Germanus II, Patriarch of Constantinople

ANNO DOMINI MCCXL

GERMANUS II PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE

NOTITIA

^A Germanus II succeeded Manuel—a man of great wisdom and holiness, who, according to Callistus and indeed Acropolita and other Greeks, originated from Anaplus on the Propontis, and was, as it was said, the son of a fisherman. When he was a deacon of the Great Church, after the taking of Constantinople, he had withdrawn to the monastery of St. George Paneumorphus at Achyrea. In the year 1232, on the sixth day of August, on the fifth indiction, having received letters from Manuel Ducas, Prince of Epirus and Thessaly, he held a synod of several metropolitans, namely: Christopher of Ancyra in Galatia, John of Nicomedia, Nicholas of Amastris, Basil of Serrae, Agapetus of Lupadium and Melitopolis, Leo of Prusa, Nicephorus of Pontoheraclea, Leo of Pompeiopolis, Basil of Proconnesus, and George of Didymotichus. The acts of this synod are indicated by Lambecius from the Imperial Greek Codex 241, and Christopher of Ancyra is said to have been a legate sent from it to Manuel Ducas.

While Germanus was holding the patriarchate, under Emperor John Batatzes, in the year 1231, on the 26th of April, a council was held at Nymphaeum in Bithynia on account of four messengers of the Roman Pope Gregory IX who had arrived for the purpose of restoring the union of the Church; two of these were from the Order of Preachers, and two others were from the Minorites. The Greek and Latin acts of this synod exist. The council did not have the outcome that was hoped for; nevertheless, Patriarch Germanus gave a letter to Pope Gregory. Nicephorus Callistus adds that Germanus wrote against the Latins; and indeed, some of his short works exist, which are so thoroughly jejune and unrefined that perhaps no other Greek work has been produced that is worse. Approaching death, he resumed the monastic life, having taken to himself the name of George the Monk; and after he had presided over his Church for eighteen years, he exchanged life for death. ^B Onuphrius in his *Chronicle* adds six months, and considers that he died in the year 1240. Ephraem, whom Leo Allatius praises in Book II of *De Consensu*, chapter 14, in his *Chronology of the Patriarchs of Constantinople*, which he composed in political verses, relates that he was enrolled among the holy pontiffs, and therefore it is surprising that he is absent from three catalogs.

WRITINGS OF GERMANUS II.

Scripta inedita.

I. *On the Procession of the Holy Spirit against the Latins.* It begins: "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples." He collected the authorities of the Fathers, including the Latins, though expressed in Greek words, according to the same Allatius, II, 14, p. 712. Book I against the Latins, response 10, is cited by Nic. Comnenus, p. 336, *Praenot. mystagog.* From a letter to the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople (Nicholas), Allatius, p. 300, 568.

II. *On Unleavened Bread, to Theodore Studita the Younger*; a work entirely unrefined and full of ignorance.

(a) On the agreement of the Eastern and Western Church, a passage of which Lambeck repeated, III, p. 312 sq. HARL.

(b) In the Vienna Imperial Codex LXIV, no. 27, there is a synopsis of the testimonies of Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers against the heresies and errors of the Latins concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit, unleavened bread, and baptism, from the response of Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, resident at Nicaea, to the letter of Pope Gregory IX. See Lambecius III, p. 318 sqq., ed. Kollar. Paris in the Public Library, cod. MCCLXVII, II.2. Cf. Oudin, *De script. eccles.*, III, p. 56 sqq. HARL.

[F] by the judgment of Stephanus de Altimura of Pontus in the *Panoplia against the Schism of the Greeks*, p. 358. FABR. It exists in the Vienna Imperial codex just mentioned, and in the Paris public library, cod. MCCXV, n. 3, Harl. III. *On Purgatory*, and IV. *On the Three Ways of Administering Baptism*. Allatius, loc. cit., p. 712. V. *Many Homilies and Catecheses*, with a letter to Nicolaus the Grammarian, preserved in the Coislin codex, the notice of which, from the most learned Montfaucon’s catalogue, p. 391, I shall not be burdened to add here. • Codex CCLXXVIII, formerly CCCLXIII, on cotton paper, circa the fourteenth century, 236 leaves. *Sermons and homilies of Saint Germanus, Patriarch of CP.* • Fol. 4. *Sermons of St. Germanus, Archbishop of CP.* The first at his ordination as Patriarch of CP. Init.: Πάλιν ἐπ' ἐμὲ χρίσμα καί πνεῦμα. FABR. This and the following one and four other sermons, as well as the letter to the people of Constantinople after he was made bishop, and the letter to Nicolaus the Grammarian, who had gone over to the side of the Muslims and had spread ignominious writings against the orthodox faith, but later had returned to a sound mind, are in Oxford, in cod. Barocc. CXXXI. A sermon of Germanus, when he was consecrated archbishop; a sermon of the same at the beginning of the indiction; a homily of the same against avaricious clerics and an exhortation to parents concerning their children; a homily on the sacred synaxis, and that miracles still endure; finally, a sermon on the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, in Thomas Gale’s codex XLVI, f. 5880 cat. mss. Angl. vol. n. HARL.

2) On the beginning of the indiction. Init.: Χαίρετε ἐν Κυρίῳ πάντοτε, πάλιν ἐρῶ. 3) On the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Init.: Πάλιν ἑορτῆς μυστήριον, καί πάλιν. 4) Epistle after his ordination. Init.: Ἀββακοὺμ πάλαι ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἐν προφήταις θαυμαστόν. 5) To the Constantinopolitans, against the Bogomils. Init.: Ἀνάγκη ἐλθεῖν τὰ σκάνδαλα. [Conf. Schroeckh, libr. cit. tom. XX, p. 475. HARL.] 6) Against those who gather in the church. Init.: Ἤδη μὲν ὁ τῆς ἡμέρας ὀφθαλμὸς ἥλιος. 7) Thanksgiving for the gathering of the people, and against the vanity of life. Init.: Εὐλογητὸς Κύριος ὁ ποιῶν θαυμάσια. 8) Thanksgiving concerning Samson, concerning David, and against adulterers. Init.: Ὥσπερ τὰ ἐν αὐχμηρίᾳ φυτά, ὅταν μὲν ἀρδεύηται. 9) To the clergy, etc. Init.: Τὸ τοῦ προσώπου ἐρύθημα. 10) On mercy and the future judgment. Init.: Ἐβουλόμην καὶ τὸ σήμερον καιριώτερα. 11) For what purpose man was composed and made, etc. Init.: Ἀσπάζομαί σε, πρωτίστη τῶν ἀρετῶν. 12) On good order in the Church, etc. Init.: Αἱ μητέρες ὅταν ἀπογαλακτίζειν μέλλωσι. 13) On the same subject. Init.: Ἀδολεσχήσω καί πάλιν, ἵν᾿ ἐμεῖς ἀσχολῇ. 14) On preparation for receiving the mysteries. Init.: Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ὁ παλαιὸς ἐκεῖνος, καί τῇ σκίᾳ κρυπτόμενος. 15) On the superhumeral of the high priest, etc. Init.: Ὁ μὲν νομικὸς ἐκεῖνος ἱεράρχης, καὶ τυπικός. 16) Against inordinate clerics, etc. Init.: Οὐκ ἀφυὴς ἐγὼ τὴν φύσιν ἔχων. 17) On love to men, etc. Init.: Τίς ἡ τυραννὶς ἣν ἔχεις πρὸς ὑμᾶς. 18) After his return from Lydia, and on the condemnation of the heretic Leontius. Init.: Λύει μου τὴν γλῶσσαν ἡ παροῦσα πανήγυρις. 19) Penitential homily. Init.: Ὦ μῆτερ, ὅτι ἐταπείνωσάς με. 20) On the convention in the church, etc. Init.: Τί ἂν ἄνθρωπος πάθοι ἐπιστασίαν. 21) That God greatly cares for men, etc. Init.: Φέρε δὲ καὶ πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸν τεχνίτην. 22) When the Canicleus (a) struck a deacon. Init.: Ὦ γλυκεία ὄψις, ὦ γάνος ψυχῆς. 23) On the same Canicleus. Init.: Οἴμοι ἐγώ, μῆτερ, ὡς τίνα με ἔτεκες. 24) To the people, that they should not gather in church but once a week for vigils. Init.: Τί ποτε, ὦ παρόντες, οἴεσθε. 25) That one ought to sanctify the mouth with psalms. Init.: Κύριε, ἠγάπησα εὐπρέπειαν οἴκου σου. 26) Thanksgiving, because he fell ill while preparing this homily, and on the sacred mysteries. Init.: Ὑπολαμβάνειν μοι ἔπειτα, ὦ φιλοχριστοί. 27) (Omitted). 28) Post-festal homily of the Nativity of Christ. Init.: Τῆς περὶ λόγοις μεγίστης πτωχείας μου. 29) Homily after the feast of the Lights [Epiphany]. Init.: Ὃν τρόπον ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ νεβρὸς. 30) On those following meat-eating [before Lent]. Init.: Οἶδα, ὡς ἐν θαύματι κείσεται τοῖς πολλοῖς. 31) Apologetic homily concerning a longer silence. Init.: Ἀγαθόν μοι, ὅτι ἐταπείνωσάς με, ὅπως ἂν μάθω. 32) After the birth of Christ and before the Lights. Init.: Χθὲς τοῖς λαμπροῖς γενεθλίοις τοῦ Σωτῆρος. 33) On the first Sunday of Lent. Init.: Ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου, Κύριε. 34) On the slaughter of the infants. Init.: Τίς Θεὸς πλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ὁ Θεός. 35) On the same feast. Init.: Οἱ μικρολόγοι τῶν ἐστιατόρων. 36) Another without title. Init.: Ὁρᾶτε, μὴ καταφρονήσητε ἑνός. 37) Another without title. Init.: Τῷ καιρῷ εισήρχετο. 38) On the first Sunday of Lent. Init.: Ὡς ἀγαπητὰ τὰ σκηνώματά σου, Κύριε. 39) On the second Sunday of Lent. Init.: Ἤνυσται μὲν ἰδοὺ σὺν Θεῷ καὶ ἡ δεύτερος τῶν νηστειῶν. 40) On the third Sunday of Lent. Init.: Ἡ μὲν τῶν Εὐαγγελίων πανίερος βίβλος. 41) On the fourth Sunday of Lent [Quadragesima]. Init.: Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἄνθρωπός τις ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου. 42) On the fifth Sunday of Lent. Init.: Τὸν μὲν δὴ τῆς τεσσαρακονθημέρου. 43) On the Sunday before the Nativity, and on the three children. Init.: Ἐπειδὴ πολυανθρωπότερον σήμερον τὸ ἄθροισμα. 44) That one should not go to diviners and sorcerers. Init.: Χριστὲ ἄναξ αὐτοσυμπαθὲς, αὐτόνυξ. 45) On the third Sunday of Lent and on the holy Cross. Init.: Ἰδοὺ ἡ κλίνη Σαλωμὼν ἑξήκοντα δυνατοί. 46) Homily without title. Init.: Ὅταν στρατοπεδευσάμενον ἐνταῦθα κατίδω.

(a) *Canicleus*, or *Canis*, or *Canicleion* is the name used by Byzantine writers for one who was in charge of the ink-well, or of the Emperor’s ink. For that vessel, the ink-well, was supported by small decorative dogs. See Villoison in *Anecdota Graeca*, Vol. II, p. 72. HARL.

^A Then follow catecheses of the same: Beginning of the first catechesis: *Oïdare, ὅτι μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας.* Beginning of the second: *Ἐπὶ τῆς φυλακῆς μου.* Beginning of the third catechesis: *Ἔτι τρεῖς ἡμέραι καὶ Νινευΐ.* Beginning of the fourth catechesis: *Τὴν ἀλλοίωσιν ἐλαίῳ.* Beginning of the fifth: *Ὅπου τὸ πτῶμα, ἐκεῖ συν.* Without a title, beginning: *Ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἰωνᾶς ἐκεῖνος.* — Fol. 193. *Epistle to Nicholas the Grammarian, who had betaken himself to the religion of the Musulmans, etc.* This epistle is between the first and second catechesis. Beginning: *Εἶπα, ἐξαγορεύσω κατ’ ἐμοῦ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου.* [See a little earlier regarding the Coislin codex at n. 1. HARL.] So far the Coislin codex. Of these, only four homilies have been edited, to which I have prefixed an asterisk, 3, 34, 38, and 45.

VI. *Epistle to Manuel Ducas, Despot of Epirus and Thessaly*, ms. in the Imperial Library [Vindob.]. Beginning: *Ἡττήμεθα νὴ τὰς σὰς ἀριστείας, ἡττήμεθα, πανευτυχέστατε Δέσποτα.* See Lambecius V, p. 107 (α). Where he also mentions Manuel Ducas’s epistle to Germanus, to which the latter responds, and in which he [Manuel] calls Germanus “the most holy master and the most unerring guide of Christians in the world.” ^B *Mandate or Synodal Commonitorium*, delivered to Christopher, Metropolitan of Ancyra, when he was proceeding as a patriarchal legate to Manuel Ducas from the Nicene synod held in A.D. 1232. Ms. in the same Imperial codex, [n. 4, p. 227 sqq., where see Kollarius’s note, A.], but mutilated in the latter part. It begins: *Καιρὸς τοῦ βαλεῖν λίθους καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ συναγαγεῖν λίθους.* [See Oudin, l. c. III, p. 59 sqq. HARL.]

VII. *Oneirocriticon*. Lambec. V, p. 237, seq., or p. 478, ed. Kollar. — Oudin, l.c. tom. III, p. 61 and p. 236, believes that this interpretation of dreams in the Vienna codex pertains to Nicephorus II, Patriarch of Constantinople, in the year 1250. But perhaps Lambecius judges more safely, that the *Oneirocriticon* of Nicephorus is shorter than that of Germanus, and that the former seems to have accepted his own through a compendium from the latter. — In Montfauc. *Bibl. bibliothecar. mss.* I, p. 708 D, it is cited thus among the codes of the Sfortia library: “Photius mentions that Germanus of Constantinople wrote against those who say that demons are to be converted.” HARL.

Edited Writings

I. *Epistle to Gregory IX, Pope of Rome, concerning the Union*, which has often appeared in Latin among the epistles of Gregory IX and in Matthew Paris, around the year 1237, together with another epistle of Germanus to the cardinals; and in Odoric Raynald, to the year 1232, n. 46, and in the tomes of the councils, with the double response of Gregory IX, as in Labbe, tom. IX, p. 318, and Hardouin, tom. VII, p. 149. But Hardouin was the first to provide it also in Greek, p. 1961, accepted from Michael Le Quien, who had transcribed it from the royal codex MMDIII. Beginning: *Κύριε, σοῦ δὴ ὦ Κύριε, εὐδόκησον δή.* In the same Hardouin, p. 157-162. ^C The *Definition of the Apocrisiaries* of Gregory IX sent to Germanus exists in Greek and Latin, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son equally; this is inscribed in the Imperial codex in Lambecius III, p. 118 (c): *Ἔκθεσις τῆς ὁμολογίας τῆς πίστεως τῶν Λατίνων συγγραφεῖσα καὶ ἀποσταλεῖσα παρὰ Γρηγορίου πάππα Ῥώμης πρὸς Γερμανὸν τὸν ἁγιώτατον πατριάρχην Κωνσταντινουπόλεως.* In the same Imperial codex is appended the response of Germanus, hitherto unedited in Greek: *Τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου Γερμανοῦ πατριάρχου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, καὶ τῆς σὺν αὐτῷ ἱερᾶς συνόδου ἀπάν^Dτησις...*

ἀπάντησις...* ^A regarding such confession of the Pope, and regarding the Friars Minor (a) sent by him, and the rest concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit. Lucas Wadding published this in Latin in the *Annales ordinis Minorum*, differing from the previous writing of Germanus on the procession of the Holy Spirit which I mentioned a little earlier from Allatius, and being as it were its summary and compendium. Compare Altimura, p. 359, 360; *Panoplia contra schisma Graecorum*. FABR. It was edited in Greek from the Imperial Viennese codex by Franc. Carolus Alter, at the end of the volume: *Chronicon Georgii Phrantzis*, etc., Vienna, Austria, 1796, fol., p. 139 seq. The *ekthesis* of Gregory—sent to Germanus. At the end: signatures of the *apocrisiarii*. Page 140 ff. follow the response of Germanus and the synod with him, *apanthesis*, etc., in which many citations and testimonies of sacred and ecclesiastical writers are brought forward. In the preface, however, p. 11 ff., Alter treats of the Viennese and Vatican codices. HARL.

II. Miscellaneous Homilies. 1) *On the Infants of Bethlehem*. (By Lord Germanus for the slaughter of the holy infants, and on the beginning of the Gospel according to Mark, read on the Sunday before the Theophany). Incipit: "What God is there except our God?" David Hoeschelius edited it in Greek from the Augustan codex among the sacred homilies of various Fathers, Augsburg, 1586, p. 154-181. FABR. On the homilies of Germanus and the codices preserved in the library of England, in which these and other writings of Germanus exist, Oudin, *op. cit.*, vol. III, p. 61 ff., treats at length. ^B In the Augustan codex of Vienna, according to Reiser’s index of manuscripts of the Augustan library, p. 8, no. 20, there are seven sermons by Germanus, Archbishop of Constantinople: 1) *On the Burial of Christ*, spoken on the day of Great Sabbath; 2) *On the Annunciation of Mary*; 3) *On the First Sunday of the Fasts*, and on the restoration of images; 4) *On the Veneration of the Life-Giving Cross*, spoken during the time of the fast; 5) *On the Infants slain by Herod*; 6) *On the Exaltation of the Holy Cross*; 7) *On the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ*, and on the three children sent into the furnace.— From the very numerous sermons of Germanus, Macarius Chrysocephalus collected many excerpts in the work titled *Rodonia*, which exists in the Venetian codex CCCCLII of the Marcian library. See Villoison, in *Anecdota Graeca*, vol. II, p. 72. In the index to this volume, under the word *Germani*, a fragment is cited from a certain oration of his, in which there is an allegorical explanation of that tree placed in the middle of paradise. HARL.

2) *On the Exaltation of the Venerable Cross, and against the Bogomils*. Incipit: "Again the mystery of the feast, and again my people is a mystical dancer." Jacob Gretser edited it in Greek and Latin, vol. II *De cruce*, p. 156-173, Ingolstadt, 1600, 4.

3) *On the Life-Giving Cross, on the Third Sunday of the Fasts*. Incipit: "Behold, the bed of Solomon." In Greek and Latin by the same Gretser, p. 294-308.

4) *On the Veneration of the Cross, at the time of Mid-fast*. Incipit: "Shine, Jerusalem." In Greek and Latin by the same Gretser, p. 308-311.

5) *On the First Sunday of the Fasts, and on the restoration of the holy and venerable icons*. Incipit: "How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts." ^C In Greek and Latin by the same Gretser, p. 549-565. In this homily also there is a mention of the Bogomils on p. 552. "One of these Bogomils with demon-faces asked me: Why, he says, do you worship walls, and boards, and lime, and diverse colors?" It exists in Latin also from Gretser’s version in the *Supplementum Bibliothecae Patrum Morelliano*, Paris, 1639, vol. I, p. 70; and in the *Bibliotheca Patrum Coloniensis* of the year 1618, vol. IX; and in the *Lugdunensis* of the year 1672, vol. XX. [See *Cat. bibl. Leidens.* p. 44].

6) *On the Burial of the Lord’s Body, and on Great Sabbath*. Incipit: "Today, there is a Sabbath." In Greek and Latin, Combefis published it in vol. I of the *Auctarium novum*, p. 1469, 1524, Paris, 1648, fol. In Latin from Combefis’ version in vol. XX of the *Bibliotheca Patrum* edition of Lyons, and in the *Bibliotheca Patrum concionatoria Combefisiana*. FABR. In the aforementioned Augustan codex; in Oxford in the Barocci codex CCXLI; in Vienna in the Imperial codex LXIV, no. 20. See Lambecius III, p. 299; Kollar. DCCCLIV, no. 14; and MCLXXXVI, no. 22. HARL. — Paris, in the public library codices [On the dedication of the temple of the B. Mary, etc. Paris, in the public library codices MCLXXVI, no. 42; MCLXXVII, no. 34; and MCXCIV, no. 11. Add. supra, vol. X, p. 285 bis. HARL.]

The most excellent Cave reports that a homily of Germanus on the Decapitation of Saint John the Baptist was edited by Combefis, but he has suffered a lapse of memory: for Combefis published a sermon on that subject by Andrew of Crete, not Germanus. Also the *Idiomelon* for the feast of the Annunciation mentioned by the same Cave belongs to Andrew, not Germanus.

III. Two letters written in his name and that of the synod to the Cypriots, and their archbishop Neophytus, with ^D (a) Or *phremenourious*, understand: Friars of the Order of Minors. [See Jo. Meursius, *Glossarium Graeco-barbarum*, under the word *Phremenoraios*].

601 EPISTOLA AD CYPRIOS. 602 cogerentur a Latinis, illis subjici. Prior incipit: Ἡ νῆσος ἡ Κύπρος; altera: Ἄνδρες φιλοχριστότατοι καὶ φιλευσεβεῖς. Græce et Latine edidit Cotelerius, tom. II, Monumenta Ecclesiæ Græcæ, pp. 462, 475, 482 (Paris, 1681). FABR. In the Venetian codex, Bibl. Marciana DLXXV, there are two epistles sent by Germanus and in the name of the synod to the Cypriots and their archbishop, Neophytus; also an epistle of Germanus, sent from Nicaea to the Fathers of Constantinople. See the catalogue of the Greek codices, Bibl. Marciana, p. 303. In the Mazarin codex LXXXVII, no. 37 et seqq.: 1) Germanus's epistle to Neophytus; 2) another to the Cypriots; 3) to the patriarch of the Latins at Constantinople, who was compelling Greek presbyters to recite the name of the Pope. See Montfaucon, *Bibliotheca bibliothecarum manuscriptorum*, II, p. 1319. HARL.

IV. Three decrees in the Oriental Law of Enimundus Bonefidius (1573), edited by H. Stephanus, Book II, Greek p. 89 et seq., Latin p. 156, and in the *Jus Græco-Romanum* of Marquard Freher (Frankfurt, 1596, fol.), Greek and Latin pp. 232–238: the first against John, (b) metropolitan of Naupactus, concerning certain episcopal monasteries and the virgin who received nuptial benediction before puberty: dated in the 8th indiction, a. 6743, which is the year of Christ 1235; the second and third concern the *paralauria* of the patriarchal monasteries and to whom they ought to belong (c). In these there is also mention of a synod and records of the patriarchal stauropegiac foundations, dated 27 November and 8 January, in the 5th indiction, which is the year 1232. FABR.

Concerning Germanus’s scholia on Dionysius the Areopagite, see above, vol. VII, p. 10; p. 15 of Cod. Laurent.; p. 16 of Cod. Marc.; and of the Venetian codex, Bibl. Marciana CXLIII, the maker of the catalogue of Greek Marcian codices, p. 81, and also the catalogue of Morelli, *Bibliotheca manuscriptorum Graecorum et Latinorum*, I, p. 88 et seq., who praises them in the preliminary dissertation of Jo. Fr. Bernard de Rubeis for the edition of the works of the Areopagite himself (Venice 1755, fol.). HARL.

(a) Willebrand of Oldenburg, a writer of those times, in Allatius's *Symmicta*, p. 141 (Greek): "The Latins hold sway throughout all Cyprus and have thirteen bishops, of whom one is archbishop. Everyone obeys these Franks, paying tribute as if they were slaves." (b) The interpreter incorrectly rendered 'dominum Joannis' for 'dominum Joannem', in the phrase "concerning the metropolitan of Naupactus, the lord John." (c) Florentine, in Cod. Laurent. II, no. 94, plut. V. A seal of Germanus concerning the *paralauria* of patriarchal monasteries and to whom they ought to belong, made in the month of June, 5th indiction, and entered into the secretum of the sacred chartophylacium, where the matter of patriarchal stauropegiac foundations is treated. Beginning: "The matters concerning the patriarchal stauropegiac foundations." There follows another of the same. Beginning: "The matters pertaining to the collection and building up." See Bandini, *Catalogue of Greek Codices of the Laurentian library*, vol. I, p. 10. HARL.

Germanus's Epistles to Pope Gregory IX and to the cardinals concerning the union of the Churches, with a double response from Gregory IX; the definition of the Pope's apocrisiaries that the Holy Spirit proceeds equally from the Father and the Son, with Germanus's response; likewise, the acts of the council of Nymphaeum in Bithynia held for the sake of union: all these exist after the Registers of Gregory IX, whom see in the *Patrologia Latina* under the year 1241.

GERMANUS'S EPISTLES TO THE CYPRIOTS

^A Germanus, the most holy patriarch of Constantinople, [sent] an epistle to the island of Cyprus, both from himself and from the holy synod, at a time when the lord Neophytus held the supreme priesthood on the same island, and [he, Neophytus] was being compelled by the Latins to submit to them.

1. The island of Cyprus, that much-talked-of [land], which the liquid mouth of the sea kisses on every side, and whose lips the fiery orators and writers proclaim, possessing a favorable position and a good climate, as if ^B (1) Germanus. This is Germanus II of Constantinople, who lived in the thirteenth century under the Latin emperors. The Decrees of the *Jus Græco-Romanum* (p. 232, etc.) pertain to him, not to one who had previously been the bishop of Adrianople, as is said in the margin, and who is Germanus III. This is clear from p. 235, where the year of the world 6743 is noted, which is the year of Christ 1235. Concerning Cyprus and the Cypriots during those times, read, among others, Wildebrand of Oldenburg, *Itinerary*, pp. 141, 142, in the *Symmicta* of Allatius. 1. Cyprus the island, that illustrious [land], which the liquid mouth of the sea surrounds on every side, while the fiery lips of orators and writers proclaim [it], being blessed with a favorable situation and a good climate, as if

^A a breast of the sea, abounding in good things, and in a barren place pouring out the sweet sap of the salty soil, another island of the blessed, a land flowing with milk; which not only pours forth every fertility from itself, but is also filled with external goods, as many, indeed, as are brought into it through the liquid deep.

2. Moreover, this Cyprus itself, formerly happy and splendid, was not as famous for the gifts of nature as the discourse just represented, nor did anything else among all things grace it so much as the fruit of piety itself, and the crop of the Gospel, pregnant with good ears of corn a hundredfold, as also the abundantly flowing waters of doctrine, the flowery meadow of the Scriptures, and the multitude of the children of the Church, like the many-herbed field; as an island being renewed, to speak with Scripture, and daily being renovated and progressing toward the better. Whence it came to pass that it was promoted to one of the greatest provinces, and was raised to the dignity of an archbishopric, having been made an exquisite lot of Christ, and directing itself by itself, ordering its own flock under its own pastors.

3. But it was not for the wicked Satan to behold this without envy, he who threatens to destroy both land and sea. ^B Indeed, he arms barbarian hands and rouses a hostile nation against the Church, or rather a beneficial one; a nation which, as it were, consumes one part with its teeth, tears another with its claws, tramples another with its feet, and utterly lays waste everything to destruction, according to the vision of Daniel. For the Latins, being hedge-breakers, have also attacked the Cypriots: another sea, vast and flooding everything in its path, more violent than that manifest one which surrounds the island; since the manifest sea does not contend to cover it, but is bounded by its own limits, breaking its waves within itself, and obeying the bridles of the Creator’s providence.

4. ^C But the insolence of the Italians exceeds its own limits, and rolls the waves of fury, and runs beyond its borders, and leaps upon foreign lands. A wave of such strangeness broke out against fair Cyprus; with which the sea keeps a covenant, and the wave renders itself tame. This flood, indeed, for some time corrupted all the more beautiful things, and leveled to the ground whatever stood high. But soon it also touched human bodies. ^D Yet the calamity was tolerable, although it was very grievous; since it looked to bodily harm and the destruction of bodies, which were joined together [at] settled cities, and I shall grasp the whole orb of the earth with my hand as a nest, and I shall take them as if they were abandoned eggs. Whence Gregory of Nyssa, in his oration on the Canticle of Canticles, or rather with the interpreter, and according to the royal manuscript, in his 121st question, as found in Caesarius.

^A shortened for a brief space of time and dissolved not long after. But now the matter has even vaunted itself against souls, and attempts to shake the correct word of piety. For along with the Latin warriors, not a few priests of the same kind have entered the island, have thrown the Churches into confusion, and audaciously strive to draw all divine things to themselves.

5. Hence the genuine and canonical chief shepherd, the most blessed Archbishop of the Cypriots, Lord Neophytus, has been driven from his own throne; and some intrusive man of a foreign tongue, of the Latin race, having taken his seat upon such a throne, asserts that in no other way will he allow our ordained men, both bishops and the rest, to shepherd and teach the Roman or Greek people, unless they first submit to their subjection and offer stipulations pleasing to the new and bastard high priest; ^B or else they themselves are to be entirely ostracized from the island; so that with the shepherds and teachers scattered, there is danger that the flock of Christ will wander off into precipices and chasms.

6. These things had indeed been reported for a long time, and had reached the ears of our mediocrity; but now the most God-beloved and most holy Leontius of the episcopal see of Soli in Cyprus, and the reverend hieromonk Leontius, abbot of the Apsinthiour monastery, sent to our mediocrity by their own most blessed archbishop and the rest of the bishops, and indeed by the entire sacred assembly and the populace, have synodically reported such calamities before our mediocrity; and presenting themselves today in the midst, they acted as ambassadors regarding all that those who sent them had permitted them to report. For they said that Lord Neophytus, the archbishop, ^C had not been permitted at all by the Latins to reside on the island, since that other archbishop of theirs would in no way tolerate hearing of another archbishop. Indeed, they utterly drove him out. And now he wanders through the regions of the East.

7. But they added that the Latin high priest compels the bishops themselves and the rest of the clergy to submit, and only upon that condition does he promise that he will allow them to hold their own bishoprics and perform their priestly duties. And they entreated to learn what must be done from our mediocrity and the sacred brotherhood. For they said that the souls of all the Cypriots were present through their voice, and were embracing the knees of our mediocrity and supplicating us to take up the care of their salvation, and ^D not to abandon a region so ample and populous destitute of patronage, lest they hunger and suffer thirst—not for lack of food and drink, but for hearing the word of God*.

* Amos VIII, 11.

^A Since the bishop was entreating this, and the abbot was urgently pleading, our mediocrity together with the holy brotherhood placed the matter under consideration. And it seemed that a twofold danger and a precipitous slip threatened from either side. For to leave such a great people destitute of pastoral protection, whose blood is to be sought—yea, required—by God from the hands of the shepherds, is a sin to be condemned with a massive censure. But to yield to the will of the Latins and to make a pact of agreement with schismatics seems at variance with the rigor of the canons and alien to ecclesiastical customs. The argument was therefore ambiguous, and the inclination toward either side was doubtful. But after our mediocrity and the holy brotherhood had revolved many considerations, finally our mediocrity decided that the very form of subjection which the Latins were demanding should be brought before the synod. Whence we exhorted the bishop and the abbot to explain spiritually and with truth what those things were which were demanded by the Latins.

9. They replied that the Latins insistently demand these three things: first, to join hands to hands, the priestly to the priestly—our own to the Latins; for they say this is a secure safeguard for the oppressors, a slave-like submission in matters of business; second, that the Roman [Greek] who is to be advanced to priestly honor, after an election made by his own countrymen—whether he is being promoted to bishop, or is admitted to another ordination or to a monastic prefecture—should not be installed in any dignity pertaining to him at all without the knowledge of the Latin. They protested that the Latins demand this solely for the sake of shameful gain. Third, ^C in addition to these, they brought forward that the Greeks should indeed be judged by their own bishops when necessary; but if perhaps any of those judged should wish to appeal to the archbishop of the Latins, as if he were oppressed—whether he be a cleric or a layman—the controversy should be examined by him. Upon these things our mediocrity, having consulted together with the assembly of the brothers, and having initiated a definitive decree and declaring what seemed good, pronounced in this manner:

10. We have already sanctioned, and still sanction, relying on the grace of Christ, both by hand and by tongue, to embrace and to keep unhurt and inviolate all the sacred canons, all the traditions, and all the venerable rites of our most pious Church. For we have ^D indeed written and confessed this, and we strive for these things every day, and we pray that the hands and the voice of the patriarch Jacob may stand firm, who even before he was born was beloved by God*.

* Ezech. XXXIII, 6; XXXIV, 10. * Rom. IX, 11-13. Hail, table that bearest the bread cultivated in a new way and one surpassing nature, and produced; by which we, who were being put to death by the tillage of thorns and the harvest of famine, have escaped from danger. Gen. III, 18.

^A Verumtamen, where there is no abandonment of the canons, traditions, rites, or the faith itself, if the Cypriot bishops should be able to act with skill and without offense to the Church of Christ, and by what they might seem to concede, firmly support their own churches and deliver them from the soul-destroying ruin threatened, I believe that this economy, or rather, I should say, this simulation, ought to be forgiven, and they will be considered blameless, having the great Paul as their advocate in this matter.

11. Therefore, when the opinion of our mediocrity had been thus announced, there was present at that time no small number of those nourished in Constantinople, divided into three categories: namely, into clergy, monks, and laymen. Some of them had already been driven from there and had been hated because of their perfect love and confession toward the heavenly Father, ^B and they were adorned by their own toils and labors. Others, again, like a weaned child, had returned to their mother (I mean this city of Constantine), and are still nestled in her aged and poverty-stricken arms. Such men, their hearts burning with the glowing coals of zeal, and breathing out fire as it were, pressed upon us with sharp voices.

12. "Let your light shine," they said, "before men, not only by deeds but even by your very words; and let nothing dark or obscure be hidden in your decrees. From the things we have suffered, we have learned the guile of the Latins. We have struggled with them enough; we have endured much labor, persisting in prisons, expelled from our fatherland, and subjected to humiliation regarding the ornament of our beards; and from all these things, we have fully understood their deceits. ^C The Latins say one thing, but conceal another in their minds. They demand that our hands be placed in theirs, and they assert that this is entirely without fault or blame; yet it is nothing other than a betrayal of the faith handed down by our ancestors and a leading by the hand into obedience to their Church, and to all the utterly foolish ravings which are practiced in senile Rome."

13. For since they are always engaged in wars, and their people—both laymen and priests alike—are truly warlike, and well-versed in the customs of war, they consider this very act of joining hands to be a sign of defeat and complete servitude, just as those who have been conquered are accustomed to do in battles. ^D

We therefore exhort that this also be explicitly inserted into the synodal decrees, so that the Cypriots do not offer their hands to the Italians; ^A even if the matter has not appeared worthy of being mentioned by the sacred canons. For if this is not done, there is clear danger that the square, firm, and blameless edifice of the bishops who preceded you, which they constructed with many sweats and long labors of work, daily strengthening us with their admonitions and establishing us upon the foundation of the Apostles, will soon collapse, and will not encourage us to fear the rivers and winds of temptations.

14. Since the most pious people standing nearby were pursuing this with fervent zeal toward our mediocrity presiding in the synod, our mediocrity, seeing that in this case the rationale of economy holds no benefit but rather becomes a tumult, and that it not only does not steer a straight course toward saving the illustrious Cyprus—which is already suffering shipwreck—by slackening the foot according to maritime laws and slackening the wetted sail, ^B but also runs the risk of causing the passengers of its own ship to rebel—and as if external pirates were not enough for our vexation, it was openly to be feared that it would set the shipmates to fighting among themselves—it said these things to the Cypriots: Paul, the mouth of Christ, puts forth his judgment through my mouth, and answers your question thus: "I beseech you, brethren, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and decline them. For such ones do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own wickedness; and by smooth talk and blessings they deceive the hearts of the innocent." For us, this defense is entirely sufficient, and it applies most fittingly to the question, and is quite able to teach what is useful.

^C 15. But you, brothers in Christ, Cypriots, be imitators of the Church of Constantinople; let the pastors of Cyprus imitate its pastors, incessantly blowing through the pipe of their words, and alluring with hortatory and saving canticles. Let the Cyprian flocks emulate the beasts of Constantinople. For although these are separated by a long distance from their pastors, and have a common pasture with savage wolves, and have had the hairy ornament of their beards shorn, and their flesh lacerated, ^D they have preserved the seal of the faith safe from snares, and have rebuked the wolves gaping in vain. But if, indeed, some of them—a very few in number—partook of some mange or even of a rabid bite, they nevertheless ran swiftly to the Balm in Gilead and to the spiritual physicians of this place; through whom they also returned to their former health, attaining no less praise than those who were unscathed and unwounded, because of the recognition of their own infirmity and because they sought the remedy quickly.

16. It may therefore happen that the pastors of Cyprus, when they engage with wolves and fight for their own flocks and care for their salvation, might falter and give way a little—which God forbid—yet we exhort them not to fall immediately into despair, nor to cast away the hope of salvation, nor to add iniquity to iniquity, nor to make progress for the worse, nor to mingle with the nations and learn their works; but let them ^A immediately raise themselves from the fall and run back to the physician. And these things are thus.

17. However, as regards the other two heads—namely, that no one should be installed in a fitting spiritual dignity without the knowledge of the Latins, and that Romans, whether clergy or laity, should not be prohibited from appealing to the Latins in the disputes of more violent matters if they think they are being treated unjustly by the judges of their own race—these things seem to our mediocrity to be indifferent, and are clearly demanded by the Latins for the sake of base lucre alone. For no small gain accrues to them from this. And our mediocrity gives this counsel to the pastors ^B of the Cypriots: that in whatever matters the Latins appear stubborn and contentious through a desire for gain and profit, they should yield in those things and not resist them. For it is a matter worthy of praise to exchange corporal loss for the gain of the soul, just as it is to exchange bronze for gold. For perhaps, after they have filled their hands with money, they will release them from the requested payment; and with their hands weighed down by the burden, it will be permitted to these men to raise holy hands to God, and without any guile and prejudice ^C to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

18. These things, taken from the daily synodal notes and confirmed by the subscription and seal of the most honorable chartophylax of the most holy great Church of God, Theodore Stilbes, were given in the month and indiction written above, in the year 6731.

The Second Epistle of the Same Most Holy Lord Germanus to the Cypriots

1. Most Christ-loving and pious men, all who dwell in the renowned island ^D of Cyprus, Romans and Syrians, all lovers of orthodoxy, accurate guardians of the faith handed down to us by the Fathers, upon which Christ, the almighty arm of God and the Father, built His Church, and against which the gates of Hades shall not prevail. For the more it is attacked, the more it is strengthened, exalting itself through the imitation of Christ. For His is the most truthful word, which says thus: If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours. Therefore, brethren,

^A rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, rejoice! May James, the brother of God, ^B along with Paul, who scaled the heavens, anoint and incite your love toward spiritual struggles; James indeed when he says: Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations; and the other, while he gladly glories in his weaknesses, and finds pleasure in tribulations.

2. I, for my part, the least and most useless among bishops, have considered myself blessed in my weaknesses, because I have spoken to a most obedient people and to ears that know how to listen. For the seed of our word did not fall upon stone, nor have we written upon the waters, nor have we cast the nets of doctrine in vain; but rather we have sown in good and fertile soil, and we have written into enlightened and pure hearts, having moved our tongue like the pen of that scribe mentioned in the Psalms; and having cast the net at the word of Christ, we have caught you for the obedience of faith, and we have offered to Christ a feast worthy of His heavenly table. Whence, also, affected with joy over this first catch, and considering ourselves blessed that our purpose had succeeded, once again in the name of Christ we lower our tongue like a casting-net for the sake of instruction.

^C 3. You are by no means ignorant, O men most studious of literature and most learned, that our God-bearing and God-proclaiming Fathers who existed from the beginning, moved by the divine Spirit and following the apostolic dogmas, ordered and determined all things that pertain to the catholic Church by the cord of spiritual distribution, according to the inspiration of God, and by various determinations of the Churches they placed boundaries round about, and walled in the parishes in every place for the sake of security; so that the ambitious and the arrogant might not easily leap from their own into strange jurisdictions; but, fearing the walls of the most terrible excommunications and alienations from God, each might cultivate the Sparta which fell to his lot, and be content with his own portion and the inheritance accommodated to him.

^D 4. But O, the errors of my adversaries! O, the insatiable ambition which has just now cast aside all canonical good order, and which attempts to overturn the entire Christian establishment; indeed, it even boldly assaults the very head of the Church, which is Christ, and does not fear the goads which Christ once threatened to Saul, saying to him: *It is hard for you to kick against the goads.*

5. For we all know, who have been baptized with the Christian baptism, that there is one master and our leader, Christ, and He Himself is the head of all Christians throughout the world; and all of us who are honored with the episcopal dignity are brethren and members of the body of Christ. And the truth is thus: and bear witness...

to this is Christ himself, who is Truth itself, as well as those who saw Him and were His ministers. But the Italian arrogance does not desire this, nor does it endure that Christ should be and be called the Head; but, casting Him out from this rank, it bestows it upon the pontiff of the elder Rome; and it attempts to melt down the patriarchates, which are numbered as five, and to form one from them, and dares to place his throne above the clouds, and to make himself like the Most High. Now by clouds I mean the eminent archieratic thrones, high and assigned to patriarchates, by which all earthly things are exalted, receiving the voluntary and mystical rain of spiritual teaching. O with how many tears are these things worthy, with how many groans! That the dark spirit of pride, which is the author of the greatest sins, has overcome this great and populous race of men.

6. The first and indeed the greatest temerity of the ^B Italians is that forbidden addition to the Creed of the faith; for which, lest it should ever be attempted, the ecumenical and holy synods subjected those who dared to do so to perpetual anathema. Let him who wishes read the first canon of the sixth ecumenical synod, which at the end says verbatim: "But if anyone of all men does not hold and embrace the aforementioned decrees of piety, and so opine and preach, but resists them, let him be anathema, according to the decree formerly set forth by the holy and blessed Fathers; and let him be cast out and excluded from the Christian catalogue as an alien. For we have determined neither to add anything to, nor to take anything away from, what was previously defined, nor could we do so in any way." And such is the aforementioned canon. But that the Pope of that time gave his consent through vicars to the dogmas and canons established in every ecumenical synod, no one who has been trained in learning is ignorant.

7. What, then, is to be gathered from this? That the pontiffs of the present elder Rome by no means accept and embrace the pontiffs of the elder Rome who lived during the times of the seven general and holy councils; but, just as they turn away from and despise us Greeks, so too they turn away from and despise them, while not receiving what was synodically pronounced and confirmed by them. So that now the ^C Italians are introducers of a new faith and new dogma, and inventors of other canons. Let them therefore seek another Christ and other apostles. For those Fathers, inspired by the Divine, and heralds of God at the councils, in no wise believed into a Holy Spirit that has its existence from two persons, but they joined their faith to Christ, as in all other things, so ^D also in those things concerning the Spirit.

^A 8. These things I have briefly set forth to your charity, so that you may know how great an evil it is to be spiritually subject to and to obey the peculiar customs of elder Rome; for I refrain from using harsher language. Wherefore, I also charge all you laymen who are genuine children of the Catholic Church to flee with your whole foot from those priests who have submitted themselves to the obedience of the Latins; and do not gather with them in church, nor receive any blessing whatsoever from their hands. For it is better to pray to God alone in your own houses than to gather in church with those who are subject to a Latin way of thinking. But if any of the aforementioned priests is adorned with an honest life and embraces piety, yet has erred only in this, that through force or deception he has yielded to the Latin tyranny which has invaded the churches there, and has confessed the Pope to be his pontiff, such a one shall not otherwise be permitted to celebrate church services with you and to act as a priest, unless he first turns to the archbishop of the Latins and the bishops subject to him and says: “It shall not be so; but let the previously sent synodical excommunication remain in force,” and again, until they have recourse, according to the summation of that document, to the divine and holy synod and to our mediocrity.

^{B C} 9. And the clerics subject to them, as many as embrace our Church and desire to hold fast to the faith handed down by the Fathers, shall not be subject to their own high priests who have rendered obedience; nor, if those men excommunicate them on account of their obeying the Latin Church, shall they be concerned in any way at all. For such a censure is invalid, and indeed it recoils upon the censors themselves; since they have become causes of scandal to the people of God, having trampled upon the discipline of the sacred canons, and having received invaders and seekers after what belongs to others, and given them their hand, which is a sign of obedience and servitude, even though they contend by saying: “We have in no way betrayed our ancestral customs, nor have we done anything outside the prescriptions of the sacred canons,” being ignorant of what they are saying. For the canons of the holy apostles and of the divine Fathers subject to excommunication those bishops who invade the regions of others; but they also [subject] them to anathema

and submit [to anathema] those who introduce novelty into the blameless faith of the Christians. And thus, truly, does the truth stand. ^B

10. You, however, O peculiar people of Christ, stand fast in the faith, act manfully, be strengthened. Restrain the disorderly, rebuke those who adulterate piety, betraying none of the right doctrines which you have received from the beginning, considering every hardship of this life and every loss as joy and gain, provided only that the treasure of the orthodox faith be kept inviolate among you; which, in the end of life, let each of us carry with him as he departs from this world, naked indeed of all worldly things, but fixing his hopes on this treasure alone, and waiting to hear that desired voice: "Your faith has saved you; go in peace," of which there is neither limit nor end.

11. May you all be kept by the almighty right hand of God, both Romans and Syrians, and as many as are adorned with sacred dignity, and keep your minds free from that servitude which arises from the new departure concerning the faith, and as many among the laity as are fervent zealots of orthodoxy.

12. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.

In the month of July, in the second indiction.

GERMANUS II, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE, HOMILIES

^C

On the Exaltation of the Venerable Cross and against the Bogomils

Again the mystical solemnity of the feast has shone upon us. Again my people perform mystical dances, and full of joy, gather here for the assembly, and congregate in great numbers, and all around me...

^A and the eyes of all look upon me, ^B fulfilling the Tetraodion of the Great Sabbath by the Lord Cosmas... ^C

This is not the place to discuss the origins of the Bogomils, from which it is manifest that our Germanus is distinct from that ancient Germanus. This is also shown by the argument that this Germanus lived at a time when the Italians were waging most grave and hostile wars against the Constantinopolitans, as appears from that bitter epilogue which he constructs in this very oration against the Italians. Consequently, the age of this Germanus cannot be referred to those ancient times, but to later ones, in which the Italians contested most stubbornly with the Greeks for the empire; of which wars Choniates, Gregoras, and others speak at length.

Thirdly, this Germanus lived after the schism had been stirred up between the Greeks and the Latins; that is, after questions had arisen between both nations regarding the procession of the Holy Spirit, unleavened bread, fasting, and other things of that kind. This is manifest from the oration concerning the restoration of the images, where this Germanus sharpens his pen against the Latins because of certain customs of theirs regarding fasting, which were unaccustomed to the Greeks. But Saint Germanus lived in the closest union with the Roman Pontiff Gregory, as appears from the letters sent back and forth between them both, and nothing was heard then of that schism between the Greeks and the Latins which concerns the questions now controversial between them. It is therefore impossible that this Germanus should be that ancient Germanus, who was so very renowned among both the Latins and the Greeks.

Who, then, is this Germanus, and at what time did he live? Entirely the Germanus who is the author of these homilies is the one of whom Gregoras makes mention, Book III of his *History*, fol. 25, in these words: "A little before, the Patriarch Germanus had departed from the living, a prudent man who had adorned his life with both virtue and learning." He had as his successor Arsenius the monk, as the same Gregoras writes in the same place, after he had sat for seven years, as is contained in the manuscript *Catalogue of the Emperors and Patriarchs of Constantinople*, which is attached to the booklet inscribed *On the Origins of Constantinople*, and published not long ago under the name of Georgius Codinus. The same Genebrardus notes this in his *Chronology*; although Onuphrius in his *Chronicle* assigns ^D to Germanus, as a second name, the successor Methodius. That this Germanus is indeed the author of these homilies, I demonstrate first from the fact that at the end of this oration, which we have at hand, he calls the emperor under whom he flourished, Joannes, and wishes for him fortunate successes against the Latins, and predicts the battles and heroic deeds of the same against them. Now this Joannes is none other than Joannes Ducas, who, after Constantinople was captured by the Latins and the affairs of the Greeks were afflicted in a marvelous manner, placed his empire in Asia, and gradually began to restore the collapsed affairs of the Greeks for the better. Indeed, he writes

^A of them as urging me at an opportune time. And I, casting my eyes around and seeing my children gathered to their mother the Church, leap with joy and am filled with immense gladness, delighted by this noble gathering of the people, which like waves strikes and gently washes around this holy crag, upon which I have ascended. But because I am poor and needy, and the storehouse of my words is emptied, and I have not the means to feed my children as I wish, I am extraordinarily troubled, and sharp pain occupies the center of my heart. Thus I am poor and sorrowful, ^B and my heart is troubled within me, as the royal Psalter says.

But someone might conveniently object to me, bringing forward that saying from the prophecy of [Isa. III, 7] Isaiah which he spoke regarding someone who was avoiding the leadership of the people on account of the poverty with which he was afflicted; and he answered, saying: *In that day he will say: I shall not be a leader, for there is no bread in my house, nor a garment.* For we are not able to strengthen the hearts of men with the bread of discourse, nor do we know how to weave tunics elegantly from the threads, as it were, of the Old Scripture, which underlie it, and which are later interwoven with the Evangelic woof or subtegmen, in which that variegated and gilded work consists, by which the shame of our soul is covered and its nakedness is veiled. Therefore, ^C at the beginning I hesitated to enter upon the magistracy and declined this ministry, and I walked about sorrowful all the day, for the sake of the poverty that followed, which I, not without reason, prefer to my own judgment and to the authority of others that is far greater.

Regarding the Bogomils, against whom Germanus disputes, Constantine Harmenopulus writes thus in his book *On Heresies*: "Bogomilus signifies, according to the language of the Mysi, one who prays for the mercy of God." Nicetas, in his 19th volume *Against Heresies* (which exists in manuscript in the Bavarian Library), says: "Bog in the Bulgarian language means God, and *miloni* means have mercy; so that Bogomilus is the same as one who draws down the mercy of God."

^D Nor should the error of Cedrenus be passed over here, who calls Gregory, the Roman pontiff, the one who fought excellently against Leo regarding the holy images along with Saint Germanus, the patriarch of Constantinople, *Dialogus*; although, because he was contemporary to Germanus, he ought to have been called by this name, he is rather called so because the *Dialogues concerning the lives of the holy Italian Fathers* (written by him and translated into the Greek language by Pope Zachary) are ascribed to him, and he is the first to be called by that name. By which appellation of *Dialogues* Gregory the Great is likewise called by Jeremiah, the patriarch of Constantinople, in chapter 12 of his book in which he delivered a censure of the Lutheran doctrines; where the Thuringians, deceived by Cedrenus, take it wrongly (as noted in the margin) to mean the Gregory who flourished in the time of the Iconomachs, whereas it ought to be understood as Gregory the Great, to whom all the more recent Greeks, such as Gennadius, Bessarion, and the Damascene, attribute the name of *Dialogus*, or whoever the author is, as being included in the prayer for the faithful departed among the works of the Damascene; and Luitprand, bishop of Cremona, in his embassy to Nicephorus Phocas, edited in the name of the great Emperor Otto, although Carolus Sigonius and other learned men denote Gregory II as *Dialogus*; perhaps they are in need of the authority of Cedrenus.

On the errors of the Bogomils, Harmenopulus says these few things: They reject the books of the Old and New Testaments, as if they were written through the inspiration of Satan, with only seven excepted, among the number of which is the Gospel. They interpret these very books falsely, and with sacrilegious and detestable meanings distort them to the things that seem right to them. They bring divine ignominy upon the cross, as if it had killed the Lord. Likewise, they do not treat as worthy of reverence that which is the Lord's body and blood; which, indeed, they call a sacrifice to the demons inhabiting temples. For they say that demons dwell in all sacred buildings. They say our baptism is of John; but their own is of the Savior. They call only the "Our Father" a prayer; the rest they reject and label as babbling. They call those "Deiparos" [God-bearers], whoever among them has attained this so that the Holy Spirit dwells in them, as if they give birth to the Word in their teaching. They say that they see the Father not only in their sleep, but even while awake, as an old man whose beard is quite long: the Son as like him, who is still a young man changing his first down; the Holy Spirit as a youth, whose cheeks are entirely bare. These things Harmenopulus says regarding the delusions and blasphemies of the Bogomils.

^A I go, and I sigh frequently from helplessness. For that terrible sentence terrifies me, which says: I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat. I was naked, and you did not clothe me. It is not possible for me to open my mouth and, following the example of Paul, admonish my people and say: Having food and covering, let us be content with these; for I have provided neither food nor clothing for you. Nevertheless, even while placed in such great poverty, I will strive as far as my strength allows to both feed the hungry and clothe the naked, having hung all my hope upon Him who is the living bread, who descended from heaven and liberated the world from the soul-destroying famine; for He is the garment of salvation and the tunic of joy, woven from above, which has covered the nakedness of all the descendants of Adam. For as many of us as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. But what is it that has called my people together here? Whence this noble assembly? And by what signal has this sacred army been gathered? Or is it because, since the scepter of the King who reigns everywhere is lifted up here today, and the glorious banner of the Almighty is set forth brightly upon this holy altar, it is a consequence that the soldiers and satellites of the Almighty should pitch their camp ^B and set up their tents around this scepter? Well done, people faithful to your Creator; well done for your benevolence toward the Lord; well done also for your obedience.

What then, O excellent soldiers of Christ and elect camp of God? Will it be enough for you to have assembled here, and will you show nothing more than to adore the scepter of the all-sovereign King? Or do you desire also to take up arms, and to enter into war, and to cast arrows into the hearts of the enemies of our King? And to raise up as a trophy against them the Cross itself, which is blasphemed and assailed with calumnies by them? I know that you are already hastening to the conflict, and you are asking who the enemies of the Cross are, so that you may direct all your force against their phalanx, and resist them even unto blood, so that He who for your sake endured the death of the Cross may be glorified in you. Come then, let us put on the arms of faith, and let us make our mind pregnant with the darts of piety, so that you may be able to pelt with these missiles the God-hateful and wicked men whom many call, in a barbaric fashion, Bogomils. For although there are many enemies of the Cross—Jews, Agarenes, and others—the Bogomils surpass all these by far in abomination and impiety; for they are clearly the mouth of the devil, ^D and forerunners of the Antichrist, and transparent heralds of his now imminent presence, and undoubted indicators of the end of the age. Nor do I say this without a witness. For I have Paul agreeing with me, and speaking thus: In the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their own conscience seared, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received.

with thanksgiving by the faithful and them who have known the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving. In announcing these things, the deserters of the faith and worshippers of the spirits of error, and those who attend to the doctrines of demons, now make it plain that the times which Paul calls the "latter times" are these very times in which they babble such foul doctrines, full of impiety.

The same Apostle also reminds us of these things in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God." Concerning whom, then, did he say, "unless there come a falling away first"? Concerning these Bogomils, I think; concerning whom he had also written to Timothy, as we have already seen above, that some would depart from the faith. And that they forbid lawful marriage, and that they condemn all foods as unclean, and that these Bogomils — who are diabolical in very truth — preach the devil as God, and attribute the creation of this visible world to him, any one can understand from them affirming and professing it. But oh, for your patience, Christ our King! Oh, the long-suffering of yours that surpasses all understanding! You, the unique and most true Creator and Maker of every creature, visible and invisible, why do you endure such blasphemies? Why do you still restrain the lightning, and hold back the earth, and neither hurl the bolts upon these foul heads, nor open the earth and cast down these accursed ones, who resist your faithful servant Moses more boldly than Dathan and Abiron did with their followers? And yet you, honoring your servant, covered them with the chasm of the earth. The sons of Aaron offered strange fire upon the altar, and behold, heaven rose up from above in vengeance, sending forth lightnings against those who offered insults. But against these atheists and most wicked men, who now struggle not against Moses, but against you—who are the King of all and Almighty God—and who try to banish you from your own works, from your dominion, power, care, and providence, you still close the jaws of the earth and do not permit them to swallow up these execrable men. They do not offer strange fire, but they set up a strange creator, and introduce into the works of your hands your adversary and deserter, whom you have placed under the feet of those who believe in you. Where, then, are the lightnings? Why are they not turned into ashes? Why do you still delay?

But as for the rest of the filth of their heresy, and that great mass of uncleanness which they vomit from their mouths, I shall pass it over in silence, as if through a trench or channel, and divert it elsewhere. For I fear lest, if I try today to drain the whole of that cesspool of stench, I may fill this sweet-smelling place and drive away you, my fair doves.

^A If they vomit forth blasphemy against the all-praised cross, having their soul-content filled with every defilement, constrain yourselves and endure as I declare and clarify it, so that, knowing how foolish they are, you may laugh at their folly, or rather, mourn for their destruction. Come, then, and let us cast wood into these blasphemous mouths, and let us turn them away from the land of the living: the wood—I say—of the cross, life-giving indeed to those who faithfully bring their lips to it, but death-dealing to those with blasphemous mouths; it is like the nature of perfume, which to some men who smell it is delightful, but to dung-beetles is lethal. And its sign, having been once traced upon the waters, rescues the faithful people but sinks the hardened and blasphemous Pharaoh.

What, then, are these things that they babble against the adorable cross? "It is not right," they say, "to adore and kiss the cross, but to dishonor and turn away from it, as that which took Christ from the midst and killed Him." And they bring forward an argument ^B by which they suppose they throw you into doubt. "If someone," they say, "had hanged your father upon a piece of wood and killed him, would you have honored and adored that wood? By no means; but you would have turned away from it and hated it, and would have fled from it if you saw it from afar, as an enemy, because it had killed your beloved father." You have now heard their blasphemy. What does it seem to you? Do you wish that, like a spider's web, I should dissolve the whole chain of this argument and refute this nonsense, which is full of impiety? Come, let us refute it. It is implanted in humans by nature to be well-disposed toward their benefactors and to return thanks; and not only to honor the benefactors themselves and render them the fitting reverence, but also to bless those things which intervened as means for the fulfillment of the benefit, and which served as instruments of salvation for those in danger. Let the all-wise Solomon persuade you of this, saying, "Blessed is the wood through which salvation comes." Many have also honored the royal sword that removed some tyrant and granted liberty to oppressed cities, and the honor has even extended to places and times in which they obtained some rest, tranquility, or profit.

^C And to sum the matter up in a few words, everything that is in any way an aid to humans in obtaining a benefit or joy is held in honor and is dear to people in proportion to the utility it brings. Just as, on the contrary, we hate and turn away from those things that were the cause of any harm and the source of distress, whether they be instruments, places, or times. For there was one who buried the sword by which his brother had been slain, and who broke the staff that killed his son. David curses the mountains of Gilboa because his friend had fallen there. ^D Jonah curses the day in which he was born, because of the events that followed.

^A Let us see, therefore, to whom the cross has been beneficial, and to whom it has been harmful. And he who has received a benefit ought to offer honor proportionate to the benefit, but he to whom it has been the cause of harm, let him justly turn away from it and abhor it. Let those things, therefore, which are found in the Gospel according to John, written so expressly as they are, and spoken by the Savior himself, be read: "Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world shall be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." Behold, in these few words it is possible to learn who is the one who has been benefited by the cross, and who is the one who has undergone destruction. And that Christ spoke these things concerning his voluntary crucifixion, we have the Evangelist himself as a trustworthy witness of the word. For he adds: "This he said, signifying by what death he was to die." ^B I will, therefore, resume the discourse again. "Now is the judgment of this world"; and he judges as a king having ascended the royal throne of the cross. But the judgment is brought to this decision: that the prince of this world be cast out from his rule, and that his tyranny against men and his long-standing affliction may cease, and the tyrant be placed under the feet of those over whom he tyrannized because of the unjust death brought upon the Savior and because of that unbridled impudence against the King and Lord of all, and that he no longer be called the ruler of the world. For he was cast out when Christ was crucified, and when he had redeemed the world by his own blood. And he who had bought it, preaching good tidings to his friends, said: "All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth." ^C And from this time, those earth-born ones who yesterday and the day before were being carried down to Hades, are now enrolled as citizens in the heavens. For he declared: "If I be lifted up on the cross, I will draw all men to myself, that where I am, they also may be with me." Who, then, ought to love the cross? Those who have been delivered from the tyranny of the devil by the cooperation of the cross, and who have run up from Hades to heaven, and have been deemed worthy of the promise of glory? Or the devil, who has fallen from his former power through the cross, and who now lies miserably prostrate under the feet of men, so that he may be held up to mockery by them and trampled upon? All men, indeed, having been enriched with many goods through the cross, and having found eternal life, justly ought both to adore and to kiss the cross, from which such an abundance of goods has flowed to them. ^D But the devil necessarily has to hate the cross, and to flee far from it, as one who flees from fire; for through it he has been crushed, and enervated, and destroyed from the foundations. Therefore, whoever hates and turns away from the cross gives manifest evidence of their benevolence toward the devil; and being faithful and in bondage to him, they ought to consider that which is an enemy to him as their own enemy.

^A Consistently, therefore, and in keeping with their disposition toward the devil and their inviolable covenant with him, the Bogomils assert that it is wrong for the children or friends of a man to adore (i.e., venerate) the wood upon which their father or friend was killed. For behold, their father, the devil, has suffered infinite evils through the Cross, as we have shown; and for this reason they hate the Cross, the slayer and destroyer of their father. For the Savior of the world, Christ, even though He was voluntarily nailed to the Cross and willingly and by His own authority deposited His most holy soul into the hands of the Father, nonetheless took it back again by His own power and liberty, according to that most truthful oracle of His: "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again," and the death of Him became the cause of eternal life for men.

^B "For the word of the Cross is indeed foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." What then seems to you, friend of the devil, Bogomil? Should one obey the Apostle who asserts that the Cross is the power of God, or you, a lost and profligate man, who call the Cross foolishness? If you, doing a favor to the devil, never cease calling the Cross foolishness, I for my part again say boldly and confidently that "God has chosen the foolish things of the world," and that "the animal man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit," for they are foolishness to him. If you, as a disciple of the devil, think the Cross is a disgrace, my Teacher says: "God forbid that I should boast in anything else among the glorious and splendid things of the world, ^C except in the cross of Christ." What was more steadfast than Peter, to whom neither flesh nor blood revealed the Son, but the Father Himself alone, and the only unbegotten One? Nevertheless, since the mystery of the Passion was still unknown and hidden from him, and he understood the Master to be hastening toward the gibbet of the Cross, he attempted, with a certain tender affection of love, to hinder that course and haste, and brought forth, moved by a certain pity: "Lord, be propitious to Thyself; this shall not happen to Thee." But he heard in return, with grave indignation, the words: "Get behind me, Satan; you are a stumbling block to me, for you do not savor the things that are of God, but the things of men." What a great miracle! ^D The great Peter is called Satan because he recoiled from the Cross, which Christ intended to seize as a benefit most fruitful for the whole world; and yet he (Peter), who was the unshaken foundation of the Church, is cast back as a rock of scandal and a stone of stumbling. By what punishment will you not be worthy, you who bark out blasphemies against the Cross and accuse the Crucified? For you misrepresent the crucifixion as something involuntary, and not only as something not fruitful and not conducive, but even as something damaging to the Crucified Himself, and you make those who crucified Christ more powerful than the One who was crucified, as if they had dragged a man who was unwilling and resisting to the Cross.

^A And these all-daring men, while blaspheming against the omnipotent Christ, call themselves beautiful Christians, when in reality they are Antichrists. For they perform the work of the Antichrist and his envoys, and they serve him alone, and place their hopes in him. But let these deserters depart with the demon who is an apostate like them, and let them be sent away into the eternal fire prepared for him. For such a treasure did their father store up for his children; where, instead of treasures, they will find glowing charcoals. And let the Antichrist, having pillaged the things of Christ, say concerning his own disciples: "I will that where I am, they also may be with me." And let the prince of darkness with his retinue descend to his own place. But we, the peculiar and elect inheritance of Christ the true God, whom He acquired through the Cross and redeemed with His own blood, ^B come, let us worship and fall down before His Cross, and let us, who have received various benefits through it, celebrate it likewise with various names. Let us call it the throne of God, upon which, when He ascended, He pronounced judgment upon the world and the tyrant of the world; and He liberated and saved the world from tyranny, while the condemned and confounded one He cast out with his attendants, and He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree. And the devil, having fallen from his ancient glory through pride, descends from heaven unto the clouds, moving in the opposite direction; for he who desired to place his throne upon them ^C was cast down from the clouds to the earth, which he had also boasted he would erase, and from the earth into the abyss; for He delivered him, having cast him down into the abyss with chains of gloom, to be kept for judgment. But we, as many as have been saved through the Cross, advance forward and upward in progress. For even if we were previously tripped up by the wicked, crafty adversary and brought down as far as Hades, yet now through the Cross we ascend from earth to heaven. And because of this, it occurs to me to behold in the Cross a ladder, in which both an ascent and a descent are seen. For men ascend even to the heavens, but demons descend even to the abysses. The Cross is a royal scepter, admirable and conspicuous to the descendants of Adam until the end of the age, ^D and revered by the angels themselves. "For then," He says, "the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn," namely those who, not being of the same faith as Abraham, did not rejoice to see the day of His passion, or even if they saw it, did not rejoice in His glory; but rather they even audaciously contradicted, "We do not want this man to reign over us." The Cross is an altar. For upon it was sacrificed the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, and it is entirely sanctified by the God-subsisting flesh and the divine blood. For the gift is greater than the altar, and the altar itself is sanctified by the gift. But also, he who swears upon this altar of the Cross, swears...

by it and by the life-giving sacrifice placed upon it. For with the Cross, the Crucified One is also understood. The Cross is the Lord’s couch, which not with tears, after the manner of David, did Christ—who was born of David according to the flesh—wash, but with His blood, not to cleanse His own sin, for by nature He is immaculate, but to wash away the sin of the world which sprouted from the tree, and which had spread to the whole mortal race. And having slept in it the sleep that is the cause and author of life and of eternal waking, He rose by His own power, in the morning destroying all the sinners of the earth.

But I also find this couch worthy of honor and veneration; and I bring forward Isaiah as your witness, who declared in express words: ^B *And his rest shall be honor*, 29 clearly foretelling this. It is called "rest," because the toil and sweat of pilgrimage, and the other natural and unavoidable passions and affections, by the concession of divinity, when there was need, were moved and stirred in the human nature of Christ up to the punishment of the Cross; but from that point on, they were lulled to sleep and died in the death of Christ. For if at any time after the resurrection He went somewhere, that journeying was above nature and plainly admirable, just as that act of eating was also of a new kind. May the day fail me if I seek to recount all the miracles of the life-giving Cross.

In the Red Sea the Cross is typified; and this was a foreshadowing and a prefiguration of the redness that was later daubed upon it by the blood of the Lord. 30 It transforms the ^C bitterness of the water into sweetness, and gives life to the wandering and fugitive people. 31 It destroys the biting serpents, and preserves those who are struck and wounded. 32 Would that He had also exterminated from the face of the earth these poisonous vipers, the Bogomils I say, who are injurious to the Cross, who creep everywhere and bite the people of God, and pour the venom of their impiety into the souls of the pious; to whom I might justly address myself, not without a feeling of commiseration: "Brood of vipers, how and where will you flee from the judgment of hell," 33 which you have kindled for yourselves, having denied piety without [the pressure of] persecution and torments? But their affairs will end in this outcome, unless they repent and do penance.

But as for us, come, let us fortify the people of Christ with sacred prayers, ^D so that the venom of this deadly heresy may not touch their soul. For malice is widely diffused everywhere, and the impious walk about on all sides, in order to bring some harm to the noble flock of Christ. But you, see the grievous wolves, see the dogs;

^A see the evil workers, and observe those who walk in this way, as you have us for an example; so that I too may dare to boast with Paul: *For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction* (Phil. III, 18, 19). Keep the noble deposit of the faith inviolate and unassailed. For every one of us shall be required to render this safe and undiminished at the fearful judgment seat of Christ. But my discourse must now be sealed with prayers and earnest supplications for our most noble Emperor.

^B Raise then, O faithful people, all of you, your hands to God for him who has already endured many labors in the conflicts and battles against the enemies, that He may make his arms like a brazen bow and teach his hands for war (Ps. XVII, 35), so that they may repel that Italian speed in snatching away what belongs to others, that they may return to the west, to their own country, if any should survive, and hunger like dogs (Ps. LVIII, 7), having no longer the blood of the Ausonians to lick. And may they wander about their own city, pressed by famine, barking in vain. John, who has baptized them in their own blood, our God-protected Emperor, brings good tidings to us, his subjects, saying, *Every valley shall be filled* (Luc. III, 5)—the abject and afflicted generation, new indeed in the years of Rome, but miserably aged in calamities—*and every mountain and hill shall be brought low* (ibid.)—namely, the haughty pride of the Italians. *And the crooked shall be made straight* (ibid.), with that Christ who is as a guide of the way leading the way ahead, and recalling all things, who is able even to do what is impossible for us. ^C And now indeed *the axe is laid to the root of the trees* (Matt. III, 10). For the branches having just been pruned and strewn upon the ground, and cast down to the earth in a heap, the uprooting is not to be despaired of. Perhaps, however, the rooting is weak, as if from a transplantation. Trust in God who can do all things, most pious and most gentle of emperors; and as David says, *His truth shall compass you about with the shield* of the cross (Ps. XC, 5), which is Christ, and *you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night* (ibid.), of him who secretly attacks you and inflicts cowardice, *nor of the arrow that flies by day* (Ps. XC, 6), and of the enemy openly resisting you. For the cross of Christ will drive all these things far away, and will be for you a guide to all that you desire, and *as a shield of good will* (Ps. V, 13) will crown you, having made you a conqueror and victor over the emperors who preceded you; ^D may these things come to pass through the prayers and intercession of the most chaste Theotokos and our immaculate Lady and ever-Virgin Mary, and of the most valiant victors, the martyrs of Christ, and all the saints, O most holy and all-governing Trinity, accustomed to be worshipped in three persons and in one Deity, to whom is due all glory, honor, and adoration unto endless ages. Amen.

II. On the third Sunday of Lent, and on the Life-giving Cross.

^A "Behold the bed of Solomon; sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty ones of Israel, all holding swords, instructed in war." For we must immediately water the root and the beginning of the praises of the all-venerable wood of the Lord's Cross with the outlets of these scriptural waters and the stream of Solomon's wisdom, so that the fruit of gladness, borne along the current of the Word, might spring up from there for those who desire to sit under its shadow. Now, Solomon is translated as "peaceful"; and Christ is our peace, according to the voice of Paul, who "made both one and broke down the middle wall of enmity." The bed of this Solomon is the Cross, on which He fell asleep and slept the life-giving sleep, and, having voluntarily bowed His head upon it, He awakened the fallen Adam to resurrection.

The bed is surrounded and encircled by ^B sixty mighty men from the mighty ones of Israel, of the old law and the new. For as many of the twelve-tribe Israelite people as were lovers of God, [and] who were divided into different states—for the way of life before the Law is one, and another after the Tablets and the Tabernacle—and as many as were initiates of the divine Word and heralds of grace, are gathered into the same number of twelve, yet they are tripled in the worship of the Trinity and perfected by the equal number of the immersions of baptism. ^C

[Note: The Latin block from "processione sancti Spiritus" to the end of the page constitutes historical and critical commentary by the editor (Migne/the original editorial staff of this edition) regarding the authenticity and dating of works attributed to Saint Germanus. [alt-version omitted]]

...procession of the Holy Spirit, and the book *On Leavened Bread*, and *On Purgatory*, and *On the Three Modes of Administering Baptism*. These treatises are in no way to be ascribed to Saint Germanus, who flourished under Leo the Isaurian, for he was orthodox and most closely joined to the Roman Pontiff; and these controversies between the Greeks and the Latins had not yet existed. If they belong to any Germanus, they might belong to this very one of whom we are now speaking; for he was a schismatic and a bitter enemy of the Latin name.

Nor, indeed, are those responses by Saint Germanus which exist in the book of the *Jus Græco-Romanum*, fol. 232, as Baronius seems to think, vol. IX of the *Annales*, year 730, no. 6, in the margin; because the number of the years of the world inscribed there contradicts it. And in the first response mention is made of Constantine Comnenus, ^D who, it is clear, lived many centuries after Germanus. The scholiast of the *Jus Græco-Romanum* attributes them to the Germanus who was first bishop of Hadrianopolis, and afterwards of Constantinople, of whom Gregoras and the *Catalogus patriarcharum Constantinopol* at the end of the fourth book of the *Jus Græco-Romanum* speak.

Nor are the homilies of Saint Germanus on the Mother of God his, from which Canisius cites many in Book I *De beata Virgine*, and which exist in Greek in the Bibliotheca Augustana, no. [blank] and 66. But they belong either to our Germanus [of the schism] or to some later one, because the style and genius are entirely the same. Nor does it matter that the homily on the Presentation of the Mother of God is said by Surius to be found in Simeon Metaphrastes, who preceded these later Germani in time: for those volumes of Metaphrastes are patchworks, to which later Greeks were perpetually sewing something on. Wherefore I do not approve that the most learned man, Peter Pantinus, attributed the homily on the Presentation of the Mother of God, published by him, to Saint Germanus, and thinks him to be the same person as that Germanus whose homily is extant on the slaughter of the infants perpetrated by Herod. For both homilies are by the later Germanus, of whom I spoke above. Nor is the "Cyrus" in that place a proper name or a forename, but a word of honor accustomed to be attributed by later Greeks to those who are in dignity. Nor is this Germanus a saint, but a schismatic.

And because we have once assumed the office of censor, I add that this suspicion has long since been injected into me, that not even the *Theoria rerum ecclesiasticarum*, which is inserted in volume VI of the *Bibliotheca SS. Patrum*, pertains to that holy and ancient Germanus, but to some one of the later ones; which is persuaded by that one passage concerning the faithful living in the Venetian islands, for in the times of that earlier Germanus few, or perhaps no Greek islands, were held under the Venetian Empire. And the author seems to call those "faithful" who, addicted to the opinions of the Greeks, abhorred the rites of the Latins in the Venetian islands.

^A And the Cross is the boast of the apostles, through whom they have become more powerful, having performed many virtues and signs, and through whom the world has been crucified to them, and each of them to the world, just as was he who was pleased in his weaknesses, saying: "When I am weak, then I am strong."

"All," he says, "holding swords upon their thighs because of terrors by night." For let there be set before us what remains of this musical pericope. By the swords upon the thighs, the discourse understands the destructive self-restraint of the passions of the belly. And such a sword-bearer before all others was that great soldier of grace, who, writing letters, says: "I buffet my body and bring it into slavery, lest perhaps, having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." ^B And that saying, "because of terrors by night," is most fittingly applied to this notion. And I, drawing this sword from the Davidic armory, will bring support to the speech that has set out to prove its point; for it says: "With a shield His truth will encompass you; you shall not fear from the terror by night." For this shield suppresses the impressions of the flesh, and all the nocturnal phantasms and specters that arise from it. Such is the impetus of my discourse today, arising from the bed and beginning from that movement, and—as for these morning hours—slaying all the sinners of the land in these adorations of the all-venerable Cross. ^C These, however, are the demons, the sowers of sin and the progenitors of malice. For the air, whether shaped by the hand or struck by the tongue—by the sign and the invocation of the Cross—drives the aerial spirits far away. "The Cross," they say, "is grievous to us, both in sight and in hearing."

Since, therefore, the eyes of the faithful, having darted their visual emissions toward the Cross, have been sanctified, and have returned—filled with celestial gifts and full of grace—in a reciprocal path to their own source; and the lips, having been parted for salutation and a kiss, then immediately brought together and compressed, having inhaled the air surrounding the divine Cross ^D and drawn it within, have filled the whole fabric and disposition of the limbs with a life-giving inspiration; and the sense of smell, moreover, has been gladdened by the fragrance flowing from it; and the foreheads, furthermore, and eyelids, and tops of the head have received sanctification by the touch: come, let us also adorn the ears, as if with certain golden earrings, with the proclamations of the Cross—not that our own [words] are gold; I do not think so, but because they are precious for the sake of the One who is being praised and who is worthy of all veneration. For wood is also honored when cut by the hands of a woodcutter from a tree—and that an unfruitful one—if it is afterward fashioned into a pole and holds up the royal scepter.

Homily II

satiety, but now more lavishly and abundantly it is necessary to perform this, O Christ, Prince of the life of the new Israel, who leads us toward the Jerusalem above, by the rod of His power ^A, which is the Cross, has struck my parched soul. For then, indeed, through His grace, your ears shall be abundantly satisfied, causing the waters of blessings to gush forth, and not of contradiction. Therefore, let us begin the discourse.

When I am traversing the paradise of the Holy Scriptures, I find two trees with proper and distinct names, which were among other trees in Eden, unnamed, but joined together: the tree of knowledge and the tree of life ^B. Of these, the one proposed to our first parents was as a test; the other was stored up as a prize. For so it seemed to the Umpire and Organizer of the conflict, that the mind of men should not sit idle, outside of any struggle, and be without progress; for such a life, without any advancement, yields no crown. Therefore, the tree of knowledge stretched out its boughs, as if they were hands, and by the seizing of them, the sweetness and beauty of the fruit drew man—and through his eyes and tongue—to the enjoyment of the fruit. He was found to have been defeated in this regard, having been seduced by intemperance to taste it, which is what happened; for he succumbed. For when the fruit of this tree assailed him as if he were being besieged, he gave his hands to desire, was captured, and, reduced to slavery, he became unhappy and ^C miserable; and from this time forth he fell from the tree of life, that most desired prize for the victors, and is driven from its communion, cast out and full of confusion: for he begins to live truly in sin, and from Adam down to Moses he is condemned 10, he who is caught up into heaven, as Paul argues, when he understands the Law given through Moses, which was given to Israel by his ministry. Moreover, the woman receives the name "life" after the transgression and the curse from the man; for because they fell from the heavenly and immortal life, they were made the first creators of this inconvenient life subject to sin. For in iniquities was I conceived, and in sins did my mother conceive me 11, Eve; since she is the mother of all those who, being mortal, live exposed to corruptible life.

These things, indeed, were thus; and I, through laziness, am entangled and ensnared by the tree of knowledge and fall with a heavy fall, and am drawn away from ^D the tree of life, smelling as I do of nothing but mortality. For what does immortality have in common with mortality? For my hands are now slackened, and my knees are dissolved from the ruin. For the rod of power is painted by David as the Cross. And how admirable is the mode of this reparation! Our Lord and Umpire is moved by His own inward parts of mercy; He does not endure seeing the figment of His own hands, for whom He always gathered the earth, [now] being carried off—he who was destined for the heavenly sphere—and by this [event] being carried away, being mocked by the hands of demons, and as if a ball

^A rolling upon the earth and being dragged along. The new Adam is therefore born, and appears to the world in human guise, veiling His divine majesty in many ways for the sake of the adversary. And this was an active lesson for the first parent, who was being clearly instructed as to how he too ought to have braced himself for the struggle at that time. For if I, He says, being God by nature and dwelling in the heavens, have descended to earth and humbled and abased Myself even to the form of a servant, why did you, knowing yourself to be of the earth and inhabiting a house of clay ^B, attempt at a single leap to jump over all the heavenly spheres? Therefore it was necessary for our Arbiter to undertake an equal struggle on our behalf, and to cunningly trip up the one who lies in wait for our heel. The wood is planted, then, in the place of the Skull. Now the Skull, in truthful speech, belongs to our first parent Adam, and it is as though Christ enters the stadium and the place of the contest with him as a spectator. But the fruit of this wood was most certain death, offering nothing as an incentive, nor anything glorious, but rather the greatest dishonor and reproach to those who mind earthly things. And that fruit of knowledge was beautiful to the sight and pleasant to the taste, and held out lofty hopes of divinization. But the fruit of the Cross was the exact opposite, so that Isaiah, seeing it from afar and lamenting, said: We saw him, and he had no form nor beauty, but his appearance was without honor, failing before all men. And the fruit of this wood was not only inglorious, but also bitter to the senses. For it poured out gall—for the things that were sweet to the first parent were turned into gall for Him who repairs his fall; and thus the opposite remedies of the opposites come to be, and He who has tasted bitterness saves him who had been sweetened by the fruit that was beautiful to the taste; and voluntary nakedness heals the garment of corruption, and unjust death destroys justice, and the wood, once accursed and death-dealing, ends in blessing and sprouts forth eternal life.

^D From this we are trained for the great struggle, and we recognize the method of the wrestling; and we learn to shun all pleasant things as painful and bitter, so that we may be naked of all affection toward the world, lest the prince of this world find an opportunity against us. We learn also from this to pray for those who harm us as if for our benefactors, and to care nothing if some should divide our garments, which are knit together from the fourfold series of the elements; for what harm can they inflict, if the tunic woven in the realms above—I mean the soul—remains safe and intact? Finally, we learn to regard death itself as a kind of dream. For there will be a time when we shall awaken, and we shall gaze upon the day that has no evening, and shall securely take possession of that kingdom which we conceived in our hearts and minds during the night of this life.

^A Behold what a school of virtue the cross is. Behold to what height the crucifixion of Christ carries those who imitate Him. It leads them into heaven; it makes them citizens of heaven and heirs of Christ. How adorable to me is this wood, how worthy of cultivation, how worthy of veneration! So much so that I account it as that ladder reaching to the heavens, on which Christ rested. For He who was dead for the sake of my life was held upon the cross after the manner of a man, and was made fast to it, lest, having become lifeless, His body should incline and fall to the ground—He who by His divinity embraces all things and inspires life into those who have finished their course. ^B Indeed, the angels were ascending and descending by this ladder. They were ascending in a certain sense, seeing Jesus for a brief moment made lower than them and humbled because of the torment of death. But immediately they descended with infinite speed, when they saw the Crucified One exalted above every principality and power. And what else but their own Creator, and King, and Lord of glory? But under this ladder sleeps that long sleep, that universal patriarch, the father of all the living, and the beginning of all those families which have existed from the beginning, Adam. And there is a stone at his head, for the place of Calvary is called Lithostrotos.

From this height, the discourse recurs to another height and hears the voice of the Lord saying: *As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life* 13. — *How magnified are Thy works, O Lord! Thy thoughts are become exceeding deep. The senseless man shall not know, and the fool shall not understand these things* 14. I would wish now that both Jews and Bogomils were present, to hear the discourse reproving and refuting their curses against the cross, which is blessed and to be praised by the voices of all. But what ^C communion has the Church of God with those dumb dogs, as the prophet says 15? Especially when the psalm hinders me from calling even these profane men to hear these things, which affirms that the senseless Jew will not perceive these things, and the foolish Bogomil will not understand them. I would also deservedly fall under your censure if I were to cast to the dogs the bread received from your children. But let those men, the most wretched, go to the ravens, who fall under the understanding, wicked as they are, like certain carcasses worthy of tears, and let them have their animal eyes gouged out. For in truth they have neither known nor understood; for they walk in darkness.

But as for you, children of the heavenly Father, we shall feed you with the bread that nourishes souls, into which bread we shall cast the wood ^D of the cross, not that it may be diminished, but that it may be strengthened. Let the words of the Gospel therefore be repeated again: *As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life*. In the beginning

of the angelic order, and especially the leaders of the chorus, the eyes of the intelligible world, most divine-seeing and light-shedding, put forward by whom the Lord looks upon all things. For by a most good disposition, and by being cleansed [of impurity] of mind, and being more intensely inclined towards His glory than the others, they are deemed worthy by Him of the highest status. Those powerful in strength to do the will of the Powerful, those wise to perceive the counsel of the Wise, and of Him who is contemplated beyond all power and wisdom. But now, those great and holy-named ones, being set before our discourse, they themselves might lead the way to Him. For it is not for us to reach the majesty of divine things, nor to favor with praises those who have surpassed human understanding by an infinite measure; rather, we should perform the praise that is appropriate to them, not the angelic praise—which for us to attempt would be a futile search into their nature, for it is unreachable—but we may observe it quietly through the activity that is shown through them. For God is unborn and without cause, and He is the primary cause of all time and of every creature, but Michael and Gabriel were established by Him as the commanders of the divine host. To demonstrate these things with long arguments is not possible, nor is it necessary, since the faith—which is stronger and more certain than any demonstration—is sufficient for us, following the holy scriptures from above, to set these things before ourselves, and to examine their functions, or rather their activities. He is always, according to that divine oracle, and He sits upon His holy throne. But what are we to understand the "sitting" to be? I believe it to be the firm and unchanging persistence and remaining in His own glory. For it is necessary that upon the throne, as it were, of a King, the bodyguards should stand by. It is necessary for the Master of all to arrange the things of creation most beautifully

NICETAS'S PRAISE OF THE HOLY ARCHANGELS MICHAEL AND GABRIEL

^A beings to be understood by intellect alone as being fitted for this; but in part, it is because it is incapable of typical representations, for milk alone among all liquids forms no image, nor does it render or reflect bodily forms. The serpent, however, sheds its skin yearly. But Christ had nothing of the old man, who is corrupted according to the desires of deceit, nor did He cast anything off, for He lived as the sinless new Adam and the leader of the new creation. Being such, He ascends the Cross, and immediately bears public testimony ^B that He is exempt from every stain; and the serpent, which was already pressing closely, approaches but finds nothing in Him. For He was in all respects superior to the malice that casts venom, and that pernicious serpent is pierced through, and the apostate dragon who watches our heel, while Israel is preserved—the mind that sees God and recognizes eternal salvation laid up in this God, crucified in the flesh but, by His divinity, making alive those who were dead; in whom clearly fits and terminates the oracle of Moses, prophesying thus: *You shall see your life hanging before your eyes* 20. For it was necessary for those who had been bitten by the serpents before, to lift their eyes to the serpent that was suspended from the pillar, as if life could not befall them otherwise than by the intent gaze upon it.

^B And now we, before whose eyes Jesus Christ is depicted, sing in harmony ^C with the divine psalmist David: *The eyes of all hope in You, and You give them their food in due season* 21. For the Lamb of God, having been sacrificed and suspended, sets before those who place their hope of salvation in You His own flesh to be eaten. You open Your hands, spreading them out upon the Cross, and satisfy every living animal with the good pleasure of Your Father. Now the good pleasure of the Father is that all men should be saved through Your voluntary passion and Cross, and should come to the knowledge of the truth. The knowledge of the truth is the right faith in You, and in Your Father who lacks a beginning, and in the Holy Spirit. Who will not worship the shield of our salvation? Who will not celebrate the [weapon] that put to flight the murderer Satan? For the Cross is the light of the countenance of God marked upon ^D us 22. For the scepter of the King is His light, like a lamp leading those who are ignorant to Him. This is the sign given to those who fear the Lord, that they might *flee from the face of the bow* 23 and from diabolical attacks. This is also the *tree planted by the streams of waters* and the fountains of salvation. For in all parts of divine Scripture, the Cross is celebrated in hymns and praises, which *yielded its fruit in its season* 24, at which time it was planted in the Lithostrotos. Truly, the Cross rejoices in those who, having despised a fleeting, soft, and delicate life, give themselves over to the austerity and severity of Christian discipline. But its fruit is the remission of sins, which in

^A truth the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, hath bestowed upon those who believe in Him.

Come, therefore, let us all worship at the footstool of the Universal King, Christ. ^B Let us fall down willingly, lest we be forced to do so against our will, when the Father shall have made the enemies of the Son a footstool for His feet. Come, therefore, let us fall down and weep before the Lord who made us, and afterwards, having been corrupted by disobedience, refashioned us through the Cross, so that we may not weep when the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. For as Christ, the God who cannot lie, has clearly foretold, the Cross shall go before His second coming as a glorious royal standard, easily recognized by all. And all those who are born of Adam until the consummation shall know that Christ, who was crucified, is coming to judge the living and the dead. Let us therefore anticipate His countenance in confession. Let us make ourselves kin to the King of ages and Judge of every breath, to Christ who was crucified, by such kinship as comes through imitation. For he who fastens his own flesh to the divine fear, and has been crucified and dead to the world, imitates Christ.

Close your eyes, whenever any of the delights that entice them might suddenly strike, dragging you towards the destructive ruin of pleasure. Close your mouth when the sinful devil rises up against you, inciting you to insults and slandering your neighbor. Be deaf to slander and injuries, and sing with David in your mind: “I, as a deaf man, heard not; and as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.” ^C Bind your hands, so that they may not reach out for soul-destroying deeds, nor for the plundering of those things that do not belong to you. Bind also your feet should they attempt to run into deviant paths and pits, and, to speak briefly, fasten both hands and feet with the fear of Him who, because of the defilement of the soul’s garment, was bound in his hands and feet and exposed to punishment. If you are thus crucified together with Christ, you shall attain glory with Him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. Then you shall worship the most longed-for Cross of the Lord, now more perfect and more sublime, when you see it casting forth solar rays and surrounded by angelic hosts, and signaling to the faithful the approach toward the King, and separating them from the enemies, and calling them together to the inheritance of an unending kingdom; O that we all may attain to this, in Christ Himself, our God, to whom is due all glory, honor, and worship, with His Father, who is without beginning, and with the all-holy, and good, and life-giving Spirit, now and unto the ^D endless ages of ages. Amen.

Encomium of Saint Michael and Gabriel by Nicetas

^A Let us also partake of this joy, and celebrate the fall of the impious today with common applause. Let us follow the feast of the joy of the angel, who, according to the divine Gospel, falls from heaven, and let us bring our speech to the remaining series of events, celebrating with public hilarity the glorious series of deeds accomplished by them. Supported by their present aid, the apostles and martyrs, and the choirs of the remainder of the saints, were strengthened; the former, having uprooted the strength and audacity of that superstition which had sprung up from the underworld, sowed the seed of piety, the Word of God, upon the earth. The latter, however, having engaged hand-to-hand with the cruelty of tyrants and resisting them even unto blood, took away the profane sacrifices of the demons; they themselves were sacrificed as a living and acceptable host to the God of glory. But the priests of God, having put on righteousness, having exterminated every plague of heresies far from the contagion of a sincere faith, poured forth for us a sound and irreprehensible explanation of sacred doctrine. The holy gathering of the Ascetics, moreover, armed against the law of sin, and exchanging everything for the law of righteousness, find rest upon the holy mountain of God, Zion. ^B Furthermore, although all those holy minds are, according to the great Apostle, ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for the sake of those who shall inherit salvation, whose part in the providence of the salvation of all who are everywhere in the world pertains to this office, yet Michael and Gabriel excel the others in this spiritual prefecture of administration with such praise of faithfulness and industry as they fall behind in wisdom and nobility all others, while drawing closer to the peak of all perfection, the divinity; their similitude to these is closer than any other, and their dignity more sublime. They always, as the divine Word speaks, behold the face of God. Just as therefore this very God and man simultaneously, Christ Jesus, has some sitting at His right hand and some at His left—those, indeed, for whom honor for such a sitting has been prepared by the Father—so I say that of these spiritual ministers, one always stands at His right hand, and another at His left, chosen and selected from of old by the eternal will of God for this duty of daily apparition or assessment. Using them as ^C most intimate intermediaries and procurators for all things, He governs the unity of things by a magnificent and plane regal rationale of Providence. But now, having sufficiently contemplated the various functions and ministries of these intellectual minds, come, let us henceforth consider what their similarity to God is, and conversely, what the difference is. And I think we should hold to this method: that, in investigating the natures by the indication of the names, we should attend to where and what sort of communion is contained between them of the one name—the dissimilar, as one might say, similitude of natures. For thus, I think, we will perceive the force of this matter more clearly. ^D There is nothing at all of all existing things that is either so different from the supreme principle of all things that it does not correspond in something, or conversely, so twin-like that it does not differ in any part. Thus are these things tempered in turn. There is in every work of God a character of a certain lineament which relates to the author; there are also likewise notable signs for discerning. But in some, the similarity is seen so expressly that it almost overwhelms the difference; in others, the difference stands out so much that it seems to leave no appearance of similarity. Our subjects, however, before the archangels…

^A and among themselves, have a bond such that they compel bodies, as it were, into a union and conjunction, and they are joined and grow together into one structure.

The reason for such a great gathering is the commemoration of the restoration of the holy images. For the image of Christ lay not for three days, but for a very long time in a dark and gloomy place, due to the envy of the heretics who held the same opinions as the Jews. But now, by the will of the Father, it rises from there, and the first herald of this resurrection exists—the most venerable among women and disciple of Christ, the queen who received her name from the divine gift ^B, and through her the proclamation of this resurrection passes to all who were then apostolic men and heralds of Christ. Once again, the Church of Christ is adorned with sacred forms and acquires a most pleasing fragrance, having been delivered from the abomination of the iconoclasts. For that excellent disciple and crowned queen of God, having fulfilled the role of a myrrh-bearing woman, choked and destroyed all those who were infected by the heresy of Copronymus, like certain dung-born beetles, and she raised up her own consort, the emperor Theophilus, miserably captured by tyrannical impiety, as one who is poor from the dunghill—a sharer of his life, but not of his mind. O excellent woman, who repaired the disasters and damages of many women! Eve cast her husband out of paradise, defiled by disobedience; she who is according to God ^C restored the similarity. Job sat on a dunghill, in body smelling offensively, but in soul breathing a pleasing fragrance; and that wicked wife of his counseled him to pollute his soul as well with blasphemy. Not so this woman who loves God. Indeed, the name of "husband" suits her more. For having loved God, she was loved by God, and for the sake of God and her husband, she loved so intensely that she snatched him from the abyss and from the tribunal that is therein, and by her God-loving effort and spiritual labor drew him toward paradise, and delivered him, clinging to the execrable heresy of Copronymus, from this blasphemy, and underwent and sustained a powerful contest that she might vindicate him to Christ, whose name is as ointment poured forth.

In this way, O women, love your husbands; thus bring them aid; and do not have communion with your husbands only in carnal things, loving them for the sake of pleasure; but serve also those things that benefit the soul, and suggest things that pertain to salvation. And if death snatches them away from you while they are still stained in soul, take care of their salvation through prayers, through tears, through alms, through divine sacrifices. ^D For you can, O woman, save even a dead husband by these works.

^A There remain certain sweepings of the abomination of Copronymus, and those rabid dogs and friends of filth, swine, dare to vomit forth dung—for thus I call their impious and blasphemous words—against the adorable and sacred images of Christ and of all the saints. These are they who are currently called Bogomils, the true disciples of the Antichrist and fellow-disciples of the traitor Judas. Therefore, I will turn my discourse toward them. For not infrequently have I withstood them to their faces and confounded their impudent countenances, with the aid of Christ, who is insulted and treated with contumely by them. ^B I will share with your charity a few things selected and culled from that disputation, so that, having recognized their error, you may not be circumvented by the fraudulent words of the ignorant. For many go about now and insinuate themselves into homes, walking in darkness, and under the guise of piety they snatch away many at once. For being dark-natured devils, they transform themselves into angels of light.

A certain one of these diabolical Bogomils asked me: "Why," he says, "do you worship walls, and planks, and lime, and various colors?" By this he was tacitly signifying the sacred images. To whom I said: "When have you seen anyone nourished by our Church hurrying to the furnaces where there is lime, or to the ruins where heaps of stones are seen, or to the shops where colors are sold, and worshipping and honoring these? ^C For if we rendered worship to stones and colors, it would be necessary that everywhere we saw a stone or a plank, we should worship them. But now this is not the case, nor would you, enemy of the truth that you are, dare to say this; but we do not render worship simply to the materials, but to the form that appears in the materials, and not to every form, but to the form of Christ, of the all-pure Theotokos, and of the other saints. For the honor of the image passes to the prototype. For perhaps Christ is historically depicted either on this panel, or on the wall, as naked, affixed to the cross. ^D Jews stand by, offering vinegar mixed with gall, piercing his side; Pilate sits on a throne, with many guards standing by him. All these are represented to them in colors and in historical scenes. Yet we, leaving aside him who sits on the throne, leaving aside the mocking Jews and the soldiers wounding Christ, we worship and salute him who hangs naked on the cross and is mocked by them. Here are colors and there are colors; here are forms and there are forms. Why, then, do we hate and turn away from the former, yet embrace and kiss the latter? For what cause? I will explain to you: We know that those whose prototypes and models are holy, their images are likewise holy; but those whose prototypes are execrable, their images likewise are to be detested. Therefore, I will ask you again, and do you answer me again: Do you confess the book of the Gospels to be holy, and do you honor it as a treasure of eternal good things, or do you also turn away from this and rank it among dishonorable things? "Not so," he says, "that is not dishonorable...

but I deem it worthy of the highest honor, and I adore and kiss it." You have spoken well. For it is truly most venerable, and most holy, and a book of life that endures for eternity. Behold then, you shall be condemned out of your own mouth, Bogomil. Tell me, therefore, is this book not composed of wooden boards? Not of skins? Not of threads fastening the skins together? Not of ink and often other colors? Do you, then, in adoring and kissing the Evangeliary, adore and kiss the boards, the ink, and the skins, or do you adore and kiss the words of God inscribed upon the book? "Yes," he says, "I adore the words written in the book." But can you transmit these words in writing, or cause them to be readable, without ink and paper? "No," he says. What, therefore, follows from this? ^B Namely, that for the writing of the evangelical words, skins, ink, and such things are taken up; but that which is honored are the words of the Lord transcribed in the book. Therefore, if someone should erase the words, he has simultaneously erased the honor and reverence due to the book, and has rendered that which remains inglorious, dishonorable, and void of adoration. Thus, understand for me, O heretical and foolish one, regarding the paintings of the holy icons: that which is honored and adored is the figure and the name, whether of Christ, or of the Theotokos, or of any of the number of the saints. But these cannot be formed or painted otherwise than by means of various colors; yet if the figure is erased, the matter henceforth remains dishonorable and common.

As an example, to state it thus: suppose there is standing somewhere a mirror, whether of glass or iron, and imagine Christ standing before one of these mirrors. Let his likeness also be formed by the brilliance and clarity of the mirror, and let it shine clearly within it. ^C If, then, someone moved by desire approaches the mirror in which the image of Christ appears, and touches it with his lips and kisses it, has he honored the mirror, or the image of Christ that is in the mirror? It is clear that he has honored the image. For if he had honored the nature of the mirror and had rendered worship to it, it would follow that he ought to adore every piece of glass and every piece of iron. But if no one has ever done this, but has only kissed that in which the image of Christ appeared, it is clear even to a blind man that he has honored the image that shone forth within the matter; establish the same regarding the sacred icons. But you, who are a heretic, are not simply an Iconoclast—that is, an enemy of images—but you are, with your face set against him, a Christomachus—that is, an opponent of Christ—and for that reason you take up arms against his holy image and are rendered feral by the demon that dwells within you. ^D For they say that leopards have a hostile mind toward the faces of men, and rage against them pathically, and if ever one sees a likeness of the human form, it rages against it, and attacks it wrathfully, and brings forth and sharpens its claws. Such are the sons of these heretics, and they call the Iconoclasts "simulacriperdas" (destroyers of images) by a heretical name, and one quite suited to their deception; and they call the restoration of icons the same; I would forgive it if I did not know with what mind they usurp this word, and to what and to whom they allude by using it; I prefer a more ecclesiastical interpreter in ecclesiastical matters than a Latin one, even though the name of "image" is equally Latin as that other.

^A but they are maddened by this, and struggle with fury, and spitting out [the poison of] their fangs. Such are the sons of perdition, and the diabolical forerunners of Antichrist, the Bogomils, who truly hate Christ, and do not endure even to look upon His venerable image, but rather call it an idol. "Truly their throat is an open sepulchre," [Psa. v. 11; xiii, 3] breathing out much stench of blasphemy, sons of darkness, and blind to the light of truth. Christ, the Creator of the world, when He saw a certain likeness of Tiberius Caesar, an impious man and an idolater, did not do it injury, nor did He call it an idol, but an image. But you, wretch, do you not shudder, since you prefer that impious man, in regard to honor and worship, to Christ, the King of heaven, inaccessible even to the holy angels, and blaspheme, saying that His image is an idol? But hear where Christ calls the figure of Caesar an image. The Jews, your friends and brothers and confederates—for the Bogomil differs nothing from a Jew, nay, the Bogomil is more wicked than any Hebrew ^B—once asked Christ. For a Hebrew, although he may be wicked in other things, nevertheless confesses that God is the Creator of all things; but the Bogomil attributes the creation of things to the devil. Be astonished, O heaven, at this, and let the foundations of the earth be shaken, and be broken open and swallow up these deserters and those who offer insults to the common Maker and Creator of all things, just as once [they swallowed] those around Dathan and Abiram.

What, therefore, we were intending to say, was this: the Jews once asked Christ, "if it were lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?" [Matth. xxii, 17-21] But He responded, saying, "Show me the tribute money." And when they showed it, He answered again, "Whose is this image and inscription?" They say to Him, "Caesar's." And Christ said, "Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." You heard, O execrable Bogomil, Christ saying, "Whose is this image and inscription?" and that the similitude of Caesar expressed upon the coin was an image, and not an idol. But you object: Scripture testifies that [Ps. cxiii, 4] "The idols of the nations are silver and gold," and that such things neither speak, nor see, nor walk. Since, therefore, images also do none of those things, which those are accustomed to do who have from their natural appetite the faculty of moving themselves, and speaking, and walking, we affirm that they are not unlike idols. O foolish and dull-hearted man! If images were to speak, if they were to see, if they were to hear, if they were to walk about, they would not be images, nor likenesses, but prototypes and perfect men. But an image is only a likeness of a prototype, and a certain imitation expressed by marks. But the Divine Scripture calls the likenesses of demons idols. For the gods of the Gentiles were demons. ^D For it says thus: "The gods of the gentiles are demons." Shall we, therefore, because the gods of the gentiles were demons, deny the true God, and walk about in this world as atheists? For this is to affirm your own dark—

^A mind: that because the gods of the gentiles were demons, you should not honor God, so that you might not be thought to be demon-worshippers, but rather be atheists. If this is atheistic and impious, the same reasoning will apply to images. For the Greeks worshipped the forms of demons; we, however, worship the image of Christ and those of His saints. "For what fellowship has light with darkness, or what concord has Christ with Belial?" (2 Cor. VI, 14–15). If, therefore, light and darkness are one and the same, then the image of Christ and an idol will be one and the same. But may this blasphemy return upon your own wicked head, thrice-accursed Bogomil. Learn then the truth, you enemy of truth, that those nations—those who were many-godded and atheistic—fashioned ^B sculpted likenesses of demons and served these as gods, and deemed the lifeless things to be the providers of their own lives; and they were at once the prototypes and the likenesses—that is to say, they were demons and images of demons. But Christ, being the true God, as the only-begotten Son and Word of the Father who has no beginning, became man for us in truth, and not by mere phantasy, remaining what He was; and we record the form of His human likeness and honor it as holy, because Christ too is most holy. We do the same thing also in the case of the other saints, but we honor and venerate the holy images through the likeness of their prototypes, not as though we were worshipping these as gods—far be it from us! Rather, we subject to anathema those who slander us with this; since, apart from Christ, we do not ^C even consider the prototypes of the holy images themselves to be gods by nature, but rather as the legitimate servants of God, and we love them because they loved God in truth, and we honor them because they struggled for the glory of Christ even to the end.

Again, therefore, I ask you: Who is it that says, "The idols of the nations are silver and gold," (Ps. CXIII, 4) and what follows? David, you will certainly say. But of what law was this same David a disciple and a worshipper? Of the old and shadowy law, or of the new and light-like one? Of the old, clearly. And how is it, you Bogomil, that by striking out the books of the old law and asserting that that legislation was of the evil one and not of the good God, and by condemning all these things with silence, you propose to us only this mere fragment of verses? For you must either accept the whole law, or if you do ^D not accept it, then you must not approve of this short-syllabled verse either. For it is foolish to praise one single ray from the whole sun as brilliant and gold-like, while condemning all the other rays as dark. Or how are you able to distinguish the stream of one and the same fountain as both sweet and bitter? And by what reasoning, pray, do you willingly and deliberately pass over the fact that the old law—or rather, the true God who spoke in the law—commanding Israel, said: "You shall not make any likeness, neither of those things which are in heaven, nor of those which are on the earth,"* yet the same God commanded two Cherubim to be fashioned.

and placed on either side of the sacred ark. ^A The apostle Paul, who walked in the heavens, bears witness to me regarding this; he makes mention of these things in his Epistle to the Hebrews, and speaks as follows: "After the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, in which was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the Cherubim of glory shadowing the mercyseat,"* on account of which God often appeared to the worthy through the Cherubim. For this reason, Paul rightly designated them Cherubim of glory.

See, O blind man, how, as we were saying above, copies are ^B related to the sacred prototypes. The demons are to be execrated and utterly detested; their idols, too, are to be execrated and utterly detested, and those who worship them, along with their idols, shall inherit the eternal fire. Ignorance, indeed, is the "funicle" of the inheritance of the Bogomils, since this applies to them: "The gods of the nations are demons."* Be attentive, I pray you, to the order of my discourse. Every man who is guided by reason and speech confesses God as the maker of heaven and earth, and of all things that are in the earth; and he who is the maker of these is truly God. But the Bogomils attribute the creation of the world to the Devil, so that, if they wish to remain consistent with themselves, they must regard and worship him as God. From this it follows that the god of the Bogomils is a demon, ^C and each of these Bogomils, by becoming assimilated to his prototype, becomes an image of this demon. For such people are themselves dark and misshapen, and in a word, they have put on, as it were, the countenance and person of a demon. Similar to them shall those become who worship them and who accept these blasphemies; and let all such be under eternal anathema.

I had other things at hand to add to the aforesaid, as a refutation of the folly of the Bogomils, but now the time of divine mystagogy and the offering of the sacrifice calls us; since we make a beginning of this, all who are enemies of the truth and friends of lies are considered by all Christians as being subject to anathema. But I, dearest sons, am making an end of my brief exhortation for the benefit of your souls. I remember that I admonished you and others to eat food only once, around the ninth hour. And now, I again ^D

Concerning the double meal; and that it is necessary to fast until the ninth hour, and further, that a call is made to your love regarding this.

But they say: "Even if they turn to food later, they also rise from the table much later, having a more opulent dining room, eating fish, greens, and legumes, greased with oil in abundance, every single day, so that they can scarcely digest everything they have eaten by the later hour of the following day." Curb your tongue, O man, regarding these words, just as you curb your mouth regarding food; and "he who does not eat, let him not judge him who eats."* Nevertheless, I do not tell you to emulate the entire form of the Latin fast, but to embrace whatever good appears in it. For the prudent man knows how to derive no small benefit even from that which is inimical and harmful. Therefore, when the Lord admonishes us, saying: "Be wise as serpents, and simple as doves,"* He does not advise us to imitate the poisonous and deadly nature of the serpent, nor its mindlessness.

^A I counsel you regarding this. This is fasting: taking a moderate meal late in the day. If you do not do this, but eat at the accustomed hour, this is the dissolution of fasting, not its establishment, even if your table is made up of simple and sparse items. For you are not observing a fast just because you abstain from meat; do not be deceived. Rather, you must hold back your stomach, which craves a meal before the appointed time. You are a servant of Christ. First, serve your Master; stand and pray; offer Him the concern for your salvation—for He hungers for this keenly. Only then turn to the care of your stomach. If you think this is more important than your Master, you are not a servant of Christ, but a servant of your belly. ^B We ought to do this always—that is, to prefer divine standing and doxology to bodily nourishment—but because we are weak, or rather lazy and slothful, let us do this at least during these fast days, and we will restrain the reproach the Latins bring against us regarding our gluttony, by eating only once a day and late.

"But," they say, "even if they turn to food later, they also rise from the table much later. They have a more indulgent dining room, eating fish, vegetables, and legumes cooked in oil indiscriminately and excessively every day, so that they can hardly digest what they have consumed within the time for the morrow's late meal." Keep your tongue contained, O man, regarding these words, just as you contain your mouth toward food, and you who do not eat, do not judge the one who does. However, I am not telling you to imitate the entire regimen of the Latin fast, but to embrace whatever good appears in it. ^C For the prudent and intelligent man knows how to derive no small benefit even from an enemy or a harmful thing. When, therefore, the Lord commands us, saying: "Be wise as serpents and simple as doves,"* He does not advise us to imitate the poisonous and deadly nature of the serpent, nor its mindless ^D head, while guarding and keeping it cautious; for the serpent is eager...

* Matt. x, 16.

^A to preserve its head unharmed above the rest of its body's length. From the dove, however, it desires us to borrow a spirit free of malice, and that we should tolerate those who inflict injury upon us, and not seek vengeance; for though deprived of its fledglings, it still persists in its innocence, and does not abandon its home. And these things only are to be proposed for imitation, while all other things are to be cast far away. Do this also yourself; and that good which is seen to exist in the Latin fasts—which is to take a more substantial meal at a later time—leave to them, but emulate their more frequent taking of food.

If you say: "But I am overcome by hunger, and am compelled to eat while hungry; for otherwise the belly, that evil beast, does not know how to be tamed," hear my reply. For this reason, beloved, this ^B time is called and is a time of fasting, so that we may hunger. And he who flees hunger flees fasting as well and pursues satiety; yet satiety and fasting are as contrary to each other as water and fire. But when you hunger, call to mind and contemplate the delights of paradise, and the enjoyment of the goods that are there, and the future glory, and open your mouth and fill it with Davidic chants, and say to Christ with boldness: "As for me, I shall appear in righteousness before your face; I shall be satisfied when your glory appears," ^C when you come with your holy angels to render to each according to his works.

The sum of the discourse is this: "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of heaven," since "narrow and strait is the way, which leads unto life, [and] broad and spacious is the way, which leads to destruction." If you wish to arrive at eternal life, embrace those things which afflict and distress the senses; for it is impossible to enter upon it by any other way. But if, fleeing what is rough and laborious, you turn aside toward that which is spacious, know that the end of such a way is unquenchable fire and the sleepless worm. Behold, I have testified to you and have shown you these two ways and the outcomes of both. Walk ^D whichever you wish. But this one thing I do not wish you to be ignorant of: that even if one were to suffer in this world for a full hundred years, it is nothing compared to the torments of even one day which are in Gehenna. May it be granted to us, through small tribulations and moderate hardships and the endurance of evils, to find eternal rest in the heavens, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ; to Him be glory with the Father who is without beginning, and with the holy and truly life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

V.

Concerning the God-bearing burial of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the day of Holy Saturday

NOTICE

VI. On the Annunciation

1. ^A "Ascend upon a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Sion; exalt your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem" (Isa. XL, 9). From the tongue of Isaiah, enflamed by the touch of the divine coal (Isa. VI, 6-7), the prologue of this discourse had to be borrowed, not otherwise than as a neighbor is accustomed to fetch fire from a neighbor. And surely those things which pertain to the new grace are close to those ancient ones, and both conspire to light a single torch, which becomes a "lamp to the feet" (Ps. CXVIII, 105) of those who hasten to find the truth. ^B Therefore, let the discourse, thus inflamed, soar upwards toward the high sublimity of this day; and let it fly together with the angel Gabriel, who glows like a flame (4). For the prophetic word urges him all the more vehemently to carry the good tidings to that Virgin who is most pure beyond all comprehension (5); yet even long ago the prophetic lens foresaw her in Jerusalem and Sion, whether as the city of the great King, of whom (6) glorious things are truly spoken, or as this high Sion, which God chose for his own habitation (7).

II. But what is accomplished, how sublimely it rises above the boundaries of nature! For that prince among the angels of God, who traverses the heavens, is manifesty commanded by the (prophetic) word—as if he were setting out from a lowly and bottomless region—to ascend to the height and lift his voice vehemently. ^C For the Virgin is indeed higher than the celestial vaults, and more divine in form than the divine angels, and far more similar to God (8), even if in a certain corner...

of Galilee she dwells (for Galilee, in the meaning of the word, signifies a humble place), and, as human condition holds, wanders the valley of this life, even if she is contained within the poor dwelling of the carpenter in Nazareth.

^A III. In this matter there lies hidden a great mystery, and one which is indeed also proverbial: the witness is at hand from the very house (9). For the head of the household, and the carpenter's craft which he himself practices, place the whole mystery before our eyes in summary. And indeed King David himself testifies that by the Word of the Lord the heavens were established (10). Understand by "the Word" the subsistent and supersubstantial One (11), who has established not only these vaults of heaven, but also the entire constitution and composition of every creature contained within the sphere that encompasses all things. But now He arrives to raise up again the fallen tabernacle of David, and to restore it more joyously (12). The princes of the tribe of Judah had already failed, the kingdom of David had been dissolved, and his tabernacle at the same time had fallen. But today in the house of David a horn of salvation is raised up (14), since Joseph traces his origin from the family of David. Now the horn of our salvation is Christ, who, being also the beloved Son of the Father (15), is called the son of the unicorns, as the Psalmist sings: "And the beloved is like the son of the unicorns" (16). For He is the One who shone forth on high as the Only-begotten born from the Father alone, and below in time has recently sprung forth from a mother alone; and He is the Same who has been proclaimed as the expectation of the nations (17). He builds up again, therefore, this tabernacle, establishing His own eternal deity as a kind of firm base and foundation, and upon this building up and confirming that which He assumed through the operation of the Holy Spirit (13); and in this way He establishes a kingdom that is everlasting, for of His kingdom there shall be no end (18).

IV. These things were also foretold through the prophets. For when He who knows not how to deceive promised these things, He said, "After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruined parts, and I will set it up, so that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the nations upon whom My name has been called" (19). Here, moreover, as a cornerstone (20), He joins the Jews with the Gentiles; and He professes that He announces peace.

^A And not only is He seated upon the throne of David His father according to the flesh, but God also reigns over the nations. When, moreover, these things are to be, he clarifies, as is added in the prophecy itself. For when he had said, "God has reigned over the nations," he immediately added, "God sits upon His holy throne" (24). Now this throne is the Virgin, in whom, having been enthroned through the incarnation from her, He reigned over the entire dispersion of the nations, having made them subject to Himself, after having made the multitude of diverse minds obedient to Himself.

Thus, then, he who was thought to be the father of God appearing on earth (25-26) adumbrated the counsel for the restoration of our entire race through his own craft in advance. The Virgin, furthermore, was a most worthy cooperator in this rebuilding, providing the all-pure and—to the divine artistry—fitting material not from elsewhere, but from herself, out of which the living Wisdom of God built for Himself a house, ^B supported by seven pillars (27); for of such a number are the charisms of the (holy) Spirit; and the same Spirit also imparted form to the flesh that was assumed (21).

V. But how could my discourse, creeping on the ground and an interpreter of a mind fixed on the earth, dare to raise itself to such a height as to unfold its wings together with the prince of the angels, who possesses the appearance of God, and to reach this mountain, in which God walks, not otherwise than Moses once did upon Mount Sinai? For although we too are finishing the forty-day fast on this present day (28), we have not, however, attained the same purity as he; since our fast is not to be compared with his, nor do we possess any of those things that made him admirable, except only the slowness of tongue and the weakness of voice. ^C Or how could we tread with unoffending foot the way that leads to Nazareth, unless God sent His angel before the face of the Word (29), and prepared an easy way before Him? With this resplendent archangel, therefore, as our guide, I truly know that we shall be directed into the way of peace (30). For "beautiful are the feet" of him who announces to the all-pure (Virgin) (31) "peace and good things" (32); for our peace is Christ (33). He has come, indeed, to join those things that were set apart, and to compose into peace those things that were at war; which indeed are the good things flowing from such peace, having been poured out most abundantly upon the entire earth through the mediation of the Mother of God. ^D

VI. Salutary, therefore, by its own nature is the peace which is from God, and the reconciler and guardian of an imperturbable and blessed life, always good, always remaining the same, and in every way and altogether inaccessible to tumultuous discord and division. But the peace that exists among men, and the harmony that arises from earthly minds, is not always good; nay, it happens at times that it is even wicked, and is found to be more hostile than war itself, being fashioned according to the intent of those who are at peace; just as, on the contrary, war is sometimes more peaceful than peace, and separation is more conducive to salvation than that concord which is born of human will.

^B VII. My first parent had peace in paradise with the serpent, and they came together to converse: on one side, a nature loving what is right; on the other, a spirit that hates the human race, Satan. She was indeed acting sincerely in her simplicity; but he was clothed in the garment of fraud, the exterior appearance of which cleverly set forth the splendor of equality with God and all that is most brilliant. But what was hidden within tended only toward vulpine guiles; he led her little by little into deception, and drew her toward the lion, clothed in the fox's skin, panting for its prey.

And from this conversation and union, grief was conceived, and, with the wound inflicted upon the divine law through the deadly eating of the tree, sin was brought forth; but sin begat death, a cruel viper, which slew the first mother.

The King of peace, however, places enmity ^C between man and the serpent, and a war implacable, destined to endure for all ages. "He shall watch thy head," He says, "and thou shalt watch his heel"; that is, there shall be a constant battle between them both, from the beginning even to the end, since man will always keep fixed in his memory the snare of that first fraud, and will endeavor to pay back the disaster, and to terrify thee with the fear of vengeance and punishment. For it shall be, it shall be, that when thou, O spiritual serpent, shalt watch the heel of man, in those last days there shall be granted to him an invincible power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and to trample underfoot all thy power, O enemy.

VIII. And these, indeed, are the most ancient disasters that befell me in Eden; but from Nazareth everything, if anything is good, gushes forth through a woman. To her flies the angel of peace, about to bring the message of a mystical union. For whereas of old we had lent our ears to the serpent, we had been disobedient to the Creator, and, falling away to the apostate, we were torn apart from the King. Eve was cursed, but Mary was filled with grace; the root was bitter, but the fruit sweeter than honey: the root in ^D duration of time to be used thus; but it is manifest that it is employed here in another sense.

buried in the earth for destruction; ^A its fruit flies above the earth in the incorruptibility of holiness; for where there is holiness, there also is integrity; where the mind’s sentiment, as much as permitted by modest self-opinion, humbles and abases itself, there the heavenly rain descending settles and pools. When the serpent promised divinity to our first mother, she caught at the word and leaped forward; ^B conversely, while the archangel, traversing the ether, announces to Mary that she is chosen to be the Mother of God, she draws back, is filled with reverence, and ponders the glad tidings. Thus did she rise above the lightness of the female nature. Thus was the gate of the great King sealed on every side.

IX. They say that trees live with their head inverted, holding their roots as their head, and from there (from the buried head) drawing up through little channels the moisture and pulling it upward to produce fruit. The leaders of our race were buried in the earth head-downward, and the root-gnawing worms fed upon these roots. But at last, this fruit is endowed with the gift of incorruption, and by an inverted order of nature, it transmits this incorruptibility also to the roots; ^C and what was born regenerates those who gave it birth; it restores to life what was dead, and makes sweet what was bitter. For, being surpassingly eminent in an extreme degree above the kindred nature, and being set at the summit out of purity and cleanliness—placed as it were on high—she was the first to receive the divine rain descending from heaven. For it descended, like rain upon the fleece, ^D upon this most pure and all-immaculate Mary, so that it might heal the dryness of the earth with more mystical irrigations. A long time indeed had flowed by, since He had commanded the prophetic clouds not to rain upon the earth, lest the prickly-growth of the vineyard might rage even more. But now, since a lily has been found in the midst of the thorns, whiter than snow, more fragrant than myrrh, clothed in virginal radiance—I mean the beauty of Jacob—the heavenly rain descends upon her, that all-immaculate, all-most pure—

and life-giving one. What is the power of this mystery? What is this depth that raises one to the heights? What is this height that humbles one?

^A X. For the Israelites of old, a constitution of laws was once necessary, one to correct their lack of discipline and to compel them through fear toward the One who had fashioned and saved them by a wonderful salvation. The Lawgiver appears on Mount Sinai in a strange and—to those who beheld Him—terrifying manifestation. For great trumpets sounded; a deep gloom had shrouded the mountain on every side; a fierce storm roared in opposition to the trumpets, and all that was there was full of manifold terrors. For the Jews, being but children in their souls, had need of such frightening spectacles.

What followed after this? The Law is inscribed upon tablets, ^B which silently hinted at the stony heart of the hearers, so impervious that it could never be hollowed out by the perpetually flowing drops of divine providence, nor even slightly fertilized by them. For immediately, as soon as mercy was shown to them, the hardness of their heart repelled the rain of compassion, and the grace fell in vain. For when Moses, the teacher, was descending from the mountain where he had been instructed, carrying in his hands the tablets on which the elements of the Law had been inscribed, and was about to hand them over to those who bore the mind of children, they, having eaten and drunk, rose up to play ^C mocking both the teacher and the instructions. Wherefore the interpreter of divine things, moved by the most grievous sorrow and indignation, cast the tablets to the ground and shattered them, refusing to act as teacher to the drunken; but to the disciples, who were intent on play, he applied a suitable discipline—not, indeed, seeking any rod at all; for what would such things have profited their stony and most hard-hearted nature? But since stone is broken by iron, he thus devised the method of instruction, and the daggers were the iron.

XI. Those ancient things, then, were such—full of terror and severity—yet they accomplished nothing of what was hoped for, on account of the folly of that stiff-necked people and the hardness of their heart. ^D But the subsequent descent, which is celebrated today, is far more admirable than the former. For it was so peaceful and free from tumult, that God descended...

not only beyond the knowledge of men, but even of the angels who perform the ministry around him and stand by his throne; and, to use the saying of the Scriptures, he descended ^A like the rain upon the fleece (57), without noise, and imperceptibly even to those Israelites who were nearest to him by kinship. "We know," they say (58), "that God spoke to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where he is from." For often the hardness of the heart is softened by gentle words, and a slower and calmer walk has captured the untamed beast.

XII. I have, therefore, another way to treat the subject, and to explain more fully those things which pertain to this fleece. For indeed it is known to us that the initial progenitors of our race, clothed in coats of skins, and prostrated in terror because of the sentence of death, were driven out from the delights of paradise. But the Virgin, being their daughter, in that she was human—if you except certain properties of lesser importance common to their life, specifically that she bore this mortal burden of the flesh and lived with a corruptible body (59)—was in all other respects far more sublime and divine than them. For she procured for herself the pledges of incorruptibility, and while living among men, she rose to an angelic state free from matter, and was perceived as a most lofty ladder whose top reached ^B to heaven, considering and contemplating the beauties that are there—even though she fixed her base upon the earth, and it was supported by the weight of her essence. Upon this the angels of God ascended and descended; they ascended by reason of the excellence of her immaterial nature, and they descended, overcome by the virgin purity of her condition; and the Lord himself was supported upon her.

Oh, what a heap of graces! Oh, what dignity of the Virgin! All things yield to her glory; all things are inferior, even if you think in your mind of those most trembling ones ^C (the Seraphim) having six wings (61); for these reverently take hold of the tongs, which was her type (62), or even if you produce into the midst the many-eyed Cherubim (63), whom the divine Ezechiel represents as thrones, upon whom he shows the Most High flying with wings, and riding upon wheels (64). For he had been moving from eternity, by his innate goodness, toward the mystery of the incarnation and the manifestation to men; but the appropriate time, which the unsearchable abyss of his judgments knew, had not yet arrived. That patriarchal mind ^D, however, who saw God, sees him supported upon the Virgin. For when he is found...

66, then the ancient and true counsel 67 attained its end and was led into action; and the uncircumscribed Word of the Father is supported, as befits an infant, in the pure womb of the Virgin 68, being united hypostatically to the Adamite clay which had its subsistence from this holy and most immaculate earth.

XIII. All things, therefore, that pertain to her are worthy of the divine majesty, all things are worthy of the great mystery 69; but the discourse now resumes its former argument, and yet it did not deny that she was by nature a daughter of Eve, nor did it altogether reject those skins of leather. For the "limus" 70 — that is, the clay of which she was composed — furnished a token that she possessed the same nature as others; and yet the thickness of the skins had no place in her, that is, the tumults of this life and the importunate cares which are wont to accompany this mortal existence. For from the third year of her age she was consecrated to God; from the third year an angel, acting as a steward, ministered her food; from the third year she forgot the clamorous crowd and her father’s house. ^B

And there was a sign of this: for the burning bush, being a shadowy and dry type of this mystery, did not permit the shepherd Moses to approach when he attempted to do so, because of the leather shoes upon his feet, by which he protected the skin joined to his soles, so that they might not be worn away by the direct contact with the roughness of the earth. For I say it is necessary that he who begins to tread the ways of the Lord should keep his spiritual feet unbound, protected from the passionate attachments of things below, and should not be entangle d in the entanglements of worldly distractions. ^C

Such, indeed, was the soul of the all-innocent and most immaculate Mary; nay, rather, she excelled even beyond all these things. For she was more holy than the saints, and more God-loving than those who love God. Therefore, as rain upon a fleece, the Only-begotten Word descended upon her, and as a drop falling upon the earth, he lifted up our parched and earthen nature joyfully, and toward the fruit-bearing ^D of the day he had in common.

^A and has watered it profusely, and excited it to bring forth fruit in abundance. For it had become parched and drier than ashes itself, from the time that Satan, like a burning lightning bolt fallen from heaven, having struck it mortally, stripped it of all its greenness, and rendered it dry and inept for the production of divine works. "He shall rise," he says, "in his days righteousness and an abundance of peace, until the moon be removed." For it is fitting that the discourse should pursue the remaining parts of this Psalm, and proceed by a straight path to the explanation of those things which lie hidden within it. For since the sun of righteousness is already beginning to rise, let those things which are hidden in the shadowy letter be brought forth into the light.

^B XIV. But oh, who are these who are barking at us from behind, stirring up a great din and turmoil, and gnashing their dog-teeth against the discourse? They are certainly Jews, a turbulent and clamorous race, whose fruit-bearing, to speak with Isaiah, is instead of grapes, a cry. What then shall we do? Shall we let them burst from their own barking, offering nothing in retaliation against the things they babble? Or shall we, having turned back, cast some few small ^C stones into their impudent mouth? The latter seems to me to be the stronger argument. For even if they should run to meet these stones thrown at them with gaping mouth, as is their habit, they will not be able to crush them easily, inasmuch as they rejoice in a solidity which comes from the truth. Truth, however, is Christ himself, who crushes the teeth of sinners, so that they may not impiously tear the bread of faith.

XV. But why do you cry out behind me, impudent and contentious little man, O Jew? If you have a word of reply, speak. "To Solomon," you say, "these words are directed, and David utters this good word from his heart to his successor in the kingdom, who came forth from his own womb, but not, as you, O Christian, contend, does he institute the discourse concerning Christ." Cease, I pray you, O peddler of foolish trifles, let the discourse pursue its own straight course, and do not strive to divert it toward yourself. For this is not the time for forensic contention, but for the choir to sing hymns in alternating fashion. For my Lord has come from heaven to earth not that he should judge the world, but that he should vivify the world. Nevertheless, lest we appear to be at a loss for a counter-argument because we are in a hurry, we will convince you of your ignorance by briefly touching upon the matter, as far as is permissible.

XVI. This Psalm ^D concerning him whom it takes up for celebration, the peaceful one (for this is what Solomon signifies) contemplates; wherefore, since the Psalm is inscribed to Solomon, the author rightly says that he is singing this Psalm about the Peaceful One.

^A These three things he proposes, and they are the most essential: first, the descension from heaven of the One who is prophesied, and indeed this is peaceful and without tumult. *He shall descend*, he says, *as rain upon a fleece, and as a drop of water dripping* (87) *upon the earth*. And this, then, is the first; the second is the domination and most plenary power over the whole earth and its ultimate bounds. For he adds: *And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth* (89), that is, from the rising to the setting sun, and from all around. The third is that his existence knows no beginning, and is altogether unending. For the words of the Psalm lead to this thought. ^B XVII. Furthermore, Solomon neither existed before he was brought forth through the delivery of Bathsheba, nor did he descend from heaven. For that which does not yet exist, nor consist in substance, certainly neither ascends nor descends. But neither does that saying, *as rain upon a fleece*, in any way befit Solomon. For the actions taken against his brother Adonijah filled the beginning of his kingship with tumult and consternation. I refrain from mentioning that he defiled his throne with fraternal blood—which is the most terrible of all crimes—and that he is found to be a second fratricide after Cain, for the sake of a temporal kingdom. Nor, again, did he obtain an empire over the whole wide world; rather, two rivers bounding the limits of his authority hemmed it in on either side: namely, the Euphrates and the Nile, which, as I suppose, somewhat obscurely indicated the instability of the Judaic kingdom and the swift passing of these boundaries. For the kingdom of Christ, according to the vision of Daniel, shall have no end. ^C XVIII. But if you yourself neither admit that Solomon pre-existed, nor assert that he descended from heaven, yet you interpret the words of the Psalmist perversely, and you take those things which are spoken of regarding existence as referring to foreknowledge, so that you contend that Solomon existed in incomprehensible and divine cognition, and was known and predestined as king by Him who knows all things before they come to pass (92)—I ask you again: How could that which did not exist descend? But I would have you know that you are finally handing down those things regarding Solomon that someone else might affirm even about a frog or a gnat. For not even some frog, or this gnat either, escapes the infinite science of the divine nature, which extends itself to all things. For He knows all things before their birth, and in His hand the ends of the earth are held, and ^D [these things that are indeed] from the river: *from the rivers*.

Commentary

^A it perceives sharply within its palm, even if they be of the most subtle sort, and even if they have not yet been brought to light.

XIX. But what great thing does it seem to you that he should be anointed king of Israel? Saul might seem to have a greater prerogative than this: because he too was anointed by divine decree; and the one who anointed him was renowned for holiness—for it was Samuel who anointed him; and because he was the first king and the origin of all those who came after him. And he is not found to have practiced idolatry, nor to have been corrupted by foreign women, whose intermingling God had forbidden. Nevertheless, because he was found disobedient to the commands of the Almighty on many counts, he was pushed into the lot of the condemned; he ended his life by a bitter death, and those benefits which God had bestowed upon him out of his own compassion profited him nothing; rather, he was even subjected to the ultimate condemnation, because he provoked his benefactor to anger, repaying him with evils in exchange for good. ^B

XX. Therefore I ask you again, and again answer me: In what do you boast concerning Solomon, and for what reason do you heap so many praises upon him? Because, he says, it is most clearly testified that he was wiser than the kings who preceded him and those who followed him; and because in the loftiness of his glory and the pride of his wealth he surpassed the others by a royal measure. Tell me therefore, I pray, in what pertains to your Solomon: did God give all these ample things to the man as a free gift, or did he obtain them as the just reward for his own constantly flowing sweat and long labors? By no means, he says; for how could a boy of twelve have obtained the kingdom otherwise? Truly, this was a divine benefit and a gift bestowed from heaven.

I also agree with you; and I adore the giver, and I kiss the gift itself. It is therefore proven that wisdom, glory, riches, and the vastness of possessions were so many gratuitous gifts of divine munificence. Do you confess it to be so entirely? I do indeed confess it. Furthermore, to whom much has been entrusted, much will be required of them (91); and the mighty will suffer torments mightily (93). I hold this as certain; for it is the opinion of Solomon himself. Therefore, this man, who was heaped with so many and such great heavenly gifts by the goodness of God, did he crown his life with a very blessed end worthy of the wisdom granted to him? Or did he not rather fall headlong into an abyss of impiety, and did he not profane those divine gifts?

Why are you silent, O Jew? Does speech for a response fail you so quickly? I shall assist your hesitation, by bringing forward the divinely-taught Ezekiel, or rather, by supplicating God himself, who spoke through him, that he might once again set forth the sentence through Ezekiel. (96) In the

^A If the righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die in his sins, and his righteousness which he has performed shall not be remembered. (1) Since, therefore, Solomon went so far in his impiety against the Most High, as to go after Astarte and Chamos and other such detestable idols and abominations; and since this did not escape the prophetic and most percipient eye of David—or rather, did not escape the foreknowledge of Him who had revealed the secrets and hidden things of His own wisdom to David—how could it be that he prophesied such sublime and entirely divine things concerning Solomon, a man who was a fratricide, an idolater, and one so easily stirred to madness by the desire for women and pleasure?

Do you believe that God spoke through David? By all means, he says. You have therefore anticipated the profession of the things that follow. What, you ask, is that? It is that those things which concerned him (Solomon) were foreknown to God before the sun and the moon; and not that some were known and some unknown, but that all things—both evil and good—were clearly foreseen by God. How then could He have inspired David through His Spirit to utter those great things, which are worthy of God, concerning one whom He knew would rage like a heifer, as Ephraim did? ^B This is the height of blasphemy; may that blasphemy be turned upon your own head.

What room, therefore, is there here for the foreknowledge you have foolishly mentioned? For it is said not only that he existed before the sun and before the moon, but it is also added: *He shall continue with the sun* (3), and: *Until the moon is removed* (6). Foreknowledge indeed stands firm if that which is foreseen has been fulfilled; and I, as far as it concerns me, await the outcome. But he concerning whom David prophesied these things remains with the sun and the moon—yet Solomon does not exist now, and the throne of his kingdom has been utterly overturned and vanished, while the sun and moon still complete their accustomed courses. Seek, therefore, and you will find Him who remains with the sun and who also has existence before the sun. And when you find Him, draw near to Him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be put to shame (7).

^C XXI. Let it be, he says, that these things were foretold concerning Christ. If Christ is to be measured against the solar course, then when the sun fails, He who remains with it, Christ, will likewise fail.

Be muzzled, O blasphemous mouth. The power of Christ is eternal and unfailing. For if it is also said of Him: *Before the sun*, He is already exempted from temporal existence.

Furthermore, you also answer me: how do you understand the

mode: *Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art*? Is God, therefore, to be proclaimed as contemporaneous with His own works, or but a little before them, because it is said that He possessed existence before the mountains were brought forth or the earth was fashioned? Not so, he says; yet ^A the addition of "from everlasting" pushes away the erring thought, for it is said thus: *And from everlasting to everlasting Thou art.* I praise you for the answer, even if I am annoyed by the dissimulation. For I fear that if I now set out to say some things that are equivalent and of the same meaning, you will immediately recoil and flee, and return again to senseless babblings. But, he says, the facts will demonstrate this.

You have said that "from everlasting," which is added, clearly manifests that God lacks a beginning. Therefore, grant me the rest as well, namely that "generations of generations," which follows there after "before the moon," signifies by parity of reasoning that He is devoid of a beginning, and that it is equivalent to "from everlasting."

^B XXII. But if you desire a still clearer explanation, we shall strike the same Davidic lyre more harmoniously—if you do not appear as an ass listening to the lyre, according to the old proverb; but we shall pluck it more diligently: *The Lord shall reign for ever, thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.* What is clearer than this? What is more manifest? For it is most evidently established that "unto generation" signifies the same thing as "for ever"; nay rather, something more is said there. For that which is said through the plural number, "before the moon generations of generations," is the same as "before the ages." But here he has said "generation and generation." And again the same prophet says: *O Lord, Thy name is for ever, and Thy memorial unto generation and generation.* By all these things, one thing is indicated: that God is without beginning ^C and without end, and is not extended alongside this present age and the ephemeral generations; and from this the fact that it is of the same intention is established, namely that "before the moon generations of generations" and "from everlasting unto everlasting" contain purely the same meaning.

For that which pre-exists all created things is not a creature; and if it is not a creature, it is uncreated; and that which is uncreated is confessedly devoid of time; and that which is outside of time knows no end; and that which by its own nature knows no end, likewise has no beginning. Therefore it is established that He who abides *before the sun and the moon through generations of generations* ^D is also without beginning regarding the temporal origin, and is without end.

You have set a guard upon your mouth, O Jew, and have covered your face with the dark veil of shame, while these great luminaries clearly manifest to you their own Creator. ^B

XXIII. But if, on the other hand, you raise your eyebrow higher than the very pinnacle of the temple out of pride, and wish to bring up Solomon, the builder of that temple, in your discourse to boast—explaining how he applied the most fervent zeal to the glory of God, adorning God’s tabernacle in various ways with the artistry of gold and the splendor of jewels, sparing no effort to delight the eyes of those who behold it, and thinking that he could bring joy to God through the works of human hands, while he himself was the work of God, preeminent over all things, and knew that God fills ^C the heaven and measures the whole earth with a span—if you happen to boast of these things, Cyrus, king of the Persians, a man who was an idolater and uncircumcised, will suppress your vain arrogance. For the temple erected by Solomon, having been razed and utterly destroyed, was later, after a long time, raised up and restored by him with heavy weights of gold and a most fervent spirit, and he restored the people from captivity to their own fatherland. For you endured those who would grieve with you, and there was none; and those who would console you, and you found none from any of the tribes of our race; but this man, a foreigner, made himself known to you as a benefactor and redeemer. ^D

XXIV. And indeed, through the Church which is from the nations, even the children of Israel are daily called and brought into the former inheritance of paradise. And the living temple, which Nabuzardan had burned by kindling the soul-destroying fire of the passions, the Word—the Architect and supreme Craftsman of all things—renovates and adorns most delightfully, raising it up in Himself as most pure, most holy, and most radiant. For what else is the raising of this temple but that it has been made God by deification and has participated in the divine glory? And she who provides the most pure material for the building of this temple, the most excellent boast of the female nature, who surpasses the heavenly angels in

^A purity—as one who, when a comparison is made, exceeds them by an immense interval—who could suspect that the soul of the Virgin was ever enveloped in the darkness and filth of sin? This must be observed more carefully in Germanus. For since he most eloquently professes this original purity of the Mother of God thereafter, the meaning of those sentences also becomes clearer.

XXV. This temple, moreover, Solomon himself beheld with prophetic eyes, and contemplated it as future, just as if it were already built, where he says: *Wisdom built a house for herself, and set up seven pillars; she slaughtered her victims* (25); not such as were offered in the temple which he (Solomon) built, which filled the precinct of the temple with the odor and smoke; what sort then? *Come*, he says (26), *eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you.* Such, indeed, is the sacrifice acceptable to God and bloodless, according to Christ. *Leave*, he says (29), *folly, and you shall live.* For it is truly folly to think that God is pleased by the sacrifices of irrational animals, and by smoke and odor and such things. *For*, he says, *will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? And who has sought these things from your hands (30)?*

XXVI. Furthermore, O Jew, by what reasoning will those words be applied to Solomon: *His name shall be blessed for ever (31)?* And that which follows: *All nations shall call him blessed (32)?* Let Moses, who saw God, be asked whether Solomon is blessed. *Cursed*, he says (33), *is the man who shall make a graven and molten image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman.* If, therefore, Solomon is proven guilty of this crime, how shall he who is found to be cursed be held blessed? And how shall all nations call him blessed, as we at any rate, the Church gathered from the nations, both bless and call blessed the name of Christ, because He Himself has delivered us from the deception of the demons? *For God*, he says, *sent His Word, and delivered them from their destructions and from the study of impiety (34).* But we, who have been deemed worthy of this excellent redemption, how shall we proclaim him blessed, and how shall we heap blessings upon Solomon, who by his own example confirmed idolatry, and openly taught people to follow after false gods?

^A That the name of Christ is to be blessed and adored among all nations, we have the most high-sounding Isaiah—or rather, the One who inspired the prophetic oracles of Isaiah—as our witness, who thus clearly and openly declared: "My servants shall be called by a new name, which shall be blessed upon the earth; for they shall bless the true God." For the people of God are no longer Jacob, no longer Joseph or Ephraim—those old and decayed names—but a new name, since the Testament is new and the people are new. And what is this? "Christian," and he who is surnamed by this name from Christ bears his name truly. And he who blesses him who is correctly called by this name, by that very act blesses the true God, that is to say Christ, from whom the Christian derives his name.

Come then, and stand hereafter with me, and let us both together adore Christ the true God; and be signed with us with the light of his countenance and with the blood of the New Testament, and thus flee from the author of death and the prince of darkness.

XXVII. But it is written, he says, "In his days shall righteousness spring up, and abundance of peace." And Solomon truly fulfilled this oracle by his deeds, inasmuch as he settled disputes with wise and upright judgments, and subdued the enemies that attacked him from round about. But how, O sacrilegious one, did you keep silent about what follows? How, O son of, ministering to that which is rightly compared to the night, did you hide the moon so that you might steal the treasure of truth? And what is this theft? Indeed, this: "until the moon be taken away." But I will come against your doubts with the light of truth.

It is written (for I, too, shall recount to you similar things), "And the Lord raised up a satan unto Solomon, Ader the Edomite, and Esrom, and Rarameeth, and Andraezer; and they gathered against him; and he was leader of a band, and he occupied Damascus: and he was a satan to Israel all the days of Solomon." Furthermore, "satan" here signifies a foe and an adversary. ^{B C} But I will tell you also about the justice of Solomon, or rather not I, but the book of Kings recounts these things: "And the people spoke to king Rehoboam, saying: Thy father imposed upon us a most hard yoke (and the father of Rehoboam was Solomon). Thou, therefore, now lighten a little of the most hard and most grievous yoke of thy father, which he imposed upon us." Do you hear the thanksgivings which Solomon receives for his justice toward his people? So much so that even the defection of the people to Samaria and to the calves ^D

^A of his [cows] was caused by Solomon’s arrogance.

XXVIII. But neither does that [prophecy], *until the moon be taken away*, have any communion with Solomon. For up to this time both the sun and the moon complete their course, just as they were established from the beginning, and they obey the nod of their Creator; but the glory of Solomon has passed into dust.

Christ, however, who because of His love for mankind willed that glory should inhabit our earth, ^B which is to say, that through the union with God our earthly flesh might become God—Christ, I say, reigns forever. Add to this that the Israelite nation nowhere enjoys peace. For it is driven from every place, stoned, scourged, as the most pestilential plague of the world. Christ alone is the eternal King, and of the peace brought through Him there is no end. And this also—that Christ has neither beginning nor end—is not my own, but the prophet Isaiah’s. To be without beginning and without end belongs to God alone; it is, in effect, the property of an uncreated nature.

XXIX. And by this same reasoning, the justice of Christ far exceeds all human justice. For it is not exhausted ^C in dispensing goods which are corruptible by their nature and are left behind in this life, and which, as they fall and are transferred hither and thither, mock their possessors; but what is it? It is most sublime, and it takes care of the man for whom the whole world and the things in the world were created.

For since there was chosen by God from among all the men of that time the God-beloved and blessed Abraham, because he loved God more than himself, and not only abandoned his country and kin and all his possessions, but as a wanderer went forth into a strange land, and was led wherever the One who governed him commanded—but he did not even spare his only-begotten and heir for His sake; ^D God promised to the patriarch whatever indeed He promised: a multitude of seed and the expansion of the land; and, that I might not move a great *anagyrus* [stink-weed], the blessings passed over to all the seed of Abraham.

But the seed was never shown to be following the fathers; rather, the Abrahamites walked the path diametrically opposed, and the sons of Abraham surpassed even the pagans themselves in impiety. The chief point of their impiety was that they sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. Thus, the most God-beloved sacrifice on behalf of the only-begotten—

^A Abraham, which had been perfected, they imitated wrongly, though they were born and came from the loins of Abraham! ^A Therefore, God was incensed against that generation and said: *They always go astray in their heart* (47). Moreover, no account was taken at that time of the mixed multitude of the heathens. And yet, God was common to both Jews and Gentiles, as builder and creator, and all were the works of His hands; and He had neither given the (written) law to the Gentiles, nor sent prophets to them, nor did He wish to drag them to Himself by the compulsion of miracles. God therefore deemed it fair to visit these also and their affairs with His providence, and to test by experience whether the Gentiles would show themselves obedient to divine commands. But yet, again mindful of the promises by which He had bound Himself toward the patriarchs, He ^B took hold of the seed of Abraham, and visited the Jews; and knowing this, that they would not receive Him, He became man; He appeared; He associated with men; He poured out his benefits like a stream upon the face of Judea. But they, as though having suffered a most grievous injury, were inflamed with envy; and just as beetles perish in fragrant ointment, they were extinguished by salvific waters. They betrayed, they crucified, they consigned their very benefactor to death. These were the things of His long-suffering; but those of His power: He rises from the dead; He passes through the apostles to the Gentiles; the water leaping up into eternal life (51) is poured out into the whole earth; and as the hart desires the fountains of waters (52), they (the Gentiles) desired with a more avid thirst for the waters of Siloam flowing gently; and the whole earth was filled with the knowledge of the Lord (53). This is what the justice of God disposed. For the opinion of the most iniquitous men is far different. These, forsooth, decree that of many brothers, he alone is worthy to be heaped with honors by the Father who was both contumacious, and stiff-necked, and a parricide; but that the rest, who are found guilty of no iniquity, but are on the contrary prepared to obey the Father even unto death, should be excluded from the paternal inheritance. But if this is iniquitous, as it most assuredly is, then that which is opposed to it is just; nay, nothing more fair than this can ever be found: such was the justice that arose in those days (54), when my Solomon was dwelling on earth; and for the same reason he was already called by another prophet (55) the sun of justice.

XXX. What more (do you ask)? Solomon's (he says) ^D wisdom was divinely bestowed. Be it so; but the earthly paradise was also planted by God, and Adam, himself the inhabitant of this divinely planted paradise, was also created by God: he too was divinely endowed with wisdom, and the most apt significations of names, which indeed he adapted to all the animals in paradise, bear witness to this. But even if—

the former things are to be praised as fortunate, the latter things are truly to be lamented as ^A dire, and the condition of that blessing was turned into a curse because of the serpent and the woman. For the serpent indeed introduced the multitude of gods, since he said: *You shall be as gods* (57); but the woman became the minister of the evil (serpent’s) counsels unto the man. And the King of all things that were upon the earth is expelled from Paradise, naked, captive, and miserable.

^B Does not the tragedy of Solomon match the ruin of Adam? Are the events of Solomon not very similar to those of Adam? Both were laden with divine gifts; the woman, the serpent, and the multitude of gods alienate our first parents from God: the same evils that befell the first parents befall the descendant, and he is caught in the same snares. For here too there is the persuasion of women, and a turning toward polytheism; and not even the serpent, the author of the evil counsel, is missing. He who was a partaker of these evils sensed this; for his own voice is: *He who breaks through a hedge, a serpent shall bite him* (59). Now this hedge, in my opinion, is taken for the law, which like a wall kept one from mixing with alien women; and this ruin also the spiritual serpent brought forth.

^C XXXI. And let these few things from among many have been said to you, O Jew, who errs and obstinately persists in error. For the present festival does not allow one to dwell upon longer refutations. For it is the part of an advocate to contend vehemently against those who contradict, and to refute the objections. But it is the duty of one celebrating a panegyric-festival rather to compose the emotions of the soul to a tranquil order, and thence to introduce into hearts, which enjoy a serene and tranquil peace, the most pleasant delight of the festival. But let these beasts who are hostile to Christ depart indeed, and let them leave covered in shame. *And let their way be darkness and a slippery path; and let the angel of the Lord persecute them* (61), he who bears the Gospel-message to the ever-Virgin; but let him go before us, and lead our discourse to a happy conclusion. And so much for these things.

XXXII. But behold, I see the universal choir of prophets running together to this celebration with a joyful and smiling countenance, ^D carrying books in their arms, and prepared to address from their volumes that sealed book of God (that is, the holy Virgin). Now in this celebration, Moses takes the lead, no longer stammering (60), as before, as if he were carrying the heavy burden of the law in his tongue, but speaking most fluently. And what does he cry out? *I will pass by and see this great vision, why the bush is not burned* (62), and that, although she bears within herself that

^A fire which touches the mountains and they smoke (64). For otherwise I do not fear that word: *Do not come near here* (65). For I have long since put off the corporeal sandal, by means of which the heavenly soul treads upon the earth. Moreover, this fire is not a consuming fire (66), but one that gently illuminates and gladdens: *For He did not come to judge the world, but that He might bring salvation to the world* (67). Again, I see God bending the heavens and descending (68) upon the holy mountain, which surpasses the whole earth and contemplates nothing but heavenly things (69). I see the land of promise flowing with the milk and honey of the remission (70) of sins. Instead of that former voice of terror to me, I now hear a most sweet one: I heard long ago: *Go up into this mountain, and die there* (71); and when I had ascended, I immediately descended from there to the regions of the dead; but now, through this mountain of the God who walks upon it and of wondrous height, I am raised up to heavenly life and the immediate vision of God.

XXXIII. But truly, together with Moses, his brother (Aaron) comes forth into view, ^B holding in his hand the nut-bearing staff (72), and setting it before the eyes of the Virgin, so that she might not fluctuate in uncertain thoughts, nor, hesitating, answer the archangel: *How shall this be to me, since I do not know a man?* (73)

For behold, also the kinsman of the girl, King David, breaking through the prophetic ranks, leaps into the midst, and playing the lyre, gently calms the disturbance of the virgin heart: *Hear, O daughter,* he says (74), *and see.* Hear the angel; behold the staff, unwatered and altogether dry, as one bereft of all moisture, how it buds, how it bears fruit, how it gives forth a sweet odor, in order only to prefigure the supernatural manner of your bearing of a child. Do not be disturbed at the word of Gabriel; for that is most true, even if it transcends the limits of nature: *By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established* (75). Moreover, the heavens recount your wondrous birth, which is announced by the words of Gabriel. For from thence is the archangel present; ^C and there is present, moreover, a faithful witness in heaven (76), who promised that he would set of the fruit of my womb upon my throne (77), and that he would keep my throne perpetually like the days of heaven (78), and would raise it up to the height of that same heaven, so that it might not be terrestrial only, but also celestial, and not for a time alone, but that it should endure forever.

XXXIV. And these things, indeed, said David. But the venerable patriarchs, who obtain the first seat of honor, proclaim and testify things altogether divine concerning your birth. And hereby, indeed, Abraham, in a small and fitting tent, ^D dwelling in [index: entries preserved]

[beginning of page (continuing from previous page)] the tabernacle, who received Him who is circumscribed by no bounds; for the womb of Sarah was stone-like, and closed to the generation of children.

The third, Jacob, standing forth, points out the stone anointed with oil, and names it the house of God ^A. Upon this stone the true Israel rested his head, refreshing himself from the toil of the journey, as if he had heard the stone itself crying out in advance: "Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you"; for the stone was Christ ^B. But if this Jacob is also called Israel, and "Israel" is interpreted as "a mind seeing God," then this stone shall be that which supports the head—or, to speak more clearly, the governing faculty—of His servants, and lifts them up from the earth, teaching them to think of nothing earthly, nothing base, in the world.

And a witness to this is the ladder of ascension, reaching from earth to heaven ^C. God rested upon its summit; yet He also supported from below the head of Jacob, so that He might typify the ineffable union of the divine and human nature through this spiritual ladder, namely, the Virgin. For He, the same one, shall be both below and above, having what is uncircumscribed by His divinity, but what is circumscribed by His humanity.

XXXV. These things, then, the three patriarchs attest. But let David again be allowed to speak, and let him redouble the melodies of his lyre. "The streams of the river," he says, "make glad the city of God." Now, by the river of peace, Isaiah foresaw the incarnation of the Word of God, whose streams—that is, the impulse of His overwhelming love for men toward the ineffable assumption of our nature—make glad the animate city of God ^D. For this is its voice, saying: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."

Come, let the outflow of Solomonic wisdom also be channeled toward the streams of that peaceful river, which, overflowing to the nations, pours forth glory, and let the Canticle of Canticles show its flowing streams: "Behold, you are beautiful, my neighbor, and there is no blemish in you." These are the words of the immortal Bridegroom, bearing witness to the Bride, Mary, that she surpasses all created things, and that, although she is numbered among created things, yet by the excellence of her purity she approaches the Uncreated.

^A Since, therefore, it is an exceptionally singular thing for the Bride to approach the Bridegroom—who by nature is an infinite abyss of holiness—he continuously weaves into his words the eulogy of this approach. And he says again: "Arise, come, my neighbor," he says, "my beautiful one, my dove (93). For behold, the winter has passed, the rain has gone and departed; the flowers have appeared on the earth. The time of pruning has arrived; the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land." These figures and shadows of the Canticles, in their obvious sense, signify the coming of spring and the appearance of the first month among the Jews; at which time the mother of all things (the earth), released from the bonds of cold, looses also her own pains, and brings forth all-nourishing crops. But the Mother of God, and truly holy earth, and she alone, without receiving seed, germinates a fruit not cultivated by any human work; and thus those oracles of Isaiah find their fulfillment: "There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from the root (95)."

^B XXXVII. Thus, the first creation of humanity found the loveliness of the spring season as the very foundation of its existence at the very beginning of things; and in this way, the regeneration of our nature and the renewal of the world find this vernal adornment. And it has been said somewhere in the sacred scriptures that "the Lord God saw the earth, and it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth (98), and the earth was filled with iniquity (99)." To cease this iniquity, therefore, the cataracts of heaven and all the fountains of the abyss are opened, and the face of the earth is rendered useless by the flood; and in place of its former elegance, the face of the earth is inundated with water for an entire year; and together with all the things that spring from it, it is afflicted and undergoes this unaccustomed winter. But what does the same Scripture say again? "It came to pass in the six hundred and first year of the life of Noah, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters had failed from the face of the earth; and Noah opened the covering of the ark, which he had made, and he saw that the water had failed from the face of the earth (2)." Do you see how the beginning of the second world also starts from the first time of spring? ^C Yet all those ancient things look toward this present feast, in which the aversion of the divine countenance and the deep winter of his wrath come to an end. For then God begins to visit the earth with a saving visitation, and to adorn it with that spring as if with a flowering crown, and to inebriate its furrows with the gifts of his goodness. But David also, one might say, explaining this vernal appearance and joining his voice to the sound of the zither, sings thus in harmony with this renewal of the earth: "The Lord will give goodness," he sings, "and our earth will give its fruit (3)."

^A XXXVIII. Now the ark of the world ceases to be carried round hither and thither and tossed by a deadly storm, and it entirely abandons the unstable waters. The hidden mysteries of that ancient and truly genuine counsel are revealed: the Sun of righteousness shines upon the world, and those who have long sat in darkness and the shadow of death are deemed worthy to see a great light, and in place of that wavering and listless life, they receive the solidity of a spiritual dwelling. There, therefore, the dove appears as the messenger of the receding flood; which, indeed, while the storm still prevailed, dared not come forth; but she came forth after the flood had ceased. And as she subsided, the all-holy and rational dove—more white than snow because of the splendor of her soul—appeared to the world after the spiritual flood had receded. And therefore the Bridegroom says: "Come, my companion, my beautiful one, my dove; for behold, the winter has passed, the rain has gone" (Cant. II, 10). By the name of the dove, the voice of the Canticles calls her "full of grace," both because she had expressed herself wholly and always according to the rule of the Spirit, and had put on that rule as if it were her nature; and also because she announced to men the end of the winter of error, and showed to the world Him who was anointed with the oil of gladness ^B above his fellows. And long ago indeed it was said by God, being angry against sinners: "My Spirit shall not remain in them, because they are flesh" (Gen. VI, 3); for when the life-giving Spirit had departed from thence, the death-dealing flood was brought on. But what here? "The Holy Spirit," says the archangel, "shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you," you who art entirely immaculate above all created things.

^C XXXIX. But let the things which follow in the Canticle also be woven into the texture of the discourse: "The time of pruning has arrived; the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land" (Cant. II, 12). In these words, the shoot of the barren woman, the forerunner of the virginal birth, is also faintly indicated. And indeed, that auspicious angel-messenger connects both at once. For after he had said to the Virgin, "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you; and therefore the holy thing which is born shall be called the Son of God" (Luc. I, 35); he immediately added to these words the conception of the forerunner, saying, "And behold, Elizabeth your kinswoman, even she has conceived a son in her old age" (Luc. I, 36). This is the turtledove, the friend of the desert; this one testifies that the time of pruning has approached, where he says: "For already the axe is laid to the root of the trees" (Luc. III, 9). For after...

the sun has warmed them, as many of the trees as remain in their former barrenness, promising no sap of fruitful life, must be cut down, and cast into the fire, and burned. For the Sun of righteousness has judged this to be just and right in this way: "For why," he says, "does it even take up the ground?" ^A XL. How great an abundance of examples is provided to me, with which, as with colors, the mystery of the present feast is found to have been already vividly depicted! This month, the beginning of months and the head of the whole annual circle, is the very one which saw Israel in Egypt looking upon the sweet light of freedom, and rescued by blood from the destroying angel; of which fact the sacred rite of the Passover was the witness. But those people were freed at that time from temporal slavery and the laborious hardships that at least cease with death. But those who from Adam even until this advent of Christ had ended their lives, underwent a far more bitter tyranny, descending into the shadowy seats of the underworld. And certainly, to these who were held captive by the bonds of death and the underworld, those things inscribed in the Psalms would more fittingly apply: "And they cried out," he says, "to the Lord when they were in distress, and he saved them from their necessities. He sent his Word and healed them, and snatched them from their destructions" (Ps. CVI, 20). For no one else has raised a trophy over death, and delivered nature from corruption, except the Word subsisting from the Father and coeternal ^B with Him, who, behold, according to the paternal good pleasure, arrives, so that, having become incarnate from virginal blood, He might be the firstborn among many brothers (Rom. VIII, 29), and might visit His own kinsmen. For it is manifestly known that the Lord has sprung from the tribe of Judah. There will be a time, however, when, because of the envy of His brothers, He will descend into Egypt, into the shadowy realms of the underworld.

XLI. Moreover, this (first month) saw that portable tabernacle completed (Exod. XL, 2), whose chief craftsman was Beseleel, which was supported by no foundation, and yet contained within itself nothing but the figures of the true tabernacle, and of that truly living Ark of sanctification, concerning which it was also sung in the Psalms: "God is in the midst of her, and she shall not be moved" (Ps. XLV, 6). Then the dedication of the tabernacle was celebrated by the Israelites in this very month. To such an extent, indeed, did that divine and great mystery, which is perfected on this present day, seem worthy of the greatest care to the Lord God, and for this reason it was depicted beforehand by various symbols.

XLII. Now also, the house of the Wisdom of God is erected ^C in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle is set up.

^A It is constructed, and that which pertains to human cooperation and the order of nature, lacks foundations. For here the inhabitant himself is the foundation of the habitation; and in a way altogether miraculous, the house is seen to be founded upon its own builder. For the same is the hypostasis of the Word and the foundation for the house; since that which is assumed has its subsistence in God, and God inhabits it; so that the distinction of the two natures which are in the one Christ is clearly manifest: for it is one thing that inhabits in something, and another thing that is inhabited. Rightly, therefore, as it seems to me, I have judged that it is said to the same effect in the Psalms: "It shall be a firmament in the earth on the tops of the mountains" (30). For the Only-Begotten, having become the foundation and hypostasis for the earthly flesh which He assumed from the Virgin, exalted it; and, bearing human flesh, He is glorified upon the tops of the mountains, that is to say, on the cherubic backs, as befits God, borne on their shoulders, since angels are frequently understood by the name of mountains. But another mystery also was pre-indicated therein, that on one occasion, when the twelve tribes of the Jews were arranged in good order in a fourfold manner, the ark went before (31); it was surely pre-signifying what was to come, that to the tabernacle, built from the purest blood of the Virgin and having its subsistence in God, the knees of both celestial and terrestrial beings—that is to say, men, who were divided into Jews and Greeks—and indeed of the infernal beings themselves, would bow. ^{B C} XLIII. Furthermore, we have now dwelt enough on the following of symbols and typical adumbrations; we have adduced enough from the manifold and various oracles of the prophets. We have savored enough of the Davidic psalms and the songs of Solomon. We must therefore proceed to those things which many prophets and kings desired to see, and did not see (32).

He who stands in heaven with fear before the Almighty, today stands with the greatest reverence before a woman; he is struck by her splendor, though he himself shines in a fiery form; being without matter, he fears her who is constant in body. The high priest Zacharias still pays the penalty of his diffidence, mute and speechless. The kinswoman Virgin knows this; and knowing it, she nevertheless objects to the archangel: "How shall this be, since I know not a man?" (33). But he does not inflict punishment; rather, he resolves the proposed doubt with such submissiveness as a little servant would use. For he knew that she exceeded not only the high priest, but even the propitiatory itself, which was hidden in the Holy of Holies, where the priest, while burning incense, was abstracted from the senses in an ecstasy, so that, not applying his mind to sensible things, he would not be drawn away from believing those things which surpassed the capacity of the mind. The Virgin, however, had her mind beyond what is under sensation, and present with God together with the immaterial intelligences. ^D She knows this and

^A Gabriel knew that the contradiction did not proceed from disbelief, but from a diligent caution appropriate to the all-pure Virgin. For this reason, he is not moved to reprimand. "How shall this be to me, since I do not know a man?" Is this the only thing you are saying? You are concealing greater things in silence, O you who are more sublime in glory than the heavens, and humble in your opinion of yourself. It is no great thing in you that you do not know a man, but rather that you possess a mind, purer than any measure, and impervious even to the slightest trace of disorderly or indecorous motion. You are a paradise planted by God, and from the moment you were sown with the natural laws appropriate to you, God commanded the Cherubim ^B and the flaming sword, which turns every way, to revolve around you, and to keep you inaccessible from every side to the snares of the guileful serpent.

XLV. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you." When Eve, inhabiting paradise, wandered here and there, the tortuous spirit approached her, using the winding coils of the serpent. But upon you shall come the upright and holy Spirit; because, as the voice of the Canticles sings to you, "Uprightness has loved you." ^{C D} Regarding how he is about to commemorate this privilege of the Virgin, the author speaks concerning her conception. For he confesses her to be birthed according to the laws of nature, yet indicates that something occurred which pertains to her alone, saying, "And the law of nature indeed prevailed," because she was conceived in the customary order of nature; yet it was something singular that her parent, Anna, to speak with Nicetas the Paphlagonian (Hom. in Nativ. Deip. Auct. Combefis. vol. III, pag. 437), stemmed the torrent of malice and vice in herself; and thus, with the Cherubic flaming sword warding off the serpent, an unpolluted fruit sprouted from a polluted root. "Upright ones love you."

^A And the power of the Most High shall overshadow you: which power is clearly the Son of the Most High. And indeed David, the king of the Jews, says, "Where shall I go from your Spirit, and where shall I flee from your face?" He is addressing the Father, whose face and image, similar in all things, is the Son; for he who has seen the Son has seen the Father; and by these words he reveals the mystery of the Trinity. But man, being what he is, and having turned to misery while being pierced by this thorn of sin, fearing the visitation of the Master, meditates on flight; and still limping from the wound of the thorn, he is at a loss, wondering where he might flee and hide from that eye which nothing escapes. Such are the words of David. But the Virgin, sprung from David, while the Archangel initiates her, learns the supercelestial lesson of the one Divinity in Trinity, the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High, from which Most High the power—the Son—and the Holy Spirit had subsisted before the ages. Yet she herself thinks not of flight; but what does she say to the messenger? "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to your word." I am not ignorant, she says, that the descent of God to earth was ordained of old. ^B For the prophets, as if speaking with one lip, proclaimed in many ways that the Word of God was to be incarnate from a woman. I rejoice for the salvation of those who share my nature, and I adore the Most High, who through my lowliness has deigned to make the nature lost by envy worthy of abundant grace, and to appoint me as mediatrix for reconciling salvation and even deification ^C to the world.

XLVI. But I, arriving here in my discourse, and being transported by a certain divine ecstasy from astonishment, am carried to exclaim vehemently: "How magnified are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are made exceedingly profound!" A senseless man, a Jew, shall not know, and a fool, Nestorius, shall not understand these things. And in truth, the mystery of the incarnation of the Word of God was predestined before the foundation of the world; and it was sketched out in advance by the Spirit upon that divine leader of the host, as if upon an incorporeal tablet. For the name Gabriel, when translated from the Hebrew language into Greek, means in a theandric way, that is to say, "theandric angel" [divine-human angel]. For this reason, Gabriel has been designated as the herald of God's reconciliation with men by the very name itself, just as if one were to disclose the purpose ^D of the king who sent him by his royal signs, indicating both who he is and what he desires. And he desires to unite with men in union; not, as some heretic might perhaps say, merely joining through friendship and habit and vo-

volition, ^A but rather to the ultimate union and unconfused mingling, and the gathering into one hypostasis; so that the united elements may be called by one name because of the identity of hypostasis, and may be honored with one adoration because of the unity of the person—even if the things united have not departed from the difference of their nature, nor denied the duality.

You also, O Christian, participate in this same dignity, if you add to this title also the obedience through works toward the Most High, and also the keeping of his commandments. For then you too shall truly be called a theandric servant and an attendant of your Master, Christ. For if Christ is God-man, therefore the Christian who serves him will be called theandric, just as the servant of the king is called royal. Do you see to what dignity the Word has lifted us? And how he has joined us in community of name to this archangel?

XLVII. The Mediatrix of this immense benefit for us is she (the Virgin), who surpasses the heavens in sublimity.

XLVIII. But you, O man, who are from the earth through the first man; and at the same time, O Mother of God, who are in like manner from heaven through the second man!

father of the old world compelled me to depart, and urged me to be carried towards this life, submerged in the waves of a flood.

^B XLIX. Therefore, do thou, O ark and preserver of the world, make valid my prayers, I beseech thee, and receive this my miserable and worthless discourse. And as a light and luminous cloud, overshadow my head in the day of battle. For many are those who attack me from on high and shoot at me with fiery darts. Raise thy hands against their arrogance and pride, and speedily crush them under our feet. But if any dust from those who lie in wait for the heel still clings to our feet, let them themselves lick it up, when their pain shall be turned upon their own head and their iniquity shall descend upon their crown.

^C L. Render propitious to us the God who was born of thee; ask of Him the remission of our debts. Thou seest how vast is our debt; this one thing remains for us, that we place the document in thy hands: do not, I beseech thee, turn away thy eyes because of its weight and the accumulation of debts. For as our time is constricted and the remaining space of this present life is brief, so our debts are also immense. Although these can scarcely be counted by us, yet the clemency of thy Son, just as it is without beginning, is likewise limited by no bounds. Let Him not deal with us according to our iniquities, nor repay us according to our sins. For as the height of heaven is from the earth, so has He strengthened His mercy over the race of mortals, bending the heavens and descending to earth through an ^D abyss of love for man beyond all measure. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our iniquities from us—the east being indeed ever-luminous and existing and being called so; but the west, through the bowels of His inestimable mercy, descending to the darkness of our life and of our human flesh. Although the darkness did not comprehend Him, yet rather He dispelled even that which was dark and transformed it into the luminous. Furthermore, our wounds may be considered light, if they are compared with that drug of infinite power which He has held out to all alike, that He might heal all things. For there is present in this drug the element of most efficacious virtue, His blood which flows from God, consuming the malignancy of our wounds, so as to erase even the scars, and restoring us to our former health.

^A Therefore, O Theotokos, take up the long-scrolled handwriting of our debts, and tear it with those all-pure hands of yours, with which you bore as a Mother Him who bears the whole world in His own hand; for you bore Him for this very reason, that the debts of the human race might be paid off. Render propitious for us, therefore, the God born of you, and free Him from the long-standing obligation. For the debt is honored which you yourself lent to the Master of all—namely, the God-hypostatized flesh—and He owes you grace greater than all graces, because you kept this loan entirely pure, more radiant and refined than any gold, and worthy of His own use. We, having been deemed worthy to handle this in our sacred ministry, are like money-changers of that mystical and holy table, breaking it into small portions, and by His grace, we dismiss the poor in spirit liberated, as we believe, from their ancient debts.

Lead into the heavenly kingdom, O Lady of all, all those who surrender themselves to you, who believe you truly and properly to be the Theotokos, and who sanctify their hearts with this faith, and purify their tongues with this confession; who glory in your succor and fasten the anchor of their hope to the meditation upon you, after God, whom we worship and glorify in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; to whom alone we offer the cult of worship, and whom alone we know as our Creator, and from whom all created things depend for their cohesion and preservation; to the only uncreated and pre-eternal nature, to whom is due all glory, honor, and adoration, majesty and magnificence, now and into the endless ages of ages. Amen.

VII. On the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and on the Beginning of the Holy Gospel according to Mark. Read on the Sunday before the Lights.

(Among the Homilies of various Fathers, edited by Hoeschelius. Augsburg, 1586, 4º.)

^D I. «What God is there besides our God? The God who girds me with strength, and makes my feet like harts', and sets me on high places?» Let David again lead the way for the discourse with his customary ten-stringed harp, and with sweet melody anointing my relaxed and slumbering soul, inciting it to the stadium of instruction and to the doxology of God, who girds me with the power of knowledge, and makes my barren mind to dwell in this holy house, as a mother rejoicing over children, through the instructional words begotten therefrom. For this fruit is not mine, but proceeds wholly from the grace of God; not because I am worthy of this, but because my people are beloved by God, and for our sake He strengthens me, and gives

utterance in the opening of my mouth, and sets my feet firmly to preach peace and good tidings; and He places ^A me upon this high chair as a herald of piety and a teacher of virtue. And again, He Himself is like a standard on a hill, and like a mast upon a mountain, gathering the sacred battalion. For I would not dare to say that I am like a city set upon a hill, or like a lamp upon a lampstand; for these things belong to those who have set upward journeys in their hearts, and who chant the songs of ascents, whose light of works shines before men, according to the Gospel. Come, therefore, let us pass from feast to feast, from that which is past to that which is to come, from the Lord’s birth according to the flesh to our own regeneration as servants; from the star to the great lamp, from the journey of the star-worshippers to the precursor of the Sun of righteousness, who brought not three gifts, but rather the faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, which baptism seals. Three days ago, with the angels we glorified the incarnation of God, and through it we have been glorified above the angels. “For He did not take hold of angels,” as Paul will say, “but of the seed of Abraham, whence in all things He was made like unto us, apart from sin.” With the shepherds we were surrounded by the glory of Him who was born, and even more than the shepherds we have acknowledged the unspeakable nature of the incarnation, having received Him who lay in the mystical manger not with our eyes alone, but also having touched with our mouth the heavenly bread for a firmer conviction. For eyes are more trustworthy than ears, but the touch of the eyes ^C is more certain, and the mouth is more trustworthy than both. ^B

II. All things, therefore, that were divinely accomplished in Bethlehem are joyful and full of gladness that penetrates the soul; yet one thing there was that affects and troubles the souls of Christians with sorrow: the removal of the innocent babes, the harvest of the immature and fresh green grass. And yet, even then, we wept rather for the reapers, but we rejoiced for the harvested sheaves. For in the tender and blooming grass they yielded a full ear, worthy of the heavenly storehouses. And we did not say, “The blessing of the Lord be upon the reapers,” but we called the abundance of the sheaves blessed. And if, just as those which are upon the housetops might wither, blooming and fading in a short time, yet they have filled the bosom of Abraham, who ^D gathered such sheaves and bound them up. But the raging Herod, who was beside himself and senseless, he who is in truth "leathern" (for such is the interpretation of his name), hid this from himself. He took that red leather, stained with innocent blood, which pertains to the tents of Kedar, where the prince of darkness and the murderer from the beginning finds his rest. And yet, how he was deceived in his hope, and, fearing on account of one king, he himself slew many, whom he clothed in a purple garment of blood. They reign with the immortal King and live forever. But the persecutors, because of their injuries against the innocents, shall be slain; and zeal shall destroy the impious,

to speak aptly with Solomon: "For with a violent death he tore the cruel and murderous soul out of the impious." And that I may represent this tragedy more fully on the stage: that skin-bottle, old in both time and malice, like new wine receiving the freshly poured blood of infants, has been split and torn asunder; and since he ate these sour grapes, his own children have suffered the blood-feud, being slaughtered by him, as Josephus narrates. For that raging man, fighting against God, seemed to be rehearsing the madness of the Hebrews—he, the king of those who are evilly ruled—and to be shouting against the innocents that very thing which the people established by him later said about Christ: "His blood be on us and on our children." Thus that rabid and insatiable wolf, accustomed to attacking tender lambs, ^B raged with madness even against his own whelps. But thanks be to God, who does not permit the unjust to escape the hands of justice for long, but is glorified in Pharaoh, and in those who, like him, are stubborn, despise divine commands, and look down upon the humble populace. But now I seem to hear God saying to me: "Speak to the children of the new Israel, and let them set out, not from Egypt to the Red Sea, but from the purple of blood which destroyed the new Pharaoh and the child-slayer (for the shedding of innocent blood is death to him who sheds it), to the beautiful Jordan, that easy and effortless purification." For although there are three purifications that bring those who approach to the washing away and cleansing of old stains—namely, baptism, tears, and martyrdom through blood—God, having become man, ^C showed from the very beginning of His coming, by accepting these sacred offerings and sacrifices, that the purification which is through blood is the more excellent; not only because it is not befouled by secondary stains, but because it is also more enduring than tears themselves. For the purification through baptism is of another order, since it is of grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit. But there is no clearer testimony of immense love toward God than the shedding of one’s own blood for Him who loves us. "For greater love than this no one has, than that one should lay down his life for his friends." And if for friends, how much more for the Lord and Creator? For blood indicates ardent love; but tears, as usually happens, are shed because of the fear of punishment. For it is the lot of few, and those perfect in virtue, to shed tears out of love—those who are inflamed with the desire for God, and whose souls yearn as quickly as possible to converse with the Beloved and be united with the Loved One. Such was that sweet-sounding ^D first chanter, skillfully touching the strings of the harp and singing a pleasant song full of love: "When shall I come and appear before the face of God? My tears have been my bread day and night, while it is said to me daily: Where is your God?" Just as if certain detractors were to reproach a venerable and wise woman who had just tasted the fellowship of her spouse,

saying, "Where is your lover? He has gone away, leaving you all alone." But since it is not our intention to celebrate in this discourse the contests of the martyrs, but to extol the grace of baptism, let us direct our course and our zeal toward the river, and let us contemplate the injury of the infants being vindicated in another way. For the Jordan’s stream is transformed into a mystical womb, and by the midwifery of the Holy Spirit, it brings forth simultaneously a numerous progeny and a beautiful work of art. ^B

III. On the Bethlehemite weeping and the prophetic song of the spiritual womb

And indeed, the tearful Jeremiah wove a lamentable tragedy for the childless Bethlehem, saying, "A voice was heard in Rama, and tears and much wailing." But concerning this spiritual and fruitful lineage, the most eloquent Isaiah weaves together joyful natal songs: "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry out, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate one are many, more than of her who has a husband." O, the universal dance! O, the eloquence of the heralds of the mystery! From all sides my ears are filled with sound: from heaven, from the waterless desert, from the waters themselves. From heaven, the Father of lights cries out: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Upon the earth: "The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord." From the waters: "The rivers have lifted up their voice, the rivers will lift up their waves, because of the sounds of many waters." By these three witnesses, the God-man who appeared in the Jordan is declared to be the Lord and Creator of the world. And He who fills all things seems to travel around the world in a circuit, so that He might drive out from every side the morning star that fell from heaven, who boasted that he would destroy both sea and land, thereby overthrowing his tyranny. For see, the Lord descended from heaven, was born clothed in flesh upon the earth, steps into the waters, and as He comes up from the waters, the heavens are opened to Him again, ready to receive Him as He returns with the earthly flesh, having repaired the losses of our nature, to the heavenly realm. For just as a good and caring shepherd, if a sheep is lost and has wandered far from others, proceeds by following its tracks, observing its hooves, and if the tracks lead into a precipice, he descends to investigate, and if it has entered a cave, he enters also, and if it has passed through water, he also crosses the water, until he has recovered the wanderer and, having recovered it, carries it on his shoulders and gathers it with those that have wandered safely; so too, the good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep, when man had fallen from the height of his ancient glory and wandered onto the earth, and through the water had been swept into the extreme of destruction, comes willingly and without sin by the very same path as the erring man. He comes from the heights unto the earth, He enters the cave, searching for the wanderer; He examines the manger for the sake of him who was likened to the beasts; He descends into the river water.^CD

^A on account of the sheep that was drowned by the waters. He finds that which had strayed, and straightway the heavenly gates are opened, or rather, to use the word of Scripture, the windows of heaven are opened, whence first the deluge of rain had burst forth. And they receive the man saved by waters—he who had formerly perished by waters—yet not by waters alone, but also by the divine Spirit. And this is done with ingenious consistency. For He heard, before the sending of the flood, concerning the race of men: "My Spirit shall not remain in these men, for they are flesh." ^B Whence, after that Spirit had flown away like a dove (for it could not endure the great pestilence of corrupt men), a spirit of storm was brought into its place, and through the waters came destruction. And thus the sin of men destroyed by the flood was so hateful to God that it required a rebirth in place of the nature of water. For at that time the Spirit of God was not borne *upon* the waters. For while the waters were still swelling and, as is likely, corpses were floating, the raven, indeed, flying out from the ark that contained all things, refused to return, settling upon the dead bodies and reveling in the putrefaction, becoming a symbol ^C of the demon who rejoices in the misfortunes of men, and delights in blood, and mocks us as we lie prostrate. But the dove, finding nowhere to set its feet, returned to him who had sent it forth. For the Holy Spirit will not dwell in a body enslaved to sins. Furthermore, the dove is accustomed to be used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Such was the state of things then, and the vital water brought destruction to men. But now, the second voyage, as they say, and the substance urging the stern of our nature, comes flowing back from Him who watches over us and cares for our affairs, and proceeds by a way contrary to the former path: from the waters into the Spirit, from the Spirit into heaven, and the desired deification. For this, when the woman ^D formerly attempted to seize it out of season by the stretching forth of her right hand, she lost both what she held in her hands, and while she made the attempt to become God, the human being was in danger of ceasing even to be a human being. For a human being consists of soul and body; but the sword of death divides this, and dissolves the union, by which the designation also is dissolved, and he is named only earth. For He says: "Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return." For since he thought to ascend into heaven in one bound and instantly, he was dragged away by deceit, slipped, and fell, and was broken like a clod upon the earth, and his bones were scattered into the abyss. For David sings the fitting epitaph for the fallen first man. Yet it was not fitting that it should be thus, but rather that he should manage his ascent in a certain order and sequence, using excellent humility as his guide.

IV. But come, let us also attempt to approach the explanation

of the words of the Gospel

^A of the seventy disciples—for he was one of them—and his hands were the instrument of salvation, and his fingers fashioned (the book) by writing the Gospel of the kingdom. He was raised to the greatest glory and ascended even to the honor of the leaders. For he evangelized justice in the great Church of the whole world, and "into all the earth his sound has gone out." And while the names of some of the twelve are perhaps unknown to many, his name is wondrous in all the earth, and with lofty proclamation the evangelist is clearly magnified and proclaimed along with the Gospel in the sacred pulpit of the Church. And if you should enter a barbarian church, being, however, a Christian, it is possible that you might not understand the evangelical words due to the diversity of language; but Mark will penetrate your ears uncorrupted, and you will meditate on the reading of the evangelical words and praise the Lord. This great evangelist, then, is concise in speech but broad in knowledge, and he makes the beginning of his Gospel the manifestation of the Son of God in the Jordan. ^B Therefore, I will first tell you what has been cleverly conceived and written by one of the most wise interpreters of the Gospel regarding the number of the four evangelists: "He who sits upon the cherubim," he says, "God, to whom Scripture attributes four faces, has delivered to us the Gospel in a fourfold form, held together in one spirit." For just as each of the cherubim has one face resembling a lion, another a man, a third an eagle, and a fourth a calf, so too is the action of the evangelical proclamation. And indeed, the Gospel according to John has the face of a lion; for the lion is a royal and imperial animal; similarly, therefore, John began his discourse from the royal and lordly dignity of the divinity, saying: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God." The Gospel according to Matthew has the face of a man; for it begins from the birth according to the flesh and the incarnation of the Word. The Gospel according to Mark, however, is compared to an eagle; for it began from the prophecy of John; moreover, prophecy, since it foresees things, is a swift thing that looks upon things from afar, and it is an eagle; for the eagle sees most sharply. The Gospel according to Luke is similar to a calf, because it begins from the priestly dignity of Zechariah, who was offering sacrifice for the sins of the people; and at that time a calf was sacrificed. And these things, indeed, he celebrates with an elegant conception. With the other three faces, therefore, passed over, let the eagle now speak, loosening its wings and flying over us, his chicks—for by the Gospel we have been begotten by the ^C apostles—and spreading his wings, let him overshadow us through the Spirit that is in it; and let him make us partakers of his sharpness, that we may be able to gaze upon the things hidden in the depth of the divine words. I praise, indeed, the comparison of the Gospel according to Mark with the eagle. For the comparison is accurate not only because of the prophecy of John, but because the face of the discourse immediately looks toward the Jordan, where the sun of justice recently rises. ^D

For only the eagle among all animals is able to gaze fixedly at the sun’s rays without pain and without blinking. The evangelical eagle also reveals the divine mystery celebrated in the river Jordan. For just as the human face of the Gospel according to Matthew signified the mystery of the feast—I mean the incarnation of God—so also the eagle according to Mark signifies the rite of holy baptism, by which ^B the youth of the old Adam is renewed as an eagle’s, washed today in the Jordan and shaking off the corruption which had sprung from the transgression. And furthermore, the eagle alone among birds had its birth from the waters by the Creator’s command; and this Gospel according to Mark begins from the holy baptism, and proceeding to the heights, it ends in heaven, teaching the manner of the Lord’s assumption and concluding its flight with the ascent of the Savior Christ to God and the Father. And if I were not afraid of appearing too long-winded, I would also bring forward the aetites stone, which is wonderfully useful for this eagle’s chicks. Peter, moreover, by granting this eagle-like aspect to the Gospel, helped it greatly by dictating it, well urging the narrative to fly toward this salutary endeavor. But these things have been said rather ambitiously, since my discourse is raised up toward this great eagle. Therefore, its beginning must be unfolded more abundantly. The beginning of any body whatsoever is entirely the head. And the head of this evangelical narrative is Christ, even if He bows His head servilely before the Baptist.

V.

“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare your way before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord,” and the rest.

bread, and bread immaterial, through the Holy Spirit who of His own will descended in the form of fire. I call the bread of angels the angelic life and the pursuit of virtue, which even God hungers for, and rebukes those who do not provide it. "I was hungry," He says, "and you gave me nothing to eat." For He always hungers for our salvation. And salvation is a pure life and love toward one's neighbor. Therefore, as I was saying, the preaching and baptism of John the Baptist held the role of a seed. That being resolved and having slipped away, the ear of grace blossomed. And so the Baptist, observing his own decrease, but the progress and increase of that ear of grace, cried out with boldness to those approaching him: "I must decrease, but He must increase," speaking of Christ, not aggrieved by this, but rejoicing; for the very decay of the former and the nature, or rather the sprouting, of the Gospel converged into one, and conspired to the restoration of man. ^A And otherwise, the strictness of the Law put forth one grain because of the unity of the nation that was under the Law: "For God is known in Judea," and no further. But grace gathered the diverse seed of the Gentiles, and [the yield] of its good deeds was multiplied a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold. Thus the beginning of the Gospel of Christ is the manifestation of John to men. Therefore he also says, "As it is written in the prophets: Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you." As the Word is from the Father, called the Only-Begotten from Him, so He calls the angel-lived John an angel, so that not only Gabriel might run before the birth from the Virgin, but also that John might be introduced as an angel before the regeneration in the Jordan, in which He was regenerated for my sake (for Christ's regeneration is mine). But then he was immaterial and invisible because the economy of the incarnation was still hidden, and the power of this mystery was known to no one except the Virgin. But now the angel clad in flesh runs before the presence of the Lord, full of angelic grace, and emitting a voice full of sincerity. One might call it thunder, striking the stinging scorpions with astonishment and filling the venomous serpents with such terror that they almost desire to descend under the earth. For what else does it mean that these so-called vipers' brood fall silent and hold back these harsh words, and stand stupefied, as if struck by lightning? Therefore, an angel endued with flesh, or rather a man living the life of angels, runs before the manifestation of Christ the God, but not as immaterial and incorporeal, for many reasons. For it behooved one standing face-to-face with the Jews to speak and to hear, and to point out, as it were with a finger, and to indicate to those who were ignorant of Him the Christ who had appeared. For if he who was to accomplish such things had been an angel by nature, those who saw him would have suffered what Manue suffered, saying: ^B "We shall perish, we have seen God," being unable to endure this unusual form. But also because it was necessary for him to be employed for the ministry of baptism, it was necessary for him to touch the Lord with his hands, and that an example of humility be provided in that very baptism, ^C with the Lord's head bowed, touched, and descended to the waters. ^D

For it was characteristic of those arrogant and vainglorious Hebrews to say: "Touch me not," ^A a thing which Isaiah also reproaches in them, saying: "Woe to them who say, 'Stand apart from me, touch me not, for I am pure.'" But the most fundamental of all the reasons is this: Since the God who appeared was about to lead a life on earth truly worthy of angels, and to teach fasting, unceasing prayer, sleeping on the ground, extreme poverty, sincerity in truth even to the point of dying for it when contending against the powerful, and resistance to sin—yet these things seemed impossible and impracticable to those who heard them—Christ introduced into life this living and divinely inscribed image of life, ^B compounded of all the colors mentioned just now, and depicted according to a precise form; and he incited those who wished to imitate it. For it is permitted, provided only that they have the will. For there is one nature in all, and it is capable of all these things, if force is applied to it. For all these reasons, the manifestation of Christ's advent took place through a man, and not through an angel. We must therefore return to our theme.

VI. "Behold, I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee." Thus John is greater than all the prophets, ^C and greater by as much as an angel is greater than a man. Ezechiel was indeed a very great prophet, and anyone who pores over his book and contemplates those terrible visions with the eyes of the mind might discern the greatness of that man. The Lord Sabaoth indeed used him as a minister and prophet to make known His will to the Jews: "Son of man," He says, "I will send thee to the house of Israel that provokes me." But He does not address John in such a way. But how? "Behold, I send my angel." Then what follows? He is indeed called an angel; but is he one of those who are far from the face of the Lord (for the name of angel is most fittingly assigned to those who, because of the divine familiarity they enjoy, are at a great distance from those who are, as they say, far off)? By no means. For that phrase, "before thy face," signifies "near thy face"; and "who shall prepare thy way before thee" signifies that he will dispose the souls of men for thy knowledge, ^D he will cast far away the stones of stumbling, he will sweep them clean with the preaching of repentance, he will wash them with the introductory baptism; and if any thorns spring up from the earth, and if fruitless trees occupy the soil to no purpose, the axe is near, and so near that it is already applied to the root. And because of all these things, he will make the ways smooth before thy presence.

"The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord." The angel and the silencing of the voice foretold the conception of John. Then, born, the one who was conceived

^A and having appeared for a little while was hidden, and for an entire thirty years he imitated the silence of his father; not because his nature was hindered by some malady, but because there were no men who could hear. Yet he conversed with God, who hears even those who are silent. This angel, then, and this voice are revealed in the presence of Christ: an angel, because the Lord of Sabaoth had come to fill the earth and heaven with His own glory; a voice, because of the word of God toward Him who was both God and man. ^B I do not wish this to escape you: that the evangelist has presented two prophecies as one. This is because of the exceptional brevity of Mark. For the one, "Behold, I send my angel before thy face," is taken from the prophecy of Malachi, which is interpreted as "angel." But the other, "The voice of one crying in the desert," was most fittingly spoken by the most eloquent Isaiah: "The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye the way of the Lord." The desert would be the entire region of Judea and the metropolis of its cities, Jerusalem, both in the present and in the future; in the present, because there was no fruit of righteousness in them, and the land was impassable and waterless. ^C For this reason, John also, correcting their barrenness, said: "Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance." Their souls were desert, impassable to the knowledge of God, and waterless from the prophetic clouds; for it was commanded by God to them not to rain upon them. And the gift of prophecy ceased altogether. David, to whom God revealed the obscure and hidden things of His wisdom, foretelling the change of things for the better (which in Scripture is also called an earthquake) and the fruitfulness and correction of this impassable desert, sang: "O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; the earth shook. The heavens also dropped at the presence of the God of Sinai. Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary. Thou hast established it." ^D Therefore, the prophecy most clearly shows the presence of the Son and the transition of the law to grace, brought to pass according to the good pleasure of the God of Sinai. He called the Father the God of Sinai because of the legislation given on that mount; but the abundance of divine gifts and the Gospel of grace—the voluntary rain—gifted by the Son and set apart for His inheritance, the Church of the nations, is what David, as I suppose, names. For the old legislation was not set forth according to will, nor according to primary good pleasure, but according to accommodation, just as when a father plays with his children, drawing them away from dangerous games and the company of the most lost. For what need had God of the slaughter of flesh and the fatness coming from it? Which, furthermore, as unpleasant and hateful, men despise. But that He did it unwillingly, He Himself, who accommodated Himself to it, later revealed His own will, saying, "Who hath required this at your hands?" And David: "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire." Not only, however, on account of the absence of good deeds was Judea called a desert, but also on account of its future destruction and devastation. For even that very...

Truth, Christ, foretold this: "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." And while He was upon the cross and in the passion and descending into the netherworld, the earth was shaken, and the rocks were split, and the heavens distilled tears instead of dew. ^A

VIII. "Make straight his paths." For if they should cast off the likeness to the brood of vipers, and abandon the ways of the serpent who deceived them, they will make the paths straight. In this way, it will be permitted to them to correct their transgressions, and the justice which is praised in the Canticle will love them, and they will obtain the regeneration which is through baptism, and they will be true children of the heavenly Father. ^B If, however, they remain in the former way, and if again, like perverse and depraved children, they proceed with an inveterate gait and limping, they will crawl in the manner of serpents, walking upon their breasts and bellies, enjoying lusts and gluttony; they will not escape the coming wrath; for the fury in them is, as David says, according to the likeness of the serpent who was a murderer from the beginning; and they surpass even sea-monsters in the greed of their bellies: for they have devoured the houses of widows, and the merciless ones have rejoiced in the miseries of orphans. ^C

IX. "John came baptizing in the desert and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And all the country of Judea and the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him, and were all baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins." Again, Mark proceeds by a shorter path and gathers the distance and seems to draw two baptisms into one valley, and to show the introductory one and the perfect one to be of equal efficacy. Perhaps someone might believe the Evangelist to say that the baptism of John grants the remission of sins. But it is not so, it is not so. For the fountain of such grace is the Lord's baptism alone. But the words cohere thus: "John came baptizing in the desert." And place a distinction here, reader, as if you were setting a solid wall against the baptism of John, and separating it from the dominical baptism. Then he says: "And preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins," which is the baptism of Christ. And this is evident from other considerations; for there it is said, "Baptizing," that is, performing the act of baptizing; here, however, where the remission of sins is mentioned, "Preaching," as of a future other baptism, of which he was the herald, not the operator. For the baptism of John was a preparation for the Lord's baptism and as it were a forerunner; so that not only should the voice run before the Word, but also the baptism before the baptism. ^D

X. "And John was clothed in camel's hair, and with a leathern girdle about his loins." I wished that this well-girded and properly equipped wayfarer might for a little while...

in this narrow and constricted way, to pause and examine his garment, and to inquire of him who wove it why it was woven from the hair of a camel, an unclean animal, and not rather from sheep's wool or a whole sheepskin, just as were the garments of Elias the Thesbite. ^A But since we see that you are sated with our words and fatigued by the length of this preaching, here, where we are dealing with John's ascetic garment, we shall put an end to our discourse. Nor do we suspect that it enters your minds that we have passed over John’s garment without explaining it out of inability, as if we were only able to interpret those things which are easily grasped by all; nor that you might mockingly say: "You have swallowed a camel," while uttering no word of instruction on the matter, "but have strained at gnats," that is, at base and easily thought-out concepts. I do not suspect this so ^B badly, nor am I so easily scandalized as to entertain such a thought. Rather, I hope that the grace of God will grant us the power of understanding and the fluency of speech for the benefit of your charity, and that we shall resolve for you the difficulties of Scripture which have, until now, escaped the God-inspired Fathers and teachers. Only do not cease to gather here on every Lord’s day, and to dwell in this house of God’s wisdom, and to delight in its sacrificial offerings and drink from its cup. For I, his useless servant, shall gather you ^C each Lord’s day for a feast with exalted preaching. And may the Lord God grant that you, together with me, become guests at the heavenly and never-ending table, and be deemed worthy of the kingdom of heaven; which I pray you all may attain by the grace and loving-kindness of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one Divinity and one kingdom, to whom is due all glory, honor, and worship, now and unto the endless ages. Amen.

See some synodal decrees of Germanus in volume CXIX, col. 795 sqq.

ANNO DOMINI MCCXLVIII MANUEL II, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE Father Le Quien, in *Orientis Christiani* vol. I, p. 286, attributes to this Manuel the decrees which Leunclavius ascribes to Manuel Charitopulus.