He commanded to pray for enemies; again he teaches this even by his works: for when he had ascended the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luc. 23.34). He himself teaches you to pray, when he himself is not destitute of the power to forgive. He commanded again that we should do good to those who hate us, and deserve well of those who slander us (Matth. 5.44): but he fulfilled this by the work itself: for he cast out demons from the Jews, by whom he was called demoniac, he heaped benefits upon those who persecuted him, he fed those who lay in wait for him, he led those who wanted to crucify him to the kingdom by the hand. Again he said to his disciples: “Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses” (Matth. 10.9), to incite them to poverty: this again he taught by works, when he spoke thus: “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matth. 8.20); not that he was in need, but that he might train men to follow this path. In this way he taught them to pray. They therefore said to him: “Teach us to pray” (Luc. 11.1). For this reason he also prays, that they too might learn to pray. But it was fitting for them to learn not only to pray, but also how they ought to pray; for this reason indeed he handed down to them the prayer in these words: “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation” (Ibid. v. 2-4), that is, into danger, into snares. A When therefore he commanded to pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” he teaches them that very thing by the deed itself, when he says, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matth. 26.39), while he teaches all the saints not to throw themselves into dangers, nor to act precipitately, but to await the assault of adversaries, and to display all fortitude; yet not so that they themselves rush out and expose themselves to evils first. Why so? So that he may teach humility, and deliver them from the charge of vainglory. For which reason also here, when he said these things, “He went away,” he says, “and prayed” (Matth. 26.39), and after he had prayed, he said thus to his disciples: “Could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation” (Ibid. v. 40, 41). B You see how he not only prays but also admonishes? “The spirit indeed is willing,” he says, “but the flesh is weak” (Ibid. v. 41). He said this, however, that he might drive all pride from their soul, that he might free them from haughtiness, render them humble, and make them modest. Therefore, what he wanted to teach them to pray, that he also prayed humanly, not according to his divinity (for the Godhead is void of all passion), but according to his humanity. Furthermore, to teach us to pray, he prayed, and [taught us] to always seek to be delivered from evils: but if that cannot be, to be content with what has seemed good to God. For this reason he said, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matth. 26.39). For his will was the will of the Father; but he spoke to teach men, although they are in anguish, although they tremble, although dangers threaten, although they do not want to be torn from this life, to prefer the will of God to their own will: which Paul learned to do, and performed both by his works: for he both prayed that temptations be removed from him, when he said, “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice” (2 Cor. 12.8), and when they were not removed, he says, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in persecutions” (Ibid. v. 10). C Perhaps, however, what is said is not clear enough: therefore it will be rendered more clearly by us. Paul was besieged by many dangers, and he prayed that he would not be exposed to dangers. He heard Christ therefore saying: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (Ibid. v. 9). After he knew, therefore, what the will of God was, he then subsequently subjected his own will to the will of God. These two things, therefore, he taught through this prayer, that we should neither throw ourselves into dangers, but also that we should pray not to fall into them: but if they have invaded us, [we should] bear them patiently, and prefer the will of God to our own will. Since these things are explored by us, let us pray that we never enter into temptation: but if we should ever enter, let us beseech God that he grant us patience and fortitude, and that we prefer his will to all our own will. For so it will come to pass that we traverse the present life with security, and attain to future goods: of which may it be our lot to become partakers, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
CONCERNING THE FOLLOWING HOMILY
The Homily on the Narrow Gate and on the Lord's Prayer bears no mark; from which we might derive an argument either of the time or of the place in which it was delivered. This alone one can say for certain, that it is worthy of Chrysostom, and that the hallmarks of his style are detected in it beyond doubt, contrary to what Halesius opines in the Savilian notes p. 725, who dared to pronounce that scruples arise against the authenticity of the opuscule from the genre of the style. We, on the contrary, find here not only the style of Chrysostom, his tropes and mode of pleading, but also passages very similar to other sayings of Chrysostom; as is that in number 2, where concerning the constitution of the human body...On the Life to be Regulated According to God, and on the Text: "The gate is narrow" (Matt. 7:14), etc.: Also an Explanation of the Prayer, "Our Father."
1. The reading of every Scripture inspired by God brings a knowledge of piety to those who attend to it; but the holy writing of the Gospels possesses a superiority of higher teachings; for the words contained in them are the decrees of the Most High King. Therefore, a fearful punishment is threatened against those who do not strictly keep what has been spoken by Him. For if he who violates the laws of earthly rulers undergoes inescapable punishment, how much more will he be delivered over to unbearable torments who rejects the commands of the heavenly Master? Since, therefore, the danger of inattention is great, let us attend with much precision to the hearing of the words from the Gospel just now read to us. And what are these? "Narrow," he says, "is the gate, and compressed is the way which leads to life; and few are they that find it." And again: "Wide is the gate, and broad is the way which leads to destruction, and many are they that go in through it."
A I, hearing these words continuously, and seeing the eagerness of men for vain things, greatly admire the truth of what has been spoken. For all walk along the broad way, all are agape at present things, and never take thought for the things to come; but they hasten incessantly toward bodily pleasures, while they allow their souls to wither in famine; and though receiving myriads of wounds each day, they never have any perception of the evils in which they are. And for the sake of the body’s sufferings, they visit those who treat these things; and they invite these very people to their homes, and they pay the highest possible wages, and they show great endurance, and they submit to painful treatment, in order to purchase that [body's] health. But they neglect the soul, which is in an ill state, entirely, and do not strive to obtain its most desirable health, even though they know clearly that the body is mortal and perishable, and is like the flowers of spring; for like them it withers and is extinguished, and is surrendered to corruption. But they know that the soul is honored with immortality, and was made according to the divine image, and that it has been entrusted with the reins of the living creature. B For just as a charioteer is for a chariot, and a helmsman for a ship, and a musician for an instrument, this is what the Creator decreed the soul to be for this earthen vessel. For it holds the reins, and moves the rudders, and plays the strings; and when it does this well, it strikes up the all-harmonious melody of virtue; but when it either loosens the notes, or stretches them beyond what is fitting, it harms both the art and the harmony. Thus, most men neglect this, and do not deem it worthy of even slight care, but spend all the time of their life on bodily concerns. Some embrace the life of sailors, and struggle with waves and winds, carrying life and death about with themselves, and holding the hopes of salvation on a few planks; others undertake the sweat of husbandry, joining oxen to the plow, and furrowing the earth, and now sowing and reaping, now planting and gathering, and all their time passes in such hardship; others engage in trade, and for these they make journeys on land and sea, and prefer the strange land to their own, and leaving behind country, kin, friends, and spouses with children, they embrace foreign lands for the sake of small gains. And what need is there to recount all the arts which men have invented for the needs of the body, in which, spending the day and the night, they procure its treatment for themselves, but overlook the soul, starving, thirsting, parched, defiled, and troubled by myriads of evils? And after many sweats and labors, they do not even make the mortal body stronger than death, and they subject the immortal [soul] together with the mortal to immortal punishments.
2. For this reason, greatly lamenting the ignorance poured about the souls of men, and the speed of the darkness hanging over them, I wanted to find some high lookout revealing to me all the generations of men; I wanted also to obtain a voice, resounding through all the ends, and reaching all who are on earth, to stand and cry out, and to shout that Davidic voice: C "Sons of men, how long heavy-hearted? Why do you love vanity and seek after a lie," preferring the corruptible to the heavenly? How long will you close your eyes, and stop your ears, and not hear the divine voice, which cries out each day: "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened"? But since some, being more imperfectly disposed and having a greater inclination toward worldly things, and delighting in flesh-loving thoughts, do not make their requests as they ought, for this reason the common Master showed us a teaching of prayer, saying: "When you pray, do not babble, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard in their much speaking." He calls babbling that chatter which is offered through many words but is deprived of all benefit. The Lord therefore implies, in forbidding babbling, that those who pray ought not to ask for things that flow away and perish; not for the beauty of the body, which is withered by time, and consumed by disease, and covered by death; for such is bodily beauty. It is a short-lived flower, D
A which in the spring of youth appears for a little while, but in a short time perishes. But if one should wish to examine the essence of it, then he will be able to spit upon it even more. For it is nothing else than phlegm, and blood, and a humor and digestive fluid of chewed food. For from this, the eyes, and cheeks, and nostrils, and eyebrows, and lips, and the whole body is irrigated; and if this irrigation should fail, that beauty of form will cease entirely.
B But the wealth of possessions, which flows in and flows out like rivers of water, and now leaps to one person and now to another, and flees from those who have it, and refuses to remain with those who love it, and has countless enemies—moths, thieves, slanderers, fires, shipwrecks, incursions of wars, seditions of peoples, the wickedness of servants, and the abstractions or additions or diminutions of notes of debt, and other such things that harass those who love money—do not crave it. C Do not crave the power of dignities; for this too propagates many painful things, the wasting away of cares, sleeplessness, the plotting of the envious, the machinations of enemies, the glibness of rhetoricians, which undermines the truth with flowery language and causes great danger to the very judges. There are indeed, there are truly many multiloquent men, and those instructed in empty trifles, who ask for these things and such like from God, the Lord of all, while taking no account of the things that are truly good. D And yet, patients do not teach the physician the use of medicines, but they submit to the things offered by him, however painful and troublesome the mode of cure may be. And passengers do not order the ship's captain how he must hold the rudder and steer the vessel; but, sitting on the decks, they submit to his skill, not only in fair winds, but also while enduring the ultimate danger. But to God alone, who knows exactly what is beneficial for us, indolent men do not know how to yield, but they ask for what is destructive as if it were beneficial, just as a sick man who begs from a physician not what heals the disease, but what feeds the very substance that is the mother of the disease. But the physician does not grant the entreaty of the patient, but even if he sees him weeping and lamenting, he will follow the dictates of his art rather than be swayed by his tears; and we call the physician’s lack of compliance not inhumanity, but humanity. On the contrary, if he yields to the sick man and satisfies his craving, he acts hostily toward him; but if he resists and fights against his desire, he uses mercy and kindness. So too the Physician of our souls would never give what causes harm to those who ask. For fathers would never hand over swords or burning coals to their children who are still tender and ask for them; for they know that these will be harmful if given. But some people have collapsed into extreme madness and ask from the God of all not only for the beauty of the body, wealth, power, and other such things, but they even imprecate their enemies and ask that they be subjected to punishments and torture; and he whom they pray to be propitious and kind to themselves, they wish to be harsh and inhuman to their enemies. A All these things the Lord, anticipating and repressing, forbids empty babbling, and teaches what ought to be said in prayer, and in a few words educates for all virtue; for those words are not only a teaching for how to pray, but also an institution for a perfect life. But what these are, and what their meaning is, let us examine with the greatest diligence, and let us observe them like divine laws: "Our Father who art in heaven." O how much kindness toward men! O how much excellence of dignity! What speech will be enough to give thanks to the giver of such great goods? Consider, beloved, the vileness of your nature and mine; search out our kindred, the earth, the mud, the clay, the brick, the ashes; for we were fashioned from the earth and in the end are resolved into the earth. Having weighed these things, consider with wonder the inscrutable riches of the divine kindness toward us: that you are commanded to call Him Father—the earthly the heavenly, the mortal the immortal, the corruptible the incorruptible, the ephemeral the eternal; you, who yesterday or just now were mud, calling upon Him who was God before the ages. Surely you were not taught to utter that name in vain; but that, being moved by reverence for that appellation of Father which your tongue has uttered, you might imitate His kindness; just as He says elsewhere: "Be like your Father who is in heaven, who makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and rains on the just and the unjust." B No one can call the kind God Father who is of a ferocious and ungentle spirit; for he does not preserve those tokens of kindness which are in the heavenly Father, but has transformed himself into the form of a wild beast, and has fallen from that divine nobility, according to the dictum of David: "Man being in honor did not understand: he is compared to senseless cattle, and is made like to them." C For he who leaps and attacks as a bull, kicks as an ass, remembers injuries as a camel, devours as a bear, seizes as a wolf, stings as a scorpion, acts deceitfully as a fox, neighs after women like a stallion, how can such a one send forth the voice proper to a son, and call God Father? Whom, then, shall we call this fellow? A wild beast? But wild beasts labor under only one of the vices enumerated; but this man, encompassing all at once, is more ferocious than them all. And what do I say "a wild beast"? He is worse than any wild beast. For although wild beasts are by nature harsh, yet they become tame and domesticated through human art; but this man, who changes the ferocity inherent in them by nature into tameness, which is against their nature, what excuse will he have, who converts the tameness inherent in him by nature into a ferocity contrary to his own nature, and, what was by nature wild, he made mild, but himself, being by nature mild, made ferocious? And he who mitigates a lion and makes it tractable, makes his own anger more intractable than a lion? Yet in a lion there are two impediments, that it lacks reason, and that it is the most ferocious of all other creatures; and yet through wisdom divinely implanted, it overcomes that wild nature; but he who overcomes nature in wild beasts, loses in himself both the good of nature and of voluntary purpose; and while he [does not] make the lion...
A from a man, he overlooks his own transformation from a man into a lion; and while he bestows upon that beast things above nature, he does not even provide for himself the things according to nature. How then will such a one be able to call God Father? But he who is gentle and philanthropic toward his neighbors, and does not take revenge on those who offend against him, but repays injustices with acts of kindness, is not judged for calling God Father. Notice the precision of the discourse, how it legislates for us the law of mutual affection, and binds all into one disposition of love. For he did not command us to say, “My Father, who art in the heavens,” but, “Our Father, who art in the heavens,” so that, being taught to have a common Father, we might show brotherly goodwill toward one another. B Then, teaching us to leave behind the earth and the things of earth, and not to gape downward, but to take the wings of faith and fly up through the air, and cross the ether and seek the One called Father, he commanded us to say: “Our Father, who art in the heavens,” not because God is only in the heavens, but in order to make those of us who are wallowing here below turn our gaze toward heaven, and, having illuminated us with the beauty of heavenly goods, to transfer all our desire there.
“Hallowed be thy name.” And let no one foolishly assume that by saying, “Hallowed be thy name,” one bestows an addition of holiness upon God. For He is holy, and all-holy, and most holy of the holy. And the Seraphim offer this hymn to Him, crying with unceasing voices: “Holy, holy, holy Lord Sabaoth, heaven and earth are full of His glory.” But just as those who bring praises to kings, by calling them kings and sovereigns, do not bestow what they do not have, but rather praise what they do have, C so we too do not offer to God a holiness that does not exist by saying, “Hallowed be thy name,” but we glorify the holiness that does exist. For the word “hallowed” is used instead of “glorified.” We are therefore taught by this utterance to pursue a life according to virtue, so that when men see this, they may glorify our heavenly Father; which is also what He says elsewhere: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
After this we were taught to say: “Thy kingdom come.” For being tyrannized by the passions of the body, and receiving a myriad assaults of temptations, we are in need of the kingdom of God, so that sin may not reign in our mortal bodies by our obeying it in its lusts, nor that we may present our members as weapons of unrighteousness to sin, but rather that we may present them as weapons of righteousness to God, and may serve the King of ages. We are taught, moreover, not to be overly attached to the present life, D but to despise the present things, and to desire the things to come as if they were permanent, and to seek that heavenly and eternal kingdom, and not be held fast by the delights here—not by the beauty of bodies, not by the abundance of money, not by the fertility of lands, not by costly stones, not by the grandiosity of houses, not by magistracies and generalships, not by purple robes and diadems, not by the arts of cooking and delicacies and all-manner of luxuries, not by anything else that baits our senses—but, having said farewell to all these, to reach out unceasingly for the kingdom of God.
Thus, having taught us even this virtue, He commanded us to say: “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” For having implanted in us the love of future things, and the desire for the heavenly kingdom, and having wounded us with that longing, He prepares us to say: “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” Grant us, He says, O Master, to imitate the way of life in heaven, so that whatever You Yourself will, we may also will. Therefore, assist our choosing that is laboring—a will that desires to do Your works but is hindered by the weakness of the body; stretch out a hand to those who are hastening to run but are forced to limp. The soul is winged, but the flesh weighs it down; that one is swift toward heavenly things, but this one is slow toward earthly things; yet with Your help present, even things that seem most impossible will become possible. “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.”
5. And since He mentioned earth, and there is a need for those who have been born from it and who dwell upon it, and who are clothed in a body sprung from the earth, and for the fitting nourishment, He necessarily added: “Give us today our supersubstantial bread.” He commanded us to ask for “supersubstantial” bread—not luxury, but nourishment, that which replenishes the deficiency of the body and prevents death from famine—not tables overflowing with inflamed passions, nor variety of dishes, nor the magic of cooks, nor the inventions of bakers, nor fragrant wines, and other things that sweeten the throat but burden the stomach, darken the intellect, prepare the body to kick against the soul, and render the colt unmanageable to its charioteer. This is not what the discourse taught us to ask for, but “supersubstantial bread,” that is, that which passes into the substance of the body and is able to sustain it. And we were commanded not to ask for this for a long number of years, but only for what is sufficient for us today; for “be not anxious,” He says, “for tomorrow.” For why does one worry about tomorrow, when one is by no means certain to reach tomorrow, but receives the toil while not reaping the fruit? Take courage in God who gives nourishment to all flesh. He who gave you your body, and breathed into you your soul, and made you a rational animal, and prepared all good things for you before your formation—how would He overlook you once you have been formed—He who “makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and rains on the just and the unjust”? By Him, therefore, be assured; ask only for the daily food, and leave the worry of tomorrow to Him, just as the blessed David said: “Cast your care upon the Lord, and He will sustain you.”
Thus, having trained us through the things said in this ultimate philosophy, and knowing that it is impossible for men, being mortal and clothed in a body, not to stumble, He taught us to say: “And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” Through this statement He accomplishes three goods in accordance with Himself: the first [is...]
A ...[the working] of those who have attained the highest degree of virtue, teaching them to have a moderate opinion of themselves, and commanding them not to trust in their good works, but to be afraid and to tremble, mindful of past sins: which the divine Paul also does, saying after countless noble deeds: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first" (1 Tim. i, 15), signifying that he is always mindful of his misdeeds. Therefore, for those who are in the highest degree of virtue, he provided security through these words; but he does not allow those who have fallen after the grace of baptism to despair of their salvation, but teaches them to ask for remedies of forgiveness from the physician of souls. B To these he adds doctrine concerning humanity. For he wishes us to be mild toward those who are liable to blame, and to be unmindful of the injuries brought upon us, so that through the forgiveness given to them, we too may obtain forgiveness: and that we ourselves, leading the way, may offer the mode and measure of kindness: for we ask to receive as much as we have bestowed upon our neighbor, and we ask for as much forgiveness as we grant to our debtors. Moreover, we are taught to say, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." For many sad things come upon us from the work of the devil: many, likewise, from men, whether openly hostile or secretly plotting. C The body also sometimes rising up against the soul causes grave damage; sometimes, weakened by various diseases, it brings pains and languors upon us. Therefore, since many and varied sad things beset us on all sides, we are taught to beseech the God of all that we may be delivered from them all. For with Him as our defender, every tempest is calmed, the waves yield to tranquility, and that wicked one departs put to shame, just as he once departed into the swine, having left the men; yet he did not dare to do even that without a command. But he who does not have power even over swine, how could he overcome men who are watchful and temperate in spirit, fenced about by the protection of God, and who consider Him their King? D Therefore, at the end of the prayer, he shows the kingdom, power, and glory of God, saying: "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory unto the ages. Amen." This, he says, I ask of thee, who know thee as the King of all, endowed with eternal empire, who art able to do all things whatsoever thou willest, and art surrounded by a glory which no one can take away. For all these things, therefore, let us give thanks to Him who has deigned to make us worthy of such great blessings; because to Him befits all glory, honor, and empire, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
HOMILY ON THE PARALYTIC LET DOWN THROUGH THE ROOF, THAT IT IS NOT THE SAME ONE AS THE ONE IN JOHN, AND CONCERNING THE EQUALITY OF THE SON WITH THE FATHER
When we recently chanced upon the paralytic lying on a bed by the pool, we found much and great treasure, not by digging up the earth, but by investigating the thoughts of his soul: we found a treasure not containing gold and precious stones, but tolerance, philosophy, patience, and great hope in God.