Ignatius the Deacon

As the bread is pleasant to the hungry, ^A so is departure from this life to the righteous man. Those things which are seldom possessed are sought after diligently. The possession of things which are easy to acquire is despised by the mob. Chrysostom. — As a plant is nourished by water, so is a man cleansed of filth by tears. Sirach. — As a house is ruined, 29 so is a fool by wisdom. Sextus. — Whose life is above visible things, their actions are praised. 108 Those whose life you admire for its beauty, imitate their pure actions. As hay is to the fire, so is wealth to the empty-headed. As those sailing in calm weather have everything prepared for a storm, ^B so the prudent in prosperity prepare aids against adversity. As it seems, we incline toward common opinion, even if it be offensive, rather than toward the truth, even if it be austere and grave. Eusebius. — All acknowledge that wickedness, which is a disease of the soul, is hateful.

IGNATII DIACONI

DRAMA

ON THE FALL OF THE FIRST PARENT

IGNATII VERSUS IN ADAM.

ΙΓΝΑΤΙΟΥ ΣΤΙΧΟΙ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΔΑΜ.

πόνημα.

DRAMA ON THE FALL OF THE FIRST PARENT

^A The serpent, having crept to our ancestors And seduced them by blandishments long ago, Stupified by that famous disaster, And calling to memory the ancient curse Which the nature of mortals received from them, Since the enemy appeared superior in battle, Conjecture your misfortune in them, Having suffered a similar lot.

For when the dragon, who had fallen in a wretched ruin, Saw the nature of spiritual beings, And the lower creation brought into existence With unspeakable speed, by word alone and by will, The august, heavenly seat, namely, Cherubim, Principalities, Seraphim, and Thrones, Archangels, and the ranks of the formidable Angels, The earth, heaven, and the entire arrangement of the stars, Water and fire, air together with the aether, A luminary passing through the sky, illuminating the day, And another gracefully brightening the night, And all the swimming and winged creatures, And the whole world appearing through the Word; And seeing man, who by the hand and will alone Received a more divine existence, And was shown as the master of all things subject to him, Differing from all else by his reason, And held in honor here before all others, Because he was shown to have been made in the image of God, He moves war against him out of envy, Until he drove him out from the seat of Eden, In which he had been placed to work and to guard, And to rejoice in the fruits yielded from thence.

^C Eden was the miracle of all the places of the East, Which, as if by a four-fold river, the water irrigated, Displaying the fertility of all fruits, Spreading their lovely beauty everywhere, And most delightful to the eyes of those eating them. When the deceiver, trembling, had approached it, Having seen her such as she had come forth from the hand of God, And from there delighting the eyes with her beauty, He approaches Eve, the nature more sluggish And more clever for enticing the man, Whom God, having pulled a small fragment From his side, had formed as a helper and companion of life, And had given her to him most wisely, A reward for his sleep and a solace for his labors. To whom, also setting forth the meaning of the commandments, He granted the use of all the trees, while only one...

^A he commanded them not to touch at all; lest, if they should eat, they would pay a terrible penalty of death, but if they should not violate the law concerning it, they might live without sorrow in a blessed series of ages. Approaching her, as if girded for battle, he rushes into the fray itself and says:

SERPENT. Why, O woman, did the Creator say to you, "Do not touch this tree alone?" He spoke, begrudging you, so that you would not become gods.

EVE. He said that we might eat of every tree; but of this tree alone we should abstain, lest by eating we incur death. ^B

SERPENT. Do not conceive such things in your mind, woman: for he knows that if you eat of this tree alone, you will surely be as gods, seeing clearly.

EVE. Did you approach Adam, my husband and lord? Did you come to him with all boldness as you did to me, stranger? For you know that I was created after him.

SERPENT. If you desire it, woman, Adam will not resist; for he will obey if you urge him with your words; he will yield quickly, and eat with you.

EVE. ^C In truth, you have approached me as one more fearful, and you say that I will prevail over him by such arts; I will therefore approach him, to see if he will accept these things.

SERPENT. Do not approach your husband until you have eaten. First put it to the test, and eat first; for you will persuade him more easily thus; for you are a woman.

EVE. You have persuaded me to eat, and to urge my husband to eat, O advising stranger, if indeed we might obtain the hopes of which you have spoken.

DRAMA ON THE FALL OF THE FIRST PARENT.

SERPENT. Do not delay your promises, but fulfill them; for you will receive my promises most swiftly, woman; for that which delays knows not how to win favor.

EVE. Husband, discerning the grace of this tree, and its taste as equal to the delight of its sight, partake of it, and you shall become divine if you eat.

ADAM. Has some stranger bestowed a divine gift? And how will food make me a god, if I eat? For God is not one who consumes food.

EVE. Can you seek anything better, beloved, than the knowledge of the nature of good and evil in life? By eating this fruit, take the experience of both.

ADAM. And how shall one transgress the boundaries set, which the Creator has fixed with such precision? How you have erred, unhappy one, in your heedlessness!

EVE. These boundaries are but vacillating obstacles; cast upon me the cause you fear, and I will utterly free you from the debt.

ADAM. Behold, I have tasted; and I feel corruption within, woman, flowing into my entrails, from which, I suspect, ^C cruel death will arise.

EVE. And deep pains rend my belly within, which I took from the fruit of the wood, from the time when the hostile serpent deceived me.

ADAM. We appear naked, alas, woman, tell me now: how shall we clothe our shame? Tell me, for I see there is no covering for shame.

EVE. These fig leaves are rough, as you see; let us cover the sight of our shame with them. For a rough life will now befall us.

ADAM. You recognize now, all too late, the gravity of the fault, ^D and you feel the penalty we have incurred; therefore, accept the reward of your deeds.

DRAMA ON THE FALL OF THE FIRST PARENT

EVA. I know that I have erred in my mind imprudently, and that I have destroyed your mind, O husband. ^A Therefore I am shown to be the cause of destruction.

ADAM. Do you not perceive with your ears, woman, the crashing from on high, sounding as if from God? How shall I flee the penalty for my crime?

EVA. The sound of the feet of God reaches my ears, and fearing to endure the frankness of his presence, I wish rather to be hidden with you, beloved.

ADAM. What place will hide me? And where shall I be hidden? For there is no place outside of God into which I might flee and be lost. Nevertheless, follow me, woman.

DEUS. Adam, you who were more excellent than all creatures, the work of my hands and my possession, where have you gone now? And how is it that you have become such as you are?

ADAM. Your words do not allow me, being naked, to come into your presence, nor my feet; but a wretched flight and fear bind me.

DEUS. Who, O unhappy one, has led your mind astray now, and shows your nakedness to your eyes, unless you have transgressed those things which it was not lawful to transgress?

ADAM. Trusting in the woman whom you gave me, Creator, for she bore great persuasion in her speech, I approached the tree, from which it was not lawful to eat.

DEUS. Since you have been found to have yielded to the woman, and have been ^B estranged from my commandment... ^C

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you have departed from the commandment, you will be a cultivator of the thorns of life, increasing and multiplying your sorrows amidst groans; and you will bear children in pains, O mortal nature; watering your face with sweat, you will eat bread in labors and cares, until, springing from the earth, you return to the earth. ^A ...

OF IGNATIUS THE DEACON AND GRAMMARIAN ON HIS DISCIPLE PAUL

The end of life is uncertain, therefore do not run carelessly; seek virtue there, that you may find happiness in that place. Life is not meant for tarrying; it is grass that soon withers, a fleeting happiness, a footprint scarcely impressed. See how all things are dust, all things are ash; for whatever the world contains, the tomb shall swallow. She who bore me to my tomb has poured out a lamentable weeping; if you but observe this, you will feel sorrow in your heart. The tombs are filled with tears, they are filled with endless lamentations; for he who turns his gaze upon the tomb, from there he receives grief. Opening your eye upon my tomb, contemplate the earth; for Tartarus has cut me down like a young sapling. Opening a dark dwelling, the insatiable Pluto snatched me, Paul, cutting me down like a tender flower before time. Death mows down the beauty of the young like grass; for it is truly an unavoidable scythe. See where you run, and stop; see how you are bound to corruption; for however much you may run, you will in no way escape the tomb. As the universe is dust, vapor, storm, ash: like the winds, all things imitate the gathering of the air. The earth has hidden me in her bosom, not yet endowed with reason; for fate has bound my tongue and loosened all my limbs.

[IGNATII DIACONI VERSUS.]

Who has devised for us the tomb? Who has woven for us the dirge? The enemy of Adam, the beauty of Eve. ^A O You who are the unchanging splendor, rescue me, Christ, from the darkness of the dead. He cast away the lifeless corpse, but carried off the heart to the heavens, to provide to God a strict account of the things he did there. Understand what a strange wonder this is: for God will gather up again, from the bosom of the earth, the dust of the new grain you gaze upon from below. Time runs on; why do you delay? Behold, the Judge is present to render a just sentence for all the works you have performed. Father, O Father of my God, You who hold the soul of every man, whom You formed with Your hands, deliver me from the sentence of the curse. Alas! How shall I then, in the glowing current, keep unharmed the stain I have contracted? For I have admitted works of chaff. The illustrious Stephen received me, he who was the *protomartyr*, who saw the heavens opened and the Son seated beside the Father. ^B Blessed one, you who have traversed the path of blessedness, make Paul to arrive at the harbor of Christ. Sheltering me in your house, Stephen, I cry out with trembling for God to be propitious when He ordains judgment for me. Lower down, Tartarus will indeed hide all mortals, but the herald, splendidly dressed, will lead all into the light. Leader of all the immortal dead, bring Paul into your dwellings. I call you as a mother calls a beloved child, and as an old man refraining from tears, that you might enter with us into joy. You pursued a most sweet youth, my son, but you have been taken away; for you have found a new Father, God, who created all things. Sprinkling the hymn with drops, do not soak it with tears; for the hymn is a reward for the dead, and God is pleased by these things.

TOU AYTOU IGNATIOU IAMBOI KATA STOICHEION.

EJUSDEM IGNATII IAMBI SECUNDUM ALPHABETUM.

Lift your mind on high to God. ^C Desire a life divinely purified.

Walk upon the earth, but do not set your mind on the things of the earth. Stretch out your hand to the poor man lying below. Desire the works of those who are most excellent and radiant. Seek the delights of the hope from above. May your tongue always speak good things. Beware, lest you become the prey of demons. Never follow in the footsteps of the profane. Weep and lament, wash away your stains. Imitate the sayings of the wise, and you shall be wise. Flee not from praises, but from detractions. Make yourself a well-adorned temple. Show hospitality to strangers, and Christ shall show hospitality to you. ^A Abominate oaths that carry the stench of worldly things. Administer useless wealth in a useful way. Consider this fragile world as a spider’s web. And dissolve the wisdom of the flesh according to God. ^B But wear the armor of light instead of purple. Do not look upon yourself as great while lifting yourself up. Bend your neck in the fear of God. Walk joyfully through the laborious life. Would that you were rebuked by another rather than wish to rebuke. My friend, keep these things, and you shall be great.

OF THE YEAR UNCERTAIN

NILUS' ALPHABETICAL VERSES

God leads the wicked to punishment. ^D You shall be firm, always having God as your friend. Be studious of the oracles of God. Loving what is just, you shall obtain the lot of the just. Love praise, that you may not fall into detraction. You shall live an excellent life, if you embrace excellent things.