ANNO DOMINI MCCCXLVII. JOANNES CALECA CP. PATRIARCHA: NOTITIA.
Joannes Caleca, patriarch of Constantinople from the year 1333 to 1347, concerning whom Jo. Cantacuzenus, Book III of his *History*, ch. 21, and the preface to his *Antirrhetici* against Prochorus Cydones; Allatius, p. 87, concerning the Simeonites; and Jo. Boivinus, p. 774, on Nicephorus Gregoras. His 60 homilies on the yearly Gospels are found in the Coislin Library, as Montfaucon testifies, p. 402, sq. There are 56 homilies also in the Caesarean Library, Lambec. V, p. 187 seq. (a), and in codex [264, Lamb. ib. p. 400 seqq.]; 21 homilies, id. p. 191 seq.; and again two others on p. 297 [p. 624 Koll. n. 5, cod. 334]. Of these, barely one or two have been published in Greek and Latin by Jacob Gretser, vol. II, *De Cruce*, one for the Sunday before the Exaltation of the Cross [col. 1363-1372, in *Biblioth. max. Patrum Lugd.*, tom. XVIII, p. 570, sq. HARL.], which begins: *The Lord said, No one has ascended into heaven*. Another, on the Adoration of the Cross, begins: *Of the pre-types and pre-figurations*. But it is presented by Gretser under the name of Philotheus of Constantinople.
(a) Or, p. 392 sqq. ed. Kollar. N. 1, cod. A ccxliii, where Lambecius, having followed Labbe’s chronological history, part III, p. 182, reports that J. Caleca was elected patriarch of Constantinople in the year of Christ 1331 by the efforts of J. Cantacuzenus. At Florence, in the Laurentian codex vi, n. 2, is a volume edited by the patriarch and archbishop of Constantinople and by a synod against the false opinion of Barlaam; therein is inserted a report of the archbishops to Empress Anna Palaeologina against Joannes Caleca, who was called patriarch. See Bandini, *Cat. codd. Gr. Laur. I*, p. 344 seq. In the Vienna Imperial codex VI, n. 11, there is a letter of seven oriental archbishops to Empress Anna against Jo. Caleca; n. 12, a volume of the synod of Constantinople concerning the excommunication of J. Caleca; n. 13, an edict of Emperor J. Cantacuzenus by which he confirmed the aforementioned volume; and n. 15, a volume of the synod of Constantinople under Andronicus Palaeologus II, Emperor, concerning the condemnation of the errors of Barlaam and B Gregorius Acindynus, which J. Caleca subscribed. See Lambec. part 1, p. 58-67, and there the notes of Kollar. According to Montfaucon, *Bibl. biblioth. mss.*, p. 157 B, there are works of Cabasilas and Caleca in the Paris Library. Add for the index: In Venice, in the Marcian Library, codex 604, homilies for the individual Sundays. See *Cat. codd. Gr. Marc.*, p. 313. More concerning Joannes Caleca has been recorded by Rob. Gerius in an appendix to Cave’s *Hist. litt. SS. eccl.*, p. 31 seq., to the year 1330, where he cites others concerning J. Caleca, and provided excerpts from the long passages in Lambecius VI and V; the same person mentioned the Vossian codex cxxix, in the Leiden Library, which contains the letters of Caleca to Joannicius. HARL.
JOANNIS CALECAE HOMILIARUM INDEX.
(Apud Montfaucon, Bibl. Coislin., p. 402, cod. CCCLXXXVI, sæc. xiv.)Fol. 1. Ἰωάννου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τοῦ Καλέκα, ὁμιλίαι ἑκάστης Κυριακῆς τῶν ἑβδομάδων τοῦ ὅλου χρόνου, καὶ ἐπὶ Δεσποτικαῖς ἑτέραις ἑορταῖς ἐπισήμοις, λεγόμεναι πρὸς τὸν συναθροιζόμενον θεοφιλῆ λαόν, αἳ καὶ ἐκλεξάμενοι ἀπὸ διαφόρων ἁγίων Πατέρων ἐξηγητῶν καὶ ἑτέρων σοφῶν ἀνδρῶν. Id est: *Joannis Calecae archiepiscopi Constantinopolitani, Homiliae pro singulis Dominicis hebdomadum totius anni, et in aliis insignibus Dominicis festis habitæ ad cœtum religiosi populi, ac selectæ ex diversis sanctis Patribus, enarratoribus, aliisque sapientibus viris.*
1. Fol. 3. Ἰωάννου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τοῦ Καλέκα C... D
6. Fol. 16 verso, Third Sunday of the Holy Fast. Incipit: "O holy Quadragesima, brothers, to..."
7. Fol. 19, Third Sunday of the Fast of the Veneration of the Cross. Incipit: "Prefiguring and delineating as blessed Moses." (This is published under the name of Philotheus.)
8. Fol. 25, Fourth Sunday of the Fast. Incipit: "Having navigated the sea, brothers, of abstinence."
9. Fol. 26, Fifth Sunday of the Fast. Incipit: "The winter has passed, and the spring has arrived, and we see."
10. Saturday of St. Lazarus. Incipit: "Of our Lord Jesus Christ, concerning [His] sojournings on earth."
11. Easter Sunday. Incipit: "..."
12. Fol. 52 verso, Monday of the Nea (Bright Week). Incipit: "Awakening our sloth, the holy and divine..."
13. Fol. 54 verso, Sunday of St. Thomas. Incipit: "When the radiant Sunday and holy day..."
14. Fol. 37 verso, Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers. Incipit: "And this present Sunday, and holy day."
15. Fol. 40, Sunday of the Paralytic. Incipit: "The sin of many and great evils is a cause."
16. Fol. 43 verso, Sunday of the Samaritan Woman. Incipit: "That today to us of the evangelical wells..."
17. Fol. 47, Sunday of the Blind Man. Incipit: "Of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ conversing..."
18. Fol. 50, Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Council. Incipit: "After the feast of the glorious Ascension of the Lord."
19. Fol. 52 verso, Sunday of Pentecost. Incipit: "On the last day, the great [day] of the feast."
20. Fol. 56 verso, First Sunday of All Saints. Incipit: "The Lord said, Everyone who shall confess in me."
21. Fol. 59, Second Sunday. Incipit: "Since of the divine and first and blessed life."
22. Fol. 62, Third [Sunday]. Incipit: "Of avarice nothing is more grievous."
23. Fol. 65 verso, Fourth [Sunday]. Incipit: "Nothing is equal to unwavering and pure faith."
24. Fol. 68 verso, Fifth [Sunday]. Incipit: "The spiritual and saving fountain cleanses us."
25. Fol. 69, Sixth [Sunday]. Incipit: "Of the bees, the industrious and hard-working [nature]."
26. Fol. 72 verso, For the same day. Incipit: "Not only the teachings and the orations."
27. Fol. 75 verso, Seventh Sunday. Incipit: "At that time, following Jesus, they followed Him."
28. Fol. 78, Eighth Sunday. Incipit: "Thinking of our salvation and care..."
29. Fol. 80, Ninth Sunday. Incipit: "And those friends of their own: corporally."
30. Fol. 83 verso, Tenth Sunday. Incipit: "For the sake of your spiritual salvation."
31. Fol. 86, Eleventh Sunday. Incipit: "At times visibly he converses in..."
32. Fol. 89, Twelfth Sunday. Incipit: "That they cloud, beloved, and darken..."
33. Fol. 91, Thirteenth Sunday. Incipit: "Benefit from the teaching for men..."
34. Fol. 93 verso, Fourteenth Sunday. Incipit: "The Lord said the parable. The kingdom of heaven was likened..."
35. Fol. 95 verso, Fifteenth Sunday. Incipit: "To the fields, watching over men, the farmers."
36. Fol. 97 verso, Sixteenth Sunday. Incipit: "From the teaching, benefit for men... [with fruit]."
37. Fol. 100, Seventeenth Sunday. Incipit: "A good and holy prayer, if one is of a grateful mind."
38. Fol. 102 verso, Eighteenth Sunday. Incipit: "At that time, Jesus being by the lake..."
39. Fol. 105, Nineteenth Sunday. Incipit: "Of all virtues, higher is love."
40. Fol. 108, Twentieth Sunday. Incipit: "The mystery of the resurrection is a great [mystery], brothers."
41. Fol. 110, Twenty-first Sunday. Incipit: "As paradise is multi-flowered and..."
42. Fol. 115, Twenty-second Sunday. Incipit: "All the divine words and the seeds..."
43. Fol. 117 verso, Twenty-third Sunday. Incipit: "As our bodies are temporal of the earth..."
44. Fol. 120, Twenty-fourth Sunday. Incipit: "Great, in many ways, is the need and severe..."
45. Fol. 122 verso, Twenty-fifth Sunday. Incipit: "Great for virtue is the obstacle of excess..."
46. Fol. 125 verso, Twenty-sixth Sunday. Incipit: "Covetousness is a great evil to men."
47. Fol. 128, Twenty-seventh Sunday. Incipit: "The Lord God leading the Jews..."
48. Fol. 131, Twenty-eighth Sunday. Incipit: "The blessed evangelist Luke proposes..."
49. Fol. 134, Twenty-ninth Sunday. Incipit: "Many and diverse ways he gave us."
50. Fol. 137, Thirtieth Sunday. Incipit: "As for that, there is no hypocrisy."
51. Fol. 140, Thirty-first [Sunday]. Incipit: "The Sun of Justice is God, as it is written."
52. Fol. 142 verso, Thirty-second Sunday. Incipit: "All rapacity and covetousness."
53. Fol. 146, Sunday before the Elevation [of the Cross]. Incipit: "The Lord said, No one has ascended into heaven except the One who [descended] from... (It is published in Gretser, volume 2, De Cruce)."
54. Fol. 149, Sunday of the Forefathers. Incipit: "Those who were of old and before the law, divine men, not by writing..."
55. Fol. 151 verso, Sunday before the Nativity of Christ. Incipit: "The divine apostle and evangelist Matthew."
56. Fol. 155, Sunday after the Nativity of Christ. Incipit: "When the magi had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appears."
57. Fol. 157 verso, Sunday before the Theophany. Incipit: "Beginning of the Gospel of the Son of God, as it is written."
58. Fol. 159 verso, Sunday after the Theophany. Incipit: "Even if the feast has passed us by, yet concerning this..."
59. Fol. 162, untitled. Incipit: "Since of the first and divine and blessed..."
60. Fol. 161, untitled. Incipit: "It was a work of God and good, and all..."
Afterward follows a Lectionary of those things which are read in the Church on certain days throughout the year from John of Damascus, Geromicus, and others.
Regarding John Caleca, Archbishop of Constantinople, who flourished before the middle of the 14th century, I have nowhere learned that all his homilies have been published or exist in manuscript. Petrus Lambecius, in the Imperial Library in theological codex 47, states that 56 homilies exist, the first of which is the same as the one that leads the procession in this codex, but with this title: "Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, a homily on the reading of the Gospel of the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee." In the same library, in theological codex 292, are held 51 homilies of the same, most of which are the same. The first one, however, has this title: "Beginning, with God holy, of the teaching, On the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee," etc.
A SERMON BY JOANNES CALECA, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ON THE SUNDAY BEFORE THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS.
A It is the pronouncement of the Lord: "No one has ascended to heaven but He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven." And indeed, in the Old Testament, God is said to have descended and ascended for various reasons: as for example, "I will go down and see whether they have done according to their cry; and if not, that I may know." And, "God ascended from Abraham" when He stopped speaking to him; and many other such things. But now, in the Gospels, the Lord says: "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven." His meaning is this: that no angel, and no human being, has ascended into that heaven which is above the heavens, except for Me alone, who descended from there through an ineffable dispensation and measureless compassion, to free the race of men from the slavery of the devil and from the curse of sin. B Even though angels were also seen ascending and descending into heaven by way of Jacob’s ladder, that vision does not refer to this sublime heaven, but to another one which is situated lower down. To the heaven so called, no one has ascended except the Son of Man, so named because of the dispensation. For he says, "The heaven of heavens belongs to the Lord." But as for the fact that Elijah, and Paul, and whoever else were caught up to heaven, it does not matter; for they were not carried up to that heaven of which the Lord speaks, and wherever they did ascend, they were able to ascend by the will and command of God, and those men were not raised and caught up by their own power. Only the Lord, by His own authority, and as He knows how, ascends into heaven and descends to the earth by His own innate power and strength, needing the work of no other for [His] ascent. C
A Furthermore, He is called the Son of Man according to human nature. And since the Lord often chooses to take a name for Himself from the divine nature, and often from the human, He said, "Who is in heaven," B that is, He Who remains in heaven according to His divinity. Our Savior, descending from heaven, did not abandon heaven; and abiding in heaven, He was not absent from the earth, but was everywhere, since the divinity is uncircumscribed. He descended, therefore, from the heavens—not He who is from the seed of David, but the timeless Word of God, who exists before the ages. But because of the union with the human [nature], He takes the name of Son of Man. And when we hear "Son of Man," let us not think that the flesh descended from heaven; but since Christ was one hypostasis, or one person, composed of two natures, the names of man are used of the Word, and conversely, the attributes of the Word are ascribed to the man. He is called Son of Man in this place, therefore, because of the one and same hypostasis or person of both natures—namely, the human and the divine—not because the Son of Man descended from heaven (that is, according to the human nature), but because He who descended as the Son of God, the same ascended having become the Son of Man; for the flesh, having become impassible and immortal after the resurrection, because of the communion and union with the Word, in which it subsists without division or separation, has received the same seat.
Wherefore also Paul said: *He that descended is the same also that ascended up above all heavens, that he might fill all things* C; for by His divinity He filled all things even before, as being everywhere present and penetrating all things. But later, for our salvation, while He was in the heavens, He descended, about to assume flesh and to the earth, and was voluntarily exalted on the cross; and having died in the flesh, He descended into Hades, and rising, He was taken up in glory; and He ascended above all the heavens, that He might fill all things, and in the flesh of His dominion and power, He Himself is one of the Holy Trinity, the consubstantial Son and Word of God, and being equal to the Father and the Spirit, He became man; He subsists in two perfect natures and operations, and with His body sits with the Father, and will come again with glory, in the manner in which He was taken up, to judge the whole earth, and to render to each according to his works, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.
D But that we might not, upon hearing that He descended, fall into the persuasion as though He were no longer in heaven, as one who has descended, for this reason He added: *Who is in heaven*; as if to say: "Lest, when you hear that I have descended, you should think that I am no longer in heaven, I am present here also corporally, and I sit there with the Father divinely." For being the Lord of all, He did not abandon the things above, and He came to us, that He might save all things from everywhere and in every way.
A And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life. By these words our Lord and Savior prefigured His own crucifixion, showing that He was prescient of this, and that He was proceeding to His passion willingly and gladly for the sake of human salvation. Yet the Lord does not state openly and clearly that He is going to be crucified, but mentions the ancient history of the serpent, at once teaching us that the old things are related to the new, and that there is one and the same Lawgiver of the Old and New Testaments; and at the same time teaching us that, if the Jews, looking upon the bronze image of a serpent, escaped this bodily and temporal death, how much more shall we, turning our eyes to the crucified Lord of glory and believing in Him, escape the eternal death of the soul! The history of the serpent is recorded in the book of Numbers, and it is as follows: B The Jews murmured in the desert because there was neither bread nor water. "Our soul," they said, "loathes this very light food," namely, the manna. And the Lord sent among the people serpents which inflicted death upon them and bit the people; and many of the sons of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee; pray therefore to God, and let Him take the serpent away from us." And Moses prayed. And the Lord said to him, "Make thyself a serpent, and place it high on a sign, and it shall be that if a serpent bites a man, everyone who is bitten, upon seeing it, shall live." Pay close attention here, my brothers, and see, I beseech you, the type compared to the truth. There was a likeness of a serpent, for it had the form of the beast, but it lacked the poison. So also here: the Lord is man, but free from the poison of sin; He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, that is, in the form of flesh subject to sin, but He was not the flesh of sin. And then, those who looked were delivered from bodily and temporal death; but we escape spiritual and eternal death. And then the suspended serpent healed the bites of serpents; but now Christ, lifted up on the cross, heals the deadly wounds inflicted upon us by the intelligible C dragon. There, he who looked at the serpent with bodily eyes was healed; but here, he who uses the eyes that fall under the intelligence is snatched away from all sins. There, bronze was fashioned into the shape of a serpent; here, it is the Lord’s body, fashioned by the Holy Spirit. A serpent bit there, and a serpent healed; so also here, death destroyed, and death saved. But that biting and destroying serpent had poison, while the bronze one, which was saving, was pure. And here the same thing holds again. For the death which destroyed Adam had sin, just as the serpent had venom. But the death of the Master was free from all sin, just as the bronze serpent was immune to venom. Therefore, through the similitude He said: "As
Moses lifted up the serpent," and the following. For just as he lifted up the serpent so that those gazing upon it might have life, so also Christ was lifted up, so that those gazing upon Him—that is to say, those who believe—might have eternal life. But there, it was a serpent on behalf of those bitten by serpents; here, it is a man on behalf of human beings who have been bitten. And there, since the injury was through a serpent, the healing was also through a serpent; here, since death entered into the world through a man, life also came about through a man. For the Lord committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. B "The Son of Man must be lifted up." Hearing the word "lifted up," we ought to understand the suspension on the cross; for our Savior was suspended high, that He might sanctify the air, just as He had sanctified the earth by walking upon it. But we must also understand the word "glorified," for the Cross was truly the exaltation and glory of Christ. For in that wherein the Lord seemed to be condemned, in that He condemned the ruler of this world. And this is what Paul teaches: "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." Whatever I say is to this effect: Adam died justly, for he had sinned. Therefore, until the crucifixion of the Lord, death exercised dominion over men. But after the Lord was found to be without any sin, the devil had no remaining claim over Him to deliver Him to death. Wherefore, since He was unjustly put to death, He conquered the one who put Him to death, and in this way, He liberated Adam from the death that had been justly brought upon him because he had sinned. C And so that the matter may be clearer, let us make it plain by an example. Let there be some violent tyrant who afflicts all who fall into his hands with myriad evils; if this man were to seize a king, or the son of a king, and slaughter and kill him unjustly, the death of that person could bring aid and relief to others who were oppressed. Again, let there be some usurer exacting interest, who beats his debtors and casts them into chains; then, out of that same lack of self-control, let him subject one who owes nothing to the same punishments and cast him into prison: this man will certainly pay the penalty for those things which he committed against others; for he will kill and slay him, as one who was unjustly imprisoned and punished. This also came to pass in the case of Christ: for the devil paid the penalty for those evils which he had inflicted upon us, through those things which he dared to do against Christ; for he was rendered powerless, and was cast down by the cross of Christ, and became a captive. D And in another way, there were two things that held the human race: pleasure and sorrow. By these two the Lord was attacked, yet He was found to be unmoved and unconquered. For the tempter first attacked Him on the mountain with the allurement of pleasure, but when he saw that this engine was being employed in vain, he turned to sorrow—a far more powerful ballista—so that through this means he might perhaps gain the victory over Christ. And to this end, the enemy and the devil stirred up all against Christ.
A His disciples were stirred up to deny him; the soldiers to mock him; the passersby to blaspheme him; and, in a word, he urged and incited the Jews to slander this one, to condemn him as an evildoer, and to put him to death. But even in this, he found him to be unconquerable and invulnerable. For sadness and pain on the cross could not persuade the Lord to hate those by whom he was being crucified, but he loved them, pouring out prayers for them, saying: "Father, do not hold this sin against them." Observe how Christ has conquered in the very thing in which he appeared to be conquered.
Thus, then, his lifting up and his glory came to be; for the cross took captive the devil, and death, and the curse, and sin; and us, who were held and enslaved under the devil, and tied to death, the curse, and sin, he set free; and he granted us the way of life and salvation, and made us partakers of mysteries, and deemed us worthy to enjoy spiritual graces and gifts. B
Knowing these things, therefore, beloved, let us also humble ourselves under the mighty and strong hand of God, for everyone who humbles himself will be exalted, and the Lord will raise to glory those who are humble of heart; and blessed is the man who has a high life, but a humble mind. Let us not, therefore, mind high things, but let us humble ourselves. Let us follow Christ, our Lord and Redeemer and Savior, taking up his cross upon our shoulders, and let us mortify the stirrings and thoughts of the flesh, being conformed to his very death, so that we also may be able, according to the divine Paul, to say: "It is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us"; and: "Far be it from us to glory, except in the cross of our Lord Christ." C Let us deny ourselves, and let us prefer nothing to Christ—not riches, not delights, not glory, not bodily pleasure, not even this present life; but let us despise even this, and let us promptly fulfill all the commandments of God. For we also have bitter persecutors, visible and invisible enemies and adversaries, who test and harass us every day, disturbing, confusing, and drawing us back from the observance of the divine commandments. Let us not, therefore, be softened, I entreat you, nor let us grow lax or yield to the wrestlings of these, but bravely and with a manly spirit, let us stand in battle against them and struggle, that we may attain both unending glory and the enjoyment of eternal goods in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ages of ages. Amen. D
SERMON OF JOHN CALECA, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE, FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF THE FAST, THAT IS, OF THE ADORATION OF THE CROSS
A Profiguring and pre-delineating the life-giving and divine Cross, the blessed Moses divided the Red Sea with his staff, and led the Hebrews across with dry feet and without danger. For the waters stood as a wall on either side. And after the passage of the Hebrews, he again gathered the sea through the staff into its former unity, and overwhelmed the proud and arrogant Pharaoh with his whole army in the depths of the sea. And in the wilderness, through his staff, he made the bitter waters of Marah sweet, and through the staff he miraculously drew forth water from a rock devoid of all moisture, providing drink to the thirsty people and sating them. But before these miracles, Moses punished Egypt through his staff, turning water into blood, and in turn changing blood back into water, and he performed those many and great prodigies.
If that staff, which was but a type and shadow of the B venerable Cross, was the producer of so many and such great miracles, what will the life-giving and divine Cross of Christ itself not effect and accomplish, being no longer depicted and pre-delineated symbolically and in enigmas, but seen face to face and worshipped and honored by us? This same life-giving Cross will deliver the intellectual Pharaoh, our adversary the devil and the author of all evil, to many blows, and will submerge the armies of invisible and visible demons when they rise up against us, and trouble, and harass, and confuse us. This same life-giving Cross will bring us across the sea of passions with dry feet and without danger; it will calm the waves C and tumult rising up against us. But this life-giving Cross will D
A render our present life most easy to manage, and will arrange for the remainder of our life to be passed peacefully and without trouble. The life-giving Cross itself will transform the bitterness and pain of our calamities and necessities, of the dangers that hang over us one after another, and of the tribulations and temptations looming upon us from spiritual and visible B enemies, into sweetness and spiritual pleasure; it will console, it will soothe, and it will raise up our souls, which are collapsing under despondency and grief.
This life-giving Cross will gush forth water for us, and will send it forth from the rock, Christ our true God, and will quench the flame of temptations, and will be more delightful and gladdening to our souls and bodies than honey and oil, and will quench our thirst so that we thirst no more. For he who drinks from it C shall never thirst, but rivers of living water shall flow from his belly, just as He Himself, the very Truth, Christ our God, declared. This divine and life-giving Cross, beloved, our holy and most divine Fathers and teachers, knowing it to be a shield and guardian, and an unassailable wall and rampart for the pious, ordained that it be set forth in the midst of the week of the fasting days, and commanded that it be worshipped, honored, and kissed by the faithful, so that the spiritual works of virtue already D accomplished might be kept and preserved by the contestants of temperance, firm and unshaken; and that for those things which are to be accomplished thereafter, we might be aided and spurred on, and might establish them firm and immovable. For this reason, let us also, having invoked the Cross of the Lord as our helper, strive to finish and fulfill the set struggle of the fast, crucifying and mortifying all carnal passions and impulses, and let us hasten to follow the commandments and injunctions of the Lord with great eagerness and fervent zeal, just as the evangelical exhortation of the divine Mark reminds us today, which reads as follows:
The Lord said to His disciples: If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his soul shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul for my sake and the Gospel's, he will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and suffers the loss of his own soul? The most prominent of the apostles, Peter, heard the Lord saying that the Son of Man must suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again; and as he was everywhere more fervent than the other disciples, so also here he appeared as such. He said, therefore, to Christ: "God be merciful to you, Lord; this shall not happen to you." But Christ said to him:
A *Get behind me, Satan; you are a scandal to me, because you do not understand the things of God, but the things of men.* On account of this, Christ calls for Peter, and with everyone listening, addressing him all the more, he says: "You, O Peter, rebuke and hinder and reproach me because I desire the cross and choose a shameful death? But I say to you that neither you, nor anyone else, will be saved unless he dies for the sake of what is good, of truth, and of justice." For death undergone for the sake of justice makes us companions and heirs of the kingdom of heaven.
Christ, however, did not say: "Whether you wish or do not wish to do and suffer this, I tell you, and I compel you to follow me," but, "If anyone wishes and comes with readiness of mind, let him follow." For he says: "I do not play the tyrant, nor do I use force, but I let each person be master of his own resolve." B For I call men to come to good things, to the unending kingdom of heaven, to inexhaustible delight, to everlasting rest. If, therefore, anyone wishes—whether man or woman, whether poor or rich, whether a ruler or a subject—let him enter this excellent path and follow me. But if anyone does not wish to, he is not even worthy to follow me. The Lord makes his word one of no compulsion for those who wish to follow him. Since the one who uses force often turns away those whom he forces, while the one who leaves the hearers to their own resolve draws them all the more. For this reason, he says, "If anyone wishes." For great are the good things C which the Master provides for us, and such that we should willingly hasten to them and not delay. For if someone were offering gold and proposing an abundant treasure, he would not summon people by force. But if we are not to be called by force to these passing and corruptible things—and are even indignant if we are not called—then much more so to the heavenly, immortal, and eternal good things ought we to strive and come willingly. For unless the very nature of the matter persuades us to hasten toward what is truly good and salvific, we are not even worthy to receive it; and if we receive it by necessity and force, we will not guard it steadfastly.
For this cause Christ does not use compulsion, but if anyone wishes to follow, D him he calls, and him he receives. "If you wish," he says, "and listen to me." First it is necessary to wish, and then to listen. If we do not wish, we are not even able to listen. For all functions of virtue and vice lie in our own will. To follow, therefore, is to believe in him who calls us, the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, "after me" indicates the performance and keeping of his commandments. For this is indeed to follow Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, and to apply oneself to the other virtues. For our Savior set forth his own life as an exemplar and pattern of an excellent life for those who wish to obey him. For this reason
he also said: If anyone serves me, let him follow me [John 12:26]. By "following," I mean the most accurate imitation possible of his life in the flesh, to the extent that it is possible. Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. There are three things mentioned: to deny oneself, to take up his cross, and to follow.
To deny oneself is to abandon oneself to dangers without pity, and to have nothing in common with oneself, but to be disposed just as if another person were suffering. For just as if someone denies another, and sees this person being scourged, or being tortured, or being led to death, he does not help him, nor does he stand by him, nor does he suffer anything on his behalf; so too does God wish us to be, even if we are scourged, or burned, or dying: B not to spare ourselves, nor to pity ourselves. But just as if the soul had nothing in common with the body, so let us be disposed, and let us yield ourselves to dangers and other punishments for the sake of the confession of Christ, and of justice, and of truth. The denial of self is the complete forgetting of the past, the withdrawal of one's own wills, the mortification of our members which are upon the earth, and to be disposed with desire and readiness for every danger and death for the sake of Christ. A person denies himself when he turns back and corrects his own life, which had previously been lived in wickedness, through worthy repentance and change. For example, he who was once profligate denies his profligate self, having become temperate; and he who was once unjust denies his unjust self, having become a practitioner of justice; and in sum, the flight from every sin is the denial of self, leading after Christ.
And lest we imagine that the Lord commands us to deny ourselves only as far as insults and blows and reproaches, he added: And let him take up his cross; showing to what extent we ought to deny ourselves—namely, even unto death, and an ignominious death. And not only must we despise pleasure and glory for the sake of Christ, but also resist even unto blood, and bear all things generously, and in this rather rejoice. To take up the cross, however, is to be without attachment to the present life, and to be similarly disposed toward the sentence of death, so that one does not *himself* suffer, but is dead to sin, C and living to Christ. This, moreover, comes about through the alienation and renunciation of external goods, such as possessions, wealth, vain glory, and every affection for useless things. Just as the most holy apostles also did and taught, showing us the path of salvation. For having left all things, they followed Christ. And not only the apostles, but also the martyrs, and the holy ones, and the just. Choirs of men and women delivered themselves to infinite dangers; nay, they were even crucified for Christ. For there was no other death so inglorious and dishonorable and ignominious as that by the cross. For the cross then seemed ignominious D and dishonorable.
A Yet the Lord did not say, "Let him take up the cross" absolutely, but, "Let him take up his own cross," meaning the debt of death which everyone is obliged to pay day by day, as the divine Apostle says: "I die daily" (1 Cor. xv, 31). For the Lord wishes us to carry the cross, that is, to be continually vigilant in mind and to stand on the heights of virtue, so that we do not descend from the cross; this is to restrain corrupt affections until we draw our soul away from sin and affection, and rise up thereafter unconquered. For the cross is the abolition of all sin. Let us therefore crucify ourselves, my brothers, from worldly affairs, so that we neither touch them nor remain attached to them; for even if there be no cross or ignominious death set before us, there is nevertheless the mortification of the passions set before us, and the war waged against the invisible enemy and foe, which all who believe in Christ must also overcome, so that each may be able to say: "The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. vi, 14). By the words, "The world has been crucified to me," he indicates freedom from sins of action; but the phrase, "and I to the world," signifies the emptiness of the affections of the mind. For he calls worldly desires the world; and he who lives spiritually crucifies these and mortifies them, and renders them ineffectual, so that they cannot conquer and overcome him and drive him to the sin of action, but he himself is also mortified to these desires, that is, he is not moved toward desire for them. B C But because it is possible for one to suffer and yet not follow Christ—as when one suffers, but not for Christ's sake, for even evildoers such as grave-robbers, sorcerers, murderers, thieves, and brigands often suffer many terrible things—lest anyone should think that mere torments are enough for salvation, Christ adds: "Let him follow me," showing that one must endure all terrible things for His sake, and that one must display not only courage and endurance in the midst of terrible things, but also temperateness, fairness, and the fulfillment of all other commandments. For the words "Let him follow me" signify that one must apply oneself to every virtue. A man denies himself when, having dispersed all the faculties he possessed and of which he was master, and having given notice and renounced all fleshly thoughts, he then takes up the cross, having become wholly centered on things above, and no longer turning back to worldly things in any way. He follows Christ who does these things for the sake of the nature of the Good, and not for the sake of glory or any other human pretext. For he truly follows Christ, himself pursuing the same manner of life as Him. For the path that walks in the footprints and the following of Christ ensures also the crown promised to those who follow; but that crooked path, turning aside to the right or to the left, even if it seems to lead along the footprints of Christ, in reality deceives and wastes all its effort. D For whoever wishes to save his own soul,
will lose it; but whoever shall lose his own soul for my sake and the Gospel's, this one will save it. Sweet is the present life, not to all men, but to those who are attached to it, and their habit of and usage of present things act as a bond. Therefore, in order to lead us toward freedom, the Lord said these things, foreseeing the persecutions which those who believed in Him were to endure in every city and region. If anyone, then, He says, shall spare his own soul at that time—for this is what "to save" means—he will lose it in the age to come; that is, he will cast it into perpetual punishment. For the perdition of the soul is not a dissolution into nothingness, but an eternal and never-ending torment. And he who spares his soul in this way loses it; but he who does not spare it, saves it. And a wise man B once said this: "If you correct your son with a rod, he shall not die, but you will deliver his soul from death"; and again: "He who pampers his son," that is, who has pity on him, "will bandage his wounds." This also happens in an army. For if a general, out of pity for his soldiers, orders them to remain inside the camp at all times, he also causes those who are outside to perish along with them.
In order, therefore, that this may not happen to us, the Lord teaches us to be ready for continuous1 death. For he who, through affection and love for this temporary life, withdraws his own soul from the dangers of Christ and from undergoing death, and strives to preserve it, and chooses to live according to the world, he undoubtedly loses it by that perdition which brings about the unquenchable fire, the sleepless worm, and the outer darkness. For the Lord named the love of life and the flight from dangers a "salvation." But he who exposes his soul to dangers and to death for the sake of Christ and of truth and of justice, and in this way loses it—a truly glorious perdition—he truly saves it, having led it toward a better life. For He calls the separation of the soul from the body for the sake of Christ and His commandments the "perdition" of the soul; and he who has scorned the bonds of death for these reasons does not lose his soul, but rather saves it. But he who has violated the confession C of Christ and His commandments, and desires to save his soul away from dangers and death, brings eternal perdition upon it.
Since, however, many people often lose their souls in various and manifold ways—whether by brigandage, or by murder, or by theft, or by grave-robbing, or by committing some other illicit deeds—the Lord adds, "for my sake, and the Gospel's." For he who does not lose his own soul for the sake of Christ and the Gospel does not save it. Blessed, therefore, truly, is he who for the sake of Christ and the Gospel shall lose his own soul. For he truly shall save it. Blessed is he who has died in a way worthy of praise to all things; to the perceptible D things by the putting away of the activity according to sense, but to the intelligible things by...
the cessation of the motion that follows intellection. For the praiseworthy death of a man is the voluntary departure from all existing things, after which he is naturally fitted to receive the divine life in grace, having intellectually apprehended the Author of all things, the Lord and God, in place of all existing things. For what will it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For salvation regarding the soul that is contrary to duty is worse than perdition. A
When, therefore, any person, intent upon the delights and pleasures of the present life, refuses to suffer for Christ, and for truth, and for justice, and desires to live splendidly in this world, even if he has wealth, or honor, or an abundance of money, or anything else of such a kind: what profit comes to him from this, having lost his soul? For the fashion of this world passes away, and like shadows the delights are inclined to change; and the wealth of those who possess it flies away. For treasures will not profit the lawless; but justice delivers from death. B Whence, to those who desire to live rightly, the allurements of the flesh are superfluous, and to mind the things that are in the world becomes a cause of perdition; for the mind of the flesh is enmity toward God, and he who minds the things of the world is constituted an enemy of God. It is, therefore, truly superfluous to mind the things in the world. For this reason He says: For what will it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Do not tell me, O man, that you have saved your soul by escaping so many dangers; for if one should gain the whole world along with his soul, what is the gain to him from this, if his soul is being lost, of which not even the whole world is equal in value? For just as if the servants were living in luxury and dissipation, while the master is found in the extreme of evils, he gets no profit at all from being the master; so too, if the belly lives delicately and sumptuously, but the soul awaits the coming perdition, no benefit or salvation will arise for it. For it is not possible to exchange salvation for money. For if this were permitted, he who had gained the world but had lost his soul would have given his money when he was being tormented in the flames, and would have been delivered. C But it will not be possible to offer such an exchange for the soul; rather, the punishment is eternal and unending. For not even if someone be king of the whole world, and possess and rule over all the money on earth, will he be able to ransom his own soul, even if he gives all that the world contains. Moreover, not even all the luxury and splendor in the world will be able to procure even a small consolation and comfort for the soul, when it is being tortured eternally. D
Now, however, man gives repentance, confession, tears, groans, almsgiving, and every other path of salvation. But our crafty enemy the devil always deceives us with the pleasures of life, and steals away the time by gradually procrastinating.
A “Give me,” he says, “today, and give God tomorrow; give me the present, and God the future.” Thus, while we delay in our repentance and improvement, death comes upon us suddenly and snatches us away, when there is no one to redeem us, nor anyone to save us. Man, therefore, cannot give any ransom for his own soul; but God, for our salvation, has given a ransom—the precious blood of His own Son. Therefore, I exhort you, put aside all other things and lavish all your zeal upon the soul. For of all that is in us, the soul is the most precious. “For whoever is ashamed of me,” He says, “and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” We ought not only to believe in our hearts, but we are also required to make confession with our mouths; for since man is twofold, his sanctification is also twofold. For the soul is sanctified through confession, just as the Apostle also says: “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” But he who is ashamed and embarrassed to believe in Christ crucified, and to confess Him as his own God, and is also ashamed of His words in the holy Gospel, of him the Lord will also be ashamed, judging him an unworthy servant, when He comes in His second coming, in power and great glory with the retinue of angels. B “Amen I say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.” He speaks of Peter, and James, and John. “They will not die,” He says, “until I show them in the Transfiguration with what glory I am to come at the second advent.” For the Transfiguration of Christ was a foreshadowing of His second advent. For just as the face of our Savior and God once shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as snow, in the same way He will come from heaven like lightning in power and great glory to judge all things. And just as Peter, James, and John were with Him on the holy mountain, so all the saints, the just, and the elect will be with Him, enjoying His divine countenance and C inexpressible and ineffable joy and exultation. D Knowing these things, then, beloved, let us also deny ourselves for the sake of the Lord; let us consider nothing more precious than Him—neither wealth, nor luxury, nor glory, nor bodily pleasure, nor life itself—but let us disregard even this for His sake; and let us follow our Lord, taking up His cross upon our shoulders, mortifying bodily impulses and thoughts, being conformed to His death, so that we too may be able, according to the divine Paul, to say: “It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us.” And: “Far be it from us to glory in anything, save in the cross of the Lord.” All His commandments let us joyfully