the pledges of total reconciliation.
For the Father of mercies, having pitied our race, which had already perished by its fall into sin, remembered the works of His own hands, and not bearing to see us perishing to the end, first indeed B delivered into the hands of Moses the law inscribed upon stone tablets. But after [the written law had brought nothing to perfection] and completion, He sent men imbued by the divine Spirit: perceptive, I say, and seeing prophets, who might teach all the straight paths of God. But when those to whom they were sent, having stopped up their senses, were in no way better affected, not even so did that Creator despise our formation; but from His most benign and most holy bosom, raising up His own Son, of the same majesty and power and goodness as Himself, He sent Him to us who were unworthy, C «upon whom the ends of the ages have come:» thinking it better that He should work the salvation of those who had offended, than that He should despise such and so great a specimen of creation, and His own work. Therefore, having appointed one from among the chief angels to the ministry of this sacrament, He commanded such things, I suppose, by the nod of His own majesty. Come, He says, go Gabriel to Nazareth, a city of Galilee, in which lives a virgin girl, betrothed to a man whose name is Joseph: but to the virgin the name is Mary. Nazareth? He says. Why? That the beauty of virginity most pleasing to God, like a rose from a thorny place, the Omnipotent D might choose for Himself: on account also of the prophecy, «Because He shall be called a Nazarene.»
A Who is this? The One who would later be preached to Nathanael as the Son of God and King of Israel. Indeed, it is the custom of Gabriel to serve in the mysteries concerning God, as we have learned in the book of Daniel.
Go forth, then, to Nazareth, a city of Galilee, and having arrived there, hasten first to offer to the Virgin the gospel of joy, which Eve had previously forfeited. And do not trouble her soul; for the message is one of joy, not of harm; the salutation is one of gladness, not of sorrow. For what greater joy could there be, or will there be, for the human race than this—that it should become a partaker of the divine nature, and by the union with Him, come to be with Him according to the principle of B union, or rather, of hypostasis? And what is more marvelous than to behold the condescension of God reaching even to the conception within a woman’s womb? O paradoxical wonders! God in the members of a woman—He whose throne is heaven and whose footstool is the earth! God within the womb—He who is higher than the heavens and sits co-eternal with the Father. And what is more paradoxical than this: to see God in human form, without Him departing from His own divinity; and to see human nature so joined to its Creator, that the whole man, who had first fallen under sin, should be clothed with divinity?
What, then, of Gabriel? When he heard these things and grasped what was commanded—confirmed by the divine decree, yet surpassing his own power—he stood C on the border between fear and joy, as one who did not have the means to dare it openly on the spot, nor did he deem it safe to contradict. Nevertheless, obeying the divine command, he flew down to the Virgin. When he arrived in Nazareth, he stopped at the house, and then, becoming thoughtful and, as it were, perplexed within himself, he was divided in his reflections, thinking to himself, I suppose, in such a manner: "Where shall I begin to discharge the counsel of God? Shall I enter the chamber with a rush? But I will startle the soul of the Virgin. Shall I enter more slowly? But I shall be judged as a thief stealing into the maiden’s presence. Shall I knock at the door? But how? For it is not the custom for an angel D [to do so]." [index: entries preserved]
But I can enter even if it is closed. Shall I call her by name? But I shall strike terror into the maiden. This, therefore, I will do: I will direct my impulse according to the counsel of Him who sent me; for His purpose is to save the human race. And this counsel, even if it might seem in some way paradoxical, is nonetheless full of compassion, a symbol of reconciliation. How, then, shall I approach the Virgin? What first shall I speak to her? The gospel of joy, or the indwelling of my Lord? The coming of the Spirit, or the overshadowing of the Most High? I shall therefore greet the Virgin, I shall announce the miracle, I shall draw near, I shall salute her, I shall whisper the *Ave*. A greeting shall be a convenient approach for me to a more free discourse. Let the *Ave* act as my pledge and as a sort of token of the future conversation. For this one word not only will cause no fear to the maiden, but will also soften her soul. I shall therefore begin from joy, announcing to her the messages of joy. For it is fitting that the queen of joy be greeted with such good tidings. For the manner is joyous, the time is delightful, the command is pleasant, the counsel is for salvation, and it is the beginning of immense joy.
B When the archangel had thus reasoned with himself, he stood by the curtain, and having reached the chamber in which the Virgin was living, he approached the door in silence, and having gone inside, he said to the Virgin in a gentle voice: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." He who is older than you, is with you today, and a little later, shall be from you: the former indeed in eternity, the latter in time. O the immense philanthropy and kindness! O what goodness! He did not have enough in merely giving the sign of joy, unless he also announced the Author of joy himself through the birth of the Virgin. For that saying, "The Lord is with you," clearly indicates that the King himself is present, entirely taking on a body within her, and not departing from His own glory.
Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Hail, vessel of joy, through whom the condemnation of the curse was loosed, and the justification of joy was introduced in its place. Hail, truly blessed; hail, enlightened; hail, adorned temple of the divine glory; hail, [vessel] of the sacred undertaking.
A Hail, palace of the King, divinely wrought; hail, bridal chamber, in which Christ espoused human nature; hail, chosen by God before all creations; hail, divine reconciliation with men; hail, treasure of immortal life; hail, heaven, dwelling place of the Sun of glory, more sublime than the heavens; hail, spacious container of God, who cannot be contained anywhere, yet who is contained in you alone; hail, holy virginal earth, from which the new Adam was fashioned by an ineffable creative act of God, to recover the old [Adam]; hail, holy, divinely perfected leaven, with which the whole lump of the human race was leavened, and having been fashioned from the one body of Christ, it came together into one wonderful concretion. B "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." He, I say, who said: "Let there be light; let there be a firmament," and all the rest of the works of His creative majesty thereafter. Hail, generator of incomprehensible joy; hail, new ark of glory, in which the Spirit of God descended and rested. Ark, I say, in which He who is holy by nature, in the virginal workshop of nature, through the mystery of the incarnation, fashioned for Himself, in an admirable way: not changing what He was—for He is immutable—but assuming what He was not, as if with a greater eagerness toward the human race. Hail, golden urn bearing the one who made the manna sweet, and who fashioned honey from the rock for the ungrateful Israel with sudden provision. Hail, Seraphic tongs of the mystical coal; C hail, mirror of sharp and keen foreknowledge, whereby the renowned prophets and interpreters of the Spirit mystically and secretly perceived the descent of the infinite power of God toward us. Hail, prospective dioptra, through which those who were besieged in the dark shadow of sin, receiving the Sun of righteousness rising from heaven with glory, were wondrously illuminated. Hail, ornament of all the prophets and patriarchs, and most truthful proclamation of the inscrutable foreknowledges and decrees of God. D
A “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luc. 1, 42). And rightly blessed. For God blessed thee, His tabernacle, when thou didst bear in thy womb, in an incomprehensible manner, Christ Jesus, the man overflowing with the Father’s glory, and the same one also God, perfect in the natures from which and in which He exists. “Blessed art thou among women,” who didst contain, within the inviolable storehouse of thy virginity, without being straitened, the heavenly treasure, “in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden” (Col. 2, 3). Thou art truly blessed, “whose womb is a heap of wheat” (Cant. vii, 2); for thou didst bring forth, without seed and without cultivation, the fruit of blessing, Christ the ear of immortality, bringing to the Cultivator of our salvation a harvest manifold, tens of thousands, and thousands of those guided aright. Thou art truly blessed, the only one among all mothers prepared as mother to thy Creator, and yet unaware of what mothers experience. For that exceptional virginity of thine was not violated by motherly pangs, as thy virgin sprout preserved intact the seals of thy chastity. Thou art truly blessed, who alone didst conceive in thy womb without a man Him who stretched out the heavens and who—by the wondrous mystery of thy virginity—made the earth heaven. B “Blessed art thou among women,” who alone didst inherit the blessing which God promised to the nations through Abraham. Thou art truly blessed, as having been confirmed as the sole mother of the blessed child Jesus Christ our Savior, through whom the nations cry: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Ps. CXVII, 26). And: “Blessed be the name of his glory for ever; and the whole earth shall be filled with his glory: so be it, so be it.”
“Blessed art thou among women,” whom “generations call blessed” (Luc. 1, 48), whom kings glorify, whom rulers worship, “whose face the [rich] of the people entreat”; and virgins, following her, some going after and some going before, converge “into the king’s temple” (Ps. XLIV, 13–15). “Blessed art thou among women,” whom Isaiah, seeing with prophetic eyes, called “Prophetess and Virgin,” and also “brick,” and “place.”
A And he clearly called this “a vision, and the roll of a book,” and this, “sealed.” Blessed art thou, truly, whom Ezekiel [...] foretold as the “East,” and the “gate shut,” through which God alone passes, and which remains shut again. Thou alone art truly blessed, whom Daniel, the man of desires, saw as a “great mountain,” and Habakkuk, that admirable man, as a “shadowy mountain”; the mountain of God, and the mountain of the mount, the coagulated mountain, the mountain in which it pleased God to dwell, which your ancestor and king sang of prophetically. “Blessed art thou among women,” whom Zechariah, the most divinely-seeing, saw as a “golden lampstand” B adorned with seven lamps and seven pouring-vessels, or rather, enlightened with the seven charisms of the divine Spirit. Thou art truly blessed, the intelligible paradise of the life-giving tree of salvation, having within thee Christ, the planter of Eden himself, viewed typically in thee; who, by an ineffable power, like a river proceeding from the life-giving womb, waters the face of the world through the four beginnings of the Gospel. “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” A fruit from which Adam the first-formed, eating, vomited up the ancient swallowing, through which he had accepted the bait of deception. A fruit from which gushes the sweetness of the bitter taste of that tree, purging humanity. C A fruit which turned into rivers and pools the waters stagnating in the desert for the wandering Israel, and sweetened Marah, and rained down bread, a strange and untilled food. Blessed is the fruit which, through Elisha, made the barren and bitter waters drinkable and fertile by the sprinkling of salt. Blessed is the fruit which, from the undefiled shoot of the virginal womb, brought forth grapes that ripened in a supernatural way. Blessed is the fruit from which fountains gush, “water leaping up into eternal life.”
eternal. A fruit, from which the life-giving bread, the Body, I say, of the Lord is produced, and the chalice of immortality, the saving drink, is exhibited. Blessed is the fruit, which every tongue of celestial, terrestrial, and infernal beings praises, A in the triple unity of the sanctifying Deific Nature B attributing to it one identity of essence, while personally distinguishing the property of those dominant in one empire: “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”
“And she,” he says, “was troubled at his word, and was wondering in herself what manner of salutation this might be.” C She was troubled, he says, not with her mind struck by any incredulity—far be it—but rather with caution because of the strangeness of the utterance; for she thought, as it were, that the manifestation was a presage—nor did she suffer that which Zacharias previously suffered when he disbelieved in the inner sanctuary, for which reason he received a penalty upon the organs of generation, changing his prior sterility into the organs of speech, and exchanged the lack of art D for speechless silence. But as one pure from every stain, and free from any intercourse with a man, or rather from any such custom, and having accustomed her mind to the unwavering contemplation of celestial things, she received the agitation that occurred in her soul from the salutation. For it was right, and it became her, as one who was naturally unaccustomed to such boldness, to hesitate for a moment, and by a mind that had previously advanced, to examine what had been said, so as not to offer her hearing to the speaker rashly or inconsiderately, as one might say. Whence the evangelist most wisely noted—
NOTES OF COMBEFIS
(72) *As if now ripe and remarkably black.* That natural color, so desirable and the index of maturity and of more intense charity, with which He loved His own even to the end, when, having been reddened all over, He hung from the wood, from the cross, and from there that must, of which the disciples, being filled, were soberly intoxicated by the sensible vehemence of the Spirit, as if the small vessels were broken; drunken, indeed, but not as you think; the Jews fasted from that must: when, I say, the color of my whole Jesus was of the aspect of curdled blood; as on another occasion Pliny, bk. 9, ch. 38. And Jesus, who is the spouse of blood, and with His ephod dyed in that blood of His—not of another's grape, but His own—is the beloved spouse, white and ruddy, and therefore chosen out of thousands.
(73) *In the triple unity of the sanctifying Deific Nature, etc.* That which Methodius [alt-version omitted] said in the Oration on the Meeting, "Trine holiness": which that triple angelic canticle teaches: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace; among men good will." Where there is also some allusion to the Seraphic canticle, by which that triple holiness is expressed, as we explain there, and our Andreas seems to have imitated that passage of Methodius. Furthermore, as we did not approve of Pantinus as an interpreter there, so neither can we approve of Hopper here: "In the triplicity of the sacrosanct, which is in the Trinity, of the Deity, etc." It certainly sounds bad; "triplicity" to Latin ears in divine matters, we restore "that which is joined in the best way to the persons and properties, so that in them the unity of dominion and power may be preached, just as the Trinity is preached in essence and deity; concerning which matter Amphilochius excellently [wrote] in the Excerpt which we published from the Damascene of Cardinal Rupifucal. The interpreter substituted I know not what of his own, altogether inconsonant, so that I may abstain from a more severe note, nor shall I call it heretical, and not even in the least does it express the deep meaning of Andreas.
(74) *But with caution rather on account of the strangeness of the acclamation.* That she immediately feared, the most fearful Virgin, lest there be any snares of the ancient serpent in such a magnificent acclamation, and of him who once, in a similar encounter, had imposed upon the first woman, as the author immediately pursues, meritously attributing that very thing to the praise of the prudent and learned Virgin: so that truly, in that sex especially, there is no lack of praise for circumspect caution, to which, being more easily inclined to faith, it is so easily accustomed to be imposed upon. As much, therefore, as Zacharias sinned by slower faith and by objecting human things when he had learned concerning the receiving of offspring from God, so much did Mary merit, not by accommodating faith unless the sacrament had been sufficiently proposed as from God and truth, but meanwhile, while she considered and maturedly investigated the matter, by restraining her assent. The interpreter, therefore, wrongly makes this a prophecy of things that are uncertain, etc. Rather, thinking it a bad omen and that she had undergone illusions: as if Satan, feigning an angel of light, as often happens; concerning which matter our Vincent excellently wrote in that noble little work, *On the life of the spirit*. Suidas, to which even now the Greeks are not a little devoted.
A For the Evangelist very wisely noted this, saying: "But she was pondering," as if testing and examining within the tribunal of a pure mind what was being pondered, in order not to grasp rashly at what was being said to her. "What," she says, "could this greeting be?" For being noble and a daughter of David, and not at all lacking in the divine narrations that are recounted in the Holy Scriptures, she straightway turned her mind toward the fall of our first mother, reflecting within herself upon the event of the deception and all the other things of this kind that are recorded in the monuments of the ancients. Therefore, not without reason did the Evangelist describe her as thoughtful; but he set it down so that he might show how much sagacity she possessed, and how stable and firm her knowledge was, pointing to a mind that was in no way wandering or erring. For the measure of honest judgment and reasoning not yet having been proven, it was not fitting to accept the greeting as valid.
B Furthermore, because she was striving to suppress that agitation of soul, she spoke not a word; but by her very demeanor, being just a little hesitant, she showed what state of mind she was in, having substituted the composure of her manner in place of voice. "What could this greeting be?" she said: "Am I alone among women to change the nature of things? Am I the only one for whom it is possible to carry a fruit in the womb without having known a man? What could this greeting be? Who is he, or whence has he come in, who has brought this message to me? Shall I consider the one who speaks to be a man? But he appears as if lacking a body. Shall I judge him to be an angel? But he speaks like a man. I am ignorant of what I see, and I am perplexed by what is said." What, then, does Gabriel do? As soon as he perceived the damsel’s agitation, paying no heed to anything else, he straightway sends forth a voice and says: "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God." First he repressed her fear, and then he roused her to confidence: "Fear not," he says, "for thou hast found grace with God,"—namely, the grace that Eve had lost. By saying *grace*, he dispelled whatever ambiguity her thought seemed to possess, and that which had hitherto seemed treacherous. By that addition, "Thou hast found grace with God," he clearly shook off all fear from the Virgin. "Fear not, Mary." The manner is not deceitful; I have not come to deceive you; it is not the serpent hissing and speaking again; I do not speak to you from the earth. I have come from the highest heaven, bringing you the good news; and not simply good news, but good news of joy. D "Fear not, Mary." This greeting is not one of mockery, nor is this announcement one of sorrow. "The Lord is with thee," who is the bestower of all joy, and the Savior of the whole world. He is with thee, who was not separated from the Father’s bosom, and yet was conceived in thy womb. I have called thee full of grace, that I may...
signify the joy of the mystery in thee. A I have called thee "full of grace," as one who has received the total joy itself in thy womb, and a robe truly made gracious by the splendor of divine gifts. "The Lord is with thee," I proclaimed, that I might announce the power of the One who ran before thee to come into thee. For the Lord is both God the Master, the Prince of peace, and He is the same, even the Father of the age to come, and thy Son, O Virgin, and the Savior of all. "The Lord is with thee": grace and truth are with thee. He is the Lord of the law, but the Father of grace, and the fount of truth. "Fear not, Mary; the Lord is with thee." He who has power over all lordship: the Son of the Father of lights, born of Him without beginning, and in time born of thee in the flesh. He who is entirely above, together with the Father, in his bosom, is below entirely with thee, in thy womb. He himself is with thee, and in thee. B For he anticipated and leapt into thee, and entered thy womb, and became containable in thee, He who is by nature uncontainable. "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace before God." Grace, which Sarah did not receive, which Rebecca did not know, and Rachel did not recognize. "Thou hast found grace," which neither the famous Anna, nor her adversary Phenenna, was deemed worthy to attain. For these indeed, being childless, became mothers, having lost their sterility along with their virginity; but thou, while being a mother, shalt have virginity also as an inalienable possession. "Fear not, therefore; for thou hast found grace before God." Grace, which no one from the beginning of time has found, as thou hast. And what grace could there be like this, which possesses such excellence from God? C "Thou hast found grace before God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." O the miracle! First, he solved for her the problem of her perplexity, and then he introduced the word of explanation. And see how much he accomplishes in so little. He dispels the fear, he announces the grace in advance, he explains the conception, he prophesies the birth, he prescribes the name of the one being born. Nor does his speech stop even here; but so that the magnitude of the power of the child might also be shown, he added immediately: "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 his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom...
there shall be no end. A Do you see how he took away the fear from the Virgin? Do you see to what degree he emboldened her soul? For by calling him the Son of the Most High, and by naming the father of the one to be born David, he immediately raised up her whole mind, as the following events declare.
Observe also the prudence of the Virgin. For as soon as she heard these things, and recognized the immutability of the divine will and decree, C she said to the angel: "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" You promise me something new, she says, you announce things that transcend nature. I have experienced no marriage; for I am betrothed, but I have not been wedded. I know Joseph as my betrothed only, not as my husband. He is my suitor and coinhabitant, but we do not share a bed. My womb knows no seed of generation, but is uncultivated. "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" For will nature, she says, show me alone to be a mother without marriage? Shall I alone, contrary to nature, introduce a mode of birth unknown to nature? The wedding has not taken place; I have not known a man; for I have not known Joseph. I have known a guardian, not a husband: "How therefore shall this be?"
B Gabriel answers immediately, and he thins out the density of her inquiry with the subtle refinement of his reply, saying: "Why, O most blessed one, do you say these things? Why do you pour forth such words? I have come from heaven, announcing to you a new mode of conception. I do not speak to you of earthly things. I said, 'The Lord is with you'; but you, as if doubting, object: 'How shall this be?' I bring you the good tidings of Him who has occupied my presence by His descent into your womb. But you discourse to me about a man and an earthly birth, saying: 'How shall this be?' How shall it come to pass? Think of how the rod blossomed; how the rock, as if in labor, produced water; how the fire traversed the bushes of the bramble, yet did not burn the bramble. Whatever faith you have in those things, do not deny it to me. For He who creates these things and those is the one whom you shall bear in your womb. Therefore, you shall be the mother of the offspring conceived by a law new and beyond nature. Not as Elisabeth, nor as Anna who bore you. For they became mothers having been sown with male seed, but you, without the work of a man, shall bring forth Him who has dwelt within you without any preceding seed. But if you also seek the manner, I will tell you this also clearly. D 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you.' For the One whom I announce is not to be born of the will of the flesh; no carnal pleasure shall act as mediator in this birth of the Mother of God, for the laws of nature—
A transcends them; and if it is utterly deprived of that which is according to nature, it has obtained the supernatural Reason, which is more powerful than that which is according to nature. Therefore, no passion followed in the lower conception, which it holds always, nor in the higher birth. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you." See how the mystery of the Trinity is manifested! For by saying "Holy Spirit," He did not name anyone other than the Paraclete; under the "power of the Most High," He clearly indicates the Son; for by the word "Most High," the Person of the Father is likewise introduced. And the phrase "shall overshadow you" seems to me to signify what, I think, Habakkuk long ago beheld with prescient eyes, when he called the Virgin a "shady mountain," almost painting with his own colors the very power of the overshadowing Spirit, which itself raised up in her, as a kind of wondrous tabernacle, by the logic of the incarnation, according to which, in a way beyond human hands, it built that temple of the body within the virgin womb, which is pure B from all earthen desire and affection—a desert, as it were, of passions, as is manifest from what follows.
He says, "Therefore also the holy thing which is to be born shall be called the Son of God." For the pre-eternal infant, incomprehensibly fashioned from the Holy Spirit through the holy Father, will justly be holy, and will be called the Son of the Most High, as having appeared as the co-eternal Word of the Most High. It has been shown, then, clearly to the Virgin, both what, and whence, and of what kind is that which was conceived in her and from her, and that the One to be born shall be the Son of God. Now, in order to explain the power of the Word to her more distinctly and more plainly, He introduces the conception of Elizabeth. As if to say, "He who was able to show a womb fruitful beyond hope in old age, will also openly show a virgin carrying a child beyond reason." Wherefore He adds: "For nothing will be impossible with God." Having heard these things, C the Virgin—or rather, having had her mind illuminated by the light of the indwelling Spirit, and having been gladly disposed toward the joy of the announcement—wholly jubilant
A and altogether of a most graceful appearance. And just as Scripture commemorates David, who appeared graceful in spirit, joyful, and of beautiful countenance: so, too, she seemed to have been exceedingly delighted by the miracle, and to have accepted the greeting with pleasure. For in truth, the speech was full of ineffable joy. Gabriel persuaded the Virgin very easily and with great clarity to embrace the miracle willingly, adding: “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” What, then, does the Gospel narrative say? “But Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.” Do you see her prudence? Do you see the excellence of her grave modesty? B For after she had learned and known of the conception of the offspring, and of the birth of the Son—who He would be, and what He would be called, and whose throne He would inherit, and over whom He would rule, and finally that the one to be born to her would be a king whose kingdom would have no end—she gave back a voice full of joy: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.” It is as if she were saying clearly: “Behold, I am here and ready; there is nothing that hinders me. My soul is eager, my womb is fitting; for it is untouched, preserved whole for its Creator alone.” “Behold the handmaid of the Lord”: ready to obey, diligent in service, prepared for the reception. “Be it done to me according to thy word.” C For since you have announced to me all things, she says, as well as they could be told thus far, all that is taking place is full of joy and supreme glory. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.” Hail to the ineffable dispensation! Hail to such grace! Beyond measure is that eternal counsel and foreknowledge. Truly the Holy Spirit dwelt in the Virgin, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her, according to the preordained counsel and foreknowledge of God.
“And the angel departed from her,” it says. When, of course, he had fulfilled the ministry enjoined upon him. The angel departed from her, but the Lord did not depart from her. For he, although he is devoid of a body, is nonetheless circumscribed D and bounded; but He, although in a body and enclosed in the womb of the Virgin, is uncircumscribed. And he, indeed, announced the One who was to come, conceived from the Virgin for the salvation of mankind; but He, having taken up our substance, reformed it in Himself, restoring to our nature its likeness and its original dignity, which [the first human] lost. And leading it up, He seated it in the heavenly places, above...
every principality, and power, and might, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. B To Him be glory, and power, and honor, and adoration, with the eternal Father, and with the most holy and life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION VI
On the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ, and on Saint Basil.
(Translated by Combefis.)It is good and pleasant to celebrate with praises all that has been done for us by our Savior Christ with divine virility. For they are full of miracle and astonishment. And how could they not be? God mingled and made known to men, and enduring all things as man, and fulfilling the commandments of the Law, and professing to complete its decrees, so that He might distribute in return those things that are full of grace and truth. But the present oration proposes for admiration that which is this: namely, after the birth of Christ and [His] virginal delivery without the seed of man, the circumcision of His flesh on the eighth day. For since even this is full of miracles, it should clearly be celebrated with proclamation. C But who would not consider it worthy of much and the greatest admiration, that He not only fulfills the Law, but also fulfills it for my salvation? God receives a title. He who is without bounds and incomparable, who is inscrutable and unnamable, having become man, is clearly declared again by an assigned name. He is not only called Son by a most specific name; just as the Father, because He begat, is called Father; and the Spirit, because of His mode of procession, is called Spirit—for those three are one God, three, I say, in whom there is divinity. But He is also called Son, as He who is truly believed to be the Son of the Virgin. Whence it happens that He appears in great part comprehensible and mild. D And I, a fugitive, finding the door of salvation opened, approach the Lord and Creator with boldness. And concerning this, Luke, recounting it in the evangelical narrative, says thus: *And it came to pass, as the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word which is come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us. And they came with haste*
A and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. And having seen, they made known [concerning the word which was spoken to them concerning this child]. And all who heard wondered at the things spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all things which they heard and saw, just as it had been told to them. And when eight days were fulfilled for his circumcision, his name was called Jesus; which was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Great is Luke, and an interpreter of great mysteries for us. Truly, the Gospel that he wrote is Paul’s. For he himself declares this as he boasts, saying: "According to my Gospel." For if we were not carefully taught this present Gospel, by what certain reasoning would we have known how the Virgin was evangelized, and John was born, and the Savior was enrolled, and was born in a cave, and the shepherds were evangelized, and the "Glory in the highest," and "on earth peace" was spoken by the angels? B Of which peace the enrollment and census that took place under Augustus was the sign. And how Simeon evangelized, and Anna conversely gave thanks. And how, from Joseph, that is, the betrothed of Mary, by reason of the affinity of kinship, he descended as if from two brothers, namely Melchi and Panther, from whom came Karpather, the father of Joachim, from whom was the Theotokos. For from Melchi again is born Heli, born of the wife of Mathan, who after widowhood married Melchi. He had a son, Jacob, from whom was born Joseph, the betrothed of Mary: by nature the son of Jacob, but by law the son of Heli. For having died without offspring, by the necessity of the law his own brother by the same mother raised up seed from his wife; so that from thence, even until Adam, purifying his kinship, and he says according to his timeless generation, the God: "of God." And many other things C until…
the passion. Similarly, what pertains to Herod and Pilate, and the two thieves, and subsequently other things, are passed over in silence by the other evangelists.
C What, then, does it mean, "That which was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb"? He himself clearly explains it, bringing forward the angel addressing Mary in these words: "You shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest." This same thing Matthew also asserts, while narrating the perplexity of Joseph, confirmed by the angelic dream appearing to him, writing: "When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, however, her husband, being a just man, and not wishing to expose her, desired to put her away secretly. But while he was thinking about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying: 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife; for that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus: for he will save his people from their sins.'" And he adds, saying: "All this came to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet,"—that is, Isaiah—"‘Behold, the virgin shall have in her womb, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,’ which, being interpreted, is, ‘God with us.’" D Do you see how the declarations of the evangelist and the prophet run on in equal numbers? For that which you interpret as "God with us," which is the salvation of the people, is the friendly indwelling of the Lord with his servants. That name "Jesus" is consonant with the angelic voice. For "Jesus" is interpreted as the one who has compassionately wrought all things for salvation through the economy. This the occasion grants to me, and the power of the day works in me, bestowing grace upon grace, and joining knowledge to knowledge, and making the brilliance conjoined with splendor shine forth for the display of a grateful mind. And that he was born, I have already celebrated; and I know that which was brought forth in an arcane manner; and I know her who conceived and gave birth without seed, and remained a virgin.
But am I to approach the one who was born? I fear and tremble to approach, under the guise of friendlier converse, him who was brought into the light in an unsearchable manner. I am still of two minds in my counsel, and like a wanderer whom the Lord inspires with terror upon his flight, I hide myself. But by what logic shall I be released from such fear? The power of this day will declare it, describing him who took on a human nature with me, as having grown by the appellation of a name for the sake of human reason with me. But who is it that is called? Jesus: which you interpret as salvation, just as that "Emmanuel," "God with us." This is the reconciliation and established fellowship of God with men, so that Jesus, the Savior…
is called so. The shepherds received these joyful tidings beforehand, nor would they have dared to approach the infant and touch him, had not the naming—by the confidence conceived from the resemblance—given their souls the courage for such an approach. For what does the angel say to them? "Do not fear." A And yet, what kind of fear was it? At the very moment the angel stood by them, "the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared with a great fear." Wherefore, heartening them so that they might not fear, he leads them to the naming of the one born, and thereby resolves their fear: "For behold," he says, "I bring you good news of a great joy, which will be for all the people: for there is born to you this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David." What are you saying, angel? Does the appellation of Jesus possess such power? Indeed, he says. For "Jesus" is interpreted as "Savior," who is Christ the Lord, God and man; the same is both ruler and merciful. For this reason, I also encouraged the shepherds to have courage, and by ordering Joseph to give the name on the eighth day, I have made B access to him easy for all men. The child who was born commanded that I should lead you to him with words that bind nature. For Joseph would not have stayed with the infant’s mother without fear and with affection, had I not ordered him to care for her as a wife; so, too, I caused the shepherds to approach the Master as a benefactor and Lord, and I fully established that he should willingly be called Jesus at the circumcision of the eighth day, for those under whose law he was born, so that, as though running to one who has put on your own substance in reality, you might not be afraid to approach him, having conceived confidence. And having come to know such an inclination of his toward you, celebrate the glory of the day with praises.
Furthermore, let us learn what else the circumcision of the eighth day signifies. The eighth is both the completion of the week and the beginning of the next. The week completes the infant, and the eighth brings him to perfection, and by the addition of the name, enrolls him among the perfect C. The eighth is the beginning of the change of age, and the infant, having completed his own numbers in the space of seven years, once his mind has been applied to disciplines, will be counted among the boys. The eighth changes all infant things—both teeth and habits—and makes them solid in eating, in voice, and in sharpness of mind. The week introduces growth, but the eighth perfection. The circumcision again...
has been produced after the naming, given to the infant on the eighth day. Nor is it without purpose. For since human nature was destined to be corrupted by idols from the time of Thara, the father of Abraham, it was necessary that a people be set apart from Abraham to the Creator by a seal, A until His coming, which was necessary for the renewal of man. Circumcision casts off the superfluity of the flesh and provides a seal of the eighth day towards things to come. Circumcision reveals that the presence of Christ will set this aside and will give regeneration through the Spirit. The seal of circumcision is given for the sake of idolatry for the setting apart of a divine people, and it ceases again through the destruction of idol-mania. Old things are a symbol for new ones. For Christ is the eighth legislator from Adam. Since Adam himself received the law first; and Noah was the second; and Abraham the third; and Moses the fourth; and David, regarding the praises of Kings and Tabernacles, is the fifth legislator. And Ezra, after the captivity from Babylon, the repeater of the law and deliverer of certain customs, appears as the sixth; John the Baptist appears as the seventh legislator, preaching a baptism of repentance to the people and purifying with water. Jesus Christ is the eighth. Regarding this great legislator, Moses says: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren like me; you shall listen to Him. And every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed." Being the only one who is powerful, and to fulfill therein what was legislated by me, He will be filled with much Spirit, being anointed, B and He will legislate as Lord and Creator, even if He is from among you, both divine and—nothing else was of any benefit from the circumcision, if not this alone, that by this sign they were made known and separated from the rest of the nations.
A For indeed, by having kept the Sabbath in His own flesh, on the eighth day—the day of the Resurrection—the legislator of the whole world, as God, shall be this not only for the Jews, but also for the nations, anointing and perfecting all in the Holy Spirit, and calling them "Christians" by His own name. He will also circumcise fleshly and passionate impulses, and will rekindle them unto good works and the operations of the kingdom of heaven; for He is truly the Angel of the great counsel of the Father, God the mighty, the Potentate, the Prince of peace, the Father of the age to come.
And if these things are well, come, let us rejoice in the feast, and let us show forth a greater radiance of its gladness, adding feast to feast, and making manifest the servant of God; for, as the Scripture says, "The souls of the just are in the hand of God," B since indeed all are God's. Nevertheless, some are nearer than others because they have purely expressed the divine image to a greater likeness, as far as it is granted to a creature. Who, therefore, is that illustrious one? It is Basil. The foundation of the virtues and the bulwark of the Cappadocians, and the renowned boast of the whole world; he who taught the Church a most seemly state and order, by which our churches of the faithful are confirmed even until now. And although it is known that others—both before and after him—taught the same canonical institutions, nevertheless, the things which he disposed by his constitution have gained acceptance as something new, C marvelous, and equally appropriate for everyone.
This is also what the solemnity which we celebrate today demands for itself; so that, having taken such an illustrious man as our companion, it may be seen to be worthy of the honor of him whom it pursues with honor. But let us say not what is our own, but what is of our predecessors and of those men who were the foremost of theologians—men indeed very intimate with him in character, whose words themselves might match the merits of the one being praised; and when we have moderately enjoyed the delights of the solemn day in our discourse, and have paid our debt to both celebrations, let us bring the course of our speech to an end, with God in all things strengthening us in His goodness, by addressing this holy man with such words: "O man of God, and faithful servant, and steward of the mysteries of God, and man of spiritual desires." D For thus does Scripture call men who are sublime, and who have surpassed the things that fall under the eyes. But I also call you a god to Pharaoh and all the Egyptian and opposing power; and a pillar, and the foundation of the Church, and the will of the Lord, and a luminary in the world holding fast the word of life, and the bulwark of the faith, and a dwelling-place of the Spirit.
A But why should I recount all the titles which virtue has fashioned for you, one drawing in another? Yet, take courage, prosper, and reign, and shepherd us; you, and all who come to find rest under your wings, and of whose voice we, who suffer from thirst, drink rather than from the clearest fountain, O divine and sacred head! You who are depicted in the hands of the Lord, the unyoked, the destitute, the bodiless—I might almost say—and bloodless; you who are the word after the Word; the wise among philosophers, the transcendent among those of this world. Let things of old be consigned to silence, whatever some have established in the divine writings. Let the new be extolled; and he is best among us in speech who happens to know his things most fully, and brings them forth through his tongue, and instructs the ears. For one has been pleasing to the more diligent for the sake of education instead of all others, to whom time grants the second place only, after the apostles.
Leaving, however, all that lies between, I shall mention only the end of Basil according to Moses. Each of them left this life, yet neither of them left behind a memorial of his personal regard for the flesh. For neither is the sepulcher of Moses found, nor was Basil weighed down by any material wealth. B Nay, along with the fading of his life, all things by which human life maintains its standing faded away with him. So that not even a material memorial of the man was found from among his left-behind possessions, which might have buried his reputation for the better, just as the history concerning Moses testifies, saying: "There was no sepulcher of his found unto this day." If, then, the great Basil has been revealed to us by our discourse as such a man, so that he is not far removed from the saints, when his life is compared with each of the great ones, the sequence of the festivals brings us well to celebrate this present solemnity today upon him. But through those things that have been... C D
bestowed there and in heaven. Yet, lest the miracle be brought into contempt by the poverty of my speech, and something be detracted from the opinion held of him by all through the efforts of those praising him, it is better that we should ourselves increase the admiration within us by silence, rather than diminish the praise by our discourse. For what more can we say, even now, in calling you blessed, O Father Basil? You, I say, who wound and drive away error with the goad of your discourse; who, like a bee, walk prudently and linger in the meadow of the divinely inspired Scriptures, and gather from thence prophetic flowers and apostolic dew; who dwell constantly upon the symbols of the virtues, and from them make the divine propolis; who wisely wrought the honey of the blameless faith in the Holy Spirit; who teach us to despise the wicked wasps and to make our flight into heaven itself; who cried out like David: "How sweet are your words to my throat, O Lord!" B
Together with you, O faithful Basil, whetting our desire, we have joyfully joined in the applause, bringing nothing of our own to you—for that would be rash—but having gathered this from the sweetest heralds of your praises, we have brought it together in this life-bearing festival of the eighth-day Circumcision, celebrating the fitting memory with a song along with everyone. For on the eighth day of the Circumcision you departed this life, after you had served God for all your years; indeed, in these you moderated the throne of your see for only eight years. This is what the great Gregory teaches us to consider, where he proclaims the desired [time] in verses. Gregory, I say, by whose studies our theology is irrigated and shines more brightly, and who marks you with the title of theologian, as if you both breathed the same and looked toward the same goal. Indeed, it was said that there was one soul in both, bearing two bodies. After him also [comes] Gregory of Nyssa, himself too an interpreter of divine things, and hardly inferior to you in glory, just as he lacks nothing in closeness of nature. To these is added Ephrem, who through the divine Spirit watered the secrets of the divine judgments into the hearts of the faithful. To him you became known by revelation, and he proclaims you to those who did not know you. For as if you were set before us for the expounding of divine meanings, he exhorts you to appear conspicuous to the Church of God. C
A But together with those divine heralds, Father Basil, as you enjoy the tabernacles of the patriarchs, the initiations of the apostles and prophets, the crowns of the martyrs, the choirs of monks, and the delights of divine hierarchs and all the righteous, remember us. Gather all those who dwell in the same tabernacles with you into your intercession, that they may always—and especially now—supplicate our common Master for the salvation of all Christians. Set the emperor in righteousness and piety, that he may have God as the ally of his thoughts, the successor-less Emperor from whom he is governed from above. May he govern princes and leaders in piety, and may he maintain the remaining people in concord through the divine faith and in peace with one another. Anoint the high priests in theology, that they may wisely govern the Church which has been Divinely taught and wisely instructed by you, and entrusted to them. Keeping the priests in reverence, so that by living in a manner pleasing to God, we may all worthily join in a hymn to Him who has now taken you up, crowned you, and shown you to be a manifest shepherd to all the faithful people.
To Him, I say, who being rich became poor for our sake, coming forth from the womb with flesh, in the way He Himself knows. He who sits above with the Father, yet is born in a cave and wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. He who is sung of by angels and admired by shepherds. He who on this present eighth day is circumcised and receives the name of Jesus. He who offers offerings for purification, is acknowledged by Simeon and Anna, and is attended by the Magi. He who flees to Egypt B and shakes the man-made idols of Egypt. He who receives the perfect age of manhood, is baptized by a servant, and buries the sin of the world in the water. He who is manifested to the world and hated by the Jews, to whom He nevertheless performed strange miracles. Finally, He who is delivered up, crucified, and then buried, so that having taken Hades captive, He might flash forth the promise of the resurrection to those in Hades. He who also rose on the third day, having granted me the second eighth day to be honored as the day of true rest, leading to the future eighth day of the perfect redemption of the world. Therefore, He appears more clearly to the disciples, and while they watch, He is lifted up into the heavens, raising up the humble nature of man that was mine; and the one Lord is known in two natures, C worshiped together with the Father and the divine Spirit. He who bears two wills and energies equally, and is therefore both comprehensible and incomprehensible; who can be painted and described, yet is nonetheless uncircumscribed; whom we depict in figures and images, and in them, as if through flesh and spirit, worshipped. He is expressed to His own theologians and all the saints. Partaking with us in all things alike; for indeed in the worship rendered through this—to the D
A archetype the glory is offered, as in your case, most divine Father Basil, we are taught by your writing: "For the honor of the image passes to the prototype." Proceeding thus in orthodoxy, we shall escape the fear of the nations, and the islands—those of the Church—will receive redemption, having set aside the removal of images, which was brought about by the unruliness of pestilential men under the peril of the Hagarenes. If the islands bear the type of the Church, as Isaiah says: "Be renewed toward God, you islands." For to Him, our Christ and God, belong honor, glory, and worship, with the all-good Father, and the all-holy and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the age of ages. Amen.
ORATION VII. On the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ.
B You who, by the emptying of the Word, have shaken off the irrational veil, and have lifted up your mind from the earth, and have been taught to "set your minds on things that are above," come now, at my persuasion, and partaking in the spiritual banquet of words that I set before you, as the Word ascends today, let us ascend together with Him to the high mount of the Transfiguration. Let us strip off the base and dark life, and put on the robe "woven from above throughout," and adorned on all sides with the rays of rational virtues. For being already robed in white by our life, our word, and our minds, which are winged by the immaculate thoughts of the Spirit, Christ Himself—that pure initiation, the Word of the Begetter who surpasses all substance, He who for our sake descended from above, and in His love for mankind became poor in human flesh—wills that we should make this ascent with Him. And this is evident from the fact that He takes with Him the chosen disciples, as being already closer to Him by intimate relationship, and leads them up to the high mountain. What shall He do there, or what shall He teach? He shall manifest the transcendent glory and brightness of His own divinity.
... to that, to which a little before, more mystically, and now A more manifestly through His transfiguration, He has transmuted the nature which had heard: "You are earth, and to earth you shall return." [f] This, therefore, we celebrate today: the deification of nature, its change for the better, the ecstasy and ascent toward that which is above nature, out of that which is according to nature. How and whence does so great and supernatural a grace proceed unto us? By the Divinity, clearly, which surpasses human [understanding] in speech and notion, and has incomparably transcended all mind and word. And it is this truly that makes that which is anointed—according to the unerring and indemonstrable tradition of the mystery—to be and to be called that very thing which is the anointing; [preserving] only the changeless difference, which remains changeless in the mystery, because of the unconfused union, according to which there is also the victory of the better. Or, to speak more precisely, the ineffable deification, providing this as its most truthful proof: the hypostatic unity and identity of the things that have come together, which we know were made in a supernatural way from this ultimate joining of the mystery—I mean, so far as it relates to us—and [the proof of] the most pure composition and indwelling of the Word, which is below and for our sake, and the second birth which is from a Mother who is a Virgin, and is without a father. Whence, according to the truthful mystagogy of the theologians, as from an ever-flowing spring, through the limitless grace of an immaculate deification, the great gift proceeds unto us.
This the angels admire; B this the archangels glorify; to this the whole intelligible array of the supercelestial beings, spiritually feasting, is set as a most clear and most truthful proof of the philanthropy of the Word toward us—the boundless and infinite sea of which, being unable to traverse in contemplation, they make the incomprehensibility of the Divinity the beginning of a greater contemplation and ascent. This we, too, now wish to celebrate with hymns, but we are not able to do so as the subject deserves. For how could we, when the entirety of such a hymn is unattainable even to the angels, the spectators of that first splendor, who incessantly dance around the Queen of all, the Divinity? Far from it being granted to the prisoners of the earth—as the divine Jeremiah says, and to whom this darkness C blocks out...
the heavy, miserable, and base body, by which we are often hindered from even admitting or perceiving any dim appearance of those blessed and spiritual things, while a vicious affection, dominating and holding the mind, keeps us fixed on things subject to the eyes; and thus we are, as it were, deprived of the appetite for the supreme Desirable. Yet because it is also pleasing to God that which is done according to the faculty of virtue—although it is entirely necessary that, because of the ineffable and unsearchable excellence of the sacrament, it should follow at long intervals—the attempt must not be timidly declined; nor should we hesitate, so that we may honor it with speech according to our strength, even though it surpasses all the power of speech to describe. For it would be neither reasonable nor holy to avoid it. Indeed, the goal of this discourse is to demonstrate this very thing: that the subject praised is above speech. So that the discourse, by showing its own weakness in comparison to what is being honored, attains the sought-after end, and B by being overcome, it is justly—if I may say so—crowned, having campaigned lawfully by the very means through which it was vanquished.
But let us proceed to what was proposed, or rather, let us climb the mountain with alacrity. For how long shall we linger at the foot of the discourse, admiring the beauty prepared for the ascent, while it is permitted to ascend together with those whom the Word has carried up, to attain greater things, to be illuminated by the cloud, and for the vision to be blunted by that light, and then to suffer an ecstasy from things subject both to the eyes and to the mind, and furthermore, being illuminated by the surpassing light, to be initiated into things that are above man, once we have, clearly, been cleansed from all contagion of material things? And it is permitted that we should subsequently hear C that blessed voice sent from heaven, by whose truthful testimony the Divinity is attributed to the Only-Begotten, and the identity of substance with the Begetter is clearly represented and declared to us. That this may come to pass, come, as far as the matter allows, the Spirit more holily instructing us—by whom alone we see with the mind things greater than the senses, and contemplate things that are invisible to the many—let us with the indulgence of that light take delight in contemplating the mystical theories of what happened during the Lord’s Transfiguration. For as I think, the very goal of the transfiguration looks to this, and the mystery desires to be celebrated by us according to this mode. For it desires that we, understanding the depth of what was done and said therein, should by knowledge draw to ourselves a more D efficacious grace, which itself may work in us this wonderful and strange mystery, through imitation of Him who was transfigured. What then does the evangelical narrative say? For I think—
I do not even know what I ought to call it—overcome by the magnitude of the grace both in tongue and mind, I must begin from here. A Matthew, therefore, introduces the Lord saying to the disciples as follows: “Amen I say to you, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. And after six days Jesus takes Peter, and James, and John his brother, and brings them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them. And His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light.” And Mark also proceeds by the same steps as Matthew for the most part, being desirous of a certain affinity with him both in words and in thoughts, as if being breathed into in his soul and having his mind formed by the same Spirit. B But if he appears to differ slightly in one or both of these points, this should not be considered a contrariety or conflict against him or the others. For either they are declaring the things that happened truthfully in a different way regarding the phrasing (so that, to summarize, I may philosophize a little about these things), or some of the evangelists have passed over things that this one or that one reports, or some of them are thought to differ, even while not contradicting one another in the slightest. For neither have all of them together, nor has any one of the four individually written everything that the Word, who is called flesh, did in the flesh according to the ineffable economy, while never ceasing to be God; although the four have one goal, which is the truth, and they declare the whole potentially through the part, as it were. C This often happens because of the agreement and harmony of the words of the Spirit with one another, and as in one body, like members, they provide an indivisible combination and composition of the continuous whole. But the sublime John also bears witness to the truth of what is said—not only by what is found uniquely among them or among some of them, but also where he arrives at the very end of his Gospel: “There are also many other things,” he says, “which Jesus did, which if they were written individually, I do not think that even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.” We shall say the same thing about Luke, who, certainly, while narrating the grace of the Transfiguration, says: D “And it came to pass after these words, about eight days; and Jesus, having taken Peter, and James, and John, went up into the mountain to pray.” “It came to pass,” he says, “after these words, about eight days.” What is it that you are doing, O mystagogue of the secret things? What do you say, “It came to pass after these words, about eight days”? And what are we to do, when Mark and Matthew, as it were with one mouth, sound in agreement with one another and speak such words as these: “And after six days Jesus takes Peter, and James, and John his brother; and brings them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them”? Yes,
A says the blessed Luke. There is nothing in what is said by me and by them that is more closely related or more cognate to anything else. For they are in truth consonant, and the words of both us and them possess the same force. For those who passed over the day on which the Word had unlong before predicted to the college of the apostles that the event was about to happen and likewise the day on which he miraculously performed this same foretold work, count the days between the first and the last—and indeed from the one to the eighth—as six in manifest existence. If, furthermore, you add those two to them, and join the beginning and the end to the middle, you will obtain the requested result without controversy, and you will see the mutual agreement of our discourses, which makes the beauty of unity sparkle with a truth that is purer and more brilliant than the sun.
B But since, according to Luke’s teaching, I have described for you in my discourse the apparent beauty and harmoniousness of the Word, come now, and by venturing into the inner sanctum, I shall unveil the radiance of the mystical visions hidden in the Word, so far outshining the apparent as the understood is more hidden and more enduring than the apparent. And purify for me first, O friends [who are] mystagogues of the Word and fellow-lovers of beautiful things, both your hearing and your mind with the Spirit that cleanses and illuminates all things, so that the Word, being cognate to you, may hold familiar discourse with you and, through initiations which no man hath taught, may set forth more perfect things. What then shall we say, brothers? And what is this intelligible feast and contemplation of words to which we invite you today, and to which we desire to ascend with the help of the Spirit?
C Those who are skilled in these matters say that the number six, alone among the numbers contained within the decad, is perfect, inasmuch as it is constituted and completed by its own parts. “But Christ, the wisdom and power of God,” that Word greater in goodness, “the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father,” D creates in the space of six days all that is subject to the eyes, and in addition man, who consists of an immaterial soul and of material, that is, body. But also of charity, than which no good is more sublime or precious, six kinds are clearly enumerated, in which humanity shown to the needy is received and approved by the Lord as if it were for himself. For to those who have been merciful, repaying mercy for mercy in a just balance, and distributing the reward as one who is munificent of the blessedness that is from above, he says to those who have been deemed worthy of standing at his right hand: “Come, O blessed...
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 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; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me.” Since, therefore, there are so many and such kinds of charity, just as the Truth itself clearly proclaims in the Gospels—and since charity toward one's neighbor strengthens charity toward God, by which one who has his desire genuinely directed toward it is shown worthy of the hoped-for blessedness—and since “on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets,” as the Word in the Gospels declares, it is manifest from this that charity is the thing which most contains all good things and is the highest of those revealed through the Holy Scripture. And there is no species of virtue by which a human being is reconciled to God and united to him, and inherits the glory and kingdom above, that does not depend on charity and is not embraced by it, held together and guarded by an ineffable bond. Whence also charity alone, when perfectly practiced through the six-fold nature of its parts, constitutes the highest perfection and purity possible for a human being in the philosophy of action—the end of which they say is the Good, which is God himself—after which, by kindling the fire of theology, it excellently joins the human being to God.
Concerning the Transfiguration of the Lord
But for what purpose have these things been said? I say it is because if one is to be carried up as a disciple with the Word onto the mountain of high contemplation, and is to behold B the inaccessible glory of that kingdom, and is to be deemed worthy of his visible and intelligible theophany, after he has heard Christ foretelling that his kingdom will not be long in coming (for that is the transfiguration, according to which the Immutable shone forth more brightly than the sun, [revealing] that which is above us and our own), he should feed and give drink to Christ, who hungers and thirsts for the salvation of all. Or else, in another way, through those who are in need, [he should serve] him who has been indwelling in all who have received him through faith. He should welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and not neglect the one confined in prison, being urged on vehemently by the desire to do good. And because of this praiseworthy insatiability for good things, he will not stop at the things that are visible, nor will he limit his humanity and benevolence toward the philanthropic Master—for I dare to say this, looking toward that which is said: “As you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me” C—but he will also proceed further into the interior of the one D being seen, and will take thought for the passions of the soul, and will devise the appropriate cure, and “will lead” those having been made “rational” and firmly established in piety “to a place of green pasture” and “beside the waters”—
A of rest; and He will nourish them. And as for the one who has departed from his own fatherland, and is sojourning in a strange land, and has become a wanderer—reverencing the exile of Him who for our sake became an exile—He will gladly guide him back to his own home, whatever it may be; leading him away from the earthly and divided life, and moving him to the unified and heavenly assembly of the saints, where the commonwealth of Paul and those who fear the Lord is found. B And seeing another who has been stripped of the paternal substance, and has put off the garment of incorruption which is in the will, He will have pity on his nakedness and clothe him again, teaching him the blessed way of living according to God.
But what am I to say of him who is weak in faith and still bears a mind childish regarding the discernment of matters to be done? Shall he be passed over in silence? By no means; but he shall be recalled most quickly to the desired health and his proper end: having driven away the passions of irrationality by the word of the truth, and having restored the innate reason to its own principle; and having pointed out to the reason, through reason, the yoke of the soul’s passible part—I mean anger and desire—and having winged and renewed them by the Spirit.
C Furthermore, he who is held in the darkness of ignorance, and is prevented from seeing the light of unerring knowledge, standing as he does by providence and care in a gloomy place—him shall He, through a word that illuminates the mind, as if by some angel breaking [the bonds], having shattered the bonds of ignorance, bring forward into the light of the freedom and conduct in Christ, no longer held by the yoke of slavery, nor prevented by his mind from walking toward the heavenly beauties according to his own power.
And all these things, and such as these, according to the probable argument and manner, He will demonstrate in a twofold way, as charity shines into the soul like a lamp. D For since we are double, composed of soul and body, the manner of care—of which we all, as humans, are in need, even if one is in need of more and another of less, so long as our choice is subject to change—must also be double.
A minus; for so long as the will is subject to change, it brings upon itself from matter disorder and instability, or is even intercepted by external injuries and distresses. Wherefore it is best that we treat one another with all humanity, by which we also confer upon ourselves a greater benefit. For a benefit, having become greater than itself in the one who has received it well, returns even more abundantly to the benefactor; and thus, in being benefited, the act of benefiting is reciprocated. By this, clearly, man also imitates God; and imitation is a drawing together; drawing together is assimilation and expression: and that is the supreme good. Do you see how great is the fruit of humanity and mercy?
So too, through the self-sufficient B set of six commandments, having cast aside every slavish fear, together with the wretched vexation of the passions, and having purified himself as much as possible, and having been perfected in love, he shall receive the reward of virtue: [and] the unerring knowledge of natural contemplation in the Spirit of those things above time and nature, and of the world established in six days—that which is material and visible—knowing it to be a type of that which has ascended above the senses; he shall see well, through the visible, that which is not visible, harmoniously transforming [his understanding] to the intelligible and light-filled beauty, according to the beauties of the phenomenal world. And thus he shall have creation guiding his intellect to its own Creator. So that through both—by which I mean action and contemplation—after the perfection attained in both, through the C six divine commandments, and furthermore, through the days signified, in which the visible world was established, he will be able to understand clearly what the mystery of the Eighth is.
Which, it seems to me, is unveiled by the mystagogy of Luke, as one of those who are contemplative and have ascended above the senses might see. And as for what is said regarding true knowledge, having become "outside of flesh and world," so far as is possible in this place, they shall be taught, from those things of which they have made trial and tasted, the forms of the future state. But these things [serve] only as a preparation for that future glory and grace which is to be revealed to those of more penetrating sight upon the mount. When, having ascended with Jesus, they arrive D within the cloud, then, far more clearly and more sublimely, through the garments of the Word—which have become white as snow and which shine like light—they shall be deemed worthy of the mystical vision of the aforementioned things, the symbols having already given way to the Truth.
A Furthermore, the vestments of the Word, according to the spiritual contemplation, might be those things by which He is covered and by which He is uncovered. This is in a way paradoxical. In one aspect of mystical ascension, as it seems to me, those things that were said and done by the Savior throughout the course of that life established in this present age—that life, I say, which is undefiled and immaculate, the life openly manifested to the world through the dispensation of the flesh, yet not comprehended; the life absolutely free from all malice and beyond any comparison, which was the cause and exemplar of all purity and holiness for the human race. This life, He who is above substance, having truly made an approach to substance, having been given substance above substance and clothed in substance, lived in the flesh for our sake and for the sake of our salvation: a life that also shone forth exceedingly on the mountain. B It did not then become brighter or more sublime than itself—far be that—but as the disciples, having been taught perfect and more sublime things, beheld in truth what it already was before. Therefore, the sayings and deeds of which that life consisted, in which the fathomless depth of the Word’s dispensation toward us is also revealed, might not improperly be accepted as the Savior’s garments. Or perhaps by such garments both those things are represented by way of a type, shining like light through the purification of the Spirit, on account of their total purity and extreme brightness.
In another way, the garments of the Word could be understood, and I do not think it an exposition unworthy of the Spirit: then the magnificence and, as it were, sumptuousness of those things which He created and brought into being; and then also holy Scripture. C The former, which is invisible and whom nothing can contain, in itself, unmixed and undefiled, insofar as He is Creator and Cause, it makes manifest as hidden and lying concealed; the latter, however, as though the Word were dwelling and lingering mystically within it, reveals Him in a secret way to those who are worthy of the Spirit. For both are cleansed and illuminated by the Spirit, and appear in such purity to those who love divine things and contemplate the light, “as no fuller on earth can whiten them.” “For the Spirit,” it says, “searches all things, even the deep things of God.” Thus, therefore, through the aid of the garments, the Word hiding within them reveals Himself and emits the light of His knowledge; to those, that is, who, like Peter, and James, and John, are perfect in spirit. D Among whom, indeed, the one, like Peter, firmly supported upon the rock, receives in himself both the foundation of faith and the building of the Church rising through the virtues; to the others, however, as to sons of thunder, the mystical inspection and vision of higher theology is entrusted by the Word, having the immovable rock as a firm and unshaken base. I think, indeed, that by the former the depth of faith is signified; by the latter, however, its breadth and height: by which, through the incomprehensibility of the mystery, all infinity is everywhere exceeded in equal ways. Indeed, the Savior’s garments are of such a kind and of such splendor. But what is the face—
that is hidden and more divine, and of all things the most novel; what mind or word shall see it, or be able to express it? For if the garments are of such a kind, because of the radiance gushing forth from within, what then must be that which is wrapped and covered by the garments, which is beyond sight and knowledge? If, therefore, it were to be by itself, stripped of every covering—what do I say of this? But even by its holy tunic alone, which, having fashioned it from virginal blood through the Spirit, He mystically knit to Himself, as that which they saw it revealed, who could look upon it? There is nothing, there is B nothing among those things seen in creation that will contain the excellence of its brightness. For although the Good is not unshared by any of all things, yet it is not shared in its entirety—whatever that may be—but becomes participant according to what and how it is attainable to those who partake; and this, because of its extreme goodness, through infinite gifts of illumination, proceeds and pours itself out upon all things. A proof of what we are saying would be that blessed and much-sung passion which the apostles experienced on the mountain, when that inaccessible and timeless light, having transfigured His own flesh, illumined it superessentially with the excellence of its own light.
For, because they were unable to bear the ray of that blameless flesh, which C shone forth beyond nature from the divinity of the Word, who was united hypostatically to the flesh, they fell upon their faces. O the wonder! By a most perfect ecstasy of nature, controlled by heavy sleep and fear, closing their senses, and causing every intellectual movement and perception of their own to cease entirely, they thus drew near to God in that divine, super-luminous, and invisible darkness; receiving that which is truly seeing by having no sight at all, and by suffering in an unknown way, they obtained knowledge by way of transcendence, and were initiated into a wakefulness higher than every intellectual D apprehension. And it happens paradoxically, in the paradox of the event, that sleep is wakefulness; or rather, that sleep becomes wakefulness, confirmed in this wilderness of knowing-perceptions by knowledge beyond nature. O who would give me such power of discourse as I desire! Who is able to rise worthily to the mystery? What intellectual movement, having but looked toward this, is not immediately completely extinguished, yielding to the unapproachable nature of the wonder? This, I think, David also long ago, foreseeing in spirit, that royal and prophetic instrument, with God-inspired mouth cried out to the God of all, saying: *Thabor and Hermon shall exult in thy name.* And indeed, he predicted that they would exult. But what, and of what kind, and how great, with precision, shall the mystery of the transfiguration be?
A This he has honored with silence as a mystery unspeakable and inconceivable, to be made known in due time to those worthy of it, if it is permissible to say so, through the experience of it itself.
Hitherto having advanced the discourse, I thought it worthwhile to explain, as if by feeling my way, the words uttered by Peter, although he, being held by a more abundant joy of spirit, had not what to say. For Peter, having rejoiced beyond measure B and been soothed by that appearance of light and vision of God, and being wholly inspired by the Divine, and not being able to explain in speech the affection of his soul, and yet again not enduring that the grace should flow away in silence—not out of foolishness or stupidity, as one might perhaps suspect—uttered words; nay, rather, he speaks such things as were the offspring and offshoots of that secret initiation and divine working. What, then, does he utter? "Lord," he says, "it is good for us to be here." To what end, Peter? That, being delivered from the tumultuous bustle and molestation of men, and having separated our soul and sense from the crowds and from the confluence of whatever movements and words are stirred up, we might here, O Master, enjoy thy ineffable and divine appearance without distraction. And what could be better than this? What, indeed, for one who has sense, could be more desirable or lovely? Wherefore: "Lord, if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."c For it is better that both the dead letter of the Law, C which is signified through Moses, and the living law of nature, which the living prophet signifies, might have their seat here with thee, who art the Word made flesh and who hast dwelt among men;a who art truly the refreshment, who art the Lord of life and death, to whom all the saints live, even if, concerning the parts by which the human coalition is completed and constituted, they have undergone the natural death: thou who art the King of all, and who containest and effectest all things. That they themselves also, being illuminated by that inaccessible light poured forth by thee, might make thee, the Word, who dwellest and walkest in them, known to the world, having laid aside their former life, and being admitted only to that grace of thine, which is placed in thy Spirit and in the divine fire, according to what is decreed in the Gospel. A life, I say, sublime and alien to matter, a life immortal, D a life not growing old or defectible, but one that always, through the fervor of the Spirit, promotes and rises to greater and more divine things, out of the immensity of grace.
But let us also proceed within the cloud, and let us see what it contains in its sense; so that, searching out as much as is permitted the minds of those who appeared in the cloud and were speaking with Jesus, according to the understanding hidden in the depth, we may not be far from the truth signified by them. The cloud, therefore, in my view, is luminous, from which proceeds that paternal voice, clearly proclaiming who and whence is he who is being transfigured, openly
A proclaiming that dove which flew B to the Jordan a little before: the Holy Spirit, the Spirit which descended from above in the likeness of a dove, and remained upon that very person who was being baptized, and who baptizes, according to the testimony of John, "in the Holy Spirit and in fire," in whom—if it is permitted so to speak—he has an inseparable dwelling, according to the foundation of the Persons in one another, and their indwelling. To this sense concerning the cloud, we are led by the teaching of the great Apostle, writing regarding these things to the Corinthians: "I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." By the cloud he typifies the Spirit, and by the sea the water, out of which and by which is the fountain of baptism, or rather, that great and most beautiful gift of divine rebirth. For there is no other way for the Father to shine forth in the Son, or the Son in the Father, as in a mirror, than in the Holy Spirit, who indeed proceeds from the Father, yet willingly abides and rests in the Son, as one having the same substance, and the same throne, and the same honor.
There, therefore, and in the Jordan, the same mystery of the Trinity is declared, which consists in the most supreme and utterly singular unity of the most primal Godhead, and is manifested by these very same words. I shall add, moreover, that it is manifested by these same acts, to one who considers things in a divine manner and has transcended all creation, with the Spirit as a guide. For this reason, those choice and preeminent Apostles, who were deemed worthy to be the beholders and witnesses of the transfiguration on the mountain, when the cloud intervened and the light flashing from the Lord's countenance took away all vision, surpassed all things falling under their sight; and furthermore, they surpassed even themselves, so that by the more hidden doctrine of the Word, and the overshadowing of the Spirit, and the voice of the Begetter sent down from heaven, they might learn as if through blindness and ignorance the mystery which, by way of supreme transcendence, surpasses beyond measure the perfection of substance of all affirmation and negation. Beneath this cloud come Moses and Elias, and they were seen conversing with Jesus, and they declare his exodus by the cross beforehand. Of whom, as I have said, the one represents the written law, the other the natural law. So that the Word, who "in many parts and in many ways" is read—to use the Apostle's words—might be recognized as the author of the one, and the fulfiller of the other: and so that he might attach to the one himself as the blessed end, and the other now
A of irrationality, he might renew with the Spirit. And gathering both unto himself, he would show that in him they differ from one another in no respect whatsoever. They even become invisible, hidden—or rather, illuminated—by the sun of the Gospel, and being raised to the heights; and to say what is greater, being gathered into one unto that very Sun, revolving around the Superior, they are wholly overcome. And blessed is he who, having received the knowledge of the mysteries by the touch of the Word who was thickened with flesh and for our sake became subject to our perception, does not insult the grace, rendering himself unworthy of the Spirit; but rather thinks of Him as the one solitary law; and not only thinks so, but also fashions himself by the illumination of the Spirit, who has lived among us in a new and seemly way by divine and human right. For He has lived, even for us, for whom He also became man; who also brought into life, as a gift, the super-celestial way of life. And having received this, the life of man, having laid aside the barrenness brought about by sin, is shown to be fruitful in the things of the Spirit. Wherefore, from then on, men dance in chorus with the angels, praising God together and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men.” B
You have, therefore, beloved, the reason and meaning of the sacrament set forth. Although it falls far short of your expectation, it is nevertheless not lacking in power according to our capacity. You might seek the more sublime and mystical [reason] from the Word Himself, who for your sake also put on flesh and endured the cross; and having received it, you should guard it with all diligence as inexpressible and hidden, behaving according to the Word, until the Lord Himself, having suffered in the flesh and having overcome death in you, rises from the dead; and having raised up you who were deadened by sin, He clothes [you] in the Spirit with divinity. For as it appears to Solomon, and as truth suggests, “There is a time for every matter.” C Do not, therefore, O man, who know these things, show yourself unworthy of the grace, nor so indolently order your life that you lose those heavenly and undisturbed things. But having driven all sloth from your soul, and having shaken off the affection for earthly things that leads to vice, give yourself wholly and purely to the better, heavenly things, and enter into the life in the Spirit with the Word; that pure and blessed [life], whose work is deification, and the perception of inerrable goods. So that in you, through the study of virtues, that true Virtue may be seen formed and imprinted, and, by the true contemplation of things, the revealed truth may be clearly manifested: and through [that] wisdom, that [primordial] Wisdom may be known, in which D all things consist, as the cause of all things, praised and honored as the one who preserves and holds together what is created. And, to say it in a word, may God be glorified in you through both—I mean, through action and contemplation; He who is contemplated and worshipped in the Trinity, the [source of] virtue and contemplation
most absolute and most true, for whose sake all other things exist, while He Himself exists for no one's sake.
Great, therefore, O man, are the gifts you have received, and those which are yet to be given to you as you run back to God; and the mysteries of God B concerning you surpass all understanding and reason. Therefore, do not be cast down, overcome by sloth, nor be ignorant of yourself, nor despise the gift. Honor, rather, the calling, and do not appear ungrateful when you are being benefited, nor be vexed at having found salvation for nothing. Leave to the earth the things of the earth. For what have you to do with the earth? The Word commands: “Let the dead bury their own dead.” Now, clearly, everything that is subject to corruption and dissolution is dead, along with those who cherish and care for such things. And therefore, the dead bury the dead, C those who, because of their attachment to perishable things, are deprived of true life and receive as the reward for such an affection toward fleeting things the very name of being dead—than which what could be more miserable? Stripped, therefore, of all things that flow and pass away, or rather, having in your soul cast everything aside—all that is extinguished along with this life and with this fleshly body—follow without looking back the Word who for your sake emptied Himself, and took on a foreign form, and carries you entirely along with your own, so that He might consume within Himself the worse things in you, and perfectly free you from sin.
Accompany Christ, who for your sake journeys through the world, and do not be left behind, nor stand still anywhere, having let your mind be seized D by the race. But also, as He ascends into the heavens, ascend with Him; there transfer your soul and your life. It is good for you to be with God, where the assembly of the saints is, where the sound of those feasting is most brilliant. And in all things, while you compete in the good contest, have both fear and desire: that by the one you may be helped, so as not to fall into pride, glorying in the magnitude and beauty of your virtues; and by the other, as if ignited, you may be carried upward, and, overcome by no weariness, you may not bring reproach upon your progress and ascent toward that true Good; but that you may always keep this divine and heavenly love unrelaxed and unstained. For the Beloved toward whom your desire stretches is without beginning and without end. And this is His boundary: that He is in every way undefined and infinite. May we be deemed worthy to enjoy His breeze and sweet spirit even now, as it is ever being intensified. And when we depart from these human things, may we be purely and fully mingled with the very One we desire, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom, to the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory, honor, power, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION VIII. On the Four-Day-Old Lazarus.
A Lazarus has invited us to this present assembly; and he wishes to prepare a banquet of his own resurrection, worthy of those who love beautiful things and who love spectacles. Or rather, he has already prepared it, and he calls to this festival all who, in imitation, join their own sufferings to the sufferings of Christ. And how does he do this, pray tell? It is by proposing, as a feast, the miracle that was wrought in his own person. How great that miracle is, shall be told presently. Come then, having now taken the book of the Gospels in hand, and with a careful examination of our discourse, let us set to work and reach the miracle, tapping into the vein that lies in the depths, so that we may draw forth and channel the streams of doctrine that flow therefrom in abundance, for those who wish to drink their fill.
Let John, therefore, the most divinely contemplative among us, come forward—he who was an eye-witness of the hidden things and an interpreter of the ineffable, he who reclined upon the breast of the Life of all, and who applied his own heart like a sponge to that vital fount, becoming filled by a certain spontaneous derivation of the life-giving mysteries stored up in the heart of the Lord. Since he alone, when he arrives at the beginning of the Lord’s Passion, records B in a special way the mystery of the miracle involving Lazarus, he says: "Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. So his sisters sent to him, saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it.’"
That Lazarus was ill was indeed a common infirmity of human nature. For since that which is subject to human eyes is constituted of clay and earth, it is by its very nature subject to many accidents and diseases, by which the state of the soul is troubled and the little ship of the body is weighed down. But that it is said that this illness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God might be glorified by it—this perhaps possesses some hidden meaning, C and it stands in need of being brought to light through the following examination, as one can see in what precedes.
For what glory, I ask, does Christ say he attained from this, other than that of the cross? For the cross is the glory of Christ, and this was the objective he had intended before the ages. For it was to come to pass that the Jews would fasten to the cross the one who had wrought such a great miracle, he who, as the divine Apostle says, "for the glory that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame." For if those whom his frequent performance of miracles had not softened, would they have been softened by sight of this miracle? For even though the raising of the four-day-dead D was [...]
no ordinary miracle, nor did it have less impact than the others which they had seen; yet the magnitude of the work did not move them, nor did it provide anything other than material and fuel for their envy. He clearly calls this "glory," which accrued to him from the cross, which he willingly chose to undergo for our sake. For although even before all ages he possessed the paternal glory, as God and Son of God, sharing the same substance with Him, yet he also regards the blessed passion of his most holy flesh as glory, having become the cause of the salvation of the whole world.
But let us return to the way, which Christ, the true way of life, pointed out to us, saying: «Greater love than this no one has, than that one should lay down his life for his friends.» B For he knew that as the miracle progressed, the Jews would stir up and disturb the crowd, and Caiaphas would be carried away by madness, and that he himself would sustain death on the cross. That Lazarus was a friend, the matter itself makes clear. «For Jesus,» it says, «loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.» And who is so blessed as to be loved by Christ, who is himself the subsisting love? And what is so wonderful, if he loved even women—who possessed a masculine purpose and frame of mind—he who had come to call all men to himself? And so great was the excellence of his love for them, that the miracle performed for their brother surpassed by the magnitude of the work and its excellence all the other miracles. C «When therefore he heard that he was sick, then indeed,» he says, «he remained in the same place for two days.» For what reason? For he foreknew that he would certainly die; and wishing to remove the suspicions of those who were hunting and trapping him, he checks and delays himself for the time being, in order that, having breathed his last, the deceased might be buried, and so that it might not be considered a lack of propriety if he had rushed immediately upon hearing the word to the exhibition of the miracle. «Then after this, he says to his disciples: Let us go into Judea again.» This is a divine boldness, and one that is eager for the soul determined D to undergo the passion, and to bring the mystery of the dispensation to its end. The disciples say to him: «Rabbi, just now the Jews were seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?» These words are of a small mind, and, rather, of ignorance; for they did not know what was being transacted, since they would not have been indignant, nor would they have used such remarks, which reveal a spirit devoid of courage and effeminate. But at the same time, because they still lacked stability in their faith, they were reasonably afraid. Whence they seemed to speak appropriately: «Just now the Jews were seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?» Jesus answered: «Are there not twelve hours of the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.»
A This is an enigma of the hour of the passion, which was to arrive in a little while.
B You shall understand "day" to mean grace and truth, illuminated by which, the one who walks the evangelical path does not stumble against the stone of Jewish offense, «because he sees the light of this world.» And the light of the world is Christ, who says: «I have come as light into the world,» and «I am the light of the world.» You shall also understand "light" as the evangelical preaching, and the regeneration through baptism, and the conduct in noble character; as it is written: «Thus let your light shine before men.»
Understand "night," however, as legal blindness, through which one who walks on the path of types and attends only to the shadow of the letter stumbles against Christ, who is set as a stone of offense to those who, through unbelief, have become dim-sighted. And how does he stumble? As one who does not have in himself the light of grace, by which the dense darkness is driven away or broken, the letter being illuminated by the splendor of the Spirit. Perhaps, too, you may understand "day" as the evidence of the miracle, which, like the sun, immediately shone upon darkened hearts and all of Judaea, completely and thoroughly. For he did not command that the miracle be told to no one, as was the case in others; nor had he performed it in secret.
You shall accordingly take "night" to be the gloom poured over the Jews as well, through which the pupils of their souls were blinded, suffering these two things: ignorance and blindness. «For they did not know,» he says, «nor did they understand; they walk in darkness.» Not that they did not wish to see the light shining in the darkness, but—if nothing else—they did not revere the multitude of signs; and thus they were justly likened to night, and for them—the unbelieving—Christ has rightly become a stone of offense and a rock of scandal. C
«These things he said,» he says, «and after these things he said to his disciples: Our friend Lazarus sleeps.» What was said might appear to have been said with some concealment, but the declaration of what was signified is clear. Wherefore, also setting against this the reason for going to him, he says: «But I am going, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.» He does not say this in a boastful way. For he would not have uttered a voice so obscure that even the disciples themselves would not understand the word. He did not say, "I am going to bring back to life or to raise from the dead," but, "to awaken," which was still strange enough to provoke suspicion. «The disciples said therefore: Lord, if he sleeps, he will be saved,» awaiting an awakening from sleep. «But Jesus had spoken about his death; but they thought that he was speaking about the sleep of rest.» D You see the voice of a teaching alien to pride, so that even those who heard it could not perceive what was said because of the humility of the phrasing? Whence he did not even rebuke them, as he often appeared to do when they did not perceive what was said to them, correcting and chastening their sluggishness. Yet, having shaken off the veil of obscurity, he clearly...
the reality, Christ clearly interprets, and says openly: "Lazarus is dead." Thus they did not know what was being said; and all the more so, because they received the counter-objection of His words in an discordant and strange manner. So then, Christ very fittingly, exposing the reality, immediately adds: "Lazarus is dead." It is as if He were saying, "Know, He says, through this explanation what is about to happen: For I am going so that I may wake him from sleep." And this without boasting; for He is not acting out of a desire for glory, so to speak, nor is He self-satisfied, nor has He spoken words of impotence or ignorance; but at once, in everything, He is revealing both wisdom and foreknowledge and power, which were also inherent in Him by nature. For as if the things to come were already present, He predicted the outcomes. B
"Lazarus is dead, and I rejoice for your sake that I was not there; but let us go to him." Do you see how He acts with modesty in His speech? And how, by the partial explanation of His proposed aim, He intensifies their eagerness toward the demonstration of the miracle? For He did not append, as He did with "He is sleeping," here also "I am going that I may wake him," but, having passed over it in silence, He says, "I rejoice for your sake, so that you may believe, that I was not there." For perhaps, had I been present—as a human being, clearly—death would not have prevailed. "But let us go to him." For what reason? "So that you may believe that I am able to raise the dead by My mastery and command." "Lazarus is dead." When He obscurely predicted that he was "sleeping," He called him a "friend," shrouding death under that designation of friend; but when He says openly that he is dead, He omits the word "friend," so that He might not be thought to be overly involved with him out of human passion. C For it was not only the "dispensation" that had to be displayed, but also authority: the former yielding to the human weakness that the assumption of the flesh allows, the latter attributing to that same flesh what is of divine power. "I rejoice, therefore," He says, "for your sake, so that you may believe, that I was not there." Do you see how He is casting the seeds of faith among them everywhere? So that surely death might not appear to be feigned or contrived. So that, namely, He might not, perhaps, have given room for death to attack His friend, or might have expelled the disease, or restored the lying man to his former strength. For certainly, He says, had I been present, these things would have happened. D
Furthermore, that utterance seems to be somewhat more human: "I was not there, but let us go to him." For according to what is apparent, He was not present. For the body, which is three-dimensionally divisible, is by nature circumscribed and admits of movement from place to place. For this is its nature: even if it has been enriched by the union with the Divine with what transcends nature, it has lost nothing of the natural property. But according to the conceptual, what place is entirely devoid of Him?
Or what place can contain Him? "I rejoice, therefore, for your sakes, so that you may believe, because I was not there." What are you saying? You were not there, You who are present everywhere and fill all things with Your divinity? You were not there? Yes, He says, I was there. But not according to the body, but according to the dignity of the divine glory. "But let us go to him." It is time to fulfill the laws of friendship; it is time to prove the authority of sovereignty; it is time to bind death with a word, and with a voice to loosen the wrappings of the deceased.
B "Then Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to the disciples: Let us also go, that we may die with him." A ready voice, and one born to signify two certain dispositions: at once, indeed, an inflamed power of love, as one which also might excite others to hasten with hurried pace to die together with their Master; and at the same time a soft sloth and effeminate fear, as though he were conjecturing what did not yet impend. But far be it that he, who confirmed and strengthened us against his own infidelity with the coals of faith, should have arrived at such timidity and sloth. Let us grant, therefore, that these were not words of sloth, but of boldness. For it is fitting that, with a spirit stirred up and with bowels twisted by a more ready affection, he should have felt something worthy of that benevolence he held toward his Master. For, he says, we who have received from Him the grace of signs, by which we excel many, what should we not have to endure if we were to desert Him as He hastens toward His passion? Him, I say, who has raised us to such a pinnacle of glory that we are even able to move mountains and to perform greater things than these. Therefore let us go, companions, that we may either feast with Him while He lives, or die with Him while He dies. An eager speech, a bold and confident soul! "Let us also go, that we may die with him." What are you saying? Have you not seen Him betrayed, and yet you announce death? I am seeking the supper. Where is the basin? Where indeed is the band with which the traitor approaches in the simulated guise of a friend to betray his Benefactor? Where, indeed, are the crowds, the torches, the wood, the swords with which they went out as against a robber? The kiss is not yet here, nor the arrest, nor the leading to Annas, nor the condemnation at the house of Caiaphas, nor the presentation before the tribunal of Pilate, the mockery, the scarlet robe, the crown of thorns, the reed, the blows, the spittings, the flagellations, the scourges. Pilate is not yet washing himself with water and becoming polluted with blood. The cross is not yet here, nor the nails; and you say: "Let us also go, that we may die with him"? Yes, He says. As if they were present, I foresee the things to come. For I know, He will raise up Lazarus; He will ignite the envy of the Jews, and in the meantime these things will come to pass. "Let us also go, that we may die with him." Not only does he explain what he himself has in his own mind, but he also stirs up the same spirit in his companions.
ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS AFTER FOUR DAYS
A And these things were so. But Lazarus was already dead and decaying; and Jesus was present, being Christ and God, and the provider of life. For it was necessary that the vessel be crushed, and only then that the potter be present. It was necessary that the house be torn down, and then that the builder be present. Come then, as Christ the God and the Word ascends today to Bethany, let us also advance our discourse accordingly. For what says the Gospel? "Jesus therefore having come"—but from where and whence did he arrive? "Into Bethany," where he already had his intention, from the place where he was staying beyond the Jordan. And where is Christ not? Or what place will be devoid of him? But this must be understood according to the human nature, not the divine. For God is something indefinite and incomprehensible, enclosed by no boundary. "Jesus therefore having come, he found him already having four days in the tomb." And this was done very wisely. For in order that, as the elements were now seemingly dissolved, the demonstration of the miracle might be considered more extraordinary, he delayed his arrival. For indeed, in such a number of days, the one who was in the tomb had the potential to putrefy. "He found him therefore already having four days in the tomb." So that he who was to rise at three days might raise up the one of four days; and so that the ignorant Jews might learn, seeing him who was already putrefying B and gushing with humors, leaping forth at the word from the tomb. "He found him already having four days in the tomb." For the more the time of the burial passed by, the more the power of Christ was marvelled at. "Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia off." Therefore, many went out for the consolation of Mary and Martha. "For many of the Jews," he says, "had come to Martha and Mary, that they might console them concerning their brother." And with good reason. For the city being near, it was likely that many would go out to them, for one of two reasons: either enjoying the dignity of the life of the two women—for their life was shining and excellent in virtue—or because of the bringing on of grief, being full of pain. Notwithstanding that the multitude of those gathered together bore witness to the miracle, and the gathering of these was not unprofitable. D "Martha therefore, as she heard that Jesus was coming, met him; but Mary sat in the house." For Mary did not know that Jesus was arriving; for she would not have remained had she known. But even if she had known, it was likely that through reverence she would have sat at home, receiving the consolations of those who happened to come by. Martha, however, was in a way more fervent and simpler, having an unsophisticated character; therefore she "met him," both to show the magnitude of his essence, and to announce the death of his friend. As if to one who did not know, she announced it; though she acknowledged it was possible for Lazarus not to have died had he been present. "For if thou hadst been here," she says, "my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give thee." Did you see her faith? Did you see her unhesitating intent? In two ways she presents him as God and as the giver of life; even if she still stumbles somehow.
due to the simplicity of her nature. "For if thou hadst been here," she says. What are you saying, Martha? The statement is erroneous; for He was, and is present, and is everywhere. But so that the miracle might be prolonged, He held back a little, granting place to death, He who fills all things by His divinity. "If thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died." Do you see how she also believed Him to be God, who could both restrain death and raise the dead by His authority? For I know, she says, that if thou hadst been present, death would not have prevailed, nor would the lamp of the family have been extinguished. Indeed, the bounds of life would have remained idle, if Thou, who ordainest the bounds of life for all, hadst been present. "And now I know," she says, "that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give thee." For she looked toward what was subject to her eyes. But see here also that she is not ignorant of the truth. For the woman is philosophical, even if her judgment is B weak. Convinced, at any rate, that if He had been present Lazarus would not have died, she did not doubt regarding the future. Therefore she also ran to meet Him, and added the second utterance, saying: "And now I know, that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give thee. If thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died." For it is not, she says, because men are subject to death that he has died, but because Thou, the victor over death, wast not present. The faith is robust, even if the reasoning is weak. Indeed, she even seems to accuse Him gently, because when they announced to Him, "Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick," He did not arrive immediately. C "Jesus saith to her: Thy brother shall rise again." A pleasant word, and having a twofold remedy: not only correcting the error, but also settling and softening the sharper grief. "Thy brother shall rise again." To avoid the appearance of boasting, He did not say: I shall raise thy brother; but, "Thy brother shall rise again." He used the indefinite word, "shall rise again," or "shall be raised," exercising that which had been proved of her faith. Whence she also says: "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." If you believe that he will rise in that day, He says, do not doubt concerning this one; for I who perform that one and this one am the same. "Thy brother shall rise again." At the same time He said this, He was also refuting her statement: "I know that whatsoever D thou wilt ask of God, God will give thee. Thy brother shall rise again." Showing forth the Master's dignity by authority, that she might know there should be no rashness in the opinions we express concerning God. He says therefore: "He that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live: and every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever. Believest thou this?" What He says is of this kind: Even if he who believes in me should be entirely dead, which obviously regards natural death, yet he is not held under its dominion in such a way as to be mastered by it, as is the case for the unbelieving. "Believest thou this?" So wisely and with such persuasion He leads the woman's mind to the faith that is in Him, as her answer shows. For what does she say? "Yes, Lord: I have believed that thou art Christ the Son of the living God, who art come into this world." Did you see...
A into what kind of faith she was drawn? Such indeed that she might grasp the accuracy of the dogmas, even though shortly before she was erring through simplicity. For whatever it was necessary to confess regarding Christ, she declared briefly in a paraphrase. "Yes, Lord, I have believed," she says, "that thou art the Christ the Son of God, who art come into the world," clearly declaring it; and at the same time, she concluded the doctrine of the theology and of the economy in a summary way.
"And when she had said this," the text says, "she went away and called her sister privately, saying: The Master is present, and calls for thee." She, as soon as she heard it, arose quickly and came to Him. She received joy in proportion to her sorrow for her brother. For as soon as she heard that Jesus had come, she immediately put aside her mourning, but showed the fervor of her faith. Martha then also acts properly, not making Christ’s promise public. For she saw the crowd sitting around Mary, consoling her, among whom were those who envied Christ as He performed miracles. "The Master is present, and calls for thee." From His presence, she says, consider what is being done. He does not come to console; He does not come to soothe minds. Otherwise, He would have arrived even sooner. He comes to restore life, to raise the brother. B "And she, as soon as she heard it, arose quickly and came to Him." She asked nothing, nor did she hesitate in the least; but as if she had her living brother in her hands, she arose swiftly, and leaped toward life, caring little or nothing for those gathered with her. "Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in that place where Martha had met Him." So much did she hasten, that she reached the Lord at that very place. For He was traveling more leisurely on account of the contentious estimation of the Jews, so that He might not seem to rush to the miracle, but as if called by the entreaty of the women. For He did not even wish to be present unless called by their petition, so that the matter might not be thought a pretense. When, therefore, the Jews who were with her saw Mary, that she had quickly arisen and had quickly departed from the house, thinking that she was hastening to the tomb—so that perhaps she might tear at herself with her nails and lament her brother with wailing—they went out with her, as if wishing to prevent C the mourning for her brother. But the work of the economy was that they also should be present, so that the miracle being performed under their eyes should not be without witnesses.
"Mary therefore, when she had come where Jesus was, seeing Him, fell at His feet, saying: Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died." Holding the same mindset as her sister, she approaches with the same words as she. Consider, therefore, how much she did in that short moment. She runs as to God, she falls before Him, she speaks with boldness, she reveals that Lazarus is dead; and not only this, but also that his death was premature, because He was absent. For she says that He happened to arrive then, when the time no longer admitted a cure, as if it were closed off by death. D
A But it is possible to gather from this that she also knew Him to be God, and spoke to Him as to God, even if her speech faltered when she said, "If You had been here." Jesus therefore, when He saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her weeping, groaned in His spirit and troubled Himself, and said, "Where have you laid him?" He did not say, "Let us go where the tomb is," lest He might be thought to be rushing too hastily toward the miracle. "Where have you laid him?" I ask you, He says, whom I wish to have as witnesses of the miracle. Do you yourselves run ahead and show the tomb. "Where have you laid him?" I feign ignorance so that I may convict your ignorance. "Where have you laid him?" Not out of ignorance, but to intensify the attention of those present toward the miracle. For how could He be ignorant of where Lazarus had been buried, He who knows the Father as the Father knows Himself, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," unless He was exhibiting what is of man, representing our own state in Himself? For ignorance, and the impulses that arise from it, are ours, not His who knows all things before they come to be. For although He displayed in Himself all the affections of our nature—those, at least, that clearly avoid the stain of sin—He nevertheless did not admit into Himself the stains that are superadded to it from unreasonable impulse, or from turning aside, or from the depravity of the mind and from falling away. Far from it! He, I say, who assumed our whole nature without any departure from His immutable divinity. Unless, perhaps, someone might say that these things were taken on according to the rationale by which He appropriates our nature to Himself, with the Word—in regard to His substance—being set far apart from these things. B "Where have you laid him?" This is not a question of one who did not know, as has been clearly shown. Or by what reasoning, while so divided by the distances of places, could He have said, "Lazarus sleeps? Where have you laid him?" For this reason, He says, I ask, so that I may confirm the miracle. For it was likely that many, out of abundant joy, would have run ahead to show the place. "They say to Him: Come and see. Jesus wept." C He wept as man, not for Lazarus, but for the Jews. For He had arrived to raise him up, and it was superfluous to weep for the one who was about to rise again. But He deservedly wept for the Jews, whose infidelity, even after the miracle, He foresaw. "Jesus wept." Delivering to us an example and a form and measures for the extent to which we ought to weep for the departed. He wept for the corruption of our nature, and seeing how the image is deformed by death. "The Jews therefore said: Behold how He loved him!" See here even the envy and the contentious mind. "See how He loved him."
A And the remark is that of those who are wondering, but also of those who are envious; so that some were saying: "Could not He, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have made it so that this man also would not die?" And if He opened the eyes of the blind man, why then did you, disbelieving Him, attack Him with blasphemous words? Why did you bind the one who had received the benefit with so many knots of questions, judging and cross-examining who, and from whence, and what kind of man, and by doing what, He opened your eyes? For the time being you admit, even if unwillingly, that He opened the eyes of the blind man. Though it was a duty to marvel at that, you find fault with both this and that. For this is the work of the Jewish disposition. For when did you not provoke Christ to anger? When were you not disobedient, having seen such great and so many wonders? B
"Jesus, therefore, again groaning in Himself, cometh to the sepulcher; and it was a cave,"—that is, the dark heart of the Jews—"and a stone was laid over it." The hardness and resistance of unbelief. "Jesus saith: Take away the stone." Roll away the heavy stone of disobedience, so that I may bring forth that which the letter has lethal, and make it spiritual. "Take away the stone," the yoke of the law which is difficult to carry, that you may receive the life-giving word of grace. "Take away the stone,"—that which lies upon the mind like a covering and weighs it down. I could have rolled away the stone Myself, but that you might also perceive the stench, for that reason I instruct you to move it. C "Take away the stone," that you may be witnesses, and that you yourselves might roll away the stone of the sepulcher. "Take away the stone," you Jews, not My disciples, that tomorrow you may not say, as you did in the case of the blind man, "Is this He? Or is it another?" so that you might not claim that He raised someone else in place of him. "Take away the stone," if you desire to see the magnitude of the miracle. D "Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him: Lord, by this time he stinketh; for he is now four days dead." For he had been four days in the tomb, within which the dead man would have begun to decay. "By this time he stinketh; for he is now four days dead." It is the word of one lacking faith and doubting. However, it is customary for unbelief to precede the greatest miracles. "By this time he stinketh." Martha said this when, the stone having been removed, she had sensed the odor. And the remark was that of one who did not believe; yet, it contributed to the miracle, insofar as the decomposition of the body became the more apparent. "Lord, by this time he stinketh." Do not draw closer, she says, that You may not feel discomfort and be moved to nausea. "By this time he stinketh." You who are a fragrant ointment, do not draw near to one who is putrefying. "Lord, by this time he stinketh." The woman’s word magnifies the miracle. Jesus saith unto her: "Did I not say to thee, that, if thou believest, thou shouldst see the glory of God?" He said this as if reproaching her in some way. For it is very clear that she was not entirely rid of doubt, by reason of the erroneous responses she was making.
A Jesus, having lifted his eyes to heaven, said: "Father, I thank you that you heard me." But I knew that you always hear me; but for the sake of the crowd standing around I said it, so that they might believe that you sent me. He lifted his gaze on high, whence he descended for us; yet he gives thanks to the Father, not as though he had received something from him. For he did not ask for anything. "For I thank you," he says, "that you heard me." Yet he nowhere asked, he nowhere made a request. It seems therefore, by the sequence of the passage, that the phrase "that you heard me" is redundant. But he says these things for the sake of the Jews, showing that he came from above, and that he is the Son of God, and God, and that he does everything by the will of the Father, as existing with the same will and nature as he; and that, being human, he spoke in a somewhat more human way, so as not to cause the economy [of salvation] to appear as a mere phantom. Having said these things, he cried out with a loud voice: "Lazarus, come out." And immediately he who had been dead came out, bound hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was tied up with a napkin. He does not pray now, nor does he say: "Father, raise him up." For these are the words of subordinates and of those who are second B to him; but he calls out, and not only calls out, but with a loud voice. For what reason? So that he might also point forward to the trumpet that will summon those who are in the tombs with a great voice. "Lazarus, come out." It is a Master's voice, a royal command, an order of authority. "Come out." Having laid aside corruption, receive back the garment of incorruptibility. "Lazarus, come out." Let the Jews know that the hour is coming when those who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of Man; and those who have heard shall live. "Come out." The stone is taken away, the obstacle; walk toward me who call you. "Come out." As a friend I call to you; but as Master I command. "Come out." Let the Jews learn that if I raise a four-day-dead man from the tomb, much more shall I myself rise on the third day, if I should taste of death. "Lazarus, come out." Come forth wrapped in the grave cloths, and swathed in the burial linens, so that the Jews might not suppose you a ghost of the dead. Let them see hands and feet bound, and the face covered, C and let the Jews not disbelieve the miracle. "Come out." The foulness of the body will verify your return to life. Let them themselves loosen the burial bands. D
A "Come out. Be quickened, and be enlivened, and stepping forth from the coffin, come out." Teach how in the twinkling of an eye the whole creature is to be quickened, the common resurrection of the dead being accomplished by the voice of the trumpet. "Come out." The breath is in the nostrils; the veins are full of blood; the voice is in the throat; the word is in the ears; the power of sight is in the eyes; the sense of smell is in its proper place; the pulse of walking is according to nature; and the whole tabernacle, having been enlivened, was furnished with its organs. "Come out." Lay aside the burial bands, and celebrate the miracles; lay aside the foulness of the stench, and worship the authority of the Power. "I command you, 'Come out,'" [He] who said, "Let there be light, Let there be a firmament." I charge you, "Come out." So that you may see me being betrayed by a disciple, and sold to the Jews, judged at the tribunal of Pilate, and being led willingly to the Passion. So that you may see the insolence of the Jews, and my own meekness. "Come out." So that you may see me being crucified with robbers, being given vinegar and gall to drink, and my side being pierced with a lance. So that you may see the light suffering violence at midday, and the sun veiling itself in night, the Jews blaspheming, and the robber discoursing on divine things. "Lazarus, come out." And immediately he who had been dead came out, bound as to his hands and feet with grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Because of the unbelief of the Jews. For if he had not been wrapped in the sepulchral bands, it is likely they would have said: He had not died, but in the guise B of a dead man had supposedly entered the monument. For this reason he came out bound in grave-clothes, and stinking, and with his face and feet covered, so that no room for any pretext might be given.
"And Jesus said to them, 'Loose him and let him go.'" So that the perverse might have nothing to say, he orders them themselves to loosen Lazarus. As if saying: With your own hands loosen him, that you may be witnesses of the miracle. "Loose him, and let him go." Since it is no less a [divine] thing for him to have come out bound than to have risen. So that what was done might not be thought to be some illusion or empty appearance, "Loose him," he says. So that both by sight and touch you might know with certainty that it was he. "And let him go." Let us see if death prevails against my will. "Let him go." For he who was but a short time ago corrupted does not need a guide, having just received life youthfully, and being taught to walk uprightly. "Loose him, and let him go." A token, he says, let it be of the common resurrection, when, corruption passing into incorruption, all shall rise from the dust of the earth.
"Many therefore of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him." And blessed is he who has traded for this good merchandise, I mean faith; who did not depart from Bethany empty, without having negotiated—I mean [without having negotiated] of fasting; who acquired for himself through continence and humility the things that are splendid and precious of this [fast]. Who, believing well in Christ, purchased the beautiful pearls of his teachings, having given faith and received C
A an understanding? Blessed is he who has woven for himself, from a state of freedom from passions, a wedding garment fit for his union with God, so that he may be able to eat in purity the sacrificed Pascha and, with glory, meet the Lord as He returns from Bethany, and spread before His footsteps the white garments of a clear conscience, so that he may be able to say: "Upon me, O Lord, upon me let the foot of the beast on which You have sat set its tread"; this is the all-holy flesh, which for our sake the Son of God assumed beyond nature. Who is so prudent and skilled a merchant as to have traded for his own salvation in the manner described? Would that you, too, O people of Christ, the new inheritance, now that the days of fasting are fulfilled, had traded in this way! For the best trade among them is for those who know how to conduct themselves well. There, gold rings true B — temperance; pearls — tears; pellucid stones — the acts of the virtues; silver — chastity; a clean garment — the honesty of morals; aromatics — the words of the Lord. There, the world of the neckpiece, humility, which prescribes and teaches obedience; and earrings, and tress-plaits, and golden necklaces — the splendid achievements of the virtues.
And why should I describe to you one by one the magnificent gifts of the fast, when nature itself teaches you that whatever comes from it results in good for the one who possesses it? Who, then, has celebrated this solemnity fittingly? Who has behaved like Martha? Who has emulated Mary, those sisters of Lazarus? Who, like them, has purchased the good pearls, their tears, and offered them to Christ, having mourned his own soul, which had died, just as they mourned Lazarus? Who has traded for that precious cornerstone, Christ, who bade the stone be rolled away so that He might raise Lazarus? C What soul, being such a lover of God, has purchased the best of aromatics — iris, and amomum, and cinnamon, and stacte, and nard, and calamus — so that, having prepared from them a fragrant ointment, he might anoint the Lord as He reclines at table? Who, standing thus by His feet, has poured it forth upon His untouchable head, and then washed His feet with the ointment and with tears? Who has heard with his own ears that gentle and mild voice saying, "Your sins are forgiven"? What soul is so much a dealer in unguents and so ready for tears as to have anointed Christ, that inexhaustible ointment?
D But perhaps someone reading these things will say: "Behold, I imitate the harlot; and although I do not offer ointment, I offer tears. Tell me, where is the supper? Where is Christ? Where is He by whom forgiveness of crimes is given? Where?" Come here, and I will show you clearly: in the Church, in your own inner chamber. What do I say, "in the Church"? In your very own heart.
A There is Christ. Pour out your ointment for him there. Let there be tears there. "But," you say, "I have no ointment, no alabaster jar." Do you not have ointment? Indeed you do have ointment: namely, grace, the heart as an alabaster jar, tears as confession, and your fine sighs as hair. Offer these, sacrifice these, and you shall receive forgiveness. Christ is everywhere. He is present wherever he is called. Only let Judas not be present; only let him be called rightly; only let the supper be without guile. Be Simon, if you wish; invite the Master. But do not hesitate as the Pharisee did. Call him who is present everywhere; but do not invite Judas at the same time. Be Lazarus, if you wish, having died to the world, stinking with your wounds, having silence in your mouth as if it were a stone. B But rather, first become the friend of the Master. You too have sisters: your soul, and then your flesh. Make them friends to Christ, so that when you are dead, they may send to Jesus, as Mary and Martha did, the one with words, the other with deeds, saying: "Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick." So that when you have been perfectly dead to the world and to the things that are in the world, Christ, having arrived, may raise you up and say to his own angels: "Untie him and let him go." Untie him. From where? From the bonds of sin. And where is he to go? To the bosom of Abraham, to the eternal tabernacles, to the bliss of divine rest that knows no old age. May we all attain this, by the grace and love for mankind of him who calls us all to the knowledge of himself, Christ our true God; with whom to the Father be the glory, together with the holy Spirit, for ever. Amen.
ORATION IX
On Palm Sunday (19)
Yesterday, Lazarus entertained us together with the Master by setting before us in the miracle performed upon him a feast for our consumption; today, God himself and the Word sets our own discourse before you, who are lovers of feasts and lovers of beauty, you who for a long while have struggled under the burden of C calamities, but today have recovered your strength through the overflowing joy of the Master’s festival. And quite rightly so. For since he himself, as God, came and brought back as if from a prize that man who was already stinking and rotting in the depths of Hades, it may well be that he also strengthens in us the now-aged and slackened vigor of our discourse, making it lush and lively, so that, roused and eager, it may receive him as if at a banquet. For it will appropriately possess some youthful and bold quality, having leaped D up to spring forth from the vocal organs, being called by God himself and the Word, just as he called Lazarus from the tomb; so that he who yesterday fed us with that miracle may feed us again today, more gently and more lavishly.
A Verily, before the word bursts forth from spiritual labors, I wish to ask the present assembly: What is this great gathering? What is this splendor? What is this company of those collected together? What is this sound? What is this dancing of those following with such auspicious signs? Everywhere crowds, everywhere children; some holding branches, others palms in their hands. The battle is not yet at hand, and yet they are running to the conflict; the victory is not yet won, and yet they hold in their hands the prizes of victory. Before the expedition, the omens; before the fame, the crowns. The hymn is on the tongue; the song is in the mouth; some are blessing, others are loudly acclaiming; some are shaking branches; others are spreading garments upon the paths; and, in a word, all are spreading out their own hearts. B To whom, indeed, and from where is he returning, and whither is he hastening? Is it not surely to the victor of death, to him who recently called Lazarus from the tomb and was hastening to Jerusalem to suffer? And for what purpose? In order that, by his own passion—he who is himself far too exalted to suffer—he might destroy our passions, our sicknesses, and our vices. But whether was it the sound of those dancing, or the clamor of the murderers, that raised the assembly to such a pitch of shouting? Truly, the sound of those leading the dances has something splendid and pleasing to the soul: for it is a triumphal song, and possesses much grace. But the din of the raging ones, being very harsh and unlovely, shows itself to be troublesome for that very reason: because it is full of malice and signifies slaughter.
C From this crowd, some came from Bethany; others went to meet the Lord at the Mount of Olives; others met him when he had almost approached the city; still others when he was already within the gates and proceeding toward the temple. Clearly, the greatest crowd, and the assembled swarm of infants, auspiciously acclaimed the songs of victory, saying: "Hosanna; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel." Wherefore, by this unaccustomed spectacle and continuous praise, the whole city was immediately thrown into confusion, and at that time was split into many opinions concerning him: some saying, "Who is this?" while others called him the Son of David. And some were bringing forward prophetic predictions, others were rejecting them; some were acknowledging him, others were defending him; and all, in a word, as I was saying, were branching off into countless opinions and imaginations. For indeed he was a sign to be opposed, as foretold by the prophet to those who had received the law. D And what wonder is it that Jerusalem is again troubled, and the assemblies of the Jews are moved by God being glorified, when even a short time before, upon his birth, when Herod heard that the Magi had come from the East as if to be his bodyguard, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him?
ON PALM SUNDAY
A Consider well, O beloved, how the things match and correspond to one another. There is Bethlehem, here is Bethany. At that time, Mary and Salome; now, Mary and Martha. There, Christ was wrapped in swaddling clothes; here, Lazarus was wrapped in bandages. There was a manger, and here is a tomb. Do you see the exact similarity of the places and the persons? Have you seen the concurrence of events? Furthermore, when Christ was born in Bethlehem, Herod was troubled and Jerusalem was stirred; likewise, when He performed miracles in Bethany and raised Lazarus, Jerusalem was troubled and the Pharisees incited the crowds. There the shepherds marveled; here the priests mocked. There the Magi approached as His bodyguard; here the people, warring against God, stumbled in their path. There children who were slain for Christ lamented, as if mourning for the dead; here, children precede Christ, yet they do so to sing in harmony for His triumphant entry: not the song of Sirens, but a hymn of victory, crying out: "Hosanna to the Son of David," for the Spirit himself was fulfilling the role of their teacher. But these suitable comparisons suffice to have abundantly convicted the madness of the Jews, both then, when Christ was made manifest, and now, when He is about to be nailed to the Cross, being greeted with such auspicious signs. However, it is worth the effort that we have already reached the sacraments of the feast, and we may reveal to you the spiritual riches of the coming day, so that you may steadily and abundantly gather the treasure which, though hidden within them, is now gradually being laid bare.C Come then to me, and let us ascend together to the Mount of Olives, that we may meet Christ as He returns today from Bethany, and as He proceeds of His own will toward that venerable and blessed Passion, so that He may put an end to the mystery of our salvation. He comes, therefore, journeying of His own accord toward Jerusalem, He who descended from the heavens for our sake, so that He might exalt us who lie below together with Himself, as Scripture sets forth, "far above all principality and power and might and every name that is named." And He comes, not as one seeking glory, nor with pride and display. "He shall not contend," it says, "nor cry out, nor shall anyone hear His voice," but He shall be meek and humble, manifesting His entry in a lowly manner. For what is more common than an ass, and what is more humble than a beast of burden? Yet He, who was rich and who is borne upon the backs of Cherubim, was not ashamed to sit upon a foal as if upon a throne. For He fulfilled the prophecy—
c Ephes. I, 21. d Isa. XLII, 2.
long ago foretold in the Spirit: “Tell,” He says, “the daughter of Sion: Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and sitting upon a foal, the son of a beast of burden.” A Was any greater humility ever seen among those who are admired for their glory? Is there any abjection among men more profound than this humility? Did you not shudder, whoever you are, upon hearing that He who sits above the Seraphim was carried by a foal? But come now, learn also the interpretation and be assured of the dispensation, so that, having understood the power of the mystery, you may worship the foreknowledge of the Lord.
It was destined that He who takes away the sin of the world B—He, I say, who did not even disdain to recline in a manger of brute beasts—should take away our brutish affection. It also aptly prefigured the calling of the nations, who were already expecting Him, as one who had already appeared as “the consolation of Israel” and a long-awaited “light of salvation for the revelation of the nations.” From among these, as many as bowed their own necks and received Him as He came, and placed the Lord entirely upon themselves, they openly strove the more eagerly to manifest the truth hitherto concealed within themselves, if by any means the Word, sitting upon them, might liberate them from their former brutish affection. Furthermore, beloved, by the garments which the crowd spread before the Word, you should understand those veils which, through ignorance, darkened the mind. By these is rightly figured that veil of the Jews which lies upon their hearts and is not uncovered, because it is made void in Christ. C For, as the admirable Paul says: “When Moses is read, a veil is laid upon their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” I judge that those people at that time also, having rightly taken it from themselves, spread it before the Word, as He, by His symbolic mounting of the beast, was removing from them their brutish and, as it were, animal-like ignorance.
But the garments which the disciples placed upon the foal clearly signify, I think, the virtues which come to them through the Spirit; as many, of course, as cover the nakedness of our shame—we who are from the nations—and weave for us knowledge in Christ, so that we may bear God as if in an image, and carry Him entirely within us, being entirely clothed and adorned by Him. D This could not be brought to fulfillment in us unless we had firmly resolved in our souls to suffer and bear for Christ all those things which Christ Himself, for our sake and in our stead, suffered from those who did not know the majesty of His mystery.
Come therefore, let us also run together with Him as He hastens toward His passion, and let us imitate those who went to meet Him; not by strewing branches of olives, or tapestries, or household goods, or palm leaves on His path, but by strewing ourselves as...
A a possession accessible to the humility of our soul and the uprightness of our mind, that we may receive the Word, and that God, who is contained by nothing, may be contained within us. For He rejoices in becoming thus meek to us—He who is meek and “has ascended upon the setting” of our lowly state—both to come and to converse, and to lead back and to bring up to Himself by the word of their connaturality. Although He is said to have “ascended upon the heaven of heaven toward the east” according to the first-fruits of our composition, this is, I think, a matter of His own glory and divinity; yet, being a lover of mankind, He will not cease until, having raised the human nature from the dust from glory to glory, He shows it to be exalted with Himself. Thus must we strew ourselves before Christ, not with tunics or lifeless branches and the shoots of plants—an ephemeral material that for a few hours delights the sight—but we must clothe ourselves with His grace, or rather with Himself entirely; for “as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ,” our tunics stretching out in His honor. And as those who were previously crimson-stained by sin, but who have since attained the whiteness of wool through the cleansing of saving baptism, let us bring not palm branches, but the trophies of victory to the Victor over death. Let us also today say with the children that sacred B voice, waving the spiritual branches of the soul: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.”
Whither and whence is He coming? To us, and from the Father; from the highest to the earthly; to the cross, from the miracle concerning Lazarus. These are matters of His good pleasure, those of His power. When, and for what purpose? In the fullness of time, and for our salvation. For “once, at the end of the ages,” He voluntarily chose death for the sake of men, that He might save man, He who, through an excess of love for mankind, became man. For the cross was the final stage of His pilgrimage on earth. If, therefore, as the discourse has swiftly demonstrated, we come to meet Christ today and strew ourselves before Him, we will be able to receive all of Him within us—He who is constantly being sacrificed for us without being immolated (for He is sacrificed in anti-typical C symbols) and who is— D [alt-version omitted]
A substantially housed in us as in a home; as bread, I say, indeed eaten, but as a lamb understood. And that the same things may happen to us as to those whom that theological thunder mentioned in the Gospels.
For he says: "On the next day" (clearly after the divine work demonstrated by Him in the resurrection of Lazarus) "a great crowd that had come to the festival, having heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palms, and went out to meet Him, and were crying out saying, 'Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.'" B Oh, the praise! Oh, the symphony! This voice is the voice of the Spirit; this is the teaching of wisdom from above, not the rudiments of human learning. For even if a certain dissonance might have seemed to exist—the harmonious sound being split among such a multitude—this is not that, but rather prophecy, not an unbridled mouth nor [a matter of] conspiracy. For the crowds, moved by the divine Spirit to the fulfillment of one word, preluded with a consonant voice the one song of theology; not one emitting one voice and another another, but all equally acclaiming with uniform voices, saying: "Hosanna; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel." As if they were saying what Nathanael had said before to Philip, when he pointed out to him the Christ—not prophesying, but speaking the truth: C "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel."
Do you see how much the Spirit bestows? Do you see how much He grants to children, acting as legislator and teaching what they had not learned? See also unlettered men endowed with knowledge greater than what oratorical skill can provide; while old men, who prided themselves greatly on wisdom and extensive learning, are suddenly shown to be foolish and lacking in the Mosaic Law. They came, therefore, to question Him. Why did they fall into such blindness, so that they could not be wise like children, nor could they, like unlettered men, glimpse the light of the truth? Tell me, D you dull and slow of heart, whence was this great wisdom granted to infants who did not yet know how to form words with their tongue? Whence were the mysteries of theology implanted in the crowds? They sang the hymns of angels with the angels; they glorified Him with the Cherubim; they praised Him with the Seraphim, offering that terrible hymn not with fiery lips, but with lips of clay, to Him who came down from heaven to us for our sake, about to undergo death for us and in our place. For what, indeed, were they saying? "Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." Do you see those rendered heavenly...
land-dwellers, and those who sing the praises of God in a manner A equal to the Seraphim? For what is more paradoxical than that the unlearned should sing that terrifying manifestation on earth along with the choir above, so that even men might dance for joy with the angels on earth? But what is more miserable than to have remained deaf to these things, and, instead of changing this blindness, to have even acquired greater blindness, and, what is more grievous than this, to have reached such a pitch of shamelessness as to dare to silence those who were singing the praises of these things in so divine and seraphic a manner? "For seeing," he says, "the chief priests and the scribes, the wonders that Jesus did, and the children crying out: Hosanna to the Son of David, they were indignant, and said to him: Do you hear what these are saying? But Jesus says to them: Yes. Have you never read: Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes you have perfected praise?" You, he says, have not displayed the understanding of infants, let alone of sensible men. And if nothing else, you should have stood in awe of your own grey hairs, and shown respect for those who were speaking in the Spirit.
B "And leaving them, he says, he went out of the city into Bethany, and lodged there." For because when they heard from the mouths of infants the Most High being praised on earth as in the highest, they stopped their ears and hearts so as not to hear or understand what was written concerning him; for this reason, leaving them, he went out of the city, so that that which Isaiah says might come to pass: "And their house was filled with smoke." By "their house" he truly means the Synagogue, from which, when the Light, Christ, having left them, went out, the light was indeed extinguished, and it was filled with smoke, of the kind that draws shadows over the visual faculty of the soul. For this is what smoke becomes to those who are blind in their mind. And smoke, as the Psalmist says, C is a weapon of wrath: "Smoke went up in his wrath." But where did he go? "Into Bethany," which is interpreted metaphorically as the house of obedience. For because the Jews, having had their minds darkened, were blinded, he left them and went into the house of obedience; in which we Gentiles, for a time having lingered outside like those dwelling apart from the civic understanding of true knowledge—wandering, as it were, and without a city at that time, and not yet having been made citizens of that holy and divinely-trodden land—I mean of that new Jerusalem, whose entry is the vision of peace D for those who enter through the sacrament of baptism. For having been cleansed by the laver of regeneration of the stains of the soul, we no longer have those sins from them fighting against us. But by the contemplation of the mind toward Christ,
A viewing the one who is the peace, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, we properly become and are called [citizens of peace]. And as for the children of the Jews, whoever have not willed for their mind to be illuminated by the light of Christ, let them wail and lament, filled with smoke and tears. For this is what usually happens to those who approach sensible smoke. But as for us, as many as have been illuminated by that light and have cast off the dim-sightedness introduced by sin, let us go forth eagerly to the encounter. Let us leave Sodom, let us flee the unspeakable deeds of Gomorrah, let us be saved in the mountain, let us descend into Segor as the sun sets. Let the humility of the Lord be our Segor, through which, being immense in His divinity, He became the smallest in the participation of human nature that we share, and He who sits on the Cherubic throne, invisible to the Seraphim, B has sat upon a foal, the son of a beast of burden. Let nothing of those things that steal and withdraw the senses dampen our eagerness: not a wife we have recently taken, not a field newly purchased, not the fear of the Pharisees, not the reverence for the Scribes, not the anger of Caiaphas. Let nothing small or great dampen this, our course toward piety; but as friends and disciples and followers of Christ, let us go to meet Christ. It is good for us to meet Christ with the same earnestness, and to be His companions as He hastens toward His passion. It is pleasant to see the King, meek as upon a small wagon, sitting upon a foal, and choosing of His own accord to die for those who treat Him well. Let pride fall, and every swelling of arrogance, C seeing God made humble in the flesh, and hastening toward the passion. Hades saw Him asking, "Where have you laid Lazarus?" and thinking Him to be a mere man who was asking, he stumbled against the Divinity; and terrified by the voice of the One commanding, he vomited forth involuntarily, at that very hour, the very one whom he had shortly before plundered with tyrannical force. For he could not resist the voice of the Lord. For as soon as He shouted who had plundered his spoils, that one, leaving behind the prey, withdrew D to the last recess, having nowhere to hide, struck with fear. Have you seen what the height of humility can accomplish? Therefore, let us be humble, let us be poor, that we may become wealthy. Let us taste the cross, that we may partake of the sweetness of life.
A Let us also say to Christ, let us say: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel." Let us wave before him as though they were palm branches, the highest sayings concerning the cross. Let us celebrate him, not with branches of olive trees, but with ovations of almsgiving towards one another. Let us spread out before his feet, like garments, the desires of our heart, so that, having walked within us, he may become wholly within us, and may show us all to be in him, and him all to be in us. Let us say to Zion the prophetic proclamation: "Take courage, daughter of Zion, do not be afraid; behold, your King comes to you, meek, and sitting upon a colt, the foal of a beast of burden." He comes who is present everywhere and fills all things, that he may work salvation in you through all things. He comes, "who did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," that he may recall those who are wanderers through sin. Do not be afraid, therefore. "God is in your midst, and you shall not be shaken." B Receive with open hands him who painted your walls upon his own hands. Receive him who founded your foundations upon his palms. Receive him who took upon himself all that is ours, without sin, that he might bestow upon his own things that which is ours. Rejoice, mother city Zion, do not be afraid. "Celebrate your festivals." Honor him with mercy, who has come to us in you. And you yourself rejoice exceedingly, daughter of Jerusalem; sing praise, leap for joy. "Be enlightened, be enlightened" (in this manner we cry out to you with Isaiah, that sacred trumpet), "for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." C What light is this? Surely, "that which enlightens every man coming into the world." The light which is eternal; the light which is timeless and yet displayed in time; the light which is manifest in the flesh and yet hidden by nature; the light which shone around the shepherds and was the guide for the Magi. The light which was in the world from the beginning, and the world was made through it, and the world did not know it; the light which came into its own, and its own did not receive it. What is the glory of the Lord? It is the cross, evidently, in which Christ was glorified, the radiance of the Father's glory, just as he himself said when the passion was impending: "Now the Son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in him, and he will immediately glorify him." By "glory" here he means the lifting up on the cross. For the cross is the glory of Christ, and indeed his exaltation. D For he says: "When I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself." Therefore, let no one hesitate, nor shrink from accompanying Christ to the prophet-slaying Jerusalem.
A I do not mean this, our new [Jerusalem], the antitype of our heavenly habitation, but the city that grew old through its strange, unholy deeds. The latter is a debtor of prophetic blood; the former is a servant of the Master’s miracles. The latter is trampled by profane feet; the former is worshipped by the feet of the Master. The latter reeks of blood-sacrifices; the former breathes the fragrance of the Master’s sacrifice.
Therefore, let us enter together, as Christ ascends to it. Let us run ahead with the crowds; let us acclaim him with those who acclaim him; let us sing with the children. Like branches, let us meet him with good works; like palm leaves, let us receive him with lives honestly composed. Let the Jews rage; let Annas and Caiaphas burst asunder; let the Pharisees be rent—or if they wish, let them rend not their garments, but the very senses of their bodies, concerning which the divine David sings: "They were rent, and were not pricked." B Let them say to their own, seeing the glory of the Lord and unable to bear the acclamations of the crowds for him: "Do you see that you are accomplishing nothing? The whole world has gone after him." Let them speak of their own folly; let them proclaim their own failure, saying: "Do you see that you are accomplishing nothing?" O the apathy! O the hardness! O the blindness! They see him celebrated by divine proclamations, and closing their eyes, they are willfully blinded. "Do you see," he says, "that you are accomplishing nothing?" He does not say this to the crowds—to as many as had received him through knowledge and had, by grace, become partakers of faith in him—but to themselves and those who held the same mindset as them, the people-deceiving high priests who were inciting the crowds and who were shamelessly attempting to stop their mouths, as it were. For they had indeed threatened and given orders that anyone who called him Christ should be expelled from the synagogue. "Do you see," he says, "that you are accomplishing nothing?" This is a voice as if blaming the high priests, because they had not killed him a long time before, before he went up...
C
Notes of Combefis
D [...] [alt-version omitted] (51) *Is worshipped by the feet of the Master.* Namely, by the Master's footsteps, and because the Lord walks in her; in the way that our new Jerusalem possesses a certain holiness, by reason of which it can be adored, in the same way as other sacred things having a more particular relation to God. For the Lord Jesus truly walks in us, not only in that he remains in us and in his Church, that new Jerusalem, by invisible grace until the consummation of the age: but also in that, from the consecration, he holds his own body and blood, such as they are from the resurrection: so that he is, of course, entirely contained in individual symbols, and is held as if enclosed. How these words of Eutychius related [in the archiepiscopal...] are to be understood, although I think it should be read, Euthymius. For so truly, and substanially, as Andreas said a little above, in that sacrament, and it is with us, and as it were walks in our midst most particularly; when especially with solemn pomp in such symbols and [antitypes...] or as Andreas said: it is led, and as it were goes around the camps of the Church; as yesterday, on the octave of the most solemn memory of such a sacrament, it was permitted to adore [it] proceeding almost everywhere in the Christian world.
(52) *They were rent, and were not pricked.* Vulgate: *Dissipati sunt* [They were scattered], but it was so consequently to render the mind of Andrew: Aquila, *Errēxan*, and they were not silent. And those [...] but *aporrhēxantes* [renting asunder], they did not rest.
A Much earlier than when He raised Lazarus, had you killed Him. For if this had happened by chance, the affairs of Judea would not have been brought to this state. And how would the voices of the prophets have been fulfilled? And yet, you having often wished to lay hands upon Him, you did not dare. "For His hour had not yet come." "You see," He says, "that you benefit nothing? Behold, the whole world has gone after Him." And if the whole world has gone after the light, why do you not also, having cast aside the darkness of ignorance, run after the light? Why do you not, together with the sun of righteousness that shines forth, run, passing over the shadow in the letter and in types? Why do you not, having removed the veil of blindness, hasten toward the light of truth? "Behold," He says, "the whole world has gone after Him." B What then? Are you not of the world? And why, then, breaking yourselves off from the whole world, do you not cease to be tossed about by the storm? Or rather, run with the world to that Savior of the world, so that you may not be condemned with the world. With what world? Surely with that which did not recognize its Creator, nor understand Him who was proclaimed before by the prophets and by all divinely-inspired Scripture, who is the expectation of the nations and the consolation of Israel. "Do you see that you benefit nothing? Behold, the whole world has gone after Him." And if they benefit nothing, your madness is in vain, your zeal is for naught, your impulse is useless. But if the whole world has gone after Him, why do you not also, following the world, run along? Unless, perhaps, you say that you do not have your origin from the world, C nor are subject to the providence by which the world is governed, but possess some other cause and nature, which silently sketches out "chance" but openly introduces impiety.
But let those men rave, pelted by their own blasphemous words as if by stones, wounding and being wounded by their own malice. For such are the attempts of such men. But we, the flock of Christ, whom the Father has sanctified, and the Son has likewise called, and the Holy Spirit has sealed through the divine laver of baptism—come, having shaken off the Jewish errors and opinions, let us run toward the one, unerring faith of the Church, which is truly safe and active; believing in Him who is to come, who is Christ, the grace and the truth, through whom we have known the Father, and have had access to Him, D and have received the Holy Spirit. For, being thus illuminated in mind, and always intensifying our desire for Him, we shall be able everywhere and always to be with Him and to follow Him, and wheresoever the Incomprehensible wills to go, to adhere to Him indivisibly, and with eager constancy to suffer with Him and for His sake, if there should be anything to suffer. And even if He rises from the dead, to rise with Him, and to be glorified with Him, and to reign with Him in that kingdom which is unshakable and endless. This is the reward; this is the wealth which communion with Christ bestows. Thus Christ repays those who adhere to Him. Such is the magnificence Christ uses toward His disciples. Shall we not also be able to add something to these words, by way of seasoning, for the caution of the simpler ones?
Indeed, there might perhaps be some benefit for them to draw from these good things, and it may lead their mind toward a more intense longing for the love of Christ. A
Come then, beloved, incline your ear to me and learn the moral power of this discourse. For it is possible for one who desires it earnestly to receive and imitate the sufferings of Christ, and to traverse all the sacred instructions and actions of Christ, by which He certainly cleansed the deformities within us, and consumed with His own sufferings for our sake the stains that had grown upon us from sin. Do you wish, therefore, beloved, to celebrate the feast joyfully, and to meet and be joined to Christ, who is hastening toward His passion, with splendid character? Assume for yourself an intelligible image, the contemplation mystically formed in your heart, and depict for me the representation of the things that happened then. Imagine yourself to be present with Christ as He makes His journey toward Bethany. Join yourself to the company of the disciples. Consider how He reached the monument of the deceased. Imagine that you see Lazarus, and Lazarus’s weeping sisters; and that you see all those things done there as if they were actually happening. Then, from there, follow Christ and be a companion of the Victor, waving the symbols of victory along with the crowd. Be one of those who lead with honor, and strive with an equal pace to those who follow as companions. Show forth that the palm branches represent a life established according to virtue. Make your hands, extended for mercy, the branches of olive trees. Do not lay down fleshly garments for Him, as if they were coverings for One who covers the heaven with clouds; B but rather, fitting your whole self by faith to Him who was made flesh entirely for your sake, put on the whole Christ as a garment, and receive Him who comes to you and hastens toward His passion. If you wish, behave as a colt, showing a youthful—or rather, fresh—alacrity of spirit within a mature mind. Carry Christ as He arrives in Jerusalem.
Perhaps, however, you will ask: "How shall I become a colt, being a rational being?" You will indeed become one, if you wish it. Have you not heard David singing: "I was made as a beast of burden before Thee"? Imitate the colt; or rather, become a colt through the simplicity of your will. And just as that animal followed those who had been sent to Bethphage to untie and bring it, in no way contradicting them, but only inclining itself to its leaders: so too you, C submit yourself to the One who trains you to choose the humility of Christ, resisting nothing, and you will truly be a colt of Christ, freed from every brutish affection of a beast of burden. Do not walk upon the earth of worldly thinking; do not be bent over by a load, as if burdened by the weight of irrational passions; but walk upon the garments of active works, and be carried above the pleasures of the flesh; and furthermore, trample underfoot the empty puffery of all vain glory. Thus does one become a colt of Christ. Thus is one rendered a vehicle for Him who has the Cherubim as His seat. Be like the children of the Hebrews. D
A Become a child in malice. Exchange the whiteness of grey hair for the simplicity of an infant. Grey hair is of no avail if simplicity is wanting. Run together with the multitude. With the crowds, accompanying the crowds, wait upon the Lord. Take up a prophetic mouth; dance, sing, glorify Him who advances you from glory to glory. Become Zion, the watchtower, I say, of the contemplative life. Become a Jerusalem-like soul, a city truly of God, a city glorified, that you may receive Christ coming in to you. “For behold, He comes to you, meek and saving,” B not boasting of His benefit. Open wide the gates of your lips. With the children, sing, saying: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” Make your heart a furnished upper room, so that you may receive Christ to eat that supper with you: not that one at the house of Lazarus, but the mystical one, which expresses the image of the spiritual sacrifice. This supper is a sacrament; the other is filled with tears. There, a woman anoints C with ointment; here, Christ sanctifies Himself for our sake. There, a woman washes away great sins with a few tears; here, Christ washes the feet of the disciples, for a demonstration of exalted humility. Here, Christ bestows the inexhaustible participation of the bread and the new cup; there, Judas, dissuading the pouring out of the ointment, treasures up in his ulcerated soul the sale of the Lamb.
But see to it that, while dining with Christ, you are not dragged away by Judas, in being drawn to value the price of the ointment. And do not give assent to him who, while not actually caring for the poor, gives bad advice; for the poor are not his concern. He is a liar and a miser, D and he thinks, perhaps, to hide from the suspicion of those who see him that he is stealing what is cast into the money-box. For this reason he feigns sympathy for the poor, playing the part, under the guise of love for the poor, of a robber and of one who unjustly defrauds. If he shall say, “Why this great waste of the ointment? For this could have been sold for much, and given to the poor,” recoil from him, or rather, receive his words with laughter, lifting up your mind toward the burial of Him who became poor for our sake. And if you are eating the mystical supper, do not reach out your hand into the dish with Christ, nor be headlong, despising the Master. If He shall say, “One of you will betray me,” do not leap forward, do not become bold. Humble yourself with the humble.
Practice silence with the silent. And if you are questioned, answer gently to Him who knows all things, and do not think yourself wiser than others, lest you yourself hear, “You have said it,” and what the Scripture says: “Your own mouth shall reprove you, and not I; and your own lips shall testify against you.” But let the discourse proceed to the rest.
The Supper
Therefore, the one supper there was Pharisaical, but here it is mystical. A Here is a basin, representing the height of humility in a symbol; there, tears washing away the stains of the soul. There, hair wiping the Lord’s feet, by which hell was trampled down and brought low by the gatekeeper of death; here, a towel wiping the feet, which grace had received in preparation of the Gospel of peace. There, a Pharisee; here, “a certain man” bearing a pitcher of water. “Who is this ‘certain man’?” It is the soul of each one of us. “And what is the pitcher?” The corrupt vessel of sin, I mean the body. “What is the water?” The purification that is through faith. B “What is the upper room?” The heavenly mind. “What is that which is spread?” The cessation from outward disturbances, the rest of the spirit of the meek. “What is the Passover?” The transition from things subject to the senses to spiritual things. “Who is the one who sent?” Christ. “Who are the ones sent?” Two of the disciples. “And who are these two?” The Old and the New Testament; or, it would not be burdensome to say, the perfection of contemplation and action, in which and through which Christ celebrates the Passover. “Where and with whom?” In the soul prepared in this way. “What Passover?” The legal, and the mystical, if you wish. The one by contemplation, the other by action. We eat the one as a lamb; C the other we receive as bread, and as a sacrifice, and as the propitiatory offering for the whole world.
And who is so blessed as to become such as the discourse has described? Who has prepared his own heart as an upper room, so that he might receive Christ reclining, and delivering this great sacrament to the disciples? Who is found at the supper of Christ, offering up his own life for a banquet to Him who said: “My food is to do the will of my Father who is in heaven”? He who is such as this imitates that “certain man,” and receives Christ, and shall perceive the reasons of the more sublime mysteries. Who is so fervent in faith as to be D eager to suffer with Christ that desirable and blessed passion, so that when he hears Him foretelling to the disciples: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock Him, and shall kill Him, and on the third day He shall rise again,” he may immediately cast away every worldly attachment behind him, and emulate his own Master, willingly [submitting] all things to Him
to suffer for His sake whatever He Himself suffered for us; for He did not suffer for His own sake, but to set before us a pattern and standard of fortitude and humility, so that we might not collapse in any of our afflictions.
By what reasoning? Yield me your hearing, that you may apprehend the power of what is being said. Has someone reviled you? Do not be indignant. For Christ, who is Master and God, and higher than suffering, not only endured reviling, but was beaten with rods. Have you received a grave injury from a neighbor? Yet Christ also endured blows on the face. Have you been treated with contumely? He, indeed, was even spat upon, and wore a cloak in mockery. Have you been seized by your hair? Yet Christ was crowned with thorns. Have you been disgraced? Yet Christ was also mocked; and according to what Isaiah says: "He was disgraced and not esteemed." Have you been struck by a hand? Yet Christ also was slapped, and His head was struck with a reed. Have you been whipped? Yet Christ was also scourged. Have you been cuffed? Christ was also crucified, B His hands and feet pierced with nails. And not only this, but even while crucified, He prayed for those who were crucifying Him. How much heavier are these things than ours! How much more unbearable and bitter are the sufferings of Christ than our own! There is nothing of those things that have ever happened—there is nothing—that can be compared to the sufferings of Christ. For our sufferings, being as they are utterly paltry and nothing—save that they are the sufferings of sinful and mortal men, who are subject to change, and generation, and moral choice—it is beyond any speech to say how incomparably they are surpassed by the sufferings of Christ. For they are of a Master who is un-kinged, of a God who is sinless, of a God who is immutable, immortal, “with whom there is no variation, nor shadow of turning.” And yet, even if “He takes away our sins, and sorrows for us,” yet He Himself “did no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth.” For He is altogether “righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,” and the expeller of all C sin.
See, therefore, how far the sufferings of Christ surpass our own; and do not look at the magnitude of the suffering, but fear the dignity of Him who suffers. Transfer your mind to that. Consider how great a difference it makes to see a mere man hanging from a gallows, and to see God fixed to a cross, and that in the midst of thieves. Consider who among men would ever have chosen to endure such things as Christ voluntarily came into the world to suffer. And when, moreover? After divine signs, after healings, after those unheard-of removals of diseases, after the delivery of the divine mysteries, after the benefits by which never [at any time did He cease to improve those who approached Him; the…] D
B drafting the letters of remission of sins for those in need, for some legislating forgiveness, while for others removing condemnation. Why should I not also introduce the evils which He subsequently risked? I mean the trials before the cross, the sale, the betrayal, the kiss deceitful of a disciple indeed, but of a renegade, of a sheep indeed, but of a wolf; the attack with swords and clubs, the arrival before Caiaphas, the false testimonies, the examination before the tribunal, the outcry which the Jews, inciting the crowds, shouted aloud: "Crucify, crucify Him"; the scourgings, the mocks, the spittings, the slaps, the crown of thorns, the scarlet cloak, the leading away to the place of the Skull. And what of the things upon the cross? The nails, the bonds, the crucifixion upon the wood, the vinegar, the gall, the spear, the casting of lots over the garments, their division, the reproaches upon the cross, with some there mocking and shaking their heads, and saying such things as these: "He saved others; Himself He cannot save"; and others: "If He is the King of Israel, let Him save Himself"; others: "Vah, You Who destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, Yourself You cannot save"; others: "Let be, let us see if Elijah comes to save Him"; others: "If He is the Son of God, let Him descend from the cross, and we will believe in Him." C Do these things seem to you small for an example of humility? Or have you remained silent, having attained even in the slightest the measure of only one of the sufferings that occurred to Christ? By no means, I say. But Christ, having suffered so many and so great things, remained silent. And what of the things after the cross, how fearful and wondrous? For instance, the sky darkened from above, the air becoming gloomy, the sun being darkened, the moon turning to a black color, the earth shaking, the deep abyss and the underworld compressed, mountains splitting, tombs sending up the dead, and all such extraordinary things of that time. By which, being convicted and taught that it was God who was suffering, they ought to have changed their minds and recognized what was fitting through such strange occurrences; yet, having nothing better than their malice, they did not become miserable in the least, but proceeded to the worse. I omit to mention their wicked attempts after Christ was buried, the guard at the tomb, the sealing of the stone, the deceitful conspiracy after the resurrection, the spread-about seduction: "We remembered that that deceiver said while still alive, 'After three days I rise.' Command therefore the sepulcher to be sealed until the third day." And again: "Say that while we were sleeping, His disciples came by night and stole Him away." D Consider, O man, how many are the sufferings of my Christ and God, by which He consumed my passions and vices. How many fountains of benefits stagnate for me from thence, how many salutary remedies. How much that good Shepherd endured at the hands of the Jews for two days, He who laid down His life for us His sheep, before the passion, after
the passion, from the day of His manifestation in Israel! A At one time they said, "You have a demon," at another, "He is a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners," at another, "He breaks the Law and profanes the Sabbath," and at another, "He is a Samaritan and the son of a carpenter," and all that is contained in the Gospels. Where shall we place the ambush on the brow of the mountain, the mockeries, the temptations, the insidious questions? Thence that question: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?" Thence that question regarding the one woman who had seven husbands, in order to ensnare Christ. There, "By what authority do You do these things?" Here, "What sign do You show us, that we might believe You?" Elsewhere, "How long do You keep our souls in suspense? If You are the Son of God, tell us plainly." How many things, B against the meek, the humble, and the legislator of gentleness, did the insolent and Christ-fighting men arrogantly concoct! Against Him, I say, who changed water into wine for them, who lived among them, who ate with them, who consoled them, who called back the Samaritans, who justified the tax-gatherers, who led harlots to virginity, who dried up fluxes of blood, who cast out demons, who cleansed the lepers, who healed the lame here and the bowed there, who raised up the woman who was bent over toward the ground, who strengthened the paralytics, who made whole the withered hand, who granted hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, and speech to the dumb—doing some things by Himself, and others through His disciples; who walked upon the sea, who fed thousands with a few loaves, who raised the dead with a word. Would that He might also make us alive in Himself—we who are dead in our trespasses and the desires of deceit—by the grace and mercies of His philanthropy toward us! Through whom and with whom, to the Father, [be] glory and honor and worship, with His all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto all the infinite ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION X
On the universal Exaltation of the precious and life-giving Cross
We celebrate the festival of the Cross, and the whole multitude of the Church is illuminated. We celebrate the festival of the Cross, and the face of the world D glitters with the radiance of joy. We celebrate the festival of the Cross, through which darkness was chased away and light brought back. We celebrate the festival of the Cross, and together...
with the One who was crucified we are A lifted up, leaving the earth below with sin, so that we may possess the things above. The Cross is raised, and it lifts up with it human nature which lay upon the ground, and it terrifies the arrogance of the demons. The Cross is raised and the power of Satan, our adversary, collapses, retreats, and shrinks away. The Cross is raised, and the fullness of the Church gathers. The Cross is raised, and cities celebrate festivals, and peoples offer up joyful libations. Indeed, to remember the Cross is a manifest cause for joy and an abatement of sorrow.
But how significant is it to behold the figure of the Cross? For it makes the one who gazes upon it brave, and delivers them from fear. Such and so great is the possession of the Cross; and whoever possesses it, possesses a treasure. You perhaps think I am speaking of a treasure of gold, or of pearls and precious Indian stones, in which those who are devoted to their bodies, and who think of nothing noble, take delight—trifling over things of no value. But I would rightly call that thing which is the most beautiful of all blessings, in reality and in name, a treasure; in which, and through which, and for which, the sum of our salvation has been stored up and restored to its original state. For if there were no Cross, Christ would not have been crucified. If there were no Cross, the Life would not have been nailed to the tree. If He had not been nailed, B streams of immortality would not have flowed from His side—blood and water, the cleansing agents of the world—the handwriting of sin would not have been torn up, we would not have attained to liberty, we would not have enjoyed the tree of life, paradise would not have been opened, the revolving sword would not have retreated from the way to Eden, and the thief would not have dwelt in paradise.
Why do I linger over these things? If there were no Cross, Christ would not have been on earth; and if Christ were not on earth, there would be no Virgin, no second generation of Christ; God would not have taken on humanity; there would be no birth, no manger, no swaddling clothes, no circumcision on the eighth day, no obedience rendered to parents, no progression of age, no growth of body, no manifestation, no participation in baptism, no display of miracles, no Judas the traitor, no Pilate passing judgment, no audacity of the Jews clamoring for the innocent one to be crucified. And if there were no Cross, death would not have been trodden down, Hades would not have been despoiled, C the bitter serpent would not have been deadened. For this reason, the Cross is a great and precious thing. Great, because many good things have been accomplished through it—and all the more so, to the extent that the miracles and sufferings of Christ possess the trophies of victory over everything. And precious, because the Cross is God's passion and trophy: a passion, because of the voluntary death of the Passion upon it; a trophy, because the devil was wounded upon it, and death was conquered with him; and the bolts of Hades were shattered, and the Cross became the common salvation of the whole world.
The Cross is the hope of Christians, the savior of those in despair, a harbor for those tossed by the storm, D a physician for the sick, a...
A guide for the wayward,restorer of health, life for the dead, a blueprint for piety, a bridle for blasphemy. The Cross is a weapon against enemies, a scepter of royalty, a crown of beauty, an unwritten archetype, a rod of power, a buttress of faith, a staff for old age, a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, a tutor for the senseless, a teacher for children, a destruction of sin, a sign of repentance, a pattern of justice. The Cross is a ladder leading to heaven, a path leading to virtue, a provider of life, a dissolution of death, a removal of corruption, an extinguisher of fire, a boldness toward God, a key to the kingdom of heaven. The Cross is a guard by night, a tower by day, a leader in darkness, a bridle in prosperity, a comforter in sorrow, an intercessor, a suppliant, a friend, an advocate, a shield-bearer, an ally. The Cross is a helper in temptations, a savior in dangers, a consoler in distresses, a helper in needs, a helmsman on the sea, a relief in calamities. The Cross keeps watch over those who sleep, keeps vigil with those who are awake, and assists those who are weary. The Cross is strength for the failing, repose for the toiling, food for the hungry, vigor for those fasting, a trainer for athletes, a covering for the naked, a fellow traveler for those who are strangers. The Cross is a moderator for the wealthy, a provider for the poor, a guardian of widows, an aid and nurse for orphans. The Cross is the honor of princes, the power of kings, the victory of generals, the seal of purity, the bond of marriage. The Cross is the guardian of cities, the safety of homes, the joiner of friendships, a B defense against enemies, an opponent of foes, a driver away of nations, a thorn to barbarians, an arbiter of peace. The Cross is the steward of love, the reconciliation of the world, the delineation of the ends, the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, the cohesion of creation, the length of the visible, the breadth of the inhabited world; and to speak briefly, the Cross is the sum of Christ’s passions, the crown of the miracles wrought for us.
This is also called the glory of Christ, and is styled the exaltation of Christ. This is also understood as the desirable cup, and the conclusion of the sufferings which Christ endured for us. But that the Cross is the glory of Christ, hear Him saying: «Now the Son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him, and He will immediately glorify Him.» And again: «Glorify me, O Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.» And again: «Father, glorify Thy name. There came therefore a voice from heaven: I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.» By glory here, He means the change C and sympathy of the elements which then came about at the time of the Cross. For it was fitting that the creatures should sympathize with the Creator. And that the Cross is also the exaltation of Christ...
hear what He Himself says: "When I am lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself." A And in another place He says: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." Why? "That everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." Do you see that the Cross is the glory and lifting up of Christ?
Do you wish to learn that here is the lifting up, and there the glory follows? Hear David saying: "Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and let Thy glory be over all the earth." And again Isaiah, as if from the person of Christ: "Now I will arise, says the Lord, now I will be exalted, now I will be glorified." Since, therefore, exaltation is glory, and the Cross is exalted today, Christ is certainly also glorified. For since the Cross of Christ is glory, today the Cross is exalted, so that Christ may be glorified. It is not that Christ is exalted so that the Cross may be glorified, but the Cross is exalted so that Christ may be glorified. And Christ is glorified so that He may lift us up together with Himself. B Therefore, the Cross is exalted, and it lifts up the mind of the pious. Christ is glorified, and He glorifies those who glorify Him. The Cross is exalted, and it brings down the pride of the demons. Christ is glorified, and He puts to shame the author of evil, the serpent. The Cross is exalted, and it raises up the fallen. Christ is glorified, and He cleanses the shame of those who fell because of sin. The Cross is exalted, and idols fall. Christ is glorified, and the devil is stricken. The Cross is exalted, not only because Christ was exalted upon it, but because, having been manifested, it refuted C the insanity of the Jews. Whence manifested? Under the emperors who believed in Christ, not as some have formerly pretended, leading many into error by the ornaments of discourse, but by divine and untainted power, and truly by the mechanism and solidity of faith: for it was God's treasure. For after He died on the Cross, the Lord of life and death rose again on the third day; and the Jews, goaded by the stings of envy and struck by fear, lest anything of those venerable and sacred instruments of D His passion should survive—to the Jews for vengeance, and to those who serve Christ as a fortress—in their...
A lurking-places of the earth, they had buried the treasure. I mean the Cross, and all things pertaining to the Cross: I mean the nails, and the lance, and what Pilate wrote and affixed as a title upon the Cross.
Then, when God had entrusted the royal scepters and the whole Roman empire to the Christians, it pleased Him, at that moment, through a pious woman—a royal woman, a woman having a queenly spirit, while her son was then reigning as Emperor of the Christians—to adorn, so to speak, the woman with divine joys, and without difficulty B to instruct her with such wisdom, that she might act with royal severity in some matters and with common powers of persuasion in others, and demonstrate all those things that could bend the unyielding heart of the Jews. And so, as the queen sought it, the common treasure was revealed; God quickly offered that gift to the woman: I mean this Cross of the Lord, which is today exalted throughout the whole world, with which also were managed all the things wherein that blessed and world-saving passion was accomplished. For this reason, therefore, we keep festival today; for this reason we celebrate, because the holy object, hidden of old, has been made manifest today; because the treasure hidden in secret flashed forth like gold from the mines of the earth; because the most distinguished labarum of the Christian empire, which had been buried, was uncovered; C because the whirlwind of the demons grew calm upon the appearing of the Cross; because the sword, forged of itself against the enemies, has been made manifest from the earth; because the Church has recovered her proper adornment; because the royal power has found the drachma which she had lost. This is the Cross of Christ, the Lord’s sign, the armor of salvation, the royal power, the trophy of victory, the medium between things above and things below, the array of those of steadfast faith, the apostolic summit and the watchful dioptra, the crown of the martyrs, the earnest-money of those who worship Christ.
For since the Cross, Christ is worshipped; since the Cross, the Son of God is known; since the Cross, we worship the Son D with the Father; since the Cross, the things of the Jews have ceased, the things of the Greeks have been quenched, the things of the Christians have risen; the air has been hallowed, we have been delivered from the blood of the altars, and we partake of the spiritual fragrance of the poured-out myrrh...
A Since the cross, the mythical theogonies have vanished into thin air; since the cross, we have known the mystery of the divine birth of Jesus among us; since the cross, we have learned of the super-essential Beginning that proceeded from the beginningless Beginning; since the cross, we have been taught faith in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and have shaken off the manifold corruption of Greek myth-making. Since the cross, we have cast off the shadows of typical symbols and have been reconciled in the light of truth by grace. Since the cross, death has been held in contempt, demons have been struck with awe, idols have been broken, animal sacrifices have ceased, and idol temples have been razed. Everywhere there are churches, altars, psalmody, all-night vigils, theologies, baptisms, the concord of the faithful, knowledge of the Scriptures, contempt for the earth, the acquisition of heaven, and participation in God. What need is there to say much? Since the cross, men are fellow-citizens with the angels, even heaven itself is accessible to those on earth, and God is grasped by and shares in the life of men. B
But O cross, the supreme glory of Christ and of ourselves! O noble wood, on which Christ was stretched! Plant of immortality, from which Christ, the vine-cluster, poured out for us the life-giving drink. O cross, by which the written bond of sin was torn asunder, and the contract of liberty was written down! O cross, treasure-house of ten thousand blessings! Conciliator of paradise, C assigner of the kingdom, expiator of sins, bestower of virtues. Christ, crucified in you, declared you the tree of immortality. Christ, fastened [to you], fashioned you into a ladder of the way leading to the heavens. Christ, hanging on you, made you the bringer of blessing. Christ, stretched out on you, appointed you to loosen the bonds of those who were bound in iron chains. In you Christ was voluntarily exalted, and exalted the world with Himself. In you Christ was exalted for our sake, [having] exalted [Himself]...
ON THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS I
A public sign as the bronze serpent. No longer does the biting serpent lie in wait for the heel along the way. No longer does the bronze serpent heal the bites of the stinging serpents by being looked upon. No longer is everyone who hangs upon a tree accursed. How, and in what manner? Because the blessed child Jesus, the Son of God, has exchanged the curse for a blessing for us. No longer is the cross a curse, since the curse was nailed to the cross, and Christ has removed the curse and introduced the blessing in its place for us.
This cross of Christ has become for us an usher of all good things. This cross of the Master has been called by many names. It is called the Cross, the rod of uprightness, of the kingdom, of power, of inheritance. "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a rod of uprightness is the rod of thy kingdom." "Thou hast redeemed the rod of thine inheritance." "The Lord shall send the rod of power to thee out of Sion." "Staff: Thy staff and thy rod, they have comforted me." "Tree of life: It is a tree of life to all them that lay hold upon it, and to them that lean upon it as upon the Lord, it is secure." "Tree: And it shall be like the tree that is planted." Where? David says: "By the channels of waters." What waters? The God-inspired Scriptures. "Footstool: Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of his feet, for he is holy." "Place: We will go into his tabernacles, we will worship at the place where his feet stood. If I shall give sleep to mine eyes, and slumber to mine eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacles for the God of Jacob." C Hinting at this cross, the patriarch Jacob, when he once laid his hands crosswise upon his grandsons, symbolically signified it beforehand. Representing this same figure, he "worshipped upon the top of his staff." The staff of this same [patriarch] held the type of the Cross.
A For he says: “With my staff I crossed the Jordan.” And a little before this, the sign of the Cross was shown to Abraham, represented between the horns of the ram, when he mystically performed the sacrifice in type, a foreshadowing of the One crucified, through the lamb. Isaac also fulfilled the type of the Cross, taking up the wood for the sacrifice and following with hurried step his father, who was hastening to sacrifice him. B Moses’ staff held the power of the Cross, when it was changed into a serpent and transformed the staves of the Egyptians, swallowing some, while for others it turned the river’s stream to blood, so that they might not drink; and at one time it caused frogs to creep out of the waters, and at another, locusts and lice, and brought about the palpable darkness and all the calamities that befell the Egyptians. The same staff of Moses held the type of the Cross when it divided the Red Sea this way and that, so that the waters stood like a wall for him and for the people. The pillar of fire and of cloud, by which God led the wandering Israel fleeing from Egypt, held the sign of the Cross. C Moses himself also preserved the form of the Cross when he held his hands up on the mountain, while Joshua was fighting the foreigner Amalek; for while he was supported by Aaron and Hur, Israel grew strong and prevailed. The staff which struck the rock in the desert and caused the fountain to gush forth, showing the spring, also fulfilled the type of the Cross. And what of Isaiah, sawn in two with a wooden saw—did he not fashion the type of the Cross? I omit mentioning Agag, D who was crucified, and Sisera, who was nailed through the temples—the one having clearly foreshadowed the Cross. But I would also venture to say that the mantle of Elijah signified the power of the Cross, when, having divided the Jordan’s stream in two, he crossed over as on dry land. Where, then, shall we place the miracle of Elisha, when, having placed wood into the water, he drew the iron of the axe from the depths of the river, lifting the heavy weight with the light wood? And what of the staff that brought forth nuts—does it not clearly depict the Cross? [alt-version omitted]
A Great in truth is the cross, and in many places of Scripture it is attested or prefigured, and it is accustomed to describe and pre-delineate the patterns of those miracles which through it are daily performed. Worship the cross, because through it we have known the Lord. Adorable is the cross, because on it we bless the Crucified. Adorable is the cross, because through it we have received blessing, and have been freed from the curse. Adorable is the cross, because through it, having vomited out the bitter taste of the tree of disobedience, we have tasted the sweetness of salvation. Blessed is the wood, through which the nations have been blessed. Blessed is the wood, in which God was bodily outstretched. And what more paradoxical than this: to see God crucified, and this among thieves? Blessed is the wood, through which the thief inhabited paradise, and the tasting of the wood drove out the bitter taste; and what is more wonderful than this? That which Adam, having been deceived, had closed, the thief, having recognized Him, opened; and where the former became an exile, the latter was inscribed as an invited citizen. O worthy of the fitting exchange! A thief went out, and a thief entered in his place; the one through transgression, the other through recognition. The one led away by the Supplanter, the other crucified together with the Creator.
Blessed is the wood, out of which the ark was fashioned, symbolically preserving the world in the flood. Blessed is the wood, out of which, when the thief had eaten, he was filled with delights. Blessed is the wood, out of which, when Adam, the common parent, had not eaten before, he exchanged death with life, having been too hasty in his tasting, and having laid hold of the tree of knowledge. Then, having partaken of it afterward, he perceived its quality, and found the C restoration. Blessed is the wood, through which the proud arm is bent, and the necks of enemies bow down, and the barbarian turns his back, and the Scythian flees with no one pursuing. Therefore, lift up your voice with me today, and according to the Scripture, let us worship with the treasure of the cross. And by the treasure of the cross, I mean the Son of God, Christ, to whom is better suited the ...
A oracles referred to us: “All the nations [Ps. LXXXV, 9, 10] you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name; for you are great, and working wonders; you are God alone.” [Ps. LXXXVI, 8]
ORATION XI. On the Exaltation of the Venerable Cross.
Let us move our lips today, dearly beloved, as a cithara [(59)]. Let us take up the psaltery and the harp. Let us sing to God; let us sing with understanding. Let us sing the glorious things of the exaltation. Let us show how many places in Scripture the pattern of the exaltation appears, so that from this we may also learn the exaltation of the cross, which is great and super-celestial, and that its finding is not celebrated in vain in the Churches of God that are throughout all the earth. The cross is therefore exalted, brought forth from the recesses of the earth, where a little while ago it was hidden on account of envy. The cross is exalted, not that it might receive glory (for what greater glory could it attain than that Christ was fixed upon it?), but that God, who is worshipped in it and proclaimed through it, might be glorified. The cross is exalted, that it might lift up our horn with itself. The cross is exalted, that it might humble the proud. The cross is exalted, that it might bind the strong, and through us might plunder his vessels. The cross is exalted, that it might show the envy of the Jews to be C vain; that the treasure of life might not remain buried in the earth; that we might receive the pearl, which those who crucified the Lord revealed even against their will.
For since it was impossible that the treasure of life should remain hidden forever, and those wretches, being examined in many ways and convicted by their own malice, were not to remain hidden forever from the eye that never sleeps, D and since they were proved to be acting in malice, they were not to remain hidden forever from that sleepless eye.
A What does God achieve, who in the cross and through the cross wrought salvation for the whole world in the midst of the earth? To the empress, as we said a little before, He sends a burning desire; but into them He casts fear, which would trouble their whole life. They, however, when they saw that it was impossible to desist from the search for the [hidden cross], showing that they were doing of their own accord what they were doing unwillingly, first of all revealed the venerable sign of the Lord. It emerged as if from some other firmament, as though from the depths of the earth, like the sun emitting the rays of the Lord. Thus the sign of the Lord proceeded from the deep places of the earth, through which the caverns of Hades were shaken and released the souls that were held fast there. The cross of the Lord proceeded as a bridegroom from his bridal chamber, from earthly chambers, through which the Church, betrothed to Christ from among the nations, put away the manifold impiety of the Gentiles. The intelligible pearl of the faithful proceeded, like a lychnitis gem and carbuncle (60) set in the crown of Christ, that it might shine upon the whole world. The ornament of the Church, the cross of the Lord, proceeded to adorn the entire earthly creation. It proceeded like one innocent from custody, that it might call back the guilty from their chains; the uncontainable, that it might loose those in chains; from dark places, the lamp of light, that having dispelled the night of ignorance, the light of knowledge might shine forth. B With good reason, therefore, the Church, rejoicing in the cross of the Lord, decks herself in her own garment, and uncovering her bridal beauty, renders the face of this day more majestic. With good reason also this great multitude is gathered together today, that it may see the cross manifested this day, and beholding Christ exalted upon it, may worship Him. For it was manifested that it might be exalted; and it is exalted that it might be manifested. What is? That which a little before was hidden in the place of the skull, but now is worshipped everywhere. This we celebrate today; this we hold in high festival; this is the head of the present feast. This is the manifestation of the mystery. But it is time now to confirm the exaltation of the cross itself with testimonies of Scripture. For this we promised a little while ago, even if the discourse running ahead passed over the things that were in between. For it was necessary, it was necessary for the hidden and C living wood to be manifested on high just as a city upon a mountain...
or as a lamp raised upon a lampstand, to be shown to the whole world. A For this reason, when the first of the Christians first took up the prime scepters of the kingdom, for the triumph of the whole Church together, just as from some high-reaching watchtower they commanded this to be lifted up on high, and to be shown to the entire assembly. And this is that which they who have grasped the pontifical helm now do. Ascending to the highest place of the Church, and lifting up on high this most glorious and most adorable cross, they raise it, and often extending it on high, they show it to the people, all but crying out: Behold, the hidden treasure of salvation has been found. Behold the seal, in which we have been sealed. Behold the cross, through which we have been made known to the Crucified. B Behold the horn, in which we shall scatter our enemies; in which we pass through the snares and traps of the enemy without harm; in which, being confident, we count the ictus of the demons as the arrows of infants. Behold today we see "the life hanging before our eyes." Let us hear therefore the Prophet saying: "Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool, for it is holy." Let us sing with David the Davidic melodies: "Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and let thy glory be above all the earth." — "Be exalted, thou who judgest the earth." — "Let thy hand be exalted." — "Let thy right hand be strengthened, and let thy hand be exalted." — "Do not forget thy poor unto the end." — "But in thy good pleasure let our horn be exalted." C Let us enter into that very paradise of the Scriptures. Let us pluck and take from thence, as flowers, the things that are most opportune for this time. Let us take as our guides the prophets, who have prophesied concerning the exaltation of the cross.
And let Moses, the servant of God and lawgiver, lead the way for us, who raised up that bronze serpent; not that it might be glorified, but that it might be publicly stigmatized, and by the comparison of the rust of the bronze with the venom of wickedness, as if in a judgment, he might show the correspondence of the bronze with the evil. That bronze serpent was therefore exalted, not as a prefiguration or figure of the cross, but as an antitype of a type, or a type taken metaphorically. D Moses himself also once lifted up his hands in the pattern of the
A figure of the crucified Christ, and of His cross which is now exalted. "Let the sun stand against Gibeon, and the moon against the valley of Aijalon," prayed Joshua of old, as he consumed the Amalekites, not only to betoken the day of the cross, upon which darkness was spread over all the earth, nor merely that on that day he might confirm the height of the power of God and the arm raised against the enemies, but that he might also prefigure the exaltation of the cross, and in it prefigure the ascent of Him who is the Sun of glory. Abraham also offers up his sacrifice as a figure of the mystical victim; but, obeying immediately the voice sent down from above, he symbolically sacrificed on the high summit of the mountain the ram he had seen in the plant of Sabeque, prefiguring the lifting up of the cross on high.
B Azarias and his companions also once lifted up their hands on high in the Babylonian furnace of fire as they prayed, and extinguished the flame of the furnace of fire that had been raised on high, by the extension of their hands adumbrating the exalted cross. Jonah once lifted up his voice, having raised his hands in the form of a cross, and immediately drew to himself a power from on high and was cast forth from the sea-beast unharmed. The most renowned Judith once lifted up her sword against the head of the sleeping Holofernes, prefiguring the exaltation of the cross and bringing about salvation for Israel. In the den of lions, Daniel once lifted up his voice to the Most High, prefiguring the exaltation of the cross, when the prophet Habakkuk was snatched away in a moment of time and brought him his meal. C And what of the opinion of Jeremiah, who says, speaking from the person of those who killed the Lord, "Come, let us cast wood into His bread, and let us destroy His life from the earth"? And what do those similar words of Isaiah mean, where he says in one place, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent," and, "In His humiliation His judgment was taken away, for His life is taken from the earth," and in another, "And He Himself bore the sins of many"? Where, if not on the wood of the cross? Upon which, when they had fixed the bread, they did not let it down until they had raised it on high, for a testimony to the beholders and as a figure of the exaltation before us. D For what else would we take this to be, but the exaltation and manifestation of the cross? Just as with the slaughter of the sheep, which was brought up upon the cross, and which fixed the sins of the world to it, it clearly demonstrates by that very act the exaltation of the cross. But it is enough to have brought forward these testimonies of Scripture, which have heralded the exaltation of the cross, lest perchance the discourse might bring weariness and satiety to many.
We, however, worshipping Christ upon it, let us understand the magnitude of His power, and how great are the miracles that have been accomplished for us through it by divine dispensation, as
A the most divine David says: "Our God is king before the ages; He has worked salvation in the midst of the earth." Let no one doubt that the place of Calvary is situated in the midst of the earth. For it was necessary that the saving wood be fixed, as if in the description of a flat circle, in the middle of all the earth, so that, like some other sun shining from heaven—the Sun of justice mentioned in the middle of the heavens—it might shine forth from the firmament of the Cross as if from some source, scattering its light-bearing rays upon those held in the dust of the earth. This Cross is both a visible wood and is frequently called a "sign" in Scripture. For what is it that David says? "Make with me a sign for good." And, "Let the light of thy countenance, O Lord, be marked upon us." And, "Thou hast given a sign to them that fear thee, that they may flee from the face of the bow." Or what the Lord Himself cries out in the Gospels: "And then they shall see the sign of the Son of God." And before this: "This generation seeketh a sign; and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet." And is not this itself shown through the Cross? Why, when Symeon the God-receiver, blessing the Virgin, received the Lord who appeared as an infant, what does he mean by saying: "This child is set for the fall and for the rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be contradicted"? Did he not B clearly signify the Cross by the name of a sign?
Moreover, the Cross is also called a "power." For what does David say? "Thou hast made thy power known among the peoples." But also an "arm": "Thou hast redeemed thy people with thine arm." And that the Cross is the power of Christ, hear Paul saying: "The word of the Cross, to them indeed that perish, is foolishness; but to us that are saved, it is the power of God." And hear Christ Himself speaking to Moses: "I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, that I may show in him all my power," here signifying by "power" that which was shown beforehand through Moses' rod as a type of the Cross, an all-powerful demonstration through which He displayed the paradoxes of His miracles. Thus we have been taught to think and conceive concerning the Cross. Thus we urge the faithful people of God to honor and venerate the Cross in its entirety. For through it, as if by a fishing net, the nations have been caught, and C the faith has been sown everywhere. For by this the disciples of Christ,
having cultivated human nature, previously barren, as with a plow, and having shown the ever-verdant crops of the Church, have brought in a plentiful harvest of those who have believed in Christ. A Strengthened by this, the martyrs, even while falling and being slain, struck down those who were hurling blows at them. Through it, Christ was recognized, and the Church of the faithful, unfolding the Scripture at all times, introduces the same Christ as the Son of God, and God Himself, and Lord Himself, crying out with a loud voice: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." By it the affairs of the Christians flourish, and are extended everywhere. By it, royalty is strengthened, the commonwealth is supported, enemies fall, the pride of the Barbarians is crushed, Israel is slaughtered, B and demons are struck by lightning; because in it and through it we believe that we are saved, and it is the "sign of the Son of Man." And, "All flesh," according to what is written, "shall see the salvation of our God." And, "The Jews shall see [and shall strike their breasts] on whom they pierced." But we, as many as have walked in His light, shall be glorified with Him, and shall reign together with God, dancing with the angels around the Trinity: which is worshipped in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XII. On the Dormition of the most holy Lady Mother of God our own.
C Whoever among you have arrived at this venerable temple of the Mother of God, come, I beseech you, to help me today, as I labor in the struggle of the discourse, and am at a loss regarding the height and the depth of the miracle. But thus, having ascended together to the summit of the peak, that which is called the head, let us peer into the mysteries of God, and hear the funeral orations.
A That saving and most good Word, subsistent and super-substantial, having fulfilled in himself the entire dispensation for us upon earth in the flesh, and having accomplished what had been prophesied of old concerning him, and having shown us in himself, and himself entirely in us, has filled heaven and earth with glory, and has enriched all creation with his holiness. But through the cross, having engaged the author of evil, and wrestled with death, he broke the tyranny it exercised against us; he overturned the dark region of Hades and its kingdom, closing up its all-devouring belly so that it might no longer, as once it did, receive the God-like souls of the saints by way of domination. B Yet it was necessary, I think, that the boundaries of the ancient curse should not be entirely ended. For it was the word of God that those once brought forth from the earth should return to the earth; for the nature that had been drawn from the earth had not yet been liberated from the slavery of birth and corruption. But it was necessary that he, who in all things became like his brothers apart from sin, should display within himself all the tokens of nature; wherefore, being God, out of philanthropy he became man, and tasted of sufferings to manifest his affinity with us, so that we, through the sufferings of the Passionless One, might become free of passions. For this reason he deigned to experience corruption, and to converse with death, and to reach the joyless land of Hades, C so that we, having run away from the bonds thereof, might pass over into incorruption. Yet we shall not for this reason escape natural death, since we are reconciled to being immortal by grace, and not by nature (71).
But to what end do I say these things, brothers, and for what cause have I carried the discourse to this point? It is because, if we are to touch upon the sacraments of that marvelous transition, it is necessary to bring the discourse back for a little while to our common Master and Lord and God, Jesus Christ, and then to arrange and weave the oration in an orderly progression according to the subject. Since it was strictly incumbent upon men to die once, and this was entirely unavoidable for our nature, D especially because this decree—given by the Creator from the beginning—had been received due to the crime of disobedience and the transgression of the law; for this reason, then, the Lord also died once, becoming a ransom for that one common death, so that he might altogether deliver us from the bitter slavery of death, and, as the Hierophant says, "all those who through fear of death..." i Heb. ii, 17.
A Are we then not going to die that death? Some, perhaps, might argue. Yes, we shall die. But we do not remain in it held fast, as we were before, when we were kept prisoners by death under the bond of sin. And if this is so, it might not reasonably even be called dying. For there are—yes, there are—some who shall indeed escape even this, yet they shall be changed, according to the sacred revelation. But the tyranny of death, and that death which is truly such, is when once dead we are not permitted to return to life. But when we even die, and after dying we live again, and that to a better life, this is clearly not death, but a sleep, and a return to the second life, by the complete cessation of earthly things, leading forward and escorting those who depart hence to that place. This the Proverb-writer clearly indicates, saying, B "Death is rest for a man." For God shut him in, so that he might no longer be able to operate as he was wont. For what else could death be understood to be, but the separation of the soul from the body, inviting the hope of resurrection through such a disjunction of parts, and then their reunion; and verifying, through this hope, the transition into incorruption and a better lot, so that we might no longer serve sin, according to the reason of that carnal life which is most addicted to objects of sense?
If, therefore, he himself is the Lord of life and death, the life of all, the resurrection of the dead, C "the light of the world," he who by his own death "destroyed him who had the power of death," did not think it right, moved by his love for mankind, to leave this law unfulfilled; but so that he might be in all things made like to us, and demonstrate that this descent to earth was necessary, he himself chose for us the equal bond, "walking in the midst of the shadow of death," as it is written, and spending three days in the lowest parts of the earth, where the souls of those already dead were held fast, bound in inescapable chains, to whom also, according to the blessed Peter, he brought good tidings: D "For he went and preached to the spirits in prison." How then could this not be clear and entirely irrefutable, that even now the souls of all men, and indeed of the saints, pass through that invisible place, though...
they are not detained there, except for such as, through a softer life, have brought upon themselves a death that is of sin? For those who have subjected themselves to the divine laws and have exhibited in the spirit, through the flesh, a heavenly manner of life, are surely transported to light-filled places, befitting such a holy state; to places, I say, which the Lord inspects, and upon which His eyes and oracle ever gaze. Their beauty and vastness, and their infinite position of blessedness—and I would add also a grace surpassing the mind—those who are closer to God than we have justly seen more clearly and sublimely, having finished the course of the present life and received their rest, and being prepared for them by the Providence that wisely conducts all things. Wherefore, the souls of the saints will indeed pass through the gates of the underworld, as has been shown: "For the disciple is not above his master." B Yet I do not think they will be detained as before, since, according to what is written, "sin reigned with death." They will pass through (hear me with heart and intelligence), not to be delivered to destruction, but to investigate and learn there too the mystery, strange in its divine dispensation: I mean the descent into Hades which the life-giving Jesus performed for our sake of His own will, having endured death upon the cross, though He was impassible and indestructible; and, furthermore, to be taught the ineffable account of what was accomplished there, and how great and what kind of victory was gained for the Savior by His engagement, breaking the eternal bars. These things, therefore, we have remembered from the holy oracles, and it is not without purpose that we have examined what was to be said by us.
C As I think, it is highly consistent and appropriate, after having explored the matters pertaining to the hidden and glorious dormition of this ever-Virgin of divine origin, to set them before lovers of the good and those who love to behold divine things. For if one must speak the truth, natural death has proceeded as far as her, but it did not constrain her as it does us, nor did it reduce her to subjection—far from it!—except only so far as to experience that sleep, that certain ecstatic impulse, so to speak, which sends us from earthly things toward those goods placed in hope, transporting us transformed into a deiform state; just as the example was that first sleep which the first man slept, when his rib was taken away for the completion of the human species, and it took back what was lacking from the extracted part. In this manner, I believe, she too D naturally fell into sleep, divine...
and indeed tasted death, yet did not remain held by it, except only so far as to yield to the laws of nature and fulfill the dispensation which Providence, pervading all things for our sake, had fixed from the beginning and willed to be immovable; and thus, that it might clearly demonstrate the manner by which He had changed the movement transitioning from corruptible things to incorruptible things; for it was otherwise not permissible, unless by such a separation of parts occurring naturally, to cast off the flowing life. For if, according to the oracle, there is no man who will live and will not see death, and yet the person we celebrate is human—and greater than man—it remains clearly B proven that she too fulfilled the same law of nature with us, though perhaps not in the way we do, but by a higher reason and one above man, and beyond that which we are all compelled to endure. Thus, think for me of her descent to Hades, in which there occurred—so far as I perceive and speak—such a delay of time in that separation of parts as the circuit of natural motion required, so that she, who was first entering those unknown places and traversing them as a strange and untrodden path, might learn by experience what they contained. But forgive us, O Virgin who received God and mother of life, who presume upon inaccessible things and scrutinize the mysterious depth of your sacraments, and who attempt to contemplate the divine operations fixed in you in the fathomless abyss of God’s judgments; upon which even to gaze with the speculative mind strikes fear into those who are even highly endowed with intelligence, let alone into us, being more carnal and C covering the beast with a sheep’s skin.
But as long as we show that she shared in the laws of nature with us, these things have been prefaced by us with much fear. But the higher acts of greatness performed upon you, since you have felt the participation in them by experience, you yourself would know better, O most blessed one, and more divinely and purely than our speech can recount, and before all, your only-begotten Son, who established the ages, and conferred upon you becoming glory and splendor, for the assumption and substance of the flesh lent to Him; and to such a degree that neither any of us, nor perhaps even the superior angels, would have the capacity to comprehend it in their mind. But let these things remain always honored and preserved mystically and more secretly in divine obscurity, and have their own word of truth unshaken, until the final D restoration of all things. And so that you might not send us away destitute of your divine narrations, grant us a word, as Mother of the Word, and make known to us the manner of the departure that was fulfilled in your regard. For every listener of divine things stands still even now, having inclined his ears to you, desiring to hear your voice, just as Israel previously desired the divine voice. Which, having ascended on high, and more resoundingly than a trumpet, "I,"
says, "have not changed anything of those things which were of the law of nature, but having fulfilled all things with decorum and according to their kindred reason, A I, on the one hand, magnify the Lord with my soul, and I rejoice in my spirit; on the other hand, according to the body, I am transformed and molded into the deification which is in grace, making that beginning and end the deification which the One who is above, having become incarnate in my womb in an ineffable manner, displayed; when, to be sure, He was refashioning human nature in Himself, being deified, and He granted it to us according to the participation of the Spirit, ascending from the regions of the earth into the heavens—with the body which He had never abandoned. He, who being moved by a paternal care for man, 'looked upon the lowliness of His handmaid,' B immediately resolving to take away the first curse of Eve; and He visited with the apparition in His flesh those who 'sat in darkness and the shadow of death,' being Himself the 'Dayspring from on high,' and 'guided our feet into the way of peace.' For being truly God, He was made man from my virginal blood in a supernatural manner, introducing a conception and birth strange to nature, so that by this renovation of natures, the old things might be taken away and new things introduced in their place, and that they might not become old, and that all things might become new, and a truly new creation might come to be through this new and most praiseworthy incarnation of the Word.
For where in former ages has it been heard that a woman has been made the Mother of God? Or when has God been called the son of a woman? Or when has a human form, C higher than the Cherubim, manifested itself through a divine birth and brought all things to pass? Who has taught those who worship things heavenly and earthly to worship—as one—the clay that has put on the Godhead, and the dust raised on high, as their own proper Divinity, undivided? Who has caused the lowly and earth-bound insignificance of men, which has overstepped the boundaries of nature through the grace of deification, to ascend to the heavens, and has shown impenetrable bushes to be accessible, having opened a path unknown to earthly ones, so that men might be shown to be fellow-citizens with the angels? These great wonders, therefore, have clearly come to pass in me, and I have obtained such great glory and splendor through them. Whence, with good reason, D 'from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed: for He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name.' For what is greater in majesty than to be called and to be the Mother of God? But as for the migration of my person from human to other and heavenly abodes, you might conjecture a clearer knowledge of it from that place whence the mixture of this earthly tabernacle—I mean the virginal and God-assumed body, from which the simple Jesus derived His composition—was translated and migrated. For whoever wishes may certainly infer all that has been said from what is seen. For there lie before the eyes of those who contemplate divine things with a faithful mind certain manifest images and living and speaking characters of my translation: namely, this very sepulcher, carved in the rock, which until now stands unscathed, of the entombment's outline
A show the symbols to those who would know with a silent voice.
For truly, the most truthful witnesses that I have lain in that body are those cavities in the rock, which represent the graceful imprint of holy limbs. And first, that torrent of the Cedron, by which these things are encompassed on all sides, proclaims the miracles with the clear voice of a trumpet. I mean the vale of Clauthmon, in which is established the sepulcher of Josaphat, king of Judah, where that blessed passion of Him who is immune to passion took its beginning. For there the Savior frequently tarried with His disciples. There, kneeling down, He prayed to the Father who is in heaven, entreating in an ineffable dispensation the departure of the cup He desired. There, having been kissed by the betrayer who feigned friendship, He was delivered to the deicides. And those who have been in that region might know these things more truly through experience. B Therefore, let the unbeliever depart and learn by the evidence of his own eyes the power of what is said; let the believer be content with what is told, and through things seen, let him contemplate things not seen, and let him hold in admiration things worthy of wonder.
But such is the nature of the burial and the way it is. But as for the manner of the transition, although it is common to all, yet it possesses a peculiar dignity of its own, having an excellence beyond that of each individual. Moreover, this transition surpasses the power of speech and hearing, yet in such a way that it imitates and recalls ancient examples. But what is this place of repose? Can it be grasped by the senses, or conceived by the mind? Certainly not. For how could it be seen, or by whom be conceived in the mind? C Since it could by no means be discerned by the mind, except by those who, by an immense grace, have reached that place empty of affections, and who have merited to enjoy the delights of that deiform state; just as my ancestor David says: "In the place of a wondrous tabernacle, even as far as the house of God. In the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of those feasting."
Such, indeed, is the Theotokos, from whose tongue the sweetness of the Spirit distills, and D "grace is poured upon whose lips." What then should we say to these things, brethren, other than to admire that infinitely great Providence which most wisely disposes all things, saying: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" and all that follows in the discourse. For divine
A works are these indeed, and exceed human comprehension! To merely fix the mind upon them inspires dread even in one whose mind is exceedingly lofty and purified—how much more so in me, who am earthly and mundane, and who am capable of conceiving nothing but mud and matter, and things that flow and pass away; and who for this reason am wavering and dizzy, lest the greatness of this day be insulted, being diminished by a discourse that is defiled by my own arrogance and weakness.
A person, even one of the most learned, might reasonably inquire why it is that we know of no theologian or teacher of the sacred mysteries who has recorded anything—or left us any composition whatsoever—concerning the immaculate B and most venerable transition of the Theotokos, in the same way that they composed the divine volumes of the Gospels and handed down theological expositions. To this we answer that this Falling-asleep took place long after, by divine inspiration. For they say that when she had reached the furthest stage of old age, she migrated from human life. Or perhaps, because those times did not yet permit the explanation of these matters. For it was not fitting that, while the Gospel was first beginning to be written, the discourse of the Economy and Incarnation should at once take upon itself to inquire into and expound these things, which indeed required a different kind of spare time and labor than was possible according to the state of those times.
But if this is the reason, we do not know what to say. If, however, it is because those men, inspired by the divine Spirit, extended the discourse of the Economy and the mystery of the human nature assumed by the Word only as far as His sojourn among us in the flesh, and taught nothing further than His ascension C from earth, and thus silence was imposed upon them regarding this—I myself also comply with this manner. Nevertheless, so that some may not think, while we meanwhile speak at length, that the mystery of this day has been entirely consigned to silence, I judged it worth the effort to say what I have been able to discover for the understanding and confirmation of the matter at hand. For although the fact is known more obscurely, it has by no means remained entirely untraced in the sacred Scriptures.
It has been said, then, by a certain theologian and doctor, a man wisely and skillfully trained in the knowledge of divine things, and who—as they say—had revealed to him the angelic information of the more hidden and sacred formation of the supercelestial minds: moreover, it is said that the disclosures of the heavenly doctrine, which the admirable Paul was worthy to be taught from heaven by his excellent purity, were dictated D to him—the transcendent doctrines of which
neither the world nor any hidden and ineffable property can contain; they are beyond all such things. Who is this, if you wish me to say? Or rather, shall I omit his name and make him known to you from the qualities he possesses, just as one recognizes a lion from his claws? I believe that those who are not entirely ignorant of his intellect are not overly ignorant of the man himself. I must therefore state the man's name, if by that means my discourse might acquire some credibility. B This man is Dionysius, most learned in divine matters, and great in his hearing of heavenly things, and in whatever are images and adumbrations of the incommunicable name of God. In his most holy scroll *On the Divine Names*, at the third chapter regarding this very subject, where he discusses the power of prayer and the blessed Hierotheus, and reverence, and the writing of theology—having reached a certain part of his argument and having digressed somewhat into matters concerning that divine man—he says the following in his letter to Timothy: "Although this also has been observed by us with great care, that we should not in any way attempt to treat again, by repeating the same words, those things which that same divine teacher had explained with clear exposition, for the sake of the same interpretation of the passage proposed to him. For indeed, even among our own divinely inspired hierarchs, when we—as you know—and you, and many of our holy brothers, had gathered together to behold the body C that had received within itself the Principle of Life—and there were also present James, the Brother of God, and Peter, the supreme and most distinguished summit of the theologians—it seemed good that, after the viewing, all the holy hierarchs should, according to their own ability, praise with hymns the goodness of the infinite power of the 'weakness' of the Mother of God; and—as does not escape you—he surpassed all the other sacred heralds, save for the theologians, that is to say, the Apostles. Wholly transported, indeed, and wholly rapt out of himself, and affected by communion with those things that he was praising. He was heard and seen and known, and yet not known, by all, D deemed to be divinely inspired and a divine hymnographer." O truly blessed soul and tongue, which was initiated into these things and gave them utterance! Oh, who might grant me
to catch with my ears the final echoes of those things which were celebrated by a certain divine method? For if those men, although they had attained a life so exalted and a contemplation of mind so detached from things below, were still so astonished at the one who was singing, how great were the things being sung, or rather, who was being sung! But let the discourse proceed to the things that follow. "And what," he says, "should I tell you concerning the things theologized there? For if I have not forgotten myself, I know that I have very often heard from you even some parts of those inspired hymns; so great is your zeal not to pursue divine things in a casual manner." Nevertheless, let us pass over the mysteries that took place there, as they are unutterable to the many, yet known to you. B
In this manner Dionysius speaks to us; Dionysius, I say, that sublime interpreter of divine things, the eagle flying high in the heavens, a soul fully infused with the sacred images of the divine. And I think it is worthwhile not to pass over what has been said lightly, but to dwell upon them as much as is permitted, and to penetrate into the depths of the meanings, whence what we desire may be set forth more expressively and clearly now. But you, O venerable assembly of listeners, consider the power of the things about to be said, so that you may understand the outcome of the mysteries, and know who and what kind of gathering has been assembled; and, as if with the sacred doctor relating it like an oracle, and a miracle leading the way.
Age, therefore, descending as if from the steps of the ever-memorable Sion (for the discourse bore us up thither not long ago; for the Mother of God had her dwelling there while upon earth); from there let us now opportunely send on the company as the virginal body is led in funeral procession. For the Mother of God, having deposited her soul into those hands in whose hand the souls of us all are placed, finished her life in the flesh. Then, indeed, when we have followed the funeral in order, let us add the funeral song to the processional chant. For thus will our discourse run a favorable course, and the things that have been said will be clearly explained. So that this may happen, come, beloved, go and proceed, with the most joyful and most eager sharpness of mind, to the honorable Gethsemane, and shape for yourself a vivid and expressive image, comparing what has been said with the outcome of these events. For when you apply your mind to the deeds, you shall by no means need long speeches as a necessary aid to the knowledge of the truth. "For all things are plain to those who understand, and right to those who find knowledge."
There, therefore, you will find a certain beautiful and adorned temple, D decorated with magnificent and splendid state, oc-
A consider the bridal chamber and virginal sanctuary of the Theotokos. Look around, then, with the eyes of faith at the repose of the Queen's divinely inscribed members (shortly after the removal of her sacred tabernacle from the funeral), which were depicted by no human hand, but formed by the hollows of the stone itself. You will also find there the group of sacred initiates who arrived opportunely, if you search mentally with mystical contemplation; for the sacred interpreter says that then, by an ineffable good pleasure and providence of God, a numerous multitude of men inspired by God was present. So that we may grasp the meaning of these words, come, let us take the Mother of the Word as patron and helper for the discourse, guided by the sacred doctrine of the divine Spirit. For she will certainly be present, as a bestower of goods, and she will teach and instruct us more than we can ask. But be present to me also, O instructor, initiate, and spectator of things beyond perception, O priest of the true tabernacle; and to me who wishes to dwell on your words, be a guide, and direct my mind without error toward the power of the sought-after meaning, through the vision of mystical understanding.
The inspired man shows us, therefore, through his own words, that almost the entire choir of the holy apostles was gathered around that venerable and great spectacle of the Mother of God, and that the disciples dispersed throughout the whole earth were assembled there at that time, one of whom was he himself, along B with Timothy and Hierotheos, those who bore God within them. "For when," he says, "we, as you know, and I myself, and many of our holy brethren, had come together for the vision of the life-originating and God-receiving body." We should understand no other body as "life-originating" than that God-receiving and virginal tabernacle, from which the Superexistent one, having gazed upon the assumption of humanity, and having truly come into essence, was essentially established above essence. For it is not the Lord’s body; because those who believed after the passion would not have been present before the passion.
By "priests seized by God," I think he clearly indicates here the group of the disciples, as those presiding over the Word. And it is no wonder, if the Spirit who once took up Elijah, and carried up the fiery charioteer of heaven, then also gathered them suddenly through a cloud in the Spirit. For all things are easy for God, as we have learned in Habacuc and Daniel.
C But how many others do you think, beloved, were brought there from all sides at that time? For this is what is signified by the saying: "And many of our holy brethren." So that it is clear that not even the seventy, the disciples of Christ later named, were missing from that God-called council. For it was fitting that both they, as prime actors in the mystery and lovers of the spectacle, and others immediately after them, those closest to them, as those holding the second place in theology, should have been driven together by the divine Spirit D
so that they might be gathered at that moment in time. For this is what is signified by the things he adds: A “There was present also the brother of God, James, and Peter, the supreme and most excellent vertex of the theologians.” One would indeed marvel, contemplating their sudden assembly.
For when all had assembled together at the city of Jerusalem (and there stood around them an immense multitude), what occurred, and what took place, the following things will declare. “Then,” he says, “it pleased them, after the vision, that all the hierarchs should, according to the strength of each, exalt with praises the goodness of the infinite power of the divine weakness.” B Come then, let us see, if it is permitted to see with intellectual eyes, what that spectacle was, and how great was the beauty, and what sort of theology was poured forth in praises of the beauty that delights God. A bright and clearly beautiful spectacle was that which shone at that time to those seized by God—as my discourse explains—the all-radiant brilliance of the virginal tabernacle, according to which the life-originating and all-luminous body of the Theotokos was seen, which is above us and our own; through which the life-originating Jesus granted to us the beginning of a more divine life, having made our firstfruits the beginning of life, C which from the virginal womb He fashioned for Himself in a supernatural manner. “For if the firstfruits are holy, according to the Apostle, so also is the lump; and if the root is holy, so also are the branches.” Therefore, the body of the Theotokos is life-originating, as it received into itself the entire life-originating fullness of the Godhead; the most precious jewel of virginity; the heaven that is above the heavens; the God-tilled earth; the firstfruits of the Adamic lump deified in Christ; the image most like the original beauty; D the God-sealed treasure-house of the hidden judgments of God; the dwelling-place of virtues; the intellectual book of the divine words concerning the dispensation toward us; the inexplicable depth of the unemptiable fullness of Him “who fills all in all”; the most firm tower of hidden hope; the treasure of incorruption surpassing the intellect; the royal vesture of the Word, surpassing everything; the earthly palace of the heavenly King; the celebrated workshop of the divine dealings with us; the most harmonious matter of the divine incarnation; the divinely perfected clay of the all-working and best Artificer, from which, in a human manner, for the sake of men, He who surpasses substance came truly and entirely into substance, and was clothed in substance.
And O, truly blessed are the eyes and the lips of those who celebrated these things! For what mystical tongue could interpret those most sacred sights? What was that most transparent vehicle of spiritual light? It was that lamp, through which nature, in a manner above nature, received the Sun of justice. It is the intellectual mirror of the paternal splendor. By its brightness…
A we have been illuminated: this is the high and exalted throne, on which the Lord of Sabaoth, sitting, was seen by Isaiah, the most sharp-sighted of the prophets. This is the kingly dignity of the heavenly race; this is the sanctuary of all holy worship, the spiritual incense of divine burnt offerings, the tongs of the expiatory coal, the Levitical rod, the root of Jesse, the Davidic scepter, the Mother of the Creator, the nurse of the Nourisher, the gate of the East of Christ, who dawned from on high, the narrow bosom of Him who contains everything, the spotless garment of the Lamb and Shepherd, the heifer unyoked to the fatted calf, the most pure fleece of the heavenly dew, the virgin earth of Him who refashioned Adam, the heaven of Him who made the earth and the heavens; the great vision of the prophets, by which the saints, imagining it in many parts and in many ways, were symbolically taught the mystical divine mysteries, and were typifying the great mystery of the Economy. The great world in a small one, of Him who brought the non-existent world into being, the messenger of His own majesty.
B But how could those who saw upon the bed, deprived then of the bodily powers, one so honored and illuminated by God, the Creator of all and the Sustainer of all, not marvel? For this, I think, the hierophant declares, saying: "The infinite-powered goodness of the thearchic weakness." For the sight was indeed full of fear; the Life-bearer, a corpse-bearer; the friend of God, speechless; she who as in an ark had received Life in her womb, lying dead and breathless on the bed. Though these things were foreign to nature, they were not unworthy of wonder. For mysteries were there, intelligible to one who is able to see divine things intellectually: birth and virginity, truths of providence and judgment, of pre-eminence and condescension, of greatness and humility. There, a corporeal appearance obscured the C rays of the sun. There, immortal mortality made the faces of those who looked upon it shine. Wealth there filled the whole heaven and the earthly things. A new spectacle, and one most worthy of note among all spectacles. What is this motherly tent lying on a bier, from which God, bearing the image, has come forth in human fashion, and the head, in which the clay of the nature taken from the earth was refashioned and divinized, lies deposited in the coffin? And the sight was such and so existing; and perhaps greater than how we ourselves have moderately set it forth. But what is the hymn? And what are the things being praised? Let Christ be present and give a word to us, as Word and Wisdom and Power, and let Him lead our mind to the manifest D splendors of the divine hymns; to which...
our soul and thought may always be opened, and by which we may be enlightened and preserved, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom with the almighty Father and the life-giving Spirit be glory and power, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XIII. On the Dormition of our most holy Lady, the Theotokos.
B The present celebration is a mystery, having as its subject matter the Dormition of the Theotokos, and it surpasses the power of words. It is a mystery that has thus far been celebrated by few, yet one which all desire to honor. Furthermore, our solemnity and celebrated gathering is a manifestation, or exposition, of this mystery. And although my mind prefers silence to words, it is compelled by longing, and yields a little, allowing me to speak—even though not possessing confidence, nor being unaware of my own weakness, or how modestly we are to discharge the secret of our long silence. C The gift, therefore, must be celebrated with festive gathering and public joy, and not be buried in darkness: it should not, I say, be buried as if it were a recent discovery, but celebrated as something that has returned to its proper adornment. For just because some of the ancients may have had less of a clear view of it, it should not therefore be kept silent now; rather, because it did not completely escape them either, it must be celebrated as holy. Let there be, then, today one common festive gathering of heavenly and earthly beings, and may men rejoice together with the angels, and may every tongue dance and sing the "Hail" to the Theotokos. For this was also the prelude to the mystery that Gabriel used formerly, when the most radiant of all theology and divine things, the divine formation of Jesus in man, was being fashioned in a new way, by an ineffable dispensation, in the virginal workshop of nature. D And it is entirely worth our while that we now, once again, as a special tribute, should offer this gift to the Queen of mankind; for it is entirely fitting that we address the "Hail" to her even as she departs. For she alone, having brought joy to us, banished the sorrow of the first mother. "Let us sound the trumpet in Sion, let us take up the psaltery and the harp." Let us sing to the Mother of God, let us sing not an epithalamium, but rather striking up a funereal melody. One might predictably inquire, among those who have examined this closely—
A — for I would answer him thus: "O man, I have mentioned the all-holy Sion; for in it has been unfolded this great mystery of the Theotokos." In it, the very slabs spread out upon the floor, where her all-pure body knelt in prayer, cry out with a long-echoing voice; for she had this place as her dwelling throughout the entire time of her sojourn, and there, having served the laws of nature, she received the end of her life. She escaped even there the prince of darkness, just as she had escaped the condition of mothers in giving birth; the ever-holy one, the God-called one, the all-spotless one, she who filled heaven and earth with the glory and grace of the majesty of her divine-befitting transition. If I were to wish to recount all these things in order—her existence B, her conception, or her birth—I would find no time equal to the task, nor power of speech that could match the reality. For it is not possible to gather into one all the venerable things concerning her; I mean the nobility of her lineage, the distinction of her parents on both sides, the priestly and kingly dignity that sprang from them, the childlessness, the barrenness, the supplications made for her behalf, the frequent sacrifices by which they entreated, besought, and begged God to break the bonds of barrenness, to show the childless to be fertile, and to grant that fruit might bloom from barrenness. Then, the miracle of the ending of that barrenness, the fulfillment of the promise, and shortly before these events, the visions seen in dreams and the things heard while awake—all those things which, both common to both and individually, the saints were granted to hear through divine radiance, being instructed by God through visions more excellent than sight. In addition to these things, the fruitfulness, the progression toward birth, the swaddling clothes, the arrival at the divine palace, how she was offered to God as a holy gift, how she dwelt in the inner sanctuaries as if in golden chambers, [nourished by]
ambrosia, not of the common sort. From there, then, [we proceed to] her ascent, her growth from childhood, her maturation, and all the signs of complete perfection, towards which, as fitting for one blossoming in grace, she reached out in proportion to things beyond nature. I pass over the mysteries of her conception in an unknowable manner, and after that, the wondrous and ineffable bringing forth of the divine apparition of Jesus—to mention, for instance, her incorruption, her birth without labor pains, the stainless and inviolable nature of her virginal treasure, the strange miracle of the milk’s abundance, the legal purification, the prophecies uttered in the temple, by which she received the oracles of future things through the prophet Simeon, who welcomed the Law and God. B Then, following these, the persecutions endured, the flight into Egypt, the return from Egypt, the wanderings, the sojournings on earth, the insults preceding the cross, the sorrows at the time of the cross, the signs following the cross, and, finally, the things done and manifested throughout her life—that life spotless and undefiled, and infinitely full of the purest holiness, which the world, being unable to contain or to interpret with language, kept secret to the end as a mystery of the King, C revealing the remnants of this mystery only to those who knew how to compare divine things divinely: those who, as properly purified by their nearness to the Divine, had the intellectual veil lifted by ineffable silence and agnosia, and were shown a part of the inner, hidden, mystical splendor. And may we too, as many as have been encompassed by the bright splendor of this present day, having been deemed worthy of that super-luminous epiphany, behold it clearly—or at least receive in moderation the ray of that mystical contemplation, and be clearly instructed in these things, even if not in the events of that ineffable life (for they are unknowable). But [we pray] to be taught, as far as is possible, the accounts of those things for which we are gathered today. Come, then, O friends, mystics of the Word, and fellow-lovers of beautiful things and spectators of God! For I call upon you with a great and lofty proclamation: open up the contemplation of the Word, which is as yet covered in symbolic veils, so that the inner beauty may shine D upon you.
A If it be allowed, or at least possible to grasp even in a small measure, let us learn these things openly; but if not, those things which pertain to that most ineffable life—for they are indeed unknown—let us at least, as far as the matter allows, learn the reasons for those things over which we preside today. Be present, therefore, friendly listeners, and lovers of good and spiritual spectacle together. For I shall show you, by the clear face of my discourse, the beauty placed within, surpassing the radiance of the sun with the charm of grace.
Since the discourse has advanced thus far, I think it worth the effort to warn you above all else, lest any chance person with unwashed, as it is said, or profane feet, should invade these sacred things. For the place of the saints is not equally accessible to all; but only to those who, by purity of mind, have transcended all things comprised of matter, and have passed beyond whatever falls under the senses: to these, the most holy tabernacle of God, making a breeze as they pass, magnificently grants entry, and generously and kindly bestows the food of a spiritual banquet to which we are invited to feast. B For if upon those who, with temerarious daring, presumed to approach Mount Sinai while unworthy, lightnings, thunders, terrors, the sounds of trumpets, and terrible voices fell, so that for the majority the access to the walls of the temple was not safe, and for this reason there was need of another external circuit of walls; and if it was a matter of great zeal to be purified beforehand for the touch of the holy things, and to be distinguished from those things which were being sacredly performed—and these things served yet under a shadow, and were hung about with figural veils—how much more zeal ought those to demonstrate, who possess the light of truth clearly within them, as they hasten to approach this magnificent and exceeding great tabernacle of the gifts of God?
To this tabernacle, indeed, in a most occult manner, above what even the mind can grasp or the tongue can tell, He, emptying Himself by condescension, went on a pilgrimage, and inhabited as a tabernacle the Virgin’s womb, which can nowhere be contained, so that by that which contained Him, He might not be constrained; a womb, I say, which surpassed all nature in its purity, even in its birth; and from thence, as if from a certain sacred sanctuary, He initiated and taught His own flesh. Who is He? He who, of course, stands in need of nothing, yet nevertheless took upon Himself our utmost human lowliness. In this tabernacle, designated and fashioned by God, the whole law and the prophets were fulfilled in reality; and by it, those shadowy forms of typical prefigurations were obscured, the mirrors being dissolved by the truth. C Since these things have been sufficiently prepared by our discourse, come now, leaving aside the types, let us hasten toward the truth itself; or rather, let us approach the inner sanctum. For how long shall we delay in the vestibules of the Word, admiring the beauty before the entrance, when it is permitted to enter together with the Mother of the Word, and, having rent the veil, to peer into the Holy of Holies, and to be instructed in greater and more perfect things? For if the forecourts of the saints are such, and the propylaea so D full of such beauty...
A, how great must be the place of the inner sanctum, and those innermost regions of the unviewable and inaccessible, which are visible and utterable only to those eyes and lips which, as in a mirror, contemplate the glory of the Lord 18, and which have been cleansed by the coal of the Seraphic tongs 6, and have reached the pinnacle of dispassion? If, then, you obey me—a good counselor—by bidding farewell to the passions of the flesh, and by purifying yourselves as much as possible from all fleshly friendship and the confusion of this lower world, then, with the light of the divine and blessed illumination proceeding from above shining upon you, you shall run together with the Theotokos. For she who is already shining forth in action, in word, and in the beauty of all the virtues, is being received by Christ himself—the pure initiation, that ever-living light; he, I say, from the Sun of the Father, shining forth like a ray from the light, as a Sun without beginning and unchangeable, wishes to feast those gathered into one in a mystical way. And he shows this clearly, in that he transfers his Mother, the ever-virgin—from whose womb, being God, he was fashioned in human form—on this day, as Queen of the human race, from earthly dwellings, by the power of the sacrament, which is indeed somewhat obscure, yet not left entirely incommunicable. For there is nothing here beyond the limits established for us from the beginning; nor did the most holy one, in a new or supernatural way, either be born or live by a law [other than ours], so long as she walked among men upon the earth, B although, as in other respects, in this too she possessed a miraculous character that was somehow different: both in life and in birth, and finally in her departure from human things, she surpassed what is human, and surpassed the magnificence of nature in all who truly have their origin in generation. But let us now proceed to celebrate things appropriate to the time. For all things auspicious concur and rejoice together in this festival. See, then, whoever hears my words, how great are the things that are seen: the queen of the tribes, the Church of the faithful, I say, this day leads in triumph the Queen of the human race, as she is taken up by the King of all and by God, our guardian, with royal magnificence into the palace of the heavens, and offers as a gift whatever she has that is most beautiful and most delightful. Today, the dust that was raised by heavenly glory puts off the dust, and lays aside the veil imposed at birth, and renders back to the earth what is kin to the earth. She who was the author of life hastens toward a new life by her migration, and enters the place of immortal life, separated from all carnal and vicious affection: C and finally, that which is visible to bodily eyes is abstracted, and departs together with the spirit, in a spiritual manner, in ways known to the [Word]… D
who formerly bound both, and again, by the dissolution, set them free: unless I am being presumptuous in asserting what is unallowable. And let no one refuse belief, if he considers Elijah and Enoch. For those men, because they appeared to be above things subject to the eyes, when they had closed their senses and had become outside the flesh and the world—the one caught up by a chariot, the other snatched up on high—were not dissolved by a separation of parts from one another; but, the bounds of life—which divine Providence, who wisely determines all things and accurately and suitably ordains and governs both old and new things alike, had fixed for us—having been pushed forward for them even to this B point. But if these things seem small, let the example of her whose name we celebrate be sufficient for itself, comparing andlikening its own [affairs] to itself. For see if a greater miracle can be found than that which was accomplished in her by a wondrous design! At long last, the natural law, having grown weak and having slowly failed, was overcome; and the bitter sentence of death was utterly abolished and turned into the opposite. The power of the curse was loosed. Indeed, no one would have overcome what was formerly ordained by the decree of God—not even He who was God by nature, and who, by the nod of His own goodness, changes and transforms all things. But it is fitting that the matters of the Mother should be ordered by the reason that is peculiarly His. For thus he would not only prove her to be His Mother by nature, but would also confirm the truth of the economy through her: by which we exalt our discourse in a more spiritual way, as C excelling in its height; by which the Word, the Author of life, leaping down, entered her most capacious womb, and, having assumed human nature, sustained it for us in a manner higher than nature. Wherefore, even if the things formerly accomplished in her, and now celebrated by us at present, seem new and superior to the laws of nature, it is nevertheless fitting, and with no difficulty, on account of the marvelous manner of her giving birth, that one should be allowed to attribute them to her. Therefore, the Word Himself was present at that time, and by a law abolished the law of death that knew not how to be violated. It was, then, truly a new spectacle, and one beyond the reach of reason: a woman who had surpassed the nature of the heavens by her purity, dwelling in the holy of holies of the heavenly sanctuaries; a Virgin, overcoming the very nature of the Seraphim by the miracle of the Theotokos-birth, drawing closer to the first Nature, to God, the Creator of all; a Mother, having given birth to Life itself, holding out a D end of life comparable to her childbearing, and a miracle worthy of God and of faith. For as the womb was not corrupted while she was giving birth, so the flesh did not perish while she was dying. O, what wonders! The birth escaped corruption, and the tomb did not admit to decomposition; for the holy ones are not touched by it. What is the proof, I ask, if you wish? And may no one among those present, I pray, mock how the tomb is empty. For I will ask you: How is the dead body invisible? How are the burial shrouds not in the grave? if it is not the corruption...
if it is not the case that the treasure was translated. But if this is so, who would not call the translation true, when other things besides have concurred; namely, the soul’s division from the body, the laying aside of the flesh, the loosening of the structure, the parting of the members, the analysis, the joining, the compacting, and finally the withdrawal into the unseen? A For the tomb remains empty until now, holding this very testimony, and acting as a witness to the translation. I do not know well whether the parts were again brought together into one concretion of structure—for I shall philosophize a little about these matters; perhaps the Creator, by an ineffable decree of His will, devised it thus to honor the one who gave Him birth—or whether one part, having surpassed the other, obtained a status beyond the border, and the other a status on the frontier, after their mutual disjunction; or whether some strange and altered order, marvelously concurring in her, caused all things concerning her to truly have novelty, and to receive, as if proper by nature, a reason excellent and above nature, as though surpassing all reason and knowledge. B To this spiritual banquet of words, the Mother of the Word according to the flesh calls us; and she herself is laid out today as a royal table and a subject of words for us, enriched and overflowing with god-effecting mysteries. And such great brightness of light, illuminating the faces of those who love the feast, as much as it exceeds the power of speech, adorns the face of the day. Of this banquet today, I—that stranger and foreigner—am the host, and a narrator of sublime visions beyond my worthiness. And let no one, looking to the lowliness of my insignificance, disdain the banquet in disgust, for it is not we, but the Mother of God herself who has prepared these mystical narrations of divine things, as if by the law of a banquet; because of which, with the table full and prompting the spiritual guests, let us go, as befits the Spirit, into the depths of the Spirit. For now, she who gave birth according to the flesh to Wisdom, aptly imitating Wisdom herself, sets herself forth, as it were a table prepared, mystical and heavenly, for those who are initiated into divine things, graciously offering them for a feast; not by slaughtering victims, nor by pouring drinks into a cup, as those blessed victims once were, and that cup which received that divine, C consumed nectar, but clearly those very supernatural and divine things, which are truly divine, which are the mysteries concerning her. To these she, as one presiding at the feast, especially urges those who are gathered, indicating to us from that place how great the house of Wisdom is; and she shows herself in a way to be a table supreme in holiness, as she offers the whole life-giving bread itself, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, the eternal life, [[...]] D
the preserver of all things, who was formed from the Adamic mass into bread by a miraculous dispensation and carried in her womb—He, I say, who transports those who approach Him holily to a new life and makes them divine. By this same way He both cleanses them and renders them immortal, those who, by the participation of the truly novel communion with Him, are joined to Him. These things, clearly, are what He feeds His lovers with: those things by which that life has been established; one that is supreme and ineffable, and than which there is nothing higher seen in creation; according to which He who is beyond all theology, through an ineffable emptying, being moved by the compassion of His care for man, as the guide of all, chose to humble Himself even to our poverty and to be woven into our mass; and to partake similarly with us of blood and flesh B (Heb. II, 14), — He who is in need of nothing, who is most full, the rich One, who chose to dwell within our existence not by an ecstasy of His superessential divinity, but by keeping His own nature whole, and even after the ineffable union, preserving the principles of those natures that had come together, with no confusion or division having occurred in between; He who did not make known even to the angels themselves, and to the commanders of the heavenly orders, what this mystery being accomplished was, except to one of the foremost angels, who served in the saving procession of the new mystery. For by this means the incorporeal One, having been embodied, conversed with us through the medium of mind and flesh, so that, being entirely mingled with our entire mass, He might entirely renew our nature. This then, as far as my understanding goes and as C it were at hand, is the intellectual table of the God-mystical wisdom. Such too are the God-delivered rites mystically celebrated upon it, to which it is right to add the mysteries of the present day, in which the Mother of God, having changed none of the laws of nature, ministered according to the law that governs us, and under the same terms as ours finished her life in the flesh, leaving behind for life a witness full of wonder, both in her birth and in her passing. If, therefore, anything concerning her has been economically arranged by the divine nature beyond us, let no one wonder, looking to the ineffable and novel-wise mystery of what has been accomplished, which is removed beyond all incomprehensibility, infinitely and D limitlessly. And let these things be summed up in their entirety as ineffable, and to their own logic...
A fixed and immovable. We, however, let us celebrate the memory of the interment of the most holy life-giving tabernacle with all joyous splendor and magnificent gladness; to celebrate which, all things spiritual together with corporeal things, if any there be both in heaven and on earth, are gathered together in like manner, escorting the Queen with honor and leading the procession for the race (96): from whom also that common propitiatory; which, I say, was built without hands into the Lordly and saving temple, possessed the body of Him who was a partaker with us of all nature and spiritual motion, with one sin alone excepted. O miracle! She who was able to contain within the small capacity of her womb Him who is infinite in magnitude and altogether uncircumscribed by any description, today rests upon a circumscribed and narrow bed, receiving due rites. She who upon her own bosom seated Him who rides upon the shoulders of the Cherubim as upon a throne, is placed in a tomb within the hollow of a rock: and she, of whose child-bearing the angels marveled, her tabernacle the apostolic choirs today lead and carry out in procession. Who then could explain the reasons for those things which were celebrated there? Who, having assumed wings with his mind, could strive to reach the sublime miracle in flight, and be more vehemently affected by communion with it? Who, finally—to speak of what is lesser, or perhaps even of those secondary things (97)—could describe the flux and reflux of that human concretion? To whom nature is unequal to understand, and being amazed at the incomprehensible darkness of its own state, turning its impulse into wonder, as if by the inspiration of the Divine, it utters the Davidic words to the God of all: "Thy knowledge is become wonderful from me; it is strengthened, I shall not be able to attain to it" (Ps. cxxxviii, 6): as if it not only marveled at the human concretion or composition, or again at its disjunction into parts: but in fact, indeed, it celebrates (98) in this immaculate Queen and most illustrious Mother of His, this difficult miracle by an oracle: which is manifest also to us B and the one who bears it. We, however, concerning the memorial of the interment of the most holy life-giving tabernacle, let us celebrate with splendor! For at once, when the visible appears, the intelligible also [appears], as much as is heavenly and as much as is earthly being gathered into one, honoring the Queen and leading the procession before the race; from whom also [there is] a common propitiatory, and this is the Lordly and saving body assumed from her without being cut by hands, which partook with us of every innate and intellectual motion, without sin alone. O miracle! She who contained in a small space of her own womb God, who is infinite in magnitude and removed from all description, today is buried by the hands of holy ones, traveling on a circumscribed bed. She who enthroned in her own bosom Him who is carried by the Cherubim, is buried in the bosom of a rock that has been hollowed out; and she whose birth angels marveled at, her tabernacle the apostolic choirs today lead and conduct. And who could interpret the words of those things performed there? Who is capable of being caught up to the mystery? Who will give wings to the mind so as to fly up together with the miracle, and to suffer communion with it? Who, to speak more moderately, or perhaps even of the secondary things, could describe the cry and the outflow C of the gathering concerning us? Toward which nature, being at a loss, and struck by the truth of the constitution surrounding it, having turned its impulse into wonder, utters enthusiastically to the God of all the words of David: "Thy knowledge is become wonderful from me; it is strengthened, I shall not be able to attain to it." Not only wondering at the compacting of us, or the composition, or conversely the disjunction into parts; but already now also deifying the miracle concerning this Queen, His immaculate and renowned Mother, which is known generally to us and specifically to her; it has been known from before the ages to Him alone as the All-worker and the Maker of such things. This is our formation; this is our compacting, our dissolution, which we also celebrate in a festival today. Hence I, shriveling up, and in fear honoring the mystery, speak together with the most loud-voiced of the prophets, Isaiah, saying: "Woe is me, for I am pricked to the heart; because, being a man and having unclean lips, D I dare not say anything about the pure and undefiled one, full of all holiness, and I attempt to praise her in funeral discourse, whose ascension according to contemplation clouds surround, but a certain intellectual mist is poured around the [things] before.
A It is common and proper to it, to Him alone as the author of all and the artificer of such things, known before the ages. This is our creation, this is our composition, this is the solution [of the body], which we also celebrate today in a solemn assembly. From this, I, drawing together my spirit and having honor for the sacrament in fear, proclaim with the highest of the prophets, Isaiah: "O miserable me, for I have been struck with remorse; for being a man, and having unclean lips," I dare to speak something about her who is pure and immaculate and most full of all sanctity, and I presume to celebrate her with a laid-out epitaph, whose ascension, indeed, clouds surround, and a certain spiritual mist poured around her rational orbits, does not at all permit the wrapped understanding of the sacrament to be explained more clearly. God alone can praise her according to her merits, who, by reasons which He himself knows, performed those wondrous works in her; but it is so far from being fitting for me, cast down on the ground and scarcely beholding the things which are at my feet, owing to a defect of good will, that I should blush to speak of things that surpass merit, [and yet] I am not able to speak of things that are seen to be according to merit? Indeed, since that which is within my power is not to be rejected, consecrating my dissertation to God, I shall drive away silence with speech: to Him be glory and power, through all the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XIV
B In the Dormition of our most holy Lady, the Theotokos.The continuity of our discourse calls us again to praise; and it is entirely necessary that we connect that which is missing in sequence, so that the discourse may be whole and not broken, which nothing divides in any part. Therefore, in the preceding [part], we have recounted as much as was possible, [things] which pertain to the spectacle of the body that bore Life, I mean the virginal tabernacle of the Mother of God; it remains that we say what sort of song [it was], and what things were celebrated by the song. Let no one, however, censure [me] as rash and too daring, in that I presume greater things than myself; since I have not composed the discourse as if striving in speech with equal power, but as if only moved by the engagement of a vow, nowhere neglecting the submission and modesty that was fitting. Indeed, the discourse does not wish to diminish the sacrament, although, as if it were not worn and not disputed by others, it attempts to explain it first in its boldness. But if, by chance, the present discourse happens to contain something even by few observed, let no one wonder. For as if by conjecture, and as the mind was able to attain, we have contemplated these things; for scarcely even the angels could have accurately declared the matter. C Now therefore, as we said in the preceding [part], that nearly innumerable fleet of those who love God was gathered together; and perhaps all the spiritual orders of the heavenly powers, by an invisible flight from heaven, had come together to that new spectacle: but also D the God-inspired souls of the saints were present, I suppose, around the bed.
A For it was fitting that the God-like souls of those who had lived in holiness should be present with the Queen of nature, as they paved the way for her departure and led the procession, and sang their own hymns in praise. There lay in the midst that luminous body of the Theotokos, three cubits long, which had been able to contain the whole fullness of the God-ruling Word; which, as it was seen upon the bed, bathed the entire creation in the sweet fragrance of the ointment of holiness. What mind or what tongue could fathom the reasons for the things that were seen there? For all things surpassed beyond measure every obscurity and darkness. Hence also the most eminent of those who were caught up to God, moved by the divine Spirit, out of an overflowing joy infused by God, turning the excess of their illumination into ecstasy, began to pour forth those songs—or rather, that funereal mode of expression—as each one was able, receiving the inspiration from one another. B Indeed, such were the songs, not such as we are able to conceive, or such as anyone might perhaps describe; but such as the Spirit instructed them to say and permitted them to hear. This song, and those who were celebrated in the song, were both spoken and heard by those rendering the praise, far exceeding all our earthly harmony and consonance; yet they differed little or nothing from the sound of the angels feasting in heaven. Their height and depth, and their infinite beauty, were not for us to fashion—we who have not even tasted such sweetness—but rather to honor with silence as things ungraspable and ineffable. It is safe for us to embark only upon those things which it is both delightful to attain and involving no danger of error; which, I say, neither distress the clever and keen-witted, nor trouble the simple. But the song and the things celebrated in the song, even if they cannot be grasped by us, may yet be understood in some measure, as in a figure, in this way. C This is the bound set by God for the testaments of the founders; this is the crown of the divine oracles; this is the most unknown mystery, the pre-eternal counsel of God concerning the human race; these are the first fruits of the fellowship and relationship of the Creator of all with His own handiwork; these are the subsisting and true pledge of divine covenants, the exquisite beauty, the statue sculpted by God, the image superbly expressed from the divine archetype, the support for all contemplation and ascent to divine things, the all-holy tabernacle of the Creator of all, the vessel of inexhaustible wisdom, containing God as in a receptacle; the inviolable storehouse of life, the fountain of divine splendors.
A Its entire mode of life, with its unique traits as in our own case, was proper to its closeness to the divine. Yet, the demonstration of the highest impassibility is clear. For what among the greatest things has not approached her with a superabundance of virtue? And what wonder, in proof of this, has not been brought forth? So that she was shown to be the lodging-place of all wonders, howsoever they were brought forth or fulfilled—even now, or in the past; of which the present moment is the final portion, even if it was predetermined before all time by the divine counsel that ordained the end of life for each one of us from above. B And O the providence, which no one born of woman has ever been able to reach or whose footsteps to find! Its handiwork is the mystery of the Virgin which is now being accomplished. For it is a mystery, even if it is contemplated regarding our end; and this is the portion that has been allotted to human nature from the beginning. But how has the wall, bound by sin, been broken down? How has the bond, entwined by transgression, been torn apart? Why is death despised as a midday dream? Fear has departed; it no longer terrorizes those who are still infants in Christ. Or would the dwelling of God not have died, perhaps, had corruption—which was sown by disobedience—not been dissolved? Yes, it was dissolved, for Christ had died beforehand. For nature itself called out of the condemnation of corruption, having taken up the state of incorruptibility. C O new exchanges! O divine commerce! Nature brought forth a will full of thorns; it also brought forth the fulfiller of the Father’s will. Nature was in labor with a self-chosen death from disobedience, and in return it brought forth Him who destroyed death through obedience. For she alone, and solitary beyond nature, was chosen for the new work of nature; she alone served the Creator of the whole of nature. Since, therefore, this divinely-spoken coffin of the God-bearing tabernacle is now laid out, like a bountiful dispenser of goods provoking the lovers of the beautiful, let no one be absent from the Church. For the gift requires no toil, only the desire. Therefore, let everyone who has an unwavering faith be eager; let him go to the Virgin’s D oracle, and let him know by experience the discovery of what he desires in his heart.
A Let one and all know by experience the finding of their own longings. This common place of reconciliation is set before you; be reconciled, all of you, to God. Behold the inexhaustible fountain of immortality; come, you who are given over to death, and draw. Behold the perpetual rivers of life; come, all of you, and obtain immortality. O daughter of Adam and Mother of God! O Mother without a man, and Virgin who brought forth children! O formation of Him who was fashioned in you in time, yet did not depart from His own eternity! All the interpreters in the Spirit sang of you. Moses, the first to see the bush, foretold you, saying: "I will pass by and see this great vision." B For your sake, O Mother of God, David prayed to Christ, saying, "Arise, O Lord, into your resting place, you and the ark of your sanctification." Concerning you, the same prophet, prefiguring your departure, once sang: "The rich of the people shall entreat your favor. For behold," he says, "all the glory of the king’s daughter is from within: she is arrayed in gold-woven robes, decorated." You the sacred book of Canticles, describing beforehand, indicated more mysteriously: "Who is this that comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, from all the powders of the perfumer?" Concerning you again, the same book has inscribed beforehand, saying: "Behold, the couch of Solomon. Its pillars he made of silver, and its back of gold, its ascent of purple; in its midst a pavement of love from the daughters of Jerusalem." C And again: "Go forth, O daughters of Sion [and behold], O king Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. Behold her, O daughters of Sion, and call her blessed; queens and concubines, praise her, for the scent of her garments is above all spices." Foreseeing you, Isaiah cried out with divine insight: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive in the womb." And, "There shall be the root of Jesse." And, "Blessed is the root of Jesse." And, "There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from the root." For your sake the great Ezekiel prophesied, saying, "Behold the gate toward the east, and the gate shall be shut; and no one shall pass through it. The Lord God alone shall enter and go out by it, and the gate shall be shut." D You, the man of desires also, prophesying, called a mountain; saying also, "a stone cut without human hands from you," not severed, not taken away, not divided, by the assumption of our own humanity. You are the greatness of the fearful dispensation, into which the angels desire to look.
A You are the most beautiful dwelling-place of the divine condescension; the earth that is truly desirable. "For the King of glory has desired your beauty; and He has become a lover of the riches of your virginity; and He dwelt in you, and He tabernacled among us," and He reconciled us through you to God and the Father. You are the treasure of the mystery hidden from the ages. B You are truly the living book of the spiritual Word written in you ineffably by the lifegiving pen of the Spirit. You alone are truly the divinely-written volume of the new covenant, which God had previously arranged for men. You are the ten-thousand-fold chariot of God, having brought to Him the thousands who were led toward Him as He became incarnate. You are Mount Sion; the fat mountain; the curdled mountain, in which God was pleased to dwell; from which, having been compacted into flesh, the supersubstantial One was curdled as to our nature, animated intellectually. O divine temple, and earthen human! O dead pillar, and lifegiving column! Leading not the carnal Israel that is being driven away, but leading the spiritual Israel toward the unerring knowledge, shining with divinely-kindled light. O totally luminous cloud, and shadowy mountain; not shading the ungrateful people of the Jews, but illuminating the chosen people of God, that holy nation, with your motherly, light-bearing torches. C More pure than all gold and every sensible and immaterial creature! O virginal earth, from whom the new and older-than-the-old Adam has come forth! What tomb shall cover you? What earth shall receive you, who have surpassed heaven and the nature of heaven in holiness? What are your burial clothes? What your swaddling bands? What your garments? And what ointments shall anoint your body? That sweet-smelling body, I say: the undefiled body; that body full of good; springing forth forgiveness; flowing with incorruption as from a fountain: the body from which is the reconciliation of the Godhead; the body in which is the consummation; through which is salvation. For you are truly the beautiful one, and there is no blemish in you. D Let Solomon, the most divine, sing to you again a little: "Beautiful as Jerusalem, and the scent of your garments is like the scent of frankincense." You are the new jar of the inexhaustible ointment; you are the gladness of the oil of anointing. You are the [vessel] of the intelligible perfumes.
A Σὺ εἶ τὸ ἄνθος τῆς ἀφθαρσίας· ἡ ἀρωματοφόρος γῆ· ἡ ζωηφόρος θήκη, ἡ φωτοειδὴς λυχνία, ἡ θεοΰφαντος πορφύρα, τὸ βασιλικὸν ἐνδυμα, ἡ θεοποίκιλτος στολή, ἡ χρυσοειδὴς διπλοῖς· ἡ ἀκατονόμαστος τῆς νοητῆς ἁλουργίδος τοῦ Λόγου συναφή· τὸ ἀρχιερόπλοκον τῆς βασιλείας διάδημα· ὁ θρόνος ὁ ὑψηλὸς, ἡ ἐπηρμένη τῶν οὐρανῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πύλη, ἡ βασίλισσα πάσης τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως, ἡ ἀνόθευτον τὴν κλῆσιν μετὰ τῆς χρήσεως ἔχουσα· ἡ χωρὶς Θεοῦ μόνου, πάντων ἀνωτέρα ὑπάρχουσα. Ποῖαι σε χεῖρες ἐνταφιάσουσιν; Οἵαις ἀγκάλαις βαστάσομεν τὴν βαστάσασαν τὸν ἀχώρητον; Ποίαν ἐπὶ σοὶ ποιησόμεθα προσευχὴν ἐπιτύμβιον; Ποίοις σε προπέμψομεν ᾄσματι; Χείλεσι δὲ ποίοις τὴν σὴν ἐξυμνήσομεν ἔξοδον; Ἡλίκῃ φωνῇ; Τίσι λόγοις ἐπὶ σοὶ μεγαλεῖα καλλιεπήσομεν; Διὸ ἀντὶ πάντων ταύτας σοι προσαγάγομεν τὰς φωνάς· «Μακαρία σὺ ἐν γυναιξί, καὶ ἐν γενεαῖς γενεῶν. Εὐλογημένη, ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς δεδοξασμένη. Σὲ γὰρ εὐγνωμόνως πᾶσα γλώσσα δοξολογεῖ, Μητέρα τῆς ζωῆς ἀνακηρύττουσα. Πεπλήρωται πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις τῆς δόξης σου· ἡγίασται τὸ πᾶν τῷ μύρῳ τῆς εὐωδίας σου· ἠφάνισται διὰ σοῦ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἡ ἀφορμή· μεταπεποίηται εἰς χαρὰν ἡ ἀρὰ τῆς προμήτορος. Πάντες ᾄδουσι διὰ σοῦ σὺν ἡμῖν· «Δόξα ἐν οὐρανῷ, εἰρήνη ἐπὶ γῆς.» B Σὲ τάφος ἔχειν οὐ δύναται· σῶμα γὰρ Δεσποτικὸν οὐκ ἀμαυροῖ τὰ φθειρόμενα. Ἅδης κρατεῖν οὐκ ἰσχύει σου· ψυχῆς γὰρ βασιλικῆς οὐχ ἅπτεται τὰ ὁμόδουλα. Ἄπιθι τοίνυν, ἄπιθε σὺν εἰρήνῃ. Μεταναστεύου τῶν ἐν τῇ κτίσει μονῶν· ἐξιλάσκου τὸν Κύριον ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινοῦ πλάσματος. Ἕως μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἐπιγείοις ἐπεχωρίαζες, μικρόν σε μέρος εἶχε τῆς γῆς· ἐξ οὗ δὲ μετετέθης ἐκ γῆς, ὁ σύμπας περιέχει σε κόσμος κοινὸν ἱλαστήριον. Ὑπὲρ τὸν Ἐνὼχ μεγαλύνθητι ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ, ἐν χαρᾷ ἀνεκλαλήτῳ, ἐν ἀἰδίῳ φωτί· ἔνθα τὸ ἀληθινῶς ζῆν· ἡ ὁλόφωτος βασιλεία· ἡ ἀκατάληπτος τῶν ἀγγέλων χορεία. Πρὸς τούτοις, ἀπόλαυε τοῦ κάλλους τοῦ Υἱοῦ σου· κατατρύφα τῆς ἀκενώτου χαρᾶς, καὶ τῆς ἀγήρω μακαριότητος· ἐκεῖ οὗ ὁ χειμάρρους τῆς αἰωνίου τρυφῆς· ἔνθα οἱ λειμῶνες τῆς ἀφθαρσίας· αἱ πηγαὶ τῆς ἀεννάου ζωῆς, τὰ ῥεῖθρα τοῦ θεοδούστου φωτός· οἱ ποταμοὶ τῆς ἀειζώου φωτοχυσίας. C Ἐκεῖ τὸ πέρας πάντων τῶν ἐλπισθέντων καὶ νῦν ἐλπιζομένων· ἡ περιοχὴ πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ἡ φανέρωσις τῶν κεκρυμμένων, καὶ τότε μόνον θεωρουμένων· τὸ ἔσχατον τέλος, οὗ ἐπέκεινα παντελῶς οὐδέν. D
οὐδέν. There the Father is worshipped, and the Son is glorified, and the Holy Spirit is hymned: the unitary nature of the one Divinity in Trinity. Such, I think, those men inspired by God must have both said and chanted, and whatever things transcend even these; for I know not what more I could say, being but earth and ashes, and altogether rot, and creeping on my belly like the serpents. My debt of speech has been sufficiently discharged according to my power, with nothing, I believe, overlooked that pertains to the present feast. And if anyone should contribute something higher to these things, it will have been brought together by us, and will be beneficial to the festival. But having said a little, I will here rest the flow of my speech. For as for worthily, we all alike fall short; but as for showing one's own power, the readiness of each is equal. And I know well that she who bore the Word will receive this, even from us, this very brief speech; and she will repay, perhaps not what we ask, but in any case what we are worthy to receive. For the all-holy one is wont, as she is bountiful, to repay even greater things for the most meager. B And let these things be so; but we, O brilliant and most illustrious gathering (for I call you again to the conclusion of the speech), come, taking the lead in the holy procession of the virginal body, let us sing funeral chants, and let us crown the leader of the feast with such honors as we are able. And that this may be made more manifest, let the whole assembly of heavenly and earthly beings be present today, and fulfill for me the departing hymn, composed in these terms.
Departed, departed are the camps of God from the tents of Kedar, to the incorporeal and new-life tabernacles. The tabernacle received that which was the archetype of the legal one, the super-celestial ark, of which the legal one is a figure. "The lintel of the doors above was lifted up," that the kingdom of heaven might royally embrace the gate of God that is above the heavens. Receive her, ye angels, clothed in white; praise her, O heavens; glorify her, O earth-born; exalt the city of God, of the great King. O earth, clap your hands, shout aloud, recount the glorious things of the Virgin, the swaddling clothes of the birth, the miracles of the sepulcher; how she was buried, how she was translated; how the tomb is seen empty and is worshipped. O Judea, gather your sons; proclaim the Queen born of Judah; take heart, do not fear; celebrate your feasts, O Jerusalem; shout aloud, strike the chord, escort that metropolis of God, sing in the manner of David, say clearly: "In the exit of Israel out of Egypt [Ps. CXIII, 1]" (11).
A Mother Sion, in whom the Lord was pleased, whom He chose, call your daughters, the churches of the nations. Sing something mournful, but not tragic, wailing, not lamenting. For the present feast is of good cheer, not of mourning. Gethsemane, receive the new queen; prepare the tomb; bring forth the burial shrouds; adorn the coffin with ointments. Let the vessel be for you the guardian of the treasure; let the holy thing be kept in safety. Indeed, if it shall have remained preserved in the tomb, it will be a possession common to angels and men, a treasure worthy of adoration. But if anything unusual occurs, and that immaculate body should be translated, remain proclaiming the miracle. Tell the translation to future generations, yielding the spirit of the Mother of God to the spirits above, but to us bestowing holiness, as from an everlasting fountain, through the fragrant scent of that body.
B Let us all run together to the Theotokos: choirs of fathers and patriarchs, spirits of prophets and assemblies of priests, the senate of apostles, throngs of martyrs, congregations of teachers, souls of the just, orders of the holy, every rank and age, kings and princes, rulers and subjects; "Young men and maidens, old men with the young, praise [Ps. CXLVIII, 12]," supplicate. Say to the Mother of God, say: "How blessed is the house of David, from whose loins, Mother of God, you blossomed." Mothers and virgins, glorify her who alone is mother and perpetual virgin; and you, brides, hasten to her who is unwed among the young, and incorrupt, and who alone, without the pangs of labor, brought forth the Incomprehensible. Barren women and widows, receive her with applause, she who without experiencing man changed the laws of infertility. Maidens, lead the dances, ushering in the child-bearing incorruption. Bless, O nations; proclaim her blessed, O tongues; sing to the Mother of God, all you tribes of the earth, sing; begin with canticle and cymbals; jubilate, magnify, sing psalms. Take, Mary, take the tambourine, and go before the virgins. Move the lyre of David; lift up your voice; celebrate your Queen with a song; lead the dances, C lift up...
COMBEFIS' NOTES.
...as a precentor, following in those words the body of Mary carried on the shoulders of that sacred senate: "Israel went out of Egypt, in a pillar of fire, of the cloud, alleluia, etc." As a funeral rite for the hierarchs, "The one who dwells, and the innocent... [Ps. XC, 1]"; We add: "Praise the Lord; Give thanks; Blessed are the immaculate"; the Greeks in the Euchologion have only "He who dwells; and Blessed are the immaculate"; but not "Lord, I have cried to you, etc."; but they seem to wish to hand down in it, either primarily or exclusively, the rite and order of burying, to which those [psalms] truly go before, as if they were celebrated more secretly, and for the one departing to the bed. Hugo Menardus, in his notes on the sacramental office of the dead of Saint Gregory from the Rheims codex, refers to the beginning with that psalm of ours, *In exitu*, etc.
(12) "In whom God was pleased." The LXX follows [the Hebrew] so that it might be emphatic, and adds something to it, which we have endeavored to express. The Vulgate renders both with the word "chooses." That reading of the editors, [Greek word], seems faulty.
(15) "Mournful, but not tragic." As if by the counsel of Paul, having granted that grief be moderated according to human custom, although it is a festive and joyful day: "That you may not be sorrowful, even as others who have no hope [1 Thess. IV, 13]," etc.
A Let the lyre be struck, call the virgins, gather the choirs of those who sing; arrange the dances, let them run behind the bed, before the bed, and let them lead after the bed; let them dance in a circle around the bier. For behold the new ark of the glory of God, in which is the pot all of gold, and the staff of Aaron which sprouted, and the tablets of the covenant. Behold the head concerning which the oracle-singing of the prophets cried out. Behold that ladder which Jacob, being instructed in divine things, saw, about which he beheld the angels of God ascending and descending; whatever that descent or ascent might be. This is the gate of the heavens, concerning which he said: "How terrible is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this shall be called the gate of heaven [Gen. XXVIII, 17]." B Behold the propitiatory which had been placed upon the Holy of Holies and within the innermost recesses of the divine and mystic ark; which is now indeed overshadowed by the Seraphic wings, but now, by the mystic advent of Jesus, cleanses our sins. No longer is the yoke of legal servitude imposed upon the true Israel, since Christ has inscribed the freedom for us through worship in spirit—as if in grace—upon the body of the Theotokos. No longer does the yearly journey of the high priests tread upon the holy places; for the great high priest himself, Christ Jesus, who has passed through the heavens [Heb. IV, 14] in the assumed flesh possessing a soul endowed with reason and intellect, as in a temple—the virginal sanctuary—mystically always walking among us, burns incense; and he sacrifices, and is sacrificed; and offering up the whole burnt offerings, he is himself offered; and sanctifying himself for our sake, he sanctifies those who sanctify him. Such are the mysteries of your trans-cosmic Dormition, O Theotokos; these are the epitaphs of the sacred procession of your divinely-shrouded tabernacle; this C is the funeral hymn; these are the memorials before the burial and after the burial; these are the escorting rites of your most super-unknown translation. These are the shadowy representations of the divine mysteries and blessed illuminations concerning you. For our mind cannot grasp anything more than what has been said to reach a conjecture. This short discourse has been diligently composed for you by us; it is the same [a sign of] gratitude and supplication. If it holds anything worthy of your majesty, thanks be to you for this, who both give and accept the ready spirit; but if, as it must naturally happen to everyone who attempts to say anything about you, it should appear D below your worth, you will surely forgive it, you who possess by nature a compassionate spirit toward your Son and
provider of our need. A Moreover, I know that you will accept this most beautiful gift, composed from my meager toils. For I had nothing else to offer to the Mother of the Word, who surpasses all, except to offer a word flowing from the spontaneous fountains of the grace which is in you, O full of grace. As for that divine, age-less, and blessed manner of life of yours, let your awe-inspiring and utterly unknowable state, as it is in every way incomprehensible and ineffable, be honored by silence. For it is truly just that we should not presume to touch upon things that are superior to us or that exceed our capacity, and which wall off all investigation from those who are inaccessible. As for these things, O thrice-blessed Queen, Mother of God, from us who are under you and under your bold prayers to God, those secret words rooted in you have now been briefly composed to the best of our ability. B But for us, who will provide a voice commensurate with the height and magnitude of the sublime thoughts concerning you, or the strength to speak? But, O Lady of all men, capable of receiving Wisdom itself and the subsistent Word—of the first, I say, and the principle and cause of all things. O minister of life, and life of the living, and author of life! O holy, and holier than the saints, and the holiest treasure of all holiness! O [you who are] divided, yet not divided, but who have united the human race to God with an indissoluble bond! O kingdom of those on earth, possessing invincible power from the glory above! O bulwark of the Christian faith, and defender of those who have placed their hope in you! Receive from us, who through you have received the light of truth, these praises which, as much as was permitted, we have mystically contemplated from obscure images. Moreover, C to us who glory in you, O Mother of God, may you return this reward for this small labor; that, of course, you would offer your suppliant prayer to your Son, our Master, and King, and God, and Lord, which is more precious and brilliant than all treasures and costly riches; by which even we who sin may appease God; and by which, acting according to the rule of virtue, we may more kindly reconcile Him; by which we may consider the arms of the barbarians to be the arrows of children; and by which spear, and helmet, and missiles may remain useless and ineffective; and finally, by which every good thing is rightly accomplished for Christians, and the likeness to the Divine is attained. You have, beloved, the reason for the mystery, and although it falls far short of the thing itself, it nevertheless contains no less than what the power of a ready mind can produce. But you should seek the more abstruse and loftier reason and discourse D from that very Word who for your sake emptied Himself, and thickened Himself with flesh, and out of a more intense love for the human race, united the whole of Himself to you: nor would it be any less apt to say that He became man, so that He might make you entirely God in spirit, and consume the worse with the better, and raise you up from the earth with Himself, and establish you in the paternal seats; to Whom you are always led through a life of pure contemplation, living and breathing in divine words and habits; both seeing God as much as is possible, and being seen; and to Whom you are always hastening to be manifested by the illuminations of contemplation, and [growing] by the ascents according to virtue, so that from both—I mean from action and contemplation—you might be perfect and stable, coming into a most complete man.
in the measure of the stature of Christ. To whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
ORATION XV. On the Decollation of the Forerunner.
A Old age itself also for the most part leaps up, invigorated by a ready and keen desire of the soul; and a weak speech receives strength and is invigorated by the incitement of the listeners. This same thing now also happens to our discourse, which the gathered crowd urges on according to its zeal toward the subject of the eulogies; and which nevertheless, as it turns its contemplation toward him who is to be praised, fears to set its own virtue in opposition. And indeed the speech, to speak after the manner of the Apostle, is weak, and voiced from debilitated organs; but the subject of the eulogies possesses the victory over every speech by as much that, by the juxtaposition of comparison, it has acquired B him who is the greatest among those born of women; so that it requires that one and primary voice only, of him who is first and alone by nature the Word itself, and the wisdom of God, and the power. And such indeed is the subject, and so it stands; but how great the weakness of our speech is, has been shown indeed, in that the one proposes to us the great John among those born of women, than whom the saving Word pronounced no greater to have been from the ages among patriarchs, or prophets, or righteous ones; but the speech, attempting to praise the voice of that pre-eternal Word, and looking back upon its own powers, almost embraces that silence which Zechariah, being in the holy of holies, endured because of C disbelief, until that same voice, occupying our speech, might itself break the silence for our discourses, as she who exists in very truth as the voice of the Word by nature. And this will happen entirely as the voice of the Word; not that it might itself attain greater glory (for what glory could be added to him who has been crowned by the Lord with such a crown, as no one born of the earth ever wore?), but that we might be led to imitation by his praises. For this is what God wills—He who glorifies those who glorify Him, and exalts those who exalt Him.
A Following the proem, I consider it B fitting, to the best of our ability, to set forth the scope of the present day, so that we may not depart home empty or without fruit. And this is that liberty of the Baptist in speaking to Herod, which the Gospel book today, as it unfolds, proclaims aloud. I refer to that liberty of speech into which no reproach can fall, as it is entirely pure and has been manifested as possessing nothing mixed in from worldly license; it is so superior to worldly license that it draws no distinction between a private individual and a king (for the rebuke is common to both when the action requires a similar reproach). Rather, as a prophet of God and an emulator of His commandments, he spurned the purple, the royal throne, the diadem, and all those things that puff up the bloated pride of worldly men; he spoke the truth freely, and without any fear confirmed the authority of the Law, desiring to show that its liberty was not in vain. For on what grounds would he who stood between the Law and grace, acting as a champion of the Law, treat the glory of the Law with contempt? And as to the fact that the Baptist of the Lord acted as a champion of the Law, who is so foolish as not to regard this as the very first and foremost head among the glorious deeds accomplished by him? The Gospel narrative will subsequently declare what manner of zeal was his, and how fervent and burning it was.
‹At that time, Herod the Tetrarch heard the report about Jesus, and said to his servants: This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and for this reason powers are active in him. For Herod had arrested John and put him in prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him: It is not lawful for you to have her. And though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and she pleased Herod. Wherefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. And she, having been instructed by her mother, said: Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist. And the king was grieved; but because of the oaths and those reclining at table with him, he ordered it to be given. And sending, he beheaded John in the prison; and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.›
Does this man seem to you to be incited by zeal, and by far the most zealous of all those whom we know to be zealous, to the point that he did not abandon the truth even to the point of being slaughtered, nor did he remit any part of his zeal, and this while contending against a king? For C think how great a thing it was to see a man clothed in camel’s hair and girt with a leather belt: and, on the other hand, D a proud king, lifting his eyebrows, seated on a lofty throne; one held fast by the tyranny of pleasures, and one who, with full, audacious fury [(17)], was in haste to deliver him to death. Think
how great the difference between a private individual and a king, between a hermit and a public leader, and one who courts the favor of cities and provinces.
Do you wish to say that one of those who already shone forth in the law surpassed this man in more fervent zeal? As, for example, that great one among zealots, Phinehas, who with a spear pierced the Midianite woman together with the Israelite? But the cases are not equal, nor was the opposition concerning similar things. For in that instance, even if the abomination spread to many, yet there was no one of such preeminence against whom he directed his zeal; but here, it is a king. And what indeed is he other than one carrying the sentence of death upon his tongue, and breathing out slaughter against his subjects for the slightest occasion? B And what of that great zealot, Elijah, it is said, who drove a chariot of fire and, being lifted up above the earth, was carried off? Who cast a bridle upon the sky so that it would not rain for a long time; and who sent a three-year famine upon the earth; and who was always shouting, "With zeal I have been zealous for the Lord"? And how, not bearing the wrath of a woman, he embraced exile as his own hearth, and the desert as a city. Of what kind of woman? A lascivious one, mad with sacrificial superstition; whose worship was idols, gods, and demons, that which was adored. And all the ways in which that thrice-wretched woman then caused Israel to sin.
But the discourse, running well up to this point, has shown John to be a better zealot than those who preceded him, insofar as they had an unforeseen death, while he had one that was manifest and before his eyes. C But perhaps some of the lovers of feasts will ask: What does the discourse intend with this frankness and zeal, as if it were some precious and comely ornament to crown the all-holy head of the Baptist, as if perhaps some other virtue or action capable of adorning the Lord’s Forerunner were lacking? And who is so overflowing with virtues as the great John today, who alone among all those born of women was chosen as his priest and Baptist, the only and first High Priest—and he who cleanses all with the Spirit and fire of baptism? D My discourse indeed had many subjects regarding John's achievements, but there is no time to leave our present subject and run off to others; for this is not the law of panegyrics. As for me, having yielded to the unattainable nature of his virtues—
A those virtues which exceed the whole power of speech—I thought it worthwhile to add, for you who love the feast, a small seasoning: an exposition of the history just read. For the Baptist is content to be adorned by his own beauties. Come then, B let us run through them, so that as if on a tablet we may display the much-sung struggle of the Forerunner, which he dared to complete for the sake of the Good.
"At that time," it says, "Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said to his servants: This is John the Baptist: he has risen from the dead, and therefore powers work in him." These things were later; but what was before this, and of what sort was it? Herod was committing adultery with the wife of his brother Philip; and John, by reproving Herod, was preventing him from transgressing the law. How, and in what manner? By saying: "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." This enraged Herod; this made him breathe out murder. Yet that noble man and great prophet was not overcome by fear, nor did he cease from his reproof. For he knew that such lust was forbidden by the law. "It is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip's wife." You resist, he says, the law of God; you fight against the tablets engraved by God; you set yourself against the commands of Moses. "It is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip's wife." And he, buried by the unreasoning weight C of the pleasures of a lawless union, could not rise up, nor look toward the light of truth; but remained burdened and stupefied by the drunkenness of lust. But John persisted in correcting, teaching, and admonishing, as it behooved a prophet of God. But Herod, although, as the holy Gospel says, he "knew him to be a just and holy man, and when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly," yet he did not then take any of these things into his soul, nor did he wish to understand. He did not honor the prophet with the honors that were fitting; he did not respect the weight of the law, even as much as a trivial thing; nor, if nothing else, did he fear the penalty decreed from on high against such people. Shall I say something greater and more obvious? He did not even imitate that Ahab—nay, he imitated the slave of his wife; for as that man then had Jezebel as the teacher of polytheism, so this man now had Herodias as the teacher of lust. For he, when he heard from Elijah the Tishbite the wrath that was kindled against him by the Lord, and the evils that would certainly come to him and his, and when he had been openly assailed by reproofs for the impious and wicked deeds he had perpetrated, did not become angry; D he did not rage...
A nor did he consider the prophetic rebuke an insult; but as a prophet of God, and one who spoke divine things, he held him in honor, and these, as the precepts of God, he attended to with reverence and fear. What then does he do? Hear the history of the Kingdoms: "And the Lord said," it says, "unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying: Arise, and go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, and speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Since thou hast killed Naboth, and taken possession of him, therefore, saith the Lord, I will bring evil upon thee, and will kindle a fire behind thee, and will utterly destroy him that pisseth against the wall of Ahab"; and the rest, with which He directed the threat in anger; not only against that man himself, but also against Jezebel, as it says she "attempted" to do evil before the Lord, and as Jezebel his wife had seduced him. B What then does he do, having heard these things? He does not fall into a rage; he does not rise up in anger; but having become dejected, he transforms his appearance into one of sorrow, and becomes more aware of his own wickedness, not a rebel against the prophetic rebukes. "For by the word," it says, "Ahab was pricked to the heart before the Lord, and he went weeping, and he tore his tunic, and fasted, and put on sackcloth." What then of God, who awaits the conversion of us all; who is slow to strike, and quick to save? Hear the Scripture: "And the Lord said," it says: "Hast thou seen, Elijah, how Ahab was pricked to the heart before me? And I will not bring the evil in his days." C Have you seen the overflowing of wrath? Have you seen the swift change? Was it not proper for Herod, knowing these things, to have taken the same path? If not this, then at least to have revered his own testimony, which he bore to John? Indeed, he did not follow this path. What then? He transferred his love of pleasure to bloodthirstiness, having shifted his malice from marital affairs to homicidal ones. A wicked path; an undisciplined purpose. For it was fitting, even if he did not wish to relax his passion, at least not to touch the prophet, knowing him to be a just and holy man, and often hearing him, and doing many things on his account, and gladly being taught by him. But as to what the end of his designs was, and to what impulse of folly, his governing love of pleasure drove him toward bloodthirstiness, hear the holy evangelists. D "And when a convenient day was come," it says, "when Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and high captains, and chief estates of Galilee. And when the daughter of her, of Herodias, had come in and danced..."
and pleased Herod and those who reclined with him, the king said to the maiden, "Ask of me whatever you wish, and I will give it to you, even to the half of my kingdom." Wherefore A he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. And she, having gone out, said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist." And having gone in immediately with haste to the king, she asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist." And the king became very sorrowful, yet because of the oaths and those who reclined with him, he did not wish to B refuse her; and having immediately sent an executioner, he commanded his head to be brought. And he, having gone, beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the maiden; and the maiden gave it to her mother. O bitter birthday, and supper full of slaughter! Is this the honor you reserved for yourself? Did you introduce such delights at your own birth-celebration? Such a feast did you prepare for yourself? Was it with flowing blood that you had to temper the dinner for your guests? Is this how you honored the tribunes, and so kindly received your friends? Were you not ashamed C by David, who, when reproved by Nathan, put away his sin not by arrogance, but by repentance? Were you not ashamed of Saul, who, when sternly reprimanded and rebuked by the great Samuel before the whole multitude of the Israelite people, did nothing more grievous against him, because of his reverence for the prophet? Did you not notice, O miserable wretch, that you have doubled the crime of Ahab in the case of Naboth? For while he was caught overcome by the desire for a vineyard, D of barren earth and wine-bearing plants, you are guilty of a woman's adultery, and of the traps set for a brother's bed; and what is the supreme evil of all, the murder of the prophet and Baptist, and that on a day of delights, when the day of birth was being celebrated.
Would that you had not been born, nor come into the light upon the earth! Would that the seed from which you sprouted had perished, and the womb from which you came forth! For, I ask, for what reason did you kill the prophet who preached the truth and rebuked your unspeakable deeds? Since it was at hand, that while you were contemplating the crime in your mind, you could have turned away from it and come to your senses; or by directing your mind to free reproof, and assuming a sober thought, you could have attained that which is more excellent; you have instead fallen into the contrary, adding evil to evil, not driving it away as you should have. And if indeed you were led to this because you bore being reproved with difficulty, this shows you to be clearly alien to instruction. For he who reproves ought to be loved, not killed, as the opinion of Solomon is: [Prov. ix, 8] lest you also be one of those who hear: *"They hated him who reproves in the gates, and abominated the holy word."* But if, while wishing to keep your oath, you preferred murder, as if fleeing from the abyss of perjury—indeed, it was fitting that with royal prudence, by the just scale of the mind, you should have balanced the comparison and chosen the better path; which for you, towards the opposite...
was A entirely motivated by a will alien to reason. For who compelled you to swear at the beginning? What has the dancing of a Maenad-like girl in common with the slaughter of a prophet? And what fellowship has wrath with joy? If, however, you did it because of oaths, as you yourself suppose, not even thus should the decision have been entrusted to drunkenness. For it was a time for gladness, not for slaughter. And indeed, a matter of such a kind was absurd and the result of a precipitate decision. For there was need of a sober time and a settled mind. The loss was not going to be light. But in truth, so that nothing of the evil that was in you should remain hidden, you yourself made it manifest against yourself, laying bare the crime of which you were accused by the slaughter. For what need was there, when he forbade you to commit adultery in secret, to parade your accuser in a triumph? You therefore, while you commit murder, are proven guilty of lust.
You have confounded the order of the banquet, O man. B For when you had decided to entertain with a banquet, you chose rather to cause distress to your guests. What are you doing, O wretched one? Instead of food, do you bring in this as an offering, the head of the Baptist? Instead of a mixing bowl, do you pour out such unmixed wine to your guests? Does a king temper such a drink for his councilors? Or do you not see how great an evil is intemperance and a lustful action? Return to yourself a little, if you will, and understand that there is nothing that so harms the internal man and consumes the external, as anger yielding to these things [21]. But you, having C over-abundantly subjugated your mind to them, rendered the sense of your soul captive. And yet, the moral philosophers define two most general passions of all those that are in us: wrath, that is, and concupiscence; and each of these, having gained dominion in you, has unfortunately reigned with a tyrannical, not a private, impulse. Concupiscence, indeed, taking your mind’s citadel by a law of siege even without engines, and existing as a governor of your soul that knows not how to rule; and anger, having held you captive until it precipitated you into the infernal snare and the ultimate Charybdis of evils. Or is this not the path of those who perform wicked deeds? Do you think they are examined for punishment in any other way than by being subject to divine vengeance? But let us hear the voice of the Gospels again.
« When Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced D before them, and pleased Herod. » O madness! The dancing of a young girl captivated the prudence of a king. The contortions of hands, and the shameless movements of feet, and limbs dissolved into luxury, unnerved the firm and solid judgment of the king. Have you not heard of Alexander, the son of Philip, when the daughters of Darius were offered to him for
A intercourse, having taken it ill in a kingly manner, and having uttered a speech full of sobriety: "Is it shameful that we who have conquered men, should be overcome by women?" Art thou so incautious? Art thou so intemperate? Hast thou not heard the divine voice, which saith: "Take heed B lest death ascend through the windows?" (Jerem. ix, 21), by which I mean the senses, through which the inner man is ensnared. What pleasure hath Corybantic dancing, or musical instruments fashioned for soothing—the sambuka, and the cithara, and the nabla, and the flute? And what body, moved with libidinous motions and limbs twisted in such a manner, is not full of turpitude, which are clearly images and signs of those obsessed by a demon? Thou, however, as if pierced like a fawn of a deer, and caught like a bird, hast neither been saved from the nets as a gazelle C (Eccli. xxv, 22), nor, as a bird, hast thou been delivered from the snare (Psal. cxxvii, 7). Rather, the dancing girl has become a snare unto thee, and the prostitute harlot, and the deep pit of love is that frenzy unto him. "And the daughter of Herodias danced," he says, "and she pleased Herod, and he said: Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And with an oath he promised her to give whatever she should ask, even unto half of his kingdom." Be it that the dancing girl pleased thee at that time, and thou oughtest perhaps to have bestowed some gift upon the girl; but of things feasible, not of things excessive; of things that might delight the guests, not things that would be grievous. For was the head of the holy prophet D [to be given]? "But because of the oath," he says, "and those who sat at meat with him, he would not refuse her." O madness! O blindness, and a pretext alien to reason! For if she had asked that thou shouldst depart from the kingdom, how wouldst thou have executed what thou hadst sworn to her? Or if she had even asked that thy mother’s eyes be gouged out, or if she had commanded thee to depart entirely from her company, wouldst thou have fulfilled what she had asked? "But because of the oath," he says, "and those who sat at meat with him, he would not refuse her." For what is said refers to such an inevitable necessity. What then wouldst thou have done, if she had proposed one of the aforementioned things? But, as it seems, "Every one that committeth sin is the slave of sin" (Joan. viii, 34). For he who has subjected his own reason to pleasure becomes indeed secretly a slave to vices and passions of the soul; but when he afterwards uses anger as an instrument of motion, he openly brings his affection out into the public; revealing himself by the outcome of his behavior, which pleasure, holding captive the man before the danger of the act, demanded; for the anger does not cease before the snare of pleasure has demonstrated the man guilty, suffering from that affection. Seest thou into what a height of absurdity the utterance of thine oaths has made thee slip? Great madness, a darkening of the mind, and an abortion of the intellect produced such stupidity. "Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee, even unto half of my kingdom."
is that such a reckless act? So easy, that you could not place limits on your thoughts, nor consider what ought not to have been accepted without examination? Look at what a depth of folly you were driven to by your rash oath. To be led off like that, I do not call a mark of royalty, but an uncontrolled vice of thoughtlessness; A having fallen into which yourself, you accepted what was not approved by judgment as if it were approved by judgment. For such is every unrestrained mind and reckless utterance: not having good judgment to moderate its thoughts, but with the mind's judgment prohibiting nothing, it does the contrary, having removed the faculty that consents to nature. Thus, indeed, Herod was lightly and miserably swept away, and earned a wretched name forever.
What of the girl of such lawlessness? That bait of adultery, the hook of Herod, the snare against which he stumbled and fell, and by which he was caught and could not escape? B "She said," it says, "to her mother, 'What shall I ask?' But she, having been instructed beforehand, said, 'Give me here, on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.'" Do you see the evangelist everywhere setting forth the truth? For what does he say? "But Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him, and could not. For Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man; and having heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly." C Do you see how, even before the oaths, the wicked woman was already set with a hostile mind against the prophet? And what could be clearer than this testimony? For he shows both the boldness of speech and the zeal on account of John’s rebuke of Herod, and he brings to the sight of his hearers the anger that had been deeply harbored by her for a long time. For this, "she had a grudge," is at once expressive and demonstrative; since "he could not" also contains proof of Herod's respectful regard for John: that he held him to be holy and righteous, and having heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. But even if one compares these earlier things with the later ones, there is a great difference, and the matters are not equal, in which the king would behave lightly. D For the first things—namely, the boldness of speech and zeal and the rebukes—chided the king’s madness, and aptly argued that he was acting unjustly against his brother, whose bed he was plotting to steal. So far, however, there was room for him to reverence the prophet of God as righteous and holy; but the things that follow are entirely dissimilar and discordant, and have nothing at all that corresponds to the earlier ones. But to what end, and for what reason? For, being drunk, he turned himself toward the light and frivolous refuge of drunkenness; by which it came about that, because of a cold oath and the guests...
A reclining with him, he did not wish to slight her. What is more abominable than this hypocrisy? And what is more wretched than that keeping of an oath? For when he could have set aside the oath with a more pious pretext and royal authority, he compounded evil with evil. B "For having sent an executioner, he commanded the head of John to be severed and given to the girl." Do you see the utter dullness and light-mindedness? Was it not better to perjure oneself well than to keep an oath ill, to lie openly, and not to lay a hand upon the prophet; to seek pardon for the error, rather than, by acting truly in a just matter, to be shown as an unjust killer of a prophet, and to store up for himself a just judgment, and be made a son of Gehenna? For if he had been asked to sin against God, and to set up idols, and to sacrifice to them the blood of his subjects—sons and daughters and mothers and brothers and wives besides—how would that foolish man have set aside an oath in these matters? And how, indeed, would he have dared to fulfill it, since Judea, of which he himself was tetrarch, was tributary to the Romans, and he ruled it badly? But he, C having been deluded in this way, was ensnared by the wretched girl. She, however, being an instrument fashioned for malice, and having expressed in herself the whole of her mother’s malicious and wicked mind, put on the persona of a creditor, and as if demanding an unremittable debt, she requests payment from the king: "Give me here immediately on a platter the head of John the Baptist." Give me, she says, here, and at once, and on a platter. What then shall I give? Not gold, she says, not translucent gems; not if the royal treasury has anything sumptuous and precious; but the head of John the Baptist. What are you saying? You give the head which even the angels revere? You give that head, above which, when the Word was being baptized, the Spirit D descending in the likeness of a dove hovered? Do you give in return for a small pleasure that head, whose right hand, by baptizing Him who sits at the right hand of the Father, was sanctified? Do you pay that head as the reward for a wicked performance—that head whose tongue even until this day stands crying out: "It is not lawful for you to have the wife of Philip your brother"? This head you give on a platter to the girl, because she has stirred up your love toward adultery, and has wounded your heart with her dancing? What are you doing, miserable man? Do you legislate such things, the doing of which is a transgression of law? Do you ordain such things, which separate one from God and damage justice? Whence comes to you this impious and nefarious decree? What impious law has suggested these things? Begone. These are not of the law of my God, nor of the Mosaic law. Have you not heard the writer of the Proverbs saying: "Deliver those who are being led away to death, and those who C are being...
killed, redeem"? If you should say: "I do not know this," know that the Lord knows the hearts of all, who "will render to each according to his works." Why do you heap up for yourself material for the burning of eternal fire? A But, "Because of the oaths," he says, "and those who recline at table with me, I do this." Well. And who compelled you from the beginning to promise this under oath? And who would have approved of it in any way, or praised it, as is obvious? For a promise made with an oath regarding uncertain matters is rash, when it is uttered indiscriminately without the mind having subjected it to the trial of weighing the good and the bad. This is what once happened to Jephthah, that great and famous man B among the Judges, who vowed and promised to God without reflection that which, for lack of counsel and absence of judged reason and the discernment of the mind regarding what ought to be done, he could not have foreseen. It was your duty, therefore, once you had sworn to the girl, to predetermine something worthy of the dance, and to decide in your mind beforehand; not to hand over the head of the Forerunner, which can be equated with no wealth, as the reward for a wicked spectacle. For what was lacking to you, being a king, of precious or magnificent things, that you might repay the dancer as a reward for her dancing? C But since you wished to cast off from yourself in another way the accusation of a lawless union, you preferred to allow the girl to ask for that reward which, in your judgment, would remove the reproach: namely, the head of John the Baptist, whose murderer you became—contrary to expectation, indeed, yet not without deliberation—having been caught in two-fold faults, adultery and murder, and having added the very worst to the bad. What is this great madness? Who led you to offend God in this way, and to commit murder at a time of festivity?
And you, indeed, thought that by destroying the Baptist you would D destroy the rebuke along with him; but he, even while inhabiting a tomb, even if he is hidden under the earth, nonetheless calls out the rebuke to you. He cries out against your vanity with a double title for your double crime. You thought, in truth, that by his slaughter you would kindle more fiercely the flame of a vicious passion, increase the goad of love, and inflame pleasure more sharply. And the true proof of this is that you did not immediately stop your ears against that abominable demand, nor did you recoil quickly, nor did you lament, bearing poorly the impudent petition of the dancer, nor did you cry out greatly, saying: "Alas, alas, if for such a short and worthless pleasure, I am to pay such a great reward; to whom none in the palace
A can be compared as an equivalent." For since it was necessary that you should have recovered your senses and taken heart, and by way of counter-argument should have denied the request, you did not, as a king, oppose the girl's petition, saying: "No, by the God speaking in Moses, I shall not give it, nor will I exchange such a price for a cheap and fleeting spectacle. For the price of a harlot is as one loaf," as the Proverb has it. [Prov. vi, 26] Wherefore, not to have refused even this little bit, or to have taken it ill, was a sign of a mind assenting of its own accord. B For you ought to have emitted a voice at once, to have lamented vehemently, and to have wept bitterly. For very easily you would have abjured the penalty of the oath, and by the counter-introduction of a refusal, you would have warded off the danger of perjury. In what way? You would have opposed oath to oath, and overturned the former with a second. But not to have wished to admit such an oath, much less to execute it, over the blood of the Baptist and the prophet, would truly have been the mark of a sober and temperate man, and of one who knew how to offer rebuke without anger; C and in like manner, not to have been indignant and to have shown a gloomy face, or, what would have been more moderate, to have deliberated a while on the matter, proves that you eagerly accepted the oath. Since you could not, or, to speak more truly, did not wish to understand, you forthwith and headlong (25) delivered an unmerciful sentence, that that head should be amputated, which even to this day convicts you of that immense wickedness. For since it was permissible not to swear incautiously, nor to allow an oath to drunkenness, but to look grimly and harshly at the shameless and bewitched girl, so that by the terror of your face you might strike fear into her, and bring the contentious one to such a state that she could not even see what was lying at her feet, much less shamelessly demand infamous things; you did quite the opposite; by offering such easy ears to the maenad, D as if you were expecting that she, and no other, would demand as a reward for the crime of wickedness.
Thus was the king of the Jews ensnared. Thus was the delirious madness of his soul sent into a frenzy. Leading him into this stupor, the demon of drunkenness unfortunately cast him headlong; persuading him to amputate that head, which the hiding places of the earth could not long conceal; which Herod, still palpitating with warm blood, did not respect, when he saw it at that time set before him like food on a platter. But that head, even though severed, cries out and will not stay silent; but still accusing you of adultery, it loudly proclaims: "It is not lawful for you to have the wife of your brother Philip." In vain, therefore, was the crime committed by you. Futile was the advisor, and vain even was the petition of the dancer. And you, indeed, having kept the oath, as if you had perjured yourself, are liable to eternal guilt: for iniquities [...]
A hunt down a man. And she, in addition to the defilement of adultery, added the abomination of murder. "For a foolish woman," he says, "knows no shame, but she meets the depth of Hades." And the dancer, pander to the lascivious one, insolent in the matricidal murders, gained no more from this than the flame of Gehenna, in which she justly pays the penalty. "Her feet lead down those who use her with death to Hades, and her tracks are not firm." Such are the dramas of the lawless: this is the fruit that lust gives to its lovers; these are the wages that the passionate intemperance of pleasures bestows upon the licentious.
Hear these things, you who live intermingled with others in the world, and you who observe the celibate life, and let us feast upon the words of the Proverbs, and let us soothe our ears with these all the more. For what need is there to speak to those who know, things which they are not naturally ignorant of? For we are all taught by God in Christ, according to the Apostle. B Would that we also, the sacred assembly gathered here, had been deemed worthy of the same grace, so as not to need one to teach or rebuke us, but that the example alone sufficed for us, to flee every imitation of Herod’s madness, and neither to give free rein to our minds for the ungovernable impulses of passionate desires through any sloth, nor, having been plundered of our reason by the smoothness of pleasures, to be surreptitiously drawn into consent: which, while it brings forth the remedy of sin, brings forth death along with it. In order that we may not suffer this, let us guard ourselves, having become entirely an eye, closing with no drowsiness, lest the dragon, unnoticed, steal away our treasure. Let us all therefore take as our common teacher today the author of the Proverbs, C fortifying us with his precautionary words, and explaining somewhat more extensively the snares set by the wiles of women for the simpler-minded. He says, then, "Do not attend to a deceitful woman. For honey drips from the lips of a harlot-woman, which for a time fattens your throat, but afterwards, however, you will find it bitterer than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword."
But so that the discourse may not appear tiresome or burdensome, I shall add a few small things to what has been said; providing a reminder to those who know, D and to those who do not know, no slight security. "Drink," he says, "water from your own vessels, and from your own fountains."
Let the fountain of water be yours, and take joy with the wife of your youth; for by conversing in her friendship, you shall be long-lived." A And again: "Do not be much with a strange woman, nor let your arms embrace those not your own. For the ways of a man are before the eyes of God. Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids, that you may be saved as a gazelle from snares, and as a bird from a trap." And again: "Let not the desire of beauty conquer you, nor be caught by your eyes, nor be snatched away by her eyelids. For a woman hunts the precious souls of men. But the ways of the nether world are her house, leading down into the chambers of death. But you, my son, listen to me, and let not your heart decline into her ways, and do not wander in her paths. For she has wounded and cast down many, and countless are those whom she has slain." B "But do not cast your eye toward her, but recoil, do not linger in the place; for so shall you pass by strange water. But abstain from strange water, and do not drink from a strange fountain, that you may live a long time, and years of life may be added to you." And these things are sufficient to discipline those who are more sluggish, with which the word drawn from the Proverbs has abundantly provided us, pleading the cause of that divine and sober-tongued man; I mean the venerable Baptist, who has set this table before us today: not bloodied with gore, nor setting forth a freshly severed head as food, nor mixing blood with unmixed wine in bowls. These are the handiwork of Herodian iniquity; with these he prepares the banquet, such cups he mixes for the guests. But not so is he who presides at our banquet; C far from it! On the contrary, he has prepared for us a supper of fortitude, sobriety, and chastity, having gorged ourselves on the viands of which, we have become better.
Since, therefore, we have crossed the great sea of John’s banquet against Herod, and have arrived at a calm harbor by means of his favorable winds of prayer to God, it is time to lower the sails and drop the rowing of our discourse within the harbor. I judge it equitable—for sailors also have this custom—that we too, doing what seems holy, should connect a small discourse as an epilogue, and crown the man with flowers of Scripture: if indeed it is fitting to call him a man, he who appeared greater than D all men among those born of women. For this is he whom we shall find referred to in many places in Scripture in various ways, if we diligently examine it with the industry of a bee. For the consideration of things has brought to our attention many of his titles, to each of which I shall show, by adducing the appropriate testimony, how reasonably these names were ascribed.
His first title, then, is "Son." "For do not fear, Zacharias," he says, "behold, Elizabeth shall bear you a son, and many shall rejoice at his birth."
A
Elizabeth’s time to give birth was fulfilled, and she bore a son. InfanT: "And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. For behold, as the voice of thy greeting came into my ears," she says, "the infant leaped in joy in my womb." ChilD: "And you, child, shall be called [a prophet] of the Most High. But the child grew and was strengthened in spirit, and was in the deserts," and the rest. GreaT: "This one shall be great before the Lord, and he shall not drink wine or strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb." JohN: "And it came to pass on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were calling him by the name of his father, Zacharias. And his mother answered and said, No; but he shall be called John. And Zacharias his father, asking for a tablet, wrote, 'John shall be his name.'" MaN: "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." PropheT: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." EliaS: "And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come." "And he himself shall go forth before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah." TeacheR: "And the tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said unto him, 'Teacher, what shall we do?'" and the rest. PrepareR: "For you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways." HeralD: "John came baptizing in the desert, and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And B he preached saying, 'There comes one stronger than I after me,'" and the rest. VoicE: "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said, 'I am a voice of one crying in the desert.'" Baptist: "Jesus arrives from Galilee to the Jordan, to be baptized by him." "And John was baptizing, and they were all appearing, and being baptized." ConfessoR: "And he confessed, and did not deny, and he confessed that 'I am not the Christ.'" MartyR anD witnesS: "He was not that light; but [that he might] bear witness concerning the light," and the rest. SubscribeR of the TrinitY: "But he who sent me," he says, "to baptize in water, he said to me, 'Upon whomsoever you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." JusT anD holY: "But Herod feared John, knowing him to be a just and holy man." ApostlE, that is, one sent: "You yourselves bear witness to me that I said, 'I am not the Christ; but that I am sent before him.'" EvangelisT: "And with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people." PronubO: "He C who has the bride is the bridegroom: but the D friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom's voice."
This joy of mine, therefore, is fulfilled." A Lucerna: "He was the burning and shining lamp: and you were willing to rejoice for an hour in his light." Reprehensio Herodis: "For John said to him: It is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip's wife." And Herod, when he was rebuked by him because of Herodias, shut him up in prison.
By these names John was called: with these titles he was honored; and he had actions corresponding to these appellations. That John, I say, than whom "there has not risen a greater among those born of women." This is truly he of whom David sings as though from the person of God and Father, saying: "I have prepared a lamp for my Christ: but upon him shall my sanctification flourish." This is that great Elias, not the Thesbite, but he who stood in the middle between the Law and grace; and he was the forerunner of the former advent of the Lord, although he was later in time; preceding with the same spirit and power as that with which the Archangel prophesied to Zacharias. To which Zacharias? To that one, B surely, whose blood cries out more than Abel's. This is he who leaped for joy first, and before he came into the light, recognized his own Lord within the womb. He, using the maternal tongue as an instrument, addressed the offspring without a father while it was still being carried in the womb, saying: "Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" This man, when he had "turned the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just," prepared for the Lord a perfect people: the fruit of promise, the auspicious annunciation of Gabriel, the sprout of failing age, the genital flower of the barren, the prophet born of a prophet, the citizen of the desert, the trainer of the whole world, the star of the sun, the lamp of light, the soldier of the king, the bridegroom's best man, the servant of the Lord, the priest of His Word, who held the priesthood according to the order of Melchisedec, since he also deserved to minister at His sacred baptism: by himself the hearer of the Father, the baptizer of the Son, and the spectator of the Holy Spirit, the silence of the law, the sequesterer of grace, the coronis C of prophecy, the end of the prophets, the herald of the kingdom, the forerunner of truth, the door of repentance, the adornment of virginity, the preparator of salvation, the legislator of chastity, the bridle of the wicked, the guide of those who lead an upright life.
That great John: a name called by God, a nomenclature brought from heaven through the voice of the Archangel D
the voice born of the mute, who by his father’s silence took away the infecundity of barrenness, who with a speaking finger pointed out the Lamb; that great glory of continence, bodiless in the body, a pearl in the mire, a precious treasure in an earthen vessel, who with an axe amputates the sterility of souls; the turtle-dove of the Church, lover of solitude, knowing not how to remain silent: a voice thundering everywhere of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight," the eloquent tongue, whose voice even after death reproves Herod, and proclaims Him who is to come, saying: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
ORATION XVI. On the holy, blessed, and most celebrated apostle of Christ, Titus.
As I am about to undertake an apostolic encomium, may the Holy Spirit be present with me, and grant me such power of speech as I desire. For He is always gladly present to those who choose to speak through His inspiration, just as He was in the beginning, when He descended and sat upon each of the disciples of Christ, in the form of tongues sent down from heaven. May He be present, though not in proportion to the measure of my own ascent, but according to the magnitude of that divine operation of His goodness toward us, to lavish upon us His immense and manifold grace. It would be worth your while, too, as you strive to attain the light flowing abundantly from that fount, to join me in prayer and say: "Teach me, O Lord, and I shall know; that I may know when it behooves me to speak a word: and take not the word of truth out of my mouth unto the end." Thus, indeed, with our minds intent upon the excellence of the subject at hand, we must by all means approach the divine Spirit with prayers and seek from Him that we might be granted to speak in a manner worthy of the subject, in that which surpasses our worth, so that what we set out to celebrate with praise may not be disparaged and cheapened by our speech. But you surely desire to know what it is that now requires celebration? It is that admirable and divine Titus, the first foundation of the Cretan Church, that pillar of truth, that bulwark of the faith, that fortress of the true dogmas. Titus, I say, the sleepless trumpet of the evangelical proclamations, the sublime resonance of Paul’s tongue, the rule of unerring knowledge. This great host has summoned us today to a spiritual and most magnificent feast of words: setting before us, as it were, the mystical viands of unwritten wisdom—whether one should call them miracles or doctrines—and as a glorious crater, filled with a divine draught, the discourse that sustains divine teaching, as it were, being poured out and partaken of. And that word which is sharp and more cutting than any
A two-edged sword, and reaching unto the division of soul and spirit, as I shall explain a little later to those who love God, in the manner of an epilogue. But for now, these things will be said, as it is pleasant for you to hear and fitting for me to speak.
The feast of a most great father is at hand. Come, then, and as dutiful children, let us offer songs of praise to the father who loves his children. For this is a debt owed to him by us. Let this temple be for us a common place for sending up divine hymns, and as it were an instrument. But may the Father of the Word give our word utterance, directing our discourse toward the discovery of truth. It is fitting, indeed, as I take the place of a father, having labored like a bee as it flies around spiritual meadows, to present to you from there the man, crowned in a holy manner by the holy oracles. B Yet I am afraid, lest my discourse, running secretly outside the straight path of the starting-gate, might deviate from its course, and the confused noise of the spectators, turning the spectacle of the race to another goal, might curb the spectators in their hope, and render useless and empty the noise of those who provoke the rider of the word. Nevertheless, even if it is necessary for the discourse to follow behind the dignity of the man by many paces—for such is the law of encomia—I shall, however, by the intercessions of the saint to God, as if by certain bridles, check this discourse, and when I have urged it more vehemently toward the course of the straight path, I shall bring it back again to the goal. For what is in accord with my capacity will surely be acceptable to him; for he knows by nature how to act modestly and to accommodate himself to the humble, C in this too imitating Paul. Come then, let us say what is permitted us to say. And let no one blame us, as if we were thrusting our discourse in opposition to the excellent encomia of the man; for we presume to reach toward things beyond our power, not as if the force of our oratory sufficed, but because of our longing for the saint. For where there is longing, there is clearly no fear whatsoever; and where there is freedom of speech in words, no remnant of timidity remains. We must by no means refrain from saying what our capacity allows, nor keep silent about what it is holy to proclaim, lest the Spirit wish it to be covered in the deep of oblivion. He wishes, indeed, for them to be revealed modestly to those who do not know; for it is just that they might be urged toward emulation and imitation as if invited by a commission. Wherefore, I deem silence in no wise appropriate for me at present. D For the discourse has now come to the very head of the matter proposed, for which and because of which our whole longing is stirred.
Who, then, is this great and illustrious Titus, whom our twelve-throned Crete brought forth,
A honored by the apostolic number in symbolic fashion? As to who he was initially, and from what sort of parents he sprang, and from what root this shoot sprouted, I do not deem it necessary for me to say;—for this discourse of mine has not been composed as a narrative of a life, or according to the rule of history, but rather, it is sketched out only in the manner of a panegyric. For the panegyrical style, as a rule, most often avoids the multifarious and winding paths of long narratives, lest some of those listening, offended and burdened by the tediousness of a lengthy discourse, should find it unpleasing. I, however, state what I know will be useful to those gathered here, and to myself who set before you this spiritual banquet of words, choosing to begin the discourse from the point where grace itself made it known to us.
For this man, having despised both lineage and wealth and all splendor, as much as prevailed among the Greeks at that time, and B as much glory as was shed about from those who worshipped idols; and having clearly held all these things of no account, he desired one glory: that, having abandoned all his ancestral polytheism and superstitious error, he might, with noble spirit, lay hold of the theosophy of Jesus—which is ours—through an ineffable participation, and become wholly the possession of the object of his love, and of the Christian side. And so it came to pass, God having called him, and the Spirit, who illuminates all things, having smoothed out for him the paths of truth toward the evangelical preaching. Hence, having become entwined with that shining lamp of the apostolic company—I mean Paul, who outshone in the Law according to the Law, and in grace according to grace—he becomes C an attendant and a fellow-traveler; and imitating that man’s zeal with equal zeal, he himself is revealed as a zealot. And, being declared a deserter of the paternal law, and having cast off the empty self-worship of Gentile thought, he transferred his whole conversation entirely to heaven. But there is one thing that nearly escaped him, which it would not be right to pass over. It happened that this transparent pearl of Christ—this precious stone, I say, no less than that stone of Zorobabel adorned with seven eyes, [P] by which also he adorned the crown of graces—had as a relative the proconsul of the region at that time, and had those as kin by blood, to whom Minos and Rhadamanthus, the sons of Zeus, were forefathers. D Trusting, therefore, in the power of his kinsman, and indeed not fearing even if there were any need to suffer, he built for himself a noble foundation for the faith in Christ by means of the law set down in the letter. For, having chanced upon the books of Moses and the entire Hebrew Scripture, and having exercised his mind upon these most studiously, and being wholly instructed by them in their entirety, he thus in a short
A interval of time had practiced the Hebrew language; so that all who formerly knew him supposed that he was not the same person as he who was there the day before yesterday, whom they had tested, but another similar to him, an approved Hebrew from among the Hebrews. For he was sharp-witted, and had partaken to the necessary degree of extrinsic education; he possessed a perfected power of speech, and knew how to express himself beautifully and to conceive thoughts most readily. And as he was both giving and receiving proof, he was simultaneously much admired and held in high regard by all. What then does he do, and what is his design? He approaches his kinsman, and by bending him with gentle words, he persuades him to kindly allow him to make the journey to Jerusalem, as if for the sake of an increase in wisdom, which he might gather through studious learning from those who presided over the exposition of the Jewish Scriptures.
But what of this noble man, this lover of the true knowledge? He had arrived very quickly in Judea, at the time when the preaching of the Gospel was almost in its infancy, or, to speak the truth, just a little while before, when the grace of the divine Spirit, shaped into tongues of fire, had rested upon the disciples of Christ. By this grace they spoke in strange languages, and not in the ancestral ones of the nations, so that almost the entire city was filled with amazement at the novelty of the spectacle and the strangeness of the miracle. B There and then, at that very hour, this great man and man of God came upon the multitude that had gathered and mingled himself with them, of whom the book of Acts says: *“There was a multitude of names together, about a hundred and twenty; and all had turned to the Lord.”*
One of these, and the first of those who believed at that time, he becomes, having been tutored by the Holy Spirit, and having made himself the first-fruits of the divine preaching, the first-fruits of those who were reconciled to Christ by baptism. And indeed, having immediately associated himself with the disciples of Christ, and having been fashioned by the timely word of the mystery, he himself becomes a disciple, not less in the prerogative of his dignity, and equal in honor to his zeal. Not long after, Paul, the great teacher of the Church, arrived—that Paul, I say, who traversed the whole world from Judea in a circuit, as far as Illyricum, with his preaching. He, when not yet having approached the Light, and while making his journey to Damascus, C is suddenly overwhelmed at midday by the heavenly light, and hears a voice from heaven resounding in his ears, and is rendered worthy of the divine apparition of Jesus. And not yet baptized, he learns the mysteries of baptism, and before adoption and the laying on of hands (32), he receives the grace of apostolic dignity, and is appointed a vessel of election D and one who is to bear the name of the Lord.
A before the Gentiles and kings, as it were by a divine oracle of the Spirit, through that great Ananias, being proclaimed an aliptes [trainer/anointing coach] instead of a persecutor, and a preacher instead of a blasphemer. Then, when the wonderful Titus, looking with the sharp eye of the Spirit, contemplates the divine radiance of the grace poured upon him, he becomes entirely his who had called him, and as if for his sake abandoning all things, and bidding farewell to everything that steals away the sense, he approaches him with a great retinue.
And at first, indeed, he becomes one of those who were familiar and known, but not long after, he also becomes his table-companion and tent-mate. But when the wonderful man, advancing to greater things, was recognized by Him who had foreknown him from God, and had been made equal to those who were more than apostles, through the pure illumination of divine light, what happens? He finally becomes his companion and fellow-traveler in the preaching of the Gospel. The narrative, however, hesitates to speak of what follows thereafter, as these things escape our knowledge and are perhaps greater than the estimation of many. But I will turn my discourse to those things to which it must inevitably be directed. So, then, Paul had such care for him, that he would lead him about and carry him everywhere B, as a most pleasing prize and one full of riches. And he, from the very first sprouting, was everything that is wont to be an ornament to one living by the rule of virtue, and a life divinely sublime and raised up by God’s help: modest, easily persuaded, accessible, obedient, ready for the apostolate, useful for ministry, fortunate in reconciliations, a trainer for those who were growing weary, a defender of those who labored for Christ, and having a swift inclination to the call of all goods. What need is there for me to speak of things far off, when I can bring Paul’s words into the midst, and in them show him to you now, more clearly, as if portrayed upon a tablet or inscribed upon a pillar? For when he was once writing to the Corinthians, and describing the grace given to him for preaching, when he came to a certain point in his discourse, he honors this holy Titus with these very words: "When," he says, "a door was opened for me in the Lord for the Gospel of Christ, I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus my brother" (II Cor. ii, 12). C
Do you see how great and what kind of grace of the Spirit was poured upon him from the very foundations of the faith, so that he was even called the brother of Paul, and his solace and refreshment? For, "I had no D
A rest for my spirit, he says, because I did not find Titus my brother. Do you wish that I should show you another testimony which the great Apostle brought forward concerning him? "I am filled," he says, "with consolation; I superabound with joy." How and for what reason, tell me? "For He who comforts the humble," he says, "comforted us in the coming of Titus. Not only in his coming, but also in the consolation with which he himself was comforted in you." Do you see the excess of love? Do you see the bond of unanimity, that he should even define that man’s consolation as his own, and consider the joy he experienced as his very own? Hear what he says, writing to them again: "We rejoiced the more abundantly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. And if I have boasted anything to him about you, I have not been put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting which was before Titus became the truth. And his affections are the more abundantly toward you." And after a few words: "Now thanks be to God, who gave the same diligence for you in the heart of Titus; for he received the exhortation; but since he was more diligent, he went to you of his own accord." Do you see how he bears witness to his diligence everywhere? Do you see how, turning him B up and down, he extols him and exalts him with praises? Above, indeed: "If I have boasted anything to him, I have not been put to shame." And, "Our boasting, which was before Titus, became the truth." Below, however, explaining what his diligence was in the ministry of the nations who had believed in Christ: "For since he was," he says, "more diligent, he went to you of his own accord."
Come now, I will also show you Titus as the companion of Paul, and his assistant, and the glory of Christ, and the apostle of the churches. Let Paul himself, that mouth of Christ, complete for me the coherence of the discourse, explaining more accurately his comparison of one of those whom he had sent together with him into the ministry that had been entrusted to him: "Whether for Titus," he says, "he is my partner and fellow worker among you; or our brethren, they are the apostles of the churches, the glory of Christ." Do you see the equality of faith? Does it not seem a great thing to you that what is second C after Paul should be placed with Paul, and should be and be called his companion and assistant? Of Paul—of what Paul? Of him who flew beyond the third heaven, and secretly received what is not possible for men to utter; who finally, before his departure from death, was caught up into paradise, to a level of knowledge higher than human, beyond all comparison. Titus is his companion, and assistant, and fellow traveler. And not only this, but also the glory of Christ and the apostle of the churches. See, therefore, how he walked in the same spirit as Paul, and how his character is vindicated from the filth of avarice by his testimony. Hear, then, the very words of Paul clearly: "Let it be," he says,
"I have not burdened you, but being crafty, I caught you with guile." What are you saying? Did you catch with guile those whom you caught for Christ? "Yes," he says. "I practiced a good deception, in imitation of Christ, who deluded the enemy." For by tricking him with the covering of the flesh, he caught him with the hook of his divinity. And we understand "crafty" to mean "wise." "Let it be, then," he says, "I have not burdened you, but being crafty, I caught you with guile. Did any of those whom I sent to you exploit you? I entreated Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus exploit you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?" Well done, O truth! Well done, O Spirit, who so harmonized both the heralds of Christ! Now, indeed, Paul himself, the greatest glory of Titus, has anticipated and refined the praise, matching his own deeds with those of the other, and by portraying him excellently, as in an image, he has depicted him with brilliant colors. B
On the Apostle Titus
But, O blessed Father, great glory and ornament of Crete, and interpreter of the true tabernacle and the heavenly worship and the divine mysteries, receive from us, like a Siren’s song, this eulogistic discourse; and since you are one who loves his children, gladly inclinable to the stammering, lend your ear willingly to my words. For fathers are accustomed to find pleasure in the babblings of their children, when they utter a sincere speech from a simple mind. For what manner of speech could one give, unless it be something congruent with my own imbecility, which might, in some compendious way, be sufficient for the reception of a discourse so packed with meaning? Yet what discourse could ever worthily praise you, who once received praise from the Lord himself? As when we hear him clearly crying out, in one place: "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God." And in another place: "But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For I say to you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and did not see them; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear them." What crown, then, are we to weave for you? Of what words shall we gather the flowers to place upon your all-holy head? Who is so foolish as to attempt to set his own words against the Lord’s, of which even one alone would be abundantly sufficient to fulfill the praise due to you? What is that voice, and what is its magnitude? A short while ago, calling you the light of the world—as, of course, disciples of that first Light. For so must they be considered, who have traversed the world with the Gospel, like a solar chariot. You are the salt of the Church, by which the bitter and salt waters of infidelity are sweetened: D casting off sterility by the fertility granted to you, and tempering the unsuitable quality of the drink with the grace of a sweet draught. You are those set upon the mountains of the ecclesiastical
A tenets as a fortress. You are the great handiwork of Paul’s labors, that good harvest, the celebrated adornment of his boastings, the most excellent culmination of his toils. You are the first offering of the fatherland that nourished you; you are the sacred sacrifice of the unbloody sheep of Christ, the venerable delight of the Church, the tongue speaking divine discourse, the mouth of theology that never grows silent, the spiritual pipe of the apostles, the God-written book of heavenly words, the God-inspired voice. You, having brought your mouth to the crater of highest wisdom, drew in the divine Spirit and drank deep of the grace of miracles. You, having taken the life-giving drink from that source, drank the cup of salvation, tempered more mystically with divine sanctification. You, a matchmaker for the Church, brought to her as bridal gifts and dowry B the offspring of Crete. You are the first chief pastor and president of the land that bore you; now, with a spiritual pipe, you call together the rational sheep of Christ, and now, leading them in and out from pasture to pasture, you guide them toward the intelligible city of God. You are the burning lamp that cannot be hidden under a bushel C (for it is wrong that your light should be measured by a bushel), but it was fitting that it be placed upon a lofty, golden-gleaming candlestick—I mean the Church—so that you might shine to the world as light-bearers, holding fast to the word of life. You are a spotless mirror of virtues, apostolic brilliance, the first-fruits of teachers, distinguished among priests, shepherds of shepherds, the persecutor of wolves, and the champion of Christ’s sheep. You are the God-planted branch of the rational vine of the Church, ripening the rational grapes of the proclamation. You are the first-fruits of Paul’s planting, a tilled field, the fertile soil of his husbandry, a land watered by the mystical dews of divine words.
But what discourse, beloved, could ever bring me satiety in speech? With what words shall I crown that head, sacred to me and crowned by God, and venerable to all? I have nothing worthy of his praises to offer: neither strength of words, nor sample of art, nor invention of thoughts, nor display of sophistic experience—nothing else at all, neither small nor great, that could complete this humble funeral oration for him. But, O assembly of priests D and company divinely marked by the sacred hand of Titus, receive me as I turn back, once again, to that same subject. I am well persuaded
rites, and once again, turn my speech to him; and I am fully persuaded that you also will unite and rejoice with me: “For when the righteous is praised, the people will rejoice” (Prov. xi. 10), as the most wise Solomon says. I deem it right, therefore, to make the voice of all my own, and, as one from among all and in the place of all, to set him up before you with this discourse—as it were a stela—this rational statue of words, having appeared as a teacher of churches situated throughout the whole earth.
B For this is he, this is the great Titus, the fellow-traveler of that vessel of election, the fervent companion of his in the preaching of the Gospel. Titus, the first adversary of the mad worship of idols, and champion of Christ’s divine wisdom; who, against those who worshipped stones, lay as a stone of stumbling, and set beneath them Christ, the stone that became the head of the corner of the Church. Titus, the solid base and rock of the faith, bracing those whose minds were hardened like stone, making them firm upon Christ the Rock. Titus, the God-built bulwark of the Church of the Cretans, the unwavering defense of those who approach him without doubt, the comely porch of the divine providence toward us, by whom we have known the truth, have obtained life, have received knowledge, and have been illumined by the light. Titus, holding the primatial see of the twelve sees of our island, the God-shining heaven of our blindness, the bright sun of the ecclesiastical firmament, the star lighting the way for animate lamps, guiding those wandering in error toward the unerring paths of the faith, and, with the supports of truth, illuminating the whole earth. Titus, the eye of the Cherubim, the mouth of the Seraphim, the vigilant gaze, the unsleeping eyelid for the duty of a pastor in mystical night-watches. Titus, the impregnable armor, the gleaming sword against the enemy, the champion of his own children, the resource of the destitute, the food of the hungry, the roof for the homeless, the covering wrapping the naked, the harbor for those tossed in the storm of waves, the torch of piety, the clear spark of divine dogmas, the animate lamp of the Church, the pillar of virtues, the breathing image of noble deeds, the melodious lyre of dogmas, the resonant singer of divine songs, the harp that knows not how to be silent, which composes the affections of the soul.
the mystical dioptra of the faith, striking the pupils of the adversaries with the rebounding flashes of its rays. Titus, the great champion of the pious, the entire armor of the faithful, the utter ruin of the enemies, the correction of those who do not think rightly, the steady palinode of those who turn back, the physician of the sick, the rest of the weary, the release of those in chains, the recovery of those in necessity, the refreshment of those in calamities, the father of orphans, the protector of widows, the redeemer of captives, the host of strangers, the visitation of those in prison, the defense of those B who are tempted. Titus, who became all things to all men; who shows himself accessible to those who approach, who lends an easy ear to those who pray, and is to all a suppliant, friendly, refined, venerable, companionable, gentle, mild, a lover of souls, sweet, modest, a teacher, placid, chaste, true. Rightly does Paul, adorning the true priest of Christ, fittingly honor him, calling him holy, innocent, and embracing all truth.
Such is the venerable Titus revealed to us. For having gathered within himself the sum of all divine virtues, he became wholly of the spirit, having disregarded the body. Whence also his saving word springs forth, and a flood of wisdom overflows, more abundant than the sand. From these I have just now gathered the most beautiful, and like certain flowers, I shall crown my discourse. For it is high time now to fulfill the promise, and to compose the peroration of the discourse to it. I yield, therefore, my voice to him, and borrow the word; and I, small as I am, having become a broker of a greater matter, pledge his word to you spiritually: not, indeed, with curious and cunning volubility, but with true and unfeigned doctrine alone, and thus I shall immediately and extemporaneously begin to distinguish that deep voice.
For he uses my voice today, and addresses you in our own ways: "Little children," he says, "of whom I travail in birth again until Christ is formed in you," namely, in the perfection C of morals. "Do not be children in understanding, but in malice be babes." Let no root of malice spring up and hinder, obscuring the right mind. Let no shoot of sin be born in your hearts. Let no cluster of bitterness darken in you, from which the fury of dragons or asps flows forth as wine. Let no one despise the Lord Christ’s commandments, nor like the asp stop his ears, so as not to hear the voice of the enchanter. Let no one choose malice and vice, to whom it is permitted to choose virtue and institute the heavenly way of life on earth; nor let anyone, by a miserable exchange, prefer the ruinous abundance of the base and earth-bound to the incorruptible and immortal life. "Children, it is the last hour"; therefore, things appropriate for the departure and burial must be prepared by us. Let us ourselves increase the care of our funeral. D No one should be so lax and [so driven] by pleasures...
A that he considers the resolution into Christ as secondary to a dwelling and hardening with clay. Christ calls us to the kingdom of heaven. The Lord’s command is this: let us take up a noble spirit. Strong is He who calls; let us not be feeble-minded toward riches that surpass understanding, and let us not be scrupulous in reckoning about the things that are seen. Why do we linger among visible things? Why do we overlook our paternal home? Our city and our fatherland is the Sion on high; the metropolis of the saints, the dwelling-place of the patriarchs, where there is no biting serpent sitting on the way, B who bites the heel and prevents entrance. Sion, I say, whose towers are fixed in the hands of the Lord; whose gateways are a sculpture, leading those who enter into the blessedness therein, whose form and beauty the God who built it knows. But the abundance of the faithful is the ageless life, the ineffable light, the immortal kingdom, the recompense of the goods laid up for the worthy; which are neither visible to eyes nor graspable by heart, which God has prepared for those who love him.[n-o]
Do not let us cast aside the inheritance of these things, as many as have become sons of God, having been begotten by the deifying baptism. Of God, I say, who loved us and gave as a redemption-price for us all His own only-begotten Son, C co-essential and co-enthroned. Let us not reject the grace of the adoption. Let us not become slaves of sin, having been freed in the Spirit. Let us not appear as slaves of the pleasure of the belly, receiving contumely in exchange for satiety; let us not open a door to passions, from which the back-flowing tides of death well up for us. Let us not halt in our forward progress, but let us always run, if somehow we may lay hold of the prize of the upward calling. It is good, forgetting the things behind, to stretch ourselves out to the things that are before. It is good to hear Christ saying: «If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, D and take up his cross, and follow me.»[q] It is good to follow Christ as He journeys through the world; «Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.»[r] Christ commands; let us not resist. Christ calls, and who does not listen? It is the voice of God teaching: «I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.»[s] And: «I have come as light into the world.»[t]
What, then, could be more intimate for us than this light? For indeed, to leave the darkness and to be joined to the light makes him who is joined to the light truly a son of light. And how could this happen in any other way, unless by casting off from us all that dark sin which shoots at us in the night? And as for taking up the cross and following Christ, what would be a more evident sign than that we die daily, in the hope of the goods laid up
A or trembling at the threats of those things which are circling about us? Understand the cross essentially, beloved, as death for Christ, which, if it should happen to befall us by Providence, let us not refuse. For if we die daily to sin by choice, as if we were miserably dead, how should we not be more blessed by choosing death for Christ? Let us die, therefore, so that we may live. It is good to die together with Christ, so that we may also live with him.
But how does one die with Christ? By becoming superior to the passions and disturbances, not betraying the truth because of any fear, or miserably casting away our confidence toward God out of respect for human friendship. Thus does one strive for Christ. In this way, one dies for him who died for us. And how does one inherit heavenly things? By leaving behind earthly things, which indeed provide a small pleasure to the sight, but engender a more enduring torment thereafter. Let us therefore dismiss the things here, so that we may inherit the glory from above. Let us give to God even a part of our life. Let us take Him as a participant in our life. A great part of life has already passed us by. We have lived for the flesh; let us also live for the spirit. In a short space of time, let us store up long ages for ourselves. We let go of few things, which we hope to receive. We shall bring forth nothing equal to the things that are to be given.
These things are for us from this holy interpreter of the Spirit. B These things Titus cries out, the great trumpet of the Church, and he who resounded through all the ends of the earth, the divinely-struck instrument, the voice thundering everywhere, which opened to us the cataracts of divine mercies, which daily, like a flood, covers over the daily uprisings of the enemies. These things does Titus teach us, calling out from the tomb through us wretched ones, by the Spirit. Let us recognize, then, the lessons of the master. Let us become disciples, not despisers of grace. Let us be persuadable, not disobedient to the teacher. Let us receive the word with reverence. Let us not move our lips in feigned whispering, but with unveiled face and unclosed eye, let us gaze into the light of his words. C Let us be initiated into the wisdom that was truly hidden before the ages, which none of the rulers of this age knew through the participation of contemplative ascent. And to speak in a word, let us become entirely his who created us, with no leaven of the old and foul-smelling ferment of sin left in our composition.
But how shall this come to be? If we love one another. If we do good to those who hate us, not caring to return evil. D If we do not heal evil with evil. If we forgive one another our offenses. If we remove all deceit from our hearts. If every passage of envy and path of malice were closed. If the fervor of fury and the wrath of indignation do not remain in us. If the voluptuous desires
A and irrational cravings, from which comes death, do not climb through our windows. If we open our doors to every stranger. If we extend our hands toward alms. If we break our bread for the hungry. If we lead the naked and homeless into our own houses. If we cherish our brothers who are shivering. If we do not overlook the crying poor. If we do not run past the one in need of our kindness. If we run to the churches with fear and longing. If we offer to God the firstfruits of our labors. If we offer to God the sacrifices and prayers with which God is well-pleased. If we do not dig a pit for our brothers. If we do not let the sun go down upon our anger, but are reconciled before evening with those who sin against us. If we love one another, as Christ loved us, and gave Himself as a ransom for us to death, having despised shame B. If we discipline our life, and mortify the members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, and all pleasures, and the worst pride. If we hate avarice, which acts as the midwife of all evils. “Who is wise, and shall understand this?” Who will add to keep these things, and to pluck the fruit from them? Blessed indeed is he to me and to everyone of sound mind. For who will cause him trouble, whose mind has been hardened by a certain inflexibility toward the good, and, like a city, is fortified by the secure bulwark of the virtues?
But, O children newly born from the blessed womb of Titus! For he truly regenerated us according to the Gospel. Stand against all invisible enemies, having put on the armor of his teaching. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Be men against the abominable battle array of Satan, and consider his wounds to be like the arrows of infants. Stand with your loins girt about with truth, and your sides covered, and carrying the sword of the Spirit, C which is the word of God, through prayer and supplication. Let us put on the bow and arrows and quiver, the God-inspired words of the God-initiated herald Titus, as our armor. Let the helmet, and the spear, and the sword be the supplications of the shepherd to God on our behalf. He himself will stand for us. He himself will draw up the battle line and defend us. For he will shatter the war stirred up against you. He will calm the haughtiness of the enemies. He will stand and make propitiation, and will turn away the wrath of the Lord. And the cup of wrath which is in His hand, and the vessel of ruin, and the dregs of fury, turning them away from us, he will empty upon the enemies. And he will change the shattering into a breeze, and into D calm and serenity. But he will lead this great vessel, I mean the Church, into the harbor of divine will, freed from every tide and storm, and
throughout her whole life enjoying peace. "For who knows if God will turn and repent concerning our wickedness?" A For He does not seek our death, but that we should turn and live. He will apply a bandage and heal; and there shall be no one to harm or scourge us, nor shall anyone snatch us from His hand. But if an enemy should assail us, he shall be stoned. And if he should stretch out a spear and boast, his boasts shall be shattered upon him. And if he should brandish weapons, the sword shall pierce his heart, and the bow shall be broken in his hand. For the Lord Himself B shall fight for us; He Himself will come and save us; He will come and will not delay; and all the Egyptians shall see the mighty and great hand of God, saying: "Let us flee from the face of the Lord of the Christians, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptian Amalek," and He shall utterly exterminate the slave-born race of Hagar; "the enemies, I say, of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction," whom the abyss of the deep sea shall swallow, and who, attempting to engage in naval battle, shall be enveloped by its own waves. This is our God; He Himself, when one man pursues ten thousand, shall turn these falling ones to flight, and shall distribute them as spoil and booty to the Romans. This is our God; He Himself shall crown the emperors C who are partners in the same crown and exalted upon the same throne, with victories, preserving their empire through long revolutions of years. He Himself shall subject to them all the barbarian nations that rejoice in blood. For there shall stand as a propitious mediator, the foster-son and defender of the Word, Titus; and there shall also stand your famous decade of martyrs, and by their own sufferings they shall render propitious the Lord who is able to save from death, and He shall carry out all things which He sees to be opportune for our salvation and for the glory of His majesty. D
A May there be no delay of time in any way for these things, so that they may arrive at the final outcome of goodness and receive their fulfillment through deeds! For thus our life shall be made even, and every word, and action, and thought shall be adorned by the divine laws of the Spirit; and through freedom from distraction, a quiet and peaceful life shall be spent by us. By which, a little later, through virtue and contemplation, the participation in the glory and kingdom hereafter shall be allotted to those who have thus progressed in their walk of life. These small offerings are for you from us, O father, O lord of your supplicants, and your successors, though we are unworthy; these are for you from my small tongue and mind—a mind, I say, that loves you and holds you in honor above all. These are the small gifts from me, the least among shepherds, who for some reason, I know not how, have been deemed worthy of this holy throne and seat. And if these things are small and fall far short of your worth, they are nonetheless not inferior to the warm disposition I have toward you. For I know well that you will receive these with kindness, as a small epitaph of sorts. But a more perfect and glorious praise you shall seek for yourself later, from Him toward whom you have always had your immovable zeal and longing. B Now, however, O divine and holy head, look down upon us from above, you who dance in spirit around the triune God, and stand by the throne of grace, being enlightened in your soul by the divine light; intercede for us, if by any means we might be delivered through you from the wrath threatening those who, like me, are negligent and slothful, and from the daily rebellions of the passions ignited against us. And further, from the malevolent enemies who attempt to wage war upon us both openly and secretly—that you might turn the storm into a breeze for us, and that we might obtain the blessedness that is from above, so that, being then sheltered under your wings, we might dwell together with you in the tabernacles in which you yourself dwell; and that we, being pure, might clearly perceive the light that is in you, by the grace of Him who called us with a holy calling to His marvelous light; to whom is due all glory, honor and power, now and always, and unto the ages. Amen.
ORATION XVII. Encomium on the Holy Great Martyr George
C Always splendid and praised by every mouth are the memorials of the holy martyrs; but more praiseworthy and—
COMBEFIS' NOTES This encomium, edited by Lipomanus and Surius, is anonymous, as are very many orations among his works, acts for which he ought to be considered not so much the author as the collector; we present it as attributed to Andrew from the Royal codex, although not complete, the codex itself being mutilated in that encomium alone; yet in such a way that nothing is missing from it of those things by which the deeds of George and the history of those times can be illustrated. It seems to rely more on the deeds of George related by Metaphrastes than on those which are written by Pisicrates his servant, which Lipomanus also edited, and which the Royal codices contain. For he refers to, or indicates, the history of Athanasius the magus, converted by George and a martyr, which those deeds of Pisicrates do not have. It is strange that Baronius in his notes should pronounce severely against it, as if it were an Arian interpolation. But on what foundation? Clearly on one too light for the mind of a sober man to have been in any way moved or even struck by it. For what, indeed, O truly industrious and studious man, displeases you in that history? The name of Athanasius, who is known to have been accused of magic by the Arians, as if he were an Arian, George being the intruder into the Alexandrian see, and the orthodox Athanasius its true bishop, having taken up the deeds of George the martyr, magi—
Acal works, just as God once strove to render the invincible entirely invincible. Thus everyone will clearly see in the deacon Vincent, in Clement of Ancyra, in Catherine of Alexandria, in Lucy of Syracuse, etc., whose deeds the Church deservedly receives with every veneration. Baronius thinks he has at last found in his own library a very ancient codex of such rejected acts, with whom the faith might rest; but they declare that some such things still exist in certain Churches in Gaul, though I have not seen them. So much for this matter. In most places, we correct the translator Lipomanus, or rather we adorn a new version, as he is truly less accurate, yet one may see among his works certain Latin passages which we cannot render into Greek for lack of the codex; in searching for which, there was less concern, since the matter seemed of less importance, for the reason already suggested at the beginning.
ORATION XVII
A It is indeed a thing most laudable and glorious, which is celebrated by us today. For the present memory of the martyr not only contains an imitation of what the Lord suffered, adorned by athletic struggle and made more beautiful by the splendor of the spring season; but it also abundantly participates in the hilarity which proceeds from the more sublime feast days of the Lord. For it is situated among these days, as if between two suns moving in their own orbit and illuminating the world [(43)], and like the moon, illustrated by the intervening splendor of both, it enlightens the inhabited world with rays that imitate Christ. B Indeed, it shines forth first in its own order [(43')], and rises with the most manifest radiance of its hour, having the universal and most brilliant feast, the feast of feasts, occurring with it and immediately following or even joined to it—I mean the feast of the saving passion and resurrection of Christ, the true God and our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, and the prince of martyrs, who for our sake was made flesh and for our salvation *bore witness under Pontius Pilate* [d] (as the Apostle says), and who, by what He suffered, granted us victory over death. And, following it appropriately, it has His ascension into the heavens, by which He made our essence sit with Him in the Father.
I do not mean that this is any coincidence of our...
human affairs, but the economy of God’s love and the manifest affinity of divine works. For in this way, the One for whose sake the martyrdom was undertaken manifested His own supreme love for him who undertook it, A so that like an athlete, he might express the likeness of Him, not only in what he suffered but also on the very day of the passion. In a similar way, this festival also precedes all other celebrations in the whole year that are sacred to the martyrs; it alone, after the day of Christ’s resurrection, presides over the spring season and its splendor. Since, therefore, the boundaries of this athletic feast are so delightful, it is worthy to now also point out its beauty. B The beauty of a festival is either a saving word or a divine action. For to Greeks and Barbarians, and to all over whom the error of idols held sway, this was dignity; it was also a festive joy to worship the demons through every manner of indecency and intemperance. But for us, to whom the trophy of the cross has been given against death, it is entirely the opposite: it is to put them to shame and defeat them through every struggle. Hence, the dissolution of pleasures, as something base, was hated; and the strain of virtues and death for the sake of piety were preferred by the faithful as sweet. Hence, the error of the idols was extinguished, C and the multitudes of the martyrs shone forth. Hence, the earth has become heaven, adorned as it is with the saints like stars; and a day-long festival holds the world, honoring their trophies and their relics, celebrating their struggles—and I mean struggles which the common enemy had maliciously contrived, stubbornly striving to snatch the worship and the incommunicable name for himself through the midst of the idols. But the God of all, and Savior and Upholder of the stadium, humanely permitted it, wishing to show human nature as victor over him, so that from those by whom he sought to be worshipped as God, he might be laughed at by them as a corpse, trodden underfoot. Since, therefore, the darkness of idolatry had at that time poured over the whole world, and filled almost even the uninhabited places, while almost everyone was defecting to impiety, and all, having been handed over into the lightless forgetfulness of the One who is truly God, proved to be prisoners and bound by the chains of darkness and the long night, they set great store by worshipping the demons; and being terrified by phantasms as if they were miracles, they proved to be more superstitious every day; the leaders and most eager pursuers of the impiety, Diocletian, I say, D and Magnentius, and their lieutenants in the cities, having surged forward into impiety with the rush of swine, were diligently occupied with evil. "And there was no respite in their death; for in going, they went by the light of their fire." "Neither, indeed, was there a foundation in their scourge," while God was patiently enduring, so that the righteous might be made manifest, and not
COMBEFIS' NOTES
(44) *Hoc antecedit.* Just as the ecclesiastical year and the series of celebrations begin, according to the custom of the Hebrews, from the Passover and the most festive day of the Resurrection: although the Greeks begin the year in September, and the Latins in December and with the preceding holidays of the Nativity of the Lord. Thus the Greeks, having followed the imperial inductions. (45) *Caecae ejus, qui Deus revera esset, oblivioni vincti traditi.* God, in truth, handing them over as their sins demanded: just as we see in those who were Christians, the lamp of divine knowledge already having been lit, being extinguished. Far differently does the interpreter Lippo-mani, either from another copy or by himself, translate less appropriately, as is his custom.And so the nature of man might depart A along with the tares cut down. Then, O then, like a star appearing at daybreak, shining forth in clear brightness, this glorious and renowned George appeared; both a sweet thing and a sweet name. George, who in his name displayed the divine action, and in his action the grace corresponding to his name. He who imitated Issachar, and longed desirously for the good B of divine husbandry; who loved the laborious work, and according to what is written, was himself shown to be "husbandry tilled by the Most High." An industrious husbandman from early fingernails, who in due time rendered a hundred-fold fruit to the Master. He who with the plow of virtue straightly cut the sweet furrow of piety, and C for this reason was shown to be fit for the kingdom of heaven: he who sowed in tears and reaped in exultation, who cast the seeds in weeping and carried the sheaves in joy. The "well-tilled" earth, which often drank the rain of the Spirit that came upon it, and brought forth saving herbs for those who pluck them in faith. The most fragrant meadow, in which the flowers of piety blossomed abundantly, from which honeycomb springs up spontaneously, whose sweetness is the health of the soul. The useful tree, planted near the rivers of the Spirit, and flourishing perpetually, and always bearing the ripe fruit of virtue for the cultivation of the souls of those who sincerely partake of it. The fertile branch of the true vine, the husbandman of which is the heavenly Father, cultivating D through him spiritual gladness for us, for the healing of passions, and the renewal of both soul and body. The fountain of divine streams, from which the soul that had grown wild is irrigated, and is cultivated; and it brings forth faith, hope, and charity: a trinity of virtues, desirable to the Trinity. D He is the husbandman of divine thoughts, and God’s tilled field, in which the grace of piety was cultivated, and in which are cultivated for all the multitudes of miracles. For he knew, and his very name makes public, both God’s grace and the virtue of men, as we have learned in the case of Abraham, and Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and many others. This is George, both in name and in deed; this is he who then, like a rose in the midst of thorns, sprang up, and like a lily perfuming piety, amidst the
mire of idolatry, blossomed. Like a cypress in a field horrid with brambles and briars; like a fruit-bearing olive in the desert; and as a palm tree giving forth sweet fruits where once they were bitter; like a full moon in the deepest night; as a torch in dark gloom, bringing light to those who were wandering in the sea of impiety; as the morning star in the midst of dark clouds; and finally, like the sun, emitting a joyful and radiant gleam amidst dense fog. But if you also seek to know whence he sprang and the nobility of his lineage, the facts themselves as if with a loud voice proclaim that he is a son of God, and of the Jerusalem above, which is free: A “For as many as received him,” says that virgin disciple, “to them he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,” of which kind was George, who proved the nobility of his lineage by his deeds.
Since, however, you desire to know also his earthly nobility: his fatherland was the region of the Cappadocians; his nurse, Palestine; he was a Christian from his ancestors; in age a youth, but in wisdom gray-headed, and upright in heart; swelling and vigorous against impiety in both respects, a martyr of piety; so famous from boyhood in feats of arms, and so trained in military valor with such diligence and precision, that the tribunate of the military order was entrusted to his care. And when, by worthily administering that office, and by acting strenuously in many things, he had finally acquired much experience in the art of war, and was seeking a higher rank, he attained a still greater one. For, having taken the wealth that had come to him by inheritance from his parents, he ran to him who was acting as emperor at that time; and to him happened something similar to what had once happened to the son of Kish. B For the one, while seeking donkeys, found an earthly kingdom; but this man, while seeking worldly advancement, obtained the kingdom of the heavens, having traded for a greater outcome than his original goal.
For having arrived and seen God being insulted and demons being worshipped, he, a zealot for piety, could not endure it; but, reflecting on what David says: “I beheld the transgressors and was grieved,” and, “My zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten your words,” and remembering the Lord saying, “Everyone who will confess me before men, I also will confess him before my Father who is in the heavens,” C inflamed with divine zeal, and sharpening his own thought like a weapon, he hastened to seize the divine promise; and to acquire God Himself as his confessor in return, through his confession in Him.
But so that the bulk of his wealth would not be a hindrance to him when he was about to enter the narrow gate, but rather that he might prepare himself with greater fortitude for martyrdom D
A, he deemed it necessary to make use of the divine commandment according to the proper order, which the Lord and Arbiter of the contest had long ago intimated to the rich young man, saying: "If you wish to be perfect, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Now, what the former youth had left undone through softness of soul and sloth, this second one fulfilled with eagerness and a ready spirit, having laid aside the desire for riches and, through the hands of the poor, having purchased with them the priceless pearl of the kingdom of heaven, and having prepared for himself in this way an inviolable treasure, his heart being fully fixed upon celestial things. Thus, having first laid low the prompter of soul-destroying avarice, that is, the devil, and having snatched up this first crown against him, and having bound it about his head spiritually as a means of support and a symbol for a higher victory B, he fortified himself with the prayers of the poor, and, trusting that he would add victory to victory through them, he leaped forth like a lion, having taken up his cross, to wage battle against impiety. For the wise man did not know that sins—those hindrances to victory—are purged by almsgivings and faith. "Almsgiving delivers from death above all things." "For over a shield of power, and over a spear of might, it shall fight for you against the enemy," says Jesus the son of Sirach. Thus, in short, having practiced in deed by showing mercy, and as though anointed for the struggle, he went forth into the battle line with confidence, and he did not put on any physical armor, but only that of the Spirit, as Paul demonstrated. For he girded his loins with truth, and put on the breastplate of justice, and shod his feet in the preparation of the Gospel of peace; he also took up the helmet of salvation, and over all, he took up the shield of faith, by which all the flaming darts of the wicked one are extinguished; and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. C With this invisible and spiritual armor, therefore, he fortified himself, "because he had not undertaken the war against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual things of wickedness," being arrayed against spiritual things with spiritual weapons; and he was all but crying out the apostolic saying: "Our..."
A weapons are not carnal, but powerful to God for the destruction of fortifications." Straightway, therefore, having called upon the Arbiter and Presider of the contests above to be his ally, and having stirred up the anger that is according to nature, and taken upon himself the zeal of Elias the prophet, and using a righteous wrath, "Through the weapons of justice on the right hand and on the left," he advanced against injustice. And finding there those who were emperors in name, but in truth were enslaved by the empire of impiety, and who were abusing the power against the One who had granted the power; and seeing an infinite variety and multitude of tortures set forth in public, not against wrongdoers, but against those who practiced piety; and [seeing] all sorts of tribes, nations, and tongues armed, standing round about, declaiming unholy things and threatening that if anyone should name Christ, he would be mercilessly consumed and die at their hands—burning, therefore, with the divine Spirit, "he shook his kidneys" like that Maccabean, "and brought forth wrath according to the judgment," and like a lion roaring mightily and looking fierce, having cut short their threat, he leapt into the midst of them, clearly proclaiming himself a Christian and openly manifesting the nobility of [his] piety. O soul truly God-bearing, vanquished by divine love, and entirely "carried out of itself for God!" O blessed voice which George, the namesake of Christ, taking the seeds from heaven, and having well cultivated them for a long time in his heart, returned in due time perfect to the Master! B The air that received it was sanctified; the angels from heaven thundered applaudingly, the archangels cheered it on, and all the Powers of the heavens rejoiced exceedingly. And the God and Master of all, approving, deemed it just that the alliance should correspond to the zeal, and prepared for him the unfading crown of victory. But the troop of the impious was struck with amazement, and the devil, their general, hearing it, received a mortal wound. The noble athlete, however, persisted, confessing Christ to be God with a bright and powerful voice, while those demons who were worshipped by them C he bound.
He declared them to be deluded and foolish, slanderers of gods that did not exist; rather, he exposed those who spoke basely, put to silence those who blasphemed, and showed that they ought to repent, having recognized the one and only truly existing God. And, in the end, he often quoted that prophetic saying: «Let the gods who have not made the heavens and the earth perish.» A
But they, using every kind of deceit, tested the athlete in every way. What did they not say? What did they not do? At one moment they softened their words more than oil, using flattery; at another, they struck him with the naked darts of their threats. They pretended to praise his beauty, and together with his wisdom, his nobility, and his proven bravery in wars. They advised him to pity his youth and not to choose a premature death over the sweet enjoyment of this life in a frenzied manner. B They offered him gifts of wealth and honors that were not insignificant. Then they promised him various kinds of torments and many forms of death, threatening him that for him, a long and painful death would follow if he refused to comply with their exhortations. But that firm and unshaken soldier of Christ, who had long ago learned that one must obey God rather than men, C and that nothing is more powerful or more urgent than obedience to God, was not at all changed or astonished. He refuted their crafty flatteries with the austerity of his replies; he spat upon their deceitful promises, treating them as worthless; he repelled their wicked counsels as deadly venom; he laughed at their threats with a readiness to suffer everything, pressing them not to delay, but to put the matter to the test immediately so they might be more certain, crying out repeatedly: «My love has been crucified.» And, to use a single word, he was everywhere impregnable to the enemy. «Who, then,» he would say, «shall separate me from the love of Christ? Shall distress? Or anguish? Or persecution? Or famine? D
A Or nakedness? Or peril? Or the sword?» For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor Virtues, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of Christ. B «For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.»
But his conflict with the adversaries was not merely in words; indeed, he resisted them with deeds, at once wisely and energetically. Like a mighty wrestler, he manifested the strength and courage of both his body and his spirit, not only by striking his opponents, but also by stoutly bearing the blows they inflicted upon him; thus, with one he suffered, and with the other he struck back. For while they cut his body with scourges, he, with his patience, courageously overcame them, so that they were tortured by it more than he, unable as they were to accomplish what they wished upon the one being scourged. Indeed, they ordered that the Saint be struck with a pole; but when the pole turned aside like lead, putting their own failure to the test, and finding their hope frustrated, they turned to a different punishment, attempting to subject the athlete to more terrible torments. They placed an exceedingly large stone upon his belly while he was kept in prison for the whole night, in addition to the security of the wooden stocks for his feet, and many other torments, of whatever and whichever more terrible sorts they could devise.
When the athlete had labored greatly under these and was nearly failing, at last they brought the most severe of all; taking him up onto a wheel, Thinking thus to break the noble man's resistance. On it, the high-minded man, with his loins bent and stretched in the manner of a scorpion, and his spirit constrained by the contrary rotation, was totally broken in all his limbs, his flesh torn round about; he was disjointed. At the same time, cut into many parts by the sharp points of the instruments set beneath him, his body, now a slaughterhouse stained with rivers of blood, was left behind, thought dead by blind men, so that, as he was, many sang songs to their gods and demons, celebrating them for this.
C But they were put to even greater shame when, shortly after, they saw healthy the man they had believed to be among the dead. For Christ, the life of all, the true God and Savior, having at once delivered him from his wounds and from those torments, and having utterly terrified and driven away the guards—this victor, again desiring to undergo stronger struggles, appeared in haste before the impious, demonstrating in deed and word the unconquered power of Christ. D For it was truly a fearful and astonishing spectacle to behold, which at once strengthened the faithful and stopped the mouths of the unbelievers. They, moreover, struck by the unexpected event, and by searching and cer...
certain proofs convinced, ought to have repented; instead, they subjected the noble man to even worse torments. A For as they buried that rational pearl under quicklime—or rather, to speak more truly, that quicklime which was not extinguished, but ignited—it seemed incredible to many, and a paradox. How could a body, naturally subject to corruption, persist for any time at all—let alone remain entirely unburned and unharmed—in such a fierce and caustic boiling of lime? And how could a living creature, which draws its natural life by inhaling thin air, when buried in a material destined to obstruct any form of respiration, not be deprived of life? But if anyone wishes to gainsay such arguments, let him consider how Jonah, having lived for three days in the belly of the whale, was brought forth untouched; how Jeremiah, plunged into a pit of mire, emerged as if from a sepulcher; in what way the children in the midst of the furnace breathed light air, and "no smell of fire remained upon them." And if such miracles and prodigies as the Lord of immense glory has wrought through his servants throughout the ages, he should sooner agree with us on this point too, and in faith say: "Truly, God is wondrous in his saints." For that which the Creator wills, has standing as nature for those things that exist; and, "This is the change of the right hand of the Most High."
B But time, and even more so my lack of eloquence, will fail me if I were to attempt to chronicle in detail and one by one, for the public and in the prisons, the appearance and nature of all the torments inflicted upon this noble soldier of Christ, and the unbearable pain, exceeding all speech; as well as the savagery, hardness, and extreme cruelty of his tormentors, and the patient endurance and constant mind of the athlete amidst his torments, C and how in him that Pauline saying was fulfilled every day: "As dying, and behold we live." As well as his day and night-long prayers during his struggles—some suppliant, "to him who was able to save him," others in thanksgiving for the aid bestowed—and in addition to these, the sudden and complete overthrow of those who were deemed gods at the sign of the cross, and the mournful testimony of the very demons, clearly confessing that they were not gods, to the shame of those who mindlessly worshipped them; then the questions and objections raised at the time, which contained in themselves much tragedy; in addition to these, the arguments night and day [concerning]
as a reward for the patience shown by the martyr, divine manifestations and discourses; or, to speak better in the words of David, aids, consolations, and healings, receiving from which a refreshment, he gladly forgot the labors already passed, while those that pressed on him again he met with vigor, as if he possessed a body, along with his soul, made of adamant.
It is possible for anyone who wishes to learn all things with accuracy, by reading the account of the martyrdom, to obtain what he seeks; and from there to be instructed and to be struck with wonder at the magnitude of the struggles, the greatness of soul of the triumphant warrior, the most just nature of the victory, and the worthy recompense of divine rewards. To know clearly and to admire how those who were darkened in the abyss of impiety mingled the bitter into the sweet in their speeches with guile, while he, with the simple word of truth, easily dissolved and overturned their subtle and crafty devices; and how he flew over their snares and secret traps with the firm and high wing of his mind; and how, through the strength of his patience, he boldly overcame those various and grievous torments, and having completed the course B of his foundations and nails, and even when delivered to the sword, having mortified his soul’s death through bodily death, was revealed as a victor through his blood, and, having bound on the crown of victory, with an act of victory he offered up a joyful hymn to the Giver of victory, saying: “Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth” (Ps. CXXIII, 6).
Furthermore, the diligent student, reading such a narrative with care, will know that the martyr did not labor for himself alone, but also secured salvation for many others through his own labors; how many he caused to complete the same course, having poured out their own blood to God; such as Anatolius and Protoleon, the commanders, who, having been struck with wonder at the deeds that shone forth in that struggle, emulated his bravery; and also the famous Glycerius, whom he freed from the irrational worship of idols and superstitious cult by the miracle of the calf; all of whom, having pulled them as it were from the very jaws of the dragon, he offered to his own Master as perfect and acceptable sacrifices. Moreover, there were also the greatest and most exceptional miracles; at one time bestowed upon faithful petitioners like falling flakes of snow, and at another time, when requested by the faithless as if in disbelief, having occurred D by the prayer of the martyr; just as even the dead from the coffin...
A to rise, for the conviction of the folly of those who demanded it, and for the recognition of the truth, if indeed those who asked had the capacity to see. For those who were faithless at the outcome of the miracles, these, trusting in phantoms, were caught once again. For having exhausted every apparatus of torture, and having grown weak before the endurance of the martyr, and having fled—after the Jewish manner—to the requesting of signs which they thought could not be performed anywhere, they were ashamed even at that. For the miracles became for many especially a salvation, in that through them they recognized the God of George; and being unable to bring forward an opposition to the ineffable wonder-workings of the martyr, and not being inclined to turn back—due to their being blinded and having a hardened heart, and ears and eyes, as Isaiah says—they necessarily clung to their ancestral deception and thought to overturn the truth by sorceries. Therefore, indeed, B they brought forward a certain Athanasius, who had great conceit regarding his magical craft. And even more so than those in Egypt who thought to oppose Moses. But the entirety of his magical art did not lie hidden for long here, with the lie being overcome by the truth; and the presence of our magician was more useful here than that one was there. For they, when they recognized the finger of God overturning their art, confessed it only in words; but this man, having embraced the faith revealed to him through the deeds, also underwent death by beheading for its sake, having inherited life befitting his name. I pass over individual cases, how many others besides the standard-bearer of Christ he led to the same arena of the contest; among whom he also led the Empress Alexandra, to demonstrate Mosaic virtue. C The rest see in Lipomanus and Surius.
ORATION XVIII.
Encomium of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia.
O man of God and faithful servant, and dispenser of the mysteries of Christ; O man of the desires of the Spirit, receive the speech we bring to you as a gift, and count it a grace in return for the grace of the miraculous and fervent protection you have shown toward us. Furthermore, we call you a pillar and foundation of the Church, and a luminary in the world, who hold the word of life.A For virtue has provided you with many keys, and nothing good has escaped you, O best of shepherds and most celebrated of high priests, Nicholas. For you have stored up all the most precious virtues in your blessed soul, as if they were transparent stones in a precious treasury, and for this reason you have become renowned to almost all who dwell under the sun. For a lamp placed upon a high and golden lampstand does not so illuminate the ends of the earth and the corners, as you, having been placed at once upon the high-priestly throne by Christ, the true Light, as though in a parched place in the lightless region of the world, illuminate all those who are shepherded by you, holding a torch toward the non-nocturnal light; and as if from some elevated watchtower, you flash rays of spiritual knowledge, not only to those nearby, but even to those standing far away, with the unwavering light of the spirit. For the angelic way of life has truly made you lofty. The purity and contemplative nature of your true mingling with the Divine has prepared you to almost transcend the heavenly B axes in your flight. From this source, indeed, you also derived that multiform virtue, by which, like a bee, you have harvested the lives of the saints, and from them gathered the first-fruits of virtues, collecting a philosophy rooted in action. For which of the virtues of the saints have you not emulated, O Father? Or whose footsteps among those who have excelled have you not happily followed, or, better to say, with which of those who have lived according to virtue have you competed, and not equaled yourself to them?
Abel the just was praised for his gifts, but you, most just Father, have consecrated yourself wholly as a gift to God, who needs nothing, C in a rational manner. Enoch hoped in the Lord, but you also possessed clear proofs of the things that were stored up in hope. Moreover, Enoch, having pleased God, was translated, but you, having transferred the entire inclination of your soul from earth to heaven, exchanging things flux for those that are to come, have wholly “departed to God.” Noah, being just, became acceptable in his sacrifices; and thus, in a wooden ark, he saved the species of unreasoning animals when the flood covered the earth; but you, offering rational victims and spiritual sacrifices to God, show the Church of God as another ark, in which, by the sound doctrine of your words, the various groups of heretics, as though they were various kinds of D animals, might be saved. Abraham is admired for his hospitality and piety toward God, and he is called blessed for offering his son, born of the promise, as an acceptable sacrifice to God even without the slaughter; but you, eating daily, and those who
A continually impart to those who approach you from the mystical and spiritual feast, you receive Christ himself into your hospitality; and you sacrifice, not a beloved son, nor a ram brought into the midst in his place; but you yourself, always offering your whole soul to God as a holocaust, and as the Gospel instructs, surrendering your own soul for the sheep. Isaac is glorified by the title of justice; but you, like some canon of justice running everywhere in the Spirit, with much boldness restrain those who wish to do wrong, clearly appearing in dreams even to slumbering emperors. Jacob is renowned for the simplicity of his ways and the multiplicity of his children; to whom also a ladder reaching to the heavens was seen, sketching in type an image of a greater mystery. But he, while begetting patriarchs, and shepherds, and flocks for the Arch-shepherd Christ, from whom you too received the flock in trust, never failed, “setting ascents in his heart,” and as if moving from degree to degree, as though being transformed from glory to glory; and from earth to the heavens, being guided by contemplation. Job is most illustrious for his innocence and his brave constancy in evils: but you are so far from neglecting his imitation, that you were neither moved nor shaken by the machinations of heretics, preferring that the waves should dash against the tower, as it were, rather than that any part of the treasure should be plundered. Joseph has a name famous everywhere for chastity and the provision of grain: but you have shown yourself a complete specimen of chastity, and have become a market of grain and a school of mellifluous speech for the province of the Lycians. Moses is celebrated for his gentleness and his B legislation for the people, and is described as the god of Pharaoh and the leader of Israel; but you, most blessed Father, although terrible to sinners, have been gentle to all, prescribing abstinence from evil acts to the whole people, and drowning the rising movements of the passions, like another force of Pharaoh and his army, in the sea of your virtuous deeds. David, valiant, slew the proud Goliath with the armor of the Spirit: but you, most mighty, also daily put to flight that spiritual tyrant of souls, and drive away from the rational flock of Christ the heretical wolves, those rapacious ones. Thus, having made yourself notable in the catalog of the just and the prophets, most sacred man, by virtue placed in action, you have inserted yourself, emulating the boldness of some, the zeal of others: the mansuetude of these, the affect of those toward the pitying of the soul, and for others, their sublime life. And not only these, but also those of the disciples of Christ; to whom grace and truth, having spread out the shadowy mantle of the legal ordinances, C clearly reveals the mysteries to us in the truth of the Spirit. Of whom you are a consistent follower through D
A all things, you have become an eye of the Church in your solicitude, and a resonant trumpet. Now it is truly possible to say that scriptural text: “The memory of the just is with praises,” and, “The just shall be in everlasting remembrance.” And very reasonably so; for when the just man is praised, many peoples shall rejoice.
And who could worthily arrive at your solemn praises, or hymn the magnitude of your accomplishments throughout your life, O most praised Father? For whatever we might say about you, language falls entirely short of the truth. If we should wish to compare to yours the achievements of others, it is strictly necessary that the examples fall behind the realities. What, then, shall we call you? A farmer? Language will be entirely truthful, if understood in a spiritual sense. For having cultivated the rational fields of the entire province of the Lycians, you cut away the thorns of unbelief; you sowed the living word of piety; and as into granaries, you spiritually stored away a rich harvest in the storehouses of souls. Shall we call you an architect? Our account will be true; for by the skillful art of your doctrines, you overturned the altars of idols and the established seats of loathsome demons; and B you built up churches for Christ throughout the region, erecting holy and venerable temples for the martyrs. And as a farmer, you cultivated and showed that the newly-planted and rational vines were fertile; and as a wise architect, you firmly established the Churches upon the foundation of faith, through the architecture of the Spirit. What, therefore, shall we call you? A soldier? Yes; for as some shield-bearing commander, having undertaken an expedition against invisible enemies, you put on the full armor of the Word, girding your loins in truth, and putting on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet in the preparation of the Gospel of peace. By the helmet of salvation, warding off the incursions of the passions, you stood firm and unshaken like a rock, correcting every entanglement of the adversaries. Using as a shield your unshakable hope, and encountering those daring to attack, you strike them back with arrows—and then, valiantly C
A protecting and standing opposite, and driving away the hostile ranks from the flock, having fulfilled your protection, you raise the sword of faith with effective right hand; and that living division of Arius, along with the contraction of Sabellius, you have rooted out completely. Furthermore, those who presume either to confuse or to divide the sacrament of the economic incarnation in the flesh of Christ, the one true God from the one same blessed and adorable Trinity—and those who have not received that teaching correctly, or who do not confess the reason for the union of the natures that came together in Him, the one Christ and God, according to the hypostasis, to be unconfused and utterly indivisible—you have struck them down; and with the same goad-stave B, just like Phinehas, you destroy and cast down those who deviate in either direction, rendering the God of all propitious to all.
What, then, shall we call you? An Angel? Yet you are not far from the bodiless state of the angels, having truly existed as an incorporeal being within a body, and being, as it were, some ethereal man, or an angel to those who behold you. For how does your flight differ from angelic flight, since you appeared to the emperor in dreams, terrified him when he was planning murder for the morrow, and chastised his hand—furiously set upon slaughter—with a blow without a wound, having slowed his previous impulse; and, through your unexpected presence, saved from death men who had done no wrong? What is more appropriate for that angel who transported Habakkuk from Zion C to the Median land of Babylon, bringing the meal to Daniel in the lions' den, than to act in this way? Shall we call you a Governor? Truly, the discourse will have been established in truth: for you are the one who steers with the utmost diligence, using the rudder of your intercessions to God and the tiller of faith, those navigating that great and wide sea, and those tossed upon the land as if upon the sea; you turn the storm into a breeze, and the swell into serenity, calming and composing them by the vigils of your prayers D; and you guide those who approach with faith to the harbor of dispassion, most holy one. And this is evident from the fact that you yourself have clearly appeared, like a provider, even standing by the sailors; at that time when famine was pressing upon your metropolis. You know
A these things, O harbor of Andriaca. For having persuaded those men, who were not intending to sail past, to feed the hungry people and to bridle the fury of famine—just as, it is said, you settled the shipping fare with three gold coins, as [though] a pledge—it was impossible for the guardian and defender of the Lycian nation, Nicholas, whose manner and work were angelic, to remain hidden to the end. For because, while living in the flesh, and before you departed to Christ, you visited those afflicted in various ways in many manners, and offered the speediest help to those in need, and snatched those falling into the hands of murderous slaughter; what else does this show you to be, if not one who has put on an angelic incorporeality, and by this performs wonders more easily? But who would not admire your long-suffering? Who would not be struck by the gentleness and mildness that accompany these [virtues]? Who would not [admire] your peaceful and suppliant [nature]? For since, as they say, while visiting the branches of the true vine, you met with Theognius, of blessed memory, who was once bishop of the church of the Marcianists, through a contest of scriptural discussion, you did rebuke and convince the man until you brought him back to what was B considered proper. And perhaps, when some slight irritation had been suddenly injected into the midst, in a loud voice you spoke that apostolic, mild utterance: “Come,” you said, “brother, let us be reconciled before the sun sets upon our anger.” But, O Father of fathers, admirable luminary of the world, foundation of the Church, support and safety of the faithful, swiftest relief for those suffering injustice, now you feed us even more, and cherish us more intensely, while you purely reside with God, the perfect and adorable Trinity. Concerning whom, spiritually dancing along with the angelic orders, you look down upon us from above, O divine and sacred head, and apostolic gift; do not neglect to confirm some, and to arm others of us, O Father, herald of the Word and teacher of those secret things. But as for him who is like-minded and a successor to your holy conduct; who belongs to a time far distant after you, yet is near to you in gray hair; C strengthen both his sons and his grandsons, and by the word of truth; and the man whom you hold especially in your fatherly affections, do not neglect to drive away—with your spiritual shafts of your own words—those who dare to attack his rational flock, so that you may preserve unhurt your little flock, which you yourself nourished with holy priests and a Christ-loving people, by means of the living and truthful dogmas of piety, and by the greatness of the miracles [which you] strengthen; do not tire, O God-inspired one; and just as you now approach God more purely, and from there are more dazzled by the radiance of the light-bearing D [Word].... And indeed, do not neglect to confirm and reinforce with arms the man who is your successor in the same conduct; he who is far removed from your times, but near to you in hoariness; strengthen his children, your own grandchildren, and hedge them about with the word of truth; and as regards those who rashly invade the rational flock of him, whom you embrace especially with fatherly affection, with spiritual [weapons...].
A of mystical perceptions, and more clearly and explicitly, [you have acquired] the illumination of that boldness which radiates toward God. I bless you, city of Myra, metropolis of the Lycians, for having obtained such a pastor, a lover of his children, and a protector; how, upon your head, have you received a crown that is venerable and an ornament of your old age? Whom do I mean? Nicholas, who clearly reveals himself in divine delights, and in necessities; the most swift helper of those suffering injustice, the most sacred image of priests, the man great in wonders and terrible in portents; who delivers the innocent from dangers, and in dreams corrects those who wish to commit injury. You are, therefore, blessed among cities, having raised such a guardian and established him in your seats. "In whose light we shall walk, and in whose shade we shall live, finding rest," says the sacred oracle somewhere. You have, along with him, those who became champions of piety—I speak of Crescens, and Dioscorides, and Nicocles; those three who are illuminated by the light of the Trinity and of one mind, whom the same Trinity has honored with prizes worthy of the victory of the Kingdom. Harmoniously, therefore, having joined them, [the Trinity] has worthily crowned the head that is equally glorious; this, on the one hand, because he strove valiantly with a disposition of the will that showed an equal struggle to theirs; and on the other hand, because, as he once wove the martyrs B for God with his own labors, so now, by his zeal toward them, he weaves for himself that crown which becomes them.
Oration XIX
C But come hither, all of you together today, O most sacred and faithful assembly, having arrived at this temple. Let us celebrate a holy and all-festal day, commemorating with praise the most praiseworthy memory of our God-bearing Father. We do this, indeed, far removed from all worldly pomp and assembly and deceptive ornaments; whether those by which the unhappy error of Hellenic ingenuity is depicted, or however those earthly vanities derived from the confusion of carnal men are raised up. For such vanities are indeed worthy of laughter, than which there is nothing more wretched.
A With the calyxes of roses and sweet-smelling ointments, by behaving towards one another in ways that echo these graces, let us crown the holy one with the spiritual flowers of hymns. Our holy father Nicholas loves to be cherished with such ointments. He is more propitiated by such festivals and solemnities than by the pompous processions in which the wretched of the Greeks, being held in honor by the public, take such pride. And may the triple harmony and unanimity of the most noble athletes—with whom you, Nicholas, are gathered in the heavenly courts, with whom you shine, and with whom you lead dances in the Spirit, seeing God as far as is possible, and being seen by Him, shining in the brightness around Him—may their intercessions to God, and your prayers, O Father, which are acceptable to God, deliver us all B from every heretical and demonic assault, and from the scourges of disease, both those common ones that lie before us all, and those by which men are unexpectedly entangled, and from all dangers together; by the grace, mercies, and philanthropy of Him who redeemed us with the precious blood of His life-giving side, and who delivered us from the kingdom of error, Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom is due all honor and glory, power and majesty, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XIX. On the Blessed Patapius, and a Particular Narrative of His Miracles
C How joyful and spiritual I see the gathering, and how strange is the spectacle today! It comes to me with wonder to look upon such brightness, to see how so eagerly and in one accord every rank of worth has gathered together. For the choice members of the clergy, the companies of monks, as many of the women as are dignified and honorable, and the more sober among the common people, having taken this sacred temple, hurry together to celebrate a bright feast. But perhaps some who love the feast might ask: why has this crowd been collected here, and what is the nature of the festival? To them, the discourse shall shortly bring—accompanying their question with a fitting and rival response—the solution, D even now.
VARIOUS READINGS
COMBEFIS' NOTES
(75) The memory of this saint is recorded in the tablets of both Churches on the 8th of December; we gather that he lived about the time of Andrew, or not much later, from the revelation by which he was moved to write his Acts, and the manner in which he describes himself as writing them, as if the memory of the man were still fresh; clearly by the report of those who seemed to have lived with him in Constantinople, where he, having chosen for himself the solitude of the Egyptian desert, had selected a solitude in the middle of the royal city by a singular example. Thus, as God instituted and moved it, he was to yield to Constantinople, the new patron of the hospice by right, both that he might compose such a great city to piety and holy customs not by words, but by an excellent example of life; just as was done later in Rome regarding the Swedes Bridget and Catherine, mother and daughter: so that I might not even mention our Genovefa and others of that kind, whose humble, austere life punishes the arrogance of courtly men and condemns their luxuries; and He himself, the generous Giver, where nature may seem sparing, invites even the priests and clergy themselves to better things by such great brilliance, through a silent and ineffable proclamation.A Saint Patapius is he, whose memory we honor, keeping this festival today. He himself has now summoned everyone here with a certain sublime proclamation; setting himself before us as a sort of sumptuous banquet and heavenly table, and offering his sacred memory in place of food and spiritual seasoning; to which you, beloved, yielding and acting well, have gathered in this place. For according to the voice of the all-wise Paul, commanding: "Obey your leaders and submit to them," and: "Remember your leaders," and all that is enjoined by these words, carrying the memory in your minds and defining the perfect reward of this—the virtue of the obedient—you have come without delay to the one who calls.
B Since these things are so, come, yield to me, and listen to the eulogy of the man, and the narrative revealing the manner of his life and conduct. For me, attempting to weave a crown for that holy man to the best of my ability, to pass over in silence anything at all belonging to his virtue is a task clearly arduous, and all the more so since it is my duty to prepare, for you who are listeners to the mysteries of the feast, a splendidly joyful assembly and to cause great rejoicing as befits the solemn day.
Who then and what is the aforementioned Patapius, to whom we also strive to apply words of praise, and to whom you, in obedience, have come to celebrate here? Truly, he is a citizen of the desert and an inspector of the world, an earthly angel and a heavenly man; he who lived on earth as if in heaven, and mystically traversed heaven as if it were earth in his spirit. He who, while using this world and the familiar custom of men, was yet present in the heavenly choirs. He who was clothed in a mortal body, and confirmed the principles of spiritual things by his deeds. He, the last among monks and the greatest in virtues; unlettered and rude in speech, but most wise in prudence: as one whom Wisdom, the artificer of all, had taught; most wise. Remarkable in chastity, distinguished in sobriety of mind, fervent in faith, formidable in charity: who inhabited the city, yet was never absent from the desert. For he possessed within his soul, most intensely, a burning desire for solitude, by which, as if by fire, his inward parts burned with a ceaseless conflagration; when that valiant man carried out what was appropriate for that life until the end with altogether unwearied constancy.
D But by what manner shall I offer him the crown of praises? And how shall I explain the splendor of his conduct? For I am anxious, beloved, and not least because of the difficulty of the labor. For the wonders performed by him through grace from above are altogether marvelous to speak of, they shake the reason and displace the seat [of the mind], and
A force it beyond its own boundaries. Nevertheless, I will not hesitate to say as much as my understanding can attain. For there is no condemnation in failing to praise him according to his worth, but rather in not speaking according to one's own ability. Wherefore, having a mind composed for such discourse, I shall show my zeal for praising him with all my strength and with a fervent soul, wishing to break this discourse away from the garish ornamentation and verbal allurements of secular orators, and desiring that it show forth the beauty of apostolic—and therefore our own, the faithful’s—nobility, or piety, or truth, or wisdom, or whatever I should call it, and the virtue of the man, entirely apart from such profane things. For he himself also loves this pedestrian sort of speech, and that which is unstudied; because he did not cultivate virtue with words, but perfected its forms in work and action. For this has been his endeavor from his very B tenderest fingernails. Thus, even now, it is not a great praise for him that I have structured it by internal thought rather than by a speech that flows and runs along. And you, my friends and brothers, will surely forgive me—both those among us who have a reputation in rhetoric, and those who profess to be entirely unskilled in these arts—that the form of the praise does not perhaps look to the ordering of speech, but only to the truth, as is possible, proving it both from the things that are manifest and from the things recounted of the man’s achievements, of which one who wishes can see some in miracles and some in narrations.
We, therefore, helped by his prayers, and supported by the Word C who is truly existing in essence and is united in an exalted way—beyond all nature and knowledge—with the Father and the Spirit, in whom all the treasures of wisdom are stored, shall begin the praises, encompassing them in a comprehensive discourse, and including some of the things concerning his bodily exercises and those pertaining to knowledge and contemplation. But you, too, join in the contest with your own prayers, making God propitious to me and asking for the Word "in the opening of my mouth," so that I may not be judged for having touched upon matters beyond my worth, and for bringing nothing profitable to the speech of praise. And this does not rest upon my own weakness, D since no type of excellence has been attached to it according to merit, but rather it rests upon the grace from above, which distributes to each what is fitting—"from whom every good gift and every perfect donation is from above, descending from the Father of lights," in those who are worthy of the Spirit. Setting out, then, as we have said, for this beginning of the praises—having found an excellent and very prompt ally in the help provided by the prayers of both ranks—I shall proceed. But do you, O holy and great assembly, as many of you as have tasted of the philosophy according to Christ, and as many as are eager to become its lovers, warmly open wide the ears of your mind.
For it is of the Spirit, not of the flesh, that the account of nobility or progress must currently be given A. Therefore, the saving Word—the Wisdom and Power of the Spirit, the Cause of all things, the One who guides and directs this entire universe, the matter, deed, and counsel of the common salvation of all—demonstrating to us the one way of virtue, cries out clearly in evangelical voices: "Amen, amen, I say to you, that he who hears my word and does it (77), has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." But what is this word, of which the Word desires us to be not only hearers, but also doers? He explains it again himself in another place, saying: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
And what is the cross by its nature supposed to signify? B The mortification of the flesh; the state of being free from the passions; forgetfulness of the things of the present age; a most rapid ascent to the life above; and, to express it briefly, a restless yearning for the supreme object of desire. For just as one who is about to depart from human affairs casts off every care for earthly things at the very moment of the breaking apart of his limbs, so too it behooves those who strive to carry the cross of Christ to be immune to every affection for earthly things. Indeed, once the mind of the flesh has been mortified and every thought has been taken captive for Christ, one should run spiritually towards Him who calls, so that nothing may hinder those who are making the ascent, but rather that C they may make their journey as if along a direct and well-worn royal road, until they arrive at the remission—to God, I say, who is always the first and only truly good thing. Therefore, as many as are persuaded by the things said before and profess that they will follow Him, having acquired virtue, are surely to be heirs of immortal life. But those who do not obey these things, but rather, by following vice, have walked the opposite path, are deprived of those undefiled goods and remain estranged from the blessedness above. For it is impossible that he who practices virtue should not receive the rewards of his labor, or that he who lives together with vice should lack the fruits which he deserves. Since, therefore, two dispositions are set before us—virtue, I say, and vice—let the better of these be chosen, and the one which grows and becomes radiant in what is better. D There is surely no other, to a sound judgment.
A I think it is to be preferred above all others by those who are wise, as the first, the sole, and the unique one, and the one which in all things and by all means stands above all others, by definition and by the logic of nature and power; for this is what the entire discourse of truth knows to be virtue. By virtue we mean that which surpasses every mind; which is in essence and by logos a reality, and which does not exist merely in imagination; the dispenser of the greatest and most excellent gifts; the citadel of well-wrought morals, manners, and lives; that in which the sum of all praiseworthy things is stored; the incorruptible work, the inviolable possession and reality; the abundant glory, the infinite renown, without which no one at all can see God, and without which no one has been deemed worthy of crowns or glory. This is what gave glory to the powers above, adorned the angels, brightened the archangels, ignited the apostles and prophets as torches for the world, crowned the martyrs, and made all who acquired it worthy of divine gifts, and became the advocate of the kingdom of heaven.
But how long, and for how long, shall we pass over in our description of the lovers of this virtue the wise Patapius, he who was and is its most sincere lover? B To him, while he lived, his whole life was virtue; and to him, now that he is dead, the garlands of virtue are woven. For just as for those who have lived their lives in vice, punishment for their transgressions remains, so too for the lovers of virtue who have departed from this age, the recompense of good things remains; as for some, their memory is held in perpetual honor and veneration among those who are grateful to have them, while others are delivered into the deep abyss of oblivion, and from there are received again into the everlasting punishment of fire.
Therefore, this great Patapius, true servant of God, having acquired virtue as the mother of his life’s conduct—and at the same time his nurse and teacher—attained to the summit of its knowledge. C Or rather, this very thing serves for the beauty and most radiant splendor of his life in Christ, just as colors do for painters, with which they skillfully color the underlying sketch, revealing a stela, as it were, or a column speaking through inscribed letters, D forming a picture, and with the multiform beauty of the colors, varying the shape of the living being, they reveal its clear characters and marks. Beyond this, he preserves for himself the role of a mother, instructing him in maternal laws. For having brought him forth in a spiritual birth, she gave him to drink of milk from a mystical breast as if from a teat; and from thence, as if it were solid food, the knowledge of divine senses.
A which are, as we have said, exercised for the discernment of good and evil, and thus he was instructed to keep watch over divine studies. She herself, illuminating his life, adorned his soul with grace and raised it to the heights. She made him a friend of God and a despiser of worldly things. And, to say it in a few words, she received him when he came into this universe from non-existence; and she received him again, as if in a hostel, when he departed from human life: she who also awaits to be his witness for his excellent deeds when the Judge proclaims the rewards to everyone according to their merits.
But I have inadvertently digressed into these words B and set aside what ought to have been said first, suffering no less in this than those who attempt to construct the roof before the building's foundation. Nevertheless, relying on the indulgence of your prayers, I make little of the ordered and artificial manner of encomia; for neither does such skill belong to us, by which—through certain proemiums, or structural arguments, and conclusions, and bouts, or anything of that sort—we might be able to conclude a discourse. Nevertheless, since our weak faculty of speech possesses it, we have written down without difficulty those things which it is fitting and right to know: that which, I say, concerns his homeland and the things done excellently in his life, and the most accurately chastened philosophy of the man according to Christ, and whatever else of that kind is within our reach. C For others, let the honesty of parents be praised, and the glory of fleeting riches, the strength of power, and the excellence and brightness of lineage: things in which they boast, and for which they alone gape who are eager to be praised by them; from which also comes immense damage, and no profit emerges.
But for this strenuous and noble man, whose homeland is that heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of Peter and Paul, let his life be praised: the contemplation of divine things, the most approved action, and the prizes of his contests which shall not fail. Indeed, let these things even be passed over for the present and honored with silence, reserved for a more opportune time because of their dignity. D Now, however, so that some curious and carnal-minded persons, shamelessly and with unwavering intent, may not contrive for us a man without a country because of our manner of silence,
I shall endeavor also to make mention of his earthly country, in order to destroy their malignant provocations and trifles. But let no one by any means find fault with these things; rather, let any one among you who is a lover of learning consider, and let him apply his mind with full discernment to what is being said. For I shall endeavor, as much as my ability allows, as if contending from the opposite side and by comparing contrasting things, to display to you, who are lovers of beauty, his twofold country; the one whose origin is from the earth and whose dissolution is into the earth; the other from heaven, eternal and having no end. To the latter, we shall attach, by way of superabundance, the victory in the better part over the former. For these are not of the same nature or equal dignity, since they possess neither the same efficacy nor grace. But let us return to the subject at hand. B Therefore, let us acknowledge the saint whom we celebrate, Patapius: Thebes brought him forth as far as the flesh is concerned; but the common mother of us all, the baptismal font, brought him forth for the second time. Egypt boasts of the former, and of having the fruit-nourishing Nile flowing nearby and neighboring, a glory that is earth-bound and lowly; but the kingdom of heaven rejoices in the latter, the merchandise of immortal life, of all riches, and of glory. And this is very rightly so. For the former nurtures and fattens this perishable food; but the latter yields as fruit the everlasting supply of good things. The one promises the glory of dishonor and the fatness of the flesh; the other promises unfailing glory and mystical contemplation. The one provides gold and precious stones; the other secures the good things prepared for those who are worthy of the Spirit. But what need is there to be long-winded? The one is and is called Egypt; the other is and is called the baptismal font. C But she is a generator of darkness and gloom; this one is the midwife of immaterial light. She is the nourisher of transgressions; this one is the bestower of justifications; she is the guide on the path of death; this one is the leader to immortal life. She is the creator of passions; this one is the instructor in dispassion. She is a region of sorrow; this one is a storehouse of joy. She is a dark dwelling-place of vice; this one is a luminous dwelling-place of virtue. From the former, then, as we have said, this blessed man was descended according to the flesh; but from the latter, he was born spiritually according to the spirit.
D Even though these things seem to be well-ordered, I nevertheless see some who, being affected by a desire for the things of the world, do not listen very willingly, because we have said nothing magnificent or clever regarding the country of the blessed man. For those who are more than eager for the comforts of life love for sophistic subtleties and as it were croakings to block up and dull the ears: to whom also the musical [trifles] of the evening revelries, and
the proud performances of the stage, might appear as something of great magnitude and clearly useful: for this reason, having arrived at this point in the discourse, I thought best to discourse briefly for the present on the land of Egypt, being fully persuaded that I have sensible hearers and those who take interest in the finest things, your own charity, so that we may not need to offend the former nor deceive you; since the one is inhuman and the other foolish. For the present assembly and celebration calls everyone together, and hastens to gladden all for the sake of him whom we pursue and celebrate with auspicious omens. Let us therefore speak of the fatherland.
You all know this Egypt, both you who have been there and you who have heard of it by report. What and how great it is! How magnificent also are its Thebes, whose equal we know, [displaying] an identical splendor of pomp. B There the earth is rich, and the fields are thick and fertile. There the cities are crowded, the lands teem with produce. There are herds of horses and pastures for flocks, of goats, of oxen, and droves of swine; and everything that tends toward the food and delicacies and the utility of this wretched life. The river waters, like the sea, encircle the continent and irrigate the whole region. For Geon, that one great river among the four mentioned in the history of the world's creation, emerging from places known to God and flowing down into the great sea, passes through that land. This river, swelling and rising with its annual streams according to rule, dilates in the manner of a sea and fills the land with waters: and that which not long ago was green with abundant crops, it challenges with merchant ships laden with countless wares, and permits the fields, while they are meanwhile suitable, to be worked by the plow; C and it commands the water-dwelling and land-dwelling animals, of which some feed on herbs and others are carnivorous, to flock together as if into one herd. O marvelous thing! Yesterday the earth was deep for the plow; today it is a sea, a deep abyss. Yesterday it was a dwelling for beasts of burden and wild animals; today a lair for fish and swimming monsters. Egypt, indeed, brought forth this young man for us, a man of youthful heart and spirited. Egypt, I say, that lavish provider of earthly pleasures, that worker of splendid garments, that artificer of vices, that handmaid of pleasures, that reconciler of mud and pottery, that provider of meats and cauldrons. This land, therefore, which is called the "caligo" [darkness] in the divine oracles of Scripture, caused the pursuer of darkness to shine forth. D That workshop of idolatry brought us the herald of piety. That dark habitation of demons brought forth the [herald] of the angels.
sowed a companion in the dance, a fact which is indeed worthy of wonder. A For if pious worship is an abomination to every impious person, how did this man, who was himself an abomination, become the father of such a chosen vessel for us? How, being darkness himself, did he raise up a luminary to dispel the gloom? And very justly so: "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." For by the ineffable condescension of the Only-begotten Son of God toward us, and by His unspeakable and transcendent emptying of Himself, when all deceit and error were driven away, and when the altars and profane idols had already been abolished, Egypt was shaken; its man-made objects were tossed about, and all the abominable ritual of the demons was destroyed, and the whole earth was sanctified; and the human race, "which sat in darkness and the shadow of death, saw a great light," B brighter than the sun, which "lighteth every man that cometh into the world," Christ, namely, our God. To Him be glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
THE MIRACLES of our Holy Father Patapios
Having rendered the praise of this Father’s encomium, as far as was possible for us, we thought it right to publish the truest account of his miracles, so that, taking pleasure in this together with those who love God and love the feast, we might say: "God is truly wonderful in his saints." And let no one be faithless, especially when the Lord Himself says: "He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do." C It is not, however, as if he existed as the source of the benefit by his own power, but in my name and by my invocation. For I myself, by the Lord's power, "work all in all." In him, the great Patapios, truly is that man of God, who, having abandoned the darkness of Egypt, approached the light, and having been crucified with Christ, lived a life of incorporeal virtues in a mortal body: he, I say, was precious and honorable in both soul and body; he who loved a life of poverty, and became rich in God, and was deemed worthy of the magnificent grace; this man, D having "received from God the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy," and "to heal every disease and every infirmity," proved to us in himself the marvelous works of God who performs wonders: the abundant grace, the flowing fountain, the honey-sweet streams.
Concerning the healing of the blind man.
For when at one time a certain blind man, like him who was blind from birth, had approached this blessed one, crying out and saying: "Servant of the most high God, Patapios, heal my eyes; open my blindness, and enlighten me who am in darkness: if by any means through you, I might behold those—
[objects] that are subject to my eyes," in admiring the most harmonious composition and the excellent appearance of things, he offered praise from the creatures to the Creator and Author. The blessed man, having looked upon him, who was grievously darkened by the gloom into blindness, but who possessed faith that can move mountains, answered him: "Why do you come to me, young man, and seek to have what exceeds my power? What good have you seen in me, O man, that you ask to receive from me that healing which only God, the Creator of all things, bestows upon whom, where, and how He wills? Why have you not run to Him? Why, having omitted the Creator, have you come to the creature? Why, having left the Master, have you fled to the servant? Do you not know that we B all generally stand in need of His aid? Do you not know that I myself am a man even as you are? Why then do you seek what it is not permitted for me to provide? Why do you desire me to be the physician for such a great ailment, when the power to heal it can be granted only by Him who once by divine authority healed the blind man?"
Although the holy man was gently moving the young man away with such words, and, as it were, expelling him with good discourse, he insisted again, and, imitating that ancient blind man [×], cried out with a loud, suppliant voice, saying: "Have mercy on me, true servant of God, Patapios. For He has granted that grace to you, and through your ministry He gives me that true light, the splendor of my eyes. Indeed, do not, blessed man, dull my confidence by hesitation, nor delay the gift, nor shroud the sun with a cloud; but seeing my affliction, provide the healing. Measuring my faith, grant the grace. Weighing my desire on the scales, C cure my infirmity." What then does the blessed man do? "Do you have faith?" he says. "Do you believe in God who has the power? Do you believe in Him who heals every disease and every infirmity?" To this the other again says: "I believe, Lord, and believing I approach." Then Patapios [said]: "In the name of Jesus Christ, who healed the blind man, in whom you have come here believing, you shall be one who sees the sun, with nothing hindering you anywhere."
Immediately, therefore, his eyes were opened, and the young man became whole, as if he had never had injured pupils nor suffered from such a disease. Finally, by this miraculous healing performed upon him, those who saw were filled with wonder and praised God; but he who had been restored to health went away rejoicing and exulting, praising and magnifying God, who grants such graces D to His saints against diseases. This was the first miracle performed by the holy man. These are the first-fruits of his labors, of which, having worthily celebrated the author, Christ, and the holy man with hymns, let us pass on hence to another miracle.
Of the man restored to health from dropsy.
Let there proceed, therefore, and come forward to the discourse after that noble man, that person who obtained health from dropsy. He was an inhabitant of the imperial city. However, when by chance he had fallen into that disease, and was miserably [distressed] by the affliction...
A tormented; and since he had spent all his substance on physicians, he finally gained no benefit at all. Then he hastened to the ineffable and bounty-giving philanthropy of Christ, having indeed believed beforehand, and confirmed his faith by his works. And so he comes to the blessed Patapius, and reveals to him the onset of his affliction, and declares the severity of his pains. When the blessed one saw him, B pressed hard by the disease, and that the swelling had run through his whole body, he did not use any poultices or medicines, such as Asclepiades, Hippocrates, and Galen use, and their followers too, providing cold comforts to the sick; but using prayer as a medicine, and the cross as an instrument, he signed the dropsical belly of the sick man, and mixing tears with oil in place of a plaster, he laid it upon him, saying thus: "In the name of Jesus Christ, who healed the dropsical man, be thou whole from thy scourge." And as he said this, immediately the bonds of the humors obstructing the belly were loosened, and the channels of the natural evacuations were opened. All the overflow of the intervening water flowed out, and the fetid fluids collected over time in the inward parts were exhausted; and the man recovered, and the disease vanished through the laying on of the holy man's hands. He departed, praising and blessing God and the Lord and Savior of all, Christ, who always bestows upon his saints the power of healings, and through them heals the diseases of the sick. Let us likewise praise God with him, and pass on to the third prodigy of the holy man:
Concerning the healing of a demoniac.
C A certain youth, driven by a savage demon, and possessed by him for no small time, was found sometimes naked and covered in rags; at other times, he was carried, wearing only a single tunic, over precipices and into pits; sometimes, driven into mountains and deserts and chasms, he was miserably beaten; and at other times, being dragged through waters and seas, he risked a most pitiful death, had not the great Patapius intervened and provided healing to the sufferer by the grace of the Spirit. For what happened? When this man, who possessed the spirit of the demon, unexpectedly encountered the righteous man, he immediately began to leap, and to disturb him with nimble jumps, and to foam at the mouth, D and to roll his eyes, and to terrify the holy man. But as he gradually drew near, he attacked him fiercely, so that the spirit even cried out through the man and said to the holy man: "O just Patapius! Why, having left Thebes, have you now arrived here? Why, having bid farewell to Egypt, have you come to the imperial city? Why, having abandoned the desert, have you leapt into the world? Or [index: entries preserved]
drive me away from the place whence you have chased me, or let me dwell here. Woe to me from you, O Nazarene! How long will you not cease from persecuting us? How long will you not stop attacking us? Let me dwell in my tabernacle; if not, I shall go away to the mountain; for I no longer endure you as my pursuer; for wherever I go, I find you there before me. I cannot bear your power, O Christ; I am not able to resist your servants; for they pierce me with a single dart, and like a cloud they drive me away by the invocation of your name. I no longer endure the vexation; I have been vanquished; I have been overcome; henceforth I withdraw, and I shall go into the deserts. I have grown weary seeking a dwelling, and once I have found one, I am driven out like a tenant. Woe, woe, O Nazarene! Great is your virtue and unutterable your power. Do what you will. For it is not permitted for me to stay in this place. A
These and more things the evil spirit said to the blessed man, showing the man leaping with most violent tremors. But the servant of God, Patapius, tracing the figure of the cross in the air with his finger, said to him in a milder voice: "O wicked and unclean spirit, go out from him who was created in the image of the Creator. Depart and flee where Christ has decreed that you be banished along with your accomplices. This Nazarene, whom you confessed as Christ against your will, he himself, I say, who struck you with the cross through me, has ordered you to be an exile. He himself pursues you, O thoroughly wretched one, and drives you out against your will." When the just man had said these things, the wicked spirit tore the young man limb from limb, and cast him down, and went out from his mouth like smoke, and as if a fury, it fled away into the air rising in vortices; and it began to cast words of such kind with a shout upon the saint: "You have not at all escaped my notice, Patapius. For it is not you who are pursuing me, but Christ, who is served by you. He, having become humble, exposed me; and fearing him, I withdraw." But the young man, as if returning to himself, rose up immediately, and fell before the feet of the holy man; and weeping, he gave thanks, and said: "I give thanks to you, O servant of God Most High, Patapius, that Christ, that physician of the infirm, has healed me through you." Therefore, when the blessed man had signed his forehead with his finger, he sent him away to his own place, rejoicing and praising God, and glorifying him who distributes abundantly to all his saints the means by which they may heal diseases. B C
Concerning the healed woman who suffered in her breast.
Let there come forward into our midst, therefore, the woman who was long afflicted in her breast; who, having encountered doctors everywhere in the world for the sake of recovering her health, and having surrendered herself for a cure, and having expended her own means, had obtained nothing from there for the relief of her disease. Cancer having grown on her breast near the nipple, and having already almost entirely eaten away the member, she was involved in most bitter pains. Therefore, with the disease greatly excruciating her and cruelly consuming her, nothing occurred to her that might bring solace. Finally, D
A when the fame of the blessed man had reached her, she came to him in haste. Inclining her head to his feet, she laid hold of his knees, and lamentably imploring him, she began to moan in this manner and to say: "Servant of the God of all things, Patapius, heal me, the wretched one, who is destitute of all help. Grant a remedy as a gift. For nothing remains for me; I have spent everything on physicians, having gathered pain rather than a remedy into my bosom." Being mindful, therefore, of the Lord who says: "Freely you have received, freely give," she said, "Heal me, who am subject to a double sore: sickness, I say, and poverty. Wherefore I ask for a double recompense, namely, a remedy to drive away the disease, and a gift free of charge. For so he commands you to give the gift, and so he urges me to receive it."
The blessed man, then, moved by mercy, B answered: "If you believe in him who has the power, you will attain the end you desire. If you have sincere faith and disposition, you shall be whole and free from pain." But she, crying out aloud like a bellowing bull, said: "I approach with faith, master; by faith I will carry away health. Do not, therefore, let me, the wretched one, depart without having received the healing of the sore. Do not let me go back home still possessing the cancer; for I cannot endure the torments. I cannot bear the pain; it tears me even to the depth of my heart; the disease is consuming my very soul. But I beseech you, have mercy on me, the miserable one."
Seeing her violently pained by the disease, he allowed her to show the place of the suffering. And indeed, having placed his holy hand upon her breast C and having made the sign of the cross where the affliction of the cancer happened to be, he said to her: "O woman, the God in whom you have believed and have come to us, he himself, having accepted and tested your faith, shall make you sound and safe from the disease. For indeed, your faith is bold and burning, but the disease is grievous and difficult to cure; nevertheless, 'your faith has saved you; go in peace.'" And the woman departed, having received her breast healed and free from pain, glorifying God, who always provides for his saints the power of healings.
These are the miracles of the holy Patapius. These are the rewards of his labors; this is a partial account of the wonders wrought by him. With such rewards does the Master D delight his own servants. "For if," he says, "you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." And those gifts granted by God to the righteous man during this present life are such as these; but as for those after his departure from here—what they are and how great they are, and which are even now sung and celebrated—I have decided not to mention them just now, on account of the length of the discourse, lest by the multitude of the miracles some might fall into unbelief, which is not at all expedient. Leaving, therefore, those things to be celebrated by the mouths of men, and known to God alone, by whose power they were wrought, let us here bring the discourse to a close, having first discussed a few things concerning his departure to God.
On the migration of the righteous man from things below to God.
A This blessed man, therefore, having performed all things wisely and in a manner pleasing to God throughout his own life, and having shown himself a prudent father of a family, made himself a complete vessel of God, and made ready for the transition from here to there. Hence, having received from God an unfading crown, he is domiciled in the eternal tabernacles, and becomes a companion of the angels, a fellow-dancer and fellow-seated with the apostles, and a fellow-traveler of the saints. B Yet these things did not come to pass before the wonderful man had explained to the fathers who dwelt in that monastery, as well as the brethren and the elders, the "better things that belong to salvation." For all were at that time gloomy, downcast, sad, and bowed down, and weary of life. For what and how great were the things tearfully chanted by them? "Why, Father," they said, "having abandoned everyone, do you depart to a foreign and strange land? Or why did not we migrate first, and you after us, lover of children? Indeed, you have been stolen from us in a way we do not know. By this plundering we have lost a precious treasure. Who from now on will enrich us, or heal our diseases?" These things some cried out, while others lamented while tearing at themselves, and others bewailed the calamity in various other tragic ways and cried aloud, and every place was cut off from consolation.
C But what of that truly blessed man? When he had seen that he himself was failing, and was near to departing to God, looking gently here and there, he said: "My sweetest children, do not weep over me, nor send your father away with laments. Rather, with prayers poured forth from the depth of your heart, that I might find release from the sins committed by me, and confidence before that immense light of inaccessible beauty, when I must stand before His fearful tribunal. Do not therefore weep, children; for I am surely departing to Him who calls me. But you, brothers and fathers, D 'take heed to yourselves, and to all your flock.' You have learned my manner of life with you; and how I have lived with you and ministered. I have loved all as myself; I have cherished all; I have enslaved myself to everyone, because He who so commanded it. When the blessed man had discussed these things and similar matters, and at the same time had exhorted each according to the measure of his age and dignity—the old men as fathers, the youths likewise as was beneficial to them—and had prescribed what was fitting for each one, and had finished the prayer to God, he fell asleep in peace, delivering his soul into the hands of the angels, to the glory and praise of the
A Lord and the one who has authority over life and death.
As for his precious and most holy relics, the men of the holy monastery who had gathered in the same place honored him with a glorious funeral, and laid him in the holy temple of the holy prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John; that is to say, within that same most holy monastery of the Egyptians, escorting him with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and sending up glory and praise to the One who has the authority over life and death.
We therefore, beloved, having praised God for all that has been said, and believing that this holy man dwells in the upper mansions of the righteous, having ourselves erected a trophy against the passions, let us arrive at the harbor of dispassion; bearing with us those things in which God is wont to delight. May we also, having arrived there, attain to the perfect rest with those who are worthy, and to the promised blessings, through the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be all glory, honor, power, greatness, and majesty, together with the holy and life-giving Spirit, B now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ENCOMIUM DECLARING THE PERFECT LIFE OF THE BLESSED PATAPIUS, FROM THE VOICE OF ANDREW, ARCHBISHOP OF CRETE
All things that are truly divine and beneficial to men are worthy of belief. Such things are believed through hearing, as the divine oracle has it; for hearing comes through the word, and the word, to speak entirely, proceeds from a good disposition, through which the reward is stored up in heaven for those who are not found sluggish. Therefore, since the word also urges us toward the ageless land, for the enjoyment of good things and glory in God, let us move our lips with great accuracy and add this as a debt; so that not only may we obtain a reward for the same, but that many more may obtain some relief from this. For it is for this reason that all things are written down, so that through such a hearing, many often [may imitate] the same life.
A For just as our life is shown to be a path, and a guide is sought for both to lead us along it—just as in one’s own lands, where one is inexperienced in the ways to travel, one seeks an expert for guidance—so too was the written spiritual contemplation shown to be intended for the making of the journey; so walk well. Since, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ alone is the way, as we have been taught by Him; and since such a thing is the truth, inasmuch as we possess life from Him, I shall not be reluctant, with Him providing the discourse for me, to show the way of life in truth. B For it is worthwhile for me to confess from now on the "sin" that was committed by me through disobedience—or rather, to state what has occurred as a wondrous oracle—since I had harbored sloth as an alumna of the mind, I was openly rebuked, as it were, so that I heard the reproof of the wicked servant d, who had badly hidden the talent. And I do not say this as if I were not what I am, nor am I boasting of a lack of education in speech; but I maintain that, however much someone may be involved in good works—that is, whether one sees in them and is himself discerning, or hears and understands through teaching—if he remains silent, he is punished as one who has hidden the talent. And again, whoever manifests the work through the prompting of speech is to be justified, freed from condemnation, in that he did not wish, like the envious servant, to hide the justifications of God. Thus it seems to me to be a sin, indeed, especially for one who has attained a virtuous life, to wish to withhold the desire to proclaim it. C "Who shall speak of the mighty acts of the Lord," he says, "and make all His praises heard?" Do you see how His praise is seen through narration? "Hear these things, all ye nations." To what end? "Because the Lord has reigned, and clothed Himself with majesty." That is: He has set us perfectly in Himself, and has worn us like a necessary adornment. Therefore, He says again in another prophet: "Exalt your voice in strength." He commands that the voice be exalted, as if there were no voice more sublime than that which recounts the works of the divine art; of this matter the prophet in the psalms is a witness. For although the dreadful mystery of His incarnation holds a singular admiration, yet this great mercy was exhibited so that we might all be made worthy D of it. For indeed, the work of the divinity was shared; and in such a way that the same thing happens in a certain manner in us as it did in Christ, although only by analogy, as Andreas himself learnedly expounded in the Oration on the Transfiguration. For the entire human nature is shown to be high and low, through which all things have been made. Second, indeed, from heaven; and again, first as from the
A lower parts; since no other is shown for His glory. What is the cause of the introduction, let us clarify briefly, so that we may not render our discourse as nothing, through the remaining defense here. God glorifies those who glorify Him in truth, and in this He altogether took pleasure, through whom the worship is perfected, as the experience of things has demonstrated.
A written memorial was thus about to appear of the holy man, by His favorable will. For my humility having arrived once where his precious body lies—as they say, he being from Egypt, I mean the place, having left this, the name until now being called in this monastery, of him who truly believed all things that are of God. And his memory being celebrated by the most pious women living there, I began as if to account the name of the saint as nothing; for, who is this man who has appeared to us from Egypt, Patapius by name? But while they were offering me some encomia, composing the discourse of that man, they were entreating me to make his memory more illustrious by writing down his life, and to rejoice together; and after the synaxis, saying, "He is worthy to whom you will grant this." For a proof of divine miracles had been in him, and he was shown to us as a light to those desiring the memories of the saints.
But I, having accounted such words of theirs as nothing, B and continuing to say that these words were nonsense, and again saying, "Who is this Patapius, some Egyptian, who is admired among you?" that night, having fallen as if into an ecstasy, I see a certain man, beautiful in appearance, clothed in a dignity befitting God, and an angel shining forth in the manner of monastic contemplation, with a multitude of men in white garments, turning their faces toward him with gladness; and as each one desiring to draw near to him, they were appearing to my eyes, so that the intention to move was in me with them. And again, he says, because I was not known to him, as if held by some reverence, I remained motionless in that place. Then, he says, when I had become in their midst, I do not know how, he pointed at me with his finger, showing me to all, as if someone powerful, as if condemning an enemy of his by a just reason, producing in the middle C D
the reasonable justification for this condemnation. "Behold," he says, "my brothers, I have been shown to be a friend to you all, as God has surely willed; but to this man, I was found to be like an abortion, reviled by him. Whether, therefore, this signifies that he himself—as one surely superior to you—is posing as a new Pharisee, or whether, if he is not, he is producing this against himself out of envy, not reverencing the petitions brought to him on my behalf by those who desire me, in order to testify to me in writing and offer it to God, according to the man’s own great wisdom and the designation of his name—I mean, a mind B prepared within him for blameless praise—and that he became worthy, as bishop of Crete, to be fitted by God with the pastoral staff for the rational sheep. He will attempt to do this by the power of the most holy Spirit." But I, O men, hearing these things with a sound mind, was awakened from sleep with much trembling and fear; and returning to myself, having shaken off the sleep, I offered praise to God. I was thinking within myself what this vision might be; for the vision was indeed accompanied by fear. And what, truly, did the man’s hostile word toward me mean, if not entirely that I had held the manner of his life as nothing? Indeed, my ears were full of incredulity, thinking that these were delirious tales that should be told by women. Thinking, therefore, that this spiritual vision was entirely from God, and that it was a heavenly gift, I spurred myself on with desire, and girded myself for the task of committing the deeds of the old man to written records for the faithful; C determining with myself to speak first of my own incredulity, and afterwards of what great things had been made known to me by God.
And so, having summoned the abbess of the monastery, and all those who likewise serve under regular and monastic observance, I inquired of them diligently concerning the manner of life which the holy man had maintained, so that I might subsequently begin to narrate, as much as I was able to attain, reckoning that God, the God of all who dwells in heaven, will not deny good things to those who perform what is good. But, leaving aside and passing over, for the time being, the consideration of his monastic exercise, we shall proceed eagerly to those things by which he became more conspicuous, narrating the earliest things from the latest. For "the end of an oration is better than its beginning" D. And we know this indeed: that those who live their lives according to the principle of piety illuminate the mind of those of us living in the world more than those who describe it in writing. And this has truly given us courage and strength to speak, although perhaps we are not sufficient to narrate most of the righteous man's deeds. But whenever discourse goes before his good labors, just as the Lord’s voice says, it cannot be, nor is it right, that a burning lamp should be placed under a bed, but rather [that it should be placed] upon its very base, Christ, so that everyone who believes in Him may see the light; just so, those things of his life are, first of all,
A to be passed over by the life accomplished by him, and then we shall have proceeded, joyful, to those things which illustrate life with such testimony. For truthfully it will come to pass that those things also shall be made known from this, and shall occur as if before our very eyes. For there is no one who does not immediately understand from what is heard, what such things are, and from whence and by what reason they proceed to be brought to light. For light cannot have communion with darkness, nor again any part for a believer with an unbeliever, nor agreement of the temple of God with idols, nor, in a word, any concord of God with Belial. For that which is weak and worn away is crushed, as it is written, by the strong, and its end is shown to be destruction. For indeed, the things of virtue are firm, solid, and established, remaining forever, as the divine word demonstrates, and not being crushed by these things, they are revealed as being guarded by the Word. But the things proper to wickedness B vanish like smoke, according to what is written, and they appear as if they were of the same substance as the unquenchable fire. C For "Walk," it says, to those who do such things, "in the light of your fire and in the flame which you have kindled." Henceforth, therefore, brethren, as those wishing to be ransomed from fire through hearing, by stretching the ears of our mind toward the most brilliant works of the man, and by arriving at the light of knowledge, just as Christ also teaches, let us hear what the Holy Spirit shall speak in us. For they are His, and are spoken by Him, and appear meant for speaking, as the apostolic writing teaches, so that we may glorify fervently Him who gives and always is giving such authority, and we, too, may speak in harmony with the Gospel along with God to men.
These syllables of eulogy, then, the aforementioned most holy bishop set down as words of propriety, having a fearful order for the correction of those desiring to emulate the angelic life of our holy Father Patapius. But D that he who alone teaches knowledge to those who attend upon wisdom wished to clothe him with glory and honor: "For who shall recount the power of His greatness?" May He Himself, who lives unto the ages, grant to us also speech in the opening of the mouth, so that we too with longing may deliver to the faithful the gifts that occurred after his death. The Preacher Solomon says, therefore: "A righteous man, if he be overtaken by death, shall be in rest." And again he says: "The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God." And after a few words: "Their hope is full of immortality." Therefore I say, beloved, that the migration from things here to things there is found to be wealth and glory for the saints. For even if the earthen tent, from which earth it was fashioned, is put away, it nonetheless does not have its kin conceptually severed. For may that which is according to the image be saved and
its kinship with spiritual virtues remain, by reason of the virtue and the like things by which life was once rightly composed. And the body of Elisha A shall be a witness to this; for who could possess vital operations if it had been fashioned by the power of the Creator from clay? But what need is there for me to speak of more such operations, which are wrought by God in the saints, fittingly and inseparably, for the healing of men? Therefore, O Word of the Father, who healest all, do not despise the wisdom of a poor man; but grant me grace, “for I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid”; B grant, I say, the grace to recount the magnalia of thy gifts: for demons must be terrified when they hear thy voice, and, being driven by them, they shall betake themselves into the chaos of the abyss.
This praiseworthy man among the holy, Patapius, having shone for a long time by virtue and labor in the monastery of the Egyptians, at length attained the kingdom of heaven, and, having performed such graces of miracles, he was laid in the tabernacles of the saints. Furthermore, in those times, when a certain maiden, renouncing the tumults of the world, had entered a monastery, and had spent a small amount of time therein—though she had not yet been deemed worthy C to be enrolled with the other women of the monastic institute by a perfect and religious profession—she, being overcome by the evil suggestions of the adversary which infested her, left the monastery by stealth and attached herself to harlots, and joined herself to the enemy of God, performing lewdly the unchastity of her own body, all her soul's contention turned toward an unclean and impotent pleasure. Nevertheless, after a long time, Christ Jesus, who nourishes every spirit and “willeth all men to be saved,” D raises up certain religious men and women, who might warn her to depart from that stench and turpitude. And to speak in few words, they brought her by exhortations and commended her as a deposit to the venerable temple of the undefiled Virgin and Mother of God at Petra. And Dometius, the first among the presbyters acting there, a man godly and honorable, and all who led her according to God, began to guide her.
These things, therefore, thus being done, God converts the mind of the maiden toward a better fruit, and causes her to cast the things of the adversary back into his face. When, therefore, she had come to herself, stripped of the splendor of virtues and having squandered all good things in a luxurious life, she returns to the Father of mercies. But they strongly urge, that in them might be fulfilled what is written:
A "My brothers," he says, "if any one among you wanders from the way of truth, and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins" (Jac. v, 19, 20). Wishing therefore to deserve that reward laid up in heaven, the aforementioned religious men gradually drew her to the monastery, acting in such a way that, as was proper, they might lead her in by persuasions and confine her in a cell that was there; for the place was the site of an ancient recluse’s cell where one nun lived a quiet life, intended, of course, so that she might not be able to escape again. Coming to her, therefore, through divine visitation, they did not cease to admonish her. And it happened that not long after she fell into a sickness. And while she was still being heavily burdened by the disease B and saw herself in despair, she began to beg the sisters that, before she gave up her spirit, they would cast her into such an enclosure, and that she might be deemed worthy to end her life there. As she kept beseeching them for a long time, so that by this means the flame of the adversary kindled within her might be extinguished, the leader of the apostate powers sent forth his turbulent and dark angels to her, who, visible to her eyes, shouted: "What is this that you wish to do, you who are ours? Return to us; you gain nothing." And this happened for a long time, so that the woman lay speechless. When, therefore, the devout women in the monastery saw these things, and became troubled, seeing the terrible plight, they said among themselves: "Clearly, she will soon give up her spirit." But God’s enemy, desiring greatly to ensnare her, since he had bound her tongue so that she might not pay due praise to God, the nuns said: "Come, let us weep to Him who has the power (for there is one death for all of us) (Eccl. iii, 19), that He may take charge of her soul." We, moreover, shall perform her request; and they brought her into the enclosure. C When night had come, from evening until morning, the prayer of this elder cut away the roots of the adversary and caused all his machinations to be warded off from her; and in appearing to her, he instructed her, saying: "The Physician of the diseases of the soul, granting forgetfulness of all the things that have happened to you, will miraculously deliver you from evil illusions. Therefore turn to Christ, the only refuge of those who have wandered; and becoming sober and having received strength, send to the monastery of the Egyptians. For I am the servant of God, Patapius, whom you now see talking to you, and seek from the sanctification there offered to the sick D
so that you too may partake of the gifts of God. A And fears shall no longer beset you; for those aerial demons who harass you shall be proved worthless. And the holy Patapius departed from her. And indeed, as this sacred night-long vigil was taking place, at the hour of the evangelical words of our Lord Jesus Christ, she who was held fast in her natural members and possessed a tongue that was restrained, by the power of the divine arm and the prayer of the elder lashing them, the demons were driven away; she shouted out with her voice, "God of the holy Patapius, help me!" and at the same hour she recounted to everyone the vision of this compassionate Father. Hearing these things, they glorified God in fear, "who desires all men to be saved," and not to go astray concerning the knowledge of Him that leads to compunction. B They departed, therefore, on the morrow, and received in faith of the sanctification. And having communicated, she was immediately made whole; and the tumult of the demons was driven away from her. This, therefore, is the prayer of the elder, which, reaching the royal throne of God, did not desist until it had snatched her like a captive from the envious one. This is the prayer that did not give up even after death, until it had liberated us from the one who did us injustice. This is the prayer that did not cease until it had brought her for a second time to Christ the bridegroom. For the beginning of things that are truly evil, and of fornication away from God, is to be enslaved in sickness to the loathsome demons; because man was born in the creation of God, not having the image defaced. For this reason, then, I who am small in understanding prayed concerning this, and established this as a firm and C unfailing treasure, considering the tomb of the holy Patapius, from which until now streams flow, and whence we obtain healing from God, when hidden and manifest passions are wiped away. D
A And the aforementioned girl, having obtained help, in the silence of one night, saw a prepared table set opposite her; and one of those reclining said to her: She is not worthy to taste of it. But the voice which she heard was familiar to her, as if the holy Patapius had previously spoken to her. This voice therefore having occurred, a voice arose a second time from one of the women eating: Yes, she shall be made worthy to taste from this table; and she heard her say this. Having awakened from sleep, she understood the voice to be that of the good teacher, which she had heard first. She asked again to be enclosed further inward and in the lowest place, so that she would have no liberty to receive what was needed for her use from elsewhere, or to show herself to anyone, except only to the recluse living there with her—rightly condemning herself for this by her own word.
Therefore, beloved, those who fear God shall find grace, and their lot shall be in the saints, and their reward in the Lord, in whose eyes those who share in their memorials shall be found. For of the memory of the holy man now being celebrated by those who have received it in faith, and who await the fear of the divine liturgy with a pure heart, after the all-night vigil on that night, they themselves saw the great things of the glory of the Lord. B For as they had given themselves over to sleep—as if taking a first and divine gift—there appeared in a vision to the woman bearing the name Stoechia, and speaking to this venerable girl with a smiling face, he asked: Where is your portion today with us in the sight of the Lord? She, paying attention, saw also another person with him, and both were adorned in monastic habit; the one walking in front held a lamp of light for the service of the second. As he questioned the aforementioned venerable and graceful girl, who reverenced the man with great intelligence, she was awakened from sleep; and straightway rising from her bed, she recounted everything she had seen to the God-minded woman sought out by the holy Father. C Upon learning this, she glorified God, and was further increased in faith. What, then, kind hearers, does this mean, that the saints come in light? "Because," he says, "light is perpetual for the just" (Prov. xii, 9). Therefore, the abundance and generosity of the divine gift is to be esteemed, beloved, so that the holy men may appear as leaders, so that near them, as I indeed believe, they may store up and garner good things in the house like water in abundance for the enjoyment of eternal good things. D
A And we indeed, O studious ones, were gladdened by all that was written by the aforementioned most holy bishop, even though he was unwilling. For the man was joined with the knowledge of the treasures laid up in the Scriptures, most fully instructed in the ease and beauty of the Attic tongue and in every exercise. For this reason, those things we wrote in the introduction were to him a kind of boast, just as the great Father Patapius appeared to him in a vision. Thinking it a matter of modesty, however, B that these things should be kept silent, he therefore passed them over—not because he remembered them less, but as one who knew and willed it. But I, striving toward the riches of divine wisdom, have added this. For I turned my mind toward Him who guides all things, having as it were darted forth prayers, that it might be granted to me to speak worthily that which is appropriate. For I did not approach Plato, or Pythagoras, or Homer for the sake of a more polished style, but rather the Leader of wisdom and the Moderator of the wise, because we ourselves and our words are in His hands. Nor can His philanthropy, and His tendency toward the study of benevolence toward the human race, be restrained; but to those who approach with a pure heart, He puts on the breastplate of the thoughts of Scripture. Wherefore the Lord of all so decreed—as if He Himself had made the small and the great, and has an equal care for all—that through my ministry He might make it heard to future generations, so that He might be terrible in the counsels of the saints. C "Generation and generation shall praise Thy works, and shall declare Thy power," and those who obey Thy precepts shall glorify Thy helping hand. Wherefore, Thou omnipotent Word of the Father, teach us what is acceptable in Thy sight, and what is right in Thy commandments. For Thou shalt be our guide, and Thou shalt make known to us those things which Thou hast prepared from the beginning for our salvation. For who has known Thy counsel, unless Thou hast given wisdom? "For the thoughts of mortals are timid, and our providence is uncertain," as the Lover of wisdom taught. Therefore, Thou alone, descending from heaven, didst show favor to us, and didst assume our infirmities and carry our sicknesses, and didst command that we not break one of Thy commandments, and teach us not to faint in spirit. For who shall say what Thou hast done, who camest into the world and didst bring salvation to the world? Or who shall resist that decree of Thine by which Thou hast D done great and inscrutable things? From these dogmas, therefore, beloved, of our Savior Christ, the true God, let us open our mouths to the divine Word, and let us not, through vainglory, hide the glory of His magnificence. Rather, if anyone has the word of God, let him offer from the good treasure of his heart, by which he may turn his neighbor away from an evil thought; and in that way, he who has announced and commanded it…
[GREEK COLUMN] ἔχθας τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ἐτέλεσεν· ὃς καὶ παραγενόμε- A νος, καινὴν ἐντολὴν προκαταγγέλλων, τὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης Ηλιον, τοῖς τῶν ἐχιδνῶν ἐγγόνοις ὑπεδείκνυε. Διὸ καὶ ἔλεγον, οἱ μὲν τῷ βαπτίσματι τούτῳ προσερχόμενοι τοῖς ὁμόροις· Δεῦτε, ἴδετε διδασκαλίαν, οἵαν οὐδεὶς τῶν προφητῶν ἐπηγγείλατο, οὐδὲ νομικὴ ἐντολὴ διετείλατο. Εἶδες καὶ τοῦτον, ἀγαπητέ, οἷα βαπαίζων παρακαλῶν διελέγετο; Εἶδες Πέτρον σταυρῷ προσηλούμενον, οἷα τερπνὰ προσεφθέγγετο; Εἶδες τὸν Παῦλον, πῶς Τιμοθέῳ καὶ πάσαις ταῖς φυλαῖς πολιτεύεσθαι παραινεῖς; Ὁμοίως καὶ Στέφανος, ὁ τοῦ Σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ μιμητής, διωκόμενος ἔλεγεν. Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ Παύλου διδαχὴν πάλιν ἡμῖν γενέσθω τὸ φρόνημα, πρὸς πλήρωμα τῶν ζητουμένων καλῶς καταντήσασιν. Αὐτὸς γὰρ νουθετεῖν τοὺς ἀτάκτους οὐκ ἐσιώπησε· παραμυθεῖσθαι δὲ τοὺς ὀλι- B γοψύχους οὐκ ὤκνησε, καὶ ἀντέχεσθαι τούτων ὡς ἀσθενούντων, τοὺς αὑτοῦ μιμητὰς ὡς συμμετόχους τῆς διδασκαλίας ὑπέδειξε, μακροθυμεῖν ὁμοῦ καὶ μὴ ἐκκακεῖν τῇ ὑγιαινούσῃ πίστει. Αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ζωὴ ἡ αἰώνιος, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, σὺν τῷ παναγίῳ Πατρί, καὶ τῷ ζωοποιῷ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
ON ST. PATAPIUS
...the borders of the Jordan he completed; who also, having arrived and proclaiming a new commandment, pointed out the Sun of justice to the offspring of vipers. Wherefore those who approached this baptism said to their neighbors: "Come, see a teaching such as no prophet has promised, nor has any legal commandment prescribed." Did you see him also, beloved, how he spoke while exhorting? Did you see Peter, nailed to the cross, what pleasant things he said? Did you see Paul, how he exhorts Timothy and all the tribes to live? Similarly, Stephen, the imitator of the Savior Christ, said while he was being persecuted. But let our mind again be directed to the teaching of Paul, so that we may well reach the fulfillment of what is sought. For he did not keep silent in admonishing the unruly; nor did he hesitate to comfort the faint-hearted, and to hold fast to these as if they were weak, showing his own imitators to be participants in the teaching, to be patient together and not to grow weary in the sound faith. For this is the eternal life, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power, with the all-holy Father, and his life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.COMBEFIS' NOTES
Regarding the phrase, "what pleasant things he said." An innumerable multitude gathered, reproaching Caesar, and filled with anger, so that they wanted to burn him. But Peter exhorted them, saying: "A few days ago, having been encouraged by the brethren, I departed; and I saw; and behold, I was beholding my Lord Jesus Christ. And I worshipped him; and I said: 'Lord, where are you going?' And he said to me that 'I am going to Rome to be crucified again.' And as I followed him, I returned again to Rome, and he said to me: 'Do not fear, for I am with you, until I bring you into the house of my Father.' Therefore, my children, do not hinder my path; for already my feet are treading the heavenly path. Do not be grieved, therefore, but rather rejoice with me, because today I am obtaining the fruit of my labors." And having said this, he prayed thus: "I give thee thanks, O good Shepherd, because thou hast deemed me worthy of this hour. But I beseech thee, let not the sheep which thou hast entrusted to me feel my departure, having thee as a shepherd through whom I was able to shepherd this flock." And having said this, he gave up his spirit. C These things are indeed worthy of the apostle, and most accurate for that hour, in which he was already about to depart for his crown. We render it thus. An innumerable multitude gathered, reproaching Caesar, and full of anger, wanting to burn him himself. But Peter admonished them, saying: "Not many days ago, at the request of the brethren, I departed; and I saw, and behold, I was looking upon my Lord Jesus Christ, whom I also adored; and I said: Lord, whither goest thou? And he: I am coming to Rome to be crucified again. And having followed him, I returned again to Rome; and he said to me: Fear not; for I am with thee, until I lead thee into the house of my Father; wherefore, my little children, will you impede my journey? For now my feet are taking the path towards heaven. Do not therefore be saddened; rather, congratulate me, because I am to obtain today the fruit of my labors." And with these words, he prayed thus: "I give Thee thanks, O good Shepherd, that Thou hast deemed me worthy of this hour. But I ask that the sheep D which Thou hast entrusted to me may not feel my separation, having Thee as a shepherd, through whom it was permitted that I myself should shepherd this flock." And when he had said this, he gave up the spirit. These things truly taste of what is apostolic, and are not unworthy of Linus, or whoever else was great after Peter and apostolic. There are missing from those Acts those points about women forbidden from marriage and husbands cast aside, in which Baronius alone recognizes the soot of the Manichaeans, in the Acts of Peter and Paul, in the name of Linus: so that the immediate reason for the killing of Peter was the destruction of Simon, in which Paul also, his co-apostle, collaborated. Hegesippus, lib. III, cap. 2, and Ambrose, *Contra Auxentium*, etc., agree with these writings here.ORATION XX. On the theme of the Publican and the Pharisee.
The subject of the Publican and the Pharisee serves as a kind of preliminary exercise and preparation for those who wish to cling to holy humility, which embraces all the virtues upon which the acquisition of the kingdom of heaven truly rests, and to abstain from the arrogance that is detestable to God, which turns man away from all Christian virtues. Who, therefore, would not emulate the Publican and his conversion and repentance, and not loathe the pride of the Pharisee? For humility indeed joins one to Christ, while pride joins one to a swollen demon, full of vanity. B Pride made the prince of the angels, who was also named Lucifer, a devil entirely. This drove Adam, the progenitor of our race, out of paradise: "He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted the humble" (Luc. 1, 52). "God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace" (Jac. IV, 6). This brought down Pharaoh: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psal. LII, 2). This casts down Nebuchadnezzar: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matth. IV, 10; Deut. VI, 13). And: "Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven thing" (Exod. XX, 4). Although for the one this disease was taken away, for the other the affliction passed into a habit. Truly, pride is a fever that affects the sense of the one suffering from it; it is a violent madness dragging man to ruin; it is a dropsy filled with air and water. C "For who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord? The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain" (Psal. XXIII, 3, 4). Such was the vanity and haughtiness of Tyre, which caused the loss of the moisture of grace, a dry land indeed. For you know, both by reason and by experience, that the proud man does not need the perfecting grace of God; and for this reason he is parched and dry, lacking vital heat and vital dew. For in this empty tree the night-owl, the devil, works its nest.
And to state it briefly, humility is the nourisher of virtues, and the head, origin, and end of the righteousness in which the Christian beauty resides. It is the mortification of the passions, the removal of sin, and the preservation of moisture at the root of faith. Humility exists with the fear of God, which drives out iniquity, just as Jeremiah and Solomon also say. For truly, "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord" (Prov. I, 7). D This makes the Publican a herald of the Spirit, but pride makes the Pharisee an empty drum sounding in vain. The hypocrite is truly a Sodomitic apple, ripening beautifully on the outside, but as for what pertains to the inside, he is rotten and disagreeable. The Publican ascended into the temple, and he ascended...
A both in body and in soul. The Pharisee ascended into the temple in body, but not in truth in soul. For the one ascended in soul, descending through humility; but the other descended in soul, ascending through pride. The former ascended according to the Davidic degrees, having entered the path that leads to paradise; the latter descended, having fallen to Lucifer, the leader of pride. The former ascended through the ascent and advancement into virtues; the latter descended from the virtues, and approached vices.
Many enter the temple, but few partake of the temple; for they are not worthy of the house of God. For the proud man does not abide in love. And he who does not abide in love, does not abide in God, according to John. But he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him, and he is a temple of God, according to Paul. Those truly and properly enter the sanctuary and the temple of God, in whom God acts individually. But God enlightens only the infants and the small, according to the psalmist David. "For where there is humility, there is also wisdom," according to Solomon: the wisdom of faith, and the wisdom of action.
This wisdom the Pharisee lacked; whence also, being a hypocrite, he gives thanks to God only for external things, but is ungrateful to God for internal things. For he does not keep the commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." It was a good word, "I thank you," B since the Pharisee did not attribute the virtue to himself, as was the thought of Nebuchadnezzar, and of Shimei, and of Peter; by which pride also Lucifer and Adam fell. Nevertheless, he boasted that he had what he did not have; and even if he had had it, he would have lost it through pride. For even he who has it ought to confess that he does not have it, and say that "I am an unprofitable servant," since "In your sight shall no man living be justified."
He who is not humbled throws away love, and he who does not love acts with contempt. Truly, pride is the beginning of every kind of sin. This is followed by envy, and by envy, murder; through which Absalom views his father as an enemy, and is led on to kill him. Truly, the hidden evil is worse than the manifest one, and is not unlike the devil, who deceived our first parent through a serpent. D Therefore the manifest evil-doer is justified, and the hidden one is condemned. For in the former there is only malice, but in the latter there is also falsehood and deceit, and therefore he is repelled from the supreme truth. For through love also the elect is predestined, according to Peter in his second Epistle, and Paul in the first to the Ephesians and the third to the Colossians, but enmity reprobates.
The Publican acknowledged his own sin, and has been justified, being made far from sin. Whence also he lived, according to Ezekiel. Which life David—
A even excepted, as Nathan bears witness. The Pharisee did not acknowledge his own sin, and is become far from life.
And consider diligently again the evangelical discourse: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a Publican.” He set them as an example and pattern of men who justify themselves, yet condemn sinners. The Lord set the Pharisee as a pattern of the proud, but He set the Publican as a pattern of sinning men who offer up their prayers and confessions with a contrite heart, so that He might teach all to hate pride and love humility.
And Christ shows clearly from this parable that justice and virtue are great, and set a man closer to God; but when He detects pride, He casts the man down into the lowest pit. B For this very thing happened to the Pharisee, and for this reason he was condemned and fell into destruction. Now injustice and sin are abominable and hateful, and are heavier than every vice, and keep a man as far as possible from God. But humility, through repentance and confession, justifies this man and makes him worthy of salvation, and brings him closer and sets him near to God. This the Publican found, and for this reason he was justified and made worthy of salvation.
“Pharisee standing, prayed thus within himself: God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust.” C Oh, the pride! Which the Lord and Isaiah scorn as leading into Egypt, and having the confidence of Pharaoh and the shadow of Egypt, and, according to the sacred psalmist David, a memory perishing with a sound, and not a perpetuity of memory. Oh, the mouth prone to reproaches! According to the sixth chapter of Proverbs. “I am not,” he says, “as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust and adulterers, or even as this Publican.”
The beginning of pride appears to be insolence. For he who spits upon others and considers them as nothing, but holds some to be poor, some to be base-born, some to be unlearned and idiots, D and others to be unjust and sinners, is surely carried away by this insolence, and thinks himself alone to be wise, prudent, noble, rich, powerful, just, and preeminent above other men; and insolence is the beginning of pride, and pride is the evil offspring of insolence. Therefore the famous day of the Lord shall wreak vengeance upon every insolent and proud man; for kindred sins are punished in like manner.
The Pharisee showed by his appearance and his posture the elation he had and his boasting. And his words indeed were at first reasonable. He said
A “O God, I thank you.” After this, however, all that he said was filled with every sort of arrogance and pride. For he did not say, “You made me, O Lord, and through your assistance I am freed from all injustice and rapacity and other evils.” “For what do you have,” the Scripture says, “that you did not receive?” But he considered that he had accomplished all his good deeds by his own power. Let every man be fully persuaded that without the assistance of God he can neither do nor have the strength to accomplish any good work. For Christ says, “Without me, you can do nothing.” And the Prophet says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” And the Apostle says, “It is not of him who wills or of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” And, “Yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” And, “It is God who works in us both to will and to work.” B And for this reason the Publican was a garden watered by spiritual streams, but the Pharisee was a leafless oak, as Isaiah and Solomon speak. For although we have been honored with the free choice of the will, nevertheless, without help from above, we are unable to perform any good deeds on the path of life. “For I know,” he says, “that it is not of man to direct his own way, nor will a man walk to establish his own journey.” Let us not, therefore, ascribe to ourselves the trophies of our contests. For it is ours only to choose the better part and to strive; but it is God’s to bring the good desire and purpose into action, since we do not even possess by nature the ability to do so, but receive it from grace, so as to say, “I can.” This is conceit and boasting; “For what do you have,” it says, “that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” C “I fast twice in the Sabbath; I give tithes of all that I possess.” For since that Pharisee had accused the rest of men and the Publican, saying that they were adulterers and rapacious, he himself boasted of his fasting against the passion of adultery; for fornication arises from luxury; for fullness is the parent of incontinence, and fornication happens from satiety. The Pharisee, by macerating his body through fasting, boasted that he was far removed from such passions. The Pharisees used to fast two days of the week, namely Monday and Thursday. D And as for the words, “Rapacious and unjust,” the Pharisee said, “I give tithes of all that I possess.” For he boasted so much of being opposed to rapacity and injustice that he would even give of his own to others. For the Hebrews used to give one tenth of all their possessions, and from time to time a third; and these three added together reveal that they were giving a third part of their substance. But they also offered the first fruits and the first-born, and other greater things beyond their possessions for
A sins, things for purification, things on feast days, things for the clearing of debts, for the emancipation of servants, and for loans free from interest. If all these things were gathered together and counted, even if a man were to give half of his substance, he would still accomplish nothing great while boasting and exalting himself, and this even though the Gospel says: "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." B
"But the Publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying: 'God, be merciful to me a sinner.' I tell you, this man went down justified to his house; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." The Publican praying, and having no good works, was not able to enumerate them as the Pharisee did; but he beat his breast and lashed his heart, and with much contrition and compunction he said: "God, be merciful to me a sinner." Therefore, he also finds the Lord merciful and easily reconciled. For the humble disposition of the mind is the purgative of all sins; but pride removes all virtues, since it is greater and heavier than any sin or vice. It is better for those who are sinning to convert and be humbled than for those who are acting rightly to be proud. The Publican put off his sins, receiving the accusation of the Pharisee with gentleness and patience; C but the Pharisee fell from glory into the abyss of dishonor, justifying himself and accusing the Publican and the rest of men. The Publican returned from a shameful life and sin to a blessed life and state; but the Pharisee was humbled from his swelling and haughtiness.
For two things are required of us all, that we condemn our own sins, and that we forgive the sins of others. For he who looks upon his own sins becomes more forgiving toward others; but he who condemns others condemns himself and passes judgment upon himself, even if he possesses many virtues. Indeed, it is a great thing not to condemn others, but ourselves, brothers! But we, neglecting our own sins, rather condemn D others and examine them, not knowing that even if we were the most righteous of all, if we condemn others, we become liable and are worthy of the same punishment and chastisement for which the one being judged is worthy: "For with the judgment you judge," he says, "you will be judged." For he who fornicates and he who judges the fornicator transgresses the commandment. So that both transgress the divine commandment, both he who fornicates and he who judges.
But let us transfer our censure and meddlesome
A curiosity to ourselves instead, beloved. And if we see any sinning, let us keep our own sins before our eyes, and let us consider our own to be worse than those of others. For those who have sinned, perhaps at the very hour of their sin they repented; but we always remain uncorrected, condemning and scrutinizing others. That Lot who dwelt in Sodom condemned no one, accused no one. Therefore he was justified, and from the fire and from the destruction by which the Sodomites were punished, he was saved. Being humbled, therefore, let us also judge ourselves, let us put ourselves to shame, so that, being uncondemned, we may be exalted. Let us love humility. Through this the Publican was justified and laid down the burden B of his sins. Let us hate pride, because on account of this the Pharisee was condemned, and he lost the virtues he had. The Pharisee was condemned for not acting rightly in doing good. The Publican, as one who rightly detested works that were not good, was justified. For God looked upon the sighing of the Publican, and his contrition, and his beating of his breast; and having accepted the "Be merciful," He justified him along with Abel. But the sacrifices, and the virtues, and the good works of the Pharisee, as a boaster and an arrogant man, He loathed and thrust away; and for this cause He condemned him like Cain, the fratricide.
Let us learn, brothers, and let us be taught, and let us perform great good works. For the sake of these, however, let us not be lifted up. Even if we become good, and just, and gentle, and compassionate, and merciful; still, let us be humbled even so, and let us not have contempt and C arrogance, lest at some time we lose our labors and our toils. "For when," He says, "you have done all these things," says the Lord, "say that we are unprofitable servants. We have done what we ought to do." For it is a necessary and inescapable debt to offer to the God of all servile humility, patience, subjection, docility, gratitude, and to magnify and worship His all-holy will, and not to be stung by the revilings and insults of others, nor to be vexed by temptations, nor to be resentful when reviled, because even from these things we can reap much benefit. Let us learn and recognize, my brothers, the power and strength and help of humility. Let us learn the condemnation and loss and destruction of pride; the D shadow of Behemoth, according to Job, in moist places, and in the reed-bed, the straying from the way of truth and from the light of justice.
And since it is a great good to have repentance and confession, and contrition, and tears, and groanings from the depth, and compunction, for this reason I exhort you: Confess to God continuously and reveal your sins
A to Him. For if we unfold our conscience and show Him the wounds of our souls, and neither judge others, nor are we enraged by the insults of our neighbors, nor are we saddened by their taunts and injustices, the merciful Lord will be gracious to us, and He will mix the medicines of His compassion and His tenderness, and He will apply them and heal us. Let us show our sins to the Lord, who does not reproach us, but heals; for even if we are silent, He knows everything. Let us therefore speak our sins, brothers, and confess them clearly to the Lord, that we may win His compassion. Let us put aside our sins here, so that, having become pure and prepared, we may hasten thither and be brought by the just Judge into His unending and eternal kingdom, and may inherit those future and incorruptible mansions, and the inexhaustible delight and enjoyment. May we all obtain these in Christ our God Himself, to whom be glory and empire unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ORATION XXI.
On human life, and on the departed.
B Nothing in human affairs is truly stable or firm. For human glory and life are likened to a shadow at sunset and to withering grass. For what is more worthless than a shadow, or what is more perishable and fleeting than grass? Yet our affairs are even more subject to adversities. For poverty and diseases, and irregularities, and the trials that suddenly attack us on land and at sea, and the snares laid by craft, and in addition to these, untimely deaths, and all that limits this wretched span of life, describe and mark out the unstable revolution of our life. Has not illness, falling upon us, often caused ruin, and has not hunger consumed us? Has not a wall falling unexpectedly crushed us, or the wind driven some to destruction, or a crumb slipping into the throat brought death? For what is easier than for a man to die, even if we are puffed up with the honor of the image, and are carried away as if we were not going to die? C Well, therefore, he speaks who says: "Yet all is vanity, every man living. Yet man passes away in an image; but he is troubled in vain." And what is worse than this: "He heaps up," he says, "and he does not know for whom he will gather them." But how could he know, when he knows nothing of his own affairs? He does not see what is before his eyes, but imagines things about the future. D
A He is ignorant of what is in his hands, yet passes judgment on things unknown. He does not understand what is at his feet, yet discourses on things on high. Knowing not what will happen to him even a short while hence, he sits in judgment of eternal things: a creature humble and base, who nonetheless presumes upon things beyond his reach.
Man is a creature of many turns, a device ready for any purpose, a mold easily dissolved, the boundary between life and death, a spiritual composition and combination in matter, a rational effect in things subject to the senses, a statue not made by hands, an animated image, a creature of high renown, an impression easily traced, a God-like mirror, the threshold between things above and below, a system perceived by both sight and mind, a being susceptible to corruption and yet incorruptible.
B Man is the flower of a day, a fleeting shadow, grass that easily fades, prey easily caught, a slave easily put to flight, a creature subject to many maladies, and one that is easily broken; he is clay, and yet he aims at the heights; he is dust, and yet he contemplates heavenly things. This animal, therefore, known by many names—man—undergoes many changes, led now toward the worse, now toward the better, and suffers many defects in regard to both. For by the removal of the better, and by admitting the substitution of the worse, he has fallen of his own will from a life of many sufferings into a life afflicted by many passions.
For since he was fashioned by the hand of God and in His image after the creation, and was honored above the rest of creation, he then, primarily by a measure of grace, clothed himself in the skin of immortality, and subsequently put on the garment of incorruptibility. C It was necessary that he, having become a participant in divine providence and care—all the things at once that are subject to the senses, and all that transcend them—should both surpass some, and contend with others, by the affinity, I say, to both parts. And he achieved this magnificently and ambitiously, to such a degree that no one could easily have estimated God's magnificence, congruent to the very figment of His own hand.
For that vital place, Paradise, held delight; by which that blessed emptiness of affections was perceived, and the conversation with the angels; and the dignity, finally, rational and intellectual, and immortal, and free from decay, as man was a participant in divine beauty, an accurate expression of the first image. D In addition to these things, there was also the granted lordship over all animals—those that crawl upon the earth, those that cleave the air, and those that traverse the nature of water. There was also the grant of the trees of Paradise, with one alone excepted, in which the designation of the divine commandment was marked: as if a piece of wood were proposed as an exercise for the consummation of the obedience of faith. For thus the integral beauty of the divine image was to be preserved, and the likeness expressed to the ancient radiance, yielding nothing of its own stability, remaining in the same mode, destined to endure. But, woe is me! I do not know how, through the snare of the devil advising him because of his inclination and disposition toward sensible things, he was stripped of all these; no longer being a citizen of Paradise or vaunting himself as king of the things under his hand. For how could he who has clung to the inferior in the folly of his passions, and has bowed to the irrational urges of pleasure, be henceforth in possession of such...
A greatness? For he who has once enslaved the entire free affection of his mind to carnal affection; and—alas for me! I err—who has, in his wretchedness, a share in the miserable kin of the beasts, will in no way be a king famous for his reputation; and one whom plainly distress, anguish, and labor, and a manifold swarm of passions presses—for sin brought nothing else upon them than these. What then? Is it not the case that our affairs are thus, and nothing besides? For, "Man is born to labor" (Job v, 7). And to labor, sadness is openly a companion: "In sadness, he says, you shall bring forth children" (Gen. iii, 16). This is the first sentence pronounced against us. Then he is nursed, he is reared, he is brought up, he grows. Henceforth, there follow labors, sweats, and sadness. "In the sweat of your face," he says, "you shall eat your bread" (Gen. iii, 19). The second sentence against us: "Thorns and thistles shall the earth bring forth to you" (Gen. iii, 18). The third sentence: "Cursed is the earth in your works" (Gen. iii, 17). This is the fourth sentence: "In sadness you shall eat of it all the days of your life." The fifth sentence against us: "And you shall eat the herb of the field" (Gen. iii, 18). This is the sixth sentence: "Until you return to the earth from which you were taken; for earth you are, and to the earth you shall go" (Gen. iii, 19). This is the seventh sentence against us, B presenting the heptad number of the present age. O bitter sentence, for which there is neither an end nor a transgression! O voice, which no one from the ages has been able to withstand in its decrees! This is the bitter taste of the tree, and the ancient subversion. This is the serpent's counsel, and the transgression of the commandment. This is the first disobedience, and the attachment and necessity toward things subject to sense: "It was fair and good for food" (Gen. iii, 6), which fruit brought death upon me; and this is clearly manifest. For to me, the sweet taste became the cause of shameful deformity. Yet to me, it has conversely introduced a turbid subversion of bitterness, exchanging life for death, and obscuring incorruption with corruption. Truly, it persuaded us instead to choose at once a fleeting and lethal life, in place of one that was harmless and unoffending. It taught us, when we ought to have abandoned our earthly and fleeting manner of life to embrace that heavenly manner of life in the spirit, and to surpass, if it were possible, the incorporeal Virtues, that we should prefer a brutal and vicious life with the irrational beasts. And to say what is better known, in place of that holy and harmless pleasure in Paradise, we have incurred the condemnation of a vicious and pleasure-seeking life. For this reason he cries out who says: "Man, being in honor, did not understand" (Ps. XLVIII, 13). Why? D "He was compared to the senseless beasts and made like to them" (Ps. XLVIII, 13). Henceforth flowed in the manifold swarm of passions, the throng of sins, the causes of diseases, untimely deaths, the snatchings away before one's time, the corrupting passions of the bodies, by which our intelligible man is often filled. Hence come sudden deaths, events beyond hope, and unexpected calamities.
involuntary temptations, A unchosen poverties, deceits, homicides, ambushes, seditions, offences, terrors in cities, on land, and on sea; now shipwrecks, now the piracy of robbers, and as many things as plainly besiege from every side the most wretched life of men: which surely spring up for us from no other source than from this, however much we may seem wise to ourselves.
What then? Is not thence the birth to us from the will of man, and from the will of the flesh—from bloods, I say? And what of being born like brute animals, and living, and dying, and being dissolved, and this most B abjectly and miserably? Who has brought forth thorns for us? Whence comes the flow and reflux of our constitution, whereby it happens to nature to reach maturity and to grow old? And to these things, sorrow and joy; likewise groaning and sickness, and good health—unless we deceive ourselves with fallacious opinions; since it is manifest that what abounds, is a defect and corruption, and what is less, is an equal perversity and privation. Whence follows that great circulation and reflux of things, other than from the cause I mentioned? Since, therefore, these things are so, and our affairs are subject to so many evils, C why do we not, having let go of those that are fleeting, concern ourselves with those that remain? Why, fleeing the supreme confusion, do we not hasten with a course to hasten toward our ancient glory? Shall we not, then, brothers, be sober? Shall we not look up into heaven, having left the earth below, with the filth of the earth that overwhelms us? Shall we not return the kindred to that which is kindred? Shall we not, having left the earthly, rejectable house, which is easily dissolved, return to our former station in Paradise by a prudent change of purpose? D Shall we not, having spurned every visible ornament, be joined anew to celestial beauty? Shall we not—although there may be something to be endured—ceasing to live contrary to reason, we who have been created endowed with reason, tend toward the image and the first likeness? Why do we make ourselves abject, who have been created sublime? Why, being held fast by things subject to the eyes, are we deprived of spiritual things? Why do we not have for an honor that which it is to be according to the image, since we look to the image? Why do we not revere [index: entries preserved]
A the vocation? Wherefore do we despise grace? Why do we make ourselves slaves of vices, we who were made to be free? “For Christ has liberated us with freedom.” [Gal. v, 1] There is not within us Jew, nor Greek, nor Scythian, nor Barbarian, there is neither male nor female. [Col. iii, 11] We are all one in the Lord. By grace we are saved. We have become children of God; “For He gave us the power to become children of God.” [John i, 12] “God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father.” [Gal. iv, 6]
Wherefore, we are no longer servants, but children, and heirs of God through Christ. Let us not, therefore, bring disgrace upon our nobility with earthly baseness. Let us not, being forgetful of our fatherland above, pine away in this miserable and downward-tending life, which has nothing beyond corruption. Let us not prefer the things of the present age to the things of the future age; nor prefer things subject to corruption to those that are immortal. Let us not, therefore, having abandoned the possession of our heavenly home, establish the earth as our dwelling place along with those B “who dwell in the tombs.” [Psal. lxvii, 7] Now, brothers, “let us be sober and be vigilant,” [1 Pet. v, 8] having shaken off the deep sleep of sloth, and having removed the film from the eyes of the heart, let us know whose we are and whence we are. What and how illustrious is our formation; how we have been made a certain thing, but have been exalted in honor above all things; then, how we incline to things subject to the senses by spiritual reason, but to spiritual things by a mind raised above spiritual things: and, in the first place, let us consider, who placed all these things here? Who made and created them by His will alone? Who formed man from the earth; and who leads him back into the earth? Who placed darkness as His hiding place C and covers the abyss of His judgments with a cloud? [Psal. xvii, 12] Let David persuade you, O man, saying: “Thy knowledge has been made wonderful from me; it is made strong, I shall not be able to attain to it.” [Psal. cxxxviii, 6] And indeed, with good reason. For who “has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?” [Rom. xi, 34] Who gave the boundaries of life, and who divides the times known to Him before they were created? Who has attached to the human race the ways and successive stages of life, and shortens the circuits of years for this one, but lengthens them for that one? But before all these things, who forms the living creature in the womb, and fashioning the infant gracefully, and creating the fetus, and exactly describing its appearance, paints it toward the perfection of a single beauty? Who carves the form, and figures the infant, and puts the limbs in order, and composes the parts, and joins together the organs D of the limbs, and the combinations of the members fittingly for the uses of the body, and distinguishes each with its own added figure? To these things, and before those things, who sows the clay and the dust with spirit, and makes an animated statue? Who draws blood into flesh, and phlegm into bones: and, by condensing the one and curdling the other, draws them into one wondrous concretion? What painter delineates images in the womb, and colors the living creature, and inserts hues, and writes qualities, and shadows forth depths, and establishes characteristics? Who is it that stretches the sinews, and pulls the muscles, and
stitches the membranes to the arteries, and fills the veins with blood? Who joins bone to bone, and joint to joint, and covers them with flesh, and magnificently clothes them with an external covering? Who, like a leather-worker in the womb, prepared the skin and, having smoothed the appearance of the surface, so tenderly polished it, then stretched it out entirely, and fashioned it? Who formed the hearts, and yoked the kidneys, and discovered the combinations of the entrails? A « Who gave life and breath and all things? » B
And further, before these things, whose work is this great and all-harmonious world? How was the heaven, that great and transparent covering of the universe, brought into being? Whence do some attribute a spherical shape to it, like a wheel turning transversely, and rolling along with the motion of the stars? And before these things, who established the order of the pre-cosmic powers of the super-celestial realm, forming a rank worthy of angels? Who, out of their immaterial and fiery substances, created them into myriads and thousands of principalities, fashioning and distinguishing them with an unrepresentable form, and adorning them in many ways? Whence comes their fiery and luminous nature, their winged, light, and wind-borne quality? What is their keenness, and their facility and efficacy for service, and their immense celerity, and their sublime movement; and, in short, that they are moved without labor, whithersoever the divinely ordered command directs them? Whose contrivance is this diffused air, and the ethereal fire that rises above it? How does the same part cool, while part heats: the one by its natural humidity, the other by its proximity to the things above? What weaver or embroiderer wove such a veil, suited for the reception of the solar rays? By what master-craftsman’s hand did this most beautiful firmament, which encompasses the earth, come forth? Who, establishing and fixing it with incomprehensible reason, wrought it? Upon which of its supports are its hidden foundations bound? Whence did this great element, the sea, and that unnavigable and immense water, coalesce into one gathering? Whence come those many kinds of animals, C both those that fly above the earth, and those that crawl upon the earth, and those that swim in the waters? How great is the power of the Creator of all things! Whence go forth plants, and kinds of plants, and trees high and soaring? Whence come kinds of seeds, and pastures for cattle, and fertile lands, and D [gardens], and outpourings of rivers, and caverns? Who is it that...
established A the heights for the mountains, and cut off the ridges for them, and rent the necks for the hills, and joined to these the surrounding plains, and spread out the valleys, and the fields, and the ravines? “And who is the father of rain, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb comes forth the ice,” as he who answered Job from the storm says? And who has known the treasures of hail? Who creates the spirit, and makes the thunder firm, and commands the snow? Or who sends forth lightnings into the rains, and pours out showers for the irrigation of the earth, and commands the rivers to overflow? From what bosom are the clouds carried up? What treasures bring forth the winds? Who has set all these things? Who holds them in his palm? Who moves, and gives life to, and governs, and drives them by his nod alone? Who sets the sand as a boundary for the sea? And by whose fear is it bridled and calmed, and, being drawn back within its own borders, is kept in, and does not pass over its liquid gates; but, as if bearing the Master's command in its mouth like a bridle, it does not rise up to cover the neighboring earth, but retreating supine into itself, it exhales foam, and mixing it at the lips, it returns like a slave. Whence are the myriad kinds of animals B incredibly scattered within it, among which every genus of creeping things occurs, and being multiformly dissipated into species, and parts, and sizes, it wins admiration for the Artificer’s reason, and for a skill and wisdom that transcends our mind? But would I speak of all things one by one? For a discourse on each of the things created by God toward precise knowledge and comprehension requires a different time than the present; yet, regarding as sufficient what has been said, that the manifest proofs of God's magnificent works may be displayed as if before our eyes, I shall join the continuation of my discourse to it. So, that I may say something in a few words and briefly: Who has set all these things? Whom does the universe serve? To whom is it annexed? To whom does it yield? Is it not to Him whose power is great? By whose nod is it stirred? Is it not His, whose empire is immense and whose authority is eternal? By whose command is the soul separated from the body (for it is already the time to touch upon those matters), except for Him who once bound them together? Do not marvel, however, when you hear of the separation of the soul from the body, you who know that things subject to the senses are subject to change. For this is the property of matter and the affection of a fluid nature; from which also bodies are, and by which we are constituted, and into which we are destined to be dissolved, C receiving a change for the better. But after these things, D and we are altogether subject to departure and alteration, and
“there is no man,” according to what Scripture says, “who shall live and not see death.” * Since we are all day-old creatures, mortal and of the earth, and returning to the earth, we are distressed in vain over the dead, beating our breasts and despairing. It is also empty to mourn those who are dissolved in tombs and have returned to their own dust. As if the shadow of change were not common to the whole of nature visible to our eyes, it might perhaps seem bearable to weep over the departed, as if we were unable to bear their loss, just as it B occurs readily to those with whom is buried and enclosed that most deiform reformation which we have stored up in better promises—a thing which can only be seen by those who do not await that great mystery of the common resurrection, which surpasses reason. For they do not know that human nature is then to be gifted with a reformation better and more noble than that of all the rest of creation.
Since, therefore, the resurrection is set before us in hope, and what is expected is renewal, not abolition or destruction, or a transition into non-being, let not those who have departed from us a little before us sadden us. Nor let us mourn excessively for those who have received the usufruct of this life by the same lot as we have, and have departed to another life. Until when do we, being dead, bury the dead? And when shall we ever C desire to live? How long shall there be tears? How long groanings, lamentations, shouting, hair torn out, hands struck together, clatter, din, wailing, agitation, screams, howls, cries, expressions of ingratitude, blasphemies, and the rending of garments even up to the tomb—the lamentations both before and after the body is committed to the earth, in the marketplace, and at home? What are you doing, O man? You see a dead man sleeping, and do you blaspheme? You stand before such a mystery, and do you rise up against God? The deposit is being given back, and do you contend in judgment with Him who demands it? You beseech Him, saying, “Grant rest, O Lord,” and do you insult the Lord? You conduct the funeral of a departed son, and do you weep as if you yourself were not going to die? D You see his end, and do you not expect your own? Call to mind, O man, who you are. Consider that, being mortal, you have thoroughly brought forth a mortal, one destined to die. If you have had a beginning, you will clearly have an end; for, being brought forth to birth, you shall pass into destruction. Revere human nature, O man, which is the boundary of both immortality and mortality. Reflect upon the command of the Lord. Consider the decree of the Lord’s sentence, and do not refuse to be corrected by it, you who see our affairs daily being cast about and changed at random; and do not be distressed to see a dead man carried away, and moving toward a better state. For you know, indeed you know, that shortly after [* Psal. LXXXVIII, 49.]
A you have seen yourself, that no one among men has managed to escape this final limit. Since, therefore, it is permitted to give thanks, do not let us blaspheme the Benefactor; nor let us insult the One who has taken [the departed] away, the One who is the object of our longing. For our transition is not from better to worse, but from corruptible things to incorruptible, from things visible to things invisible, and to things expected only by those who have lived in virtue. He therefore took our body—not hiding it in the earth, but receiving it into heaven—and deposited it in places which He Himself knows, [places] bright with light. B He who deposited it, seeking it out, has received back His own trust; He who had laid it aside has reclaimed it by His own authority. Who are you to inquire so precisely into what pleases the Lord? Who are you to contend with Him, or to enter into judgment with Him? For He wishes now to exact the debt; it does not please Him to postpone the limit of death. Or does He not have power over time, He who created time, to shorten it or to extend it as He pleases? For how are we to know the judgments of God, and the abyss of the mysteries—for what reason some are of short life, and others of longer—or why some are young, others already old; while others are [taken] before their time, and others even before they have come to the light, according to what Job says: “Those who have not seen the light, are they snatched away?” C But let not this trouble us, nor let us lament because we see a man lying dead on his bed; rather, let us reflect that He who had previously lent the breath to each person has reclaimed His loan when He wished. And let us not lament with immoderate mourning anyone who has departed in such a way, lest we provoke to anger the One who commanded the departure. Let us not rend our garments over him; let us not scatter dust; let us not tear our flesh with our nails; let us not lacerate our hair; let us not bring disgrace upon our own heads; let us not break out into ungoverned cries; let not our hope be blasphemed; let us not become a laughingstock and a derision to the Gentiles; let us not treat the good of the resurrection injuriously; let us not choose to hold the rights of our nobility in contempt. Let us look into ourselves; let us understand the power of this mystery; let us consider who and what we are, and by whose grace we were created, and where, likewise, and how, and that all—even if not now—must all depart. D Why, having abandoned thanksgiving, do we run to mourning? Why do we not cast aside mourning and proceed to hymns?
Be quiet for a little while, brothers, and listen to what is said. Keep silence and receive consolation, and do not disturb the dead. Fix your eyes upon this great spectacle. Behold what is being celebrated, and having beheld it, be silent, and do not disturb our mystery. It is a tremendous thing, brothers, that is seen; it is a thing more terrible that is being accomplished: angels, gleaming with splendor, scepter-bearers, coming from heaven with a fearsome appearance; choirs of the heavenly hosts clad in white, of a bright form, breathing fire, flame-bearing, diligent in their ministry, encircling the one lying there and swiftly [claiming] the deposit.
ON HUMAN LIFE AND THE DECEASED
A and the nations, and are we ourselves held by no reverence? What are you doing, O man? The one lying there is stunned, and are you not ashamed? The one lying there is stunned, and are you playing? He is in agony, and are you raving like a demoniac? He is being shaken, and do you not tremble? He is in the throes of death, and are you not terrified? He is being judged, and are you not aghast? He is having an account demanded of him, and are you not struck dumb, hoping that the same summons may not await you? He is amazed, seeing things he has not yet seen, and are you not afraid and brought to sobriety? He is dying, and are you blustering? He is passing away, and are you ecstatic? Wait a little, O man. Let him go in peace where he is called. Let him traverse the path which he has not yet traveled, and from which he will never return, and which we all alike—though one straightway, another a little later—must traverse: to the land of darkness and gloom, to the land of eternal darkness, where there is no light, nor is it given to see the life of mortals. Where it is necessary that we, too, must surely go, and make trial of this, in the same manner as those who have descended B to the land of the mound.
But perhaps, hearing these things, you will say to me, beloved: What then? Is it not for this reason that one should weep, because the earth—and a land of gloom—receives the one who has departed? And how should I not rightly mourn the one being led away to such a land? If indeed one must conceive of such a state as an earth. How shall I not wail and howl, hearing of a dwelling and a place of rest in darkness? For do I possess a heart of stone, that I should not mourn upon hearing these things? For if, even when I hear that one is being led away to C a region of light, I cannot refrain from sorrow, how shall I be able to keep silence, hearing that he who was but a little while ago my companion is now a guest of darkness? How shall I not weep for him with loud cries, whom I shall no more see? And would that, having left this sweet light, he had been received into a luminous place, so that perhaps some slight consolation might be offered to those who mourn!
Papae! What irrational contradiction of arguments, and what folly, and what blindness possessing the mind—if one may say so! For was it not necessary that we, being mortal, should be subjected to death? Was it necessary that we should appear greater than our own Master? Since, therefore, He Himself, being D the Lord and Master of all, and the light of those who are in darkness, and the life of all, willed to taste of death and to demonstrate His descent into Hades, in order that He might be made like to us in all things, sin excepted, and traversed that joyless region of Hades—I mean the lightless one and full of dense darkness—for the space of three days, what is strange if we, being sinners, and already dead in our transgressions according to the great Apostle, who are subject to birth and decay, should encounter death, and should pass through the dark habitations of Hades, where there is no light to see nor life of mortals to behold, as has been said before? For are we above the Master, or better than the saints?
A For they have followed the same way as we, as what has been said shows; even if it be better than ours, in that their surplus of virtue transcended ours. Therefore, one must not be distressed, but give thanks and pray; one must be vigilant at all times, and not show displeasure when hearing of the dark prison of Hades. But if they happen to share in that darkness which Scripture calls "outer," then there is reason to lament and wail. Or then, it is better to say, there is no need to lament or to be distressed, but rather to pray and with groaning to implore the Lord B that He might temper and lighten the fixed punishments of that place for them; and that the Judge may be appeased by various kinds of prayers, so that He might be rendered gentle to them and a most mild judge; not waiting for the prayer which others offer, but so that He might move Himself to mercy, so that, appeased and gentle, He may appear to those being judged on the day of decision, when there is no one who would dare to intercede. In such cases as these, one must all the more increase weeping, intensify wailing, and be dissolved in tears; C but one must not show the grief and lamentation of the Gentiles over those who die as believers. And that, too, not simply, nor even if they have departed before the time of our common pilgrimage, but rather if they have departed without having garnered any of the provisions for the glory hereafter. Nor should one lament them if they have left behind this sweet sun, but one should grieve and weep if they have not even slightly received the light of the Sun of Justice in this present life. But here also one ought to pray, both that they might obtain the mercy of God’s philanthropy, D and that we, instructed by fear, might become better. Nor, because Hades is a dark dwelling for the dead, should we despair of those who have been placed there; but if they do not bear the deeds of the night, nor were they caught in the darkness of sin, one should be of good cheer, not only because they have escaped the repulsive things in Hades, but because that light which knows no night, by which our own lives are made manifest and judged, will receive them; and, as one might say in the words of Scripture: "Weep for the dead, for the light has failed." But do not weep like the small-minded; for the light has not been extinguished.
A Indeed, it has transitioned from darkness to light. If that which is intelligible rises transcendently above this sensible light of ours: the latter is succeeded by the night of twelve hours, which, by its rotation around the earth, casts a shadow and marks a temporal interval; but the former—there is no darkness, no night, no lightless day, no temporal period, no year, no age, no motion or interval that besets it, but it shines eternally, and those who are its own delight in its eternal brightness. As the divine Scripture says: "Light is perpetual for the just; but the name of the ungodly is extinguished," that is, of those who did not walk in the dark region of this life by the light of God’s commandments. This is what Job says: "Who would restore me to the months of past days, in which God kept me safe, when His lamp shone over my head?" B For the lamp is the light of the Law. "When I walked in darkness by His light," refers clearly to the present age, according to him who sings: "Night is my illumination in my pleasures. And the night shall be illuminated as the day; and as its darkness, so its light." Since God is light, as He truly is—"and in Him there is no darkness at all"—and "in Him we live and move and are," and to Him we migrate; and since the souls of all of us, regarding their formal nature, are in His hands: the absurd objection raised by the adversaries concerning darkness and the dark places of Hades, and their opposing arguments, are proven false and deceitful.
Having thus set forth the manner in which souls, in a certain circuit and passage, remain in Hades, come now, O man, let those things be, and learn of the dissolution of our body; do not seek to scrutinize the state of the soul after its departure from the body, for it is not for me or for you to investigate these things. C For there is Another who knows them. For if we cannot know the substance of the soul, how could we know its rest, the form, figure, and magnitude of which we are ignorant? How great and how small it is, even though it is fastened as if to a small boat, is known only by the reasons of God who has bound it together. Since things are thus, come, let us pass over the soul—that precious possession, noble by the glory of the divine image—as being elusive, and let us occupy ourselves with this dense and graspable body, which is likewise altered and turned about by many changes of life, and let us apply our mind to it; so that you may learn, beloved, the lowliness and base humiliation of our frailty, which in no way differs from spring flowers D as regards its easy corruption and decay, and its dissolution into the elements of which it is composed. Since, therefore, the knowledge of this has a certain utility and leads to the edification of those who do not listen to what is said with indifference, do you wish me to show you the easily-perishable structure and dissolution of our bodies, and how it is lowly and in no way different from the beasts?
A Go forward a little, and you will receive the clear proofs of my words. Proceed with a slow pace to the monuments situated in the suburbs, and inquire there into the outcome of the things said. Lean over the tombs as if through a window, and do not turn away, nor look back at the sights; and you will see a sight that is grievous, not one that gives pleasure. Go forward a little from this place, and you will receive the clear proofs of my words.
A But stand firm clearly, and trace out for yourself through the visible, loathsome dissolution of the dead bodies, the misery of our own arrogance. Endure for a moment to perceive the stench; for it is our own, not another's. Endure with a manly spirit the foul odor of putrefaction bursting forth from it, and a pungent, foul-smelling liquid. Endure also the sight of the worms, difficult to behold, that is, both putrefied and embedded
.
Pay attention even more curiously, if you will, and discern, if you are able, and join bone to bone, and as you wish, pile up and assemble with your own hands each of the parts or members that you see dissolved. Learn B if you can say even in the slightest: whose are these? Whose are those? Or who is this, and who is that? Whether it is an old man or a youth who has died in this or that state? Or whether this one, having lived happily, and that one, having spent his life in affliction and sorrow, have met their end? And whether this one was short-lived, while that one was long-lived? Did this one live gloriously, and that one ingloriously? Learn these things and consider diligently whether it is a matter full of much shame and sadness, and miserable, which previously, in its arrangement, seemed full of great beauty.C For what indeed? Is not that spectacle shameful, and full of much unpleasantness? The flesh dissolved, and the entrails, and the parts, and the beauty of the structure, decaying and flowing with gore? And each of us, laid in a coffin in the very same way, is to be corrupted and, as the same food of consuming worms, is to be dissolved. Understand, O man, what is said. Look around the tombs; see our bones, and turning to yourself, weep; groan deeply from the bottom of your heart. Lament the wretched human cheapness that has received such an end as this. Look, and if you are able, discern and declare who is the king, who the private citizen; who is the rich man, or who the poor; who the glorious, or who the inglorious; D who free, or who a slave; what kind of soldier, or what kind of army commander; who the just, or who the accused; who the philosopher, or who the rustic; who the orator, or who the barbarian; who the Roman, who the citizen; who the country-dweller, who the Canaanite, and who the Jew; who the daughter, who the mother; who the father, or who the son? But you will not be able, seeing only bare bones, to distinguish any of them, even if you say it six hundred times.
A If you might encircle within yourself the manifold learning of gnostic exercises, thus perhaps you might perceive how the things here—which flow and pass away throughout life—are moving toward non-existence. For whether you mention wealth, or rank, or glory (which fades like a flower), or power, or dominion, or beauty, or strength, or size, or high birth, or any of the things that seem to us either the best or the worst, they will suffer the same dissolution as our bones. For gold, taken from mines and submitted to the furnace and tested by fire, presents a plate more refined than itself to the goldsmiths; silver, when heated, is purified and whitened similarly to gold. The blood of the shellfish dyes purple; the sea-mussel [zammyx] nourishes the pearl; and the emerald is a stone that grows green from the earth; and the silk-worm produces a thread; and the sea-pinnas, producing an unusual thread, provide a double benefit. As for sea-urchins, goats, and bees: the first season with savory sauces the delicacies of aquatic food for us; the others distill sweet milk from their udders—providing us with a fresh drink, or, when curdled, preparing a long-lasting food. Indeed, sheep provide us with the same benefit; and both, by offering the wool shorn from their hair, supply us with highly marvelous clothing. Finally, the bees, filling the cells of their hexagonal pipes with honey, depart while leaving behind the honeycomb that distills sweetness for the gatherers; B a manifest work of wisdom and a precious handicraft of a lowly winged creature, a finding for the needs of life, gathered by the industrious flights of nature’s musical art. And in short, of all things that sustain our life—the most useful and the most delightful, and whatever has been ambitiously joined to these for appearance and beauty—all are subject to the same corruption as those things under change, having a shared dissolution. And yet, because that which pertains to us, being different from these, is honored by the resurrection and the renewal,
NOTE ON COMBEFIS
(12) [zammyx]. The word is quite obscure and, as it seems, foreign, as Greeks are for the most part studious in signifying foreign things. Eustathius says that it is a word of Indian origin, bearing the name of the admired pearl stone. See Athenaeus book... (13) For example, it is the same as the sea-mussel, which, having been dyed in innocent and virginal blood in the Spirit, he royally "shelled." And as if having donned a royal purple robe, he clothed our nature. D (14) "They season the delicacies of aquatic food." That is, as if more delicate foods, and as it were a condiment for whetting the appetite. These are those sea-urchins and marine hedgehogs, sufficiently well-known little fish among the crustaceans.
A subjected to the corruption of the resurrection, and shaped according to the image of God, it admits to a deification in grace.
From this, beloved, you have a more certain understanding of our miserable lot’s obscurity. Do you wish that I should show you another form of vileness, even more ignominious than this disgrace? Take for me the primary image of our unsteady vicissitude, I mean the daily rotation and alteration of things. For you see, perhaps, that our affairs do not remain in the same state, but are daily turned aside in vain; some are tossed unstably up and down, while others are mixed together in a confused heap, and, in short, have no sure stability. Give credence to me as I truly depict our human condition, and receive a plain proof from those things which happen daily. For behold what our affairs are like now. He who yesterday rode on high in gilded carriages, sitting haughtily with raised eyebrows and an unbearable pride, surrounded on all sides by the throngs of soldiers he B mustered, is today laid in a tomb, carried on a bier, lamented, wretched, and borne as a corpse to the grave, surrounded by a crowd, accompanied by funeral chants, with candles burning before him, and shortly after, forsaken by all. For a friend of the dead goes only as far as the tomb. He who yesterday was applauded, is today pitied; he who yesterday was puffed up with power, is today held fast by illness; he who yesterday was in the city, is today in bed; he who a short while ago was formidable, is today stinking; he who yesterday was handsome, is today an object of loathing. He who was great today, is black tomorrow; he who was yesterday in his house, is today in the tomb; he who was yesterday anointed with perfumes, is today foul-smelling, teeming with worms, reeking of decay, and full of stench.
Do you see to what a degree of ignominy our supposed glory and nobility have arrived? Have you seen the surpassing change, and the variation and alteration of glory and of things? Do you know where human things tend? For tell me, where is wealth? Where, indeed, is boasting and pride? Where are the horses with golden bridles? Where are the brilliant ornaments set with precious Indian gems? Where are the golden necklaces? Where are those who run by the side, those who go before, the bodyguards who push aside and disturb all whom they meet? Where are the magistracies, the empires, the councils, the edicts, the martial feats? Are not all things ash? Are they not all earth and dust, and viler than a shadow? Where are all these things? They have passed away. Where is such great glory, where is the use of it? It has perished. Where is this man and that man, who yesterday were exalted as a source of pride above all others, and who surpassed the majority in the scale of their office? And where is that certain friend? He has fallen asleep. And where is this man’s wife, and that man’s daughter, and this man’s son? They have vanished. The one passed away a short while ago, the other long since; one in a foreign land, another in his fatherland; one drowned in the waters, another devoured by wild beasts. With good reason, therefore, will the word of the Preacher apply to these things: D
VARIAE LECTIONES.
A “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, and a striving after wind.” For if, concerning him, we are to hear the most divine one say again, “All things are made of dust, and all things return to the dust; and there is one event to the beast, as there is an event to men; and as the death of the one, so is the death of the other; and the man has nothing more than the beast; and who knows the spirit of the sons of man if it goes upward, and [the spirit] of the beast if it goes downward to the earth?” Vain therefore is our labor, and our delight in wealth, and the pleasure placed in the uncertainty of flowing things. And if you wish, by taking up a little of his discourse, I will show you that the whole conduct of life differs in no way from a revolving cycle.
Hear then how the Preacher, setting forth our state as in an image, proposes B by his own example what he teaches. “I,” says the Preacher, “was king over Israel in Jerusalem; and I gave my heart to search and investigate in wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this evil preoccupation has God given to the sons of men, to be exercised thereby. And I saw all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.” And again: “Behold, I myself have been magnified, and have added wisdom above all wisdom that was before me in Jerusalem; and I gave my heart to know wisdom and knowledge. [And my heart saw much, wisdom and knowledge], parables and science. I knew that this too is a striving after wind; because in the multitude of wisdom is a C multitude of knowledge; and he who adds knowledge, adds grief.” “I said of laughter, it is a revolving cycle, and of gladness, what is this that you do?” And after a little: “I magnified,” he says, “my work; I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself, I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them every tree of all fruits. I made for myself pools of water, to water from them the grove of fruit trees and the trees.” I possessed slaves and handmaidens; and those born in the house were D
A mine. I had many possessions of herds and flocks, beyond all who had been before me in Jerusalem. I gathered for myself also silver and gold, and the wealth of kings and provinces. I made for myself men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men; cupbearers and cup-women. And everything that my eyes asked for, I did not keep from them. I did not forbid my heart from any joy, because my heart was gladdened by all my labor; and I looked upon all my works which my hands had made, and into my labor wherewith I had labored to accomplish it. And behold, everything is vanity and a striving of the spirit. »
Do you see to what worthlessness our life proceeds? Do you see into what misery such great glory reduces our arrogance? Abstain, therefore, O man, from such pleasures, and do not wish to rely upon those things which are today, but will not be tomorrow; and do not mourn for him who has died and has left behind the vanity of all things, having exchanged the things that remain for those that are perishable; for I shall turn my discourse back to him again. But you pity his youth? Truly, pity your own old age, you who have advanced to such great gray-headedness, and perhaps have accomplished nothing of virtue. But, he says, the boy was still young, and had not yet reached the years of puberty, and had not even been permitted to enjoy this sweet light—as it were, still fasting from the goods of life, so to speak—and was thus driven away? But was the boy so full, and bearded, and of mature age, and competing with better contemporaries, to whom it is granted to become C famous in virtue, that he stood before the Creator? Verily, he was not immortal. But was he about to enter into the communion of marriage, and to become a father of children, and a brightness of his race, and a glorious old man? Verily, he was not immune to death. But was he a wise adolescent, and of keen intellect, and excelling most in the skill of much learning, and surpassing his companions in the quickness of nature, in the resolve and character of good morals, and in modes of life? But he was not eternal. Was the adolescent already to be advanced to magistracies, and to take hold of the glory and dignities by which the present life is honored? But he was not of the sort to whom another would not succeed. But if it is a girl who has died, and one of such a kind that, both in beauty, and in the vigor of age, and stature of body, and in the blush and flower of her cheeks, she dazzled the eyes of those looking at her; and was magnificently adorned with all the D precious and proper attire of a woman; and was prepared for the nuptial chambers, and was to be a mother of offspring, and a restoration of her family and race? Verily, another bridal chamber was prepared for her; for so it seemed good to Providence. She who departs was a mother of children, and one excelling many in beauty and wisdom and temperance, by works through which a woman is depicted as industrious, and courageous, and loving to her husband—
having not only hands stretched out to the spindle, A but already stretched out to every kind of virtue; nourishing her children and loving her husband, managing her domestic affairs exceedingly well, supplying the needs of widows, receiving strangers under her roof, succoring the poor, and accomplishing every kind of good work? But it was entirely necessary that she, being mortal, should face the trial of death. For the same end is set before all. Come then, persuaded by me (for I call upon all those who have diligently listened to my words. And I believe that all, with prudent judgment, have received the proof of the truth of these precepts), taking up one common voice, let us celebrate with hymns of thanksgiving the divine and blessed sovereignty, deity, and dominion of the impassible nature, singing: Blessed is he, the only eternal, the only one without successor; B "who only has immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable," to whom be glory, honor, and eternal power through all ages of ages. Amen.
OF ANDREW OF CRETE ON THE VENERATION OF THE HOLY IMAGES
ANDREAE CRETENSIS DE SANCTARUM IMAGINUM VENERATIONE.
(BOISSONADE, Anecdota, t. IV, p. 171.)
Christianity contains nothing unapproved or strange. D For the very use of holy images is supported by ancient tradition, and we have unshaken examples which fight for the exposition of images. First, we have the venerable image of our Lord Jesus Christ sent to Abgar the toparch on a cloth, having the likeness of his own bodily form, and in no way inferior to paintings illustrated with colors; second, that of Mary, who gave birth to him without seed, in Lydda, which is called Dios-
...in an image not made by hands, on a very polished stone tablet, representing the human body of the Mother of God, three cubits high, having been venerated from the time of the Apostles even until now in a vaulted temple built by them facing the west; so elegantly formed, as if by the hand of a painter, the purple I mean, and the clothing, the hands and the face, and the entire drawing of the countenance, A so that even now these things can be seen preserved. For they say that Julian, that apostate and adversary of Christ, when he heard about this image, tested the things spoken about it by summoning Hebrew painters, and when he had recognized the truth, he marveled at it, but did nothing more.
They say, indeed, that this temple was built while the Mother of God was still living in the flesh; and that the Apostles, having ascended into Sion (for she was dwelling there), said to her: "Where were you, Lady? For we have built for you a house in Lydda." And she, answering, said to them: "I was there with you, and I am there now." And immediately after this conversation, when they had descended into Lydda, they went through the temple and found it, just as she had firmly said, entirely impressed according to her own likeness, B just as the ancient story has held sway among the locals from former ages even until now.
Third witness. All the men of that time said that Luke the Apostle and Evangelist had painted with his own hands both the incarnate Christ himself and His immaculate Mother, and that their images are preserved in the city of Rome in appropriate glory, and they say that they are also displayed with diligent care in Jerusalem. But also the Jew Josephus narrates that the Lord was seen in this manner: with connected eyebrows, beautiful eyes, a long face, stooped, tall of stature, just as He evidently appeared C when He lived among men; and similarly, the image of the Mother of God, just as she is now seen, which some also call the "Roman" image.
SAINT ANDREW OF JERUSALEM
METHOD OF INVESTIGATING THE SOLAR AND LUNAR CYCLE, AS WELL AS THE PASCHAL CYCLE.
(It exists in the appendix to the Chronicle of Eusebius, volume XIX of this Patrologia, col. 1329.)CANON ON THE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED ANNA
OF SAINT ANDREW OF CRETE, THE HIEROSOLYMITE
EXCEPTIONAL CANONS AND TRIODIA
(Combef. p. 452.)
DECEMBER 9. THE CONCEPTION OF ST. ANNA, THE ANCESTOR OF GOD.
Canon composed by Lord Andrew. Ode 1. Tone 1. A song of victory.
A Your Conception today, God-minded Anna, we celebrate; for you who contained the Uncontainable, you conceived, having been released from the bonds of barrenness.
[Note: The footnotes and editorial commentary on this page generally concern the liturgical history of the feast and the controversy over the Immaculate Conception, and are omitted from this translation.]
A You have heard the prayers of the righteous; You, O Lord, have fulfilled the supplications of your ancestors, and have given as fruit to them the one who bore You in purity. The glorious Anna now conceives the chaste one, who herself later would conceive the Lord who is incorporeal and supreme; and she is to bring forth from her womb the one who is to bring forth Christ in the flesh.
*To the Mother of God.* You are the holy mountain, O chaste Virgin, which the prophet foresaw in the Spirit; from you the stone was hewn which, by divine power, crushed the altars of the idols.
*Ode 3. Let my heart be strengthened.* "If You grant me fruit of the womb," cried Anna to the Lord, "I shall be magnified, and I shall offer it to You as a gift." For this reason, she conceives the chaste Mother of God.
As you prayed in the garden, Anna, inspired by God, the Most High heard your voice and gave you the fruit of your womb, the one who opened the gate of grace to paradise.
Having fulfilled the requirements of the Law and served God blamelessly, you carry in your womb the Mother of the true Lawgiver, O most holy Anna. Therefore, we the faithful call you blessed.
*To the Mother of God.* Dispel all the barrenness of my sterile mind and render my soul fruitful in virtues, O all-holy Mother of God, the help of the faithful.
*Sedalis. Tone 4. The angelic choir.* B The prophetic choir long ago proclaimed her whom the barren and childless Anna conceived, the pure, chaste, and god-child maiden; today, with joy of heart, let us, the ones saved through her, call her blessed as the only all-immaculate one.
*Another. Tone 4. He who was lifted up upon the Cross.* The holy Joachim and Anna offered gifts to the priests of old, and because they were rejected as barren and C [the text continues in the following columns of the original]. D
Giver of all with prayer; and listening to their prayer, He truly bestows upon them the gate of life, whose holy Conception let us honor.
Ode 4. In the spirit foreseeing. O divine message! O strange discourse! Stupified, Anna cried out with a loud voice, when the angel was sent to her: Since I am to conceive, glory to my God, who does marvelous things. Rejoice with me, all the tribes of Israel, cried out Anna with joy; for I have conceived in my womb the new heaven, from whom the star of salvation shall shortly rise, Jesus, the Giver of light. God heard the groans of Anna, and the Lord attended to her prayer, and having dispersed the cloud of childlessness, He illumines her with the light of fertility in a wondrous way: whence she conceives the only pure one. To the Theotokos. Virgin Theotokos, undefiled tabernacle, purify me now, polluted by offenses, with the most pure drops of Thy mercies, and stretch out to me a helping hand, that I may cry: Glory to Thee, O chaste one, glorified by God.
Ode 5. Thy peace. She who blossomed from the root of David and Jesse, Anna, now begins to sprout the divine rod, which sprouted the mystical flower, Christ, I say, the Creator of all. The peoples will see me, cries Anna, having become a mother, and they will marvel: for lo, I am pregnant, as He willed, who loosed the bonds of my barrenness. B
COMBEFIS' NOTES
(22) "Which from the root of David and Jesse, Anna germinated." So also the author of the Synaxarium, on the feast day of holy Mary, where he places Anna as the daughter of Matthan, who was himself the father of Jacob, the father of Joseph. Perhaps it might seem more true to someone that Anna was from priestly stock, which Nicephorus hands down from Hippolytus, and [which] Baronius, Torniel, etc., follow; and we have referred to Methodius from an ancient Royal codex: that she was sown only through males, at least proximately, in the flesh of Mary and Jesus, from David, and more proximately regarding Joseph, by relationship, namely by divided stock in Melchi and Panther, brothers, as Andrew himself has in his oration on the Circumcision, and after him Damascene in book V [v] De Fide. But nothing prevents remote [ancestry] as well through females, even that Anna herself germinated from David, which perhaps Andrew simply intended, as also Damascene, when in his oration on the Nativity of Mary, he has this concerning Anna: "How blessed is the house of David from which you have come forth!" And this is in the opinion of Nicephorus, whom Torniel, etc., follow without any examination. But perhaps the named author of the Synaxarium obtained a sounder codex than Nicephorus, such that he would have, for that which Nicephorus has C... [missing fragment] ...of the Levite, although in some matters supported by witnesses on both sides, is a persuasion. But regarding Elizabeth, the mother of the Forerunner, whom Luke says was of the daughters of Aaron, the matter is easy, that her mother, as it is in Nicephorus or in the Synaxarium, was a sister of Anna and of the senior Mary, [and] married a priest, she herself being of the tribe of Judah, just as those tribes were commingled; and from that marriage she conceived Elizabeth, related to Mary only through her mother: who herself also, in so great a series of generations, could have reached the Levitical genus through females; by which it is made sufficient for the Fathers, contending that the flesh of Christ was propagated from both, [that is] the royal and the priestly. Tornielius brings forward, as if from Baronius in the Apparatus, that Saint Germanus agrees with Hippolytus, such as Nicephorus has, regarding Anna, that she was from a priestly father. His words are: "But those things prove little; and they would have indicated more, as if Anna spoke out of gratitude, [that] she was of the same tribe as the priest, and joined to him by affinity, in the grandchild Elizabeth, [and] that she was of the same offspring, which [as] a royal genus, she would have even repelled from herself by her father." For by saying that she was a branch from David and Solomon, and others following, and that by that [she was] of the Aaronic tribe, there would be nothing other than [that she had] descended in direct succession from David and Solomon, into whose families the Aaronic tribe and family had been inserted, with marriages freely celebrated on both sides. Thus certainly the immediate genus of Mary and Joseph would have been more restricted from both parents. DA
The girl whom I have conceived, Anna cried out with joy to those present, prophetic voices once foretold, a mountain and a gate by which there is no passage, announcing her.
*To the Theotokos.*
A cloud, and a garden, and a gate of light, a table and a fleece we know you to be, and a pot bearing manna within, which brings sweetness to the world, O pure Mother of God.
*Ode VI. The prophet Jonah.*
How is she contained in the womb, she who contained God? How is she born, she who gave birth to Christ in the flesh? And how does she give suck, she who offered milk from her breasts to the Creator?
Your prayers having been heard by God, He has now graciously granted you a most fruitful fruit, O most praised Joachim and Anna, this day. B
Having conceived in her womb the pure dove, Anna was filled with spiritual joy, truly offering thanksgiving hymns to God.
*To the Theotokos.*
The tidal waves of thoughts, and the onsets of passions, and a deep abyss of sins, tempestuously toss my wretched soul: help me, holy Lady.
*Kontakion. Tone IV. You appeared today.*
The inhabited world celebrates today the conception of Anna, which came from God; for she herself birthed the one who, beyond reason, birthed the Word.
*The Oikos.*
You, who once in the old age of Sarah, through your visitation and promise, gave a son, the great Isaac, in your providence; you, who opened the barren womb of Anna, mother of Samuel your prophet, O Almighty One, and looked upon me: fulfill my petitions and receive my prayers, cried out in weeping the sober and barren Anna; and the Benefactor heard her, whence in joy she conceived the Virgin who, I say, beyond reason, birthed the Word. C
On the same month, the 9th: The conception of Saint Anna, mother of the Theotokos.
*Verses.*
You do not bear in pain, as Eve did. For you, Anna, carry joy within your womb. On the ninth day, Anna conceived Mary, the Mother of God.
COMBEFIS' NOTES
(25) *Kontakion.* I believe it is quite difficult, and not at all understood by modern Greeks, what such names properly signify in the divine offices, and from where they are derived; and having consulted those whom Greece now appears to have as learned men, whether in Rome or in the parts of Greece itself, they answer differently, each one conjecturing more from his own head than knowing from any certain monument of antiquity or tradition. The *Kontakion* is usually a shorter strophe; what they call the *domus* (oikos), is usually more extended, and is perhaps called *domus* because it contains more of the encomia of the feast day, and all its matters, as it were, in a compendium. They are not always joined. As for the *Exapostilarion*, which I see placed everywhere at the end of the canons, I think it signifies nothing other than a kind of dismissal, as it were a mass. For as for what Ligaridius and Coresius answered when consulted—the one, a sending forth of the apostles, the other, a grace which we ask to be sent to us by God—it is clear they were hallucinating, as anyone will see immediately who has read a few such exapostilaria.
CANON ON THE CONCEPTION OF SAINT ANNE
A Our Lord and God, wishing to prepare for Himself a living temple and a holy house as a dwelling place, sent His angel to the righteous Joachim and Anne, from whom He willed that His mother according to the flesh should come forth; He announced beforehand the conception of the barren and childless woman, in order to confirm the birth of the Virgin. Hence the holy Virgin Mary was conceived and born—not, as some say, in the seventh month, or without a man, but she was born having completed nine full months, and from promise indeed, yet from the union and seed of a man. But the Lord our God, Jesus Christ, was born of the holy Virgin Mary in a way secret and beyond explanation, as He alone knows, without the will of the flesh; and being perfect God, He assumed to Himself in the flesh a perfect human nature according to the dispensation, just as He had created and fashioned the human race in the beginning. B We therefore celebrate this day as one that preserves the memory of the oracles given by the angel, who announced the holy conception of the mother of God, who was barren. God, who made all things from nothing, performing these works, stirred up the barren womb toward fruitfulness, and in a miraculous way caused the woman who had grown old in childlessness to be a child-bearing mother; He provided this as a worthy outcome of the just request of the righteous, from whom He Himself was to come forth as God clothed in flesh for the regeneration of the whole world, having willed that those wise parents of God and mediators for men should beget the girl who before the ages, out of all generations, had been foreordained and chosen. This assembly is held in the venerable house of the Theotokos, which is in Eburanis, near the most holy church. C
Ode 7. You who threw the youths into the furnace.
Suppliant Anna begged of the Master of all to avoid the reproach of childlessness; and He, the compassionate One, hearing her voice, granted her the fruit that conceived Him, as He was well pleased.
In your womb, O Anna, the royal purple begins to be woven, which God and King of all, having put on, will appear to mortals and will humble the enemies who war against us.
You conceived in your womb, O Anna, the sweet-smelling ointment, she who in a supernatural way received the Master, that ointment of life; who has made our minds fragrant with the breaths of grace.
We glorify You, O Christ, as one of the Trinity, because, having been incarnate of the Virgin without change, You endured all things as a human being, without departing from the nature of the Father, O Jesus, even though You were united to us. D
Ode 8. Him whom the angels tremble before.
She whom David prophesied as queen, "Behold, I receive in my womb," cries Anna, "and I shall give birth to the protection of all the faithful, she who is to give birth to the King Christ."
The earth which the Creator of the earth inhabited, the scepter *
* Ps. XLIV, 10.
A of holiness, the new ark; the vessel holding the manna, now for the first time germinates in the womb of her who gave her birth. The bush unconsumed, the golden lampstand; the animate chamber of the Lord God; the precious rod, in the womb of the Mother who gave her birth, begins to germinate. B
To the Theotokos.
Raise up me who lies in the depths of evils; war against the enemies who now war against me; do not despise, O Chaste One, the soul wounded by foul pleasure; but have mercy and save.Ode 9. The Fount that received Life.
Receiving the Life-receiving fount, O God-minded Anna, having received the joy, accept the holy temple within the inner chambers of your womb; gleaming with the light of righteousness, magnify the Creator. The venerable and glorious pair, the progenitors of the Son before the ages, who became precise guardians of the Law; who brought forth the first-fruits of joy, let Joachim and Anna be honored. That which Daniel beheld as a great mountain, and Joel beheld as a holy land; that which another prophesied as an impenetrable gate; the sealed fountain and the divine fleece, let us celebrate in songs the Theotokos Virgin.To the Theotokos.
The purple which dyed the wool of the ineffable incarnation of the Word; the golden altar; the table upon which the Bread, Christ, was placed, the Theotokos Virgin is glorified.Exapostilarion. Who adorns the heaven with stars.
The Wisdom of God builds for herself a house from a barren womb, the Theotokos Mary, whom all generations rightly call blessed.To the Theotokos. Similar.
O Mother-of-God Mary, the pride of those born on earth, the protection of sinners, the only hope of Christians, and the care of the world, deliver me from the threat of fire. CSEPTEMBER, THE EIGHTH DAY: THE NATIVITY OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY THE THEOTOKOS.
Canon of the Lord Andrew. Ode 1, Tone Plagal 4. To Him who crushed.
Let all creation dance; let David rejoice because from his family and from his seed a rod has come forth, bearing as a flower the Lord and Redeemer of all. The Holy of Holies is placed as an infant in the holy temple, to be nourished D by the hand of an angel; let us all, therefore, faithfully celebrate together her nativity.NOTES
A The barren Anna, though she had no child, was not forsaken by God; for from many generations the Mother of the pure Virgin was already foreordained, from whom the Creator of creation came forth in the form of a servant.
Regarding the tradition of both churches and the Fathers concerning girls of this sort being educated within the temple precincts and being constant in divine praises and the service of the temple—a tradition so constant that there should be no doubt about it, for which purpose the structure and composition of the temple are to be studied in Baronius, Torniellus, Villalpandus, etc.—and that she was also nourished by angelic hands, we have witnesses such as our Andrew, Germanus of Constantinople, George of Nicomedia, etc., so that it may be piously believed. Yet it should not be understood as a daily occurrence, such as George rhetorically describes to many, as if it were something visible daily and frequently, and as if her ministering angel were visible to her companions and priests as well. These things are too portentous and not necessary, since there were those in that place who took care of Mary. Concerning this matter, the apocryphal book that Gregory of Nyssa used (Orat. in diem Natal. Christi, vol. II, p. 778) says: "And the priests, meanwhile, raised the child in the holy places after the likeness of Samuel." The priests, therefore (until, that is, the years of puberty, when she was betrothed to Joseph: "by the counsel of the priests," he says), raised her in the holy buildings after the likeness of Samuel, with no mention of that heavenly food.
However, our Royal author expressed this concerning the Nativity of Mary. For he says thus, having inserted some things said to Mary by the priest who received her, which do not seem so much to have been said by him as piously imagined by the author, as if they were to be said by a man who was already aware of the entire mystery to be shown in her: "And he set her upon the third step of the altar, and the Lord God cast grace upon her, and she danced with her feet, and all the house of Israel loved her. And her parents went down wondering and praising and glorifying the Lord God, because the child did not turn backward. And Mary was in the temple of the Lord, as a dove roaming, and she received food from the hand of an angel." And he set her upon the third step of the altar. Concerning these various steps and ascensions of the temple, see many things in Villalpandus, vol. II, p. 2, chap. 34: "And the Lord God put joy into her, so that leaping, she danced; and the whole house of Israel loved her. Her parents truly descended, wondering and praising and glorifying the Lord God, because the girl had not turned backward. Mary, moreover, was fed in the temple like a dove, receiving food by an angelic hand." This one thing, I believe, the Fathers who recount this had as the foundation of her miraculous food; and certainly, by standing on the borders of the apocryphal and by explaining it more chastely, as something occasional and more hidden—while the life and childhood of Mary are meanwhile not so widely known, so that it might seem to be a miracle—for this reason the book *On the Infancy of the Savior* was rejected as a fabrication of the Manichaeans, to protect the faith in the Lord’s Incarnation; so that, I say, with such moderation she received such angelic food, that nothing may seem absurd, but clearly pious and consonant with her great asceticism and contemplation, through which she seemed already to be joined to the angelic choirs, even purer than the angels, and elevated above the state in which Adam was created, mortality excepted. B What if someone were to explain that food mystically? And understand that ambrosia, that new and spontaneously prepared food of Andrew and Germanus, to be nothing other than divine illuminations flowing through angelic ministry to her mind, schooled by God? Perhaps it would be more subtle than violent; and thus that sculpture at our great temple of Holy Mary in Paris, showing the angel sustaining Mary, would be mystical and symbolic, and like that which occurs in the same great temple, immediately from the inner narthex, in that great mass, where the image of the martyr Christopher carrying the child Jesus appears in stone work.
But it is more difficult than the rest, and more contrary to faith, that Greek authors, and the Greek Church itself, celebrate her entry as if she were a familiar in the Holy of Holies. For who could believe that it was granted to a girl, who was not even of the Levitical tribe, but of Judah, to enter that place—which even the high priest, with such a ceremony of blood and smoke, entered only once a year—daily, and as often as she wished? What do I say, "enter"? That she spent her whole life in such a terrible and sacred place? For besides George and the office of the Nativity of Mary inserted without him, Germanus of Constantinople pursues this constantly—whether it be Germanus the confessor who vigorously defended the images in the time of Leo the Isaurian, or another. For many of the same name sat at Constantinople: nor are the prayers concerning the cross those of the ancient one, as Gretser well perceived; and the style indicates they are not all by the same person, being published under the name of Saint Germanus; and the Royal codex, n. 275, Oratio in Mariæ Nativit., vol. II Bibl. Patr., et περιπατεῖ γῇ σπιθαμῇ, ascribes it to Damascene. Indeed, regarding Germanus, whoever he may be, nothing else occurs to be said except that he exceeded in too much piety toward Mary (which the learned man Isaac Habert, a Parisian theologian, taught in familiar conversation to be the solution); otherwise, however, I would have explained our Andrew and other Fathers, and the Greek Church universal itself, whatever a more rustic piety might perhaps feel about it now, that the Holy of Holies, the temple itself, as a place of prayer and the house of God, can be taken in a broad sense; not that innermost part in which formerly, as in the temple of Solomon, the ark had rested: for it was not in the Zerubbabel temple, into which something greater than the ark, and of which it was the symbol, the Lord Jesus, God Himself, was to be introduced in the flesh, and for that reason, with greater glory above Solomon, though it was far inferior in other respects, Haggai 2:10. Concerning this matter, Villalpandus has many things. Gregory of Nyssa favors this in that oration on the Nativity of the Lord, where he reports that Anna, as others do with our apocryphal book, after pouring out prayers in the garden, was released from sterility: "She imitates, therefore, also the accounts concerning the mother of Samuel; and having entered within the Holy of Holies, she becomes a suppliant of God, not failing in the blessings of the law [lit. 'of the laws'], having sinned nothing against the law, but that she might become a mother and dedicate to God the one born. And being strengthened by a divine nod, she received the grace which she had asked." Through which it is poorly printed at the end, which leaves the whole sentence unexposed, and is less accurate in other places: it clearly remains that it should be read "strengthened for childbearing," or "procreation," as other Fathers speak on the same matter, that by the nod of God, having received strength and being empowered for the bearing of offspring, she received the grace she asked. Anna, therefore, entered within the holy or Holy of Holies, in imitation of the other Anna, as a suppliant to God to obtain offspring. But who would dream that the other Anna had entered that most sacred place, the Holy of Holies? Nothing, therefore, is the Holy of Holies to Nyssen, except the temple itself, in which, and in a place sufficiently humble and fitting for a woman, Anna prayed; within the Holy, that is, of the Holy of Holies, she might be said to pray; and so clearly the offspring of Anna, Mary, was introduced and educated in the Holy of Holies. Furthermore,
A Thee, the spotless ewe-lamb, who alone from your womb brought forth the wool for Christ, that is, our human substance, we all, O offspring of Anna, honor with songs. Glory. I glorify three unoriginated, I praise three holy; I proclaim three coeternal in one substance. For God is glorified as one in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In the Mother of God. Who has seen a child not sown by a father fed with milk? Or where has a Virgin Mother been seen? Truly, both are beyond reason, O chaste Mother of God. Ode 3. My heart is strengthened. Blessed is your heart, O prudent Anna; for the fruit of virginity has blossomed, which without seed bore Him who is the nourisher of creation and the Redeemer, Jesus. Thee, O Ever-Virgin, all creation blesses, born today from Anna; thee who from the root of Jesse hast caused the stainless staff, the flower Christ, to sprout. Showing thee, O spotless Mother of God, more eminent than all creation, your Son magnifies your birth from Anna, and gladdens all today. Nurtured in the Holy of Holies, O stainless Virgin Mother of God, you were shown to be higher than creation, you who bore the Creator in the flesh. Glory. We worship thee, O Father without beginning, in substance; we praise your eternal Son; and we venerate and worship the coeternal Spirit: as one God in three by nature.
NOTES OF COMBEFIS
I ask, whence did this portentous privilege of Mary proceed, never conceded even to the Son, while neither our own nor the Nyssenian apocryphon—if they are the same—say anything of the sort about her? For it is not likely that Germanus or other later writers saw other B documents, and I would believe they wished to imitate that phrase of Nyssen already explained, as Greece is very tenacious of its own, and that this was an occasion of error for some, as especially related by Germanus, who attended more to the surface of the words than to the sacraments of the Jews and the decorum of the history itself, to which these figments are surprisingly injurious. As for what is related by Jerome, as if from Hegesippus, concerning James the brother of the Lord, entering the privilege of the Holy of Holies, whether it has any truth or semblance of truth, I could not easily judge. Certainly, other things related by the same author and his successor seemed not undeservedly difficult to Estius, and little worthy of so great an apostle. The same, however, is taught by Epiphanius, who even explains it further, that it was permitted to him once a year, because of the extraordinary reputation for holiness by which he was called righteous by all, and also because he was C related by birth to the priests. Which reasoning in the opinion of Epiphanius, teaching that he was the son of Joseph from his first wife, is less effective: it would be otherwise if we were to say that his father was a priest from the other sister of the holy Anna, so that the same transpired for him as for John the Baptist, who, being the son of a priest, was the nephew of Anna. Actually, in this way and with such moderation, I would easily admit the matter regarding James, especially since the religion of the place was greatly diminished after the Romans had violated it under the leadership of Pompey: but these things have nothing to do with the portents of Germanus. Although I cannot, as a side-issue among many erroneous things D and things needing correction in that oration of Germanus, both in the text and in the version and marginal notes, fail to bring this forward to his end and to note it, that addressing Mary, he asks through her that it be granted to him to be in that blessed region, together with his *syngonō* and *syndoulē*, thus the King [ms.], although another not so ancient one desires it. The interpreter, for *syngonō* which his own codex had erroneously, suspects that *syzygon* should be read, which word, he says, Chrysostom has, etc., and renders it "spouse": it is truly a wonder whose spouse's consortium a Patriarch of Constantinople and a saint, having been assumed in the manner of others into the monastery and being celibate, could have desired: but all things might be permitted to the grammarians. Clearly, however, as a mystic man, such as his mystical theoria represents, and the orations on the Assumption of Mary—one published, but rendered poorly, the other from the royal treasury perhaps to be published by us one day—he has signified in those words mystically and in a more spiritual sense the same thing that Paul signified in other plainer ones: "Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ"; whose flesh, and our assumed nature, is that of ours, *syngonos* and *syndoulē*, sister and fellow-servant, in whom God has already made us to sit in the heavenly places; since the firstfruits are sitting, and we are enjoying the better things, the lot of which same Mary we too by God's help may one day attain through her prayers. There is likewise no impropriety, and perhaps it is more German [true/genuine], that it be referred to Mary, so that if she is our sister and fellow-servant, with whom he now reigns in the heavens, he may pray, being her devoted servant, through her intercessions.To the Theotokos.
You, immaculate Theotokos, who gave birth to the Giver of Light and the Author of human life, have been revealed as the treasury of our life and the gate of unapproachable light. ASessional Hymn. Mode Plagal 4. The commandment given.
Let heaven rejoice, let the earth be glad; for she who is the heaven of God, the bride of God, has been born on earth. She who was barren now nurses the infant Mary, according to the promise, and Joachim rejoices at the birth. A rod, he says, has been born to me, from which the flower, Christ, has blossomed from the root of David; truly a wondrous miracle.Ode 4. I have heard, O Lord.
Let us faithful ones, glorifying with psalms and hymns the all-venerable nativity of the Theotokos, adore with faith the truthful God, who swore to David that He would provide fruit from his loins. B You opened, O Lord, the womb of Sarah, providing Isaac as fruit in her old age. The same one, O Savior, you have today given to pious Anna: a fruitful womb producing an immaculate Mother, your own. Let Anna say: You have heard, O Lord, my prayers, granting me today the fruit of the promise, her who from all generations and women was foreordained as your chaste and immaculate Mother. The world rejoices with you today, God-minded Anna; for you have caused the Mother of its Redeemer to blossom, she who sprouted from the root of David, bringing to us the rod of power, the flower, Christ.Glory.
I glorify you, O beginningless Trinity, undivided in essence, crying out like the Cherubim with my clay-formed tongue: Holy, holy is He who is, and who remains for ever, one God, eternal. CNow and ever. To the Theotokos.
The prophecies of the God-speakers have been fulfilled, immaculate one, of those who faithfully call you tabernacle, and gate, and spiritual mountain, bush, and Aaron’s rod, sprouted from the root of David.Ode 5. O Lord my God.
Immaculate is your birth, O immaculate Virgin; ineffable are both your conception and your labor; wondrous is your fruit, O unwedded bride; for God, being entire, carried me entirely. Let the hosts of angels rejoice today; let the descendants of Adam lead the dance with joined songs; for the rod has been born, destined to sprout the flower Christ, the only Redeemer of Adam. D Today Eve is released from the condemnation; and Adam is released from the ancient curse as he cries out at your birth, O immaculate one; for in you we have been redeemed from destruction.Glory.
Glory to you who have glorified the barren one today; for if she is…A destined to bring forth the rod that is ever-blooming from the promise, from which Christ the flower of our life has budded forth.
Glory.
We worship you, O beginningless Trinity, undivided, uncreated, co-eternal, and of one nature, who are always preached in a wondrous way in three subsistences in one substance.
About the Theotokos.
Your womb has become a holy table; your purity, O Virgin, remained inviolate as before; for Christ the sun, as a bridegroom from a bridal chamber, has appeared from you.
Ode 6. As the waters of the sea.
We sing of your holy birth: but we also honor, O bride of God, bride and virgin, your conception without seed; and the angelic orders and the souls of the saints dance with us.
Being the Holy of Holies, O immaculate one, your prudent parents offered you to be reared honorably in the house of the Lord, so that you might be prepared as a mother for him.
Rejoice, ye barren women and mothers; take courage and leap for joy, ye who are childless; for the barren one, childless until now, brings forth the Theotokos, who shall deliver Eve from her pains and Adam from his curse.
I hear David singing to you: "The virgins shall be led after her; they shall be led into the temple of the king"; and with him, I too celebrate you, O daughter of the King, in songs.
Glory.
In you the mystery of the Trinity is praised and glorified, O immaculate one; for the Father was well-pleased, and the Word dwelt among us, and the divine Spirit overshadowed you.
About the Theotokos.
You have become a golden censer; for the fire, the Word, dwelt in your womb from the Holy Spirit, C and in the form of man he appeared from you, O pure Mother of God.
Kontakion. Tone 4.
Joachim and Anna were freed from the reproach of childlessness, and Adam and Eve from the corruption of death, O immaculate one, in your holy birth. Your people also celebrate it, released from the guilt of their sins, in crying out to you: The barren one gives birth to the Theotokos, and the nurse of our life. D
Oikos.
The prayer and sighing of the barrenness and childlessness of Joachim and Anna were accepted, and at
A their prayers have reached the ears of the Lord; and they have sprouted a life-bearing fruit for the world. For the one was completing his prayer on the mountain; the other was bearing the reproach in the garden. But with joy the barren one gives birth to the Theotokos, and the nurse of our life.
Verse. Truly, Anna, you surpass all mothers: as one to whom a beloved daughter is born as fruit. Anna brought forth the God-bearer before the dawn on the eighth day.
The father of this one, Joachim, drew his lineage from the royal tribe. Although this man offered double gifts to God, as a God-fearing and wealthy man, he was nevertheless reproached for his childlessness. Grieved at heart by this, he himself in the mountain, and his spouse Anna in the garden, besought God with tears, who also B granted them the holy fruit of the womb, the most holy Theotokos. But so that we may know the distinction of Anna from both sides, I shall narrate the facts accurately. The twenty-third from the lineage of David and Solomon is found to be Matthan; he married Mary from the tribe of Judah, and he begat Jacob, the father of the craftsman, and three daughters: Mary, Sobe, and Anna. And Mary indeed gives birth to Salome the midwife; Sobe gives birth to Elizabeth; and Anna gives birth to the Theotokos. Thus the Theotokos was the granddaughter of Matthan and of Mary his wife; and Elizabeth and Salome had Anna as an aunt, and were cousins of the Theotokos, by whose intercessions, Christ God, have mercy on us.
Ode 7. The furnace of the Chaldeans. We celebrate, O immaculate one, and faithfully venerate your holy birth, that which is from the promise, through which we have been delivered from the ancient sentence of Adam C now. Now Anna rejoices and cries out boasting: I who was barren have given birth to God's Mother, by whom the condemnation of Eve is dissolved, and the labor in pangs. Adam is liberated, and Eve dances, and they cry out in spirit to you, the Theotokos: In you have we been redeemed from the initial, primeval curse, Christ having appeared. Barren and childless ones, make haste, souls without offspring, because Anna is a mother of many, and now she is rejoicing. Mothers, dance with the Mother of God, and rejoice together.
Glory. Let us glorify the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, in the unity of the Godhead; the most holy Trinity, undivided, uncreated, coeternal, and consubstantial.
Theotokion. You alone gave birth to God, a virgin after childbirth; you renewed nature by your birth-giving, Mary; you, O chaste God-bearer, dissolved Eve from the primeval curse.
Ode 8. He who made silence in the waters. He who worked wonders in the barren womb; who opened D the unfruitful womb of Anna, and gave to her the fruit...
of the holy root, the undefiled fruit, the staff of the Theotokos, he has caused to bloom. A
Thou who didst break the indissoluble bonds of barrenness; thou who didst give to the barren woman a fruitful offspring, and a glorious and noble fruit; to whom thou didst become a Son, and of whom thou wert born as a shoot: whom in the flesh, at thy coming to us, O merciful One, thou didst have as Mother.
Cultivator of our minds, and sower of our souls, who didst show the barren land to be fertile; thou didst cause holy Anna, formerly a dry field, fruitful with ears of grain, to produce the undefiled fruit, the Theotokos. B
Gloria.
O more than substantial Trinity, coeternal Unity, the host of angels praises and trembles before thee; heaven and earth likewise; the abysses shudder; men bless thee; fire serves in fear; all created things, O holy Trinity, obey thee.
In Deipar.
O most novel hearing, that God should be the son of a woman! O birth without seed, that a mother should be without a man, and that God should be that which was brought forth by birth! O horrendous spectacle! O wondrous conception of the Virgin! O truly ineffable birth, which clearly surpasses mind and intelligence! C
Od. 9. A matribus alienum.
Worthy, Mother of God, by your chastity, of the birth obtained through the promise; for as a fruit germinating from God, you were granted to the formerly barren woman; wherefore all the tribes of the earth unceasingly proclaim you blessed.
The prophecy of him who cried out is fulfilled; for he says: "I will raise up the tabernacle of David that had fallen," D which was prefigured in you, undefiled one; through which the whole dust of men was refashioned into a body for God.
We venerate your swaddling clothes, O Theotokos; we glorify him who once provided fruit to the barren woman, and in a miraculous manner opened the unfruitful womb. For he does all things whatsoever he wills, as he who is almighty God.
From the womb, beyond hope and through the promise, you brought forth, O God-minded Anna, parent of the Virgin bride, the God-blossoming flower of virginity, the ornament of chastity: wherefore we all, as the root of our life, proclaim you blessed.
Gloria.
It is alien to the wicked to glorify the eternal Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, the uncreated omnipotence and power holding together all things; by which the whole world is established and founded by the nod of his power.
And now. A To the Theotokos. You contained in your womb, O Mother of God, that One of the Trinity, Christ the King, whom every creature hymns, and the thrones above tremble before. Entreat him, O most venerable one, that we may attain the salvation of our souls.
Exapostilarion. Hear, O women. A The ends of the earth rejoice today at your birth, O maiden Mary, who birthed God, and maiden who has not known marriage, in whom you dissolved the sad reproach of childlessness of those who brought you forth, and the curse that our ancestress Eve incurred in her bearing.
By Andrew of Jerusalem on the Annunciation. (March 25th)
Today are the glad tidings of joy, a maidenly feast; the things below are joined to the things above. Adam is renewed, B Eve is freed from her primal grief, and the tabernacle of our essence, by the deification of the assumed flesh, has been called a temple of God. O mystery! The manner of the emptying is unknown; the manner of the conception is inexpressible. An Angel ministers to the miracle; a maidenly womb receives the Son; the Holy Spirit is sent; the Father from above is well-pleased, and the exchange is accomplished according to a common will; in whom and through whom being saved, let us cry out in unison with Gabriel to the Virgin: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you," from whom is salvation, Christ our God, having assumed the nature of us humans, has brought it back to himself. Entreat him that our souls may be saved. C
On the Thursday of the fifth week, the signal is given at the fourth hour of the night. Having gathered in the church, a blessing is given by the priest, as is the custom; and we say the Hexapsalmos, the Alleluia, and the Triadika, as is the custom of the tone, and we recite the Psalter in order. Then we say the Kathismata of the Octoechos, and we read the life of St. Mary of Egypt in two sections. Then the 50th Psalm follows, and immediately we begin the Great Canon slowly, and with a contrite heart and voice; making three prostrations for each troparion.
THE GREAT CANON
Ode 1, Plagal 2nd Tone. The Hirmos.
D "He became my helper and protector for salvation. This is my God, and I will glorify him; the God of my father, and I will exalt him; for he has been gloriously glorified." [d]
COMBEFIS'S NOTES
(28) Scarcely could the most holy Andrew have been able to depict with more vivid colors, and with equal erudition, a holiness solid in true humility of heart and compunction. Indeed, that fifth day of the fifth week of the fasts, in which they recite this Great Canon in the solemn office, may seem an immense burden. For what and how huge a labor it is, that after a short taste of sleep and the recitation according to custom of what the rubric immediately prescribes, this almost immense Canon should be chanted with a morose and contrite heart and voice, with three prostrations for each troparion, and ten... There are certainly, indeed, prostrations and venias, where they are more frequent, greatly fatiguing the body, and the labor is immense, with which the Greeks, by the paternal tradition of the saints, much exercise themselves. Moreover, while there occurs in the office of this Canon, especially, that august species of holiness in the Greek Church, a grieving soul is moved, since — it is almost extinct, whether by schism or by Turkish tyranny — so much of the Christian name is [diminishing], and is extinguished day by day, with houses being turned into Mosques, and with Christians gradually perishing and falling away, those sacred buildings in which such great holiness was once venerated, as if with holy institutions. Nor is it less grieving that many, with hearts of iron...
The Grand Canon
A Whence shall I begin to lament the actions of my wretched life? What first-fruits shall I offer, O Christ, for this present lamentation? But, as You are compassionate, grant me forgiveness of my transgressions. Come, wretched soul, together with your flesh, confess to the Creator of all, and hereafter abstain from your former irrationality, and offer tears to God in repentance. Having emulated in my transgression Adam the first-formed, I have known myself to be stripped of God, and of the eternal kingdom and delight, by reason of my sins.
Woe is me, wretched soul! Why have you been made like the first Eve? For you have looked wickedly, and have been bitterly wounded; and you extended your hand to the tree, and rashly tasted of the irrational food [(Gen. iii, 6)]. Instead of the physical Eve, the intellectual Eve has risen up against me; to wit, the passionate thought in the flesh, showing the sweet, and yet ever tasting of the bitter. Justly was Adam expelled from Eden, for he had not kept one commandment of Yours, O Savior; what then shall I suffer, who am ever setting at naught Your life-giving words? Having followed the murder of Cain, I have by my own volition become a murderer, by the conscience of my soul; having brought the flesh to life, and waged war against it by my wicked actions. B To the righteousness of Abel, O Jesus, I have not been made like; I have never offered to You acceptable gifts, nor divine actions, nor a pure sacrifice, nor a life irreproachable. As was Cain, so also are we, O wretched soul, for we have brought together to the Creator of all, filthy actions, and a rejected sacrifice, and a useless life; wherefore we have been condemned. O Potter, You fashioned me from clay, and gave me flesh and bones, and breath and life. But, O my Maker, and my Redeemer, and my Judge, receive me as I repent. I declare to You, O Savior, the sins which I have wrought, and the wounds of both soul and body, which the murderous thoughts within have inflicted upon me, like brigands.
C D COMBEFIS' NOTE. ...foreseeing for both, transmits [these] to us from our abundance, to be cherished. This is said in passing and as if in a parenthesis. To our subject, therefore. This Canon is also appointed to be recited in the Triodion during the first week of the juniors [the Great Fast], but distributed over the days. We render it in a simple style, and plainly more devoted than Latin. I leave the ecclesiastical terms in the rubrics to be explained by those more skilled, especially in the awaited notes to the Euchologion; and it has not seemed necessary to express them more "Latinly," as, for instance, to render "bond," etc. For rather, in these cases, the Latin words seem to obscure [the meaning] than to bring light. Although the Royal codices possess them, I deemed a collation less necessary: because especially the other edition, that first week of the fasts, can serve in place of another codex for the healing of typographical errors.
MAGNUS CANON
A Even if I have sinned, Savior, yet I know that You are a lover of mankind. You strike with compassion, and You have warm pity; You see me weeping, and You run towards me, as a father calling back the prodigal. Me, lying before Your gates, Savior, even in old age, do not cast into the void of Hades. But before the end, as a lover of mankind, grant me forgiveness of my transgressions.
I have fallen among thieves, to wit, my own thoughts. I am entirely wounded by them now; I have been filled with stripes. But You, standing by me, Christ Savior, heal me.
The priest, seeing me from afar, passed by; and the Levite, looking at me in my distress, despised me, naked. But You, Jesus, who arose from Mary, do You stand by me and have pity.
B You, the Lamb of God, who take away the sins of all, take from me the heavy yoke, the yoke of sin; and as one compassionate, grant me forgiveness of transgressions.
The time is for repentance; I come to You, my Creator. Take from me the heavy yoke, the yoke of sin; and as one compassionate, grant me forgiveness of transgressions.
Do not abhor me, Savior; do not cast me from Your face. Take from me the heavy yoke, the yoke of sin; and as one compassionate, grant me forgiveness of transgressions.
My voluntary, Savior, and involuntary faults, and those manifest and hidden, and known and unknown—all of them, forgiving as God, be propitious, and save me.
C From my youth, Savior, I have pushed away Your commandments. Wholly with passions, neglecting and slothful, I have passed my life. Therefore I cry to You, Savior: even in the end, save me.
Having consumed your substance, O soul, in prodigality, you are bare of godly fruits; starving, cry out: O Father of mercies, anticipating, have mercy on me.
I fall before You, Jesus; I have sinned against You, be propitious to me; take from me the heavy yoke, the yoke of sin, and as one compassionate, grant me tears of compunction.
D Do not enter into judgment with me, bringing forth my deeds, examining my words, and correcting my impulses; but in Your mercies, overlooking my evils, save me, O Almighty.
Another Canon, of our holy Mother Mary of Egypt, to the same tone and hirmos. It has no acrostic.
O holy Mary, provide aid. Grant me that bright grace, which you attained from divine providence on high, that I may escape the darkness that covers the sight of my vices, and with a ready spirit, O Mary, may sing of the virtuous deeds of your life. Submitting yourself to the divine laws of Christ, you drew near to Him, having abandoned the uncontrollable urges of the passions; and with all piety, whatever there is of virtue, you achieved it all together as if it were a single virtue.
A Andrew. By your suppliant prayers, Andrew, free us from shameful vices and disturbances; and now, noble man, make us participants in that kingdom of Christ, praying to you in faith and longing, we beseech you.
Glory. Transcendent Trinity, worshipped in unity: take the heavy yoke of sin from me; and in Your clemency, grant me tears of compunction.
Both now. Toward the Theotokos. Theotokos, the hope and defense of those who praise you, take the heavy yoke of sin from me; and as a chaste Lady, receive me as I repent.
Ode 2. Hirmos.
Attend, O heaven, and I will speak, and I will sing of Christ, who came in the flesh from the Virgin. Attend, O heaven, and I will speak; O earth, give ear to the voice of one repenting to God and B praising Him. Attend to me, O God, as one merciful, with Your propitious eye; and receive my fervent confession. I have sinned more than all men; against You alone have I sinned; but as God, O Savior, have mercy on Your creature. A storm of evils surrounds me on every side, O merciful Lord; but as You did for Peter, stretch out Your hand to me also. The tears of the harlot, O merciful One, I too offer; be propitious to me, O Savior, by Your mercy. I have extinguished the C beautiful form of my soul with the pleasures of the passions, and have rendered my mind entirely and utterly earthly. I have now torn apart that first garment which the Creator wove for me from the beginning; and therefore I lie naked, and I am suffused with shame. DI have put on a torn tunic, which the counsel of the serpent wove for me, and I am ashamed. A I looked upon the beauty of the tree and was led astray in my mind, and because of this I lie naked and ashamed. They have fashioned upon my back all the princes of the passions and vices; they have prolonged their iniquity against me. I have lost the beauty first bestowed upon me, and my own proper form; and now, suffused with shame, I lie naked. Sin has sewn for me garments of skin, stripping me of the tunic previously woven by God. I am clothed in the attire of shame, like the leaves of the fig tree, as a witness to the passions I have contracted by my own free will. I am clothed in a spotted tunic, foully stained by the nature of a life of passion and pleasure. I have stained the tunic of my flesh, and have defiled, O Savior, the image and likeness within me. B I have submitted to the suffering caused by the passions and to material corruption, and for this reason the enemy now presses hard upon me. Having preferred a life that loves material things and possessions over the life of voluntary poverty, O Savior, I now bear that heavy yoke. I have adorned that statue of the flesh with a manifold covering of shameful thoughts, and I am condemned as a criminal. I have been solicitous only for the beauty of the exterior, C while neglecting the tabernacle fashioned by God within. Having deformed the beauty of my mind with the ugliness of vice, through my pleasure-seeking impulses, I have corrupted its excellence. I have buried the beauty of my first image, O Savior, in vices; but just as you once sought the drachma, so seek me. I have sinned; I cry to you as did that harlot: To you alone have I sinned; receive, O Savior, my tears as if they were ointment. I have fallen, like David, into incontinence and have been defiled; D but wash me as well, O Savior, with tears. Be merciful; I cry to you as the Publican: "Lord, be merciful to me." For no one born of Adam has sinned against you as I have. I have no tears, nor repentance, nor compunction; grant these to me yourself, O Savior, for you are God. Do not shut your door against me then, saying, "Lord, Lord," but open it to me in my repentance. O lover of mankind, who "wills that all men should be saved," call me back, and as you are good, receive me as I repent.
A Glory. Hearken, O Savior, to the groanings of my soul, and receive the shedding of tears from my eyes, and save me. Now and ever. To the Theotokos. O immaculate Virgin Theotokos, only most-praised, intercede fervently for our salvation.
Another Hirmos. See, see, that I am God, who rained down manna and once brought forth water from the rock in the desert for my people, with my hand alone and my strength. See, see, that I am God; hearken, O my soul, to the Lord who cries out, and withdraw from your former sin; and fear him as Judge, and as Arbitrator, and as God.
To whom have you become like, O soul full of many sins? Are you not like the first, Cain, and that Lamech, having killed the body with evil deeds as if with stones, and having slain the mind with irrational impulses? Having bypassed all those who lived before the Law, O soul, you were not made like Seth; you did not imitate Enos; nor Enoch, so as to be translated; nor Noah; but you appeared needy and lacking the life of the just. You alone, O my soul, opened the cataracts of the anger of your God; and you have flooded everything, like the earth, [your] flesh; and the deeds and the life [you have submerged], and you have remained outside the ark of salvation.
B "I have killed a man, it is said, to my wounding, and a youth to my injury," Lamech cried out, lamenting. But you, O my soul, do you not tremble, having defiled your flesh and filthily stained your mind? Alas, how I have imitated Lamech, the slayer of old! Having killed the soul as if it were a man, and the mind as if it were a youth; and finally, having killed the body as a brother, like Cain, by [my] pleasure-loving impulses. You cleverly thought, O soul, to build a tower and erect a fortification for your desires, had the Creator not confounded your counsels and shattered your machines to the ground.
C I am wounded, I am struck. Behold the arrows of the enemy [that] have pierced my soul and body. Behold the wounds, the sores, the maimings, they cry out of the blows of my own voluntary passions. "The Lord once rained fire from the Lord," devastating the impiety of the Sodomites that had grown angry; but you yourself, O soul, have kindled the fire of Gehenna, in which you are about, O soul, to be burned together.
D Know and see, because "I am the Lord, [the one who searches...]"
A the hearts and explores the thoughts," 35 rebuking actions, and burning up sins, and judging the orphan, and the humble, and the poor.
*Of the Saint.* You stretched out your hands to the merciful God, Mary, being submerged in an abyss of evils; and as He once stretched out a hand of help to Peter, B He mercifully extends, God entirely seeking your conversion. With all eagerness, with longing you ran to Christ, having turned away from the former path of sin; and being nourished in the inaccessible deserts, and perfectly fulfilling His divine commandments.
*Of Andrew.* Let us see, let us see, O soul, the philanthropy of God and the Master; for this reason, before the end, let us fall down before Him with tears, crying out: By the intercessions of Andrew, Savior, have mercy on us.
*Glory.* Originless, uncreated Trinity; indivisible Unity, receive me repenting; save me, who have sinned. I am Your creature; do not despise me, but spare me, and deliver me from the fire of condemnation.
*And now. Of the Theotokos.* Undefiled Lady, Theotokos; the hope of those who run to you, and the harbor of those tossed in the storm; render to me also, through your supplications, that merciful One and Creator, and your Son, propitious.
*Ode 3. The Irmos.* Establish, O Christ, upon the unshaken rock of Your commandments, Your Church. C • "The Lord rained fire from the Lord," [a] and formerly burned up the land of Sodom. Be saved to the mountain, O soul, just like that Lot, and hasten to be saved in Zoar. Flee the conflagration, O my soul, flee the burning of Sodom; flee the corruption of the divine scorching. I confess to You, O Savior; I have sinned, I have sinned against You. [b] But excuse me; forgive me, as one compassionate. I alone have sinned against You; I have sinned more than all; Christ Savior, do not despise me. You are the good Shepherd; search for me, the lamb; and do not despise me, who have wandered. You are the sweet Jesus; You are my Creator. In You, O Savior, shall I be justified.
*Glory.* O Trinity, Unity, O God, save us from error, and temptations, and tribulations. *And now. Of the Theotokos.* Rejoice, womb that received God; rejoice, throne of the Lord; rejoice, Mother of our life. D
Ode. A Hirmo
A Confirm, O Lord, upon the rock of Thy commandments my wavering heart: for Thou alone art holy and Lord. I possess Thee as the fountain of life, the destroyer of death, and I cry to Thee from my heart before the end: I have sinned; be propitious; save me. I have imitated, O Savior, those who in the time of Noah burned with wantonness; and having shared in their condemnation, I have been overwhelmed in the flood of destruction. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned against Thee; be propitious to me: for there is no man among men who has sinned, whom I have not surpassed in my transgressions. O my soul, imitating that Ham who was a parricide, you did not cover the shame of your neighbor, but walked backward in your indecency. You have not obtained, O wretched soul, that blessing of Shem; nor as Japheth have you obtained a broad possession in the land of refreshment. Depart, my soul, from the land of sin, from Charran; come to the land flowing with immortal incorruption, which Abraham received as an inheritance. Long ago, my soul, you heard that Abraham left his native land and became a sojourner: imitate his resolve. When the patriarch had lovingly entertained the angels as guests at the oak of Mamre, in his old age he obtained the prize of the promise. You have known, O wretched soul, of Isaac who was offered mystically to the Lord as a new sacrifice; be an emulator of his resolution. You have heard of Ishmael; be sober and wise, my soul, and as the son of the handmaid was cast out of the house, see that you do not suffer something similar through your petulance. Long ago, soul, you were like the Egyptian Hagar, enslaved in your purpose, and you gave birth to a new Ishmael—namely, insolence. You know, my soul, the ladder of Jacob that reached from earth to heaven; why have you not possessed a safe footing in piety? Emulate in your life among men the priest of God and unique king, the expressed image of the life of Christ in the world. Do not, my soul, turn back and become a pillar of salt; let the example of the Sodomites terrify you; look to your salvation in Segor. Beware, my soul, like Lot, of the fire of sin; beware of Sodom and Gomorrah; beware of the flame of every irrational desire. Have mercy, O Lord, have mercy on me, as I cry to Thee; when Thou shalt come with Thy angels, to reward all according to the merit of their deeds. Do not, O Lord, despise the prayer of those who praise Thee; but in Thy clemency have mercy, and grant forgiveness to those who ask in faith.On the Holy One
A I am constrained, O Mother, by the surging waves of my sins; do you now bring about my salvation and lead me into the harbor of divine repentance. You, O holy one, offering my suppliant prayer to the merciful Theotokos through your intercession, open to me the divine portals.To Andrew
To me also, O Andrew, bishop of Crete, as an excellent teacher of repentance, grant by your intercessions to God the remission of my debts.Glory
Simple, uncreated, beginningless Trinity, Nature praised in the Trinity of persons, save us who glorify your power.Both now. To the Theotokos
You gave birth in time, without a husband, to the timeless Son of the Father, O Mother of God; a strange wonder! You remained a virgin while nursing.Kathisma of the Lord, by Joseph, Tone 1 plagal
(Afterwards, we bow down, say the Triodion without prostrations, and the fourth ode.)Ode 4, Tone 4 plagal. I have heard, O Lord
Having lived in abstinence, the enlightened apostles of Christ make the time of abstinence light for us through their divine intercessions. That twelve-stringed instrument, the chorus of disciples inspired by God, sounded forth a saving melody, confounding wicked chants. B By the showers of the Spirit, you irrigated the whole world, having driven away the drought of polytheism, O all-blessed ones.To the Theotokos
Save me by humbling me, who have lived with a haughty mind, O you who gave birth to Him who exalted the humbled nature, O most pure maiden.Another Hirmos. The same tone
«I have heard, O Lord, the report of Thee, and I was afraid; I considered Thy works, and I glorified Thy power, O Master.» The most venerable choir of the apostles, imploring the Creator of all, console us who praise you. As workers of Christ, O apostles, cultivating the whole world with the divine word, you always brought forth fruits unto Him. «You became a vineyard for Christ, who is truly beloved;» for you poured forth the wine of the Spirit to the world, O apostles.Glory
Transcendent, co-eternal, almighty holy Trinity: Father, Word, Holy Spirit; God, Light, and Life, guard your flock.To the Theotokos
A Hail, throne of fire-like form; hail, lamp-bearing candlestick; hail, mountain of sanctification; ark of life, most holy tabernacle of the Saints.Another Hirmos
The prophet heard of your coming, O Lord, and was afraid, because you were to be born of a Virgin and revealed to men; and he said: "I heard your fame, and I was afraid." Glory to your power, O Lord.Do not despise your works; do not neglect your creature, O just Judge; although I have sinned alone as a man, you are more philanthropic than any man. Yet you possess, as Lord of all, the power to forgive sins.
B The end is near, O soul; it is near; and you are not concerned? Are you not preparing yourself? Time is pressing; arise: "The Judge is near at the doors"; as a dream, as a flower, the time of life runs on. Why are we troubled in vain?
Come to your senses, O my soul; call to mind the acts you have performed, and set them before your eyes, and shed drops of tears from your eyes. Declare openly to Christ your deeds and your thoughts, and be justified.
There has not been in life a sin, or an action, or wickedness, which I, O Savior, have not committed in intellect, and thought, and purpose; and in affection, in the judgment of my mind, and in action, so that no one else has ever sinned more grievously.
C Thence also I have incurred the guilt of condemnation; thence, wretched that I am, by my own conscience as judge — which nothing in the world has more violent — I have fallen; O Judge, my Redeemer and knower of my heart, spare and deliver, and save your servant.
The ladder which the great patriarch once saw, O soul, signifies the ascent of action and contemplation. If you wish, therefore, to live by action, by knowledge, and by contemplation, be renewed.
The patriarch endured the heat of the day in his poverty; and he bore the frost of the night, suffering daily thefts (55), while grazing, struggling, and serving, in order to join to himself two wives in marriage.
D Consider for me the two wives: action and contemplation. Consider Leah indeed as action, as fruitful with many offspring; but Rachel as contemplation, as worn thin by many labors. For it does not happen, O soul, that either action or contemplation can be carried out rightly without labors.
Be vigilant, O my soul; act strenuously, as the great patriarch did, that you might compare action joined with contemplation, and be called a mind seeing
A God, and may you arrive at the unapproachable darkness in contemplation, and make much merchandise.
The great one among patriarchs, having fathered the twelve patriarchs, mystically set up for you, O my soul, a ladder of practical ascent, wisely positing and arranging his children as steps, as foundations, as ascents.
Emulating Esau, who was hated, O my soul, you sold to your supplanter the birthrights of your first beauty, and you fell from the paternal blessing; and twice you were supplanted, O wretched one, in action and in knowledge. Therefore, now repent.
Esau was called Edom because of his extreme woman-madness; for, always burning with incontinence and being defiled by pleasures, he was named Edom, which is said to mean the fervor and heat of a soul that loves sin.
Hearing of Job, O my soul, who was justified upon the dunghill, you did not emulate the man’s fortitude. You did not have that firm purpose in all things which you know, which you have seen, and which you have experienced; but you showed yourself unable to endure.
He who was formerly on a throne is now seated naked upon a dunghill, full of sores; he who was rich in children and conspicuous is childless, stripped of his house on a sudden. For he considered the dunghill a palace, and his sores, pearls. B
Clothed in royal dignity, diadem, and purple, a man of many possessions and just, heavy with wealth and livestock, he was suddenly stripped, having become poor in riches, glory, and kingdom.
If that man was just and blameless beyond all, and did not escape the snares and struggles of the deceiver, what will you do, O miserable soul, being a lover of sin, if some unexpected thing happens to be brought upon you?
My body is defiled; my spirit is stained; I am covered in sores. But, as a physician, O Christ, heal both through my repentance; wash, cleanse, bathe; show me, my Savior, purer than snow.
You placed your body and blood upon the cross for all, O Word; the body, that you might re-form me; the blood, that you might wash me; and you delivered up the spirit, O Christ, that you might reconcile me to your Begetter.
You worked salvation in the midst of the earth, O Creator, that we might be saved; willingly you were stretched out upon the wood C of the cross, O Savior, that we might attain salvation; desiring to fix the (entire) universe, you are lifted up upon the wood. D
A fixed; Eden, which was shut, is opened; the things above and below, creation itself, and all the nations that you have saved, shall worship you.
May the blood poured from your side be a pool for me; and likewise the drink, that water of refreshment which flowed forth, that I may be cleansed by both. Taking your life-giving words as ointment and drink, O Word, may I be anointed.
I am deprived of the bridal chamber; I am made an exile from the marriage and the supper. The lamp is extinguished as if without oil; the chamber is closed to me as I sleep; the supper has been eaten; but I, bound hand and foot, am cast out.
The Church receives your life-giving side, O Savior, as a chalice, from which flowed for us a twofold fountain of remission and knowledge, in the image of the Old and the New, I say, of both Testaments. B
The time of my life is short, and full of labor and sorrow; but receive me as I repent, and call me back as I acknowledge you. May I not become a possession and food for the alien; do you yourself, Savior, have mercy on me.
I act the braggart now, and am rash in heart, in vain and to no purpose; do not condemn me with the Pharisee; rather grant me the humility of the Publican, you who alone are merciful; O just Judge, number me with him.
I have sinned, offering injury to the vessel of my flesh; I know it, O merciful one; but receive me as I repent, and call me back as I acknowledge you. May I not become a possession and food for the alien; do you yourself, Savior, have mercy on me. C
I have become an idol to myself, corrupting my soul with vices. But receive me as I repent, and call me back as I acknowledge you; may I not be made a possession and food for the alien; do you yourself, Savior, have mercy on me.
I did not listen to your voice; I disobeyed your Scripture, O Lawgiver. But receive me as I repent, and call me back as I acknowledge you; may I not be made a possession and food for the alien; do you yourself, Savior, have mercy on me.
For the Saint
Leading a life in the body as if incorporeal, you received in truth, O holy one, a most great grace from God. Be the patroness of those who faithfully honor you; for which reason we pray that by your prayers we may be delivered from every kind of temptation. D
Though you had fallen headlong into the abyss of great obscenities, you did not remain there; but having adopted a better purpose, you clearly emerged through action to the highest virtue; so that you astonished the angelic natures, O Mary, by the novelty of the thing.
For Andrew
O Andrew, glory of the Fathers, do not forget to entreat the most divine Trinity with your prayers; so that we who with longing have you as our protector may be delivered from punishment.
A
Glory. I declare you the individual in substance, unconfused in persons, the one triune Deity; as one whose kingdom and throne are the same; I raise up to you the great song, which is thrice hymned in the highest.
In Deiparam. You give birth, and remain a virgin, and persevere in both. He who is born, being by nature a virgin, renews the laws of nature; and the womb conceives without knowing travail. Where God wills, the order of nature is overcome, for He does whatever He pleases.
Ode 5. Hirmus. Rising from the night, O Lover of mankind, enlighten me, I pray, and lead me in your commandments, and teach me, O Savior, to do your will. I have spent my whole life in night. For I have become darkness, and deep for me is the gloom, the night of sin. But as a son of the day, O Savior, reveal me. Imitating that Ruben, B wretch that I am, I have contrived an unholy and lawless counsel against God the Most High, having defiled my bed, as he in that same manner defiled his father's bed. I confess to you, Christ the King, I have sinned, I have sinned, as the brothers of old who sold Joseph; the fruit of chastity and of temperance. The righteous soul was delivered up by its kindred; the sweet one was sold into slavery, as a type of the Lord; but you, O whole soul, have been sold to your own vices. C Emulate the righteous and chaste mind of Joseph, O wretched and reprobate soul, and do not become dissolute, always living in obedience to passions contrary to reason. Even if Joseph once dwelt in a pit, O Master and Lord, yet it was as a type of your burial and resurrection. But as for me, what can I ever offer you that is like unto it? You have heard of the ark of Moses, O soul, borne upon the waters and the waves of the river, as in a bridal chamber of old, escaping the bitter drama of the Pharaoh’s D plan.
A When long ago, O wretched soul, you heard of the midwives killing the manly action of temperance, now, like the great Moses, nourish wisdom. You have not killed, O soul, like the great Moses, the Egyptian mind: how then, tell me, will you dwell in the desert of the passions, through repentance? The great Moses dwelt in the deserts. Come now, imitate his way of life, so that you too, O soul, may attain contemplation of the divine manifestation in the bush. Represent the rod of Moses, O soul, striking the sea and solidifying the depths, in the type of the divine Cross; through which you too will be able to accomplish great things. B Aaron offered fire to God, blameless and guileless; but Hophni and Phinehas, O soul, like you, offered an alien and defiled life to God. How burdensome in my purpose I have become, like the bitter Pharaoh, O Lord, or Jannes and Jambres, in soul and body, and my mind submerged; but help me. I have fastened my mind in the mire, O wretched one: wash me, O Lord, I pray, in the bath of my tears, whitening the garment of my flesh like snow. If I should examine my works, O Savior, I see that I have surpassed every mortal in sins, for I have sinned in the knowledge of my mind, not in ignorance. Spare, spare, O Lord, your creature; I have sinned, forgive me: for you alone are pure by nature, and no one else besides you is exempt from defilement. C For my sake, you who are God, you put on the form of a man; you performed miracles, healing lepers, strengthening the paralytics, and, O Savior, stopping the flow of the woman with the issue of blood by the touch of your fringe. Imitate that woman with the issue of blood, O wretched soul; run, take hold of the fringe of Christ, that you may be delivered from your scourges and hear from him: “Your faith has saved you.” Imitate that woman who was bowed down to the ground, O soul; approach, fall down at the feet of Jesus, that he may raise you up, and you may walk upright on the paths of the Lord. D
A Although you are a deep well, O Lord, pour forth for me waters from your immaculate veins, that, like the Samaritan woman, I may no longer thirst as I drink; for you pour forth the stream of life. Let my tears be a Siloam to me, O Lord and Master, that I too may wash the pupils of my soul and see you intellectually, the pre-eternal light.
Of the Holy Woman
With incomparable desire, O all-blessed one, having longed to worship the Tree of Life, you were granted your desire; cause me, therefore, to be deemed worthy also to attain to the glory above. Having crossed the river Jordan, you found rest, having escaped the painful pleasure of the flesh; from which, O holy one, deliver us also by your prayers.
Of Andrew
As the best of shepherds, O wise Andrew, since you are preeminent, I ask with much yearning and fear, through your intercessions, to attain salvation and eternal life.
Glory
We glorify you, O Trinity, the one God: Holy, holy, holy are you, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, a simple essence, a unity always adored.
Now and ever. Of the Theotokos
From you, O incorrupt, unwedded, Mother-Virgin, God who created the ages put on my nature, and united to himself the nature of men.
Ode 6. The Hirmus
C I cried with my whole heart to the merciful God, and he heard me out of the lowest hell and raised my life from corruption.
The tears of my eyes, O Savior, and the deep sighs of my heart, I offer up purely, my heart crying out: O God, I have sinned against you, be merciful to me.
You have turned away, O soul, from your Lord, like Dathan and Abiram; but cry out with your whole heart: Spare me, that the chasm of the earth may not cover you.
Like a heifer, O soul, acting madly, you have been made like Ephraim; escape from the snares like a gazelle, O life, hardening your mind in the rock, both in action and contemplation.
May the hand of Moses convince us, O soul, how God is able to whiten and cleanse a leprous life; do not despair of yourself, even if you are leprous.
The waves of my transgressions, O Savior, as in the Red Sea, have suddenly returned and covered me, just as they once covered the Egyptians and the D captains of Pharaoh.
A You have had an ungrateful disposition, O my soul, as Israel once did; for you senselessly preferred the pleasure-loving gluttony of the passions to the divine manna. B You have preferred the swine’s flesh, the pots, and the food of Egypt, O my soul, to the heavenly food, just as that ungrateful people once did in the desert. You preferred the wells dug by the Philistines, O my soul, to the vein of the rock from which the river of wisdom pours forth fountains of theology. When Moses, your servant, struck the rock with his rod, he figuratively prefigured your life-giving side, from which we all, O Savior, draw the drink of life. Search, my soul; explore, like Joshua the son of Nun, the land of the inheritance—what it is—and dwell in it by keeping the law and by the legitimately established paths of life. Arise, and like Joshua, war against Amalek—that is, the passions of the flesh—and always overcome the Gibeonites, that is to say, the deceitful thoughts. Cross over the fleeting nature of this time, just as the ark once did, and take possession of that promised land, O my soul; for God commands you to set out. Just as you saved Peter who cried out, save me quickly, O Savior; deliver me from the savage storm, extending your hand, and lead me up from the abyss of sin. I recognize you as a safe harbor, O Lord Christ; but deliver me immediately from the irremediable abyss of sin C and despair. I am, O Savior, the royal drachma you once lost; but light your lamp, your Forerunner, O Word, and seek out and find your own image.
To the Saint
By extinguishing the flame of the passions, you always poured forth rivers of tears, Mary, your soul being set on fire; may you grant the grace of these to me, your servant. You attained a heavenly emptiness from emotional attachments, O Mother, by a life of the highest standing on earth; therefore, entreat that those who praise you may be delivered from passions and attachments through your intercessions.To Andrew
Knowing you as the shepherd and prelate of Crete, and an intercessor for the whole world, I run to you, Andrew, and I cry out to you: Deliver me, Father, from the abyss of sin.Glory
I am a Trinity, simple and undivided, distinguished by persons. DA And now. To the Theotokos. Your womb has given birth to God formed in our likeness; implore Him as the Creator of all, O Theotokos, that by your intercessions we may be justified.
Kontakion, idiomelon. Tone, plagal 2nd.
My soul, my soul, arise; why do you sleep? The end draws near, and you are about to be troubled. Vigilate, therefore, so that Christ the God—who is present everywhere and fills all things—may spare you.
The Oikos.
Seeing the healing-place of Christ opened, and health flowing from it to Adam, the devil was moved and terrified; and as if in danger, he lamented and cried out to his friends: "What shall I do to the Son of Mary? The Bethlehemite destroys me: He who is present everywhere and fills all things."
Synaxarion.
On this same day, according to ancient tradition, we chant the office of the Great Canon. Our holy Father Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, also called the Hierosolymite, composed and wrote down this most truly greatest of all canons, in a most excellent and artistic manner. B Born in Damascus, at the fourteenth year of his age he applied himself to grammatical studies, and having been thoroughly trained in all the liberal arts, he arrived in Jerusalem and entered upon the monastic life. Living holily and in a manner pleasing to God in that quiet and peaceful way of life, he left behind many other useful writings for the Church of God, both discourses and canons; yet he shows himself more vigorous and copious in his panegyrical orations. Among many other works, he also elaborated this great Canon, filled with infinite contrition and compunction of soul. For having gathered and collected C the entire history of the Old and New Testament into one, he composed this canticle—from Adam, that is, up to the very Assumption of Christ and the preaching of the Apostles; and through it he exhorts every soul to zealously pursue and imitate, to the extent of its power, those things in history which it sees to be good and praiseworthy, and to flee and turn away from those which are evil; and always to run back to God through repentance, through tears, through confession, and through other such obvious means of propitiating and pleasing God. Nay, this Canon is so D melodic and flows so easily into men's minds, that it abundantly softens even the hardest soul and excites it to receive that which is good and honorable, provided it be chanted with a contrite heart and the due attention. He composed this at the time when the great Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote down the Life of Mary of Egypt; for this life, too, is set forth as being full of infinite compunction, and gives much consolation to the fallen and the sinful, if only they wish to turn away from their evil deeds.
It has been appointed that this be sung and read on the present day for this reason: Since the holy Great Fast is nearing its end, so that men do not become slothful and grow negligent in their spiritual struggles, or abstain from temperance in all things, the great Andrew, like a trainer, through the stories of the Great Canon—by recounting the virtue of the great men and, conversely, the downfall of the wicked—makes those who labor A more eager and, if I may say so, more noble, so that they may manfully grasp what remains. The holy Sophronius, by his own marvelous oration and treatise, also makes them sober and stirs them toward God, so that they might not collapse nor despair, even if they have been entangled in certain sins. For how great the loving-kindness and compassion of God is toward those who whole-heartedly choose to turn away from the transgressions of their former life, the narrative concerning the Egyptian woman abundantly demonstrates.
It is called the "Great" Canon, as one might perhaps say, also because of the weight and gravity of its sentiments, of which the author of this Canon is most prolific, being excellently practiced in composing them; and because, while other canons contain thirty troparia or a little more, this one proceeds to two hundred and fifty, every single one of them distilling an ineffable sweetness and delight. With the best of reasons, therefore, and most fittingly, it has been ordained that this great Canon, so full of compunction, be B sung at least during the Great Fast.
This most illustrious and great Canon, as well as the treatise on the Life of the holy Mary of Egypt, our Father Andrew himself was the first to bring to Constantinople, when he had been sent by Theodore, Patriarch of Jerusalem, to the Sixth Council for support. For having at that time contended most excellently against the Monothelites, while he still lived as a monk, he was enrolled in the clergy of the Church of Constantinople; then he was appointed deacon and curator of orphans there. Not long after, he was ordained Archbishop of Crete. Later, having reached the place called Hierisus when he had arrived at Mitylene, he departed to the Lord, having held his see for a quite long time. By his intercessions, O God, have mercy on us.
(Then the Beatitudes are said with bows.)
Tone 2, Plagal. Verse: Remember me, O Lord, in Thy kingdom.
To the thief who cried out to Thee from the cross, "Remember me," O Christ, Thou gavest the gift C of being a citizen of paradise. D
A and deign to grant the same repentance also to me, the unworthy one. Verse: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom. You hear of Manoah of old, O my soul, how he saw God in a vision and received the fruit of the promise from the barren one; let us imitate his piety. Verse: Blessed are those who mourn, for they. Having envied the sloth of Samson, you have lost the glory of your works, O soul, betraying to the foreigners, through love of pleasure, your sober and blessed life. Verse: Blessed are the meek, for they. He who formerly defeated the foreigners with the jawbone of a donkey is found now to be a waste of passionate lust; but flee, my soul, from such imitation, from such action, from such enervation. B Verse: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst. Barak and Jephthah were chosen as the commanders and judges of Israel; and with them, that manly-minded Deborah. By their heroic deeds, O soul, be strengthened and made manly. Verse: Blessed are the merciful, for they. You know the courage of Jael, my soul, who once impaled Sisera and wrought salvation; you hear of the stake, by which the cross is depicted for you. Verse: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they. Sacrifice, O soul, a praiseworthy sacrifice; bring forth an action cleaner than the daughter of Jephthah, and slaughter, as a victim, the passions of the flesh to your Lord. C Verse: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they. Consider, O my soul, the fleece of Gideon; receive the dew from heaven. And bow down like a dog, and drink the stream that flowed from the law through the pressing of the letter. Verse: Blessed are those who are persecuted. You have grasped, O my soul, the condemnation of the priest Heli through lack of judgment; you have suffered the passions within you, just as he suffered his children to perform wicked acts. Verse: Blessed are you when they revile you. In the Book of Judges, a Levite, through sorrow, divided his own wife into twelve parts, O my soul, so that he might expose the wickedness of Benjamin, that lawless deed. D
A Vers. *Rejoice and be glad, for your reward [is great].* The wise Anna, praying, moved her lips towards praise, but her voice did not sound forth; nevertheless, being barren, she brought forth a son worthy of prayer.
Vers. *Remember us, O Lord, when Thou comest.* In the Book of Judges, the offspring of Anna was judged, the great Samuel, whom Arimathea reared in the house of the Lord; emulate him, O my soul, and judge your own works before others.
Vers. *Remember us, O Master, when Thou comest.* David, having been chosen as king, was royally anointed with the horn of divine oil; do you therefore, O my soul, if you desire the kingdom above, anoint yourself with the ointment of tears.
B Vers. *Remember us, O Holy One, when [Thou comest].* Have mercy on Thy creature, O merciful One; take pity on the work of Thy hands, and spare all sinners, and me most of all, who have despised Thy commandments above all others.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. To the Unbegotten, the Born, and the Proceeding; I worship the Father who begat, and I glorify the Son who was begotten; I hymn the Holy Spirit, shining together with the Father and the Son.
*To the Mother of God.* We worship Thy divine Son, O Mother of God, not dividing the glory which the Infant born of Thee possesses by nature; for He is confessed one in person, twofold in natures.
C Ode 7. *The Hirmos.* We have sinned, we have acted wickedly, we have done unjustly before Thee; nor have we kept or observed what Thou didst command us; but do not deliver us to the end, O God of our fathers.
I have sinned, I have done wickedly, and I have violated Thy commandment; for I was born in sins, and have added a wound to my bruises; but do Thou, as the merciful One, O God of our fathers, have mercy.
I have declared the secrets of my heart to Thee, my Judge; behold my humiliation, behold also my affliction, and attend to my judgment; and do Thou Thyself, as the merciful One, O God of our fathers, have mercy.
D When Saul of old, O soul, had lost his father's donkeys, by accessing the oracle, or while doing something else, he found a kingdom; but take care, lest in ignorance you prefer your own beastly desires to the kingdom of Christ.
MAGNUS CANON
A Quanquam olim Dei parens David, duplex peccatum, o anima mea, peccavit: adulterii quidem vulneratus jaculo, lancea vero injustæ necis ac homicidii captus victusque: ipsa nihilominus, graviora operibus peccas, animi cupiditatibus.
David equidem scelus sceleri id temporis addidit: quippe duplicem statim pœnitentiam exhibens, homicidio adulterium miscuit. At tu, anima, gravioribus commissis, non Deo pœnitentiam egisti.
David olim, velut in imagine depingens, ceu cippo inscriptum hymnum publicavit, quo reprehendens patratum facinus clamat: «Miserere mei: tibi soli peccavi omnium Deo; ipse munda me.»
B Cum arca in curru veheretur, ut tantum Oza ille, quod vitulus subverteret, manum admovisset, Dei iram expertus est: cæterum ejus tu temeritatem cavens, o anima, probe diva venerare.
Absalonem audisti ut adversus naturam insurrexerit? Nosti scelesta ejus opera, ut patris cubile polluerit? Enimvero vitiosas ejus voluptariasque, et ipsa, æmulata es cupiditates.
Liberam tuam dignitatem tuo corpori subjectam voluisti: invento quippe hoste alio Achitophel, o anima, ejus consiliis obsecuta es: verum ea Christus dissipavit; plane ut salutem consequaris.
C Salomon ille mirabilis, qui et sapientiæ gratia plenus esset; is, inquam, malum olim in conspectu Dei faciens, ab eo discessit: huic tu, o anima, exsecrabilem tuam vitam similem reddidisti.
Ille tantus, trahentibus affectionum illecebris, conspurcatus est. Heu! Sapientiæ amator, amator mulierum, ac Dei hospes: eum tu anima, obscenis animo voluptatibus, imitata es.
Roboam æmulata es, o anima, paternum consilium spernentem: pariterque, servum pessimum Jeroboam olim desertorem. Jam cave, imiteris; et clama ad Deum: Peccavi, miserere mei.
D Inquinamenta Achab, o anima mea, es imitata. Facta es carnalium immunditiarum conceptaculum, ac vas turpe vitiorum; cave jam imiteris, tuaque peccata dic Deo.
A Elijah once consumed the fifty of Jezebel, after he had caused the prophets of confusion to perish by way of conviction. But you, O soul, flee the imitation of both, and be strong.
The heaven was shut to you, O soul, and a famine of God took hold of you, when you were disobedient to the words of Elijah the Tishbite, just as Ahab was once; but imitating the woman of Sarepta, do you feed the soul of the prophet.
You have heaped up the crimes of Manasseh by your own will, setting up passions as abominations, O soul, and multiplying offenses. Yet, fervently imitating his repentance, strive to acquire contrition.
I fall before you, and I offer to you my words like tears. I have sinned as no harlot has sinned, and I have committed iniquity as no one else on earth; but take pity, O Master, upon your creature, and call me back.
I have buried your image, and I have violated your commandment. Your beauty has been totally obscured, and the lamp, O Savior, has been extinguished by passions; but having had compassion, “restore to me,” as David sings, “the joy.”
Turn back; repent; reveal the hidden things. Say to God, who knows all things: You alone know my hidden depths, O Savior, and do you have mercy on me, as David sings, “according to your mercy.”
My days have failed like the dream of one who wakes; therefore, like Hezekiah, I weep upon my bed, that you may add years to my life. But what Isaiah shall be present to you, O soul, if not the God of all? B
On the Holy Woman
Having cried out to the immaculate Mother of God, you formerly repelled the frenzy of violently troubling passions, and you put to shame the enemy who had supplanted you; but now, give also to me, your servant, “help from tribulation.”
He whom you loved, whom you desired, whose footsteps you followed: He has found your repentance and has granted it, as the only compassionate God. Him, entreat unceasingly to deliver us from passions and from tribulations. C
D
A *In Andream.* Establish me, Father, upon the rock of faith through your intercessions, walling me about with the fear of God. And grant me repentance, Andrew, I beseech you, and deliver me from the snare of the enemies who seek me out.
*Gloria.* Simple, indivisible Trinity, consubstantial and one nature, Lights and Light; and three Holy, and one Holy is the Trinity praised as God; yet praise, O my soul, glorify the Life and the God of the life of all things.
*Ad Deipar.* We praise you, we bless you, we worship you, Mother of God, for you gave birth to the one Son and God from the indivisible Trinity; and you yourself opened for us who are on earth, the heavenly realms.
*Triodium. Ton. 4 obliq. Ode 8. Hirmus.* The King of glory, who has no beginning, whom the powers of heaven shudder before, and the ranks of the angels tremble before, O priests and people, praise.
As coals of that spiritual fire, burn up my carnal passions, Apostles, and now kindle in me the love of divine charity. Let us honor the resonant trumpets of the Word, through which the crumbling walls of the enemy have fallen, and the bulwarks of the knowledge of God have been established. Shatter the passionate images of my soul, you who shattered the temples and pillars of the enemy, O holy Apostles of the Lord.
*Ad Deipar.* You contained in the womb Him who by nature cannot be contained; you carried Him who carries all things; you gave suck, O chaste one, to Christ, who feeds all creation and is the Author of life.
*Triodium aliud. Idem Hirmus.* By the architecture of the Spirit, the Apostles of Christ built up the whole Church; in her, praise Christ unto the ages. Having sounded the trumpets of the dogmas, the Apostles destroyed every idolatrous error, super-exalting Christ unto all ages. Apostles, fair colony, guardians of the world, and citizens of the heavens, deliver from perils those D who ever celebrate you.
*Gloria.* Tri-sun, all-radiant divine principate, of identical glory and co-enthroned nature; Father, Artificer of all, Son, and divine Spirit; I praise You unto the ages.
*Et nunc. Ad Deipar.* Let us, the people, unceasingly praise the Mother of God as a precious and most exalted throne; who alone after childbearing remained mother and virgin.
*Hirmus alius.* He whom the hosts of heaven glorify, and whom the Cheru-
Abim and the Seraphim tremble before; let every breath and all creation praise, bless, and superexalt him unto all ages.
Have mercy, O Savior, on the sinner; arouse my mind to conversion; receive the one who repents; have mercy on the one who cries out: To thee alone have I sinned; I have done iniquity, have mercy on me.
Elijah, the charioteer, mounting the chariot of virtues, was once borne as if into heaven, above earthly things; recognize, O my soul, his ascent.
The stream of the Jordan formerly stood still on this side and that by the mantle of Elijah, through Elisha; but thou, O my soul, hast not partaken of this grace because of thy intemperance.
Elisha, having received the mantle of old, received a double grace from the Lord; but thou, O my soul, hast not perceived this grace because of thy intemperance.
The Shunammite once hospitably welcomed the righteous man, O soul, with a good intention; but thou hast not invited even a guest or a wayfarer into thy house; wherefore thou shalt be cast out of the bridal chamber, mourning.
Thou hast imitated the sordid mind of Gehazi, wretched soul, at every turn; cast off his avarice, even in thine old age; flee the fire of Gehenna, departing from thy evils.
Thou, O soul, having imitated that Uzziah, hast had his leprosy in double measure within thyself; for thou thinkest shameful things and doest iniquitous ones; dismiss what thou possessest, and hasten to repentance.
O soul, thou hast heard of the Ninevites, performing penance to God in sackcloth and ashes; thou hast not imitated them, but hast appeared more foolish than all who have sinned both before the Law and after the Law.
Thou hast heard, O soul, of Jeremiah in the pit of mire, lamenting the city of Zion with loud cries and seeking tears; imitate his mournful life, and thou shalt be saved.
Jonah fled to Tharsis, foreknowing the conversion of the Ninevites; for the prophet knew the compassion of God, wherefore he was jealous that the prophecy might not appear false.
Thou hast heard, O soul, how Daniel stopped the mouths of the beasts in the pit; thou knowest how the youths with Azariah quenched the flame of the burning furnace by their faith?
I have brought before thee, O soul, all those commended in the Old Testament as an example. Take up the religious deeds of the righteous to be imitated; but beware of the sins of the wicked.
Thou, O just Judge and Savior, have mercy; and deliver me from the fire and the threat to which I am justly liable in the judgment; remit (my sins) to me through virtue and repentance before the end overtakes me.
As the thief, I cry aloud, "Remember me"; as Peter,
A I weep bitterly; I cry out as the Publican; I shed tears as the harlot; remit to me, O Savior; receive my lamentation, as once (Thou didst receive that) of the Canaanite woman.
Heal the putrefaction of my humble soul, O Savior; Thou alone art the Physician; apply to me a poultice, and oil and wine, works of repentance, and contrition with tears.
Imitating the Canaanite woman, I too cry out to the Son of David, "Have mercy on me"; I touch the hem (of Thy garment) as the woman with the issue of blood; I weep as Martha and Mary (did) over Lazarus.
The alabaster jar of tears, O Savior, I pour out like ointment upon Thy head; I cry out to Thee as the harlot, seeking mercy. I offer my prayer, and I ask to receive remission.
Even if no one has sinned against Thee as I have, yet do Thou receive even me, merciful Savior, repenting with fear, and crying out with longing: "To Thee only have I sinned; I have done iniquity; have mercy on me."
Spare, O Savior, Thine own creation, and seek, as a shepherd, the lost sheep; snatch it from the lion (as it wanders) astray; make me a nursling in the fold of Thy sheep.
When Thou shalt sit as a merciful Judge, and shalt show Thy terrible glory, O Christ, O what fear there will be then! [When the furnace is burning,] and all are trembling before the unapproachable (nature) of Thy judgment seat.
Of the Saint.
The Mother of the Light that knows no setting, having enlightened thee, delivered thee from the darkness of passions; wherefore, having received the grace of the Spirit, O Mary, enlighten those who faithfully praise thee.
Beholding a new miracle in thee, O Mother, the truly admirable Zosimas was amazed; for he saw an angel in the body, and was filled with awe, praising Christ unto the ages.
Of Andrew.
As one having confidence before the Lord, O Andrew, venerable glory of Crete, I beseech thee, intercede that I may now find through thy prayers, O teacher of repentance and glory of the saints, the loosing of the bond of my sin.
A B D We bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
O Father without beginning, Co-eternal Son, good Comforter, the Spirit of uprightness, Begetter of the Word of God, O Word of the Father without beginning, living and creative Spirit, Trinity and Unity, have mercy on me.
To the Theotokos.
As from a dyeing of purple, O undefiled one, the spiritual purple of Emmanuel was woven within thy womb; wherefore we truly honor thee as Theotokos. (We praise, we bless, and again the Hirmos.)
Triodium: 4th Plagal Tone. Ode 9.
A Truly, O Theotokos, we confess thee, we who have been saved through thee, O spotless Virgin; with the choirs of the bodiless ones we magnify thee. Having been shown as fountains of saving water, O apostles, you have abundantly irrigated my soul, which had withered from the thirst of sin, as if with a poured-out dew. Swimming in the sea of perdition, and already becoming submerged, O Lord, save me by Thy right hand, as Thou didst Peter. As salt of saving dogmas, dry up the putrid sore of my mind, and dispel the darkness of ignorance. As one who brought forth joy, grant me mourning; so that I may be able to find divine consolation, O Lady, in the day of judgment to come.
Another Hirmos.
All generations magnify thee, the mediatrix of heaven and earth; for the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in thee bodily, O Virgin. We magnify thee, O illustrious assembly of the apostles, with hymns. For you were shown to be bright luminaries, banishing error. Capturing rational fish with your evangelical net, you offer them ever to Christ as food, O blessed apostles. In your prayers to God, O apostles, be mindful of us; we entreat that we may be delivered from every temptation, we who praise you with longing.
Glory.
I praise Thee, O Trinity subsisting in unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: one God consubstantial; a Trinity of the same power and beginningless. All generations call thee blessed, as Mother and Virgin; for through thee we have been redeemed from the curse: since thou didst bring forth for us the joy, that is to say, the Lord.
From the Great Canon. Another Hirmos.
The birth following conception without seed is beyond explanation. The pregnancy of the Mother who knew no man is incorrupt; for the birth of God renews the natures: wherefore all generations orthodoxly magnify thy greatness, as the Mother and Bride of God.
B The mind is wounded, the body is softened, the spirit is sick, the reason is infirm, life is mortified; the end is at the doors. What, therefore, O miserable soul, wilt thou do when the Judge comes to examine thy deeds? Moses brought before thee, O soul, the creation of the world, and from him [thou hast learned] all the history recorded in the sacred books of the just and the unjust; of whom, O soul, thou hast imitated the latter, not the former, having sinned against God. The law is infirm; the Gospel is neglected; all Scripture is disregarded in thee; the prophets have grown weak.
A And every word of the just; thy wounds, O soul, have multiplied, with no physician present to heal thee.
I bring before thee the examples of the New Testament, compelling thee, O soul, to contrition. Emulate, therefore, the just; turn away from sinners, and appease Christ with prayers, fasts, purity, and gravity.
Christ became man, conversing with me in the flesh; and He fulfilled all that pertains to human nature, sin excepted, setting before thee, O soul, an example and image of His own condescension.
Christ became man, calling thieves and harlots to repentance. Repent, O soul; the gate of the kingdom is now open; and the Pharisees, the Publicans, and adulterers who change their ways are seizing it.
Christ saved the Magi; He called the shepherds together; He showed the multitudes of infants to be martyrs; He glorified the elder and the aged widow—none of whose actions or lives hast thou imitated, O soul. But woe unto thee when thou art judged.
The Lord, having fasted forty days in the desert, afterwards hungered, showing what is human. B O soul, do not be downcast if the enemy attacks thee; repel him immediately with prayers and fasts.
Christ was tempted; the devil tempted Him, showing stones that they might become bread; he led Him up into a mountain, to see all the kingdoms of the world in a moment. Fear, O soul, the spectacle; be sober; pray to God every hour.
The turtledove, the lover of the desert, the voice of one crying, resounded; the lamp of Christ, preaching repentance. Herod acted wickedly with Herodias; look, my soul, that thou be not caught in the snares of the wicked; but embrace repentance.
The Forerunner of grace dwelt in the desert, and all Judea and Samaria, hearing him, ran out and confessed their sins, being willingly baptized—whom thou, O soul, hast not imitated.
C "Marriage is honorable, and the bed is undefiled"; for Christ blessed both, when He was clothed in flesh, eating, and at the wedding in Cana, turning water into wine, and showing His first miracle, that thou mightest be saved, O wretched soul. D
A Christ raised the paralytic, who carried his bed, and He raised the dead youth, the widow’s son; and the centurion’s boy; and manifesting Himself to the Samaritan woman, He prefigured to thee, O soul, the worship in spirit. The Lord healed the woman with an issue of blood by the touch of His hem; He cleansed lepers; He enlightened the blind and raised up the lame; and the deaf and the dumb, and the woman bent over to the ground, He healed with a word, that thou mightest be saved, O miserable soul. Christ the Word, curing diseases, brought good tidings to the poor; He cured the lame; He ate with publicans; He had fellowship with sinners; by the touch of His hand, He brought back the soul of the daughter of Jairus, which had already departed from the body.
The publican was saved, and the harlot became chaste, and the boastful Pharisee was condemned; for the one said, "Be merciful to me," and the other, "Have mercy on me"; but the third boasted, crying out, "God, I thank thee," and the rest of the words of his folly. Zacchaeus was a publican, but nevertheless he was saved; and Simon the Pharisee was deceived, while the harlot was receiving the absolution of her sins from Him who has the power on earth to forgive sins; Him, O soul, render propitious to thyself. B Thou hast not imitated, O miserable soul, that harlot who, having taken the alabaster jar of ointment, anointed the Lord’s feet with tears, and wiped them with her hair, for He had torn up for her the bill of debt of her ancient crimes. Thou knowest, O my soul, how the cities to which Christ preached the Gospel were cursed; C fear the example, so that thou mayest not become like them; for the Lord, comparing them to the cities of Sodom, condemned them even unto hell.
Be not worse, O my soul, appearing so through despair; thou who hast heard of the faith of the Canaanite woman, by which her daughter was healed by the word of God; "O Son of God, save me," cry out from the bottom of thy heart, as she did to Christ. Have compassion, save me, O Son of David, have mercy, Thou who hast healed the demon-possessed by Thy word. And speak that voice of compassion to me, as to the thief: "Amen I say to thee, thou shalt be with me in paradise," when I come in My glory. D A thief was accusing Thee; a thief nevertheless was proclaiming Thee God; for both were hanging on the cross. But Thou, in Thy great mercy, open to me also, as to that faithful thief who recognized Thee as God, the door of Thy glorious kingdom. The creation was held in awe, seeing Thee nailed to the cross; the mountains and rocks were rent in fear; and the earth...
A quaked; hell was despoiled; and the light, O Jesus, seeing Thee fastened with nails in the flesh, was darkened in the midst of the day.
Do not, I pray, require of me the fruits worthy of repentance; for my strength has failed within me. Grant me a heart always contrite, and poverty of spirit; that these I may offer unto Thee alone, as an acceptable sacrifice, O Savior.
O my Judge and my Knower; Who art to come again with the angels to judge the whole world: then, looking with Thine eye of mercy, spare and have pity on me, O Jesus, who have sinned beyond all the nature of men.
On the Holy
Thou didst strike all with amazement by thy strange manner of life; both the ranks of angels and the assemblies of mortals: for thou didst live as one without a body, and didst surpass nature: wherefore, as one walking without a body, O Mary, thou didst cross the Jordan. BAppease the Creator on behalf of those who celebrate thee with praises, O holy Mother, that we may be delivered from evils and afflictions, which beset us on every side; that being delivered from temptations, we may unceasingly magnify the Lord who has glorified thee.
In Andream
O venerable Andrew, and thrice-blessed Father, shepherd of Crete, cease not to pray for those who sing thy praises; that we may be delivered from all wrath and affliction, and from corruption and unspeakable transgressions, we who honor thy memory with faithful heart. CGloria
O consubstantial Trinity, Unity subsisting in three persons, we hymn Thee, glorifying the Father, magnifying the Son, and adoring the Spirit, the one God truly in nature, both life and lives, an unending kingdom.In Deiparam
Guard thy city, O undefiled Mother of God; for in thee does it faithfully reign, and in thee is it strengthened; and through thee it conquers, puts to flight every temptation, despoils enemies, and governs its subjects.At Vespers
[Parasceves ante Ramos] canimus huncce canonem, editum a sancto patre domino Andrea Cretensi, cognomento Hierosolymita. DOde 1, ton. 1. Hirmus.
Let us all sing a song of victory unto God, who wrought wondrous prodigies with a high arm, and saved Israel; for He is glorified. By raising the four-day-dead, O my Savior,A you delivered Lazarus from corruption with a high arm, and you showed your power as the Mighty One.
By calling Lazarus from the grave, you raised him up immediately; but Hades from below wailed bitterly, and groaning, O Savior, it trembled at your power.
You wept, O Lord, over Lazarus, showing the flesh [assumed] by you in the dispensation, and that although you are by nature God, you became by nature man like us.
You stilled the tears of Martha and Mary, O Lord, by raising Lazarus from the dead, O Savior, and showing the dead man breathing again by your power.
According to the law of human nature, you asked, O Master, "Where is Lazarus laid?", showing to all, O Savior, the sincerity of your dispensation toward us, and the true assumption of flesh.
B Then you shattered the bars of Hades by calling Lazarus, and you weakened the power of the enemy, and compelled him to tremble before you even before the cross, O only Savior.
As God, O Lord, you anticipated Hades and released the prisoner Lazarus from his bonds; for everything, O Mighty One, yields to your command.
Glory. Let us glorify the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the undivided Trinity in unity of nature, and let us sing glory with the angels to it as to one uncreated God.
Both now. C You conceived without change, O Mother of God, the Author of life, of the Holy Spirit, by the good pleasure of the Father, having become what we are, without change and commixture, while your integrity was in no way harmed.
Ode 2. Hirmus.
Attend, O heaven, and I will speak, and I will sing of Christ the Savior of the world, who alone is merciful and more inclined with affection toward the human race.
Glory to you, who alone called, and raised from the tomb the four-day-dead friend, Lazarus.
He who was without breath heard your voice, and having been vivified, he rose immediately from the dead, O Lord, praising you.
D Having received the command of your life-giving voice, he who was stinking rose from the tomb, my Savior, Lazarus.
You wept over your friend, my Savior, confirming that you truly put on our nature, as you raised him up.
Hades trembled as soon as it saw the one bound in grave-clothes returning to the light of this life at your voice.
The crowds of the Hebrews were amazed, O Savior, when by your word you raised the stinking Lazarus.
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CANON ON LAZARUS
The storehouses of Hades were shaken, as Lazarus was immediately animated A below, at the time the voice of the Life-giver came.Ode 3. Hirmus. The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner; this is the rock upon which Christ established His Church, which He redeemed from the nations. A strange and paradoxical wonder; how does the Creator of all things ask questions as if ignorant, when He was not ignorant? "Where is he laid, for whom you mourn? Where is Lazarus buried, whom I am about to raise from the dead in a little while?" The stone which those who cared for your funeral had rolled against you, when Jesus commanded it to be removed, immediately raised you up; calling to you, "Lazarus, arise; come forth to me," so that Hades might tremble at your voice. Martha and Mary, O Lord, cried out with lamentations: "Behold, he whom you loved is four days dead and stinks. Had you been here then, Lazarus would not have died." But you, who are never absent from any place, immediately raised him by calling. Shedding tears over your friend by way of the economy, you showed that the flesh you had taken from us was united to you in essence, not in appearance, O Savior; and as a God who loves mankind, you raised him immediately by calling. "Woe is me! Truly now I have perished," Hades cried out, thus addressing Death, saying: "Behold, that Nazarene has shaken the lower regions, and by opening my womb, He has raised the breathless dead man by calling." Where is the madness of the Hebrews? Where is their unbelief? How long, you deceivers? How long, you adulterers? Do you see the dead man leaping forth C at a single voice, and do you not believe in Christ? Truly, you are all sons of darkness.
Glory. I acknowledge You as one of the Trinity, even though You were made flesh; and I glorify You as one Son, made flesh, who sprouted without seed from the Theotokos, and together with the Father and the Spirit, one Son who is glorified.
And now. A strange and fearful vision, by way of the economy, which the truthful prophets foresaw: a Virgin Theotokos, conceiving without seed and bearing God without seed, and remaining pure after childbirth.
Ode 4. Hirmus. The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its order. You were lifted up, O long-suffering One, upon the tree, and upon it you fixed Your Church. You wept, O Lord, over Lazarus, showing that You are human, and you raised the dead man, O Master, and showed the peoples that You are the Son of God. The breathless one heard your command: "Come forth, Lazarus"; and he who was bound came rising up amid the grave-clothes, and he leaped, O Good One, showing forth the proof of your power. You quieted the tears of Martha and of Mary, O Christ.
A You ceased, Christ God, and having called Lazarus with authority, you raised him by your voice, and he worshiped you. Having wept as a man over Lazarus, you raised him as God. You asked where the four-day-old was buried, O Good One, confirming your assumption of humanity. Wishing to declare the symbols of your passion and your cross, O Good One, having shattered the insatiable belly of Hades, you raised the four-day-old as God. Who has seen, who has heard, that a dead man, already stinking, has risen? Indeed, Elijah and Elisha raised [the dead], but not from the tomb, nor yet a four-day-old. We praise your power, O Lord; we praise also your passions, O Christ: the former indeed you worked as miracles, because you are merciful; the latter, however, you underwent by dispensation as a man. B You are God and man, proving your names by your deeds: you, the Word, approached the monument in flesh, and as God you raised the four-day-old. The crowds of the Hebrews were amazed, O Master, as they saw Lazarus risen from the grave at your voice, and yet they remained disbelieving of your miracles.
Glory. Without beginning you shone forth from your Father, as one of the Trinity, O Savior; in time, O you who are greater in substance, you came forth in spirit from virginal blood, having taken flesh, O you who are above all substance.
And now. The conception of the Mother of God was without seed; [her] birth was immune from the violation of corruption. For God, having worked the miracle of both, emptied himself, that he might be united to us.
Ode 5. The Hirmos. Grant us your peace, O Son of God: for we know no other God besides you, because you are the God of the living and of the dead. C Existing as life, O Lord, and true light, by calling Lazarus you raised him; for as mighty you showed to all that you are the God of the living and of the dead. Unable to bear, O Jesus, your unbearable command, Hades, though he had received many, was dismayed; and he gave up Lazarus, alive at your first voice, and not dead. Having joined the dust with spirit, O Word of Life, and having animated the clay with spirit of old, by your word, even now by your word you raised your friend from corruption and the subterranean places. D No one, O Lord, has resisted your will. Therefore, when you called the dead Lazarus, the one who was without spirit immediately rose, and bearing his bonds, he walked upon his feet. O madness of the Jews! O blindness of the enemies! Who has seen a dead man raised from a tomb? Elijah raised one in days of old; but not from a tomb, nor yet a four-day-old.
A Incomparable one, long-suffering one, who for us dost all things, acting as God and suffering as man: make us all partakers of thy kingdom, through the intercessions of Lazarus.
Glory.
Pre-eternal, co-eternal, equal in honor, O Trinity; Father Almighty, Son, Holy Spirit, holy Unity subsisting in three persons: save the sons of Adam who faithfully sing thy praises.
To the Mother of God.
Thy immaculate womb, O chaste one, that most divine One, who is worshipped in the Trinity—the Word from the Father, and God together with the Holy Spirit—took flesh from it and sanctified it.
Ode 6. The Hirmos.
B "Thou didst cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea," and didst save me, O Savior, from the slavery of death, and didst loose the bond of my iniquities.
Thou didst ask where I was, thou who knowest all things; thou didst weep for me, O Savior, as man by nature, and didst raise me, dead, by thy command.
Me, savior, thou didst call from the depths of hell, cries Lazarus to thee, the liberator of hell; and thou didst raise me, dead, by thy command.
Me, Savior, thou didst clothe in a body of clay, and didst breathe life into me, and I saw thy light; and thou didst raise me, dead, by thy command.
Thou didst animate my breathless form of flesh; "Thou didst bind me together with bones and nerves," and didst raise me, dead, by thy command.
Thou didst tear apart the all-devouring womb of hell; me, Savior, thou didst deliver by thy power, and didst raise me, dead, by thy command.
Thou didst bear my whole substance, O Savior, and didst keep pure the immaculate womb from which thou didst come forth incarnate, being one of the Trinity.
Glory.
O holy Trinity, I glorify thy mercy, and with the angels I sing the Trisagion hymn: have mercy on the souls of us who sing thy praises.
To the Mother of God.
Thy immaculate womb the Word entered; and again after birth, he kept it chaste, O Mother of God, a thing truly wondrous.
Ode 7. The Hirmos.
D "Thy children placed in the furnace, O Savior, the fire did not touch, nor did it cause them any distress; then those three, as if from one mouth, sang and blessed, saying: Blessed is the God of our fathers."
Thou didst weep over the dead, O merciful Savior, that thou mightest show to all peoples that, being God, for our sake thou wast seen as man. And willingly didst thou weep, setting before us the pattern of innate and paternal love.
The four-day-old Lazarus, O Savior, as he heard thy voice below, rose up and praised thee; and rejoicing,
A he cried out in this manner: Thou art my God and Creator; I adore and praise thee who hast raised me.
Although I am bound by chains, O Redeemer, Lazarus cried out from below, yet I shall by no means remain in the belly of hades, if thou but call out to me: "Lazarus, come forth"; for thou art my light and my life.
I beseech thee, Lazarus, he says, arise; come forth from my confines quickly. Go thy way then; for it is better for me to weep bitterly for the loss of one, than for all those whom I once greedily devoured.
But why, O Lazarus, he says, dost thou delay? Thy friend calls out: "Come forth." Arise therefore and depart, that I too may find relief; for from the time I devoured thee, my food has turned to vomit.
Why dost thou not rise quickly, Lazarus? the lamenting hades cried out from below; why, having been awakened, dost thou not run away from here at once, so that Christ, by raising thee, may not take other captives away from me? B
Thou hast been a source of wonder, Lord Christ, having then performed many extraordinary miracles; for thou didst restore sight to the blind; thou didst open the ears of the deaf with a word; and thou didst raise thy friend Lazarus from the dead, as God, by calling him.
Glory.
Let us sing a hymn to the Trinity, glorifying the unoriginate Father, and the Son, and the upright Spirit, the single, one substance, which we praise in three persons: Holy, holy, holy art thou, O Trinity.
Toward the Theotokos.
We glorify thee, O Christ, as one of the Trinity, because, having taken flesh from the Virgin without change, thou didst endure all things in a human manner; not departing, O Jesus, from thy paternal nature, even though thou wast united to us.
Ode 8. The Hirmos.
"Ye heavens of heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens, bless, praise, and superexalt the Lord throughout the ages." C
He who created and sustains all things, moved by mercy, came to Bethany to raise up Lazarus.
The four-day-old one, stinking and wrapped in strips of linen, leaped up possessed of breath, having been breathless, when thou didst call.
As the Jewish people saw the one who was dead raised by thy voice, O Christ, they were cut to the heart.
O ye dark Jews around the light, why do you not have faith in the resurrection of Lazarus? It is the deed of Christ.
Let Sion exult, and let her praise the author of life, who by a word raised Lazarus from the tomb.
The hosts of heaven and the race of earthborn men praised thee, O my Savior, when thou didst raise Lazarus. D
Glory.
With the Father, and with the Son, I also glorify the Spirit; and praising him, I cease not to cry out: Thrice-holy God, I glorify thee.
Theotokion
I bless and worship thee, who wast born of the Virgin, yet didst not depart from the throne of thy holy glory.Ode 9. The Hirmos
"He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree, the God of Israel, in whom he hath visited us, the Dayspring from on high, and hath guided us into the way of peace." A Let Bethany praise the miracle with us; for therein the Creator wept while raising Lazarus according to the natural law of the flesh; and having thereafter changed the tears of Martha and the wailing of Mary into joy, he raiseth the dead man. To confirm, O Word, thy resurrection, thou didst call Lazarus from the tomb, and didst raise him as God, that thou mightest show to the peoples that thou art truly both God and man at once, and that thou didst raise up the temple of thy body. "Thou didst break in pieces the iron bars of old," B and terrify Hades by thy voice; and with it, death straightway trembled, O Saviour, when they saw Lazarus, the prisoner in their midst, quickened by the voice and rising up. All were amazed as they beheld thee, O Saviour, weeping for the dead Lazarus, and the wicked said: "Behold how he loveth him!" Straightway then thou didst call him, and he that was breathless, rising up, put off corruption by thy command. The gates were pressed, the bars were broken, the bonds of the deceased were loosed; but Hades, smitten by the voice of Christ's power, C bitterly groaned, and cried out: "Woe is me! What is this, and whence is this voice that bringeth the dead to life?" Rise up from thence, obeying the voice; for thy friend calleth thee from without; he is the one who of old raised the dead. Elias indeed raised a dead man, and likewise Elisæus; but He himself was in them, both speaking and acting. We praise thy incomparable strength, O Word; for by thy word, as the Creator of all, thou didst join together the dead man with bones and sinews; and thou didst raise him, O Saviour, from the nether world, even as the widow's son lying on the bier. DGlory
Most holy Trinity, Father without beginning, God, and co-eternal Son, and divine Word, good Comforter, holy Spirit of God: the one and thrice-radiant Light, the consubstantial essence, one God and Lord, have mercy upon the world.Theotokion
Thou who madest all things in wisdom, O Jesus, and puttest on the whole of me from the Virgin, and yet abidest wholly and always in the bosoms of the Father: send down thy holy Spirit, O Christ, upon thy flock as God, and overshadow us.On Palm Sunday evening, at Compline, we sing the Triodion of the Lord, by Andrew of Crete; we do the same on the remaining evenings of Great Week, at Compline. Ode 1, Tone 4 (Plagal). To Him who crushed cities.
A Let us, O faithful, imitate the chastity of Joseph: let us honor the rational substance of mankind with that same purpose of mind, conducting ourselves with every guard, through practical virtue.
The idleness from good deeds is likened to the fig tree; let us therefore flee from it, that we be not withered like it in that hour, which prefigured the synagogue, shading itself with leaves.
Joseph, prefiguring the image of the Master, is cast into a pit; he is sold by his brethren; the renowned man endures all things in the likeness of Christ in very truth.
B Fleeing the barrenness of the fig tree, brethren, let us understand the example; let us not be withered like it in that hour, when the benign Lord, returning, came seeking fruit from it.
Jesus, hurrying to suffer for the salvation of the world, willingly goes up with His disciples to the city of Jerusalem, towards the voluntary passion which He came to suffer.
Being joined to the Lord who hastens to suffer all things, let us be ready for mockery, for spitting, for insult, so that we may be glorified together with His immaculate sufferings, O faithful.
C He who suffered for us heals sufferings by sufferings; for He willingly receives into our human nature His own life-giving sufferings, that we might be saved.
Glory. I glorify three [that are] without beginning; I praise three [that are] holy; I proclaim three [that are] co-eternal in one essence; for God is glorified as one in Father, Son, and Spirit.
To the Theotokos. The rod of Moses, and the rod of Aaron, D [are types of the Theotokos].
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COMBEFIS’S NOTES
(50) These odes breathe something most devout, and are entirely congruent with that holy season of the Lord’s Passion. In them, Andrew touches upon the principal events which the Church commemorates during these days as having been performed by the Lord: events on which many most devout orations of the Fathers also exist, frequented by Greek piety, such as those various ones that exist under the name of Chrysostom, although they are not all his: especially that one on the withered fig tree in Tom. VI of Fronton, which Sirlet possesses under the name of Damascene in the copy belonging to the Reverend Father Sirmond. It seems, among those principal ones that we have edited, by Amphilochius on the sinful woman, from the same copy, to have been spoken on the day of that Great Week, on which the Greeks believe that anointing to have been done, distinct from the one which John mentions six days before the Passover, in the house, as it seems, of Lazarus, made and he himself [being] with Jesus reclining, and Martha ministering. The author of the Synaxarion for that day, according to the mind of Chrysostom, thinks not only that it was a different anointing—which indeed the plain context of the Scripture seems to have—but also a different ointment, in which, however, the tradition, or quasi-tradition, of the Latins is opposed. Nothing, indeed, forbids that Mary, whom the envy of the Jews, conceived from the resuscitation of her brother, knew or conjectured was about to be given over to death, [being] more impetuous in her devotion to the Lord, anointed Him again in the domestic town, and in another and different house, or even in the same; if indeed Simon the leper was the father of Lazarus, as the author of the Synaxarion of the same Lazarus on the Saturday [before Palm Sunday] relates; and as if it were for His burial, which she was anticipating. The woman was copious in ointments, of such illustrious lineage and wealthy family, and [living] in a village so near to the royal city.
a wondrous change, and beyond understanding, they possessed by dispensation; but your womb, O Mother of God, initiates a new birth.
Kathisma, tone 4. You have appeared today.
Do not let the crime of the fig tree, O soul, forestall you; but strive, by properly furrowing the soil of your heart, to bring forth fruit for Christ your maker, offering it to Him in repentance.Ode 8. Glorify Him who is on the holy mountain.
Adorning our life with chastity, and keeping the faith with prudence, let us acquire ways of righteousness, so that, following Christ with courage, we may be crucified with Him. Finding another Eve—the Egyptian woman—the patriarch Joseph was in no wise led astray into unholy action, but stood like a diamond, unconquered by the defiling passions of sin. Journeying through the travels of this life, O my Savior, You hungered by Your will, desiring the salvation of all; for this was Your hunger: the conversion of those who had gone astray from You. The first forefather, having tasted of the tree, as he realized he was naked and ashamed, took fig leaves and girded himself; he prefigured the Synagogue, stripped bare of Christ. Prepare yourself, O soul, before the departure; ready yourself for the life of the world to come, and with Christ, who hastens to suffer for your sake so that He may glorify you, hasten to suffer, and to die, and to be crucified with Him. How shall death not C shudder, O my Savior? How shall Hades not tremble, meeting You as You hasten by Your good pleasure toward the Passion, and seeing You come to suffer for the unjust? Seeing the raising of Lazarus, the Jews, priests, and Levites, having by envy concocted a conspiracy, were delivering Christ by the guile of betrayal to Pilate for death. Your lamb, and handmaid, and virgin, seeing You rushing toward the Passion, and setting Your soul before us, the good Shepherd, was pained for You with motherly compassion.Glory.
As Unity in essence I praise You; as Trinity in persons I worship You: Father, Son, and most holy Spirit; I glorify the beginningless power of Your kingdom unto the ages.Theotokion.
The Mother of God entreats You, Christ; the company of the disciples supplicates You: grant Your peace to Your world, and bestow Your mercies upon us abundantly unto the ages.Ode 9. Virginity is alien to mothers.
Chastity is alien to the dishonest; and iniquity is strange to the righteous. But the great Joseph avoided sin, and amassed the riches of chastity; he is truly an image and type of Christ.A Propriety is alien to the wicked and the criminal, and the knowledge of God is strange to the unbelieving. But the Jews rejected these things for the sake of iniquity; wherefore they alone were allotted the curse, like the fig tree.
He hungered for the salvation of men, He who is the "bread of life," my Christ and God. Wherefore, having approached the fig tree—the barren synagogue—as He saw it luxuriant with legal leaves, He cursed it. Thou didst once curse the barrenness of the Law, which displayed the shadowy mind of the Law like green leaves, but was destitute of the fruits of works on account of iniquity; but do Thou, Saviour, bless all of us who are sons of grace.
B The rod of Moses was once changed into a serpent; but the rod of Aaron was changed into greenery and blossomed forth with leaves, though it had been barren and withered; but the wicked synagogue was transformed into a barren fig tree.
Prepare thy priests, O Judea; compose thy hands for deicide; for lo, the meek and quiet One comes to His Passion, He who is the Lamb and our Shepherd, Christ the King of Israel.
Receive, O Judea, the King; for lo, He comes willingly to the Passion, that He might suffer and save those crying out unceasingly: "Blessed is He that cometh" to save all things by the Cross.
The Lord hath turned, O Judea, according to the prophecy, "thy feasts into mourning"; for thou hast become a deicide, [having rejected] Him who long ago turned the rock and the flinty crag into waters and pools, as David sings.
Glory.
C It is alien for the wicked to glorify Thee, the eternal Substance, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the uncreated lordship and conserving power, by which the whole universe has its foundation through the nod of His divine authority.
To the Theotokos.
We bring the Theotokos as intercessor; make us, O Lord, by her supplications and those of Thy apostles, partakers of Thy good things; and graciously grant [us], O Saviour, the brightness of Thy resurrection.
D Great Tuesday, at Vespers for Compline; Triodion of the Lord Andrew of Crete.
Ode 2, Tone Plagal 4. "Attend, O heaven."
"Attend, O heaven, and I will speak," and will praise Christ, who was born of the Virgin in the flesh into the world.
Let us go with Christ to the Mount of Olives; let us dwell with Him mystically together with the Apostles.
Reflect, O my humble heart, what is the parable of the mill which Christ foretold, and from now on keep watch.
A Prepare yourself, O my soul, for your departure: the coming of the just Judge is near. *In Deipar.* Unblemished Mother of God, O Virgin, alone entirely praiseworthy, entreat your Son for your servants. *Another Hirmus. Same Tone.* See, see that I am God, who knew all things before the universe was brought into being, and before heaven and earth were established; existing entirely in the Father, and carrying the whole Father within me. See, see that I am God, who of old led Israel through the Red Sea, and saved them, and fed them, and freed them from the slavery of Pharaoh. By my Word I established heaven and earth; for I was with the Father, and by my Word I carry this whole universe, as Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and Image, and Co-worker, and Co-creator. Who established the times? Who preserves the ages? Who defines and moves the whole, if not He who co-exists eternally with the Father, like a ray in the light? O the greatness of your love for humanity, O Jesus! You have revealed to us the time of the consummation from above, while concealing the hour; yet you have clearly shown forth its signs. You know all things, you understand all things, O Jesus, as possessing the paternal dignity in yourself divinely, and carrying within you entirely, implanted, the Spirit who is co-eternal with the Father. B Master Lord, Creator of the ages, grant that we too may deserve to hear that sacred voice then, calling the elect of the Father into the kingdom of heaven. *Glory.* Eternal, uncreated Trinity, undivided Unity; being three and one: Father, Son, and Spirit; one is God; receive the hymn from clay-born tongues as if from tongues of fire. *In Deipar.* You were revealed as a holy tabernacle, O Virgin of God; for in you the King of heaven dwelt bodily, and proceeded forth in beauty, divinely reforming man within Himself. C *Kathisma, Tone 2. [Hymn] of Mercy.* Moved by mercy, Christ, you went willingly to your passion, O Benefactor, wishing to redeem us from sufferings and vices and from condemnation in hades. Therefore we hymn your precious sufferings, and we all glorify, O Savior, your supreme condescension. D *Ode 8. The Hirmus.* Angels and heavens, bless, praise, and superexalt Him who sits on the throne of glory, and who is unceasingly glorified as God, throughout all ages. Truly you have heard, O soul, how Christ to his divine dis-
- ciples foretold the coming consummation. Since you have known your own end, be prepared from now on: the time of your departure is come.
Do you know, O fruitless soul, the example of the wicked servant? Fear, and do not neglect the gift which you have received, not that you might hide it in the earth, but that you might trade with it. Let the lamp be bright and clear; let its oil surely brim over, just as mercy did for the virgins at that time, so that you may find, O my soul, the bridal chamber open at that hour.
When the Master speaks of flight on the Sabbath and in winter, he hints at the tempest of the present age, in which the end shall supervene like winter. You have heard, O soul, that the coming of your Lord will then be terrible, like lightning crossing the sky: apply yourself henceforth, so that you may be ready. When the Judge comes in thousands and tens of thousands of hosts of angels and powers, what will be the fear, O my soul? What will be the trembling? Woe is me, as all stand naked. B
Glory. There is one God, then, the Trinity; not as though the Father had assumed the mode of the Son, nor the Son having turned to the mode of procession, but distinctly and in itself, and each is light; I glorify the three as God throughout the ages.
To the Theotokos. By the intercessions of the Theotokos, O God, receive our prayer; and in turn send down your mercies upon all in abundance, and grant your peace to your people. C
Ode 9. Hirmus. Him who was declared of old on the mountain to the lawgiver in the fire and the bush, the offspring of the Ever-Virgin for the salvation of us the faithful, we magnify with unceasing hymns.
You have heard, O soul, the Judge himself foretelling and teaching you the time of the consummation. Prepare the works needed for your departure, lest you be rejected by God as unapproved. From the fig tree, O soul, learn of the end, when it has become tender with leaves and branches have sprouted, for the season of summer is near; so too, when you see these things, know that it is at the doors.
Who other than you knows your Father? Or who besides you knows the hour or the day? For with you are all the treasures of wisdom, O Christ our God.
Then, with the thrones set, the books shall be opened, and the actions of all shall be brought to judgment as they stand naked: for all things are open to God. The Judge of all comes, to be led to judgment; and He who sits upon the throne of the Cherubim, as D
A a prisoner, is set before Pilate, to suffer all things, that Adam may obtain salvation.
The great and divine Pascha has drawn near; for after two days, Christ foretells that it will come, describing as if by a previous outline the day on which He is to be offered as a victim to the Father.
Standing by Thy cross, O Savior, Thy Mother, beholding Thy unjust slaughter, cried out: Woe is me, my Son, the Light that knows no setting; O Sun of glory, shed light upon all.
Glory. O holy Unity, Trinity, one Divinity; and Trinity, Unity, God; three-subsistent nature, equal in glory and indivisible; deliver our souls from dangers.
To the Deiparos. Receive, O Christ, Thy Mother interceding, that by her supplications Thou mayest grant peace to the world, and strengthen the scepters of the kingdom, and unite Thy Churches into one.
On Holy and Great Tuesday, at the Compline, we sing the Triodion of the Lord Andrew.
Ode 3, Hirmus. My mind, having become barren, O God, make fruitful, Thou who art the cultivator of honorable things and the sower of good things, by Thy compassion.
The time of the end is at hand; let us repent henceforth, Christ teaches; for He will come in a moment B and will not delay, to judge His world.
Declaring the suddenness of His coming, Christ spoke of the destruction once brought upon the earth in the days of Noah, which was unexpected.
The bridal chamber is opened; the divine and wondrous marriage is prepared with it; the Bridegroom is near, calling us; let us be prepared henceforth.
The dwelling of Simon contained Thee, who can be contained by nothing, O King Jesus; and a sinful woman anointed Thee with ointment.
Filled with mystical fragrance, the woman cast off the old stench of her many sins, O Savior; for Thou art the fount of the ointment of life.
Thou who art the heavenly food, the life of the hungry, O Christ, wast entertained by men, showing Thy condescension towards us.
The wicked disciple, C failing from Thee, O Christ, the D [original-script column: see facsimile]
A whole band of lawless peoples aroused against Thee, turning to treachery.
Glory. With the Father, Thee the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the upright, the one nature I worship and praise; distinct in persons, but in substance uniting.
Now and ever. She who bore Thee as the Lamb, the Shepherd and the Lamb, ever intercedes, O Jesus God, for all the earth-born who believe in Thee.
Kathisma, Tone 1. Angelic Choir. Behold, the evil council has indeed gathered B hostilely, intending to condemn as a criminal Him who sits on high as Judge and Lord of all; now there assemble with Pilate, Herod and Annas, and at the same time Caiaphas, to examine Him who alone is long-suffering.
Ode 8. Irmos. Him who once in the bush on Mount Sinai prefigured the miracle of the Virgin to Moses, praise, bless, and exalt above all for all ages.
Not as if He were ignorant of the time of our consummation did He, who holds the ages, predict that He Himself was ignorant of that day; but as setting for all a rule of humility C.
When Thou shalt sit as Judge, having separated, as Thou saidst, O Shepherd, the goats from the sheep, O Savior, may we not lack that station at Thy divine right hand.
Thou art our Pascha, who wast sacrificed for all as a lamb and a sacrifice and an expiation for transgressions: and therefore we exalt Thy divine passions, O Christ, for all ages.
Like to a mill, and a field, and a house, does my life appear, O my soul; therefore have thy heart ready for God, so that thou mayest not even be left to the corruption of the flesh D.
Not from the Pharisees, nor from Simon alone, O Savior, didst Thou deign to be entertained at a banquet; but now even tax collectors and harlots together draw from Thy mercy.
The traitor Judas, desiring money, once the ointment had been poured out, contrived the sale of the Master, and going to the wicked, he agreed upon the price.
A O blessed hands! O hair and lips of the sober harlot, with which she poured the ointment upon Thy feet, O Savior, wiping them and kissing them frequently. As Thou wast reclining, O Word, the woman coming to Thy feet, weeping, poured out the alabaster of ointment, O Savior, upon Thy head, as if [anointed with] immortal ointment.
Glory. With the Father the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the holy Trinity in one Godhead, we glorify, crying out: Holy, holy, holy art Thou unto the ages.
Now and ever. Through the intercessions, O Savior, of Thy spotless Mother and of Thy apostles, send down Thy mercies upon us richly, and grant Thy peace to Thy people.
B Ode 9. The Irmos. Her who in a manner beyond nature conceived in her womb in the flesh the Word who shone forth timelessly from the Father, the only Theotokos, we faithfully magnify.
The time is for labor; the goal is for salvation. Having received the talent, O my soul, trade it for the ancient image, and buy eternal life.
Having adorned our souls like bright lamps, let us go in as companions to the Bridegroom who journeys toward the immortal marriage, before He shuts the door.
Wishing, O Jesus, to show to all the transcendence of Thy humility, Thou, the food of the hungry, didst dine in the house of Simon, having been invited to the feast.
C Thou, O Jesus, being the life-giving bread, didst wish to be entertained at a feast by Simon the Pharisee, so that in the meantime the harlot might gain Thy priceless grace through the pouring out of the ointment.
I have filthy hands, the lips of a harlot, an unclean life, and corrupted members; but remit and forgive me, cries the harlot to Christ.
The woman, approaching Thy feet, O Savior, poured out the ointment, filling them with fragrance, and she herself being filled with ointment—that which is the very reality of the propitiation of works.
I abound in aromatics, but I lack virtues. What I have, I offer to Thee; do Thou give what Thou hast—and remit and forgive me, cries the harlot to Christ.
I have corruptible ointment; but with Thee is the ointment of life. For "Thy name is as ointment poured forth" to those who are worthy; but remit and forgive me, cries the harlot to Christ.
D Glory. The Father is without beginning, the Son is uncreated, and the Spirit is co-throned; the Three are one in nature, and three in persons: one true God.
To the Theotokos. O Theotokos, the hope of those who always honor thee, do not cease to entreat Him who was born of thee, that I may be delivered from dangers and all sorts of temptations.
On Holy and Great Wednesday, at Compline: The Triodion of the Lord Andrew. Ode 4, Tone 4, oblique. The Prophet heard.
A Thou, O Creator, and Thy fellow-mystics, the upper room received; and there Thou didst celebrate the Passover, and there Thou didst perform the mysteries: for the Passover was prepared for Thee there by two of Thy disciples now sent. B "Go to such and such a person," saith He who knoweth all things to the apostles; and blessed is he who can faithfully receive the Lord; for thou hast prepared the upper room of thy heart for Him, and piety as the supper.
Thy mind is avaricious; thy ways, O foolish Judas, are insane. For thou to whom alone the purse was entrusted, thou wert in no wise bent toward compassion; but thou didst close the bowels of thy hard heart, betraying Him who alone is possessed of the bowels of mercy.
The mind of the God-slayers was consistent with the avaricious sale; he was armed for slaughter, she was drawing the silver. For, preferring the noose of repentance to that which was better, he lost his life.
The kiss is full of deceit: thy "Hail" is in a sword, O deceitful Judas. With thy tongue thou speakest things that seem for peace, but in thy mind thou art inclined toward sedition; for thou didst craftily plot to betray the Benefactor to the lawless.
Thou dost kiss and sell, O Judas; thou greetest and dost not bow down, running with deceit? Who greets with hatred, O thrice-wretched one? Who sells with a price while kissing: the kiss convicts the impudent purpose of thy wicked counsel.
C Glory. Indivisible in essence, unconfused in persons, I confess Thee as God, the Trinity in one Deity, as of one kingdom and exalted on the same throne. I raise to Thee that great hymn, which in the highest is thrice-sung as a song.
Theotokos. The conception surpasses reason; thy birth-giving transcends nature, O God-bearer. For the former was not from seed, but from the Spirit; while this one was without the laws of nature, as incorrupt and superior to the nature of all parturition; for God is He who is brought forth.
Kathisma, Tone 4. Thou didst appear today. Eating with Thy disciples, O Lord, Thou didst mystically declare Thy holy death; by which we have been delivered from corruption and death, we who honor Thy venerable sufferings.
D Ode 8. He whom the hosts of heaven glorify. Fulfilling the commandment of the Law, He who had written the tablets of the Law on Sinai, ate the Passover of old and in shadow; and He Himself became the Passover and the mystical living sacrifice.
Teaching more secretly the wisdom hidden from the ages, O Christ, Thou didst show it to all the apostles alike at the supper.
A O Savior, at the supper, even as Thou taught the apostles, which men inspired by God handed down to the Churches.
One of us shall betray me by treachery, selling me to the Hebrews on this night. As Christ cried this out, it troubled the friends; then one by one, being in doubt, they began to look at each other.
Having humbled Thyself for our sake, O Thou who art rich, rising from the supper, Thou didst take a towel and gird Thyself; and bowing Thy neck, Thou didst wash the feet of the disciples, and even of the traitor.
Who, O Christ, shall not be amazed at Thy height that surpasses all reason and ineffable knowledge, that Thou, the Creator of all things, didst stand amid the clay, washing the feet and wiping them with the towel?
The disciple whom Jesus loved, reclining on His breast, said unto Him, “Who is it that betrays Thee?” And Christ said unto him, “It is he who now dips his hand into the dish.”
The disciple, having received the morsel, goes toward the bread, pondering the sale; he runs to the Jews; he says to the lawless ones, “What will ye give me, and I will betray Him to you?”
Glory. I worship one God in essence; I praise three hypostases in distinction; they are other, yet not different, since the Godhead is one; in the three remains the power, for there is Father, Son, and Spirit.
To the Theotokos. Deliver us, O Jesus our Savior, from error and temptation and the wicked one; receive the Theotokos who intercedes incessantly; for she is Thy Mother, and has the power to implore Thee.
Ode 9. Of the Conception without seed. The great mystery of Thy incarnation, O Lover of mankind, Thou didst reveal to the initiates, while reclining at supper with Thy disciples. Thou saidst: “Eat the life-giving bread; in faith drink the blood poured out from the sacrifice of the divine side.” B C D
A The upper room was shown to be a heavenly tabernacle, where Christ performed the Passover; that supper was an unbloody and rational sacrifice, and the table of the mysteries performed there was an intelligible altar.
Christ is the Passover, the great and awesome one, eaten as bread and sacrificed as a lamb; for He is the one offered as a sacrifice for us. We all, with religious piety, mystically partake of His body and His blood.
Thou didst bless the bread, O heavenly Bread, and having given thanks to the Father and Progenitor, Thou didst take the cup and give it to the disciples, crying: "Take, eat; this is my body, and the blood of the immortal life."
"Amen," said the Vine to the branches, in other words, Christ the Truth to the apostles: "From now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until I drink it new with you, my heirs, in the glory of my Father."
You sell the Lord for thirty pieces of silver, and do you not consider, O wicked Judas, the initiation of the supper or the venerable washing of feet? O, to what an end have you come as a corpse, having fallen from the light and embraced the noose!
The hands with which you received the bread of immortality, you stretched out to receive the silver; you brought your mouth forward deceitfully for a kiss, in which you had received the body and blood of Christ. But woe to you, as Christ says.
Christ has fed the world, that heavenly and divine bread; come therefore, you who love Christ, with clay mouths and pure hearts, and let us receive in faith Him who is sacrificed as the Passover and is served among us.
*Glory.*
Let us glorify the Father; let us superexalt the Son; let us faithfully worship the divine Spirit; the inseparable Trinity, a unity in essence, like, indeed, light and lights, and life that makes alive and illuminates the ends of the earth.
*To the Theotokos.*
You alone were shown to be the heavenly bridal chamber and the ever-virgin bride; you who carried God and gave birth, without change, to Him who became incarnate from you. Wherefore, all generations, with right faith, magnify you as the Mother of God, the bride of God. D
NOTES OF COMBEFIS
[Regarding the] Evangelists, and such a diversity of explanations which they bring, it might perhaps appear to some to signify... [the text] should have driven that one [interpretation] away. For who among Christians would believe that Christ did not do [what He said], if He wished [it] and expressed that He wished it? Yet that He wished and expressed it, and that His words must not be dragged anywhere else—this has been the way of Zwingli or Calvin, after fifteen hundred years, and neither of Berengarius, nor of those others whom the Catholic Church immediately proscribed as blasphemers; but [it is for] the Church herself, in that succession of her saints and Fathers of hers, and in the agreement of the peoples with their pastors, to teach with total and undoubted truth. Thus I believe, thus I understand: thus do I embrace the dignity of my Jesus, of my [Lord], in the supper and in the unbloody mystery, of the Host, and with my own [predecessors], the ancient and modern preachers, just as against the new Manichaean Albigensians, so against their offspring, the Sacramentarian Zwinglians and Calvinists, I preach.Canon for Mid-Pentecost
Ode 1, ton 8. You solidified the sea.
A Nations, clap your hands; Jews, lament; for Christ the Life-giver has shattered the bonds of Hades, and raised the dead, and healed diseases by a word. He is our God, who gives life to those who believe in His name.
You displayed a wonder, changing water into wine, You who in Egypt, O Master, turned rivers into blood; and You raised the dead, accomplishing this second sign. Glory, Savior, to Your ineffable counsel; glory to Your emptying, through which You have renewed us.
Being an ever-flowing stream, O Lord, of true life, You are our resurrection. Willing, You grew weary, my Savior, and willingly You thirsted, yielding to the laws of nature; and arriving at Sychar, You asked to drink water in the flesh from the Samaritan woman.
You blessed loaves, You multiplied fish, O God beyond comprehension, and You satisfied the crowds abundantly; and You proclaimed an ever-flowing fountain of wisdom to those who thirst. You are our Savior God, who gives life to those who believe in Your name.
Glory.
I worship the three co-eternal and co-throned: the Father, God without beginning, and the Son co-eternal, and the Spirit co-eternal with the Son; worshipping the one three-subsistent essence, I honor one beginning, beyond any beginning, of divinity and substantiality.
Theotokion.
You alone contained the Creator, your own [Child], O God-bearer, in your womb, and brought Him forth in the flesh ineffably, and remained a virgin, with your virginity marred in no way. Him, O pure one, as your Son and God, incessantly entreat for your flock always.
Ode 3. My heart is established.
Do not judge by appearance, Jews, teaching...B C D
COMBERIS' NOTES
(57) We offer this final Canon, having omitted others for the time being, until the triad of Fathers we have meditated upon may finally reach us in this double volume: we omit, that is, the Canon on the Resurrection, and another one on the Great Ignatius, in which hardly anything worthy of note occurs, except for the explanation of that [specific] word. Hence we have also appended his words of explanation at the end of the work after some select Idiomela, with some of our own commentary attached. This feast, unknown to the Latins, is celebrated by the Greeks so that it extends to eight days, after the manner of the major solemnities, just as is noted in the Pentekostarion; during which they sing this Canon of Andrew once or twice, just as they do that great one during Lent; which occurs rarely in other cases. There exist many orations of the Fathers upon it; we have one from Leontius of Neapolis in Cyprus, a disciple of Epiphanius, clearly worthy of the press, pleasing in style and full of dogma, as his excerpts in the Acts of the synod and elsewhere prove him to be a man of such talent. There also exists another from Leontius the presbyter, [found] in a Royal codex of Constantinople, clearly and itself outstanding and brilliant. I would have believed another, under the name of Chrysostom, to be his: the liberality of the older editors toward Chrysostom is clearly too profuse. The author of the Synaxarion, whom we bring forward in summary, explains what is commemorated on this feast.
(58) "Do not judge by appearance," is a maxim of the greatest moment, as human reason is very prone to that affection, and in most cases truly worthy of condemnation. For who judges so sincerely or with such integrity that he shows no partiality? The Fathers urge [the authority of] Moses, who had great authority among the Jews, so that the contempt of Christ [might be condemned]. Thus Leontius the presbyter is cited by many. Chrysostom also [speaks] upon that place in John. But the author of the homily cited under his name is wholly occupied with urging [the point] against the Jews, whom he shows to be truly wicked and blasphemous, and guilty before Christ, whom they were defiling, though He was innocent and just.
A The Lord was teaching, as Scripture has it, having come into the temple when the legal feast was midway through. A “Do not judge according to appearance, O Jews; for Christ has come, whom the prophets called out to be coming from Sion, and to be calling back the world. If you do not believe [my] words, O Jews, believe [my] works, O Lord; why do you err, setting at naught the Holy One, whom Moses wrote of in the Law?” B Since the Messiah must indeed come, O Jews, and Christ the Messiah has now come, why do you err, setting at naught the Righteous One, whom Moses wrote of in the Law?
Glory. We worship Thee, O Father, beginningless in substance; we praise Thy beginningless Son, and the All-Holy Spirit together, in piety, as one God in three by nature.
To the Theotokos. Thou who art one of the Trinity, having become flesh, wast seen, O Lord, without having changed Thy substance, nor having scorched the incorrupt womb of the one who bore Thee, being wholly God and fire.
B Sess., Tone [Oblique] 4. The Wisdom of the Word. Standing in the midst of the temple, with the feast at its midpoint, Thou didst cry out divinely: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and drink. For if anyone shall drink of this divine stream of Mine, rivers of My doctrines shall flow from his belly; and whoever believes in Me, the one sent by the divine Begetter, shall be glorified with Me.” For this reason we cry out to Thee: Glory to Thee, O Christ God, that Thou hast richly poured forth the streams of Thy philanthropy upon Thy servants.
Glory. Both now. The same. Thou who causest the streams of wisdom and life to gush forth for the world, O Savior, callest all to draw the waters of salvation. For if a man receives Thy divine law, he extinguishes in himself the coals of error; whence he is never unsated by Thy sweetness, O Lord, heavenly King. For this reason we glorify Thy power, O Christ God, asking that Thou send down from heaven, in rich abundance, the forgiveness of transgressions to Thy servants.
C Ode 4. The Prophet Habakkuk. Since the Messiah must come, and Christ is the Messiah, O lawless ones, why do you not believe in Him? Behold, He has arrived, and the things He does are a witness: He made water wine; He bound together the limbs of a paralytic by [His] word.
Not understanding the Scriptures, you all err, O lawless Hebrews; for truly Christ has come, and has enlightened all; D and He has shown among you many signs and wonders, and in vain do you deny the true Life.
“One work I have shown you, and you all marvel already,” Christ cries out to the Jews. “You,” He says, “circumcise a man even on the Sabbath; why then do you reproach Me for having raised up a paralytic by My word?”
A Indeed, because I have made the whole man whole. Do not judge men by appearances.
You who work in the apostles, and who rest alongside the Spirit in the prophets, O Christ, unstained offspring of the Father’s nature, You have led the nations to the knowledge of You through Your signs.
Glory.
Indivisible Trinity, beginningless Unity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Trinity in unity, God of equal honor and throne, life-giving, uncreated, save those who hymn You, and deliver them from dangers and afflictions.
To the Theotokos.
You who contained God incomprehensibly in your womb, B O pure Bride of God and Mother of the Virgin, do not cease interceding for us, so that through you we may be delivered from tribulations; for we always take refuge in you.
Ode 5. O Lord our God.
You adorned Your apostles with miracles; You magnified the disciples with wonders, glorifying them throughout the world, O our Savior, and granting them Your kingdom.
The disciples illuminated all the ends of the earth with miracles and teachings, preaching, O Christ Savior, the word of Your kingdom in various ways.
We send up praise to Your kingdom; to You, indeed, we offer a hymn, for You who were seen on earth for our sake and illuminated the world, and recalled Adam.
Glory.
Glory to You, Holy Father, unbegotten God; glory to You, timeless Word, only-begotten; C glory to You, Divine Spirit, co-throned and consubstantial with the Father and the Son.
To the Theotokos.
Your womb has become a holy table, containing the heavenly bread, from which everyone who eats does not die, as the one who feeds the universe, O Mother of God, has said.
Ode 6. As waters.
You who govern all the ends of the earth, You ascended, O Jesus, and were teaching the crowds in the temple the word of truth D as the festival reached its midpoint, as John cries out.
You opened Your lips, O Master; You proclaimed to the world the timeless Father, and the all-holy Spirit, maintaining the relationship with both even after the incarnation.
You finished the work of the Father; You confirmed Your words with works, O Savior, performing healings and signs, raising those paralyzed, cleansing lepers, and resurrecting the dead.
The beginningless Son became a beginning by taking on what is ours; He became man, and in the midst of the festival He taught.
A, saying: "Run to the ever-flowing fountain; draw life."
Glory. We all praise the one Godhead in Trinity, the essence existing in three hypostases, uncreated, undivided; the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as being three and one.
To the Theotokos. We hymn you, Virgin, and after childbirth we glorify you as the only Mother and Virgin, O pure Bride of God; for truly from you God was incarnate, bestowing life upon us.
Synaxarion. Verse. Standing B in the midst of the festival, Christ the Messiah teaches, in the midst of the teachers.
On the Wednesday of the Paralytic, we celebrate the feast of Mid-Pentecost, because of the honor and reverence for the two great feasts; I mean Pascha and Pentecost, as it unites and connects both of them. And it happened as follows: After Christ had performed the supernatural miracle upon the paralytic, the Jews, being supposedly scandalized on account of the Sabbath—for indeed it was done on the Sabbath—"sought to kill him." He flees, therefore, to Galilee, and while staying in the mountains there, He performs the wonder of the five loaves and two fish. Later, however, when the Feast of Tabernacles arrived—for this is also a great solemnity among the Jews—He went up to Jerusalem and walked in secret. But about the middle of it, He went up into the Temple and began to teach, and all were astonished at His doctrine. (After not a few things, and a discourse concerning the Sabbath and the three feasts: Pascha, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.) At the end of this feast C (namely of the Tabernacles), Jesus stood and cried with a loud voice: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." Since, therefore, by this doctrine Christ showed Himself to be the Messiah, becoming our mediator and reconciler with His eternal Father, for this cause we celebrate the present feast, and naming it Mid-Pentecost, we praise Christ the Messiah, and we set forth the excellence of the two great feasts on either side. I believe it is because of this that the feast of the Samaritan woman is also celebrated after it, because there too Christ discourses much concerning the Messiah, and concerning water and thirst, just as here.
Ode 7. The Furnace of the Chaldeans. In the flesh You grew weary, O rest of all; voluntarily You thirsted, O fountain of wonders; You sought water, O Jesus, You who promised living water. D
VARIE LECTIONES. [Note: 18. Christ.]
COMBEFIS' NOTES. Therefore, according to them and our Andrew, the Son of God was created and made the beginning, having assumed our human nature, in whom we ourselves might be created unto good works (Eph. 2:10), having been restored and summed up in Him in the beginning (Eph. 1:10). Methodius should also be consulted regarding this place, and what we have said regarding him.
A You conversed, O Lord, with the Samaritan woman, rebuking the senselessness of the lawless Hebrews. For she believed you to be the Son of God, while they denied it.
Living water, the leaping water of immortality, the fountain that is ever-living, you promised to provide to those who receive your Spirit by faith, O Savior, who proceeds from the Father.
You fed thousands of hungry people with five loaves; and you caused the leftovers from the baskets to abound for other myriads, displaying your glory to your holy disciples.
He who eats your bread shall live forever; and he who drinks your blood remains in you, my Savior, and you remain in him, and you shall raise him up at the last moment. B You have made your dispensation wonderful, O Master, confirming your divine power with miracles. You drove away diseases; you raised the dead; you gave sight to the blind as God.
You cleansed the lepers, you set the lame straight; you strengthened those paralyzed; you healed the woman with the flow of blood, you walked upon the sea, displaying your glory to your holy disciples.
Glory. We adore, O Lord, your immaculate Father, and the grace of the Spirit, which, being God, you distributed to your apostles, sending them forth for the preaching.
Theotokion. In your womb you contained the uncontainable Word, from your breasts you suckled the feeder of the world; in your arms you carried our provider, O chaste Mother of God.
Ode VIII. Angels and heavens. Come, see, O peoples, Him who is praised upon the throne of glory being blasphemed by lawless peoples; and seeing, praise the Messiah foretold by the prophets.
You are truly the Christ who has come into this world, from whom is salvation and the remission of ancestral sins; you are truly the life of those who have believed in you. C D
COMBEFIS'S NOTES
(60) *Nostrum præbitorem.* Regarding this word *παροχέα*—both in the sense of the voice itself and that from which it is derived—Bude makes mention of many things in his *Thesaurus*. The Latins sometimes retain the Greek term, as Horace suggests in his first *Sermones*. And it has long since obtained in ecclesiastical usage for a lesser shepherd under a bishop, whose role it is, as an auxiliary to the greater and supreme priest, to watch over the salvation of the subjects, suggesting to them—each according to the time and place—what is appropriate, whether sacraments or the sustenance of the Word, not to mention temporal subsidies, in which the labor of a priest of this kind must not be altogether wanting. Thus, just as bishops have—and parish priests clearly do, especially where congregations are larger—the necessary functions of auxiliary priests; and just as the Roman Pontiff, with the consent of the bishop, provides and assigns those approved by the same bishop and recognized as suitable, keeping them free under the yoke of the monastic and religious institute; so too there is even now a plentiful harvest, if only we do not truly seek with Paul the things that are of men who are to be instructed in the Christian faith, but the men themselves. There are not lacking, even in Gaul, those whom our own Frenchmen—in America and more remote parts—are seeking out as neglected sheaves with glorious, and would that it were constant, effort; where, especially on a mountain slope, or in some other way, the rich and pleasant earth [makes it] more difficult for the inhabitants. It is not hidden with what concern [those] bishops, lovers of the flock, or regular workers, go there [to seek them].
(61) *Noxæque paternæ remissio.* Regarding "the remission of ancestral sins," the multitude in number, because...
A The Wisdom of God, the feast being at its midpoint, as it is written, appeared in the temple and taught that he was truly the Messiah Christ, through whom is salvation. On the Sabbaths, Christ, and in all the days, was displaying the works of signs, bestowing health upon those who were held by various sicknesses; but the wandering people were darkened by wrath. This man, they say, who had long lain paralyzed, he healed on the Sabbath, and he broke the law; the Jews bitterly reproached Christ. Did not Moses, he says, give you the law, and does he not command you to be circumcised? And you circumcise a man on the Sabbath, that the law of the Fathers might not be broken, Christ said to the Jews. B Those who were everywhere perverse, who had dwelt in the wilderness, were assaulting their Benefactor with envy, blaspheming, moving their unjust tongues, meditating on vain things. Glory. The Trinity is one God; as the Father has not passed into sonship, nor the Son been changed into procession: but separately and together they are light, I glorify the three as God unto the ages. To the Theotokos. How did you give birth, speak, to him who shone forth timelessly from the Father, and is praised with the Holy Spirit, or how does he alone know, who were well-pleased to be born from you, O Theotokos?
Ode 8. It is alien to mothers.
The feast of the Jews reaching its midpoint, you went up, my Savior, into your temple, and you were teaching all; the Jews were wondering and saying, "How does this man know letters, having not learned them?" My Redeemer, flowing with graces of healings, was performing wonders and signs, putting to flight sicknesses, healing the infirm. Verily the Jews were driven to madness by the multitude of his miracles. C Rebuking the stubborn Jews, my Redeemer cried aloud: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment." For indeed the law commands every man to be circumcised even on the Sabbath. Greater things D of wonders, O Savior, according to what you promised, you provided to be shown to your disciples, sending...to declare your glory to the nations. And they to the world preached your resurrection, your grace, and your incarnation. A If you circumcise a man on the Sabbath, so that the law might not be broken, why are you now angry with me, because I made a man whole in the word? "You judge according to the flesh," Christ says to the Jews.
You who cured the withered hand by your word, heal the long-dried-up earth of my heart, O Word, and make me fruitful, that I too, O Savior, may produce fruits in fervent repentance. Cleansing my heart from leprosy, and illuminating the eyes of my soul, O Word, raise me up as you raised the paralytic lying on a bed of pain, who was lying in bed.
Glory. It is alien for the wicked to worship the eternal Trinity, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit; the uncreated omnipotence, B by which the whole world is founded, by the power of his strength.
To the Theotokos. You contained in your womb, Mother of the Virgin, the one of the Trinity, Christ the life-giver, whom all creation praises, and the supernal thrones tremble before; him supplicate, O all-blessed one, that our souls may be saved.
Exapostilarion. You who [adorned] heaven with stars. You who hold the crater of inexhaustible gifts, grant me to draw water for the remission of sins, for I am gripped by thirst, O only compassionate and merciful one.
December 24th. On the Birth of Christ. Idiomelon of Andrew of Jerusalem. Tone 4. Rejoice, you righteous; heavens, exult; C leap for joy, you mountains, for Christ is born. The Virgin sits representing the Cherubim, carrying in her bosom the God-Word incarnate. Shepherds glorify him as he is born; Magi offer gifts to the Master; the angels singing say: O incomprehensible Lord, glory to you.
The Father was well-pleased; the Word became flesh, and the Virgin gave birth to God made man; a star announces; the Magi worship; the shepherds marvel, and nature exults.
Virgin Theotokos, you who gave birth to the Savior, you overturned the first curse of Eve, because you became a mother by the good pleasure of the Father, carrying in your bosom D the God-Word incarnate. The mystery does not permit investigation; by faith alone we all glorify it, crying out with you and saying: O ineffable Lord, glory to you.
Second of February. For the Meeting of the Lord (Hypapante). Idiomelon. Tone 4.
A Today the holy Mother, and one higher than the holy sanctuary, has come into the temple to show the world the Provider for the world and the Maker of the Law. And when the elder Simeon received Him into his arms, he cried out in honor: “Now you dismiss your servant, for my eyes have seen your salvation.” (Luke 2:29).
Tone 4, oblique. Search the Scriptures, as Christ our God said in the Gospels. For indeed in them we find Him born and wrapped in swaddling clothes; nurtured and suckled; circumcised and carried by Simeon; not in empty appearance or vision, but in truth has He made Himself visible to the world. To Him let us cry out: To you, O God, be glory, who precede the ages.
Tone 4, oblique. He who sits upon the Cherubim and is praised by the Seraphim, being offered today in the divine temple according to the ordinance of the Law, is enthroned in the arms of an elder, and gifts are received by Him from Joseph in a manner worthy of God: as a pair of turtledoves, the undefiled Church and the chosen people of the nations; and as the two pigeons, as He himself is the Author and President of both the Old and New Testaments. And having received the end of the divine prophecy given to him, Simeon, blessing the Virgin Theotokos Mary, foretold the symbols of the passion of Him born of her; and asking to be dismissed by Him, he cries: “Now, Master, you dismiss me according to what you have foretold me, for I have seen you, the pre-eternal Light and the Savior of the people who are called by your name, O Lord.”
14th of September. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. At the procession, Idiomelon of Andrew of Jerusalem. Tone 1.
B Truly, the holy-voiced utterance of David has today received its fulfillment. For behold, we openly worship the footstool of your immaculate feet, and hoping in the shadow of your wings, O all-merciful God, we cry out to you: “Let the light of your countenance be signed upon us” (Ps. 4:7). Exalt the horn of your orthodox people by the Exaltation of your precious Cross, O Christ, full of mercy.
On the Birth of the precious and glorious Prophet, the Forerunner. Idiomelon. Tone 4.
C There has appeared today the great Forerunner, coming forth from the barren loins of Elizabeth: he, I say, who is the prophet greater than all prophets, and there is no one greater, nor has one arisen. For to the Forerunner, who is the lamp, the most splendid Light is the immediate companion; and to the voice, the Word; and to the best man, the Bridegroom.
Of the glorious and most celebrated apostles and chief princes, Peter and Paul, at the procession. Stichera. Idiomelon.
D Come, O peoples, today: the illustrious fame of the faithfulIAMBI TO AGATHO
A ...as a sacrifice; let us crown the interpreters of grace, Peter and Paul, with fitting praises. For since they had lavishly sown the word for all, and had attained the grace of the Spirit along with those whom they had taught, and, being branches of the true vine, they bestowed upon us a ripe cluster that gladdens the hearts of men. To them let us cry aloud with unveiled face and pure conscience, saying: Rejoice, guides of the irrational, and ministers of those living by reason; rejoice, selected delights of the Creator and Provider of all; rejoice, arbiters of good things, and pursuers of the deceitful. Let us entreat them to intercede always with the Creator and Teacher to grant stable peace to the world, and great mercy to our souls.
B
From the Canon to St. Ignatius, December 20. Ode 3.
Rightly are you called by your name, Father, for you were called "God-bearer" (Theophoros), being moved by God; since, being still a very young child, you stood in the hands of the Lord while He carried you, crying out to us: "Become like this child to me."
Kontakion, Tone 3. The Virgin.
The luminous day of your glorious struggles proclaims to all Him who was born of the Virgin. For thirsting to savor His delights with longing, you hastened to be consumed and devoured by beasts. On this account you were also called "God-bearer," glorious Ignatius.
C
ANDREW
Iambi of the most holy Archbishop of Crete, written to the most holy Agathon, archdeacon and chartophylax of the most holy Great Church of God here, when, having received this book, he copied it and sent it back again.
(Galland, t. XIII, p. 167.)
I, for my part, requested the favor of the book: As I wished, I copied the whole thing quickly: For there is no consideration for us of the beauty of the letters, But only of distinction and clarity, Whose fashioning is of brilliant writing; O best of friends and teachers to me. Which book they have known, and which they have matched To worthy service— Even to friends of yours, who are like-minded benefactors.
D
NOTES OF COMBEFIS
The first reason seems less solid, since Chrysostom says that Ignatius did not see the Lord in the flesh, nor did he have any acquaintance with him—homily on him; and he says (as Jerome also reports) that he did see Him after the Resurrection: as if, of course, he were of a more adult age and was reckoned among the disciples. Our people of Aquitaine refer this by pious tradition to their own apostle Martial, whose skull, they say, still bears the traces of the Lord's palms once gently caressing him as a holy child; just as it preserves the traces of the same Christ when he repelled him, with the skin intact, full of that majesty, and a head—once carried by me—in the royal treasury of our royal convent, or, if you prefer, among the divine and heavenly relics of the blessed inhabitants of heaven, at the town of Saint-Maximin in Provence.
Iami to Agathon
A As indeed I easily persuade myself, And also those who ask for public treasures, As if it were a living wealth poured forth abundantly, And gathered recently and appropriately: And witness to this is the grace of the book that has arrived. Most pleasantly I am delighted by your affairs daily, By which, as I address you especially, I discern Your rich and easily accessible store of Scripture; A devout mind, a gentle heart, And the best harmony of manners, By which you welcome all your friends with kindness, And weigh things as is fitting, Balancing them on a most beautiful scale. Therefore, I address you, and I look to you As the conciliator for me of divine utterances: Since I have received from you those things by which it is right to honor friends, As far as the scribe of this book was able to attain. But surely, according to time and prosody, To write them down truly confers more honor. But you, in turn, shall receive this grace From the providence of God from above, And for your own diligent assistants. For you know how to treat friends most kindly, And to wish for them to be exposed and useful to all, Things even long since stored away over a long interval, Through many sweats and a laborious talent: By which you quickly obtain what you desire Through labors, O most excellent of those who write books! You who place before our eyes, both by pen and heart, A rich torrent of divinely sought labors. The sweetness of the words which you distill, May the purity of your life proclaim even more: And whatever you say, do so with complete freedom, Both mixing and distinguishing in an appropriate position, Whatever was said or done more churlishly, And always depicting them with such sentiments, In which the sincerity of true dogmas, As if in speaking tablets, has been established: And that you destroy novelty as a seducer of the crowd. The words of the masters also shoot [like arrows], So that all of its newly sprung seed Has been turned into dust and crumbly ash Throughout the world, and like lightning in its swiftness, Among those nurtured in orthodox sermons. There is no confusion of matters, no great brow [of arrogance], No tumor of the height of commanding power. For all the shadows of blindness are absent from them, And they [the words] protect the mind in full armor. Nurturing the light implanted even from the first age, Until you found Christ, as it is fitting to find Him, And the torch illuminating the radiance of dogmas.
A Or rather, to call Him both man and God. Yet not distractedly, nor indeed confusedly. You will not teach this, being secure in your words, That one should divide Him into two hypostases, The Son of the Father, and the infant of the Virgin. For He, existing without end and without seed, Ran together with the Word becoming incarnate. Hence, He is worthily proclaimed as Theotokos, And is alone worshipped as such. We know to venerate Christ, but not as two, Even if He appeared in two, as if in two, Without confusion, and apart from all mutation. B Therefore, He is not divided as those of old blustered, Who chose to cut Him into two parts. You will prove their error to be manifest, If Scripture, like a sling, casts stones powerfully, Like arrows, throwing out glowing coals, those boastful ones, And the recently maddened sprouting thorns. But Christ's incarnation, more than the sun, Runs through and illuminates the mind, Which nothing has obscured; not the heat of time, Which seems to swell and roar with anxiety: Not abundant riches: not fear-inducing pride, With a praiseworthy light illuminating them. Of these, you have appeared one from childhood and swaddling bands; And polishing every meaning of Scripture, As of a light that shines in your heart. Through these, you define and teach Him as identical in flesh and divine nature, according to the natures of which you write. For the former is a confusion, or a trace of mutation. C And being accustomed to dogmatize accurately, Concerning the coalesced Christ—for He is one, not two— Both the One before the ages and without a mother, And again the One in time without a Father: For He had as seed the effusion of the Spirit, Which divinely overshadowed the Virgin, As she who bore Him, the God-Word; Hence, she also bore the Son, as one. For He had no division into two. And appearing as flesh, He was tempered as one with it, He who substantially put on our substance. Those who cut His joined natures, D So that they might hope in a mere man, And allow that the Word of God was merely empty, You would not choose to tolerate at all. But neither those who compose the assumed and the assumptor into one nature—those who are Synchytes—would you choose to tolerate. The coalition has been made according to substance.
A Therefore, as with a divine faculty of speech, Declare also that which is naturally understood in Him: But do not separate or divide it distinctly. According to this coalition the mind is able to observe subtly What things have come together into the reason of union. Thus I conceive indeed the two operations, Of the Son of Christ and of the composite person, As if from one fountain and symphony Of the whole of our essence throughout, Coming together into one hypostasis: Yet these are clearly the two natures of Christ. For the mode would be one of confusion, not of union, As you yourself know, and teach wisely. To think of the two operations of Christ, And to dogmatize consistently a double will; To distinguish each of these—yet by contemplation only— By incomparable laws, But not as natures turned into themselves. Which, as being of one and derived from one, Proceed commonly and are united According to the appropriate nature, one after another. This book which you see, friend, I have written with labor.
ANNO DOMINI DCCLXXXVII.
ELIAS OF CRETE, METROPOLITAN
NOTITIA
(FABRIC. Biblioth. Græc. t. VIII, p. 430.)
Elias, metropolitan of Crete, who took part in the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 A.D., illustrated the orations of Nazianzen 1, 3, 4, 10, 11, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 51, 52 with his Commentaries. Billius published them only in Latin, partly translated by himself, partly excerpted. A Greek manuscript codex exists at Basel in the public library, an excellent codex, about which Carolus Patinus writes in his letters concerning his journey (Amst. 1696, 12, p. 132): "The works of Gregory of Nazianzus are written in red characters, and the Commentaries of Elias Cretensis in black characters, which have not yet been printed except in Latin. This Greek manuscript is perfectly clean, and enriched even at the chapters with very beautiful miniatures. One often sees St. Gregory in the chair, preaching and appearing to dispute against the heretics, who are below on his left, having the orthodox on his right, especially in his sermon on the Eunomians and the heterodox." FABRIC. Commentaries on Greg. Naz. Orat. on the Son, which is the third on theology, a part in the Imperial codex 16, no. 1, concerning which see Kollarius in his Supplement, pp. 145 et seqq. and pp. 213 et seqq. of codex 25, no. 2, in which there are, according to his opinion, also excerpts from the Commentaries of Elias Cretensis on the Orations of Gregory Nazianzen. HARL.
(FABRIC. loc. cit. t. IX, p. 525.)
His very large commentary on John Climacus, divided into three volumes, and almost equal in size to the *parabasis* of Eustathius on Homer, exists complete in the Bessarion library at Venice [in three codices of the Marcian library, v. Cat. codd. Gr. p. 74] and at Paris in the Coisliniana, and at Rome in...