It is more pleasant to be silent than to speak of things that are not fitting. A One must receive as given by God things that come from God.
Follow the actions of all wise men, Better not to live than to live ignominiously. Grief brings death to men. Imitate refined things; do not imitate an evil way of life. Consider your parents to be gods. Providing for guests, then you shall receive in kind. Flee from swearing an oath, even if you have sworn justly. Deem this life a public spectacle. Live in the best way; you shall receive the heavenly inheritance. From a wise man it is necessary to learn something wise. You will complete your skill if you look to God. Raise your hands perpetually toward God. B Endeavor to love the glory of labors. Hasten to obtain the place above, if it is right. Stammer wisely rather than play the philosopher unreasonably. For since these things provide what is good, they must be practiced.
CHRISTOPHORUS THE PROTOASECRETIS
EXHORTATION TO ISRAEL. CANTUS I.
(From Matranga, *Anecdota Graeca*, vol. II, p. 667.)Cast aside blasphemy, Cast aside unbelief, Cast aside the veil Of your soul, O Israelite.
Learn the outcomes Of deep mysteries, Of hidden things, Which the prophets spoke.
Become an Israelite In practice and in theory, Raising up your mind Like Jacob of old.
D Abjure blasphemy, abjure unbelief, abjure the veil of the mind, O Israelite. Learn the outcomes of deep mysteries, of hidden things, which the prophets foretold. Become an Israelite in practice and theory, raising up your mind like Jacob of old.
EXHORTATION TO THE JEWS
Learn studiously the knowledge of the Trinity, and be instructed in the divine incarnation of Christ. A In the first times the Father first spoke the word: "Let us make Adam in my image." Enos, foreseeing a more perfect life in Christ, proclaimed that the Saviour was to be called upon. May the oak of the patriarch illuminate your faith, which once received the most holy Trinity in hospitality. B Great Jacob once wrestled with God in the form of a man, teaching what was to come. Behold, Moses the lawgiver commands you to hear the Lawgiver who is to be born. The dew descended upon the fleece of Gideon, prefiguring the birth of the only Theotokos. Let Isaiah say how the Virgin gives birth, C fleeing the pains and labors of motherhood. The Lord of glory appeared without comeliness: "For the transgressions of my people I was sacrificed." His patience overcomes the insults of the blasphemers; His back is scourged, His face is spit upon. Jeremiah astonishes every mind, saying: "Come, let us cast wood into the bread of the lamb." Let the great David, the ancestor of God, D declare: How did you pierce the hands and feet of the Lord? How did you give gall and vinegar for drink, and cast lots for the tunic of the Creator? But with hell gaping open, He rose as if from sleep, and ascended to the throne of the Father in the highest.
You, therefore, Israelite, remember your unbelief, make haste to be baptized, for Christ has appeared. The sign given of old is now fulfilled; for the ruler has ceased to reign over my people to the end. The prophet Daniel revealed the time, saying there would be seventy weeks. I am enlightened, brother, I receive baptism, having learned what I did not know of the mysteries of the Law. O choir of the prophets, receive me as a brother; for having obeyed you, I am clothed in grace. I offer you a purified mind, my Saviour. Basil the emperor cries out now to the Saviour: As you once accepted the sacrifice of Abraham, so accept also my gift A from the newly-chosen flock. For I have consecrated to you my children with my wife, the kingdom itself, and my whole life.
CHRISTOPHORUS THE PROTOASECRETIS: EXHORTATION TO THE SAME ISRAELITES. CANTO I.
Learn the meanings of the divine oracles, Do not understand the utterances Of the prophets in a carnal sense. Do not think that the city Of Sion is built Of stones that are seen And honored in this world. Nor expect this To be beheld by carnal eyes In this life. . . The word of the prophet Has been clearly fulfilled, And Sion has been built Of incomparable stones.
Sion, the Church, The prophets foretold As the great city Of the King of all. In it, a precious stone Was laid as a foundation, Christ, as foretold By the glory of the prophets. Upon the foundation Of Christ the pearl, You shall find the twelve Most beautiful stones. Understand the twelve stones To be the divine apostles, Shining in the midst Of Sion the Church.
Consider the emerald for me To be Peter the chief, Holding the first place in the midst Of the chorus of the apostles. Regard as the carbuncle Paul the god-inspired, For day and night He sends forth lightnings. And the hyacinth Is the great John, Thundering heavenly mysteries To the Church. And understand the remaining stones To be the apostles, By whom was built Sion the divine city.